I don't want anybody else . . .

When I think about you I touch myself. I don't want anybody else Oh no, oh no, oh no.
(Go with me on this. Trust me, it's worth it.)

To fully understand this story, you first must understand the layout of the Henderson Library (the setting for the events ahead.)

The Henderson Library is a four-story structure located in the middle of the Georgia Southern campus. It sticks out like Jesse Jackson at a KKK rally in that almost every building on campus is done in red brick while the library is nothing but concrete.

On the bottom floor of the library is a giant computer lab and the periodicals. There are two classrooms in the back left corner. From these rooms, you can look out the window and see the back row of computers. It's there our adventure takes place.

Official Brother's class was meeting in one of the classrooms in the bottom floor of the Library Thursday morning about 10. Early during the class, he needs to consult his professor about a problem he and his class partner are having. As he's talking to his professor, he glances out the window and see some guy . . . . ummm . . . . how would you say . . . Pleasuring himself, right there in front of God and everyone (well, actually just in the back of the library with no one around him).

unfortunately for Official Brother, he's the only one who has seen him, so he asks himself "What do I do? I can't keep this to myself, but do I tell the teacher?" He decides to keep it to himself, but shortly after arriving back to discuss things with his partner, he can keep his secret no longer.

He makes her promise not to freak out and proceeds to tell her about the guy just outside the classroom. She doesn't believe him so the devise another reason to go talk to their professor so she can see for herself what's going on.

Well, they walk back up there and as fate would have it, Official Brother is again the only one with an angle to see what's going on. Eventually his professor begins talking to him, but he can't concentrate because he knows there's a guy just outside the room pleasuring himself.

At about that time, another guy walks in and starts talking with his buddies and laughing. Official Brother knows the teacher is talking to him, but he can't contain himself any longer.

"C. J. are you talking about the guy in the blue shirt?" he asks.

"Yeah, the guy out there masturbating!"

As you would expect, the entire class tries to gather around the window to see this freak who needs to use the library computer to find porn. (They've got porn on the Internet? Who knew?)

Eventually the teacher regains some sort of control and tells the class they need to concentrate on their work, which is greeted with sarcastic laughs from the class. The professor goes to the help desk to see what can be done about this guy, but no one there wants to go near him.

After a little while, C. J. walks back up to the window, looks out and then yells to the class "he's still doing it! He's still doing it!"

As students exit the classroom to go get various periodicals, he quickly changes his screen to make it look like he's doing something productive.

Soon, the library begins to get crowded and people start to fill in around him, forcing him to put his toy away.

However, Official Brother was so disturbed by what he saw that he stopped everyone he saw and told them about his harrowing adventure. He even started a webpage dedicated to Eagles Against Students Pleasuring Themselves in the Henderson Library.

This stuff never happened to me while I was in college.

Fantasy Update: Reese Witherspoon still hasn't left her husband for me, but in other news, the Fighting Squirrels had a pretty good week, clinching playoff spots in both baseball leagues. In one league, we went 7-5-0 while in the other league, I went a blistering hot 14-1-2. This is the last week of our regular season until the playoffs start.

In other fantasy news, one of my football drafts was held over the weekend. I had the top overall pick (not what I wanted), but think I did ok. I've got another draft this weekend where I've again landed the top overall pick.

Weekend update: We had friends in from out of town, and we had fun. We played poker Saturday night and then went out to lunch on Sunday. It was good to see them.

Exercising update: Due to the threat of rain, I haven't walked since Friday. Maybe I will tonight, but it's overcast and humid right now.

On Deck: Not good times at the family home.
Next Update: Wednesday

Where in the world is Carmen San Diego?

Admit it, you forgot all about Rockapella until just now, didn't you?

I watch a lot of television. I mean a LOT of television. From sports to sitcoms to my aforementioned love of Law & Order, I really watch an awful lot of television.

What that also means, however, is that I see a lot of commercials. Some, I enjoy, especially the Vonage commercials (you know "woo woo, wo woo woo" while they show someone doing something stupid. Good times.) Some, I detest, including smiling Bob and his enzyte ads (and any other prescription drug ad. I can't buy it, why are you advertising to me?)

