Hello there fellow readers...

Checking back in, to let you all know I finally got the route entered in at USATF's site tonight from my bike-ride on Saturday the 13th. The ride on Saturday wasn't anywhere near the trek I took on Sunday, but it was another long ride. I wasn't gone on the ride for over 3 hours on Saturday, so I knew the distance wasn't as great. If I hadn't been messaged about going down to the Art-Fest that was going on downtown, I probably would have ridden much more. Ultimately, I wanted to get on the bike trails out on the south end of town, south of 32nd Avenue!

That would have been another very long ride - just as, or perhaps, longer than the ride was on Sunday!

As you can see, the trek on Saturday went a grand total of 9.08 miles!
http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=299513

So, my grand total for the weekend was a whopping 27.64 miles! Impressive, I'd have to say - especially, given I haven't ridden my bike much at all over the past couple of years I've had it up here.

In other news, our first couple of days after that beautiful weekend we had, have been slightly gloomy. Cooler and much cloudier, for sure. But, not too bad, really. We had some rain this evening, but it wasn't anything that caused too many problems. I was over at Victor's place tonight for a little grilling and hanging out with friends. The rain pushed back the scheduled grilling a bit, but it was still sufficient so that most of us were able to get something to snack on.

Unfortunately, due to some recent lifestyle changes, I had to resist the urge for anything grilled. As some, perhaps, many of you know already, I've made the decision to cut back on the meat intake. It's something I've thought about before in the past and if anything, it's mostly just something I want to see if I can do, at all. I could see some people looking at this as me succumbing to peer-pressure (3 of the 4 people I'm gardening with ARE vegetarians!), and it may be to some extent, but really it's more of just a little kick in the pants to something I've actually wanted to try for a couple of years.

If you asked my family, they could probably tell you that I grew up eating a lot of veggies and fruit. I remember eating strawberries when I was younger until I'd get stomach-aches and would eat radishes until I stunk everyone out of the house! Hah! Actually, when I put it that way, it isn't all that much different today. Tee-hee...

Anyhow, so yes, it's a big commitment and a major lifestyle change, but it is something I am going to try. I began a few weeks ago and have slowly cut back the intake. I was down to maybe 3-4 meals that had meat in it a couple of weeks ago, last week, I may have splurged on a couple of meals, but so far, this week, I haven't ate a thing with meat in it. I've consulted with Tim, Kalli, and Justin and they've helped me quite a bit... On things I can try, what to get, what not to get, and they all have helped me find vegetarian recipes that are well-balanced. I'm not sure exactly if vegetarianism is really what I'm after... I guess that is something I'm really going to have to think about. I've found out that people that do decide to go that route that decide later to go back to meat after years and years, their bodies can reject the meat, and can actually cause problems. So, I'm not exactly sure what I want to accomplish quite yet. Right now, I just want to see how long I can go. From there, I'll see what happens. Either way, I'll keep you all updated. ;)

Other rumblings, since the last time I really updated all of you? Not much else, really... The new position at work is going fairly well. We haven't had a lot to do up until recently. The traveling between Grand Forks and Crookston has slowed down considerably over the past few weeks and actually, with the Minnesota contract now shut down for the summer, I will mainly be working on developing training modules for the MDSS application. This week, I'm hoping to get many of them done.

My fantasy sports teams are both performing poorly... Much like my Chicago Cubbies. They have disappointed me this year - and I'll just leave it at that. Maybe sometime in the near future, I can elaborate a little further - I just don't feel like it tonight. ;) In fact, I don't really feel like writing much more, anyway.

It's getting late and I want to get a little snack before I hit the sack.

Anyway, so there's a little bit of an update on my life the past couple of months. I'll have a couple of chase reports to post to the Chase/Wx-Blog here soon, so stay tuned there, as well.

Take care, folks! Have a great week!

While I've tried to get back into the normal routine around here (I've been back in Grand Forks for a couple of days now), I'm finding it hard to keep my mind off all that is going on back home. I just left a message for Amy on Facebook and that didn't really help matters this evening.

But, all in all, I'm pressing on... Trying to get back to some of my interests and that is helping.

Just moments ago, I checked up on my Hoosiers to see how they have been doing.

The scores, schedule, and results make me cringe:

Sat, Nov 15   Northwestern St.   W 83-65
Tue, Nov 18  IUPUI            W 60-57
Mon, Nov 24  at (8) Notre Dame  L 50-88
Tue, Nov 25  at St. Joseph's  L 54-80
Wed, Nov 26  at Chaminade     W 81-79
Sun, Nov 30  Cornell          W 72-57
Wed, Dec 3  at (15) Wake Forest  L 58-83
Sat, Dec 6  (5) Gonzaga      L 54-70
Wed, Dec 10  TCU              W 66-56
Sat, Dec 13  at Kentucky      L 54-72
Mon, Dec 22  Northeastern     L 42-55
Sun, Dec 28  Lipscomb         L 69-74
Sat, Jan 3  at Iowa          L 60-65
Wed, Jan 7  Michigan         L 66-72
Sat, Jan 10  at Illinois      L 45-76
Tue, Jan 13  at Ohio St.      L 53-77
Sat, Jan 17  Penn St.         L 55-65

Eight losses in a row, 0-5 in Big Ten play and a 5-12 record. That's hard to swallow.

