Your Dominant Intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence

You are excellent with words and language. You explain yourself well. An elegant speaker, you can converse well with anyone on the fly. You are also good at remembering information and convicing someone of your point of view. A master of creative phrasing and unique words, you enjoy expanding your vocabulary. You would make a fantastic poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, or translator.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

There are rumors flying that we might get out of work early today. That would be a nice bonus. I could deposit my check in the bank, get my hair cut, clean out my car, and relax before starting into the evening's activities. Wouldn't that be a nice bonus headed into the new year.
One other chore that needs to be accomplished soon is something that I've been waiting to happen for a long time. I have to check some records to tell you exactly how long, but it's been a long, long time. After having me rant about all the other specialty license plates that are floating around Pennsylvania, I wanted to know why Carnegie Mellon didn't have one of their own. Then came the opportunity to order an alumni plate. So, I ordered one for me and one for Terri. Time passes, more time passes, more time passes, time passes, more time passes, "Dad if you don't know what a purple nurple ping pong ball is, I can't help you." more time passes, time passes, more time passes, we get pregnant, have a child, celebrate the child's first Father's Day, more time passes, celebrate the child's first Fourth of July, more time passes, celebrate the child's dedication, more time passes, celebrate the child's first Halloween, more time passes, celebrate the child's first Thanksgiving, more time passes, celebrate the child's first Christmas, more time passes and then lo and behold...like a forgotten memory, the plates arrive. Of course, they arrive about two weeks late for Terri who just got a new car, so now we'll have to call the DMV and find out what we need to do to update her car and registration, but it arrived. Of course, it looks nothing like the original plate that they offered us. This one has some sort of digital photo on it, but it's here. Finally. It has arrived. Just in time for the new year to begin. In fact, maybe that's when I'll make the change on my car. January 1st. A new plate for a new year.
I can't believe that 2004 is over already. A lot happened within the year, but it still feels as though it went by too quickly and not much got accomplished. Oh well, here's to a better 2005 for all of our friends and family. And there's only 360 shopping days left til next Christmas. I believe I just got a flyer from Target about pre-holiday sales.

One thing that I forgot to mention from the Christmas holiday with my family is the lesson. When my Grandmother was put into assisted living and we were told that she was never going to be able to live on her own again, my mother and uncle made the decision to sell the house. They went in and got their stuff, and my brother and I were able to take anything that we wanted. The rest was sold at an estate auction and the house was sold. My uncle Bob had pretty much the same situation with his mother. He and his brother went into the house and took what they wanted, sold the rest and sold the house. One of the things that my uncle Bob ended up with was an upright piano that his father had restored once. So, Bob was all interested in restoring it again. He had already started restoring it before Christmas and had it put back together when we got there. However, after my parents and grandmother had left, I expressed an interest in both the restoration and actually owning a piano. That turned out to be the best Christmas present that we could have ever gotten Bob. His eyes lit up and he proceeded (with a little help from me) to dismantle the upright piano. I learned more about pianos on Christmas day than I think I'll ever need to know in my lifetime. However, I guess for his next project he was looking to buy an older piano, possibly a grand piano and restore it, but he didn't know what he'd do with two pianos. Now, his mission is to buy the piano, restore it, and give it to Gage. I sure hope Gage is interested in music.
Not much else is going on. I completed phase two of the tetris moving last night. All that's left is to move the stuff out of the library back into the guest room and we should have everything ready for any exercise that we might complete.
The new year is already filling with stuff we have plans for or would like to do and we haven't even hit January yet. Hopefully at some point our schedules will slow down, otherwise we'll have to self-impose some sort of exile just to catch our collective breath.
I've started watching what little coverage they have of the world junior hockey games. I've seen the two U.S. games that they broadcast. Not bad, it's a shame that Montoya is going to the Rangers. He's playing like I expected Fleury to play when he arrived in town. Fleury disappointed, Montoya doesn't.
I guess that's enough for today. Oh, and I'll wish a quick Happy Anniversary to Terri. Today marks 12 years and 3 months.

I know that this is going to be another abbreviated work week, and I do like that, but after two straight weeks of having Friday off, that first week in January is going to suck.
It's an interesting phenomenon to see how big the draw is to "finish what you've started". I have projects in various phases all over the house, hell...all over my life. One thing that has lagged on for almost a year now is the fact that I've been steadily acquiring classes and credits at a local community college for an accounting certificate. Yes, you can re-read that sentence. I said accounting.
If you aren't a regular reader, I'll recap. The university that I worked for said they wanted to promote me and fast-track me into a management role. In order to make it all legit, they wanted me to have the Supervisor's track completed in HR courses that are offered for staff development at the University. That was 6 courses of learning things like time card management and university perks, which was their way of explaining why the university paid like crap. So, I finished that and in January of 2004 I started working towards the certificate which was their other requirement. It takes 10 classes to finish up a certificate. To date, I've finished 6. I took two in the spring, two in the summer, and two in the fall. I'm registered for two more in the spring and one more in the summer leaving me just one class. One flexible accounting class. It could be any accounting class I want. And the only three offered over the summer, I've already taken.
Since my former employer did nothing but jerk me around and string me along, I'm not sure why I even care about finishing this stupid certificate. I'll most likely never use it. And, I doubt I'll even list it on a resume, unless I have an extra line open.
Which means that I just rambled on for several sentences with no intention of wrapping it up other than to say, there is a mighty big draw to "finish what you've started".
We took all of our Christmas decorations down last night. Our house is almost back to normal. It's pretty small and we're damn close to outgrowing it with Gage and all related baby paraphernalia. It's like playing a big game of tetris. This stuff has to be moved and this room clean in order to move stuff out of a second room to clean there so that a third room can be taken care of. Last night we moved all the Christmas stuff out of the living room. We boxed it up and took it to the guest room where it's stored in the "offseason". That meant that after I got all of those boxes stored away, I could clean up the guest room and take all of the stuff that normally resides in the living room back downstairs. That meant that I could go into the library and move all of the stuff back that normally belongs in the guest room. So that I can clean up the library and get my work space back. Which also means the living room will be put back together so that our treadmill will function again, which means that the guest room will be clean enough to use the exercise equipment stored in there. All of this just in time to make that mandatory new year's resolution of, exercise and weight loss. So, I spend two or three hours getting the house back into shape and moving tons of stuff around and up and down stairs, just so that I can exercise and get back into shape. Ain't life a bitch?

Well let's see what went on this weekend. I got out of work a little early on Thursday so I took that opportunity to go home and try and sort everything out for the next couple of days. On Friday we headed down to Terri's parent's house for their day of "Christmas." Now that we have Gage, we've ended up splitting the holidays by two days instead of splitting one day into two. So, we spent several hours at their house and then headed over to Tom's parent's house and visited with them for an hour or so. Gage was content to bang on his little congo drum that Tom bought for him. It's odd to hear the children's song "Bingo" played in a calypso style. Then we headed back to Terri's parent's house. By this time, her uncles had shown up and we started to hand gifts back and forth. Amazingly enough, I actually got decent gifts this year. It took 13 years, but it finally happened. We finished up too late at their house to surprise my mom at Christmas Eve service at church (which is where we would have been every other year) so we just headed home. We attempted to put Gage to bed close to his normal time, but apparently Christmas, Santa, Presents, and Excitement are all hot-wired into little kids. He was so wound up and just wouldn't go to sleep. We finally got him settled down after 11 and we headed to bed. Or at least Terri did. Unbeknownst to her, I had played Santa on my own. We had actually agreed that we weren't getting Gage anything this year since the grandparent's were already going insane. But, I couldn't resist. So, I went downstairs to get everything out of hiding and wrap it all up and get it under the tree.
Christmas morning we got to sleep in a little by bringing Gage into bed with us and getting him to take a little nap. Then when we headed downstairs, Terri and Gage were surprised. So, I actually got out the video camera (which hasn't been used since about 10 minutes after his birth) and taped him opening presents up. Which caught a nice shot of him getting hold of the cat's tail and giving it a good yank for Christmas. And, as we discovered, if you're going to sneak around and play Santa, make sure you check to see whether batteries are included or not. I really want to go back to the Toys R Us and get something for free. They used to run a promotion that awarded something to you if the cashier didn't try to suggestively sell batteries. I know this for a fact because of two occurrences. The first one, I was buying legos (which only need batteries if you're buying the train set). The cashier asked me if I needed any batteries with my purchase. I picked up the box of legos, shook it, and said, "No, I think I'll just make the noises myself." The cashier then apologized and said that it was a store policy that they had to ask with every purchase, regardless of what it was. So, the next time I was in, I ended up not finding what I was looking for, so I just bought a candy bar. The cashier didn't ask if I wanted batteries and I got a free drink to go with my candy bar. Anyway, then we all got showered and dressed and headed over to my Uncles' house for my family's Christmas.
Thankfully my Grandmother was well enough to make the trip. So, we had everyone there and we had an excellent Christmas dinner and then Gage fell asleep on my Mom's lap. My mom, who had been pretty busy this year, didn't actually wrap most of the presents. So, the Leap Pad that they had gotten for Gage was just sitting there. My uncle David proceeded to open it up, put in the batteries and start playing with it. Between him and my parents, they've played with it more than Gage has. As soon as my Mom got there, she took Gage (as per her norm) and they went upstairs. They came back later and were very mysterious about it. Well, my mom was, I don't think Gage knows what mysterious is yet. So, as we're passing out gifts, my mom hands Terri and I a box and launches into a story about the day after Thanksgiving when she and my dad watched Gage while Terri and I worked. They took him (against our wishes) to a portrait studio to have Christmas pictures taken. They even bought him a little outfit especially for it. Turns out, a couple days after they took the pictures, the studio called my mom. Gage was chosen as "kid of the month" and they wanted to know if they would sign release forms so they could hang his picture in the studio. My mom panicked. She didn't expect anything like that. So, she called my Uncle who just laughed hysterically. Between the two of them they managed to get the studio to hold off until after Christmas when Terri and I could call and authorize the whole thing. I found out this morning that the studio isn't open til Wednesday, so I'm sure they'll be more on that later.
Anyway, the festivities were wonderful at my Uncles' house and we made plans to see this just after the new year. Then we headed home and Gage once again wasn't ready for bed. He finally fell asleep and we cleaned up some of the post-Christmas mess and headed to bed ourselves.
Sunday morning we slept in (we aren't sure if we actually missed church or not) and had a leisurely morning awaiting Joe's phone call. He and DEK were tailgating before the Steeler's game and we were going to meet them at Damon's to have lunch and watch the game. Which turned out to be a good experience all around. We got some pictures of Gage with both of them, they got to see Gage flirting with the waitress and the food wasn't bad. We also got our annual dose of the holiday baking frenzy that is DEK's mom. MMMM, I was happy for those last night when I was prowling around for a snack.
After we got home from watching the Steeler's game, Tom called and stopped by on his way home from the Steeler's game to drop off some more stuff for Gage that his brother and sister-in-law had got for him. So, Gage did pretty well this year. We only have to catch up with a few more friends and this year's holiday experience will be over. Thankfully.

