It's been a while

Ok, I am blog slacker, what can I say? Life has been pretty busy with tons of parties to go to and the SAP project starting to pick up. We head to Milwaukee in 3 days for our yearly holiday jaunt to the great white north. Owen will be spoiled and mom and dad will have to suffer with whatever is left over.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season. Merry Christmas!!!

The Eagle Has Landed

Patri and Maia have made it Cincinnati without too much issue. A picture is below.

John, Kristi and Julia came over tonight for some toddler bonding, fun was had by all!

Gas

Gas is now down to $1.75.

I voted

10 minutes to drive to my polling place, 10 minutes to vote, 10 minute drive back to work. I could not have drempt it would have been so easy given that there were cars EVERYWHERE at the church this morning. I am so happy I waited.

Gas

I just want to note that in Mason, OH gas is $1.93. That's right $1.93. Pretty amazing if you ask me. It only took $30 to fill Wendy's car yesterday. Only a few short months ago it cost over $60.

Our Prayers Are With John, Patri and Maia

John, our prayers are with you, I don't think much more needs to be said.

Crusades & Columbus Crew

You are probably asking, what the heck are these two subjects in the same heading for a post? Darn good question. I had lunch with a football (soccer) buddy of mine today and we were talking about how great Wikipedia is. Mike says "I want to do a 6 degrees of separation experiment with Wikipedia to see if I can go from one thing to something else in 6 mouse clicks or less." How we landed on Crusades to Columbus Crew I don't know but it clearly has footy origins.

Anyway, after lunch I tried to see if I could perform this seemingly impossible task and well, it's not that impossible. Not only did I perform this minor miracle in 6 mouse clicks I actually did it in 5. Here is the path I followed so if you want to check my work, go for it! Believe it or not the following links are on the respective Wikipedia pages.

Crusades to Western Europe
Western Europe to United States
United States to Sports in America
Sports in America to Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer to Columbus Crew

Red Sox Go Home!

Today is a happy day in the land of a perennial Yankees fan, the Red Sox lost to Tampa in 7 games. They get the same thing my team does this year which is absolutely nothing. Granted my emotion is mixed because the Yankees are being run so poorly and Brian Cashman needs to be shown the door. Maybe some day we can get us back to what had us winning in the 90s. A mix of guys who are not over paid, know how to do their job and not cause trouble in the locker room. Is that too much to ask?

Dad Survived The Weekend

I know it's no big deal but I think this is a exercise in relativity. I survived the weekend alone with no naps! For whatever reason Owen has decided on weekends he does not like naps. I did everything I could think of, car rides, TV Owen does not like and Stroller rides. I thought the stroller ride was going to work yesterday and I thought I had won the battle but when I went to pick him up to take him upstairs all hell broke loose. No nap for Owen, no nap for Dad either and I really needed one!

I know Patri will have to deal with much, much greater in a week but I feel proud of my accomplishment. I commend all those single parents out there who don't have a loved one coming home after only a week away or have a loved one away for an extended period of time. I grovel in your greatness because it is a truly amazing feat.

I didn't get to cut the grass

Whoops! I am ashamed! Well, not really.

Weekends Go Too Fast!

Yes, I said it, weekends go way too fast! Friday you feel so free and you have 2 whole days to relax or get done what is needed to be done. Then Sunday night rolls around and you are not feeling so free anymore because you know at about 8 AM the next morning means sitting at a desk in front of a computer. I should have practiced golf like that was going to be my job then maybe I could be like Tiger! Or maybe not...

Back from Sodus, NY

Well, Wendy said she survived my 15 years renunion and all of the activities that were involved but I had a good time. It was great to see some faces from yester-year. People I used to love being around and have a beer with. Seom people have changed a lot and some have not. All in all it was an enjoyable experience.

David, a.k.a Sweet D, left a comment on my previous post and I could not agree more. Life goes so fast but we should always cherish the good times and those we love being around. Whether it's friends or family moments from this past weekend I will remember forever. I hope everyone from this past weekend has a renewed interest in keeping in touch. It would be great to keep a good thing going.

Going Back to S-O-D-U-S

Well, this is it, my 15 year renunion approaches faster than I ever would have imagined. I looked at the RSVP list and there are some names on there I am surprised to see and some I am not. I feel a little nervous because I have not seen most of my former classmates in 15 years. Having said that I am looking forward to seeing some people I used to like hanging out with.

