The Temke's

How We Lost Nearly 100 Pounds

2010-06-01T22:45:00.003-05:00

Diet and exercise. You can either believe me for my word or read on...

After holiday binging, I stepped on the scale on the evening of January 2, 2010 and wasn't overly pleased with the result. I wasn't nearly as close to a perfect game in bowling as I was after we had Matthew a year earlier, but I was still up there. It was then that I decided to make a New Year's resolution...not to lose weight, but to actually keep a resolution.

Since its somewhat related to weight loss, let's go back a year and a half or so to start. After my second kidney stone in November of 2008, I gave up soda...cold turkey. It sucked, but I survived. Short of a mixer in the occasional drink (I can't totally quit you, Korbel) I have drank zero soda. This resulted in losing 10-15 pounds with minimal effort. So for those of you who question whether it works, quitting soda worked for me.

Move forward to October of 2009. While watching The Biggest Loser with Melissa, I decided it was a nice night and I would take a walk. I think I got in about 2 1/2 miles that first night. This started the habit of me walking about 2-3 times a week. This is somewhat related to weight loss since when I started walking, I really saw no difference...but then again, I wasn't really trying either.

The real start came on January 2, 2010. It was at this point that I was going to really try to watch what I ate. Not just watching it all disappear from the fridge and cabinets, but really watch what I ate. I have termed the change "Not Eating Like an Idiot". Long story short, I basically limited my calorie intake. I did no "dieting" in the sense that I ate certain things or didn't eat other things. I just limited calories. I kept myself around 1,500 calories a day, which I know is probably lower than most people recommend, but I tried it to see what happened.

When I say "eating like an idiot", I really meant that I ate like an idiot. One of my favorite snacks was something I termed a cheese sandwich. This was two slices of American cheese holding a large knife-ful of PB. So delicious and only about 300 calories down the hatch in 3-4 bites.

Shortly after I started, Melissa decided to come along for the ride. This was probably one of the things that made things so much easier. We had talked in the past about doing something similar, but usually soon after we started, one of us (we are both guilty I admit) would talk the other into a trip to Culver's or some other deliciousness. This time I was determined to cut back though.

In no particular order, here are some of the things we did:

1. We ate out less.

I can't say we totally stopped, but we made a conscious effort to not eat out at much. Also, when we did, we made an effort to learn which things are better for you than others at fast food restaurants. We spent some time looking at the nutritional information of things we normally ordered then looked at some "better" options. Who knew that a bacon cheeseburger, cheese curds, fries, and a custard from Culver's is more calories that I try to eat in an entire day? I know now. We found things at every fast food joint that were not that bad and stuck to those. We also ate at healthier places like Subway. We started getting 6" subs instead of the foot long Subway Feast.

2. We drank more water

Under orders from my kidney stone doctor, I started pounding water. After doing a 24 hour urine test (which involves peeing in a bucket for 24 hours and sending a vial of pee to a lab in Chicago...fun) i learned that my urine output was"piss poor"...yes my doc really said that. He told me to shoot for 2 liters of water intake a day. I upped that to a goal of a gallon a day, which led to no kidney stones (yet) and having to wake up 1-2 times a night to pee. Sometimes I have to fight Anna for a spot at the toilet. I had already learned that this helps me with weight loss, but I learned it also helps with hunger. It also helps that I was put on two daily meds for my stones, which led to the inspired Christmas gift of an economy sized weekly pill dispenser and a case of water bottles...thanks "Santa"! Instead of getting a snack from the snack machine at work (which generally consists of expired bags of chips that we can't sell to the public) I drank some water...and it worked. Melissa followed my lead, and even though she hates water, I think she is happy with the results.

3. We stopped eating ground beef

Even the extra lean stuff. We started subbing ground turkey in recipes and we still have yet to find something that makes the meal worse. I know it is out there somewhere still, but it definitely has not been in lasagna, chili, hamburger helper, sloppy joes, or tacos. We have made all with turkey and it is hard to tell the difference at times. We have even eaten turkey burgers on a few occasions...including opening day...and have not been struck down yet as far as I know.

4. I played around with recipes

Two major things I did were play with ingredients and make less.

You know those casseroles (hot dishes for you up north folks) that call for a stick of butter. Guess what? You don't really need that stick of butter. That butter may make things delicious, but I bet you would be equally pleased if you only used a tablespoon of butter...or (gasp!) none at all.

I also started making half of things. Instead of making a full recipe and having leftovers for two days, I only made what we would eat. Half a box of pasta. Half a package of chicken and rice. One pound of chili instead of three. You don't realize how much these things add up at lunch until you actually add them up.

5. We started making lunches daily

Melissa has always been good at making her own lunch since she is generally stuck in the building for lunch, but I was horrible. Since my job involves driving from Wauwatosa to the northwest side of Milwaukee to the south side of Milwaukee in no particular order on a daily basis, I could plan my day around my lunch stop. There were even days when I would stop twice since the first stop didn't fill me up. Since the start of the year, I have only ate out for lunch a few times (not counting when Ed and Shaun are so kind as to buy me tacos on Tuesday) and each of those times generally involved a trip to Subway for the aforementioned 6" sub...preferably buffalo chicken which the Subway on 76th and Good Hope has all the time!

6. I ate breakfast and Melissa changed her breakfast

My normal breakfast was nothing. Melissa's normal breakfast was a bagel loaded with PB. We both seemed to have found a happy medium. My normal breakfast is either a yogurt or a granola bar and string cheese and Melissa has found turkey sausage patties on an english muffin to be quite delicious.

7. We still eat treats

We just changed what they are. Instead of the ritual trip to Culver's for concrete shakes and sundaes, we have found some "healthier" options. Personal favorites include cookie dough frozen yogurt (120 calories in a 1/2 cup serving...one farily large scoop) and Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches (140-160 calories in a fairly sizable sandwich). We also had some delicious root beer floats the other night that I would guess were less than 150 calories. They included vanilla frozen yogurt and Sprecher low-cal root beer. I thought they were excellent.

8. We weigh ourselves

In the past we prided ourselves on not owning a scale. I now weigh myself on a daily basis (in the evening when I am my fattest) and Melissa checks in weekly. It is also fun to weigh yourself before and after you pee or poop. I have had some solid weight loss due to either (or both) of those...no pun intended.

9. We cut down / stopped eating PB

Melissa still hits the bottle once in a while (I think...though Anna can polish an entire jar off herself) but I have completely given it up. There is no easier snack in the world than digging a knife into a jar of PB. I miss it dearly, but I know it is for the better. This is something that Melissa has proven can be enjoyed in moderation, but I don't know whether I could moderate PB consumption.

There are other things that we did, but it is getting too late to keep going. may add them as I remember them.

As for exercise, I have become a runner. For those who know me well, please get up off the floor. We signed up to do the Brewers 5k run in July, so we decided to actually do it. I tried running for a month or so starting in January, but my lungs would give out after 1 1/2 miles or so. In February I started swimming. This helped my immensely. At my peak, I was running 3 times a week and swimming 3 times a week. Since work got busy, I have cut out the swimming, but I am still running 3-4 times a week for a total of 12-15 miles a week...including a beastly 5 mile run up KK Ave. in 85 degree sun the other day. Melissa was starting a program to build her up to running the 5k, but a nasty sickness knocked her on her ass and took away all the work that she put into it. Still plenty of time (nearly 2 months) before we knock out that 5k though.

That is how we did it. Since we started I have lost right around 60 pounds and Melissa has lost about 30 or so (sorry if you didn't want the world to know...at least I didn't give actual figures!!). Neither of us have a real goal in mind, but I know at some point we will have to stop so we don;t slide through the cracks in our hardwood floors.

I will add things as I remember them, but in the meantime, feel free to post anything that worked for you in the comments. It really isn't that hard...especially when you have someone helping you out along the way.

Badger Thoughts

2009-12-02T22:23:00.002-06:00

I wanted to put some of these to the keyboard during the game, but couldn't pry my ass off the couch to get the computer. Here we go:

1. Don't let this win define your season. My friends in downtown Milwaukee raised a banner announcing they beat Duke a couple years ago. My girls won a relay meet mid-season this past year and I told them the same thing...don't let this be the high point. I'm not old enough to call this the biggest win in school history, but it has to rank up there.

2. Senior guards carry a team. You hear the talk every March about the team with the senior guards, and this year the Badgers have those senior guards. Hughes was a monster tonight and if Bohannon finds his outside shot this team is a tough match-up.

3. Jordan Taylor looks lost without Hughes on the floor with him. There was a spurt at about the 3-5 minute mark of the second half where Hughes was out of the game and Taylor looked lost. Taylor was playing the PG position with Hughes in the game, but he just looked lost when Hughes was on the bench. Hopefully he builds some confidence.

4. Ryan Evans reminds me of Maurice Linton. Not just because they wear the same number, but because I want to scream "PASS!" every time he gets the ball. As a student in the late '90's I got into this habit every time Linton touched the ball. Evans is athletic, but he is raw. He doesn't seem to have a good handle on the ball and he forces shots. Strange to see such a lack of fundamentals on a Bo Ryan team. Even stranger to see him on the court at the end of the game. Good thing Bo has 3+ years with him. Did I mention he is athletic.

5. I saw offense-defense substitutions for the first time I can ever remember at the end of the game. Next thing you know the Badgers are going to come out in a zone. Hopefully Bill Raftery is not calling that game...he won't know what to do.

6. It is only December 2nd, but the Badgers have played their way into the tournament if they are on the bubble. Neutral court wins against Arizona and Maryland and a win against Duke look pretty darn good on a resume come March.

7. It was really hard to stay quiet during this one. Two sleeping kids and a sleeping wife upstairs, along with a sleeping dog next to me on the couch forced my silence tonight.

Break-In Update

2009-09-25T11:19:00.002-05:00

Over the past couple days I thought we had a lead in the case. My laptop has a remote access program called Log Me In installed on it. It basically lets me see and control my computers from any internet connection. Also, this program shows me the IP address where the computer is gaining internet access.

Maybe it is my naivete or lack of knowledge of how the criminal justice system works, but here is how I would see things going down...according to my warped TV crime show view of life. Following that is what has actually happened.

IN MY PERFECT WORLD
I provide police with IP address.
Police obtain subpoena for internet provider to hand over street address associated with said IP address.
Police obtain warrant based on suspicion that stolen property is at said address.
Police execute warrant and find at least laptop on property.
I get my laptop back and am able to recover missing swim team information, thus saving me hours of manual labor of re-typing meet results back into Team Manager.

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED
Early Monday evening I noticed that the stolen laptop was accessing the internet from the same IP address. This tells me that the laptop is in the same location, or at least in possession of the same person.

I call MPD district #6 to give them the information, thinking that it would be valuable for any investigation that may be happening. I am put into the voice mail of Detective Lips. I leave a message stating I have what I think is valuable information in my case and would appreciate a call back.

As of 8am Tuesday, I still had not heard back from the Detective. I call District 6 again and they tell me that my information will be passed on to an officer at the district since Officer Muszynski, who originally responded to the first police call, was off. Side note: Officer Muszynski was very polite and helpful throughout the entire process.

As of 11am Tuesday, I still had not received a call back from anyone at District 6. I then decide to call the general non-emergency number for MPD to see if I can get in touch with a person. I finally get in touch with an un-named office. They tell me that my information was passed along to Detective Laura, who was in a meeting, but he would contact me shortly.

At 11:30am Tuesday, I stop in the District 6 office (I was in the neighborhood) to see if I can talk with someone directly about the information I have. A police aide (a former THP I taught a few years back) was extremely helpful and gave me some contact information for the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB).

At 1:30 Tuesday, I contact CIB looking for Detective Laura. He calls back and I explain the situation. He asks me to fax him a screen grab of the website that shows the IP address of the stolen computer. I fax him a copy of this (actually Melissa did...thanks again!) at 2:15pm.

At 4:00pm Tuesday, I contact Detective Laura to make sure the fax was received. He indicated he received the fax.

I hear nothing back all day Wednesday. At the end of the day Wednesday, I leave a message for Detective Laura to see if he can update me on anything that may have happened over the past 24 hours. I leave a message on his voice mail.

I also contact Officer Muszynski to see if he has any updates for me. Again, Officer Muszynski was very polite and helpful. The prints that were obtained did not match anyone in the system. I inform him of the contact with Detective Laura and he tells me that he will check into anything that may happen with the IP address and such.

On Wednesday afternoon, I also send an e-mail to Alderman Zielinski and inform him of the story and the feeling I am starting to get that MPD is not overly interested in pursuing what I think is a slam-dunk case against a criminal.

I hear nothing back from anyone all day Thursday.

It is currently 11:45am Friday and I still have heard nothing back from any party. It has also been nearly 48 hours since the computer has accessed the internet.

At this point I think we are at a dead-end. At least I got the insurance check in the mail Wednesday. It looks like we are shopping for a new laptop this weekend.

Side note: We received $249 for the purchase of a new Wii system as part of the insurance payment. Word on the street is that Nintendo is dropping the price of the Wii to $199 this weekend...score!

House Break-In

2009-09-20T12:34:00.002-05:00

Sometime between 3:30pm Friday and Noon Sunday our house was broken into. Entry gained through bathroom door, which took a little effort. Nothing else damaged. Thieves apparently never went into the basement since everything of value is still there

Here is a list of things that were stolen compared to things that were not stolen. Note that nearly everything in the "not stolen" list was in plain sight of things that were stolen.

Stolen:

Wii, a couple Wii-motes, a coule Wii games.
Swim Laptop (missing 3-4 keys with a battery that holds a charge for about 15 minutes)
Melissa's iPod (lots of country music on it)
Change from change bucket (about $7.00)
Amry Wives and House DVD's. Maybe a couple of Anna's movies that are so scratched they don't work anyways.

