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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hi,

I'm bill and I approve this message.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I think fatherhood is turning me into a wuss. I used to be able to watch or listen to pretty much anything. And, no matter how sappy or how much it was supposed to tug at your heartstrings I was like a robot. According to the "Friends" assessment of Chandler, I was dead inside. Now, much like that episode ended up, I can't stop the waterworks. And it's for stupid stuff. I was listening to my Lonestar Greatest Hits CD (bought mainly for one song like so many of my other CDs). Most of the CD is fine, then I hit Track 11. A sappy typical country ballad called, "I'm Already There." It's about a father who calls home from the road to see how the family is. And, he ends up telling his children that in answer to their normal question (when are you coming home dad) in essence he's already there. His heart never leaves them. When this song first came out, it was ok. It bordered on a story song and was good enough to leave the radio tuned in when it was on. Today, however, I find myself getting misty for no damn good reason. So, I'm already a little ticked off for my lack of emotional control. Then I hit "My Front Porch Looking In." Another piece of schmaltz that before Terri's pregnancy was just ok. It had a nice hook and I would occasionally leave it tuned in because it has some neat imagery. Today, more potential tears. Then comes the Bonus Track on the CD (never mind that the song I bought it for...their remake of "Walking in Memphis" didn't even faze me.) The bonus track is "I'm Already There", but with a twist. They have intersperced real families with messages for their spouses, parents, siblings, etc. over in Iraq and other deployment areas. The little kids saying, "Daddy please come home soon." is usually cause for a little sarcastic mockery. Not today, no. I had to take my glasses off to wipe away the moisture. Then of course, the next CD is Martina McBride's new one. "In My Daughter's Eyes," a non-release called "God's Will," and a live version of "Over the Rainbow." Over the freakin' rainbow!!!! I've heard that song yearly since I was a kid. I now, in turn, sing it to my son as one of the many songs I use when I'm calming him. I don't know what to make of it.
I am, however, happy to segue into the fact that well written/sung/acted/etc. things have so much ability to convey emotion. I don't know if there's a prouder moment in a writer's life when the audience laughs in the right place, cries when they are supposed to, and feel themselves working into a frenzy to make sure the protagonist is going to have everything turn out ok. Writer's strive for it constantly in certain movies. (Um, You had me at Hello?) Anyway, that's the job of any piece of media. Whether it's a book, tv show, movie, song, scribble on a napkin, whatever...it's supposed to evoke emotion. Even a work of non-fiction will strive to make you believe what it's telling you. To me, the worst fate that can befall a piece of media is being unemotional and bland. Take this for example. A lot of people I know raved about this movie. Halle deserved the oscar, she acted her ass off, blah, blah, blah. This movie was more boring than watching paint dry on my growing grass. This movie elicited no emotion out of me. None, zero, zilch. I didn't feel any sympathy for anyone and could care less if they made it through the movie or not. I know that Heath Ledger just randomly commiting suicide is supposed to be shocking and Halle's nude scenes erotic, but both were so boring they could be packaged for sleep aids. Considering I'm a big fan of Peter Boyle, and enjoy Billy Bob and Halle I don't know where it all went wrong. And, just to see if it was something extraneous, I watched the movie, listened to the director's commentary, AND the actor's commentary. None of it helped. The movie was crap. Beyond crap. I would say that it surpasses that clooney remake crap, but I didn't actually see it so it wouldn't be a fair judge.
Okay, I've rambled enough for today. But seriously, shouldn't it at least provoke anger at having wasted my time? Nothing. Maybe I'll talk more about the things that I have liked tomorrow. I have read some pretty good books recently so it's not all bad.

