My Beer

I have a facebook account. Then again, who doesn't. I don't really do much with though. Mostly I just sit back and see what everyone else is doing and if I feel like talking to that one guy/girl that I barely knew in junior high school that somehow found me and asked to be my "friend", I can do so. One of the things I recently saw on there was that everyone is passing around this top 5 list of beers and naming what they like with absolutely no explanation. I consider myself quite the beer connoisseur. Some of my friends call me a beer snob because I would not think about putting the likes of a Natural Light or PBR up to my lips. I have developed a little bit of a taste over the years for certain beers, especially those a little on the dark side. I welcome the opportunity to drink a few with any of your reading this, but please don't offer me a Bud Light.

6. Smithwick's: This is an Irish ale that is currently under the Guinness (more on this later) umbrella. When ordering a Smithwick's, especially if you are at an Irish bar or better yet, if you are in Ireland, please do not pronounce the "w". The name is pronounced 'Smithicks'. The dark amber appearance should tell you this beer is extra yummy. (hint: most dark amber beers are yummy)

5. Harp: This is another Irish beer but in contrast to Smithwick's, Harp is a pale lager. This beer used to be under the great Guinness umbrella but broke away a couple of years ago. You will notice that there is no longer an actual harp on the logo as that image is owned by Guinness. This is a great beer to drink in the summer time. You can definitely taste fruit, especially a hint of lemon in every bottle. Again, great summer beer for when cooking around the grill.

4. Leinenkugel's: A microbrew out of Chippewa Falls, WI, this beer not only tastes incredible but also brings great memories of my younger college days. In the early to mid 90's, it was a regional beer that you could only find in the Midwest. Being a poor college student from Iowa, I was quite fond of the fact that I could find a 12-pack of this for less than $10. Eventually the world found out how unbelievable this line of beer was and Miller Brewing Co. wound up buying it. Now you can find a different bottle for every season. My favorite is the Sunset Wheat, which is a summer ale made to compete with Coors's Blue Moon....

3. Blue Moon: I couldn't have Sunset Wheat on here without having Blue Moon. Another reason why Blue Moon is great is that my wife will drink it. She normally does not like any beer but she will drink this. I'm thinking she would drink Sunset Wheat too, but I haven't given her any. And anytime I can feed her more beer is fine by me. As you can see, I am fond of brews geared more towards the summer. It just makes grilling out a little more enjoyable.

2. Corona: There is only one reason for this being on the list and that is because every time I drink, I am having a great time. Whether it's a beach, bar, or bbq, this beer symbolizes fun. You simply have to love the beer that is 100% associated with fun.

1. Guinness: Could there be anything else at the top of this list? Come on! There has only been one time in my life were I didn't like Guinness and that is on New Year's Day in 1999. I spent the previous night enjoying my share of Guinness's at a party my buddy Ryan was having. I didn't realize how many I drank until I saw them come up the next day. Needless to say it does not taste the same coming up. Anyway, bad story aside, this is simply God's gift to beer. I'm sure when I go to heaven, there will be beer-falls flowing with this sweet nectar. MMMMMMM Guinness!

My Man-Crush

Guys don't like to admit they have them, but every guy does. It's a man-crush. It's whenever you see another guy on TV or in the news and you stop everything to see what they are doing. Most guys don't think it's very macho or masculine to have a man-crush but after being married for eleven years, I am perfectly accepting of mine. I'm OK with that, and you should be also. Stop laughing, I know you are, stop it! These won't be very long descriptions because, well, I don't want to sound too gay.


6. Samuel L. Jackson: He is the epitome of cool. Every movie he is in, he's cool. Every time I see him on TV, I think of how cool he is. Plus, he was in the absolute craziest movie of all time "Snakes on a Plane". Granted the plot was extremely dumb but the action in the movie was absolutely insane and there is no other actor on this planet that could have been the lead in that movie. Cool.


