This weekend turned out ok, I guess. Friday night we headed out to play pool with Mitch and Tom. Tom and I beat Mitch and Terri just about every game.
Saturday was the sacchrine sweet holiday of Valentine's Day. I think Terri and I said Happy Valentine's Day in the morning and that was the extent of it for the rest of the day. We didn't even exchange cards. My Uncle Donny and Aunt Lu came down to visit their son (my cousin) who lives near Oakland. They had been reading through some old stuff on the city and decided that they wanted to eat at Primanti Brothers in the Strip District. I had forgotten how crowded the Strip District was on a Saturday afternoon. The sandwiches were good though. Sunday started the "Nextel" Cup Season. That will take some getting used to. The big one this year involved last year's winner Michael Waltrip. And, since DEI dominates the restrictor plate races that left Junior to step up and claim his first Daytona 500 win. It took his dad 20 years to win the Daytona 500. Junior did it in 5. He also made a really nice move around Tony Stewart to take the lead with about 30 laps or so to go.
Now, to clarify Friday's statements...I don't immediately assume that the kid with the 3 feet of boxers is an idiot (well, ok, in my head I do). The person that set this whole rant into motion was actually in the outer office. I never saw him. I only heard him. He might have had on a 3 piece suit complete with gold cufflinks and a leather briefcase. Or, he might have been the guy with the red mohawk. However, instead of stating his problem calmly and quietly, his voice kept escalating. Then he started tossing around the phrase, "You are disrespecting me. I have never been so disrespected in my life." He came here with some sort of a problem and when the solution presented to him was not satisfactory, he resorted to screaming and yelling about his lack of respect. My point was that I could never see someone like King or even Ford screaming that phrase. If boxer boy walked into the office with the same problem, calmly explained what he needed the solution to be and then not finding the solution to his liking simply said, "I'll be taking this up with your superiors." He would have earned a lot more of my respect. The guy that was actually in the office headed for the elevators saying that the supervisor here was, "a fuckin' shriveled old hag." Now, that's a lack of respect.
So, that counters what I actually meant. Although I do make snap judgements based on clothing, etc. I don't let that interfere with the interaction between our office and the customer. And Buntz, I feel your pain. When I did the tour of duty through fast-food, etc. I was treated like crap. I was actually taunted because I wouldn't work during the week because of college. However, I look at this office to be a little more grown up. Just slightly.
And, to jump on Matt's comment, I think the parents that felt they had it rough need to explain to their children why they felt that way. Terri's little cousins each have their own TV's and Playstation 2's and VCR's, etc. in their bedroom. They are just slightly this side of spoiled, but most of the time you wouldn't know it because her Aunt does a decent job of parenting. I would like my children to have a better (no that's not the right word) easier time than I did, but I don't want to hand them everything and a platinum credit card. Just my two dollars I guess.
Tonight's my first test in several years. I actually cracked the books for this one, albeit just slightly. I didn't think my old trick of skimming the material and half-listening in class would cut it this time. Though, it used to work pretty damn well. Anyway, we'll see how it goes.

Today has been the longest day on record in a while. I can't even do constructive slacking. I'm clock watching which is something that I usually don't do. I'm so damn bored, I don't even have anything substantial to blog about. The Valentine's day party in the office went well, I guess. There was a ton of food and people ate from 8:30 in the morning til, well, they're still eating now. I watched them demolish almost an entire sheet cake. There isn't even enough left to cover a plate to take home.
There was also a nice argument out at the front desk area. There was a younger kid screaming about how he was disrespected. I'm trying to figure out where I missed the boat on this one. The generation below me (God, that makes me feel old) seems to feel this sense of entitlement. And, I can't for the life of me, figure out where they got that idea. I was taught that respect was something you earned through your words and actions. Martin Luther King, Jr. commanded respect because of his principles and ideals. The young kid on the street with his jeans down somewhere around his knees and boxers up to his nipples (which are pierced of course) just doesn't hold the same standard to me. And yet, King never demanded respect the way that kids do. He had earned his respect and was very humble about it.
And, even those that aren't as humble about their station in life still have a backing for their arrogance. Harrison Ford could probably walk in somewhere and pull the "Do you know who I am?" ploy that would generate his respect and get away with it. Again, same kid on the street corner, probably doesn't even know his own full name can't get away with it, but he thinks he can. Ford is probably a bad example, because once again, he's pretty unassuming about the whole fame thing. If anyone else out there has any clue about where I went wrong on this one, feel free to let me know.

Since Terri and I had decided on a name yesterday, I was going to announce it here today, but Matt ruined that for everyone.

Today is more of the same. The office is having a Valentine's Day party tomorrow. Everyone is supposed to bring in some sort of Valentine's colored food. Being the office cake maker, I'm supposed to come up with a red-velvet cake with red, white, and pink icing. Sounds like a fun Thursday night. I'd prefer to just sit and watch the Pens game with a woodchuck in one hand and my management textbook in the other. Why the textbook, you ask? I have a test on Monday evening. I haven't had a test in a long time. Makes me wonder if I remember how to take them. I still have about 2 1/2 chapters to cover for the test. I guess reading the material beforehand is probably a good idea.
The job is still the job. They say the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. I wish I could find the fence to discover this for myself.
Oh well, I'm not going to get bogged (or blogged...hehehe) down in that discussion again. I've decided I'm going to be more positive about my life. Ok, not really, but I can try. I don't remember which comedian said it, but hopefully this is true. "If all the good and bad times in my life balance, I'm gonna have one hell of an adult life."
Not to say that my childhood was bad, on the contrary it was rather good. It's been my professional life that has wreaked havoc over everything else. I always seem to work at a mediocre job with really nice people. Mabye I need mediocre people to go with a really nice job.
Looking back over the past few weeks, I've noticed that I tend to stick to the same three topics...baby, hockey, and work and not necessarily in that order. I think that means I need to get out and do a little more with my life. Except that that requires money and money requires a better job (see the sinkhole forming?). Today is finally almost over. You know it's been a long week when you're having difficulty slacking off. I did watch the leaderboards for the 125's at Daytona today. Junior won the first one and Eliott Sadler won the second one. The rest of the people stacked up pretty much where you'd imagine. Although newcomer Brian Vickers (who did fairly well at the end of last year) finished very poorly in the second 125. Hopefully his owner will have some provisional points to get him into the race. I guess that means since Nascar is starting back up I'll have a new topic. Whoopee! My life is a thrill-a-minute. Ok, enough bitterness for today.

At least the ads at the top of the page are getting better. Today anyway.

It's almost painful how much the day drags on when you not only dislike your job, but have reason to leave it. It's also a little difficult to job hunt while in your current position. Makes me wish I was still in my old office, but then again if I was still in my old office, I might not have reason to job hunt. What a nice vicious cycle. I guess that means I'll have to find some more non-existent time at home. I wonder if I could go insane by reason of insanity? The Pens dropped another one to the Bruins last night. I don't understand it. They stayed with them almost the entire game. Ryan Malone had 2 goals and probably could have gotten a hat-trick if they would have pushed a little more.
I don't know. It seems as though I rarely have any good news to post here. In about three months my son will make a grand entrance into the world. Seems like good news on the surface, but we have no furniture, no name, no daycare (or money to pay for daycare), and a very non-child conducive house. Everyone keeps saying it will all work out. Maybe if I lay odds and take action on that statement I will have enough money to make it all work.
Oh well, enough with the negativity. Tomorrow is a better day, right? It would have to be otherwise that's going to make today look awful tempting to return to.
I'm midway through the second of 5 parenting books that I've acquired through various means during the course of this pregnancy. One has been very good, this one is so-so. I hope the others pick up or I'll be really bummed by the time the kid makes his way into the world. Oh well, there I go being negative again. I guess it's time to sign off.

Well, I am officially on the hunt for a new location now. And, by location, I mean job. I took this University gig with the understanding that it was going somewhere, hopefully profitable. Two years later (and about three months from baby) I have yet to see any promise. They've been dangling a promotion in front of me for about 8 months now and I can't see them closing the deal anytime soon. And, even if they did I'm not sure the trust is still there for me to work in this environment. I like to be comfortable where I work. I like knowing that I can count on the people around me and I'm sure they like knowing that they can count on me. I don't really have that here anymore. I used to think the internet world was a little backstabbing. They have nothing on University life. The politics games around here fly thicker, faster, and heavier than a WMD discussion at the Iowa caucus. So, if you know of anything in the Pittsburgh area let me know. About the only thing I can't do is write code. And, I'm going by the Jerry Maguire philosophy..."Show me the money." It's kind of like a family motto at this point. I'm reworking my resume as we speak (or as you read) and I'll be sending them out til I find something better or at the very least more profitable. So, if you know of anything please drop me a line.

