Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Could You? (15)/NHL 1st Rd.

"Fairy tales do not tell children that dragons exist.  Children already know that dragons exist.  Fairy tales tell children that dragons can be killed..." -G.K. Chesterton- (via 'Criminal Minds')

"Got off of work, walk to my car, hop in on the passenger side.  Realize I'm driving myself..." -Jennifer Hernandez- (via facebook)

"I can't make people like me.  All I can do is show them who I am, how I feel, and what I believe.  It's up to them to understand my worth..." -@VictorMochere- (via twitter)

"The amount of dip you put on something increases exponentially by the amount of people that can't see you putting dip on something..." -@yoyoha- (via twitter)

"Treat life as your personal playground.  Don't make it a prison of your own creation..."
-_msnemo- (via twitter)




Could you do a favor for me?  I posted really late yesterday, so please go back and read 'The 5th Annual Lone Star Music Awards' entry from yesterday if you missed it.  The opening quote from my friend Lauren will make it worth your time...

Could you tell us more about Jennifer Hernandez?  Jennifer posted that quote above as her facebook status a few days, but please don't worry about her well-being...  :P  Jennifer will be graduating from Texas Tech in the not-too-distant future.  At least I think that she will - it's not like I've seen a photo of a ring or anything...  ;)

Could you give us a quote from another San Marcos girl?  I heard "COACH WYATT!" at work last weekend, and then received a hug from my friend and former student Ana.  When she gave me a goodbye hug, Ana asked, "did you think you'd ever see me 'wasted-faced'?..."  "Wasted-faced" - this has already been a great week for quotes...  :)

Could you tell us why you posted so late yesterday?  My Sunday started shortly after 5:00 p.m. at Harper's, and ended at 2:00 a.m. at the Cheatham Street Warehouse.  If you didn't already know that my day ended at Cheatham Street, well, then you haven't done your homework assignment, which was to go back and read yesterday's post (shame, shame...).  Shortly after taking my first sip of alcohol on Sunday, I hear from the far end of the bar, "you look familiar..."  At the time, I was manipulating the three poker chips that I reference so often here, and my response was, "I get that a lot..."  Then the customer exclaimed, "YOU'RE THE THIRD FLOOR DUDE!"  I was dressed a little differently than I normally am for work, thus the confusion.

Could you tell us more about poker chips, and drinking, and another nickname that you learned about on Sunday?  Fast forward to the Cheatham Street afterparty on Sunday night, where I'm standing in line at the bar...  Two guys approach me, and the first asks, "are you the poker chip juggler?"  At the time, I was PREDICTABLY playing with the chips, which I showed the guy.  Instantly, and non-chalantly, his friend snaps off, "always..."

Could you tell us about the third nickname that you were given this weekend?  Okay, sure...  So I'm working Saturday night, and this girl comments on my knee sleeves (which I get a lot).  "Did you hurt both of your ACL's?"  I explained that I wear the sleeves as a preventative measure, due to the amount of stairs that I navigate (the MAZE, you know)...  Minutes later the girl comes back down the stairs with a guy and a girl, and she says, "Hey, it's preventative ACL man!..."  #thirdfloordude #pokerchipjuggler #preventativeaclman #pickyourfavorite

Could you mention another San Marcos native?  I want to send official belated birthday wishes from Bikini Hill to my friend Gabby.  Gabby asked to be mentioned in the blog (SO MUCH like her "big sister"), and since she hangs around with SO MANY questionable influences (can you say Chi-O?), I thought that I'd make her day...  Now study for your finals Gabby...  ;)

Could you mention just one more San Martian, and throw in a San Antonio native as well?  By the way, this is also the official start of our sports talk today...  :)  When I woke up on Sunday, I saw on facebook that one of my friends and former softball players had completed a 5K that morning.  I scrolled down a little bit, and what do you know, another one of my friends and former softball players had completed a 5K...  Then I noticed that 'Norfolk, VA' was the mobile location of the photo that I had just seen with Bianca.  It took about two seconds for me to click to the fact that Michele lives there too.  I thought that it was really neat that I had just seen pictures of a couple of Texas girls who had just completed the Color Me Rad 5K, both military spouses who I coached in softball (at the very beginning and near the very end of my coaching career), who are separated by about ten years, and who grew up in hometowns located about a half-hour from each other.  Although it's unlikely that they know each other, they had both participated in the same event, over a thousand miles away, due the fact that their husbands serve our country - very cool stuff...  :)

Could you tell us something about the recent NFL Draft?  I thought that it was very interesting that 63 players were selected from SEC schools, which is more than double the amount picked from any other conference (the ACC had 31 taken).  There were 254 total players drafted, so almost 25% of those chosen (or almost 1 out of every 4) came from the SEC - very impressive...


Could you tell us if you've quit your fantasy baseball leagues?  No, I haven't given up yet, but here are the current standings:


League 1 - (25 entry fee - 1st place 125, 2nd place 25)

1)  Neshanic                                            74.00
2)  DraftDodgers                                   67.50
3)  Rocky Roto                                       56.50
3)  Shazzam                                             56.50
9)  The View From Bikini Hill         45.50


League 2 - (50 entry fee/40 w/discount - 1st place 300, 2nd place 50)

1)  Breaking Bats                                    76.00
2)  4troublemakers                               74.00
3)  The Bikini Hill Bobcats                 67.50  (A miracle, yes, I know...)


League 3 - (50 entry fee/40 w/discount - 1st place 300, 2nd place 50)

1)  Nappy Heads                                    78.00
2)  Fishing For Trout                           61.50
3)  jonnylove7                                        59.00
6)  The Bikini Hill Nine                       51.50


It's still the same old story for my teams - the pitching isn't living up to expectations, my teams aren't scoring runs or stealing bases, blah, blah, blah... (yet)...  ;)


Could you FINALLY get to your first round NHL playoff predictions, for Serge if for no other reason...  I have probably mentioned here in the past that NHL overtime playoff games are one of my favorite sporting events to watch.  Give me a double or triple-overtime game where the players can barely skate, but someone HAS TO score for it to come to an end - AWESOME...  :)  I did not make regular season predictions before the hockey season, but here are my predictions for the first round of the playoffs:


Penguins over the Islanders in 5 games
Canadiens over the Senators in 7 games
Rangers over the Capitals in 6 games
Bruins over the Maple Leafs in 5 games

Blackhawks over the Wild in 5 games
Ducks over the Red Wings in 7 games
Sharks over the Canucks in 6 games
Kings over the Blues in 6 games



Phew..., big blog day...  I hope that you have a great day, and I'll see you again on Thursday!






















  

  

Monday, April 29, 2013

The 5th Annual Lone Star Music Awards

"I think my heart is going to explode with happiness!  Last night was more fun than I ever could have imagined and I am so lucky to be surrounded by so many beautiful people.  I'd tag you all but then my computer would probably explode too.  I'm sure I told you guys a million times last night, but thank you for coming, for your support, and for being damn cool.  I love you all!"

Lauren Meckel
Marketing and Advertising Coordinator
Lone Star Music



Good evening everyone.  Sometimes things just work out...  I felt bad about posting late today and was going to apologize for it, but that gave Lauren a chance to get up and around and post the quote above as her facebook status this afternoon.  You won't read anything in the rest of this blog entry that is going to improve upon her quote...

Lauren was getting a shoutout here today even before she posted that status.  I have been friends with Lauren for a while now, and I got to know her pretty well when I worked with her last year at the Texas Music Theater, which coincidentally was the host for last night's awards show.  One of the more memorable moments of our friendship was the high-five that she gave me after she was hired at TMT last year...  :)  I contacted Lauren a few days ago after I was able to change my schedule at work, and she hand delivered my ticket.  She later made this offer to everyone on her facebook page.  Awesome - yes, I know...  :)  If you were at the show last night, Lauren was the girl in the black dress with the smile that LIT UP the venue - she just has one of those smiles...  If you had seen Lauren last night and this quote was floating around, you would have been able to point to her and say, "SHE SAID IT!..."  I'm happy to say that everyone that I know had a great time last night also.  Thank you SO MUCH Meckel!  :)

In my usual fashion (when possible), I arrived at TMT shortly after the doors opened at 6:00 p.m. so that I could relax, hang out with my friends, and watch the venue fill up.  After chatting with my friend Zane and getting my VIP wristband, I said hey to my friend Ryan and repaid him for those fresh Vegas poker chips that I referenced recently.  I also picked up my first beverage, which would be a recurring theme throughout the night (through no fault of mine).  AHEM...  Shortly afterwards I went upstairs to catch up with my friend Keller.  Going up and down the stairs would be a recurring theme throughout the night (through no fault of mine), because we all know that I don't do enough of that at work.  AHEM...  While upstairs I made my first visit to the spread put out by Cody's Bistro & Lounge..., WHICH WOULD BE a recurring theme throughout the night (through no fault of mine)...  :)  Cody's place is located near the Starbucks on I-35 South (across from the outlet malls) if you get a chance to visit.  Good guy, good food...  After finishing my fajita, black beans, and meatballs, I ventured back downstairs.  Let me interject here that the bands began performing at some point during this time, and that awards were being handed out...  :)  Last night's lineup included Jason Eady, Courtney Patton, Shinyribs, Six Market Boulevard, Rob Baird, John Fullbright, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Robert Earl Keen, and The Departed.

