I know I am not the only one with this gripe. Last week I took the fam damily to the Outer Banks of NC for what has become our annual beach trip, we do the whole rent a house on the beach thing, even though I have grown to hate the beach, well not really, I just hate how the sand sticks to everything and does not come off, of course unless you go in the water and then YOU HAVE TO WALK ON THAT SHIT AGAIN and it gets all over you AGAIN.
OK Back to good old accounting. Here I am sitting at the beach doing my best to fry myself (did a dam good job if I don't say so myself, funny how SPF 30 does little when baking on the beach for a few hours) and my cell phone rings with that nice Uncle Sam supplied ring tone. I instantly get the ugly eye from my wife as this the last call I got with that ring tone was the one putting me on alert for a possible return to work due to the whole no liquids deal that hit the fan earlier in the week. I answered and like a true professional scum bag got up and walked away from the fam damily and head off down the beach to talk (like being away from my family was going to make this conversation secure.. not sure why I do that, they can be trusted more than some fat chick who has no right to wear a bikini lying on a towel with her roles touching on either side) Well it was not the dreaded call to come back to D.C. it was the dam accounting folks saying my travel card balance was 60 past due. I make a futile attempt to tell them it was not and that it was paid in full on the 15th which is after the statement date. The asshole on the other line simply says well then that is still considered outstanding until next month. Then had the nuts to say can you FAX me proof it was paid. HELLLLLLOOOO ashole I am on a fucking beach, oh wait let me pull out my handy dandy James Bond FAX machine, I forgot I had Q shove one in my ass just in case some fucking moron from accounting called! So I explain that I do not have access to a fax and that I paid them two days after receiving my travel payment from them.
To make a long story short, I ended up having to get my bank to FAX a copy of the payment to the acounting department, listen to the wife bitch about how she had to take all the beach shit back by herself while I was as she stated "working" (This is where I knew I was going to be in trouble) Any hooo I ended up wasting like three hours trying to get it all fixed and my account now that I am back at work still shows the balance being outstanding even though the payment shows on the account. With a nice call to accounting, I was again told that the payments will not clear the account balance until the statement is closed this month.
Bottom line is I wasted a half a day with this goat rope, my division chief was under the impression I was not paying my card off, and my wife was pissed off for the rest of the week, and this could have all been avoided if the accounting assholes did not sit on my travel voucher (which was submitted the first day back from travel) for three weeks before paying me, but hell that is somehow my fault.
If your in a corporate accounting office and your office practices this method of madness FUCK YOU..
Otherwise have a nice day!
Monday, August 21, 2006
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Random SHIT
So Harry Sinden is FINALLY gone! Yup he “retired” today, funny how this comes once Chiarelli has settled in, and a few months after the Boston Globe interview in which owner Jeremy Jacobs stated that “Harry Sinden is old and will not be around for long” He later stated that he was inferring to the fact the Harry was old and some day would die, and until then he would have a job in the Bruins organization. Well he did not die ( and I would not wish that on anyone, well on Harry at least) and he still has an “advisory” role with the team, aka sit down, shut up, and don’t say a word unless asked, doing so mean you keep your salary and you go away quietly.
This week has been SLOW at work, I hate when I am between classes, as there is little for us to do and man you can only surf the internet for so long before you get bored (of course if they would change the no porn rule at work I could stay busy for hours)
I have a gripe I need to put out there, and if you don’t like it don’t read this shit, after all the blog is called ‘Time To Vent” for a freaking reason.
I own a 2005 ford five-hundred. I bought it in January of 2005 and all was good, it rode great and is a cross between Ford owned Volvo and Jaguar X type. It was designed by the engineering teams who designed the Volvo s-80 and the Jaguar X-type sedan. I was happy with it, until I hit 20k miles. Since this “high mileage” mark, my car has been in the shop for every reason you can imagine. The struts have been replaced, the rear sway bar was bent (how the hell that happened no one seems to know) the blinkers have both gone haywire at separate times, blinking a three times the normal speed, just shy of looking like a strobe light, last week the brake lights stuck on, the drivers window made a nice loud sweeeeeaaaak when opened, and the trunk required you to pull on it two or three times before it would loosing and finally open. Needless to say I am ready to drive it off a cliff in a fit of rage, but of course that would require me to purchase a new car and I kind of like not having a car payment seeing that this one is paid off (thanks to big Jack and his Christmas gifts he’s been handing out since retiring). I am planning to put my vehicle woes in writing and sending it to Ford, I am sure that will do little, but it may get me a sympathy vote for an extended warranty. I will keep you posted to the out come.
On to the deck. I am building, well having a deck built, but I am acting as the general contractor to keep the costs down. This means I pull the building permit schedule the inspections and order the materials. Well the guys that where sent out by the builder to construct the deck are some pretty good guys, they have been great, they put together the materials list contacted the supply company and got me their discount, so all I had to do was pay for it (that would have been great if they covered that too!) They even scheduled the first inspection (the footing or hole inspection) for me. So the County sends out a gut on Monday to check the holes to ensure that they where 24” deep and he shows up sticks his tape measure in the hole and says, “You failed, this hole is only 23 and 3/8 deep.” He would not allow the guy to stick a shovel in and scoop the dirt out that had simply gone back in the hole from the heavy down poor we had the night before. What a fucking prick. So we had to pay a second $35 bucks for some fat ass chick to come out the next day and not even pull out a tape measure, she just looked in the hole and said looks good to me, you pass. I wanted to say WHAT THE FUCK BITCH at least pull out your fucking tape measure and make me think that the County was not just filling some quota of permit failures, that is BULLSHIT. I love to see my tax dollars used so wisely. (Have I mentioned I am writing this at work, this is a direct result of the County wasting tax dollars, resulting in me wasting federal tax dollars, it is a vicious cycle). Anyway the deck can now move forward and by the time I return from OBX next week I will be able to sit out on it smoke a cigar and enjoy an ice cold Sammy or two (or three or four or five)
This week has been SLOW at work, I hate when I am between classes, as there is little for us to do and man you can only surf the internet for so long before you get bored (of course if they would change the no porn rule at work I could stay busy for hours)
I have a gripe I need to put out there, and if you don’t like it don’t read this shit, after all the blog is called ‘Time To Vent” for a freaking reason.
I own a 2005 ford five-hundred. I bought it in January of 2005 and all was good, it rode great and is a cross between Ford owned Volvo and Jaguar X type. It was designed by the engineering teams who designed the Volvo s-80 and the Jaguar X-type sedan. I was happy with it, until I hit 20k miles. Since this “high mileage” mark, my car has been in the shop for every reason you can imagine. The struts have been replaced, the rear sway bar was bent (how the hell that happened no one seems to know) the blinkers have both gone haywire at separate times, blinking a three times the normal speed, just shy of looking like a strobe light, last week the brake lights stuck on, the drivers window made a nice loud sweeeeeaaaak when opened, and the trunk required you to pull on it two or three times before it would loosing and finally open. Needless to say I am ready to drive it off a cliff in a fit of rage, but of course that would require me to purchase a new car and I kind of like not having a car payment seeing that this one is paid off (thanks to big Jack and his Christmas gifts he’s been handing out since retiring). I am planning to put my vehicle woes in writing and sending it to Ford, I am sure that will do little, but it may get me a sympathy vote for an extended warranty. I will keep you posted to the out come.
On to the deck. I am building, well having a deck built, but I am acting as the general contractor to keep the costs down. This means I pull the building permit schedule the inspections and order the materials. Well the guys that where sent out by the builder to construct the deck are some pretty good guys, they have been great, they put together the materials list contacted the supply company and got me their discount, so all I had to do was pay for it (that would have been great if they covered that too!) They even scheduled the first inspection (the footing or hole inspection) for me. So the County sends out a gut on Monday to check the holes to ensure that they where 24” deep and he shows up sticks his tape measure in the hole and says, “You failed, this hole is only 23 and 3/8 deep.” He would not allow the guy to stick a shovel in and scoop the dirt out that had simply gone back in the hole from the heavy down poor we had the night before. What a fucking prick. So we had to pay a second $35 bucks for some fat ass chick to come out the next day and not even pull out a tape measure, she just looked in the hole and said looks good to me, you pass. I wanted to say WHAT THE FUCK BITCH at least pull out your fucking tape measure and make me think that the County was not just filling some quota of permit failures, that is BULLSHIT. I love to see my tax dollars used so wisely. (Have I mentioned I am writing this at work, this is a direct result of the County wasting tax dollars, resulting in me wasting federal tax dollars, it is a vicious cycle). Anyway the deck can now move forward and by the time I return from OBX next week I will be able to sit out on it smoke a cigar and enjoy an ice cold Sammy or two (or three or four or five)
Monday, August 07, 2006
Where we stand, five weeks til camp begins
With training camp only five weeks away, I decided to take a look at the Bruins roster and see where we stand. Now new GM Peter Chiarelli has made a valiant effort to rekindle hockey in the Hub and has brought in some talent in Chara and Savard. That said, Savard needs someone who can put the puck in the net, yes Muzz can do that but without a legitimate threat on the opposite wing, Muzz is too easy to cover as we saw last season.
