THE LIFE OF RICKIE

Office Humor

2012-01-26T18:20:00.004-06:00

I am sure it isn't possible, but maybe as a blogger over the last 7 years and 1,585 posts I have covered every topic? I really have nothing to talk about. I am hoping to go roller skating this weekend. I made a post, plus I sent out invite via text to a bunch of people, and so far I only have 3 maybes. Any one interested yet?

Today I had a team workshop to attend all day. The workshop was composed of about 20 people all from my office and the topic was communication. About half of us were selected to give presentations on the topic. I actually had another presentation / quiz that I created after the last workshop. It was a construction equipment quiz. Which has nothing to do with communication, so I had to put together a separate presentation about communication. So while some people didn't have to give a presentation, I gave two. For the quiz, I had 40 pictures of construction equipment and their were multiple choice answers as to the proper name of each piece of equipment. And to raise the stakes, I made trophies. Check them out.

Think I have too much time on my hands? I made more than 1 in case there was a tie for the high score. One guy had the second highest score and wanted to know if he got a trophy. My answer, "No, you can't have a trophy. 2nd place is 1st loser." He was actually put out a little bit.

My other presentation was very basic discussing communication and meetings. As it was a Powerpoint presentation, and I have a decent amount of experience with Powerpoint, I "jazzed" it up with a bunch of animation in the presentation. When I got to the final slide which was just said "Open Discussion", the screen slowly faded to black and then as I fielded any questions, I had credits as if it was a movie, rolling on the black screen that pretty much read as follows:

Produced by:

Rickie Davies

Directed by:

Rickie Davies

Executive Producer:

Rickie Davies

Casting:

Rickie Davies

Key Grip:

Rickie Davies

Assistant to Mr. Davies: (my personal favorite)

Rickie Davies

Gaffer:

Rickie Davies

Best Boy:

Rickie Davies

I hate to pat myself on the back, but it was pretty funny. So for any of you that give Powerpoint presentations, I highly recommend using this at the end of your presentation. Just make sure it is the right audience. I also want to hear about it.

I also go to use one of my favorite lines that I use for any public speaking engagement. If I say a joke that no one gets, I wait for a bit to let the silence sink in and then just say "Crickets".

Another way to entertain an audience while giving a presentation is to have a slide half way through that says "How am I doing on time?". I have a presentation that I just put together for my supervisor to give at a conference which includes the "How am I doing on time?" slide, and I am going to try to convince her to keep it in the presentation. I doubt she will go for it.

If you need any other ideas on how to put your job in jeopardy through presentations, just let me know.

Skating

2012-01-23T12:54:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, I went skating with Nate, Michel and Elery. Here are some photos.This leads me to an open invitation. Saturday January 28th, it is adult skate night (at least that is what the sign said the other day) at Skateland in Waukesha, 9:00 pm to 11:30 pm. I am planning on going if I can convince anyone to go with me. I can't wait for the races. Let me know if you are interested.

Entertainment Center

2012-01-22T12:47:00.002-06:00

It took me a long time. Almost as long as it took for me to make another post. But the "Entertainment Center" is now complete. Here is the before.The middle.And the completed project. Yes it took me 3 weeks after I got the tv on the wall, to repaint the wall, which I did yesterday. And then today, I put the trim around the cubbie hole.

That is about it. Oh how about a football prediction. I nailed it last week with the Packers. I am going with a rematch of the 2008 Super Bowl. Giants vs Patriots. The Giants vs. 49ers will be close, maybe even decided by a late field goal. The Patriots vs. Ravens will also be close, but Flacco throws a couple picks. One will be a pick six.

Professional Dilema

2012-01-16T20:29:00.002-06:00

Here is an unusual work situation. I have been working at the current office I am in for a little over a year. When I started at this office, I was given a great cubicle. It was two aisles off the main aisle and I was the last cubicle on the end. About 8 months ago an individual was hired who would eventually take over all of my work, as my company's contract is up come this July. This new hire, I will call him George, was given my cubicle and I was forced to be moved to a cubicle right by the door where everyone walks behind me. Not only that, but it is a cubicle that I share with a co-worker, and it really isn't even a cubicle, since it only has one wall. Anyhow, George died this past weekend. How long do I have to wait before I ask for my old cubicle back?

The Packer Game

2012-01-16T17:46:00.003-06:00

I woke up this morning telling myself that I won't get that emotionally invested in a football team again. I watched nearly every play of the 4 games this past weekend. But it was the Packer game which made me feel as if I was living and dying with each play. Here are my thoughts on the game.

Coaching:

I was OK with the early onside kick call if there had been proof that the up men on the Giants return team were retreating with the kickoff. But as the replay showed they weren't. Maybe they did on the kickoffs before that one, but I doubt it. In that case, then it was a really stupid call.

A defensive time out with 15 seconds to go and the opponent near mid field. Even if the Packers had stopped them on 3rd down and forced a punt, they might have got the ball back somewhere around their 20 with 5 or 6 seconds left in the half. What were the Packers going to do, throw a hail mary at the end of the half? That will never work....wait...what did I just say?

Charlie Peprah

Really, you don't know how to make a tackle. Are you afraid of getting hurt? Why are you delivering a blow with your forearms rather than firmly planting your shoulder right Hakeem Nicks stomach? I know, everyone wants to deliver that big blow. How about being a team player and making a textbook tackle and wrapping your arms around the opponent rather than trying to be the lead highlight on Sportscenter?

Jermichael Finley

Catch the damn ball. I know you are worried about doing your little shark fin on top of your helmet dance after you catch any ball, but catch the ball first. As far as I am concerned he can be cut.

The pass that Rodgers threw to the outside when Jennings turned to the inside, that was pretty big. And that stupid hail mary at the end of the half. The game was over right there.

I said Saturday night, it will come down to turnovers and penalties. How about this stat that they showed during the game? 6 fumbles lost all regular season. 3 lost in the game on Sunday. You can call that 1st onside kick a turnover too. And those dropped passes. 8 of them. You get paid to catch the ball. It seemed like Driver was the only guy on the field who wanted to catch the ball. I don't think the Giants won the game, the Packers lost it. I feel sick. I am going to go and lay down.

Tebow

2012-01-14T08:50:00.002-06:00

I am way over the Tebow thing. In fact, I am actually anti Tebow. I heard today that if the Broncos win, that ESPN is going to launch a new channel, ESPNTEBOW. I did a little fact finding and here are the numbers and they are indisputable. Tebow is 1 o f 33 quarterbacks to have attempted more than 200 passes this year.

Quarterback Rating

His QB Rating is 72.9 (158.3 is the highest you can get), tops in the league is 122.5. Tebow is 27th out of 33.

Completion Percentage

His Completion Percentage 46.5%, less than half of his passes. Tops in the league 71.2. Tebow is dead last, 33rd out of 33.

And have you watched him throw? He can't even throw a tight spiral. Tebow is a flash in the pan. My prediction for him in his game against the Patriots. Less than 150 yards passing. Less than 50 yards rushing. Zero touchdowns, 2 interceptions. Patriots 35 - 3.

Looking ahead to the Packers tomorrow. They win a close game 28-24.

Dead Solider

2012-01-11T00:01:00.004-06:00

What is a dead soldier? Well that is a term used for drinks, normally cans of beer or soda, that are left over after a party that have only one sip taken out of them, and then left to die and eventually poured down the drain the next morning. I throw my share of parties and the most infuriating thing to find while cleaning up is a bunch of dead soldiers laying around the house. It is basically throwing my money right down the drain. This past weekend, I had my fantasy football party. There were only 8 of us present to watch the games and play cards. With only a handful of people it was rather easy to catch the guilty party. At one point The General had a cocktail, a full beer that was just opened and another beer that wasn't opened. Being a military man you would think that The General would be the last one to be guilty of leaving dead soldiers around. Now The General might say that it is because that he parties so hard that he needs to have 3 drinks in front of him. But trust me, he doesn't party that hard. I would like to enter into evidence Exhibit A.

Sound asleep at a concert. No, not passed out, sleeping. There is a difference. So from this point on, The General will not be allowed another drink at my house, until he has shown me that he has finished the last one.

Drinking

2012-01-10T00:01:00.002-06:00

Let me begin by saying that I have lived my life up to this point pretty much on my own terms. I do not like people telling me what to do. I have become quite comfortable with the fact that I answer to no one (maybe my parents, but they are both smart enough to know better). I like to say, "If I wanted to be told what to do, I would get married." I will admit it, I have my share of flaws. Probably way more than the average person. Drinking alcohol is one of them. I don't believe that I am an alcoholic (of course no alcoholics do), but I am without a doubt a binge drinker. For the last 3 years I have decided to take a break from drinking with the start of December. Lately I have been taking some heat from a number of people about my drinking or lack there of. I started this annual tradition just to prove or convince myself that I don't have a drinking problem. But after the grief that I have received recently, now I am doing it out of spite. I may never drink again.

House Sheepshead Rules

2012-01-08T10:35:00.004-06:00

Until updated at a future time, here are the Sheepshead rules at my house.

Call an Ace

$1 a point

Cracks

Recracks

Double cracks

Round of doublers after a 60-60

Schwanzers

Doubler after a Schwanzer

Last Round of the night (for the table, not when someone is leaving the table) are Quads

Now if I am not at the table, play for however you want to play. If a game is going on, and I am asked to sit down after the game has started (i.e. The Freeman Party), when I sit down my rules.

If you have a problem with this, go play at someone else's house. Questions?

On a separate note, to all the kid bartenders out there, you split half your tips with the house.

The Last Christmas Pictures

2012-01-01T07:46:00.000-06:00

My parents and all of their grandkids.All 21 of us.

More Christmas Pictures

2011-12-30T19:34:00.003-06:00

I know that Tree hates pictures of kids, but here are a couple more pictures from Christmas.

All 10 nieces and nephews. I will have to dig out the pictures from past years. Every year we have all of the kids on this couch.
Jeff, Sue, Zach, Sara and Joey.Now these next two pictures you might not guess by looking at them, but based on their reaction to being asked to stand and smile next to their families, Jon and Dan find this activity unbearable. I don't know why it is such a surprise to them either. I take these pictures every year. And I have never heard a good reason as to why they don't want their pictures taken with their families. Maybe they are embarrassed, maybe they are lazy. One day they will thank me. But I doubt it will be anytime soon.

Jon, Julie, Bonesaw and "E". Dan, Jody, Princess and Hollywood, and I guess Erin, Lindsey and Tim in the background. It wasn't worth the effort to get Dan to stand there long enough to get the people out of the background, so I just took the picture with them in the background. Maybe if I had set my camera up on a tripod I could have photoshopped them out of the picture.Tim, Deb, Boomer, Crusher and Fuss.And my parents. My mom also is a bit reluctant to getting her picture taken as well.

Christmas

2011-12-29T19:28:00.004-06:00

Here are some Christmas Day photos of my nieces and nephews.

Erin, a.k.a. Fuss, Pussycat.
Nick, a.k.a. Pickle, Bonesaw.
Jared, a.k.a. Crusher
Lindsey, a.k.a. Boomer.
Ethan, a.k.a. Auggie, "E".
Zach, a.k.a. Zack.
Josh, a.k.a. Hollywood.
Abbigail, a.k.a. Princess.
Sara, a.k.a. Sarah (or is it the other way around, I forget)
Joey.

Christmas Card

2011-12-20T08:39:00.003-06:00

By now, everyone who was on my list should have received their Christmas Card.If you haven't, let me know and I can get one out in the mail to you. But I would like to get a little reader reaction. What did you think of this year's card? Hopefully I get the poll right this time. (The Halloween contest has been officially cancelled because I screwed up the posting. Remind me and next year I will put both 2011 and 2012 entries up for the competition.)