5. Tiger Woods: The dude is amazing. He is well on his way to becoming the first BILLION dollar athlete. That's right, BILLION! He completely revolutionized the sport of golf. I remember sitting at some friend's house with him and his wife and my wife Kate in 2000 when Tiger was battling Bob May (who!?!?) at the PGA Championship. We cooked dinner and watched the entire final round of this epic battle where Tiger won at the very end. Golf is not the most exciting thing to watch on TV but we did and all four of us found it extremely exciting because of Tiger. In his injury related absence recently, golf sucked. Who cares about Phil Mickelson, Zac Johnson, or Sean O'hare? Tiger is the man, he has been for a long time and remains the only reason at all to watch golf on TV. BILLION dollars for playing golf!


4. LaBron James: I grew up watching Larry Bird battle Magic Johnson and eventually got to witness the greatness of Michael Jordan. That trio kind of spoiled me when it came to watching the NBA. When Bird and Magic left and Jordan kept trying to come back with the Wizards, the NBA became unwatchable. There was about a 5-7 year period where I thought the league absolutely sucked. Then LaBron came along. This kid is absolutely ridiculous. He stands at 6'8" and 260 lbs...ROCK SOLID. His movements on the court are effortless and he seems he can do whatever he wants to do with a basketball. Michael Jordan is generally accepted as the greatest basketball player ever but when it's all said and done, James will pushing Jordan off that mantle. He is the sole reason why I started watching the NBA again.


3/2/1: Justin Timberlake: First of all, I only could come up with 4 for the list so that is why he is 3/2/1. It's not because I like him that much, although it's close. Second of all, I better be secure in my masculinity because I know I'm catching some flack for this one. Justin Timberlake is must see TV anytime he is on. I never really paid much attention to him until I saw him host Saturday Night Live for the first time. Hilarious! Then he hosted again and had the legendary "Dick in a Box" video. I nearly peed myself laughing so hard after watching it. His performances on SNL made me appreciate him as an amazing performer. Eventually I began to even like his music and dancing. Stop laughing! Now, he appeals to me on another level in that he is an extremely avid golfer and even hosts his own PGA Tour event where all of the proceeds go to a children's organization. Lately I heard he turned his living room into a makeshift golf room with all of the furniture turned upside down and he lays blankets down to simulate really bad rough. I promise I'm not stalking him, it was in a golf magazine...stop laughing. Plus, all of his girlfriends are fairly easy on the eyes too (Britney Spears (pre-crazy), Cameron Diaz, Jessica Biel, and Allysa Milano). So yes, I am a big Justin Timberlake fan, he's a great performer musically, comedically, and athletically. I should hate him with extreme envy but I can't. He's just too cool.

My Unfavorite Cubs

Baseball season begins in less than 2 weeks and as I stated in a previous post, I am getting ready for another extremely disappointing season from my beloved Chicago Cubs. There have been many players I have enjoyed watching over the years and that list will come at some point. But for now, I would like to introduce you to several of the players that have contributed to the extreme crappiness that has been the Chicago Cubs over the last 30 years.

6. LaTroy Hawkins: In 2003, Hawkins was signed as a free agent from the Minnesota Twins to provide help in the Cubs bullpen. In the previous couple of seasons with the Twins he was an absolute monster providing relief in the 7th and 8th innings as a setup man for their closer. He was brought to the Cubs to perform the same duties and failed miserably. It's not completely his fault because the Cubs closer, Joe Borowski got hurt early in the season and Hawkins got thrust into a role that he was not suited for. Needless to say Hawkins failed for 2 seasons with the Cubs and in 2005 was finally relieved of his duties after a disastrous performance in Philly. The guy was a horrible failure and contributed to many losses.

5. Fred McGriff: The Crime Dog arrived to the Cubs via a trade at the deadline in 2001. He was to provide power for a team that desperately needed it and desperately needed a 1B since they had cut ties to Mark Grace the year before. The rest of the season he really didn't provide much help and the Cubs had a losing record with him on the team. The following season McGriff did moderately well but his presence and his quest for 500 HR's caused the Cubs to keep a young and promising Hee Seop Choi on the bench. Since the Cubs were terrible this year, it would have been a great time to see what Choi could do but instead McGriff's personal stats meant more and his needs came before the teams. Oh, and the bum didn't even get his 500th HR.

