A reflection of 2008

It is said that the older you get, the quicker the years seem to go by.  I can't believe today is the last day of 2008.  This year had several highlights (Obama's ascension to presidency) and some low-lights (being laid off) but all in all, it was a good year.  

1.  What is everybody planning on doing for New Year's tonight?  It's a gopher basketball game and a gopher bowl game in the afternoon before I head over to Mike's at around 9 or 10ish.  Unfortunately, I won't be able to stay out too late tonight as I am picking up my Grandma from the airport tomorrow at 5:51 am.  That means I have to get up at about 4:15!

2.  I read an interesting article on foxnews.com about one of Obama's plans for the future.  It is no secret that many many of our nation's public schools are in dire need of repair.  Many are too small, have inadequate facilities, and need a lot of repair.  Obama would like the federal government to hire thousands of construction workers to repair the school system.  This is not only a good investment in the future education of our youth, but also will put thousands of people to work.  It is misleading to suggest that President FDR fixed the economy solely by creating the New Deal.  Let's not forget that World War II was really the main reason that the economy was fixed.  However, the New Deal did help and at this point, I'm all ears.  http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/12/31/obama-infrastructure-plan-jumpstart-student-achievement-supporters-say/.  

3.  I have always been interested in nutrition, even when I choose not to practice what I know.  There is no secret to losing weight.  If you burn more calories than you consume, you lose weight.  It's that simple.  An average 150 lb man should consume about 2200 calories a day.  If you eat less than that, you lose weight.  3500 calories equals one pound.  So if you cut out 250 calories a day from eating and exercise 250 calories a day, you will lose a pound a week (which is considered healthy.)  I have been reading the book The Fat Flush Plan and I find it really interesting.  Even though losing weight, in theory, is simple, I love reading about all the little tips.  This book highlights the liver as the key to losing weight.  One of the main purposes of the liver is to decide what to do with consumed fat.  Do you burn it, store it, et cetera.  A clean liver can increase your metabolism by 20% a day.  The book highlights all of these foods (lemon, cranberries, et cetera) that help cleanse your liver, thus increasing your metabolism so that instead of burning 2200 calories a day, you are really burning 24 or 2500 calories.  I am about 50 pages into the book and it is really interesting.

Ol Hickory

I'm exhausted.  No, not like after a good run.  I had a really strange, bad day yesterday and I ended up only getting about three or four hours of sleep.  The fact that I had a cat walk on my face at six this morning didn't help.  Here are the talking points of the day:

1.  As I was on the Stair-climber yesterday (don't judge me), I was reading through the latest Sports Illustrated.  On the top of the cover, the magazine says that 2008 was the best year in sports history.  I kind of laughed at first but when I read the whole article, it makes sense.  What a great story it was that huge underdog, NY Giants, beat the undefeated New England Patriots in one of the greatest football games ever played.  How about the NCAA basketball championship where for the first time in history, all four #1 seeds make the Final Four.  I remember Mario Chalmers of Kansas hitting the game tying three pointer with less than one second left.  I remember watching the Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal match at Wimbeldon this year that ESPN said was the greatest tennis match of all time.  Also, the Olympics were spectacular.  Besides Phelps, the gymnastics were great and we saw Usain Bolt of Jamaica crush the 100 and 200 meter records to rightfully claim himself as the fastest man ever to live.  Maybe 2008 was the best year in sports.

2.  I rented the movie Bobby last night.  I thought it was really good and I give it an A-.  Look at this cast (in alphabetical order):  Harry Belafonte, Nick Cannon, Emilio Estevez, Laurence Fishburn, Heather Graham, Anthony Hopkins, Helen Hunt, Joshua Jackson, Ashton Kutcher, Shia LeBouf, Lindsay Lohan, William H. Macy, Demi Moore, Martin Sheen, Christian Slator, Sharon Stone, and Elijah Wood.  Have you ever seen a cast with that many big names?  The movie was about the night Bobby Kennedy was killed a little over forty years ago and how it impacted so many different areas of America.  A very very underrated movie.

