Sunday, November 29, 2015

B365V2.162 - Life is just a fantasy (week #11)

Time to do the weekly recap of my fantasy football teams

Work league (W) 88.22 - 74.48  The first of what I feel will be four wins to close the season to get a playoff spot,  my record is now 5-6, the 4th and final playoff spot is 6-5.  Up next is the only remaining team on my schedule who has scored more points than myself.

Bloggers league (L)  66 - 73 Another league where I am 5-6, but my playoff prospects do not look nearly as promising.  While this league there are 6 playoff spots, 6th place is 7-3-1.  I really don't like my chances in this league, but as the old adage goes, you can't win them all.

B365V2.161 - Saturday Night (almost live)

  So, last nite I broke with my tradition of never doing anything and instead opted to go to the WXXP 30th Anniversary Reunion show at Stage AE.  For those not in the know, WXXP was a radio station in Pittsburgh circa 1986 - 1988 that played alternative music back when such a thing wasn't mainstream crap.   During their brief existence there were only a few stations in the United States outside of college stations that had a similar format.  As it so happens, I graduated from high school in 1987, so it could be argued that they were around during my formative years.  And being probably the only person in my school who listened to them regularly (I come from the land of the mufflerless truck and redneck rock) their time on the air holds a special place in my memory.

     So when I saw there was going to be a reunion show, complete with an old local band that I liked back in the day, The Affordable Floors, of course it was a must see event for yours truly.  So I got up earlier than I usually do on Saturday morning, to make sure I was in to work on time so that I would have everything I needed to get done done, then I would hop the subway over to Stage AE, catch the show and time permitting, take some Christmas pics downtown afterward.

    I get into work about 10 am after navigating my way around the Celebrate the Season parade, and proceeded to put away the Sledd order, which was delayed a day because of Thanksgiving.  It felt good to do stuff on the floor again as opposed to being hidden away in the office.  After that I put together the GFS order, which I had already started earlier in the week, sorted out three different cigarette orders, and broke down a week's worth of invoices for our accountant Monday morning.  I finished up around 3 pm, which was still too early for the show, where doors were opening at 6 pm, but I had no desire to rush home only to turn around and meander back into town, so I grabbed a couple of jalapeƱo dogs and walked down the street, thinking I could go play some MPQ in the park, to kill some time.  I made it through one dog before my hands were too cold to be outside playing on my tablet, so I walked back to work and  went back to the office where I watched some Homicide: Life on the Street on YouTube to pass some time.  I also brought some stuff up from the basement and finished checking in a delivery that came in.  I putzed around until 5:30, then walked to the subway station where I bought my next week's bus pass from the kiosk there while waiting on my subway to arrive.

     It shows up and I get to Stage AE, the concert venue just as the doors were opening, so I flittered inside, where a bunch of 80s alternative music was playing, leading up to the concert.  I heard there was supposed to be a couple other bands playing, but there were groups I had never heard of.  The reason being was the bands were basically cover bands, playing other artists material.  I made my way over to the merchandise table, where I grabbed a couple of shirts, then to the bar where I got a beer.  I wanted a Yuengling but they didn't have it, so I opted for a Sam Adams Rebel Yell IPA, and I would have rather had my first choice, thank you very much.

      Finally the first band came out, Seven Color Sky, and the nicest thing I can say about them is they would be an okay band to play weddings and bar mitzvahs.  By far the worst part of the evening.  I stepped out to the patio area to have a cigarette toward the end of their set, so I didn't catch the name of the second band that played. They started off okay but then it turned into a jam session, first the keyboardist from the Floors jumped in with them, then I saw a lead singer that I thought I recognized, and it turns out I did.  It was Alex from Submachine, and he was on stage singing with whomever was part in of the band's ensemble at that point.  Alex and I used to work together at The Attic, like 15 years or so ago.  He sand some songs by Public Image Limited and Shriekback, as everybody was doing covers save for the main attraction of the evening.

       While watching Alex, a couple of girls in front of me were pointing out who was on stage, and I could swear I recognized them from my time at the Attic as well.  It looked like Kathy and Rebecca, and I suppose I could have confirmed my suspicions by asking them, but then that would go against my personality of not approaching females, lest I get cooties or something.  Though I will say if it was Rebecca (and I think it was) she aged quite well the last 15 years.

