Porch sittin'
Maybe it's just me, but it seems like no one knows the grammatical difference between 'effect' and 'affect'.
My opinion? If the definitions are so similar, why don't they just delete on of the words from the English language (as opposed to Spanish, in case you got confused)
Another word to be abolished? stationery (the paper one) Nobody uses it anyway and it'll save that much money from elementary schools' budgets from saving on all the red ink the teachers use.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Monday, March 27, 2006
Porch sittin'
So we have this couch in our family room on which I have taken more than my share of naps. Now I'm thinking that I might sleep better on it than in our bed.
Case in point: Saturday night I was suffering through the usual congested related problems: not being able to breathe, and well that's about it. It's a good one, no?
So I got out of bed 'round 6:30 out of frustration, and to let Cara sleep some more since she was going to work most of the day.
I come downstairs, lay on the couch, and proceed to sleep for like 3 solid hours. very nice. It probably saved my Sunday.
Then today I come home, quite tired, and without really trying, I sleep from 7 to 9:30!!!
bonus: Upon awakening, it feels like my cold is finally in remission. (I say remission because the way this year is going, it'll come back in a month)
out.
So we have this couch in our family room on which I have taken more than my share of naps. Now I'm thinking that I might sleep better on it than in our bed.
Case in point: Saturday night I was suffering through the usual congested related problems: not being able to breathe, and well that's about it. It's a good one, no?
So I got out of bed 'round 6:30 out of frustration, and to let Cara sleep some more since she was going to work most of the day.
I come downstairs, lay on the couch, and proceed to sleep for like 3 solid hours. very nice. It probably saved my Sunday.
Then today I come home, quite tired, and without really trying, I sleep from 7 to 9:30!!!
bonus: Upon awakening, it feels like my cold is finally in remission. (I say remission because the way this year is going, it'll come back in a month)
out.
Porch sittin'
My prediction: Mason's win over UConn yesterday will be the biggest win in the history of that building (MCI/Verizon Center). None of the three teams that play there regularly will ever win anything that big.
My prediction: Mason's win over UConn yesterday will be the biggest win in the history of that building (MCI/Verizon Center). None of the three teams that play there regularly will ever win anything that big.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Porch sittin'
So what have I been up to?
Somehow, I went and got myself kinda sick again, being congested since Wednesday. It's been like twice a month in 2006 that I've gotten some kind of bug. Before my company switched from endlessly accruing sick days to only getting six per year, I've come down with something like five times. Last year? Maybe twice.
I really don't get it, I eat well, I get exercise, I routinely get at least 7 hours of sleep per night, I don't live in squalor....maybe this house we bought is one of those poisonous houses, like my mom's was known as a vomitorium for a while a few years ago (four people who slept downstairs wound up getting pretty sick (naturally, two of the times, it was me)).
We had a little delay in having carpet installed in our two downstairs bedrooms so everything we kept in them is still piled unceremoniously in our living room. One of those things is our treadmill. It had been warm enough to go jogging in shorts last week, but this week it had been cooler and then I got sick.
I finally got some exercise today by pruning some branches off a tree in the backyard that had been affected by the snow we got last month. Some of the branches were pointed down and were actually touching the ground. Sensing this would cause a problem for me when I fertilize and mow, I cut off a bunch of them. And since I read that it was supposed to rain today, I figured it'd be a good time to put down the springtime fertilizer, so I did. Naturally, it hasn't rained yet and it probably won't until I try putting out the sprinkler. Then it'll rain.
Get this: Soul Train is still on tv.
Anyways, I saw that ChemLawn is offering to give a free review of your lawn. I took them up on it and found out that we have Kentucky Bluegrass and 2 kinds of Zoysia (or something like that) we got some crabgrass, dandelions and a few other weeds, and we got thatch. That means I get to aerate the lawn in the fall. I'm looking forward to that. I also have to put down some lime which I'm also looking forward to, but not as much.
tomorrow I plan on maxing and relaxing, doing some laundry (all of it, really), watching the race at Bristol, and the two basketball games. I'll probably fit in a nap somewhere too.