Not stolen:

Wii Balance Board (next to Wii)
Camcorder (one shelf away from change bucket)
2 LCD TV's (probably hard to walk down busy street with one of those I suppose)
Cash in cookie jar (I know it shoudn't be there)
Credit Cards (in plain sight on shelf)
Wedding China and other important/expensive stuff
Melissa's Jewelry (maybe a pair of earrings missing, but all the good stuff is still there)

Waiting to hear back from police and insurance adjustor. Not sure if we will file a homeowners claim since so little of value is gone...that we have noticed. Everything else is fine. Could have been much, much worse.

Home With the Kids - Take 2

2009-09-18T07:18:00.008-05:00

I am taking the day off today and figured I might as well keep the kids. Off we go...

7:00am: The internal alarm on the children goes off like it does every day at 7:00 +/- 5 minutes. Anna is mad that mom went to work without giving a hug and kiss. I tried to tell her that she will enjoy the idea of sleeping in someday. She protests by staying upstairs in her room.

7:15am: Pancakes and fruit for Matthew. Anna talking to herself in her room. Something about not being able to crawl around in her room with Matthew.

7:20am: Matthew hasn't liked peaches lately. Every time I feed him peaches, I seem to have to sing this song for about 5 minutes. http://bit.ly/13wSCz

8:30am: The boy won't stop whining about everything, so its time to get out of the house. I love you Zoo Pass.

11:15am: Home from the zoo. Everyone had a good time. We spend a grand total of $2.00 for a ride on the carousel. Time for lunch

12:30pm: The boy had been in his high chair since 11:45...eating. He had some leftover mac and cheese, sweet potatoes, and is on his 3rd large spoonful of Anna's "grilled cheese" (shells and cheese). He is going to eat more than her!

12:45pm: The boy finally stopped eating...mainly because I took him out of the high chair. He went down for a nap with very minor complaining. Anna is watching her Wubbzy DVD. That is as close as she gets to a nap these days. Time to pack for Madison. I also need to shower in a bad way.

1:20pm: Matthew almost took a ridiculously short nap, but he put himself back to bed. Still need a shower.

1:40pm: Anna wanted to play with the dart board (plastic tips, folks) so I turned it on for her. I showed her how to throw the darts, and damned if I didn't hit two bulls-eyes in my first three throws. I need to play darts more. I used to be real good in college.

2:15pm: In the last 20 minutes, I have got phone calls about a swimmer who threw a solid ED tantrum in school yesterday as well as another who copied an English assignment off the internet. Just when I thought we were at a new low. HS girls never cease to amaze me. Good thing Anna is still about 10 years away still!!

2:25pm: Anna came out of the laundry room with my old teaching lanyard on. Anna is supporting the MTEA by wearing her "Attract and Retain" button!

August 31 - Home With the Kids

2009-08-31T08:42:00.009-05:00

So I am home with the kids while Melissa is at school today. I did it for nearly a year with Anna, but really haven't been home on a weekday with both of them. Here is the play-by-play:

6:30ish - Melissa leaves. We are all still in bed.

7:30 - The kids wake up. Anna throws all her toys in Matthew's crib for him to "play with".

7:45 - Breakfast. Anna eats her eggs. Matthew plays with them. Add another food to the list of things Matthew doesn't eat.

8:00 - The Fresh Beat Band (aka The Heterosexual Wiggles) is one of the worst children's shows ever...and of course Anna loves it.

8:15 - Poop.

8:45 - Anna insists on putting her bike helmet on Matthew because "he will look so cute in it".

9:15 - To the basement. Anna wanted to watch a movie, but I am currently the only one watching Toy Story 2. Anna is currently trying to get Matthew to play soccer with him. The soccer ball will likely be taken away from Anna within 5 minutes. Dad working on some laundry.

10:30 - The Toy Story 2 DVD is real old, so it stops working at about the best part of the movie. Anna really doesn't care though because she knows it is going to happen. Instead it is snack time. Pretzels for Anna and yogurt for Matthew. Matthew is still hanging on my leg looking for more.

10:50 - Anna wishes Grandma and Grandpa were here. I think Matthew is ready for a nap.

11:00 - After his usual screaming, Matthew has given up. I don't hear him anymore, so I will assume this means he is napping. Anna will be eating lunch and napping a little early today so we can run some afternoon errands before practice starts.

12:00 - I convince Anna to take a nap in her bed, and she actually falls asleep. I decide a little nap wouldn't hurt either.

12:45 - Matthew decides to make sure the nap stays little. Anna stays asleep.

1:45 - I forgot to turn my alarm off, so Anna was woke up be the escalation (in volume and annoyance) of our alarm. I went into her room and she said the alarm scared her. She was happy to get dressed and wants to leave to go get shots with daddy. She is a little too excited that daddy is going to get shots.

2:00oish - In the car to go get shots at the doctor's office. They are allergy shots and I get them weekly...no big deal. After that we are off to practice until Mom picks them up. We will see how that goes. Update later tonight.

Final update - We got out of the house at 2:15. Anna had to come watch me get my shots. She was very brave as she watched me. Matthew walked around all over the doctor's office...little show off. We went to practice...Anna loved it. She stuck her hand in the pool and ran all over the gym during dryland. Matthew walked all over the place again. I got sick of chasing him around after awhile.

All in all, we survived. Not sure if I could do it every day, but it was nice knowing that I start some real late nights with school and practice. Maybe I should stay at home again???

The Things a 3 Year Old Says

2009-08-23T09:38:00.002-05:00

From time to time I put her random comments on Facebook, but this one is a little too involved to fit there.

We are driving home from the Zoo (don't worry...I'm driving) and she is playing with her Wonder Pets. She is role playing with them, which means she talks for them. The Wonder Pets are apparently playing "Superheroes". I keep hearing her tell Ming Ming that she cannot play because only two can play Superheroes. "You will have to wait until later." she says.

Finally, I ask her why Ming Ming cannot play Superheroes. She replies, "Because I only have two hands, daddy."

It's Deja Vu, Yogi

2009-03-13T22:28:00.002-05:00

Wow, we have definitely seen that one before.

Wisconsin takes a somewhat comfortable lead in the second half of a game.
Wisconsin stops making baskets.
Wisconsin's opponent starts hitting shots.
Wisconsin loses.

I want to think that they are in, but I would not be surprised at whatever happens.

2 For 3 and MU Goes Down

2009-03-12T20:07:00.002-05:00

Not too bad first day. I would have been a big puss if I had taken all 3 top seeds. I guess I should have been a big puss.

In other news, I was mildly interested in the MU game today (mainly because I picked Villanova in the Streak For The Cash) so I listened to the end of the game in the car. Homer is an absolutely brutal announcer. Painful to listen to him and Jim McIlvaine rail on Tim Higgins.

Surprised to hear him concede the last block at the end of the game. I still haven't seen the end, and I guess many in the area did not either due to a emergency broadcast system test.

My Hopeless Big Ten Tournament Picks

2009-03-11T10:56:00.003-05:00

I am sure this will entertain someone...probably myself when I look back at it on Sunday!

First Round (Thursday)

Minnesota v. Northwestern: I take Northwestern. They are dangerous and can beat anyone on any day.

Michigan v. Iowa: Have to go with Michigan. Both teams are really streaky, but Iowa needs to make sure their shooters are on if they have a chance. I don't see it happening.

Penn State v. Indiana: If Dumes plays, IU has a chance. If not, I go with PSU.

Quarterfinals (Friday)

Michigan State v. Northwestern: Unfortunately, MSU.

Wisconsin v. Ohio State: As much as I would like to see the Badgers lose and fall to a 10 seed, I have them winning this one.

Illinois v. Michigan: Here is my upset of the tournament. Michigan wins this one.

Purdue v. Penn State: Purdue has a little more talent than Penn State.

Semi-Finals (Saturday)

Michigan State v. Wisconsin: I really want the Badgers to take this one, but they are too inconsistent to take the Spartans.

Michigan v. Purdue: Michigan goes on a Preseason NIT-like run and wins this one.

Finals (Sunday)

Michigan State v. Michigan: Michigan can only go so far, and I will lost my lunch when Tom Izzo wins the BTT.

I Feel A Little Better

2009-03-08T21:42:00.001-05:00

Disregard the previous post. It is amazing what a convincing win against quite possible the worst team in Big Ten history can do, but it sure did it.

Looking forward to the BTT. If I get a chance, I will post some worthless predictions and analysis.

Got some water in the basement again this afternoon. I had a pseudo-meltdown, but things will be allright...after we drop our tax return on getting the problem fixed. I tried to stimulate the economy, but my house had something else to say about it!!

(I understand that spending the money is still stimulating the economy...just not in the way that I had hoped!)

What a Rough Season

2009-03-06T09:42:00.002-06:00

Its been a couple days since the latest UW basketball meltdown, so I think I am safe to make some rational thoughts.

Though most people are saying the Badgers are safely in the tournament...barring a Senior Day disaster against Indiana...I am not sleeping easily yet. Then again, we are not sleeping much at all these days since Matthew has decided that he doesn't need to sleep through the night anymore!

Here is why:

They have a decent RPI and SOS, but they have no real good wins. They are 3-9 against the RPI top 50 (depending on who's RPI you look at), 6-8 in road/neutral games, and 6-6 in their last 12. Not very strong numbers.

Thankfully the rest of the bubble is playing their way off it as well. They need at least 2 wins, and a 3rd against MSU or Purdue would be really nice.

All in all, it is very disappointing to lose to Marquette, Michigan State, and Minnesota twice in the same season.

CRAP!

2009-02-22T20:41:00.003-06:00

That is all that can be said after a loss to Michigan State...especially when it seemed somewhat under control late in the second half.

I guess they had it coming to them after a couple second half comebacks in recent years, including the madness at last year's BTT.

Tech

2009-02-14T07:49:00.002-06:00

I spent 3 years teaching at Tech. I have not been able to talk to anyone who is still there about the "brawl" the other day, but I have thoughts on both sides of the fence.

They claim that 200 people were involved. In that building, that is a normal occurrence just because of the way the school is built. When I taught there, you could hear a fight practically throughout the entire building. The floors have mall-like openings in the middle of them, so kids could watch (and throw things at) the fighters from above. They would also rush out of the wall-less classrooms because there was nothing to stop them.

A fight with 200 people watching is/was nothing new at Tech.

Girls were involved in the fight...what a surprise. Of the fights I remember at Tech, girl fights outnumbered guy fights at least 5 to 1. I broke up way more girl fights than guy fights...mainly because I knew if I stepped in a guy fight that I would likely get my ass kicked, but I still remember seeing drastically less guy fights.

Girl fights are nothing new at Tech.

The scary part of the whole fight is the police office getting punched in the face...for the second time this school year I believe. While that is pretty insane, you can't hold the school accountable for the actions of a student. The student should be taught to respect the law and those who enforce it...and the last time I checked, that is not one of the famous MPS "Learning Targets".

Baby is whining...gotta run.

This Sums Up Ben Sheets

2009-02-14T07:46:00.003-06:00

He commented yesterday that he "would be a good fit" for a team looking to make a late-season playoff push. If he is healthy, you can't argue with that comment. That is not what stands out though.

Later in the article he says that "when he started throwing, he realized the elbow wasn't going to be right for the start of the season." This injury happened a couple weeks ago. You would think that the guy would start throwing a baseball more than a week or two before spring training starts.

This just adds on to the legends of him not being able to take care of himself. He thinks he is going to fire it up a week or two before spring training?

Thanks for the memories, Ben.

I Got My TV Converter Card Today

2009-02-13T08:27:00.002-06:00

This whole thing is just real odd. I decided to go and order one of these converter coupons on the day they announced that the money was gone a month or two back. I really don't need one since I have cable TV (and I love my AT&T U-Verse...take that Time Warner) but I figured I should get one anyways since my basement is turning into a cemetery of used TV's...and I am guessing they may show extra NCAA basketball games on the digital channels in March??

The whole reason behind the push back is that people were not ready for the conversion. But it seems that if you ordered your "coupon" (did they really have to make it a plastic swipe card?) on the day they announced the money was gone, that you would be ready for the change that is supposed to happen next week, considering I got mine yesterday.

I know that the date was pushed back and the Congress voted to add more funds to the program, but that was just last week. I work for the government, and you can't tell me that the government works that fast. There is no way that they voted in the additional funds, processed the cards, and mailed them out within a couple days...especially since they were advertising a 4-6 week lead time to get the card originally.

Lets just keep delaying this thing until everyone is "ready". By that time my kids will be in college and I will probably have to buy a newer, more technological converter box...since the one I am going to buy this weekend will be obsolete by then.

On a side note, I wanted to give a shout out to the state of Wisconsin for having my tax return processed and the refund deposited to my bank account in one week. I am sure I will get my federal return by Opening Day though!

Nothing on My Mind

2008-11-14T09:30:00.002-06:00

Jeff asked what was on my mind. I said nothing. He said I should blog about it. Here it is.

Now I just need to hope that I can survive the weekend with both kids by myself!

Health Care Reform

2008-10-17T21:30:00.003-05:00

"Require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions so all Americans regardless of their health status or history can get comprehensive benefits at fair and stable premiums."

-barackobama.com

WHAT?!? What is the point of having insurance if pre-existing conditions will be covered? People will pay nothing into an insurance policy and be able to reap the benefits for something that took place when the person was not paying for the insurance. Isn't that the point of insurance? You pay hoping that you will never have to collect on it.

Will they offer this with car insurance also? Just wait until you get into an accident before you pay for insurance.

This sounds like a great idea.

