mr. blackandwhite

I don't know what to write about

Well, here I am. It's Sunday night, the designated 'blawggin' night, my Wife's watching her Home Makeover show, but I don't have anything to write about. So this will be a scintillating post as I'm sure you can guess, right off the bat.

I guess I'll just run through a few things..

- Please bug the crap out of your congressperson/man/woman and tell him, her or it to support H.R. 1207, a bill introduced by Congressman Ron Paul to audit the Federal Reserve. All it takes is a second to e-mail these people, when they don't turn off the e-mail server because too many people are e-mailing that is.. but, anyway, I hope you will take action, bug your congressman and help spread the word!!

- The Pats.. It's the lull before the draft. Not much to say, really. In Bill We Trust.

- The B's.. The B's seem to be losing a lot of games lately, but they are pretty much a lock for the playoffs, so I am wondering if maybe they are just cruising on in. Hopefully they get that chip back on their shoulder for the playoffs. I'd like to see them make it past the first round this year.

- Spring is almost here. The snow is almost gone from my yard. I can't wait till it is all melted. This has been, unquestionably, the worst Winter I have ever had to endure. It's been frikkin' 10 degrees since November, then the ice-storm in December, that sucked.. It didn't crack 20 degrees for four months and we've had like six feet of snow. So, I'm pretty much ready for Spring. Really ready.

- The Sox.. I don't really get into Spring Training that much, I just kinda watch from afar, but I do like to hear the sound of Jerry Remy calling a game, even if it is a game that doesn't count. It reminds me of the fact that warm days are ahead. I watched some of the Sox / MFY game the other night. What was with those MFY uni's with the shinny shinny 'New York' and the weird letters.. [insert derogatory remark here]

Aright, they are movin the bus out of the way on my Wife's show. And I am outta here for this post. See ya!

Cassel, Vrabes, we'll miss ya.

Hey everybody. Long time since the last update. I've kind of neglected the site of late but I think I've got a schedule worked out here and I'm going to try to update the site no less than once a week. The plan is to check in every Sunday (while my Wife is watching Extreeme Home Makeover). So there you go. Sunday Sunday Sunday!!

Ok enough of that.

So it just so happens that the day before I plan to start writing in here again, Matt Cassel and Mike Vrabel both get traded to K.C. for a second round draft pick. 

When I first read the news I was like, 'Wait a minute.. a second round pick?? THAT'S IT??' I think most Pats fans would agree, that seems pretty light for a lot o' quality playa, fo sho. Unfortunately, I think it's pretty much understood the Pats had to take what they could get. K.C. was in a position to say take or leave it, so The Pats made the best of the situation. I would expect nothing less.

I think a 2nd rounder for Cassel is fair, but throwing Vrabes into the deal stings a bit. Well, that's how it goes. I'll always remember Vrabel's penchant for catching touchdowns and the terror he wreaked on opposing offenses. A full quality player and person, from everything this Pats Fan could tell anyway.. And I'm glad to see Matt Cassel get the starting job he earned so well last season. It was great to see him emerge as a top NFL quarterback while wearing a Patriots uniform, proving the doubters wrong, once again. He was truly awesome last season filling some pretty giga-normous shoes while Tom Brady recovered from his knee injury. Too bad Cassel's going to an AFC team. I would have preferred to see him in the NFC where he can't bother The Patriots, but I hope he does great out in K.C, the only team in the AFC West worth a damn, as long as he's not playing against The Pats that is.

So what else has been going on around here the last month or so? Not a whole heck of a lot. Been watchin' the B's, a little bit of the C's and about 5 min of The Daytona 500 a few weeks back. Good to see one of my favorite drivers, Matt Kenseth, in Victory Lane at Daytona. The Bruins play this season can best be described as 'wicked awesome'. I sure hope it continues come playoff time. Other than that, just hangin with the fam, playin gee-tar and waiting for the fucking snow to melt. But more white crap is on the way as I write this. I hate it. How many days left till Spring??

ROCK

The dirty little bailout secret

Sorry but I just had to post this. I can't let it go and I will continue to put this stuff up here and try to help make people aware of this f-ing SHAM that has been perpetrated on us.

From The New York Times story So When Will Banks Give Loans:

"...the dirty little secret of the banking industry is that it has no intention of using the money to make new loans. But this executive was the first insider who’s been indiscreet enough to say it within earshot of a journalist.

(He didn’t mean to, of course, but I obtained the call-in number and listened to a recording.)

"Twenty-five billion dollars is obviously going to help the folks who are struggling more than Chase," he began. "What we do think it will help us do is perhaps be a little bit more active on the acquisition side or opportunistic side for some banks who are still struggling. And I would not assume that we are done on the acquisition side just because of the Washington Mutual and Bear Stearns mergers. I think there are going to be some great opportunities for us to grow in this environment, and I think we have an opportunity to use that $25 billion in that way and obviously depending on whether recession turns into depression or what happens in the future, you know, we have that as a backstop."

Please click on the link above to read the whole story if you think you can stomach it.

I would encourage you to look into your representatives' voting record. By the way, my rep, who voted for the bailout twice, even though he was instructed not to by the majority of his constituents, (before they turned off the web server that lets you e-mail your rep that is,) is running un-opposed. That really pisses me off. Unfortunately I learned about this too late this time around. I admit it, I was not paying close enough attention before. But they have my attention now and this situation needs to change in 2010.

Have a great day!

It's f-ing cold out dude

Hey what's up everybody? Apologies to the five or six people that still read this site. I was doing pretty good on the updates for a while there but things got insanely busy in September, and in October, when I thought things might calm down, things got even busier!

It was kid activity insanity pretty much 5 nights a week for a little while there and when I wasn't doing kid related activities I was taking care of all the other stuff that wasn't getting done because I was busy with the kid related activities! Crazy. But that seems to be over with now, thank goodness.

I have to be honest, although this is assuredly one of the known 'kiss of death' things to say on your site, posting on here is not really that high on the priority list right now.. I'm shooting for once or twice a week right now, if possible.

I really try not to post anything from work, unless I am insanely bored with nothing to do, and, since I sit in front of a fucking computer all day at work, when I get home I usually don't feel like doing more of the typity-type thing. When I have free time at home I'd rather apply my finger work-outs to the fret-board, not the key-board. So there you go. There's my lame, 'I don't have time or feel like updating the site' site update for ya.. har.

Just because I have not been writing about the Patriots, that does not mean I have not been watching them. The last two weeks were pretty sweet with victories over The Broncos, a team that regularly makes life miserable for those of us in Patriots Nation, and enjoys doing it I might add, and the Rams, a team that always brings back fond memories of Superbowl 36 whenever we play them.

This week's game vs. The Colts in the Oil Dome or whatever it's called, should be interesting. Will the roof on the dome be open or closed? I predict it will be closed because it's getting cold out (I had to wear my winter coat for the first time today, blah.) and being cold is not something The Colts like to be.

The Pats will face a Colts team that is in unfamiliar territory with a sub-500 record and trying to avoid a potential three game losing streak. The Colts may not be tearing up the league this season but they are still a dangerous team that is desperately looking to keep it's playoff hopes alive this week, especially considering that next week won't be any easier for them as they'll face The Steelers.

At 5-2, you really can't complain that much about where the Patriots are right now. They are right in the thick of things and are actually in 3rd place in the conference as we approach the half-way mark in the season. Not too shabby if you ask me.

Although I miss Tom Brady terribly, (Hope you're feeling better Tom! Love ya, mean it, no homo.) I think Cassel has done a good job considering the situation he came into. My only real complaint about him is that he continues to hang on to the ball too long, but that seems to be getting better week by week as he continues to gain experience. Matt! Matt! He's our man! If he can't do it... um, Bill Belichick will find someone who can, goddamn right he will!

