Dooga dooga

IVE MOVED

2007-12-13T20:36:00.000-05:00

Change your bookmark to http://jimhalberg.com

If you use a feed reader (NetNewsWire, Google Reader, Bloglines, etc). You'll want to start tracking http://jimhalberg.com/blog

Let me know if you have any trouble finding it!

more youtube

2007-12-11T21:33:00.000-05:00

Not sure if anyone actually watches these when I post them but I like hunting for them, so the jokes on you!

Have you heard my Mom refer to her pending grandson as "Tragdor" and wondered what the heck she was talking about? Tragdor the Burninator - Homestarrunner

Try not to smile while watching this: I Want You Back - The Jackson 5

My favorite video ever. Just incredibly powerful: Hurt - Johnny Cash

Hands down best live show I've ever seen before 7PM. Wolfmother - Joker and the Thief

Ben Harper song from a friend of mine. Walk Away (Ben Harper) - Jon Palmer

A guitar lesson. You MUST make it to the 1:30 mark - it gets crazy. Brian Setzer

Live at the Grammys. Kanye West & Jamie Foxx - Gold Digger

(here's some from last time)

Too much

2007-12-10T23:25:00.000-05:00

It's hard not to like what the Brewers have already gotten done this offseason. The fact of the matter is you don't win late in the year (especially the playoffs) without a solid bullpen.

The Brewers lost the only rock in their bullpen (Cordero) already this offseason along with 'next best' Scott Linebrink. My personal feeling on Linebrink is that more is being made of him leaving than should be... he's been great in the past but what did he really do for the Brewers last year?

Getting Torres, Riske, and now Gagne into our bullpen more than makes up for the loss... assuming any of them can step up and close... which brings me to the title of this post. We gave Gagne a 1 year contract worth $10M... wow, that's an awful lot for a guy who has had a pretty significant rash of injuries the last few years and was downright awful much of last year. He was one of the best for a few years there but this is just too much risk for that money.

NFL Leading Scorer

2007-12-09T15:19:00.001-05:00

While we were watching the Cowboys v. Packers game a couple weeks back I made the comment that Packers kicker Mason Crosby is the NFL's leading scorer. I had forgotten about it until just now but he still is.

Real life energy consumption of 2nd Life

2007-11-28T22:22:00.001-05:00

A 2nd Life Avatar consumes more energy than the average Brazilian?

... and produces as much CO2 (per year) as driving a Prius 4,000 miles?

It's not a new article, but it's new to me. Check it out.

Of course, there's no real reason to pick on 2nd Life other than that it's fun to compare fake people to real. Really this is a comment on what it takes to run any of the myriad of popular websites.

Grandpa Halberg

2007-11-28T20:23:00.000-05:00

My Grandpa Halberg passed away in his sleep last night a few days after making the very difficult decision to end his dialysis treatments. While the treatments are wonderful in that they give extra life - they are a miserable experience and take a real toll on the recipient.

Just a few days ago, following his decision to end the treatments, we were able to go up to visit him at the veterans facility in King, WI. He "had a hankerin' for some eggs" so off we went for breakfast. He ordered 4 eggs and drank his coffee - when my Dad made a comment about the quantity he said "you ain't full til you get milk and cookies" and ordered up 2 more!

Some of my fondest memories of grandpa are from his house in Wakefield, MI - HUGE piles of snow in the front yard with tens of cousins tunneling, stocking the snowball arsenal, and plotting for the grand battle to come.

I remember a garage full of tools and big cars. Always a big American Buick waiting in the garage to take him to his destination in comfortable fashion.

An incredibly overfilled house at every holiday with he and the uncles watching the Weather Channel for what seemed like days on end. I always thought when I was older I'd understand how that was entertaining... I guess I'm not old enough yet! ... he was also a master of the old trick of sleeping in front of the TV but yelling "hey, I was watching that" when the channel was switched.

"How are you?" would also be answered with "Any better and I couldn't stand it" and his famous grin from ear to ear.

Lots and lots of family, faith, and fellowship. He will certainly be missed!

Radio on the TV

2007-11-25T19:25:00.000-05:00

I was talking about this just a bit ago but it really seems like I hear more good music on TV commercials than I do on the radio.

... it probably has at least something to do with me listening to mostly talk radio ...

... and it could also have to do with Madison being a Clear-Channel-only city ...

but there really is just a tremendous amount of good (and new/relatively unkown) music on commercials these days.

Here are some that I've seen/heard just during the commercials of the Bears game today:

My Morning Jacket - not sure of the product
Guster - Cypher
Arcade Fire - pretty sure it was them?
Stephen Merritt (The Magnetic Fields) - Volvo
The Weepies - JCPenny
The Shins - Zune
Bloc Party - Saturn

and, of course, Neil Diamond - Jeep

All CDs that I own, other than Neil Diamond... as far as you know.

and that ain't the half of it. Here are some others CDs I own with recent tv-commercial exposure.

Wilco - VW
Teddybears - Cadillac, Virgin Mobile, and Intel
The Flaming Lips - Dell
The Last Town Chorus
Shiny Toy Guns - Razr
Regina Spektor - JC Penny and XM Radio
Hum - Cadillac
Architecture in Helsinki - Sprint
NERD, Wolfmother, Jet, Daft Punk, Feist - iPod
Jim Noir - Adidas
Jens Lekman - LG Steam Dryer
The Go! Team - Target and Honda

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T12:21:00.000-05:00

Our first snow came on Thanksgiving eve, making for a fun time taking the dogs out in the morning. It was June's first taste of snow and it's safe to say that she's a big fan.

After that we were off to John & Leslie's, in Milwaukee, for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner.

Of course, the highlight of the day was the people. It was great to see all the relatives but stealing the show were the nieces (and the other Mainers too)!

Michigan Tech at UW-Parkside

2007-11-19T20:55:00.000-05:00

Saturday we got to head to Kenosha to see my cousin Tim play bball for MI Tech. It was an awesome game and lots of family had come into town for the occasion.

They ended up losing the game but cousin Tim played awesome. Dropping threes and throwing it down from high above the rim - it was a complete performance. At one point it was Tim 18 - other team 17 but they threw on a zone that gave Tech fits and took home the victory.

Well played though Tim! It's been awesome to see you play the last few years.

A Win!

2007-11-18T23:09:00.000-05:00

With the Packers off to a 9-1 start you may not think that them winning today against one of the league's lesser teams was impressive... you're wrong. What you don't realize is that the Packers were able to overcome an obstacle that they have struggled with for the past 3 years: winning when I am in attendance.

Finally, for the first time in 2 years, I get to actually see them bring home a victory in person - I can't tell you how glad I am that it wasn't close!

Go Pack!

Big (and great) News!

2007-11-13T00:19:00.000-05:00

Thomas (my brother in law) and Choeun have made Monnie and I aunt and uncle to a baby girl!

Corryn was born yesterday about 530PM. We're really excited and hoping to pay them a visit very soon!

and while we're at it...

2007-11-10T22:42:00.000-05:00

So, as mentioned just a few minutes ago - I'm watching The Borne Identity. Every commercial break I am treated at least once to an Old Navy commercial featuring The Weepies.

I'm really happy to see great bands played in commercials; Seriously, I think it's great: they (presumably) get some well earned money, they (hopefully) pick up a few new fans, and we all win.

but the first time you hear a song - especially of this sort - on a commercial for a company like Old Navy... there's just something wrong about it. Check out The Weepies here (free) - you'll like em.

Saturday

2007-11-10T21:53:00.000-05:00

Our Saturday started out letting the dogs run in a field we recently "discovered" in the neighborhood. It's ideal as it's nice and big - no houses (distractions) too close - and no roads. Both of our dogs are great but Howie doesn't really hear "come" and actually do it when there are any distractions, so it's great not to have cars whizzing by.

After that we were off to Johnson's Creek to meet Mike, Steph and Annabelle for a bit of shopping and lunch. It was great to see them and after a bit of negotiation - they're going to be the godparents! Really glad to have them on board as honorary members of Team Halberg.

When we got back to Sun Prairie, we got to go out to dinner with Uncle Ric at the Cannery in Sun Prairie. Mom and Dad Halberg had taken us there just last night for a fish fry and we liked it enough to give the other food a try - great to have another good place in town.

... and now? It seems like now that the sun goes down at like noon it's just impossible to have the day last much past 8PM. So, we get to hang out on the couch and check out The Borne Identify on the good ole' USA network... man, we're getting old!

Oh, and did I mention: UW beat up Michigan, Ohio State lost, Notre Dame got crushed, and Miam is on their way to another loss (although, maybe not). Good day for football!

Halloween

2007-10-27T20:15:00.000-04:00

As Monnie has mentioned, we've been to some great Halloween parties this year. I'll leave you to check out her commentary (and additional pics) but here are our outfits...

Music!

2007-10-25T00:42:00.000-04:00

After reading Mr. Barlament's article tonight, I was inspired to do some fishing of my own for music on YouTube tonight. Here are the successes...

Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (live)

Nine Black Alps - Not Everyone (live)

The Apples In Stereo - Same Old Drag (listening to themselves in the van)

The Subways - I Wanna Hear What You've Got To Say (live)

Fever Marlene - Red Fire (live in Madison)

Josh Ritter - Monster Ballads (live)

The New Pornographers - Myriad Harbour (live)

Jens Lekman - Your Arms Around Me (live)

Magnetic Fields - Luckiest Guy On The Lower East Side (cartoon/video)

Wilco - Jesus, etc. (live)

Wolfmother - Woman (live)

Baseball!

2007-10-21T20:23:00.000-04:00

Finally, two of the world's greatest things come together. If there is even one stolen base in the World Series this year: we all get a free taco.

And if you haven't yet seen the Red Sox post-series celebration (for the ALCS which ended last week), check out these ridiculously funny videos. It's not everyday you get to see a major league all star do an irish jig in his underwear at Fenway Park. or the whole team doing sort of advanced version of the running man.

Pay What It's Worth

2007-10-20T12:52:00.001-04:00

The initial results are in and it looks like Radiohead's "pay what it's worth to you" sales strategy has been an incredible success.

1.2 million albums sold in the first week, at an average cost of $8. For those of you scoring at home: that's almost $10M in one week... not a bad week.

It'll be interesting to see when the first store opens online facilitating this type of distribution. Seems like a site like that could take an incredibly small percentage of the sale to make it. Having multiple large artists on one site like that could really open the door for small/medium bands to make similar jumps. "We see you're here to buy the new 'My Morning Jacket' album. If you like them why not try the new 'Band of Horses' disc for a couple bucks?"

TNP@Pabst

2007-10-18T23:25:00.000-04:00

JNo and I headed over to Milwaukee's Pabst Theater last night to see The New Pornographers. I've had nothing but good experiences at the Pabst and this one was no exception - The show may have been the best that I've seen there.

picture borrowed from the always great Muzzle of Bees

After a couple of openers who at times I loved and times I wanted off stage ASAP, the NPs took the stage. At first I thought we might be in trouble. Aside from cornerstone Carl Newman and (the quite impressive) Kathryn Calder, the rest of the band may have gotten into the liquor cabinet beforehand. A lot of bands can pull that off but having not seen these guys live + knowing that with their style of music things have to stay really tight... I was worried.

Never was I more worried when Dan Bejar took the stage and seemed to not really comprehend how his mic worked... and then he started singing and all was right with the world. The whole group pulled it off (mostly) flawlessly and put on a show that had everyone wanting more and more.

I'll definitely try to catch them again next time they're coming around - especially if they can get the whole cast of characters together for it.

Sunday Night Football

2007-10-09T00:02:00.000-04:00

Monica and I were up in Green Bay for the Bears v. Packers last night (her comments here). After a really great looking start the game went south in a big hurry. Obviously the outcome was far from desirable but the way it was reached was much worse. The Bears really didn't look good, but the Packers looked much worse - turning the ball over repeatedly and always finding a way to be penalized at the absolute wrong time.

Anyway, despite our poor play: this one falls squarely on my shoulders. I have to accept responsibility for the loss.... A few years ago I drafted Ahman Green and Javon Walker in the first two rounds of my fantasy football league. Both of them promptly were injured and missed the majority/all of the season. I then decided never again to have a Packer on my fantasy football team... until last week when I picked up rookie James Jones. While Jones hasn't been injured (yet), he fumbled twice early in the Packers game - mistakes that had a very large impact on the outcome of the game.

So... my bad. I'll be releasing him shortly so we can get back to normal next week against the Redskins.

Wilco

2007-09-13T22:59:00.000-04:00

When it was announced a few months ago that Wilco would be playing the Overture Center it was quite a surprise. To that point the only events at Madison's newest (major) venue had been musicals, orchestras, and the like.

from Daniel Brielmaier (on Muzzle of Bees)

We went out and bought a bunch of tickets during the presale - good thing: the show sold out almost immediately. Our efforts paid off last Tuesday as Monnie, Jon, Matt, Brandon, Joe, Sarah, and I were treated to a great show.

