January 29th - 0-0

Got home from work yesterday to a note on the kitchen counter. It's from our mailman. "Please shovel snow way from mailbox."

Know what mailman? I will. Because I'm John Henry. I'm a natural shovelin' man.

Yesterday was all about money. And me getting some back. First, there was the bank. I'd tell the whole story if it wasn't lunchtime. It is, though, so condensed. Tieraney and I overdrafted. We knew we were about to, so we wrote a credit card check to ourselves. Took five days to clear, though, so we overdrafted anyway, and were hit with eight overdraft charges of $33 each. It started at five, and we talked them down to three, then we got hit with three more. So, yesterday, I got on the phone with FirstMerit. Again, condensed. We got the additional three fees removed, FirstMerit is switching our "domicile" bank to Mogadore (which is against their standard procedure), and they'll be doing a customer service evaluation of the Ashland branch, which had been our domicile bank.

Banks fear Hiner.



In other news, CTX Mortgage, the construction loan people on our new house, gave me bad info over the phone when I called for mortgage interest amount for the tax return. We got the actual 1098 yesterday, and with the correct number, found we'd shortchanged ourselves about $1,300. Of course, I'd filed my taxes he previous. So, now we have to do an addendum. Annoying? Yes, but it's hard to be annoyed when you've found out you're getting $1,300 you weren't counting on.

I'm going to blow it all on hats.

Defensive penalty. Illegal use of hands.

1st and 10 on Life's 45.

January 28th - 0-0

Today, I've just got snow on my mind. Lot of yesterday. Something like eight to ten inches. I was up and on my way to work at 5:30 a.m. when I decided it wasn't worth it. I'm in the rental car, first of all, so I'm being overly cautious. But I also planned to work from home one day this week, anyway, and I didn't want Tieraney to have to drive in the snow if she didn 't have to. So, about ten miles up the highway, I headed back home...and got stock in my own driveway. Can't remember that ever happening before. So, at 6:00 a.m., I was out shoveling my drive.

I eventually drove Tieraney to work and the kids to day care, then worked from home. I love working from home, where it's just me and my music and my dog and no interruptions. I liked it better when I had the iMac instead of the MacBook, but I make do. We got hammered with more snow throughout the day, so I had to shovel again in order to get out to pick up the family in the afternoon. This time, it was a few inches of snow, then a special surprise layer of ice, then more snow. Good times! But honestly, I don't mind snow. I like the cold, and snow is fun, so who cares if I have to shovel it? I greatly prefer shoveling snow over mowing the grass or raking leaves, so bring it on, I say. In fact, for good measure, I went outside again later last night and shoveled some more.

Screw you people and your snow blowers. Screw your hired plows. I'm the John Henry of snow. I'm a natural shovelin' man. I was born with a shovel in my hand, and I'm going to die fighting for the strength and dignity of man in a race against a snow blower up Big Bend Drive.



Hiner's hit behind the lines for a sure loss, but powers his way forward for a hard fought first down.

Hiner's Ball: 1st and 10 on my the 50.

January 27th - 0-0

6-1. Let me tell you good 6-1 feels. The Wild scored 4 in the second period against the Leafs to put the game out of reach, and added one more in the third for good measure. Sadly, no hat tricks. I know this shouldn't bother me...6-1 is a great win, but I'd sure like to see one of our guys get a hat trick eventually. Has that even happened this year?

I have to wonder, though, how we can play so well one night, and so badly the next. Are the Wild just the hockey version of my Seahawks, or does this happen to all teams in all sports? Oh, but the weird thing about the game is that we got our 6 goals on 21 shots. Just shy of 1/3 of our shots went in. Crazy. Granted, this was their prospect goalie in his second career start, but the reports I've read (I didn't see the game) are saying the poor guy really had no chance because of terrible defensive play from his teammates. Regardless, I'll take it.



Nothing other than hockey happened yesterday, but it was enough for a four yard run. I'll take uneventful days as a good thing.

Hiner's Ball: 3rd and 2 on my own 46.

January 26th - 0-0

I had a weird kind of moment today. To understand it, we have to go all the way back to the spring of 1991. While at Ohio Northern University in beautiful downtown Ada, Ohio, I was just starting to date a girl named Rory Clingerman. Great girl, that Rory. Good people. Still the salt of the earth to this day.

