jaybird2001wi

Semi-Brewer related, but how is this for an unusual site? Jenks in red? http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z317/jaybird2422/capt_3ce7c0d7c8af40c4b2910bb816530a.jpg

TLB, I was thinking of the same thing about Reik as well. It is like she doesn't even know why she is being pictured. Another thing, in my opinion, what guys in their right mind would even give them a single? It's a non-alcoholic club and yet these people found jobs? There are some things that will always be a mystery to me. By the way, anyone notice FIVE Milwaukee women are involved with this thing total? Apparently Janesville and Darien are the "minor leagues" of those type of clubs, if you know what I mean.

This article is a bit more detailed, but for those who have children looking over your shoulder... wait until they are not. Anyway, in my experiences, Janesville seems to have some rough spots. It isn't ghetto, but I have seen some trash in Janesville when I drove there for errands when I lived in Whitewater. Janesville is near the I-90, I-39 truck spot, so that may be one of the reasons. Janesville reminds me of Racine, except replace the ghetto with the so-called trashy people. By the way, at the end of this article, take a look at "Chelsea Lilly's" mugshot, she is near tears. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/laugh.gif I had to work in Janesville a few times back when I was a stringer for the Beloit Daily News and covered a few Janesville Parker-Beloit Memorial basketball games and also a Beloit Memorial High-Janesville Craig game at Monterrey Stadium near Rockport Rd. I thought I was going to get killed in downtown Janesville trying to find the place. After the game, I got lost and ended up circling the Janesville Hospital for a half hour trying to figure my way out of the area and only found a bar nearby to get directions to Beloit.

The confusing thing about that picture is when on Earth did they ever sell Ruben Patterson jerseys and why? He was only a Buck for a year.

Charlie Bell is a rich man's Rafer Alston with less of an attitude. I'd rather have Alston without the attitude than Bell any day of the week. We have too many "shoot-first" players who simply can't shoot and can't play a lick of defense. But anyway, this team was in trouble from the get-go. Ever since they traded for Gary Payton a few years ago, the Bucks began its decline. The team continues to sign players who are only shooters as I said above without even taking into consideration the defensive aspect. Villanueva and Bogut are the teams only quality rebounders and I just simply hate this team so much. I will always be a Bucks fan by default since I am an "all-Milwaukee fan" except for college sports (I like Notre Dame football, only out of state team I like and even they are a sad state right now). But there is nothjing to like about this team, no one knows what they are doing on the court as I have firmly stated countless times before and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this team is just plain boring. What irks me the most is why and how did it take Herb Kohl this long to figure this out? No one even cares about this team anymore, it is almost like the burning question: "If a tree falls in the forest and no one's around to here it, does it make a sound?" The same principle can be applied here about the fans, "If the Bucks leave Milwaukee causing the Bradley Center to be vacant, would anyone even know?" Bill Simmons for GM! The reason Kohl has held onto this team for so long is the constant fear the team will move once he sells to an outside investment type guy. But the good news is that since the Seattle SuperSonics are almost in Oklahoma City now, if a new owner were to arrive, they will lose that bargaining leverage. But why on Earth is a politician who once owned a chain of grocery stores and continues to receive no contests in every U.S. Senate election since he got elected so stubborn to not allow the GM power to make trades to at least help this team. According to WTMJ, this was in the works since last June when Kohl declined to offer Harris a new contract. Kohl knew this team wasn't going anywhere by January, so he just decided to allow the team to tank games for a lottery pick and made Harris out to be the scapegoat. So hopefully, Kohl will sense the urgency when selecting a new GM and give the new GM the keys and allow him to be totally in the driver's seat.

