The latest dish..on the dish

So today was the scheduled install of my Dish Network Satellite. I finally made the plunge after making many phone calls, working out deals, and becoming pretty sick of going through all of it. Today the scheduled install was between 1-5 PM. They showed up at 6:30 for what I found out would be a 3 hour install. No thanks. Also I was supposed to be getting one of the new Dual LNB HD dishes so I would only need 1 as opposed to 2. Turns out that wasn't the case. On the plus side, the installer was American, and he thought he knew my brother from playing basketball at UTEP.

I rescheduled my install for Wednesday between 9-12, but after my call to Comcast, I believe I will be staying with the Big Guys after all. Bottom line is I was switching for savings, and once I went to the customer cancel line I was given an offer that worked for me without the headache. My once $80.00 cable bill now goes to $99.00, but I now have Cable, Phone, and Cable internet for that price, and they are even kind enough to throw in the HD DVR for free. I'll take it. I improve my Internet speed, get a DVR, and drop my $141 bill to $99. Mission accomplished..at least for this year. They only guarantee it for one year, so the headache will probably resurface next February. Good Times.

What a game last night! It was great to see the Patriots lose, especially with Seau, Moss, and yes even Donte Stallworth aboard. Oh yeah, I forgot how annoyed I was with Wes Welker last night. One thing's for sure, the Pats should have franchised Vinatieri, they can't win the big one without him. Aren't the Patriots becoming much like the Yankees lately?? They sign all these big name free agents, only to forget there were reasons these guys (Seau, Moss) never won. Whether it's coincidence or just plain bad luck, you have to wonder why it is that way.

6 Months Between Posts..Catching Up

Wow!! that sure is a bit excessive. Fact of the matter is I don't have as much free time as i used to, but I would like to get back to this at least with a weekly post. Since July of 07' obviously a lot has happened. Hannah is 7 months now, Avery is almost 3, and going to Pre School, and I have been at my "new" job long enough to be eligible for vacation.

The newest change is my new vehicle. I am now leasing a 2008 Ford Edge, Sync included. I picked it up on January 16th, and filled up for the 1st time today. It took only 2 days after the expected shipping date and with the holiday layoffs, I was thrilled with that. I love it. The ride, the look, the maneuverability and of course how awesome is the SYNC?? No more fumbling for my phone when I drive, and over 6000 songs available at my disposal with simply a voice command, or from one of the 6 MP3 CD's in the 6 disc MP3 changer. Amazing technology and it works surprisingly well.

Hannah now says her 1st word! She says "Da Da." Although I don't think she really knows what she is saying, it's amazing to hear 1st words from your kids. So precious. She really is the perfect baby. Always happy and content, and sleeps wonderfully. Truly a blessing since Avery is and probably always will be, a handful. Avery is doing great and is really becoming a little sweetheart. She is very strong willed, but can be the sweetest little girl when she wants to be. Everyone is doing really well.

On the job front..well it is going good. Now that I am set with a 8-4 shift, things are going extremely well. It is no longer a struggle physically, and it is always nice once you are not the new guy anymore. I like pretty much everyone I work with too, so the switch has been a success.

Wow it is just crazy it has been this long since I have posted..if anyone still reads this then Welcome Back! I'm going to make a real effort to keep this updated...now that we have the girls on a consistent schedule, I should be able to do this without too much of a problem.

I guess that's it for now. I will make a Super Bowl prediction. Patriots will win (out on a limb here) 34-23. 11 points probably won't cover the line, but my feeling is the Pats always seem to play these games tight. All of their wins have been competitive games so I'd probably bet with the points (I believe the line is 14) if I were to bet on this one. For what it's worth after a perfect post season record last year, this year I was a mere 6-4 this year. Not so hot.

A lot to get to

NBA Takes: 1st off Kobe Bryant is the most selfish person in the NBA and it isn't even close. He demands a trade because the Lakers aren't winning titles? He put himself in this situation when #1 he resigned there, and #2 basically ran Shaq out of town. Then the guy has the wherewithal to mention that he "needs to be somewhere where he can win a title." Um, least I checked this arrogant SOB has 3 already!! I like this guy less and less everyday, and mostly because of his off court stuff he does. I hope he doesn't get traded and stays miserable in LA. What a horrible situation he is in there...does that guy have any sense of reality? Probably not. They aren't going to get Garnet, and even if they did I would sort of rather have Odom anyway for that team.

The draft was no real surprise. I like that the Celtics went and got Ray Allen although it will kill them down the road, who cares at this point..you see Paul Pierce doesn't have any titles, yet doesn't cry like a baby like some people. The China guy the Bucks picked seems like a wasted pick. The Chinese government most likely won't let him play in Milwaukee..I guess most of them have never been there I am sure.

Grant Hill signed with the Suns, effectively ending his career. (See Jalen Rose) I suspect he will be doing insider stuff for ESPN News by 2009. At least that will get rid of Dee Brown though.

Other News: The 4th of July was uneventful. A cookout at my parents was decent, but nothing to get super excited about. The rain made it a bust for the fireworks.

Hannah is a good girl. She is very mellow compared to Avery, and is starting to get herself straightened out with the days and nights. I however, am still adjusting.

Random Thoughts: I got Chinese food on Friday night from Jumbo near Westgate. My fortune cookie read: "Don't let yourself get to consumed by life to not enjoy the little important things." Nice advice..but where is the fortune?? We opened 4 of them and they all had advice on them. I would like them to officially change these to be called "Advice Cookies". The next time I go, I am in fact going to ask them if I can have actual fortune cookies. What BS...I mean they don't even taste that good, you just want the stupid fortune!!

