Five hits

It's one of those evenings when I feel like knocking out a few bullet points, because I really don't know what else to do right now. I'm not feeling incredibly articulate, so here's what will be.

1) I want this job at COD to work. It's to the point that I'm desperate. I just get the feeling that as a part-timer, I'm incredibly dispensable and they are looking for any excuse to throw me out. It may just be my paranoia. But it feels like every mistake gets blown up. I feel like I'm on borrowed time there.

2) At the restaurant I work at, I'm convinced the manager in charge of schedules has a learning disability. How many times must I explain that I have no interest in working Sunday mornings anymore?

3) How did I lose my COD ID card? I have no desire to pay ten bucks for a replacement, but I'm running out of options if I can't find the stupid thing.

4) Penrose in Geneva makes pretty good beer, but I've had better.

5) I'm totally slacking on my training. I went to the gym Monday through Wednesday and have done zero since, aside from dog walks. Time to get back on the wagon on Monday.

Why we as Mets fans are crazy

This is taken verbatim from Bill Price's blog in the Daily News this afternoon. It perfectly sums up the mentality of a Mets fan and why we are crazy, especially as this team is a few games out of a playoff spot, but feel so far away.

I went to the Yankee game Thursday afternoon and while I was there got into a conversation with a non-Mets fan (something I usually don't like to do), and he asked me why are Mets fans so dramatic, so reactionary, losing their minds with every bad loss and even looking at a positive sign with a crooked grin?

I thought about it for a second and told him that we are like that because we are so used to things falling apart, so beaten down by the losing and that any good news is taken with a grain of salt and any bad news is looked at as the beginning of the end.

All day long, as the Yankees were pounding the quitting Orioles, I didn't think twice about my answer, figuring I had nailed it on the head, but when I got back to BBHQ and started reading all the quotes from Sandy Alderson and Terry Collins, I realized my original answer is incorrect. What I should have said is, "Because the franchise we root for is a complete, dysfunctional mess."

Think about what has gone on in the last 24 hours: The Mets lose a brutal game, the manager takes the blame for the game (as well as he should have), and then today Terry Collins reveals Michael Cuddyer can barely walk, but won't go on the DL, and then Alderson says he can take on a big contract, but no one believes him (gee, I wonder why).  Oh, I forgot to mention that the Mets also announced a lineup for Thursday's game that most Triple-A pitchers could dominate, let alone the guy they are facing in Clayton Kershaw. The only good news is that Zack Greinke's wife is in labor and he headed back to LA (take your time Mrs. Greinke).

And then we find out the Aramis Ramirez went to the Pirates for a bag of balls. The Pirates just had to pick up $3M. Imagine having Ramirez hitting cleanup tonight instead of John Mayberry Jr.

Anyway, back to my original point, you get the feeling the Mets players, execs, managers and GMs enjoy screwing with us, playing with our emotions, making us crazier than we already are. How else can you explain this Cuddyer situation or Alderson being a smug, joker as another season goes down the tubes? Maybe they hold these press conferences, then go on twitter and have a couple of good laughs.At least that would make some sense and make us feel better.

But in reality, as each day goes on you get the impression they have no idea what they doing, no idea how to fix this mess and no idea how insane they are driving their paying customers. Unless something changes by Friday, the only non-pitching big names playing for the Mets this weekend will be Nancy and Ann Wilson. At least the Mets, for once, will have some Heart.

As for the fans, we have heart, but our patience and minds are wearing thin.

The worst loss of the season

Going into this series against first place Washington, I really wanted the Mets to win 2 of 3. The Nationals are missing four everyday players and the Mets were able to avoid the dominant Max Scherzer. After splitting the first two games, it came down to the rubber match this afternoon. After this game, they'd either be a game out of first place or three games out of first.

The Mets were leading 3-0 early and 3-1 after five innings. Noah Syndergaard didn't have his best stuff, but he worked his way through five innings. Hansel Robles escaped two outs and nobody on in the sixth. Jenrry Mejia came in and shut Washington down in the seventh. And then came the eighth. The freaking eighth. Bobby Parnell had been a good pitcher this season since coming back from Tommy John surgery. One run allowed in 13 innings. And he starts off striking out the Mets killer, Wilson Ramos. Then Ian Desmond walked. When Matt den Dekker singled, I knew it was trouble. This stiff is their 8th place hitter, a former Met, and the Mets couldn't get him out once today. Then pinch-hitter Tyler Moore lines out. two down. Up comes Michael Taylor, a bench player who has done almost nothing in his career. Single. Two runs score. Tie game. With two down, this is where the genius manager Terry Collins needs to bring in his lights out closer into the game. This is the biggest game of the year and Jeurys Familia needs to be pitching to Danny Espinosa. But Collins doesn't have him up yet. And Espinosa gets a double to left field. Right there, the game was over.

Meanwhile, the Mets offense went into the tank. No baserunners after the fifth inning. And the last three hitters all struck out. This is unquestionably the worst loss of the 2015 season. In fact, it may be the worst loss the Mets have had since 2009. They are hanging on barely to the division race and wild card race only because of their starting pitching and closer. They play brutal defense, they have no team speed, and they have the absolute worst offense in baseball. Second fewest runs scored, fewest hits, and lowest batting average.

