no more bedhead

Nothing like waiting until the last moment, but here's the tournament update. Last weekend I went 7/8 in the first round, and 2/4 in the second. Southern Illinois lost in the first round, and I had them going to the final four, so that blew that. Otherwise I did ok. I picked UNC, but I really wanted Georgetown to win, so it kind of worked out there.

But anyway... here are my final four picks: OSU over Georgetown, Florida over UCLA. OSU over Florida in the final game. And not because I'm in Ohio. I'm actually more of a Michigan fan, but after being down by 20 a couple of rounds ago and coming back to win, I think they've got what it takes. We'll see.

Stewie (age 4) looked at Ellen today and said, "I need a dog...and a driver's license."

Then he changed his mind: "but the dog would probably eat the driver's license."

I hate voice recognition software when calling customer service numbers!!! I can't tell you how much I hate them. I had that experience today when I had to call FederalExpress. Half the time the stupid system didn't recognize my voice, so I ended up e-nunc-i-a-ting everything! And then when it didn't recognize it still, I raised my voice to borderline yelling! I can just imagine a sea of cubicles at an office and everyone on the phone with stupid voice recognitions software. You would look out over the office and hear a chorus of "YES", "NO", "FIND ANOTHER LOCATION", etc. And FedEx isn't the worst one I've experienced. That honor goes to Microsoft. Another on a long checklist I have of "why I hate Microsoft" (but that's another post).

Just tell me which damn button to press.

Man, what a weekend.

I figured it wasn't going to be that great when I missed the play-in game! Actually, the first round wasn't so bad, and even the second round on Saturday wasn't a total blowout. But then Sunday. I bet I wasn't the only one to have their brackets busted. Small comfort.

So for round one, I got 23 out of 32 right. (not including the play-in)
For round two, I got 8 out of 16.
Only 3 of my picks for round 2 lost in round 1. That's not too bad. I guess.

Anyhoo...
Here are the picks for the next two rounds:

Midwest Region

Florida
Oregon
Florida to Final Four

West Region

Southern Illinois
UCLA
Southern Illinois to Final Four

East Region

North Carolina
Georgetown
North Carolina to Final Four

South Region

Ohio State
Memphis
Ohio State to Final Four

There it is! Don't pick what I did, make some intelligent guesses!

I wish our refrigerator looked like this!

If you have a child who is getting just left home (for college or whatever reason), if you have a child who will someday leave home, if your child left a long time ago, or if you are a child getting ready to leave home yourself, read this. Don't skip the comments. And have a box of kleenex nearby.

RLP does it again.

While we were still rooting for Jeff King after Tom Roig scratched, you have to love Mackey's story. His father Dick (1978) and his brother Rick (1983) have both won the race. They each did it in their sixth attempt, wearing bib #13. This is Lance's sixth attempt, and you know what bib number he selected - 13. I guess it's a good luck charm!

Also, if you needed more reasons to root for this guy, he just completed the Yukon Quest dog sled race, the first person ever to win both races back to back. And he is a cancer survivor.
Read more about him here and here (with a nice video after the win).

I was up until almost the bitter end. I continued to refresh my feed from iditarod.com over the course of the evening, as I knew Lance was due in to Nome. At 12:05 (EDT) I refreshed one last time, he hadn't crossed the line yet, and I shut down and went to bed. He crossed the line at 12:08 (EDT). I missed him by this much!

It was another beautiful day here today - high of about 70. But, and you knew there was going to be a but, some reports are calling for snow by Friday. Can't win for losin'.

Talked to my sister today. It was nice, but too brief. The kids capitalized on the phone time. I don't talk to my siblings as much as I would like to. We live too far apart to get together, and it always seems like phone calls get shunted off for some reason. Mom calls about once every week or two, so we usually keep in touch through her. The upside is that we can do some serious "catching up" when we all get together in the summer.

I told her (my sister that would be) that she should check out this blog, so I'd better post something nice about her. Hmmm... Hmmm... Nope, I got nuthin'. (just kidding, sis, you know I love you) Actually, she is one of the most creative people I know, and has a quirky side that helps me to look at things from a different point of view. Have her tell you the story of the quest for the Three Mile Island Coolant Tower Mug some time!

On another topic, my youngest daughter has discovered the joys of Mr. Potato Head. However, she is not of the age when she can put the pieces back in the container without prompting. And she has a tendency to scatter them throughout the house. It is a little disconcerting to walk into the dining room and find an arm lying in my path. Or to sit on the couch and discover a pair of lips and a mustache. Although, I guess the little plastic pieces are better than the real thing! Ah the joys of parenthood!