Anyway, at one point, she was in her home town and I was at school, and I wanted to go visit her. Ed McKell (also the salt of the earth to this day) let me borrow his car for the trip. This was a very nice car, certainly the best I'd ever driven up to that point in my life, and it had a CD player in it, which was a bonus back in the days when "Compact Disc Digital Audio" was still written on the album covers. I had a nice visit with Rory, I think...I can't even really remember that, nor when it actually happened. Maybe this was the summer of '91 when I was working at ONU as a summer conference coordinator. Regardless, on the trip back, I was driving through the country roads of central Ohio in this great car, listening to Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe on the CD player, and life just seemed...good. It was peaceful; pleasant. I had a girlfriend. I had friends. I had music. I had peace. It struck me at that moment that it's something I should prolong, because I knew it wouldn't always be like that.



Last night, I tricked myself into feeling that way again. I think it was the car. My '98 Honda Civic is in the shop, so I've got a rental car, a Toyota Camry. This is a nice car, certainly better than I'm used to. So last night, I was driving down the highway in this car with a CD player that actually works and axles that don't sound like they're about to tear off at any moment, and a gas line that's not about to bust wide open, and no dog hair, and a windshield I can see through, and I'm listening to Transvision Vamp, of all things, and that peace settled back over me. It was fleeting, and it was fake, but for a few brief moments as I drove down State Route 8 towards my family in Mogadore, I felt good.

Is it the car that does this? Is it only when I'm driving someone else's car? Is it only when I'm listening to music that most people have forgotten (or never heard of)? Or, am I really still at peace despite all the crap going on around me, and I just need the occasional moment of worry-free calm to realize it? I don't know. But I liked it.

Dump to my running back for four yards.

Hiner's Ball: 2nd and 6 on my own 42.

January 24th-25th - 0-0

Uneventful weekend. Stayed in Mogadore, fed the kids, did some Appletell and Dynamics Online work. That kind of thing.

Oh, I did my taxes. Getting a nice chunk of change back, but that'll happen when you're paying $17,000 a year on day care and two mortgages. Money's going right to the debt, of course, but I'll find a way to buy myself something pretty in there.

2 yards up the middle.

Hiner's Ball: 1st and 10 on my own 38.

January 23rd - 0-0

Not much of note. We're at the All-Start break for hockey, so the Wild aren't affecting me. Whether that's good bad, we'll find out in April when we see if they make the playoffs.

But hey, milestone. Some of you imaginary readers may know I review many products made for Apple computers and devices: iPod cases, software, etc. This includes Macintosh games, which I've been reviewing now for over 10 years. Well, today, I got my first Wii game for review. Yes, I'm now officially getting free games for a major gaming console. It's nothing big, "Safecracker" by The Adventure Company, but it's still pretty cool to me. I'm joining the big leagues.



Another bonus: I came early from work because my wife had been invited to one of those sex toy parties that the women like to have now. They get to act all embarrassed and giggle a lot and make fun of their boyfriends, which I guess makes it okay to buy Ben Wa balls, whereas it's not okay to get them a porn shop or one of those Ambiance stores. Women are weird.

Anyway, Tieraney didn't come home with anything nearly that exotic, because: a.) that's not her thing, and b.) we can't afford electronics right now. What she did come home with, though, was the fact that she'd just spent the last three hours doing nothing but thinking about and talking about sex.

Dudes, if your wife/girlfriend is ever invited to a sex toy party, you send them. You may be the one who has to bathe the kids and put them to bed that night, but then you get two full hours of uninterrupted Wii time, and a horny wife to close out the evening. That's a win.

Nine yard run.

Hiner's Ball: 3rd and 1 on my own 36.

January 22nd - 0-0

Day care sucks. The industry's a racket, behind only insurance and realty in its level of Satanic-like qualities.

