Life at the Rear View Level. @crbrickey - Tumblr Blog

Monday’s Random Thought...

The orange Tic-Tac was not a breath mint. Maybe the green and white could have passed, but not the orange. In reality, the orange Tic-Tac was the first Dippin Dots of the candy world.

Casey’s Challenge...

I am fed up with social media right now. All you see is political post after political post. Politics are dividing our country. Why do people feel obligated to share their political views? We are not going to change anybody’s mind and anybody that could actually make a difference is not reading our posts, unless of course some of our friends have billionaires as friends. No one reading it will make a difference.

This might come as a newsflash but Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, Mike Bloomberg etc.. don’t give two licks about us. But the people reading your posts do. They are following you because they care about you. If something happens to you, they’re more likely to reach out to you than any politician. So why are we trying to hurt the people that care about us for billionaires that don’t?

Anyways, I’m not the type of person that complains about a problem without a solution. Thanks to some creative bets made in the past, I have a solution. These bets made the loser have to write positive things on each other’s timeline for a period, so with this in mind, I am creating Casey’s Challenge.

Casey’s Challenge: select someone you friend, follow or whatever on some social media, twitter, facebook, instagram, whatever. You can pick your spouse, a sibling, a best friend, whoever, just select someone and for the next 5 days you will post a post with them tagged in it, with something positive about them. It could be a compliment or maybe a memory you guys shared together. It doesn’t matter what it is as long as it will bring a smile to their face. After the 5 days are up the person you selected must pay it forward. You cannot select the person that selected you. This will go on and so forth, just like the song that never ends. My goal is to erase negative posts on social media.

Those are the rules. Now, I debated on the length for a while and decided 5 days wasn’t too much. Don’t let me down people, Let’s make this go viral. And for the people who want to play on expert level, I dare you to choose someone with different political views than you. Take this time to remind them that politics shouldn’t separate us. In the end, we are all thoughtful, caring humans beings.

I am going to add a quick rule summary so you can copy and paste on your first challenge post.

You have been selected to have 5 days of nice posts from me. After the 5th day you must select someone other than me and give them the same gift of 5 days of smiles.

Monday’s Random Thought...

I watch way to much TV and with that said, I have a couple of questions, why does the little cub in the Charmin commercial have a pair of underwear? Why would there be a dirty pair of underwear in the middle of bathroom? None of the bears in the commercial were even wearing underwear. I feel like the ad agency didn’t think this whole advertisement out.

No Blog This Week.

Working on writers block. I will be back next week as usual, look forward to my Monday random thought.

Monday’s Random Thought...

I’m going to assume most of you have heard the song “10,000 Hours”. Well I think it needs to be said, even if he spends 10,000 hours + 10,000 more he still is only loving you for 2 years, 3 months and 10.3 days. To me that doesn’t sound like much. I would rather love you for 20,000 days, just saying. If you are wondering that is over 54 years.

Live like you’re dying...

Wow! I am 35 years old. Over the hill? I feel like for once in my life, I think I am and I’m alright with that. Ever since I can remember, I always made a goal to live to be 70. Heck, I'm halfway there so I’m over the hill and on the downward slope.

It’s crazy to be at this point. Last weekend Cory asked me if I ever believed I’d make it here. I quickly answered no. Then 30 and once again, no. Finally 25 and thats where I honestly saw myself making it to. Let me tell you, that was always in the back of my mind and because of that I lived life to the fullest. Thats what I want to blog about.

I am going to say the exact opposite of what everybody tells me. Don’t live life like you are dying, live like you are living. What do I mean? First off, lets all be honest, life can end anytime for anyone. We all witnessed that recently with the death of Kobe Bryant. So, everybody says live every day to the fullest because life is short. It can be, but it can also be long.

I think when you live like today is your last, you don’t appreciate the best things in life. An example, when I turned 21 I went to Las Vegas. It was a great trip but my birthday of course falls in the middle of February, you know- during school. My family tried to talk me into it, saving Vegas for a later time so we could spend more time there as a family. I wasn’t hearing it. I was 21 and I wanted to go to sin city. Due to my studies at Wichita State, I could only afford to miss a couple of days. So, we had to make our trip a 3 night trip. Don’t get me wrong, it was a great trip, but had I waited, it could have been maybe a 5 night trip. I would’ve had time to go to a show. Maybe visit a gentleman’s club (don’t judge me, I was a 21 year old male), gamble more than one day. I could’ve used the extra days but I was afraid of dying so I insisted on not wasting another day.

