I HAVE MOVED TO WORDPRESS. PLEASE FOLLOW LINK BELOW.

TEAM SLINGER

I guess I need to keep this site since Blogger now makes me log in to comment on other Blogger sites.

"Just so you know... It's not me. It's You"

Well, after 3 consecutive days of Blogger not letting me uplaod photos to my posts, AND telling me that my selection resembles that of a spammer when I try to add comments, I have decided to break up with Blogger.

I know, yet another change. But I am fed up with Blogger never being there for me when I need it. Always giving me error messages and not showing my profile icon all the time. I. AM. DONE.

I dumped Blogger and moved on to Wordpress. So if you feel the need to continue reading, click on the below link, update your blogroll (if you link here) and head on over to my new URL. It is much better in terms of options and tracking features, and is nicer on the eyes too.

Team Slinger

*Blogger knew this would eventually happen, so I feel no guilt whatsoever.

"You checked our shitters, honey?"

The bathroom in my wing of the office almost always has either one urinal or one stall that is out of service. It is normal. but this week, there are 2 stalls out of 4 that are broken, and 2 urinals out of 4 that are broken.

Why am I telling you this? Because, the more you know about my cube neighbor, the better I feel.

Cube Neighbor likes to complain, and has, on numerous occasions, emailed or called CBS, NBC or ABC to complain about one of his shows being cancelled. I imagine he is one of the people that complains about the Super Bowl Haft Time show also.

Anyway, this morning I come in and he is complaining to me about how our bathroom is in need of some help. So I tell him to call and complain. BIG MISTAKE. 10 minutes later I hear him on the phone with our corporate maintenance, and I thought I would share with you what I heard....

"Yeah, I would like to report a problem with the bathroom on the 4th floor."
-
"Yes, there are 2 urinals that are not working that are stinking up the place, and 2 shitters don't flush. They have been like this since Monday!"
- ( I imagine the other person is laughing by now, remember he speaks with a lisp)
"I don't understand how 2 of them were tagged as broken, but no one opened a complaint. I don't know about you, but I don't like the smell of backed up shit when I open the door."
- ( Maintenance opens a ticket and tells him they will get someone on it )
"Thank you. Will the plumber call me?"

At this point I am laughing but also puzzled as to why he wants the plumber to call HIM?! Whatever, to each his own I guess.

We all have those "blonde"* moments.

I consider myself a pretty smart individual, and usually I am pretty intelligent when it comes to common sense situations. But every once in a while, my brain likes to prove me wrong...

The other day we received a call from the Pediatrician to confirm an appointment. We were outside and let it go to voicemail. Well later that night I check the voicemail and listened to the recorded message left by the doctor's office.

Message : "We are calling to confirm your 10am appointment. To confirm, press 1. To reschedule, press 2, etc. etc."

Being the smart person that I am, I press 1..... the message starts over again.. "To confirm, press 1. To reschedule, press ..." So I press 1 again. Message starts over again. Now I am getting mad. and MamaSlinger and I have the following exchange of words;

Me: " What the hell? I pressed 1 to confirm and it keeps asking me to confirm!"
MS: "Um, you can't confirm through voicemail! That is the message they.. HAHAHAHAHAHA"
Me: *starts to turn red and laugh "OH! Wow, I am an idiot."

MamaSlinger is in tears by now and keeps reminding me of what I did.

BUT, the same also happens to MamaSlinger from time to time...

This morning she was trying to log into work from home. She was looking all over for the power cord to her laptop, but couldn't find it anywhere.

MS: "Have you seen my power cord? it was up here Saturday when I was logged in."
Me: "No, it should still be by the computer. If its not there, I don't know where it is"

She continues to look for about 10 minutes and still can't find it. After another 10 minutes or so I go up to find that she found the power cord.

Me: "You found it?"
MS: "Yep"
Me: "Where was it?" (knowing what her answer was going to be)
MS: *trying not to smile "In my computer bag"

I was on my way up to actually look in her bag, that was sitting right next to her the whole time. I am just sad that I was not able to find it first!


* I apologize to any blonde readers.

Get Bourne

"Y'know, I always thought that Matt Damon was like a Streisand, but he's rocking the shit in this one! "

Jason Bourne is back to end it all.

A trip down memory lane

So last week I was watching I Love the 80's-3D : 1983 and wow, I really DO love the 80's! I always watch these when I have time, they crap me up and also remind me how stupid things used to be.

Let's review, shall we? 1983 welcomed the following:

• Jaws 3, in 3-D! Horrible movie, but you already knew that.
• The original talent show - Star Search. Ed McMahon rocked the house!
• ZZ Top told us that women like a sharp dressed man.
• Teachers enemy - the Calculator watch. Nerds rejoice!
• Quiet Riot introduced the metal hockey mask and wanted us to bang our heads.
• Book of choice: Truly Tasteless Jokes
• Press Your Luck was a hit game show. NO WHAMMIES!
• Micheal Keaton proved men can stay home in Mr. Mom
• Monchichis
• Jesse Jackson ran for President, but lost any momentum in 1984 by slandering the Jews in New York.
• Reagan introduces his missile defense system, which they cleverly called Star Wars.

Wow, 1983 was quite a year. Yeah, I was only 10, but I do remember all of this. I never did have a calculator watch, or a Monchichi doll, but I did have the Tasteless Jokes book, Quiet Riot album (on cassette) and a ZZ Top key chain. I think I watched Press Your Luck when I was home sick also.

Watch out for those former Idols!

Read this story and tell me what you think caused her to freak out.

I am guessing he said her voice was crap.

As Seen On TV

On my way to work this morning, I happened to look over at the car next to me. I usually don't stare at people when I am driving, but this time I could not help myself. This man was driving an older Chevy station wagon, had a ponytail longer than most women, an American flag bandanna and he was wearing BluBlocker sunglasses!

I went online and looked up BluBlockers, and yeah they have upgraded the design to meet modern styles, but they still look like the original large round lenses that were a huge hit in the 80's and 90's. And you know what, ponytail man was wearing the large rounded frames as well, there was no mistaking it. Classic!


So as I was looking around, I found this site As Seen On TV that has, you guessed it, items that are "only available through this TV offer!". Here you can buy all of the lovely items that you see advertised on TV, from the Hercules Hook to the Yoga Booty Ballet. And for all of those pesky urine odors, don't forget to pick up Urine Gone!!



And who do I see on the website promoting his products? Mr. OxiClean himself, Billy Mays!


