Cavs win it all.
Tribe wins the AL Central.
Browns.
Can’t stop thinking about Nike and Pandora.
^I know. I never thought the ole Donald would win. So how’s it feel for us to be great again?
Also, I’ve never seen a president get assassinated before so this could be neat. (I kid, I kid!)
Seriously though, in the end, I think a lot of just completely forgot the fact that absolutely fucking no one liked Hillary Clinton. Folks have hated her for the last 20 years and were just sick of the Dems constant attempts to jam her down our throats for these last 10 years when everyone wanted her to just go away. I think even her supporters were just talking themselves into her while none were that thrilled about her and they all agreed she’s a weaker candidate.
And, man, the demographics didn’t turn on Trump at all like we thought. I figured he’s not getting women or minorities and it turns out that none of them gave a shit about Hillary and still couldn’t vote for her. She’s just so dirty that even those people couldn’t talk themselves into her. Can’t say I blame the country for giving Hillary and the Clintons one last collective middle finger to go away forever.
We ignored other trends too…like how the president has been just naturally cyclical for a number of years now…folks get sick of 8 years of one party and naturally go to the other. And I wonder if this is kind of a backlash against the overbearing PC thing where it feels like no one can say something rude about anyone else without folks calling for them to be fired. I don’t know what Trump can do on this but I kinda wish he’d put the kibosh on some of the catering to these whiny people. Obviously, some PC is necessary but many of these groups go too far.
It also shows the thing I’ve argued for a while now…that social media does NOT represent the majority. Because the internet sure seemed squarely behind Hillary and it meant nothing. There are large pockets not represented online and it does well to remember that. Also, if this isn’t enough for us to know that early polls are useless, I don’t know what is.
Regardless, I have little enough respect for the modern government that I have no problem with us throwing a monkey wrench in Trump into the mix to see if something happens. This is certainly a backlash to the the current state of politicians who are all the same and never show any backbone in anything and never get any real change. It’s debatable that Trump will be able to change anything (I’m guessing he won’t) but it’ll be entertaining to watch.
Two of my friends from college visited me last weekend. It was really nice seeing them, but it re-opened old wounds.
In March of 2013, seven Marines were killed and eight more were injured in when a mortar round exploded during a training exercise at Hawthorne Army Depot in Nevada. Among those killed was one of my dearest friends, Aaron.
I did not know that he had died until 2015, when I was planning my Phish trip and realized that I would have to drive through St. Louis (his hometown) twice. I attempted to contact him to arrange a meet up, but obviously I got no reply. So I did a Google search and discovered the horrible news. I then called our college friends to ask if they had known. They did not.
Driving from Kansas City to Cleveland, I stopped in Edwardsville, Illinois to have pizza at Aaron’s favorite pizza place - Imo’s Pizza. I ordered a pepperoni pizza, sat down to wait for it, and very nearly started crying there at the table. I did not expect this reaction at all. I thought it was going to be a fun tribute, celebrating the time I spent with him, rather than mourning him. So I got my pizza and got the f*ck out of there. From Edwardsville (which for all intents and purposes is St Louis) to Indianapolis, I was on the verge of breaking down.
After that I had managed to put it out of my mind for nearly two more years.
Last weekend someone brought him up, which I knew was inevitable. The three of us went two years without knowing that a good friend was dead, and four years without ever really talking about him - together. The vibe of the visit turned a sullen.
During the week I looked for old photos of us, and only found one that had all four of us - it was from Cinco De Mayo 2006. I’m the one in the orange shirt; Aaron is in the black hoodie, doing the tongue in cheek thing.
Someone once told me that this sense loss was similar to an emotional tax. It is the price you pay for caring about someone. I miss him very much.
I also found a new article about Aaron’s funeral, and how 9000~ people showed up, and how the Westboro Baptist Church showed up to protest against homosexuals and Catholics (Aaron was catholic). Another article brought up the fact that Sen. Harry Reid used Aaron’s death as a political prop to get Obama to end the budget sequestration of 2013. FUCK THOSE ASSHOLES.
^Wow, great story. Don’t know what else I can say though.
I’m sorry to hear this Tom. As Steve said, not sure there’s anything else that can be said, except I hope you’re starting to heal from all of it.
Thanks, guys.