What is your favorite Christmas song?

2011-12-19T08:07:00.000-06:00

How about some crowd participation this Monday morning? Come on, who is with me? Dorothy Boyd? I can never really get in the Christmas spirit if there isn't snow on the ground. Last I checked, there wasn't any white stuff on the ground. But to help you and everyone else get into the spirit, I would like to know what your favorite Christmas song is. Mine is the 12 days of Christmas by Jon Denver and the Muppets.

Here is some more Office Humor

2011-12-16T08:05:00.000-06:00

I walked into the office one day and there was a bit of a hub bub going on around my Project Manager’s (and direct boss, Pete) cubicle. Pete was gone on this day. Lately the office had been suffering a bit of an invasion of fruit flies (dysofoila melonagaster). And my co-workers had found the source. It was Pete’s trash can where he had been throwing orange peels, apple cores and banana peels and not emptying out on a regular basis. We had a team meeting that day, and when Pete is not in the office, he assigns me the task of running the meeting. First order of business, Pete’s trash can. I made a strong argument that Pete was to reprimanded. He would have to wash out his trash can and would loss his in cubicle privileges for the remainder of the year. Everyone was in favor of this punishment. Then after the meeting someone mentioned that we should put up some signs and caution tape. I have to be honest, it only takes a slight push in the right direction to get me going. After putting up the warning and for the rest of the day, whenever someone walked by Pete’s cubicle, they asked me what it was all about and there was the immediate accusation that I was the culprit to put up the warnings. This same thing happened at my parent’s house during deer season. My brother, Dan, shot a prize buck this year, and brought over a picture of him posing with his trophy. I eventually blacked out one of Dan’s teeth on the picture. Everyone who entered the garage and saw the picture immediately assumed that I was the person to deface the picture. Am I that predictable?

Office / Nerd Humor…..Maybe

2011-12-15T08:04:00.003-06:00

Every month at work I have to put together a presentation which updates management on the budgets and schedules of major highway construction projects in the south east region of Wisconsin. And more often than not, I take a part in giving the presentation. There are also handouts that go along with the presentation. I had help from a co-worker as I was preparing the handouts, and she made the point of mentioning that certain cells in the spreadsheet handout were to be a specific color. As you may or may not know every color has a color code. This color code has three components, Red, Green and Blue. Each component can be set to a number between 0 – 255. According to my co-worker, the exact color code for these spreadsheet cells is 255, 192, 0. Fast forwarding to the presentation, I was going through the handout and here what I said, “And as you can see, the projects that are on our Issues and Risks Log are highlighted in orange, or for those of you partial to color codes, 255, 192, 0.” As I am sure you can imagine, nothing but crickets. Well I thought it was funny.

Need a Little Help Here

2011-12-10T16:14:00.003-06:00

This blog entry is for any of the handymen out there. I bought my TV and I will be hanging it on the wall. Having the TV up off the floor means I have to do something with all of the electrical components. So what can I do. Here is the wall right now.
And because behind this wall is a closet, I have decided to make a little cubby hole to hold the cable box, stereo receiver, Blue Ray, etc. You can see here that I have made some progress.This is a closer look at the hole. It is really the only place that I can put it. But as you can see I have some electrical conduit running right through the space where I intend to put this cubby hole.This is the back side view looking into the closet. Obviously that middle 2 x 4 will be coming out. But the conduit will still be in the way.My only thought on rectifying this situation was to cut some slits down the 2 x4 and then slide the conduit down as well. This is shown here in red.
This all seems well and good. I'm still not sure if that will give me enough slack in the conduit. Oh and better news, this is a load barring wall.

Any suggestions would be helpful.

Shower TV Upgrade

2011-12-09T16:56:00.000-06:00

I was able to acquire a TV last month. I used it to replace the TV I had in my shower. Here is the old one.And here is the new one.

More Bad Juggling

2011-12-09T00:01:00.000-06:00

I guess it is out of boredom, but as any loyal blog reader knows, juggling is my hobby. And everyone wants more. If I juggle clubs, you want fire. I give you fire, you want knives. If I juggle 3 balls, you want 4. Well just recently I have made a break through, and to some degree, I can now juggle 4 balls. Let me beat all of you to the punch, no I did not invite 2 guys I met on Facebook over. I am far from mastering it, but I am on my way. Check it out.

Also check out the double take I make at Erin Andrews on tv. Also on an unrelated topic, I would like to wish a new loyal blog reader a happy birthday. Al shown here drinking Captain Morgan's out of the bottle, just days ago became a year older, happy birthday.

Calling All Hunters

2011-12-08T16:48:00.004-06:00

Well it happened again. More dog crap in my yard. I found this today after work.I know that my brothers have offer the use of their trail cameras to catch the culprit on camera. I am officially taking them up on their offers. Let me know when you want to come out and help me set it up. I will even make it worth your while. Dinner on me. I am sure you know more about these trail camera than I do. It probably goes without saying that it will have to be positioned in a location where the culprit can not get at it after they have been caught. However, I am very excited about the possibility of catching this person and even more excited about exacting revenge.

115 Inches of Pure Football Enjoyment

2011-12-05T00:01:00.000-06:00

Saturday morning, I bought a new TV. My old TV is 12 years old and is starting to go. The old one is rear projection and recently whenever you turned it on, the lens were out of line and the easiest way to realign them was to use some physical persuasion. I had had enough so I went and bought a new one. Once I set up the new TV, I decided before putting the old one out to pasture, that I give it one more day of football. So here was my Saturday watching college football all day with 55 inches on the left and 60 on the right.

End of Deer Season and Soccer Picture

2011-12-02T00:01:00.001-06:00

Sunday afternoon, I told my buddy, Jay, that I would help them with the deer they shot. I stopped out at my parent's house to grab a couple of knives and a hook. While I was there, I thought I would get you one more dumpster picture.Or how about just a bunch of deer heads laying around.When I got to Jay's parent's place this is what I saw when I walked in. You got it, they were carving up two deer on the dinner room table. My mom would never let me in the house again if I did something like this. But Jay's mom was right there, in fact helping out by wrapping everything.Once we finished up with the deer I stuck around to play some cards. And I got this picture of Jay's son, Henry, riding the dog.

Afterwards, I stopped to watch my sister-in-law, Julie, play soccer. Then they asked me to take a team photo. Here they are fresh off of a 10-0 victory.

Christmas Cards

2011-12-01T20:44:00.002-06:00

I will be sending out an email, but in case you are a loyal blog reader and I don't have your email or mailing address. Send me an email with your mailing address to mitch_kumstean@yahoo.com and I will make sure I get a card out to you. While this isn't the best card, it will be better than last year's.

New Years Resolutions

2011-12-01T00:01:00.002-06:00

This is becoming quite the tradition for me. Coming up with a New Resolution every year is almost as stressful as coming up with a Christmas Card picture. Every year I post my New Year’s Resolution, and with that I once again reinforce my past years’ resolutions. The list of resolutions is getting very long and distinguished (Topgun anyone?). But since some of my past resolutions have been food and alcohol related, I start a month early. This will keep me from eating poorly and drinking too much the entire month of December. So starting today, December 1st, I am starting my New Year’s Resolutions. But let’s review what resolutions I have had in the past and what I will be missing out on:
No Buffalo Wings (We just had some this past week and they were really good but now they are out of my diet)
No Fast Food (This is one that I have been really good about keeping. Since 2006 I have not had anything to eat from McDonalds, Taco Bell and only once while I was in Colorado, I had a breakfast sandwich from Burger King. Although this year, I am adding Culvers to the Fast Food category, but Gillies is not.)
No Candy (But I really love eating runts while at the movies.)
No Chips (Even Sun Chips? Yes, even Sun Chips.)
No Soda (So the large rootbeer at Oakland Gyros is out, but they still have milk shakes.)
No Cheese (That means no pizza, one of the main staples in my diet. How insane is this?)
No French Fries (What about American Fries?)
No Alcohol (This is the third year of the no alcohol resolution, and how about this, I can remember the exact events in which I broke this one. 2010 was the Badger Hockey game at Camp Randall (2/6/10). 2011 was Rebecca's birthday party (3/12/11)
No Swearing (Damn it. Alright starting now.)

Introducing myself to people I don't know. ("Eric Stratan, Rush Chairman, damn glad to meet you." Did I just swear again?")
No Eating after 7:00 p.m. (But when can I start eating?)
Juggle 15 minutes a day. (My goal is to have a much better performance that last year's pitiful display at the Freeman Party. Top trick to have down by the party, juggling 4 clubs. On and I will by purchasing knives this year. Ethan I am still working on chainsaws, maybe next year.)

Last year's resolution was not talking on the phone while driving. I was actually pretty good about that one. Normally I would just let the call go to voicemail, or if it seemed important, I pulled over to the side of the road. I did break this resolution a couple times, but it was definitely less than 10 times.

This is a very long list, 13 items I am watching myself on and hopefully making me a better person. With so many resolutions I decided this year to make an easy one for this year. This year my New Year's Resolution will be to rinse my mouth with mouthwash everytime I leave my house to go somewhere. Pretty easy and yet good for me. Plus when I will be introducing myself, it will only make a better impression that my breath smells fresh and minty. I encourage all of my blog readers to call me out on any and all of these resolutions. And if any of you have any resolutions, past or present, leave them as a comment, I would be interested to read them and / or possibly steal them from you.

Roller Skating

2011-11-30T00:01:00.000-06:00

Saturday night we had a group that went rollerskating in Delavan. It is a really old skating rink. But it reminded me of the gymnasium that the movie "Carrie" was filmed in. What do you think?Here is Vanessa in action. They didn't have any races, but when it was an "All Skate Backwards Only" I dominated.Trinity, Angela and Al.Harper was certainly a handful.I told these two kids, that if they put their noses in my rollerblades for a minute that I would give them a dollar. I can't believe how easy it was to get them to do it. I thought it would be at least $5 a piece. And those things did not smell good.After skating we went to the bar across the street. We ended up playing bar dice. 7-14-21. I haven't played that in a long time. We eventually ordered what the bar was calling a "Mystery Shot". 4 of us had to do the shot, I would classify the taste as black licorice covered with red peppers. It was awful as you can tell from Al's expression.But I was delighted to find that this bar had Karyoke that same night. However, I can not just stand at the mic stand, I have to get out and mingle with my people when I perform.

Thanksgiving

2011-11-29T00:01:00.000-06:00

This year was very special Thanksgiving for me. It wasn't because the Packers won. Or that we played the Turkey Bowl. It was special because I got to carve up the turkey. 38 years and I have never been asked to do the craving. And let's be honest here, I have more than enough experience wielding a knife. Although up until this Thanksgiving turkey, I had absolutely no experience cutting a bird.

Thanks for taking the picture Erin.

Turkey Bowl

2011-11-28T00:01:00.000-06:00

Last year I tried to get a Thanksgiving Day Football Game together, but the weather was just too cold. This year however, the weather sort of cooperated and we had a game. Here are a couple of photos. Chucker getting ready to heave it. He proved after the game that he can throw a ball 58 yards.
Ethan and Carson going after the ball.Zach going out for a pass.We had four teams in a and one tournament just like college football should do. Team Kleppe (1st Place), Team Haus (2nd Place), Team Chucker (3rd Place) and Team Rickie. As I mentioned, Team Kleppe was the winner. Here they are. I guess that is what happens when you invite a former D1 quarterback to play football with you. Although I did think I was going to see Kleppe back of his claim of throwing a ball 60 yards, but that didn't happen. I want to thank everyone who came out to play. I hope everyone had a good time. The best idea of the day came from Will Perdue, who at the conclusion of the game said, "Hey, let's go to the bar for just one drink." An MVP was not awarded because as Kleppe stated, "It was a team effort". However, I would like to hand out the Sterling Sharpe award to Josh and Jacob, who both claimed after every play, "Uncle Rick, I was open!!!"