And now they get to face the West division-leading L.A. Dodgers with Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw, probably the two best pitchers in the game. The Mets have been notorious for getting off to decent starts in recent years before collapsing in the second half. That's exactly where this is going. Because a loss like that will kill seasons. And with this front office's unwillingness to call up Michael Conforto or to trade for a legitimate hitter, this season will just slowly, quietly, painfully fade into the abyss. But why should any of us as Mets fans be surprised?

New York City, part 4

Well, this day started slower. I woke up around 7:30 and Jimmy and I grabbed breakfast at Pruzzo's again. I went with egg whites, bacon, and cheese on a roll and it was awesome as well. We also stopped at an Italian bakery, where I picked up some bread and cannolis. I packed up and also got a breast of chicken that I wrapped in aluminum foil, which I put it in my backpack. Little did I know what that would result in later in the day.

Jim's friend Meredith picked us up less than an hour before the game started. Of course, being an early bird, I was stressing inside already. I put my luggage in the truck of her very compact car and climbed into the backseat, where twenty packs of Parliament cigarettes were laying on the floor. I wanted to gag, but at least the car didn't smell too much like smoke. We fought some traffic, but we got into the stadium around 12:45. We got our drawstring bags and they went to left field, while I walked around towards right field. I happily wolfed down a Italian special hero from Mama's of Corona. I even took a few bites during the National Anthem. I don't know if that's taboo, but what can you do now?

I sat in the first row of the right field Pepsi porch, which was an awesome view. In one of the most improbable things I may have ever seen in baseball, Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit three home runs and the Mets won 5-3. With the Mets three game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks, they are one game behind the hated Cubs for that second wild card spot. Hopefully this great performance by a player who usually stinks will not dissuade Sandy Alderson from going out and trying to bring a professional bat in.

So Meredith and Jim took me straight to the airport. Now I usually get through security quickly at La Guardia, since there aren't long lines with only ten gates in the terminal. But after I passed through the full body scanner, I saw my backpack had been pulled out. So I knew I was getting held up. But with two hours to go until my flight, I wasn't worried. The TSA agent emptied my backpack, checking my books and phone primarily. After they found nothing, they told me they'd have to do a full body search. I was taken into a secured back room and all of me was searched for nearly ten minutes. Again, nothing. One more check of my phone. Nothing. On my way I went. And a few minutes later, a thought occurred to me. I had thrown that chicken wrapped in foil in my bag. I'm now thinking that foil resulted me getting searched!

When I got to the gate, I was 4th of 5 people on the standby list. With the flights I could take, I felt good. Twenty minutes later, I liked at the board and I was suddenly 12th. Suddenly my stomach got tight and I felt myself getting very nervous. Indeed, I got bumped off the first flight. The next flight was larger, which was encouraging. I got on and as I sit on this plane, flying over somewhere in Canada, I don't see an empty seat around. I'm just thankful and relieved I got on. I believed I would, but you just never know sometimes.

New York City, part 3

I left the apartment sound 8:30 and planned to get a bottle of water at the local Pelham mini mart. I did there behind one guy for for minutes and then two people cut in front of me, so I walked out. Fun start. I took 6 to the F and had to walk three blocks to Lexington and 63rd from 59th St. I went down five flights of stairs only to get to the platform and find out that the F trains were not running downtown that weekend. So back up the stairs I went, all five flights.

So I was 15 blocks away and my father had already been waiting 15 minutes the NHL store, so I did something I'd never done before. I caught a cab on my own. I bought a gray 3/4 sleeve Rangers shirt. I was looking for a hoodie, but i was pleased with my purchase. I needed a drink, so I got a green peach tea lemonade at Starbucks, about a full dollar more expensive than the Starbucks where I work. We walked by Carnegie Hall, after he turned the wrong direction, but hey, we killed a few extra minutes before lunch.

I had a groupon for Uncle Jack's steakhouse and since neither of us go out for steak much, I thought it would be a nice treat. We started with two appetizers: Wagyu meatballs and  baked clams. Both were great and the clams and that oreganata bread crumb topping that we like. The house salads with citrus vinaigrette were gobbled quite quickly. Then cane the main event. We both got a 14 ounce strip streak and it wad excellent. Great crust, full of juice, and cooked a perfect medium rare. Usually it comes with garlic mashed potatoes and creamed spinach, but the chef gave us German potatoes and sauteed spinach due to my dad's dairy allergy. The sides were outstanding as well. For dessert, we split a ginger and key lime crumble with graham cracker crumbs in a mason jar. It tasted like an upside down key lime pie. Nice tart lime flavor but it was really filling. The service was prompt and friendly and we had just a great experience.