Oh, the Mr. Steve Martin episode of SNL is on again tonight. Just in case, I'm much more sober than the first time it was on, and I'm taping it on my dvr.
That's about it, I can't think of anything else to blog about...for now.
So what have I been up to?
Somehow, I went and got myself kinda sick again, being congested since Wednesday. It's been like twice a month in 2006 that I've gotten some kind of bug. Before my company switched from endlessly accruing sick days to only getting six per year, I've come down with something like five times. Last year? Maybe twice.
I really don't get it, I eat well, I get exercise, I routinely get at least 7 hours of sleep per night, I don't live in squalor....maybe this house we bought is one of those poisonous houses, like my mom's was known as a vomitorium for a while a few years ago (four people who slept downstairs wound up getting pretty sick (naturally, two of the times, it was me)).
We had a little delay in having carpet installed in our two downstairs bedrooms so everything we kept in them is still piled unceremoniously in our living room. One of those things is our treadmill. It had been warm enough to go jogging in shorts last week, but this week it had been cooler and then I got sick.
I finally got some exercise today by pruning some branches off a tree in the backyard that had been affected by the snow we got last month. Some of the branches were pointed down and were actually touching the ground. Sensing this would cause a problem for me when I fertilize and mow, I cut off a bunch of them. And since I read that it was supposed to rain today, I figured it'd be a good time to put down the springtime fertilizer, so I did. Naturally, it hasn't rained yet and it probably won't until I try putting out the sprinkler. Then it'll rain.
Get this: Soul Train is still on tv.
Anyways, I saw that ChemLawn is offering to give a free review of your lawn. I took them up on it and found out that we have Kentucky Bluegrass and 2 kinds of Zoysia (or something like that) we got some crabgrass, dandelions and a few other weeds, and we got thatch. That means I get to aerate the lawn in the fall. I'm looking forward to that. I also have to put down some lime which I'm also looking forward to, but not as much.
tomorrow I plan on maxing and relaxing, doing some laundry (all of it, really), watching the race at Bristol, and the two basketball games. I'll probably fit in a nap somewhere too.
Oh, the Mr. Steve Martin episode of SNL is on again tonight. Just in case, I'm much more sober than the first time it was on, and I'm taping it on my dvr.
That's about it, I can't think of anything else to blog about...for now.
Porch sittin'
So we're almost done with the NCAA tourney (5 games left) and I'm slowly yet steadily plummeting down the standings of my pool.
Some observations:
Is there a new trend where the team that beats duke automatically gets into the Final 4? LSU is in this year, Indiana did it in 2002, and I'm thinking Michigan St. did it last year. Frankly, I can really get behind this trend. Teams should be rewarded for ousting the suckiest bunch of sucks who ever sucked.
Also, I didn't notice it so much this weekend, probably because the games were so much closer, but it seemed to me that in every game last weekend when one team was losing by less than 10 and had the ball with less than a minute left, one of the announcers would complain that said losing team doesn't need to take a three point shot. They would never say when that team DOES need to take a 3, though. I'm still curious, when do they need to take it? Perhaps I'll never know.
Finally, we've all heard about George Mason's Tony Skin who was suspended from their first round game vs. Michigan St. for punching a guy in the CAA tourney in the nads. All during the MSU game, the announcers were hoping that GMU would win to continue Skin's career. Since when is it ok to blatently bunch a guy in the 'nads and have the whole country routing for your team? And suspended for only one game? Obviously, the coach figured they wouldn't win a game in the NCAAs so the length of the suspension wouldn't matter. I guess we all showed him, huh? Don't you think that if this had happened at the high school level, Skin would've been kicked off the team, thus assuring that we'd only hear about Tony Skin in the porno industry?
That's it for my basketball thoughts for now.
So we're almost done with the NCAA tourney (5 games left) and I'm slowly yet steadily plummeting down the standings of my pool.
