Weekend Preview

Try not to be too jealous, but Lindsey and I have a three day weekend.  Before you ask, yes, we did sacrifice a few goats to Satan in order to make that happen.  The real question though:  what do we have planned?

We are heading to Pittsburgh with Imler, who just happened to pick up Gideon from the airport.  That is correct!  Gideon is making his way back to Pennsylvania.  Exciting times.  I expect fun times to be had by all.  Anyways, tonight we are going to the Pens game and then after that, who the hell knows.  You should probably get a hold of one of us to try and meet up.  Do it early though, most likely will not be sober for long.

Last time Gideon and I got together was a pretty awesome time.


I just hope I can find a cool balloon hat like that again...

The Decision 2012

As some of you know, I made the decision that I talked about a few days ago.  It was not an easy decision, but I do want to thank everyone who commented and gave me advice, or in some cases just pointed out a different way of thinking about the issue.

I decided to stay with The Place That Shall Not Be Named.  I am just not willing to give up my vacation time, nor does it sound very fun to work more than 60 hours each week.  There were a few other factors as well, mostly concerning specific tasks about the job that I would rather not discuss. 

Allow me to respond to the comments from the last post:

Greg:  Haha, I think you are like three years older than me (I may have made that up).  I honestly believe if I had this offer before I met Lindsey, I would have taken the job.  I cannot imagine spending less time together.

Sean:  I have discussed it with my supervisors and like most things, they tend to be a little vague.  However, I do know that I am on a very short list of promotable people.  Working fewer third shifts will happen with a promotion (none at all).  Actually, I should not complain about third shift.  I was grumpy about them last week, but most of the time I do not mind them.  And I do not usually get that many of them.

Jason.:  We definitely need to meet up in Richland at some point and see a movie.  And thank you for sharing your story.  One of my biggest fears is that I will absolutely hate it and not be able to come back.

Honestly, one of the reasons I have been with TPTSNBN for so long is that I actually believe in the product (I know that a few of you will mock me for this), but when I thought back on it, I realized that I had actually had many negative experiences at TNP.

Jason's Sense of:  We actually spoke at the bar.

Kern:  I would not burn the bridge, but I cannot say that bosses might not be vengeful.  And if I would decide to switch back, they could be jerks and forfeit my accumulated vacation time. 

Offord:  Honestly, I believe staying where I am at could be better in the long run.  I have no clue if there were any opportunities to get promoted with TNP.  I have started to realize that TPTSNBN still have some opportunities to move up higher levels, especially if I ever went to another division of the company.

So anyways, I thank everyone for the help and advice.  And I am glad to be staying at TPTSNBN so that I can continue using that cool acroynm.

Complex Code

Well James, you did it.  You solved the Christmas code.  Unfortunately, you have forced me to get a little ridiculous here.  This next cipher is a little more complex than the previous one.  Good luck...also, the keyword is somewhere in this paragraph.

c aoc nnaynrioot aecoZapouoty oi  e et s mh.seiif tlzu nh fdnwt t hutr rgetiewggnodynuiis p snrituimer og.



 All this talk of ciphers and codes made me think of spies...and honestly, are there any better spies than Archer and Lana?

Time For a Quick Life Update

You do realize that when I write quick in the title, that it will be an insanely long post?  Well let us get started.

Thanksgiving
Lindsey and I decided to split up the holidays.  Easter we went to my family, Thanksgiving we went to her family.  We went to her mom's house for an early dinner, then went to her dad's girlfriend's house for some pie.  At both houses we played some board games.



Also, I got to wear my sweater vest that I bought for New Year's Eve like three years ago.  Yeah, I get excited over the little things.

Lindsey had to get up early in order to go to work.  Since I was up as well, I decided to run over to the Ebensburg Wal-Mart to see what they had left of the Black Friday sales.  It was 6:00 a.m.  They actually had a good amount of stuff left.  I think next year I will try to go over a little earlier.  I was able to pick up some movies for pretty cheap.  Plus, I finally got Burn Notice seasons two and three for $9 each. 

Kayla's Birthday
Saturday night we went out for Kayla's (Lindsey's sister) 21st birthday.  We hit up a few of the places in and around Johnstown. 