I had planned to start off this post with pepperoni cheese, but that will have to wait a paragraph or two. I'm now fully convinced that the radios that have been in my cars have been haunted in some way. We knew the one in the Cavalier was. There was no doubt about that. It sensed when certain people were in the car and only played certain songs. Where is all this headed? Breakfast at Tiffany's. The song was a minor hit in 1995. Almost a decade ago. Now, two straight mornings I've heard it on two different Pittsburgh radio stations. Maybe I should just buy the DVD and get it over with.
Now, back to pepperoni cheese. If you don't know what pepperoni cheese is then shame on you for six weeks as Mike Lange would say. Anyway, every summer when I was kid I would stay at my grandmother's house for a week or so. Usually multiple times a summer. My grandmother had a pretty set routine. Up early, read the bible, read the paper, breakfast, clean, walk up the street to get the mail and groceries, watch the Price Is Right, make lunch, watch the CBS News, watch the Young and the Restless, clean, watch Guiding Light, clean, make dinner, watch church programs, go to bed. Pretty steady day in day out. Well, when we would walk up the street for mail and the groceries, the grocery store was a mom and pop operation. No Foodland, Shop N Save, or Giant Eagle. It was a little store where pretty much everyone in town had a tab. So, Grandma would usually shop one day at a time. When I was there, I would get to pick out some lunch food, usually lunch meat, cheese, maybe soup or something. The deli had pepperoni cheese (which is cheddar cheese with chunks of pepperoni in the cheese). So, I would usually get salami and pepperoni cheese. That was my staple at Grandma's house. And, looking back on it, I'm trying to figure out how I don't weigh 400 lbs now. Anyway, on and off, ever since I moved out on my own I've kind of scanned deli counters and cheese sections looking for pepperoni cheese. I've always come up empty. I just assumed that since it wasn't the healthiest of foods it went away. So, the fruitless search continued...until last night. Susie came over to exchange gifts and pick up the Vader mask for her nephew. And I hit the jackpot. A five pound block of pepperoni cheese. All for me! Merry Christmas! Of course, I cracked it open right there. One taste and I was nine years old on my grandma's sofa watching the Daddy and Patti show again. It's absolutely amazing how certain stimuli, a smell, a taste, can trigger such powerful memories. So, thank you Susie. Perhaps my heart didn't grow in size and a blanket clutching youngster didn't fully explain it to me, but my holidays did brighten and commercialism can't kill the pepperoni cheese.

Long Live The Pepperoni Cheese!

Oh yeah and Terri and Gage got really cool stuff too.

Quick post today...lots to do this Christmas season. Although the majority of the things that I have to do have nothing to do with Christmas or the holidays.
Anyway, yesterday in going through my regular rotation of CDs and I hit the album by Deep Blue Something who had a hit with the song Breakfast at Tiffany's in the mid-90's. Then last night, I put Gage to bed since Terri was working late and I was flipping through the channels and there was Breakfast at Tiffany's. I had never actually seen the film and since I had heard the song earlier that day, I thought I'd give it a shot. It wasn't bad. Now granted I had only seen George in his tough-guy roles, most notably with this and this, but I enjoyed the film. And oddly enough, I find that now that I've started posting regularly again I keep finding bits and pieces about writers and writing. I had no idea through my various trivia knowledge of the movie (never actually having seen it) that Peppard's character was a writer. Very interesting. There were only two things that struck me about the movie as a whole. One, it was kind of jarring to see Audrey with a cigarette in her hand all the time. I'm not anti-smoking, but it just looked wrong. The second thing was this. How do you cast the all-American white boy as a little old Japanese man? It was very interesting and I'm sure that Blake had a ball with those scenes. It certainly seemed to be a lead-in for future Panther movies. And, to top it all off, this morning on the way into work I actually heard Deep Blue Something's song on the radio. Very strange juju.
Anyway, not too much else. Although Gage woke himself up last night and when I went in to check on him, he was flat on his stomach. That means, whether he did it intentionally or not, he actually rolled all the way over. He's been very frustrating in that department. He'll roll most of the way over and then flop back over on his back. He doesn't like being on his stomach so I'm sure that plays into why he hasn't taken the time to learn rolling over, but it's kind of exasperating for those of us on the sidelines.

Well I got hit with a little bit of work this morning, so I didn't get to blog right away, but never fear...here I am. Well it's only 4 days til Christmas. Has my attitude changed any from the constant nagging of people like Susiezy? I don't know. I certainly know what the spirit of Christmas is, but commercialism is doing it's part to kill it. Well, maybe the arrival of Santa at my household for the first time in probably 14 years might make the difference. We'll see.
And speaking of Susiezy she can't wish for something like goodwill or peace on earth or even winning the lottery. No. She had to go and waste her powers on this. Yeah, the underdog won and that's all well and good, but in the grand scheme of things, what did it really accomplish? She could have used her powers for good and wished me a lottery win (I would have cut her in). Oh well, I guess that goes along with the whole spirit of Christmas and not having it be all about one's self during the holidays. Even though it should be like that throughout the whole year. Maybe she should give the spirit of Christmas lecture to the guy who flipped me off in the tunnel this morning.
Anyway, she also got a nice Christmas bonus wish in the fact that JK Rowling finally finished the 6th Harry Potter book and set a release date. Now I'm sure that some parent's took notice and mentally reminded themselves that they should probably find a way to pick it up so the kids don't have their heads explode from waiting. However, did they take vacation time, clear their entire calendar that weekend, and buy a new bookshelf in honor of the book? I know someone insane enough to do that. If only the spirit of Christmas were as addictive as the spirit of Harry Potter.
Anyway, I guess I should stop making fun of Susie since a) she knows where I live and b)is actually planning on stopping by this week.
So, if I don't talk to you personally over this mad rush of a holiday season, here's wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas (or Happy Hanukkah for the Jewish constituent) and a Happy New Year (or profitable New Year for the Jewish constituent).

This weekend went by entirely too quickly. I think Terri and I have realized that our "Christmas" cards are most likely going to be post-Christmas cards. Although she was intent on getting the first wave out the door. You never realize how much your friends and family move around until you have to send out invitations or Christmas cards. Then it becomes a little game of tracking them down and getting a physical address. There are a ton of ways to communicate nowadays. E-mail, voice-mail, phone, cell-phone, IM, text messages, pagers, etc. that having an actual brick and mortar address often seems superfluous. It's odd to think of such a concept, but actual pen-pals (the paper letter variety) are kind of becoming obselete. My cousin Cindi and I used to write to one another at least one or twice a month through my first year of college. Now we chat on the phone every couple of months and try to catch up. I think after the first of the year, I'm going to attempt to write some actual physical letters and see how many get answered.
Although, I'm sure that ambition (like most of my others) will simply get tossed aside into the larger pile of "stuff that needs to be done" or some other aptly named pile.
This weekend I spent most of my time babysitting since Terri was on call. Being on call for Terri isn't quite like a doctor, but you do get random calls at all hours. She also has to work the weekend that she's on call. So, the little one and I spent most of the weekend hanging out in our pajamas trying to get stuff done around the house. On Saturday we headed down to see my Grandmother and we all went out to lunch for her 84th birthday. Nowadays I'm so torn about seeing my Grandmother it's causing me guilt. I love my Grandmother, but it really does hurt seeing her in so much pain and confusion. Her birthday celebration was wonderful and she got to see Gage which always brightens her day.
On Sunday, we were flipping through the channels trying to find something halfway entertaining to watch when we saw one of those commercials for the latest CD's. This one was hawking the newest Toby Keith CD, Greatest Hits Volume 2. It was making such a big deal out of the fact that there were 11 hits, plus 3 new songs on this CD and not only was it a Greatest Hits, but it was a Greatest Hits Volume 2. They made it seem as though he was a prolific artist that couldn't be stopped. GH1 had 14 songs total and even if you count the new songs (which shouldn't appear on a greatest hits album and I don't even want to ramp up the rant on that one) the new one has 14. That's 28 total for the math impaired. That's basically just over half the number recently released on George Strait's album...50 Number Ones. Fifty! And they were all number one on the country charts. And, since they released his newest single on that album as well, it has since gone to number one. So, technically you are getting 51 number one hits all by the same artist. I think they should hype Toby Keith when he makes it that far. Because his latest batch of stuff, (shamelessly promoting his daughter's wannabe career, and "Stays in Mexico"), isn't going to keep him around long enough to hit 51 greatest hits, let alone 51 number ones.
I guess that's all for today. I haven't seen anything else new on the hockey front which probably means I won't see any live Penguins hockey this season.

