tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88804112024-03-13T01:03:14.557-04:00The Doctor's OfficeTha Doctahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07664956684931107022noreply@blogger.comBlogger180125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8880411.post-80520001144953206682011-06-24T08:12:00.002-04:002011-06-24T08:15:15.989-04:00Hacked!So remember those last two posts? No? Well, there were two posts here that didn't make any sense. Spam, if you will. See, what had happened was that my yahoo address got hacked, and I happened to have the address I used to use to post in my contacts, so there you go. On the bright side, at least the blog itself didn't actually get hacked. But if anyone clicked on the link that I "posted" or "sent", sorry about that. I need to get back on here, though. I miss it. That having been said, not now.Tha Doctahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07664956684931107022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8880411.post-55803721855523389312011-02-08T01:34:00.005-05:002011-02-08T07:45:57.887-05:00Long Overdue Rough DraftWell, I've finally gotten my hands on a new desktop that can handle the kind of video editing I want to do, and that means it's time to go poring through many hours of footage that needs to be cataloged, edited, compiled, and produced. Just for fun, I went through the footage from the Nashville trip the guys and I took a couple of years ago that I said I was going to edit, and I threw this together. I forgot to add transitions, so it's a bit rough, but it's a jumping off point. Oh, and you can watch in HD, which is also cool.<br /><br />(Side note - guys, I'll send you each a copy of the DVD I'll make from this once I get it all put together and trimmed up.)<br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/v4lXSO0NU1Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Tha Doctahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07664956684931107022noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8880411.post-62283513697518219372010-08-05T19:01:00.002-04:002010-08-05T19:03:36.685-04:00PrioritiesJessica: Luke, next Thursday is your first day of Kindergarten! Are you excited?<br /><br />Luke: Yes. But Mommy, Thursday is garbage truck day.<br /><br />Jessica: I know.<br /><br />Luke: Mommy, I can't go to school before I see the garbage truck.Tha Doctahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07664956684931107022noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8880411.post-29191251198737805852010-07-21T09:27:00.003-04:002010-07-21T09:49:31.497-04:00Here's to RSS ReadersBeen a while, hasn't it? Well, I kind of lost my motivation there for a while, but I'm hopping back on the blog here to try out the old digs again. It'd be pointless to go into all the happenings of the past year in detail (those who are reading here are probably Facebook friends, so you know about it anyway,) so we'll just dive back into the present. <br /><br />First, the kids. Luke is five now, and he'll be starting kindergarten here in a few weeks, which will bring to an end the era of being able to plan trips at any time of year. Sad on one hand, but on the other hand, that kid is ready for some school. He's the most curious and observant little kid I've ever seen. Always with the questions like "how does this work? what's that made of?" And while I love that he's going to prove smart, answering questions that I really don't know the answer to can get tiresome. So school will be good for him. Ronin is three, and he is a monster in every sense of the word. He's almost the same size as Luke (they can wear the same size clothes,) and he's built like a linebacker. If he ends up with that size and my brother's athletic prowess, watch out. Unfortunately, however, he may end up about as coordinated as I was when I was a kid (which was not very.) Also since he's this age, he is a miserable person. I don't know if everyone has this experience with three-year-olds, but in short, mine have been awful people. Luke is better now, which gives me hope for Ronin, who a year ago was a gregarious, outgoing, fearless little boy and is presently bad-tempered, demanding, and scared of everyone and everything. But we still love him. As for little Renae, she's pretty much the cutest baby ever. There are only good things to say about five-month-olds, after all. She pretty much just sits there and smiles and makes cute baby noises. The boys love her to death, which is both good and dangerous. They don't quite realize the size difference between them and her (mostly the oafish Ronin,) so we have to keep a pretty close eye on their interactions.<br /><br />As for personal stuff, I'm still pretty much a fat guy, but I'm getting on a program to make that different. This has happened a few times before with moderate success followed by reinflating, but this time I've got a pretty good feeling about it. The thing with me is that I have to have a routine that I can follow constantly, and it's good to have my food regulated to "you can eat the following things, and if you eat anything else, here's how to do it." So Jessica and I are on the Power 90 program right now (which is the precursor to the P90X, because we're just not in good enough shape to do that yet,) and it's feeling good. We get up at 6:00-6:30 every morning and work out for about 40 minutes. I haven't been able to stay up as late as I typically like to, which is a drawback for me, but at the same time I feel good all day long and I have energy like I didn't have before, even with the same amount of sleep. I'll get into results once we finish the program--we've only been doing it for a week and a half now, so I don't want to talk it up too much just yet. Hopefully the results will be dramatic enough to post some before and after pictures. <br /><br />I think blogging feels good again. I won't get into a bunch of media recommendations or witty anecdotes just yet (namely because I don't have any at the moment,) but that will come later. I do have just a few recommendations, though: <br /><br />*If you haven't seen <span style="font-style:italic;">Breaking Bad</span>, the AMC series, watch all three seasons immediately.<br />*If you haven't seen <span style="font-style:italic;">Inception</span>, run - do not walk - to your nearest movie theater and take care of that.<br />*If you want to hear some good music, check out the new Black Keys album, called "Brothers." It's fantastic. I had just about given up hope that this group would release an album that sounded a bit different from all their others, and this one did the trick. Great stuff.Tha Doctahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07664956684931107022noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8880411.post-51835004163297171692009-04-13T22:49:00.003-04:002009-04-13T23:20:20.134-04:00Goodbye, HarryFor my money, the best baseball announcer around <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4064793">died </a>today. Harry Kalas called games for the Phillies since 1971, including every memorable Phillies moment in the last 40 years. Every good memory I have of the Phillies is accompanied by his play-by-play. I can still tell you word-for-word how he called Mike Schmidt's 500th homerun in 1987. Even if you don't know him from the Phillies, you've probably heard him narrating NFL films or doing voiceover on any number of commercials - most notably the Chunky Soup spots featuring NFL players. You may not know the name, but even if you're not a sports fan, you know the voice. I grew up listening to Harry Kalas, and in my mind there is no other announcer when it comes to baseball. Listening to the sport will never be the same for me. It sounds melodramatic, but it's true. So goodbye, Harry. Thanks for the memories.<br /><br /><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/eeZ2kBh_OJw&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/eeZ2kBh_OJw&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>Tha Doctahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07664956684931107022noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8880411.post-5325273120012252962009-03-27T22:18:00.002-04:002009-03-27T22:20:21.841-04:00We Interrupt This Vacation Story...With a special announcement. As of a few days ago, my wife has joined the ranks of the bloggers. I can tell by her first post that she's going to be good at this, so check it out. I'm adding the feed to my list of blogs as well. Till next time.<br /><br /><a href="http://ijustwuvthis.blogspot.com">Link</a>Tha Doctahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07664956684931107022noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8880411.post-80466577769622969332009-03-23T09:55:00.022-04:002009-03-23T10:43:14.866-04:00European Odyssey, Part 3Alright, after another overnight train to Vienna followed by the reason we got to go to Europe in the first place (the annual Manager Meeting), I'm on a plane from Amsterdam to Memphis with some time to write. There's a little baby up front who is not enjoying the flight much at all, so I'm going to put on some Explosions in the Sky (good writing music – or at least better ambience than small babies crying) and get down to bidness.<br /> <br />After Nuremburg, we took the train into Munich, where we stayed the night. We were booked for two nights in Munich, after spending only one night each in Berlin, Dresden and Dusseldorf, so it was a relief not to have to carry our bags around the next morning. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but it got a bit old moving from place to place – even with only one piece of large luggage for each of us. So anyway, the next day we were slated to go and see King Ludwig's castles. That is, Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. <br /><br />The castles were about a 45-minute train ride from Munich, in a town called Fussen. Fussen is a small place that looks like it hasn't changed much for a long time, at least as far as outward appearance. There were the little houses that you think of when you think of little dorfs in Germany, and of course there were the castles up on the hills. The feeling of oldness was slightly marred by newer restaurants and souvenir stands, but we're forgiving of that. <br /><br />The castles were awesome. Unfortunately there were no cameras allowed inside, but here are some shots of the outside.<br /><br />Here's Hohenschwangau.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPuSHGsDvG0RJ1rd8h-0Y3ReKAIzY9MBNSSj1BQKSLpPbwofasHaP4ExpZfJnRQSL7jDhiBq6V8u1wBxDl44g9pWH8ZvaAht-9Ni280dvuaw387FdDIzRBrrruBKbr3a4hxR5i/s1600-h/IMG_0161.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPuSHGsDvG0RJ1rd8h-0Y3ReKAIzY9MBNSSj1BQKSLpPbwofasHaP4ExpZfJnRQSL7jDhiBq6V8u1wBxDl44g9pWH8ZvaAht-9Ni280dvuaw387FdDIzRBrrruBKbr3a4hxR5i/s400/IMG_0161.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316382454935664146" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFlLydRaaogu8Ps20J-9I0NPW6n2999YVJQaO80-7-xuN1_phKk8NDqqG6EE7sJmPyC0VR7nIi2c6WTVSnrwJKu9tI_tHAh4OMIK2buKef9QzY1h1Iyqy2E2zwVKMu-xGFjOmS/s1600-h/IMG_0153.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFlLydRaaogu8Ps20J-9I0NPW6n2999YVJQaO80-7-xuN1_phKk8NDqqG6EE7sJmPyC0VR7nIi2c6WTVSnrwJKu9tI_tHAh4OMIK2buKef9QzY1h1Iyqy2E2zwVKMu-xGFjOmS/s400/IMG_0153.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316383590325906450" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIDuiUovKZ3okHiOkPv9PaBd3F2rVUeDbwiK2NS7J4uwYg6n49uqXUVk5Bn1SNj4uC0v65w6gxaEmd9UH3ovJBZGhRyHy2180lKehr3W-ZqNx84EQOgTjN4kpp3QH6LhipuLhO/s1600-h/IMG_0154.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIDuiUovKZ3okHiOkPv9PaBd3F2rVUeDbwiK2NS7J4uwYg6n49uqXUVk5Bn1SNj4uC0v65w6gxaEmd9UH3ovJBZGhRyHy2180lKehr3W-ZqNx84EQOgTjN4kpp3QH6LhipuLhO/s400/IMG_0154.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316384069224206018" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0rqaOCVMfrllwv-yjNkOy3GwEIUxuJ1oVtw19gWJTDWoTaFaQUogGG-ywqky0DUydKJNiWKpbqqMItTt7PSt7kKgYYM3i5dKfasv4fbLDHTlgP2cNJsIDi_wmD0y2X0FDq1KU/s1600-h/IMG_0156.