Happy New Year Everyone!

Thank you all for taking some time out of your day this past year to pay attention to me. I appreciate it.

It's been a fun year filled with lots of traveling and good times. I'm way too lazy to recap, but that's why I have a full year of archives if you are really bored! :)

Cheers.

Because I Can't Let Things Go

I feel like whining about my inability to attend the Rose Bowl yet again. There was a work meeting on January 3rd that I had to attend. As part of this meeting, I had to distribute pre-read materials by noon on Tuesday January 2nd. Therefore, I could not take Tuesday the 2nd off from work and I could not go to the Rose Bowl.

Sadly, two things have happened. Thanks to working all day from home on Christmas Day as well as a couple other evenings this week, I just completed my pre-read materials for this meeting. Also, I learned a couple days ago that this big meeting was moved back one day to Thursday.

Given these two items, I could have gone to the game after all. Although it was too late to change my plans, I looked up flight prices from Hartford to LA. I can get a ticket leaving tomorrow for a three day weekend for $700. Expensive, but not completely ridiculous. However, I no longer have a ticket to the game. My brother gave his extra game ticket away to his stepson's best friend. Good for them, but bummer for me.

It really sucks that I can't go to this game. My brother is moving away from sunny California in a month and this would be my last chance to visit him there for the forseeable future. I guess we'll just have to plan to go back to MI to see a game together next season.

Maybe this is why I am not so psyched up for this game on Monday. Grr...

Where are you now, Dr. Death?

Given how slow life is these days, I have fallen victim to an occasional addiction. Watching multiple episodes of Law & Order in an evening. Regular Law & Order, Criminal Intent, or SVU, it doesn't matter. My preference is to watch SVU since my cousin was once the casting director for that show, but doesn't really matter that much.

There was an episode tonight about assisted suicide. It was in no doubt a reference to the doctor of death that hovered over the state of Michigan during my childhood. The ever controversial "Dr." Jack Kevorkian. The man that made the psychotic lawyer with a hero complex, Geoffrey Fieger, a the Democratic candidate for the governor of Michigan in 1998 (thanks entirely to the fact that Michigan once had open primaries).

Kevorkian was convicted of second degree murder in 1999 when he decided to defend himself after several successful trials where he was represented by Fieger. He has been in jail ever since. However, I learned in a Google search tonight that Kevorkian will be paroled in June 2007. I didn't realize this guy was still alive, but apparently he is very ill and may not even live until his release date. I wonder what he'll do with his freedom next year, if he survives until then.

I'll save you all from my position on the assisted suicide issue, mainly because I don't have a concrete stance either way and because this is a loaded topic. Every argument on this issue has an equally compelling counterpoint. I think SVU did an excellent job raising these points. I encourage all of you to waste one or two evenings of your life watching that show in the rare event that you see this episode! :)

Bored

There's not really much happening here right now. Christmas Day was so boring that I worked from home all afternoon and evening. As a result, it's a fairly easy week in the office since I got a lot of stuff done that I would have struggled to complete this week during normal work hours. I'm probably going to work 9-to-4 this week, at least through Thursday. Those lazy hours will go away quickly as year-end reporting picks up next month. Hopefully this is the last time I am in a job with year-end reporting responsibilities for a few years. I don't mind the work that much, but the hours can be crazy. I'm due to rotate to a new job in February or March, but I have no clue what that next job will be yet.

One thing that sucks about working remotely right now is that everyone who sits near me has no involvement with my daily work. Therefore, even though most of my peers in Philadelphia were in the office today, I was basically by myself at work. There are roughly 80 people in the general section of the building where I sit. Out of those 80 people, I think 4 of us were at work today. Thankfully, my iPod kept me entertained.

But don't worry. I'm not bitter about missing the Rose Bowl for this. Not at all.

East Coasters are Lazy

When I was a kid, the neighborhood would light up after Thanksgiving. All of our neighbors would put up lights to celebrate the holiday season, and some of our neighbors had some pretty cool displays. We had the family across the street that put lights up on their ham radio tower. If you were within about a mile of my house, you could see their light display. As the only Jewish family in the entire neighborhood, we were the only house that chose not to put up lights, and it stood out in its uniqueness.

