Big Week

Sophie and I have a big week this week. Peach starts "butterfly" school, or dancing school as it is called in some circles, and Sampson starts flag football. It should be fun, but I have a feeling it is going to be busy, very busy. The blog may not get an update for a while. Just to fore warn.

Bad Weekend for Sports

First the OU debacle, then the Browns lose their opener in spectacular fashion to the Dallas Simpsons, the P-towners won, and Tony Stewart finished 2nd to Jimmy. He could have wrecked out and still made the chase, so finishing second was pointless. Every once in awhile a good sports weekend happens, but I think it is really hard for that to happen for me because of the teams I root for. It does make those good weekends extra special though. There's always next weekend.

Buying Palin

Right now Palin is still looking like a really good as a VP pick. She passed her first test in delivering a pretty awesome speech at the convention. And afterward depending on what pole you look at the candidates are pretty much even. What I liked about the speech is that she really came after the democrats and put her experience of being a governor up against the experience of her and McCain's opponents. She also took shots at the media who are challenging her ability to be VP and a Mom, but would never dare ask a man if he thought he could be a good Dad and also be VP. Kind of double standard. I loved how she was saying all this stuff and CBS and NBC and CNN had to broadcast it. That was great. I have looked at some of the differences between Ferraro and Palin and so far it looks like Ferraro was a representative only for about 6 years, before becoming the VP candidate. Right after the nomination Mondale and Ferraro pulled even with Reagan, but it was pretty steady downhill until the election. The press or the Republicans locked on to some shady dealings that she had done to finance her initial run for congress. What came out of it is that her husband wouldn't release his tax returns until it was too late, and it ended up being a good tactic because finances are fairly gender neutral. They ended up losing in every state except for Mondale's Minnesota.

The next tests that Palin has to pass is some type of interview with a major media network, and the VP debate. She also has to keep from dropping the ball by making some YouTube statement or having something come out. So far the best the media can muster is that her 17 year old daughter is pregnant. That could actually back fire if they try to villainize (I may have made this word up) her for being a supportive Mom and trying to help her daughter do the right thing. Don't forget these people are from Alaska and it gets cold up there. I think the state motto is "Alaska, too cold to pull out". They really should look at changing that.

OU Almost makes History

It would have been great to see OU beat OSu on Saturday, but the officiating or lack there of, finally caught up to the Bobcats as they fell 26-14. OU was up 14-12 going into the fourth qtr, but an untimely fumble on a punt gave the ball away on Ohio's 30 yard line. The ensuing drive saw the suckeyes pass the ball inside the 10, but it looked like a hold as one of the Bobcat lineman was tackled to the ground. No call. OSwho goes on to score. It was Ohio fault though, the only two touchdown drives the other team had where because the defense was on the field in back-to-back possessions. First they recovered the fumble in the end zone, and then on the botched punt. The last touchdown resulted from a punt return from the other team, in which in looked like there was a pretty blatant block in the back. No Call. Even the coach of the other team said in the press conference after the game that it looked like they got away with a block in the back. Fantastic. I hope they lose by about 40 next week. I blame the loss squarely on Hans, who was watching the game, but then "had" to go be an usher in a wedding. People need to work on their priorities. Also the next time the teams play, lets do it in Athens. Just for fun, see if our referees can do any better. Sophie has stated that due to the arrogance of the OSwho fans (and I would rate the percent at about 99.9% that have no humility and make the game completely unenjoyable) and the terrible refereeing she would root for their opponents exclusively through the end of the season including a Michigan team that earlier she had refused to support.

Presidential Election '08

I haven't talked about this in a while because I really felt their wasn't much to say until the candidates made their V.P. picks, and boy was I right. By now everyone has heard that McCain has picked Sarah Palin of Alaska to be his V.P. and at first I was like, "how dumb, all he had to do was pick Romney or even Pawlenty and just run the ball into the end zone". Even Sophie had the same sentiment when I first talked to her. But then a funny thing happened when I made Sophie sit down and watch Hannity and Combs and CNN tonight, all they did was talk about Palin. Obama closed the Democratic Convention last night with a rousing speech on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I have a dream speech", and like the guy or hate the guy you have to admit it was an historic night. He was the first minority candidate to ever except a major party nomination. I thought the content of the speech was lack luster and filled with lofty goals that will never be attained, but given the opportunity I definitely would have tried to get in to see history in the making. What John McCain did today though turned out to be brilliant. After 38 million people watched the speech last night all the news networks were talking about McCain and Palin. If McCain had picked Romney there would have been about 10 minutes of coverage, but it has been a non-stop barrage since the announcement. And now no one is discussing the Obama speech and moment from last night. So after watching coverage on the first day and after knocking Obama from the spotlight, I have to give John McCain an A+ on the first day for his selection for V.P., which was historic in its own right. Amazing, that is all I can say right now. I didn't think it was smart at first, and it could very well turn out that she can't handle the media spotlight and the whole thing blows up in McCain's face, but after looking at what it did today, it was a great choice. Well talk more about the race after the RNC this week.

