Since I'm going to at least mention baseball today, I thought it appropriate to revert to my original title for an entry of quick-hitters, since it originally came from a newspaper's sports page.
* I was extremely out of it this morning. I'm not a morning person, as I'm sure I've mentioned before, but this morning I hit new highs of confusion and befuddlement upon waking. It was so bad that I managed to misread both my alarm clock and my watch, and hurried through my shower thinking I had overslept by quite a bit. Instead, I had somehow managed to get up before I normally do, which allowed me to leave my apartment at 7:30 and actually arrive at work on time for a change.
* I accidentally went to McDonald's for lunch today. I found there the same oblivious lady with the same obnoxious, shrieking children (see this post for more details). I don't think I'll go to McDonald's on my lunch break anymore. The food isn't that good there anyway.
* The book I'm currently reading on my lunch break is Pat Conroy's Beach Music, which was recommended to me by Brandi's stepmom. I like it so far, but I'm having a few issues. The prose is outstanding, but the dialogue is grating. That's something I can speak to, being a fiction writer myself, because it's one thing I excel at. I have an ear for how people speak, and so far, Conroy's characters don't ring true. I won't have a total feel for it until I finish the book, though, so it's possible that I'll revisit this at a later date.
* 12 Reasons Gay Marriage will Ruin Society
* The Yankees and Devil Rays played another game in Tokyo this morning at 5:00. This one was not televised on ESPN. Their two-game series is now over, and both teams will return to the United States to resume spring training. Yes, that's right. Now that they've played two official games, they now resume their preseason. Please, someone tell me where the logic is in any of this.
* Twice now I've caught a little bit of "The Herd" (hosted by Colin Cowherd) on ESPN Radio, the show which replaced "The Tony Kornheiser Show." It seems okay. I'll give it a chance for a while, but honestly, I don't know if I'll keep listening for long. It seems so far like it's going to be just another guy talking about the same stuff that all the other media types are talking about.
* I've been reading and hearing (and paying attention) more lately about Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, and I'm liking what I see/hear. My opinion of him has gone up, from "I'm voting against Bush" to "I'm voting for Kerry." I even requested a bumper sticker that I may actually put on my car. Even if I don't do that, I'll definitely display it prominently somewhere.
Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Tuesday, March 30, 2004
An American Tradition in Japan
My schedule is a little bit off today. I had leftovers from my trip to Olive Garden with Brandi this weekend, so I brought that in for lunch today. I had some other stuff I needed to take care of, so I stayed in and ate at my desk instead of going out for lunch, which I usually do. I can count on one hand the number of times I've stayed in the office for my lunch break, and I've been here for over two years.
That wasn't the only difference. My alarm clock was set for 4:55 this morning, and I actually got out of bed when it went off. I moved from my bed out onto the couch in the living room so I could catch at least a little bit of the first official Major League Baseball game of the season, between the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
This game was televised live from Tokyo, Japan. That's why it was on at 5:00 a.m.
Major League Baseball has problems. Ten years ago, there were labor issues that shortened the season and forced the cancellation of the World Series. A lot of fans gave up on baseball at that point. The home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa in 1998 brought some back, but not all. Now there are financial disparities so great that some teams are virtually eliminated from competition from the beginning of the season (for instance, the Yankees are paying $22 million this season just for third baseman Alex Rodriguez; their opponent this morning, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, are paying approximately that much for their entire roster). Also, there's the interesting little question of whether or not some players are juicing themselves up with steroids. With all of these issues swirling around, plus several others, it's no wonder that baseball isn't nearly as popular as it used to be.
One obvious way to cater to fans and try to win them back is to stage the opening of the season on an entirely different continent, at a time when most of the U.S. is asleep and can't even watch on television.
For any of you who didn't get the memo, that was sarcasm. This was a terrible idea.
Baseball's Opening Day used to be a big deal. Almost every team started play on the same day, and it was cause for celebration. Spring was here, and baseball was back. It was nice. The honor of opening the baseball season with the earliest game on Opening Day always belonged to the Cincinnati Reds, as baseball's oldest professional franchise. Opening Day is still a big deal in Cincinnati, but it no longer kicks off the season. Now the opening game of the season is between two random teams, usually in a different country. For a sport that is known as the "American Pastime," and for one that generally is so wrapped up in history and tradition, I cannot fathom why this practice has changed.
I know that baseball has become dependent, to a certain extent, on other countries and regions, such as Japan and Latin America. Look at major league rosters, and they're dotted (and in some cases lined) with players from these areas. I like the idea of opening the sport up to these areas and creating more exposure. I just don't think this is the way to do it. I think it alienates fans here in the U.S., who are and always will be far and away the largest fan base for a professional sport with teams located only in North America. Baseball already alienates the fans in too many ways, and in this case the people in charge are just putting one more thing on the list.
They've been kicking around the idea of a World Cup of Baseball for quite some time. I think that's an awesome idea, if they can get the logistics figured out. That would be a great way to include the whole world in "our" sport. I don't know if MLB would send maybe the champions of the World Series, or if they'd put together an all-star team of sorts, but either way I think it could be a lot of fun.
I'm a huge fan of sports, and while football and basketball are now my favorites, baseball is my first love. I just hope someday it can get back to being the great sport it used to be.
That wasn't the only difference. My alarm clock was set for 4:55 this morning, and I actually got out of bed when it went off. I moved from my bed out onto the couch in the living room so I could catch at least a little bit of the first official Major League Baseball game of the season, between the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
This game was televised live from Tokyo, Japan. That's why it was on at 5:00 a.m.
Major League Baseball has problems. Ten years ago, there were labor issues that shortened the season and forced the cancellation of the World Series. A lot of fans gave up on baseball at that point. The home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa in 1998 brought some back, but not all. Now there are financial disparities so great that some teams are virtually eliminated from competition from the beginning of the season (for instance, the Yankees are paying $22 million this season just for third baseman Alex Rodriguez; their opponent this morning, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, are paying approximately that much for their entire roster). Also, there's the interesting little question of whether or not some players are juicing themselves up with steroids. With all of these issues swirling around, plus several others, it's no wonder that baseball isn't nearly as popular as it used to be.
One obvious way to cater to fans and try to win them back is to stage the opening of the season on an entirely different continent, at a time when most of the U.S. is asleep and can't even watch on television.
For any of you who didn't get the memo, that was sarcasm. This was a terrible idea.
Baseball's Opening Day used to be a big deal. Almost every team started play on the same day, and it was cause for celebration. Spring was here, and baseball was back. It was nice. The honor of opening the baseball season with the earliest game on Opening Day always belonged to the Cincinnati Reds, as baseball's oldest professional franchise. Opening Day is still a big deal in Cincinnati, but it no longer kicks off the season. Now the opening game of the season is between two random teams, usually in a different country. For a sport that is known as the "American Pastime," and for one that generally is so wrapped up in history and tradition, I cannot fathom why this practice has changed.
I know that baseball has become dependent, to a certain extent, on other countries and regions, such as Japan and Latin America. Look at major league rosters, and they're dotted (and in some cases lined) with players from these areas. I like the idea of opening the sport up to these areas and creating more exposure. I just don't think this is the way to do it. I think it alienates fans here in the U.S., who are and always will be far and away the largest fan base for a professional sport with teams located only in North America. Baseball already alienates the fans in too many ways, and in this case the people in charge are just putting one more thing on the list.
They've been kicking around the idea of a World Cup of Baseball for quite some time. I think that's an awesome idea, if they can get the logistics figured out. That would be a great way to include the whole world in "our" sport. I don't know if MLB would send maybe the champions of the World Series, or if they'd put together an all-star team of sorts, but either way I think it could be a lot of fun.
I'm a huge fan of sports, and while football and basketball are now my favorites, baseball is my first love. I just hope someday it can get back to being the great sport it used to be.
Monday, March 29, 2004
I've Got My Own Car...I'm Popular
Lyrics from "Popular" by Nada Surf
Finally, it's official. After several false starts and a bunch of hassle, I finally managed to get new plates for my car this weekend. I went to the license bureau in Stow on Saturday at a time when I knew it was open, and I had the proper identification. My car is now registered and plated, street legal. That makes it now 100% mine--it's no longer a lease, and there are no payments owed. I'd like to thank my parents for that, a whole lot.
So now the car is mine, and that's awesome. To celebrate, I'll probably end up taking my car out for a brake job. Driving around with the windows down this weekend alerted me to some fairly significant squeakage, which I need to get checked out.
I'm just glad that I could drive around with the windows down. This was one of those rare times when a window of good weather happened to coincide with the weekend, instead of during the week when it could only be enjoyed through my office window. This weekend was awesome in terms of weather. Now it's cooled down again, and it's raining. That's what Mondays are supposed to be like, though. Save the nice stuff for Saturdays and Sundays (and Friday nights--good bar weather).
Friday night I drove over to Stow after work. Brandi hadn't eaten anything all day, and I was pretty hungry myself, so we hurried over to BW3. Brandi was kind enough to accede to my request that we eat somewhere that we could watch the NCAA Tournament games that were going on; or perhaps she was just so hungry that she didn't care where we ate. Either way, we went to BW3 to eat and watch the games. We had a couple of drinks too. We left when the first batch of games ended, which was about 9:30 or so. We stopped for ice cream on the way back to her place, and then watched the late basketball games when we got there.
On Saturday morning I got up and went to get my plates. Brandi was still asleep when I got back, so I played The Sims and waited for her to wake up. She slept pretty late, which is generally my domain. We took our time getting ready for the day, but eventually we headed out to the mall in Cuyahoga Falls, near where she lives. No specific purpose, just to walk around for a while. We were both really hungry when we were finished there, so we went down the street to the local Olive Garden. That was pretty awesome, as usual.
We went home after that for still more basketball. We watched, then went for a walk to enjoy the nice evening. We watched a movie (A Bug's Life, which Brandi just bought on DVD) when we got home, and had popcorn. That's always good.
On Sunday, Brandi got up early to be productive, while I remained in bed. She went to the grocery, did laundry, and washed her car; I was still asleep when she got home. I still managed to get up before noon, which is at least relatively early for me on a weekend. Brandi had bought donuts while she was out, so we happily chowed down.
We went for a drive that afternoon, then stopped in at Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. We spent the afternoon after we got back--what else?--watching basketball. We had the living room window open, and the breeze coming through was outstanding. Brandi made dinner for us that evening. She made spaghetti with lots of veggies and stuff, and it was really, really good. We spent the rest of the night watching TV/movies.
Now I'm back at work, waiting for next weekend and hoping it's as nice as this one was.
Finally, it's official. After several false starts and a bunch of hassle, I finally managed to get new plates for my car this weekend. I went to the license bureau in Stow on Saturday at a time when I knew it was open, and I had the proper identification. My car is now registered and plated, street legal. That makes it now 100% mine--it's no longer a lease, and there are no payments owed. I'd like to thank my parents for that, a whole lot.
So now the car is mine, and that's awesome. To celebrate, I'll probably end up taking my car out for a brake job. Driving around with the windows down this weekend alerted me to some fairly significant squeakage, which I need to get checked out.
I'm just glad that I could drive around with the windows down. This was one of those rare times when a window of good weather happened to coincide with the weekend, instead of during the week when it could only be enjoyed through my office window. This weekend was awesome in terms of weather. Now it's cooled down again, and it's raining. That's what Mondays are supposed to be like, though. Save the nice stuff for Saturdays and Sundays (and Friday nights--good bar weather).
Friday night I drove over to Stow after work. Brandi hadn't eaten anything all day, and I was pretty hungry myself, so we hurried over to BW3. Brandi was kind enough to accede to my request that we eat somewhere that we could watch the NCAA Tournament games that were going on; or perhaps she was just so hungry that she didn't care where we ate. Either way, we went to BW3 to eat and watch the games. We had a couple of drinks too. We left when the first batch of games ended, which was about 9:30 or so. We stopped for ice cream on the way back to her place, and then watched the late basketball games when we got there.
On Saturday morning I got up and went to get my plates. Brandi was still asleep when I got back, so I played The Sims and waited for her to wake up. She slept pretty late, which is generally my domain. We took our time getting ready for the day, but eventually we headed out to the mall in Cuyahoga Falls, near where she lives. No specific purpose, just to walk around for a while. We were both really hungry when we were finished there, so we went down the street to the local Olive Garden. That was pretty awesome, as usual.
We went home after that for still more basketball. We watched, then went for a walk to enjoy the nice evening. We watched a movie (A Bug's Life, which Brandi just bought on DVD) when we got home, and had popcorn. That's always good.
On Sunday, Brandi got up early to be productive, while I remained in bed. She went to the grocery, did laundry, and washed her car; I was still asleep when she got home. I still managed to get up before noon, which is at least relatively early for me on a weekend. Brandi had bought donuts while she was out, so we happily chowed down.
We went for a drive that afternoon, then stopped in at Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. We spent the afternoon after we got back--what else?--watching basketball. We had the living room window open, and the breeze coming through was outstanding. Brandi made dinner for us that evening. She made spaghetti with lots of veggies and stuff, and it was really, really good. We spent the rest of the night watching TV/movies.
Now I'm back at work, waiting for next weekend and hoping it's as nice as this one was.
Friday, March 26, 2004
Rack Him, He's Out
Without Tony, what's the point of radio?
Today was the last day for the Tony Kornheiser show on ESPN Radio.
I was an extremely limited listener. It ran from 10:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day. Of those three hours, I generally heard maybe fifteen minutes--usually it was the "Old Guy Radio" segment at the beginning of the third hour as I was on my way to lunch, and the e-mail segment at the end of the show as I was on my way back to work. Also, the show was on for several years, and I discovered it only maybe seven months ago when the CD player in my car went haywire and I was reduced to listening to the radio until I got it fixed.
The great thing about Tony's show is that it wasn't just a sports show. He talked about a little bit of everything. He's a smart guy, a well-rounded guy, and I learned a lot from listening to the show. He's also funny, which makes it interesting and easy to listen to. He talked today on his farewell show about how he loves sports, but he also realized that there are plenty of other things in the universe and you have to be open to those other things in order to be a well-rounded person, and that he tried to reflect that in the show.
That's something I feel is true for myself also. Anyone who knows you can tell you that I love sports, to the point where, if pressed, I'd say they're my foremost interest. There are plenty of other things I love too, though. It always drives me crazy that so many people who are interested in sports think they have to conform to stereotypes and thus won't allow themselves to get into certain things, or act as though anything other than sports is outside their universe. Tony appealed to the intelligent sports fan. Yeah, he talked about sports. He also talked about movies, music, books, pop culture (all of which I love), politics, current events (which I don't necessarily love, but I'm pretty interested), and his own day-to-day life.
There's absolutely no other show like it out there anywhere. I'll try the new show that starts Monday (hosted by a guy named Colin Cowherd, if I'm remembering right), and I'll give it a chance. I wouldn't be too surprised if I start firing up my CD player on my lunch hour again, though.
Beyond that, I'll still watch Tony on ESPN's Pardon the Interruption with Michael Wilbon; I'll still read his columns in the Washington Post. When he finally gets a new radio show (which he's said on the air that he will--he just didn't like working with ESPN Radio management), I'll hope that it's available on a local Toledo-area station (or online) at a time that's convenient to me.
If you're out on your bike tonight, do wear white.
Today was the last day for the Tony Kornheiser show on ESPN Radio.
I was an extremely limited listener. It ran from 10:00 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day. Of those three hours, I generally heard maybe fifteen minutes--usually it was the "Old Guy Radio" segment at the beginning of the third hour as I was on my way to lunch, and the e-mail segment at the end of the show as I was on my way back to work. Also, the show was on for several years, and I discovered it only maybe seven months ago when the CD player in my car went haywire and I was reduced to listening to the radio until I got it fixed.
The great thing about Tony's show is that it wasn't just a sports show. He talked about a little bit of everything. He's a smart guy, a well-rounded guy, and I learned a lot from listening to the show. He's also funny, which makes it interesting and easy to listen to. He talked today on his farewell show about how he loves sports, but he also realized that there are plenty of other things in the universe and you have to be open to those other things in order to be a well-rounded person, and that he tried to reflect that in the show.
That's something I feel is true for myself also. Anyone who knows you can tell you that I love sports, to the point where, if pressed, I'd say they're my foremost interest. There are plenty of other things I love too, though. It always drives me crazy that so many people who are interested in sports think they have to conform to stereotypes and thus won't allow themselves to get into certain things, or act as though anything other than sports is outside their universe. Tony appealed to the intelligent sports fan. Yeah, he talked about sports. He also talked about movies, music, books, pop culture (all of which I love), politics, current events (which I don't necessarily love, but I'm pretty interested), and his own day-to-day life.
There's absolutely no other show like it out there anywhere. I'll try the new show that starts Monday (hosted by a guy named Colin Cowherd, if I'm remembering right), and I'll give it a chance. I wouldn't be too surprised if I start firing up my CD player on my lunch hour again, though.
Beyond that, I'll still watch Tony on ESPN's Pardon the Interruption with Michael Wilbon; I'll still read his columns in the Washington Post. When he finally gets a new radio show (which he's said on the air that he will--he just didn't like working with ESPN Radio management), I'll hope that it's available on a local Toledo-area station (or online) at a time that's convenient to me.
