I'm never going to have another OSU cookout...

Every time I have a cookout for an OSU game, they lose. Wisconsin twice and now Penn State. Watching a losing effort by the Buckeyes causes the atomosphere of the party go from good, to tense, to plan bad. The defense was great. They did everything they needed to to keep Ohio State in the game. It wasn't until the last few minutes of the game that I became truly worried because I knew that the defense would get the ball back to the offense. Now, the offense blew chunks. More specifically, Troy Smith blew. He missed wide open receivers and took bad sacks for losses. Then, he throws the interception that leads to the winning touchdown. Everything else in the game was dead even. At one point the yards gained by each team were almost exactly even. To be honest, I've never been a Troy Smith fan. Yes, he made plays, but he'd rely on his legs rather than making passes to his open receivers. Saturday's game seemed the exact opposite. He'd stay in the pocket waiting to pass when he should have run. Or, he'd miss open receivers and make bad passes. Plus, they can't seem to get the bal to Ted Ginn Jr. I guess Penn State's defense did a good job of shutting him down, but it seems like he's just not getting the ball at all. I guess I need to give Penn State credit. They had a good game plan and shut down the Buck's offense. Plus the crowd was loud and full of energy, making it a truely hostile place to play. It is so frustrating that we can put up so many points against Iowa, and then suck so bad after a bye week. Well, I guess there's always an outside possibility of winning the Big Ten title. Penn State needs to lose a few and Ohio State needs to win out. It probably won't happen, but we can hope.

On top of the Buckeyes losing, the kids that were over DESTROYED my basement. There is crap all over the place. That's the thing I hate about having other people's kids over. You can't really yell at them and the parents don't really do much to keep them in check. The party ended after the little kids started throwing things at each other and one of them took a blow to the head. There was blood and screaming. It's really no one's fault because I'm sure they were just playing a dumb game, but the older kids should have put a stop to it or told an adult what was going on before someone was hurt. Well, we had fund until the Bucks lost and the kids got out of control. Oh! and then on top of it all, I took the trash out and stepped badly on the edge of my driveway, twisting my ankle and falling on my ass. It HURT. Nothing like laying in your driveway in the light rain unable to stand up. I was finally able to hobble inside and wallow in my agony.

Don't worry. Just because I'll never have another OSU game cookout doesn't mean that I'll never have another cookout. Maybe I'll make it a spring cookout or maybe an OSU bye week cook out. Then people can just gather to have fun and won't get angry when the Bucks lose. I have tckets for this weekend's game. I'll probably go, but I am not as excited about it as I was on Friday. It is against Michigan State, so it should still be a good game. Maybe they'll put Zwick in and see if the offense can get going with a better passer at the helm.

Another HUGE game....

Ohio State travels for the first time this year as they head out to Happy Valley and play Penn State. The Lions are undefeated so far this season and are ranked 16th. Being in Penn State and a night game makes this a bit of a challenge for the Buckeyes. I think I am as nervous and excited about this game as I was for the Texas game. It's supposed to be wet in Happy Valley, do this will likely beome a defensive battle. If that is the case, I need to give the nod to OSU to come out on top. Ohio State has only allowed 51 points in four games, 25 of them to Texas. That's a pretty good defense. Kick off is at 7:45 tonight. hopfully the OSU defense and special teams will make a big enough difference that the Bucks can come home with a win.

A bye week and up 2....

It was an interesting week in college football. As my title indicates, OSU had a bye week this past weekend and moved up 2 positions in the polls. LSU lost on Monday and Florida got stomped by Alabama on Saturday. I filled the void of an OSU football free weekend by watching the Michigan vs. Michigan State game. It was a good one. At first, it looked like Michigan was going to roll over MSU, but the Spartans came back. It ended up going to OT where Michigan took the game with a field goal. I had thought that MSU was going to be the team to beat in the big Ten, but now I'm not too sure. It's up in the air again. One thing that scares me a little is how badly Penn State beat Minnesota. Penn state is now undefeated so far this year and the Buckeyes head out to Happy Valley this weekend. I was feeling confident about the game, but the Penn State win gives me reason to worry a bit. I still feel confident that the Buckeyes can win, but the past two years, OSU has lost a night game immediately following a bye week. Two years ago they lost to Wisconsin, and last year they lost to Northwestern. Hopefully it is not a pattern. One thing that is obvious is that the rest of the Big Ten doesn't play very much defense. The average total scores of the 5 Games played by Big Ten teams is 61 points (both teams added together). Granted, one of the teams playing was Notre Dame, but they put up 49 points on Purdue. I am pretty confident that the OSU defense can carry the team to the Big Ten title. The problem is that Wisconsin is undefeated, and OSU does not play the Badgers. If both teams win out, Wisconsin would have the better overall record and win the title.

Speaking of the upcoming OSU vs. Penn State game, we are having a cookout this weekend for the game. It should be a pretty good turn out. My bowling team is coming and bringing their wives and some other people are going to stop by. I hope everyone will be able to come out. I know it's hard for out-of-towners to make arrangements for places to stay and all that. It's a late game, so it's not like you could drive all the way to Columbus, watch the game, and then head home. I do have some room for people to stay, but not a whole lot. It should be a good time though. Food, drink, cards, whatever. We always make too much food and usually have left overs for the week. Yummy junk food left overs...mmmmmmm.

I thought 'What the Heck'

While I was falling off the Best Buy wagon and buying some technological needs, I also passed by the DVD section where I saw the Battlestar Galactica DVD set. The new series, not the old one with Lorne Greene. I liked the old show as a child, but if I see them now, I realize how corney some of them were. If I remember correctly, the kid on the show had a pet 'dagget' (let me know if that is not what it was called) which looked like a Halloween costume gone bad. A person is dressed up as a cyber dog/teddy bear. Anyway, I picked up BG because I remembered Woody referencing it a few times and I got the impression that it was good. He doesn't blog about it as much as he does Firefly, but after watching and liking Firefly on his recommendation, I thought 'what the heck?' and bought the BG DVD set. I started watching it last week and am done with the entire series already. They were incredibly good. Everything that I wish the old series could have been. The effects are great (except for maybe when they show the robotic Cylons running), the acting is good, and the story is supurb. It basically follows the old story, but with a few changes. In case you've never seen the new series, I will not spoil anything. The biggest change, however, is that the Cylons are able to look, feel, and act like humans. That doesn't spoil anything since it is something that you learn in the opening sequence of the debut mini series. This is the best change because it adds a level of intrigue and suspense that the old show lacked. Back in the old series, humans were good, Cylons were bad and looked like robots. It was very black and white. Honestly, I am suprised that this new series hasn't been picked up by one of the big networks. It is an excellent show and is far better than some of the crap that's on these days. I really want to see season two. Does anyone know if it is airing already? If so when?

Something I find amusing about the human appearing Cylons is that the male Cylons look gruff and like they could be bad guys, but the female cylons are beautiful women. They put the blonde in all sorts if skimpy outfits and have teaser shots of her half nude and the Asian woman is equally attractive, though they do not play up her sexuality as much. Fellas, in case you are paranoid about being duped into having sex with a Cylon agent, be aware that when they get it on, their spines glow red through their skin. So, I suggest different sexual positions with your lady so that you have a view of her back occasionally and can easily identify if she/it is human or Cylon. Just don't let on that you suspect that she is a Cylon. They are quite strong and will most likely whup on you if discovered. Just a little advice from me to you.

System of a Down Concert Rocked

The playlist:

SOLDIER SIDE
BYOB
REVENGA
KNOW
NEEDLES
DEER DANCE
SUGGESTIONS
PSYCHO
CHOP SUEY
KILL ROCK N ROLL
SAD STATUE
VIOLENT PORN
MR. JACK
CIGARO
COCAINE
BOUNCE
ATWA
FOREST
LOST IN HOLLYWOOD
QUESTION!
WAR?
PRISON
AERIALS
TOXICITY
SCIENCE
SUITE PEE
SUGAR

They also threw in Hypnotize, the title song of their upcoming CD, claiming that it was the first time they ever played it live. It was a bit of a mello song, but was still good. In a nut shell, System of a Down kicked ass!! Soldier Side pumped everyone up because we all knew that BYOB was going to come right after it. I would have prefered that closed with newer music, but Suite Pee and Sugar are two great songs. I was a bit suprised that more of the music wasn't from Hypnotize, but what they played kicked ass. My ears are ringing and my voice hurts from screaming. They played almost every song I could have wanted them to play. The stage performances were a little different here and there, like when the guitar player used a voice synthesizer durning War?. A little strange, but a good effect. If I wanted them to play everything exactly like on the CD, Why bother going to a concert?

The Mars Volta was pretty good. I don't know that I'd pay to see them as a headliner, but they had moments when they kicked ass. The guitar player and singer bounced up and down a lot and were all over the place. The crowd went a little crazy when one of the band members took up a flute, circa Jethro Tull. It seemed like no one ever heard a flute played before. He played it well though. I think that I would have liked them more if I was more familiar with their music. It was like a jam session mixing aspects of Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd and Rush (Caress of Steel).

The worst part of the whole show was the opening band, Hella. THEY BLEW CHUNKS!! I have no idea where they were dug up from. It started out with the drummer coming out and playing a bit of a solo, then the guitar player came out and joined in. It sounded like the grand finale of an 80's rock show. Only, it wasn't a finale, it was the show. After about five minutes of guitar solo and drum solo grotesquely combined into a level of musical hell that I never experienced, (and I was in a garage band for a few years) more band members came out with more instruments and they all started playing solos. Only they were all on top of each other adding to the musical chaos, and my head ache. The singer, if you could call him that, started wailing and screaming about genocide or something like that and maybe poop, we couldn't tell. The show ended in an reverse order from the beginning. The band members left, the guitar player left, and finally, (after a few more minutes if drum solo) the drummer left. Honestly, I am giving Hella more of a write up than they deserve. It was aweful. There were boos, and then cheers when they finally left the stage. The drummer was really the only good part. He had some serious chops. He had to, he played a fast paced drum solo for the entire show. Whatever happened to keeping time for the music?