In Bill We Trust.
GO PATS

/lamest post evar?

See ya!

(Don't forget my drop. It's cool.)

Still all over the place...

Well a week has past and it seems that I am still all over the place. In fact, I actually started writing this post two days ago and still have not finished it! 

This month has proven to be pretty much the same as last month as far as the busy-factor goes and this week has been one of the busiest. There's something going on every night and I leave work early, rush home, rush into the house, say 'Hi' to my Wife, change out of my work clothes, say 'Bye' to my Wife and then run right back out the door with a kid in tow for some kind of child-related activity. Sometimes if I've got an extra minute in there I have time to make a half a PB&J sammitch. Sometimes I skip dinner all together.. It's not bad, I enjoy doing stuff with the kids, it's just, busy!

The Pats win over San Fran last Sunday was very satisfying. I had written earlier that I thought that the San Fran game would show us a lot about what this year's Patriots team was going to be like and if this is what we can expect, then I think we will be in good shape. It wasn't perfect, but The Pats got the job done. Do I expect there to be rough patches and some bumps along the road? Of course. But I think the Pats showed a lot on Sunday, coming from behind, playing solid defense against a good offensive 49ers team, and moving the ball on the ground and through the air. 

It seems like the Pats made a great decision in staying on the West Coast rather than traveling back East between the San Francisco game and the San Diego game. Let's hope it pays off come Sunday night vs. The Chargers.

Switching gears to the Sox, I didn't really write too much about the ALDS and too be honest, I didn't see a lot of it. Those West Coast games were a killer and then there was the marathon Game 3... The only game I saw in it's entirety was Game 4. Yup, I'm a wuss. 

Whatever. It was great to see The Sox finish it in 4 and avoid the trip back out West for a Game 5. 

The Rays are going to be tough in the ALCS. Mission: 8W

Last but not least, the Bruins open up their '08 season tonight out in Colorado. Although I will be watching the game, I don't know how much of it I'll really get to see since it starts at 10 PM. 

Hmm, is there a theme developing here? 

I'll get to see the puck drop on the season at least. 

I know I don't write about the Bruins all that often, but I am glad that hockey is back and I am very optimistic about this upcoming season for the Black and Gold.

See ya!

All over the place..

It's October? I am completely blown away at how fast the month of September went by. It was probably the busiest month we've ever had since the kids were born. There were weeks when we had something going on every single night; soccer, cub-scouts, brownies... stuff I don't even remember. Things will start to calm down in October. There will be a brief lull for a few weeks near the end of the month for us to catch our breath before things gear up again for the crazy holiday time of year. My Wife is already buying X-Mas presents!

I don't know if anybody cared about the posts I had written about the economic bailout recently. I'm just going to say that this issue is being voted on in the U.S. Senate today and I would urge you to contact your Senators and let them know your thoughts about it. I would also urge you to contact your U.S. Representative as well and tell him or her what you think about the bailout plan, as well as anything else you have on your mind! THEY WORK FOR US.

Mission 11W: The '08 version. It's kicking off tonight in Anaheim. I expect this will be a good series. The Angels pretty much owned the Red Sox during the regular season and the Sox will come into the series with some key players dealing with some nagging injuries. In the end, as always, it will come down to pitching and with Jon Lester, a.k.a. Red Sox Ace 1A, taking the mound tonight, I think the Sox are in a good position to come out of the gate strong. A Game 1 win for the Sox would be huge and would mean there would be at least 2 home games at Fenway. Mission: 11W. GO SOX.

The Patriots week off is over and there's thirteen games left to play. The Pats will start October off with two back-to-back West Coast games, starting in San Francisco this weekend. San Fran lost to the Saints last week but have shown that they are a team that can move the ball down the field. I think this upcoming game may show us a lot about the '08 Patriots as we start the 2nd quarter of the season. Lets hope that the week off did the team some good. Time to get down to business. GO PATS

Ka-Ching!

Dear Bank of America,

Fantastic news! As a taxpaying U.S. citizen, I recently had a major windfall occur and I became a part owner of not only an investment firm, a bank AND a mortgage company, but now I'm a part owner of an insurance company as well! Isn't that awesome??

Ok, enough about me, here's where it all comes together: I couldn't help but notice that you're in a buying mood lately, and I was wondering if you'd be interested in my newly acquired shares of these fine financial institutions as well. I'll trade ya what I've got in Fannie, Freddie and AIG straight up for the remaining balance of my mortgage. Heck, I'll throw in what I've got in Bear Stearns too.

What do you say?? It's a win win win for everybody all around! Let's make a deal baby!!

Just between you and me, I gotta tell ya, I think the poop's well on it's way towards the fan and I'd really like to get rid of this thing before something really bad happens, ya know? hahaha ;-)

Ok, thanks BOA!

Chat ya soon!

Quick recap of the last few days from Friday up till now which is Wed.

Hey whats up everybody? Happy hump day.

Quick recap of the last few days:

The Supersuckers show last Friday = Awesome.
Driving home from Boston after the Supersuckers show with toothpicks holding my eyes open sometime prior to dawn on Saturday morning = Not awesome.

Not having to go to work after the Supersuckers show last Friday = Awesome.
Being pretty much total junk all day on Saturday due lack of sleep and seriously wondering if I'm getting too old to go to these rock shows = Not awesome.

The Patriots beating the Jets in Jersey on Sunday after football 'fans' in nyc celebrated Tom Brady's season ending knee injury and crowned themselves the presumptive AFC East Champs the week before = Awesome.

The Red Sox tying The Rayz for first place in the A.L. East on Monday = Awesome.
The Red Sox falling a game back again after The Rayz walk off win last night = Not awesome.

Finding lolinator.com earlier today = Awesome. (I like to end the post on an 'Awesome')

(H/T to the The DSC Drop for the lolinator link. Also, my drop.io is feeling lonely..)

HA!

In contempt of Jimmy Page

Hey what's up everybody! It's Friday. Yay. I don't really have anything big to post about but I'm trying to keep the site updated more often now so here's a few miscellaneous tidbits..

I have not mentioned this but over the last few weeks I have been working to drop some weight. I noticed that I had been steadily gaining weight, a pound here, a pound there.. no big deal, right? Then the next thing I know, I've put on 15 pounds! Ack! Not acceptable (note: I have somewhat of a personal weight obsession). So when Patriots training camp was getting started I decided to use the Patriots' preparation for the regular season as a kind of motivator to get myself in shape along with the team. I dubbed it The Training Camp Challenge and my goal was to lose as much as I could before the first regular season game, which is this weekend.

I lost approximately 6 pounds, which, honestly, is kind of disappointing, as I was hoping to do better, but my Wife pointed out that that is a pound a week, which really is not that bad.. So even though I'm not happy with where I am, I feel like I did ok.

I'm going to continue my challenge into the regular season. My new goal: 8 wins, 8 pounds. I want to drop a minimum of 8 pounds by the time the Pats get to 8 wins. I'm hoping The Pats make me work for it and go 8-0.

--

I recently found several old friends from college and high school that I have not heard from in many years on Facebook and MySpace. That is pretty cool. I was pretty tight with some of these folks back in the day but when school ended we just kind of fell out of touch. That's how it goes.

When I first signed up on Facebook / MySpace, I was kinda lost. I really had no idea how it worked or what the whole point of either site was but I have to say, it has been a great way to find people. I am psyched to have re-connected with some old friends.

I was thinking of adding this wacky site to my Facebook and MySpace pages so my friends could read it, but I'm still kinda paranoid about the whole 'someone from work accidentally stumbling across my blawg' thing.. So I don't know. I'm thinking about it.. Any thoughts?