Bones, Them Bones, Them Deer Bones

2011-11-26T09:20:00.002-06:00

Deer season is complete without at least one picture of the dumpster full of deer bones. Here it is.

Head Boner

2011-11-22T08:56:00.002-06:00

Well it is deer season. And what do I do during deer season...cut deer. I am the self appointed and undisputed "Head Boner". I thought I would post a couple of pictures to help demonstrate just how much fun it is. At least that is what most of my nephews tend to say. Here is Chucker skinning out a deer.I will say this about Chucker, he can skin a deer better and faster than anyone I know. Let me amend that statement, he can skin a deer better and faster than anyone as long as he is sober and isn't talking to anyone. My other brother, Dan, was pretty good, but he would have to take second place to Chucker. And then there is a pretty big gap between those two and the next three which would be my dad, Haus and myself. But as I always say, it would be amazing to see how fast Jeff really could be if he didn't have any distractions while he was working.And here is the guy who started it all. I was trying to get all of the facts that other night but I might have some dates wrong. He first started doing this around 1968, when the rest of his hunting party all chipped in for a grinder and a saw as long as my dad would cut their deer for free. The operation became full blown around 1976. I have never known a day, at least that I can remember, where my parents parked cars in the garage. So here is my dad, 74 years old (I think) taking part in year 43 of cutting deer. And just like my nephews, he thinks this is fun. Look at that smile on his face.I have been helping out since I was 9 years old. Making this my 28th year, I did boycott one year when I was in college. And with all that experience, I still just the 3rd best, behind Haus and then my dad. My dad is still better than me, he just can work as long.

Last night we discussed the record, it happened probably 9 or 10 years ago. (I wouldn't doubt that my mom has it written down on a yellow pad somewhere.)In one day we cut 51 deer. I think it was my idea to cut the 51st deer, because Chucker had skinned 50 and I wanted to do one more than him.

Badger vs Gophers

2011-11-17T14:38:00.000-06:00

The reason for my trip to Minnesota was to see the Badger / Gopher game. Here we are in the bar parking lot. TJ is very green and doesn't believe in cups. I have to admire that.Liz, Ryan, TJ, Liquid, Borky and LynnBorky and I did walk over to the stadium to try and scalp tickets after the game started. I didn't see one person selling tickets. I did make the most of my trip over there by engaging in conversation with some cops. When ever I see cops I usually lip off to them. My first question is: "Hey, how many of your buddies do you think you would need to apprehend me?" They normally say just me. Then I laugh pretty hard and say "No seriously, 4...5?" Then I asked these cops, who were on a golf cart, if they could sneak Borky and I into the game. That didn't work. I then tried to get a picture with them on the golf cart. They weren't game for that either. Finally, I asked them if they would Taz me for $50. They were visibly unimpressed with me, so we headed back to the bar.Borky putting on lip gloss.Ryan, Kelly, Myra and TJ.

The Air Bourne Toxic Event

2011-11-16T14:27:00.005-06:00

Here are the pictures from the concert last Thursday. Borky at the Lightrail Station.Ryan and Borky on the train.The show was at 1st Ave. I haven't been there in 13 years. I forgot how small it was. As you can see from the picture, we were reasonably close. It was far from crowded. And our locale during the show was only steps from the bar. And I don't recall there being a long line at the bar when you went up there. I thought the band was great. But they only played for about 70 minutes. I needed another 5 songs out of them to walk away from the show really impressed. Plus they didn't play my favorite song: Innocence.K-Mart also came with us to the show, he is in the back of this photo in the black cap. But he was at the show with his girlfriend and seemed to want to distance himself and his girlfriend from Ryan, Borky and myself. This fetching lady in the photo, I have no idea who she is.Here are two more friends I made at the show. We must have gotten pretty close because I see we are drinking Jaegerbombs and I don't recall doing any of those.I have to admit I had a "Hangover" (you know the movie) moment the next day. I woke up and didn't know where I was. I was in Borky's spare bedroom. But when I looked at my pictures the next day, I don't recall the majority of them. This is one of those pictures. The story with this picture is that I was trying to convince this homeless guy to let me take his bike for a ride. But he was less than accommodating.

16-0

2011-11-16T07:38:00.002-06:00

I don't want to be the one to say it and curse the team. But after that total domination of the Vikings Monday night, I don't know which team they are going to lose to. I am a little worried that the Lions will deliver some cheap shots on Thanksgiving Day. Speaking of Thanksgiving Day, the Turkey Bowl is on. Anyone interested in some football before the Packer game, let me know. We will play at the high school at 9:30 a.m.

Back to the Packers, it was a fun game to watch. Even when the Packers were facing a 3rd and 8 or 3rd and 12, I felt like they would pick up the first down. I am sure none of you have been keeping track, but my prediction for Monday's game was 40-3. Pretty close. So now that I have gone off bragging about the Packers, when they lose this Sunday, you can blame me.

Screw You ESPN

2011-11-14T18:36:00.002-06:00

I am so sick of all of the talking heads that are on ESPN. They all think they know so much. Number one, top of my list: Chris Berman. Please get over yourself. And hey how about some new material? The nickname bit, that ran it's course in the 80s. It is about as fresh as Gallager and his Sledge-o-matic.

Number two: Trent Dilfer. What makes you such an authority on football? You can take that

Super Bowl ring you were given by the Ravens and stick it where the sun doesn't shine. They won in spite of you, not because of you. Your career quarterback rating is 70.2 (158.3 is the max). 14 years in the league and you have thrown 16 more interceptions that touchdowns. What makes you more qualified to breakdown film and see what is happening on the field when you couldn't do it when you played? The only expert advice you should be giving about quarterbacks in the league, is pointing out the ones that suck as bad as you did.

Public Apology

2011-11-10T00:01:00.000-06:00

I am not wrong often, but when I am, I admit. At least I hope I do. I need to apologize to my brother in law, Tim. I think this goes back to when I was in college, or maybe just out of college. But it was deer season and I was home during the day slaving away in my parent's garage cutting up deer by myself. Tim was there helping out where he could. He would grind hamburger when needed, make a run to grab some boxes, help my mom by putting the meat on the paper before she wrapped it or make a drink when someone was thirsty. Tim then made the mistake of stepping up to the cutting table to help me. As far as I know, up until that point the closest Tim had been to butchering an animal was slicing up a steak at Sizzler. It also didn't help that Tim is color blind and couldn't tell the difference between the white fat or the red meat. I know that I didn't yell and scream at him, but also didn't give him too much encouragement. And for that I am sorry. What made me think of this, was Tuesday night when I stopped by parent's house and stuck around to cut up a couple of deer that were waiting to be processed. Two of my nephews, Zack and Ethan, helped out. And I gave them much more attention, understanding and instruction than I gave to Tim. Tim deserved better from me. And the main reason that I was so attentive and understanding towards my nephews was due to some advice I got from my sister in law, Jody, this summer that I hope I never forget. It was at my Freeman Party before the games started. All she said was, "Be nice." So this is my public apology and the next time I see Tim face to face I will also apologize.

Call The Fire Department

2011-11-09T00:01:00.002-06:00

I am not too proud. As promised, here is a video clip of some not so great juggling that ignited some leafs briefly.

Fire Juggling

2011-11-07T19:05:00.000-06:00

I told a co-worker about my juggling and they seemed a bit skeptical of me. So I shot some video to prove it to them.

Costume Contest

2011-11-02T16:45:00.003-05:00

Here are the entries I have received for best Halloween Costume.

Kmart and Borky as Jay and Silent Bob
Liquid as Katy Perry

Doug as The Baby Arm Character from SNL. (Kristin Wig)
Chris and Rebecca as Sonny and Cher. That is a real mustache.Al and Vanessa as Batman and Robin

Winter Is Coming

2011-11-02T00:01:00.000-05:00

Here is another picture I was just talking about. I have probably posted this one before, but I think I was talking about this incident at the Badger Party. I have this as happening back in 2000. This was Preston's car. I was out that morning shoveling the sidewalk, and I had so much extra energy that I decided to clear a major portion of the street and pile the snow up around the driver's side door. Bubs, I would like to say that I am sorry about this, but to be honest I wasn't and I am still not sorry. It isn't that I don't like you, but that I thought it was funny. And like you have said in the past, if it is funny, you are not in trouble. This also serves as warning to anyone even contemplating crossing me. While I don't have as much energy, I still have an abundance of time on my hands. Maybe I will make a trip to Sun Prairie some early morning this winter and clear the street in front of The General's house.

Nate Buddy

2011-11-01T00:01:00.000-05:00

This picture is for my aunt and uncle. I was telling Nate stories Friday night and I was describing this picture I took of Nate. It appears that he passed out the night before while going for another piece of pizza.

Joey's Birthday

2011-10-31T00:01:00.000-05:00

Friday night was my nephew, Joey's, 4th birthday party. I decided it was time for a big present. It has been a while since I have done one. And it is so much more fun when they are young. Here is Joey starting to work on unwrapping the present. 7:21 PM.I think of all the times I have done this, this was the first time any child has opened the present with out the assistance of a knife or scissors. Joey is making progress. 7:27 PM.He got it open and once he got the box open, Joey climbed right in. For those unaware, the box was filled with nothing more than 30 or so balloons with candy inside of the balloons. I know, big spender. It is loosely controlled mayhem watching a bunch of kids running around trying to pop as many balloons as possible as fast as possible to get to the candy. This is what I do. 7:35 PMAnd what do the adults think of this? Well just look at Sue's expression.She looks thrilled.

Here is Joey playing with one of his new toys. I missed the first two takes where he really got excited after watching the car go down the track. I think we all need a little more of the innocence and pure joy that Joey displays here. Oh to be young again.

Costume Contest

2011-10-28T00:01:00.002-05:00

LOYAL BLOG READERS EVERYWHERE!!!! NO HEAR THIS!!! I am again going to have a costume contest. Send me a photo of your costume and I will put together a poll. If blog readers select your costume as the best, you will receive an Oakland Gyro, extra pita and a large root beer. In case anyone is wondering about my costume for this year, well I am going as the Karate Kid.

You can send your photos to my email address: mitch_kumstean@yahoo.com

Good luck.

Whatever

2011-10-27T19:35:00.003-05:00

I don't have a good excuse as to why I haven't been up dating my blog, so I won't even try to make one up. I got nothing. It is Thursday night and I am going to my old roommate, Bob's, place to play some ping pong. That is my night. How about my day? Do you want to hear about it? Last night I didn't feel so hot and there wasn't anything on TV so I went to bed at 8:30pm. My alarm went off at 6:30 am to work out. I reset it for 7:00 am and skipped the workout. Work was work, do you really want me to bore you with the details? My boss was out today and when that happens on the day of our weekly meeting, he puts me in charge to run the meeting. I decided to have an ice breaker, so I had everyone in the room go around and say who was the most famous person they have met. Then instead of going down the agenda in order, we again went around the room and each person got to pick which ever agenda item they would like to talk about. That quickly morphed into an explanation of what everyone was working on. After the meeting I had some boring work to do and I contemplated what would happen if I never showed up to work again. I came to the conclusion that no one would miss me and work would go on without me and not skip a beat.

It has been a while since I have posted a juggling video. So here is some below average juggling. Enjoy.

