View from the box.

Thats the view from the luxury skybox suite I was lucky enough to get to watch the Packers game from on Sunday. It was quite the experience for someone who has never been to Lambeau Field. My girlfriend got invited to attend with a business contact and I got to tag along. She didn't even make me root for the Lions even though she does, being from Detroit originally. In fact she put up with a lot of crap from me as the Lions lost 26-0.

We drove up to Appleton and met the 'bus' which was an RV that had all the bedroom stuff removed and more seats and tables added. We were on the bus around 945am.. beers in hand.. headed for the tailgate party before the game. We arrived in Green Bay about 45 minutes later and had a reserved spot for the RV right across the street from Lambeau. There was a party going on at the house we parked at that was also sponsored by the company we were attending with. Steak sandwiches, brats and more beer! We hung out here for about 45 minutes and then started to make our way up to the suite.

This suite was something else. 2 fridges stocked with beer and soda.. full liquor cabinets with all the mixers and alchohol you can think of. Cold sandwiches, brats, pulled pork sandwiches, chicken wings, nachos, cheese and crackers, veggie and fruit trays, gourmet desserts.. all laid out for just the 20 people that were in our suite. Theater like seating.. comfy padded chairs with a view out a huge window that covered the entire front wall of the suite on the 45 yard line. It was of course climate controlled so we were not out in the wind and chilly fall temps, not that Sunday was bad for Lambeau.

It was quite an experience watching the game from that suite, but what really struck me was how die hard those Packer fans are. Even though it was just the Lions.. which is pretty much a sure win for anyone at this point...they were all out in force. Close to 72K fans (capacity for Lambeau) came to watch the game and support their team. Green and Gold everywhere enjoying the pre-game tailgaiting as well as the post-game celebration. A lot of people don't know this, but if you sign up for the waiting list for Packers season tickets, you will be waiting a long long long time. This is right off their website:

How long is the waiting list for season tickets? How do I sign up?

The season ticket waiting list has more than 81,000 names. The Packers tell fans adding their names that the average wait is 30 years. To get your name on the season ticket waiting list, click here.

Most season tickets are passed on among family members.. even willed to the next generation. Say what you want about the Packers, but you would be hard pressed to find a group of fans more dedicated to their team and who treat football and the Packers as a way of life. Hell there was one guy walking bye us on the way out that had on full gear.. cleats, football pants, official jersey, the works like he was hoping enough people would get injured that they would call him in to play. Maybe he should have worn a Lions jersey instead.. they probably would have put him in.
:P

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Sticker Wanted: Don't Touch, You are too stupid.

Yesterday was one of 'those' days. The kind where you have to be at work before 2am for server maintenance and then just goes on and on and on from there. The early morning stuff actually went pretty smooth and we were hoping for a nice relaxing day to celebrate. This was not to be however.

Shortly after 8am the calls started coming in. Department heads were calling looking for my boss, who was on vacation yesterday signing his house papers (Congrats man!) and thus those calls come to me. We found out the clinic was on the verge of shutting down and everyone was in a panic. The problem? Severe network connectivity issues at the facility that houses all the medical facilities and clinics. They couldn't run any of their medical programs and thus couldn't provide patient care properly.

So after assuring about 12 different people that we were indeed working on it (which took about 30 minutes of time that I actually COULD have been working on it) we started to track down what was wrong. A switch closet at that location has the two switches that provides the bulk of the connections for that area. We went over armed with a new switch and started to figure out what was going on.

I know some of you are glazing over already.. so I won't bore you with the technical stuff. I will just say that after some troubleshooting we found that the fiber links for those switches were not in the right places. We moved them and suddenly everyone was back to work and the clinic was open for business. You could see the mixed emotions on the faces of the personnel over there as we informed them that they could all indeed work again. :P

So how did this happen is the real question. Do connections on switches that have been working for 3+ years suddenly jump ports on their own? Was it the wiring closet gnomes? A vindictive tooth fairy? Who knows for sure. So what I want is a big sticker to put on the switches that says "Don't Touch. You are too stupid"

Its a simple rule really. You add up the blinking lights on the device and then divide that number by your IQ and if the result is a number greater than 1, DON'T FUCKING TOUCH IT. Clearly the 6 brain cells you have rattling around in that cavernous wasteland you call your skull are all going to be mesmerized by the 'pretty lights' and you aren't going to do anything but make it worse. The only downside to that simple rule.. is the people who shouldn't be touching it probably can't handle the math that the rule involves anyway. So maybe we should keep it simpler. If you are even the slightest bit unsure if you should be touching it... then DON'T!

After a 15 hour day yesterday.. I am ready for a half day today followed by a nap and then many beers and passing out for about 12 hours. I leave you with some of the most amazing guitar playing you will ever see. Timmy is just incredible.