For anyone who have been students at UW-Whitewater that liked to frequent "gentlemens clubs" or people from Janesville, an under 21 club called Screamin' Mee Mees was raided by Janesville Police following reports of "improper payments" by male patrons. What a shock! It wouldn't surprise me if all of the clubs in Milwaukee have done the same thing. I know On the Border seems to be that kind of place since it is so close to "seedy motels" and nothing much surrounds the place. From what I have heard from friends, the dancers sometimes have the tendency to allow too much to happen in the back rooms. Not to mention that the closest club to the South of On Border in Illinois was recently shut down a few months ago and have heard those dancers have made the trek to On the Border now. Mods, if this topic seems too inappropriate, feel free to lock it. But I have always been skeptical of these club dealings. But back in my early post-college days (22-23 years old, couple years back), I used to hit up the clubs in the tri-county area quite a few times. I can honestly tell you that I have seen some bad things being done. Only club that seems to have a tight lid in regards to security was "Silk" while On the Border staff sometimes either turn their head or don't pay well enough attention to what really happens. I actually complained to security over the conduct of one the dancers and got my money back.

With my annual physical coming up within the next month or so, I have been trying to get some answer from my doctor for the past couple years as to why I have been having some brain troubles. I have a rare hearing condition that either lacks fluid in the ear portion of the head, which is the reason I only have a 20 percent hearing capacity and poor coordination due to a problematic equillibrium state in my head. I know it isn't a brain condition because, courtesy of my work, I got two free cat scans as part of a workmans compensation deal in the emergency room following two workplace incidents (a resident physically attacked me as I work at a group home...etc.) and the doctors in the ER said my cat scans have looked good. All my doctor gave me is Rhincort nasal spray to use thinking that was the problem. But that doesn't work and now I find myself having to drink two Energy Drinks in the morning just to feel functional throughout the day because without it, I feel like my brain just "shortens out." My boss thought I may have had "treacher-collins" but I have done research on it and I know I don't have it. Aside from all of this, I have tinitus (which I mentioned before) where I get constant ringing in the head once or twice a week. I have thought about asking my Doctor for a referral to a neurologist to figure out exactly what is wrong. Anyone know what the deal is with me? And I am starting to become impatient with my Doctor because he doesn't really answer my questions and it seems like I am just a product on the conveyer belt whenever I go in for an appointment where he just comes in for five-ten minutes, says hello and that is it. This is what my insurance company pays for?

Does anyone, like me, work third shifts? I am just wondering how you folks who work third shift deal with ever changing sleeping patterns throughout the week to have a semblance of a functional life. I have worked third shift for more than three years now between two jobs (the first was an odd job in Whitewater where I was a demolition man at the WalMart store during their remodeling phase) and I find it hard to have a stable appetite and now I find myself eating six or seven small meals instead of 3 meals some days and then other days where I anticipate having to sleep longer, I find myself eating a huge 1000-1500 calorie meal in one sitting and then a smaller meal later on.

Latest news indicates one of two suspects is also charged in another murder which happened in January this year. What is weird is that the other murder is of a 28-year-old Duke University graduate student from India, which completely makes both murders totally random. I am totally at a loss as to why this man had total reckless disregard for human life to take away two promising people in society in Eve Carson and Abhijit Mahato? If the two men were to find themselves on the UNC campus at this point in time, I would certainly bet they would get an old fashioned stoning by Tarheel students. The total effect of the loss of Carson completely shows these two men did not care at all about society and they completely had disregard for the future contributions Carson may have provided society as a Doctor. In the near future, if these men have relatives in need of medical care, they would not have Carson helping their relatives with much needed care. What is more bizarre is that both shootings (in addition to Lauren Burk of Auburn) have suspects who may be tied to other murders in the Southeastern Region of the United States. It is getting more and more similar by the day. The Auburn suspect oddly enough had murder ties to the Georgia region where both grew up as children and high school students.

