An Arizona Cheesehead's Thoughts

I had all sorts of plans for this past weekend. I was going to clean out the closet, finish a couple of books and maybe even pull some weeds in the back patio. Um, yeah, I pretty much did none of that. I started out OK on Saturday trying to finish one of my books. As I lounged on the couch while reading, I had a little case of the eye droops so I decided to take a catnap. It was more of a King of the Jungle nap as I woke up nearly 4 hours later. Pretty much blew the whole afternoon and early evening. Yesterday, I did manage to get my butt to the store in the morning. It's amazing how much an incentive having only one roll of toilet paper left can get you out of the house. Then, some of us went for breakfast/brunch at 11 AM to check out a new place for potential BOD Meetings. How long were we there? Well, the sun was starting to go down and they were lighting the candles on the table for some evening ambiance before we left. I'd say it was close to five hours in all. Ma...

Say you play on your college's football team. Then say your team makes it to a Bowl game. What do you do to pass the time out of town before you play? Well, if you're Oklahoma starting defensive tackle DeMarcus Granger, you shoplift, get arrested and sent home the day before the Fiesta Bowl game. You can read about it here . Smart, really smart.

Your Ideal Relationship is Serious Dating You're not ready to go walking down the aisle. But you may be ready in a couple of years. You prefer to date one on one, with a commitment. And while chemistry is important, so is compatibility. What's Your Ideal Relationship?

You Should Play the Drums You are often hyper, restless, and full of a little too much zeal. However, people may be surprised to know that you can focus your energy well. You are driven and engaged enough to be a great drummer... and you have the stamina to practice for hours. In fact, when you can channel your energy productively, it only increases! You are independent and spirited... but also consistent. You can definitely keep the beat. You work well in a group and contribute heartily - without needing to take the lead. Your dominant personality characteristic: your aggression Your secondary personality characteristic: your precision What Musical Instrument Should You Play?

The Keys to Your Heart You are attracted to obedience and warmth. In love, you feel the most alive when your partner is patient and never willing to give up on you. You'd like to your lover to think you are stylish and alluring. You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please. Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with. Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment. You think of marriage as something precious. You'll treasure marriage and treat it as sacred. In this moment, you think of love as something you thirst for. You'll do anything for love, but you won't fall for it easily. What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

Your Heart is Feeling Shy Your heart certainly has some strong feelings, you're just not sure if you're ready to let them show. You could be someone's secret admirer, or maybe you just haven't truly expressed how deep your feelings run. Maybe you're still a little unsure about how you feel... or your unsure about what reaction you'll get. Deep down, your heart is susceptible to: Clamming up and running away from love Your current outlook on love: Introspective and a bit detached Your love life will improve if you: Put yourself out there a little more. If you don't try, you'll never know. Watch out for: Having a one sided romance - you need to be sure you're feelings are reciprocated What Is Your Heart Feeling?

You Are 44% Nerdy You may be a bit surprised with this score, but your more of a closet nerd than an actual nerd. Stop denying your inner nerd! You're truly dorkier than you think. How Nerdy Are You?

You Are Blonde Highlights Men see you as flexible and versatile - you fit in to every situation You've got the inner glow of a blonde, the intensity of a redhead... And the wisdom of a brunette. How Blonde Are You?

I think I've lost all motor skills. For the second time in a week, I've dumped red wine on my white couch. OK, maybe I'm just plain clumsy. Or, maybe I can't multi-task. It's not like I was heavy into drinking for the evening; it was only my second glass. The problem is that I have the glass of wine on a table in front of me and I try to pick it up and bring it to my mouth while reading something on my laptop or a book. Now that I think about it, last time I was watching the TV while trying to sip. Since I'm not going to give up wine ( heh heh , I spelled that whine at first) and I doubt that I'll improve my hand/eye coordination, it's white wine at home from now on.

The Rocket Scientist and I have been competing (sort of) on weekly football picks. I pick them for my club league and use his picks for the work one. (BTW, we started towards the end of the season but I'm ahead 4-2. Not that I'm overly competitive or anything that I feel compelled to mention it.) He's been telling me about this ESPN guy who is going up against his wife each week. The guy is all about sports and his wife couldn't care less but she consistently beats him. This week, the wife wrote the guy's weekly column. You can read it here . It's hilarious. I was busting up in my office and my buddy Dave came in and asked why I was smirking. I started reading excerpts aloud to him but finally just sent him the link. After reading the column, I want to hang out with these people. I think it would be a hoot.

