A-Team. Greatest TV Show Ever?

Well, my Sunday just took a drastic turn for the better. Turns out the A-Team is on TVLand! Not sure for how long, but I'm on episode 2 so far.
Now then, this all reminds me of 1 of the key differences b/t classic TV shows, and today's shows. The old good-guys had to use smarts to win. Not just brute force and violence. Sure, they used those things as well, but they had to be smart to get to that point.
A-Team. Sure they shot up alot of stuff, beat up alot of guys, blew alot of shit up. But they always got captured with out 20 minutes left in every episode. Locked up in a fully loaded barn/tool shed/machine shop/etc. Did they just smash their way out? Of course not! They had to display some creativity and smarts to concoct some weird plan and then build the tools to execute it. Sure, they had dynamite, a tractor, a welder, sheet metal, but they had to find good ways to put it all together and get out. Teaches kids to use their heads when they're in a tough spot, not just smash their way out. And to not kill people. All you gotta do is knock them out, or flip over their car. They just stop once that happens.
McGuyver. The all-time classic example of using brains over brawn. He never used guns (except as tools) and hated to fight. In order to accomplish anything, he had to figure out horrible complex and unlikely ways to do it. Sure, most of those creations and plans would never actually work as they did in the show. But the fact is they were all possible. It was kinda like the A-Team, without the violence.
Today's shows just don't showcase smarts like that. It's all about fighting and guns. You don't have to use any creativity or intelligence any more. You just punch and shoot your way out of problems. No wonder today's kids are nothing more than punks.
And now that I sound like an old man bitching and moaning about the good 'ole days, I'm outta here!

Beer, hockey updates

And now on to more uplifting updates, Slootz and SharpShooters.
Yes, the event that caused me to even be on the road Wednesday night was a SharpShooters game. Against the Stars, who we are chasing for 2nd place in the division. The top-2 make the play-offs, and we're 5 (or 3 if our appeal on an earlier game is accepted) points behind them heading into the game. With only 3 games left after this one, it's a must win.
Games with the Stars are fun, because we're evenly matched. Whichever team works harder will typically win. Obviously, if one team has a break-out performance by a goalie or something, that can swing the tide. But that's unusual.
Luckily, they did not have a good game as a team. They had a substitute goalie that was quite frankly amazing. It was this girl that couldn't have been over 5'3", but she was incredible in net. Robbed several guys of sure goals. And not just any of our guys, our scorers. While I'd like to blame her for personally getting blanked, I was my own worst enemy. I managed to hit the post/crossbar not once, not twice, but 3 times. Twice on the same shift on 2 nice shots, too.
But we were able to score when it counted and keep them to only 2 for a 3-2 win. So their lead is down to either 3 or 1.
The aforementioned appeal goes back to a game early in the season when a team used a player that was not on their roster. That should go down as a forfeit, but the league has yet to say either way. They likely are waiting to see how the play-off race goes. If we are 3 points behind at the end they'll give it to us. (Or if we're 1 point ahead). But if not, who knows.

Slootz
Well, the next Slootz beer is officially brewed and in primary fermentation. The MoppleBoch. It has been talking about for a long time, so it's nice to see it happen. And a good team beer. I had the maple-brown sugar idea, Mark had the name and was able to track down some grade-B maple syrup. 1 quart of maple syrup, 18oz of brown sugar, on top of an already solid base, is giving us the potentially strongest beer yet. Initial gravity readings have this lined up to be in the 8-10% range! The fermenting should be fast and furious this week! We should be moving it to the secondary fermentor next Thursday night, then on to bottles a week or 2 after that. So roughly by mid- to late-March, we'll have some magic on our hands.
And we hopefully have a fix to our low-carbonation issue that was seen with the Double-Bagger. It's likely that the beer was bottle conditioned at too low of a temperature, which resulted in the yeast not being able to re-start fermentation of the priming sugar. Keeping the beers inside the apt while conditioning should fix that problem. The stairwell was probably in the 50s last time, with 70-75 being desired. We just didn't realize it would be an issue, as it's never come up before.
And yes, the Slootz website is again being talked about. We don't have a smuggled machine to host it on any more, but we'll still put something together. We owe that to our loyal drinkers. Which is really just Mark and I.