Miracle was one of the few movies for me recently that lived up to the hype for me. I'll admit that knowing so much about the team, Herb Brooks, and the games took a little of the suspense out of it, but that's about all that disappointed. I could have done with more "Brookisms" The only one that they used in the movie was "The legs feed the wolf, boys." There's not a whole lot of plot to give away. I think most everyone knows how it turns out. It was kind of hard to see the dedication to Herb at the end of the movie. He was one of those celebrity deaths that hit me very hard, almost like Herb was a distant member of my own family. Granted, I'm not from Minnesota and never met Herb personally. I think the closest I came to Herb was sitting several levels away in the arena when he coached the Pittsburgh Penguins. But, he still meant a lot to the game of hockey and more specifically, the American game of hockey. Watching the movie on Sunday made me realize that all the more. America sunk all their trust into Herb Brooks and those kids and they paid them back in spades. Kurt Russell came pretty damn close to making me believe that he was Herb Brooks. I'm glad he cared enough for the movie and the game of hockey to take it so seriously. Kurt is one of those celebrities that you see at the All-Star games and this year was no exception. He was there hyping the movie, but he was also there as a fan.
Which brings me to the other topic of the weekend. The All-Star break. Ryan Malone and Brooks Orpik did pretty well in the Young Stars game. Ryan had a nice goal even though the East didn't pull it out amongst the Young Stars. The skills competition was pretty typical and even though I can't stand Philadelphia, I had no choice but to be impressed when Jeremy Roenick went 4 for 4 on the shooting accuracy drill. The East dominated the skills competition and then won the game surprising me. Usually the West is faster and more skilled or so it always seems. It was sad to have the Penguins shut out of the All-Star game, but they'll be dominate in a few years with the young talent that they've accumulated.

Why is motivation such a driving force in what makes the world go 'round? Why isn't motivation just some hidden source that I can tap into like the inner strength that David Banner tried to find? I could even deal with the freak motivation accident where when I get angry I organize everything in sight. And why, when I actually find motivation, does it leave me at the same time every day...week...etc.?
Did I mention that I have no motivation to finish out the work day? I am geared up to see Miracle this weekend. I don't think I'm going to be a geek and rush out and see it tonight (although if I was a super-geek I would have tracked down the sneak preview last weekend). However, it is about hockey and the underdog and Herb Brooks and you gotta love that. So, Terri and I, and whomever else wishes to attend will pack into some theater, probably on Saturday to witness the Miracle once again.
Part of me wishes that my parent's had watched that particular Olympic game back in February of 1980. I would have been a little over 5 and I have other memories from right around there. I remember people talking about the 4th Superbowl win by the Steelers and the World Series win by the Pirates (both being the last time they won the big trophy). Alas, my parents were not sports fans, so I'm guessing that we were probably watching something like the Love Boat or Fantasy Island instead. Such is life. Perhaps one day my son will look back and wonder why I didn't give a damn about football or basketball or baseball or boxing or...well you get the picture.
Terri's been pressuring for a name and she brings it up right in the middle of ESPN Classic's coverage of the 1980 Miracle team. For some reason Herb, Eruzione, and Brooks didn't get the nod. Guess I'll have to keep trying.

Ok, so I didn't bother with the other set of steps last night. I didn't do much of anything last night. I sat around, watched Magnum, PI., Jeopardy, Friends, My Wife and Kids, and Little Big League. Then I took NyQuil and went to bed. Eventful night, huh? Geek night is tonight and I'm headed down with Tom to see if there are greener pastures somewhere else. I'd hate to change jobs this close to baby time, but if I see something good, I'll take it.
Not much else is going on around here. Craig, Joe, and I'm guessing Tom have all done the states I visited map. I would do one, but it would pale in comparison to theirs. I haven't even been in half of the States and Joe only has 5 more to go. Though, I can't believe for all the places he's been he's never hit Florida. That still amazes me. I guess because I've been there 4 times. Ok, here it is. I told you it was sad.


create your own visited states map
or write about it on the open travel guide
I've hit a lot of east coast stuff, but never seem to hit west of the Mississippi much. Maybe we'll take baby on a whirlwind US tour to fill out the remaining states.

Well let's see. I survived my first two class sessions. One good, the other not so much. The Principles of Management class seems like a decent class, though most of the stuff is going to be review for me I think. The Financial Accounting "Professor" stumbles over his words and makes it clear that he's only there because they are paying him to be there. Wonder how he acts in his day job. I'm fairly certain I can ace both classes. I can drop my lowest test score in the Management class. I haven't been in a classroom where I could drop my lowest score in at least 11 years.
I would mention the Penguins, but it hurts too much. They seem to be playing a little better, they just can't seem to close. I'm gearing up to go see Miracle this weekend. Maybe that will make me feel better about hockey in general. And, there's always the All-Star game and skills competition. Although since none of the Penguins will be there, I have no one to root for. I certainly wouldn't want to cheer on a Flyer or a Ranger.
We've now set dates for Terri's baby shower, Alison's baby shower, Robin's move to Pittsburgh, and Lamaze class. Just when I thought I was going to get to relax. Such is life I guess. And, we still have no name, no crib, etc. I don't even want to think about the amount of work left to do in the house. And, the past couple days, I haven't felt very good which is due to a combination of man vs. nature as I worked to clear off the steps and sidewalks for the party. Adam and Tom did help towards the end. I still need to deal with the other steps leading up from the house. Maybe I'll look into tackling that tonight. And then again, maybe I won't.

Not much to say today. The superbowl party went well. Although all the guys that wanted to order the lingerie bowl actually missed out on the real entertainment. Such is life I guess. What I take from this experience comes directly from the commentator of the Lingerie Bowl. "With all the injuries, these girls are gonna have to play both ways." DEK will have to correct me if I'm wrong, but that sentence was said with total sincerity.
There were about 12 or so people there and we got a phone call from the California constituent. Other than that, things were pretty normal. I watched little to none of the game, saw some of what they called the better commercials and ate a lot of food.
Adam has departed for Philly and things are moving slowly at work today. I'm already tired beyond belief and I have 4 hours of class tonight. I hope I can make it to the weekend intact so that I can sleep.

Well the Pens lost again to Tampa Bay. The good news is, Number 29 is headed back to Cape Breton. And even though he let in 11 goals in his last two games people were still saying he had two good games and he played well. Have they seen the definition of the word well recently? I guess mine differs just a little. Don't get me wrong. I think he's probably going to be a world class goaltender one day. And with a little experience, practice, and patience I'll probably come to respect his abilities and trust him in the net. Right now, have a nice time in Canada. The Pens only have 30 games left on the season and then playoff hockey starts. It is without a doubt one of my favorite times of the year. Then comes the offseason and the CBA. I hope that goes well. I can't handle a lockout.
I just got word that Adam is in Altoona so he's going to be a bit delayed getting here this evening. That train definitely takes a wandering route from Philly to Pittsburgh.
And, after a dozen or so days with below freezing temperatures, all I want to know is..."Where are the global warming people now?"
I saw a dramatization of this on some channel Terri was watching last night. The vast majority of people really are stupid. I just can't figure out any other explanation.
Here are two commercials that have been pissing me off recently that I just haven't gotten around to ranting about.
The first is for Comcast Cable (who have also been pissing me off recently) They have this complete and utter idiot who bought the dish, but didn't anchor it to anything. And, according to the biased slant of the commercial, when he called the dish people they told him to anchor it in a bucket of cement. But, his claim, is that he has nowhere to mix the cement because he lives in an apartment. WHAT ABOUT THE FUCKING BUCKET? This guy is too stupid to live on his own and should be confined to a room with rubber lined sheets to contain his drool.
The second is from Special K cereal. They have jumped on the diet bandwagon (let's not even go down that path again). Their latest commercial shows meat stacking up on a butcher's scale til it reaches 6 lbs. Then they tell you that you can lose 6 pounds in 2 weeks by replacing 2 meals a day with a bowl of Special K cereal. I want to know how many brainless idiots are following this plan. Of course if you switch two substantial meals a day to cereal you're going to lose weight. I don't care what cereal you're eating. You could be eating sugar coated pieces of sugar with sugar frosting and still lose weight if you're eating one meal and two bowls of cereal in a day. And, I'm sure there's a whole subsection of the populous that's jumping towards this. Morons. Morons. Morons. Oh well, enough bitching for today.

Sorry I didn't get a chance to post yesterday. It was a slightly busy day at work and last night I went with Tom to see Lindsy's band last night. You can check them out here. As always, a wonderful show. However, I'm not used to hanging out in a loud bar for most of the night, heading to bed at 2:00 in the morning and then getting up for work so this morning was a chore.
Then I got to work and they were out of coffee filters for the regular machine. Which meant there was no coffee waiting for me like there usually is. Not a good thing this morning. So, I fired up my own personal 4-cup coffee maker with my columbian blend. Good stuff.
I also saw on the ESPN sports crawler that Washington beat the Rangers 2-1. Way to go Caps. Probably the first and last time I'll ever root for them, but way to stick it to Jagr. For being the "best player in the world" (which is a title bestowed a little too frequently nowadays) he wasn't even the high scorer on the Caps. He's currently 11 points behind Robert Lang and not even in the top 10 of the NHL. So much for being the best. I've come to grips with the fact that the Penguins might not make the playoffs this year, but I'm still rooting for the Rangers to fall into a horrible slump. They are 5 points out of the playoffs now and I hope that the chasm widens til they can't even see the 8th slot. I'd love for them to end up in 16th place in the Eastern Conference and 32nd in the league. Ok, I know that's not possible, but a guy can dream can't he?
At the moment, we're still on the hunt for a name and I'm trying to get rid of a horrible headache.

