Brewer Game

Last night I went to the Brewer game. It was something that I had been planning with my friends, K.O. and Trooper for a while. They are from Minnesota and are friends that I met through Krum. K.O. could best be described as a super cool chick. Although I am sure that reference is out of date. And Trooper is one of the nicest guys I have been around and really laid back. Not to mention one of the best soccer players with whom I have played.

K.O. and Trooper met me at my house and I gave them a quick tour of my house before we left. Here is the difference between guys and girls. I am sure many of my blog readers have had a tour of my house. One of the many highlights of the tour is the upstairs bathroom. For such a small bathroom, I have managed to cramp more needless amenities into it than any other person could imagine or would do. Most people, especially men are automatically drawn to the TV in the shower, but not K.O. She was impressed by the shampoo and conditioner dispenser which can be purchased at any local area Target store.

We headed down to the stadium and tailgated for a while. I brought a package of my dad's pizza brats, which I actually believe my brother, Jon, made. They are the best brats in the world. Nate had to work up until first pitch and then met us in the parking lot. There are few other people I would rather be around than Nate after he gets a couple drinks in him, and gets into story mode. Admittedly there was a time when I would have never made that statement. That was back in the day when Nate would get into story mode 2 or 3 times a weekend and he just kept repeating the same stories over and over again. But now Nate is married and a father, and he has matured and accepted the responsibilities that go along with both. So it is now a rarity to see Nate is story mode, it might happen once every month or two. And it is great to see. Plus, I don't know what it is, but the last couple of times he has been pulling out some yarns that even I have never heard before.

The Brewer game itself was a lot of fun. We got into the stadium in the top of the 4th inning. As always Nate hooked us up with great seats. Thanks again buddy, I owe you. We were in our seats until the 8th inning and then we walked around the stadium because neither K.O. nor Trooper had been to the stadium.

However, the highlight of the game was after Casey McGehee committed an error the directly led to 2 runs for the opposing team. He got unmercifully booed by the crowd. Although I am sure if asked, he would have said he deserved it. He then went on to hit a grand slam in the bottom half of the inning. I was happy to see that like myself, no one else in the crowd was going to sit down or stop cheering until he came out for a curtain call.

As I said in the eighth inning we went for a walk around the stadium. Nate took us up to his office and hooked K.O. and Trooper up with some bobble heads. Then we hit the Metavante Club until the end of the game and then they kicked us out of there when they wanted to close up. That lead us down to Friday's, we stayed there until we again got kicked out because they wanted to close up. I am pretty sure we were the last spectators to leave the stadium. There were only 3 other cars in the parking lot when we got to my truck. We headed back to my house and since Nate was out for the night he thought he was stay out a little longer. Back at my house we played some cribbage and listened to Nate tell stories. Nate had hooked his IPhone up to my stereo and we were listening to music off of it. I have to give Nate credit because he has the greatest ringtone for his wife, Michel. As we were hanging out in the kitchen Michel called Nate, and because the music was coming off of his IPhone, it stopped when she called and his phone rang. And it is perfect because his ringtone for her, it is that warning siren you heard in spy movies when the bad guys hidden lair is about to explode or when NORAD goes into def-con 5. The next time you see him, make him play that ringtone for you. You feel like the world is coming to an end when you hear it, and because it is Michel calling that very well could happen....well at least Nate's world. Just kidding Michel. Don't worry Michel doesn't read my blog anyhow. Here are last nights photos.

Me and Trooper on my front porch. Yes, I brought the beer bong along, but it actually didn't get used. After all is was a school night.Me and K.O.The heart and soul of the Brew Crew.Braun in action at the plate. I was hoping to get a home run picture but wasn't taking pictures when Mighty Casey was at the plate.The sausage race, I picked the hot dog and sure enough after sitting in 3rd at the turn, he turned it on to win at the wire.Here is Nate in his cubicle. This is where all the magic happens.Trooper celebrating with C.C.K.O. and Trooper in the Metavente Club.Down in Friday's shortly before we got kicked out.