Ok, where did I leave off.  Quite a while ago.  We headed up to the family reunion Friday afternoon.  Everyone loved the little boy.  He was pretty well behaved all weekend.  We headed up to Olean to get Trista (my sister-in-law) out of the house and to pick up a few things for the reunion the next day.  We left Gage with my mom and just a small bottle of milk.  As we were leaving Olean I had to call and see if Ken had won.  I could hear Gage in the background so we knew we had better head back quick.  Other than that he seemed to like the trip.  Saturday morning we went to the Zippo Swap Meet and Gage got to see the Zippo Visitor's Center and Museum for the first time.  We couldn't really find a lighter that Terri and I agreed upon so Gage didn't get a memento, just a picture in front of the American Flag made out of Zippo lighters.  Then Saturday afternoon was the reunion and he got to meet lots of new relatives.  One question that we haven't quite figured out yet (and if anyone knows for sure let me know, I've just been too lazy to look it up) is the relationship between everyone.  My first cousin Jeff and his wife Amy have a daughter named Sydney.  I thought that Sydney and I were second cousins.  But what does that make my son Gage and Sydney (who is damn cute by the way)? 
Then I got into a discussion about being removed.  Maybe I've been mislead in thinking that Sydney and I are second cousins.  Maybe she and I are first cousins once removed and she and Gage are second cousins.  Who knows?  That's why I'm asking.
Saturday night we headed into Bradford and saw Spider-Man 2.  It wasn't bad.  I've always liked the inner struggle that Peter had dealing with being the cause of his Uncle's death.  This movie had just one drawback for me.  Is there anyone left in New York who doesn't know his identity?  That being said, I liked the set-up for the next movie.  (Don't kid yourself, they'll ride this one into the ground as well.)  Michael Chabon did a pretty decent job with his part of the movie as a writer.  You can touch on his influences now and then. 
Sunday we headed back home and I ended up finding another version of Trivial Pursuit to fuel the fire.  The Book-Lover's Edition.  That ought to be fun to play.  Now, if I could just get someone that might be a challenge.
Last week itself was pretty uneventful.  I finished up both my classes for the summer.  Friday night we had dinner with Tom and then watched a DVD of Ron White.  Ron's humor falls right in line with mine most of the time.  He's very sarcastic and biting.  Most people will know him best from the Blue Collar Comedy Tour with Larry the Cable Guy, Bill Engvall, and Jeff Foxworthy. 
On Saturday I headed down to my parent's house.  My brother, father and I spent about 12 hours building a deck.  It was hot.  I am now, by actual definition, a redneck.  I also got the scare of my life when I realized that I was beginning to inherit my father's mannerisms.  People have told me on the phone that they can't tell any of us apart, which is true.  We all have the same phone voice most of the time.  But, for me to realize this, it had to be pretty blatant.  And that's frightening. 
Sunday we went to church and then did some stuff around the house til the evening.  Then we headed out with my brother and sister-in-law to Station Square.  We met my uncles at the Hard Rock for dinner and then rode the incline up Mt. Washington to look out over the city.  We got some cool photos and Gage loved looking at all the new stuff.  By the time we got back to the house Sunday it was late and time to get the little one and ourselves to bed. 
Yesterday was a fairly boring day at work, but we headed back to my parent's house to say goodbye to my brother.  They left this morning to travel back to the wonderful metropolis of Minot, ND.  Hopefully, we'll get some time to make it out there after the baby is born.  It will be interesting to be an actual Uncle. 
And today is also ranking on the boring side.  Although I did have some really cool pics of some old buggies sent my way.  Thanks, Diane.  That's about it for now I guess.  We're still trying to iron out stuff for Gage's dedication and someone I know will be 30 very soon. And he has the male pattern baldness to prove it. I wonder what's worse, going bald prematurely, or going grey early?

Well, Wed I had the little boy all to myself for the majority of the day. We went out and ran a ton of errands and he was very good. Friday (which I guess it is now) we're headed up to my family reunion. Gage will meet a ton of actual aunts, uncles, cousins, and Great-Grandma. He's the 10th Great Grandchild on my Dad's side of the family. My brother's child will be number 11 when it gets here in October.
I'm also sure that there were other things that I needed to blog about, but as it's late and we need to be on the road early tomorrow, I'll just say goodnight.

