Less than a week

1) I'll be back in Tampa and Sarasota, FL in six days. Can't wait to get some sun as this has been one of the most oppressive Decembers I can remember.

2) $400 to fix a virus-infected computer. Sad part is they could charge me $1,000 and I'd still need to pay it.

3) I'm re-discovering Desert Rose Band music. They were a moderately successful country band in the late 89's. their lead singer, Chris Hillman, payed in the Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers. Man, DRB recorded some awesome songs. "Summer Wind" (Not the Sinatra version), "One Step Forward," and "He's Back and I'm Blue."

4) Fantasy football recap: Finished 1st (of 12), and 2nd, 3rd, and 10th out of 10 in my four leagues. In the semis, I won two and lost one. So I can get two titles and a third palce. I'll gladly sign up for that outcome. Thankfully, I'm alive for the title in the Circle of Friends League, though I'm playing the team that has dominated the league all year. Preview of that match to come.

5) I know little about Duck Dynasty. But Phil Robertson has been suspended from the show because he expressed some views that some construed as homophobic. It's sad when a man expresses a view that is not cool or PC and gets reprimanded. So how does this country still have free speech? I'll say it again, I can't handle it whe these people whio preach tolerance refuse to tolerate any viewpoint except their own.

Song pick "There'll Be No Peace Without All Men As One" Ray Charles

Still believe...

Beautiful liar, heartless survivor
Where are you taking me now?
Smooth operator, walk out later
When are you going to come down?

Well, I still believe in you somehow
I still believe in you

 

We've been together, a year and forever
You should know me by now
There's chaos in my mind
I can't find the right lines to get to you somehow

I still believe in you somehow
I still believe in you

 

And that feeling that I get inside
Each time I see the sun in your eyes
Then the moon begins crying, our hearts are not denying
A feeling we can keep through the night
I still believe in you somehow
I still believe in you

Watch out dude

1) Jeremiah Weed only comes out for special nights. After the pain of my key incident today, this is one of those nights. I know that's hen I tend to write vaguely and in word pictures, but maybe that's the point.

2) I love my friends, but each one needs to be looked at separately. And if  I'm the only one pouring out any effort to keep it alive, and am the only one working towards finding a solution, then why am I wasting my energy and time?

3) I'll play the recluse for you, but only for one day.

4) AM. I wish I had the nerve to ask her the question I want to. All I had the nerve to do was give a birthday card. But maybe I'm just setting my heart up to be shattered yet again.

5) There's a guy named Todd, who's been hanging around our singles group. I don't know him personally, but I guess he's dating KB now. Knowing her history, he'd better be careful. I think just kissing her would be enough to give him gonorrhea...

Song pick: "I Keep Forgetting" Michael McDonald

Regretting volunteering?

I never thought I could ever feel this way. I really try to do a few things less fortunate than me around the holidays. I heard about an opportunity via work to pack food at a downtown YMCA. So I did it. I woke up at 6 am and drove an hour east to Humboldt Park, which is on the west side of Chicago, a few miles west of the United Center.

I was bundled up tight since I heard we'd be working outside in 15 degree weather. Boots, winter coat, hat, gloves, the navy blue and white striped Kaplan Inc. scarf that all the volunteers had been given.  I brought along a bag with six sweaters for a clothing drive happening at a convent around the corner.

So there must have been 20 of us from Kaplan and another 75 or so volunteering. Our first job was bagging food and the Kaplan folks were putting onions into plastic grocery bags. Easy enough. My hands went numb pretty fast, but I kept packing away. One of the hardest jobs was getting the bags with the onions open. That strong, hard red string, it really needs to be pulled hard. This one woman  named Jamie, who I think was from Kaplan too, asked me to get a large bag of onions for her and I happily did. Then she asked me to cut it open. I hesitated for a moment since pulling on the string can be tough. So she said three words I wish she had never said. "Use your key."

Now I was freezing cold and wanting to do as much work as possible. I got out my car key and began cutting into the string. It worked decently, but after 20 seconds, I noticed my key was becoming slanted. The problem is it was attached to one of those electronic alarm keypads. And the pad was pretty much torn open. I panicked and walked briskly back inside the YMCA and sat alone on a bench trying to figure out if I could fix this. The electronics were still working, but the screw that holds the key in place inside the keypad was totally damaged. Inside, my heart sank. I knew there was no way I was going to able to fix it. I would have to go to the Honda dealership where they would probably advise me to buy a new key.

Even though it was only 9:30 and I was planning to stay over two more hours, I drove straight home. I even skipped out on the Giordano's pizza party for the volunteers afterwards. Yes, I skipped out on pizza, I was that livid. I was mad at Jamie for making a stupid suggestion and madder at myself for listening to it.

After running a few errands in town, I got to McGrath Honda in St. Charles around noon. The man at the service desk was very courteous as he directed me too the parts desk. It took five minutes to get the attention of the guy behind the parts desk. He acted like I was a total inconvenience. Just very high-strung, speaking very quickly. He couldn't get the screw out of the key and basically said no matter what I did, I would have to get a new key and get it programmed, which is exactly the step I wanted to avoid, since that's what is so expensive. He soon walked away and never came back, even though I was going to ask him to write down my options and what my cost estimates would be. No, I never had the chance, he just took off.

 It's likely going to cost me close to $200, which I absolutely can't deal with right now. Hopefully, the coats went to good use. Other than that, I totally regret going to the YMCA today.

Grand signing!

It has been my opinion and the opinion of basically every fan of the New York Mets that they had to make this offseason count. With only $40 million on the books for 2014, and ace pitcher Matt Harvey out for the season, they had to add several high-quality players. Not MVP candidates necessarily, but good, reliable productive guys.

Curtis Granderson fits the bill incredibly well. After what felt like months of negotiating, the Mets inked him to a 4 year, $60 million deal.

Let's look at the facts. He is an 11-year veteran. He has speed. Three seasons of 20 or more stolen bases. He has power. Six straight season of 20 or more homers until last year when he was injured. A three-time All-Star and a very good defensive outfielder. He can play anywhere in the outfield, and that position is far and away the biggest weakness on this Mets roster. Moreover, after the last three years, he has proven he can thrive playing in New York City.

Not to mention he's a Chicago kid and part investor in the phenomenal Fifty/50 sports bar on the northwest side. I think I may have to go indulge in a 4-courser sandwich to celebrate!

The biggest knock on him is he strikes out too much. Over 100 nearly every season, including 195 in 2012. The thought of him and Ike Davis and Lucas Duda in the same lineup may set strikeout records.

Now GM Sandy Alderson has more work to do. A starting pitcher and a shortstop at the least. For instance, Bronson Arroyo and Stephen Drew. That might be shooting too high, but a team built like that along with David Wright, Jon Niese, and Zach Wheeler could win 85 games. If Harvey was around, I'd say that would be a legitimate playoff contender. Let's see what happens.

Books to read

1) "From Scratch" by Allen Salkin. This is about the history of the Food Network. I know most of the shows, but I want to learn about the stories behind the scenes. I understand the first chapter is about "Emeril Live" getting cancelled. That was the first show I ever watched on that network. So that chapter alone could make it worth the read. I still miss that show.

2) "Imus, Mike and the Mad Dog, & Doris from Rego Park: The Groundbreaking History of WFAN" by Tim Sullivan. Not a lot of dirt (which likely means very little about Sid Rosenberg), but I am interested in reading about the inside stories of the world's first 24-hours all sports radio station.