I had full intentions of enjoying myself last night. I started a fire, poured a glass of wine, logged on to GoodReads.com to do some updating and expected to enjoy watching ASU beat up on Texas in the Holiday Bowl. Or, at least top Texas in the Holiday Bowl. Everything went as planned except for that last part. I'm a vocal sports watcher. I talk back to the TV and comment on the action even if I'm the only one in the room. Sugar Daddy use to tell me, "You know they can't hear you, right?" Doesn't matter, I'm still going to talk. Pretty much all I said last night was, "Son of a bitch." Sometimes, it was a quiet whisper and other times I yelled it. I can't tell you how many times I said it. Let's see, how many turnovers were there and how many times did they let Texas run for yards and yards and yards? I'll go with "a lot." I finally gave up on the game in the fourth quarter and went to bed.

The TV writers strike has taught me something. I watch a lot of TV. I didn't realize how much until my DVR was only recording two or three shows a week. I think next week there's only one show. Suddenly, I have lots and lots of free time. I filled much of it with Christmas preparations and festivities but now that's all past. I've also read more books in the past two weeks than I have in the past two months. I even cleaned my house and finally finished the club newsletter. I've also blogged more. I guess I should be pleased that I've got more time to do "productive" activities. Frankly, I miss my shows. I hope the strike is over soon.

The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't had one of those "must read" titles for me. I like business books and this one kept showing up on suggested reading lists. There was some good points in the book about the negative effects of having "assholes" in your workplace (increased turnover, lower productivity, greater chance of getting sued) and tips on how to avoid them. It also gave you some pointers on figuring if you're an asshole. The facts were a bit redundant as they tended to be repeated. I'm not sure if the author, Robert Sutton, did that by design to reinforce the material or used them more as filler material.

Sugar Daddy's last day at work for the year was last Thursday. I brought his Christmas present to work but left it in my car because it was kind of bulky. This is what I got him: It's an R2-D2 voice activated robot. My friend Chris has one and it's really cool. He moves, he beeps, he reacts when you mention character names and dances while playing the cantina music. I told him his present was in the car and he said mine was in his car. We headed out at the end of the day to do the exchange. I had R2 wrapped up and the batteries in a gift bag for him. He had boxes for me. Boxes and boxes and boxes. I'm not entirely sure of the specifics but he said they were birthday presents and Christmas presents from last year that he didn't give me. There were four big unwrapped boxes. Turns out, he signed up for a wine club thinking I would dig that. I don't think he realized what he was getting into and he meant to cancel it but didn't do that for a year. It was a ...

Steven, Jim and I set up the new Wii last night and Steven and I played a few games before I headed home. Bowling was just like real life for me. I got it in the pocket but couldn't throw it hard enough. Why that's so when you're not actually tossing a real ball, I don't know. Steven just flung it and got lots of pin fall despite missing the pocket. At least I broke 100 each game. Golf was not like real life. I could drive great on the Wii. My short game sucked. That's actually the best thing in real life for me. Not that it's anything to brag about. I have to say, those virtual greens are really fast. I think I five putted one hole. I tried tennis on my own. Yeah, not so good at that. Steven and I also tried baseball. Another game I'm not very good at and neither is Steven. We could both pitch pretty well but were terrible at hitting. I just can't judge when to swing so I was either in front of or behind the ball on most pitches. By the ti...

My family is all about the holidays. There's the annual race to be the first to get the Christmas tree up. Before that happens, Shorty's already on his, "What do you want for Christmas?" query. Then there's the baking and shopping and more shopping. Oh, and more shopping. We open presents on Christmas Eve after a chili dinner. That's a long standing tradition. This year, we may have started a few new ones. My parents, Steven and I went out to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. There's a definite generation gap between my parents and Steven and me. He and I were hysterical at the breakfast table and they didn't quite know why most of the time. My Mom tries to keep up but I think Shorty is just happy that we're all together. We learned a valuable Cracker Barrel tip. Do not let Steven order the hash brown casserole. He ordered their Old Timer breakfast (sans eggs because he and I don't get along with those) with hash browns and the waitress said, ...