Alright, I guess I better get the truth up before either Tom or Susiezy decide to try cloud the facts with their tainted versions of what actually transpired.
First, Friday night went pretty well. Dinner was so-so, but that's the restaurant's fault, not the company. The Band was great and Lindsy was exceptional as usual. If you look at the pictures on the band's website, you'll notice that the guitarist is a big big man. I love when the band sings Sharp Dressed Man by ZZ Top. Babe likes to wear comfortable clothing and would never be confused for a sharply dressed man. Though I would like to see him in a nicely tailored suit. I think it would look something like Michael's portrayal of Wilson Fisk aka The Kingpin in the movie Daredevil.
Anyway, it's enough to say that the band was good and Lindsy's version of Redneck Woman was equally good. Frank and Trista (my sister-in-law) seemed to enjoy themselves. The real test will be this coming weekend when she has to meet all of the extended family at the reunion.
Saturday morning/afternoon was spent in front of the computer working on an internet course that I've been putting off since Gage was born. We headed out quickly at the beginning of the evening for some snacks and food and then I found it. Another version of Trivial Pursuit. Of course I bought it. You don't even have to ask that question. I'm up in the 20's range now for number of different versions that I own. So, I prepared myself for the evening's activities...a trivia match between Tom, Susiezy, and myself. This all came about due to the claim on Susiezy's blog about being phenomenal at Trivial Pursuit. Well, I couldn't let that stand.
So it began. We started off with the 20th Anniversary edition. Terri, Susiezy, Tom and I were seated around the dining room table with Gage watching comfortably from his seat. And then, about a half-hour into the game we did something that we've never done before. We actually stopped a game and switched to another edition. We switched to Genus 6 and began again. Now, here's where you'll need to stick to the facts not any of the other versions that you may or may not hear. Standard rules of play at the end of the game do not apply in a grudge match game. Everyone knows the rules offer up this pansy-ass ending of rolling on an exact role to get into the hub where the other players pick a category without looking at the card, and then proceed to ask one question. ONE question. For years, we've found it highly unfair that the end comes down to a luck of the draw. Sure, there have been arguments that the whole game comes down to luck and every once in a while it actually does come down to luck. However with 6 scoring pieces to capture, you have to be damn lucky to have it happen 7 straight times. So, for the longest time we decided that in Trivial Pursuit as in everything else, majority rules. There are 6 questions on each card so the majority would be 4. We used to roll with an exact role into the hub and then you have to answer 4 out of the 6 questions on one card. Then somewhere in the midst of that, Matt introduced us to a different style of ending the game. Once you garnered your last pie piece, you stop rolling the dice. You simply answer up the spoke. There will be 5 questions, each in a different category going to the center. You could conceivably do it in one turn, but most people usually stumble once or twice. Then once you've reached the center, it was 4 out of 6. This felt like a win. So we kept it, and it's been that way ever since. Even in multi-board games.
Anyway, why bring all that history up? Because Susiezy's pheom skills have apparently only been tested on the luck of the draw win. And, for some reason she didn't like the way we ended the game. Tom managed to win the actual game, but if you listen to Susiezy, she'll tell you that she should have actually won the game since she was in the middle longer and got 3 out of 6 several times. She'll also try to convince you that since I hadn't made the center hub yet that I lost the game. However, since we didn't play for second (Terri had long since taken the baby and gone to bed), everyone that didn't win...ended on equal footing.
I'm sure there will be another game in the future. Perhaps Matt might even get involved next time.
Then Sunday it was back in front of a computer after church. I spent approx. 20 hours out of a 48 hour weekend in front of my damn computer and it wasn't even enjoyable. There was no games, no blogging, just that damn course. I finished all the course work. I just need to mail in the disk and take the final exam.
Monday was a normally crappy day at work. After work we headed out to pick up our new glasses and had a nice dinner out with the baby sleeping peacefully. He's a really good kid and highly transportable (as long as I like where we're going, then he becomes a nice reason not go...hehehe).
That's enough for now. Happy Birthday to Jacob M. who is now one year old. Man, time flies.

Well, tonight we're taking my brother and sister-in-law to see Unbridled. I think they'll like it. Hell, after being stuck in the frozen tundra of North Dakota anything will seem interesting, right? Ok, it's probably not that bad there, but during the course of conversation they said that last winter got down around 75 BELOW 0. That's -75 degrees. Minus. As in less than 0. As in not a positive number. That's not a good thing. It's not even a, "wow dude that's cold" thing. That's insane. Positively insane. There are things you can do when it's cold. You can MOVE to a more suitable climate. Maybe if I was a polar bear or a chunk of ice 75 below wouldn't be bad. I might even like it.
Enough about that. Work is driving me insane. In addition to the fact that the project is already a complete and utter nightmare, now there are 85 different levels of access that I have to go through. I need to push this thing right into the middle and get the hell out dumping it in someone else's lap. I'm also beginning to suspect that maybe in light of everything that's happened, they are actually hoping that I will leave on my own. That could just be my paranoia talking.
Anyway, enough about work. Why have something I can't stand encroach upon my little creative endeavors? This weekend is going to be fairly packed with stuff that I need to get done. In addition to dinner tonight, tomorrow I have to sit in front of a computer all day and finish my internet course. It has to be done. I have no other choice. Thankfully there's a television in the library with the computer, but even so, it's going to be a long tedious day.
Even if I manage to finish before the day is out, there's still more yard work and house work that will need to be finished. So, it's a never ending cycle. And, I could always job hunt.
Oh well, all that aside so that I can enjoy tonight. It's been almost two months since I've seen Lindsy and the band play so it will be a fun night out. And, the little one gets to spend some quality time with the grandparents.
Oh, and did I mention that Duran Duran's album Decade is a pretty good album to work to?