If you're out on your bike tonight, do wear white.
The Wonders of Spring
What a morning. It's not even 10:00, and I'm already halfway through a can of Mountain Dew. Also, I'm in pain.
I've been trying for quite some time to reduce my intake of carbonated beverages. For the most part, I've succeeded fairly well. I used to drink a ton of pop, and I've gotten it down to just several hundred pounds. I really try to avoid starting my day with it, but today I needed something to get me going. I was really dragging and having a hard time keeping my eyes open. I'm not sure why that is, as I slept well last night. I didn't get a lot of sleep, but it was no less than I usually get--probably about 5 1/2 hours, give or take a few minutes. I'm generally immune to the effects of caffeine (I can drink a can of pop and have no problem falling asleep shortly thereafter), but it seems to be working nicely this morning.
Being in pain is a minor irritation only. I really don't need to be able to move today. The reason I'm sore is because yesterday was a nice day, and I decided to take advantage of it by opening up my running season.
I took up jogging two years ago, but I can only do it when the weather is at least relatively warm. I can't handle gulping in cold air while doing something strenuous. That being the case, I take winters off from running. I went out yesterday for the first time this year. I knew the layoff would mean I wouldn't be in the same shape I was when I stopped last year, so I was fully prepared for the fact that I wouldn't be able to run as far as I used to. I was hoping for better than what I got, but it wasn't as bad as I feared. I don't know offhand how far I ran, but if I had to guess I'd probably put it at just under a mile.
So I'm feeling it today, but that too isn't as bad as I thought it might be. My lower back is pretty sore, and my quads are a little tight. I think my legs, at least, will work themselves out over the course of the day, and I'm hoping a can get a little back massage from Brandi when I get to her place this evening.
When I was in junior high and high school gym class, I hated running. Passionately. I wasn't sure I could get into it now, even though it's voluntary. If I had known when I first started that I'd still be doing it two years later, I would have been at least a little surprised. It's turned into something I like pretty well, though. I actually kind of like the feeling of being a little sore a day after exercising. I like going being away from my apartment and outside for a while. It gives me some time to unwind mentally and just think about different things. When I'm at home, there are always distractions--television, books, computer, etc. When I'm running, though, it's just me and my thoughts. Even if I don't have anything specific on my mind, it's good to shut down for a while and just look around as I run.
I started doing it just to get myself into better shape, and that's still the goal. Other than that, I admittedly don't get a lot of exercise. I work a desk job, and I sit around a lot when I'm at home. I also don't have the best diet in the world, although I'm fairly conscious of that and try to keep myself in check. I'm not overweight by any means, but I'm also not in great shape. I certainly wouldn't mind looking better, although that's not my main goal.
I generally run at night, mainly to avoid the sun in the summer. It works into my schedule better that way as well. Yesterday I ran in the early evening, about 6:15. It was supposed to rain later in the evening, and I wanted to avoid that. Also, I didn't know if it was going to get chilly after the sun went down, so I took advantage of the fairly warm temperatures (probably low 60s) while I had them.
While it didn't go as well as I hoped, it was nice to be out again. You can definitely tell that spring is coming to Bowling Green. Plenty of people were out and about, walking, running, riding bikes. People were cooking out, playing catch, or just sitting on their porches and having a beer. Also, the road construction on Wooster St. is getting into full swing.
Yep. Spring is definitely here. Woohoo!
I've been trying for quite some time to reduce my intake of carbonated beverages. For the most part, I've succeeded fairly well. I used to drink a ton of pop, and I've gotten it down to just several hundred pounds. I really try to avoid starting my day with it, but today I needed something to get me going. I was really dragging and having a hard time keeping my eyes open. I'm not sure why that is, as I slept well last night. I didn't get a lot of sleep, but it was no less than I usually get--probably about 5 1/2 hours, give or take a few minutes. I'm generally immune to the effects of caffeine (I can drink a can of pop and have no problem falling asleep shortly thereafter), but it seems to be working nicely this morning.
Being in pain is a minor irritation only. I really don't need to be able to move today. The reason I'm sore is because yesterday was a nice day, and I decided to take advantage of it by opening up my running season.
I took up jogging two years ago, but I can only do it when the weather is at least relatively warm. I can't handle gulping in cold air while doing something strenuous. That being the case, I take winters off from running. I went out yesterday for the first time this year. I knew the layoff would mean I wouldn't be in the same shape I was when I stopped last year, so I was fully prepared for the fact that I wouldn't be able to run as far as I used to. I was hoping for better than what I got, but it wasn't as bad as I feared. I don't know offhand how far I ran, but if I had to guess I'd probably put it at just under a mile.
So I'm feeling it today, but that too isn't as bad as I thought it might be. My lower back is pretty sore, and my quads are a little tight. I think my legs, at least, will work themselves out over the course of the day, and I'm hoping a can get a little back massage from Brandi when I get to her place this evening.
When I was in junior high and high school gym class, I hated running. Passionately. I wasn't sure I could get into it now, even though it's voluntary. If I had known when I first started that I'd still be doing it two years later, I would have been at least a little surprised. It's turned into something I like pretty well, though. I actually kind of like the feeling of being a little sore a day after exercising. I like going being away from my apartment and outside for a while. It gives me some time to unwind mentally and just think about different things. When I'm at home, there are always distractions--television, books, computer, etc. When I'm running, though, it's just me and my thoughts. Even if I don't have anything specific on my mind, it's good to shut down for a while and just look around as I run.
I started doing it just to get myself into better shape, and that's still the goal. Other than that, I admittedly don't get a lot of exercise. I work a desk job, and I sit around a lot when I'm at home. I also don't have the best diet in the world, although I'm fairly conscious of that and try to keep myself in check. I'm not overweight by any means, but I'm also not in great shape. I certainly wouldn't mind looking better, although that's not my main goal.
I generally run at night, mainly to avoid the sun in the summer. It works into my schedule better that way as well. Yesterday I ran in the early evening, about 6:15. It was supposed to rain later in the evening, and I wanted to avoid that. Also, I didn't know if it was going to get chilly after the sun went down, so I took advantage of the fairly warm temperatures (probably low 60s) while I had them.
While it didn't go as well as I hoped, it was nice to be out again. You can definitely tell that spring is coming to Bowling Green. Plenty of people were out and about, walking, running, riding bikes. People were cooking out, playing catch, or just sitting on their porches and having a beer. Also, the road construction on Wooster St. is getting into full swing.
Yep. Spring is definitely here. Woohoo!
Thursday, March 25, 2004
A Link For You
Hoffmania! - The Chronicle of the American Condition
I'm going to add this to my list of permanent links over on the left. It looks to be pretty interesting.
Basically, it's a blog that takes a look at day-to-day events in politics and government. It tries to expose the poor job being done by the Bush administration, and promotes John Kerry for the 2004 presidential election.
To be honest, I'm still not sold on John Kerry. Regardless, I'll almost certainly be voting for him in November. I'll vote for whoever has the best chance of defeating George W. Bush. I find Mr. Bush to be spectacularly unintelligent, and I don't even think he's a good person. In short, he has no business being in charge of our country. I don't know if Mr. Kerry is the best man for the job (I just want to know more about him--admittedly, I haven't been paying a whole lot of attention yet), but in this particular race, I'm sure he's the better man for the job.
I'm going to add this to my list of permanent links over on the left. It looks to be pretty interesting.
Basically, it's a blog that takes a look at day-to-day events in politics and government. It tries to expose the poor job being done by the Bush administration, and promotes John Kerry for the 2004 presidential election.
To be honest, I'm still not sold on John Kerry. Regardless, I'll almost certainly be voting for him in November. I'll vote for whoever has the best chance of defeating George W. Bush. I find Mr. Bush to be spectacularly unintelligent, and I don't even think he's a good person. In short, he has no business being in charge of our country. I don't know if Mr. Kerry is the best man for the job (I just want to know more about him--admittedly, I haven't been paying a whole lot of attention yet), but in this particular race, I'm sure he's the better man for the job.
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
BGSU Falcon Basketball: Season in Review
Hoosier Was Unlikely Hero
Two years ago at this time, BGSU basketball was coming off a highly successful season. They finished 24-9, losing three times to Kent State (who stormed into the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament), including once in the MAC Championship Game, and finishing the season with a loss to Butler in the NIT. Coming off that season, the Falcons were looking to rebuild. They were losing four senior starters to graduation--point guard Brandon Pardon, shooting guard Keith McLeod (MAC Player of the Year), power forward Brent Klassen, and center Len Matela.
Shortly after the NCAA Tournament ended, BG head coach Dan Dakich decided to leave as well. On April 4, 2002 he accepted the head coaching job at West Virginia University.
Coach Dakich was generally well liked by BG fans, and there was a lot of disappointment that day. No one blamed him, though. WVU is a member of the Big East Conference, and can afford to pay its coaches a lot more than BGSU can. Also, a bigger conference means a better chance to make the NCAA Tournament. It was no secret that Coach Dakich was frustrated after being passed over twice for an at-large bid to the tournament despite highly successful seasons. In any case, many BG fans resolved to keep an eye on WVU and our former coach, while we started looking forward and speculating about who would be hired to lead our Falcons.
For me, the following week was disheartening. I certainly understood Coach Dakich's decision to leave, but I was more than disappointed. I felt like someone close had left me.
I'll explain.
I came to BGSU as just a casual fan of college basketball. I spent the first two years of my college career at Wright State University, where I had attended only a handful of basketball games. They were fun, but not that big of a deal. When I came to BG, I felt it would probably be the same way. This was in 1997, which was also Coach Dakich's first year at BG.
The first BG basketball game I attended was actually against Wright State. I thought it would be fun to see the guys I used to cheer for play against the guys I would now cheer for. Hey, it was a reason to go. Besides, BG's arena was easily accessible, and it was something to do. For my first game in Anderson Arena, it was quite memorable. Since I had no idea where to go, we ended up sitting in someone else's reserved seats (I went with my friend Jamie, who was my girlfriend at the time). BG forward Dave Esterkamp and WSU center Thad Burton got into a fight. WSU won the game, led by point guard Brandon Pardon, who would eventually transfer to BG and become one of my favorite players.
I went to several more games that season, and slowly transformed into the die-hard BG hoops fan you now see before you. Why? Simple: Coach Dakich. His teams play hard and are easy to cheer for. He's extremely animated on the sidelines. Sometimes he puts on a better show than the game, which makes it fun. One year, during a stretch in which he felt the team needed to "turn things around," he came out before the game with his jacket on backwards. It worked, too--we went on a pretty good winning streak. He's not afraid to speak his mind, and it's solely due to him that I'm as BG crazy as I am.
So on April 4, when he took the job at West Virginia, I was upset. I did understand, though, so I looked each day to see if there was any news on who our new coach would be. Names surfaced, and it seemed like it would be only a short time before a new coach was named. Then it happened: I hopped online the following Friday, April 12, to ESPN.com. The headline? Something to the effect of "Dakich Quits at West Virginia."
I got almost no work done that morning, as I surfed the Internet for further details as they became available. By lunchtime, it was clear that Coach Dakich was coming back to the Falcons. Needless to say, West Virginia fans were pretty upset with his sudden about-face, but Falcon fans were very happy. Personally, I was nearly delirious.
Fast forward to now.
The Falcons finished this year 14-17 after a loss to Kent State in the second round of the MAC Tournament. This is the second consecutive losing season for the Falcons, who finished 13-16 the year before. Since returning from his weeklong stint at WVU, Coach Dakich has failed to produce a winner for BG. Take into account that BG was considered one of the top contenders to win the MAC West Division this year, and some fans are ready to turn up the heat on Coach Dakich.
Count me out. No sir, I won't be drinking the Kool-Aid. Every coach has a season that doesn't go according to plan, which was definitely the case for Coach Dakich and the Falcons this year. Overly critical fans are quick to point out that we've had two losing seasons in a row. Well, I'm not willing to count the first one against Coach Dakich. We all knew going in that it was going to be a rebuilding year, after losing all five starters from the previous season (the four above-mentioned seniors, plus freshman guard Erik Crawford, who transferred to Northern Iowa during the offseason). On top of that, the roster was decimated by injuries--forwards Germain Fitch and Josh Almanson and guard Jabari Mattox all suffered season-ending injuries. If memory serves, we finished out the year with six scholarship players, one walk-on, and two imports from the football team. Having a winning season under those conditions would have qualified Coach Dakich for National Coach of the Year honors, I think.
There's certainly no denying, though, that this season was a disappointment. As I said, the Falcons were expected to contend for the MAC West Division. Those expectations never materialized. Simply stated, the team was too inconsistent. There would be games where we looked good, and then we'd follow with games where we looked awful. We often played poor defense. We fouled too much. We turned the ball over too much on offense. We'd go through scoring droughts. We had no consistent presence on the low post.
Looking back, I get the feeling that the preseason expectations were just too high. Sure, we had lost only one senior from the previous year, a guard named Cory Ryan (now on Coach Dakich's staff) with more heart than talent. Everyone else was back, and we had a good incoming freshman class. Still...when you get everyone back from a team that goes 13-16, what does that mean? There were just too many unknown quantities. We were placing too many expectations on incoming freshmen and players coming back from injuries.
Jabari Mattox's injury wasn't fully healed for this year, and he ended up leaving the team partway through the season. Germain Fitch came back to play, but re-injured his knee and lost the season to injury. Josh Almanson did manage to rehab for this year, and he played pretty well. The newcomers were a mixed bag. Center Matt Lefeld played fairly well in limited minutes, but fouled too much and had some injury problems. Guard Chris Hobson played a limited role due to asthma, but is a tenacious defender and may develop into a scorer. Guard Austin Montgomery had some good games, but had a tendency to fold under pressure. Forward Isaac Rosefelt barely played. Point guard Steven Wright technically wasn't a newcomer, but didn't play last year due to incoming eligibility problems. He has potential, but did not have a special year this year. He turned the ball over too much, didn't defend the perimeter well enough, and didn't score the ball or dish out enough assists to keep our offense moving.
The biggest problem this year was the lack of leadership. BG teams under Coach Dakich have always taken on the personalities of their seniors, and this year was no exception. Our lone senior (after Mattox left) was center Kevin Netter, and as he went, so did the team. He lost focus at crucial moments, was too inconsistent, and had trouble staying out of foul trouble and on the floor. He had the potential to be the best center in the MAC, but didn't quite make it.
I'm not giving Coach Dakich a free pass on the woes of this season by any means. At the end of the day, the head coach is responsible for all aspects of the program. We didn't have a successful season, and he has to take responsibility for that fact. At the same time, I don't think it's fair for anyone to say or imply that his job should be in jeopardy because of it. It's now his job to evaluate where we are and take the steps he thinks are appropriate to help the program move forward. If that means changing his coaching principles, recruiting strategies, or whatever, he needs to do it. I think he's a heck of a coach, and I know he wants to win. He cares about the program, the kids he coaches, the fans, and the university. He has shown this. I trust him to do what he needs to do to make things better. I think he's earned that type of trust from Falcon fans. If we have more season like this, then I'll agree that changes will need to be considered. I just don't think that point is now.
The Falcons haven't been to the NCAA Tournament since 1968. "Wait 'til next year" is getting old, but it's what we've got. The eternal optimist, I think next year might be the year a lot of Falcon fans expected to have this year. Sometime between now and November, when next season starts, I'll have a preview of the 04-05 BGSU Falcons.
Two years ago at this time, BGSU basketball was coming off a highly successful season. They finished 24-9, losing three times to Kent State (who stormed into the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament), including once in the MAC Championship Game, and finishing the season with a loss to Butler in the NIT. Coming off that season, the Falcons were looking to rebuild. They were losing four senior starters to graduation--point guard Brandon Pardon, shooting guard Keith McLeod (MAC Player of the Year), power forward Brent Klassen, and center Len Matela.
Shortly after the NCAA Tournament ended, BG head coach Dan Dakich decided to leave as well. On April 4, 2002 he accepted the head coaching job at West Virginia University.
Coach Dakich was generally well liked by BG fans, and there was a lot of disappointment that day. No one blamed him, though. WVU is a member of the Big East Conference, and can afford to pay its coaches a lot more than BGSU can. Also, a bigger conference means a better chance to make the NCAA Tournament. It was no secret that Coach Dakich was frustrated after being passed over twice for an at-large bid to the tournament despite highly successful seasons. In any case, many BG fans resolved to keep an eye on WVU and our former coach, while we started looking forward and speculating about who would be hired to lead our Falcons.
For me, the following week was disheartening. I certainly understood Coach Dakich's decision to leave, but I was more than disappointed. I felt like someone close had left me.
I'll explain.
I came to BGSU as just a casual fan of college basketball. I spent the first two years of my college career at Wright State University, where I had attended only a handful of basketball games. They were fun, but not that big of a deal. When I came to BG, I felt it would probably be the same way. This was in 1997, which was also Coach Dakich's first year at BG.
The first BG basketball game I attended was actually against Wright State. I thought it would be fun to see the guys I used to cheer for play against the guys I would now cheer for. Hey, it was a reason to go. Besides, BG's arena was easily accessible, and it was something to do. For my first game in Anderson Arena, it was quite memorable. Since I had no idea where to go, we ended up sitting in someone else's reserved seats (I went with my friend Jamie, who was my girlfriend at the time). BG forward Dave Esterkamp and WSU center Thad Burton got into a fight. WSU won the game, led by point guard Brandon Pardon, who would eventually transfer to BG and become one of my favorite players.
