Sometimes a good thing is just that

This past weekend, we made the trip South to visit with my sister before she left for her semester abroad in El Salvador. While this was the main reason for our journey, there was a little side trip that was also planned. Rachel noticed on the Redskins website that the Red Cross was going to be holding a blood drive that was sponsored in some way by the Redskins. If you signed up to donate, and actually went through with it, you got a goody bag that included some Redskins stuff. In addition, you were also entered to win a few door prizes that included: autographed mini-helmets, apparel, or club level tickets to a home game of your choice. The final bribe, and the one that I wanted, was special VIP seating to training camp on Saturday or Sunday. While I am admittedly squeamish about bleeding on purpose, no matter how good the cause, I can be bought. Last year was the first time I gave blood, and it was for a free ticket into the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire. This year, it was for VIP access to training camp to be a little closer to the team that I have been devoted to for as long as I can remember. So, Andrew and I made our appointments last week and showed up on Saturday morning at 8:30 AM.

We were taken back to give our history, first myself then Andrew, to be tested to see if we qualified to give blood that day. I still had my Red Cross card from last year, with a scan bar on it, so I gave it to the lady to jump past the medical history and go straight into testing. This is when the rather English-challenged lady tried to inform me three times that my card was from another district, and that I was going to be considered a first time donor after my repeated "WHAT?" and "EXCUSE ME?" responses. This continued the whole time she was asking me questions, as her think accent muddled the line of communication between us. She probably thought I was some ignorant hick or partially deaf at the very least. Finally, I was given the computer to answer the personal health information and I passed. I was escorted back to the area they were taking the donations, and lo and behold -- Andrew was already stuck with the needle and filling his baggie. I had volunteered to donate double red cells, not only because the needle to procure the blood is smaller (I'm a wuss), but because I now have a valid excuse not to give blood for a longer period of time. So, by the time we both were finished -- training camp that day was not even a possibility. We got passes for Sunday morning, and the debate started on whether or not we'd go.

Sunday morning comes, and it's raining. Rachel checks the website to see if practice outside is canceled or not, and we find that it's still on. Andrew, my oldest daughter, and I piled into the van to head out. We park, and walk to the practice fields. We go over to the VIP access entrance, and are told that the Red Cross area is not inside the fence (like we thought) but a roped off area "over there" the guy informed us. We wait at where we think the player entrance is, but the players ended up going onto the field another way. I decided to go over to our "special access" area, and find that they area they've picked is crap. It's roped off, for sure -- but it's further away from the field and players than those who didn't give blood were able to stand. I was PISSED!! As we drew closer, a young woman asks us if we're holding Red Cross passes and we affirm that. She tells us that they are now letting Red Cross people into the VIP entrance, and to go back to be let in. We tell her we've already been there, and were turned away. She says, "Oh, they decided to let the Red Cross people inside the fence now." I'm fully expecting to be turned away again, but the same guy now lets us through. The team is all out on the field now, so I pull out the camera to get a few pics now that we're much closer to the players. As I turn it on, I see that the power is zapped. Rachel had charged the battery before we left, so I was puzzled. My daughter informs me at this point, as I'm lamenting the fact that I didn't check it before we left, that she and my middle daughter were playing with the camera the night before at the party for Nancy. Great -- how angry could I get? I was too pumped. So, I snapped exactly three pictures before the camera died. Then the rains came. My daughter was complaining about getting wet, and that she wanted to go home. She also saw the Papa John's and Johnny Rocket's food trailers and kept reminding me how hungry she was. The combination of the rain, the complaining, the fact that the camera was dead all combined to force us to go home. Andrew and I were both a disappointed at our luck, but I can't say it was a total loss. I'm posting one of the rare Redskins pics, and one of the ones that Ryles took the night before playing with the camera. Enjoy.

So remember -- if you're holding a blood drive for your Eagle Scout, church, sports team, etc .... I can be bribed into bleeding on purpose if you have a goody bag in store for those who sign up to donate. And it has to be something good, none of this "the feeling you get for doing a good thing is reward enough" crap.