3) "If Kennedy Lived: The First and Second Terms of President John F. Kennedy: An Alternate History" by Jeff Greenfield. I'm into American history, but it isn't always the most fun topic to read about. But this is an interesting concept for a book: visualizing JFK's hypothetical years in the White House from 1963-1967. How would America and the world had been different? Interesting topic to ponder.

4) "The Squared Circle: Life, Death, and Professional Wrestling" by David Shoemaker. Contrary to popular belief, fans of pro wrestling can read. Two things I like about this book. It's written by a guy who is not employed in the wrestling business, so he has nothing to gain or lose by crediting or knocking anybody. He writes for ESPN and Grantland, so I expect this to be informative and entertaining. Also, it's a book that explores both the character in the ring as well as the unique relationship between wrestling and its fans, which I have been for 30 years. Perhaps it would behoove non-wrestling fans to read this as well.

5) "Kingdom Man: Every Man's Destiny, Every Woman's Dream" by Tony Evans. This is written by one of my favorite pastors in the world. Tony Evans works in Dallas, Texas and as much as I enjoy listening to his messages on the internet, I have never read one of his books. I think this could be the one for me. Knowing his style of preaching, this book will be engaging, but also very challenging.            

If you're not willing to understand...

1) Ladies, please don't insult a guy personally and expect to receive love and affection from him less than an hour later.

2) There's apparently a price to pay for being too honest with someone you think is a friend.

3) People who don't understand why I get emotional over my teams only needed to go through a day like this with me...The Jets stunk again today in Baltimore and the wheels have come completely off. The mirage of this team making the playoffs is almost gone. The quarterback stinks. The offensive line cannot block. The secondary cannot cover. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh wins, San Diego wins, Tennessee wins, and the disgusting, smelly Patriots win in OT against Denver. The only thing that went right was Miami losing. The only chance in hell they have is to grab that last wild card spot is to win their last 4 AFC games. And they haven't won two straight all year.

4) Three day work week. Sounds good.

5) I've never had writer's block, but with this group presentation, I swear I have Power Point block...eight hours in from of the screen and nothing is coming to mind for this project.

Fit Crunch Bars

I've been eating protein bars for a few years now, but only in the last two years did I start to learn when to eat them, what ingredients to look for, etc. I usually opted for Balance bars and Power bars only because those were the biggest names, so I guessed they had to be reliable. And of course, since I don't eat chocolate except for Oreos, that eliminated 80 percent of the flavors.

Now anyone who knows me I'm a huge fan of food shows on the Food Network and the Travel Channel. My fixations evolve every few months, but over the last two years, I make sure to watch any show that Robert Irvine hosts. Dinner Impossible, Restaurant Impossible, and now Restaurant Express, I watch them all.

Irvine is known for his British background, his no-nonsense attitude, and dedication to bodybuilding and physical fitness. So when I found out on Twitter that he was creating a line of protein bars, I quickly became interested. On the website for FitCrunch bars, I saw I could sign up and get a free sample. Both flavors, peanut butter and cookies 'n cream, had chocolate, sadly, but I figured I would try them anyway. I like an occasion cookies 'n cream power bar after all as long as I have a huge glass of 1% milk to go with it.

So the cookies 'n cream bar came about a month after I initially ordered. The sample-sized bar is advertised as baked and having six layers. Well, I appreciate the attention to detail. And the nutrition info impressed me: 16 grams of whey protein and only 3 grams of sugar, although the calorie count was 190.

When I took my first bite, I was quite impressed. It didn't taste powdery like many bars do, it tasted very natural. I tasted a definite crunch in the middle and when I looked inside, I saw what looked like mini-Oreos! The chocolate flavor was pretty overwhelming for me, but it was manageable. Very filling and very satisfying.

Two weeks later, the peanut butter arrived. There was less chocolate this time, so that appealed to me. On my first bite, I was drawn to the layer of crunchy peanuts right in the middle. And on either side of the peanuts was a cookie core and a layer of very rich peanut butter. And on the outside, I liked the drizzle of peanut butter over the outer layer of dark chocolate. I preferred the peanut butter a little bit more because it tasted more balanced than the cookies n' cream.

I would definitely continue eating the FitCrunch bars. I'm not sure about buying a case of 12 bars online right now because with shipping, that would cost me around $45.00. So for now, I'm waiting to see when they'll be available in local stores and for what price. Also, in January, there will be a new flavor debuting, caramel nut. It has a cookie and caramel core with peanuts to give it the crunch. Then it also has chocolate crisps, and outer layer of chocolate and a drizzle of caramel on the outside. I'm sure I'll at least give that a try. But, I'm still waiting on that non-chocolate option...

Move on

1) I've heard one of the best ways to determine if a relationship will stay together is how the couple handles conflict. Now I'm no relationship guru, but I've lived 32 years and I would say in the last five years, I've learned more than I had in the previous 26. And one thing I know is you don't release your frustration on social media. Even though I can be very outgoing, I prefer to keep some things about my life very private. And relationships are definitely one. So when a girl is upset, and she proceeds to write three angry tweets and five Facebook statuses (not including the threads, that would be another five or six more), well, I just don't go for it. Grow up...

2) DC quick recap: Woke up at home at 3 am, flew out at 6:10, landed at 8:45, Founder's Farmers for breakfast. Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Korea Memorial, MLK Memorial, World War 2 Museum, Holocaust Museum, Natural American History Museum, break at Barnes and Noble (I needed to sit!), Cure Bar and Grill for dinner, airport, flight at 7, home at 9:30.

3) Nice to have friends of the opposite sex where there's no pressure or grand expectations. Where I can just relax and have a nice time.

4) I will learn, but I won't be manipulated. I will forgive, but I won't cower. I will love, but I won't lose myself. I will hope, but I won't lose touch with reality.

5) Go Jets...

The $10 cover charge

1) So I'm in a salsa dancing club. I've been here once before and danced zero dances. I know this can't be monitored, but I wish they would charge less for clueless dancers aka me. Maybe $3.50 for an hour trial, then I'll decide if I want to stay. ID me if you want to keep track if I'm a repeat visitor.

2) Wheaton Academy chokes again in the state soccer playoffs. This time in penalty kicks against a St. Ignatius team they should have trounced.

3) Mr. President, I'll keep my health insurance, thank you

4) Confirmed: Tampa for Christmas!!!

5) I'm up to level 44 in family feud. At what point will I be satisfied and stop playing?

Baffling

1) I don't care how long or how hard anyone works, there is no excuse for their primary remedy or relief to come from alcohol. None. Moving on...

2) Thanks to my new friend Barbara for bringing marshmallow popcorn and Mary for bringing an amazing pasta salad. Oh, and the hour of music and prayer with 30 other believers was just dynamic. God truly is great.

3) During the praise music, I could have sworn I saw a ghost in that basement. I guess that ghost probably went swing dancing...funny, I doubt that ghost mentioned they were going away...

4) The mystery remains. Who bought me the New York Jets three-flavor popcorn tin and put it in front of my garage on Halloween night? I just pray it isn't who I think it is. Of course, I would certainly prefer if it was a female...

5) In the spirit of Zeb Colter, who is a Real American, I would like everyone reading to rise to their feet, put their hand over their heart, and say in a loud, clear voice..."WE THE PEOPLE!"