Okay, so I'm back downstairs, and I'm listening to music, and I'm enjoying a cold beverage, and I'm bothering my friend Kim, who is working security for the show (oh, and we'll get back to Kim later, TRUST ME)...  :)  I go back upstairs after a while to hang out with some other friends of mine - Cassie, Sandy, Danny, and Pam (oh, and we'll get back to Pam later, TRUST ME)...  :)  It seems like I went back downstairs before running into my friend Sam, at which point "through no fault of mine" began...  AHEM...  ;)  Sam probably bought me a shot, and then he decides that the group of four that I'm suddenly a part of should go..., RIGHT BACK UPSTAIRS...  Sam probably bought me a shot and another beer when we got upstairs, and then he spotted THE FOOD...  'Shy' isn't a word that I would associate with Sam, but I told him not to worry, that I would go and make him a fajita taco...  I PROBABLY made myself another fajita taco at this point too...  After drinking, and eating, and listening to some more music (yes, there is a concert going on), Sam says, "that was good Coach..."  "YES SAM, I'll get you another taco..."  :)  At this point, I PROBABLY made myself another taco too (and before you judge me, remember that I did work at TMT before, and when Cody needed a trash can earlier in the evening, I knew right where to steal one from, and this was without him even having to ask)...  ;)  So there's more drinking, and eating, and performing going on, and then Sam and Josh take out their phones and start recording video of one of the songs.  At this point, I MIGHT HAVE asked Sam, "so you're making a bootleg video of a concert that cost $5.00 to get into?..."  This was basically met with a response of "ARRGGGHHH..." (yes, evidently we're pirates...).  Anyway, the gist of the response was "whatever..."  Shortly after that, Sam decides that we're going... BACK DOWNSTAIRS...

Not long after returning downstairs, I see that my friend Kim (I told you that we'd get back to her) has HER PHONE out, and now she's recording one of the bands...  So now I decide to share my clever little joke about making a bootleg video of the concert with her...  Somewhere between that and threatening to have a heart attack ON THE SPOT from laughter if Kim WOULD HAVE fallen off of the stool that she was sitting on (it ALMOST happened), I'm suddenly getting slapped, punched, and having bottled water thrown on me (I KNOW, INNOCENT little me)...  AHEM...  ;)  Anyway, I think that bottled water is way too expensive to waste on me, and I learned that evidently girls don't talk like pirates...  #themoreyouknow  ;)

Again, there was a concert happening through all of these highlights, and it was great, and THEN there was an afterparty at the Cheatham Street Warehouse.  "You wanna drive Coach?," which was followed by a predictable, "Sure Sam, I'll drive..."  :)  The highlight of the afterparty for me occurred at the bar when I was "introducing" Sam to Pam (I told you that we'd get back to her)...  "Pam, Sam..."  At this point I was thinking that this was like a Dr. Suess book, if you give it a second look, because their names rhyme, but we don't have the time...  ANYWAY..., shortly after this, Sam wants to know her last name, and Pam says, "Sam DeLaRosa?"  It turns out that Pam was Sam's KINDERGARTEN teacher!  The impressive part to me was that Pam recognized who Sam was, after teaching him in Kindergarten...  As we've covered here in the blog before, I don't recognize all of my former students immediately, and mine were HIGH SCHOOL students... :)

And there you have it - my personal 3rd Annual Lone Star Music Awards show was a huge success, and everyone lived happily ever after...  :)  Have a great evening and I'll see you again tomorrow!







              





Friday, April 26, 2013

I Remember The First Time (14)

"My physique is best described as "I can't believe it's not butter"..."
-@SortaBad- (via twitter)

"Fans don't run the show..." -Matthew Weiner- (message from the creator of 'Mad Men' to critics of season six of the AMC hit - via Yahoo!)

"The Omaha airport and the middle of a field look awfully similar.  This should be exciting..."
-Kourtney Chalmers-

"Hey Cordarrelle, this is Christian Ponder...  I'll be the guy throwing the ball at your feet. Welcome aboard..." -@FauxJohnMadden- (via twitter)




I remember the first time that I was a day late making this post, and then decided to blatently rip off and straight plagarize a friend's facebook status to lead things off...  "So for the first time in 4 years, and with just over 2 weeks left of school, my fear of accidentally getting on the wrong bus has finally come true..."  -Natalie-  For those of you asking why I didn't just put that up top with the rest of the quotes, it's my blog, so shut up...  :P


I remember the first time that I was going to tell you a story on Tuesday, but it would have been anticlimactic mixed in with my brain freeze story...  It has been well documented here in several riveting stories that customers must transfer their drinks from glass to plastic cups before proceeding to our rooptop bar.  This is a conversation between customers from last week:

Customer 1:  "Chug it!"
Customer 2:  (whiny voice)  "It's cold..."
Customer 1:  "DEAL WITH IT!"


I remember the first time that I was accused of bluffing...  It has been well documented here in several riveting stories how I keep track of how many customers are up at our rooftop bar for capacity purposes.  Recently a customer evidently told one of our bartenders, "You know Coach?  He has no counter, only poker chips..."  Well, it's actually BOTH, and a special shoutout goes out to my friend Ryan, who recently returned to San Marcos, America from the desert with 9 FRESH poker chips for me (3 each from MGM, the Rio, and Excalibur)...  :)  If you don't know me, you really would not believe how much the clay wears away from my CONSTANT manipulation of these things...

I remember the first time that I was proud to be from Texas...  Last night things got off to a slow start at work.  Then I noticed that less than five minutes after the completion of the first round of the NFL Draft is the time that I started to see a significant increase in the number of customers in our establishment.  God bless football...  :)  This was totally understandable when you think about it - both the Texans and the Cowboys had late first round picks.  On that note, every Cowboys' facebook status that I saw bemoaned the trading down of their first pick, and every status hated that Dallas drafted a center...  :)

I remember the first time that I brought up 'capacity' in a post, just because I know that you enjoy reading about 'capacity'...  So last night, within a minute of reaching capacity at our rooftop bar, about thirty customers come cruising down the stairs.  I swear that I heard one of them mention something about rain, and later in the night, after we closed, it was "spitting" outside...  Anyway, when a couple of our regular customers came down the stairs a few minutes later (customers that I recognize but don't know by name), I asked them, "is it raining hard?"  One of the young ladies turned and broke into a dance move, complete with hand and arm gestures (mimicking rain) as she repeated, "is it raining hard?"  Then she said, "it's..., 'RAINING HARD..., but it's..., NOT raining...  It's dry..."  As I just nodded and smiled as the girls turned and walked away, she says to her friend, "he may be too old to understand that..."  BA HA HA HA  :)

Have an outstanding weekend and I'll see you again on Monday!












Thursday, April 25, 2013

I Will Remember Tomorrow

Good afternoon everyone.  I am just writing this little note to let you know that your regularly scheduled programming has been moved to tomorrow.  I have had a very busy day today after taking a short nap when I came home from work last night, and I have to catch a few more hours of sleep before I go back to work tonight.  At some point I will catch you up on what I was doing today (wow, the suspense - yes, I know)...  :)  If you are looking for something interesting to grab your attention, Round 1 of the NFL Draft will air tonight from 7:00 to 10:30 p.m. CST on ESPN.  That will probably be more interesting than my blog...  Also, if you walk outside right now and watch that grass grow..., THAT will probably be more interesting than my blog...  ;)  I hope that you have a great day and I WILL see you again tomorrow!
  

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Could You? (14)

"When I write "spiritual" on my online dating profiles, it means I like to watch 'Ghostbusters'..." -@TylerComeOn- (via twitter)

"Some of the (stuff) you women do with your hair is absurd.  Looks like a damn eagle spread its wings then got run over by a truck..." -@iAmJuddy- (via twitter)

"I know there's no such thing as stupidity poisoning because you'd be dead by now..."
-@BeenToHellPal- (via twitter)



Could you tell us something that you're afraid you might actually say to one of your customers who irritates you?  If you know me, you know that I'm a pretty nice person, and that I actually use this blog to do a lot of my venting.  However, that last quote above..., that's the one that's going to have me biting my tongue at work soon...  Speaking of that, I have no shortage of material for you to read today or Thursday...  :P

Could you share a quote with your friend?  I have a friend named Angelica who I mentioned in this blog because of the way that she wears her hair, and although that second quote above does not describe her hair, I tagged her to this entry in facebook because I KNOW that she will laugh as soon as she reads it.  :)  You always have to remember two things people:  1)  I only pick on people that I like; and 2)  I like to make people laugh, and I LOVE people who can make me laugh...  ;)

Could you please mention Melanie and Alyssa, since it seems like DAYS since they've seen their names in print here?...  I went for a walk earlier (I started at about 1:00 a.m.) because I almost have to get out and walk when I do most of my serious thinking.  I ended up at work after about half an hour, and only after having some BATS swoop down at me (yes, I did jump and hustle out of the way) as I approached the Square (walking at 1:30 a.m. - go figure)...  I used the restroom, and then I went to the bar and said hey to all of my friends (all of whom were working diligently I might add)...  :)  I explained that I had been WALKING, and then Alyssa asked if I'd like a ride home...  Do you remember that recent post where the two ladies approached me at work, and I was told that I looked "so broken and beat up?"  YEAH..., I thought of this INSTANTLY when Alyssa about me about the ride - I was WALKING...  :P  Naturally I accepted the ride, because I wouldn't want to be rude, AHEM... (and I WAS practically attacked by bats), but c'mon...  :)  Oh, by the way..., 8 more days until these girls finish their internship, and 19 until they graduate... WHAT WILL I write about then?...  ;)

Could you tell us another story about walking Coach?  A group of customers was making their way to the Veranda this past weekend, when the reluctant one stopped, not wanting to make the journey (through THE MAZE I suppose)...  :P  The group leader exclaimed, "you can see all of San Marcos from here!"  The reluctant one answered that encouraging plea with, "I'VE SEEN SAN MARCOS!!..."  :)  And yes, they DID go up to the Veranda...

Could you tell us about a possible conspiracy?  During this past weekend (speaking of the maze), I had a customer (to my face) tell me that the hallway at work is "like a maze..."  I started thinking that someone is reading the blog and was put up to saying that DIRECTLY TO ME...  I think that I will know for sure that something strange is afoot the night that FIFTY people make that comment to me...  Can you imagine me squirming if that does happen?  UGGHHH...