Wednesday, Sam's day care teacher decided that because he apparently had some diarrhea and was playing with his ears that we weren't allowed to bring him on Thursday without a doctor's note. Again, we weren't allowed, despite the fact that we have to pay for that day. Never mind that we told them his ear doctor said his tubes are falling out, and that's why he was probably playing with his ears. Never mind that another teacher told us a kid hit his ear earlier in the day. Rather, because one ineffectual college dropout decided Sam's not fit for class, we had a choice: I waste an entire vacation day watching him at home, or I waste half a day and $20 taking him to his doctor so they can write a note saying what we already know; that he's fine, that it's his tube, and the day care teacher's a moron. I opted for the latter, and that's exactly what the resulting note said...minus the bit about the teacher being a moron.

Aside from being a ripoff, it's also insulting, as if we, Sam's parents, know less about or are less concerned about his health than are his day care teachers. Because of this, whenever my kids come home from school and complain that their teacher's an idiot, I'll be likely to side with my kids.

Awesome dream last night, though. Very random, so I can't recall all of it, but it started with me leaving Macworld Expo with my younger brother, Brett, who was asking if I was sad because it's over. I suggested not anymore than any other event that ends. Next thing, we're boarding an airplane, and I see our tickets aren't with each other. Mine is seat 111, his is something like 219. I'm upset, but then I see it's because I've been bumped up to first class. This is a gigantic plane with two floors, and the upper portion, first class, is as large as a movie theater. I ask the pilot why I'm in first class, and he says he occasionally likes to pick a coach flyer at random and bump him up. He then asks if I recognize the guy sitting in front of me. I say "No," so the pilot points to the guys golf shoes. Golf shoes on an airplane. I say, okay, so he's a professional golfer, but I still don't recognize him, of course.

Anyway, the plane takes off, I start the Lord's Prayer, which is what I always do when taking flights, and we land before I'm done. We landed at the same airport, only now it's Newark. The pilot asks if everyone would like to see the old terminal, and everyone excitedly gets off. I'm thinking this is very strange, but I do it, too. It looks basically like any terminal, except old (maybe like a school built in the 50s), huge, and a lot of it is on wheels; entire walls can be moved to replace the items for sale on them.

I suddenly realize I've been separated from the rest of my flight, and start to panic that I won't get back to the plane in time. I end up in a cafeteria where I'm waiting for some food, when a black guy comes in and makes fun of my hair, which causes a couple of high school girls to start laughing. I brush the comment off with a joke, because I really don't care, and then I start running to get back to my gate again, but realize I have no idea where it is. An announcement comes over the speaker: "Would passenger Kirk Hiner please check his messages?" I find this strange, but there's a text message on there from someone telling me the interview went well.

?

When I finally get back to what I think is my gate (my brother's there, anyway, along with one my Appletell writers), a group of Chinese businessmen sit me down and start talking to me. One guy's really close to my face, and I can't understand a word he's saying (he's speaking Mandarin or Cantonese), but I get that he wants me to look at his iPhone products. Suddenly, though, I'm in a hotel room (although it looks more like my childhood bedroom) with my brother-in-law, who points out that there was a problem with our plane, hence the emergency landing, and we're cancelled until tomorrow. I take a rose from my teeth and throw it in the trash, and we both laugh. Then I wake up.

Incomplete pass, on a confusing, confusing play.

Hiner's Ball: 2nd and 10 on my own 27.

January 21st - 0-0

Yep. Out of bounds.

The buyers weren't being difficult on purpose. We tried to cut a deal, but just couldn't make it work. They'd only been approved for $89,900 on the loan (damn credit crisis). They were covering the rest out-of-pocket, and couldn't come up to our price. Plus, they needed us to pay the closing costs and go over by a grand so they could pay for some other things. They felt our counter-counter offer would be stretching them too thin, and it would have, but we weren't willing to go lower, so there you have it. No buyers, house back on the market, and the game continues.

I'm not really upset though. Honestly, it feels good to be in a position where I can turn down an offer. Had we taken the offer at what they wanted, we'd've been selling at a $17,000 loss. Did you read that? Do it again. $17,000. Now, we know we're going to take a loss, but come on. If it takes us a year and a half to sell our house, we'll be better off not having sold now as long as we get our asking price.

Damn. This Obama fellow better bring change in a hurry.

Hiner's Ball: 1st and 10 on my own 27.

January 20th - 0-0

See, this is how it works.