Alright, I finished Craig's incredibly hard sports questions quiz. Took me most of the afternoon and I had to call in a lot of help considering I don't follow most major sports.
Now, I just have to get my nominations in for the second round of Rick's movie contest, and the first round of Craig's song contest and I'll be all set web wise. If only the rest of my life were that easy.
Not too much going on today. Like I said I blew off most of the afternoon for the sports thing and just general personal stuff that I wanted to finish up. We're almost locked in on a daycare that I can't possibly afford. Talk about motivation to get the hell out of here.
Anyway, here's something that I ran across today that scared the hell out of me. Everyone has heard about Jolt Cola. Today I found Jolt Caffeine Energy Gum. In two flavors, no less. Makes me wonder how I didn't end up in marketing.
Nothing else out of the ordinary. I have a picture of Gage in his bouncy seat that cracks me up everytime I see it. It's not posed or staged. Terri was just trying to get a nice picture of him in Aunt Niki and Uncle Tony's bouncy seat. So, that is keeping me cheerful at work nowadays since little else will. My to-do list at home, at work, and wherever else I may be grows momentous. I now feel as though I've lapped myself on the crazy trail, which is a whole other topic completely. And, one that I will blog about at a later date when I've gotten some distance and perspective on the situation.
I think that's about all for today. Besides, I've got a million other things to take care of that don't involve typing, a monitor, or a blog. And, people keep telling me that I should be doing some of those things too.

Ok, I'm having some trouble viewing other pages, but I'm not going to let that stop me. Everyone has been updating but me it seems. Anyway, let's see what's happened since I last found the time to blog. In my last post I said I had several things to blog about, but with my failing memory...they're gone. They obviously weren't all that important. But, what in my life is nowadays?
Anyway, I did inherit the nightmare project that kept me away from my blog so much last summer/fall. However, that won't happen this year. Mostly because I'm going to try and get the hell out of here before the project gets into the nightmare stage. Although, the people here at work have already managed to screw it up and I'm working with less than 30 documents at the moment. Last year it grew to over 4,000 I think. So, there are plenty of mistakes left to be made.
On Wednesday the 30th, we had our last day of the fiscal year. I'm not sure why, (though the new manager will certainly take the credit for it), but this year's close went smoother than the last two I've been a part of. I think it has to do with the fact that we have almost as many temps as we have regular employees. However, I didn't have to work monster overtime to save their collective asses. Not that I would have done it this year, with a new baby and all, but thankfully the situation didn't arise.
We met with the preacher at the church we've been going to about getting Gage dedicated (the Baptist's version of christening/baptism/etc.) We're also in talks about becoming members ourselves. So, that's another life struggle that we'll be tackling since once the Catholics have their hooks in you, they don't like to let go very easily.
Friday night we had dinner at Niki and Tony's house. We got to see James' nursery and Gage got to try out some of his stuff. The mural that Tony and his brother painted on the wall behind the crib is really cool looking. Glen, Amy, and Cole were also there for dinner and we watched Ken win yet again on Jeopardy. I'm really interested to see who or what actually stops this man's streak.
On Saturday I spent about 8 hours working out in the yard. I got the yard mowed and the hillside weed whacked and raked. Boy did I ache Saturday night. Tom was back for the holiday weekend and headed over Saturday night to hang out. Terri and the baby still both have colds so they weren't feeling up to going out. So, we all just sat around and talked.
Sunday morning, Terri, Gage, and I went to church. Gage sleeps pretty much through the entire service. They announced that 20,000 troops would be coming home from Iraq. One of the women in the congregation is hoping that her son is among them. Then, the preacher announced that he was saddened over the fact that the slots bill passed in Pennsylvania. I know that gambling goes against the church and the like, but I was definitely in favor of the slots bill since revenue from that is supposed to help the Penguins with a new arena. So, I just kept that little bit to myself.
After church we headed down to Terri's parents house for lunch/dinner. Her Uncle Charlie and Uncle Regis were there to meet Gage for the first time. Everyone seemed to enjoy him. And, other than one of the cousins I can't stand showing up, all went ok.
Monday we headed down to my parent's house for a cookout. We also got to see my brother, whom I haven't seen for about two years since he joined the air force. We also got to meet his wife, my sister-in-law for the first time. She seems like a nice person. They are expecting in October so if they ever move back to the area Gage will have a cousin very close in age to play with. They aren't sure if it's going to be a boy or a girl yet. There's a chance that they won't be able to find out until the birth. So, I don't know if I'm going to be an aunt or an uncle.
And, now it's today. John Kerry screwed up my normal commute by closing down several city blocks (not a good way to earn my potential vote). So, Terri had to drag Gage and herself out of bed early this morning and drive me into work so I could be at a job I can't stand on time. Oh, and the woman who managed to end up with my promotion started today. Woo-Hoo!!!!
One last set of strange things I've seen and heard over the past week or so.

