December Wrap Up

Christ, what has it been - 3 months with 1 post? Does anyone care? Well, this is done purely out of obligation and with hopes for reaching1000 posts (21 to go after this). So December...

• I was sick from the day after Thanksgiving to the until the 3rd week in December with a nasty cold and sinus infection. I finally went to the doctor which resulted in some Zithromax. I began to feel normal again around the 19th or 20th, which was way too long to be sick
• Those around the Northeast are already aware, but we had a nasty ice storm blow through Eastern NY and New Englad which resulted in 555,000 customers being left without power. Even though I didn't lose power this still sucked for me as one of my responsibilities at work is dealing with the Outage Management system. Needless to say, it was a stressful 5-6 days monitoring the system round the clock, made worse by dealing with illness.
• When I'm not carrying a pager and performing life support on a mission critical application I spend my time at work participating in a project to replace the failing OMS system. This requires a ton of travel, so much so that I feel I spent more time in hotels since the beginning of October than at home. You know it's bad when you're scanning hotel porn saying "Seen it, Seen it, Seen it, oooo Cougars!". The good news is that due to the shitty economy the company is scaling back on travel. I'm hoping to spend most of the winter in Syracuse (I can't believe I'm saying this) vs Westborough MA or Long Island.
• Jesus H, 65" of snow already. The snow blower is ready for a mid-season tuneup, and we're less than 10 days into official winter.
• Little enthusiasm for Christmas this year. Had my parents and my brother and sister-in-law packed into our too small house. Kinda weird, but no fireworks. My kids spent Christmas Eve vomiting while my wife and I spent the night stripping beds, and washing vomit out of kids hair. Lovely. I give this Christmas a "4" on a scale of 1-10. I did get all of the books I wanted, so yeah for me.
• My fucking teeth strike again. 3 days before Christmas I had a dental implant put in. It was supposed to be a $500 crown lengthening, but the decay was so extensive that the tooth was marked as hopeless. So my present to myself for Xmas was a $3000 dental bill. For that I got a tooth extracted, a hole drilled into my jawbone, a bone graft, a titanium screw, and a bunch of stitches. And Vicodin, which while nice, still aint worth $3K. There goes that big screen plasma I had been eyeing. Even sadder, is that this single tooth has cost me over $6000 during it's lifespan: $500 worth of fillings, $1000 root canal, $1000 crown, $3000 implant, and another $1000 for a new crown in the near future. Fuck me.
• On to sports. I'm relatively happy with the hiring of Doug Marrone as the new SU football coach. I had wanted Skip Holtz or Turner Gill, but Marrone presents himself as a good fit. And really, how can it be worse? You did see this, right?
• Don't get me started on the Bills. Another season in the toilet. Jauron has to be fired, right? I mean, how can he go on? If he is the decent person everyone says he is he should resign.
• NFL Playoffs: without any analysis, straight shoot from the hip I'm going Indy/Giants in the Superbowl for a Manning brother show down. I like Indy to take it all, but don't ask me why.

I think that's it for the moment. More in 2009, I think.

Mandatory Check-in

Let's see, since I last posted here I've been on the move most every week: Long Island, Western Massachusetts, Albany, Boston, Raleigh,Houston, Long Island, and Boston again. I'm pretty much beaten by the travel and meetings associated with work. I'm in Syracuse this week, and looking forward to a quiet Thanksgiving with the family. Then, back on the road for the next 3 weeks before the Christmas break. So, yeah, I'm just writing here for the sake of writing. My thoughts on the election, the NFL, SU, and my fantasy teams are old and outdated.

And with that, I plan on spending the remainder of the afternoon scouring the web for turkey brining techniques. Happy Thanksgiving!

September Round-up

After a half dozen or so abortive post attempts since my last post, I figured I'd simply sum up the past 3 and half weeks:

