Eric, you are officially 30!

Here is a list of things heard out of Eric's mouth in the next decade:

• I think I'm just going to stay in and watch a movie.
• I'm not going out after work tonight, I have some things I need to get done tomorrow.
• Joe, why didn't you tell me we ran out of dishwasher detergent?
• That's enough kids, Uncle Eric is tired.
• So, I was thinking of investing some of my savings for retirement.
• When did I start trimming my ear hair?
• Oooohhhh...the backs a little sore from that basketball game yesterday.
  

And last but not least..

• Dude, when I was in my twenties I could have done that!
  Happy Birthday Bro!

Beer Launching Machine In honor of Eric's B-day...

The Hole - video powered by Metacafe

Oscars and Musicals

I read this article and without feeling as strongly about the topic as Rebecca, I would have to agree with her. Click Drivl below...

And You, And You, And You, You're So Overrated

READ THE ARTICLE AT DRIVL.COM

Back to the 70's Roller Style

Went to a roller skating party this weekend at the Glenwood Roller Rink. It is my brothers 30th and he knows how to celebrate in style as he dressed in the finest satin available and showing more skin than a 30 year old man should.

Oh what a night...
Just hearing the songs played to the dimly lit rink with bell bottomed kids skating around reminded me of my junior high days getting dropped off at the rink to go pick up girls. Those memories quickly faded as I realized I never did get a date. I did however learn how to skate. It was easier than finding a girlfriend at 12yrs old.

I couldn't skate this time around due to my brother setting booby traps in his driveway for me to stumble upon on Thanksgiving, but there will be more opportunities for that. Roller skating is a timeless event, even though technology has advanced to inline skates there is something about strapping on 20 year old roller skates and gliding around the wooden oval to the sounds of REO Speedwagon that will never get old. I can't say it was just my generation because my grandmother and mother were skating when they were little too. It does seem to have died out in recent decades but the nostalgia rinks will never die as long as people like my brother continue to try to relive the 70's. Long live the 70's!

Eric's 30th Birthday Roller Party

Prince Harry & Iraq

Prince Harry is on his way to Iraq. No, he is not going on an aid mission..this time he is going to fight for the freedoms of the innocent Iraqis.

The media is saying that he is a 'bullet magnet' because of his high profile family. They tried to keep it a secret that he is joining the front line troops so that intel would be low on him.

The media however are trying to kill him. This story has been out for days now and if you search Google for news articles related to "prince harry iraq" you come up with some 20,000 hits. Seems the media doesn't really want to keep it a secret. They would just as well give his exact location so that when he's killed they can say 'see I told you he was a bullet magnet'!

Impressive Double Front on Snowboard

Drinking Bill goes after Parents

I'm not sure who this Bill guy is but he better be drinking if he's coming after me?

Seriously though, enough kids have apparently died in alcohol related accidents leaving the house of their friends that this bill is being introduced. I know that here in Chicago we have had many accidents make the news in which teens were involved and so was alcohol.
The law already states that adults cannot give alcohol to anyone under 21. It also states that you are responsible for anything that goes on in your house. Now it is going to state that if you know that minors are drinking in your house and they are involved in an accident that you can spend 1-3 years in jail for a felony conviction.

WTF! Yes, I understand that parents should take more responsibility. And it doesn't start or end with teens drinking in your basement. But a felony conviction for the parents that let 18 year olds drinking in your basement? It does state in this new bill that the Parents must know about the alcohol being consumed in the house by minors for it to be a felony.

My parents would still be in Jail for the number of times my brothers and I drank in the house. To my parents defense they only knew of a few of those times.

It says in the article that 'the law is aimed at adults who knowingly allow teens to drink in their homes, even if it's because they think it's safer than having them drink somewhere else.' I have a hard time with this because teens are going to drink regardless of what kinds of laws we have in place. Look at what Reagan did with the Drug laws...drug use is ever more rampant now than it ever was. Has DARE worked? I would have to say NO it hasn't. Kids are still drinking and smoking and always will. It is the parents responsibility to make sure there kids make the right decisions. Making the right decision starts by not driving drunk. If the kids are going to drink anyway (which they are), wouldn't it make more sense for it to be supervised? I don't agree with parents throwing parties and then the kids leaving in cars to go home.
But something has to give and apparently it is abstinence again. Just don't do it. Don't smoke, drink or have sex. All of the things teenagers are most curious about. Because of the new bill, kids will once again be drinking in their cars or at parties where the parents are out of town. It will not stop anything. This time it will just punish the parents that happen to be home and didn't lie about the kids drinking in their house. Read More...

