Here's a sign that I'm so not ready to be working and getting up early again. And yes, it's day 2 of my new job.
This morning, I decided to make oatmeal for breakfast (and yes, I'm at least 68 years old). Well, you know the part where you have to heat up some water before putting it with the oatmeal? Well, obviously it's easy to microwave it, right?
Except, when you forget to put water in the cup. Yeah, I just microwaved an empty mug for 3 minutes.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Just Because
I probably don't have any real reason to blog tonight, other than the fact that I want to try and be a little more consistent with updating this thing, like I used to be, way back when I started it almost 2 years ago.
You'd think that, all things considered, I might actually have a few things to write about, considering that in the last few weeks I've gotten a job, gotten my diploma (hi $30,000 piece of paper), celebrated a birthday, got an iPod, and started going to the gym on a more regular basis. That's a lot of shit that I could have talked about.
And yet, I totally don't. This is mostly a self imposed pressure, but because I know most of my friends read this at some point or another, I feel compelled to keep this nice and light, and entertaining, and funny. (Even though I'm the opposite of funny, really)
Strangely though, the fact remains is that when I started to learn that I liked to write, or had any ability to do so, a long time ago, I did it as a kind of catharsis for when I had bad days, or weeks, or whatever. Truthfully, that wouldn't play here, for a number of reasons. See, when I was taking writing classes in HS, it was the opportunity to be autobiographical without being blatantly so. I wasn't a very skilled writer then (not that I am more of one now), so I'm sure it seemed pretty obvious when I was referring to certain things. This, however, this blog, has always been unabashedly self-referrential, so when I have a bad day, or negative thoughts, they are on display for everyone to see, should I choose to write about them, which, as you may have noticed, I try not to as much anymore.
That's the thing, as I've grown as a person, and learned that I don't always have to wear my emotions on my sleeve, I've become better at putting at least a tolerable face on the days that I don't feel that great. And, we all have those days. The ones where things just don't feel quite right. Where you don't feel right in your own skin, where you question the decisions that have placed you at the station that you are in life, and wonder about your self-worth.
I had one of those days today. And it's not that I couldn't talk to almost any of my friends about it, b/c I know that I could. Generally speaking, they are a wonderful group of people, each in their own way. It's just that, what's the point? There are certain things that don't change overnight, no matter what anyone says. But, if I don't say anything and then write about it here, I wonder that isn't that just the same as telling everyone I know about it?
That's all, just kind of needed to get that off my chest.....
(oh, and Duke lost tonight in the first round of the tournament, so, you know, if the sun didn't come up tomorrow, for whatever reason, I suppose that wouldn't be all bad....)
You'd think that, all things considered, I might actually have a few things to write about, considering that in the last few weeks I've gotten a job, gotten my diploma (hi $30,000 piece of paper), celebrated a birthday, got an iPod, and started going to the gym on a more regular basis. That's a lot of shit that I could have talked about.
And yet, I totally don't. This is mostly a self imposed pressure, but because I know most of my friends read this at some point or another, I feel compelled to keep this nice and light, and entertaining, and funny. (Even though I'm the opposite of funny, really)
Strangely though, the fact remains is that when I started to learn that I liked to write, or had any ability to do so, a long time ago, I did it as a kind of catharsis for when I had bad days, or weeks, or whatever. Truthfully, that wouldn't play here, for a number of reasons. See, when I was taking writing classes in HS, it was the opportunity to be autobiographical without being blatantly so. I wasn't a very skilled writer then (not that I am more of one now), so I'm sure it seemed pretty obvious when I was referring to certain things. This, however, this blog, has always been unabashedly self-referrential, so when I have a bad day, or negative thoughts, they are on display for everyone to see, should I choose to write about them, which, as you may have noticed, I try not to as much anymore.
That's the thing, as I've grown as a person, and learned that I don't always have to wear my emotions on my sleeve, I've become better at putting at least a tolerable face on the days that I don't feel that great. And, we all have those days. The ones where things just don't feel quite right. Where you don't feel right in your own skin, where you question the decisions that have placed you at the station that you are in life, and wonder about your self-worth.
I had one of those days today. And it's not that I couldn't talk to almost any of my friends about it, b/c I know that I could. Generally speaking, they are a wonderful group of people, each in their own way. It's just that, what's the point? There are certain things that don't change overnight, no matter what anyone says. But, if I don't say anything and then write about it here, I wonder that isn't that just the same as telling everyone I know about it?
That's all, just kind of needed to get that off my chest.....
(oh, and Duke lost tonight in the first round of the tournament, so, you know, if the sun didn't come up tomorrow, for whatever reason, I suppose that wouldn't be all bad....)