I found this book by Ilona Andrews while putting together my library list off of Amazon searches. It takes place in a future Atlanta after some sort of magic rupture has disrupted technology and causes all sorts of magical issues. The heroine is a mercenary who cleans up the mess from those magical issues. It sort of felt like I was not reading the first book in a series because some things seemed to be just dropped in to the story as if we already knew about them. There were my favorite fantasy characters, vampires and shapeshifters , and other creatures along with the magic wielders. The vampires weren't sexy, though. The shapeshifters , especially the alpha, were a lot hotter. Good story, liked the lead character a lot. There's a second book coming out in April and I'm going to be sure to read it.

I wanted to read The Golden Compass before seeing the movie. I've heard the movie's not that great, however, so now I'm in no rush on that. OK, maybe I'm just thick but I don't get how this book is going to turn kids into atheists. Yes, the church is mentioned and there are some no so nice people associated with it but it's pretty much your standard fantasy book. Young, precocious heroine doesn't realize she's the "one" with a destiny. Magic abounds, people plot, grownups underestimate the children, etc. There is a unique touch, though. Each human has a daemon companion that represents their soul. The soul dies with the human. OK, that's religious stuff. Maybe the anti-God stuff is more obvious in the next two books of the trilogy. Overall, I thought this book was OK but not exceptional.

I was dusting my entertainment center today (yes, I was actually cleaning my house and it badly needed it) when I found my CD case! Yep, the CD case that I thought had been stolen out of my car. I now vaguely recall taking it out for my last trip to Utah because I left my car in an off site airport parking lot and I didn't want it stolen. A tad ironic considering I thought it was. So, the punks (yes, I've decided that's what they were) busted in to my car for the few dollars of change that was in the console. Brilliant folks, there. I'm sure they're going to go far in the world.

94% DRUNKARD Take the quiz here . Got this from my fellow drunkard, Finnegan who got it from Heidi.

We had our work holiday party yesterday afternoon. We were supposed to have it last week but had some server issues so we postponed. The fun of working in IT. We bailed out of work at 1:30 and headed over to Dave & Busters for some munchies and lots of game playing. We bought everyone $20 worth of credits on their game cards and let them go. It was fun for everyone and interesting to see what people played. Andrea comes across as peaceful liberal but she went to the shooting games. A bunch of the boys raced cars against each other and there was a grudge match of one-on-one basketball from our last outing to D & B. One of the "kids" made the mistake of saying he could beat me in electronic trivia. I told him, "I will own you, Junior!" We could have up to six people play at once and I was the definite champ of the day as we all played many games. Of course, I was gracious about it. Not. We ended up with over 5,000 prize tickets and cashed them in for ...

The Abstinence Teacher is the latest from Tom Perrotta who also wrote Election . I didn't read that one but I quite enjoyed the movie. The book focuses on two main characters. Ruth is a high school sex-ed teacher who's divorced and fearful that she's never going to meet someone. Tim, Ruth's daughter's soccer coach, is a recovering drug addict and alcoholic who's found Jesus and a local church have kept him on the straight and narrow. The story alternates between each character's viewpoint. Ruth is forced to teach an abstinence only program that she feels violates all of her principles. Tim is struggling not only with his addictions but with his marriage to a church girl. Both struggle with their relationships with their children. Their conflict starts when Tim spontaneously leads the soccer team in prayer after a match. Ruth is appalled, drags her daughter away and tries to get the other parents to join her in protesting. Meanwhile, Tim's church friends...

Which of Santa's Reindeer are you? Comet Like Comet you are always happy. Nothing seems to get you down and you can always put a smile on people's faces Find out which of Santa's Reindeer you are at Quizopolis.com Got this from Shannon up in SLC. Now that I think about it, is there a Vixen?

You Are a Roller Coaster You live for excitement, adventure, and the most intense of thrills. Nothing is better than feeling you're truly alive, and you're willing to take risks to feel this way. In relationships, people often feel a bit nervous about what they're getting into... But generally, everyone enjoys the wild ride you take them on. Unless they stay with you too long - then they're apt to feel a bit nauseous! Your life has more low points and high points than most people's lives. But that's okay - you love them. You figure that a smooth ride is boring! Besides, you know that super high highs only come from knowing super low lows. You cherish every emotion you feel and feel it fully. Why deny what life is truly about? At your best, you are loving life and sharing your wild times with everyone you know. You are able to open your friends up to a whole new world of experiences. At your worst, you feel extremely disoriented and even a bit dizzy. There's ...