I was thinking about my post this morning on my way into work and I had decided that I was going to attempt to stay away from the morning radio, music in general, and Christmas. Then I realized I didn't have much else to talk about.
So, upon entering the office I was going through my e-mails and I came across an e-mail containing a Q&A from one of the ESPN announcers for hockey. Now, if you look back through the blog...I don't like the ESPN announcers for hockey. However, being so starved for anything ice related (we've actually instituted Jersey Fridays in our office) I scanned down through the questions. Most were about the player's union, CBA, and owners. However, one stood out. A fan asked John Buccigross about the civic arena (now the Mellon arena) in Pittsburgh. I thought it was actually a very intelligent answer...which the announcers so very seldom give. So, I decided to just paste it right in here, it's a little long, but oh so worth it for Pittsburgh fans and hockey fans in general.

John,
I was wondering what you thought of the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh? I feel that is one of the best places to see an NHL game today. I mean who else can say that Gretzky, Lemuiex, Lafleur, Roy, and Orr all skated on the same ice as in use today? It will be a sad day when the Pens get a new arena. The boxes are located way up high leaving the fans seats closer to the ice.

Mark Savannah

The first NHL game I ever saw in person was at the Civic Arena. It is an awesome place to see a hockey game. I remember sitting in the last row for a game and, you are right Mark, it's a great seat. The NHL should use all the muscle they have to keep the Penguins in Pittsburgh and help build an intimate and as brilliant a venue as the Pittsburgh Pirates play in. This is a special franchise with a significant history. One of the three greatest players of all time is playing there. What is Mario Lemiuex's legacy if the Penguins leave? He'll have no uniform. I was watching a Penguins Classic game from 1991 on DirectTV the other day. What a team! What a power play. Lemieux, Stevens and Recchi in their primes, and Coffey and Murphy on the point! Bob Johnson coached in Pittsburgh. Scotty Bowman coached there. Mike Lang, Jaromir Jagr, Joey Mullen, Craig Patrick, Tom Barrasso, Ron Francis, two Stanley Cups ... and it says here they get Sidney Crosby in the next draft and the cycle of greatness will return.

I miss hockey.

I was listening to one of the local country music stations and they had an announcer voice-over promo come on and the guy says, "Do you remember Smokey and the Bandit, BJ and the Bear, and the Duke boys? Then you're going to love our way back airplay." Then they proceeded to play a song from 1999! Smokey was released in 1977, BJ and the Bear was on TV from 79-81 and the Dukes of Hazzard ran from 79-85. I expected to hear a country song from 1980ish give or take a few years. They played a song from 5 years ago. 5! That's not way back. That's not even back. That's like the rock station going, "Do you remember The Beatles, The Eagles, and Bob Dylan?" and then playing Britney Spear's first hit. I certainly don't own my own radio station or announce at a radio station, but I think the first thing I would do if I was trying to sanction an entire day for listening pleasure is make the damn promos match the music. Blows, I tell you.
Yes, you can call me Bill Scrooge if you like. Perhaps I am. However, there's one big difference between the Dickens' character and myself is that there is no redemption in my future. At least none that I'm aware of. Ghosts that visit me aren't going to revive my holiday spirit unless they start pulling commercialism out of the picture. Toy manufacturers start a campaign in late October and early November to build up that year's "must-have" toy. Then they start short-shipping them to stores to build up frenzy and demand. One of the must-have toys this year is the Spongebob Squarepants Krabby Patty Grill Set. Don't ask how I know. When inquiring about it at a local Toys R Us, the manager said that they weren't slated to get any more in because they weren't a big enough outlet. It's a shame that some executive decided that Pittsburgh kids don't need the toy that they deemed the must-have toy of the year. I hope the kids in New York and LA enjoy them between visits to the nanny's house and boarding school. Ok, that's a little off base, but these toys are singled out and then who goes and buys them up? Middle-aged men. What do they do with them? They list them on E-bay and make a tidy profit off of some poor parent's desire to bring a little happiness to their child to make up for the fact that they have to work 60 hours a week to feed, clothe, and pay for daycare for the child. And to top it all off, it's a FREAKIN' PRETEND FAST FOOD GRILL! What the hell is that teaching the kids? So, pardon me if I'm not all "deck the halls and fa-la-la."
Enough of that bitterness. Here's some phenomenal news from the job front. For the first time in 4 years...I got a holiday bonus. I've been working for this company for...one month today. And I got a holiday bonus. Granted, it wasn't overwhelming, but it was a bonus. Damn, it's good to be appreciated.
We also had our holiday party last night at Dave and Buster's. Free appetizers, dinner, dessert, and open bar...all night long. In addition to all of that, we got power cards with 100 chips apiece on them to play games. (This breaks into weird parent mode, so you can skip to the next paragraph if you'd like) You should have seen Gage's eyes trying to follow all the lights and sounds in the game room. He played a couple of games with Mommy and Daddy. We have a great picture of him riding on the motorcycle game with me. It's very hard to steer a motorcycle one handed.
Ok, weird parent moment over. And, that's pretty much the end of the post too I think. Although I'll lament the fact that the NHL's season is pretty much over since the union rejected the players' offer and the players rejected the union's offer.

Ten days til Christmas. Instead of seeing the anticipation for the holiday build throughout the month of December, commercialization has kind of plateaued. So, now...when kids should be perfect angels in hopes that Santa is coming are kind of blase about the whole thing. When I was a kid, Christmas anticipation started about the second week of December when all the holiday specials started to air and all the stores were completely decked out. Now, in order to keep up with everything, people are shopping in August for early presents and they put up the big tree in PPG place in downtown Pittsburgh around the end of October. I feel bad for kids nowadays. You can't have excitement build for two and a half months and expect the same result. I have no idea how Gage is going to react to all the hype, but hopefully Terri and I can level him out to understand that Christmas doesn't actually come earlier each year as the media hype would make you believe.
Anyway, I heard a nice comment about the glut of reality shows. While being asked about the show, "The Biggest Loser" the interviewee simply stated, "Isn't it ironic that a show all about striving to lose weight causes you to sit on the couch every week and do nothing while watching?" Nice.
Work started off with an hour long meeting as soon as I walked in the door and will end with the holiday party at Dave and Buster's tonight. It will be interesting to see how my new co-workers react to Gage. Most of them don't know that I'm married let alone have a child. I haven't had much time to decorate my office space. I've only been here about a month and it has been one crazy month. Oh well, hopefully Gage is up to meeting lots of new people.
Congrats to Joe for overcoming procrastination long enough to take a law final or two. And, I know that there are quite a few people who are pulling for the Pittsburgh interview.
One nice thing (and potentially a bad thing) about listening to my cds in order is the multiple discs by the same artist. Always a good thing if you enjoy the artist, but there are several sets of multiple discs that always drag. However, the past two days have not been dragging. Work is always so much better when set to the music of "The Dead Milkmen" and their unique stylings. And, there are at least nine more albums of theirs in the queue. Oh, happy day!

Well, we're about 89 1/2 days into the lockout. And, I'm pretty sure that the Bettman party is going to end up pissing away the season. A story broke this morning saying that the owners are going to reject the player's offer. So, much for negotiation.
I may actually end up going to watch local high school hockey just to get a fix.
You'll never hear me praise football in any capacity, save one. I don't understand why the NHL can't look over at the NFL and say...wow, those guys have a cap and they're doing alright. It hasn't hurt the game, it's helped the game. The players are still filthy rich and most of the teams are competitive. Oh well, when the league folds, there will be plenty of people in line to say, I told you so.
I was reading an AP article the other day that struck me as kind of funny. Apparently due to the coding system in some hospitals, yellow is the color bracelet for a DNR. So, all these patients showing off their "Live Strong" bracelets to support Lance Armstrong and his charity had to have their bracelets taped over to avoid potential mistakes and lawsuits. Yeah, 'cause taking them off while you're in the hospital clearly isn't the answer.
I found this article rather interesting and I hope to have some more time to visit this site and possibly even get myself listed. Although what specific Pittsburgh content I carry, I don't know.
Well, to that end...I'll talk about this. Walt Harris. As referenced above, so not a football fan. But after working for Pitt for almost 3 years, you can't help but have stuff like that seep through. I mean, 7 people in my office had season tickets. Anyway, Harris, who won coach of the year, a big east title, and is going to the Fiesta Bowl, is leaving to take the coaching job at Stanford. Do I care? No. Do other people care? Well, it's been the lead story for several news shows in the area and the papers are certainly hanging on every word. What I don't understand is, if you are a player in the Fiesta Bowl and your team is down by a couple of points late in the fourth quarter, where do you find that extra grit and determination to win for your coach who, technically, isn't even your coach anymore? Just curious.
Anyway, enough with football and Pittsburgh relevant topics. Unless you'd like to talk about the fact that Pittsburgh driver's can't handle snow. No, that's another two or three hour rant.
And, to end on good news...Season 1 of this comes out in late January. Hmm, maybe I can have a party for that instead of that stupid football game that always comes on in late January/early Feb?