Here in Hartford, you are more likely to find a holiday light display in a town square than your are outside someone's home. I don't know if people around the country have gotten lazier and I have just noticed it now or if people in Hartford just don't care about this as much. I always found creative light displays to be pretty cool.

My message to everyone in Hartford that owns a home? Get creative and use your real estate effectively!

Now This is Entertainment

How does a Jewish person stay entertained this time of year when the only people who are still in town are those who are getting ready to celebrate Christmas with their own families? Well, given that TV sucks this time of year, that leaves me plenty of time to figure out my taxes for 2006. It's a little too early to actually complete my tax forms, but I have hda a blast trying to figure out if:

1) I need to pay estimated taxes before the end of the year and
2) Will I owe the dreaded alternative minimum tax

Thankfully I checked out both of these items, no matter how dry and confusing they may be. I did owe estimated taxes before the end of the year, but only because this is the first year that I will be able to itemize on my tax return. That only earned a 4 on the confusion scale (from 1-10) since I am a math dork and created a spreadsheet to determine my tax liability a long time ago.

Whoever created the idea of the alternative minimum tax (AMT) should be tarred and feathered. I agree that this is a noble idea in theory to ensure that the super wealthy are taxed appropriately if they try to deduct a significant portion of their income for various reasons or receive most of their compensation through stock options/grants, but I do not meet the definition of super wealthy. Therefore, I shouldn't even have to figure out whether I owe this stupid tax. Thankfully, I did not owe any AMT this year, but I was close enough that I had to really figure out how this tax worked and ensure that I didn't make any mistakes. The AMT scores a 79,000 on the confusion scale. Yes, a 79,000. If you don't believe me, check out IRS form 6251. Thankfully, this website was very helpful, although somewhat simplistic.

Now this is a fun way to kill time during Christmas weekend. It sure beats fighting the traffic outside my apartment!

We're All Going to Drown

I decided to brave the ridiculous mall traffic this afternoon to go to the gym, pick up my dry cleaning, and go grocery shopping. Since it was a fairly nice day, I decided to leave the gym wearing shorts and a t-shirt. As I was walking arounf outside the store where I left my dry cleaning and outside the grocery store, it occured to me that it was a gorgeous (although somewhat drizzly) day for the New England area given that it was the end of December. As much as I'd like to get used to this unseasonable warmth, I also realized that if this continues for a few more years, Hartford will eventually be under ten feet of sea water. Hooray for global warming!

And if I didn't mention it before, mall traffic sucks. I thought most people did their shopping shortly after Thanksgiving, but traffic around my complex has been horrendous today. It took me 25 minutes to go from I-291 to my apartment this afternoon. It normally takes 7 minutes.

I am so S-M-R-T. And so is Mouse, Mpls Ju, FlyingV, etc.

I saw this article a couple of days ago, but the M-Zone and the crazychicas were quicker to post this on their blogs. Yes, I really did see this article before it was posted on the M-Zone. I am not stealing their material for once.

Congratulations to those of us who are S-M-R-T. I'd just like to point out how superior us Ann Arbor-ites are to a certain other college town that made this list that might be of interest to one of my readers. Just sayin'! :)

Among the cities not ranked that might upset some of you out there:
Cedar Falls, IA
Philadelphia
Lewisburg, PA

How Much Wiggle Room is in a Gender Test?

It's funny because it's true.

"abnormal chromosomes"? Huh? Weird.

Happy Channukah!

Isn't this an awesome Channukah gift? It only took me ten minutes to determine exactly when this picture was taken (opponent, year, point during the game). I won't issue you all the same challenge since you probably cannot get a close enough look at the entire picture. However, feel free to leave your guess in the comment section. It's actually fairly easy to figure this out for the true Michigan football fans out there.

Back, but Lazy

I am back from my vacation to NYC and Boston. It was a fun trip, but I am feeling lazy and not up for posting any stories right now. The short highlight is that while in NYC we went to the MET, ate great food, hung out with some of DrT's college friends, and saw the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee on Broadway. I highly encourage anyone who travels to Times Square in the near future to visit the Charmin sponsored public toilets for an entertaining experience.

