She has my brother's blue eyes, certainly.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Sunday Night SOC...
- Thank you, STL Cardinals, for finally showing up in KC. Your continuous team brain cramps while playing the Royals were beginning to frustrate and confound this blogger. A 6-3 road trip would have been preferable but 5-4 will have to do.
- So sad to say to goodbye to you, JS, but you were out of options here in the 'Lou and the change of scenery will do you good. Your magnetism drew me out of my comfort zone on several occasions. Thanks for getting me into biking.
- Had a nice visit with adorable niece Lydia after work on Friday evening. She's nearly 6 months old now and is growing up fast!
- Had a short intro phone chat with a possibility tonight...where will it lead?
- I'm not much better this year at sand volleyball than I was the previous summers I have played. Still the fellowship is enjoyable.
- Massive sales in the stores...added to the summer wardrobe yesterday.
- Some local access channels have appeared on my AT&T U-verse television service. I've really missed them since I switched.
- 4:00 p.m Friday afternoon. It happened again. Another internet shutdown happened, at the worst possible time for a newspaper to lose internet connection. With no network administrators in the house. This time it was on our end and thank goodness our network administrators appeared out of nowhere to isolate the problem. I was only a half-hour late leaving work, thank goodness.
Will it go 'round in circles? Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky? My latest purchase from the iTunes store.
- So sad to say to goodbye to you, JS, but you were out of options here in the 'Lou and the change of scenery will do you good. Your magnetism drew me out of my comfort zone on several occasions. Thanks for getting me into biking.
- Had a nice visit with adorable niece Lydia after work on Friday evening. She's nearly 6 months old now and is growing up fast!
- Had a short intro phone chat with a possibility tonight...where will it lead?
- I'm not much better this year at sand volleyball than I was the previous summers I have played. Still the fellowship is enjoyable.
- Massive sales in the stores...added to the summer wardrobe yesterday.
- Some local access channels have appeared on my AT&T U-verse television service. I've really missed them since I switched.
- 4:00 p.m Friday afternoon. It happened again. Another internet shutdown happened, at the worst possible time for a newspaper to lose internet connection. With no network administrators in the house. This time it was on our end and thank goodness our network administrators appeared out of nowhere to isolate the problem. I was only a half-hour late leaving work, thank goodness.
Will it go 'round in circles? Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky? My latest purchase from the iTunes store.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
A Whole Mess Of Pictures...
I got busy with my camera phone today:
This was lying (laying?) in the street near my house this morning. Never heard of them.
The P-D Business News dept. rejoined the main newsroom today, one floor up from where they'd moved several years ago. This is the former P-D composing room across the hall from the Tech Services dept. where I work. I will miss seeing them every day.
I received this promo in the mail the other day. Thanks, Sprint!
This is kinda hard to make out, but that's news artist John Shew (near the staircase) hand-illustrating a drawing for the paper. He's actually not using a computer, folks. Neat, huh? That spiral staircase leads up to the P-D newsroom.The Gambler...
Today's P-D Sports section featured a story by our summer sports writing intern Drew Schmenner. Drew profiles Anthony Rivera, a young man from one of our suburbs who got into playing poker as a freshman at Mizzou, then dropped out to pursue it full time. He's on the professional circuit now but I found his story to be kinda sad and depressing. Check it out:
I hope that's a misquote or something taken out of context because that's not normal human behavior, to me at least.
Mizzou dropout gambles on gambling, hits jackpot
This quote shook me: "Rivera's frustration mounted during his losing spell in the dingy fraternity basement. Determined to make the transition from casual player to expert by learning "real poker" as a sophomore, the business major used a $1,000 scholarship check to get started.
"Like any normal human being, I put it on the Internet and started gambling with it," Rivera said.
This quote shook me: "Rivera's frustration mounted during his losing spell in the dingy fraternity basement. Determined to make the transition from casual player to expert by learning "real poker" as a sophomore, the business major used a $1,000 scholarship check to get started.