I am not sure if this could fall under the designated lineup thread, but given the status of this years' team and the great debate of where to bat Prince and Braun in the lineup, here are my thoughts. My line of thinking believes Fielder would be better served as our No. 3 hitter due to Braun's more diverse offensive arsenal (he has speed). If Braun were to bat third with Fielder fourth, Braun's base stealing potential greatly diminishes because Fielder is a home run hitter and will not see as many pitches. And when someone is a base stealer, the following batter must take a strike in order to allow the base runner to take second or third, which greatly reduces Fielder's chances of hitting a home run. However, if Braun does bat third and gets on base, there is a better chance of Fielder seeing fastballs because pitchers and catchers want every chance they can get to pick off Braun, etc. Braun could apply greater pressure to pitchers with more pitchouts, etc. further possibly increasing Fielder's walk totals. Despite all of this, I think the general concensus is that teams with this situation would rather have a guy who has a more diverse offensive arsenal such as Braun, would have him bat fourth because he will essentially protect himself in the lineup through his baserunning skills. If a player like Corey Hart were to bat behind Braun, fifth, these are two hitters that can help themselves when they get on base. What are your theories on this subject? Would a team be better served having a higher OBP guy bat third or fourth? The argument would be double-sided given a proper perspective, some people prefer a higher OBP guy bat third to assure the inning to be continued if the third hitter were to be in the batters box with two out. But then again, a person with a higher OBP as the fourth hitter, could be much more valuable the following inning because they will essentially be the leadoff man in the second inning if there was a 1-2-3 inning in the first. And in my opinion, Fielder needs more protection than Braun in the batting order because Fielder is more of a one-tool hitter (home runs) than Braun, who can hit doubles and does have solid all around speed. But the one setback to Braun is he needs to walk more. With this in mind, he could, in theory, be a better fourth hitter because Corey Hart will likely bat behind him and it will likely be a "pick your poison" type of situation for opposing pitchers. Maybe I am thinking too much of this, but is there any stat out there that proves or disproves of these theories? But would teams be better served having a guy with more offensive tools bat third and a person with less offensive tools bat fourth? Or vice versa?

Keep in mind, the reason I didn't include Lohse to the SP is that he didn't pitch in 1996. I was only doing it based on the 1996 season and essentially trying to do a retrospective as to how far they have gone since then. But if you factor in everyone left as free agents, you can create an entire roster. But the irony of my comparisons is that four of them I included are/were suspected of using PEDs with two being included in the Mitchell Report. The other two are Sosa and Perez (Neifi was suspended for using greenies).

