Shoe Shine & Stuff

So I was getting my shoes shined today, and noticed that the guy, who has been shining my shoes for a few years now, has the hariest ears...it looked a little like this..



GROSS!!!

The Songs of the '90s

Given the snow storm this morning, I took a little extra time to leave for work, which meant I was unable to listen to the normal radio talk show I listen to (The Junkies).

Also, I was in my wife's car, and she had the radio on, tuned to Sirius Channel 9 (Songs of the 90s).

These were the 3 songs I heard:

• R. Kelly: Bump 'N Grind
• Dave Matthews Band: Stay
• Biz Markie: Just a Friend

Lets review what has happened to these folks since these songs were on the radio (in the '90s that is)

• R. Kelly has been found trying to Bump 'N Grind with small children
• Dave Matthews Band has exploded, and become, for the most part a world-wide band
• Biz Markie has ballooned to about 7,000 lbs. and in a quick google search of him, found that this past weekend he was "play[ing] the music for the sixth annual Marty Small Ball"

Keep up the great work guys!

Nothing Exciting...

to report today...I guess for those of us who have jobs, we are pretty lucky. 50,000 job cuts in one day, is a pretty harsh slice of reality.

Has anyone else, by chance, noticed that gas prices have been steadily rising again? Does that make you nervous that we might be headed towards $4.00+ again?

Maybe more tomorrow!

Parenting a Walking Child

Look, I realize I only have 1 child, who is not yet mobile, so from a parenting perspective, I am a little "green"

Also knowing the lifestyle that my wife and I live, I can only imagine that our little one is going to be a terror, once he can move by himself...

However, the idea of placing my child in a "harness," also known as a "leash" is a little unnecessary! Don't you think? Here is what I am talking about!

E-Mail Etiquette

From an E-Mail Etiquette perspective, I really hate nothing more that the worthless act of sending an email that says nothing more than "Thanks!!!"

Just be re-assured that you did your job, and provided the information/data that was requested of you and move on. I am not going to feel any better about the job that I did, with your half-hearted email response back to me. You are also, at that point, wasting my time and simply clogging my inbox.

DON'T DO THAT ANYMORE!

Candy...the Best & Worst???

I just had a fresh twizzler...you ever had a candy you have not had in a while, and think...damn that was good...it got me thinking about the most over-rated vs. under-rated candy around:

UNDER-RATED (in no particular order):

• Reeces-Pieces
• Twizzler (must be fresh)
• Starburst (must be fresh)
• Gummy-Bears
• Mr. Good-Bar
• 100 Grand

OVER-RATED (in no particular order):

• Almond Joy
• Mounds
• Krakel
• Hersheys Special Dark
• 3 Musketeers

What am I missing???

Prez B.O.

I went into his speach with an open mind...I really really did!

I was looking to be up-lifted, to be awe-inspired, to be excited about what was to come.

I came away as though this was a debate/rally. I will look to the State of the Union speach for some more content, and some more intent on what he is going to do next!

Are You Sure???

I was in Philly this past weekend for a wedding, and ran into a very small conveniance store. They were selling all the usual crap, include tons of inauguration "gear."

Something caught my eye, and as I took a closer look, I thought to myself, the hatmaker, probably needs a fact-checker, prior to going to production:

GWB Cont...

As promised, the following are my thoughts (in a nutshell) on his speech last night:

• This guy never got a fair shake. Between 9/11, Katrina/Rita, 2 Wars (and over 4,000 Soldiers dead), and the Economic downturn, its not like all this stuff was "his fault"
• I think he did a great job of holding his head high, having pride in the job that he had done, and ensuring all knew how proud he was to be an American
• Looking back at Bullet #1, it is easy to see why President Clinton had such high ratings...nothing ever happened in his 8 years
• He generally seemed to have faith and excitement for President-Elect Obama. Not as a Repub vs. Dem, but as a "citizen" to use his term
• I have no issue with his use of "good vs. evil." People who do not understand, also might have issue with "right vs. wrong."
• I loved how he called out the individual success stories. With all the news all the time around death, destruction, and poverty, its really nice to hear about the "good" people

Only time will tell about his legacy, but something tells me, it will not be as bad as everyone is making it out to be.

Just my 2 cents!

GWB

I have some thoughts on President Bush's farewell speach last night, which I will get to later...but he provided a quote that resonated with me...

President Thomas Jefferson once wrote, "I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past."

More to come...

Gross...

I was just in the bathroom, going #1, and while washing my hands, some guy walks in...hocks the biggest loogie into the sink, and then leaves it there.

When I walked by to grab some paper towel, it was just sprayed across the drain, slowly seeping in. He didnt even have the courtesy to wash it down!

