Happy Holiday message, I guess

Hello all, I am supposed to be working, but this place is very quiet. As a day of work, it is not great, since I am not getting a lot done, although some organization is occuring. Almost by accident. However, as a day at work, it is pretty good, since no one is here, very little needs to be done and it doesn't count against vacation.

This is probably the first time you have come here, since I am going to finally send the mass mailing to everyone I know to get them to start visiting (except maybe my bosses!). I wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday season (although it is partially over - sorry to remind you of that) and a fantastic new year. I hope everything goes better than you could have hoped in the new year.

For those I have not been in contact with for a while, I apologize. You would think with all these new fangled ways to communicate, I would actually do some communicating. Funny how that works. Anyway, I will try to better job of this in 2008.

Also, I will be publishing some pictures of the little monster at my parent's house, Rocky (see earlier post). As I predicted (maybe not in this cyber-corner), for all the talk of being more strict with Rocky then they were with Bandit, not much has come of it. He doesn't have the whole house to himself yet, but they aren't doing a great job with having him sleep in the cage or controlling his eating times. Well, I don't have to deal with it, so I can only make the occasional snide comment, although I do compliment them when something is done right. They are starting to watch a lot of the Dog Whisperer.

Happy Holidays Everyone.

Oh, and I started using Twitter. sspitsbergen is my user name.

A new Spitsbergen

As some of you might know, the parents have purchased a new puppy. He was born on October 21st (Jason's birthday) and his name is Rocky (as in Raccoon):

Here he is with me.

Another picture, with his birthday brother (my brother, Jason):

He is damn adorable, a little clumsy and very soft. Should grow to about 150 lbs.

He is a pure bred Alaskan Malamute - the eyes are brown, but you can't see that well here. I think it is the camera flash.

I am sure we will post more soon.

Sean

Diary of Monday Night Football

Actually, this is only about the battle for first place in the CMA FFL League. The Dwight Shrute Bears and the PPG Warriors are both undefeated at 7-0-0. The two heavyweights of the league play this week, and Tom Brady handed the Bears a 43 point performance, but none of the other players showed up this week. For the Warriors, Antionio Gates scored 21 and TJ Whos your daddy scored 14. After Sunday - Bears were up by six points, and they have no further players. The Warriors have DeShawn Wynn going tonight, so as soon as Wynn scores that 11 yard touchdown, the Warriors, against all expectations, will take the week and continue undefeated. Unfortunately, Green Bay has the worst running game in the league, but the Broncos have the worst running defense in the league. Winn is being handed the reins, and most importantly the bulk of the carries, so hopefully I have a chance.

I will watch the game and write about what's going on.

8:40 PM - Packers kick off, so who cares? I only care about the Packers on offense see you then.

First play - one of the ugliest shovel passes ever.

8:42 PM - I am not sure I like the trade by the Tigers today - seems like a lot of the future to give up, and why can't we trade for anyone else but the Braves. Renterria will probably be good for the Tigers though.

8:44 PM - Broncos moving ball pretty well. Couldn't the Lions have drafted Cutler a few years ago? Instead of Williams I think.

8:46 PM - KGB with pressure, Packers about to get the ball. Here we go. Woodson to receive, but over his head into end zone.

8:49 PM - first play , let's see. I don't even know Wynn's number. I just picked him up this week. Stupid pass. I want to go to bed early knowing I won. Get the ball to Wynn. Now a dropped pass on 2nd down, see what happens. That's why you need to run the ball. 3rd down. Hits the running back out of the backfield, but some guy I don't know. Some other guy I don't know I should say. Punt. Jerks.

9:03 PM - Finally, Denver scored on a nifty play by Cutler. I really like the running back or tight end coming back to make that block for Cutler to have another second or two. Get the Pack back on the attack!

9:08 PM - First down. Changed channels, watching about 8 women wrestling on USA. Football in a while. And I keep changing back to ABC, stupid ESPN. I come back and
Farve throws a big touchdown. I assume there was no run play. Jerks. Hell of a play though. What is that graphic where they track the entire path of the receiver? That looks pretty cool. I assume it is from Madden or something.

9:10 PM - going back to wrestling. Now some muscle bound screaming thug. Women are gone. Stupid USA.

9:17 PM - this looks the makings of a great game, or neither team plays defense, but very watchable. End of first quarter, Wynn stats - NOTHING. Hasn't even been looked at yet. Must have not sung his school fight song well enough during camp and Farve hates him.

9:21 PM - Cutler fumbles, will Wynn get the back to give Favre a little breathing room? Probably not. Wynn got a carry, he got a carry! No yards, but they are trying to establish the run all right.

9:26 PM - Favre play action, I think he did that just to tease me.

9:27 PM - Yards - 7 yards. on the Ground - Who the hell is that? Why is Wynn on the sideline? Why do the Packers hate me. Who is Grant?

9:29 PM - I am going to cry.

9:36 PM - Really, my last hope for victory is standing on the sideline. Did I mention my quarterback, on the biggest matchup of the season, got me 2 points. VY - who killed M in the Rose Bowl, 6/14 for 42 yards. 2 stupid points.

9:45 PM - More runs to super man Grant - oooh isn't he awesome? He is sooo cool. I hate football. Sorry, can't watch Deanna.

9:47 PM - I thought the man crush on Favre was limited to Madden. Apparently it is part of the Monday Night Football contract with the NFL.

9:57 PM - Ok, closing this, since I don't think Wynn is playing anymore, so I am going to bed.

Good day, great movie, scary politics

I would have to say that today has been a pretty good day. I got up and made it to work on time for an 8:30 meeting, that I handled quite well, the only problem was not making breakfast or lunch. That will have to be corrected for tomorrow. I then worked until 7:00 pm, since I kept plugging away at a program that I had been preparing to write for a few weeks, and finally got around to putting code to code editor. That sounds so much worse than pen to paper. Anyway, I made some real progress on that and headed home.
On the ride home, I tuned into WDTW, Detroit's Progressive Talk and was listening to Randi Rhoades show where her guest was Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine, a frightening look at the type of government we actually have, one where everything is outsourced (such as 70% of intelligence gathering, blackwater) and there is little oversight since these are private companies and not government agencies. I only heard part of the interview, but one item that grabbed my attention and really scared me was her connection between CIA interrogation techniques and the way theneo -cons used Sept 11 to push their social agenda (never-ending war on terror, invade Iraq, domestic spying, silencing dissent), by taking the subject (interrogee or our society) and putting them into such a state of shock that they start to look for a father figure, and the neo-cons took full advantage. She also talked about the massive privatization efforts that have shifted billions of dollars from the public and government to private companies, a move that is usually attributed totyrannical dictatorships we say we are against (ahem Saddam Hussein?). One of the things I have frequently noted about outsourcing arrangements is that you tend to give up some control, especially in the way things are done as long as the terms of the contract are not affected, and it can be very hard to get out of them. I wonder what would happen if some of the private armies decided they wanted to be in control. I wonder how many different services some like Prince (the owner of blackwater, now a billionaire) would have to control to be able to bring the society to it's knees, maybe a private army like he has now, control of one of the major ports, control of one or two of the major intelligence companies, one of the networks, maybe one of the large payment processors and a major internet backbone - like UUnet that is still owned by Worldcom. If someone controlled a lot of these services (plus electrical control somehow), they could take the entire conutry hostage. It wouldn't take more than 3 or 4 of the major billionaires out there to get this together. These really only need the will to control and the thought they would be doing the country good. Sounds like neo-cons already.

Sometimes Randi is too far left for me, but I have enough of a brain to sort out the differences and agree or disagree. Anyway, this link to Randi's site has the interview. Look for Naomi Klein. This is another book I would like to read.

Once I got home, and had a little dinner, and watched Monday's Daily Show and Colbert Report, I watched a truly extraordinary movie, Stranger Than Fiction, with Will Ferrel, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson. This move is astounding, the main thrust of the movie - a character starts hearing the narration of his life - is something that many authors have probably imagined, but were not likely to pull off this effectively. I know I have used the old trick of having the characters read the script to find out what happens or to change what happens next, but the way it was achieved in this movie ... I should have more words for it, but I simply loved it. Wil Ferrel provides a great, subtle performance, and is a joy to watch. All the characters were. I really recommend it.

It's already midnight, I am going to get up tomorrow and have breakfast before I leave for work, so I need to go to bed now. Night.

My weekend and other thoughts

Hello, I wanted to tell you a few things about my weekend.

Somehow, I managed to get up at 6:30 am. I am going to stop right there for a moment so you can catch your breath. You feel better, ok. I participated in the Making Strides Against Cancer - Breast Cancer fund raiser on Belle Isle over the weekend. I was one of 10,000 walkers, and I completed the entire 5 mile route. (thank you). I did quite well in fundraising, considering that I did not even decide to walk until Friday morning, 8 days before the event. I still raised almost $500 for the cause. Of course, it is not hard to figure out why I walked. I love breasts and hate to see anything bad done to them. I walked with three other auditors and we had a good time. The weather stayed good enough to not be uncomfortable and we were done in less than 2 hours.