"Like any normal human being, I put it on the Internet and started gambling with it," Rivera said.
I hope that's a misquote or something taken out of context because that's not normal human behavior, to me at least.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Sunday Night Stream Of Consciousness...
- Memo to St. Louis Cardinals: You took 2 of 3 from the BoSox this weekend...you could have just let this one slide without dragging it out 13 innings. I took my dog for a LONG walk after the ninth inning; the game was still going on afterwards. I went and bought groceries; the game was finally over. This was like a prize fight where the two boxers keep punching each other until one of them goes down and stays down. Hate these kind of games...
- Speaking of the Cardinals: this half-season has seen more injuries than a full season of "ER." Seriously! Little Cesar Izturis was minding his own business Friday night when one of his hamstrings decided to strain itself. To the DL he goes. Another player made his major league debut today. ANOTHER player. That makes like, 15 or something. Other teams would have tanked by now but this is a LaRussa team, which makes all the difference. I do concur with the local baseball writers who wonder exactly has control over the 25-man roster. Some of the roster moves, or non-moves, try the fans' patience.
- Almost lost a hard drive on Friday; one of the baseball writers brought in his ailing laptop Friday morning and a co-worker and I worked feverishly to rescue what we could. For a computer technician, the hardest phone call to make, the one you dread, is the one where you call someone and tell them their hard drive has failed beyond all hope of recovery. Luckily, that wasn't the case this time.
- I had dinner and a movie with a small group of friends Friday night. Dinner was at Red Robin, where cheeseburgers come in 25 different flavors. Leave it to me to request a basic cheeseburger and fries. You go with what works, folks. The movie was "Get Smart." I'm really not a fan of Steve Carell so I was pretty non-plussed. There were some moments of hilarity, though.
- I spent an embarrasing amount of time last week situating my home-entertainment situation. My new television arrived on Tuesday so I drove over and picked it up after dinner. I had to drill a couple of new holes in the rear of my entertainment center to accommodate HDMI cables. It wasn't until yesterday that I finally got everything situated to my liking. I rented "2001: A Space Oddysey" to fully test the capabilities of the new screen and DVD-player. Everything is working just fine, as it turns out. I felt as if I were in the space pod next to Keir Dullea while we traveled through mind-bending visuals on the way to Jupiter and the Infinite Beyond. My sub-woofer was sub-woofing mightily; massive, massive rumbling, baby.
- I'm sorry, Chili-dog, but it was past time to get your nails trimmed. I'm sorry I forgot to warn the girl about your nails' long quicks. Maybe if she knew that she wouldn't have nipped you twice and drawn blood. The beef-flavor rawhide bone was a nice treat afterwards, right? And aren't you so glad I was with you during the thunderstorm?
- So now that Tiger Woods is out of the picture for the rest of the golf year, does the average guy care about golf any more? And are his fellow golfers secretly rejoicing that they don't have him in their way? I'm with the P-D's Dan O'Neill, who wrote today that as well as Tiger played on his bad knee at the U.S. Open, he should go ahead and play out the year. He was super-human in that tournament, folks.
- Speaking of the Cardinals: this half-season has seen more injuries than a full season of "ER." Seriously! Little Cesar Izturis was minding his own business Friday night when one of his hamstrings decided to strain itself. To the DL he goes. Another player made his major league debut today. ANOTHER player. That makes like, 15 or something. Other teams would have tanked by now but this is a LaRussa team, which makes all the difference. I do concur with the local baseball writers who wonder exactly has control over the 25-man roster. Some of the roster moves, or non-moves, try the fans' patience.
- Almost lost a hard drive on Friday; one of the baseball writers brought in his ailing laptop Friday morning and a co-worker and I worked feverishly to rescue what we could. For a computer technician, the hardest phone call to make, the one you dread, is the one where you call someone and tell them their hard drive has failed beyond all hope of recovery. Luckily, that wasn't the case this time.
