Ups and Downs of the Week

Spring Training starts – Baseball is coming.

Ups and Downs of the Week

Tim Wakefield retires – One of the Red Sox greats, even if he doesn’t make it to Cooperstown.

Bruins – They started the season in a slump, played awesome for a couple of months, and now they can’t string together a couple of wins. Didn’t we just see this movie?

Ups and Downs of the Week

Patriots – Another embarrassing Super Bowl loss at the hands of Eli Manning and the Giants.

Signs of Life – Formula One testing has started and tomorrow is Red Sox Truck Day, so spring is not that far off.

Winter Doldrums – It’s turned cold and with no snow, there’s nothing but brown to photograph. Not much to do other than stay inside and wait for warmer weather.

Airlines – Despite new rules which are suppose to show you your total cost up front, some airlines (ahem, American) are still hitting you with last second fees when you book a flight. They tell you the cost of your trip, but then you have to choose a seat. Want to sit in a window or aisle seat? That’ll be another $20 each way. Want to sit next to your wife? That means one of you has to buy one of the aforementioned aisle or window seats. What a crock. When will these morons get the message that people would rather see one ticket price that includes everything rather than playing this stupid game of paying for each little thing which should be included in the ticket price?

Ups and Downs of the Week

Weather – Weird, but very welcome.

Weird

Bruins – Looking like another Stanley Cup winning team.

Ups and Downs of the Week

Bruins – First place in the Eastern Conference.

Airline Baggage Rules – The bozos who drag huge luggage onto planes and hold everyone up while they try to stuff it into overhead compartments don’t have to pay a dime. But those folks who do it right and check their baggage get robbed. Someone please explain.

Home Sweet Home – Always good to get back. And we still have a few more days off.

Ups and Downs of the Week

Bruins – A little two game stumble this week, but back to their winning ways.

Phone Scams – These vermin should be locked away for decades.

Backroad Commuting – You never know when a nice scene will appear. And you’ll certainly never see it from the highway.

Ups and Downs of the Week

New Photo Website – I have so many pictures that it’s hard to use just this site to show them. So I created Sensor Perceptions to use as my photography showcase. Right now I only have a couple of galleries from our recent Las Vegas trip, but I’ll add more as I go along.

Pujols to the Angels – Now the Sox will be seeing a lot of him.

Verizon 4G – Talk about fast. I’ve seen download/upload speeds of 15/10 Mbps. Pretty impressive for wireless.

UPSMI – Stands for UPS Mail Innovations. If there is a worse way to ship something, I hope to God I never see it. I ordered an eye cup for the viewfinder on my camera two weekends ago. It shipped from NY last Monday (the 5th). I might finally get to tomorrow (the 13th). How does it take 8 days to get something so small from NY to IL? Easy. Ship it via UPS Ground from NY, go past IL to Kansas City, MO, then give it to the US Post Office to ship it back to Champaign, IL for eventual delivery. For this I paid $3.95. Unbelievable.

Ups and Downs of the Week

Bruins – 12-0-1 to close out November. That moved them from mid-pack to first place. They’re looking like the champions they are.

Head colds – Second one in a month. This is one I got from Sarah who got it on our way back from Vegas. Doesn’t seem like it’s going to linger for days like the last one did, though.

Bobby Valentine – For better or worse, he’s the new manger of the Red Sox. One thing is for sure; it won’t be a boring season.

Ups and Downs of the Week

Las Vegas – Just got back from 5 days there. Great place for pictures and dining. I’ll have pics up soon.

Crowds – It’s not really the crowds as much as the few inconsiderate jerks who make the crowds nearly unbearable. The ones who stand and chat in choke points are the worst.

Patriots – They seem to have found their way again. Should be an easy coast to the division title from here.

Christkindlesmarkt – The annual Christmas Market in Nürnberg is on again.

Ups and Downs of the Week

Patriots – Surprise, surprise. They handily beat the Jets and seem to have turned things around.

Vacation – One whole week off. I’m going to enjoy it.