Most notable for promoting OxiClean, OrangeGlo, KABOOM! and other cleaning, home-based, and maintenance products. His direct and "high energy" style and ubiquitous presence on many television commercials and home shopping channels pitching a wide array of products has gained Mays a small amount of celebrity. He is a highly sought after pitch man, and owns and operates his own promotions company. (source: Wikipedia)


I don't know about you, but when this guy pitches an idea, I LISTEN! It is so hard NOT to pick up the phone and call, in the next 15 minutes, so I receive not 1, not 2, but THREE extra cleaning brushes! Why would anyone pay $99 when they get twice as much for ONLY $24.95! Pure genius I tell you.

Paradise, with a burger.

To this day, I still do not see why people love Jimmy Buffet. On lunch I heard what is arguably the worst song ever made, Cheeseburger In Paradise. I actually sat and listened to it and I am still amazed how this song is such a huge hit! I just don't get it.

Thanks buddy!

I don't watch Survivor, but thanks to my cube neighbor, I have heard all about the shocking Tribal Council last night, and how it played out. And he has told at least 2 other people over the phone the same story. Not exactly the way I wanted to spend my Friday.

Random Thoughts

• Who else out there watches LOST? No matter how much people complain about how this season has been slow, this is still one of the most original shows on TV. Last night's episode was awesome and left you with just enough edge to spark the imagination, which is why I love this show. I like mind benders that don't totally leave you in the dark. Some will argue that last sentence, but I think the people that complain the most are those that have no imagination, or are too stubborn to see the bigger picture. That's all I have to say.

• I have complained before about the media, and this weeks events at Virginia Tech support my complaints. This was a horrible tragedy, no doubt about that. But for every network to have an interview station set up on campus 3 days later and STILL interviewing people is driving me nuts. Anything they report on now will not change anything, and playing the shooters video on every newscast is making it worse. The media is helping this sicko do exactly what he planned from the beginning, torture people. I look at it this way....he went on a rampage, and those that lived through it are now suffering by seeing his face on TV every 5 minutes. It's just messed up. And, not to take sympathy on the shooter, but what about his family and what they are going through? Not that it needs to be reported, but I am sure they are just as shocked at this and will never be treated the same, all because of the actions of their son. It does, however, raise the question of how he was raised, and that can fall on the parents shoulders. Ok, that's all I have to say about that.

• Sunjaya was voted off Idol last night! I was so heart....oh wait, that's right. I. DON'T. CARE. MamaSlinger watches this and I usually see bits of it, but have actually never seen this kid sing, until last night. And DAMN! How did he get that far? Seriously, he was horrible! granted, he had just stopped crying (come on dude!) after being voted off, so I am sure he was not bringing his A game. Either way, thank god I will stop hearing about this helmet head all over the place.

• My cube neighbor is a nice guy, and a fan of LOST, so we get along pretty well. But I draw the line when he starts telling me that he shaved his beard off so the intimacy with his wife would increase. (he went into much more detail though) I had to tell him "Ok Steve, that's not what I needed to know." Like I said, nice guy, but sometimes he talks too much.

Twenty Four / Drive

24
Well, I sat through another hour of 24, but thankfully I was working on my finances at the same time, so it was not as hard to stomach the boredom. (I know, how can balancing a check book be fun? )

China wants the component, Palmer passes out, V.P. is still in the game (along with his ugly assistant) and Jack and Ricky have a showdown. And oh yeah, Jack will sacrifice everything for a woman, again.

This whole China/Audrey storyline better work wonders for this season.

DRIVE
I watched the second night of the premiere and was pretty happy with it. Nathan Fillion is a damn good actor, and tonight had a little more action/drama in it, I thought. Should be interesting to see how this show does in the ratings, and if FOX will keep it around.

On Sunday night there was a great moment when he was arguing with a woman, and she asked him "How can you cheat in a game without rules?" And he replied "I don't know! I missed the orientation." It was pretty funny the way Fillion delivered the lines, and if you saw the beginning when he did actually show up late to the orientation. This show has some potential to be pretty good, as long as they don't get all stupid with the plot like they did in "Prison Break".

I figure it this way... "Prison Break" is pretty ri-goddammn-diculous, but they have signed it on for a 3rd season, so "Drive" should have a chance to stick around for a few seasons.

How I spent my Friday the 13th

I was watching TV Friday night and totally forgot it was the 13th until I started seeing all these horror movies on every channel. So I decided to watch a few that caught my eye. My first selection?

SHAUN OF THE DEAD


If you have not seen this movie, I highly recommend it. Just like Dawn of the Dead, but with British humor.
Simon Pegg is hilarious and has comedic timing and wit like Ricky Gervais, IMO. As Shaun, the appliance salesman, he has to save his ex-girlfriend and his mom, all while trying to beat down zombies with a cricket bat.

One of the taglines was "A romantic comedy. With zombies." Good times!

Then I was surfing around and saw on IFC they were playing House of 1000 Corpses. Having never seen it, and interested to see what Rob Zombie could do, I decided to tune in. It is pretty bizarre, with characters such as Captain Spaulding and Dr. Satan. I had no idea what to expect in this movie, but was pleasantly surprised to see Rainn Wilson in it. Along with Chris Hardwick (you may remember him as the host of MTV's "Singled Out") who was pretty heavy in this movie, and actually kind of funny.



It is your basic chop-shop horror movie, the 4 traveling teenagers go looking for stories of urban legend serial killers, then end up being captured by a back country family of serial killers. Plot is not much, and the filming reminded me of "Natural Born Killers" but it was not horrible. If you are ever in the mood for a typical bloody horror flick, go check it out.

A new favorite.

Lately I have been watching That 70's Show and I have to say, I forgot how hilarious this show was. Channel 50 here in Chicago has it on reruns, as does FX I believe. Once a week, I am not sure of the night, but there is like 3 hours worth of episodes on. I love it! I know it was not as funny in the late years, but I would say the first 5 seasons was some top quality comedy.

Thursday Thirteen

I have been blogging for about a year now, and I have seen too many site to name that have done some version of The Thursday Thirteen list. So I decided to do one of my own, since today seems like a good day to start...

