I should be the guy on the right.......

He's my age. I wanted to be anchor of the CBS Evening News when I was five.

Sorry, Anderson. Move out. You're in my space!! Especially now that Erica's there! She's so cool!

HD, The 44th President and other thoughts.....

One year from today will be the first full day of the four-year term of the 44th President of the United States. We just don't know his/her identity yet.

If you were forced to choose today, who would you say?

As much as I don't want to.....right now I see yet another "Clinton Administration".

-----------------------------------------------

I'm still trying to grasp the fact that my Giants are in Super Bowl XLII. You may think I'm nuts, but after they played the Pats so well in the regular season finale, then you add in the awakening of Eli Manning, the two battering rams of backs (Bradshaw and Jacobs), and, most importantly, the Giants couldn't be any happier to be playing on the road.....and I think the G-Men can do it.

Can you believe winning 10 in a row on the road?? That's an NFL record! So, don't just assume 18-0 being the only "streak" on the line. As I posted last night, I don't care what they say, the Patriots will face some incredible pressure trying to win and finish perfect.

The Giants have NOTHING to lose and know they can play with the Patriots. I think it's gonna be a great game.

The difference maker in my mind right now for New England? If Lawrence Malroney has a good game, my boys will be in trouble.

----------------------------------------------------

I'm trying to figure out how to install equipment so I can start dreaming in HD. If you have any thoughts, let me know. :)

BREAKING NEWS!!!! GIANTS WIN!!!!!

My brother can't stand Lawrence Tynes.

But I think all is forgiven, for now that is.

GIANTS 23, PACKERS 20 IN OVERTIME!!!!!!

They have just made a believer out of me. I expected nothing out of them this season, with Tiki gone and Coughlin staying. Instead, Eli has come out of nowhere, Brandon and Ahmad has made Tiki irrelevant and Coughlin coaches a team to the Super Bowl.

I was so proud of their performance against New England in the regular season finale. They could have won that game save just a couple of mistakes.

I feel good about their chances; I really do. 10-1 on the road with New England not having their cold, home-field advantage. We've got a second chance to deny history.

And make it, too. GO GGGGGGG-MEN!!!!!!!

John McCain in South Carolina, part two

John McCain in South Carolina, part one....

I usually don't get this personal.......

....but I'm glad to announce that wifey is in bed with me tonight!!

You don't understand. And NO it's not about THAT (at least, not this time anyway)...

I can't sleep when wifey's not here. I don't mean those nights she tanks on the recliner watching whatever.....I mean those nights when she's not here because of, well, the fact that she's not within the vinyl siding around this abode.

On the cruise in '06, all three of us hated it. Last July when the girls were in Vegas canvassing for delegates (heh?), Robbie and I did much better, but I still don't sleep as well (not that "Apnea Man" sleeps very well to begin with).....

....but it's worse when she's at the Gall Bladder Hotel. So, it's nice to have her back.

Although this means I lose control of the television again. :)

------------------------------------------------------

Quick political note: give John McCain big kudos for his speech tonight in South Carolina after winning the state's Republican primary. I'll try to find it on video or at least a transcript and try to post it tomorrow.

Oh, and I LOVED the story on CNN where one caucus group for the Democrats in Nevada in Vegas finished tied, so they pulled out a deck of cards to break the tie and assign the delegates!!

The Obama card-picker got a 10 of something.

The Clinton card-picker got a queen (maybe of hearts).

I'm sorry, but that just sounds so American. That was cool!!

P.S.---Apparently there were two other ties around the state and Obama won the card draws there.....

She's home!! Whoo hoo!!

Thanks to pain and LOTS of meds (and the fact we got to the E.R. at just after midnight), wifey pretty much lost complete track of time during her 39 1/2 hours at the Gall Bladder Hotel. My same period of time? Kinda just felt like the clock was "suspended" momentarily.

Give me just a moment. Hum amongst yourselves.......

la, la, la, la......

.....okay. I made six trips between home and hospital in the 39 1/2 hours. By trip four I was taking variant routes for variety's sake, I guess. :)

Went back last night and found out she got into surgery late, so, instead of seeing her at 9:30 or 10, it was 11:40. :(

Oh, well. I enriched my life by reading the newspaper and listening/watching to the sensational very psuedo-journalistic shows of "Headline Prime". Do you remember when "Headline News" was, well, "Headline News"?? Prime time meant Lynne Russell, all the news you need, every 30 minutes.

Now? We got to hear Nancy Grace interview like, eight different guests at once about the poor pregnant Marine story.....the part we got to hear about, though, was how, apparently, the Marine on the run had a BBQ on Christmas Day with his buddies and......I just realized I was repeating psuedo-journalism.

Sorry.

Then, bring on Britney shopping at Rite Aid in Hollywood at 1am and "Gasp!", she was seen by them picturetakers in the same aisle as pregnancy tests!!! Well, here come more "expert" guests to discuss this latest event.....when we could be exposing governmental fault or be getting an update on the devastation in Darfur, but never mind that inconsequential stuff.......