I am looking at available free agents and the names that are available stand out to me and makes me think that if this were 1996, the players available could form a very good team or perhaps a World Series-caliber team with the players available. Here is what amazes me the most, I will put together a roster of the players available (those who had an at-bat in 1996, Middle infielder FAs are very short now) and their stats from 1996: C) Mike Piazza - .336 BA, .422 OBP, 36 HR, 105 RBI (w/Dodgers, 27 years old, now 39) 1B) Julio Franco - .322 BA, .407 OBP, 14 HR, 76 RBI (w/Indians, 37 years old, now 49) 2B) Tony Graffanino - Rookie Year in 1996 (24 years old w/Braves, now 35) SS) Neifi Perez - Rookie Year in 1996 (23 years old w/Rockies, now 34) 3B) Jeff Cirillo - .325 BA, .391 OBP, 15 HR, 46 2B, 5 3B, 83 RBI (w/Brewers, 26 years old, now 38) LF) Barry Bonds - .308 BA, .461 OBP, 42 HR, 129 RBI, 40 SB, 151 BB (w/Giants, 31 years old, now 43) CF) Kenny Lofton - .317 BA, .372 OBP, 14 HR, , 35 2B, 75 SB, 132 R (w/Indians, 29 years old, now 40) RF) Sammy Sosa - .273 BA, .323 OBP, 40 HR, 100 RBI (w/Cubs, 27 years old, now 39) SP) Roger Clemens - 3.63 ERA, 10-13, 1.32 WHIP, 257:106 K/BB (w/last season as Red Sox, 33 years old, now 45) SP) David Wells - 5.14 ERA, 11-14, 1.32 WHIP, 130:51 K/BB (w/Orioles, 33 years old, now 44; 1995 All-Star with Tigers) SP) Aaron Sele - 5.32 ERA, 7-11, 1.64 WHIP, 137:67 K/BB (w/Red Sox, 26 years old, now 38) RP) Jose Mesa - 3.73 ERA, 39 Saves, 1.34 WHIP (w/Indians, 30 years old, now 42) RP) Bob Wickman - 4.42 ERA, 7-1, 1.56 WHIP (w/Yanks and Brewers (traded w/ G. Williams remember that?), 27 years old, now 39) Key reserves: Ryan Klesko (36 years old), Orlando Palmeiro (39 years old), Reggie Sanders (36 years old) Aside from all of this, does anyone believe any of these players have an at bat or pitch left in them? I would immediately eliminate Bonds and Clemens by default, maybe Sosa too. But it is amazing that I could "almost" put together a decent team of veterans with what is left out there. I would anticipate Lofton may be forced into retirement, he basically "ran out" of offers early on when teams began signing others (Jenkins to Philly, Cameron to Brewers, Luis Gonzalez to Marlins, etc.) I also heard Steve Finley is trying to stick with a Major League club and was at the winter meetings. Piazza is a sad story in and of itself, but at the stage he is in now, it was inevitable. He stuck with catching for so long and was too stubborn to switch to 1B when everyone knew his knees were beginning to fail and everyone knew he did not have the ability to call a quality game. Franco will probably try to find some type of playing employment, whether its a minor league deal or indy league team. But since he said he wanted to play until he was 50 and is now 49, I would anticipate he will hang them up.

I am a news junkie and seriously spend my downtime watching CNN and FoxNews (I usually turn the channel when they are discussing the elections at this point because it is getting old to me). This may be old news, but the investigations into one of the two are still ongoing. These two murders are by the far the most senseless acts of violence I have seen in a long time. A North Carolina Student Body President, Eve Carson, was found killed "execution style" a mile or two away from campus and her SUV stolen and ATM stolen. By the accounts stated by her family, she was a "bright and smart girl" who wanted to become a doctor and seemed to be loved by all on the Chapel Hill campus, and it even affected the men's basketball teams of UNC and even the rival Duke Blue Devils in their recent rival game, which speaks dividends about this woman's character. Roy Williams, coach of the Tarheels had the most profound statement about her: "It has an effect; we have a couple of the guys who knew the young lady,'' Williams said, declining to identify the players. "Any time you're talking about a college community, you're talking about a small group, a small family, a small village ... and when somebody breaks into your home - and some of you may have had that happen - you feel sort of violated, that sort of thing. And when something like that happens on your community, it does hit you." "It said she loves the quad in the spring and the arboretum in the fall and I love Roy all the time. I mean, you're talking about a young person," he said. "And we as old people, we're supposed to die before our children, not have our children die before us. And I can't imagine what that young lady's family is feeling and thinking." Even Mike Krzyzewski of Duke, the long-time and legendary coach, to paraphrase what he said, stated that "I have three daughters of my own and the worst news a parent can have is this news. I would be in mental shambles right now if I was her father." One of the best basketball players in the nation, who plays for North Carolina, Tyler Hansbrough, had something to say: "She was very popular," said center Tyler Hansbrough. "She touched a lot of people." Here is the most up-to-date article on Carson: Police seek second 'person of interest' in UNC death In Auburn, 18-year-old freshman Lauren Burk, was gunned down by a " 23-year-old Iraqi war veteran" according to some reports. Burk and Carson were from the same region of Georgia, which is extremely weird and eery to me. In addition, new information is coming out about possible other suspicious murders the alleged suspect may be involved with in Georgia. The mother of the suspect sent out a heartful apology to Burk's family, but it just seems too late for that. What is very weird about both cases is that they seem so similar in M.O. and the locations from which both victims are from seem far to coincidental. Why on Earth did these two senseless acts of violence occur? Both of the crimes were basically robberies "gone bad" or maybe overkill on planned robberies. Now there is another case of violence against a college-aged female in Arkansas. It makes me wonder how the investigation into former UW-Whitewater student Kelly Nolan is going in Dane County. Anyone know of any new information up there?