The Thursday Thirteen of random things for this week:

13. No traveling this week for work.
12. Dannielynn has a true daddy.
11. We got 3 inches of snow, IN APRIL.
10. Don Imus apolog.. anyone else sick of this yet?
9. America votes off another Idol , now all ugly ones left.
8. Jennifer Lopez on American Idol, I feel dumber after watching her speak.*
7. Bonaduce soon to be single. Ladies, he is a prize catch, get ready!
6. Leeza Gibbons goes home. She looks really good for being 70, uh I mean 50.
5. Bledsoe calls it a career.
4. NFL 2007 schedule, Broncos on MNF 3 times, and also will play the Bears, IN CHICAGO.
3. Kevin Federline is still a tool.
2. My iPod is playing the perfect mix of NIN and Foo Fighters today.
1. Today is Mama Slinger's BIRTHDAY!!

* I normally do not watch American Idol, but there was seriously NOTHING on TV Tuesday night, so I suffered through this.

Isn't it April?

April snow
Originally uploaded by Slinger5.

We woke up to see this, on April 11th! Was a very heavy wet snow, but looked pretty cool.

I know you all were waiting...

Well, we finally know.

Not that everyone cared, but good to final have closure.

*SPOILER ALERT*

Finally, a good episode of 24! We got to see some good shoot-em up action, and hand to hand combat between Fayed and Jack. With Jack making Fayed a human ornament. Pretty good. A few things that caught my eye were when Doyle got shot, he looked pretty lame when he "played dead". I went back and watched it again after I saw what they planned, and he looked retarded. My dog plays dead better than that. And when Fayed and Jack had the showdown, and Fayed must have horrible aim to miss him from 50 feet away. but I digress...

But, it was a good episode, and of course now that Fayed is neutralized, they leave us with a cliff hanger... Audrey is alive. (we knew that was going to happen, didn't we?) I like Kim Raver so I am not opposed to seeing her back on 24 as Jack's main squeeze. And she is sort of good looking and stuff, ya know?

All in all, a major improvement from the previous 3 weeks, but they still have to close this season out with a bang to make up for the crap they have done this year.

Want more nerdy goodness on 24? Go check out McGone's rundown of the episode, and you will see what a 24 nerd really notices!

It's Playoff Time!

Holy crap! I am sure you forgot, as did I, that the NHL playoffs start this week! Are you as excited as I am!? No? really? well I can't get enoug......Wait...actually...I'm not excited at all. My teams are not in the playoffs, AGAIN, and so I really have no desire to watch. Yeah, I will probably watch a few games, but I really have no team picked to go all the way. I guess I could root for the Sabres, or the Penguins, but I am not going to put much effort into it.

Man, even posting about it is enough effort, maybe too much even, in my opinion.

Why is it so hard?*

How is it that when people park in a parking lot, one person has to park all cock-eyed and screw up the normal parking pattern? And it is usually the person driving the Honda Civic or the small Toyota Matrix.

I could understand if it was a Ford Excursion or a Hummer,I mean those things are huge and probably hard to see the BRIGHT YELLOW lines where you are supposed to park. But the small ones? The driver can probably reach out the window and touch the ground!

I just don't like walking to my truck and having to get in the passenger side, ya know?


* - "That's what she said."

Seriously???

My cube neighbor is watching the PGA Masters Tournament online right now, and all I keep hearing is golf clapping. Are you kidding me?
he also keeps giving me updates on how bad Tiger Woods is doing. Finally after 5 minutes I tell him that I do not like Tiger and am not a huge golf fan.

Yesterday

I was driving to work today listening to Alice in Chains, and I realized what yesterday was. Yesterday, April 5th, is a sad day in history for music fans of Nirvana and Alice in Chains.

Kurt Cobain
On April 8, 1994, Cobain was found dead in his home. An autopsy report later concluded Cobain's death was a result of a "self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head." The report estimates Cobain to have died on April 5, 1994. He was 27 years old.

I remember when this happened, but not being too shocked by it. I actually figured he would have died from an overdose before anything else. But I did love Nirvana, and since they are noted as changing the music world in 1990, it was sad to see someone with so much talent and influence go out like that, so soon.

Layne Staley
"When police kicked in the door to Layne Staley's University District apartment on April 19, 2002... there, on a couch, lit by a flickering TV, next to several spray-paint cans on the floor, not far from a small stash of cocaine, near two crack pipes on the coffee table, reposed the remains of the rock musician." He was 34 years old. The autopsy report later concluded that Staley died after injecting a mixture of heroin and cocaine known as a "speedball". By coincidence, the coroner's office estimated that Staley had died on April 5, the same date that fellow Seattle Grunge rocker Kurt Cobain was estimated to have died eight years earlier.

It was reported that Layne had been suffering horribly from the effects of years of drug use, and he was in so much pain on a daily basis, that he did not want to live anymore. I WAS shocked when I heard this, or maybe I was more sad. I, still to this day, love the music Alice in Chains created, Layne's voice is one of those unique sounds that will never be matched, in my opinion.

But when you look at the songs they wrote, mainly on DIRT (my personal favorite AIC album), there is no denying the inspiration behind the songs. Tracks such as "Sickman", "Junkhead", "Dirt," "God Smack," "Hate To Feel" and "Angry Chair" were related to Staley's heroin use. And then there are songs that point to death; "Them Bones", "Rain when I die", "Down in a Hole".

I was just thinking about this today, so figured I would post it. Not sure many people know they both died on the same day, and hell, you might not have even been big fans. But at least now you have learned something new!

My job takes me to exoctic locations...

Today, I had the pleasure of driving to the beautiful town of Woodstock, IL. Home of Hollywood's favorite ground hog, Punxsutawney Phil. For those that don't know, Ground Hog Day was filmed in downtown Woodstock. I know, pretty exciting huh?


So as I was walking across the famous Woodstock Square, I called McGone, here is our conversation..


McGone: Hello?
Slinger: Hey, what's up? Guess where I am?
M: Uh.... I don't know.
S: I'll give you a hint.. "Phil? Phil Connors?"
M: Are you in Punxsutawney?
S: WOODSTOCK BABY!
M: Ah, nice! "It's me, Ned! Ned Ryerson!"

On my drive home, I encountered a LOT of bad drivers going through Huntley. I just had to listen to Phil's advice of "Don't drive angry!"

I know, sounds gay, and this may have been a total waste of your last 2 minutes....but it was funny at the time.

My television/movie commentary

Prison Break

I'm really not sure why I still watch this show. It has gotten so unbelievable, yet I keep recording it and watching it.

The brothers were basically free, but Michael gets a guilty conscience and tries to get T-bag, who is still alive after losing his left hand, TWICE. And the only medical attention he had was from a veterinarian. I told you it was dumb. Well season 2 ends with Michael getting busted in Panama, thrown in a hell hole and they WANT him to escape again. Lincoln is free and has been exonerated of all charges, but you know he will now try to bust out his brother.

