When There's Nothing To Say

Okay, when I started this new blog I swore I was gonna do something every day. I read another blog by ajournalist and one 'tip' he offered towards having a successful blog was to write every day. Even if it's crap. Well, while that's a fine idea, there is one small thing standing in my way. my job. The idea of staying home in my jammies and writitng everyday appeals to me a bit, but honestly, the idea of paying my mortgage appeals to me much more so.
So my plan to write at least a little every day has gone south real fast, hasn't it? I mean, all that's news is O.J., Michael Vick, and Britney. And really, they give us so much material...I'm just not in the writing mood lately. I've been messin' with HTML code and have finally gotten some music on here so I'm happy about that.
Work is super busy and we will not be allowed any time off until at least the third week in October. And going back to the paying my mortgage thing, this is good. I'm hoping some o.t. is coming with that.
Speaking of work, on Friday one of my coworkers was let go. She was a nice enough person and always seemed to be busy whenever I saw her, so it was slightly shocking when I found out. And while she was a nice gal and good worker and all, the most upsetting thing about her termination is that, aside from the Asians, she was the only co-worker I was taller than. So I spoke with the Great Big Head in the office and he told me he would see what he could do for me. Is he great or what?!
Also had a nice long talk with the Redman today. He's doing really good and he's getting his life back on track and that makes me happy. We spoke at great length as Irishmen are wont to do and covered a bit of ground regarding, in no particular order; life, relationships and the writings of the Dali Lama. Interesting chat.
okay that's it

A Boat. What You Want is a Boat.....Geeez

Recently, afriend sent me the link to the New Engand Patriots web page. He says "check out the cheerleaders section. I like this one...that one..yadda yadda." They all have a small pic and a biography. They are asked their favorite foods, restaurants, best gifts they ever received..etc. And the second to last question is "If you were stranded on a deserted island, what three things would you want with you?" They were all cutesy and said things like, my dog, a tent, a working cell phone, (to call the Coast Gaurd I hope), a "man to do all the handywork." Dude, sorry Dudette, you are on a deserted island. How much handy work can there be? A pillow, treehouse making supplies, many boyfriends would be there (that's what you get for dating a cheerleader dummy), a blanket, a hair straightener (??) a comforter....a working tv. A camera, my dog...
If you are like me, you've gotten these "Get to Know Your Friends" emails. They float around the Internet likethe scent of Patchouli oil at a Dead show. They all seem to want to know what items you'd want if stranded on a desert island......how about a motorboat??

Where Am I Going To Put All Those Duckies?

Hip-Hop/publishing mogul Marc Ecko was the unidentified buyer who purchased Barry Bonds' 756 home run ball last week for $752,467 at Sotheby's/SCP auctions on Saturday (September 15).

According to Ecko, he will take the historical ball and allow the public to choose its fate.
Starting today, fans can go www.vote756.com and choose to "give the ball to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, permanently brand the ball with an asterisk before sending it to Cooperstown or put the ball on a rocket ship and launch it into space."

Okay, we get it. Marc Ecko is loaded. Money to burn..or to brand or shoot into orbit. Whatever. He has relieved New Yorker Matt Murphy.

Murph was up against it with the IRS. He catches a baseball. A freakin' baseball people, and all of a sudden he owes like 35k to Uncle Sam.

So he does the wise thing and puts it up for auction. He is, I'm sure, envisioning a nice check, 250k maybe, a trip to the Sod for him and a few of the boys. New cars for the brood, maybe payoff some loans. A few kegs of Guinness.....

So imagine his surprise when Moneybags Marc Ecko forks over $752,467k for the ball. He is, I'm sure, crapping his kilt. 752,467 dollars is a massive sum for a, well, ball. A baseball. Think about it. Any kid in your neighborhood has one. Go and take it from him/her. Hold it for a minute. It's a tiny rubber core, wrapped in twine, stitched up in horsehide. A ball people.

Ecko is even thinking about shooting it into outer space. I could think of many other things more worthy of shooting into the stratosphere, but that's neither here nor there. A post for another time. Maybe

What I did do is get a little list together of other things you could do with 752,467 dollars.

1. Providing you purchased from the Value Menu, and it cost you say, $14 per person, per day. You could feed 53,747 homeless people for one day. But, don't homeless people have it bad enough??

2. You could buy 94,176 six packs of Samuel Adams Boston Lager.

3. At current New Jersey prices you could buy about 312,226.9 gallons of regular gasoline. And, if you get 24 miles per gallon, say, you could drive 13,009.45 miles.

4. At current rates, I could pay my cable bill for the next 800 years. Of course, I'm sure it will be slightly less in the future the way these cable companies are going. Fekkers...

5. I could pay my mortgage 3.05 times over.

6. 760,o67 iTunes

7. You could take about 1,075 of your best buds to the next Superbowl. Or, take 126 of your pals to the Superbowl and rent 3 luxury boxes.

8. For the dog lover, if you felt inspired, you could buy 752 purebred Shetland Sheepdogs.

9. Depending on your health insurance, you could have Aortic Heart Valve replacement surgery about 3 times. (Trust me. Once is enough)

10. Again, depending on your insurance, you could get 25,082 scripts for Vicodin. That's 1,504,920 pieces of little, white happiness. Generic hapiness of course.

11. You could mail 2,894,103 postcards.

12. Figuring this years rates, you could spend the next 15.6 years at Harvard. They do have a very decent hockey program....

