Let the Countdown Begin

17 days until Vegas (Woo!).

It will be my first multi-day vacation from work this year. I've only taken 1.5 of my 25 vacation days so far, so it's time to start enjoying some time off. No better way to start than with the annual trip to Vegas.

'Turd-Juggler'

FlyingV, TheCrazyCanuck, a few other un-nicknamed friends, and I went to see Akellah and the Bee tonight. I just wanted to plug this movie as one that all of you should see if you are in a mood to be inspired. I know that FlyingV was enthralled (E-N-T-H-R-A-L-L-E-D) by the movie, given his childhood spelling bee experiences. During the movie I was picturing FlyingV on the stage and trying to figure out what his annoying habit would have been. Hopefully he didn't bust into vocal percussion prior to spelling out a word.

If you would rather not be inspired, I still suggest that you see this movie. The insult "turd-juggler" just might be one of the best I have ever heard.

On a more serious note, some of you may remember when I posted about when I nearly killed a pedestrian a few months ago. On our drive back from the movie theatre, we noticed a girl around our age standing at Exit 2A on I-291W (the exit for I-91N). There was no car around her, she was not on a cell phone, she did not appear to be intoxicated, and she was not trying to flag us down. We also noticed that she was holding a glowstick. Our car tried to process what was going on, but we didn't really have any place where we could stop on the highway. After a few seconds, we decided to call 9-1-1 and let them know that some girl was standing on the highway all by herself and might be in need of help. She might not have needed help, but why take a chance? We didn't know how she got to that spot on the highway given that we didn't notice a broken down car anywhere. Since I failed to be a good samaritan the last time I had the opportunity, I'm glad that our car stepped up. Oddly enough, it was the first time I ever dialed 9-1-1.

Tag sale?

I have become acclimated to common phrases, terms, and habits of New Englanders now that I have lived in Hartford for nearly four years. For example, I often refer to 'pop' as 'soda', even when I am visiting the Midwest these days. I have frequent bouts with lead-footitis and occasionally run red lights (usually because it beats the alternative of getting rear-ended by another car also running the light).

However, I still cannot refer to a 'garage sale' as a 'tag sale'. What the fuck is a tag sale? A bunch of pieces of crap that you are selling out of your garage is called a garage sale! I was reminded of how stupid that name is when driving out to Manchester today. I passed at least three different tag sales on my drive and definitely rolled my eyes each time.

Lame rant I know, but I have nothing else to talk about. Definitely not the fact that the Red Wings sucked again today. And it's more entertaining than me complaining about getting sick.

Game Four Stream of Consciousness

I've run out of hockey friends to talk about tonight's game with now the CubemateEmeritus (formerly known as TheExCubemate) has gone to sleep. Since there is no one to talk hockey with online or at my apartment, I'm just going to post my thoughts here.

10:50PM - Can the Wings make Edmonton goalie Dwayne Roloson look any more spectacular with their poor finishing and poor shot selection? He's not really that good of a goalie. Holmstrom just sent a beautiful cross ice pass to Zetterberg, who was unable to put the puck past a sliding Roloson.

Manny Legace needs to play better. I know that goaltending is the weakness of the team this year, but Manny can't let in shots that he should stop as long as our offense can't solve the Roloson puzzle.

At least it is still 2-2.

10:55PM - Please stop calling ticky tack penalties against Detroit. Or better yet, please stop taking stupid penalties. We cannot stop the Edmonton power play, and dumb penalties are going to end the season quickly.

11:05PM - An absolutely beautiful cross ice pass from Zetterberg to Lebda, who had a wide open net. Awesome, awesome pass. Lebda hit the post. :( Can't buy a break.

11:15PM - Detroit gets a power play and generates nothing. Datsyuk continues his playoff disappearing act. Maybe it's time to send him the way of Keith Primeau, a former Red Wing who was completely useless after the regular season in mid 1990s.

Two soft penalties result in a 90 second Edmonton 5x3. The Red Wings somehow kill the penalty, only for Chelios to take a stupid penalty right at the end. Grr. Play smarter, please.

End of the secong period. Still 2-2. Legace made some solid saves at the end of the period. Legace needs to be great for at least twenty more minutes.

11:45PM - Sorry I have not been talking to myself for the past half hour. I was having an AIM conversation with a friend I have not spoken to since last fall. Nice to hear from DoctorO (he just took his last med school exam today). 7 minutes into the third. Detroit got a 2-man advantage. Lidstrom ran a beautiful, but illegal, pick play. Somehow, no penalty was called. Lidstrom buries the puck a couple seconds later. Good guys 3. Bad guys 2. Fans littering the ice with trash and chanting "Bullshit". Rightfully so. Edmonton just got screwed.

11:55PM - Legace nearly caused a goal and then saved his ass with a diving/sprawling glove save. He wouldn't have been welcome back to Detroit if that one went in.

12:05AM - Is anyone even reading this? I am so going to be tired at work in the morning. And it's my turn to bring in bagels for the Friday bagel club. Crap. I am going in late so you are all going to have to deal with 9AM bagels instead of 8AM bagels.

12:10AM - Detroit get's its 11th power play of the game. 11!!! Edmonton has been undisciplined tonight. Zetterberg with a pretty goal set up by Datsyuk. 3rd power play goal of the night. Detroit has it's first two-goal leada of the entire series. 4-2 Detroit. 4 minutes left. This one is in the bag. And you know that the Oilers are going to be bitching about the officiating tonight to the press after the game. Meh. We still have the 'W' and the series is tied at two games apiece!