On a slow work day...

Blogging on my break, since there's nothing to do right now.

1) So the Jets’ season is halfway over and they are 4-4. More than likely, it’ll be 4-5 after they play New Orleans in six days. But the way they lost in Cincinnati was horrifying. 14-0 after the first quarter. 28-6 at halftime. I’ll be positive for a second. The Jets had three things go well all day: Nick Folk making three field goals, Mo Wilkerson’s interception, and the defense stopping
Cincinnati on 4^th and goal early on. That was it. I knew this game would be a challenge; Cincinnati is a well built, explosive, emerging team in the AFC. I expected them to win the AFC North and it looks like they will. But to lose 49-9 to anybody is inexcusable.

2) After playing their first nine games on the road, the New York Rangers finally play their first home game tonight in the newly renovated Madison Square Garden against Montreal. They opened the season 3-6, losing to some very good teams in the west, but also losing to division opponents New Jersey and Philadelphia, both of whom stink.

But the injuries this team has gone through are crazy. Rick Nash is out with a concussion, he's well on his way t becoming another Eric Lindros. Carl Hagelin is just about to come back from shoulder surgery. Ryan Callahan came back from the same labrum injury, then he promptly breaks his thumb and he's out again. Oh and we still don't know what happened to Henrik Lundqvist, but hew missed two games and he wasn't exactly playing well before he went out. He's confirmed to start in goal tonight, but after Cam Talbot beat Detroit in overtime, Henrik better be healthy. After this game, they have the Islanders on the road and Buffalo and Carolina at home. I want six points in these next four games.

3) First class is over and I got an A! I earned 991 points of 1,000. I'm happy to enjoy my week off and I resume classes on Wednesday. this time, it's 12 straight weeks, so I don't get a break until the last week of January. I believe I'm taking two courses on Strategic Leadership, so we'll see how this goes...

4) Looks like I may be heading to Florida after Christmas...details to come...

5) I like that Willow Creek is doing a series on Ecclesiastes. It's always been a favorite Bible book of mine and this is the first time in Willow's 38-year history that they've done a series on it. I'm looking forward to what Bill Hybels has to say about it.

Now that's a Saturday! Plus a little Sunday morning...

1) I woke up at 6:45 am and went to the gym where I got a lot of heavy lifting in. Then, I made a protein smoothie with berries, pineapple, and banana, cleaned up, and drove to Cumberland. I took the blue line to Grand, so not quite all the way to the loop.

From there, I walked six blocks south on Green Street to Randolph Street before making a right turn and going one more block. I made my second visit to JP Graziano’s for lunch. I asked for a tuna sandwich and they seemed surprised I was ordering tuna instead of the Mr. P. What was interesting was I had only visited once and they still recognized me and remembered what I ordered about four weeks ago. 

Of course, I asked for very little mayo, just enough to hold the sandwich together. It was no issue, they mixed a can of Genova tuna, which is marinated in olive oil, and combined it with celery, red onion, roasted peppers, and artichoke hearts before topping it with mild giardinera, provolone, lettuce, and tomato. And it all goes on that crusty D’Amato’s Italian bread. With a bottle of Sprite, it cost me a little over $9.00. All the ingredients tasted so fresh and full of flavor. Even though, I prefer the Mr. P with the cold cuts, this was a lighter alternative and it tasted tremendous.

2)    Then, I took the pink line two stops, from Morgan to Polk, which basically right near Rush Hospital, so I was on the west side, about five blocks from the United Center. Amazingly, I had never set foot in Little Italy in my 12 years living in Chicagoland. It wasn’t overly impressive, it seemed small, but I recognized a few famous restaurants like Pompeii and Rosebud. I walked over to the Italian-American Sports Hall of Fame on Taylor St. It wasn’t a huge museum, just three rooms over two floors, but I found so much great memorabilia. Plenty of Mike Piazza stuff, of course. I saw baseball uniforms, Olympic gold medals from hockey and swimming, football helmets, wrestling gear, golf bags, boxing gloves, etc. Legends like Phil Mickelson, Dan Marino, Andy Robustelli, Ed Giacomin, Macho Man Randy Savage,  Mike Modano, Ron Santo, Joe Torre, Vince Lombardi, Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, Tony Lazerri, Matt Biondi, Mark Bavaro, and Cammi Granato. It only took me about 90 minutes to go through the museum and the $5.00 charge was worth it. I just wish they had souvenirs available. Oh, and I found a Daily News article from June, 1946. “Pep KO’s Bartolo.” Poor Sal Bartolo, letting down my family name…

3)    From there I headed across the street to charge my phone at Starbuck’s for an hour. Then, it was Scarufo’s, an old school Italian bakery. I thought about a cannoli, but I went with a pumpkin bar that had this almond crust. Really, really nice dessert. I’m sure if I liked cappuccino, that would have been a perfect time for one
.
4)    By now, the wind was blowing a little stiffer, maybe 15 mph. I walked through it about two blocks west to Ashland St, where I caught the 9 bus, and took it north to Fullerton, and walked back over to the Squared Circle, Lisa Marie Varon’s/Victoria/Tara’s wrestling-themed restaurant. I had actually gone there after work on Friday night to hang out with Jay Lethal and Veda Scott, from Ring of Honor. I scarfed down delicious pizza wontons, a stuffed Windy City burger with Monterey Jack, avocado, onions, mushrooms, bacon, avocado, and aioli, and had a few locally brewed beers. It was so cool watching old ROH and WWE SmackDown with two of ROH’s biggest stars. There was one point when Bryan Danielson was on the ROH DVD, circa 2006. On the adjacent TV was Daniel Bryan on SmackDown in the present day. It was pretty funny. He has much more hair now, to say the least! Maybe the coolest moment for me, besides taking my pic with Veda, was when the Real Americans came on, Zeb Colter gave his usual speech, and I stood up along with Jay and said in a loud, clear voice, “WE THE PEOPLE!” Can’t buy memories like that.

This time, I came for the Glory By Honor pre-show party from 3-5 pm. I met Tadarius Thomas and ACH for the first time and they even sat at my table. They both ate pizza wontons and stuffed burgers with fries too, which I thought was cool, considering they’re both known for their agility and high-flying. I also said hi to Jimmy Jacobs, we’ve met a couple of times now. Good ol’ Q even came after work, and he of course, got his Mac Attack burger without the bacon. Lisa always makes fun of him for ordering the same thing, and I don’t blame her!

5)    Around 5:30, the three wrestlers, along with 20 of us boarded a small bus to take us to the Frontier Fieldhouse in Chicago Ridge. We tried watching a NXT DVD, but of course, only the audio would work. Wrestling on the radio doesn’t exactly translate well. I sent next to a young woman named Malin, who came to Chicago from France, just to see ROH. She spoke English very well and is very blunt; she has no problem making fun of anyone in a playful way. Hard to make her smile, but I’m sure she was just playing hard to get.

