Unbridled Fun at Maw's House

Mom always said she wished she had gotten a scooter when she was younger, so for Easter she bought the kids Scooters. We told her she needed to try it out and it looks like she really liked it.

I hope she doesn't wear it out before the kids get to really use it. Also Mom was showing off her mad balling skills. Check it out.

Just goes to show you can't have too much fun at Maw's house.

iPhone obsession - over

I had badgered Sophie pretty bad about letting me get an iPhone, but she never gave in. Anyway I think my obsession with the iPhone is over. It is $200 plus you have to get a data plan for an extra $30 a month. Currently I have changed my focus to an LG Incite, which I can get for $50 with no increase in the plan. And I think there is a way to get around the GPS monthly charge and have the GPS work as stand alone, plus it is Wi-Fi capable and has windows mobile. I worry about picking up another 2 year contract though, maybe I shouldn't. I'll probably just wait.

Work Update

The black cat strikes again. There is some talk that the Big-O may have to idle production due to a lack of ore. As more details become available I will let people know, but right now Sophie and I aren't panicking. Maybe we should though, I guess you just get used to it after about the 4th or 5th time. Anyway if it does happen it won't be for at least 3 weeks, so we'll have that. There might even be some things happen that would allow for just about everyone to stay employed through the end of the year. That would be a positive. I just hate putting life on hold because of worrying about this kind of stuff, but I don't know what to do to avoid it. Eventually the recession will end because there won't be anymore jobs to lose.

Fantasy Update - Cause real life sucks even more

The Ankle Breakers have WON!!!! My first ever fantasy championship. I wonder if I can get Sophie and the kids to put up plastic everywhere and then when I get home from work I'll get some champagne and celebrate. or not. The 'Revenge of the Frogs' had a little tougher start at 4-5-1 in the baseball league, but so far this week I'm 9-0. Poor Stevie started out in last. Hey at least he let me borrow his car, while the van is in the shop. Peach says she likes it because 'it goes really fast'. Yeah it does, but the steering wheel shakes when you get much over 110 mph. Just kidding. It shakes over 80 mph. No seriously I never drove it that fast, I guess it just looks really fast.

Random Thought #9

The Command Module Pilot Job for the Apollo space missions is probably one of the most over rated jobs in the history of mankind. Only 12 people have ever been on the moon, but 6 were really, really, really close.

Getting My Feet Washed

I know what you are thinking and yes I do wash my feet on a normal basis, at least once a week whether they need it or not. But this is about Holy Thursday and Sophie asked me to get my feet washed at her church. Since she is Catholic they really celebrate all aspects of holy week and the washing of the feet takes place on Thursday when Jesus and the disciples would have had the last supper. Basically it was me and 6 other guys and we went up front and took one shoe off, got it washed by the priest, dried and then that was it. I did it because Sophie had read the kids a story about Jesus washing the disciples feet and I thought this would be a good opportunity to do something for her church and hopefully set a good example for the kids. I even got a 50 cent piece during the ceremony. Originally they asked for me and Sophie, but then they only wanted guys to do it so Sophie had to sit it out. I was kind of nervous because I had never even gone to the Thursday service before, so I had not seen the feet washing before and I was sure what all it entailed. (Oooo check that out, entailed . . . hope that is spelled right) Anyway I put the old left foot up there since that is the one I was conducting the "experiment" on and figured that the holy water and blessing and stuff would help it out. Then Sophie told me that the water wasn't holy water, but I mean the priest is handling the water, you're on the alter and what not, can it get much holier (er . . . holy-er) than that. No miracles yet, but I'm willing to give it a little time.

Blood in the Water

I think the kids at T-ball practice must have sensed weakness or something today as they started to act up during practice. I about made Sampson run laps, I told him "You are going to be the first person in the history of T-ball to run laps." But I didn't. Then we lined up and were doing fielding and we had about 4 kids with gloves on their heads. I had two kids, one being Sampson, tell me they were going to quit. I about said go sit with your moms then. Yeah, I'm the coach . . . well assistant coach . . . I actually don't think I have the power to dismiss anyone, plus you know it's instructional league so as long as the kids show up for the games and don't get seriously injured that is about as good as you can do. I think all the kids were a little stir crazy because it has been so cold and rainy lately. I'm still waiting for the old global warming to kick in. I mean is couple of days of 60° weather too much to ask for.

