I love unscheduled days off...I took a day off today in order to go to SoxFest in the evening...for those of you who've never been, it's basically an autograph seeker's dream...plus they have seminars and stuff, so it's interesting...but me and Tim went last year and we're going this year. Today I was able to secure Paul Konerko on a baseball and new Sox closer Billy Koch on a baseball as well--this is good, because Koch is not signing again at the Fest this year...

Now, I'm tired and about to go to bed, since we have SoxFest again tomorrow, at 10am...but we'll need to get there earlier...it's odd, but I don't know why, but the allure of getting an autograph is great...I stopped collecting baseball cards a long time ago because it got too expensive and too much a dog-eat-dog hobby...but autograph collecting is still kinda interesting...and it's not because I'm going to sell them. It's just something about having them, and I don't know what it is...

Anyway, good night... :) Keep posting to the last blog if you haven't...I want to know who I've sent the address of my blog to and who I haven't, so I can invite more folks to read it... :)

OK, so here's a question for you all: Who's reading this? Please respond... :)

Hey, how about that! We won our hockey match tonight, either 6-3 or 7-3...I don't remember which. And yours truly scored a goal, and looked good doing it! I broke off on the left wing ahead of the pack, and since there's no offsides in this floor hockey league, I was fine when Kim passed the ball (we don't use a puck) right to the backhand side of my stick. I broke toward the goal, took three steps and lightly flipped it over the goalie's glove and in...it was as easy as 1-2-3. :)

I'm also thrilled that, apparently, all that pavement pounding I did in San Diego all last week paid off big-time. I was tired, but not beat down, as I was after the first game two weeks ago. I was a bit concerned about my ankles and my left Achilles tendon, all of which have been sore, a sign that they were weakened by the insane amount of speed-walking I did in S.D. I was a teensy bit concerned that in their weakened state that I would hurt them...but I didn't, thank God. :)

Other than that, it's back to the grind tomorrow...we're done working Sundays for a while, I think...but now we have to bust our asses to pick up for our deceased draft expert, Joel Buchsbaum, and put together his draft preview book for him since he's, well, deceased. We're hiring folks to replace him, but there'd be no way they'd be ready for this, even if we'd hired them two weeks ago. This could very well suck.

One thing to look forward to is SoxFest this weekend...though if none of their new players are there, it could be boring as hell. I got a ton of autographs last year, so there aren't many I really, really have to get. I'm trying to think of something I can bring to get autographed by as many players as possible, just to have...but we'll see, I guess...it's still fun to go to with all the clinics and stuff they have.

Ah well, off to bed, for a change...good night all.

More gas news, in case you don't read the comments on the last entry...
I got official word from Gerard as to what happened, because I went to bed when the gas man went to work upstairs with Gerard. It wasn't the pilot light. A gas line actually burst. Gerard said the guy showed him, and it had a gaping hole and a bubble in another area where it was about ready to blow also. It was an old brass tube that, back in the day was state of the art, but now, it was simply corroded and blew...so it went beyond the pilot light...I just found that out, by the way...Also, the gas man told Gerard that when he came in, after the firemen had already begun to ventilate the place, he took a reading and the gas levels were at explosive levels. So, somehow, someone was watching over us, given all the lights being switched on and the fan being plugged in and stuff...man, even a static shock would have sent the place up. Just so you all know.

It seems that potential death is surrounding me since I've gotten back from San Diego...I'm trying to find out more about the helicopter crash in West Chicago, the Air Angels helicopter, last night. That's where one of my best friends, Luis, used to work until he was laid off a few months ago. Two acquaintances of mine, who would probably be more friends if I saw them more often, are mechanics there and sometimes go up in the choppers on test runs...the news didn't know if the chopper was on an emergency call or a test run, but they did say one person died...

OK, I just read that the pilot, who died, was the only person on board...don't know who it was though...since it was a practice run, the jury is still out as to whether it was one of the two people I know...though they called the person a pilot, it doesn't mean he was ACTUALLY a pilot...he may have simply been piloting the chopper...make sense?