Nothing overly exciting going on in my world today. There are two other people besides myself who do the same work at my new office. Both of them seem to be off today. I hope there are no pressing projects. I was kind of hoping just to slide through the day pretty much unnoticed, go to class, grab my lecture notes and review sheets, head to the store, fight off a horde of people, come out with the last 3 1/2 gifts that I need to get, go home, and relax.
Somehow, I'm sure that's not really going to happen that way.
On Saturday we picked up Terri's new car. This is what it looks like. It's berry red and seems to have improvements over her last car. The two things that I'm concerned with are the electrical power steering and the car battery in the trunk. Other than that, it seems like a good car.
We also did 97% of our Christmas shopping on Saturday. We were gone for twelve hours. Maybe there is something to be said for starting early. Although, I did manage to find the Darth Vader voice changing mask. So, that's something.
Friday night I went to my old office's Christmas party. Most of the core group that I hung out with were there. Everyone was excited to see Gage. I also got pretty solid confirmation about the "resigning" of my old supervisor. It's a shame that stuff like that has to happen and it's more of a shame that they allow stuff like that to go on to the point where that needs to happen. Anyway, the party was pretty good, although they underestimated the amount of food that they would need. It didn't matter too much though. The smaller group of us headed to another restaurant for dessert (they also didn't check on the available time and we got kicked out after 2 1/2 hours). But, it was fun. One more holiday party to go this Wednesday and then hopefully we'll have some evenings to ourselves.
Anyway, not much else is going on. I think I'll just cut it short for today and try to get a jump on my own work, just in case I'm going to inherit everyone else's.

I was driving into work this morning and a mini-van pulled into the lane right behind me. Not a big deal, he wasn't honking or swearing, but as we neared my office, he pulled into the passing lane and started to pull ahead of me. That's when I noticed that the Chevy Venture Mini-Van was...are you ready?...a hearse! Yes, a hearse. The car that carries the dead people to their final resting place. I swear, if I'm goin' out, I'm not goin' out in a mini-van for Christ's sakes. I can count on one hand the number of times I've actually ridden in one and I'd like to keep it that way.
Anyway, I guess I struck a nerve of the children of my generation. Amazing how a song from a TV show adheres itself to your brain, but you can't remember the 17 rules for inserting a comma into a sentence. I'm fairly certain that someday soon, there will be in-utero television with, obviously, surround sound. Gage loves to sit and watch television. I don't know if it's the moving picture, the color...he'll strain his neck to see it from wherever he's at. It's certainly curbed our own television viewing. I don't need his brain leaking out through his ears before he's old enough to talk.
Oh well, time to get back to work so I can leave work and go to my old office's Christmas party. This one should be interesting. I left the office a month ago. Since that time, they've replaced me by hiring one of the temps, but didn't replace the temp. So, they are still a person down in the office and don't understand why they are getting behind. And, they had a supervisor "resign" or whatever terminology they are using for it. So, it's going to be all kinds of fun tonight.

Wow, no comments for a long time and then wham! I don't know why you would worry about seeing Valentine's stuff. They put that away last week. I started Easter shopping last night. At this rate, I can be done with Christmas shopping for the decade by about mid-2007.
I've decided to attempt to alleviate my cranky mood by doing something kind.

Let this notice serve to all who read it that Susie has been officially forgiven for missing our wedding*

I also discovered that when you have two stations that are approximately the same genre, it is a) really cool when you finish a song you love on one, flip to the other and get to hear it again. b) really sucks when you find a song you can't stand, flip to the other and there it is again.
One of the radio stations that I would turn to when I couldn't find any music is a local morning show that usually has some fairly interesting conversations going on. This morning they were talking about Mia Hamm and her retirement from the world of soccer. I, like most other soccer loving Americans, bought tickets to see the farewell game when it came through Pittsburgh. Mia, Julie, and Joy are all retiring together and I thought it would be fun to see them play live one last time. So, I bought tickets for our 12 year anniversary, we got a babysitter, and headed down to Heinz field to watch the game. Turns out, Mia had another charity event in another city and didn't even show. I wasn't thrilled. At least I got to see a victory and a dominating US team. Also got some decent pictures from where I was sitting.
Anyway, after the morning radio show (yes that was the start of the ramble), finished talking about Mia they proceeded to trash soccer. They called soccer the sport of the future...and that's where it will remain. Now, I wasn't the most gifted athlete (although I did win a bench award, and was right in the middle of a bench clearing brawl, broke an opponent's leg, called a ref a jackass, and got a pocketful of yellow cards), I did really enjoy my time on the soccer team. And, with the exception of men's professional soccer, I like to watch anytime I get a chance. I spent quite a few lazy Saturday afternoons watching the WUSA games on Pax for Christ's sake. Then they start talking about this moron who writes for Esquire and how he calls the somewhat popularity of soccer explainable because soccer is an outsider sport. Parents move their kids towards soccer because you can hide in the pack and not need to be singled out. What a load of crap. You get burnt as a defender (and I have been), you miss a penalty shot (and I have), you don't get enough distance on a goal kick (and I didn't) and you are pretty much in the spotlight. The same holds true for the forwards who score goals and burn defenders, etc.
Blows. Blows. Blows. And no, I will not actually pay money to listen to the radio. This from the man who listens to books on tape!
I also found out some other good news. In just under two months, I'll be sitting in my living room watching this on DVD. Well, ok...it'll be in my living room, but who knows when I'll actually get around to watching it. But at least it will be out.

*Of course, this doesn't mean that I won't still take every opportunity to make fun of her, but at least she's forgiven, right?

One thing I've noticed, now having to drive myself into work everyday, is that radio in Pittsburgh in the morning...blows. I know, I know. I have about 2,000 cd's why don't I listen to those. I don't listen to my cd's on my commute because I want to at least make the attempt to keep up with the new music and artists coming out. Although at times that gives me more of a headache than it's worth.
When I was a DJ, not only could I give you the top ten songs at any given moment on pretty much every chart, but there was a good chance that I owned at least 6 of the 10. Since the weekend BEFORE...yes before...Thanksgiving, one radio station in Pittsburgh has been playing nothing but Christmas music 24 hours a day. I think there should be a national ban on playing Christmas music on the radio until December 13th, at the very least. That's 12 days before Christmas...you can even link it to a big promotion and kick-off the holiday season by playing...The 12 Days of Christmas.
I have 12 presets on my car radio. Three of them are now solely Christmas music and have been since about Thanksgiving. That leaves me with 9 stations to choose from in the morning. Two of the stations have morning shows that are nothing but talk. Down to 7. Now, like all morning radio, each of the remaining seven have a morning team and you'll be lucky to hear 4 songs an hour. However, I used to be able to surf around and catch a pretty good stream. Well now, 3 of the remaining 7 are mixing in holdiay songs and two of the remaining 4 have cut out some of their music in the mornings and are gravitating towards all talk. That leaves me with two stations. One is the alternative music station and the other is the local hip-hop station. I'm not especially enthralled with either one, but the alternative music station has plummeted in both the quality of the music and the depth of their selection since their decision to remove the Howard Stern morning show due to offensive material. So, I'm stuck with hip-hop/pseudo rap and they, being the local teeny-bopper station nowadays, have the exact same rotation day in and day out. So, by Monday's arrival at work...I've heard their morning show for the week.
Just one more good reason to dislike the holiday "season".
On the good music front...I'm glad to see that Rascal Flatts has a talented person choosing their songs. Bless the Broken Road has been around for a long time...from what I understand, it's first incarnation was simply called The Broken Road and it was recorded by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (country) in 1994. I came across Melodie Crittenden's (country) version from 1998. Jamie Slocum (a Christian artist) redid the song in 1999. Until now...the most popular version was Melodie's, thanks in part to the fact that, although the show was full of crap most of the time, Dawson's Creek also had talented people picking music. The song aired in a Season 2 episode in 1998.
Why such a background on one song? Because I chose the song to use as part of the music in my wedding because of the lyrics and significance of the song. I'm glad to see that even though it's not my favorite rendition of the song, Rascal Flatts will give the song a wider exposure than it had previously and introduce it to many more fans. One fan of Rascal Flatts, who shall remain nameless, could have heard the song years before she actually did just by accepting an invitation that was extended to her.