First of all, the night after going to Chicago and holding one of the top-ranked offenses in the NHL to one goal, the Wild went home to Minnesota and allowed one of the worst-ranked offenses in the NHL five goals in a pretty embarrassing loss.

But on to what matters. We're currently asking for $109,900 for our old house. These people who made the offer came in at an absurdly low $93,000 + a new electrical box + $3,000 towards their closing costs. Crazy. Bat shit crazy. Coked up Lindsey Lohan crazy.



We countered at $104,000 + the box + $3,000 to closing + the inspections they want us to pay for. They turned that down at came back at $97,000. We told them to go to hell.

Now, it's still possible they'll realize that just because we really need to get rid of this house, that doesn't mean we're willing to bend over for anyone; we haven't heard back on our final offer of $102,000 with $2,000 towards closing or $103,000 with $3,000 towards closing. But it seems to me that these are people trying to take advantage of the bad economic times. Fair enough. That's America. But no. In a way, it feels good to not be desperate about this--to not allow ourselves to get screwed over. We're in charge, here, dammit. I mean, yeah, I really want to get rid of this albatross, but I'm not going to cut off my head to do so.

Life is challenging my punt return, claiming that the runner stepped out of bounds back at my 27.

January 19th - 0-0

Okay, this is the kind of day I started this blog for.

First off, nothing exciting at work. My wife got a hefty performance bonus, which is good, except that w were under the impression it would be three times what she actually got. See how life works? It gives me a heap of unexpected cash and still makes me feel like it somehow ripped me off.

Got home to discover a new Powerpuff Girls cartoon on the TV channel. I dig me some Powerpuff Girls. Very funny show. Witty. Stylized. It's what I want out of the cartoon programs. Apparently, this is the 10th anniversary of The Powerpuff Girls, so Cartoon Network ran a marathon and played one brand new episode. It was funny for all the same reasons it was 10 years ago, but it also felt like they were trying too hard. That's a good indicator that they probably quit making new episodes when they did.



Then, the Wild were on TV against the Blackhawks. They started out looking great and jumped to a 3-0 lead early in the second. The offense then fizzled out, and the defense ended up allowing a whopping 41 shots on goal. Thank God we've got All-Star goalie Niklas Backstrom back there, as he turned away 40 of those shots. The Wild added an empty net goal at the end, and we beat Chicago on their turf 4-1, which rarely happens to the Blackhawks. Nice. Good game to watch.

And somewhere amongst all of this we got an offer on our old house.

Now, I'm not going to get excited about this just yet. We've had an offer before, and it fell through. There's a lot that can go wrong between this point and handing over the keys. Plus, the offer is way, way low. If we accept it straight up, we'd be selling at a $15,000 loss, and that doesn't even include Realtor fees, closing costs, etc. Now, we're ready to absorb a loss, but certainly not that much, so it's a matter of negotiations and inspections. It's going to be an interesting week or two, but it's started off well.

Life punts, team Hiner gets a great return back to Life's 33. Life's punter saves the TD.

Hiner's Ball: 1st and 10 on Life's 33.

January 17th-18th - 0-0

I was right. The Wild got shut out by the Ducks, 3-0. So much for our newly discovered offensive juggernaut. We're on Versus on Monday against the Blackhawks. Another likely loss, but I'll watch nonetheless.

The weekend was otherwise okay, aside from the fact that the Steelers are going to the Super Bowl again. I think I'd rather be in a mid-air collision than see the Steelers ever win another Super Bowl, but considering they're playing the suck-wad Cardinals, I don't see how they can lose. Regardless, it's yet another Super Bowl in which I have absolutely no interest. I'm not going to watch a game just to hope someone loses, so I guess I'll just have to hear everyone talk about the commercials the next day. Honestly, I've only watched one Super Bowl in the past eight years. How's that for being a football fan?

Saturday, I broke a shovel while clearing the drive at the old house for a showing that day and an open house the next. Tieraney and I then dumped the kids on her parents and went out to eat for supper. That was cool. We had visions of seeing a movie, too, but there was not a single thing showing that interested us. Bad timing, I suppose. On Sunday, then, the family played in the snow while I shoveled the drive at the new house. They tried to make a snowman, but it ended up looking more like this:



Which I thought was really cool, and made me hungry for mashed potatoes, but Sophie destroyed it before we went back inside. Know what's fun to do with little kids, by the way? Push them down in the snow. With all those extra clothes on, they fall quite easily. Very funny.