Anyway, in case you all wondered if I had a life or not, here's further proof that I don't. It's also good proof as to how involved Ghetto Bowl (my fantasy league) can get, if owners put their minds to it. I was feeling creative, so I decided to do this up last night... :) Enjoy...or don't.

Hey there, I'm back.
And I was almost killed this morning, along with my dog, Donna, Donna's dog, Gerard and Gerard's dog.
You see, Donna and Pepper stayed overnight. We went to bed, and Gerard comes bounding down the stairs around 4 a.m., saying, "Andy, wake up, we have a major problem." I stir, and smell something funny, but it doesn't register until Gerard says, "We have a gas leak upstairs. The pilot light went out on the stove and the whole house if full of gas."

Strangely, probably because I was so damn tired, I didn't panic. I did shift into crisis mode though. The smell of the gas was pretty strong in the basement, so I went to the only open-able window and opened it. Gerard already had the upstairs doors and windows open and a fan in the window trying to ventilate the place. Donna started complaining she couldn't breathe, so I told her to go outside while I gathered up some things as quickly as possible.

Why didn't I get out of the house and stay out? Because if the house was going to blow at that point, it would have already--Gerard had turned on numerous lights and even plugged in the fan upstairs, where the gas smell was really, really bad. We put the dogs in Gerard's van and turned on the heat. Of course, the gas company didn't show after 20 minutes or so, so we called the fire department. They showed up and called the gas company, and they were there in 10. Meanwhile, Donna sat in the van with the dogs and I went between there and standing outside listening to what the firemen had to say.

Obviously, the house did not go up. Nicor (the gas asses) showed up and plugged the line and turned the heat back on. He also told Gerard the bad news that he'll have to have the whole oven/range area of the kitchen redone with new appliances and such, because of the way the prior owner configured the gas lines in there. Apparently, when they finished the basement, they covered up the valve to shut off the gas to the oven upstairs with drywall on the ceiling instead of removable paneling. Real smart, you know?

Anyway, the firemen used an industrial fan to exhaust the house, and I went back to sleep around 6:30ish, though not too heavily.

Today I went to work and we put out the post-Super Bowl paper. The day seems to be winding down now, but like Sundays, I'm kind of sitting around with little to nothing to do but wait. Though I'm not in a major hurry because I hear traffic is just abhorrent because of the snow.

Tomorrow, a much-needed day off. I'm still kind of on West Coast time, as I didn't get hungry until about 2:30 for lunch. Other than that, I've got some catching up on things to do at home...including laundry. But who knows what will happen, right?

Thank God I'm alive... :)

Hmmm...where to start...

Well, first off, if you make a comment, realize that it is PUBLIC. :)

Yesterday I watched the fireworks show in the bay from our room...I was able to sit right on my bed if I wanted to and watch...and it was a pretty overall lame show...the "grand finale" was nothing close to the Taste of Chicago's grand finale...the san diego one was just a bunch of noise without much visuals...sucked, really. I guess the big thing about it is that there are about six barges that shoot fireworks...

After that, I got ahold of Luis' cousin, Ana, and she, her brother and her fiance had me meet them at the Hyatt, which had a bar on the 40th floor...the highest building in San Diego (I was told). So we checked it out and then went and got some Mexican food...it was pretty cool...

Today, of course, was the big game...it was pretty sweet, of course. Man, let me tell you...they really get you psyched up during the pregame festivities and all. It was cool...I do wish though that the game would have been closer and more nailbiting down the stretch...still, it was fun and exciting. I got a lot of free isht too...I have to figure out how I'm going to pack all of it...

Anyway, I leave here tomorrow at 10 Pacific time, drive up to Orange County (2 hours, I'm told) and the flight leaves at 1:30ish. I arrive at O'Hare at 8pm-ish. In case you were all wondering...I'll have to write like crazy that evening though, to get things done for Tuesday...but whatever... :)

Talk to or see you all soon...