Family Fun Time

As promised, here is a recap of my trip to dysfunctional land. However, I’ll start with the positives first since it was generally an enjoyable weekend.

I saw my cousin from Israel that I had not seen in 12 years. Her English was not great, but it was significantly better than it was n 1994, so I was able to have my first conversation with her on this trip.

My grandfather is not moving around very well anymore. He is also losing his eyesight due to macular degeneration. However, he is still very sharp mentally. He still tells great stories after all these years and reads (fiction and non-fiction) frequently in his spare time. If I had to decide between losing my physical and mental abilities in old age, I'd rather lose my physical abilities. Therefore, I think he is doing great given his age.

I really enjoyed the quality time with my brother and his wife. We needed an escape on Saturday morning, so we went on a shopping spree. By shopping spree, I mean that my brother picked out a bunch of nice clothes and I tried them on and purchased them. My brother likes shopping with me since I buy all the stuff he picks out and he can’t afford much in the way of new clothes these days. We spent about $250 on several summer work and casual shirts and a nice new pair of pants. My brother really liked one of the shirts that I bought, so I bought one for him as well. It’s the least I could do for his awesome fashion advice. Anyone care to guess which store I splurged at? It shouldn’t be too difficult.

My brother and I have a fierce card rivalry. We frequently play Rummy 500 during past visits. My brother was slightly better than me until I crushed him 12 to 5 on our Mexico camping trip in 2004. I’ve owned him since then. I was well on my way to beating him again in our only game on this trip. Leading 445-290, the game was in the bag. However, my brother managed to get control of the deck in the last hand and put up a huge score en route to a 560-520 win. I was crushed, especially since all my uncles watched the last hand and saw my collapse. I’m sure that was the highlight of the trip for my brother. At least I got even by winning both games of ‘O Hell’ that the family played during the trip (including the 7 person game on my last night in AZ).

As part of the 90th birthday festivities, one of my uncles made a really nice calendar that had a bunch of great family pictures. There were various group pictures for each month and individual pictures to honor all our birthdays. Although the grandkids did not get a copy of the calendar (my uncle only made copies for his brothers and my grandfather), we all received a CD of the pictures used in the calendar. I have included some of the better pictures and a couple that I took during the weekend as part of this post.

This was only the second time since I was fifteen that my dad and all of his brothers were together (the other time was at my brother’s wedding two years ago). I never really got to see the family dynamics at my brother’s wedding two years ago since I was too busy with other stuff and I was too young to notice the bickering when I was fifteen. I probably wrote too much about this, but believe it or not, I held back. Anyway, the dysfunctional stories are probably more interesting than what I have written so far.

On Friday night, a group of us met for dinner. There were only about 8 of us since some people did not get in until late Friday night. When the oldest brother (#1) excused himself from the table after he finished eating, #3 loudly proclaimed “And #1 is leaving to smoke”. #3 then proceeded to point out how astonishing it is that someone from our family would smoke and how sad it was while #1 was away (even though #1’s wife was at the table). I thought this was extremely tacky and rude. #3 followed up his antics at the birthday dinner the next night during a back and forth with #4. During the slideshow of family pictures, there was a picture of #4 and his two sons. Even though my grandfather paid all our expenses for the trip, #4’s youngest son did not join the festivities this weekend. The youngest son is currently 19 and rumor has it he may have a drug problem. Both of #4’s sons have rebelled against their father and have a tense relationship with #4 because of his strict authoritarian ways. When the picture came up on the screen, #3 asked #4 what his youngest son was currently studying. #4 responded that his son was studying “indecision” (since his son was not attending college and may not have finished high school). #3 followed up and asked loudly, “where are you paying tuition for this indecision”, knowing damn well that the son was not currently in school. I thought that this was unnecessary in front of the rest of the family. However, this type of academic arrogance tends to be an unfortunate trait of my family. Alternative careers that do not involve a PhD are often shunned in the family and this pressure is probably what caused both of #4’s sons to rebel in the first place. #4's oldest son is pursuing his dream of becoming a writer on the next great comedy (movie or TV show), but he does not get much respect for this pursuit within the family. I am proud that he is sticking with his dream, even though his pursuits/accomplishments have brought little respect from the family and have created a very tense relationship with his father (who is a college professor). Hell, some people in the family probably secretly look down on me since I did not progress beyond a Bachelors Degree.