I really do not see how Season 3 will go, but I know I will probably tune in to see.

24

Man, this is so lame this year. If I wanted to watch a political pissing contest, I would have watched "West Wing"! I am about ready to give up on this show unless I see more torturing and ass-kicking.

AVP: Alien vs. Predator

On FX last night, I watched Alien vs. Predator. Why? I'm really not sure. But I paused it a few times and actually watched the whole thing. It was not very good, took about an hour for any action to really take place. I liked Predator and the Alien movies, but this was just dumb. I know it is based on the video game, but still pretty bad. And it was pretty stupid that they had Lance Henriksen as the main backer for the research team that found the creatures. In case you didn't know, he played the part of Bishop in the second and third Alien films.

Overall, some decent action scenes, but the aliens were not scary at all, not like they were in Aliens, which is by far the best one in the franchise, which is a total of 4 films. To sum up, it took me about 3 hours to watch a movie on FX because I kept pausing to deal with the kids. But I was determined to finish it!

Such a let down

You know those days when everything seems to be going right? Well today started off that way. It's Friday, and was sunny and nice out. On my way to work I caught EVERY green light (that rarely happens in the suburbs). And I went to the store to cash in my spare change, and was pleasantly surprised when the total was $173.00! BONUS!

Then I get to work, and everything falls apart. As I walk in my pager goes off, then I have a few emails that need to be worked ASAP. Wonderful. And, it is now cloudy outside and they are calling for thunderstorms.

I really should not be surprised, as I know my work days are exactly the same, but this day started off with so much promise.

I apologize in advance...

Mama Slinger and I had been talking, and she wanted to start up a Family Blog that is just for the kids and us. She did not want to use this site and take away from what I have done in the past year, so she started a new one HERE. It is still in the works, so keep checking for updates.

I am going to keep the name and URL of this blog the same, so there will be no need for anyone to update anything (I know Drier HATES that) and I will make this strictly a humor and useless information site, pretty much the same way it was when I started it. I may be changing the layout though, not sure yet. I am going to play around with a few ideas and see what happens. I like this layout, but the font choices are not easy to manipulate, and the small default print sucks.

So McGone, I apologize if I change the layout too much for your delicate eyes, but you have been warned.

So I finally watched 24 from Monday night. I actually watched it 24 hours later now that I think about it. This show is good, but this season is starting to fizzle. There have been too many slow episodes the past few weeks. And I know I need to just sit back and see what happens, but I am not used to Jack Bauer being all nice. I need to see him torture people, and beat the crap out of bad guys. Hopefully it will start to pick up now and finish with a bang.

What is it about the arrival of Spring that is both good and bad?

The Good? - NO MORE SNOW! I love winter, but there comes a time when you just want the snow and ice to melt. Especially when it is the second week of March and Tom Skilling is on the news, with a smug smile, telling you to expect 2-4 inches of snow for the Monday commute. WONDERFUL! Yeah it rains a lot in march and April, but at least it is above freezing.

Also, the warmer weather means the kids are able to get outside and work off some of the cabin fever that has grown to incredible levels during the Winter. We had the boys outside all day Sunday and they had a blast. Warm weather also means you can open the windows and get some MUCH needed fresh air inside to get rid of the Winter staleness. Hopefully rid your house of the germs that have been hovering around since October.

Also - BASEBALL season starts in a week! But by September I will probably be bored of it because my teams will be out of the playoff race.

The BAD? - Well, not really too much that is bad, unless you are a fan of hockey. You see, we used to play hockey almost every year. Even if it was just once a year, we still played. And I am not talking about playing indoors, we always played pond hockey. This year, however, we did not play hockey once. NOT ONCE.

Olde Time Hockey - Me (L) and McGone

There are many reasons - I live an hour away from mcgone (my yearly hockey teammate), I have 3 kids, we both have jobs, Utah Dagger now lives in UTAH, BPDP has many women and cant manage his time (Sorry Brian!) and Player #4 is no longer a friend of ours. but also, this year it didn't really get cold enough until February, and then it was below zero for like almost 3 weeks straight!

Hopefully next year we can get in some time for Hockey, as I would like to get Ryan on some skates to see how he likes it. I need to raise me a future Sydney Crosby!

Evil eyes
Originally uploaded by Slinger5.

I ask Ryan to smile nice for me, and I get this. I guess he was tired of me following him around with the camera!

Things you should never cook in a microwave at work:

1. Fish
2. White Castle Sliders
3. Eggs
4. White Castle Sliders
5. Anything containing Curry
6. Peeps

Wow, it's already been a year!

Today marks the one year anniversary of this blog, and also marks my 300th post! AND the Vernal Equinox. It's all related, (not really) but sounds good. HOLY CRAP! Time flies when you are wasting time posting your useless, random thoughts on the Internet for the world to see.

I was reading over my first posts and it is amazing to have something like this to look back on what happened that you may have forgotten. God bless the little Internet gods for gracing us with such technology. Over the last 12 months a lot has happened, and most of it has been blogged about. In a sense, an online journal (or diary, if you want to be a jerk about it). This blog has seen many, MANY changes in format, even had a guest author [McGone] for a few months, until he defected and started his own site.

I am not really surprised that I have been doing this for a year, but I am surprised that this is the 300th post. It just doesn't seem like I have had that much to say (granted, not all 300 are from me, McGone accounted for some). I hope to keep posting interesting stuff for a while. As long as my kids provide entertainment, and people at work (or in general) continue to be stupid, I will have material to add to this site.

So, I will be partying today to celebrate this magnificent accomplishment. And to all the readers of Team Slinger, I just want to say THANK YOU for sticking around so long, and for all the comments and links to my site. And I promise to post more often starting this week.

CNN sucks

Wow, CNN is really turning into a crappy reference for news. One of the main stories was Heather Mills and her wodden leg on Dancing with the Stars. Good Lord, who really needs to hear about her? I know I don't, and I am sure it makes Paul mad that she is just doing this to get more public sympathy.

And of course, Dick Cheney goes into the hospital, yet again.

Bad names for apartment/condo complexes

The Fields at Overlook
Amity Apartments
Elm Street Manor
Black Lagoon Apartments
Condos on Silent Hill
Meyers Manor
The West Craven Condos

*sorry, I know this is filler, but I saw a really cheesy name for an apartment complex today and made me think of some of these.

Seeing as how tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, I am sure plenty of this will be consumed. Personally, I will be spending the day helping a friend hang drywall in his basement. But I am sure a few beers will be had by all.