The Overture Center was definitely a different environment for what I suppose would be labeled a "rock" show. Assigned seating was respected almost to the letter - nobody in the aisles or anything of the sort. For some that's a pretty big downer but to be totally honest: I'm a really big fan of being able to sit during a show like this.

The sound was really incredible, especially since my other two Wilco experiences have been at outdoor venues. Crystal clear lyrics and instrumentation - great effects on the opener "Via Chicago" to simulate the El passing right through the theater.

They missed my all time favorite "Heavy Metal Drummer" and oddly also left out their current hit single "What Light", but hit many of my favorites including what probably would be 2-5 on my list: "Jesus, Etc", "Handshake Drugs", and "California Stars"

There's some really great pictures on Muzzle of Bees coverage (one of which I borrowed above) as well as some great commentary and comments. You'll notice in the comments quite a bit of what I alluded to above (people like to get up and dance... I like to sit and relax).

A really great show that was well worth the high ticket price.

A nice slow Sunday

2007-09-02T22:59:00.000-04:00

Monnie, Howie and I headed over to Gov. Nelson State Park this afternoon to check out their dog swimming area. It was quite nice to have him in the big lake (Mendota) as opposed to some of the more 'swampy' dog parks around.

On the way home Howie got his first carwash experience. He was a bit concerned about what was going on at first but settled down pretty quick when he saw we weren't too worried about it.

Bus Tragedy Fundraiser

2007-08-29T20:45:00.000-04:00

If you live in Madison - head over to a Potbelly location for dinner tomorrow for a good cause.

Come to Potbelly Sandwich Works on Thursday, Aug. 30th between 5-8 P.M. We will donate 25% of sales to the Bus Tragedy Fund. All Madison locations are participating-- State Street, West Towne, & East Towne.

One of our employees lost her fiance in the bus stop incident, and now she is a single mom with three kids.

If you don't live in town, here's the (very sad) story.

Hockey in August

2007-08-26T21:21:00.000-04:00

I saw this on ESPN today. Absolutely a must see: to YouTube.

Michael Vick

2007-08-15T23:15:00.001-04:00

Wouldn't it be incredible if no other NFL players ever went with Vick to gamble on the fights at his property? Even if they weren't involved in running the ring (which obviously makes them less attractive legal targets) - they would have had knowledge of it + have been gambling on it.

It just seems really unlikely that Vick was into it to the extent that he was and never offered to bring along anyone else on the team.

It's really looking like he's pretty much up the creek without a paddle here - it'll be interesting to see what happens by the Friday deadline...

The $40 Million Question

2007-08-15T23:01:00.000-04:00

It's your job to give the final say on a contract for Brewers rookie phenom Ryan Braun. Due to the incredible start to his career, he's demanding an incredible amount of money. He wants to stay with the Brewers though and your fan base is in love with him.

You've been to the future and know that if you DO sign him - he will be plagued by injury. He'll never miss an entire season but he'll be on the disabled list frequently and when he's not, his play will be so-so. Fans will know that when you signed him, you had every reason to think he'd be incredible, but at the same time they'll be angry that all the teams money is tied up in someone that isn't helping the team.

You also know that if you DO NOT sign him - he will sign with the Devil Rays. There he will go on to a Hall Of Fame career - one of the greatest of all time. You will never play the Devil Rays directly, but everyone will always look back on the time that one of the best players of all time wanted to play for you and you sent him packing.

What do you do?

Lollapalooza

2007-08-08T01:36:00.000-04:00

I had a great time again at Lollapalooza this year. More here, here, and here.

Also, way to go Barry.

nextPoint

2007-07-31T20:54:00.000-04:00

I'm very excited to be accepting a position with nextPoint. They are the leading provider of web solutions in the legal arena and I am really looking forward to contributing to their great team.

I really enjoyed speaking with many great companies over the last month and am very glad that I was able to find such a great fit in the end.

One more on the bullpen

2007-07-31T20:49:00.000-04:00

A clarification on this post. When I wrote that I never considered that Scott Linebrink (who the Brewers did end up acquiring) was actually available.

I'm still not really clear on why the Padres were willing to let them go, but I would definitely have put him on top of my list in that other post. Yes, above Gagne even. So... way to go Brewers!

Now, hopefully we don't end up needing both an 8th inning guy AND a closer...

San Francisco

2007-07-26T15:32:00.000-04:00

I'm in beautiful downtown San Francisco for a few days here. On my agenda are a conference, visiting a couple friends, a little business, and (hopefully?) a Giants game. Not sure how the game is going to fit in but it'd be a shame not to check out a game at one of my favorite stadiums when I'm staying so close - not to mention a certain hitter attempting to break one of the biggest records in sports.

I got here and got all checked into my hotel yesterday - it's just a couple blocks from the conference and is exactly what I need. A couple really nice touches on top of the basic: continental breakfast in the hall on every floor + (free) wifi based on my floor.

Wanted: An 8th Inning Guy

2007-07-22T22:41:00.000-04:00

We had a great time watching the Brewers take out the Giants this afternoon in front of a sold out Miller Park. I was really looking forward to seeing how the 8 of us reacted to Barry Bonds (boo? cheer? be indifferent?), but unfortunately - he wasn't in the lineup so we didn't get put on the spot.

It was an ideal game - we were always pretty much in control... but still competitive throughout. What was really apparent though is that more than ever we are lacking someone in the 8th inning. It appears that it's no longer Turnbow - he wasn't in there today, but perhaps more telling is the fact that he WAS in there the last couple days, when we didn't have the lead.

Actually, Turnbow seems to have not been able to pull it together since a certain point in April.

So, aside from the rumors on the offensive side which would be great (Griffey Jr, Teixeira) and the one that I'm not so sure of (Dunn) - there has also been some talk on the pitching end of things. What I've heard are basically *any* of the Rangers relievers - Gagne, Otsuka, or Benoit and then Dotel (KC).

All of these guys (as is typical of relivers) are sometimes unstoppable and sometimes can't seem to find the strike zone, but for me the big differentiation is the *next year* factor. If Cordero leaves - which is looking increasingly likely - we're going to need someone to step into those shoes. The right man for the job is... Benoit. Wicked stuff and much more reliable than Gagne or Dotel at this point.

I could see making a case for Otsuka but his recent injury issues are a bit concerning. Actually, maybe we can get both? That could put us in a desirable position next year...

It's A....

2007-07-21T22:31:00.000-04:00

Boy! or... at least it will be in a few months.

Mom and Dad Halberg were over today to help out with the nursery as well. It's not quite finished yet but it's looking really great so far!

I Bet You

2007-07-08T15:15:00.000-04:00

2 pro poker players (Phil Laack and Antonio Esfandeari) have their own show on MojoHD. Check out the first episode online here.

Basically they come up with crazy bets with each other and then go through with them on film. Some highlights:
* $5000 bet on who can win a dune buggy race
* high card wins - loser has to get the other guys name tattooed on them
* who can shoot an automatic machine gun more accurately

and much more. Good stuff.

Livin in Fast City

2007-07-07T17:46:00.000-04:00

Madison was named a "Fast City" by "Fast Company" magazine.

"They are cauldrons of creativity where the most important ideas and the organizations of tomorrow are centered. They attract the best and brightest. They are great places to work and live."

Pretty cool stuff.

Barry Bonds... popular?

2007-07-04T09:31:00.001-04:00

Is it just me or is Barry Bonds suddenly popular?

Maybe this was inevitable... everyone loves to hate him: he's never been popular in the media. He's passionate about bringing race to the forefront (which can be a good thing) but he normally does it in a completely nonconstructive way (which is definitely a bad thing).

Did he use steroids? Most likely. Did everyone else? Pretty much.

Every professional athlete (up to and including golden boy Lance Armstrong) is pushing supplements as far as they possibly can without breaking. In cycling, that means pumping in the EPO and figuring out how to best mask it. In baseball, until recently, the point where you were pushing supplements too far was non-existent. That doesn't make it ok to pump yourself on illegal drugs, but when it's effectively being encouraged by your sports blatant "look the other way" attitude... and doing it can make you millions of dollars... it's hard to put the blame squarely on Barry's shoulders which is effectively where it falls at the moment.

I'd be pretty torn if I had a Hall of Fame vote and Barry (or Sosa, McGwire) was on the ballot. Until recently I've been saying that I would vote for Barry, but not the first year - and never for Sosa or McGwire. I think I'm changing that though... Barry is a first year HOF entrant - he just has to be... he has the best stats of anyone... ever. As for the other two: I think they get my vote too. Definitely not on the first ballot, but eventually: I am voting for them.

While I don't have a HOF vote, I have made an important decision about something I actually do have a say in... when he breaks the record: I will be clapping, not booing.

I have 0 Friends

2007-07-02T11:38:00.000-04:00

In order to "rate" a video for a Milwaukee-based band (Fever Marlene) that I saw yesterday (check it out) I needed to setup a MySpace page.

My thoughts on MySpace are that it's an incredibly useful tool for finding and listening to bands that you otherwise would have a hard time pinning down. BUT. It boggles my mind that a tool that is so universally known and accepted could be so ugly.

The Smashing Pumpkins page (here) is a perfect example. Their MySpace page is absolutely gorgeous by comparison to almost all other MySpace pages I have seen - way, way better than almost all the rest... and it still is not very nice.

Anyway, as the title says. Here is a blurb from my sad little MySpace page:

We've Made It!

2007-06-30T16:10:00.000-04:00

The Brewers on not only on national TV (Fox) but I can watch them in HD?!? We've finally made it!

Howie Goes Swimming

2007-06-16T00:29:00.000-04:00

The other day, at dogfest, Howie took his first dip in the water. He wasn't hesitant to go in but immediately decided "this is a little weird" and came right out. After that we were really excited to get him to a dog park with water and we got a chance Thursday night at the Northport dog park.

They had a bit of a pier there that needed to be leaped from, instead of just being able to wade in, which made him a bit hesitant. So... I just threw him in a few times. There was some water swallowing and he didn't quite get that he was supposed to be swimming back to the ramp - not back to the pier, but after a few tries he got much more comfortable and really took to it.

Great fun and we're already looking forward to heading back there with him.

Back Home

2007-06-11T08:17:00.000-04:00

We made it back home right on time Friday morning. Our transfer in Newark definitely cut it close (due mostly to a completely nonsensical security process), but... we made it - and even more remarkably, so did our luggage.

The only item that didn't make it back properly was my laptop powercord which was taken by security at Ben Gurion (Tel Aviv) who needed to do "more testing". I have no idea why that was necessary but at least it was going to be "on the next plane". So... here I am three days later and still no sign of it -- They (Continental) were supposed to receive it here on two separate occasions since then but it still hasn't come through. My next chance is today at 330PM so I guess we'll hope it comes in then. In the meantime, I haven't been able to use my laptop - which means I can't work. That may not sound like a bad thing... but, in this case, it really is - I'm getting way behind and it's quite annoying. Today I'll have to meet up with Rob to use his power cord...

The trip was great - a wonderful experience and great to meet the people I've been working with remotely up to now. This picture is from the office by the way... not a bad work environment!

One other thing my Mom pointed out to me regarding the size of Israel. I knew it was small but it's funny to see it compared to Lake Michigan like this:

6/5 and 6/6 - Herziliya

2007-06-06T01:49:00.000-04:00

After work yesterday we were treated to dinner by Koby (our CTO) and his girlfriend Chen. Really great to meet her and get the real facts on Koby!

I didn't get any pictures in the area around my hotel when I got here as I didn't have the camera yet, so I took care of that a bit this morning (set here -- all our pictures here). These are either from my hotel room or from the neighborhood within a few blocks of it...

I can't decide if this is "Flying Bicycle Angel Woman" or "Landing Bicycle Devil Man", but I am definitely sticking to my guns that it's a bicycle:There's no shortage of seashells:The beach itself:

And some stores near a turnabout (there are no shortage of turnabouts):

June 4

2007-06-05T02:45:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday Mike! Hope it's a good one! Looks like NYC was a great time!

Today was a normal workday here - nothing exciting to report. Just work, dinner, and sleep.

6/3 Workin on a Sunday

2007-06-03T16:41:00.001-04:00

Back to work today as Sunday is a workday here in Israel (or at least much of it). Not a whole lot to report other than another great supper by the Sea - this time at the fanciest of the three offerings on the beach near our hotel.

Since I don't have much new to report... and since the sites/sights of the weekend are definitely still on my mind... just something I've been thinking about:

A few days ago I was going to talk about being in Israel and just generally near so many holy/historical sites... The closest thing I can compare it to (and this doesn't even come close) is being at Yankee Stadium and thinking about: Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig may have walked on this spot... or even: someone else watched history from this spot.

Now multiply that by a thousand - who has walked through Jerusalem? Who has walked within 30 feet of where I walked this weekend? ... incredible.

Is this the precise site of the crucifixion or the ascension or so many other events? and then coming to the realization that it happened within a few miles of where you are - being on the exact spot would be very special... but being very close - or even at the "best guess" or "traditional" spot is incredible.