Help Pretty Patty as she walks to help Breast Cancer!

Click the Pink for more info...

Evolution vs. Creationism

What a touchy subject!

I graduated college with a biology degree and I grew up going to church every Sunday.
Can science and religion exits cohesively?

Of course it can and has for umptine thousand years.
Oh but now throw kids education into the mix and all the pot stirrers are out.

Should we teach creationism in public schools if we are going to teach evolution?
Should we teach evolution in churches if we are going to teach creationism?

People...there is a thing in this country called separation of church and state! I know it is not always practiced, but it exists.

Let me give you my view...I'm sure many of you will disagree and I hope not to offend (especially my mother)


Evolution is not just a theory...there is scientific proof that we have evolved over the years. We continue to discover bones and artifacts from millions of years ago. Prehistoric species like the shark found in Japan that lives 2000 feet below the sea and has never been studied until this sickly animal found it's way to the surface of the ocean. Do people dispute the fact that Dinosaurs roamed the earth millions of years ago? We have proof...you can't just make this shit up!


Creationism on the other hand is more of a story to me. It has helped shape my morals, made me think about my existence and has allowed me to accept who I am. I have never seen any scientific proof of most of the stories that I grew up learning about except for the Bible. And is the Bible scientific? In fact, we were trying to explain to the kids the other night that the first woman to inhabit this beautiful earth of ours came from the rib bone of a man. Poof! Woman was just there...you can't explain it in scientific terms because it's magic. Did Moses part the Red Sea? I have no frikin clue but it was one of my favorite stories as a kid. They said he did it so it must be true, right?

Let me just point out that I believe in God. I think that the church had a place in MY life as a kid to help me grow into an adult. I learned a lot that I may not have in school, but it wasn't the type of stuff I should have learned in school. It was the type of moral building that you learn at home from family and friends. Could I have been the same person today without going to church. Absolutely, because I have a great family that would have made sure that my morals were in check.

Teachers vary in their beliefs. When they go to college to become a teacher they are not secluded if they are one religion or another. They are there to teach the facts and not offer their opinions. Though many do. Imagine your child being taught religion in school by a teacher that does not believe in God?

I can rant on and on about this and I may write more to this post as it comes to me...but read the articles below on recent news about the topic.

Kansas Declares Darwin the Winner
Wikipedia on Evolution vs. Creationism

Happy Valentines Day!

To the ones I love...and you know who you are!

I'm dying here...

...ok not really!

It's just hard to watch it snow outside (heavily I might add) and know that I won't be able to ski this year. I'm sitting by the window right now day dreaming of being on the slopes. I'm like a sad puppy waiting for my owners to get home so I can go out and pee. So depressing...



I'm ready to wrap my ankle up really good and at least go sledding.
Don't tell Patty though..she'll kill me.

Whew! I survived the hatchet man...

Corporate mergers are a bitch...
Today I lost a couple of good friends to layoffs.
It's almost like a death in the family, except no one actually dies.
The office was somber and we accomplished nothing today.

Our blood pressure raised as we all waited for the call..'could you come to my office please'!

Fortunately for me I still have a job.
Even if I lost a few pounds today pacing our office.
I mean we just bought a house for christ sake! I can't lose my job now.
No one is immune from being let go from there job but the timing just wasn't right this time around.
I will miss my friends and co-workers that were let go today.

Connecticut Woman facing 40 years for Pop Ups

In the world of technology nothing is ever perfect. I work in IT and there are many times we scratch our heads at an issue and eventually blame it on Bill Gates. Sometimes we even rebuild a computer or server because it is easier than diagnosing the actual problem. Spyware, Malware, Spybots are all issues that sometimes fall into that category. Once your machine is infected it is very difficult to remove all hooks into the OS. I'm not saying it's impossible, but sometimes it is just easier to re-image the computer and be done with it.
This Connecticut teacher is being accused of surfing porn on her classroom computer. The computer in the classroom is not the teachers, but property of the school. The school's IT department let the anti-virus and spyware programs lapse and they were not up to date..oh yeah and the firewall was turned off. When the students in her class were using the computer a bunch of pop ups started to appear and most of them were porn. Now I'm sure this has happened to more than one of you and it is frustrating. You can't close them cause' more pop up. You can't remove them because they have wormed their way so deep into your system that it would take an expert to get them out. Instead you sit there embarrassed and red faced as 'Susie Stripper' is dancing on your monitor. Most of you probably weren't searching porn (yeah right) but could have been searching for emoticons and came across the spyware program that infected your computer. It's a pain in the ass...ok back to the teacher.
The teacher is computer illiterate like some of you out there (you know who you are) and can only check her AOL email on her husbands computer. The fact that she has an AOL email is reason enough to believe she has no idea what she is doing. The school district and police are prosecuting her because they believe she was surfing Porn and caused the pop up which exposed these kids to things they have never seen before (yeah right).
Its a bunch of crap and the whole computer industry is waiting to see how this lawsuit plays out because she is facing a possible 40 years in prison for something that is completely out of her control. Read the article here... Connecticut Teacher

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Snow and Ice in Chicago...