4. Kyle Farnsworth: If you were to simply look at this guy, you'd get scared. He stood about 6'6" and easily threw a 100 mph fastball. Unfortunately, that's all he could do. His off-speed stuff was junk but he was insistent on trying to prove that he had it. Then, when he would throw the heater, it had absolutely no movement on it and hitters timed it perfectly. Nolan Ryan and Rob Dibble both threw over 100 but they had a lot of movement on their balls which kept the hitters on their heels. Not Dr. Tightpants. Nope, all he did was throw a 100 mph fastball down the center of the plate and giving up numerous late inning home runs with it. It's sad that you are best known for pummeling Reds pitcher Paul Wilson. It was a great fight though.

3. Leon Durham: All in all, I love the Bull. But he made one MAJOR error during the playoffs in 1984 against the Padres that puts him on this list. I spoke about it before, but he was Bill Buckner before Bill Buckner was Bill Buckner. The Cubs were in control of a best of 5 series and Durham allowed a ball to roll between his legs allowing the Padres to score and win the game, and eventually the series. Ugh. Not much can be said about this other than this was my very first memory of the Cubs breaking my heart.

2. Mark Prior: Coming out of USC, Prior was an absolute stud. He almost completely bypassed the minor leagues altogether and joined the Cubs in the summer of 2002 and was amazing. He had great mechanics and his arsenal of pitches threw batters off guard all summer long. The following year, 2003, was a magical year for the Cubs but ended in great tragedy. I really believe this was Prior's undoing as a pitcher. He was 5 outs away from sending the Cubs to the World Series and then Bartman happened. This, along with a critical error by the SS Gonzalez, proved to be the last time Prior pitched well for the Cubs. The following year he was riddled with an achilles tendon injury and when he came back his mechanics had changed for the worse and simply was not that effective. In '05 he was injured again, but one actually wasn't his fault. He was hit in the elbow by a line drive traveling 117 mph. Every season after that he has had various arm problems that have led to him finally being let go in '08. An absolute ton of money was wasted on him and a lot of prospects were put on the back burner so he could have his spot on the rotation. He sucked and to this day still hasn't played an inning for his new team, the San Diego Padres.

1. Sammy Sosa: In 1998, Sosa provided a summer to remember with his effortless home runs and great batting average. Sure his arms ballooned up to small canons and he was no longer the base stealing threat he was known for in previous years. He continued to hit a ton of HR's in the next few years but just like an onion, there were many layers to his personality that slowly came out. In hindsight, it's extremely obvious he was on steroids so I won't even debate that. His me, me, me personality was shown more and more and it's been said that he is one of the reasons that Mark Grace left the team. It finally became obvious to everyone when on the last day of the season in 2004, he was benched by the manager. Instead of staying and watching the final game with his teammates, he chose to just leave the game because he wasn't involved. This wound up being his last game and was traded to the Orioles in the off season. Too many of his HR's were meaningless and none of them seemed to come at a time when the Cub's needed them. He was an extremely selfish player and to this day and I hope he never gets in the Hall of Fame because of his (alleged) steroid use.

My TV Characters

Throughout my lifetime, I have been able to witness many TV characters come and go. I love watching them develop on whatever show they happen to be on. I love seeing them grow and take on a life of their own. Some TV characters are pretty crappy (I'm talking to you Two And A Half Men cast) but some are simply awesome and make me make it a point to get to the TV every week to watch them.

6. Norm Peterson: In a bar where everybody knows your name, the sure knew his name. What bar doesn't have Norm sitting there? When I was growing up, my dad was Norm Peterson. Everybody at the Rusty Nail knew who he was, and by proxy, knew who I was. Norm didn't have a mean bone in his body unless it was time for last call. He was simply that overweight guy at the end of the bar that smiled, told stories you want to hear, and was friendly. I guess that was my dad at the Rusty Nail.