3.  This weekend, while driving to and from Wisconsin, I read a book called American Lion.  The author is Jon Meachem (editor of Newsweek).  The book is a biography on Andrew Jackson, our 7th president.  I thought it was really interesting.  Jackson is considered by many to be one of the top ten greatest presidents of all time.  He did a lot of good for the United States but I am also amazed at the walking contradiction that was Ol Hickory.  Jackson's childhood was extremely painful.  His Father died while his Mother was pregnant.  And his mother, and two siblings, both died while he was a child/teenager.  He grew up with nothing and became famous as a war hero.  He hated the elite, wealthy types yet he married a woman, Rachel Donnelyson, who happened to be married to another man at the time and came from gobs of money.   He was known as a brilliant, and kind man, but he was absolutely viscous as a soldier, butchering and killing many Native Americans.  As a president, he swindled the Native Americans out of lots and lots of land.  You would think he hated them, yet he adopted a Native American child.  Jackson hated the idea of civil war, yet he was not opposed to slavery and actually won several duals that he participated in during his life.  But that is not to take away from Jackson's accomplishments.  Lincoln called Jackson the greatest president of all time.  Both Roosevelts and Truman said that Jackson was in the top three.  Because Jackson did not come from the elite, he did much throughout his presidency to help the poor and middle class, often times at his own political expense.  He helped ease poor people to vote, and would do anything to help his fellow man... as long as they were white of course.  Anyway, very interesting book from a very important, but flawed president.  

Maladroit

I hope everyone had a good Christmas weekend.  I am back from Milwaukee where I just spent the weekend eating good food, socializing with family, and of course, opening presents.  Did anyone get any awesome gifts?  I got some nice clothes but my highlight by far was a nice Apple iTouch.  Unfortunately I am not very good with electronics so I will have to set up a tutorial with Andrew at his convenience to help me out.  As much as I am overwhelmed by all of the advice I have received from friends and family, I would rather make big decisions after all the cards are on the table.  I have received really good ideas and my mind is open.  I have some very big decisions coming up and I am hopeful that the Lord in all his wisdom will shine brightest on the door he recommends I open.  

1.  What is everyone doing for New Year's?  My vote is raised for Andrew to host a party at his house?

2.  I missed most of the games while driving home today, but I read that the Detroit Lions went winless the whole 2008 season.  I don't feel bad for the players or coaches but if there ever was a city that use a little positivity right now, it is Detroit.  Of course the Wolves are like 5 - 24 so they are not doing a lot better.

3.  My diet had been going well until this weekend.  Friday night I ate a whole box of Frango mints.  No, I am not referring to one of those little boxes... I ate a whole big box of the chocolates!

4.  I just saw the movie I Am Legend with Will Smith.  I give it a B-.  It's not terrible by any means and worth your two hours of time.  I'm just not a big zombie fan.  The movie is not scary at all, it's just not my thing.

5.  I would still like a pet panda.

6.  Of all the presents I got this year, quite possibly the one I appreciate and the one I will remember the most is a handwritten letter I received from Rus.  In an age of text messages and emails, the fact that someone took the time to write three pages to me is something I will most certainly cherish.  We all have many faults in life, and we all have many strengths.  If we can learn one thing from Rus, it is that he knows how to celebrate friendship.  That is a skill and not a talent and something I most definitely want to work on.  It is extremely important that my friends and family know how grateful I am for everyone of them in my life.  Everyone has a purpose.  In a time when I am unemployed, living with my parents, and currently feeling a bit bloated from all the chocolate I ate, I maybe have never felt less stress.  It is because of the encouragement of my friends and family no doubt.  To all of you that I didn't say this to, Merry Christmas.

Please Christmas don't be late

With Christmas just about nine hours away, I am definitely getting into the Holiday spirit. The temperature has warmed up to about twenty degrees. There is a fresh layer of snow on the lawn. The Christmas tree is up. I'm ready. What do all of you do in terms of Christmas tradition? For me, Christmas Eve consists of going out to eat with my family, and then going to one of the night Christmas church services. Christmas morning, I wake up, do the presents things, and then normally I head to Wisconsin to celebrate with my Dad's side of the family. This year will not be any different except I will be baby-sitting my Grandma's animals for the next week. I love the collie and I tolerate the cat.

1. Aaron and I cheered on the undefeated Gopher basketball team to another win last night. Everything was going well... until Aaron pointed out that the Iowa State Cyclones lost at home to South Dakota State. SDSU, by the way, is only in their FIRST year of being a division one team. This is an absolutely humiliating defeat.