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Compatible Crazy

It's a phrase I have tossed around for years now and I still get some weird looks when I mention it, but I feel it is a valid statement when relationships are involved. I am not talking strictly about romantic relationships either. Friendships are subject to the same rules in my opinion.

See I look at it this way. You are born and you are sweet and innocent. Shortly thereafter, you start to develop and are influenced by all manner of things around you. By the time you clear high school you have been subject to so many experiences and personalities and outside influences that you can't help but develop some crazy. Then you go off to college where part of your job is to act crazy and hang out with even crazier people than you.

So by the time you are in your 20's, everyone is crazy in their own way. We all develop our own quirks and eccentricities. Something that if a stranger walked by you and caught you doing it or saying it they would be thinking to themselves that you are a nutjob. It's just a fact of life. Those 'normal' people are every bit as crazy too.. don't let them fool you. They are just less outwardly obvious with their crazy. Go check their closet and you will find how they have to organize every shirt and pair of pants by color/pattern/style and how if even one is out of place they won't be able to sleep soundly. EVERYONE has their own crazy.

So the key to relationships in this world full of crazy people? Compatible Crazy™ What you need to do is find someone who's crazy you can truly appreciate and who understands and appreciates your crazy in return. It is delusional to think that you are not crazy, or that you can find someone else that is not crazy to have a relationship with. Give up that notion now and it will make your life a lot easier.

Be yourself. Embrace your crazy. Wave your crazy flag high for all to see. What you will find is people that 'get' you. That see you and your craziness and think to themselves "I like his/her crazy" Those are the people you will truly connect with. If you find yourself hiding those parts of your personality to be what you think someone else expects or desires of you, STOP. You are doing yourself a disservice and besides, that person might just surprise you and appreciate you all the more for sharing the other parts of your personality. If they don't, at least you are being yourself and it's their loss at that point.

If you think you are having one of those days where your mental instability is overwhelming...just remember there is always someone a step ahead of you still. Like her:



Life is too short to try and be anything other than who you are. Embrace that bat-shit crazy person living in your head and be happy. Find people with Compatible Crazy™ and enjoy being you. Anything else is lunacy!

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Happy Birthday!

Today my YOUNGER son turns 12 so I had to wish him a happy birthday, despite the fact that he doesn't read my blog. Hard to believe that I have managed to keep not one, but TWO children alive for 12 and almost 14 years. Here's a picture of my boys.. many years ago:



Hard to believe that those adorable little faces are now 12 and soon-to-be 14. 6th and 8th graders. No longer do they want you to sit on the couch and watch Teletubbies or Barney or some other show designed to make and adult's brain ooze slowly out of their ears. No longer do they spend hours playing with blocks and little action figures. The days of giving them cardboard wrapping paper tubes and watching them become medieval knights for an afternoon....gone.

They are products of this generation for sure. I was thinking about this the other day and some of the things I came up with were crazy. They don't know a life without internet access or even high-speed internet access. They don't know life without CD's. They don't know about 8-tracks and records, rotary phones and having to look stuff up in books and encyclopedias.

Last month my cell bill came in.. and my two youngsters put up big numbers. B managed to clock in around 1300 texts for the month and G just over 1100. When you factor in that they can't have them on or even out of their locker during the school day, that is a LOT of text messages in the remaining time in the evenings and weekends. Yes, both boys have cell phones now and I know there are those of you think they are too young, and you are entitled to your opinion. Just remember the fact that they are my kids and I don't give a shit about your opinion! :P

My kids are done with Spongebob and High School Musical now. They watch Scrubs and House. They play the 360 and Wii and computer games. They will never understand Atari or Pong. The only Daisy Duke they will know is Jessica Simpson. They don't know who the A-team or MacGyver is. If I asked them what KITT was...I would probably get an answer like 'Half a Kit Kat bar?' /sigh

I am constantly amazed these days about how fast they are growing now. I know everyone thinks that they don't change as much as when they are infants / toddlers, but I am starting to disagree with that. I see changes happening faster and faster. They are not learning to roll over or walk for the first time, but they are developing as young adults at an alarming rate. Somedays so fast it seems like a blur that I can't get to slow down. You know when you watch something with your kids and you see the adult humor go over their head and chuckle to yourself? Now they are laughing along with me! They are getting into the deeper issues that are brought up and actually THINKING about them. Sure a lot of their responses are still that of a child or teenager, as they should be, but I am still shocked by some of the thoughts coming out of those heads.