     The other lowlight of the evening for me was our grandest poobah, Mayor Bill Peduto came out at one point and did a proclamation stating that Saturday was officially WXXP day in Pittsburgh.  Maybe it is just me, but I did not need a mayoral affirmation to attend this show.

I switched my drinking pattern, going to run and Coke as opposed to beer, save for the fact it was rum and Pepsi (Pepsi has the beverage contract at Stage AE) but that is useless information you didn't need but I provided nonetheless.

After the show I walked back to the subway station and got off in town figuring I would take some Christmas pics while I was downtown.   But the Wintergarten was closed at PPG place, as was the Christmas village in Market Square, so I took just a few pics and walked back to work to get my bag and go home.
                                         North Shore Subway station
                                          Outside stage AE, gates opening
                                          Inisde Stage AE
                                         Stage AE patio area
                                         Stage AE sells peodphile sausages, but hey, they are honest
                                          Seven Color Sky











                                         Tha Affordable Floors

                                        PNC Park at night
                                         Gateway Plaza subway station
                                         Christmas tree on the Horne's building
                                         Santa's village Market Square
                                         Still the best pizza downtown
                                          Ice rink at PPG place

Oilers @ Penguins 11/28/2015

Edmonton 3  Pittsburgh 2  SO

Evgeni Malkin - 2 G

Malkin has 7 G in his last 6 games


Penguins @ Blue Jackets 11/27/2015

Columbus 2  Pittsburgh 1  OT

Marc-Andre Fleury - 41 SV

Columbus has won 5 of their last six games against Pittsburgh

Thursday, November 26, 2015

B365V2.160 - I will not be on youtube

     Leave it to me to have my first attempt at making a turkey on Thanksgiving be by involving the  most dangerous method possible, that being the deep fried method.  You see, we have a deep fryer at work, so in my mind I was thinking I have access to some of the equipment already so rather than go out and buy a roasting pan, why not?  What's the worst that could happen, besides the fry blows up and takes the business with it. 

     As evidenced by the fact I am typing this as opposed to dictating it from my hospital bed, we can safely determine that no explosions were involved, there is no disaster footage to be found on Youtube or on your local nightly news, instead I found an easy recipe, followed it to the letter (or thereabouts) and everything worked out swimmingly.  Which was good, because I hedged my bets, I was afraid I would screw something up or the turkey wouldn't turn out right, so I didn't go full blown Thanksgiving day spread at work (maybe next year, now that I know I can do this), I just made turkey for the staff, because I am a cool boss like that. It came out all kinds of tasty and juicy but unlike lasagna, I did not get lucky afterward, unless by lucky you mean having a full belly. 

     The only accident that did occur was in brining the turkey, which the recipe called for putting the turkey and brine in a cooler overnight with ice and storing it in a cool dry place.  I opted against using ice and storing the cooler in the basement in a fridge we have down there.  Well I used a stryofoam cooler for storing the turkey and at some point some of the brine escaped the cooler, whether there was a leak in it or someone accidentally spilled it, I do not know but there was water all over the floor when I went to get the cooler this morning, I opened it and most of the brine was gone.  Just as well, there was still some in the container and that was good enough.  I took the turkey out of the cooler and let it rest , patted off the extra moisture with some paper towels and gently lowered it into the fryer.  The advantage of using the fryer at work as opposed to one of those home type creations some people use is that I could set the oil temperature rather than be a G and try to regulate it.   The oil bubbles somewhat ferociously but as it calmed down I continued to lower the bird into the oil  until all was good, save for the fact the oil didn't completely cover the bird, so I had to turn it a few times while it was in the oil, while making sure not to burn myself in the process.  But after about 30 minutes or so we had it, deliciously deep fried turkey, all that was left was to rest the turkey for about 30 minutes and we had food. 

    And that was the first ever turkey that I made, now I plan on following it up by taking some downtown Christmas pics tomorrow after work and then Saturday it is the 30th anniversary WXXP show at Stage AE with yours truly in attendance.  Plans, glorious plans I say.