Besides the renunion I am looking forward to hanging out with my folks. Being at home is always so relaxing and it makes me wish I had family closer. However, maybe I would not cherrish the time I do get to spend with my family as much? I cannot answer that because it is how our family has always operated ever since I was a wee lad. My grandparents did not love close and neither did my aunts and uncles.

The other thing I am looking forward to is playing golf with my father. Sodus Bay Heights is whereI learned to play golf and I always love going back there to play every now and again. I never realized how hard SBHGC was until I moved and played golf courses people thought were hard and I thought they were easy!

First Time Out For Owen

So last night was a momentous occasion but not for good reasons. We are in the belief that Owen should eat what we eat since he has teeth and can chew etc. Well, last night that was not working very well so we had to have some recourse. Owen, after much debate as to whether or not he was going to eat anything, decided he was going to throw his fork at Wendy. Wendy replies "That is enough!" I grab Owen, put him in a chair facing the wall and told him to stay there.

Well of course since his world has now ended he wails but stuff his whole hand in his mouth while he is still crying. So out comes this whimper more or less instead of a full fledged cry. He also does his best not to face us. He clearly is facing 180 degrees away from the dinner table.

After a period of time I go and pick him up and he immediately puts his head on my shoulder. The other funny thing he does is deliberately not look at Wendy. Every time I turn so he can look at her he would pick up his head and look the other way. Finally he did not feel like lifting his head up anymore so he gives Mom the serious stink eye since she is the one who clearly ruined his life!

So what did Owen eat do you say? Avocado and cheese, what a meal.

Bob and Lisa Have Come and Gone

Bob and Lisa came and went over the weekend and it felt like a whirlwind. I wish weekends were longer and I wished Bob and Lisa could have stayed longer. We always have fun when they are here. We ate like crazy people too. Mohito Chicken on Saturday and Ribs on Sunday, what a feast.

Last night Julia and Kristi came over fro some play time. The kiddies ran all over the house tiring each other out and I know that Owen slept very well last night. I would imagine Julia did too.

Another random story since this post is already a disjointed mess of words. This morning the most bizarre thing happened at work. I was preparing my morning coffee and out of the corner of my eye I see this huge shape careening towards the window next to where I am standing. The next thing I know I hear THUNK! A crazy kamikaze Canadian goose crashed into window right next to my head. I quickly run outside and it is getting up and shaking it's head trying to figure out what happened. I start laughing as do a few other people who were nearby. I watch the bird for the next few minutes and it just stands in place probably trying to figure out what the heck just happened. Craziness to start a Monday morning.

Lisa & Bob; T Minus 3 Days and Counting

Saturday around lunch time we expect the arrival of Lisa and Bob which should include my sweet ass birthday present. We have some work to do to get the house ready but we are pretty excited for the annual summer foray to our abode. I am sure some Wii will be had by all.

Now that much of the family has Mario Kart we look forward to some friendly competition. So in other words, I am calling everyone out as a challenge that the Cincinnati based racing team rules!

Garlic Permeates

Last night Wendy and I decided we wanted to make Dinosaur's Motha Sauce. It's awesome once made but it requires a ridiculous amount of garlic. I think I used 5 or 6 cloves for the required amount. Anyway, I have washed my hands to the bone practically because all I can smell is garlic! However this does not seem to have worked because I think the garlic entered into my soul and is now coming out of every pore in my body. It's a good thing I am married because I would not be getting any dates. Wendy says "At least you are safe from vampires." I guess I have that going for me at least!

Packer out at CBS, to end Final Four run after 34 years

Could there be any sweeter words in college basketball? I don't think so.

Milwaukee; Lisa and Bob Next

Milwaukee was fun as usual, seeing Wendy's parents is always enjoyable. We were also able to see some friends while we were home too. We had to go to a baby shower for one of Wendy's high school friends and that was a good time.

July 4th was the same ol' with family from Chicago coming up for lunch. We sat around and talked and ate like crazy. We were so stuffed we barely had anything for dinner.

Next up is Lisa and Bob at the beginning of August. I can't wait to get my hands on the Cuzco jersey, it looks so sweet. Lisa has also been telling us of their golfing escapades so I might have to take L&B to the driving range whilst they are here.

Owen and the Wii

Houston, we have a problem...

This past weekend we had some crazy Wii action going on. On Friday Amy and Rich came over, after dinner at Bravos, to play some Wii. Owen was very happy about this and watched very contently. Saturday we had invited some friends over for dinner and afterwards we played some Wii. Again, Owen sat very contently even though there was mass chaos going on around him.