5. Hayden Fox: Let me first start by saying that I absolutely hate the Iowa Hawkeyes. I never have liked them and probably never will. But this character, who is based Iowa coaching legend Hayden Fry, is a classic. He was a mumbling, bumbling, mistake making head coach of the fictional Minnesota State Screaming Eagles. He certainly picked a lame-o for a wife but I guess he can't be perfect.

4. Zac Morris: This dude was the original pimp of Bayside. He made all the ladies tingly and made all the guys think that if they wore a yellow and blue striped shirt with the collar turned up and spiked hair, they could get the ladies just as easy. Not so fast. Zac made it look too easy and in turn made me look stupid. If not for that, he would be higher on the list.

3. Cliff Huxtable: Bill Cosby was incredible as this character that was loosely based on himself. He was the dad that everyone wish they had. Loving, caring, funny, and wore the ugliest sweaters imaginable. But he was hilarious in every episode and, in my opinion, seemed to improvise scenes in almost every show. Only Bill Cosby could do something that original and funny.

2. Jerry Seinfeld: Both the TV character and the person are legends. This is definitely my favorite show of all time. Sure the show had many legendary characters but without Jerry there holding them all together, they would be lost. Seinfeld brought the most obviously funny things to life. Only on his show could he talk about masturbation and not actually use the word. He and Larry David were geniuses together.

1. Barney Stinson: The newest character on this list is from one of my favorite shows, How I met Your Mother. I am slightly disappointed with the direction, or lack of, this season is going but Barney stands out as the greatest thing on this show. You know that you have created and incredible character when you make people forget about your last memorable character and Neil Patrick Harris has done that. When I watch it, I forget the fact he was the legendary Doogie Howser M.D. Barney is a legendary character himself and is pretty much the reason why I still watch the show. He proves himself week in and week out to be awesome. What cracks me up even more is that Barney is the sleaziest of all womanizing creatures and Neil Patrick Harris is gay. So you know when his is making out with all of those women on the show, the only thing going on in his mind is, "icky, yucky, gross!" While I cannot understand that at all, I think it's a testament to how good he plays that character because you would never know it. Awesome!

My Bracket

Today marks day 1 on the greatest sporting event of the entire year. The NCAA basketball tournament in my opinion is the most exciting, captivating, and dramatic event in sports to watch, especially the opening weekend. The first two rounds are awesome. The drama is truly unreal and I love every second of it. One thing that makes the tournament even more dramatic is predicting who will win. We all fill out our brackets with our friends and coworkers, throw in $5, and hope for the best. Usually after the first weekend, our brackets are blown up and we don't really have any hope of winning the money. But I have been somewhat successful in my brackets. While I have not been immune to getting my bracket smashed by the perennial Cinderella, I do think I have found a method of doing fairly well. Listed below are my thoughts on how to do a little better in your pool.

6. Pick Favorites: Obvious right? When people fill out their brackets, the first thing they look for is that great upset pick that they think they only know. But in reality, the favorites are there for a reason and when Marge from accounting wins this years pool and you wonder why a woman that doesn't know the difference between Stephen F. Austin and Stone Cold Steve Austin won, it's because she simply picked the favorites.

5. Guards: If you want to a little more research, learn which teams have the best guards. Historically, in the NCAA tournament, guard play has determined the outcome of many games. If you take a look back a couple of years when Illinois went to the championship game, they had a three guard lineup that completely mesmerized opponents. This is just one example of how guards completely own the tournament.

4. Seniors Rule: Historically, teams with upper class men tend to do better than teams that don't. Maturity, both physical and mental, has a major role in this. Experience is also a key factor. So if you are insistent on finding that one team that might be this year's Cinderella, look for a senior filled team and pick them. They will probably do fairly well.