Badger Party

2011-10-24T00:01:00.001-05:00

I am happy to announce that the Badger Party Saturday was a complete success in every way with the exception of the outcome of the game. The weather was highly favorable. Arguably the weather was better for this party than this year's Freeman party, for sure it was better than last years. I would like to thank everyone who showed up. As well as thanking everyone who brought food/drinks. I would have to say the highlight of the evening was breaking in my shotski. The shotski was used after each touchdown. And then it morphed into after every blocked punt, incomplete pass and eventually everytime the ball got snapped. The only disappointment was that whom ever was taking pictures when we were using the shotski must have had my camera in the wrong mode, or they accidentally got deleted, because when I looked at my camera the next morning, there weren't any pictures of the shotski. But here are the pictures that I do have.

Lifesize Jenga got some use. Here is Bonesaw (Pickle) taking his turn after the 5 second rule expired for Auggie, cheering in the background.
With the exception of Mick, everyone came prepared with plenty of Bucky gear. Here is Leslie.Julie.
Here is Al, who is a loyal blog reader. It was a tie between Roman and Al for who displayed the most passion during the game. Neither said that they bet on the game, but they were cheering as if they did.Steph and Leslie.Here is the backyard set up. Two TVs because two is better than one right?And finally nothing puts the exclamation point on one of my parties like some fire juggling. This got me to thinking about the party. If you had a choice between two parties to go to, wouldn't you have to go with the one with the fire juggler. Is there any better way to dominate the conversation with your co-workers around the water cooler Monday morning than by saying, "Yeah that sounds like you had a fun weekend. But I went to this party Saturday night and the guy hosting the party just starts juggling fire. Can you believe it, he juggled fire? He isn't very good and he drops them alot, but it was something you normally don't see."

I am hoping next football season, the Badgers will again have a night game and I will plan on another backyard badger party. So mark your calendars.

Lackluster Postings

2011-10-21T00:01:00.000-05:00

I am sure you have noticed from this week's postings that my blog sucks and my life is pretty boring. But it isn't all my fault. I sent out an invitation earlier in this week, which I am guessing most of my loyal blog readers received, for a Badger view party Saturday night. We are going to watch the game in the manner it was suppose to be watched, outside in the elements. I will roll out the big screen, I will have a bar set up in the kitchen and I will have at least one fire pit going. Oh and there might be a performance by everyone's favorite less than average juggler. Rumor has it that with the weather if might be an all fire show. Anyhow, at press time 8 people have replied that they will be in attendance. If you aren't part of the solution then you are part of the problem. You want some interesting blog material, show up at the party and make it happen. Tonight I am planning on going to my brother's and stealing some firewood for tomorrow's party. He is Florida so he won't miss a couple cords. (A cord is the amount of wood that, when "ranked and well stowed" (arranged so pieces are aligned, parallel, touching and compact), occupies a volume of 128 cubic feet). I just learned that.

Kids Games

2011-10-20T17:24:00.003-05:00

Saturday I had a full line up of games. Nick's soccer game, Jared's football game and Ethan's soccer game. Before I go into my review of the games, I would like to go on the record as not having mind reading skills. That is one of many reasons as to why I am not married. I get told often that I should come to my nephew / niece's games. However, I am not going to drive around all of the sports fields in Waukesha County trying to guess where these kids play. It just makes me look like a child stalker, which I have already been accused of in my past. But I can no longer blame the parents. I would be willing to bet that many of these schedules are now distributed via the internet, and the kids are just as capable as the parents to forward the email of their schedules to me. If you want me to show up, get me a schedule, preferably at the beginning of the season so that I can plan accordingly. Am I done with my rant? I guess so.

The first game was Nick's (Bonesaw). They won, I think it was 5-4. Bonesaw was playing sweeper most of the game. Here is the one thing that Bonesaw needs to work on. You are sweeper, the last man. If you get beat, grab the jersey of the player who just went by you. It is the easiest way to catch up to them. Do it every time you get beat until you get called for it. And if they have a breakaway sweep both of their legs from behind as long as you are outside of the penalty box. Do that every time the other team has a break away until you get a yellow card. Bonesaw, you are almost 14, it is time to start playing a little dirty. It isn't illegal unless you get caught. I don't have any pictures from Bonesaw's game because I was too cold to get my camera out. I have realized that the older you get, the less you want to deal with the cold weather. I wonder if I can transfer to our Phoenix office in the winter time?

Next was Jared's football game. The Crusher. Here are some pictures from his game, it was much warmer there. He is number 68.

As you can tell from the pictures Crusher is one of the bigger kids on the field so he should dominate. I will say that I did see him knock two kids to the ground. But two kids in 2 plays out of 50 plays is not a very good ratio. Crusher's team got crunched 37-0. So they had a number of kick returns. Not only did I not see Crusher knock any kids to the ground on the kick returns, he didn't even touch another player on any of the kick returns. Maybe this is some new rule, but I doubt it. In an effort to get the Crusher more physical I am putting up an reward. If he gets an unnecessary roughness penalty next year, I will give him $50.

The last game was Ethan's game. Their regular goalie was hurt so Ethan filled in between the pipes. I will say that he made the game interesting. The 1st half had the wind in Ethan's team's faces and the play was on their end of the field the whole half. In the 2nd half I thought the play would again be on that side of the field, but it wasn't. Ethan's opponent controlled the ball nearly the entire game, and Ethan had to make nearly as many saves in the 2nd half as he did the 1st. Advice for Ethan...well he had a lot of drops. But I am no goalie, so if he wants some real goalie instruction he will have to ask The General.

Beatles Tribute Band

2011-10-19T17:19:00.002-05:00

From one slacker to another, good evening. It is Wednesday early evening and I am finally getting to a post for this week. Here is the weekend that was last weekend. Friday night I had tickets to the 1964 Tribute, a Beatles tribute band. It was at the Pabst Theater. When I bought the tickets, I could have either been on the 1st floor 20 rows back or on the 2nd floor 2nd row. I went for the 2nd floor. The announcement / internet said that the doors opened at 7:00 and I figured they would start at 8:00. I had a tough time finding parking and didn't get into the theater until 10 after and I had missed the 1st 5 or 6 songs. Oh well. I thought the band was pretty good and sounded like the actual band. My only issue was that most of what they played was from the early years. I am more of a later years Beatles fan. I would say from Rubber Soul and later. Here is some video from the show.

New Ankles

2011-10-12T19:19:00.000-05:00

This was fun. I was talking with Borky to the bar on Friday afternoon. I was messing around with my phone and not watching where I was going. I stepped in a pot hole and sprained my ankle. Then again last night I was walking my bike across my yard and rolled my ankle again. The good thing is that I have done this to my ankle so many times that it doesn't even hurt any more. In fact I was running on my ankle Saturday afternoon. Can you tell which ankle is the bad one?

Man Cave?

2011-10-11T19:09:00.002-05:00

Here was my set up Sunday afternoon to watch football and baseball. I was too lazy to get a bigger TV in for the football game. But it worked.Also I am in full boycott of the ESPN ticker. I am a simple person and I have a simple mind. And I get too distracted by the ticker. I end up spending all of my time reading the ticker and not watching the plays on TV. And it really aggravates me when I keep reading the same information on the ticker over and over. So I put a piece of painters tape over the bottom 2 inches of my TV. And I am a much happier individual because of it.Other than that, Borky was down this weekend. Highlights included going to my now new favorite breakfast spot. The Comet Cafe on the eastside. Get the Meat and Eggs, which is actually bacon wrapped meatloaf and eggs with sausage gravy. Trust me, you will not be disappointed. Saturday night we were going to the Eagles Ballroom to see Bush, but we audibled out of that and just pulled the big screen out into the backyard and watched football.

Fire Juggling

2011-10-07T20:24:00.000-05:00

While tailgating at the Brewer Game, I decided to show off my juggling skills. I was juggling fire when I heard someone behind me yell, "Hey juggling guy turn around." I turn around and it was a cop. I thought he was going to tell me to stop juggling. Nope, he just wanted me to turn so he could get a better picture.

Internet Joke

2011-10-06T20:12:00.002-05:00

Here is an email joke I got sent to me a couple days ago. I usually don't post this stuff because most everyone has seen them. But this one was new to me.

*** Adult Truths ***

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear

your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you

realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty

sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the

person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at

work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything

productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I

don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks

me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that

I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not

to answer when they call.

15. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or

Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller than Kay.

16. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

17. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

18. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just

nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they

said?

19. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team

up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong,

brothers and sisters!

20. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still

not know what time it is.

Brewers

2011-10-05T20:05:00.001-05:00

On Sunday I went to the Brewer Game. My college roommate, Mark, had an extra ticket. Great seats as you can tell from the pictures below. Robin Yount threw out the first pitch. That was pretty cool. After the pitch he game the crowd the "Beast Mode" (which is probably annoying every team in baseball other than the Brewers) then as he was walking off the field chucked the ball up into the third deck. I tried video taping the last pitch by Axford but after 7 straight pitches after he didn't get the strike out, I gave up. But this will give you some idea of how low the crowd was.

I think during this game was the loudest I have ever heard it inside Miller Park.

It was a great way to complete the greatest sports weekend in the history of the state of Wisconsin. A perfect 4-0. It is hard to believe that I didn't watch the Brewer game until Tuesday night.

Badger Game

2011-10-04T19:55:00.003-05:00

This past Saturday I was in Madison for the Badger vs Nebraska game. I didn't go into the game, but just went to be in the atmosphere. I stayed with Joe and Dawn. Thank you Joe and Dawn for letting me crash at your place. An even bigger thank you to Dawn for picking me up when I couldn't find a cab at 2 in the morning. Friday night we went to Big Ten Pub for a fish fry and then met up with Jay at the new student Union on campus for a couple drinks.We made our home for the Brewer and Badger games the Regent Street Retreat. Here is a sign we caught on our way to the bar.Doing shots with some Nebraska fans. They were at least smart enough to cheer for the Brewers before the Badger game.Here is some of our damage during the Brewer game. The Pabsts are mine.Joe and Dawn left before the Badger game started. I ran into my buddy, Pat, seen here in the foreground. I haven't seen Pat since college so I had to hang with him for a while and ended up watching all of the game with him.

Here is the Badger Band Drum Corps in the bar. I had to take a timeout in the middle of the performance to do a shot.

Brewer Fever

2011-09-28T23:06:00.003-05:00

Yes, I think I have it. Throbbing head, sore throat, dry cough. This morning I was driving into work and on the radio they were talking about tonight's game and all of the ramifications of the game, and I told myself that I had to go. I don't know, but I got home from work, grabbed something to eat, and watched the 1st inning and told myself that I need to be in that stadium. I jumped on my bike and headed to Miller Park. I really like messing with the scalpers. I went down with the goal of being on the field or loge level for $20 or less. Am I cheap or just smart? I will go with smart. It wasn't more than 10 minutes after my first negotiation with a scalper that I managed to find myself a loge level bleacher seat for $5. You can't turn down a $5 bleacher seat. I have to thank Joe for helping me to fine tune my scalping technique. Although I have to butter Joe up since I am staying with him this Friday and Saturday for the Badger game. So I was at the game tonight. And I told myself that I will go down for each and every playoff game and attempt to get into the game. I have to. I will be gone on Saturday, but hopefully I will be back on Sunday early enough to make that game.

I heard this on the radio today. When is the last time that a Packer game took a back seat to both a Brewer game and a Badger game in the same weekend? Never. It is good to be a Wisconsin fan. Let's hope everything goes our way this weekend.