Another cool thing about Braun is that he will eventually be teaming up with his former college rival, Matt LaPorta, whom played for Florida and against Braun a few times in his college career. I think once LaPorta comes in, it will push Braun even harder to succeed and vice versa. It could become a scary 3-4-5 in the order once LaPorta comes up. But Braun is something the Brewers haven't had in awhile, a guy who knows he can be better, a guy who true confidence in himself and someone other teams pitchers will grow to truly hate as a player and person. I can see somewhere down the road where Braun may get beaned after his post-homer antics, which could turn into a real team builder, or maybe not depending on how Yost "picks the battle." Here are some of the things we need to fear, some according to my fellow posters: 1) Carries around a mirror telling himself how "handsome" he is. 2) Talking in the third person 3) Starts to chase skirts after games, creating awful slump situations 4) Hires Scott Boras 5) Starts being featured in GQ or Esquire in tuxes and basically tells people he is "the hottest player on the team" and can get any girl he wants. 6) Names his pets after himself, or has a hairless cat and becomes a villain look-a-like. 7) Becomes a member of Jose Canseco's party list 8) Starts trying to date supermodels or models for that matter who tell him he deserves better than Milwaukee or creating a "bigger ego" for himself. Here is what would be cool at Miller Park: 1) Becomes so loved by the college aged women who attend UWM or Marquette, drawing much better clientele and single gals to the stadium that create signs saying, "Braun will you marry me."

Well, I just had my meeting with the Milwaukee County Director of my company yesterday with my Manager present at the meeting. My Manager agrees with me 90 percent on the e-mail I sent him and apparently the Director completely missed the point of my e-mail about complaints of low wages with the hour long discussion we had yesterday morning. He took my e-mail seriously and apparently thought I was going to quit at the end of the meeting asking me, "What can we do to make you happy and satisfied today?" as the Director completely had fear in his eyes. It would have been inappropriate to ask for a raise at that point, so I basically just sat there and said, "Okay, I 'understand' now," because he completely missed the point. But anyhow, my Manager (immediate supervisor) will put in an official recommendation to the company requesting I get at least a 50 cent raise in addition to my annual review raise I will be receiving on my third year review in the next couple weeks (which could be anywhere between 20 cents for the lowest marks to 50 cents for the highest marks). My Manager said my e-mail was a bit overzealous, but it basically sent the message to the Director on what could become a bigger issue within the next few months, and that my Manager basically stated this could expedite more fairness to veteran employees. Apparently my Manager called me a "hero" for standing up for the veteran employees.

Nats' Dmitri Young reported to camp weighing in just under 300 pounds this season. And now he was just given the sad news of being diagnosed as a diabetic and now Nats' officials are concerned and disappointed in his physical shape. Man, the entire Young family has had some issues the past few years (see: Delmon's 50-game Minor League suspension and recent trade to MN) and then "Meat Hook" had some legal issues in the past involving domestic disturbances, etc. But being a diabetic in Major League Baseball can be considered a "kiss of death" for a career due to sugar outputs and inputs and when you factor in the length of a season and the unpredictability of how long a game can possibly be game-to-game, it could cause some health problems. Also factor in the weight he has put on. Does anyone believe this could hinder the remainder of his career? According to the article, he takes insulin injections up to four times a day. That means that he will have to likely take an injection before AND after every game. I know how hard it is to be a diabetic since my Mother is one and she has to take an injection before bed every night and when she wakes up. Given the fact that athletes do need a higher level of blood sugar output prior to games, it could become an issue. I have often heard that poor regulation of his/her diabetes could lead to a fatality. Here is a quote from Dmitri: "There's so much about it I don't even know," Young told The Post. "I learn constantly when I meet people, things that they do to help manage it. I didn't even know that before I do any sort of physical activity, my blood sugar has to be well above 150, so when I do crash, I crash back to normal. It's a constant process."