Gas Stations Setting Society Back Years

2008-10-14T15:40:00.003-05:00

Over the past few years, society in general has started to move away from cash transactions. Nearly everywhere you go allows you to pay with credit/debit cards, or even checks. There is even that Visa commercial where the person not using a card to pay for something was "un-hip".

I have given up checks a long time ago. I pay all my bills online. The only regular check I write is for daycare. There was a stretch of about 15 checks this past spring all written to my daycare provider.

Now, here come the gas stations. I know for some time that stations near truck stops offer cash discounts on diesel fuel. Now it is starting to become an epidemic. The gas stations are tricking people into thinking gas is cheaper. I stopped yesterday along Highway 100 in Hales Corners. All the stations on the street were advertising $2.89 on their signs. I pulled into one only to see that the pump said $2.94 (lets just ignore the .9 which is another way that gas stations try to make you feel good about paying for gas!). I took a few steps to look at the sign to make sure I saw it correctly. I did, but when I looked again, I noticed that there was now a little "cash" notation next to the first number on the sign.

I have come to the point where I rarely carry cash, since I know that places will either take my card, or I can get money from an ATM in a pinch. There has even been talk about eliminating the penny completely. Now the gas stations go and pull this, which I know is completely legal, and saves the station a credit card transaction fee.

You might say, "Just get some money out of the ATM to save money." I say, "That is a rip-off". Many gas station ATM's are owned by the station themselves and would actually make more money off you getting cash from their ATM to pay for your "discounted" gas. How?

Gas is $2.89 with cash and $2.94 with a card. That is a savings of $0.05 per gallon. My car has a 15 gallon tank. If I fill up completely, it would save me $0.75 to pay with cash. When is the last time you saw an ATM with a fee of $0.75 or less (unless it is at your bank or one of the few left that do not charge a fee).

It all seems somewhat deceptive...especially for those who are getting cash out of the ATM to "save" on gas. Reminds me of the "discount" for getting a car wash. Pay $0.20 less if you get a $5.00 car wash. $0.20 x 15 gallons = $3.00. You get the idea.

Another Rant

2008-10-10T21:05:00.003-05:00

What a surprise, the first post I make in over a year is a rant!!

Who is to blame for the "economic crisis" we are currently in? Everyone thinks they have the answer. I use the quotations because there is a strong part of me that feels that this "crisis" is nothing more than people needing to get their heads out of their asses and realize how to manage their money.

Having spent May of 2006 until May of 2007 voluntarily unemployed, I was lucky enough to get the task of managing my family's finances from only one income...and a teacher's income at that! I always found myself to be somewhat frugal, but I was required to take it to new levels during that time.

The funny thing during all of this though, is that we were able to pay every single bill we had, on time and in full. To make this happen, some things happened. I clipped coupons. I went shopping on double coupon day. I didn't buy the pretty flat-screen HDTV that I had been drooling over since they came somewhat near my price range. We didn't go out to dinner as much (though Anna gets most of the credit for that!). We took options off our cell phones. We switched telephone servers. We used the credit cards less. We turned the heat down and the A/C up. We held off on home improvements that we really wanted to do.

We did things the right way. We lived within our means. By the way, did I mention that we BOUGHT A NEW CAR during that year also?!?

I remember Melissa asking me how people afford to live in the houses that they do. I told her that they are up to their eyeballs in debt in order to do it. Now many of those houses are on the market because the owners were unable to fulfill their obligation to re-pay their debt. Not that we are debt-free by any means (Thanks UW-Madison!), but I think that I have our things pretty well in order.

We realized that we had a certain means that we had to live within, and we did it. I finally got the TV, but it waited until I went back to work (and we got our tax refund). We got the work done on our house (THANKS ROY!!), but it was this year instead of last. We bought the car, but it meant that even more things had to be forfeited in order to do this.

I do realize that there are people out there who were doing things the right way, but still found themselves on the wrong side of their debt, but those people seem to be few and far between.

I was taught that home ownership was something that had to be earned. I was taught that home-ownership was a responsibility, not a right. Melissa and I lived in a less-than-stellar apartment complex for a couple years after we were married in order to save up for a, wait, DOWN PAYMENT!!!

I really think that many of our problems would have been solved if everyone would have just took step back and re-examined their financial situation. When you make $10.00 an hour, there is no way you are going to be able to pay a 4-digit mortgage every month unless all your ducks are in a row. But then again that is why they came up with "Interest-Only Loans". BARF!

That's all for now. I am sure I will be back the next time I hear Barack Obama's voice!!

I'm Back

2008-10-10T21:01:00.002-05:00

I am sure there is nobody left out there that is reading this...that is bound to happen when you go over a year without a post! I will fill the gap between my last post and today.

-I turned 29.
-I resigned my teaching job to take a job with the Milwaukee County Parks. I love it. Melissa doesn't at times.
-The Badger hoops team tried to make a run in March, but fell short.
-I turned 30...yikes!
-We had our second child, Matthew, on August 12.
-The Brewers made the freaking playoffs!

The rest of the time in there was spend with my family and friends. I will try to get better at this, but I make no guarantees. I am sure I will need a place to rant considering there is a somewhat important election in about 3 1/2 weeks and I live in what you would call a "politically divided household".

A Rant on Recalls

2007-04-04T07:28:00.000-05:00

Disclaimer: I do not have the time or the effort to look up the actual numbers, but hopefully I get my point across even if the numbers are not exact.

So it was an Election Day yesterday (really, it was) and being the teacher of government that I am...or was...I had to go vote. I was also able to drag Melissa along with me since there were two elections for the MPS School Board.

One of the more newsworthy elections yesterday was the primary election for the Milwaukee Common Council. This was the election for the recall of Michael McGee, Jr. The same recall that turned into a debacle between the Milwaukee Elections Commission and the Wisconsin Elections Board. It was on, then it was off, then it was on again.

In the end, it turned out that the recall organizers ended up with around 2,000 signatures to recall the Alderman (exact number unknown...I am lazy). In the election last night, there were nowhere near 2,000 votes against the Alderman. If you added up all the votes for the challengers, it was something like 1,000 votes.

Something similar happened in Muskego recently as well. The mayor was recalled, and the recall petitioners ended up with more signatures than people who actually voted in the election to elect the Mayor. Where were these "fed up" people when he was elected?

I do not get it. People sign a petition to recall someone, but then either vote for him or do not vote at all. I guess these people deserve what they are going to get. I hope they remember that this summer when inevitably Alderman McGee's district will get ugly and he will randomly disappear with no comment on what is going in. He will instead be organizing cruising parties in areas outside of his district.

Another "Blizzard"

2007-02-26T10:04:00.000-06:00

Once again, it appears that many people may have overreacted to the so-called blizzard this past weekend. The following is a sample of things I saw/heard/watched this weekend:

1. We went to the grocery store Saturday afternoon to get a couple missing ingredients for the lasagna we wanted to make Sunday, since we were going to be "stuck in the house". Looking at the carts of others in the store, you would think the Apocalypse was upon us. People were stocking up on water, TP, and other random things as if they were going to be stuck in their house until April. I remember why we go shopping at 7 in the morning!

2. I have become virtually immune to all local newscasts, since their M.O. these days is to sensationalize everything. But the winner of sensationalizing the snowstorm was the National Weather Service. I have taken a liking to their website as of late (over the Weather Channel) but some of the headlines and comments in their reports were great.

We were told that we were "putting our lives at risk if we traveled on Saturday night or Sunday. This made us immediately leave my mom's house so we could get home with our lives still in our hands! I can't remember the other headlines, but they were really ridiculous and overblown.

3. Shoveling the crap that fell from the sky Saturday night and Sunday was painful. Rain and snow mixed do not lead to good shoveling. It took at least 3 times as long to clear the Sunday snow than the Saturday snow. I would have rather had the 20+ inches they were calling for!

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All in all, it was another snowstorm that was played out to be more than actually happened, but it did give us an excuse to give the house a good cleaning. It also gave me reason to clear the floor of our basement, but alas it stayed dry!!

A Couple Rants

2007-01-30T13:24:00.000-06:00

I have a couple rants that I need to get off my chest. The first is a local issue and the second is more of a national issue.

The first thing I must comment about (before I explode) is the MPS cell phone policy. Having taught in MPS for the past 3 years, I have firsthand experience with the problems that he school district has with cell phones in the schools. As a teacher, I took the stance of "if it is not seen nor heard, I have no problem with you having a cell phone." I found it hard to not allow students to carry cell phones when I had one in my own pocket.

There were two problems with this. The first is the kids still used the phones. When this happened would "send them to the office" so they could be dealt with. I wasn't about to confiscate something that is worshiped by an angry teenager from an angry teenager. The second problem was that the administration at my school did not support me. I would refer a student, and nothing (and I mean nothing) would happen to the student. They would be back the next day...phone in hand.

Now MPS has decided to "get tough". I think it is a fantastic idea. While I agree that students should be able to have cell phones in school, it is unfortunate that some people ruined it for everyone. There are legitimate reasons for a student to carry a cell phone...epsecially a high schooler. They may stay after school and need a ride. They may decide to go to a friend's house or the mall or something after school.

Unfortunately you can't tell the kid to leave the phone in their locker, since lockers in MPS aren't the safest places in the world. So, the only fair and logical step is to have an all-out ban. It sucks, but what else can you do?

Well, MPS decided that they can amend their "all or none" rule (which they chose "none") to add "exceptions" to the rule. BIG MISTAKE. All of a sudden everyone will have reason for "exception". The number of students with medical conditions or other things is going to skyrocket!

Here is my problem with exceptions. If you are going to have a rule, you must stick to it 100%. If a student has a medical issue, you make sure the parent can access the school and the student can access the parent...without needing a cell phone. Medical conditions and emergencies occurred before the invention of cell phones, and we all got along fine. If you needed to make a call, you went to the office. If a parent needed to contact their kid, they called the school.

What a concept!!

Anyways, here is my bottom line. Keep the damn things in your pockets kids! 99% of the time you will not be hassled if you don't advertise you have a phone.

Well, that was long. I will save my other rant for later, but as a preview, it has something to do with a legislator claiming they would have rather had New Orleans hit by a terrorist attack rather than a hurricane, suggesting that aid would be quicker to come if the damage came from terrorists.

Well, in case I don't get back to it, just remember that there is still a huge hole in the ground in downtown Manhattan nearly 5 1/2 years after a terrorist attack.

Badger Anna!

2007-01-15T11:51:00.000-06:00

Anna attended her first Badger sporting event over the weekend. Unfortunately, we had to take her to Northwestern to do so. We made the trip down to Evanston Saturday to watch the Badgers battle their way to a 56-50 victory over the Wildcats.

Anna had a good time after a rocky start. Our tickets were in the upper part of the upper deck, which consist of bleachers that are dark and all too close together. The large number of Badger fans at the game made for a loud atmosphere, which made Anna cry through the first 5 minutes of the game. On a side note, despite the fact that this is possibly the worst gym I have ever seen Division I basketball played in, it is definitely worth the road trip, as tickets are much easier to get than in Madison.

After sneaking down into the Northwestern Student Section (plenty of seats available!), Anna really enjoyed herself, and actually watched some of the game. Melissa was the hero of the day though, holding Anna and keeping her happy when she started to get a little whiny in the second half. Her arms were a little sore afterwards!!

We didn't make it to the end of the game, but we stayed until the game was in hand with about 10 seconds left. Here is where our original seats were...

Breaking Laziness Records!

2007-01-12T08:13:00.000-06:00

I thought it was bad last time when I hadn't posted in a while, but this is bordering on ridiculous. I don't know if lazy is really the right word though. It is somewhere between there and overwhelmed. Life was real busy in 2006 (as you could imagine) but things are starting to get under control. Here is what has happened.

Neither Melissa or I worked this past summer. We decided to hang out with the baby instead. It was really weird for me at first, since this was the first summer since 1994 that I hadn't worked!

In August, swimming started. Swimming takes up a lot of our free time, leaving us time to play with Anna and hang out with family. The team did real well this year. We aren't world beaters yet, but we definitely made some real solid improvements, even winning a couple meets over the course of the season.

Then Melissa went back to school. She seems to be enjoying her students, as much as you can enjoy 30 7-year-olds. I stayed home and took care of the baby again. We have been having a blast.

Since then, Melissa got accepted to grad school in Madison. The program is a combination of online and summer courses, so she will only have to actually be in Madison for a couple weeks over the next two summers. She is very excited about it!

Then came the whirlwind that was December. With Anna's birthday and Christmas, things got pretty nuts. It also didn't help that MPS was the only school district in the world that went until the Friday before Christmas. Anna and I were able to get a lot of the stuff done that Melissa couldn't do because she was busy making money for the family.

And now we just got the fantastic surprise that Anna decided to start walking. This basically means I will be chasing her around the house three times as much as I had been in the past.

All in all though, things are great here. We are enjoying watching Anna grow, and I will try to see if I can get more stuff on here. I make no guarantees though!

LAZY LAZY LAZY!

2006-05-26T13:39:00.000-05:00

This is what I have been in regards to the blog lately. Here is a sampling of what i have been doing lately instead of posting on this thing:

Playing with the baby.
Feeding the baby.
Changing the baby's wet and poopy diapers. I had one leak out the top (of all places) the other day.
Trying the keep the house relatively orderly.
Napping in the middle of the day when I get a chance.
Listening to the neighbor's annoying little yippy dog barking at everything...hoping to god that it doesn't wake up the baby (in case you are wondering...that is what is going on right now!)
Watching TV.
Getting stuff ready for the swim team in the fall...which includes making a $3,000 purchase of new lane markers that we raised nearly $2,500 of on our own!
Wasting time on the internet.