Another One Down

Friday is the official date when final grades are due from our professors for the spring semester. My professors this time around have all submitted their grades, so at least I didn't have to wait too long. Here's a breakdown:

Microeconomics, Grade: A. I don't know how anyone in that class didn't get an A who completed it from this professor. The discussion board topics only required students to respond a minimum of three times over three different days for full credit (100%) in the respective chapter. There was also a chance for extra credit if you responded more than three times over three different days. The homework assignments allowed multiple attempts to keep trying until you got it right, and the exams were all open book. Shame on anyone that didn't get an A (from this teacher, not for microeconomics in general)

English Writing, Grade: A. I placed into an English prep class once I ended up taking my placement test last summer. I was annoyed, but it was fairly obvious to anyone that I was rusty in my writing skills. My score was enough to place me into English 101 at some schools, but the standards for MontCo are higher for whatever reason. I got an A in the class, but it really was kinda a no-brainer.

History of Western Civilizations, Modern European, Grade: A-. The class consisted of weekly discussion board assignments, in which we had to interpret in our own words the chapter that we read. There were four papers we had to write that each covered a quarter of the class, one midterm and one final. There wasn't much room for error on any of these assignments, which I found annoying.

Accounting II, Grade: B+. This was mainly due to Rachel's tutoring, as her ability to pick up on accounting principles quickly made me jealous. I started out fine, but struggled later in the semester. I give full credit to Rachel for helping me attain the grade I did.

Introduction to Astronomy, Grade: B-. I struggled a lot, as the work required a lot of time that I didn't have to devote fully to the class. I started to lose focus about a third of the way through, but was able to pull things together for the final. I'll always wonder if I could have gotten a higher grade in the class if I had been able to devote the time I needed. At least my lab science elective is over with early, instead of putting it off until my last semester as originally planned.

In all, a successful semester. I'm taking a full load this summer as well, and by the end of August, I'll have officially completed my first year of college. Not bad, considering the dismal failure that I was back when I was fresh from high school. Sorry to bore you all with the details, but I am proud of the progress I've made.

Sports Evolution

Growing up in the Washington, DC area you would think that my sports loyalties would all lie with the local teams. Redskins, Capitals, Bullets (I hate the Wizards name), and the Baltmore Orioles were the "big 4" teams of my youth, yet the only team I follow and root for is the Redskins. Dad was a big fan, and passed that onto me. The rest of the sports teams in the area never appealed to him for various reasons, so they never appealed to me until later in life. In that vein, here are the reasons I like the teams that I do (and perhaps one or two for teams that I despise):

Pro Football - Washington Redskins - number one in my heart. 'Nuff said.
College Football - I don't have a specific team that I root for all the time. If pushed to make a decision, though, it's between Michigan and Tennessee. Michigan because I liked their helmets when I was a kid, and Tennessee because their mastcot reminded me of Davey Crockett.
MLB - Chicago White Sox - I used to watch TV on an old black and white TV in the basement when I was a kid. Channel 20 (WDCA) would show Oriole games at night sometimes, and the first baseball game I watched was the White Sox/Orioles. Greg Luzinki hit two home runs, and the Sox beat the Orioles. In addition, I was a kid and I liked their uniforms better.
NHL - St. Louis Blues - I thought the name was clever, and Brett Hull was a scoring machine with Adam Oates feeding him the puck. Curtis Joseph came along later and cemented them as my team.
NBA - Utah Jazz - Pro basketball was the last of the four sports that I started watching, and I found out that Grandma Haslem was a big Jazz fan. I had no idea that Utah had a professional sports team, and it seemed like as good a team as any to root for.

A gentle nod of appreciation to the following teams that I subliminally root for:

Pittsburgh Penguins - that's all living with Jim for six years, then hanging out with him and his family in the space between then and now. I saw many a Pens game at the Cap center, and almost got into a few fights for cheering too loud. This is the main reason I hate the Capitals now, and their fair weather fan base.
Anaheim Ducks - Chris Pronger became my favorite Blues player, once Curtis Joseph and Brett Hull both played for the hated Red Wings at some point in their careers. Why not?
Washington Nationals - I still hate the name this many years later, but figure I can root for them since I wanted baseball back in the Nation's Capital for years.
Miami Heat - I liked Glenn Rice when he won the National Championship for Michigan, and he was drafted by the Heat for their inaugural season. I also thought their marketing department came up with a really sweet logo that survives to this day. Dwayne Wade is my favorite NBA player, anyhow.
San Diego Chargers - the late games in the NFL took place on the west coast, and San Diego's uniforms were very cool for the younger me. The lightening bolts on the helmet and pants were the best.

