If you are looking for a title, you came to the wrong place

Here it is, 8:30am on a Sunday morning. I imagine many of you are just starting to wipe the sleep from your eyes and getting out of bed to greet a brand new day. Not here however. I have been up since about 3am, first I worked on a couple of Pogo badges, then I edited and posted another episode of the Lynn Cullen program, then it was onto Pandora to begin setting up my new radio station, rolling my change from my change jar since I finally got around to buying coin wrappers from Office Depot on Friday, then it was off to an early breakfast at Eat N Park, then grocery shopping, now I am back home working again on Lynn Cullen audio and a blog entry as well.

This is due in part to the fact that while I was hoping to be productive yesterday, alcohol got in the way, or rather I let it get in the way. I slept in on Saturday, then figured I would go to the bar, have a couple of beers and come back home and attack all of the tasks that awaited me. So I had a beer, plopped down in front of the poker machine and proceeded to pretty much break that plan early and often as that one beer turned into 6 while I bs-ed and just had an all around decent time. I made a little money on the poker machine, I turned $25 into $80 but I loaned Billy, one of the bar regulars, $30 because he is always good at paying me back, hit the jukebox for about $7 worth of tunes, talked with some people in the bar including one of the founding members of The Affordable Floors, a band I really liked back in the day, but that day was almost two decades ago now, these days he works for the same people I do at the newsstand, he works in the Oakland store (Gus Miller's), I work downtown (Smithfield News). It was one of those where are they now moments that some day may be written about my radio career by some AM radio geek. But by the time I made it home I was sick drunk, because of hoiw quickly I had put the beer away and the fact I hadn't eaten anything beforehand. So sick was I that I tossed some cookies and fell into bed where I passed out, only to wake up later and not be drunk sick, just sick sick from torturing my stomach and more puking resulted. Needless to say, no work was done on my part and I fell back into bed until my early wake up time today.

Oops, be right back, my audio has been exported to the desktop so I have to fire up the next one to edit.

Okay, I am uploading the next hour into the audio editor and I just realized my computer failed to record Wednesday's show. That sucks, but not too bad, we didn't have a guest or anything. Still, unless the equipment in the studio worked on Wednesday, which is far from a given, in fact it is more than likely it didn't, one episode of the show is lost to the internet ether. The thing is, I record the show at home, but the radio station also provides me with two blank CDs to record in the studio, where it is set up to take the studio audio and burn it right to a CD via a CD writer. The problem is that writer rarely works right, some times it does okay, other times it will not finalize a CD, or it will stop recording in the middle of an hour or some other bit of craziness, so if my computer fails to tape, chances are very good that the show is just lost.

That being said, I am getting better using Audacity for editing, I can usually cut an hour up (removing all of the commercial breaks) in less than 5 minutes. The shows take longer to be exported to the desktop and uploaded to Imeem than it takes for me to edit an hour of radio.

I am thinking today may turn into a glog at some point. The Penguins are on TV today, they play host to cross state rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers, as the game of the week on NBC at 12:30. Only 3 hours and 20 minutes away, lots of time to blab and get other stuff done. I have alot planned today, if I get half of it done I will consider it a victory and move on. I really need to make an effort on washing dishes and clothes, and for me that would be an effort as they are two tasks I am loathe to do most days. Between those two and the fact I already have the grocvery shopping done and some of the audio stuff out of the way, I would consider that a win, anything beyond that is just gravy.

I am a little irked about something. It seems that a pack of cigarettes went up almost a full dollar the other day, all due to increased taxes on cigarettes. The argument is that the tax is going to fund the CHIP program, which provides health care for kids. Of course the fact that the majority of smokers are of the lower income brackets and what you have in essence is another tax on the poor. I am not going to go the woe is me route, I'll be honest I hope the tax results in fewer people smoking and not for the honorable reason that some people will be healthier, but rather because it may deny some sickly kids medical assistance. Yes, I am that mean spirited but the idea that the health of kids should be tied into how many cigarettes people smoke just strikes me as a tad bit ludicrous, so maybe fewer people smoking and some kids being denied medical care are called for to make a point. If something is important, and I would argue that medical care for kids is an important thing, then it should be a shared burden and not one selectively imposed on a group of people. You wouldn't base things such as police or fire protection on something so inane, so why would you do it with children's health?