All in all, I am SO glad that I went to the show. It would have been the best show I've seen (aside from Rush, who will forever be number one in my book)if the opening band wasn't so aweful. I think the Korn show I saw ranks a little higher, only because Staind opened for them. I seriously wanted to leave during Hella.

Going to concerts always makes me feel a bit dirty. The girls that go to these shows are all too young and dress too sluty. Sure you can say, "well don't look, perv," but it's impossible unless I close my eyes, only because they are everywhere. What's wrong with parents letting teen girls wear pants that barely come up to above their ass cracks and tops that a little more than bras? One girl was wearing a top so small that her boobies were already popping out, and then half way through the show she took her top off and was only in her bra. (She was sitting in front of us, I wasn't stalking.) I just hope that the style changes before Alydia is a teen. I'll certainly do my best to make her think that frumpy sweat suits are in. I don't want guys like me looking at her in that way.

Good game, but not great

OSU rolled over Iowa yesterday, 31-6. A blow out yes. Should it have been a bigger blow out, absolutely. The defense was awesome. Iowa was forrtunate to get 6. The offense looked pretty good too. Troy Smith looked like the QB the OSU has always needed. He was mobile and accurate and the offense made short work of the Iowa defense. Why, you ask, do I say 'good game, but not great?' Well, there were three huge mistakes by OSU, or the game would have been 52-6. The Bucks fumbled twice inside Iowa's 10 yard line and Ted Ginn finally ran back a punt that was called back because of an illegal block. Essentialy, these mistakes took 13 to 21 points off the board for OSU. Still, Ohio State completely dominated Iowa. If they would have played this well against Texas, they would be undefeated right now.

I Ohio State is off next weekend, so I have to hold myself over by watching Michigan at Michigan State. Right now, Michigan is not looking good, so Michigan State could very well be the team that Ohio State needs to beat to claim the Big Ten title this year. Minnesota beat Purdue, Wisconsin beat Michigan, and Ohio State clobbered Iowa. Purdue, Iowa, and Michigan were supposed to be the elilte teams in the Big Ten this year. Michigan State rolled up 61 points on Illinois. Are you kidding me? That's a point per minute. Now, M. State, Penn State, Wisconsin, and Minnesota are all undefeated this season and Ohio State plays all but Wisconsin this year. Now, remember that Penn State has been warming up on smaller, less talented programs so far, so when the Buckeyes roll in to Happy Valley on the 8th of October, it could be a bit of a wake up call for the Nittony Lions. Well, from what I have seen, Ohio State is playing the best football of all of the Big Ten teams. Of the seven games lefft in the season, the teams to watch out for are Penn State, Michigan State, and scUM. The team up north are always a threat to the Buckeyes, no matter what the standings are at the end of the year. I have a pretty good feeling that the Bucks can win out and play in a BCS game. It may not be the title game, but I don't know that I would feel that good about playing USC in the title game. I suppose that I had the same feeling when they played Miami and that turned out pretty well. Maybe the Nation's top defense can handle the nation's best offense. It'd sure be a pretty good game to watch.

Que Es EL Mars Volta?

Did I pick up the wrong version of the CD? I only ask because it's half english and half espanole so far. Se hable espanole un poco, but it's not my strong suit. I checked the CD case and it didn't say anything about being a Spanish version, but I am a bit dense, so I may have missed something. So far, I am a bit torn on my opinion of the CD. When they rock out in what is obviosly a song, I like it, but when the fo 4 or 5 minutes with just wierd filler stuff, I start to lose interest. Right now it sounds like birds chirping. I can go outside to hear that. And now it sounds like a psychodelic acid trip with a bird chirping in the background. Now, trumpets. It definately has a Pink Floyd vibe to it, cerca Dark Side of the Moon. Well, the jury is still out on this one.....I just wanted to give them a try before seeing them open for System of a Down tomorrow. It's going to ROCK.

So, I'm offically working from home now. I brought my computer home and got it all hooked up. They asked me, "do you feel comfortable setting your system up by yourself?" I answered, "Do you mean 'Do I feel comfortable plugging an ethernet cable in the back of my computer? Em, I think so." It's amazing how little some people know about computers though. Thankfully I am not one of those people. It was either doing it myself or waiting until Monday when someone could come do it for me. I'll do it myself thank you very much. I couldn't bare another weekend at that place. Now I have a good sterio to listen to and a TV to watch. "Wow, that would be great to put six packs of Be..uh soda in." A Tommy Boy reference
indicating that I have access to adult beverages if I get too overwhelmed. Just kidding. I won't drink on the job. (much) :-)

The Buckeyes have Iowa at home today. It should be a good game, but it has lost some of it's national importance since both teams have lost a game. Iowa Lost to Iowa State and Ohio State lost to Texas. Before that, both teams were ranked in the to ten. This is still a match up between two top 25 teams, but the chances that either of them will play for the National Title has decreased greatly. For Ohio state, they will need to win out and Texas will have to lose (probably). Thanks to the BCS, Ohio State could leap frog Texas, even if the Longhorns win out. Their strenght of schedule is not as good and Ohio State's. It is, of course, possible that if USC loses a game, Ohio State and Texas could be matched up in the Rose Bowl. I would love that. Back to Iowa, they would need to win out and alot of teams would have to lose for the Hawkeyes to have a chance to go to the Rose Bowl. Well, it should be a good game today. It have been raining, so hopfully Ohio State can get their running game going. If not, it could be a long game with bad results. Hopfully, Ted Ginn Jr. will be able to break into open field today. He's been relatively quiet all year.

GO BUCKS!

Should I forgive Best Buy?

I haven't shopped at Best Buy for over a year. Why? They have bad customer service, they pissed me off, and I hold grudges. I won't get into it much except to say that they wouldn't replace my cell phone when the battery stopped holding a charge just because the screen was cracked. Apparently a cracked screen negates their replacement plan. Never buy those by the way. They are a rip off. The usually only last a year or so and the manufacturers warranty will work just as well. The only thing a replacement plan will do is pad the bottom line for the retailer. Anyway, I need to get some computer related stuff. I could go to CompUSA or Circuit City, but they are a bit out of my way now that I'm in Hilliard. Plus, Best Buy was my all time favorite store until the above mentioned phone incident. they have everything that you would need in the line of electronics. Plus, movies, CDs, books, Xbox games, the list goes on forever.

What I need is a hub so that I can have RR internet on my three computers. I also need an ethernet cable. While I'm there I was thinking about buying a DVD player for the basement, a home theatre speaker system for the living hoom, a CD, and an Xbox game. Could I go to Target and get these things? Maybe. The selection would be smaller and I may not be able to get exactly what I need. Actually, banning Best Buy for live may be a good thing for me. I need two things from the store and look, I add four more items.

I got angry yesterday. I wrote out a long post about the upcoming game and some other stuff. I had links going to Woody, and Bryan. Then, when I came back from lunch my computer was off and I lost the whole post (I was in the middle of it). Pissed me off. I'll try to rewrite it again tonight or tomorrow. I have too much to do today.

Sports in general

Yes, two blogs in one day. What can I say? I feel productive today.

Well, the Buckeyes rebounded and won their game this weekend over Sand Diego State. I believe the final score was 27-6. Really it was a bit of a dull game. It started off a bit scary with SDSU ripping off an 80 yard TD pass on their first play. They then held off Ohio State for a while before the offense started moving. Honestly, the offense is looking a lot like they did last year, and that is not too good. There were more dropped passes and fumbles. The game would have been a lot closer if SDSU hadn't turned the ball over on their own one yard line. The Bucks were able to punch it in for a touchdown. The TV guys kept going on about how Troy Smith was doing so well and talked about the yardage he was gaining, but to be honest, he didn't really impress me too much. Zwick came in on the last series and threw 6 of 7, or something like that, while they were running out the clock. I really hope that the guy that replaces the Smith/Zwick QB pair in a few years is better than the both of them. The running game looked pretty good with Pittman hitting some holes. The thing that bothers me is that every other team to play San Diego State this year has scored 40+. I know Tressel doesn't run up the scores on other teams, but it would have been nice to see that the Buckeyes could score at will against a weaker opponent. It may be that they were a bit flat after the close loss to Texas, but with Iowa coming to town this weekend, they can't afford to be flat. Iowa is going to bring their A game this Saturday. I have to admit, after the last two games, I am a bit worried about Iowa. Yes, they lost badly to Iowa State, but playing a Big Ten team always seem to fire up the players. Hopefully, they will turn it around and put up big offensive numbers to match the defense.

The Browns won their first game this year. I may not have to keep my Browns shirt in the closet after all. They got destroyed by Cincinnati last week. This weekend they played Green Bay and were able to win by two. It is a bit scary how badly the Cleveland defense can play at times. I didn't see the whole game, but the Browns went up by 9 in the waining moments of the fourth quarter and still only won by two. I hate to say it, but Bralen Edwards showed that he is the real deal by catching a long TD pass. It was actually a rather short pass, but his speed was too much for the Packers DBs to catch. If the defense could stop teams from scoring, they may actually have a decent year.

The Columbus hockey team (The Bluejackets) had a preseason game last night. I think they lost 2 to 3. I am not a huge hockey fan, but I do enjoy going to a game every once in a while. Nationwide sell thier employees discounted tickets since they own the arena. It was a bumer that they had that hold out all last year. I am more of a hockey fan then I am a baseball fan, so I usually follow the season and watch the playoff games. I am a Bluejackets fan first, but also like the Red Wings and Penguins. I don't follow the Pens as much since they got rid of my favoriet player, Yamir Jager. Well, hopefully, the Jackets will win enough to compete for a playoff spot this year.

