mike

Top rated shows each year from 1950-1999. Somewhat interesting.

These are pretty classy. I can’t wait to see the toilet that goes with this set.

You only have to spend $250,000/year to get one of these, pretty good deal.

Have you seen these new commercials? Not all Jetta owners love to hike, Craig. VW have had the best ads this year. All sorts of different approaches, all good stuff.

Darnerien McCants website. When he’s done with football he is going to focus on his musical career. I think his tour starts Week 2.

Everything changes so quickly. To think I felt like I was a step away from moving to Owego, NY then in one day having an interview and getting a job. To think that was the beginning of everything changing. I would not have predicted anything that has happened in the past week and a half. Maybe that’s the fun of it all, even when it feels like no fun at all.

In my current position, when I do get my desk next week, I will not have access to the internet. I have to go across the room to get online but won’t have time to send out emails to the group and likely any others that are more in depth than 2-3 lines. I realize this may cutoff my communication to the outside world. Ahad has already decided that he will be quitting his job since he cannot survive without our back and forth emailing on a daily basis. Staying in touch with everyone outside of work is something I’ve started to try and work on. I’ve had a little more free phone time in the last week. I have plenty of minutes with rollover I think I am going to crack the 2,000 minute mark this month. Plus with Skype I could call everyone whenever for free for the rest of the year. Keeping up with the weekly emails will be a challenge for me since I can imagine that I will not want to spend anymore time looking at a monitor when I get home. Also it will be summer and its always possible I will do some things. At least jump in the pool with the dogs. Oh, and I don’t have my cell phone with me all day either. I think with my desk I’ll get a phone if you so desired to bug me during the day. And I hope you do desire.

There are of course positive things about my job, for example, I will have work to do. Right now I’m not asking for anything more.

The point is that I enjoy voicemails and emails. I might not get back as instantly as I’ve been able to for the past few months, but I will get back. You have no idea how much I enjoy other people posting to the group. It shows that when my worlds collide that its not a bad thing. Speaking of that …

Friday night was the big Phillies group. I managed to get rid of all the tickets before Friday and by the end of the game they had all been paid for. The game was exciting expect that we lost but I’ve come to expect that when we play the Brewers. I was glad I got to see everyone and have a good time. Personally I was pretty impressed with myself. Even with the pain it creates to organize the whole thing its possible I’ll do it again. If only so the next time I can go home happy. I’m sure other things will be planned besides Phillies games.

Some things for you all to think about this week …

Seeing as my Summer plans have been cleared out I need some new ideas. Where should I go? No restrictions. If you have an idea spit it out, and if you want to go, even better.

Is anyone else concerned with the PA lottery commercials showing how they help ‘older Pennsylvanians’? The old lady gets on a bus with a groundhog driving and has no problem with that. Old people are thinking its normal for groundhogs to be doing regular jobs during the entire commercial. I think we need to help out ‘normal Pennsylvanians’ by using the lotto money to lock up these ‘older’ ones.

Last week on my ride home from work I saw an old beat up mini van …. with spinners.

Before leaving to go anywhere with Mike Ryan, make sure he has ID. Not really something to think about but a friendly reminder to save you some trouble later on in the trip.

Did we ever cover how Luke somehow got locked out of his Yahoo! account for a few days and couldn’t get to his Fantasy Team. Somehow his password got changed and his secret question was ‘Who do I have a crush on?’ One important note, he’s had this Yahoo! account since he was in middle school. Took him four days to figure out the right name. We all agreed he should call her.

Most underrated SportsCenter anchor: Chris McKendry.

Sirius started playing the new Dashboard Confessional song this weekend, its called Don’t Wait. We were riding into Philly on Saturday and I told Gregg that I hate all Dashboard songs for the first month they are on the radio, then I can’t get enough of them. By Sunday I was hooked. I think its the timing rather than a major blow to Dashboard theory.

This week starts summer TV. Wow, I just realized I need a hobby with all this newly found free time. Anyway there are a few things I’m looking forward to for the Summer season.

Last Comic Standing – One of my favorite reality shows. The first season was amazing, 2nd not so hot, and we don’t discuss the 3rd. I think they’ve regrouped and I have high hopes for this season. Problem with the show is that the annoying not-funny comic usually wins over the LA audiences. They need to move the show East.

Entourage – My sister was home for a few weeks after the semester ended. She caught up on some shows I told her would be worth watching. She watched Season 1 of Veronica Mars and is hooked. She also watched both seasons of Entourage and I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s now her favorite show. It may be the most perfect cast of any show on TV right now. You will like this show if you give it a chance.

Tourgasm – What was supposed to be a documentary about Dane Cook’s college tour last Spring is a series. There was that much material. I went to the PSU show and it was special. The real gold in this series is just what the comics did between shows. Comics are usually very selfish and impossible to get along with while also being hilarious. So when 4 of them have to live on a bus how can that not be good TV?

I’ll also check out Lucky Louie (it will be on between Entourage and Tourgasm) as well as Game Show Marathon (the one where ‘celebrities’ compete in classic game shows).

