Thanks Pete

I am so thankful that Pete is a happy, healthy (relatively), and well adjusted dog.  I watched tonight's episode of Dogtown about the Michael Vick dogs.  It was heartbreaking to see how those dogs had been treated and the state they were in when they were rescued.  Most of them were fearful of humans or other animals which made them more aggressive.

After months of therapy most of the dogs had either found homes or had come leaps and bounds over their former selves. 

Watching The Dog Whisperer, there was a dog that would attack people if they came near it while it was eating.  Pete is the polar opposite of being an aggressive dog.  He listens to commands, unless distracted by other people or dogs around.  When I feed him, I can stick my hands right in his mouth and take the food out and he lets me.  He is quiet and loves other people. 

My dad has even commented on how much he has changed in the past year.  When I first got him he didn't know how to act around other dogs and put them into an aggressive mode.  Now, he can be around other dogs and plays with them and is submissive most of the time.

I really couldn't ask for a better dog.

Guitar Hero World Tour

I managed to get 100% on Everlong - Foo Fighters, 100% on Misery Business - Paramore, 100% on Beat It - Michael Jackson, 98% Eye of the Tiger - Survivor, 97% on Stranglehold - Ted Nugent (I didn't think that song was ever going to fucking end), and 95% on Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd.  All were on lead guitar on Hard.  While none of those songs are by any means the hardest in the game, they are pretty freaking difficult.

I tried playing The Middle by Jimmy Eat World and Misery Business by Paramore on Expert and failed miserably within the first half of each song.  I will get them one day.

There's a party going on right here...

I stayed at my dad's house this weekend.  My sister was graduating from nursing school on Saturday and they wanted me out there for a family breakfast Saturday morning.  I knew that there was no way that I was going to get up in time to make it out there for breakfast so I decided to go out there Friday and spend the night.

We got up Saturday morning and made breakfast then all sat down and ate.  My dad had to go to my aunt's and pick some stuff up for the party after the graduation.  My sister and her mom went out to get their hair done but ended up coming back to the house and doing it themselves due to not making an appointment first and there being a long wait at the salon.  My brother made it back home about an hour before we had to leave.

We got to the church and went in.  I set up the video camera and the ceremony began.  It was a nice ceremony.  My sister presented my parents with a rose for each of them for supporting her through the past 2 years of school.  My dad started tearing up.  Once it was finally over we met up with one of my step-mom's students who was coming out to the house with us that night to study for his NCLEX exam.  We got back to the house and started getting everything ready for dinner.  My other brother grilled everything up and my aunt made her famous potato salad.  Then the drinking began.

By the end of the night, and after a never-ending game of UNO, my sister finally stumbled to her room and passed out.  My brother, dad, and I were up until around 4 talking and hanging out.  I passed out around then.

We got up this morning and made breakfast again.  We sat outside on the deck and talked for a while then I had to pack up and get Pete wrangled in the car to get home.

After I got back, I ran up to GameStop to pick up the copy of Guitar Hero World Tour that I had reserved a couple of months ago on the PS2, but wanted to exchange it for the full band kit for the Wii.  They didn't have any extra copies so I went ahead and got the PS2 version.  I ran by Target to see if they had it.  They did.  I purchased it and ran back over to GameStop to return the PS2 version.  I got home and unpacked it all.  It is a lot of fun.  The drum kit for Guitar Hero is a lot nicer than the one for Rock Band.  Instead of having 4 pads and a foot pedal, there are 3 pads, 2 cymbols, and a foot pedal.  They aren't as loud as the Rock Band drums either.  I got about 12 songs into career mode before I decided to shut it down and take a break for a bit.

I need to get a new wireless router so that I can get the Wii back online and download additional content.

Overall, it was a fun weekend and I enjoyed it immensely.

More pics of Pete

 

Here are a couple of pics of Pete that I snapped recently. 

Oktoberfest 2008

I love the company that I work for.  Tomorrow is our annual Oktoberfest.  Otherwise known as "Bring your favorite beer" to work day.

Mmm Mmm Good

I made a Caribbean inspired dish tonight.  I sauteed some onions and green peppers, smoked sausage and garlic.  I dredged some shrimp in chili powder and sauteed them up.  I mixed it all together with a can of Rotel and pineapple chunks.  I then boiled some rice in chicken stock and pineapple juice.  Mixed them up with a little bit of jerk seasoning and sprinkled a little bit of fresh coconut over the top.