Well, time to do a little "work".

The Mass Turnpike Assoc.

Well, the lovely people in the Mass Turnpike Association have screwed me again. And they got me good this time.

For those that don't know, Boston has a giant highway project called "The Big Dig". It's a network of underground tunnels that has re-routed I-90 and I-93 under the city instead of through it. It's actually a fantastic idea. But it has been riddled with typical Massachusetts politics, delays, scandals, fiascos, and the like. But traffic and travel are so much better it's been worth it.

Anyways, they're still finishing things up, meaning they still do have to work on some of the sections. This results in closures of certain sections at night. Typically the exact section I'm trying to use to get home from a hockey game at 12:15am. But I have grown used to it and can deal with it. I know my alternate routes and know all the detours by heart. Unfortunately, in order to effectively use said alternate routes, they have to let me know that there are closures coming up. Which they are normally very good at doing. Until Wednesday night. Cruising down 93, right past all of the highway alert signs where they typically post the closure info, thinking I'm home free. Until about 1/2 mile past the last available exit. Then suddenly the cones and police cruisers appear. And a tirade of profanity emanates from my car. Yes, they had actually blocked off the airport tunnel (which takes me home) without mentioning a single word about it. This would be like showing up at the airport for a flight to Chicago, then watching them land in Indianapolis, assuming that you've already used your psyching powers and known that they were going to do that.

So now I'm pissed I have to get off in South Boston and drive over to the tunnel entrance by the Teradyne building. But it's only a 10-minute detour, so I'm starting to settle down. Driving a little spirited, but settling down. So I get over there and hop back in the tunnels. I'm relaxed and thinking about the hot shower coming up at home, when what do my eyes see! More cones and troopers! Those dirty SOBs have closed this section as well, of course without any warning or detour routes. So now I've found that 2/4 possible airport tunnel entrances are shut-down without a single word why, or any mention of a detour route. I know some ways around it, but at this point I have absolutely no idea what's going to be open. Thank God I'm not a newbie to the city and needed to get to the airport. Shit, a newbie would be stuck in that maze forever.

As a side-note, I'm convinced the tunnels were actually designed by ex-Vietcong planners. The system works great if you know where you're going. If not, you may not be seen again until next spring. I bet there are small colonies of people living in the maintenance tunnels after getting lost in the tunnels. Living on rats and the lunches they steal from the workers. Wandering around for the rest of their days searching for a way out. But I digress...

So I'm forced back into South Boston, further away from any useful route this time. I finally do manage to get back to I-93, heading north this time, and get off where I normally would if I knew the tunnel was closed. I have spent 30 minutes driving in circles around Boston, all because some half-wit in the MTA was too dumb to do his job and post the tunnel closures for approaching motorists. And the MTA wonders why everyone in the state hates them.

Ahhh, the joys of driving in Boston.

It's FRIDAY!!!

Well, another week comes to a close. Glorious Friday.
And as I'm not getting up at 4am to go snowboarding tomorrow, I fully intend to stay up til all hours of the night watching bad TV and playing video games. Maybe even a bad movie or 6. Oh, and plenty of chat room time.

I had another a@@hole in a luxury car try to run me off the road again this morning. Seems that around here, those that can buy expensive cars, also feel they have bought the roads. Apparently he felt that even though he was driving right next to me on the shoulder, he had every right to just start changing lanes. I almost fell back on my game of "whose car is worth less", but didn't really feel like getting into an accident with a jerk on a Friday morning. It would have been fun to f'up his car, though. This does increase my desire to install an air-horn in my little car, as my Japanese horn just doesn't get the job done. It's $25 and alot of work on my part, so it'll get done eventually.

