Grugger’s Way

I wrote about Power and Productivity contributing to Men’s longevity the other day and someone commented that women have a difficult time as they age, with too much emphasis on appearance and glamour.  I acknowledge the misperceptions about women, but feel really good about praising some very powerful women, all of whom are considered “older,” and all of whom have reached new highs in personal influence and productivity as they have gracefully aged.  First of all, when someone’s first name can be mentioned and virtually everyone knows who is being discussed, there is hardly any measure that is more obvious.Oprah is one of those.  Do you think that she can pick up the telephone and call the President of the United States…and get connected within a few minutes?  Ya.  I think so.  Barbara Walters is not so instantly known by her first name due to the fame of the one named Barbra Streisand, but Walters can command a stage or a screen as well as any woman in Hollywood. That she has been face-to-face with most of the World’s Leaders during the past fifty years puts her on a level above that of “tv news reporters” and creates a separate category of her own.  Even today, well past her 20/20 days, you see how she can command the attention of the World’s most powerful.   Meryl Streep is another person fairly well-recognized by only her first name.Whether singing the lead in Mamma Mia or portraying a nun in Doubt, there is absolutely NO DOUBT about her acting range and her legacy.  She is the ultimate LEAD actress.  Ellen DeGeneres has made monstrous strides in recent years, with a successful television program and line of products from pet food to bottled water to tee-shirts and ellen underwear.  She is funny and successful and now a Cover Girl model too! Her marriage to a beautiful woman broke barriers for hundreds of others. Since I mentioned an “older” male athlete the other day, I will include Dara Torres here, a powerful woman in more than one respect, who shamed many a younger swimmer during the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. I was thrilled to see her success and absolutely floored by her fitness and attitude!

I’ve wondered about what keeps some people going for so long.

Not just that they live for a long time, but that they remain productive and creative and active.

Here we have Clint Eastwood, age 78, not just being nominated for his work as a film director, but for song writing and scoring a movie.  I believe he is really a genius, not that this has been overlooked, but that he seems to be getting better with age. No one talks about his “retirement.”

Another is Dustin Hoffman.  Not as old as Eastwood, but still powerful enough in Hollywood to obtain Leading Man roles in major films and make them successful.

Both Eastwood and Hoffman are powerful figures, creative and  productive.

Then there is Lance Armstrong, for so many years the most powerful figure in bike racing.  His retirement was painful to watch.  What a disaster!  He was so unhappy.  So now, at age 37, he decides he wants to race again.  Most recently, in the 2009 Tour of California, he put up respectable times and placement, racing in support of one of his former Tour de France team, Levi Leipheimer, who won the Tour of California.   Lance wants to be active in his sport; and whether or not he ever ascends to his former greatness doesn’t matter.  If he is happy, then he should race.

Three men, different ages, still doing what they love.  Whether it is power or productivity or creativity or just good genes, I believe personal fulfillment has a lot to do with maintaining one’s purpose and interest in life.  I applaud all three and look to them as inspiration.

There are some things we should not have to put up with in the elevator.  Or I could say, “there are some things in an elevator with which I should not have to put up.”

Let’s list some of our biggest problem people. (Feel free to add your own in Comments.)

1. Silent farter (pig) (Ever notice that NOBODY has the ‘nads to fart out loud?)
2. Loud eater (any eater or slurper)
3. In My Face people who stand too close (and we ALL have bad breath close up)
4. Nose blowers (includes hackers and coughs and burps)
5. Cell phone talkers (loud or not loud–doesn’t matter–I hate ‘em)
6. Singers (whistlers too)
7. Gigglers (and whisperers who giggle–of whom 99.9 percent are young girls)
8. Button managers (I can press for my own floor, thanks. And the door will open and close by itself. DORK.)
9. People who think that ogling someone’s cleavage or pants bulge is acceptable in an elevator.

LET’S HEAR YOUR NUMBER TEN!

ANY LUCK IN COMMUNICATING WITH YOUR LOCAL TELEVISION AFFILIATE WHO OPTED TO CONVERT TO DIGITAL AHEAD OF THE FEDERALLY-MANDATED DATE?

OH, LOOK!  OUR NEW DIGITAL PICTURE!  THIS IS HOW THE ACADEMY AWARDS PROGRAM APPEARED DURING MOST OF THE EVENING.   HELLO?? ANYBODY HOME?

DOES IT LOOK ALL PINK?  YES!   BECAUSE IT IS ALL PINK!!

$1200 for a new HDTV and the first local station to convert to digital offered this for Sunday evening viewing instead of the Academy Awards Program.

Sometimes I do yearn for the “days of yesteryear.”  No, not because The Lone Ranger was the best show on television, but because we felt like we had some CONTROL over our lives.

And what we couldn’t understand, we could always shoot.

What we didn’t like, we could always shoot.

Don’t try shooting my new television, or the people who think that somehow we should endure the PINK SCREEN while they work all the bugs out of their new “bells and whistles”  technology.  “Why,” I ask, “did they not work out the problems before they opted to convert EARLY? Or at least clean it up between midnight and 6 am of the first day?  “Why,” I THEN ask, “did they not revert to analog (good old RELIABLE analog) until they did fix all the bugs?  Do your remember the old color bar with “We are temporarily experiencing technical difficulties”?  I kept expecting to see that, but maybe it doesn’t exist in “digital” format.

Well, we can probably depend upon the television chief engineers to pass on the blame to “technical” difficulties.  At least I know there is no “operator error” at my end.

I wonder if there are any reruns of The Lone Ranger on any of the cable stations?