An Arizona Cheesehead's Thoughts

I'm really enjoying Facebook. It's been fun to reconnect with people I knew from school, previous jobs and life in general. And, it's enabled me get to know the people that I do hang out with better. It's really the perfect medium for a social butterfly. Last night was a great experience that is all due to Facebook. I went out for wine and snacks with Andy and Sharon and we had a wonderful time. Andy was my best friend in high school and college and he's one of Steven's Godfathers so we were really tight. Life happened and we probably hadn't seen each other in over 4 years though we exchanged Christmas cards and the occasional email. Pretty silly since we live in the same town. Sharon went to our high school but I didn't really get to know her until college when we both worked at Sears. As did Andy. I think the last time I saw Sharon was at our friend Danny's funeral and that was, gosh, 8 or 9 years ago? To give you more of the back story, Dis...

I never pass up an opportunity to gamble and there were always plenty of opportunities at work to do so. We had this guy, Banks, who used to run the NCAA, Pick 'Em Football, Super Bowl Squares...you name it, he ran it. But, then he quit and moved out of state. There was another guy who did the same thing. My buddy Steve always had something going and I bought in. I think I actually came out ahead on his games so I liked him much better than Banks. But, then he quit and moved out of state. Suddenly, it was the Super Bowl and we had no one taking money for squares. We were like chickens with our heads cut off. Who will do this for us!?!?! Dave and I tried to get our resident professional gambler (he really is, he won a boatload of money in a poker tournament that is sometimes on TV still) to do it. He said something lame like, "I have too much work to do." What up with that? Work versus a game of chance? And, he chose work? It's like I never really knew him So,...

moar funny pictures I created my first Lol picture. This was a lovely bouquet of flowers until George decided to eat it.

I could do this all day long...if I had a chair. Sunday was the PF Chang's Rock N Roll Marathon here in the Valley. The Arizona Parrot Head Club has been involved since the race's inception thanks to one of our long-time members who got us started. Our station the past two years is at approximately mile 25 on the full marathon route. We're the last water station before the finish line and it's always amazing and fascinating to see how the athletes are doing by the time they get to us. And they are "athletes", not "runners", despite what everyone else says (and they say it despite me correcting them, jeesh). We start setting up at 7 AM, the full marathon starts at 7:30 and we're supposed to be cleaned up by 3 PM. They give the athletes 7 hours and 15 minutes to finish the full marathon. There were some stragglers in the final moments but as long as they kept moving they were allowed to finish. The ones who stop moving get picked up and driven...

We had a Sales Team Award luncheon today and our CEO spoke. He's a huge book reader and gave his three top picks for 2008: Made to Stick, Outliers and A Whole New Mind. I've read the first, am waiting for the library on the second and have a borrowed copy of the third waiting for me to get to it. He makes a pledge every year to read 52 books. I thought that was ambitious and decided to adopt the same goal. To see if I could even get close, I went through my book reviews for 2008 and found that I read roughly 60 books. So, 52 not that hard. However, I have to give it to him that he's not reading Vampire/ Werewolf /Fairy porn books like I do. I didn't bother to filter out the "light" fiction from my list because I'm sure the serious books might only total 20. OK, being the freak that I am, I did go check. Serious books were amounted to 10. I guess I need to shift my reading a bit though I will never give up the Vampires.

Friendly You would rather hang out with others than spend time alone, and you'd far rather be doing something with your friends than just sitting around. You're happy in a crowded room, club, stadium, or auditorium. You're not a private person who is ill at ease in a group; you don't view excessive socializing as a waste of time. Extroverted You are ready to talk at the drop of a hat. Whether you're in the office or at a party, you're likely to be found gabbing away in the middle of a group of people. You are not shy or unwilling to spend a fair amount of time socializing. People you meet generally do not feel they have a hard time getting to know you. If you have a high score on the "extroverted" trait, you are probably among those who enjoy communicating with their friends (on the phone, on line, texting…), hanging out, and finding the best parties. Poised You tend to feel at home wherever you find yourself, even in unfamiliar settings, with new peop...

Nobody has to tell a cat how to relax. My favorite lawyer sent me this site . Lots of fun pics of kittys being bothered by objects being placed on them. I've got to get George on here!

This was me watching the new BSG episode: Huh? What the...? No way! Get over it. No way! Sob. No way! Really? Nooooooo ! That last one is because I don't want to wait for the next episode. BSG is an awesome show.

Dawkins' God: Genes, Memes, and the Meaning of Life by Alister McGrath My review rating: 2 of 5 stars It took me a really long time to finish this book. That's never a good sign that I'm enjoying a book. McGrath spends a lot of time rehashing different points in an attempt to debunk Richard Dawkins meme theory. Dawkins used that theory to "prove" there was no God. Really, really dry stuff. Neither Dawkins nor McGrath has changed my opinion on the subject of the existence of a supreme being. I think it's really an individual thought process and, unless you're wavering, outside influences aren't going to have much impact. View all my reviews.

First, log in to Facebook.

The Onion does it again .

Check this out. Then, feel really sorry for my friends in Iowa.

I remember watching Sports Night back when it was on TV and loving the show. I thought it was funny, had incredibly witty verbiage and the characters had great chemistry. A couple of years ago, I was buying DVD sets for Christmas presents and I picked up the box set of Sports Night for me. I never got around to watching it, though. Tonight, I made The Rocket Scientist watch the first episode with me. Oy vey . They added a laugh track and it was pretty cheesy. I didn't make him watch anymore but I started playing them again after he left. It got WAY better! I should have made him watch more...