But perhaps thee commercial that's caught my attention recently have been the T-Mobile commercials (and not just because Catherine Zeta-Jones is in them, but that's a definite plus.) What amazes me about that commercial is that the store she's in is perhaps the most confusing store in the world. Go with me on this.

In one ad, two guys are locked in a freezer and refuse to use their cell phone to call for help because he'll use up all his minutes. Later, his buddy knocks him over the head with a frozen hunk of meat and, presumably calls for help. In another ad, a guy is being held hostage, tied up to a chair, and refuses to talk, so the hostage takers begin making calls on his cell phone in an attempt to force him to talk.

While those aren't bad premises for a commercial, especially if you're selling a wireless plan. But something doesn't add up. At the end of the freezer commercial, the two guys are in the T-Mobile store with ice chips still frozen on them. Where is there a freezer in the T-Mobile store? Shouldn't they have gone to the hospital first to be checked out before shopping for cell phones? And why are they there together? If I ever get locked in a freezer with someone who refuses to use their cell phone to call for help, I'd never spend another minute with that person in my life.

In the hostage commercial, the guy tied up in the chair is wandering around the store looking at cell phones, still tied to the chair. Either there are hostage takers in the back room that no one seems concerned with or the hostage's priorities are screwed up and getting a new cell phone is more important than finding someone to set him free from the chair.

Yes, yes, I know. I should spend more time being productive, perhaps even reading some of those "books" I've heard about. But then I wouldn't be able to write about T-Mobile commercials.

Apology update: Sorry I didn't post on Wednesday like I'd planned. Yes Dear told a friend she could spend the night on Wednesday and in the interest of staying married, I didn't think it would be a good idea to go into our guest room while our female guest was sleeping and start blogging. It wouldn't look good.

Weekend plans: We've got some friends from college coming to visit this weekend, so that'll be fun. I also have the first of my three fantasy football drafts on Saturday afternoon.

Exercise update: On days when I have to work late, I've been going to our local park and walking about 2.4 miles. Fortunately it's somewhat cool out. Hopefully I'll get up to three times a week.

Big Brother update: Both Yes Dear and I had to work Thursday night and missed it, so if anyone (ahem . . . Alison, I'm looking your direction) would like to bring me up to speed, I'd appreciate it.

On Deck: The greatest story ever told (you'll want to tune in for this, I promise.)
Next update: Monday.

I fought the law (and the law won)

Longtime visitors to the Nexus of the Universe know that I'm an avid Law & Order fan. I was disappointed when Jill Hennessy was killed off the show. I was saddened when Jerry Orbach died. I haven't liked a single ADA since Angie Harmon.

But in addition to Law & Order, I'm also a fan of the two spinoffs, Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. So when USA had a mini-marathon of Law & Order:SVU on yesterday, I was excited. (Seriously though, how does seven episodes constitute a marathon? Shouldn't there be 26.2 episodes to constitute a television marathon? I'll even give the networks a break - 26 episodes. But seven, that's just not having anything to show on a Sunday afternoon and saying "who doesn't like Law & Order? Let's just show a lot of them back-to-back and call it a marathon? Why isn't Ralph Nader investigating?)

Anyway, I watched quite a few of the episodes. For the uninitiated, SVU is the sex crimes unit, so they work all the rape and rape-homicide cases. (I know, real uplifting stuff.) But one of the episodes they showed yesterday had nothing to do with rape or sexual assault. No, instead they SVU detectives were called because a baby overdosed on cocaine. Aren't there, I don't know, HOMICIDE DETECTIVES that could be working on that case? Was a slow week for sex crimes? I'm willing to give the writers a little creative liberty, but calling sex crimes for a baby that was overdosing on cocaine is a bit of a stretch. (And no, the whole Law & Order angle isn't an excuse to post a Mariska Mariska Hargitay photo, but since you brought it up, here you go.)