Some observations:
Is there a new trend where the team that beats duke automatically gets into the Final 4? LSU is in this year, Indiana did it in 2002, and I'm thinking Michigan St. did it last year. Frankly, I can really get behind this trend. Teams should be rewarded for ousting the suckiest bunch of sucks who ever sucked.
Also, I didn't notice it so much this weekend, probably because the games were so much closer, but it seemed to me that in every game last weekend when one team was losing by less than 10 and had the ball with less than a minute left, one of the announcers would complain that said losing team doesn't need to take a three point shot. They would never say when that team DOES need to take a 3, though. I'm still curious, when do they need to take it? Perhaps I'll never know.
Finally, we've all heard about George Mason's Tony Skin who was suspended from their first round game vs. Michigan St. for punching a guy in the CAA tourney in the nads. All during the MSU game, the announcers were hoping that GMU would win to continue Skin's career. Since when is it ok to blatently bunch a guy in the 'nads and have the whole country routing for your team? And suspended for only one game? Obviously, the coach figured they wouldn't win a game in the NCAAs so the length of the suspension wouldn't matter. I guess we all showed him, huh? Don't you think that if this had happened at the high school level, Skin would've been kicked off the team, thus assuring that we'd only hear about Tony Skin in the porno industry?
That's it for my basketball thoughts for now.
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Porch sittin'
Question of the day: Why does CBS keep showing the wives of the coaches in the last 5 minutes of the games?
We all know that they will be fairly attractive, wearing something in the color of whichever school their husband coaches at, and they will be cheering half-heartedly, like they're looking around to see if they should be cheering or not.
It was particulary noticeable during the Illinois-Washington game when they kept showing Washington's coach's wife. After every possession in the last 4 minutes, there she was, quietly clapping and looking around the crowd. My only guess is because she resembles RuPaul without the dress and makeup and the cameraman couldn't believe the resemblance.
Also, I usually detest Appleby's Restaurant but their new commericial has me appreciating them a bit. Although it's been shown ad naseum (at?) during every timeout, you can't help but wonder who would let the first verse of the commercial's song be something like "grab a piece of tail".
Finally, after watching UCLA for a few minutes, I can't help but think: "Whatever happened to Toby Bailey?" I think he was a freshman on the 1995 championship team and played well. There was another kid, I think named Henderson, first name was two initials.
My first guess is that they're playing in Israel, alongside ex-Terp John Gilchrist.
I'd like to take this time to propose a toast. Grab your drinks and raise them high and let's celebrate the end of the Travis Garrison era at Maryland. He came from high school as a McDonald's All-American and played significant minutes in his first two years. Since then, it's become apparent that he still needs more time to grow into his body. He's listed at 6'8" and has to be around 240, pretty big for college. Unfortunately, he didn't play that big, consistently not posting up, taking perimeter shots, and making really dumb fouls. Not only were they really dumb, but more often than not, they didn't prevent the guy with the ball from making the shot.
In this, his senior year, he started less than 10 games, rarely played more than 20 minutes. and only dominated the likes of Delaware State and Hampton.
Unfortunately, Nick Caner-Medley also just played his last game. Although he wasn't as consistent as he probably should have been, he seemed to be the only guy in Maryland's senior class who seemed to care about the game.
And Sterling Ledbetter? We hardly knew ye.
I'm looking forward to next season when UMD finally gets a bona fide point guard and everybody can move back to their natural positiion (see: DJ Strawberry) And hopefully they won't lose somebody mid-season like they have the last few years: Chris McCray, Strawberry, Gilchrist (mentally), Hasan Fofana, and Andre Collins.
Question of the day: Why does CBS keep showing the wives of the coaches in the last 5 minutes of the games?
We all know that they will be fairly attractive, wearing something in the color of whichever school their husband coaches at, and they will be cheering half-heartedly, like they're looking around to see if they should be cheering or not.
It was particulary noticeable during the Illinois-Washington game when they kept showing Washington's coach's wife. After every possession in the last 4 minutes, there she was, quietly clapping and looking around the crowd. My only guess is because she resembles RuPaul without the dress and makeup and the cameraman couldn't believe the resemblance.