We had a couple inches of snow and sub zero temperatures yesterday causing chaos. Delays caused by accidents and gawkers created horrific travel times for some. Commutes that normally take an hour were taking two and most people were just happy to make it home without killing someone. A couple of inches of snow isn't much, but add -15 degree wind chill temps and it's like a skating rink. I'm sure glad I'm off my crutches!
Because of the cold weather many water pipes have broken, families without heat have been relocated to safe shelters and cars are just down right refusing to start. I thank the lord I have heat and a warm bed to sleep in at night because I'm not sure how some of the homeless made it through this last week.
The other night Patty and I were coming home late and we tried to use the keypad on the outside of our garage to get in because neither of us had a house key on us. I guess it was because it was -25 with wind chill the keypad was frozen. So in the middle of the night I'm trying to take the keypad apart with a screw driver to get at the battery so that I can bring it into the truck to warm it up. After 5 minutes or so it was warm and I placed it back in the keypad and it worked. Not sure what we would have done if that didn't work, but now I'm carrying a key to the house.
Only another week of this Minnesota type weather and then things should start to warm up again. And by warm up, I mean somewhere in the 20's. At least the ground hog didn't see it's shadow and spring will come early. That is if you believe....

The Aftermath...

I've had a day to recover from our loss in the Super Bowl and I'm slowly coming out of my sad state of depression. It was somber in the office yesterday. Nobody wanted to talk about it. There wasn't even any bashing of Rex going on...just quiet.
Today is a whole different ballgame. Everyone has an opinion! Mine aren't quite as brutal as most. I'm not mad or depressed anymore. I had super bowl let down like 40 other cities before ours. It's a feeling that is often felt in sports. Somebody has to lose. We just never want it to be us...
The Bears made a hell of a run at it but everything would have had to be perfect for them to beat a team led by one of the greatest quarterbacks in history. Nobody will question Manning being inducted into the Hall. He's a great QB and he had the team this year to back him up. Hat's off to the Colts. I'm not going to beat the Bears up over what they did wrong (cause they did a lot wrong) but instead just celebrate the fact that they made it there. I'm a happy fan that has now seen the Bears in the Super Bowl twice in my life. I'm a hopeful fan thinking we can do it again soon.

In the Midst of defeat...Devin shines!

The End of the Super Bowl

It's over, the Bears lost!
Not a great game by Rex, but hey we made it this far.
It's hard to come to grips with the loss after 2 weeks of hype, but I'm sure it's harder for the players after a whole season.
Great Job Bears for getting us this far...
Till next year!

Half Time of the Super Bowl!

What a game! Bears are down by two but we are still playing well, too bad Cedric is out though. We need a more confident Rex to throw a few deeper completions and Jones is really going to have to step it up with Benson out. Urlacher has been playing exactly how we need him to play. Hillenmeyer and Briggs are stepping up as well...this game is still ours. How about Hester? Wow...that boy can run!

Game film of Devin Hester at Miami!

It's Super Sunday!

The weather channel is reporting the actual temp here in Chicago at -3 degrees but it says 'feels like -23 degrees' and the city is advising people to take precautions outside today. I don't have much choice but to go out in the cold today because we need bloody mary mix and chili fixins'. After our short trip to 'the Jewel' we will be spending the rest of the day in the house getting ready for 'da Bears' keeping warm thanks to ComEd's overpriced gas. I couldn't even imagine living without heat on a day like today. Burrrr...

Rumor has it that Peyton is somehow owed this super bowl ring because he's lost his share already and is due. I don't buy it. He's doomed to live the Marino legacy. The Bears are definitely the underdog according to the media going into the game today. That's okay...let them think that fate is somehow on their side because Peyton is due a super bowl ring just to secure his spot in Hall of Fame history. So is Urlacher!

There are many predictions from the analysts floating around in the news. I'll give you a couple of my favorite...
-->Bears Pro Bowl middle linebacker Brian Urlacher will prove to be solid in coverage against Colts tight end Dallas Clark.
-->Bears Pro Bowl rookie Devin Hester will make at least one big play in the return game.
-->Chicago's Rex Grossman will have more interceptions (3) than touchdowns (2).
-->The Bears will hold the combination of Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes to less than 75 rushing yards.
-->Bears running back Thomas Jones will not register a touchdown.