Throughout my early 20′s, I think I had more days of drinking than I had sober. I made great memories but I also forgot a bunch of great times. Now looking back, I laugh at the times I woke up in my room confused but what if I met the girl of my dreams and lost her number? I honestly don’t know because I was too drunk to remember. I lived like this because once again I felt it was a right of passage and I wanted to make sure I made it through that passage before I died. So, because of my fear, I had many nights I don’t know what exactly happened.

One more example, and trust me I could go on forever, but I will stop here. I started coaching AAU/MAYB Basketball my freshman year of college. I did it for 2 summers. I loved coaching but with the coaching came a bunch of other responsibilities. Responsibilities that I wasn’t ready for at the age of 19. After 2 years, I stopped and I haven’t coached a basketball game since. Now as I'm older, I really do miss it, but with my health concerns at the moment, I’m not sure I could do it. Now if I wasn’t an idiot and started too soon, I could have maybe started in my mid 20′s when I was more responsible and who knows where I would be now.

There are 3 examples of things I did too much or too early because I was afraid of death. I was living life like I was dying. Looking back, and 14 years later, I realize I was wrong. I could have made a lot better choices and maybe things would have turned out differently.

Heres the takeaway. We are all going to die. We don't know when but the moment you start worrying about it, you start living in fear. Don’t live your life in fear. It will lead to a bunch of regrets, and what ifs. Now, I’m not saying don’t do things, you should. But using me as an example, if I'm not feeling good, I shouldn't go out just to live life. I could wait until I feel better to go do whatever that was. This would have been a good piece of advice in September when I tried to go to the Ranger game not feeling 100%.

One more thing about living life like you are dying. You get in such a rush, you sometimes forget to cherish what you do have right in front of you. You get too busy looking for the next best thing when maybe it was right in front of you.

Boom. Mind blown! Everybody tells you to live life to the fullest. I’m telling you from experience, sometimes just take a beat. Chances are you’re not dying tomorrow. And if tragically you do, nobody will remember what you didn’t do. They will remember how great you did the things that you did do.

I hope everybody is going to have a wonderful Valentines day, I know I won’t. lol None the less, have a good weekend, I know I will because Nascar is back. Daytona 500 heck yeah! I will be back next week with another blog.

Monday’s Random Thought...

It’s a little late but it is still Monday. For whatever reason, I love Friday the 13th and not the movie. Maybe its because I'm superstitious but I always make a big deal about it-- at least in my head. Anyways, this year is really cool for Friday the 13th fans, we get one in March even though we didn’t get one in February. This actually only happens once every 28 years. That hasn’t happened since 1992 and it won’t happen again until 2048. So for fellow Friday the 13th lovers like me, enjoy our rare Friday the 13th in March.

Not My Finest Moment...

So all week I have been trying to figure out what will people read and share? It finally dawned on me today. Our society likes to watch other people suffer. Its really messed up and its sad but right now some of the most viewed videos on youtube are of fails. Let me talk about one of my failing moments.

It is really cool because the story ties into my team fandom kick I have been on. The year would have been ‘93-’94. We had only moved away from Denver for a year or 2 so my heart was still in Colorado. The biggest piece of my heart was the Denver Nuggets. I loved my Nuggets! Thankfully, we had Fox Sports Midwest- which covered my Nuggets. Even though I didn’t live in Denver anymore, I was still able to watch every game.

My Mom and Dad understood my fandom and would allow me to stay up late some nights to watch the games to their conclusion. This would keep me up sometimes past 10:30. That wasn’t really the problem, the problem was me going to sleep afterwards. One thing about my body, it is hard for me to fall asleep, especially if I'm all worked up. I don’t know if its the SMA and my nerves or what, but bedtime never comes easy. Hence, the reason I keep the late hours now that I do. I can’t go to sleep until I'm exhausted.

Anyways, one night they were playing the Utah Jazz. This was back when Karl Malone and John Stockton played. They were good. I digress. My Nuggets had a huge lead in that game and found a way to lose it. I was all worked up. Unfortunately, I had school the next day so I had to get to bed. But, I could not. After tossing and turning for a couple hours, my Mom had enough. She told me, no more Nugget games on school nights. This is where I say this wasn’t my proudest moment. I did that night what I hate people doing now. I threw an epic fit!! This fit woke my Dad up, and he comes into my room, so now I know I'm in deep trouble. Thankfully, my Dad just wanted me to keep, so he said he would get rid of my Nugget ban if I fell asleep in the next 15 minutes. They didn’t hear a peep from me for the next 3 hours. Full disclosure, I was awake for at least another hour. What can I say? My teams can drive me crazy.