2. What is wrong with people? There is this short video from sportsillustrated.com about a girl who was in an accident and her two legs were amputated and instead of prosthetic legs, she has a basketball. Now she is training to be a swimmer. Just check out the video: http://sportsrubbish.blogspot.com/2008/12/video-chinese-girl-has-basketball-for.html

3. Please tell me all of your have seen Jack Black's proposition 8 video: http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/c0cf508ff8/prop-8-the-musical-starring-jack-black-john-c-reilly-and-many-more-from-fod-team-jack-black-craig-robinson-john-c-reilly-and-rashida-jones

4. I see the New York Yankees just signed Mark Teixera to a whopping eight year, 180 million dollar payroll. The Yankees have the four highest paid players on their roster. This off season, the three highest paid free agents (C.C. Sabathia, AJ Burnett, and Teixera) all wound up as Yankees. The lack of a salary cap is the sole reason why baseball continues to drop in popularity.

5. According to bloggingstocks.com, Economist Peter Dawson said it seems almost unfathomable that the American people and Congress would be willing to ship $100 per barrel (or more) in oil revenue to foreign governments, and not to its own government, but that is precisely the case."This is another case where the 'free market' philosophy leads to public policy idiocy," Dawson said. "The oil lobby is so strong in the U.S., it's able to defeat almost any oil tax. As a result, because we import more than 40% of our oil, Americans pay hundreds of billions of dollars in oil costs to foreign governments. So in effect, we won't pay for our public policies, but we'll pay for other countries' public policies, which makes no sense." What would make more sense, in Dawson's interpretation? Pass a federal, $10 per barrel oil tax, and restrict the money's use to alternative / renewable energy resources research, and energy efficiency, including development of next-generation cars, engines, and heating/cooling systems. A $10 tax on oil would generate $70-100 billion per year in federal revenue, Dawson said. What do you guys think about that? As I have mentioned before, I am not opposed to paying taxes as long as I know exactly where the money is going and I agree with its mission. Of course another way to save a lot of money is to end the war in Iraq... I'm just saying.

I want a hippotamus for Christmas. Only a hippotamus will do.

I thought being laid off would be a bit more relaxing than it has turned out to be. I promised myself the day my position was terminated that I would not just sit around, watch TV, and eat junk food. Excuse me for almost dislocating my shoulder patting myself on the back, but I am quite proud of myself. All my Christmas shopping is done, I have worked out every day, I have done quite a bit of cleaning, quite a bit of studying, and all of these things I have been meaning to do (like see the dentist, get a new pair of glasses, etc) I have done. However, my giant list of things to do is waning by the day and I have a feeling I will be ready to get back to work sooner rather than later. How was everybody's weekend? I had a really nice weekend. Friday I went over to Mike's condo and we chilled there for a few hours. Saturday, I watched some basketball, ate amazing food at La Belle Vie, and studied quite a bit for the GRE. Sunday, I watched the Vikings choke and then I rented the Brad Pitt/John Malkovich/George Clooney Movie, Burn After Reading. I give it a C+/B-. If you like the Coen Brothers movies than you will like it. I was only so-so on it.

1. I have written often about the demise of MTV as a viable vehicle for Music TeleVision. In the past though, I always thought VH1 did a decent job of playing videos, especially late at night and early in the morning. I see they have also been bit by the poisonous reality TV bug and more crap will be on that Network. Coming up this spring will be an exciting reality show called Sober House. Basically, a bunch of D-list celebrities will try to work together to overcome their addictions. I'll pass.

2. Apparently Zubaz pants are back. I thought my eyes had temporarily failed me when I stepped into Rosedale mall and I saw a Zubaz kiosk. What is the deal with horrendous fashion trends from 15 years ago making a comeback?

3. Will somebody teach me how to tie a scarf so I look more James Dean and less like the Red Baron?

4. It seems that the re-count for the Minnesota Senate position has gone on forever. As of right now, Democrat Al Franken has a 48 vote lead.

Sellebration

For a guy who is laid off, I have kept myself surprisingly busy. I've done a little Christmas shopping, bought a new pair of spectacles for myself, been getting back in shape, and of course planning for the future. It is officially laid off +7 days. Today is the first day that I have a fairly free schedule.

1. I rented the movie Wanted and watched it today. I give it a B+. It is really violent and crude but the plot moves along quickly and it is all in all fairly entertaining.

