Ups and Downs of the Week

Barn Fire – While it’s sad that these folks lost their pole barn, an RV, a ’73 Mustang, and some other equipment, it’s very good that it wasn’t their house and no one was hurt. The temps here today were hovering around zero, so props to the firefighters for dealing with this in such nasty conditions. Hell, in *any* conditions. Firefighters are my heroes, mostly because fires are my greatest fear. Anyone who braves a fire for a living is a better person than I.

Red Sox – Paps and Ells are signed. All the pieces are in place. I cannot wait for this season to start. I may switch to DIRECTV and get the MLB Extra Innings package this season so I don’t have to deal with MLB.TV’s lousy service.

New England Patriots – One and done again. What is it about this team that makes them forget how to dominate when it *really* counts? They used to be able to win the big game. But since the Super Bowl debacle with the Giants, they seem more concerned about not losing than they do about winning (to paraphrase Patton).

Gabby Giffords – Moved to a rehab hospital already. Simply amazing. While the element of luck can’t be overlooked here, there is no doubt a good deal of courage and determination are also evident. The entire country is hoping for a full recovery for her, I’m sure. Politics be damned.

Motorola Citrus – I picked up a new phone this week. It’s a Motorola Citrus. I wanted something that would cost me nothing (got it as an upgrade), would do email push from Exchange (had to buy a $20 app called Touchdown), and work with the BMW Bluetooth hands-free setup in my cars. This phone pretty much fits the bill. There have been few snafus, though, so the jury is still out. I may still need to move up to a Droid2 or DroidX, which I was trying to avoid. The one thing this phone has over those other two is size. It’s no bigger than my old RAZR. Easy to slip into a pocket.

Veterinarians – We’ve been battling cancer with a cat of ours for months now. She’s really gone downhill the past week and we thought she was near death, so Sarah brought her to the vet with the idea that we may put her down and end her suffering. But the vet said we could try some steroids and some hydration by injection. Lo-and-behold, the cat is doing better and actually ate something tonight, which she hasn’t done in days. She’s still not long for this world, but she’s going to be with us a bit longer thanks to the knowledge and dedication of people who choose to practice medicine for animals.

Ups and Downs of the Week

Three-Day Weekends – I know we just came off the Christmas break, but I really need this long weekend.

Flooding in Australia – Yikes! Talk about serious flooding. Over 3/4 of the state of Queensland (700,000+ sq mi) is flooded. That’s an incredible amount of water.  (As an aside, I love the guy setting his axle locks for four-wheel drive while wrestling with an umbrella. I mean, does it really matter if you get a little wet?)

Tax Hike – Illinois *finally* joined the rest of the US and upped its income tax to a level that might just sustain the government. They failed to raise the tax on cigarettes, though. They also failed to pass legislation to borrow money to pay their immediate debt needs, but that was a two-edged sword to begin with. Maybe not increasing the state’s debt will be a good thing.

Red Sox – I’m so looking forward to this coming season. Papelbon and Ellsbury both went to arbitration today. I think they’re very attractive lures if the right fish comes along. If they stay, all is good. If they get traded for more big-name talent, all is good. Classic win/win.

Arizona Shootings – So many sad stories here. This is what happens when a person with a severe mental illness can walk into a Walmart and buy a gun. I’m ok with 2nd Amendment rights, but let’s at least start doing *real* background checks before we hand out deadly weapons. And what’s with newly elected Senator from Illinois Mark Kirk calling for the death penalty for the shooter? What part of “mentally ill” is beyond his comprehension?  This was a tragedy in every sense of the word, but this Loughner guy is clearly a very sick person. Many people out there knew he needed help but did little. So now we just execute him? Think again, Senator Kirk.

Gabby Giffords – Talk about a combination of strength and luck. One in a million people could survive being shot in the head. But to survive a through-and-through head shot and be sitting up communicating with family in a week? Un-be-lievable. This woman will be back in Congress soon. Maybe her suffering will open some eyes and bring a little decency to the floor. Maybe.

Ups and Downs of the Week

Yo, Adrian! – Adrian Beltre signed a 6-year, $96 million deal with the Texas Rangers this week. While I think the Rangers are auf dem Holzweg, I don’t begrudge Adrian his windfall. He should kiss his agent, though. In other good baseball news, Sox-killer Matt Garza has signed with the Cubbies, which means the Sox won’t be seeing much of him this coming year.

Time – Another year gone by. Tomorrow I hit 52. Time is sliding by faster and faster every year. Scary sometimes. On the other hand, I still feel young mentally, like I really haven’t hit my stride yet. Sometimes the physical aches and pains remind me that the freight train of antiquity is pulling into the station, but my general outlook is that I have a long way to go. My psyche is feeling like my body is committing treason. Strange.

iPhone/Verizon – Supposedly the iPhone is coming to Verizon in February. *If* it’s not too pricey and *if* the data plan is reasonable, it may be time to upgrade my trusty old RAZR. I really like my iPod touch, and having the phone and iPod combined in the iPhone would be a nice move. But I’m leery of Verizon’s penchant for gouging customers for their data plans with high demand equipment.

Chuck and Lauren – My nephew got married to a (by all accounts) very special girl. ‘Bout time! I look forward to meeting her. Welcome to the family, Lauren.

Ups and Downs of 2010

Family – Although we’ve been through some illnesses and injuries, we’re all still healthy and doing ok. There’s a lot to be said for that. Our own family here has grown with the addition of some new cats and kittens. They’re a lot of work, but they’re worth it.