I chose to watch the Pens against Tampa Bay instead of catching the Dennis Miller show. Bad idea. The sooner they send Fleury back to the Junior League the happier I'll be. I'm sure that someday he might be the phenom everyone is claiming, but I have yet to see it. The only thing he seems to have any consistent stopping power on are penalty shots. And, how often do they happen? After the 6-2 loss (with a nice bright spot on Joe Melichar's first NHL goal) Stan Savran gave a little rant on Jagr being traded to the New York Rangers. He said it would be hard to have Jagr whine and destroy team chemistry because the Rangers don't have any to begin with. So, I won't be alone in rooting for the Rangers to miss the playoffs yet again. I was talking, ok ranting, with Brian on the phone about the Pens. He's pretty sure that if he was a player he'd rather retire than play for the Rangers and he's from New York. I just hope that this September brings good things to the Penguins and the league in general. And here's hoping that I can stand the ESPN announcers long enough to watch the All-Star game and playoff hockey.
Terri had another doctor's appt. today. Everything seems to be coming along well. We heard the heartbeat again. The second ultrasound is in about a month or so and I'll be sure to update once we've done that. We've started the name game again, but still nothing. Although Matt has threatened to do the same thing to our son that we once did to Dave and what'shername's cat. They couldn't decide on a name soon enough so we called it motherfucker. It answered quite readily. They finally decided on smudge, but the first name stuck better. Now, I'm not saying Matt's going to call my son motherfucker, but he's threatening Darius. Somehow I think I prefer the former to the latter. Anyone else have any name suggestions for a boy?

Well, I was supposed to start back to class this evening, but the weather decided I needed another day off. So, depending on tomorrow's weather I may have one of my two classes or I may have another week's reprieve. I need to find the severe weather number that they referenced on the sign on the door. That might give me just a little up front insight.
One thing that having this evening off did accomplish was getting to see the newest Dennis Miller vehicle. This is on CNBC every evening at 9:00. Dennis is crawling up on 50 and has mellowed a little. He's become slightly more conservative in his advanced age. Oddly enough the imdb doesn't have this new show listed. His first guest was Gov. Arnold. It was an interesting interview though most of it was spent trying to push the two propositions that Arnold needs passed in California. And, what's Dennis Miller without the news. The last segment of the show, I think it was called the Varsity Squad or Varsity panel (gee what short term memory, huh?) He had three "informed" people though David Horowitz did all the talking. Naomi Wolf was a little outmatched being the only girl. I'm wondering if these three people will be regulars or will they be replaced daily or weekly. Anyway, if you get a chance, catch the show. I think Dennis might actually go a long way towards drawing both sides towards common sense. I guess that will remain to be seen.
Other than that, not a whole lot is going on around here. Just trying to get the house into shape for the annual commercial bowl. We just found out that Adam will be coming in from Philadelphia and being a guest at casa de Vandermark. That means we'll have to be slightly quicker in getting everything ready, but oh well. I need to solve the logistical problems of a.) finishing the cathouse and b.) delivering the cathouse. Finishing hopefully won't be a problem, but delivery might. The weather combined with my father's new truck, added to the fact that he probably doesn't have a cap on the truck, along with the fact that it probably won't fit in any car might make it difficult. I'll get it eventually.

When I started at the University, they had hired a new temporary employee as well. He started the day before I did. For about a month or two Tony the temp would sit at his little table workspace stuffing checks. No one knew too much about him at that point. One of the women in the office finally started talking to him. Not that that's any great feat. I think this woman would talk to cadavers given the opportunity. And, knowing how loud her voice is, she might wake some of them up.
Tony ended up in much the same situation that I did. As soon as they found out his talents extended beyond check stuffing, they quickly put him on other projects within the office. He worked his way around and eventually ended up as the sole web representative for the newly formed customer service department. During this time four of us in the office had developed a nice little clique. We went out for a walk at lunch pretty much everyday and three of us left together every night. A few months ago Tony got another job and left the department and things haven't quite been the same since. The three of us left tried to fill the vacancy, but it never materialized. Customer Service suffered such a blow that they had to open up a third slot to fill the void Tony left. His leaving also had an impact on office moral. Tony was a very funny guy and could lift everyone's spirits regardless of whatever else was prevailing in the office that day. If you ever meet Tony, ask him to do the Spiderman dance, you'll see what I mean.
So, why bring all this up now since it happened several months ago? Well, I was just kind of pre-looking into maybe checking out some possibilities for that change of scenery I mentioned yesterday and looking at the website for the company he works for, they have a nice opening for which I am actually qualified. That and he wanted to know why there was no mention of him anywhere. (hehehe)

Today was the same old same old at work. I think maybe it's time for a change of scenery in that respect. I received an e-mail forward from my Uncle today. I won't copy the whole thing here since it was rather lengthy, but it dealt with God vs. Satan. God created broccoli and lettuce and Satan created Ben and Jerry's and Krispy Kreme. God created running shoes and yogurt to combat that and Satan created the TV remote. God created lean beef to help man stay healthy and Satan had McDonald's create the $.99 Double Cheeseburger with everything and fries. Man went into cardiac arrest. God then created the quadruple bypass surgery and Satan created HMO's.
Why point that out? Because Terri and I are currently being screwed by the healthcare system (although I'm hesitant to use healthcare since I don't think they actually give a damn about our health). When we found out Terri was pregnant, we immediately checked into costs since my last name isn't Rockefeller or Rock for that matter. The insurance company said that once we paid the $250 deductible that everything else would be covered. I said, "Fine. $250.00 over the course of 9 months shouldn't be too hard to squirrel away." The insurance company said, "No, perhaps you misunderstand. The deductible runs concurrent with the calendar year. So anything you pay in 2003 will count towards 2003. However, since the baby will be born in 2004 you'll have to start from 0 again on Jan. 1st. So, I wasn't too keen on that. Then came the ultrasound bill. A one hour ultrasound costs $600+ and on top of that they billed us a second fee to have the "doctor" (read: snotty nurse with little to no patience) read the ultrasound. After 20 minutes I could read the ultrasound. It's not that difficult once you get your bearings and understand how the sound affects and bounces off of tissue density. So, because the ultrasound was in December, we'll have to pay what they won't cover and it counts towards the '03 deductible. Which doesn't do us a damn bit of good in '04. And, when the bill came in yesterday the statement date was Jan. 16th. The due date was Jan. 30th. It took them almost a month to bill us, but we're expected to turn around that cost in under 10 days since we received the bill on the 21st. Makes me want to schedule that annual check-up I've been putting off since I have a little money in savings at the moment.
Now, please don't misunderstand. I'm really looking forward to being a parent and would never actually hold any of this against my son. However, the longer this process goes on, the more I wonder how I never managed to stumble into some facet of the baby racket.
Gap baby sells jeans for $19.50. I don't remember the last time I spent that much money on my jeans and my waist size hasn't changed in almost 12 years. If any one has any low investment high yield baby ideas, let me know. I'll be more than happy to devote time and energy towards making it work.

Pretty dull day today. Tom stopped by the office today and we went through another round of...Are you guys brothers? Aside from dark hair (which is rapidly falling off of one of us, I won't say which so as not to embarrass him) we are fairly different. He's taller, broader, and as a programmer wears the typical uniform...t-shirt, jeans, and a ball cap. Who knows what goes through people's minds?
Another thing that caught my wrath recently is wrapping paper. I wish I had invented that. Wrapping paper costs money and all it does is hide a gift you spent money on for about two minutes while the recipient rips it to shreds and then you go through and pick it all up and throw it away. And, in my house it seems we buy one roll of wrapping paper for every gift. Does the gift take the whole roll? No. But the rest of the roll seems to disappear from gift to gift. Every Christmas we spend $10-15 on wrapping paper and the next year all the leftovers are gone. Where did they go? I've actually considered buying that wrapping paper caddy that they advertise on TV. Then I stop smoking the crack and realize that's exactly what they want you to do. Spend more money on wrapping paper and wrapping paper accessories. I just don't understand it. I think the underpants gnomes are expanding their business. Wrapping paper could be phase two.

Well, I had yesterday off so there's a little more to talk about today. On Friday night, we took Terri's boss out bowling as a late Christmas gift. Poor guy got crushed every game. And speaking of crushed, the Pens have dropped games to Minnesota, Washington, and most likely the Devils.
Saturday we headed out to pick up a travel system from a woman that Terri works with. We got a $150 piece of baby stuff for $40. That enabled us to head to Babies R Us and adjust the registry. What we didn't know is that Saturday was the big Grand Opening of the Babies R Us in Cranberry. It was wall to wall people and babies. It was crazy. Then on the way back we wanted to head to USA Baby to pick out a crib, but snow and lack of directional skill prevented that.
Then early Sunday morning we headed out to Cole's christening. He was very quiet and well behaved during the christening itself, but he decided quickly that he didn't want anything to do with all the pictures that people wanted to take and no one could really blame him. After family cleared out we headed back over to Amy and Glen's to hang out and visit. We were able to ascertain that Glen's father, who was in a car accident Saturday night, was ok.
Monday, I slept in a little and then set to the task of starting the big tetris puzzle that is my house right now. I need to put the carpet on the cat house to get the cat house out of the kitchen to get the kitchen table out of the dining room into the kitchen, etc. etc. etc.
I did manage to make some headway. I got the bottoms of both floors covered and started on the house portion. I wanted to do a little more this evening, but just haven't found the motivation quite yet. I need to do it soon. There's only 11 days left before the Superbowl party and I need to have the majority of this stuff done by then. And, considering this is a Christmas gift from Christmas '02 it's about time.
And, even though there are 11 days left, I lose two evenings next week to class which I haven't been in since 1998. So, that in itself should be an interesting experience.