--

Last night during garage band rehearsal we were horsing around on some song and I was informed by one of the band members that I was 'in contempt of Jimmy Page'. Genius. I found this comment to be hilarious and being the wise-ass that I am, immediately launched into a really bad and poorly played Led Zep medley (sans Stairway, of course).

I may have to try and wedge some Clutch into our repertoire because I've been listening to 'Walking In the Great Shining Path of Monster Trucks' like, non f-ing stop. I can't stop myself.

--

At this point I have nothing else to add. Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

Birth: Check, School: Check..

My kids' first day of school was today. They are in first grade and have officially begun their indoctrination.. I can't believe they're in grade school now. I hope they kick the real world's ass. I have complete and total confidence in their abilities to do so.. :-)

Got my tix to the Supersuckers show in the mail yesterday. I am psyched. Looks like I may be going to see The Reverent Horton Heat in November as well. The bass player in the garage band is friends of somebody's friend and apparently we may be on the guest list. Sweet. I'm going to try and get out and see a few local bands in Worcester as well (Gold Star Campaign, The Howl..) over the next few weeks. I'm figuring I can rock my face off in a dim setting outside of the home about once a month this Fall.. should be happy times. Wa-we-wa-woo..

(Hey, don't forget about my drop.io. Drop me something, dammit!)

I need to get back into the habit of wearing pants.

Fall is here. That means pants are in, shorts are out.

Ok I know, technically, it's still Summah, but as far as I'm concerned, the day after Labor Day = Fall. The Patriots start next week (yay!), the kids start school tomorrow (1st grade, ack!).. The Sox Magic Number starts getting really small (currently 23).. the crab-grass is withering (yay!).. and there's that noticeable Fall-like change in the air. You can feel it. It's here. It's Fall. Dammit.

I have to say I'm not really all that pleased to see Fall arrive. It used to be my favorite season, but now, not so much. I just enjoy Summer so much, I hate seeing it end, and I hate the fact that Winter is looming over the horizon.

Plus there's the whole emotional aspect of it, seeing the kids off to school, watching the leaves change and fall off of the trees.. it reminds me how fast my life is moving.. I swear it feels like it was just April and Spring was starting. I want it to slow down.

So yeah, you can see it's kind of easy for me to get a little gloomy this time of year, but this year I'm going to try and enjoy all the good stuff about Fall to the max and have as much Fall Fun as possible this season.

There are things to look forward to, The Patriots of course, apple picking (which also means apple crisp), the beauty of the leaves changing colors here in New England, some nice Fall fishing, super-nice weather, the B's and C's starting their seasons, hopefully some October baseball featuring the Red Sox..

(The Patriots could provide a nice boost to the ol' 'Fall is here' attitude with a season-opening W over K.C. on Sunday..)

My kids are getting to the age where the activities start ramping up, so it's going to be a busy time too. I'm sure the season is going to fly by and the next thing I know it'll be January. I'll have to make sure to stop and look around once in a while (so I don't miss it).

Back

Hey what's up everybody? Long time no typey-typey.. Well I've been on vacation and have tried to keep the computer turned off whenever possible.. Not just logged off, not just put to sleep.. Off. In fact if it were not to keep track of some gear I was selling on e-bay and the tides at Hampton Beach, I would not have turned the thing on at all.

Vacation was awesome, as well as much needed. I'm happy to tell you there were days when I had no idea what day it actually was or even what time it was, since I was not wearing a watch or paying attention to things date and time related the entire time. My kids would ask what time it was and I'd say, 'half-past morning' or 'time to fire up the grill' or 'almost dark'. Awesome.

Two weeks go by fast and my vacation is, sadly, over, and it seems that Summer '08 is quickly following right behind it. Wow, sorry I was just overcome by a wave of minor post-vacation, Monday funk. It'll be ok though.

So now it's time to catch up and come back to reality. I have a ton of returnable beer bottles to cash in and I have to try and remember what my passwords are at work. What do I do for work again? It's something to do with computer-y stuff..

You know it's been a good break when you don't remember what you were doing when you left.

One thing I did follow while I was away was The Patriots, of course, and I must tell you, even though it's only pre-season, I'm a little worried about them. Just a little. The Pats have not looked that good in any phase of the game to this layman's eye.. It's only pre-season though (that's what I keep telling myself).

A Fire in the Ska-ye

Enjoy this kickass mashup and don't blow your fingers off this weekend!

drop.io (rules): simple private sharing

Have a great 4th of July!

See ya!

(h/t Adam @ The Daily Sourcecode)

Guacamole: that sounds like something you yell when you're on fire

Guacamole!!

RIP George Carlin. Fuckin guy ruled.

Hey everybody! It's Friday. Hooray! I thought I'd close out the week with a post. Hope you will have a nice weekend. I'm heading to town to get some beer, avocados, bagels and chips. Yeah, it's a weird list.. The bagels are for the kids breakfast. The beer, avocados and chips are for my Wife and I to enjoy when we throw a flick in the DVD player later. 

Earlier this evening I cooked some yummy cheeze-a-ma-burgers on the grill. A storm had gone through earlier and the air was so cool and fresh. Awesome.

We were listening to some tunes on the iPod while set to random as I cooked up the burgers. My Daughter, who is ultra-cool, and happens to be age six, likes The Misfits and Vivaldi. I am proud. And lucky.

See ya!

My Adidas..

The other day my Wife informed me that I needed new sneakers.. something to do with the fact that they were full of holes and she could see my socks. (Thankfully the socks didn't have holes too!)

She handed me some discount coupons from the Sunday paper and said, 'go get some new sneakers, they're on sale this week.'

Yes ma'am.

I went to the store the following day and got the new sneaks as ordered.

I bought a pair of black Adidas off of the close-out rack and let me tell you, these new sneaks fully RULE. They are sooooo g-d comfortable, it feels like my feet are enveloped in puffy clouds that are wrapped in pillows.

I simply can't get over how comfortable these new Adidas sneaks are!! Thus, this amazingly entertaining post.

{mood: My Adidas (duh)}

(drop.io)

Intangibles...

I bring the following intangibles to the table:

I can quote extensively from Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi

I invented the Taco Sandwich

I can lift very large rocks and set them into place on top of other very large rocks, that I also lifted

I can play multiple notes in rapid succession with a good degree of accuracy on the guitar

I can make a mean margarita / gin and tonic / martini /  jack and ice or pour a non-see-through beer into a chilled glass with just the right amount of foam on top

I can open pickle, jelly and salsa jars

If it's broken, I can probably figure out how to fix it

I can speak fluently in corporate-speak: "I don't have a lot of bandwidth for that issue right now and I'm afraid it might cause a lot of unnecessary churn. I'm OOTO tomorrow. Let me ping you on Wed when I have some free cycles and we'll see if we can get some traction then."

I mow a mean lawn and I can wield a grass trimmer with a high degree of accuracy

I know how to fill the dishwasher and get the maximum use out of its available space

[Ok.. my palms are getting sweaty. I hate that. I'm out of here.]

I often wonder, where is my mind, but then I remember it is way out in the water, swimming.

Ok. Happy Monday. Not. Nobody likes Monday. Unless it's a day off, then it's a different story.

I've got 10 minutes here because the skies are clearing and I'm going to try and get some fresh air. So let's see what kind of nonsense I can spew out here in 10 min..

Last weekend was cool. Me and the two older kids set up a tent and had our first ever back yard camp-out. I dug a fire pit and we had a small camp fire with toasted marshmallows and smores while we watched for bats in the sky and looked for fireflies.

Once it got to be late enough we got into the tent and went to 'sleep'. My daughter commented that the tent smelled like 'cow-poop'. I had no explanation for this phenomena, except that it wasn't me.

Around 1/2 past dark, my son woke us all up, yelling loudly, 'I need to open it! I need to open it!!'

Thinking he was having a bad-dream I asked him, 'open what??'

