Random Thoughts Without Segue at 7:58 PM

So 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Speaking of Communicable Diseases... at 12:03 AM

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.

Large Make-Up Post Coming Tomorrow at 11:07 PM

I've had a nice weekend to relax after wearing myself out at the meeting, but after a fun evening of approving employee hours (not to mention the fact that I still have some budget stuff I'd like to do ), I have no desire to do anymore typing tonight. So I'll be back tomorrow to tell fish stories (true ones, mind you) and talk about limo rides, steak, chimpanzees, getting my groove on solo in a suit, communicable diseases, and more. I'll even have some pictures to share. So be ready for that tomorrow. Of course, I'm gon' be plenty busy tomorrow, too, so we'll see how much of that is actually discussed.

I'll Make Up For This on My Business Trips at 10:35 PM

Maybe. It's tough to get a more than a few minutes to put together a post of any substance while I'm hanging with family. So yeah, I'm here, but I'm still keeping it short. We're watching the Patriots beat the Jags right now, which makes me exceedingly sad. I hate the Patriots with a passion. It's worth saying that Donte Stallworth, whom the Eagles neglected to sign after the end of last season, just made a huge catch. Hello, obnoxious.

Getting Ready to Go at 10:15 PM

Well, I'm all packed up and ready to roll out to Delaware for the funeral on Saturday. Now it's just a matter of getting things completely in order at work before I go. This wouldn't be as difficult as it's going to be if I hadn't had such a useless day yesterday. I had no desire to do anything at work or at home. Not the best timing, since I'm taking off for the weekend. I'll be flying out tomorrow afternoon and coming back Monday afternoon. And the best part? My mom had a bunch of miles on her US Airways account and got me a ticket for five bones. Thanks, Mom!

I don't have too much else to say tonight, though I'll acknowledge that I've been tagged by my good friend Amelia (the wife of Shoeless Joel, mind you). More on that either tomorrow (though between working, driving, flying and visiting, I don't know how much time I'll have to write) or Friday. But for now, I leave you with videos (that won't play automatically when you load the page.)

1. The reason I love Joss Stone:


2. The reason that I wish heroin didn't ruin Stone Temple Pilots:


3. The reason it's good for songwriters to get their hearts broken (though he's married to Nicole Kidman now, and is probably over whatever caused this song):


4. The reason I'm excited for U2's new album and subsequent tour this year:


And I bid you goodnight.

Still Not Fully Conscious at 8:56 PM

Well, I know I gave a preview of what this post was supposed to be about, but I worked another early shift today, and usually I reach the pinnacle of my semi-consciousness on the second or third day of early shifts. So today will be the first of this month's sure-to-be-forthcoming cop-out posts. I'm posting, but there's not much substance. See how that works? But hey, I'm closing tomorrow, so that should mean more words and more coherence. Until then, I give you a recommendation: Check out Lupe Fiasco's new album, "The Cool". It's fantastic. See you tomorrow.

Sleepy at 6:10 PM

So here's the thing about getting up at 4:30 to go to work: I don't like it. "But Tha Docta," I hear you saying, "When you get up early it leaves you refreshed and happy the rest of the day! Didn't Ben Franklin say it was good to get up early?" Well, first of all, stop quoting Ben Franklin to me. Secondly, the other part of that quote mentions going to be early, which I am incapable of doing on purpose. It's not that I don't like going to bed early (though that's also true). If I lay down before 10:00 on a regular night (i.e. a night after a day in which I didn't get up at 4:30), I just lay there and stare at the ceiling. So this presents an interesting situation on weeks when I work the opening shift at work. Alright, it's not interesting, but I'm writing about it anyway. So what happens is that I get up at 4:30 on the first day of the work week (today) after going to bed at probably 12:30 or 1:00 the night before (my usual bedtime), and once I get going in the morning, I'm fine. When I come home, however, I am no longer fine. I am sleepy like a mofo. That is the state in which I currently find myself. My wife, being the excellent person that she is, let me sit on the couch for most of the day and drift in and out of consciousness without getting outwardly annoyed, even though there are other things I'm sure she wishes I were doing. Luke, on the other hand, chose not to let me sleep for more than 10 consecutive seconds. Whenever he sees someone sleeping, he tells them to wake up. Such was the situation with me. So that's the summary of my day so far.

One of the things I'd like to do today is to clean out the garage a bit, because I'm pretty sure there's enough cardboard in there to build a house. Not a very sturdy one, mind you, but a house nonetheless. The holidays and two birthdays have left us with an abundance of cardboard, and I usually take all of it to the recycling bin but haven't had a chance yet. The issue right now is that it's so freaking cold in the garage. To demonstrate, I give you something that happened last year, but luckily not yet this year. Ladies and gentleman, the exploding soda can.

The first time this happened, we had gone to the grocery store and left the garage door open (the garage door acts up in the cold, as it proved again today when it refused to close as I left for work.) We came back and saw that there was soda slush all over the floor--the byproduct of three exploding sodas. I figured it was an isolated incident, since the cans were naked to the wind and cold for all of 10 minutes while we were gone. I was proven wrong the next day when another gunshot went off in the garage - the result of which you are currently looking at. So anyway, it's cold. It's also been snowing since yesterday, which results in an annoying thing called snow drifts, which happens with dry snow. I was not familiar with this phenomenon before coming to Indiana, having lived in Delaware (where the snow is wet and heavy) and Utah (where the snow is dry, but the wind is curtailed in large part by the mountains). The verdict is that I'm not a fan. There's half an inch of snow in some places, and two feet in other places.

That's it for me today. Tomorrow's post: A birthday party! Karaoke! Dinosaurs! Seven kids in one house! Steven Seagall!

(Okay, that last one's a lie.)