Cleveland

Cleveland was just a great time. The group we had out there was so much fun to be around. I got in Friday night and took the light rail from the airport to downtown Cleveland. I met Gibby and Big Jon at our hotel. The three of us went out to the bars for some food and then we met up with Joe later in the evening. Here is Gibby talking with his people and making things happen. We made it out until bar time and after ordering a pizza, I finally fell asleep around 3 in the morning. Saturday morning 10:30 in the morning was the first beer. The weather wasn't cooporating with us at all. We got down to the stadium to start tailgating at around noon. Shooter and Pat showed up shorting there after. Shooter was in charge of bringing ice. Do you think he brought enought? I think it was 25 bags.Hedges showed up a little later and brought the tent. That was big. Here is our tailgate set up. By the way, that blue parking lot attendant building behind us, worked out really well for us. It helped block the rain. Hedges broke in there and took a parking attendants jacket and the rug that you see in the picture. We made everyone wipe their feet before coming inside. Soon we got out my beer bong and started in on those. Here is the one that Shooter was suppose to do, 4 beers. He chickened out, so I ended up doing it for him. 4 beers, in 9.5 seconds. But while Shooter didn't do the beer bong, he did slam a beer out of Pat's shoe. Then we got into a contest seeing who could throw a full beer can the furthest. I will give that one to Pat, shown here. Rob, Shooter and Hedges were doing the judging. And when the cans would land, if they couldn't catch them, the judges would drink what was left of the beer. Here I am with Lee Evans' mom. She walked by with a bunch of jello-shots. Oh their was an air show going on at the lake front, which is right where the stadium was, so for about 30 minutes the Blue Angles kept buzzing the stadium as well as flying right over us. Believe it or not, we all drank quite a bit of beer. The count that I heard was 9 cases of beer for 11 guys. And they were all gone before game time. 7 hours of tailgating. But Shooter took first prize for having drank the most. Here is my favorite picture from the weekend.The funniest part of the weekend was, this guy who came up to our tailgate party and was trying to sell these stickers. His lead in was "I am afraid I am going to have to issue you guys a fine for not partying hard enough." I guess you had to be there, but everyone pretty much couldn't stop laughing once that guy said that. Here is Hedges and Shooters reaction to the claim that we weren't partying hard enough.I would like to think that I can hold my own when it comes to partying. But these guys are just out of hand. Between Hedges, Shooter and Pat, I could just sit back and watch these guys and I was entertained the entire day. In fact the back of my head hurt from laughing so much. Easily the most fun I have had at a tailgate party. And thanks to Gibby for setting it all up. Here at two nice girls from Bowling Green that we met. They stopped and played the bean bag game with us. We did finally make it into the game. Here are a couple shots from the game. As you can see the stadium wasn't too full. I would say it was about half Badger fans.

This was the touchdown on what was, I think the Badgers second or third touchdown.Well that is all I have from the trip. It was a great trip and I hope these guys get together again next year. I am their for sure.