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Things Parents Just Don't Understand Volume 39
Ok. Honestly, at 28, I shouldn't be making jokes about things that my parents don't get. However, sometimes, they, despite being great people, good parents, and relatively intelligent people, do manage to amaze me with their lagging in certain realms.
So, I headed home this past Sunday, to spend some time with them to celebrate my birthday, and my mother's, which is a relatively normal thing this time of year. Of course, I made this trip with a pretty hefty hangover, courtesy of Saturday night, but, that part can wait.
Over the course of the day, my father mentions that he's looking at a new set of irons for the upcoming summer. Apparently, old age hasnt' quite caught up with him yet, and he doesn't need the graphite shaft irons he bought a couple of years ago. Good for him. He also mentions that he's a little concerned about the price of said irons, b/c for as often as he golfs etc, he wonders if they're really worth it.
I asked him if he'd looked on eBay for them. You know, since you can get a lot of stuff cheaper on eBay. If words were actually physical items that came out of my mouth, the eBay suggestion would have been snatched out of the air and stomped to death by my mother before they even had a chance.
Apparently, according to my mother, who controls the spending, eBay, and in the world of shopping on the internet in general is populated by scammers, liars, and people generally looking to take advantage of you.
So, of course, I made the point that a venture, any venture, couldn't exist for as long as eBay had if the majority of the people using the site were dishonest. The whole system would implode upon itself.
That argument actually almost swayed her. Then, I brought out the heavy hitter "Mom, look, do you want to see if you can save some money on these clubs, or what?"
That at least got her to agree to let me show her on the computer how "the eBay" worked.
There, I got to answer questions about how to find stuff, etc, the usual. That stuff I could live with. Finally, I found a set that was going for about $150 less than he was going to pay for them in the store. There was like an hour left in the auction.
Mom: "Are you sure these are new clubs?
Me: Yes
Mom: How do you know?
Me: It says right there that it's a new set
Dad: These clubs just came out this year, so they would almost have to be new
Mom: Are you sure?
Me: Well, since the picutres still show the plastic sheathing around the shafts, I'm going to guess so. Besides, this guy has a strong rating, so I'm guessing that he's honest.
Mom: A good what?
Me (trying to be patient. And failing): His rating, when you sell something on ebay, the person that buys it gets to give feedback on the item and your service, etc. A higher rating means that he's sold a lot of items, and if he's got a real high percentage of positive ratings, that means that he's a good, honest seller. (Note: This guys rating was like 2300 something, and it was 100% positive. I think we were safe)
Mom: Well, if we get them, how do we pay for them? I'm not giving this person my credit card #
Me (at this point, I don't want to explain PayPal) Well, I'll tell you what, since I already have an eBay account, I'll get the clubs, use my PayPal account, and send them to your office. Fair? Just write me a check.
Mom: Well, if you think it's safe. If I don't get the clubs though, you're giving me my money back.
Me: Outstanding.
Moral of the story? I got my dad his clubs for about 135$ less than he would have paid in the store for them. And my parents didn't learn anything.
I told my dad that when he retires, he should take one of those community college classes or something that they offer for older people, that would help him really understand the internet. His statement? "I understand the internet!"
Trust me. He doesn't.
So, I headed home this past Sunday, to spend some time with them to celebrate my birthday, and my mother's, which is a relatively normal thing this time of year. Of course, I made this trip with a pretty hefty hangover, courtesy of Saturday night, but, that part can wait.
Over the course of the day, my father mentions that he's looking at a new set of irons for the upcoming summer. Apparently, old age hasnt' quite caught up with him yet, and he doesn't need the graphite shaft irons he bought a couple of years ago. Good for him. He also mentions that he's a little concerned about the price of said irons, b/c for as often as he golfs etc, he wonders if they're really worth it.
I asked him if he'd looked on eBay for them. You know, since you can get a lot of stuff cheaper on eBay. If words were actually physical items that came out of my mouth, the eBay suggestion would have been snatched out of the air and stomped to death by my mother before they even had a chance.
Apparently, according to my mother, who controls the spending, eBay, and in the world of shopping on the internet in general is populated by scammers, liars, and people generally looking to take advantage of you.
So, of course, I made the point that a venture, any venture, couldn't exist for as long as eBay had if the majority of the people using the site were dishonest. The whole system would implode upon itself.
That argument actually almost swayed her. Then, I brought out the heavy hitter "Mom, look, do you want to see if you can save some money on these clubs, or what?"
That at least got her to agree to let me show her on the computer how "the eBay" worked.
There, I got to answer questions about how to find stuff, etc, the usual. That stuff I could live with. Finally, I found a set that was going for about $150 less than he was going to pay for them in the store. There was like an hour left in the auction.
Mom: "Are you sure these are new clubs?