Could you please make just one more maze reference Coach?  I'm not making this up..., over the weekend, someone said to their friend, "I wonder if people get lost in here..."  They HAVE TO BE saying these things just to bother me, right?

Could you tell us about one of the funniest things that you've ever seen at work?  At closing time one night this weekend, most of the customers had already left the building.  As I reached Harper's, I saw a group of five people, which included a guy who was leaning with his back to the wall, holding his head like someone had recently..., PUNCHED HIM or something, but without the moaning or the blood...  As I watched, trying to figure out what was going on, a SECOND PERSON in the group then grabbed their head SUDDENLY...  I looked at the drink that they were hurriedly trying to finish before leaving the bar, and then I realized what was going on...  The group had a frozen drink from upstairs, and as each person in the group took their turn at trying to kill it..., WELL..., EACH PERSON IN THE GROUP was subjecting their head to a BRAIN FREEZE...  I now watched a THIRD PERSON in the group clutching their own head, and it was all that I could do to not start laughing...

Could you tell us about the cat that lived off of McDonald's food for over a year, and how it relates to your life?  I saw this story on Yahoo! last week, and it reminded me of a story from my past involving myself and a good friend of mine.  An abandoned cat in New Zealand basically lived in a McDonald's parking lot, successfully begging for food from customers, until an SPCA worker "rescued" (I mean, how bad could it be, right?) the cat...  :)  When I left coaching here in San Marcos a hundred years ago, my friend Kelley really helped me through a lot of personal bitterness, simply by being my friend...  :)  Well, Kelley is a HUGE animal lover, and she also worked a few hours each week at the swimming pool that I was managing.  The pool had some stray cats that would stop by from time to time, and being the kind person that I am, I decided to feed them some of the food that I had on hand (and I'm talking healthy food, like Cheetos and corn chips)...  WELL, being a hundred years ago, I don't remember the EXACT words in this conversation, but basically, the gist of it was Kelley asking, "WHAT are you feeding them?!"  Needless to say, the rest of the summer these strays ate cat food...  :)

Could you end this with one more reminder that you're a hundred years old Coach?  During my second year of teaching and coaching, my good friends and colleagues had a baby girl.  Last night when I was on facebook, I received a message asking me for my address..., for a... (wait for it..., wait for it...) GRADUATION ANNOUNCEMENT!  Ellen is graduating a year early (overachieving showoff), but STILL...  Congratulations Ellen!  ;)

I hope that you have a great day, and I'll see you again on Thursday!





  















    

Monday, April 22, 2013

The Girls Who Almost Broke My Heart

"My mom just asked me, "Where is Twitter?  How can I get in?"..."
-@may_noir- (via twitter)

"90% of Americans think statistics are made up..." -@Mytwoscentz- (via twitter)

"You will never go anywhere in life feeling sorry for yourself..."
-@KelvinBeachumJr- (via twitter)

"Dinner tonight consisted of vodka and chocolate frosting, so take a seat Rachael Ray.  There's a new sheriff in town..." -@Heather2Go- (via twitter)

"You don't know true competition until you're one of the last two people in musical chairs..."
-@MumbaichaTapori- (via twitter)



Good afternoon everyone.  I'm watching 'Avatar' (which has quickly become one of my favorite movies - I have to watch it anytime that it comes on) as I type this, which is my main excuse as to why this entry is coming to you a little bit later than usual (and later than I promised Stephanie and Sarah last night)...  Who are Stephanie and Sarah you ask?  Very good, I want you to be inquisitive...  ;)  Stephanie and Sarah almost broke my heart last night...  Last night was my Friday for the work week, and after arriving at work and getting the downstairs situated, I went upstairs and starting getting things straight there.  I was informed by my friend and coworker Raymond that pizza was on its way from Valentino's (which is on one of the other sides of 'The Square' for those of you who are not familiar with downtown San Marcos, America)...  The pizza had been ordered a half-hour ago (allegedly) by Stephanie and Sarah, so as I finished organizing things on my end, I said that I would be happy to wait for a slice - Valentino's has really good pizza, and this one was to be a supreme with jalapenos added (and NO anchovies)...  :)  So it's about 5..., 10..., FIFTEEN minutes later, I'm done with my chores upstairs, there is no pizza in sight, and now I should be getting back downstairs to my duties there.  Well, wouldn't you know it..., after I walk almost all the way downstairs, I spy a pizza delivery guy...  Isn't that just the way that it ALWAYS works out???  :)  Maybe I should have titled this, "Valentino's almost breaks my heart" - it really wasn't Stephanie's or Sarah's fault...  Thank you once again for the first slice..., AND the last slice from that pizza - it was very good ladies!  :)

At this point let's talk about basketball and my afternoon yesterday since my fantasy baseball teams have taken their much-anticipated dive over the past week... (AHEM)...  I set my alarm so that I would wake up at halftime of the Spurs/Lakers series opener yesterday.  Yes, it does make more sense to watch the whole game, but I usually sleep during the day before work, and my sleep schedule was COMPLETELY HAYWIRE this week.  Anyway, when I wake up, my Spurs are up twelve (their eventual margin of victory), and I see on facebook that one of my former athletes is at Bikini Hill.  Although I can't ever remember the last time that I've seen Destiny, I opted to watch the second half of the basketball game before I walked over to river.  This was a mistake (because we OBVIOUSLY KNEW that the Spurs were going to win) because when I made it to Bikini Hill after the conclusion of San Antonio's victory, she had already left.  I did want to at least give Destiny a shoutout here though, which takes us to my "rough" walk home from the river...

As I passed by Bobcat Nation, I saw my friend George's truck, and I wanted to get his opinion on the upcoming Rockets/Thunder series.  George is a Rockets fan, and he predicted that they will take the series in six games.  Whether or not that actually happens, I should let you know here that when I visited Las Vegas back in December, George was one of the people who contributed to my gambling pool for the trip.  After I notified everyone that I guaranteed to bring at least 50% of their money back toward the end of my trip, George texted me (but too late, as it turned out).  George notified me that he wanted me to put the rest of his money on the Ravens to win the Super Bowl (and keep in mind, this was on the Sunday night that Week 16 of the NFL season had come to an end).  Unfortunately, the sportsbooks were already closed when I received his text, and they weren't going to be open before I caught my return flight to Texas in the morning (I do like to give credit where credit is due though)...  I'm just saying, if the Rockets do take it in six...  :)  Anyway, four of my other friends were lined up at Bobcat Nation's bar when I arrived, with Scott, Floyd, Ashton, and Adam (from left to right on your computer monitor) enjoying the afternoon.  This brings up to the rough part of my walk, where Ashton FORCED ME to take a bite of cheesecake before returning home...  Where else can you take a fifteen-minute stroll to your home from a spot like Bikini Hill, and have a..., CHEESECAKE PITSTOP halfway home?  Again, God bless San Marcos, America...  ;)



Okay, enough stalling.  This gets us to our weekly fantasy baseball update.  Let me give you the standings, and then I'll say a few words...


League 1 (25 entry fee - 1st place 125, 2nd place 25)

1)  Neshanic                                               74.00
2)  DraftDodgers                                      70.00
3)  Rocky Roto                                         64.50
8)  The View From Bikini Hill            48.50


League 2 (50 entry fee (40 w/discount) - 1st place 300, 2nd place 50)

1)  Breaking Bats                                      75.50
2)  The Bikini Hill Bobcats                  63.50
3)  Loons XXIV                                         59.50

League 3 (50 entry fee (40 w/discount) - 1st place 300, 2nd place 50)

1)  Nappy Heads                                      73.00
2)  Fishing For Trout                             66.00
3)  Pearls Of Pine Tar                           58.00
9)  The Bikini Hill Nine                        47.00



As you can see, I'm still doing very well in one league, and NOT SO HOT in the others...  Here's my expert analysis (I KNOW you are interested in this).  On offense, my run scorers haven't been crossing home plate, and my base stealers haven't been stealing bases...  As for my pitchers..., ha ha...  If they're not breaking their collarbones, I have seemingly had one ace each week giving up a HORRENDOUSLY bad inning to kill my ERA.  My strikeouts have picked up recently, but I'm not chalking up enough wins.  I'm honestly not too worried about my pitching with the staffs that I have, but I did some MAJOR overhauling to my offenses this week, dropping some players that I would normally keep longer to try to plug in some more steals and runs. It's April and there's a long way to go, but congrats to the guys at the top of these three leagues on maintaining their rankings..., SO FAR...  ;)

Today's entry has run longer than I thought, but be sure to come back tomorrow, because I have PLENTY of stories from this past weekend at work.  It was all I could do one night to keep up in my little memo pad...  :)  Have an outstanding day and I'll see you again tomorrow!


          

Thursday, April 18, 2013

I Remember The First Time (13)/NBA 1st Rd.

"Vodka mixes well with everything except decisions..." -@Lpbinder- (via twitter)

"This whole, "there is no doing Twitter wrong" is BS.  If you're hurting people and spreading hate, you're doing Twitter wrong..." -@thatUPSdude- (via twitter)

"In math I use this thing called the 'guess and hope method'..." 
-@SoFunnyPosts- (via twitter)

"Twitter is a grown-up version of imaginary friends.  But they talk back, sometimes..."
-@Benjamin4501- (via twitter)

"Spilling olive oil on a linoleum floor is the biggest mistake you'll ever make..."
-@katie_sko- (via twitter)




I remember the first time that I decided to hijack a theme day...  Well my friends, I went back to sleep today (maybe due to the weather here, maybe because I was tired), and you will be getting a lot of NBA today, and not so much funny (unless you think my NBA predictions are funny)...