I was watching The Life and Death of Peter Sellers semi-biopic on HBO on Sunday night. It was interesting to see Rush pull off the different portions of Sellers life convincingly. Now, considering Sellers died when I was 5...obviously most of my knowledge comes from post-death viewings. Although, I am fairly certain I saw Revenge of the Pink Panther in the theater. I will admit that I haven't seen Dr. Strangelove yet, but I'm looking to remedy that. There are quite a few movies that I somehow, missed, due to my upbringing. Although there aren't any Shirley Temple or John Wayne movies on that list, that's for sure.
Anyway, I was also reading the review of the Sellers pic in EW and I agree with the sum up at the end of the article by Gillian Flynn. "For Sellers the perfectionist to be played so flawlessly, what satisfaction. For Sellers the cipher to be so specifically, indelibly detailed, what horror." Through various articles that I've read about Sellers and my own little knowledge base, I think that's a fairly accurate sum-up. I guess I'm kind of drawn to the whole genius in torment genre.
Terri's holiday party went well. We ended up getting a room and Gage spent his first night in a hotel. Once he finally went to sleep, he didn't seem to care. And he loved the big king size bed, even though he's still not mobile enough to get the hang of rolling over. One day.
This Friday is my old office's holiday party. In talking with Craig, the office atmosphere is pretty much the same as it normally is around holiday time. They like the idea, then they don't like the idea, then some do and some don't, etc. Although I did find out this year that no supervisor from my old side of the office will be there. Mostly because they fired one and the other has some sort of conflict. He doesn't socialize within the office much anyway. Unless you pretend to be interested in one of his stories...then you lose about a half-hour of your day. I guess I'd be the same way with the abject lack of responsibility for most things. That's the beauty of academia, it runs pretty much the same as the government. Always pushing for results, rarely changing anything, and in the end...status quo.
Oh well, I guess that's enough for today. Unless anyone happens to see the Spongebob Squarepants Grill Set or the Darth Vader voice changing mask. Let me know as these are apparently the "it" toys this year.

Wow, two posts in the same week. Must be some sort of record. I'm supposed to be pulling graphics for a project that I'm working on. There are over one hundred phrases on the papers that I have in front of me. Unfortunately, these aren't easily matched to graphics. "The pharmacist needs to speak with you about your prescription." Every stock photo site has tons of occurences when you type that phrase into the find box. Thankfully, the designer and I came up with a way to shortcut the project and recycle quite a few things from previous endeavors. It still doesn't change the fact that I have to copy and log over a hundred images, but I'm putting that off for the moment to type this.
Not a whole lot of new things going on in my world today. Although last night we did discover that my son has his first tooth. We kept waiting for all the crying and screaming that we were told to expect, but to be honest, we're not even sure when the tooth broke through. He didn't cry about it. And if Terri hadn't been looking down when he was sitting on her lap babbling and talking, we still might not know about it.
It's things like that incident that make me re-think the whole even numbered kids thing. (Yes, I said that we had to have kids in even numbers. We both want 2, but if something happens and we get a third, we'll have to have 4. That way they have the potential to pair off evenly in their sibling wars...I know, you can have 3 on 1, but 2 on 2 is more likely and it would always be 2 against 1 with 3 kids) Anyway, that's just more of my own particular ocd leaking out. What I was actually going for at the start of this rambling is that Gage is so close to a perfect child with his even temperment and compliance with our needs and wants as parents that I'm positive lightning won't strike twice. The second child will end up being Satan's minion and shattering any kind of peace we might be able to experience.
One thing that's keeping me sane during this lockout season (79 days and counting) is the fact that Fox Sports Pittsburgh is showing classic Pens games every Wednesday night. What I learned, through having a satellite dish and Fox Sports channels from all over the country, is that Pittsburgh seems to be the only city that chops the game up and edits it down to a 2 hour length. Everyone else seems to be showing the games in their entirety. I was so desperate for hockey one night, I watched a Florida Panthers/Pittsburgh Penguins game from the mid-90's. What's wrong with that, you ask? I watched it on Fox Sports Miami so obviously the Pens didn't win. But, I still got to watch them play.
I've also watched a lot of the movie Miracle (as it's currently being shown several movie channels). That is the mark of a great sporting event. I know the outcome for every game, but I still watch with interest. Oh well, I should get back to work I guess because once work is over, I get to rush and change clothes in time to make it to Terri's holiday party, which is always a formal event. At least there will be some alcohol there (they limit the number of drinks that they pay for). So, it won't be all bad.

There are a lot of things swirling around in my empty head that should probably come out through one form of writing or another real soon. I'm not even sure where to begin this post.
I will say that I'm sad to see Ken go. It was an undeserving loss. He says that the law of averages finally caught up with him, and maybe so. However, the woman that beat him...Nancy Zerg...(remember that name, it'll be a question in various trivia forms for a long time to come) most likely won't win a second game. She was the recipient of a champion beating himself. She only dealt the final blow by getting the final jeopardy question correct. I know, she played the game the way most people play the game; she answered the questions that she knew and didn't attempt anything that was out of her knowledge base. Playing that way, you really do need more luck than skill.
I'm just going to drop that rambling incoherency. I'll just leave it with the fact that it won't be quite as much fun anymore to watch Jeopardy.
The new job is going well. I got my first paycheck yesterday. It made any nagging doubts vanish in a puff of dollar signs. Sure, it probably makes me a whore, but damn I'm a well paid whore.
Ironically enough, a couple of people from my old office sent me the job posting for my old supervisor's position whom they ousted slightly after I left. So, upper management finally got their wish. They started out with two mostly inept supervisors and managed to hound them both til they left. Although the popular opinion, smart money, sure bet, or whatever cliche you like says that they were given the choice...Resign or be fired. They asked if I was going to apply for the position. Not even a glimmer of a thought of that has crossed my mind. I liked the people, but hated the politics. And, since it's unlikely that I'd be able to go in and clean house to clear out the dead wood, what's the point? I'm happy where I am and here I'll stay. For a little while anyway.
Not much else is going on. Somehow I ended up with 3 holiday partys this year. And, the three combined are only going to cost me $10.00. Bonus.
Okay, I guess that's enough for today. With the holidays fast approaching, I should be spending some free time trying to figure out what I'm going to buy for people and more importantly when I'm going to find the time to go pick it out.

Thanksgiving was interesting as always. This year since we have Gage, Terri set the boundary early that we would do one day with each family, so they should sign up now to choose which day. So, I went to my in-laws for Thanksgiving and tomorrow is reserved for my family. I find that there are drawbacks to the new system. If we aren't happy with the situation, we can't "claim" to have somewhere else to go. Oh well, I'll just have to be creative in getting out of these situations. We thought we might be able to use, "Well...we have to get home to put Gage to bed." Then, he went and took a two-hour nap. Thanks, kid. Although, given the choice of socializing with my in-laws or sleeping, I think he made the right choice. So, after the turkey coma begins to wear off, I'll be getting up tomorrow and doing it all over again. So far, this is the first "real" holiday since Gage was born (real holidays being those that are attached with familial obligations, ie, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas). It hasn't been too bad. Christmas will be the real test I think. We're doing her family on Christmas Eve and mine on Christmas Day. I think her family will be the ones with the problems, but we'll see.
Anyway, that's about all for today. There are rumors that we're getting out soon and I don't want to jinx that.

It seems as though I'm always apologizing about not updating enough. This time, though, I think I have a legitimate excuse. I started a new job on Tuesday! This job actually pays me a decent salary as well being related to what I went to school for. It also has the benefit of putting me back into the hi-tech internet industry. All bonuses.
Things have progressed quickly with the job situation and I've been pretty busy getting acclimated and adjusted to the new responsibilities, actually doing work, and the new hours.
This weekend will also be an extremely busy one. Matt, Alison, and Nathan are coming in for a visit. It will be the first time that they've met Gage and the first time that we've met Nathan. Hopefully it will be a wonderful time for everyone. Although we might be asking for trouble, three kids under the age of 1. Scary times.
Wow, for 2 1/2 years at my last job I asked for a new computer. Never got one. Usually got laughed at or told the budget didn't stretch enough. Our department paid the bills for the entire university. The student computer lab got new computers four times in the same time frame. We couldn't even get their left-overs. I started here on Tuesday. I just happened to mention that my computer was a little slow. Wham, new computer on my desk Friday afternoon. Ok, they probably knew they were getting one anyway, but don't I feel special.
Ok, I'll certainly update more in the future, I have a lot of stuff left to blog about, but right now I'm just looking for the time. Hopefully with the holiday seasons coming up, I'll get some time to myself.

I think I'll take a moment, celebrate my age
The ending of an era and the turning of a page
Now it's time to focus in on where I go from here
Lord, have mercy on my next thirty years

Hey my next thirty years, I'm gonna have some fun
Try to forget about all the crazy things I've done
Maybe now I've conquered all my adolescent fears
I'll do it better in my next thirty years

My next thirty years I'm gonna settle all the scores
Cry a little less, laugh a little more
Find a world of happiness without the hate and fear
Figure out just what I'm doin' here
In my next thirty years

Oh my next thirty years, I'm gonna watch my weight
Eat a few more salads and not stay up so late
Drink a little lemonade and not so many beers, huh
Maybe I'll remember my next thirty years

My next thirty years will be the best years of my life
Raise a little family and hang out with my wife
Spend precious moments with the ones that I hold dear
Make up for lost time here, in my next thirty years....tm

Just a short post as I am fast approaching "lastday" and I have much to do. Tomorrow, among other things is Gage's first day of trick-or-treating. I know that he'll flirt with any girl that he gets a chance too, so I'll probably have a lot of candy at the house.
I was out this evening buying a couple of gifts to send to my cousin and his fiancee and I was in Best Buy (I know...bad idea) and I thought that I would see how much Logan's Run was selling for. Turns out, I picked it up for $5.99. So, on the eve of my 30th birthday I watched an entire movie about a society that eliminates you on your 30th birthday. If I had a crystal embedded in my hand, it would be blinking red like crazy right now. My palm would look like Rudolph's nose on acid.
Although there were certainly parts of the society that I liked. The women were dressed nice and scantily and there seemed to be no marriage type arrangements. Along with that seemed to be no family responsibilities. So, if I was only living to thirty, that would certainly be the society to do it in. However, I think my life is going along fairly well right now. I just need to nail down that new job with the better paycheck and everything should fall right into place for several years to come.
I think that's enough for tonight. I need to get to sleep since I have to wake up early, so that I can go into work early, so that I can get out early to watch Gage collect candy he can't eat from people we don't know. Maybe they are right when they say I'm crazy.