- I had dinner and a movie with a small group of friends Friday night. Dinner was at Red Robin, where cheeseburgers come in 25 different flavors. Leave it to me to request a basic cheeseburger and fries. You go with what works, folks. The movie was "Get Smart." I'm really not a fan of Steve Carell so I was pretty non-plussed. There were some moments of hilarity, though.
- I spent an embarrasing amount of time last week situating my home-entertainment situation. My new television arrived on Tuesday so I drove over and picked it up after dinner. I had to drill a couple of new holes in the rear of my entertainment center to accommodate HDMI cables. It wasn't until yesterday that I finally got everything situated to my liking. I rented "2001: A Space Oddysey" to fully test the capabilities of the new screen and DVD-player. Everything is working just fine, as it turns out. I felt as if I were in the space pod next to Keir Dullea while we traveled through mind-bending visuals on the way to Jupiter and the Infinite Beyond. My sub-woofer was sub-woofing mightily; massive, massive rumbling, baby.
- I'm sorry, Chili-dog, but it was past time to get your nails trimmed. I'm sorry I forgot to warn the girl about your nails' long quicks. Maybe if she knew that she wouldn't have nipped you twice and drawn blood. The beef-flavor rawhide bone was a nice treat afterwards, right? And aren't you so glad I was with you during the thunderstorm?
- So now that Tiger Woods is out of the picture for the rest of the golf year, does the average guy care about golf any more? And are his fellow golfers secretly rejoicing that they don't have him in their way? I'm with the P-D's Dan O'Neill, who wrote today that as well as Tiger played on his bad knee at the U.S. Open, he should go ahead and play out the year. He was super-human in that tournament, folks.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Be Proud Of Me!...
The weather turned G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S today so I took the opportunity to knock out a several miles on the bike after dinner THEN moved on to the Y for 45 minutes more of gym time.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Sunday Night Stream Of Consciousness...
- Poor Yadi Molina; he took the Bruntlett of that home plate collision this afternoon. If C Dunc's throw is anywhere close to the correct side of home plate, we wouldn't be having this conversation. Lucky for him later that Utley's relay throw to Flash Gordon didn't go as planned so he got to be today's hero. Anthony Reyes is today's feel-good story. He was just recalled from minor-league exile and happened to be the last pitcher standing today, so he got the win.
- Father's Day tasted as good as Mother's Day did a few weeks ago. The bro, sis-in-law, and adorable Lydia spent the weekend with the in-laws so the parents met me at Tucker's for lunch. I bought my Dad a nice thick filet mignon. He's more than deserving. I also got him a nice card and the new CD by James Hunter - more on him later. Oh, and he got some Chili-time at my house after lunch. I'd say he had a pretty good day.
- Boy, the blinds above my bed were really dirty tonight. Guess I should have cleaned them at least once since they were installed a couple of years ago.
- Sometime this week I will take possession of the 40" Samsung LCD HD-television that I bought from Ultimate Electronics last week. They were all sold out because the price on that particular model was oh-so-right that many people took advantage before I did. Of course, I had to upgrade my DVD-player as well. Hey, the old stuff was 10 and 8 years old, respectively. It was time.
- got a phone number, should I call?
- As previously blogged, I saw Willie Nelson in concert for the first time in my life last night. Should have gone long before then. Willie was, well, Willie. I couldn't see it in the air but I could smell it. His two teenage sons are playing in his band now. They have a little band of their own and opened the show with a few songs. My seat was in the lower balcony, four rows from the front, just to the left of center. Not bad for waiting until Friday to buy. I was more than a little frustrated with the woman in front of me at the will-call window who suddenly decided to purchase tickets for an upcoming Dolly Parton concert. It was five minutes till show time and she was dickering with the box office clerk for the best available seats, oblivious to those around her silently steaming.
- The second opening act was a British cat named James Hunter. I'd not heard of him prior to checking him out online on Friday. He does retro Motown-style soul, blues, and R&B. His records could have been released in 1965 and they sound authentic. Think early Wilson Pickett and Jackie Wilson and you'll be in the neighborhood. He really wowed the crowd with his sound and sweet vocals.