I think I've figured out the rule for watching the SciFi Channel. TV Series – watch. Battlestar Galactica rocks, Eureka is sweet and funny, Ghost Hunters is at least fun to mock, The Dresden Files was well done and Flash Gordon …well, OK, that one's not so great but I still watch it. Movies and Miniseries – don't watch. I've already written about how bad Highlander: The Source was. Horrible! There've been a couple other shows that I recorded then bailed on after 10 minutes because they were so lame. So lame that I don't even remember their names. However, I watched all of Tin Man . And, wish I hadn't bothered. Man, it was just really, really boring. And predictable. And boring. I know I said that but it bears repeating. The only thing that got me through the first two episodes was that I watched them while wrapping presents and doing my Christmas cards so I was a fairly captive audience. I watched the last part out of curiosity to see if anyt...

I haven't been so happy with Laurell K. Hamilton's Meredith Gentry series. It seemed like the books were all just becoming a description of an extended sexcapade and lacking in plot advancement. I was prepared to ditch the series if the latest book was more of the same. Happily, A Lick of Frost (Meredith Gentry, Book 6) is less on the sex (not that I don't like the sex but I could just watch Cinemax if that's all I'm looking for) and more on the plot. Still not quite as good as the first few books but enjoyable. Though, I wish there was more physical action and less talking because there's a LOT of talking.

Stephen Colbert's book, I Am America (And So Can You!) , is frakking hilarious! I don't know how many times I laughed out loud but it was a lot. Can't recommend this one highly enough - it's that funny.

Sugar Daddy, Andrea and I took lunch over to one of our former co-worker's house this week. Maria's home with her three week old baby and we were excited to see the little tyke. Her, too, but mostly the baby. I got to hold him right away. It's amazing how light those little babies feel. He's probably about 9 pounds but felt like nothing. Andrea didn't want to hold him because she fears the hand off what with the floppy neck and whatnot. Sugar Daddy had no desire at all to hold the baby. That wasn't too surprising. Maria offered to take him back so I could eat my sandwich but I told her I would hang on to him until he started screaming. I did and she did. She at least got through half of her sandwich before he decided that his pacifier was no longer going to pacify him. Wow, can that kid scream! He also turned the color of his face to maroon in under three seconds. She said he's actually gotten it to purple on occasion. She's pretty tired but v...

December 12, 2007 Taurus (4/20-5/20) This is it -- the chance you have been waiting for! Don't you recognize it? What -- you don't? Okay, then in order to see what you need to see you have to open you eyes. This means breaking out of your current routine and looking at life through fresh eyes. Turn your world upside down by imagining what your life would be like if you were born a hundred years ago -- or a hundred years from now! Suddenly, you will understand the opportunity that is right in your midst. OK, so coincidentally, I get a list of what the U.S. was like 100 years ago and then my horoscope tells me I'll get something I've been waiting for through some great insight from imagining that I lived 100 years ago. I re-read the factoids and, other than noticing there was no canned beer yet and Arizona wasn't a state, I found nothing all that relevant to me. I guess I'm going to miss out on my big chance.

Shorty's Mom would have been 100 years old today. She was a great lady. My Grandparents' house was the place people liked to drop in to because there was always a sincere welcome, plenty of food and drink and a card game could break out at any moment. While she was called Grandma or Mom sometimes, mostly it was just Hazel. Hazel loved kicking our butts at cards and cribbage...that woman owned me in cribbage. I swear she got a double run on every hand. And, yes, even as a child I was bitter about that. Clearly, I still am. My Aunt Joan sent us all an email reminding us that today was Hazel's birthday and also forwarded some data from 1907, the year she (Hazel, not Aunt Joan!) was born. Here are some of the U.S. Statistics for the Year 1907 : The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47 years old. Only 14 percent of the homes in the U.S. had a bathtub. Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone. A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars. Th...

I've been wondering what to do with all of my free time while the writers' strike kills all of my TV viewing. I can tell you that I won't be watching reality TV. Fortunately, BBC just started a new season of Life on Mars . I love that show and it feels like it's been ages since the last season. OK, I've filled one hour a week of my TV time...

