6-30-07

Another week down. We're going to be doing more lab work starting next week, so it should start to pick up in pace, but that's OK.

I went to a party over at Jesse Tippett's new place last night. Not a bad little get together. Wasn't a very big place, but it's in a good neighborhood in New Haven and the people were good. I tried this game they call "horse balls." It's like horse shoes, except instead of a horse-shoe, you throw two golf balls tied together with a string at a little three-tiered target (to try to loop the balls around one of the poles). Not a bad game, but there wasn't a ton of room.

I'm going to the Bluefish game tonight with Bartl. Should be fun. I always like going to those games. Pretty cheap tickets for decent baseball.

I just found out I have an additional vacation day, which is nice! It's called an "Additional Holiday," so I'm trying to come up with a good holiday name. Let me know what you think. How about "Jo Bridge Day"?

It's a beautiful day!

6-26-07

It's odd how death comes in bunches, or so it seems. Maybe it's just the time of the year... but probably not. Chris Benoit and Rod Beck, both wild and well-known athletes, died within the past couple days. Benoit was a murder-suicide. Then today, I find out a kid I knew briefly during my childhood died mysteriously along with his younger brother. I didn't really know the kid well. He, Chris, was my grandparents' neighbor in Hyannisport for a while. I played with him around our yards. One time he got stung by a hornet in the face. That's about all I remember of him. Sad.

Megan is having a really tough time with the situation she is in with her buddy Mark. You might think my family would be pissed at the kid for making my sister feel so rotten, but he didn't really do anything bad. He simply decided he wanted to pursue a deeper relationship with some one he had already been involved with: his ex-girlfriend. It's a really shitty time for Megan, but she will get over it. She's a good kid.

It's so hot out! It was 96 degrees when I got in my car after work today. Brutal! I'm beat. I cooked dinner for the family tonight. I tried a steak sauce recipe with bleu cheese and scallions. Turned out great.

6-25-07

Today was the first day of Camp Playland 2007. It's strange that, throughout the day while I was sitting at my desk, that never occurred to me. It was only when I got home that I remembered. It's strange. I spent about six summers working there. It's a great place, and my dad and sister like working there. It's been my dad's summer job for 10 years now. It's like a second home.

This year, however, started out a little differently for my father. The kids were fine. The staff, mostly new employees, is fine. My dad's knee, however, isn't so great. He injured it about a week ago, walking funny. It's probably a torn MCL; he had an MRI on Sunday (at 7:15AM). He's limping pretty badly. For the first time in his career at Camp Playland, crazy Uncle Jack was a spectator.

Megan now works at the pools. Even though she had to put more effort than ever to get the job this year (getting certified in lifeguarding), it seems as if this year she really doesn't want to work there. Maybe it's the experiences she's had at her other jobs. Maybe she's just tired of it. She's been there as long as my father has. The fact that she wasn't offered a position as Senior Counselor also has something to do with it. It's strange. I can't blame her, but my dad wasn't so thrilled at her lack of enthusiasm. Camp is one of his things. At least she's not a bus counselor any more. I did that for a couple years. Overall, it sucked pretty bad.

6-24-07

First weekend of summer, and you'd have to tell me it was late June before I realized it. It feels more like April outside. Quite cool, but quite nice.

Joanna seems to be doing well on her ship. She sent some cool pictures of the Red Sox visit, too. Pretty impressive stuff. Needless to say, I'm unfathomably proud of her. She's doing so great. She's on watch for 5 hours, or she's working on some other stuff that she doesn't even need to be part of (well, she was THROWN into it for a few minutes). All in her first month. Just amazing.

Megan's party went pretty well yesterday. A good number of family and friends showed up, but not too many people. Pretty nice. Today is a lazy day. I'm going to run out in a bit to get a haircut. Other than that, just relaxing. I still need to finish putting up my shelf. Hopefully that won't take too long.

Outside!

6-22-07

Another week down. Good end to the week, too. Fantastic weather. I just got back from the rinks; went for an hour of Stick Time. I haven't skated in forever, but it felt good.

Megan's party is tomorrow. I'm allowed to invite a few buddies, which is nice. I probably should've asked the guys from work today, but no big deal. I'll give them a call. I'll probably invite Bartl.

I've noticed how so many commercials are out there for pharmaceutical companies. It's kind of creepy, but some of them are funny. I think one side effect was something like "has no effect." Is that really a "side" effect? Isn't in... no effect? I'd love to meet the guy who wrote that one. He probably had a good laugh.