Ok, I'm done hearing about diets. Get off your ass and exercise a little. Losing weight is the simplest equation in the world. Burn more calories than you take in. Do this enough and you'll lose weight. There's no need to buy special food from the same place that Fergie does. There's no need to cut out all carbohydrates or all proteins or all fats or all...you get the picture. Joe is doing it right. He's snacking a little less, exercising a little more. If you break down the calorie equation I'll bet he's burning off more than he's taking in. I think that everyone I work with is on a different diet. One guy is on the South Beach, one woman is on Atkins, others are counting fat, and they claim that they are going to exercise. With the exception of one person, I haven't seen a change in anyone. I've lost more weight than they have and all I do is step on the treadmill a couple of times a week.
Ok, enough about that crap.
This isn't a funny scenario, but to hear it on the radio made me laugh like hell. The announcer said that..."apparently the man had an incendiary device in the car and set it off when he noticed the police chasing him. I wonder if they just wanted to tell him his brake light was out?
Pens play Minnesota tonight. I hope that Marc-Andre isn't too rusty. It's rumored that he's starting tonight.
Oh well, here's to a whole weekend of getting stuff done. I need to finish the cat house before the annual Superbowl party. I know, I can't stand football, it's a long story that maybe I'll get into later.

Well, last night the Pens managed to beat themselves. They spotted them a two goal lead by having bad bounces go off sticks. Other than that, they played pretty well. Not as good as they played in the Philadelphia game, but oh well. I don't understand how we can get shelled 8-0 by a middle of the pack team and then go into Philly, on their ice, and beat one of the top teams in the East. Such is hockey.
Last night while waiting for Edzo's post game comments, Gene Collier (a columnist for the Post Gazette) came on to do his little rant about whatever was pissing him off. I have such a strong dislike to the man that I flipped the channel to the first available station and watched 5 minutes of basketball. Doesn't seem all that unusual unless you know me. I would never voluntarily sit and watch basketball. But, when it comes down to "something else" or Collier...I'll take "something else" regardless of what it is.
And, oddly enough on the basketball front, the University of Pittsburgh's Men's basketball team is undefeated so far this season. I think they are like 17-0 or something. You can barely buy high priced scalped tickets to the games. The University of Pittsburgh's Women's basketball team on the other hand, just sent out a flyer. They are having an activities fair before one of the games. Admission is free for everyone 18 and under. Admission is free to all employees of the University of Pittsburgh and their immediate families. So much for Title IX or whatever the ruling was to try and even out Men's and Women's sports in college.
I guess that's about all for today.

Yes, I was at the arena for the 8-0 shellacking that the Pens got from Montreal. And, yes to make matters worse it was the same idiot with the same piece of paper not knowing the words to O Canada. I could go down to the ice and sing O Canada for the start of a game. It's a very easy song to sing. We also found out that there are going to be life-sized bobbleheads up for bid in the hockey cancer auction found here. That's fairly scary. Although I guess I could purchase any one of the Flyers and have the neighborhood dogs use it as the new fire plug.
I also realized that even though this blog is for my thoughts and to show people my point of view (however twisted or skewed that may be) it still has its own form of censorship attached to it. The majority of the people reading the blog (unless I've gained some underground readership that I don't know about) are people that I deal with in my everyday life. Which means that if I have a fight with my wife and post the details and my side of the story up here, every last one of them will take the opportunity to take her side and flame me. So, I find myself picking and choosing my topics and rants. And, I'm sure I was going somewhere with that, but at the end of a workday, all I know is that I'm ready to head home. So, that's all for today I guess. Bye Bye and Buy Bonds.

Well, let's see...where to begin. It's been a few days. I think I'll start with one of the oddest things I've seen in a while. Terri's boss dropped by to see how she was feeling (she either has bronchitis or pneumonia, but they can't take a chest x-ray due to the whole pregnancy thing). Anyway, he was hanging out for a little while and we tried out the pool table that Tom bought me for Christmas. He's a big fan of George Lopez and we don't usually watch TV on Friday nights, so we had it on for him. And, in the middle of the episode, George Lopez is relaxing on his couch wearing a Mario Lemieux hockey jersey. And it was a pretty blatant placement. There was no mistaking the team, the number, the C on the jersey, the name on the back. It was a Pittsburgh Penguins jersey featuring Mario Lemieux. And, I don't have a connection. According to the imdb, George was born in Mission Hills, California. None of the movies or shows that he was in, points to a Pittsburgh connection. If he is a big hockey fan, why not the Kings or the Sharks? Or follow a crowd favorite and go with the Detroit Red Wings. Even if it wasn't his choice (which would be odd considering he's the writer, star, and producer) why didn't the costume people choose a team near the top of the standings? Detroit, Toronto, Philly, Vancouver, Ottawa...all popular teams, colorful jerseys. If anyone has any idea why he chose the Penguins, please let me know. I'd love to see it replicated on all TV shows. Friends stars will wear a Rangers jersey every so often, but it's just a generic jersey no star, though Messier would certainly be popular, but thankfully they don't use Lindros.
Anyway, enough hockey even though I'll be seeing the Pens take on Montreal tomorrow afternoon. And, I'll get to hear O Canada again, which to me, is one of the great moments of seeing a hockey game. I hope the person singing it knows the words. Sitting down in Level A, we could see Sebastian Caron fairly well and he knew the words to both O Canada and the Star Spangled Banner. Why can't the person being featured provide us with the same courtesy.

I was up before 6:30, at a seminar all day long with 14 people higher up on the org chart than I am, running to the mall to supplement my "management" wardrobe for the next two days of the seminar, headed to Glen and Amy's to pick up a bassinet (is that spelled right?) for the kid, and when I finally get back to the house at 11:30 the first thing I notice in the bedroom is that there's a lace tablecloth laying by the door. The same tablecloth that was sitting underneath a ton of knick-knacks that were on top of the dresser. Upon looking at the floor, Terri lost two jewelry boxes, several carousel horses, and a beautiful snow globe that Tom had bought Terri for Christmas a couple of years ago. The cats are lucky they survived this long. I was pissed beyond belief. There is glass all over the bedroom floor. Neither Terri nor I even have the energy to clean it up tonight. We just shut the door and we're utilizing the guest room.

Well, doesn't this always happen, a ton of stuff to blog and no time to blog. Instead of re-linking the article here, I'll point you to Diane and Ed. Read the entry marked...god help america. It's a good thing you can't take back pregnancy. I'm not sure how long it's going to take me to explain to the little one that that sort of thing isn't right and never will be.
And speaking of patriotism in a weird sort of way...If you are going to sing the National Anthem or O Canada at a hockey game, no, at any sporting event, KNOW THE FUCKIN' WORDS!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry for that brief outburst, but the moron at the Pens game had to have the words to O Canada written on a piece of paper in front of him.
On the upside, once I review the tape of the game (though I'm not sure I want to relive the 5-0 loss) I'm sure that I'll be able to spot Terri and I on TV. We were one row off the ice. Oh, and remind me later to rant about the idiot girl that was behind us, then in front of us.
So, I've sat in on every level in the arena with the exception of on-ice and in the sports deck. I have my pros and cons for each and may even go into them at a later date.
There's also a lot of work stuff, but I'll get to that later too. I'll be out of communication over the next three days due to a seminar that mysteriously appeared on my agenda so it may be a little while since over the course of the next 3 days I'll be spending about 25 or 26 hours with high level managers learning about the ins and outs of Project Management. Woo-hoo. I can hardly contain my excitement. Hopefully I can figure out a way to get coffee done intravenously throughout the day. More to follow I'm sure.

Well, there's probably a lot to say. The Penguins can't win a game to save their lives. They closed out the old year by dropping a New Year's Eve game to the Islanders and opened the New Year by giving up 3 power play goals to Nashville and losing. And we continued losing yesterday as we let the Rangers edge past us. Although if you count ex-Penguin's goals we actually won 3-2. Maybe that's how I'll choose to look at it.
Anyway, I saw this today and realized that another one of Tom's dreams had gone down the tubes, although there's a slight hope if the whole article is true.
As for Friday, December 26th's party...I haven't quite decided whether I want to a.) just mention that I was there and give a brief overview. b.) spill absolutely everything all at once. or c.) draw the details out over a period of a few weeks. I will say that it was quite an interesting party both for those participating and for those of us watching. Oh well, I guess I have some time to figure it out.
So, even though I'm not the pregnant one, it's still my son too, right? Doesn't that give me the right to want to slap someone's hand away from my wife's stomach and ostensibly our child? It's really starting to annoy me.
Anyway, I guess that's about all for today. I'm going to see if I can see the size of that chicken from here or if I have to be in the spirit world to see it.
I also wouldn't mind putting together a list like Craig has, but that would have required me to have started keeping the list last New Years. So, maybe at this point next year, I'll have a list. Although, I will say, much to Craig's dismay that I was rooting for the Mighty Ducks to go all the way.

Alright after not posting or reading for a little over a week, it's time to get back into the swing of things. This will be a short post now, with hopefully a little more later. Once I get home from work, I'd like to catch up on everyone's blog and then do a little supporting/witnessing on my own.
Oh, and Happy New Year, is the political thing to say at this point I guess.

Well, today went fairly smoothly. I made it to Tom's, grabbed the rocker, put it in the car, drove back here, put the rocker together and hid it in plain sight and got rid of all the evidence before Terri got back from work.
Turns out the reason my parent's didn't want me borrowing the truck today to haul the rocker over here is because my father got a new truck. 4-wheel drive, automatic, with a CD player. Nothing like jumping into the 90's. Someday they'll catch up with the rest of the world.
Anyway, not much else is going on. Only a couple hours til Christmas. I figure Terri will be asleep in an hour or so and I can put a bow on the rocker and go to bed. Hope everyone's holiday is what they're looking for.