The other part of the trip that frustrated me was how the opinion of the grandkids was unimportant. We were referred to as the kids and relegated to the “kids table” at the dinner on Saturday. Seriously, we are all over 20 years old (and my brother is over 30). There is no need to isolate us or treat us like children anymore. On Sunday when the uncles were making plans for the day, the grandkids were enjoying the sizzling, hot day at the pool. The uncles decided that this was an unacceptable family activity and insisted on organizing a three-mile hike 40 miles away at Madera Canyon during middle of the afternoon on the 100-degree day. My brother way tried to voice his displeasure with the choice of activity. Here is the actual conversation between him and my father (#2):

Brother - “Do you want my opinion about this idea?”
Dad – “No.”
Brother – “Do you want Gary’s opinion about this idea?”
Dad – “No.”
Brother – “Do you want my wife’s opinion about this idea?”
Dad – “What does she think?”
Brother – “She thinks we should enjoy the afternoon by the pool and go on a hike later this evening when it cools off”
Dad – “We’re leaving in twenty minutes.”

Even as adults, my dad and his brothers still do not respect the opinions of their children. Grr…

However, despite some of these frustrations, the weekend was generally good. I’m not very close with my extended family given how spread out we are, but I do enjoy these get-togethers (in moderation). It’s also nice to get together for a positive celebration. I don’t expect to see the extended family much in the future except for weddings and funerals since the uncles are not very close, so this was a nice occasion to spend some time together.

And with that story, I leave you with pictures.

Then:

Now:

Then (sans #4's youngest, who was not born yet):

Now (sans #3's oldest and #4's youngest):

My brother with a future peer? I took a picture of a picture in my grandfather's apartment. This picture was taken several year ago when my brother was in the Peace Corps. With my brother going to work on Capitol Hill next year, maybe he will be the famous person in the picture several years from now. (Sorry, the pic did not turn out well)

An older picture for Maverick, who for some reason thinks that my brother got all the looks in the family. Boo urns, Maverick. Boo urns.

Back. Briefly.

I am back from the family gathering, and not a moment too soon. I'll try to post a couple stories and some pictures from the family that puts the 'fun' in 'dysfunctional' sometime tomorrow night.

Right now though, I need sleep.

On the road again

Can I get a 'woo-hoo' to four-day weekends? I'm going to be traveling a lot over the next two weeks. I am off to Tucson to spend the extended weekend celebrating my grandfather's 90th birthday. My dad and all his brothers are coming to town, including my uncle who lives in Israel. My brother and his wife will be there. Two of my cousins I have not seen since I was 15 will also be there. However, I am only excited to see my dad, brother, and sister in-law. I don't like seeing my uncles all together since it's sad to see them bicker so much, especially at their age. In fact, the only uncle on my dad's side of the family that I even like is the one the lives in Philadelphia, and I see him fairly regularly anyway. I am not excited about seeing the others. My brother and I are bringing our tennis rackets, so we can escape if things become tense. Hopefully the weekend will be a pleasant celebration.

I get back super late Monday night (after midnight). I get one day of work to recover before catching the 5:30AM flight to Philadelphia on Wednesday for a three-day business trip. I have a ton to do while I am there, so it will be a hectic trip.

I am going to a wedding in Pennsylvania next weekend, so I might skip my flight back to CT on Friday night and ride to the wedding with a friend of mine who lives in Philly (still up in the air at this point). Otherwise, I get back late on Friday 6/2 and drive back to Pennsylvania early on Saturday morning.

The following week, I am spending two days in Pittsburgh on another business trip. Don't worry though, I will be around for the big softball showdown against FlyingV and The Swinging Bunts on the 6th. I get back to CT just in time to head to NYC to crash the Crazychica annual reunion. Yay!

In other words, don't expect many posts from me over the next couple weeks.

Have a good Memorial Day weekend everyone!

Fun in the shade

I am a few days behind on writing about this story, but you know I wasn't going to ignore it. Major renovations are under way at the Big House. The Michigan Regents recently approved (Dollar) Bill Martin's plan to add "enclosed seating" to the east and west sides of the stadium. The renovation will essentially reduce the number of seats in the main stadium (to widen the seats and aisles) while adding an equal number of club and enclosed seats so that there is no capacity loss at a cost of over $200 million.

Adding luxury boxes to the Big House is so controversial in Michigan sports land that Dollar Bill won't even refer to them by that name. Successfully adding the boxes will bring in a substantial amount of additional cash to the Michigan athletic department each year, but is the cost really worth it? $200 million seems excessive.

The Detroit Free Press had a good article recently about the plan to add boxes to the Big House. I don't necessarily agree with everything Michael Rosenberg had to say, but he brings up some good points. While it will take 5-10 years to pay off the boxes, they will be a huge windfall after they are paid off, which will allow the athletic department to address some other piss poor facilities on campus (including Crisler Arena).