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0rqaOCVMfrllwv-yjNkOy3GwEIUxuJ1oVtw19gWJTDWoTaFaQUogGG-ywqky0DUydKJNiWKpbqqMItTt7PSt7kKgYYM3i5dKfasv4fbLDHTlgP2cNJsIDi_wmD0y2X0FDq1KU/s400/IMG_0156.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316384222626016306" /></a><br /><br />We took tours of both castles, which were possessed by the aforementioned "Mad" King Ludwig. He grew up in Hohenschwangau and commissioned Neuschwanstein to be built during his final years. He died young, in his mid-twenties, so he only got to live in the castle for about six months total if I'm remembering correctly. But hey, if you're interested in that, there's always <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Ludwig">Wikipedia</a>. <br /><br />The things that stand out about the inside of the castle were the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Neuschwanstein_Thronsaal.jpg">throne room</a> (which was incomplete, having never actually gotten a throne) and the cave room. Yes, a cave room. Adjacent to the King's bedroom was another room that had been fashioned into a cave. Using plaster, the builders had made it into a rather convincing-looking replica, complete with stalagmites and such. Having been in a few actual caves, I thought the façade was quite impressive. So this was apparently where Ludwig would go sometimes to be by himself. Sure, there were 60 rooms in the castle, but who wants to be alone in a regular room when you can be alone in your own personal not-actually-subterranean lair? And of course, here are some pictures from the outside:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">From the town below</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcvHkOa7TQHBTi0wr1R84FI4fOk_SZ9xW27VNHauhZHnIauyTd1jPb1npf-5IMt8Eq5i-mR-xWfJVTg9XUL42vCWMdL55jTEX5uOEknpdLbTbMSnRcDfuaxlV-a02Eb0Pk4dEq/s1600-h/IMG_0187.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcvHkOa7TQHBTi0wr1R84FI4fOk_SZ9xW27VNHauhZHnIauyTd1jPb1npf-5IMt8Eq5i-mR-xWfJVTg9XUL42vCWMdL55jTEX5uOEknpdLbTbMSnRcDfuaxlV-a02Eb0Pk4dEq/s400/IMG_0187.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316385952303010098" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3RpcDHnP54D487-aIvwmOvoqJm87OlVJPvTDMVqL_L1bcGdefCgoFSS-tjHad47kfTtHXI56RvGC5YkT7h0iyHScMqzMenFq5uM-LN9-EeFSugUWjHUfNCgzPNFTpf3iWvI9f/s1600-h/IMG_0185.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3RpcDHnP54D487-aIvwmOvoqJm87OlVJPvTDMVqL_L1bcGdefCgoFSS-tjHad47kfTtHXI56RvGC5YkT7h0iyHScMqzMenFq5uM-LN9-EeFSugUWjHUfNCgzPNFTpf3iWvI9f/s400/IMG_0185.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316386412427113986" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">From the Gatehouse</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjTM_VAUUvhCHwVUmX5owuL5Ea6vFHy_n_Ojn3JEm4dI6sgtdSmGVTXhAOxRkyaig8_wd4MK9m3jL1PMfqSHEzyUPerm3KwpG1uDcr3UhA6Mx2YHFFKjWcAh-Q1vV98HW_SIR4/s1600-h/IMG_0164.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjTM_VAUUvhCHwVUmX5owuL5Ea6vFHy_n_Ojn3JEm4dI6sgtdSmGVTXhAOxRkyaig8_wd4MK9m3jL1PMfqSHEzyUPerm3KwpG1uDcr3UhA6Mx2YHFFKjWcAh-Q1vV98HW_SIR4/s400/IMG_0164.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316386800175608498" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">View of the Gatehouse from the Inside (they let you take pictures out the windows; just not inside.)</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1_fMQRtZfmzo5Rwzhol5xXBs6bUddATyhd-VBeyVW8GJhuJCtrkBwEQjGyt_kbJE5b1o7mrIR_Tv9S38RI2OXKtx-ePvOvZEtPTD9JdBvBsoPJAUsAS_JOcG-O5soMrHdTDSl/s1600-h/IMG_0181.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1_fMQRtZfmzo5Rwzhol5xXBs6bUddATyhd-VBeyVW8GJhuJCtrkBwEQjGyt_kbJE5b1o7mrIR_Tv9S38RI2OXKtx-ePvOvZEtPTD9JdBvBsoPJAUsAS_JOcG-O5soMrHdTDSl/s400/IMG_0181.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316387425256605666" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">And a few more for fun. This place was enormous.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilw1Hidr7sPj7PS-bBWRnrF8ijNfeDvz3ADQFxeu1Zviw-VkLlrdJeBo5uIHL8csDBCNlp1LjFZkdgBqUAP6NKPV387X1V40DVbvFpB0EYG51kONdFnU9MCUNazSmFhJRK0XKf/s1600-h/IMG_0177.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilw1Hidr7sPj7PS-bBWRnrF8ijNfeDvz3ADQFxeu1Zviw-VkLlrdJeBo5uIHL8csDBCNlp1LjFZkdgBqUAP6NKPV387X1V40DVbvFpB0EYG51kONdFnU9MCUNazSmFhJRK0XKf/s400/IMG_0177.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316388389472480242" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMxplADHQVKSH3KfhOuNVU7L1Qc-sCISNFOFCCfu7VZTXwAUeoubWVLizIKt1Gixuq7nrnny2TJcbuRbCBFW-Q9DTIC2lUH8QKTaaNR9QEZjGsXaVbRYyXnZ5CMSQ6PcGzqI1F/s1600-h/IMG_0179.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMxplADHQVKSH3KfhOuNVU7L1Qc-sCISNFOFCCfu7VZTXwAUeoubWVLizIKt1Gixuq7nrnny2TJcbuRbCBFW-Q9DTIC2lUH8QKTaaNR9QEZjGsXaVbRYyXnZ5CMSQ6PcGzqI1F/s400/IMG_0179.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316388639581057906" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigD9b8RHCk7gAZyIamSgKmpNd3O6Xqik7fEETuX0yudMDaws22pbgP__rx_zHMn07pwrHJMNjlUZeE8mGqAWiSr3O-Bx6VPfAXfGjcw5WfqxOvDic8ia147x4hpVTnwY0Zg8kK/s1600-h/IMG_0180.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigD9b8RHCk7gAZyIamSgKmpNd3O6Xqik7fEETuX0yudMDaws22pbgP__rx_zHMn07pwrHJMNjlUZeE8mGqAWiSr3O-Bx6VPfAXfGjcw5WfqxOvDic8ia147x4hpVTnwY0Zg8kK/s400/IMG_0180.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316388848587542370" /></a><br /><br />After the tours, we stopped at a shop and bought a nutcracker. How can you be in Germany and not buy a nutcracker, right? At this point the day was pretty much over and we headed back to the hotel, where there was sausage for all to have. Or at least me. I tried the Munich white sausage, which I hadn't had the pleasure of tasting before. It wasn't bad, despite the frightening color. I didn't have it again during our stay in Munich, because the taste wasn't good enough to overcome the fact that I was eating white sausage. It's rare for me that the appearance of a food causes me not to consume it, but such was the case here. <br /><br />Speaking of the white sausage, that reminds me of the breakfasts at the hotels where we stayed. I don't know if I've mentioned it yet, but we stayed in all of our hotels for free because of the points I'd saved up during my time living in a Fort Wayne Marriott. So it was Marriotts all the way. The breakfasts came with the hotel stay, and they were unbelievable. I think I was probably more of a fan than Jessica since I'm used to European food, but they weren't too shabby by any standards. Think of your American continental breakfast at a hotel. You've got your eggs from a carton, bacon, sausage, toast, fruit, maybe some muffins, and cereal, right? And usually it's not actually all of those things. Well, that was all there. Plus there was about 4-5 different kinds of bread (German bread rules), 5-6 different kinds of pastries, a bunch of different yogurts (and quark, which is like yogurt with extra bacteria), a whole lot of fruit, and meats. Lunch meats, different kinds of sausage, sometimes there were meatballs, and usually at least one or two kinds of potatoes. This is not to mention the fact that they have Nutella in Germany. If you're not familiar, Nutella is a chocolate spread that they use kind of like peanut butter. That is, putting it on bread and whatnot. I'm not a big Nutella guy, but Jessica was pretty excited. So yeah, the spreads in ol' Deutschland were pretty impressive. <br /><br />So the next day was our last in Munich (and Germany), and we took a day trip to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dachau_concentration_camp">Dachau concentration camp</a>. There's not much history to add here, as you all know what the deal is with concentration camps. I've got to say, though, that knowing about them and visiting one are two very different things. Going to Dachau wasn't what I would call an enjoyable experience. It wasn't fun, by any means. But I definitely don't regret going. Knowing what happened at these places lends the grounds a gravity that you have to experience to understand. <br /><br />Germany requires all students to visit a concentration camp as part of their curriculum, which is an admirable thing, and certainly not unnecessary for a country with its history. If there ever was a way to keep history from repeating itself, that is it. So there were some students on the grounds when we were there. They were kids, and they didn't always act so seriously obviously, but you could tell at certain times that most of them were impacted. This was especially true in the museum portion of the grounds, which was the former registration building where prisoners came when they arrived. This was the only part of the grounds which gave a history and an accounting of what went on there, and the rest stood largely in silence to be observed. I'll finish this portion with pictures. I tried to get as many pictures as possible without people in them. It doesn't completely give the feeling of stark coldness that you feel in certain parts of the site, but I think that this place, once teeming with thousands and now standing empty as a reminder of what humans did to other humans, has a certain weight even just with pictures.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Entrance</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmGKWk9QYyFh5HbQBdWuj-O5HMY2dIfljAzhP4nfmdpMSdojYdfksNmUh4uVULOHU1Qz__zfC26epcPNWk6cNp7cmEnLdBdP8JEWuzM5Gt0p77iYhxuCko4oK-hFEPKQMdE25P/s1600-h/IMG_0213.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmGKWk9QYyFh5HbQBdWuj-O5HMY2dIfljAzhP4nfmdpMSdojYdfksNmUh4uVULOHU1Qz__zfC26epcPNWk6cNp7cmEnLdBdP8JEWuzM5Gt0p77iYhxuCko4oK-hFEPKQMdE25P/s400/IMG_0213.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316389965479221058" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Roll Call Area</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfXn3E2yy6WrgeKGyo3k9KPxkeAPk0a2-8N25Jmr8lHsR89gmUhHmTuTiKinBf7wDksUottcyqGB7rVnu9WhasSn_OwbzeI61NOP2P9VyYvoq62D0to_U3O_7sCDloqinSyf8W/s1600-h/IMG_0210.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfXn3E2yy6WrgeKGyo3k9KPxkeAPk0a2-8N25Jmr8lHsR89gmUhHmTuTiKinBf7wDksUottcyqGB7rVnu9WhasSn_OwbzeI61NOP2P9VyYvoq62D0to_U3O_7sCDloqinSyf8W/s400/IMG_0210.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316390723683240626" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Bunker</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6ClT6yPI22QrJUs8Jwz07Vo256etSNDX4by9Yyc8W_FcXCQ2KA0PbctRG9fA1tX3k2gNIcvvNoloYo2yxN6G2SfBOpkuMUF2ZqfYa6gV-FwIjncJ76qVl4-4nQFTCwsLmzt2j/s1600-h/IMG_0206.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6ClT6yPI22QrJUs8Jwz07Vo256etSNDX4by9Yyc8W_FcXCQ2KA0PbctRG9fA1tX3k2gNIcvvNoloYo2yxN6G2SfBOpkuMUF2ZqfYa6gV-FwIjncJ76qVl4-4nQFTCwsLmzt2j/s400/IMG_0206.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316391197463873298" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Former Barracks Site (Every plot is where a building stood)</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTAMlI9qxMWwFD569k6u_JBL9I2eyvilkWG6NmX5n7y3I0Ftfb0PpPG-ThTumLwVtfKa1ORoNx5P3QNeCpPH14qm5B0IoczgzGCnubtW55F05bFLXDHfeXq9nazyM_0fuSnS8f/s1600-h/IMG_0217.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTAMlI9qxMWwFD569k6u_JBL9I2eyvilkWG6NmX5n7y3I0Ftfb0PpPG-ThTumLwVtfKa1ORoNx5P3QNeCpPH14qm5B0IoczgzGCnubtW55F05bFLXDHfeXq9nazyM_0fuSnS8f/s400/IMG_0217.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316391689875816194" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhevDceZ6aRi3evP4i_14eQLaLRZ15dqx_xwCAyXWY5rJEhHSNoQ9xP19_kwV2IiqtXU4YRkHammGwRcvs-enwBZP_Fg9wqSeGOFZ8T3tr5q_VXj74ShCnoCw42-s3WjyTXNj-4/s1600-h/IMG_0230.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhevDceZ6aRi3evP4i_14eQLaLRZ15dqx_xwCAyXWY5rJEhHSNoQ9xP19_kwV2IiqtXU4YRkHammGwRcvs-enwBZP_Fg9wqSeGOFZ8T3tr5q_VXj74ShCnoCw42-s3WjyTXNj-4/s400/IMG_0230.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316391954177812994" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The Crematorium</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNHlpm9bBQjzBupKZf2dGgBx9kKBBKAqF3Oih4HUhEUbmw5uoDw2JO6K5ChaI0tCOcfkC8BbHef3TcsdpJA4IZx_vSY3g7BKUC_-gwwp_V0x_RY_KyAW138HPaRvcCA9l3BKWh/s1600-h/IMG_0228.