Anyway, I fully expected wifey to be "looped out" again, and was shocked to walk in and she's wide awake, talking to her "roomy" (they got along REALLY well!!), watching Letterman. Awesome! Sanity on television!!!

Hung out for about 25 minutes, then home.

When Robbie woke me up at 6:57am, and Rachel was still out, you don't know how close I came to telling them, "how about we tank school today"? It was good I didn't. It was good for them to be at school per normal, because instead of noon, wifey didn't get home and attacked by Harry J until 4pm. That's why I had trip six! I came home, got Rachel off the bus, and back we went. :) :)

You should see the wall next to mommy's recliner. Two big signs saying, "Welcome home Mommy; we love you" and cards and a placard, all made by Rachel! Her best friend at school even wanted to sign a card!

Another friend asked Rachel, "Does this mean your mom can't pee??"

Dad also got one, saying thanks for helping mom, in triple fold, no less. She needs to go ahead and apply at Hallmark for 2013 Christmas season. That is, if she's still not working at PetSmart or Petco.

So, we're all home tonight, the kids are in Robbie's room watching Smackdown!, and wifey had chicken and her 1/2 fat Edy's Ice Cream, just like any other night.

Ah, most any other night.

The moral of our story? Our family now has less gall. But I doubt we offend fewer people. :)

Maybe the best goal I've ever seen in NHL play.....

....in a waiting area at the hospital today, I see this Rick Nash goal, and could not believe it. As the announcer says, "It doesn't get any better than this!". And for once, the trite phrase is really true!

Oh, the unmitigated gall!! Bladder!!

Whoa.

So, wifey's pains the past several evenings were not LapBand related after all. We (well, she) found out the hard way last night when abdominal pains significantly worsened and throwing up commenced with no end in sight.

Throwing up having the LapBand is a scary proposition, not wanting anything to shift and/or break.

It started at 11pm, we left for ER at midnight; they (being Bon Secours St. Marys) were wonderful; having her registered and back for x-ray in 45 minutes, which, for anyone who's been in an ER setting lately in Richmond, especially late night, is pretty Providential!

To Room 12 we go for the rest of the night; wifey gets medicine for pain and nausea and neither work. I learn this evening in talking to her she remembers little about the night, so in retrospect at least the first round of drugs induced memory loss.

"You don't want to remember last night.", I told her.

Ultrasound reveals the culprit: gallstones, and the doctor's decision is, best to get the gall bladder out.

Another round of "more powerful" meds, and she finally overcomes nausea, severe pain, and the nightly routine of her legs aching and goes night-night around 4am.

I step out to check on the dreaded forecast to see if we were going to get four or five snowflakes. Back to the room, discussions with nurse and doc on call, and I head for home at 5:45, so wifey's aunt can go home (bless her heart, she came out at midnight to come sleep here while the kids slept).

Both kids (highly unusual) were already awake at 6:10 and I get to explain to them where mom and dad spent the night (sadly, it was NOT at the Hilton in a jacuzzi!)

We watched TV while getting ready, making sure school was a go, and it was. First trip, Rachel; second trip, Robbie, then right back to St. Mary's, where wifey's youngest sister was there! She and I stayed 'til 9:30, then she had to work and I came home to nap, since wifey was, well, in some serious "la-la-land".

I was most jealous, because I barely slept; by 130 I gave up, got up, washed clothes, et al, et al, saw Rachel get home and go over to a friend's house while I headed back to the hospital for round 3.

She was (yay!) in a room shortly after I left in the morning (10a or so), so I met her there and she was quite lucid! "I just got this way", she said. :)

So, we talked, she pee'd, we talked, her phone rang (lots of "Sweet Home Alabama" ringtone), she got a roommate, then they came to get her for surgery at 6pm.

It's 8pm now; came home to feed the kids and make sure the dogs and cats were still living together.

Now, it's back to St. Mary's for Round 4. Post-op, make sure there are no complications, kisses from the kids, and come home for some sleep.

Then, it's kids back to school and wifey home, hopefully by noon tomorrow. Yay!!!!

I told her this was a heck of a way to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary!

Again, I opine----

OH, THE UNMITIGATED GALL.....BLADDER!!!

OH, MY GOD!!!!! IT MAY FALL!!!! SOMETHING MAY FALL!!!!

We warned our new co-worker Angela, who moved from Buffalo, that this day would come. I only wish I were still working there to watch her reaction.

TOP STORY!!!! Weather!!!! Got your snow blowers, generators, and canned goods out?

Good Lord!! Enough of this already.

Simple rule: Be careful when you go out. EVERY day!

Back to you in the studio.

Michelle is right.......

IPods, mp3s, email, blogs, the 'Net, digital cable........


Hmmmmm.....for me who is now 40? It was......

....well, let me let Michelle at "Yeah, Whatever" spell out the facts.