It was mighty good.  It was kind of sweet then you bit into one of the shrimp and lit your mouth up.  Probably one of the best creative meals I have made in a while.

I made some sliced cinnamon apples for dessert.

Charlaine Harris: Southern Vampire Mysteries

Over the past two weeks I have read the first five (well, ok, four only because I can't find the second book anywhere for sale other than on Amazon) of Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Mysteries(Dead Until Dark, Living Dead in Dallas, Club Dead, Dead to the World, Dead As A Doornail).  I stopped and picked up Definitely Dead and All Together Dead, books 6 and 7, from Borders today while at lunch.  The 8th book, From Dead to Worse, is currently out in hardback.  I may pick that one up after I finish the 7th book, but I would like to wait for its release in paperback before I get it.  I have devoured these books lately.  Mostly reading them in one sitting.  They are not that long; 350 to 400 pages for most of them.

These books are the basis for the new HBO Series True Blood.  Which is how I happened upon the series in the first place.  The show is taking each book as a season.  They have expanded a couple of characters and made a few minor changes, but overall has stayed very close to the original story.

The premise of the story is about a telepathic waitress who gets mixed up in the world of vampires and other supernatural beings set in a time when the release of a newly developed synthetic blood has opened the doors for vampires to "come out of the coffin". 

I would highly recommend these books if you are a fan of supernatural mysteries.  A couple of the books are quite predictable in the outcome, but the first couple books had me riveted.

Pete's prgress

Update regarding Pete.  I had taken him back to the vet to have another skin scrape done.  It came back negative for mange.  I requested a different doctor this time.  The vet said that it just looked like really dry skin to him that was causing him to scratch which in turn caused a skin infection.

He told me to start putting some olive oil in his food and mix it up really good.  That would give him extra moisture in his food and help his skin.  He gave me some antibiotics to clear up the infection.  So far it is working wonderfully.  His skin is now back to normal and he isn't scratching at all.  He loves the olive oil added to his food.  I also got some fatty acid stuff to put on his food as well as some multi-vitamins for dogs.  He is doing great.  He is back to his old self again.

Table for one

I really wish they sold bread in half loaves.  I don't eat a whole loaf fast enough before it goes bad.  There are only so many sandwiches that I can eat.

I am looking forward to the big vat of chilli that I am making for dinner tonight though.

Oh dear...

McCain/Palin scare the hell out of me.

For one, shouldn't his healthcare plan of deregulation scare people away from him.  Letting the markets regulate themselves clearly doesn't work as Wall Street has proven succinctly.

Why do bad things happen to good people?

I found out this morning that a friend of mine from back in high school is pretty sick.

We were inseparable back then.  We were in band together and when not in school or at band practice we were always at each other's house.  After my mom died I was pretty bad off.  I got deep into drugs to help ease the pain that I was going through.  It was an easy way to escape everything that was going on.  He knew what I was doing and didn't like it, but still stuck by me.

After graduation he had been working for a local guy helping him out with stuff and he was offered a house to rent.  We talked it over and I moved in with him.  It was the first time that I had been away from home.  My dad had recently remarried and I was not happy about it.  I felt that he was betraying my mother's memory and me.  I was angry at everything and felt that it was my chance to get away from all of it.

I started hanging out with a bad crowd of people and got even further into my addiction; still trying to escape the pain that I was in, it seemed like the best way to handle it.  I ended up screwing him over pretty badly.  I was not paying any of my part of the bills.  I kept promising him that I would give him money the following week, which never happened.  All of my money went to drugs and escapism.  I was dragging him into debt and didn't really care.

On Thanksgiving day of that year as I was driving up to Nashville to visit my grandparents I got in a wreck.  A driver had run a stop sign and I had no choice but to either slam into them or run off the road into the ditch.  I don't know if it was the drugs or just the adrenaline pumping through me, but the ditch didn't look so bad.  It was worse than I had thought.  My parents picked me up and helped me get everything straightened out with insurance.  After staying with them for a few days, I went back home.  Nothing had really changed for me other than being sore from the wreck.  I still didn't care.

Christmas Eve of that year, my stepmother's mother was coming to visit and they wanted the whole family there.  I stayed out there that night.  On Christmas day my dad took my step-mom and everyone else out somewhere.  I didn't want to go.  I got a call from a "friend" asking if I wanted to come party with them.  I could not refuse that offer.  They came out and picked me up.  I didn't leave a note or call anyone.  I don't remember the next few days.  I don't know where I was or what I had been doing.  Someone told me afterwards that I had been passed out for at least a day; more than likely overdosed.