6)    The ride took about an hour; we had plenty of traffic getting to the highway. I didn’t get any merchandise this time. I’d been spending enough on food and the bus ride. Of course, ring announcer Bobby Cruise made sure to avoid me; he still couldn’t handle my Jets beating his Patriots the weekend prior. Very sad, isn’t it? Anyway, the Ring of Honor show was awesome. Kevin Steen vs. Michael Bennett was fun, especially when Steen did CM Punk’s finisher in front of Maria, Bennett’s fiancé aka Punk’s ex. And he flipped her off too! Roderick Strong vs. Paul London had us on our feet. The eight-man elimination main event told a great story; it was really entertaining. World champion Adam Cole had to have gotten a concussion on Michael Elgin’s top rope powerbomb that ended the match. I have no idea how he showed up at the after party. One of the highlights out of the ring was Q and I introducing Malin to Jay Lethal. She was so scared to meet him, but he happily took a picture with her and signed a photo. He immediately recognized me and said “Hey, we had dinner together last night!” That was a pretty awesome feeling.

7)    I immediately boarded the bus back and we all watched “A Night of Hoopla,” the last ROH show in Chicago. Roderick joined us and we all stopped at the liquor store next to Rosa’s to get some “goodies” for the ride back. I went with a 24-ounce MGD. Q was already back by the time we arrived. I had a hot dog at the show, but hadn’t really eaten a meal in 12 hours. I got pesto chicken pizza and an oatmeal cookie shake. The key was to grind the cookies down into the shake and drink them through the straw. Delicious! And I liked the pizza, I think I would order one with tomato sauce next time, but I liked the crust. It was 12 inches, so a typical medium, and I had no problem finishing it off.

8)    Q and I, along with our acquaintances Greg and Chris, chatted a little with Todd Sinclair, the head ref. But mostly, we let the wrestlers hang with each other. I did get to see Eddie Kingston of Outlaw, Inc. And he’s a diehard Giants fan. Of course, I wore my Chad Pennington jersey, so of course, he gave me a “Fuck the Jets,” before shaking my hand.

9)    I left the Squared Circle around 2 a.m. Thankfully, Q dropped me off at the Logan Square station, so I would have a shorter ride back to Cumberland. I had lost my subway card, so I bought the new Ventra card, which I was eventually going to have to do anyway, since Ventra is taking over as the way to use public trans in the city. No big deal, I lost about $5.00 on the lost card. But man, that was 25 long minutes back to Cumberland surrounded by a bunch of drunks in Halloween costumes. Then came the not-so-short 40-minute drive home and I stumbled in the house half-asleep around 4 am. I think it took three minutes for me to collapse in bed.

Kinsella

All my friends would say I should leave you alone
You've got a willing heart and an open eye
I know that they're right
But there's no way that I can
You lure me in
You shine so bright
Brighter than the diamond on your left hand.

Mid-day update

1) And there goes any respect I ever had for Abby Wambach...at least off the soccer field.

2) Very happy with the Jets' Monday night win over Atlanta. I did not expect them to win in the Georgia Dome. I was so impressed how they dominated both lines of scrimmage. Now they're hosting a winless Pittsburgh squad on Sunday afternoon. I take no game for granted, but this is one they should win.

3) Ready for the Lucky Monk tailgate tonight for Bears vs. Giants.

4) 441/450 points earned in Business Communications so far...come get some!

5) I'd appreciate if Metra can synchronize parking, so that the same machine is at every station. Paid double at Hanover Park this morning just because I didin't know if my first payment had been accepted.

6) If I get 5.5 hours of sleep in a given nght, that means I'm sleeping in.

NHL Predictions

Eastern Conference
Metropolitan Division
1-Pittsburgh
5-Washington
7-NY Rangers
8-Columbus
Philadelphia
NY Islanders
New Jersey
Carolina

Atlantic Division
2-Boston
3-Montreal
4-Detroit
6-Ottawa
Toronto
Buffalo
Tampa Bay
Florida

Western Conference
Central Division
1-Chicago
4-Winnipeg
5-St. Louis
6-Nashville
Minnesota
Dallas
Colorado

Pacific Division
2-Los Angeles
3-Anaheim
7-Vancouver
8-San Jose
Phoenix
Edmonton
Calgary

Eastern Conference Finals
Pittsburgh over Detroit

Western Conference Finals
Chicago over St. Louis

Stanley Cup Finals
Pittsburgh over Chicago

Latest 5k recap

Well, I ran my second 5k in 7 days. Usually, I go about five months between races, so I really didn't know if I had the endurance to get through this one. And considering my ankles had been bothering me for most of the week, I wasn't feeling perfect.

I loaded up on pasta with plenty of cheese and garlic the night before and slept about five hours. I woke up at 6:30 and ate my usual oatmeal raisin power bar and drank a liter of filtered water. I wore my sleeveless Jeremy Lin Knicks shirt, gray mesh shorts, and new Saucony sneakers. I left home around 7:45 and drove 15 minutes east on North Avenue to Wheaton Academy, my old high school.

Thankfully, the weather was actually comfortable, maybe 55 degrees. I was so thankful we had better running conditions that last year; it must have been 35 degrees that morning. I didn't see anyone I recognized except Chris Felinski, who has now become the head coach of the cross country teams. I was definitely one of the youngest runners, just like last year. The entire cross country team came to guide us and cheer us on; in fact, I'm pretty sure there were more volunteers than runners!

We started on the practice soccer field and early on, it was obvious that four or five guys were going to dominate the race. I ran a pretty consistent race in terms of my speed. But some things were different than last week's race. In South Barrington, we ran on a flat terrain and it was all asphalt. This weekend, I had to contend with running through grass and up and down these slanted hills. Those are the moments that really tested my will and endurance, but I got through them.

As I came down the final straightaway, I felt like I had just a little bit of a burst left. I manage to pick up some speed as I came across the finish line. I checked the clock and I finished at 22:17. I couldn't believe it, I had shaved 37 seconds off my time from last week. I never thought for a second I had run at a faster pace than last weekend.

Then, one of the volunteers explained to me that we ran 3 miles even, not 3.1, which is a standard 5k. So realistically, I would have finished right around 23 minutes, or maybe a little over. I was pretty content with that time anyway.

I headed over to the snack table for a banana, mini-sized bagel with pumpkin cream cheese, and two bottles of Ice Mountain water. Then, it was off to the gym for the sauna, shower, and whirlpool.

PS How did I get 255 readers of my last blog post when I usually get about 10? I'm not sure how to feel about that!

Under the Hood

1) Took a good look under the Hood last night (between midnight and 3 am) and I enjoyed the view immensely...

2) Finished the Fellowship Housing 5k in South Barrington in 22:54, good enough for 7h overall out of 140 runners and first place in my age bracket. Plus, I got to meet Olympic runner Evan Jager, which was a real thrill.

3) Jets beat Buffalo, raising their record to 2-1, and it's a good feeling. The defense looks absolutely dominant, with the way they stuff the run and they're doing a better job at rushing the quarterback than they have in years. And the offense totaled over 500 yards; some people didn't think the Jets would amass 500 yards in a two-game span this year! Next week, the Jets go Tennessee, which may have been last season's worst loss. Mark Sanchez threw five interceptions that game and thank goodness he won't be playing this time. Miami and New England may be 3-0, but let's see what happens...Sidenote: I can't feel too sad that the Giants are 0-3. And they lost today to Carolina 38-0!!!

4) Wolfed down a 2/3 pound burger at Fuddrucker's last night, my first visit since I tried to take down the 7 lb monster six months ago. I swear this burger looked like a slider! I wondered if I should have ordered a whole pound! Nice to hang with the Naperville group, especially Ian, Melissa, Rachel, and Maureen. Jason (my sort of twin) showed up. And I met Rebecca, who's a teacher in Oswego, and she was very interesting to talk with as well. She, Jason, Audrey, and I talked about everything from police officers to trains to sesame seeds.

