Random Rants

Dan Music

Well, let’s see, with the exception of a quizzie and the quickie post from the Police concert, it’s been about (goes to check site) a month and a week since I last posted. I hojnestly had gotten to the point that I was wondering whether I was going to keep posting or just take the site down. But fear not faithful readers (I know for a fact that there’s at least two out there somewhere .. Nikki being one of them).

So anyways, you might be asking yourself “Self, what has Dan been up to recently”? Well, that’s a good question, and you should thank yourself for asking it. Since my last real post I’ve changed jobs for one. Yes, he of the eternal job change has done it again. I am now … ready for this … the network administrator at the College of The Albemarle. Yes, *the* network administrator, as in 1, as in if the network goes down, I’m the one they call. Remember the Dilbert comic with Dogbert as the network admin pulling the plug? That could be me The job is 3 minutes from home, has a load less stress, and state pension and retirement plan participation, which is nice. Now to go grab those 2 different 401k’s that are floating out there and get them merged in ..

Let’s see, what else has happened in the past month? I think there was some New England team that won some major event … The Boston Red Sox won the World Series!!! Whoo. Any my wife laughed at my superstitious clothing ritual. Very simple. Odd number of Red Sox themed attire on Odd numbered days and Even number on Even days. What’s so hard about that? It served me well all season (I screwed up when we went to New York and wore the wrong number of items, thus jinxing us – same in Baltimore). So it’s appearing to be a timid off season. Let me just say “Re-Sign Mike Lowell!!” Of course the Sox picked up the elder statesman’s affordable one year option, so Wakey will be back. Let’s find someone to catch him (as much as I love watching ‘Belli catch him, I can’t stand watching him bat). A good season in all and the wife and I survived it (I think).

And then there’s the concert scene. I think we’ve finally calmed down a bit from the concert scene, but the past few have been outstanding. Of course there’s the Police show which we just saw, but before that there was Blue October and Yellowcard, which was also a great show (and more affordable than the Police). I might get some more pics up one of these days.

Well, that’s it for now since I’ve got to get back to work. Cheers and see you in another month (or less).

Dan General Rants, Music, Red Sox Rants

Well, so much has happened since I wrote my last real post. Where to start though? Let’s head back to New York just over a week and a half ago. Left work early on Friday to hit the road to New York. I swear, the past few times we’ve gone up 13 we’ve hit bad weather. Well anyways, made some decent time (even better after the New Yorker started driving). Got into the in-laws house in time to say hi and get some shut eye. Oh god how I hate that bed but love that bed (hate it for comfort and shortness, but actually love it because it pushes me closer to my wife).

Saturday was the day of the big game at Yankee Stadium. Tim Wakefield was pitching and we had seats in left field. Caught the train in, got heckled a bit for my Sox wear, but all in all I didn’t get harassed too bad. Subway ride was more of the same once we figured out which train to take and which station to catch it at. Got to Yankee Stadium in time to catch some of batting practice, find our awesome seats in left, and get some pics. Got some great pics of Wakefield and Dougie, some decent shots of Monument Park, Nikki went and got some shots of the big NY logo, and got some shots of each other in our seats. Now these weren’t normal seats mind you. These are the standing room type seats with folding chairs. Got to stretch out and really enjoy the game. Beer guys walked by left and right, so all was good. I got sick of the “Manny Sucks” chants, but what are you gonna get from ignorant Yankee fans anyways. Yeah, we lost the game (only Sox lost to the Yanks so far this season), but it was a 3-1 game, and we knocked out their starting pitcher .. literally. Subway ride home was more of the same and we pretty much slept on the train ride back.

Sunday came and the “secondary” reason for the trip. Nikki’s mother’s 60th birthday party (even though her birthday was technically yesterday, we held it a little early). Kind of a half surprise. She knew the kids would be there, but didn’t know that Merry and Kim invited all her friends as well. Good food in a true Italian restaurant on Long Island (still not as good as her mother’s cooking, but damn good anyways). Then it was back home for everyone for a bit, had a “Fudgie the Whale” to celebrate Kyle’s birthday as well (since his was Monday) and just relaxed for once (and watched the Sox win as well).