While we were standing around after the event, consuming the snacks that were provided, this seagull slammed into the cement right next to us. It was a disgusting sound, and we had no idea what to do. It lay there looking at us like "WTF?" and we could see the blood and life draining out of it. We stood around it for a while to make sure nobody stepped on it, tried to talk to the polices and security, and finally some of the event organizers found a box to cover the poor thing and called animal control. It was a terrible feeling that seemed to color the rest of the day, just watching it laying there, no way to help, I didn't have the guts to put it out of it's misery. I didn't go to lunch with my co-walkers and spent the rest of the day in a melencoly mood.

I think that had a little bit to do with my decision to actually stay at the office for a little while and get some work done. I was kind of surprised that I did not go home and go to bed, but I did some work, listened to the first half of the Michigan game, where they finally played a good game, and then went home. Even when I got home, I made some lunch and then did cleaning until around 4:30, when I finally took a nap.

I awoke around 7 to watch the parade of upsets. I went to bed around 12:30. Not that exciting, I know, but there are already so many things in this narrative that would not normally go on in my life that I thought I should throttle it back a little.

Woke up Sunday before the alarm I had set for 10 am. Again, I will give you time to let your heart stop racing. I cooked breakfast, cleaned the kitchen, took a walk, sorted pills for the week, until I went over to watch the Cowboys/Patriots game with my brother. I watched a few episodes of Heroes (just looks great, so many intriguing story lines) and then to bed. All in all, I completed a number of things, did some good, acted mostly like an acutal adult.

I did have some depressing thoughts, my computer may need to be replaced, and I can't afford that right now (unless 1000 people a day started reading this thing - email all your friends), I may try to roll back the operating system I installed a year ago, but I don't know if I want to take that kind of effort. The machine is over 5 years old, and just getting too slow to do all the things I want to do with it. For instance, I am not able to post on this blog, because typing gets so far behind it becomes unbearable. I would type something and have to wait 2-3 seconds to see what would appear on the screen. I went through a lot of the typical tune up things, including killing the dashboard, switching browsers, restarting, but this isn't the first time I have seen this. The machine is simply not powerful enough to use whatever cat operating system 10.4 is.

And then, after spending a hour or so determining my options, I thought my ipod had died. That scared me too, but was unfounded. Right now, my ideal ipod would be an ipod touch with 100 GB of space. I keep thinking about using Safari on the ipod touch in connection with a tool like blogger (this one) and google docs to do most of my writing, posting and reading the web.

I realize I hadn't posted about Lauren Graham for a long time, so I searched for her on imdb.com, and she is finishing up a movie (Flash of Genius) about Robert Kearns, who invented the intermittent windshield wiper that is standard in cars now. This is a big story around Detroit, since the legal battles took decades before the courts awarded him damages. It doesn't look like they filmed anything in Detroit (mostly Hamilton and Toronto), so that means she wasn't in town where I could have... well, lets' not call it stalking... maybe seen her around town or something.

Anyway, on that disturbing note, I am going to go back to work, have a good one.

Books I want to read.

So I have found more books I want to read. I have a lot of books, but nowhere near enough time or resources to purchase them. I think I should start a minature lending library to use my books that are just sitting here and borrow other people's. I know my local library should do this, I suppose I should check it out sometime.

Here are the books I would like to read:
Come On People: On the Path from Victims to Victors (Hardcover)
by Bill Cosby (Author), Alvin F. Poussaint (Author) - I saw the interview on Meet the Press with the two authors and they made a number of great points.

Linked: The New Science of Networks (Hardcover)
by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi (Author) - I heard about this from the TWIT (This week in Tech) podcast, a book about networks of things from brain cells to humans and how they work. Very interesting.

The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy (Hardcover)
by John J. Mearsheimer (Author), Stephen M. Walt (Author) - I saw one of the authors on The Colbert Report, and the message was quite interesting without resorting to anti-semetic thought.

There are several others, I will try to keep a list on the side.

Positive signs

As I write this, it is 7:25 am on Wednesday morning, 10/10/07. Why is that important? One, I am awake and clear enough to be able to open my browser. Two, I have made breakfast, (a tasty egg and cheese burrito) and made lunch. Now I am going to jump in the shower, almost like a real adult. This after staying at work until after 9 last night. I like this new me, if I can make him stay around.

Later.

A new me

I have made many bad decisions ins my life, mainly indulging myself instead of doing what I should do, whether it is gambling, watching tv, playing video games, going to strip clubs, oversleeping, goofing off instead of working, I have done to much of that, and the situation has affected my job, my relationships with friends, potential mates, myself, coworkers, it has affected my finances. By indulging every little whim, I have made it impossible to enjoy larger things in life, I have bound myself into patterns that cannot generate a positive outcome.

I have spent much time in whining "Why can't I make the right decisions?" After going to the casino on Monday and losing $350 (when I planned on only playing $200), I started a blog post that stated how I have proven incapable of caring for myself as a decent human being. After discussions with my therapist, I have decided to amend that to "Why have I not made the effort to make the right decisions and made the desicsion to be a happier person who does more what I need to do." I know that is a little bit long, so here is what I am going to live by, "I am going to make the right decisions. I am going to be happy." Making this change in my attitude will make positive changes in my life.

Other changes - I will not go do the bad things by myself. I will not go the casino by myself, I will not go the strip clubs by myself, I will not go the bar by myself, I will not eat out by myself.
Also, I will not buy fast food to eat by myself. I will only eat out with friends or family. When I am by myself, I will do more things right, eat better and prepare my own meals, will accomplish more things.

Today is an example of what I am going to do. I woke up later than I wanted, but once I got up, I ate some food from yesterday, then wrote a shopping list and task list, and have been doing all the things on that list - and only the things on that list. Writing this blog post was on the list.

For some reason, I have thought I could live the life of a millionaire (quote from Nobody knows you when you are down and out) or a life of leisure without having done anything to support it. That has got to stop. If I want to live a high life, I am going to have to work at it. I want to live that life, so I am going to work for it. I am going to live the life I want, make the mark I want and be the person I want. That will get me the person I want (as soon as I find them). All of this is what is going to happen.

Have a good one.

The Greatest Upset in College Football History

That sounds so much better than "The Greatest Choke Job in CF History"

Will winning every other game this season be able to make up for this? I am not sure.

Should Michigan schedule the I-AA ( I won't use the term FCS or whatever) champion each year?

I was hoping their coach was pretty young so we could hire him. No such luck, he graduated in 1961.

I read somewhere that Bo's death may have taken a lot more out of Lloyd than he has let on. One of my first thoughts after that game - how could Lloyd walked past Bo's office Sunday or Tuesday morning or the next time they would have been there.

I have said it before, and I was not the first, but I don't think U of M could ever fire Carr. But I wonder how much Lloyd will be around after his retirement. I don't see him with an office in Schembechler Hall and continuing to be a face of the program. Doesn't seem to be his style.

Also, is there someone in the Michigan system who would be ready to take over when Lloyd leaves? Do we want to start over with an entirely new staff?

Back, Iraq war and Afghanistan

Hi, I know it has been a long time, I just haven't felt like blogging, although many things have bothered me. Help me to determine if there is a common thread.

A thought a few days ago. I think someone said that they seriously thought the world was a better place without Saddam Hussein in power. I am sure I am not the first to say this, and it may not be an original thought, but didn't the speed at which his regime fell during the war indicate he was not anywhere near the threat the Bush administration said he was? So this expenditure of money and people was a true waste, and that is the most difficult thing.

Today's irksome thing. Bush meets Karzai, the Afghan President. A person that should not have to be fighting Taliban resurgence right now and should be presiding over a peaceful country if Bush hadn't needed to avenege or top his daddy by taking out Hussein.

I wonder if Bush has bin Laden hiden somewhere and will release him at the most opportune moment somewhere in the US to have people find him.

Back to Afghanistan, from CNN.com

Karzai had said in advance of his visit to Camp David that Iran is a partner in the fight against terrorism and narcotics. "So far, Iran has been a helper," he said over the weekend.

Asked about Karzai's comments last week that Iran has proven to be a stabilizing force in Afghanistan, Bush didn't appear persuaded. "It is up to Iran to prove to the world that they are a stabilizing force as opposed to a destabilizing force," he said. "After all, its government proclaimed its desire to build nuclear weapons."
Iran has said its nuclear program is intended solely for peaceful purposes, but Bush accused the country of appearing "to be willing to thumb its nose at the international community."
Bush added, "I'm willing to listen, but from my perspective, the burden of proof is on the Iranian government to prove to us that they are a positive force."
He said the current leadership of the country, which he once described as being part of an "axis of evil," is "a big disappointment to the people of Iran."
And Bush vowed to "continue to work to isolate it. They are not a force for good, as far as we can see."

Seriously, that is his reasoning? He can't accept that maybe Iran likes to talk big and can't accept new information from the person actually running the country in Karzai. This would go against his Axis of Evil stupid statement. I think I trust the local President much more than what Bush might have to add.