When I think about it now, I am pretty embarrassed with my behavior. Part of growing up is being told no and living with it. But as the saying goes, you gotta fight for what you love. And there was no doubt I loved my Nuggets. So there you have it, one of my many times I was embarrassed with my behavior. I just hope no one thinks any less of me. Because it was a one time thing. Or at least I tell myself that.

Alright, still working on ideas to make this thing bigger, so if you have any ideas, please send them my way. This will be the first week in a long time without any football or baseball, so if you see me wondering around in the streets its because I'm lost, I don’t know what to do with myself.

Monday’s Random Thought...

Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs!!! What a game and even more impressive playoff run. As excited as I am for the team, I am even more excited for the diehard fans. In 2008 I got to experience the joy you are feeling today when my Jayhawks won it all. That feeling is the absolute best. Matter of fact, I say it was the best day of my life, and I will stand by that comment even if I get married. Maybe that is why I am single, oh well I love my teams. So diehards, enjoy this feeling and soak it all in. Oh and ignore the Haters, they are just jealous.

My Purpose in life...

This is a question that has been on my mind a lot recently. I know I have a purpose. Why? This is why..

In my 34+ years, I have:

code blue at Disney World in ‘98

had my last rites read to me after going in and out of consciousness in ‘99

told by a Dr. I had 2 weeks to live in 2011

survived the flu , bronchitis and pneumonia all at the same time in 2012

not to mention the numerous times my friends and caregivers had to connect the bi-pap to me in order for me to breathe.

My point being, I’ve had plenty of chances to die, yet I am still here. There has to be a reason, or maybe the song was true. The good die young and I’m just not good. Thats a discussion for another day. Lol

In all seriousness I am a believer in everybody has a reason whether thats to be a teacher and influence 1000′s of lives. A parent and raise kids to become flourishing adults. Or a great athlete or actor to inspire others, whether it is, they’re all equally important. I’m sitting here wondering what have I done. Not to to my own horn, but Toot Toot many people have called me an inspiration. I don’t see it but thats the great thing about modesty. (can you be modest if you call yourself modest?) So this is my legacy. I am suppose to inspire people and I am honored to realize that this is my purpose.

Here is the thing though, I am still here, so evidently I haven’t inspired enough. With this in mind, I feel that this blog is my best way to inspire others that I can’t meet personally. That is why I am working on ways to make this blog bigger. Over the next few months I am going to be trying things in order to help others want to share this. I will make goals for my shares that will make me do things I don’t necessarily do. Example, drink 4 ounces of Almond Milk, take a picture in a Yankee hat. Just things that go against what makes me - Me. Along with these goals I will also be experimenting with videos. This will take a while because I am very hard to understand some days. So I have to figure out some type of microphone and video editing software. It will all come in time. With my will and help from my friends and readers, we will make this blog reach thousands. Thank you in advance for all of your help.

Sorry this is a short blog but I have been wrestling with this idea for a while and just wanted to get it all on paper so I can focus on other things like the future. Everybody have a great Super Bowl weekend, I know I will and I will be rooting hard for the Chiefs. Until next week, have a good one.

Monday’s Random Thought...

Was I ever a Kobe Bryant fan? No. But I respected the heck out of his ability. And as a human being I admired the heck out of him. Was he perfect? No, no one is. But he always learned from his mistakes. That is something not everybody can say, me included. I can guarantee you though, if we all learned like Kobe, this would be a better world! Thank you Kobe for giving me something to strive for. You will be missed. #RIPKobe

The Sunflower Throwdown...

I was going to make my blog about my purpose on earth but then last night happened. For those of you who don’t watch sports, my beloved Ku played in state rival K-State in basketball last night. At the very end of the game both teams made bad decisions and what should have been a great Ku victory became a brawl that has garnered national attention.

At first, I was appalled and disgusted with Ku’s behavior. As a fan of this university, I expect class and dignity. I was definitely disappointed at the lack of class shown last night. Immediately after it happened, I like a lot of others, wanted immediate and harsh punishment. I completely regret tweeting that De Sousa, McCormick and Garrett should never put on a Ku jersey again.