Cleveland in looking well in the playoff picture in baseball. (I'm mildly interested, remember?) They are 1 1/2 game up on the Yankees for the wild card and 3 1/2 behind the White Sox (?) to win their division. They have been on a bit of a win streak lately. I may actually pay attention to the baseball playoffs if the Tribe makes it in. It seems like in the past few years, they have been finding ways to screw it up.

Harry Potter preview

I was watching TV last night and while flipping to Lord of the Rings :Two Towers, I caught a new preview for the new Harry Potter movie. It looks really good. I probably won't like The Goblet of Fire movie as much as I've liked the other movies because I am reading the book right now. For the past movies, I had either seen the movie before reading the book or read the book long enough before seing the movie that I forgot details. Since I am reading (re-reading, actually) The Goblet of Fire so close to the release date of the film, the details will be fresh in my mind. Already I have a few complaints, mostly about the casting:

Made Eye Moody - In the movie, doesn't look how I picture him from the book. He is supposed to be scarred and gnarled, but the actor looks a little too cartoon character. Plus he is supposed to have a magical eye that can move 360 degrees in any direction, but in the movie it acts like a normal eye.

Fluer - She is supposed to be half Veela (a magical siren type woman who is supposed to be irresistible to men. The actress is pretty, but not as pretty as she should be (according to the discription in the book)

Viktor Krum - In the book, he is supposed to be surley and brooding. In the previews, he looks as thought he could be a stand in on the OC. Too pretty.

Madame Maxime - She is supposed to be big like Hagrid. In the preview, she is tall, but skinny. Not quite what I imagined.

It is disappointing that, after nailing the casting on so many of the charactors, they seem to be slipping on how they cast new charactors. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, the Weasley's, Snape, Malfoy, everyone looks like the book discribes them. Now, I'm not saying that the casting is terrible, it's just not as dead on as it has been in the past. Another thing that bothers me is that the layout of Hogwarts is different in the different movies. The first two movies kept the layout rather similar, but the third movie was very different. The biggest difference that I noticed was that Hagrids house moves from right next to the castle to the bottom of a big hill. I know it's due to the new director and all that, but I would think that they'd try to keep the background the same from movie to movie.

Anyway, I am excited about the movie coming out in November. I will enjoy it, but will probably be disapointed in some aspects of the film.

Help!

Well, it's Friday. I have this weekend off, so I get to try to catch up on some sleep. I say try because it greatly depends on if Gabriel and Alydia let me. I really need to try to get the garage organized too. It'd be nice to park in the garage come winter time.

Bowling went well last night. It was the first wee of our new season. I usually bowl out of my mind on the first week and set an average that I can't possibly hope to keep. I think I had a 215 one year. I started off pretty well with a 193 and 198, but then tanked out with a 161. I can keep a 183 average. I need to get some new shoes. My current bowling shoes are starting to fall apart a bit. We won't know if we won any of the games last night because our handicaps haven't been figured out yet. What a handicap does is level the playing field a bit. It is based off of 90% of the difference between your average and 210 pins. For example, my average is 183, so you'd subtract 183 from 210 (27) and then take 90% of that number. So, my handicap is 24. You then add your handicap to the total pins you bowl each game. It is supposed to make things more competative so that a team that has a bunch of 130 bowlers can keep up with 190 bowlers. Make sense?

You may be wondering why I titled today's post as 'Help!' Well, today is Jessica's birthday and I have no idea what to get her. I thought about some earrings, but if I keep getting her jewelry, she will start expecting it. Any ideas? I think I may just take her out shopping or something. That way she can get what she wants. Unfortunately, she and I a both people that buy whatever we need or want whenever we get the chance. It makes it hard to give people gift ideas. I'll make her dinner and get her a card and flowers too. Is that enough? I already made her a cake. I just like going overboard sometimes, I guess.

Bowling night

My bowling league starts tonight. Now, before you go thinking that bowling leagues are only for overweight drunks that just want to get away from thier families, remember, there are some skinny guys in my league too. It is nice to have a night to get out and hang out with the guys. It is a bit of a bummer because the kids are usually in bed before I get home, but it is a great way to blow off some steam. Our team name is 'Big Knockers'. You may think that it is a reference to large breasts (which it is a little bit) but in reality, it is based off of Major League (the movie) when Cerano crushes the ball and the manager says 'big knock baby, big knock!' We consider a strike to be a 'big knock'.

A few bummers about this year though, my buddy Jon has quit the team. He is a great guy and I really like hanging out with him. He's in a relationship with a woman that like him to stay at home a lot. We think that she's a bit controling, but the bottom line is that he's happy with her.

The second bummer is now I live 20 minutes away from the bowling lanes instead of the five minutes away I was before our move. That means less drinking. Or, after much drinking, going to Roosters for a late night snack and sobering up. That means being out super late though. It's ok to do that sometimes, but too many times I feel bad for leaving Jessica home alone with the kids. And I miss them too. It won't be as bad after I start working from home because I will be able to see everyone throughout the day.

One of the fun aspects is that Jesse, a guy on my team, and I always put a $20 bet on who will have the highest average by the end of the year. I usually win, but it adds a little spice to the mix. We both love to trash talk with each other.

We also have a small poker game with every game we bowl. Basically, everyone puts in a dollar and for every strike or spare you get, you draw a card. Split pick ups and rolling a turkey (three strikes in a row) earn you a bonus card and if you roll a gutter ball on your first ball of the frame, you add a dollar to the pot. At the end of the game, whomever has the best poker hand wins the pot. It adds a bit more fun to the night.

This year my goal is to bring my average up to 190. I've been around 175-180 for the past few years, but I think I'll be able to get up to 190. Some guys in my league average over 200 per game. There have been a couple guys that have rolled perfect games too. There are some crappy bowlers too. A couple guys averaged under 100. My biggest problem is consistancy. I can roll a perfect ball, but not every time. It's frustrating.

In Buckeye News, apparently, Troy Smith is going to be the all time starting QB for the Buckeyes. Although I think it is good to have one guy all the time, I don't think that Zwick got a fair shake. He turned the ball over less that Smith and had a lot of his passes dropped. Well, hopfully things will get back on track this weekend against San Diego State. In all reality, the Buckeyes should crush them. I just hope that they figure out how to 1. get the ball in the end zone and 2. get the ball to Ted Ginn. He didn't touch the ball nearly enough against Texas.

In more personal news, I am leaving work early today to go have a chat with Noah's teacher. He hasn't done anything wrong (that we know of) we just want to meet with the guy to ask some questions and try to get some help from him. Noah was not a very good studant last year. He didn't do half of his work and his grade cards were crap. So, we held him back in the fifth grade. There is no way that he'd be able to keep up in sixth grade in a better school district. His math skills are severely lacking. We figured that it would be better for him to repeat this year in the new school district rather than moving on and possible failing and having to repeat sixth grade. So, we are just going to chat with the teacher and see what he can do to help us monitor Noah's progress and motivate Noah to work to his potential.

Jessica's birthday is tomorrow. I have no idea what to get her. Maybe I'll just cop out and get her some flowers and a card. Maybe I'll take her out if we can find a sitter. She'll be 30, so I wanted to do something nice. I guess nothing will beat her 27th birthday when I bought her her diamond ring. I would get her a bowling ball drilled for my hand and hith my name on it, but that would just be too obvious.

I've been seeing Serenity commercials on TV. That makes me glad because the producers are thinking that it will be good enough tat they actually want to promote it. Of course, they also promote movies that are crap, but the previews for Serenity look great. I am much looking forward to going to see it.

I'm ok now....

I'm better after fuming for a few days over the OSU loss to Texas. It was a bullshit loss, but we've got more games in front of the Bucks to look forward to. The boy in Scarlet and Grey just need to win the Big Ten Title so that they can get into a BCS game. I think it will be possible to win out the rest of the season. The othe Big Ten teams that OSU will play have some definate chinks in their armor. That's all I have to say about that.

So, the house is coming together a little bit more. It's so hard to get things unpacked when Jessica an I have both work. It's near impossible to do anything while watching two kids all day. I'm starting with my office in the basement now. My parents got me a desk for when I start working from home. I would be working from home by now, but they want me to train some people on how to do my job. So, I need to put the desk together and then start decorating. We also need to go through everything and figure out where to put stuff. The kitchen and out bedrooms are mostly finished now, but the garageis still full of boxes. That will be my next project. We are getting some stuff unpacked at least. My drive way looks like a grave yard for boxes. I need to figure out what to do with them all. Probably try to find somewhere to recycle them.

Texas did not beat Ohio State........

Ohio State lost the game. That is the only way I can put it. Did Vince Young dominate the Buckeye defense? No. They all but shut down the Texas QB. The first two series of the game, I was worried since he seemed to drive the Texas offense down the field at will. But then, the linebackers of OSU shut his ass down. So why did OSU lose the game? In my opinion, one bad call by the officials and bad offensive play calling. The bad call: the game winning TD. The receiver was clearly bobbling the ball as he was going down and you can see the ball bouncing away from him at the end of the play. Reply just couldn't determine that he dropped it for sure because of the bad camera angles. In my opinion, it was NOT a TD. Now, I am a huge Tressel fan. However, I am tired of his conservative play calling in big games. He's starting to look like Cooper back in tha day. Run, Run, Run, Punt. Ohio State has one great receiver in Santonio Holmes and the fasted guy on the field with Ted Ginn. Line them up, run them both deep, and throw to whichever one has single coverage. They did it once to Holmes for a TD. Also, it drove me nuts how he kept switching QB all game. If you want Zwick to play, let him play. If you want Smith to play, let him play. when Zwick was pulled after two sets of downs, I was angry. He had one, maybe two passes dropped causing that fourth down situations. NOT HIS FAULT! Then bring Smith in. Run, run, run....eventually, Texas is going to figure that out. When you add a missed field goal (caused by a 5 yard loss on the previous play) and a dropped TD pass, you give the game away. You can say that Texas was giving the game away with it's turnovers, but those were caused by spectacular defensive plays (mostly by Hawk). In my opinion, Hawk was the OSU player of the game. He had more game changing plays that the entire offense put together. Come on, when Texas gives the ball away three times on their end of the field and you can only get field goals?!?!? Pittman ran well, and both QBs did OK, but neither one of them were all too great. That game was SO aggrevating to watch. I'm done with it now. Now we just need to look at winning the Big Ten title. The only hopes that Ohio state has now of winning the National Title is by winning out and hoping that Texas stumbles somewhere. Of course, since Michigan and Iowa both lost, that means that the OSU strenght of schedule factor is going to decrease. I'm through with it now.