I somehow made it back home.  My parents had talked to Justin and Jen trying to find out where I was.  They told told them what was really going on.  My parents confronted me about and took me home.  Jen finally threatened some sense into me and made me realize that I was killing myself and hurting everyone else with how I was doing it.  Justin asked me to move out.  My parents helped me pack my things up and took me home to get myself sober.  I believe that was the last time that I saw him.

After I got clean I talked my old boss into giving me my job back.  My parents were in charge of my money at that point since we were still dealing with insurance after the car accident and getting my bills under control.  They had gotten in touch with Justin to find out how much money I owed him.  They worked out a payment schedule with him and I paid him back, but things would never be the same. 

We lost touch after that.  Life moved on and took us in different directions.  It wasn't until 2 years ago (8 years after all of this happened) that I found him on MySpace.  We exchanged a couple of emails, but they were nothing more than the standard "Hey, long time, how you doing?" type of emails.  I had not talked to him since then.

I got an email from a mutual friend of ours this morning telling me that she had heard from someone else that he had been diagnosed with a pretty bad form of cancer.  I was hoping that it was not true.  I emailed him this morning to ask him about it.  He emailed me back this evening and confirmed it.

I do not believe I have ever told anyone, that was not involved in all of it, the whole story before.  I have thought about him a lot over the past few years. I will always feel terrible for what I did and how I left things with him.  He was always a good person and a great friend.  He did not deserve any of it and does not deserve what he is going through now.

Problem found (hopefully)

I talked to Pete's previous owners the other day.  I called them to find out if they had experienced this issue with him when they had him.  They did.  Their vet told them that it was "Red Mange" or Demodicosis.  It is a condition caused by Demoditic mites burrowing into his hair follicles causing red, oily, and scaly areas of the skin, severe itching, a "mouse or rodent like" smell emitting from the area, and hair loss.  It is commonly found in pups but has been occasionally found in adult dogs as well.  Pete has all of those symptoms.  His former vet recommended to John and Christy that he be given Ivermectin as treatment as well as a chemical dip treatment of Mitaban and skin scrapes every two weeks until the mites are completely dead.

I have done a lot of research on Ivermectin over the past two days.  It is a cattle and swine dewormer.  It is not approved for treatment of worms or parasites in dogs or cats but has shown significant effectiveness in treating heartworms, parasites, and demoditic and sarcoptic mange.  Some dogs such as Collies or other herding breeds are missing a certain mutation in a medicinal absorption gene and has been show to be fatal in those breeds.  Luckily Boston Terriers aren't in that group of dogs. 

Some sites say that if you get the 1% sterile Ivermectin for cattle and swine that it should be diluted with propylene glycol while others state that you should give them no more than .1 cc per 10 lbs undiluted as propylene glycol can be highly toxic to dogs.  Other sites state that that first rule is for using Ivermectin as a heartworm preventative and that treatment for Demodicosis has to be given to the dog at a near toxic level to kill the mites that are infesting the skin.

Toxic symptoms include temporary blindness, temporary deafness, ataxia (loss of muscle function or breathing), emesis (vomiting), depression, coma, and possibly death.

The past two days I have given him .2 cc and he hasn't had any adverse effects.  I am going to raise it to .3 cc tomorrow and Wednesday and keep an eye on him to ensure that he doesn't start exhibiting any toxic effects.  The goal is to get him up to .5 cc daily for a while until it is gone.  If I follow the .1cc per 10 lb logic, he would get .25 cc daily which as noted by a few web sites is the low end of treatment as heartworm preventative and mange treatment.

I have noticed already that the red smelly patches aren't as oily today and seem a lot less red.  He also hasn't been scratching nearly as bad today.  I called a veterinary dermatologist today to try to get an appointment and they wouldn't even schedule one until he had been on Ivermectin for at least 4 weeks as most cases of Demodicosis are often confused with dermatitis allergies and it would be a waste of my time and money to bring him in for this issue if it is in fact Demodicosis. 

My fingers are crossed that this course of treatment works.

2 quick videos of Pete

And we're back!

I picked up a new 750GB external hard drive last night at Best Buy so that I can have one place to back up all of my files rather than spending hours upon hours of burning everything to DVD. I got all of my files moved over to it last night.