According to BostonBruins.com the Bruins have 34 players on their roster. To me this would mean you have 34 players signed sealed and delivered for day one of camp September 12th. Well taking a look at who is on the roster shows that at least three of those listed are "hopefuls" one is Patrice Bergeron (he had better be there, after signing Boyes, they had better be inking Patrice as he is obviously a much higher caliber player than Boyes) another is Jurcina, now this is an interesting one as he is a defensemen and we seem to have a plethora of D right now. Of the 34 players on the roster there are ten defensemen, now I know you need D to win but five sets of D on your roster is absurd. Break it down a little further and you will see that four of the ten are set in stone, (Alberts, Chara, Mara and Brad Stuart) that leaves six guys fighting for at most four slots on D and that is saying that they plan to carry four sets of defense which may be a little much. Now throw into this mix the fact that Brian Leetch remains out there and would likely play in Boston for the home town discount of a million bucks and you now have six guys fighting for three slots. That said look for Wade Brookbank, Jurcina (if signed) and likely Jason York to fill out our D.
On to the forwards....
The first line will likely be Bergeron (if signed) Sturm and Boyes. Not sure if I keep it that way but it seemed to work last season. Now if Kessel signs and I was the next former Bruins coach I may set a first line of Savard centering Muzz and Kessel (yes he is a center but would likely play wing until he got used to the NHL, this would open up Murray and also give him two set up men, think of the possible out come there, it makes you drool doesn't it). For fun, plus this is my blog and I choose to do so let's say that Kessel does not go back to school so our top two lines would be as stated above in either order depending on who your opponent was. Do you want fast with no much hitting? Well then start the Bergeron line. Do you want one fast as hell guy (Savard) and two guys who can hit anything that moves? Well start Muzz and the boys. It could turn out to be one of the best one two combinations the "Hub of Hockey" has seen in a long time.
Now for the bangers, the third line looks to be shaping up with Primeau (number three unsigned but on the roster player) P.J. Axelsson and Shean Donovan. The fourth line if there is one would likely not see much if any playing time and would likely be one or two guys who are on the bubble splitting time between Providence and Boston.
The bid signing of the summer of course is Chara. He was in many folks minds the cream of the free agent crop and some how Jeff Gorton pulled one out of his ass and landed him. Kudos Jeff, but I think the fact the Chiarelli was coming to town may have helped with that one. Not sure why nobody has thrown up the red flag on Chara leaving for Boston when Chiarelli was sitting in Ottawa "helping" with their frsigning signings. I know that Ottawa is run by a bunch of Canadians but are they really that dumb? Never let someone who is leaving help you do anything, except clean out their office. Thanks Ottawa we owe you one there.
With the signing of Chara instantly made folks in Boston realize two things, the new commitment to winning may not have been bullshit and we are now once again looking like the BIG bad Bruins of old. Well not so fast, I will not throw the bullshit flag on the commitment (I am hopeful) but I will throw it out on the BIG, well kind of. We certainly are big, with an average weight of 202. Wow that reads like a football team doesn't it! Well now for the kicker, Chara's 6'9"frame does little for team height, we are a measly 5'10". That means I am the size of an average Bruin, and my fat ass could shed at least fifteen pounds, Hell when I played real hockey, I was listed as 5' 10" 185 (and I am sure they added some weight there as I would guess I was MAYBE a buck 80 and no more than 5'9") Bottom line is, like my brothers tell me, I still have my hair but some day I will be bald like them and then I will be short, fat AND bald! This makes the Bruins short and fat. Granted that should change after camp as one of the less likely roster spots is that of Chris Collins who is only 5'8" and weighs 195 (Holy crap he is fucking round, or he is freaking ripped like you wouldn't believe!)
Last but not least I took a look at the player place of birth. We have 9 U.S. born players. Three, will see the ice (Alberts, Mara, and Tim Thomas) the other six will likely see the ice but it will have a broken spoked B on it that looks a lot like a P for Providence. We have 13 Canadian players, nine will likely be skating on Causeway and the other four are up in the air as to where they end up. The remaining slots are taken up by players from other countries, Slovakia, Germany, Sweden and Russia if you count Zhamnov (I wouldn't even if he was healthy he would have been gone)
Bottom line is we definitely look different on paper than we did last year, I will give them that, first two lines could look pretty solid, net remains a question mark unless Toivonen picks up where he left off and Thomas remembers to keep the flopping to a minimum, as I am sure everyone has figured out to go high by now. Overall I see the Bruins starting the season ranked second in the Northeast behind Ottawa, or Buffalo, not sure which of those is likely to come out better or worse than last year. I will make my season prediction after the first few games.
Till then..... 33 days until camp opens!
According to BostonBruins.com the Bruins have 34 players on their roster. To me this would mean you have 34 players signed sealed and delivered for day one of camp September 12th. Well taking a look at who is on the roster shows that at least three of those listed are "hopefuls" one is Patrice Bergeron (he had better be there, after signing Boyes, they had better be inking Patrice as he is obviously a much higher caliber player than Boyes) another is Jurcina, now this is an interesting one as he is a defensemen and we seem to have a plethora of D right now. Of the 34 players on the roster there are ten defensemen, now I know you need D to win but five sets of D on your roster is absurd. Break it down a little further and you will see that four of the ten are set in stone, (Alberts, Chara, Mara and Brad Stuart) that leaves six guys fighting for at most four slots on D and that is saying that they plan to carry four sets of defense which may be a little much. Now throw into this mix the fact that Brian Leetch remains out there and would likely play in Boston for the home town discount of a million bucks and you now have six guys fighting for three slots. That said look for Wade Brookbank, Jurcina (if signed) and likely Jason York to fill out our D.
On to the forwards....
The first line will likely be Bergeron (if signed) Sturm and Boyes. Not sure if I keep it that way but it seemed to work last season. Now if Kessel signs and I was the next former Bruins coach I may set a first line of Savard centering Muzz and Kessel (yes he is a center but would likely play wing until he got used to the NHL, this would open up Murray and also give him two set up men, think of the possible out come there, it makes you drool doesn't it). For fun, plus this is my blog and I choose to do so let's say that Kessel does not go back to school so our top two lines would be as stated above in either order depending on who your opponent was. Do you want fast with no much hitting? Well then start the Bergeron line. Do you want one fast as hell guy (Savard) and two guys who can hit anything that moves? Well start Muzz and the boys. It could turn out to be one of the best one two combinations the "Hub of Hockey" has seen in a long time.
Now for the bangers, the third line looks to be shaping up with Primeau (number three unsigned but on the roster player) P.J. Axelsson and Shean Donovan. The fourth line if there is one would likely not see much if any playing time and would likely be one or two guys who are on the bubble splitting time between Providence and Boston.
The bid signing of the summer of course is Chara. He was in many folks minds the cream of the free agent crop and some how Jeff Gorton pulled one out of his ass and landed him. Kudos Jeff, but I think the fact the Chiarelli was coming to town may have helped with that one. Not sure why nobody has thrown up the red flag on Chara leaving for Boston when Chiarelli was sitting in Ottawa "helping" with their frsigning signings. I know that Ottawa is run by a bunch of Canadians but are they really that dumb? Never let someone who is leaving help you do anything, except clean out their office. Thanks Ottawa we owe you one there.
With the signing of Chara instantly made folks in Boston realize two things, the new commitment to winning may not have been bullshit and we are now once again looking like the BIG bad Bruins of old. Well not so fast, I will not throw the bullshit flag on the commitment (I am hopeful) but I will throw it out on the BIG, well kind of. We certainly are big, with an average weight of 202. Wow that reads like a football team doesn't it! Well now for the kicker, Chara's 6'9"frame does little for team height, we are a measly 5'10". That means I am the size of an average Bruin, and my fat ass could shed at least fifteen pounds, Hell when I played real hockey, I was listed as 5' 10" 185 (and I am sure they added some weight there as I would guess I was MAYBE a buck 80 and no more than 5'9") Bottom line is, like my brothers tell me, I still have my hair but some day I will be bald like them and then I will be short, fat AND bald! This makes the Bruins short and fat. Granted that should change after camp as one of the less likely roster spots is that of Chris Collins who is only 5'8" and weighs 195 (Holy crap he is fucking round, or he is freaking ripped like you wouldn't believe!)
Last but not least I took a look at the player place of birth. We have 9 U.S. born players. Three, will see the ice (Alberts, Mara, and Tim Thomas) the other six will likely see the ice but it will have a broken spoked B on it that looks a lot like a P for Providence. We have 13 Canadian players, nine will likely be skating on Causeway and the other four are up in the air as to where they end up. The remaining slots are taken up by players from other countries, Slovakia, Germany, Sweden and Russia if you count Zhamnov (I wouldn't even if he was healthy he would have been gone)
Bottom line is we definitely look different on paper than we did last year, I will give them that, first two lines could look pretty solid, net remains a question mark unless Toivonen picks up where he left off and Thomas remembers to keep the flopping to a minimum, as I am sure everyone has figured out to go high by now. Overall I see the Bruins starting the season ranked second in the Northeast behind Ottawa, or Buffalo, not sure which of those is likely to come out better or worse than last year. I will make my season prediction after the first few games.
Till then..... 33 days until camp opens!
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Hotter Than Balls!