12:20AM - You know I wouldn't go to sleep before the clock hit 0:00. 4-2 final. Woo hoo! Good night!

I'm speechless

Earlier this week, I received the following e-mail from the Society of Actuaries:


"If you'll be in New York City, stop and see the romantic comedy "I love you because..." This musical comedy tracks four singles – one of whom is an actuary – as they navigate the treacherous dating world. The well-reviewed musical features a variety of humorous ditties, including "The Actuary Song."

As a part of the musical's marketing efforts, the SOA arranged to provide marketing materials describing the job of actuaries in exchange for special pricing for our members through May 25! Weeknight tickets are just $42.50 (Monday-Thursday) and weekend tickets are $47.50 (Friday-Saturday). Tickets are regularly $65. If you would like to attend this event and purchase discounted tickets, go to www.ticketmaster.com and enter code word ACTUAL or call Ticketmaster at 212-307-4100 and give the code word ACTUAL."

WOW! The Actuary Song? This could be really bad or really funny. I can already tell you how the actuary will likely be portrayed in this play. However, I assure you that we do have personalities. I am shocked that the SOA is using this play to promote the profession. Didn't they learn their lesson when they created a marketing campaign around the movie About Schmidt? I hope that they actually watched the play before deciding to endorse it this time!

FlyingV is already organizing an NYC trip to go see this play. I think I'll go watch it, but I am extremely skeptical.

Open Letter to the Detroit Red Wings

Dear Red Wings,
I stayed up until 2:15AM on a school night to watch you play a double overtime hockey game tonight. I am disappointed that you decided not to win. Why couldn't you just throw in the towel when you were down 3-1 with ten minutes to play? Why drag the game into the wee hours of the morning and break my heart even more with an OT loss?

I plan to stay up late for game four on Thursday. Please do not disappoint me again. As a loyal viewer, I feel you owe me. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Gary

2006 P&C Season Preview, Part 2

The trash talking has already begun, so it’s time for part two of my IM softball season preview.

You’ve already heard about the tradition that is P&C softball. Here is the rest of the story:

Key Teams:

The Swinging Bunts
Captained by FlyingV and also starring Maverick, BuckeyeBoy, Kimmmmmy, this team began play in the IM softball league in 2005. Although their first season was quite a success given the general lack of experience of many of the players on the team, they aptly met the expectations as P&C’s JV squad.

The Swinging Bunts scared a lot of quality teams in 2005. In one of their two meetings with the varsity squad (P&C) last year, they took a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning. However, their downfall in 2005 was the big inning where they made several defensive errors. That same game ended in a 9-3 P&C victory. If The Swinging Bunts can avoid the trap inning, they might just join the elite teams in the league this year, while still retaining their title as the most fun team in the league.

The Swarm
The Swarm are looking to regain their 2003 championship form this year. The Swarm and P&C have had many memorable showdowns over the past three years. Each team has won 3 times against the other over the past three seasons, and only the most recent meeting did not involve a lead change prior to the sixth inning (P&C’s 9-3 playoff win). The Swarm was not the same team at the end of 2005 after losing their power hitter to another company, but I am sure they will regroup and reload in 2006. They bring outstanding team defense with very few holes, so they can still win a lot of games even if they struggle to score runs this year.

Sacrifice Flies
The actuarial interns have formed a team this year. Although they will miss the first month of the season and will be gone by the time the playoffs start, they bring an added dimension to the office trash talk this summer. No one has any idea if this team will be any good, or if they will even be able to have enough girls to play each week (since FlyingV signed up some interns that didn’t actually say that they would play this summer). Regardless, they will be another sacrificial lamb on P&C’s quest for a league title.

The Assholes
The Assholes, aka Son of a Pitch, are searching for their third consecutive league championship and probably their 6th or 7th title in the past 7 or 8 years. They may win the title every year, but I can’t imagine that it is any fun to play on that team. They return their star player who was sidelined with an injury in 2005 (former minor league baseball player that played ‘AA’ and possibly ‘AAA’ ball for the Red Sox). Their captain rarely plays in big games. He prefers to sit out since he is not as good as the other guys and doesn’t want to cost his team the game. However, the SOP captain loves to berate the umpire and question every call while he is riding the pine. Rumor has it some players are told not to even show up for big games since they only play their best players in the big games. This blatantly violates P&C rule #1 (every P&C player that shows up to a game plays at least 3 innings, and we don’t tell people to stay home). I’m shocked that one of the more senior players on The Assholes does not try to pull a Montgomery Burns move and try to hire Roger Clemens, Wade Boggs, Ozzie Smith, etc, to jobs in the company and sign them up for their softball team.

It’s possible that a player from The Assholes might crack a smile this year during a game, but I’d place the odds at 10 to 1.


Schedule
The 2006 schedule was recently released. With a ten team league and a fourteen game season, P&C will play every other team at least once and five teams twice. Opening Day for P&C will be on May 4th. There will be no easing into the season, however, since P&C opens up with a game against The Swarm. Surely they will be seeking revenge from their 2005 playoff loss, so P&C will need to be sharp early.

After a couple games against league bottom feeders, the schedule picks up in early June. A three game stretch in early June against the Beerbuddies, The Swinging Bunts, and The Swarm could prove difficult because of potential absences involving a wedding of two players on the team.