Merry Christmas to me!!!! I finished up the one account that I really wanted to get done and thus it is a wonderful Merry Christmas for me!

Today was an easier day than most I guess. I managed to save the University another large chunk of money in penalties. It's a shame I can't tap into a percentage of that money. I'm working on one last account trying to "nice" the woman into helping out. I use what Terri calls my "radio" voice. It's very low and smooth and has a wonderful way of putting people at ease and getting them to bend to my will. So far, I've gotten her to agree that the problem is on their end and they should work very quickly to fix the problem and get back to us.
Last night we hung out with Glen and Amy and Cole as noted in yesterday's entry. I ended up hanging out til about 1:30 in the morning just talking about families and pregnancy and stuff. So, I wasn't exactly running at peak efficiency this morning, but a cup of coffee cleared that right up.
The rest of the day has been pretty dull. Tom, Joe, Dwight, Terri and I are going to get together this evening and putter around. We'll probably do dinner somewhere and then end up at our place trying to one up each other at some sort of trivially inclined game. Then comes my day off.
Except for the fact that I have to get up just as early in order to drive over to Tom's apartment to grab the pieces of Terri's gift, get it back to the house, put it together and hide it before Terri gets home from work. I'm so behind in all of the things that I need to get done for the holidays. And, that doesn't even begin to cover what needs to be done for the baby's arrival.
Oh well, a little more time to kill before I can head home for the holidays.

Did I happen to mention that working for the IRS is not something that I'd ever really enjoy doing? Tracking down this tax certification from 3 and 4 years ago is not only incredibly difficult, as some companies have merged, closed, etc., but it is also boring beyond all belief. What I can't figure out is that when there were three people working on it, I had to drop everything I was doing to help out, but today I'm the only one.
We went to the Penguins game Saturday night courtesy of Ray and Tara's most generous Christmas gift. They played a decent game, but lost 7-4. I haven't heard anything on the status of the goaltender Caron, but after listening to his Christmas message to the fans, I think he's secretly channeling Justin Wilson. In fact, I guar-an-tee it.
Joe flew in early Sunday morning and he and Dwight and I went out for brunch. I did finally round out the consensus that while 14 or 15 might be a good nickname, no one under a certain age will get it. And that kind of scared us because it will be hard to determine which Superbowl we're on, or more importantly, which Wrestlemania. (sniff, sniff...you smell that? that's sarcasm)
Not too much else is going on around here. We're headed over to Glen and Amy's tonight to hang out and play with Cole.

Oh, and I almost forgot... Look who I found. She's been at this longer than I have, but I guess we never crossed paths. I've also updated the sidebar so you can find her quicker and easier. Hi, Diane!

Well, it seems that things have finally started working again. I don't know if the problem was on my end or bloggers, but oh well. Let's see do I have any news? Um, yeah sort of.

Yesterday morning for the first time I saw my son.

And, the first thought that ran across my mind was the little green alien baby that was in the Mini Series "V" It was kind of spooky the way it looked like that. I wonder if that means everyone is correct and I am having an alien child.
Yesterday was my Grandmother's 83rd birthday and today is my brother's 23rd birthday. Since my brother is in North Dakota it's fairly difficult to celebrate with him. We went out to dinner last night with my parents and my grandmother to celebrate. After dinner Terri and I headed over to my old bosses house. She has two children a little girl and a little boy. They are both adorable. Terri got some maternity clothes which was great for me. It was like shopping without the money. We also got lots of tips and advice which is always good. I love seeing how other people deal with similar situations. Terri and I are like sponges when we get around people with children. I sometimes feel like we're studying for some sort of exam.
Tonight is the office Christmas party so that ought to be interesting. I'll probably have more on that on Monday. And, I didn't get my early present from the Pens, they lost to Carolina 2-1 last night. They did, however, get a point out of it since the loss was in overtime. I like Ron Francis a lot, I always have, but does he have to stick it to us each and every time? Cut us a break Ronnie, we have your name up in the arena as one of the all time greats. Anyway, Saturday's game should be a good one against Atlanta.

That didn't work. I wonder what the holdup is?

For some reason yesterday's post didn't publish, though it said publish successful. I wonder if I publish this will both show up?

Today was an interesting day at work. I had a project that I've been working on since August that was going to culminate in a class that was scheduled to happen tomorrow afternoon basically get cancelled right out from under me. It must be nice to sit in the seat of power. This class was a cooperative effort from several different departments and would have greatly improved communication and knowledge within our department, but alas it wasn't important enough. Bitter...oh, a tad.
Anyway, other than that there's not much going on. The Pens are on a two (count 'em two) game winning streak. And we're headed into Carolina on Thursday night. They were beginning to spiral downwards and just recently fired Paul Maurice their coach. He was the coach with the longest tenure in the NHL up until this week. So, hopefully we can capitalize on their downturn and pick up another 2 points and a third win in a row to come back home on Saturday for Mike Lange talking bobblehead night. I wonder how many things he actually says. Anyway, enough rambling. Sorry there was no post yesterday it's been (or was until today) a very busy week at work. Now that my entire schedule has been cleared in favor of one project, I have a little extra time which I'll probably sink into this blog.
Oh well such is life. Hopefully Tom will make it back to his apartment ok with Terri's Christmas Present (which of course, I won't divulge just in case she ever takes the time to actually read these pages, which she never does)

Standing in sub-zero temperatures in just a suit jacket watching Kathy's coffin be lowered into the ground I came to the realization that in the midst of God's master plan for life on earth, it is a cruel twist that has a parent bury a child. My Aunt could barely handle the funeral and didn't even attempt the gravesite. My Uncle was slightly more stoic, but only slightly. And once again, I had to put my pall bearer skills to the test. All in all, Friday wasn't the greatest day of the holiday season for me or my family. Kathy was 33. They read the following poem at the gravesite and I guess I feel compelled to share.

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you wake in the morning hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.
Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there, I did not die!--Mary Frye (1932)

I don't mean to go on about this, but it hit me rather hard at a time when I was already reflecting on mortality and the fragility of the human life.

On Saturday we went with Glen, Amy, and Cole to Babies R Us. There is sooo much crap associated with a child we don't even have yet. I'm beginning to think that if there was a test to parenthood I'd flunk. There are car seats and boosters and travel systems and breast pumps and swings and cribs and changing tables and bassinets and portable changing mats and diapers and pull-ups and bottles and bibs and washcloths and clothes and strollers and high chairs and on and on and on. At least the Pens beat Columbus. Now let's roll over Buffalo and carry a winning streak into Carolina so that we can beat Atlanta on Saturday when I'll be sitting at the game enjoying it.
One last thing, watch this space in the next couple of days or so. I'll be starting my annual fundraising for the MS Walk, which, for me, has taken on a whole new meaning this year. So, I'll be hitting everyone up and generally begging for money.

Sorry I didn't blog yesterday. I was just floating through the day. In the morning before I climbed into the shower the phone rang. My mom was calling to tell me that sometime during the night my cousin Kathy had passed away. I'm still kind of sketchy on the details. All I know at the moment is that the funeral is tomorrow morning, so there probably won't be a post tomorrow due to travel, etc.
I've also found myself trying to figure out exactly what I'm feeling. Kathy was the oldest of 15 grandkids on my Dad's side of the family. I'm number 5 which puts Kathy pretty close to my age. She's had health problems due to MS and Diabetes and was even confined to a wheelchair because of the lack of feeling in her legs. I've just been sitting and thinking of stuff we did and stuff we'll never do. All I'm consistently aware of is the fact that I don't know what to think or how to feel. There is the part of me that feels guilty because I haven't made it a point to go and see her when I was up in that area visiting. Then, there's a part of me that's angry that I didn't go and see her. And, then there's the rambling part of me that seems to be coming through in this post.
Oh well, enough with the touchy-feely stuff. Eventually I'll have to work things out in my own head and life will go on for everyone else.

Wherever you are Kathy, I hope you're happy and healthy and stretching your legs out for a marathon. I'll miss you.

Not too much going on today. I did get to yell at a customer service rep for AT&T. Complaining to these people is one of the joys I take in having to pay bills. I love it when they screw up and I get to call and complain. I usually wait until I'm good and frustrated from something or someone else that I can't take it out on and then let the poor rep have it with both barrels. I know, I know, it's not their fault, but they represent the company so they have partial responsibility. I got my long distance bill (which for reasoning that escapes me at the moment is a completely separate service from my local bill). I made $9.30 in phone calls from August to November. My bill was $29.80. There were charges for minimum usage and connect fees and other random assorted crap. The woman from AT&T told me that I was a valued customer and that they didn't want to lose me. She asked if a free hour of long distance a month would help. I told her that even if she came to my house and dialed the phone for me I still wanted my service cancelled today. So, that was a good day.
Outside of that, not much else is happening. I got some good news in the respect that I can actually use some of the existing data for my class in a week or so. That means I won't have to create everything from scratch like I thought originally. So, that was a bonus. Maybe the Pens will even manage a win against Vancouver tonight.