Here is one of the places I have been wasting time on the internet lately. It is a series of games where you kick the asses of a bunch of penguins in a battery of events...including using baseball bats, golf clubs, and snowballs.

http://www.yetisports.org/

I have also been in be regular time-killers, brewerfan.net and badgermaniac.com ...though I have made Melissa happy by not getting into nearly as many arguments about trivial things as I usually do.

Summer is almost here and I am not working for the first time in 12 years. I am going to feel like such a slacker...though I already do at times...especially during and after those midday naps! I am sure Anna will keep us busy. Speaking of...here are a couple pictures of Anna at her first of many (I am sure) Brewer game. From the looks of it, she had fun!

Final Four Preview

2006-03-28T12:03:00.000-06:00

It is funny how the performance of one team over the last few weeks of a season can really kill your motivation to write about college basketball. This does not mean that I have not been watching.

I have actually been thriving. For the first time ever, I told myself that I was not going to enter a pool. Turns out that in the bracket that I picked for my annual battle with Melissa, I picked 3 of the final four teams correct (guess which one I missed!). Anyways, here is how I see the weekend going down.

Game #1 - George Mason vs. Florida

Simply put, George Mason is out of gas, and it takes alot of gas to hang with the Gators. Gators by 14.

Game #2 - UCLA vs. LSU

In the battle of acronyms, I have to side with the guys I picked to win the whole thing before the tournament even started. This game is going to be ugly, with the scores maybe pushing the 50's. Both teams are young, but both teams are strong-willed. I am really excited for this game.

It is also the game that will decide whether or not I beat Melissa in my bracket pick for the first time EVER!

Anna's New Tricks

2006-03-15T21:12:00.000-06:00

Here are some of the new things that Anna has been learning in the last couple of weeks.

She has had a great teacher for the past few months, but Mom is going back to work and Dad is taking over. Hopefully he does as good of a job!

The Best of the Rest

2006-03-09T22:10:00.000-06:00

Here are what I think are the highlights from conference tournament action today and tonight:

NOTE: These are in no particular order...mainly the order that I think of them!

1. Syracuse: I think they are making a statement by beating #1 Connecticut today. Another win and you really have to give them serious condition...especially since the committee claims to be looking for "the 65 best teams in the country". Anyone who can fight through the Big East tourney deserves consideration to be in that group.

2. A10 Games: 3 of the top 4 seeds fell today, spelling doom for such fence sitters as the entire Missouri Valley Conference. Should this happen a couple more times, there will be lots of unhappy campers on Sunday at about 5:30 (when they realize their name is not being called)

3. Marquette: I know I should really be cheering for them...since their play no longer has any "real" effect on the Badgers, but I can't help myself. I guess I can find it in my heart to "not cheer against them" next week at this time...unless they get seeded well ahead of Wisconsin.

There is much more that I can think of, but really don't feel like writing about. Look for more tomorrow as I continue to comment on the goings on across the country...to myself and my 2 loyal readers (and that is a generous number!)

Day One In The Books

2006-03-09T22:06:00.000-06:00

I wish I could have seen more, but the first day of the BTT is complete. The big surprise of the day seems to be Minnesota beating Michigan.

Even more surprising was the way it happened. Minnesota seemed to have the game in hand, forcing Michigan to play the foul game. But...the Gophers kept missing, and missing, and missing.

Between that and some cold shooting, the Gophers were able to "survive and advance".

Big day of games tomorrow...so big that I don't think I can spend a whole day at work!

NOTE: Though my big upset team (Michigan) lost, I will stick with my previous prediction and have the Gophers beating Iowa...unless they have to shoot free throws!

Two Out of Three Ain't Bad

2006-03-09T13:01:00.000-06:00

The first game of the BTT is inthe books, and I was right with 2 of my 3 predictions:

1) Penn State beats Northwestern. CHECK!

Final score was 60-42.

2) The game was going to be ugly. CHECK!

NW shot 31% from the field, Penn State missed 11 free throws, and the winner only scored 60 points.

3) The over/under I suggested was 114 1/2. NOPE!

It actually went under, but you should expect that when Northwestern and Penn State meet.

On to the next game...Michigan vs. Minnesota

Big Ten Tournament Analysis

2006-03-08T20:56:00.001-06:00

I will add more thought to this Thursday morning, but I want to get my thoughts out there before the games start, so that when I pick all 10 games correctly, people cannot say that I cheated.

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THURSDAY'S GAMES

Game #1: #8 Penn State vs. #9 Northwestern

People like to talk about it being so difficult to beat a team three times in one year...I say hogwash. It will be ugly...if I had to handicap the game, the over/under would be 114 1/2.

WINNER: Penn State

Game #2: #7 Michigan vs. #10 Minnesota

Minnesota's season can be broken into two sections...the part without Vincent Grier and the part with Vincent Grier. Unfortunately, Vincent Grier will not be able to neutralize the inside-outside game that Michigan can play when they use their big men (Brown, Sims, Petway) effectively with their guard play (Horton and Harris).

WINNER: Michigan

Game #3: #6 Michigan State vs. #11 Purdue

The rest of the conference got a little gift when Michigan State was forced to play a Thursday game. I see no reason why the Spartans will not dominate a continually depleted Purdue squad.

WINNER: Michigan State

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FRIDAY'S GAMES

Game #4: #1 Ohio State vs. #8 Penn State

Again, this is another classic mismatch. A rested Ohio State team should be able to dismantle a physically weak Penn State team

WINNER: Ohio State

Game #5: #4 Wisconsin vs. #5 Indiana

This game is the biggest wild card so far. Both Indiana and Wisconsin have played Dr. Jeckyl and Hr. Hyde all season. Indiana seems to have pulled it back together after Mike Davis announced his resignation, but ahve looked pretty awful at times, including a terrible loss at Wisconsin. The Badgers are very similar. They started hot but are only 5-8 after losing two of their big men (Landry and Stiemsma) to academics. Someone has to win, and the team that decided to show up in the correct incarnation will do it. I really hope if is Wisconsin (for obvious reasons) but I think Marco Killingsworth is starting to re-emerge and will dominate the physically soft and depleted Wisconsin big men.

WINNER: Indiana

Game #6: #2 Iowa vs. #7 Michigan

Every tournament needs an "upset", and I think Michigan is the team to pull it off. Some out there think they need to make a strong showing in order to get a bid to the NCAA tourney. I think Coach Amaker will be able to sell the team on this and will come out and surprise an Iowa team that has some great history in the BTT.

WINNER: Michigan

Game #7: #3 Illinois vs. #6 Michigan State

I commented before that the rest of the Big Ten should be thankful that Michigan State has been forced to play on Thursday, and I think Illinois will be the big benefactor of this "extra" game. I see a very close, well-played game, with the power of the Illini overtaking the Spartans in the waning minutes.

WINNER: Illinois

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SATURDAY'S SEMI-FINALS

Game #8: #7 Michigan vs. #3 Illinois

Michigan will meet the same fate that their rival from East Lansing met the day before. They will hang with the Illini, but in the end, the big men will cancel each other out and the superior outside shooting of the Illini will prevail. This game and this result hinges on Dee Brown re-emerging from the "slump" he has been in (if you can call it that!)

WINNER: Illinois

Game #9: #1 Ohio State vs. #5 Indiana

The "home crowd" of the Hoosiers will play a factor, but I see the Buckeyes negating this advantage early in the second half. I see a close game throughout the first half, but the Buckeyes should be able to take over and handily win, being able to ready themselves for the big match-up on Sunday with the Illini.

WINNER: Ohio State

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SUNDAY'S FINAL

Game #10: #1 Ohio State vs. #3 Illinois

I see no real reason to preview this game, since the likelihood of me actually being correct is slim to none...probably closer to that latter! But...I will still at least pick a winner for this game. And the 2006 Big Ten Tournament Champion is...

ILLINOIS

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We will see how I do. As the games progress, I will attempt to continue to prognosticate the results, as well as what will happen when the brackets are announced on Sunday after the BTT.

Let The Madness Begin

2006-03-01T13:20:00.000-06:00

When I looked at my watch this morning, I noticed it said "29"...then I smiled.

I realized that I got to set my watch ahead to "1", which means that my favorite month is about to start...MARCH!!

March is my favorite month for one reason, college basketball. Hearing things like the folliwing send shiver down my spine:

Championship Week
Brackets
Buzzer Beaters
Cinderella
Selection Sunday
Final Four

I am so pumped. Look forward to some analysis of the tournament, both before and after the bracket come out.

When Will This Woman Stop?

2006-01-30T08:55:00.000-06:00

Hasn't Cindy Sheehan realized that nobody cares about her anymore? Does she know what a news cycle is? Does she know that her news cycle is up? Turns out now that her newest idea is to challenge Dianne Feinstein for her Senate seat.

LINK

Sheehan says, "She voted for the war. She continues to vote for the funding. She won't call for an immediate withdrawal of the troops."

Maybe this is because there are actually people out there that support our troops and what they are doing. Everyone doesn't have your one-track mind. Or they actually realize that if we pull out troops now, we have just wasted the last 3 years of work in Iraq.

Why do this? Haven't you made your point?

Does she really think people will vote for her? Probably not.
Does she really think she has a chance to win? Probably not.
Does she have any idea about any other part of our country, besides how to protest a war? Probably not.

At least she admits it.

"If I decided to run, I would have no illusions of winning, but it would bring attention to all the peace candidates in the country," she said.

You have made your point Cindy, you do not support the war. You do not need to waste the time of the voters and taxpayers of California by running for Senate.

Now find your way back into everyday life. Get a job. Contribute to society positively. We have had enough of you.

For Your Baby Fix

2006-01-27T20:37:00.000-06:00

Here are a few more pictures of Anna taken by Grandma Rhoda while they were babysitting last night. As you can see, Anna is starting to talk and smile more and more. I think she will start belting out sentences sometime next week!

She has also found a new friend. The first picture is of her and her friend. She loves it. If she ever gets sick of that piece of paper, we are in trouble!

For those who haven't heard, Anna's echo test and her hip ultrasounds both came back negative, so she has a clean bill of health until the next barrage of tests gets ordered (just kidding). She goes back in about two weeks for shots (boo!).

More Government Waste

2006-01-18T12:33:00.000-06:00

While some cities have decided that they need to voice their opinion on the Iraq war on a separate ballot, the city of Milwaukee has decided that they need to follow suit and put a referendum on the November ballot that asks about the withdrawl of troops from Iraq.

Did we really pay our aldermen to discuss whether or not this should be out on the ballot? Is the result of this vote binding? Is this just a way for people to feel good about themselves? What is the point?

The answers to the above questions...NO, NO, YES, and I DON'T KNOW!

What an absolute waste of time. Never mind the real problems in our city. Let's focus our efforts on something that we essentially have no say in.

Pissing Time Away

2006-01-18T12:22:00.000-06:00

I'm not quite sure how I got to this site, but while wasting time today at lunch, I found "The Best Place To Piss Away Your Time on the Internet"

This site is urinal.net.

If you do enough searching, you can find a picture of the troughs at Camp Randall Stadium. I am not sure if these still exist after the renovations of the past couple years, but they sure were fun!

I still marvel at some of the stuff I find my way to on the Internet!

More Pictures

2006-01-11T09:24:00.000-06:00

These are the rest of the pictures that I have been able to upload and host on the internet. Some are bigger or smaller than others...I am still learning the host I use.

http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/5373/annabackfromdoctor8rw.jpg
http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/5579/annahiding4ip.jpg
http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/4688/anna0237hp.jpg
http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/7051/annachristmas8ov.jpg
http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/1787/towelhead1sx.jpg
http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/1204/annainswing65yv.jpg
http://img316.imageshack.us/img316/4826/anna0646do.jpg
http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/6255/anna0311uv.jpg

Hopefully I can get some more up in the next couple of days!

Baseball HOF Thoughts

2006-01-10T13:50:00.000-06:00

The inductees (check that...inductee) to the Baseball Hall of Fame was announced today. The big news to me is not that Bruce Sutter got the call for the Hall. It isn't even the fact that he was the only person to get the call. The part about the Hall voting that intrigues me the most is the bottom of the list.

Here is a small sampling of players who received votes to get into the HALL OF FAME...the highest honor a baseball player can receive:

Walt Weiss
Gregg Jefferies (Who's name was actually spelled wrong on ESPN.com's list of votes)
Doug Jones
Gary Gaetti

How can you even think of putting a guy like Walt Weiss in the same category as a player like Ozzie Smith, Joe Tinker, and Honus Wagner. He was the 1988 Rookie of the Year though, I guess.

And I guess Gregg Jefferies led the league in doubles in 1990. He was also an all-star.

I hope these votes were jokes...because if they weren't, I have some serious questions to ask of these voters.

For the record, I would vote for Sutter and Goose Gossage (a little too similar to pick one and not the other) and possibly Andre Dawson if someone convinced me enough.

Ask and You Shall Receive

2006-01-09T20:59:00.000-06:00

I have heard through the grapevine that some people are looking for pictures of the baby. I have posted a couple of pictures here.

If you are itching for more, check out the web pages at the end of this post. There should be some links that will lead you to more.

This Made Me Chuckle

2006-01-09T13:15:00.000-06:00

Some people may not find this in the best taste...or even funny, but I did.

WHY YOU NEVER QUESTION A DRUNK

A woman was shopping at her local supermarket, where she selected:

A half-gallon of 2% milk,
A carton of eggs,
A quart of orange juice,
A head of romaine lettuce,
A 2 lb. can of coffee,
And a 1 lb. package of bacon.

As she was unloading her items on the conveyor belt to check out, a drunk standing behind her watched as she placed the items in front of the cashier. While the cashier was ringing up her purchases, the drunk calmly stated, "You must be single."