5) I really feel I need to find some good music. I love all my stuff, but it's just starting to get very repetitive.

6) School is 10 days in and it isn't easy keeping up with everything. I wish I could only work four days a week, so I could take a full day, just do schoolwork, and get it off my plate. So far, I have earned 111 of 120 points, for 92%, so I guess that's a solid performance for the first week.

7) I tried to find Silver Linings Playbook in the library, but instead I rented The Hurricane. I always wanted to see the film about wrongly jailed boxing champion Rubin "Hurricane" Carter starring Denzel Washington. I'm sure I'll watch it sometime this week.

8) One more week till the Mets season mercifully ends. At least they swept the Phillies in Philadelphia this weekend.

9) I don't like to curse here, but I would like to give a big F You to the city of Wood Dale, IL for fining me $250 for crossing railroad tracks as the gates were just starting to come down. I couldn't stop the car in time, but there's no way to prove that. Wood Dale businesses will never receive another dime of my money again. And that may even include Top Golf.

10) Three nights till the Matt Redman concert at Willow Creek. For sure, it's going to be special.

5 rounds

1) Watching "Phantom Punch", which is a bio on the late Sonny Liston. I'm one hour in and I am certainly enjoying it. That said, Bridgette Nielsen, who plays a Vegas lounge singer, is already stealing the show. Pete Sampras, you lucky son of a bitch.

2) 4 days still I start graduate school. I'm just hoping I can handle it to go along with a full time job.

3) These first two Yankees-Red Sox games have been so dramatic. I can't say I've minded watching the Yankees lose both times...

4) Saturday lineup: Breakfast with Jen at Nosh, Festival of the Vine, Mike's 50th birthday party. The theme of the party is crazy hats, I think I have a good alligator one that will do the trick!

5) People who boast on social media about getting drunk. It makes no sense to me in any way whatsoever. Not that I have anyone specific in mind, but if they spent as much time and effort searching for work as they do drinking and hunting down hockey players, they might actually make something of their lives.

Song pick: "The Man In Love With You" George Strait

Those nights...

Around 1:30 am. When you know you need to go to sleep, yet don't want to move a muscle to climb two flights of stairs and walk into the bedroom. But then you're all alone. Nothing else to distract you except your own thoughts. And those are the times sometimes silence is the scariest companion of all. It just won't go away. It won't.

Black and white

I found myself in a room of chaos
Nowhere to move
The world spinning around me

There it appeared before me
Perfect as can be
Pure as black and white

No colors, no lights, no sound
Just so sudden
So striking
Unable to move

Not a sight, nor a sound
It was right there standing before me.
It was all I could want.
It was clear as black and white.

Then it came closer
That perfect blend
Of dark and light
Of fear and hope
Of mystery and clarity
Of black and white

Coming closer still.
I had to move.
I managed to extend a single hand
God, I had never felt this softness, this silkiness, this smoothness
Conforming to my hand.

I couldn't let go
But I held on too tightly
Or maybe I was afraid to hold on tight

The greatest thing I'd ever held
Slipped out of my hand
Gone as black and white

The Total Package

1) As I write, I am listening to Lex Luger's interview on Pro Wrestling Powerhouse. He's one of my favorite pro wrestlers ever and he just released his autobiography this past week. What's so interesting is that Tyndale in Wheaton, which is just 20 minutes from my house, is the publisher. I know a few people who work there and I even applied for work there several times. I am definitely looking forward to reading Wrestling With the Devil; I just hope Lex comes to Chicago so I can get my book signed. Hopefully, it won't take 13 years, like with Mick Foley.

2) Today, I achieved my highest error rate at Kaplan. I completed 37 of 38 submitted files correctly for a 97 percent rate, over 30 percent better than my score on Tuesday. I'm very happy about it and I was also pleased when two of my colleagues congratulated me. But now I have to keep it going. It was one day. I proved what I am capable of. Now I need to prove that I can keep my performance at that optimum level.

3) Let's see...today, Dad went to Mets vs Braves, Catherine went to Yankees vs Blue Jays, Julie is now in NY after winning the Mets FanCave contest and is going to two games. What am I still doing in Chicago?!

4) I'm not feeling a burning desire to attend my 10-year college reunion in Massachusetts in six weeks. Between flying, renting a car, finding a hotel, and not knowing who I will and won't see, I just don't know if this would be worth it.

5) The "break" has essentially been made. It was a long time coming. It had to happen. And then are are those who can't accept a break has happened. Some people need to just move on and let certain things go. And to stop reaching for things that can never be reached.

Song pick: "We Had It All" Waylon Jennings

Fortunate Sons Setlist

Wood Dale Prairie Festival
8/11/2013

Born on the Bayou
Green River
Down on the Corner
Good Golly Miss Molly
I Put a Spell On You
Hey Tonight
Someday Never Comes
Lodi
Travelin' Band
Suzie Q
Who'll Stop the Rain
Have You Ever Seen the Rain
Looking Out My Back Door
The Midnight Special
I Heard It Through the Grapevine
Bad Moon Rising
Proud Mary
Fortunate Son

Encore
Commotion
Up Around the Bend
Long As I Can See the Light

NFL predictions

AFC
East 
y-New England 12-4
Miami 6-10
NY Jets 6-10
Buffalo 5-11

North
y-Pittsburgh 10-6
x-Cincinnati 10-6
Baltimore 7-9
Cleveland 4-12

South 
b-Houston 11-5
Indianapolis 9-7
Tennessee 8-8
Jacksonville 3-13

West
y-Denver 11-5
x-Kansas City 8-8
San Diego 7-9
Oakland 5-11

NFC
East
y-NY Giants 11-5
Washington 10-6
Dallas 6-10
Philadelphia 5-11

North
y-Green Bay 10-6
Detroit 9-7
Chicago 7-9
Minnesota 6-10

South
y-New Orleans 11-5
x-Atlanta 11-5
Tampa Bay 8-8
Carolina 5-11

West
y-San Francisco 12-4
x-Seattle 11-5
St. Louis 7-9
Arizona 4-12

AFC Championship
Houston over New England

NFC Championship
Seattle Green Bay

Super Bowl
Houston over Seattle

Friday night's man

What I would give to be the diamond in your eyes again.
What I would give to bring those old days back again.
What did I do or say to make you change this way?
Maybe I'll just go away.

Forget about life, forget the hurt, forget the rejection.
You have only right now.
Stroll right in.
Gaze around, you don't know a face, but you recognize why they're all here.
See if you can find your place in here.
Let the bright lights and the pounding beats and the noise intoxicate your soul.
Your world can be erased, just a $5 cover charge.

You see the smiles on everyone else's face.
You try to force one, but it feels so fake
You see her, a distance away, yet she seems mere steps away from your lonely chair.

A connection just seems so far away tonight.
You just don't want to feel alone.
So you'll use her for a little while.
Imagine her smile is really for you
And that it's not there just because it's the nice thing to

Pretty soon you're both dying to escape.
Escape alone, admit this wasn't what you'd been looking for.
Then again, what did you really yearn for in this place tonight?

You head to the door.
Nobody would dare step in your path.
But please come back next week.
And bring back your false hope.
Just letting yourself get fooled once again.