Also, I usually detest Appleby's Restaurant but their new commericial has me appreciating them a bit. Although it's been shown ad naseum (at?) during every timeout, you can't help but wonder who would let the first verse of the commercial's song be something like "grab a piece of tail".
Finally, after watching UCLA for a few minutes, I can't help but think: "Whatever happened to Toby Bailey?" I think he was a freshman on the 1995 championship team and played well. There was another kid, I think named Henderson, first name was two initials.
My first guess is that they're playing in Israel, alongside ex-Terp John Gilchrist.
I'd like to take this time to propose a toast. Grab your drinks and raise them high and let's celebrate the end of the Travis Garrison era at Maryland. He came from high school as a McDonald's All-American and played significant minutes in his first two years. Since then, it's become apparent that he still needs more time to grow into his body. He's listed at 6'8" and has to be around 240, pretty big for college. Unfortunately, he didn't play that big, consistently not posting up, taking perimeter shots, and making really dumb fouls. Not only were they really dumb, but more often than not, they didn't prevent the guy with the ball from making the shot.
In this, his senior year, he started less than 10 games, rarely played more than 20 minutes. and only dominated the likes of Delaware State and Hampton.
Unfortunately, Nick Caner-Medley also just played his last game. Although he wasn't as consistent as he probably should have been, he seemed to be the only guy in Maryland's senior class who seemed to care about the game.
And Sterling Ledbetter? We hardly knew ye.
I'm looking forward to next season when UMD finally gets a bona fide point guard and everybody can move back to their natural positiion (see: DJ Strawberry) And hopefully they won't lose somebody mid-season like they have the last few years: Chris McCray, Strawberry, Gilchrist (mentally), Hasan Fofana, and Andre Collins.
Friday, March 17, 2006
Porch sittin'
Question of the Day: For any sign that says "No Dumping" (albeitly inherently funny) does that include tree branches?
I was 'delivering' some fallen branches to this park in my neighborhood mostly because I had seen that plenty of other people had done the same thing, and I figured 'It's all trees and trees=nature, right?'
One woman who lives across the street from the "park" said that her husband does it all the time, but some soccermom and her ancient parents took offense to me leaving more nature in this "park".
I quote the park because there is no big field, or picnic tables, or anything parky like that, it's mostly just a lot of trees with a dirt path that seperates our neighborhood from State Rt. 3 and something that resembles a river.
I wonder if I can contact the Social Security people and instruct them to make sure that none of my "contributions" are directed to these people.....
The old guy even took some pictures of me and my car/license plate. Frankly, I'm just surprised that someone over the age of 60 knows how to use something like a digital camera.
So what do you think? Does "dumping" include branches and other nature, or only man-made trash?
Question of the Day: For any sign that says "No Dumping" (albeitly inherently funny) does that include tree branches?
I was 'delivering' some fallen branches to this park in my neighborhood mostly because I had seen that plenty of other people had done the same thing, and I figured 'It's all trees and trees=nature, right?'
One woman who lives across the street from the "park" said that her husband does it all the time, but some soccermom and her ancient parents took offense to me leaving more nature in this "park".
I quote the park because there is no big field, or picnic tables, or anything parky like that, it's mostly just a lot of trees with a dirt path that seperates our neighborhood from State Rt. 3 and something that resembles a river.
I wonder if I can contact the Social Security people and instruct them to make sure that none of my "contributions" are directed to these people.....
The old guy even took some pictures of me and my car/license plate. Frankly, I'm just surprised that someone over the age of 60 knows how to use something like a digital camera.
So what do you think? Does "dumping" include branches and other nature, or only man-made trash?
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Porch sittin'
So there's an article in today's Washington Post about Romania's quest to join the EU. It talks about how the country will have to mordernize their way of life to get admittance into this union. Apparently, they still rely on horses for transportation
In the print edition is the picture of a sheep that is all white, except for the ears, nose, eyes, and lips. Those features are all black. It looks like something else they'll have to give up is goth sheep like the one in the picture.
Unfortunately, I can't find a copy of the picture. My description doesn't come close to doing it justice.