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNHlpm9bBQjzBupKZf2dGgBx9kKBBKAqF3Oih4HUhEUbmw5uoDw2JO6K5ChaI0tCOcfkC8BbHef3TcsdpJA4IZx_vSY3g7BKUC_-gwwp_V0x_RY_KyAW138HPaRvcCA9l3BKWh/s400/IMG_0228.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316392321203770002" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0sa5SH396uTgUx5h42MbVLTha2suhpxMAZBKv6cxHDBLH_Bl6j-0d90r8AdEC6KXd183Xlsh3TMHeKoGw90kD0kTHYTe0nkL_q71N-ySYA4nVeH5f5L7viwJMG-CQpjfaHzZu/s1600-h/IMG_0221.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0sa5SH396uTgUx5h42MbVLTha2suhpxMAZBKv6cxHDBLH_Bl6j-0d90r8AdEC6KXd183Xlsh3TMHeKoGw90kD0kTHYTe0nkL_q71N-ySYA4nVeH5f5L7viwJMG-CQpjfaHzZu/s400/IMG_0221.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316392510978493362" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Inscription: Remember How We Died Here</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgde-I-tZb-FGdV_PuNyNDjenGw6YkJOS9OnQAO68qN7fzFSYel8yhKEf92kV6Wgt6YaYYbWLdJ8F1phLaojE-34TRZJjchtyKlDrAYgTP5ySwp4b5UyzJpqAvnpt1_VfFCcHFj/s1600-h/IMG_0226.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgde-I-tZb-FGdV_PuNyNDjenGw6YkJOS9OnQAO68qN7fzFSYel8yhKEf92kV6Wgt6YaYYbWLdJ8F1phLaojE-34TRZJjchtyKlDrAYgTP5ySwp4b5UyzJpqAvnpt1_VfFCcHFj/s400/IMG_0226.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316392833950734546" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Memorial in Front of the Museum</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRF9bn8PFLt3rKN1qwVxlOnbYCO7BcrIs2rwh633-KFxlwGrV3Zz8M59xBw7YDTMNkGY-78gkODon8wGOuJycMCti5D6jepyDO_8fEktAxfEVyyyR3j9NZl5q1PGxWKyggITSg/s1600-h/IMG_0233.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRF9bn8PFLt3rKN1qwVxlOnbYCO7BcrIs2rwh633-KFxlwGrV3Zz8M59xBw7YDTMNkGY-78gkODon8wGOuJycMCti5D6jepyDO_8fEktAxfEVyyyR3j9NZl5q1PGxWKyggITSg/s400/IMG_0233.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316393621251439986" /></a><br /><br />This is probably a long enough post for now, so I'll be back later with more.Tha Doctahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07664956684931107022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8880411.post-61521801670411824422009-03-20T10:01:00.004-04:002009-03-20T10:08:11.935-04:00European Odyssey, Part 2The whole "tomorrow" thing didn't quite work out as planned, because now we've been through Dresden, Dusseldorf, and Munich, and I'm typing flat on my back on an overnight train to Rome. I don't know how long this will last, but we'll give it a shot.<br /><br />After we spent the night in Dresden, we woke up the next morning and took about an hourlong walk through the city. The picture is of a statue of Martin Luther - a Dresden native - in front of Frauenkirche, which was the largest Protestant church in the world upon completion. It was largely <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dresden_in_World_War_II">destroyed</a> when Dresden was flattened by bombs during WWII, but has been restored very well. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbUrX2OxG6D1rTXXfPZRnlSxaAkq8LqNIGBrdWK2Zfej-loCeI5mP2vqq0ZT4F5A_Sr8-EYPoT_apDo82pGgbXJWPvsCEQMNZb9KYggIhNLyJEhMoIaYT8HpyjurxBF4wipIr_/s1600-h/IMG_0148.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbUrX2OxG6D1rTXXfPZRnlSxaAkq8LqNIGBrdWK2Zfej-loCeI5mP2vqq0ZT4F5A_Sr8-EYPoT_apDo82pGgbXJWPvsCEQMNZb9KYggIhNLyJEhMoIaYT8HpyjurxBF4wipIr_/s320/IMG_0148.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315270533146683826" /></a>We have a tour book for Germany (if you're ever traveling abroad, bring Rick Steves' tour books – they're fantastic,) and it has a detailed description of a bunch of the sites along a walk in the main part of the old town (Altstadt.) So we did that first, and then it was time to get our bags from the hotel and go to the Historic Green Vault. <br /><br />The Green Vault was amazing. It was basically a treasure trove of showing off all of the Royal treasure of Augustus the Strong, the Crown Prince of Saxony and King of Poland during the Baroque period. It's pretty much everything you would expect from a bunch of rooms full of treasures. There was a room full of nothing but things made of ivory, a room for bronze, a room for silver, etc. There was also a room (the most impressive to me) full of jewels. There were sets of sapphires, rubies, diamonds, and emeralds. The jewels were all in sets. There were swords with scabbards containing these jewels (one sword had a scabbard completely coated in diamonds), along with broaches and buttons for royal robes, etc. All very cool. The whole thing was explained with an audioguide that came with the tour. You walk into the room, and hold the guide up to your ear (it works like a telephone) and it explains what exactly you're looking at. That makes the experience much more enjoyable, because it gives everything context. We've found that to be the case at most of these German museums. They've all been really impressive (outside of the Checkpoint Charlie museum, but maybe that's because we were sleepy.) <br /><br />After the Green Vault (which unfortunately did not allow cameras inside), we got on the train (6 ½ hours) to Dusseldorf. That was another one where you just don't think of the travel time involved with the trip. But in the end, we got into town at about 8:00 or so. It was pretty cool getting back to the Hauptbahnhof of one of my old stomping grounds. A lot has changed over the time that I've been gone, and everything seems a bit more modern. <br /><br />The plan in Dusseldorf was to hit the hotel and drop off our stuff, then head back into town for dinner. But by the time we found the hotel (we happened to run into a couple of girls that were staying there and they showed us where it was,) we were too tired to go back out, and the rowdy crowds downtown make Jessica a bit nervous, so we went down to the hotel restaurant. They said it was open until 11:00, but when we got down there at 10:30, the guy said they were closing up because business was slow (a slight difference between German businesses and US businesses – they just kind of close when they want.) He told us to go to the bar and get something to eat if we wanted. So we did. I saw a bunch of stuff on the menu that looked like it was worth eating, so I got the mixed plate, which under the description said "a little of everything." I cannot tell you what was on that plate, my friends, but none of it was on the menu that I was looking at. So that was obnoxious, but it ended up being okay. I can't honestly remember what it all was, but there was bread involved, and some peppers stuffed with cream cheese, and something else. Perhaps I've blocked it out. But Jessica got a cheeseburger, and in hindsight that probably wasn't a bad idea given the other options. <br /><br />The next day the plan was to get up early and go into the pedestrian zone to take a walk before getting on the train to Nuremberg to see the museum there. We really were going to do this, but just couldn't get going early enough in the morning. I had even set an alarm, but I ended up turning it off. It didn't end up being a big deal really, as mostly what I wanted to do was just see one of the areas where I was as a missionary. At this point I haven't been back in almost 10 years, so there isn't really anyone here that would remember me, and there aren't a lot of sites to see in my old areas, so just seeing the Hauptbahnhof, and walking by the taxi area where we used to pick up and drop off new and old missionaries was fun. So we didn't get to take the walk downtown, but we hopped on the train to Nuremberg. <br /><br />The museum here was also fantastic. There was an audioguide again that provided a lot of helpful details about the exhibits and also narrated some of the videos that were being shown. Seeing as how we've been in Germany, we've seen a lot to do with World War II, obviously. This museum probably did the best job (understandably so, since this was one of their main headquarters) in showing how it was possible for the Nazis to come to power. It's not as though it couldn't have been avoided, or that the atrocities that they eventually committed are understandable, but the social and especially economic conditions of the time were such that Hitler's propaganda machine and his public demonstrations were very effective in winning over the people. Not to mention the fact that Hitler created tons of jobs by starting to build the Autobahn and beginning Volkswagen (which means "car of the people".) Inflation had gotten to the point where it cost 8 billion Marks for an egg. They had actual million-mark bills on display from this time period. Unbelievable stuff. Inflation, folks. When it gets that bad, that really sucks.<br /><br />Nuremberg played a huge part in the rise of the Nazis and was one of their bases of power. Seeing the architecture of the places the Nazis built totally reminded me of the old emperors and their fortresses and amphitheaters. Everything was concentrated on building the mythos of Hitler and his ideas. This showed us the social and political part of Hitler and the Nazis, and two days later we would see the human cost of their reign in Germany. But all in all, this was a fascinating museum. <br /><br />On that note, it's getting late. So I'm taking a Tylenol PM and seeing if I can get some sleep on this train. Till later.Tha Doctahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07664956684931107022noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8880411.post-44908259270154228602009-03-13T04:49:00.008-04:002009-03-13T05:03:51.636-04:00European Odyssey, Part 1<span style="font-style:italic;">Note: We're on our third and final day in Italy right now, and this is the first hotel where we've had free internet, so that's why I haven't been posting. As for why I didn't post the last couple of days...well, Rome's kept us busy. So here's the first post I wrote when we came to Germany. I'll continue to update as I'm able to.</span><br /><br />We're in Dresden now, and there is no free internet here. Hence, you will not see this post until we get to Dusseldorf. But the timeline is beside the point. Let's talk about how we got here, shall we? (Boring stuff first.)<br /><br />We left Indianapolis's fabulous (seriously) new airport on Wednesday afternoon, and flew to the magical land of Detroit. From there we caught our long flight on a big giant A330 to Amsterdam. Now, on my last trans-Atlantic flight, I was still set apart as an LDS missionary, and as such I did not partake in any media goodness that was available at the time. However, this time I was able to do so. Let me just say this: Holy crap, does that make an 8-hour flight more bearable. I mean seriously. We watched Slumdog Millionaire, which was fantastic. Then we tried unsuccessfully to get some sleep and avoid extreme jetlag, followed by me taking out the ol' laptop and plugging it in (we sat where there was power) to watch some Friday Night Lights. And then the flight was done. So yeah, it was not that bad. <br /><br />We ended up getting into Berlin around noon. After taking the bus to the Hauptbahnhof (central train station), we took way too long to figure out what trains we needed to take in order to get the Courtyard, where we were staying that evening. By the time we actually made it to the hotel, we were pretty wrecked. But we still fired up the Interwebs to get on the webcam and talk to the boys. (As a side note, big thanks to the in-laws, who came out from Delaware to watch the boys while we're gone.) If you've used webcams before as we had, you may think that they're always choppy delayed. This was not at all the case when we used the gmail webcam service. There was no delay at all in the picture, and the quality was great. So we're using gmail's webcam service from now on. Since you're extremely interested in that.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1XoLfnvchM-xTZ7Rrqws4_kpkzRSwjfPmj0Efo8BaT7mxzuadgnixmZMUfgH3bIlXsnyr8HjbOYTmAFtWGvnLH3ShlIN1_5KxW5iXTtmM7AunMvlSJ7GEe5A3r8b1TGMlCIn1/s1600-h/IMG_0120.