6/2 - Jerusalem

2007-06-02T16:50:00.000-04:00

What we had seen yesterday at the Dead Sea and Massada was incredible but today's portion of the tour was absolutely fantastic. We took a tour of Jerusalem - primarily the Old City's four quarters.

Absolutely incredible to see such a quantity of things that have so much history and that you've heard about for so long in person - especially in such an incredibly short span of time.

I couldn't possibly describe - or take enough pictures - to explain it all but I'll provide several below. You can get all of them from today here - or all of them (ever) here.

An overview of the city:
Mt. Olive:
The location of The Last Supper (the room is completely different than it would have been then, but the location...):
A covered street in the Old City with shops:
The Wailing Wall and The Temple Site:
The Trinity:

6/1 Massada & The Dead Sea

2007-06-02T12:44:00.000-04:00

pictures for today here. all of them here.

We woke up early today to catch our bus out of Herzliya for a tour of (today) the Dead Sea and Messada and (tomorrow) Jerusalem. We'll be staying overnight in Jerusalem as well - it'll be nice to see that city a bit more.

There ended up being a bit of miscommunication as we were told to be ready at 715 and they were actually expecting us at 7. Obviously it could have been much worse as the 15 minutes just meant we were really rushed and a bit late instead of completely missing things - still, not a great start though. After picking up a few others we were off to Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is a gorgeous city, built in the mountains (big hills anyway). The mountain is not very high but high enough that all of the available precipitation falls on it -- there's a ridge in town where you can look down at one side of town and see green and green in the area beyond, but if you look the other way you see the Arabian Desert.

On our way out of town (we weren't there long - just to pick people up) we saw some goat herders / nomads on the way out of town. These people, live life in as traditional a way as possible. They try to avoid almost everything modern but apparently have become much less nomadic lately as they now have water pipes coming to their settlements. They are in the dessert so I'm sure that at some point you might just have to accept something modern to improve your life by that much.

Shortly before we reached the Dead Sea we saw a city a bit in the distance: Jericho. We weren't headed in that direction (it's Palestinian at the moment) but it's incredible to see cities that you've heard so much about and have so much history. We also passed by the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found - another place that we weren't stopping at but again...wow.

The Dead Sea is a picturesque Desert Oasis. Although, maybe "oasis" isn't the right word when the water is incredibly undrinkable. Amazingly, the Dead Sea is 33% salt which makes floating in it incredibly easy (more on that later).

Our first stop wasn't actually at the Dead Sea - it was Massada. Read this for a bit of a refresher: click here (it's quite the story, you really should check it out).

Some original flooring:

Looking down the giant ramp the Romans built (if you don't know what I'm talking about - read that last link):

After Messada we were off to make a proper stop at the Dead Sea. The stop was something that I'm really glad we did - here are the three things to tell you about the trip:
1. I put the Dead Sea "black mud" on my skin which is just sitting on the bottom there... it was... something I needed to do. I can't say that I kept it on any longer than a minute though - I just wanted to have done it.

2. I floated in the Dead Sea - another "must do". It basically feels like you have a life preserver on - only it's covering your whole body. Almost like you're sitting in a recliner in the water - you go in a "seated" position and your chest stick out of the water along with your knees and feet. Pretty crazy!

3. It's easy to scrape yourself up at the Dead Sea + scraping yourself and adding salt water is not fun. While basically "crawling around" on top of the mud (if you try to walk you sink) I got some scrapes, but I guess that's the price of admission.

4. (wait, did I say there'd be only 3?) -- It's friggin hot in the Arabian Dessert. We were actually there on a "cold" day and it was easily 100F. Apparently it gets up as high as 130F... you may want to bring some sunscreen.

We were pleasantly surprised when we got to Jerusalem to find that we actually had a nice hotel - we weren't expecting much for the place "included with the 2 day tour". It was located in a pretty cool neighborhood to the West of the Old City. Not sure of the neighborhood name but Hillel Street was the area where we found dinner and a coffee shop. The action seems to pick up later here in general with people getting dinner in the 7-8 time slot on average so we were a bit early for the real action. I was ok with an earlier night though as we had had quite a bit of sun and walking and were in for more of the same tomorrow.

The Real 5/31

2007-06-02T12:14:00.000-04:00

I didn't want to title all these posts with the date but with the time difference... maybe it's just easier if I try to throw it in there somewhere. Anyway, here's my day from 5/31 (Thursday).

Today was Rob and I's first full day off in Israel and we spent it in Tel Aviv. You've been hearing quite a bit about our trips to the beach where we're staying (in Herzliya Petuach, a Tel Aviv suburb) so I'm sure it will be no surprise that the beach in Tel Aviv is equally great.

The area we were in all day definitely had much more of a big city feel than in our suburb. The streets were bustling and shops lined the streets. Good news for those who have been pestering me in the comments :) -- I bought a digital camera! I actually think that I got a pretty good deal - I got a nice digital camera with a huge memory card for 1350 sheckles! How the heck much is that??? It's about 4:1 so it was $350 for the camera and case. That's not cheap, but I really needed a camera and ours is actually broken at home - so it's not like this is only for this one trip or something like that.

As always, all of our photos are here. The rest of the photos for this day in Tel Aviv (27 total) are here.

Anyway, the day was really great - very hot but a steady wind helped us out quite a bit. We did A LOT of walking around the beaches, shops, and other sights of Tel Aviv's harbor.

To end the night we met up with two of our co-workers: Adam and Shmueli for dinner before heading home. We also got to see where Shmueli lives, which was cool - his apartment is not unlike what you'd expect if you were to visit someone the same age in Chicago or another big American city. We also learned that (like Chicago) much of the neighborhood is made up of a very young population and that people typically move as they move into the next phases of life.

Speaking of "next phases of life" - the Israeli's our age seem quite shocked that both Rob and I are married already. Israeli's go from High School into a mandatory 3 year term in the military. After that they typically travel the world for a year before going on to work or more school or whatever else American kids would have been doing 3-5 years earlier... so, I guess it makes sense that most people here get married a bit later.

The bad part of the night was that I started feeling really bad just before dinner. Our dinner was great - so that definitely wasn't the problem, but I just seem to have a knot in my stomach that I can't shake. Maybe it's not a terrible thing though as tomorrow morning (715AM) we'll be heading out for a weekend tour of Israel that will take us through so many sites that I really want to see that I won't list them here... I'm sure you'll be hearing about them all soon enough!

Hazey Day

2007-05-31T04:31:00.000-04:00

There's a strange haze over the city today due to the humidity - it looks close to fog but not quite. It seems thinner than most fog (or at least what I think of as "fog") would be.

I got to talk to Monnie today which was really great - we used Skype so that we wouldn't have to pay for the call... really an invaluable tool for avoiding long distance charges. There's an 8 hour difference so your options are either 11PM CDT and 7AM IST or 3PM IST and 7AM CDT.

After work Rob and I got dinner on the beach before walking to the marina that I'd mentioned the other day. It's a pretty good hike but not too bad - you can't complain about walking by the sea when you're from Wisconsin!

Dinner in Ra'anana

2007-05-30T03:30:00.000-04:00

One thing I've been very surprised about so far has been the weather -- It's just been really really nice. The temp has been comparable to Wisconsin this time of year (80s) but much drier, making it way more comfortable. Today is another case entirely though as wind from the desert has increased the temp dramatically - it's quite the sauna out there! Apparently it's called a 'hamsin'.

After work today Rob and I were treated to dinner by our David (our CEO) and his wife Karen. The food was really good as was the conversation.

On our way back to the hotel something that (apparently) is quite unusual happened - it rained! ...for about 6 seconds.

Memorial Day in Israel

2007-05-28T18:13:00.000-04:00

I slept well last night until about 430AM and then, for some reason, my body just decided it was time to get up - not tired at all - just done sleeping... Not the worst thing that can happen when you're on vacation though - it just gave me the opportunity to take a walk and do a bit of reading by the water.

Today's work highlight was meeting our companies CEO face-to-face. I've had numerous phone conversations and a video call with David but as was the case with the rest of the team - meeting him face to face was wonderful.

After work today a good portion of the team took us for dinner at an authentic Yemenis restaurant. We shared a wide range of side dishes and I had a steak - seasoned much differently than would be at home but nothing too shocking - very good. The rest of the group got soup which met with several rave reviews and a couple negative (one of which was the other American pallet).

Following that a subset of the group had a few drinks on the beach (about midway between the two spots on the beach we had been before) before calling it a night. Seems that we must be in a fairly popular spot for American travelers since we met a couple of different American groups tonight.

Another beautiful day weatherwise - although from the looks of things Wisconsin is looking pretty nice while we're away too (?).

Meeting The Team

2007-05-27T23:53:00.000-04:00

Our first "day at work" was a very good one. I got to meet our teammates, some of whom we've been working with for months, in person. Great to put names with faces - just having a bit of time to actually see and talk to them will help quite a bit with our communication once we're back home.

The day started off with a walk on the beach (something that I hope will be a pretty standard part of my morning given where we're staying). Then on to work where we were greeted by a cook out!

The technology portion of the company has converted a couple of neighboring apartments into an office for the 5 of them. It's not far (15-20 minute ride) from our hotel. Because it's a more "residential" setup it has the luxury of a small courtyard for a grilling area and a really casual feel.

All the people are very young - Not positive but I believe everyone is between 24-30 and have personalities that seem to very closely resemble any normal American that you might bump into in that age group.

After work, Rob and I had dinner overlooking the Mediterranean just a few blocks from our hotel. On our way back home we decided to try out the bar beneath our hotel... turns out it's not a bar! It's a bartending school! That may not actually have been a bad thing though as the instructor decided to give us a couple of free drinks just for visiting -- Apparently we're not the first visitors to make the mistake.

5/26 - Day 2

2007-05-26T16:55:00.001-04:00

The title says "Day 2" but at this point I don't really know what day it is. I know I slept somewhere between 2 and 5 hours last night (no idea which it is) and that it was definitely in 4 installments... but hey, we made it! That was a seriously long flight. Luckily I had some good row mates.

So far things seem a lot like Miami - warm, palm trees, cab drivers that speak rough (but decent) English; the hotel clerk actually spoke better English than I'd have expected to find at a Miami hotel though :)

The comparison to the US really holds true looking out my window here - I feel like I'm in Hermosa Beach (LA) or something of the sort. Palm trees - a big ocean (sea, actually) and just a great view.

I just turned on the TV in my room to be greeted by "Can't Live, If Livin' Is Without You" (in English).

So far so good! Now - for the long awaited shower and tooth brushing!!!

***

The hotel feels like some of the older American hotels I've stayed in and the location is great - if I lean out my window I can see the beach maybe 5-6 blocks down. Notice I said "lean out my window" - they actually trust me with the ability to open my window here - something I haven't found in a big city hotel in quite a while.

That reminds me (speaking of things I haven't seen in a while) - (a) we had meals on the flight. We had dinner last night (at 7AM Israeli time) and breakfast this morning (at 5PM Israeli time) - I guess they're not trying to help get us on our new schedule! Anyway, though (b) they gave us metal silverware. I was pretty surprised by that.

Also, thinking back to the airport earlier - one of the primary things I had read online was that you get stopped all the time in the airport and asked basic questions by security (to try to trip you up if you're up to no good). We didn't see ANY of that - at all. Actually, I didn't see anyone at this airport with a gun (at the Madison airport you pass at least 6 or 7) -- maybe that's just because we were on the way in though... we'll see if things are tougher on the way out.

***

Just got back from dinner with the Rob and Koby (the CTO of Seeking Alpha). Crazy to think that we've been working so closely together but this is the first time that I've actually even seen his face, much less met him in person! I'm looking forward to a couple such moments in the next two weeks involving other members of the team!

We went to eat at an area called 'The Marina'. Very cool place on the water (obviously) with lots of restaurants and places to see. It reminded me a lot of the similar area in Baltimore (is that also called "The Marnia"?... I think it might be). Anyway, this was similar to that but a bit bigger - a few more people - and I actually felt safer at Tel Aviv's version. I remember the walk back to the car in Baltimore being much more shady, despite the fact that we were only parked about two blocks away from the action.

***

Tomorrow we'll be working off some jetlag in the morning and I hope to take a walk down to the sea. Rob and I actually walked down there quick tonight but I'd like to see it during the day. We'll be headed over to meet the team and get a little work done about noon before having a barbecue (hosted by Koby) tomorrow for us all to properly get some social time in.

5/25 - Day 1

2007-05-26T16:48:00.000-04:00

For those who haven't heard, I've just started an exciting trip to Israel to visit the other employees at the company I work for (Seeking Alpha). I'm really looking forward to it and know it's going to be a wonderful life experience, as well as allowing me to actually see the people I work with on a daily basis in the flesh.