I remember the first time that I correctly predicted 6 of the 8 playoff teams in each conference...  If you want to verify (or see in its original form) anything that I'm going to be typing soon, go back to my October 31, 2012 post "Really..., Seriously...???"  Below you will see my predictions for the 2012-2013 NBA regular season, side-by-side with the actual outcome...


Eastern Conference Prediction                  Actual Outcome

1)  Miami                                                                1)  Miami
2)  Chicago                                                             2)  New York
3)  Boston                                                               3)  Indiana
4)  Indiana                                                             4)  Brooklyn
5)  Atlanta                                                              5)  Chicago
6)  Brooklyn                                                          6)  Atlanta
7)  Philadelphia                                                   7)  Boston
8)  Orlando                                                            8)  Milwaukee



Western Conference Prediction                 Actual Outcome

1)  Oklahoma City                                             1)  Oklahoma City
2)  San Antonio                                                  2)  San Antonio
3)  L.A. Clippers                                                 3)  Denver
4)  L.A. Lakers                                                    4)  L.A. Clippers
5)  Memphis                                                         5)  Memphis
6)  Dallas                                                               6)  Golden State
7)  Denver                                                             7)  L.A. Lakers
8)  Portland                                                          8)  Houston
  


I remember the first time that I apologized to New York, Milwaukee, Golden State, and Houston.  Well, the Knicks get a HUGE apology.  I didn't have them participating in the festivities at all, and they end up with the second seed in the East.  The Bucks snuck into the eighth spot, so I'm a little less sorry there.  Philadelphia and Orlando let me down, but I picked them seventh and eighth, so not so bad...  In the West, Golden State took the sixth seed (welcome back to the postseason Warriors) and the Rockets grabbed the eighth spot.  Mavericks and Blazers, what happened?  :P  All in all, not horrible predictions...

I remember the first time that a prediction of mine looked really good...  In that Halloween blog entry, I said that the 2nd through 5th seeds in the West would finish within 5 games of each other (it took me some time trying to seed those spots).  Well, I got 3 of the 4 teams right, and they finished within TWO games of each other (throw OKC in there, and the top 5 finished within 4 games of each other)...  :)

I remember the first time that some of my predictions were still up in the air.  Again going back to that Halloween post, I predicted that the Lakers would not even reach the Western Conference Finals (I said that there was NO WAY they'd win the title this year - Vegas had them at 8 to 5 to win it all)...  I also said to expect some deja vous in the finals, with the Heat beating the Thunder once again...


I remember the first time that it wasn't the first time that I made predictions for the first-round of the playoffs...  Here are my long-awaited (AHEM...) predictions for the opening round:


Heat over the Bucks in 5 games
Knicks over the Celtics in 7 games
Pacers over the Hawks in 7 games
Bulls over the Nets in 6 games

Thunder over the Rockets in 5 games
Spurs over the Lakers in 5 games
Nuggets over the Warriors in 7 games
Clippers over the Grizzlies in 5 games



I remember the first time that I found something interesting while doing research...  When looking back at the results for the Nuggets/Warriors games this season, I found that they played each other 3 times in 19 days back in November - very interesting scheduling...  They faced each other only once more during the season...

Have a great weekend and I'll see you again on Monday!








  

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Spinning...

"Good friends help you find important things when you've lost them; your Smile, your Hope, and your Courage..." -@GiselieMo- (via twitter)

"Spurs sign Tracy McGrady to add depth to the bench and get the combo senior citizens/group discount at restaurants..." -@TheFakeESPN- (via twitter)

"I've seen enough now to know that beautiful things don't always stay that way..."
-@SaraMarieWeise- (via twitter)

"Finally I know what skinny feels like...  Hungry.  It feels like hungry and I don't like it..."
-@J_Dazzle76- (via twitter)

"Happiness can be found in the strangest of places and in the saddest of eyes..."
-@Paula8020mc- (via twitter)



Good afternoon.  Today I'm just sitting here spinning my wheels, not really sure about what to type.  If you've read my blog before, I'm sure that you would be SHOCKED to know that I usually have some sort of notes or idea of what I'm going to be writing about...  On the t.v. right now is the Kansas City Royals/Atlanta Braves baseball game, and my only chance at scoring any fantasy points would be a late appearance by Braves closer Craig Kimbrel, YET my t.v. is still tuned into the MLB Network...  Yes, it's that kind of day...  Oops, I do have Alcides Escobar of the Royals also (he just made a throwing error, which is the reason I remembered that he's on my team)...  #rightoncue #shocked  Okay, Escobar just started a double-play that will probably be on SportsCenter tonight, so there's that...

Part of tomorrow's blog entry will be my first-round predictions for the upcoming NBA playoffs which begin on Saturday.  I am a Spurs fan if you have forgotten (or if you never knew), but the McGrady quote above was just so funny that I had to include it anyway...  :)  Please keep in mind that I'm one hundred years old, and "so broken and beat up," so I can post tweets that reference senior citizens...  ;)  I have decided that I am going to get back into shape again (and I mean again with the decision, not again like I've ever actually succeeded at getting back into shape)...  ;)  That reminds me, I just bought some ice cream last night (seriously, I'm going to go get a bowl of ice cream right now - Cookies and Cream if you're keeping score at home - I will be right back)...  Okay..., I'm back, and the ice cream has a banana broken up into it because that bunch is about to go bad.  I CHALLENGE YOU to find another blog where someone is writing about breaking up bananas...  #truesuspense  Anyway, I've decided that I'm just going to lose the weight and get into shape, and that at some random point I will tell you what my amazing new weight is.  WOW..., this ice cream is GOOD...  My friend Grrouchie has done a great job losing weight and chronicling his success, but whenever I don't have a good day/week, I just feel like I'm disappointing everyone if I track my diet attempt in that manner.  Don't cry for me Argentina...  BA HA HA HA...  Now a Kansas City Royal is shaken-up - you get ONE GUESS as to who it is...  WOW, I LOVE fantasy baseball...  #escobar

God bless Twitter, huh?  What would we have done if we didn't introduce these hashtags into our everyday life.  I think that twitter must have singlehandedly saved the hashtag.  Wait, I'm going to go tweet that (I seriously am...).  I will bet you everything I own that tweet will be the most retweeted brilliance that I've put on twitter to date...  ;)  I can do this because I don't own much and also because the words 'retweeted' and 'brilliance' have no business being together with regard to anything I've done in Twitterland...  My twitter handle is at the top of this page if you would like to follow me (as people RUSH to their Twitter accounts)...  For those of you who are among my over 2,600 followers, thank you.  To be honest, that is one frustrating thing about writing this blog - I would love to know who is reading it.  I guess that is a commonality throughout the writing universe though - once you've written something, you have no idea (or control over) who is going to see it.  Okay, it's been a couple of minutes and I haven't been retweeted once yet - the bet is off, sorry...  :)

Just so you know, I have been kicking around the idea of making regular blog entries just three times a week, with a fourth entry almost surely coming almost every other week, on some random day.  I still haven't decided if and when I will be moving, and where that move would take me if I do, but I am almost surely (bet you didn't think that you would see "almost surely" twice in the same paragraph) going to need to free up some time.  YES, my brilliance was just retweeted!  The bet of everything that I own against everything that you own is back on!  :)  Anyway, if I do make this change to my posting schedule, I will continue making entries on Tuesdays and Thursdays with my current themes, and the third "concrete" day is the one that I"m trying to nail down.  I'll let you know...

I hope that you have a great day and that you're a little more organized than I am today...  :)  See ya tomorrow!
          

  

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Could You? (13)

"No one notices what you do, until you don't do it..." -@isitthattime1- (via twitter)

"This idiot asked me if Texas State was in Killeen..." -@Lwalton_4TD- (via twitter)

"I believe in myself, even if no one else will..." -@_cloudHopnACE- (via twitter)

"A guy just wants to walk through the Quad in peace...  #GoAway"
-@HerreraJonatha1- (via twitter)

"Yes, of course you can fall in love before you actually meet.  I fall in love with pizza before it gets delivered to my house all the time..." -@cupcakelynda- (via twitter)




Could you please stop the senseless violence?  My thoughts and prayers go out to all of the victims in Boston, as well as my undying gratitude and support for those whose job it is to protect and defend us.

Could you be the brightest bartender in San Marcos, America?  I was walking through Slackers (our "shot bar") last weekend when I heard part of a conversation.  Some female customers were guessing the age of one of our bartenders.  After this exercise was finished, one of the girls asked the bartender to guess her age.  He guessed 21 (the minimum age required to be in our establishment).  He then guessed 22, 23, etc...  I think that Adam is GREAT at that game, and that he's gonna do okay in life...  ;)

Could you try to match at least one of the attributes?  A few months back, I read an article in the Austin Chronicle by Kate Thornberry.  Ms. Thornberry listed the three major attributes of a great blog:  first she said that the blog should be posted regularly; second she stated that the blog should have personality;  and finally she believes that the blog should present useful information.  Phew - I'm only three attributes away...  ;)

Could you do more to cause a traffic accident?  I'm wondering if any of these "sign guys" (you've seen them, on the street corners, doing advertising for apartment locators, or tax help services, etc...) have ever caused a car to crash.  I have no problem imagining that this has happened, seeing how easily some drivers are distracted.  I wonder if you can take legal action against the people waving the signs, or against the company that is employing them, if this does occur.  Across the street from the backside of campus here at Texas State, the guy PLAYS A HORN while he's spinning the sign...  No potential danger here...