The stretch run of the regular season also provides for some interesting matchups. P&C ends their July schedule with a rematch against The Swinging Bunts. P&C takes on their sister financial program at work for the first time in 2006 when Going Going Gone appears on the schedule in early August. The regular season comes to an end with P&C’s only regular season game against The Assholes on August 17th. Thankfully we only have to play them once before the playoffs!

Look for P&C to go 11-3 this season and earn the #3 seed for the playoffs. That’s my prediction.
So there you have it. The 2006 company co-ed softball season preview. It’s time to play ball!

2006 P&C Season Preview, Part 1

I’ve been receiving grief from some of you for teasing you for an entire week, so here is part one of the highly anticipated two part Pitchers and Catchers (P&C) season preview. Today I will highlight the P&C squad and our illustrious history.

In order to provide insight on P&C’s 2006 outlook, we must first look back to the past. P&C formed in the spring of 2003 as a collection of actuaries at work looking to dominate yet another company IM sport. The actuaries were looking for a new challenge after conquering basketball, men’s softball (before the league folded), and volleyball (of course, I was not part of any of those championship teams). Co-ed softball seemed to be a perfect fit. A group of us gave co-ed softball a shot, but we quickly realized that this league was going to be no pushover. After struggling through the first half of the regular season, we slowly found some rhythm and finished with an 8-6 record, placing us 7th out of 15 teams. However, we sent some major shockwaves through the league with our quarterfinal upset of the #2 seed despite missing two of our top girls (Tricky and Hawkeye) thanks to the greatest defensive play in P&C history. The #2 seed, Rio Deals (now defunct), were trailing by 1 run in the bottom of the 7th (last) inning with runners on 1st and 3rd. The girl up to bat hit a ground ball to PhillyPhanatic (SS), who tagged 2nd. There was no time to turn a double play, and the girl on 3rd hesitated briefly before running home. PhillyPhanatic threw the ball home to RoopDogg (P), who was covering home plate. However, the throw was over RoopDogg’s head. However, thanks to Roop’s 3.9 inch vertical leap, he was able to grab the ball, reach back and tag the runner just before the runner touched home plate, setting off a huge victory celebration. However, the magical playoff run ended in the semifinals in the same manner in which the season began, by getting blown out against league powerhouse Son of a Pitch (who will be referred to from this point on as ‘The Assholes’).

The 2004 P&C squad was ready to build from the momentum gained at the end of the 2003 season. Due to layoffs at the company and the fact that we sold a major division, the softball league shrank from 15 teams to 10 teams in 2004. Our squad added another solid girl to the team (Tricky’s twin sister), so we though that we would be a league force in ‘04. However, we lost RoopDogg, our biggest power hitter and best pitcher from 2003. We realized early in the season that we might be a really good team after falling in 9 innings to The Swarm, the 2003 league champion. We gained even more confidence after rolling off 6 blowout wins after that loss before losing in extra innings to The Assholes. We finally made our statement as a team to be reckoned with after a stunning come from behind victory over The Swarm that featured the greatest offensive play in P&C history. Trailing 5-3 in the seventh inning, we loaded the bases for G-Mac, who came through in the clutch with a grand slam, sparking a 7-5 victory. We entered the 2004 playoffs with a 12-2 record and the number one seed. However, after cruising into the semifinals with a 32-2 mercy killing of the #8 seed, we suffered a stunning 15-14 semi-final upset against the Beerbuddies thanks to a disastrous ten run 4th inning where our defense returned back to our 2003 form for one inning (and also because the other team was better that day).

The 2005 P&C team was ready to rebound from our surprise early exit from the 2004 playoffs. However, we would have to do it without G-Mac, who moved to Philadelphia. That left P&C without it’s biggest bat from 2004. Furthermore, we lost another aggressive base runner and solid fielder with G-Mac’s departure. However, we added UNICorn to the team in 2005, so we were able to recover. P&C is known as a good team in this league because of the play from our girls. Our guys are not power hitters, but with the exception of yours truly, we are able to turn singles into triples through aggressive base running. Since we returned our girls from the 2004 team, we still expected to have a strong season. Runs were going to be at more of a premium for our team in 2005, but our defense proved up to the task by only allowing 4.5 runs per game in 2005. An early-season win over The Swarm followed up by an impressive defensive showing in a 5-0 victory over the Beerbuddies started the season off on a solid note (yes, we actually shut out an opponent in a slow pitch softball game). We rolled through the next several games before losing back-to-back games late in the season against The Swarm and The Assholes. A 12-2 finish was good enough for the #2 seed in the playoffs. We once again started the playoffs on a strong note with a mercy killing of the #7 seed where we put our first 13 runners on base in the first inning before easing up and holding on to an 18-3 win. In the semi-finals against The Swarm, we put on a defensive clinic and took advantage of a team that had just lost their big power hitter to another company. The impressive 9-3 win gave us a lot of confidence for our best-of-three championship series against The Assholes, despite the fact that we had never beaten them before. Unfortunately, we dropped game one of the championship series to the 2004 champions 3-2 because we were outsmarted in what ultimately was a rare display of slow pitch ‘Small ball’. Three runs generated by sacrifice flies were enough to beat our dead bats and poor clutch hitting in game one. Although P&C brought more offense in game two, the defense had several lapses and The Assholes completed the series sweep with a 17-10 victory.