Then it was onto Queens and Citi Field for the Mets game. We had seats in the Caesar's club section, right in front of the press box. It was a warm day so I'm glad we were in the shade all day. Arizona took an early two run lead and we were all nervous. The game turned in the fifth inning when Lucas Duda crushed an opposite field home run. Later that inning, Matt Harvey hit his first career home run, giving the Mets the lead. Mets won 4-2. I walked away with a lot of mercy, including two Juan Lagares bobbleheads, a new cap, a key ring, and car decal. I didn't even eat though, just drank a souvenir lemonade. So I said goodbye to my father and I wound up sitting in Grand Central for an hour waiting for another friend to finalize her plans.

I met Laura for the first time and she took me to Throggs Neck to an Italian place that she enjoys. I liked it, but they were pumping the house music so loud that it quickly got annoying. And I ordered an iced tea and I know it wasn't brewed. It was disgusting. A decent restaurant should always brew their own tea, no excuses! I had a dish with chicken, sausage, potatoes, pepperocini, and a lot of olive oil and white wine. Really good stuff. Nothing like good 10 pm Italian food. She was great company and I'm glad we finally got to meet after about a year of virtual communication.

New York City, part 2

So it took 40 minutes of waiting for the right bus to show up. Meanwhile my two Metro cards had expired, so I had to buy a new one. I had to stand on the bus, even at 1 am, there was no room to sit. I connected to the 6 train in Harlem around 1 in the morning. What could go wrong there, right? Me in Harlem. But I got to the apartment around 2 am and was on the couch asleep within a half hour.

I got up after about four hours of sleep. I thought I'd be a little groggy, but I was ok. All I had was a two person couch and a small square pillow. I left around 8:30 and walked over to Pruzzo's deli, which was right next to the subway. Pelham Bay is one of those classic residential New York neighborhoods, where you walk everywhere and know most people. Forget a Wal Mart, this place has general stores that have so much packed into such a small place, it feels like a sardine can. Anyway at the deli, I had sausage, egg, and cheese on a seeded roll. I was allowed to choose a bread from the bin and hand it to the man, who then made my sandwich. And it took a couple of minutes to make; these were not microwaved eggs, folks. Great stuff.

I took the express train to 59th St in Manhattan. Within two minutes of walking, I ran into the crew of the tv show "Hotel Impossible." Anthony, the host, was bald and in a suit, same as always. It happened around 50th and Lexington. I walked over to the Jets shop to do since shopping, but I guess it was closed. There was a lot of construction going on and there wasn't a Mets logo anywhere in sight. So I moved and walked down to Battery Park and went inside the Mets clubhouse store...where I didn't buy anything either. Then I walked through Times Square and south to Madison Square Garden. It's been a while since I've been there for a game and hopefully it'll happen this winter.

After taking a lap around the Garden, I took the B train to Grand St and walked a couple of blocks east to Little Italy. I had a walking tour booked through groupon and I was really looking forward to it. As I walked, I noticed that Chinatown has really taken over the neighborhood. I'd see an Italian cafe and the a nail salon and then a Vietnamese restaurant right next door. We started in the back of a church, where we learned about the history of the neighborhood, including the housing, tenement apartments, and the trends of immigration over the last 100 years. All the places we visited had been around at least 100 years, so these businesses were the real deal.

We started at the oldest cheese shop in America, Alleva, where we sampled their fresh mozzarella with some freshly sliced prosciutto di Parma. The saltiness of the ham and the smooth creaminess of the cheese worked together so well. Then it was onto the Parisi bakery, where 15 firefighters were waiting outside on line. When a fire department likes a place, you know it's good!

We got pieces of prosciutto bread, which was semolina bread bashed with prosciutto, cheese and herbs. I had three pieces. Our next stop was a place if wanted to visit for years: Lombardi pizza. This place is recognized as the first pizzeria in NYC. We had margherita style pizza, sadly it was only one slice each. It was amazing. Crispy crust, bright tomato sauce, fresh cheese, and the fresh flavor of the basil. I'd easily return for more. Finally, we went to Ferrara's, which is well known for their desserts. We got small cannolis and I might have got some gelato if I wasn't so darn thirsty. So I said goodbye to the group, including a family of four ladies. One was around my age, so of course, I spent some taking with her.

I walked a half hour south past City Hall, where the USA women's World Cup soccer parade had just happened. I walked past literally hundreds of cops and confetti had covered the sidewalk like snow. I continued past the Financial District and the Staten Island Ferry and into Battery Park, the southern tip of Manhattan. They had a beer garden, where I enjoyed a nice local brew and I then walked over to the beaches on the shore. It was such a pleasure to sit and tan in the sun while barefoot and my shirt off.

I watched the ferry boats go in and out and I had a great view of the Statue of Liberty too. Around 4, it was coming on chow time. I decided to head into Coney Island. I took the R train into Brooklyn, where I connected to the N. I decided, instead of Nathan's hot dogs, to try Totonno's pizza, which I saw featured on the Food Network as the best in America. This place literally does nothing but pizza and they're only open four days a week. So I ordered a 14 inch with half cheese, half sausage and mushroom. It had a great charred crust and fresh mozzarella cheese. The sauce was very zesty, it was good, but not the best. The disappointment was the bottom of each slice, where it was soggy in the middle. Maybe it was from the oil, but to me, a good crust needs to be crispy all the way through.