2. We still don't know who will win the senate seat from the state of Minnesota. As of this morning, Incumbent Republican Norm Coleman has only a FIVE vote lead over challenger over Al Franken. There were over 3,000,000 votes cast and it right now has come down to five votes. That is just incredible.

3. I think the move is brilliant. I read in the paper this morning that Obama asked Evangelical pastor, Rick Warren to introduce Obama at his inauguration. It is interesting that the only people that are upset at Obama so far are the far left. They are upset at many of his moderates he has appointed to cabinet positions and they are moderate now that he has asked a conservative to introduce him at his inauguration. I think the movie is brilliant. Obama was criticized heavily during his for president for being too liberal. He has been anything but liberal so far.

4. I'm going to be honest. I was a bit surprised when Andrew informed me that Weezer has released a Christmas album. It's not terrible. They have all the favorites on there: O Holy Night, O Come All Ye Faithful, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Silent Night, et cetera. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4gV8XpYhho&feature=related

5. Have you guys heard of the new cologne, "Flame"? It is by Burger King. I am not making this up by the way. It is a woodsy smell with a small hint of flame broiled meat. Again, I am not making this up. If you want more information, go to firemeetsdesire.com.

6. I very much enjoyed this How I Met Your Mother photo album: http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20162677_20164091_20247449,00.html?xid=rss-feed-todayslatest-%27HIMYM%27+cast+in+%27The+Best+of+2008%27

Bloom where you are planted

BRRRR!!!! It is terrible weather in Minneapolis. Although it isn't that cold out (about 20 degrees), it is very windy, and the roads are extremely icy. Friday night was kind of a let-down. In the biggest basketball game of the year for me, the annual Iowa State vs. Iowa showdown, the Hawk Eyes ended up winning big. I went over to Nick Willson's house for the game and we had a good time drinking Budweiser, eating chips, and talking about life. Saturday, I woke up, went for a run outside (it was almost 40 degrees), and then picked up my Grandma. She is a really good artist and some of her work was entered into an artshow at the Hopkins Center for Arts. Unfortunately, none of her genes were passed on down to me. Saturday night was pretty quiet. Earlier in the year, I bought my parent's a $50 gift certificate to a new Italian place, Viva Italia, and we all went out there Saturday night. For some reason, I was really tired Saturday night and I ended up going to bed about 9:30. I didn't do much today. I watched the Vikings win, and then tonight I rented the movie Hancock. I give it a B-. It's not bad. I really liked the idea of a kind of a drunk, lazy, superman type of character who reforms himself. But it was too simple of a movie.

1. I see that Sam Bradford one the Heisman vote. Bradford clearly had the most impressive stats out of the three finalists and will likely be the best NFL player. However, if I am starting a college team this year, I am taking Tim Tebow #1.

2. I cannot believe we still do not know who won the senate seat in Minnesota. Now the votes have all been re-counted but the question now is what about the questionable absentee ballots. For instance, under Minnesota law, if you did everything correct, but you filled out your zipcode wrong (or forgot to put it on the ballot), then your ballot has to be discarded. The absentee ballots are now in the hands of the Minnesota Supreme Court to determine if those type of small details - like zipcode issues - should stop a ballot from counting.

3. The Politico has an interesting piece on Obama's selections for his cabinet. There are men, women, Whites, Blacks, Asian-Americans, Hispanics, but there is one demographic missing... There is nobody from the South. I don't think this is intentional but it is a mistake.

4. The Des Moines Register has a very nice article in today's paper on who they think should be the next Iowa State football coach after ours left yesterday for Auburn. I really really want Turner Gill, the current University of Buffalo coach. Here is who the Register likes:

DAVID BAILIFF, Rice: Houston Bowl-bound Owls went 9-3 in Bailiff's second season after going 3-9 in 2007. Averaged 41.6 points and 327.8 passing yards a game.

BILL CUBIT, Western Michigan: Upset Iowa last season and Illinois this season. 29-19 in four seasons. Passing focus this season featured QB Tim Hiller, who threw for 3,527 yards and 34 TDs.

BOB ELLIOTT: Former associate head coach under Dan McCarney at ISU. Resume also includes defensive coordinator at Iowa, Kansas State, San Diego State and Ball State. Former Iowa player.