Well the Pens managed to lose that game 4-3 and then get blown out by Calgary the next night 6-1. Hopefully they can salvage the last couple points on the road and limp home mostly intact. Not much else is going on around here. We're trying to get the Christmas cards done and sent. (Which reminds me...I need addresses for you and you.
We haven't put the tree up yet, but I'm sure that's on it's way. I need to finish up the last of the Christmas gift stuff. The upstairs looks like some sort of weird tornado hit it recently. There's an upheaval of furniture. Stuff that used to be in one room is now in another and a general displacement of crap.
We also found out that our friend Niki is pregnant. She's due in July. I'm going to be surrounded by kids. By this time next year, God willing, we'll have three more little ones to contend with in the general vicinity of our friends.
Anyway, not too much else tonight. Although if you get a chance give the new Battlestar Galactica a chance. I'm not completely sold on it (and I have yet to see anything resembling a daggit), but it wasn't bad and Edward James Olmos turned in a pretty good performance in the Lorne Greene part. There's a completely different dynamic from the old show. It makes me want to buy the box set to compare. A guy at work has it and was pointing out how much footage was reused from show to show. And although I'm called a purist in the pursuit of movie, tv, and music excellence I do look at those old shows in the context that they were meant. I reflect on the era produced and marvel at the technology of the time. That's why in addition to the re-done Star Wars movies, I also have copies of the originals. I remember watching Battlestar Galactica with my parents and wanting a daggit so badly and at the time not understanding why I couldn't have one. Now understand, the tv show ran from 78-79 and I was four going on five. I'm lucky I can remember watching the show.
Anyway, if you get a chance check it out. Like I said above, there are a lot of differences and I'm not sold on it, but it looks promising.

Make that 3-1 Pens.

Sorry it's been a few days. Thursday and Friday I got bogged down during the day and when I tried to blog last night the internet crashed on me and I just didn't feel like rebooting.
Now that that's out of the way on to what's been happening.
Thursday was a pretty typical day at work as was Friday. This whole week has been a low pressure situation since the supervisor for our side has been on vacation all week. I think she's also on vacation all next week as well. Friday at about 4:30 it began to snow and snow and snow. Friday was Terri's office Christmas party. Quite boring since there's about four hundred or so people milling about and I know maybe four or five including me.
Today was one of the dreaded Christmas shopping days. I hate Christmas shopping. There are 7 bazillion people and not one of them gives a damn about anyone else. I lost count of the number of people who cut me off, the number of idiots who make a right hand turn from the left hand lane, and just the general number of people who ticked me off. And this year because of Terri being pregnant we'll have to do this several more times than I'd like to since she can't walk around as much as in the past. We finished up some people today, but not everyone. Tomorrow, I hope to finish up the majority of the rest of the list so that I only have to pick up a few last minute items.
Anyway, the Pens are currently winning 2-1 against the Edmonton Oilers so hopefully they can hold on to that and build for tomorrow's game against Calgary.

I had another class this morning for the suggested track of discipline that my superiors at work suggested I follow. It was about the respectful workplace. I thought it was quite ironic that one of the women in a department in the same sector of the University that I'm in showed up 10 minutes late, left the presentation 3 times while it was going on, and bolted 15 minutes early. Very respectful in my eyes. I was also trying to reconcile everything that they were explaining to me with the various jobs that I've had throughout my professional career. At Lycos, when they announced we were going to have sexual harassment training, we immediately began to practice sexually harassing one another. When the HR woman told us this wasn't exactly the purpose of the training, we were smartasses. We asked what the training was for. She told us it was to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. We then figured we only had a week to sexually harass one another before the training took place and we were no longer allowed. The HR woman gave up and went into her office. I don't think the policy applied to our group. I mean we had porn Mondays.
My current job has several women of advanced age (the saying of which probably violates the age discrimination act that they explained today) and they find it second nature to call everyone honey or dear. I think it's grandmotherly. The video we watched portrayed it as harassment. No one in my office thinks twice about asking me, one of the few males, to lift the heavy objects or put together shelves or mail bins. Again, the video portrays that as sexist. Guess the offices I've been in have broken quite a few policies along the way. Oh well.
Hopefully this evening, I'll get to spend a little money on the phone bill calling Matt to gloat about a Pens victory over the Flyers. They've tied the first two games they've played this season. So, maybe they'll do that again. In which case, it's still my turn to call.

Well, Terri had another baby checkup today. We got to hear the heartbeat again. Still doesn't sound quite human, but at least it hasn't decided to abandon us yet. I'm a little worried that these early appointments are taking about 3 minutes on the average. I guess it's still a little too early to do anything more. The ultrasound is a little over two weeks away. "We" haven't decided anything. However, "I" made a decision last week as to whether or not we were going to find out. And, the decision is...I'm not telling you yet. We'll see how the next couple of weeks play out. You may find out, you may not.
Enough with the baby talk. It's coming up way too fast. We're almost half-way through this thing already and there's so much stuff to do at the house. Not to mention the fact that Terri is more than ready to start house hunting. Being slightly more practical, I know we're not quite up to that stage, but try telling a pregnant woman that.
With my luck, I'll get everything in the current house configured for impending baby arrival and all the pieces will fall into place for a move and I'll have to start all over again. I did get the library mostly finished. I need to go through a ton of old magazines, newspapers, and catalogs, but other than that the structure is pretty much there. Know anyone that needs 7 or 8 years worth of Bride's Magazines?
Not much else is going on around here. The day is winding down and there isn't even any Pens hockey on tonight. At least I'll have a shortened work day tomorrow. I have a seminar to attend in the morning. Hopefully, I'll stay awake.

Wow, lots has happened since the last post. Let's see...
The Pens and the Flyers tied. Somehow the Rangers found a way to beat the Pens 4-1. The Hurricanes got an early Christmas gift by the refs and beat the Pens 4-3, and if I don't type fast enough we'll see how the Pens/Thrashers game turns out.
Enough hockey, I guess. Wednesday when I got home from work, our wedding album was waiting on the porch, freshly delivered by the UPS guy. This album is huge! The box said it weighed in at 18 pounds. The pictures are great though. The photographer's were worth the money paid.
Thursday we went out to dinner with my parents, grandmother, and uncles. Since they put my grandmother into assisted living, we've eaten Thanksgiving out since grandma feels bad that she can't host the dinner. Then Thursday evening we went to Terri's parent's house. One of the cousins that she had a big e-mail fight with was at dinner. It's interesting to see how people talk around one another.
Friday night, Tom, Terri, and I went down to a bar/restaurant near my parent's house to see a country band. One of the girls that I graduated high school with sings for the band. They were pretty good. The bassist does a great Willie Nelson for the duet, "Beer For My Horses" There was a lot of Shania Twain and not enough (She wants to sell my monkey!!!!!!!! For those outside of Pittsburgh, the Pens just scored making it 4-3 Pens and Mike Lange comes up with one of his spectacular goal calls. Hopefully they can hold on to the lead, unlike some other Pittsburgh team, but more on that later.)...where was I... oh yeah, not enough Jodee Messina or Martina McBride. The only song that I was disappointed in, was "When You Say Nothing At All." The female version was probably most notably done by Alison Krauss. It was fine, but it didn't have the emotion that Alison conveys. And Pittsburgh wins the game 4-3. Great job boys.
Anyway, it was a local bar (read: Redneck) and it was the first time that I had ever been inside. Besides beer, one of the things you expect in a bar is sports. Two televisions one playing Entertainment Tonight, the other Wheel of Fortune. We had to ask to get the Pens vs. Rangers game. I do realize that it's not very hard to go home again, but it's extremely difficult to fit in. I saw more than 10 people that I graduated high school with and that's just the usual patrons. There were a bunch of us there just to see Lindsy.
Anyway, enough about that. Saturday Mark and Robyn were headed to the Pitt vs. Miami game so Terri and I went up to babysit Jacob. Robyn's new kitchen looks great and Jacob was as cute as ever. The Pens game turned out bad as did the Pitt game. Mark and Robyn were home before the game was even over.
Sunday, Tom had club seat tickets to the Steelers vs. Bengals game. Now, I'm not a big football fan, hell, I'm not a football fan at all, but I never turn down rich people seats for sporting events. The game wasn't bad and the Steelers looked like they were actually going to pull it out. With 55 seconds to go they scored a touchdown and took the lead. The crowd was rocking. I turned to Tom and jokingly said, "If the Bengals run the kick-off back for a touchdown you'll be able to hear a pin drop in this place." I was kidding, but the Bengals weren't. They ran the kick-off back to the 50 yard line and then proceeded to not only get within field goal range to be able to tie it, but they threw a touchdown pass to win it with 13 seconds to go. Not a happy day for Steelers fans. I had lots of other comments on the fans at the field, but I'll just let them go. It boils down to hockey vs. football and with my normal blog readers, I won't win that fight no matter how right I am.
Anyway, that's enough rambling for now. More tomorrow I guess.

Not a long post today. I got off work early and I'm posting from home. I just wanted to do the cheesy thing and wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. I'm not sure whether I'll get on the computer again before Monday so posting might be a touch thin.
Once again I have to split the holidays. I hope the child gives us the power to stop doing that, but I doubt it. We'll start with my family, end with hers and will most likely see Tom's family somewhere in the middle.
Anyway, that's about it for now. Hopefully the holidays will go well, although some of Terri's extended family will be in for Thanksgiving and that's never good, but we'll see how that goes. Maybe I'll get a chance to express my true feelings and take care of all of the problems all at once.

