Success!

BYDTWD was an rousing success! Payton had a blast & I'm pretty sure she didn't drive everyone completely crazy. Seriously, she kept busy for most of the day by helping out with a large project. The rest of the time was spent coloring, drawing on the white boards, going to the bathroom (three trips) and helping me out. I can't wait until next year.

That's my girl, closing the sale!

Take Your Daughter to Work Day

Thursday is Take Your Daughter to Work Day. Yes, Payton will be joining me at the office for the day. This should be interesting. I'm confident she will be fine, but you never know.

If I remember my camera & can find a way to grab the pics off it while working, I will try & post some pictures during the day. If not, they will be posted tomorrow night.

Wish us luck!

Picture Show

Just some pictures from the recent huge Nor'easter from Fishers Island and the cutest video EVER.

These shots are from Silver Eel Pond, where the ferry arrives. The water usually isn't this high.





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Now this is quite simply the cutest video I've ever seen (aside from any Payton stars in.)

Jackie Robinson Day

I'm not going to write a long-winded write-up on Jackie Robinson. I most certainly can't do justice to him or his accomplishments. I will simply try & share some personal thoughts.

As a history buff and a sports fan, I'm fascinated with Jackie. His courageousness helped change not only the face of sports, but of America. He started the civil rights movement, which unfortunately had to be started. This is nothing new. Everyone should know this.

I don't think a big enough deal could be made with regards to Jackie's accomplishments. I thought MLB did a fantastic job this year, but would like to see a celebration every year.

A quick nugget to touch on his nobility. His plaque at the Hall of Fame makes no mention of his breaking the color barrier. This is his doing. He wanted people to know that he earned his way to the Hall of Fame based on his baseball skills, not his social achievements.

I'm also a big fan of his widow, Rachel. She lives right down the road in Salem, CT, and I would go to great lengths to be able to meet her someday.

In the meantime, I'll re-read his autobiography and wear his jersey proudly. Thanks Jackie.

**Here's a great feature on Jackie from the Philly Inquirer.

Taking Out the Trash

- That title is my lame attempt at trying to be creative. This will be my standard post title when I have no general theme and just want to post a bunch of nonsense. Even if you hate it, at least I didn't rip off Mike DiMauro, right Mike? :)

- I attended a wake tonight for an old acquaintance. He died unexpectedly the other night. It was obviously horrible and the weather while waiting to enter the funeral home was almost scripted. A cold drizzle fell into a sharp wind. Thankfully I was near the front of the line when the doors opened. The same can't be said for the hundreds of people who lined the street. Let's hope that's the last wake I'll have to attend for a long time. RIP Mike...

- I'm amazed at how quickly this whole Imus thing escalated. It went from an afterthought last week to a firestorm today. At least the story is a little more relevant than the Anna Nicole mess, which I paid zero attention to. I find it quite funny how MSNBC & CBS Radio make it seem like they made a moral decision when it boils down to cash, plain and simple. They were happy to release statements and then suspend him until the advertisers started pulling out. CBS should've at least waited for the radiothon to end before pulling the plug. Who knows, maybe this will help raise more money.

- I could listen to Penelope Cruz talk all day.

- I'm watching "The Andrea Doria" right now. "GEORGE: Oh, right! (Shakes her hand) Right! Hey, hey.. I love the floors in here. It's like a gymnasium in here! Try and guard me! (Dribbles an imaginary ball)." I love me some Seinfeld reruns.

- There's waaaaay too much Easter candy lying around here.

- This site will be down a reader next week. Have fun at Disney World Eric!

- Some things to look forward to here in the coming days:
Some thoughts on Jackie Robinson Day
Maybe a few more Top 20 Lists
Current TV show patterns

- Remember, you can always keep tabs on me by following my Twitter page.

Virtual NBA... Fantastic?

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to take over a team in an NBA 2K7 online league. I had requested to be in the league when it started, but all the teams were taken. Once the season started, some owners left, thus creating the opening. I said sure, picked the Atlanta Hawks and was told to make up the games the previous owner missed as soon as possible.

(Just some quick background info. There was a fantasy-style draft before the season, so the rosters don't reflect their real-world counterparts. The games are played online with the Xbox 360, with results and statistics recorded on the league's fabulous website, located here. Each team plays three games per week, with each game representing "one week" in the season. My team had played three game and the rest of the league was pushing 20.)

I played two games right away and was destroyed both times. It was at that moment I began to wonder if I had made a sound decision. I was home sick last Wednesday and played four more games, all losses. I told the guy who invited me that this really wasn't fun and I know I'm not helpful to the league, being a pushover and all. He asked me to wait until I played him, since he's not that good either, and then see how I feel.

Before I had a chance to play him, I managed to win a game. It was a great game, one where I was losing early, fought back, took the lead, lost the lead in the fourth quarter, but held on and survived a last-second, potential game-tying 3-pointer to win 107-104. I felt a little better. Then I played last night and was destroyed again.

It's not the losing that bothers me the most. Sure, it really stinks to waste 45 minutes being embarrased, but it's everything else that comes with this league.

All the league members are now on my Xbox Live friends list. Before joining the league, I had maybe 20 friends, mostly all people I know personally. Now I have close to or over 50 and I don't know any of them.

Whenever I turn the machine on, I'm innundated with messages from these guys either looking to get our game in or to pester me about a trade. It's non-stop. Being in this league is more stressful than my job. The league feels like a job. (There is an option to "hide" and appear as if I'm offline, but I enjoy being connected to Xbox Live and seeing if other friends are on, etc.)

I hate to quit something I've committed to, but this is much more involved than I expected. Work is only going to become busier and busier the closer we get to summer and that means less time to play these games. I also want to play other games, not just NBA 2K7. I have lots of games that I want to play but I can't since I'm always being asked to get the league games in.

Any thoughts from my readers before I send off a message to the commish? Even though I'm 99% sure what I'm going to do, I'd like to hear some other thoughts.

Happy Easter!

I'd like to wish everyone a Happy Easter!

I honestly plan on updating the site more often, especially since Eric said he will start checking. I have some post ideas & changes in mind, so hopefully I will get to them soon.

Guitar Hero II is amazing. I stink at it, but I enjoy the heck out of it. Whoever thought playing a Cheap Trick song on a fake guitar would be so enjoyable???

The Mets lost their first game of the year yesterday. I was hoping for a longer streak to start the year, but that's okay.

If you're looking for me today, I will be planted on the couch, enjoying the Masters in HD, which is one of the showcases for HD. Everything looks amazing in HD, but the Masters is extra-stunning.