I left and headed into the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. It's become a hipster area and it used to be quite rough. I wanted to check out the Brooklyn brewery. Little did I know there was a twenty dollar cover charge. I merry up with my friend Peter, and we decided not to stay. Instead, we drank three pitchers at a different bar. He's a decent guy, but it's obvious we have very different worldviews. Our views on women, God, and people are just radically different. I guess our similarities are the Rangers, the Jets, and being single. It was ok, but I'm in no rush to see him again. Eventually, I headed back to Mahan Ave, arriving around 1 am.

New York City, part 1

I don't know how to explain this. In fact I'm sure I'm in the minority on this opinion. But I find flying in an airplane to be far more peaceful than the process of getting on the plane. Maybe it's the carryover effect from the unprecedented level of drama I experienced in May during my Austin excursion. But now I just have uneasy nervous feelings when I'm just sitting in an airport.

I left work a half hour early to drive up to Schiller Park. I've been parking at Blue Sky for a couple years now and I've always been pleased with their service. I arrived at their faculty around 7 and I had an 8:30 flight. My hope was to arrive in the terminal by 7:30 so I can check in my bag. So I wasn't thrilled when I was told we were going to the off-site international terminal first. We got there around 7:20 and I could feel the knots forming in my stomach with every red light that delayed us. The driver then told me to take the train to Terminal 3. I freaked, picking up my bag and sprinting  inside the terminal and down the stairs to the platform. By the grace of God, a train was waiting.

Security was a breeze, though I wasn't thrilled to see the last LGA fight was delayed by an hour and the JFK flight by 90 minutes. Going into this, I was second on the standby list, with the or four open seats. But with the delays, I couldn't help but dread the thought that someone might take a seat on my flight instead. If I didn't get this flight, I was not going to get out all night. Somehow the plane went out with 15 open seats, so it worked out. I'm scheduled to land around midnight. For the first time, I'm having hard liquor on a plane. I've had a few glass of red wine before, when in first class. But hey, I deserve to celebrate graduating and getting my 4.0 in grad school. I have my master's of science in HR management now. And if I can't attend a ceremony for another eleven months, than damn it, I'm going to treat myself now.

I have at least another hour in the air and I have to take a bus and subway to get to my destination in Pelham Bay in the Bronx. Probably won't be getting to sleep until 2 in the morning. But at least I get to start Friday morning in New York, rather than waking up at 3 am in Chicago. It's going to be a fun three days.

John Fogerty

Set list from the 1969 tour. Preformed at the Pavilion on Northerly Island in Chicago, right near Soldier Field. What a great event and a fun show. I definitely would want to attend a concert at this venue every summer.

Born on the Bayou
Traveling Band
Up Around the Bend
Who'll Stop the Rain
Looking Out My Back Door
Joy of My Life
The Midnight Special
Keep on Chooglin'
Hey Tonight
New Orleans
Lodi
Green River
Good Golly Miss Molly
Mystic Highway
Ramble Tamble
Long as I Can See the Light
I Heard It Through the Grapevine
Have You Ever Seen the Rain
Down on the Corner
Centerfield
The Old Man Down the Road
Fortunate Son

Encore
Bad Moon Rising
Proud Mary

Kenny Rogers

Set list from the free concert I attended in Elk Grove Village on the 4th of July.

Love or Something Like It
It's a Beautiful Life
If You Want To Find Love
Through the Years
You Decorated My Life
She Believes In Me
Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town
To Me
Coward of the County
Daytime Friends
Buy Me a Rose
Just Dropped In
America
Oh Baby Don't Leave Me in the Nighttime
We've Got Tonight
Have a Little Faith in Me
The Gambler
Lucille
Lady
Islands in the Stream

An hour left in the work day and nothing much to do

Let's go sports-free on this post. I need a break from it.

1) New food find: Benchmark bar in Old Town, Chicago. Their Korean steak tacos are amazing. Red pepper sauce, a great Asian BBQ sauce, a little bit of heat, some fresh cilantro. Wonderful grub.

2) I got to attend the Act Like Men conference at Moody Church for free and that opportunity came out of nowhere. 4500 guys filled that church up over two days to hear some great speakers and worship God. I have to say there were some very challenging messages and some things that would tick certain folks off. But I'm so glad that it was honest and direct. I now have Pastor MacDonald's book, which shares the same name as the conference. It's a 40 day study and I hopefully will be better for reading it. I know I'll get some good info, but I hope I'll be a better man for having read it.

3) Exactly one week till I finish grad school. One mere week!

4) Little did I expect that my car would need synthetic oil for oil changes. But it does and I guess that's an extra $50 to spend every five or six months.

5) The same day as that oil change, I attended Alison and Rob's wedding in Wheaton. I did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did. I didn't know the groom at all, for starters. But they asked me to videotape the ceremony and reception. Now, I had zero professional videotaping experience, but I agreed. I got to the church an hour early and they gave me this little black case. I opened it and I didn't know if I was looking at the camera or the battery. I spent about ten minutes figuring out how to use it and nine of those minutes were probably spent on just turning the camera on! But it went well. the ceremony was short and sweet. The reception was at a local golf club, which makes sense, since Rob is a golf teacher. I drank my share of peach-flavored Jeremiah Weed sweet tea vodka and lemonade. I did a little dancing for sure, but I was content to do the taping. I did meet a cougar and quickly realized that it's just not my thing anymore.