Another great week of hockey for us. We kicked the crap out of this team 9-1. It should have been 9-0 if I had worked a little harder on a back-check, but what can you do. I did score 2 goals, one of which was a sweet end-to-end rush. Their forwards did nothing but watch me skate it out from next to our net, and their defense waited til I was at their blue-line to even show up.

The new gecko enclosure should be good and aired out by Sunday, so hopefully I can move Victoria in. I'll have to move things around in my room a bit, as I think it'll be too heavy for where her current one is, but that's no biggie.

My buddy at work, Tom, and I are becoming quite the scavangers. We're quite good at finding the left-over coffee and muffins/bagels/etc from meetings. Usually on our way back from lunch, too. Nothing beats a little free coffee in the afternoon. Sure, sometimes the coffee is luke warm and the snacks stale, but usually everything is nice and fresh. It bumps up my job satisfaction a little bit, and gives me something fun to do during the day.

Oooh, time to wrap things up here for the weekend and head to the gime (gym for those that don't watch enough Simpsons). I do have to figure out what the hell I'm going to have for dinner, but I can do that b/t sets of squats.

Peace out, kiddies!!

Message for the kids

Well, once again last night hockey, my full-face cage saved my jaw from being shattered into 5,438 pieces. Fighting a big guy for a puck, he clocked me right in the jaw area. I think he was trying to lift my stick up, missed, and drilled me. Needless to say my jaw is in 1 piece, but doens't quite close right today. I think the joint on the right side is swollen, throwing the whole works out of line.
Thus, 1 of the few things I'm truely good at and enjoy, eating, has become uncomfortable. Not slowing me down at all, but it's uncomfortable.

Work is officialy going down the crapper. I'm already bored, and now I've been asked to spend about 20 hours/week trying to help a struggling project get back on track. And it's not like things can get any better in the near-term. That project is so messed up that only a complete re-do is going to fix it. It'd be like if you and your friends were watching a bar fight. And when one guy is clearly getting his ass beat, your buddies suggest that you jump in and help him, cause you're good at fighting. Yeah, cause that ends well.
I'm trying to get a better job in another group, but there isn't a whole lot open right now. And it's not worth leaving the company, as I may only be in town for another 18 months or so. All depends on where the GF gets her residency. So I guess I'll just suck it up and bust a bottle over someone's head.

XM radio, fantastic stuff. The selection and variety on the 1 rock station isn't all that great, there's just so many options. Jazz, all kinds of rock, blues, comedy channels, etc. Plus, every wednesday night at 10pm they have a metal show for another. And speaking of which, I need to go set it up to record that tonight. But wait, there's more. You also get access to streaming music from all of their channels and more over the internet. So I get to use the service while I'm at work. Okay, shameless plug over.

And until next time...

Piss-poor TV

Why can't the networks put on any good TV on saturday nights or sundays?!
So I get home from snowboarding (which was fantastic, thanks for asking) around 8:30pm on saturday night. I'm too wiped out to do anything except settle in for some TV and a couple beers. What do I get? Crap. Where are the days of USA and TNT playing solid "Guy Movies" to entertain those of us that are home watching TV on a saturday night? I want to see something with car chases, explosions, guns, fist-fights.
I wound up flipping aimlessly for a couple hours while surfing the 'net until my roommate came home. Then I just gave her and her fiance the remote and let them struggle for awhile.
Man, onec college football ends, so does all the good weekend TV. The networks know they no longer have any real competition for your time, so they'll just make you watch whatever garbage they feel like showing. What are you going to do, watch Lifetime?!

Boring Friday

Well, today is sufficiently boring. So here I am.
Pretty psyched to be going out boarding tomorrow. Sure, it'll suck being there alone, but it's better than not going at all and sitting around doing nothing all day. And it's almost February and I haven't been out on a real boarding run yet. Damn you warm weather and busy weekends!!!