Bush said the leaders spent "more than a fair amount of time" talking about the
fact that Afghanistan now accounts for 95 percent of the world's poppy
production used to make heroin.
Profits from the drug trade are aiding the Taliban. Aggressive counter-drug proposals by some U.S. officials -- including tying development aid to benchmarks such as mandatory poppy field destruction --have met fierce resistance.
"He knows full well that the United States is
watching, measuring and trying to help," the president said of Karzai.
For his part, Karzai said his government in Kabul is "committed to fighting it
because this evil is first hurting us."

Wait, I thought benchmarks were bad. Hey, here's an idea, you want to stop terrorists from using drug trade to fund their operations? Legalize and tax - Legalization takes away all the profits and practice of being a tough guy drug dealer to be a terrorist. The War on Drugs hasn't worked in any meaningful way. Never mind, another several posts.

Other things in other posts. Later.

golf and weight loss thoughts

Middle of the second day at work after a long vacation.

I am just getting used to being back at work, but the external monitor on my desk is in terrible shape - very blurry. I have tried resetting it a few times to no avail.

I am happy to be progressing on a few projects, ok, one project, but making a lot of progress on it. The non work project going around my head is a potential weight loss bet between my friend Walter and myself. I think beyond the bet between us would be to try and generate additional money by having people sponser us, like pledging. Then we would give half the money to the winner and half to their charity of choice. I still have to figure out some logistics of this.

Golf was really bad last night, it was like I had never putted at all, I even four putt a green that I was on in 2, and then hit a 300 yard drive (I think some cart path help, I know there was a little wind help) to a 350 yard hole, then pushed my 56 degree wedge to the right of the hole, hit a poor chip and two putt, taking a 5 on a hole that I drove to within 57 yards of the pin. Disappointing.

Anyway, I should get to work, later.

Edit - If you read the previous post, I did finish tearing apart my porch. It looks good, well, acceptable.

Day four of the vacation

Hi there. It is Thursday and I am ...

Hi, now it is Friday at 7 am and I didn't finish yesterday's post. I got freaked out by the mouse that is running around my office, and actually investigating the mcdonald's bag I had put on the floor a few minutes before.

Hi, now it is Friday at noon. I went to bed. When I wake up a little more, I am going to finish tearing apart my porch. This is something I have been procrastinating on for a long time and I finally got started. The funny thing is, once I got started, I realized the wood porch is built on top of a cement porch. I figure there must have been something broken about it, but it will still make life a lot easier. Ok, off to eat and then tear the porch. Later.

Monday morning - July 9th

Hi there from Monday morning. I am still suffering from this cold/allergy/sinus problem. I should probably take one or two steps to correct the problem, but I am so wiped out that I don't know how to address it except by sleeping a lot. I keep thinking a shot of Jack Daniels would help, but for some reason haven't tried yet.

I don't have anything really astounding or even interesting to confer to you right now, just that I am working (waiting for a program to finish, natually) and feel like death warmed over, dogmeat, .... I am so messed up I can't think of any more of my favorite metaphors.

I watched the last four episodes of Studio 60 last night. I am going to miss that show, and the quality writing that Sorkin brings to television. I think commercial television got a little less good when that show was cancelled. But I think that is the point. The networks are trying to make their product so bad so everyone will get pay tv. I am sure there is a lot of co-ownership between cable stations and commercial networks - NBC also owns USA, Sci-fi, Bravo, MSNBC. Viacom owns CBS, MTV, etc. Disney with ABC, ESPN, Disney channel. Think about that for a while.

Sean

P.S. Saturday was not particularly lucky for me. But I can't say I was in a position to have something lucky happen either.

Happy 4th

Happy 4th of July everyone.

I am over at my parents, since my Grandfather came up, driven by my Aunt and Uncle from Tennessee, and we are going to barbecue and then go to the Tigers game tonight.

I don't think I want to talk about the Tigers. I am quite disgusted with the hitting, especially Monroe and Inge, but Pudge has done nothing clutch. Guillen and Pudge in the tenth inning last night were two abhorrent at bats. Just disgusting.

So about Scooter.

“Remember Philip Agee, who I consider a traitor to our country?'' Bush asked,
referring to Agee's efforts to expose CIA operations and identify
spies.

So when someone from Junior's administration is convicted as exposing a covert agent, he gets a pardon, sorry, commutation. Lovely. Is there anyone who didn't see this coming?

Nice thoughts:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The hypocrisy is unpardonable. President Bush's decision
to commute the sentence of a convicted liar brought out the worst in both
parties.

In keeping I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby out
of jail, Bush defied his promise to hold wrongdoers accountable and undercut his
2000 campaign pledge to "restore honor and dignity" to the White House. And it
might be a cynical first step toward issuing a full pardon at the conclusion of
his term.

Isn't this hard to defend? I am sure Fox News has been defending it like crazy, I should probably watch. But it can be so painful.

Sean

Sunday evening update

Hello, posting from Kathy's house as I am spending a few days over here taking care of her dogs. The dogs are fine.

I went to the ballgame yesterday, Saturday, with the Social Connection group, and had a great time and met a number of cool people. Course, I didn't ask for phone numbers, I always forget or never find the right time or anything. I had dinner with a group of four friends that had gone down for the game, all hard core fans and fun women to hang out with. We ate over at Como's, and I sat at the bar after they left until about 1:30 or so. I talked to a few other women that were there, but I got the hiccups a few times and then I was really wasted, so I kinda of lost a lot of confidience and again couldn't get any phone numbers. I need to learn to close.

I decided I had to take today pretty easy since I drank a lot on Thursday at the game, then Friday night while watching the game at the rock (and doing some writing on my script for the first time in almost a year) I had several beers and then Saturday. Saturday ended poorly since I, well, gave back the burrito I had after the bar. I should really stop doing that. I didn't go to bed until about 4 am, and then had to take care of the dogs around 7 am. I was able to sleep on the couch for a few hours after they ate.

So far I am watching the Tigers do nothing against the second coming of Bob Gibson apparently, this Baker character. It sucks that when I go to a few games in the span of a week that they start playing terrible.

Live Update: Harwell has been on the ESPN broadcast and just gave us a Stood there like a house by the side of the road. I should try and find that for my ringtone on my cell phone.

At least there are a few All-Star reps - Mags, Guillen, Verlander, Pudge. Granderson apparently didn't get enough write in votes. I tried for him. One of the women I met yesterday said she would marry Curtis, that he seems like such a good guy. He has a blog that is pretty interesting at espn, and he seems like the kind of person you would want to model your own life after, or have your child emulate. As I am typing this, he just hit his 15th triple of the season.

I am going to try to do some work. Go Tigs!

Couple of things - been a while.

Wow. It has been some time since I have posted. I just haven't been interested in typing for a while. I think it is that I have been actually accomplishing things lately or have been so exhausted that I couldn't bring myself to be able to type. Who knows, but I am here to share ... something, I don't think wisdom is the right word.

One thing I wanted to mention was the "Luxury" tax that the State is thinking of levying on all entertainment and sports tickets sold in the state. Seems like a way to hurt the less wealthy people that try to entertain their families. Classic regressive tax that will harm people of lesser means. I thought the concept of breads and circuses was to give the great unwashed entertainment so they would not revolt. You shouldn't make the entertainment prohibitively expensive, it will likely hasten the revolution. I can't imagine one is not coming. I am not advocating it, I would like to see some reforms to treat the working class a whole lot better so that the revolution won't come. Anyway, if you don't like the idea, go to here.

Something that has bothered me is the lack of balls in Labatt Blue commercials. I think you know the one I mean, the guy is being berated by the deer ("We get the fawns up at five!") until the end when he says "I'm Sorry." The deer responds "You're f%^*&ng right you are." This was the best commercial I've seen in a long time. Well, the networks that air it, especially FSN Detroit, have started taking out the bleeped swear word. Losers. I was not able to find this commercial on the web, although I only tried searching google and yahoo. Read this loser, which has been referenced all over the net:

While watching all three games in the weekend series between the Cleveland
Indians and Cincinnati Reds on Sports Time Ohio this weekend, I watched the same
commercials over and over again. Normally commercials don’t give me reason to
blog, but one in particular really ticked my wife and I off. A specific
Labatt Blue commercial features a guy at the store where a deer comes up to him
and engages him in conversation. The deer is obviously giving the guy a hard
time for not being out in the woods or something like that, and makes comments
about “frolicking in the woods since 6 am” and “getting the fawns up at 5.” The
guy makes a comment back to the deer before the scene ends with the deer saying
“you got that f*&%ing right!”
Now I don’t know if this bothers you or not, but it does bother me and it bothered my wife as well. Yes, the f-word has lost a lot of power over the years due to the over-use by millions of English-speaking people. But this obvious beeping-out of the f-word, and you can’t tell me that he was saying anything other than the f-word, is just plain tasteless. My wife even made mention of the fact that if we had kids they
could not even watch a baseball game anymore thanks to this commercial.
I feel this is a bit of poor judgement on the part of SportsTime Ohio. The station
exists to help the Cleveland Indians compete and bring in revenue, but
commercials like this one from LaBatt Blue have no place on STO or any
other network in my opinion. I hereby ask SportsTime Ohio to use better
judgement in the future and remove this commercial from their programming
immediately.