Odd Ramblings

Here is just a posting that is more odd rambling than anything else. First I would like to thank all of my loyal readers. I checked my site meter and in August we set an all new high for page visits. Thank you. I woke up this morning excited about getting done with work so I could get on with my trip to Cleveland. I was in the shower watching TV and I saw a beer commercial for Coors. It showed a train going through a corn field and a bunch of people in the corn field all drinking beer. Then it showed some aliens drinking beer as well. What do you think the effects of alcohol would be on aliens if there were such a thing as aliens? You would think they would get drunk right? E.T. got drunk. But the aliens in “Signs”, their skin would burn if it came into contact with water. Beer is mostly water. I am sure Sigourney Weaver wished she had a half barrel with her. What about Predator? Predator is an alien, right? I think Predator would be a belligerent drunk. If you got Predator hooked on booze it would only be a matter of time before Predator was on “Cops” wearing a dirty wife beater, missing teeth and drinking a 40 out of a brown paper bag. I ended up getting to work and I did some research for my trip. I needed to figure how to get from the airport to my hotel. I didn’t know that Cleveland had a subway. Did you? Apparently the red line goes right from the airport to downtown. I also learned that there is going to be an air show going on at Cleveland’s lake front all weekend. That should make finding a parking lot space by the stadium fairly interesting. I talked to my buddy Gibby last night about the trip. I think I am only one of the few that is flying into Cleveland. Most are driving and coming prepared. Gibby told me that we should have 25 cases of beer for 11 guys. That sounds a little absurd. But upon hearing this I decided to pack my beer bong. I was also so excited at work this morning that I realized that working a full day just wasn’t going to happen. So I asked my boss if I could take a half day. He said sure. Now I guess I can watch part of the Packers last preseason game. Not that it matters. And while I am on the topic of football, wasn’t it great to see meaningful football on TV last night. I spoke with my brother-in-law last night. He informed me that he is officially off the Brewers band wagon. I guess 7 straight loses will do that to you. I agreed with him. But I did have the Brewer game on last night in a small window in the corner of my TV with picture in picture. Here is my last rambling for the day. I am planning on checking my bag at the airport, and here are my only carry on items: my digital camera, MP3 player, cell phone and Gameboy. Could I take any more electronics with me? The batteries are charged in my camera, so expect some good images from this weekend. Go Bucky.

Lost and Forgotten Story

Last weekend while I was at Bob's wedding, as is so often the case when I get a couple of beverages in me, I got around to telling some stories. I made it a point to go to the bar and get a pen and napkin and actually write this one down to share with all of you. This is yet again another General story. I think this one goes back 2 or 3 years when the General and his lovely wife then girlfriend, Diane, lived in sin in Waukesha. I was out by my parents and by my sister that evening. I was driving back to Milwaukee but thought I would stop in and say hi to the General since he lived rather close to my sister. If my memory serves me correct, I believe I had even called the General earlier in the day and said that I might stop by that night. I pulled into the parking lot and walked up to their apartment. Before ringing the doorbell, I took a look inside the apartment through the little window at the top of the door. I could see that just the TV was on. I rang the door bell while still looking through the window. All I saw was this figure jump off of the couch and run into the bedroom. I waited 30 seconds or so, still no one comes to the door. Then I ring the doorbell again. Still nothing. I bang on the door. Again nothing. I yell "General, Diane, I know you are in there, I saw you!!" I pretty much repeated this for a good 4 or 5 minutes absolutely amazed that they were not answering the door. As you may have guessed, the General and Diane were practicing for when they would make their son, Topher. Diane ran into the bedroom and the General was lying out of view on the couch naked as the day he was born. Still under the circumstances I find it highly shocking that they would not answer the door. I have since talked to the General and he asked me what he was supposed to do since he didn't have any clothes on. This is the same guy, who when in college would always, and I emphasize always, walk out of the bathroom after taking a shower with nothing on but flip flops and a towel draped over his shoulder. Then he would proceed to walk up to anyone in the room and talk about stocks or his bunions and occasionally put his foot up on the couch and scratch the underside of his leg. This little bit he called "Old man in the locker room". Yet he still didn't answer the door, but I know that I would have. But this leads me into my poll question what would you do?

If a friend of yours comes to the door while you are bumping uglies, what do you do?
	Run into the bedroom or pretend you aren't home.
	Throw on something quick and answer the door.
	Answer the door as is, wearing absolutely nothing.
	Invite them in and ask them to man the video camera.
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Happy Anniversary

Well today is the anniversary. 9 years ago from today the murder in my house took place. If anyone wants to come over with a Weggie Board, stop on by. Or you can just stop by and help me continue packing stuff up.

Free Money

Every once in a while things go your way. Sort of like when you go to the soda machine and two sodas pop out instead of one. Or when you are doing your laundry and find $5, $10 or if you are really lucky $20 in the pockets. I am sure most of you know that feeling. And it is these little things that make life worth living. Today I hit the jackpot of finding money. I decided to get a start on this moving thing and wanted to pack some things up. I was clearing off my dresser, and I have this rabbit pelt that I bought in Fort Dodge, Iowa laying on it. Last year after my mom paid me for helping them out during deer season, I apparently put some of the money under this rabbit pelt. I obviously completely forgot all about this money, because when I picked up the rabbit pelt. What do I find? $400!!!! Just laying there. It has been there since November. Nice money management. Absolutely ridiculous.

