NFL Draft Highlights (or something like that)

Well, it seems that my beloved Bears failed to take into consideration that an offense is a significant portion of a football team. Forgetting that we don't play defense for the entire game is the only possible explanation for Jerry Angelo making a statement that "we don't need anyone to come in and help us right away." Jerry was discussing our entire team with this statement. I'll buy this on the defensive side of the ball where we finished 2nd in the league last year and we have everyone back. Apparently though, the guys that brought us the 29th-ranked offense in the NFL are also all set on that side of the ball. For some reason, I'm not comforted. Inexplicably with this 29/2 disparity, we decided to pass on all sorts of offensive playmakers, trade down in the draft, and then pick 3 defensive players. What am I missing here? Poor strategery men. Poor strategery.

Caffeine Addiction

My name is Chris and I'm a caffeine addict (hi chris). It's been two days since my last caffeinated beverage.

Killer Weekend

So this weekend was pretty much top-notch across the board. I got some poker in and came out on top. I got some stuff done that I was looking to accomplish. I got to check out my brother's game on Saturday. How did he do? Let me tell you.

I got to the game a little bit later than I hoped but in plenty of time for the start. It was quite nice outside, but there was a little chill in the air. Nick started the game on the mound as his team was the home squad. I mentioned that he's the ace of the staff before, right? I hope so. Anyway, in this league you can't have any pitcher throw more than 70 pitches. Nick went 3 innings, gave up no runs, no hits, struck out 9 (the maximum possible), and walked 5. He had some problems getting the kids out that are really short, I'm talking 3 ft. tall here. No one could hit the kid. Exactly twice, someone made contact with the ball. These were both weak foul balls. Not only that, the game went into an extra inning and the kid comes through with the game-winning RBI to end it. Next game, I might fire up the M-V-P chant. I'm not sure yet though.

After the game, I cruised over to my parents and mowed the lawn. My stepdad threw his back out bending over so sitting on a lawnmower for two hours wasn't exactly in the best interests of the man. I fired up some Bob Dylan in the iPod and soaked up the sun and smell of green grass. Being out in the fresh air and doing some labor (well sort of) was a great way to clear the mind. I think that sitting in a cubicle all day is definitely starting to have some impact on me and it's maybe not all good. This is the life I have chosen though.

I also managed to catch two movies this weekend and I enjoyed both of them quite a bit. Thank You for Smoking and Friends with Money were both surprisingly good. Frances McDormand was even involved with Friends and I still dug it. Amazing.

Don't do that.

So here's the scene. It's one like many others I've seen recently in various locales and it's starting to get under my skin a little bit. I'm waiting in line at the post office this afternoon at around 4 o'clock. I have a package to send. It's nothing special. My transaction will take approximately 1 minute and 30 seconds. I get there and the line is about 5 deep. There are 2 tellers. I wait about 3 minutes and that's when it starts. We haven't moved. Thirty-something brunette with a sassy little power suit turns on "the sighs". It's been too long for her already. She's mad at the tellers. She's mad at the guys with too many packages. She is mad at the whole situation. Who knows about it? Every person in the post office. About 10 minutes pass, and the sighs escalate. I can't help but be amused. Finally, 15 minutes have passed and she makes it to the less jovial teller. This should be fun.

Predictably, her tone is less than friendly. Same goes for the teller. It's not like there is a verbal conflict, but it's clear there is no love here. She is in and out with a flash. I walk up with my best smile and hello. I ask how this teller she is doing. I joke around a little bit just to try to thaw her out from the cold breeze that just blew through. I'm in and out in about 2 minutes.

Here's the thing. Don't do that. We've all been guilty of something similar. We've all been in a hurry. It happens. I suspect the sigh princess here is usually this way, that's just the vibe I got. That's not the point though. Here are my points. First, what is this display accomplishing? You look like a child throwing a tantrum. Are you more important than other people? Are you too good to wait in line? The rest of the world is too slow for you? Are you on your 'A' game all the time at 4pm?

What did you think was going to happen at the post office? Sometimes people have many packages to send. Sometimes they have many transactions. This is just the way it goes. People go to the post office with packages. It happens. Who is the dummy in this scenario? The people sending and processing these packages or the person who didn't expect this trip to take very long?

It's easy to say but try putting yourself in someone else's shoes. Do you think these people are just happy to torture you? They get off on that? Postal workers snap and bring guns back to the post office. Obviously, it's not the best job in the world. Why not cut them some slack? Why come to the post office and throw the uber-corporate bitchitude at everyone in a 15 ft. radius? What is the point?

It's my goal in life to try to be nice to anyone that is serving me lately. You know what? It makes a difference. I get treated better but that's not the real difference. The real difference is that it makes me feel better to go out of my way to say a kind word or just be extra polite. I was noticing lately that I might be a little too "big city" and not enough "small town" in the way I was treating people. I used to be impatient. I used to be a little more of the "in a hurry guy". After giving it some thought though, I think it's just silly. Take your time. Stressing out in situations like this is just unhealthy and a total waste of energy. Why not spend the time thinking of something positive like the fact that you don't work at the post office. You could even find the humor in the silly antics of other people in line. You'll be more relaxed and at peace. Trust me.

That's the end of my rant. I hope you enjoyed it.

Life is Odd

Life really has been odd lately. If I'm not randomly winding up drinking Silver Oak, I'm in a conversation about the loss of family meal time and it's impact on whether or not children go to college or not. I have been able to squeeze in some solid family time lately though which is great. I think I'm probably going to attend my brother's first baseball game of the season this weekend. He's pitching opening day. You know what that means. Ace baby. Ace.

Anyway, I've been a busy kid. I'm not playing enough poker. I'm actually down a little for the month. I'm way behind my goal for the year. I guess I'll just have to win the $1500 limit hold 'em event at the WSOP to make up for it. I'm not really accomplishing a whole lot that I want to outside of the confines of my job. This is going to have to change.

Still, lately I'm just more and more thankful for the things that I have and the wonderful people in my life. Thanks to all of you for being top-notch. Have a fantastic morning/afternoon/evening.

I still suck at blogging...

Well, I've been back from Florida for a couple of days and this post will probably be less than awesome. I had a spectacular trip to Florida. In 4 days, we hit Epcot Center, MGM Studios, and Universal Studios. We also worked a day at Cocoa Beach in there. It was tremendous. I might even post some pictures. The trip was a great time across the board. I hadn't been on a family vacation in about 8 years which is sort of incredible. I've been missing out. I should rectify this on some level going forward.

Last night, I met up with Dr. Levine for about 74 games of billiards. I think my record was something like 9-65. That's not bad after a few year layoff. It was still all good though as we were mostly just there to chat. Dr. Levine is just a solid cat all around. He's not even really a doctor. He's just such a smart guy that we all decided he deserved to be called doctor in college. It has continued to stick with him, at least among some people.

I'm not playing enough poker.

I suck at Blogging....

I know I'm way behind on my blog here. I'd like to say it's going to improve but I'm off to Disney World with the family for 4 days of Micky Mouse fun tomorrow. So essentially, I'll post something next week after I return. In the meantime, pray for Cubs wins and keep it real.