I woke up early this morning waiting for Jen and Nathan to come pick me up to go to the Cooper-Young Festival, so I decided to go ahead and format my computer since it has been running like crap lately and had a lot of junk on it that I don't use/need.  After I verified that all of my files were successfully moved to the new drive, I began the process.  After a few snags getting my computer to finally boot to the DVD-ROM drive and not freezing up when reading the Windows XP disk, I finally got it done.  I reinstalled all my drivers and basic programs.

I bought a copy of Acronis TrueImage 11 to backup my hard drive since I can't find my Ghost boot disk.  Acronis is much simpler to use and compresses images better than Ghost.  I created the image and backed it up to the external drive.  This will simplify things in the future making it unnecessary for me to have to worry about backing up all of my files and then going through the whole formatting and reinstalling process.  Now all I have to do is boot to the Acronis boot disk choose the image and click Restore.  I have it set to do an incremental backup every week so that I can minimize any lost information in the event that I do have to do a restore.

In other news, we had a good time at the Cooper-Young Festival this morning until the masses of people showed up.  There was some nice stuff there.  For those that don't know, the Cooper-Young area is the young/hipster/artsy/liberal area of Memphis.  Every year they have a festival.  The streets are lined with booths of people selling their crafts and art as well as various food and drink booths.  We found a natural products booth selling soaps and various other things.  They had a few little baskets with organic dog treats so I picked up some Peanut Butter and Oatmeal treats as well as some Bacon and Cheese treats for Pete. 

When the crowds picked up we decided to get going.  It was starting to get pretty warm out and the sun was beating down pretty fierce.  We stopped by Raffi's Deli on the way and had some lunch.  Today has been a lot of fun.  I hadn't been to the Festival in a couple of years.  I was glad that I made it out there this year.

What else can I do?

After figuring it up tonight I have spent nearly $1000 on Pete over the last couple of months between getting him neutered, microchipped, and shots updated ($250), and another $750 between medicine (clemastine, amoxicillin, prednisone, benedryl, and more), allergy testing, and various other vet bills trying to fight off this skin infection, allergy, disease, whatever it is.  His hair was thinning out and he was bald in a few spots so I started giving him Ivermectin again thinking that it was Sarcoptic Mange.  That helped his hair grow back in, but did nothing for the scratching.

The vet recommended an allergy test.  The allergy test was done by a deep skin scrape.  They anesthetized him to do it.  I had to deal with a very grumpy Boston Terrier for two days afterwards and it came back inconclusive.  I have washed all of his bedding with hypoallergenic detergents and bleach, bought new bedding, and cleaned the carpets with a hypoallergenic soap thinking that it was something in the carpeting.  He is still chewing and scratching himself bloody.

Tonight I came home to find blood all over the inside of his kennel.  I pulled him out quickly and found that he had chewed a large cut on his front leg.  I got it to stop bleeding and bandaged him up.  I talked to a woman who breeds Boston Terriers and she said that her oldest BT had the same thing when she was a puppy.  She started feeding her a salmon, duck, and sweet potatoe type of dog food and the problem went away.  I called the vet to see if they recommended trying that.  The vet was all for it.

I found a bag of it at Pet Smart for $49.95 for 15lbs.  I also bought a medicated oatmeal shampoo.  He likes the food.  I gave him a bath.  The rash turned bright red while I was drying him off but he isn't scratching at the moment and seems a bit more calm.  I have to give him a bath once a week with this shampoo.  I also clipped and filed his nails down so that when he scratches they won't cut him open.

If the new food and baths don't work, I don't know what else to do.  He is such a great dog.  It kills me to see him in pain like this.  When he starts scratching he cries and gives me this pathetic look like he is asking me to make it stop and it breaks my heart.

He is supposed to have surgery on his back legs to fix his disjointed knees, but I can't see putting him through that right now while we are still battling this other issue. 

Everyone thinks I am crazy for spending this much on vet bills and everything else for a dog.  They keep telling me that I need to put him down and quit wasting so much money on him and just be done with it.  Am I wrong for refusing to do that and not even considering it as an option?

Stunning!

I love the pictures that Lars Stephan takes.  Not only does he take amazing photos but he also shares his self images which are a beautiful thing to behold.  I don't remember exactly how I found him, but I have been checking his Flickr page every day for the past couple of years.

He recently took the following picture and I absolutely fell in love with it.  The photo is titled Oliver #1 and is probably one of the best portraits he has done yet.