Hotter than balls you say? Well after and exhaustive search on Google, I have found that this statement goes along with any tempature that is above 94 degrees. Yup your balls are actually the coolest part of your body, and I don't mean large fireball explosion cool I mean tempature cool. So is hot as balls actually that hot? Not when you think about how fucking hot it is out today! I got in my car this morning and began the trek to work at 0630 and it was 92 fucking degrees already. Yes this was my car thermometer and we know how freaking reliable they are but hell, even if it was off by ten degrees that would still make it eighty fucking two degrees... and the dam sun was still rubbing the crust from its eyes. I can not wait to go to lunch and fry my balls on my black interior (Note to self: Don't by black leather, it cooks your swimmers!)
During my exhaustive research I came up with some fun tempature facts, did you know there is only one state in the country that has a record low tempature that is not negative? Any guesses on which one? Freaking Hawaii. The lowest recorded tempature (since records where kept, not sure when the hell that is but the weather asshole says it all the time so I decided to toss it in) is twelve degrees, now don't get me wrong, that is cold as shit, but seeing that it is still in the double digits it ain't THAT cold. Those poor bastards must have frozen their coconuts that day, literally!
During my exhaustive research I came up with some fun tempature facts, did you know there is only one state in the country that has a record low tempature that is not negative? Any guesses on which one? Freaking Hawaii. The lowest recorded tempature (since records where kept, not sure when the hell that is but the weather asshole says it all the time so I decided to toss it in) is twelve degrees, now don't get me wrong, that is cold as shit, but seeing that it is still in the double digits it ain't THAT cold. Those poor bastards must have frozen their coconuts that day, literally!
Friday, July 28, 2006
SEVEN MY ASS!
Ever thought about the seven wonders of the world? Well today in a random thought I decided to look them up, well according to more than one source there are not only seven wonders of the world, there are eight seperate categories of the seven wonders, and I was thinking right after my original six tour, and my skiing in the rockies and alps, I would hit the seven wonders of the world tour. Well according to this list of the SEVEN(??) wonders of the world, I have been to 11 of the 56? Fifty six what the hell is that? I guess the “56 wonders of the world” was not a great marketing slogan so they changed it to seven, and added sub categories. By the way, most of these places on this list charge a fee so if you think it is not a marketing ploy think again, you have got to love capitalism!
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (0-7)
Can't say that I have ever been to any of these and I can not say that I will never go, seeing that some of these are in the Middle East and Uncle Sam is bound to ship me off there one of these days. Not that I will be doing much sight seeing but hey you never know I may get in to one or two of these places while shooting at some skinnies.
The Great Pyramid of Giza
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
The Statue of Zeus at Olympia
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
The Colossus of Rhodes
The Pharos of Alexandria
The Seven Wonders of the Medieval Mind (1-7)
Haven't been to any of these either, I did see part of the Great Wall of China at Epcot once, so for technical reasons I will mark that one off with an astrict and move it to the bottom of my to do list, and count it for now, hell that is a communist country and I am not putting myself through hours of interrogation just to see some dam wall!
Stonehenge
The Colosseum
The Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa
The Great Wall of China *
The Porcelain Tower of Nanjing
The Hagia Sophia
The Leaning Tower of Pisa
The Seven Natural Wonders of the World (2-7)
Check that block, been to the Grand Canyon. I also thought that Niagra Falls was on this portion of the list but I guess not. Also how come the Great Barrier Reef is on this list and the next one! Something fishy here, Niagra is being added from an admin stand point, and why because this is my freaking blog and I said it should be on there so sit down and shut your pie hole.
Mount Everest
The Great Barrier Reef See The next dam list!
The Grand Canyon YEAH! I been there!
Victoria Falls
The Harbor of Rio de Janeiro
Paricutin Volcano
The Northern Lights
Niagara Falls (U.S. Side, the Canadian side does not count, until you eliminate those French speaking, tree hugging, white flag waving jackasses who live in Montreal.
The Seven Underwater Wonders of the World (0-7)
O.K. the Great Barrier Reef is now only on one list (I must have copied this crap off an Aussie web site) nothing like stuffing the ballot box or anything. Still have not been to any of these, some day if MARCH ever gets me diving, we will make the trip to Australia and go swimming with the Great Whites feeding at the reef.
Palau
The Belize Barrier Reef
The Galapagos Islands
The Northern Red Sea
Lake Baikal
The Great Barrier Reef*
The Deep Sea Vents
The Seven Wonders of the Modern World (4-7)
OK so I have been to the CN tower, I have been to the Empire State Building, I have been to the Panama Canal, and I have been to the Golden Gate Bridge. That make this list close to completion, not sure if I will ever do the Channel Tunnel, just imagine a Ted Williams incident halfway through that bad boy. NO THANKS, not to mention the fact that XM does not work in tunnels and I may miss Mike and Mike while driving through.
The Empire State Building DONE
The Itaipú Dam
The CN Tower DONE
The Panama Canal DONE
The Channel Tunnel
The North Sea Protection Works
The Golden Gate Bridge DONE
The Seven Forgotten Natural Wonders of the World (2-7)
FIVE, what the hell happened to the other two? They are so forgotten that who ever came up with this list forgot to add them? WFT OVER! If they are forgotten, then who the hell cares, Niagara Falls is on this list (must be for the Canadian side as no one goes to the Canadian side unless they went to the U.S. side first and drove across the bridge, just to say they went to Canada. Been to the Bay of Fundy, this place is pretty amazing when the tide comes in, I highly recommend it, the tide comes in something like 60 feet higher than low tide. I was fairly impressed with the whole thing.
Angel Falls
The Bay of Fundy DONE
Iguaçú Falls Krakatoa Island
Mount Fuji Mount Kilimanjaro
Niagara Falls *(Canadian side) DONE
The Seven Forgotten Modern Wonders of the World (2-7)
This whole forgotten theme needs to go, give me a dam break are they wonders or are the not? The Clock Tower (Big Ben) DONE.. “Look kids, Big Ben, Parliament..” For you Chevy Chase fans!
Eiffel Tower
The Gateway Arch
The Aswan High
Dam Hoover Dam DONE
Mount Rushmore National Memorial
The Petronas Towers
The Seven Forgotten Wonders of the Medieval Mind (0-7)
OK is this of the world or of the mind? Either way I’m 0-7 here, unless of course I go there in my mind. Shut up, I can do what I want, after all IT’S MY DAM BLOG and it’s is my mind, well what is left of it at least, not to mention the portion Uncle Sam has brain washed, hell o.k. so it WAS my mind and now I lease it!
Abu Simbel
Temple Angkor
Wat Taj Mahal
Mont Saint-Michel
The Moai Statues
The Parthenon
The Shwedagon Pagoda
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (0-7)
Can't say that I have ever been to any of these and I can not say that I will never go, seeing that some of these are in the Middle East and Uncle Sam is bound to ship me off there one of these days. Not that I will be doing much sight seeing but hey you never know I may get in to one or two of these places while shooting at some skinnies.
The Great Pyramid of Giza
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
The Statue of Zeus at Olympia
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
The Colossus of Rhodes
The Pharos of Alexandria
The Seven Wonders of the Medieval Mind (1-7)
Haven't been to any of these either, I did see part of the Great Wall of China at Epcot once, so for technical reasons I will mark that one off with an astrict and move it to the bottom of my to do list, and count it for now, hell that is a communist country and I am not putting myself through hours of interrogation just to see some dam wall!
Stonehenge
The Colosseum
The Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa
The Great Wall of China *
The Porcelain Tower of Nanjing
The Hagia Sophia
The Leaning Tower of Pisa
The Seven Natural Wonders of the World (2-7)
Check that block, been to the Grand Canyon. I also thought that Niagra Falls was on this portion of the list but I guess not. Also how come the Great Barrier Reef is on this list and the next one! Something fishy here, Niagra is being added from an admin stand point, and why because this is my freaking blog and I said it should be on there so sit down and shut your pie hole.
Mount Everest
The Great Barrier Reef See The next dam list!
The Grand Canyon YEAH! I been there!
Victoria Falls
The Harbor of Rio de Janeiro
Paricutin Volcano
The Northern Lights
Niagara Falls (U.S. Side, the Canadian side does not count, until you eliminate those French speaking, tree hugging, white flag waving jackasses who live in Montreal.
The Seven Underwater Wonders of the World (0-7)
O.K. the Great Barrier Reef is now only on one list (I must have copied this crap off an Aussie web site) nothing like stuffing the ballot box or anything. Still have not been to any of these, some day if MARCH ever gets me diving, we will make the trip to Australia and go swimming with the Great Whites feeding at the reef.
Palau
The Belize Barrier Reef
The Galapagos Islands
The Northern Red Sea
Lake Baikal
The Great Barrier Reef*
The Deep Sea Vents
The Seven Wonders of the Modern World (4-7)
OK so I have been to the CN tower, I have been to the Empire State Building, I have been to the Panama Canal, and I have been to the Golden Gate Bridge. That make this list close to completion, not sure if I will ever do the Channel Tunnel, just imagine a Ted Williams incident halfway through that bad boy. NO THANKS, not to mention the fact that XM does not work in tunnels and I may miss Mike and Mike while driving through.
