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.