B365V2.16 - Big changes

For those of you who have been around since the very beginning of this blog, many, many moons ago, I was looking to do something a little different that I could do throughout the months, and years now.  Something that only I would think of doing, which is where the change meter comes into lay.  The change meter is a running tally of money I find whether it be on the sidewalk, on the ground, what have you.  the only distinction I have is that the money can not hav originally been mine.  I can do laundry and have a dollar fall out of my pocket and claim I found a dollar, technically I already had that and just misplaced it at some point.

The reason I bring this up is because I found money again, and a sizeable sum by change meter standards.  The other day at work I was getting ready to leave and there is a garbage can right beside the exit.  I loooked in the garbage can, a bad habit of mine from collect Coke caps and what not, and on top of the garbage was two $20 lottery tickets for a new scratch off game.  The thing is, even osing tickets are worth something, because you can enter them on the PA lottery website for a second chance drawing to win a trip to Las Vegas.   So I am thinking to myself, I might as well grab those tickets and claim the entries anyway.  I grab the tickets and head home, and fire up ye olde iPad, where I have a PA lottery app downloaded, one that will scan tickets for you rather than punching in a 16 digit numbr by hand, it scans the barcode and automatically inputs the numbers. 

So I go to scan in the bar code on the first ticket and it says that it is an invalid entry.  Given the drawing is made up of losing ticket entries that means the ticket I am holding must be a winner, so I investigate it more thoroughly and see that one of the numbers does match, I scratch the prize underneath i and it is $100.  So I do have a little updaing to the change meter here tonight, when we last left off with it is was $517.77 and I can add to that total another $103,58 giving me a new total of $621.35. 

Penguins @ NY Rangers 04/18/2015 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal

Pittsburgh 4  NY Rangers 3

Chris Kunitz - G, 2 A

Best of seven series is tied 1-1

Penguins @ NY Rangers - Eastern Conference Quarterfinal

NY Rangers 2  Pittsburgh 1 

Marc-Andre Fleury - 36 SV

NY Leads best of seven series 1-0

Penguins @ Sabres 04/11/2014

Pittsburgh 2  Buffalo 0

Brandon Sutter - 2 G

Pittsburgh clinches the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with the win

Islanders @ Penguins 04/10/2015

NY Islanders 3  Pittsburgh 1

Rob Scuderi - G

Pittsburgh has lost 5 games in a row

Penguins @ Senators 04/07/2015

Ottawa 4  Pittsburgh 3  OT

Patric Hornqvist, Sidney Crosby - G, A each

Pittsburgh blew a 3-0 lead in losing their 4th straight game

Penguins @ Flyers 04/05/2015

Philadelphia 4  Pittsburgh 1

Brandon Sutter - G

Pittsburgh outshot Philadelphia 47-20

Penguins @ Blue Jackets 04/04/2014

Columbus 5  Pittsburgh 3

Ian Cole - 2 A

Pittsburgh is 3-7-1 in their last 11 games

B356V2.15 - Off day

So I am sitting here at the squirrel cage, it has been far too long for one of my visits here, so today seemed like as good a day as any to stop by for my favorite Cajun chicken sandwich.  Lots have been going on since I last wrote, I might as well catch up on a few of those things.  The store (and myself by extension) survived Brian's vacation.  I managed to keep the stupid mistakes to a minimum in his absence.  In fact I did a good enough job running the place that I got a bonus in my paycheck, an extra $100, so I must have done something right.  I got another job perk on Sunday when Brian called me to see what I was doing Monday, and I said working. When he asked if I could get done early I said it depended on what time I got done Sunday night, as I was in the store covering for someone.  It was my 14th day in a row at work and as a reward for my efforts he was going to offer me his baseball tickets for the home opener on Monday, but since I was working Sunday night he offered me his seats for Saturday night instead.  Which is cool with me, Saturday is a fireworks night and he gave me a pass Togo to a meet and greet autograph session with current and former players.  Not sure I will make it to that, I do work Saturdays after all, but it's the thought that counts in such things.