Quick pros and cons for the VP's. Biden - energizes the white male demographic that so many people take for granted, lots of political experience (though mostly as a Senator), in-line with current democratic base. cons - he's not Hillary and doesn't guarantee a voter block, he doesn't put any major battle ground states in place, and no real executive experience.
Palin - energizes the female base of the Republicans and non committed conservatives (Sophie is even getting excited, she said if I didn't vote for McCain/Palin I was sexist. Note: Palin did finish second in the Miss Alaska beauty pageant, not sure what year.), she's a mom, has executive experience in the largest land mass state in the U.S., has a son in the service. cons - younger than Obama and has less experience in formal gov't at state/federal level (although Obama has spent the last two years running for president), unknown candidate who hasn't been put under the media microscope, little to none foreign policy experience, no major battle ground states put in play.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I am going to find out what the major differences are between this election and the one in 1984 when Geraldine Ferraro was the first ever female V.P. candidate. I know they got crushed in a landslide against Reagan, but that was when Reagan was up for re-election, this time there is no incumbent.

The "Experiment" at 3 weeks

The ankle is pretty much back to normal size. I have to really be careful going up and down the steps because it is still pretty weak. It was good enough to help re-bag the VBC today though. I can walk normally on flat ground going in a straight line, but the up and down gets me a little. It is real sore in the morning and loosens up in about an hour. Hopefully it feels better by the middle of the week so I can get some outside stuff done. We have been very fortunate without having rain for 2 weeks, so I haven't had to mow. But it looks like we are going to get a little rain in the next week, so I need to be able to mow. Unless someone can hurry up and invent one of those room bot type sweepers that can mow, only that could get a little messy what with a 6 hp bladed mower just going on a random path of destruction. Yeah, maybe that isn't a good idea yet, but I bet it would get the kids to get all there stuff out of the yard.

The last Fantasy Move

Well I've made my last fantasy move for the year. Pay attention this just may be a trivia question someday. I picked up Dave Bush for Fransisco Cordero. I've conceded that Stevie is going to catch me and pass me for saves, so I'm trying to make up as much ground as I can in Wins, Era, and Whip. Cordero has been terrible for the last month, and wasn't really contributing any saves lately anyway. I can still move Wagner off the DL if I need to, but I'll save that move for as long as I can. I did manage to make it into 3rd place today. We'll see how long that last or if I can move into first....

Random Thought #6

Hypochondriacs make me sick. Literally, I think I'm allergic

The "Experiment" at 2 Weeks

The ankle is finally good enough I can walk on it. I started walking on it Thursday, and I walk with a pretty nice limp right now. I'm hoping to take it easy here the next two days and by Monday it will hopefully be in good enough shape that I don't have to take crutches to work. I can still get around faster with the crutches than without. The swelling is almost gone, and now the limitation is mostly on range of movement. I figure once the ankle gets limbered up I be fine.

Peach's first Haircut

Thursday August 21, 2008 - The day Peach got her first haircut. Yes, Thursday was a big day, Sampson started school and then Peach got her hair cut. We went up to the Fiesta in Elm Grove, and Peach was very excited. She had been asking to get her hair cut for a while now and I think she was looking forward to it. Sophie wanted to wait to take her until I was off from work. At the Fiesta the first thing they do is wash your hair and Peach sat there perfectly still and got her hair washed. Then she climbed into the haircutting chair and again she didn't move. It was the longest I'd ever seen her set still while she was awake. Which is kind of scary that she enjoyed getting her haircut so much. Maybe someday her and Sophie will have Mom/daughter trips to the salon where they can be pampered and really taken care of, meanwhile old Dad and Sampson get our hair cut at home. No pampering there. Well I'll post a couple of pictures of the event, Peach looks really cute with her shorter hair.