While in Boston, we spent a few days with DrT's family and I met several more of her high school and college friends. We also shopped on Newbury Street, where I bought some nice new clothes! :)

I didn't take any pictures with my camera, so I have nothing to post right now.

I'm behind on my contacts lately. Once I catch up with my parents in the next couple days, I'll stop being delinquent with my friends. Ju - expect a phone call this week.

More Vacation

If I didn't have enough time off work in November, I am going to top it this month. I am going to NYC for a couple days and then to Boston for a few more. I'm looking forward to some quality time with DrT!

Have a good week, everyone!

Rare Praise for Matt Millen

The Detroit Lions are at risk of completing the second worst six-year span since the NFL moved to a 16-game schedule. Assuming that they lose their last three games of the year, they will finish a six-year stretch with a record of 23-73. Wow. In an era or the salary cap and parity, that's pathetic. How has Matt Millen not been fired? He took over a team that was winning 8-9 games a year and occasionally making the playoffs and ran it into the ground in less than one season.

However, instead of begging for him to be fired, I am going to praise him today. You see, after a successful 8-5 regular season in my fantasy football league where I finished in a five-way tie for first place (yes, we have massive parity this year), I was at risk of losing in the first round of the playoffs to the #6-seed. Willie Fucking Parker ran for a huge game on Thursday night, putting me in a 22-point hole. When the average winning score in the league is roughly 65-70 points, I needed a huge day to match that. Thanks to six turnovers from the crappy Detroit Lions offense, I got the big day I needed. Minnesota's defense scored 25 fantasy points for me today and barring a Sunday night miracle from KottenBallz's last two players, my season high 100 points will be enough to advance to the semi-finals! Woo hoo! Thank you so much, Mr. Millen. I am glad you work for an equally incompetent owner, Mr. William Clay Ford.

Matt Millen for president of the world!

Sadness

As a "friend" of the Michigan Marching Band, I was presented the opportunity to buy tickets to the Rose Bowl game. Despite the relative chump change I donate each year, my requests for six tickets was granted. I immediately sent in my check for $900.

Sadly, I know that I will definitely not be able to go to the game. Despite attending two Rose Bowls in three years, it kills me to not be able make the trip because of my job, especially since I have tickets for the game! At least my dad, brother, and brother's family will get to go and have a great time. My eleven-year-old step-nephew has played Pop Warner football for three years and watched many Michigan games on TV with my brother. He is really excited about seeing his first big time football game in person in January.

As it turns out, my brother just called and told me that he only needed five tickets. Since I already sent in the check for six tickets, I am now stuck with an extra that I cannot use. Anyone need a ticket to the Rose Bowl? I'd rather sell it to a friend or a Michigan fan (for face value) than have my brother hawk it to JoeUSCFan outside the stadium. All you have to do is spend an evening with my family and 90,000 of your closest friends.

Here's to spending the last week of the year at work. :( I'll be sure to make my boss feel guilty. As a Michigan grad himself, he should be ashamed!!

Gary's European Vacation, part 3

Here is the thrilling conclusion to my European vacation. I’d like to take a moment to thank Maverick and her husband for being awesome hosts during the ten-day trip. I had a great time on the other side of the pond and look forward to my next trip across the ocean, whenever that occurs.
--------------------------
The pace of the trip slowed down a little once we returned from Paris. We spent the day before Thanksgiving touring a castle near the Germany-Luxembourg border. Apparently, it was my second trip to this castle. My dad reminded me recently that I went to this castle back in 1999 during our family trip to Europe. And I thought that my memory was so awesome that I didn’t forget anything. D’oh.

Maverick and her husband made a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner. It was without a doubt the tastiest Thanksgiving dinner I can remember. It was probably also the unhealthiest. The kick-ass sweet potato dish had three, count them three, sticks of butter in the recipe. Holy heart attack batman. Two married coupled from the air force base joined the four of us for dinner. Just to show how we live in a small world, one of the guests was raised in Southeast Michigan and was in the Michigan Marching band in the late 1990s. The lazy/yummy holiday was capped off with the traditional football laugher from the pathetic Lions. Has Matt Millen been fired yet?