I think the argument that adding boxes creates a class system in the Big House is stupid. I have no problem allowing some rich fan to shell out $50k per year for a box so that a more passionate/crazy fan can have their seat on the 50-yard line. However, I am concerned that adding multi-story boxes to the east and west side of the stadium will make the Stadium a giant eyesore. Anyone see Soldier Field in Chicago after it was rennovated a couple years ago? What a disaster. There is potential for these boxes to look far more hideous than the Michigan Stadium halo ever was, and that caused a huge uproar during my freshman year of college. That's my big concern.

Another one of my favorite aspects of the stadium, the sun setting on the east side of the stadium during the second half of football games, will also be lost. With a multi-story luxury complex on the press box side, there will be no sun after about 1PM on a football Saturday. That's kind of depressing. Dollar Bill can make up for it by installing permanent lights so that Michigan can play the occasional night game at home in the future.

One potential huge advantage of the plan is that the tall structures will keep a lot of sound in the stadium. Although the Big House is the largest football stadium in the US, it is awfully quiet because of the bowl layout. The tall structures running down both sides of the stadium will trap a lot of sound.

As long as the boxes are not hideous, I think they are good for Michigan.

Needless to say, the MZone already addressed this topic in the past week. Twice in fact. Both are good articles.

What do my Michigan friends out there think about this? Non-believer thoughts are also welcome.

Happy Birthday...

...to Mpls Ju!!

Too bad you were born one day too late to be special. HA! :)

Another Day

Mouse has already pointed out in a few comments that today is my birthday. I guess I can't really hide from it or not mention it in my post tonight. Don't worry though, I tried. I never really like to make a big deal out of my birthday. It's just another day. My mom did send me a funny e-mail that she was going out tonight to celebrate "her role in this special day". It made me laugh. She deserves more credit than I do for this day anyway.

Despite the fact that I never remember anyone else's birthday (except for immediate family and Mpls Ju), my friends are good about remembering mine. Tricki brought me some of her awesome brownies this morning. Of course, I shared them with everyone at the office or I would have eaten all of them by lunchtime.

At the lunch table, there was a spontaneous singing of "Happy Birthday" in the cafeteria at work with 15 people. I was only slightly embarassed. Not as embarassed as when I carried around a balloon all day at school on my 18th birthday that said "I'm a star" and had to get all my teachers to sign off that I came to class with the balloon, but still embarassed. I may have hid my face at some point during the song at lunch.

I played softball with The Swinging Bunts tonight after work since FlyingV and his team needed another guy. I'd just like to point out that The Swinging Bunts have 0 wins this year when I have not played and 1 win when I have played. I'm just saying...

TheCrazyCanuck cooked a super awesome taco dinner for me and my friends after the softball game. She is an awesome roommate. Thanks TCC! :) Maverick and my newest reader (to be nicknamed later) stayed over until nearly 11PM holding my computer hostage (and making comments on my blog). Hopefully my new reader will add some entertaining comments (other than referring to me by forbidden nicknames).

Despite the excessive embarassment today, I must say it was fun to have everyone "pay attention to me". Now it's time for bed. I feel old. Goodnight.

Office Space Moment

I wasn't totally with it this morning. Despite getting plenty of sleep and feeling well rested and recovered from the Vegas trip, I was not sharp in my morning meetings. I think I just spaced out for about an hour or two when I got into work today. My boss has a weekly 15-minute meeting every Monday morning with everyone in his organization. When it was my turn to speak briefly about what my staff was working on this week, I froze. I even forgot that I had a new internal transfer starting today and didn't introduce him to everyone. My boss called me out (jokingly) and wondered if my mind was still in Vegas and then started asking for Vegas stories. It was not my only space-out moment in a meeting today either. Hopefully I'll be with it tomorrow.

I signed a lease today for a new apartment. I am moving to Manchester in about a month. After four years in Bloomfield, I figure it's time to give up the 2-mile commute and live in a more fun location. No more roommate though (since I may have to break this lease in a few months), so the evenings will be strangely quiet most of the time. I'll be close to a few of my regular readers (FlyingV, UNICorn, K-Pal), so you all can come over for dinner once in a while if you are brave enough to try my cooking.

Family News

My brother called me while I was in Vegas. He had been waiting for word on the fellowship he applied for in Washington D.C.. There were about 1,000 applicants, and my brother just found out that he was one of 2 people to get the job. I am super happy for him. He's wanted this particular fellowhip for years. It is also going to play a huge role in my decision regarding whether or not I relocate to Philadelphia. I want to move closer to D.C. once he moves, especially since he might not be able to bring his family out for a few months. I had been leaning towards staying in CT lately, but this might change my mind.