Could you at least get a button?  So three guys approach my post at work the other night, ready to proceed to the Veranda (our rooftop bar), and one of the young men is wearing a yellow post-it note (you can't make this stuff up) that says, "I'm 21 today..."  I comment on the post-it note (I don't remember what I said), and one of his friends says, "he's official."  I INSTANTLY snap off, "well YEAH..., if he's got a POST-IT NOTE..."  ;)

Could you give me possibly the best line that I've ever heard at work?  This happened on Saturday night, when two women who were close to my age approached me.  My friend Adam would guess that they were both twenty-one...  ;)  Anyway, I was very tired on Saturday, and I had my head leaning up against the wall where I was seated, and I was wearing my knee-sleeves, when one of the ladies says, "you look so broken and beat up..."  BA HA HA HA  You have to LOVE honesty...  :)

Have a great day and I'll see you again tomorrow!
        

Monday, April 15, 2013

Zack Greinke, GRRRRRR...

"Sometimes you just feel like beating a person with a stick..." -@LindseyTovar- (via twitter)

"If you're not gonna follow through with something, just tell me no.  Don't say 'yes' then not do it... #Peeve"-@ash_bueno- (via twitter)

"My favorite part about looking like I just crawled out of a dumpster is that, without fail, I see everyone I know..." -@kenlipeterson- (via twitter)

"Great spirits have always encountered opposition from mediocre minds..." -Albert Einstein- -via @AffirmYourLife- (twitter)

"When something you write puts a smile or a smirk on the face of a total stranger thousands of miles away..."  -@savoirfail- (via twitter)



Good afternoon everyone.  If just one person even THINKS ABOUT smiling..., or smirking..., then my work is done...  I'm sure that after everyone reads about my misfortune with Zack Greinke, the whole bunch of you will just be... rolling in the aisles...  :(

Let's get you caught up on what's been going on this "weekend" for me.  This is my 2nd of 3 days off in a row, but because I work nights, 9:00 p.m. CST tonight will be like 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning for me regarding my weekend (I work again at 9:00 p.m. Wednesday night - you do the math)...  ;)  I had a great day off yesterday, enjoying the final round of the Masters golf tournament with Dad, followed by a Chester's bacon cheeseburger (maybe my goal should be to GAIN weight - I would be good at that)...  :)  My brother took a jab at me on facebook for not giving you a prediction on the Masters, and I just responded by saying that Tiger Woods wouldn't win the tournament.  For those of you who are new to the blog, I made a prediction WAY BEFORE I even started Bikini Hill that Tiger Woods would not break the mark set by Jack Nicklaus for wins in major tournaments (this prediction also came well before Woods' marital problems and subsequent divorce).  Nicklaus currently holds 18 majors titles, with Woods sitting at 14.  Nicklaus has said that he thinks that Woods will break his record, but I don't think that Nicklaus has a blog...  :P  I also think that Nicklaus could care less that he doesn't have a blog (if in fact, he doesn't)...  Well, Woods ended up playing through the weekend, even though the prevailing wisdom in the golf world (from what I've heard) is that he should have been disqualified from the tournament regarding an improper drop and a corresponding disparity with his scorecard, but he still didn't win, so.....  For those of you who mock my prediction, remember that I was the one who said that the Lakers would struggle this season when Las Vegas made them 8 to 5 favorites to win the NBA title...  ;)  (More on the NBA shortly)

So back to this weekend, today I'm watching 'Casino Royale' - well, that is until I watch 'The Italian Job' - well, that is until I watch 'Red Dragon' - and of course, I'll be doing chores and not really watching any of these, until the Phillies and Reds (Lee vs. Arroyo) start on ESPN at 6:00 p.m. CST.  Oh, a little side note - I just saw a commercial, and evidently Bill Cowher has taken a coaching job with Time Warner...  Anyway, I have Lee and Arroyo both throwing for one of my fantasy teams, so that game might peak my interest (the way that my luck is going, expect this game to be 10-9..., in the 4th inning...).  YES, let's talk a little bit about fantasy baseball, and then more specifically, about Zack Greinke...  First, the standings in my three fantasy baseball leagues:


League 1 (25 entry fee - 1st place 125, 2nd place 25)

1)  Neshanic                                           73.00
2)  DraftDodgers                                  68.50
3)  Rocky Roto                                     60.00
4)  The View From Bikini Hill        57.00



League 2 (50 entry fee (40 w/discount) - 1st place 300, 2nd place 50)

1)  Muchos Bravos                              74.00
2)  Breaking Bats                                  68.50
3)  The Bikini Hill Bobcats               66.00



League 3 (50 entry fee (40 w/discount) - 1st place 300, 2nd place 50)

1)  Nappy Heads                                    83.50
2)  Fishing For Trout                           65.00
3)  EL VILLANO 4                               62.50
6)  The Bikini Hill Nine                      51.50



OKAY...  I have whined and cried about my fantasy baseball team last year.  The team was so injured and underperforming that I completely gave up on them when I moved to Las Vegas at the end of July.  Fast forward to this year...  Jered Weaver gets hurt, but he's only playing for 1 of my 3 teams...  And then Zack Greinke comes along...  I drafted Greinke with my sixth-round pick for both The View From Bikini Hill (still a catchy name) and The Bikini Hill Bobcats.  I happen to think highly of the Dodgers this season, given all of the talent that they have acquired.  Imagine my surprise after my shift ended at work on Thursday night (early Friday morning) when I read on the ESPN 'ticker' that Greinke had left that night's game with an injury.  THEN I READ that there was a bench-clearing brawl after Greinke hit Carlos Quentin of the Padres (the third time is his career that he's hit Quentin).  AND THEN I SEE the pitch, and the subsequent brawl...  If ANYBODY'S fantasy pitcher is going to sign a 6-year, $147 million-dollar contract, hit an opposing player, SAY SOMETHING to that player after hitting him, and then just stand there and DUCK HIS SHOULDER into his CHARGING, 6 foot 2, 235-pound opponent and BREAK HIS OWN COLLARBONE... (you guessed it), it's going to be MY GUY...  GRRRRRR...  Eight weeks - thank you Zack Greinke...  #awesome

Moving on (AHEM...), the first round of this season's NBA playoffs will begin on Saturday, so you will be seeing predictions of some sort later on in the week.  Due to the length of the NHL lockout, the hockey playoffs will start on April 30th, so you will be seeing those predictions a little bit later...

In other news, I need to get my brakes fixed, so if you live in the San Marcos area, give me your recommendations (good and bad)...  Have a great day and I will see you tomorrow!





  






Friday, April 12, 2013

Sean And Kate's 7th Annual Crawfish Boil

"Hey @desertcoach remember that one time I beat you in a crawfish peel race? #IDo #IWon #YouLost #AllTalk" -@Uhh_lee_suhh- (via twitter)

"I've been around 1,000 pounds of crawfish in the past month - I've eaten 3..." -Floyd-

"Is that a shrimp?  Then why does it have a face?... -Melanie-



Good afternoon everyone.  And THIS is the reason that you weren't going to find me at the 36th Annual Statesman Capitol 10K up in Austin last Sunday...  :)  I was fortunate enough to have an invitation to Sean and Kate's 7th Annual Crawfish Boil.  Now my friend Sean (who is also my manager at work), could easily have his own blog if he wanted to write one (but I really don't need the competition anyway)...  He was one of the main players in the post 'You Better Keep Your Pancakes' (October 15th, 2012) if you want to look back in the archives to read a story that is one of my personal favorites.  At work last night, we were reliving Melanie's Sunday quote from above, when Sean asked her, "do you think they just......, FLOAT AROUND IN THE OCEAN HEADLESS?..."  :)  Eariler in this conversation, Melanie asked, "what's a lobster?" - sorry, but we don't even have time for that right now...  :)  As for Sean's wife Kate, well..., she just makes this crawfish boil GO...  Last year was my first time at this event, and I just COULD NOT BELIEVE how much she put into it.  Kate was boiling crawfish (and other food)... ALL... DAY... LONG...  This year Kate utilized a bigger pot so that she wouldn't have to boil throughout the entire day, and everything was OUTSTANDING once again.  I believe that I can speak for everyone who attended when I say that the effort put forth to host this crawfish boil was TRULY APPRECIATED - thank you very much Kate and Sean!  Now for a recap of the day from my point of view...

I really had a great time at this event last year, and waking up on Sunday morning was just like waking up on Christmas morning when I was younger - I was not going back to sleep...  I ended up making transactions for my fantasy baseball team, while doing other meaningless things, and left my place shortly after 11:00.  At the intersection of the main road that I had to take to reach my destination, I ended up turning and following right behind my friend and coworker Sam, and quickly realized that his right brake light was out (which was the exact same thing that I was pulled over for about two weeks ago).  I was only about the 5th or 6th person to arrive, and I helped to carry ice bags, move chairs and tables, and crack open THE VERY FIRST beverage of the event at 11:35 a.m. (a Bud Light).  Let me inject here that I was wearing my blue Hawaiian party shirt, because Hawaii is famous for their crawfish boils...  Let me also inject here that it was reported that there were 32 cases of beer on hand, in addition to the 3 different types of infused-fruit vodka.  Guests were strongly encouraged... NOT to bring beer...  One of the things that I liked about arriving so early was that I was able to grab a great spot for the day.  I could see the whole crawfish boil from my corner table, in addition to the entrance.  It's exactly the same thing with me at sporting events - I love to watch as the quiet stadium fills up and the festivities get going...

With the selection of beverages on hand, I decided early on that I would try to sample as many of them as possible, and I ended up drinking:  2 Bud Lights (someone messed up my drink order on the second one); a Tecate; a Lone Star; a blue Jello shot (thanks again Kate); a Bud Lime 'Lime-A-Rita'; a Miller Lite; a cup of strawberry-infused vodka; 2 Leinenkugal 'Summer Shandys' (the second just because it was good); wine from a bag; alcohol-soaked fruit (different than fruit-infused vodka); and bottled water (because I'm responsible)...  ;)

I did not eat everything I'm about to list, but the menu included:  crawfish (duh); corn; red potatoes; sausage; crab; shrimp; mussels; mushrooms; oysters; fish tacos; jalapeno poppers; steak-a-bobs; potato salad; cheese and summer sausage; apples; chocolate cupcakes; and leftover reeses easter egg candy...