So, hope everyone has a safe weekend and I promise to start posting more next week. I know the past few weeks have been slow here, but work takes priority, most days.

My Mid-week Ramble

So last week was the early Daylight Savings change. Personally, I like it. More time in the evening after work to get stuff done. Even if it was spending time picking up my yard, thanks to little gifts left by the family dog! And it didn't really seem to effect the sleeping patterns of the kids, which is always good. But I had seen a few blips on the news about how the early change can cause computer problems, and also cause commuters pain at the pump.

"The early change and the rise in gas prices is causing headaches for commuters. Longer daylight hours mean people are driving more and using more gas."

Is it just me, or does this not make much sense, if any? It's not like people don't drive after it gets dark, and the longer hours of light does not mean longer hours of work (for most people anyway). I don't know, just seems to me like people complaining for the sake of complaining.
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Recently I have had people contact me in Flickr to use my photos for web articles. That is pretty cool. I guess more people see my photos than I thought. Last month my photos were used in an article about the Berthoud Pass avalanche.

And this month a blog author for the DCist in Washington asked for permission to use one of my photos in an article about High Occupancy toll roads. The article should be online next week and I will post it when he notifies me that it has been completed.

I am not trying to brag or anything, I just think it is cool that some of my photos are wanted for stuff like this. I get no money for them, so it is just about seeing my stuff somewhere else. And I don't claim to be a great photographer either, so this is cool.
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For some reason this week I was reminded of an old band that I used to listen to, Love/Hate. I looked for them on iTunes and then found out you could listen to all their tracks online, FOR FREE. SWEET! Then today I went to a used CD store hoping to find a copy of the CD, nothing. DAMN. I really want that album, so I guess I will have to get it on Amazon.

It's so funny to look back on some of the late 80's/early 90's hair bands and the names they had. Check out the members of Love/Hate:

Vocals: Jizzy Pearl
Guitar: Jon E. Love
Bass: Skid (Rose)
Drums: Joey Gold

Wow! With names like those, how can they NOT be rock stars? I was telling McGone about it and remembered when I bought this album (I think on cassette) back in 1992, we were with Utah Dagger and Assface, driving to the mall in my 1981 Oldsmobile Cutlass. Good times!
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Oh yeah, and why do I care if Angelina Jolie is in Vietnam right now getting ready to adopt yet another child?? (Damn CNN bothers me lately, I need to remove it as my home page) I am not against the wealthy helping impoverished children, but I think the media is playing WAY TOO MUCH into this. In my opinion, I think she is trying to make her family a little United Nations of children.

Isabel room

Well, we finally got all the bedrooms finished. Here is Isabel's room finally all done. She got the bigger of the three because of all the furniture she has.

Isabel is also about to cut her first tooth, and is crawling all over the place. She pulls herself up on EVERYTHING now and I would not be surprised if she is walking in a few months!

The boys are also getting big, they are starting to play very well together, rather than just fight over who has what toy. Here they actually look like they get along! They like to wrestle, and actualyl Brett has beent he one to start fights lately. he will actually pull Ryan down and then climb all over him. I don't know how many times I heard "Brett, get off of me!" this weekend.

Busted!
Originally uploaded by Slinger5.

We are trying to decide what color to paint the dining room, and have put up a few paint samples in the dining room, and I thought I had put this one out of his reach.

Turns out I did, but as soon as I turned around, he moved a toy over there and stood on it. Then was cheering about what he did. It was pretty funny, and since it was water-based paint, I was not worried about cleaning him up before I captured the moment.

And yes, the wall still looks like this, 5 days later.

Monday Music Post

Rage Against The Machine

Rumor has it that RATM is going to reunited for a few shows this year. I am not really shocked at this, only because Rage has stayed intact, with the exception of their singers. So seeing as how Zach De la Rocha has not done much of anything since the split, I am sure they decided to get back together after Cornell split from Audioslave. I wonder if this will result in future albums?

Snow Patrol

I actually only heard of these guys sometime last year, but after downloading their previous albums, they used to be really good. I say "used to be" because, let's face it...."Chasing Cars" is only popular because ABC and the radio plays the hell out of it. That song is not that good, but once it showed up on that Anatomy show, it was all over. Their older stuff is much better, not the greatest, but it is much easier to listen to.

U2

I am a U2 fan, and have always liked them, but lately I am kind of getting sick of Bono and all of his causes. Granted, if I had all that money I would probably want to help the world as well. They have a new single "Window in the Skies" and I must say, I am not too impressed with it, at all. It has been out for a few weeks, and I actually turn the channel when it comes on. I have to give them credit for their staying power over their 20+ year career, they have never failed to amaze me. let's just see how this new album is though.

Well, it's Friday, and thank god! This week has been one of the longest weeks in recent memory.

Last night the boys FINALLY slept all night, the first time in about almost 2 weeks. And I think the main reason was because Ryan took a nap during the day (he was starting to get out that habit) and Brett's 2 teeth cut through yesterday! And I know so many people ask why we were not giving him Tylenol or Orajel. Frankly, it doesn't work for him. Tylenol almost seems to guarantee that he will be up in 3 hours. Orajel does work, but only for a limited time. Plus you have to make sure you get it all on his gums, and when his teeth hurt, he doesn't want anyone sticking fingers in there!

Had an interesting event happen at dinner.
On the menu: Chicken Breast, rice and green beans

Ryan, as usual, was not eating. Brett was chowing down, as he always does. he is a great eater. Well he was throwing the rice all over (thank god we have a dog to clean up!) but ate all of his chicken and beans. Then he was pushing on his nose and complaining. I thought he wanted down, but as we put him down he started crying. MamaSlinger looked in his nose but didn't see anything. We were both certain there was some rice up there.

10 minutes later: Brett sneezes, and what do you know? Out comes rice. Quite a bit actually! I knew sooner or later he would sneeze, I just hope it all came out!


Father of the Year

I taught Ryan something. Something that I really shouldn't have.
He was in our bedroom and kept asking questions. Just random questions:

"Daddy, what did you take?" - I took a shower buddy.
"Daddy, what are you doin?" - getting ready for work

So then I got this great idea. And I leaned over to Ryan and asked him a question...

"Ryan, can you pull daddy's finger?" Being the braniac that he is, he jumped at the offer, and pulled my finger. The result was... well, you know. And his eyes lit up and he smiled. "Daddy! You tooted!" MamaSlinger and I just started laughing and I immediately regretted showing him that.