I went to several more games that season, and slowly transformed into the die-hard BG hoops fan you now see before you. Why? Simple: Coach Dakich. His teams play hard and are easy to cheer for. He's extremely animated on the sidelines. Sometimes he puts on a better show than the game, which makes it fun. One year, during a stretch in which he felt the team needed to "turn things around," he came out before the game with his jacket on backwards. It worked, too--we went on a pretty good winning streak. He's not afraid to speak his mind, and it's solely due to him that I'm as BG crazy as I am.
So on April 4, when he took the job at West Virginia, I was upset. I did understand, though, so I looked each day to see if there was any news on who our new coach would be. Names surfaced, and it seemed like it would be only a short time before a new coach was named. Then it happened: I hopped online the following Friday, April 12, to ESPN.com. The headline? Something to the effect of "Dakich Quits at West Virginia."
I got almost no work done that morning, as I surfed the Internet for further details as they became available. By lunchtime, it was clear that Coach Dakich was coming back to the Falcons. Needless to say, West Virginia fans were pretty upset with his sudden about-face, but Falcon fans were very happy. Personally, I was nearly delirious.
Fast forward to now.
The Falcons finished this year 14-17 after a loss to Kent State in the second round of the MAC Tournament. This is the second consecutive losing season for the Falcons, who finished 13-16 the year before. Since returning from his weeklong stint at WVU, Coach Dakich has failed to produce a winner for BG. Take into account that BG was considered one of the top contenders to win the MAC West Division this year, and some fans are ready to turn up the heat on Coach Dakich.
Count me out. No sir, I won't be drinking the Kool-Aid. Every coach has a season that doesn't go according to plan, which was definitely the case for Coach Dakich and the Falcons this year. Overly critical fans are quick to point out that we've had two losing seasons in a row. Well, I'm not willing to count the first one against Coach Dakich. We all knew going in that it was going to be a rebuilding year, after losing all five starters from the previous season (the four above-mentioned seniors, plus freshman guard Erik Crawford, who transferred to Northern Iowa during the offseason). On top of that, the roster was decimated by injuries--forwards Germain Fitch and Josh Almanson and guard Jabari Mattox all suffered season-ending injuries. If memory serves, we finished out the year with six scholarship players, one walk-on, and two imports from the football team. Having a winning season under those conditions would have qualified Coach Dakich for National Coach of the Year honors, I think.
There's certainly no denying, though, that this season was a disappointment. As I said, the Falcons were expected to contend for the MAC West Division. Those expectations never materialized. Simply stated, the team was too inconsistent. There would be games where we looked good, and then we'd follow with games where we looked awful. We often played poor defense. We fouled too much. We turned the ball over too much on offense. We'd go through scoring droughts. We had no consistent presence on the low post.
Looking back, I get the feeling that the preseason expectations were just too high. Sure, we had lost only one senior from the previous year, a guard named Cory Ryan (now on Coach Dakich's staff) with more heart than talent. Everyone else was back, and we had a good incoming freshman class. Still...when you get everyone back from a team that goes 13-16, what does that mean? There were just too many unknown quantities. We were placing too many expectations on incoming freshmen and players coming back from injuries.
Jabari Mattox's injury wasn't fully healed for this year, and he ended up leaving the team partway through the season. Germain Fitch came back to play, but re-injured his knee and lost the season to injury. Josh Almanson did manage to rehab for this year, and he played pretty well. The newcomers were a mixed bag. Center Matt Lefeld played fairly well in limited minutes, but fouled too much and had some injury problems. Guard Chris Hobson played a limited role due to asthma, but is a tenacious defender and may develop into a scorer. Guard Austin Montgomery had some good games, but had a tendency to fold under pressure. Forward Isaac Rosefelt barely played. Point guard Steven Wright technically wasn't a newcomer, but didn't play last year due to incoming eligibility problems. He has potential, but did not have a special year this year. He turned the ball over too much, didn't defend the perimeter well enough, and didn't score the ball or dish out enough assists to keep our offense moving.
The biggest problem this year was the lack of leadership. BG teams under Coach Dakich have always taken on the personalities of their seniors, and this year was no exception. Our lone senior (after Mattox left) was center Kevin Netter, and as he went, so did the team. He lost focus at crucial moments, was too inconsistent, and had trouble staying out of foul trouble and on the floor. He had the potential to be the best center in the MAC, but didn't quite make it.
I'm not giving Coach Dakich a free pass on the woes of this season by any means. At the end of the day, the head coach is responsible for all aspects of the program. We didn't have a successful season, and he has to take responsibility for that fact. At the same time, I don't think it's fair for anyone to say or imply that his job should be in jeopardy because of it. It's now his job to evaluate where we are and take the steps he thinks are appropriate to help the program move forward. If that means changing his coaching principles, recruiting strategies, or whatever, he needs to do it. I think he's a heck of a coach, and I know he wants to win. He cares about the program, the kids he coaches, the fans, and the university. He has shown this. I trust him to do what he needs to do to make things better. I think he's earned that type of trust from Falcon fans. If we have more season like this, then I'll agree that changes will need to be considered. I just don't think that point is now.
The Falcons haven't been to the NCAA Tournament since 1968. "Wait 'til next year" is getting old, but it's what we've got. The eternal optimist, I think next year might be the year a lot of Falcon fans expected to have this year. Sometime between now and November, when next season starts, I'll have a preview of the 04-05 BGSU Falcons.
How Many Times?
Fear not, loyal readers: I'm working on an entry for today as we speak. While you wait for that, though, let me take a moment to express my irritation.
I mentioned during my weekend review that I tried to get my new license plates for my car, but that I couldn't do it because I wasn't carrying the proper identification.
When I got back into town this week, I checked the Ohio BMV's website to find out when my local office was open. Of course, it's generally open from 8:00-5:00, which are exactly the same hours that I work. It said, however, that they were open until 6:30 on Wednesdays.
I went over there after work today, armed with all the proper identifications. I found the office closed. The listed hours have the office being open until 6:30 on Mondays. Lovely.
I came home and re-checked the BMV website and found the same information. After a bit of searching, I found another page of office listings. This page showed the correct hours. So they've got ostensibly the same information in two different places, one with the correct information and one with incorrect information. Lucky me, I saw the incorrect information first and acted on it.
Unfortunately, there aren't any offices within fifteen miles of where I work. This means I'm going to have to go back to the office in Stow on Saturday, or wait until Monday to go back to the office here in Bowling Green. What a pain in my ass.
I mentioned during my weekend review that I tried to get my new license plates for my car, but that I couldn't do it because I wasn't carrying the proper identification.
When I got back into town this week, I checked the Ohio BMV's website to find out when my local office was open. Of course, it's generally open from 8:00-5:00, which are exactly the same hours that I work. It said, however, that they were open until 6:30 on Wednesdays.
I went over there after work today, armed with all the proper identifications. I found the office closed. The listed hours have the office being open until 6:30 on Mondays. Lovely.
I came home and re-checked the BMV website and found the same information. After a bit of searching, I found another page of office listings. This page showed the correct hours. So they've got ostensibly the same information in two different places, one with the correct information and one with incorrect information. Lucky me, I saw the incorrect information first and acted on it.
Unfortunately, there aren't any offices within fifteen miles of where I work. This means I'm going to have to go back to the office in Stow on Saturday, or wait until Monday to go back to the office here in Bowling Green. What a pain in my ass.
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
...And She's Held My Heart So Long
I was originally planning to include a concert review as part of yesterday's weekend review. However, I eventually concluded that it merited an entry of its own.
I was introduced to the music of Edwin McCain nine years ago, during my freshman year in college. My roommate, Matt, had seen Edwin perform live as the opening act for Hootie and the Blowfish, and had picked up his first (major label) CD, Honor Among Thieves. He listened to that CD all the time, and I liked it a lot as well. I found myself putting it on even when Matt wasn't around, and eventually I bought a copy of my own.
As much as I enjoyed the music, I didn't fully appreciate it until some time later. One night Matt had gone to bed, and I was still awake and doing homework. I put my headphones on and listened to the CD, and that allowed me to hear all the subtle details and nuances of the music that I had missed. The last song on that CD is "3 a.m.", which is a fairly slow song featuring just Edwin singing and playing an acoustic guitar. I could hear all the little growls in his voice, and it gave me chills. That's still one of my favorite songs.
In the nine years since then, Edwin has released four more albums (Misguided Roses, Messenger, Far From Over, and The Austin Sessions) and re-released his very first CD (Solitude), which was originally available only on a limited basis. His newest CD (I've heard two different titles, and I don't know which one is right) is scheduled to be released on June 22.
Being a fan of Edwin's music has also turned me on to a whole slew of excellent bands and musicians--some of them I've seen open for Edwin, and some of them I've just heard about by talking to other "Edheads." Probably you've never heard of any of them, but here's a list anyway--if you're looking for some good music that isn't the pop crap that's spoon-fed to everyone by the radio conglomerates, check out some of these: Angie Aparo, the Mike Corrado Band, Gibb Droll, Pete Riley (who has since joined Edwin's band), Treehouse (the band Pete used to sing for), Jeffrey Gaines, Beth Hart, and Mieka Pauley.
At any rate, Saturday was my eighth time seeing Edwin perform live. Needless to say, I love going to his shows. It's pretty basic, and you always know what you're going to get. There's no fancy staging, no special effects--it's just six guys on stage, laying it on the line. In the eight shows I've been to, there have been some less than stellar crowds, but Edwin never cheats anyone. He puts his soul into every show.
It was a general admission show, so we got there plenty early. I had gotten tickets that allowed us to get in a little before most people, so we got a pretty good spot just about a row back from the stage. The opening act was a band called Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise, and they were pretty good. They had kind of a bluesy sound, and their lead guitarist was really good.
They played for about an hour, and there was a twenty-minute break for equipment changes before Edwin and his band came on. They kicked off with a tune called "My Mystery" that will be on the new CD when it comes out. In all, they played five tunes from the new album--four originals, plus a cover of Rod Stewart's "Maggie May" to end the show. I liked the new songs a lot, which makes me even more anxious for the new album to come out. It's nice to have a little preview.
Of course, the familiar songs were awesome as well. I think the best concerts are those where you can tell that the band is having a great time up there, and this was definitely one of those. Edwin said early in the show that he loved playing in this particular venue, and it showed. When he sings, there is just so much emotion in his voice. The guys in the band were walking around, jamming together, and it was great. They're all excellent musicians and entertainers--they know how to put on a show.
For me, the highlight of the show was when they played the song "Sign on the Door" (from the Messenger album). This is one of my favorite Edwin songs, although I didn't fully appreciate it until the first time I heard them play it live. More than any other, I feel like this is the song in which Edwin really lets go and just belts it out with everything he's got. It's inspiring. Also, the lyrics are incredible. This is one song that I wish I had written. I can't even adequately describe what it's like to hear it performed live; you just have to experience it for yourself.
Besides the stories Edwin told, the funniest moment of the night came during the song "Darwin's Children" (from Misguided Roses). The band launched into the song, and Edwin walked up to the mic and immediately began singing the second verse. As soon as he started, he knew he had screwed up: he got a confused look on his face and started looking around at his bandmates. He finished out the verse and then started over.
Another cool moment came during the song "I'll Be" (from Misguided Roses), which is probably Edwin's most popular song. Before the last chorus, he removed his earplugs and stepped to the side of the microphone, singing without amplification so he could hear the crowd sing along with him, which we did with gusto. It was awesome. I can only imagine how it feels to be up there, listening to an entire crowd of people sing along to words you've written. I've seen him do this before, but it gives me chills every time. Good stuff.
Perhaps the best part of the whole evening was that Brandi really enjoyed the show as well. That means we'll be going to see him again (and again and again).
SET LIST
1. My Mystery (new)
2. Jesters, Dreamers, and Thieves (Honor Among Thieves)
3. Save the Rain (new)
4. Far From Over (Far From Over)
5. Darwin's Children (Misguided Roses)
6. Shooting Star (new)
7. Sign on the Door (Messenger)
8. Turning My Life Around (new)
9. I Could Not Ask For More (Messenger)
10. Take Me (Misguided Roses)
11. Say Anything (new)
12. Beautiful Life (Messenger)
13. Promise of You (Messenger)
14. I've Seen a Love (Far From Over)
15. I'll Be (Misguided Roses, Messenger)
Encores
Let it Slide (The Austin Sessions)
Go Be Young (Messenger, The Austin Sessions)
Solitude (Honor Among Thieves)
Maggie Mae (Rod Stewart cover)
I was introduced to the music of Edwin McCain nine years ago, during my freshman year in college. My roommate, Matt, had seen Edwin perform live as the opening act for Hootie and the Blowfish, and had picked up his first (major label) CD, Honor Among Thieves. He listened to that CD all the time, and I liked it a lot as well. I found myself putting it on even when Matt wasn't around, and eventually I bought a copy of my own.
As much as I enjoyed the music, I didn't fully appreciate it until some time later. One night Matt had gone to bed, and I was still awake and doing homework. I put my headphones on and listened to the CD, and that allowed me to hear all the subtle details and nuances of the music that I had missed. The last song on that CD is "3 a.m.", which is a fairly slow song featuring just Edwin singing and playing an acoustic guitar. I could hear all the little growls in his voice, and it gave me chills. That's still one of my favorite songs.
In the nine years since then, Edwin has released four more albums (Misguided Roses, Messenger, Far From Over, and The Austin Sessions) and re-released his very first CD (Solitude), which was originally available only on a limited basis. His newest CD (I've heard two different titles, and I don't know which one is right) is scheduled to be released on June 22.
Being a fan of Edwin's music has also turned me on to a whole slew of excellent bands and musicians--some of them I've seen open for Edwin, and some of them I've just heard about by talking to other "Edheads." Probably you've never heard of any of them, but here's a list anyway--if you're looking for some good music that isn't the pop crap that's spoon-fed to everyone by the radio conglomerates, check out some of these: Angie Aparo, the Mike Corrado Band, Gibb Droll, Pete Riley (who has since joined Edwin's band), Treehouse (the band Pete used to sing for), Jeffrey Gaines, Beth Hart, and Mieka Pauley.
At any rate, Saturday was my eighth time seeing Edwin perform live. Needless to say, I love going to his shows. It's pretty basic, and you always know what you're going to get. There's no fancy staging, no special effects--it's just six guys on stage, laying it on the line. In the eight shows I've been to, there have been some less than stellar crowds, but Edwin never cheats anyone. He puts his soul into every show.
It was a general admission show, so we got there plenty early. I had gotten tickets that allowed us to get in a little before most people, so we got a pretty good spot just about a row back from the stage. The opening act was a band called Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise, and they were pretty good. They had kind of a bluesy sound, and their lead guitarist was really good.
They played for about an hour, and there was a twenty-minute break for equipment changes before Edwin and his band came on. They kicked off with a tune called "My Mystery" that will be on the new CD when it comes out. In all, they played five tunes from the new album--four originals, plus a cover of Rod Stewart's "Maggie May" to end the show. I liked the new songs a lot, which makes me even more anxious for the new album to come out. It's nice to have a little preview.
Of course, the familiar songs were awesome as well. I think the best concerts are those where you can tell that the band is having a great time up there, and this was definitely one of those. Edwin said early in the show that he loved playing in this particular venue, and it showed. When he sings, there is just so much emotion in his voice. The guys in the band were walking around, jamming together, and it was great. They're all excellent musicians and entertainers--they know how to put on a show.
For me, the highlight of the show was when they played the song "Sign on the Door" (from the Messenger album). This is one of my favorite Edwin songs, although I didn't fully appreciate it until the first time I heard them play it live. More than any other, I feel like this is the song in which Edwin really lets go and just belts it out with everything he's got. It's inspiring. Also, the lyrics are incredible. This is one song that I wish I had written. I can't even adequately describe what it's like to hear it performed live; you just have to experience it for yourself.
Besides the stories Edwin told, the funniest moment of the night came during the song "Darwin's Children" (from Misguided Roses). The band launched into the song, and Edwin walked up to the mic and immediately began singing the second verse. As soon as he started, he knew he had screwed up: he got a confused look on his face and started looking around at his bandmates. He finished out the verse and then started over.
Another cool moment came during the song "I'll Be" (from Misguided Roses), which is probably Edwin's most popular song. Before the last chorus, he removed his earplugs and stepped to the side of the microphone, singing without amplification so he could hear the crowd sing along with him, which we did with gusto. It was awesome. I can only imagine how it feels to be up there, listening to an entire crowd of people sing along to words you've written. I've seen him do this before, but it gives me chills every time. Good stuff.
Perhaps the best part of the whole evening was that Brandi really enjoyed the show as well. That means we'll be going to see him again (and again and again).