'The tent!! I need to open it!'

Trying to calm him down, I told him, 'We can't open the tent up because it will get all damp in here.'

'I NEED TO OPEN IT!!'

'Do you need to go to the bathroom??' I asked.

'YES!!!'

'Well why don't you just say that?' I said as I unzipped the tent.

He came back a few minutes later to tell me he was sleeping inside the rest of the night.

'Ok,' I said, 'You don't have to sleep in the tent if you don't want to.'

With that, my daughter sat up.

'Do you want to sleep inside too?' I asked.

She hesitantly said, 'Yeeesss.'

'Ok lets all go in then.'

So much for our first back yard camp out. It was fun, but A/C, lullaby CD's and electric night-lights are better.

--
4 min..
--

George Carlin passed away this weekend. RIP. Carlin was one of my all-time favorite comedians. I first heard him on the Dr. Demento Show as a kid. All I can say is he will be missed. George Carlin was tremendously funny, at all times. The man never failed to make me laugh, plus he was Rufus in 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure' and he did voice overs for 'Thomas the Tank Engine'.

'The Hippy-dippy Weather Man', 'The 7 Dirty Words', 'Baseball vs Football' and of course, 'Could be meat, could be cake. Meat-Cake!'

--
Time!
--

The Sox win after 13 innings yesterday. Now that there's no Football till Training Camp and the NHL and NBA are over, The Red Sox have my full sports-attention.

--
Two min over. Time to burn some fat.
--

Me Like Coookie on Fathers Day. Yah-Yah-Yah!!

Cookie on Father's Day yummy. Me like coookie.

(That's my Cookie Monster Voice.. That big one started out shaped like a heart but somebody ate some.)

Happy Fathers Day to Us

What do you want for Father's Day?

Nothing. Don't buy me anything. A card is fine.

You're going to get something so you may as well give me some ideas.

I want to not have to worry about money, so save it and just get me a card.

Will you just tell me?

Ok here's what I want:

A Gibson / Martin / Guild / Taylor acoustic

A Tele

A Gibson SG

A Dodge Challenger

Ok now for reality...

How about a home made card and a hug?

Arg.

(I'm such a headstock snob. Also, Motorhead is coming to Worcester. I'm going. Also, I'm Wolverine *snikt!*)

Find out Which Marvel Superhero Are You at LiquidGeneration.com!

(drop.io)

Odds n' Ends...

Hey what's up everybody? Hope you're having a good week so far. Ok, it's only Tuesday, but I still hope it's been a good one.

Last week was pretty eventful around here; lots of firsts, lots of changes.

We removed the child gate from the bottom of the stairs. Our youngest is now able to get up and down well enough that we don't need it anymore. We now have free access to go up and down stairs. It is very freaky. That gate has been up for so long, I keep reaching for the handle to open it. It's like a big, wide open.. opening now and it feels very strange after having it barricaded with a gate for so long. 

There is still a gate at the top of the stairs, just to prevent any accidents, so we are not totally gate free yet, but losing the bottom one was a big step.

While I'm on the subject of gates, the youngest had the gate removed from her crib this past weekend. She is now in a 'big girl bed'. It's still a crib, it just does not have the gate on one side. She was climbing over the top to get out of her crib, so it was time for the gate to come down. It's taking a little bit of getting used to for her. She's used to having it there when she's asleep and now has to learn where the edge of her bed is. There's a big pillow beneath it in case she rolls out, but she seems to be getting the hang of it pretty quickly.

Other firsts.. last week my band played for the first time in front of people. It was at a local open mic night in a nearby bar. There were a lot of mistakes but it was fun. The bass player kicked out his own guitar cable at the start of one song, which prompted me to say, 'how about we try that again without kicking out the guitar cord this time?' Hey the same exact thing happened to Eddie Spaghetti and Jordan Shapiro when I saw them play a couple months ago. It happens to the pros so I'm not going to sweat that kind of stuff. It's all good. 

As for me, I got some lyrics mixed up and broke a string on the guitar, (thankfully on the last song and not the first). Nothing like getting every screwed up thing you can do out of the way during the first ever live performance. Now we don't have to worry about it happening again. (yeah right!)

I would rate our performance as a solid 'needs more work', but for the first time out, I was happy with how we did. I considered it a success just to get up there and play. If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking until you do.

Speaking of playing, (amazing how all these topics blend so seamlessly into one another isn't it?) I tried to record another demo song last night but it was an exercise in total frustration. After about four hours of work I ended up with about 10 seconds that I actually wanted to keep. I'll try and fix it up tonight..

Speaking of tonight.. The Celtics and Lakers will play in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. For those of you living in a cave, The Celts are up in the series, 2-0. The C's are sooo close! Half-way there! We need to win a road game out in L.A. and keep the pressure on. 

It kills me that these games go till around midnight, but I'm gonna try and keep my eyeballs open for this one tonight.

Finally, the other night I had a dream that The Pats were in the Superbowl, a future Superbowl that is, and I was on the team. That was a good dream, especially since The Pats won. It's only mini-camp time in Patriots Nation, but obviously I am looking forward to a new Patriots season. (Ya think?) 

In just a few short weeks it will be training camp time. I'm hoping to head down to at least one session. But I don't want to get too far ahead of myself here.. there's still a lot of awesome Summer weather to enjoy between now and then. I love The Patriots and football season, but I don't mind stretching Summer out as much as possible between now and September! 

Ok that's it. Have a good one and GO CELTICS!

BEAT L.A!! BEAT L.A!!

(my drop.io)

Sponsored by:

Affordable Heath Insurance

Ah, relax..

A very enjoyable Tuesday evening. I cooked some barbecue chicken on the grill earlier, delicious, then clicked on the Sox / Rays game while the kids had their bedtime stories. 

We just got the last kid-do settled and into bed a few minutes ago. Now it's time for the first martini of the summer and a little more Red Sox. 

Currently The Sox are down by one run, 4-3 in the bottom of the 6th. Youk's at the plate with two on and no outs. Hopefully The Sox can make up the difference here. 

We got Rescue Me Season 4 in the mail today so we'll probably pop that in soon. 

Feels good to kick back. Have a good one! (and GO RED SOX!!) 

(Bases are now loaded, 1 out, Tek at the plate... Tek drives in a run.. Crisp comes to the plate and gets a wall ball double. The Red Sox take the lead, 6-4. GO SOX!)

Memorial Day. Thank you.

As someone who has not served in the U.S. military, yet lives in, and enjoys the freedom paid for by the sacrifice of others who have served, I can only say one thing: Thank You. Thank You, Thank you. 

Waiting for quiet-ness...

Ohh, I'm tired. Hey what's up everybody. It's about 9 PM. I'm home alone, my Wife is out at one of her Mom Meetings (or as I call it, excuse to have a margarita). Wait, what am I saying, you don't need an excuse to have a margarita!

I'm going to be heading down to try and work on some recording in a few minutes. Got the kids settled around 8:30 and I'm just waiting here to make sure all remains quiet before I strap on the headphones.

I made a recording last night and I think it came out ok, except for one of the guitar solos, which I am not happy with and I need to re-do, and also the vocals are too high, so I'm going to fix that. Unfortunately these recordings have no bass and only a loop for drums. It's just me and the guitar and a drum loop. Other than that they are pretty ok fine I think.

Since I was recording last night, I did not see John Lester's no-no. I did not even know it was happening till it was already over and my Sister-In-Law called to see if I was excited about it. I was like, 'excited about what?' 

Well, that's how it goes. I guess I am a bad Red Sox fan right now (bows head in shame), but I did make a recording, so that counts for something, in my book at least.

The Celts face the Detroit Pistons in Game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals tonight. Here's hoping the C's can win all their home AND road games in this series!!

Lunch. Oh, hello!