-------

Our trip started today with Monnie (and Howie) escorting Rob and I to the airport in Madison. Our flight out of Madison was delayed about 45 minutes but we had a cushion built in at Newark (better safe than sorry - we really didn't want to miss this connection!).

Shortly after arriving at Newark we heard an announcement for all passengers on flight 90 ("hey, that's us") to head to the gate right away for extra security screening. We were mid-discussion about how it was already 9PM and we hadn't eaten yet at the time... we probably should have thought "hey, we should get food quick and then go", but instead we erred on the safe-side at reported immediately. -- It turned out to just be an extra 1 minute of carry on searching, metal detecting, and rub downs (that must be why it costs $1300 to fly to Tel Aviv).

So, here we sit - the last time that I plan on taking the laptop out before Tel Aviv as it seems like it would just be way more hassle to take it out and use it than it's worth... oh, that reminds me - we found out when we got to Madison that we both had middle seats on this flight. I guess that extra email I sent to Continental to make sure that we were either together or both windows really paid off! The guy had told me that it was taken care of but apparently he meant "for the return flight".... oh well.

That's it for now. See you in Israel.

It's hard to dislike the Mallards

2007-05-14T20:00:00.000-04:00

Everyone likes the current incarnation of our Madison-area baseball team: The Mallards. Unlike previous versions, these guys aren't professionals (not minor leaguers) but this version does such a great job with providing a fun product at a great price - you just have to go.

I just took a look at some of the promotions coming up (there's one pretty much every night). Here are my favorites (the rest are here):

An old school mesh hat
june 9 - Dr. Jay Hazen Dentistry for Madison Muskies Turn-Back-the-Clock Night. Mallards will wear authentic 1993 Muskies uniforms & free Muskies mesh caps (first 1,000). Live music w/ the Hometown Sweethearts. Harley-Davidson Night presented by Capital City. Unique area Harley-Davidson motorcycles will be on display and the first 500 fans in the Duck Blind will receive a Mallards six-pack cooler courtesy of Capital City Harley-Davidson. Post-game fireworks show, presented by Life Style Staffing.

A duck bobblehead and a pint glass
june 13 - U.S. Cellular Bobblehead night. Dancin’ Maynard G. Mallard Bobbleheads (all fans). Budweiser Pint Glass Series Night #2 (first 1,000 fans 21 & over).

A guaranteed win
june 19 - First former Mallard in MLB, Ryan Spilborghs’ Figurine Night (first 1,000 fans 14 & under). Bucky Book Night (first 1,000 families). Quench Gum Guaranteed Win Night as the Mallards take on the Bombers. If the Mallards lose (yeah right) free tickets to a future game to all fans after the game.

The Isotopes (will Homer be there?)
june 20 - Fox 47 The Simpson’s Night. Featuring Mallards wearing Isotopes uniforms, Simpson’s cover songs w/ the Outtatoons, great giveaways & Simpson’s trivia all night! Budweiser Pint Glass Series Night #3 (first 1,000 fans 21 & over).

Ticket cost determined by height (aka "anti-Strom night")
july 13 - Short People Appreciation Night, featuring Emmannuel Lewis (AKA Webster). Ticket prices on day of game will be based on height! All fans on the Great Dane Duck Blind will receive a Mallards T-shirt courtesy of Covance.

Screech and Neil Diamond covers on the same night?!?
july 14 - Goodman’s Jewelers Diamond Night. The first 1,000 ladies will receive a gemstone and one will be a real diamond! Bring your gemstone back to Goodman’s to find out if you have won the diamond! A special appearance by Dustin Diamond (AKA Screech). The Gomers playing Neil Diamond covers on the Duck Blind. Post-game fireworks, presented by Life Style Staffing.

Howie finally gets to experience some live baseball
july 29 - Luxury Bath Rubber Ducky Night (first 1,000 14 & under). Dogs at the “Duck Pond” Night. Dogs welcome at the park & $.50 per hot dog sold will go to the Dane County Humane Society.

Battle Of The Surfaces

2007-05-07T22:50:00.000-04:00

This was just pointed out to me the other day (thanks Hobber) but apparently happened a bit ago. A mixed court - half grass and half clay - constructed for a match between Federer (the king of grass) and Nidal (the king of clay).

Nidal narrowly edged out Federer in the end but a pretty cool concept.

An Open Letter to Derrick Turnbow

2007-04-30T16:24:00.000-04:00

While watching a Brewers game last week - Monnie had some thoughts regarding baseball, the Brewers, and Derrick Turnbow. When I couldn't provide answers to all her questions - I told her she may have to write a letter if she really wanted to get to the bottom of things.

What follows is the result...

***************************

Derrick Turnbow

Pitcher, Milwaukee Brewers

Miller Park

Milwaukee, WI

Dear Derrick-

My letter is an attempt to gather answers to several questions I have regarding your role with my local baseball team, the Milwaukee Brewers.

I watched you play in the game against the Cubbies on Tuesday night and was overwhelmed by a barrage of thoughtful questions regarding aspects of your play, your appearance, and more importantly, what types of snacks are offered to players in the dugout.

From the little time I’ve spent intently observing you on my HDTV on the pitcher’s mound, I’ve realized that you’re not a very consistent pitcher. I don’t know much about pitching, or about baseball in general, by it seems like you’re not very good at what role you play on the team? Maybe you should practice some more. Additionally, you may learn a great deal from others who have been pitchers, like yourself. I wouldn’t be surprised if they gave pro bono advice, but you might have to pay them a couple bucks. Guys like Dennis Eckersley, Oral Hershiser, Rollie Fingers and Teddy Heguira could offer some advice. They know a lot about successful pitching.

I also noticed that you don’t seem to care much about your appearance. You should really get a haircut and stop hiding that mop under your baseball cap. Pushing your side hairs further towards your face only emphasizes cool sideburns that you don’t have. Help me to also understand why you avoiding shaving your chin? Maybe a makeover project is in order? 2 million can go a long way in helping you to feel AND look good.

More importantly, I wonder if there are snacks provided to players in the dugout? Maybe twinkies, beef jerky sticks, trail mix, popsicles or root beer floats? Maybe a local food product company would be willing to sponsor snacks for your team, or maybe players could take turns bringing treats for the rest of the team. This would improve team morale and give those players a chance who didn’t have dinner, a redeeming, nutritious snack.

A Belated NYC Report

2007-04-23T23:18:00.000-04:00

Monica had some great coverage of our NYC trip a couple weekends back here. Gina had some great coverage too, although she (they) did quite a bit that Monnie and I weren't around for.

This was my fifth time in the Big Apple and, while we did see a game at Shea stadium, it was quite a bit different than my other trips.

For starters: it wasn't sports-centered. We did see a very good Mets v. Nationals game at Shea but the baseball game was just one event among many. The only other trip I have made to NYC that wasn't based on sporting events was the trip with my class in HS... which was *very* different than the rest, obviously.

Another big difference was the subway. I had ridden on the subway (in NYC) once before but this trip it was our primary mode of transportation. We actually only got in a cab a couple times the entire trip. Our hotel (the Grand Hyatt) was literally next door to Grand Central Station - making for very easy access to a major hub in the system.

And finally, probably the biggest difference: the group we were with. Aside from the large school group that I went with - my trips have been with just a couple of (guy) friends. This trip was spent largely with WI friends who were also in town for the wedding. Another day with relatives (Monnie's Aunt Debbie and Uncle Rick were there at the same time), and some time with other friends that we hadn't seen in a while.

This was a really great trip - and being there for the most rain they had received in 100 years (or something) didn't stop us from having a great time!

The Visitors vs. The Away Team

2007-04-10T17:01:00.000-04:00

As you may already know, a huge storm has dropped (nearly?) 4 feet of snow on the UP:

thanks for the photo aunt martha!

This storm has led to a most unusual situation in the world of baseball as the Cleveland Indians - snowed out in half of their games so far this year - will be calling Miller Park home this week.

This is nearly unprecedented in baseball - I can think of only one time that this has happened before and it happens to have been Cleveland playing in Milwaukee. Remember when these guys called County Stadium home?

It remains to be seen whether the 2007 Indians, led by Grady Sizemore and CC Sabathia, will be able to match the championship brought home by the 1989 crew led by Willie Mays Hays and Ricky Vaughn.

What to watch for in the series:
* Veteran David Delluchi putting a red tag in youngster Jeremy Sowers locker to convince him that he has been cut from the team - leading to an angry tirade.

* The recently injured Victor Martinez being replaced by the experienced (but, as noted by owner Lawrence Dolan, not dead) Jake Taylor.

* Josh Barfield popping a ball straight up and dropping to do 20 pushups instead of running it out.

* Manager Eric Wedge "destroying" the contract of veteran infielder Casey Blake after Blake points out that he doesn't have to do any calisthenics he deems unnecessary.

* Slugger Travis Hafner's pagan pregame ritual setting off the clubhouse sprinkler system interrupting Paul Byrds pregame prayer. Later, Hafner will give a quizzical look as he is presented with a bucket of fried chicken instead of the live chicken he requested for the sacrifice.

Should be a good series... make sure to tune in but don't forget where your loyalties are.

Andy

2007-04-07T17:54:00.001-04:00

Monnie and I have been fostering Andy, a golden retriever, for about a month. He's been really great to have around - puts up with Howie's insistence to wrestle 10 hours a day, barks very little, sheds very little. He's affectionate, not food aggressive, 0 accidents, and 1 year old.
So, basically... he's exactly what most people write as their "ideal dog" on their application for a WAAGR dog.

-- quick side note on WAAGR. It's a great group that helps dogs that and there's currently a 50/50 raffle going on. If you want in, it's $5 a ticket or $20 for 5. Let me know if you're interested (and you definitely don't have to live around Madison to do it).

Anyway, back to Andy. Monnie and I gave quite a bit of thought to just bringing him on board as our second dog ourselves, but in the end decided that we wanted to people able to foster more (we both agreed that we couldn't have more than 2 dogs around here). A very nice couple (Michael and Diane) stopped by last week with their Golden-Doodle Oliver to see what Andy was all about. The next day they decided that he's they'd like to adopt him! They'll be a great match with him and they'll definitely be happy to have him around.

The one fault Andy has is he really likes to help out with your paperwork. A big fan of getting into your mail and any other papers you may have within his reach. He and Howie were downstairs last week and I came down to this:

This time we were lucky, it was just one of Monnie's giant books of ads (aka "In Style" magazine) - next time it could be something important.... like my Sports Weekly!

They got their obligatory scolding but it's hard not to smile when you see the guilty looks on their faces when they know they've done wrong:

We're definitely going to miss Andy around here but it's great to know that he's going to a great new home and will never be a stray again.

Deuces Wild

2007-04-01T21:48:00.000-04:00

If you don't remember the "Deuces Wild" league from last year (here and here): The idea is that there's 15 guys - each get 2 baseball teams. Whoever ends up with the most wins when those two teams are combined - wins.

Very simple and low maintenance.

I'm not as crazy about my teams as I was last year but I think I turned out pretty well. I had the WhiteSox listed at #5 on my list so getting them at #9 was great. I also had Detroit listed at #6... so I did debate taking them when they were still on the board as well.

For my second pick: I had the Marlins #22 on my list and sure enough my top 21 teams were all taken. Not a disappointment though - the Marlins are always a team that's ready to surprise people which is exactly what you're hoping for that late in a draft like this.

Here's the whole list (mine in red).

1. New York Mets
2. New York Yankees
3. Boston Red Sox
4. St. Louis Cardinals
5. Cleveland Indians
6. Minnesota Twins
7. Los Angeles Dodgers
8. Los Angeles Angels
9. Chicago White Sox
10. Detroit Tigers
11. Philadelphia Phillies
12. Milwaukee Brewers
13. Chicago Cubs
14. Toronto Blue Jays
15. Oakland Athletics
16. San Diego Padres
17. Arizona Diamondbacks
18. Atlanta Braves
19. Texas Rangers
20. San Francisco Giants
21. Houston Astros
22. Florida Marlins
23. Cincinnati Reds
24. Seattle Mariners
25. Colorado Rockies
26. Pittsburgh Pirates
27. Baltimore Orioles
28. Kansas City Royals
29. Tampa Bay Devil Rays
30. Washington Nationals

Fantasy Baseball

2007-03-25T11:35:00.000-04:00

Yes, the moment everyone who reads this blog has been waiting for: fantasy baseball season. At last you can hear more about your favorite topic - fake baseball.

We held our draft yesterday in Chicago and I'm quite happy with my team this year:

Starting Pitchers:
John Lackey
Jason Schmidt
Barry Zito
Josh Beckett
Doug Davis
Bartolo Colon
Noah Lowry

Relief Pitchers:
Octavio Dotel
Fernando Rodney
Mike Gonzalez
Jonathan Broxton
David Weathers

Starters:
C - Joe Mauer
1B - Albert Pujols
2B - Jeff Kent
3B - Hank Blalock
SS - Orlando Cabrera
OF - Lance Berkman
OF - Manny Ramirez
OF - Raul Ibanez
OF - Torii Hunter
Util - Richie Sexson

Backups:
1B/2B/3B/SS - Rich Aurillia
3B - Eric Chavez
1B - Nick Johnson

I'm very happy with my offense. I had the first pick and took the obvious choice: Pujols. After that I was pleasantly surprised to find Lance Berkman still on the board when I had my turn again at pick #24 and very surprised to still find Manny Ramirez at that point. I was later able to land three more 30HR 100RBI guys as well as getting a great deal on Joe Mauer. I hadn't been targetting one of the best catchers (as Mauer is) but he was on the board at a point that I felt was a full 20 picks too late and I just had to go for it.