MARK FARLEY, Northern Iowa: Eight seasons with the Panthers, where he has a 75-28 record after losing Saturday's semifinal game against Richmond 21-20.

TURNER GILL, Buffalo: Former Nebraska QB led the Bulls to a win against Ball State in the Mid-American Conference title game. His 8-5 team meets Connecticut in the Jan. 3 International Bowl.

TODD GRAHAM, Tulsa: 18-6 in two seasons with the Hurricane. His team averaged 47.4 points during a 10-2 season. Former head coach at Rice. Also former assistant at West Virginia.

BRADY HOKE, Ball State: Led the Cardinals to a 12-0 record before losing against Buffalo in the Mid-American Conference championship game. MAC coach of the year.

STEVE LONEY, St. Louis Rams: Six years as an offensive line coach in the NFL. Marshalltown native and Iowa State graduate. Former Cyclone offensive coordinator and interim Drake coach.

PAUL RHOADS, Auburn defensive coordinator: Former Iowa State assistant and former Ankeny resident, Rhoads' resume also includes assistant jobs at Pittsburgh and Pacific.

ED WARINNER, Kansas offensive coordinator: In 2007, the Jayhawks were the nation's No. 2-scoring team. Passing offense, led by Todd Reesing, averaged 302.3 yards a game.

SHAWN WATSON, Neb. offensive coordinator: Four seasons with the Cornhuskers and second as OC and QBs coach. Nebraska averaged 36.2 points and 284.8 passing yards behind Joe Ganz.

The Funeral

Today was one of the most memorable days of my life. After two and a half great years, I was unfortunately laid off by USA TODAY. You will hear no anger towards the company. I was hired with limited work experience at age 20 and given an opportunity. I feel extremely grateful to have worked for such a great company. Unfortunately, the economy has very much hurt the company I grew to love and respect and I was let go. It was as if I was at my own funeral today as almost single file, my co-workers gathered for hugs, a few tears from the women in the office, and words of encouragement. After a quick lunch, I gathered my things in a box, turned in my stuff, and walked out of the office for the last time. In a way it was like I was at a funeral. A big part of my life died. In a moment of my life where I am full of uncertaintity and doubt, work was one of my constants. One of the first questions I was asked today was, "What are you going to do?" My simple answer is that I have no idea. Some have suggested I take time off. Other have suggested I work on my resume and cover letter as soon as tonight. Some have suggested I travel. Others have said they will call sources tonight about potential employment possibilities. Grad school? We will see my friends. To be honest, I am still so stunned. None of this has sunk in yet. But I do want to spend a second to thank all of you who wrote me very nice emails. I want to thank those that took time to call. Your friendship is, and always has been, an extremely important part of my life. It is now that I will just pray to our good Lord that as he closes one door her shows me other doors that I may humbly walk through with his good grace. I'm sure more will follow as this chapter of my life has ended.

1. After celebrating by going to a restaurant and purposely ordering the most unhealthy thing on the menu, I rented the movie The Dark Knight. I don't know what to say that hasn't already been said or written. The movie is awesome, the acting is fantastic, and I want to know when the next Batman movie is coming out!

2. Currently listening to "Because" by The Beatles. Album: Abbey Road.

I ain't saying you a gold digger, just don't understand that last Twitter.

Yesterday, I didn’t just go to the Timberwolves game, I had an experience. Yesterday, I sat in the General Mills GIANT suite at the Target Center last night. We got there about a half hour before the game. Dinner and drinks were part of the already paid for $250.00 a person ticket. No, I did not pay that much for a ticket. A friend of mine got the extra tickets. They had nice options for dinner and a full bar. Everything was *free. There was dessert at halftime as well. It was quite amazing. I don’t know if you watched the game but the Wolves scored with three minutes to go. They had an eight point lead and I laughed saying it was great going to a game where they won a game against a good game. (Even though Carlos Boozer was out with an injury.) Well, in typical Wolves fashion, they choked at the end and lost. I then got home and saw that the Cyclones were up 60-50 with a few minutes left and ended up losing 66-63 to Drake. It is never good to lose two years in a row to Drake. Oh well. Fortunately, tonight I am going to the Gopher game at Williams Arena against the mighty Jackrabbits of South Dakota State. The gophs should win by 25 or I will consider it a disappointment.