Weekend Update Continued

Saturday morning I woke up at my sister's house. There was no way I was driving home from that wedding. So Roman dropped me off there at 2:30 in the morning. And if you will allow me for a moment to get on my soap box for a second. This might come off as hypocritical, because I am by no means an angel and I have made poor decisions in the past, but Stegall if I catching trying to drive home in that condition again, I am going to punch you in a face. And you were lecturing me about being responcible Thursday night. Hypocrite. In the morning my sister dropped me off at my truck and I got home and slept until noon. That afternoon was my nephews', Josh and Ethan's birthday party. I want to thank my family for starting to double up on these birthday parties. I took Josh and Ethan shopping for birthday presents before the party and then we went to my brother's house. It was nice that the weather broke for a little while so the kids could swim. And we even got in a little bit of a kickball game. In all likelihood the only kickball I will play this year. After the party, I stopped by Ryan and Jen who were having an end of summer party. But I quickly fizzled out at around 1:00 in the morning. So today is Sunday, I have spent the better part of the morning formatting pictures from the weekend. And this afternoon I plan on beginning the process of packing for the move to Minnesota. I am down to 10 days until I am gone. Here are some photos.

My nephew and God-son, Josh. He looks exactly like his father at that same age.Josh and Ethan picking out toys.

Ethan grocery shopping. Weird, he knew exactly where the liqour department was. He must go there with his father and/or grandfather often.Zack swimming underwater. Funny little Zack story. His family are the ones expecting twins in the late winter / early spring. Zack really wants two brothers. And they have been beginning to talk about names for the twins. Zack came up with the names Jack and Mack. I think those are great names. I have been told that their is little chance of those being the names. But I would like to ask my brother and sister in law to reconsider. I can just hear it know "Zack, Mack and Jack!!!! Dinner Time!!!"Josh with his half of the cake.Ethan with his half.Here I am beating Pickle in Laser Checkers.

Weekend Update

Friday night I went to my friend, Bob's, wedding reception. Bob got married a couple months ago in Las Vegas and had the reception here in Wisconsin on this night. The two most memorial moments for me were:

#1. Bob's speech. It has been something of a tradition that I sing at my friends' weddings. And I really didn't have anything planned, but there are a number of people insisting that I sing. I attempted to get the microphone from the DJ but he wasn't going for that. So Bob went up to the DJ to get the microphone and finally got it. But once Bob got the microphone he started in on a speech thanking everyone. It was probably the best speech I have ever heard a groom give at a wedding. It had just the right amount of compassion, sincerity, laughter and vulgarity. Plus it was all off the top of his head. Bob, if you are reading this, awesome speech. And by the time that Bob had finished I knew I wasn't going to sing, because there was no way I was going to follow that speech.

On a side note, what is the deal with wedding DJ's. I have been to a streak of weddings where the DJ's have been just absolute clowns. They seem to be control freaks, won't let you use the mircophone, and don't seem to deal with requests all that well. For any wedding DJ's out there reading this, relax. And if you want to feel important, get a real job.

Moment #2. Shortly after getting to the reception, I was talking to Bob congratulating him, and I offered to buy him a wedding shot at the bar to help get things going in the right direction. Bob declined but said maybe later. An hour and a half later, I was walking towards the bar to get a beer and Bob and Stu were talking at the bar. Bob said, "Hey, let's do that shot. I will buy." I said sure and Bob ordered 3 shots. Just as the bartender finished pouring the shots, The General comes walking up. "Hey Bob, what about me? Do I get one?" So Bob asks the bartender to pour one more shot. After pouring the fourth shot, Preston and Tyler come walking up to the bar. "What are you guys doing? Bob, don't we get shots?" Bob tells the bartender we are going to need two more. This iteration continues on with more people coming up to the bar and Bob ordering more shots a couple of times. When the number of shots on the bar reached around 12, Bob had a bit of a worried look on this face and he asked the bartender how much shots were anyhow. Turns out that they were $4 a piece. This semi shocking bit of information does not stop the orders for shots from continuing to grow. When all was said and done, 25 shots of Jack Daniels lined the bar. Some quick math will tell you that that is $100. I threw out a $20, then a couple other people started throwing $5s, $10s and $20s Bob's way. I am not sure, but Bob might have made more on buying shots, than the dollar dance. Here are some pictures from the night.

