Just the roadie...

So here I sit, somewhere between Cleveland, Ohio and Erie, Pennsylvania, a couple days before Christmas 2005. It is Wednesday, isn't it? I have a tendency to lose track of what day of the week it is lately. Today, I'm on my way to NY to spend the holidays with family and friends out there. Dad has a pretty big surgery early in January and I'm trying to figure out how and when I'd be making my way back to Indiana. If things don't change within the first week or two of January, I think it will be time to officially make my move back to New York to pursue the next steps in the career path. Through this whole thing my faith and journey in that faith has been my constant. My journey to find Christ and grow in a walk with Him has been my companion. I am completely non-politically correct in my wishing people a Merry Christmas and I don't really care. This season is the built around the birth of the One that brought hope to a pretty decimated planet. What astoun...

This is from my friend (the "other" Brian) out in Colorado.  I'll let it speak for itself. (If the above link won't work, copy and paste what lies below into your browser) http://flabbyironman.blogspot.com/2005/12/picture-share_13.html

I can't hear a thing outside. The snow makes it so quiet that everything is hushed in the world when it falls. We ended up with 4 or 5" of new stuff last night. It's not bad but it's not the "real" snow of Western New York. Not even close to the New England snows of coastal Maine where (as Mom puts it) the snow is measured by the foot, not the inch.   I used to love waking up and just staring out the windows at the new snow where I grew up. The imagery of the new mounds of snow on the branches in the woods would mesmerize me for the longest time. I magining the thick brush of the Artist that had painted the earth the night before fascinated me. The silence was almost deafening at times. Even growing up and making snow caves in the drifts was amazing once you got inside (I know, political correctness today says that's a no-no so kids, don't try this at home) . All you could hear was your breathing and heartbeat. Absolute silence - absolu...

I remember, as a kid, scrambling to get off the roller coasters (even that psychotic Jackrabbit @ Seabreeze) just so I could fly back to the end of the line and ride it again. I would consider myself a "purist" as I always went for the wooden coasters.  They made much more noise, threw you around more, and seemed to be closer to the verge of collapse (which would terrify me today).   Age (and wisdom) have overcome this urge to ride the Jackrabbit or the Comet (I miss Crystal Beach) for an extended period of time but it still makes me wonder what it was that caused me to almost have an unhealthy addiction to these monstrosities and the danger and thrill they represented to me.   This I share as I am on another figurative roller coaster ride with the advent of unemployment and the hideous aspects of the job search (which I now would never wish on the vilest of enemies). Back and forth to NY for "potential" interviews, 40 or 50 applications online, in person, via ema...

I saw the hit, turned my head away, and told the Viking faithful next to me, "It's over ". I literally walked out of Bathtub Billy's during the first quarter on Sunday. I don't even know if I can watch this meltdown the rest of the year... Culpepper, a three-time Pro Bowl pick whose effectiveness had fallen off dramatically this year due to several factors, tore his anterior cruciate , medial collateral and posterior cruciate ligaments in Sunday's 38-13 loss at Carolina. " One of the above is bad enough, all three and you'll be lucky to walk correctly again. Yes, I am serious. I've seen it, spent time studying it in college and as a career. My only bright spot is that I know Dante is a warrior who won't settle for "can't".  My prayers are with you, Big D.

A 56 yard FG with 2 seconds on the clock?  And Paul "I could NEVER do that in Chicago" Edinger pulls it off with room to spare! God bless the dome. Yes, my friends, God bless that dome...

Sigh... What a festive week it was... Right now I'd like to be with a bunch of Reunion family and friends in the middle of a chili cook-off. This New York weather is just lousy. I'll just blame it on Wilma.  Timeline... I don't hear from the Chicago job I wrote about by the Friday deadline. I travel to New York to help out my parents for a week and check into some VERY good leads on positions. My gut was just a mess for the whole time I've been considering the Chicago position anyway (would chili be a good idea at this point?!?). I actually made the trip to NY in ten hours with only a half hour stop - in one day - by myself. Not bad at all and I actually felt pretty good in knowing that the position didn't happen for me.  Until I checked my voice mail on Friday night. There it was, the phone call that had been left long after I left to drive to NY saying that the company told the subcontractor they wanted me.  I had to turn it down. Even as I was listening to the v...