Thursday, December 27, 2007

AZ Pundit's Official Holiday Bowl Pick

Certainly there is much anticipation of tonight's Holiday Bowl matchup featuring the Longhorns and Sun Devils.

My pick?

Texas Fight, Texas Fight,
And it's goodbye to A&M. (or ASU)
Texas Fight, Texas Fight,
And we'll put over one more win.
Texas Fight, Texas Fight,
For it's Texas that we love best.
Hail, Hail, The gang's all here,
And it's good-bye to all the rest!


And no, I am not cowering to the demands of my immediate and extended family. I just think UT wants it more. Should be a good game.

And to my Sun Devil colleagues, fellow churchgoers, and neighbors who read this blog, sorry. We can still be friends, right??

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

If this isn't irony

As my busy morning routing is somewhat less rushed than usual this a.m., I had time to peruse the newspaper. I came across a wire story about the WGA strike, which has not affected my life in the least (more on that in a future post). Also included was a picture showing the actors from "Reno 911" showing support for the striking writers.

Funny, when you consider "Reno 911" consists almost entirely of improvised dialogue. No need for writers on that set.

Looking for the photo on the net, I came across something better: a video.

By the way, Tom, I do enjoy talk radio. And my Sirius radio. And blogs. And the several hundred channels I get on the satellite dish.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

It happens to famous folks, too

In leisurely evening reading, I noticed this article about a certain baseball player-turned broadcaster-turned author and his travails with a busted hot water heater.

I feel better.

And I have to admit I like the tankless heater.

________________________

Other stuff: The Arizona Cardinals are still the Cardinals, but at least they're not the Falcons.

I know I'm a layperson when it comes to these mega-dollar contracts, but how is a guy like Petrino just allowed to walk away?

Saturday, December 08, 2007

A Saturday morning laugh

In the process of doing casual beginning-of-the-weekend web browsing, I came across this. Being the Microsoft hater that I am, I just had to click and read.

Watch the YouTube video and laugh out loud.

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Water in the desert

And in our house, no less.

Yesterday, while moonlighting, I notice Geogal called twice. I checked the voice mails. Not good news, but thankfully not tragic stuff.

Apparently the hot water heater decided to call it quits. And start leaking out significant volumes of H2O. In the garage. Into the house.

Geogal discovers this, takes a quick look, then takes action. By the time I am finished working, she has already pulled up the carpeting from the room adjacent to the garage, had the fan blowing on the floor, tried to use our wet/dry vac (to no avail), and enlisted the help of one of our friends from the next street over. So, the hot water is all drained out of the heater (we think) and we are more or less ready to call the plumber and the water extraction professionals.

Then today, the crew arrives and the news gets worse, then better, then worse, then better. The water damage was not as extensive as first thought. However, we now have the drywall and insulation removed from a large section of wall inside the house. Plus, the heater is again full of water (cold water, at least) because the shut-off valve was stripped, therefore the heater leaked water all through the night.

And I don't want to tell you how much a tankless water heater will set us back.

So, in the midst of all the drama, I still find time to keep to my morning routine of exercise at the Y. Afterward, I took advantage of where I was to take a shower. And I likely will do the same tomorrow. You just take certain things for granted until they are suddenly taken from you. I think after this experience I will be thankful for my hot water for many weeks to come.

And having the endless supply of hot water will be nice...

Sunday, December 02, 2007

New entry with pics!

After much procrastination, I completed my latest off-road driving story on my other "fun" blog. Look at it here.

And, to follow-up with my previous entry, congratulations to Hawaii and LSU. Tigers, beat the Buckeyes like a bongo drum!

A Saturday to cheer and to cry

Wow!

Yes, I parked myself in front of the TV for the better part of yesterday afternoon and evening, watching college students break each others' bodies. (That's Geohouse slang for football, except in the case of the NFL, where it then becomes "Grown men breaking each others' bodies.")

Sure, some contests were boring (such as UCLA-USC). But thanks to having numerous choices due to DirecTV, I watched the Civil War (Oregon-Oregon State)--2 overtimes, then Arizona-Arizona State (still came down to anyone's game in the closing minutes). I just couldn't stay up to watch Hawaii come back and beat Washington.

Now, let's see what happens at 6 p.m. God's time, when the BCS bowl lineups are announced. I'm glad I am not one of the decision-makers in that process. Given this season, I wonder if the "experts" will just toss darts to make the selections.

Whatever. One of the joys of having graduated from a perennially-losing-football-team school is not having to sweat buckets over polls or bowls. I don't really have a favorite team from among the BCS conferences, save perhaps Texas.

But some (metaphorical) tears yesterday. I realize yesterday was truly the last college football Saturday of the season. There's just something about college football that the pros and the other collegiate sports can't offer. Tailgate parties, marching bands, crisp fall temps (everywhere but here in AZ), fresh air, anticipation over the holiday season. And while I have no loyalty whatsoever to The Ohio State University, who else can come close to performing something such as "Script Ohio?"

So, now I can watch the several episodes of "Torchwood" that are on the DVR. And I'm making a pot of elk chile. Sundays do not have to be miserable if one chooses to be constructive.