Things were pretty uneventful beyond that, which is probably a good thing at this point.

Draw play gains four.

Life's Ball: 4th and 4 on my 45.

January 16th - 0-0

Again, very little of note today. My hockey team didn't play, but we'll likely lose to Anaheim tomorrow night. My teams tend to lose to teams I hate, but I guess that's why I hate them. Well, that and their godawful logos:



Granted that was a 3rd jersey for I think just one year, but serious...who designs that shit? Who approves it? Who wears it?

At work, I had a meeting with that client who was all yelling at me earlier in the week. Good meeting, really, in that he apologized on the phone before he came out, then again when he got to my office. Dude, whatever. I didn't need the apology. He was pissed. When you're pissed, you have to make some noise, and if I'm on the other end of it, so be it. Had I actually done anything wrong, I might've been upset. As is it were, I figured it was best to just let the guy get it off his chest.

End run chased down and pushed out of bounds after two yards.

Life's Ball: 3rd and 8 on my 49.

January 15th - 0-0

I haven't worked at Ohio Northern University since 1992, but the 15th of each month still feels like payday to me because that's when we got paid back there. And I think that's my fondest memory of ONU; they sometimes paid me.

By and large, a pretty good day yesterday. Left work early to get my car to the body shop for the repair estimate, so I was home before my family. Spent the time hooking up my Intellivision II and the Odyssey 2 my brother bought me for Christmas. Man, was that a crappy gaming system, but K.C.'s Crazy Chase is still kind of fun. Sophie played for a while, but she plays games like her mom; gets frustrated too easily and yells at the TV. I only do that during football and hockey, things I can't control, but it's not like my teams are ever on TV out in Ohio, anyway.



Regardless, I got to spend the evening with my family, and ate actual food. Then, the Wild beat the Oilers 5-1. In the last two games, our bottom ranked offense has scored 11 goals. Took us six games to do that before these last two, so I'll enjoy this outburst while it lasts.

Deep pass down the center is broken up.

Life's Ball: 2nd and 10 on their own 49.

January 14th - 0-0

Remind me...did I mention I'm now using an electric toothbrush?



Slightly off afternoon yesterday. First, news came over the wire that Steve Jobs is taking a six month leave of absence from Apple for health reasons. This doesn't affect me all that much personally, but being editor for Appletell.com, it needed coverage. So, in a flurry of activity, I wrote a couple articles and assigned many others. As I was finishing that up and getting ready to head home, one of my clients at Dynamics Online called. Through a complete and total lack of communication on both our parts, he was under the impression his site redesign was about to go live. I, on the other hand, was awaiting his approval to build the thing.

Oops.

I don't think I've ever had a client so pissed with our company, but this is where my lack of ability to feel human emotion can pay off. I remained calm through his shouting, and was able to get the project back on course. Dude was justified in getting upset, after all, so what else could I do other than take it then refocus the project? I think that's what I've been doing my whole life, anyway. I get over things faster than most people (give me two hours and I can get past just about anything) and I rarely take anything personally...even personal stuff...so what the hell? I'll take the blame. Detachment is my greatest personality trait.

Dump into the flats for three yards.

Life's Ball: 1st and 10 on their own 49.

January 13th - 0-0

The Wild won last night. I point that out because it makes me happy and because I really have nothing else to talk about. The long work days will do that to a blog, you know. Home just time to put the kids to bed again, Tieraney watched the hit reality based talent show American Idol, and I pulled up the hockey ticker on my computer.

The hockey game is notable because our offense sucks. One of the worst in the league. But last night we scored six goals, which is more than we've scored in the last four or five games combined. Six different players got the goals, the first of which came 46 seconds into the game. At one point, we had two shots on goal, and two goals. Nice. Sure be nice if our offense could keep something like that going.

But they won't. We were playing Phoenix, after all. Their logo looks like this...



...making them the first sports team in history to have selected a dead animal as their mascot.

We stuff a run up the middle.

Life's Ball: 3rd and 2 on their own 46.