I have declared it officially winter here in Arizona. What are the factors that led to that declaration? 1. I had to break out my leather jacket, knit gloves and scarf for the club Holiday party on Saturday. OK, the scarf was mostly to make the outfit but I've been wearing the jacket every day since then. 2. The heat's on. I think there was a week between A/C and heat which is pretty long for these parts. 3. I'm in my winter jammies. They're quite similar to my summer jammies except for the critical addition of socks. Cold feet and me do not a happy match make. 4. Couch time now includes covering up with my Jimmie Johnson blanket. 5. My first fire of the season is merrily crackling away as I type. I love having fires! 6. It's dark when I drive in to work in the morning and dark when I leave at night. BTW, if you're wondering what temperatures make it winter, it's been in the rainy 50s for several days and down into the 40s at night. BRRRRR!

I am apparently magic. Or, at least I can perform magic. All I need to do is put the earplugs in and turn on my shuffle. Voila! Someone appears in my office doorway to talk to me! It's uncanny. I don't think I've gotten through one full song (okay, maybe two) without interruption in the past two weeks.

OK, shirt got on right side out today. However, I forgot to brush my teeth. Fortunately, I realized it on the way in to work and I carry a travel toothbrush so I don't have to spend the day trying not to breathe out in anyone's direction. While I blame it on work calling me at 5:40 AM and putting my morning routine out of sync I still think I need to start doing the daily crossword puzzle. I've heard that helps old people keep their minds sharp. Not that I'm old...I just think my brain has been over-worked.

You Are An Attention Seeker You're only human, so you can't help but want a little attention every now and then. You love the spotlight, but only when it's well deserved. You'd hate to be known for the wrong thing. And you also don't mind sharing the spotlight. You can easily give someone else credit or a complement. You know there's enough attention to go around, and it makes you happy when your friends shine. You come across as: Friendly and interesting People may wrongly think you're: A little more modest than you actually are! Are You An Attention Whore?

You Don't Have a Boyfriend Because You are Too Busy While a relationship sounds nice, you're strapped for timeWhether you're legitimately busy or just making excuses...... You don't give men enough of your time.As nice as "instant love" would be, there's just no such thing. Why Don't You Have a Boyfriend?

You Should Be a Politician Confident, assertive, and dedicated - you know what you want in life and how to get it. Stubborn and opinionated, you can stand your ground... even if it's unpopular. And while you have strong views, you never overwhelm people with your opinions. A true charmer, you subtly influence people into seeing things your way. You do best when you: - Work according to your own rules - Can change the world with what you do You would also be a good lawyer or talk show host. What Should You Be When You Grow Up?

Aye carumba, I think I need a keeper. Twice in the past week, I've put my top on with it inside out. Twice! Fortunately, I noticed before leaving the house but the second time it was over an hour before I realized it. Next thing I know, I'll forget to put on pants or something kooky like that...

It took me a while to get through The Black Swan - The Impact of the Highly Improbable because it was pretty scientific. According to author, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a Black Swan is a highly improbable event that is unpredictable, has a massive impact and that, after the fact, we make up an explanation to make it seem less random. Examples of Black Swans are the success of Google, the attacks of 9-11 and the end of the Soviet bloc. He gives more examples in the text which is chock full of scientific stuff. Some of it was blah, blah, blah, Ginger, blah, blah to me but Taleb did a pretty good job of making it simple enough for my non-mathematical mind to understand. Intriguing stuff. If you're into probabilities, sociology theory and even investing, you should read this. It will make you look at thinks a little differently.

December 07, 2007 Taurus (4/20-5/20) It's time to toot your own horn! If no one else is going to sing your praises today, you must step up to the microphone and belt it out! You deserve to feel pride in what you have done, because no one else could have done it as well. With every success comes a cloud of jealousy or anger from the folks who just couldn't pull it off. A few shining people will give you props, but you shouldn't rely on external approval for your sense of accomplishment. Give yourself a hand! I'd like to have this horoscope every day!

You Are 60% Democrat You aren't a full fledged Democrat yet, but it's likely the party that fits you best. You probably consider yourself an independent Democrat. You usually support the party, but you also think for yourself! How Democrat Are You?