I already finished editing that hour I uploaded and now another show is finding its way to the Imeem page. I guess I could continue to type while that happens, or I could head over to Facebook and work on my Hammerfall campaign a little bit. I am doing quite well in the game, already up to level 20, but I am at a point where I could press forward and try some new challenges or stay where I am and make sure my party is fully outfitted. I am opting for the latter, as there is a pretty easy quest to pick up an iron helmet that you can repeat so I am trying to get a helmet for all 19 members of my guild. Any gold and experience I pick up in the process is just gravy. After this I am heading even further backward to make suree the entire party has horses, right now I have 8, so I have plenty of projects in front of me before I plunge further into the game. Like most Facebook games of this type, it is time limited to a degree, you can only play for so long before you have to stop and rest up and then beging playing again. I am at one of those resting points, another reason I headed out to breakfast and grocery shop.

It looks like I am off again next weekend as well. I don't know if I like having every Saturday night off, on one hand it is nice to be home weekends and to have two days in a row to boot, on the other, it is another day that I make no money. The radio gig is nice side cash, but until we get some more advertisers lined up I don't want Lynn to be worried about paying me, I'd rather we got this to be a money making operation first and let the coin follow afterward. After all, it's not like I am doing anything evenings anyway, so playing on the radio is payment enough for me to begin with, any money I make from it is just a bonus.

Okay, another show is uploaded to Imeem, now I just have to wait about 15 minutes and I can go ahead and create the playlist for it. While that happens I think I will do a couple more quests in Hammerfall.

You know what I haven't done in a while? I haven't given anything away on this page so I think it is about time to change that. The first person to comment on this blog entry, besides saying something ridiculous like "Give me the prize", wins a subscription to Esquire Magazine. And if no one comments then I will keep the goodies for myself, because I am all kind of greedy like that.

Well, I have managed to kill one and a half hours so far by blogging, internet surfing and audio editing. Only 2 hours and change to go until faceoff and another glog entry. Actually the game has a chance to be a good one today, the Penguins currently reside in 5th place in the Eastern Conference, the Flyers are in 4th and if the season were to end today, this would be a first round matchup in the playoffs. Alas it isn't and there is still time for teams to move up and down in the standings, considering 10 points separate the 4th through 10th place teams and only the top 8 qualify for the post season.

Add to that Pitt plays in the second round of the NCAA tournament today and it will be another big sports day in Pittsburgh. Much was made of Pitt's first game, a 72-62 win over East Tennessee State that was closer than the final score would indicate, as Pitt had just a 2 point lead with 2 minutes remaining. Now much has been made of this, especially since a #1 seed has never lost to a #16 in the tournament's first round, with some prognosticators wondering just how good or bad Pitt really is. Me, I am not like that, you treat each game as an individual event and nothing more. Nobody remembers the Arizona Cardinals getting blown out by the New England Patriots and the New York Jets, all they remember is that Arizona played in the Super Bowl. Likewise history will treat this as nothing more than a win, and I would argue the sign of a good team isn't not how well they can play, but can they win when they aren't playing well. Any team can have one of those out of their head type games where everything falls into place and they manage a win, not as many teams can muster a win when things aren't going their way. Those, my friends, are the good teams.

Still more things getting accomplished on this end, another hour of teh show is edited and now being exported to my desktop and I took out a bag of trash and an empty pizza box. It was from dinner the other night when I ordered a chicken wedge and fries because I was too lazy to cook and it was a treat for making it through another week. I doubt I will be ordering in today, it would make the whole grocery trip pointless. Instead I think I will whip up something, I just don't know what that something will be. Funny thing about grocery shopping, I went with no plan in mind, so I didn't go in thinking I need this item or that one to make specific dishes, I just grabbed what I liked and what was on sale that I thought I could make use of. So instead of practical stuff where I could say, make chili or something, I end up with stuff like shredded Mexican cheese mix and no idea what the hell it is I am going to do with it.

I still haven't started my taxes yet. Usually I knock them out of the way early in the tax season, just so I can have the refund money in my grubby little paws, but this year I just haven't found the time to play with it. I am sure I could find a way to spend my refund, and maybe that is why I am waiting, as long as I don't do my taxes, I can't spend that money. Likewise I have another $10 waiting for me on my survey page, but I am loathe to request the check from them. Instead I am just slowly building on that account, it is actually almost up to $13 bucks now and I may just opt for a prize as opposed to money this time. They have some stuff on there page I could use, like a coffee pot. Not that the one I have is bad, it is just small. My mom picked it out for Christmas a couple of years ago, and it only brews like a cup and a half at a time and when I am in the mood for coffee, usually it is by the pot, not the cup. Maybe that explains my reading on the blood pressure machine today at the grocery store. They have one of those self testing machines next to the pharmacy counter and I sometimes like to stick my arm in just to see what numbers pop up. This time I was hypertesnion, hypertension, high pulse rate. That's the big trifecta right there. Then again, anyone who knows me can understand the hyper part, it's another reaon why I am glad I am not a cocaine junkie, hyper on top of hyper. It's bad enough that I have become a fan of the Full Throttle Coffee + Energy drinks. They are so tasty and they have caffiene and energy drink all rolled into one. Talk about liquid crack, that is it.