January 12th - 0-0

Know what sucks about being back from San Francisco. Meal replacement bars. That's right; I replace my meals with bars, suckaz! I'm at the office until 7:00, so I eats me dinner there. No point in eating when I get home, because my family has already eaten. I'm not going to pack two meals each day, and I can't afford to eat out every day, so it's meal replacement bars for me. Currently, it's the Atkins Advantage Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar, washed down a grape Propel. Grape is the finest of all Propels, but I sometimes dig me some black cherry. It's all good, anyway, because there's a simple math equation I learned back in algebra II:



Anyway, you should read my article on Macworld Expo. It's funny. It mentions garlic and balls.

What happened yesterday? Hell, I can't even remember. Back to getting up at 4:45 a.m., at work by 6:30, home at 8:00 p.m., bed at 11:00. There's going to be a lot of that, so if you want to turn to a different game, now would be a good time.

Four yard run.

Life's Ball: 2nd and 1 on their own 47.

January 10th-11th - 0-0

Tieraney brought up an interesting point last night. We've now been in our new house for a year. We're happy here, we love the new place, but it took me back to a time of heavy anxiety...the type I hadn't felt since I was living with Enfreako in New York, worried that he'd bounce another rent check and I wouldn't be able to afford my apartment. It was harsh, as the dreaded cut-off date on our mortgage grace period loomed. We were still optimistic we'd get the old house sold, but in the back of my mind, I knew things never really work out for me that way. When I sit around and wait for something good to happen, to get my break, it never comes. When I take charge the of the situation to make things work, even if it's not the way I want it to, I get by. So, the two jobs, the 13 hour days, the Saturday mornings, all of which have kept my family fed and sent me to San Francisco.

The flight back was delayed an hour due to heavy snow in Cleveland. The flight was pretty good, but as we were descending, the clouds never seemed to break, and we were heading down forever. I know pilots don't actually need to see a runway to hit it, but when the clouds finally broke and the ground was right there, I found myself a little more nervous than normal.



But, the landing was smooth, and I was soon on my way home...only to find out that my hockey team lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Had I not been returning from San Francisco, I would've been at the game, and would've been very upset. This way, I was only mildly upset.

Didn't see the kids until the next morning, but that was good, even if they were more interested in their presents than in me. That's understandable, though. I'm more interested in presents than in myself. The day was fine, but the Pittsburgh Steelers, who I hate only slightly less than strokes and leukemia, beat the San Diego Chargers in the playoffs. God, I hate the Steelers. And their fans. Every single one of them.

So, a safe flight and seeing my family after a week away equals a QB sack for my defense. But a Steelers win and a Wild loss means we were offsides.

Life's Ball: 1st and 5 on their own 43.

January 9th - 0-0

Last day at the Expo. Kind of sad, really. Bill was gone early, so it was just me and Jake on the floor and writing articles. It's sort of like the last day at camp for a year, except that you don't actually know any of the other campers, and you had to spend the week writing about everyone, instead of actually canoeing or singing campfire songs or getting killed by serial killers in neat and innovative ways. What's worse, this may well be the last Macworld Expo. Apple's stated they wouldn't be attending any more, so the future is quite uncertain for the folks at IDG.

Jake's article on the Apple rumor has done quite well, and we got a lot done today, so volume is up where it should be. I left the show floor about half an hour before they shut it down, and stayed in the media room after that. I didn't want to see everything come apart. I'm not a sentimental guy, really, but I'm not a big fan of the end of things...unless said things suck.

And to top it off, I did eat far too much garlic the night before, and it was playing with my stomach all day. I never really felt sick, but there was activity in my stomach all day long; activity I'd never felt before, and hopefully never will again.

After the show, I had dinner with Maya Webb. She's a friend from my New York days who I haven't seen since January of 1998, I'm quite certain. She looked great, and it was fun to talk with her again, but quite short. I think we barely had more than an hour together.



Then, it was back to the hotel for a few more articles before the Internet died again, and packing. On one hand, I was sad to see the trip end. Nothing to look forward to for quite a while back home, and it's back to the reality of two mortgages and 6:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. workdays. On the other hand, it'll be great to see the family again. I just hope I'm somehow home in time to see Sophie and Sam before they're in bed, but I'm told there's big snow in Cleveland, so who knows if I'll even be able to land there.