Now, a few teams I hate -- besides the Dallas Cowboys, which everyone who reads this blog should already know I consider the anti-Christ.

The Oakland Raiders - I don't mind people being passionate about their teams, but these people are just annoying. I hate watching the silver and black face paint, the shoulder pads with spikes, the skulls, outfits and general mayhem of the fans. I admit, part of this hatred is due to the spanking the Redskins took in the Super Bowl from them -- I am adult enough to admit it.
The NBA teams as a whole - I really just don't like much of the NBA at all, including the Jazz and the Heat, as their league is made up of wannabe "thugs" with their full sleeve tatoos, wearing their bling on the court, and the fact they allow teams to draft kids right out of high school. That just irks me for reasons that I have a hard time articulating without sounding partially racist, so I'll leave it at that.
Detroit Red Wings - they are the Yankees of hockey. They buy the players they want, and have a great team year in and out. Succeed breeds animosity, I guess. Plus, they always seem to beat the Blues - even when we had a great team a few years ago and were ranked higher in the playoff seeds. Fetchers. *mutter* Plus, they ended up signing Brett Hull and CuJo to contracts, which tainted their image in my mind ... Hull more than CuJo, though.

And there you go.

For the LOVE!!

Okay, I just noticed that iTunes has raised the prices on their songs to $1.29 ....

That BLOWS!  Yet another price increase on something.  I'll just chalk this up to the recession, I guess.  Just like Edy's and Breyer's Ice Cream now coming in 1.5 quart containers, down from 1.75 quart, down from a half gallon.  This sucks.

Whatever happened to Customer Service?

Recently, as I was on my way home from work, Rachel called me to let me know she was going to place an order with Domino's for dinner.  It was the end of a long week for the both of us with work/school, so ordering pizza just sounded nice and easy.  They were running a special, the 5-5-5 deal, where you could order any combination of one topping medium pizzas and their new sandwiches.  We've used their online ordering service previously, and never had an issue.  So, Rachel place the order while I was en route home.  They gave an estimated delivery time of 35 to 45 minutes, and an hour later we still didn't have our order.  The oldest two were complaining they were hungry, which started to grate on our nerves the longer it took.  Rachel and I both called the store on our cell phones to try and ascertain why our order still had not arrived, but due to their automated answering service, were stuck on hold.  The door knocked, and an hour and a half later -- our food had arrived.  I signed the credit slip, and the driver apologized for the time it took saying, "We had no orders, and then within minutes we had 40 orders at the same time."  I gave him my standard 10% tip and he left.  Upon review of the receipt, I noticed that they had three bottles of soda listed on the ticket, but I had no soda delivered.  I asked Rachel about it, and she went ballistic.  The only way to get the 555 deal that day was to order three sodas, and the fact they were missing in addition to the severe lateness of the food was frustrating.   Rachel tried to call the store to find out what happened, but became mired in the same holding zone of phone calls experienced earlier in the day.  She had to get to work anyhow, so she grabbed and jetted to work.

Here's where the problem came in -- we had paid for soda that we never received, and all calls to the store were met with no resolution.  Rachel decided to send an email complaint via their website to see if the issue could be resolved.  Since the Domino's account we use to order is in my name, the very lackluster response was sent to my webmail addy.  Basically, the response stated, "Sir, we're sorry you had a bad experience.  This store is a franchise, and we're sending your problem to them with the hope they will contact you to resolve the issue.  Thanks for sending us an email.  Leave us alone now."  I was pissed, but since I've worked in retail I decided to allow the local store to contact us and make things right.  A week went by, and I was done.  I sent a follow up email to Domino's corporate telling them that I was completely unsatified with the lack of concern on their part to my complaint.  I paid for product that I never received, albeit $3 of soda, but that shouldn't matter.  I was working on the "it's the principle of the matter" at stake, and not the amount of money.  I was less tactful in my mail than Rachel was, and ended up having to edit portions of the email since I had exceeded the 1000 character limit.  I just informed them of my unresolved issue, and that since the local store was unconcerned about my issue that I expected corporate to take care of it.  Monday I received a response from them that is paraphrased, "Sir, we're sorry that your problem wasn't addressed by the local store.  We're sending you some gift certificates to placate you, even though we still don't admit fault.  Our franchises act independantly of corporate, so I'll again pass your concern onto them for training purposes.  Go away once you receive your certificates, which should arrive in 7-10 days."  I swear, if they're $5 off an order of $25 dollars coupons, I'm going to go ballistic.