Blues @ Penguins 11/26/2015

Pittsburgh 4  St Louis 3  OT

Sidney Crosby - 2 G

Crosby has now scored a goal against every NHL team


Sunday, November 22, 2015

Sharks @ Penguins 11/21/2015

San Jose 3  Pittsburgh 1

Phil Kessel - G

Pittsburgh outshot San Jose 39-29


B365V2.159 - Discombobulated

I have a bunch of discombobulated thoughts, and for the past few days I have been trying to find a way to string everything together but to no avail.  There is no way this will read as making an iota of sense, so far better for me to just dive right in rather than look for some sort of inspiration, divine or otherwise.

      Work has been busy of late, not that business has ticked up ( it hasn't) but because one of Brian's kids broke his foot playing basketball or some such nonsense, so there were a couple of days where I had to fly solo, running the entire operation.  Much like in the radio, the more I do it the less nervous I get about things being all mucked up.  I did such a good job in fact that Brian gave me an extra $50.  Which would have fit well into my plans, I was thinking of going to the casino Friday after work, I was going to blow the free $50 they offer on Friday to people with casino cards ($25 for the week and a bonus $25 on Fridays in November)  so I thought I threw my casino membership card in my bag before leaving for work Friday.  As I was finishing up I opened my bag to fetch the card, so I would have it out when I got to the casino but I couldn't find it in my bag.   I checked a few more times to see if it was in there, but to no avail.  So now I am pissed at myself, seeing as how I thought it was in my bag when I left my apartment, now my Friday night plans were ruined, instead I got some snackage from the store and went home.  When I got home I unpacked my bag, took the snackage and what not out and lo and behold, there was my casino card, it was in my bag the entire time yet I managed to miss seeing it on at least three different prior occasions.  I thought about heading back into town and going to the casino, but that would have meant navigating Light Up Night traffic, so I decided to stay within the confines of my apartment instead.  I figured I could go Saturday before work, mind you I would lose $25 free dollars of spending cash, but I would still have my $25 weekly bonus to play with.

     I get up Saturday morning, I make sure I have my casino card and then head out to the bus stop, I get halfway there when I realize my cell phone is still laying on the floor of my apartment, so back home I go again.  If I didn't have to work I would have stayed home entirely, there is only so many mental mistakes I accept from myself before I just adopt a fuck it all attitude and resign myself to doing nothing at all.  So I go home, fetch the phone and head back out, where I board a bus surrounded by overbearingly loud college kids, I get into town switch over to a subway and ride it over to the casino.  I get to the security guard in front and open my bag, it is common place now, I have been through the drill enough that I let them see in my bag, which had all of two books I am currently reading and my tablet for work.  So I open the bag and am told bags are no longer allowed in the casino due to increased security measures.   Yes, because letting you see in my bag wasn't convincing enough that I wasn't packing a bomb or something.  Trust me, if anyone was looking to threaten the casino, they would drive a car bomb right through the double set of glass doors out front.  I think I gave a smart as, fine I will leave to the security guard and left the casino.  I know Pittsburgh believes itself to be the Paris of the Appalachias, but really that is more of a self delusional importance by the citizenry than anyone else gives us.

      So with my plans all but kiboshed I walked across the North Side to the Giant Eagle over there.  I hadn't been in that store in years, the last time Debbie still live in Pittsburgh and we were looking for cough drops for her, I think she had bronchitis or a bad cold or something.  We got the cough drops, she took one and began coughing to which I said "See, they work."  Happy thoughts.  Anyway I wanted to pick up a turkey, I am planning on using the fryer at work to deep fry one since I have to work the holiday anyway.  Besides the walk from the casino to the store and then to work (2.7 miles according to my footpath app) could work off some fat.

      I got into work banged out my deli prep work, did the invoices, priced a bunch of glass pipes, did the dairy price changes and did my ordering.  So I guess there was a reason for me to be there.

      But if I was to spend my time just recounting things I did, that would be pretty boring for me and probably not all that interesting for you either.  I guess the elephant in the room these days and what has been particularly buzz worthy in both the media and Facebook would be the Syrian refugee crisis.  I guess I am all kinds of old school, in that I believed the things taught in school, the whole "bring us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free" and the Reagan thought of America being a "shining city on a hill" and whether or not to take in Syrian refugees is a test of that.  Do those words and ideals mean anything, or is it just nationalistic jingoism.  Do we let the actions of are sworn enemies change just who we are?  What is the example we which to portray to the world, a nation whose values can't be shaken by a few armed thugs or a people that cowers in fear at the first sign of trouble?