The woman was a bit startled by this proclamation, but she was intrigued by the derelict's intuition, since she was indeed single. She looked at her six items on the belt and saw nothing particularly unusual about
her selections that could have tipped off the drunk to her marital status.

Curiosity getting the better of her, she said "Well, you know what, you're absolutely correct, but how on earth did you know that?"

The drunk replied, "Cause you're ugly."

Is There a Better Way to Waste Money?

2006-01-05T13:47:00.000-06:00

This was just reported on the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's website:

Businessman to seek Kohl's Senate seat

Madison - Business owner Dave Redick announced Thursday he will run against Democratic U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl on an anti-war and anti-tax platform.

Redick, who moved to Wisconsin from California in 2004, said he supports a phased pullout of U.S. troops from Iraq because the “real reasons” President Bush invaded the country was to control oil, defend Israel and establish permanent military bases.

“I’m a Republican, and we’ve got a problem - it’s Bush,” he said. “He has betrayed us and it’s time to stand up to him.”

In California, Redick ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House and state Assembly as a Republican and Libertarian.

Redick, 70, is a semi-retired telecommunications salesman and owner of Badger Ventures, a venture capital firm.

-----

Hmm...where to start? I will just make a list of why this is one of the most ridiculous ideas I have heard in quite a while. The reasons go in the same order as the article

1. Who? We need some name recognition here. People knew who Russ Darrow was and look how he did!

2. Anti-war and anti-tax are not going to get you very far...especially when we have a Senator in Wisconsin that is very outspoken against the war.

3. Redick moved to Wisconsin from California. Carpetbagger?? You really think you are going to beat a man who is vested in the state by owning a professional sports franchise (which he won't sell unless he finds a buyer who will keep the team in Milwaukee) and has also donated money ($20 million) to build a sports arena at the state's largest university? Get real!

4. He's a Republican...enough said. Republicans do not fare very well in Wisconsin.

5. He says President Bush is the problem. I have a feeling people who agree with him are squarely on Senator Kohl's side.

6. He ran and got beat for a California House seat AND a state assembly seat. Both of these are less prestigious than being a Senator.

7. He lost those elections.

8. He is 70 years old. Nobody is going to elect a 70 year old man to a 6 year term for the first time. If it is an incumbent, it is a different story.

9. He ran as a Libertarian AND a Republican. Make up your mind.

10. You don't unseat a 3-term incumbent in the Senate.They die or retire.

Here is my idea. Drop out, let the Senator run unopposed, and save everyone money.

Save the Senator's money.
Save our money (by not having to stage an election)
Save the government's money by not having to use election campaign funds.

PLEASE!?!?!

Another Perfect Transition

2006-01-05T11:42:00.000-06:00

It seems like this is too good to be true.

Just like the transition out of college basketball season, the transition into it is nearly perfect. Here is why I say this.

As I have said in the past, I am always intrigued that the NCAA Basketball Championship is played on the exact same day that the Major League Baseball season starts.

Now to add to this...the college football season ended on the same day that conference play started in the Big 10. After watching a fabulous Rose Bowl last night, I get to turn around and watch the Badgers start the Big Ten season against Iowa.

How sweet it is!

Moon Away...in Maryland

2006-01-04T11:58:00.000-06:00

I guess I am making up for lost time over the past month...when I got lazy on here.

While reading Drudge today, I saw an interesting headline about the legality of "mooning".

Long story short, neighbors get in an argument, one moons the other, the mooner gets a ticket for indecent exposure.

The mooner fights the case in court and the judge acquits the man, claiming that showing the buttocks is not indecent. Here was his explanation...

"If exposure of half of the buttock constituted indecent exposure, any woman wearing a thong at the beach at Ocean City would be guilty,"

How true...though it would be nice to see some people who wear thongs at the beach be punished.

Sharing the Blame?

2006-01-04T11:34:00.000-06:00

The more I read about this ridiculous coverage of the West Virginia mine incident, the more I wonder who is really to blame.

I still lay most of the blame sqaurely on the media. From what I have read, it seems that the media seemed satisfied using "an unnamed source" to report that 12 people who were presumed dead were actually alive. Sure, you can use "unnamed sources" when reporting less important news...but not when reporting living vs. dying!

As I read more about it, it seems like the mining company made some terrible mistakes. The head of the company supposedly knew that the information about people living was false 20 minutes afer the first report came through. Yet he waited for almost 3 hours to break the news. Here is what he said this morning...

---

At a news conference today, Mr. Hatfield said that he waited to correct the false impression even after a second call from the rescuers made it clear that the first call had been misunderstood. He said he waited because it was not clear then whether all 12 were dead or just some of them.

"Let's put this in perspective," he said, explaining his state of mind at the time. "Who do I tell not to celebrate?"

---

Here is what you tell people:

"People, it seems like the first report we got was incorrect. We misunderstood what was told to us by the rescuers. We aren't sure about how many are alive and how many are dead. We will let you all know for sure as soon as we possibly can."

In short, you tell EVERYONE not to celebrate. You tell them that you are unsure of what the real story is and that the situation will be cleared up as soon as possible.

By doing this, you take away some of the anguish of the families and friends (though not much!) as well as stop the news media from filing stories with misinformation...thus taking the egg off the face of such credible news sources as the New York Times, The Washington Post, and USA Today ;).

If everyone would have waited for an OFFICIAL word, this mess could have been avoided.

The Media is Out of Control

2006-01-04T10:26:00.000-06:00

I copied and pasted this from a message board that I posted on. I don't have the time to revise or re-type. Sorry!

But...I am still royally pissed about how this stuff went down! This is my summary of how the media covered the mining accident in West Virginia last night...

-----

9:30 pm: all are still assumed to be dead...rescuers very close
11:00 pm: 12 are reported to be alive. only 1 casualty. press conference to follow
sometime between 11:00pm and 7:00am (i was sleeping!): all but one are dead?

the leadership of the mine owners blame a miscommunication. what?!?!? how can you miscommunicate "dead" and "alive". they seem like black and white to me.

this is just another example of the media throwing integrity out the window to "break the story". whatever happened to checking your sources...or getting the information from more than one credible source...especially when we are talking about people's lives! this isnt lyle overbay supposedly getting traded for shea hillenbrand, then getting traded for someone else. this is life and death...you dont take this stuff to air unless you are 100% sure of your sources. you dont report rumors when it comes to life and death. this is getting really annoying. is it the media's job to report the news...not make the news.

with this incident, the story is now how the media misreported the information...not that fact that 12 people are dead.

i can believe how the families and friends of those killed feel. i would be out for blood.

Final Thoughts:

How ridiculous. How the hell are we suppsoed to believe anything we see/hear/read on the news anymore??? It seems like so many stories are inaccurate these days. Dan Rather...Hurricane Katrina stuff...and now life and death. Utter ridiculousness!!!

Merry Christmas

2005-12-29T17:43:00.000-06:00

Now that we have a child, we are entitled to be late for things. Though I have vowed we eill do everything in our power to stop this from happening, it is inevitable that we will be late. Here is my first example.

Now that it is three days after Christmas, I am getting around to wishing people a Merry Christmas and also posting the inevitable cute baby pictures from Christmas.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and I wish all my Jewish friends a Happy Hanukkah (I am not late with that one yet!!)

It's A Girl!

2005-12-11T01:10:00.000-06:00

Anna Elizabeth Temke was born Friday December 9th at 10:18 am.

Anna was 8 pounds 6 ounces and 21 inches long.

Both Anna and Melissa are doing fine. We hope to be home from the hospital Monday or Tuesday morning.

We look forward to introducing Anna to everyone!

Troubles in Harlem

2005-12-02T13:55:00.000-06:00

This story should lead to some debate about the free market and possibly copyrights. This is from today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

It turns out that someone has decided to copy the Harlem Globetrotters and try to make a couple bucks off it. The Harlem Ambassadors (creative name...at least be from Queens or something) are complaing that the Globetrotters are taking away their business. If you want the entire story, check out the LINK.

Long story short, the Globetrotters have a clause in their contract with the venues they play at that forbids the venue from booking another basketball/entertainment related group for a set time (6-8 weeks) before and after the 'Trotters are there. Sounds fair in my book. Why let imitators come in right before they are there. It is supposedly common for special entertainment performances (circuses, etc.)

Here is my thought. How the hell can the Globetrotters be "taking away business" from a group that basically copied the Globetrotters? The Ambassadors have been around for only 8 years. The Globetrotters have been around forever. If anything this other group should be the ones being pursued. So it is fair to steal someone else's idea and then try to steal their business away from them?!? Come on...get real!

15:01?

2005-11-28T21:11:00.000-06:00

It seems that Cindy Sheehan's time is up.

I am torn on how I feel about her, but this picture is priceless.

Badger Hoops...A Broken Record?

2005-11-28T13:45:00.000-06:00

Again, the Wisconsin basketball team seems to be falling into the same season they have for the past couple of years. It starts with no national recognition/respect, and ends with them making a run in the NCAA's. Here is how I see it:

1. No preseason national respect.

2. A solid non-conference record against an average schedule. still on the outside of the top 25.

3. A good conference record...people start talking and they break into the bottom of the 25.

4. A finish in the top 3 in the conference and/or strong B10 tourney showing.

5. We think they should get a solid seed, but they get a 7 and play in Boise or Salt Lake City.

6. They lose to a very good team (Maryland, Kentucky, UNC, etc) in the ncaa's

Champions Times Two

2005-11-22T11:58:00.000-06:00

Monday was a pretty good day for UW Athletics. Most people know that the men's basketball team won a tough game against Old Dominion to become the 2005 Paradise Jam Champions.

The lesser known championship won yesterday is much more prestigious. The men's cross country team brought home a NCAA Championship in a dominating effort. Three Badgers finished in the top 10, including the individual National Champion, Simon Bairu.

Congrats to both teams. GO RED!

My Favorite Season

2005-11-20T22:20:00.000-06:00

After reading my last post, you should be well aware that we are in the first month of my favorite season, College Hoops. So far, it has not disappointed. Here is a quic run-down of what has happened that has made this season great so far.

The Badgers won a nail-biter in double overtime Saturday night. Wish it was on TV, but it was a great game to listen to. They play again Monday in the championship game of the Paradise Jam tournament, which is supposedly being broadcast on Fox Sports, but be sure to check your local listings.

Marquette lost in the Blue and Gold "Classic" Saturday night (at home!) to a team from Wintrhop that will probably surprise more people as the season goes along. On a side note, would this have been called "The Gold Classic" if the name change would have went through??

And finally, my faavorite team in the land further glorified the Sports Illustrated Jinx. My "beloved" Michigan State Spartans laid an egg at Hawaii, losing by 20 Sunday. Adding to the thrill was the fact that four Spartans suffered cramping during the game, including Paul Davis, who wanted to prove that his ability to cramp up in close games was not a flash in the pan.

Another very interesting week of hoops is on tap this week, as the tournaments in Maui and Alaska take place. I am VERY interested in the Maui Invitational this year. The teams in it include 6 teams who have won an NCAA title in the past 20 years (Arizona, Kansas, Michigan State, Arkansas, Connecticut, Maryland), everyone's favorite mid-major (Gonzaga), and my new personal favorite team, Chaminade, who will become the second team from Hawaii this year to upset the Spartans!

Look for more College Hoops updates and commentary as the season goes along.

GO RED!

The Four (Or Two) Seasons

2005-11-20T22:13:00.000-06:00

When we are all in school, we learn that the four seasons are spring, summer, fall (or autumn for those who try to sound high class) and winter. I have decided that these seasons are never correct, as it can be 90 degrees in April (definitely summer weather) and 35 degrees in September (definitely winter weather).

Therefore, I am proposing that there only be two seasons, and that they have nothing to do with the weather. Here they are:

The first season starts in April. To be specific, it starts on the first Monday in April. This season is called "Baseball". This season lasts unti mid-October, depending on how many games the World Series lasts.

The second season unofficially starts right after this, but doesn not officially start until the first weekend in November. This is my favorite season. This is called "College Hoops". This season lasts until the first Monday in April. Coincidentially, this is the exact same date that Baseball starts. How convenient.

Some people will try to tell you that there are other seasons out there, but don't believe the hype!

With this system, there is little debate to what season we are in, and we don't have to hear peole complain about how it is supposed to be warmer or colder than it really is. We have a roof over the baseball field (or not if it is nice out!) and a gym to watch hoops in. No need to complain!!

Playing the Waiting Game

2005-11-17T15:21:00.000-06:00

I am sure that Grandma Temke (Rhoda) is happy about this, as she left for Hawaii yesterday, but we are now officially playing the waiting game.

Who knows how long this will go on, but I am sure that Melissa would vote for less waiting over more.

We will keep everyone posted. As far as we know, everything is well with baby Anna. According to the doctor, she is "a good size"...whatever that means!!

Back to the Original Intent

2005-10-26T22:05:00.000-05:00

Though I have heard through the grapevine that there are a couple poor souls out there that actually read and enjoy my rants, I thought it was time to return this blog back to its original intent (at least for a little bit!). This being our baby.

Our house is slowly filling up with baby stuff. Mel claims that she is almost out of room. I just keep reminding her that there is even more stuff coming. With two showers down and one to go, there will definitely be more stuff making its way through the doors of our house.

3 showers you ask? Why? Well, the girls on our swim team decided to throw a shower for us, disguised as a team meeting after a meet a couple weeks back. The girls all pitched in and bought us all kinds of stuff. The picture is from that shower, possibly the first ever held in the West Allis Central cafeteria. We thought a high school cafeteria was quite an interesting place to see a baby shower, but it was still great!