Barry Bonds is close..yay!! Just a few more Barry!! And I don't fault the guy at all for not doing the homerun derby. He's already won that thing..what's the point now? Kobe anyone?? I respect Bonds for simply not giving a damn what people think about him, that's admirable.

I can't think of a worse time for television shows then this summer...they are pretty much all pathetic, and it got even worse tonight when I watched the Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament on ESPN 2. 50,000 grand prize?!?

I'm glad the Chinese dude lost the hot dog eating contest. The dude vomited, sorry you should lose automatically. And the fact that he tried to then eat the vomit should have cost him more then just 3 hot dogs..nasty.

I hope Federer get's rocked again my Nadal tomorrow.

Venus Williams won Wimbledon. What a drag, I thought we were finally done with these sisters. What happened to Sharapova?? Venus is 10 times more annoying then Serena, which makes it worse.

Is Aerosmith the greatest band of all time? Can you really disprove that statement? I think they have to be considered the best. Maybe the Beatles, but I don't know...I mean it isn't their fault that a lot of them were killed, but Aerosmith has more staying power. I say this because someone at work tried to tell me that the Doors were the greatest band of all time and Led Zeppelin was second. Stop it, please.

Avery Lizzie (Mcguire) Meets Hannah (Montana)

Well, yesterday we had our second child, Hannah Grace. She weighed in at 7 lbs, 9 oz, and measures 19.5 inches. After a long day at the hospital on Monday, today, Tuesday, I brought Avery in to meet her baby sister. It went pretty much as expected..she was excited to see her, but after a few minutes was on to something else. Pretty much what you would expect from a 2 year old. Hannah so far has been an excellent baby. Very content, and likes to be held. The complete opposite of Avery when she was born. Avery was brought down to us the 1st morning after we had her because she was waking up all the babies in the nursery..Hannah slept 5 hours straight her 1st night! A great start for our palindrome daughter. It has been tough this time because I can't spend all my time at the hospital with Laura and the baby since we have Avery at home. Laura is doing well after the surgery though, and we hope to have her come home on Thursday.

What a strange feeling to have 2 children now. You sometimes think (At least I did) it is impossible to love anyone as much as your 1st child...but amazingly you do! The following weeks and months should be interesting once everyone is together to coincide. Nonetheless our family is complete, and what a wonderful, blessed feeling it is to be able to have 2 healthy children.

Here are some pics from the past few days:

Rocky Balboa, Interleague, and the Finals

Well, I finally saw Rocky 6. If you are a fan of the Rocky films,( and really how can't you be?) then you will enjoy the final chapter of the story. It is surely better then Rocky5, although there are not nearly the quality of quotes in 6 vs 5. I thoroughly enjoyed the film, and feel like there is closure to the story. One more chance to relive the Balboa music, training montages, and watching the eye of the tiger one more time was really great. A must see for Balboa fans.

When interleague started, I loved it, and couldn't think of any reason why people would be against it. Now a few years into it, I don't like it anymore. It doesn't make any sense..trying to stir up rivalries from previous world series? Sure the occasional Subway series is entertaining..but every year? It just takes away from it all if you ask me.

Quickly on the Finals...BORING. What a shocker with another Spurs Finals. Not even LeBron can spice this one up. Is anyone enjoying these 1st 2 games?

Getting Old...it sucks

Today was a perfect example of the deterioration of the human body as we get older. At work today a squirrel got into the electric transformer thus shutting down all power at Gerhardt USA. The squirrel can rest peacefully knowing that he provided the employees 3 hours of pure recreation as the plant was pretty much useless without power. This should have been a good thing right? 3 hours of doing nothing but getting paid for it? Well, not so much. After the 1st hour the novelty was gone, and I realized that this was going to be more of a hassle for me then anything when they did turn the power back on..but that's not the real news. The real news is what happened during the down time. I went out front to take another look at the fried squirrel (It really was impressive), and saw a couple guys throwing the football around outside. I know 2 of them, so I figured this would be a good chance to get to know some other people from the shop. Without really warming up that much (myself that is) We were throwing deep, and it started to get to the point where it was let's see who can throw this thing the furthest. On a side note there was a guy there his name is Brad, and he was saying how he was hating the fact that he was turning 30 in a few weeks, and that he couldn't believe how much trouble he was having catching and throwing the ball since he hadn't done it in a while. I mentioned to him that I just turned 30 this past year, and it does suck, and that "you can get hurt doing the stupidest little things now." What foreshadowing. I went for the long toss, really reared back to try and unload, and what happened? I heard a pop in my lower back, and realized I pulled one of those muscles back there or something. What an idiot. I didn't let on that I hurt myself, but I was, and am in a bit of pain right now. Lucky for me when they turned the power on in a bit I was swamped with work, including several heavy dies, and 3 truck shipments I had to unload. "Real Nice." I can't wait to play in this golf tournament Saturday with this ailment..should be a blast. Could there possibly be a worse injury for golf then this? Bottom line? Getting Old Sucks.

Random thoughts while alone for 8 hours...

• Wow, I'm glad Jordin won. She will be a great idol representative. Besides, Blake already got to sing with Sir Mix A Lot! What's better then beat boxing with Swap Meet Louie himself?

• So much talk about the gas prices which are soon to eclipse the 3.00 a gallon mark. Yet no talk of the president being a billionaire Oil Tycoon? Things that make you go hmmm.

• Someone needs to bring back the player manager, better yet, someone needs to un retire after they have been elected into the hall of fame.

• The Nationals are 10-4 in their last 14 games. Wow

• The Portland Trailblazers get the 1st pick and will select Odom from OSU. Suddenly they will have a dominant inside presence with Lamarcus Aldridge already developing.
  

• I really, really don't want a Spurs/Pistons series.

• Brett Myers is hurt...good.

• How is it possible I haven't seen Rocky Balboa yet?