Our hockey team got spanked yet again by the Ducks. We were sans our captain Alex, which probably would have helped. He's really good about setting up the lines with people that have played together and work well together. No one else knows the team as well, so no one else is as good at it. We probably still would have lost, but we would have made it closer. I got my usual 1 goal off of Goalie Tim, on a rebound of a rebound. He robs me of all my good chances, but I can usually sneak an ugly one past him.

Man, even this is boring. Today sucks so far. I'm leaving early, that's all there is to it. Go home, get ready for boarding, watch some crappy TV til about 12, then sleep for 4 hours.
And.....done.

Random Stuuff

Well, the new year is going well. I've really held to my movement of going to the gime (gym) more, which is good. I mean, I'm paying for it, might as well use it as much as possible. So any night that doesn't involve hockey or volleyball will find me at the gime.

I've joined the Ebay revolution from the seller side as well. So far I've sold an old cell phone (still awaiting payment), and am currently selling my old stereo from my WRX. Those of you who know me are well aware of what happened to said WRX and why I'll never need that stereo again. Maybe in a couple years I'll sell off the Nissan stereo, but not til I officially own that thing.

The girls are doing well. I actually plan on having Victoria's home done this weekend. I just need to trim the slate, cut the plexiglass front, and screw it all together. The new thermostat is already in use and works flawlessly. I guess it all depends on whether or not I go snowboarding on both Saturday and Sunday, or just Sat. Probably just Sat, as it'd be a full day trip to Stowe and I'll be pretty whipped on sunday. And no football to distract me. Just sweet, sweet coffee and pizza.

The no-coffee mornings are getting better. They still suck, but not as much as at first. I no longer spend the entire day wishing I was drinking some. The fact as was to begin with is a good reason to back off a little bit. And now I appreciate any coffee I do have even more.

Okay, time to roll. Enjoy, jerks.

Hockey

This post is actually going to be just shameless bragging on my part. Seems I'm actually becoming a pretty solid hockey player now, with a knack for making goals. Either scoring myself or setting up others. Case in point, 3 goals and 4 assists in the last 2 games. And earlier I had a 3-game goal streak. And our team (Boston SharpShooters) is actually getting alot better. We're winning some games, and playing well even in the ones we lose. So lots of bright spots. I doubt we'll get all the way to Toronto, but you never can tell what happens once the play-offs begin.
Oh yeah, and a big thumbs-up to the Turnpike people for opening up the exit ramp to 90W again. Sure, it's all your fault it was closed in the first-place, but at least it's back open again.
Okay, all right.

Bears reactions...
Well, it's all over. Carolina's shock-and-awe victory has brought our first encouraging season since 2001 to an end. I'm a little numb right now. Partly from all the festivities from the weekend, partly due to the game. I'm just not ready to face it and deal with it yet. But I'll put some things down here to start the healing.
First, our cornerbacks did a pretty poor job of covering Steve Smith. He's a great receiver and a key to their passing offense. And we left him in single coverage all day. And then watched our corners fall down twice while trying to run with him.
Grossman did not look like the polished, poised QB that he's supposed to be. Not the QB we saw in the Atlanta game. Was it rust, or nerves, or Carolina's D, or just lack of ability? He looked like Peyton trying to play the Pats in the play-offs. All his passes were off. Just did not seem to have that swagger he normally had.
I give Carolina credit for making us play non-Bears football. Bears football is to go out and get some form of lead (usually 3-0), then play down hill. Run the ball to eat up the clock and let the defense play against a team that needs to throw the ball. Yesterday is was reversed. They jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead and we never were able to settle into our game. We couldn't commit to the run, as we needed to get quick points. And our defense was never able to stop Carolina when they had to.
Okay, time to stop.
So how about them Cubs?! It's going to be pretty sweet when they win the World Series this year. Our rotation look solid even without Wood. And now that we have a lead-off hitter our line-up because much more dangerous. Derek Lee at the plate with a runner or 2 on is much better than with no one on and 2 outs. But it's a bit early to jump into the Cubs just yet. I'll save that for February.
And.....done.