This team does have some young talent and should win games. What it doesn't have, though, is an identity or a leader. Coach Tom Crean is one of the more lively coaches I've seen since Bob Knight left and think he is the one person that can turn this program around.

The program has a good recruiting class for the '09-'10 season and also has some big names in the high school ranks looking at the program for the '10-'11 season. The incoming class next year is ranked in the top 8 in the country and consists of some very athletic players and players with size - something this team desperately needs. The Hoosiers haven't had a strong, solid center in quite a while.

So, I'll suffer through this season and ponder my picks come March. Until then, I'll count down the days until pitchers and catchers report for MLB baseball. February 11 is the first day that pitchers and catchers can involuntarily begin reporting, with the 13th the first day they need to report. Spring Training will be here before we know it and with the World Baseball Classic occurring once again this winter/spring, it will be nice to see baseball on TV once again.

I'm hoping for another great season from the Cubs and hopefully, not another Division Title with zero wins in the Post-Season.

Hey folks! It's late, yes, but I don't work until 4pm tomorrow and feel the need to celebrate this. The volleyball league we were supposed to have been signed up for again this year, fell through, but several of us at Meridian were able to get signed up for the Wallyball league at Center Court a couple of weeks ago.

Wallyball, if you are not familiar with it, is basically the same as Volleyball, only you play on a Racquetball court and you can use the walls to serve off of, hit the ball off of during play, and even spike off of! The only catch I can see so far is that when you serve, spike, or hit the ball into your opponent's court and it hits the far wall before anything else, it's considered a side-out. The ball goes to the opponent and you retain play. It's quite different, but I'd have to say it's one of the funnest games I've played in a long time. I think we're all going to have a great time with this! Especially, if our record keeps going this way.

In our first game, we won the first set, lost the second, but came roaring back to win the third. The first two sets, you play to 15, the third, if necessary, to 11. We happened to hit 11 first, so our record improved to 1-0!

So, one week into the 8-wk season and we have already won more games than we did in the entire season of Volleyball last year. If you can recall, we went "oh" for the season, going winless. Yeah, it sucked. ;)

We'll certainly have to play better, because there are teams there that have played this game many, many times before. Our team? Out of the four of us that played last week, none of us had ever played this game before. Hopefully, it isn't just beginner's luck and we can win several more.

** Oh, and while I'm here, you may notice that my previous post has been removed. I had a stroke of genius yesterday afternoon (okay, it was more of a reminder from a supervisor of mine at work) that it was probably not an appropriate topic for a personal blog. I didn't feel really all that comfortable with it on here, to begin with, and so - if there is anything you really feel you want to share concerning what the post was about (if you read it previously), you can still leave any input, but please send it to me via E-mail. That information is found above.

Stay tuned!

Sorry to interrupt your lovely evening, or lunch hour, whichever... But I have got a little story (advice, maybe) to share...

Last week, I ended up having to take the car in for a minor repair.

Apparently, the ECM (Engine Control Module) had gone bad and was hard-coding some sort of code to the transmission control disengaging the overdrive gear. Which resulted in my car acting very strangely while I was on the Interstate. Twice, it happened, while I was driving back to North Dakota from my vacation back in Indiana and something very similar had occurred about 2-3 weeks prior to that. It would unlock the overdrive, making my car lurch and making the RPM in my car spike! That couldn't have been good when I was driving at 70-75 mph! As soon as it would occur, however, it would lock back in and ride fine.

Probably a longer story than you cared for, but anyway, the dealership diagnosed the problem to the ECM and replaced it last week for only a small diagnostic fee (it turned out to be only $50). The part and installation were, luckily, covered by a warranty that expires after 80,000 miles. So, good thing the car is only sitting around 74,000 miles... That saved me almost $600!

Anyhow, the reason I write about all this... My car is performing the best it has since the day I bought it! The car idles very low and is very quiet, and for the first time ever, it starts at the turn of the key! It's almost always taken two turns for it to start completely. I always thought it was just the make, as most people I have talked to over the years that have Nissan's, say their cars have pretty much performed in a similar fashion.

So, even if it's not supposed to have, the new ECM seems to have revived my car, in a lot of ways...

So, if you find your car under 80,000 miles and you want a relatively easy and affordable way to "tune" up your car some, have the ECM inspected and if needed, have it replaced.

Now, back to some Sunday night football... Go Eagles!

Not exactly in the context of Mr. Rogers... But today turned into one of the best days.

Not only did my Indianapolis Colts pull off a great come-back this afternoon, but Carlos Zambrano of the Chicago Cubs, pitched the first no-hitter from a Cubs pitcher in over 30 years!

After trailing 15-0 at half-time, Peyton Manning came out and carried the Colts on his shoulders. Making play after play, he lead the team on a couple good series that led to a rushing TD from Joseph Addai that made it 15-7. A great play from Anthony Gonzalez (a backwards lateral to a streaking Reggie Wayne) put the Colts at the Viking's 1-yd line that setup the score from Addai. It was definitely one of those highlight reel plays that none of us Colts fans will soon forget. In the 4th quarter, Manning zipped a pass to a wide open Reggie that made the score 15-13. A successful 2-pt conversion by a diving Dominic Rhodes then tied the score at 15. A dramatic play that backed the Vikes up to their own 2-yard line closed the door and as Manning and the team milked the clock down to 20 seconds, Vinatieri came in to knock home the winning field goal with 3 seconds left in the game.