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1XoLfnvchM-xTZ7Rrqws4_kpkzRSwjfPmj0Efo8BaT7mxzuadgnixmZMUfgH3bIlXsnyr8HjbOYTmAFtWGvnLH3ShlIN1_5KxW5iXTtmM7AunMvlSJ7GEe5A3r8b1TGMlCIn1/s320/IMG_0120.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312592762745787922" /></a>So the first actual sight we saw was Checkpoint Charlie. This was the American Sector of Germany when it was separated into four parts after World War II (for those that don't know.) It's right next to where the Berlin Wall used to be. The museum was good, but a bit nonlinear. We felt like we walked in and were suddenly in the middle of things. There wasn't much of an explanation of origins, or logistics, or anything like that. The first thing we saw was how people attempted to escape East Germany. It was cool, like I said, but just a bit disorienting. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzVoudQELKOcqa1TPVmHtH4e_mhSStYSc3XaIUWSU5jRfZfPx9PvjVVizE_5XwprKy6pSeBHa-KiPNEt7AQlXbrBAiOz5q6QgdqXIj0forEAf-22_Vr3OUZfzqBExBElUfk4rM/s1600-h/IMG_0122.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 112px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzVoudQELKOcqa1TPVmHtH4e_mhSStYSc3XaIUWSU5jRfZfPx9PvjVVizE_5XwprKy6pSeBHa-KiPNEt7AQlXbrBAiOz5q6QgdqXIj0forEAf-22_Vr3OUZfzqBExBElUfk4rM/s200/IMG_0122.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312593074279333026" /></a> The other problem was, as we realized partway through the museum, we were freaking tired. We sat down at one point to look at something and almost fell asleep. So we walked back to the hotel and got some dinner (keeping it easy at this point – Jessica had a club sandwich and I had some mushroom ravioli. It was most excellent.) <br /><br />All these details and I forgot to mention how my German is. It's actually still pretty good. I can get along just fine, although it took a few times talking to people to get comfortable. I think one problem I still have is that once people are aware that I speak German, they get excited and start talking too fast. Then I can't understand them and I feel kind of dumb when I have that look on my face like, "Ummm…..I know I was speaking German to you just now, but I have no clue what you just said." But largely it's been fine. <br /><br />So today we started off in Berlin. To get around, we had a Welcome Card, which gets you all your train and bus fares within the city, along with discounts at museums and such. We've also got the German Rail Pass, which gets us four days of travel anywhere in Germany for two people. So it's a lot of public transportation for us, which I love. I like being able to walk through the train stations and walk along the streets to wherever we're going from the smaller stations. It brings back a lot of memories of how we got around as missionaries, and plus I just enjoy the atmosphere. You get to really see the city, and you enjoy the company of the people. You almost feel like you fit in somehow. It's getting the whole Germany experience, since a lot of people get around like that. The downside, of course, is that it's murder on the feet. Since we don't walk nearly this much at home, we're not quite accustomed to the beatdown that the ol' dogs are currently receiving. But the good part is that we're walking off all the food that we're bound to be eating over the next few days. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHKYe48AH4ONYXUH4Sdkd7uQMl3BgR-yvFeka-OYXWol8oKBOACYMFVcq_8hsRl89JXioIlZU00BXhvUSTnBaQZb9AOvYF5h9Oh8L517bNzjI8DTnFHeHFXieWMb0-vkdv8WLW/s1600-h/IMG_0129.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHKYe48AH4ONYXUH4Sdkd7uQMl3BgR-yvFeka-OYXWol8oKBOACYMFVcq_8hsRl89JXioIlZU00BXhvUSTnBaQZb9AOvYF5h9Oh8L517bNzjI8DTnFHeHFXieWMb0-vkdv8WLW/s320/IMG_0129.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312593371801537938" /></a>So anyway, Berlin. We went to the German History Museum, and let me tell you, it was fantastic. It was a complete history of Germany. From about 100 BC until today. There were two floors worth of exhibits. Artifacts, paintings, written history, etc. And we also got the audio guide, which gave us further details about specific exhibits. Our guidebook says that there's six hours worth of information in the audio guide should one choose to listen to every part. There's certainly enough to keep you busy in the museum every day for a week or so. We were a bit worn out by the time we hit WWII, but we got a pretty good dose of that at Checkpoint Charlie, and we're hitting Nuremberg and Dachau later as well. So we've got that covered. <br /><br />After the history museum, we went over to the Reichstag through the Brandenburg Gate. The Reichstag is the German Parliament. We were going to get in there and have a look around, but the line ended up being too long to get in and we had a train to catch to get to Dresden, and we still had some lunch that needed to be eaten.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRz1bY9PrD3Jfn1vHivSmXZ5AUkZDqJ46_tDqHySlE8cvHACHoSdTWqRTXPQQMVzLc5SS4r9V5BjyqWk37DLUeXjbMKKyO7wyB-CZZ4tO7p_5q81gWCRvnlomT3etLKlN50fUW/s1600-h/IMG_0143.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRz1bY9PrD3Jfn1vHivSmXZ5AUkZDqJ46_tDqHySlE8cvHACHoSdTWqRTXPQQMVzLc5SS4r9V5BjyqWk37DLUeXjbMKKyO7wyB-CZZ4tO7p_5q81gWCRvnlomT3etLKlN50fUW/s320/IMG_0143.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312594378390779986" /></a><br /><br />Speaking of which, one thing that we didn't factor into our plans was travel time. You know, you watch these guys on The Amazing Race, and you kind of lose perspective on that sort of thing. It's like, "okay, we're starting in L.A., and the first stop is…Scotland!" And then they're in Scotland. Not that we thought we'd be teleporting or something mind you, but still. You look at Berlin and Dresden on a map of Germany, and you don't think "two-hour train ride." But that's what it is. So we hit the train to Dresden, and now after walking around for way too long again, we're in the hotel. It's actually 1 am right now. We hit the hotel restaurant for dinner, since the place we were going to go to was closed. I had a duck salad (bad idea, since I remembered I'm not a fan of duck, but it was still edible), and Jessica had a Hawaiian pizza. Before you boo that decision, I'll just say that pizza tastes completely different here. Forget your canned pineapple, pre-shredded cheese, and pre-made spaghetti sauce. Everything is fresh on these bad boys. And they're good. <br /><br />I also forgot to mention that Jessica had her first Doener today. What is that, you ask? Well, it's a kind of sandwich with lamb, lettuce, cucumber, and zaziki sauce on a piece of flatbread (not the kind of flat bread you're thinking of – better.) You can also get goat cheese on it, but that's gross. It's a staple of missionaries in Germany, and it is delicious. I was very pleased that she enjoyed hers. Staying on the food side of things, I'm thinking brats and pommes tomorrow. Pommes is French fries, but different because you get curry ketchup, mayonnaise and onions on them. I know what you're thinking, but trust me, it rules. The caveat is that you cannot try this at home, because it's not the kind of mayo that you buy at the store in the States. That's just wrong. Don't do it.<br /><br />So this is way too much detail right now and I need to get to bed, so I'm going to stop. More tomorrow.Tha Doctahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07664956684931107022noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8880411.post-52207531565623990322009-02-05T19:56:00.004-05:002009-02-05T20:16:42.258-05:00Every Year I ForgetBeing a manager, January and February are absolutely insane months. Especially January, but the first half of this month is also no joke. Performance reviews, setting goals for the next year, accounting for what happened last year, meeting with the boss and the boss's boss (that one's not every year, but it was this year,) etc. Not to mention I'm the spreadsheet guy for the region, meaning I put together all the new spreadsheets to track stats, attendance, marketing, and everything else for all the Indiana centers and pretty much for anyone else who likes to use them.<br /><br />And the problem is that most of my New Year's Resolutions have to do with dedicating time to things. So I always pledge to do things - get in the habit of doing things - that take time. So by the time things die down at work, the resolutions are gone from my mind. But this year I'm not forgetting. It's been a couple of weeks (like I said - the end of January is ridiculous), but I'm back. It may not be much of a post, but a post it is. My bigger writing problem is that I can't dedicate a lot of time to writing columns at MMATorch. I enjoy doing it, but it takes a good couple of hours of solid thought research and writing. And if I don't do it all at once, it makes things a lot tougher. But right now I'm working at work, then bringing my work laptop home and working some more after the kids go to bed. Or falling asleep - whichever comes first. Oh, and that's not even including the fact that it's the season for <span style="font-style:italic;">24</span>, <span style="font-style:italic;">Lost</span>, and <span style="font-style:italic;">American Idol</span>, among others. So this is not an interesting post, but it's here to make sure I don't stop posting before I forget.<br /><br />Remember how we were going to drive to Delaware if the Eagles made the Super Bowl? Well, we went anyway. Last week was the visit with my boss's boss, and it went <span style="font-style:italic;">really</span> well, but there was so much preparation involved, not to mention everything else that was going on, so I just wanted to get out of town for a few days. We conducted an experiment on the way out, making the 12-hour drive overnight on Thursday night. It actually went much better than I had expected. I'm a late driver and Jessica is an early driver, so I drove till about midnight and then she took over till about 5am. And the kids slept for most of the ride, so that made it even better. <br /><br />The trip was nice; blissfully uneventful one might say. Some shopping, some hanging out, and watching the Super Bowl, followed by the second 12-hour drive in four days. That one wasn't actually too bad either. Really they were better than two drives of that length with two kids should be. So no complaints here. The other nice thing was that when I got back, it felt like I'd been gone for way longer than I actually had, so I was only backed up a couple of days, but it felt like a longer vacation. Good times.<br /><br />Now, speaking of the Super Bowl. A lot of people talked right afterward about how great the game was, but I thought the first three quarters were horrible, followed by a great fourth. It was poorly officiated and poorly coached. Also, the Cardinals were robbed by the touchdown at the end of the first half. Harrison didn't get the ball across the goal line. I'm just sayin.Tha Doctahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07664956684931107022noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8880411.post-8313157411197405612009-01-18T18:35:00.003-05:002009-01-18T18:39:59.244-05:00Live Blog of the NFC Championship Game, or Another Emotional Flogging at the Hands of A Group of Men That I Follow Closely But Do Not Know PersonallyThese are the unfiltered thoughts that I had while experiencing the worst sports-watching time of my life. That is not an exaggeration. I wrote everything at the time indicated, and it is unedited and un-proofread. Enjoy my suffering.<br /><br />4:00pm – I can't believe I let them do this to me again. They look great at the end of the regular season and for two playoff games, and then they turn into the EXACT SAME TEAM that lost three NFC Championships and the Super Bowl. All the telltale signs are here. They're giving up big plays, they can't get into the end zone, McNabb is inaccurate, they can't stop the run, and the blitz isn't doing them any good because Warner has the timing down. I'm close to having already given up, and if the Cardinals score again here, I'm out. I don't even want to watch the rest of the game. I will, because I'm a glutton for punishment. But I won't want to. I've already yelled all I can, and the first half's not even over. So I'm done investing any emotion into this team if they give up another score. <br /><br />4:10pm – Yeah, the Cardinals are driving to the end zone again, and they're going to score. So I'm going to record this and watch the Foo Fighters on Austin City limits so that I can come back and fast forward through the rest of this half. It's making me sick.