The Empire State Building DONE
The Itaipú Dam
The CN Tower DONE
The Panama Canal DONE
The Channel Tunnel
The North Sea Protection Works
The Golden Gate Bridge DONE
The Seven Forgotten Natural Wonders of the World (2-7)
FIVE, what the hell happened to the other two? They are so forgotten that who ever came up with this list forgot to add them? WFT OVER! If they are forgotten, then who the hell cares, Niagara Falls is on this list (must be for the Canadian side as no one goes to the Canadian side unless they went to the U.S. side first and drove across the bridge, just to say they went to Canada. Been to the Bay of Fundy, this place is pretty amazing when the tide comes in, I highly recommend it, the tide comes in something like 60 feet higher than low tide. I was fairly impressed with the whole thing.
Angel Falls
The Bay of Fundy DONE
Iguaçú Falls Krakatoa Island
Mount Fuji Mount Kilimanjaro
Niagara Falls *(Canadian side) DONE
The Seven Forgotten Modern Wonders of the World (2-7)
This whole forgotten theme needs to go, give me a dam break are they wonders or are the not? The Clock Tower (Big Ben) DONE.. “Look kids, Big Ben, Parliament..” For you Chevy Chase fans!
Eiffel Tower
The Gateway Arch
The Aswan High
Dam Hoover Dam DONE
Mount Rushmore National Memorial
The Petronas Towers
The Seven Forgotten Wonders of the Medieval Mind (0-7)
OK is this of the world or of the mind? Either way I’m 0-7 here, unless of course I go there in my mind. Shut up, I can do what I want, after all IT’S MY DAM BLOG and it’s is my mind, well what is left of it at least, not to mention the portion Uncle Sam has brain washed, hell o.k. so it WAS my mind and now I lease it!
Abu Simbel
Temple Angkor
Wat Taj Mahal
Mont Saint-Michel
The Moai Statues
The Parthenon
The Shwedagon Pagoda
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Tell me how it is...
FIRST OFF, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARCH!
OK so some of you know what I do for a living and some of you may have figured it out. Either way, I have been in my career field for ten years, working at various locations around the world doing various types of activities in my arena of work. Not to boast but I am considered one of the up and coming young guns in my line of work and have been brought back in house to do some training of new employees on the finer art of being a professional scum bag. Well today my superiors decided that the training staff has been a little to harsh on some of the new folks and they want to give us a class on how to be a good classroom instructor. Now that is fine, I am not a professional instructor (well I am according to my job description, but in reality I am someone who has been there, done that, and that is why I am where I am teaching about real life situations these people are likely to run into) So my feathers are ruffled because they have taken someone who has a degree in education (not sure if they have ever taught in a classroom, and if they did it was not a group of adults, it was at most some high school kids, which is different.) and they have told this person that they will teach us (the trainers) how to approach our class. OK teach me how to approach them, but don't go telling me that when I say, "you'll sh#t your pants the first time you shoot at someone or get shot at " or "talking like that to a border guard in country X will get you an a$$ beating", or "when someone is interrogating you it is not because they think your cute" this is not something these kids need to hear. Well in my professional opinion, I am going to tell them like it is, not how some person with NO experience who has not been there or even heard stories from someone who has thinks I should tell them. This business sucks and there are minimal rewards for the work you do, every time you step out the door you are putting your life, your families life and all those who know you (watch out MARCH this means you) on the line. There are people out there who would love to get a hold of someone you care about just to make you miserable (I guess your safe then MARCH) it truly is a sick business and I am suppose to handle these kids who have never been exposed to any of it that everything is fine and dandy and that at no time will they ever be put in harms way. Guess Uncle Sam wants them to see this world through candy coated glasses and let them think everything is just great. Man do I feel sorry for the next class when they actually go out and do their job and run into that one person who just simply hates America and will slap the crap out of them of just looking American.
This place is JACKED UP!
OK so some of you know what I do for a living and some of you may have figured it out. Either way, I have been in my career field for ten years, working at various locations around the world doing various types of activities in my arena of work. Not to boast but I am considered one of the up and coming young guns in my line of work and have been brought back in house to do some training of new employees on the finer art of being a professional scum bag. Well today my superiors decided that the training staff has been a little to harsh on some of the new folks and they want to give us a class on how to be a good classroom instructor. Now that is fine, I am not a professional instructor (well I am according to my job description, but in reality I am someone who has been there, done that, and that is why I am where I am teaching about real life situations these people are likely to run into) So my feathers are ruffled because they have taken someone who has a degree in education (not sure if they have ever taught in a classroom, and if they did it was not a group of adults, it was at most some high school kids, which is different.) and they have told this person that they will teach us (the trainers) how to approach our class. OK teach me how to approach them, but don't go telling me that when I say, "you'll sh#t your pants the first time you shoot at someone or get shot at " or "talking like that to a border guard in country X will get you an a$$ beating", or "when someone is interrogating you it is not because they think your cute" this is not something these kids need to hear. Well in my professional opinion, I am going to tell them like it is, not how some person with NO experience who has not been there or even heard stories from someone who has thinks I should tell them. This business sucks and there are minimal rewards for the work you do, every time you step out the door you are putting your life, your families life and all those who know you (watch out MARCH this means you) on the line. There are people out there who would love to get a hold of someone you care about just to make you miserable (I guess your safe then MARCH) it truly is a sick business and I am suppose to handle these kids who have never been exposed to any of it that everything is fine and dandy and that at no time will they ever be put in harms way. Guess Uncle Sam wants them to see this world through candy coated glasses and let them think everything is just great. Man do I feel sorry for the next class when they actually go out and do their job and run into that one person who just simply hates America and will slap the crap out of them of just looking American.
This place is JACKED UP!
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Some weekend FUN!
I spent this past weekend doing two of my favorite things, playing hockey and drinking. I traveled to sunny, ok mostly cloudy, Pottstown PA to play in a hockey tournament. This was a twelve team tourney with each team guaranteed at least three games and the finals being the two teams with the most points from each of the two six team divisions (Point breakdown was; two for a win, one for a tie, and nodda for a loss) which means you loose one game and you are pretty much done. The ride to PA was pretty much uneventful, other than the freaking traffic which is expected in the DC area. The team "Englewood Jack" (we had to spell it with an “E” due to copyright laws and the fact that we have shirts, hats, magnetic signs and many other forms of useless paraphernalia) met in downtown Manassas about 1:00 on Friday and headed North (well actually West, then North but who the hell cares) we had about 14 cars, vans, and sport utilities filled with the likes of 40 pounds of steak tips, 100 hamburger patties, ten packages of hot dogs, who the hell knows how many packages of buns (but as Saturday would tell us it was not enough) 29 cases of beer consisting of everything from Bud to Ice cold Sammy Adams (of course staying with my Boston roots, I refused to pack my 60 gallon igloo with anything but Sammy) Our team captain had the whole trip planned out from start to finish, we would all meet at the Taco Bell parking lot at 1:00 and he would place us in vehicle order for the road trip (seemed a little anal until I figure out there was a method to his madness) El’ Capitan had it worked out so that those of us who carry get out of jail free cards where spaced with one in the front, one in the middle and two bringing up the rear, this was to ensure that the only thing issued on the highway was a DEA, US CUSTOMS or USSS tee-shirt, and a hand shake with a promise to keep our speed reasonable. Needless to say no one was stopped, and all in all the weekend only had one instance of local law enforcement interference which was quickly squashed when a couple of us badged up and agreed to stop drinking in the rink parking lot at the request of four local Pottstown PD. (I think this was the biggest show of police presence this town had seen in years, the let down on the corporals face when he realized he was busting up a group of feds was priceless.) So we arrived at the hotel (Holiday Inn express) at about five on Friday night and proceeded to check in, grab a quick snack, two or three or four cold beers, then it was off to the rink for our 9:00 PM game. We where not sure what to expect, but we knew one thing, we had 18 guys which meant almost four lines of skaters, we knew we could skate anyone into the ground come the third period. The game started off quick and the pace was fast, the team we faced was decent but had a short bench, only carrying nine guys. We scored about 30 seconds into the game on a break away by my brother-in-law who was brought in as a pure ringer and it showed early, as he was untouchable. By the middle of the second period the other team was legless and we skated to an easy 5-0 win. I came out of the contest with two goals and two assists, and a plus five rating. Once back in the locker room, we found a nice present of two cases of beer sitting in the middle of the room, turns out the winning team gets two cases of beer after each win. (This is on top of the 29 we had already. This was not a good thing as some of our gents usually forget that we can stop drinking even if we still have beer left) After the game we decided to head back to the hotel order up a couple of hundred hot wings and consume our winning beer, deciding to take it easy, seeing that game two was at 9:15 Saturday morning. Well taking it easy meant that we went to bed by 2:00 am this had no correlation to the amount of beer we drank, as if you don't have a beer in your hand with this team somebody is likely to make you shot gun one (HINT: when playing with the Jack's keep a can in your hand even when passing out). By the time 2 am rolled around I was about ten beers deep and had consumed what felt like fifty wings. Earlier in the evening we had concocted our room heater/AC as to where all our gear was being air dried, the stench that came from that room when we opened the door stained the walls in the hallway, it was a cross between a deer that had been lying on I-95 for two weeks in August and baby puke. I thought for sure my wings where going to come up. After about thirty minutes I finally got used to the stench, not to mention I think I passed out (beer or smell being the cause is yet to be determined) but none the less when I packed my gear for the game Saturday morning it was dry! We packed our bags and headed for the lobby to do some damage to the continental breakfast. I pounded a couple of cinnamon buns and two giant glasses of apple juice (mistake one and two) and headed to the rink for game two. Game two was more entertaining that game one, as we where all hung over (some of us still drunk, others actually puking prior to taking the ice, I myself wanted to puke or at least take a dump but could not