It was a beautiful day yesterday. Temps in the mid to upper 50's (just like they predicted, yay!) So, we went to the park. Of course, I took my camera in case anything caught my eye. About halfway down the walking path was this cool tree stump.

I liked the texture in this. The smoothness juxtaposed with the roughness (and the calming water in the background). The smooth parts reminded me of the slot canyons in Utah.

Anyway, it was a great day, we all had a blast!! Even if at least one kid came home with goose poop on his shoes!

Well, it's that time of year again! The NCAA Basketball Tournament! Usually by this point in the year I've watched at least a game or two, and I always watch as we get into rivalry week and championship week.

Not this year. I haven't watched a single game all year. Not even part of a game. Not even a SportsCenter highlight.

Of course, I feel that makes me qualified to tell you who is going to win the tournament.

Play-In Game: Florida A&M

Midwest Region:

1 Florida
8 Arizona
Arizona moves on

5 Butler
4 Maryland
Maryland moves on

6 Notre Dame
3 Oregon
Oregon moves on

10 Georgia Tech
2 Wisconsin
Wisconsin moves on

West Region:

1 Kansas
9 Villanova
Kansas moves on

5 Virginia Tech
4 Southern Illinois
Southern Illinois moves on

6 Duke
3 Pittsburgh
Duke moves on

10 Gonzaga
2 UCLA
UCLA moves on

East Region:

1 North Carolina
8 Marquette
UNC moves on

5 USC
4 Texas
Texas moves on

11 George Washington
3 Washington State
George Washington moves on

7 Boston College
2 Georgetown
Georgetown moves on

South Region:

1 Ohio State
9 Xavier
OSU moves on

5 Tennessee
4 Virginia
Virginia moves on

6 Louisville
3 Texas A&M
Louisville moves on

10 Creighton
2 Memphis
Memphis moves on


And there you have rounds 1 and 2. I'll be very surprised if any of the tournament plays out the way I have predicted. So, remember - this is for entertainment purposes only - no wagering!

John Inman, who played Mr. Humphries on the BBC TV show "Are You Being Served?" has died at age 71.

The character was the very over-the-top clerk in the menswear department of a department store. The show ran from 1975-1985 and his character was the target of many gay groups for being too over-the-top, and therefore a negative stereotype. The response was that the character was neither gay nor straight, but "just a mother's boy", and over the course of time Mr. Humphries became an icon in the gay community.

One of the reasons that I really enjoyed the show, and Mr. Humphries in particular, was because of the "over-the-top"-ness of the character. (That and the sophomoric, innuendo-laced humor!) Of course, I've known a few people that I would consider to be "over-the-top", both gay and straight. It's the attitude, not the orientation, that matters.

Rest well, Mr. Humphries, it's closing time.

Tom Roig, from Ohio, is running his first Iditarod dog sled race. This is unusual, because Ohio isn't known as a hotbed of dog sled racing. (As a matter of fact, he had to train for the race in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.) There aren't too many American mushers who run this race from outside Alaska and Montana so, to me, an Ohioan is a big deal. At my house, we've been monitoring his progress and rooting him on this week.

Yesterday morning he withdrew from the race. He cited a broken sled, and the welfare of his team, in his decision to scratch. He made it to Rainy Pass, the fourth checkpoint after the restart. Hopefully, this will just fuel his desire to run it again, and we can root for him next year. I guess we'll shift our allegiances to Jeff King, the defending (and 4-time) champion. Although we usually root for the underdog - maybe we can find a new one.

Nice run, Tom! Better luck next year.

I woke up this morning to a little over an inch of snow on the ground. And it was about 12 degrees outside.

Even though it wasn't a particularly bad winter, I'm ready for spring. And I didn't want to see snow this morning.

Not that I have anything against snow, per se. It's great to have snow falling if you can sit in a log cabin in front of a roaring fire, a mug full of (well-spiked) hot chocolate on the table next to you, your wife (girlfriend, partner) at your side, and your shepherd/husky at your feet.

It's also great to have snow on the ground when you wake up on Christmas morning, and it can even continue to snow all day. It's beautiful. But it better be gone when I get up on the 26th!!

The good news is it is mostly gone by tonight, and it is supposed to be 50 degrees by the weekend.

Well, I did it. I finally signed up for a blog.

I don't know what I'm going to say, or why I am really doing this. Ostensibly I want to experience template design for the blogosphere. And I suppose that is a big part of it. I also like the idea of having a place where my extended family can keep up to date on what is going on in my life. Whenever I talk with them and they ask what's new, I tell them "nothing". Now I can say, "Didn't you look at my blog?" (Only kidding, mom)

Seriously, we'll see how it develops. Thanks for tuning in.