I actually had to go check if I sent out an email last Wednesday. I was surprised to see that I did. Last week is kind of a blur to me. I wasn’t feeling so hot. By Wednesday my throat hurt enough that I made a doctor’s appointment for Thursday afternoon. Somehow I made it through work on Thursday. Well, that somehow was coming in late cause when I woke up I felt like death and then left early to go to the appointment. Doctor said strep was going around. Now I am a sore throat champ. Few have had more sore throats than I have over the years, but I’ve never had strep. They’ve tested many times for it but nothing. Another hunch the doc had was that I might have mono. So that meant blood work. I think the last time I had blood taken was 10th grade, because they thought I had mono then. I didn’t then, but I do now. Doc gave me some steroids and by the end of Friday I could start to swallow a little bit. The culprit has not yet been determined, but I have my suspicions.

The debate was if I would go up to Owego, NY on Sunday night. During the week I had been contacted by 3 different recruiters up there. I was scheduled to go up Sunday night, interview on Monday and come home. Thursday I got a call from one of the recruiters saying that he had 6 managers that wanted to talk to me so it might be better to spread it out over two days. I called up and made sure I had the hotel for the second night. I decided that I was feeling good enough to make it up there. Since the interviews would be spread over two days I’d be able to survive. Plus, if I had pushed it off until the end of this week that would have been more time for me to think about how I didn’t want to go.

The drive up was pretty simple. Interstates just about the whole way. When I got close there were a bunch of exits to take but my Nav took care of me. Also made use of my Bluetooth Headset for the first time. I’ve had it for a few months but never used it for more than a test. I was on the phone practically the entire time. I made it into my room in time to watch Grey’s.

The plant was actually about 18 miles away from the hotel. One of the managers told me there was one closer. However since there is nothing near it people would not want to work up there because there was nothing around. Super. I got in and got my schedule. Six interviews were listed for the day. Pretty much everyone else had three. In order to squeeze six in I missed the two tours and had about ten minutes for lunch. I asked, but no one had any idea if I was supposed to have more the second day.

The first interview went well. Well enough that he told me I’d be getting at least one offer out of the day. Good start. By the third one my throat started to hurt and I was really tired. The last one of the day probably thought I was worthless. I had nothing left in the tank. I was ready just to go back and fall asleep.

It was decided that there was a communication problem and they squeezed everything into one day. We decided because they couldn’t get a hold of anyone who knew. Since there was no reason to stick around I decided to get dinner and head home Monday night. I went for Outback Curbside pickup. It was good except for the problem of eating a steak with a plastic knife.

I made it home in time for the Grey’s finale. Yes, instead of 24, which I watched yesterday after work. I’m not going to discuss the Grey’s finale. If you want to talk about it I know of a support group. It currently has two members who are never watching the show again and can’t wait until the premiere. We’re weak. In case you didn’t hear Grey’s will be on Thursday nights at 9 this fall. Same time as Studio 60. So my Sunday nights have been just about cleared out and Thursdays are suddenly packed again.

Some items from the trip:

All hotels should have mini-fridges. The Holiday Inn I stayed at did not. There is no excuse for this.

If you have the option to get a navigation system in your next car. Get it. Do not hesitate.

Why are windmills so creepy looking?

When getting curbside pickup at a place like Outback, do you tip? The line is there for it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/22/business/22charts.html
This is from a few weeks ago. The cost of making a penny might go above 1 cent. Here is the perfect opportunity to start on the road to eliminate change. My Idea: All new pennies will be 2-cent pieces. All transactions will be rounded to the nearest even cent. If you have 1-cent pennies, they will still be worth 1-cent.

Can someone help me out. I heard Hollerback Girl on the radio and thought to myself, ‘I have no idea what a Hollerback Girl is.’ I’m just not hip anymore. I listened to the DJs on Shade 45 chatting the other day and I didn’t understand anything they said. I’m making it a point to listen more so I can sound hipper.

I think the reason I like Since U Been Gone is because it uses the ‘door is ajar’ sound from your car. Listen closely. I like when songs include noises you hear all the time, hellogoodbye uses some AIM sounds in one of their songs.

M:I:3 came out last weekend. I kind of want to see it, it looks entertaining. However, is it wrong to support a Tom Cruise movie at this point? He can’t go any more crazy, can he? He’s not going to lose his money so I think I can go see it. Plus, I’d also be supporting the rest of the cast and J.J. Abrams. Maybe next week. With all the summer blockbusters coming out every week if I stay 2 weeks behind then the movie I go to see won’t be as packed. I’m not so much concerned with the packedness, its more that since I am old and go to bed early I would be going to an early show which means it would be all middle school kids. No good.

Viking: The Ultimate Obstacle Course Challenge. Have you seen this show on ESPN2? Its sort of like MXC, only a little more serious and more difficult in the later rounds. The first round is an easy looking obstacle course, very similar to MXC. There are some odd parts that involve knowing the alphabet and having to multiply. Still there are people falling awkwardly and appearing to get seriously injured and in the later rounds you can’t believe what these Japanese people are able to do. Last week it was on Monday at 8pm. I think its on then every week.

http://www.tvsquad.com/2006/05/09/gameshow-marathon-coming-to-cbs/
Best Summer Reality show involving D-list Celebs? I think this could easily be it. They are taking some Celebs. Having them compete in classic game shows and eliminating the loser each week. The games: Press Your Luck and Let’s Make a Deal, there will be others that haven’t been announced. The competitors: Tim Meadows, Leslie Nielsen, Kathy Najimy, Lance Bass, Paige Davis and Brande Roderick. Starts May 31st at 8pm. Hmm, isn’t that the same night The Hills premieres?

What you got poppin?