You Are a Tiny Tease You like to flirt and show off your body, but what confident woman doesn't. You enjoy male attention, and you're usually pretty good at not leading men on. However, there are times when you get carried away with your sexy behavior. It's okay to use your amazing flirting powers for good - but never for evil! Do Men Think You're You A Tease?

You Are Running on 77% Adrenaline Your Adrenaline Level: Borderline Dangerous You're running around so fast, you don't realize how quickly life is passing you by. While you may be getting a lot done, you're on the go lifestyle is probably wearing you out. Are You Running on Adrenaline?

Your Inner Child Is Surprised You see many things through the eyes of a child. Meaning, you're rarely cynical or jaded. You cherish all of the details in life. Easily fascinated, you enjoy experiencing new things. How Is Your Inner Child?

You Are 32% Spoiled You're barely spoiled. You may have some nice things, but you never let them go to your head. You appreciate each gift you're given - and you don't dwell on what you "deserve" to have. Are You Spoiled?

You Are 75% Normal Otherwise known as the normal amount of normal You're like most people most of the time But you've got those quirks that make you endearing You're unique, yes... but not frighteningly so! How Normal Are You?

You Are Noon You are upbeat, ambitious, and never at loss for energy.You have a lot that drives you in life. The desire to be the best, and a secret hope of fame and power.And while you definitely have a Type A personality, you are still fun to be around.You have a ton of charisma and a genuine interest in others. You are adored by many. What Time Of Day Are You?

I went to the library tonight to pick up a bunch of books that were on hold. As I was taking them off the shelf, I made eye contact with a little girl who was playing with one of the library stools. She was adorable! Blond hair, big eyes, dressed in a red jumper and white tights. Just cute as can be. I said "Hi." She replied with, "I want to show you Goldilocks and the three bears." I was a little taken aback and asked, "What?" She told me again that she wanted to show them to me then held up her hand for me to take. She was quite insistent. I held out my finger to her and she took it and started to drag me away. I made a frantic head swivel and asked her, "Does your Mom know you want to show me that?" Fortunately, I made eye contact with whom I presumed to be her Mother as I was being pulled away. We went all the way across the library to the children's section, over the bridge and all the way to the table that had the wooden puzzles...

I started my Christmas shopping on Sunday. If there's one thing I'm really efficient at, it's spending money. In the 2 1/2 hours I spent at Tempe Marketplace, I managed a $200 an hour pace. My shopping was spread out over five stores and I now have my list complete for both of my Uncles and Steven. Though, I'll probably end up buying more for Steven along the way. I also made a start on my Mom. I only bought two things for myself which is probably a record - I usually end up with lots of things that I just couldn't resist. I got a new hair brush at Ulta and a tree skirt from Ross. Speaking of Ross, I felt like I needed to take a shower after I got out of there. That store is totally icky. As usual, I'm not thinking about how much I've spent. I'm counting my savings - I caught lots of sales so I saved a bundle! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have lots of wrapping to do.

Sugar Daddy told me just yesterday that I need a garage… So, I walked out to my car this morning and saw something on the ground behind it. I picked it up and it was my #48 dashboard cover. I was a little puzzled and thought that maybe I accidentally pulled it out of the trunk last night when I was taking a package out. I popped the trunk and threw it in. Then, I walked up to my car door. Well, almost to the car door. The first thing that caught my eye was that my back passenger door was cracked open. The second thing I noticed was my completely busted in window. Sigh. Yep, I was a victim of a smash and grab. I have so much crap floating around in the back seat that they might have thought there was actually something of value. The whole interior was rifled through but all that they took was some of the change out of the console (might have been five whole dollars worth) and my CD case. The CD case is a bummer since it held pretty much all of my Mark Mulligan, Jimmy Buffett, Kel...

It's so cool having our own Margaritaville ! They did a VIP event last night that some of us got to go to. We heard about it on short notice or I would have done a lottery of all the local club members. Hopefully, we can do that next time. And, I really hope there is a next time! The shindig was from 7 – 10 and we got there a few minutes before 7. We checked in and they gave us nifty lanyards like the employees wear and keepsake (at least I'm keeping mine!) VIP badges. The lanyards have " Margaritaville " and "I love my job!" printed on them. I'm now using mine at work and it only took a few minutes before I got a comment about the loving the job part. OK, picture this. They opened the doors for us to walk in. On both sides of the entrance, there were servers lined up with each holding a tray. The alternating contents of the trays were open bottles of Landshark Lager and Margaritas. It was beautiful! They had other folks roaming around with tray...