Oh one final note on tonight's game. I was going to take some pictures. But how many times have I posted pictures from my seats at a Brewer's game? It has all been done. Expect some decent photo's from with weekend. I might make an attempt to take a picture in Madison on Saturday every hour on the hour of what I am doing or watching at the top of every hour. That could be blog worthy. Right?

Line of the Night

2011-09-26T20:15:00.001-05:00

As I said in my last post, I was down at Miller Park Friday night after the Brewers clinched the Central Division. And it was quite the party. I only knew 7 or 8 people and stayed relatively in control. I was standing over by one of the bar tables most of the night. In fact here is a picture of the table. Look at the size of this bowl of salsa. Everyone was too busy drinking so level of salsa in this bowl never changed. So anytime anyone came by the table I would say to them, "Hey, do you know if they are going to be bringing out any more salsa?" It was a big hit all night. Such a big hit that Nate stole the joke and started using it.

Brewers Celebration

2011-09-25T20:08:00.002-05:00

Friday night I was sitting at home preparing to watch the Brewer game when I got a phone call from Nate. He told me that if the Brewers clinched that night that all of the front office people that work for the Brewers (Nate included) would be celebrating, and he wanted to know if I wanted to join in on the fun. Of course I said yes. Shortly after the game, Nate gave me a call and I told him I was on my way. I biked down to the stadium and met up with Nate. Then we went up to one of the bars on the club level. I would say there were 100-150 people up there. I will say one thing, they did party hard. Here is Nate with the bottle of champagne.I was kind of laying low, but everyone there was getting pretty crazy. And they had tons of bottles of champagne. I easily witnessed them opening up over 50 bottles and spraying each other. This is Nate doing the chicken joke with a bar rag.They partied until 1:30 in the morning. As we were leaving we went down to the ticket office where one of Nate's season ticket accounts had left him a present. Here it is.

Fridays

2011-09-19T19:16:00.002-05:00

Certain times of the week have a feel. Monday mornings have a feel. Sunday nights have a feel. But there is nothing like the near electricity you feel when you first get home from work on a Friday night. Especially if it has been a long day or long weekend. You have 2 days to do with whatever you want. Funny this past Friday night after work I was typing this posting. Which for me is right now. I don't have a lot to do. But that is fine. As I type, I am still debating what to do with my night. And maybe more importantly what I am going to eat. I recall on Monday just wishing this week would be over with. And now it is Friday and I am wondering where the week went. The older you get the faster time goes. And when did everyone get so busy?

First Weekend Home From College

2011-09-18T19:04:00.002-05:00

It was Laaren's (my Godwife's daughter) first weekend home from freshman year of college this past weekend. It made me think of the first weekend home my first year of school. I got home and we were waiting for people to show up before going out for a fish fry. I recall my brother, Jon, being there with his friend, Kris Darragh. We were talking outside when Kris said to me, "Let's see what you learned in college. Let's slam a beer." I walked into the garage and took two nearly ice cold, my best guess they were about 34 degrees, Miller Genuine Drafts out of the refrigerator. I walked back by Kris who was standing in the driveway. We didn't shotgun them we just pulled the tabs, cracked them open and began drinking. And beer will only come out so fast out of a can without being vented. I remember nearly sucking the beer out of the can, knowing that I had to win. I narrowly defeated Kris. The frosty beer burned my throat going down, and I developed an instant headache. Kris and I both walked over by the back of my dad's truck and sat on the tailgate. We had our hands on our knees and we were both hating life. That is when Kris slowly turned to me and said, "I don't know about you but I feel like shit." With my head pounding and my saliva glands working overtime, I said "You got that right." That was the last time I ever slammed a beer out of a can without venting it. In fact it is a rare day in which I will slam/bong any beer that is ice cold. I hope Laaren's first weekend home had a better start.

Fantasy Football

2011-09-16T18:10:00.000-05:00

I know no one cares about fantasy football. But I just wanted to show the set up I had for this year. I grabbed the projector from work and was able to have an entire wall of my basement as the draft board.

I actually put together a Powerpoint Presentation to go over all of the league rules

This is the spreadsheet where I kept track of everyones picks as well as player that were still available. I was surprised that most of the people in the league, even though I had everything on the wall, still used their notes.

Last of the Camping

2011-09-16T17:58:00.000-05:00

Borky and I were discussing and trying to put in order the events of the last so many camping trips. Here is what we came up with.

2005 - Schoen Blazing A Trail Through the Poison Ivy

2006 - The Year the Wind Would Not Stop

2007 - Nate Was Sick The Entire Time and Bob Torched the Wasp Nest

2008 - Chili Head U2 Bob - Ring of Fire - Fire Jumping

2009 - Worlds Best Steak - Cuts Like a Knife

2010 - Trebutchet

2011 - The Swamp Rocket

Happy Birthday Buddy

2011-09-16T07:53:00.002-05:00

A very happy birthday to Nate. He turns 40 today.

And More Camping

2011-09-15T17:50:00.002-05:00

So Nate brought the Mean Machine Rocket. Here is the first launch. Watch the dog freak out.

The island we stay on is maybe 500 feet wide. And the launch that you just saw resulted in the rocket landing in the middle of this swamp in the middle of the island. And that launch happened Friday night. Saturday, Nate decided to go retrieve the rocket. He asked me for my camera so he could document the rescue. As you can see from this picture it was in there.
Like I mentioned, Nate document the rescue. For the time being I am going to withhold that video of the rescue. That is unless Nate gives me permission to post it. I will say this, the video is one of the funniest things I have ever seen in my life. If you stop by my house, I will be happy to show it to you. I would like to preface the video with these two comments.

First: This happened one week before Nate's 40th birthday.

Secondly: It was Nate's idea to take video.

Back to other video, this was the second launch of the rocket.

More Camping

2011-09-14T17:32:00.001-05:00

Here is Nate airborne on the slip and slide.Saturday night is always the big meal. Here is Tim cooking up some corn on the cob. And then there is the steak. Always the best steak I eat all year is on this camping trip.What else do we do? Well we blow stuff up. This is a 1/4 stick of dynamite (homemade) with a snow shovel and bucket on top of it.

Here we have some dynamite inside of a shoe.

This next one is interesting. We had dynamite attached to a rocket. The plan was to launch the rocket and have the dynamite explode in mid air. The problem was that we ran out of ignitors and we tried to fashion an ignitor out of sparklers. As you will see that didn't work and the dynamite along with the rocket blew up on the pad. However, here is the interesting part. As you watch the video you will hear my radio playing in the background. The radio was about 10 -15 feet away from the rocket. Somehow the shock wave killed my radio because it dies after the explosion. The LED display works but no sound comes out of it anymore. I know pretty weird.

Camping Day 2

2011-09-13T17:20:00.000-05:00

The big talk before the camping trip was the trebuchet. Well the fact that I had to work Thursday and into Friday morning, and I wouldn't be to the island until later on Friday night, I decided that it would not be worth it to bring it on the trip this year. In fact I traveled as light as ever, 2 camping bins, a cooler and a backpack. I guess on to the pictures and video. Here is Eric with the Mean Machine, a 6 foot rocket that Nate made back when he was living with me.I think some people know about the game "Foot in the Cooler". It is a game that Borky invented in which you stick your foot into a cooler filled with ice and water, mostly ice, and you see how long you can go before you can't take it any longer. Since it was early in the trip and Borky's cooler was still mostly filled, he modified the game to "Hand in the Cooler" thinking that our hands were so much cleaner than our hands. Here we are playing.Borky made it 17 minutes and 40 seconds. Even though I won, I kept my hand in for a full 20 minutes just to prove a point. And what was that point? I have no idea.

This was the view looking south down the river Saturday morning. It was easily the best weather we have ever had on the camping trip.
People ask what do we do on the island. I will be completely honest, nothing productive. In the past we have brought kites to see how high we could get them. But there wasn't much wind over the weekend, so to get a kite to fly we used the boat. Here are Bob and Tim flying a kite behind the boat.Tim brought a roll of plastic and we made a slip and slide. After a couple runs, it got a little boring so we made a jump at the end. That made it a little more exciting. Here is Doug.

Camping Day 1

2011-09-12T16:51:00.004-05:00

Well camping day 1 didn't actually happen. I had to work last Thursday evening. The project that I am working on, a bridge in New Berlin on I-43, started Thursday night and into Friday evening. The contractor was paving new shoulders in preparation for moving the traffic over during the bridge construction. We started at 7:00 p.m. and they worked until 10:00 a.m. Friday. I got the first shift of working 7:00 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. A lot of people tell me that my job is pretty easy and dangerous is probably one of the last words you would use to describe it. The operation the contractor had going on was, to mill the existing asphalt shoulder and the repave that same shoulder with asphalt. I spent most of my time going back and forth between the milling crew and the paving crew. For this work we had the outside shoulder and outside lane of traffic closed with traffic drums spaced 50 feet apart through the entire construction zone. This left just one lane for through traffic. At around 2:30 a.m. a drunk driver attempted to pass a dump truck that was in the driving lane by using the outside lane which was closed off to traffic. When this driver switched lanes she ran directly into the back of a dump truck that was parked on a bridge with 10 tons of asphalt, at approximately 60 miles an hour. The dump truck didn't move an inch, in fact the car bounced back about 10 feet. I am amazed that the driver walked away with out any injuries. Here is the car.

Dump Truck 1 - Ford Focus 0. Once the police were on the scene, an ambulance was also called in. After the drive was checked out, she was given a field sobriety test, which I witnessed with another 15 or so people. The driver failed with flying colors and they slapped the cuffs on her. I was going to take a picture but decided against it. While on the job that night/morning, I probably walked over that bridge 15 - 20 times and very easily could have been walking there when the accident happened. Makes you think.

PJ20

2011-09-09T00:01:00.001-05:00

This past weekend I went to both Pearl Jam concerts at Alpine Valley. My friend, Liz, came along. Before the show, I stopped at my brother, Jon's, because it was on the way. His friend, Al, was over. Al is a new loyal blog reader. I know he was disappointed I didn't get any pictures in after the kickball tournament. But he made it this time.

On to the concerts. Both were great shows. The band had a ton of energy. Speaking of energy, this guy in front of me also might have had too much energy. I think he got kicked out. For those that don't know, yes I have been kicked out of Alpine Valley before. But they needed 6 guards to get me out.

We had awesome seats. Check that, someone else had awesome seats and we sat in them.

Here is the setlist

Release (This is my alltime favorite live Pear Jam song, they either open with it or they won't play it at all.)

Arms Aloft

Do The Evolution

Got Some

In My Tree

Faithfull

Who You Are

Push Me, Pull Me

Setting Forth

Not For You

In the Moonlight

Deep

Help Help

Breath

Education

Once

State Of Love And Trust

Better Man

Wasted Reprise

Life Wasted

Encore:

Rearviewmirror

Stardog Champion

Say Hello 2 Heaven

Reach Down

Hunger Strike

Love, Reign O'er Me

Porch

Encore 2:

Kick Out the Jams

Here is the opener, Release. I had to take some video to help me remember.

More PJ20

2011-09-08T17:25:00.002-05:00

Here is Sunday's Setlist. Strong work. Which show was better? Saturday I was closer, but Sunday had a better setlist. So I have to go with Sunday, 33 songs, 3 Encores. I honestly thought that "Alive" was going to be their last song and then it went on for 2/3 more. But hard to complain about either.