3. Vegas Knows: Las Vegas is not in the business of gambling to lose money. So pay attention to the lines Vegas gives out on the games. THEY KNOW MORE THAN YOU ABOUT THIS! I can't emphasis that enough. This year, the sexy pick is VCU over UCLA. Everyone seems to think this upset is going to happen. But when you look at the line Vegas is giving, UCLA is a clear favorite. Another example is the USC vs. Boston College game. BC is the higher seed but Vegas has USC favored. You might want to pay attention to that.

2. Know the sites: The first couple of rounds of the tournament are located in specific regions. Teams get seeded accordingly and sent to regions that are generally close to them. Louisville is a number 1 seed and is playing in Dayton Ohio, fairly close proximity to Louisville. It's close enough to where enough fans will make the trip and probably make it a virtual home game for the Cards. Similarly, North Carolina plays in Greensboro, N.C. Enough said there. If a team is playing close to home, it will be more comfortable for them and they will have more fans there. That's always a bonus.

1. Guess!: You know that IT nerd that did well last year but he has absolutely no idea why. It's because he reverted to the previously discussed number 6, and he guessed. We can never predict the crazy upsets. When George Mason went to the final 4 a couple of years ago, you would think it would be impossible to predict that. But, some people did because they either liked the name, liked their colors, like the mascot, whatever. But some people did and it was complete guess because any logical person picking the games would not have picked them as a 12 seed to go to the final 4. But it happened and some people picked it. Good luck and have fun, I know I will.

My Pets

If you think about some of the pets you have had, you surely have had a favorite. Conversely, you have also gotten that one pet where you wish you could just find a way to make it leave for good without having PETA knocking on your door. I have had quite a number of pets in my life. From dogs to cats to birds to fish, my family and I have had quite a few. Below is a list of my favorite pets I have had.

6. Abe's Fish: When Abe was about 3 years old, my wife and I thought it would be a good idea to buy Abe some fish. I can't remember what kind of fish we bought but I made sure it would be the kind that lived longer than 48 hours. I didn't realize that I had bought bionic fish. One afternoon while Abe was supposed to be taking a nap, he decided to empty all of the contents from the fish food jar and bowl cleaning chemicals into the fish tank. What resulted was a toxic fish tank. You would think the fish would have croaked but I think it just made them stronger, like The Toxic Avenger. A couple of months later they were moved cross country from Iowa to Kentucky and survived completely unharmed. They lived for about 3 months in KY before dying. But these guys were fighters!

5. Buzzard: While living in Virginia Beach, my wife and I somehow adopted a love bird named Buzzard. We should have known by the name what kind of personality this vicious little creature had. He did not like us one bit and every time we opened his cage to clean it he would fly around the house. Getting him back into the cage was an hour-long process that involved many towels and band-aids. But it was fun little bird to have. We didn't have Buzzard very long though. After letting a friend watch him for a weekend while we went away, and watching how well behaved he was with her, we allowed her to keep him. That's a good thing because I was running out of places for the vicious thing to claw.

4. Scruffy: This was my first dog, which is really the only reason why he is on this list. Scruffy was a pure mutt, he slept all day long, didn't really play much, and was probably retarded. But he was a nice dog to have around while growing up. Towards the end of his life, he couldn't really see very well, which would explain him getting hit by a car in front of my house. That wasn't a good morning before school.

3. Lemon: OK, let it be known that I generally am not a cat kind of guy. But this cat was pretty cool. It had a very distinct personality that made me laugh. My favorite memory of this little feline was waking up in the middle of the night and seeing Lemon perched on the nightstand staring at me as if to say, "I could kill you anytime I want". That didn't happen just once, it was something that happened quite frequently. If not for the physiological inability to hold its urine, the cat would still be alive today.

2. Jake / Zen: When this dog was born, he was given the name of Zen by a couple of friends of my brother Mike. When they moved and couldn't take care of it anymore, my family took him and renamed him Jake. Jake was a half chow-half bullmastiff mix and was about 150 lbs worth of muscle and stupidity. My favorite story of him was that one time when he was left in the garage, he chewed the top off of a bottle of Captain Morgan's Rum and drank the whole bottle. Needless to say, he didn't feel very good for a couple of days and even vomited a few times. There's another story of him finding a way to escape the garage by breaking through the fiberglass garage door. Yes, he was that strong. Eventually he got too much for my parents and the original owners came back to the area and we returned him. He was an awesome dog though and an absolute blast to play with.