The next day we went down to Pittsburgh in order for Kayla to go to Rivers Casino.  We started out at Bar Louie in Station Square.  Lindsey and I played a little basketball/football game at the bar, then after dinner we went to the casino.

I went off to play Three-Card Poker.  That was not a great idea.  I lost $120 in about 9 minutes.  After that I went over to the bar and watched the Steeler game and proceeded to get pretty drunk.

Working Third Shift
The majority of the week I worked third shift and in all honesty, nothing much happened.  However, on Friday night, my dishwasher comes to me and says "Okay, it's all yours.  I quit."  I thought at first he was kidding.  Then I realized he was not.

The reason he came in and worked for two hours that day?  He wanted to make sure he got his vacation pay.  Once it went into his account, he quit.  Unfortunately, he did not realize that he could have quit anytime in the past week or so.  It was pretty much processed through payroll already.

Steelers vs. Bengals
Lindsey and I got each other tickets to the game for our birthdays.  We got up early and got down there around 8:00 a.m.  Needless to say, I started drinking.  We met up with a person Lindsey works with and his wife.



As most of you know, the game was not even close.  The Steelers did a good job beating down the Bengals.  As you also know, I will not mention much of the event, instead some random things that happened.






On our way into the game, Lindsey dropped her ticket while we were in line.  We looked around and started backtracking where we were at.  Lindsey was pretty much on the verge of tears (she claims that she was going to cry and hope that the security guards would let her in).  Luckily, we found the ticket pretty much right where we were standing.

This is why Lindsey is not allowed to be in charge of things.  In fact, she would misplace herself if that was possible.














After the game we went to our hotel and passed out for a little bit.  When we woke up it was around 8:00 and none of the restaurants downtown were open.  We took a cab up to the McKnight Road Red Lobster and ate some food.

When we left, we called for a cab and well, that is when the fun began.  We sat outside for about an hour.  I kept calling and they said they would be sending someone out.  Finally, I called the hotel and the girl gave me the number for Classy Cab.  I called them and they sent someone out in fifteen minutes.  Granted, it was a little bit more expensive than Yellow Cab, but it was worth it.  Here is the funny thing:  Yellow Cab called me around 12:30 to say my cab would be there in a little bit.  Almost three hours!  How utterly ridiculous.  Shitty service.

PSU vs. Iowa

For my birthday, Adam and Lora decided to take Lindsey and I to the PSU/Iowa game.  Obviously, this will not be about the game, instead it will be about getting drunk.



We headed over at 8:30 a.m., but once we got there, one of our group realized they forgot the tables.  We waited for them to get back and ended up getting parked around 10.  I did not eat much and basically drank all day on an empty stomach.  This will be important later.



There was plenty of drinking and we walked over to some other people's tailgate to play some corn hole (we did not know these people).  Best part, my phrasing to the lady when I first asked "hey, do you mind if we use your corn hole."  Sounds so dirty...



After getting destroyed by Adam and Lora (who had to play against the owners), she and I walked over to the next one and played the ring toss game.  We got beat because the guy who had it was pretty much amazing at it.  We did not do too bad for our first time, but this guy pretty much scored 20 points in one round.

We continued drinking and it was now almost time to head to the game.  For most of the day my stomach did not feel right.  Before we walked to the stadium, something happened that has not happened in a very long time.  I threw up.  I gagged, then I dry-heaved, and then a little puke came up.  I did this four times.   It was never much puke, but just enough to qualify as me vomiting.  So embarrassing!



We made it into the game and I bought a steak sandwich.  After that I felt pretty good.  We made it to our seats, which were actually pretty good.  We were nine rows back in the corner of the end zone.  Unfortunately, I was sitting at the edge of the seat and was pretty uncomfortable.  At half-time we went to piss and get some food (I ate some chicken tenders and fries).



During the second half, I asked the people beside us if they could move down a little so Adam (who now was on the edge) could have a little more room.  The lady got snippy and said that her seats were the ones we were in.  I replied that her children were not really people and did not need full seats.  She did not find that as funny as I did.