The 2006 P&C squad is looking a little shakier than the past couple teams. We lost Puddles, who was a fixture in center field and an extremely aggressive base runner. RytheRed was added to the team this year to fill in our gap in center field. We have added a couple other unknown/unproven guys, so our season might depend on how good these players turn out to be. We also had to go outside the actuarial population at work to find players this season since a second actuarial team started up in 2005 (The Swinging Bunts) and they have a monopoly on new talent these days. We’ll probably need a few games to figure out how all the pieces fit together, but as you’ll see in part 2, there are no early cupcakes on the schedule. The good news is that the girls, who are the reason our team is so good, are all back and ready for a title run. 2006 might be P&C's last hurrah as a league power, so hopefully we can make the most of it.

The goals for P&C in 2006 are clear:
#1) Have fun – after all, it’s just IM co-ed softball



#2) Beat The Assholes – I really hate that team, and it has nothing to do with the fact that they are better than us. Just wait for part two and you’ll know why…
#3) Win the league title – The 2006 squad might not be as strong as past teams, but we are still gunning for our first league title

In part two, I will break down some of the other noteworthy teams and highlight the 2006 season schedule.

Y'all are missing out

You non-believers are missing out on the Stanley Cup playoffs. Even this guy agrees.

Is there anything better than overtime hockey in the Stanley Cup Playoffs? Just like pick up games growing up. Next goal wins! Play on until the game ends. Even if it takes six extra periods! How can you not be excited by this? Reminds me of our neighborhood street hockey games when I was a young lad. We would play timed periods instead of to a set score just so we could have the occasional "overtime" marathon.

NOTHING is more exciting. Especially when Detroit wins in DOUBLE OT! :) Yay! Wings lead the series 1-0 thanks to some clutch saves by Manny Legace, some fantastic defense by Nicklas Lidstrom, and a pair of lucky-ass goals by Kirk Maltby to tie the game at two late in the 3rd period and to win the game in OT.

Going out in style

Shenanigans, the indoor soccer team I joined this session, ended our best session of the season tonight. We beat a team ahead of us in the standings 9-2 tonight. 9-2! We had all our best players there tonight and a reaonable number of subs (3). The other team had no subs, and no prayer of beating us tonight. I only had to make about three saves. I could have slept for an hour and we would have still won. We finished 3-4 on the session, which exceeds the total number of wins the team put together in the prior two sessions this past winter. I'd like to take all the credit since I was new to the team this session, but you wouldn't believe me anyway.

However, we are not going to field a team anymore since people are too busy in the summer. Oh well. It was a fun seven weeks! Maybe we'll play again next winter. At least I got a cool jersey out of this!

I got nothing else. I'm too tired

Advice Needed

I need your advice on a critical issue. Super critical issue.

The Pitchers & Catchers, our IM co-ed softball team, are ordering new jerseys this year. Although we are keeping the same design as our current jersey, we needed to make a new order since 1/2 of this year's team did not have jerseys. We have lost a lot of people from the inaugural P&C team back in 2003.

Since I occasionally have to wear a jersey twice before washing it depending on our schedule, I am going to order another jersey. I'm keeping the same number (#19). However, unlike last time, I want to put a name on the back. of this jersey

This is where you come in. Suggest a nickname for the back of the jersey. Best suggestion might win (I reserve veto power).

Because I want to piss off Mouse

Who saw American Idol tonight? Chris and Kat are soooo awesome. And Kat is so dreamy. OMG OMG OMG OMG!! :)

Haha. I am so funny. And possibly a little silly tonight. I dunno. Maybe it's all the extra energy from being a waste of a person tonight.

Seriously though, Chris's rendition of What a Wonderful World was kick ass awesome. I could just see mothers throwing babies in the audience in appreciation of his awesomeness. Kellie needs to go home. Now. Seriously, she should have gone home immediately after singing Bohemian Rhapsody.

TheCrazyCanuck asked me the other day how I've improved as a person over our eight months as roommates. There are two answers to that question. The first is that I have rekindled my love for trash TV. I have watched many different crappy reality shows over the past year with her. I took two seasons off from American Idol before this year. Now I watch the show every Tuesday (except when I have a conflict with soccer). The second improvement is my appreciation for candles. I always though my bedroom was supposed to smell like dirty laundry. Yes, this moved me closer to 'girl' and the manliness scale, but I am man enough to admit this. I don't know what I will do when I move out in July.

That is all. Goodnight.

I am apparently not a team player

Last Friday at work, I was asked to take on some additional work because a prospective customer wanted our company to provide a special, non-standard service as part of a sale. Unfortunately I am not comfortable elaborating with any details on this blog, but it was made clear to me that this non-standard service was a make or break deal with the sale and that the case would be "very profitable" according to the financial people working on it. However, I was expected to add an undefined amount of additional work that could get especially nasty and distracting if we didn't protect ourselves well from a legal perspective when signing the contract with the customer. Furthermore, this was for a product that I am not even responsible for and a service that is more accounting focused than actuarial.

Because of the potential burden on my whichever staff member I gave this assignment to, my current priorities at work, and the poor fit with my job objectives, I said 'no' to the person that asked for my help. It might be the first time I said 'no' to something like this before and I am afraid that I angered some higher up people with my decision (including someone that might have a say in the next role I get at this company). Before I made the call, I did receive buy-in from my boss and my "dotted line" boss that I was making the right decision. However, I have to meet with this guy and my "dotted line" boss tomorrow morning to further defend my position.