That said, it was one of the better episodes. The detectives go undercover to find the dirty cop. There's death, violence, arrests and legal jargon. Everything you need for a great hour of television.

Family update: Thanks for all your thoughts, prayers, concerns regarding last Friday's post. Fortunately, things aren't as bad as I was initially led to believe and, with time, things will be back to normal. As the Bartles & Jaymes guys used to say, "Thank you for your support."

Cubs update: The Cubs dropped two of three to the Colorado Rockies, one of the worst teams in baseball. Even Yes Dear got into the whole song title feel when she asked the Cubs to "quit playing games with my heart."

Fantasy update: Much like my week because Kristin Davis didn't call, the Steel Rabbits had a disappointing week, going 5-6-1 in one league and 7-10-0 in the other. Fortunately, we're still looking good as far as playoff position goes, though it would be nice to win a series or two against the top teams before the playoffs begin.

Also, one of my three fantasy football drafts is set. While I'm not a huge NFL fan (I prefer college), it gives me an excuse to watch football on Sundays. (Here's hoping Yes Dear plans on doing a lot of work on her thesis on the weekends when there are big games, otherwise, it could be a long season.)

Friends update: A friend of mine and his wife had their house struck by lightning Friday night. Thankfully they're ok and, from what I've been told, they didn't lose much of their possessions. Unfortunately for them, they're living with his mother for the time being.

Weekend update: At midnight Friday, I was still up at the office finishing up the first Friday night football weekend of the year. Twelve hours later, I was pulling in to Yes Dear's family's home. Twenty-four hours later, I was pulling back into my apartment. It was a long weekend. I'm tired.

On Deck: Where is that T-Mobile store?
Next update: Wednesday night

Good times, bad times (sadly, we're focusing on the bad times today)

I was hoping to update this with a post about my glory days playing high school soccer, but Yes Dear got some pretty bad news tonight and that pretty well zapped my desire to blog.

Out of respect to Yes Dear (and an effort to avoid sleeping on the couch) I'd rather not post on the internet for all the world to see what the situation is (she's fine, just some bad family news.)

However, if you'd like to know, feel free to drop me an email at Lukey23@yahoo.com.

If you're the praying kind, we'd appreciate your prayers.

Thanks for your support and have a great weekend.

Winning it all

Today's title comes from The Outfield. I believe it was their only hit.

After reviewing the suggestions for the one-way blog exchange, I asked Yes Dear if she'd like to write an entry. She said something about internet addiction and me not paying attention to her, I don't remember exactly what she said because I wasn't paying attention to her.

So with that option out of contention, it was either write about my experiences in a foreign country, my strategy if I were a contestant on Big Brother or life without my Playstation2.

I quickly eliminated the Playstation2 idea (the thought of losing that machine sent spiraling out of control that Yes Dear found me rocking back and forth in the corner of the guest room muttering "from my cold, dead hands, they'll only get it from me from my cold, dead hands.") Writing about my trip to Mexico seemed like a good idea, but one in which I could pull from at a later date if (when) I run out of ideas again.

So the winning entry is what would my strategy be if I were in Big Brother.

Big Brother Background: For the uninitiated (shame on you), Big Brother is a reality show in which 14-18 people are put in a house and removed from the outside world. No cell phones (I actually don't have one), no Internet (admit it, you'd find other blogs to replace the time you spend at mine), no Cubs updates (gasp!), no contact of any kind. The 14-18 strangers in the house are the only people you'll get to talk to until you're evicted.

Ahh, eviction, how does that happen? I'm glad you asked. Each week, one of the houseguests wins Head of Household in which they get a bedroom of his/her own, goodies from home, letters from family and friends (alright, so there's minimal contact from the outside world, but no interaction). But with all the glory comes all the responsibility as you're responsible for nominating two people for eviction. Pick the wrong people, and you become a target next week. Anyway, before voting a person out, there's the Golden Power of Veto which allows the winner of the competition to veto one of the nominations. If it's used, (again, using it could make you a target), the Head of Household (or HOH) has to make a replacement pick.

