Thursday, June 22, 2006

It's just way too much fun to blog on days like this

So Ozzie Guillen uses slurs that no one (even in the sports world) should be using. Then he tries to backpedal. I almost expect him to issue a press release today stating: "Some of my best friends are gay."

If Major League Baseball had the fortitude to hit Marge Schott with fines for what she said, how is the Guillen situation any different?

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

A few days ago, I picked up the latest copy of my favorite high-tech rag, PC World Magazine. Their cover story this month is about the 100 Best Products of the Year. They included a sidebar listing the 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time. Number One on the list? AOL. In part, because of incidents such as this one. And don't give me that drivel about this being an isolated incident. You can bet their call center personnel are coached in tactics such as the above. I'm glad I ditched my AOL account back in 1997.

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Father's Day musings

Yes, I am a father.

Been a good Father's Day. Got an iPod Nano from the little one (she probably got a little purchasing help from her mother). I look forward to listening to my choice of tunes and podcasts while I work out.

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

I'm not sure what the D-Backs need at this point, but they need SOMETHING. How could this be the team that swept the Braves in Atlanta four straight games before this downhill slide?

Hmmmm, their slump began when the Geo family got back from the vacation. Maybe we need to take another one.......

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

Some concern regarding the Valley's housing market. Yes, it was due for a correction, but is this actually an overcorrection?

I'm glad we moved here in 2002, before this insanity began. And, we hope to stay here for a good long while.

Friday, June 09, 2006

Get over it

That's my message to two Chandler City Council members.

The voters spoke. You guys are now in the minority.

It doesn't take a psychic to predict a lot of 5-2 votes for the next two years.

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Barry could take a cue from this guy

Sadly, for the past day and a half, the Valley is the epicenter of the MLB universe (for the worst reasons).

I'm not saying Grimsley is a saint, nor am I inferring that he is a great player. In fact, this episode may ensure his name is remembered long after his career is over. Of course, his career likely ended yesterday. Regardless of his past behaviors and the spilling of his guts to the feds, Grimsley did the right thing by going to management and asking to be released, rather than drag out the inevitably lengthy process of fact-gathering and subsequent punishment. He actually put the needs of his team above his own interests.

Granted, Grimsley will not wind up in Cooperstown, as Barry definitely will. And Brad Paisley was correct when he sang: "When you're a celebrity, it's adios reality." As long as he is revered by the fans in the Bay Area, Bonds will believe he can behave with impunity.

But life's not all bad. While on my road trip, I picked up Monday's edition of the USA Today and read a blurb in the sports section about "Bonds on Bonds" being put on hiatus by ESPN. The writer (Michael Hiestand) correctly interpreted "hiatus" as "euthanized."

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

A Golden Vacation

So titled from being in the Golden State for nearly all of it.

Returned from a Geogal business-trip-that-we-grafted-a-family-vacation-onto. Did a road trip this time, in doing an examination of the high airline tickets for the whole family and the usual post-9/11 security-related hassles that are now just a part of air travel.

Compared to other road-oriented vacations in our family history, this one was noteworthy as it involved routes and destinations to areas that were new to me. Previously I have only been as far north (Californiawise) as Simi Valley. This time, I had the pleasure of seeing California's central coast, the Bay Area, and the Monterey-Carmel-Big Sur region.

I also had the displeasure of seeing Barstow, Needles, and Wasco. Oh, well. Gotta take the good with the bad.

Also enjoyed some great driving, including going past the highway junction where James Dean bought it in 1955. And add to all of this certain points of interest, which varied from Muir Woods to a honky-tonk of some note.

For now, I'm still decompressing from all the travel. I'll reflect more on all of this as the week progresses.