Aright I was gonna go for a walk but it's looking like it's going to rain so.. may as well do some typing here instead.

So what's going on around here?

CDs - For those of you who are getting some CD's, I've got them all made, I've got some cases to put them in.. but my printer is out of ink so I can't print the songs. I'll have to scribble something with my horrible handwriting. I'll try and make the song names somewhat readable. Ha. I'm hoping they will go out this week. I swear. Really. We'll see..

My Wife and I went out on a date last week. Just us. This is a very rare event. It happens about two or three times a year, if we're lucky. We went to The Margarita Factory in Gardner MA and had burritos and margaritas. Ole! Then we went to see 'Iron Man' which I thought was 1000% KICK ASS. I give it 10 X 10 stars, X 10. And my Wife said that she really liked it too, and that's saying something, for her, a person who is not the biggest comic book movie fan.

This past weekend I mowed the lawn for the first time and went around with the grass trimmer. The lawn is looking good except for a few patches that need some TLC. The grubs seem to be under control (dead). Next chemical warfare target: weeds. Say your prayers dandelions..

The lawnmower kinda sputtered a little bit going uphill a few times. I'm wondering if maybe it needs a new spark plug, or maybe it just was unhappy with the gas as it was left-over from the snowblower and was a bit stale. I'll have to keep an eye on that. The grass trimmer was having troubles too, but I know that is because I used old gas in it (lazy). At one point it suddenly stopped running all at once, instead of sputtering to a stop, and I was afraid the engine had somehow seized. I was not sure how that could have happened because the gas has oil in it, but, thankfully that was not the case, just the pull cord had gotten messed up somehow and I got it started again.

I have been practicing my guitar diligently and now have 6 originals, with lyrics, 3 instrumentals and several covers down pretty good.

See, this is why you're not getting your CDs.. I'm doin' shit!

The Celts played Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Semi Finals vs. The Cavs yesterday and came out with a win. That game was tense. I was extremely worried in the closing minutes that the C's were somehow going to blow the game and the series. The C's held on for the win though and now will move on to the Eastern Conference Finals against Detroit.

I hope the C's can win a road game in this next series.. and still win all their home games too. That would be nice.

Bill Belichick = The MAN.

Ok that covers it for now. See ya!

(my drop.io)

Down time

My Wife is out shopping with Daughter #1, Daughter #2 is sleeping and my Son is playing Pokemon video games.

I am going to take this opportunity to mix up a G&T;, grab my iPod and my book, go sit on the porch swing and see if I can read a page or two..

Of course, now that I've said that, I expect all Hell to break loose any second..

Later I'll probably mow the lawn if it's not too late. First mow of the year..

Saturdays rule.

Life goes by so fast..

Our youngest has given up on drinking her milk from a bottle and has moved up to sippy cups. She can do so many things now and is doing more and more every day. That goes for the older kids too. They are getting visits from the tooth fairy on an almost weekly basis because their baby teeth are coming out and they are into drawing and working on their letters. I can see them growing up right in front of me. It is awesome. But at the same time it is a little bitter sweet too because I know that these 'little kid' moments will soon exist only as memories so I try to live in the moment and enjoy them as much as I can.

Soon the diapers will be gone and the baby toys will hold no interest. It is always on to new things for them and it is exciting. I love to see them grow but sometimes I wish they would slow down a little... well, you parents out there know what I'm saying.

Boy am I a barrel of laughs today or what?

{mood: Kenny Chesney - There Goes My Life}

Hoppy Easter!

There's a moment of relative calm here (the kids are watching TV) so I thought I'd come on here while I had a chance and say Happy Easter to everybody that stops by. Hope your holiday is a good one and if you don't celebrate Easter, have a great Sunday!

The kids woke us up at an insane hour this morning. I don't even know what time it was to tell you the truth, it was wicked early though. 5 something? We told them to come back at 6:30. They were back at 6:25. They just couldn't stand it.

My Wife and I stumbled downstairs as the kids followed the Bunny Trail of jellybeans and then proceeded to ransack the living room looking for the stuff the Easter Bunny had left for them. These kids are not very good at finding stuff. Unless an egg or a toy was right out in the open, they couldn't see it. Maybe that Bunny is too good at hiding stuff.

They eventually found it all in the end, with some assistance from my Wife and I, all except for one thing, which remains hidden. I guess that Easter Rabbit is just too good! Either that or he was just really sleepy when he was hiding stuff last night..

Happy Easter!

Update:
My Wife informs me that our kids initially woke us up at the ungodly time of 2:30 AM. ACK!

Too cool for school..

I got my new iPod Classic last night and I am totally loving it. I upgraded from an older 3rd gen iPod and I am blown away by how much stuff you can do with this new iPod. This thing is too cool for school.

Before I could use the new iPod Classic I had to get a USB 2.0 PCMCIA card for my old Titanium Powerbook so that I could connect the Classic to my computer. I got a Belkin USB 2.0 card, (model F5U222) and it works great. Zero problems. Just plugged it in to the cardbus slot, no drivers to install. Done. To sync the iPod with my computer I have to plug in an external power supply into the USB card (the power supply is included with the card). Plugging in the external power supply is not exactly 'elegant', but it gets the job done so I am happy with that. Better than buying a new computor!

It is so great having all my songs back on my iPod. No more turning songs off to fit new ones on. So awesome. You'd probably be shocked if I told you some of the songs I had to turn off. Well, they're all back now.

Welcome back podcasts! I can't wait to listen to my old favorite podcasts again and to find some new ones too.

If you listen to any cool podcasts, feel free to send me some suggestions, especially any that are music or sports related!

One thing I could not help but note, and it's not really bad, just an observation, is that you get zero accessories with the new iPod. My old 3rd gen iPod came with a dock, earphones, extra ear-bud covers, a wall charger, a protective case, the charger/connection cable and a bag to hold stuff. The new iPod comes with a usb cable, earphones, and a univeral dock insert, which by the way, does not fit in my old 3rd gen dock. All the stuff that used to just come with the iPod you now have to shell out extra $$$ for. In Apple's defense the new iPods are less expensive than they used to be, so I guess in the end it all evens out.

Ok I have to go back to geeking out with my new toy. The iPod is definitely one of the best presents I've ever received. I'd have to rate it either as #1 or a close second after the Skyway T/A BMX bike I got when I was a kid. The Skyway was (and is) a pretty cool gift. Old school BMX, yo.

What ya live for

Happy St. Pats!

{mood: Hank III and Assjack - What You Live For}

666 quirks

I had a post written for today but it got lost when I accidentally navigated away from the page. Dammit. I'm not re-writing it.

In the meantime, I was tagged by The Army Wife, so here goes:

- I am facial hair impaired. I want to grow a fu-manchu mustache but I can't grow a mustache. At all. Even though I try. It just looks dumb.

- I don't like sugary candy, like skittles or gummy-bears. I only like chocolate bars.

- I have no resistance to chocolate chip cooooooookieeeeees. I will eat a whole batch unless I am scolded by my Wife.

- I actually believe stuff I do at home can affect the outcome of a football/baseball/hockey game. My actions have no affect on basketball games.

- I like scented candles.

- I am obsessed with my lawn. I want it to look like the outfield at Fenway Park. Weeds are my enemy and they shall be destroyed without mercy.

Take it and run with it. Happy Friday!

*FRIDAY BONUS*
I collect beer coozies. They keep your drinks cold in the summer, and your hands from getting cold in the winter. I've got Patriots, Matt Kenseth, #1 Dad, Dale Earnhardt, St. John U.S.V.I. and Supersuckers koozies in my collection. One for every occasion! Pretty cool, huh?

I can't say cause I don't know..

Last night I went out to The Dive Bar in Wormtown to see guitar player extraordinaire Troy Gonyea (of the band The Howl) and have some really thick, non-see-through beers.