Well, about 2 minutes later, he says "Daddy, pull my finger" and I put my finger out to pull, not understanding him clearly, and he corrected me; "No, you pull MY finger!" Being a grown child, I did what he asked, and sure enough, HE TOOTED! Then he laughed and smiled. He was so happy that he did the same thing as daddy.

I have to admit, it is cool to see your kids retain things you teach them, but I can already hear the phone calls I am going to get from the Pre-school teachers.

A Rather Lengthy Post

Despite what all the critics and fans are complaining about, this show is still one of the best on TV. Last night's episode was a nice break from the usual mystery cliff hanger episode. It was full of light comedy, a rusted out hippie van, Cheech Marin and the boys drinking beer with "Roger Work man". Was nice to see something different and also nice to see Hurley having a good time. Next week looks to give some more answers, so I look forward to that.

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Painting and set-up continues

We are still working on getting the kid's rooms all situated. Has been hard since everyone has been sick, and our sleep pattern has been so bad the past week. At times it feels like we have 4 month old triplets waking up all hours of the night. Crazy!

Here are a few shots of the rooms that are done.

Here is Ryan's room. We were going to paint this room Navy Blue, but decided to keep it brown, and add the navy curtains. Turned out nice, and one less room I had to paint!

Here is Brett's room. This room really does not look this dark of a red, but it is pretty close. We were a little nervous about painting it such a dark color, but it turned out to look very nice. Actually may paint the downstairs bathroom the same color.

I am going to be painting Isabel's room this weekend and then will be done, hopefully!

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Brett is talking more and more each day.

He is actually starting to form sentences now. When we are done with something, he will ask "all done daddy?" This morning I taped him talking and doing some stuff. Enjoy.

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Chili Peppers with a side of idiot sauce.

Went and saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers last night, and was not let down at all. they put on a great show. I have been a fan since high school and have always wanted to see them. I was a little miffed that they only played for about an hour and 45 minutes. But the songs they did play the rocked. I was really hoping they would play "Torture Me" and "Turn it Again", but they didn't. I must say they are definitely one of the best rock bands live I have ever seen.

Gnarls Barkley opened for them, and I like their album, but they really didn't do anything for me. Yeah they sounded good, but not much of a visual show. And they played for MAYBE an hour.

But overall, it was a very good show and would definitely go see them again.

As for the Idiot sauce, I saw this tool leaving the concert on the highway on my way home. Bright Yellow Corvette, and he had a junior college alumni sticker on the window and the license plate said MLR TME. Wow, I almost felt bad for this guy, until I saw him wearing sunglasses (it was almost midnight) and smoking what looked like a Swisher Sweets cigar. Yeah, he was one classy dude.

Well, we had a pretty busy weekend. I got Brett’s room all painted and it is done, I will put a picture of it up tonight or tomorrow. Now all 3 of them have their own rooms. I still have to touch up Ryan’s room and complete re-paint Isabel’s room. Hopefully that will be done this weekend.

Few things have happened with the kids in the past week…

- Like I said, all 3 kids got sick with a cold, and now Mama Slinger and I are getting the cold. The kids slept better last night, but Isabel was up from 2-4am. So it made for one long night.

- Isabel is actually crawling now instead of just the military crawl. In the video below she crawls, then gets tired and decides to do the military crawl over to me. AND, I had her in her crib and turned around and she had pulled herself up and was standing in the crib! I was shocked! Turns out, she has been doing it for a few days downstairs as well. She can’t even fully crawl yet, and she wants to walk already.

- Brett is about to cut his 2 lower Canine (Cuspid) teeth, which I am sure is adding to his cold symptoms. Kids look so much different once they get all those front teeth in. He actually has a nice smile now! So far, he is right on schedule!

Since the past 4 days have involved limited sleep, I had to stop and get something to drink this morning to wake me up. As I don’t drink coffee, and gave up pop, I had to look for something else. I ended up getting a RUMBA energy juice. It is 100% juice, with added vitamins and a little caffeine. I figured it was better than Red Bull or pop. And maybe the Vitamin C will help me kick this cold I am getting.

Energy drinks usually make me feel all jittery, but this one has had no effect on me as of yet. So we will see in an hour or two. I may need to pick up another one this afternoon to give me a kick before the concert. I am going to see Red Hot Chili Peppers tonight with Mama Slinger's Uncle and two cousins. Gnarls Barkley is opening for them, so it should be a really good show.

Can you guess what I will be listening to today on the iPod?

I am not an Elvis fan.

Not that I have anything against him, but I have just never been a fan of his music. Having said that, I guess I really don't get the fascination with him, even after his death.

There is a woman in my office that has, basically a shrine, containing Elvis artifacts at her desk. The usual frame picture of him, a few little figurines, but the main one that sticks out.... the Elvis wall clock, complete with swinging legs. Every time I walk by I get to see his legs swing to the second. And it is bright blue.

I don't get it. Sorry, to any Elvis fans reading, but maybe it is just a generation thing, but this woman is only in her late 30's.

Random Stuff

• After trying to have the boys share a room, we decided to give each of the kids their own room. Mainly because Brett and Ryan always woke each other up, and Isabel has more furniture so she needs the bigger room. So now Isabel is in the bigger room, and the boys each have their own bedroom. We got everything moved, but now I need to paint (FUN FUN). We got samples yesterday from Lowes and put them up last night, so today I am going to get the paint. Good thing is they are small rooms (except for Isabel's) so I should have them done tonight. I will post pictures when I am done.

• Sirius has a new 90's Alternative channel, Sirius 24. It is really good, plays a lot of Pearl Jam, STP, Nirvana, Soundgarden, etc...all the music I listened to. If you have Sirius, check it out.

• Brett is 20 months old and he has shown interest in the potty, so we got him a little one, and this week he actually went #2 on it! He was so happy. Every time we change him now we put him on the potty, he doesn't always go, but he likes sitting on it. Wow, how great would it be to have him trained by 2yrs old!?!?!

Your typical Monday post

We didn't much of anything exciting this past weekend. Had the neighbors over so the kids could play, did the usual laundry and cleaning. I know what you are thinking, and yes, we are crazy like that! We did get the kids pictures taken at Sears, and we got a really good one of all three of them, and Ryan is turning into such a little model. They did pretty good.

I also went and picked up Molly, she had been staying at my mom's house for almost 3 weeks now while we went to Colorado. She likes it down there so she stayed a little longer, a mini vacation for her. She was happy to be home, until I took her to PetsMart today for a grooming.