My brother is not moving until early next year (assuming nothing falls through during the next couple months), so I will not be moving for at least a few months. I just signed up at a new apartment compelx starting in July, so I will probably need to break the lease early if I move. Oh well. Not really anything I can do about it except hope that I get some relocation benefits from work (which is not guaranteed since I am pushing the move). I still need to interview for internal positions at some point, so nothing it set yet.

I am going to be in Philadelphia for three or four days after Memorial Day because of the emergency I referred to in my Vegas post. I am actually quite excited about spending some additional time there to enjoy the city and explore the area.

Check This Out!

That's Hot

Smokin'

Back to Reality

I'm back from Vegas, but I don't really have stories to share. It was a scandal free trip for me.

My favorite sharable story was when a bunch of us met up at the sports book at Mandalay Bay for Game 6 of the Pistons series. 10 of the 12 of us watching the game bet on Cleveland to cover the spread (they were getting 5 points). RoopDogg bet on Detroit to win. I chose not to bet since I already had a rooting interest. Instead, as is the Vegas tradition, I showed up with a bottle of champagne to celebrate the imminent Pistons victory. The champagne was finished by the middle of the second quarter. RoopDogg did an admirable job rooting for the Pistons given that 80% of the people at the sports book were rooting for Cleveland. Unfortunately for my blashphemous friends, Cleveland covered the spread, so all 11 of my friends won money.

While still drunk from the champagne, I made a stupid bet with PhillyPhanatic. A bunch of my friends have been trying to steal my Michigan flag for years. They just cannnot handle my Michigan pride. PhillyPhanatic insisted that I allow him to burn my flag if Michigan loses to Penn State this October. Instead of just saying 'no', I asked what I would get in return if Michigan wins. He offered $50. Since the flag probably costs less than half of that, I agreed. Of course, PhillyPhanatic had like 7 backers to help cover the $50 within minutes and there is a party planned for the public burning in October. I do feel bad that I accepted this bet since one of my readers gave me that flag as a gift a couple years ago. Sorry Mpls Ju! Don't worry though, we'll win.

As for the gambling, I need to listen to the advice of others. I had to check in on an emergency at work on Friday and I mentioned to my boss that I was up nearly $500 (which was true at the time). He told me that I should stop and spend the rest of the trip getting drunk or I will blow all my winnings. I chose not to listen. Thanks to one night of poor poker (nothing good happens at the poker table after midnight) and one very unlucky afternoon, I ended the trip down $69 (plus all other trip related expenses).

So that's it. All other stories will remain in Vegas unless anyone wishes to comment.

Vegas. Woo!

I'm heading out for the super huge bachelor party tomorrow after I get through a 1/2 day at work. I am so excited for my first 4+ day weekend of the year. I have been "checked out" at work all week.

FlyingV proposed a fun bet for the trip (even though he decided not to come along on the trip). Among the five honorees, we have set up a pool without their knowledge. It's called "Completely whipped". Assuming all five honorees will call their fiancee once we land to let them know that we arrived safely, our bet is who will be the first person to make a second contact (phone/text). Since there will likely be ties, we had to rank them in order. I chose PhillyPhanatic as the most whipped person. This should be fun...

All the ladies know about the bet and are cool with it. They have agreed to "document" exactly when the second contact occurs.

Obviously there will be no posts for a few days. Hopefully I will have a story that I can share when I return. However, I make no promises since "whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas".

Saturday Night Lights

I got a little excited at work this morning after coming across this news.

Both of the Michigan football road games that I plan to attend next season will be played in prime time!! 8PM kickoffs are totally awesome. Once I came across the news, I sent an e-mail to the Michigan and Penn State fans in CT and started getting a preliminary headcount on who is in for the road trip to Happy Valley. I already have 8 people in and could get as many as 12! All I need to do now if figure out how I am going to possibly score tickets to the game and where we are going to stay. All hotels in State College, PA are already booked, so we might need to find a hotel 50 miles out of town or rent an RV for the trip. Either way, I am psyched up already!

And the thought of attending an 8PM game in Minneapolis in September with the CrazyChicas is just scary. I hope they are sober enough to make it into the stadium in time for kickoff! That's just trouble waiting to happen. :)

Ghosts of Vegas Trips Past

With less than 48 hours until leaving for Vegas and a Pistons game on television right now, I am sadly reminded of my last trip to Las Vegas. It was late June, 2005. America was saddened that the Stanley Cup Playoffs were not winding down because of a season erasing lockout. The country turned to the NBA hoping to fill its collective void.