It wasn't the prettiest game, but they toughed out a defensive gem by the Vikings and a dominant game from Adrian Peterson to pull out the win. Still, we need to figure out how to stop the run. We've now allowed two running backs to tally up 100 yard+ games against us. Hopefully, we'll get some guys healthy and get them back on the field. And hopefully, Bob Sander's injury isn't anything major... He left the game with an apparent ankle or foot injury.

The Cubs? What can I say about the season they're having that hasn't been said already? They're having an incredible season and it's something I've never experienced before. They had been in a losing skid over the past couple of weeks, but over the past several games now, they're turning things back around. Hurricane Ike caused a couple of games with the Astro's to be postponed, so both teams have had several days off. Playing in a neutral site was agreed upon by MLB, so they finally met up in Milwaukee to make up for the games lost. Tonight's game was nothing short of spectacular, especially for Carlos Zambrano. After being sidelined with a minor injury in his rotator cuff for a couple of weeks, he looked healthy as ever. It was his first start in nearly two weeks...

Zambrano has had no-hitter stuff before and I can recall, at least, one instance where he had a no-hitter into the 8th inning only to have it ruined. But, I know he had, at least, went into the 7th inning one other time.

Even though I only saw action during the 9th inning (when ESPN picked up the game), "Big Z" looked very composed and focused on the mound.

So, yes, it has indeed been a beautiful day in the neighborhood... Hugs and kisses to everyone! :)

I'm not sure what to blame it on... My age, my lack of being in shape... Whichever it is, I haven't ever felt the pain I am in late this evening.

We had our scheduled game of softball this afternoon near University Park again. I was really looking forward to playing today. I was anxious at work all day to get out, swing the bat, and play some ball.

Apparently, my legs had other plans.

After my first at-bat, I felt what I thought was just some minor cramping in my upper legs and seemed to overcome most of it in the field. My second at-bat, didn't fare so well. I came immediately out of the Batter's Box with excruciating pain in the upper portion of my right leg and nearly collapsed by the time I got to 1st base. I knew something was wrong almost immediately cause I had never in my life felt anything this bad. After slowly returning to the bench and consorting with my fellow teammates, the general consensus was that it was something with my right quad.

I'm not sure what exactly happened, but from what I explained and what some of the other guys concurred with was that it was likely a strained quad and later this evening Shaw tried to scare the bejesus out of me and mentioned it could be a minor tear. I sure hope it isn't, because if that's indeed the case, I'll likely be in some pain for several days.

I've pulled muscles, sprained ankles and even injured a knee and this is still the worst pain I've felt in any sort of muscle injury.

I took a couple of Advil PM and have an ice pack on it right now and I'm hoping this will help heal things somewhat over the next few days.

Otherwise, life has been going fairly well, I guess. There are aspects that could be much better, but I'm leaving one of these, in particular open right now. If you know anything about me, you probably know exactly what I'm referring to.

The relationship front, of course... KF and I finally agreed to be just friends the other day and I think finally, this will stick. I think I wanted things to work out between us but we were both realizing that the chemistry just wasn't there. We were both a little naive, I think, in overlooking the signs that kept pointing us in different directions.

It works out in way, because I have had a few options that I have wanted to keep open lately. I'm not sure where either of these are going to go, but the one seems to be interested in me, so we'll have to let things happen naturally and see where it goes.

I'll certainly keep everyone updated on how things proceed. It's very early in the "process," so to speak, so it's really hard to tell right now.

Anyhow, hope everyone is doing well and hopefully your legs are still under yourselves, unlike me! :)

Later gator!

I'm updating the weatherBlog and the Version blog for the WCN tonight and figure I may as well enter a post here as well.

Boy, you know, you'd be surprised how much a few great days in the weather department can do for your spirits. I had the weekend off and with the weather being so nice, I have been taking the opportunity to spend a lot of time outdoors. Over the course of the past week, I have, actually.

I've been doing a lot of walking, running, jogging, riding the bike, and yesterday enjoyed my first afternoon of basketball of 2008. Shaw, Darren and I met up at Prime Steel Park to shoot around. Honestly, I thought more people would show up since it was so nice, but considering I didn't get an E-mail out at work until Thursday, I imagine some people received the message late. It was nice, either way, to get out and enjoy the weather. Also of note, I've had the windows open in my apartment for the last two days straight. Even though we've been dropping back into the upper 20's at night, it hasn't been all that bad in the apartment. I turned the heat down a little, but it is still on. It has been comfortable and refreshing.

I'm back at work tomorrow, but out of the 4-day stretch this week, three of the shifts are Office Shifts. I'll be taking plenty of this time to work on the WeatherCam Network. I have many, many cams to add, a lot of others to edit or remove, and need to update the database. I'm beginning to catalog all the cams I have (active or not) so I can keep them all straight. It's going towards a collaborative effort, as well, with a guy down in Kansas that I'm working with sporadically. I need to get an updated file to him. I haven't done so in probably a month or more...