• Today is my beautiful daughter Emma's 5th birthday. I can't believe how big she has gotten. This past Saturday we had a party for a bunch of her friends at Syracuse Tents and Events, which was excellent. Nothing but bounce houses and excellent service. I highly recommend this place for a reasonably priced kids party
• Big week ahead. Em's birthday, Elle's birthday Thursday, and our 6 year anniversary on Sunday. We're planning a nice getaway this weekend to Old Forge to do what parents can't do at home: sleep.
• The scale stated 278.5 lbs last week, down 2.5 pounds over 3 weeks. I'll take it.
• I wish we could hold the god damn election already and get it over with. I can't stand listening to another month's worth of McCain's lies. Sadly, I used to respect this guy. I'm hopeful that in 2 months or so we'll be able to look back and laugh at what a comedy of errors and poor judgement the McCain-Palin clusterfuck delivered.
• Really, Congress? You're going to pass on doing something to help stave off what is potentially the greatest financial crisis of our generation because your constituents are against fat cat bailouts? Listen, the average American is a fucking moron, and they don't have a fucking clue what about what is happening. You just might need to do what's best for the country vs ensuring re-election.
• Note to self - stop checking 401K at this point
• Go Bills! 4-0 for the first time since 1992, which is better than anyone could have imagined. I thought we would be 2-2 at this point. As a fan, I'm feeling the change. When the Bills have the ball, I now have confidence they will move the chains. When the D is on the field, I expect them to shut down the other team. This is exhilirating. I can't wait to see them in person 10/19 against the Chargers
• Fire Greg Robinson now - I think he is actually trying to lose games at this point (punting from the opponents 38 yard line on 4th and 1, substituting a true freshman for a senior with the game on the line).
• My fantasy team sucks. Big time. 0-4. I traded Drew Brees for Ryan Grant and Torry Holt, which has turned out to be a big mistake. Darren McFadden has been underwhelming to this point, but Chris Johnson has been a nice surprise. I can't seem to make the right decisions, resulting in me leaving winning points on the bench in 3 of my 4 games. I know there are 10 weeks left, but it's feeling like a lost season all over again

And that's that. More in October. Go Bills, Go Obama!

Weightloss, it is a Mother...

The past month of dieting and exercise has been trying, to say the least. I've had to travel for work every week since the beginning of August, which makes things difficult. My self control seems to go out the window when I'm on the road, and exercise becomes an after thought. Add to that a week with the folks and the wheels are dangerously close to coming off. Gym trips have been 1-2 per week vs the 3-4 I was targeting. My blood sugar numbers have started creeping up again. The scale this morning registered 281 lbs, a net loss of only 2/10 of a pound since 8/8.

crap.

I have a couple weeks of travel on the horizon, which I'm praying I can keep under control. I'd love to be 275 by the end of September, upon which I'll be back at my evil endocrinologist's office. 275 will put me at a net loss of ~18 lbs since the end of June, which would be a nice 3 month effort. I'll try to exhibit restraint this weekend and hit the gym twice. As anyone will tell you, this is hard goddamn work, and I'm hating every second of it.

It's Time for NFL Football!

And this year, I feel pretty OK about my Buffalo Bills (ignore that rant a couple of weeks back). An improved defense, solid RB, and caretaker QB will offset a depleted O-line (Jason Peters, you're a big disappointment) to turn in a winning record. The first couple of weeks will be rough, but it gets easier from there. Here's how I see things breaking down:

Sun. 9/7 SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (loss)
Sun. 9/14 @ Jacksonville Jaguars (loss)
Sun. 9/21 OAKLAND RAIDERS (win)
Sun. 9/28 @ St. Louis Rams (win)
Sun. 10/5 @ Arizona Cardinals (win)
BYE 10/12 BYE BYE
Sun. 10/19 SAN DIEGO CHARGERS (loss)
Sun. 10/26 @ Miami Dolphins (win)
Sun. 11/2 NEW YORK JETS (win)
Sun. 11/9 @ New England Patriots (loss)
Mon. 11/17 CLEVELAND BROWNS (win)
Sun. 11/23 @ Kansas City Chiefs (win)
Sun. 11/30 SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS (win)
Sun. 12/7 MIAMI DOLPHINS (win)
Sun. 12/14 @ New York Jets (win)
Sun. 12/21 @ Denver Broncos (loss)
Sun. 12/28 NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (loss)


10-6. Really. And I think that means playoffs, baby!

Labor Day Recap

Ah... I've been off since last Thursday, and goddamn if it wasn't a relaxing time. My folks have been in town since Wednesday night. Weekend breakdown:

Thursday was spent doing... nothing. Which was wonderful. Just hanging out around the house, my parents distracting the kids. All good.

On Friday the house went wireless, with installation of a wireless router. I can now use my work laptop anywhere, which will make things less contentious on the weekends

Despite some bad weather early on, we spent a great afternoon picnicking with the extended clan on Saturday at Green Lakes State Park.

We enjoyed Green Lakes so much we went back Sunday to take the kids to the beach. We had fantastic weather from Saturday afternoon on. Temps in the high '70's, blue skies, low humidity, simply wonderful.

lots of grilling, including some nice slow cooked/smoked ribs yesterday. Tasty

Saw the Bee Movie on DVD about 800 times. Kids loved it, but hopefully they'll move on soon

Finished my fantasy football draft. Eh. It's all a crapshoot anyway.