Different people do different and miniscule things throughout an average day that could set us all apart according to our everyday regular habits. I have wondered how people do everyday things... 1) When doing laundry, do you put the detergent in first or last? I used to put it in last, but realized the logic of putting it in first. Now I always put it in first. 2) On your landline phone, do you let the phone ring twice before answering? I guess its the way I was brought up to allow it to ring twice. 3) When you are ready to make a phone call with a landline, do you check to see if the line is busy regardless of if anyone else is in the house using another phone? I just pick up the phone and dial. 4) When at a gas station, do you count the change that is given back to you? Or do you just put it in your pocket and go without counting it at all? Depends on the cashier 5) When you are driving, do you use your turning signal every opportunity that you lawfully need to use it? Or do you not use it when in a quiet neighborhood when no one else is around? I use it all the time. 6) When calling someone up on their cell phone, do you usually leave a message or do you not because your name or number will show up on the ID anyway? I hate leaving voicemails, it seems like I am talking to myself on it. 7) At a sporting event, do you wait until the game or match has a "dead air" moment to get up to use the restroom or buy food? I wait until the middle of inning, etc. to do what I need to do, it is just plain good etiquette. 8) When you are hungry for something that you obviously don't have in your cupboards or fridge, do you usually check anyway in hopes it will "magically appear?" I do it most of the time when it is at the end of the week when I have eaten most of the food. 9) At your job, do you usually keep your daily agenda in your head or write it down? I work a lot, and have a set system in place that I memorized, so no need to write anything down. 10) When you are using an ATM, do you sit there and hope and pray you get the cash you need even if you know you have sufficient funds in your account? I am a bit paranoid about ATMs and my checking account sometimes, so I always wait and hope for some reason.

Well, apparently I got the attention of my immediate supervisor and he was essentially in agreement with me and was already in discussions with the Regional boss for quite some time over this issue and now I he wants me to sit down and chat with himself and the Regional boss on Monday and my immediate supervisor (whom is actually not only my boss, but also my friend) has continually sent me e-mails stating, "I am not in trouble" and that he wants me to call him. The wage issue has been an issue for quite some time apparently and from what I gather, my e-mail may have been the e-mail that could force things to get done. But I am still a bit scared obviously. I do have some bargaining power because of the following: 1) I am the ONLY staff member willing to work every weekend (Its mandatory that all staff must work every other weekend) 2) I can work any shift without a hitch and finding a person willing to work third shift every weekend is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. 3) The reason they decided to offer a big signing bonus to new hires is the region has struggled majorly in finding ANYONE to work and most of the time, the new hires basically walk off the job within a week and never are seen or heard from again. 4) A year ago I was like the 7th most senior staff and the floodgates opened severely within the last few months and now I am the No. 2 most senior staff. 5) In relation to No. 1 and No. 2, I have never once complained about my excessive weekend hours (I work 40 hour weekends) and actually value it and relish it because somehow I love double shifts. 6) I don't have any black marks on my record from the State of Wisconsin in regards to my caregiver record. 7) In relation to No. 1 and No. 2, if I were to quit, there would be pretty big shoes to fill because the hours would be tough to fill. 8) I tried putting in my two week notice back in late June and my immediate supervisor spent an hour convincing me to stay and I am still with the company.