- Got a bit of poison ivy itch going on on both my forearms. It was part of what my weed-whacker whacked out of my ivy patch last week. I wore long pants but it apparently blew up on my arms.
- A-B is rumored to be mounting a "mexican defense" to fight off its hostile European suitor. ("mexican defense" refers to A-B's purchase of the other half of a Mexican brewery that it already owns half of, thereby making themselves too expensive to take over.) If it works, maybe they can sell it to the St. Louis Rams. It's about the only one they didn't try last season.
-- Very relevant topic we're exploring at my church currently - living life on "empty" (sub-topic: what are you filling your tank with?) The scripture texts are all from Ecclesiastes. 3:14a is a pretty cool verse:
- Father's Day tasted as good as Mother's Day did a few weeks ago. The bro, sis-in-law, and adorable Lydia spent the weekend with the in-laws so the parents met me at Tucker's for lunch. I bought my Dad a nice thick filet mignon. He's more than deserving. I also got him a nice card and the new CD by James Hunter - more on him later. Oh, and he got some Chili-time at my house after lunch. I'd say he had a pretty good day.
- Boy, the blinds above my bed were really dirty tonight. Guess I should have cleaned them at least once since they were installed a couple of years ago.
- Sometime this week I will take possession of the 40" Samsung LCD HD-television that I bought from Ultimate Electronics last week. They were all sold out because the price on that particular model was oh-so-right that many people took advantage before I did. Of course, I had to upgrade my DVD-player as well. Hey, the old stuff was 10 and 8 years old, respectively. It was time.
- got a phone number, should I call?
- As previously blogged, I saw Willie Nelson in concert for the first time in my life last night. Should have gone long before then. Willie was, well, Willie. I couldn't see it in the air but I could smell it. His two teenage sons are playing in his band now. They have a little band of their own and opened the show with a few songs. My seat was in the lower balcony, four rows from the front, just to the left of center. Not bad for waiting until Friday to buy. I was more than a little frustrated with the woman in front of me at the will-call window who suddenly decided to purchase tickets for an upcoming Dolly Parton concert. It was five minutes till show time and she was dickering with the box office clerk for the best available seats, oblivious to those around her silently steaming.
- The second opening act was a British cat named James Hunter. I'd not heard of him prior to checking him out online on Friday. He does retro Motown-style soul, blues, and R&B. His records could have been released in 1965 and they sound authentic. Think early Wilson Pickett and Jackie Wilson and you'll be in the neighborhood. He really wowed the crowd with his sound and sweet vocals.
- Got a bit of poison ivy itch going on on both my forearms. It was part of what my weed-whacker whacked out of my ivy patch last week. I wore long pants but it apparently blew up on my arms.
- A-B is rumored to be mounting a "mexican defense" to fight off its hostile European suitor. ("mexican defense" refers to A-B's purchase of the other half of a Mexican brewery that it already owns half of, thereby making themselves too expensive to take over.) If it works, maybe they can sell it to the St. Louis Rams. It's about the only one they didn't try last season.
-- Very relevant topic we're exploring at my church currently - living life on "empty" (sub-topic: what are you filling your tank with?) The scripture texts are all from Ecclesiastes. 3:14a is a pretty cool verse:
"I know that everything that God does will endure forever" (NIV)
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Google Street View Maps...
now include major chunks of the St. Louis area! For the unitiated, Google Street View (part of their Google Maps content) brings you to a street-level view of what you're looking at. A car roamed the streets last year and snapped the pictures you see. Try it out - go to http://maps.google.com and punch in the address of my employer--the St. Louis Post-Dispatch--900 N. Tucker Blvd, 63101 and look for "Street View" in the inset window. You'll see what I see every day! Click in the window and drag your mouse around to move the picture in any direction.
They didn't get my neighborhood. but did get all the way to the intersection at the entrance.