Hurricanes Get Me Fired Up!

2005-10-26T21:47:00.000-05:00

I don't know what it is about hurricanes that get me so fired up, but it has happened again. This time it is the reaction to Hurricane Wilma. This article was linked to Drudge today. I don't know if I am just an ass or I should really feel sorry for these people.

Here is the LINK.

Here is my analysis of the story...

" Many Floridians were still struggling to find food, water, ice and gas on the third day of recovery from Wilma, waiting in line for hours _ sometimes in vain."

Should I feel sorry for these people. Sure it sucks that a hurricane just hit these people, but YOU KNEW IT WAS COMING. Why should you have to rely on other people to help you out all of a sudden?? Did you not see what happened in Mexico? Did you think you were going to have electricity and running water back the next day?

I think they should have had interviewed and profiled those who actually were prepared. Wait, they were too busy being prepared in their house, not waiting for and complaining about the government's reaction to this.

Governor Bush, though, is a man who gets it. Though he takes the blame, he does reply with this...

"People had ample time to prepare. It isn't that hard to get 72 hours worth of food and water," said Bush, repeating the advice that officials had given days before Wilma hit."

If they would have done this, they shouldn't have to be in these lines and at these distribution points. How about a little common sense here?

"Among the first in line Wednesday at Miami's Orange Bowl distribution site was Josephina Diaz, who said she arrived at 6 a.m. 'I don't have a choice,' she said. 'I have medicine and food I can't allow to spoil.'

Actually, you had a couple of choices. One, get the hell out of dodge. Two, prepare for a possibly deadly storm.

"'This is like the Third World,' said Claudia Shaw, who spent several hours in a gas line. 'We live in a state where we suffer from these storms every year. Where is the planning?'"

I couldn't say it any better. Why didn't YOU plan ahead? You expect the government to, but you can't? Go buy some water. Have an extra gas tank on hand in case you need gas. Go buy some dry ice to keep things cold. Or GET OUT OF TOWN!

What is it going to take to get people to evacuate when the suggestion is made to evacuate? Katrina obviously wasn't enough. Maybe more people need to die before people will actually decide that they should get out of the way of a deadly storm.

This would be like people in the midwest saying, "Oh, there is a tornado coming, but it is only a category 3 tornado so we aren't going to take cover. Let's go watch it from the yard!"

I just wonder where the common sense of some people is at times!

It was nice to see this tribute to American capitalism at the end of the article, though.

"At one gas station, a man went car-to-car selling fuel from a 10- gallon plastic tank. The price was $20 for about a gallon, and people happily paid."

If this man were to have owned a gas station and did this, he would have been hung by the media I am sure. But instead, we will look at him as a smart man. What is the difference? Both are trying to make a buck of the misfortunes of others.

Do People Really Believe This?

2005-10-13T15:18:00.000-05:00

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan is at it again. Today he is spreading a rumor that explosives, not Hurricane Katrina, broke New Orleans' dikes and flooded poor African American neighborhoods.

This sounds just about right. The government caused the damage and destruction that occurred after Hurricane Katrina hit.

I have nothing to say about this. I think silence says it all. Unbelievable!

How Dumb Do You Have To Be?

2005-10-05T13:36:00.000-05:00

On Drudge today, I found a link to an article claiming that someone has got their hands on a tape of Britney Spears and her husband having sex.

LINK

All I can think is "Why the hell would you do this?" Are you oblivious to the other sex tapes that have got out and the media circus the ensued?

My thought on this is if you are stupid enough to do this, then have fun with the repercussions!

When will people learn?

Homosexuals, Women, and Leprechauns (?)

2005-09-30T14:01:00.000-05:00

There must be nothing left to protest over in Iowa City. Especially since they are protesting the colors of the visitor's locker room these days.

For those who have never heard the story, legendary Iowa coach Hayden Fry was convinced that pink was a calming color. In order to gain an edge, he had the visitor's locker room painted pink. Sounds like a pretty funny idea, right?

Well, during the renovation of Kinnick Stadium in the off-season, the University of Iowa took Coach Fry's ideas a step further, adding pink lockers, carpeting, and even urinals to the locker room.

LINK

Now, students and professors are protesting that "the use of pink demeans women, perpetuates offensive stereotypes about women and homosexuality."

What is so offensive about women being represented by pink? When babies are born, they are generally dressed in pink if they are a girl. Trust me, our soon-to-be daughter's closed is loaded with pink stuff! What is stereotypical of that?

Also, where does it say thatpink represents homosexuals negatively? Carson Kressley from Queer Eye didn't seem to put off when he donned a pink Red Sox jersey on their show, did he?

The next thing we know, the homosexuals will be saying that rainbows are perpetuating a offensive stereotype about them. And imagine if the them and the leprechauns got together to fight against rainbows. The homosexuals would be saying that the rainbow projecting its image across the sky is a knock on them, while the leprechauns would be worried that rainbows are a negative stereotype due to the thoughts that they sit with the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and protect it. Now that would be a formidable duo...gays and leprechauns! What would happen if a leprechaun and a...NEVER MIND!

Isn't there a war somewhere that these people should be protesting? Stay out of sports!!

Three Cheers For Mediocrity

2005-09-28T10:40:00.000-05:00

I know I shouldn't be commenting on this, as I am a frequent poster on the website I am going to mention and I am also as happy as the people I am about to mention, but I have to!

For those who are not baseball followers, the Milwaukee Brewers won last night, pushing their record to 79-78. This gives the team a winning record, and a possiblity at finishing with a winning record for the first time in 13 years.

After reading the posts made during (and especially after) yesterday's game on brewerfan.net, it is funny to see how ecstatic and excited Brewers fans are with being mediocre. Check out this link...especially page 10.

LINK

Just think what it will be like if this team can continue their push and maybe threaten to make the playoffs in the next couple years. It is going to be FUN!

Blame The Media

2005-09-27T11:40:00.000-05:00

On Drudge this morning, the top story is about how the national news media and their overblown coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

LINK

Here are the highlights for those who cannot read the whole article, from the L.A. Times:

Many of the stories about murders, rapes, and the such have proven to be unsubstantiated. It is compared to a rumor passing through the halls of a high school.
As always, all of the good things that were going on were ignored. Some examples are given in the article.
Other stories that have proven to be false include: bodies stacked up in the basement of the Superdome; bodies in the cooler of the Convention Center; dead babies in garbage cans; sharks swimming through the flooded streets.

This all reminds me of the story that came out after 9-11 of the man who "rode" one of the towers down and walked away from ground zero with only scratches.

It seems that everyone wants the "scoop", but most do not want to wait to make sure their story is accurate.

The Next "Big One"

2005-09-26T11:54:00.000-05:00

It seems that the damage from Hurricane Rita did not live up to the hype. This leads me to one quick thought...

What will happen next time?

Will people be willing to endure hours and hours of bumper-to-bumper traffic? Will people be willing to make plans to stay with friends and family? Will people be ready to put a hamper in their life?

It makes you wonder, now that we have seen a "false alarm". We will see how people react next time. Will the government be "crying wolf"? Who knows? I know I would be getting the hell out of Dodge every time...or not even live there to start with!!

Bush Bashers...Where Are You?

2005-09-23T14:51:00.000-05:00

I have heard hints of it, but not an outright comment of it, but when are people going to accuse President Bush of having more interest in his home state, Texas, and Hurricane Rita, than the states affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Here are a couple reasons why he actually should, even though only the first one is the fact that he is from there:

1. He is from there, of course he is going to take an interest in it. You can't fault him for this, can you?

2. He wants to take in the response of government officials first hand. After the debacle of all forms of government after Katrina, you cannot fault him again.

3. This storm is headed directly toward more oil refineries. We saw what happened to gas prices after Katrina, I don't want to know what will happen if this storm makes a direct hit on the rest of them. He should take a direct interest in something that will directly affect our economy as well as one of the hottest issues according to the general public these days.

4. The man is doing his job. Inagine the public outcry if he wouldn't take a direct interest in this storm.

I guess to some people, the man can do nothing right, even when he does the right thing. I guess to all of those who are going to say "Where was he last time?", I say to you "He learned from a mistake. We all make mistakes."

Packer Nation Update

2005-09-23T14:35:00.000-05:00

I have been wondering for a couple years now when it would all come tumbling down. It seems that the wheels on the Green Bay Packers' Bandwagon have started to wobble a little bit.

I thought people would wait until Brett Favre was gone until this happened, but my thoughts have been affirmed today. In the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online today, there was a poll asking if the Packers would be able to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. As of 2:00pm Friday, the vote was 70%-30% that the Packers would lose...AT HOME!

And this from a poll in the home state of the team. I know that internet polls are by no means scientific and accurate, but you have to give the poll a little credence.

Here is a link to the poll.

Hit 'Em Where It Hurts

2005-09-23T13:22:00.000-05:00

While reading this morning's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, I read of Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's proposal to increase some fares on County buses.

After reading where the increases will come, I am in a state of disbelief.

Walker's plan calls for those who use weekly passes and other forms of pre-paid fare to pay more. This shocks me because these are the people who are keeping the system alive. They use it on a regular basis. Why should we be punishing those who are helping the system and/or trying to do what has been promoted for years...ride the bus?

Regular fares would remain the same, but weekly passes and student passes would increase in price, as would the ever-popluar Summerfest Shuttle ($6...getting to be a rip-off!)

I just don't get why we should stick it to those who are heeding the advice of leaders, who tell us to take the bus to avoid the Marquette Interchange construction, or for various other reasons.

And this guy wants to be our governor?!?

Here We Go Again

2005-09-23T10:49:00.000-05:00

As I wondered out loud last week, I am again thinking about what is going to happen after Hurricane Rita hits the coast of Texas this weekend.

The commercials and telethons and star-studded events will ensue I am sure, but where is the money going to come from this time? Obviously the government will find a good chunk to give out again, as they should.

But what about donations and relief effort. So many people opened their hearts and wallets to those affected by Katrina that it is going to be hard for people to do it again. Think about it...you are a person that gave a good chunk of money out already. Where are you going to get money from this time? Especially with talk of higher gas prices.

Many people are already strapped for cash due to higher costs of living. Talk of hig gas prices, higher heating costs this winter, and the increased overall cost of living is going to have to take a toll soon. Will we see people spending less money this holiday season? Will travel over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend go down? Something has to give, and I don't quite know what it will be yet.

Personally, I see Melissa and I cutting costs around the holiday season. This is mainly due to the fact that our little girl will be with us by then, but also because it is one of our biggest "non-necessities" that we spend money on every year, besides going out and such, which will also probably decrease drastically in relation to our baby girl being born!!

Normalcy

2005-09-22T11:19:00.000-05:00

I'm not talking about President Harding here. But I am talking about things getting back to normal...in New Orleans.

It appears that the Deja Vu Strip Club in the French Quarter re-opened for business last night. Here is my question...for who? Didn't the mayor just order the city re-evacuated? The only people there are military and police personnel, and don't they have things they should be doing, like helping in the efforts to make the city habitable again? Just wondering...

More Thoughts on Katrina

2005-09-19T21:31:00.000-05:00

Two major things have come to my mind lately about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The first has to do with the panhandling that has become so mainstream in the past two weeks. Everyone expects you to give money. The NFL does. College football does, Noodles and COmpany does. Pick 'n' Save does. Even McDonald's does. Here is what I think. I give money to the victims of Hurricane Katrina every two weeks. It is disguised on my paystub as "Federal Taxes".

Now I know that this is a tragedy and that many people lost everything, but you can't expect people to give everywhere they go. All these people are lining up for our money. While we are opening our pockets to these people and their problems, I fear that we will be ignoring other people in need. This really hit me when I was in the drive-thru at McDonald's the other day. I saw that the little tray where you can leave your change for the Ronald McDonald House has been changed to Hurricane Katrina relief.

What about the poor kids and their families that Ronald and Co. have been helping for years? What are they supposed to do? What about the millions that should have been given to the MDA through the Labor Day telethon? What about non profit groups such as the United Way? These people do not get a cut of my tax dollars. I will continue to give to them. Now I have George Lopez behind me on TV asking for money on behalf of ESPN and the NFL.

We get the point. The way they run these commercials and PSA's, they are almost guilting people into giving. It reminds me of the WWII propaganda posters. "If you do not give to the Hurricane survivors, you are on "their" side." They should run commercials like this every March and April to guilt people into paying their taxes. Show our poor and homeless throughout the rest of the country and say "These people need your help. Please pay your taxes so that we can continue to run our Social Security system in our country. Without your dollars, what will happen to these people who have no other choice than to live the way they do?"

On to the second thing, does anyone in New Orleans know what the hell is going on? Now the mayor is stepping back on his order to let people back in to the city. And conveniently, he has yet another excuse. There is another storm on the way. Or maybe this guy realized that the city is in no condition to take people back yet. One hospital in the city of New Orleans open and you want to let hundreds of thousands of people back in with chain saws and other power tools. Come on! No clean running water and you want to let people back. Settle down! Take your time. Mardi Gras is not for many months. You all have plenty of time back then. You are not going to get brownie points for repopluation your city quicker Mr. Mayor. There are reasons that the colleges in the city cancelled their ENTIRE SEMESTER! Nice to see he has someone else besides himself to blame. When is this guy up for re-election?!?

The Police Blotter

2005-09-15T13:20:00.000-05:00

I love this feature when it is put into newspapers for a couple reasons. First, it is funny to hear some of the stuff that people do. It is even funnier when it is someone you know. And it is yet funnier when it happens in your home town.

With that being said, here is an excerpt from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's police blotter in my home town of West Allis, WI (a suburb of Milwaukee for those who are unfamiliar).