Wash

The Fixer

Severed Hand

All Night

Given To Fly

Pilate

Love Boat Captain

Habit

Even Flow

Daughter (It's OK Tag)

Leatherman

Red Mosquito

Satan's Bed

Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town

Unthought Known

New World

Black

Jeremy

Encore:

(Unknown)(New Song)

Just Breathe

Nothingman

No Way

Public Image

Smile

Spin The Black Circle

Encore 2:

Hunger Strike

Call Me A Dog

All Night Thing

Reach Down

Sonic Reducer

Encore 3:

Alive

Rockin' in the Free World

Yellow Ledbetter

(Star-Spangled Banner outro)

Here is some Blair Witch video of "Alive"

Here is an idea I would like to see them implement at Alpine, a seismograph. This wasn't the first show. I have been to quite a few where you can feel the concrete under the reserve section move. Pretty crazy.

Packers

2011-09-08T13:24:00.000-05:00

I have spaced off one of my favorite contests. It is the normal prize for whomever gets the Packers record correct. Here are my predictions.

Week 1 vs New Orleans

It is a shootout to start the seasons. Packers win 38 - 21

Week 2 at Carolina

The defense records 7 sacks, 4 by Clay Matthews. And there is a defensive touchdown. It is ugly from the start. Packers win 42 - 3

Week 3 at Chicago

The dreams that Bears fans had of returning to the NFC Championship are crushed as Jay Cutler is again unable to finish the game. Finley has 3 touchdown catches. Packers win 28 - 10.

Week 4 vs Denver

This game is closer than anyone thought it would be, as the 0 - 3 Broncos start Tim Tebow who is not the answer. Rodgers has an off game with 3 interceptions. Packers win an ugly game 17-13.

Week 5 at Atlanta

Neither team brought their defense with them. Matt Ryan goes for 400 yards and 4 TDs. Packers lose in overtime 45 -42.

Week 6 vs St. Louis

What can I say, it is hard to pick against the Packers. They win despite giving up 150 yards and 1 TD to Steven Jackson. But Ryan Grant has the better day, 160 yards and 2 TDs. Jennings also hits pay dirt. Packer win 31 - 17.

Week 7 at Minnesota

You would think this was the Packers bye week. Rodgers throws touchdowns to 5 different receivers. Side note, this game is played at Gopher Stadium because the Humpy Dome again caves in under the 6 inches of snow Minneapolis gets in October. Vikings move to L.A. before the end of the season. Where was I, oh yeah, 5 touchdowns to 5 receivers, so what is that 35 points. Make it 42, Rodgers runs for one. Packers win 52 - 0.

Week 8 bye

Week 9 at San Diego

Rodgers and Matthews are seen in Mexico during the bye week with a group of Victoria Secret models. Their minds are still in Mexico. Packers lose 24 - 14.

Week 10 vs Minnesota

Minnesota suffers from jet lag from flying in from L.A. McNabb is chased all over the field, he has 3 turnovers on his own. Jennings has 10 catches, 4 for touchdowns. After the game, team officials request the NFL to allow them to forfeit the remainder of their games. Packers win 40- 3. (Very important side note: Brewers win game 4 of the world series and complete the sweep of the Yankees. The last time we see Fielder in a Brewers uniform)

Week 11 vs Tampa Bay

Green Bay get hit with 4 inches of November snow. But that doesn't phase the team from Florida. I can't believe my Buccaneers, they pull of a last second win. Packers lose 13- 10.

Week 12 at Detroit

The Thanksgiving game. The upstart Kitty Cats are still in the game at halftime. But Stafford's arm literally falls off during the game. With no quarterback they are doomed. Packers win 28 - 17.

Week 13 at New York Giants

This one ends up just like their trip to New York last year. Winning ugly. Packer win 9-0.

Week 14 vs Oakland

Oakland is just happy that they no longer are the worst team in their state (see Vikings moving to L.A.). But just because they are better than the Vikings doesn't mean they are better than the Packers. Starks runs wild for 180 and 2 touchdowns. Rodgers throws for 300 yards for the 8th straight game. Packers win 28 - 10.

Week 15 at Kansas City

It isn't that I am running out of material, it really happens. Starks runs wild for 180 and 2 touchdowns. Rodgers throws for 300 yards for the 8th straight game. Packers win 28 - 10.

Week 16 vs Chicago

After being demoted to 3rd string, the Bears call on Jay Cutler after the 1st and 2nd string quarterbacks are knocked out of the game. But he gets a bruise on his knee his first play. The Bears are forced to go to their emergency quarterback, Devin Hester and they run the wishbone. It doesn't help. Packers win 35 - 0.

Week 17 vs Detroit

All the starters sit and the Packers barely win 10-9.

That puts the Packers at 13-3 and a bye in the first round, home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Divisional Playoffs

Packers dismiss Atlanta with a game winning field with no time on the clock. 27-24.

NFC Championship

Packers get revenge for the loss against the Giants a couple years ago and win on a day when it actually wasn't that cold. Oh and I go to the game with Krum's dad. Packers win 21 - 6.

Super Bowl

It is a nail biter, but the Packers beat the Chargers in the Super Bowl 31 - 21.

Classy vs Unclassy

2011-09-05T11:28:00.003-05:00

It has been a long time since I have had a poll on my blog. But here is a new one. Allow me to paint a picture for you. You are having a little backyard get together with no more than 10 people. Fairly intimate. One person in attendance is a good friend. No wait, a great friend. No wait....a lifelong friend. (Give them no where to go. No use trying to disarm a bomb after it has already gone off. (Anyone???)) So this life long friend throws their cigarette butts in the yard. What do you think, Classy or Unclassy? Alright not replace cigarette butts with bottle caps. Classy or Unclassy?

Bucky in the Backyard

2011-09-03T13:17:00.002-05:00

Well here was the event. I think it went over pretty well. The weather was a little hot, so there wasn't a fire. Haus brought some wings and that took care of the food. In attendance were, MKA, Dan, Tim, Haus, Melon and Preston. Dan helped me move the TV outside and there was a little complaining. The TV is on wheels so the only carrying is out the door and down to the sidewalk. I will probably stop at Home Depot one night and get a sheet of plywood and a 2x4 and build a ramp so that I can move the TV by myself.
Let me put the feelers out now for Bucky in the Backyard again. They play back to back night games Oct. 22nd (Michigan State) and Oct. 29th (Ohio State). Depending upon the weather I will have a party on either or both dates.

You Have Got To Be Kidding Me

2011-08-31T20:37:00.002-05:00

In the words of Vincent Vega. "It would be worth them doing it just so I could catch them. I would give anything to catch them doing it."

The Bees Knees

2011-08-31T20:30:00.002-05:00

In anticipation of the Badger game, I decided to take a whack at the bees I had noticed flying into the retaining wall. They had an enormous hive inside the block closest to the steps. I waited until the night and out there with a flashlight I flipped over the block and there was a cluster of bees the size of a softball. I dropped everything and ran into the house. So I took this picture the next day.But the next day I noticed that the hive went down from inside the block into the space between the two blocks below the one I moved. And there was another cluster of bees the same size down there as well. But some lighter fluid and a match and that took care of them.

Wiffleball #2

2011-08-31T19:33:00.001-05:00

Bob was having some problems with his achilles, so he is taking a soak and filling Bill up.Mike at bat.
Bill at bat.
Paul at bat.
Here is the Home Run derby trophy. Joe actually took this out of someone's trash. He said his neighbor got it for being salesman of the year or something. I don't know why the guy was throwing it out, but I would have taken it out of the trash too.
I didn't take enough video. But here is Brad going yard.

It was a fun long day. We got in 6 games and a Home Run Derby in 8 hours. I was pretty tired by the end of the day. Paul ended up winning the Home Run Derby. He had 9 in the first round, and I think 11 in the finals. And home runs #7, #8 & #9 were blasts that were 1/2 way up on the pine trees. As for me, well I sucked. I didn't hit a home run until the last game of the day. Pathetic. Oh and I got thrown out at the plate right in the face by Mike. But it was still a lot of fun. There were a lot of choices for MVP of the day, but I am going to have to give it to Johnny who left it all out on the field, and in the bushes and in the bathroom. I have to be honest, his performance was unexpected.

Wiffelball #1

2011-08-30T19:44:00.002-05:00

On Saturday afternoon I had a wiffleball tournament to play in. Mike Braun, one of my best friends from high school, and his brothers have an all day tournament at their parents house. It is a highlight of the summer. I think this was the 5th year.

When they were kids and Thurman Munson of the Yankees died, they went into the woods and buried his baseball card. Since the advent of this tournament, each year they bury another sports figure that passed away in the previous year. This year it was John Wooden. Here is Joe with the coffin.
Here is the sports cemetery. But while pounded the headstone into the ground,we lost some letters. And it ended up that we buried John Woden. Which ironically brings me to a famous John Wooden "If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?" I wonder if that picture of John Wooden in the coffin turned over in his little grave?

Here is Joe at the plate.
Paul coming home after a trip around the bases.
Andy at the plate.
Back to the Sports Cemetery. Here is Joe's moving burial service.

Tuffy

2011-08-29T19:30:00.000-05:00

In preparation for the Mississippi Camping Trip, Nate and I took his boat, "The Tuffy" out Saturday morning. Nate had made some adjustments, and the last time he took it out, he had some mechanical failures. Nate wanted to put it through it's paces before the big trip.Here is Nate at the wheel.

Camping is the second weekend of September. Any takers?

Ethan's Birthday

2011-08-28T19:17:00.003-05:00

Friday was Ethan's birthday party. I stopped by after work. He had some of his friends over for a day of dodgeball and swimming. In dodgeball it was Ethan and 5 of his friends against, Jon, Nick and I. The score was 6-5 in favor of Ethan and his friends when I had to retire myself due to injury. Not a shock there. Although I will be ready next year. And I hope Ethan's friend, David, can make it again. Because he was nothing but talk, and next year I am going for headshots.

Here is Ethan opening his gifts.Ethan got a phone. Anyone want the number so you can run up the phone bill?

This is an interesting photo. And I didn't notice it until I downloaded the pictures to my computer, but while Ethan was busy opening gifts, someone was in the kitchen digging into the liquor cabinet. Any guesses as to who that might be?

Later in the evening we were discussing Nick's nickname, which most blog readers probably know as to be, "Pickle". And Pickle wants a new nickname. But as Brian pointed out, nicknames aren't chosen, they are given. I worked with a guy named, "Wiener", and I am pretty sure he didn't pick that out. I still like Pickle and I doubt that is going to go away anytime soon. But I did offered up "Bonesaw" as a new alternate nickname.

Breaking Bad

2011-08-24T21:30:00.000-05:00

I have been talking about this show for a while. A couple of months ago, AMC was running this show from the first episode. By the third show I was hooked. It is without a doubt the best show on TV, better than the Sopranos. Although I have thought that it has been a little slow so far in season 4.If you get a chance to watch it from the 1st season, absolutely set the DVR.

Dog Crapping Sign

2011-08-24T18:15:00.003-05:00

Here is my rough draft on the dog crapping sign?

"To the brave dog owner who continues to allow their dog to defecate in my yard,

I sincerely hope that I catch you allowing your dog to crap in my yard. And when I do, I rain down on your home, car and yard with fecal matter like you have never seen."

I am open to any revisions or corrections that you deem necessary.

Here it is, I just took a picture.

And I know I don't have to convince any of you, but when I find this person, trust me, I will be saving up my own excrement to decorate their house with.

Dog Crapping

2011-08-24T08:23:00.002-05:00

Here is a question to all my loyal blog readers. It appears that someone in my neighborhood doesn't have a problem with allowing their dog to crap in my yard.At first it was one or two time in the carriage walk. But within the last week it happened twice in my front yard less than 10 feet from my front door. Any ideas with how to deal with this? I am open to any suggestions.