And yet another hour is edited and I manged to fill out a survey that has been sitting on my desk to boot. I am the epitome of production so far today. Next up I will upload the new show that is now done and while that is taking place, venture out to the mailbox and drop off the survey and maybe sneak in a beer to boot.

Okay, I am back. Dropped my survey in the mail, when I get credit for it it will be another 50 cents to the survey account, bought another pack of cigarettes (sickly kids can thank me at their liesure) and had two beers, dropped 15 in the poker machine and took out 20 and called it a day. All said, not a bad venture out of the apartment and now 30 minutes till face off and we can get a glog underway.

Now a quick tinker with Hammerfall to try to get more iron helmuts and then it is off to Sportsline to get the hockey window open. There, that was quick, I managed to get a few more helmuts, only two to go and the entire party of 19 is equipped, then I can go in search of horses. Plus I managed to pick up another sapphire ring, which will become sellable once I get all of the helmuts in place.

Okay, did the finalizing of the show on Imeem, I have 7 shows posted so far, now to grab some sandwiches and some TV and settle in for some hockey.

Okay, got my sandwiches, two turkey sandwiches to be precise, some microwave popcorn and a 2 liter of Coke by my side and I think I am just about ready for today's game to begin. Actually, I want to see how many times NBC plugs "Kings", their most recent TV show that was supposed to be critically acclaimed but fell flat on its face in its premiere last Sunday. Despite the hype the network tried to build for it, it drew no better of a rating than what NBC usually offers in that time slot. I'll admit, I was less than enthralled by the promos for it. Apparently I wasn't the only one. Give me an episode of The Office any day over that over hyped tripe.

In case you were wondering, and I know you weren't, these teams have met 5 times this year with Pittsburgh winning four of those contests.

Before the action can begin, we are treated to a commercial for the local Subway " office weight loss challenge" final 4 teams. Each team consists of 4 members and if you want to see how they are doing you can log onto the TV stations website. Great, just great. Seems to me each of the teams has 4 women on them and the best way I can think of spending my internet time is look at pictures of 16 fat chicks. Thanks, but really, no thanks to that.

Pregame time and we are into our first network commercial break and look it is a promo for an NBC show, Southland, a cop show from the producers of ER. That's not a good thing, considering ER has been absymal this year, with the show relying on dead people coming back and people that haven't been on the show in years just to create a small buzz for it. This past week it was a cast member leaving, of course from a career perspective, she would have been better off leaving a couple of years ago, but what do I know.

We are underway from the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh. I know, technically it is supposed to be called the Mellon Arena, Mellon Bank did pay for the naming rights, but last I checked, they didn't pay me anything, so they get no love here.

Pittsburgh registers the game's fist shot, but Martin Biron makes the save.

Pittsburgh is controlling the action early in this contest, 4 shots to none for Philadelphia but nothing has come from it to this point and we remain scoreless early in the first period.

First penalty of the game and it is called on Pittsburgh, Bill Guerin is off to the penalty box at 14:49 of the first period. Philadelphia takes advantage, just 8 seconds into the power play it is 1-0 on a Simon Gagne goal, his 29th of the year. Mike Knuble and Claude Giroux with assists on the tally. While there is something to be said for a team having a man advatage and taking advantage of it, there is also something to be said for the fact Marc Andre Flery has faced one shot thus far and failed to make a save.

Pittsburgh catches a break, a shot right in front that Fleury misplays ends up going wide of the net. Otherwise it would be 2-0 already. Instead it is still just a one goal advantage for the Flyers, though it has more to do with luck, on in the case of Philly, a lack of luck, than it has to do with skill.

Pittsburgh with another flurry of shots on Biron, but Biron is up to the task and makes saves on them all to keep it at 1-0. Pittsburgh has the advantage in shots 7-3, but not in goals.

So far it has been a clean game if nothing else, almost 15 minutes in and only one penalty called on either team. Just as I type that Philadelphia gets called for goaltender interference, Jeff Carter looks to be the guilty party and Pittsburgh will get a power play here, looking to tie the conetst in the first period.

