I figured tonight was a pretty nice night to go out while it was snowing and take a look at all the beautiful decorations that the rich people on Lake Drive had up on their houses. I drove from the Milwaukee Art Museum all the way up to Whitefish Bay, and man, was I disappointed. You would think that if you were rich, you could have someone put up your lights FOR YOU if you didn’t want to do it yourself.

What did I see though? Nothing but spotlights showing off their big, rich houses. Shame on you people. I’m willing to give you a free pass for a few weeks though. I understand it’s only 11/30. But, if I drive by there on 12/15 and you still have your pathetic lights up, I’m going to do something. Suggestions as to what?

HUMBUG!

Date: 9/9/04. Let me remind you of the article I posted:

Ken Jennings loses at Jeopardy??

I’m sure most of you have heard about this Ken Jennings dude that has won Jeopardy 41 consecutive times now–it’s insane! Well, rumors have been floating around all day that he loses sometime in the near future (obviously, the shows are taped weeks ahead of time)… after 74 WINS and 2.5 million dollars. THE INSANITY! For more spoilers on how exactly he loses, check out this site.

Oh, and look what popped up in the news today:

‘Jeopardy!’ Whiz Ends 74-Game Win Streak
You can read the rest of the article by clicking on this link, but it looks like our whiz finally lost. But I found that out MONTHS ago.

I heard about this on the radio this morning, but this was the only blurb I could find about it on the internet…

Brett Favre Day: Gov. Jim Doyle has proclaimed Monday as Brett Favre Day in Wisconsin.

The star quarterback will make his 200th consecutive start in an NFL game - a league record - Monday against St. Louis at Lambeau Field.

Doyle said Wisconsin is proud of the contributions Favre has made to football and the state.

Favre is the NFL’s only three-time MVP, and is in his 13th season at Green Bay.

At first, I was really annoyed that all anyone is talking about is Brett Favre’s 200th consecutive start. Maybe I just take it for granted because we’ve had an awesome quarterback for the past 13 years. But the closer we get to this Monday Night Football game, the more excited I get about it.

Rumor has it that the intro is going to be one that you “want to tape.” Tivo. DVR. Whatever. It’s supposed to have a bunch of football legends paying tribute to Favre. I think I’ll watch.

Sidenote, Les Pasquarelli of espn.com wrote a pretty nice article on Favre if you want to check it out. Once again, one of those things to be thankful for this holiday season.

“That trinity of values — love of God, love of country and family, good ol’ country living — remains with Favre to this day. You think he’s a damned good quarterback? Well, Favre is a damned better person.”

With it being Thanksgiving, I think it’s time that we, as Wisconsin sports fans, step back and really give thanks to the teams and players that we have in Wisconsin. Besides a few isolated incidents of players pooping in closets, getting addicted to pain killers, and getting illegal shoes, our athletes in Wisconsin are really top notch.

Milwaukee Bucks
Sure, we don’t have the superstar players that we had a few years ago in Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson and the Alien. Instead we have players like Michael Redd, Dan Gadzuric and Desmond Mason who are some of the most unselfish players I have seen. They don’t complain about not getting enough playing time or getting the ball enough. They don’t complain about their salaries because, like some of our Racine natives in the NBA, “they have a family to provide for.” Instead, they get out on the floor, hustle, and play the game they love. No, they might not win all the time nor will they ever be a superstar team like the 2003-2004 Lakers, but I’ll take our players any day over the rapist and “Brah.”

Green Bay Packers
It would be easy to just write an entire paragraph about Brett Favre and how much adversity he has overcome to get where he is. I don’t need to do that though. The media does a fine job of making us be thankful for our “legend” quarterback. But what about players like William Henderson. Donald Driver. Javon Walker. Those guys go in there, week in and week out, and they perform. They don’t do any showy dances, they don’t expect the media to talk about them, and they don’t complain about money. I remember a specific incident a few years back when they resigned Driver to a long-term contract. It wasn’t a gigantic contract nor did he get a ton of money. But he was SO appreciative of what he did get, HE WAS CRYING. Maybe it’s just seeing a grown man cry, but it was real. He wasn’t putting on a show for the cameras. He was thankful. Gotta love that selflessness.

Milwaukee Brewers
Be thankful that even though our team has blown for over 20 years, that we aren’t the team in baseball that everyone hates. Be thankful that our players aren’t off beating their wives, not performing when they are getting paid $12 million a year, and not playing just because they don’t want to show up. The Brewers show up every day and put in their best effort. Maybe it’s because they know that they are probably on one of their last baseball legs if they are playing in Milwaukee, so if they don’t perform, they careers are over with… or maybe it’s just because we pick players with a good head on their shoulders and good morals. You be the judge.