It has been heavy on my mind since last weekend. I thought that maybe putting it all to words and doing a bit of venting with the OKP acting as either an active or passive sounding board would help. I can’t think of a more appropriate place on the internet to do some venting than this thread.
It was a very weird situation. Since we met in college and lived 300 miles from one another, we had no mutual friends other than our college friends. He was in the military which made communication very difficult. Also he didn’t have Facebook. Word of mouth and Facebook are pretty much the only ways I could have found out. So we went two years without knowing.
Talking to Joe and Alex (the other two guys on the right side of the picture) about Aaron really unearthed the fact that I am still dealing with this (and so are they). I think the fact that I was actively optimistic that I would see him again at the very moment that I found out that he had died, and that I still feel awful for not knowing sooner complicated the healing process for me, but I don’t know if there is a right way to heal.
I can’t think of a more appropriate place on the internet to do some venting than this thread.
I hear you, man. I’ve vented on some things on here too as have many. Sometimes it’s better to just get it out there and tell someone.
Also he didn’t have Facebook. Word of mouth and Facebook are pretty much the only ways I could have found out.
I know many old friends like this. None of the stories are quite as tragic as what you put but sometimes you get on the subject of chatting about these folks with friends and you hear some wild stories of what’s happened to them. But, hey, don’t beat yourself up for not knowing…a lot of friends drift apart forever and never talk again so it was good that you cared enough to try to reach out to the guy. Many wouldn’t even do that.
Don’t know if I’m back, although if I’m here, I must be?
Can’t explain my absence at all. I could use getting older as an excuse and finding that everything seems to take more time than it used to, or that I don’t seem to be getting as excited by things as I used to, but that would essentially be bullshit.
I think work is the reason, and it shouldn’t be, but it is. I’m in the final stage of my professional career and I’m sprinting toward a finish line of my own making. Working longer hours, trying to save as much as I can to make retirement more rewarding from a fixed income perspective. I can’t get to the OKP from work, and when I get home, my mind is mush and I just want to zone. I listen to only classical music these days, because there are no words to make me think, only gentle sounds to help me de-stress from the day.
Can’t say how long I’ll last here again, but if the OKP is still around this time next year, I’ll have plenty of time to ruminate as I used to.
i am so vibing on instrumental bands anymore. explosions in the sky and tycho. pretty far from classical but i am definitely down with trying to communicate some story or feeling without words. same reason i love teh phesh jamz so much. plus without words no one is telling you what to feel or imagine you get to make it your own 
I seriously thought my eyes were deceiving me when I saw the name Fone as the most recent poster. Or that it was an old page or something. Bill!! Glad to see you here! You are the long lost OKP’er I wonder most about.
I very much understand where you’re coming from with work and mush mind/desire to zone. Seems like it’s the story of my life, except my retirement is a few decades away.
Thanks for popping in. I expect it’s because you heard my call from the Katiemay birthday thread. Hope all is well with Marie and the family.
Can’t explain my absence at all. I could use getting older as an excuse and finding that everything seems to take more time than it used to, or that I don’t seem to be getting as excited by things as I used to,
Good to hear from you, sir.
I seem to remember you mentioning how there was a change in your job where you couldn’t get on OKP while at work like before. It’s funny how these habits are so essential to use keeping up on these things and, when they change, it’s hard to get back to it…I tend to not go on any of these sites when I’m at home too unless there’s a show on that night.
I take back everything bad I have ever said about LaVar Ball. The man is a hero, and a national treasure.
I agree!
Just got a notification for this thread out of the blue. Haven’t been on here in forever. I hope everyone is doing well. Looks like no Phish till next year for me 
I take back everything bad I have ever said about LaVar Ball. The man is a hero, and a national treasure.
He’s doing the same he’s always done…saying anything to get headlines. Dude’s a genius.
Hey I think everyone who used to come here and doesn’t really post here anymore, are like, dudes who don’t really like, log in here anymore or post at all for some reason.
I stopped using Facebook, are they all on Facebook?
The Tide Pod challenge is just about the craziest fad I can remember, but I did get some serious chuckles out of it. Below is a short reimagining of Roald Dahl’s classic “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”
https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/charlie-and-the-tide-pod-factory
is this still the longest running thread?