A little perspective

We all complain about the price of gas.  We complain about the price of food.  Yet we as a nation will easily go out and spend $245.24 million dollars to go to the movies in a single weekend.

I am just as guilty, but the irony of it struck me tonight.

Movie Review: The Dark Knight

Best movie of the year.  Heath Ledger was phenomenal.  Christian Bale was amazing.  Two-Face felt kind of wasted, but served his purpose.  Story was strong.  Acting was great.  Special effects and makeup were outstanding.

Overall, 10 out of 10!!

The hammer is my penis

I just got done watching Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog.  I was thoroughly entertained.  Joss Whedon cold take a shit on camera and it would be brilliant.

I will definitely be buying it when it comes out on DVD.

Movie Review: Zombie Strippers

I meant to post this earlier today....

Zombie Strippers was hilarious in a bad way.  The filmmakers really couldn't have thought that they were actually making a serious zombie flick.  It was bad for a bad movie.  Jenna Jameson is looking really bad now.

 

-10 out of 10

Movie Review: Iron Man

I was never the biggest fan of that comic but there were a few occasion that I did enjoy it.  The movie looked decent enough and everyone that I knew that had seen loved it.  I was excited to see it myself.  I just never went.

I did go see it tonight.  I was impressed.  It was a fantastic movie.  Robert Downey Jr. outdid himself tremendously.  When I first heard that he had been cast for the part, I was a little confused.  I never really saw him as the superhero type of actor.  He was perfect for the role.  Jeff Bridges was good as Obadiah Stane.  The only part that I was a bit put off with was Gweneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts.  She seemed like she had to force herself to play the role and wasn't that convincing.

The special effects in the movie were very well done.  The Iron Man suit and the Iron Monger suit were very realistic looking.

Overall, I give this movie and 8 out of 10.

Next up will be The Incredible Hulk.

Observations in HD

I am not a fan of MTV since they became "The Real Hills of Laguna Beach Challenge", but the MHD (MTV in HD) channel focuses solely on music.  They show a lot of concerts and MTV unplugged.  It is such an improvement over what has become MTV 1, 2, 3...24...32... and 50.  It is nice to see a channel about music focus on music once again.  I am sure that after a while they will start putting the same old crap on this channel as what is on all their other channels, but for now it is worth watching.

Food Network HD is insane.  I didn't think I could fall in love with that channel any more than I already was.  Seeing it in such crystal clarity is mouthwatering.

TV in HD is amazing...

I picked up my HD cable box this morning from Comcast.  After a little bit of drama involving them wanting to run a credit check on me to get the new box despite the fact that I have never had a late payment in the past 4 years that I have had their service, I brought it home and hooked it up with the cables they provided.  the picture was really weird and there was a weird buzzing noise coming from the speakers.  I ran to Walmart and bought a new HDMI cable for it and hooked it up that way.  The picture is absolutely flawless now.

It is absolutely amazing watching tv in hi definition now.  I put it on the soccer game on ESPN2HD and you really can see every little detail.  It is like being there in person.

Watching TV in the bedroom just doesn't feel the same now.  It is almost a disappointment to turn the tv on and see the regular digital cable picture.  I need to upgrade this tv to HD now. :)

Good morning to you too

The gasket in between the water tank and the toilet bowl rotted out or broke.  I woke up to water being all over the floor in the bathroom.  I thought maybe the toilet overflowed, but after checking that the water was clean and nothing in the toilet bowl, I began to think that maybe Pete had been in the bathroom drinking out of the toilet again; he makes a mess when he drinks.  No, there was too much water for that.

I cleaned up the water and continued getting ready for work.  A little while later I went in to brush my teeth and again noticed water on the floor and this time the toilet was running.  I checked around the tank and sure enough there is water coming out of it.

I tried to turn the water to the toilet off but the valve is screwed up and was a bitch to close and awkward to get to.  I finally managed to get the water off and cleaned up in there again.

This was at 7:30 this morning.  Maintenance didn't open until 9.  They are here now replacing that gasket.  Ah, what a glorious morning.

Movie Review: Indianna Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I just got back from seeing this movie.  Overall, I liked the action and the acting of all the characters.  I wasn't impressed with the story.  I feel as though after 20 years between films, they could have come up with a much better story.  It didn't feel like it fit in with any of the previous movies at all other than the nods to the previous flicks.