Then we come to Sunday night. We have had our bath, eaten our fruit and Owen is pretty much ready for bed at this point... Or so we thought. He proceeds to the TV stand, where we keep all things Wii including controllers, opens the drawer and pulls out both controllers and hands them to Wendy and me. He also then grabs a TV remote because in order to play the Wii he knows we have to push a button. He is pointing at the controllers and then pointing at the TV like he is Caesar who is saying "Let the entertainment commence!"

Needless to say we have hidden said controllers in a place that shall remain unnamed. I don't want a Nana, Papa, Uncle or Aunt making our lives more difficult. Sorry, I love all of you but I trust you when it comes to my son about as far as I can throw you. :)

Hybrids, 3 Wood and Cuzco Jersey

Ah yes, how quickly we forget, I did buy 2 Hogan hybrids and Tommy Armour r7 3 wood for my birthday. Let me tell you, all of the clubs I purchased are super sweet. I am happy with every single one of my purchases.

Lisa did buy me a jersey for a club in Peru and I cannot wait to see it. Last year it was San Martin Football Club in Argentina. She must have been a good luck charm because they were promoted to the top division in Argentina while she was there. For a club the size of San Juan that must have been an unbelievable occasion. Lisa did have a few pictures of people driving around on motorcycles and going absolutely crazy in the city square so there you go.

Another Year Older

I am a day late writing in my blog just like my sister in law Patri who forgot to call until just a few minutes ago. Birthdays these days just seem to come and go. I cannot believe it is less than 2 months until Maia and Owen both turn 2. I guess time flies when you are having fun!

I did not really do much on my special day other than supervise an electrician who was installing ceiling fans in 2 bedrooms. I also was able to watch day 1 of Wimbledon. The one highlight was going to Kyoto, our favorite Sushi place, to eat some delectable raw fish! That place is so good I could eat there many times a week so I am glad Kyoto is not too convenient.

Doesn't that look good?

Owen's Lip

We had a funny Owen incident after I returned home from golf last night...

Owen is pushing his Pooh mobile around because, you know, he likes pushing it around versus actually riding it! Well anyway, he is going all over, going around the table, towards the dog and then he decides he is going to use the circle around the island as his race track. He is careening around the corner and he hits my left leg, rather hard I might add. I say to Owen in a very stern voice "Owen, no, do not hit people in the leg with your car!" He stands there, hands still on the back of the pooh car, perfectly still and his bottom lip jutting out about as far as it will go. 10 seconds go by, 20, 30... still standing, lip jutted out. His world has clearly taken a severe hit on this one.

Wendy starts to make the shhhh motion, while she is trying to not slice her hand off cutting some tomatoes, because we are both cracking up. I am laughing so hard and trying to perform this feat silently I feel like I am going to pass out. If you saw us both from the back all you would see is shoulders shaking like crazy because we cannot contain our laughter at Owen's expense.

At this point Owen decides he has done something very wrong and wants to make amends with his father. He waddles over taking very small steps, arms at his side and buries his head between my knees as his attempt for saying he is sorry. Of course at this point I pick him up and he gives me a big hug making sure that his world can continue in a normal fashion.

Family Vacation Complete

We have been to Sodus and back without incident so I guess that is something. Seeing everyone was fun as always and it was very sad leaving. When you are surrounded by so much love you never want to leave. It is very comforting and I wish I could be around my family more regularly. The good part is, love never ends, it endures so I take that with me until I see my family once again.

Wii Me Baby!

Wendy and I finally did it, we bought a Wii. This may have been a foolish purchase but time will tell. Every time we played someone's Wii we came away wanting one. I think the final straw was when we were over at John & Kristi's after a soccer match and we played the Wii for a couple of hours.

Sunday is always shopping day and we needed to hit Target for some things. I walk into the electronics section like any other normal male adult and started poking around. To my delight I noticed they were advertising Wiis!! They have several on the counter just waiting to be purchased. Yay!!

So last night was spent setting up the Wii, getting connected to our wireless and playing some games. We also were able to check out the forecast channel, pretty cool stuff. Mom asked me if we are going to bring it to Sodus. We have not decided but you never know what the weather will be in upstate New York in May. Maybe I will start a family poll to see if we should bring it.