Looking at Joe's comment, I couldn't help buy chuckle. I'm taller than both Randy and Elizabeth and I'm pretty short comparatively. So, no, I don't know Macho Man and Miss Elizabeth. I think it would be rather difficult for a dead woman to have a baby, but stranger things have happened.
Randy, Elizabeth, Matt, Alison, Suzy, Terri, and I all attended CMU at around the same time so we all kind of knew each other. Now Elizabeth, Alison, and Terri are all in various stages of pregnancy. Elizabeth is due first and will have an '03 baby, but Alison and Terri will have '04 babies. It's going to make getting together interesting to say the least. Instead of everyone piling into one or two cars, we'll have to caravan since car seats aren't exactly compact and none of us is planning on running right out and buying a 24 passenger mini-van.
Anyway, that's enough about that I guess. Although it's rather odd being around that many pregnant women at once. Usually it's just one at a time. And, to top it off there's a woman at work who is becoming a grandmother for the first and second time within months. There's also a woman who used to work in our department who is expecting. So, there are going to be kids everywhere I go.
And, looking at Friday's blog, I was close. We got 3 out of a possible 4 points. Now, we lost to the Devil's in overtime, but still gained that crucial point. We are at the moment last in the league, but we'll vault over Washington quite handily. We just need a couple of other teams to spiral once we put together a few wins. Lemieux's status just became indefinite today so that was a blow to the team in general. Hopefully they can win Wednesday and Friday. The Flyers might be a slight challenge, but we've tied them once already this season. And, we owe the Rangers.

This weekend was a lot of fun. Matt and Alison arrived Friday night and dropped me off at work this morning. One thing we found out...Alison is due 3 weeks after Terri. So, I spent the majority of the weekend hanging out with three pregnant women (as friends Randy and Elizabeth are expecting next month.) I didn't make one decision on what or when to eat. I did, however, spend the majority of Sunday in Randy's basement playing Lord of the Rings RISK with Randy and Matt. Matt ended up winning about 9 hours after we started. Talk about a war.
Anyway, not much else is going on. I spent the bulk of the day training a new employee, so those days are always mostly relaxing. More tomorrow about the baby explosion that seems to be happening around me.

Ok, so I didn't make it back to the blog last night. I guess that's ok.
Part of what I wanted to talk about was Wednesday night's Pens game against the Wild. On the 13th I talked about the lights going out on Broadway because of the reference to the Billy Joel song "Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway)" and the fact that they refer to the Rangers as playing on Broadway. However, on Wed. I saw the lights go out in the Mellon Arena. There was 31.9 seconds left in the first period and wham! No lights anywhere. Everyone was sitting completely in the dark for a second or two. Then slowly everything kicked back on. So, the announcement was made that they would tack on the 31.9 seconds to the beginning of the 2nd period. So, when they came back, they had them take the same sides of the ice they had for the 1st period skate for 31.9 seconds then switch places. It was fairly asinine in my opinion, but no more so than not broadcasting the Heritage Classic outdoor game in the United States. They're playing 2 outdoor hockey games tomorrow. One is an old-timer's game between Montreal and Edmonton alumni including Wayne Gretzky and, to the chagrin of everyone but myself and Darren Pang, Mark Messier. And then the Oilers and Montreal will play a regular season game outside. Everyone says it's generating a lot of talk and will cause quite a stir in the hockey world. How the hell would I know? I won't get to see it until next weekend on ESPN Classic where they butcher the coverage and only show you what they consider to be the "interesting" part of the games.
Now, don't get me wrong, I like the Classic channel for catching things like the Pens 8-0 victory for the Cup against Minnesota and Mario's return to the ice in 2000, but that's only because I've seen both those games, know how they end, and can live with the fact that the coverage is chopped up. For a monumental game such as this, I want to see every minute on the ice. I want to see the weather being a factor in the game for players like Saku Koivu. I want to see some blowing snow catch the goalie in the mask and give someone a wide open net. But I won't get to.
ESPN bitches about the attendance at hockey games and the general fall-off of popularity. Did anyone ever think that they might play a fairly large factor in that? They are the Sports channel for pete's sake.
Enough ranting. Time to get stuff packed up, find out where my guests are on the road and enjoy the rest of my weekend. Which hopefully I will get to do by seeing the Pens stomp New Jersey tonight and Ottawa tomorrow. (Optimistic ain't I?)

Quick post right now. Hopefully more later. That is if I get a chance to do some cleaning for the impending house guests.
I just found out that I got tapped to teach a class to the majority of my co-workers in December. At least they gave me a little time to prepare.

Made another great dent in the library last night. It seems as though I'm going to run out of time before Matt and Alison show up. Well, they know me. I'm sure they know I'm cluttered and messy. Oh wait, they've visited before. They know.
I'm steadily working on trying to relocate all of the items in what was the game room. I did succeed in displaying Escargot. I think it looks very distinguished where it is, but as usual Terri and I disagree on style choices. I think we need to go on that Mix it Up show started by Courtney Cox-Arquette and David Arquette. Anyway, I have ideas for the Air hockey table and the foosball table. We'll have to see how that pans out.
Right now I need to concentrate on getting the guest room in order for our impending guests. And tonight is shot since I'll be at the Pens/Wild game courtesy of Ray, Tara, and the Pens. And, in addition to all that I need to get caught up on my exercise. Oh well, Let's go Pens. They're only 6 points behind Minnesota overall. And for Minn in the west that's not too good. Maybe we can eek out a win and prepare for Ottawa this Saturday.

Gee, if I'm actually slacking I don't mind getting nailed for it. (Though I rarely do) Today, though I'm sitting working very quietly at my desk to finish up a very tedious assignment. You'd think I was hosting a party in my area. The supervisor, and I use that loosely, decides to exert her pretend authority. So, I fire back a quick e-mail defending my position. That's when she involves the boss. He reads what I wrote and his response is for the supervisor to handle it. That was almost an hour ago. No response yet. So, I'm blogging. Just goes to show you shouldn't piss me off when I'm actually being ambitious.
I started rearranging the library at the house last night. I was very motivated by a movie I saw recently and I'm creating the poor man's version of what I saw. Hopefully it will materialize the way I want it too. It will also create a nice house for Escargot which is one large chunk removed from the soon to be nursery if it happens that we're still in this place come due date.
Anyway, that's enough for now. Not much else is actually going on. Pretty dull, huh?

Today was a nice easy day. I got to clean out my filing cabinet, post some of the nice homey touches back up in my little cube area, and just generally slack all day. Work was sporadic and not very taxing and with my supervisor having the day off things drifted along nicely.
This weekend I was very lazy work-wise. I should have been cleaning the house and steadily going through all of my stuff to prepare for the impending arrival of the kid. Did I do any of that? Hell no. I worked out on the treadmill a little, went to a Pens game (they lost) hung out at Glen and Amy's, played with Cole (which is to say I held him while he slept). And, I was just generally lazy. I'm sure I'm going to pay for it.
We have company coming in this weekend. I think they'd like a place to sleep which means I need to get working on that. And the living room and dining room looks as though they exploded into one another and then self-destructed. Terri and I need to get better as housekeepers. I could give a bunch of excuses, but laziness prevails both in preventing excuses and being the root cause of the whole issue.
Anyway, enough rambling. This week is shaping up to be rather busy, so hopefully I can carry the motivation home with me and put it to good use. I have an interesting idea for re-configuring the library which I can't wait to try out. But, since the library is not a necessity in a guest ready house, I may have to hold off on that.
I also need to finish the cat stand that I've been working on since last November. I now have everything at the house, carpet included. I just need a little time and space to work on it. This in addition to buying a last minute baby gift for Randy and Elizabeth, getting my hair cut, my oil changed, etc., etc., etc., blah, blah, blah.
Anyway, as stated before...enough rambling for today.

Well, I was informed this afternoon that starting on Monday I would be going back to writing the process and procedure manual for the office. Which should leave me plenty of time to blog at work. So, the posts should keep flowing nice and steady. Of course, this being Friday there's not a whole lot going on within the office today. Everyone is just kind of clock watching til their quitting time. And, I'm no different (51 minutes to go). I figured that I could kill a few minutes scanning blogs and such. Oh well, time to head out.

Well, the lights went out on broadway last night as the Rangers beat the Pens 6-2. I know everyone's pinning their hopes on Fleury, but um, we need to score too. Remember the good old days when we didn't even need a goalie or defense? We'd just outscore all the other teams. Now, we're 14 games into the season and we haven't even broken 10 points yets. The only bright spot was the fact that the Caps were below us, but now they've pulled even. Stupid Hurricanes. Where were you when we needed you Ron Francis?
I recently re-heard (is that even doable?) or once again came in contact with the phrase, "One monkey don't stop no show." What if it's a one monkey show?
I have seen several interviews with celebrities where they have mentioned the fact that one of their negative reactions to interviews are the fact that they get asked the same questions over and over. I'm beginning to understand what that feels like. Everyday, my office asks me how Terri's doing. Like there's going to be some huge change from day to day. I can't even make up answers anymore. I just mumble ok and keep working. One day I think I'll say the baby sprouted wings and left the womb under it's own power. That'll keep them talking. Not that they need encouragement.
I did get to head off an anti-gun person today. The office was talking about home invasions and they were joking that you need a gun around every corner of the house, just in case. The anti-gun popped up with..."But, why do you need a gun?" I just paused and said, "'Cause it does more damage than a wooden spoon." The laughter killed the rest of the discussion so there was no need for me to get in a lather. Other than that, the day has been pretty dull.