It just seems that companies these days could give a crap about their customers once they have your money.  If you've paid for a product or service that is consumable, tough crap if there turns out to be an issue.  I'm waiting to see how this turns out, because I'm not going to take my father's line of "FINE, I'LL GO SOMEPLACE ELSE YOU JACKA--!"  Sure, there's plenty of places that offer pizza, but Domino's oven baked sandwiches (bacon ranch chicken especially) are so good.  *sigh*

Sunday

Rachel ended up having to work again today.

Whenever she's at work, I do have some Daddy/daughter time with the girls which is good and bad at the same time. It's good because I get one on one with them and I see firsthand the things they do, which Rachel only tells me about after the fact. It's bad because I do not possess the same level of patience as Mommy does with their less than savory antics and I get frustrated with them easily.

Linz recently has become fascinated with animals, even taken to acting like them. Today, Allie had Linz and Ry-Ry penned up underneath the kitchen table in the "bad animals" cage. She was using the chairs to pin them in, and was feeding them crackers. It's so much fun to see their imagination at work, and how a little thing like the kitchen table can occupy my girls for a few hours. It also allowed me to watch part of the Red Wings/Ducks hockey game in peace, with only the occasion "bark" or "meow" drifting into the living room. That was the cute part. Later in the day, Linz was playing quietly in the back room with a Magna-Doodle type toy. Ry decided she was being too quiet, and took it from her and ran away. I now have a screaming Linz running at me, a screaming Ry because I caught her and took the toy away. In addition I have my own personal play-by-play announcer Allie giving me the blow by blow account of the events that led up to the toy being taken. Frustrating. It ran downhill from there, culminating in finding Linz in the bathtub, fully dressed in her clean pajamas after I had already given her a bath and dried her off.

Serenity now....

Soccer Blues

I'm annoyed today.  I know, shocker, huh?

Why is it that some people think the world was created to serve them?  

You'd think a little thing like a bottle of Gatorade wouldn't set a person off, but I've had enough of this guy.  He walks into the snack bar today (uninvited) like he owns the place, tells me what needs to be done and how to do it, grabs a Gatorade from the fridge, opens it and starts to drink.  He then proceeds to tell me about his day, how long it was, and how much he did for the fields starting at 8 o'clock in the morning.  He sighs, and then walks out without paying for his drink.  Now, I grant you - I don't like this guy.  I've had previous encounters with him, and his wife for that matter, that left a bad taste in my mouth.  But taking a Gatorade from the snack bar?  Why?  Do you think that you deserve it?  Do you think that because you are a board member, you can rape and pillage the snack bar at your whim?  I am on the board as well, and I paid for all the stuff my kids ate/drank when they were in there.  There was another board member that paid for his bottle of water and pretzel while I was working.  Unless you're working the snack bar that day, or are dropping something off -- STAY OUT.  

Gatorade ruins a day -- who knew?

BTW

For anyone eagerly anticipating a completion of our day to day activities in Disney with JJBB back in December, I must disappoint you now. I just felt that it was going to turn into a boring, dull rehash of a vacation that most people probably couldn't care less about. Besides, that was way back in December and it's old news now. If you really want to know, I'll tell you. Just not here.

Good for You!

The last clip I watched of a beauty pageant, before today, was the Miss USA contestant who fell on her rear.  Before that, it was the hilarious Miss Teen USA who butchered an answer during the question round.  Today I finally watched the now infamous clip from Sunday's Miss USA Pageant, and the response from pseudo-celeb Perez Hilton.  