Weekend Recap

It was a pretty laid back weekend for me, and that was just fine. Friday night I fell asleep in the middle of the Brewer game on the couch. Saturday, I did some work around the house. I cleaned my gutters for the first time in a long long time. You can find some pretty interesting critters in the gutters. I stopped by the Shermans to pick up my firework shell launcher. I did some modifications to it. Last year I had the capability of launching 4 shells at once. This year, I will be able to launch 12. Saturday afternoon, I was by Jon and Julie. We got in some pool volleyball. Then headed out for some dinner. I finished off the evening with a stop in Dousman by the Thomes. It was Mark's birthday party so I made a brief appearance.

Here is a quick story about Mark Thome. In high school I played soccer with Mark, and he was always very aggressive. Maybe too aggressive. He always led the team in yellow and red cards, and from time to time he would get kicked out of games. Fast forwarding to college, in one of our houses we had a foosball table. And we played a lot. I started naming the players on our foosball table. Not all that surprisingly, eventually we broke one of the players on the foosball table. So there was one guy missing. I called that space where the player was suppose to be, Mark Thome, even though know on else in the house knew who Mark Thome was.

Sunday I didn't accomplish too much. My doctor, Doctor Havlik, has allowed me to do some biking riding. Although she has warned me about doing too much running. So I have been doing some biking as of late. Nothing crazy about 25 minutes a day. I don't know that my butt could take much more than that. "Over the year my butt has taken quite the pounding" (That is Me Myself and Irene for those who didn't get it). Anyhow back to my biking, Sunday morning I went for a ride. I normally just go down the Honey Creek Parkway and back. As I was heading back, I was climbing a very gradual hill, and this guy who appeared to be at least 10 years older than me, came cruising up along side me and then past me and made me look like I was searching for a parking spot. Pathetic.

Here are some pictures from the weekend. Pool volleyball. It was the Davies vs. the Jendes. I forgot who won. Here is Ethan with the serve. Oh and I proved that I can still jump over Ethan and into the pool. But this might be the last year. I will get video the next time I am pool side.Griffin with the serve.Towards the end of the evening with the Thomes, they broke out all of these weird hats. Here is Ehrgott sporting a fro.Oh and I have a new project for this summer. That is getting my nephew, Jared, in shape for football. His coach has sent out a sheet to follow all summer. Each day consists of 6 - 8 sprints and then a 1/2 mile jog. As I was running around on Saturday, I stopped by Jared to give him a little bit of a core workout and we did the sprints. I gave him a break on the 1/2 mile run since he went for a bike ride earlier that day. I am pretty sure that Jared has read my blog from time to time. So everyday I am going to ask him if he went for his run. Jared did you go for your run?

This is pretty cool. It is Mark's birthday present from his mom or his sister. It would be a huge hit tailgating at a Brewer Game.

The Bleeding Liberial General

A lot of you may have heard The General getting ripped by Mark Belling a month or two ago. I did find the article and the back ground on everyone's favorite counselor.

I am Back?

Wednesday I got a cortisone injection in my back, to hopefully help with my back problems. It has been two days and I really don't feel much different or better. But I haven't been feeling that bad as of late, so don't worry about me.
I have no real concrete plans for the weekend. I would like to get some work done around the house.
I know, it doesn't sound too exciting, we will see what I have to say for the weekend on Monday. Enjoy your weekend everyone.

