Florida-Day 4

So it was Saturday. Since the Courtyard offered free passes to LA Fitness down the street, I took advantage and headed over. The gym I usually work at is close and cheap, but it is limited in terms of the equipment they offer. This place, though, was loaded. They must have had 30 treadmills; in my gym, we have maybe nine. Suffice to say ours don’t have TV’s on each machine either. I was doing incline and decline bench presses, tricep press downs, kneeling torso rotations, hip abductions, all exercises I couldn’t do in my own gym. Afterwards, I wolfed a down a peanut butter Fitcrunch bar with a  glass of milk and I was feeling good.

Our first stop was Dunedin, which is a coastal town a little bit north of Tampa. One thing I like about it is there are practically no chain stores in downtown. It’s very independent and unique. They had a block roped off for a street fair with local merchants selling food, beauty products, art, etc. I sampled a few food items like jalapeno bratwurst, Italian olive salad (where were the cold cuts?!), and a vegan burger patty. The latter reminded me of why I eat meat. There was one company that stood out called Open Hearth Pizzza. They had a pizza oven that looked like an igloo that was attached to the back of a trailer. They cooked artisan pizzas in this oven and used wood to fire up the oven. Mom and I split a piece of tomato, spinach, and fresh mozzarella for four bucks. It could have used some more sauce, but I really liked the earthy taste of the crust. We walked around a little more, past the Dunedin Brewery, which is the oldest brewery in the state of Florida. I wasn’t ready for a beer, so we checked a few local shops out. I found an orange cowboy hat and orange and black Hawaiian shirt that I put on while Mom took a couple of photos. It was pretty funny. I also drove by the home of the Dunedin Blue Jays, which is one of Toronto’s Class A baseball teams. It was funny seeing a baseball stadium across the street from a VFW hall and next to a public library. The stadium was just there, like it could be passed by so easily. I think it may have been nicer than Tropicana field, at least from the outside!

Then, we headed two towns north to Harpon Springs, which is a very Greek town. We thought about heading towards the inlet to check out the boats, but it was really crowded and nothing in downtown really interested us, so we kept going. I decided to drive us back to Ybor City and go to the Tampa Bay Brewing Company. Yep, this place was on the Food Network too. Before we got there, it took ten minutes to find a parking space. This place has very few lots and there is a trolley that runs down the main street and it’s $2.50 for a ride. I can ride the CTA for less money and travel a lot more distance. Anyway, we get to the brewery and I sampled a couple of their homemade beers. In the end, I had a One Night Stand. Well, a One Night Stand American pale ale. We ordered a soft pretzel appetizer, but it never arrived. It may have been for the best, because we split the meatloaf and the bomb. The meatloaf is bacon-wrapped and is served with crispy onions and a mushroom demi-glaze over white cheddar mashed potatoes. I’m no meatloaf eater, but this was really satisfying. Just some fine comfort food. The bomb, well, that was one of a kind. It’s a half-pound burger topped with cheddar cheese, smoked bacon, and crispy onions. Then they stuff it inside their homemade pizza dough (which has beer) and bake it. They serve it with a horseradish ale that tastes a lot like the Bloomin’ onion sauce at Outback. It’s an outstanding burger, one of the more unique ones I’ve ever had.

Since Mom was tired, I took her back to the hotel. We were planning to go to Lifepoint Church in North Tampa, but that fell by the wayside. I couldn’t bear to stay in the room for six hours before going to bed, so I headed to the lobby and finished a bibliography for school. Then, I headed back to the Brick House where I watched the Tampa Bay vs. Montreal game. I may have been preparing for the next night at the Forum…anyway, I ate a yardbird sandwich (chicken and a bunch of other ingredients) and drank a Yeungling. I also chatted with a youth hockey coach who was next to me for a while and has attended the Masters golf tournament three times, it was pretty cool. And this new bartender was from Chicago originally. She had the classic Florida look, curly blonde hair, thin, etc., but also had that husky Midwestern voice. Quite the combination. Not quite as exciting a night as the first one.

Florida-Day 3

I opened the morning with 30 minutes on the elliptical. We had planned to go to Sarasota on Saturday so Mom could see an elderly friend of hers. Unfortunately, the friend thought we were coming the previous Saturday. So a few days after, she had hip surgery and now couldn’t see us. So we switched plans, choosing to drive an hour south to Sarasota on Friday instead. We had a little rain early in the morning, but the sky was starting to show some blue by the time we reached Sarasota. And I didn’t mind 70 degrees either.

We went to Alpine Steakhouse, also seen on the Food Network. They are known for their turducken, which John Madden probably made famous during the old Thanksgiving football broadcasts. It’s duck, inside a chicken, inside a turkey. It also has roasted red peppers, an andouille sausage stuffing, and a cornbread stuffing. They serve that with mashed potatoes, gravy, and cranberries. The lunch portion was $15.00 and it was really a unique combination of tastes. I could have used a little dark meat though!