The rest of the week was highlighted by a trip of the air force base where Maverick’s husband works and some wine tasting hilarity. We went to the house of Ernie. Ernie is well liked by the guys on the air force base. He grows grapes in the Mosel River Valley and produces/sells his own wine. The best way to describe Ernie is that he is a dirty old man. Very dirty, and very funny. Ernie told numerous raunchy jokes throughout our tasting session. My favorite was an analogy to describe the smell of the cork on a bottle of wine that had gone bad. I shall not repeat the joke here, but I invite Maverick to comment about it if she prefers. Ernie also believes that the only way to taste wine is to have a full glass. After tasting eight different wines, I was just a little drunk. By a little drunk, I could no longer taste the difference between each glass of win after the fourth glass, and I may or may not have chugged the last few glasses. It probably didn’t help that we skipped lunch either. At 5 euros a bottle, the wine was really good and really cheap. I bought a couple bottles of the 2003 Riesling that we tried first since it was my favorite wine from the day. The bottle I kept for myself is already finished! :)

Here are some pictures from the last few days in Europe.

Someday, this will be my summer home in Luxembourg. In the meantime, I am just a boring actuary in Connecticut.


Two pictures overlooking the Mosel River Valley in Germany.
(Stolen from Maverick's online album). I think that's glass number eight for me. Or nine. Or ten. Who knows?

Bummer

Well, as expected, Florida earned the right to get pummeled by OSU. I understand the arguments for voting Florida into the national title game. I even agree with some of them. However, in my biased opinion, I think Michigan has a better team this year. Hopefully Florida can take advantage of the opportunity handed to them today and not get blown out by OSU on January 8th.

Michigan got shafted, but only because one of the two teams had to be left behind. I am sure everyone can agree that there was no obvious choice for the #2 spot. Props to Lloyd Carr for resorting to the whining/crying/bitching shown by Urban Meyer over the past couple weeks.

I am thrilled about another matchup against USC. There is a lot of Rose Bowl tradition against them, even though Michigan is normally on the losing end. It doesn't seem likely that I will be able to go to the game this year because of my job, but I am searching for game tickets just in case (and also since my dad and brother are planning to go regardless of whether I make the trip). The only downside to playing USC is that tickets will be hard to find. It won't be anything like the $5 giveaway outside the stadium before the Texas game two years ago.

Regardless of today's events, it's been an awesome football season and I am excited about another Rose Bowl game.

And we need an 8-team college football playoff. Now.

Drew Sharp is a Douchebag

Read

I cannot remember this guy ever writing an article in support of Michigan, which happens to be his alma mater. Did someone give this guy a wedgie in college?

That said, today should be interesting. I believe Michigan is better than Florida, but I can see Florida just barely squeaking into the title game because of the two arguments that Sharp provides. It's a shame, but not a travesty. Both teams are deserving of a shot at the Buckeyes.

Headlines for the Day

• I thought it was really nice living near a big mall. The ability to walk to big stores like Best Buy, Bed Bath and Beyond, JC Penney, and Walmart is really nice when I feel the urge to shop. Until now. I spent more time driving to the grocery store and back this afternoon than I spent shopping for food, and I bought a lot of stuff. The three mile drive took nearly 20 minutes because of mall traffic. I am now a prisoner in my own apartment complex from noon until 4 or 5PM both days of the weekend until January. Nice.

• Pig Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuueeey! AKA GO ARKANSAS! After a quick comeback, Arkansas is 23 minutes from sending Michigan to the national title game without any controversy over who else can lay claim to the #2 ranking. Wow.

• My apartment is nice and clean. In fact, it is probably cleaner than it was when I first moved in back in June. :)
  

I Didn't Do This

I interrupt the story of my trip to Europe to bring you this great video.

You all know that I have a small man-crush on the quarterback of my first two years of college at Michigan. The wonderful Tom Brady. After all, he is awesome, went to Michigan, and is responsible for my only trip to a bowl game other than the Citrus Bowl while in college.

I assure you that I did not prepare this video nor did I post it on Youtube. Also, I do not have the same thoughts/fantasies shared by the singer in this video.

I'm sure you'll find this hilarious. Thanks to RoopDogg for the link.