I want to help out with this case. Really, I do. I know better than to be an antagonist at work about something like this. However, charging a customer next to nothing for a service that might require 1/2 of a full time employee seems rather stupid. Furthermore, if I explained what I have been asked to do, you'd realize that there is major "blow up" potential involved. I really hope that the rest of this case is extremely profitable because we are offering a labor intensive service for next to nothing and at the expense of other projects I am responsible for that could make the company a lot more money. Hopefully I get backed up in the meeting tomorrow or provided an additional staff member to focus solely on the new work I may get assigned. I'm already stretched thin as it is right now with my team. Otherwise, I hope we lose the case to the other company we are competing against.

As for the obligatory training line, I swam 1/2 mile and biked 7 miles this evening at the gym. I am exhausted tonight, but not nearly as sore as I was at work today. I am declaring tomorrow a day of rest, partially because the JCC is closed for Passover and partially because I just need a night to relax. Maybe I'll go bike shopping. I'll pick the training up again on Wednesday with a run, hopefully.

Still so sore

Although I struggled to walk today after the longest run ever yesterday morning (for me at least), I still manged to get to the gym this morning. After a 1/2 mile swim and a six mile bike ride, I managed to make myself even more sore. This is going to be fun...

Maverick hosted a small Easter dinner this evening. She managed to cook a fantastic meal and the setup was marvelous, even though the only bread offered at the meal was leavened. Good work, Maverick!

As for what lies ahead this week, I am not too sure. I'll make sure I get 2-3 good days of "training" in after work, but other than that, it will probably be an uneventful week. I will go bike shopping at some point since I need a bike for the triathlon. Hopefully I can get a decent bike for ~$300, but I suspect that a bike might be a little more expensive than that.

Some point in the next week or two, I will put up a two part post previewing the company co-ed intramural softball season that starts on May 1. Since many of you either currently play or once played in the league, I hope you will find it entertaining.

So sore

Day 1 of training for the triathlon. I joined Maverick for a run at Reservoir #6 in West Hartford. It's a 3.5 mile loop around a reservoir on Avon Mountain. There are a few small hills on the trail, but it was mostly a flat run. Maverick is currently training for a marathon, so she was just finishing her first lap around the reservoir when I arrived for our 10AM run. Despite my poor running skills, I held up quite well. I ran the 3.5 mile loop in about 40 minutes, and that includes a few stops along the way to walk. However, I was definitely struggling by the end and had to stop a couple times to walk in the last 1.5 miles.

The plan for the rest of the afternoon was to play a little tennis and then go for a swim at the JCC. However, by the end of the doubles tennis match, I was exhausted and terribly sore, so I bailed on the swim. I think a 3.5 mile run was enough for today anyway. I'll get a swim and a bike ride in tomorrow morning.

I committed to run the same reservoir loop again next Saturday morning. We'll see if the next trip goes a little better.

So what is my plan for the evening? Vegetate. I'll probably also play with the dogs since TheCrazyCanuck's parents, Starsky, and Hutch are leaving tomorrow morning.

Isn't this the cutest picture!

TheCrazyCanuck's family dogs. Hutch is on the left and Starsky is on the right. They are looking at a piece of watermelon that I am holding in the air. It was the only way I could get them to do this pose for the camera.

What's up, dog?

TheCrazyCanuck's parents are visiting us from Canada for the next few days. They are staying with us in the apartment while they are here. They also brought their two dogs (Starsky and Hutch) with them. The dogs are soooo cute. I am terrible with breed names, so I'll let TheCrazyCanuck comment if she wants to, but they look a lot like Mpls Ju's family dog for those of you that know Corky.

I went to a goodbye happy hour for Puddles tonight after work (he is leaving the company, but staying in Hartford). When I returned home, TheCrazyCanuck was still out to dinner with her parents. I could hear the dogs barking in her bedroom since they were locked in the cage and kne wthat somebody was in the apartment. Anyone who knows me knows that I am terrible around pets. My excuse is that I never grew up around pets so I don't have the slightest clue how to take care of or play with one. Well, after about five minutes I felt guilty about being home and listening to the dogs bark and beg for someone to let them out. I called TheCrazyCanuck and asked if it was ok to let them out to play. I bet she thought I was calling to complain about the dogs since she was surprised that I was actually calling to see if it was ok to let them out of their cage.

I spent most of the evening talking the TheCrazyCanuck's dad about the Tornto Maple Leafs. I have not had an intelligent hockey conversation in a loooong time with anyone in CT. I thoroughly enjoyed talking about the Leafs season and their recent struggles since her dad was a very knowledgable hockey fan. Although The Red Wings always have and always will be my favorite NHL team, the Leafs are definitely my second favorite hockey team. Maybe it's all those years of watching Hockey Night in Canada on CBC since we didn't have cable (and the local Detroit sports channel) when I was growing up. I hope the Leafs are able to sneak into the playoffs with a good run over the next few days. The company and the conversation was a nice change from the norm around here. (Not that I hate the company of my CT friends, but how can you not like hockey? I mean COME ON!)