Big Brother Strategy: Now that you know the basics, here's how I'd play the game. First of all, the house is going to break into two factions, usually around the same number of people. Two people will emerge as the leader of the groups. You don't want to be this person. Being to outspoken or being the "brains" behind either of the groups only draws people's attention to you. You don't want that because there's a chance your group won't win the HOH for the week and if that happens, there's a good chance you're going to be nominated for eviction. This is obviously not good as the objective of the game is much like the NCAA Tournament . . . "Survive and advance."

Instead, you want to be far behind the scenes and cause as little controversy as possible. Let the Alpha dogs from each group pick themselves off, eliminating the stronger players in the game during the early stages. For example, this year, a graphic designer named Kayser and a firefighter named Eric were the two leaders of the groups. Eric was evicted in the third week and Kayser in the fourth (due to a "twist" in the game, Kayser was voted back on by viewers, but some dumb moves on his part has him most likely going home one week after he was voted back on.)

By aligning yourself with a group (and hopefully the one that does well in the early going, which is often luck of the draw in the first few weeks) but not doing anything to anger either your side or the other side, you should be able to hide out for several weeks and continue in the game.

No one has done this better this year, in my opinion, than Beau. He's on the team that currently holds a slight advantage numbers-wise, but hasn't done anything to show he's a threat to anyone in the game. In some cases, this may involve throwing a few competitions (losing on purpose) so that the others think you'll be easy to beat in the end and, therefore, more likely to keep you around.

If things go according to plan, eventually your team will hold most, if not all, the cards. This is a pivotal point in the game as the team will again split into factions. At this point, you need to begin trying to win HOH because there will be so few players left (typically 6-8) that if you or your team doesn't win HOH, there's a chance you'll be nominated for eviction (where anything can happen).

Battling emotions: One of the reasons people draw attention to themselves is because they can't keep their emotions in check. Remember, you're going to be in a house and backyard with these people for up to three months. You're not going to like everyone, but you need to get along with everyone. Find common ground, especially with people in your group. However, don't alienate the other group as you'll make enemies, which as you've read, is not a good idea. Fatigue will set in at some point in some of the contests. That's why it's important to have made your decision well ahead of time and not in the heat of the moment. Have a plan and stick to it.

And that, my friends is Luke's recipe for success in the Big Brother house.

Cubs Update: Perhaps I'd written the Cubs off to soon after their eight-game losing streak, they've since won five of seven and climbed back in to playoff contention. My heart can't take much more of this.

Link of the Week: For you U.S. readers who think the presidency needs more cowbell. Sadly, he's not going to run, but I can hope, can't I?

Work Update: Beginning Friday and until the end of high school football season, I'll be working every Friday night. Like Wendy's, I'll be working until midnight or later. Not good times. Even worse times when I've got to cover something the next day.

On Deck: The older I get, the better I was.
Next Update: Friday (I'll be posting from work)

Thanks for reading and, as always, take care of yourself and each other.

I don't like Mondays

Today's blog title comes from the Boomtown Rats. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

We had a column in today's Statesboro Herald written by one of our reporters about her experience this weekend watching the police raid a local club. Nothing so unusual about that. Police reporters often get tipped off about where a raid might be and when said raid might occur.

What is interesting, from my standpoint, is when it happened. The police raid didn't start until around 2 a.m. (that's in the morning!). And this intrepid reporter was in her truck at 2 a.m. watching the events unfold. God bless her.

For the most part I like my job. I haven't been fired yet, so the higher-ups must believe I'm at least competent in my professional endeavors for the day. But there's a better chance of Osama bin Laden winning an election in New York City than there is of me going somewhere for work at 2 a.m. There's really only two things I should be doing at that hour . . . sleeping or getting ready to turn off the playstation to begin sleeping.

A better employee would be excited for the opportunity to be given a heads up about a surprise raid at 2 a.m. I, on the other hand, would call for details when I got to work. That's why I'm not a better employee.

Fortunately for me, the city council never feels the need to call a meeting at 2 a.m., but if they do, there's a good chance I'll not be there.