For Granted

I would bend myself over backwards

If it would prove to you just how much you mean to me

Now I'm so sore

And even more unfulfilled

You take me for granted

A man can't spend his lifetime like this

I've got to keep going

Travel down this straight lonesome road 

Wanting what can't be had

And refusing what wants me

Jesus, Jack, and Jeremiah

They never run off

They'll keep me company tonight

Last hours at 31

Lord, this is the last night of my 31st year on Earth. Thank you for the joys and pleasures I have known this year. As I experience more, I want to remember them better and I want to acknowledge you as the source that they come from. God, I have so much to work on still and I know I always will. I hope you understand. I pray too that my friends would be understanding of me just like they would want me to be understanding of them. Please let me have some peace of mind and more purpose in this upcoming year. Amen.

ROH World Title Tournament

So for the first time in Ring of Honor history, the World title is vacant due to Jay Briscoe's shoulder injury. A 17-man tournament will be held during the summer and early fall, which will culminate in September in Philadelphia. The winner will become the new ROH champion. Here are the first round matchups and my predictions for the full tournament.

First round
Adam Cole vs. Mark Briscoe
Pick: Cole

Jay Lethal vs. Sonjay Dutt
Pick: Lethal

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Silas Young/Adam Page
Pick: Ciampa

Michael Bennett vs. BJ Whitmer
Pick: Bennett

Karl Anderson vs. ACH
Pick: Anderson

Michael Elgin vs. Paul London
Pick: Elgin

Roderick Strong vs. Matt Taven
Pick: Strong

Brian Kendrick vs. Kevin Steen
Pick: Steen


Second round
Adam Cole vs. Jay Lethal
Pick: Cole

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Michael Bennett
Pick: Ciampa

Karl Anderson vs. Michael Elgin
Pick: Elgin

Roderick Strong vs. Kevin Steen
Pick: Steen


Semifinals
Adam Cole vs. Tommaso Ciampa
Pick: Cole

Michael Elgin vs. Kevin Steen
Pick: Elgin


Finals
Adam Cole vs. Michael Elgin
Pick: Adam Cole


My rankings on who will win.

1. Adam Cole
2. Michael Elgin
3. Tommaso Ciampa
4. Jay Lethal
5. Kevin Steen
6. Mark Briscoe
7. Roderick Strong
8. Karl Anderson
9. ACH
10. Mike Bennett
11. Brian Kendrick
12. Paul London
13. BJ Whitmer
14. Matt Taven
15. Sonjay Dutt
16. Adam Page
17. Silas Young

Shutdown mode

1) I think my mission of the last 24 hours has been to catch up on sleep. After getting back from the Warren Dunes in Sawyer, Michigan, I slept seven hours, then late this afternoon, I slept another two hours.

2) And what a trip it was. I left home at 7 am and arrived around 10 (Eastern time zone). About 20 of us from group came. I got to hike up the dines and sprint back down and warp speed. We spent a lot of time floating in Lake Michigan, tossing the football and Frisbee around. Later, we spent some time walking down this stream that goes from the beach that leads into the woods. And against the sides of the stream, gray clay forms. So we painted each other up in clay and hiked down the stream through the rocks and trails and pits. Five of us, Faustino, Jason, Clarissa, Hilary, and myself went much farther, we probably hiked in the stream for about two hours. We all slipped and fell a few times, but thankfully, no one got too injured. I did lay out in the sun for an hour, and despite my best efforts to keep re-applying my 30 SPF, my shoulders and upper back still turned red. I'm so glad that someone invented Solarcaine.

3) We left the beach around 5 pm and headed to the Greenbush Brewery for dinner. I actually arrived about 45 minutes before everyone else in the group. I explained we had about 30 people coming and I don't think this place could seat more than about 50. But they eventually made room for us and we had a great time. I enjoyed an amazing turkey bacon melt. The turkey was brined in root beer and put on multi-grain bread with Michigan white cheddar, bacon, spicy remoulade, and some ancho chile. An absolutely tremendous sandwich. Along with two pints of locally brewed Emptiness beer, I only paid $15.50; there was no tax!

4) After a quick run across the street for some ice cream (I passed), we went back to the beach, hoping to catch the sun set. We arrived around 9:30, just a little too late. The park closed at 10, so we didn't have a whole lot of time. I remember it took us till about 10:20 to actually figure out who was going to be riding back with who. Eventually, it was decided I would drive back Luke, Jennifer G, and Hart. Talk about a dichotomy of personalities. A playa, a conservative girl, a borderline playa, and me. But the ride went quite well. We actually had a pretty good talk about topics like sex before marriage, adultery, past loves, traits we all wanted in our future partners, etc. After a quick stop for a tank of gas and a cherry Coke, the 90 minutes passed very quickly. Luke and I will never be best friends, I don't like what an obnoxious flirt he is, but I'll admit it wasn't that bad sitting next to him.

5) Rev. James Meeks of Salem Baptist Church is just an amazing pastor and speaker. We got to hear him speak at Willow Creek this morning on why our prayers matter so much to God. A very unique, vivid, and educational message. And his choir and band came as well to lead worship and they had us very active and worshipping with a lot of passion and energy. I didn't expect to run into my ex, I'd never seen her at Willow, but hey, I guess crazy things can happen. The meeting lasted five seconds, which in retrospect, feels about as long as our relationship!

Overdue NHL recap

So I made both regular season and playoff predictions for the NHL...how did I do? Well, I correctly predicted 5 of the 8 playoff teams in the East and 7 of the 8 playoff teams in the West. I picked Pittsburgh to beat Boston in the Easter Conference Finals. I got the teams right, although Boston won. the West...well, I picked San Jose and St. Louis and they won one playoff round between them.

As for the playoffs, I predicted seven of the eight first round series correctly and then all four second round matches and both Conference Finals correctly. In the finals, I had the Bruins over the Blackhawks, but credit to the Hawks for winning their second Cup in four years.

It still feels like the season ended two weeks ago. And I don't really miss it. I'm in total baseball mode right now, even if the Mets aren't really in the mix to make the playoffs.

The Latest NY recap-Part 2

I popped out of bed around 7:15 am and within 30 minutes, I was on my way to the Javits Center on the west side of Manhattan with Adam G and his son Michael. Throw in the other company, and I was totally surrounded by Yankee fans in the van, not my ideal situation. I wore my blue Mets cap and blue Gary Carter t-shirt.

T-Mobile was sponsoring the MLB Fanfest and they even designated a line specifically for T-Mobile customers. So since one of the people in our party of five had a T-Mobile phone, we actually got to stand in their Jump line, allowing us to enter before the masses could.

We entered and immediately saw the World's largest baseball, which has been autographed by many legends of the game. As Saturday was Heritage Day, Mets legend Edgardo Alfonzo welcomed us to the event and used a pair of oversized pink scissors to cut the pink ribbon, signaling the start of the festival. I immediately got his autograph, which was great, it saved me from standing in line for an hour! Then, I saw several staff workers handing out mini-Mookie Wilson bobblehead dolls. There was zero organization to the process though, it was just dozens of people maneuvering around each other and fighting their way to the boxes. As I was nudging my way through the pile, I was just relieved I didn't get stepped on or trampled.