Economy – Despite some positive (and I use that term lightly) indicators, the economy is still in the dumpster and shows few signs of recovering soon. I’m halfway through the third year of a pay freeze, although I am very glad I still have a job. The oil companies and speculators are in the act of committing wholesale robbery again, but the rest of us won’t be seeing an increase in income in the near future.

Red Sox – Another roller coaster season. They did very well considering injuries and such, but they faded badly at the end, mostly due to really poor pitching performances. On the bright side, they’ve picked up Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, and Bobby Jenks, so 2011 is looking pretty sweet right now. Can’t wait for April.

Patriots – Talk about a surprising season. Most folks had predicted they’d be lucky to have a winning season. Instead they’re leading the NFL. Amazing coaching by Belichick and another banner year for Brady have lifted them to home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Amazing.

Miracles – Or maybe just really good planning. Either way, it was the year’s bright spot to see the Chilean miners make it out of that hell hole alive.

Airline Travel – It gets worse and worse. Between the nightmare of getting through TSA’s gauntlet and the continued mismanagement of the airlines themselves, there is no shortage of really pissed off fliers out there.

Technology – Some really cool stuff appeared on the scene this year. Apple and Android led the way with a quantum leap in mobile computing. My personal tech inventory got a boost this year from a very nice 42″ HDTV and new Canon T1i DSLR. Plus I saw most Red Sox games on the new HDTV thanks to my Roku box (although a mini-thumbs down to MLB.TV’s poor service, which almost made the whole deal worthless).

Education – Mine is done. At least the formal part of it. I completed my degree program and was awarded my Master of Science degree on Dec. 20th. So glad that’s behind me.

Ups and Downs of the Week

Done with School – Defended my thesis (CCK) this week, so I’m done. My degree requirements are complete. No more school for me.

Congress – Can it get any worse?

Patriots – Kicked NY Jets to the curb where they belong. Now they need to dominate the Bears to cement their position as the premier NFL team this year.

Red Sox – They finally opened the purse strings and bought some serious talent. I’m really looking forward to next season now. They still need some starting pitchers and mucho bullpen help.

Ramsau Webcam – Caught a ghost family crossing the bridge.

US Postal Service – The single worst way to ship anything. My order from NY made it from the shipper in some small town in upstate to Forest Park, IL (Chicagoland) in a day. Somehow 3 days later it still hasn’t made it downstate to my door. Pathetic.

Ups and Downs of the week.

Photoshop – I should be designing Christmas ornaments.

Patriots – Doing well so far. Monday night is their chance to finally hold the lead in their division. Or be firmly in second place.

Catbirds – Not exactly what I was hoping for when I put this feeder up.

Ups and Downs of the week.

Christkindlmarkt – The annual Christmas markets opened today in Europe. I’d love to be there. A nice hot Glühwein and a tasty bratwurst are perfect while strolling through the market stalls. Doesn’t get any better. Some year we’ll spend Christmas in Europe. Below are live webcams of the markets in Nürnberg and Salzburg. Two of my favorite cities.

Nürnberg Christkindlmarkt

Salzburg Christkindlmarkt

Black Friday – Always seems to bring out the worst in people right at the time of year when we’re supposed to be seeing the best.

Patriots – They looked shaky at the start against Detroit, but then they turned it around in the 2nd half. Still can’t shake the Jets, though. The Red Sox were in the premium division this year and it appears the Patriots are as well.

Ups and Downs of the week.

Thesis Paper – Finally done. Just need to defend now, which should be a piece of cake.

Burn After Reading – I’ve been looking forward to watching it tonight, but it was so bad I finally turned it off. I understand the story is about the dark sides of life taken to the level of absurdity, but I don’t find humor in watching people going through painful episodes (which means, I suppose, that I don’t “get” dark humor even though I recognize it when I see it). And while I don’t mind profanity when the situation calls for it, I do mind when it becomes an overused “prop” in a movie. I stopped snickering at profanity before reaching adolescence. Now I just find it annoying when it comes up multiple times in every sentence. Call this one Burn Before Watching.

Patriots – They showed up against Pittsburgh. Maybe they really are a team to watch this year. Still tied with the pesky Jets, though.

Winter Sunsets – They can be pretty spectacular here.

Ups and Downs of the week.

Weather – It’s been a gift week with daily temps in the 70s. I taken the Z4 to work every day with the top down mornings and evenings. Very unusual for November. It’s all coming to an end this weekend, but it was great while it lasted.

Microsoft Office 2010 – Seems like change for the sake of change. So frustrating to work with.

Decent Contractors – Last week I ranted about unreliable contractors. Well we finally got our downstairs furnace working. Same contractor who rebuilt the upstairs system. Should have gone back to them in the first place.

Patriots – Got their butts kicked by the Browns. The Steelers game will be a real test of their caliber.

Ups and Downs of the week.

Isringhausen BMW – Good to know there are still dealers who will stand behind their products.

Unreliable Contractors – Seems to be the norm for this area. The economy may be in the dumps elsewhere, but around here contractors blow off work so often they must have a ton of it coming in.

Patriots – Best record in the NFL. Randy who?

Spammers – Get a life already. Losers.

Gross Injustice – An Oakland, CA transit cop kneels on a prone suspect, draws his pistol, and shoots the kid in cold blood. The whole thing gets captured on video leaving no doubt as to what happened. And yet he gets a whopping two years, reduced by the time he’s spent behind bars already. Unbelievable.