The Bears definitely have a good chance to win the Super Bowl if all elements of their game are on today. The defense obviously needs to stop Peyton from tossing completions all over and gaining his confidence. Grossman needs to keep his interceptions to a minimum and not turnover the ball on stupid mistakes. If we can play the running game like we have using Benson to pound and tire the d and then put Jones in for some finesse runs we can really tire them out.

I'm done with the hype and ready for the game. 5:30 can't come quick enough.

Go Bears! Bring the Lombardi Trophy to Chicago!

Great footage of why we are in the Super Bowl!

Brown Bear, Brown Bear!

Blue Horse, Blue Horse,
What do you see?
I see a Brown Bear looking at me.
Brown Bear, Brown Bear,
What do you see?
I see a Lombardi Trophy looking at me.

Of course I'm a Bears fan...

I've never been one to believe that in order to be a true fan you need to fill your closets with your teams merchandise. A true fan is one that supports and follows what there team is doing. Not everyone can anty up for today's game ticket prices or authentic jerseys, but does that make us any less of a fan? I often hear people say 'you're not a fan, when was the last time you went to a game?' As much as I would love to spend my life going in and out of stadiums all over the country...I have a job, family and a limited budget. Because I like to eat, pay mortgage, utilities and occasionally go out...not much money is left over for swag or game tickets.

Recently however, I have begun to purchase a few items to represent my favorite teams. My favorite Chicago teams being the White Sox and Da Bears. As much as I would love to have several jerseys, hats, sweatshirts, mugs, t-shirts, golf club covers, golf bags, balls and anything else you can stick a logo on, I have to refrain. See above reasons...But lately, my purchases of swag have come as a result of my favorite teams making it to the big game. The pinnacle of their sport. The Sox won the World Series and the Bears are playing in the Super Bowl. How can you not support your team on the way to the big game. And because I'm not physically going to be at the big game I have to show my support in other ways. When I was younger I would have ended up in a bar with several hundred other 'fans' vying for a spot to see the TV and root for my team. I wouldn't have cared what I was wearing because more than likely I wouldn't have remembered anyway. The bar would have been a fireman's worst nightmare and everyone in the bar would be fans rooting for our team to win. I just buy swag now...

Now that I am wiser(old), I am more than happy to watch the game from my sofa or another friends sofa. No fighting to get a beer, find a seat in view of the TV or belly bumping strangers. I want to be able to rewind TV (PVR is a beautiful thing) when I go to the fridge to get a beer, go pee without waiting in a huge line and if I can't hear Mannings bone snap when Urlacher and Briggs converge on him, then I can turn up the volume on the replay.

Yes, I actually want to watch the game...every minute from start to end and take it all in. Of course this time I'll be wearing my swag. Not because I feel pressured by other 'fans', but because this is now my way of supporting my team. I didn't make it to one Bear game this year, but I've watched them all. I don't need anyone to tell me I am or I am not a fan, but while I'm sitting on my sofa in my Bears swag I'll feel for a moment that I'm in Miami amongst thousands of Chicagoans yelling 'Defense' at the top of my lungs.

The Last time the Bears were in the Super Bowl...

...was 21 years ago!

Here are some things that were happening back in the 1985-86.

1. Windows were panes of glass...not a computer operating system that was a pain in something that rhymes with glass.
2. There were no lights at Wrigley Field, and the oldest park in baseball belonged to the White Sox.
3. Michael Jordan and Ozzie Guillen had just finished their "Rookie of the Year" seasons.
4. Brian Urlacher was in 2nd grade. Rex Grossman was in kindergarten and I was a senior in High School.
5. Lovie Smith was in his first college coaching job at University of Tulsa.
6. George W. Bush was 39 years old and still drinking. His father would run for President two years later.
7. CD players, cellular phones and fax machines were expensive, cutting edge technology and only a few people used them.
8. "Surfing the net" meant a volleyball game at the beach, and virtually no one used the "@" key on their TYPEWRITER.
9. The Chicago area had no Wal-Marts, Targets or Home Depots, and Walgreen's was only in the Midwest.
10. I-88 was called "Illinois Rt. 5" and I-355 hadn't been built yet.
11. There were no iPods - just Sony Walkmen - so if you said something about a "shuffle" on your Walkman, they assumed you were listening to "The Super Bowl Shuffle"

The only thing that is going to be the same is that "Da Bears will win"!