6) "Aloha" may be the worst movie I have seen in a theater since "Albert Nobbs."

7) Water keeps slowly seeping in through my basement wall. I have to vacuum the floor every time it rains. This cannot keep up.

8) I cannot find my car keys..I'm almost out of ideas with where they could be.

9) I cannot wait to get back to New York City in July. And with the freedom to go anywhere I want.

10) Now Donald Trump is running for President. How about Clint Eastwood, since he's actually willing to speak some truth?

Taking this hockey thing in

So the NHL season is mercifully over. After experienceing one of the worst defeats I ever have in the Eastern Conference Finals, I had to endure Chicago and Tampa Bay in the finals. This series felt like the latest Giants vs. Patriots Super Bowl. No matter who would win, I was going to lose. Either it woudl be the team that eliminated my team or all the people around me get their latest title. Of course, Chicago won its third cup in six years. I did not watch one second of the six games, nor did I watch one moment of the celebration.

I actually had to block two "friends" on Facebook who tried rubbing Chicago's title in my face. I don't have time in my life for bullies or rude jackasses. And there was even one clown who said I should be congratulating everyone. This guy clearly ignored me during their last two championships. And why would anyone need my approval, my support, or my congratulations?

I'm sure some people think I'm just angry. Those people don't get it. There are a lot of reasons why I'm just disassociating myself from all hockey talk. One, my team should have been in the Finals and finally winning the Cup that they deserved to win. Two, I don't need to see some second-rate organization (see Tampa Bay's home ticket policy) with a pompous smug prick of a coach playing in the Finals. Three, Chicago has won enough titles already, it's old hat. Four, I have no desire to see people celebrate a title, when they never watch one regular season game, couldn't tell you what an icing is, and could not name one Blackhawk player from before 2008. The frauds make me want to vomit.

Going forward, I am now convinced I'll never see this this era of Rangers team win a Stanley Cup. They had their chances. They've been to three conference finals in four years and failed to close the deal each time. You can't keep going back to the well like this. And for Corey Crawford to have two titles and Henrik Lundqvist to have none is a travesty.

Tired of the disrespect

So I've been working at Gino's East since early February, so it's been almost four months now. I gave them five days a week for seven weeks, before needing to cut back to 3-4 days a week when I started at COD. So typically, I was working Thursday and Friday night, followed by Saturday and Sunday mornings. I didn't mind working an occasional Sunday morning, but I didn't realize they were going to give me every single Sunday shift. So I have not been able to go to church or go to my small group in around three months. That's tough on my social life and tougher on my soul.

Now it was about two weeks ago when they posted the upcoming schedule. The way these geniuses do it is they post the next week's schedule on Sunday morning. So you have one day's notice if you're working Monday. It's terrible. So I noticed that I was given Thursday and Friday night off, but was still working the Saturday and Sunday shifts. I was confused, but decided to not say anything. We have some new servers and if they're trying to get them on the floor, I get it. So then that week passes by and I get the next schedule and it's the same thing. I was the only server not working Friday night who did not request it off. So I was past being mad at this point.

When I asked the GM, who makes these schedules, about the schedules, she said I do better in the daytime so this would work best for me. She apparently thinks I get too intense when I'm rushed. And apparently some servers think I've yelled at them when I believe I'm just raising my voice in the kitchen so they can hear me. I said if someone had an issue with me, then they should have talked to me about it. How am I supposed to solve a problem if I don't know that one exists? She said it wasn't about anyone having an issue with me, it's that they were concerned about me. At that point, I knew that it was me against the restaurant. If you are concerned with someone, you talk to them directly and respectfully, you don't backbite and gossip. As a result, I've lost all of my night shifts and I don't know if this is temporary or permanent.  Even worse, they didn't even have the balls to tell me until I confronted them about it myself.

Also, I mentioned the 11 hour shift I worked the previous Saturday when I stayed late, took a party of 18, and it went perfectly. the bill was $200 and I made a $70 tip. The GM said she wasn't there, so she doesn't know. So this person works with me one day maybe every two weeks and apparently what I do when she's not around is irrelevant.

I show up on time, I'm reliable, I bust my ass, I'm polite, I'm courteous, and my customers like me. But apparently, I'm not their type. Maybe if I went out during a shift to smoke a disgusting cigarette, I'd be more accepted.

The bottom line is this. I'm going to a 4-day work week at COD for June and July. So I have an extra day shift to work with. I'm sure they'll schedule me Friday through Sunday in the morning for the next two months. After that's over, I don't want to work Sundays anymore. Between church, small group, and football, I'm tired of it. And for heaven's sake, I think I deserve a day off during the week. So if they're only going to give me Saturday afternoon shifts, when I'm not going to make tons of money, why the hell would I want to still stay there? What I would ideally like is to work two weeknights and a Saturday every week. If they will not accommodate that, then I'm going to quit. And the truth is as soon as COD promotes me to full time, I'm probably going to just quit anyway. It might be hoping for a lot, but I hope it happens by August.