Sampson's First Day of School

Thursday August 21, 2008 - The day Sampson started his journey into the realm of organized everyday education. Sure he had done the pre-school thing, but this was different. This was the big time. New School, new teacher, new classmates, and he said he had fun. He also said he made two new friends, but he couldn't remember their names. Basically Sophie and I went in with him to the class room and then they had someone come take the kids out to the playground, while the parents stayed in for like an orientation. It was to learn how the teacher wanted to communicate with us and what we had to do for the school year. It lasted about an hour and then we left before the kids got back. Then we came back at 2:30 PM to pick him up. So I think the schedule is like 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM, but I remember when I went to school I went from 8:15 to 3:30 then I had to walk in the snow and it was up hill both ways... anyway I had it a lot rougher. Except in Kindergarten we only went every other day, and I didn't go to pre-school for two years. I went for part of one year and by then my mom was ready to ship me off to school when I was only 4. I think she just wanted me out of the house. Well this is the start of the Sampson school journey we'll have to wait and see exactly where he ends up. Also Sophie didn't cry, I was shocked, I figured she would cry her eyes out. Way to be tough honey.

2008 Browns' Football

Well last night I watched the Browns play against the defending Super Bowl champion Giants and the Browns pretty much look like they are in mid-season form, playing a high level of Romeo ball. That is where you fall behind by 4 touchdowns and make the other team play with a really large lead, before coming back at the end of the game and having a chance to win, but still being able to give up critical first downs while the other team runs out the clock. Yes the Browns pulled it off near flawlessly Monday. They got down 30 to 3, by giving up touchdowns in just about every conceivable manner. First 2 TD tosses by Eli Manning, then a punt return for a TD, then a fumble inside the Giants 10 that was returned for a TD. Then the backups entered the game and came back. I started watching again in the fourth quarter and it would have been nice to have a commentator actually talking about the game, but instead we get Tony Kornhighser or whatever his name is, talking about golf or something. It was the dumbest thing I'd ever seen. ESPN complained up and down about not having competitive games and here is a 3 point game with less than 2 and half minutes and one of the announcers is complaining that if the game goes to O.T. he'll run out of stuff to talk about. Here's an idea, idiot, TALK ABOUT THE GAME!! I don't care what you do in your off time, people don't tune into Monday Night football to hear Tony's whimsical stories of yester year. Just talk about the game, or better yet don't talk at all. Soon enough old Tony will probably going the ranks of Dennis 'nobody understands what I'm saying' Miller as 'former' MNF hosts. Anyway the Browns' starters looked pretty bad, and knowing their personnel and the changes they made this off season I'd say 7-9, maybe 9-7 if they get some breaks.

"Experiment" - Day 11

The swelling is down a lot, but my toes are still really bruised and it is sore whenever I stand on it. I am going to try and take it pretty easy tonight and hopefully tomorrow I can walk on it. I have been putting more and more pressure on it, I just worry that I'll go a little to far and set myself back a couple of days. That would really not be a good thing.

Things that are making me mad lately

Why have a blog if you can't complain about stuff.

1) My ankle for obvious reasons.
2) NASCAR. Maybe I'm just losing interest because I know what lies at the end of the season, but all the cautions for competition and debris is ruining the races. I mean every race it seems like there is a caution with about 10 laps to go and if one of the cars doesn't cause it then there will be debris or some other fantasy yellow. Just let 'em race and who ever had the best car that day is the one that deserves to win. Not everybody wants to see Junior Jeff or Jimmy win every race. I was glad when they wrecked, because I thought we would see a good finish, but lately NASCAR has been blatant about screwing over Toyota. Gibbs put a spacer on their gas pedal so that the engine wouldn't be too powerful when then put in on the dynamo test because the Toyota's had already been penalized. So Gibbs with Toyota can build a more powerful engine, so what. Aren't they already regulated on size and and different parts they can use. Why doesn't NASCAR just build the cars/engines and have the teams show up on Sunday with a pit crew, crew chief and driver to run the races on Sunday. Wouldn't that be a lot simpler. That's enough for now.
3) The women's gymnastics' controversy. Part 1) Granted the scoring is ridiculous, when someone can fall down on a vault and still outscore someone. Now I see why they changed the scoring format to help the high-risk Chinese. Before the scoring used to be out of 10 so no matter how good you did the most you could get was 10. Didn't matter if you did eight triple back flips, as long as you met all the skill requirements the most you could get was a 10. Now you can get a 20 or 30 I guess if you do enough crazy stuff, but it begs the question:Which is truly better - A routine that isn't quite as difficult, but is perfect or a routine that is more difficult, but has some flaws in the performance. Aside from coming out and doing somersaults flawlessly, I would rather see the perfect routine get the higher score. I suspect that the rules will probably be changed again after the Olympics.
Part two of this rant includes the age controversy. I have less of a problem with younger girls competing at the Olympics than I do about the scoring. See Nadia Comaneci was 14 when she had 7 perfect 10s, and Mary Lou Retton was 14 when she won the gold, so having a 13 or 14 year old in the Olympics doesn't bother me. What bothers me is putting an age restriction of 16 in place because 'the girls' bodies are still growing and letting them compete at an early age would damage their bodies.' That statement smells, it is so full of B.S. Do the people in charge honestly think that these girls don't start training until they are 16? Heck there are probably gymnasts that have had career ending injuries before they were 12. It isn't competing in the Olympics that hurts these girls it is all the training they do from the time they are able to walk. Do you think there is a reason none of the girls are over 5' tall? To impose some artificial age restriction to make FIG feel better is crazy. These girls are already damaged, because of the systems they are brought up in. If a 10 year old can win the gold then let her try, then she can retire by 12 and have a chance to grow normally. You know unless she gets screwed by the scoring.
4) AT&T - Give me my Money!