We headed 10 minutes north to St. Armand’s Circle, a very trendy shopping area just off the Florida mainland. It may be the busiest rotary I have ever seen. There are probably five entrances/exits and there are tons of pedestrians and shops all around it. I drove just south to Lido Beach, where I stayed with my parents five years earlier. I took of my sneakers and socks, unbuttoned my shirt, and walked down the white sand taking in the sun and the beach atmosphere. I do miss having an ocean nearby. Sorry, Lake Michigan just isn’t the same. We even saw Siesta Key, the hotel we stayed at and walked around it. I would have even played a game of shuffleboard if the equipment was still around.

Then we walked a little farther and stopped at the Ritz just to explore. I let Mom go and just sat with my legs in the Jacuzzi as the sun beat down on me. Yeah, that was relaxing. All I needed was a Mai Tai. Anyway, we headed back and finally found a parking space. The clouds were quickly starting to cover us. I checked out a couple of stores, like Tommy Bahama. There were a couple of nice summer shirts that I liked. Of course, they were all $88 or $98. Next. I went to the Pepper Palace, a shop that specializes in hot sauces, salsas, and spices. And they had at least 30 out for sampling. I thought about trying a ghost pepper sauce for about half a second before common sense got the better of me. The Level 7 tomatillo salsa was plenty spicy for me. We also checked out a spice shop where I bought a packet of key lime pepper spice, which I will use on seafood and maybe even chicken. There was a stadium shop that featured banners of sports teams and unique photographs of stadiums. I saw a few interesting shots, but nothing worth paying over $100 for.

By now, it was almost 4 pm and I was feeling pretty tired. I was ready for some more food. We headed back to the mainland and over to the Old Salty Dog, only a five minute drive on City Island. This place I saw on Man vs. Food and I was mesmerized by the laid back atmosphere and that it was right on the bay. It’s just the perfect place to drink a Corona or two and I did! Even though it’s run by a British guy, they are known for their deep-fried hot dogs with four cheeses, bacon, sauerkraut, and sautéed onions and mushrooms. I wasn’t quite ready to do that, but we did get an appetizer of deep-fried dog bites. They were really good, especially the light and crispy beer batter. The hot dog is their own recipe of beef and pork. I also liked that it came with a light mustard, it was almost like a honey mustard. Really, really good. We ordered some mahi mahi tacos and peel ‘n eat shrimp to split. The tacos were pretty good. Very fresh fish, a lime sour cream and some green salsa. The shrimp had a nice kick with the garlic butter and Old Bay. Messy, but really enjoyable. With the Corona, it was just a perfect way to spend a late afternoon on the western Florida coast.

I decided to treat for dessert. We drove 20 minutes east to Yoder’s, which is an Amish restaurant in the middle of Sarasota’s Amish community. They are well known for their fried chicken and pies, they make over 30 types of pies each day. Driving into the tiny, winding parking lot, I tried to turn right inside but some jackass was trying to exit in the area that was marked entrance.  So I drove passed and entered the lot in the exit area. And of course, I was driving the wrong way in the packed lot. I got a spot after about three minutes, but with an SUV and almost no room to maneuver, I’m just glad nobody got hit!

Anyway, we checked out the gift shop, which of course, had a ton of Christmas stuff on sale. Then at the carry out window, we ordered two pie slices, a peanut butter cream and a southern pecan. The pecan had tons of pecans on it, which is key. It could have used some whipped cream though. Then again, I could have used a glass of milk. The peanut butter cream was awesome. It has vanilla custard, tons of whipped cream and two layers of peanut butter crumbs, which is a mix of chunky peanut butter and powdered sugar. One of the better pies I’ve had in a long time.

Then, we drove towards the highway. Mom wanted to stop at the Dollar Tree to get some laundry detergent. We did that, but two stores down in this strip mall was an HSN outlet. I knew HSN recorded their shows in Florida; I thought they might have some interesting merchandise. We went inside and my heart sank. 90 percent of this store was women’s clothes and the other 10 percent was bad kitchen appliances. There were three racks of NFL gear though. One was suede jackets that former Giants linebacker Carl Banks endorses. I found a Jets one that fit me, but I already have two jackets made of leather or suede. It was 40 percent off, I could have had it for $60, but it just didn’t make sense. The only other Jets gear I found was a rain jacket. Even though I didn’t love the look, it could have used some kind of Jets logo on the back, I needed something like it. So I got it for 40 bucks, which was about $25 off the retail price.