I was also able to land 5 pitchers with more than 150Ks. I slightly overpaid for John Lackey - but not too bad. Zito I definitely overpaid for him but I really like him coming into his first year in the NL - I really didn't want to miss out while trying to make him into a "good deal".

My bullpen is probably my weak spot but to be honest: that's exactly where I wanted my weak spot to be. I've been burned several years in a row by taking a high priced closer only to have him fall way way short - not happening this year!

Mt. Bohemia 2007

2007-03-11T16:32:00.000-04:00

Accompanied by Burt and Jon, I made my annual pilgrimage to the skiing mecca of the midwest... Mt. Bohemia.

Again (4 for 4) the conditions were less than ideal. Seems like each time I head up there it's been just a bit too long since the last snow - and it's just a bit too warm. Unlike previous years, I don't think that I can really claim that we were unlucky in weather... it is after all nearly mid-March.

As you can see: definitely some grass, rocks, and roots showing out there:

This was the first year that I haven't stayed at the 'on hill' cabins. We got our act together just a little too late for them to still be available, but we were able to find a place in nearby Copper Harbor. It was a nice change of pace - Copper Harbor is located on the northern most point of Michigan on the shores of Lake Superior. Getting there was a gorgeous drive both on the night we arrived and on subsequent days. In exchange for the 10 minute trip to the hill, we gained a bar that actually had some people in it at night! Quite the changeup from staying on the hill.

Both Friday and Saturday featured wet and heavy snow. It may be better than ice, but it really makes you work hard to get down the hill. Moving that much heavy snow with each turn, combined with the length and pitch of Mt.Bohemia leads to some pretty tired legs by the end of the weekend.

While discussing Burt's lack of a cellphone on the way up he tried convincing me that it was getting harder and harder to find a payphone. To prove him wrong, I took a shot of this easily accessible and heavily used phone in Copper Harbor.

Despite the conditions, it was a great trip and we're already plotting next years trip up.

Googling

2007-02-26T14:21:00.000-05:00

Ever perform web searches on yourself? I'd recommend it... if I were hiring you - I'd do it. I recently decided to take it a half-step further and set up Google Alerts for my name... both "james halberg" and "jim halberg". Interesting what it comes back with.

For a few days there I also had them set up for "monnie halberg" and "monica halberg". I set them up thinking it would be fun to let Monnie know what was out there about her but it very quickly began to feel like spying - or maybe more accurately "eavesdropping" on conversations that, while available to me, weren't intended for me.

I've been getting lots of stuff about the Halberg Awards. Any time there's a story involving some guy named Jim - and the Halberg Awards: I hear about it.

One thing I'm glad I found out (although it's annoying to get an alert about it everyday) is that "Star Academy" is evidently attempting to publish Seeking Alpha articles on their site by republishing our email... to put it kindly: they aren't doing a very good job of it. So the end result is my email address and what basically amounts to an error message published as an "article" out on their site every day or two. It's been happening for several weeks now... yuck.

It always tells me when I publish something to a blog online (in case I didn't realize I just hit publish). Occasionally it'll tell me that someone referred to me in their blog - which is nice. The most fun though was probably this one returned for "james halberg": Dad, they're after you! You're listed in the "Lost Alumni" section of the NMU Albumi Newsletter!

I've also recently noticed a lot of change in what you get as the most popular results for googling "Jim Halberg" lately. Not that that's a bad thing - just kind of unusual since normally there's not a ton of activity there. One of the things that has recently become wildly popular is looking at my old Blogger profile for jameshalberg.blogspot.com. I haven't blogged there in quite sometime but apparently people like to go look anyway... or could it be that Blogger is part of Google?... nah, that's crazy.

I was happy to see that morecowbell.info and madison.com/post/blogs/cowbell both make the first page of a search on "morecowbell". No love on a search for "more cowbell" though - that's alright, we haven't been going long.

Go Google yourself. Google your work. And if you really want to stick your nose where it doesn't belong - go check out the record of your WI friends :)

You might be surprised at what you find!

Crazy Ending

2007-02-17T00:04:00.000-05:00

A shot went up as the clock ran out in the Buffalo v. Bowling Green bball game and was missed. The teams left the floor (or some of them did anyway) believing the game was over. However, following review - the refs put 0.6 seconds back on the clock with Buffalo trailing by 2.

Bowling Green was called for 'delay of game' because they weren't out on the floor - some of the players were literally in the showers already. Delay of game is a technical foul and Buffalo made both to force OT.

Of course, you know that Buffalo goes on to win from that point. To add insult to injury - the Bowling Green coach also got in trouble for talking bad about the refs decision to put time back on the clock. Bad day for that guy.

Nascar News

2007-02-16T23:22:00.000-05:00

As you all know - I am a huge Nascar fan. Surprising? That's because it's totally not true.

but this piece of Nascar news did catch my eye: Miller Lite bets Budweiser.

Apparently Miller wants to bet that if their guy beats the Bud guy - the winner gets to rename the other teams baseball stadium when the two teams (Brewers and Cardinals) meet this summer.

This is great news to me as I've been really wishing that Nascar could have more of an impact on my life ever since Sports Weekly (which I subscribe to) dropped Nascar coverage a bit back (yes, again sarcasm).

By the way: the Miller drivers name is Busch. Shouldn't he be on the other team? I think there may be a spy in the Miller house.

Deep Stuff

2007-02-14T12:11:00.000-05:00

Redfield, NY (near Oswego) got 131 inches in the last 10 days. That's just out of control.

Madison got 131 inches too... in the last 4 years.

If I was standing on top of my car in Redfield 2 weeks ago... and today you came back to check on me... You wouldn't even see my head sticking up out of the snow.

That's insane.

CBS Online content

2007-02-09T21:04:00.000-05:00

I thought this was a very interesting post on where things are headed and it's a nice quick read.

It talks about how CBS plans on making shows available online before they're shown on "real" TV starting next year. and just a quick look at some stats on why.

I personally have yet to watch a show online, but maybe the best commercials in SuperBowl history will be a good way to start?

Super Bowl +

2007-02-06T22:10:00.000-05:00

I took off Friday for a long weekend up North in St.Germain and Presque Isle. The Fox's cabin was good, as always. Not a lot going on (in a good way) - lots of cards played - some good fish - and all around good times.

From there it was off to Presque Isle where a friend of ours is staying at a resort called BayView Lodge. While the owners of the place are taking in the winter someplace much warmer - he and his fiance get to live in a really nice place. Not a bad deal normally, but I bet it's even nicer when you can have 20 friends come visit you in your giant lodge!

Talk about a small world - the resort we stayed at was very near to where my aunt Linda used to live. And even more random - Monnie had actually stayed here before with her friend Emily who used to vacation here every summer! What are the odds of all that?!?

To end the weekend Monnie and I took in the SuperBowl at Becky and Shane's in Janesville. One of the more exciting SuperBowl games in recent memory. Thank goodness the right team came out on top! I'm sure we Packer fans will be hearing quite enough from the Bear fans this off season, at least this way they can't say they won it all!

Composing Ring Tones

2007-01-19T12:08:00.000-05:00

I finally needed to get a new phone... the old one was long overdue for replacement. I had actually been using Monica's old phone for the past 6ish months and it was just finally too much for it.

I had been trying to hold out on the new phone to see what was announced at MacWorld. Sure enough, the iPhone was announced but the pricetag and the network requirement scared me off - maybe I'll jump in on version 2.0.

Anyway, the phone I ended up getting is nothing spectacular. Things like playing mp3s and having a camera are really not important to me - so I just got a standard basic phone. One thing I discovered after I bought it though is the ability to "compose your own ringtones".

Keep in mind this thing has terrible sound quality and the interface to compose is (on quick glance) pretty miserable if you really wanted to do anything cool. HOWEVER, it is perfect for something that I really really want - super ultra completely totally basic sounds. My personal preferences are always to stay away from any kind of unique and cool ringtone - I always end up going with "ring" which will be some sort of imitation of the sound your home phone makes (or made in 1995 anyway).

So, here are the ringtones I have composed and implemented on my phone:

g2 - (the note "G" for what I believe is a "half note" is set to play when I have voicemail)

a4 ("A" for a quarter note to be played for a new text message)

now get ready for the complicated one:
d4g4 (two notes in succession! - for an incoming call)

You can imagine trying to *really* compose something with that type of entry method!

Yes, I know I live dangerously. This really does give me exactly what I want though - short, succinct, boring sounds that don't stand out in anyway whatsoever.

Help me out with a work question...

2007-01-15T10:32:00.000-05:00

If you have a minute, give me your opinion on this as a comment below (or email me at halbergj @ gmail) - it'd be REALLY appreciated.

As most of you probably know I work for a website called Seeking Alpha. Our most popular (and free) service we offer is the ability to receive our posts (you configure which you want) in your email box. Many people like it as it saves the time of checking the site frequently while also ensuring that you don't miss anything that you're interested in.

Since all of our content is free without any account setup there are really only a few reasons to actually sign up and give us your email address. 65% of our users signup because they want to receive email. 2% because they only want to comment. and the remaining 33% because... we don't know.

Our assumption is that the majority of that 33% were looking to receive email and we failed to provide it to them. They were lost somewhere in the process because we just didn't make things obvious enough - or a link we send them didn't work - or something along those lines. We're also sure that some amount of those users signed up "just because" - maybe they wanted to see if they got anything extra for doing it (they don't) or they just were really bored and did it for entertainment (sad statement on their social life!).

Our dilemma is that adding all these people as customers of our (free) service would mean a lot to us. It would boost our traffic and just make us feel like we didn't let them down when they were looking for our service.

Finally I get to the question I need your input on:

We are considering sending all of these people an email letting them know:

1. We are very sorry if you're receiving this email and don't want it. The letter would make every effort to let people know that we are not trying to spam them, but are trying to give them a service we believe they wanted in the first place. The letter would include a personal email address and phone number - something a spammer would obviously never do, as well as a single-click link to say "I never want to hear from you guys again".

2. The letter would let them know that we are going to begin sending them one email per day containing the headlines from our site. They will never receive more than one email per day and (again) with one click they can always opt out.

Pros and Cons:

Pro side for us: We get a bunch of new subscribers. We would, of course, expect many of them to immediately opt out - but we certainly would gain at least some of these people. After "the dust has settled" this would also answer a question we've been spending A LOT of time thinking about: Has poor usability been causing a very large percentage of our users to not get the service they desire? ... we think that looking at the percentage of users who immediately unsubscribe vs. continue to use the service will go a long way to answering that question.

The pro from the users side: If you are someone who genuinely wanted this service but didn't get it hooked up the first time - you'll being receiving one email per day that you consider valuable and you can go out and change your settings if you like (to only receive a subset of headlines for example).

The down side from the users side: If you really didn't want to hear from us: you received email from us (probably 2) that you didn't want. You may consider this 'spam' as you didn't specifically request this email. If you do feel this way it will probably be compounded by the fact that you've been signed up to receive one of these everyday.

The down side for us: Some people may feel as described in the last paragraph.

A few final puzzle pieces:

Every person we send to will have entered their email address into our site at some point. At that point they received an email saying they needed to confirm: and they DID then confirm (they "double opted in"). So, they DID quite deliberately "sign up for Seeking Alpha" - They just never actually utilized any of our services after that point.

Every person we send to will have never subscribed (we will not send to anyone who has subscribed at some point but unsubscribed).

What do you think? I am REALLY interested in hearing what everyone has to say about this...

** Update: I'm going to post comments I receive via email here anonymously. Obviously, if you give me anything that makes you recognizable I'll either omit it or clear it with you first... just want to get the conversation here going a bit though.

Blog Happenings

2007-01-02T21:13:00.000-05:00

First off, there are a bunch of posts that went up tonight for you to check out:
1. Baby Slavik
2. Engaged
3. Happy Holidays

And there are a couple other changes on this blog that you may notice.

1. Links on the right. A little re-organization and cleanup. I think the only ones removed are 'inactive' - let me know if I removed you and shouldn't have.

2. The calendar link on the right. If you've ever looked at my calendar here before you've noticed it was formatted terribly. Now it's about a million times better - check it out.

3. Cleaner "Blog Archive" links on the right (which you'll never use).

4. Complete list of the "labels" that I've ever used. This you may actually use - for example, if you were to want to know what I've ever said about the brewers here you could search this page right now for "brewers". When you find the link in the labels section you could click there to see all of them. Useful? Mildly.