Can't anybody enjoy anything?

Father's Day Post

Hello all, it's been a few days, been trying to do a lot of things. The Tigers won today, surprisingly. I am really starting to get down on Craig Monroe (already down on Inge until he hurt his foot, and down on Rodney and Grilli). Maybe I should start a widget on the right hand side of the screen showing which Tigers are out of my favor. How many chances do you give this guy when you have a Hall of Famer that could easily take his job, and Maybin waiting in the wings. The problem is, are there any teams that would be willing to give something for him. He is a free agent this year or next, so some lower level team might not be willingly to take him, and would the Tigers want to give him to a contender?

Watching the U.S. Open with my dad, Tiger hitting his second shot into 15, into nasty rough. This course is difficult, glad I am not playing it. I have enough trouble with easy courses.

This is always a big weekend for my family, since June 14th is my mother's birthday, June 15th is my parent's anniversery, and then today the 17th is Father's day. If I had any money, it would be an expensive weekend. When I am out of my debt problems, it will be again. We bought mom a cool planter with three singing frogs, and I gave dad a golf shirt (that was bought for me but didn't fit) and Rear Window on DVD. I wlll do better in the future.

So, I can't decide whether the Tigers should demote Monroe or not. Playing in National League ballpark will give Leyland a chance to sit him for a few straight days. Sheffield has been playing the field well enough, although I don't know if he would have made that catch that Monroe made today.

It's now 6:50 on Sunday afternoon, Mom is making dinner, Dad and I watching the US Open, and I will have to go into the office for a little while before I head to the gym tonight. Big exciting night.

So, I was listening to the Kinks - Destroyer. Silly boy you self destroyer you know the tune. There is a line in there about paranoia. I had been reading about Paris Hilton going back to jail. So a new word popped into my head:

Paris-noia - the irrational fear that your daughter is becoming a celebutante or wild child like Paris, Nicole, Britney, Lindsey, etc. Especially well portrayed in the South Park episode "Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset"

Tell me what you think

Sean

Not a good day

Can't really say this has been a good day. I was supposed to be at the gym at 9 am for weigh in, body fat percentage measurement and TWL workout. That didn't work out so well, as I did not acutally get out of bed before 5 pm. Yeah, that's pm. Post Meridian, as in 5 hours after noon. So what did I do when I got up to rectify the wasted nature of the day so far - headed to Wendy's of course. Then watched the ball game. I did sort laundry, and as of 10 pm, one load has been completed.

Song - Whole Lotta Love - Led Zepplin - 5 stars.

I should probably head over and fold the finished laundry and put in another load. No really, I should do that.

I can do that later.

But then again, I don't have a lot more to say, so later is now.

Bye

Tigers related thoughts

I wonder if Todd Helton would be the answer for the Tigers at first base, although Casey is starting to hit better. I wonder what it might take to get him.

When Kenny Rogers comes back, how will that affect the rotation? Does he replace Miller, assuming he stays? Does Durbin get put in the bullpen, even though he is pitching rather nicely these days? What if Nate is able to come back after resting his arm? Here would be a good situation - Miller is able to pitch well, although we can't expect another outing like last time (7 innings, no runs), and stays in the rotation until Rogers is ready. Then move Miller to the bullpen until Zumaya comes back, then he goes back to Erie to continue to learn to be a starter.

Interesting step forward on the demolition of Tiger stadium, and I am really glad to see they are trying to salvage the front entrance and part of the field. That is a real nice nod to tradtion. I hope they can turn the front entrance into a sort of classy mini mall and then some condos or lofts around the site. If they could do something with the old train station - Corktown would explode.

This is amazing story on Verlander:

Sports Illustrated reports that the Tigers pitcher made a deal with a
classmate in 10th grade that would come back to haunt him:
"I wanted a chocolate milk that cost 50 cents, and I didn't have the money," Verlander told the magazine. "So I said, 'How about I give you 0.1 percent of my pro signing bonus if you give me 50 cents now?' He found a napkin, wrote it up, and I signed it.

"I forgot about it, but after I signed, he whips out this old napkin. I'm
like, 'Oh my God!' My bonus was 3-point-something million.
"Was a chocolate milk worth $3,000? I want to say yes. I was parched."

How many other players would have actually paid up for this - the other guy has got to be successful business man by now with that kind of thinking. And Justin needs to find a trustworthy business advisor.

And the minors get more stocked with the Gatorade High School Player of the year (I think), Rick Porcello. The last three years they have gotten some of the top talent in the draft well below where they should have been picked because other teams were worried about signing. Maybin, Miller, now Porcello. Thanks for spending the money Mr. I. Somebody posted on freep.com about how the Tigers didn't draft a catcher, and that might be a concern except Rabello seems to be doing pretty well. He will be sent back to Toledo in a few weeks to continue learning, after a nice run backing up one of the best ever. Maybe he is the future. But back to the point. The 5 pitchers in the first 6 picks shows Dombrowski's theory that pitching wins, and if you have great pitchers, you can win with them or trade for position players. Gotta like that plan.

And I liked Leyland's quote about Porcello:

When asked if he'll manage the Tigers long enough to see Rick Porcello -- their
No. 1 pick Thursday afternoon -- pitch for them, manager Jim Leyland said, "If
he's as good as they say, he might be pitching here in September. I hope I'm
here that long."

And I think a lot of us would hope a lot longer.

Later

Despartely Seeking Nap

So I decided to hold off on a title. I am learning.

I had to put links to two great articles on cracked.com:

Things learned from 80's cartoons

12 Great games with ridiculous premises

I should be working, but still in the food coma from lunch (Detroiter Bar burger) and the long walk back in the beautiful (not sarcastic) downtown Detroit. No, seriously, it was really nice.

I did get to work on time today, like yesterday. But since I didn't take my Rhodiola, my energy is way down. Having trouble getting anything started today. Just one of those days, you know?

After writing that last statement, I got my title. woo hoo.

I am needed to be working on something. Can somebody go get me some ice?

Tying up the weekend

Hey all, Sunday night, trying to do something to make the weekend mildly valuable. I did absolutely nothing the entire weekend that could be said to have moved my life forward. I did have a good time, hanging out with friends on Friday night and most of the day Saturday, after a little golf, drank a lot of beer and ate some bad for me food. But there was very little done that would be considered good, except this:

• I picked my brother up at the airport at 8 am Sunday - although I did almost screw that up, since he was supposed to land at 6:30 or so, and that was the time I woke up. Luckily for me, his plane was delayed, so I was able to get there in plenty of time.
• I completed a download for work. It wasn't hard, but I did have to log in and start a few programs.
• And I cleaned out some email and stuff off the DVR.

There. All my good accomplishments for the weekend. Although, on Friday night I did reconnect with some old friends I hadn't seen socially in a while. That is good but not an accomplishment. I never went to the gym, never cleaned my house, never went and bought groceries, prepared food for this week, did some reading, prepared things for sale on ebay or anything. A great wasted weekend. At least I got a blog post done.

By the way, I have to say that Detroit Metro, recently named the number 2 airport according to some study, has done something really interesting. They have set aside places near the terminals for people to stop and wait for their arriving party to call and say they have landed. It makes the process of picking someone up a whole lot eaiser. Really a great move.

Anyway, off to bed.

Hello All

Wednesday morning I arrived at work at 8:15 AM. I am extremely proud of myself and feeling good. I want this feeling more often, until I become numb to it. For some reason I actually was partially awake before my alarm, so I was waiting for the alarm hoping that I hadn't missed it. It went off, I got up.

My class ring is filthy, what do you do to clean a 14kt gold ring?

I found this article very interesting - Harry Shearer saying that reporters need to start reporting important things - what a concept - especially in an election year. Another article for good reading is here, same blog, regarding the effectiveness of torture.

Ok, I should be working, although it is tough since I went to Loco's for lunch, mexican sandwich baby, and the food coma is hitting hard. As Bender said, "Goodbye Moderation!"

TWL tonight is going to be painful.

Sean

Sunday Afternoon

I am supposed to be sorting laundry right now, but I popped on to see if I could find a part time job. I am thinking of applying at blockbuster. Anyway, I wanted to get this idea out there. I was reading the Ross School of Business Alumni Magazine (Dividend) and thought that the idea of having companies endow Congressional Seats like they do Professorships. Gets rid of lobbying, we can have the ExxonMobil Distinguished Senator from Texas or something. Would make the lobbying and influence a lot more obvious, don't you think? I think it would reduce taxes as well. Also, the companies would not be able to give to candidates they do not exactly sponser, so it would limit any one companies influence to only the congresspeople they pay for. I think it is time for this idea.