It's Friday!!

I am amazed. I am actually mildly interested in baseball. I rarely watch a game, I barely pay attention to the highlights on Sports Center, but right now, I am just a little bit interested in MLB. Not enough to go into a whole post about it, but I have some interest. The Indians (the only team I like at all aside from the Cubs) are in the lead for the wild card to get into the playoffs. They are 1/2 game ahead of the Yankees (a team I don't like). I don't like baseball because the season is so damn long (over a hundred games a season). A team can lose 60 games and still be in the playoff race. Plus, there are so many player trades every season, it's impossible to know a team roster from one game to the next. But anyway, I am slightly interested because the Indians are still in the playoff hunt over the Yankees. That's all.

Cook out plans are for the Penn State game this year. The past few have been Wisconsin game cook outs, but the Bucks don't play the Badgers this year. Too bad too. They didn't look too good in their season opener against Bowling Green allowing 42 points in thier 56-42 victory. Anyway, this year we chose October 8th and the game being played in Happy Valley. Hopfully, the Buckeyes will be able to make it the not-so-Happy Valley this year. Penn State has been down the past few seasons, but there is talk that the Nittony Lions may be better this year. We shall see. Personally, I think that Joe-Pa needs to step down. He is a legacy at Penn State and in college football, true. However, he is getting up in the years. No one in their right mind will fire him, but someone needs to have a private talk with him and tell him that it's time to hang up the whistle. Woody Hayes is an Ohio State legend, but his time came too. It's just the way of things. Anyway, the cookout. The game starts at 7:00 or 7:45 pm so I'm figuring that I'll spark up the grill around 6:00. We'll have tons of food and drink, as usual. I'll send an email out to everyone later with directions and more specific information. Yes, Bryan, I wil get Long Island Iced Tea fixin's. You'd just better not have to crash on by couch again. We'll have the usual cook out foods, brats, burgers, and chicken of sort. This year, we will actually have enough room for people to sit comfortably. The new basement isn't as big as the old one, but the living room is bigger and out dex kicks ass. It should be a good time. Amy, if you and Johnny make it, sorry that you will not be able to partake in the alcoholic libations, but we'll have plenty of grub to satisfy your preggers cravings. Out of town people may want to try and find someone to stay with since it is a late game. We can probably handle a few people, but that's all.

I added a picture of a Lego Stadium that someone built. It's pretty cool. Not too sure where the picture came from, but hopfully I won't get in trouble for posting it.

Biggest Game Ever?

An article in The Other Paper, a free Columbus news paper, is claiming that OSU vs Texas this Saturday in the 'Shoe is the most anticipated home game in Ohio state (recent) History. I added recent because they only looked at games since 1970. They used a formula (Novelty + National Importance + Players + Coaches + 'Bonus Buzz' = Total Score) to determine the top seven most anticipated games at Ohio Stadium played since 1970. Here are their findings:

1. #4 OSU vs #2 Texas 2005 First match up ever. Loads of National Title implications.
2. #4 OSU vs #3 Oklahoma 1977 OSU 28 Oklahoma 29 First meeting with the Sooners and a top 5 match up
3. #5 OSU vs #4 Michigan 1970 OSU 20 Michigan 9 First time both teams were undefeated
4. #5 OSU vs #6 Penn State 1978 OSU 0 Penn State 19 rare Penn State visit
5. #7 OSU vs #15 Notre Dame 1995 OSU 45 Notre Dame 26 First Irish visit in 60 years
6. #8 OSU vs #1 Iowa 1985 OSU 22 Iowa 13 Iowa was on route to win the National Title
7. #2 OSU vs #12 Michigan 2002 OSU 14 Michigan 9 OSU needed a win to go to Tempe and play for the Title

Personally, I have only witnessed two of these game that I can remember. I may have saw the 1985 game against Iowa, but do not specifically remember. I was only 11. As such, I would change the top games to include the 2002 game vs Michigan (needed a win to play for the title baby!) and the 1995 Notre Dame game. Since I was in school for the Irish game, and a member of the band, I would get way pumped for games like that. OSU vs Texas is getting huge hype. ESPN Game Day is going to be in town and there will be over 1000 reporters in town covering the game. In the past, the most has been 900. ESPN.com has stories all over about the game and ticket prices. I remember once, when Woody visited Bryan and I for the Michigan game, he brought $20 expecting to buy a ticket. Bryan and I laughed a bit and then pointed him to the Union and told him he could watch there. Five minutes into kickoff, there's Woody with a grin on his face. He paid $20 to get into a Michigan vs OSU game! Anyways, these tickets for the Texas game are selling for $2000 a pair. Back to the point. In my memory, this IS the most anticipated game in OSU stadium history. Notre Dame was big. Michigan is always big. But this is the first meeting between two huge football teams. It's not like Texas going to play against the Akron Zips who are just happy that more fans will come to the game to see Texas play. The attitude in Columbus isn't that the Buckeyes will play Texas this weekend, the attitude it that the Buckeyes are going to beat Texas this weekend. The difference between now and when Notre Dame came to town is that both teams have title hopes, both teams have great talent, and both teams have great histories.

Another article in the Other Paper is quoting a Texas sports writer that graduated from OSU. The article states that the sports writer said that Texas needs to win more than Ohio State does. There is a quote stating that "Going into the season, the thinking in Austin was, as long as they don't lose too badly up in Columbus, they'd have a chance in the National Title picture." This has changed now that the other two big opponents that Texas will face, Oklahoma and Texas A&M, have already lost, weakening the strength of schedule aspect of Texas' season. OSU on the other hand still has to face Michigan and Iowa, two highly ranked teams. Ohio State could lose this game early, and still be in the National Title hunt if they win the rest of the games with solid wins over Michigan and Iowa. Personally, I'd rather win them all. I have faith in my boys this year. I also like that quote because it gives you the sense that Texas fans are expecting a loss. Of course that's one guy's opinion and he is an OSU grad, but I like thinking that there is fear in Texas. A night game in the Horseshoe, under the lights with over 100000 crazed fans cheering on the Buckeyes is going to be amazing. I only wish I could be there. I don't have two grand to spare though. Maybe I should get Woody to come with me and see if his magic could work again. Maybe he could get a pair of tickets for $40.

What a week

Well, the move is done. I am tired, sore, and broke. We were actually out of our old house a day early. Since the guy buying our house never told me where to leave the key (he couldn't make it to our scheduled closing time) I just left eh keys and the garage door opener in the house and locked the door. Screw him. He can get a locksmith if needs to. I figured that they would give him the key that was in the lock box, but apparently, there is some confusion as to where that key is. Oh well. Not my problem. We have all of our stuff at out new house, mostly in the garage or basement. It's a huge mess right now. There is no way I would have been able to move move without hiring mover. It was a bit more expensive than I would have liked, but it was worth it. Two Men and a Truck did a good job. The guys were nice and didn't damage a thing. The people moving out of our house on the other hand put a huge dent in the kitchen wall and tore out the water hook up for the washer and dryer. We are trying to get them to pay for the fixing of the damage. Oh, and there is a huge spot on our living room that is unpainted because they didn't bother to move the entertainment center before painting. We covered it up fairly well with a big piece of furniture, but it is still a pain. The Barney purple room is now a nice green dining room. It too primer and two coats of paint. Also, We got Noah's room painted. We still have alot to do though. Thanks to Bryan and Rick or the help clearing out my storage shed.

I have alot to catch up on sice it's been almost a week since my last posting. Ohio State won their home opener against Miami (OH) 34-14. The 14 points scored by Miami were in the closing minutes of the game and came against the Ohio State second team defense. The starting defense completely shut down Miami's (pretty good) offense. It put a warm fuzzy feeling in my stomach. The offense looked pretty good too. Zwick made more good plays than bad, and there was some positive things from the running game. Bryan has some more on the game and a picture that he took posted on his blog. I won't go too much in to detail since I only saw bits and pieces of the game, what with the moving and all. The game this weekend is huge. OSU vs. Texas. I feel pretty good about this game after watching the defense last Saturday. The Miami QB was flattened a few times by the diferent blitzes that the Bucks threw at him. Texas is a diferent story (I think they scored 60 points last week), true, but I think that the Scarlet and Grey will pull it out.

A realization last week: While watching an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I had a bit of a suprise. Mal, from Firefly, was a semi-regular in the last season of Buffy. I knew that he looked familiar. The guy that plays Mal also played a bad guy named Caleb on Buffy. Sorry to the more divote Firefly fans, but I do not know his actual name. Caleb was a pretty good bad guy and the actor played him well. It's no suprise that Joss kept him on for Firefly.

I have several things coming up that I am excited about. I am going to see System of a Down September 25th. I bought two tickets and will be taking the wifey along. She is not a huge System of a Down fan, but she likes them well enough to enjoy the show. The Mars Volta is opening for SOAD and I'm trying to get Bryan to make me a CD of some of their music. The show is also part of the 'Blitz Bash'. The local radio station is having a concert in the arena district and a ticket to SOAD will get you into the Blitz Bash. I doubt that we will go since it's an all day thing. Serenity is coming to cinima at the end of the month. The trailers look good. I hope to see it the theatres, but with three kids and a wierd work schedule, I may have to wait until it is out on DVD. Also, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie is going to be out in November. Still a few months away, true, but I am looking forward to it none the less. I am reading the book (again) and am getting close to the end. I forgot how good it is. It's a shame that they will need to cut alot of it out for the movie. Otherwise it would be four hours long probably.