SET LIST
1. My Mystery (new)
2. Jesters, Dreamers, and Thieves (Honor Among Thieves)
3. Save the Rain (new)
4. Far From Over (Far From Over)
5. Darwin's Children (Misguided Roses)
6. Shooting Star (new)
7. Sign on the Door (Messenger)
8. Turning My Life Around (new)
9. I Could Not Ask For More (Messenger)
10. Take Me (Misguided Roses)
11. Say Anything (new)
12. Beautiful Life (Messenger)
13. Promise of You (Messenger)
14. I've Seen a Love (Far From Over)
15. I'll Be (Misguided Roses, Messenger)
Encores
Let it Slide (The Austin Sessions)
Go Be Young (Messenger, The Austin Sessions)
Solitude (Honor Among Thieves)
Maggie Mae (Rod Stewart cover)
Monday, March 22, 2004
My Lover's Name is Music...
The first day of spring brought with it a pretty nice weekend in the Toledo area. That's what I hear, anyway. I was in Stow and Cleveland, and on the first day of spring, it snowed. A lot.
It always snows there. I don't know how people can stand to live there. It's kind of a fun area, but this winter has just sucked. It keeps snowing and snowing and snowing, throwing in a nice day here and there for a tease. Then the snow comes back. It's relentless, and I think living there would eventually just suck the soul right out of your body.
Actually, you'd probably just get used to it.
Snow aside, it was a good weekend. A long weekend would have been nice, so I could have seen more of the NCAA Tournament, but I really can't complain too much.
The plan for Friday called for me to drive over to Brandi's immediately after work. That was altered a little bit, as Brandi drove to her parents' house in Clyde to get her new car. Since Clyde is right between Toledo and Stow, I stopped there on my way. We hung out for a while and went out to dinner that night with her parents. I can't remember the name of the place where we ate, but it was a Mexican place in Bellevue, and the food was great. Brandi's stepmom gave me a book, which will always put me in a good mood. The book was Mystic River, which I started on Saturday. If I like it, I'll probably see the movie when it comes out on DVD.
We drove from there to Brandi's place in Stow. We had to drive separately, but it's not a bad drive. Of course, I like to drive anyway, but I don't think Brandi is especially fond of it, particularly since she was in an accident just last week. At any rate, when we got to Stow, Brandi took me for a ride in her new car. It's a 99 Sunfire, and it's pretty cool. We went to the grocery store to pick up a few things, including a USA Today featuring an article about the upcoming 3rd Harry Potter movie.
Saturday did not start in a promising fashion. Last week I received the title of my own car, which was recently purchased outright from a lease, so I needed to go to the local BMV to try to get new plates. After getting there and standing in line for fifteen minutes, I couldn't get them because I wasn't carrying anything with my Social Security number printed on it. That was irritating, to say the least. And now I'm technically driving my own car illegally, since my old tags expired on Saturday (please don't report me). I'm not especially concerned about it, though. I'm going to get it taken care of this week, whichever night the BMV office in Bowling Green is open past 5:00.
The day got much better after that. Brandi and I watched some tournament basketball on TV, then headed up to Cleveland. We had tickets to see Edwin McCain in concert at The Odeon in the Flats that night. We left early, partially because we planned to eat beforehand at the BW3 we knew was near the venue, and partially because I wasn't 100% sure how to get there. I've been there before, and Brandi and I both have a working knowledge of Cleveland, so we made it without too much trouble.
I'll get more in-depth about the show later on, but for now let's just say that it was awesome. As we headed back to Brandi's car afterwards is when it started to snow. As we got out of downtown Cleveland and headed south on I-77 is when it started to snow heavily. When we got onto the turnpike heading east, we were just being dumped on. The snow was so thick that it felt like I was constantly driving under an overpass. Oh yeah, and I was also driving Brandi's car for essentially the first time, so it was a little nerve-racking. We got through it, though--I just drove slowly and focused on the road, and everything was fine.
Sunday was mostly a lazy day, as Sundays generally are and should be. Brandi went to the YMCA where she works so she could work out, while I stayed in bed until 12:30. We watched basketball for a while after she got back, then went to the laundromat and also got her car washed. We watched more basketball when we got home, napped, watched TV, and ate pizza.
More later on the show.
It always snows there. I don't know how people can stand to live there. It's kind of a fun area, but this winter has just sucked. It keeps snowing and snowing and snowing, throwing in a nice day here and there for a tease. Then the snow comes back. It's relentless, and I think living there would eventually just suck the soul right out of your body.
Actually, you'd probably just get used to it.
Snow aside, it was a good weekend. A long weekend would have been nice, so I could have seen more of the NCAA Tournament, but I really can't complain too much.
The plan for Friday called for me to drive over to Brandi's immediately after work. That was altered a little bit, as Brandi drove to her parents' house in Clyde to get her new car. Since Clyde is right between Toledo and Stow, I stopped there on my way. We hung out for a while and went out to dinner that night with her parents. I can't remember the name of the place where we ate, but it was a Mexican place in Bellevue, and the food was great. Brandi's stepmom gave me a book, which will always put me in a good mood. The book was Mystic River, which I started on Saturday. If I like it, I'll probably see the movie when it comes out on DVD.
We drove from there to Brandi's place in Stow. We had to drive separately, but it's not a bad drive. Of course, I like to drive anyway, but I don't think Brandi is especially fond of it, particularly since she was in an accident just last week. At any rate, when we got to Stow, Brandi took me for a ride in her new car. It's a 99 Sunfire, and it's pretty cool. We went to the grocery store to pick up a few things, including a USA Today featuring an article about the upcoming 3rd Harry Potter movie.
Saturday did not start in a promising fashion. Last week I received the title of my own car, which was recently purchased outright from a lease, so I needed to go to the local BMV to try to get new plates. After getting there and standing in line for fifteen minutes, I couldn't get them because I wasn't carrying anything with my Social Security number printed on it. That was irritating, to say the least. And now I'm technically driving my own car illegally, since my old tags expired on Saturday (please don't report me). I'm not especially concerned about it, though. I'm going to get it taken care of this week, whichever night the BMV office in Bowling Green is open past 5:00.
The day got much better after that. Brandi and I watched some tournament basketball on TV, then headed up to Cleveland. We had tickets to see Edwin McCain in concert at The Odeon in the Flats that night. We left early, partially because we planned to eat beforehand at the BW3 we knew was near the venue, and partially because I wasn't 100% sure how to get there. I've been there before, and Brandi and I both have a working knowledge of Cleveland, so we made it without too much trouble.
I'll get more in-depth about the show later on, but for now let's just say that it was awesome. As we headed back to Brandi's car afterwards is when it started to snow. As we got out of downtown Cleveland and headed south on I-77 is when it started to snow heavily. When we got onto the turnpike heading east, we were just being dumped on. The snow was so thick that it felt like I was constantly driving under an overpass. Oh yeah, and I was also driving Brandi's car for essentially the first time, so it was a little nerve-racking. We got through it, though--I just drove slowly and focused on the road, and everything was fine.
Sunday was mostly a lazy day, as Sundays generally are and should be. Brandi went to the YMCA where she works so she could work out, while I stayed in bed until 12:30. We watched basketball for a while after she got back, then went to the laundromat and also got her car washed. We watched more basketball when we got home, napped, watched TV, and ate pizza.
More later on the show.
First Item of Business
There is currently an army of men with leafblowers just outside my office window. Happy Monday morning, and welcome to spring.
I've got plenty of stuff to write about today, but I wanted to get to one thing right off the bat. I was away from my blog (and indeed, the Internet in general) all weekend, and logged in this morning to find a couple of comments waiting for me. I appreciate the comments--it lets me know I'm not just sitting here mumbling to myself.
There was one in particular, from Jimbo, that I wanted to respond to. His comment was a response to my blog entitled "A Modest Proposal." His comment is as follows:
"If I remember correctly your were once a small child yourself. Oh by the way one day you will have children of your own to enjoy the others around you."
Let's take this one piece at a time.
"If I remember correctly your were once a small child yourself."
You remember correctly. The difference, of course, is that I was never allowed to act like such a moron in public. I think Jimbo might know that already. Kids will be kids, of course, but at some point the parents (or whoever is in charge at any given point) need to take action and keep their kids from getting out of control. I don't think this is too much to ask.
"Oh by the way one day you will have children of your own to enjoy the others around you."
Simply put, it's not gonna happen. I've said for a very long time that I would never have children. Admittedly, I wondered myself if that was true or not, and I eventually started qualifying it by saying that I didn't want children, but that I was willing to negotiate with the right person. I think I've found the right person. However, I also think the days of being willing to negotiate are waning, and may even be entirely gone. I do not want to have children. Period.
Why don't I want children? To be blunt, I'm too selfish. I know that having children requires a great deal of sacrifice that I'm not willing to make. I like being able to just go and do the things I want to do, without having to worry about dragging irritating kids along, or having to find a babysitter. I'm not doing it.
For what it's worth (probably not much), I happen to think most people are too selfish to have kids. I'm just one of the rare ones willing to admit it and take steps to avoid the situation.
I've got plenty of stuff to write about today, but I wanted to get to one thing right off the bat. I was away from my blog (and indeed, the Internet in general) all weekend, and logged in this morning to find a couple of comments waiting for me. I appreciate the comments--it lets me know I'm not just sitting here mumbling to myself.
There was one in particular, from Jimbo, that I wanted to respond to. His comment was a response to my blog entitled "A Modest Proposal." His comment is as follows:
"If I remember correctly your were once a small child yourself. Oh by the way one day you will have children of your own to enjoy the others around you."
Let's take this one piece at a time.
"If I remember correctly your were once a small child yourself."
You remember correctly. The difference, of course, is that I was never allowed to act like such a moron in public. I think Jimbo might know that already. Kids will be kids, of course, but at some point the parents (or whoever is in charge at any given point) need to take action and keep their kids from getting out of control. I don't think this is too much to ask.
"Oh by the way one day you will have children of your own to enjoy the others around you."
Simply put, it's not gonna happen. I've said for a very long time that I would never have children. Admittedly, I wondered myself if that was true or not, and I eventually started qualifying it by saying that I didn't want children, but that I was willing to negotiate with the right person. I think I've found the right person. However, I also think the days of being willing to negotiate are waning, and may even be entirely gone. I do not want to have children. Period.
Why don't I want children? To be blunt, I'm too selfish. I know that having children requires a great deal of sacrifice that I'm not willing to make. I like being able to just go and do the things I want to do, without having to worry about dragging irritating kids along, or having to find a babysitter. I'm not doing it.
For what it's worth (probably not much), I happen to think most people are too selfish to have kids. I'm just one of the rare ones willing to admit it and take steps to avoid the situation.
Friday, March 19, 2004
Building a Better Mousetrap
Okay, it's not a mousetrap; it's an alarm clock.
I have a problem with oversleeping. I think this makes me uniquely qualified to build an alarm clock, because I know what would work to help me wake up at a reasonable time.
The alarm clock I have now is far from perfect, but there's some stuff about it that I like. One good thing about it is that it was free. I won it as a door prize at a New Year's party I attended to ring in 1994, which makes it over ten years old. The alarm sound is nice and loud, which is good. Actually, it's so loud that it's been known to scare roommates and various sleeping companions over the years (I, on the other hand, have been known to let it go off for minutes at a time before becoming aware of it). It has two alarm settings, meaning you can set it to go off at two different times if you're so inclined.
One thing has always bothered me about alarm clocks. Let's say you have your alarm set for 8:00, but for some reason you need to get up the next day at 7:50. On most alarm clocks, you can't just set it back ten minutes; you have to move it ahead eleven hours and fifty minutes. That's a little tedious. I don't think it would be too much to ask for an alarm clock to have the ability to go forwards and backwards. Four buttons: H+, H-, M+, M-. Is that too difficult? Also, I don't want to have to hold down an "Alarm" button to see and adjust the alarm time. Too often it becomes a test of manual dexterity, trying to hold down that button while pushing the others to set the time. There should just be a switch to flip over to "Alarm."
My current alarm clock isn't too far from that. You do flip a switch for the alarm setting mode. It has three setting buttons: fast forward, forward, and reverse. Just minutes, no hours. If the alarm is set for 6:39 (my usual setting) and it needs to be set for 8:00, I have to hold down "forward" (or "fast forward") until it advances those 81 minutes. This setup would be acceptable as well as my other suggestion, but there also needs to be a fast reverse button.
Now let's talk about the snooze button. I have a love/hate relationship with the snooze button. On one hand, it's heaven to be able to slap at the clock and then just roll over for a few more minutes. However, I have a tendency to use it too many times per morning, which is generally why I get out of bed later than I intend. The snooze function on my clock is only for seven minutes, which is excruciatingly short. A perfect alarm clock, I think, would allow you to set your own custom snooze timer. I'd set mine for about half an hour, and hopefully only hit it once per day.
The best thing for a perfect alarm clock would be if it came equipped with little legs so it could get up and run around when it goes off, along with screaming its head off. If I had to get up and chase it down each morning, I think that would help a lot.
I have a problem with oversleeping. I think this makes me uniquely qualified to build an alarm clock, because I know what would work to help me wake up at a reasonable time.
The alarm clock I have now is far from perfect, but there's some stuff about it that I like. One good thing about it is that it was free. I won it as a door prize at a New Year's party I attended to ring in 1994, which makes it over ten years old. The alarm sound is nice and loud, which is good. Actually, it's so loud that it's been known to scare roommates and various sleeping companions over the years (I, on the other hand, have been known to let it go off for minutes at a time before becoming aware of it). It has two alarm settings, meaning you can set it to go off at two different times if you're so inclined.
One thing has always bothered me about alarm clocks. Let's say you have your alarm set for 8:00, but for some reason you need to get up the next day at 7:50. On most alarm clocks, you can't just set it back ten minutes; you have to move it ahead eleven hours and fifty minutes. That's a little tedious. I don't think it would be too much to ask for an alarm clock to have the ability to go forwards and backwards. Four buttons: H+, H-, M+, M-. Is that too difficult? Also, I don't want to have to hold down an "Alarm" button to see and adjust the alarm time. Too often it becomes a test of manual dexterity, trying to hold down that button while pushing the others to set the time. There should just be a switch to flip over to "Alarm."
My current alarm clock isn't too far from that. You do flip a switch for the alarm setting mode. It has three setting buttons: fast forward, forward, and reverse. Just minutes, no hours. If the alarm is set for 6:39 (my usual setting) and it needs to be set for 8:00, I have to hold down "forward" (or "fast forward") until it advances those 81 minutes. This setup would be acceptable as well as my other suggestion, but there also needs to be a fast reverse button.
Now let's talk about the snooze button. I have a love/hate relationship with the snooze button. On one hand, it's heaven to be able to slap at the clock and then just roll over for a few more minutes. However, I have a tendency to use it too many times per morning, which is generally why I get out of bed later than I intend. The snooze function on my clock is only for seven minutes, which is excruciatingly short. A perfect alarm clock, I think, would allow you to set your own custom snooze timer. I'd set mine for about half an hour, and hopefully only hit it once per day.
The best thing for a perfect alarm clock would be if it came equipped with little legs so it could get up and run around when it goes off, along with screaming its head off. If I had to get up and chase it down each morning, I think that would help a lot.
Thursday, March 18, 2004
Goats, Quotes, and Random Notes
The NCAA Basketball Tournament kicks off today. It's one of the biggest sports days of the year, and I, like so many other people, am stuck at my desk at work. This is a travesty of justice. I should be on a couch somewhere, in front of a television (or two).
In honor of the tournament, here's an installment of randomness, March Madness style:
* I seriously thought about stopping at Circuit City on my lunch break and buying one of those little handheld televisions, which I could keep in my desk drawer here at work (next to the cookies). That would enable me to sneak it out from time to time and keep tabs on the games. Ultimately I decided against it, mainly because I couldn't think of a way to explain a power cord trailing into my desk drawer.
* I used to work at the Panasonic plant in my hometown of Troy, Ohio. This would be a good time to have that job again. They manufacture television screens, and they had televisions in every break room, plus a huge one in the lunchroom. These televisions were constantly tuned to CBS, which happens to be the network broadcasting the tourney games. It would be nice just to be able to check in from time to time and see what's happening.
* Since there are no televisions here and I opted not to buy one for myself, and I'm not allowed to have a radio, I have another Internet Explorer window open to ESPN.com's college basketball scoreboard, which I have set to refresh itself every sixty seconds. That way I can click over every few minutes and at least get score updates. Apparently a lot of people are doing this--ESPN.com's servers are running very slow. Our lovely shared dial-up Internet connection doesn't help matters, either.
* As much as I complain about our slow-ass Internet connection, I should note that it's not the fault of anyone here. The powers-that-be want to get a broadband connection, but there aren't any available yet in our area. It sounds like we're ready to make the switch as soon as we can.
* Oooh, this is awesome. I just switched from ESPN.com to CBS Sportsline's scoreboard, and it loaded much faster. Also, the scores are updated automatically, so the page doesn't have to refresh. I like this very much. I'd rather have a TV, or at least a radio, but this is at least a decent alternative.
* My adopted team for the NCAA Tournament is the Western Michigan Broncos, the 11 seed in the Phoenix region. They're carrying the banner for the Mid-American Conference, as the winner of the MAC Tournament and the only conference representative left in the postseason. Conference members Toledo and Kent State both were eliminated in the first round of the NIT. For what it's worth, I was hoping Toledo would lose, and I would not have thrown my lot in with them had they won their way into the NCAAs. Conference unity is all well and good (I was nearly ecstatic when Kent State advanced to the Elite Eight two years ago), but I hate the UT Rockets with all my heart.