Sean

Crushes, Tigers and Notes

I really need to start coming up with the title after I write the post, because I rarely have a good title before I start.

Song: Five Years by David Bowie 4 stars

A few days ago I was trashing Jason Grilli (almost typed Steve for some reason, his father) about being very ineffective this year. After his performance tonight and last night, I was ready to come post about how well he had been pitching, so I would only be disappointed with Ledezma. Guess what happened next, Mesa comes out and brings the Angels back into the game. The number of disappointing pitchers has not changed, just the names. Great job by Grilli and Byrdak.

Song: Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash - 5 stars

I think I am going to develop an unhealthy crush on Amy Sedaris. She's just so adorable and damn funny. I have liked her for a while, but just watched her Conan episode last night and thought it was right. Now, this does not affect my other unhealthy crush on Lauren Graham (see posts in the keyword listing to the right). Since I will never have contact with either woman, I have enough unrequitable love for the both of them. I wish I would get more ambitious and finish a few of the screen play ideas so I would have a reason to send them a script. Just as much of a fantasy, trust me.

Song: Garden of Eden by Guns 'N' Roses - 5 stars

So back to Amy. Whenever I have seen her on Conan, I she always seems to overdress, wearing a short cocktail type dress that seems old -fashioned but looks great. Here is a picture of it (I hope) at this link. Not being a fashion person, I don't know how to describe it. Ok, its not that I am not a fashion person, it is that I haven't dated much - you happy? I said it.

Song: Honey Don't by The Beatles - 1 star (since on BBC recordings, ask me about it some other time - cool song.

So Amy - if you ever do a vanity Google search, I hope this comes up and I wish you lots of success and all the acting work you want from your role in Shrek the Third.

Other notes: I have been to the gym for five straight days. I need to go tomorrow so I can take Friday off from the workouts. It's only treadmill, but still, the body has to rest.

Song: Til the End of the Day by The Kinks - 3 stars, but rethinking that. I have been on a Kinks /Ray Davies kick lately, and listening more to the 3 or 4 cd's I have of theirs.

Another book on the Daily Show I would like to read, The Age of Abundance - How Prosperity Transformed America's Politics and Culture by Brink Lindsey. This is a discussion of America's prosperity since WWII has changed the dynamics of the culture, since it is the first time there has been a generation that has taken food, shelter clothing for granted because they have always been there, whereas most societies (historically) were driven by trying to obtain these basics. Sounds fascinating.

Anyway, I need to go to bed, night.

P.S. The title has changed - from Wednesday night to Crushes, Tigers and Notes. Little more interesting.

Tigers vs Cardinals

Just a few thoughts regarding this series, which the Tigers just swept.

Verlander is really, really good. I am looking forward to watching him for a long time.

Grilli and Ledezma are not getting the job done. They are going to have to turn it around if they want to continue getting the ball. It doesn't seem like those guys can be relied upon. Especially since we have a number of guys ready - Minor, Miller this Durbyk guy - in the minors (or just brought up) that seem to be a lot more effective. Many people said they should be able to weather the loss of Zumaya, but not if the middle relievers don't get the game to the 8th inning. Losing Mesa for a while didn't help much either.

Glad to see that Sheffield is really warming up. I also like that Monroe is doing things even though he is not really hitting. That throw to nail Pujols yesterday made a huge difference in the game.

Even with all the pitching injuries, this team is tied for first in the central. Cleveland is playing really well, and everyone thought they would, but they can't continue to play at a 16-4 pace at home (can they?).

Maggio for MVP

Later

Thoughts on the news

Hey there. I was able to survive the thunderstorm from last night, actually, we were called in from the golf course via the GPS system just in time before the rain really started coming down. I think the course (Cattails) did a great job of tracking storms and getting everyone off the course.

So what happened with the Pistons? They forget how to play? Thank goodness the Wings and Tigers turned it around, with the Wings just playing great and Verlander pitching in ways that should make Tigers fans drool for years to come.

I wanted to note an article in the Detroit News today, Daniel Howes article on the Chrysler sale,

• False synergy, bad deal
  DaimlerChrysler was a big promise that seldom delivered. Its mastermind, Schrempp, badly misunderstood Chrysler's weaknesses and overestimated the "synergies" the deal would deliver by underestimating the antipathy his own troops felt for Chrysler and the idea of melding any of it into Mercedes-Benz.

Wow, that sounds like what I said, although with more concrete details. Makes me feel kinda smart.

Another article on detnews.com, Mayor Kilpatrick is trying to rebuild the city by focusing on certain neighborhoods. They selected a mix of neighborhoods in varying conditions and set out specific, measurable goals for each, tailored to the issues facing the neighborhoods. I like this plan, not only for the specifc neighborhoods, but also for the lessons that can be learned for improving the other neighborhoods and other cities. Once the blueprint has been set out and refined through practice, and some results are shown, maybe places like Flint, Pontiac or Battle Creek can use the lessons, and focus on rebuilding smaller sections.

I also like the selection of areas with differing problems and levels of need. This allows experimentation with different methods and not trying to do all the hard things at once. This in turns allows the better management of resources instead of over using some (police - trying to stop crime) and under using others (business development). I have always liked the idea of getting all the interested parties together, and the project managers that are going to be hired (hopefully with quality project management experience) should have an ear open for ideas from all parties. Put residents, police, city managers, financial people, area (and potential area) business managers and others all in the same room will hopefully lead to unique results.

Sean

Sean

Thoughts on Chrysler

Congratulations to Cerberus, in buying Chrysler for such a good price. I fully agree with this statement.

• Cerberus Chairman John Snow said Chrysler's management -- which will be headed by current CEO Tom LaSorda -- will be relieved from the pressure of impatient shareholders and quarterly results under private ownership.

I wonder how much of current regulations (SOX and others) led to this thought and how many more are we going to see. Here is another fascinating quote, something I have said for a long time:

• Asked why he thought the merger hadn't worked out, Zetsche said it was clear, in hindsight, that the potential synergies between Chrysler and Mercedes-Benz, the German luxury carmaker, had been overestimated.
  "There is potential, but given the very different nature of the segments we operate in, those synergies are limited," he said.
  In addition, DaimlerChrysler miscalculated the impact that the transfer of Mercedes technology would have on Chrysler's brands and the strength of its pricing.
  "The American volume customer is probably not willing and able to pay premium prices for technology offered in those cars," he said.

How many mergers have been created in the past 10 to 15 years that the primary benefit is synergy, at least the benefit they tell us about. Usually the greatest benefit are to the top executives, very few stockholders and Investment banks. They make the greatest money. Usually 15-25% of the workers get fired, companies that served one of the companies (such as accounting firms) or both lose business, customers get screwed since monopoly power takes over (see banks, airlines, casinos), and prices go up and service goes down. And then, in the end, how much benefit is there really to these mergers? I am sure there have been studies by much smarter people than me, but whenever I hear synergy, I cringe, it is a buzzword for laying off people and getting executive board members richer.

I have complained about unions before, but this is where they could make the biggest impacts, making sure their members don't get screwed in the deal. However, the head of the CAW wants written guarantees their won't be any more layoffs. There has to be a better negoiating ploys than that.

I supposed this isn't a surprise either:

• Its [DaimlerChrysler's] shares surged nearly 8 percent in early trading in Frankfurt on relief that DaimlerChrysler was not paying out more to dispose of Chrysler and that it had shed the pension and healthcare liabilities. The pension liabilities are substantially over-funded, DaimlerChrysler said, but the healthcare liabilities amount to $18 billion.

Further evidence that the current healthcare and pension system in this country is destroying competitiveness. The shares of a German company (where workers are a whole lot stronger, have much better benefits and will be taken care in their retirement) went up 8 percent after taking a massive loss (they paid 37 billion and got 7.7, but will actually receive 1.3 bln), absorbing liabilites and shedding operations because they don't have to deal with massive future liabilities in the healthcare arena.

It is so time for a real healthcare system in this country, one because it is the right thing to do (46 million uninsured makes me sick) and because it will help American business more than any other act of the government could ever do.

All quotes above from detnews.com. Thanks yall

Hard day to be a Detroit fan

Mother's day was not a good day to be a Pistons fan. Or a Wings fan. Or a Tigers fan. Did the Lions do something to screw up somehow? That was a brutal day. My mother had the entire day planned around watching the games, and luckily she went to bed before the Wings lost. The only game I thought was critical was the Wings Ducks game - how can you lose to DUCKS! They aren't even Mighy anymore - we needed to keep that home ice advantage. But they seemed to outplay us a lot in that game, and most of their goals seemed to be off turnovers, those turnovers were caused by aggressive play, not even great play, just very aggressive. Losing game 2 is frequently a problem (sorry, don't have the statistics), since Ducks have momentum, good feelings and confidence going back home. I hope the Wings can overcome

Tigers pitchers could never get the ball down, and the hitters coudn't figure out the curve from Bonser - how can you lose to a guy named BOOF! - and looked silly an awful lot. I felt bad for Virgil Vasquez, brought up for one game and he got rocked, not that Grilli or Ledezma did much better. Vazquez did get a lot of instruction from the pitching coach, and there was a great scene of those two on the bench and Chuck was just giving all this information and Virgil soaking it all up. Nice picture. Sox next, I am looking forward to seeing some of Dice-K on Tuesday, if the Motor City Kittys bat like they did yesterday, it might be his first MLB no hitter.