The group known as the "Creeps". And look at Stu nearly getting a handful of me. I am smiling for the picture, not because Stu is grabbing my butt.

Joe and Dawn.

Jessica and Bubs.

The General showing the hold that Diane uses to grab him when she wants him to do something. Stu is laughing because Mary has used that same hold on him as well.

Bob giving his speech. "I love you M'er - F'ers." Absolutely priceless.Mr. and Mrs. Rzepiejewski.

Roman coping a feel from the bride. Just kidding Doggie, thanks for breakfast.

Calling all Gamblers

As was the case last year, I am again planning on having a Survivor League. However, since the football season starts at the same time that I am moving, I am plan on postponing the start of the league until the second week of the football season. So if you want to get in the league start sending me your money. $5 an entry. And since I am giving you three weeks notice. Unless I tell you, that I think you aren't a deadbeat and that you are good for the money, I expect payment before you place your pick for the first week of the league. For those unaware, my address is 127 North 78th Street, Milwaukee, WI 53213.

This is me and Auggie by the way, about a month after he was born.

The Hardwick Baby

I have had this picture on my hard drive since Nate scanned it, but I have just been forgetting to post it. Here is Nate and Michel's baby, or at least the ultrasound of it. I think it looks more like Nate than Michel. What do you think?

I wish I had more for you

I wish I had more of a posting for you. But there isn't much going on with me. Although I am down to two weeks and become a Minnesotan. I haven't put up a picture of the day in a while. Here is an old one from my second year of college when I went to visit Krum at the U.

I should have more decent pictures and stories in the next two weeks however. In fact tomorrow is the wedding reception for my friend, Bob and his new wife Beth. Pictured here. I also have my nephews', Josh and Ethan, birthday party Saturday. (I am not sure about the punctuation on that sentence, let me know if it is right.) And Ryan from kickball is also having a party Saturday night. So I should have more pictures for you. And of course next weekend is my trip to Cleveland. I will also make sure to post pictures from the Fantasy Football Draft. Then once I get settled into my new place in Minnesota, I will post pictures from there. So make sure you are checking back with me on a regular basis.

Poll

I spoke with my good friend, Tree, this morning. We discussed a number of topics. But one that we hit on that I found interesting was in regards to my blog. Tree is also good friends with the General. And as you may or may not know, the General also has a blog. In fact I have a link to the General's blog, if you look under my links you will find "Pinko Commy Rag". Anyhow, Tree mentioned to me that he found my blog to be much better than the General's. I am guessing he feels this way since I post pictures of girls in bikinis and the General talks about communism, the military and toilet paper. I wanted to see how the vast public felt on this issue.

Which is the better blog?
	The Pinko Commy Rag
	The Life of Rickie
	They both suck
	Can't you two stop fighting
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Weekend Update