Me: Yes
Mom: How do you know?
Me: It says right there that it's a new set
Dad: These clubs just came out this year, so they would almost have to be new
Mom: Are you sure?
Me: Well, since the picutres still show the plastic sheathing around the shafts, I'm going to guess so. Besides, this guy has a strong rating, so I'm guessing that he's honest.
Mom: A good what?
Me (trying to be patient. And failing): His rating, when you sell something on ebay, the person that buys it gets to give feedback on the item and your service, etc. A higher rating means that he's sold a lot of items, and if he's got a real high percentage of positive ratings, that means that he's a good, honest seller. (Note: This guys rating was like 2300 something, and it was 100% positive. I think we were safe)
Mom: Well, if we get them, how do we pay for them? I'm not giving this person my credit card #
Me (at this point, I don't want to explain PayPal) Well, I'll tell you what, since I already have an eBay account, I'll get the clubs, use my PayPal account, and send them to your office. Fair? Just write me a check.
Mom: Well, if you think it's safe. If I don't get the clubs though, you're giving me my money back.
Me: Outstanding.
Moral of the story? I got my dad his clubs for about 135$ less than he would have paid in the store for them. And my parents didn't learn anything.
I told my dad that when he retires, he should take one of those community college classes or something that they offer for older people, that would help him really understand the internet. His statement? "I understand the internet!"
Trust me. He doesn't.
Monday, March 05, 2007
More Reasons to Hate Duke.....
Wow, so I haven't written here in two weeks? That's kind of bad form, isn't it? I guess I haven't had much inspiration lately. And yes, I'm aware, it's just a blog, you'd think it shouldn't take much to get me to write about something, ANYTHING. You'd think, at least. Apparently, that's the case though.
However, there was something that happened yesterday evening, that is getting more than it's share of press, and opinions written about it, that I couldn't resist. As most of you know, I hate all things Duke related. This is as much a function of my fandom for UNC as it is a product of just never really seeing much that I liked about Duke. Mind you, I didn't attend either school, nor did I grow up in, or near, North Carolina. It's just one of those things that's always been. I couldn't trace the exact roots of it if you paid me. It's just that simple.
So, as anyone who catches a glimpse of Sportscenter knows, yesterday Duke and UNC played their second game of the year at Chapel Hill, with not much more of importance on the line than the regular season ACC title for UNC (a nice to have, but not vital) and nothing but pride for Duke, (no comment).
Sporting a double digit lead with less than 20 seconds left, as you may have seen, one of Carolina's stars, Tyler Hansbrough, was shooting free throws. He missed them both. He got his own offensive board, because a) he's kind of crazy, and rebounds anything that moves, regardless of the situation and b) Duke isn't a good rebounding team. Having secured a rebound 3 feet from the hoop, he did the rational thing: He tried to put it back in. The hoop would have been meaningless, as the game was basically decided.
That's when a lot of stuff starting flying. Gerald Henderson through the air. His forearm into Hansbrough's face. Blood from Hansbrough's nose. A lot of empty explanations and lies. And defense of the action from the typical Duke apologists.
In short form, Henderson's blast through Hansbrough (a "hard foul" if your an apologist) got him tossed from the game, and a one game suspension to boot. After the game, Coach K said that it was unfortunate that there were still starters in the game at that point, and that his player (Henderson) wasn't trying to hurt anyone, b/c that's "not how Duke plays".
Here's my thoughts.
1) The whole thing was garbage. It was senior day, and with a little over a minute left, and still spoting a double digit lead, Williams had put back in Wes Miller, and left Rayshawn Terry (a third senior) in the game. Bobby Frasor (who also doesn't start) was in. The fact is, UNC is deep enough that they probably have 8 or 9 guys that would start at most of the programs in the country.
Duke was still pressing. Apparently, UNC was supposed to put the back end of it's roster in there and let the Black and Blue Devils pick their way back into it. I forgot that it's in the ACC bylaws that Duke is entitled every extra-ordinary opportunity to win a game that it can't win based on talent, coaching, and execution.
2) Saying that Henderson wasn't trying to hurt anyone is like saying that Barry Bonds has never shoved a needle in his ass. Do I think he was trying to bludgeon Hansbrough out of the game? Doubtful. But, there are different levels of hurt, I think. There's the kind that knocks someone out of a game, then there's the "send a message" style. The message being that Carolina was going to try and score anymore with the game more than likely out of reach, then they were going to pay for those buckets with bumps and bruises. Remember, Coach K comes from the Bob Knight school of coaching. That would be the school of coaching that belittles refs, throws tantrums the sidelines, and takes losing as a personal insult. It's "old school" which is a polite way of saying "occasionally dirty" Which is what that foul was.
