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.

Very busy today at the feeder in the back yard.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

I finally moved up to a full DSLR camera. This is my new Canon T1i. This is the 18-55mm lens. I also have a 55-250mm lens. So far I’m liking it a lot, but the weather hasn’t been cooperative. I took a shot of a very cold prairie on the way home as well as the methane burn off near a landfill I pass. Both were taken hand held. Can’t wait to try out some really long exposures using a tripod.

Ups and Downs of the Week

Red Sox – Picked up Bobby Jenks today. Let’s hope he works out better than some other reclamation projects the Sox have tried (*ahem* Gagne).

John Boehner – Do people actually believe this cry baby is a stable leader? My god.

Patriots – They embarrassed the Bears on the Bears’ home field in the Bears’ home weather. They should sweep the Packers aside like so much sawdust on the floor, but those are the games where they sometimes falter. Time to send the Packers packin’.

IL budget issues – The campus is trying to save money by not plowing the parking lots. A lot of people got their car stuck on level parking lots with 6″ of unplowed snow. Safety takes a back seat to money.

More Photoshop fun – Making a dull vacation picture interesting.

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.