Got this from Finnegan. You can get some cute results.

I was talking to Steven today about how it's dark out by the time I get home so I haven't gotten my tree and other holiday stuff out of the shed yet. He offered to swing by and bring it all in for me today. After getting a promise to shake the spiders off first, I happily accepted his offer. What was I thinking? He pulled everything out of the shed related to the season. The tree (which he did set up for me, very nice), two boxes of wrapping paper, another two of ornaments and decorations, the creepy moving Santa and Mrs. Claus, a milk crate full of lights and a big cardboard box that I'm afraid even to open. I don't even know where to start...

Which Sesame Street Character Are You? (Many outcomes) created with QuizFarm.com You scored as Rosita Rosita is exuberant and playful. She uses her hands when she communicates with others. She likes to convey her warmth with lots of touching and hugging. She's good natured and intelligent. Rosita is also bilingual. Rosita 75% Telly Monster 71% Grover 71% Ernie 68% Zoe 68% Abby Cadabby 64% Big Bird 64% Elmo 61% Bert 57% Cookie Monster 54% Prairie Dawn 50% Oscar the Grouch 39% Count Von Count 39%

What's Your 19th-Century Horror Character? created with QuizFarm.com You scored as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde You are the unfortunate changeling from Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel, the victim of volatile emotions that stain your reputedly noble character. Through scientific experimentation, you have divided your social and primal selves into two separate physical entities, which grapple perpetually for control of your existence. Because of this tension, your life is a maelstrom of inescapable, private turmoil. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 71% Dorian Gray 62% The Invisible Man 59% Count Dracula 58% Frankenstein's Monster 50% The Headless Horseman 21%

So, I was sitting at home last night doing pretty much the usual stuff. Watching TV, emailing and IMing...all activities that do require electricity. At 8:22, the lights went out. This is at least the fourth time now since Oct. 10 when this all first started. And, it's starting to piss me off. Fortunately, The Rocket Scientist took pity on me (again) and invited me over to his place to wait out the outage and watch the end of the Philadelphia-New England game. By the end of the game, my check to see if my answering machine was back up showed that the power was back on. It was out for about an hour and 10 minutes. Today, I called Salt River Project to ask if there were any plans to address the ongoing issue. What I got was a "Well, these things happen" and a promise to mail me the outage history since September for my place. I guess I'm going to have to diagnose the issue for them. The biggest bummer was that I only recorded 22 minutes of Desperate Housewives so I...

I enjoyed all the hits on my blog that I got from the link at Buffettnews.com . I felt really popular there for a while. To give you an idea on how big it was, check out this chart: You can see the HUGE spike from the first day they linked to me. It's trailing off now and I'm almost back to my normal level. It's funny because on the one hand, I want to be really popular and have lots of readers but on the other hand, I'm quite comfortable with my "usual" gang. At least they leave comments so I know that they care.

We went out to one of the Humane Society facilities today. The Arizona Parrot Head Club sponsored a tree in honor of one of our club members, Craig Broadhurst, who passed away last year. It was a nice gathering and a fine way to acknowledge how much Craig is missed. Afterwards, we wandered through the kitty section. I was trying not to pay too much attention to the cats because I've been thinking about getting one for a while now. And, when I say I've been thinking, I've really been thinking. I just wasn't thinking about getting one today. However, I saw a female Maine Coon that intrigued me. That's the breed I want because they tend to talk a lot, they're trainable and very smart and they're quite dog-like in their behavior. So, I had them bring her into one of the meeting rooms and, well, she wasn't in to me at all. Her history said she was a stray and her entire focus was on bolting from the room. She did talk and let me pet her but her fixat...

This is a co-write by Tom Rath and Donald O. Clifton. The basic premise is simple. Each person has a bucket and a dipper. To be happy, your bucket should be full. Filling a bucket involves pouring in from the dipper (getting positive reinforcement and giving it, too). Emptying a bucket involves scooping out with the dipper (getting or giving negative comments/reinforcement). Really quite simple. But, perhaps harder to implement and live by. This was a very quick read but the idea has stuck with me. While I know it's healthier (both mentally and physically) to be positive and surround yourself with positive people, it's quite easy for me to fall into being negative. I guess it's something to work on.