The P-D's "director of social media" blogged about it here.
They didn't get my neighborhood. but did get all the way to the intersection at the entrance.
The P-D's "director of social media" blogged about it here.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Sunday Night SOC...
- It was a quiet weekend 'round these parts. I drug out the ol' Toro weed-eater yesterday and trimmed 'round the edges and corners of my back yard. The jungle that was overtaking my ivy patch also is no more, alas.
- I covered the night shift at work yet again last night. My co-worker wanted to wine and dine his wife for their anniversary, so I couldn't very well say no! : ) Besides, I appreciated having lots of time to get to know my (**CAUTION!! COMPUTER GEEK MOMENT DEAD AHEAD**) new Dell Optiplex GX755! The time has come for us to force-feed ourselves Windows Vista Business Pro and so that little excuse bought us all new computers. They come with all the bells and whistles we need to get our jobs done.
- I covered the night shift at work yet again last night. My co-worker wanted to wine and dine his wife for their anniversary, so I couldn't very well say no! : ) Besides, I appreciated having lots of time to get to know my (**CAUTION!! COMPUTER GEEK MOMENT DEAD AHEAD**) new Dell Optiplex GX755! The time has come for us to force-feed ourselves Windows Vista Business Pro and so that little excuse bought us all new computers. They come with all the bells and whistles we need to get our jobs done.
- Near the end of my shift (1:00 a.m.-ish) I discovered a neat little video channel on YouTube. Someone took the time to put together the opening theme songs and credits for old television shows starting in the late '70s, running through the 1990's. Talk about a time machine!! I discovered obscure and short-lived TV shows I never even knew existed. My favorite so far is an Andy Griffith potboiler from 1979 called "Salvage 1." This show found Andy Griffith playing a salvage man whose dream was to get to the moon and retrieve old space junk for later sale back on Earth. I'm not making this up! It gets better - he hires a "former astronaut and a fuel expert" to collaborate on a moon mission. Unbelievable. It only lasted a few months, according to TV.com. Check out the YouTube channel here. One thing is for sure - today's TV landscape is not what it was 30 years ago.
- What can Big Brown do for you? Only win the first two legs of the Triple Crown and then flame out spectacularly during the third one. The jockey said he could tell his horse just ran out of gas and wisely stopped him before he hurt himself. Today I read that subsequent medical tests revealed nothing in particular wrong with him. Nothing that would explain why he didn't do his thing yesterday. I think the horse just decided he didn't want to run yesterday. Maybe he was in a contrary mood. It could be he did it to spite his trainer, who is said to be an arrogant, bombastic man. Whatever the cause, a longshot that no one was expecting to win actually went wire-to-wire to win the Belmont Stakes and I find that most exciting storyline of the race.
- My brother and sis-in-law's church made the New York Times on June 1! Check it out here. They're doing church differently and I find their approach innovative and refreshing.
- I caught much of Hillary C's concession speech on the radio yesterday. How much did it pain her to have to say those words "Yes We Can!" and "I endorse Barack Obama" ??? I think someone shot her up with a whole bunch of morphine so she wouldn't have to feel it. (JUST KIDDING!!!!) It's now Obama vs. McCain for all the marbles, folks. This one should be a doozy.
- I'm convinced that the Sonic Lemon-Berry Slush should be a new Wonder of the world. It's just that good.
Off to bed.
- What can Big Brown do for you? Only win the first two legs of the Triple Crown and then flame out spectacularly during the third one. The jockey said he could tell his horse just ran out of gas and wisely stopped him before he hurt himself. Today I read that subsequent medical tests revealed nothing in particular wrong with him. Nothing that would explain why he didn't do his thing yesterday. I think the horse just decided he didn't want to run yesterday. Maybe he was in a contrary mood. It could be he did it to spite his trainer, who is said to be an arrogant, bombastic man. Whatever the cause, a longshot that no one was expecting to win actually went wire-to-wire to win the Belmont Stakes and I find that most exciting storyline of the race.