Pistons dropped back into their "we've got plenty of time" mentality and allowed the Bulls a little life. I think they saw the number of times a team has come back from 3-0 (0 for 81 in NBA history, ABC showed that stat about 20 times) and decided the series was over. That run by Chicago at the end of the 2nd quarter made the Pistons look like a ... uh ... no clever metaphor - just bad. I still feel like they will pull it out on Tuesday, but I hope they play a lot harder.

Whalers won - something, can't say I understand the playoff structure.

Later

Post game night thoughts and myself

This morning was a small step in the right direction. I went to bed late after getting home from the Pistons game and spending some time building a financial model for my debt repayment plan. When the alarm went off this morning, I didn't hear it right away, but when I did, I got out of bed and STAYED OUT OF BED. Sure, I took a long shower and then spent some time on the computer before I went to work, but I got to work about 9:10 am. Significant improvement and will be the basis for everything that follows. I will do it again tomorrow. And I will report on it then.

So we went to the Pistons game last night and had a great time. We went into the ERSA club, with the free buffet, just awesome, and then headed to the seats (I would love to say our seats, but we only got them for the night). We had sat there before, but there was more energy this time. I walked by David Stern, and the seats were right next to where members of the Tigers were sitting. Bonderman and his wife, Verlander and girlfriend (I assume), Craig Monroe and then Gary Sheffield and his wife came later. My mother had her Tigers purse that she made last year, and tried to get Sheffield to sign it. She caught his eye and asked if he would, and he agreed, but just as she got there, the usher grabbed her and brought her back to her seat. She was heartbroken. Still, that was probably the worst thing all night, so it was a great time. Watching the game from the third row on the floor is amazing. You are so close to everything. Since the players are always right there, it is a lot more intimate than my Michigan Football seats, which are 3 row in the end zone, and they get to be real close, but not as often as in a basketball game. Just a great time, thank you so much to the lady that gave them to us (name withheld, obviously).

Headed to therapy, Sean

Monday

Wooo hooo, headed to the Pistons game tonight.

I did poorly this morning about getting up. I need to force that one last click to do things right. I have worked on a lot of things, and many things are moving forward, but I have not worked hard enough to fix this. I have to work harder.

Anyway, wanted to brag a little, and say hi.

Sean

Thought on political differences

I had a revelation last night. It was probably from watching The Daily Show, but I noticed that the big thing that Repbulicans used as a weapon against Kerry was flip-flopping (although Neil Young, on Living with War, has a great song about Bush flip-flopping, Let's Impeach the President), especially about his feelings over war and other items. I used to think that was bad, you should hold on to some convictions, but the problem with that is now I realize it is important to think. It seems the right (Republicans and Religous right) are all about convictions or positions regardless of reality. In some places, this faith is good and strong, but not in all cases. Personal beliefs - good, but ruling or leading people who disagree, may not be the best. Thinking based on the situation and the facts might be more important. So changing ones mind is not a bad thing. If they feel that is important based on new facts and situations, it is ok.

Maybe it was just seeing some pundits on The Daily Show spouting off the same ridiculous arguments after the Virginia Tech tragedy a few weeks ago. One idiot was saying that maybe fewer people would have died if some of the other students had been packing heat. The only answer for that is that none of them would have died if the person hadn't been able to buy a gun. Doesn't seem like the pundit was thinking.

The second statement, and sorry for not quoting, but various right wing pundits tried to blame violent hollywood and video games for the person flipping out. Turns out he didn't watch a lot of tv or movies and didn't play video games. Not thinking, just assuming because they want to get rid of them instead of guns. I personally think a lot of the problem is that everyone is taught not to take responsibility for anything, so that makes it easier to blame all your problems and shortcomings on others, and easier to take it out on them.

The third statement, and I think this is what bothered me the most (the others can be defended) was the attempted pre-emptive strike on using this tragedy to move the country forward and get rid of weapons. They, and you hear this all the time, accused liberals of trying to politicize the event, and by saying that, are going to galvanize that thought in people's mind if the liberals, or anyone, trys to do something sensible to stop this kind of thing in the future. The obvious answer to that is everything in Washington is done for political reasons, but where might have agreed to that logic in the past, I can't believe they are trying to politicize this for their own gain, now, after having thought about it for a while, that's how things are done to improve our society. Something bad happens and we take steps to make sure it doesn't happen again. But the republican talking points (again, not thinking) are attempting to stiffle any possible debate on this issue. Not to say that Democrats or liberals don't do similar things, but I think they think about other people more than Republicans, so it isn't as offensive to me. Republicans, to me, seem to think everyone is just like them or should be, whereas Democrats recognize and respect differences. Sometimes too much, but they at least recognize them.

Just my thoughts

Deconstructing my dreams

The huge smiling face of Lauren Graham was not enough to pick up my spirits on the way to work today. I woke up late and very upset about it. It even affected my dreams. I had a dream that has been a recurring theme for many years, even though it might have different details. I was taking the CPA exam again (which I will never have to do, since I passed on my first time, 13 years ago, ) and was panicking since I could not get the exam started. It was taking place in a big auditorium, like Hale Auditorium in the old Michigan Business School (which might have been torn down by now), and I could not find a place to sit that wasn't taken or saved, or that was comfortable, or I could write my exam. The exam, while I knew it was the CPA exam, had nothing to do with accounting, and the booklet was like a binder of baseball cards. If I could find a place to sit for a few minutes, I would start to write my exam and found that I didn't have the paper to write on, or when I started to write the answers, I looked at the paper and you couldn't read my answers since it was scrap paper for something else, so I had to find more paper, and all the time I can see everyone else calmly getting through the exam and even treating like a party, with refreshments outside the room and people moving in and out and just having a grand old time. I woke up in a panic. I felt like my chest was tight.

The wrong reaction was to lay back down and try to relax, since I soon fell asleep and that made me late.

I know the meaning of the dream, like I said, the theme is something I have dealt with for a while. It was a subconscious knowledge of not being able to get started on something, mostly not being able to get up and start the day as I want, and consequently, not getting forward in my life. The problem is simple, I am not programming myself to make the correct decision in the morning. I need to put more effort (a "deliberate and determined effort" as my therapist puts it) into the programming the night before so that when the alarm goes off, the only thought in my head is Get Up and into the shower. Never again can it be, oh, I can sleep another 9 minutes or I just need a little more rest. I cannot do that anymore, it causes to much stress on me, my friends, family, co-workers, bosses. My bosses have been very good to me, and it time I start being better to them. Some would say that would indicate I should not be blogging at work, but I assure you there is a process running in the background that takes up a lot of my computer processing power and concentration if I let it. It's also my lunch time. But you are still correct, I should be working harder.

As I said at the beginning, Lauren didn't get me into a good mood, but her and the Taco salad for lunch finally did. In a strong position for a good afternoon of work. I have fruit here, plenty of water and a plan for the rest of the day.

Work until 7
go home, cook the sirloin patty in my fridge, with some asparagus and rice.
clean kitchen
straighten house and put clothes away
go to gym (including some hot tub time)
go to bed

A good afternoon and evening, and all the time I will be putting the correct message in my brain (another quote from my therapist) about getting up on time tomorrow, and Saturday. And from now on.

BTW, my friend Kathy is in Nawlin's for Jazz fest, just wanted to say hi and wish her a great time.

Sean

Daily Thoughts

Just wanted to pop on and talk about progress on a few of the things I am working on to get my life straight.

I had gone since Sunday until Wednesday night without having a cola product. That ended tonight, and I ate very badly tonight with no justification. I feel bad about that. So that means I need to make good food choices for the next few days. I would normally have another indulgance on Friday (Tuesday is always my first one, golf night), but I will give that up and work out instead. I need to get better about going to the gym on TWL off days. That is where the real weight is lost.

I have been good about water and eating fruit and veggies at work, and I feel better because of it.

Getting to work on time is still a struggle, but it is my decision and I need to make that decision better, that is all there is too it. So I will be doing it right from now on. I will be.

Anyway, I am going to go watch the hockey game, but I found this snippet of poetry, thought I would put it out here.

For in the the end all we have are the memories
The tears dry
The laughter fades
But we can recall the girl that broke your heart and made you cry
And the turn of phrase that made you roar with laughter
And the friends that said it and helped you get over her.

Sean

Daily Update

So I didn't get to work on time. Very upset by that, but I am not going to let it affect the other good things I am going to do today. I had a good salad for lunch, with the chicken breast I grilled yesterday and the veggies I brought in (carrots, broccoli, pea pods). This reduced my bill by about 3 bucks, since I also didn't get coke. I am going to try to go the entire day with no coke. We shall see. So far, no major problems.

