2018-02-14: Downhearted

in life •  7 years ago 

Happy Thoughts

My wife and I aren't particularly big on Valentine's Day. We don't need a Hallmark Holiday to remind us to show our appreciation for each other, ideally that comes through in the hundreds of little things we say and do every single day.

That being said, I managed to punch a 90-minute hole in a busy morning schedule to hit the grocery store so that my wife could stay home and get her own kettlebell workout done. This is my incredibly romantic Valentine's gift:

groceries.jpg

At least I managed to add some flowers to the grocery list ;-P In return, she rewarded me with this lovely salad for lunch:

avocado_heart.jpg

Can you see that avocado heart?! I'm a very lucky man :)

Sad Thoughts

So much human misery is self-inflicted and completely avoidable. Today I realized how numb I've become to gun violence in America. When I first saw the report of the Parkland, Florida school shooting, "only" two people had been killed, and I didn't give it much thought. An hour later the death toll had risen to 16, making it one of the worst school shootings ever. There will be lots of debates for the next couple weeks over what happened and who is to blame and what can be done, and then most people will forget about it. Until the next school shooting.

On a trip to Lanai many years ago, I shot steel pellet out of a double-barreled shotgun at clay targets. I can very easily understand how that weapon can be responsibly owned to hunt birds for food or sport.

On a trip to Guam many years ago, I fired a dozen rounds at a paper target at an indoor gun range. It was very obvious to me that pistols are designed to kill human beings with precision at close range, and I can understand why police officers carry them to protect themselves.

This is an AR-15, the gun used at Sandy Hook Elementary, the Orlando night club, Las Vegas, and Parkland, Florida:

This is a weapon of war, designed to kill humans quickly and indiscriminately over large distances. I cannot understand why normal American citizens need access to this gun.

Daily Stats

Cash: 12.8%
Core: 74.7%
Explore: 12.5%
Workout: Kenzai Kettlebell Day 3 + 40min dog walk
Alcohol: None
Supplements: Zinc 20mg, Magnesium 300mg
Sleep: 11pm to 6:45am, broken, not rested

594|53

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wow..nice food photography dear thanks for sharing.

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  ·  7 years ago (edited)

avocado heart on the salad looks so nice.
I hope you had a perfect valentine day @grolelo. But the news of gun violence is very much expected sad occurrence

My wife and I are both not very interested in the "Hallmark holiday" either. We think that we show each other love everyday of the year. We don't need a holiday to show off to others our love.

As for the school shooting in Florida. Once again another tragedy in our modern times. I think its ridiculous that my son has to learn about what a lockdown is and practice these drills at school. Its truly disheartening that schools are no longer safe havens for children and more and more of these shooting are happening by young kids. How in the world does a child gain access to a weapon of this caliber?
Very sad day in our society.

Agreed. My kids' elementary school in Texas is locked down like a fortress - I appreciate the security, but it's sad that it has to be this way to keep them safe. The most frustrating thing is that there are simple legislative changes would help immensely and are widely agreed upon by most Americans, but the legislators themselves do nothing.

I completely agree growing up these days are a lot more scarier than when we were kids. I wish that people world could stop doing this your our kids they are so innocent.
Yea, politicians are only into it for the money. If the NRA is slipping them money to support them they keep the policies in their favor.

You have so many things to comment and give you an opinion about your post that I begin to tell you that realmete congratulate you because the little details like those you had with your wife as she with you are the ones that make the difference, after all it is one day where you can show the same love to that person without needing a "special date" I really congratulate you for that, and regarding the shooting I do not know what goes through the minds of those people who seek to harm other families that are not really guilty of that maybe mental problem that they have that strong is to see news of that indole ...

It looks like the shooter in this particular case was adopted, recently lost both his foster parents to illness, and suffered from mental illness. I can't imagine what would be going through the mind of someone firing high caliber ammunition at unarmed children.

Some politicians will make the argument that laws cannot prevent the mentally ill from killing people, but I doubt there would be 17 fatalities if this is was the most dangerous weapon he had access to:

Totally in agreement with you, I believe that the politicians have a little reason in it but equally they must be more to the slope because this type of attacks and massacres are seen very often there

Very beautiful gifts and instead served very tasty food, salads.
The salad was very tasty vegetarian food and lots of nutri ...

Indeed, we both enjoyed our healthy, colorful Valentine's Day presents!

U r a lucky man with loving family..! 🤗

happy valentines day to all of u..! 😇

Well, this type of public shooting became a common incident in US recent days.

I think US Govt should really look up to gun licence laws, there's frequent flow of weapons to buy for general citizens of US. This laws needs to be harden up.

If u look at Europe or other continent, our gun policies are a lot strict than US. And u can see the difference in number of open firing incidents across US and rest of the world. US Govt should take this seriously to avoid this kind of miserable incidents..!😞

God bless us all..! Stay safe..!
~Tennis Girl 🎾🎾

Indeed, I'm grateful every day for this family!

I agree that the US can/should look to other developed countries for advice/suggestions/guidance on how to do a few things. Americans have to stop thinking we're so "exceptional", it's gotten to the point of delusion.

I will say that one great thing about the US is that it provides 50 laboratories for trying out different legislative ideas. . . each state has it's own subset of laws on taxation, drug enforcement, firearms regulations, healthcare subsidies, etc. A lot of different things have been tried out at the state level, and the federal government would be wise to use those example to set nationwide policies. Then we can get better without offending the "America First" crowd, since they can tell themselves that the idea came from Americans :)

well, thts a good point u noticed..!
yes, why not doing this on ur own way..!
u can have restricted firearms laws in certain states and then monitor that if it really works..!
u can then get it running all over the country..!
that wont hurt "Native American" feelings too..!

But if the Govt still chose to stay silent on actions, these criminals will get inspired to do this over again..!! 😌

it seems that all kinds of food is good for our health, many thanks for this

You are very romantic. Doing small things but very meaningful for couples. I do not like guns to kill. May be always happy for you @grolelo. 👍

Valentine's Day is way too commercialised. If more people think like you, it'll be sad for the economy. Why do we need to make big expensive gestures on this one day when it is what you do every day that counts?

The sad thing about news reports like that is that they come too frequently and even the most human of us come to think of this as the new normal and we lose our natural shock towards it.