Apparently, a bunch of people were supposed to be in different seats.  It should not have been a big deal, but it ended up becoming one.  Luckily Adam calmed the situation down by telling all of us to be quiet about it.



After the game, we went back to my mom's house and I fell asleep for a bit, then sat around with my mom and step-dad and drank some beers, watched football/baseball/hockey (advantage of having a bunch of TVs in the basement). 

It was a pretty awesome time and I was glad to finally be able to show Lindsey what a Penn State game is like.  I only wish we had walked around more so she could see just how many people were actually outside tailgating.

Game Thoughts:
-The fake field goal was pretty awesome, I just wish it would have resulted in a touchdown. 
-I am sick and tired of hearing how much talent Bolden has and yet never seeing him do anything.  I want to see him run it more (I thought he was supposed to be a dual threat QB?) and I want to see him make better passing decisions.
-It was nice to see them establishing some sort of running attack.  Unfortunately, beating Iowa does not really impress me, we need to beat Illinois or Nebraska.

Congratulations Ryan!

Good job Ryan on winning our fantasy league for the third year in a row.  Obviously, this cannot happen next season.  I do not care if we all have to band together to defeat you, but we will make it happen!

I have some ideas for next season, but that is something for another post.  I figure, the best way to show my respect for Ryan, is to show a good picture of him...

My 31st Birthday

Yesterday was my 31st birthday.  Allow that to set in for a moment...I am definitely getting old.  Oh well, not really all that big of a deal.  We celebrated the special occasion by going out Saturday night in Altoona with a few friends.  It was a fantastic time.  I got pretty drunk, which should not surprise anyone.

Here are some pictures of the night...enjoy!

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Hey Ryan, hope you had a great birthday...



Last year on your birthday did you think:  "Man, I bet next season the Buccos will be in second on my birthday and will be four games over .500.  In fact, they will be this good without Pedro Alvarez, Ross Ohlendorf, Ryan Doumit, and Chris Snyder.  Karstens, Morton, Maholm, and Correia will be some of the better pitchers in the NL."

If you did think that, I would have liked to smoke whatever it was you were smoking.

Oh, and since the ladies out there complain that I do not show enough pictures of sexy guys, here is one of Ryan and I pretty drunk...

Pirates Opening Day 2011

For those of you unaware, I was at the Pirates home opener on Thursday.  This was my third opener in a row (I went down for the 2003 opener against the Red Sox, but the game was rained out, or maybe it was the second game, whatever).  I hope to continue this tradition for a long time.  Unfortunately, my friend Steve was not able to go this year.  Fortunately, Lindsey was able to go and we had a fantastic time.

Sadly, the Pirates lost the game and if you are expecting any in depth coverage of the game, well I am sorry, that is not really what you will find here.  Go to WHYGAVS or any to Pirates Booty.  Instead, I will tell you about the adventure that took place.



We got up early and left so that we could check into our hotel and just walk to the game.  We stayed at the Wyndham Grand.  I did not realize it was such a classy hotel.  We pull up in my super-cool, non-bear destroyed Yaris and are greeted by the valet.  This was new to me.  I normally stay in shitty motels where the guy tells you to park in back by the dumpster.  Also, the bellhop wanted to help me with my bag...all I brought was a backpack, I told him I could manage.

We drop our stuff at the room and hustle across the bridge to the stadium.  Ryan tells me where he and his friends are tailgating and we make our way over there.  We drink some beers with those guys and then head into the game.



We sat in the front row of left field.  It was such a great day for a game.  Sunny and warm (I got a little sun-burn on one side of my face).  The saxophonist from O.A.R. performed the national anthem, which was pretty good.

The guy behind us had his five year old son with him.  He was teaching his kid about gambling, which seemed a bit odd to me.  He was telling him who they had to root for on the board because daddy had money on those teams.  I am not a huge gambler, so I really have no clue how people bet on baseball games.  While Jose Tabata was warming up, the dad yells to him in Spanish for a ball.  Tabata tossed it to him and the dad had to lean way over the wall in front of us to catch it.  Pretty nice grab actually.