I'm going outside!

6-20-07

Well I've gotten a little more settled in to work. Not a whole lot going on, but they're keeping me busy. I can't really ask for more.

I was walking on the treadmill and was having some problems with my headphones, so I eventually had to settle on... watching CNN. After about two or three minutes, I was ready to just stare at the wall. I had a conversation with Dan Bartl a couple weeks ago about the 24-hour news networks. We were both in agreement that they have ruined the news. There's a great JibJab video about it. The real issue came up when I read a line from that little scrolling bar at the bottom; the one that just begs the question of "Do they think we're really that dumb?" The bar, which, again, need not be there if they had any integrity, said something like "Imagine being held for ransom by a threatening e-mail. Tune in at 8:00PM."

This has to have happened AT LEAST once in either a production meeting, or maybe even at an executive board meeting, at a big 24-hour news network: the chairman brings up the question

"How can we keep our viewers tuned in beyond the regular 30-minute news summary?"

An aspiring "TV journalist" pops in and says: "What if we made it so they HAD to watch?"

Chairman: "HAD to watch? Do you mean they'd NEED to watch to keep up to date?"

Journalist: "No... What if... they HAD to watch... for their own safety?"

Chairman: "Do you mean... through fear...?"

CFO: "Fear sells, chief. Just look at last quarter's ratings..."

I've almost stopped watching CNN and any other 24-hour news network because there is no doubt in my mind that a similar conversation has happened, and been seriously discussed, at least once, somewhere in America. It's scary.

Another thing: opinions aren't news. I don't want to tune in at 3:00PM or 4:00PM to have some one tell me that I'm in danger or that such-and-such is wrong because of "the facts." Shouldn't "the facts" be facts? Shouldn't the news let ME decipher the facts? How about this: instead of spending all the big bucks on having Expert # 4528 tell the audience how fiscal policy #3497 is good or bad for America, you spend it on having the facts of the policy presented in a way Americans can understand. The networks operate on the assumption that Americans are stupid in general, which is sadly close to the truth. But, it's just that Americans have become lazier. The sickening part is that while they're reporting on (pick one) the obesity epidemic, or the education crisis, or homelessness, people are watching their stupid program instead of (pick one) walking around outside enjoying life, or reading a book, or talking to some one who is homeless and not treating them like dirt or a zoo animal. I guess stupidity sells, too. The sooner we stop complaining about everything and start thinking for ourselves, the sooner we can become the country we should be.

6-17-07

Nothing says fun like waiting for the TV guy to show up. We're getting a couple new receivers today. He's supposed to be here at around 1:00PM. Fortunately, it seems like we're dealing with a good company, Dish Network, because they've called three or four times to confirm and to notify us about a delay. Not bad service.

Yesterday was fun. I was out a little later than I originally planned, but it was fun. I met Bartl in Stratford, then we headed down to New Haven to meet up with Sam and grab a couple beers. We ate at a place called JP Dempsey's on State Street. Hot shit little place, with surprisingly good food. You wouldn't have thought so when you first walk in, considering there are peanut shells all over the floor. But, it was nice.

Afterwards, we walked back to Sam's apartment and had a series of conversations about politics, religion, Sikorsky, and God knows what. It was nice. We got out of there just past midnight. I got a call from Joanna, which is always nice. I hope she enjoyed her birthday. I think she did.

Today is Father's Day, and my dad is enjoying it as far as I can tell. Despite a little kink in his knee (an unfortunately common occurrence), he's doing well. He liked the hammock, but we have to wait for it to dry before he can try it out. Hopefully by this afternoon it should be good to go.

My task for the day is to clean the deck for Saturday's party (Megan's graduation). Shouldn't be too bad, I guess. There's a bunch of green crap near the table, which I'll need to scrub off. I'm waiting 'til after the TV guy leaves, because he might need to use a ladder to get to the satellite dish on the roof. Getting the deck all wet would probably spell disaster. Friction is our friend, folks. Ha.

I just finished watching a movie called Inside Man. Good movie. I should watch more good movies.

6-16-07

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETHEART!

Great day out. A little warmer than yesterday, but not too bad. I woke up earlier than I would've liked, but no big deal. I just finished doing a little meditating. Very relaxing.

Not too busy a day. I just need to run a few errands. Earlier I helped my mother set up a hammock for my father for Father's Day. Nice gift. Maybe I'll get around to using it. My bet is that it will get left out in the rain once or twice. Still, good gift. I'm taking him out golfing.