1. Frankie: This is my little diva. Frankie is a 9 lb. miniature dauchshound with the attitude of a 100 lb pitbull. My wife Katie actually stole (rescued) Frankie from a couple that was not treating her very nice. I came home from work one time and there she was. She is now 10 years old and starting to slow down a little bit but she still has every bit of attitude she has always had. She completely dominates the Scottish terrier, Mazzie (notice how she is NOT on the list). It will be a sad day in the Arnold family when Frankie visits the great farm in the sky but until then I am very happy to have her curled up on the chair with me.

My Anti-Holiday

As previously stated, I told you I had a love/hate relationship with holidays. On one hand, holidays celebrate religious days, remind us of important events, or simply give us reasons to consume large quantities of beer. That's the good side. On the other end of the spectrum, holidays can be over-commercialized, made up, pointless days that celebrate absolutely nothing. Today, I will be happy to present to you my least favorite holidays.

6. Washington's Birthday: With all due respect to George Washington, I find this holiday quite silly. I completely agree that this should be a day of observance and that our children should be taught the importance of this fine gentleman. But in no way should this be a federal holiday. Let me get this straight, a guy that reluctantly became our first president receives a federal holiday and I don't get any mail just because he was born. Sorry, I fail to find any reasoning that makes sense.

5. Columbus Day: You have got to be kidding me on this one. Here is a guy that accidentally "discovered" this country after having thought he was in India. Yet another federal holiday is given away and yet another day I can't get my mail. Again, I fail to find how this makes any kind of sense.

4. Groundhog Day: The only good thing to have ever come from this completely pointless holiday is an incredibly funny movie that I likened to all of my days on deployment. It's the same day over, and over, and over, and over again. The day is so completely pointless that I can't believe I am even giving it recognition here. We're supposed to believe that a flippin' groundhog is able to predict when Spring will be here. Well I guess that makes sense when you see how accurate the triple Doppler meteorologists are. Silly, stupid, and pointless.

3. New Year's Eve: While this may technically not be a holiday, it is treated as one. Back in my wilder days, I was known to drink a few beers and partake in a party or two. Passing up a party really wasn't an option. But I always found it extremely difficult to find the sense in going out the night before New Year's Day, paying an obscenely high cover charge at a bar/hotel/wherever, paying triple price for drinks, and celebrating something that happens every year like it's a surprise. Now, if New Year's Day didn't come every year and kind of snuck up on us as a surprise, that might be a little different. But the way this is celebrated and the crowds that come out for this I find extremely childish, pointless, and silly. And now that my son's birthday is on New Year's Day, it gives me a reason to turn down requests to go out. Thank you Abe.

2. Christmas: That's right, Christmas. Yes, it was on my list of favorite holidays. But I also hate this holiday. I'm going to sound really preachy for a second so be ready. I love the fact this holiday is about giving. But I'm pretty sure that Jesus doesn't expect you stand in line outside of Best Buy at 4 in the morning the day after Thanksgiving so that you can get the best deal on that Wii for your spoiled kid that thinks the PS2 is too old and outdated. Every year I see the very worst out of our society during this holiday season. Greed, anger, frustration, gluttony, and impatience all show their ugly heads. This holiday has become an over-commercialized day in which people expect to be given the biggest and best gift possible. Jesus has been completely removed. My son's public school cannot sing Christmas songs that talk about what the season is supposed to be about. They have to stick to "holiday songs" so that nobody gets offended. Sorry, but I have a problem with that. I could go on for a while, but I will stop there.