So, otherwise, I'm feeling good, yes. I've been in a pretty good mood lately. The Cubbies are winning and my chase trip is getting closer! Can't beat that...

Speaking of, I saw a sign at Wrigley today, while watching the game on WGN.

Three things I want:
1.) A Cubs win
2.) Girlfriend
3.) A new job

Hahaha... With the exception of #3, I pretty much agree!

It's the end of a day-full of Major League Baseball... And I couldn't be in a better mood. Well, okay - maybe if the Cubs would have actually came out of their game with that white flag flying in center field.

Either way, I missed most of the early afternoon action since I worked the day shift today. The rain delay worked to my advantage, as I was able to catch most of the second half of the Cubs/Brewers game. It turned into a pitcher's duel through much of the game as Sheets and Fantastico matched each other through much of the game. A run didn't score until the 9th, when Kerry Wood came in for relief. It's never a good omen to hit a batter on your very first pitch of the season. It quickly went downhill for Wood from there. He ended up allowing three runs. Gagne came in for the bottom of the 9th to save it for the Brewers and given his record over the past couple of years in Boston, I felt optimistic. A single and a walk, however gave some life to Wrigleyville and when Fukudome worked the count to 3-1, he turned on a fastball and drilled it into the right-center seats.

Yet another reason to never take numbers during Spring Training seriously.

Fukudome had hit only around .200 for the spring and seemed to take the transition to American ball a little slow.

Opening Day, 2008 was much different for him. He went 3 for 3, with a single, double, and home-run. Add to that a walk and a stolen-base attempt. He was caught stealing, but at least he's running.

They have the day off tomorrow, but play again on Wednesday to begin a 5-game homestand with Milwaukee and Houston.

Ahhh, baseball season... Gotta love it!

Well, if you know any better, you wouldn't even have to question the title for tonight's post.

It really was a sad day for your's truly. Like much of Indiana and Colts fans everywhere, I was shocked at the defensive display today from our team. The better team typically wins and today, unfortunately, it wasn't the Indianapolis Colts. You need a balanced team to win a football game. When only half of your team shows up and doesn't execute when it's most important, itself, it certainly doesn't help.

Yes, the Colts lost today, 28-24 to the San Diego Chargers...

I was pulling the 8:00am to 4:00pm shift today at work, so I was unable to physically watch the game. I, however, was able to listen to it on the radio and follow it through Yahoo's GameCenter.

It seemed that we didn't have an answer to the Chargers. Our defense has been physical this year. We were quick to the ball and just never gave up the big play. Today, our defense gave up numerous 3rd downs from the Chargers and twice gave up 30+ yard TD plays. A 30-yard TD reception to Chris Chambers and another 56-yard TD reception to Darren Sproles.

Add to that the mistakes we made... A lost fumble from Harrison and two interceptions from tipped passes. Uncharacteristic mistakes from a team that was in the top 5 in turnover ratio in the league.

It has been a very sad day and after the loss, I really wanted to shut myself away from the world and just pout for the rest of the day. I did, for the most part, but the one thing that could have cheered me up, was a win from the Hoosiers. They, in fact, were playing the Illini today in Bloomington. A furious rally in the second half put the Hoosiers up by as much as 6 points and they were able to hold on for the win to remain unbeaten in Big Ten play and went to 14-1 on the season.

So, I guess, in hind-site, it wasn't all that bad of a day. Just disappointing that the Colts season is over so quickly.

I just hope now that Coach Dungy returns one more year so that he can coach a team in the new stadium. I can't picture the Colts without Dungy, but I also realize what kind of person he is. He's done such a great job with Indianapolis - and us Colts fans will never forget him.

So, here's to the Colts of 2008/2009. Like Bob Sanders said in the post-game locker room interviews, "we'll learn from this and get better."

The Cubs better get into the World Series this year... Otherwise, 2008 could really be a sucky year. A National Championship for the Hoosiers, would suffice, as well, I suppose... ;)

Even though the Colts lost their last regular season game, they certainly had some outstanding defensive moments. For those of you that either missed the game or don't remember that awesome hit by defensive lineman, Darrel Reid...



I love the reaction from Dallas Clark and Coach Dungy... Ohhhh, damn! ;)

Over the past few days I've had the unfortunate luck of hearing from the NFL analysts, not to mention, the general media, pissing and moaning about the Colts' and Coach Dungy's decision to sit his starters.


If you don't already know, the Tennessee Titans need a win this Sunday against the Colts to make the playoffs. If they do not win, the Cleveland Browns will take the last AFC playoff berth, instead.

As a result, Brown's fans are kicking up a fuss, as well as all other dimwitted sports analysts for Dungy's decision. So, let me argue this from an NFL fan's standpoint. Not as a Colts fan.

First off, it isn't the Indianapolis Colts' responsibility to allow a team to make the playoffs. Tony Dungy's decision to sit his starters is based on what is good for his team - not anyone else's. Both Tennessee and Cleveland have put themselves in this situation. They have had 15 weeks, just as many as Indianapolis has had, to win ballgames and they simply haven't. The only people they can criticize is themselves, for not coming through on opportunities.