Here we go...

1) Eleven wins down, five to go. Tonight, the New York Rangers have the chance to reach their second consecutive Stanley Cup Final when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning. I will be live blogging the game later, something I have not done since last year's Eastern Conference Finals. Maybe it will work again.

2) This is undoubtedly the hardest class of the 14. It's a capstone project, so it's one long research assignment and each week adds a new layer onto the previous six. the thing is the level of research is so deep and the professor is really tough for details, so it's challenging to find the right direction. I think I'm doing okay with it. I'm on Week 3 of 6 and my assignment is to find scientific journal studies that relate to my topic of choice. My topic is American Airlines and keeping employee morale and customer service strong as they go through this large merger with U.S. Airways. We'll see what happens.

3) I've run two miles in each of the last three weeks. What's enocuraging now is that I'm not experiencing the sharp leg pains that I was after I ran the previous two weeks. It feels like I'm slowly getting back into running shape again. I just wish we had more than four months a year in Chicago that was suitable for running outside. for the record, any temperature under 55 degrees is brutal for running!

4) Maggie just cannot get enough food. Steak, turkey, cheese, toast, fruit salad, even romaine lettuce, it doesn't matter. If Mom and I eat it, it's fair game. I don't know if she's capable of having a full stomach.

5) I've been taking so many more naps lately.

6) I'd seen Die Hards 1, 3, 4, and 5. I finally just saw #2. It was good, but there's nothing like the first. And anytime a John Amos character dies, I can't help but think about "Good Times."

7) I need to go to Craft in Chicago and try their pizza. And bagels. I hear they boil them, which if you don't know, is the only acceptable way to prepare a bagel.

8) Why can't breakfast restaurants realize there are other syrups besides maple?!

9) As bad as weather continues to be all over the country, you almost start appreciating any day where you get sunshine, 80 degrees, and no rain

10) I cannot wait to quit my second job. Just as soon as I can go full time at COD...that's worth another blog post.

Bonus: Let's Go Rangers!!!!

72 hours of kaos

Wow. Who knew that a weekend excursion would turn into one of the more emotional, unpredictable, adventurous times I've had in quite a while? Let's just make this one a timeline.
Friday
12:00 Left work, when mom picked me up.
12:30 Arrived at O’Hare
2:30 Scheduled flight to Chicago.
2:40 Bumped off the plane, the next one doesn't leave until 8 pm.
3:15 Ate a burger and margherita pizza at the Hilton. Very impressive pizza, I must say. San Marzano tomatoes make all the difference.
6:00 Watched the Rangers-Capitals Game 5 in an airport bar. Oh, I chatted with a beautiful blonde girl for about a half hour. Somehow, I managed to focus on her and not the game. No, I did not ask for her number. I just didn’t have that feeling.
6:45 I left the bar because they switched the only TV to Bulls vs Cavs.
8:00 The flight gets delayed two hours due to weather issues. Bummer, but not totally unexpected.
8:20 I got a text that the Rangers keep their season alive, when Chris Kreider ties the game with 1:41 left on the clock. I am stunned, but I refrained from going too crazy.
8:40 I gave in and walked over to the Wolfgang Puck bar to watch the Rangers and Capitals start overtime. My heart started pounding immediately, especially with two Washington fans standing nearby.
9:00 Rangers won and stay alive in the series. I screamed “YES! YES!” and pumped my fists. All 75 people in the bar were staring at me. I marched proudly back to the gate.
10:00 There was no first officer for the flight so we can't leave.
11:30 We finally board and took off.
Saturday

2:30 Landed in Austin

2:45 Grabbed the rental car from Budget, we actually get an SUV.

3:15 Arrived at the Residence Inn hotel in South Austin. Unfortunately, it was the wrong hotel. I was past being mad at this point as I was tired and hungry and just wanted to sleep.

3:30 Arrived at the Fairfield Inn. Maybe the darkest hotel I have ever seen.

3:45 Attempted to fall asleep, I don’t think that happened for at least an hour.

6:30 Woke up and wanted to fall right back asleep. After the last fight, I was happy to get out of there.

6:45 Gym and eat a barely edible breakfast of scrambled eggs and fruit. Their gym was a treadmill and an elliptical. Lame.

7:15 Drove around Austin, including Zilker Park, where I took a picture of the Stevie Ray Vaughan statue

9:00 I visited the Texas State Capitol building. It’s taller than the one in DC, at over 200 feet. I photographed many local memorials, such as WW1 WW2, Statue of Liberty replica, and the 10 Commandments stone.

10:30 We visited the flagship Whole Foods in downtown Austin. Underground parking was packed, as was the store. They had amazing samples, like green chile shrimp, BBQ sausage, and pizelles. Their homemade chicken and waffles, smoothie bar, and desserts were to die for. Any Whole Foods fan needs to go to this place.