Two Days until the Move

That's right. All of our waiting is coming to an end. We get to move into our new house in two days. It will actually take three days to do everything. We are spreading things out so that we are not overwhelmed. I bet you are all tired of reading about our move, so I will spare you the details. I stayed home today to do some stuff, but actually don't feel too good. I slept most of the day. Strange for me to do so.

Well, there isn't too much for me to type about. The closings for both of our houses were Tuesday and both went down without incident. We now own our new house officially. The people that sold it to us seemed really nice. The guy that bought our house couldn't bother to make it to our closing on time, so we signed everything and he showed up later to sign everything he needed to sign. Since I've never heard from him, I have no idea how to get him the keys. I'll probably just leave the door unlocked and leave the keys in the kitched. The guy has been nothing but a pain in my ass, so I don't see that I need to go out of my way to make things convenient for him.

So, if anyone feels like coming over to help out, or just to see the new house, let me know. Thanks to Herb for the offer of help, but I feel bad asking you to drive all this way to help us move. I'd rather you come to our cookout and have a good time. The plan is still to have the cookout on October 8th (the Penn State game). I have to work that day, but we should be ready to go by 6:00 or so. Lots of food, lots of drink, lots of good times. I hope everyone will try to make it.

The Famine in Nigier......

No, I'm really not going to write about the famine in Nigier. I spoke with my college buddy Greg and his wife Ann, who suggested that my next blog topic be 'The Famine in Nigier.' I know absolutely nothing about the famine in Nigier. I can imagine that it is pretty bad though. Famine is terrible. This weekend we did watch parts of "Tears of the Sun" staring Bruce Willis and Monica Bellucci which is about the civil war in Sierra Leone. Terrible stuff. Some of the things that happen over there are truly terrible. I won't go into it because the movie is pretty good, but I know that Jessica works with several nurses and nurse aids that came over from Africa to escape the wars over there. One of them said that there is no way she'd ever go back. It really makes you thankful for what we have as American citizens. Sure things are bad here sometimes, but at least we don't have soldiers killing all of the men and children and raping the women before killing them. Sorry. I don't mean to get so heavy this early in the morning. I'm not one to get all political with my blog....

A good little article on ESPN.com about games to watch this year. Ohio State is in three of them: vs Texas, vs. Iowa, and at M*ch*g*n. I'm sure that all three games will be great and I feel that the Big Ten title (and a trip to the Rose Bowl to face USC, probably) will come down to the Game in Ann Arbor. We need to first set the OSU sights on Miami (OH). The Red Raiders won the Eastern MAC conference last year and that is no small feat any more. Plus they have gone to bowl games for the past few years. Looking at their schedule, Ohio State is definately their huge game of the year. They will have big MAC games and will probably go to another bowl game, but Ohio State is the biggest school on the list. I'm just hoping that the Buckeyes don't overlook the Red Raiders. With Texas around the corner, it could be easy to forget that Miami is a good team too.

T minus 6 days and counting

That's right. Six days until we move to our new house. Lots to do, lots to do. Jessica's dad was kind enough to take the kids for a few hours so that we could get busy on packing without the drama that is children. We have noah's room 100% packed, Gabriel's room 90% packed, and the rest of the house probably 70% packed. The basement has been my current project. All I need to do now is pack up my computer stuff, which thanks to my new blog addiction, will be one of the last things packed. Of course, I need to take it to the new place and set it up first thing since Time Warner Cable is coming to hook up cable, Road Runner, and our new phone services. I'll need to ask the tech if I need to call a number to get 911 activaged, because I heard that some cable phone systems do not include emergency numbers unless you activate them. I also emptied one of our storage places and moved everything out of it and into our garage. That way the movers can get some of the furniture that we had stored moved instead of me doing it. I also emptied out my garden shed and put everything in the garage. Fun stuff. This coming Saturday, the first wave will be taking paint, the afore mentioned computer, and as much other stuff over and then starting painting. We have a Barney purple dining room that just has to go. Jessica's mom, dad,and her friend from work, will be helping out with the painting. I am hoping to get all of the little stuff moved first, before the movers come for the furniture on Sunday. We have our actual closing on both houses this Tuesday. I am a bit paranoid because I am not 100% sure we will have enough money for both closings. I think we do, but it all depends on what we will have to pay for selling out house. That's right. We have to pay for this fucker to buy our house. If you ever sell you house, I hope that you will be in a neighborhood that is growing and has increasing property value. We are not in one of those neighborhoods. Our street is nice, but the area we are in is on a decline thanks to the getto apartments that are down the street. We were lucky to get as much as we did for our house. Other houses in the area are selling for $30,000 less. Well, I sure that you all are sick and tired of hearing about my house selling and moving ordeals. I know that I can't wait for this all to be over with. I really hope that I never have to move again. If you ever do buy a house, use my realtors. Thay are great. They went above and beyond to find us the perfect house and to sell the house we are in. There is a link on my blog site, so check them out.

System of a Down kicks ass

Now, there are two different types of music groups that I would call 'favorites'. The first group is the All Time Favorites. These bands are the ones that you don't necessarily listed to every day, but will always buy a new CD when it comes out or turn up the radio when any of their songs come one. For me, these groups are:
1. Rush - Probably the most talented three musicians that have ever formed a group. I have every single album ever released by Rush (at least the US releases)
2. Pink Floyd - The Wall, enough said
3. Led Zepplin - It's too bad their drummer died young. Who know how many other great albums this band could have put out...
4. Korn - you may raise an eyebrow at this, but they have a very origional sound and great intensity
5. System of a Down - The new addition. More later.

The other caregory is One time Favorites. These are the groups that are a current day fad that you eventually grow out of. One Time Favorites of mine:
1. Pearl Jam - I'm so sick of Pearl Jam now that I immediately change the channel if they come one the radio.
2. Creed - Can they make a song that doesn't sound like every other song they've released?
3. Live - Their first and second albums were great. After that, it's like they forgot how to rock.
4. Sound Garden/Chris Cornell - Have you ever counted how many times the lyrics 'black hole sun' are whined in that song? Too many. Chris's new group is pretty weak too.
5. The artist formerly known as Prince. KIDDING!! I just wanted to make sure you were paying attention. I did own the Batman sound track though. 100% Prince music. Then I grew up.

Those are just a few examples. I could go on, but who has the time? Back to the band of topic: System of a Down. I first discovered them when Chop Suey was played on the radio. I wasn't sure how to take them at first, but eventually bought Toxicity. There are a few songs on the CD that I tend to skip over when I listen to it, but in general, Toxicity is a great album full of intensity and powerful music and lyrics. Chop Suey, Toxicity, and Ariels are all great songs off of Toxicity. SOAD is a fairly political group and aren't afraid to express their views in their lyrics. Prison Song and Deer Dance are good examples of this. Hungry for more System of a Down, I went and bought their first, self titles album. It is much heavier that Toxicity and it isobvious that there was much growth of the band musially between the two albums. I'm not saying System of a Down is a bad CD, but Toxicity is just that much better as far as the musicality goes. It's only natural that a group grows and evolves from album to album. Songs to listen to on the debut album are Spiders, Sugar, and Suite Pee. The group then took their time with thier third album, Steal this Album! There were a couple different CD packages and the one I got looks like a CD that someone would have burned for you and doesn't have a insert on the front of the case. This CD continues to show how much System of a Down is growing as a band. Their songs are filled with intesnsity and intricate musical composition. You may think, "whatever, they're just a heavy metal band," but I say this, anyone can pick up musical instruments and make loud noises that can make your ears hurt. System of a Down is a well above bands that are just loud and play the same three cords in every song. There are too many good songs on Steal This Album to list. Finally, after way too long, Mezmerize came out this year. The first listen through scared me a little bit because it was different than everything else that SOAD has released. It was obvious that it was System of a Down because of their unique voices and musicality, but some of the lyrics can take you off guard a bit. Of course, BYOB is their big release from Mezmerize, but almost every other song on the album kicks just as much ass. I highly recommend this album. Revenga, Cigaro, Question!, Sad Statue,....all great. They actually have another album coming out this November called Hypnotize. It is part two of Mezmerize. Not too sure why they are releasing them separately, but they are. I really want to go see them in concert, but am having trouble finding anyone to go with. Anyone interested? The Mars Volta is opening for them. Plus, tickets to the show get you into the 'BLITZ Bash', the Local radio station's annual party. Sept 25th.

Ready for some football?

If not, my friend Ben sent me a link to a cool video promoting the Ohio State vs. Texas Game coming up on 09/10/2005. It looks like a Texas fan's site, but the video is pretty unbiased. I got pretty pumped up after watching it. Go to recent additions and check out the “OSU/Texas preview lets do this thing”. Do a right click File: save as. It won't open unless you save it first. It's really cool. It goes to show you that Texas fans take their football as seriously as Ohio State fans. These team have some similarities:

1. Both teams beat Michigan last season :-)
2. Both Teams beat Oklahoma State last season
3. Both teams have huge rivals. OSU has Michigan and Texas has Texas A&M (I spoke with an A&M band member when I was at the Sugar Bowl and he said that if he saw a Texas fan lying on the ground, injured, he's just keep on walking. I can only assume that Texas fans feel the same as A&M fans. I could be wrong though)
4. Both teams have game breaking talent on offense and defense.

I could research some more, but I really don't have the time or patience. I really just wanted to get everyone excited about the upcoming season. GO BUCKS!!

My day off.