Second, if facing a sub-standard Colts team is what it takes for the Titans to reach the playoffs, there should be serious questions as to what type of team Tennessee is. Maybe that means they shouldn't even be eligible for the last AFC playoff berth, to begin with.

Third, to the people that argue that Dungy should play his starters for the season-ticket holders... Mike Golic said it best during his Mike & Mike morning show on ESPN Radio, Thursday morning: "The Colts' season-ticket holders don't just want to see the best team on the field, they want to see the best team at the end of the season. They want to see another Super Bowl, another trophy. And to see that, you need healthy players. Why risk injury to your best players?"

Fourth, Dungy isn't "resting" his players for the playoffs, as analysts seem to want to keep pointing out. Coach is protecting them from injury, dumbasses. What would happen if Vince Young or Lendale White were injured? What would happen if Derek Anderson, Braylon Edwards or Jamal Lewis were injured? What would happen if Tom Brady or Randy Moss were injured? Seasons would be over! Why should the Colts risk injury to their best players? It's ridiculous to expect Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, Bob Sanders, or Joseph Addai to play the entire game.

Oh, and by the way Dungy, himself, had some kind words (do we expect anything else?) for the Browns and Titans. Here is an excerpt from a recent article on Colts.com:

"...with their seeding clinched, Dungy said entering the playoffs healthy is a major motivation, too – certainly more of a motivation than helping another team.

No matter how many friends he has in that city.

"You really can’t (worry about another team’s playoff fate)," Dungy said. "Those guys have done a great job. I have some friends over on that staff. I’d like to see them get in the playoffs. I’ve got some friends on Tennessee’s staff. It’s one of those things you can’t worry about it. I don’t think our players can worry about it. We’ve got to get ourselves ready to go and just play the best we can and get ourselves ready for the playoffs."

Note he said "we."

Go Blue!

Finally, I was able to watch an IU game today on CBS. Too bad, Eric Gordon was out with an injured back, but they still played a great game today, defeating Kentucky.

I'm not sure how long the highlights will be up on YouTube, but here they are, if you missed the action.



Now on to the Colts game tomorrow night against the Baltimore Ravens. Should be a fairly easy game. The Ravens haven't played that great all year, but they did give the Patriots a game last weekend. They play prime-time ball tomorrow at 7:15pm (8:15 EST).

Congrats to the Hoosiers on a great game and good luck to the guys in the horseshoes! Go Blue!

What a game to start out the NFL season... The Colts dominated the 2nd half of the game tonight with the New Orlean Saints, eventually winning 41-10.

Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, Marvin Harrison, and Joseph Addai all had tremendous games and Matt Giordano added a 83 yard interception return for a score in the 4th quarter to put the game well out of reach.

Congrats guys! Here's looking to more great games...

It's so great to see those "damn" Yankees finally get what they deserve. Goes to show all you Yankee fans out there that all the money in the world can not (and I stress that!) buy you championships. They're now suffering from a 7-game losing streak! It's more funny than anything to see this "best lineup in the history of baseball" struggle so much so that the Cubbies are doing better than they are. Despite the teams are both in last place in their respective division! At least the Cubs can say they aren't in any kind of losing streak. In fact, they have won consecutive games for the first time now, since April 6-7.

Anyhow, I just had to take an opportunity to take a few jabs at those Yanks. Go Cubbies!

Two and half more hours of work here, then I get to go home and enjoy the rest of the weekend off. Don't really have any plans for today (Saturday), but maybe continue some work on the WCN this afternoon. Soung apparently is now in town, so I expect she'll call me sometime today... So her and I may do something later today. Sunday, I'm hoping to get out and play some basketball since it'll be nice, then will heading to Fargo for a concert Sunday evening with Shaw. Social Distortion will be at Playmakers, so we're going to check them out! Hopefully, it'll be a good show.

Well, I better get back to finishing up my GF Area Forecast...
More later!

...those little hairs on the inside of your nose start freezing together! Damn skippy, it's sure been happening today! A low temperature of -26°F with a high today of only -9.4°F! If you don't know, that's flippin' cold, folks!

I waited until this afternoon to go about my grocery shopping for the big party tomorrow, but it wasn't much better than it was this morning. I had to get up this morning and get to the bank since it closed at noon and almost just wanted to wait until tomorrow morning to go about my errands. I decided to brave it!

I'm all stocked up for the festivities tomorrow. I'm hosting a Super Bowl party here at the apartment tomorrow afternoon. I've decided to go with some burgers, beer, and a variety of other snacks. The George Foreman grille will get a nice workout, but that's quite alright. Actually, I haven't used it in quite a while... It should be pretty nice, though - I got a relish tray to fix up, some fixin's for the burgers and some chips and pretzels. And plenty of beer for the evening!

Yeah, I only have a 1-bedroom apartment, but we'll make it work. I don't think too many people from work are going to show up, but we'll see. I know of a few people for sure who are coming for sure and a few others that are "maybe's..." So, I'll probably cook up enough for at least 6 people and we'll go from there.

So, what's up with the rest of you?? I realize it's been a while since I last wrote in here, but I've been a little busy lately. I've been working on my web-cam page a lot more lately and have been looking for a second job.