Today was fairly uneventful. Most of the day Saturday and again last night I was babysitting a 3 year old. His grandfather had bypass surgery so Robyn and Mark were at the hospital. The world of a child is an interesting thing. On Saturday, Robyn and Mark went to the Pitt game with another couple; Gary and Jody. Gary and Jody have two children and Robyn and Mark have one. I, at the moment, have none. So, it was decided that I would take Jacob to McDonald's for dinner (which was not my choice by any stretch of the imagination, his mother put that idea in his head). So, he had to be dressed for the weather, so I got him a little Pitt outfit complete with hat and got him out of his PJ's. Then he was gone. So, I had to chase him around the house trying to get clothes onto him. Did the four adults with actual parenting experience offer any assistance? No, they just stood and laughed. It took me about 35 minutes to get him fully clothed. Then the errands that we ran before dinner would have taken me about 30-45 minutes. It took us 2 1/2 hours. We got home just in time to see the Pens get stomped by Tampa Bay of all people.
Last night was also kind of amusing. Since Mark and Robyn are remodeling their kitchen, they've been eating out. So, it was either take Jacob to dinner last night or try and defrost something for the microwave. When Terri and I picked him up from daycare, we started driving down the main road looking for a good place to eat. I finally saw a Lone Star Steakhouse. I was in the wrong lane to make a left hand turn so I pulled into a parking lot to turn around and head towards the restaurant. That's when I hear this little voice from the backseat..."Bill, can we eat at the place with the playroom right there?" Turns out, I had pulled into a parking lot across from a Burger King with a big playland for kids. So, instead of a nice juicy steak, I got a whopper.
The playland itself was an interesting experience. The majority of the stuff is above your head. The kids climb up a staircase and crawl through some tunnels to get to a slide, a helicopter, or a rocketship. It was fairly cool and there was certainly nothing like it when I was child, but it made me think. What if your child decided he didn't want to come down? What if he got scared and couldn't come down? I'm certainly not going to fit up there to follow him. I'll end up like Augustus Gloop in the chocolate tube. They'd be sending the oompa-loompas in after me.
Anyway, not too much else going on. Hopefully the Pens will respond to the shelling they got Saturday by handily beating the New York Rangers, which are just the Pens branch East anyway. They have 5 ex-Pens on their squad. Oh well, we shall see.

Well, let's see. Apparently I was supposed to send out a lot of bells and whistles to tell people I was blogging again. I'm not sure why. And it doesn't just apply to the blogging. I guess I'm supposed to sort out the caliber of the news that I'm delivering and send the more important stuff through e-mail as well.
What brought this on? Well, I've been yelled at twice already for not directly informing people that I was blogging again. I was under the assumption the fact that words started appearing on the page kind of spoke for itself, but I guess I was wrong. So, if there's anyone that hasn't found out yet...I'm blogging again.
And, I got a call from the LA side of the world last night chastizing me for only making an oblique reference on my blog about the fact that my wife and I are expecting.
So, if anyone hasn't quite figured it out yet...in about 7 months or so Terri and I will have a bouncing baby something or other (we don't even know what it is yet).
Now, on to some notable things that happened whilst I was preoccupied and could not blog.

I met Craig and Mike. They came down to visit Joe and Dwight and I had the pleasure of having breakfast with them.

There are a couple of job related things that happened, but I'll blog about them at a later time.
Glen and Amy had a bouncing baby boy. Cole came into the world on September 13th. Friends of ours near Philly had a little girl they named Anna. Other friends in Texas had a little girl they named Summer.
Other than that it's been pretty much work, home, work, home, the occasional bout of play, work, home, etc.
Well, I think that's about it for now. There are a couple other things of note, but I'll get to them later.

Alright, due to the systems being down at work today for an upgrade I am fully caught up on my blog reading. Now the trick is to stay that way. Apparently at some point I'm gonna have to install this meme tracker thing that Craig, Dwight, Joe, and Tom have. Just because I like to be orginal.

Another blog down. I love Friday afternoon slacking when the big boss is in meetings most of the day. One to go and I'll be all caught up and then the fun begins...Ok, so there probably won't be any fun, but you get the meaning. Or, maybe you don't. Either way, it's...oh who cares?

Oh, and as an addition to yesterday...

That's What Love Is For- Amy Grant
All 4 Love- Color Me Badd
Masterpiece- Atlantic Starr
Do Anything- Natural Selection
Something To Talk About- Bonnie Raitt
Paintings In My Mind- Tommy Page

I think that about covers it, but you never know.

Hmmm, well I've made it through both Craig's and Dwight's blogs. Since I don't have an affinity for football, it made for shorter reading. Although there were several things to address.
From Dwight's blog...this scares the hell out of me and I like his music. Also from Dwight's blog the whole Top Gun/ESPN "Secretly Terrible Good Movies" The article itself was only mildly interesting since again, I'm not a football fan, but the whole STGM thing kind of stuck with me and on the bus home I started thinking about that category. I think the one that is uppermost in my mind has to A Beautiful Mind.
From Craig's blog the discussion of high school songs. That one caused me a lot of thought. No one song encapsulates high school for me. Since I DJ'd through most of my high school years (89-93) I heard songs from every genre and some I never want to hear again. However, I did manage to come up with some of the more memorable ones for me.

1. Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover- Sophie B. Hawkins This song used to play almost every time I was in the car during the summer between my junior and senior years.
2. One Moment In Time- Whitney Houston Didn't come out during high school, but a soloist in the choir did a rendition of this that I will never forget.
3. The Grease Megamix- John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John Again, didn't come out during high school, but Grease was the first musical we ever did and that carries it's own weight.
4. To Be With You- Mr. Big Another song related to the musical
5. We Are The Champions- Queen Musical
6. More Than Words- Extreme Musical
7. Right Here, Right Now- Jesus Jones
8. Friends In Low Places- Garth Brooks
9. That's What Friends Are For- Dionne Warwick
10. Life Is A Highway- Tom Cochrane

That's a good list to start. I may or may not add to it. However, I'm just happy that I made it through two of the four blogs that I used to read daily. Now, onto Joe's and Tom's blogs.

What an interesting week thus far. Last night conjured up all sorts of thoughts of passing and the afterlife and some emotion that I, personally, have not felt in a long time. Tonight was no exception. Being raised where I was, country music is almost a prereq for life. To that end, I tuned into the CMA's to see who would win some of the big awards. And there it was...a tribute to Johnny Cash.
However to balance out some of this doom and gloom I got to hear my child's heartbeat for the first time tonight. I thought it sounded like our washing machine on a low rinse cycle, but none the less there it was. Actual physical proof that everyone's hopes are dashed and I have successfully started the pro-creation process.
And then, apparently just to keep my happiness in check, Robyn's father Don had another heart attack and is now currently stable in the Cardiac ICU unit. So, join me in a quick prayer for his speedy recovery.

It is absolutely amazing to me how outside experiences can influence the written word. If we lived in a utopian society where everyone was one big happy family, would the Wizard of Oz even make sense on a thematic level?
What brought all this on you might ask...or you might not. Well, on September 11th of this year in the midst of remembering all of the pain and Alan, the entertainment world lost two major players. Johnny Cash and John Ritter both passed on. Both immensely talented, but for me the losses were on two separate ends of the spectrum. Johnny Cash had lived an incredibly full life and recorded right up til the end. He was like the terminally ill great uncle that sparks the over-used phrase of, "he's better off, the suffering is over." It's so out of place and simply used as filler for the empty space that they have left.
Ritter on the other hand, was taken way before his time. His newest contribution, though mostly one-liners and filler, had it's moments. Tonight was different. Back when I was younger, I fancied myself an actor. I was told I wasn't bad and even had a passing thought to drama as a major in college. While flying around in this fantasy world, I read a lot of books on the craft of acting and going back to the most lucid theme in all of them...Draw on your personal experiences to create a believable character. Tonight I watched four people fighting real, raw emotion while trying to formulate the words set before them by a writer who was no doubt trying to do the same thing. So, in the midst of a falling tear I realized that whether you know it or not each person that you file into your subconscious has an effect on you.
I just attended my 10 year class reunion. We lost a member of our class to epilepsy. It tore some of us apart. And, though I've thought of her often since she was taken from us it only took a simple mention at the reunion to stun the crowd into silence. And, though I've never met John Ritter or Johnny Cash both affected me just as profoundly as Lisa did. And thinking of the three of them again makes me hope that somewhere up there the three of them are having dinner at the same table with Alan, June and Jesus.

Apologies for the rambling, I'm starting to get back into this. And the word lucid comes to you courtesy of Craig.

Alright, I finally realized that I didn't create this blog as a diversion, I created it to get me back into the habit of writing. And, in my brilliant flash of inspiration, I also realized that my "job" shouldn't stop me from doing what I want to do. So, maybe I don't get to post at work anymore. Isn't that why I bought a computer for the house? So, slowly but surely over the next couple of weeks I'll be catching up on reading everyone else's blog and that will no doubt precipitate discussion of some sort. Like finding the unnamed commentor who decided to point out my birthday. Anyway, with little to no fanfare, much like in the beginning...I'm back. And may God have mercy on all our souls.

Tom asked me to post this for a very good cause, so here it is.

Heart Walk

I donated, so should you. In fact, I may go watch since Tom is actually walking in the event. That in itself will be worth the donation.

"If there's any justice in the hereafter, Brooks is standing behing 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!' Monday was not a great day for hockey." Helene Elliott, Los Angeles Times

I don't have War and Peace sized entries. Anna Karenina sized maybe. I'm just verbose. And I am gonna catch up soon. I'm making headway.

I haven't given up or quit. I swear. I have lots to blog about, I just need time. Please forgive me.