The Detroit Pistons were playing the San Antonio Spurs in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. During the day, I was anxiously awaiting the big showdown by gambling my hard-earned money away at various casinos on the strip. Shortly before tip-off, a few members of our group (I think it was PhillyPhanatic, RoopDogg, Nells, and Tricki's husband) went over to Mandalay Bay to enjoy the game in their lovely sports book. In order to aid in my enjoyment of game 7, I purchased a bottle of champagne to celebrate the Pistons successfully defending their championship. In true Gary fashion, the bottle was popped and the Detroit championship was celebrated before the game even tipped off.

The bottle was killed before halftime. Kindly, Nells bought another bottle for the second half and helped me finish it. It was a great way to celebrate another Detroit title. However, the game turned for the worse in the fourth quarter and San Antonio escaped victorious. I was crushed. Everyone else in my group other than Nells (UConn grad and huge Rip Hamilton fan) was enjoying the outcome immensely since they were rooting against Detroit for no reason other than because I was rooting for them. After the clock hit 0:00, I was trashed, practically in tears, and listening to my friends singing "We Are the Champions". Very classy. I probably jinxed the Pistons by not waiting until after the game to pop the champagne.

More tales from AutoZone

I had to go back to AutoZone this afternoon to pick up the part that they needed to ship in from a nearby store. However, they still did not have the second brake rotor that I needed. I asked if any nearby store within reasonable driving distance had the part. After checking their inventory system, they guy at the store put the last part I needed on hold at the Hartford AutoZone. They directed me to the corner of Blue Hills Ave. and Albany Ave. to pick it up. In other words, I was driving into the heart of the Hartford Ghetto. While this is probably nothing like Detroit or the south side of Chicago, Albany Ave. is a part of Hartford that I avoid when I go downtown.

I drove down Blue Hills Ave from Bloomfield into Hartford for the first time. I didn’t realize that there were so many huge houses on this road. It was kind of like driving on Prospect near the governor’s mansion; only these houses were probably last renovated/painted about fifty years ago.

I get to AutoZone and have another random encounter. This guy walks into the store looking to replace his side view mirror. Apparently someone hit his parked car and ran last night. When he walked into the store, he first walked up to a pretty lady in the store and said, “What up beautiful. What brings a fine woman like you here today”. When that woman ignored him, he tried the line on someone else. He eventually goes and asks for help at the counter next to where I am standing. He then turns to me and complains about the damage to his car. We start talking about his car when he starts asking me about Michigan. I was wearing a Michigan sweatshirt (big surprise there, I know). He asked if I was currently a student and I said I graduated from there a while ago. He said that makes sense since I look about twenty-eight years old. I am twenty-five, thank you very much.

Once both employees helping us were looking for parts, the dude asks if I smoke pot and if I would be interested in buying some from him. Where would he get that idea? Every damn time I walk into AutoZone someone assumes I smoke pot. I have never touched the stuff and I never plan to. Why would you think otherwise? Seriously, I don’t get it.

Once I got the part I needed, I quickly left the store and returned home. No more AutoZone’s for a while. Please.

72 hours and counting

While this forecast might look depressing to most of us in CT, I am excited about the week ahead for me! :) Vegas. Woo.

Get a New Hit Please

5 of the last 6 times I have started my car, the song playing on the radio was "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter. 5 out of 6 times. No lie. That's either a ridiculous coincidence or a sign that a song is played on the radio WAY TOO OFTEN. I used to like this song, but seriously, does the guy have any other hits? It seems like one of the six radio stations that I programmed in my car stereo has this song on at any given time. Really people, is that song good enough to saturate the radio waves all day long? Am I missing something? It's bad enough that American Idol has to beat this song to death. Can I please get a little variety during my 4 minute drive into work each day?

5 days until Vegas (since it's technically Saturday). Woo! I can't wait. Given that we got like 4-5 inches of rain today and it's supposed to rain for about the next 40 days and 40 nights, Vegas is looking even better right now.

Stunner

How did Chris get voted off American Idol tonight? He was the only good contestant on the show. Sorry Roopdogg, but Kat was fading down the stretch. Chris should have won.

Of course, TheCrazyCanuck and I have no right to complain. We didn't vote.

Half-Baked

I went to AutoZone after work today to get the parts I needed to fix my brakes since Redneck and I were going to repair my car after work. The people at that store are very good when it comes to helping you find the right parts you need for your car. The guy helping me search for the parts I needed (we'll call him JamaicanMahn) indicated that the front brake pads and rotors were not currently in stock. However, he was able to order them from a sister store so that I could go to the nearby AutoZone to pick up the parts in a few days.