Finally, after I settled down and started dissecting the video, I saw maybe Ku wasn’t the only bad actor. Video actually shows K-State initiating the melee. Now I’m not excusing Ku’s behavior, but it is important to consider this when assessing the whole situation.

Fast forward to right now, and the suspensions have been levied. De Sousa gets 12 games and McCormick gets 2. After everything was said and done, I agree with this punishment. Couple of K-State kids got suspended too but it doesn’t really matter, they’re not very good anyways.

With all of this said, I do want to point out, I did learn something from all of this. As a society we are in bad shape. Now I know social media wasn’t the best thermometer since I too am guilty of rushing to judgement. I think we should all learn to take a beat before we open our mouths or more importantly write something that will forever be saved in the internet universe. Excusing all of that we are in trouble until we can start separating our loves and hates from a game or politics or whatever and realize before anything else, we are human beings. Before we are Americans, Jayhawk fans, independents, music lovers, etc.. we are all human beings. Human being swill make mistakes, its a fact. We have to judge our mistakes appropriately and stop with this ‘I disagree so therefore I hate you kind of talk.’ I saw players giving fans death threats. It was a game. Why do we take everything so seriously?

Listen, I’m a Ku fan, so I will call K-State little brother, I will post about your zero national championships, so on and so forth, but that doesn't mean that I don’t like you and you guys are pieces of trash. I know a lot of great K-State fans, so if I make fun of K-State, don't take it personal. I’m only talking about the games. In deeper modes, if maybe I lean a little left, doesn’t mean I can't be friends with a conservative, because in the end- we all have one thing in common, we are human beings! So if you take anything from his blog, stop taking things so serious, think before you talk, and we are all human beings first so lets get along.

Sorry for the quickie, but I will come back with my normal blog next week barring anymore headline news. Until then, everybody have a good weekend and if you are interested in getting into hockey, this Saturday night is the NHL Allstar game. They play 3 on 3 hockey and it is a blast.

Monday‘s Random Thought

Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs! I came into this season as a person who would root for you, now I can’t wait until February 2nd! Bring home the Lombardi Trophy! Call me a bandwagon fan if you want but nonetheless I am now a fan.

VieMed...

Last week something happened that will change my life. My existence is solely based on my bi-pap. A few years ago, I started working with Respiratory Services of Kansas for all of my respiratory equipment. They were great but like most things in today’s world, it didn’t last. Their customer service is as good as AT&T’s. Matter of fact, last February my bi-pap had a critical error on a Friday night, and they told me I had to wait until Monday to get a new machine. Thank God I had an old one I could use--but they did not know that. If I had done what they suggested, sleep without one, I would be dead.

After discussing this with Dr. Statland, they offered me a new option. I did not know what the option was, but a week after my appointment I got a call from VieMed. They are a respiratory service located in Kansas City, which is 3 hours away. With this in mind, they still wanted to take me on as a patient. Full disclosure, I had my reservations- how could a company so far away take care of me? After thinking about it, I decided--what the hell? It’s not like my company down here was doing anything. Immediately, I was impressed! Jessica Grove started the process and our email communication was the kind people dream about. I would get response within an hour every single time! They were initially contacted to set me up with a cough assist. But with Dr. Statland’s assistance, they decided I needed a better bi-pap.

Now at this point, I am nervous. I DO NOT like change. If its not broke--why fix it? In my mind, the bi-pap was fine, it was just the service. Anyways, fast forward a little bit, finally last week they had all the approvals from the insurance to set me up with a new machine. Last Thursday they would send down a respiratory therapist with my new machines--Cough Assist and Bi-pap. Upon meeting Megan Kness, all my worries dissipated.

The first thing she did was explain the new bi-pap. This thing is a Bentley compared to my old Chevy. It has a leak meter (tells me if theres a leak in my mask), an internal oxygen adapter, longer hoses, a heated humidifier, and most importantly a battery, which makes it portable--life changer! This battery now allows me to take the bi-pap with me to any event without worrying about electricity. I mean, of course I want to live without it, but sometimes stuff happens, and now having this security blanket it will change my life.

This new bi-pap is phenomenal, not only does it have all these bells and whistles, but the way it works, it allows my lungs to open up more other than just forcing air into them. The cough assist will allow me to cough things up without needing the manual pushing on my diaphragm. So its easy to see how my life is changing for the better. But this story isn’t about the machines. Its about VieMed.

