The Circus

We got to go to the circus yesterday and it was a lot of fun. I just want to give a shout out to Bo for the tix, thanks Bro. Next year Sophie says she wants to ride a camel, I just wanted to write that down so we won't forget. The kids got to ride an Elephant and some ponies and I think they had a pretty good time. One of the clowns that did a diving routine really had Sampson cracking up, it was funny because it was all slapstick stuff and he was just eating it up. My least favorite part was when the two guys went on that Ferris wheel two circle dealy thing and they were running on the outside of it. It wasn't that it wasn't entertaining, but man the safety aspects make me sick, though I guess that is kind of what the circus is about. I'll put some pics up tomorrow when Sophie gets them downloaded (I'm still not allowed to touch the camera).

"Terrible" Draft as it turns out

I watched ESPN's fantasy special last night and the first thing they said was to stay away from Ian Kinlser because he is injury prone and then to not draft A-Rod before the 5 round or so.  But if the stupid Yankees would just put him on the DL already I could still have him on my roster and pick up someone to fill the active roster spot.  Other than that I think I did alright, but they were saying the starting pitching was deep and don't pay for saves, which I agree with.  They also said catcher was deep, but I don't buy that.  If there are 5 catcher that contribute you're lucky and the difference between 1 and 10 is probably about 200 ranks and I had a heck of a time last year finding a catcher, but finally found Chris Ianetta late in the second half of the season.  Granted catchers don't contribute as much, but have a distinct advantage at that spots could be the difference.  I don't know about the head-to-head format, but it can't hurt.  

On the basketball front, I re-picked Gilbert Arenas and he did well his first night of action too bad I have only got 4 games at point left.  At least I'll get about 4 games out of him, when the season started I thought I would get about half but he stayed out until Friday's game.  All I have to do is coast to the finish line, Stevie is closest, but all the categories are pretty much too far away for anyone to make too much of a move, you know unless Stevie can pick up about 10 points in FT%.

Sophie almost wins

Every year Sophie and I fill out a bracket and battle amongst ourselves for supremacy.  Unfortunately we have started thinking too much alike and our brackets looked fairly similar, and this year we only guessed one final four team differently.  Today actually decided the winner since both of our championship teams have been eliminated.  If Oklahoma wins, Sophie wins, if UNC wins, then I win.  Fortunately UNC won and I won for like the 7th or 8th year in a row.  Now if only I can finish ahead of the big O, who is currently in about the 53rd percentile on ESPN.  I think I might still be able to finish ahead of him as long as UNC loses.  Oh well.  You know if you are president it is actually pointless to do something like that.  If you win people will come up with wild conspiracy theories, if you do poorly people will think you are wildly incompetent.  I guess he didn't think that all the way through before he filled out the bracket.  Hey, maybe he didn't have all the facts, I know he likes to have all the facts before he does stuff.

My Jury Duty Experience

It turns out Jury Duty really isn't that bad, especially if you don't end up having to participate in the trial.  Basically all I had to do is show up endure about an hour and a half of jury selection and then leave.  It was neat to see the procedure of the court and be a part of the system.  It was a good thing they had as many people there though, as there were about 10 deferrals in order to get 8 jurors.  It was a civil trial and the one lawyer asked if any of the jurors had ever contributed to TORT reform and I was thinking 'no, but I'll take up collection if it gets me out of here'.  Just kidding it wasn't that bad, but the whole time the jury members are being dismissed you keep thinking 'who's next' and they're reading off a list so it isn't like avoiding eye contact is going to keep you out of it.  But the judge started out asking questions, then the lawyers had a turn, then they got to boot people without cause, re-screen some more jurors and then pick and alternate.  The judge was good about all the people that couldn't be impartial and in the end he called the seat that everyone was vacating 'the hot seat'.  I didn't have any problems though I just kind of sat there in my "I'm not prejudice, I hate everyone" T-shirt waiting for my name to be called, but it never was.  So I didn't get out until 11:00 and by then it was too late to do any good at work so I just took the rest of the day off, and went home to celebrate with my $30.00.  

Post 400 - The Blog Quiz

For Post 400 I wanted to do something special so I came up with the blog quiz to see how well you've been paying attention. Answers will be posted later, you know if you can't come up with them. Without further ado...

1) What day did the blog start?

2)What did I build to celebrate Post 100?

3)How many stitches did Peach get?

4) How long was the unofficial record the old blog set for longest period between posts?

5) Before the Indy race with the tire issues what was the worst HESCAR race in history?

6)Who was the last player picked up during my first year of Fantasy Baseball (remember I said there might be a quiz, I wasn't joking)?

7)What title did I give the post where we decorated Sophie's brother's house for the Brown's Bengals game?

8) Who makes the 'World Clock' located over there on the left?

9) What was the name of my Fantasy Football team? and where did I finish?

10)When Stevie had to go to Iraq what base did he end up at?

Have Fun!!