1. You can’t really blame C.C. Sabathia. He has very publicly said he wants to play on the West Coast. He has adamantly said he wants to play in the national leagues. However, when the New York Yankees offer you a six year, 160 million dollar deal to play for them, your priorities change very quickly. This deal once again represents why Major League Baseball will never be America’s most dominant sport again until it figures out the need for a salary cap.

2. I have very much enjoyed Steven Colbert’s new bit, “Operation Humble Kanye West”. I enjoy Kanye’s music but his incredibly pompous attitude has turned me off not just to whenever he speaks, but also regarding much of his music. Stephen Colbert had a goal that he wanted to be higher on the charts for one day than Mr. West. A few days he accomplished it when Colbert’s new comedy album came in at #2 and West was at #4. Colbert naturally was quite pleased. Some of my favorite quotes from that show consisted of: "Why buy Kanye's album? You can basically hear it for free. Just put a tin can to your ear and lean against a 'Pac-Man' machine." "Mr. West, I ain't saying you a gold digger, just don't understand that last Twitter." And of course, While holding a cardboard cutout of Mike Myers: "Kanye West doesn't care about Stephen Colbert people."

3. This goes out to Andrew and other hates that don’t believe in Global Warming. The lead story on MSNBC today is that the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network says that due to recent global warming, 20% of the coral reefs around the world have been destroyed. The final conclusion of the GCRMN is that they are predicting that 99% of coral reefs will be destroyed by 2050 unless “significant” changes happen. This is just further proof that global warming is destroying the environment. I am not a biologist but according to the MSNBC story, the enormous rise in carbon dioxide emissions is what is killing the reefs.

Just politics as usual in the windy city

I hope any Democrats out there stop with the talk that Republicans are the only party of the unethical and corrupt. Even though Republicans recently have been suffering from a bad rash of problems with Larry Craig, Mark Foley, Tom Delay, et cetera, it was only a matter of time before a major Democrat was caught doing something illegal. Today, the FBI arrested Democrat Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich of what the FBI calls a “corruption crime spree”. As many of you know, if a senator dies, is elected to a higher office, or another strange circumstance, the governor of the state appoints someone to finish out the term. After Obama was elected President, that left an open seat for Governor Blagojevich to fill. Instead of doing the research to properly fill the seat with a qualified individual, he basically set up a secret and illegal auction of sorts where he would fill the seat with the highest bidder. This is of course another black eye on Illinois politics which has a long history of corruption. Blagojevich will be the 4th Illinois Governor in the past 35 years to be arrested while in office and serve jail time. That is amazing.

1. In a few hours, I am leaving to go see the Minnesota Timberwolves game vs. the Utah Jazz with an old buddy. Unfortunately, Kevin McHale is still with the Wolves but yesterday he fired another coach. He is without a doubt the worse GM in the history of sports. A good GM has three roles. 1) Hiring/Firing coaches. 2) Negotiating contracts. 3) Conducting drafts/trades. Unlike baseball or football where there are lots of position, in basketball, the teams are so few players that it makes the job easier but when you make decisions, they have to be correct. Let’s go step by step. 1) McHale has done a horrendous job hiring/firing coaches. Whomever he hires to replace Randy Wittman will be head coach number FIVE during his tenure. 2) His contract negotiations have been dreadful from giving Mark Blount 4 year/$40 million, to Marko Jaric’s six year deal, to letting Chauncy Billups go in free agency, and on and on. 3) His worse moves have been drafts and trades. He has made one good movie in this area – drafting Kevin Garnett a dozen years ago. He has traded so many good players like Ray Allen, Brandon Roy, KG, for basically nothing that it is embarrassing. His drafts are always busts. It is so frustrating being a T-wolves fan.

2. I watched the John C. Reilly, Will Ferrell movie, Stepbrothers yesterday. I give it a B/B+. It’s not great but worth renting. It is an extremely crude movie that starts out slow but has several very very funny moments as the movie progresses. I would rent it if you’re bored this weekend.

3. Everyday more and more bad news hits. Today, Sony laid off a few thousand. Yesterday, Budweiser laid off 6% of their workforce. This weekend 3M had a big layoff. And those are just some of the companies! Yesterday, my sister was informed that she was being laid off. She had an office job with the University of Minnesota. She’ll be fine but it still is unfortunate.