<br /><br />4:20pm – Watched two Foo Fighters songs and fast forwarded through the AZ touchdown and up to the point where McNabb was flagged for intentional grounding. This is the kind of thing that would be surprising if it didn't happen literally every time they get as far as they're going. The thing that's maddening is that they never play well and lose. Every time they play well, they win. But they simply cannot win the big game. Can't. Never will. Not with Reid and McNabb at the helm. They've shown time and time again that they fold under pressure. Want proof? After this game, their record in NFC Championship games will be 1-4. Yes, they've gotten to the game five times in eight years, and it's been great to watch up until that point. But I've followed bad teams and good teams, and there is nothing worse than watching a good team get so close to winning the whole thing only to forget how to play. It's one thing if it happens the first time they get there. But to have it happen four times, and once after they actually got to the Super Bowl, is unbearable. I'd rather they never made the playoffs this year. The last two weeks were not worth this week. Not even close. If they were ever going to win the whole thing, it was going to be this year. In fact, if they had won this year, I'd give them a shot to win it again under McReid. But after this, it's never happening. You can't come back from this. You just can't.<br /><br />4:32pm – I haven't looked back yet. I'll probably wait till after halftime so that I don't have to see the analysts' grinning faces as they rave about the destruction of my team. After that, I'm watching the first drive of the 3rd quarter and seeing how the defense plays on the first drive. If things don't change, I'm done. I can't take it anymore. I'm gonna watch some fights to calm me down.<br /><br />5:13pm – The fight is over, and I feel a little better. I've switched from my McNabb jersey to a Chase Utley jersey to see if there's any mojo at all at work today, but I have my doubts. <br /><br />5:15pm – And it's a fumble on the first drive. Might as well forget about this one.<br /><br />5:23pm – Don't ask me why, but I'm still watching. And McNabb just laid a beautiful pass in to Kevin Curtis on 3rd and 19. Now is the part where they'll suck you back in if you let them. They'll get the score to like 24-20 before sputtering out with two minutes left. You watch. (Or they'll just continue getting blown out.)<br /><br />5:25pm – Touchdown to Brent Celek. I'm not giving in. You cannot have me back today. Understand? You've lost me. (Although on a side note, I hope LJ Smith is out of town next year and they just go with Celek as the first string TE. Dinnertime for the boys, so I'm taking a break from watching this.<br /><br />5:50pm – Back from dinner, and the defense has begun to play. Too bad it's too late.<br /><br />5:51pm – Celek scores from about 30 yards out. Wow. I'm not believing yet, because it's too dangerous. But I'm intrigued. No emotion right now. And Akers just missed an extra point. Which means we're losing by one. But man, Hank Baskett made the block of the year on that play. Two guys at once. Awesome. <br /><br />5:53pm – Why is Troy Aikman killing the Eagles for not trying for two? You never go for two in the 3rd quarter. Had they known Akers was going to shank the PAT, that's one thing. But why would you go for two when you just scored two touchdowns in five minutes?<br /><br />5:57pm – Another series where the defense dominates. They're clamping down.<br /><br />6:00pm – DEASEAN JACKSON! 70 YARDS! DEASEAN JACKSON! DESEAN JACKSON! I JUST LOST MY MIND!<br /><br />6:01pm – Now is when you go for two. No regrets after they didn't get it. It was the right move there. Turns out it was 62 yards, but whatever. Still awesome.<br /><br />6:04pm – They're saying it depends on the spot from 3rd and 2, but no way they got that. <br /><br />6:06pm – Good call by the Cards to go for it, and they got it. Time to put an end to this drive, posthaste.<br /><br />6:08pm – Touchdown Cardinals. Unbelievable.<br /><br />6:11pm – I'm almost up to realtime now after watching on DVR time, and I'm shaking in my boots.<br /><br />6:12pm – And it's back to business as usual with incomplete on 1st, 2nd and 3rd down with the game on the line. All we need is 4th down for the soul-crushing defeat, and there it is. I'm speechless. Completely speechless. I'm back at realtime so that I can't fast forward past my shame. If you'll look back at earlier comments, you'll see that I was almost exactly right about the ending here. Except instead of getting within four, they took the lead and then gave it away on the very next possession. Welcome to Eaglesville.<br /><br />6:17pm – They get the stop on 3rd down, but it doesn't matter. They'll have the ball back with like 10 seconds, and they'll just throw an interception. This game is over. I wish they had never made the playoffs, I wish they had never come back from being blown out in this game. Over and over again I get my hopes up, and over and over again they're crushed. The cycle keeps going, and it will never end. I have no hope that this team will ever win a title, but I'll keep on riding with them. I'll be here next year once again, following them like a sucker, just to get thisclose and lose again. Such is my life.<br /><br />I'm in no state of mind to do anything right now, but I've got so much to do before work tomorrow it's ridiculous. So I'll take the next hour to mourn the Eagles until my wife gets home and can take care of Luke, then we'll see what I'm capable of. This is far and away the worst loss out of any of the championship games. And it's not close. The Super Bowl was bad, but this was worse.Tha Doctahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07664956684931107022noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8880411.post-24573872644743994852009-01-16T20:21:00.007-05:002009-01-16T21:11:36.349-05:00On & Off the Wagon. Also It's Freaking ColdThere's been some talk of weight loss in the previous post/comments, and I'll keep that theme going for a little bit. <br /><br />My boss was in town this week, which put me a little bit behind on...well, life. So I was a day late with my MMATorch column (it's up <a href="http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Staff_Editorials_19/article_1808.shtml">now</a>), and I'm a day late here. Besides putting me behind on my writing, that little fact also makes me eat badly. An excuse? Of course. But she buys us lunch more often than not, and what am I going to do, get a salad? Please. I'm not that far gone. So yeah, it's been a bad week for being on the wagon. I haven't actually weighed myself, but I'm surely a couple pounds heavier than last week. That's considering also that I've been at work more hours than usual, preventing me from going to the gym. That's the first week I've missed since November. So I'm getting on that train again next week, and getting the discipline back in my eating habits.<br /><br />Speaking of which, his Shoelessness asked about any recommendations. I don't know what this will do for you, but I can tell you what I've been doing, and it's really simple. <br /><br />1. Count calories<br /><br />I never did this in any prior diet. But when I'm really going strong, I'll eat anywhere between 1200-1500 calories a day. Not a whole lot. It's actually pretty easy when I'm working because of some habits I changed. I never used to eat at work. That meant that I ate a whole lot when I got home or before I went in. So I started eating a lot of lean cuisine/healthy choice frozen meals. Most of them are actually pretty tasty, and they're usually under 300 calories, and they're quick to eat at work. Also to keep the calories down, I drink almost none of them. I usually have a glass of orange juice or milk at breakfast, and then it's water and Crystal Light the rest of the day. I'm a big drinker, and I actually hate water, so this was an adjustment. But it definitely works. Drinking a lot of water keeps me from being really hungry, and of course it's nice to be hydrated (especially when working out). I also stopped grazing. I don't walk through the kitchen and grab a cracker, or a cookie, or a handful of chocolate chips, or all of the above. That's all stuff that I'd have to keep track of, and it takes away from what I can eat at dinner.<br /><br />2. Eat breakfast, but not a huge one<br /><br />I don't like cereal, so I never used to eat breakfast. Now I have a banana (sometimes with some peanut butter to get the metabolism going) and a glass of orange juice or milk. When I keep it low-cal at breakfast and lunch, it makes dinner a lot easier to deal with because a lot of times it's tough to count calories in recipes. Usually by dinner I've only eaten between 350-450 calories, so I've got lots of room.<br /><br />3. Don't eat late<br /><br />Nothing after 7:00. I've always struggled with this because I love to eat, and I love to eat while watching TV, especially sports. So this is a tough one, but also important. <br /><br />4. Portion and self control<br /><br />This was the biggest thing. I didn't want to "go on a diet." I wanted to change my eating lifestyle. I figure if I go on a diet and lose a bunch of weight, but never change my eating habits in general, I'll just gain it back. So the key to all of this was to control myself. The non-grazing, not eating after 7:00...all that stuff. That's why the portion control is also important. I would usually eat 2 or 3 servings at dinnertime, but now I keep it at one. The best thing about that is I can recognize more easily when I'm not hungry, and that's when I stop eating.<br /><br />So no magic tricks or anything. Just change. Also there are no dumbbells. (At least until I lose some more weight.) (And yes, that was for Joel's benefit.)<br /><br />So as you can surmise from the post title, it's freaking cold here in North-central Indiana. Last night it got down to -4 with a -26 wind chill. That is coldness of ridiculous proportions. I know it's cold in Minnesota and North Dakota and stuff, but this is not there. We are not used to living in a freezer. My garage door doesn't work because it's so cold, and I get up to five employees a day calling me because their cars won't start when it gets like this. At least there's not ice on the roads to go with it, because I'd have no one left to work. <br /><br />As an illustration of the numbing frigidity of this joint, Jessica saw the cable outlet out of the corner of her eye yesterday and noticed that one of them was white. She was about to get annoyed because one of the boys put Desitin on it, but when she took a closer look, she saw this:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL0EEfm1pa22uBCgRMz_TovUEIrVpqpIJUesxbcmQjE_cl9de50LU7sbkj1MwbnxNgEqhg6LyvwB8fJM7pqund7AGNK4McqDMNhtk5JM4vNnfwAZJZnftsBR5ZQZ4bQWSK281E/s1600-h/IMG_0112.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL0EEfm1pa22uBCgRMz_TovUEIrVpqpIJUesxbcmQjE_cl9de50LU7sbkj1MwbnxNgEqhg6LyvwB8fJM7pqund7AGNK4McqDMNhtk5JM4vNnfwAZJZnftsBR5ZQZ4bQWSK281E/s400/IMG_0112.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292075302790687490" /></a><br /><br />That's right. Ice. In my house. Such a thing is not cool in my book, literal interpretations of that phrase aside. <br /><br />I mentioned the boys earlier , and it occurs to me that I haven't posted pictures of them in a while. So here's something for you. This is them on Christmas day, showing off their new pajamas in front of the awesome Christmas tree that we turned into a prelit tree ourselves (pictures of that may come later as well.) I guess that kind of makes it a post-lit tree, but it's prelit for next year now, so whatever.