I already talked about how great Jessica is, and Megan is just as incredible. Her ability to explain the machines was something I have never had before. When she made the appointment to come down, she said it would take around 4 hours to do everything. With this in mind, we set the appointment for 10:30 am. I was willing to do it early because its the least I could do considering this was a 3 hour drive for her. Now of course after I hung up the phone, I laughed and said it won’t take 4 hours. In my mind, I figured she would hook everything up, sign a few papers and be on her way. WRONG!!!

She not only set the machines up but she explained everything and I do mean everything! She brought multiple masks so we could find one that wouldn’t leak. She let me try the machines with all the different settings to find what worked best for me. For once I had a company who actually cares. The best part during all of this, I would say we formed a friendship. You know you’re in good hands when those hands are looking at you as more than just another patient on their schedule. Finally, 5 1/2 hours later, we were all set up. WOW!! We went over the 4 hours, but I knew once she left, I was in good hands. We knew everything about the machines and God forbid something goes wrong, she assured me they would come down to solve the issue no matter the day or time. A lot of people can talk the talk, but its another thing to walk the walk. There is no doubt in my mind, at VieMed, Jessica and Megan do walk the walk.

Before I leave, I implore anybody in the Kansas or Missouri area with respiratory needs to contact VieMed. They will work their butts off to get you the right machines to suit your needs. I had no idea there was a trilogy bi-pap that could change my life. And within a month on their service- I am living life on a whole different level. Thank you so much Jessica and Megan for all you do for me and for everyone else.

Alright everybody, have a good weekend, sounds like its going to be another cold one in the midwest. Is it summer yet? I’ll be back next week with another blog. I’m working on an idea, hopefully it will work out and be fun.

Monday Random Thought..

Investor Tip: Invest in Kleenex. This weather is wreaking havoc on my sinuses. I went through 2 boxes of kleenexes in the last 4 days. I’m sure I’m not the only one. So be smart and invest. You’re welcome.

All Ku and Big 12 Fans Need to Read This...

This is way off topic from my normal blog, but this needs to be said. here recently there has been a big push for tv programming to go to apps. It started with Netflix and Hulu and now it is finally hitting the sports sector. More and more games are going to app based viewing and getting away from your standard cable viewing.

As a fan and also one who kind of hates technology, I hate this. And I don’t like to use the word hate. But there is more to this than just showing games on cable or apps. It all comes down to money.

I assume everybody knows that but I wanted to reiterate it. Recently Ku games including 4 men’s basketball conference games have been moved to the ESPN app. So, in order to watch the Jayhawks, you have to pay $5 to subscribe to the ESPN app or of course $12 for Disney plus. The choice is yours.

With this new development there has been a huge backlash against our AD Jeff Long. The biggest argument people have been having is the price. Which I'm going to call BS. If Ku is what you love, you can find $5 whether its one less drink at Starbucks or a beer at your local bar. So lets stop complaining about the money. Now I do have a problem with the app because I can’t imagine more seasoned people being able to work the app. It is 10x easier just to type 206 on a remote then it is to change the source grab another remote, find the ESPN app, select it and then find your game. I’m pretty sure if my grandma and grandpa were still alive, they would not be able to do this. They were die hard fans. It would kill me if they couldn’t watch their favorite team.

Here’s the thing... I really hate the app. With that said, I went to WSU and got my degree in sports management. This is why everyone needs to get off Jeff Long’s case.. his number one job is to make money for Kansas Athletics. Period. Thats it! As long as he makes money for the department, he will have a job. Yeah championships are nice but it really comes down to money just like everything else. And this app-- as flawed as it has been is a money cow. Mr. Long loves Ku and their fans. He didn't do this to spite you. He did this for the department. With the app, we were able to highlight Les Miles first year with Ku Football. Cha-ching! Not to mention the boost it gave recruiting, this app also guaranteed every Ku basketball game would be on national broadcast (can programs on apps be considered broadcast?).

My future projections-- we are going to have a lot more programing going to apps before we have programming going back to cable and satellite. With Jeff Long’s initiative this year, I am sure it will pay even bigger dividends in the future, because ESPN knows we are willing to take chances with them.

So, please stop yelling at our AD Jeff Long, and trust the process. Next week my blog will be back on point. Don’t forget to tune in on the app tonight as Ku takes on Iowa State.

Monday’s Random Thought...

Fact: When scratching an itch on a ticklish person, it is a very fine line from a soothing scratch to an Oh My God I’m going to pee my pants tickle. Please remember this if you are ever asked to help scratch an itch.

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