************************************************************************************

Drunken driving

A 31-year-old West Allis man was arrested on allegations of drunken driving and disorderly conduct for splashing a law enforcement officer with urine from his property bag and swinging the bag at his face in the 11000 block of W. Lincoln Ave. Sept. 5.

************************************************************************************

You wonder if they used the urine to determine if he was actually drunk or not!!

2005-09-13T21:00:00.000-05:00

This explains everything...and is so true. From The Onion.

President Bush Takes Blame for Katrina

2005-09-13T14:03:00.000-05:00

OK...so he didn't take blame for the Hurricane happening (which it seems some people actually want him to do), but...

President Bush came out today and said that he is personally responsible for the Federal Government's poor reaction and performance after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. Many people are asking why he is coming out and doing this. I say why not?

Here is why I think this statement and subsequent public address Thursday night are good ideas:

It is a sort of damage control. People will be less willing to blatantly point a finger at someone who has admitted they made a mistake. Any other time a public figure makes a mistake and acknowledges it publicly, they usually are not as hostile toward the person.
What does he have to lose? He is not up for re-election. He does not seem to have any intent to stay in politics after his term is up. He is losing nothing (but maybe public support) by coming out and doing this. He's not going to lose his job, so why not take the bullet for the rest of the administration.
It protects the party. Again, Bush is taking the bullet for the rest of the country's Republicans, especially in areas affected by the Hurricane. This could possibly take the anger people in the Gulf Coast are feeling away from locally elected politicians and send it toward President Bush.
It makes the news talk about the Hurricane's aftermath and takes the media focus away from pertinent issues, such as the confirmation hearings of Chief Justice candidate John Roberts.
And finally, there are no new television shows to pre-empt, so this is the best time to take the national airwaves over for a message of possible apology. Wait, doesn't the new Survivor start Thursday? Never mind...bad move! People need their Survivor and won't be happy id the President takes it away...or pushes it back. I better set my DVR for CBS all night!

When you take a step back and look at it, this is probably one of the best moves President Bush has made so far in his second term.

Drudge Strikes First Again

2005-09-12T15:22:00.000-05:00

The Durdge Report beat everyone to the punch again today with breaking news.

Matt Drudge was the first to report that large parts of Los Angeles have just lost power. Before CNN, before Fox News, even before the LA Times. Nobody has details yet, but I'm sure they are on the way.

Another piece of proof that Drudge does have some value...for all those non-believers.

BUMP

2005-09-09T11:52:00.000-05:00

I am writing this to direct everyone's attention to the post Melissa made over the weekend. Make sure to scroll down far enough to get to it. It is very important!

Way To Go Pat's Fans

2005-09-09T11:49:00.000-05:00

This is from this morning's Drudge Report:

'THE BIG BOO' CROWD HISSES KANYE WEST Fri Sep 09 2005 10:30:28 ET The chart topping hip hop rapper star who used a network hurricane fundraiser to charge "George Bush doesn't care about black people" was loudly and lustily booed during last night's NFL kickoff show. The appearance of Kanye West, who was beamed into the Boston stadium via remote from Los Angeles, received a strongly negative response from the crowd. "The boos were thunderous and lasted for much of his number," reports the BOSTON GLOBE. Developing...Now if we can only get him off this benefit concert tonight. I am interested to see what kind of response he gets. Too bad I will be at Miller Park watching a dandy pitching match-up between the king of hard luck, Doug Davis, and the immortal Roger Clemens. Maybe I will DVR it to see what happens!

Improvement!

2005-09-09T11:08:00.000-05:00

Well, the Greater Metro Conference swimming season got underway this week. My girls from West Allis had a tough challenge last night (which they all are!) against the Red Raiders of Wauwatosa East. Last year, we were defeated by a score of 115-71. It was our first dual meet and we knew that we were in for the long haul

This year, we brought a much improved team into East and gave them a little run. After two events, we were in the lead, helped by a 1-2 finish in the 200 Free! Before the diving break, we were only down by 4 points, which is an accomplishment in itself.

Then diving and the second half of the meet came. The divers are regrouping from the loss of their top two divers to graduation and injury, and the back half of our meet needs some work. This year, when the waves settled, the final score was 114-72...a one point improvement!

We CANNOT look at it this way though, as Tosa East also has a much improved team from last year. Looking at the times posted at this meet (the same place on the schedule), all times were MUCH better than the same time last year.

I am very proud of my girls! Though there is no rewards for losing a dual meet, but the over 70 personal best times and 3 individual winners is definitely movement in the right direction!

Move On

2005-09-08T08:18:00.000-05:00

On my morning jog through the Drudge Report, I found this disheartening story about the political activist group "MoveOn". For those who don't know, these are the people who are pushing the liberal agenda to the people with no regard for costs or impacts on society.

This group is now trying to use the Hurricane to push their agenda. They are claiming that John Roberts' "record on civil rights ... is clearly not the direction our country needs to head now."

Not only that, but they are using images of the evacuees as proof of this.

Give tha damn people a break already. It's bad enough that the national news media has camersa and microphones in their face way too much, but now to politicize this whole debacle even more?

I think these people at MoveOn need to do exactly that...MOVE ON! It's pretty clear that the general public does not want to see the plight of the people of the Gulf Coast politicized anymore. It is also becoming clear that there is nothing politically wrong with John Roberts becoming a Supreme Court justice (unless something unreal pops up in the next week or so). MOVE ON to something else...like trying to win the 2008 election so we can stop listening to your whining and the right can blame your candidate for everything in the world that goes wrong.

WOW!

2005-09-08T08:02:00.000-05:00

found this in another blog, written by the college basketball rpi guru, jerry palm.

Barbara Bush on NPR, after a tour of the Astrodome: "Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."

are you kidding me? unreal!

The Hell You Say

2005-09-07T21:08:00.000-05:00

NEWSFLASH: There are two Supreme Court justice vacancies. Chief Justice William Rehnquist died and he needs to be replaced.

It was nice to see that most major news outlets today still had this as their 4th or 5th story.

Also, the confirmation hearings for John Roberts are starting...for those who care about the long-term effects of the government on our lives.

More on Kanye West

2005-09-07T08:21:00.000-05:00

I found this while trolling the AP wire this morning. This is Kanye West in reference to his appearance at the upcoming "NFL Kickoff" celebration.

"I don't want to detract from the show at all, because it's entertainment, and a lot of times, in a time of need, we need entertainment to lift people's spirits," West said Tuesday at a news conference to promote Thursday's free concert at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't part of Friday's benefit "entertainment"? There was music there, wasn't thre? Wasn't it a time of need last Friday? Didn't people's spirits need to be lifted on Friday?

How can he go out and make ridiculous comments one day and claim that they are unnecessary a few days later at a "similar" event...a concert that was part "entertainment"?

The guy needs to put his foot in his mouth very soon!

Why So Political?

2005-09-06T21:50:00.000-05:00

One of the great things about teaching high schoolers is that you can have somewhat logical conversations with them. Today in class we were discussing the many different ways the government affects their lives, even though most of them are not 18 and cannot vote yet.

One thing that came up was the Hurricane, as it seems to come up in any conversation if you talk to someone long enough. This leads me to my next point about high schoolers...they cannot think for themselves sometimes. They were all trying to convince me that the lack of support after the flooding was the President's fault. I would think this is because of how politicized this event has become in the media...especially in the cable news channels.

I know it is an unfair comparison, but I try to compare the public's reaction to 9/11 to this, and I don't remember nearly as much (if any at first) political talk about the event. They both happened about the same time after an election, but if you watch CNN you would think that Citizens for Responsible Government was leading a recall against the President.

After 9/11 it seems that the country united as one, even the staunch Republicans and Democrats...remember all the politicians on the stairs of the Capitol (I think) singing together? Where is all the non-partisan singing after a natural disaster (something we couldn't really control) hits that will likely cause more deaths than 9/11?

Everyone is WAY too quick to lay blame on this one. The time for that will come, but only after we know all the facts. We should really be worried about cleaning up the city and getting everyone possible back on their feet rather than polarizing ourselves even further along partisan lines.

It's bad enough that we have prominent African Americans going on national TV during a benefit concert claiming that President Bush "hates" African Americans. He can't be serious, can he? Not only is that a ridiculous comment in itself, but it sets a great example for our naive youth to follow ("Kanye West hates the President, so maybe I should too!") Do we really need every talking head on cable news claiming that "so-and-so" is the person to blame? And I wonder why so many of my students are blind liberals. They really are quite impressionable. Here is an example...

Sample Conversation Between Myself and a Student:

This conversation starts as we are discussing something where the President comes up in the conversation.

Student: The President sucks.
Me: Why?
S: Because he is a fag.
Me: Really? I thought he was married and had kids?
S: No, he is stupid.
Me: How do you know that?
S: 'Cause he sounds stupid.
Me: Can you prove he is stupid?
S: No.
Me: Then how can you say he is stupid if you can't back it up?
S: Because.

That is generally when I give up...or at least wait until we talk about political ideology in class. They take a quiz and many of them end up being way more moderate or conservative than their talk would show.

The life of a teacher I guess. At least I can have somewhat logical conversations with them!

Anyways...we all need to calm down and take a step back. The way we are going right now, it feels like we are on the verge of another Civil War. They say history repeats itself...this time it will be about politics rather than states' rights and slavery.

More Impact From Katrina

2005-09-05T21:51:00.000-05:00

Like most of us, I have been on Katrina Overload. Watching TV, reading stories on the internet, etc. about the devastation and the aftermath of it. Since much of my life revloves around sports, I have found yet another link to it. This has to do with Tulane University.

The school announced over the weekend that it will not be open for a fall semester, but that its sports teams will compete. I though about how this would work, only to realize that their student-athletes will be taking classes at other institutions. It got me thinking about what a nightmare this would be. I have enough problems coaching at one school and teaching at another.

I read into this story further and came to find what a logisitcal mess every business along the Gulf coast must be. Not only are people trying to pick up the pieces of their personal lives from the storm, but their employer comes into it. I was reading on the Tulame site all the problems with distributing paychecks and receiving information about medical benefits.

The problems there only seem to compound, especially for business owners and managers of businesses. They have at least twice as much to worry about...amazing!

I think this lessens the problem we have about practice being at 3:15 and Melissa having a meeting until 3:45!

Buy stuff for our kid!

2005-09-04T10:15:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we went to register for baby stuff. This was quite interesting considering we have no idea what we are doing or what a baby needs. However, we did manage to develop a very efficient system with Brian holding the scanner gun and me periodically saying, "Get me one of those."

We registered at both Toys 'R Us and Target. We tried to put a variety of items and prices on each, but there is a lot more stuff on the Target one. This happened for a few reasons, but the main one being that it is easier to find stuff at Target. Toys 'R Us can be a little confusing, so we tried to register for mostly large items that are easy to spot and find. One side note: The travel system (car seat and stroller combo) that we want from Toys R Us was not at the store. I am not sure if they are just out of them at the moment or what, but we were able to add it by going online. So if you want to see it, don't go the store.

Have fun shopping for baby Temke. Remember...its a girl! Looks like the family shower is planned for the weekend of October 1st. Get shopping! :)

Oh yeah, Brian wanted me to tell everyone that anything he registered for that is sports related, but doesn't specify a sport, he intended to be baseball! Not, "soccer or anything lame like that."

Can Offense Win Championships?

2005-09-04T01:36:00.000-05:00

One of the things you will hear coaches in nearly every sport say is that defense win championships. If that is the case, the Badger football team isn't going to win too much this year. The Wisconsin defense looked anemic, especially in the first half, but thankfully the Badger running game is still one of the best in the country.

Here are my quick thoughts of today's game:

The uni's scared me right from the start. For those who remember, the last time the Badgers wore alternate uniforms, they got smoked in their season opener versus Colorado on national TV, at home, and at night! When it was 20-7, I was really worried.

Brian Calhoun started slow, but then turned it on. He seemed to be tentative hitting the holes in the first half, but once he got comfortable he showed the talents that have been touted since his transfer was announced.

The secondary is really missing Scott Starks and Jim Leonhard. Hopefully someone steps up VERY soon and can fill those holes, because the Badger secondary was burned all day long. i don't want to see what experienced Big Ten QB's will do against this D.

The improvements at Camp Randall looked very nice. A couple new video boards and some new seating, but it just didn't look like Camp Randall on TV. I'm sure it will grow on me, especially since everything I have heard about the renovation is nothing but glowing. I need to get there very soon!

I had the game on in the car for a little and I remembered how much I like Matt Lepay. He is a great announcer for both football and basketball, which is something to say. He is almost as ingrained in my mind with Badger sports as Bob Uecker is with the Brewers. Let's hope Lepay stays around that long...I don't know why he wouldn't.

I'm sure I could go on for a while, but I am tired, so I am going to sleep! Great start to the college football season, and the Badger's season. I am getting a little more optimistic about the season, but I will not be convinced until we see what happens against Michigan

Blame Bush For Gas?

2005-09-01T13:24:00.000-05:00

While surfing the internet today, I found this comment on another person's blog. The poster is saying the President is to blame for the high gas prices...though the hurricane has "some" effect.

Hmm...last time I checked gas (and I drive by about 5 stations on my way to work), the price on Monday morning was in the high $2.70's on the South Side of Milwaukee. Today, gas was up to $3.25. The 55 cent difference was "some effect" and we should blame the President for the rest??

As I see it, it is as easy as simple supply and demand. The supply of American produced oil is low. The demand for oil in America is high. If you were a supplier of oil, wouldn't you charge the highest price you possibly could in order to make the most profit possible. I know I would...regardless of what the President was doing.

It's kind of like the black market...or scalping tickets. If tickets are around, scalpers do not make money. If tickets are scarce, scalpers make good money. Very rarely do the people selling the tickets change their price depending on who they are selling to (unless they are from Chicago!).