Weekend update: As you may have read, Yes Dear was busy for most of the weekend, so I got reacquainted with my Playstation2. Lest you think I wasted the entire weekend, I also did the dishes, washed, dried and folded the laundry and watched the Cubs game Sunday night.

Fantasy update: Elizabeth Hurley hasn't taken the time to track me down yet, but in other fantasy news, it was an up and down week for the Fighting Squirrels, going 11-0-1 in one league to move into fourth place, but falling 6-10-1 in my other league to remain in sixth place. Fortunately, it looks like I'll make the playoffs in both leagues.

Also on the fantasy front (sorry guys, only one picture, even though there's two entries), fantasy football starts soon. As of now, I'll be in three leagues, so for the first part of September, there will be quite a bit of fantasy news (and maybe even an entire entry dedicated the Fighting Squirrels.) As always, feel free to skip right over that part.

Cubs update: After losing eight straight, the Cubs have won three out of four to give hope to the fans that didn't jump off the bandwagon. While I still don't think they'll make the playoffs, there's still hope, and as Andy Dufresne said, "Hope is a good thing, and no good thing ever dies." Of course, Red said "Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane."

Inflated Ego update: One of Yes Dear's best friends works at the same recreational facility that Official Brother works at. Despite that fact, they'd never met until last week. After a few minutes of talking, Yes Dear's friend declared Official Brother "is the funniest person I've ever met." Sadly, Official Brother has not let us hear the end of it yet.

Big Brother update: James (the Georgia Southern guy) is remarkably still alive in the game. Despite the fact that he's a GSU guy, I'm pulling for him to get kicked out of the house this week. (Yes, yes, I know. Reality TV!?! How could you?! You're better than that! Truthfully, I'm not better than that, that's why I watch. It's mindless entertainment and a welcome diversion from the rest of the world.)

In my CD Player: John Lee Hooker's greatest hits
What I'm watching: Probably some Law & Order reruns.
On Deck: Reader's choice (submit ideas in the comments and I'll write my thoughts about it. Think of it as a one-way blog exchange in which you do no work.)

Thanks for reading and, as always, take care of yourself, and each other.

Fairweather Johnson

Yeah, I went "Hootie and the Blowfish" on you for the title. I know, I know, 1995 called, it wants its band back.

As frequent visitors to the Nexus of the Universe know, I'm a diehard Cubs fan. To be a Cubs fan, you have to be. Afterall, until the past two seasons, the Cubs hadn't had back-to-back winning seasons since the disco era. And sadly, the way things are going recently, it looks like there won't be back-to-back-to-back winning seasons. (By the way, yes, I remember my pick of 90 wins for the Cubs, it's still possible, but I'm feeling less and less confident in that pick as each day goes by.)

When the Cubs began winning and looking like contenders in 2003, fans came out of the woodwork suddenly claiming to be lifelong Cubs fans. These same fans were there in 2004 when the Cubs were one game away from making the playoffs.

For a while, I couldn't figure out why this bothered me. If they wanted to cheer for the Cubs, what did it matter to me? The more the merrier, right? Well, sadly, no.

These new fans hadn't paid their dues. They weren't there in the mid 90s when the Cubs televsion slogan (you know, the ones that promote the upcoming season) was "we're working on it." They shouldn't be able to enjoy the success that fans far older than I have been waiting for their entire lives.

In Georgia today, nearly everyone is a Braves fan. In fact, many of the older ones claim to have been fans in the 1980s when the Braves were . . . what's the word . . . I want to say "fun" but that's not it . . . "dehydrated" is obviously wrong . . . "absolutly awful." That's it. They were terrible. But ask any Braves fan today over the age of 30 and they'll say they were diehard fans back during the losing. (The Braves, for you non-sports fans, have won a record 13 straight division titles and appear to be headed for a 14th.)

So to all the bandwagon fans, I can do nothing but quote Monty Python and the Holy Grail. "I don't want to talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough water! I fart in your general direction! Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!"

Cubs Update: After losing eight straight, the Cubs have won two in a row.