Lately, he kids have been so high maintenence that Jessica and I have been calling our days at work our 'days off'. It's not Alydia, it's the boys. Mostly, Noah. He is bored (mostly because he'd rather sit on his ass than go outside and do something) so he's finding entertainment by picking on Gabriel. Yes, it is normal for brothers to pick on each other, but it is different when one is 11 and the other is 3. Thankfully, summer is almost over and Noah will be back to school. Anyway, I was off of work yesterday and staying home with the kids. Gabriel was at day care (we let him go once a week still. he likes it) and Noah went over to play with a kid across the street. Let me just say, that being almost alone (Alydia was still there) was great. I enjoy being with the kids, but a day of relative quiet was very nice. I didn't do anything different, but by not having to yell at the big kids at all, the enjoyment of my daily activities was increased immensely. I just want to say good luck to Amy, who is expecting her first child. It's alot of fun when they are small and cute, but as they get older, it gets harder.

I received a call from my realtor yesterday. Immediately I think 'now what's wrong?'. It turns out that the guy that is buying our house can't make it to our scheduled closing time of 12:00 noon on Tuesday the 30th. He claims that he can't get off of work. Now, he works for Nationwide. I too work for Nationwide. It is SO easy for me to take a long lunch if I need to. I can stay late to make up the time or use some time off. Piece of cake. I just think that this guy doesn't want to meet us because of how he is screwing us over. The closingplace wanted us to pre-sign on Friday or Monday and then the guy buying our house would sign asfer he gets off work. Sorry. No. We are not going to change our plans so that this guy doesn't have to be inconvenienced. So, we are still going in on Tuesday at noon to sign everything and the buyer will sign everything later. We are totally not cleaning anything for him. He has been such a pain iin our ass that I'm not doing anything more for him that what I absolutely have to do. I'll sweep up atleast, but that's about it. I'm sure that since my mom will be down watching the kids, she will probable have the house spotless by the time we're out. She has a bit of OCD when it comes to cleaning. Oh, by the way, we're moving in ten days.

Trying this link thing again

I am going to try this link thing again. Here is my realtor's web page. They rock!

a test

Woody said I need to learn to add links. Well, I am trying to link to his blog. Cross your fingers.

NCAA Football Baby!!

Yes, I know the whole 'Baby!' thing is from Dickie V. and that he is a basketball announcer, but how he feels about basketball is how I feel about the upcoming NCAA football season. Ohio State kicks off in 12 days against Miami (OH) University. Now, I'm no where near as informed about sports as Woody is, but here's my take on the upcoming season:

Ohio state is ranked 6th in the AP top 25 poll, 9th in the USA Today poll, and 9th in the Coaches poll. This makes me happy. They are ranked high enough to be competative in the National picture and low enough that they won't be too cocky. They have a pretty good schedule, having 7 out of 11 games at home, including huge games against Texas (#2) and Iowa (#10). Their big away games this year are at Penn State (unranked, but always dangerous) and Michigan (#4). Two team that I am glad that OSU is not playing this year are Purdue (#15) and Wisconsin (unranked, but always a tough game for the bucks). I have a feeling that if Ohio State can get past the first tough game against Texas, we should be well off until we meet up with the Team Up North. The Buckeyes are returning a huge supply of talent this year and I think that the momentum that we had at the end of last season (wins against Michigan and a Bowl Game victory always take the sting out of a rough season) will carry over this year. Now, I don't know stats and I don't have the roster memorized, but I do know that we have one of the toughest linebacking corps in the country and one of the most dangerous recievers/kick returners in the country. If the O-line can give the quarterback (either Zwick or Smith) time and open a few holes for a running game, the offense could be just as dangerous at the defense. The one thing that worries me is the loss of Nugent. He was a garunteed 3 points anywhere within 50 yards. With the way Ohio State gets into tight games, we need a good kicker.

I was watching Sports Center the other day and they arepredicting USC in the title game (big suprise). It is more than probable that the Trojans with vie for a chance to three-pete this year since they are returning a Heisman winning QB and a great tail back. The interesting part of the spot was when the analysts picked the top three teams they expected to meet the Trojans in the Rose Bowl. First was Texas, not a huge suprise, but it irritated me that the guy said they needed to get past Oklahoma if they want to compete for the title. Hello!!! McFly!!! What about the night game in the 'Shoe on September 10th???!!! They say that the Texas A & M field is tough to play in, but I think that the Horse Shoe with 100000+ screaming their heads off could be a bit of a shocker for the Long Horns. Anyway, the second team they perdicted is Miami (FL) who are top ten in all of the polls. A good pick, but with Tennesee and Oklahoma in there, it could go to any of them. The last pick was a Big Ten team, Purdue. Purdue??? They are top 25 in the polls, but the highest ranking that they have right now is 13 in the ESPN poll. True, they do not play OSU or Michigan this year, but they have a 10:00 pm game at Arizona, a home game vs. Notre Dame, and home vs Iowa. Five gets you ten that one of those games won't turn out well for the Boilermakers. Plus, throw Penn State and Wisconsin into the mix, and you have a rough schedule. Yes, OSU has a tough scedule too, but if you want to read an impartial commentary, you've come to the wrong place.

I think that the Buckeyes going to the title game comes down to one thing: The game in Ann Arbor. I think that the defense will keep the Texas game close and a special teams TD from Ted Ginn Jr will seal the deal for the Bucks. I also think that they will be able to get past the Nittany Lions in Happy Valley and the Hawkeyes at home. The Game is going to be the decider. Michigan is returning a lot of talent this year, and when you go up to that shit hole they call a stadium (biased, remember) it's tough to win. The bright side is that Tressel is not intimidated by the Maize and Blue and has won three of his four games against the Team up North. That, and they lost Brailen Edwards, who was really their only effective weapon against the Buckeyes last year. (I feel strange cheering for him as a Browns fan, but he did catch the wining touchdown Saturday vs. Detroit) My (extremely biased) opinion is that OSU will have some tight games, but will run the tables and smell the roses this year. After they get there, if they have to play USC I would be scared, but I was scared at the idea of playing Miami a few years ago and that turned out OK. The two things that scare me about the season are the running game, which has been poor lately, and the kicking game. If those aspects are taken care of, I think that we will have a great season and possibly another Nation Title.

Wow, that was easy.

Putting images up on my Blogger account is cake! I just had to click 'add image' and it walked me right through it. The first one is of Gabriel on his birthday, the second is what Gabriel's room looked like after he 'made it snow', the fourth is all three kids on the couch, and the fourth is Gabriel's 'monster teeth'. As time moves forward, I'm sure I'll add more pictures of the kids and old pictures to bring back memories.

I am trying to add a picture to a post. It is Gabriel and Alydia together. I hope this works. I need to start paying back Mona for breaking out the high school pictures. At least she added one of her own to the mix. Still, Eric with a mullet on the net is pretty harsh.

By the way, we move in 13 days. Just thought I'd let you all know.

Sorry about that.....

As you can probably read, I had to cut short my last post. The kids were all being crazy and I had to go give them a whack or two. Just kidding. I don't whack the kids. Much.

Anyway, Sin City was really good. If I had to complain, it would be about Jessica Alba. Don't get me wrong, she looked hot. The problem is that she played a stripper who never took her top off. In the comic, the character that Jessica Alba played was topless 90% of the time. I'm not saying that Jessica Alba needed to peel off her top and compromise her morals, I'm saying dump Jessica Alba for an actress not afraid to take it off. There were other topless women in the film, so why didn't the director insist on an actress willing to go the extra mile to truly fit the role? It's not like there weren't enough big names in the film... Bruce Willis and Frodo were both in it. I know, I know. You're all thinking, "Eric, you just want to see Jessica Alba's boobies." Well, although that is true, my big complaint is that they didn't find someone willing to play the role as Frank Miller created it. I mean come on, who ever heard of a stripper that wouldn't take her top off? Well, I still like her, even if she's not the best actress and is a prude.
Other than that, it was really shocking how closely the actors in the movie resembled the pictures of the charactors in the comic.

15 days until we start our move. Craziness. It seems like just yesterday that I was freaking out about selling our house and buying a new one. Now I'm freaking out about moving. It should be OK. We have most of our stuff boxed already. Plus we've gone through alot of stuff and threw a bunch of it away. Good times. I won't bore you with more details of our upcoming move. I'm just anxious to get it over with. We're having Volunteers of America come to take a couch and some old dresser tomorrow. If they won't take them, I've already called Columbus bulk pick up to have them taken on Tuesday. I am on it! I've even called all of my utilities and have things set up to change service from the old house to the new house. I guess after you've moved eight times in your life, you learn a few things.

Shows I gotta see:

Every night Jessica and I have television shows that we ritually watch. People try to turn me on to other shows, but honestly, I don't have the time. Well, here are the shows that we try not to miss:

Monday: Monday is kinda weak over the summer, but we normally watch Fear Factor (I laugh at the crazy shit people do for money) Las Vegas and Medium. All of these shows are not the greatest, but are quite entertaining. I can see Medium getting old after a while (honestly, how many times can a woman predict people dying and still be original?) but I find Las Vegas quite entertaining, mostly because I want to go back very badly.

Tuesday: We usually watch some type of reality show. It makes me sad to admit that. Average Joe is a favorite. We laugh at the hijinx of it all. There's also American Idol. Tuesdays generally make me sad. I think that there is a new show coming on Tuesdays about a woman becoming president that looks pretty good. We'll probably watch the pilot and see how it goes.

Wednesday: That 70's show is hilarious. It may suck now that Eric is gone, but I'll give it a few episodes to see if it is worth watching any more. We also watch House, which is a pretty good show about a doctor that knows it all. It has the same problem as Medium does. How many weird illnesses and diseases can they come up with before the show gets old?

Thursday: Usually, Thursday is my bowling night, so I miss alot of shows on their first running. Way back in the day it was Cheers and Seinfeld. Back in the day it was Friends, now we suffer through Joey. It's on OK show, but no where near as funny as Friends was. After that, we watch CSI, the best show on television, and then ER. I don't care as much about ER anymore because all of the good characters are gone. Now that Carter is leaving the show, I think that only a few nurses with small roles are left from the original cast.