Check out the web-cam page... It looks completely different now. The new layout will make it much easier to update and integrate more states into the network - which is planned, eventually. I have a good friend of mine that is now working with me on it and he is currently getting cams around Illinois and Oklahoma plotted. So, slowly but surely, it will become more and more complete. I've added several new cams to Indiana and have plotted a few for Oklahoma and Kansas. I'm hoping over the next week or two, I'll be able to sit down and get more plotted.

As far as the job search is concerned... It hasn't gone as well as I had hoped. I ran into some financial issues about a month ago with my car. After some self-reflection, I finally grew a pair and actually started applying at a few places around town. I tried the Texas Roadhouse (which just finished getting built) but was turned down... Happy Harry's (they were hiring at the north location) and was turned down... and had an interview of sorts over the phone for GF Wireless... They're not exactly hiring, but they seemed very impressed with the computer/tech support/networking experience I have. After explaining to them what all I did for OnlyInternet, they seemed fairly interested for my resume. I sent one there and received a response about a week later. They didn't have anything open (part-time) right now, but will keep my resume on file. So, we'll see how that goes. I've been wanting to apply at Target, as well, but keep forgetting to drop by there. I need to do that! So, I don't know... It sure would be nice to have some extra income to help pay off my god damn credit card and my one student loan.


I so can not wait until the end of 2007. Not only will my Stafford Loan (through Valpo) be paid off, but my car will be, as well. With the both of those paid off, I'll be pocketing almost $400-500 a month. I'll certainly be able to start saving, finally...

Anyhow, I need some food in this body of mine... Take care folks and root those Colts on tomorrow. I'm getting very excited and anxious for the game tomorrow!

As my little friend here would say, Go Colts!!!! Isn't he the cutest!?!

My own personal prediction:
Colts: 27
Bears: 13

I'd provide a link, but I'm afraid it will be lost to oblivion eventually...

Funny article coming from ESPN (Page 2) this afternoon:

By DJ Gallo
Page 2

Oh, Patriots. This again? Another playoff loss. My oh my.

I've been on the NFL beat here at Page 2 for the past two years, and in that time I've seen a clear trend developing with you in the playoffs. A sad and pathetic trend of postseason failure.

Where to begin?

Well, how about your supposed superstar quarterback, Tom Brady? I'll lay off the fact that Brady never quarterbacked a team to a championship in high school or college. And no one in his family has ever won a championship either. We all know that. But the biggest problem with Brady is that he's making a habit out of putting up big numbers in the regular season while choking in the playoffs when it counts. Look at last year: 4,110 yards, 26 touchdowns and another Pro Bowl selection. That's all well and good. But then the postseason came around and he laid an egg against the Broncos with a third-quarter interception at the goal line that was returned 100 yards by Champ Bailey and a loss-clinching interception on New England's final possession of the game.

Fast-forward to this season and we have another 3,500-plus yards passing and 24 touchdowns. Swell. But last weekend in the divisional round he chucked three interceptions against the Chargers in a game his team won despite him. And then Sunday night saw another game-ending pick -- and a near-interception on the possession before (and Brady seemed to blame his receiver, Troy Brown, for what was clearly his own mistake). All this sent the Patriots to yet another loss to Peyton Manning and the Colts.

New England has now lost three consecutive games to Indianapolis. And last night's game was the only one that was even remotely close. I hesitate to be the millionth person to say this, but the Colts have the Patriots' number.

Brady is a playoff choker. That's common knowledge now. I mean, heck, Sunday night he blew an 18-point lead and got run over as Manning directed the biggest comeback in conference championship game history. And Brady's woe-is-me, I've-lost-again "Brady Face" is becoming an NFL playoff tradition. But he is not New England's only problem, sadly enough.

Their head coach, Bill Belichick, is also to blame. Belichick was expressionless on the sidelines throughout the entire game. For a team to win in the playoffs they need a coach who shows emotion. They need a coach like Tony Dungy, for instance, who was animated and encouraging throughout Sunday night's game. And speaking of Dungy, he completely outcoached Belichick, who obviously isn't much when it comes to strategy and in-game adjustments. Everyone knows that a great coach makes adjustments at halftime. Well, Belichick and the Patriots got outscored 32-13 in the second half Sunday (and 17-10 in the second half versus the Broncos last year). Draw your own conclusions, but it's obvious Belichick leaves much to be desired.

Who knows, perhaps the Patriots need to can Belichick and hire a coach who can get them over the hump. They have too much talent to be coming up short in the postseason year after year.

Then there is the Patriots' team as a whole. They are a finesse team that feasts on inferior divisional opponents during the regular season. Problem is, finesse teams don't win in January, as the Patriots showed yet again in Indianapolis. Countless members of New England's defense tired as the second half wore on -- the tell-tale sign of a soft team that isn't built for playoff football.

Until the Patriots toughen up, and until their quarterback realizes there is more to football than looking good in the regular season to impress the Madison Avenue advertising suits, New England will continue to fail in the playoffs.

To be honest, I don't see Tom Brady and Bill Belichick ever winning a Super Bowl.