* I'm thinking my BGSU season review will be coming early next week. The Falcons' season has been over for a full week as of today, and there aren't too many Falcon fans talking about it anymore. I'm almost ready to toss out my two cents, and then start looking ahead to next year.
Moving on from college basketball....
* I held the door for a State Highway Patrol officer on her way into Subway today. I'm hoping that gives me a little bit of good State Patrol karma at some point in the future when I might find myself in need of some.
* Speaking of the State Patrol...I drove over to Stow yesterday after work to spend the evening with Brandi, and there were a ton of cops on the turnpike. The trip spans 128 turnpike miles, and I saw at least seven cops. That's about six more than I usually see on that particular drive. Apparently they were taking this St. Patrick's Day thing pretty seriously.
* Brandi and I had a low-key evening together. We went out to dinner at a local restaurant called Mike's Place, which we both really like. Other than that, we just hung out together. Our original plans called for us to go out and have a drink or two for St. Patrick's Day, but it didn't happen. We did stop into BW3, intending to eat there and then commence drinking, but it was extremely crowded (a bar in a college town on St. Patrick's Day? Go figure.) so we left to eat elsewhere, and never made it back. Brandi's had a bit of a long week so far, with her car accident and all, and she really didn't feel like going out. That was fine--we had a good time anyway, and we'll probably go out some this weekend.
Tonight I'm looking forward to an evening spent mainly on the couch, in front of televised basketball games. I love this time of year.
In honor of the tournament, here's an installment of randomness, March Madness style:
* I seriously thought about stopping at Circuit City on my lunch break and buying one of those little handheld televisions, which I could keep in my desk drawer here at work (next to the cookies). That would enable me to sneak it out from time to time and keep tabs on the games. Ultimately I decided against it, mainly because I couldn't think of a way to explain a power cord trailing into my desk drawer.
* I used to work at the Panasonic plant in my hometown of Troy, Ohio. This would be a good time to have that job again. They manufacture television screens, and they had televisions in every break room, plus a huge one in the lunchroom. These televisions were constantly tuned to CBS, which happens to be the network broadcasting the tourney games. It would be nice just to be able to check in from time to time and see what's happening.
* Since there are no televisions here and I opted not to buy one for myself, and I'm not allowed to have a radio, I have another Internet Explorer window open to ESPN.com's college basketball scoreboard, which I have set to refresh itself every sixty seconds. That way I can click over every few minutes and at least get score updates. Apparently a lot of people are doing this--ESPN.com's servers are running very slow. Our lovely shared dial-up Internet connection doesn't help matters, either.
* As much as I complain about our slow-ass Internet connection, I should note that it's not the fault of anyone here. The powers-that-be want to get a broadband connection, but there aren't any available yet in our area. It sounds like we're ready to make the switch as soon as we can.
* Oooh, this is awesome. I just switched from ESPN.com to CBS Sportsline's scoreboard, and it loaded much faster. Also, the scores are updated automatically, so the page doesn't have to refresh. I like this very much. I'd rather have a TV, or at least a radio, but this is at least a decent alternative.
* My adopted team for the NCAA Tournament is the Western Michigan Broncos, the 11 seed in the Phoenix region. They're carrying the banner for the Mid-American Conference, as the winner of the MAC Tournament and the only conference representative left in the postseason. Conference members Toledo and Kent State both were eliminated in the first round of the NIT. For what it's worth, I was hoping Toledo would lose, and I would not have thrown my lot in with them had they won their way into the NCAAs. Conference unity is all well and good (I was nearly ecstatic when Kent State advanced to the Elite Eight two years ago), but I hate the UT Rockets with all my heart.
* I'm thinking my BGSU season review will be coming early next week. The Falcons' season has been over for a full week as of today, and there aren't too many Falcon fans talking about it anymore. I'm almost ready to toss out my two cents, and then start looking ahead to next year.
Moving on from college basketball....
* I held the door for a State Highway Patrol officer on her way into Subway today. I'm hoping that gives me a little bit of good State Patrol karma at some point in the future when I might find myself in need of some.
* Speaking of the State Patrol...I drove over to Stow yesterday after work to spend the evening with Brandi, and there were a ton of cops on the turnpike. The trip spans 128 turnpike miles, and I saw at least seven cops. That's about six more than I usually see on that particular drive. Apparently they were taking this St. Patrick's Day thing pretty seriously.
* Brandi and I had a low-key evening together. We went out to dinner at a local restaurant called Mike's Place, which we both really like. Other than that, we just hung out together. Our original plans called for us to go out and have a drink or two for St. Patrick's Day, but it didn't happen. We did stop into BW3, intending to eat there and then commence drinking, but it was extremely crowded (a bar in a college town on St. Patrick's Day? Go figure.) so we left to eat elsewhere, and never made it back. Brandi's had a bit of a long week so far, with her car accident and all, and she really didn't feel like going out. That was fine--we had a good time anyway, and we'll probably go out some this weekend.
Tonight I'm looking forward to an evening spent mainly on the couch, in front of televised basketball games. I love this time of year.
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
A Modest Proposal
I went to McDonald's for lunch today.
For me, the main purpose of a lunch break is just to get away from my desk and the office for a while. The meal is secondary. I like to have that time in the middle of the day where I can forget this place exists, and just relax for a while. Unfortunately, it rarely works out quite like that.
I go into McDonald's, I place my order, and I get my food. I go from the counter to the condiment stand so I can get napkins, a straw, and my drink. This area, however, is overrun by three little kids who seem to be there for approximately the same purpose, with no adult supervision. One problem with this is that they're only about three feet tall, if that, and the condiment stand just isn't built to be effectively utilized by people that low to the ground. Therefore, the going is quite slow, and it's apparent that none of them are leaving until they're all ready to go. Secondly...well, they're kids, and they have no clue what's happening anywhere more than approximately four inches from their own bodies. Also, they're crazy. While one of them is struggling slowly in front of the drink machine, the other two are running and flailing around, trying to knock trays from the hands of other innocent customers.
Eventually I make my way through the obstacle course and get everything I need, then go sit down to eat and read. About three minutes after I do this, a small child starts shrieking. Throughout the course of my lunch, this child continues to shriek. Occasionally other children chime in. It makes the lunchtime experience about as irritating, unrelaxing, and unenjoyable as possible.
I live in Bowling Green and work in Toledo. Both cities have smoking bans which outlaw smoking in restaurants unless those restaurants have smoking sections that are actually sealed off from the non-smoking sections, with separate ventilation systems. It makes the dining experience a lot more pleasant for those of us who don't smoke.
You can probably see where I'm going with this. Is it so outlandish to wish for a similar system for children? There should be a separate area (soundproof) in a restaurant for people with kids, so that people who wish to have a quiet, relaxing meal can do so. The McDonald's I was at has something like this, with an indoor play area with tables to eat at. Not everyone with kids uses it, though.
Look, I know this was McDonald's, which is sort of a kid-oriented place, and I should just suck it up and take it. It's like that everywhere, though, from other fast-food places up to fairly nice restaurants. It would just be nice to occasionally be able to go out and enjoy a meal without having to put up with someone's brat making an ass of themselves.
I know it's never going to happen. Trust me, though, this is a lot less crazy than my real suggestion, which is for parents (or anyone responsible for children) to exact some discipline and require said children to behave like human beings.
For me, the main purpose of a lunch break is just to get away from my desk and the office for a while. The meal is secondary. I like to have that time in the middle of the day where I can forget this place exists, and just relax for a while. Unfortunately, it rarely works out quite like that.
I go into McDonald's, I place my order, and I get my food. I go from the counter to the condiment stand so I can get napkins, a straw, and my drink. This area, however, is overrun by three little kids who seem to be there for approximately the same purpose, with no adult supervision. One problem with this is that they're only about three feet tall, if that, and the condiment stand just isn't built to be effectively utilized by people that low to the ground. Therefore, the going is quite slow, and it's apparent that none of them are leaving until they're all ready to go. Secondly...well, they're kids, and they have no clue what's happening anywhere more than approximately four inches from their own bodies. Also, they're crazy. While one of them is struggling slowly in front of the drink machine, the other two are running and flailing around, trying to knock trays from the hands of other innocent customers.
Eventually I make my way through the obstacle course and get everything I need, then go sit down to eat and read. About three minutes after I do this, a small child starts shrieking. Throughout the course of my lunch, this child continues to shriek. Occasionally other children chime in. It makes the lunchtime experience about as irritating, unrelaxing, and unenjoyable as possible.
I live in Bowling Green and work in Toledo. Both cities have smoking bans which outlaw smoking in restaurants unless those restaurants have smoking sections that are actually sealed off from the non-smoking sections, with separate ventilation systems. It makes the dining experience a lot more pleasant for those of us who don't smoke.
You can probably see where I'm going with this. Is it so outlandish to wish for a similar system for children? There should be a separate area (soundproof) in a restaurant for people with kids, so that people who wish to have a quiet, relaxing meal can do so. The McDonald's I was at has something like this, with an indoor play area with tables to eat at. Not everyone with kids uses it, though.
Look, I know this was McDonald's, which is sort of a kid-oriented place, and I should just suck it up and take it. It's like that everywhere, though, from other fast-food places up to fairly nice restaurants. It would just be nice to occasionally be able to go out and enjoy a meal without having to put up with someone's brat making an ass of themselves.
I know it's never going to happen. Trust me, though, this is a lot less crazy than my real suggestion, which is for parents (or anyone responsible for children) to exact some discipline and require said children to behave like human beings.
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
When Will It End?
Enough already with winter!
It's time for crazy weather here in Ohio, and Mother Nature is delivering. Temperatures have generally been pretty mild lately, and we're paying for it today. It's been snowing all day. We're expected to have 4-6" by the time it's all said and done, and I'd say we're well on our way to that. Luckily, the road crews are doing an uncharacteristically good job of keeping the roads clear. I was out and about on my lunch break with no problems or even delays whatsoever.
Of course, that's here in Toledo. Brandi, who's in Stow, called this morning to tell me she was involved in a weather-related car accident. She's not hurt--just regular post-collision soreness--but a little shaken up, which is understandable. It was just a fender-bender, for the most part, but it does sound like her car was knocked out of alignment, if nothing else. Fortunately, her parents have stepped in and are getting her another car. It sucks that it had to happen this way, but her having a newer car is a good thing.
I'm just hoping that this is our last snowstorm of the season. It should be, seeing as how spring begins for real on Saturday. And it's not all bad--there are a couple of cardinals hanging out in the tree right outside my office window, and they look awesome against the snowy background. These are the sort of photographs I would take if I had a really good digital camera. The colors are just phenomenal.
And the weather being crazy this time of year in Ohio (most of the time, really), it's supposed to get back to being mild again soon. Whatever snow we get today will likely be gone by this weekend.
Along with crazy weather in Ohio, this is also the time of year for the NCAA basketball tournament. This is one of my favorite times of the year, and it's maybe the best time of the year for even casual sports fans. There's just something captivating about the tournament, especially the opening rounds. Smaller schools are getting a rare chance to show their stuff against the "big boys" on a neutral floor, and the "survive and advance" attitude provides an amazing, emotional atmosphere. It's great to watch--I know I've always liked watching the tournament, even back before I was as big of a basketball fan as I am now. Brandi and I watched the selection special on Sunday evening and filled out brackets, and it was a lot of fun.
Personally, I think the first round of the tournament, which is always played on a Thursday and Friday, should be national holidays so everyone could take the day off work and watch the games. At the very least, there should be a television in a break room or conference room or something so workers could check in periodically and see how the games are going. Right now I can't even have a radio at my desk, so I'll be checking scores on ESPN.com every couple of minutes.
Tournament action actually starts tonight, with the opening round play-in game between Lehigh and Florida A&M. The winner gets to face top overall seed Kentucky. They've had this play-in game for a couple of years now, and it's always played in Dayton. I'd love to eventually be able to go to one of these games, since it's not very far. This year, though, I'll be watching on ESPN.
On his radio show today, Tony Kornheiser had George Mason head basketball coach Jim Larranaga on to preview the tournament and talk about his own picks. I found Coach Larranaga to be a good radio personality and quite entertaining. This is at least mildly noteworthy to me because he was the head basketball coach at Bowling Green before moving on to George Mason. My first year attending BGSU was the first year for Coach Larranaga's successor (Dan Dakich), so I don't know that much about him.
You'll notice, of course, that I've said little to this point about the end of BG's basketball season. Rest assured, there will be a season review sometime in the coming days. Right now I'm taking a couple of days to detach myself, to think about the season and talk with other BG fans. It was a rough season, and I think it bears some thought before I write about it. It's coming, though, and it'll be extensive.
For now, though, let winter end and March Madness begin!
It's time for crazy weather here in Ohio, and Mother Nature is delivering. Temperatures have generally been pretty mild lately, and we're paying for it today. It's been snowing all day. We're expected to have 4-6" by the time it's all said and done, and I'd say we're well on our way to that. Luckily, the road crews are doing an uncharacteristically good job of keeping the roads clear. I was out and about on my lunch break with no problems or even delays whatsoever.
Of course, that's here in Toledo. Brandi, who's in Stow, called this morning to tell me she was involved in a weather-related car accident. She's not hurt--just regular post-collision soreness--but a little shaken up, which is understandable. It was just a fender-bender, for the most part, but it does sound like her car was knocked out of alignment, if nothing else. Fortunately, her parents have stepped in and are getting her another car. It sucks that it had to happen this way, but her having a newer car is a good thing.
I'm just hoping that this is our last snowstorm of the season. It should be, seeing as how spring begins for real on Saturday. And it's not all bad--there are a couple of cardinals hanging out in the tree right outside my office window, and they look awesome against the snowy background. These are the sort of photographs I would take if I had a really good digital camera. The colors are just phenomenal.
And the weather being crazy this time of year in Ohio (most of the time, really), it's supposed to get back to being mild again soon. Whatever snow we get today will likely be gone by this weekend.
Along with crazy weather in Ohio, this is also the time of year for the NCAA basketball tournament. This is one of my favorite times of the year, and it's maybe the best time of the year for even casual sports fans. There's just something captivating about the tournament, especially the opening rounds. Smaller schools are getting a rare chance to show their stuff against the "big boys" on a neutral floor, and the "survive and advance" attitude provides an amazing, emotional atmosphere. It's great to watch--I know I've always liked watching the tournament, even back before I was as big of a basketball fan as I am now. Brandi and I watched the selection special on Sunday evening and filled out brackets, and it was a lot of fun.
Personally, I think the first round of the tournament, which is always played on a Thursday and Friday, should be national holidays so everyone could take the day off work and watch the games. At the very least, there should be a television in a break room or conference room or something so workers could check in periodically and see how the games are going. Right now I can't even have a radio at my desk, so I'll be checking scores on ESPN.com every couple of minutes.
Tournament action actually starts tonight, with the opening round play-in game between Lehigh and Florida A&M. The winner gets to face top overall seed Kentucky. They've had this play-in game for a couple of years now, and it's always played in Dayton. I'd love to eventually be able to go to one of these games, since it's not very far. This year, though, I'll be watching on ESPN.
On his radio show today, Tony Kornheiser had George Mason head basketball coach Jim Larranaga on to preview the tournament and talk about his own picks. I found Coach Larranaga to be a good radio personality and quite entertaining. This is at least mildly noteworthy to me because he was the head basketball coach at Bowling Green before moving on to George Mason. My first year attending BGSU was the first year for Coach Larranaga's successor (Dan Dakich), so I don't know that much about him.
You'll notice, of course, that I've said little to this point about the end of BG's basketball season. Rest assured, there will be a season review sometime in the coming days. Right now I'm taking a couple of days to detach myself, to think about the season and talk with other BG fans. It was a rough season, and I think it bears some thought before I write about it. It's coming, though, and it'll be extensive.
For now, though, let winter end and March Madness begin!
Monday, March 15, 2004
Beware the Ides of March
Let's just say that if I could have mapped out the perfect day to come back from a long weekend, it would have gone almost nothing like today has gone so far. I'm feeling a bit irritated.
Let me start by saying that I had every intention of my first blog after my hiatus being just a basic rundown of the weekend. I may get to that at some point today, or I may not. I was actually in the process of writing that blog, and was indeed about halfway finished with it when I stupidly decided to try to save a draft of it. See, it was getting close to lunchtime and I didn't know if I'd be able to write anymore, so I tried to set it up so I could close the window and come back to it later. Silly me. Our lovely dial-up connection (shared among eight of us here in the office) chose a moment in that general time span to have a little hiccup, and I was left with "This page cannot be displayed." My entry was lost, and I was too busy trying to keep myself from banging on everything in sight with a hammer to even bother trying to re-create it. I still am, as a matter of fact. It may never happen. In case it doesn't, let me just say that I had a great weekend, except for the Falcons losing in the MAC Basketball Tournament.