If you're 40, and for instance, had to say goodbye to a boy/girlfriend when you left for college in, say 1985, and you couldn't call because long distance calls were expensive and it would take three days to get a letter......

....I've wondered a few times if we had had emails, IM, video cam on the Web, etc. back then whether I'd be married to wifey and would thousands of other guys and gals may have ended up weathering the "college" separation, or the "military" separation, which, in the 80s of course, compared to today, was a piece of cake for most personnel.

Guess we'll never know, eh? Not much time to wonder anyway, if you think about it. I got three new chain letters in snail mail today that I need to deal with......

....hee hee.....

If you'll excuse me now, I'm going to walk uphill, both ways. :)

So I'm sitting here.....

....almost three hours after going to bed; STILL with this headache I acquired late this afternoon.....

....I know it's sinus, proven by the fact that the pain over the left eye is gone, but the pain over the right eye is still throbbing, some 16 pills later (just kidding, much LESS than 16 pills).

Wifey is in her recliner fast asleep, except when Cody decides to try to curl up on her lap. Some nights that's acceptable, but not tonight. How ironic, some nights and DAYS, I sleep 18, 20, 22 hours (waking up 15-20 times now, mind you), yet here I am tonight, knowing the only way I'm shaking this headache is by falling asleep, and I can't.

So, what exactly is there to do at 12:12am while dealing with this?

Hmmm, I think I'll apply for some jobs! Eventually a blind squirrel finds a nut, maybe a dumb Rob can actually find a place to work!

From the home office on the Boulevard......

....Top Ten Reasons Why The Richmond Braves Are Going to Gwinnett:


10) Only Angels, Blue Jays and Devil Rays helmets at the kids' ice cream stand.

9) Losing the W.G. Cosby billboard where the frog's eyes lit up with each hit a batter had during the game.

8) Manager tried using centerfield sign machine to read batting order but couldn't figure out player names with 632 light bulbs missing.

7) Extensive coverage of team in newspaper on page E-27.

6) Oh, that's right, the sport section never has 27 pages.

5) Team that Atlanta fielded in Richmond in the year 2000 had a combined batting average of .012.

4) R-Braves players complained that rats in the clubhouse were only half the size of rats in New York City.

3) During many losing seasons, many fans considered returning to the Diamond for games if it could be mathematically proven the team would never lose by more than three runs.

2) R-Braves marketing plan: the sign out front! What more do you need?

and the Number One reason why the Richmond Braves are moving to Gwinnett.....


1) Parker Field!

BREAKING NEWS SHOCKER!!!!----Richmond to lose Braves

Well.....I guess this is what happens when you (pardon my French) fart around as a city and a region as a whole!

All the talk about a new stadium and all the talk about downtown and all the talk about more regional cooperation and now that there is actually SOME entertainment development on the Boulevard (multiplex cinema) that doesn't charge 25 cents a peep:

The Braves have had enough. Click HERE for the initial reports.

Between all the stadium bickering, the fall of waterlog, forcing the R-Braves to play home playoff games on the road, and the less than stellar attendance recently (though that point is EVERYONE'S fault), the Braves sat down in Atlanta over lunch, and decided, "We're the only major league team that owns their Triple-A franchise. Why put up with this anymore? Let's move them close to us, bring baseball more economically to some suburbs and market it as their "stars of tomorrow" who can catch a cab to the big leagues!

Everyone in Atlanta is a winner!

Then there's Richmond. Enough said.

:(

I did not go to my original destination today. "Bipolar homesickness" strikes again.

I keep believing this will not be an issue when a job offer comes. And I'm trusting God that the last sentence becomes not just a belief, but a reality.

I won't be home tomorrow???

I actually have something to do for awhile tomorrow.

Can't tell you what. Or where. Or when.

WWHJD? What will Harry J do???


P.S.------GO GIANTS!!!!!!!!!

Zzzzzzzzzzzz.................

I'm trying to remember the last day I was completely zonked.

I don't want to be awake. Nothing I think of doing excites me. I want to go to sleep.

I don't care about football; don't care if the Patriots lose tonight and I don't watch it then I will miss history. I'll be HAPPY if they lose, but I can wait to hear about it until tomorrow.

And it's not like I've got nothing to look forward to. Today would have been best off just in bed, but a few things had to be done.

I hate these days. I wish they would just go away.

The one and only Jack Benny......quote......

I don't deserve this award, but I have arthritis and I don't deserve that either.

Jack Benny, US comedian (1894 - 1974)

Thunderstorm? Today?

It's not too often we have a chance of thunderstorms around here in January. But due to the front that's been causing all that damage in the Midwest, it now poses a threat of storms to us today.

I promised Rachel that Harry and I would be in the van, ready to get her off the bus in case of bad weather. She HATES thunderstorms.

Super--Harry J to the rescue!!!!!

It's the plumber!!!

NOW the kids know why I say this whenever I get home and ring the door bell. :)