do either, in fear of doing both at the same time.) when all was said and done we had skated circles around this team and laughed, puked and pissed (one guy left between periods to piss and was gone for fifteen minutes, that was either a shit or a puke, either way it was funny, and definitely not a piss) our way to a 9-0 victory. I came out of that one still drunk, with two goals and four assists and was a plus 7. After the game we once again found those two mysterious cases of beer begging us to drink them so of course we did and then headed to the hotel to once again stain the walls with stench and take a quick nap and be back at the rink for a 5:15 game. The afternoon game was the talk of the tournament, as it was two of the three undefeated teams playing each other and it was billed as young and fast vs. old and skilled (we where the latter, as our team age average was 34 and we had two guys under 26) The game started off fast and the young bastards got off to a two – zip lead at the end of the first. We battled back in the second and trailed 2-1 starting to carry the play as the young guns could not keep rolling with the three lines we had coming at them. (They had 9 guys total and we showed them that three plus lines is the way to go in a men’s league tournament.) The third period started off bad as we let up two soft goals in the first minute and a half, and found ourselves trailing 4-1, things where not looking good for the Jack’s streak of ten straight appearances in tournament finals. About halfway through the period the young guns where spent they could not catch our first line and the other lines just kept the pressure on in the offensive zone. When all was said and done we had mounted the most incredible comeback in Jack’s history and we tallied seven goals in the third period to win 8-6. I ended that game with a goal and three assists and was a plus 5. The Jack’s had done the impossible we beat the young guns and where now the talk of the parking lot beer drinking, the word was out about our first line being able to fly and scoring the majority of our goals, and the long bench pounding guys into submission in the third period. The best part was the other teams thought we where all from Virginia and not until Saturday night did the word get out that 16 of our 18 guys grew up in Boston playing real hockey, everything from my NCAA Div-III background to one guy who played at Harvard. We had kid on the hook for playing who was actually drafted and played in the AHL, but the rules prohibit professional players or so it says (home town teams are given a waiver, or so it seemed). Saturday night consisted of the consumption of our two winning cases of beer and the remaining 18 or so cases, with three guys passing out and needing assistance to their rooms and the rest of us banging off the hallway walls on the way to our rooms. Which was not a real issue as our championship game was not until 11am (we finally went to bed sometime between 3 and 4 am.) We woke up around 9:30 and headed to the lobby to destroy the buffet once again and then off to the championship to claim our trophy. The finals started off really bad, we let up two goals in the first period and found ourselves facing a team that was made up of the ten players who where on the teams roster for the tournament and five players from the team we beat the night before… Hmmmmm… something stunk, other than our gear. Not to mention the two guys who showed up with ECHL stickers on their helmets and San Jose Sharks pants, and gloves, NHL logo and all, meaning they likely played in the San Jose organization at some point. These two guys where fast as hell and had rockets for shots. Turns out the team we beat Saturday night and the team we where playing where both local teams that had purposely been put in the two separate division so that they could cake walk through and play each other in the finals. What they did not expect was this team from Virginia to come in and dominate one of the divisions. By the end of the second period we had netted two goals and let in three, it was now 5-2 and not looking good. We then found out that the refs where also hometown favorites, we had five or six non calls that where blatant penalties, ( a punch, two cross checks in front of the net and a trip on a break away) so by the time the third period rolled around we where ready to take matters into our own hands. We began to play the body, one guy who shoots the puck in the high double digit range drilled the ref on what looked like an accidental dump, but was later to determined to be a missed head shot that hit the guy in the ribs. (my guess is at least one broken rib the way the bitch went down.) With a two minutes left and the Jack’s letting in another goal to go down 8-2 we called a time out, put the four guys we had over six feet on the ice and myself (only because in our regular league I have been known to mix it up every now and then, and have had some sucess, plus I don't care if I get beat up, as long as I get a couple of good shots in I'm happy.) When the puck dropped it looked like something out of slap shot and the gloves came off. I grabbed the center and hit him three times before he knew what was coming dropping him to the ice, and pinning him down while the rest of the boys squared up. Even the goalies met at center ice, removed there helmets, blockers and gloves and began to dance, it was great! We even had someone yell “ENGLEWOOD JACK” (watch the link for that one) making me laugh, which is when I asked the guy I was laying on if he had enough, he said yeah and actually tapped me on the shoulder and said you got me good with that first one. (I though it was the second one that actual buckled his knee’s) So as it ended (refs ran out the rest of the clock) the Jack’s lost the game but won the fight which is almost as good, we had one guy cut they had three, two requiring stitches and one looking like he had his nose moved to the side of his eye. We left the ice to cheers from the stands and from the other teams who had come out to watch what they thought was going to be a Jack’s easy win, they all said they liked the fight better than the game. I ended up with one goal and was even as I was only on the ice for one of their goals. Moral of the story is that if the Jacks’ don’t win the game they WILL win the fight! What a weekend, my body is begging for a tub full of ice right now but it was definitely worth it and I can not wait for our next run. I ended the four game weekend, with 6 goals and 9 assists and a whopping plus 17, not to mention a victory in the ring.
Monday, July 17, 2006
SCARED
Well I just returned from a trip to Tampa where I was involved in some training for our Uncle Sam. Part of the training involved people getting interrogated by some detectives on their activities while in the Tampa area. Needless to say, this portion was highly entertaining from my observer standpoint (the students on the other hand I am sure did not enjoy it) the interrogation took place along a traffic jammed road in a rest area ajacent to a local beach, in other words it was packed with tourists and as we found out from the detectives homo's, yup this was a local hang out for men seeking other men. Thank god we did not run into any of them. Anyway, just as the interrogation began it started to poor rain and I mean poor, there was a river running through the rest area and the detectives used it to their advantage as the students got put on their knees in the make shift river. I was extremely entertained and the first few students did fairly well and did not give up any information that would lead to the discovery of the teams activities, but I got scared when the most senior person began to get interrogated. This moron not only cracked and gave up all sorts of details on what they had been doing, but he also demanded to contact his superior putting up a fight (well he would have if he was not hog tied with plastic zip ties) He then gave up one of the sources they used and basically left him out to dry. In a real world scenario the source, the government employee and likely the rest of the team would have been beat senseless and the source would likely have rolled, causing their further detention and the eventual killing of the source.
It was a sad day, as we thought we had trained this individual better, but just goes to show you can lead a horse to water but you can not make him drink. The worst part is that this retard is in charge of the team.
The future of our country lays in hands similar to theirs. That makes me SCARED!
It was a sad day, as we thought we had trained this individual better, but just goes to show you can lead a horse to water but you can not make him drink. The worst part is that this retard is in charge of the team.
The future of our country lays in hands similar to theirs. That makes me SCARED!
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Something for our Immature lighter side.
Some of you may think this is a tad immature but it is a legend that needs to be told......
OK I have been begging MARCH to tell this story, but for some reason he has refused so I will give it my best shot.
It was well over twenty years ago, and like many summer nights from our childhood, March, our friend ALCO and I decided to camp out in the back yard. We started the prep work for our excursion to the deep back corner of my parent’s one acre lot early that afternoon. We robbed our piggy banks, and likely the black film containers full of quarters my old man used to keep on his dresser and headed off for the local corner store Cumberland Farms, for as much junk food as we could get for the five or six bucks in change we had gathered.
From what I remember we likely bought Fun Dip, Orange cheese popcorn (March was and I am sure still is a big cheese popcorn fan) and four or five packs of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. We had no need to buy soda, we knew we would be able to swipe two or three two liter bottles from my old man as he was known as a Sprite-oholic. He was always looking for that $.99 sale on Sprite and buying four or five cases of it. That was one thing you could always count on at my house, Sprite; it was always in the fridge and it was always stock piled in the basement.
After the trip to “Cumbee’s” we grabbed the two “pop tents” headed off into the great wilderness of 25 Pond St to pick a prime spot for our tents. The night went on like most, we watched some TV in the house, while eating some of the junk we bought, careful not to tip our hand as to how much we actually had in fear of an intervention by mom. When nine o'clock rolled around and dad had taken enough abuse for one night he banished us to the back yard. We quickly gathered what was left of our initial stash of food, grabbed a flashlight and headed into the wilderness. We had set up the tents so that the tent flaps made a small canopy between the tents, March and I where in one tent and Alco was in the other and we went about our normal routine of mother jokes, belching and the occasional passing of gas. Typical 10 -12 year old stuff, all the while we continued to eat the popcorn, fun-dip, and Reese’s washing it down with Sprite. Life was good, until Alco began to complain that he did not feel well. March being the brainchild behind our little escapade decided to reach into his bag of how to get instant relief, and told Alco to fart, "Farting always makes you feel better" which of course made March and I erupt into uncontrollable laughter. After gathering ourselves and wiping the tears from our eyes we heard Alco making some strange grunting sounds from the other tent, when out of no where came what is still known to the three of us as the longest loudest most horrific sound to exit ones bowels. March and I instantly returned to the uncontrollable laughter and tears along with utter amazement that Alco was able to produce such a sound, just when we thought we could not laugh any harder or cry any more, Alco uttered the most famous statement ever made in our small neighborhood….. “uuuuhhhh that made me feel worse…..” followed by, “Can I use your phone, I think I need to go home.” To this day, Alco is still ashamed of his unmatched performance that night and to this day anytime there is a reference to this story March and I break into uncontrollable laughter and tears. It is one of those childhood memories that I know March and I will never forget, and it is surely a feet that no human could ever match!