      Okay, I got that one off of my chest.  I feel better now.

Friday, November 20, 2015

B365V2.158 - Life is just a fantasy (Week #10)

     Hope is starting to fade in my fantasy football exploits this season after another week where I lost both games.  Here with the lowdown is, well, me.....

     Work league (L)  115.94 - 79.66  Once again my opponent rings up over 100 points, the season total of points against is now 1110.86.  By comparison, no other team in the league has even had 1000 points scored against them, so if it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all (gloom, despair and agony on me and all that jazz.)  My record is now 4-6 with 4 games left to play I am in the 8th spot, 2 games out of a potential playoff spot.  The hope I have is that of my four remaining opponents, two of them are below me in the standings and only one of the four has scored more than my team this year (I am 3rd in points scored, it's that points against that is killing me).  Potentially I could run the table, the schedule is set up nice enough.  But if my luck this year holds true to form I will lose all 4 games and my opponents will continue to ring up 100+ point outcomes against me.

     Bloggers league (L)  81- 73   The loss leaves this team at 5-5, 1.5 games out of a playoff spot and much like my other league, four games left, two of which are against people who trail me, but unlike my other league I can't see me running the table over the last 4 games.  7-7 is probably the best I could expect as an outcome in this league.  The other two teams I play are projected playoff teams, (seeds #3 and #4 out of 6) and I don't see me beating both of them.  But what do I know anyway?

Avalanche @ Penguins 11/20/2015

Pittsburgh 4  Colorado 3

Ian Cole - 2 A

Pittsburgh is 56-4-1 in games where Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin both score a goal


Thursday, November 19, 2015

Wild @ Penguins 11/17/2015

Pittsburgh 4  Minnesota 3

Evgeni Malkin - 2 G, 2 A

Olli Maatta suffered an injury after being run into the boards


Sunday, November 15, 2015

B365V2.157 - Whatever the hell this is

So I am camped outside Pamela's, waiting to have a late Sunday breakfast.  Hell, 1 pm you could probably call this brunch.  But since it is Sunday and I have no place to go, I decided to join those in the Soviet style bread line and wait a little bit to eat.  Besides waiting gives me the perfect opportunity to type, something which I have failed to do quite a bit recently.

Yesterday was a pretty interesting day, by that I mean it was a busy workday, complete with some additional festivities like kicking another thief out of the store and kicking a bum off of the corner who though he was going to sleep in his cardboard box out front.  Mind you this bum also has stolen from the store in the past and is usually drunk and harassing customers in front of the store, so before anyone gets all "Matt is mean to homeless people" vibe going, let it be known he was warned on numerous occasions by myself and Brian that we did not want him hanging out out front and he wasn't allowed inside, last nite I see him out front again and I gave him two minutes to leave, walked around the block and came back and he didn't leave, so I called the police.  Now we all know my luck with the police, I expect they did nothing other than chase him off, but dare to dream and all that jazz.

Okay, I made it through breakfast.  I don't know why but late yesterday I started getting a craving for pancakes, so I ran out and got some of the banana chocolate chip variety.  I say ran out but that is a bit of a lie, my lack of energy still persists.  It went more like this, I know Pamela's opens at 7:30 am, I woke up around 6am, played some MPQ, laid back down at 7am, slept until 9:30am, woke up and convinced myself that even if I had to wait in line for a table it didn't matter because I am off today, so went back to bed and woke up again at 11:30 and fumbled around the apartment for a hour or so before finally getting to Pamela's around 1 pm.  I really need to find that second gear in the morning to get motivated.  Friday I didn't get out of bed until 9 am, that is usually the time I start work.  Saturday I didn't get out of bed until 11:30, and got in to work after 1 pm.   Obviously anyone who has come here recently noticed that I haven't been blogging nearly as much as well.   Save for the fantasy football posts and hockey vids which thankfully make it look like I am paying attention to the page, even if I am not.