More Phish

2011-08-23T21:26:00.000-05:00

I tried to get some pictures inside during the show, but most turned out rather poorly.This is no shock to anyone, but I lost the girls and ended up moving around during the show. I even tried twice the grease security into letting me on to the floor. I might have been more successful if I had given him more than $1. Here is the opening song, or part of it. It is a little over simulating.

Badger Game

2011-08-23T08:18:00.002-05:00

Last Friday I was in the backyard watching the Brewer Game. In fact this is it below.While I was watching the game, I thought I would like to pull my big screen out for a game sometime. But it has to be for a noteworthy game. The next big noteworthy game would be the Badgers opening game on September 1st. I sent out an evite yesterday, but if I missed you, consider this your invitation. Party starts at 6:00 p.m. And I will need one semi strong individual to give me a hand moving the TV. Most likely the first person to show up. Hope to see you there.

Phish

2011-08-22T21:13:00.000-05:00

My friend, Suzanne, asked me a couple months ago if I wanted to go to the Phish concert in Chicago. I am not the biggest Phish fan. I think I have seen them 3 or 4 times. But I am always up for a concert, so I told her if she couldn't get rid of the ticket, I would be happy to go with her. Her two friends, Holly and Kim also went with us to the show. Here is the view from the hotel balcony.The concert was at the UIC Pavillion, which is pretty small, which makes it a great place for a concert. I would go back for another concert anytime. On the walk there I came across the Bluesmobile. "It is 106 miles to Chicago, we have a full tank of gas, 1/2 a pack of cigarettes, its dark out and we are wearing sunglasses.....Hit it"
They had one parking lot for tailgating. It was a little weird because the lot was surrounded with a fence and there was some pretty serious partying going on. I sort of felt like a zoo animal.
I met this guy who had one of the dumbest tattoos I have ever seen. It is a take off of the Grateful Dead "Steal Your Face" but with an expletive. I had him hug each of the girls and he was all sweaty. I thought it was funny.
Then I started just taking pictures of good looking girls. Always a fun time.
I am not sure if Suzanne and Kim knew this guy or not. But I got my hand in there. We brought some beer with us, but we quickly ran out. People were selling Pabst for $1. Ridiculously cheap for Chicago.

Keeping with the theme of taking pictures of good looking girls.

Kickball

2011-08-21T19:54:00.003-05:00

I was told that I needed to make a posting on the kickball tournament that I played in this past weekend. About a month and a half ago, my sister in law, Julie, asked me to sub on the kickball team that she and my brother, Jon, played on. I ended up making it to the remainder of their games and then it was decided to play in a kickball tournament in Richfield this past weekend. It rained that morning and when we showed up for our first game, it was a rather muddy field. But since my mother was a mudder and my father was a mudder, that makes me a mudder. In our first game, Leslie led off with a single. She was followed by Jon, who promptly kicked a home run. Then Michelle got a single, followed by Joe, who also kicked a home run. Next up was Kerry who got on base and then I walked to the plate. I think I popped out to the shortstop. Our first opponent wasn't very good. At the end of the 2nd inning we were up 19-0. The remainder of the game we all kicked with our opposite foot and won 23-0. Our next game started out the exact same way: single, home run, single home run, single and then I made an out again. Our second game we won 11-1, and the only reason they got a run is because I told the umpire to give them a run if they dove into the pond near the field where Dan had fouled the ball into. Going into our third game, the opponent had yet to get a runner to 3rd base. We won the third game 12-4 or something like that. There were only 7 teams in the tournament, and it was a double elimination tournament, so we now had to wait 3 hours to see who we played out of the losers bracket. We ended up replaying the second team that we beat. But at the end of the first inning it was 1-1, and our team was a bit nervous. And the game remained tied until the 4th or 5th inning where we started tacking on runs and eventually we ran away winning 10-1 or something like that to a team who's average age wasn't much more than half our average age.

A widely known strategy in kickball is kicking the ball down the 3rd base line and making the team in the field make that long throw across the diamond. Jon was playing 3rd and I don't know what he had for breakfast but he was on fire. I would say that in the first 3 games he was involved in 1/3 to 1/2 of the outs. There were at least 3 or 4 innings that day, where he made all of the outs by either catching a line drive or threw someone out. Now I would hate to give him any credit because I don't want his head to get to big, but he was the defensive MVP. Although I don't think he had the defensive play of the game. That honor would go to Joe who was playing left center. There was a line drive shot that got kicked in front of him and he had to play it on a bounce and from the outfield he threw a strike to Al on first. And even though the umpire called the runner safe, everyone knew that the runner was out.

Personally, I put on a rather poor exhibition on the diamond. I misjudged a ball that went over my head. And in 5 straight at bats I had 5 majestic flyouts to centerfield. And I was the only male on the team not to kick a home run.

Al, sorry but for whatever reason the pictures you sent me did not come through.

Whitesnake

2011-08-18T20:56:00.005-05:00

Well it was during State Fair that I made my way down to see Whitesnake. Preston got some free tickets and gave them to Nate who then asked me to go with him. Here is Whitesnake on stage.Eric also went to the concert. I have no idea how good our seats were because we never sat in them. It was the first time I got to hang out with Nate or Eric since the Freeman party. So we were towards the back and to the side of the track seating where it wasn't quite so loud which enabled us to hear all of Nate's stories. Although Eric had a pretty long story about how he hopes to get on the TV show "Take The Money and Run"You may or may not believe this but here I am back stage with my arm around David Coverdale.I saw these two guys before the show. And then I saw them during the show and I had to find out what their deal was. Apparently just a father and son duo who like to party. Side note, wow do I look fat.

Happy Birthday

2011-08-09T20:12:00.000-05:00

Saturday night was my cousin, Justin's, 30th birthday party. Here I am doing a birthday show with Justin.

Air Show

2011-08-08T20:04:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday I went down to the lake front to check out the air show. It was interesting. I would say it was cool to see once, but I wouldn't plan my schedule around it. I biked down there and it was hot. Although look at this clown I saw down there. He was wearing jeans and a sport coat to the air show. Who does that?This was the most impressive aircraft that I saw. The Rockwell B-1 Lancer is a four-engine, variable-sweep wing strategic bomber used by the United States Air Force. First envisioned in the 1960s as a supersonic bomber with sufficient range and payload to replace the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, it developed primarily into a low-level penetrator with long range and supersonic speed capability. The B-1B entered service with the United States Air Force in 1986, for use in the Strategic Air Command as a nuclear bomber. In the 1990s, it was converted to conventional bombing use. It was first used in combat during Operation Desert Fox in 1998 and during the NATO action in Kosovo the following year. The B-1B continues to support U.S. and NATO military in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Lancer is the supersonic component of the USAF's long-range bomber force, along with the subsonic B-52 and Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit. The bomber is commonly called the "Bone" (originally from "B-One"). With the retirement of the General Dynamics/Grumman EF-111A Raven in 1998 and the Grumman F-14 Tomcat in 2006, the B-1B is the U.S. military's only active variable-sweep wing aircraft. Watching this thing fly pass made me think that I am glad it is on our side. It is pretty bad ass. And loud.Finally was the Air Force Thunderbirds. Also pretty cool to see, but hard to get a decent picture of. Twice they buzzed the crowd which was really cool. Obviously you saw them before you heard them.

Pain

2011-08-07T19:57:00.003-05:00

This picture is from a couple weekends ago. I was down at Miller Park to tailgate with my sister and her family. After tailgating I waited by the Will Call windows to talk to Nate because he was working that night. While I was waiting to talk to Nate I saw this guy. We was drinking and smoking and the back of his shirt said, "Pain is weakness leaving the body".

State Fair

2011-08-04T19:58:00.002-05:00

First loyal blog readers, I have no excuse. I have missed posts all week. I have been a bit busy at work. And yes if you can believe it staying late to work on a hot button issue within the DOT. I have starting keeping a log of things said at work. They are a bit amusing. Here is one from last week. The leader of my team, Pete, had asked me to do something for him like fill out the TPS reports. Here was the conversation

Pete: "Hey Rickie do you have those TPS reports that are do at the end of the week?"
Me: "Yes indeed. They are in your inbox. Anything else I can do for you?"

Pete: "As a matter of fact there is. I will be gone next week, so could you run next weeks team meeting?"

Me: "Wow, I walked right into that one. Do I have a choice?"
Pete: "Not really."

Lately another thing I have been doing is at the end of the meetings when everyone is gathering their stuff and starting to walk out of the room, I start clapping and say, "Great meeting everyone!!! We had some good ideas and alot got accomplished!!! Good work!!!" It seems to boost morale.

Alright it is State Fair time. I usually don't go to the fair. But if I do go, my favorite attraction is the big fat sow with all of the piglets feeding off of her. If you are going here is something you might want to try to make it a little more fun. State Fair Bingo. Follow the link and print out the bingo cards. Granted this one is for the Minnesota State Fair, but really is there much difference other than at the Minnesota State Fair they might run out of beer, or maybe not even be able to sell it.

More U2 at Gopher Stadium

2011-07-29T00:01:00.002-05:00

K.O. and I had field seats. Here is the massive stage as you Walk On (Get it the song?) to the field.About half way through the concert I had to use the bathroom and I can't believe what I saw. These two girls sitting down and reading books. Let me know the next time that happens when U2 plays Camp Randall. I seriously thought hell had froze over when I saw this.How about the setlist? Here is it:

Even Better Than the Real Thing

The Fly

Mysterious Ways - Rain

Until the End of the World - Anthem

I Will Follow

Get On Your Boots

I Still Haven't Found

Stand By Me

Stuck in a Moment

Beautiful Day - Space Oddity

Can't Stand the Rain - Elevation

Pride

Miss Sarajevo

Zooropa

City of Blinding Lights - Singing in the Rain

Vertigo

Miss You-I'll Go Crazy (remix)-Raindrops Keep Falling-Discotheque-Life During Wartime-Psycho Killer

Please - Sunday Bloody Sunday

Scarlet

Walk On

Encore: One - Purple Rain

Hallelujah - Purple Rain - Where the Streets Have No Name - Singing in the Rain

Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me

With or Without You

Moment of Surrender - Singing in the Rain

It was pretty hot out that day/night. And early on into the show it started raining. I had no problem with that. It felt great as hot as it was. At times it got to be a pretty serious rain storm. There was a little bit of thunder and lightening. I remember telling people how cool it would be if Bono got struck by lightening. They looked at my like I was crazy. But it would be like being Abraham Zapruder. I was asked after the show how I would rate this concert. I have seen U2 7 or 8 times and I can't rank it any higher than 4th. My top 2 were the 2 shows at the Bradley Center where I had floor seats and was really close to the stage. And then the Camp Randall show from the Zooropa tour with the Big Lemon. I thought the last song was a poor choice. I had heard that at past shows they played "One Tree Hill", I would have also liked to have seen "Red Hill Mining Town" or "Running to Stand Still" . I also felt a little cheated that I didn't get the "Yeah we will shine like stars in the summer night, we'll shine like stars in the winter" coda. Here I am with my friend, Nichole, who I met at the show.

I didn't get too many decent pictures of the band on stage. I would guess we were 20 to 25 yards from the stage.Here is K.O. after the show as we were waiting for Flo to come and pick us up after the show.

Kind of a funny side note to the whole weekend. The vast majority of my Minnesota friends I met through Krum. And in reading the last couple of posts, you know that I had a busy weekend. I knew I was staying with Borky one night and K.O. and Troup the next, so I wasn't really going to have time to meet up with Krum. We did exchange some text messages before the show but never met up. As K.O. and I are walking out of the stadium with 58,000 other people who do I run into....Krum. The first thing he says to me in a joking manner "Hey buddy, thanks for letting me know that you were coming to town. I had to find out from Troup last night." Sorry Krum, next time I will work some time in for you. I will be back in the Twin Cities for the Badger - Gopher game. This is some video of "Pride".