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiizWB1GJYIyf7pmSB5-05wsHYcDRh4-5qw_1AQ-EJRMhTMCi9FPegJtmSJgef_47kSoXVZkh20qUZTyKGngNcWGb0WdeeOpwzFzRTSOXEfE-V0LD_qZSVzLL5WMdOHP09w85Xg/s1600-h/IMG_1761.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiizWB1GJYIyf7pmSB5-05wsHYcDRh4-5qw_1AQ-EJRMhTMCi9FPegJtmSJgef_47kSoXVZkh20qUZTyKGngNcWGb0WdeeOpwzFzRTSOXEfE-V0LD_qZSVzLL5WMdOHP09w85Xg/s400/IMG_1761.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5292076939139065826" /></a><br /><br />As a side note, the ice picture was taken with our new camcorder, which is awesome. It's a Canon HG20, and it's most excellent. We'll be taking it on our 10-day trip to Europe (more on that next week), and if I can figure it out, I'm thinking about a series of vlog posts while we're there. We'll see if I can do it, and if I'm up for it when we get there. But that's it for now. Till next time.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Ooooooohhhhh!! I totally fooled you. You thought I was leaving without talking about the Eagles? Please. I'm not going to say much because I'll get myself all lathered up, but let's just say that if we can't beat the Cardinals to get to another Super Bowl, it will not be a good day. If the Birds can get into the big game, I'll be headed to Delaware to watch the game with the family. But in short, here's my prediction: Larry Fitzgerald (the best receiver in football) will have a few awesome catches and perhaps get the Cards a touchdown or two. Anquan Boldin will also have one or two nice plays. But they won't be able to run the ball, and Kurt Warner will lose at least one fumble, maybe two. McNabb, meanwhile, will be able to use short passes to the quick receivers and tire the defense out. Westbrook may be hurt, but he'll still command a lot of attention even if he doesn't get the ball a whole lot. Buckhalter will get some carries and he'll also make a big play as a receiver. The Eagles will seal the game in the fourth when DeSean Jackson makes a big catch for the winning touchdown, but the outcome of the game will never be in doubt as the Cardinals will not be able to consistently get anything going on offense against the Eagles' suffocating D. They'll be shut out completely in the second half as Philly takes over and finishes off an improbable run to the NFC championship. <br /><br />Bank on it.Tha Doctahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07664956684931107022noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8880411.post-54629855358613195582009-01-07T19:45:00.003-05:002009-01-07T20:11:28.896-05:002009 ResolutionsJust before the new year is a week old, I'm posting the ol' resolutions for this year. We won't talk about last year's resolutions, because I tried something a little different (remember the year of the month?), and kind of fizzled out around March. So I've got a few things I want to get done this year:<br /><br />1. Lose 30 pounds<br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Right now I'm about 35 pounds lighter than I was this time last year, so I know it's possible. Losing another 30 will get me down to about 200. It can be done! We joined a gym in late November and I've been going three times a week since then. I also finally got serious about dieting around September and dropped about 20 pounds in 3 months. So I'm pretty confident that I can keep going.</span><br /><br />2. Blog once a week<br /><span style="font-style:italic;">I know, I've said it before, but I'm putting a number on it this time. That will give me 52 posts this year if I keep it to only once a week, which would be more than 2008's 37 posts. As of now I've set my blog day to Thursday, which is 2 days after my column day. I'm a day early this week.</span><br /><br />3. Organize memories<br /><span style="font-style:italic;">I've got hours of home video that I haven't even transferred from the mini DV tapes on which they were recorded. So this year it all gets transferred to the computer, edited, and turned into an ISO file, to reside on an external hard drive in addition to a DVD format. And that's just the video side of things. I'm also going to come up with a system for organizing my photos (I haven't decided on one yet - Picasa? Flickr? Just put them on the hard drive and organize by folder? I don't know.) But I'll figure that out and make it easy to perpetuate the photo organization.</span><br /><br />4. Stick to the Budget<br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Yeah, this one's a given. But this year we've got a system. The wife and I will track the finances together instead of only having one of us do it, and we'll meet once a week to sum up what we did, where our budgets are, and that way we won't just ignore the fact that we're spending way too much on groceries and eating out until the 15th of the next month when all the expenses are finally tracked. I'm just sayin, that's not the most effective method.</span><br /><br />5. Get the House Where We Want It <br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Or at least have a plan of action to finish what we can't afford this year. There's a lot of projects that we need to start in the house to make it a more pleasant place. The problem is not wanting to put a lot of money into the house that we're not going to get back. But we at least want to paint, and get the place decorated to where it's nice to look at. We're just incredibly lazy when it comes to beautifying the house. Upkeep? No problem. Making it "homey" or whatever? That we could work on. The first thing on the list is to paint our bedroom, which has walls resembling a jungle. It's kind of like living in a safari. After that's done, I can move the desk into the bedroom from the basement and have a decent workspace where the kids don't mess with all the stuff in the desk. I can't even work there now because it drives me nuts. But that's a whole different rant that I'm not going to get into.</span><br /><br />I think that's about it. I also generally want to be more organized with my time, but that's way too general and broad a goal to even expand upon just now. For the moment, I think those five will suffice.Tha Doctahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07664956684931107022noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8880411.post-75605560687691734492008-12-05T00:08:00.003-05:002008-12-05T00:14:26.022-05:00Shawn Ryan is the ManJust finished watching the series finale of "The Shield." I won't spoil it for those who might see it later, but it was amazing. One of the most emotionally devastating pieces of fiction I've ever experienced. A dramatic statement to be sure, but trust me that I'm not overstating it. If you haven't seen this show, start from the beginning and do it. Once you watch the first two or three episodes, you're in for the long haul. That was a great ending to a way underexposed series. So if you're keeping track, "The Wire" and "The Shield" are both great. That's the last two cop series that I've watched in their entirety inside of a year. I'd almost like to watch all of "The Wire" again already. So good.Tha Doctahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07664956684931107022noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8880411.post-61251458728504013782008-11-20T19:58:00.004-05:002008-11-20T20:43:15.808-05:00Random Thoughts Without SegueSo I've finally broken down and joined Facebook. I did this about a week ago. I figure hopefully it'll help me get back in touch with a bunch of people that I haven't talked to in forever, and I'll also have more people checking out the blog (and hence perhaps some more motivation to update it.) That also means I'll probably break out a "what I've been up to for the past 10 years" post, so the three of you who are regular readers of the blog will have to put up with a bit of repetition. <br /><br />Those of you who are both Xbox 360 owners and Netflix subscribers like myself have noticed that the 360 can now stream movies from the Netflix Watch Instantly catalog. How awesome is this? Extremely. Am I a nerd? Absolutely. But it's still fantastic. I just put on an episode of The Office for the heck of it, and the video quality is great. <br /><br />You know what's underrated? Two things: Tater tots and Heath bar. You might never include either of them in the pantheon of great foods, but neither ever disappoints. It also holds true when you combine either one with other elements. Case in point: Heath bar pieces in ice cream or on a cake? Wondrous. Tater tot casserole? Delicious. <br /><br />I've decided that I'm not going to make a long-term decision about facial hair. I've had a goatee for almost five years with the occasional full beard interlude thrown in for good measure. Then in September, before the Outer Banks vacation (about which I criminally never blogged) I shaved the whole thing off and went with bare face for a little bit. And now I've got the full beard going again. So basically what I'm saying is that if you see me on a regular basis, you'll never know what's coming at you. Is it stubble today, or do I still have the beard? Perhaps I shaved it down to a handlebar mustache (I did that for two days after Halloween.) You just don't know. <br /><br />I've also decided that it's probably time for the Eagles to move on without Donovan McNabb. It hurts me just to say it, because I love McNabb, but I think he's reached a point where we're not going to win it all with him. He's been horrible in the first half of almost every game this year, and then he hit a low point (maybe a career low point) with a horrendous performance against the Bengals on Sunday. I mean, really? They couldn't score more than 13 points in 5 periods? The defense is still pretty good, and the only reason the team isn't terrible right now. On the other hand, I'm not nearly as devastated about the Eagles this year as I normally would be, because the Phillies have lifted my sports spirit for the next year. What? The Sixers already have a losing record? That's alright. The Phillies won it all. The Flyers are in fourth place in the Atlantic Division? It's okay. The Phils are taking care of me. <br /><br />Finally, the boys proved my theory again that toys are not needed. We bought a new upright freezer on Saturday and brought the box inside for them to play with, and that's all they've been doing. Luke brought all the toys upstairs from the basement and put them in the box, but not necessarily to play with them. Just to have them there. Jessica's parents were here over the weekend, and her dad cut windows in it for them. It's big enough that Ronin can walk upright in it without ducking, so he can't stick his head out of the window in the top, but he still enjoys it. So basically toys are a waste of money. Just buy large cardboard boxes. Or just magazines and wrapping paper for smaller kids.<br /><br />For those who may have followed the link here from my Facebook page, you may not know about the boys yet, but I'll have pictures up soon enough.Tha Doctahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07664956684931107022noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8880411.post-89148405487728469922008-11-10T21:41:00.004-05:002008-11-10T21:47:09.821-05:00UpdatificationI've finally migrated to the new Blogger style. Let me know what you think. I've looked at so many templates I'm not sure if this is a good one, or if I just got tired of looking. Also, I've gone the way of Zimm and abandoned Haloscan. I'm going all low-maintenance. So if you want old comments, sorry. But you don't care about old comments, right? <br /><br />Anyway, I'm pissed about the Eagles game last night, but that seems to be the theme for weeks when they play good teams. The difference is that unlike any other year, this year I've still got the Phillies. (No, I'm not letting that go any time soon.)Tha Doctahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07664956684931107022noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8880411.post-43842371024680515972008-10-30T20:43:00.003-04:002008-10-30T21:26:11.245-04:00Euphoria<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYBtFS_qTnc_imrUIFXZz87TWkocfhggqBkUoSt-h5Ny-NMJMYHoCz6ubBa-yhAf5MzaQgfM2DGhAGxH055lBl5y7dqKF2b7CYPzYB1oHE3ZJ9jJHYqnEYaQncq0p6sE2Z1AwU/s1600-h/howard.new1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 283px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYBtFS_qTnc_imrUIFXZz87TWkocfhggqBkUoSt-h5Ny-NMJMYHoCz6ubBa-yhAf5MzaQgfM2DGhAGxH055lBl5y7dqKF2b7CYPzYB1oHE3ZJ9jJHYqnEYaQncq0p6sE2Z1AwU/s400/howard.new1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5263123194836177234" /></a><br />I don't even know how to react. It's almost 24 hours later, and I still can't even process it. Every other hour or so at work today, I'd spend about 10-20 minutes and just look at pictures and read articles, just to remember that it's real. Yeah, I shed a few tears last night, and I still feel a little misty every time I think about it.