I'll be the first to congratulate Dustin Pedroia for his break-out game yesterday. Even though he has been hot as a pistol the past six weeks, last night was a real treat. Five for five, five RBI, including a double and a home run. Outstanding. Imagine this: you grow up in Northern California idolizing Barry Bonds. In your rookie season, you play on the Red Sox and witness him play in his first game at Fenway. In the top of the first inning, he nearly jacks one out to right field. The bottom of that same inning, YOU hit a home run. Good work, Dustin.

Gotta run.

6-15-07

WHOA. I didn't realize I missed a couple days. Wednesday I was busy cooking dinner for the family. Turned out OK, but not great. I really need to learn to follow the recipe. Yesterday I was just lazy.

First week of my professional career is finally over, but I have to say, it wasn't half bad. Today was pretty good overall. I found out yesterday that I will be on Blackhawk for a couple months to get my feet wet, then I'll head over to the CH-53K project at the Broadbridge building. It's a shorter commute from home, so it's not too bad. I drove there this afternoon, and it's a nice looking building. I'm excited. I even might get to go to England!

The weather cleared up today. It's quite nice out. It had been kinda gloomy this week, which, combined with a new sleep schedule, made for a tough week. But, I survived. I also realized that my work day is not nearly as tough as Joanna's. She's way tougher than me, and probably not as smart (because she still somehow seems to want to date me; she must be crazy).

Dinner time.

6-12-07

Day 2 was a little slower, but not by much. I spent most of the morning in a big meeting with big time people. Pretty boring, but somewhat educational. I also got a lot of work done, which was good. It went by pretty quickly. I ate lunch at a place called Stella's across the street. I also got invited on a whitewater rafting trip some time in August. I'm thinking about going.

Bartl finally got his housing situation squared away. That's a relief. He'll be living in Derby, on a monthly rent. Not too shabby. It's not that bad a commute, either. Basically right down Route 110. I'm meeting up with him on Saturday.

After work I went to IKEA to pick up a shelf and a desk lamp. I walked away with: a desk lamp, a shelf, a tea injector, and an espresso maker. Thanks to the Bridges for their gift certificate. I still have some money left over on it. Some day I'll return.

I'm thinking about buying a Dwight Schrute bobblehead for my desk at work. Any thoughts?

Starting to get into the swing of things. I feel better today.

6-11-07

First day of work was BUSY. Pretty much the exact opposite of last year. I knew most people, and had a lot to do. Last year I knew basically nobody, and had nothing to do.

I'm now in the UH-60M Flight Controls group, a.k.a. Blackhawk Upgrade. Pretty sweet. I had lunch with my buddies from S-92 FBW. Good guys. I'm pretty glad to be in the new group, though. It's more like what I want to do.

I'm pretty tired. I haven't woken up as early as I woke up this morning in a while. Didn't sleep too well, but I hope to get some GOOD sleep tonight. I've got some work to do tomorrow, and maybe a meeting all morning. So much for the honeymoon period. I don't even have computer access yet. Things are moving fast.

Bed time.

6-10-07

Last day of freedom before the career starts. I guess I'm a little nervous, but I'm ready. It's been nice.

Today was a big cleaning day. I put more stuff up in the attic from my room, finished cleaning my closet, and even cleaned up downstairs with my mom and set up my old desktop PC as a second family computer. Fancy. It's like a little office down there now. A picture of it is on the right. The picture on the left hand side is of the new kitchen lights. Nice, eh.

I just got back from a trip to Home Depot and Best Buy. We're putting in my old head board behind my bed. It should make it look a little nicer, and I won't bang against my Ted Williams poster as often.

The Canny family went to see Ocean's 13 last night. I have to say, it was surprisingly good. Much better than the second one, but I can't say it was up to the scale of the first. It was a bit more predictable and transparent. The end of the first one was great. This one was nice, too, but not as much of a shock. Overall, I think it deserves the rating it's been given: 3.5 out of 5.

Well, I'm going to get my stuff together, then grab some dinner.

6-9-07

Well, not a bad morning. It's a little wet outside, but the weather could be (and might get) worse. I'm a little pissed at the Monroe Car Wash. I dropped my car off this morning at 9:00AM, and the manager told me, because of the rain, they might not open 'til 10AM. No problem. I had to go to the DMV with my mother to transfer the car over to me. After a VERY short trip to the DMV (45 minutes!), we had to make a stop at the glass place for some window stuff. Then, I called the car wash place. No answer. They closed. Without calling me.