Twitter

I don't really care for it myself. It is the equivalent of text messaging a blog. I think it is dumb. If you want to put the time in just sign up for a blog on blogger, it ain't hard. Plus you can add pictures, video and other neat stuff. Or just answer the question 'What are you doing?' every post. Maybe I'll change my mind, but I ... wait hold the phone I could use twitter for shameless self promotion. YES, that's it, that is all it is good for, kind of a 'Hey, Look at me' and then redirect them to the old blog, where AdSense is waiting to cash in. Oh happy day. Check me out on Twitter.

Harold and Kumar go to the White House

Well Kumar at least. I guess Kal Penn has had enough of the Hollywood life, you see that is the guy who played Kumar in 'Harold and Kumar go to White Castle' and the follow-up hit 'Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay'. Haven't seen those, well he was on House M.D. on the Fox channel too... at least until Monday. This is so funny every time I need a laugh I think I'll come here and read this. See he wanted to go work for Obama, but to do that he had to leave House. And all I can figure is that Fox is somewhat of a conservative network and when he told them he was leaving they were like 'Okay, where you going' to which he said,' To work for Obama'. Then the probably said,'Yeah, don't worry we'll take care of you.' So in his last episode he is killed off. Wait not just killed off, apparently his character committed suicide. I guess he won't be coming back there. The other funny thing about this is that 'kumar' is kind of a weed addict in the movie, so now Obama is going to have this guy working for him who played a weed smoker trying to get over the munchies, a doctor who commits suicide, oh and by the way he also did a guest appearance on the show '24' as a terrorist. What's the matter did Obama run out of tax cheats to appoint to positions. Ha ha. The only position I figure he'll fit in is the Secretary of Entertainment / Snacks. Basically he would be in charge of getting good deals on refer and whenever the prez is out doing his town halls or celebrity appearances, Kal would be in charge of knowing the fastest route to the nearest White Castle. Also he could advise the president on Gitmo since he has intricate knowledge of that facility. Oh man, that is comedy gold. I really hope someone comes up with some good material for that.

Condit loses for the first time in 9 fights

Just a note I didn't think Condit should have lost in a split decsision in his first welter weight fight in the UFC. I mean I don't think Kampmann deserved to lose either, but Condit fights off his back better than just about anyone and I thought the fight was judged wrong. I mean it was a split decision so that is tough to call, but it's Condit. Oh well he'll be back. And Lyoto Machida will get his shot at the light heavy weight title in May, just like I said he should.

HESCAR Strikes again

For the second week in a row HESCAR has pushed one of the Hendrick cars into victory lane. This week Jeffy was able to get his first victory in 47 races. And at a place he had never won before. And he didn't even have the best car. But those details don't matter in HESCAR. What allowed Jeffy to win was when Greg Biffle was pushed out of the way courtesy of Dale Jr. Biff was probably the class of the field for the parts of the race that I watched, he even ran down Tony Stewart for third at the end of the race. Tony's run was very impressive as I figured he would end up way back in the field since this was his team's first try at Texas, but he proved me wrong. It really makes me appreciate his talent as a driver though, because how many people could leave a championship team go to a team that basically had nothing and yet when he starts driving for them he is competitive. I think that really speaks to his ability and I doubt that some of the other drivers could what he has done. Especially someone like Jimmy, who is only in a position to win races because he has the smartest crew chief (even though his personality is terrible and I don't care for him), and his owner spend all kinds of cash for the best stuff. If he left Hendrick he would likely be back in the pack, because let's face he is short on driving talent as evidenced by his "pass" of Denny last week. Denny made a flat out awesome move to get by on a restart, but Jimmy couldn't get by without almost wrecking Denny. Jimmy would probably run like he did in the truck series when he drove for Randy Moss and ended up 34th... out of 36... way to go... who won that race anyway, oh yeah Kyle Busch. Tony doing well is keeping me interested, but I don't know for how much longer...

Peach goes for a ride

Courtesy of Robbie or Captain Insano as he likes to be called. He took the kids a ride on a 4 wheeler around the yard and they just thought it was great. Now I think Peach wants to go for a ride on his motorcycle. Yeah (sarcasm). Anyway I think it will be a while before Robbie is allowed around the kids again. But he did do something awesome last week as he was able to get Mom to make some bread and homemade jam. No hotdog buns though. (not buns that you put a hotdog in, these are buns with the hotdog already baked in, and man are they tasty). Also this week we picked up some up the creek mustard, that would have been really great on some hotdog buns. Just kidding Mom, Love ya.

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.