Sunday evening

This has been an interesting weekend. I actually did a lot to take of myself this weekend. I didn't go to the gym yesterday like I should have. Let me rephrase that, I slept through my team weight loss session like a punk ass bitch. I was quite upset with myself and decided that I needed to start living my life for what needs to be done and not on the indulgances. So, I did I a number of things that needed to be done. I raked and mowed the loan, I bought new workout shoes and rain golf gear, started laundry, went to an IIA dinner event at Second City (quite funny, I would recommend the show and the dinner was great). Sunday was shopping, finish laundry and cooked good dinner and a few extra chicken breasts for salad this week. I am quite proud of myself. And I watched a number of things on my DVR. It's almost below 80% full now.

So my new running shoes and myself will be working hard tomorrow, after a good day of getting to work on time, accomplishing a number of things, eating a good lunch and snacks. After that good workout, a little time in the hot tub, an energy bar and a sirloin patty with rice and asparagus for dinner and an early bedtime. This is going to be my Monday.

One of my new favorite quotes - "11.50 for a hamburger? Y'all must be crazy!" From the Miller High Life commercial.

Later.

Daily Thoughts

Hi, I know it has been a while, but I have been trying to catch back up to my life - it's a fast one you know - and haven't had a lot of time to think. In fact, my week has looked like this:
Sunday - golf, playoffs, sleep, laundry
Monday - got to work late, tried to catch up at work, Team Weight Loss class, sleep
Tuesday - worked in Auburn Hills, go to therapy in Farmington Hills, then work in Livonia, then golf, got home about 10:30, sleep
Wednesday - got to work late, tried to get some stuff done, had Team Weight Loss class, work at home, sleep
Thursday - dr appt in morning, meetings in afternoon, stay at work (being productive) until 7, then went to sleep therapy session.
Friday - meeting in morning, trying to stay awake, probably leaving early for co-worker retirement party.

Not saying that I am anything special, but just tired and unable to catch up on my stuff. Too much stuff on the DVR to watch and read and work. And my mailbox door finally completely fell off, so that needs to be replaced this weekend, along with buying new workout shoes. I am tired of my leg going numb during my workout. I am going to try Running Fit in Livonia, since I need to go to Golfsmith anyway.

Did I mention the 9 am workout Saturday morning? Do I look happy about that?

Sean

Daily Thoughts

Not paying attention during my Certified Data Analyst class, so I thought I would get out here and blog a little. This conference (ACL Connections 2007) has been a great time, I have met many people who are as fascinated about data analysis as I am, and learned many things, and found that many people share the same concerns about promoting ACL use in their organizations. Plus, during these conferences I spend a lot of time thinking about how I can use whatever I happen to be learning to improve my organization. I usually come back with a large number of questions I need to investigate, but finding the appropriate people to ask can be tough. I still think that makes the exercise valuable, even if it is not obvious. As I am listening to the various presentations, especially when it is business based, not detailed how to based, my mind usually kicks in with many insights into our company.

I have to take the test tomorrow, so that means, unlike every other night, tonight I will be staying in and not drinking stronger Canadian beer. I found a new beer Kokanee, really good stuff. I have had a lot of it in the last few days.

I have found a restaurant I like, Earl's; there were more beautiful waitresses there than I have ever seen, and the tv's were everywhere. And the burger I had was really, really flavorful. We hope to head back there after just destroying this exam tomorrow.

I should be listening. Later

From Vancouver

I am on break of my conference (ACL Connections 2007) and so I thought I would do a quick post about Vancouver. This seems like a great town and I could see living here. The downtown area is pretty cool and has a neat vibe to the city. Our hotel is right downtown and I think I could really appreciate city living. One of the introductory speakers said in Vancouver you can ski in the morning, golf in the afternoon and sail at night, everything is right here. The only bad thing is that all the games start three hours earlier, which is kind of a pain for noon games, although good for 7 pm games, since you can watch the game over dinner and then go out for the evening.

Yesterday, as I was wondering around downtown to find someplace that served breakfast and had the Wings game on, I watched part of the Sun Run, apparently Canada's largest 10k run. There was 50,000 people there and bands every few blocks new the starting area. Seemed like a lot of fun. It hurt my legs just watching it. Maybe I should do that some day, who knows.

Daily Thoughts

Well, I can't exactly say I am in a good mood, but better than I was yesterday. I think I was worried all day about the weigh-in last night at TWL, since it was my final night. Also worried about packing and getting stuff done and not getting to work on time and money and everything else, but this is not about that. So, I went into the workout not in the best mood anyway, and my legs hurt, but I couldn't finish the workout. My leg started going numb, my calves hurt too much, I had to stop. I didn't do any of the interval workout like the rest of the class and was pretty ashamed.

But at the end of the workout, I had an official weigh-in and was down another 4 pounds, for a total of 12 lost. I was pretty surprised, but assumed I had tricked the machine or something. I haven't embraced the entire program, or it hasn't become ingrained enough yet, so I feel like I could do better. The good thing is I have signed up for the next class and have 12 weeks for everything to sink in.

See you later.

Starting to panic

Ok, I have done nothing to prepare for my trip on Saturday, so I am starting to panic a little bit. I don't know much of anything about the town, I have done no packing or even laundry, I am not even sure what terminal I have to go to Saturday.

I suppose I should start working tonight.

But I should probably start working now. Busy.

Sean

Imus and the Rutgers Basketball Team

This story is all over the place and Imus is simply an idiot, but I think we knew that. But I question the reaction of the Rutgers players, who came out and said they would meet with Imus "To express our great hurt." I am not saying he should not be suspended, or chastised and what he said was ridiculus, but isn't there a point where you say, if you are the Rutgers team, he's an idiot and I don't care? Why should they spend more than 10 seconds of their lives caring what Imus says. It was a stupid few statements that got him suspended (I am assuming without pay), has everyone saying it was stupid and these people are not as he characterized him, but let it end! Yes, wrong and bad. Fine, get on with our lives. I mean, they just announced the father of Anna Nicole's baby. These kinds of statements from the vicitims about their great hurt, by being mis-characterized by a blowhard radio shock jock, dilutes progress of race relations. The other people involved, well-meaning, seem to be taking only the low hanging fruit instead of working on tougher issues that still exist within race relations.

This is my problem right now with crusaders and politicians is that they come charging out against any perceived injustice or for the cause that is really kind of meaningless when there are larger, less obviously solved problems out there being ignored. Sharpton comes out and demands Imus be fired (big deal, he will be hired again in a moment) and it all sounds like politicing for their own name instead of fighting deeper causes. They may be working on them (although I doubt politicians are) but you can't see that.

I am not even going to apologize for any of this. I could be wrong, but I don't mean anything. Neither does Imus.

Sean

Anticipations

Anticipations I am dealing with now:

Gym appointment - 7:00 pm tonight
Dinner with friend I haven't seen in a while - 6 pm Friday
Fly to Vancouver, BC for ACL conference - 9:30 am Saturday
Heroes returns to NBC - 9 pm, Monday, April 23rd

Somebody chips in some money to my Vegas trip - hopefully soon.

Sean

Money Making Update

So, I think it is going to be a little difficult to use my Access or ACL skills to make some additional money. There are a lot of freelance developers out there and there are a lot of freelance sites to make the connection to people who need some kind of help. I think I am going to simply put my Monopoly boards up for sale on Ebay and keep begging.

Also, like I said, if anyone wanted to stake me, I figured out a plan. Any money contributed as a stake in my gambling trip will be put into a pool. That money will form the stake that will be gambled first and winnings from that will be maintained separately from other moneys (I have a great program to do that - Gambletrac - which nobody ever bought). The deal is this, money that is lost, is lost, it will not be paid back. If there is anything left of that stake, it will be paid back in accordance to the percentage each person contributed. If I break even, all stake money will be returned. If I win, stake money will be returned, plus each person will receive a percentage of the return pool, which will be 50% of winnings (myself keeping the other 50%). So it works like this:

10 people kick in $100 each. That creates a stake of $1000 and each have 10% of the results. Each scenario looks like this:
If I take that $1000 and lose it all, everyone gets paid 0.
If I take that $1000 and lose $500, everyone gets back $50.
If I take that $1000 and come back with $1000, everyone gets back their $100.
If I take that $1000 and come back with $2000, each person gets back $100. The profit of $1000 will be split by me and the stake pool, with each person getting $50 of that (10% of $500). So each person gets back $150.

So throw some money in the Chip In widget to the right.

Thanks for playing.

Daily Thoughts

Hello. It's past Easter, and the traffic downtown was almost nothing. It was great and I actually got to work on time.

I tried playing golf on Friday. Yes, when it was 35 degrees with a 15 degree wind chill or whatever. All I know is that I was damn cold and we quit after 10 holes and went to the bar. Then drank the afternoon away and had a great time. I was surprised at how I was hitting the ball though, and I hit the flagstick with my last chip. Possibly the best decision I made that day was buying the 4.99 pair long underwear. So glad I did that. Would have lost the use of a few things without it.