The Big Bang Theory

A good portion of my family reads my blog, both immediate and extended. And usually the biggest day of the year for, at least my mom's side of the family, is the 4th of July. (Relax Mrs. Burac, I said usually.) The first reason why this day is so special is because it is my grandfather's birthday. In fact, the family celebration is still held on the land that was once part of his farm. The second of course is that that is the day that we Americans celebrate the birth of our fine nation. For the past, I don't know how many years, I have been the pyrotechnic expert of the family. That is fireworks, or as I like to call them, kid burners, after the Zachary incident of 2004. I think I can say that the shows have been continuing to become bigger and better, and yes if you can believe it, safer, every year. Last year's show, I was able to even impress myself. In the past, there have been relatives that have attended the celebration and left before the firework show because they had to work the next day, or they had some other excuse. But this year there are no excuses. The 4th falls on a Saturday, and because no one in the family is a priest, I sincerely doubt that anyone has to work the following day. Since last year's show I have been doing a fair amount of shooting my mouth off (not a big surprise) that this year's show would be better than last years. Well earlier this week I made a trip to the fireworks store, Kid Burners R 'US. And I must admit I went a little overboard. But there is no doubt in my mind that this year will easily top last year. I have even put together a 30 minute soundtrack that will get everyone in the patriotic mood. I hope everyone likes Elvis.


I am getting excited about it already. After the last boat ride of the day, my nephews greet me to ask me when the show will start. I announce 15 minutes and everyone scrabbles to move their vehicles. The sky quickly but imperceptibly changes from baby blue to deep black in mere minutes. Someone starts up the fire pit for both ambiance and to keep the mosquitoes away. Your skin seems to lightly sting all over from just maybe too much sun and not enough sun screen. The air is heavy with humidity but no one is too concerned as there are plenty of beverages to keep you cool. The cards get put away and everyone counts their quarters to see how much they lost to me in Sheepshead. The kids all start lining up their chairs along the driveway. Then an uncle or one of my brother's yells at me to hurry up and get the show on the road. With Elvis filling the air the first shell's fuse is lit. There is that unmistakable sizzle, as the flame chases down the tube, pauses and then with a dull thud sends the shell into the air to amuse both young and old alike. And the show begins.


I know my aunt and uncle read the blog from time to time. This is my official RSVP, I am bringing one guest, Borky. And my dish to pass will be fireworks (kid burners).

Movie Review

It has been a long time since I got in a movie review. I really haven't seen a movie, at least in a theater in what seems like forever. It can't be that I am too busy. I am going to blame it on a combination of being lazy and the fact that their aren't that many decent movies out that warrant the $8 - $10 admission price. But two weeks ago I was working in Appleton. We were working third shift and one afternoon I went to see Land Of The Lost. It is based on the Saturday Morning TV show that just creeped you out with those Sleestaks. Maybe it is because of the movie but a couple of days ago I was flipping through the channels and landed on Nickelodeon where they were showing an old Land of the Lost. The special effects were horrible. But back to the movie. I actually can't give you an honest movie review on this movie because as I mentioned it was during the day and I was working on a project. Over the course of the 1 hour and 41 minute movie, I received 4 work related calls that I had to take out in the hallway and I missed nearly a third of the movie. It seem like the only parts I saw were in the previews I saw on TV. But it is typical Will Ferrell. Was it entertaining? Sure. Was it funny? I guess. Was it laugh out loud funny? No. Danny McBride who plays Will Stanton just annoys me for some reason. He was in Pineapple Express and I didn't like that at all. Maybe that is why I don't like him. In reviewing my review of this movie, I have written a lot of words but really didn't say anything. I have even forgotten what my rating system was. But out of 1-10, it is a 4. Maybe a 5 if I had seen the movie completely through.

More News from the Weekend

Yes, my weekend was pretty full. I just want to give you the quick recap. Friday, as you may have read from an earlier posting I was all set to get into full red neck mode. And I had my mullet radar on for the Nascar Truck Series Race at the Milwaukee Mile. But Mother Nature had other plans and the race was rained out. My brothers with my nephews were out at my house. We grilled out and watched the Brewer game until we learned that the race was postponed. And that was the end of that night. Saturday was the big wedding for Tom Brady and Pocahontas. Sunday was Father's day. I didn't get the earliest start in the world. I got in a bike ride and got back in time for the start of the Brewer game. That pretty much left me on the couch for the rest of the day.