Hope everyone had a great holiday season and Santa was good to you all.

Happy Holidays!

2007-01-02T20:04:00.000-05:00

A great holiday season is about to wrap up here. Monnie and I made it to many great parties this Christmas season.

Leading it off was the Halberg Christmas, on Saturday 12/23 , with my grandparents in Ripon - it was great to see my grandparents along with my Uncle Dan and Uncle Roger and family. Claire and Sheila made it back to WI in time for the even too!

That night we hosted Carissa and Niki who were in town for the holiday. We finally got to check out Sardine and it lived up to expectations.

The next morning 12/24 it my parents hosted a Christmas brunch featuring some early present opening and delicious food. Monnie and I got the "DVD upconvertor" that we've been wanting ever since getting our new TV (as well as the chord for the thing which somehow costs almost as much as the unit itself!). We also took home some really fun Pez dispensors - mine featured the cast of "Orange County Choppers" (and it looks like they returned the favor).

Next up was Milwaukee to celebrate with Monnie's family. Monnie's brothers joined us at their parents house for Christmas Eve for some low key fun. The next morning after mass we were all back in the living room to see what Santa had brought us. I'm not going to list everything out here but Santa was very good to me this year. Some magazine subs, a Rollie Fingers autographed pennant (!), new snow pants, gift cards, and a new Sudoku travel game were among the highlights.

After all that Christmas fun it was back to work for a few days before heading up to Green Bay 12/29 to see cousin Timmy and the Michigan Tech Huskies were in town to take on the Phoenix of UWGB. It was a hotly contested game but late in the second half GB was able to pull ahead for the victory. Tim played a great game though - leading the team in scoring, rebounding, and assists as well as making several key defense plays including a rejection that landed in the first row of the fans! This also gave us a chance to see a lot of the Fitzgerald relatives that we hadn't seen over Christmastime: John, Kate, my parents, Sheila, grandma, Martha and JR, and loads of kids made for a great group!

From there it was straight to the UP for our annual New Years trip at Powerdorn Mountain. This year we had a much smaller group (Nate and Ericka, Geer, Jon Palmer, Monnie, and I) which was a welcome change from the last few years. Having a bigger group is tons of fun but sometimes it's nice to scale it back a bit. Our first day the conditions were nice - they had a few inches of snow the night before and the hill was in surprisingly good shape given the complete lack of snow and mild weather that we've had this year. The next day was a bit rainy but that didn't ruin the fun - we just took in a bit more football that normal. Great times and I'm already looking forward to next year.

After the 4.5 hour trip we went to pick up Howie from his vacation destination: Burlington, WI. Howie spent his New Years at the home of Myra and Darryl - some other WAAGR members. He had an AWESOME time there with 7 other dogs that either belong to, are being fostered by, or were just visiting their place in the country. Howie got some much needed socialization and exposure to some other dogs and got a very good report as a well behaved puppy. He sure is tired today though!

Today we went over to my parents for lunch to see my brother who has made it into town. Mike had to work (in Maine) over Christmas and wasn't able to make it back until now. Great to see him and we'll still have one final Christmas event when we get together later this week for dinner and to exchange gifts.

Wow! I knew we had been really busy over the holidays but now that I've written it all down - that's a lot of fun and travel! Some fun coming up soon but we're also looking forward to a little downtime here to catch up!

Engaged!

2007-01-02T19:55:00.000-05:00

Congrats to Hobber and Jen! Tom popped the question 12/27 in Saint Louis (where Tom recently relocated for work) and to quote him "amazingly, she accepted".

These two are a great couple and Monnie and I were really happy to hear they've decided to tie the knot!

Baby Slavik

2007-01-02T19:43:00.000-05:00

This is pretty late but welcome to Baby Slavik! Evey Ryan Slavik was born 2AM 12/17/06 - 20.5 inches - 6lbs 6ozs. Baby, Mom, and Dad are all home and well.

If you're curious about the name: "Ryan" is Marni's maiden name and "Evey" is Paul's middle name, so the name was a natural fit.

Monnie and I are super excited about the new addition and can't wait to meet her! There are rumors of a WI-tour this summer and hopefully Madison will be one of the stops.

P.S. No, Paul's middle name isn't "Evey"

More Cowbell!

2006-12-07T17:14:00.000-05:00

A bit back, local know-it-all Tom Geer recruited me to be part of a group of bloggers at More Cowbell! A blog dedicated to music - show & cd reviews, general thoughts, and the like.

We've been at it since early November so there's a decent amount over there to check out already, but I wanted to save the announcement here until I could combine it with the announcement that the content will also be featured on madison.com. Yes, the site that brought you Nutritilicious will also be hosting our content.

We plan on keeping the posting our content at both locations. morecowbell.info may someday have more bells and whistles, but that remains to be seen. For the time being, you can get your RSS feed here, so make sure to add that to your reader.

Should be fun!

Howie!

2006-12-07T15:26:00.000-05:00

Monica and I are the proud new foster parents of Howie, a 7 month old Golden Retriever from WAAGR. Why "foster parents" you say? Well, we haven't technically "adopted" Howie.

I think when people hear "dog rescue" they think "humane society" and then have visions of a bunch of cages in a big room where there are all kinds of dogs. The way WAAGR works though is that when dogs come in they are immediately put in foster homes, which are just normal peoples houses. Normally these people will have a dog or two that are "their's" - meaning that they have adopted. and then another couple that they are just fostering.

After the dog has lived with them a while they have a pretty good idea of what is going on with him/her. So, they can tell prospective adopters: he's a great dog but he really doesn't like kids - or whatever the case may be. Hopefully they can give a report of "world's greatest dog" but if the dog really isn't great with kids... you're not doing anybody a favor keeping that a secret. Basically, the process makes it much more likely that the home the dog eventually ends up in - will be a good fit.

Of course, the other part I'm leaving out is that often dogs need to be in foster homes because they have some larger (health) issue. The rescue doesn't want to give someone their first ever dog when it has some serious concerns that need to be addressed.

Anyway, all that explanation behind us - Howie!

Howie has been great so far. Quite the bundle of energy, but I think he's starting to get used to his new surroundings already. He was given up by a family in Beloit who just didn't have the time for a puppy (side note: puppies have a lot of energy. This may seem obvious but there seem to be a lot of people that this is a surprise to).

We'll be crate-training him, so he will sleep and spend some day time in there. He'll also be getting a bunch of walks and a lot more playtime than he was getting in Beloit... and there's a certain appointment scheduled for next week that may CUT into his energy level a bit.

We're really looking forward to getting to know Howie better and if he plays his cards right, maybe he'll get permanent resident status in the not too distant future!

Las Vegas

2006-11-21T23:00:00.000-05:00

We just got back from another great trip to Vegas. This time the group consisted of Aly (who lives out there), Ericka, Nate, Monica, and I. We stayed at the Mirage which was a small step up from my last trip out there.

One of the trip's highlights was the new Cirque du Soleil show, "Love". This was another great show - a bit different than the other Cirque shows I've seen. Lots of acrobatics, but definitely not as much as O and Mystere - equally strange but in a much more familiar way (if that makes any sense). We all really enjoyed it and I would definitely recommend checking it out.

Monnie has written up some in depth coverage of our trip, so I'll cut mine a bit short here.

I will say though that my initial search for a link to the Cirque show was just to enter "Love" into Google. #1 on the hit list was "The Love Calculator" which I had to check out.

Looks like Monnie and I are not exactly a sure thing. The site says (based strictly on your names) that we have a 44% chance of love. The description following says that we have a chance but that it will probably take "a lot of work". It also cautions that no matter how much work we put in - it can't guarantee anything.

Of course, it didn't surprise me to find that Kevin (Burg) and Monnie would have a 91% chance. He's quite the ladies man, I bet I could put kevin and about anyone in there and it would be 90%

Rob & Emily Are Married!

2006-11-15T21:26:00.000-05:00

Last weekend Monnie and I were in Milwaukee for a weekend of fun surrounding Rob & Emily's wedding.

After arriving Thursday night, Rob and I spent Friday working remotely from the lounge of the Pfister. Why the Pfister? It's the preferred remote workplace for the distinguished wireless internet user, of course... oh, and because our significant others were having their nails done at the salon there.

Friday night was the rehearsal (at the Pfister, which was the site of both wedding and reception), followed by dinner at Coquette Cafe. I would highly recommend the Coquette by the way - if you're looking for spot in the 3rd Ward.

Saturday was a great day. The guys watched football in Rob's room all day before the nights festivities. Everything seemed to go REALLY well - the ceremony was very nice. Justice Prosser (Rob worked for him at the state Supreme Court) officiated a very fun ceremony - a little humor mixed in with your dose of serious is always a good thing.

The speeches and the dance were great too - Monnie and Becca's maids of honor speech was a big hit and everyone had an awesome time!

Congrats kids!

(click the picture for plenty more)

Canadian Air Force

2006-11-13T19:25:00.000-05:00

Our yard has become incredibly popular.

Welcome to the 19th century

2006-11-08T08:48:00.000-05:00

Not a great day for Wisconsin. Many/most of my candidates did make it through yesterday but both referendums (that mattered) passed, neither of which I supported.

I guess my personal viewpoint is that the death penalty referendum passing is "unfortunate". I really don't support it, but at least this is only "advisory". Meaning that the governor and others would still need to actually approve in order for things to change. To be honest, I haven't done a whole lot of checking on how likely this is, but I'm assuming that Doyle (who won by a landslide in the end) won't go for it.

The real reason it's embarrassing to live in Wisconsin this morning is the amendment to our constitution approved yesterday.

"Marriage. Shall section 13 of article XIII of the constitution be created to provide that only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state and that a legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized in this state?"

It's not exactly a smooth read. It certainly could be less wordy and more clear, perhaps (as a friend suggested yesterday) it should have read: "Do you want discrimination to be written into our constitution?", but that can't account for the incredible margin this passed by: 59%-41%.

Yes, that's right: It's the 21st century and we're voting in overwhelming numbers to add blatant discrimination to the constitution. I guess it just wasn't illegal enough already.

At least it looks like AZ got it right.

Movie Night

2006-11-02T23:12:00.000-05:00

Monnie and I saw The Departed tonight (you can see the trailer at that link). We both thought it was awesome and definitely recommend it. Of course, you may not want to take the kids: it's a gang movie through and through - crude, politically incorrect (especially at the beginning), and people dropping left and right.

There aren't many movies with a lineup quite like this: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, and Alec Baldwin. Directed by Martin Scorsese.

If you're in the mood for an action flick: it's a great one and I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Rusty

2006-10-31T16:51:00.000-05:00

Our dog Rusty had to be put to sleep after a very fast-acting tumor began to bleed on his spleen late last week. We both made a close attachment with Rusty the first time we ever met him - we were sitting on the floor of our living room, talking with Dave (who runs WAAGR) - Rusty immediately came over, put his head in our laps and made up our minds in about 5 seconds.

He really was the perfect dog for Monnie and I. His laid back personality was a great fit for our style as was his love of tennis (or at least tennis balls). We've really been missing him the last couple days - expecting to see him peering out the sliding glass door when we get home, chasing the ball around the front yard, or having him hang out with me at work all day.

We're so glad that we had the chance to unite for a short while and give him a good home before the end. We just can't help but selfishly feel a bit robbed that the time had to be so short... we're really going to miss him!

Vermont

2006-10-26T21:55:00.000-04:00

My trip is nearing the end. I'm here at Paul & Marni's in Burlington, VT until I catch the bus back to Boston tomorrow morning.

Our day started today with Marni and I grabbing some breakfast (Eggs Benedict of course) while Paul slept (if you want me to visit you - apparently you need to be a doctor working night shift).

After that, Marni was off to work and I got a chance to drive around Burlington a bit.

Paul woke up a bit later and we were off to Waterbury for some disc golf - and then to see Stowe. The disc golf course was very cool, although the results (a tie and a loss) could have been better.

On the way home we stopped for a RIDICULOUSLY good beer. If you're ever in this neck of the woods, definitely check out The Alchemist - specifically the "Heady Topper", a double IPA was one of the best I've had.

Back to Boston

2006-10-23T00:30:00.000-04:00

After a Great trip to Maine, I've returned back to Boston. The bus trip back went very well - my friend Dion picked me up right at the airport (just a few minutes from the hotel) and everything went very smoothly.

The hotel the conference is at (the Westin in Boston) is very nice and I'm all settled. I'll be covering the conference this week for ajaxian.com - basically that means writing a few blog posts and flying/staying on their dime... not a bad deal at all!

Not too much exciting to report - pretty nerdy of course... you'll probably only get a post tomorrow if I do something other than watch presentations!

Hiking Around Maine

2006-10-22T10:01:00.000-04:00

Yes, I've decided to stray from the "Big Trip - Day X" naming scheme. (you're welcome)

Today, I woke up with some terrible lower back pain. Not a good thing for the day you're scheduled to go hike up a mountain. After a check of the weather forecast (it looked terrible) Mike and I decided to go for it!