Going back to work.

Sean

Daily Thoughts

I was very bad last night, I didn't wear my mask to sleep, so I ended up not getting up until 10:30 this morning. Since golf season hasn't started yet, I dont have to leave at 4:00 today, so I can get some work done.

Song - Well, album - The Who - Live at Leeds

I wish I had something more interesting to talk about, but thought I would mention the new widget to the right -> that is an easy way to donate to my Vegas trip fund if you were interested. Please do. I really want to go to Vegas soon. Thanks

Today is TWL day, so I am looking forward to that. Wait, I just re-read that, I am looking forward to getting my butt kicked on the treadmill, what has happened to me.

Sean

BTW - was that a real boring game last night or was it just me? I mean, there were some good plays, but once Florida got ahead, I didn't see Ohio State fight enough to keep me interested. I didn't watch much, lost interest.

Taxpayer Funded stadiums

I read this article and had to say something. The two people mentioned in the article, who are testifying to congress, are a resident of Detroit who fought for 10 years against the building of Comerica Park and a woman from the South Bronx complaining about the apartment buildings near parking garagaes for the stadium. And the headline is Taxpayers Last to Benefit from Stadiums. These people are free to testify before congress, whether they are objective or not, congress is free to listen to anyone they want, but wouldn't it make a lot more sense to bring some economists into the discussion? That seems to make a lot more sense to me, but I have a business education background, so I might be biased towards research.

Their quoted testimony is pretty interesting too.

• 'We have terrible budget deficits as a result of having professional sports,' said Frank Rashid, a Detroit resident who waged an unsuccessful 10-year campaign to stop construction of a new Detroit Tigers Stadium at Comerica (NYSE:CMA PRZ) (NYSE:CMA) Park.
  
  At a House subcommittee hearing on domestic policy, Rashid said promises of economic development and new jobs didn't materialize from the stadium built with public and private money in 2006
  
  He maintained that 30 schools are being closed, residents can't get quick responses when they dial 911 for emergency help, and there are fewer police and fire fighters on the streets.

I can't speak for the Bronx statements, but I will be the reaction would be similar. WHAT THE CITY OF DETROIT PAID FOR COMERICA PARK AND FORD FIELD ARE NOT THE REASON FOR BUDGET DEFICITS AND MISMANAGEMENT OF THE CITY. I feel extremely comfortable with that statement. I would hazard a guess that is the lack of neighborhoods, terrible business climate, horrible city government, lack of care in the city, the antagonism from the city towards the suburbs, etc. You can't say the 2005 All Star game at Comerica Park and the 2006 Super Bowl at Ford Field didn't help the image and finances of this city. These parks are part of the reason people are opening new restaurants and bars and clubs downtown and why some people are actually moving back into the city.

I am not sure if the return on taxpayer money has been sufficient or if the money should have been used somewhere else instead, but I know Detroit is a better place to be now than 7 or 8 years ago in my opinion.

Lastly, just bad reporting in the article, it's not a Detroit Tigers Stadium at Comerica Park, its Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers. Detroit Tigers Stadium is the crumbling hulk further out on Michigan Ave.

Bye

Good Feelings and Frustrations

Hello dear reader

Posting from work again, waiting for a few things to finish.

I am proud of myself for the actions I took last night. At our TWL class, I was near 700 calories burned for the night when I decided to go a few extra minutes and get to 720 calories, which is the exact amount in a Baby Pan Pan from Little Caesers. I thought if I got that threshold, I could go get one with no guilt. I felt good about my decision and looked forward to my pizza. When I left the gym after a nice time in the jacuzzi, I drove home a little differently to pass a Little Caesers. About a half mile away, I decided to not stop. Even though I wanted it badly, and was hungry, I decided not too. I went home, had some cheese and cashews and went to bed. I am quite proud of myself. And this morning I had a meal replacement bar, with lots of protein, instead of a sausage biscuit, my favorite breakfast.

Frustration - You might see the link to the major league baseball standings above right. I want the functionality to make the standings there, without having to click to a different website. I have done a lot of searching through the help on how to create the widget, a lot of time trying to find if someone has created the widget for a blogger account, and tried some stuff. I don't want to learn javascript for this, although I might have too. Maybe that is a sign I should make my move into management.... Anyway, it should be easy, and I haven't found any code to copy, which I am very good at, so I am frustrated. Hopefully it will resolved by this weekend.

I was just wondering something, with all the coverage of the UK sailors captured by Iran, do tolitarian goverments and terrorist groups think we actually believe the statments that are released by the captives? Don't they realize we all assume they are forced? Why do they keep doing that?

Further on with this, why would Iran do something to antagonize the UK (and therefore the US)within a year of W getting out of office and people of the US wanting the war in Iraq over, not to mention the Democrats growing a spine and demanding our troops removal within a year, over the scare tactics and doomsaying from Cheney and others? It seems that would sway people towards attacking Iran, when I would say the current sentiment would be against that. What are they thinking?

Ok, files done. Later.

More thoughts

This link is about Senator John Kerry making noise about the deal Major League Baseball made with DirectTV about Extra Innings and the baseball channel to come. I haven't bought this package before, but always thought it was a great concept. But I don't care about that.

I have decided that my view of politicians has changed and I want politicians who will actually do something about important subjects like our massive health care crisis, poverty, crime, a war with no merits, etc. instead of divisive mostly personal issues like abortion, gay marriage, etc. If the Democrats want to do something in the next elections, get the discussion away from those kind of issues and focus on what needs to be done for the people of this country.

What kind of kicked this off was listening to Drew and Mike talk about how airlines are terrible to their customers but we have to use them anyway, (and my thought - and the government bails them out anyway). This would seem to be where government could step in and make airlines treat people with respect. If only the FAA and other oversight boards weren't in the pockets of the CEO's and PAC's of the people they are supposed to be regulating. Drew mentioned a passenger bill of rights, and I had forgotten somebody had talked about that at one time. I am glad I am in a job that does not require travel, I would have probably snapped at some TSA employee by now.

Okay, one of my jobs is done, ttyl

While waiting for a programs to run

I am sitting waiting for two programs and a backup process to finish, so I decided to read a little baseball. Jon Heyman of SI.com relatest this cool story:

• Chipper Jones came into the Braves clubhouse late in Tuesday's game with the Tigers and told Smoltz, "I just saw the hardest pitch I've ever seen." He was, of course, referring to the work of Joel Zumaya, whose very first pitch this spring hit 100 mph (and that's before he really got going). The Braves, though, did touch Zumaya for his first two runs of the spring, both on home runs. As Jones put it, "We were rakin'."

Just wanted to pass that along.

Daily Thoughts

So hello there. In my continuing battle for supremecy over my wanton desires, I made two good choices today. One, on my way into work, I pulled into the McDonald's drive-thru lane (not the good part) and then pulled back out again. That was the good choice. I got a fruit bar once I got to work.

The second choice was between a calzone and a salad. I stood in the cafeteria for 3-4 minutes looking back and forth between the two, and actually, again, made the correct choice. I did reward myself for that choice by taking two rolls instead of one, they are small.

That is one thing, and I mentioned this before, about the TEAM Weight Loss group I am part of, since I have to write down all the food that I eat, I am really examining all of my food choices. I want to make sure I get the most benefit out of the class. Of course, it is a difficult time right now since it is renewal time. I have to decide if I want to take another session. I am leaning towards it, I see the benefits but the lessons are not ingrained yet.

On a slightly different health tack, this article on Arnie Kander was on the freep today. My brother has said many times, especially in the Pistons title season that one of the keys to this team has been it's health. And when Webber joined the team this year, he really seemed to be a different player from his time in Philly and before that, he seemed to have more spring in his step and more quickness. Jason believed this was due to Kander and this article addresses that. Good read and he gives a few tips on living healthier, but the main tip I got out of it is to listen to your body - it will tell you what you need to know. That goes along with the teachings of the TEAM Weight Loss - fuel yourself right and listen to your body. Pay attention to what happens when you eat certain foods.

That's your lesson for the day, you non-existant reader.

Hello world

So, last night I went back to the gym for the first time since Thursday. I had missed my Saturday morning class simply because I slept too long. Felt good. Weigh in today though...not sure how I feel about that.

Such a beautiful day in SE Michigan. People are walking all over the place downtown, just to be in the sun. I even skipped a lunch with buddies at Loco's, which I truly love, and gave up my mexican sandwich to get a sub at Tubby's. I think this class is starting to help me change my eating habits. Last night after working out, I stopped and got a cheeseburger (protein, carbs!) and didn't feel good about it after. Seems like I am still sabotaging my efforts a little, but I notice it more. No more of that.

When I get down to about 265, (from 275 right now), think of the glory of that mexican sandwich and a few beers. Now that is reason to work out!!!

Also, got to sleep on my waterbed last night. I also did the night before, but the water was still really cold the night before and it was not a good night of sleep. Very bad in fact. Cold. Clammy. Last night, it was better, but still not at full temp. Tonight's sleep should be great.

Later