Someone get March a tissue... I know for a fact he is laughing so hard he is crying right now, as I am!
OK I have been begging MARCH to tell this story, but for some reason he has refused so I will give it my best shot.
It was well over twenty years ago, and like many summer nights from our childhood, March, our friend ALCO and I decided to camp out in the back yard. We started the prep work for our excursion to the deep back corner of my parent’s one acre lot early that afternoon. We robbed our piggy banks, and likely the black film containers full of quarters my old man used to keep on his dresser and headed off for the local corner store Cumberland Farms, for as much junk food as we could get for the five or six bucks in change we had gathered.
From what I remember we likely bought Fun Dip, Orange cheese popcorn (March was and I am sure still is a big cheese popcorn fan) and four or five packs of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. We had no need to buy soda, we knew we would be able to swipe two or three two liter bottles from my old man as he was known as a Sprite-oholic. He was always looking for that $.99 sale on Sprite and buying four or five cases of it. That was one thing you could always count on at my house, Sprite; it was always in the fridge and it was always stock piled in the basement.
After the trip to “Cumbee’s” we grabbed the two “pop tents” headed off into the great wilderness of 25 Pond St to pick a prime spot for our tents. The night went on like most, we watched some TV in the house, while eating some of the junk we bought, careful not to tip our hand as to how much we actually had in fear of an intervention by mom. When nine o'clock rolled around and dad had taken enough abuse for one night he banished us to the back yard. We quickly gathered what was left of our initial stash of food, grabbed a flashlight and headed into the wilderness. We had set up the tents so that the tent flaps made a small canopy between the tents, March and I where in one tent and Alco was in the other and we went about our normal routine of mother jokes, belching and the occasional passing of gas. Typical 10 -12 year old stuff, all the while we continued to eat the popcorn, fun-dip, and Reese’s washing it down with Sprite. Life was good, until Alco began to complain that he did not feel well. March being the brainchild behind our little escapade decided to reach into his bag of how to get instant relief, and told Alco to fart, "Farting always makes you feel better" which of course made March and I erupt into uncontrollable laughter. After gathering ourselves and wiping the tears from our eyes we heard Alco making some strange grunting sounds from the other tent, when out of no where came what is still known to the three of us as the longest loudest most horrific sound to exit ones bowels. March and I instantly returned to the uncontrollable laughter and tears along with utter amazement that Alco was able to produce such a sound, just when we thought we could not laugh any harder or cry any more, Alco uttered the most famous statement ever made in our small neighborhood….. “uuuuhhhh that made me feel worse…..” followed by, “Can I use your phone, I think I need to go home.” To this day, Alco is still ashamed of his unmatched performance that night and to this day anytime there is a reference to this story March and I break into uncontrollable laughter and tears. It is one of those childhood memories that I know March and I will never forget, and it is surely a feet that no human could ever match!
Someone get March a tissue... I know for a fact he is laughing so hard he is crying right now, as I am!
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Call me CRAZY!
So the Bruins have all but stated that they are done in the free agent market, despite the rumors that they are perusing Brendan Shannahan. I quote you from good old acting GM "management's emphasis will now switch to the likes of Bergeron and Brad Boyes, the team's prime restricted free agents." To me that says we are done with the paying for the hired guns and we are going to take the twelve guys we have on the roster now and fill the gaps with Jerry's Kids. Well that is all fine and dandy until the new kids on the block don't strap the remaining eighteen guys on their back and skate us to a cup. This has all the makings for the same disaster we had last season. Joe and Sammy (even though my father in law says Sammy was not ever playing to what he was projected to, mind you my father in law is in my opinion one of the greatest hockey minds in New England, but I disagree.) Sammy got the shaft, played with a different group of guys each night and battled injuries, got the short end of the stick most of the time. If you step back and look at some hightlights of our man Sammy you will see one of the most incredible skaters and puck handlers in the game. Our two superstars which at one time where called the future of the Bruins where shipped out when the remaining cast failed to even be qualified for AHL competition not to mention NHL caliber play. So where am I going with this, well recently our beloved management team has stated that Zedno Chara was "a unique property, a huge and effective minutes eater whose size and strength lead to an intimidation factor beyond any backliner in the game. A potential team captain, he could be the franchise cornerstone we have lacked since Ray Bourque." Well I'll be, sounds a lot like Zedno is the new face of the Bruins and I would be willing to bet he dons the cover of this year media guide as well as the Bruins year book. (much like Joe and Sammy did for the past few years.) Call me CRAZY but after a year or two at 7.5 million a year you will see Zedno getting slapped in the face by this same management team when they ship him out of town for two or three players who make less than he does combined and the excuse will be that he did not perform as they had expected. Of course this story will have a happy ending much like this year and Chara will win the league MVP......
Still holding my breath hoping to see Sammy come back to beantown as a free agent.... He remains unsigned and we could get him at a discount, or for at least what they are offering Shanahan, and we would not have to worry about Sammy getting his social security check while still on our roster.....
Still holding my breath hoping to see Sammy come back to beantown as a free agent.... He remains unsigned and we could get him at a discount, or for at least what they are offering Shanahan, and we would not have to worry about Sammy getting his social security check while still on our roster.....
Monday, July 03, 2006
Fire Sale!
Well the free agent period has begun and our beloved Bruins have signed two of the most expesive free agents out there. The have also traded a couple of folks, and have said they will be working more free agents. That said they have spent 13 million on two guys and with what they have on the books already, we are likely looking at two good lines with the third and fourth line being made up of AHL wanna bees. Not even AHL allstars. I hope I am wrong, after all Chara is 6' 9" and weighs about as much as a volkswagon bug, i.e. one big SOB, he also has an offesive side to his game and can actually skate the puck unlike Hal "cement shoes" Gil, and he does not get penalty after penalty like Nick "skate a shift sit in the box for two" Boyton.
The other big free agent is Marc savard who yes had some 90 plus points but he also skated with two of the most dynamic skaters in the league and we cerntainly don't have that. From what I see we have the makings of a team that will make the playoffs and be one and done. We lack a serious scoring threat from a second line and we have unproven goaltending (if you think Tim Thomas is tested, tell me what his NHL playoff record is....... )
Read Marches Funny story #1 *aka my longest post ever about the Prom.... It is a classic ! Ask him about the ALCO story... it is immature but will make you laugh so hard you will cry.
The other big free agent is Marc savard who yes had some 90 plus points but he also skated with two of the most dynamic skaters in the league and we cerntainly don't have that. From what I see we have the makings of a team that will make the playoffs and be one and done. We lack a serious scoring threat from a second line and we have unproven goaltending (if you think Tim Thomas is tested, tell me what his NHL playoff record is....... )
Read Marches Funny story #1 *aka my longest post ever about the Prom.... It is a classic ! Ask him about the ALCO story... it is immature but will make you laugh so hard you will cry.
Monday, June 19, 2006
GAME 7
Tonight we will all (well those of us who actually watch hockey) get the chance to see a game 7 for hockey's holiest grail. I know March will be watching(at least he better be).
Here are some facts on da' cup that are kind of interesting:
*Logged more than 400,000 miles in travel during the past five seasons
*Has raised more than $4 million for charity the past three seasons
*Was purchased for 10 guineas ($48.67 at the time) in 1892 (It is now worth an estimated 3.8 Million dollars as the oldest trophy in professional sports. which is SICK)
*It takes 13 years to fill the ring of the Stanley Cup with names of winners
*Once a bottom ring is full, another one of the same size is removed from the top of the base and
retired at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto
*Some misspells on the Cup that never have been corrected:
Jacques Plante's name has been misspelled five times, (incl. "Jocko," "Jack" and "Plant");
Bob Gainey was spelled "Gainy" when he was a player for Montreal in the 70s;
Ted Kennedy was spelled "Kennedyy" in the 40s;
New York Islanders was spelled "Ilanders" in 1980/81;
the Toronto Maple Leafs was spelled "Leaes" in 1962/63;
the Boston Bruins was spelled "Bqstqn" in 1972
Here are some facts on da' cup that are kind of interesting:
*Logged more than 400,000 miles in travel during the past five seasons
*Has raised more than $4 million for charity the past three seasons
*Was purchased for 10 guineas ($48.67 at the time) in 1892 (It is now worth an estimated 3.8 Million dollars as the oldest trophy in professional sports. which is SICK)
*It takes 13 years to fill the ring of the Stanley Cup with names of winners
*Once a bottom ring is full, another one of the same size is removed from the top of the base and
retired at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto
*Some misspells on the Cup that never have been corrected:
Jacques Plante's name has been misspelled five times, (incl. "Jocko," "Jack" and "Plant");
Bob Gainey was spelled "Gainy" when he was a player for Montreal in the 70s;
Ted Kennedy was spelled "Kennedyy" in the 40s;
New York Islanders was spelled "Ilanders" in 1980/81;
the Toronto Maple Leafs was spelled "Leaes" in 1962/63;
the Boston Bruins was spelled "Bqstqn" in 1972
Saturday, June 03, 2006
YUP I AM LAZY!!!!!!!