Florida-Day 2

So it was our first full day in Florida. I actually overslept by an hour, I guess for the alarm clock on my phone to work, the phone needs to stay on. I guess a certain someone in the hotel, not named me, left too much toilet paper in their pants, since I wound up seeing a trail coming out of their crack. Must have been ten feet long at least. Anyway, we went south down 275 towards St. Petersburg. We found the Skyway Fishing Pier, which used to be the bridge that connects St. Petersburg and Terra Ceia. Now they have a new bridge next to it and it’s rated one of the Top 10 bridges in the world. So we walked the length of the pier before leaving and driving a little bit north past Tropicana Field where the Tampa Bay Rays play baseball. And yes, it really is as ugly and dull as the hype.

We headed to downtown St. Petersburg, so Mom could check out the Mayflower Tours office. Being that it was one day after Christmas, it was closed. So instead, we went to a small art museum, which had a lot of food-related art. I did see one nice painting of cinnamon rolls. I also liked that there were three wrestling-themed drawings: one of CM Punk, one of Randy Savage, and one of the Road Warriors.

Then we went into northern St. Petersburg and found the Florida Orange Grove Winery. We went in and they let us try nine fruit wines and three smoothies. I think my favorites were the watermelon and Coco Polada, which had pineapple, orange, and a lot of coconut. If I lived in Florida, I’d be drinking a bottle of that every week!

Lunch time and I knew where to go: Ted Peter’s Smoked Fish. I had seen it on the Food Network and it’s tough to get great seafood in the Midwest, so I thought it would be a good idea. It’s basically a covered shack, nothing fancy at all. The waitress gave us free samples of their fish spread, Manhattan clam chowder, and German potato salad. Everything was amazing. The potato salad had bacon and bacon grease, no mayo, the way potato salad should be made! And even though the fish spread looked a little like tuna salad, it was awesome. I spread that on a saltine cracker and it was just a really light, flavorful condiment.

Mom got the salmon and I got the mullet, a fish I had never had, but was supposedly a big deal in Florida. Of course, I got another order of potato salad. The plate came to me with a huge filet, a pickle spear, tomato slice, onion slice, and a wedge of lemon. Apparently, you squeeze lemon on the fish and then eat it with the tomato and onion before taking a bite of the pickle. I have no idea who comes up with this, but it was great. The fish was moist and flavorful. The only hard part was I had to pull a lot of little bones out of it; there must have been at least 20. I would definitely return.

After that, we went into the fancy section of Tampa to walk around the pier. It was cool seeing people riding bikes, driving boats, and just remembering what a palm tree looked like. We checked out the Vinor Hotel, which is an elegant 100-year old hotel. I took some photos of their waterfalls, pool, and lobby Christmas tree. Then, we went into the Chihuly museum. Dale Chihuly is a famous glass designer who has galleries across the country. So we checked out some really interesting designs for about an hour or so. The colors were really bright, the designs very intricate. I can’t even begin to explain how they were made, but it was a neat thing to check out. Just goes to show I have interest in things other than sports and food, despite what some may think.

OK, back to food. We walked down the street and stopped at Kilwin’s, a well-known ice cream joint. Mom got a scoop of peppermint and I got cinnamon crumb cake ice cream in a waffle cone. What made this different than other cinnamon ice creams was it had bits of cake batter and a gooey cinnamon swirl mixed in. Absolutely crazy good ice cream. Then, back in Tampa, we made a stop at Publix to get some fruit, milk, yogurt, and, for me, a toothbrush. I forgot my Sonic Care at home; I always forget one thing every time I travel.

We stopped back at the hotel to chill for a while and I used the computer in the lobby for a while. Feeling in the mood for pizza, I drove us to one of the local malls for some Garibaldi’s. It’s a Brooklyn-themed pizza place and I liked that it had several NYC subway signs in the restaurant. I tried taking some photos of it. Unfortunately, I backed up towards the bar and there was a middle-aged woman right near me and I guess she didn’t sense me there. Our backs were to each other and somehow her right elbow hit my left shoulder. As that happened, she apparently spilled her glass of water on herself. She was pretty upset, but at least it was only water. The staff even apologized to me about it, but I wasn’t really upset. We got a 16-incher with sausage, tomatoes, and roasted peppers.  Even after eating a caprese salad, we had no trouble wiping out the whole pie.

We got back around 7:30 but I wasn’t ready to settle in for the night. I walked over to Brick House which was adjacent to our hotel. I had a really cute blonde bartender named Sam, who I chatted with a fair amount for a couple of hours. And I also talked for an hour with a girl named Rochelle, who was sitting next to me at the bar. My drink of choice was the Jacked Up, which was Bass Ale, Jack Daniels, Red Bull, and sour mix. I definitely didn’t notice the Bass; the other flavors were much more noticeable. It was a fine drink though. Then to top it off, I had a 22 oz Fat Tire.  On the TV, I watched a little of the Northern Illinois bowl game. I’m not a college football fan, but that’s kind of the local team, so I hoped they’d win. They didn’t. I made it home at 11:30 and went straight to bed.