We drove up to Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. The drive was very nice - many lakes, big hills, a few legit mountains mixed in, and of course - as seems to be the law in Maine: MANY Dunkin Donuts. I had thought that there was a ridiculously high quantity of the chain in Portland itself, but apparently they are even in the small towns:

When we reached Mt Washington we found that the road to the top was closed. The guy told us it was due to several feet of snow on parts of the road, -10F temps, and wind gusts over 120mph. We did have a Chevy Lumina, but I guess they still wouldn't let us through.

We ended up having a very nice trip - a couple of very nice (and thankfully short) hikes and some great pictures.

When we got back to Portland we got some _great_ chowder down at Gilberts Chowder House. I then got the chance to hang out with Claire while the rents went out for the evening. We had a very nice evening - read some books, watched some Dora, and drew some pictures.

The Big Trip - Day 2

2006-10-20T22:14:00.000-04:00

Another great day today, although this time the weather didn't cooperate quite as well. I don't think the sun managed to get through at all today but we still managed to have a great time.

I'll be putting all kinds of pictures from this trip here btw.

After sleeping in (which was great!) I awoke to find a baby in the house. Rufus, a friend (of Mike and Sheila)'s kid, was over for a bit. He was a good guy - no pic to pass along, but a big head of blonde hair. His favorite (and only) word is "daddy" and he employs it the same was smurfs use the word "smurf". Do you like blocks? Daddy. How about we go outside? Daddy. -- You get the picture. Anyway, while the one word vocabulary is cute to any adult (except perhaps his mother), Claire was not as big a fan. She definitely grasps that the baby can't really communicate but was still getting frustrated when, on the way to breakfast, all Rufus wanted to talk about was his Dad. "I'm not your daddy!" she would yell with a very frustrated look on her face.

"Breakfast" (in quotes since it occured at 130PM) was great - Becky's (careful that has audio) was great! I got to help Claire with her french toast - partly grape jellied - part strawberry - partly orange marmalade, part syrup, and of course: part everything. Good times!

We did a bit of shopping (I love shopping) and later a lobster dinner! Mike and I went to pick the beasts up - they were very very easy to prepare (which was a fun experience in itself) and they were uber-tasty! Here, you see me with a manical look on my face - looking forward to the finished product.

Unfortunately, one got loose after I had cut the rubber bands on it's pinchers and it got Mike on the nose:

Looks like a windy and chilly day tomorrow so we'll see whether we get to go with our "hike a mountain" plan or not - something tells me we'll find something good to do!

The Big Trip - Day 1

2006-10-20T00:35:00.000-04:00

Day 1 of my big trip is complete.

The whole trip will take from Thursday 10/19 through to Friday 10/27 and will take me from Madison to Boston to Portland (ME) to Boston to Burlington (VT) to Boston to Madison.

Things got started off when my wonderful mother work up early (445AM!) to give me a ride to the airport - thanks Mom! This marked the first time that I was allowed to bud in line due to being a tad late in an airport line. I really wasn't that late though, I bet that if I hadn't budded I would have still been 15 minutes early, but when they offered... I definitely accepted!

The flight from Madison to Detroit ended up being late as we had to circle a while due to cloudiness - you may think that the aviation has evolved to the point where landing during overcast weather is possible... apparently you would be wrong. Anyway, this meant that I got off our plane at 8:58 and my next flight left at 8:48. Lucky for me half the airport was in the same shoes so they held the plane!

The bus from Logan (Boston airport) to Portland Maine was absolutely as pain free as Mike and Sheila had told me. A two hour drive filled with sudoko (my parents addicted me to it last weekend) went very quickly and cost just $20 - not bad!

The day was still young though - after hanging out with Sheila and Claire a bit Mike got home - or actually "woke up" would be the better wording since he was in his room up to that point. We then headed out to check out Portland Head lighthouse - VERY pretty... just like the postcards. As Mike says "by far the most famous thing in Maine".

I happened to be in town on basketball night so we got to go play a bit with some of Mike's buddies. 4-4 full court and a final 3-3 half made for a really fun time, but I definitely haven't been around the basketball enough lately. Lots of mistakes and missed gimmes.

The night ended with Mike and I playing some foosball - I had him on the ropes but he eventually took down the evening series 5-4. We've decided to keep a running lifetime series total from here on out.

Oh, and actually that didn't end my night. I still had a bit of life in me so I decided to start watching the Lost Season 1 DVDs that my lovely wife recently gifted me. Several of our good friends have been telling us a great show for long enough that we've finally given in. Very good to figure out some of these beginning details that I've been missing. Seems like it's going to be a great show.

Cousin Tim

2006-10-13T11:50:00.000-04:00

My cousin Tim (Johnson) was killed in a car accident last Monday night in Boston (he had fairly recently moved out there). Obviously, this is terribly bad news - he'll be missed by so many people both in and out of the Halberg family.

I can't think of a single bad memory I have of Tim. Always kind, understanding, and patient with his younger cousins.

I remember seeing his array of skiing medals - won by slalom racing against the clock at various UP hills. Specifically I remember being really impressed and having him play it down: "anyone can win those"... well, so far I have zero!

One Christmas, he received a football game for the Nintendo (I bet Mike remembers this too). The game was relegated to the TV in grandma and grandpas bedroom - the one in the main room was reserved for watching real football and, as I recall, a ridiculously large amount of The Weather Channel. What I really remember though is watching Tim (he was quite good) and getting a chance myself (and being quite bad). At first this doesn't really seem like much - but I think the fact that a young Tim allowed a little cousin to play HIS game on the same day he got it is really impressive.

He was an incredible asset in snowball wars. From tactical preparation, to fort (and tunnel) building, to the actual throwing and combat: he was regularly voted MVP. Often he was our only line of defense against the impending army of uncles!

and I remember seeing him at a Packer game a year or two ago. What are the odds of actually seeing someone you know in a stadium that size, but there he was! He was there with his nephew Zack (I'm not sure how these things work - Zack is my second cousin?). A Packers jersey and a huge smile. That's the way that I see him when I conjure him up in my mind.

A great guy and a great loss. We'll miss you Tim!

StL

2006-10-01T23:43:00.000-04:00

Another baseball trip in the books. This time Geer and I were joined by Jen (a historic first female appearance for our trips) and Hobber to check out St Louis new park. Hobber just moved down to StLouis a month or so ago for work so we had a great excuse to head down for a couple games - a night on the town - and a visit to check out his new pad.

We really liked St Louis new version of Busch stadium - giving it much higher reviews than the stadiums we saw on our earlier trip this year. They did a great job of keeping some of the theme of the old stadium while really updating it. I am a big fan of several decks stacked (vs. a couple very deep decks). The look is nice and (I think) it makes for some better seats with fewer people missing out on every fly ball because they're staring up at the seats above them.

The fans in St Louis were very into the games. Of course, that could be because they needed to win to clinch a playoff berth (which they did in both games we saw). A few observations on St Louis fans that I think are truly unique to this stadium:

1. We saw no other Brewers fans. I think at the Friday night game we literally saw one other Brewers fan. Saturday we saw a few more but still: way under what you would expect to see just about anywhere else.

2. An incredibly high percentage of St Louis fans were wearing Cardinals gear - or at least red. In other words: there weren't a lot of people that just decided to head to the game in the clothes that they had worn to work that day.

3. For a crowd that is SO into baseball (and they are)... they really chose strange times to do the wave. Basically, they sat there and intently watched each pitch intently. Then, when a really big moment came: they ignored the game and started the wave. It was truly strange. I'm pretty anti-wave, but totally understand that most people find baseball really boring and the wave helpsm so... go for it. but it just doesn't make sense to only do it when the game is at it's highest point.

Mad Props

2006-10-01T23:32:00.000-04:00

Way to go Becky (and Shane)!

Our friend Becky had an incredible outing at the marathon in Milwaukee today, taking 1st!!! It's hard to do much better than that!

Husband/coach/co-runner Shane did an awesome job too! Turning in a 19th place performance in the guys division (20th overall :))!

That link above is to nutitilicous which has some other good links, details, and pictures. Shoot over there quick and leave a little note for Becky!

Rusty Gets Cranky, Fox Gets Gelato, and Rob's Mom Gets Famous

2006-09-18T22:03:00.000-04:00

Our action-packed Saturday got started with a car ride over to Milwaukee's Enders Park for a fund raiser. While the subject of the fund raiser was the park itself, the slant taken was a series of dog events. As part of the dog rescue we are members of (WAAGR - cute currently available dogs here) we helped man a booth. Basically, there were a series of booths - vets, pet stores, photo takers, stuff like that: and us.

Rusty was not a huge fan of the concept. As many of you know he is really good with all people. Completely trusting - very friendly - all that good stuff. Other dogs though... not the biggest fan. His biggest issues seem to come with those larger than him but really - he is a pretty big fan of everyone just minding their own business. As the day went on he got a bit snappier - of course overall he was completely fine: I think we all do a bit of growling after a long day somewhere that we really would rather not be.

Rusty's trip through the obstacle course:

After a nice visit and a bit of the Badger football game with Monnie's parents we were off to Menomonee Falls to meet Annabelle Fox (mike and steph also attended) for Gelato. Seeing Annabelle was great (mike and steph also fine) and we got to enjoy our ice cream along with the conclusion of the Badger game.

Our night concluded with a very nice "couples wedding shower" for Emily and Rob, hosted by the Mooneys in Whitefish Bay. The evening was perfectly executed - great food, live music, and of course: wonderful company made for a really great time. During the course of a conversation with Rob, Rob's mother (Valerie), and I - it was brought up that I have a blog. While the conversation consisted mainly of Valerie and I dividing up Rob and Emilys future millions - we also discussed how blogs make instant celebrities of their subjects. So, I'd like to introduce Americas newest superstars: Valerie, Rob, and I. We'll try to remember you little people that made us famous once we get to the top :)

Work

2006-09-13T11:27:00.000-04:00

I know not a lot of you don't really know what I do at work each day (other than intervals of surfing the internet followed by naps on the futon), but that's only mostly right! There are big happenings at Seeking Alpha these days.

We recently announced a partenership with the world's largest Financial information provider, Yahoo! Finance. This comes on the heels of more limited partnerships with Google Finance in July and Barron's Online in August. Our content will now be presented right alongside more traditional analysis and coverage on the site.

As you may expect, there are mixed reactions to the idea of financial blog content being presented on equal footing with more traditional industry analysis. From our side, it's obvious: Our content is generated by real industry experts - those with a very real financial interest in doing their homework and knowing their stuff. It's all moderated and edited, and gets the voice of the "real industry professionals" out. From the other side, it's equally obvious: "industry expert" is not always the same as "industry analyst" and therefore should not appear on equal footing.

Whichever side of the discussion you come down on: This is obviously very large and good news for Seeking Alpha, but it's also a pretty big win for bloggers in general. Completely free financial news and analysis is now not only available on Seeking Alpha but also on the world's largest financial stage.

I know the majority of this blogs readers don't consider themselves 'financially savy' (and I'm with you!). If you're interested in checking out what exactly it is that I/we do though: I recommend checking out our Sound Money Tips site. It's less "financial analysis" and more "everyday ideas" - recent topics include Lowering Pet Supply Costs, Cleaning Your Car Cheaply, and Discounts on School/Office Supplies. You can just check out the site or take it one more step and sign up to receive the posts in your email or RSS reader. Let me know if you need any help and Enjoy!

Rainer Maria, Epic Hero, and The Box Social

2006-09-08T12:14:00.000-04:00

Geer, Brandon, and I took in a great show at the Annex (home of the worlds most obnoxious webpage) last night.

We were there to see Rainer Maria, after being quite happy with their show at Lollapalooza. They didn't dissapoint, putting on another very good live show. Aftwards, I bought the most recent CD and am listening to it this morning - good, but I'd have to say I much prefer them live.

While Rainer Maria put on a show that was exactly what I was looking for - the big story of the night were the performances delivered by the openers.

The Box Social (from "two blocks away") put on a great show. They had some really good stuff but just lacked some of the polish that they'll need to take the next step. It was a good show though - the three of us were all pretty impressed.

Next up was Epic Hero (from a suburb of St.Paul... Minneapolis, I think). They were great. The lead had a great voice and their all around talent level was quite high. I know that Brandon (and maybe Geer too) actually thought they were better than Rainer Maria. I'm not ready to say that but as we discussed during the show: they really had a lot of good stuff - if they just had a couple of "big hits" to go along with it, they could definitely sell some discs.

All three great bands for $11 + the place isn't crowded and is small (v.important to me, I find). Madison has so many great shows for cheap these days. Looking out even just a couple months there are so many that I want to see! Really looking forward to those!

Catching Up

2006-09-06T21:54:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I've posted. Let's see... what have you all been missing?