More importantly, time for new Sopranos!
So there's an article in today's Washington Post about Romania's quest to join the EU. It talks about how the country will have to mordernize their way of life to get admittance into this union. Apparently, they still rely on horses for transportation
In the print edition is the picture of a sheep that is all white, except for the ears, nose, eyes, and lips. Those features are all black. It looks like something else they'll have to give up is goth sheep like the one in the picture.
Unfortunately, I can't find a copy of the picture. My description doesn't come close to doing it justice.
More importantly, time for new Sopranos!
Porch sittin'
I watched the movie Rush Hour today. It is one of the more predictable movies I've ever seen, but it was still fairly entertaining.
What else have I watched recently?
Way of the Gun: Another movie where the Netflix description got me hooked. Very disappointing.
That's about it.
I watched the movie Rush Hour today. It is one of the more predictable movies I've ever seen, but it was still fairly entertaining.
What else have I watched recently?
Way of the Gun: Another movie where the Netflix description got me hooked. Very disappointing.
That's about it.
Porch sittin'
Last weekend I think I only left the house to go out for food. Very relaxing, but it felt very wasteful to me.
I was pretty happy with this week. Since we somehow moved south of the Tropic of Cancer (or Capricorn, whichever one is northernmost...I forget which one it is) it's been over 60 degrees for the last few days, and it's mid-March!!!! I don't mind weather this pleasant, but I do mind it when it's not supposed to be going on. It's supposed to be cold, jacket-worthy weather.
Anyways, it has been nice enough for us to leave the windows open for a few days to de-stink the house, and I went jogging for the first time since September (just before I dislocated my shoulder (again) for those keeping score at home). Since it was fairly cool, I went further than I was expecting, but not even half as far as I was able to last year. I'm looking forward to jogging through LA, SF, and Oregon when we're there in April, or June, or whenever it is. I think June.
Also, we're signing up to run another charitable 5K this year, and I'd like to run the whole thing, or at least not be as sore as I was last year (I could barely move for 3 days)
Wait, what was I saying? Oh yeah, the busy weekend:
Friday night we went out to Tia's, pretty good as usual. Afterwards, we went to Home Depot to put in an order for carpet for the two bedrooms downstairs. FYI: we're now referring to the small bedroom downstairs as the basement. We don't have an actual basement under the house and that's what the room has served as since we moved in. Canned food, treadmill, plenty of other stuff what we never use.
Anyhoo, it took us a while to get help at Home Depot as there was only one guy in the flooring area. All we could do was wait, so we did.
Once we got home, we finished emptying out the two rooms, then started taping it up with perhaps the biggest rip off in home improvement: blue masking tape. It goes for $6, doesn't work great, and has gotten me to actually doubt if the regular masking tape would work. I don't know what the hell is wrong with me. It's f'ing tape!!!
We wound up staying up past 1am, rarely seen territory for us these days.
Saturday morning, I got up, still tired, and went for another jog. Then I ran some errands which included: me paying to pick up some dry cleaning, but then leaving the clothes at the cleaners, buying some mousetraps (see www.myspace.com/blurfish), buying a new air filter for the lawn mower (does anyone have a torque wrench I can borrow? I apparently need it to get the blade off the mower so I can get it sharpened), then picked up some chinese for lunch.
Once lunch was over, the better half and I got to painting. We listened to my new punk compilation which is quite good. We got the first coat on, then broke for snacks and naps.
Maybe it's just me, but it seems like Home Depot paint always requires a second coat. Maybe it's our technique, but maybe it's a way for HD to increase revenues.
Like I was saying, we eventually finished the second coat around 8. It looks pretty good, fyi. It's a light green, like you see in a catalog from some company that sells overpriced furniture or bed sheets.
Cara insisted that we get pizza, which was plenty fine with me, except I couldn't decide what toppings to get. I left it up to her with splendiforous results. She got me The Works. I never get that for myself because I wouldn't pay for it even though I absolutely eat everything that has ever been on a pizza. I could barely stay awake to finish. I think I fell asleep around 10:30.