I utilized the same strategy of dining that I implemented after attending last year's party.  Due to the fact that Kate is SO DILIGENT in providing HOT crawfish throughout the course of the day, I find it better (for me at least) to get a small amount (12-15) fresh ones every 20-30 minutes, instead of piling up a plate and having some go cold.  Oh, by the way, Kate acquired 160 pounds of LARGE crawfish, and they were prepared mild or spicy (I ate spicy from the second plate on).  There was also a small sampling of lemon pepper crawfish.  In case you're wondering, I ate crawfish from about noon until 4:30 p.m...  HEAVEN...  :)

Let me take the time here to thank Sam and Junior (mainly these two) for shucking the oysters throughout the day (my table was conveniently located near the oyster table also, so that I could interact with all of these people).  George and Floyd deserve a shoutout for doing an awesome job with the fish tacos.  I never asked what kind of fish it was, but a little slaw, and a little bit of green sauce in there, and they were GOOD...  Austin manned the grill for the jalapeno poppers and the steak-a-bob - also, very well done...

What can I say?  The weather was perfect, with a high of about 80 degrees on a mostly overcast day, but even when the sun did peek through, I ended up being in shade for most of the day.  Early on, my boss Allen and his wife Jamie showed up with their two young boys, and I was treated to watching Jamie pitch a wiffleball to one of the youngsters (you know, with the big bat?)...  I would have offered my expertise in batting, but the boy SLAMMED the first pitch, so I continued to eat and drink... :)  Let me add here that I was VERY RELAXED, with this being my Saturday, and the next day offering up the NCAA basketball title game matching Louisville vs. Michigan, on my Sunday...  The crawfish boil was just the start to a very relaxing weekend...

One of the stranger things to happen early in the day was a older lady looking in over the fence, from the other side.  I really didn't think that the party was very loud at this point (we actually discussed the possibility of starting a pool early in the day on when the police would show up, but to my knowledge they never did).  As I approached the fence, I realized that the woman was standing on a truck, but before I got involved, I saw that Kate was all over the situation, and I think I heard something about the word 'recycling'...  Anyway, the situation was obviously being handled (thanks again Kate), so I continued to eat and drink (a common theme developing here)...

Later in day my friends Alyssa and Melanie showed up (Texans fan/Packers fan, my Valentine's dates, general all-around punks - you remember them)...  When they came to the table with their crawfish, trust me when I tell you that they were struggling to peel them (they will tell you otherwise, but don't believe them).  I went to their side of the table and demonstrated how to peel the crawfish.  ANYWAY, shortly afterward, I went to get about another dozen, when Alyssa challenges me to a crawfish peeling race (a "peel battle," if you will - her term).  You've heard that you should always be suspicious when someone offers you a bet, right?  SOMEHOW..., I got this defective crawfish, or SOMETHING..., and Alyssa WON (that's where her tweet at the top of this blog entry is relevant).

I enjoy it when I see people trying foods that they have never had before, which is where the oysters come in.  I was able to watch Alyssa and Melanie eat their first ever oysters (they let the oysters slide down, then took a bite out of the cracker provided).  Both of them did well, and Alyssa ate several of them.  As for my friend and coworker J.J., well...  :)  J.J. had his back to me as he tried his first oyster, and all that I could see was him bring the oyster to his mouth, and then his head slowly start shaking "no" from side to side before depositing the oyster in the nearby trash can...  It just meant more for the rest of us J.J...  ;)

Later in the day, Tim and his daughter Merced joined us at the table, and in the UPSET OF THE DAY, Merced LOVED Melanie and Alyssa (Alyssa has claimed before that she doesn't get along with children), and Merced DIDN'T LIKE ME, and most everyone LOVES ME (allegedly???)...  :)  You should have seen this little girl's eyes light up when she got a chocolate cupcake...  :)

As the wine bag was being passed around the party later in the day (the wine bag comes from doing surgery on the wine box), I did my part and carried the last half of it around the gathering (a great way to be instantly popular)...  Everyone seemed to enjoy opening wide and having the wine poured down their throat...

My last experience with alcohol during the day (almost) was with the alcohol-soaked fruit.  I had some strawberry slices and watermelon (courtesy of my friend and coworker Ashton, who evidently has bird lips - "beak, beak, beak" - don't ask me, I just got wind of this last night)...  Anyway, not too long afterward, Ashton shows up with some healthy chunks of mango - YES!!!  I had one of these, and it tasted like it had not only been swimming in, but had DROWNED in alcohol... #bitter

After helping out with some of the trash cans (hey, I'm a team player), I sat with Alma and Joe, who are some of our regulars at work.  I just relaxed with my Summer Shandy and got to chat with these two for more than the few seconds that I get to at work, which was very cool.  The party ended for me shortly after 8:00 p.m. when I went to use the restroom and saw that there were 4 people in line.  At this point I figured that I could just drive home and use mine, and I did...  :)  It was getting dark anyway, and I INSTANTLY CRASHED until about 3:00 a.m. after using my own restroom...

And there you have it, the life of a 31K view blogger in San Marcos, America on a Sunday.  Oh, I WISH that every Sunday was like this...  Have a great weekend and I'll see you again on Monday!
          

    

      

     

Thursday, April 11, 2013

I Remember The First Time (12)

"Being indecisive doesn't make me a bad person, or does it?" -@iheartgunts- (via twitter)

"I'm getting sick of all these chicks dressing me with their eyes..." -@rdm_guy- (via twitter)

"People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day..." -Pooh-
-@disneywords- (via twitter)

"Sex In The City is the prequel to The Golden Girls, right?" -@canadasandra- (via twitter)

"I'm looking to the sky to save me, looking for a sign of life, looking for something to help me burn out bright..." -Foo Fighters- (Learn To Fly)



I remember the first time that someone paid NO ATTENTION to where they were going...  This was EASILY the thing that upset me the most at work last week...  I was holding down my station on the way up to the Veranda when a small group approached me, led by a petite blonde who had her eyes BURIED in her phone (of course she was leading the group).  Heading down to Harper's from around the corner was a fast approaching group of four people who were all bigger than this girl.  From about 10 feet away I said "wait" - and then from 5 feet - and then I had to practically put my hand in her face and warn "WAIT!"  The girl FINALLY looked up as the group going downstairs made their way past the girl and her group.  As this petite blonde and her friends proceeded upstairs, I heard, "did you see that? he got right in my face and said 'WAIT!'..."  To this moment, I don't think that this girl has ANY IDEA that I saved her from getting PLOWED by the group going downstairs...  No good deed...

I remember the first time that I solved a mystery...  For a while now I have been wondering WHY people would come all the way out to me in the hallway, pour their drinks into a cup, and THEN ASK ME what's upstairs, or if there's a bar on the roof...  Last weekend this happened again when a pair of girls approached me, but then one of them volunteered that they were "told to go upstairs..."  Personally I would still prefer to have some idea where I'm headed, but this makes more sense than wandering around aimlessly, like..., say..., a mouse in a maze...  ;)

I remember the first time that someone made me smile...  I have cried here before about the ENDLESS number of customers who will break out the same UNFUNNY lines that I just don't have any interest in mustering a fake smile for, so I give them a stone face...  Well recently, this young lady was headed downstairs, and she knows that the line underneath the doorway, the spot where the wood and tile meet, is the exact point where I add or subtract customers from the Veranda count.  She asked me what the count was, and then she started "dancing" back and forth across the line, chanting, "97, 98, 97, 98..."  This isn't the first time that a customer has done something similar to this, but I had no choice other than to smile and offer her a hug after she performed her little Vaudeville production...  :)

I remember the first time that I was important...  Very often I hear either the phrase "you always work" or "you're always here" when I'm at my station in the hallway on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.  Recently I heard an original line, as one of our female customers exclaimed, "the only man in my life I can depend on..." :)

I remember the first time a birthday was inconvenient...  I have to admit that I felt pretty miserable at work last night because I managed to turn my sleep pattern inside out again (major accomplishment), but this is the one line that made me smile...  A group of about 8 people was headed upstairs when I heard, "you would have to turn 21 on a WEDNESDAY..."

I remember the first time that bragging about some of my former students/athletes saved a post from being made up entirely of work stories...  So this past Sunday, the 36th Annual Statesman Capitol 10K was held up in Austin.  This was only the 36th time that I've failed to participate in the event...  ;)  (Hey, I've finished three marathons, so get off my back)...  My first shoutout goes out to Hunter, a graduate of the first high school that I worked for, which really was 100 years ago...  ;)  She is also a graduate of Texas State University, and the thing that I'll always remember about Hunter is her telling me that back when she was deciding on a college, I was one of the only people who told her that she should go to school in San Marcos...  See, sometimes I'm right...  ;)  Our second shoutout goes out to Valerie (sorry Val, but I never call you Val...), who is also a fellow Bobcat.  Valerie not only attended college here, but she also went to high school in San Marcos, America, as did our next contestant.  Actually, our next contestant Alvin also attended BOTH high school and college here in San Marcos.  In case the three of you don't know this, there is a site called mychiptime.com where you can look up the official race results.  I'm not posting your times here because I don't know if you were trying to run the 10K competitively, but Alvin, as a former college running back, you should have beat them both by more...  KIDDING...  :)  Congratulations to all 3 of you for finishing an event on Sunday which drew 15,181 participants!  At the crawfish boil that I attended on Sunday (which I will write up in detail tomorrow), I just happened to see the facebook posts by these three on my phone, but I NEVER DID go back through and thoroughly search to see if anyone else completed the 10K, so if I'm missing anyone out there, I apologize...