An SUV driving around a speed bump in a parking lot. An SUV! No wonder I can't stand most of the idiots that end up buying those things.

At random time on B-94 (which used to be a vast wasteland of Britney, Beyonce, N-suck, and the Backstreet Boys) Under the Bridge and Give it Away by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Fat Bottomed Girls by Queen Just So Very Wrong.

And this of course. Courtesy of Dwight's trip to visit Joe and see other sites of California.

I think that's all for now.

I have several issues to blog about, but not a whole lot of time to squeeze it all in. So, I'll have a monster post later on I guess. Right now I'm trying to figure out how to cram in a semester's worth of an internet course into the 10 or 15 minutes I have a night to myself. I know, I know. Why are you wasting time on your blog when you have this work to do. Well, this is more fun of course.
I found out last night my eyesight got worse. Wonderful. Just what I need at this point. I think I'll start carrying a bag to pick up the pieces as they fall off of me.

This past weekend was a blur of activity. Amy's mother was moving from Pittsburgh to Maryland and Glen asked me to give him a hand. Since his part was out of obligation, I told him that I'd help. So, Friday night after work I headed downtown to meet Tony. His very pregnant wife Niki picked us up and we all headed to Monroeville. Glen, Tony, and I then proceeded to spend the next 6 hours unloading the apartment into a U-haul and trailer. We managed to get almost everything. Amy visits her mom frequently so she's going to haul out the last little bit of stuff.
Saturday morning I was up at 5:30 and I loaded our car full of stuff and Terri, Gage, and I set off for Glen and Amy's. I then unloaded the stuff from the car into the van and off we went. We got to Maryland and unloaded the entire U-haul and trailer and helped move some of the bigger furniture into the rooms they belonged in. Then, in lieu of relaxing, Gage was being cranky on his first trip out of state. So, I bundled him up in the snugli and off we went. All told I think I walked him about two miles. And this is after loading and unloading furniture for two days. My knees were ready to fall off my legs. So, then we headed out to dinner and got a little sleep.
We were back up at 6:00 am for the drive back to Pittsburgh. We were supposed to meet another Amy (this one from Terri's office) at 12:30 and didn't want to cancel on her. So, we made it back to Glen and Amy's house and I unloaded everything from the van back into the car. Then once we got home, from the car into the house. After seeing Amy, we headed to Eli's 3rd birthday party. Eli is Tom's nephew. It was the best birthday ever. There was not one present that needed assembly. (That's my job at parties.) Looking around at their house, I had put together two tricycles, a picnic table, a wagon, and a bouncy thing on wheels. The kid is only 3! And, of course, everyone ooohed and ahhhed over Gage. Especially Tom's parents. I've known them so long they're practically family. So, of course they think of Gage as their grandson.
Tom's sister-in-law is pregnant again and due at the end of August. When Eli was born, it was a scheduled C-section and we knew what time it would be. Because of the time of day, Terri and I actually got to meet and hold Eli before Tom did. Now, with him living across the state, there's a pretty good shot the same thing will happen with his (might-be-but-aren't-sure-yet) niece.
After Eli's party we headed to my parent's house to pick up Terri's car and then finally headed back home. So, the weekend was a tad busy. Gage seemed to enjoy everything though.
Today I found out there's a pretty good chance I'm going to re-inherit the nightmare project that I had last year from July to October. Now, I'm certainly finding a way out of here and fast!