12:00 Drove to the West Side of Austin to Hula Hut, a tropical/Mexican joint right on the Colorado River. Met up with my cousin, her husband, their two sons (who I guess are my second cousins), who came in from outside Dallas, and the husband’s parents, who came from San Antonio. We had a tremendous time as I loaded up on queso dip with sirloin steak, pork tacos, beans and rice, guacamole, and a huge drink called the Fishbowl. I have no idea what was in it, but it was pink and it was huge. Didn’t affect me in the least.

1:30 We walked next door to Mozart’s which is a dessert and coffee bar. I had a “mini” pecan pie which was about the size of a small dinner plate. I got halfway through it. Bottom line, pecan pie needs whipped cream. I played air hockey with Ian and it looks like I may take Gavin to Wrestlemania next year.

3:30 We all said our goodbyes and Mom and I went back to the ugly hotel to rest up. I took a dip in the pool for about two minutes. We had planned to have dinner with my cousin’s family, but the boys wanted to take a swim and recover, so we decided to let them do their own thing. Of course, they were staying in the JW Marriott, so they had a pretty good deal going on. At my hotel, it was old people, little kids. Definitely didn’t see people my own age.

4:30 We headed to Saxon, a club for some live music. I couldn’t go to Austin and not hear a few tunes. It was a small, dark place with a bar and stage. It’s all about the music, as it should be. I got a local brew and listened to this husband and wife combo play for about 30 minutes. The guy was older and sounded a lot like Michael McDonald. Turns out it was Bobby Whitlock, one of the founders of Derek & the Dominoes. They closed the show with a piano and saxophone rendition of Layla, which was simply awesome. The demographic was mostly people in their 40s and 50s.

6:00 We had dinner at the Roaring Fork, a nice Southern-style restaurant located in a hotel in downtown Austin. It felt very classy without being snooty. We started with an appetizer special, a deep fried avocado topped with manchengo cheese, BBQ pulled pork, pico de gallo and sriracha ranch. It was a nice idea, but I didn't care for the combination of flavors. BBQ sauce and salsa just don't work well together. And for $14...not at all worth it. I ordered the blackened redfish and had much better success. It came with a whole grain pilaf, smoked tomatoes, and Chipotle Tabasco lemon butter. I honestly could have done without the tomato. The pilaf was marvelous, it tasted really earthy with a nice texture. It was a different side but I liked it a lot. The butter worked great with the fish and I even put some of it on my asparagus. The fish itself was cooked perfectly. The service was very good and the waiters were great at making recommendations and keeping our glasses filled. $76 for two iced teas, and app, and two entrees is a little steep, but it was a fair experience overall.

7:30 We walked down Sixth St, the heart of the Austin bar scene. They’re actually opening a Gino’s East over there pretty soon, which was pretty cool. Maybe they can transfer me there for a few weeks. It had the feel of Bourbon St, just a little more laid back and less dangerous. I’d watch my step there, in terms of my cash, but it seemed like a cool place to go with a group.

8:45 We headed back to Saxon for about another hour, before deciding to leave. We knew we were getting up early, so we got back around 10:00 at night.

Sunday

6:00 Pack up and check out

7:00 Drove north to Round Rock for Round Rock glazed donuts. Excellent sugar. It’s right next to a Baptist church and I don’t know if people tend to  go to the church with the donuts as a bonus or to the donut place as an excuse to go to church!

7:45 We walked up Mt. Bonnell for a nice view of the Colorado river and Texas Hill Country.

9:00 Visited the LBJ Presidential Library on the University of Texas campus. Very interactive museum, lots of archived letters and materials. A great place for anyone to visit.

11:00 Headed south to the airport and checked in the rental car. When we went through security, we noticed the line to check in seemed pretty long. We had a 2:30 listing for the third of four non-stop flights to Chicago. But the flights looked tight so we had additional listings to connect through Charlotte or Los Angeles. We walked over to the Charlotte gate and an earlier flight was actually delayed an hour so we could still get it. We tried to get on it. With about 20 minutes to spare, I headed down the terminal to Salt Lick BBQ. I got a three-meat platter of brisket, pulled pork, and turkey with potato salad, beans, cole slaw, and bread with a sweet tea to drink. The sauce was yellow in color, so it didn’t have tomatoes. All the meats were really tender and I could cut them with a plastic fork. The beans needed tomatoes. The slaw and salad were both mayo free, thank goodness. And the seeded bread was very soft, I could have used another three or four pieces.

12:00 Oh, let’s get back to the flights. On my way to Salt Lick, I saw a ton of people sitting all over the terminal, like it was a homeless shelter. The 9:00 flight to Chicago was delayed, because the plane was over three hours late. We also found out two flights to Dallas were cancelled. At that point, we knew we were in trouble. Apparently, the latest round of storms was causing a lot of problems in North Texas as well as Oklahoma. We looked at every airport within driving distance, Houston, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, you name it. Nothing looked good. This was the first time in over 30 years when my mother seemed at a loss for ideas when it came to travel.  

1:00 We finally threw in the towel, rented a silver Nissan, and took off north. Yep, I had to get back to work, so we decided to drive 16+ hours back to Chicago. I knew if I was going to make it to work on time, we’d have to leave quickly. So we took off north on Route 35 through Waco, Dallas, and Oklahoma City. We had a pretty big argument about directions, since she wanted to use her instincts and I wanted to us Google Maps. Generational gap, I guess.