As JamaicanMahn was taking down my information for the parts order, he asked me if my name was French. French? Does my last name sound French to you? I thought about saying that, but politely told him that my last name is Dutch. JamaicanMahn (originally from Jamaica, duh), asked me what The Netherlands was like. Having only been there once in my life (summer 1999), I couldn't tell him a whole lot. However, I did mention that the country was extremely liberal and that marijuana and prostitution were legal in Amsterdam. This apparently caught the attention of every employee in the store since JamaicaMahn thought this was the most amazing thing ever. He started explaining how pot smokers are treated back in his homeland. At this time, all four people in the store joined our conversation about legal pot and hookers in Amsterdam. At some point in this discussion, JamaicanMahn asked if I was a frequent “herb” smoker. When I told him that I wasn’t, he was surprised because I “look like a guy that smokes a lot of pot”. Huh? Me? Hello!! Not only am I one of the cleanest and most proper people you have probably met in your life, but I was also wearing a dress shirt and slacks since I had come straight from work. What about my appearance indicated that I was a frequent pot smoker? Seriously.

Around this time some girl came in to chat with a friend of hers who was working there (and part of our conversation), so JamaicanMahn went back to trying to find the parts I needed. When that girl left, JamaicanMahn indicated that he thought black American women were crazy, and then went into a detailed rant in support of his view. Note that the girl who just left was black and JamaicanMahn is also black. In fact, I was the only white guy in the store and was somewhat uncomfortable at this time. I definitely was not going to add anything to that comment. Another employee pointed out that the girl was clearly a lesbian. This surprised JamaicanMahn. He didn't understand how anyone could tell based on a three-minute conversation. The other two guys working in the store thought it was obvious. For the record, I could not tell either, but I was paying more attention to the parts I was trying to buy. The two guys who could tell that this girl was lesbian gave three reasons why it was obvious. First, she had a deeper voice. Second, she held the door open for a guy that came in after her. Third, she had a rainbow key chain. I thought the discussion regarding whether or not this girl was a lesbian was extremely random given that there was now a couple other customers in the store, though I once again decided to just listen (okay, so maybe I added a couple of my thoughts here, but only because they asked for my opinion).

Needless to say, this was perhaps the most random conversation I have had in a long time. I just came in to get parts to repair the brakes on my car, yet I was in the store for over half an hour. I was laughing hysterically the entire drive back to my apartment. Seriously, do I look like a pothead?

Opening Day Massacre

Since Mpls Ju decided to complain about my wonderful softball season preview from a couple weeks ago, I figure I'll post a recap of our first game this afternoon. We didn't end up playing last Thursday despite the sunny 80 degree weather since the grounds crew was too incompetent to clear up the fields after the rain the day before. Lucky for us, we were able to play our first game against the worst team from 2005 today. The result you ask? A 24-1 mercy killing, highlighted by an eleven-run sixth inning outburst. I even hit a legitimate triple today as part of my 5-5 day at the plate. Furthermore, I played at least one inning in five different positions (P, 1B, SS, 3B, LF). Talk about being a utility fielder :) (or just not good enough to have my own position).

While some of my teammates may disagree, I wish we didn't push so hard in the sixth inning today. Once the game was well out of reach, I wish we didn't try to turn singles into triples. I am not saying that we should stop trying (since that is insulting to the other team), but that we stop being so greedy on the base path. The game is already well out of reach and the other team is already frustrated at their inability to field the ball. Why add insult to injury by running up the score? Sorry for the rant. I think we should play our usual game until we get up by 12+ runs, then stop being so aggressive. However, I already know how the rest of you will respond. To quote RoopDogg, "You can't tell the kids not to play".

24

The last twenty-four hours of my life have been quite entertaining, for me at least. While I have no good/funny stories to pass along, I have spent the last twenty-four hours getting a rare good night of sleep (9.5 hours!), getting thoroughly destroyed in tennis by Redneck, and reading The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. The 450-page book was awesome. I was only able to put it down today to play tennis and eat lunch. I didn't even watch the Pistons game (it was on mute in the background, so I was able to get occasional score updates). I can't believe I never read the book before today.

If you have not read this book before, I strongly suggest reading it. I have no idea if the recently released movie will do the book any justice, so I am hesitant about whether or not I want to see the movie.

While I don’t read books as often as I should, it is probably a good thing. When I get wrapped in a good book, I won’t do anything else other than go to work or sleep until it is finished.

Anyone have a good suggestion for another good book to read?

As for other news, I think I might have an allergy problem. I have never had allergies before in my life, or at least nothing that was more than an isolated incident. However, for the past two weeks, I have generally felt like crap. Some days have been better than others, but I have regularly had a cold, itchy eyes, runny nose, and felt constantly fatigued. I have not gone to the gym recently because I have felt too weak to go for a good workout.