Friday: Movie night, usually. We would Watch Third Watch and Providence, but both shows are cancelled now. We haven't found anything new yet.

Saturday: Another Movie night. There really isn't too much good on Saturdays until Football season starts up. Jessica hates football season, but she is an OSU football fan at least.

Sunday (probably the best TV day of the week!): We start out with Extreme Makeover Home Edition, then we watch desperate Housewives, and finally Grey's Anatomy. They are all great shows. We actually started watching Grey's Anatomy over the summer with the reruns, but I thin that it will be a keeper.

News of the day, Herb has a blog now. Check out the link!

Sin City baby!

So, I went out and got Sin City, the movie, not the comic book. I wasn't sure what I'd think of it since I'd never read the comic, but everything I've seen and heard told me that it would be pretty good. If you haven't seen it, it's black an white with splashes of color for emphasis. Let me just say, I was riveted the whole movie. It was a bit over the top in some places, but it's based off a comic book, so it should be over the top. It had everything a movie should have: action, comedy, violence, hot girls, more violence and pretty good stories. I won't get into details, but I will say that I really liked it. I give it an A.

Gotta go, the kids are going nuts......Have fun with parenting amy and Johnny!

should I forgive Mo'?

No, not Moe Hoffman. I've got no problems with him. I'm talking about Maurice Clarette. I bashed him pretty hard on a previous post and have been going back and forth with Woody about the subject.

My stance: He disgraced my university and football team and he deserves no love from OSU fans.

Woody's stance: He was a big reason for Ohio State going 14-0 and winning the National Title, so I should take it easy on the guy.

Really, Woody has some good points and I respect his opinion. It angers me to think about it, but without Maurice Clarette and some of the plays that he pulled out of no where, Ohio State probably would not have won the title. I became a huge Clarette supporter after he ran through two players during the NC State game. Does that mean I should give him some slack? After much thought on the subject, I have come to a resounding NO. I cannot show any love to someone who is given everything and then bites the hand of the delivery guy. All he needed to do was keep his mouth shut and follow the rules for a few years and he would have won at least one Heisman and would have been a first round pick. The bottom line is, even though Maurice Clarette did help the Buckeyes win a title, he almost got them in some deep trouble by running his mouth when he didn't get his way. To me that is unforgivable. OSU could have been stripped of the title and the program could have been seriously hindered. As I respect Woody and his opinion, he is looking at the situation from the outside. As an OSU alum and a former member of the OSU Marching Band (which is tied very closely to the football team) I find it very difficult to look past the negative press caused by Maurice Clarette. Maybe, in years to come, after Maurice fumbles a few balls to help the Browns beat the Broncos in a playoff game, I may be able to like him again. Until then, whenever someone notices the number 13 on my OSU Jersey, I will immediately say that it's for someone other then Mo C. Sorry Woody.

21 days 'till we move!

I can't believe that we are moving in just three weeks. It is amazing how time flies when you have a shit load of stuff to do. Believe it or not, we have a majority of the packing done. There is a pile of filled boxes (marked with room destinations) in out basement. Most of the rest of the things to pack are last minute items.

Jessica and I watched Guess who last night. It has Bernie Mac and Kelso (Ashton Kutcher). It's about a mixed couple going to visit the girls black family, only she didn't tell her family that she's dating a white guy. Hilarity insues. Actually, there were only a few good laughs in the film, and it played to a lot of steriotypes that are out there in regard to black folks. It does have a pretty good message about society though: After all of this time, people still freak out about mixed couples. That's just silly. People are attracted to whomever they're attracted to. I've been in a few mixed relationships (nothing that lasted too long or was too public)and I don't get what the big deal is. It's almost the same concept as gay relationships. If someone is happy with a member of their own sex, WHO CARES?!? My opinion is that if it makes you happy, do it. It may not be something that I would do personally, but I don't see any harm in any two people finding happiness together. Anyway, I got of topic, sorta. The movie was pretty good. Kelso did his usual bang up job of playing a pretty but dumb guy and Bernie Mac is always funny. There is a good ilne in the movie (dont' read further if yo don't want the line spoiled) when Bernie taked Kelso to a hotel to stay in and Kelso learns that the room had been booked a week in advance. Kelso says "you knew you were going to book this room a week ago?" and Bernie says, "I knew I was going to book this room 24 years ago when I had a little girl." That is so like me. I give the movie a B-.

Ok, you can start reading again.

So, now that I've finished reading 'The Half Blood Prince', I am re-reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I am doing so in preparation for the upcoming movie in November. We watched Extra last night because they were showing clips from the film. It looks neat. We will definately have to go and see it when it comes out. The Goblet of Fire is where the book series really takes off. The first three books are good, don't get me wrong, but Goblet is where things turn dark and is jammed packed with action. The thing that worries me about the movie is that they may not be able to fit all of the action in from the book. Really, it will need to be about four hours long to fit everything. I had heard some talk that there may be two movies, part one and part two, shown back to back so that people can have a potty break. I doubt that though. They will probably just cut alot of stuff so that they can keep it around three hours. That's going to be hard to do with everything that happens.

So, I am going to try to win System of a Down tickets today. I was going to buy them, but I just can't justify paying that much money to see a band play. After taxes and Ticketmaster's charges, it probably would have been about $100 for the pair. I don't have that much to spare at the moment. So, I am going to listen to the local radio station that is sponsoring the show and see if I can't win a pair. They are actually having a contest to win tickets, so it's not like I'm just listening and hoping that they will give them away out of the blue. They are giving a pair away every hour. Wish me luck!

Laundry heaven

The new washer and dryer are better than I imagined. I won't get into it much (even though I'm sure you all think my washing and drying of clothes to be riveting) but it took less than an hour to do a load of laundry from start to finish. My old dryer alone took over an hour to finish a load. The energy saving is very exciting to me.

So, I watched the trailer for Serenity last night. It looks REALLY good. Of course, I thought Saving Silverman looked good from the trailer and it was trash. I was shameful after watching it. Woody's little Star Wars based trailer was neat too. I never really thought of Mal as a Han Solo type, but I guess it's a pretty good comparison. Both are smugglers with a hard candy shell hiding the candy sweetness in the middle. Anyway, the movie looks like it will be very good. Just a few weeks away too. I will do my part and go see it.

I was watching Sports Center and I saw something that made me smile. Now, I don't wish for bad things to happen to people. I'd always lend a hand to someone truly in need. However, I couldn't help but smile when I saw a story on my least favorite ex-OSU football player, you pal and mine, Maurice Clarette. As you may know, he was picked up by the Denver Broncos (another reason not to like them) and he is currently their number 5 running back. Apparently, he is having so trouble adjusting. Personally, I am shocked that any NFL team would want him. He causes internal problems on a team and is injury prone. In fact, part of the reason he is having trouble is because he's hurt. He's also missing reads and dropping passes. This genius, instead of signing a deal for a guaranteed paycheck, signed a deal based on performance. I doubt he'll be left on the roster, so how will he get paid for performance? He comes off a such an arrogant ass. I'm not wasting any more blog space on him.

The countdown begins: Only 24 days until moving day.

You know you're old when......

You know you're old when you get excited about buying a new washer and dryer. That was my fun for the day yesterday. I went to Lowes and coughed up some dough for a new washer and dryer. The set that we have right now are on their last leg. It takes over an hour to dry a load of laundry in our current dryer. Now, we will be washing in style. I will spare you from additional details since I doubt anyone is as excited by this news as I am.

I finished the Harry Potter book on Monday. WOW!. Lots of twists, lots of suprises, lots of questions. Book seven is going to be jam packed with excitement. I have some theories about what will happen, but I don't want to ruin anything for those of you who haven't ready the book yet.

Also, I watched the rest of the Firefly DVDs. I was upset when I saw the last one because I wanted more. Again, there were some episodes that we so-so, but there were others that were quite good. I will definately try to see the movie when it comes out. From watching some of the interviews, it sounds iike Joss had alot of trouble with the TV execs when it came to creative freedom with the TV series. Too bad. One criticism I have it that when they showed sex scenes, the actors are way too sweaty. Kinda funny. One thing that threw me a bit was, when looking at the DVD cases. the shows on the DVDs were not in the order that they were initially aired. I thik that was good though because seeing 'Serenity' first really helped me out with character development.

I'm starting to feel panicked about moving. Excited about having a new house, but worried that I will forget to do something. I need to call all of the utilities and credit card companies to have my address updated. Plus, I'm worried that we will come up short on funds when we go to closing. We should be ok, but there is still some paranoia. I'm sure it will be OK, I just tend to worry unnecessarily.

Garage Sale, Firefly, and Harry Potter

Well, I experienced my first garage sale this weekend. Not going to one, having one. I basically put out all of the crap that we didn't want hoping that people would buy it. I guess it was OK. We sold a few things and got $40 bucks out of the process. The rest of the stuff, we gave to charity. A lot of people stopped and looked around (our neighborhood has an annual garage sale day and it was this Saturday)but we only sold a few things. It makes you feel a little weird when people think your stuff is too crappy to become their stuff. The weirdest sale was an Asia couple buying 5 forks and 5 spoons for $2. They didn't want the whole set for $10. They only needed the forks and spoons. Strange. Noah made out ok too. He sold a pedal car (you sit in it and pedal) and some other crap to kids on the street. I still have two dressers and a couch to get rid of, but Volunteers of America will come pick them up. We won't have enough room for a big couch in our basement, so we are going to buy a foton or something like that instead.