But Monday morning I got some pretty exciting news that I would like to share with all of you. My old roommate, Andy (or Truz as many know him by), his wife, Julie, gave birth to their second child, Maggie Madeline Josephs. She was born Thursday June 18th at 9:32 a.m. which probably means that Truz had to go back into work for the afternoon. Maggie weighed 6 pounds and 4 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long.

Apparently here is Truz right after he got out of the shower with Maggie.

Truz and Maggie back at the homestead.Brady with his baby sister.

Tom Brady and Pocahontas' Wedding

It was a fun wedding. I can't speak for anyone else, but I had a good time. Although I couldn't help thinking as the ceremony went on, that Kim and Jake are so much more mature than me, and yet they are 10 years younger. They are getting married and I am trying to organize a hot dog and beer drinking competition. Whatever all of that means. On to the pictures. Chucker and Joey.

My dad and Sherman.

My sister in law, Jody, my sister, Deb, and my sister in law, Julie.

Sherman and Kim. I kept telling people that Kim and Jake looked like Ken and Barbie. Just perfect.

My brother, Jon, my cousin, David, and my brother, Dan. If you get these three together they only talk about three things, fishing, hunting and cutting down trees. "How big was the fish Dan? Was it a Musky or a Walleye?"

Way back (I think I can say "way back", after all it was the 70s) when my aunt Marilyn and uncle Dave (Kim's parents) got married some one put a ball and chain on my uncle's ankle. Some years later, but also way back, when my brothers started getting married, the tradition was pass on. And now that the Sherman kids are getting married, they are getting the same treatment. The ball and chain usually comes into play during the garter toss.

This is a great picture, it was right after Jake got the ball and chain put on him. Kim is giving this look like, "If you go sniffing around under my dress, that is what is going to happen."

Kim and Justin. Kim had a huge smile on her face all night, well at least right up until the end when they were paying the bar bill.

Me and Kim.

Jake, Jon, Dan and Justin.

Me with Abby and Lindsey.

Nick and Josh getting pretty serious with the blow up guitars.

Nick, Jake, Deb, Tom, Marilyn, my mom, Kim and Sandy.

The wedding party at the end of the night.

Flower girl, Erin calling it a night.
Where does she learn this stuff from?

I have always felt that the best couples I have known are the ones that you can't really think of as being apart. When you are around Kim or Jake separately they still great people but when you are around them when they are together, it is like when the sun comes out from behind the clouds. They make each other better.

Happy Father's Day

Here is a quick history of this day.
"The first known celebration of Father's Day was on July 5, 1908 in Fairmont, West Virginia. Grace Golden Clayton is believed to have suggested it to her pastor after a deadly explosion in nearby Monongah in December, killing 361 men.

It was also during a sermon in 1909 that Sonora Smart Dodd became inspired by Mother's Day. After the death of her mother, Sonora and her siblings were raised by their father William Jackson Smart, a Civil War veteran. Sonora wanted to show how thankful she was to her father and, because William was born in June, she worked to have the first Father's Day celebrated on June 19, 1910.

In 1924, President Coolidge recommended that Father's Day become a national holiday. President Johnson designated the third Sunday of June to be Father's Day in 1966. It was not until 1972 that President Nixon instituted Father's Day as a national observance.

Roses are the official flower on Father's Day, red for fathers who were still living and white for those who have passed on."

Happy Father's Day to all of the father's I know out there.

Better Posts In The Future

Surely you must be kidding. Actually I am not kidding and stop calling me Shirley. Recently I haven't been much of a photog. And I think I know why. My camera stinks. I think it is somewhere in the range of 3 or 4 years old. I had the Olympus model that was shock proof and water proof. I never really tested out the shock proof part, but I put the camera to the test when it came to being around water. But it started acting up the last time I was down in Mexico. It didn't work for two days. One of my favorite bits was while in the pool, give a stranger the camera to take a picture and then when the stranger would give the camera back I would drop it into the pool as they handed it back to me. It always freaked them out a little bit. Recently I noticed that all of the pictures that I took with the camera had a blurry area in the middle of the pictures. I decided with, Tom Brady and Pocahontas' wedding this weekend, to get a new camera. I went with Olympus again because the battery and memory card would be the same. My old model was a 720 SW whatever that means, my new model is 1050 SW, again whatever that means. But I am guessing that the model number is higher so it is better. And this isn't much of a surprise but the new camera was half as expensive as the old one. How about this, here is a picture of the new camera taken with the old camera. And here is a picture of the old camera taken with the new camera.Can you tell any difference?