Wisconsin is a blue-collar state and I’d like to think that the athletes on the professional sports teams here are also blue-collar. They have great work ethics and don’t expect the recognition.

Today, I’m thankful for them.

Some of you may have already seen pictures of this floating around the internet, but I find it kind of weird.

Check this thing out. I guess the history behind this was that this lady, Diana Duyser, made the sandwich 10 years ago. She took one bite out of it, saw the image of the Virgin Mary in there, and decided it was way too unique to keep eating. She put it in a ziplock with cotton balls and has kept it on her nightstand ever since.

The reason why this is making news though is because she sold it on ebay. After ebay originally pulled the ad because they thought it was a farce, they put it back up, and she ended up selling it last Sunday for like $28,000. A casino based out of Ft. Lauderdale, FL bought the sandwich after they heard that it brought Duyser ” good luck in winning $70,000 in a casino near her home.” Can anyone else smell the marketing craze coming out of this?

I know some of you are probably disappointed that you didn’t get a chance to bid on the grilled cheese, but no worries! I did a search on ebay for “Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese” and there is no lack of VMGC items.

And so on. You get the idea. I suppose this would be acceptable for a Christmas present from all of you as well. I’ll make a shrine to VMGC.

Looks like Erica is up to her weird antics in New Zealand again…

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - A woman in New Zealand says she is breastfeeding her pet puppy because she wants it to protect her baby daughter as they both grow up.

Kura Tumanako [aka Erica Peterson] told the NZPA news agency Wednesday that she had started breastfeeding the Staffordshire bull terrier pup after her baby stopped taking her milk.

“I didn’t want to waste it so I gave it to Honey Boy,” she said.

According to NZPA, Peterson said she had fed the dog twice a day for the past week but would probably wean it off in about six weeks’ time. Her baby, now 2 months old, is on bottled milk.

“I wanted to raise it (the pup) with my baby,” she said. “I wanted to bring it up with a baby. It will protect her as they grow up,” said Peterson, who lives in Nelson in New Zealand’s South Island.

“He drinks more than the baby. It doesn’t hurt, but it’s a little bit ticklish.”

E, if you’re that desperate for someone to suck on your jugs, just let me know. I’m sure I could find some takers over here in the states…

Don’t think because I have a new job now, that I won’t have pet peeves about work. Oh no…

But the good news is that this isn’t a pet peeve from my new job. I like my new job. Granted, it’s only day three, but I’m still thinking it’s going to work out well.

When I left my last job, I gave a two week notice. It was pretty well accepted, and I told them I would do everything that I could to make sure that whoever they end up hiring as my replacement was not going to go into the position blindly. No, I didn’t get everything done that I had wanted to, but I left the HR person with a list of things I didn’t get to. Me, being the nice person that I am, also gave my phone number to them in case of emergencies and to be that “last resort” when they couldn’t figure out how to do something.

Sure enough, Day 1 comes around, and I get a phone call from my old annoying boss there!! She wasn’t calling to say hi or to see how things were going, she called to find out if I had called someone before I had left.

WHAT???

I’m sorry, last time I checked, this wasn’t an emergency situation. All the lazy b had to do was think about it a little bit, CALL THE PEOPLE HERSELF, and ask if they had spoken to me. THAT’S IT.

So, of course, I don’t give two shits about impressing this lady anymore (down the road, she won’t be giving me a job reference, I had boss higher than her that would), so I wrote her an email, told her the answer, and also told her to basically stop calling me for stupid shit that she could figure out on her own. She got all offended and emailed me back, trying to put the blame on me… get real!! I quit. I’m the one that doesn’t work there anymore. I don’t have to DO ANYTHING nor did I have to DO ANYTHING the last two weeks. A two week notice is a courtesy to my former employer.

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRraaaargh. Has this sort of thing happened to anyone else? Am I off-base? Was I too nice?

Back in 2001, I went on the ultimate road trip with 5 of my girlfriends down to Daytona Beach for Spring Break. There are way too many stories to tell from the trip (some of them better left in the “What Happens on Spring Break, Stays on Spring Break” column), so I will focus on one.

The Waffle House.

Once you get out of Wisconsin, the Waffle Houses seemed to double on each new state that we entered, that by the time we got to Florida, there were not only Waffle Houses, but their cousin restaurant, the Huddle House (whose website kicks the ass of the Waffle House, btw).