- My brother and sis-in-law's church made the New York Times on June 1! Check it out here. They're doing church differently and I find their approach innovative and refreshing.
- I caught much of Hillary C's concession speech on the radio yesterday. How much did it pain her to have to say those words "Yes We Can!" and "I endorse Barack Obama" ??? I think someone shot her up with a whole bunch of morphine so she wouldn't have to feel it. (JUST KIDDING!!!!) It's now Obama vs. McCain for all the marbles, folks. This one should be a doozy.
- I'm convinced that the Sonic Lemon-Berry Slush should be a new Wonder of the world. It's just that good.
Off to bed.
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Really?...
There really is a National Teachers Hall of Fame! In Emporia, Kansas! Who knew? How do I go about nominating my mother and my Aunt M.?
Sunday Night SOC...
- I pulled into my driveway at 5:10 this evening. 6 hrs, 40 minutes on the return trip. 900+ miles on my car's trip meter. All that driving for an 18-hour whirlwind tour of southeast Kansas. Not a bad trip, but don't ask me to do it every weekend, please, thanks! My hotel accommodations at the Best Western Airport Inn and Conference Center were adequate; not fancy but not roach motel-ish. The wedding reception buffet was definitely the best meal I'd had all week.
- Chili-dog was overjoyed/ecstatic to see me tonight. Charlie Brown said "happiness is a warm puppy," (am I correct?) but give me a 65-pound brown dog who is beside herself at her owner's return anytime. The pet sitter service apparently didn't walk her while I was gone so I took her on a nice long walk in the late-afternoon sunshine.
- I've been getting some new on-the-job training lately. The most recent round of layoffs necessitated my learning how to back up our telephone operations staff whenever needed. Basically I've learned how to program new phones, and move wires around appropriately when people move to a new desk. My dad's a retired phone man so he'd be a bit proud if I could ever remember to mention it to him.
- So Hillary C. was ecstatic about winning the primary in *ahem* Puerto Rico. I could hear Barak Obama yawning all the way from my car on I-35 in Kansas.
- Gotta hand it to my Cardinals. They're hanging tough in the NL Central behind the *ahem* Cubs. Don Tony's been surprisingly open minded about using kid players this year. He did the smart thing, tough as it was, in kicking Chris D. back to Memphis to get his head and his swing together. That kid Joe Mather that I mentioned recently came up to replace him and hit the ground running on Friday night. His RBI proved to be the game winner in his major league debut.
- Chili-dog was overjoyed/ecstatic to see me tonight. Charlie Brown said "happiness is a warm puppy," (am I correct?) but give me a 65-pound brown dog who is beside herself at her owner's return anytime. The pet sitter service apparently didn't walk her while I was gone so I took her on a nice long walk in the late-afternoon sunshine.
- I've been getting some new on-the-job training lately. The most recent round of layoffs necessitated my learning how to back up our telephone operations staff whenever needed. Basically I've learned how to program new phones, and move wires around appropriately when people move to a new desk. My dad's a retired phone man so he'd be a bit proud if I could ever remember to mention it to him.
- So Hillary C. was ecstatic about winning the primary in *ahem* Puerto Rico. I could hear Barak Obama yawning all the way from my car on I-35 in Kansas.
- Gotta hand it to my Cardinals. They're hanging tough in the NL Central behind the *ahem* Cubs. Don Tony's been surprisingly open minded about using kid players this year. He did the smart thing, tough as it was, in kicking Chris D. back to Memphis to get his head and his swing together. That kid Joe Mather that I mentioned recently came up to replace him and hit the ground running on Friday night. His RBI proved to be the game winner in his major league debut.
Breakfast in Wichita, 6/1/08...
I joined my St. Louis pals for a wedding-day-after breakfast at this eatery in "old town" Wichita. For the record I had a ham and 3-cheese omelet with sourdough toast, bacon, and house potatoes. with orange juice and milk on the side. I didn't need to eat again until mid-afternoon.
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