Florida-Day 1

I woke up on Christmas morning at 2:20 am not to open presents, but to catch my first flight of the day, a 5:30 departure from O’Hare to Miami. I made myself a shake with 1% milk, peanut butter, a banana, and whey protein. Anything to avoid buying food in the airport. I dropped mom off at the terminal with the luggage and then I parked over at Blue Sky in Schiller Park. At 8 bucks a day, that saves me about 50 dollars vs. parking at the airport for five days.

I slept most of the Miami flight and since Mom offered to buy breakfast, I grabbed a bagel sandwich with egg whites, sausage, and cheddar cheese with an OJ. Of course, this is Miami, so they did things a little differently. First, the glass of OJ has ice cubes. Some drinks should never have ice and the first two I can think of are OJ and root beer. They used shredded cheddar cheese that wasn’t even melted. Finally, I expected a sausage patty; that’s standard on any bagel sandwich. Not here. They took two sausage links and cut them lengthwise. The sandwich was fine, but yeah, that Miami, is one quirky town. I was also a little disappointed that there were almost no Christmas decorations in the entire airport, unlike Chicago, which is well known for its Christmas scenes.

The flight from Miami to Tampa took about an hour. I spent most of reading it fruitlessly trying to solve Sudoku puzzles and reading That First Season about Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers in 1959. And I had to put my headphones on since right in front of me this woman with the overly thick Lawng Oiland (Long Island) accent was just going on and on about her divorce. I was just thankful she wasn’t on the Chicago-Miami flight.

So after an hour, we landed in Tampa. And I loved that first blast of warm air as I walked off the plane and onto the Jetbridge. Such a refreshing change from 15 degrees in Chicago. After claiming luggage, two bags for Mom and one for me, we took the shuttle to the offsite Sixt rental car agency. Take a second to Wikipedia that. I’d never heard of it either, apparently, it is German. Since I was the driver, I took care of the contract and I chatted with a cute Latina girl behind the counter. She gave me some places to check out in the area like the Blue Martini. Mom was convinced she was flirting with me, I definitely didn’t think so. I mean it’s not like I’m trying to pick a girl up at the rental car desk. But I expected a compact car and she gave me a black Chevrolet Captiva, which is a mid-sized SUV. I loved the features in this car: USB plug in for my Ipod, moonroof, the electronic tire pressure indicators, even the rear windshield wiper!

So I put on my sunglasses, I open the windows, and start her up. I start driving out on Cypress Road feeling like I’m on the top of the world. I look down at the display and saw the gas gauge. It was less than ¼ full. U-turn! It turns out this company doesn’t give a full tank of gas, but I wouldn’t have to fill it up before I returned it either. I’ve never seen a rental car company that operated that way, but no big deal.

We drove east to Ybor City, which is the happening area of Tampa. We went to Columbia, which is Florida’s big Cuban restaurant, for Christmas dinner. The place was absolutely packed, but we got a good spot near a wall, where Mom was able to charge her Iphone. We ordered the 1905 salad, a staple of any visit. It’s the simplest salad with iceberg lettuce, tomato, ham, green olives, Swiss cheese, turkey, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and a classic dressing with extra virgin olive oil. Somehow, all those flavors come together perfectly. And I have to get it with the shrimp al gambillo, a spicy Latin flavored grilled shrimp. It just puts the salad over the top. Oh, and they give each person a loaf of Cuban bread.

We also got a pitcher of sangria. The flavor of fruits and light red wine just cry Florida. For entrees, she ordered the paella which was fine. The scallops were great, the squid, not so much. I ordered the Joe y Marilyn salteado, which is a Chinese-inspired Cuban dish. Apparently many Chinese people came to Cuba in the 19^th century and this dish came from that. It’s like a Cuban stir-fry with chicken, tenderloin, pork, shrimp, chorizo, potatoes, peppers, onions, EVOO, garlic a splash of red wine…great stuff. And I did get a piece of key lime pie to go. I still believe in the sweeter taste, not the tart taste, by the way.

We drove towards the Courtyard in South Tampa, but I first stopped at Raymond James Stadium, where the Bucs play to take a few pictures. We checked into the hotel, which was pretty nice. I especially liked being on the first floor and we had a fridge in our room, which I think sort of kept food cold. After changing my clothes, I wound up napping for two hours. I grabbed a quick workout in the gym, then heated up the leftover salteado in the microwave. I came back to the room and watched some Jeff Dunham on Comedy Central before texting a certain friend in NJ for a few hours.

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!"