She loves the snow and rolls around in it ALL. THE. TIME! So naturally, she smells. not bad, but just wet dog smell... about 4 weeks worth actually. So I took her in today and she totally freaked out! She is really good and sometimes shakes, but today she was throwing a fit, similar to a 3 year old. She practically jumped into my arms, then had her paws wrapped around my waist. She even started barking/crying as she tried to get away. Then she peed, a lot! She never does this and is usually really good. The girl finally got the leash around her and I had to help push Molly back behind the little door. Molly weighs almost 70 lbs, and she was pulling this girl out the door, she was determined to get free. So after all that, and a jacket full of dog hair, I finally got her back and I just left.

Poor Molly, I know she is probably thinking we gave her up for good, but she will smell and look MUCH better when I pick her up after work.

Do not buy gas from CITGO!

I did not know this, but my father-in-law mentioned it this week and I decided to look into it.


Citgo gasoline is produced from oil from Venezuela. Actually, it is a subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., the Venezuelan state-owned petroleum company, is a United States-incorporated firm refiner and marketer of gasoline, lubricants, petrochemicals and other petroleum products. PDVSA is controlled by the Venezuelan government.


For those of you that don't know, Hugo Chávez is the President of Venezuela, and has recently said some unkind things about Bush and the U.S., * and pissed off a lot of Americans. Actually, 7-Eleven used to be partnered with Citgo and did not renew their contract with Citgo, stating

"we sympathize with many Americans' concern over derogatory comments about our country and its leadership recently made by Venezuela's president. Certainly Chavez's position and statements over the past year or so didn't tempt us to stay with Citgo."


So just keep in mind next time you need to get gas, just go past Citgo. Funny thing is, by my house, there is a Citgo right across from a Shell, and the Citgo station is ALWAYS almost 10-12 cents higher.



* I know a lot of people do not like Bush, and probably agree with Chavez when he called Bush "the devil", but Chavez is a potential threat to US oil and even more so that it has been rumored that he and Iran have been talking.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY MAMA SLINGER!!!

Vacation Details

So, we are back from our little vacation in Colorado. The weather was great, and the scenery was incredible. They could have used a little more snow, but who am I to complain? To be able to go from flat Illinois to almost 13,000 feet, and ski, is better than anything I can think of right now.

Click on picture to go to Flickr photos

Our trip was pretty much like a second honeymoon. This was the first time we had been away for that long without the kids, and it was pretty nice. The house we stayed in was BEAUTIFUL, and had awesome views. The weather was perfect, in the mid 30's and the skiing was great! I forgot how good it feels to be standing on a mountain at 12,000 ft and just be able to look out over all the beautiful views. We really do live in a beautiful country, you just have to get off your ass and go check it out! Which we plan to do a lot more as the kids get older.

Amy did great for her first time skiing. We had an instructor and she was skiing the green runs by lunch time, and was pretty high up as well. I am very proud of her! We only skied the one day, but after that one day our legs were pretty much shot. I probably could have gone 2 days, but I may have been coming home in a wheelchair. My friend Brian and his woman Cindy were also in Breckenridge this weekend, so we hooked up with them a few times for dinner and drinks. Brian actually got altitude sickness the first night and went into one of the Oxygen bars to get oxygen. Yes, they have stores where you can get scented/flavored oxygen if you are having trouble breathing. it probably didn't help that he had a margarita when he got there, but that is Brian's weakness!

Driving in the mountains is one of my favorite things. I could seriously just rent a car and drive all over Colorado and that would be a great vacation for me. We drove up and over Berthoud Pass (elev. 11, 307 ft) on the Continental Divide. The weather did not cooperate so we had no great views, and Amy was getting freaked out at the steep roads and bad conditions. But we obviously made it back alive.

One thing we noticed as we flew with all the security measures now... you can't have finger nail files, or clippers in your carry on, they will take it away at security. BUT... once you get through security, you can purchase said items in any of the magazine shops! Kind of defeats the purpose doesn't it?

Anyway, go check out the photos and enjoy what we saw for 5 days. Our next trip out to Colorado will probably be in the summer time in a few years. I have never been out there in Summer, only been out there to ski.

Breckenridge

Back from vacation. I will post more tomorrow, but here is a picture of Lake Dillon in Frisco, CO. Facing south toward Keystone and Breckenridge.

More photos to come in the next day or two.

Vacation

Mam Slinger and I are leaving tomorrow afternoon for 5 days in Colorado! Will be skiing and enjoying the nice relaxing time in the mountains. So there will be no posts until Tuesday or Wednesday.

I plan to have a ton of pictures to share as well.

Twenty Four

Ok, so I have been watching 24 now for a few seasons, and the new season is pretty good. BUT...(and mcgone is going to scream) I am not feeling "it" this season. I do not like how Jack Bauer now has feelings and guilt. I am used to him not giving a damn and showing no remorse, not this "I don't know if I can do this" and him holding his head and showing guilt as he tortures his brother. COME ON! You are JACK BAUER! You don't have feelings! You are a CTU ROBOT, programmed to do whatever it takes to kill the bad guys! That is all I will say, for now.

Kids Eating Habits

Having 2 kids that can eat on their own is pretty funny. You would think boys would eat anything, but that is not the case for Ryan. Ryan has become the pickiest eater. He has never liked red meat, whether it be hamburger, meatloaf or roast beef, he just won't eat it. He will eat chicken, hot dogs and turkey, even ham, but nothing beef. Last week we gave them roast beef and mac n cheese and he was told he needed to eat his mac n cheese before he got down.

"Ryan, finish your pasta"
"It is touching the meat and it smells like meat now"
"No it doesn't, just eat it"
Ryan eats his pasta that was touching the meat, then starts gagging.

He got himself so worked up over the thought of it touching the meat, he almost threw up. He also doesn't like pizza. What kid doesn't LOVE pizza?

But then, last night, they had chicken nuggets and french fries, which they both love. I was watching Ryan eat and I was shocked at what I saw. He was DIPPING HIS FRIES INTO HIS MILK, then eating them! Are you serious? He said he liked it, so he ate them all. Milk and Fries he loves, but not beef. Unbelievable!

Now Brett, on the other hand, will eat anything you put in front of him. And when he is done, he will get down and go over and finish off whatever is left on Ryan's plate. It is amazing how different the two of them are when it comes to eating.