I don't understand what the problem is.  I honestly don't.  Miss California, Carrie Prejean, was asked an intentionally pointed question by a (and I use this term loosely) celebrity judge with an agenda and an axe to grind.  I found it convenient that the openly super-gay Perez asked a question to Miss Prejean, who the judges probably knew attends San Diego Christian College, and who lives in a state that just passed Prop 8 in the last election.  Miss Prejean answered the question openly and honestly, as she should have.  Should she have made up an answer just to win the crown?  Should she have been given a ZERO for her answer just because she thinks marriage is sacred, and be defined as one man/one woman?  Since when was it a crime to believe in something? 

The backlash against her is a bunch of hooey.  

Why is it okay for people to persecute her for having an opinion?  Is it because it's different than another's?  Perez Hilton needs to realize that the world doesn't revolve around one person, and it's okay for people to have differing viewpoints.  To go on his video blog and call Miss California a b-i-t-c-you know the last letter for opposing gay marriage -- that's going too far.  Grow up, sir.  Whatever your personal feelings are on this explosive topic, respect the fact that not everyone shares it.  Again, grow up.

Oh, and by the way - this is Barack Obama's opinion on marriage.  You going to call him the same thing you called Miss California too, Perez?  

Wow

It appears that I've been away for about four months - but in reality, I've been feeling overwhelmed by my school load this semester.  You would think that I would be able to fit in a short freakin' post here and there, but for various reasons, I haven't.  

Here's updates, and a few pictures:

Aaron - seems that his remedial college English course has jogged his memory on how to rite English papres.  Mi teecher sayd that eyem gooder then eye youst to bee when eye startd the smester *giggles*.  Actually, I find it ironic that by the time I take and pass English 101 that I'll have written papers for no less than seven college level classes.  Funny and sad at the same time. Astronomy is the real problem class this semester, and I would recommend that if you are going to take classes online avoid the lab sciences like the plague.  There are just some classes that do not translate well into an online format.  The math part I'm doing well at, it's the rest of the class that I'm struggling with.  It doesn't help that my professor is the head of the Astronomy department, and is VERY meticulous in his testing.  The study guide he posts is also very misleading, as he'll list twenty topics that he's testing on - but in actuality he's only going to ask for like three of them.  The rest are questions that will require you to apply the theory of the study guide, and not a regurgitation of facts.  Thank goodness he's grading on a curve.  Other than that, Aaron's biggest accomplishment is making four-star General on Call of Duty 4.

Rachel  is good, she's very busy as well.  She's doing very well in accounting, math, economics and her computer class which should be no shocker to those that know her well.  Between weekly playgroups, Relief Society presidency meetings, raising our kids, being Mommy, working part-time for Gymboree, and being a wife - there isn't much time left for much else.  I try to encourage her to go to book club, or take the occasional G.N.O. to the movies to help her gain perspective on life.  Busy, busy, busy.  

Allison had her first t-ball game today.  We're not sure how she became interested in the sport, but it fits with what we're trying to do with our kids.  Rachel and I felt that it's important to provide exposure to different sports/activities to kids, just to see what they are interested in and what they excel in.  That way, you can drop any unnecessary activities and focus on what they enjoy and do well at.  Between kindergarten, soccer and now t-ball, Allie is keeping very busy.

Ryleigh is doing well.  She's finally potty-trained, after deciding that she wanted to do it.  She's as stubborn and pig-headed as her father sometimes, and that was no different.  She fought and fought and fought us, until she decided it was time and has been doing well ever since.  She wants so badly to be on the soccer and t-ball field with Allie, but can't just yet.  Rachel did find her a purple glove and ball, so now she and Allie can play in the backyard, tossing a baseball around.  

Lindsay is growing too fast, she's going into the nursery in the next week or two.  She's at the mimic stage, where she emulates what she sees her sisters doing.  The poor child gets blamed for everything that goes wrong around the house by her sisters, and can climb just about anything.  She was even climbing the chain link fence at t-ball practice the other night, like Spiderman.  She's very cute, and is the most cuddly at this stage of the three girls.  She loves to hang around Daddy, which I eat up like Mom's biscuits.

That's pretty much a short update - I hope to get on here once a week, but please send me an email to remind me if the blog isn't current.  I sometimes get tunnel vision.  

