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.

Hockey & etc

Well, our hockey team (Boston SharpShooters) finally looked good last night. We out-played and out-hustled the other team and won 5-0. I myself put up 2 goals, 1 assist, 2 penalties. Plus, 1 of the goals was my first one-timer. The other was more vintage me, using my speed and strength to fight off a goon for a pass, then snapping it off the post. The penalties were ticky-tack and shall speak of them no more.
Anyone looking to catch us in action, here's our schedule: http://www.alexchou.com/hockey/winter/sharpshooters/schedule.php

My best friend from back home is coming out here for the weekend with his lady friend. They will heretofore be referred to as Pat & Di. They fly in tomorrow at 5:15am (jerks) at which point we'll return home for nap time, then proceed onto the idiocy.
It's doubly sweet, as the Bears have their play-off on Sunday, which means I'll have another Bears fanatic out here to watch it will. What's the word I'm looking for....oh yeah, GIDDY UP!

Work is still on-going on the new enclosure for my gecko Victoria (Police Girl). Slow, but steady. All I have left is putting on the front door, installing the slate tiles, and installing the electricals. So really 1 day if I can find a whole day to work on it. I hope to get most done tonight before Pat & Di get here tomorrow morn.

Okay, enough of this. YAHTZEE!!

Rose Bowl!!

Game Opinion
Okay, for those that stayed up til 1am EST to watch that game, you witnessed a great offensive game. Both teams were evenly matches and really fought it out well. Well, almost. USC appeared to make no attempt in the 2nd half to contain Vince Young. I can understand if he's running all over like that in the 1st half. He's good, and you already have a game plan you're sticking to. But at halftime, you need to make that adjustment. Get a safety or fast linebacker and shadow him. Where ever he goes, they go. So many times on 3 and long, they'd let him run free for 15+ yards. They had absolutely no pass rush from the front-4, so that wasn't going to do anything. Blitzing was working well, but then they stopped doing that.
And finally people will shut up with all the 'USC is the greatest college team of all time' bullshit. They aren't. They are one of the better teams of all times, but their mediocre defense just does not permit them into that upper echelon. And too many marginal teams were able to take them to the wire the last 2 years. They are great, but not compared to the greats of all time.

Anyways...it was a fitting game to end my annual season of sloth. No more living on peanuts, salsa dip, beer, and other assorted garbage. Back to real food and exercise. I was in rough shape at hockey tuesday night, so this is a good time for it all to end.
Da Bears are preparing for their run to the SuperBowl. I keep telling my Patriot-fan-friends out here that if they're lucky, it'll be a repeat of January 1986. But in reality I'm not sure. I have my doubts as to whether or not Da Bears can put up 46 point in 1 game. And if the Pats could get 10 on us. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
PEACE!!

Happy New Year!

Okay, this year I'll get serious about this. I mean it. I'd make it a resolution, but I never do any of those, so that wouldn't help much.
Christmas was a success. My GF came to Chicago with me, marking the first time a non-family member was there for Christmas. Hmmm...maybe that means something should be happening soon...
Da Bears wrapped up the NFC North, even though the reserves lost the game against Minn. First round bye and #2 seed, baby!
New Years Eve was a nice, uneventful time. Had a nice dinner with the GF, then just chilled out and waited for the countdown. Champagne, bad movies, good times.
Bowl season is almost over, and I managed to keep my 'holiday weight' to only 4 or 5 pounds. Not too bad, considering what my diet consists over during the x-mas/NYE break. I need Penn St or Texas to win to get me back to .500 on my picks. I made some odd choices and paid for it. Good thing there is only pride on the line.
Okay, I need to bone up on my engineering skill/knowledge, as I may be pursuing a design job in the very near future. I'd struggle to get through an interview right now.
PEACE!

Sorry for the delay

Long delay, my bad. But more is coming. Yes, I realize no one was reading to begin with. Making this message completely unnecessary. But it makes me happy, so shut the hell up.