Anyway, today I'm back at work after a long weekend, having taken last Thursday and Friday as vacation days so I could follow the Falcons to said tournament. I've got a lot of stuff to get through today, which is understandable. I'm filling two positions here, so it would be absurd for me to expect two days off without returning to a large mound of stuff on my desk to work through, even given how un-busy we've been lately. I don't mind having all this stuff to go through. In fact, I like it. I like being busy. I don't think I'll ever go so far as to say I like my job here, but I like it much better when I'm being productive. What I do mind is one of my co-workers immediately starting to badger me about one certain relatively minor thing when I've got all this other stuff to do. I'll be working to get everything done as soon as possible, but my number one priority is getting these projects put into the system and out into the shop so the guys out there have some work to do and so we can get this stuff on its way to being shipped. Some (well, at least one) of my fellow office workers have an overinflated view of their own importance.
Anyway, the same Internet hiccup that caused the loss of my blog entry also put a stop to pretty much all Internet activity for the remainder of the morning. That wasn't a long enough period of time (about an hour) to be a severe problem, but it was just one more irritating thing to add to a list that was growing even then.
Then there's lunchtime. Lunch is supposed to be a happy time, right? A chance to get out of the office for a bit and relax, and a Monday bonus is that it's a Wendy's day. Of course, Wendy's is having some inexplicable construction work done to its parking lot, which is small to begin with. Now their small parking lot has several spaces closed for construction, and the rest of the spaces taken up with construction equipment. Also, Wendy's happens to be busy. I ended up parking at the IHOP next door. I hate doing that, but sometimes you have to break the rules.
So I finally get into Wendy's to discover that the people in line have no idea how to form a line. Wendy's has railings set up so that the line will wind, but every so often people will just line up out the side of it. Well, if the line gets larger than, say, three people, this starts to unnecessarily crowd the lobby. I always go where the line is supposed to go, which results in mass chaos, because everyone else gets confused. Really, people, this is getting in line. It's one of the most basic things in our society. Please don't continue to screw this up. This is why people from other countries think we're dumb...it's because WE ARE!!!
Oh well. At least I've had a better day than Julius Caesar did on March 15.
Let me start by saying that I had every intention of my first blog after my hiatus being just a basic rundown of the weekend. I may get to that at some point today, or I may not. I was actually in the process of writing that blog, and was indeed about halfway finished with it when I stupidly decided to try to save a draft of it. See, it was getting close to lunchtime and I didn't know if I'd be able to write anymore, so I tried to set it up so I could close the window and come back to it later. Silly me. Our lovely dial-up connection (shared among eight of us here in the office) chose a moment in that general time span to have a little hiccup, and I was left with "This page cannot be displayed." My entry was lost, and I was too busy trying to keep myself from banging on everything in sight with a hammer to even bother trying to re-create it. I still am, as a matter of fact. It may never happen. In case it doesn't, let me just say that I had a great weekend, except for the Falcons losing in the MAC Basketball Tournament.
Anyway, today I'm back at work after a long weekend, having taken last Thursday and Friday as vacation days so I could follow the Falcons to said tournament. I've got a lot of stuff to get through today, which is understandable. I'm filling two positions here, so it would be absurd for me to expect two days off without returning to a large mound of stuff on my desk to work through, even given how un-busy we've been lately. I don't mind having all this stuff to go through. In fact, I like it. I like being busy. I don't think I'll ever go so far as to say I like my job here, but I like it much better when I'm being productive. What I do mind is one of my co-workers immediately starting to badger me about one certain relatively minor thing when I've got all this other stuff to do. I'll be working to get everything done as soon as possible, but my number one priority is getting these projects put into the system and out into the shop so the guys out there have some work to do and so we can get this stuff on its way to being shipped. Some (well, at least one) of my fellow office workers have an overinflated view of their own importance.
Anyway, the same Internet hiccup that caused the loss of my blog entry also put a stop to pretty much all Internet activity for the remainder of the morning. That wasn't a long enough period of time (about an hour) to be a severe problem, but it was just one more irritating thing to add to a list that was growing even then.
Then there's lunchtime. Lunch is supposed to be a happy time, right? A chance to get out of the office for a bit and relax, and a Monday bonus is that it's a Wendy's day. Of course, Wendy's is having some inexplicable construction work done to its parking lot, which is small to begin with. Now their small parking lot has several spaces closed for construction, and the rest of the spaces taken up with construction equipment. Also, Wendy's happens to be busy. I ended up parking at the IHOP next door. I hate doing that, but sometimes you have to break the rules.
So I finally get into Wendy's to discover that the people in line have no idea how to form a line. Wendy's has railings set up so that the line will wind, but every so often people will just line up out the side of it. Well, if the line gets larger than, say, three people, this starts to unnecessarily crowd the lobby. I always go where the line is supposed to go, which results in mass chaos, because everyone else gets confused. Really, people, this is getting in line. It's one of the most basic things in our society. Please don't continue to screw this up. This is why people from other countries think we're dumb...it's because WE ARE!!!
Oh well. At least I've had a better day than Julius Caesar did on March 15.
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
Notes, Quotes, and Quaker Oats
As I mentioned yesterday, I won't be at work on Thursday or Friday of this week, as I'll be in Cleveland for the MAC Men's Basketball Tournament. As such, I likely won't have access to the Internet, and therefore this will be the last update to my blog until Monday. Hopefully my Constant Readers (both of you) won't suffer from too many withdrawal symptoms in that time. Look on the bright side: when I do come back on Monday, I'll have four days worth of experiences to share with you.
To hold you over until then, I've got a handful of items to tell you about.
* Since I won't be working the rest of the week, today is like Friday for me. Therefore, I decided it was entirely appropriate to assume my lunch routine for Friday. So I went to Wendy's and got the Classic Single combo, with mustard, pickle, and onion. Damn, that's a good sandwich.
* Next to Wendy's, a car wash had a message on their marquee wishing good luck to the "Lady Dogs." I don't know offhand which high school that's for, but I'd be willing to bet nonetheless that some members of the student body think of their girls' sports teams as the "Bitches."
* Working with an Excel spreadsheet for a project here at work was a little frustrating yesterday. I was trying to find a formula that would return the minimum value in a range of cells, but I wanted to exclude values of zero. After a lot of searching (and some non-helpful assistance from my engineering department) I finally found a formula that worked. However, you couldn't just type in the formula and hit Enter. Oh no, for this particular formula, you had to type it in and then hit Ctrl+Shift+Enter. I can't fathom why that is. Someone at Microsoft had to think that was a good idea. And you wonder why Windows is so unstable. Obviously Microsoft engineers have lost all grip on reality.
* There's been a lot of talk lately that the NHL players will be going on strike after this season, and that the league may not have a season next year and possibly beyond. My only question is: will anyone notice? I'm a pretty big sports fan, but I don't know anyone who's into professional hockey.
* Ah yes, more complaining about "the wife" from a certain oh-so-pleasant co-worker. If someone can please explain why he chooses to tell me about his problems, I'd love to hear it. If I've ever given any indication of interest, it was by accident.
* Speaking of work, I've actually been kept fairly busy here lately. This is a good thing. I like being here so much better when I have something productive to do.
* I've gotten no e-mail today, not even spam. This makes me feel almost as though I've ceased to exist.
To hold you over until then, I've got a handful of items to tell you about.
* Since I won't be working the rest of the week, today is like Friday for me. Therefore, I decided it was entirely appropriate to assume my lunch routine for Friday. So I went to Wendy's and got the Classic Single combo, with mustard, pickle, and onion. Damn, that's a good sandwich.
* Next to Wendy's, a car wash had a message on their marquee wishing good luck to the "Lady Dogs." I don't know offhand which high school that's for, but I'd be willing to bet nonetheless that some members of the student body think of their girls' sports teams as the "Bitches."
* Working with an Excel spreadsheet for a project here at work was a little frustrating yesterday. I was trying to find a formula that would return the minimum value in a range of cells, but I wanted to exclude values of zero. After a lot of searching (and some non-helpful assistance from my engineering department) I finally found a formula that worked. However, you couldn't just type in the formula and hit Enter. Oh no, for this particular formula, you had to type it in and then hit Ctrl+Shift+Enter. I can't fathom why that is. Someone at Microsoft had to think that was a good idea. And you wonder why Windows is so unstable. Obviously Microsoft engineers have lost all grip on reality.
* There's been a lot of talk lately that the NHL players will be going on strike after this season, and that the league may not have a season next year and possibly beyond. My only question is: will anyone notice? I'm a pretty big sports fan, but I don't know anyone who's into professional hockey.
* Ah yes, more complaining about "the wife" from a certain oh-so-pleasant co-worker. If someone can please explain why he chooses to tell me about his problems, I'd love to hear it. If I've ever given any indication of interest, it was by accident.
* Speaking of work, I've actually been kept fairly busy here lately. This is a good thing. I like being here so much better when I have something productive to do.
* I've gotten no e-mail today, not even spam. This makes me feel almost as though I've ceased to exist.
Tuesday, March 09, 2004
Moving On
Falcons Survive to Face Flashes
BG's Netter Fights
The Falcons live to fight another day.
There have been very few pretty games so far this season (probably none), and it's not hard to find fault with this season's hoop team. One thing you cannot say about them, though, is that they lay down and die. This team fights. They don't always play well, but they do play hard, and I still find them fun to watch. I love Falcon hoops.
That being the case, I'm taking Thursday and Friday off work this week, and I'm following the hoops team to Cleveland for the MAC Tournament. I went to the tournament two years ago, and it was an awesome time. Of course, BG had a hell of a team that year, led by seniors Len Matela, Brent Klassen, Keith McLeod, and Brandon Pardon. They made it to the championship game and ended up losing to Kent State, who went on to charge into the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament that year.
I don't expect similar results this year. If it happens, I'll be pleasantly surprised, and I'll be there every step of the way. Right now, though, I just don't know if our guys have what it takes to put together a run. We play hard, but we don't always play smart. There are too many fouls, too many turnovers, too many defensive lapses, too many wasted offensive possessions. I've said it before: I think we have the talent to win this thing, but I haven't seen enough to make me believe that we will.
Also, the deck is stacked against us at this point. We came into the tournament as the #7 seed. That was high enough for us to host a first-round game against a lower seed, but it's all uphill from here. Our next game, the first at the Gund, is at noon on Thursday against 2-seed Kent State. If we should win that game (which is possible--Kent beat us twice during the regular season, but we played them close both times, and they've been struggling lately) we would play next at 8:30 on Friday vs. the 3-seed Miami Redhawks (if the seeds hold). If we should happen to get to the championship game, it would likely be against 1-seed Western Michigan. It certainly won't be easy going for the Falcons.
I'll be there cheering them on every step of the way, though. I would love to see our guys make a run at the tournament championship. Even with the obstacles we face, it's certainly not out of the question. I do think we've got good talent, and I don't think anyone in the conference is unbeatable. It'll be tough, but it can be done. And oh, how sweet it would be if we won the whole thing.
Whatever happens from this point on, my visits to Anderson Arena are over until next year. That makes me sad, but not as much this year as it usually does. Very rarely this year did "The House That Roars" live up to its name, and that's what makes it fun--when it gets loud and crazy in there. The fans (particularly the students) just never showed up this season, and that's too bad. We'll just have to hope for better energy next year. The crowd at last night's game was particularly weak, as BGSU students are currently on spring break. The announced crowd was just over 1,600, which isn't very good for a tournament game. Still, there's not much that can be done without the students on campus.
I just hope the crowds at Gund Arena will be good.
BG's Netter Fights
The Falcons live to fight another day.
There have been very few pretty games so far this season (probably none), and it's not hard to find fault with this season's hoop team. One thing you cannot say about them, though, is that they lay down and die. This team fights. They don't always play well, but they do play hard, and I still find them fun to watch. I love Falcon hoops.
That being the case, I'm taking Thursday and Friday off work this week, and I'm following the hoops team to Cleveland for the MAC Tournament. I went to the tournament two years ago, and it was an awesome time. Of course, BG had a hell of a team that year, led by seniors Len Matela, Brent Klassen, Keith McLeod, and Brandon Pardon. They made it to the championship game and ended up losing to Kent State, who went on to charge into the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament that year.
I don't expect similar results this year. If it happens, I'll be pleasantly surprised, and I'll be there every step of the way. Right now, though, I just don't know if our guys have what it takes to put together a run. We play hard, but we don't always play smart. There are too many fouls, too many turnovers, too many defensive lapses, too many wasted offensive possessions. I've said it before: I think we have the talent to win this thing, but I haven't seen enough to make me believe that we will.
Also, the deck is stacked against us at this point. We came into the tournament as the #7 seed. That was high enough for us to host a first-round game against a lower seed, but it's all uphill from here. Our next game, the first at the Gund, is at noon on Thursday against 2-seed Kent State. If we should win that game (which is possible--Kent beat us twice during the regular season, but we played them close both times, and they've been struggling lately) we would play next at 8:30 on Friday vs. the 3-seed Miami Redhawks (if the seeds hold). If we should happen to get to the championship game, it would likely be against 1-seed Western Michigan. It certainly won't be easy going for the Falcons.
I'll be there cheering them on every step of the way, though. I would love to see our guys make a run at the tournament championship. Even with the obstacles we face, it's certainly not out of the question. I do think we've got good talent, and I don't think anyone in the conference is unbeatable. It'll be tough, but it can be done. And oh, how sweet it would be if we won the whole thing.
Whatever happens from this point on, my visits to Anderson Arena are over until next year. That makes me sad, but not as much this year as it usually does. Very rarely this year did "The House That Roars" live up to its name, and that's what makes it fun--when it gets loud and crazy in there. The fans (particularly the students) just never showed up this season, and that's too bad. We'll just have to hope for better energy next year. The crowd at last night's game was particularly weak, as BGSU students are currently on spring break. The announced crowd was just over 1,600, which isn't very good for a tournament game. Still, there's not much that can be done without the students on campus.
I just hope the crowds at Gund Arena will be good.
Monday, March 08, 2004
Weekend Wrap
A few notes about the weekend that was, and then some.
I'm disappointed to note that my high school alma mater, the Troy Trojans basketball team lost in the state tournament yesterday, ending their season. I think their final record was 21-2. They lost on a neutral court by one point to a team they beat by 20 points on THEIR court during the regular season. I thought this team had a chance to go far into the tournament, and maybe even win the whole thing. It kills me that we lost to someone in our own conference. I never got to see them play this year, and I wish I would have. Senior center Matt Terwilliger is taking his considerable skills to Columbus to play hoops for Ohio State next season. Junior guards Michael Hall and Shane Carter are back for the Trojans next season.
On a brighter note, the Troy High School bowling team competed in the state tournament this weekend. They didn't win, but came in second. For a team in its first year of existence, that's an incredible performance. Having participated in Troy's youth bowling program myself when I was younger, I can speak to the quality of the program. Hopefully this team can keep up their success for years to come.
The Bowling Green Falcons get March Madness started in earnest this evening, in the first round of the MAC Tournament. We're back at Anderson, against the Ohio Bobcats. The Falcons are coming into this one on a bit of a skid, having lost three in a row. I'm hoping they can buck the trend tonight and beat the Bobcats, who happen to be not very good. We've already beaten them at our place once this year. If we can get to the Gund, anything can happen. I say that, but I'm not quite sure I believe it. BG has some talent on the roster, but they just haven't been able to put it together this year, and I have to question why I would expect that to change at this late date. Trust me, I bleed for the Falcon hoopsters maybe more than any other sports team I follow, and I'm not counting them out until the buzzer sounds on our last game, but I'm not exactly expecting much of a tournament run. I would love to be pleasantly surprised, though. I feel pretty good about our chances of beating Ohio and moving on to Cleveland, but beyond that, I just don't know.
Finally, let me just mention briefly one of my biggest pet peeves about my job. I hate it when someone, generally from my engineering department, asks me to call a company because they need information about a product. This drives me absolutely crazy, and has been known to ruin entire mornings (not that mornings are generally that great anyway, since I'm most definitely not a morning person). I'm not an engineer, and it usually turns out that I don't have enough information to get the information they need. Inevitably, whoever I talk to at said company will ask me questions that I don't have answers for, and then I feel like a moron because I have to tell them I'll call back. Everyone who works here in the office has a phone on their desk. I do not have the slightest clue why these people don't call the companies themselves when they need information. It would make everyone's lives a lot easier.
March Madness
What a weekend.
Before I could leave Stow for Toledo this morning, I had to clean about 6" of snow off my car. This, after I've been talking and thinking about spring for at least a week or so. A return to winter weather certainly wasn't unexpected, but it wasn't exactly welcome either. I would have been just fine if we had seen our last snowfall of the year.
That capped off what was, for me, a rather strange weekend. A good one, no doubt (aren't they all?), but strange nonetheless.
I drove to Brandi's place in Stow immediately after work on Friday evening. I got there right around 7:00, as per usual, and Brandi and I decided to go have dinner at Olive Garden. It's probably our favorite place to eat, and we've been talking about going there for several weekends without actually making it, so that's where we went. We had to wait for about an hour, so we sat at the bar and had a couple glasses of wine and an appetizer (stuffed mushrooms). This always makes the wait more tolerable. Eventually we got our table and had a nice dinner.
At the end of dinner is when the weirdness first started, although I didn't recognize it right away. When I tried at first to pay for our meal, the waitress came back and said my credit card had been declined. I had trouble with this a couple of weeks ago as well, so I didn't think too much of it. The card gets a fair amount of use, and in my experience card readers will have trouble reading certain cards after they get used a lot. At any rate, it wasn't a huge deal, I just paid with my debit card instead.