I hosted our book club tonight which requires preparing and serving dinner for the gang. I got home, through a store bought lasagna in the oven and started putting things out. George was not well behaved. She kept jumping on the dining room table to watch me work because she knew I was distracted. Then, she jumped on the counter and was about to nibble on the salad before I busted her. I had to put the salad in the microwave to keep it kitty safe. My hope was that once one person got there, she would be a little more cautious and behave. That didn't happen. Maria got there first and George was quite happy to keep getting on the table while she and I were talking in the kitchen. It is really like when you have kids. You're in a conversation and you suddenly have a Tourette's moment "George!" then you just continue on talking with your friend. However, as soon as another guest arrived George must have reached her stranger limit. She hustled off to my room ...

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson My review rating: 5 of 5 stars This is a story about Greg Mortenson, a nurse who grew up in Africa, became a mountain climber and eventually started an organization to build schools in the mountains for the poor children of Pakistan and Afghanistan. We're talking really poor. And, he also built bridges, educated girl students (still unusual over there), put in water systems, paid teachers and provided operating supplies for the schools. It's literally amazing. Somehow, through lots of serendipitous events, this business naive large American stranger developed relationships with key native players overseas and people with money to support his efforts here. He also managed to get married, have two kids, survive being kidnapped and having two fatwas declared against him. Oh, and there was also the Taliban and the after effects of the U.S. actions in the Middle East. It was our ...

Let me preface this all by saying I am not an Arizona Cardinals fan. My heart bleeds Packers' Green and Gold. I've flirted with other teams over the years when my favorite players were on them but I always come back to the Pack. I've never warmed up to the Cards. This is no doubt due to the fact that they have been pretty darn bad their entire time here in Arizona so I never had an incentive to even get on the bandwagon. I also think their management/ownership has been inept, cheap and taken the fans for granted. So, that rambling introduction was really to explain that I've been a dispassionate observer over the past few weeks. First, there was the general surprise that the Cards won their division. That surprise was tempered by the fact that their division is not so good. But, people were excited. Not excited enough to buy up enough tickets to lift the TV blackout without two extensions, but cautiously excited. Then, most people expected that Atlanta, with a be...

I'm going out after work tomorrow and Friday. Saturday, I'm leaving the house around 2 ish and won't be home until late. Sunday, I have a Board meeting at 1 that will turn into a long afternoon with beers. Somewhere in there, I need to dust, vac, sweep, mop and shop because I'm hosting book club on Monday night. Oh, and I need to read the book, too.

I really love how several lanes of traffic on the freeway just stop FOR NO APPARENT REASON. It's especially delightful when my exit is within sight.

Many months ago, The Rocket Scientist and I were out with Sam and Elizabeth. The fact that Eric was a Prince and treated my like a Princess came up and TRS said that he was no Prince like that and was more like the frog. I wish I had said, "While you're no Eric, you're far from a frog." In fact, he is pretty much a Prince. Or, at least a Knight in Shining Armor. Sugar Daddy and I left work at the same time tonight. He called me to say that my right front tire was low. He noticed as I passed him. It was low as in I shouldn't be driving on it low. Fortunately, I was right by the gas station so I pulled in and filled it up with some air. I have to admit that my car felt funny and had since lunch so it was probably low even then. I called The Rocket Scientist and he didn't answer so I left a message that was something like "I may need rescuing. I have a tire that is really low and I was just in to Jiffy Lube and they filled it up so I think there...

So, I've been on Facebook for two weeks and I'm having a blast with it still. Somewhere along the way, I decided I wanted to have 100 friends. But, I didn't just go add people willy- nilly . Everyone that I sent a Friend request to is someone I know or knew. Granted, some people not very well but we do have an actual history. John Russell (a guy who used to work at our company) became my 100 th friend today so my goal is achieved. Now, if I were really like Monk, I'd have to stop at 100 because if I got to 101 then I'd need 200.

I guess I should have read this yesterday before I became too busy to do anything but work.

I just bought 3 lawn tickets online for a Spring Training game. The tickets are $7 each. The "convenience fee" is $3.50...per ticket! 50% extra fee!?!? That's ridiculous. Oh yeah, I paid $2 to have the privilege of printing the tickets out myself.

The Rocket Scientist and I both live in the same 'hood (which makes it convenient for him to be my driver). When we go out to dinner, we usually end up at Tempe Marketplace or downtown Tempe. When we want to go watch sports, we end up at the Vine on Apache. It's not that exciting but the barkeeps are friendly and they turn the TV to what we want to see.T There's just one big problem. The Vine is like the Room of Requirements at Hogwarts for me. But, instead of playing the role of Hermione as I usually do, I'm Filch. I can't find the damn place! It's on Apache, just west of Rural. I've missed turning on Apache, driven by the actual place several times and U-turned prematurely because I thought it was near McClintock and that I'd driven past it. Except for the very first time we met there (I think I drove past it then, too), I've been late getting there because I've been lost. It's sad. Very sad. Why couldn't they have put a Fox Sp...

Battlestar Galactica is coming back on Jan. 16th. Woo hoo!

A new law about license plates took effect here yesterday. You can't have anything that even partially obstructs the word ARIZONA so a lot of license plate holders have to removed around the state. The fine is $140 but, more importantly, it gives the cops an excuse to pull you over and look for other violations if they're so inclined. There's been a lot of griping how this is just another money grab by the state (like speed cameras on the freeways). I actually see the need for the rule, though. We've allowed so many different specialty plates options that it's really hard to tell if it's an Arizona plate. Some of the special plates are really "busy". We took my car to the New Year's Eve party and I looked at my back plate while The Rocket Scientist was loading up. Dang. My Key West Margaritaville holder blocks part of Arizona. I'm not sure if he offered to take it off the next day or if I just assumed he would but it was made the plan. ...