2:30 We stopped into Walk-Mart around Waco for an atlas, phone charger, and snacks.

3:30 Around Temple, Texas, which is a little ways south of Dallas, we hit our only traffic jam. We came to a total stop for 15 minutes, but I could see a lot of empty road up ahead. So I knew something was weird. We were approaching a river, and the water was running really high after the recent floods, so I figured it was water causing a lane closure. That wasn’t the whole problem. I saw one police car. There were no damaged cars and no one was being arrested. I looked to my right, trying to figure this out. I saw four dudes in their twenties throwing something into the river with a cop watching. Then I saw two cows in the river with water up to the tops of their legs. The guys were throwing ropes just to rescue the cows. It was funny and sad at the same time!

8:00 On the drive, we stopped in for some good grease at Tucker’s Onion burgers in OKC. I really wanted something that we couldn’t get back home and this fit the bill. Onion burgers are an Oklahoma tradition, as the mixed fried onions into the beef in order to reduce the meat and save money. I had a double onion burger with cheese and topped it with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, grilled jalapenos, and mustard. The roll in particular was great. It tasted really fresh and held up well with so many ingredients inside of it. The tough part of an onion burger is the onions can overwhelm the beef, but they still had a great flavor.  Excellent fries, fresh and crispy and a ton of drink options. I don't know when I'll be back in OKC, but I would definitely come back.

8:45 From OKC, we headed east on Rt 44 towards Tulsa, which would take us all the way to St. Louis. For the first half of the ride, the weather alternated between beautiful and stormy. We’d get 15 minutes of rain, followed by a lot of sun and 75 degrees. The weather was perfect in OKC, so we ate outside. But once we hit Tulsa, it was all over. The lowest clouds I’d ever seen descended upon us and the heavens opened up. It rained the rest of the trip. I drove from OKC all the way to just west of St. Louis, which was about 7 or so hours without a break. But I was driving in a rented car, in the rain, on a poorly lit highway, while getting sprayed by trucks, and going on no sleep. That’s pretty damn hard to do! I tried to drink a lemon-lime 5-hour energy to keep me awake, but I really felt my heart racing and it really tasted lousy. It was the third time I tried to drink one of those, and I will not do it again. Thanks to mom for letting me listen to the Rangers win Game 6 by the way! But the other cool part was I found a couple of classic country radio stations. I loved hearing that country music from the 70s, 80s, and 90s before, it turned into the crap it is now.

4:00 Mom took over the driving and we took 55 all the way into Chicagoland. We stopped to take two 15-minute power naps; we just couldn’t stop in a hotel because of time and money. We probably had to fill the gas tank five times, which was crazy! We had no change of clothes or grooming supplies either since we had already checked our luggage to the airport. So we were pretty gross, in addition to tired and ornery.

9:10 We arrived at College of DuPage, where I had left my car. Since I had a spare house key in my wallet, I drove my car home and cleaned up before heading right back to work. My boss was gracious enough to let me work 11-4 that day instead of 9-3. I still do not know how I stayed awake driving; it was harder for me in Illinois than it was in Oklahoma and Missouri.

Flawed communication

For much of my childhood, I was an outcast. And having no siblings and coming from a divorced family, I'm used to isolation. Because of that, I've always lived my life on my terms and adjusting to other people's interests or social tendencies takes a little time. And when someone only knows someone through social media, let' be real, they can only know them to a point. I am learning more and more that social media can allow people to be acquaintances, but they can rarely, if ever, be real friends if they keep the relationship exclusive to social media.

I bring this up because I find it interesting what I've been getting from other people in terms of their opinion of me. I don't care as much as I used to, but I have a problem if people are insulting me without my knowledge. Within the span of two hours, one person who I have met once in my life but have communicated with for five years told me how much I was loved. Then another person who knows me only through Facebook accused me of being increasingly rude and negative.

I know I'm putting myself on the line by listing those two words. So I feel the need to say a couple of things. I think some people confuse certain things. For instance, what some call positive, some may perceive as delusional. On a parallel level, what some call negative, another may call honest. I'm honest. And when it comes to the topic that was being discussed, the New York Jets, it has been a lot of negativity over the 25 years that I have been rooting for them. And this past season was a tremendous disappointment that resulted in the clueless general manager and the talented head coach losing their jobs. Apparently, I was supposed to be positive by their standards, but delusional by my standards, and talk about how great things were and how they're definitely going to be great next season. Well, you know what, as many times as I have been heartbroken, I'm not going to get myself all worked up thinking that every year is the year that they will be great. And if I offer an alternative viewpoint or ask a question requesting that a person explain their viewpoint,  that is not being rude. That is called engaging someone in conversation. And if they get defensive and accuse me of being rude as a result, they are the one with the problem.

It is comforting to know that they people who actually do know me from more than social media do like me. Those are the people that are worth spending my time with. Even though social media has made communication far more convenient, it is apparently making the process of knowing people far more difficult. And that's really unfortunate.