I have been trying to get out more, rather than sit at home on my ass on those days where I am at home.  Before I was called into work on Sunday I actually snuck in a 7 mile walk.  It was perfectly good me time, and I picked up some tickets for the zoo later on this month, just so I have some things to do besides sit around like a hermit in my own personal cave.

I should mention my fantasy hockey season is over, I finished in 4th place out of 12 teams.  Nothing too exciting to write home about there.

As you can see, I added another book to the shelf on the right, I am reading the newest "Calvin and Hobbes" book, it has a lengthy interview in it with Bill Watterson in it.  It is titled an exhibition catalogue, so it is more of a study of the cartoons then a collection of them.

And just like that, days vanish and it is Saturday, at least it is if I am remembering my days correctly.  I am going to the Pirate game with my cousin and his girlfriend tonight, but before I do that I am going to breakfast and then work.  Day #20 in a row for those keeping score at home.  For those that aren't, well it is just a useless fact that I decided to grant you for reading I can this particular pile of gibberish.

Since I last wrote on this entry I snuck in a couple more walks, shorter than my one from Sunday but all told I probably got in about 10 miles this week. Not enough to get rid of my winter hibernating fat, but enough to at least stretch my legs.

I obviously have my tablet with me, otherwise I would not be typing on the bus right now, pulling out the laptop on the bus is highly impractical when one has a tablet,  and to think when i first got this thing it would be a nice novelty item, but serve little to no practical use for me.  Now I use it for all of my Facebook chats, the messenger app is much nicer on here than on the Facebook page itself, I play my marvel puzzle quest game on here and I keep lots of work notes on here, life safe combinations and what not.  Before anyone gets the crazy idea of stealing my tablet, it does have a lockout code on it and I do have an app installed where I can locate my tablet no matter where it is.

I realize that most of my recent posts on here were hockey videos, there is a reason for that, besides I always do it, ever since I started doing that on my blog the Penguins have always made the playoffs, and like the mystique around hockey beards and the Stanley cup, superstition dictates that I do things that were successful in the past.  I let myself get better than a month behind, and the Penguins nearly missed the playoffs, securing their spot on the last day of the season.  I realize that I have a few more videos to add, I still am not caught up, but that is in part due to the 20 days in a row at work I was talking about.

Day #20 is starting with a trip to Kelly O's however, with a quick stop @ the store formerly known as Gus Millers to pick up Esams order.  I needed to make a trip into the Strip District, in part because I didn't make anything resembling a meal last night for dinner and in part because all of the sidewalk vendors are out on the weekends and I needed a cool Pirate shirt for the baseball game tonight.  Got the shirt just a couple of minutes ago, now I am working on the nourishment part of the equation.

I have a feeling today is going to call for a long walk tomorrow morning to work this stuff off.  Not sure where I will walk to, only that I will need to get out and about.

On the plus side, I did get my favorite waitress at Kelly O's.  At it is beautiful outside, so little chance of the game being rained out tonight.  It is actually less busy here than I would have thought today, with the weather as nice as it is and a baseball game tonight.  Usually Fireworks nights at the ballpark are sell outs and one could easily see making a day of a trip to Pittsburgh today given the weather.

I should have been smart and brought my iPad cable with me today, so I could charge it in the office at work.  Since the iPad will be my de facto camera tonight, I need to make sure my battery isn't getting too drained by me typing here at breakfast.  88% right now, so I should be okay.

Okay, survived breakfast and work and the baseball game, it's Sunday now and I should finish this before I forget I even have it on my iPad.  Breakfast was blah, even by Kelly O's standards.  I saw they were doing a special on country fried steak with eggs and potatoes.  I ordered over easy and the eggs came out very much over hard.  No liquid yolk for dipping my toast, it was all cooked into a solid mass and the batter for the country fried steak tasted like meat dipped in Bisquik and fried.  Yuck.