While the food was cheap and the service was stellar, nothing compared to the jukebox. We’re not talking about your parents jukebox. We’re talking about the WAFFLE HOUSE JUKEBOX… featuring songs such as:

If you want to listen to some of these songs, you can check them out by clicking here.

Oh, and with Christmas is coming up, the Waffle House has that covered with “A Waffle House Christmas” featuring the Waffle House Carolers.

I’m going to be starting a petition to get a… no, not a Waffle House, but their JUKEBOX at my new job. Can you imagine how much morale would boost?

Well, today is my last day at my job… T-minus about 8 hours until I am done and outta here! I’ve been here three years. While leaving the actually job shouldn’t be too hard, leaving the people is going to blow. For about 95% of the people that I work with, they are what have kept me sane and motivated to actually get up and come to work every day.

Monday, I’ll start right away at my new jobby at Mt. Mary College doing admissions. I’m excited for the change of career and something new–that’s for sure!

So, today, I come into work and have a head of califlower on my chair, and then two “Congratulations” and “Good Luck” balloons along with a card that says:

“So, you’re really leaving.”
“Well, I never thought it would be possible, but this place is actually going to suck more now.”

I didn’t think it was possible either.

If anyone wanted to know if a car can be shipped via UPS, I guess you can.

Check out what Neill’s friend, Rob, did to his car last night.

That’s right ladies and gents. My pictures from New Orleans are finally posted! I’m still waiting on some pictures from some of the other people I was with, but you can at least take a look at what I had for now. Keep in mind, you can post comments about the pictures…

AP Photo

The tagline under this reads: Saut, a male white rhinoceros, his female Najin and their four- year-old calf Fatu stands by at the Dvur Kralove zoo, East Bohemia. The zoo is the only place in the world where they have managed to breed the endangered species in captivity(AFP/File/Libor Tasler)

I think someone needs to tell the AP that Saut and Najin aren’t exactly “standing.” I mean, they are, but who stands in the humping position?

Dateline: Red Bank, Tennessee….

Women Allege Boss Spanked Them for Errors

Two young women complained to police that they were spanked by their 57-year-old employer for mistakes on the job, and the boss now faces criminal charges.

One of the women told police that on her first day at the Tasty Flavors Sno Biz, before any spanking, owner Paul Eugene Levengood made her sign a statement that said: “I give Gene permission to bust my behind any way he sees fit.”

Ok–right away, wouldn’t signing something like this be a sort wakeup call that SOMETHING ISN’T RIGHT?? But then I read this, which I think is complete bs…

“Police Sgt. Jay LaMance said the two 19-year-old women likely accepted the spankings instead of leaving immediately because they were “brought up to respect anybody who is an authority figure.”

These are 19-year old girls. They probably have had sex, smoked pot a few times, and drank themselves silly. I think they should have enough brains to know that you don’t have to respect an “authority figure” like this. Give me a break.

According to police documents, one of the women reported that on Oct. 30, her fourth day on the job, Levengood called her “into the back room of the store” after she forgot to put a banana in a smoothie drink.

She said that as punishment Levengood “bent her over his knee and spanked her behind 20 times.”

I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure “banana” and “smoothie drink” are code for something else…

I see a picture like this:

and I’m convinced that my cats love each other.

But then I see a picture like this:

and I’m convinced that Payton either hates Steve, or she is so hungry, she’s eating his paw.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the #1 question in restaurants used to be “smoking or non-smoking.” Not anymore. The newest trend hitting dining establishments across the country is cell phone seating.

Neill and I got into a conversation this weekend about cell phone etiquette in restaurants. I think it’s rude to sit there on the cell phone while you are at a restaurant, and Neill thinks that it’s perfectly ok to do because they are there to serve him, not vice versa.

Anyway, I heard about this restaurant in Bentonville, Arkansas that now is doing this “cellular or non-cellular” seating. “The Vineyard,” had this to say:

One restaurant already having designated a “No Cell-Phone” section is The Vineyard of Bentonville, Ark. A spokesman for the restaurant, according to a news story last week, said the area was set aside at the request of customers tired of listening to phone conversations from adjacent tables.

When someone in the cell-free section receives a call, he or she is asked to go outside the restaurant or into the cell-phone area.

I guess I just get annoyed when all I can hear is someone talking on their cell phone, and/or not paying attention to me or the server. I understand the need to take calls sometime, but if it’s not important or urgent, I guess I just don’t see why you can’t ask the person if you can call them back. What do you think?