<br /><br />They did it. For the first time in my life, I'm happy at the end of a sports season. I've watched the Phillies my whole life. I love the Eagles, but I was a baseball guy long before I was a football guy. I used to stay up late and listen to Harry Kalas call the games on my walkman when I was a kid. I remember Mike Schmidt hitting his 500th homerun in Pittsburgh, and the call that Harry made on that long drive. I was one year old when the Phils beat Kansas City in 1980 for the only other title in their 126 year existence. Since then it's been heartbreak after heartbreak. From seasons of futility right down to Joe Carter sinking the dagger into my heart in 1993. But this Phillies team did it. For the past few years, they would get so close. They'd be one game out of the playoffs. Two games out. Coming so close, but never getting in. Then there was last year, when they ran into the buzzsaw Rockies. Finally getting into the playoffs, then back home four days later. But not this year.<br /><br />This year things were going to be different. The Phillies were notoriously bad in April for the past few years. They would always stumble out of the gate. But this year they came out on fire. They had some speed bumps along the way, but it always felt like they would get into the postseason. Then once they got in, they were underdogs against the Wild Card Brewers, and then against the LA Mannys. They smoked both teams, losing one game in each series. You see, we Philadelphia sports fans are not used to postseason dominance. We're used to high expectations, high hopes, and <span style="font-style:italic;">almost</span> making it. So when they cruised to the World Series, the feeling should have been ominous, but it wasn't. For once, I felt like I could believe that this team would win it all. It was a dangerous prospect, because I get seriously messed up when my teams get this far and flame out. But I allowed myself to kind of think that it was possible to see my team actually win. <br /><br />And in the end, it was classic Philly, except for the end result. All sorts of things happened that should have stopped the Phils from doing it. Slumping power hitters. Stranding guys on base. Playing against a young team with nothing to lose. Terrible calls by umpires (yeah, it went both ways, but more went against the Phillies. I counted.) And of course, game five. I mean seriously. They essentially wasted a start by their best pitcher, in the last home game of the Series, with the chance to clinch, and they had to play one more defensive inning in terrible conditions than the other team did (say what you will, but it was no coincidence that the game was suspended when it was.) Every other Phillies team I've watched would have let the tying run score in the top of the ninth. Every other Philadelphia team would have given up the game at the end. In any other year, with any other group of guys, it would have been too much to overcome. But not these guys. <br /><br />These guys did it.Tha Doctahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07664956684931107022noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8880411.post-30060349116367699932008-07-28T19:54:00.003-04:002008-07-28T20:28:52.040-04:00The List: Bucket List of BandsLast Wednesday, Zimm and his wife came with Jessica and myself to see the Foo Fighters. It was most awesome. The setlist was perfectly paced and ended up with "Best of You", after which it would have been pointless to do another song. There was also an acoustic portion of the show which featured the Foostics and a rousing version of "My Hero." And so, as is the tradition after I see a concert, I started thinking about all the bands I need to see in my (and their) lifetime. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />1. Metallica</span><br /><br />Probably the band I'd be most excited to see out of all those who will follow on the list. Bands that have been around for as long as Metallica with so many different kinds of songs are always a lot of fun to see, because the shows end up being diverse. Of course, you can only be so diverse when you're Metallica. But still that would be a great show. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">2. Eric Clapton in some capacity</span><br /><br />Whether it's with a band or just by himself, I gots to see Slowhand. There is nothing in the world like seeing a guitar player of his caliber live. These guys never play the same thing twice, and it's electrifying to watch them go off. On an unrelated note, I recently read Clapton's autobiography, and it was pretty good. A little sappy toward the end, but forgiveably so. <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />3. B.B. King</span><br /><br />I know Joel saw the King before and said it was good stuff. And how could it not be? The same thing applies here as to Clapton. And with a catalog that spans 60 years, he's got a heck of a bag to pull songs out of.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">4. U2</span><br /><br />It's inexcusable really that I haven't attempted to get tickets to a U2 show before, and I don't intend to let another tour go by without remedying that situation. I've seen concert movies that are as exciting as some actual shows that I've been to. "Rattle and Hum" might be the best concert movie ever. So yeah, this will be a priority next time they're on the road.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">5. The White Stripes/Raconteurs</span><br /><br />I know the White Stripes have been in the area and they've played a smaller venue. I was quite annoyed when I saw that I had missed it. So on the next tour Jack White's involved in, I'll be watching. Anything involving Jack White in a smaller room promises to be gloriously loud and enjoyable.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">6. Chris Cornell in some capacity</span><br /><br />Whether it's in a Soundgarden reunion (please?), with his next band, or playing solo, Chris Cornell has got to be awesome live. I've heard all sorts of live performances of his and they're all pretty good. The guy has an unbelievable voice on top of having great songs to pick from.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">7. Stone Temple Pilots</span><br /><br />If they resemble the "Core" STP, sign me up in a heartbeat. If they resemble the "Tiny Music" STP, nevermind.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">8. Either Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Kanye West, or Lupe Fiasco</span><br /><br />My favorite rappers. I don't know that I could go to a lot of rap concerts, though. So one or two would probably do it.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />9. Garth Brooks</span><br /><br />I know he's not touring now, but I can't imagine he won't go back to the cash well one more time at some point.<br /><br />Honorable mention (wouldn't mind seeing): Derek Trucks Band, Band of Horses, Dave Matthews in some capacity, Jose Gonzalez, Prince, Wolfmother, Jason Mraz (guilty pleasure), Nickle Creek.<br /><br />I'd also go and see most acts that I've already seen before. Aerosmith, Pearl Jam, AC/DC, Keith Urban, Gary Allan, The Black Keys, Foo Fighters...the list goes on.<br /><br />Of course, this is not all-inclusive. I'll go see pretty much anyone if I'm in the mood for a show and the genre is right. The point is that concerts are great, and you should go to some. I'm going with Zimm and Shoeless Joel to see Wilco next week, so that's exciting again.Tha Doctahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07664956684931107022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8880411.post-85466812579689975232008-07-22T00:53:00.001-04:002008-07-22T00:53:45.489-04:00In Case You Haven't Heard...I joined the masses of humanity on Friday night that clamored to see The Dark Knight. As you’ve heard, it’s fantastic. This is hardly news – even a mere three days after its release, positive reviews aren’t even timely. But just to add my two cents, Heath Ledger was indeed unbelievably good, and Christian Bale is the man as always. The thing that sets Bale apart from anyone that’s played Batman is that when he’s in the costume, he is Batman. With Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney…that always looked like those guys wearing a Batman suit. But when Bale is playing Batman, he’s playing Batman. Not a disguised Bruce Wayne. If you didn’t know that Bale was playing the character, you’d never recognize him with the suit on. And to me, that’s an underrated part of what makes this and Batman Begins so good. <br /><br />And let’s not forget Christopher Nolan. This guy has a resume that’s unrivaled for the number of films he’s made. He wrote and directed Memento, Batman Begins, The Prestige, and now The Dark Knight. He’s also done both Following and Doodlebug, which I can’t speak for since I haven’t seen them yet. But still. That’s four movies that are all fantastic.<br /><br />In other news, it looks like we finally have our travel plans figured out for the next little while. Jessica and the boys will be heading out to Delaware on the 9th to catch her brother’s wedding reception (the wedding is in Oklahoma, which is not an option), and I’ll be following on the 22nd for my sister’s wedding the next day. One of my goals while everyone’s gone is to do a bunch of video and photo editing. I’ve got a ridiculous amount of both that are untouched, waiting to be edited and put on DVD (in the video’s case anyway.) And when I do that, hopefully I’ll get around to posting some of it in this very space. You can start getting excited now. Also hopefully that will inspire me to start taking more pictures and video. There is shamefully little of both featuring Ronin. We’ve been the stereotypical parents who have a ton of footage of the first child, and very little of the second. But at least he’s only a year old, so hopefully it’s not to late to avoid giving him a complex when he gets older.<br /><br />Speaking of things I wasn’t talking about, I finally fixed the siding that was hanging off my house. During one of the winter storms, we had some siding blow off of one of the gables. I bought a ladder in December, but of course at that point it was too cold to get up there and cut/nail siding. So we had siding hanging askew on the roof for about 7 months. It’s funny what you stop noticing after a while. The catalyst for me to actually get up there and fix it was that I saw birds flying too close to the house, and it reminded me of the last time I had birds living in the house. I decided to prevent another couple of birds crawling in there and dying. <br /><br />But anyway, it’s getting late. I think we’re slowly getting back into the swing of things here. No gimmicks this time…I’m trying to do it organically. I’m not sure if that’s the right term for it, but whatever. Till next time.Tha Doctahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07664956684931107022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8880411.post-12980921037875858412008-06-30T19:46:00.000-04:002008-06-30T19:48:00.160-04:00All Wet...Again<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CENNISF%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:applybreakingrules/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">Remember that story I never finished about my basement flooding?