I got into work, I had 6 orders to place, 2 for my store and 4 for other people.  I got most of the stuff done before my cousin Chris arrived.  He and his girlfriend Heidi went to the game with me and it was a good time.  The home team won, it was nice outside, not cold nor raining and it was a Fireworks night.    Afterward I went back to work and finished my ordering as well as running some updates on the register system.  The best time to do that is when it is slow and what better time for that than 11 o'clock at night.

Today I have just laid around all day.  For some reason I have no energy, perhaps because it is raining and I sleep better when it is raining, maybe it is having a day off finally has caught up with me.  Whatever the reason I have done next to nothing today besides lay around and sleep. Speaking of which, I think I will go back to napping right about now.

Flyers @ Penguins 04/01/2015

Philadelphia 4  Pittsburgh 1

Sidney Crosby - G

Crosby's goal was the 300th of his NHL career

Sharks @ Penguins 03/29/2015

Pittsburgh 3  San Jose 2  SO

Patric Hornqvist, Chris Kunitz - G each

Pittsburgh won two games in a row for the first time since the end of Feb (2/25 and 3/1)

Coyotes @ Penguins 03/28/2015

Pittsburgh 3  Arizona 2

Sidney Crosby - G, A

Kris Letang left the game with a concussion

Penguins @ Panthers 03/26/2015

Carolina 5  Pittsburgh 2

Brandon Sutter, Ian Cole - G each

Sidney Crosby (assist) has a point in his last 13 games against Carolina

Blues @ Penguins 03/24/2015

St Louis 3  Pittsburgh 2  OT

Nick Spaling - 2 A

Pittsburgh is 9-11 in games that go beyond regulation

Penguins @ Coyotes 03/21/2015

Pittsburgh 3  Arizona 1 

Sidney Crosby - G, A

The three goals were more than Pittsburgh had scored n their last 4 games combined.

Penguins @ Stars 03/19/2015

Dallas 2 Pittsburgh 1

Kris Letang - G

Pittsburgh has lost 4 straight games

Penguins @ Devils 03/17/2015

 New Jersey 2  Pittsburgh 0

Thomas Greiss  - 17 SV

PIttsburgh outshot New Jersey  35-19

B365V2.14 - Vacation

     So I am two days into Brian's dreaded vacation, leaving the store and it's running up to me.  So far all has been well, no major issues to report and I have managed to limit my mental lapses.  Perhaps it is just more of me focusing, who knows.  Brian's last day before his vacation was on Monday, which was the last day that the store had issues honestly.  We had one person call off, another quit and Ed put someone on the schedule who couldn't work, so I ended up covering that shift, making for a 15 hour day for me.  The worst thing that happened since he left was there was a water main break in out neighborhood which killed our water supply for a good portion of the day today, but we navigated through it fine.  No major issues and everyone showed up for work, nobody quit so so far everything has been fine.

     Much ado these days about the law that was passed in the state of Indiana, codifying bigotry into law under the guise of religious freedom.  Some people here are content to brandish about their own form of Sharia law.  We have been down this road in the past though, the KKK was originally a Christian outfit, and their beliefs would likewise fall under the protection of religious discrimination.  From the KKK.com website..."There is a race war against whites. But our people - my white brothers and sisters - will stay committed to a non-violent resolution. That resolution must consist of solidarity in white communities around the world. The hatred for our children and their future is growing and is being fueled every single day. Stay firm in your convictions. Keep loving your heritage and keep witnessing to others that there is a better way than a war torn, violent, wicked, socialist, new world order. That way is the Christian way - law and order - love of family - love of nation. These are the principles of western Christian civilization. There is a war to destroy these things. Pray that our people see the error of their ways and regain a sense of loyalty. Repent America! Be faithful my fellow believers. "  So denial of services to blacks could be protected as religious freedom as well.  Why do I have a feeling we are taking a trip in the Wayback machine with Peabody and Sherman here, and all to pander to a segment of the voting populace who are content with discrimination.  It just makes no sense to me and the advocates of such nonsense are what I would call the American Taliban.