The system we use at work decided to crash today in the middle of the most hectic month of the year. Needless to say things are a little touchy around the office. No one is getting anything done, but it's ticking off the manager and the supervisor. They want stuff to be getting done around the office, but there's nothing left to do that doesn't require the computer system. Wheeeee, what a predicament.
Anyway, all turned out well with the babysitting. I didn't realize that Terri was going to be on a conference call from the house, and Gage would never be totally alone with her. So, that made it a little better, not much, but a little.
Of course, the day I don't have a ton of extra non-work things to take care of is the day the system crashes. Such is the content of my life. Next week, once the hurried pace of June dies down in the office, the job hunting starts again in full swing. I want to be out of here by the end of summer. To that end, if anyone hears of anything, let me know.
Gage and I walked around the mall yesterday while Terri was in with her clients. We found out that when you're pregnant, everyone wants to make clothes for you. When you're nursing, look out. So far, we've only found one store that has nursing shirts and pajamas, etc. Makes it very difficult to build a wardrobe, or buy presents.
I've also been scouting different locations for printing pictures from digital media. So far the standard price seems to be about .29 cents per picture. Although I've found some coupons for 20 free pictures and some for .15 cents per picture. So, I'm going to spend some time, figuring out what pictures I want printed and how many I'll need. Then it's off to the different CVS, Rite-Aid and Eckerd's. Ah, I love beating the system. Will I actually save money? Who knows. However, I'll feel like I'm saving money. And, since it isn't a great trek to any of these stores, it's not like I'm driving 90 miles out of the way. We have an Eckerd one block before the house and a Rite-Aid one block after the house. I could actually walk to both. Oh well, I guess I've wasted enough free time today. I've got one or two minor administrative tasks and then it's out of here for the day.

Woo-hoo!
Susiezy has decided to join the wonderful world of blogging. You can see her link to the right.
That link has replaced Diane and Ed since they seem to have fallen off the internet.
Anyway, not much in the way of earth shattering news here today. Terri informed me that she asked my mother-in-law to babysit tomorrow. Not a good day so far. For those of you that don't know me personally, take the normal animosity for that particular relationship and multiply it by infinity squared and you might come close to scratching the surface of the past history. So, I don't have any recent updates about the little one. I've been a little too peeved to call home to check on him.
Yesterday, Terri claims he rolled over onto his stomach. I think it was because he was on the bed and just rolled towards her, but you never know.
Anyway, I'll be venturing out to the mall with Gage again tonight while Terri is in with her clients. I'm hoping to finish up the errands that I've been trying to run since last week.
My dish was hooked up yesterday and I didn't get a lot of time to play around with the features and functions due to class yesterday, but hopefully I'll get to experiment a little tonight.
Anyway, again the main purpose of this post is to welcome Susiezy to the blogging world. I'm sure you'll find her as entertaining on the web as she is in person, unless you don't know her in person and then she'll just be a web page, which may cause some dismay since you can't talk to a web page. Well you can, but people look at you funny. Kind of like the people were looking at the woman I saw in Wendy's today. She had to be at least 80. She was wearing a black leather beret, a red sweater, and gold lame pants. She also had on what appeared to be slippers, but I couldn't tell for sure. But I digress and say again, welcome Susiezy!

Terri called me at work to tell me that the dish is all hooked up. Of course she was watching TLC. That stupid channel reminds me of Oprah. They both give normally good people bad ideas.
The talk around the office today has been Bill Clinton and his book which is released today I believe. I don't have anything against Clinton per se. I mean, I did vote for the man twice. However, I don't see the reason to hype this book. It's about 1,000 pages long and I'm guessing only about 10 pages of that will be actual fact filled information that a reader might find interesting. I was in college when the whole Monica Lewinsky thing broke. Her brother, Mike, attended the same school. We got to experience first hand what a media circus it was. Radio stations called the campus constantly trying to track him down. The news crews came from far and wide and camped out. Mike was in a frat then and normally I'm not a big fan of fraternities and sororities. However, I was very impressed with their conduct. He stayed in the house and his brothers got him everything. They took notes in class for him, turned in his homework, explained to his professors why he couldn't be there personally, and most importantly, fended off the media with a chorus of, "No Comment." everytime one of them went outside. After a while the camera crews realized they couldn't stake him out forever and left. I chalk it up to a small victory for organized friendship. Where was I going with all of this? The sex in the book is what will generate the frenzy. Then when people realize that there's no content they'll back off quickly. At least that's my hope. Who knows? Maybe I'm just bitter because no one is handing me a ten million dollar advance for my words. In any case, I'll wait for it to hit the dollar bin at Barnes and Noble before I pick it up.
After the marathon post to catch you all up to speed, there's not a whole lot left to report. I have class tonight so it'll be a while before I get to see the little one. Last night I ended up putting him in the Snugli and walking him on the treadmill. It worked like a charm. He slept the entire time I was walking. The only drawback was the fact that I can't walk forever like some one man version of "The Long Walk"
I also didn't realize what a popular place the zoo was to hang out. Mark, Robyn, and Jacob go all the time and for father's day Glen, Amy, and Cole went. I guess this means that we'll be taking Gage sometime in the not too distant future.

