A Good Weekend

I haven't done a weekend update post in a while and I don't intend to start doing them again. But for today I will do one.

I was out of town Thursday into Friday and didn't get home until middle of the afternoon on Friday.

I did some minor yard work Friday afternoon before heading to the soccer field for kiddo's makeup game from earlier in the season.


Saturday was supposed to be the last game of the season but the soaking rain that went through PA meant NO soccer.

But it did mean WET PUPPIES! And unfortunately......MUDDY PUPPIES!

They realized that it is easier to dig in mud than it is dry dirt. GREAT!


But then the real meaning to this past Saturday started......


Penn State @ Ohio State!!

If the Lions could win this game than they are on track for their first undefeated season since 1994 and possibly their first National Championship since 1986.

I was PUMPED!

Some friends came by to keep me calm and whatnot which actually did work. I wasn't too hyper and managed to not get too tense during the game.

But it didn't matter at the end!

PSU 13 OSU 6

AWESOME!!


And after that the weekend got busy again.

I woke up Sunday morning to......a mess in the dog crate.....and a mess on the dogs.

One of them had gotten ill in the crate overnight and there was stuff all over the crate and all
over the dogs.


So after all that cleaning and whatnot we went to a hockey game last night in Hershey, PA.

That was a good game to be at (we won 8-3) but the more interesting thing happened around the 2nd intermission.

Wifey and Kiddo went to the bathroom and when they got back there was a story to be told.

A little pre story.....kiddo wanted to bring her Nintendo DS to the game in case she got bored....I said no.

Apparently she didn't like that answer. She had stuffed her DS into her pants before we left the house and managed to sit in the car, walk to the arena, eat her dinner, sit for 2 periods (almost 2 hours), and get to the bathroom without having problems.

And she still didn't have any problems. Apparently the bathroom was so crowded that Wifey went into the stall with her just to get out of everyone's way. And then it was discovered.

I was so impressed that I allowed her to have the DS after the came back.

I would like to think that I would have been smart enough to do the same thing when I was 7!


And now I am here at work to begin yet another week....Yippee!!! (sarcasm intended)

Another Good Time

This past weekend was another good one at my place of residence.

We had another cookout (smaller than Memorial Day's) with incredible food and a great group of friends.

We had barbecue chicken, potatoes, a veggie, and a good desert.

To understand the incredibleness of the chicken you would have to taste the barbecue sauce that the wife makes. She has taken a family recipe and twisted it up a bit and it is AMAZING!!

I actually put it on everything (okay, maybe not EVERYTHING) like potatoes and broccoli. That is the best. Especially on the potatoes. I will actually eat a steak with a potato and heat up some bbq sauce for the potato.

But I got ahead of myself here in this story and I honestly just realized it. I was going to talk about my WHOLE weekend and yet I started the story on Sunday. So let's start over.

This past weekend was another great one at my place of residence.

Friday was a nice quiet night at home after a haircut and some yard work. I watched Charlie Wilson's War (loved it) and stayed in, just the wife and I.

Saturday I got up at 8ish and made eggs for everyone while we waited for a phone call from my daughters soccer coach to see if the game was cancelled due to storms.

I called my family to tell them that the game was likely to be canceled (which it was) and my sister asks me if my mom can take my daughter for the night. I was all for it and so was the wife.

So my mom and sister came and picked her up around noon.

After which, the wife went to work and I started on my yard work. (side note - the yard work has been consisting of tearing out grass and laying down some mulch to create some great flower beds.

After she got home from work and I was done we went to the Olive Garden for a nice quiet (not so much when they seated about 8 little kids at a nearby table) dinner.

After dinner we went home to watch the Pens/Wings game before heading out late with some friends (sister, donkey, young buck, and verb) to a nice arcade/bar called the Coliseum. It is very much like a Dave & Busters (which we don't have here in the greater Harrisburg area).

When we were done there after about 3 hours we headed down to Denny's for a late night snack or very early breakfast for some.

We got home at about 3 and went to sleep around 4.

So I decided that I would get up at 8ish the next morning! BRILLIANT!!

I had more yard work to do and had to get things ready for the previously mentioned cookout.

I cut the grass and created even more flower beds for about 5 hours (during which I drank 80 oz of Gatorade). Then I started pealing potatoes and getting the place set up for friends and family.

My dinner guests included the group that was out the night before and my mom and her husband.

And as I previously mentioned, it was a GREAT time!

After dinner we of course played some bowling on the Wii and then some serious Mario Kart before I kicked everyone out at about 930 cause I was EXHAUSTED.

And then it was back to work on Monday and Tuesday I left for Scranton, PA.

I am still in Scranton (yes, the place the Office is set in) and will be until Friday.

I went to a baseball game last night at PNC Field, home of the Scranton/Wilkes Barre Yankees. And they LOST!!