I had not previously bought into the possibility that I have allergies since it was never a problem in the past. However, many people have pointed out that this allergy season has been the worst in a long time AND that the worst city in the US for allergies right now is Hartford. Today has not been too bad for me, but this has to explain why I have generally felt like shit for two weeks.
I was going to buy some Claritin today, but I balked after reading about common side effects on the internet. I think I am just paranoid, but I feel like I should talk to a doctor before taking any medication. Any other allergy prone individuals out there have any advice?

Playoff Hockey. Warning! Not for Children.

Check out this video linked on The M Zone. It's good for a laugh if you can handle the foul language. It's some friendly banter from the 1991 Stanley Cup Finals between Kevin Stevens and Brian Trottier of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Brian Bellows of the Minnesota North Stars. Click on the link and then play.

Warning. The language is extremely vulgar.

Does anyone trust mechanics?

I took my car in for an oil change today. I recently topped the 30,000 plateau on my car, so I knew that it was time to get a more thorough inspection done. The mechanic at Midas took a look at the car and recommended their 30,000 inspection "special" since it included a lot of the repairs that she thought were necessary. In addition, she recommended some additional work, primarily on the brakes. The total of all these repairs/inspections was $1100. That's a lot of money! Obviously, I wanted to think this over for a bit despite the fact that the mechanic was pushing for a quick decision, so I walked back to my apartment and did some research on the internet. Furthermore, I called my brother and Redneck since they both do a lot of their own repairs.

As it turns out, most of the work probably needs to be done. The 30,000 mile inspection package covers a lot of suggested repairs for my car according to the Subaru website. While it's possible that some of those repairs could be delayed (air filter, sparkplugs, engine coolant, etc) they will need to be done in the near future and I don't want to risk further damage by procrastinating. In addition, there were a couple other "shady" items that probably didn't need to be done (fuel injector cleaning and power steering flush), but the additional cost above their "special" was not ridiculous. I still think I got overcharged for the work I approved, but probably by no more than $50.

The one item that I ultimately balked on was the brake work suggested by the mechanic. She said that I needed to replace all the brake pads and the front brake rotors. After looking at the brake pads, I definitely agreed that they needed to be replaced in the next couple months. The rotors might still be good for another year though. I would have been more willing to let her do those repairs as well, but I think she was ripping me off on the cost. Four brake pads, two brake rotors, and labor was going to cost $500. Specifically, the four pads + labor totaled $210 and replacing the front rotors was going to cost $290. Anyone else think that is a little steep? Both my brother and Redneck insisted that I was paying about 25-30% more than I should. Furthermore, Redneck said he could help me make those repairs and the parts would cost me less than half of what I would have to pay at Midas. Of course, the mechanic countered that the quality is better since they specialize in brake work, but I don't know whom to believe.

Does anyone else think I am just too untrusting of the mechanic? Should I let her do the suggested work or continue to investigate? Do any of you CT people know of a really good mechanic that I could go visit for a second opinion? At the very least, I have an estimate from the mechanic and a friend that will take a look at my car with me next week. I may still go back and have the work done in a few days, but it is turning out to be an expensive weekend. :(

"I Am So Great..."

Tonight was 'Broomball Night in Connecticut'. We're consistently getting about 12 people each week, which is enough to play a full game without any subs. I was having a very subpar night in goal. Part due to the fact that the best two players were on the other team and part due to my own sucktitude.

We fell behind 5-3 in the third period after I let in a bad goal. After scoring a lucky goal with about 4 minutes left, our team was on our heels down the stretch. Everyone on the ice was gassed since we had no subs, so the game was going quite slowly. With under a minute left and the other team carrying the play in our zone, I made a save. Instead of covering the ball or passing to a teammate, I started running with it. Given that we had no subs, this was my attempt to 'pull the goalie' for an extra attacker. Despite the fact that everyone there knows the game of hockey very well, the other team stood around stunned that I had just started to join the rush the other way. After a give-and-go pass with the winger, I had a breakaway. Since everyone was tired, I was suddenly the fastest runner on the ice. No joke. I made a nice deke on the goalie and the ball rolled into the net. 20 seconds left. Tie game. The other team then started acting like a bunch of elemntary school sore losers and claimed that the goal should be disallowed because the goalie should not be allowed to cross center ice. Hello? What kind of stupid rule is that. Why can't the goalie cross center ice? I am a player just like anyone else. I just happened to be wearing goalie gear and out ran you all in a 200 foot race down the entire length of the ice rink. Suckers!

