Page 29 | MediocreMan

Congratulations Class of 2024 · 15 June 2024

To the graduating class of twenty twenty-four
When you started high school you did not walk through the door
Instead you were merely faces on the screen
Or black rectangles because you did not want to be seen.
You made it through all those classes hybrid
Yes, some of you came and some of you hid.
You made it through the pandemic years
With emotions ranging from cheering to tears.

It is funny remembering that when you came back
I still did not know you because your face had a mask.
And I was surprised by everyone’s height
I never guessed by your screenshot, try as I might.
But you handled the new reality with grace
With grit in your heart and tears on your face
This world would not beat you try as it might
You were earning your wings readying yourself to take flight.

Now things are more or less normal, I know
And so we progress through life but even so
I want you to know that my life you have touched
I want you to know that I love you so much.
You are my children when you spend time with me
We have become part of one big family.
A family connected through experience and location
A family who went through much trial and tribulation.
A family who shared much joy and much laughter
A family who cheered when members got what they went after.
A family that grows with each passing year
A family I send out with the shedding of tears.

I hope you learned lots and have memories fond
I hope you remember us and our family bond.
I wish you the best as you walk out the door.
Congratulations! Class of 2024.

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Life without Internet · 8 June 2024

Life without the internet is a pain.

I know it seems obvious, but life without the internet is a pain. Even when it is just out for a little while. Of course, what you define as a little while is a totally different point. But nowadays it sure seems like a disconnection for any amount of time is a pain.

I am writing during a time of such disconnection. The problem with the current internet outage is that it is the day when I usually post my blog. I would be uploading my picture(s) and my words at this very instant if not for the latest internet outage. Which has been for longer than just a couple minutes. The problem is that I do not know whether the outage is on my end or our provider’s end. It could be our router, which would be a pretty big problem seeing that the computer I usually use does not have a wireless connection to the world (so I cannot just tether it to my phone). So my routine is all out of whack. Oh bother.

Most of the time though, the internet outages seem to be on our provider’s end. They seem to go down at the most inopportune times. And for interminable amounts of time. Which just means more than a few seconds. After all, it seems that we measure downtime in milliseconds or even microseconds these days. We cannot seem to disconnect for any amount of time. Which could be problematic.

Personally, I do not really care that much about the internet. At least not when it is down for short periods of time. I like to be disconnected. Again, for short periods of time. The problem with life without the internet is that it is usually not on my terms. It is usually on the other end. Which means that I do not have the internet when I want it. Which is the problem.

So then the problem is not with the internet being down. The problem is with control. We all think that we are somehow in control of our lives. And we are. To a certain extent. Often to the extent that somebody else does not exert control over us. After all, it is the rare individual who does not have a boss or who does not serve somebody. In fact, Bob Dylan would assert that we all serve somebody. “It may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna have to serve somebody.” Still, that does not mean that we do not want to be in control of as much of our lives as we can be.

Which brings me back to the start. I hate it when I do not control how and when I use the internet. I hate it that life is so dependent on the internet. I hate that the internet can go down for seemingly any reason for seemingly any amount of time. And I hate to admit that life without the internet is a pain.

[By the way, our internet provider was fixing our connection while I was writing this post. I know because I saw them when I was driving to work. The provider’s message about the outage said that something was being enhanced, but it just looked like the crew was fixing something.]

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Second Place! · 1 June 2024

Photo courtesy of Marc Hillestad

Last weekend, the Cedarcrest High School Girls Track and Field team won second in state! It was an amazing weekend of competition.

The state Track and Field (T&F) meet is a crazy weekend of competition. There are running events and field event going on for three days. Jumpers and throwers and runners from all over the state gather to see what individuals and what teams will be the best. It is a crazy three days. And even though people try and figure out the numbers beforehand, nobody really knows who will come out on top as a team until all the events are done. We took ten girls, and seven of them scored enough points to bring home the second place trophy. Way to go girls!

Now, if you think that T&F is an individual sport with a team component, you are right. To an extent. But there are some aspects of the sport where the individual athlete might need to put the team first. Or maybe a high second. One of those considerations is in the relays.

Relays are usually people’s secondary events. The athletes like them, but usually not as much as they like their individual events. Which sometimes means that they need a little convincing. After all, running events have two components at the state meet – preliminaries and finals. Which means two races of the same thing. And when you add the preliminaries of relays, that can be a lot of racing. So the athletes need to buy into the team concept. They need to know that the relays are important. Important enough to make sacrifices of time and energy. Both in practice and in meets. Our girls did just that.

We had two relay teams at the state meet, the 4×200 meters and the 4×400 meters. Both relays scored points. And when those relay points were added to the points of the individual scorers, we had 59 points (compared to the winning team’s 67 points). Going into the last race of the meet, the 4×400m relay, we were tied for second. So all the girls had to do was pass the baton around the track and finish the race and we would win second place outright. They finished eighth, and the girls team won a trophy! Second place! Woo hoo!

Now second place is nothing to sneeze at. I know a coach who has won it all before who was excited to get a second place trophy. And we had never done it before. So we were ecstatic. The 2024 Cedarcrest Girls T&F team had done what no other Cedarcrest girls T&F team had ever done before. They got a trophy at state.

To be sure, every girl on the team contributed to the effort. One of our athletes had the majority of our points finishing first in two events and adding a second and third place in her other two events. L was the long jump and triple jump champion. She added her other points in the 100 meter (third) and 200 meter (second) races. M added points finishing fourth in the triple jump. (We had two placers in the same event!) MJ got third in the discus. L2 got fifth in the 800 meters race. And our team of K, A, L2, and S finished fifth in the 4×200m and eighth in the 4×400m relays. It was an amazing team effort.

It was an amazing three days that culminated an amazing season. Few people would have put our girls in second place in the state in the 2A championship, but our team did it. Congratulations Cedarcrest High School Girls Track and Field team! You are amazing.