13. You could have Peyton Manning come to your next 3 birthday parties. Personally, I think Tom Brady would be a better bet. Even if you had to pay 300k. Tom freakin' Brady people!

14. You could buy about 251,664 rubber duckies.

15. I could buy a new Maserati Quattrophone for me and my wife. And one for Keith, one for Stacey, one for Skyler, and one for someone else.

16. I could buy my wife the Hope Diamond. 3 times. And have a little left over for say....

17. A cruise 'round the world on the QE2.

18. And finally, you could pay my water bill for 3,135 years.

Number 9.....Number 9....Number 9....

Or as the Walrus would say 'They say it's your birthday ! So Happy Birthday to ya!!'

We got up early on Saturday to head to my hometown of Warwick, RI to see little Cassie for her 9th birthday.

We set out early enough but hit a massive traffic jam at the George Washingon Bridge. After a 45 minute delay we were cruising along..until we hit exit 2 in R.I.. Bridge work. Another ten minutes in traffic. I hate traffic with a passion. I mean, I hate it. I'd rather be a three legged dog at Michael Vick's house than sit in traffic.. Anyways..

We arrive and greet the silly little birthday girl. She was happy to see us and we were happy to see her.

This was her first birthday without her Mom, and Mags and Meself wanted to make it special. Maggie excels at this kind of thing and found her an American Girl doll. Something the silly one has wanted for a while. Maggie hunted down extra clothes for Kit and even has a friend who was kind enough to make a skirt for the doll! Very nice. Actually the doll is wearing said skirt.

My cousin Lynn and her new man and his offspring were in attendance as was Aunt Chris.

We had a birthday lunch of pizza from George's and some KFC.

Cassie got some neat stuff and we all had fun watching her open the gifts. After the gifts, Cassie decided to start a new birthday tradition. Fred came over to blow up some helium balloons for Cassie and they decided to release them into the sky. Kinda like doves at a wedding...Well someone, I won't say who, got hold of a Sharpie and drew on most of the balloons. Some even had messages attached. We watched as they lifted into the sky and were taken into the jet-stream, heading out over the bay.

Later that night, we headed to a nice little Chinese restaurant my parents have been going to for years, the Jade Dragon. The food is excellent and you get really good portions and drinks are very cheap. The four of us ate for just about 40 bucks. Mims and Maggie shared a Volcano Bowl and I, not being as adventurous, had a Sam Adams.

We spent some time with Cassie Sunday morning before her Dad came to get her for the day.

We hit the highway about an hour later and stopped in at the cemetery to see Jen. Well, actually all of my dead relatives are there. My Dad, my grandparents ,my uncle Jack....

After a short visit we were back on the road and hit very little traffic, thankfully.

I enjoy visiting Mims, the house I grew up in, but let me tell you, the saying is true 'there's no place like home.'

Welcome Back Boys

Today is a very joyous day across our great nation. Men, boys and some ladies are revelling in the joyful return of the NFL.

Are you ready for some football?? Yes Mr. Williams I am. Bring it on say I.

The return of football means many things, most importantly. The onset of fall. Sundays are now Sundays. In my old neighborhood in New England, there were the neighborhood pick-up games of football. Tackle usually. Except for me. Given my slight physical condition, and not to mention even the teens towered over me, I was allowed the 'two-hand touch rule. Thank you very much. Many people partook. Kids and adults alike. There is nothing like a crisp fall New England Sunday. Some pick-up action and then to someones house to watch the Pats....

The season started with a freakin' bang for my beloved New England Patriots. This was the first full game I've had chance to see since early last season. It was happy and sad because while the Pats handled the Jets with ease, one thing made me sad. The fact that my good friend Marc wasn't here to see it. Marc lost a courageous battle with cancer almost two years ago. He was the biggest Pats fan around. He owned many jerseys and hats and lived for the start of the NFL Season. He bought the Madden football games every year for his PlayStation2..hell he even named his cat 'Bruschi' after the Pats player Tedy Bruschi. He was even buried in his 'BRUSCHI' jersey. The boy loved his football man. I sat watching Ellis Hobbs run his arse off and return that kick for 108 yards for a touchdown. 108 yards people!! I looked slack-jawed at the screen, and wanting to share this with someone I turned to the cat. The cat, of course, did not care. He would probably only have cared if Ellis was carrying a can of 9-lives, or a bag of Whiskas treats.Even then, the cat is very fickle....but I digress.

I miss my friend and the fall makes it harder to know he's gone. I would like to think Marc is allowed the privilege of returning to Earth on Sundays. Basking in the warmth of the sun, feeling the cool breeze on his face and watching his favorite football team do battle.

Happy Anniversary

On Friday the lovely Maggie and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. Five years ago in a nice, small ceremony we exchanged vows in a beautiful , historical inn in Farmingdale NJ.

It was funny because when we first met, we each swore up and down, "there is no freakin' way I'm ever getting married....Ever. Ever."

Well, here we are 7 years later. I have had a wonderful life with Mags. We have had our share of ups and downs and we've been through alot together. Each downfall has brought us closer together. She's got my back and I've got hers.

Last night we returned to the scene and had a fantastic meal, courtesy of Mims who sent us a nice little cash gift. We go to Our House on our anniversary every year. It is small, cozy and has fabulous food. Plus it holds alot of memories.

I hope the future is brighter and we get some breaks along the way. We both need and deserve it. Especially Maggie. She is, after all, married to me.

I love you sweety!