This time next year I will be attending events for my HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT. How scary is that? I am not one to get all misty eyed and nostalgic, but I can't help but wonder where my little guys went? The ones that would wrestle around with dad on the bed and not stop laughing? Oh don't get me wrong, they still like to wrestle and roughhouse, but now the two of them against me is starting to be in their favor and if they are not careful they could certainly hurt someone. And by someone I mean me. :P

So Happy Birthday to my BABY boy, my young man. 12 today. Growing up and making me proud to be known as Gabe's Dad.

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The Little Bastards

As a parent, I have come to terms with the fact that my boys are moving into that teenager age group. It was inevitable I suppose. And while the changes were subtle at first, they seem to have accelerated as of late and if I stop and think about their actions and attitudes even a year ago, the difference can be staggering. I know all parents are shocked by how fast their kids grow up, but I honestly can't remember this kind of rate of change since they were toddlers and it seemed like every week was a new milestone.

So what's the big difference? They are not driving yet (thank god) and although B is in 8th, they are both still in the middle school. They are still doing the same activities for the most part. They have the same group of friends. They have the same responsibilities at home. So other than them getting older, there hasn't been any big dramatic changes. So the only real difference is attitudes. They are becoming little bastards. Or as my ex put it so well, "When did my boys start acting like assholes?"

Now before I freak out my poor Mother, they really are the same great kids they always were. When interacting with adults, teachers, parents of friends etc., they are generally as well behaved and respectful as they always were. However, when it comes to their siblings or friends.. sometimes I just have to shake my head and walk away. The teenage attitude is there. The "I am the greatest and you should all bow down before me" is there.. in full force.

I have siblings and I know what the whole sibling rivalry situation is. My boys have always had that as well. Antagonizing each other. It's changed now though. Often times now its not the joking and wanting to be a pain in the ass to the other. It has morphed into false sense of superiority. The whole "I know everything and thus anything you tell me is stupid and I shall look upon you with disdain and mock your stupidity." I am just waiting for that to transfer to parental stuff as well. Maybe it won't happen....maybe my boys will be the exception to the rule...maybe? /sigh

It is still fun to watch them grow and change. Even if I am not a huge fan of all the changes. I suppose them being assholes is part of their rite of passage into manhood. Much like girls getting their cycles and becoming crazy bitches? :P

Regardless, they are still good kids and no matter what, I still love those little bastards!

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Angry Turtle!

I stumbled across the coolest drinking acessory today in explaining what a Black and Tan was and how they were poured. I give you.. ANGRY TURTLE!!



How fuckin cool is that? An angry turtle that both opens your beer bottles as well as helping you pour the perfect B&T. It comes in a kit with matching coaster and pint glasses. Absolutely awesome. You can see it here.

I need to get one of those.. and two kegerators. One for my Guinness and one for my Bass. Then I big 4-season porch so I can sit out and enjoy my beer and a good cigar to relax. Ahhh.. someday. When I am rich and famous. Or something. :P

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Let's Reverse It

The normal work week is 5 days on, 2 days off for the weekend. After just having a 5 day weekend, I am suggesting we reverse that setup. Let's work 2 days and have 5 days off every week. Hell, I would be willing to put in 2 15 hour days to get 30 hours in if I could have a 5 day weekend every week. Think about it.. you would come to work refreshed and relaxed every week and know you have 2 days to focus and get stuff done. Well.. one can dream anyway.

I feel like I should have done something productive with all that time off, but other than getting a few workouts in and a couple of small errands run, it was all just relaxing. The boys and I did a marathon on Sunday for Scrubs season 8. I hadn't seen most of the episodes, so it was a blast to sit and watch them and just laugh and laugh with my boys. They love the show as much as I do and we were all a bit sad watching the last two episodes which were both the season and series finale. I can't say enough good things about this show. The combination of the off-the-wall craziness and the very down to earth way they deal with real issues was just incredible. If you have not watched the show.. do it.

I also watched season 5 of House, MD. I have been waiting for this season to be released on DVD and been looking forward to watching it even though my Mom gave me a huge spoiler last time she was out to vist with the whole "Hey.. you like House right? Can you believe SoAndSo died?" Never mind the fact that she KNOWS I watch shows like that on DVD when they are released and not during the year when they are on. Still, the show is awesome and I really enjoyed this season. I won't discuss anything here though in case you are still waiting to watch it. I won't be a RUINER!

Having the 5-day weekend at least took the edge off my jealousy that my two nephews are on the beach in Hawaii with my sister and BIL and my parents. Seriously.. Zane at not-even-one-year-old has already been to Hawaii more times than I have. There is something not quite right about that picture. :P All I know is that it's a good thing I can't ear flick someone through a text message. When your sister whines about having to do a load of laundry for an hour .. IN HAWAII .. on facebook, you should be able to reach out and give her an ear flick IMO.

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