Honey Bunches of Oats

So congratulations me on letting Owen become a complete monster this morning. Yesterday, while grocery shopping, I thought it would be a good idea to pick up a box of Honey Bunches of Oats with Chocolate Flakes. Why do you ask?? Currently we allow Owen a small treat when he eats his Rice Krispies in the morning and we mix in some Cocoa Krispies. Not too much however so he does not go completely bonkers at the sitters. Anyway, I digress so I can get back to the Honey Bunches of Oates now with chocolate flakes.

I pour some of the regular version of the cereal into his bowl and he complains a little so what does dad do? That's right, he heads to the pantry for something else, the newest version of HB of O with Chocolate Flakes! I guess you could say it is somewhat equivalent to Bill Cosby's story of feeding chocolate cake to his kids one morning. If you have never heard that bit you should go listen to it, you will laugh very hard. Anyway, I pull out a couple of flakes, both chocolate in nature and proceed to eat one showing Owen they taste so, so good! So guess what, being the good son he is he decides he has to try what dad is eating. Low and behold, Mikey, he likes it!

This is where things start to go terribly wrong. Owen then decides the only flakes he could possibly eat for breakfast are now clearly chocolate flakes. I proceed to say and then ask Wendy "I think I screwed up, did I screw up?" I bet no one out there can possibly guess what Wendy said? So now I am fighting tooth and nail to get Owen to eat something other than anything coated with chocolate to no avail. He eats every last crumb he can find that resembles chocolate and then, of course, wants more. How dare my child not eat what I am feeding him but want something else that is in the box that only lies a few tantalizing feet away!?

Moral of the story? Dad = Dumb. I bet I could find a way to do a math proof on that too. OK, never mind.

The Masters and Philanthropy

The Masters... I know I had this complaint last year but I will be honest, I respect Tiger a lot, would love to meet him and understand what makes him tick but, I am glad he did not win yesterday. CBS's annual love fest for Tiger is over and guess what, someone else won HIS tournament and I loved every minute of it. Since when does one golf tournament become a persons right of passage? The golf tournament no one else should be allowed to win, according to CBS anyway. Well, that might not be true but that is what I feel like every year I sit my lazy butt on the couch to watch The Masters. It's always, tiger will make his run and whomever is ahead him will surely collapse because Tiger is looming over the field like the Rocky Mountains do over the mid-western plains. Whatever, I am glad it's over.

Philanthropy... I despise pretty much all things American Idol but, there is an annual event I hope many people got to watch this year. They had an Idol Give Back event last week and it was tremendous. I could not believe all of the people they had on TV or on stage to raise awareness of many things. Not only issues in America but issues in Africa as well.

Patri and I had a very good discussion last week and then I saw that show. It gave me a whole new perspective on how some people live their lives in America. I made me ashamed this country has not done more for the needy, for our own people who live in squalor and fight to just to survive another day and put food on the table. For as much as I disagree with some things concerning health care and how we go about our business in this country it shows how much need there is even in this day and age. I wish there was a measuring stick you could apply to people who actually try on a daily basis to make the American dream come true vs. those who don't and abuse the system.

There is no right answer for health care I think. You will never make everyone happy. What we should strive for however, is to make as many people healthy and happy that we possibly can. Maybe it's a combination of providing for others, the weak, those that cannot help themselves and education. Enough talk, it's time for action.

Cars & More Politics

First off I ran across a list of cars with the worst fuel economy. As I looked at the list I began to wonder, would anyone owning a car on this list even care about ridiculous gas prices? Aside from the Jeep Grand Cherokee I would guess the answer is no.

Cars With Crappy Fuel Economy

Secondly I appreciate any feedback on the Health Care post... This is what makes our country so great. We can share our feelings on a subject and hope we can still love each other. I also have to throw in some rebuttal because I feel like some words were put in my mouth...

I never said we should not care for the weak and I did say we would need some type of plan in place in order to get somewhere closer to being a healthy society. It requires education, it requires less pollution as well as lots of other things. It may or may not require some sort of universal health care to get us there. We have medicaid and medicare but I do not understand those things enough to even discuss what they could or could not do for the "weak". I think generally the answer is not much.

All I am saying is that some will be willing to pay for someone else's care and some will not. I never said I wasn't willing however, what we can control as a society we should control so costs can ultimately go down. My argument was never about "Acts of God" that we have zero control over only about health care and controlling what we can control.

If I missed some important points in my original argument I am sorry. It's hard to think of everything writing in a blog. Keep the comments coming, they are most welcome.