I started watching Firefly episodes on Sunday. Amy let me borrow her DVDs. I liked some episodes a lot, but there have been a few that I found a little hokey. I am through the first two disks. The last episode I saw was about Jayne being a hero. That one bothered me because it put a crack in Jayne's bad ass image. I have to say that I really like Mal. He says some funny shit, like, "If someone tries to kill you, you kill them right back." Or something like that. It's good to see that Joss still has his gift of casting hot women and writing good one liners. I still have a lot of episodes to go, and maybe I need to see more episodes before saying this, but I really wanted Mal to let River and the doctor (Simon? I'm bad with names) burn at the stake. The whole mystery of River hasn't made me care enough about her yet. Maybe in future episodes when I find out more. All in all, I am glad that I get a chance to see this show and will probably go to the movie when it comes out. A stupid question though, when hey sound like they are speaking another language, they are cursing, right? I'm a bit slow about these things.

I have only about 100 pages before I am done with the latest Harry Potter book. So far, I like Order of the Phoenix better. There isn't as much action in the Half Blood Prince. However, there is a lot of information and questions answered so far. All in all a good book so far. I read that the last hundred pages are impossible to put down, so I am planning on starting them early tonight so that I can get it finished. It's pretty good stuff. I won't spoil anything for anyone, but I will say that there is Quiddich, and Harry still doesn't get along with Malfoy. Sorry if that ruins anything for anyone. I just needed to let a few shockers come out......

How many fingers am I holding up today?.........

TGIF

Believe it or not, this is the first weekend off that I will have (other than vacation time) in a few years. I've been working Saturday shifts the last few years to save on day care costs. Now, I work every other weekend instead. The down side it that I have off the weekends that Jessica works. It's OK though. I get to spend quality time yelling at the kids and we still see each other in the evenings. It will be better when I work from home because I will be able to see her whenever I go upstairs. Anyway, I am glad it is Friday because I don't work tomorrow. My job is getting more and more tedious and I am basically just sick of it. I have my plan though, and will see it through. Right now my job fits the plan. Something stupid about my job: I (and the rest of my division) are moving up one floor in our current building in order to consolidate space. It is stupid because I will move my desk upstairs and in a few weeks move it home. I guess that is basically the same as if I worked from home next week and would then need to move my work stuff out to Hilliard. I guess I'll be a good soldier and go where they tell me.

I went to Chipotle today and met up with Amy. My friend Barb came too. Chipotle is GOOD. I had a bowl. Anyway, the main reason for the meeting was for me to borrow Firefly DVDs and for Amy to borrow Buffy DVDs. Now, I will be able to see the show that Woody talks about in his blog all of the time. If I like it as much as I like Buffy, I'm sure I will be happy. I will also be able to get more of Woody's daily quotes, since a lot of them are from Firefly. It was good seing Amy. Yes, I just went to her birthday party, but she was getting pulled around by so many people that it was hard to have a chat with her. Plus, I think that she was mad at me because of the Yeager Bomb that I bought her. I think the Red Bull made her a little hopped up on caffene.

Move update: Well, a little of my stress is gone. My realto called me and said that we don't have to be out of our house until 09/06/2005. that is good since we don't get to move into our new place until 09/03/2005. At first, we were told that we had to be out by 09/04/2005, giving us 24 hours to move everything. Now we have a nice window to work with. If anyone wants to help us with the move (I guess I should say, 'is willing to help'. No one ever WANTS to help people move) that would be great. I always provide food and drink to people that lend a hand.

Our cook out date is still planned for 10/08/2005 and the OSU vs Penn State game. It will also be our house warming party, so I'm hoping that a good time will be had by all. I've already requested a vacation day for the following Sunday. I am thinking about serving burgers, hot dogs, and hot BBQ chicken. We'll probably have the traditional cook out sides, and I think I will also make some of my famous monster cookies. Per requests, I will try to have Long Island iced tea fixin's on hand. I should warn you, my Long Islands tend to make people end up naked on my couch. I won't drop names as to protect the innocent. It was gross though.

Well, I guess that's that. I feel as though I should have a game that everyone can play at the end of my blog, much like Woody and Bryan do. So, after eaxh posting, I will hold up a number of fringers on one hand. The first person to guess how many fingers, wins! Ok, they don't win anything, but the cool ideas for games have been used already. I don't want to be a copy cat. So, I'm holding up a/some finger(s) now......

TGIF

Believe it or not, this is the first weekend off that I will have (other than vacation time) in a few years. I've been working Saturday shifts the last few years to save on day care costs. Now, I work every other weekend instead. The down side it that I have off the weekends that Jessica works. It's OK though. I get to spend quality time yelling at the kids and we still see each other in the evenings. It will be better when I work from home because I will be able to see her whenever I go upstairs. Anyway, I am glad it is Friday because I don't work tomorrow. My job is getting more and more tedious and I am basically just sick of it. I have my plan though, and will see it through. Right now my job fits the plan. Something stupid about my job: I (and the rest of my division) are moving up one floor in our current building in order to consolidate space. It is stupid because I will move my desk upstairs and in a few weeks move it home. I guess that is basically the same as if I worked from home next week and would then need to move my work stuff out to Hilliard. I guess I'll be a good soldier and go where they tell me.

I went to Chipotle today and met up with Amy. My friend Barb came too. Chipotle is GOOD. I had a bowl. Anyway, the main reason for the meeting was for me to borrow Firefly DVDs and for Amy to borrow Buffy DVDs. Now, I will be able to see the show that Woody talks about in his blog all of the time. If I like it as much as I like Buffy, I'm sure I will be happy. I will also be able to get more of Woody's daily quotes, since a lot of them are from Firefly. It was good seing Amy. Yes, I just went to her birthday party, but she was getting pulled around by so many people that it was hard to have a chat with her. Plus, I think that she was mad at me because of the Yeager Bomb that I bought her. I think the Red Bull made her a little hopped up on caffene.

Move update: Well, a little of my stress is gone. My realto called me and said that we don't have to be out of our house until 09/06/2005. that is good since we don't get to move into our new place until 09/03/2005. At first, we were told that we had to be out by 09/04/2005, giving us 24 hours to move everything. Now we have a nice window to work with. If anyone wants to help us with the move (I guess I should say, 'is willing to help'. No one ever WANTS to help people move) that would be great. I always provide food and drink to people that lend a hand.

Our cook out date is still planned for 10/08/2005 and the OSU vs Penn State game. It will also be our house warming party, so I'm hoping that a good time will be had by all. I've already requested a vacation day for the following Sunday. I am thinking about serving burgers, hot dogs, and hot BBQ chicken. We'll probably have the traditional cook out sides, and I think I will also make some of my famous monster cookies. Per requests, I will try to have Long Island iced tea fixin's on hand. I should warn you, my Long Islands tend to make people end up naked on my couch. I won't drop names as to protect the innocent. It was gross though.

Well, I guess that's that. I feel as though I should have a game that everyone can play at the end of my blog, much like Woody and Bryan do. So, after eaxh posting, I will hold up a number of fringers on one hand. The first person to guess how many fingers, wins! Ok, they don't win anything, but the cool ideas for games have been used already. I don't want to be a copy cat. So, I'm holding up a/some finger(s) now......

my mid week weekend

I now have Tuesday and Wednesday off every week. How did I swing that? Well I work every other weekend. As much as I dislike my job, it at least gives me the flexibility to work basically whenever I want to. I work the days that Jessica has off so that we don't have to pay for day care. I work long days in the week and work every other weekend. The only down side is that I don't get a day off with Jessica ever. I am hoping that it won't last too long though. Anyway, on Tuesday, I basically did a lot of stuff for the house. My loan guy stopped by I got to sign about 5378 forms. Give or take. Someone from my realtor also stopped by so that I could sign some other forms and a home appraiser stopped by followed by a termite inspector. No termites. That'll save me some money.

WARNING!

If you ever plan on buying and then selling a house, please keep these things in mind:

1. Buy a house in an area with good growth potential. If you buy a house in an area that will soon be over run by low income minorities, your house will lose value. I have nothing against living near low income minorities myself, but apparently many house seekers do. We are selling for more than we bought the house for, but only because of the improvements I've made.

2. When making an accepting an offer to sell your house, it is not necessarily the final offer. After the home inspection, the buyer can change the offer to include repair costs. For example, we have to give the guy buying out house $2000 for a new roof. Basically, we're fucked because we already made an offer on our new house and if we back out of the sale of our current house, we will have two houses, which we can't afford.

3. If you are in an area with several homes for sale, even if you have the best house, you are at a disadvantage. If you can, try to sell when there are no other houses for sale in your area. Otherwise, the buyer has all of the leverage. It sucks.

4. When you buy a house, make sure that it is something that will last you for more than three years. After three years in our house, we have enough equity to break even (give or take a couple hundred dollars) but it would have been nice to have enough so that we could make some profit. Also, make sure that your loan fits your needs. Our loan primarily had us paying interest and very little went to out principle.

5. Make sure that you have enough time to move. The way my contracts worked out, we may only have a day to move out of our house. I'm trying to get this fixed, but will be hard pressed to move out if I can't buy some time.

All in all, this has been one of the most stressful and bothersome experiences of my life. The only thing that has helped at all is the fact that my realtor kick ass. The selling agent is bending over backwards to make the sale of our house happen and the agent that has been showing us houses has been working her ass off to find us just the right place. We've probably seen over 40 houses. I would think that she'd get sick of showing us houses by now. Which brings me to probably the biggest thing about buying a house: BE PICKY. It is going to be your home for a long time. Make sure that it will fit your needs for a long time. Anyway, I am putting a link to my realtor's web site on this page. Honesty, they are great. If you know nothing about buying a house, they will hold your hand the whole way.

SOAD anyone?

I saw on their web site that System of a Down are coming to town. Tickets go on sale this Saturday. Anyone interested? I think that they are playing on the 25th of September (Sunday) at the Nationwide Arena. I am currently a huge fan and want to go check them out. I just don't think Jessica is into them as much as I am and I don't want to go alone. If anyone wants to go, I can pick up some tickets this weekend.