I should say some words about what happened in Paris, but it really does defy mere words.  On one hand it invokes a bloodlust, a desire to want to see the people involved die, preferably a horrible and painful death, but by catering to such emotions I put myself on par with those that committed the atrocity to begin with.  Of course because of the irony of that I have chosen to say little, rather than those who have opted to blame the refugees from Syria for what happened, or to suggest that if Parisians had guns then maybe some of the carnage could have been prevented as opposed to what more likely would have happened, that being an increase in the already too high body count and to confuse the first responders on the scene as to who the active shooters actually were.  Sorry, but I have rarely seen where more guns are the answer, save for the occasional anecdotal story the statistics don't bare that out either.

Just the other day, going with anecdotal stories, I saw where a toddler shot his sibling.  He got the gun out of the glove box in the car.  When shown this story by a friend I suggested it wouldn't have happened if there had been a good toddler with a gun there to prevent it.  Because that is the insane logic we use these days.

Now I am sitting at home typing this out and watching a German basketball league game on the laptop.   I believe the teams are from Fraport and Bamberg, though I know so little about European professional basketball that it might as well be nuclear physics.  Anyway I have a couple of hockey vids I need to catch up on, and to post this as well, whatever the hell this is.

Penguins @ Devils 11/14/2015

New Jersey 4  Pittsburgh 0

Jeff Zatkoff  - 33 SV

First loss of the season for Jeff Zatkoff in goal


Blue Jackets @ Penguins 11/13/15

Columbus 2 Pittsburgh 1 

Patric Hornqvist - G

Pittsburgh is 7 for 54 on the power play this year


Thursday, November 12, 2015

B365V2.156 - Life is just a fantasy (Week #9)

So, we close in on the end of the fantasy football regular season, most league including both of the ones I am in stop after 14 games, weeks 15 and 16 (and in my 16 team league week 17) are the playoffs, so it is time to start worrying about where I am in the standings as well.  That being said, it was nice to have a week where I won both my games after two weeks of losing both.  How does this past week help me in future endeavors, lets get to that shall we.

Work league (W) 127.46 - 117.10  This was the game that I was most worried about, my opponent going is was 7-1 on the year and if I didn't want to make an early exit from playoff contention I needed a win here.  Thankfully I managed to pull one out (thank you Antonio Brown for the crazy 284 receiving yard performance) and moved my record to 4-5.  The top 4 teams make the playoffs here, 4th place is currently 5-4 so I am definitely in the hunt if and it is a big if at this point, I keep winning.  Another week where my opponent scored 100+ points (he had the second highest point total in the league this week) and my problem is I can't buy a break, my opponents average over 111 points a game, nobody else is even at 100 points a game against.

Bloggers league (W) 90 - 45  A win here kept me above 500 at 5-4.  The top 6 teams make the playoffs in  tis league and 6th place is currently 5-3-1, which happens to be my opponent this week.  OF course as is the case with this team, the injury bug came back to bite me as my quarterback went down and may miss a few weeks with a sprained foot.  If I make the playoffs here it will surely be luck that gets me in as I am playing without my quarterback and my first round pick at running back. 

Canadiens @ Penguins 11/11/2015

Pitstburgh 4  Montreal 3  SO

Sidney Croby - 2 A

Pascal Dupuis scored the first goal 13 seconds into the game


Monday, November 9, 2015

B365V2.155 - The flavor says.....

     So what is new world?  Not much here really, other than an epidemic lack of motivation, which is part of the reason I haven't posted for a while. I mean I could post, I still have all of my fingers needed to type and I still have my laptop, or my iPad or worst case scenario, my deathly slow desktop, but I just can't find the impetus to get me up and doing things.  Even waking up in the mornings i find myself climbing back under the covers rather than getting u and facing the day.  I could go on WedMD and do some sort of ill advised self diagnosis, but I attribute it to just laziness on my part. 

     heck I got home from work, popped a pizza in the oven, ate a slice of it, clicked over to Youtube and was looking at the recommended videos, there was one about drugs and porn and my first thought was "Por que? The flavor says butter." Wasn't sure why that video was in my recommended ones, but I grabbed a slice of pizza and settled in for all of the dirty drug induced secrets of the porn industry.  It was so enchanting that I fell asleep.  I woke up and auto play had moved on to the next video, which was about a heroin epidemic here in Pittsburgh.  That held my attention long enough that I didn't fall back asleep. 