OK so I have not posted to this thing in over a month. So that tells you how busy I have been. I have been able to enjoy a couple of the Stanley Cup playoffs and I think I like Carolina's chances. That said, I would like to see Sammy get his name on the cup, but the Hurricanes are looking pretty tough (never thought I would be saying that about the forver 500's, aah the good old whalers. Always good for a W)
So here we sit with a new GM. well kind of. We will actually get him in July two weeks after free agency begins. I don't see this as a problem because NO ONE wants to play here anyway. So missing out on the first two weeks will mean nothing because that is what we are going to end up with, ZIP, ZILCH, NAADA.
There is still talk that Sully is on his way out and that would be a shame. They should give the guy the immunity charm, he was left standing alone on an island and those in charge of getting him the boat got him one that was OLD, and was full of holes. The motor was new, but the bracket holding it on was used and rusted so the motor fell off and sank to the bottom. Then they bought a few new boards and sold the only two seats on the boat. But they saved money by doings so.
Sound familiar.... well it should! At least if you have been a Bruins fan for the past eight million freaking years!
Best of Luck Peter C. Your going to need it.... Now that there is a "level Playing feild"
Eat shit Harry, hope you get hit by the charter bus! If you do say hi to JOE. After all you let him get thrown under there!
So here we sit with a new GM. well kind of. We will actually get him in July two weeks after free agency begins. I don't see this as a problem because NO ONE wants to play here anyway. So missing out on the first two weeks will mean nothing because that is what we are going to end up with, ZIP, ZILCH, NAADA.
There is still talk that Sully is on his way out and that would be a shame. They should give the guy the immunity charm, he was left standing alone on an island and those in charge of getting him the boat got him one that was OLD, and was full of holes. The motor was new, but the bracket holding it on was used and rusted so the motor fell off and sank to the bottom. Then they bought a few new boards and sold the only two seats on the boat. But they saved money by doings so.
Sound familiar.... well it should! At least if you have been a Bruins fan for the past eight million freaking years!
Best of Luck Peter C. Your going to need it.... Now that there is a "level Playing feild"
Eat shit Harry, hope you get hit by the charter bus! If you do say hi to JOE. After all you let him get thrown under there!
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Congrats JOE!
After a well deserved run with his new team, FORMER Bruin leader Joe Thorton won the scoring title last night and pretty much wrapped up the league MVP. The scoring title was hopefully Joe's first of many and we will not know about the MVP tally until sometime in JUNE. Way to GO JOE... Next stop Lord STANLEY!
For you B's fans there is still hope that we land the lottery tomorrow and pick up the #1 pick, although this years draft is nothing special, (i.e. there is no Ovechkin, Crosby or Thornton up for grabs)
For you B's fans there is still hope that we land the lottery tomorrow and pick up the #1 pick, although this years draft is nothing special, (i.e. there is no Ovechkin, Crosby or Thornton up for grabs)
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
9 Things that should piss us all off!
This is classic, I think I am going to start doing the later half of number one, jsut to see what I get for a reaction from people.
1.People who point at their wrist while asking for the time.... I know where my watch is pal, where the hell is yours? Do I point at my crotch when I ask where the toilet is?
2.People who are willing to get off their ass to search the entire room for the T.V. remote because they refuse to walk to the T.V. and change the channel manually.
3.When people say "Oh you just want to have your cake and eat it too". Damn right! What good is cake if you can't eat it?
4.When people say "it's always the last place you look". Of course it is. Why the hell would you keep looking after you've found it? Do people do this? Who and where are they? Gonna Kick their asses!
5.When people say while watching a film "did you see that?". No Loser, I paid $12 to come to the cinema and stare at the damn floor.
6.People who ask "Can I ask you a question?".... Didn't really give me a choice there, did ya sunshine?
7.When something is 'new and improved!'. Which is it? If it's new, then there has never been anything before it. If it's an improvement, then there must have been something before it, couldn't be new.
8.When people say "life is short". What the hell?? Life is the longest damn thing anyone ever does!! What can you do that's longer?
9.When you are waiting for the bus and someone asks "Has the bus come yet?". If the bus came would I be standing here, dumbass?
1.People who point at their wrist while asking for the time.... I know where my watch is pal, where the hell is yours? Do I point at my crotch when I ask where the toilet is?
2.People who are willing to get off their ass to search the entire room for the T.V. remote because they refuse to walk to the T.V. and change the channel manually.
3.When people say "Oh you just want to have your cake and eat it too". Damn right! What good is cake if you can't eat it?
4.When people say "it's always the last place you look". Of course it is. Why the hell would you keep looking after you've found it? Do people do this? Who and where are they? Gonna Kick their asses!
5.When people say while watching a film "did you see that?". No Loser, I paid $12 to come to the cinema and stare at the damn floor.
6.People who ask "Can I ask you a question?".... Didn't really give me a choice there, did ya sunshine?
7.When something is 'new and improved!'. Which is it? If it's new, then there has never been anything before it. If it's an improvement, then there must have been something before it, couldn't be new.
8.When people say "life is short". What the hell?? Life is the longest damn thing anyone ever does!! What can you do that's longer?
9.When you are waiting for the bus and someone asks "Has the bus come yet?". If the bus came would I be standing here, dumbass?
Monday, April 17, 2006
Three points and one game away from Perfection
Joe has a three point lead over Jagr in the points race and he has one game left. That means Thornton would have to be shut out and Jagr would have to have a three point night. Not saying it could not happen, but the scenario is unlikely. As it stands Joe looks like he will win his first scoring title and the Bruins will look like the ultimate fools. This reminds me of when the Bruins duped the Canucks into trading Cam Neely for Barry Pederson (I know March you think Neely sucks, well he is a hall of famer and that vote is taken outside of beantown.) Still even if you do not like Neely, he was much better than Barry Pederson, who by the way was the last Bruins player to win rookie of the year before Raycroft and Sammy. Meaning that after management dumps Raycroft over the summer we would have dumped our last three rookie of the year candidates without a blink of an eye was the Pederson deal worth it? Yes in the long run, will the dropping of Raycroft and the tossing of Sammy be worth it? Not likely, who knows what we will get if anything for Andrew and I do not see Marty Reasner or Stasny becoming even a 30 goal scorer which Sammy was always good for. (Only had 23 this year but was hurt, and spent most of the year on one of the worst teams in the league.)
Congrats Joe you have earned it!
Congrats Joe you have earned it!
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
JOE WATCH
well the season as the B's know it is coming to an end (thank goodness, I can not "bear" to watch them drag their ass through another game).
That said, all eyes should now be focused on the former el capitan. Joe is only a few point behind Jagr for the scoring title and closing fast. I hope for Sindens sake he does not win the score title, after all I think that would be the final straw for Harry and he would be ushered out the door. After all he had to give the thumbs up for the trade, and it all came down to Joe spoke out about the way the team was headed and like many before him, he was ushered out of town for noting that the team was not gelling like management said it would. Joe is a class act and left Boston without telling the whole story, he was a true professional, to bad the team he played for was not just the oposite and will always be seen as the original six expansion club.
Oh yeah almost forgot, they dropped ANOTHER OT game lastnight! DAM IT!
That said, all eyes should now be focused on the former el capitan. Joe is only a few point behind Jagr for the scoring title and closing fast. I hope for Sindens sake he does not win the score title, after all I think that would be the final straw for Harry and he would be ushered out the door. After all he had to give the thumbs up for the trade, and it all came down to Joe spoke out about the way the team was headed and like many before him, he was ushered out of town for noting that the team was not gelling like management said it would. Joe is a class act and left Boston without telling the whole story, he was a true professional, to bad the team he played for was not just the oposite and will always be seen as the original six expansion club.
Oh yeah almost forgot, they dropped ANOTHER OT game lastnight! DAM IT!
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Elevator training
OK am I anal or do others think that elevator edict should be taught in all corporate new hire programs. The elevators in the building I work in suck (this is actually problem number one) The fact that you have to wait five plus minutes for an elevator that is only operating on ten floors is pretty sad seeing that there are six elevators. Yeah I know someone is thinking right now that I should get off my lazy ass and walk, well first off I can't and second, I like being lazy, it is fun. Anyway back to the edict. A simple five minute class letting people know that when someone is trying to get off a jammed elevator and you are standing in the front you should EXIT the dam elevator and let that moron in the back out. Most people at my place of employment look over their shoulder and move two inches to the left or right (of course this is directly related to the opposite direction the person beside them moves) Now I would love to think that I could fit my skinny ass through a two inch crack but unfortunately I am wider than two inches and I fear getting stuck. Simple rule folks GET THE HELL OUT OF THE ELEVATOR when someone says excuse me, don't make them repeat it six times before you realize that your in the freaking way.
Motto of the day MOVE THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY.... Asshole (say the last part under your breath for effect).
Motto of the day MOVE THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY.... Asshole (say the last part under your breath for effect).
Monday, April 03, 2006
Man rules to live by
This is courtesy of March. Thanks buddy this one made me laugh, several times!
1: Under no circumstances may two men share an umbrella.