To that end, it was dirty, and should be treated as such. I don't think that a one game suspension is enough, and it certainly won't deter it from happening again. It wasn't the first UNC player bloodied by a Dukie, and it won't be the last. However, I give the Dean Dome fans, and the UNC players, a lot of credit for not exacting any physical revenge. As Henderson was exiting, it would have been easy for the fans to throw things other than insults at him. They didn't. And, with only 14 seconds left, Carolina could have afforded to send a little used player in there to take a shot at a Duke player, but they didn't. I would have liked to see Roy Williams get a little more fired up over the whole incident, especially when he had a chance to give Coach K an earful while the officials were reviewing the tape. Then again, Roy also had the satisfaction of knowing that he's taken 4 of 5 from Duke, and that with the relative talent levels of the past two years recruiting classes, he's in good shape to take 4 of the next 5. That would be the best revenge of all.
However, there was something that happened yesterday evening, that is getting more than it's share of press, and opinions written about it, that I couldn't resist. As most of you know, I hate all things Duke related. This is as much a function of my fandom for UNC as it is a product of just never really seeing much that I liked about Duke. Mind you, I didn't attend either school, nor did I grow up in, or near, North Carolina. It's just one of those things that's always been. I couldn't trace the exact roots of it if you paid me. It's just that simple.
So, as anyone who catches a glimpse of Sportscenter knows, yesterday Duke and UNC played their second game of the year at Chapel Hill, with not much more of importance on the line than the regular season ACC title for UNC (a nice to have, but not vital) and nothing but pride for Duke, (no comment).
Sporting a double digit lead with less than 20 seconds left, as you may have seen, one of Carolina's stars, Tyler Hansbrough, was shooting free throws. He missed them both. He got his own offensive board, because a) he's kind of crazy, and rebounds anything that moves, regardless of the situation and b) Duke isn't a good rebounding team. Having secured a rebound 3 feet from the hoop, he did the rational thing: He tried to put it back in. The hoop would have been meaningless, as the game was basically decided.
That's when a lot of stuff starting flying. Gerald Henderson through the air. His forearm into Hansbrough's face. Blood from Hansbrough's nose. A lot of empty explanations and lies. And defense of the action from the typical Duke apologists.
In short form, Henderson's blast through Hansbrough (a "hard foul" if your an apologist) got him tossed from the game, and a one game suspension to boot. After the game, Coach K said that it was unfortunate that there were still starters in the game at that point, and that his player (Henderson) wasn't trying to hurt anyone, b/c that's "not how Duke plays".
Here's my thoughts.
1) The whole thing was garbage. It was senior day, and with a little over a minute left, and still spoting a double digit lead, Williams had put back in Wes Miller, and left Rayshawn Terry (a third senior) in the game. Bobby Frasor (who also doesn't start) was in. The fact is, UNC is deep enough that they probably have 8 or 9 guys that would start at most of the programs in the country.
Duke was still pressing. Apparently, UNC was supposed to put the back end of it's roster in there and let the Black and Blue Devils pick their way back into it. I forgot that it's in the ACC bylaws that Duke is entitled every extra-ordinary opportunity to win a game that it can't win based on talent, coaching, and execution.
2) Saying that Henderson wasn't trying to hurt anyone is like saying that Barry Bonds has never shoved a needle in his ass. Do I think he was trying to bludgeon Hansbrough out of the game? Doubtful. But, there are different levels of hurt, I think. There's the kind that knocks someone out of a game, then there's the "send a message" style. The message being that Carolina was going to try and score anymore with the game more than likely out of reach, then they were going to pay for those buckets with bumps and bruises. Remember, Coach K comes from the Bob Knight school of coaching. That would be the school of coaching that belittles refs, throws tantrums the sidelines, and takes losing as a personal insult. It's "old school" which is a polite way of saying "occasionally dirty" Which is what that foul was.
To that end, it was dirty, and should be treated as such. I don't think that a one game suspension is enough, and it certainly won't deter it from happening again. It wasn't the first UNC player bloodied by a Dukie, and it won't be the last. However, I give the Dean Dome fans, and the UNC players, a lot of credit for not exacting any physical revenge. As Henderson was exiting, it would have been easy for the fans to throw things other than insults at him. They didn't. And, with only 14 seconds left, Carolina could have afforded to send a little used player in there to take a shot at a Duke player, but they didn't. I would have liked to see Roy Williams get a little more fired up over the whole incident, especially when he had a chance to give Coach K an earful while the officials were reviewing the tape. Then again, Roy also had the satisfaction of knowing that he's taken 4 of 5 from Duke, and that with the relative talent levels of the past two years recruiting classes, he's in good shape to take 4 of the next 5. That would be the best revenge of all.
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