As long as people stay dependent on automobiles (I know I will be) the price of gas will continue to increase until the equilibrium point is reached when producers of oil are not moving their supply enough to make a profit. I don't believe that "magic price" where people will stop driving even exists...especially since many people said that "magic price" was $2.50 or even $3.00. And I don't know of too many people who decided to take the bus or bike to work this week! The price of gas will continue to increase until the equilibrium point is reached when producers of oil are not moving their supply enough to make a profit.

Also, if the President is to blame for the high price of gasoline, then why have prices for gas in Europe been so high (still much higher than gas here today!) for years. President Bush is not in charge of Europe also, is he?

Here are the gas average gas prices in Europe as of mid-August...

Netherlands $6.77
Norway $6.56
Denmark $6.29
Belgium $6.02
UK $6.02

Wisconsin 8/05 $2. 70's
Wisconsin 9/05 $3.20's

He is our President people! As much as I agree with him in some areas, and disagree with him in others, he is still the elected leader of our country (don't even start talking about "stealing" elections!) Face the facts, or at least follow through with your empty promises to "move to Canada if Bush is re-elected". In other words, "Take off...eh!"

Say It Ain't So

2005-08-31T22:00:00.000-05:00

I was just crushed while reading the on-line version of The Daily Cardinal.

It seems that the "Virgin Vault" is going to be de-virgin-ized. The famed Liz Waters dormitory will be going co-ed starting in the 2006-07 school year. What is a guy to do now that there is no mystique behind the Vault.

I Spoke Too Soon

2005-08-31T21:39:00.000-05:00

Seems that I need to bite my tongue...but note that it is NBC putting the event on.

(from jsonline.com)

ANOTHER TELETHON: On a weekend known for JerryLewis' Muscular Dystrophy Association fund-raiser, NBC has quickly put together "A Concert for Hurricane Relief," airing at 7 p.m. Friday on NBC, MSNBC and CNBC.

Tim McGraw, Harry Connick Jr. and Wynton Marsalis, who have ties to the ravaged area, are scheduled to perform.

Will Brett Favre be there? Leave it to Wisconsin media to add him to any news story!

NCAA...Where Are You?

2005-08-31T21:32:00.000-05:00

Heard a quote from the Tulane coach discussing the evacuation of his team in preparation for the forthcoming hurricane. The coach was making pleas for help from people. His team was forced to leave without gathering their belongings. He claims that his players and staff have no clothes and no toiletries.

When will the NCAA come out and say that we can't help these people because it would be considered "special benefits" for student-athletes?!?

Or are they still too worried about making sure that Florida State University, the University of North Dakota, and the University of Utah have the blessing of their respective American Indian tribes to use the names and likenesses they do?

The Down Side of Being the Richest Country in the World

2005-08-31T21:28:00.000-05:00

This one will be short and sweet...

Where is all the international support for the hundreds that died and the hundreds of thousands that have lost their homes and livelihoods due to a natural disaster when it happens in the richest country in the world?

Where are the blockbuster "concert events"?

Where are the commercials with phone numbers to pledge money to help "all those who lost everything"?

Hell...even people here are more interested in how much it is going to cost to fill up their gas tanks!

I know it just happened, but I distinctly remember a very quick international response to the Asian tsunami. I will be patiently waiting for all of this to happen...especially from other countries in the world.

Stock Up While You Can

2005-08-31T21:23:00.000-05:00

Nothing like being welcomed back to your job with the news that the price of health care is going up. It turns out that the MPS School Board's plan for our contract (the 2003-2005 contract that has already expired by the way) is asking us to foot some of the bill for health care.

While I know that the rest of the free world pays for a piece of their health care, I just find this whole situation odd for many reasons...here are a couple.

1) How can it take 2 years to reach an agreement? The working public is lucky that teachers are not legally allowed to strike because any other organized group would have walked after about 6 hours after their contract expiring (if not less!)

2) We are once again working without a contract. Maybe we can negotiate to change the health care plan to one that is more equitable for educators and their salaries.

3) When being briefed about the changes, I found the following change to be the most entertaining (from www.mtea.org)

Other Changes in HMO:

Include mail-order pharmacy benefit
Increase mental health and AODA benefits in HMO
- 45 days inpatient
- 45 days outpatient
Expand access to national provider network in HMO
Eliminate coverage for sexual and erectile dysfunction medication

We all better stock up before the deal goes in to place Nov. 1!

Take a Walk in My Shoes (or sandals!)

2005-08-31T12:51:00.000-05:00

When I was younger I remember reading about how much Lou Holtz, then the football coach at Notre Dame, walked during an average game. I believe after all was said and done, Coach Holtz walked about 10 miles up and down the sidelines and over the course of a game day.

I decided I would try this last night at our first dual swim meet. I put on a step meter right when I walked into the pool to see how much I walked during the entire afternoon, from setting up, to warm-ups, to the meet, to tearing down the meet.

The verdict...just over 17,000 steps (or jumps up and down or other crazy stuff I was doing during the meet last night!). Here is my math...correct me if I am wrong.

My average stride is about 2 feet. I take the 17,000 steps and multiply by 2 feet a step. That becomes 34,000 feet. Divide that number by 5,280 to come up with about 3.2 miles. Add that on to the about 10,000 I took at school, and that becomes a total of just over 5 miles in a day!

For those who are interested, my girls put up a good fight, but got beat by Greendale Martin Luther, despite winning 5 of the 8 individual events. Relays and depth were out downfalls last night. We will see them again and hopefully get them next time!

Overkill

2005-08-29T21:43:00.000-05:00

Here is yet another example of Marquette University trying to "involve the students" after their P.R. blunder earlier this year.

The MU administration announced today they are planning on unveiling a new mascot and want the students' help in picking the mascot.

Come on...its a mascot, and if it's not some sort of warrior, I'm sure most people really won't care. Look at these mascots, what is different with them? I feel like playing the Photo Hunt game at the bar with these mascots to find the minute differences between the two choices.

"Oooh, the one on the left has more definition around the eyes! Wait, the one on the right has more feathers!"

Seriously, listen up Marquette Big-Wigs...YOU BLEW IT! Just cut your losses and give the people what they want. If you do, you might end up on the NCAA's list of "hostile and abusive team names".

A Long Winter?

2005-08-24T23:07:00.000-05:00

I always hate to be a pessimist, but I have a feeling that the sports world in Wisconsin will be going into hibernation very soon.

Right now, the Brewers are showing some signs of life, but I fear they are a little too late to really make a splash in the Wild Card race. Very nice to see the improvement though. Let's hope this will carry over to next season...especially at the ticket office.

With baseball season hitting the stretch run, this means that football is right around the corner. Unfortunately, the prognosticators are calling for sub-par seasons from both the Packers and the Badgers. I tend to agree with them. I think the Packers will have to ride their offense if they want to make the playoffs and I think the Wisconsin vs. Hawaii game in Hawaii will have bowl implications.

But...prognosticators have been known to be wrong before. Remember Craig James saying that the 1998 Wisconsin team was the worst team to ever play in the Rose Bowl. What did they do...turned around and beat UCLA, one of the best teams in the country that year.

As for the Bucks, I really think they are a wild card this year. If the team can mesh and if Andrew Bogut can produce as a rookie, they could make a strong push for the playoffs.

Let's hope for the best...if not we always have the Hot Stove League to look forward to.

For those who know me, you are probably realizing that I left out any talk of the Badger Basketball team. Don't fret, I will have lots to say about them in the coming weeks. They have to reload after the loss of 5 seniors, but I am always optimistic about the Bagder hoops team. We all know what happened the last time the Final Four was played in Indianapolis.

NCAA vs. MLB

2005-08-24T22:50:00.000-05:00

For the past few years, I always thought of the NCAA as one of the most ridiculous institutions in all of organized sports. I will offer you a couple examples of why.

1) The Tennessee basketball team was sanctioned for using a "personalized recruiting aid" when a graduate assistant put a small sign in the locker room welcoming the player to the campus. How this is in the same boat as putting the player's name and picture on the scoreboard (which is what the NCAA was targeting among other things) is beyond me?

2) The NCAA halted a push by Georgia football fans to fly an opponent's father home from Iraq to watch his son play. Georgia fans heard about a Boise State player whose father is working in Iraq to help build the Iraqi police force. Fans thought it would be a great gesture to pay for a flight home and make him their guest for the weekend. The NCAA claimed that this was a violation of the rule that does not allow "extra benefits and expenses for student athletes and their families.".

Doesn't the NCAA have better things to do, like investigate the Connecticut basketball players accused of selling laptop computers that were stolen from UConn dorms? They could also be putting their resources into solving the mockery that is the Division I-A football system. Why does EVERY OTHER SPORT have a tournament of some sort, even I-AA football?

Now...the Florida Marlins have joined the ranks of the NCAA for foolishness. The Marlins suspended a batboy for taking a dare from ex-Marlin Brad Penny that he could not drink (and keep down) a gallon of milk in one hour. He did not succeed (I have read that he both threw up and that he did not finish the gallon but kept it down). Maybe that is why he was suspended.

Don't these people have better things to do than deal with these miniscule occurrences??

A Sign?

2005-08-19T23:57:00.000-05:00

Melissa realized today that my poker chips were in my trunk as well when my car was stolen. I am starting to wonder if this was all a sign.

I should stop playing poker and devote more time to golf?? The problem with this is that i generally win money when playing poker, but spend way too much when I golf.

Speaking of golf, congratulations go out to my mom who shot an 82 at the Brodlands on Thursday night, getting recognition in the Journal Sentinel with an "Honor Score". My gift to her? She gets to help us paint our bedroom! Thanks again and congratulations on doing something I will probably never do...get a golf score in the paper!

If I Could Be a Criminal For a Day...

2005-08-16T20:06:00.000-05:00

I promised some details about yesterday's car theft, and here they come.

First off, it was more than likely stolen by kids, since the driver and passenger seats were up about as far as they could go. The mirrors were also tilted about as far down as humanly possible. The theives had time to change the radio station to Kiss...something my car was rarely (if ever) subjected to. With all this being said, it was nice to see that the seat back was cranked back so that the "South Side Lean" was in full effect.

As for what was stolen...this just gets funnier and funnier by the moment.

Some CD's were stolen, no big deal since most of them were burned. Note that the Prince "Musicology" CD and the Elton John "Greatest Hits" CD were spared.

There was a silver dollar and a random quarter in the center console...just for the heck of it. Both of these were swiped, but the change drawer (though it only had about $3-4 in it) was also spared.

In the back seat was a box with paperwork (sign-up forms, schedules, physical forms, etc) for my swimming team...gone! Maybe they will try out for the team, especially since the thieves found a use for a set of girls swimming suits that were on loan from Walter's Swim in Brookfield.

The trunk just keeps baffling me. As I have stated before, my golf clubs were NOT taken. It is a set of Ping Eye II irons as well as a set of Ping ISI Titanium Woods, a Ping Zing 2 Lob Wedge, and a Scotty Cameron putter. The estimated retail value of these clubs is well over $1,000 and could have ben sold on e-bay for plenty!

Here is what was stolen. My mom's air matress and inflator (sorry...should have given it back weeks ago!), a cooler filled with water and Gatorade (one Gatorade was found in the back seat!), a Nike Golf shoe bag...but not the shoes, a Pick 'n Save bag with a bunch of small bags of sunflower seeds, a winter car kit (had things you might need if you got stuck somewhere in the winter), and a couple of fold-up lawn chairs.

Also spared from the trunk were by baseball cleats, my golf shoes, and a couple of random blankets, as well as my winter snow brush (why couldn't that get taken...I need a new one!)

Now that I think about it, I believe they stole my jumper cables...which are definitely more valuable and worthwile than a set of silly golf clubs!

Eureka

2005-08-16T15:32:00.001-05:00

I have had my faith in the Milwaukee Police Department restored. I got a call at 8:15 this morning saying that my stolen car was recovered. Minimal damage and minimal theft.

Biggest laugher of the whole thing...my golf clubs were NOT stolen! $1,500 in clubs not taken. I will be posting more interesting facts about the car theft later today (if i get time). Some of the things are outright hilaroius!

Be on the Lookout

2005-08-16T00:53:00.000-05:00

Another interesting day in the life of the Temke's. Long story short, I got my car stolen from the parking lot at work today. For those who don't know, I work at Wilson Park on 20th and Howard (nowhere is safe anymore!)

If anyone happens to see my car being driven around, let the proper authorities know...one of those being me!

It turns out that we may get a mini-van sooner than expected! Wh at can you do? Makes you wonder about people sometimes!

Another Near Miss

2005-08-14T20:51:00.000-05:00

Melissa went in to the doctor again Friday. Again, our child was being uncooperative and stubborn (this better end SOON!). Throughout the ultrasound exam, the nurse was doing her best to determine the gender of our baby. It seemed hopeless as the baby was sitting on its feet...not the best position for determining if there is anything between the baby's legs or not.

After taking the measurements she needed, the nurse poked around for a couple extra minutes. Just as she was about to give up, she let out an "ohhh!". She then starting showing us the following on the screen. "Here's a leg, and here's another. And between them, there is nothing to be seen. I think you are having a girl." The nurse initially told us she was 80% sure we were having a girl.

After some more investigating, the nurse strengthened her stance, since she couldn't see "a little turtle with its head poking out" as would be seen if the baby was a boy. As we left, she went out on a limb and said she was "quite sure" we were having a girl.

This means two things...first, we have to pick out a name (since we only had boy's names picked out so far!) and second, let the shopping begin (I can imagine the new grandma's did not have to wait to hear this!!)