Only 2 things positive about the Super Bowl

1. Devin Hester returns the opening kickoff 92 yds for a touchdown. 1st time in Super Bowl history that has been done.

2. Although I am not a fan of Prince, it was pretty cool to hear him do a cover of "Best of You" by the Foo Fighters. (regular readers will know that I am a huge Foo fan) Then I remembered that years ago, Foo Fighters did a cover of "Darling Nikki" by Prince, so maybe this was a subtle shout-out to the Foo. We may never know.

I am not shocked that the Bears lost, they had a great season and the better team won tonight. Congrats go out to Peyton and the Colts, and hopefully we will see Peyton in some more commercials, let's face it, he is pretty funny in those MasterCard ads.

Earl Hickey says:

GO BEARS!!!!

TGI Groundhog Day

That's right, it's Groundhog Day! Today we get to listen to Phil predict the coming of spring. Awesome.

Between issues with Blogger and this thing called a "job", I have been light on the posts this week, so I will do a little recap today...

First, and most importantly:

Secondly.....

Dear COLTS fans,

Seeing as how my company has offices in Indianapolis, there has been some trash talking going back and forth, so we will see who has the last laugh come Monday.

Family Update:

Isabel had her 6 month check-up yesterday, she weighs in at 18.1 lbs (actually lost a few) and 27 inches long. She is very healthy and got 3 shots, but she did good. She is almost crawling now, she does the military crawl and moves around the room pretty well. Dr. gives it about 2 weeks and she will be crawling all over the place.

Brett has been early to rise all week, usually up at 5am! He is cutting his first molars, and 3 of them are in, the 4th one is still pushing through so I am sure that is what wakes him up. He is talking so much now, and trying to form whole sentences.

Ryan is in his terrible three's. Not listening, acting crazy and yelling at Brett. But he is still funny and goofy as always. He thinks he is the ruler of the house sometimes, but we make sure we bring him back to reality.

Other than that, it was the usual work week, along with the usual cold weather of a February in Chicago. It was 8 when I walked into work this morning, nice!

And finally....is it really a mystery that THIS is caused by humans?

Kids grow up so fast

Becoming a man
Originally uploaded by Slinger5.

I had to post this, it is just too funny. And I do not know where he gets this from, because you can bet I did not teach him this. Must just be a guy thing! All part of becoming a man I guess.

The kids are getting so big, Brett is starting to talk a lot more now, and he knows what he is trying to say. Isabel is trying so hard to crawl, she kind of scoots forward, and turns in circles a lot to get something she wants.

Ryan is just getting too big too fast. He is having real conversations with us, and is very smart. He is so vocal and is a total sponge. He is in the repeating phase as well, so you can guess how happy that makes us!

Just wanted to give a little update of the kids to let you all know how they were doing.

Prison Break

I do like how this season is going, but there are a few things that bug me every week. And I know McGone was thinking the same thing tonight when the brothers traveled from Montana to Akron, OH in less than 15 hours. Come on! From Denver to Chicago is about 14 hours and from Chicago to Akron is almost 6 hours.

Well, I will never eat fast food again!

MamaSlinger and I watched Super Size Me yesterday. For those of you that don't know, Morgan Spurlock ate McDonald's for every meal, for 30 days. Brief detail of the film:

Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock hit the road and interviewed experts in 20 U.S. cities, including Houston, the "Fattest City" in America. From Surgeon Generals to gym teachers, cooks to kids, lawmakers to legislators, these authorities shared their research, opinions and "gut feelings" on our ever-expanding girth.

During the journey, Spurlock also put his own body on the line, living on nothing but McDonald's for an entire month with three simple rules:
1) No options: he could only eat what was available over the counter (water included!)

2) No supersizing unless offered

3) No excuses: he had to eat every item on the menu at least once

It all adds up to a fat food bill, harrowing visits to the doctor, and compelling viewing for anyone who's ever wondered if man could live on fast food alone.

The film explores the horror of school lunch programs, declining health and physical education classes, food addictions and the extreme measures people take to lose weight and regain their health.

What the doctors found in his blood work was amazing, and very unhealthy. And after seeing how they make Chicken McNuggets, my kids will never eat them again. And that goes for all fast food restaurants, not just McDonald's.

This is a pretty funny film, and an eye opener. The amount of sugar that is in all fast food, even the salads are full of sugars and salts. Not to mention the soft drinks. The funniest was when he was eating a double quarter pounder and he was getting sick. He said his stomach hurt and he "had the McGurgles, the McHeadache and the McSweats" 15 minutes later he throws up out his car window. Sounds gross but it was amazing to see how his body was rejecting the food.

If you have not seen this, I suggest you give it a view. MSNBC has been showing it over the past week, but I am sure you can rent it somewhere as well.

Sunday Shuffle

Since I am home with the boys this afternoon (mamaSlinger and Izzy are at a "girl's show" with make-up and other foo-foo stuff) I decided to log in and do a short post of a few things from today...

1. NHL on NBC. Let me repeat that for all the others that are as shocked as I am. THE NHL IS ON NBC!! I had read they were going to be broadcasting soon, but was not sure when, that is until now. Right now... Colorado Avalanche(my other favorite NHL team) vs Detroit Red Wings. The usual high scoring game that it is, it is 0-0 in the second period. Lots o hits though.

2. The boys got the Hasbro Elefun for Christmas, and I have to say this is one of the worst toys ever designed. It is a fan powered elephant that blows up little vinyl butterflies that the kids catch in nets. For one, it should say "tissue paper butterflies" because that is what they are. AND, it should have a BIG OLD CHOKING HAZARD label on it as well. It is for ages 3-6, but my 3 yr old was putting the butterflies in his mouth, and you know what that means? The 19 month old will do the same thing. So as I am talking to McGone on the phone, Brett starts choking, and as McGone can hear Brett choking, I simply say "Shit, I gotta call you back! click" and then proceed to pull one "vinyl butterfly" from the back of Brett's throat. I remained fairly calm actually (given that having a child choke is my biggest fear as a parent), even as I pulled it out and Brett let out a huge gasp of air. So obviously it was very close to being a 911 event. Result.... Elefun will be freezing his trunk off tomorrow waiting for the garbage man.

3. REMINDER: Sometime tomorrow , probably late afternoon, I will be changing this URL.

4. A weekend without football sucks, especially when your local team is going to the Super Bowl and you are forced to wait till next week. Although excited for the SB, I am not too thrilled about the hype around the lame commercials, Prince playing the half time show and the late kick-off time.

So as I sit here on a cold Sunday afternoon watching hockey, folding clothes and blogging....the boys trashing the living room, again.