Notes From Underground

I've actually been fairly busy here at work so far this week. To say that it's been a nice change would be an understatement. It definitely makes the time go by faster, and I always prefer to feel like I'm actually earning my meager pay. I think it's going to slow down again shortly, but even a temporary pocket of activity is a good thing.

I will argue vehemently against the idea that any type of card game is a sport, but I cannot deny that the World Series of Poker (as televised by ESPN) makes for extremely compelling television. I can't explain why, really. I've never played poker myself, but these guys on TV make it look like anyone can do it. I know that's not the case, though. Still, it looks like a lot of fun. I might see if I can pick it up a little bit. I don't see myself ever becoming a high-stakes professional gambler, but it would be fun to pretend.

Brandi moved in with me this weekend, and it's causing some technological problems. I can't get her laptop integrated into my network. They're all Windows machines, so it shouldn't be a problem. For some reason, I just can't get her network card to realize that a cable is plugged into it. I know the cables are good and my router is good. Whatever I try, I just get the message that the network media is disconnected, and I don't know how to get it to connect. I worked on it for a couple of hours last night, to no avail. I do have a couple more ideas, but one of them (uninstalling the integrated network card, hoping WinXP will automatically detect and reinstall it upon reboot) I don't want to do unless there are absolutely no other options. I'll be seeking input from some technologically minded friends and co-workers, and I'll probably take another whack at it this evening. I'm probably switching to wireless soon anyway, but it would be nice to have it running in the meantime.

Otherwise, things are going quite well. Granted, it's very early, but I don't expect any real problems. Last night we went grocery shopping. I've never kept many groceries on hand because I don't cook much. Brandi does, though, so we had to stock up a little bit. I certainly don't mind.

Speaking of food, I had to spend a little bit too much time waiting in line at Wendy's today. Wednesday is generally the day I eat healthy at Wendy's, but I can't make myself do it if I have to stand in line for any length of time. The pictures and smells of beef break down my resolve. I ended up with a Big Bacon Classic today, and it was outstanding.

I've seen Will Ferrell twice in the past week on late-night talk shows (last week on Letterman; last night on Conan). I think it's entirely possible that he's the funniest man alive. The night he was on Letterman, I laughed until I cried, and I was headed that way again last night. His segment with Conan lost some of its momentum when they pretended to wrestle over a handgun, but it was pretty damned funny before that. His new movie Anchorman comes out this Friday, and I'm sure I'll be seeing it at some point.

The Bowling Green State University Falcon football team will be sporting new uniforms when they take the field this fall. I got my eyes on a picture of them for the first time this morning, and I must say I'm most definitely less than impressed. They're orange on orange (home) and white on white (away), with a brown stripe up the length of the side--like the Denver Broncos uniforms, or the Miami Hurricanes. I guess that means they're in style, but I don't think they work that well with our color scheme. I'm hoping they'll look better once the players are actually wearing them.

Had the timing been different, I probably would have commented more at length on this situation, but suffice it to say that I'm glad Mike Krzyzewski (pronounced shuh-SHEV-ski; we'll just call him Coach K) decided to turn down the Los Angeles Lakers coaching job and stay at Duke. He's the consummate college coach. I think he would have done a good job in the NBA, but I don't think he would have fit nearly as well as he does in college, and at Duke in particular. His teams are always so well coached and fun to watch. College basketball really would have lost out if he had decided to leave. I love the college game, so I'm extremely glad that didn't happen.