Short punt. Life fielded it at their own 27, and returned it 11 yards.

Life's Ball: 1st and 10 on their own 38.

January 8th - 0-0

Bad start today. Woke up to an e-mail from my Appletell boss more or less stating he's disappointed in the volume of articles we've been putting out here at the Expo. Fair enough. Jake Gaecke and Bill Stiteler have been busting their butt for me, and I've been working pretty hard myself, but a terrible Internet connection at the hotel has been killing our ability to post at night after the parties, and I was getting nothing from my writers back home. That's my fault, of course...I'm editor, after all. So, I sent out a rather terse e-mail to the group, and immediately start getting some content. So, I spent the day writing and editing, and meeting up with companies where possible. The cool bit was that I met up with a developer I've known for quite some time, and he gave me some inside info on Apple's short term plans. That should lead to some nice pageview numbers.

Had dinner with the Appletell staff at The Stinking Rose..."A garlic restaurant," they call it. And yes, it really is a garlic restaurant. Good stuff. I ate more garlic (literally cloves of it) than any man should in one sitting, but it's not like I'm going to be back to such a restaurant anytime soon.



Appetizer!

Good dinner, decent afternoon at the Expo, but not enough to compensate for a poor evaluation and a Minnesota Wild loss to the Flyers. Handoff up the middle dropped for a two yard loss.

4th and 3 on my 45.

January 7th - 0-0

Another decent day at the expo, but the only real story was about the party afterwards. Normally, I hate parties that don't involve the exchange of keys or dressing up like your favorite member of Queen, but this one turned out to be alright. I'm not one to talk initiate conversations with people I don't know, but am happy to talk to people who approach me, especially if they're British.

So, up comes the PR guy for Elgato, talking to Jake, Bill and me. We're sharing some beers and talking about Wisconsin, when up comes a writer for MacUser, a magazine based in London. We ended up talking for about two hours, and just had a really good time. I discovered the British would hate me because I don't hate Duran Duran or Benny Hill, but I think I already knew that. The British are very interested in whether you're holding a beer, I've discovered, so I drank enough to find everything more amusing than it probably really was. Not drunk, mind you. I've never actually been drunk in my life (mostly true), but as close as I was willing to get in a city that Huey Lewis willingly hitchhiked too.



Afterwards, I hit the Virgin Megastore to see if they had the new Shonen Knife album. No such luck. But anyway, a good time just hanging out over a beer, which is what I always imagined beer is actually for, so it was fun.

Before the party, though, I forgot to call my family in time to speak to my kids. Felt bad about that. I miss them terribly. Tieraney, too, of course. I told her that there was a point when we were dating and had been apart for five days when I finally was able to call her. During that conversation was when I knew I was going to ask her to marry me. Speaking with her last night, I had the same feeling. Telling her this, she reminded me that we're already married, but asked if I was going to get her another engagement ring. A bigger one. Such a romantic, my wife.

Three yard run.

3rd and 1 on my 47.

January 6th - 0-0

So, I'm standing in line for keynote media access at Macworld Expo, and I got a text from my wife saying, "I lost your dog." I text her back for clarification, and am told to call her. I do. Yeah, she lost the dog when she put her on the chain to go outside. Slipped off, I guess, but it happened after Tieraney had gone back in side. So, who knows how long the dog has had free access to the world?

But, my diligent wife drove around with the kids before taking them to daycare in attempt to locate her. Sophie was crying, afraid she'd never see the dog again, but after fifteen minutes of searching finally yelled, "The dog's dead, mom! Just take me to daycare!" I have such a sensitive 5-year-old.

Thankfully, Tieraney didn't give up as easily as Sophie, and she eventually found Gelert who--although being a Siberian Husky and therefore having no loyalty to anyone at all--will not not pass up a ride in a car. So she climbed into the Matrix and Tieraney drove her back home, safe and sound.

Beyond that, the keynote was uneventful, but the expo has been good. Spent most of the day writing/editing for Appletell, then went to a private party at some club with lights under the floor and music I couldn't understand. I had my first Manhattan and my first gin an tonic, then went to Mel's Diner and had what was certainly not my first chicken soup, even though I'd ordered chili.



