Category: Uncategorized

Ghosts!

I went outside again this evening to watch the bird feeder. Not a single bird showed up. The jerks.

It was getting dark out there when I saw something crazy. A ghost in our back yard! Check out the proof!

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It’s a ghostly apparition if I ever saw one. Who ya gonna call?

I turned the camera toward the woods and I got another view.

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I came back to the bird feeder and there it was again! Ghostbusters and all that! WOOHOO

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(nerdy things like this happen when you buy a nerd like me a new toy for his camera. 30 second exposures for everyone!)

Birds – Again

I spent some time watching for birds today. I didn’t get any Earth shattering pics, but I did use shutter priority again, so that was good. I played with some lower ISO settings too. I just didn’t have any real moments where the birds played along.

The few birds that visited tended to stay on the other side of the feeder. They were literally screwing with me. The jerks.
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So close… so not good.
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If this guy were in focus it would be the best picture I’ve ever taken.
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This guy spent quite a long time pigging out.
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This little yellow dude was always just out of focus. The jerk.
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Some New Form of Torture

Lo, the lawn hast grown to a length that is untenable. Nature decrees that I spark up ye olde mower and trim the lawn to a length more pleasing to thine neighbor’s eyes. But alas, I am old and tired and really quite fat. Such a lawn task requires a level of energy that is far above that which my tubbalard body doth possess. Tis beyond me! But I must make a concerted attempt to tackle the lawn care task that the fates in their wisdom have placed before me. If only the damned birds would start visiting the new bird feeder and the accursed squirrels would screw off and die in the woods, for those events might inspire me to attack the lawn with a vengeance ne’er expected.

(At this point you may be wondering what the “new form of torture” in the title of the post is referring to. Well, it’s a double meaning. Mowing the lawn is my torture, and the ridiculously lame language in the paragraph above is your torture. Get it? HA HA. Funny, eh? No. You’re right. It’s not even close to funny. Sorry about that.)

Long Term Contracts

As a general rule, I do not like seeing professional athletes getting long term contracts. In the NFL contracts are not guaranteed, so the term length is meaningless. In the other major sports contracts are guaranteed so if a player’s performance level drops over time the team is still contractually obligated to pay out the full price. Also, if a players performance level drops off the face of the Earth, you are stuck with the guy for years and no other team is going to take him off your hands. That’s why if I were a major pro sports league general manager no one would ever get more than a three year deal. I might have to fork over Fort Knox to get a player, but it’s better than paying a mint six years down the road and have the guy ride the pine, or play in the minors.

Having said that…

The Boston Bruins this week have given eight year contracts to Tuukka Rask and Patrice Bergeron. Rask gets 56 million over the full term and Bergeron gets 52 million. In both cases, I approve whole heartedly. I’ve made no secret that I am not the worlds biggest Tuukka fan, but given the way he played in the post season, he assuaged many of my fears. Bergeron, on the other hand… well… let’s just say that the only thing I am unhappy about in the announcements of the last two days is that somehow Bergeron is making less than Rask. If Rask makes 56 million over eight years, then Bergeron needs to make 60 million over eight years. He must have given the Bruins a home town discount.

Many hockey fans and pundits will think I am nuts for saying this, but there isn’t a hockey player on Earth right now that I would trade for Patrice Bergeron. You can keep Crosby and Ovetchkin and Stamkos and any other great player you can name. I would rather have Sir Bergy than any of them. Let’s face it, the guys does everything and has been doing everything for 10 years and he’s still only 28 years old! He’s the best defensive forward in the league. His offensive skills are off the hook, and don’t give me that he’s-only-a-20-goals-a-year-guy. He’s topped 30 in the past, and we all know that if the Bruins were an offense first system he would be reaching 40. He’s an animal. He played a game in the Stanley Cup finals with a collapsed lung. A COLLAPSED LUNG! He is matched up against the other teams best players, and he still finds the time and space to be one of our most productive offensive players. He’s the best. There. I said it. Patrice Bergeron is the best. When Zdeno Chara leaves us (hopefully via retirement) he will be Captain Bergy. I would not be opposed to giving him the C even before Chara leaves, and I am willing to bet that Chara would agree with the move.

While I stated that I am not a fan of long term contracts, here are two eight year deals that I am 100% behind. Congratulations Tuukka and Patrice. May you both enjoy long, long productive careers as members of the Boston Bruins. Keep up the good work.

On the Wagon

Monday.

Two things happen on Monday. First, I will begin my stint as a two days per week telecommuter. I am adding Monday to my usual Thursday. It’s fitting somehow seeing as how today marks nine years with this company. The two things are not related, but it is still fitting some how.

The other thing is far more important. I’m getting back on the wagon. My weight is out of control. It’s time to start being smart again. Exercise. Stop eating junk. Don’t eat as much. Cut down on non-diet soda, if not on soda in general. If I don’t get this crap under control I am not going to be able to fit through the door of my home, and that is not sarcasm, I am being literal. Monday. I’m back on the wagon on Monday.

I’m going to try to avoid discussing weight loss on this page, so you probably won’t hear much about it after this. That being said, Monday is the day. July 15, 2013. Back on the wagon.

Wish me luck.