Well, the weekend over, we hit the road at 4:30 in the morning. God, it was early, but Nikki had the first leg, so I slept. So did the kids. After breakfast, we swapped places, and I took the run home. We were home by noontime-ish, and got to spend the rest of the day looking at paint, deciding on colors for the new house (which as of this posting, we close in just UNDER two weeks). Home again and relaxing for a while longer.

Then came Wednesday (I know Tuesday’s in there, but it was a boring, normal Tuesday). On Wednesday, the kids and I, sans wife/mother, went to Glen Allen, Virginia, almost two hours away. What, you ask, would we go 2 hours away for? Weird Al, that’s what. The first leg of the Weird Al tour here in North America kicked off that night in Glen Allen, and for being the first night the show rocked. The location sucked (The Innsbrook Pavilion is nothing more than a stage on a field), but the concert was great. The kids loved it. Thankfully the rain stayed away. White and Nerdy shirts for the kids, and all was good. Long drive home, and the late night made for sh*tty workouts the next few days.

Got a weekend to relax last weekend, with the exception of the electrician working on the new house. Now this guy has never seemed too bright, but dear God. Don’t tell ym wife on Friday that you need a part on Monday that I have to call someone else to arrange to pick up for you. WTF! Well, needless to say, I made it work, picked up the part (an electrical disconnect box) from the spa place, and dropped it at the house (and as my wife say, we have a colored door now). Nikki and I did some shopping at Lowes, which was nice, as we kept it slow paced and didn’t rush. Went to the mall and mallratted for a bit, and picked up an AppleTV. Now begins the compression marathon Gotta compress ALL the movies now .. Doh!

And that brings us to this week. Did I mention before that writing term papers sucks? Well, I had one due on Saturday and one due Monday. Both made it in, but I’ve been wiped out writing them. I think this is the most I’ve written in the past 48 hours, so enjoy. Final grades are posted on the 15th, so of course the grades/GPA will be updated soon enough.

Hopefully a past due Red Sox week(s) in Review will come tomorrow.

Dan General Rants, Music, Red Sox Rants, School Rants, Working Out

Well, a lot has happened in the past few days.

Let’s begin with last Friday. Evanescence with Finger Eleven and Chevelle at the Ted Constant center. What a show. Finger Eleven opened the night. The whole house sang along to “One Thing”, and the rest of their show was very upbeat and kept the crowd lively. Chevelle came on to follow them. I’ve never been a big Chevelle fan, but I’ve got to say I was pleasantly pleased. I only knew one of their songs, “Send the Pain Below”, but the rest of their show, like Finger Eleven before them, was upbeat and rocking. Then the main act. Amy Lee and Evanescence. I’ve heard that their live show is not that good, but I think they disproved that. They rocked (and Amy Lee looked hot on stage). Not much else to say, other than I enjoyed it.

Saturday brought the hunt for the working Gamecube. Yes, you read right, a working Gamecube. Kyle bought a used Gamecube from GameStop on Friday, and it didn’t work. Thinking it was the used game he bought, I went to trade it in or get another one. Since there were no other copies of Super Smash Brothers, I wound up buying another game. In the end it wound up being the Gamecube that was broken. So, before bowling, Nikki and I swapped it out.

But, before picking up the new Gamecube and bowling, Nikki and I went down to the new house. Checked out the wiring. All looks good, so we did a count of the wall plates we’ll need to buy. That’ll be a pretty penny.

At bowling, I was just on. Not a better way to say it. Seemed like most of the stuff I threw just worked. And the surprising fact was, I think I threw out my back during the first game. I was just on a natural endorphin rush. I actually shot my second 600 of the week. Not too shabby. Off to the bar.

Got totally blitzed at the bar, singing up a storm, including an Evanescence song and a Shania Twain song. OK, I was drunk. What can I say. Had some fun, and next morning I’d pay the price. I was out of contention for most of Sunday. Not really a hangover, but my back combined with the sleep I was missing, just didn’t lead to a day of work. We watched “The Benchwarmers”, which is a funny movie, but then again, most Rob Schneider movies are. Then we watched “Beerfest”, from the guys that brought you “Super Troopers”. Then it was off to bed for a “good” night’s sleep.