The next morning (late in the morning--I love sleeping in) I was awakened to the sound of my cell phone buzzing, indicating that I had a voice mail. When I finally rolled out of bed and checked my messages, I had an automated message from my credit card company's fraud prevention department, asking me to contact them. Needless to say, this piqued my curiosity, so I called them. What it boils down to is that my account was "compromised," and someone other than myself tried to use my account number to charge more than $700 worth of merchandise. I'm not going to be responsible for those charges, but that particular account number was shut down. That's not a particularly huge deal, especially given the alternative, but it wasn't particularly convenient, as Brandi and I were planning to go to Cleveland for the day and I wasn't carrying any other credit cards (except my debit card) at the time.
Anyway, full steam ahead. Brandi and I decided to go to Cleveland anyway. Actually, she was more upset about the credit card thing than I was. Yeah, it sucks, but it's just one of those things that happens that you have to get through. Due to the diligence of my credit card company (and I have no idea how they discovered this, but I'm exceptionally glad they did), it's not going to cost me anything other than a few days' inconvenience while I wait for my new card. I was counting on it a little bit for our trip to Cleveland, but not so much that its loss prevented anything. The real problem would be in the event of some sort of unexpected situation (car trouble, etc.), in which case we would have to come up with some sort of unexpected solution.
That didn't happen, though. We went to Cleveland as scheduled. We were thinking about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but instead we went to Tower City, which is a pretty big shopping center/entertainment complex located downtown. That was pretty cool. We walked around for a while and then saw Starsky and Hutch. After that we walked over to Gund Arena to get tickets for that night's Cavs game against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Here our plans hit a bit of a snag. I had checked online on Friday and there were plenty of tickets left for the game, so I felt secure in our chances of being able to get a pair at the door. However, by the time we got there, they had only singles left--they didn't have two seats together. The game had become the event around which we had pretty much centered our entire day, so neither of us was particularly keen to leave Cleveland without going. Therefore our only option was to buy tickets from scalpers, and I wasn't carrying much cash (I never do).
There was a group of scalpers directly across the street from the Gund, so we went over there to get an idea of how much we were going to have to spend. That was not an experience I'm looking to repeat again anytime soon. There were five or six guys, all talking at once, shoving tickets in my face. I heard some numbers, and Brandi and I retreated back inside the Gund where I withdrew $100 from an ATM. We then walked about a block away from the arena, where we found a single scalper standing all by himself, and gave him $100 for a pair of tickets that had a face value of $20 each.
The game was an awesome time, though. The Cavs came out of the gate on fire, and held on to beat a pretty good Milwaukee team. Lebron had a good game and some spectacular dunks--he's worth the price of admission himself--and Carlos Boozer (a favorite of mine from his days at Duke) and Zydrunas Ilgauskas also had nice games and are fun to watch. The whole team is fun to watch. I didn't care about the NBA at all before this year, and I'm not a die-hard fan by any means, but it's definitely a good time.
At the game, we sat next to and met a nice man named Jack. He chatted with us throughout about the game and the players. Toward the end of the game he told us he's trying to get back together with his wife, and asked us to pray for him. Praying is not something I do, but Jack, I'm thinking about you, and I hope it works out for the best, one way or another.
After the game we went to a restaurant downtown called Fat Fish Blue. This was our third time there together. They've usually got some good live music, and neither of us had really eaten much all day, so we were pretty hungry. We sat by the window, and noticed three police cars line up out front while we were eating. Our waiter told us that the staff had to break up a fight, and that's why the police showed up--some guy shoved another guy's wife, and then the two guys engaged in some fisticuffs. We were in a different section, so we didn't see the fight, but we got to see the cops outside. They took someone away with them, too.
Brandi wanted to use the restroom before we left the restaurant, so I accompanied her to that area and waited for her. While she was in there, I was approached by a young man who assured me he wasn't going to ask me for money, and who then proceeded to ask me for money. When you're in the city, being asked for money is just part of the experience--it's happened to me in Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, and Chicago--and something you get used to. This is the first time I've been approached inside, though, so I was taken a little by surprise.
From there, our day in Cleveland was at an end, so we headed back to my car. To get there, we ended up on a street/ramp clearly marked "NO PEDESTRIANS," so we ran the whole way. I'm not sure why that made it better, but it was fun.
Other highlights from the day in Cleveland: Brandi running after a flock of fat birds, trying to see if they could/would fly; Brandi walking quickly after another fat bird to see if it would let her pet it (it wouldn't, but it also didn't fly away...it just kept walking really fast); Brandi trying to get birds to eat popcorn from her hand. I'm beginning to get the idea that Brandi has the same weird fascination with birds that I have.
To compensate for our busy Saturday, we made Sunday as low-key as possible. We slept in, ate leftovers from Olive Garden, played The Sims, napped, had dinner at BW3, and watched movies (Wayne's World, Goldmember, and Shakespeare in Love).
All this, and the NCAA Tournament hasn't even started yet.
Before I could leave Stow for Toledo this morning, I had to clean about 6" of snow off my car. This, after I've been talking and thinking about spring for at least a week or so. A return to winter weather certainly wasn't unexpected, but it wasn't exactly welcome either. I would have been just fine if we had seen our last snowfall of the year.
That capped off what was, for me, a rather strange weekend. A good one, no doubt (aren't they all?), but strange nonetheless.
I drove to Brandi's place in Stow immediately after work on Friday evening. I got there right around 7:00, as per usual, and Brandi and I decided to go have dinner at Olive Garden. It's probably our favorite place to eat, and we've been talking about going there for several weekends without actually making it, so that's where we went. We had to wait for about an hour, so we sat at the bar and had a couple glasses of wine and an appetizer (stuffed mushrooms). This always makes the wait more tolerable. Eventually we got our table and had a nice dinner.
At the end of dinner is when the weirdness first started, although I didn't recognize it right away. When I tried at first to pay for our meal, the waitress came back and said my credit card had been declined. I had trouble with this a couple of weeks ago as well, so I didn't think too much of it. The card gets a fair amount of use, and in my experience card readers will have trouble reading certain cards after they get used a lot. At any rate, it wasn't a huge deal, I just paid with my debit card instead.
The next morning (late in the morning--I love sleeping in) I was awakened to the sound of my cell phone buzzing, indicating that I had a voice mail. When I finally rolled out of bed and checked my messages, I had an automated message from my credit card company's fraud prevention department, asking me to contact them. Needless to say, this piqued my curiosity, so I called them. What it boils down to is that my account was "compromised," and someone other than myself tried to use my account number to charge more than $700 worth of merchandise. I'm not going to be responsible for those charges, but that particular account number was shut down. That's not a particularly huge deal, especially given the alternative, but it wasn't particularly convenient, as Brandi and I were planning to go to Cleveland for the day and I wasn't carrying any other credit cards (except my debit card) at the time.
Anyway, full steam ahead. Brandi and I decided to go to Cleveland anyway. Actually, she was more upset about the credit card thing than I was. Yeah, it sucks, but it's just one of those things that happens that you have to get through. Due to the diligence of my credit card company (and I have no idea how they discovered this, but I'm exceptionally glad they did), it's not going to cost me anything other than a few days' inconvenience while I wait for my new card. I was counting on it a little bit for our trip to Cleveland, but not so much that its loss prevented anything. The real problem would be in the event of some sort of unexpected situation (car trouble, etc.), in which case we would have to come up with some sort of unexpected solution.
That didn't happen, though. We went to Cleveland as scheduled. We were thinking about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but instead we went to Tower City, which is a pretty big shopping center/entertainment complex located downtown. That was pretty cool. We walked around for a while and then saw Starsky and Hutch. After that we walked over to Gund Arena to get tickets for that night's Cavs game against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Here our plans hit a bit of a snag. I had checked online on Friday and there were plenty of tickets left for the game, so I felt secure in our chances of being able to get a pair at the door. However, by the time we got there, they had only singles left--they didn't have two seats together. The game had become the event around which we had pretty much centered our entire day, so neither of us was particularly keen to leave Cleveland without going. Therefore our only option was to buy tickets from scalpers, and I wasn't carrying much cash (I never do).
There was a group of scalpers directly across the street from the Gund, so we went over there to get an idea of how much we were going to have to spend. That was not an experience I'm looking to repeat again anytime soon. There were five or six guys, all talking at once, shoving tickets in my face. I heard some numbers, and Brandi and I retreated back inside the Gund where I withdrew $100 from an ATM. We then walked about a block away from the arena, where we found a single scalper standing all by himself, and gave him $100 for a pair of tickets that had a face value of $20 each.
The game was an awesome time, though. The Cavs came out of the gate on fire, and held on to beat a pretty good Milwaukee team. Lebron had a good game and some spectacular dunks--he's worth the price of admission himself--and Carlos Boozer (a favorite of mine from his days at Duke) and Zydrunas Ilgauskas also had nice games and are fun to watch. The whole team is fun to watch. I didn't care about the NBA at all before this year, and I'm not a die-hard fan by any means, but it's definitely a good time.
At the game, we sat next to and met a nice man named Jack. He chatted with us throughout about the game and the players. Toward the end of the game he told us he's trying to get back together with his wife, and asked us to pray for him. Praying is not something I do, but Jack, I'm thinking about you, and I hope it works out for the best, one way or another.
After the game we went to a restaurant downtown called Fat Fish Blue. This was our third time there together. They've usually got some good live music, and neither of us had really eaten much all day, so we were pretty hungry. We sat by the window, and noticed three police cars line up out front while we were eating. Our waiter told us that the staff had to break up a fight, and that's why the police showed up--some guy shoved another guy's wife, and then the two guys engaged in some fisticuffs. We were in a different section, so we didn't see the fight, but we got to see the cops outside. They took someone away with them, too.
Brandi wanted to use the restroom before we left the restaurant, so I accompanied her to that area and waited for her. While she was in there, I was approached by a young man who assured me he wasn't going to ask me for money, and who then proceeded to ask me for money. When you're in the city, being asked for money is just part of the experience--it's happened to me in Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, and Chicago--and something you get used to. This is the first time I've been approached inside, though, so I was taken a little by surprise.
From there, our day in Cleveland was at an end, so we headed back to my car. To get there, we ended up on a street/ramp clearly marked "NO PEDESTRIANS," so we ran the whole way. I'm not sure why that made it better, but it was fun.
Other highlights from the day in Cleveland: Brandi running after a flock of fat birds, trying to see if they could/would fly; Brandi walking quickly after another fat bird to see if it would let her pet it (it wouldn't, but it also didn't fly away...it just kept walking really fast); Brandi trying to get birds to eat popcorn from her hand. I'm beginning to get the idea that Brandi has the same weird fascination with birds that I have.
To compensate for our busy Saturday, we made Sunday as low-key as possible. We slept in, ate leftovers from Olive Garden, played The Sims, napped, had dinner at BW3, and watched movies (Wayne's World, Goldmember, and Shakespeare in Love).
All this, and the NCAA Tournament hasn't even started yet.
Friday, March 05, 2004
Instant Update!
Wow, that was fast. Our owner/president just came back into the office, along with his fiancee, and they were bearing a cake frosted with the words "It's Over." I'm not a rocket scientist, but I'll guess that refers to the divorce proceedings. Outstanding. Now hopefully we can go back to being civil human beings.
Seen and Overheard
Did I have to come back from lunch today? It's cleared up some since this morning, and it's really nice out there. Windy, but temperate. I'm not a huge outdoorsy person, but today I'd like to be outside. I did get to enjoy it for a few minutes on my lunch break. Between that, some good food, and the writing I did this morning, I think I'm cured of my irritation.
Since it's Friday afternoon, I thought I'd give a quick recap of some things that have been going on around me this week. This is really just a clever way of pawning off another random column, without having to think of a rhyme to put into the title.
I passed a DeLorean on the interstate this morning on the way to work. How cool is that? I don't know if I've seen one in person before. They're not very common. I glanced over as I passed, and the driver was neither Christopher Lloyd nor Michael J. Fox. There probably isn't even a flux capacitor in there. I'd have one, if I owned a DeLorean.
I could swear that Tony Kornheiser was talking yesterday on his radio show about something I wanted to mention, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was. I hate that. Instead, I'll just mention that Tony is leaving his ESPNRadio show on March 26, which makes me very sad. I only get to listen for a few minutes each day, but it's a smart show, and I really look forward to it. They say the guy replacing him is good, but I doubt it'll be as good. I guess Tony is going to try to get a local Washington D.C. radio gig...maybe it'll be available on the Internet.
One thing I do remember hearing on the radio yesterday was Paul Harvey mentioning Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. It was a brief mention in a loud restaurant, so I couldn't hear exactly what he said, but I thought he said she was planning to write more Potter books after the seventh one. I thought that was the best entertainment news I had heard since it was announced that the Star Wars classic trilogy is coming to DVD. I needed confirmation, though, so I Googled it at home last night. I found a transcript from an online chat Ms. Rowling gave yesterday for World Book Day, in which someone asked her if she was going to write more than seven Potter books. Her response was that she didn't plan to, but that she wouldn't rule it out totally. So it's a possibility, but I hardly think it was worth being on the Paul Harvey show.
Ohio State is raising ticket prices for this upcoming football season to $57 per seat. $57 per seat! Wow, that's a lot. To put it in perspective, when I buy my season ticket for BGSU Falcon football this fall, it might cost $57 or thereabouts, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if it's less. By the way, Bowling Green absolutely has to be the best dollar value for football in the nation. If you come to a game at BG, you can get in the gate for probably $10 (the prices may increase some this year, but I doubt it'll be much more), and you get to see a nationally-ranked Division I football team. ESPN Gameday came to the stadium last year. It was awesome. I buy my tickets with a smile. And our stadium personnel is always friendly, even to fans of visiting teams, unlike some university in Columbus which shall remain nameless.
I can't remember if I've mentioned this before, but the owner/president of the company where I work is currently going through high-stakes divorce proceedings. Earlier this week his estranged wife won a significant victory in said proceedings, and upon his return to the office he came down and started complaining loudly to our Marketing Director (to whom he'll be getting married as soon as his divorce is final) and our Office Manager. He followed up his complaints with a graphic description of some physical violence he'd like to inflict upon his soon-to-be ex-wife. He said it in jest, but I found it entirely inappropriate, in that he was talking loudly and essentially broadcasting it throughout our offices. It was disturbing. Even more disturbing...somehow word got around (go figure), and the next day I overheard one of our shop guys also talking about inflicting his own physical violence upon her. What in the hell is that all about? I'd like to think he said it in jest as well, but I don't even understand what business it is of his in the first place. This divorce stuff has been going on for a long time, so we all have heard something about it, but even the little bit we know is only one side of the story. Yes, I understand that this divorce case may directly influence all of us as employees, as one of the items in contention is the very ownership of this company, and if she should win, our futures would be up in the air. Still, I hardly think that possibility makes it okay for him to run his mouth like he knows what he's talking about. One way or another, it will be a great day when all of this divorce crap is over. Supposedly that will be this month or next, but I'm not holding my breath.
On my way out to lunch today, I heard the tornado sirens going off. I consulted with one of my co-workers about this, and apparently they always test them on the first Friday of each month. Where I'm from, they do it on Wednesdays. I think they should standardize this, personally. At any rate, it just seems to me like they could find a better time to do their testing than on an incredibly windy day when tornado season is not too far off.
One more thing of note: my Troy Trojans are playing their second game in the state basketball tournament, tonight at UD Arena (University of Dayton) vs. Stebbins High School. If they win that game (which they should), they'll play Sunday vs. Vandalia Butler, a team they've already beaten once this season. Also, Troy's bowling team, undefeated in its first year of existence, has qualified for the state tournament, and I think that's also happening this weekend. Their head coach happens to be someone I know from my own days of youth bowling, and a nice guy. Good luck to the Trojans this weekend.
Since it's Friday afternoon, I thought I'd give a quick recap of some things that have been going on around me this week. This is really just a clever way of pawning off another random column, without having to think of a rhyme to put into the title.
At Least It's Friday
This is always an interesting time to live in Ohio. It's currently 67° outside, and it's expected to reach the low 70s this afternoon. Yes, it's only March 5, and spring doesn't officially start for another 16 days. If it does reach those temperatures, it'll break the record of 68° set back in 1894, I think. That's pretty cool. Of course, I wouldn't go quite so far as to say it's "nice" outside. The temperature is awesome, but it's overcast and occasionally raining. Oh, and have I mentioned the wind? Gusts are reaching 50 miles per hour. This is a windy section of the world (Bowling Green is actually developing a windmill farm to help power the town, which I think is an awesome idea...I'm going to write more about this eventually), but this is a lot of wind even by our standards.
Also, it's supposed to snow tomorrow. Just flurries, no accumulation, but still...70s one day, snow the next. Yep, this is Ohio in March.
I had a bit of a frustrating situation this morning. It's over now, and it really wasn't that big of a deal in the first place, but I'm experiencing some residual irritation. Since writing is cathartic for me, you get to hear all about it.
Tickets went on sale this morning for Cleveland Indians games. Personally, I dislike the Indians. I do, however, like the Cincinnati Reds, and the Reds are playing a series in Cleveland in June. Cleveland is closer to Bowling Green than Cincinnati is, and I've never been to a game in Cleveland, so I decided to try to get tickets.