I figured rather than go back to sleep I would try banging out an entry on here instead.  Not sure how it will go, not much exciting is happening here.  I snagged another $3 Amazon gift card from Swagbucks on Sunday,  I still haven't heard what it is that I won from Camel cigarettes yet, that tracking information they are supposed to send me regarding my prize has not arrived in the email yet. 

I did clear up a little financial problem my bank account had regarding work today though.  We have been having problems with one of our air conditioners and it leaking into the basement, and after the resident repairman Ed uses coming out on three different occasions and not solving the problem, I called a professional in to give us an estimate.  When I am on the phone with them they say they need a credit card number to hold the appointment.  I give them my debit card number and say I can pay the repairman when he arrives, because we tend to do most of our business like that as cash whenever possible.  I was told it would be $109 for the appointment (I got to get me a new line of work with rates like that).  the price seemed a little high but it was something that needed done so I went ahead and did it.  The repairman shows up later that day and he is n site for about a half hour or so when he tells me we have a cracked drip pan under the unit.  I give him his money and he tells me he will get back to me in a day or so with some estimates for a repair.  Imagine my surprise when I see a charge on my card for the very same thing I paid for.  Luckily nothing fucked up my account for that, I had also purchased a concert ticket and my bus pass after my card was also billed for the service call.  I did resolve the double billing issue though, the amount should be credited back to my card in a couple of days.  Which is good, I can't afford to be dropping $109 hither and yon, it's not like I live on repairman wages or something.

The concert ticket I got was for a show coming up in March, Coheed and Cambria.  If this is anything like my ticket ordeal to see The Replacements, the show ill be cancelled and the band will break up.    Until that happens though, a little Coheed and Cambria to play us out of another blog entry. 



Sunday, November 8, 2015

Penguins @ Flames 11/08/2015

Calgary 5  Pittsburgh 2

Phil Kessel, Nick Bonino - G each

Loss ended Pittsburgh's 6 game winning streak


Saturday, November 7, 2015

Penguins @ Oilers 11/07/2015

Pittsburgh 2  Edmonton 1

Phil Kessel, Daniel Sprong - G each

Jeff Zatkoff is 2-0 in goal for Pittsburgh


Thursday, November 5, 2015

B365V2.154 - I'm back

      Not sure why I haven't blogged recently.  I could argue that I just didn't have the mental energy for it.  Then again, maybe it is because I haven't wandered over to the park in a few weeks, that could be it as well, but for whatever the reason I haven't found the requisite gumption to put cursor to keystroke and grind something out.

      Life has exactly ground to a halt here either.  I picked up a couple of books the other day when I went to the movies to see the new Steve Jobs flick (yes even my social life is boring, Steve Jobs?  Really?)  One of those books is over on the bookshelf to the right, Wonderland which is one of the Spenser novels in the Robert Parker series.  The problem being that Parker is dead, the Parker estate tabbed Ace Atkins to pick up the mantle in his place and honestly the book reads like Parker wrote it, so that's a good thing.  I was iffy about buying it because I thought it might not feel the same, but it was in the cheapie bin at Barnes and Noble, so I made the half hearted investment of $7, nothing ventured nothing gained after all.  Of course the opposite is also true, nothing ventured, nothing lost which is probably more along my ways of thinking.  After all, I do train my new employees on the Mattism "Expect nothing and you will never be disappointed."

     The biggest thing to happen since the last time I blogged is I won something.  I was over on the Camel website, requesting my monthly coupons.  (I can redeem them at work for cash on my cigarette purchases, one of the perks of my job.) there was some photo contest going on over there.  Actually two contests, one in which you could submit photos and one where you pick a random photo and if there is a prize underneath it.  The requested photo this week was a framing photo, I opted to send them this.  Not sure it will win me anything, but I am not much of a photographer to begin with...
Having submitted that, I went head and did their daily contest as well, I picked a photo and this was under it....

I haven't seen the tracking email yet, hell I don't even know what I won, there was no description given.  I am just supposed to sit tight I guess.  I am curious though.  I won a all in one tool thing on the Marlboro website the other day, but me and tools are like drinking and driving, two things that don't go together at all.  If I can't fix it with duct tape, I don't want to be bothered.