Thankfully, my workout this morning seems to have stretched my back enough to work the kinks out of my back. Swapped lower body and upper body, which I may do every day this week to mix things up. Speaking of working out, I’m still down below 225 (yes, below), which makes me happy. Red Sox play tonight

Dan Bowling Rants, General Rants, Music, Working Out

But it’s a good thing .. OK, I’ve been slack about posting, so here comes yet another edition of the long ass post that my wife won’t read the whole of (so I can joke about her near the end). 

Do I begin with my working out or with everything else?  Since I’m here, let’s try something different and work backwards.  I guess that means workout info first.  I’ve changed up my workout yet again (at the behest of my wife and from discussions with folks).  I’m now working out longer *yes, that means getting up earlier*, and also doing differing things.  I started getting back on the treadmill for the first time in a while.  While not breaking any speed or durability records, I can say that it’s a different workout for my legs and kind of reminds me of those days trudging across campus.  I’ve become very concerned with my gut, so I’ve also added a bunch of ab-based exercises (hence the title).  From there, I’m rotating upper body and lower body in the Cybex circuit.  Allows each set of muscle groups to heal and gets me more of a strength workout.  It’s working, since I hit 225 the other day (actually, 224 and change, but who’s paying attention). 

And let’s leap into my next topic, bowling.  Actually, the two are inter-related, since my working out (and working on upper body) has helped with my bowling.  I don’t feel as exhausted and my arms definitely don’t hurt as much when bowling.  I’ve had 2 games of 200 or better each of the past two weeks.  I came so close to a 600, it wasn’t even funny (596 SUCKS!!).  No major contests or competitions, but that’s just me not wanting to give any more money to the local AMF lanes.  We bowled at the Elizabeth City lanes last weekend, and can I say that the experience was eye opening.  Cheaper bowling and cheaper beer made for an all around better experience.  Throw in that it’s only a 12 lane house and we’ve got a winner.  It’ll be nice to bowl there next year (so I hope).

And then we come to the concert scene.  I’ll not even waste my “breath” by talking about Saturday night’s waste of time.  Let’s just say it was a “screaming” bad time and leave it at that.  But Friday night, well that’s another story.  Friday night involved Kasey, Nikki, and I driving to University of Virginia at Charlottesville.  Why would we drive 3 hours for a concert, you might ask.  Well, Billy Joel, the Piano Man himself, was playing and Nikki just loves Billy Joel.  Unfortunately, we wound up with top row (high nose bleed) seats because we bought the pre-sale tickets.  On the good side, Billy Joel put on a great show, and we missed absolutely nothing (actually, the view wasn’t bad, just far away).  Billy kept talking about the Roanoke times saying how he didn’t “bang head” enough.  Well, to show them wrong, and I kid you not, he played “Highway to Hell” (after strapping on a guitar) and their guitar tech “Chainsaw” sang.  What a riot, and it was awesome.  While he didn’t play Downeaster Alexa (my favorite Billy Joel song), he did finish the night with Pianoman, and the crowd was singing up a storm.  A great night for music and a great night in general.

Other than that, I’ve been plugging along with schoolwork on a daily basis.  Need to crank out some Crypto homework today and some Teaching Algebra homework tomorrow, but the pace has been good, and so far I’m on track for some solid A’s, bringing my GPA of 3.75 up (assuming 2 A’s, it’d be a 3.8 later).  Nikki has resigned herself to a B in her current class, but that’ll still give her a pretty decent GPA (we’re talking above 3.5 here).  So good for us, and hopefully I will graduate in August (no 6 year matricualtion for this degree).  Thinking of applying to teach at some of the community colleges around here, but that may take some time.  Ah well.

Peace out my friends, and hopefully I haven’t put you to sleep.  Red Sox spring training opener is this week, so the Sox rants will return in good time.  Go Sox!!

Dan Bowling Rants, General Rants, Music, School Rants, Working Out