I had my photo taken with the cardboard cutouts of the 2013 Mets and then I headed over towards the WFAN radio booth, which was right next to the stage where Mookie Wilson and Bud Harrelson would be signing autographs. The line wound up taking almost 90 minutes to get through. During that timeframe, I snuck over to the batting cages, where the machine gave me nearly every pitch high and outside, the last spot I wanted the balls pitched. I've always been a low ball hitter and this was just ridiculous. I also went to an MLB network booth, where my photo was taken in front of a set with Citi Field as the backdrop. I put on a black sports coat and sat at the news desk. When the picture came out, it looked like I was broadcasting with Al Leiter!

Back in line, we listened to the last hour of Boomer and Carton, who led us in a chorus of "Take me out to the ball game." They also went out into the audience to meet some fans and sign autographs. After they left the air at 10 am, Mike Francesa came in to do his show. For autographs, he had two errand boys run back and forth between him and the seekers. The boys would hand him baseballs, programs, pictures, or whatever else to sign. Little bit of a different dynamic!

So I met Mookie Wilson and Bud Harrelson and they were both very nice guys, especially when I told them I was a Mets fan from Chicago. They both signed my Mets baseball and it was really a cool feeling.

I hadn't eaten all day, so I stopped by the cheesesteak stand parked in the middle of the concourse. The recap on this one...Dry roll, meat that had been sitting under the heating lamp, no provolone cheese, only Whiz, and onions and peppers that were barely cooked at all. Plus a large lemonade that tasted more like water with a lemon slice thrown in. $17. Total ripoff.

Anyway, we went over to the Hall of Fame exhibit, where I saw so many amazing items such as Mike Piazza's bat when he broke Carlton Fisk's record for the most homers hit by a catcher, RA Dickey's uniform from when he won his 20th game as a Met in 2012, and the glove Tommie Agee wore when he made his amazing catches in the 1969 World Series. Plus, the Hall of Fame was having a NY baseball trivia contest. We hung around for two games and I have to say, I remember the questions being pretty hard. There must have been a lot of pressure on the contestants to sit on the stage in front of over a hundred people and answer some challenging trivia.

 

I headed back over towards the WFAN stage where Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts were doing their show. When we got there, they were in commercial and there was this tall blonde kid sitting next to them. I figured he was a production guy or maybe a volunteer. Much to my shock, it was Noah Syndergaard, the prized pitching prospect of the Mets! I didn't get to Noah for an autograph, he got hustled out of the building before he had a chance to sign anything. I did meet Joe for the second time and Evan for the first and they both signed my ball. I was happy Joe remembered meeting me at Wrigley Field a few years ago. All I had to do was remind him how cold it was that May evening and he knew it was me!

 

I shopped in the MLB Clubhouse which had so much cool merch to pick from. I think if I didn't already have my All Star game polo shirt, I would have got something. I looked over by the registers and saw Steve Garvey just signing. There wasn't much of a line, just ten or so people around. I jumped on the chance to get his autograph too.

Over at the XM radio booth, Casey Stern and Cliff Floyd hosted a show all afternoon. they interviewed Fonzie and Brandon Nimmo, the Mets outfield prospect. Unfortunately, neither Floyd or Nimmo signed. It was like Noah, the XM people just hustled Nimmo out of the room. Very disappointing.
 

So then, I wanted to another exhibit instead of seeking more signatures. I wasn;t exactly dying to meet Rollie Fingers or Rafael Santana, with all due respect. So I went to Steal a base, where people were racing 90 feet against either Matt Kemp, Derek Jeter, or David Wright...of course, the players were on a screen. I signed my waiver that I wouldn't sue or anything if I got hurt, emptied my pockets of my camera, wallet, phone, Chapstick, etc into my backpack, and stretched my quads, calves, and hamstrings as I prepared for my race. Now I wanted to get a really good start; I saw one or two people actually fall down halfway through and their pants wound up around their butts. So I took a short lead off the base and as soon as the pitcher on the screen began his motion, I took off right along with David. Within seconds, it was over. As I always did when I played baseball, I easily slid in headfirst into a black cushion, popped up, and coolly slapped a couple of high fives from the staff workers. That was so much fun!
 

Then I headed back towards the entrance area. I checked out memorabilia like old cards, gloves that were used 100 years ago (they looked more like boxing gloves), pins being sold for ten bucks each, and banners. I looked towards the entrance and saw a camera guy. This tall dude was interviewing random fans, I went over to get a closer look. My mouth dropped at what I saw. The guy conducting the interviews was stand up comic Pete Holmes, who was my floormate during my freshman year in college. I had not seen him in 13 years, so I got closer, hoping he might know me. After he was done asking a bunch of goofy questions to one of the fans, I said "Hey Pete. Gordon College, Ferrin Hall." He looked at me for maybe two seconds, then raised his eyebrows. He said "Adam, right?" I couldn't believe he still knew me! So we caught up for about three or four minutes and we gave each other a hug before we parted ways. Quite the surprise reunion!
 

So then, we went to the Robert Mazzino art gallery section. This guy is a world-renowned 3-D artist. He had amazing pictures of stadiums, batting helmets, posters. He even decorated two old Field level seats from Shea Stadium in festive colors. And since I have a connection with Fran who works there, they gave me a small replica 3-D pic of Citi Field to take home. It was so amazing, it must have been worth $75. I mean, it was just one amazing thing happening after another.

We also saw wall displays of every cap from MLB down to rookie ball trophies. We took photos of various baseball awards and trophies such as the WBC title, the Jackie Robinson award, the Home Run Derby trophy, and of course, the World Series trophy. It was right next to the ESPN radio booth, so I got to see Ryan Ruocco and Don LaGreca broadcasting for a few minutes.

So it was 4:30. And after standing eight of the last nine hours, I was ready to leave and sit down somewhere. So we left and walked by the Manhattan Center, right near Madison Square Garden, and took the C train from 34th St up to 103rd, St before walking to the Baconery on the Upper West side. Their special of the day was the caramel apple bacon donuts. I planned to get one and split it, but was going to have my bacon pecan pie immediately. Sadly, the pecan pies were all sold out already. So I got two donuts, one for me and one for my friend and we wolfed those down on the C train heading downtown. Little chunks of apple, the caramel sweetened the bacon, and the donut tasted so moist. Just an amazing donut. I also ordered a bacon marshmallow bar (it wasn't mini, in case a certain someone was wondering), two bacon chocolate chip cookies, a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie, and a bacon blondie, which is like a brownie, only made with maple instead of chocolate. I took all of those to go and gave them to my church small group back in Streamwood the next afternoon. Suffice to say, they were very appreciative! They even mentioned me bringing the food in the group prayer! Maybe bacon does have a spiritual aspect to it, I don't know.

Anyway, back to Saturday! We planned to take the B down to the N to the J trains. Well, little did we know the B was not running at all that weekend. So feeling hot, sweaty, and exhausted, we waited 15 minutes for a train that never came. And with each of the other two trains, we got to the station just as they pulled out. Just a crazy amount of waiting.

 

We got home to Middle Village around 8 pm and had some Rosa's Sicilian pizza and salad for dinner. I was done by 11 and woke up at 6:45 to catch an 8:50 flight back home to Chicago. Yeah, my hair gel got confiscated at security, but that's ok. I guess six ounces was just too large a size.

The Latest NY recap-Part 1

So after "A Night of Hoopla" with Ring of Honor, I got home from Marionette Park, IL around 11:45 pm. I probably got into bed around an hour later and woke up at 3:15 am. So I was going to live my Friday on less than three hours of sleep, something I almost never do. Throw in the airplane and going all around Manhattan, I had a feeling this wasn't going to end well!