As for other updates, I had a phone conversation with the girl I've been seeing lately this evening. However, we didn't talk about much other than what we had been up to this week nor did we plan another date. I have already decided that I am not interested in dating her more seriously at this time, but I'm not sure the best way to bring that up. She's a nice girl and I am always looking for new friends outside of work, so I don't want to stop talking to her unless she is only interested in something more than friendship. We aren't currently a "couple" or anything, so I don't really want to bring it up unless she pushes the topic too hard in the near future. Any suggestions? I'm terrible at this.

Regarding the triathlon, I decided to give it a try. I can always back out between now and mid-July, but I am going to buy a bike and other gear I need for the race sometime in the next week or two. I'm also going to start training for the event (not that I really need to train specifically for this short of an event as long as I continue to exercise a few days a week). I already planned to go running with Maverick on Saturday morning in West Hartford. The trail at this park is ~3 miles, so it might be a bit much for my first run in years, but I should survive. It's only going to take ~30 minutes anyway. Thank you Mouse for e-mailing me the triblogger sites you read. I'm sure I'll find them helpful AND intimidating. I may provide some "training" details (similar to what Mouse does with her blog), but it won't be the focus of my online journal since that would not entertain most of you who read this.

I'm lame

I'll post a follow up to last night's post tomorrow. You still have time to comment.

A friend of mine from work e-mailed me this morning and asked if I'd be interested in participating in a nearby triathlon event this summer. I read the e-mail and was so confused that I immediately called her and asked if she was serious. She was dead serious. She is trying to get people to join her at this event this summer and thought I was a natural fit since she knows that I swim and ride the bike when I work out at the JCC (where she happens to be a member as well). Given my ability to handle those events well, she thought I would have no trouble with a 5K as well. Obviously, she has never seen me run.

I went through three stages of thought about this today:

1) No way in hell. I don't run 5K. I don't even run 60 feet without getting laughed at by my softball team. The swim section is 1/2 mile in the Long Island Sound. While it is a short distance for me, I hate swimming in the ocean. Hate it.

2) Contemplation. I regularly swim 1/2 mile or more at the JCC. I could probably complete the swimming leg of the triathlon in 15-20 minutes. The bike is 12 miles through flat terrain. Once again, that wouldn't be too difficult. I could manage that distance. I could train for this by riding with Redneck occasionally after work since he likes to go for long bike rides. With some dedicated training for the 5K (i.e., running a few miles a week), I could probably complete the 5K without embarassing myself too much. If I could finish in 1.5-1.75 hours, it wouldn't really be that difficult of an event. It's nothing like training for a marathon. This is a "sprint" triathlon, not a real triathlon. It would be cool to try something new as well. Besides, I'd probably be in pretty good shape in July if I took this event seriously and trained a little each day after work between now and then.

3) Once again, no way in hell. I started looking at the event website tonight. I read some of the sites that provide training tips for triathlon first timers, and I was very initimidated. Maybe the sites were tailored to people running a more difficult distance than this triathlon, but it still scared me off a bit. I looked at the results from last year's event. If I needed about 1.75 hours to finish (20 minute swim, 55 minute bike, 30 minute run), I'd be in the bottom 10%. I'd have to get in much better shape just to barely bring up the rear in this event.

I'm pathetic for coming up with excuses, but I don't think this event is for me. Feel free to call me lame. You may point at your computer screen as well while you call me names. It's all good.

I'm not totally against this yet. Something tells me that I'll end up giving it a shot as long since there really isn't anything to lose. I'll need to go out and buy a bike and a ton of other triathlon "items" in the next week or two should I decide to pursue this, but that's not too big of a deal.

Since Mouse asked nicely

I didn't get a chance to post tonight until now since I worked until 7, ate dinner, vegged out briefly, and then went to my soccer game. I hate it when we have the 10PM game. It's 11:30 and I can finally unwind.

I have a story that I suppose I can pass along. I could use some advice from one of the ladies out there anyway. I went out on a few dates with a girl recently. Three dates to be exact. She's a very nice person. High school English teacher. She coaches high school lacrosse. Very smart. She's also very interested in me (or at least I get that impression). However, even though I can say a lot of good things about her, I just don't feel a spark or a connection. The first time we went out was fun. However, I just haven't felt much of a connection since. We went on a hike up a local "mountain" this past weekend and had lunch at the top. It was a good three-hour date. During these three hours, it became obvious that she doesn't seem to share my sense of humor. I swear that I had to explain any reference I made to The Simpsons, Family Guy, or Office Space. Who has never heard the phrase "boo urns" before? Seriously. She didn't even laugh when I told her the story of that quote. She doesn't seem to care about sports in general even though she coaches lacrosse, which may be a problem at times. However, lack of interest in sports is by no means a deal breaker. I also get a vibe based on some of her stories from school and among her friends that she is a controlling person, but I may be reading too much into this.

Do you guys think I am being too picky here? Should I give this another shot or should I just tell her that I am not interested in a relationship? I think I need to figure this out soon (I have not talked to her since our most recent date last Sunday). Although I am admittedly far from a ladies man, I just want to make sure I am pursuing this for the right reasons and not because the girl is interested in me. I need a female opinion. Thanks!

Mondays suck

ABC has a tradition around this time of year. Either the Sunday before Easter or Easter Sunday (I don't remember exactly which day), ABC would show The Ten Commandments starring Charlton Heston. Somehow, I would always get drawn into the movie even though I had seen it before and the commercials dragged the movie out for several hours.