Plus I need to get moving on my Christmas card picture. We are nearing the half way point of the year and I do not have a picture yet. Sadly I place a lot of pressure on myself to get a good picture, and once I have the picture figured out, a huge weight is lifted off of my shoulders.

Nascar?

I have been to a lot of sporting events in my days on this earth. I have seen the Packers on Monday night in Dallas. I have seen the Packers at Lambeau, I even saw them at Camp Randall. I was at the snow globe game. In Nashville I saw the Tennessee Oilers. I have seen the Badgers in Camp Randall, and on the road in West Virginia and Cleveland. There have been many NBA Games. Many at the Bradley Center. While in Portland, I caught the Lakers and Trailblazers. I once went to a WNBA game just to say that I was at one, while in Cleveland. There have been a lot of baseball games. Most at Miller Park some back at County Stadium. There were games at Anaheim, Baltimore, Wrigley, Pittsburgh and San Francisco. And I saw the a playoff game between the Twins and Yankees. Sure even a hockey game or two, NHL and AHL. I have seen even seen horse racing at the Preakness. But tonight is a new one. I am headed to see the Nascar Truck Series at the Milwaukee Mile. So this is a first for me. Although I do have some background in this area. I have been to a couple monster truck shows. I always cheer for Grave Digger. In fact I was at the Monster Truck Show a couple years ago at State Fair where the guy died. Of course that happened before I got into the race way, big surprise here but I we got side tracked with drinks at my house before hand. I have seen races at the Lake Geneva Raceway. And I have been on a Nascar track down in Charlotte with Tree. So that is the start of my weekend. Saturday is Tom Brady and Pocahontas' wedding. Sunday is father's day, which I don't even know if anything is planned but some sheepshead would be nice.

Correct Answer to Latest Gyro Contest

Here is the answer to the Gyro problem. It is actually pretty easy.

The NY train speed it 36 mph.
The LA train speed is 53 mph
The distance is 2784.12 miles.

You need to solve this problem as a function of time.

x = the unknown amount of time in the unit of hours

(36mph) (X) + (53mph)(X) = 2784.12 miles

Which simplifies to: (89mph)X = 2784.12 miles

Divide both sides by 89 miles per hour

And you are left with X = (2784.12 miles) / ((89mph)

The units cancel out to leave only hours or 31.2822 hours

If you take x multiply by the speed of the NY train you get the mile marker from NY that the trains will meet: (31.2822 hours) x (36 mph) = 1126.16 miles
Or I would accept: (31.2822 hours) x (53 mph) 1657.96 miles from LA.

Looking at a map you find that the nearest major city is:
Kansas City, Missouri (1191.66 miles from New York and 1582.38 miles from LA)
NOT Kansas City, Kansas (1195.25 miles from New York and 1580.76 miles from LA)

Let’s take a look at what time it would be. Obviously the time would be 31.2822 hours after the trains left. That breaks down to 31 hours 16 minutes 56 seconds.
Adding that to the departure at 2:00 p.m. would be 9:16:56 EST but since this happens in the Central Time Zone another hour needs to be subtracted off that time, so the final answer is 8:16:56 the next day.

Any questions?

Rodent Problems

I was cutting my grass the other day and I have come across two problems in the yard. One are gophers. I have three or four pretty big gopher holes in my yard. I have tried drowning them out. Here is a great mental picture for you. Me standing over the gopher hole with the garden hose in one hand shooting water down the hole and a sledge hammer in the other hand waiting for the gopher to come out. But no gophers came out.