Are You Kidding Me???

I wanted to punch him the face, but I dont think they would keep me employed after that!

Fave 5...

So I was just reading a recap of last night's great win by the Caps over the Pens, when I noticed the advertisement at the top of the ESPN page. I captured a screen shot:



This led me to think about 2 things...

1. T-Mobile must not watch the news. While I think Charles Barkley is a funny dude, getting a DUI does not exactly make him a poster-child for the Cell-Phone business

2. It got me wondering who was in C-Bark's Fave 5??? Here is my guess:

Websites Today...

specifically, the big boys, seem to be adding so much content, of all varieties, text, video, picture, etc. that is significantly slowing the sites down.

It is frustrating to go to espn.com for example, and have to wait for the site to load, despite my high speed connection.

Furthermore, there is so much content, that it is hard to focus on your original intention. I kinda miss the old espn, pgatour, cnn, etc.!

Morning Commute...

So this morning, I got a free car wash at Mr. Wash, in Arlington, thanks to "The Junkies" promotion.

I am driving to work in my nice clean car, listening to The Junkies and I look over and see a middle-age, overweight woman BLASTING Celine Dion at 815 in the morning.

I can understand news, sports talk radio, Howard Stern, and some light tunes....but Celine Dion in the morning....

I don't know about you...but nothing gets me fired up to go to work, than listening to this anorexic bag of wind!

Lax Season...

is right around the corner, and I am excited about it. Everytime the Spring / Early Summer season is over, I am burned out from playing and more so, officiating, but given the long layoff (I have been idle for about 7 months), I am ready to get back into it...

This Saturday is the US Lacrosse Convention in Baltimore. Should be a good time.

Let the Season Begin!

Random Musings Continued...

Again...in no particular order:

• There is a somewhat expensive sushi restaurant near the office. I really like Spider Rolls and have a new found appreciation for Seaweed salad. It is far better than the typical Asian green salad with that weird orange dressing.
• Great win for the Arizona Cardinals the other night. I am silently rooting for them to win it all.
• While I am not the biggest fan of the Steelers, I would like to see them advance to the SB, based only on the fact that I hate the Ravens, and having to listen to Ray Lewis for 2 weeks would simply be unbearable.
• I just got my 1st pair of polarized sunglasses, which makes it hard for me to read certain screens in my car. I like the glasses a lot, but that is a little frustrating.
• My grandfather used to say that "Used-Car Salesmen are the sleaziest people around!" He was right!
• Next Tues (inauguration day) is going to be a zoo in DC. I want no part of that!!!
• I just downloaded the Google Mobile App for my blackberry...very cool feature.
• Caps go 0-2 over the weekend. For some reason the Blue Jackets (and specifically, Steve Mason) just have the Caps #.

Random Musings

In no particular order:

• Despite being January 8th, it does not seem as though the holidays have ended. I know my birthday is weaved in there, but it just seems as though there has been a steady flow of festive activity since pre Dec 25th.
• In a possibly related note, maybe this activity is tied to the fact that there are sill bowl games being played. I am fine with there being 34 Bowl Games. I dont really care, but it does seem sill that the National Championship is being played on Jan 8th. Whatever happened to the Champion being crowned on New Years Day???
• I was at the Verizon Store today getting my blackberry worked on, and saw yet another woman with a mullett. Are they coming back in fashion?
• Since some horrible corporation decided to tear down the Taco Bell across from my house about 6 months ago, I have only had it once. I keep seeing these commericals for the bacon-cheddar gordita and wanted to give it a shot, as cheese and bacon are 2 of my favorite things. It was a horrible disappointment!
• On yet another kind of related note, I went to the Dr. for a physical yesterday. I am healthy! He told me my Cholestorol was a little high, and need to reduce my pork, beer, dairy, and eggs by 10%. Those are my 4 favorite things...what does he want me to eat...fruit and veggies??? (by the way, as this relates to Taco Bell, I am starting my 10% reduction next week)
• I am excited about the press that the Caps are getting. People around here are starting to realize that not only do they have a great team, but hockey is a fantastic sport to watch, and is a lot easier with HD, than it use to be!
• You can't go wrong with a Brooks Brothers standard non-iron white shirt! Always looks good!

More to come!

I need this...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090106/ap_en_ce/eu_britain_princes

but I dont think my company would allow it...

Damn Royals!!!

30

Today is my 30th Birthday.

I dont feel old!

I feel the same as yesterday...

I still have a few gray hairs that the Asian woman at Hair Cuttery likes to make fun of me about...but I do not think it is because I am 30!

It is what it is! What is the big deal?