Trouble Brewing

Yesterday while Sophie was walking Peach and Sampson back from dance class a motorcycle went by and Peach said almost half crying that she couldn't wait until she can ride on a motorcycle.  Which made Sophie sigh, and when she told me I sighed, then we asked Sampson if he wanted to ride a motorcycle and he said, "No".  Sophie happened to be taking a drink when I asked him and she just about spit it out.  Not because he said no, but because he said it so fast.  Oh also Peach thinks tattoos are pretty . . . man are we in trouble.

The 400 mile tank

I got my first 400 mile tank yesterday and my mileage came in at about 32.4 mpg.  I think the warm weather is really helping.  I almost need to do another 'control' run to get a better idea of how my mileage is better since I've made my changes.  I think I'll wait a little longer though.  I could have went a little longer instead of filling up on my way home, I mean the fuel light wasn't even on yet, but I was too excited about getting to 400 miles that I wanted to fill up and see what my mileage was.  Turns out I could fit over 12 gallons in the old tank.

Fantasy Update - Cause real life sucks

Real life is kind of troublesome lately for some, what with the economy and all. Plus the President's bracket had him in the bottom 4% of folks on ESPN, gosh can this guy do anything right? Anyway as far fantasy stuff goes basketball is almost over and I have about an 8 point lead. I guess the wheels could really fall of here the last few weeks, but at this point I have done pretty well to hang on considering two of the people I lost to injury are still in the top 100. On the baseball front there is 2 weeks to opening day, and my team hasn't changed yet. I have emailed Yahoo! and the Yankees! organization about placing A-Rod on the DL, but to no avail. Maybe by the end of the week they'll put him on the DL and then I'll be able to pick up another player. Right now I'm content, because once the season starts some people are going to come out of nowhere and it is all about picking them up more than it is about getting frustrated before the season starts. I figure I've got one of the best catchers in Russel Martin and probably the best second baseman in Ian Kinsler so they will probably both get hurt. But if they stay healthy and A-Rod comes back I should be in pretty good shape. Here is a copy of the response from the Yankees! as well as my letter. Please note that the person who responded is 'Bryan', which I can only assume is an alias for their G.M. 'Brian' Cashman.
Yankees:
Response (Bryan) - 03/19/2009 05:23 PMDear Kirk Helfen,
The New York Yankees thanks you for your letter. We assure you that your comments and support are appreciated.
You can write directly to a player or team official at the following address:
Yankee StadiumBronx, NY 10451.
Thank you again for taking the time to write.
Regards,Yankees.com

Here is my original letter:
Please put A-Rod on the DL, 30 day, 60 day it doesn't really matter. I just need the roster spot opened up in my fantasy league. Please do it for the fans. I don't want to drop him but even with rehab and what not you know he is going to be out for at least a month. Also you guys have way toooo many outfielders, you should trade a couple for a catcher like chris Ianetta. Seriously. Thanks, Kirk

I guess if the Yanks make a trade for Ianetta we will know who thought of it first. Plus if they trade Johnny Damon that would give me an outfielder playing his home games in Colorado - Bwah hah hah. Let the games begin!
Please note: I think both the Yankees! and Yahoo! are Yucky! Sorry, I thought that kind of fit, but I really don't care for either institution. Well at least Yahoo! fantasy sports, the rest of the site is cool.

Draft Day '09

Well we're Pirates again. Apparently Sophie had the time wrong, but since he was already on a team he gets to go right back to the same team. No word on practices or opening day yet, but I'll post as soon as I know. Also Sophie got me a sign for the back of the window. It says, "MF Baseball Fan". I told her it is almost like it could be taken two ways.

Happy St. Patty's Day

I was going to make the whole blog green and what not, but I forgot to do it yesterday so all I got is this one green post and some Irish music. But hey, what better way to celebrate possibly the greatest saint of all time, I mean he did drive the snakes out of Ireland right. You know what, saint hood probably isn't enough. He should be elevated to like comic book status. Yeah that's it, 'Anti-Snake Man' or something cool like that. Anyway have a great SP day.

Farewell Mask

This week, March the 11th, Charles "Mask" Lewis was killed in an auto accident.  For those of you who don't know, Mask was one of the faces of the "TapouT" clothing line.  It is associated with MMA and after watching for a little over a year it is impossible not to recognize the TapouT symbol.  Actually it is impossible to not notice it after watching for about a month.  And it was all do to the hard work of Mask, Skyscrape and Punkass.  Yeah, those are the three guys that came up with the brand, and they even had a show that airs on Versus.  Mask was front man who had worked from essentially nothing in 1997 to one of the heads of this multimillion dollar outfit.  I got my first TapouT tee for Christmas and the TapouT sticker now adorns my door at work.  Anyway I'm sure the brand will persevere, but this was a huge a blow, and very difficult to put in perspective.  I feel really bad for the TapouT guys, but also the young fighters who now won't get to interact with him.  My condolences to the crew and all those associated with TapouT, and Mask's family.  R.I.P. MASK.