Headlines

Reche Caldwell clearly stunned by loss, everything

Adam Vinatieri capitalizes on Colts victory by kicking Bill Belichick in the crotch

Reggie Bush understandably acts like he hasn't been to the end zone very often

Things I Thought I Thought While Telling Gisele to Ditch the Zero

1. Quotations always need their proper context. But sometimes they're better without context. This is one of those cases. Following the game Sunday, Peyton Manning said: "I don't get into monkeys." Now, you can Google that phrase and find the AP article with the full quote and what prompted it. Or you can just imagine we live in a world in which a reporter asked Manning after reaching his first Super Bowl: "Dude, I hear you're into monkeys." I suggest the latter.

2. There was a sense on Sunday that Tom Brady lost the battle but won the war in getting eliminated from the postseason because he gets to go home to Gisele Bundchen. That's not the case, though. Bundchen is currently in Brazil at some sort of fashion thingy. So unless Tom Terrific wants to jump on a plane to South America, he's going to have to try to get through his depression with some homegrown Boston women. What sort of drop-off is that? Well, let's just say Reche Caldwell didn't look like that before he went to the Patriots.

3. It's a cliché, but the Saints truly can be proud of the season they had, going to the NFC Championship Game one season after posting a 3-13 record and becoming one of the NFL's marquee teams in the process. Their newfound popularity really struck me Friday when my morning run took me past my local elementary school. I live some 1,100 miles from New Orleans, yet I saw no less than three elementary school boys out of a good 20 or so walking into the school wearing Reggie Bush jerseys. And even more amazing, all 20 of the boys had Sean Payton's haircut.

4. By the way, if y'all want to read some fantastic analysis on the Colts-Bears Super Bowl matchup, check out the stupendous work done over at the A.M. Jump this morning by a handsome colleague of mine.

-- DJ Gallo is the founder and sole writer of the award-winning sports satire site SportsPickle.com. He is also a regular contributor to ESPN the Magazine and has written for The Onion and Cracked. His first book -- "SportsPickle Presents: The View from the Upper Deck" -- will be in stores soon.

Yeah, you read Coach Dungy's lips right, "money... money... money..." What a nerve-racking game this was tonight. Virtually no offense from the rushing or receiving front, but the Colts escaped with the win tonight over the Baltimore Ravens, 15-6. Adam Vinatieri WAS the offense tonight, creating points on 5 field goals to tie an NFL Post-Season record. Folks, this isn't just Peyton's team anymore, they're playing as a team when it matters the most; the playoffs. What a time to be a Colts fan, eh?? Go Blue! You're only one victory away from the Super Bowl. Congrats on a tremendous win, guys!

Yes, the Indianapolis Colts are off to an undefated season once again. After a game that was being heralded as the "big-game" of the season, they once again proved that they are still a great team. I'll admit that the rush-defense has been severely lacking this year, but good teams find ways to win, whether you want to admit it or not. And that is exactly what the Colts have been doing this year.

The Colts proved tonight that their defense can still play. They limited the Patriots to only 148 rushing yards and picked off the one and only Tom Brady four times... Yes, four times! Linebacker Cato June and Safety, Bob Sanders combined to pick up three of them.

The game ended 27-20 but could have been a much more lop-sided win. Vinatieri missed two field goals and Manning was intercepted once during the second-half while on a scoring drive. Peyton ended with 326 yards, including 2 touchdown passes. Marvin Harrison led the team with 145 yards on 8 catches with two TD receptions. Reggie Wayne caught 6 passes for 90 yards. On the ground, Joseph Addai added 43 yards and a touchdown.

So, we're 8 and "oh" now and now look to the Buffalo Bills next week to continue the undefeated streak. See you next Sunday! Good goin' guys...!

Hey folks,

I realize it has been a long time since I last wrote in here. I also realize that I've promised before that I would make the attempt to write in this thing more often. Lately, though I guess I just haven't been in the mood to write much.

A lot has happened though, since I last made an entry to the blog. My feelings for Lu have faded and I'm finally getting on with my life. In one way I'm relieved that those feelings aren't there anymore, but in some ways it still makes me feel a little sad that things didn't work out between us. Life is pretty much back to what it used to be. The one advantage of having a relationship is that it gives you someone to get out and do things with. I don't know why, but to me it just isn't the same when I'm out with the guys... When you have a significant other, you can do more personal things. Like going out for dinner, taking a walk, camping... You know, things like that. I don't know if it's an insecurity of mine, but asking some of the guys from work if they would want to go somewhere for dinner just seems awkward. Maybe it's just a guy thing... ;) Anyhow, digressing a bit, I'm getting lazy again. Much like I was before I met Lu and spent 80% of my time alone in my apartment. I don't feel that motivation I did when I was involved with Lu and I'm finding myself sitting and lying around watching my god-damn "Friends" season-DVD's again. It's driving me crazy and I wish I could just keep myself motivated to get out and stay active in some way.

