Ups and Downs of the Week

Bin Laden is dead – It’s about time justice prevailed. Rot in hell, bastard.

Red Sox – It keeps getting worse. Outscored 20-2 in the last two games.

Bruins – Up 3-0 against the Flyers. They could take the series tonight.

Update: They did it. Bruins sweep the Flyers. Well done, guys!

Celtics –  Not completely unexpected, but they look bad against the Magic.

Decent Weather – Finally getting into springtime temps.

Ups and Downs of the Week

Red Sox – Back to their losing ways

Bruins – Won the series against Montreal. Excellent.

Celtics – Swept the Knicks away.

Nasty Weather – What a mess down south. Just missed us, thank God.

Decent Weather – Looks like it might finally dry out here. The farmers need a dry spell to get their fields planted.

Ups and Downs of the Week

Red Sox – They finally won, and against the Yankmees no less, but what a horrible start to the season. 1-6 does not make them look like contenders. The pitching has been abysmal (with the exception of the 1-0 loss where Lester was superb). John Farrell must be having a good laugh.

Warm Friday Afternoons – Talk about therapy. I had a rough week ending with a depressing day, yet this afternoon was warm and sunny and I drove the 55 miles home with the top down on my Z4 and the tunes cranking. I arrived home in a very good mood. Best therapy in the world.

Mac Minis – Very cool little devices. Hook one up to an HDTV via HDMI cable and and you have a very capable HD media center/computer console. Throw in an HD webcam and you have an excellent video-phone to use for video calls to friends and relatives. The downside is the $650 price tag which does not include HDMI cable, keyboard, mouse, or the RAM needed to make it truly useful. If Apple would get off their high horse and charge reasonable prices for their cool devices, maybe they’d gain wider acceptance.

Ups and Downs of the Week

5th Anniversary – I started this blog 5 years ago today.

Japanese Disaster – The nuke problem seems better one day, disastrous the next. And for a country with such wealth and technology, they seem to be having a hard time getting food, water, and basic necessities to the people in need.

Formula One – Started today with practice for the Grand Prix of Australia. And this year it’s being broadcast in full HD. This picture does not do it justice. Take my word for it, the picture quality is awesome. Add to that HD broadcasts of Red Sox baseball via DirecTV and MLB Extra Innings, and I’m a happy sports fan.

Formula One in HD

Goodbye to Spring – For a while at least. Temps earlier this week were in the mid-70s. Now they’re in the 30s and 40s and snow, SNOW!!, is in the forecast. Bummer.

Ups and Downs of the Week

Japan Earthquake/Tsunami – The news keeps getting worse. Possibly more than 10,000 deaths, a nuclear disaster in the making, whole cities destroyed. One city had just a few concrete buildings left standing and one of them, a three story building, had cars and debris on the roof. The tsunami must have been incredible to cause that.

DirecTV – So far, so good. Much better reception and image than with Mediacom cable. Can’t wait for baseball season to start.

Libyan No-Fly Zone – The last thing the US needs is any level of involvement in yet another Middle Eastern conflict. What are they thinking?

Springtime weather – Into the 70’s by Monday. The Z4 is coming out of storage this weekend. Can’t wait.

Ups and Downs of the Week

Sam Adams Noble Pils – Glad they brought it back. Good stuff.

NFL – While state workers and teachers are in danger of losing their livelihoods in the name of balancing state budgets, the NFL prima donnas on both sides of the table are arguing over how best to split up their billions. Something is very wrong here.

Springtime – Still one more snow storm coming, I think. But the days are getting longer and warmer and soon we’ll be into DST.

Oil Prices – Supply and demand have been pretty stable, but the price of oil climbs by the minute, mostly due to speculator fears (read: greed). “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” Indeed.

Ups and Downs of the Week

Being sick – I went to my doctor’s office for a quick check of BP on Monday and started feeling awful on Wednesday. Coincidence? Maybe. Nonetheless I’m battling the worst cold I’ve had in years. I hate being sick. We’ve had awesome weather the last few days, too. And I’ve been stuck inside feeling miserable. Thank God for Nyquil.

Nick Heidfeld/Robert Kubica – Renault confirmed this week that veteran F1 driver Nick Heidfeld will be replacing the injured Robert Kubica as their primary driver for a good part if not all of the 2011 season. It’s great to see a talented driver like Heidfeld back in the field, but it still sucks that Kubica is not because of his injuries. I wish Kubica a speedy recovery and Heidfeld an outstanding season.

The view from our living room this morning and iced trees around Eastern Illinois University.

Well, to be honest, round two was a dud. We got another inch or two of a sleet/snow mix, but that was it. The ice really took its toll, though. The interstate was closed in a few places and the trees caught some grief. Our neighborhood thankfully has power, but everything immediately outside our neighborhood has been without power since last night. That power loss took out the local cable feed, so we have no TV, land-line phone, or cable internet. Luckily I have a Verizon Mifi hotspot, so we can still get online. Champaign got away with much less snow than expected as well. Still, it was a good choice for the university to cancel classes today as bad as the ice was.

This was the scene in my backyard just before dusk. The cat in the bird feeder is staring at the cardinal, the deer is staring at the cat, and the poor cardinal just wants some peanuts.