I have come to the realization that I have become an outspoken employee for the good of my coworkers most recently. I am starting to wonder if that could become a bad thing. I have been with the company for three years now and discovered that all new hires have the same starting wage as me, which is getting to be a big concern for not only myself, but for others in my same position. What is worse is that once the new hires receive their 90 day probationary raise, they will make more money than me ($9 compared to the obvious $8.75). Then what is more concerning is they are now giving all new hires a $750 signing bonus if they stay with the company for a certain amount of time. What happens to the more experienced people? They give a $500 bonus to those who accrue five years of service with the company. Does anyone think there is something wrong with this picture? Did it necessitate an e-mail outlining my concerns to the Milwaukee Region Manager? What is worse is that the same thing happened to the experienced workers in the Walworth County region where I began my company time, I made $8 an hour to start while someone who had more experience as me made the same amount even after a pay raise he earned. The Walworth Region has less to do in regards to responsibilities (We are a caregiver organization). The Walworth Region required susbstantially less CNA-type work while Milwaukee Region requires a lot more, and given that, I never was given a proper inflationary raise when I transferred. I am just wondering if any "boss-type people" here things I am on the wrong for pointing out these flaws?

A little over a year ago, I was a news intern with the Lake County News-Sun and within the last week, two good news stories have come out of Lake County. One is this which happened today involving a strip mall explosion. As horrible as it sounds, these kind of news events make a journalist salivate. Then former Chicago Bear Shaun Gayle's late pregnant girlfriend has a new development in the case. The very coroner who I interviewed countless times and had a great professional rapport with was on CNN and FoxNews about five months ago to discuss the case on national television. And also, the whole Bolingbrook investigation into the disappearance of Stacy Peterson, former police Sgt's wife, is always on Chicago media. I had a few colleagues from Bolingbrook in the newsroom where I worked.

They should call the rightfield bleachers one of the following: 1) Prince's Porch 2) Prince's Pad 3) Fielder's Funhouse 4) Prince's Powerpad

A tech guy came over today and did the same thing to my parents cable system. They placed an amplifier in the basement and replaced the modem entirely. I used to have a Terayon and now we have a WebStar one. The tech guy also got rid of the splicer entirely since the cable plate had two jacks on it (we still have the old jacks from the olden days of Telecable when we had an "A" and "B" channel system). endaround, the thing is... it may be impossible to rewire my parents house entirely with new cables since a siding company covered up ALL of the cable wires leading outside about 15 years ago.

I am searching for some Geoff Jenkins game or spring training photos to put on here as a Philly. By the way, as I was cleaning my room yesterday, the head come off my Jenkins bobblehead. Is that karma?

My parents' RoadRunner box was the subject of a family fued Monday night because it kept getting disconnecting and I did everything I could to get it working again. The cable light kept constantly blinking and wasn't a solid yellow light all night long. Now it is working, but I thought about calling Time Warner and requesting a new box because it worked inconsistently from Saturday up until late Tuesday night. I think the box is kind of "defective" because this isn't the first time it has happened. I even tried unplugging the power from it and plugging it back in Monday and it still didn't work. Anyone else have this problem? Plus, I think the cable leading to the splicer may be a bit old, and the splicer could be a bit old as well. Could that be the problem? My mom blamed me for the entire problem Monday night even though she admits I know more about computers than her.

I actually was in Toronto in 2004 just days before the Paul Molitor Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Me and five buddies drove all the way to Toronto from Racine overnight and stayed at a hotel near the airport (I believe the Sheraton Inn). We went to a Blue Jays game at the Rogers Centre and had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe inside the stadium prior to the game. The stadium is nothing to write home about and seemed like a large dentist office waiting room (everything was too blue in the stadium). The area around the stadium is fairly clean and we spent some time at this bar nearby called the "Loose Moose." It was a decent bar with some friendly waitresses and bartenders. Me and my buddies didn't spend too much time in Toronto around the ballgame we went to because we hated Toronto altogether (the Sheraton Inn hotel employees were ultra snobby and laughed at us when we asked about a continental breakfast the following morning). But there is a lot to do to kill time near the Rogers Centre though.