Maybe I do have a mysterious past afterall.  I just didn't realize it went so far back.

Posted @ 10/13/2006 10:22:00 PM | 0 comments

I had several ideas about the title for this blog entry because there are several thoughts that I wanted to discuss.  Possible titles include:

1. How can Wong be so Right? (AKA Please God, give the Yankees some middle relief)
2. Hoppy Boy (AKA Ummmmmmm, beer)
3. Parenting 101 (AKA Love & Logic)
4. Preseason vs. Regular Season vs. Postseason Jake (AKA Broncos Prediction)
5. Itchy Wrists (AKA No Whining Allowed)
6. Captain, my Captain (AKA Close, But Way Beyond)

Addressing the titles in order I will add my halve thoughts to each of them :)

1. I watched the Yankees game tonight and I was very puzzled when Joe Torre, the New York Yankees manager, pulled Chien-Ming Wang in the bottom of the sixth.  The reason this was so puzzling was the Yankees had at least a 3 run lead, nobody was on base, there were two outs, and Wang's (pronounced Wong) pitch count was in the low 90's.  I just don't see the harm in letting him get one more out.  I can see wanting to save him for later but in the playoffs, I think you pretty much always have to look at today.
2. Last time I hit Union Liquors, I bought a beer called Hoppy Boy (I love beers with corny names).  It is brewed by the Twisted Pine Brewing Company (located in Boulder, CO).  I had one of these the other night and a few of them during the Game One of the ALDS featuring the Detroit (Leyland's Losers) Tigers vs. the New York Yankees.  If you follow the Hoppy Boy link, you will see that this beer received only above average rankings (although I've never looked at the RateBeer.com site) but my personal ranking would have to be higher.  I like hoppy beers (have I said that 10 or 12 times yet?) so this beer gets a higher ranking in my books.  It is smooth and has a definite hoppy bite so what is not to like?
3. Where to start on this.  I guess with the simple facts.  There have been several recent instances where my son has lied to my wife and me.  I realize all kids lie at some point to try to get out of trouble but with the recent string and the severity of instances, we cannot let it slip by any longer.  We never let any instance cruise by, but this time my wife and I are going to have to up the ante.  As there have been at least three instances, my wife and I have to determine consequences.  The latest instance involves my son's daily status report on his behavior where he said he had a green day (no problems) when in reality it was yellow (one minor issue).  We understand and tolerate the yellow days as we know that nobody is perfect but the fact that he lied to my wife about it in order to get a (new) toy back is what pushed this one over the edge.  After our Clapton trip, we brought the kids some presents from our trip.  For Alex, we brought him the Bioncle Piraka Thok from Lego as this is an item he wanted and was going to put on his Christmas list.  Alex was only 80% of the way through assembling this toy when it was taken away from him for not listening.  He had not done anything to earn it back in since then.  After this recent fibbing episode, we are going to make him give the toy to charity, reimburse us for the cost, and a a couple of other things including the possibility of no TV or video games along with additional chores.  Suzanne and I are still discussing but we told Alex not to worry about the consequences. ;)  For those of you not familiar with Love & Logic, it basically lets children make their own choices and suffer the consequences of bad choices.  The logic behind it is the let them make their mistakes and suffer the consequences of their decisions when they are younger and mistakes are less expensive.  Hopefully, once they are reach their teenage years, they are making better choices and their mistakes are less costly.  My wife and I had other ideas, but they unintentionally punished other people as well so we overruled them.
4. Anybody that follows football and especially the Denver Broncos, knows that Jake Plummer has multiple personalities depending upon the time of the year.  Preseason means nothing counts.  Posting season means it is the real McCoy.  Post-season means that the stakes are even higher so he panics and reverts (unintentionally) to preseason Jake.  After reading and thinking, I think preseason Jake doesn't end until the third game of the regular season.  The past two years, the Broncos have escaped 1-1 after the first two games and then warmed up and won their third game.  I am predicting that Jake will play much better until the playoffs arrive or game with playoff implications at which point Jake with start making left handed passes and multiple turnovers per game again.
5. So I've only had minor issues with dry skin and ezcema over the past few years.  Usually I don't notice anything until December at the earliest.  However, this year, I may be experiencing symptoms much earlier.  The last couple of weeks, my wrists have been very itchy.  When I remember to put moisturizing lotion of them on  a regular basis, they seem to get better.  Hopefully this is all that is going on this time around.
6. Man oh man.  I've always been a Derek Jeter fan but this year my opinion of him has risen even more.  At this point, I would have to say that he is Hall Of Fame caliber.  Not only does he have great statistics, he always make the key plays at the key times.  This is what has earned him the nickname of Mr. November as the key plays only become even more frequent once the playoffs and World Series start.  Jeter just missed his third batting title by only a few percentage points but never really has been upset because his only focus has been on the team and winning the World Series.  This guy carried the Yankees for over a month while many key Yankees where injured included Robinson Cano, Gary Sheffield, and Hideki Matsui.  I could go on and on spewing about him but I think you can look at the FACTS for yourself if you aren't already a believer.

Posted @ 10/03/2006 10:46:00 PM | 0 comments