Well, I already gave it away.  I'll see you again tomorrow when I write up a great crawfish boil.  Have an outstanding day!


    




Wednesday, April 10, 2013

No Post Today...

Good afternoon everyone.  I'm just posting this (I'm really not) to let you know that there won't be a post today (this isn't a post)...  :)  When I woke up today, I just happened to catch the start of a movie - 'No Country For Old Men' (2007 - 3 1/2 of 4 stars - Tommy Lee Jones)...  Anyway, I ended up watching the whole movie.  Today I had intended to do a write-up of the crawfish boil that I attended this past Sunday, but I know that I won't do it the justice that it deserves if I write it today.  Tomorrow I will be back with 'I Remember The First Time (12)', and on Friday I will post about the crawfish boil.  Your refund check for today is in the mail...  ;)  Have a great day and I'll see you tomorrow!
 

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Could You? (12)

"Sorry I cannot hire someone born after 1990.  I need an employee that understands all of my cultural references..." -@SharpeBytes- (via twitter)

"If you come here to attack people and harass my friends, I'm going to stick up for them.  You don't like it?  Unfollow me - it's that simple..." -@NurseRatchet719- (via twitter)

"I wish there was an app for "is this too wrinkled to wear?" because getting married again just seems way too expensive..." -@Bourbon Diary- (via twitter)

"You're a student once, but you're a Bobcat for life... #TXST" -@txst- (via twitter)

"Bringing you sadness was my greatest sin..." -@Whrthebrainrots- (via twitter)



Could you predict the winner and margin of victory in the NCAA title game Coach?  WOW..., it's nice to get one right...  ;)  (My prediction:  Louisville 68  Michigan 62 - Final:  Louisville 82-76).  The score was obviously higher than I thought it would be.  After I overshot the range of scores in the semifinal games (which I didn't see much of), I figured that the shooting background in the Georgia Dome was tough as it is in many venues that don't normally host basketball.  I honestly didn't watch most of the first half of last night's game, but when I tuned in, the Cardinals were mounting a furious comeback to end the half.  As I suspected, it turned out to be a great game.  Well done Cardinals and Wolverines...

Could you PLEASE take away that feeling of deja vous???  Okay..., so last year my fantasy baseball team suffered a lot of injuries and poor performances from usually dependable players.  This week, David Price and Roy Halladay have already been ROCKED, and Jered Weaver now has an injury - WONDERFUL...

Could you tell me where the phrase "as cool as a cucumber" originated?  Was there once this cucumber who drove a really hot car and picked up all the chicks?  I've eaten cucumbers before, and they have never seemed particularly "cool..."  Hmmmm...

Could you please, pretty please Coach, make another reference to food, or to grocery stores, as you tend to do so often?  Here's some shopping advice for you (the moment that you've been waiting for, I'm sure)...  When you buy perishable goods, ALWAYS find the expiration date!  I went to WalMart very early this morning (today is April 9th), and I bought some milk.  The expiration dates on the gallons that were located at the front of the cooler were the 12th, the 13th, and the 19th...  I'm not even going to tell you that WalMart was playing Sheryl Crow's "Soak Up The Sun" AGAIN...  Pretty soon you are going to be able to Google that song and find my blog...  :)

Could you share the status of 1 of your 3 facebook friends with us Coach?  I meant to "steal" this about five days ago from my friend Courtney:  "Anyone else notice the word 'bed' looks like a bed?"  (See it?)  ;)

Could you share a tweet from 1 of your 3 twitter friends, and at the same time, preview your upcoming crawfish boil entry Coach?  Wow, you people are SOOOOO demanding!  I had originally intended to include a lot of little crawfish boil excerpts in today's post, but I think (THINK) that I'm going to write up a full entry tomorrow.  Here's a tweet that I think you'll like though (although it's really not true..., ALLEGEDLY...):  "Hey @desertcoach (that's me) remember that one time I beat you in a crawfish peel race?  #IDo #IWon #YouLost #AllTalk"  Yeah...  My friend (allegedly) Alyssa was struggling with a crawfish on Sunday, so I KINDLY (most definitely) showed her the easiest way to peel them.  When I returned with some fresh crawfish of my own, I was challenged to a "peel race..."  Yeah, somehow I lost (allegedly)...  I'm pretty sure that my crawfish was defective (most definitely)...  ;)


Could you share two of the best lines that you heard at Sunday's crawfish boil?  Absolutely...

"I've been around 1,000 pounds of crawfish in the last month - I've eaten 3..." -Floyd-

"Is that a shrimp?  Then why does it have a face?..." -Melanie-


I hope that you have a great day and I'll see you again tomorrow!










  

  


Monday, April 8, 2013

Louisville vs. Michigan, & Potluck

"Not sure if I should be proud of this or not, but our employee handbook had 37 new rules added since I started working here..." -@HallpassCanada- (via twitter)

"I have a *free* ticket for the Mets game today.  I'd have to leave in 38 minutes.  I am still in my pajamas.  And it's cold...  *tightens covers*" -@realdawnsummers- (via twitter)

"This garage sale is a bit odd, but I can't leave empty handed.  I'm torn between a left roller skate for 25 cents and a TV Guide from May '11... -@iAmDelFreaky- (via twitter)

"Trust is a small word with a big concept..." -@sweetg35- (via twitter)

"We should all start to live before we get old.  Fear is stupid and so are regrets..."
-@jkellar98- (via twitter)



Good morning everyone.  There's a lot going on here for a sleepy little Monday.  Four MLB games and the NCAA Men's National Basketball Championsip are being televised today and tonight, so I'll have something on the tube while I'm being productive...  I went to an amazing crawfish boil and also had some friends who participated in Austin's Capitol 10k yesterday.  I'll be reporting on those in some sort of fashion very soon.

Let's start by giving you the first standings update from my three fantasy baseball leagues.  If things go according to plan, you will be seeing these updates every Monday for the next six months.  I will give you the rank for the top three teams in each league (plus my team if it isn't part of this trio).  Yesterday I left a note on the message board for each of these leagues, so my new unknown friends should be aware of the fact that they have the opportunity to become famous - well..., Bikini Hill famous...  NOTE:  'Famous' and 'Bikini Hill Famous' will be synonymous before you know it...  ;)  I wake up to see that my little blog has now been viewed 30,738 times and I am truly baffled...  :P  I'm thinking that by the time I figure out how to recognize all of the people who I want to thank for helping Bikini Hill to hit the 30,000 milestone, the blog will have reached 35,000 views...  :)


League 1 (25 entry fee - 1st place 125, 2nd place 25)

1)  DraftDodgers                                  76.00
2)  Buschleaguers                                65.00
3)  The View From Bikini Hill        60.00


League 2 (50 entry fee - 1st place 300, 2nd place 50)

1)  Muchos Bravos                              72.50
2)  Breaking Bats                                 70.00
3)  The Bikini Hill Bobcats              63.50


League 3 (50 entry fee - 1st place 300, 2nd place 50)

1)  Nappy Heads                                   73.00
2)  Pearls of Pine Tar                         62.50
3)  EL VILLANO 4                              60.50
8)  The Bikini Hill Nine                     49.00


As you read over that, I know that you're thinking what I'm thinking right now:  WHY would you give your opponents the INCENTIVE of a mention in this awesome little blog each week?  They will NEVER stop trying now...  :)  (Yes, EVERYONE is thinking that)...  I don't know if I'm more surprised at having the pair of 3rd place teams, or at the team that is currently in 8th place.  My 8th place team is the one that has Kershaw, Strasburg, Weaver, Medlen, Lincecum, etc...  The offense on this team is decidely the worst of my three teams (on paper).  The bullpen on this team is also the worst of my three...  Like I said though, until the end of September we go, so we shall see...



So you're more interested in basketball you say...  Tonight is the night for the men hoopsters - Louisville versus Michigan.  I am 42-24 predicting games in this tournament (PUKE...).  HOWEVER, I am 5-1 picking the winners since the start of the Elite Eight (redemption?).  I had Louisville 79-72 over Wichita State on Saturday (Final:  Louisville 72-68).  I also had Michigan 77-74 over Syracuse (Final:  Michigan 61-56).  Yes, I overshot the scores a little bit, but I would have been 2-0 against the spread on Saturday (Louisville was favored by 11, Michigan by 2).  So you want a prediction for tonight, huh?


NCAA Tournament Championship Game
Louisville (34-5) vs. Michigan (31-7)
8:23 p.m. CST
The Georgia Dome (Atlanta, GA)

This promises to be a great game.  I have a hard time envisioning a blowout in this one.  Vegas has Louisville as a 4-point favorite, with the over/under set at 138.  I can tell you that my prediction will reflect the under.  I can also tell you that I am not disrespecting the team that I don't pick to win this game.  Both of these teams have had a great tournament.  The Cardinals have knocked off N.C. A&T (31), Colorado State (26), Oregon (8), Duke (22), and Wichita State (4).  The Wolverines have beaten South Dakota State (15), Virginia Commonwealth (25), Kansas (2), Florida (20), and Syracuse (5).  Awesome matchup, and I'm going with...

Louisville    68
Michigan     62



I hope that you have a great 'Championship Monday' (wouldn't Monday just be a better day of the week if it was always a 'Championship Monday'?) and I'll see you again tomorrow!