Pittsburgh comes up empty on the power play, registering a couple of shots, but nothing on the scoreboard and the game remains 1-0. Instead Matt Cooke takes a penalty after the power play ends, leaving Pittsburgh short handed for the second time today.

Pittsburgh kills off the penalty and now things are getting a little more chippy, which is usually what you expect in a rivalry game. Joffrey Lupul gets called for a penalty, 2 minutes for roughing after a minor skirmish on the ice, but with less than 10 seconds left in the firts period, Pittsburgh will see the penalty carry over to the start of the second. All told, the first period ends with Philadelphia in the lead 1-0.

On the bright side we went a whole period without a commercial for "Kings", maybe NBC has given up on it after its dismal first week.

I guess I could take a moment out of the first intermission to update the change meter yet again. Another $3.36 onto the previous total and it now sits at a robust $75.24.

Also the intermission gives me a chance to save this just in case of computer failure, which while not likely could still happen. And to even add to what has been a productive Sunday to this point, I went ahead and ran some dish water so I could start that task as well.

Second period is underway, which means I can quit sorting clothes. Woohoo, sounds like a plan to me. Pittsburgh starts the second with the man advantage. One shot and no gaols later and we are back to even strength hockey for the time being.

Well that was short lived, Hal Gill takes a tripping call for the Penguins and Philadelphia is on their third power play of the game. The Flyers score but the play is being reviewed, as the puck went off of Scott Hartnell's skate. The thing is, a player cannnot kick the puck into the net, but a puck can go off a skate and go in, as long as their isn't a "distinct kicking motion". It didn't appear their was one here and the league office in Toronto agrees and the goal stands, it is the Flyers now leading 2-0.

Dueling minor penalties here, 2 minutes on Tyler Kennedy for tripping and 2 minutes on Daniel Carcillo for diving and we skate 4 on 4 for two minutes. For the record, the call on Carcillo was terrible, it was a clear trip and no dive but I don't ref the games, I just glog them.

Lots of end to end action and hitting during the 4 on 4 but neither team scores, thanks in large part do a diving save by Biron to maintain his shutout and the score is still 2-0. Of note the assists on the second Flyer goal go to Jeff Carter and Daniel Briere.

After a TV timeout it's Biron again with another big save, number 17 in this contest already for him and the game isn't even half over yet.

Pittsburgh is called for another penalty, too many men on the ice and the Flyers get power play #4 here, having scored on 2 of their first 3.

Pittsburgh does kill off the penalty, actually doing a good job on limiting the Flyers chances and manage to draw a penalty themselves to create a power play opportunity, as Braydon Coburn is off on a hooking call.

Pittsburgh is doing something that is troubling to me, they are getting into the Flyers zone and then trying side to side passes as soon as they cross the blue line. The Flyers are just stepping into those passes and creating odd man rushes the other way.

The power play is over and again Pittsburgh fails to capitalize, so the Flyers two goal advantage remains intact.

TV timeout and rather than comment on the commercial break, I am fishing socks out from under my desk.

Remember when I said this was a clean game? Yeah, you can forget that. Jordan Staal called for high sticking and the Flyers have power play #5 here.

Pittsburgh kills off the penalty and we go back to even strength hockey, though it remains to be seen for just how long that will last.

With just a minute left in the second period, I can say if this score holds up the game's #1 star will be Martin Biron without question. 21 saves to this point, some of the spectacular variety and he is the reason that the Flyers maintain a two goal lead.

Second period is over and a scrum ensues after the whistle and we may have some penalties to start the third.

Okay, I took the second intermission off of glogging so I could start washing dishes and sorting clothes. Not real successful in that regard, barely made a dent in anything but at least the mess that took place at the end of the second period was sorted out. Sergei Gonchar gets called for a double minor, 4 minutes for roughing. For the uninitiated, a double minor means that the Flyers will have a four minute power play, but should they score in the first two minutes, that penalty then gets wiped out and the penalty clock is set for two minutes. It is in essesence two two minute penalties. It is different from a major penalty, which is 5 minutes in length and the team has the man advantage for all 5 minutes, regardless of how many goals they score.

Third period underway and here is power play #6 for the Flyers. The first two minutes are killed off but this is 4 minutes of hockey where the Penguins really aren't attacking and trailing by 2 goals, giving time away is something they can ill afford.

Of note, during teh second intermission I managed to find my $2 Subway card that I won got from Coke online and misplaced for ages. I am thinking Monday may be three, three dollar, three dollar footlong. Woohoo.

