Auld Lang Syne

Happy New Year!

New beginnings, or one year closer to death? I suppose it's all a matter of perspective.

I don't traditionally make New Year's resolutions, but my understanding is that approximately 40% of Americans do. Unfortunately, of those people who make resolutions, about 88% fail. So for those of you who made your resolutions last night, I hope for are part of the 12%.

New Year's resolutions have quite the historical precedent. The Babylonians would make promises to their gods at the beginning of each year to return borrowed objects and repay old debts. The Romans would make promises to the god Janus, for whom "January" is named.

These ancient rites have apparently evolved into Americans making promises to the ghost of Dick Clark for self-improvement. 

In the spirit of the holiday, I hearby publish my 2013 New Year's Resolutions:

1) Take a trip with Sherry that requires an airplane. I haven't been on a "real vacation" in about four years. Mostly this lapse was due to financial and time constraints related to the divorce, but my extensive work related travel between 2004 and 2008 soured me on all airport related matters. I hate driving to the airport, paying a fortune to park, submitting to completely unnecessary invasive searches, jamming myself into a tiny coach seat and paying extra for having the audacity to check my luggage. That's all before take off. Add in missed connections, mechanical difficulties, weather, cruddy hotel rooms and rental cars and you might begin to understand my position.

Sherry deserves a vacation and I've been putting it off. I don't care where we go or when we go there, but I'm definitely going to support it. That said, I will not be part of the selection or booking process beyond confirming that my passport is valid and up to date. A man has to have standards.

2) Maintain my weight. No New Year's resolution list is complete without a weight related promise which is rarely (if ever) achieved. In my case, I simply want to maintain my current weight, mostly for health reasons since I'm now a year older. Since turning 40, I've become a little more aware of my mortality. The aches and pains seem to linger a little longer. Since I want to be present for my kids, I need to keep off the extra weight.

3) Volunteer my time to the Shelby Township Little League. This one will be really easy to follow through on. Last year the boy asked me NOT to coach his Little League team (at his mother's prodding). Since he asked, and to keep the peace, I reluctantly agreed. Unfortunately, it didn't work out the way he (or I) had hoped. There was no peace and his coach was abrasive, loud and "not good" at baseball.

Look, I think that anybody that contributes their time to Little League is a hero. That said, there are good coaches and bad coaches. As a coach, my objectives have always been pretty straightforward. First, the kids should have fun. Second, everyone should learn and get better at the game of baseball. That's about it. As a coach, it's my job to teach the kids how to pitch, field and hit; to identify their individual strengths and weaknesses and put them in positions to succeed.

Last season my son's coach's most overused quotation was "you can't do that!" Well, yes, the boys can and did "do that". Whether it was throwing to the wrong base, dropping the ball, holding the ball too long, swinging at strike one as it sails over your head, walking the leadoff batter on four pitches or not advancing to second on a wild pitch, they did in fact "do that". It wasn't from lack of effort. They simply weren't properly prepared or put in positions to succeed. Constant failure isn't fun - I'm from Cleveland, I know this first hand. Competitive games are fun. Success is fun. Being part of and contributing to a team is fun. Being criticized during a game by your coach for mistakes that weren't discussed or covered in your practices is "not fun".

This year, if the kids don't have fun and don't learn anything, it'll be my fault.

That said, my son and I are both fully aware that we should never be in a coach / player relationship. If I am selected to manage, we both understand that I will only be managing 12 of the 13 kids. That's what assistant coaches are for. The very best baseball coach The Boy ever had was Steve Nadolski. I would pay good money for Steve to coach The Boy every year. But even Steve was rendered absolutely incompetent where his two boys were concerned. Unfortunately, I believe this is true for almost all fathers and sons.

4) Get and keep our financial house in order. Financially, things are pretty good. I can afford my current lifestyle and I'm comfortable with it. I have a craft beer wallet to match my craft beer taste. What I'd like is to develop a little more financial discipline. Believe it or not, I'm less than 11 years away from being eligible for full retirement. Granted, with an eight year old in the house it won't be feasible for me to retire to the caribbean in 2024. But I would like the financial flexibility to move on to a new stage of my life, perhaps going back to college to teach.

To give myself that kind of flexibility, I need to start preparing for the future. Being debt free is nice, but it's not really sufficient when you're pushing 45 years of age. It's time to start saving like a grown up and not spending like a teenager on spring break.

With Sherry's help, we will make a plan and stick to it.

That's about it.

***

On the occasion of this joyous New Year, I'm about to perform a much needed musical public service. I'm going to explain "Auld Lang Syne". See, I've heard that damn song at least 90 times between New Year's celebrations, funerals and Cub Scout functions but to this day I didn't know what the heck "Auld Lang Syne" meant.

Thanks to the good people of Wikipedia, we now have the resources to answer such pressing questions. Literally, Auld Lang Syne translates from old Scottish to "Old Long Since". "For Auld Lang Syne" might be loosely translated to "for the sake of old times". Here is the original text from Robert Burns' 1788 poem:


Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne ?

CHORUS:

For auld lang syne, my jo, (jo is "darling")
for auld lang syne,
we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
And surely ye’ll be your pint-stowp ! (be is "buy", stowp is "glass")
and surely I’ll be mine !
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We twa hae run about the braes, (twa is "two", hae is "have", braes are "hills")
and pu’d the gowans fine ; (pu'd is "picked", gowans are "flowers")
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary fit, (mony is "many", fit is "foot")
sin auld lang syne. (sin is "since")

CHORUS

We twa hae paidl’d i' the burn, (paidl'd is "paddled", burn is "stream")
frae morning sun till dine ; (dine is "dinner time")
But seas between us braid hae roar’d (braid hae roar'd is "broad have roared")
sin auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere ! (fiere is "friend")
and gie's a hand o’ thine ! (gie's is "give us")
And we’ll tak a right gude-willy waught, (gued-willy waught is roughly "good will draught" or "good will drink")
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

So, Auld Lang Syne is essentially a drinking song between old friends that have lost touch over time.

At this time of year it's certainly appropriate to think back on old times and old friends. So to all of my family and friends who I certainly don't call or write as often as I should,

Prost!

For auld lang syne!