Work Update: Scott's last day was today. This makes me sad, if for no other reason than I now have seniority in the "Sports Valut." It doesn't feel like I've been there long enough to have acquired any type of seniority. Unfortunately, seniority means nothing as I'm still lacking the Internet at my computer.

Weekend Update: Yes Dear has training for work Saturday at the beach (tough job, I know) and then has to work Sunday from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. In other words, I'm a married bachelor this weekend. Playstation, here I come.

New Visitor Update: In the last batch of comments from my previous post, a friend from high school stopped by to say hello (that would be Diana for those who read the comments.) How she found my little slice of cyberspace, I've got no idea, but it was nice to see someone from the old days reading my ramblings. Welcome aboard Diana.

St. Augustine Photo: Here's a photo of St. Augustine City Hall. Needless to say, Statesboro's City Hall is not that nice.

Coming Monday: Weekend Upate, Fantasy Update, and other stuff.

Have a great weekend all. Thanks for stopping by and, as always, take care of yourself, and each other.

Things that make you go hmmm

As mentioned previously, Yes Dear and I went to St. Augustine to celebrate our second year of marriage. While there, we thought it would be fun to take a boat ride around the city and see the various locations of interest.

Unfortunately, due to the threat of rain the night before, we also wanted to take a carriage ride around the city (it's romantic, plus we learned some of the history of the United States' oldest city). Well, after dinner, we decided we'd do the carriage ride first and then take the sunset cruise.

Well, the carriage ride was very nice. We saw the Castillo de San Marcos, a replica of the original city wall, the oldest home remaining inside the city and other cool stuff.

Then, it was off to the boat ride. We should have known things weren't going to be all that great when there were only 10 people on board, including the crew of the boat. Add to that the fact that it was overcast and therefore sunset consisted of seeing clouds and then not seeing the clouds and you've got a less than romantic evening.

On top of that, all the places they took us to see were poorly lit, meaning we were seeing the outline of a few buildings, but otherwise, we couldn't see diddly squat.

However, the trip wasn't a total waste of time. On the boat with us were three teenage girls vacationing with someone's mom. Well, as teenage girls tend to do when they're bored, they began talking. At first, I tried to be polite and not listen in on their conversation and that worked for a while, but eventually they started playing "would you rather?" I'm sure all of you know, but for those living under a rock (or in Kansas . . . more on that later), the game consists of someone throwing two names out there and then you deciding which one you'd rather sleep with.

They started off with the basic movie stars (Tom Cruise or George Clooney). Routine stuff that wasn't all that entertaining (though apparently these girls agree with the rest of society that Cruise has gone off the deep end as all three went with Clooney.)

Soon, musicians entered the discussion, including one suggestion that I thought odd at the time, Rod Stewart (apparently he's popular with the young ladies today . . . who knew?) As is often the case with teenage girls (or women, in general, for that matter), things started to venture towards the silly side after 10-15 minutes of this.

And then I heard it. What, I thought, was the most asinine "would you rather" proposal ever devised by the mind of modern woman. "Would you rather . . . Kenny G or Michael Bolton?" Try to wrap your mind around that. The king of the soprano saxophone or the king of the receding hairline.

Truly, there are no winners when it comes to that. And like a cheesy television promo . . . "But wait, there's more."

After we got off the boat, we were all walking along the street back to the touristy area and the game continued. I can't remember who else was involved, but the name Michael Jackson came up for discussion.

No up to this point, I'd actually done a good job of not interjecting, even commenting to Yes Dear how I wanted to say something, but didn't. But this was the last straw. I turned around and said "Did you seriously just say Michael Jackson?" Sadly, they admitted that he was, in fact, one of the options.

I weep for our country's future.

Random Political Observation: Kansas (see, I told you we'd get back to Kansas) has taken a step towards teaching Intelligent Design in their schools. From what I can gather, Intelligent Design is essentially "yep, it's complicated. We don't know how it happened, so there must be a designer who is Intelligent who did it."

I'd so ace that test.