I think I'm going to start using the stupid exercising "facility" we have in the apartment building here. We have this converted apartment down on the 1st floor that contains various exercise machines and I haven't used the damn thing but only once since I've lived here. Since winter has decided to arrive a month early this year (yes, we have even had our first snow already!) I may just start using it. It would keep me active to some degree and it would get me out of the apartment for, at least, an hour. Winter sucks ass up here in North Dakota - because typically it's so damn cold you literally can't do anything outside. And, of course, since there really isn't much to do up here, to begin with, being outside and enjoying it is one of the main activities for residents in Grand Forks. We'll see how the winter pans out and if I keep this "idea" of exercising more this fall/winter in mind...! ;)

I did attend "China Night" this past Thursday at the Cultural Center on the UND campus. Since Lu is the president of CSSA (Chinese Students and Scholars Association) and organized this event, I really wanted to go. I initially had to work Thursday evening, but I was able to find someone to switch shifts with me. So, I was able to make it. Lu really wanted me to be there, as well. I'm really glad I went. It was really nice to see some familiar faces and I was able to spend some time with some of Lu's friends that I had met when we were seeing each other. Plus, the food was excellent! Lu did a great job at organizing the event and they had a tremendous turn-out... I took some pictures, so if you're curious to see what it was like, I have all the photos uploaded to my photo gallery.

I also attended the first Fighting Sioux hockey game of the year, Friday, October 6th. It only took me two years to finally get a ticket to a game! Justin Shaw (a co-worker of mine) mentioned getting tickets and since he and I met up with Jeff and McQuade, we all decided to go together. It was actually pretty great. I hadn't ever been to a hockey game, but it was fun and I quickly found out that the Ralph Engelstad Arena is quite a place. It reminds me of Conseco Fieldhouse back in Indianapolis - how its seating is laid out. And it seriously looks like a real NHL arena (from what I've seen on TV, anyway)...! It really is an amazing facility, especially considering it's only an athletic facility for a university. The ARC (Athletic-Recreation Center) at Valpo has nothing on The Ralph. Nothing!

Then on the 27th, the Minnesota Timberwolves come into town to play a preseason game against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Alerus Center. Jakin (another co-worker) is getting tickets for several of us at work and we're all going together. Lu seemed interested, as well, so she will be coming along. So, that should be fun, as well.

So, yes, like I said before, I'm just trying to get out more this year... I made a few New Year's resolutions this year and with this, I know that I've indeed upheld two of them, for certain. One of them was to take better advantage of days off work and to spend time outdoors and get in shape... And I feel I did a fairly good job of that this summer. I did spend a lot more time outside this past summer than I had the previous year. I took advantage of the pool we have here at the apartment complex and swam quite a bit, I walked and ran the Fitness Trail near my apartment, and I got out a lot more and played sports. Surprisingly, I actually lost some weight in the process. Imagine that! I know at one point I was down close to 150 lbs and I'm pretty sure that was around mid-July. When I went to the doctor's office last month, I was at 165 lbs... Can you believe I gained back nearly 15 pounds in about a month and a half? Crazy! So, again, now I'm just trying to stay active and even though I am finding myself spending more time in front of the frickin' TV again, I do want to make an effort to minimize that. I'm trying! Ah, and by the way, that other New Year's resolution was to meet someone, have at least, a semi-serious relationship, and to have a woman (not a co-worker or of any relation) inside my apartment - at any point during the year. And, obviously, I have upheld that resolution...

It makes me feel really good, thinking about it... That I actually made resolutions that I actually followed up on this year.

It wouldn't be the same, however, to write up an entire post here without sharing some sad news, though... Tonight, I learned that one of my best-friends at work is moving on to a different job. I never really hung out with Adam a whole lot, but I got along with him and his wife really well. I would always look at my work schedule and find when we would work together - and would really look forward to it. Maybe it was his personality... He was a really nice guy, we would always have something to talk about, and he was just fun to shoot the shit with, you know. He's one of those types that you can just sit and talk and joke around with... I'm happy for him - that he found a different job that he and his wife (and family, I suppose) will be happier with. But, I will miss him... I really enjoyed working with him.

Well, it's getting a bit late here and I'm craving ice cream. ;) I may just go for a bowl!

Take care everyone and I hope everyone is doing well...

I didn't catch the game, but as I was reading about the Giants/Phillies baseball game this last evening, I sure wish I had. I found this in a portion of the article:

"As Bonds walked out to left field before the bottom of the first, fans in the front row of the bleachers unfurled a huge sign that read: "Ruth did it on hot dogs and beer. Aaron did it with class. How did YOU do it?" In addition, one 'i' and the question mark were dotted with asterisks."

Isn't that just the funniest thing you've ever heard? I would have loved to have seen that! Hahah!

Anyhow, not much new around these parts. We had a weak squall line blow over the area this past evening, so I was able to get out and get some pictures of that, as well as some outstanding lightning. I think I've achieved a new "best." That lightning shot from my back yard in Bluffton, IN was the best I had taken up until this past evening. This Digital Rebel XT is still amazing me how well it takes photos. And these lightning shots, well, they're very impressive! If you're curious to see them, I've uploaded photos from the squall line and the lightning photos in the gallery. Be aware, though, the squall line photos are in the "2006 Season" category, while the lightning shots are, of course, located in the "Lightning Photography" category.

Oh, and that Burger King commercial... I saw it for the first time Saturday night and I still can't get over how hilarious it is. "Eat like a man... man!" Oh my, how funny...