Thursday, April 4, 2013

I Remember The First Time (11) - The Final Four

(April 1st)  "Four years ago today I got my Texas State acceptance letter.  I thought it was an April Fools' joke..." -@ChelseaOnTime- (via twitter)

"When a girl is silent, a million things are going through her mind..."
-@Dreii03- (via twitter)

"If you truly want to be with a person, listen to your heart and not all the voices from all the people around you..." -@Notebook- (via twitter)

"A BIG thank you to all the people who believe in me, and an even bigger thank you to the ones who don't!" -@TheWeifenbach- (via twitter)




I remember the first time that the fine supporters of Wichita State had a good laugh at my expense.  SOOOOO, it seems that..., SOMEONE has picked against the Shockers three times during this NCAA Tournament (I did pick the Shockers to beat LaSalle 72-70 - Final Score:  Wichita State 72-58).  Well, it seems that it's that time (well, it's that time for me, because this is my last blog post of the week).  Today I am making my predictions for Saturday's pair of Final Four games, and on Monday I will be back with my pick for the national championship game.  Let's take a look at Saturday:


Saturday, April 6th


Louisville (33-5) vs. Wichita State (30-8)
5:05 p.m. CST
The Georgia Dome (Atlanta, GA)

Here we have a matchup featuring the top team in the Big East (Louisville) against the team that finished 2nd in the Missouri Valley Conference (Wichita State).  The Cardinals are coming off of a 22-point victory over Duke, while the Shockers taught me not to be smarmy (we'll see) with their 4-point upset of Ohio State.  Another Wichita State victory (they are eleven-point underdogs) would indeed be shocking (see what I did there?)...  ;)  I say...

Louisville        79
Wichita St.     72




Michigan (30-7) vs. Syracuse (30-9)
7:45 p.m. CST
The Georgia Dome (Atlanta, GA)

You have to love this tournament.  Here we have a matchup of the team that finished 4th in the Big Ten (Michigan) facing the team that finished 5th in the Big East (Syracuse).  The Wolverines just drummed Florida by 20 points, while Syracuse just disposed of Marquette by 16.  Michigan is a two-point favorite.  I will go with...

Michigan     77
Syracuse     74



I am going to keep it short and sweet today.  Have a great basketball weekend and I will see you again on Monday!




  






Wednesday, April 3, 2013

MLB Predictions (2013) & Other Stuff

"Never say 'maybe' to a kid.  All they hear is, "I swear on my life that this will definitely happen"..."
-@sweetnsane1- (via twitter)

"When a girl says, "we need to talk," it's never about baseball..."
-@Baseball_Jesus_- (via twitter)

"That awkward moment when you actually have to explain to someone that you were being sarcastic..."
-@iQuoteComedy- (via twitter)

"Ignore her the first two times she asks.  Women LOVE that..."
-@ShoutingGoddess- (via twitter)

"Don't kick me when I'm down, because when I get back up, you're screwed..."
-@JayHobsonMUFC- (via twitter)



Good morning everyone.  Better late than never, right?  We're already a few days into the Major League Baseball season, but here are my predictions for 2013, and I cannot stress this enough:  for entertainment purposes ONLY (unless I happen to be right of course)...  ;)

     American League Division Winners:  Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles
     American League Wild Cards:               Tampa Bay, Texas

     National League Division Winners:    Washington, St. Louis, Los Angeles
     National League Division Winners:    Philadelphia, San Francisco

World Series - Los Angeles Angels over Los Angeles Dodgers



Some questionable picks above maybe, but remember who told you that the Lakers would struggle this year when Las Vegas had them at 8 to 5 to win it all (and forget my baseball predictions from last year)...  ;)



Now a little section for you sponsored by my coworkers.  We finally had some rain here yesterday and last night in San Marcos, America.  I slept through the daytime rain, but was brought up to speed by my friend Nick:  "It was raining hard Coach.  I thought it might pierce my skin..."  :)  This is brought to you by the same Nick who triggered the idea for the very popular 'I Remember The First Time' blog theme that I have employed here on Thursdays.  Nick should actually start his own blog, but then he's a soccer guy, and he'd probably start writing about that, and that kinda kills the whole thing right there...  ;)  J.J. is one of my newer friends and coworkers, and he was involved in a couple of conversations that I witnessed this week.  Just last night, a couple of customers approached our front door with lit cigarettes:


Customer:  "Do you have an ashtray?"
J.J.: "Inside"
Customer:  "Can we smoke inside?"
J.J. "Unfortunately..."

If you have followed the blog for any length of time, you know when I wanted to roll my eyes...

"No, you can't smoke inside, but we DO have ashtrays..."  :P


I was at my post in the hallway last weekend, and a couple of guys were pouring their beers into plastic cups (yes, clean cups) when one of them bumped into J.J. and started mumbling something to his friend.  I was unaware of what was happening when J.J. suddenly stopped and asked the guys, "you have a problem?"  The guy started stutter-mumbling (it's a legitimate made-up phrase, look it up), "no..., no problem..."  After J.J. walked away, the guys didn't say A WORD...  :)

Tomorrow I am going to give you my predictions for the Final Four, which will be played this Saturday, with the national championship game coming to you on Monday night.  I am currently sitting at 40-24 for this NCAA Tourney, having picked 3 of the 4 'Elite Eight' games correctly.  That has been my favorite round to this point, as the 3 winners that I picked won decisively, with my loss coming in the Buckeyes 4-point defeat at the hands of Wichita State.  And yes Shockers fans, I do realize what happens when I get smarmy with your team in your blog...  Congratulations!  ;)

I hope that you have a great day and I'll see you again tomorrow!



      






Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Could You? (11)

"I thought Instagram was a cocaine delivery service..." -@Waleska163- (via twitter)

"I'm combining Easter and April Fools Day this year - I'm sending the kids out to look for eggs I haven't hidden..." -@Mz_Cake_Vodka- (via twitter)

"Relationship status:  getting pretty serious with Reeces Peanut Butter Eggs..."
-@ProbablyButNo- (via twitter)

"The Yankees don't always lead the Tigers 2-0, but when they do, it's spring training... #Tigers"
-@freepsports- (via twitter)

"It's surprising how much a sprinkler system sounds like a rattlesnake when you're out walking with music playing in your earphones..." -@desertcoach- (via twitter)



Could you not quote yourself in your own blog please?  Yes, the rattlesnake quote is mine, from last night.  So, I decided to go for a walk after midnight after watching ten hours of baseball yesterday (sorry to let you down, but I did take a nap for a couple of hours during the Phillies/Braves game...).  So I'm down near the Square, walking by these these shrubs, listening to iHeartRadio through earphones via my Droid, when I hear it...  "ChuhChuhChuhChuhChuhChuh" (whisper that out loud to yourself REAL FAST, I spelled it right)...  ;)  ANYWAY, I turned my head to look, and I finally found the water shooting out from behind the shrubs.  NO, I didn't jump, and I wasn't scared, but yeah..., it DID SOUND kinda like a rattlesnake... #themoreyouknow



Could you not do stupid things in a deliberate effort to get your store into my blog again?  I went to the local H.E.B. grocery store after my Easter shift ended (about 4 a.m. Monday morning), walked up to the door, and it was..., LOCKED???  Then I read this sign:

"We will be closed SUNDAY, March 31

We will Re-open Monday, April 1 at our regular opening hours..."

For those of you who are not familiar with the "Big H.E.B." in San Marcos, America, the store is normally open 24 hours..., SOOOOOOO..., when you say that you "will re-open... at our regular opening hours," that would be??????  GOD BLESS the employee who was approaching the store from his car when I was heading back to mine...  BA HA HA HA...  After asking him when they were going to open (6 a.m. he thought), I said to him..., "you MIGHT want to tell someone that your signs are confusing, considering that your store is normally open all the time..."  Again, BA HA HA HA...  I'm so rotten...  :)



Could you put a quote in your blog lead-in for the Yankees fans?  BA HA HA HA...  :)  I actually meant to put that quote up for my brother yesterday for Opening Day, but it totally slipped my mind.  Between now and the time I hit the 'publish' button, I'm going to try to remember all of my facebook friends who are Yankees fans, just so I can tag them also...  :)  Oh, and by the way, final score from Yankee Stadium yesterday:  Red Sox 8  Yankees 2...  ;)  I also intend to start listing the top three teams in each of my fantasy baseball leagues here on Mondays since I know that at least some of the team owners are reading the blog.  Where am I in the standings currently you ask?  I'm in second place, thank you for asking...  And YES, that would be in ALL THREE LEAGUES (10-team leagues)...  :P

Could you "could you" someone TWICE in one blog entry?  Natalie, Natalie, Natalie...  :)  So my "famous" (Bikini Hill famous) Texas State reporter friend had an interesting day yesterday...  It seems that Natalie was walking on campus when a random kid told her that she had a big green bug on her backpack.  She stopped in her tracks and asked him if he would remove it.  He told Natalie, "no, it's REALLY BIG..."  Natalie proceeds to THROW HER BACKPACK to the ground, at which point this stranger says, "April Fools!"  BA HA HA HA...  :)

Could you PLEASE tell us another Natalie story?  You knew I was going to already...  ANYWAY, Natalie gets on the campus bus yesterday, and after the driver closes the doors, he whispers, "now I'm going to kill us all... just kidding..."  The following is a direct quote from Natalie:  "Dude drove like crazy and laid on the horn like 3 times!!!  All the fools are out to play today..."  :)  Again, I'm going back to the "BA HA HA HA well..."  :)

Could you give us your predictions as to who will make the playoffs in Major League Baseball this year Coach?  Yes, I plan on doing that tomorrow, thanks for asking...  ;)

Could you change my outlook on life with one simple trade?  Yesterday was a GREAT DAY to be Colt McCoy, wasn't it?!  The former University of Texas quarterback was traded FROM the Cleveland Browns TO the San Francisco 49ers yesterday.  The HECK with April Fools Day - MERRY FREAKIN CHRISTMAS Colt!  ;)

I meant to say thanks to a lot of people today in honor of this little blog breaking the 30,000 viewmark total yesterday, but I'm not quite prepared, so I'm going to save that for another day.  In the meantime, I want to thank ALL OF YOU for stopping by, and I will see you again tomorrow!