I couldn't have asked for a better outcome, I hate the Yankees (all of them).

That was probably the most beautiful baseball stadium I have been to. And just so I am honest and you don't mistake me for an expert, I have been to (the late) Veterans Stadium in Philly, Camden Yards in Baltimore, and Riverside Stadium in Harrisburg.

But really the place is beautiful. If you are ever in Scranton or Wilkes Barre you should get to a game. Parking was (surprisingly and impressively) free and great seats down the third base line were only $10.

More Idiots

One of my biggest problems in this country and perhaps the world (I really haven't seen it yet to know) is people who put themselves before their children.

As I said previously I am in Mount Pleasant this week and there is really nothing to do at night. I am a huge hockey fan (hate the Flyers, love the Caps, can stand the Pens) and I wanted to watch the Pens/Flyers game last night but the hotel does not have the right channel.

So on Monday and Tuesday I asked people I met if they knew of any decent sports bars where I could watch the game.

NO was basically the only answer I got. One guy told me to drive about 20 minutes and another said about 30 minutes to get to a bar.

So I decided that since I am not the only one here and don't have exclusive rights to the car I would call Applebees and see if they were showing it.

They were but with no sound. No problem because I think the announcers are typically idiots anyways.

So I sat at the bar from about 730 til 10 and watched the game.

There was a couple (a rather large couple) sitting at a table near the bar with their probably 5 year old daughter.

Here is where my problem is....they were there to watch the game and made this little girl sit and stay at the restaurant for 3 hours with NOTHING to do.

They didn't bring her anything to do, they just expected her to sit there and be happy. And then they let her have free run around the restaurant. You could see waitresses talking to her up and down the rows of tables.

And then they really pissed me off. They were sitting at the table keeping a pretty close eye on her (which did actually impress me cause I surely didn't expect that) most of the time. And then all of a sudden they both get up and walk to the bar (not far) and lit up their cigarettes. And just turned their heads on the child and paid attention to the game and their cancer sticks.

I couldn't believe it. Okay that's not true, I could believe because these people looked trashy and worthless. But still you would think you could make it a little bit longer without having a cigarette.

So to recap these people brought their young child to a restaurant (they didn't eat so not really a restaurant for them, more of a bar) to watch a hockey game. They didn't bring her anything to do and didn't care what she did around the restaurant. And instead of taking turns smoking at the bar and not paying attention they both went at the same time and didn't pay attention.

But some of you probably don't see what is wrong with this and maybe you are right, maybe I am just a prick and think everyone should act right. But that's who I am so get used to it. And yes they could have just gone to a sports bar (if they could find one) but they at least went to a mostly smoke free place, so I guess they did that right.


On another note, you should check out a good song from Tantric. here is a link to their myspace page, just click on The One and play it. I think it is a great song.

Staying or Going

Right now I am sitting in a hotel room in Mount Pleasant, PA. If you were wondering, it is a little east of Pittsburgh.

And I hate it here. I like it at home.

Okay, maybe hate isn’t the right word but I really would rather be at home.

See the job I have has a ton of perks. I mean a lot. I get 11 holiday days a year, 10 annual leave days, 13 sick days, 1 personal day, and another 13 days a year off for taking a 30 min lunch instead of a 60 min lunch.

The people I work with are great and there is really not anyone to watch over me all the time. My manager walks by my cubicle about twice a day and only says two words to me. And that is GREAT because I don’t have to worry about someone harping at me all day long about what I am doing.

On top of all that I am not really all that busy, which means I can do other things at work like read everyone else’s blogs and write my own blogs.

But there are a few serious downsides to my job.

One is that I am not all that busy which means that sometimes I actually just sit at my desk in my cubicle (which is quite big compared to other entry level workers) and literally twiddle my thumbs.

I would rather be busy and have minimal free time at work than have NOTHING to do.

The other major problem with my job would be the travel. I have to travel around to little rural areas (mostly) in Pennsylvania and do audits.

I don’t mind the work even but I HATE being away from home. Especially considering that I am still training so I have to go with someone else.

If I was on my own I would be able to get the work done faster and get out of town earlier but I am not on my own and won’t be the next trip either.

The travel is only about once a month but it can be for the entire week. If it were just for a day or two it wouldn’t be a big deal but it isn’t. At least not right now.

I know there are a lot of people out there that would love to travel because they don’t want to be at home all the time. But I am a homebody and LOVE being at home. I LOVE being with my family and being able to relax at home.

So what should I do?

I can transfer all around the company if I want but I might lose my big cubicle, extra 13 days off, uninterested manager, and nice people in the office.

Or I can stay at the same position and just deal with the travel.

I have a few months to decide because I can’t transfer until mid August when my probationary period ends. But that is what was on my mind, so that’s what’s on the page.

Thanks for listening.