So, I'm going to head over with my spare key and pick the car up. I figure it might scare the shit out of the guy, considering I left a nice little message on their answering machine. Then I'm going to head over to the gym.

Hopefully Bartl will find a place today.

6-8-07

I feel bad for Curt Schilling. 26 outs, no hits. One out away. Oh well, he still got the complete game win. I can't wait to see what he writes on his blog. What a hell of a performance. The funny part is, it was against a good team. The Oakland A's aren't the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, who were the victims of Derek Lowe's no-hitter back in 2002. AND, Julio Lugo made an error in the 5th. I won't say "If Lugo hadn't made that error, Schilling would have had a perfect game." You can't say that for sure. But I bet Lugo feels bad.

Last week day of freedom. Work starts tomorrow. I'm meeting Dan Bartl for lunch. He's in the area today to look for an apartment. A little late, in my opinion. He's starting on the 18th. Oh well. That's Bartl.

Weather is great again. I think we're getting spoiled. Yesterday, I sat outside for a bit and read a bit of The World is Flat. It was a nice break from cleaning my closet, which hasn't been too difficult.

Joanna seems to be doing well so far. Well, she's the only one who reads this, so you're doing great, sweetheart. I'm so proud of you. Congratulations on the honor of... throwing the ashes of a bunch of dead guys. If I outlive you, I'll be able to do that for you. What a nice thought.

I've gotta go clean out my car. It's getting detailed tomorrow. Fancy.

6-7-07 MLB Draft

Just killing a little time before the first television broadcast of the MLB Draft. Exciting! Of all the sports with drafts (well, all professional sports), baseball has the most boring and meaningless of them all. It has historically been a conference call among all teams, and it goes by fast. I think it's 90 seconds per pick. That's efficiency. That's something I've admired. Now they want to showcase it, which I can't blame them for.

But the real problem is this: it's meaningless. With the invention of free agency years ago, the role of the draft in professional baseball has become nothing more than a feeder system for MLB in general. Players move around so much, at every level, that if the Red Sox were to pick Joe Schmidt (fictional character), he could very well pass to three different teams before eventually make his MLB debut with the Red Sox, years later. Here is how baseball compares to the other major sports, and the roles of their drafts:

Hockey - next to baseball, it's the least spectacular draft. Though, it has a great deal more meaning. Young players dominate hockey, and a top draft pick can have a definite influence the very next year. Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins is the best example of this. At 19, he won the Art Ross (scoring title) in his rookie season.

Basketball - probably the biggest of all drafts as far as popularity, and rightly so. Young draft picks like LeBron James can have huge impacts on their teams in next to no time. With no real minor league to speak of (does college count?), the NBA has had big names come directly out of high school (Kobe Bryant and the aforementioned King James). They've changed that rule, wisely. Now you have to be 19 or one year of college. And, with so many European and other international players, the NBA draft is a hotbed of talent.

Football - right up there with the NBA draft. The thing I really like about the NBA, the NFL, and the NHL, is the salary cap. It plays a huge role in how the draft is done, and just how fair the playing ground is. Top draft picks usually take a year or so to develop, but, like in the NBA, they have a foreseeable effect on the team they are drafted to.

In general, with no salary cap, the MLB draft is just a means to bring new talent into the two major leagues. Young players are mostly used as trade bait. It's a meaningless draft so far as to see which teams will succeed in the near future. If anything, the top draft pick MAY have an effect on SOME team in two or three years. My bet: next year's draft won't be on TV.

6-6-07

A little cooler out today, but nice. Went to the gym this morning before my parents got back from the trip to North Carolina. Feel pretty good right now, but a little tired.

The orientation went pretty well overall. My dad's exhausted after a few nights of poor sleep. Megan went to school today, which is surprising, though with exams coming up it's not such a bad idea. They've been up since 4:00AM...

For once, my mother and I are in agreement about a Presidential candidate, at least a potential one: Fred Thompson. I know Joanna might agree, too. He's the guy who played the admiral in her favorite movie, Hunt for Red October, also one of my favorites (if not my favorite). He's kind of like a smarter, more experienced Ronald Reagan. I'd vote for him. He has experience in the Senate, and he's very well spoken. If he's anything like the characters he's played in movies and on TV, he'd make a good President. With the way the world is now, that's all you really need: good communication skills.

I finally got car insurance. I need to run over with my mom to the DMV tomorrow to register the car in my name. I'd like to see if I can get my license renewed, too. It'd save me a trip. Gotta love the DMV.