April is Here and Politics

Finally, Spring has sprung in Cincinnati, Ohio. Planted some flowers today and painted a new mailbox since our current one is a dilapidated piece of crap. The Lee's, the family that owned our house prior to us, did not know what the heck they were doing with their gardens. Planting full shade plants in spots where they would receive nothing but sun and vice versa. Wendy and I are determined to win this battle against our garden and the Lee's. What else can we do? Enter a contest to win 10,000 bucks to fix it and hope we win!

What else... oh yeah, Universal Health Care, a.k.a how to bankrupt our country even more... Borrow, spend, borrow, spend. Ah, the life of a politician.

Wendy and I have been talking about the various issues more than I can remember. Politics is not usually conversation we have at the dinner table but lately it has become fairly prevalent. My view is we need to fix the root cause which is people living unhealthy lives. I don't disagree we need something to bridge the gap between now and when people are healthier but, should it cost us healthy people billions of dollars to fix someone else's problem? But then you have to discuss why people don't have health care in the first place.

So really you have more than 1 issue. You have the issue of people not being healthy and we should educate folks so they can get healthy and health care costs eventually go down. Secondly, you have the issue that people do not have health care because they are not educated and do not have jobs that give them health care for various reasons. Whether it be they are only working part time or for a small employer.

I know this is tough topic for many and especially those in Washington. I guess I throw this topic out there to see what kind of responses I do get. Some people will say I don't want to pay for other people's poor choices. Some people will say did those people ever really have a choice growing up or living in whatever horrible conditions they are/were in? They are a product of their environment. It's subjective and there is probably no right answer hence why there is debate.

I guess my point is, in the information age, lets get some damn information out and get this country healthy and whole. Get people to stop smoking and eating like pigs. Get people to realize what their decisions ultimately do to their bodies and everyone will be much happier. If we don't do something the problem will persist and health care costs will continue to go up. Someday, if the current trend continues, even large companies will not be able to afford to cover their employees.

Maybe Universal Health Care will work in a healthy society because the overall cost is less per capita but I don't think it has a chance of being solvent in today's environment. Time to fix the root causes and not the symptoms. That is what I want out of Washington.

Home Sweet Home

I am sure many of you have read Wendy's blog by now describing the play by play of Friday and Saturday and boy was it fun. The whole family also ended up sick after our escapade. Owen has been hacking and sneezing while Wendy and I both have very sore throats and the typical aches and pains that go along with being sick.

I have learned a couple of things after this adventure. 1) Always book at the counter if your flight gets cancelled and 2) Don't fly through Chicago - O'Hare if at all possible. What a nightmare that place is.

Palm Springs was however awesome. I highly recommend it to someone who is looking for something atypical. What I mean is not the beach or a cruise or whatever. There is lots of hiking if you don't mind driving 30 minutes, tons of golf and of course, your hotel pool if you want to relax.

Palm Springs; 6 Days and Counting

On Saturday, March 15th, 2008, me, Owen and Wendy are headed to Palm Springs, California and man I cannot wait. The average temperature this time of year in Palm Springs is 80 and if you have been paying attention to the news lately, you now that we are buried up to our arm pits in snow right now in Cincinnati. I thought I moved from New York to get away from this crap?


Syracuse has won 2 games in a row for the first time in I don't know how long. They have not capitulated in the second half like they have done so many times this year. Maybe we can do some damage in the Big East to gain an at large bid into the NCAA tournament. The annual dance knows as March Madness. The Big East tournament begins in earnest on Wednesday I believe.

Riker Family in 21st Century

Everyone is now web camified! Just drop us a note when people want to chat.

Aint Technology Great

The web cam is up and running and fun has already been had with Nana and Papa. We have also discovered that the web cam works a lot better with MSN than it does with AOL. Boo AOL.

Dallas Loses

Now I am totally depressed. Dallas lost to the Giants and Newcastle lost to Manchester United 6-0!! Yes, that is not a typo. I guess I will have to wait until next Fall to get any sporting enjoyment.

SU STINKS!

As I write this, SU is getting blown out by the University of Cincinnati and they suck. Newcastle United fired their manager today. College football is over. The SU football team went 3-9. I quit, time to read a book. My only saving grace is the Dallas Cowboys. I can't wait for my mom to read this!

Friday At Last

As I stated before Owen has made out like a bandit this Christmas. We decided it would be a good idea to put some of the new toys downstairs in the basement otherwise Owen's crap would be everywhere. The house is already booby trapped enough already!

We are still working on updating Picasa but for some reason our PC at home won't run Java applets and I don't know why. The upload process relies heavily on this technology unfortunately.

Other than that I have no idea what to write at this moment. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season.