2: It is OK for a man to cry ONLY under the following circumstances:
(a) When a heroic dog dies to save its master.
(b) The moment Angelina Jolie starts unbuttoning her blouse.
(c) After wrecking your boss' car.
(d) One hour, 12 minutes, 37 seconds into "The Crying Game".
(e) When she is using her teeth.
(F) IF YOUR A BRUINS FAN AND THEY ACTUALLY WIN THE CUP!
3: Any Man who brings a camera to a bachelor party may be legally killed and eaten by his buddies.
4: Unless he murdered someone in your family, you must bail a friend out of jail within 12 hours.
5: If you've known a guy for more than 24 hours, his sister is off limits forever unless you actually marry her. (I did this, makes family functions that much better, its like having a beer with a buddy, or two or three or ... you get the idea)
6: Moaning about the brand of free beer in a buddy's fridge is forbidden. However complain at will if the temperature is unsuitable. (I have to disagree, we are no longer in college and Natural Lite is completely UNACCEPTABLE)
7: No man shall ever be required to buy a birthday present for another man. In fact, even remembering your buddy's birthday is strictly optional. At that point, you must celebrate at a strip bar of the birthday boy's choice.
8: On a road trip, the strongest bladder determines pit stops, not the weakest.
9: When stumbling upon other guys watching a sporting event, you may ask the score of the game in progress, but you may never ask who's playing.
10: You may flatulate in front of a woman only after you have brought her to climax. If you trap her head under the covers for the purpose of flatulent entertainment, she's officially your girlfriend.
11: It is permissible to drink a fruity alcohol drink only when you're sunning on a tropical beach... and it's delivered by a topless model and only when it's free.
12: Only in situations of moral and/or physical peril are you allowed to kick another guy in the nuts.
13: Unless you're in prison, never fight naked.
14: Friends don't let friends wear Speedos. Ever. Issue closed.
15: If a man's fly is down, that's his problem, you didn't see anything.
16: Women who claim they "love to watch sports" must be treated as spies until they demonstrate knowledge of the game and the ability to drink as much as the other sports watchers.
17: A man in the company of a hot, suggestively dressed woman must remain sober enough to fight.
18: Never hesitate to reach for the last beer or the last slice of pizza, but not both, that's just greedy.
19: If you compliment a guy on his six-pack, you'd better be talking about his choice of beer.
20: Never join your girlfriend or wife in discussing a friend of yours, except if she's withholding sex pending your response.
21: Phrases that may NOT be uttered to another man while lifting
weights:
(a) Yeah, Baby, Push it!
(b) C'mon, give me one more! Harder!
(c) Another set and we can hit the showers!
22: Never talk to a man in a bathroom unless you are on equal footing: i.e., both urinating, both waiting in line, etc. For all other situations, an almost imperceptible nod is all the conversation you need.
23: Never allow a telephone conversation with a woman to go on longer than you are able to have sex with her. Keep a stopwatch by the phone. Hang up if necessary.
24: The morning after you and a girl who was formerly "just a friend" have carnal, drunken monkey sex, the fact that you're feeling weird and guilty is no reason for you not to nail each other again before the discussion about what a big mistake it was occurs.
25: It is acceptable for you to drive her car. It is not acceptable for her to drive yours.
26: Thou shalt not buy a car in the colors of brown, pink, lime green, orange or sky blue.
27: The girl who replies to the question "What do you want for Christmas?" with "If you loved me, you'd know what I want!" gets an Xbox. End of story.
28: There is no reason for guys to watch Ice Skating or Men's Gymnastics. Ever.
We've all heard about people having guts or balls. But do you really know the difference between them? In an effort to keep you informed, the definition of each is listed below.
"GUTS" is arriving home late after a night out with the guys, being assaulted by your wife with a broom, and having the guts to say, "are you still cleaning or are you flying somewhere?"
"BALLS" is coming home late after a night out with the guys smelling of perfume and beer, lipstick on your collar, slapping your wife on the ass and having the balls to say, "You're next!"
1: Under no circumstances may two men share an umbrella.
2: It is OK for a man to cry ONLY under the following circumstances:
(a) When a heroic dog dies to save its master.
(b) The moment Angelina Jolie starts unbuttoning her blouse.
(c) After wrecking your boss' car.
(d) One hour, 12 minutes, 37 seconds into "The Crying Game".
(e) When she is using her teeth.
(F) IF YOUR A BRUINS FAN AND THEY ACTUALLY WIN THE CUP!
3: Any Man who brings a camera to a bachelor party may be legally killed and eaten by his buddies.
4: Unless he murdered someone in your family, you must bail a friend out of jail within 12 hours.
5: If you've known a guy for more than 24 hours, his sister is off limits forever unless you actually marry her. (I did this, makes family functions that much better, its like having a beer with a buddy, or two or three or ... you get the idea)
6: Moaning about the brand of free beer in a buddy's fridge is forbidden. However complain at will if the temperature is unsuitable. (I have to disagree, we are no longer in college and Natural Lite is completely UNACCEPTABLE)
7: No man shall ever be required to buy a birthday present for another man. In fact, even remembering your buddy's birthday is strictly optional. At that point, you must celebrate at a strip bar of the birthday boy's choice.
8: On a road trip, the strongest bladder determines pit stops, not the weakest.
9: When stumbling upon other guys watching a sporting event, you may ask the score of the game in progress, but you may never ask who's playing.
10: You may flatulate in front of a woman only after you have brought her to climax. If you trap her head under the covers for the purpose of flatulent entertainment, she's officially your girlfriend.
11: It is permissible to drink a fruity alcohol drink only when you're sunning on a tropical beach... and it's delivered by a topless model and only when it's free.
12: Only in situations of moral and/or physical peril are you allowed to kick another guy in the nuts.
13: Unless you're in prison, never fight naked.
14: Friends don't let friends wear Speedos. Ever. Issue closed.
15: If a man's fly is down, that's his problem, you didn't see anything.
16: Women who claim they "love to watch sports" must be treated as spies until they demonstrate knowledge of the game and the ability to drink as much as the other sports watchers.
17: A man in the company of a hot, suggestively dressed woman must remain sober enough to fight.
18: Never hesitate to reach for the last beer or the last slice of pizza, but not both, that's just greedy.
19: If you compliment a guy on his six-pack, you'd better be talking about his choice of beer.
20: Never join your girlfriend or wife in discussing a friend of yours, except if she's withholding sex pending your response.
21: Phrases that may NOT be uttered to another man while lifting
weights:
(a) Yeah, Baby, Push it!
(b) C'mon, give me one more! Harder!
(c) Another set and we can hit the showers!
22: Never talk to a man in a bathroom unless you are on equal footing: i.e., both urinating, both waiting in line, etc. For all other situations, an almost imperceptible nod is all the conversation you need.
23: Never allow a telephone conversation with a woman to go on longer than you are able to have sex with her. Keep a stopwatch by the phone. Hang up if necessary.
24: The morning after you and a girl who was formerly "just a friend" have carnal, drunken monkey sex, the fact that you're feeling weird and guilty is no reason for you not to nail each other again before the discussion about what a big mistake it was occurs.
25: It is acceptable for you to drive her car. It is not acceptable for her to drive yours.
26: Thou shalt not buy a car in the colors of brown, pink, lime green, orange or sky blue.
27: The girl who replies to the question "What do you want for Christmas?" with "If you loved me, you'd know what I want!" gets an Xbox. End of story.
28: There is no reason for guys to watch Ice Skating or Men's Gymnastics. Ever.
We've all heard about people having guts or balls. But do you really know the difference between them? In an effort to keep you informed, the definition of each is listed below.
"GUTS" is arriving home late after a night out with the guys, being assaulted by your wife with a broom, and having the guts to say, "are you still cleaning or are you flying somewhere?"
"BALLS" is coming home late after a night out with the guys smelling of perfume and beer, lipstick on your collar, slapping your wife on the ass and having the balls to say, "You're next!"
Sunday, April 02, 2006
IT's OFFICIAL
Yup you guessed it March! The B's are now mathematically out of the playoffs. Joe thirteen is on his way to a 1st round playoff appearance, and you can bet the house that if he was not on that team, they would not be going. The teams leading goal scorer had one trick prior to Joe's arrival, he is ending the season with a franchise high, career high, and you guessed it league high four hat tricks. You could argue that it was not Joe's doing, until you go to the stats and see that Joe set every one of the hatrick goals (after the first one) up, not the second assist but the first assist, in other word the puck went from Joe to Cheeco to the net. You can also note that Cheeco (sp) never had a single hat trick in his career before this year, meaning he is not normally a guy who goes out and get a couple of goals a game. He was just a hard nosed forward much like Muzz who finally got someone who could set the kitchen table up with two arms tied behind his back and blindfolded, and this guy was not right for the Bruins? I hope JJ and Sinden take a hard look at the WHOLE management staff, anyone who did not step up and say Joe should stay should not be considered for the GM slot, there is talk that Jeff Gorton the acting GM (assistant under MOC) will get the slot. If he agreed that Joe should go then he is clueless and should be counted out, if he thought Joe should stay and was to much of a pussy to say it then he should be counted out. Bottom line he worked for MOC and he obviously bought into the system and it is now apparent that there was no system and that the Bruins need new blood, someone who is not afraid to say what needs to be done no matter what the affect on the bottom line is.
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