The Pens killed off the double minor, allowing only one shot for the 4 minutes and the crowd is loud in its approval for the effort. The Penguins still couldn't get the puck out of their end though to mount any offense.

It took the Penguins 6 minutes to get to the point where they actually carried the play, however briefly, into the Flyers zone.

It shows on the scoreboard too, the Pens have yet to register a shot in the third period and we are 8 minmutes in. The Flyers hold the advantage, 5-0 in shots here in the third.

Pittsburgh will get a power play here with less than 12 minutes remaining, Daniel Briere called for slashing and maybe this will be the spark the Pens need, though to this point Biron has been up to every challenge the Pens have thrown at him.

Finally Pittsburgh breaks the shutout, Kris Letang gets the power play goal and it is now 2-1. Crosby and Malkin get credit for assists on the tally

8:38 left and we have a TV timeout. I could do some clothes sorting real quick, but instead I will do some quick net surfing to see if anything is happening out there.

My neighbor is pounding on something and it is getting quite annoying while the game is on.

3 minutes left in the game and it remains 2-1. Biron with another big save to keep it a one goal game, Pretty soon Pittsburgh will have to pull the goaltender, but they have to take control of the puck first.

Hey, what do you know, if you slam a hard back book against the ceiling the neighbor quits pounding. I will keep that solution in mind for future reference.

Pittsburgh has pulled goaltender and it doesn't work, the Flyers notch the empty net tally, Darrel Powe gets credit for the tally and it is 3-1 and this game is all but over. With just 27 seconds left I can't see Pittsburgh getting two goals here. And they didn't and the Flyers, despite being outshot 29-20 win this one 3-1. Now I can go about being productive again.

Check that, I started being productive, then I realized the NCAA tournament games are online which means i get to watch the Pitt Oklahoma State game. It was tied at the half but since I started watching Pitt has opened up a 7 point lead. Just what I need, a distraction from my otherwise productive day.

I still haven't decided what I want for dinner yet. I am getting closer to the lazy man's option of just ordering in. Ther really is only so much productivity one can expect from me on any given day, and I have made progress on a number of fronts here. I managed to put out a couple more small bags of trash.

Okay hockey game and basketball game out of the way (Pitt won by 8) so maybe now I will be a little more productive.

Okay, I am back after 4 large loads of laundry. Myabe now I will have some clean clothes to wear. I doubt it, but dare to dream and all that jazz. I know I had said I was going to make dinner, but ordering in seems more and more likely like it will happen. I am trying to convince myself I have the energy to cook, but I am not winning that argument with myself.

Okay, I am back, hopefully for the last time. I opted to go half and half on ordering dinner. I am cooking, but I walked to the corner store and bought myself a iced coffee as a treat for my efforts today. I did a little more with Hammerfall in the meantime, nothing major, just upgrading armor and buying some horses. And for dinner I am having Stouffers lasagna that I bought way back when while I was grocery shopping. And it was either this or hot dogs and french fries, because I was definitely not cooking anything major this evening. What can I say, laziness has officially taken over.

Before I call it a night however, I want to hand out some kudos to a couple of people that normally would merit more scorn from me than adulation. First is Fox News, who had the story that Natasha Richardson had died and was merely on life support almost a full two days before most other news outlets. A couple of New York papers (the NY Post and the NY Daily News) both jumped on the story with their morning editions the day after, but even with three news outlets reporting it, it still took the likes of the AP, CNN and NBC to name three the better part of a day longer to confirm the story. Likwise, while I usually rip Jay Leno for not being funny anymore, I did sit through his interview with Barack Obama and it was surprisingly good given the format. I didn't expect anything earth shattering, but if people got past the whole Special Olympics nonsense, there was a fascinating exchange that took place about half way through the interview when Leno said that he was troubled by the taxing of the bonuses not because the money was earned, but because it creates a scenario where the government can just pass legislation to punish anyone they dislike. Obama agreed with him, that it was a measure to fix something after the fact, rather than dealing with the root problem. It was an answer that, for those paying close attention, may result in this legislation receiving a Presidential veto when it gets to Barack's desk. Of course it was lost on those looking for a lame ass story and the Special Olympics comment and the subsequent interview with the Special Olypmics bowlers challenge to the President qualified, meanwhile the important question and answer were completely glossed over. Kudos to Leno for posing the question and thumbs down for the media getting caught up in minutae, rather than something that should have had a follow up question asked about it.

Okay, that's it, I am done. My eyes are getting heavy and I feel a need for sleep for the next big day that is forthcoming, with both jobs on the docket again tomorrow. Time for a spell check and then I am out of here.