It was yet again another weekend that went by way too fast. Friday night I was just sitting at home and watching the Brewer game in the basement. It was around the 8th inning when I heard my doorbell ring. Who could that be? Afterall it was nearly 10:00 p.m. and no one other than Roman rings my doorbell. It was my dad, 2 uncles and my brother in law. They were at the Brewer game and left. They stopped by me to see if I wanted to go to the casino with them. But I said no. The five of us ended up playing sheepshead until nearly midnight. Saturday was the tie up party. I went with my good friends, Chris and Rebecca. It was pretty nice since we had Chris' barge and then a pontoon boat as well. I guess all I will say about the tie up party is that it was a good time and I will let the pictures speak for themselves. Sunday, I took 6 of my nieces and nephews to see the movie "Barnyard". It wasn't very good, and the kids agreed with me. But they did have a good time just going to the movies. Of course I took them to the gas station to get candy to carry in. We hit the arcade in the theater before the movie. After the movie I took them to two different parks and then we went to McDonalds for ice cream shakes. For the record, I didn't get anything for myself. So my New Years Resolution is still alive. Here are a whole mess of pictures.
This is Katie, Trinity, Ness, Ang and Rebecca
Me and Ness.This is about half of the crowd at the tie up. Actually I thought it was a down year as far as attendance goes, but that probably had more to do with the weather.Anthony and Chris racing doing beer bongs. 2 of the fastest people I have ever seen do a beer bong. Even I am not as fast as either of them.Two girls that I don't know, who were standing at the back of their boat nearly the entire day just looking to get noticed. Mission accomplished.The kids at the movie. Gator, Erin, Pickle, Auggie, Crusher and Boomer.The kids on a trail by the park. I like this picture alot. I made them freeze and not move, and it turned out pretty well.Another pretty cool picture at the park.Erin, Gator, Crusher, Auggie, and Boomer all hanging on, and Pickle on the end cheating. You can't teach height.

5 Minute Meeting

I have had something of a busy week at work. I am sort of getting down to the end here, and I need to finish projects up and get prepared for my move to Minnesota. Wednesday night I went to see Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby with Nate, one of his friends from Williams Bay, and all three Klinks. Shocking as it may sound, Justus was late. Anyhow, I am known for being rather hard on movies. But I actually liked this one. I didn’t find any particular part all that incredibly funny, but it had me giggling throughout. So I highly recommend going. I even said to Preston afterwards that I would pay to see it again in the theater, it would have to be a matinee but I would go see it again. This leads me to Thursday. Thursday I had a meeting in Prescott, Wisconsin for my bridge project. This meeting was required in the contract and the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the project with area residents and business owners to address any of their concerns. I sent out letters three weeks ago for the meeting and had the City of Prescott alert the local business owners about it. I had talked to the City of Prescott earlier in the week and they told me that they had received a number of phone calls from people regarding this project. Well Thursday morning, I drove the 5 hours up to Prescott. There is no real direct route to Prescott and the drive across on highway 10 goes through about 6 small towns. The meeting was set for 3:00. Before starting the meeting we waited 10 minutes or so in case anyone was running late. The attendance for the meeting was a representative from the City of Prescott Public Works, the Chief of Police for Prescott and two guys from the Prime Contractor’s company. The meeting started at 3:10 and was over at 3:15. Then I jumped in my truck and drove another 5 hours back to Milwaukee. Brutal. And a pretty big waste of time.

Additional Phone Number

If for some reason you are unable to get a hold of me on my cell phone. Please try me on my back up phone number, which is 262-751-1597. This is The General's phone number. Now chances are he will not answer. But if by chance he does, please leave a message for me with him. Thanks.

Weekend Update

Sorry, but I didn't get too many pictures in this weekend. I guess I wasn't in the picture taking mood. None the less, I did have a great weekend. Friday night I got together with Tree, The General and the Dogger. We had a couple drinks at my house, watched the Brewers on the patio and then went to Crawdaddy's for dinner. When we got back to my house after dinner, Justus was sitting in my living room watching TV. We then got in some quality sheepshead. Saturday I had a haircut and then I went over to the Stu on Stu basketball tournament. This is an annual 2 on 2 basketball tournament that Stu puts on in his driveway. Always a good time. No I did not play. My shoulder problems prevented me from playing. And it was hard to just sit and watch. Congratulations to Joe and Joe who won the tournament. For the record, I won the tournament a few years ago. After the tournament I went to Butch's annual Shrimp boil. Butch is my friend, Rebecca's, father. It was fantastic. Tons of food. All very good. Then there was a horse shoe tournament. I was quickly put in charge of setting up the brackets for the double elimination tournament. I stayed at Chris and Rebecca's place Saturday night, and then spent most of the day with them on Sunday just hanging around.