Well, tonight I was flipping through the channels since looking for something to veg out to the rest of the night. As is the case on Monday nights, there was nothing good on TV. When you think about settling for a stupid game show like Deal or No Deal, you know it's a slow night.

I noticed that The Ten Commandments was going to be on at 9PM. I thought this was strange given when ABC usually shows this movie. I was angered to see that ABC had remade the movie as a two part made-for-TV movie starring a bunch of no-name, no-talent ass-clowns. How can you choose to air this crap over a classic movie starring a great actor? I don't care that the movie is several decades old and outdated when it comes to special effects. It's still ten times better than the POS movie that ABC has decided to replace it with tonight. Boo urns. Boo. Urns.

College Hockey or World Class Soccer?

Not that anyone cares, but I am going to rant about the NCAA hockey championship game. I don't like Boston College, so I figured that I would be rooting for Wisconsin to win the title game tonight. I have had my issues with past Wisconsin teams under their former coach (read: goon squads), but those days are behind them. However, Wisconsin has disappointed me tonight.

I am wondering if I saw a world class soccer match tonight. I say that because I have never seen a team rewarded so much for diving. Everytime a BC player breathed on a Wisconsin player, the Wisconsin player fell down and writhed in pain. My favorite was when the most egregious diver, Robbie Earl, fell down and started rolling around after a slight love tap from the BC player. After noticing that no penalty would be called, Earl charged the net at full speed, received a pass, and scored. In other words, "Earl dives, he scores"!

Wisconsin scored their winning goal on a late 3rd period power play resulting from a "hooking" call that was nothing more than an olympic caliber dive. They were lucky because the referee of the game tonight was Matt Shegos, a CCHA ref that is so bad that he has his own cheer at Yost Arena.

I hate BC with a passion, yet I wanted them to come back and win the game tonight. I'd rather see the Eagles win than a team that is an embarassment to hockey.

Diving has no place in sports. Kids should not be taught that embellishing and flopping around the ice will be rewarded. You play hard and play honest. I don't want hockey to turn into soccer, where every tackle appears to result in a career threatening injury, until the player is back at full speed after the yellow card has been booked.

In the presence of a celebrity

I was hanging out at Starbucks this afternoon drinking a hot chocolate. I was sitting near a young child that was crying. I was a little annoyed, but little kids cry alot, so it's ok. I noticed that the mother of the crying child looked familiar, but I wasn't quite sure where I recognized her from. She was very tall and likely a basketball player (she was taller than me). I start thinking that it could possibly be Rebecca Lobo even though I have never seen her in person before. I remembered that Rebecca Lobo is married to a Sports Illustrated columnist. I looked over and recognized the husband immediately (Steve Rushin). He was wearing a Boston Celtics jacket. Is it sad that I recognized a sports columnist easier than an all-world basketball player, especially since Rebecca Lobo might be the most popular celebrity/athlete that lives in Connecticut?

I didn't say anything to them. It's not like I am a huge fan and I am sure they wanted their privacy. Still, it's an interesting story. I guess.

Broomball Night in Connecticut

After a one year hiatus, tonight marked the long awaited return of Broomball Night in Connecticut. However, I am skeptical if we will be able to keep playing much longer. We had twelve people show up tonight for 90 minutes of ice time. That's way too much time the play full ice broomball without any subs. Everyone was gassed well before the end of the ice time since there were no subs. To make things worse, it seems that we have lost all of the good players since only a couple of the players who were on our travel team played tonight. I'm not sure what happened, but unless we can find a way to attract new players, CTBroomball might go under again. It's a shame that some petty bitterness between the guys that used to run the league ruined the strides we made last year to grow the club to ~40 people on four teams. We we getting somewhere, but I wonder if we will be able to play much longer. We'll try again with one hour of ice time in two weeks. Hopefully more people show up.

This weekend is going to suck. I think everyone I know has left town for the next couple days, with the possible exception of RoopDogg. A bunch of people are in Las Vegas for a Professional Development seminar (i.e., my company is paying for two nights in a hotel plus airfare and they are only footing the bill for two additional nights in a hotel). I really wanted to tag along and join everyone in Vegas, but it's quarter reporting time and I knew I was going to have to work this weekend, so I turned down the invite. Now everyone has ditched me. Boo. Urns. I already warned some of the regular blog readers that if they call me from Vegas, there will be hell to pay. I'm very bitter. At least I get to go to Vegas next month for the super huge bachelor party (5 different guys getting married soon are throwing a joint bachelor party in Vegas).

RoopDogg, I think you are my only friend still in the state this weekend. If you aren't too busy studying for your upcoming SOA exam, give me a call. I only need to work about a half day this weekend and then I am free to enjoy life.

Connecticut Drivers Suck

I'm shocked that I have managed to get ten comments on each of my last two posts! Yay! Of course, the comments had nothing to do with my original post, but who cares?

I was in a bit of a hurry to get to Manchester this evening since I was late to a goodbye dinner for a friend of mine that is moving away (I had to work until 7:15 tonight). While I may have had a small case of road rage since I was running late, I was pissed at how crappy the drivers in Connecticut. Here are some highlights:

- I was sitting at the longest red light ever waiting to turn left onto CT-218 from CT-187. The light going the other way finally turned red, and at least two cars decided to run the light well after the light changed. This kept me from being able to turn left onto CT-218 before my left turn light turned red. Well, it would have kept me from being able to turn left, but I ran my red light since everyone in this state ignores the red lights anyway. The car behind me probably would have hit me if I stopped at the light!!

