Surely something good happened to you today

My 44th wedding anniversary!

 

Congratulations!

 

Thanks! It really doesn't seem like it's been 44 years...

 

Congrats!

 

Congratulations.

 

After getting caught up in that disaster at Newark airport (you cannot describe this little adventure without using the word CLUSTER) I finally, finally made it home...

 

Thanks to everyone who wished me well on my anniversary.

 

Happy anniversary, @Velocity, and may you and Mr. Velocity have many more.

 

Finally found the last Normal Type Pokémon I needed in order to get a stamp in Pokémon Go and I got some items, gifts and a new piece of research.

 

Thank you! That's the plan, hopefully.

 

Today started out really crappy, and the crap remains to be dealt with. But, I took the stabilisers off the youngest’s bike, I had my first tweet retweeted twice, I managed to get more writing done, had a snooze, treated a flesh wound without freaking out, and, I got some ace feedback from across the pond.

Not a bad day, if only I could ditch the relentless ongoing crap.

 

I've spent the afternoon with friends.

 

Paid off hubby's car today. One more thing crossed of the list of bills to pay.

 

I found an important paper that I thought I had lost. I could have asked for a copy from the proper administration but it would have delayed matters.

 

Got scheduled for a lot of work next month, which is great, because we need the money and I don't want to look for another job.

 

I slept, restoratively.

 

I got my traffic ticket reduced to zero points, and will be getting a $30 refund on the ticket. Not bad.

Oh, and I had a very friendly conversation with the officer at my hearing, about health and healthy eating (stemming from the reason I exceeded the speed limit in the first place.)

 

If Star Trek is a love, so are the Detroit Pistons. They told stories of resilience and greatness, through their three Championship teams. They started as a vagabond franchise, their biggest moment was Chris Ford's steal and layup, to get to the second round. Then, they hire Jack McCloskey, and his opus, created by drafting a child of the West Side of Chicago, Isiah Thomas. Thomas, who led the Hoosiers to an NCAA Championship, didn't want to be here. His Head Coach, Chuck Daly, had nine NBA wins before coming to Detroit. They played in a football stadium, in the burbs of Detroit--The Pontiac Silverstone.

Together--McCloskey, Daly, and Thomas--they would lead the Pistons into the teeth of the Eastern Conference playoff race, ruled by Larry Bird, and the Boston Celtics, starting in 1984 (1982 was Thomas's first season). They would be a high-scoring machine, once scoring 186 points in a game, and evolve into the greatest defensive team the NBA would ever see. On their way, they would be known as the "Bad Boys" of the NBA, donning the Black, skulls, and crossbones, of the old Oakland Raiders. Loathed, they would end the Celtics run to the Finals in 1988, end Kareem's visions of three-peat as his swan song in 1989, and keep Michael Jordan from passing them in the playoffs from 1988-90.

Other teams have been buried after the heartbreak and bad luck the Pistons endured. In 1987, an errant pass prevented a trip to the Finals. In 1988, a twisted Thomas ankle and shadow foul on Bill Laimbeer, allowed the Lakers to come back from a 3-2 series deficit to become the first team in a generation to win back-to-back titles.

Flash forward to 1996-97, Thomas and the Bad Boys are long gone. The uniforms and colors changed. Grant Hill is now the superstar, a challenger to Michael Jordan. And the Pistons rip off a stunning pre-All-Star break record, fall to 54 wins and the fifth seed in a stacked Eastern Conference, because of trying to oust Coach Doug Collins by the players.

From 1991-2000, no series wins in 4 playoff appearances. The last cost Grant Hill the next five years of his career, which would be spent in Orlando, not Detroit. But, in losing Hill, they gained a Dennis Rodman incarnate in Ben Wallace.

He would be the cornerstone of cast-offs and vagabonds upon which former Thomas backcourt mate, Joe Dumars, would construct a tenacious resurgence in Pistons basketball:

Chauncey Billups--left for dead by seven teams after becoming the third overall pick. His number hangs in the rafters Finals MVP in a 2004 title run.
Rip Hamilton was too skinny and played little defense. His number, too, is in the rafters.
Tayshaun Prince went from not playing to saving the Pistons in 2003, becoming a starter after 22 teams thought his body would never take the pounding of an NBA season. He only played in 770 straight regular season games.
Rasheed Wallace was a hothead who couldn't get the Blazers past the LA Lakers in 2000 or 2001, despite title aspirations. As 7-1 underdogs entering Game 1 of their NBA Finals series in 2004, against those same LA Lakers, the Pistons beat them on Rasheed Wallace's 24 points in game 4 of the series, overcoming 36 points by Shaquille O'Neal. That's just the starting five.

Back in 2000, at the Pistons only playoff game at the Palace of Auburn Hills, that building built by watching Isiah Thomas chase a ring, and catch two of them, was half-empty. In 2004, it was as loud as ever.

They were the comeback kids with grit and determination, backing away from the fight, never in their blood.

Anyway, all this history is to say I had happy tears this morning. Watching Rasheed Wallace issue the Guaransheed of a Game 2 victory of that 2004 run to a title, after losing game 1 in the closing minute, they block 19 shots. 7 is a good average. But, knowing all that history, and seeing Prince block a shot he had no business swatting, put me in tears, for some reason. We are capable of so much, if we just try. We are resilient.

Basketball is life. The rest is details, apparently.

 

The weather wasn't ideal for our World Refugee Day event, but the rain broke the humidity, and we still had a decent turnout!

 

I've gone to a fair that was quite enjoyable. Plenty of tasting of food and wine.