SU laid a big turd on Saturday, which wasn't unexpected. This was the first stop on the Fire Greg Robinson tour, which will hopefully end much sooner than the expected 11/29 finale.

It's Time For College Football!

pic courtesy Three Idiots on Sports
And that can only mean another craptacular campaign for theSyracuse Orange. Entering year 4 of the Greg Robinson reign of ineptitude I have no expectations. The o-line stinks, there is no one to catch the ball, and the defensive backfield looks dangerously overmatched. The only brightspot is the trio of running backs (Curtis Brinkley, Delone Carter, and Doug Hogue) and defensive lineman Arthur Jones. Last year I set the bar high and predicted a 5-7 record, which was naively optimistic. This year, I honestly don't see us going beyond 2-9, with potential wins over Akron and 1-AA Northeastern. Sadly, these aren't gimmies. And as of now, 'Cuse is an 11 point underdog to Northwestern. Gah. This year I'm hoping for the best, and prepping for the worst. And if things go bad, this has to be the last year for Stinko Robinson, right? Regardless, Go Orange!

Aug. 30, 2008 at Northwestern (L)
Sept. 6, 2008 Akron (W)
Sept. 13, 2008 Penn State (L)
Sept. 20, 2008 Northeastern (W)
Sept. 27, 2008 Pittsburgh (L)
Oct. 11, 2008 at West Virginia (L)
Oct. 18, 2008 at South Florida (L)
Nov. 1, 2008 Louisville (L)
Nov. 8, 2008 at Rutgers (L)
Nov. 15, 2008 Connecticut (L)
Nov. 22, 2008 at Notre Dame (L)
Nov. 29, 2008 at Cincinnati (L)

New York State Fair Concert Roundup

Basically, it sucked. Well, actually, Heart were pretty good. Journey was a wankfest, they could have been a cover band. I still enjoyed "Separate Ways" though. About 1/3 of the way through I realized that Journey are "motivational speaker" rock. "Don't Stop Believing", "Change for the Better", "Be Good to Yourself", the list goes on and on. Cheap Trick - well, we missed Cheap Trick while dealing with the hordes of '80's humanity attempting to find their seats in the Mohegan Sun Grandstand. Let there be no doubt, the grandstand is an awful place to see the show. To sum up:

:Too crowded
:No ushers/security
:no signs for seats
:awful sound

And the fair itself was just a let down. Too many (fair) people combined with the fact I never had a chance to get a fried dough left me disappointed. On the plus side, the wine slushies were awesome. Too bad they're not 32oz. anymore (10 oz, for crissakes). Anyhow, I'm fully loaded on the fair and will be fine for another decade.

And for Boski - it indeed was Camaro/Mullet heaven.

Fuck You, TruGreen

Really, your dececptive billing and sales practices are well known. Shame on me for not realizing this earlier. Last year, when your slimey sales guy sold me an aeration and overseed it was on the premise it was a one-off work. Lo and behold, I come back from Philly and I have a $455 bill from the asswipes at TruGreen Syracuse for a service I never agreed to. Well, apparently I did agree to it when I didn't forcibly cancel my service. What the fuck? They stated I authorized this work, and yes I did, one time, in August 2007. Wait, this is normal? I believe I will be investigating whether or not I can submit this to the NYS Attorney General's office.

I'm probably stuck and out some cash, but I wanted to warn anyone to think long and hard before they engage TruGreen:

1.) Anything they sell you they will continue to do in perpetuity
2.) Everything rolls over. You must explicitely request termination of service, and even then that doesn't guarantee they'll stop coming.
3.) Don't be surprised when they stick it in your ass somehow.

The list is long:
TruGreen Government legal actions
Consumer Complaints

Oh, fuck it - just Google TruGreen Complaints for the full list. Caveat Emptor!

A Friday in August

At work, things seem to be settling down for the weekend. I'm officially cutting over to cruise control for the rest of the afternoon, as next week promises to be busy (travel for work, my folks visiting, vacation days). This weekend promises to be interesting, in that I make my triumphant return to the New York State Fair for the first time since 1998. My plan is to eat everything in site (Operation Get Healthy or Die Trying can take a breather this weekend) and suffer my way through the Journey, Heart, and Cheap Trick concert (yes, really. don't ask). If I survive my interaction with fair people I plan on taking it easy on Sunday.

Yep, gonna take it easy I think