- The slow lane on the interstate is apparently the left lane. When I come up behind a car in the left lane on I-291, the driver didn't seem to get the hint that I want them to pull over to the right lane. Maybe I should have tailgated the slow car so that they would the hint. Or maybe I should I have followed the lead started by the two cars behind me and pass the slow-ass car on the right side. There's just something wrong about passing a car on the right. However, given that I drive in Connecticut, I just sucked it up and passed the car on the right. I also proceeded to give the driver of the slow-ass car a stern look of disapproval as I passed her.

Of course, there is one thing I love about driving in Connecticut. There are NO cops on the interstate. Ever. I have developed an unhealthy speeding habit on a section of I-91 just south of Hartford and a section of I-84 east from Vernon all the way to the Massachusetts border because I never have to worry about getting pulled over for speeding. I guess there are some things I like about driving in Connecticut! :)

Quick poll for the night, what do you think is the fastest I have ever driven on the highway in Connecticut? Hint, it's probably about 40mph faster than RoopDogg has driven his Civic.

...We Wouldn't Have to Eat Kraft Dinner!

Well. After the amazing response (12 comments!) from my last post, I guess I should uphold my promise and complete the post. However, given that like nine of the posts related to the 1-10 Bucknell Bison football team, I might have to leave you all hanging for another day or two. Just kidding!

Before I get started, I’ll take a second to brag about my indoor soccer team. I recently joined an indoor soccer team that a few of my friends have played on this winter. Shenanigans, a bottom feeder in the lowest Men’s indoor soccer division out in Farmington, decided to let me prove whether hockey/broomball goalie skills translate to soccer. While hockey and soccer don’t mix, I am proud to tell you that we won a game last night! We are now 2-3 this session with three close losses. Woo hoo! Sadly, we are 1-0 this session when I have not played.

Ok, back on topic. If I didn’t have to worry about money and was willing to walk away from my posh job that pays well in return for the occasional 70-hour workweek, there are a lot of things that I would love to do. However, if I had to pick one new career, I would choose writer. I don’t have any specific topic to write about. After all, as you all know, I have an opinion on just about everything that I am always willing to share (regardless of whether it is solicited).

My brother spent two years serving in the Peace Corps in Ghana. He wrote fascinating letters back home every couple weeks that we distributed to a lot of his friends and former teachers from high school. His stories and his experiences were absolutely amazing, and I’d love to be able to write about experiences like that someday (though I don’t think I’d survive two months in a third world country, yet alone two years).

Whether I became a freelance writer or a columnist for a major newspaper or a professional blogger (is there such a thing?), I think it would be fun. I could travel to a bunch of cool places and write about my experiences, or just write about sports all the time (or both…Manchester United game anyone??).

It’s actually part of the reason that I started this blog. Although intrigued initially by the CrazyChicas blog, I had thought about keeping some sort of journal for a while. I figured a public journal would be more interesting than one that only I could read. I have used this site to mostly write about my life instead of more important events in the world, but I do my best to find an interesting topic beyond my own life once in a while. Maybe I will start doing more of that. We’ll see.

Sorry for the sap story. Please keep reading my site. I need friends. Seriously.

If I had a Million Dollars...

Maybe it was just a bad day at work, but I was reliving scenes from Office Space at various times today. It happens from time to time. After all, Office Space is one of the greatest movies ever. I guess that's what happens when you are crammed in a cubicle all day. I have already pegged every major character from that movie to someone at work.

At one point during a crazy busy day today, I was wondering what I would do if I had several million dollars. While Office Space definitely provides two enticing options: absolutely nothing or do two chicks at the same time, I was taking the question a little more seriously. It was one of those rare philosophical moments at work between mathematical calculations. (That's sarcasm people, I don't solve math problems all day long).

Before I offer my thoughts, I figured I'd poll the audience. What would you do if you had all the money you needed to live comfortably? Professional athlete is not an option. Sorry Roop "Steve Kerr" Dogg.

If no one comments, I'll assume no one cares and I'll try and come up with a more interesting topic next time. I'll cry a little as well.

I'm boring. Deal with it.

Apparently I am not providing acceptable entertainment to some of my regular readers. Well, too bad! Surely Minneapolis is an interesting enough city where you don't need to come to this site and read about my exciting life in Hartford.

Okay okay, I'm kidding. No need to alientate the popular Mpls Ju. I'll buy you some grape nuts and yogurt to prove that I am sorry! :)

With UCLA's win last night, I won the office pool. However, by hedging with Nells (who would have won if LSU beat UCLA), I left ~$125 on the table compared to if I took my chances on the outcome of last night's game. Bummer. At least I won something.

It was a beautiful day today. I really need to get my tennis racket restrung now that the weather is warming up. I need to retake my position as the top tennis player in the actuarial program at work back from Redneck this year. However, with soccer occupying one night each week, CTBroomball starting up again this week, and P&C softball about a month away, I may not have much time to start playing tennis soon. Things are picking up now that it's getting nice outside!

I just need to survive the next 10 days. This might be the last time I have to go throgh a quarter reporting cycle. I can't say I'll miss the long nights when it's over. At least it is not nearly as bad as the month of January.

So lazy and surly...

I really don't have any good stories or rants to pass along right now. I've been extremely tired an unable to sleep past 8:30AM. That's about it. Maybe I'll come up with something later. Sorry!