We never actually decided whether or not to count the goal, so the final was 5-4 or 5-5 depending on who you ask. It was only a pick up game anyway. However, I am going to relish my one shining moment where I outran everyone else to score a goal, while wearing extra goalie equipment! :) Yay me.

Who needs sleep?

I just got home a few minutes ago from the business trip and it is after 11PM. My options are to either blog about the trip now and go into work late tomorrow or go to sleep now and post trip stuff later. That's an easy decision, right?

Here is a recap of the trip

Work - Um...yeah. It was, well, work. The end. Well, I did learn that I will be travelling more in the future. Given the extra work I picked up a couple months ago, my manager wants me in Philadelphia between 2-4 days a month. I think it's part of his plan to convince me to move there, but it was definitely helpful to attend some of the monthly results meetings in person instead of being the only person on the phone this time around. Until this trip, I was travelling to the Philly office for one day every 5-6 weeks. I am also joining a few others on an off-site trip to Pittsburgh for three days sometime in the next month or two. Fun stuff.

Fun - Nothing beats 3.5 hours of sleep the night before the trip. I had trouble falling asleep Monday night since I was so angry after the Red Wings loss on Monday night. Another early playoff exit. Boo urns. Anyway, a friend of mine in the PA office scored two tickets to Game 6 of the Flyers-Sabres late Tuesday afternoon for face value ($130). We scooped them up and went over to the rink after work.

I ordered a cheesesteak at the rink for dinner, since apparently you must order a cheesesteak in Philadelphia. Since there was a long line, they were sort of pre-made (like within 5 minutes of ordering). There were four groups of steaks clearly separated at the stand depending on your cheese and onion preference. I find it funny that the cheessteak I ordered had the wrong cheese and lacked onions, even though the cashier grabbed a steak from the appropriate section. How hard is it to get that right? Seriously! That stand does not hold a candle to Pat's King of Steaks. That's for sure. Of course, I didn't notice the error until I got to my seat, so I just ate the sandwich anyway. Grr.

As for the game, the seats were amazing. Row 11 behind the net the Flyers defended for two periods. The crowd was absolutely buzzing before the game, and Flyer fans are especially vicious. Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller was getting taunted with 'U-S-A' chants (since the Flyers goalie was named to the USA Olympic team over Miller). I definitely added a couple anti-MSU cheers in his direction (since Miller played goalie at MSU when I was in college). Unfortunately, the Flyers team never showed up. They got absolutely destroyed. 7-1. And it's not like the Flyers went down fighting either. They played with no emotion. You think if a team is ending your season like that on your home ice, at least you'll go down fighting to keep the game close or just plain fighting the opponent. The Flyers did neither, and boy did the crowd let them hear it. The booing was especially vicious among the 3,000 or so fans left at the end of the game. They started chants like "We want a refund" and "E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles!". It was pretty ugly. Philadelphia sports fans are a unique breed. They have not had a champion team since 1983, and it really eats them up. The people sitting around me were very drunk and bitching about another lost year for Philadelphia (since the Phillies, 76ers, and Eagles are not very good right now). There is so much angst in that city. I feel bad for them.

One thing that I hate about this trip is that the flight home takes forever. Philadelphia's airport cannot handle their air traffic in the evenings. The plane usually departs from the gate on time. However, once we get in line for take off, the captain will tell us that we are like 35th in line for take off. It takes 45-60 minutes of sitting on the runway before we can take off. Every time. And I can't listen to my iPod during this time. It's so damn annoying. That's the reason I always get back after 10:30PM. The good news is that my manager is cool with booking a later departing flight and an earlier return flight on future trips since I'll be in the office for two or three days instead of just one day when I travel. That will elimintae some of the frustration from these trips!

That was the extent of my fun while I was there. I am seriously sleep deprived right now, so I should go to bed.

Down Time

First of all, 16 days until Vegas (woo)!

You are all going to get a couple days of down time from the life of Gary. I'm going to be in Philadelphia for work the next two days, so I probably won't post again until Thursday. The two-day trip should be a nice change of pace. Usually I travel to Philly and back in the same day, which results in a day that starts at 3:15AM and ends at 11:30PM. I still have to wake up at 3:15AM tomorrow, but it won't be as long of a day as normal (unless I score tickets to Game 6 of the Flyers-Sabres series Tuesday night).

Despite the 3:15AM wake-up call tomorrow, I'm still going to watch the Red Wings break my heart tonight. I have no idea why I torture myself like this.

In my absence, feel free to comment with each other. I'll give you a topic. Rhode Island. It's not a road, nor an island. Discuss.