After awhile though, I felt bad for the kid because his dad knew nothing about the Pirates (or baseball in general).  He told his boy that Pedro Alvarez is from Venezuela and that Andrew McCutchen was on the All-Star team.  Me and two guys beside us decided to make fun of him for a good chunk of the sixth and seventh inning.



Once the game ended, we walked over to McFadden's and met up with Ryan.  We had a couple beers, but then everyone had to leave.  Lindsey and I went over to the hotel and decided to get ready for dinner.  We went to SixPenn to eat.  The food was very good, but as with all fancy restaurants, I always feel like I am starving when I leave.

After dinner we went to a bar called Olive or Twist (get it?) and drank a few beers with a couple we ran into while walking around town.  They were pretty cool for about thirty minutes, but after that I was definitely getting tired of listening to the dude talk.

We got pretty drunk and went back to the hotel and went to bed.  The next day we got up and decided to go to the Waterfront for breakfast.  Lindsey wanted to try IHOP, or as she called it:  IOP.  Apparently the H is silent.  The food was decent, but the place was not very organized (I am guessing it must have opened very recently).

Our plan was to go to Lindsey's cousin's (Danielle, who is married to Brent Johnson) house and see the new baby and then meet up with her friend and go to the Pirate game.  We could not go see the baby until around three, so we had a lot of time to kill.  We went to Target and then drove around in the rain for a few hours.  We basically saw most parts of Pittsburgh.  We visited the family and then met up with her friend at Bahama Breeze in Robinson.  At this point we were decidedly against going to the game because it had been raining hard all day.

Once dinner was over, we finally came home.  I was exhausted.  I had to work at 6:30 a.m.  I wish I could have been at Friday night's game, but at the same time I am kind of happy we did not make it.  I would love to be at an exciting extra inning game like that, but only if I did not have to work super early the next day.  Also, I figured there would be a rain delay for sure.  Oddly enough, once we left the city and the game started, the rain stopped.

It was a fantastic time and I cannot wait to go to more games this year.  I already have a few lined up and I am going to try and organize something huge, so I will let people know about that at some point...

Here are the rest of the pictures from the game...



They claim that Carlos Gonzalez is 6'1, but I really do not believe it.  He came much closer a few times and he looks to be about 5'10 or so...



The Pirates can never get rid of Ryan Doumit.  Only because I love hearing Danzig's "Mother" when he comes to bat.



This is a terrible picture.  It is of the team warming up.  Way to go photographer...



I bet as they are walking, the pitchers were probably bitching about having to walk all the way back across the field after the opening ceremonies.



Much better than last year's picture with me fondling a statue's balls....



I took this one after dinner.  What a beautiful stadium...

UPDATE!!!
I completely forgot about the kid who jumped over the wall and ran across the field.  Lindsey asked me if that was the first time I ever saw that and I do not think it was, I believe I saw that when I was very young, but I remember something like it.  Anyways, the guys beside me were laughing at how dumb the kid is, since he got tossed from the game and most likely went to jail for the night.  Way to spend Opening Day!

 

Video from 333greystreet...

Super Bowl XLV

I figured I could not take any chances and perhaps jinx the Steelers, I decided to go to Mugshots to watch the game.  I figured it worked out well last time...By now you know the outcome, the Packers won the game.  Congratulations to them, they played a great game.

Lindsey and I got to Mugshots around 4:30 and hung around outside with MCA (Sean), playing catch and a little cornhole.  The place was packed inside and we found a place to stand (almost the same place I stood last time).  As the game was about to start, Danny (the guy who runs the bar) played Renegade.  I tried to take a video of it, hope it came out okay.



-I have heard a lot of people saying that the game was fixed.  That the league did not want the Steelers to win the game because of Ben's off the field issues and the way the defense likes to hit people (mainly Harrison).  I do not believe that, but it did feel like the Packers were getting away with a few holding calls (or could it be that as a fan, I notice it more against my team than when my team does it?)  I suppose it will be one of those things I will have to watch another time and be more objective.  I have watched Super Bowl XL again and seen all the poor calls that Seattle fans bitched about.