Today i pretty much did nothing, and it was nice. I did finally get around to Armor-Alling my car, which I'd been meaning to do since I got it, nearly 2 years ago. It also gave me a chance to close the window I left open to air out the car since it was supposed to rain tonight.
Tonight we had a tasty dinner at Chipotle where I was witness to a black guy wearing a Pau Gasol jersey. How often to you see a black guy wearing the jersey of a white guy, let alone a European?
One thing I didn't do this weekend? Shower. Oh yeah, good times.
Last weekend I think I only left the house to go out for food. Very relaxing, but it felt very wasteful to me.
I was pretty happy with this week. Since we somehow moved south of the Tropic of Cancer (or Capricorn, whichever one is northernmost...I forget which one it is) it's been over 60 degrees for the last few days, and it's mid-March!!!! I don't mind weather this pleasant, but I do mind it when it's not supposed to be going on. It's supposed to be cold, jacket-worthy weather.
Anyways, it has been nice enough for us to leave the windows open for a few days to de-stink the house, and I went jogging for the first time since September (just before I dislocated my shoulder (again) for those keeping score at home). Since it was fairly cool, I went further than I was expecting, but not even half as far as I was able to last year. I'm looking forward to jogging through LA, SF, and Oregon when we're there in April, or June, or whenever it is. I think June.
Also, we're signing up to run another charitable 5K this year, and I'd like to run the whole thing, or at least not be as sore as I was last year (I could barely move for 3 days)
Wait, what was I saying? Oh yeah, the busy weekend:
Friday night we went out to Tia's, pretty good as usual. Afterwards, we went to Home Depot to put in an order for carpet for the two bedrooms downstairs. FYI: we're now referring to the small bedroom downstairs as the basement. We don't have an actual basement under the house and that's what the room has served as since we moved in. Canned food, treadmill, plenty of other stuff what we never use.
Anyhoo, it took us a while to get help at Home Depot as there was only one guy in the flooring area. All we could do was wait, so we did.
Once we got home, we finished emptying out the two rooms, then started taping it up with perhaps the biggest rip off in home improvement: blue masking tape. It goes for $6, doesn't work great, and has gotten me to actually doubt if the regular masking tape would work. I don't know what the hell is wrong with me. It's f'ing tape!!!
We wound up staying up past 1am, rarely seen territory for us these days.
Saturday morning, I got up, still tired, and went for another jog. Then I ran some errands which included: me paying to pick up some dry cleaning, but then leaving the clothes at the cleaners, buying some mousetraps (see www.myspace.com/blurfish), buying a new air filter for the lawn mower (does anyone have a torque wrench I can borrow? I apparently need it to get the blade off the mower so I can get it sharpened), then picked up some chinese for lunch.
Once lunch was over, the better half and I got to painting. We listened to my new punk compilation which is quite good. We got the first coat on, then broke for snacks and naps.
Maybe it's just me, but it seems like Home Depot paint always requires a second coat. Maybe it's our technique, but maybe it's a way for HD to increase revenues.
Like I was saying, we eventually finished the second coat around 8. It looks pretty good, fyi. It's a light green, like you see in a catalog from some company that sells overpriced furniture or bed sheets.
Cara insisted that we get pizza, which was plenty fine with me, except I couldn't decide what toppings to get. I left it up to her with splendiforous results. She got me The Works. I never get that for myself because I wouldn't pay for it even though I absolutely eat everything that has ever been on a pizza. I could barely stay awake to finish. I think I fell asleep around 10:30.
Today i pretty much did nothing, and it was nice. I did finally get around to Armor-Alling my car, which I'd been meaning to do since I got it, nearly 2 years ago. It also gave me a chance to close the window I left open to air out the car since it was supposed to rain tonight.
Tonight we had a tasty dinner at Chipotle where I was witness to a black guy wearing a Pau Gasol jersey. How often to you see a black guy wearing the jersey of a white guy, let alone a European?
One thing I didn't do this weekend? Shower. Oh yeah, good times.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
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