I did do my nice guy thing the other day.  I know, I have to quit being a nice guy, because we all know they finish last, but que sera sera.  We had an employee a while back, Kat, and while I will not go into the reasons why she is no longer with us, I have stayed in touch with her intermittently on Facebook. She stops by the store every now and again to say hi, quite a few of us that work there know her.  She has that single mom thing going, trying to raise a son by herself.  Not the most enviable position to be in, but then I find it hard raising myself.  I thought I would do something nice and throw together a Halloween treat thing for her son.  not much really, just a trick or treat bucket with some candy tossed in.  I figure she will eat more of the candy than he does.  Of course as luck would have it, I don't see Kat again until this Monday, long after Halloween, but I kept the present for her son in my desk, so I ran down to get it when she showed up.  I think it went over okay, based on the picture Kat sent me.

Yes, the handle on the bucket does light up, it seemed like a cool feature to have if he was taking it trick or treating, which obviously didn't happen.

And that dear kids is what I have been up to recently. I rather boring life I lead, no?



B365V2.153 - Life is just a fantasy (Week #8)

I have kept up those losing ways, another 0 for 2 weekend.  I am not liking this losing thing very much.  I have made trades in both of my leagues, pending approval.  I almost never make trades in fantasy football, I usually get any players I need off of the waiver wire.  But there is slim pickings on waivers these days and I gotta do what I gotta do.  On to the results.

Work league (L) - 99.78 - 96.04.  For only the second time in 8 weeks my opponent did not score 100 or more points.  Of course in those two games I am 0-2, so maybe I need someone to try and kick my ass for me to get a win.  This weekend I get the 1st place team in the league, he is 7-1 to my paltry 3-4.  I have y work cut out for me here.

Bloggers league (L) - 61-33.  My quarterback comes back from a knee injury and my starting running back (and first round draft pick) goes down with a knee injury.  How the hell this team is 4-4 is beyond me, what with no depth and injuries galore.

Penguins @ Canucks 11/05/2015

Pittsburgh 3  Vancouver 2

Phil Kessel - 2 A

Pittsburgh has won 5 straight


Sunday, November 1, 2015

Penguins @ Maple Leafs 10/31/2015

Pittsburgh 4  Toronto 0

Eric Fehr, Matt Cullen - G, A  each

Marc-Andre Fleury recorded his 40th career shutout


B365V2.152 - Halloweak

I am walking and typing at the same time.  Better watch myself, if I chew gum I could throw the whole cosmos off kilter.  I haven't written much recently because honestly not much has happened.  At least not much I would consider blog worthy.

I could start by giving a shoutout to Lithuania, since somebody from there dropped in on my piece of internet real estate, so "Hello Lithuania".

There is nothing new to report on the Misty front.  The last time I mentioned her I said that I got the feeling she wasn't that into me, and the longer I leave this play out the more I feel that way.  I sent her a couple of Fireworks videos from the Pirates game I had invited her to in what feels like months ago.  Not even a slight acknowledgement from her, not that I was looking for a thank you or anything, but a simple "leave me alone" would have sufficed.   I am not big on being ignored when I haven't done anything wrong.  In fact it kind of pisses me off, but I am trying to not cave in to the angels  of my lesser nature.

Apparently the crazy Canadian stopped by the other day as well.  I could tell because the tracker hits suggested it came from a blog reader and the search terms used when visiting included her name.  Really if I wanted to be surrounded by people I don't like I would go to work or something.

Speaking of which, a ad realization hit me today, this is going to be one of those 7 day work weeks.  With Sunday being the first day of November, I get to go in and close the books on the October paperwork.  I should have looked at a calendar before today and recognized how this weekend was going to play out but I was stupid.

I realize today is Halloween, but honestly the holiday doesn't do much for me.  My neighborhood is mostly college kids so there are plenty of girls out looking trampier than normal.  No trick or treaters in my neighborhood.  No candy to hand out.  I did buy some lollipops to hand out to any kids who come in the store at work and I did get some candy for a friend's son, but that was it as far as the candy thing goes, save for the Reese cups I bought for myself at CVS.

So I am checking my Facebook feed the other day and I see something from one of the local TV stations promoting the fact that they are going to give us their winter forecast.  Excuse me, these people can't even get a forecast right 24 hours in advance, now I am supposed to trust them with a weather forecast for the next few months?

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