Well you can't help but wonder how wonderful comedic timing can be. In her first days in the Navy, Joanna has dealt with a tour group of retarded kids, and is responsible for organizing a burial at sea. What a wonderful world.

We lost power for about an hour this afternoon. Strange. Must have been a car accident. We don't lose power all that often. We used to lose it all the time. Thanks to the new elementary school down the street, it's no longer an issue. In fact, we lose power less often than the rest of town.

Nap time, then more cleaning.

6-5-07

Nice day outside. Low 80's and sunny. I decided that today is a good day to grill, so this afternoon was burgers and tonight is... steak, again. Nice day, indeed.

So far all I've done today is about 5 minutes of cleaning and a trip to the driving range. Didn't hit my wedge and 6 iron particularly well, but I was killing the ball with the driver. That was a pleasant surprise. I figure I can get a lot of cleaning done today. Maybe I can finish with the main bedroom and then get to the closet. By tomorrow or Thursday, hopefully I'll be... out of the closet. Hey-o!

I've been trying to find a good way to watch my new favorite soccer team, Tottenham Hotspur, online for free. There are a bunch of web sites, so by the time the season starts (August 19th), I should have a good one picked out. The tough part is that all the media players on the site require Windows. However, by August (more specifically, next week), I'll have my old desktop PC set up in the basement. I'll just use that, and have my hot new Tottenham Hotspur home jersey on. Can't wait.

Back to work...

6-4-07

Late start to today, but not too bad. I cleaned my room some more this morning. Got a good amount done. Boy, I have so much crap. It's unbelievable. The good news is I somehow made a profit. I found a check from my aunt and uncle for my high school graduation. Wow.

My mom wanted new lights put in the kitchen (the old ones were horrible), and the electrician came today to put them in. Unreal. They look incredible. They even put dimmer switches on them. It's just outrageous how much better the kitchen looks.

Rainy day today, so I'll be inside pretty much all day. I'm gonna head out to the gym right now, then to get some lunch.

6-3-07

Well, Joanna is now in the Navy. Yesterday she flew down to San Diego. Her parents and I joined her at the Manchester Airport to see her off. She's so tough. She handled it really well.

Not much going on today. I'm hanging out at home this week until work starts next Monday. My parents and sister are in North Carolina at UNCW for Megan's orientation. I've got the place (basically) all to myself until Wednesday afternoon. Sweet deal. I'm mostly going to be cleaning my room and organizing stuff.

This isn't the first rendition of this post. For some reason, when I highlighted the text to justify it, it deleted it all. And Blogger now saves automatically, which is just great. It saved a blank post. So, I had to start over. I hope it's as good as the first draft.

For some reason I've really gotten into soccer. I think it might be a delayed effect from last summer's World Cup. I've even decided to follow a team in the English Premier League. I got a lot of help from Bill Simmons in deciding to root for Tottenham Hotspur. They're a pretty good team, finishing 5th last year. They're also apparently "on the rise." But for me, it's their fans. They're a riot. There's a fan podcast out there that I just started listening to called "Cock On Ball," named after the team's emblem (shown on right). Hilarious.

I do love my Mac, but sometimes it gets really frustrating, mostly when it comes to interacting with Windows. So far today I've spent a good hour or so of work into figuring out how to print from my Macbook to the printers connected to the downstairs PC. It's been a real pain in the ass. Fortunately, it's not because of the Mac. It's Windows. The Mac sees the printers just fine. It just can't print to them. It has something to do with a user name, which I have no idea how to deal with. Fucking Bill Gates.

Back to work.

6-1-07

June has arrived!

We finally found out when Joanna is shipping out: tomorrow at 11:30AM from Manchester Airport. We found out... this morning, about 24 hours in advance. We pulled a small prank on her parents and told them it was 7:00PM today from Hartford (a 2 hour drive). Funny stuff.

Not much going on today. Mostly packing. It's thundering and raining right now. Pretty neat. Actually, it's just thundering. Strange...

Most of what I've done today has been technical stuff. For instance, my biggest job was to transfer over Joanna's iTunes library from her old desktop to her Macbook Pro. That's something I haven't really done before. I'll probably need to go back and fix up my iTunes library, but I'm pretty sure the way I did it was close enough. Perhaps I missed a few songs here and there, but it's not too bad. I'm going to set up my old desktop downstairs as an extra computer, anyway. I also need to reconfigure the two printers at home to be network printers. Man, what a nerd I've become, again.

Sox-Yankees tonight. I'm gonna go sit out on the porch.