<span style=""> </span>Well, it happened again.<span style=""> </span>I don’t know if I even mentioned what caused the flood last time, but it ended up that the wiring in our house isn’t well done.<span style=""> </span>I don’t know the details, but the ground fault interrupter or something, which is a safety switch that turns off the power to certain appliances if the circuit overloads, isn’t set up right.<span style=""> </span>So what happens is that if the circuit overloads, everything plugged into a GFCI outlet loses power.</p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Well, it’s an easy enough fix if you know that the circuit has shut off, so after last year we didn’t think it’d be a big deal.<span style=""> </span>If you see that the GFCI overloads, you just push the reset button on one of the outlets, and you’re all set to go.<span style=""> </span>Also we had lived here for two years prior to the flood with no problems, so we figured it was probably a fluke thing.<span style=""> </span>Obviously we were wrong on all counts, as it happened again last week.<span style=""> </span>It was raining pretty hard at the time, and Jessica had just seen that the circuit was still working because we’ve got a night light plugged into one of the GFCI outlets to let us know they’re functional.<span style=""> </span>Ten minutes later, water was seeping through the carpet in the basement.</p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Another reason we didn’t get the wiring fixed last year was that the electrician that came out told us it would cost several thousand dollars to fix.<span style=""> </span>Seeing as how we had just spent a healthy sum on drying out the basement, such an investment just wasn’t feasible at the time.<span style=""> </span>With this happening, however, we decided to just bite the bullet and get the stupid thing fixed.<span style=""> </span>Well, another electrician came out today (different guy, same company) and gave us an estimate:<span style=""> </span>$320.<span style=""> </span>So needless to say, we’re pretty pleased that there’s one zero fewer than was expected.<span style=""> </span>Now once we take care of however much it’ll cost to get the basement dried out again (it wasn’t nearly as bad this time, so it shouldn’t be too ridiculous), hopefully we’ll be done spending money on fixing water damage in the house.</p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">So anyway, here I am posting again.<span style=""> </span>I won’t make lame excuses, because they’re lame.<span style=""> </span>I’ve just let myself get busy and bogged down again with work, and blogging took a backseat to everything else – even though I seriously would think about it almost daily.<span style=""> </span>I would constantly think, “I’ve got to blog about this,” or “I’ve got to post that picture.”<span style=""> </span>Alas, I never did either of those things.<span style=""> </span>So hopefully in the next little while I’ll be able to catch you up on some happenings.<span style=""> </span>The kids are entertaining (and/or maddening) as ever, so there’s plenty of stories and whatnot to talk about.<span style=""> </span>I’ll be back soon.<span style=""> </span>Hey, if Matt could revitalize his blog, why can’t I?</p> Tha Doctahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07664956684931107022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8880411.post-88805763509241116062008-03-01T01:43:00.000-05:002008-03-01T01:44:47.844-05:00Summary of the Next 30 Days<p class="MsoNormal">Like Zimm mentioned, I can’t quite believe that February is already over.<span style=""> </span>It’s already time for a summary of the second 30 days.<span style=""> </span>There was good and bad this month, as I am indeed back in the habit of practicing the guitar, but I missed a pretty significant number of days.<span style=""> </span>And why, you may ask, is this the case?<span style=""> </span>Well, I can sum it up in two words:<span style=""> </span>Guitar Hero.<span style=""> </span><o:p><br /></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I got Guitar Hero III for my birthday (the 20<sup>th</sup>), and I haven’t put it down since.<span style=""> </span>Of course, the byproduct of this is that I’m awesome.<span style=""> </span>Not crazy awesome, like the people who can play the expert level and get perfect scores, but I’m pretty good at medium difficulty.<span style=""> </span>Mind you I do realize that it’s hardly an important accomplishment to be good at Guitar Hero, but I don’t care.<span style=""> </span>It is much fun.<span style=""> </span><o:p><br /></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">But that’s not what I’m here to talk about.<span style=""> </span>So without further ado, the summary of the second 30 days:<o:p><br /></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>Total Days Practiced:<span style=""> </span></b>20</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p><b>Total Days Missed:</b><span style=""> </span>10<o:p><br /></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>Was it Worthwhile?</b><span style=""> </span>Definitely.<span style=""> </span>I’m as good on the guitar now as I’ve ever been (which, granted, isn’t saying a whole lot), and I got a refresher on power chords, barre chords, and some scales I hadn’t done in a while. <span style=""> </span>My fingers are nice and calloused, I’m in the habit of practicing and I’m enjoying it.<span style=""> </span>So hopefully I’ll be able to keep playing and get better.<span style=""> </span>It’s definitely something I’m having fun with again.<o:p><br /></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b>What’s Next?</b><span style=""> </span>Well, at the moment I’m going to take the weekend off.<span style=""> </span>Jessica’s sick, and I need to take care of a little business this weekend before I get rolling on the next project.<span style=""> </span>So I’ll make the final decision over the weekend and let you know what it is on Monday.<span style=""> </span>At the moment though, I’m sleepy.<span style=""> </span>Good night.<o:p></o:p></p>Tha Doctahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07664956684931107022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8880411.post-50193254144144169372008-02-16T08:26:00.002-05:002008-02-16T08:29:22.313-05:00Happy AnniversaryToday I get to celebrate spending seven years with my best friend. Happy Anniversary, baby. Seven years and two kids later, I love you more than I ever have.Tha Doctahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07664956684931107022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8880411.post-16765940313406310542008-01-30T23:22:00.000-05:002008-01-31T00:26:16.894-05:00First 30 Days ResultsThe story of the manager meeting will be largely told in pictures at some point this week, but for now it's time for a look back at the past 30 days and how I've done with my commitment to blogging every day.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Total posts:</span> 25 (including this)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Days missed:</span> 4 (I wrote a little post that I never actually published because of the poor internet connection, then I missed the next three days at the meeting outright. Once I missed those days, the little blip of a post was no longer worth putting up.)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Was it worthwhile? </span>Definitely. I may not always have published a gem--heck, I may not have published a gem all month--but I'm back into it now. And without the obligation to post daily, I might be able to actually put some more time into a few of my posts. Not that they're usually masterpieces or anything, but things are better when they're not rushed, right?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What's Next? </span>I've got a list of eleven more things that I can do this year, and I stared at it for about 20 minutes before making the decision. The list, by the way, will remain unrevealed at the moment since it's a living document. Also, if you have any suggestions (smartass or otherwise), feel free to post them in the comments. But as for the next 30 days, I'll be practicing the guitar. It's another of those things I want to get back in the habit of doing. So we'll get to tell pretty early in the year if I have any stick-to-it-iveness, or if I can only commit to something like this while I'm constantly being reminded. (I know I've heard people say that word, but how does one spell it? And is it even a word?) <br /><br />As a side note, I'm planning on updating my MMA blog over on MMATorch.com on a daily basis for four weeks, starting next week. This will be independent of the Year of the Month projects. I want to do that because it's a lot easier to come up with ideas and write columns if I'm in the habit of writing regularly and thinking of smaller subjects for shorter column lengths.<br /><br />So I may or may not post tomorrow, but you can bet it won't be another six weeks before you hear from me again.Tha Doctahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07664956684931107022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8880411.post-2259792174481484372008-01-30T00:03:00.000-05:002008-01-30T00:09:52.531-05:00Speaking of Communicable Diseases...I feel like crap. I caught something at the manager meeting last week (the flu was going around), so I got sick on Sunday, which wasn't too bad. Just a sore throat and some coughing and whatnot. So I stayed home from church and felt fine yesterday. So today the flu hits Jessica like a hammer, and she can hardly move. I come home and suddenly I'm all congested and annoyed by the multitude of mucous. So I'm not going to be telling stories tonight, fish or otherwise. I will say, however, that you should check out my mom's blog. She's been updating.Tha Doctahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07664956684931107022noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8880411.post-34197828959275366042008-01-28T22:31:00.000-05:002008-01-28T22:56:16.915-05:00A Day to Mourn the ProphetInstead of talking about myself today, as I promised to do before, I'm putting in a bit of a moment of silence, as it were, out of respect to Gordon B. Hinckley, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. You may have already read about the passing of President Hinckley, or read the thoughts of other bloggers, and I'll add mine to those which have already been written. <br /><br />President Hinckley is the first living prophet that I was able to see and hear in person (at least the first that I remember clearly; I have vague memories of seeing Spencer W. Kimball when I was younger.) The feeling you get in the presence of one who carries that mantle is indescribable. It seems odd to even be talking about this, even though President Hinckley was 97 years old. He was another who never seemed like an old man. The fact that he was the one chosen to make the Church more well-known to the general worldwide public is hardly disputable. For a quick summary of what President Hinckley did, here's an <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/28/us/28hinckley.html?ex=1359176400&en=184fa4fdaa50cfcf&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss">article</a> from the New York Times. It's hardly all-inclusive, but a good read nonetheless. I don't talk about religion much in this space, but there's a time for everything. I, along with many of the LDS faith, will miss President Hinckley greatly. At the same time, however, what a joyful reunion must be taking place today between him and his wife, who passed a few years ago.Tha Doctahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07664956684931107022noreply@blogger.com0