I was planning on going off on a rant about cell phones, but I just don't have the energy plus most people probably just don't care. Just last week I cancelled my cell phone and got a new one. This might not be the smartest thing to do, but then again my readership isn't all that high plus I know most of my readers. So here is my new cell phone number: 414-397-1457. I will send an email out to those that are so lucky to be included within my inner circle tomorrow.

The General, Now and Then

Here is just a little comparison that goes to show not all of us get fatter and more bald. The picture on the left was taken in Stevens Point on Jody "Sugar Lips" Rosenthal's roof. We were up there for an indoor soccer tournament. Hard to believe we lost with The General in the shape that he was in. I think this was right around 1996 or 1997. And on the right that is The General 2 weeks ago.

Me, Now and Then

Just to be fair to Preston. Here is a little presentation showing how I have changed over the last couple of years. It isn't too pretty.

On the left is about 3 or 4 weeks ago. Not too good. On the right is from 2000. And if I am not mistaken that was either just before or just after I had done a triathlon. So I was in fairly good shape. Now I am in the shape of a pear. Oddly enough, I am wearing the same swimsuit in both pictures. And don't even look at how the hairline has receeded.

Gas Prices

Last night I filled up with gas in my truck. Over $50. That is just crazy. A year ago when I thought prices were bad hovering around $2 a gallon, I told myself that I wouldn't put more than $20 in at any given time. Now I am afraid I have resorted to bending over and grabbing my ankles just like everyone else. But how bad is it going to get? For every little thing that happens in the world it seems to effect gas prices. If there is a hurricane the price goes up, if they have to replace part of a pipe line the price goes up, if the Brewers lose the price goes up, if the Brewers win (which doesn't seem to be happening all too often) the price goes up.

What will gas prices be by the end of the year?
	$3.00 / gallon
	$3.50 / gallon
	$4.00 / gallon
	$5.00 / gallon
	$2.00 / gallon (Is this even possible, I don't think so)
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Preston, Then and Now

Now normally this site is all about me. But if you have been reading my blog lately, I really don't have much at all to talk about. My life has been pretty boring lately. Here was the highlight of my day today. I went to work out tonight. And I had my MP3 player on, but there was an announcement over the PA system at the club. I only caught the end of the announcement, but I could have swore that they said that the club was closing at 8:30. It was 8:15, and I was only half way through my biking. I wanted to run yet tonight, so I hopped off the bike and was hoping to get in 2 miles on the treadmill. Well I jumped on the treadmill and got it on pace for 7:30 minute miles. I thought I was going to die, but I didn't and I managed to get in the 2 miles. But then I noticed that everyone was still in the club. I must have miss hear the message and it is tomorrow that they are closing at 8:30. I told you my life was pretty boring. Anyhow, I talked to my good friend, Preston tonight. I thanked me for posting the picture of me, Justus and him from 1998. He thought it showed that he had put on a little weight since then. I told him I had an even more telling photo of him. So even though this is "The Life of Rickie" here is a then and now photo of Preston. I will try to dig one up of me. Although I already have one of the General waiting. Enjoy.
In the event that you can't tell, the one on the left is 1999 back when Preston lived with me. And the one on the right was two weeks ago.

Weekend Update

Not much of a weekend for me. I was helping my brothers and my cousin reroof my parents house. That was pretty much it for Friday night and Saturday. And I am pretty sore for the work. I thought I did make something of an observation this weekend. Friday night, my brother in law dropped an F-bomb with the kids around. And then this morning I was at the grocery store, yes I had my MP3 player with me and I rather enjoyed it, and this guy in line behind me was talking to the cashier and he was swearing away complaining about something. I think I am pretty good about not swearing too often, especially with kids around. But maybe I am wrong. I know that Jay always tells me to watch the swearing when there are kids around and I normally don't. Then usually within 5 minutes of Jay warning me, he will go off and drop an F-bomb. So that is today's poll. I suspect the 6 people who have been consistently voting on my blog will vote and the rest of you clowns won't.