My recommendation would be to wait for this one to come out on DVD and save a few bucks renting it rather than paying $10 at the theater.

I give it a 3 out of 5.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

I picked up Super Smash Bros. Brawl today on my way home.  Wow, this game is so much damn fun.  It is a little confusing getting the controls down between the nunchuck and the wiimote, but once you do it is great.

I went online and played a couple rounds with various other people and had a blast.  I got my ass handed to me a couple times and then won a couple others.

I encourage anyone with a Wii to run out and get this game now!

Holy Frak!

I just drove by the gas station and gas is up to $3.77/gallon!!  Yesterday it was $3.58.  $0.19 in one day?!

It seriously will be up to $4 a gallon here soon.  That is sickening.

That which is forgotten

The smell of honeysuckle on a warm humid night brings back a lot of memories.

The sad part...

 

...is how true this has become.

For all the world to see...

Here is my little man Pete.  He is finally up and walking around.  I got him to eat and drink and took him out to go to the bathroom.

He has his normal expression back now.  I am so thankful that he is doing better.

 

I guess I was being overly cautious and overprotective of him.  I can't help it though.  I hate to see any animal in pain, especially my own.

You can't help but love him.

Why are you doing this to me?

I dropped Pete off at the vet this morning to get neutered.  He is way past due to have it done being two and a half years old, but better late than never.  He is also getting microchipped and getting all of his shots updated since I don't have any shot records for him.

He gave me the saddest little puppy dog face as I was leaving that seemed to ask "Daddy, why are you doing this to me?"  It was so sad.

They are going to call me in a little bit to let me know how all of it went.

It is kind of surprising how completely this dog has become a huge part of my life.  I couldn't imagine being without him.

Movie Review: The Forbidden Kingdom

I got to see The Forbidden Kingdom tonight.  It was an enjoyable movie.  It was by no means a movie of the year or will be anywhere near my top 10 list, but I am glad that I saw it.

The movie stars Michael Angarano as Jason, a kung-fu loving teenager who travels through a a sort of wormhole thanks to a mystical Bo Staff owned by the Monkey King.  His mission is to return the staff to the Monkey King in order to defeat the Jade Warlord.  He is guided on his journey by Lu Yan (Jackie Chan) and The Silent Monk (Jet Li).

The movie was by no means a mega-hit, but it is worth seeing if you enjoy high action martial arts/fantasy movies.  The special effects were magnificent and the fight sequences were spectacular.  The acting was decent for what they had to work with.

Overall, I would give this movie 3 out of 5 stars and would recommend it to others.

Can I get a sinusectomy please?

I have been sick all weekend.  I woke up Friday with a sore throat and headache.  My sinuses have been hurting for the past week.  I laid around most of the weekend hoping to get better. 

I was supposed to go to the Trot for Spot event for the Memphis Humane Society with a group of friends on Sunday, but still wasn't feeling good so I canceled on them.  I felt bad for it, but it was cold out and I was still feeling bad.

I woke up this morning with my throat hurting worse and can barely talk.  My sinuses are pounding in my head.

I just got off the phone with BCBS trying to get some information from them so that I can go to the doctor today.  Apparently the world stops if they don't have your telephone number on file.  All I needed was my member id and group number since I haven't received a card from them since my benefits went into effect at work.

I hate insurance companies almost as much as I hate being sick.

Time to make an appointment with the doctor and find out what the hell is wrong with me.

New Ink

I really want a new tattoo and have found two designs that I really like but can't choose between them.

This one, minus the sun

Or this one

 

I think the second one is winning in my head, but there is something about the first one that I can't rule out.

Billy Crystal = Wayne Newton?

Is it just me or is Billy Crystal starting to look a lot like Wayne Newton?

Billy Crystal:

Wayne Newton:

Memphis lost the NCAA Final Four

It is too bad.  The city of Memphis will be in mourning for weeks now.  I was hoping the Tigers would win, but Kansas played a better game.

I even sat and watched most of the game too; and I don't even like basketball.

Work News

I started some of my training classes at work today.  I will be in class for the next two weeks and then have 3 weeks until my next batch of classes.  In the meantime, I have been learning all about the software on my own and even started answering some of the support emails and logging tickets for them; at least the ones that I knew the answer to.

I am still very impressed with this company as a whole and think that I have found a job that I will be happy at for a long time to come.

Reminiscing of the old days

The red house at the bottom left is the house that i lived in while up in Massachusetts.

I would give anything to be back there again.