Hi,

I'm bill and I approve this message.

Ok, now that I've got that out of my system, I don't even know where to begin. We've done a ton of stuff since the last time that I actually made it to updating this page. Concerts, theater in the round, birthday parties, work, more work, a whirlwind house cleaning the likes of which have never been seen in my house before, and probably a lot of other stuff that I'm forgetting. Unlike the political advertising which I'm not forgetting, but trying to block out completely.
I'm sure that I'll go back and give my little spin on most of the events of the past twenty days or so, but for now I just wanted to get something up on the page so that it didn't feel as though I've fallen off the face of the earth.
Gage is doing well. He's getting bigger and still attempting to push through a tooth or two. My uncles finally brought him a high chair so now it's up to us to set an adequate feeding schedule so he can enjoy something besides milk (though you can't beat the bottle it comes in).
I also wanted to extend condolences to the family over at Hendrick's motorsports. You'll never hear me say a good word about the number 24 driver, but Rick is a good influence in and around Nascar and didn't deserve (not that anyone does) the tragedy that happened on Sunday. So, here's to a quick healing for all involved.
Not much else is going on today. We're kind of preparing for Gage's first halloween a little. We have his costume, but we're not decorating the house since we don't plan on being there. We're headed up to Mark and Robyn's house to trick or treat with Jacob. I have to finish a test for my on-line computer class by 11:59 tonight and I haven't really even started yet. Hopefully it's not overly difficult. Although nothing I've taken there has been. I guess that's enough for now. Possibly more tomorrow or even later tonight if the test is overly easy.

Free at last, free at last...huh? Wonderful! After completing my nightmare project only moments ago (14 to be exact) I found out that after successfully avoiding the 30 days in the hole of customer service for almost a year...I've been drafted. So, I basically move from one nightmare into another. And people wonder why I don't like my job.
Well Gage has started to eat cereal. At least what the pediatrician calls cereal. I call it...well...you don't want to know that, but it's nasty.
After reading Dek's latest post, all I can say is, I have an alibi. I was, um, somewhere else at that point.
Not much else exciting is going on in my world. I have an accounting test next week that I should put some study time on. However, the main compenents of the test are stocks and bonds. Should be fairly easy material as long as I can remember the difference between par and common stock.
One more hour to kill and I can get out of here. I've filed away everything from the project, sent out the required project summaries to the required people, arranged my desk back into it's proper configuration. And I found a site called blogthings. Not a whole lot, but the lists of where you're from are pretty interesting and accurate for the most part. Oddly enough they had one for Lancaster Pa. where my Aunt and Uncle have lived for a long time. I've seen the Pittsburgh ones before, they made their way around in e-mail forwards and I don't even see the need to post it here, but there were two that really made me laugh. You know you're from Pittsburgh when you walk carefully when it's "slippy" outside. And, you know you're from Pittsburgh when you've ever gotten hurt falling into a "jaggerbush". Those two really reminded me of childhood. I was on a sled that found the snow too slippy and ended up riding right through a jaggerbush into a ditch. Hurt like hell.
Anyway, not much else is going on around here so I think I'm done for today. Hopefully I'll have something more intelligent to say tomorrow (I know, I can already hear the jokes in the background). So, I'll just say, "Have a good day today and a better one tomorrow."

Another week gone by. I have no idea where the time goes. I'm currently working on finishing up a project that I started sometime around Gage's birth. I hope to have it completely done by Sunday, although my time tables never seem to quite work out. I also need to install the new light in the dryer room, as well as clear up the books in the library. In addition to that I'm working on some calculations for a friend and numerous other projects that seem to just suck time right out of my life. One day I hope to get a handle on all of this stuff.
At the moment, I'm reeling from two different time related items. One, Gage is four months old already. One third of a year has passed since he was born. He's already lived through his first full season. He had his four month check-up this morning and all is well. He's in the 75th percentile for height and 50th percentile for weight. He also gets to start on cereal. I wanted him to have Golden Grahams, but the doctor seems to think that the rice cereal is more appropriate for his age. I reluctantly agreed. I still think he could at least handle Fruity Pebbles or something. He also got a complete set of shots so I'm sure he'll be a cranky little boy this evening.
The second piece of time related information that is kind of mind boggling is the fact that Terri and I will celebrate our 12th anniversary tomorrow. So much has happened in the past twelve years both within our lives and in the world in general. One thing hasn't changed too much. George Bush was President then, and he's President now. Ok, different man, different plan. We've made friends, lost friends, made enemies, turned enemies to friends, created families, watched loved ones pass on, watched new life spring up in it's place and all the other stuff that rolls on in 12 years. I guess I'm sort of sentimental, but still in love. I, like everyone else I know, am amazed that she's stayed with me all these years.
This could go either way, I think. However, this is still incredibly iffy. Mostly because of her. She's flaky at best and I don't see the homespun quality that June had coming out in her acting. Hopefully, I'll be surprised. I did notice an odd connection with Joaquin that I never realized before. Hopefully I won't end up in a mental breakdown like his purported one on the set of the movie. Of course my brother didn't die of a drug overdose. In fact, my brother is all set to become a father really soon. Which reminds me that I owe him a phone call. Nothing like blogging to remind you of family obligations.
Tomorrow, I'm planning on blowing off work and relaxing on my anniversary. Then we're going to turn the little one over to Grammy, head to the restaurant for early dinner reservations and then it's over to Heinz Field to see Mia, Joy, and Julie in one of their last games. I'm going to miss watching them play. It's almost, not quite, but pretty close, as good as hockey. Which, if the morons in charge keep at it the way they are, I won't see any of this year. Which, while it sucks for me and other hockey fans, means that Gage's first hockey game will have to be postponed. We had plans to get tickets to the home opener and really introduce him correctly to the game. I think Alison is the only one that I know that's happy with no hockey this year. She'll tell you that it's because she and Matt now have Tivo and she would be subjected to more games than usual, but the real reason is that she watched some of the playoffs with Matt last year and she's starting to convert. Slowly, but surely, we'll reel her to our side. No hockey also means that Nathan's first hockey game will be postponed. I think the newest reality program should include the owner's rep and player's rep on skates with the "enforcers" skating around them. Everytime they make another stupid assumption about the game...WHAM...up against the boards. A concussion or two later and we'll have this thing wrapped up in time to get a 75 game season in.
I guess that's enough for today. My insane project is almost over so that's one nice thing to look forward to.

Ok, again I have to apologize for taking so long to update. Mostly it's because I'm still in mourning over what looks to be a complete and total loss of hockey this season. I wonder if I can blame the whole thing on Barry Melrose. Ok, maybe not the whole thing since he and I actually agree, but it's ESPN's bad commentating and his suits that keep the TV ratings down. That and the fact that ESPN only shows about 1/6 of the teams in the league if they show games at all.
Ok, enough about hockey (see, even I'm starting to write off the season and I'm the eternal hockey optimist. I'm still convinced that Lord Stanley is coming home to Pittsburgh every year.)
Well lots of stuff has happened since I last posted, that's for sure. Read Dwight's blog for a decent account of the terror of Ivan that went through Pittsburgh. I won't even try to describe what went on here in town. I'm just thankful that the majority of the people I know made it through unscathed with their personal belongings intact.
I also watched the Emmy's and can't for the life of me figure out what made them pair up Mos Def and Tony Shalhoub as presenters. I think they were the last two picked at recess or something. I'm not sure I liked the reality tint to the Emmy's with the control booth on stage, but I did enjoy the acceptance speech of the director (who, incidentally, won for the Oscars while taking care of the Emmys)
One of the little idiosyncrasies that I have in my professional career has been music. My first professional job afforded me the ability to listen to music (at a reasonable volume, and it was a reasonable volume so I was allowed) while I worked. Making the choice of what to listen to everyday became quite difficult after about a week and a half. So, I adopted this philosophy. I wanted to use my ability to listen to music at work to my advantage by listening to all of my music. So, starting with Alcohol Funnycar in my Alternative CD's, I went from one genre to another until I had finished with my CDs. Then I started on my cassingles and moved on to my cassettes. By the time I had left Lycos, I hadn't quite finished my cassingles. At my second job, I didn't even make it through the CDs. Now, I have progressed through my CD's, cassingles, and I started on cassettes.
Now, I told you that boring ass piece of information to relate a little about my current office. In the Comedy (Sung) genre of my cassettes are my "Weird Al" Yankovic albums. Al has apparently been to my office. Lyrics for Dare to be Stupid, Eat It, Fat, and Girls Just Want to Have Lunch all reek of having been written with my co-workers in mind. It was a little difficult to explain why I was seemingly laughing at nothing for most of the afternoon.
Another thing that has to be a sure sign of the end of the world and might even be eligible for the Fraught watch is "never ending popcorn shrimp HERE!!!! What the hell is that all about? Internation House of PANCAKES! When I think of pancakes and potential toppings for pancakes, I come up with chocolate chip, banana, blueberry, etc. Not trout, tuna, or shrimp. This is just another case of restaurants over-extending their menus to accomodate the fat-ass american who can't decide what to order so he/she gets one of everything. This ranks right up there with Atkin's Approved Menus. Hey, Atkins ain't approving nothing. He's dead. Deceased. Shuffled off this mortal coil. He's bleedin' demised. He's an ex-human. Those menus are almost as bad as the Italian food here.
Anyway, that's enough for today. It's getting late and I can't even console myself with a west coast hockey game. Though I will say it was a beautiful sight to watch Mario skate with the World Cup trophy. If the USA can't win, at least I got to see a superstar hoist the trophy.
I almost forgot to mention this show that I watched a few days ago. All in all, I was pleased with the majority of the choices. Number one was a given and most likely had the rest of the show's concept created around it. However, there were some nice surprises. Harper Valley PTA isn't a clear cut choice, but it certainly was funny to see it make the top five. One of my favorite songs for something like that has to be Toby Keith's, "How Do You Like Me Now." Which oddly enough is a song I don't own. So, months after Tom asks the question, I finally have an answer. It was interesting that they went with 40 and not 50, but still a good show. I couldn't think of any complete, smack yourself in the head yelling duh, absences from the list, but maybe you might.
And, how can I forget what today is? Today is perhaps one of the most memorable days in recent memory for people around my generation. It's the day the DVD world gains three new releases. Releases the people have waited for since DVD was in its infancy. Yes, Star Wars Episodes IV, V, and VI (the original three) came out today. Unfortunately, I'll have to wait til tomorrow to pick up my set and with Gage around, who knows how long it will take to make it through them, but they will become permanent editions to my DVD library less than 24 hours from now. That I can pretty much guarantee, unless of course I end up bleedin' demised between now and then.