The beers were good. The band was great.

Troy and his band, consisting of guitar/vocals, drums, keyboards and harmonica, were nestled in the back corner of this little bar and fully kicked all kinds of ass with some straight-forward, ear-pleasing blues-rock. I was extremely impressed and had a great time listening to these guys play. In between sets I went over to say hello and they were super nice guys to boot. Check out Troy's main band, The Howl, if you get a chance.

The Dive Bar specializes in serving micro-brews and imports, basically all the beers that you've never heard of before. Bud/Miller/Coors light are not available. (This is a good thing.)

I started with a Smuttynose I.P.A. Very tasty. I love good I.P.A. beer and Smuttynose does not dissapoint.

Next I decided to try a beer that I'd never heard of, or tried before, of which there were many. I went with a Weihenstephaner Dunkelweizen (I had to look that up on the Dive Bar's draught list to remember it).

Although I am fond of saying there is no such thing as bad beer, just some are better than others, I did not really care for this particular brew. It was not a 'bad' beer, it just was not my style. It had kind of a carmel-ish / chocolaty after-taste which I didn't care for. Purely a personal preference kinda thing.

After that I switched to a fine sippin' whiskey from Tennessee. A guy at the bar noted my choice, jokingly saying something about all the German beers I could be trying. I drew a smile when I told him that I'd rather have something made in Tennessee than something that comes from Germany any day of the week. Ha.

Great atmosphere, good brews and great music. Good times.

(mood: Hank Williams III: I Don't Know)

Latest additions..

The kids had a birthday party recently and we welcomed some new additions to the family, JB Rockstar and Snuggles.

JB Rockstar is a webkin. (My kids now have approximately 50 of these webkin things..) Snuggles is the angler fish, (obviously).

Update:
My Wife informs my that the kids actually have only 22 Webkins..

You got it. That's right you got it.

Well I've been fighting it off with coffee and whiskey and general good clean livin but it's finally got me. I am down with the sickness.

Of course, it did not help to have people coughing and sneezing directly into my face for the better part of a week or so. It's germ central at my house. That's what happens when you have kids.

Thankfully I had a backup package of Theraflu in my desk drawer here at work. Theraflu to the rescue.

Last night I saw the 'You're going to Disneyland!' ad for Eli Manning with Richard Seymour and Rodney Harrison walking off the field in the background. That sucked. I was working on my taxes at the time. Pile on the fun!

Like many others in Patriots Nation I've been avoiding the news in general. I think there's a fancy word for that but it's escaping me at the moment... Oh, wait. Denial! Yeah there we go!

I just don't want to hear it right now, ya know? I'm trying to move on, avoid the negative talk and get to the positive stuff like looking forward to the off-season, the NFL Draft, gearing up for next year and getting ready for the next season, and reading shitty news stories detailing all that is wrong about the evil New England Patriots does not help.

Take for example, this morning, when I could not help but read about how the Patriots players who attended the Pro-Bowl (which = a total joke by the way) this past weekend were booed by the 'fans' as they came onto the field. None of the players from the other 31 NFL teams got booed, just the players from the Patriots.

What the fuck is up with that?

I gotta say, as ridiculous as it is, that really kind of fucking pisses me off. What the hell? You are booing guys at the Pro-Bowl? It's irrational, I know, but that really bothers me. It's not like this is the Pats taking the field in Miami or New Jersey and hearing it from the home-town fans, something that is obviously completely normal and is 100% expected. This is the Pro-Bowl, a time for guys who worked hard during the season and earned some recognition for their play to have a good time, enjoy the sun and play in a totally meaningless football game. I think it is really shitty that people in attendance at the 'game' would boo any of the players as they came out onto the field. Fuck you Pro-Bowl attendees.

I don't expect to see 16-0 again but God I hope The Pats come out next season and truly stomp the rest of the NFL.

2008 Opponents:

Home games
Bills
Dolphins
Jets
Broncos
Cardinals
Chiefs
Rams
Steelers

Road games
Bills
Dolphins
Jets
Chargers
Colts
49ers
Raiders
Seahawks

GO PATS

(Mood: You Got It - Mudhoney)

The Friday Song. Happy Reward Friday.

Today is finally Friday
I'm so glad that it's here
After work I'm gonna have some pizza
And a couple beers

There's no football on this weekend
The Pro-Bowl's really lame
I guess I'll read a book instead
Or watch a hockey game
hey!

(insert gee-tar mandolin or drum solo here)

Anybody got an extra 40 grand they want to give me?

As of today, the '08 Dodge Challenger is now a reality. You can now go into a Dodge dealership and buy one. Well, I can't, but some people can anyway.. Unfortunately, unless I hit the lottery, owning one of these vehicles will always be a dream for me.. {Sigh.}

I can't wait to actually see one of these cars on the street. You can keep your Porches and Ferrari's. This is my dream car.

Here's a link to a nice photo gallery for those of you who enjoy car porn.

Link: 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 - Latest Wallpaper-Quality Photo Galleries - Automobile Magazine.

Now if you'll excuse me I have to go back to making the payments on our Toyota Sienna..

Media Circus Day

The day that everybody loves has finally arrived. It's Superbowl Media Circus Day! Yes, it's the much heralded day when all the loonies come out of the woodwork to ask the players and coaches of the New England Patriots and New York Giants as many of the most ridiculous, non-football related questions as humanly possible.

Many will openly wonder how some of these 'reporters' have managed to get press credentials for the big Media Circus Day spectacle. Many 'legit' reporters will openly scoff at their own brethren over the goofy nature of some of their questions, blindly ignoring the irony that when they do so they will scoffing at their own creation.

What I find to be especially amusing is that the big story of the day is not that the Pats and Giants are in the Superbowl on Sunday, the big story of the day is that it is Media Circus Day! Reporters reporting on reporters. It's like an endless circle of infinity.. or something. It's weird.

The entire Media Day thing is completely blown out of proportion and silly, so you may as well roll with it and enjoy it. Besides everybody loves watching the players' and coaches' reactions as they struggle to answer the craziest questions they've ever heard and if you say you don't, well I don't believe you.

In other, scintillating news, I have turned my Patriots 2008 Calendar page from January (Mike Vrabel) to February (Matt Light) a few days early because I am sick to death of January and hate it so much (No offense Vrabes). As far as I'm concerned, there are only two good things about January: The NFL Playoffs and my Mom's birthday. Unless you are a kid or a snowplow driver, or unless it's your or someone you know's birthday, I defy you to name anything good about January.

Yes, February is still Winter but it's much easier to deal with, because it is short, even if it is only a couple days. It is also the last real month of Winter, which means Spring is tantalizingly close. Plus there's the Superbowl, the first big holiday of the year (yes, it IS a holiday so don't get me started), and there's Valentines Day of course. Who doesn't enjoy buying overpriced flowers? There's also The Daytona 500, which is fun, and the NHL scurry for teams to make The Playoffs gets into gear. Also fun. (Especially when The B's have a good shot at getting in this year.) PLUS the Celts don't suck anymore so they are fun to watch, AND, let's not forget Spring Training!

See? Despite still being Winter, February has much to offer.

For now though, we've still got three days of January and Media Circus Day. I wonder if anyone will ask Tom Brady about his ankle today. Hmmm. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say, 'Yes'.

GO PATS

(photo: Boston.com / AP)

This killin' time is killin' me.

It's the middle of January and it's the week before the week of the Superbowl. Basically it's the longest week of the year. It's the week the Earth stood still. Klaatu barada nikto.

Making matters worse, it's slow at the office so the days are really draggin' here. I know, poor me.

Oh. You were probably expecting more at this point. Yeah. Sorry.