Last weekend was Matt and Amber's wedding. Everything (from my perspective) went off very well - it was a gorgeous day for an outside wedding - the food, band, and company were great as well. In addition to our common Madison friends I got to see a few friends that I had met, worked with, and in one case last seen at UWW tennis camp some 8 years ago (*side note: 8-9 YEARS AGO!?!). The day was great and Monnie and I are very happy for the two of them!

The big news with the Fox's is that Steph will be taking over the lead posting role on their blog. This could very well mean that we see more than a post a month over there! ...not that I have much footing for a complaint lately. Oh, they also had a baby.

Monnie is doing well and is really enjoying her new blog on madison.com, Nutritilicious. There's nothing better for a blog than comments so make sure to leave one over there - even if it's just "man that food looks good"!

Last Friday we had a great time at the Brewers game with both sets of parents. Of course, the Brewers continued their losing ways -- but it was a fun time none the less and really a pretty good game... just the wrong guys coming out on top.

The fantasy baseball playoffs have started. I am coming into it with a fairly strong team but it's not looking good in the first few days of the week-long first round. Fantasy football has started up just in time to relieve baseball. I am pretty happy with my draft, so we'll just hope I can improve on a dismal last season.

Tons of birthdays this month. Happy Birthday to Matt (couple days ago), Marni (today), Aly (tomorrow), Claire (Friday), Me (not for a couple weeks), and Sheila (not for a couple days after mine). It sure seems like I'm missing a couple still too! Who is it? (and sorry!)

Well, that's probably about enough for now - looking forward to Gerrard and Karen's wedding over in Milwaukee this weekend!

Good News Trumps Good News

2006-08-25T08:41:00.000-04:00

As of 6PM last night the big news was that Monnie has a new blog on Madison's favorite website! Monnie will be doing a featured blog there (woohoo! the right side of the screen!) with her cohert Becky, called Nutirilitious. It's awesome that she has a featured blog (there are only 7!) on such a popular site! Congrats Monnie!

And then there were three... the other (even bigger!) news of last night was the arrival of the worlds newest Fox! Annabelle Mary Fox was born last night in Brookfield, WI. Congratulations to Mike and Steph on their first!

Lollapalology

2006-08-07T22:33:00.000-04:00

This is my apology for the crazy-huge posts I am about to put up about Lollapalooza.

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3

I started off meaning to only post about the good bands... then realized that there were like 5 bands in all three days combined that I didn't think were great - and several of those I wanted to talk about because I expected more!

Anyway, I imagine you'll either skip them completely or just do the old "Ctrl-F" to search for whatever band you're wondering about... that's fine though: enjoy!

Lollapalooza Day 3

2006-08-07T22:03:00.000-04:00

The first act we saw Sunday (Day 3) was The Hold Steady - a solid start.

The next one was a really nice surpirse: Ben Kweller put on a great show that I think we were all very happy with. What's with the Aussie's at Lollapalooza? They all put on great shows!

Andrew Bird was one show that I really thought was going to sneak up on me. I thought this could be the one that really put on a great show out of "nowhere"... not quite. It was a solid show but I think he would be much much better suited to a smaller venue.

Next for sadly the biggest disapointment of the weekend: The Shins. I am definitely a fan of this band so I really thought I was in for a treat. The worst sound of the weekend (by the way, the rest of the weekend they did an INCREDIBLE job with making every band sound good) combined with what I think just wasn't that great of a live show really was disapointing.

The last two bands of the weekend were two of my favorite shows. Wilco owed me a good show. I am a pretty big fan but the only other show I had seen was quite disapointing. This one was a completely different story though - I REALLY was happy with the show and now I can happily say: they are very good live.

And, of course, how could we talk about Day 3 without talking about the festivals biggest act and closer: the Red Hot Chili Peppers. These guys put on a really great show and I am very glad to have been able to see them.

All-in-all Lollapalooza was an absolutely great time and I would definitely go again. The back-to-back grade A bands for three straight days was just as incredible as it seems like it should be! My expectations were definitely exceeded: thanks for organizing Brandon!

Lollapalooza Day 2

2006-08-07T21:25:00.000-04:00

After spending the night at The Congress we were back at Grant Park for Day 2.

Just like the day before, Day 2 was great right off the bat.

The first band was one of the biggest surprises of the weekend. Rainer Maria left us wishing they had more than a 30 minute timeslot.

Nada Surf was up next - Another band that I wanted to see more than the rest of our crew and I wasn't disapointed. Not a 'blow your socks off' show but I was quite happy with it.

The Go! Team and Coheed And Cambria were both... eh.

And then, my friends, it was time for Wolfmother. This was THE best band of Lollapalooza. Their show was absolutely incredible - I can't believe they had to play an early afternoon timeslot. We were all looking forward to this one but Geer had been building it up all weekend. Enough that I was kind of worried that he was making too much of it... wrong, he was right on: this show was unbelievable. One of the best I've ever seen.

Gnarls Barkley put on a good show but immediately after Wolfmother - they didn't really get a fair shake. They did have the big honor of the weekend though as their monster hit "Crazy" was covered by at least 3 other bands.

Another one of the most surprising bands of the weekend were up next. The Dresden Dolls put on a very good show.

Two very good bands that I've been wanting to had the slots leading up to the closer:
The Flaming Lips and The New Pornographers both put on very good shows that I was happy with. The New Pornographers were a band that I was really expecting quite a bit of - and they delivered. Great shows.

I'd say that the Day 2 closer (Kanye West) was disapointing... that may not be completely fair since I don't think I really gave him a fair shot... but hey, it's still true that I ended up leaving it early - so...

That's Day 2 I guess

Lollapalooza Day 1

2006-08-07T19:37:00.000-04:00

I had an awesome weekend at Lollapalooza, in Chicago. Dan McNeil, Tom Geer, Brandon Vloch, Jesse Consolatti and Joe (Brandon's brother in law) made the trip and none of us left disapointed - great music all weekend and the whole experience really did vastly exceed my expectations.

This post is only going to do Day1

Sound Team - A good start to the weekend. A solid band who (now that I look) has a pretty cool website for you to check out, including a recital with some magazine cutouts of themselves.

Next up were The Subways. These guys were awesome. I didn't think that I'd be seeing one of my favorite bands of the whole weekend at noon on the first day (this show ended up 4th in my overall rankings). The lead guitar and vocals was very animated - jumping up on the base drum and jumping off and just generally everywhere. The bass player was also all over the place. She was basically unwilling to forgo dancing just because she had to play at the same time. Definitely check out this website too - the videos for two of my favorite songs are readily available on the front page. They're also listed on the Lollapalooza site as one of the "Six Bands Who Might Oneday Headline This Gig"

Aqualung was up next. I had seen Aqualung before (opening for David Gray) and am going to see them again coming up (opening for The Fray) and they're 'fine'. I guess the best way for me to describe them is that they're a great band to open for David Gray.

Then came a show that I was definitely excited to see. The Eels were one of the bands this weekend that I'm sure I liked more than anyone else in our group. They sported a variety of costumes - the lead had a WWII fighter pilot look while another guy sported a Security outfit and a crazy demenor - karatee chopping and speaking jibberish up there: which really suits the Eels about perfectly!

Then on to The Editors and Umphrey's McGee - finally a couple shows that were good but not great so I could lump them together and make this Day 1 post less than 80000 words long. Both of these are big up and coming bands though - I'm sure we'll see much more of them coming up soon.

Next for me was Iron & Wine. This show I was by myself sitting on the grass for a good portion of. In my opinion - probably pretty much the perfect way to see them. Very laid back - very enjoyable.

Next I had a tough decision. Do I see My Morning Jacket, who I really like and have a couple of my favorite songs from a year or two back? Or do I see The Raconteurs - with Jack White and a first (last?) CD like there's - this one is an obviously good show. Well, Brandon, Joe and I went to check out My Morning Jacket... probably a mistake. They were fine but boy am I glad that we made it over for the second half of Raconeurs - clearly my second favorite show of the fest.

The night ended with two good bands that sounded just like they should have: no better and no worse. The Violent Femmes (they bring all their equipment on the bus) and Death Cab for Cutie. The Femmes are a band that I really had to see - I've listened to them for so long I don't know how this is the first time I've seen them. Death Cab was one that I expected a little too much of, I think. They put on a good show and I'm glad that I got to see it, but I didn't think it was one of the better ones of the weekend.

So, that's DAY 1 ONLY! I'm going to definitely seperate these out into different posts.

Fishin and Movin

2006-08-01T21:20:00.000-04:00

I got an invite to head out fishing with (Mike) Gengler on Lake Michigan Monday night. Monday was another incredibly hot day but once we got out on the water the temperature was perfect.

We ended up catching our 10 fish (all salmon) limit in about an hour-and-a-half. Incredibly, almost all of them came in on the same line.

I'm thinking about getting this picture screenprinted on a t-shirt to wear when we go out again in a week or so with Mike and Kevin...

more pics here

Tuesday was another hot one for the move of Mr. Jon Fox to Milton. The move went as smoothly as could be imagined and we got all of his gear moved down there in one trip. Jonny recently graduated (Carroll) and will be the new band director at MHS. I'm sure he'll be awesome at it.

New Battery for the MacBook

2006-08-01T19:50:00.000-04:00

My only complaint about my otherwise awesome Macbook Pro has been an incredibly short amount of battery life. So, I was quite excited when Dion (Almaer) pointed out a battery replacement program that I am eligible for.

Ordering the replacement couldn't be simpler... unless you don't have your head on straight like yours truly...

* jim closes everything and powers down
* takes out battery and writes down battery serial#
* powers up and goes to online form
* powers down
* takes out and writes down laptop serial# (yes, this wasn't completely necessary)
* fills out form
* form says "battery serial# has already been submitted for replacement"
* searches for number to call
* calls and gets "it'll be 15 min message"
* wishes stupid old phone that had speaker phone capability would still work so the phone didn't have to be pressed to ear
* 20 min passes
* guy asks for battery serial#
* jim reads it and says "wait, this '2' may actually be a 'z' - oh crap"
* powers down
* checks out battery serial# - it's a "Z"
* jim tells tech support he's an idiot and hangs up
* fills out form with "Z"
* says "city/county/zip" doesn't match even though it lists "sun prairie 53590" (which was entered) as what I'm probably going for
* re-enters
* re-enters
* re-enters
* notices that it says "county" not "countRy"
* kicks self
* completes form

Laminate Floor!

2006-07-31T16:30:00.000-04:00

As Monica has mentioned, this weekend we undertook the big project of laying wood laminate in the living room.

Going in, we were thinking that it would take the whole weekend: and we were certainly right.

Day 1 began after work on Friday. Monica and I cleared the room - took up the carpet - and discovered two alarming things.

1. The carpet pad was glued to the floor. This was huge. It meant that instead of just taking out some staples or something like that - we were left scraping gluey carpet pad off of cement. This may not sound too bad... and in several places: it really was fine. In other places though, it was terrible. We were never able to get it ALL off and after 6 hours had it "good enough" to allow the laminate to lay "pretty darn flat" over the top of it.

The stuff around the outside is the glued pad on the floor

2. There was a sewer access point under our carpet. This sucker stood up a good inch+ over the floor and was NOT going to make laying a laminate floor over the top very simple. There was definitely going to have to be some fancy stepping to make this work.

Not good

Day 2 began with my parents coming over to start helping out. Actually, that's only partly true: Day 2 actually started with my Dad playing a 3 set tennis match in the 95 degree heat!

Anyway, it was decided that the PVC pipe in the middle of the room wasn't going to work - we removed the cap - stuffed a rag down there (to stop any odors, although it didn't smell) and started filing/cutting/wishing that thing down to as level with the floor as possible. After some serious work on the thing - it was down to a very acceptable level. Actually, in the end it was the builders cement work around the pipe that was more trouble than the pipe itself.

My parents brought over some serious firepower - and we used a lot of it. Saws used included: jig, hand, skill, miter, and who could forget my Dad's favorite: table. You should have seen the display my Dad put on with that table saw - making some cuts that I would never try for fear of messing up the board - and then many others that I wouldn't make for fear of losing some fingers. He's quite the pro with that thing at one point showing off by twirling a hoolahoop on one foot while making cuts. Ok, maybe not that far: but it was quite the display.

The process of putting in each flight ends up being quite labor intensive. That is - you have to attach all of the boards in your flight end-to-end. After that is completed, you hook the entire flight into the one before it. The trick there is that you can't put in half a flight at once... so, we basically NEEDED to have at least 4 people to get the thing in.

Day 3 began with the majority of the room finished but the toughest cuts right ahead of us. Following another incredible display on the table saw - we had our boards ready to fit around the stairs.

After those were in we boarded up the top of our PVC pipe (not even worth a picture it was so easy at that point!) and were on to the trim. The trim did get interesting as we found out the channel between the floor and the ceramic tile was too interesting. Here Dad took his table saw display over to the skill saw and widened it out just right.

We are SO happy with the end result. It all looks great and best of all: it's done! You'll all have to come check it out in person soon!

More pics here