Thought I'd get this out of the way while I had a little time (and skipping out on completing the rest of my work here on Friday afternoon.)

My picks for the LaPlaca Open just in case you cared why I chose what I chose. And as a side note, I'm sad that I don't get to whomp on Joe this year. However, I am hoping to beat Mike, and Craig who only beat me by a point and Dwight who beat me by three points. Anyway, without further ado...

10. LAX (NBC)- Smoke 'em if you got folks, this plane's goin' down. Neither of the two main stars can really carry a show and I can't see the interaction between Heather and Blair being all that good. I mean Blair used up all her good stuff with Jo.

9. Veronica Mars (UPN)- Nancy Drew on Acid. Don't get me wrong, I like Enrico, but ex-sheriff/private eye? I don't think so. And a high school girl sleuthing in a town with big secrets, can we say Pasadena?

8. Dr. Vegas (CBS)- Place your bets, place your bets 12-7 this one goes to TV heaven. Too similar to Las Vegas on NBC. Joey Pants failed once on CBS, Tom Sizemore might be in jail by mid-season and Rob Lowe is always hit or miss.

7. Commando Nanny (WB)- Yes sir Major Dad sir, whoops wrong show. If McRaney's health holds out, it has a slim chance, but I'm guessing it will be AWOL very soon. Especially since they can't seem to get the leading man straight. That coupled with the fact that it's based on the life of the guy that brought us this shit and I hope it not only fails, but sucks out all this guy's money so he can't produce any more crappy television.

6. Jack & Bobby (WB)- Does anyone else think Kennedy's when they hear the premise of this show. Two kids being raised and one will eventually be President? Hopefully they won't keep hyping that fact or it will drive the show into the ground faster than being sat on by Ted Kennedy.

5. Rodney (ABC) - The generic Roseanne, which is like saying I'll have the generic's generic or something like that. He's not as good as a comedian and the premise makes it sound like Hayseed Seinfeld. This might have a shot at the time slot after Reba on the WB, but not on ABC.

4. Clubhouse (CBS)- Strike Three, you're out. Lots of star power, Dean Cain, Christopher Lloyd, Mare Winningham, Kirsten Storms, but nowhere to go with it. First off, the premise is Baseball which starts with B. What else starts with B? BORING. My other gripe with this show is the fact that Kirsten Storms has played a squeaky clean blonde in everything else she's been in. Now, all of a sudden I'm supposed to buy her as the "rebellious" older sister? What's she going to do get strawberry blonde highlights?

3. Listen Up (CBS)- Jason Alexander...what else is there to say? I heard a radio personality say that one of the many flaws in this show (too many to list actually) is the fact that although this is loosely based on Tony Kornheiser, the real Tony has more charisma and charm than Alexander. The other main thing this has going against it is the two-fold. The second banana trying to play leading man and the Seinfeld curse. Come to think of it, why didn't I rank this higher?

2. Complete/Common Savages (ABC)- Terminated/Fired/Cancelled? The fact that they can't get the name right doesn't give them much to cheer about. With no women present on the show at the moment, what's the point? Are they going for the young gay crowd? Somehow I doubt teenage girls are going to flock to this show. And Erik Von Detten is like a mini-LaPlaca in his own right.

1. North Shore (Fox)- The North Shore, soon will be making another run, promising something for everyone. The Love Boat on land. I'm guessing Charo checks in by episode 7 and everything is cancelled by a tidal wave or an earthquake shortly thereafter.

Ok, that's my picks for this year. All newcomers, who, in my opinion, aren't worth the tape they're transferred to. Feel free to pick a fight if you'd like, I'll be sure to jab back.

Considering how much I disliked the first movie and skipped two and three,



this scared the crap out of me. I was hoping for a nice Spiderman or Batman. Hell, I would have taken Jack Sparrow (the guy whose page I found the link on was Jack).
Speaking of movies, I saw Old School last night for the first (and most likely last) time. All I have to say is Thank God Jeremy Piven was in that movie. And shame on James Carville for six weeks or so. Ok, that's definitely enough for today.

I can't believe almost a month has passed since I last updated. And, since Susiezy has been bugging me about getting something up, I figured today was as good a day as any. I really hate this project. I hated it last year and I hate it again this year. The only good thing about the entire project is that I don't have to answer to anyone in my office, which means that I could technically blow off a whole day and no one would know. The downside is, there's so much damn work I don't get to slack at all.
Enough about work, work just depresses me and I also don't have any time to job hunt while I'm at work. Which also depresses me. Damn, the next thing you know I'll be on Wellbutrin or something. Actually, I'd probably have to go on Zoloft since that's a Pfizer product and I'd want to make sure that Alison, Matt, and Nathan were supported in my disease. I wonder if I could get workman's comp for a job that caused my depression which caused my inability to work at a job that caused my depression which caused my...well you understand.
Let's see what's happened since I last posted. I went down to the Nascar race in Bristol Tennessee with Mark, Robyn, Robyn's parents and her aunts and uncles. It's always a good time and I'm glad they usually end up with an extra ticket. It was hard being away from Gage for four days, but I managed. I also got to meet Ben Jones during the family festival on Thursday night. He was by far the most cordial and polite celebrity that I've ever met. The races themselves were good, although the new race for the chase or whatever the hell it's called seemed to tame the Bristol race. They ran over 200 laps of green flag racing. That's almost unheard of at Bristol. The night race at Bristol has been described as putting 43 cars into a blender and whoever can make it out wins the race. There were still lots of cars that were running and undented at the end of the race. And, I think it's because no one wanted to make a mistake that would cost them points in the chase thing. It was still a good race. Junior fans were ecstatic.
Labor day weekend was pretty tame. We headed down to my parent's house for a picnic on Sunday. Then on Monday I hung out with a band that doesn't like to wear pants. What did you think I meant? I mean, I had Gage with me since Terri was working. I got to catch up with Randy, Elizabeth and their daughter Katie who was born in December. And, Susiezy was the only other one that I knew there. I got to feed her addiction by giving her some catalog pages that related to a theme birthday party for Harry Potter.
I saw two commercials since I last posted that have really scared the hell out of me. The first was for these. A decent invention. You don't want soggy fries. The commercial utilized this band's music. More specifically, Cum On Feel The Noize. I haven't seen marketing that twisted in a while.
The second commercial was for this album. Now, I've seen this concept before so I wasn't totally shaken until they started to show some of the tracks. I think the two that almost made me fall off the couch were Bat Out of Hell and Livin' On A Prayer by Meat Loaf and Bon Jovi respectively. I don't really have a good punchline other than the fact they turned those songs into symphonic recordings.
Susiezy actually just sent me this link. Some of these actually scare me. I remember Chernobyl and the Challenger. Baby Jessica was huge news. When the required made for TV movies came out, TV Guide used two pages to show the diameter of the well. And, well, if it fit in TV Guide you know it was small. I think my favorite on the list is 34. Ivan Boesky has never sold stock. He and Milliken made for some interesting discussions in our civics class.
Oh well, that's enough for today. Hopefully I won't wait so long to update next time.