I'm just trying to live up to my Mom's hype

It is nice to be back in Minnesota but I already miss Chicago. After a long day at the office, Mike, Andrew, and I hit the road at about 6:00. I had the hopes that we would make it to Chicago by a little after midnight but Mother Nature had other plans in store for us. The driving conditions were horrendous and we ended up arriving a little after 1:00 am in Madison, Wisconsin and spent the night at a hotel. Saturday morning, we all awoke after a terrible night's rest and hit the road again. A couple hours later we arrived in downtown to Nimit's apartment. We chatted for a while, went to a sports bar, watched some basketball, while we decided what to do next. We briefly talked about going ice skating until we stepped back outside and we realized how cold it was. It was so cold that people were doing bad things just so they could be sent to hell to warm up. It was so cold that Richard Simmons was wearing pants. It was so cold that the kids at school were using flannel notebooks. Okay, I think you get the point. We just decided to head back to Nimit, Ann, and Lisa's apartment. We hung out for a while, ordered some delicious Lou Malnati's pizza, and relaxed until the party began. For those that don't know, we all went to an Ugly Christmas sweater party. There were so many gems. How can I forget Anay's glorious Christmas tree undershirt/vest combination? Or perhaps Mike's sweater that came fresh with old woman perfume? Too many treasures to count. The party was a huge hit. It was great to catch up with friends that I don't see as often as I should. The party wrapped up about 2:00. I had a lovely sleep on the carpet in which my back was thrilled about this morning. This morning we woke up, grabbed some breakfast, and began the long journey back to Minnesota. All in all, a great trip that was way too short.

1. As I was driving home today, naturally I flipped on the Christmas music station in an attempt to get in the Holiday spirit. Can someone please explain what the phrase, "Season's Greetings" means? It doesn't mean anything.

2. Currently listening to Silversun Pickups "Lazy Eye" from the album: Carnavas

Lockdown

I apologize for taking so long to blog. I have spent the past few days in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and Grand Forks, North Dakota working very long days which made it difficult to sit down, collect my thoughts, and write a read-worthy blog post. In addition, it has been a difficult week emotionally for myself as an employee of a company that has just laid off 10% of their workforce. Lay-offs are incredibly difficult and so far I have survived. I will start with this past weekend. Thanksgiving part two has wrapped up and it was successful. I was not feeling very well so it made it a long weekend but I think I am almost back to 100%. I only got a few hours of sleep Thursday night but I somehow survived a full work day, ate a little TGI Friday’s, went home, turned on the Timberwolves game and fell asleep not that far after. Saturday, my immediate kin welcomed my Dad’s side of the family to the house. It went really well. Lots of food, lots of laughs, we played some games, and just had a good time. The lowlight was Saturday night, my cousin Jenny, my sister, and I rented the Vince Vaughn “comedy” Fred Clause. It was dreadful. Sunday was nice. I slept in, watch the Vikings peace by peace dismantle the Chicago Bears, bought my Christmas sweater for next weekend, and relaxed. It was very low key relaxing weekend which I will need.

1. As many of you know, I enjoy the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. One of the stars, Cobie Smulders (aka Robin Schabosky) just came out that she was pregnant. I can’t wait to see how the writer’s attempt to spin this one. Barney?

2. The more I think about it, I don’t blame coaches for wanting to restructure their contracts after every good season. There is absolutely no loyalty in sports. Two years ago in the NBA, Sam Mitchell was the national coach of the year. He took a horrendously bad Toronto Rapters team and led them deep in the NBA playoffs. Yesterday he was fired. At Auburn University, just two years ago, head coach Tommy Tuberville lead his Tigers to 13 – 0. They only didn’t make the national championship game because USC and Texas also went undefeated. In addition, Tuberville has won over forty games in the four years. He was fired yesterday. You might say, well even though he has a good record, if he couldn’t beat his main rival, then he should be fired. I can listen to the argument. Rivalry games are very important. Auburn’s biggest rival is Univ. of Alabama. Auburn lost this year but won the five previous to this year. It’s not like overnight Tuberville just forgets how to coach. Some school is going to be extremely lucky to hire Tuberville as their next coach. There are open positions at Mississippi State, Clemson, and University of Washington (among others) that Tuberville could rebuild into the powerhouse he created at Auburn.