Hope everyone is well.

On a side note, Halle Berry's performance in X-Men is abysmal.  I don't know why anyone considers her a good actor.

Day 2

We checked out of the All-Star Sports, and got our luggage transferred to Saratoga Springs. There was a food court at the hotel, so we picked up a light breakfast for the girls. They didn't disappoint by eating just the frosting off the cinnamon roll we bought for them to share, and then wanting the bagel I purchased. We then caught a shuttle to pick up our rental car, to use to go grocery shopping and to drive to SeaWorld the next day. We drove to the Magic Kingdom to meet Jim and Jess at that point, and decided to take the ferry boat over since the Monorails from the parking lot were packed. The kicker was that the girls still had no idea where we were, or where we were heading. My plan was to let them see if for themselves and then tell them where we were, and Allison didn't disappoint. She saw the castle in the distance, and the gleam in her eye blazed strong. When we entered the park, she started hopping up and down. Allie then got Ryleigh all wound up and they started running around. Rachel and I were also excited, because it was our first trip to DisneyWorld as well. Rachel had been to DisneyLand when she lived in SoCal, but it was different she said. The difference? "DisneyLand is dirty." We met Jim and Jess after the little play that went on outside the Castle, and hung out together all day. Allie and Ryleigh got to meet characters they'd only seen in movies, rode special rides, and just completely enjoyed themselves. I was so glad that we were able to give them these memories, and I owe it all to Jim and Jess and their generosity towards me and my family.

When the day was done, Rachel and Jess went to get groceries for the week with the rental car, while Jim and I took a bus with all the kids back to the hotel to get checked in and such. We checked into the hotel, and were underwhelmed at the bell hop counter by being ignored for a good ten minutes while Paco was shifting papers around. When he finally did turn his attention to us, Jim told him that we needed to pick up some bags that were transferred earlier in the day from All-Star Sports. He asked for the name, and I told him. He then told me to write it down, so I did. He comes back out and my worst fears were realized when came out with no luggage. By this time, another guy pulled up in a golf cart, and was handed the paper with my name on it. He goes into the back, and comes out with our luggage....thank goodness. He loads it onto the golf cart and takes all of us to the room. I get the girls changed, and into bed. Rachel and Jess show up with the groceries a little later (they got lost) then expected. We were in bed early that night, just a long day. Here are a few pictures, enjoy.

Our Little Vacation in December - Day 1

It seems that I've neglected to post on our recent vacation to Didneywhirl. For those of you who don't speak Philly - that translates to Disney World. Last year when Jim and Jess came out for Christmas, and told us that they had joined the Disney Vacation Club. They told us to clear a week in 2008 to join them down in Disney, and they would use their points to take care of lodging for the week for both families. Since they were taking care of that, all we had to do was budget for park tickets, plane tickets down, food and souvenirs, and a rental car for one or two days possibly. What a generous offer from my dear friends - more like family, I say. In any case, over the year we scrimped and saved our pennies, and used the budget minded talents of my wife to be able to afford to go. So, I'll try to break down the vacation like I did our reunion earlier this year, so I don't leave anything out (if possible.)

Day 1 -

We left on Sunday evening from here. We couldn't find anyone to take us to the airport, unless we left our car with them for the week. I don't really feel comfortable doing that, as I have this fear that they're going to save the gas in their car by tooling around town in ours running errands. We ended up finding a long-term off-site parking lot that wasn't too expensive to eliminate begging for a ride. We flew Southwest (my first time) down, and I can see why they are a successful company. We took the Disney Magic Express shuttle from the airport to our hotel for the first night, as we weren't joining Jim and Jess at the resort until the next evening. It was late, and we just wanted to get the kids down and sleeping. Our bags didn't make it to the room until well after midnight, but Rachel had prepared for that by packing the PJ's in a carry-on. I walked down to the McDonald's to get us some dinner, and in doing so found out two very important things about Orlando that would serve me well. First, EVERYTHING is more expensive - Second, that I would have to get used to half-cooked hamburgers served by some flunky in a costume for the next week. That ended our night, and we were looking forward to starting early the next morning.

Here's a picture of our hotel for the first night - All-Star Sports.