Well, it's been quite a while since I've posted. So much for getting back to regular posting.
Well, that Monday Tampa Bay won the Stanley Cup. Although I don't think their coach deserved the coach of the year award. Let's see, what else happened recently. I finally came to a head with the morons at Comcast and dumped their ass. The people for the dish are installing it tomorrow. I can get every channel the Dish offers on every TV in my house for 6 dollars less per month than cable. Funny how Comcast just blows. I'd tell you the whole story, but I don't have the three hours to type it out and you don't want to listen to that rant.
That same day my parents came up and I drove Terri to see her clients for the first time since giving birth. So, for just over 2 hours the little one was all by himself with Grandma and Grandpa. He apparently did really well. He had his two week checkup and everything was A-OK. So, again we haven't managed to screw anything up too badly.
A couple Saturdays ago we had a bunch of people out at the house to help with me some long overdue yard work. We worked for about 8 hours, had a picnic type lunch and got a lot accomplished. I could actually see that I had a yard which was an improvement over what it had been.
That same weekend we also went to a graduation party for Jaime. Jaime is the younger Jacob's mom. So, as usual, those functions are always lots of fun. The little one didn't take too well to the heat, but other than that he seemed to enjoy himself. He was in the Snugli (a gift from Uncle Matt and Aunt Alison) for the first time. He has really grown to like being walked around in it.
Then on Monday we had dinner brought to us by Randy, Elizabeth, Katie, and Suzy. It was delicious Chicken Pie and Brownie Sundaes for dessert. We were all talking about the plethora of children. Katie was born in December, Gage in May, and as you'll find out in another paragraph or two, another one followed in June.
So on Tuesday I was off work and hung out with Terri and Gage all day. Alison was scheduled to be induced early that morning, so we waited by the phone just in case. Turns out their son (yes a little boy) decided to be just as stubborn as Gage was. In any case, at 7:03 AM on Wednesday the 16th Nathan Thomas joined dad Matt and mom Alison. I've seen pictures and he's adorable. I'd point you to the site, but I should get Mom and Dad's permission first. Hockey practice will be starting soon for all the boys. Also, before taking off for the sunny world of California and visiting Joe Dwight dropped by with a quilt and bear that his mom had made for Gage. I was blown away by the amount of work that went into it. And, the bear was charged with watching over Gage and making sure that he slept well at all times. We've got some cool pictures of everything, but I have to download them and make them a more manageable file size before I can link anything.
On Friday night we took Gage to see his first movie, "Harry Potter 3 and the Prisoner of Azkaban." We went to see how he'd take to the noise and atmosphere and because the tickets were courtesy of Matt and Alison. He slept through the majority of the film and in retrospect he had the right idea. Suzy told me to take some sort of Xanax or Prozac or something before seeing it. I doubt it would have helped. Those of you that know me know that I like things to stick to their original incarnations for the most part. I rarely like remakes and especially in a popular series like this, I think there's an obligation to get it right. Now, Chris Columbus built a pretty decent world from the books. My biggest gripes with his two films were the main parts of plot and characterization that they left out or conveniently forgot about. Cuaron decided to throw the book away entirely. This movie had about as much in common with the book as this had in common with the Frank and Jesse James story. Anyway, in addition to the fact that he moved major events around within the story, there were missing gaps so big you could fit the Empire State Building through it. I'd go into a ton of detail, but what's the point. Everyone would just disagree with me and then I'd get even more pissed about it. I will say that throughout the books and the first two films my impression of Hogwarts has been akin to a prep school for the witches and wizards. Rowling is very detailed about the robes and the look of Hogwarts to reinforce that belief. Columbus also made it seem very clean and prep like. The attitude of some of the characters, Malfoy for instance, also plays into an elitist type culture. Cuaron took a very dark book and made it...dirty. Everything and everyone in this film seemed grungy. The robes and uniforms were barely present and when they were they were disheveled. The kids were unkempt and the new look of Hogwarts took on that of a barrio or a ghetto. I half expected to see John Cleese swooping by with a boom box on his shoulder listening to 50 Cent with a '76ers uniform on and the shorts pulled down to his knees.
Anyway, Gage was good throughout the movie. Saturday we headed down to my parent's house for an early Father's day. Then we all headed up to an old family friend's house and had a wonderful chicken roast. If you are unsure of what that might be, picture a 12 foot stick with 25 chickens turning slowly over an open flame while being brushed with spices and marinade. Excellent. And everyone, of course, oohed and aahed over Gage. After the roast, we met up with Tom and had a sort of farewell dinner. I still can't believe he's actually moving. Although today was actually his first day of work out there so we'll see how it went. I expect he'll be updating his blog a little more frequently now that he'll have some steady computer access.
Sunday we went to church where Gage receieved another handmade quilt. Then we headed to her parent's house for a second Father's day. Turns out Gage let me pick out a 1/2 inch drill to run my hole saw. Not bad for my first Father's day. And, I'll wish a belated Happy Father's Day to all the first time dads. Rusty, Glen, Randy, Matt, John, Rob, Erik, and me. I don't think I've forgotten anyone, but with all these kids you never know. So, if I did forget someone, my apologies. Also, Happy Birthday to Matt. He's one year closer to catching up with his hair loss.
Tonight I was supposed to go see the Vandermark Five with Mitch, but I'm not sure either of us is going to be able to make it. That's a shame, I would have loved to have met Ken and had him sign my disc. And, tomorrow I get my Dish so all is well at the moment. In case you hadn't gleaned from above, Gage and Mom are doing fine and we'll be sending out hospital pics real soon to those who haven't gotten them hand delivered. And, that's about enough for today.