Blog picks up a fan

Maybe not a fan, but at least someone who has looked at the old blog.  I guess Scott "The Chainsaw" Russell was out trolling the internet for a review of his last fight and I just happened to have mentioned that in my post about the night I went to the fights.  You know, stuff about how he did, gave him the nickname "The Chainsaw", you know regular stuff.  Anyway I thought that was extremely neat and as it would happen he is now my favorite fighter.  See I'm easy to get along with.  Plus with BJ Penn kind of getting dismantled at the hands of GSP in January, I needed to find a new up and comer.  Granted BJ is appealing the fight because he thought GSP had some funny grease all over him and he had taken something that would make him extra slippery.  I haven't seen the fight yet, but I do look forward to checking it out.  That was the same night that Lyoto Machida won and should have assumed the #1 contender status in the 205 wt. division.  Unfortunately he was not guaranteed a title shot until after Rampage fought, but Rampage won so now he is going to fight Evans in May.  Which is ridiculous, because Rampage and Evans fought on the same night at the end of last year, and if they meet in May that will be Evans second fight compared to Rampage's third.  If the UFC was smart they would let Machida fight Evans in May and then they would still have an undefeated champ to fight Rampage later in the year.  Now Machida would have to fight someone else, like a Liddell or Wanderlei Silva or maybe Griffin even though he clearly deserves the next shot at the title.  I mean it may be worth it for Machida to just wait and fight the winner, that is what I would do rather than risk losing now when he is so close to getting the title shot.  But then again he is good enough to beat the rest of those guys at the top of the division, just because he fights with such a different style.  At least until "the Chainsaw" gets a hold of him.

Draft Day

Well I missed about the first 17 rounds of the draft because my buddies were in from abroad and they took a little bit of precedence.  But I think I ended up with a pretty decent team.  I got Ian Kinsler first and Russell Martin, so those are two pretty solid people to start with.  I also got A-Rod, but I guess he conveniently decided to have hip surgery and will be out until like May, but Yahoo! hasn't figured that out yet so I can't put him on the DL.  So this is kind of like last year, except I have already started with people on the DL.  The bad thing is I had moved A-Rod way back on my rankings in hopes I wouldn't get him but I had no idea he would be out that long.  Oh well, I think I'll be alright we'll see.  This year we aren't doing roto we are doing head-to-head so it may take me a while to figure things out as I'm sure the scoring will be very different.  Hopefully I'll get a couple of breaks early on.  

Sophie finally gets her B-Day gift

This year for Sophie's birthday I wanted to get her something special, but I knew I wouldn't get it right. I wanted to get her a Nikon D60 which is what she was asking for, but she hadn't been able to try one so I never got it for her. Well we finally went to Best Buy one night and she got a chance to try one out. Unfortunately she was terribly disappointed because it didn't have the live view feature that pretty much every digital camera invented has and is the main reason you get 'em. Well after that let down, we had to look for a different camera. So we looked at Cannon, and Pentax and Olympus and Sony. After reviewing the features and the on-line reviews we settled on the Sony. Which everything we have is Sony so they should pretty much send us a check or something. I was a little worried at first because Sophie was pretty excited about the Nikon and seemed upset because the D90 was about $1200 and that was too high, but had more features. Then when we finally got the Sony she seemed really happy. She wasn't happy about spending the money though and I told her it was alright because she is pretty much the best wife in the whole world, which she said makes me the best husband in the world so that worked out pretty good. Anyway happy birthday honey, oh this was the 3rd anniversary of her 29th birthday.

Our Visit to C.E.C.

Yesterday we went to Chuck E. Cheese's (CEC) and what visit would be complete without a fight, an ambulance, a visit from the cops and a couple of crying kids. The fight didn't have to do with any of us, but somebody got hurt and then the cops showed up, but the crying kids well... You see at Chuck E. Cheese you get tokens to play games and the games give tickets, then you cash in the tickets for prizes. So Hans and Sophie's mom went with us and got some tickets so we had a little extra. All Peach wanted was a little plastic slinky, a lollipop, and a bracelet. Well that left Sampson with about 700 tickets so he got a stuffed Chuck E. Cheese, which took all 700 tickets. Obviously he would be upset since his item was 10 times more than what she spent, so he cried because she had 3 items to his 1. He was OK today, he may even take it to show and tell on Friday. Overall it was a fun a visit.

Hyper Motivation

So some people have told me they have started trying to hypermile and that is great. I got 27.9 in the Grand Caravan this week from Mom's house. I also got the oil changed, air filter changed and the tires rotated on my car and I plan on putting some fuel injector cleaner in tomorrow. That should give me a maximum as far as I can figure. Some people may wonder why even try this now, I mean gas was up to $4 a gallon last year it is less than half that now. Sure, but the guy who started the deal started back in 2001 after the 9/11 attack and his thinking was the people that did that got their funding from oil. So why give them more money to attack us? Which was hard for me to argue with, so from here on out I will probably always try to hypermile.

Oh and one more thing for clarification - when riding on the white line I just put the passenger side on the white line. I don't straddle the white line or anything like that.