 

As I always do, I parked at Blue Sky and took the 6 am plane, landing in NY around 9 am. Ellen and Angelo picked me up and dropped me at the house, where I changed clothes and cleaned up. I sure needed some extra hair gel! Then Angelo and I took the M train to the J line; I got off at Fulton St, near the lower east side of Manhattan.
 

I wanted to try a new place for lunch, and I decided on the Sandwich House on Ann St. It was a tiny cafe, maybe six tables and a counter, a very easy place to miss. I ordered a half sandwich on country Italian style bread with prosciutto di parma, arugula, sliced tomato, shredded Asiago cheese and a splash of virgin olive oil. It was less than five bucks, and tasted really fresh. A very solid light lunch.

 

I walked a few blocks west around Ground Zero and near the 9/11 tribute site. But I really wasn't willing to spend $17 to enter the memorial so I took a few pics and headed north to Modell's. Over there, I bought a David Wright shirt for a friend as well as one of those squeeze stress balls and an official Mets baseball for myself. Then, I headed over to Starbucks to charge my phone and read my Donald Miller book for an hour. At 1:15, I took the 6 train north from Brooklyn bridge to Union Square, and I then walked five blocks northeast to Lantern, a local Thai restaurant.

 

I saw Nona for the first Tyne in twelve months and as soon as she laid her brown eyes on me, she popped up from her seat and gave me an enormous hug. I also met her friend G, he's a French guy, whose real name I can't spell or pronounce. Jeanne showed up soon and we shared different experiences with travel, dating, men vs women dynamics, etc. I ordered drunken noodles with shrimp, Thai chicken wings, and a green salad with peanut dressing. It all cost about 17 bucks.

 

Then Nona wanted to buy us dessert and we went to Starbucks, which would not have been my first choice, with all the great bakeries in NY...not to mention juniors cheesecake. But I had a piece of coffee cake and an iced peach green tea lemonade.

 

With the rain coming down a little harder, we decided to just see a movie. I wanted to see Pacific Rim or White House Down, but World War Z was what the group chose. $14.50 for a depressing, freaky flick. I'm not into zombies anyway, but when humans become the zombies, it's even more uncomfortable. Also, it's still not easy to watch New York get attacked, not matter by whom. And on top of that, at the end, there was zero resolution, it felt like the sequel was coming any day. Brad Pitt's character himself said the war was just beginning...the movie was well made, I just hated the basis.

 

After that, we met with their friend Dan, who lives on the east side. Nona had a weird desire for corn muffins or corn bread, so we had to satisfy that first at a convenient store! We ran though the now very heavy rain from 2nd avenue to Park and went into a decent bar, where we ordered some apps and shared some goofy conversions. I drank a pint of Yeungling, since they were on special.

 

Around 10 pm, I gave some hugs, said good night, and grabbed the 6 downtown to Bleecker street, where I transferred to Broadway/Lafayette, where I caught the M train back to Middle Village. Once I got back to the house, I ate a couple raw oysters with a cold beer and watched the last hour of the Shawshank Redemption before I went to bed.

Crazy times!

1) The Fourth of July was an amazing day. For one thing, I didn't expect to see my ex show up, but without going into detail, at least we were cordial. After having no contact for nearly a year, I really didn't know what to expect. But I now feel more at peace than I did, so that's important.

2) After about my fourth beer (mostly Sunset Wheat with a little Sam Adams summer ale thrown in), I suddenly felt like dancing. Between the Rockette lines and conga dances (and I may have thrown in a little riverdancing), we tore that Itasca lawn up! I loved dancing up to this one tall blonde named Karen, who's like a decade older than me, but she's really funny, engaging, and beautiful. I got to talk to her again and I I enjoyed it so much. I still have no idea how she has never been married.

3) It was also good to see my friend Jeanne, who's in town from DC for a wedding. We had a nice dinner at Weber Grille before walking back tot he Palmer House hotel for a drink.

4) I really like having a new Ipod, one that lasts longer then an hour without charging it. I got six years out of my last one, hopefully, I have even better results this time. Oh, I think I'd better be careful not to put the new Ipod in the washing machine, after what happened to the last one.

5) Time for bed. Getting up for my day trip to Milwaukee in four hours. Let's Go Mets!

P.S. JM, AC, NC, NM, MM...they all close out in the last month...Something about June, I don't know...let's see what happens in July.

The week so far

It's Thursday afternoon and I really think I've done more living in the last five days than some people do in two weeks.

Saturday
1) Drive to Villa Park, help Jason load up the moving truck.
2) Drive to Downers Grove to where his roommate lives, load his stuff.
3) Drive to Arlington Heights, the site of their new apartment
4) Spent 25 minutes with Rockstar, Hari, Joe, and Jason, trying to get a couch into the apartment.
5) Drive straight to Hart's house in Wheaton
6) Drive to Cracker Barrel for dinner
7) Fried apples are so good!
8) Demolition derby in Joliet
9) Vodka/fresh lemonade
10) Throwing footballs around in parking lot

Sunday
1) Church
2) Outdoor baptisms
3) Trying to get away from the stalker
4) Run 30 minutes outside
5) Skype with Nona
6) Made chicken thighs, Mexican corn, and salad

Monday
1) Up at 5 am
2) Drive 45 minutes to Cumberland
3) 45 minutes on the blue line to work
4) Work 9 hours
5) Mom's plane from San Francisco gets delayed six hours
6) Fifty/50 for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals
7) Chicago wins the Cup
8) Blue line home
9) Arrive around 11:45

Tuesday
1) Up at 5 am
2) Drive 45 minutes to Cumberland
3) 45 minutes on the blue line to work
4) Work 9 hours
5) Blue line to the Cell
6) Mets vs White Sox
7) Guest services won't allow me to watch batting practice near the field. Pricks.
8) Chicken nachos
9) Mets lose 5-4
10) Home around 11:45

Wednesday
1) Up at 5 am
2) Drive 45 minutes to Cumberland
3) 45 minutes on the blue line to work
4) Work 9 hours
5) Blue line to the Cell
6) Comiskey burger (Triple patties with Chicago pico and celery salt on a poppy bun) Stupid!
7) Beef nachos
8) Mets win 3-0
9) Red and blue lines back to the car
10) Home at 11:45

Is this working?

I'm just mortified. I was considering heading to Fifty/50 or maybe some other bar to watch the hockey game tonight. Or with the beautiful weather tonight, maybe I'd go play disc golf or run outside. I really had no idea what my plans for after work held, but I had a lot of ideas and make the evening fun.

 

Well that got shot to hell around 4:40, when my daily review came in. I got 16 errors at work out of 50 files reviewed, which is nowhere near company standards or mine. Meanwhile, my peers never seem to to get more than two or three errors a day. Now I'm back on the train, feeling disgusted and just wondering if I'm worth anything at this damn job. I know I have tomorrow and we get a for week grace period as new his, but the face is running out fast. I think my rates start counting next week or maybe the following week. But the fact is I cannot go on like this. Dammit, I an better than that. Maybe I need to slow down, I don't know. But when they emphasize doing 70 student files a day plus having an accuracy rate over 97 percent, well that's walking a tightrope over Niagra Falls. I don't know right now if I'm capable of both.

 

During training and my first two weeks on the floor, my goal was to learn something each day and keep getting better. I really wonder if I'm improving at all now...