While everyone else is kicking back and enjoying the summer, I’m right in the middle of my busiest time. Summer is the only time I have access to the lab and classroom PCs. Plus it’s the time to weed out old student accounts and files and create new ones. Add to that my two college courses and things get a bit tight.

We’re redoing plans for trips this summer so I can spend more time here and less traveling. Not an easy choice, but it will give me more time to use later in the year when things aren’t so hectic (he said hopefully but perhaps foolishly).

Hitting the books again is taking some effort. It’s been 11 years since I’ve had to do homework. Neither course is particularly difficult, but they’re both time consuming. I’m hoping the payoff is worth the effort.

The Red Sox are somehow able to retain the best record in baseball despite their lackluster efforts lately. Luckily the other teams in the AL East are playing worse, although Toronto is showing signs of improvement. There have been a couple of pitching efforts in the past week which fit my earlier post about doing a job better than the pros. Kason Gabbard’s pitiful showing the other night comes to mind. I could easily walk batters, give up a hit, hit a batter, and be down 3 runs in the first inning. I could do it blindfolded with my non-throwing arm tied behind my back. Piece-o’-cake. And I’d save them some salary bucks to boot. 🙂

Nice weekend coming up. Time for a trip to St. Louis. Trader Joe’s is calling my name. 😎 So’s the lawn, unfortunately.

I’ve often watched “professionals” at work and thought, “I could do that at least as well.” And since some of these pros get paid big bucks, I could even do what they do more efficiently as well. In other words, I could attain the same level of mediocrity for less money. To wit:

1. Weatherman – I mean, I could easily be wrong 50% of the time. Piece-o’-cake. I wouldn’t even need all the fancy computer stuff. Just give me a 3×5 card painted sky blue with a hole in the center. I’ll walk outside, look up through the hole, and see if the colors match. If they do, hey, it’s going to be a nice day. If not, well…

2. Relief pitcher – I could easily throw four balls or lob a home run ball to end a game. I’d do it for half the money the lowest paid MLB pitcher gets and smile all the way to the bank. I know damn well I could throw a baseball from 20 feet in front of home plate to the first baseman close enough for him to catch it. Are you listening, Mike Timlin?

3. Copy editor – Ok, maybe this one is not so easy. I suppose you could really get burned out reading so much drivel. But I’ve seen one too many tpyos, grammatical errors what any kid would know, and, excess, commas, that slipped by folks whose careers revolve around getting it right on paper.

4. Traffic engineer – I can’t remember the last time I saw a properly timed series of traffic lights. Champaign is definitely in need of a good traffic guru. Neil St comes to mind. Indianapolis is another nightmare that needn’t be. Maybe cities are too cash strapped to afford traffic engineers. If so, my apologies to the profession.

5. Sporting event TV director – I was watching the Formula One race from Monaco (Monte Carlo) a few weeks ago and the French TV feed director kept missing important racing action to show the faces of the mechanics in the pit lane. I mean repeatedly. It would have been comical if he hadn’t missed so much on-track action. And then during a recent Red Sox/Yankmees game, we got to see a close up of Alex Rodriguez’s face over and over and over. Plus we got to hear about his antics through the entire show. Maybe A-Rodent owns a big piece of ESPN, who knows.

Not much going on lately. The semester is winding down, the Red Sox are winning again, Manny came out of his slump in a big way last night, and there’s still a few weeks left to enjoy the mostly deserted backroads here. This is one of my favorites. It’s flat, smooth as glass, and completely devoid of sight line obstructions.  😎

Nice sunset captured by the Mt. Washington summit cam.

I found another webcam that’s oddly captivating. This is the entrance to the Nürburgring race track. On non-race weekends, anyone is allowed to take his or her vehicle on the track to test its limits (or their own). The highlight of the course is the 14 mile long Nordschleife section. Several deaths occur here each year when drivers overstep the limits of their ability or their vehicle. Such a thing would never survive in our lawsuit happy land. What makes this webcam fascinating is the endless parade of high end super cars rolling though the image. Equally fascinating are the cars that make you go, “Hunh??” like the station wagon in the lower left of this image. Can’t image he stood much of a chance against the two Porsches behind him.  🙂

Ok, so Jonathan Papelbon isn’t a god after all. He’s just another guy who can have a bad night. Can’t win ’em all, I guess. 🙁

Ok, so I’m mixing sports. Still, anytime the Red Sox can sweep a series with the Yankmees, it deserves mention. And setting a team record of four consecutive homers was fun to watch, although I’m disappointed that Willy Mo didn’t send one into the Charles to make it five in a row. Sox are looking good this seas….er, wait a minute. Last time I raved about them on this blog they immediately nose dived into oblivion. Maybe I’ll shut up now.  😉

And because it deserves repeating: Jonathon Papelbon is a god. 😎

Truer words were never spoken. Sarah and I were out at a really surprisingly good restaurant down the highway from us tonight (see Greasy Spoons) and they had the Red Sox/Yankmees game on the TVs over the bar. I got to keep an eye on the game and was pretty disappointed to see the Red Sox about to slip into a tie for 1st place in the AL East with the bums in stripes. It was 6-2 against going into the 8th when we left the restaurant. As soon as we got home, I turned on ESPN to just catch the analysts talking about a great come-from-behind win for the Red Sox. Arrrrrghhh. I missed it. Oh well, still better than a loss.

Yogi Berra is a genius, btw. 8)

It may not feel like it, but it’s baseball season again. The hopes of Red Sox Nation begin anew. Yesterday the Sox bats were colder than the weather. Shame, too, because Wakefield pitched well. Here’s hoping they have a great game for Tuesday’s home opener.   😎

Update: Sox lost again to the Rangers, the ‘Ruins lost their last game (disastrous season), and the Celtics lost. Heck of a day to be a Boston sports fan.   🙁

Update (Sun, 4/8): Jonathan Papelbon is a god.  🙂

I’ve long been a fan of Formula One. It’s the pinnacle of motor racing with awesome technology, incredible driving talent, and some pretty involved strategy. This promises to be a really interesting year with some veterans changing teams and several extremely talent newcomers. Add in the best team of announcers in any sport (SpeedTV crew), and you have a great way to spend a few hours on Sunday mornings.  😎