I was looking back over some of my more recent posts (although recent is a relative term given my lack of posting these days). One thing I've noticed is that I never really intended this to be a play by play rip-off for how my day (and by extension my family and friends days) goes. Somehow it ends up being mostly that and I apologize. My life is rarely interesting enough to sustain me, let alone the people that pop in here regularly. That being said, I'll attempt to have things other than what went on since I last posted.
I did take particular notice of the post I had a few Thursdays ago. I think I should clarify, it's not like I knew I was becoming a father and all of sudden I was reduced to weeping in a corner like a little girl without a pony. Don't get me wrong, I felt emotion before I found out I was going to be a father.
When I was 6 my parents took me to see this in the theater. During the scene where Superman renounces his powers to marry Lois, I started to cry. It's the first time I can remember crying for a reason outside of the kid's reasons (I'm hungry, I'm tired, you didn't buy me the toy I wanted, etc.). My mom thought it was cute and I just didn't quite understand the concept of movies not actually being reality. Hell, when I was 6 I still wanted to grow up to be Superman.
I've also cried on other occasions. When the Penguins won the Stanley Cup for the first time. When Badger Bob died. When Herb Brooks died. My wedding. The episode of M*A*S*H when Henry Blake dies. Miracle. But I usually had some sort of control. Until now.
We had our son dedicated in church on the 8th. It's not an occasion to cry and during the dedication, I didn't. However, my Grandmother (my mom's mom) was able to make it to the dedication in a wheelchair. Approximately 10 years ago she was given less than 2 years to live. She has a leaky heart valve that isn't able to be repaired and eventually will kill her. The entire family knows this and I think my mother and her brother are prepared for it, at least to the extent that they can be. I'm not. My Grandmother was the most independent person I knew. She lived alone (at least for most of my memory...my Grandfather and Uncle Frank died when I was 3). She carried coal in for her furnace every winter til I was a senior in high school and we basically strong armed her into getting a gas furnace. She walked the length of town every day going to the post office and grocery store to pick up anything she needed. The only thing she didn't do was drive. She wasn't able to make my wedding and I've always felt a piece of sadness in that happy memory. She was at my son's dedication and if I didn't believe in a God before, I did that day. With no advance planning or warning, two of her favorite hymns were part of the service. She was so happy and in turn we were all happy. Why am I bringing all this up, you ask? Actually you probably stopped reading several paragraphs ago, so I bring this up for me. On Friday, she slipped while she was walking and broke her ankle in two places. Now, she's become depressed. For someone that age, in her health, depression is a bad thing. So, on the way to drop off Dad's baby we stopped to see her. She's absolutely so happy to see Gage it breaks my heart to have to leave. I know that every day is another day closer to not having her, it's always been like that and the same could be said for anyone or anything, but after having known her for almost 30 (Yes 30 dammit) years, I can't imagine living without her.
Now that I've gotten that out of my system, not much else is going on. My uncles bought a house, so I helped them move in over the weekend and my cousin is looking at Carnegie Mellon as a prospective college, so I get to show off my campus in a personal tour.
On a completely different topic, I rarely take recommendations seriously anymore. Call it the whipped pup syndrome, I guess. I can't help but wipe out everything I've heard and judge for myself. In the category of books, I've had positive recommendations that I thought were horrible (Moby Dick), and negative recommendations that I thought were, on the whole, good (Crime and Punishment). Finally, Susiezy recommend Wuthering Heights. Actually, to be fair, she recommended that I stay the hell away from it. She was right. Hear that, you were right. I certainly don't say that often. And, to make matters even more interesting, I'm now doing something that I rarely, if ever, do with a book. I'm re-reading it. A few years ago, my brother gave me Black House for Christmas. Black House was written by Stephen King and Peter Straub and is the sequel to their first novel together, The Talisman. Now, I read the Talisman when it first came out back in '84 or '85. I wasn't more than 10 or 11. My memory is good, but not quite that good. So, I figured I would re-read what was a great novel the first time around in order to set myself up for what I hope is an equally enjoyable sequel. I'm going to have to do the same thing with the Dark Tower series. I haven't read the first one since the mid-80's as well and number 7 comes out sometime later this year, I believe. So, no it's not an obsession like other people I know. I certainly haven't re-read anything that I've read within the last five or six years. And, I haven't read the Harry Potter series so much that the cover is frayed and torn and the pages are almost worn smooth of all type. That is reserved for the truly addicted. Right, Suze?

I posted this last year in the wake of the tragedy and though I'm a day late this year, the sentiment is still the same.

"If there's any justice in the hereafter, Brooks is standing behind the bench of a hockey team in heaven today facing his old Wisconsin foe, Bob Johnson. The ice is wide and smooth and every player can skate like the wind and pass the puck perfectly from tape to tape, skating in seamless and ceaseless motion. There are no neutral-zone traps, no goonery. Just smart, swift playmaking and intelligent defense, the hallmarks of Herb Brooks hockey. Johnson, whose sunny nature shone in stark contrast to Brooks' serious reserve, saluted everyone he met by declaring, 'It's a great day for hockey!' August 11th, 2003 was not a great day for hockey."--Helene Elliott, Los Angeles Times

It's been a pretty busy week. Tuesday, I spent all day preparing documents for an auditor who never showed up. Wednesday they had their annual Rah-Rah-We-All-Love-The-University-Meeting. At least they served lunch. On the bright side, we did get to leave a couple of hours early.
Thursday at work, I was trying to counsel someone on their Harry Potter obsession. I don't think I succeeded. I believe the last thing she said was, "I'm thinking about a tattoo of a lightning bolt in the middle of my forehead." Thankfully, I'm one of the most normal people in the world. I'm level, calm, and have no obsessive tendencies or qualities. It's this rock-steadyness that will enable me to help her through her problems.
Then, last night I thought I had stepped into some bizarro universe. I got home and Terri immediately handed me Gage and said that I should go get dinner and a movie while she mowed the lawn. I had to step outside to make sure the house number was correct. She had been participating in a public policy forum and had gotten a free rental card from Blockbuster, so I understood the movie part. Dinner and mowing the lawn kind of threw me. So, I put Gage in the car, headed down to the Blockbuster and began to marvel at the synergy and marketing strategy that was created. Near where I live there's a Pizza Hut and Blockbuster side by side. So, I went into the Pizza Hut, ordered dinner (the new twisted crust breadstick pizza-which got me wondering how in the hell they got away with creating that in the Atkins friendly low carb South Beach hell that the world is becoming lately), then strolled over to Blockbuster, looked over all the new releases, selected a movie, paid, and walked back over to Pizza Hut in time to grab my pizza, get in the car, and go home. That is enough to instill brand loyalty in me. It was quick, convenient, relatively inexpensive, the pizza was good, the movie was ok, and I'm hooked. I'm not hard to convert. I guess it comes from being normal and average.
I did have one problem with the movie. Since Terri was mowing the lawn, I didn't get the special edition of Die Hard like I would have normally. I decided to get something that she would like. So, Gage and I picked out this. I know, a chick flick without a doubt. However, in my defense, I get to stare at Jennifer Garner for an hour and a half. And, really, how bad could it be. So, we started watching the movie. I can believe that a 13 year old has enough expensive camera equipment to make most paparazzi shamed. I can buy into the fact that a 13 year old wants so desperately to fit in that she wishes she was 30. I can buy into the wish dust concept that makes it come true. I can buy into the fact that she doesn't remember anything from the past 17 years. I can buy into the fact that she ended up with everything she ever wanted, a cool life, working at her favorite magazine, and gorgeous as hell. I can also buy the fact that she's currently dating a New York Rangers hockey player. However, here's my problem. When the hockey player (a fictional player, not an actual NHL player) walks over and meets some of Jennifer Garner's high school friends, he attempts a few lame jokes and then apologizes saying, "I'm sorry, I get so giddy after we win." RIGHT THERE! NOPE! DON'T BUY IT! I mean, seriously, suspended disbelief can only carry you so far. Everyone knows the Rangers don't actually win. They wait around for the opposing team to screw up and lose.
Anyway, tonight is another work around the house/shopping night to get ready for Gage's Dedication on Sunday. That ought to be a pleasant event. It's the first dose of reality that Terri is leaving the Catholic faith and by the same token, Gage isn't being raised in the Catholic faith. Don't get me wrong, I'm going to end up taking all the blame and hatred from her family. As usual. That part doesn't worry me. I'm worried about later on when Gage begins to understand the difference. I'll never pressure him into one corner or another, but her family will. Hopefully, he'll recognize the game. Oh well, that's way into the future. For now, I just hope they keep the peace on Sunday. That is, if they actually condescend to show up.

Well, Friday we worked around the house trying to get all those little projects that build up taken care of. On Saturday I headed out to cut the grass only to be foiled again by the Pittsburgh weather.
Saturday night I headed down to Chiodo's bar. This bar has been operating in Pittsburgh since 1947. I'll contend (as will many others) that Chiodo's has the best beer selection in Pittsburgh. They also have really reasonable prices. Most import beers are $3.00. Anyway, Mark, Tom, Adam (Mark's brother), and I headed down to have a few drinks and hang out with Tony, who was guest bartending. The reason he was guest bartending is because it could be the demise of Chiodo's. Apparently Walgreen's Drugstore has put in a bid to buy and subsequently demolish the bar. It would be quite a shame, but it has to pass through all sorts of channels before it actually happens. We also met up with Diane and Ed at Chiodo's. So, it was a pretty good night.
Sunday, we headed to church and then back home so that I could make a cake for someone's 30th birthday. A nice tombstone cake with the inscription..."Here lies Tom's hair. After thirty years it left him bare."
So, we hung out with Tom and Tiff (a buggy driver from college) on Sunday night. Today, Terri and Gage came to visit me at my office and we went out to lunch. Everyone at the office loves Gage. They're impressed with the fact that he's so alert and mobile.
That's about all for today I guess.