Of all of the concerts I have been to, this was the most rain I have ever had to endure. Rage Against the Machine at Alpine Valley had quite a bit of rain, but I had covered seats, check that, I had lawn seats but made my way into the reserve / covered seats. And here is some more so you can appreciate how hard it was raining.

U2 at Gopher Stadium

2011-07-28T00:01:00.000-05:00

Saturday was the big U2 show. Walking around the stadium before hand there certainly was an electricity in the air. Although I will say that it was a much older crowd than I expected. I don't think that today's kids listen to too much U2. The forecast for the evening called for rain. I like to get a gage on people's expectations of the show. I like to poll people and ask them what is the one song that they really want to hear that night. This is also a good way to separate the die hard fans from the band wagon jumpers. But on this night my first question was "Did you bring a rain coat?" Easily 75 percent of those polled had rain gear. That really surprised me. I went to the concert with my friend, K.O. We started at Sally's, but then walked over to BW3's were a group of about 12 of our friends were pre-partying. Here is Borky, K.O., Schoen and myself.Borky and I after leaving BW3's and getting ready to head in to the show.It is always a good thing when you have a Moose sighting. Mary Moose came down to enjoy in the pre concert festivities. He was going to try and scalp a ticket, but I doubt that he got in. Borky, K.O., me, Schoen and Marty Moose.K.O. and MartyK.O. with the huge stage in the background.

Here is the opening song: Even Better Than the Real Thing

How To Start A Fire

2011-07-27T00:01:00.000-05:00

When we got back to Borky's after the game Schoen showed me how to get a fire started.

Harmon Killebrew

2011-07-26T17:09:00.001-05:00

Harmon Killebrew smacking me in the face.

Twins Game

2011-07-26T00:01:00.000-05:00

I was in Minnesota this past weekend. Friday night I went to the Twins baseball game with Borky, Schoen and KMart. Here is Schoen, Borky and Liz.I got to the ball park and got a picture with the Kriby Puckett statue.Here is the view from our seats. It really is a beautiful ball park. Although I didn't see the retractable roof. There might be a couple cold games here and there. It kind of makes those of us in Milwaukee look like wusses. But I would rather be a warm wuss than a cold tough guy.We weren't in our seats very long. I think it was only an inning or two. We spent the rest of the game at the Captains deck which is a bar that overlooks the field from the left field corner. Here I am with Borky.

Festa Fireworks

2011-07-25T18:37:00.002-05:00

I know everyone likes my pictures of fireworks. So here are some I took last Thursday on the opening night of Festa Italiana.I biked down to the lake front for the fireworks. On the way back I stopped and grabbed this which is kind of a cool picture of the bridge between Canal Street and the Hank Aaron State Trail

Twins and U2

2011-07-22T00:01:00.002-05:00

Well suckers, have fun this weekend. I am headed up to the land of no beer. Minnesota. Friday night I am going to the Twins game with Borky (Pop Up Video). We don't have tickets yet. But from a look at the standings, I doubt we will be shut out of tickets. And Saturday night I am going to Gopher Stadium to see U2 with my friend, K.O. I am excited, but cautious. The last time I saw U2 in Minnesota they played Vertigo twice. Message to Bono, "You have a rather large catalog of songs, How about playing One Tree Hill, Mothers of the Disappeared or Electric Co instead of Vertigo again?"

Next Gyro Contest

2011-07-21T00:01:00.003-05:00

I was on the East Side this weekend. And as always, if I am in the area I stop at Oakland Gyros. I would say the food is so good there, but to be honest I have never had anything there other than a gyro. If you are a loyal blog reader, you know that from time to time I have contests on my blog and the prize is almost always an Oakland Gyro with an extra pita and lare rootbeer. As I was feeding my face with my gyro, I couldn't believe that of all the gyro contests I have had, at least 10, to my recollection, no one other than Julie has cashed in on there gyro. Since no one really claims there prize for the Oakland Gyro, I thought I would throw in another contest. What difference does it make, no one will claim the prize anyhow. So here is today's contest, and the first person to answer will win an Oakland Gyro with an extra pita and lare rootbeer, What color is my black truck? Here is a picture to help you figure it out.

Brats and Buns

2011-07-20T00:01:00.002-05:00

Monday night I grilled up a package of the greatest brats ever produced, my dad's own pizza brats. But as I had them on the grill it got me to thinking. There are 6 brats in the package but 8 hot dog buns in a package. Is it really that hard to have the same number of brats as buns? Or look at hot dogs, 10 in a package. What kind of a world do we live in where this is taken to be normal?Now obviously I would like to see a college football playoff in place before the 6 brats vs 8 buns is settled. But this is number 2. Although I have already discussed this with my mom, and I have a feeling next year for my birthday I am going to get a couple of packages of pizza brats with 8 brats in each package.

The Bar Has Been Raised

2011-07-19T00:01:00.001-05:00

The bar has been raised for my house guests. I have had a number of guests to stay at my house so far this year, but none that have brought home the hardware like this. This past week my friends, Tiffany, Nicki, Jenna and Steve stayed with me. The reason, the International Cycling Classic. A series of bike races in Wisconsin and Illinois. Tiffany and Nicki participated in the Women's Professional category. And I am happy to announce that following their final race they walked away with the two top prizes in the event. Nicki won the overall race series. She had the Yellow Jersey from race one. In fact she won the first two races outright and then continued to pile up over points over the next 7 races. It also makes the 3rd straight year she has won the overall title in the International Cycling Classic. Not to be out done, Tiffany won the Sprint series (Red Jersey). Just like Nicki, Tiffany got out to a quick start winning 5 of the 6 first Sprint Laps in the 1st two races, and wore the Red Jersey from race number one through race number 9. Tiffany even capped off the event by taking first place in the final race on Sunday. Congratulations girls and I hope you come back next year.

These pictures were from the Brookfield Race.
Tiff coming to the finish line in one of the sprint laps.Nicki coming to the finish line at the end of the race.A familiar sight, Nicki on the podium with the Yellow Jersey and the Race SponsorsAnd Tiff up on the podium sporting her Red Jersey.

DMB Night 3; Part 2

2011-07-18T00:01:00.004-05:00

Now the pictures, setlist and the video are only half of the story. For the Sunday show, it was just The General and I. Liquid and Myra went back to Minnesota on Sunday morning. So it was just the two bulls. Once the concert started The General and I sort of got separated. This left me with all of the alcohol that I smuggled in, and of course I drank it all. My cell phone battery also died over the course of the concert. I will credit our disconnect to miscommunication and alcohol. After the show, I made my way back to the parking lot, but couldn't find The General's car. And by the time I got back to the parking lot it was pretty empty but I did not see his car. So I didn't have a lot of options. I would have called him but as I mentioned my cell phone battery was dead. I headed back towards the concert venue and found my way to the shuttles that went back and forth between the concert venue and the CTA Red Line. I was on the last shuttle heading towards the red line. When I got on the red line, I was pretty much the only one in my car. I got off the red line in downtown Chicago. So I was out of the "Cracktown" neighborhood that hosted the concert, but I was still stuck in downtown Chicago at 2 in the morning with a dead cell phone, an empty backpack, my wallet and the clothes on my back. I went over my options. There really weren't too many. I grabbed a cab to a hotel near Union Station and went straight to bed. I was up and out of the hotel by 7 in the morning. I paid nearly $25 an hour to sleep in a bed. I got an Amtrak ticket to Milwaukee and boarded the train at 8:00 a.m. It wasn't ideal, but I was headed back home. That was until the train was about 45 minutes outside of Chicago and I learned that the storm that blew through Monday morning had knocked down trees and power lines onto the train tracks. The train stopped for 3 hours waiting for the tracks to be cleared. And once we started moving again, it was at about 25 miles an hour because there was concern that there maybe other obstacles in the way. My train which was scheduled to pull into Milwaukee at 10:00 a.m. reached the station at 3:00 p.m. I think it is time that I start cleaning up my act because I have been to hell and I don't want to spend eternity there. Hell is extremely hungover on a stopped train with the sun beating down on your through the window. Originally I had placed much of the blame of my misadventures on The General, but the more that I have been able to reflect on the events of Sunday evening, the more I realize it was more my fault than his. Between the shuttle, red line, cab rides, hotel, train ticket; my inability to find The General after the concert cost me over $200. Now the question is, "Have I learned anything?" Time will tell, I am headed to see U2 this coming Friday in Minneapolis. And Labor Day weekend is two nights with Pearl Jam at Alpine Valley. Stay tuned.

DMB Night 3

2011-07-15T00:01:00.000-05:00

And so we get to the last night of the stay in Chicago. Here is the view from out hotel balcony.The Willis TowerThis was after a quick stop at the bathroom and making my way back to the main stage about 20 minutes before DMB took the stage. The place was being dive bombed by flying rats.Dave and Co take the stage. I think the 3 night I was the closest of all three shows.Here is something I have never seen at a DMB show, a guy with no hands taking a picture.

Here was night 3's setlist, and if you go through my previous postings, you will see, not a single song repeated, including the afternoon set of just Dave and Tim.

One Sweet World

Bartender

Say Goodbye

Best of What's Around

Captain

Shotgun

Warehouse

Spaceman

Seek Up

When The World Ends

Rhyme and Reason

Sweet Emotion (Aerosmith Cover)

The Idea of You

Buena

Gravedigger

Can't Stop

Watchtower

Encore:

Some Devil

Sister

Ants Marching

Thank You

Video of Watchtower

Video of Thank You

DMB Night 2

2011-07-14T00:01:00.001-05:00

The venue for the concerts was south west of downtown Chicago. It was about a 20 - 30 minute cab ride. Here our cab driver on night 2 drinking beer with us. Good ideas....we were full of them all weekend.We got down to the show earlier on day 2 because Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds were doing a small two man set in the middle of the day. We showed up for the last 3 songs and were so far away you could barely make out what the songs were. But for those interested here was that setlist:

Save Me

Where Are You Going

So Damn Lucky

Eh Hee

Old Dirt Hill

Tim Solo

Grace is Gone

Blue Water Baboon Farm

Dancing Nancies

Here are two guys who couldn't deal with the heat, or maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it was both. First the guy in the white shirt went down.
5 seconds later, pink shorts went down. If you ask me that is what you get for wearing pink shorts.We got a much better vantage point for night two.This picture was taken about 10 seconds before this pretty little thing passed out and went limp. She had to be throw over her boyfriend's shoulder and carried out. But there was one that topped that. Maybe 15 minutes later I saw two girls carrying a guy out. In my opinion, Saturday was the best show. Here is the setlist:

#41

Seven

Burning Down the House

Break Free

Why I Am

Proudest Monkey

Satellite

Blackjack

Crush

Granny

Lying In The Hands of God

Alligator Pie

Lie In Our Graves

Too Much

Crash Into Me

Grey Street

Encore:

A Whiter Shade of Pale

Time Bomb

Two Step
Here is video of Crush

Lie In Our Graves

What did you think of this year's Christmas card?
	Best ever.
	Killer Christmas is still number #1.
	You are embarassing yourself, just give up.

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Throwing cigarette butts / bottle caps in someone else's backyard?
	Classy
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	They are Klinks, what did you expect?

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Best Costume
	Jay and Silent Bob
	Katy Perry
	The Baby Arm Character
	Sonny and Cher
	Batman and Robin
And not that I am in the contest, but if you were wondering what I was, I was the Karate Kid before he learned Karate. He went to the school dance as a shower.