November 25-30, 2007

Personal: Just curious if anyone ever reads this? I am always on the look out for people I have know in the past, so if you come across this blog, shoot me an email...

Fantasy Football: Brought out my "Whoopin' Stick"… I devastated the only remaining undefeated team in my Freaks and Geeks league (he has Brady and Moss). Going into his Sunday night New England game I was up over 140 points (not totally out of the realm of possibilities - especially in light of how well those two have played this year - but a tough call none the less). When all was said and done, I won 243.60 - 162.19 to keep me solidly in 2nd place as well as winning my 3rd Viagra High Score award. Wee haw!

In my Paladin league I also won to keep my team #1 going into the playoffs with a 10-2 record so far.

On a side note - it's pretty F'd up that Sean Taylor (Redskins Safety) was killed. He was a good young star. RIP...

Pinmasters Bowling: Sadness in our league. We found out that
Gary Alan Hutcheson, the Pro Shop guy passed away after an accident over the weekend. He was a very nice guy and will be missed a great deal. It'll put a very somber mood over the lanes on Tuesday. Rest well Gary…

Well, it was a very quiet night at the lanes… We played the league President and Vice Presidents team. Started real well, winning the first game by a decent margin. But as it would be, they stormed back to kill us in game 2 and then we barely lost game 3, which had us end up losing 3-4. The only real consolation is the fact that our rivalries lost as well, so while we didn't gain any ground on them, we didn't lose any either. Only 3 weeks left for this half of the season. Right now we are in 7th place.

Professionally Speaking: Got my EC Tech Pros site starting to happen (http://www.ectechpros.com/) and slowly take shape.

Bitches and Gripes: Man am I tired of Christmas already! They started playing TV commercials and holiday music in stores about 3 weeks ago. In fact, we saw that the Grinch was on the weekend before Thanksgiving. What the hell is all that about? At what point do we decide it's too early. We have totally lost the meaning of Christmas, or any holiday for that matter...

Novemeber 18-24, 2007

Personal: I started a local Emerald Coast Technology Professionals group and site. Should be launched soon as a focal point for all Tech Pros in the greater Emerald Coast area. From Pensacola to Panama City, a resource for Technology Professionals, Employers of Tech Pros, and information about the technological climate along the Emerald Coast.

We have the girls (Jewels and Shelby) taken care of in terms of relocation. I got them all of their shots, microchipped, ad they've had their FAVN blood test sent to Kansas State for verification. If Hawaii opens up with any good jobs (with some relocation), I will jump. Stand by...

Fantasy Football: Well, well, well… Peyton Manning sure has stunk it up for me lately. Sticking with him though, he's a proven resource in FF. That being said, I lost my game in Freaks and Geeks - more rants… I also have Chad Johnson and Marvin Harrison, so far, both have pretty much been busts. Peyton needs Marvin in the game and Chad, well, Chad just needs to get with the program. If he is going to talk like a top tier WR (much like Randy Moss or Terrell Owens), he better produce like a top tier WR. This year, TJ (and now Chris Henry now that he is back) are much better choices. It really sucks, because they were such a major piece of my program. Oh well… In my Paladins league, I managed to stave off a strong effort by the Seahawks (congrats to Mike for sticking to his guns on playing all of the starting Seahawks), pulling it out in the end, thanks in part to the New England Defense. Final score: 100-91.

Pinmasters Bowling: We bowled the bye team this week and did real well, took all 8 points out of 8. Congrats to Ton Kelsey for his first 200+ game, with a 213. As a team we did real well and over the last 3 weeks we are 23-1 which has helped move us into 4th place in the league, not bad for a group of misfits and hacks. I believe there are 2 weeks left this half of the season and if we do well, we could be sitting very nicely for this half. The running joke is we got there (4th) without any sad bagging or shenanigans at all. Completely honest - "run what ya brung" mentality.

Professionally Speaking: Things seem to be possibly moving the right direction at work, but the jury is still out and we'll see over long term. They have managed to get both development teams (.NET ad JAVA) in the same general area, so at last we get to interact with them and possibly think of truly Enterprise level development. It has been mentioned that I should become the Divisions "Compliance and Standards Architect". I think I would like that.

Bitches and Gripes: Why the hell did Christmas advertisements, music, and chaos start 3-4 BEFORE Thanksgiving this year? That is absolutely ridiculous in my book. I almost fee like boycotting Christmas entirely as it has become nothing but a Commercialized American Bloated Festival and an excuse to 'get' things. It is not about the giving or even Family Interaction, but totally about "what am I getting"… It makes me want to puke...

Week of Nov 10 - 17

Personal: This is my first instance of my NEW Weekly Posting. Rather than posting little bits and pieces, I have decided to condense all my weeks thoughts into one post to be done on Saturday Evenings (with any occasional special posts as needed).

Fantasy Football: Well, week 10 was both good and bad for my teams. In my Paladin League I lost a fairly close one, but I had such a lead in that league a loss isn't such big deal (especially in light of the other team tied with me in record - Pugballs - lost as well). In Freaks and Geeks I won a hard fought battle pushing me more solidly into 2nd place. Right now I am just looking for one of the top 2 rungs of the playoff ladder so I have a week 1 bye. I went 2-3 in my 'other' leagues, keeping my firm eye on the playoffs in ALL. It's now "Run and Gun" to the playoffs now that all the bye weeks are over and as NFL teams make the playoff, some star players may sit, making the end of the season exciting.

Some major injuries this week will impact some teams (as has been all season):
Adrian Peterson - Strained MRI (out at least 1 week)
Larry Johnson - Right Mid Foot Sprain (out week 11)
Steve McNair - Non Throwing Shoulder Injury (out 3-4 weeks)
Dwight Freeney - Left Foot (possibly out for rest of season)

Pinmasters Bowling: Well, Week we bowled our 'other' rival team on Tuesday, November 13th and did real well. We ended up sweeping them, taking all 4 games. A strong night by Wayne, Harry, and myself; combined with a sub par performance by a trio of their better bowlers allowed us this precious sweep. So far this year we are 7-1 versus our rival teams. Next week we bowl the bye team and our rivals, the Shanks and Split Happens bowl each other, so depending on how things work out, we could definitely move up in the standings (currently at 7th).

Professionally Speaking: I've been working a LOT on my game Rhom. I might add that it is coming along rather nicely! Being that it is a heavily statistical type game, there is a lot of algorithms that I've needed to implement. I am still expecting around a January 1st initial deployment. If you come across this and are interested in Statistical Turn Based Role Playing Games (STBRPG) and might want to consider beta testing with me, email me at rhom AT crabisland.biz ad we can work on setting you up an account. Watch this space as 2008 is going to be very exciting.

Bitches and Gripes: Nothing pisses me off more than the way people drive! This week it as even worse, as I headed into work one day and got stuck behind a local transit official (RideOCT). Now you would think that being an employee for an organization that promotes good transportation would have some clue as to how to drive. Anyways, I got stuck behind one that was doing 25 in a 35 zone (and regularly travels at 40+). This person needed to really get a grip on things as they held up a huge line of traffic (including myself). Get with the program people. We all need to share those spaces so we ALL need to be diligent in making sure we not only do the things that help us communicate with each other, but ensure we do not impede and/or negatively impact each other on our journeys.