Another book by Patrick Lencioni - same format as Five Dysfunctions of a Team . It starts with a "fable" then explains the model. The gist of this one is that employees are miserable in their jobs (no matter how glamorous or how much they're paid) if three things exist. If they feel anonymous, irrelevant or if their work is not measured then they will be miserable. The onus is on the manager to take a real interest in employees and their personal lives, reinforce the employees' impacts on co-workers and customers and provide a way to measure whether employees are improving their performances. Some good food for thought in this one. Though, being a manager (and maybe a lazy one), I do think there's some responsibility on the employee's side to try to find meaning and worth in a job.

The holiday season has officially started. I got my first Christmas card today. Dang Roger and Todd for being overachievers!

Karwin and Mulligan Having a Great Time. (Photos courtesy of Pirate Rick) Mark Mulligan and Bob Karwin put on a heck of a great show last night at Fiddler's Dream! There are some pretty funny trop-rock guys out there but I've yet to see the one who's funnier and as quick with the wit as Karwin. He was sharp as ever and he made Mark and the audience work to keep up with him. Karwin's new CD, Have Sun, Will Travel, just came out so Mark declared the show to be Karwin's CD Release Party. He also declared that every song had to end with a cha-cha-cha. Not sure why he made it so but it was funny and interesting to see how they segued to it in some of the songs. I actually got called out during the show. I think I may have even blushed. Karwin was shilling his first CD when Mark said, "Just how much are those, Bob?" Bob replied, "Since I touched this one, it's $75." He then wiped it across his brow to get a little sweat on it and said, "It...

Buffettnews.com posted a link to my Maragaritaville opening blog post this morning. I've gotten 296 hits on my blog since then. To the big kids in blog world, that may not seem like a lot but it's a pretty big number to me! Thanks for everyone who's stopping by.

We've been waiting for about a year for Margaritaville to open in Glendale. They had signs up in the windows but it didn't look like they were doing anything for a long time. Construction finally started but it seemed to go on forever. We waited as patiently as we could (because we had no choice). Originally, it was advertised as opening in the spring of 2007 but it finally came down to November. We have a couple of club members and the daughter of another member working there. Between them and the General Manager, we had some inside scoop on the opening. A few of us were lucky enough to get passes to the Friends and Family events before the actual opening. Those were designed to test the staff and the servers. We were told the soft opening was Friday night and the press opening was this coming Tuesday. I ended up taking a vacation day on Friday and Norene came up from Tucson for the big day. We were so ready! I sent out an email to the club members telling them I'd be ther...

Today's race at Homestead was soooooo stressful. Jimmie led the first lap so he only had to finish 19th or better to clinch the championship. I had no worries that he would screw it up. I did, however, worry that someone would crash in front of him trying to win the last race of the year. The last ten laps were brutal to watch. Turned out to be a fairly clean race, everyone stayed away from Jimmie and his 7th place finish guaranteed him his second consecutive Championship. Yay! Within few minutes of the race's conclusion, NASCAR.com emailed me an offer to buy Jimmie Championship merchandise. Being the shopper that I am, I ordered a skin for my laptop and a championship t-shirt.

I have a club member who's in Germany and couldn't resist sending me this sign. "Pfister" is a term for baker in German. That's kind of funny in our family since Shorty is well known for his baking skills. Guess he's not too far removed from the original Pfister.

On our last day in Key West, Kathy O. asked us all what our favorite moment of the week was. Several of us came up with events from Saturday, including me. It could be because it was the only day I didn't work but we packed in a bunch of fun that day. First, the Babes, Jim, Darrel and I went to Meteor Smokehouse for lunch. They have an awesome spicy green bean dish and the BBQ is really good. I started drinking Diet Pepsi but the server talked me into an adult beverage. I picked their lemonade and it was fabulous! Darrel had their Hurricane and he thought it was great. After lunch, we went next door to the Green Parrot (an old Buffett haunt) for a beer then decided to go to Pepper's. But first, we had to buy some beer to take with us so we hit the mini-mart where I ran into Kelly McGuire. Kelly actually remembered Darrel from meeting him a few years ago in Belize. I'm always amazed at how good the trop rock musicians are at recalling faces. Here's the deal with Peppers....