I went online and got to the ticketing website promptly at 9:00, which is when tickets were scheduled to start selling. My first several attempts prompted "We're Sorry" responses, which indicated that they had a "high volume of transactions" and that I had to try again. I wasn't exactly surprised by that, but it obviously didn't thrill me. I was at least encouraged that the tickets went on sale when they were supposed to, and they weren't having any glitches.
After several tries, the site finally presented me with a set of tickets I could purchase. However, the graphic which illustrates where the seats are located in the stadium would not come up, so I had no idea where the seats were located. I tried to right-click on the graphic for the "Show Picture" option, but the site coders decided to disable that function. A section number was listed for the seats, but I'm not familiar with Jacobs Field, and thus had no idea what that number meant. I opened a new window and scrambled to find a seating chart for the stadium, but they only give you a minute and a half to decide if you want the tickets or not, so they timed out.
This kicked me back out to the main ticket screen, where I had to start all over again. Again, I started getting the "We're Sorry" response. After several tries of this, the screen stopped working. Clicking the "Continue" button did nothing--it didn't even try to load a new page. Conveniently, there are no navigation links from that window (and the right-click function is disabled), so I had to close the window and start all over once again.
"We're Sorry." "We're Sorry." "We're Sorry." After about a million repetitions, I wanted to pound my head on my desk. Eventually I got through again, and it gave me some more tickets I could purchase. They happened to be what I was looking for, so I said I would take them. Keep in mind, I'm doing all of this at work--I clicked away from the window for a moment to do some actual work, and when I came back to it I saw "This page cannot be displayed." What?!?! Wonderful. I went back (right-click worked this time) and tried again, and was told that I had exceeded the allotted time and that my tickets had been released.
A certain amount of swearing took place at this point.
I tried again, and received several more heartfelt apologies, and finally got through once again. They offered me another set of tickets, which actually turned out to be just a bit better than the ones I had procured just a few moments before. I accepted them. I didn't click away from the window this time--if it was going to screw up, I was at least going to watch it happen. I'm pleased to report that this time it went off without a hitch, and I got the tickets. Finally.
This whole process took about 45 minutes. It probably wouldn't have taken that long if I had just called the ticket office, even including the time I would have had to spend on hold. At least I got the tickets, and right now that's all I care about. The Reds just better win that game, dammit.
Also, it's supposed to snow tomorrow. Just flurries, no accumulation, but still...70s one day, snow the next. Yep, this is Ohio in March.
I had a bit of a frustrating situation this morning. It's over now, and it really wasn't that big of a deal in the first place, but I'm experiencing some residual irritation. Since writing is cathartic for me, you get to hear all about it.
Tickets went on sale this morning for Cleveland Indians games. Personally, I dislike the Indians. I do, however, like the Cincinnati Reds, and the Reds are playing a series in Cleveland in June. Cleveland is closer to Bowling Green than Cincinnati is, and I've never been to a game in Cleveland, so I decided to try to get tickets.
I went online and got to the ticketing website promptly at 9:00, which is when tickets were scheduled to start selling. My first several attempts prompted "We're Sorry" responses, which indicated that they had a "high volume of transactions" and that I had to try again. I wasn't exactly surprised by that, but it obviously didn't thrill me. I was at least encouraged that the tickets went on sale when they were supposed to, and they weren't having any glitches.
After several tries, the site finally presented me with a set of tickets I could purchase. However, the graphic which illustrates where the seats are located in the stadium would not come up, so I had no idea where the seats were located. I tried to right-click on the graphic for the "Show Picture" option, but the site coders decided to disable that function. A section number was listed for the seats, but I'm not familiar with Jacobs Field, and thus had no idea what that number meant. I opened a new window and scrambled to find a seating chart for the stadium, but they only give you a minute and a half to decide if you want the tickets or not, so they timed out.
This kicked me back out to the main ticket screen, where I had to start all over again. Again, I started getting the "We're Sorry" response. After several tries of this, the screen stopped working. Clicking the "Continue" button did nothing--it didn't even try to load a new page. Conveniently, there are no navigation links from that window (and the right-click function is disabled), so I had to close the window and start all over once again.
"We're Sorry." "We're Sorry." "We're Sorry." After about a million repetitions, I wanted to pound my head on my desk. Eventually I got through again, and it gave me some more tickets I could purchase. They happened to be what I was looking for, so I said I would take them. Keep in mind, I'm doing all of this at work--I clicked away from the window for a moment to do some actual work, and when I came back to it I saw "This page cannot be displayed." What?!?! Wonderful. I went back (right-click worked this time) and tried again, and was told that I had exceeded the allotted time and that my tickets had been released.
A certain amount of swearing took place at this point.
I tried again, and received several more heartfelt apologies, and finally got through once again. They offered me another set of tickets, which actually turned out to be just a bit better than the ones I had procured just a few moments before. I accepted them. I didn't click away from the window this time--if it was going to screw up, I was at least going to watch it happen. I'm pleased to report that this time it went off without a hitch, and I got the tickets. Finally.
This whole process took about 45 minutes. It probably wouldn't have taken that long if I had just called the ticket office, even including the time I would have had to spend on hold. At least I got the tickets, and right now that's all I care about. The Reds just better win that game, dammit.
Thursday, March 04, 2004
A Mulatto, An Albino, A Mosquito, My Libido
Yeah.
I was listening to Nirvana's Nevermind album on my way to work this morning. What a great CD. It came out in 1991, and I got it shortly thereafter. I was 14 at the time. Now, nearly thirteen years later, the music sounds as good as it ever did. Better, actually. That, my friends, is a classic CD. It really is too bad Kurt Cobain isn't still around. On the bright side, Dave Grohl (Nirvana's drummer) is making some good music with the Foo Fighters.
I was listening to that as I drove in on the turnpike from Stow, as I went to visit Brandi last night. With her coming to BG the past couple of weekends, I hadn't been to her place for a while, so I thought I mid-week visit was in order. We didn't get a whole lot of time together, because she didn't get home until around 9:00, but it was a good time nonetheless.
I've mentioned on here before that I don't buy flowers very often, but I stopped at a grocery store on my way into Stow and picked up some flowers for Brandi. This is where I discovered that flowers have the ability to make all women swoon, whether said flowers are for them or not. Three older ladies in the checkout line (the cashier, the bagger, and the lady ahead of me in line) all sighed and started talking to me when they saw I had flowers. What a strange phenomenon.
After Brandi got home and got her flowers (they made her very happy), we went to BW3 for some food and to play their interactive trivia game. That's always fun. For my money, B-Dubs has the best chicken fingers (they call them "Buffalo Tenders") in the world, and I'm something of a chicken fingers expert. We finished second in both trivia contests we played. I like B-Dubs a lot. Neither of us was drinking last night, but it's still a fun place to be. The trivia games are fun, and there are always sporting events on TV. It's a good atmosphere. We go to the B-Dubs in Kent quite a bit when I'm in Stow, and we go to the one in BG almost every time Brandi is in town. I think we'll be there a lot once she moves back.
Actually, we decided last night that I would drive to Stow on St. Patrick's Day and we'd hang out at B-Dubs that night. That should be fun. I can't stand the taste of beer, so I won't be drinking any, green or otherwise. It'll be a good night to be out, though. I'll probably try to go out the night before in Bowling Green.
Speaking of future plans, we've tentatively decided to go up to Cleveland on Saturday. She mentioned the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame, which sounded good to me since my one visit there was a couple of years ago. The strange thing was that before she even brought it up, I had been thinking that I'd like to go to Cleveland this weekend. It just sounded like fun. We'll probably go on Saturday. The Cavs have a home game that night, so we'll probably head over to Gund Arena and get some cheap seats for that one.
I'm going to be in Cleveland several times in the next few weeks, at least potentially. This weekend isn't set in stone, but we don't have anything else going on, so it's probable. The weekend after that is the MAC basketball tournament at Gund Arena, and I would really like to go to a game or two (hopefully BG can help me out by making it that far). The weekend after THAT, Brandi and I have tickets to see Edwin McCain in concert at the Odeon Concert Club. I've already seen Edwin perform live seven times, so I can say with some authority that it will be an excellent show.
On the topic of MAC basketball, I just want to note that Ball State did me the favor of defeating Eastern Michigan last night, which assures that my BG Falcons will host a first-round game in the MAC Tournament. Whatever else happens, I'll get to see them play at least one more time this year.
I was listening to Nirvana's Nevermind album on my way to work this morning. What a great CD. It came out in 1991, and I got it shortly thereafter. I was 14 at the time. Now, nearly thirteen years later, the music sounds as good as it ever did. Better, actually. That, my friends, is a classic CD. It really is too bad Kurt Cobain isn't still around. On the bright side, Dave Grohl (Nirvana's drummer) is making some good music with the Foo Fighters.
I was listening to that as I drove in on the turnpike from Stow, as I went to visit Brandi last night. With her coming to BG the past couple of weekends, I hadn't been to her place for a while, so I thought I mid-week visit was in order. We didn't get a whole lot of time together, because she didn't get home until around 9:00, but it was a good time nonetheless.
I've mentioned on here before that I don't buy flowers very often, but I stopped at a grocery store on my way into Stow and picked up some flowers for Brandi. This is where I discovered that flowers have the ability to make all women swoon, whether said flowers are for them or not. Three older ladies in the checkout line (the cashier, the bagger, and the lady ahead of me in line) all sighed and started talking to me when they saw I had flowers. What a strange phenomenon.
After Brandi got home and got her flowers (they made her very happy), we went to BW3 for some food and to play their interactive trivia game. That's always fun. For my money, B-Dubs has the best chicken fingers (they call them "Buffalo Tenders") in the world, and I'm something of a chicken fingers expert. We finished second in both trivia contests we played. I like B-Dubs a lot. Neither of us was drinking last night, but it's still a fun place to be. The trivia games are fun, and there are always sporting events on TV. It's a good atmosphere. We go to the B-Dubs in Kent quite a bit when I'm in Stow, and we go to the one in BG almost every time Brandi is in town. I think we'll be there a lot once she moves back.
Actually, we decided last night that I would drive to Stow on St. Patrick's Day and we'd hang out at B-Dubs that night. That should be fun. I can't stand the taste of beer, so I won't be drinking any, green or otherwise. It'll be a good night to be out, though. I'll probably try to go out the night before in Bowling Green.
Speaking of future plans, we've tentatively decided to go up to Cleveland on Saturday. She mentioned the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame, which sounded good to me since my one visit there was a couple of years ago. The strange thing was that before she even brought it up, I had been thinking that I'd like to go to Cleveland this weekend. It just sounded like fun. We'll probably go on Saturday. The Cavs have a home game that night, so we'll probably head over to Gund Arena and get some cheap seats for that one.
I'm going to be in Cleveland several times in the next few weeks, at least potentially. This weekend isn't set in stone, but we don't have anything else going on, so it's probable. The weekend after that is the MAC basketball tournament at Gund Arena, and I would really like to go to a game or two (hopefully BG can help me out by making it that far). The weekend after THAT, Brandi and I have tickets to see Edwin McCain in concert at the Odeon Concert Club. I've already seen Edwin perform live seven times, so I can say with some authority that it will be an excellent show.
On the topic of MAC basketball, I just want to note that Ball State did me the favor of defeating Eastern Michigan last night, which assures that my BG Falcons will host a first-round game in the MAC Tournament. Whatever else happens, I'll get to see them play at least one more time this year.
Wednesday, March 03, 2004
Notes, Quotes, and uh...
Couldn't think of a good rhyme today. Sorry about that.
Anyway, there's nothing in particular on my mind today, so I thought I'd "treat" you to another installment of just random stuff. I haven't done this for a little while, so I don't feel too bad about it. Actually I never feel bad about it, but let's pretend sometimes I do.
* I have exquisite timing today. Each time I've tried to go into the bathroom, someone else has gotten there just ahead of me. It's uncanny.
* Something that really, really bothers me is when people just toss cigarette butts out their car windows, or just down on the ground if they're outside. What in the hell are you doing? This just shows a total lack of regard for the world around you. I'm not a big-time environmentalist, but this is just common sense. When I drive down Airport Highway, I can see the divider in the median just lined with discarded cigarette butts, and it's disgusting. I'm probably not going to start carrying a firearm and shooting out people's back windows when they do this, but I'm tempted. If you do this, STOP IT!!!
* Another thing I've noticed lately is people in the world of sports journalism dogging out The Lord of the Rings and people who enjoy it, even after admitting they've never seen the movies or read the books. I can understand if fantasy fiction isn't their thing, but to totally degrade everyone who's into it is absurd. You don't have to reinforce stereotypes about "dumb jocks" or "geeks." Believe it or not, it is possible to like both. I do.
* I actually have some work to do at work (gasp!) for the time being. I don't know exactly why this particular duty has been assigned to the Purchasing Manager, but that's the way it's done, so I'm doing it. That's not a complaint, by the way--it's not exciting work, but it's nice to have something to do. It deals with calculating the amounts of certain chemicals we use for a report we have to file every year or so. It's not hard, but there's a lot to it, and I'm kind of figuring it out as I go along.
* Of course, this means that there are just enough stupid little things going on to keep distracting me from working on this new project. Lucky for me, I've got over a month to get it finished. I don't think it'll take nearly that long.
* I'm starting to think that spring may actually be on the horizon. The temperatures have been mild for almost a full week now, and they're expected to stay that way through the next several days. I wouldn't be surprised if we get another blast of winter, but hopefully we won't.
* Besides the rising temperatures, another sure sign of warmer weather on the horizon is road construction. While I haven't seen any actual roadwork going on as of yet, it's on its way. The signs are already going up in Bowling Green. Getting around town is going to be a bit of a hassle in the coming months. They're going to widen Wooster St., which is one of the town's main streets. It's long overdue, though, so you'll hear few complaints from me.
* Mmm, cookies! I bought three chocolate-chip cookies yesterday with my sandwich at Subway and, silly me, I forgot to eat them. I'm correcting that oversight right now.
Anyway, there's nothing in particular on my mind today, so I thought I'd "treat" you to another installment of just random stuff. I haven't done this for a little while, so I don't feel too bad about it. Actually I never feel bad about it, but let's pretend sometimes I do.
* I have exquisite timing today. Each time I've tried to go into the bathroom, someone else has gotten there just ahead of me. It's uncanny.
* Something that really, really bothers me is when people just toss cigarette butts out their car windows, or just down on the ground if they're outside. What in the hell are you doing? This just shows a total lack of regard for the world around you. I'm not a big-time environmentalist, but this is just common sense. When I drive down Airport Highway, I can see the divider in the median just lined with discarded cigarette butts, and it's disgusting. I'm probably not going to start carrying a firearm and shooting out people's back windows when they do this, but I'm tempted. If you do this, STOP IT!!!
* Another thing I've noticed lately is people in the world of sports journalism dogging out The Lord of the Rings and people who enjoy it, even after admitting they've never seen the movies or read the books. I can understand if fantasy fiction isn't their thing, but to totally degrade everyone who's into it is absurd. You don't have to reinforce stereotypes about "dumb jocks" or "geeks." Believe it or not, it is possible to like both. I do.
* I actually have some work to do at work (gasp!) for the time being. I don't know exactly why this particular duty has been assigned to the Purchasing Manager, but that's the way it's done, so I'm doing it. That's not a complaint, by the way--it's not exciting work, but it's nice to have something to do. It deals with calculating the amounts of certain chemicals we use for a report we have to file every year or so. It's not hard, but there's a lot to it, and I'm kind of figuring it out as I go along.
* Of course, this means that there are just enough stupid little things going on to keep distracting me from working on this new project. Lucky for me, I've got over a month to get it finished. I don't think it'll take nearly that long.
* I'm starting to think that spring may actually be on the horizon. The temperatures have been mild for almost a full week now, and they're expected to stay that way through the next several days. I wouldn't be surprised if we get another blast of winter, but hopefully we won't.
* Besides the rising temperatures, another sure sign of warmer weather on the horizon is road construction. While I haven't seen any actual roadwork going on as of yet, it's on its way. The signs are already going up in Bowling Green. Getting around town is going to be a bit of a hassle in the coming months. They're going to widen Wooster St., which is one of the town's main streets. It's long overdue, though, so you'll hear few complaints from me.
* Mmm, cookies! I bought three chocolate-chip cookies yesterday with my sandwich at Subway and, silly me, I forgot to eat them. I'm correcting that oversight right now.
Tuesday, March 02, 2004
A Correction (re: BG-WMU Officiating)
I have just learned that the officiating crew for last night's BG-WMU game was actually a crew from the Big Ten, and not from the MAC. I would like to apologize to MAC officials for saying they were responsible for last night's horrible officiating performance. I stand by my statement that they're generally not very good, though, and that they're KNOWN for being not very good. Consider this: last night's contest featured two MAC teams, so why use officials from a different conference? It just so happens that the game was televised on Fox Sports Ohio. Having the typically bad MAC officiating in front of a partisan crowd of 2,100 or so who are going to think the officials suck anyway isn't that big of a deal, but I'm guessing the conference administration had no desire to showcase it to a potentially large television audience. Sure, the officiating sucked anyway, but at least now they have plausible deniability: "well, they weren't our officials."
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