How much do I swear?
	Not that I have heard.
	Rarely.
	Like a sailor.
	Like a drunken sailor.
	Like a drunken sailor on shore leave.
	Like a drunken sailor on shore leave with his hand in a bear trap.
	Like a drunken sailor on shore leave with his hand in a F-ing bear trap, damn it.
Free polls from Pollhost.com

And since it has been a while, here is your picture of the day. Or I guess you could call in the picture of the month. This was taken way back when Justus, Preston and I lived together. I am guessing 1998 or so. This was taken in Madison.

Another Useless Blog

I came home for lunch today at noon and I was flipping through the channels. I caught some college football highlights. And I have to say, I am more than ready for football season to start. I love it when there is a college football game on tv on a Wednesday or Thursday night. And to put the gravy on top of the cherry on top of the sundae, in 30 days I will be going to the Badger Game in Cleveland, Ohio against Bowling Green. I am pretty excited about that. I am going with my old roommate, Joe, and a bunch of his college buddies. I went out to West Virginia with them 3 years ago and it was just a blast. If you think I am crazy, just wait. They get way out of hand. This leads me to an old story. It was on this trip out to West Virginia and we actually stayed in Pittsburgh. There was this one guy, Shooter. Crazy. I have never run into a guy like him before. He was buying everyone drinks, he ate a handful of Tums (that can't be good for you), he was drinking out of his own shoe, he had a trick finger that he could pull out of socket. A real piece of work and a blast to be around. We went to a Pittsburgh Pirates game on this particular day. And watching Shooter try to scalp a ticket was hylerious. I have never seen someone get a scalper so mad in my life. Normally the scalper is the one frustrating the person buying the ticket, but not with Shooter. We eventually got into the game, but then most of the group left by the 5th inning and went to a bar. I was with Joe, and we showed up at the bar at around the 7th inning. By the time we go there most of the group was just trashed. After a couple more drinks we decided to head back to the hotel. We left in two groups, I was with the first group. As we were walking back we had to walk across the Roberto Clemente Bridge. I had the brainstorm to climb the bridge. Probably not the smartest idea in the world. Anyhow I started climbing the bridge and they were telling me not to. I ignored them until someone said, "Get down, because if Shooter sees you doing that he will start climbing up there." I thought for sure that if Shooter tried climbing the bridge he would fall into the river. So I got down. I was just about off the bridge when Shooter saw me. He jumped over the barrier and started climbing the other side of the bridge. You can mark this one up as being my fault. We yelled at him to come down. I even started climbing up after him, but he only climbed higher. After 15 minutes of yelling at him, and having Shooter throw his clothes and shoes at us, we decided if we just left he would come down. So we started to leave and sure enough Shooter came down by himself. We were nearly all the way across to the other side of the bridge when a cop on a motorcycle came pulling up. Asking who was up on the bridge, we said "No one." He said that someone on the other side had told him that it was Shooter. He puts Shooter aside and starts yelling at him. Over the next 15 mintues, a squad car pulled up, then an ambulance, two more squad cars, a fire truck, three boats were circling in the river and then a police helicopter flew over head. I was absolutely amazed at the forced that showed up just because someone climbed the bridge. Needless to say I am excited about going to Cleveland. And last I check they have a couple bridges down by the downtown bar area. I will get them up when I can. Trust me they are good. Here are some photos from the trip to Pittsburgh.

Shooter drinking out of his shoe.

Shooter's finger.Shooter climbing up Roberto Clemente Bridge.

Oh and here was some girl throwing up right outside the hotel.

Hypocrite

As is so often the case, my good friend and future Lawyer, Dave "The General" Stegall has once again talked himself in to a corner, which he will no doubt be unable to get out. You would have to read the precious post, which I will be honest is a total waste of time, and then the comments that The General made. Then I would like you to read the below posted email correspondance between The General and I over the course of the day. Once this is all done, the next time any of you get an opportunity to talk to The General, I would advise you to find out which face you are talking to first.