Oh, and my hockey team shut down the top offense in the league to get their second shutout win in a row, 1-0 over the Boston Bruins in Boston. It all adds up to a five yard run.

2nd and 4 on my 44.

January 5th - 0-0

A day late on this one, but you'll have that when you're on the other side of the country. Every play counts, though, so here's what happened while we were on commercial break. Or watching Heidi. Or whatever.

Uneventful flight out to San Francisco, which is always a good thing. I swear there were more babies on the plane then there were seats, though. The stewardess has to rearrange the seating a row up from me because there were three people with babies in the same section, and there apparently aren't enough oxygen masks for six. Especially considering I'm taking three for my own self. I need my oxygen, and if I need three masks to get the amount I want, I'm taking three masks...babies be damned.

But yeah, got into S.F. Checked into a very mod hotel with rooms that look like leftover sets from an Austin Powers movie. It's awesome. Went to a couple press parties and had some good wine, but passed up the opportunity to eat mashed potatoes out of a martini glass. San Francisco is weird that way. Want proof? Check out this building.



Anyway, a safe flight is always a first down. Eight yard pass.

1st and 10 on my 38.

January 3rd and 4th - 0-0

Now, my normal policy is to post on a day/weekend the following morning. Never can tell what will happen between bedtime and midnight; an airplane engine could fall on the house, my hockey team could win (like tonight!), or my wife could finally agree to dress up like a horny business executive and pretend I'm her naughty bellboy.

But tomorrow morning, I'll be at Cleveland Hopkins airport awaiting my flight out to San Francisco for Macworld Expo. I'll have my Macbook with me, but will more interested in playing Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and finally finishing My Custom Van by Michael Ian Black than I will be in telling you about my weekend.



So, with a little less than an hour to go before Sunday ends, I feel safe in figuring out the play. It was a pretty uneventful weekend, but it saw my second favorite football team (the San Diego Chargers) advance in the playoffs, and my hockey team earned one point against Detroit Saturday night (we were totally robbed...no way Detroit got that late goal) and we got a shutout win against Colorado tonight. Those two items slightly compensate for the trepidation I'm feeling about leaving my family for a week, so we'll say we started with a hand-off, gaining three yards off tackle.

2nd and 7 on my 30.

January 2nd - 0-0

See, before, this is where I would have quit. Absolutely nothing of note happened today. I guess one bonus is that...alright, first, I work these ridiculous hours. I'm paying two mortgages, you know, so my Dynamics Online hours (job #1) are generally 6:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on weekdays, then 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. But, today, I left early. 4:30 p.m. Just not much to do at the start of the new year, as I'd just finished a six month project by launching my first Miva Merchant e-commerce store. Check it out:

Diabetic Promotions

So anyway, home at a decent time, actual dinner instead of a meal replacement bar, then a good time with my wife making fun of those stupid "ghost hunter" shows. Tieraney's really funny sometimes. That's worth fielding the kickoff 2 yards deep in the end zone, and a 29 yard return.

1st and 10 on my own 27.



Most Haunted Women Who Used to Be in Human League

Oh, no posts on Sundays. It's my day of rest. I'll give the weekend play on Monday morning.

January 1st - 0-0

First, a brief introduction for those tuning in. Back in college, I kept a journal. I'm not a journal type of guy--my name's neither Seth nor Owen--but I am writer, so I kind of felt I should. All keeping a journal did was let me know how boring my life was. So, to make it interesting, I decided to turn the journal into a football game; me against life.

If something good happened one day, I made a decent play. If something bad happened, the other team made a decent play. It was all pretty simple, but never terribly interesting, and I can't even remember at this point who won or whether I ever finished it.

Now, around fifteen years later, I'm coming off what's arguably been the worst year of my life. Does life have it in for me? No. There's still plenty of good going on for me to be angry with the cosmos, but it did set me to thinking I certainly would've lost that football game had I still been doing it. Lost badly. Now, I want to see if 2009 will be any better. So, let's make it official.

January 1st was a decent enough day. I was still happy that my slumping hockey team (the Minnesota Wild) beat the best team in hockey (San Jose Sharks) the night before, and I started off the new year with some of the sweet, sweet lovin' with my wife. So, yeah, we won the kickoff, and we choose to receive.