Cubs Update: After losing their eighth straight game today, the fat lady is warming her vocal cords and set to make an appearance any day now. About five games into this losing streak, Yes Dear (who only became a fan of the Cubs because of me and has only followed the team for two seasons, both of which were successful) turned to me and asked "Is this how it usually happens?" to which I replied, "yep, this is how it usually happens."

Link of the Week: Ireland has all the fun.

On Deck: Grab bag of fun (that means I don't know yet)
Next Update: Friday or Saturday, hopefully.

Back in the saddle again

Hello all. After a brief and unexpected hiatus, I'm back and no better or worse than before. My appologies for being away for so long. For those who didn't read my comment on my last post, Yes Dear was on vacation two weeks ago and would rather I spend time with her than posting on my blog, especially since she's about to start her last semester of Grad School so I essentially won't see much of her from August 15 to December 9. Then, last week we celebrated our two year anniversary (can you believe I find someone who puts up with my randomness for two years?) Again, blogging lost out to time with the wife (not to mention a fun trip to St. Augustine, Fla.) so no postings last week.

But I'm back now, complete with stories to tell, adventures to recount and the other mundane tasks that make up my existance on this planet.

However, with this being my first post in about two weeks, I think it's only fair to give you an update about all the stuff that's gone on since I last posted.

Truck update: My truck is no more. Well, that's not exactly accurate. It is somewhere, probably a body shop being worked over like the hottie at the end of the bar. It was bittersweet to see it go. Afterall, that was the first vehicle I'd ever purchased completely on my own. Sure the air conditioner wasn't working great and the gas milage was terrible, but it was basically a rolling fortress protecting me from anything and everything in my path. Now, I'm the proud owner of a 1998 Nissan Altima.

Health update: Despite my truck's totaled condition, I was relativly unscathed from the incident. Unrelated to the accident, Yes Dear had been having some medical issues that are, as of now, still undetermined. Origionally the doctor thought he knew what it was and gave her some pills, but when she went back, there were still issues. So now she's having an ultrasound (and no, she's not pregnant) to hopefully pinpoint the problem and correct it. Fortunately she's not in pain anymore (my wife, I'm not sure about the doctor's level of pain), but she still has some discomfort from time to time. We should know more in the next two weeks. Stay tuned.

Trip update: As I mentioned earlier, Yes Dear and I went to St. Augustine, Fla. for three days to celebrate. We went to Ripley's Believe it or Not (I belive it), went on a carriage ride, a boat ride, toured the lighthouse there and the Castillo de San Marcos, a fort built in the 1600s that's still standing and has never been taken in battle. Overall, a very fun trip.

Fantasy Update: Angie Harmon may have called while I was on vacation, I'll never know as she didn't leave a message, but the Fighting Squirrels had a decent week, going 10-6-1 in one league while going 6-5-1 in the other. Both teams are in position to make the playoffs.

(Seriously, Law & Order hasn't been the same since Harmon left the show. Since her departure, Jack McCoy's assistants have been weak, offering nothing of substance and not much good acting. Come back Angie, for the sake of the show, come back!)

Work News: Many of you probably read Scott's blog (if you don't, check it out, but it is definatley PG-13 material), but he's the reason I have my current job. When the paper was looking for someone to fill a vacancy, Scott recommended me after I'd done some freelance stuff for them. Well, Scott's leaving after this week to persue his dream of writing a novel. (Actually, he's leaving to be a beer man, but that will give him more time to work on his novel.) I'm saddened to see him go, and if it means more work for me, then I'm even more sad to see him leave.

Posting update: Now that things are back to normal (both me and Yes Dear working a regular schedule), I'm hoping to get into a regular schedule of blogging again. Thanks for sticking with me and, as always, take care of yourself, and each other.

In my PS2: I got Yes Dear Sonic the Hedgehog Megastars (a collection of all the Sonic the Hedgehog games from the Sega Genesis) and she's been playing nonstop. I enjoy a game of Sonic as much as the next guy, but she's become addicted. As I was falling asleep last night, she was getting up to play again.
On Deck: The strangest game of "would you rather" I've ever heard in my life.