-I feel like the Steelers should have kept running the ball.  They seemed like they were looking for the big play.  Also, the defense seemed very flat.  Was Troy at 100%?  The final two games he just did not seem to be there. 

-The game seemed so surreal.  I (and probably everyone else) expected Ben to lead the Steelers down the field on that final drive and win the game.  When they turned it over on downs at the end, it was the first moment all night where I went "oh shit, we are not going to win this game."

-I do not care about talking about the idiot screwing up the national anthem.  Nor do I care about the half-time show.  Or the commercials.

-Dallas did a great job of hosting a Super Bowl though.  I mean, the city forgot to check the weather and order salt.  The stadium screwed up a bunch of people's tickets.   And there was a stripper shortage.  And people think State College would be able to handle a Super Bowl if it were the Steelers/Eagles.

-Do you remember my NFL predictions?  I picked the Packers to be a wild card team and beat the AFC North team in the Super Bowl.  How awesome am I?  Oh and I said that the AFC Championship game would be the North champ beating the Jets.  It does not matter that I picked the Ravens to win the division (I never pick the Steelers).

And now for some pictures...




I have no idea why I took this picture.  I think it was after a random stop.






Lindsey decked out in her scarf.  She wore it all game.  Odd.






MCA looking nervous at kickoff.  People think he was just this way because it was the Super Bowl, but he gets like this for preseason games as well.







MCA and I before the game started.  We looked much sadder and much drunker later.

Pens vs. Sabres Pt. One

For Christmas I bought my brother and his girlfriend tickets to a Pens game.  The game we got to go to was Friday night against the Buffalo Sabres.  The game was awesome (it was only my second game, and the first one was a loss), the Pens came back from a 2-0 deficit and won 3-2.  Allow me to take you on the journey...

We had talked about getting there pretty early so we could walk around and check the arena out, and maybe do some shopping at the Pens store.  Unfortunately, Adam could not get out of work early enough, so we did not get to the Consul Energy Center until about 6:45.



Our seats were pretty similar to the seats we had last time.  The reason for this is because I got the tickets off Brent Johnson's wife (Danielle is Lindsey's cousin).  We got seated and watched the last few minutes of pregame, and then the puck was dropped.  We were pumped.  Then Gaustad goes down and scores during the first 17 seconds of the game.  That kind of sucked.

Okay, no big deal.  Unfortunately the Sabres scored again around 7:00 minutes.  As the period came to an end, I started to wonder if I was just bad luck for the Penguins.  We went looking for a bathroom during intermission and we discovered a neat item.  Sprinkled around the place are some family restrooms (I am guessing for parents to take in small children).  There were lines for every regular bathroom, but nothing for this one.  So, I went on in.  It was fantastic (especially if you are someone who gets a little stage fright at a large public restroom).

The second period started out with Fleury in the goal right in front of us.  Adam made the prediction that all the goals would be scored at the opposite end.  After the way the game started, I figured we had nothing to worry about.  Then the Pens decided to start dominating.  They pretty much kept the puck on the Sabres end the entire second period (I think there were like six shots for the Sabres in the second period).

Dustin Jeffrey started it off by scoring around three minutes into the period.  Then it just got better.  Kennedy scored to tie it up and Matt Cooke put one in to take the lead about forty seconds later.  Needless to say, we were now completely pumped.  I took some video of the game, check it out.


Oh sorry, that is a video of my friend Jason's adult league hockey.  That was not the Penguins.   Anyways, the third period saw the Penguins pretty much dominate again and we saw Malkin get hurt.  That sucked.  The Pens came away with a victory yet again.  Very awesome.


Fans were encouraged to bring their Terrible Towels to support the Steelers.  At the end of the first period (or was it the beginning of the second period?), they played Renegade, which got the crowd pumped up.  You can see the towels twirling.  We did not forget our towels.  Nope.  Some idiot did not carry them around and then get them inside the girl's apartment we were staying, only to set them down for a second and forget them.  I swear.  That would never happen.



At least we looked good in our jerseys.  We had the goal of getting a picture of the four of us at the game.  We failed at that one too.  I am pretty shitty at the whole picture thing.

This is part one of a two part post.  Who knows when the second part will come though...