Phelps Wins Eight

I'm sure you have heard by now what Micheal Phelps has done. He won Eight Gold medals in one Olympics, actually in 9 days of an Olympics. He broke the record of Mark Spitz from 1972 when he won 7. I might have bought into the NBC hype machine a little, but this was truly an incredible feat. I had the privilege to watch all of the events live, and I have never been that excited about a swimming race and I will probably never be that excited again. Now that he has Eight golds in one games and 14 overall, what's left. In all of the Olympics, all of the thousands of athletes who have competed he has accomplished something that no one else has. There have probably only been a handful of people who have even competed in that many events. But if the record is ever going to be touched it will probably have to be in swimming, unless there is just some phenomenal Judo/fencing/sprinting/rowing/shooting/archery/badminton star out there. There just aren't enough events in any one other discipline for someone to earn that amount of golds. Does that mean it won't happen - No, but someone will have to come with the determination, and a little luck, that Phelps has had in this Olympics. I have never heard another athlete talk about how much it meant to be an Olympian, but Phelps is truly happy and proud to be an Olympian, not just a swimmer at an international meet. He has pretty much sacrificed everything in his private life to reach this goal and it does show. I don't think he was prepared for the onslaught of interviews afterwards and I'm really not sure he would even care to do them. Other than saying thanks to the teammates that helped him win the relay golds, and telling people to never let anyone tell them they can't achieve their goals. I mean he had already tried this once and failed, if you can call winning 6 golds and 2 bronzes failure. But the way he trained and the 7 world records he set himself or helped set in the relays, just show how determined he was to meet this 8 gold goal. I am truly amazed and hopeful that he becomes a role model for a lot of kids. What a good guy (other than being a Ravens fan), Congratulations Mike.

A Week of "Experimenting"

Well after 8 days of the "experiment", my foot still hurts really bad. I can put very little weight on it, usually just for balance if I'm standing, but it does feel better when I'm moving around if I have my air cast on. It is really bruised, but the swelling has gone down since last week. At the beginning of the week it looked like I had a really bad cankle, but now the swelling looks like it is mostly just in the foot. My toes are bruised up too. Hopefully about Thursday I can start walking without the crutches. That will be Sampson's first day of school.

A slow fantasy Ending

Well I've got one more move to make next Wednesday and then I'll be down to my final move. Dusty Baker continues to refuse to play Jerry Hairston Jr. and as much as I hate to dump him I may have to use my last move to pick someone else up. After my own injury I really care a lot less about the old Ninja Frogs, and just a note: the Ninja doesn't stand for anything related to HIV. At least not for this team it is a direct play on the Ninja Turtles, and Sampson's first Webkinz.

Random Thought #5

I'm in therapy, well not now, I quit because my therapists said I was paranoid. But after she told me that, I knew she was out to get me.

Day 5 of the sprain "experiment"

Yes by calling it an "experiment" it seems I can take some of the folly out of my injury. Obviously this was just a test to determine my healing rate. If a real injury would have occurred I would have definitely let you know. Fortunately the folks at work have no problem reminding me of the fact that I hurt my ankle. Why just today the Safety Health and Environmental Coordinator managed to print out a safety share for things that should be done before enjoying recreational basketball. I pretty much didn't meet any of the requirements for "safe" basketball and I brought the list home for Sophie so she could put it up on the frig. After watching the Olympics I'm thinking I might focus all of my energy on badminton, or cornhole.

Facing the Music

Well today I made my return to work and let me tell you, I think I would have preferred a straight kick in the ankle. Thanks to Sophie's prep work everyone at work was quite anxious to have me back. Oh, there were drawings of a crutched basketball player beating up some kids, along with the expected battering over the radio and someone even brought in a basketball. Well the ankle hurt pretty good this morning and I think the swelling is going down a little because the purple is starting to come out. It will probably be at least until next week before I can really start putting a lot of weight on the leg. Hopefully by then my gold cowboy hard hat will be in at work along with the Reebok safety sandals for playing basketball. Thanks honey. Thankfully my office locks from the inside, only two more days, only two more days.