Ups and Downs of the week.

  Done with my courses – Thank God. And none in the spring, either.

   Our lying governor – He really is a sociopath. How he can stand there in front of the whole country and deny doing anything wrong is beyond me.

  Weather – It’s already been a crappy winter and it’s not even Christmas yet. We’re heading out to New England on Sunday or Monday *if* the weather permits. At least we’re driving, so no hanging out in airports for hours like last year.

 Boston Celtics – 16 wins in a row. Going for #17 tonight. UPDATE: 17 it is.

 Bruins – Still kicking butt. Serious goal production from the offense.

Ups and Downs of the week.

   Gas prices this week – Yesterday morning regular was $1.48. It had been going down, so I decided to wait to fill up on the way home. That afternoon, when I was just about out of gas, the price had jumped to $1.65, so it cost me $3.40 more to fill up than it would have that morning. Today it’s back down to $1.59, so I could have saved $1.20 if I had been able to wait. Now I know this is all bus fare as far as money goes, and I’m very glad I’m paying only $30 or so to fill up, but the constant up and down drives me nuts. It’s like they just decide that Thursday will be ripoff day and jack up the price for a day.

   Our esteemed governor – He and his trash-mouth wife are a pair of self-serving, cold-hearted crooks. And he even has the gall to deny doing anything wrong despite tapes recording his despicable behavior.  Unbelievable.

  End of the semester – I need this break.

  Mount Washington Observatory (MWOBS) vest – Thin, light, and very warm. Best buy I’ve made in a long time. Had to buy one for Sarah because she kept stealing mine.

 Boston Celtics – 14 wins in a row. Incredible. This team could even surpass last year’s dominators.

 Bruins – Also looking good this year. Finally.

Ups and Downs of the week.

  Cranberry Sauce - Best part of a Thanksgiving dinner. 

   Research Papers – I swear, no more after this semester. 

  Inniskillin Eiswein – Very tasty. 

   Black Friday nutcases - Willing to injure others to save a dime. Pathetic. 

  Gas prices - Still down. Hope it lasts until we get back from our Christmas trip.

Ups and Downs of the week.

  Progress – Dad is finally out of the cardiac hospital and into a rehab hospital. Now the rebuilding begins. He’s lost a lot of muscle and will need to learn to walk again, but it’s a step towards home. He’s happy and so are we. I’m hoping he’ll be home by Christmas.

   Saturday morning tests – What an awful time to plan a final; the Saturday starting a big vacation week.

  Time off - Even though it’ll be a working “vacation,” it’s time I need badly.

    Big Three Auto Company Bailout – On the one hand it’s important to try to keep people working, but on the other they still have to sell cars, which they haven’t really been able to do effectively.

   The Economy- Getting worse by the day.

I mean a real vacation. Something with a beach and warm breezes and bottomless Margaritas. Some place where my mind can just drift. No phones, no kids, no cold rain, no school work, no server worries, no email, no internet, no driving, no newspapers, no TV. Maybe a good book would be ok.

It seems lately that annoyances are everywhere. Last weekend we went out to eat at our favorite Indian restaurant in Champaign. Just after we sat down, a family came in and I knew right away they’d be obnoxious. The two kids, especially the little boy, were quite loud and the parents’ only reaction to their outbursts were to shhhh them. Over and over and over. Then the kids starting singing “Frère Jacques” and the parents joined in!! So instead of my wife and I having a nice dinner conversation, we were treated to two verses of the world’s most annoying song. We couldn’t get out of there quickly enough. Then this past weekend we went into our favorite Thai place in Urbana and the same family was there!! No singing this time, but the same “this is our living room” attitude. Luckily the place filled up and the generic background noise drowned them out.

Today I received a laptop from our office in Chicago. This laptop is a Dell with the idiotic Media Direct button on it. Apparently the owner pushed the button by mistake and it now will only boot to Media Direct. After searching for answers online, I learned that this is a common problem with such laptops. The Media Direct application overwrites the Master Boot Record (MBR), supposedly temporarily. However, in many cases it’s irreversible. Good thinking Dell. Even Dell support failed to correct the issue, so they suggested reformatting and reloading the OS. All the remedies I found online failed to bring the OS back to working condition, so I decided to stop wasting time and I started over from scratch. Just what I needed to start this week.

To top it all off, this whole week is supposed to be cold, gray, and rainy. Fits my mood perfectly.

 This is where I’d rather be.

How on earth can a major TV station screw up so badly that they miss the 1st inning of a Major League Baseball playoff game? Pathetic.

Ups and downs of the week. 

  Red Sox – Time to play ball! 

   The Trop – The major league’s crappiest stadium.

  Modern Medicine – Dad is going to be ok. Docs are optimistic. I’m the first one to complain about high medical bills, but my Dad’s doc and the hospital he’s in are worth every last dime.

    Debates – They’re really just an opportunity for a candidate to feast on his/her own foot.

  Margaritas – Last ones of the summer (ok, it’s autumn, but it’s going to be 80F this weekend).

   McCain’s Homeowner Bailout Plan – Both guilty parties get a break, the rest of us foot the bill. What’s wrong with this picture?  

Ups and downs of the week. 

  Formula One – Racing under the lights in Singapore. Very cool. 

   Gas shortages – This could get much worse.

  Red Sox – Well, they threw in the towel on the AL East title, but they’re still in the playoffs.

    Debate – Not much substance, but Obama showed he can run with the big dogs.

  Coffee – Nothing better in the morning.

   Cancer – It took Paul Newman today. We need to find a cure.

  O’zapft ist!- The annual rite of Oktoberfest starts in Germany this weekend. What I wouldn’t give to be there. Webcam here.

  Stock market – I hate having my retirement future subjected to the whims of the greedy slime that run amok in the NYSE.

  Red Sox – They’ll make it to the post-season, but will they get past the Angels or the Rays?

  Politics – I’m getting so sick of it.

  Fall weather – Cool at night, warm during the day. I love it.

Ups and downs of the week.

 US Olympic Team – Doing well, as always. Although I do wish they’d go back to amateur athletes only.

  Olympic cheaters - When will they learn?

 Red Sox – Looking pretty good in August. Still, they can’t gain ground if they don’t win when TB loses. And TB doesn’t lose very often.

  Tropical Storm Fay – Almost a week after first making landfall in Florida, this storm is still dumping misery on that state. By the time it’s done, it will have touched every square inch of that state.

  Kitties – Cute bunch.

 Microsoft’s maps.live.com – Finally caught up with the University of Illinois with some decent hi-res images. They’re about a year old, but it’s better than what has been available until now.