I also have a problem with ants. There are two big ant hills in my yard. Any ideas on how to get rid of these pests?

Tom Brady's Bachelor Party

Saturday was my cousin, Kim's (Pocahontas') fiance, Jake's (Tom Brady's) bachelor party. I call him Tom Brady because I think he looks like Tom Brady. Maybe not. Anyhow here are the pictures from the day. We had a bus and went to the Brewer Game. This is a group shot shortly after we arrived in the parking lot. Let me tell you, the weather man called this day wrong. It was hot and that sun was beating down. I managed to steal some shade from the White Sox fans parked next to us. I even gave this guy a hug.When I heard that they purchased a half barrel for the party, I got a little excited. For some reason whenever I am around a half barrel I feel the urge to do a keg stand. However I do a bit of a variation to the keg stand as I do push ups while doing the keg stand. I am not sure that I should be proud of this or not, but I did the most push ups and longest keg stand of the group. I believe it was 15 push ups. 36 years old and I can still binge drink with the best of them. Sad but true.Here is a young lady who has a bright future. We had just finished off the half barrel and I just removed the tapper from the keg when this girl came up and asked me if she could do a keg stand. I said "Sure." I explained to her what she needed to do. They raised her legs and I put the tapper in her mouth and she started doing push-ups. Of course with the tapper not connected to the barrel no beer came out. When she finished she said "That was really easy." I told her "You did a great job."I finally got into the game and by this time of the day, the sun was just pounding down on everyone. I walked to our seats in the bleachers stood there for a second and decided that the sun was not the place for me to be and I spent the entire game in the concourse. I would have felt bad about that decision but the Brewers got smoked 7-0. Or at least I think that was what the score was. Here are Jeff, Jon, Justin, Tim and my uncle Dave in the concourse.Here is our group in our seats, this was when I first walked into the stadium. Already they are in trouble with the fuzz. Most of our group got kicked out the game before it was over. For the record, I did nothing wrong other than sneak a flask into the game. That was something of a funny story. As I walked into the stadium by the guys who check for carry-ins, I had a flask in the small of my back. I walked up to the guy with my hands up in the air, turned around once, and gave the guy a hug. He could tell I had been drinking and didn't even pat me down, and let me in.This is my new friend, Greg. I met him in the concourse. He mistakenly almost walked into the woman's bathroom. I think Greg is one of the biggest individuals I have ever met. There was one point while I was talking to him that I girl came up and gave him a hug, he lost his balance and fell on top of her. She was a real trooper. Here is Greg with my brothers, Jon and Dan.I have no problem taking these kind of pictures, because I know what it feels like to be on the losing end of these battles. These three cops took this White Sox fan down hard. I would have felt sorry for they guy, but again I know what that feels like plus he was a Sox fan. There was another cop there who told me to stop taking pictures. Sure I will get on that right away.Here is a group photo taken after the game. The remainder of the evening really degenerated from here, at least for me. For some reason, I was not dealing too well with being on the bus. So I decided to jump off the bus and walk home. This is far from the first time I have pulled a stunt like this, ask any of my friends. But walking home was not really the best idea I have ever come up with. As I was walking down 76th street I came across a park. My leg hurt and I was pretty tired, so I laid down and took a nap. When I finally got home, I went right to bed. In hindsight it was a good idea to get off the bus, because it really tired me out, I didn't spend any more money, and I woke up feeling fine. But I do have a reason that justifies my behavior, it doesn't excuse my behavior because I should know better, but it does help explain it. As any blog reader knows, I have had some health issues. Currently I am on a couple different kinds of drugs. Their labels read as follows: "May cause drowsiness. Alcohol intensifies effect." and "May make you drowsy/dizzy, especially with alcohol. Limit alcohol use whie taking this drug." Again these are not excuses, just part of an explanation.