--- Rickie_Davies@URSCorp.com wrote:
>
> Counselor,
>
> Do you have a job yet? I noticed that you were
> checking out the blog late
> last night. I would like to address the creepy
> comment. I have deduced
> that you are not only a Communist but also a
> Hypocrite. I think I can
> safely say that I have known you for at least 15
> years. And I am quite
> certain that you if you in my situation that you
> would be at Bally's every
> Wednesday and Sunday night. And that would probably
> be the only times that
> you worked out. And I doubt that you would even be
> working out much at
> all.
>
>
> Rickie Davies, P.E.
> Highway Engineer
> URS Corporation
> 10200 Innovation Drive, Suite 500
> Milwaukee, WI 53226
> 414-831-4122


Dude, I always try to keep on your blog. As for the
Dance team, you had better believe I would plan my
workouts to coincide when they were there. I never
said I wasn't creepy as well, so in that regard, you
are in good company.

Don't Even Bother Reading This

This could be the most mindless posting I have ever put on my blog, but the Brewers are losing so I have nothing better to do. Today is the 5th day in a row that I have had a rootbeer float. This always seems to happen to me. I do something once and I get hooked on it. I guess that would make me a creature of habit. Saturday when I was down at Germanfest, it was swelteringly (I think that is a word, it passed spell check, so it is a word. Actually an adverb describing what kind of hot it was.) hot, and I wasn't in the mood for a beer. I saw a soda stand and as I approached I noticed that they were selling rootbeer floats for $6, what a bargain. So I got one. Then on Sunday I went grocery shopping and I normally don't walk down the soda and chip isle because there isn't a single healthy item in that isle, but the 2 liters of rootbeer were right on the end and I bought one. I ran out of rootbeer yesterday, so today after working out, I stopped and bought another 2 - 2 liter bottles of rootbeer. I think I am hooked. Maybe once this heatwave is over I will stop drinking them. Then again once it gets cold, then I find myself hooked on hot chocolate. I suppose there are worse problems. I would also like to comment on an observation I had today while shopping for rootbeer. As I said I just finished working out, I was at Ballys. I normally go on Wednesdays because the Brewers dance team practices on Wednesdays and Sundays. It is sad that I know that but it is true. So I try to make it both of those nights, since those are the only two nights that their is anything worth looking at. As I was saying I went to the store after working out and I still had by MP3 player on, so I was listening to that while in the store. And I have to admit, I rather liked it. I am going to make it a point to where it whenever I go grocery shopping. I was also happy to see that the store in West Allis has self checkout lanes. It is amazing how far was have come as a society, that I can now go to the store and buy rootbeer with out having to talk to a single person. Not that I am antisocial. It is just that I have noticed that I rarely run into a cashier who says "Hello, How are you?" and that actually mean it. They always seem so disinterested in you, and act like it is a chore to deal with you. Sorry but that is your job. For the record, I used to a stockboy when I worked at Super John's grocery store. And I also performed some work as a cashier. And I believe that even on my worst days, I was way more cheerful than any of the cashiers that I run into. Not to mention I was much faster. Well if you read to the end of this I commend you. This was just one long rambling after another. And the Brewers are still losing. But Nate just called and he is on the way over with my Playstation 2. I have to go and make myself another rootbeer float.

Did you read this posting?
	No, I listened to you.
	Yes, I should have listened to you. I wish I could have the last 2 minutes back.
	Of course not, I don't read anything you write, I just look at the pictures.
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Who Wants Some Doublemint Gum?

This is a Davies Family News Update for those of you out there that my mom has not yet called. As you may have read in a previous blog posting that I made a couple weeks ago, my sister-in-law, Sue, is again pregnant. Apparently my brother, Jeff, did quite a number on her because they learned today that there are not one but TWO people growing inside her. Congratulations Jeff and Sue. I would celebrate by going to bed early because I don't think you will get too much sleep once, your two new sons, Walker and Texas Ranger, arrive. Although I would like to go on the record and say that I honestly believe it will be two girls. What do you think?

What will the twins be?
	2 Boys
	2 Girls
	1 of each
	Doesn't matter as long as they don't turn out like their uncle
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