The Patriots will practice today and one of the funny quotes from the locker room came from Heath Evans who, in reference to the uproar over Tom Brady getting spotted wearing a walking cast the other day, joked, "I'm going to put on a boot and see if you all follow me around."

You know what would be funny? If all of the Patriots players started walking around in those walking cast thing-a-ma-bobs as a joke. Even Coach Belichick could wear one. Ha ha!

Well, it would be funny for at least a minute anyway..

Last night saw the end of the Victory Chili from the Pats' last two playoff games. After being inspired by Michele and her visit to Wienerschnitzel, what was one of my best chili batches ever went out in grand fashion as a phenomenal chili-dog. It was exceptionally hot. And awesome. Tastes like Victory.

Alright. Now you know what I had for dinner last night. Like I said, longest week ever.

As you were.

GO PATS

Me winning isn't, you do.

Let me start this post off by saying that the weather around here is TOTALLY AWESOME today. It's like 60 degrees outside, which is about 62 degrees higher than it was this time last week. It can stay like this for the remainder of Winter as far as I'm concerned. It's so nice out I was prompted to get my first Dunkin's iced coffee of the year. Large hazelnut. Cream, one sugar. Nice.

I think I need to stop watching NESN in the morning while I'm walking on the treadmill getting all ripped and in shape. Despite my earlier statement that I'd be ignoring the hype going into this week's Patriots / Jaguars playoff game, it turns out I've been totally sucked into the Jaguars bandwagon of fear, with their two-headed monster of a running game, efficient passing game and bruising, leather and steel, mace club wielding defense.

Dudes and ladies I'm freaking out about the Jags!

Ok not totally freaking out but definitely more worried than I was before. The daily NESN reports building this Jacksonville team into a monster with a D-Line made out of clones of The Hulk and Brady and Belichick's (albeit expected) praise and talking up of this team have got me all a-jittery.

The large Dunkin's iced coffee I just drank could have something to do with that though..

GO PATS

(image: Marvel Comics)

It feels like a Wednesday but it's really Friday. Awesome.

Hey what's up homies? Check it out it's my first post of 2008. Set your expectations for this post as you see fit. For me, that would be low.

Yesterday I woke up and the temperature outside was zero point zero, Bluto Blutarsky's grade average. This type of weather can best be described by the following quote: 'It's a crappy cold that defines no fun'. Thank you Turtle.

Hmmmm, what else... I am really impressed by the folks that are going to try to post something on their site every day of the year this year. I will not be one of those people, but I am glad that I will get to read their posts on a daily basis. It will give me stuff to read on my lunch break. Speaking of which, today I had a PB&J.; I would rate today's PB&J; as 'ok'. It was not the best I have ever had. I have done better. Maybe next time I should try making a BB PB&J;. Next..

I have been walking on the treadmill every day so far this week. I am also doing sit-ups and push-ups as well as torso twists. I was watching the Miss Hooters 2007 contest over New Years (while my Wife was in another room) and according to one of the hotties in the contest, all you need to do to tone your abs is to do torso twists. Who knew? So I am doing them.

It sucks waking up early to exercise, but I was reading an article in Men's Health while sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office a few months ago and the article said that the first place a woman looks when they see a guy is at their chest and their stomach, so when my Wife looks at me this summer, I want her to see washer-board abs glistening in the sun and if waking up early to get on a treadmill is the price I have to pay, so be it. I will pay that price.

And finally (mercifully?) ..

The Patriots were 16-0 during this past regular season and I am still having a bit of a hard time wrapping my head around the sheer awesomeness of that accomplishment. However, without downplaying how truly awesome going 16-0 during the regular season is, I am more concerned with the post-season and the, hopefully, Three Games to Glory that lie ahead for The Pats. More on that later..

GO PATS

Time to check in on my 2007 resolutions...

Alright, it's New Year's Eve. Time to see how I did on my 2007 resolutions. Let's dive in.

2007's Resolutions:

- Go to bed early - Hit or miss on this one.

- Lose weight - Failed. I'm the same weight as I was last year. Mid 160's.

- Play guitar more regularly - Accomplished

- Finish basement - Accomplished

- Build final stone wall - Accomplished

- Get to work between 8:30 and 9 AM - Accomplished

What should I resolve to do this year?

My Wife says:

- Work on patience.

- Learn how to relax.

Hmmm.. Ok. Apparently I don't know how to just sit and chill out. That's not a bad thing to work on.

I will add: loose weight. It's the same thing every year. Maybe someday I'll get back down to 155.

Have a Safe and Happy New Year's Eve everyone! See you next year! (That joke never gets old. HAR!)

Happy AFC East Sweep, Merry 15-0! Oh yea and Christmas too.

Hey all, just a quick post to wish you all a Happy Merry Joyful Patriots AFC East Sweep and 15-0 record.

Merry Christmas too!

Have a great holiday everyone!

Long weekend. Friday Night. Woo!

Finally, Friday night and a long weekend in front of me. It's been a long time coming and now it's here.

Wish I could say I had somebody to hang around with tonight but my Wife and Kids are visiting the in-laws. That leaves me and me and loud music and.. Jack.

So yea. Friday night. Alone.

Options:
Stay in, watch It's a Wonderful Life and wrap Christmas presents. Fuck that.

Stay in, play my guitar and drink multiple beers. Definitely not a bad option but, I'm gonna pass this time.

Go out to the Lucky Dog in Wormtown and see Dave Smith and the Country Rebels. Fuck yea.

Me myself and I. See ya.

If we make it through December... we've still got January and February.

Ok. It's official. I'm sick of winter. When I'm snow-blowing my driveway more than once a week, that's too much. I'm dreaming of a green Christmas and I never want to see a day that's over forty degrees.

Actually, now that I think about it, it's not even technically Winter yet. Fuck!

I know there are people out there that love winter and love cold and snow and all that, but I'm just not one of them. Maybe if I owned a snow-mobile, things would be different but, I don't.

I do own a snow-blower, thank God, because shoveling by hand really, really sucks. Of course, my snow-blower, it seems like every time I take it out, something happens to get me annoyed. It's not like being out in the cold and snow and shoveling is bad enough, having to wear ski goggles to keep the ice out of my eyes.. as I trudge up and down the drive way, but it seems like there is always something going on with my snow-blower.

Last year, I had a problem where the nut and bolt that holds together the chute where the snow comes shooting out vibrated off and the whole entire chute fell right off of the snow-blower as I was in the middle of clearing my driveway.

That was fun.

I thought I had fixed the problem but when I took out the snow-blower for the first time a few days ago, as I was clearing the driveway I noticed that the chute was getting wobbly. Thankfully I now know from experience that if I see the chute start to get wobbly, I know that the nut that holds the thing together is about to fall off and I can catch it and tighten it down before the whole chute falls off of the snow-blower.

Since it was the first time out using the snow-blower this season, I figured it was a one time thing and that after tightening the nut down again, the problem would be solved. Wrong. I was clearing the drive way today, enjoying myself throughly (NOT), when I noticed that the chute was once again getting wobbly. I got my wrench and tightened it down, AGAIN. Obviously, there is an issue that I need to deal with here. I think maybe the lock washer that I used to fix it last year is not thick enough or something.

Anyway, the part that annoyed me today was not that I had to fix the snow-blower again, that is becoming old-hat, it's that I lost the wrench that I used to fix it in the snow somewhere.

Since it was a lovely winter day with piercing ice and biting wind hitting me in the face, I was wearing ski-goggles as I was clearing the driveway. The goggles kept fogging up so I had a tissue in my pocket to wipe them down every now and then. I stupidly had the wrench in the same pocket and somewhere along the line, as I was taking out the tissue to de-fog the goggles, the wrench must have fallen out. I didn't notice the wrench was gone until I saw the snow-blower chute start to get wobbly again. I reached into my pocket to get the wrench and quickly tighten down the nut and the wrench was not there. Gone. Somewhere in the snow. That fully sucks. And it was a Craftsman wrench too. Dammit. Now I need to buy a new wrench. 11mm. And while I'm at it I need to get a thicker lock-washer because I've had it with this new latest routine.