Well, today was the first day back at work. As expected it sucked. I wonder, as I usually do at work, was I more upset being away from my son or just being at work? I realized today more than ever, I need a new job. I have never had a job in my professional career that even began to challenge my abilities. I have skated through every job I've ever had earning a slacker reputation because I could do the work necessary to the job in less time than most of my co-workers. And believe me, I'm in no way demeaning the people that I've worked with. They are some of the best friends I've made in my life and without them, I would certainly have a big gaping hole to try and fill. They are also some of Pittsburgh's best and brightest workers in their respective fields. I was just never able to lock on to the type of position that would suit me. I used to intentionally let things go at the smaller internet firm I worked at and then see how quickly I could accomplish an entire day's work. My record was just under an hour. About 56 minutes to accomplish about 8 hours worth of work. No wonder my freecell abilities shot up. So now, in addition to just looking for a new job...I'm looking for job fufillment. I can't just skate through another dead end job. I had a company that I was looking at, but being a smaller firm, they've been pretty hard to crack into. I've been slowly expanding my search, but so far nothing.
What does all that mean...not a damn thing to you, o readers of mine. Just me whining about my so called lot in life I guess.
Gage is doing well on his 11th day of life. There are lots of annoying new parent things I could say about him, but I don't want this blog to turn into...My son smiled for the first time today. He did it faster than any other kid I've ever seen. He's a freakin' genius...That annoys me and I won't bother anyone else with it. (Although he actually began smiling about 5 days ago and I think that is borderline genius)
The Calder Cup certainly didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. However, the Baby Pens put forth one hell of an effort and played in more post-season games than they ever had before. The Stanley Cup is going my way at the moment. Tampa Bay scored in the second overtime to force a game seven which stands at 1-0 Tampa Bay with about 7 minutes to go in the second period.
Now that I'm back to work I'm hoping to post on a more regular basis. However, life sometimes gets in the way so I won't promise. I'm also slowly beginning to work on a project with a friend from CMU that started with a great head of steam, but life like I said sometimes gets in the way. She will also yell at me for my use of the ... to space things out. She can't stand that and honestly I can't either, but looking over the posts, you'd never know it.
SCORE!!!!! 2-0 Tampa with 4 mintues to go. And I think it's time for me to go tonight. Although I will say that there are two reasons in my life to be sad at the moment. Ronald Reagan is indeed dead at 93 and less important on a grand scale of things, but very important to me, tonight is the absolute last hockey game of the season. No more hockey until August when the World Cup starts and who knows about next season.

Well, he's one week old. He's still alive and functioning so I couldn't be a total failure, right? And, we're still alive and functioning. So all is going well I guess. Sorry I haven't been more wordy recently. This whole raising a kid thing takes it out of you. My yard looks like the south 40 of a hay farm. I need to get out and take care of that and start on the inside. I thought I would have lots of time this week, but Gage has decided that he's going against all the newborn info. He spends a lot of his time looking at the world around him. We've read through all of the books that Aunt Susie gave him and most of the big book of Curious George that Terri and I bought for him. He seems to like them all. We went for a little outing today to see how he'd do. He was fine in the car seat and the stroller so we don't forsee too many problems taking him out and about. Niki's baby shower is on Saturday as well as Jacob's 4th birthday party.