I hate winter.

(photos: Scott A. Schneider / New York Times, Rankin/Bass)

RED ALERT!!! IT'S GOING TO SNOW TODAY!!!

The office is abuzz with the news that IT IS GOING TO SNOW HERE IN MASSACHUSETTS TODAY!! OMG BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES!! GET MILK!! Are your SNOWTIRES ON YOUR CAR!!!?? CLOSE THE SCHOOLS AND THE LIBRARY BECAUSE IT IS GONNA SNOW!!! UP TO SIX INCHES!!! SIX INCHES PEOPLE!!! AHHHHH!!

I need to call my Wife and make sure we have enough milk, half and half and Jack Daniels because I could be TRAPPED IN THE HOUSE TILL TOMORROW when I go out to shovel.. Better have her bring in some wood for the fireplace too, just in case! Otherwise, I'll have to strap in and go outside into the teeth of NOR-EASTER 07 to get the firewood while braving the arctic winter blast of snow, snow and snow AND WIND TOO.

!!

Fuck now that I think about it, maybe I better leave work right now so I can get home before it starts! Yeah, that's it.

Trapped under ice...

After a night of freezing-rain, I woke up this morning to find my yard completely covered in sheer, glaze ice. There was so much ice, if you wanted to, you could have played a hockey game on my driveway.

My driveway happens to be a hill, so I knew getting down it to leave for work was going to be an adventure.

When it was time to go, I started out slowly, slowly, slowly and as I got about half-way to the end, I thought I was in good shape. This is the point where the driveway incline really begins however and I quickly found myself sliding backwards, with ever increasing speed, straight for my mail-box.

Now, my mail-box has been taken out several times in the past by, ahem.. Oh I'll just say it, woman drivers, and I knew if I were to knock down my own mail-box, I would never live it down for the rest of my life.

As I was sliding inexorably and with more and more momentum towards my mail-box's certain doom, I defiantly said to myself, 'I'll be damned if I'm gonna take out my own mail-box..'

I was sliding down the hill backwards. I turned the wheel to the left and hit the brake. As the front of the car began to spin around to the right, I jammed it into drive and hit the gas, doing a full 180 on the icy driveway. I was now sliding forwards towards the street instead of backwards towards my mail-box. I hit the brake again and turned the wheel as I neared the bottom of the driveway, sliding to a stop before sliding out onto the road. My mailbox was safe.

My Wife had been watching the whole thing from the windows of the house. I got out and yelled, 'hey did you see that?! I just did a full 180 in the driveway!'

'Pretty cool!' she replied.

I raised my arms in victory and she shook her head.

I should have been a stunt-driver.

TGIF.

Hey what's up everybody? TGIF. Sorry for the lack of updates this week. I haven't been feeling the whole bloggg thing and to be honest there's not that much to write about around here these days anyway.

Last weekend I put up the Christmas lights on my house. It was around 45 degrees outside last Sunday so I got them up while it was warm. I'm patting myself on the back for that move because it's supposed to be no higher than 30 this weekend. Freezing my ass off on a ladder putting up Christmas lights makes me feel Grinchy.. so I'm glad that job is out of the way.

Speaking of the weather, it is officially too cold for me to want to go outside to exercise. I try to walk every day on my lunch break but when I see the temperature outside is in the 30s or lower, call me crazy but I just don't feel all that motivated to go outside. The place where I work has a small gym and I guess it's time to start heading to the gym instead of outside. Time to pump some iron and get huge. Yeah, that's it. I am fully ready to make the commitment to rock hard abs, washer board style, glistening in the sun. Or something.

I'm looking forward to The Pats / Ravens game this week but I am glad this is the last night game for a while. It sucks dragging my ass out of bed for work after I'm up past midnight for these Patriots games. The Baltimore game should be interesting. We had some good and bad news with the team this past week. The bad news was that we lost Rosie Colvin to IR, but the good news is we are getting Mr. Offense, Defense and Special Teams Troy Brown back.

Colvin is going to be missed. Even though he does tend to whif on tackles at times, Colvin has been a huge factor in harassing the opposition's QBs all year. That is going to be tough to replace. The Pats are going to have to adjust their defense to deal with Colvin's loss. Yes, the Pats linebackers have the skill to be able to move the pieces around, A.D. could take Colvin's role as the edge rusher, but moving A.D. causes another gap somewhere else. The good news is that if there is any coach in the league that can compensate for these changes in the defensive scheme, it's Bill Belichick.

Although it's tough to lose Rosie, I have to say the Patriots have been lucky with a certain thing that starts with an 'i' and ends with a 'y' and has a 'jur' in the middle. I don't want to say it and induce some kind of jinx, but I think you know what I'm talking about...

GO PATS

My new Christmas song.

Here is a delightful Christmas song I wrote, just in time for the holiday!

oh christmas is canceled this year
tell all the elves and all the reindeer,
that christmas is canceled this year

yes christmas is canceled this year
mrs claus is getting pizza
and santa's drinking beer
because christmas is canceled this year

sorry christmas is canceled this year
tell all the good kids, they're getting underweer
tell all the naughty kids there's no need to fear
because christmas is canceled this year

yeah christmas is cancelllllled thiis yeaaar.
yo ho ho! Hey!

[Don't worry, my kids know this song is a joke and that Christmas is not really canceled this year. DONT WORRY!! THE KIDS WILL BE OK!!!]

It was truly an honor.

I got to meet and briefly speak with Shelton Hank Williams at the merch table after his unbelievably amazing set last night.

Whew, hard day's rockin'...

Long day today. Spent all day getting the yard into 'Winter' mode. Put the snow-blower back together, got the yard mowed one last time, then took the lawnmower apart, changed the oil, filter and general maintenance, parked it in the shed and ran all the gas out of it. Doesn't sound like much but it took me all day. There were a few other things thrown in there, as well as a few obstacles, but, it's done.

Tomorrow I just need to get the shed squared away so all the summertime stuff is organized in the back and the winter stuff (I.E. the damn snow-blower and shovels) is easy to get at.

It shouldn't take me too long, but right now that's all gonna have to wait till tomorrow because I'm getting ready to head out to see Hank III tonight. Should be a good show. I have been looking forward to it. I wish I were a little less tired from working all day, but, I'll manage. 'I've got five dollars and it's Saturday night.'

Annihilate this week

Wednesday night. This week has dragged. Most likely due to the fact that I'm going to see a show that I've been looking forward to for months on Saturday, so of course that's going to make this week seem to take forever.

I'm going to see Hank III along with The Reverend Horton Heat and Nashville Pussy on Saturday. The Rev is the headliner and Hank III is actually the middle act. I hope that does not mean he will shorten his set too much though. I'm looking forward to seeing Reverend Horton Heat too, I like those guys a lot, but I'm mainly going to see Hank III, who I'm a huge fan of. This will be my first time seeing him so I am pretty psyched.. Nashville Pussy, eh. Those guys are ok. I would not go out of my way to see them if they were coming around by themselves. Maybe they are better live than they are on their records. We'll see.

I'm looking forward to next week too. Thanksgiving break is nice. Extra long weekends always are. After that, insanity kicks in with the Christmas run-around.

Is it Friday yet?

Oh, I was going to hit [publish] but then I remembered I wanted to say hi to all the people visiting from StumbleOn. Somebody submitted one of my posts and I've been getting mega-hits, well, mega-hits for me anyway.

What's up you-all Stumble Upon-ers? Hope you like my site and find it is not a total waste of time! (yeah, right.)