1. Valentine's Day (aka Hallmark Day): I just love the kind of holiday in which Hallmark and all of the jewelery stores try and make me feel guilty if I don't go buy my beautiful wife something expensive and give it to her on this day. Forget the other 363 days out of the year. If you don't do it on this day, you suck and you should have your testicles chopped off. Oh, and is there anything expected of women? No. If you pay attention, it's a day in which they try and make the guy show how much he loves the girl. It's a completely stupid holiday and I have never once celebrated it. Sure, I might get my wife a card or simply say "I love you", but I absolutely refuse to give any recognition to this day. I refuse to let Hallmark dictate when I should show my wife love and when I should buy her a present. You want to know the best part of all of this, my wife agrees with me completely. She has never once expected anything on this day. And she shouldn't. This day needs to be removed from the calendar and never heard from again. But then again, if we did that Hallmark might go out of business.

My Holiday

I have a love / hate relationship with holidays. Some holidays I looked forward to as a child and now that I have little mini-me's running around, I get to enjoy those holidays again. There are also a few holidays that I rather enjoy as an adult due to large quantity of alcoholic beverages that I am expected to drink on said holiday. With St. Patrick's Day quickly approaching, I am reminded of one of those types of holidays. Today's list will consist of my favorite holiday both as a child and as an adult. Conversely, there will be another list tomorrow of my least favorite holidays (I'm looking at you Valentine's Day).

6: Independence Day (Fourth of July for you non-patriots): This is one of those holidays where it is expected of me to consume a few alcoholic beverages. And anytime I can combine that with detonating small explosives, count me in! While I am not a huge fireworks kind of guy, the older I get the funner it is because I have kids that like them. This is a holiday that you can get together with a bunch of friends, drink a few beers, play some horseshoes (I'm coming to get you Allison), and make stuff explode. What more could a guy ask for.

5. Veteran's Day / Memorial Day (sorry, no jokes on this one): Because I am a veteran and a huge proponent of honoring those that have given their lives for this country, I love these two days. I felt I had to combine them since they kind of represent the same thing. I do find it odd however that Memorial Day is a federal holiday and Veteran's Day isn't. Oh well. We cannot do enough to honor those that have made the ultimate sacrifice for this country and I feel that not enough attention is given to these days. Sure we get one of them off of work but we don't celebrate them like we do others. I do and will forever honor these two days.

4. April Fools Day: While this isn't officially a holiday, it is definitely one of my favorite days of the year. I remember making my mom so paranoid when I was younger that she would be walking around with extreme anticipation trying to figure out what I would be doing to her. That alone made the day fun for me. Now I get to play jokes on my kids and what is more fun than playing tricks on little unsuspecting children? The greatest April Fools joke I ever had was me actually being the victim. My loving siblings started setting me up months in advance when I was about 10 years old. They told me the story of a hot dog factory where all of the workers got sick and vomited in the hot dogs. They kept talking about this for a while and then on April 1st, they made me a hot dog with chili on the inside. I took a bite and all of this stuff came out. They were saying I must have gotten one of the dogs with puke in it. Thanks guys, that was real freakin funny!

3. Christmas: As a child, Christmas meant presents under a tree and a big family get-together. There was a lot of innocence associated with Christmas as a child. Now that I have children of my own, I get to celebrate that innocence with them and hope they have similar fond memories of this day, even if they don't get everything they want. Now I celebrate it because of its meaning with Christ, not Wal-Mart.

2. St. Patrick's Day: There are a couple of reasons for me loving this holiday. The aforementioned obligation to drink alcohol is one of them. This is a day where I can drink my weight in Guinness and it's perfectly acceptable. You got to love that concept. It's also a day where I can pinch someone for not wearing green. That probably got me slapped a few times growing up which is why I don't do it a whole lot anymore. But I still love the concept. And finally, this holiday reminds me of my sister Erin. She absolutely loved this holiday. Surprise there, a red-headed, Irish, (semi) Catholic loving St. Patrick's Day. She passed a few years ago but I still think of her on this day and make sure to dedicate at least one of my many Guinesses to her.

1. Halloween: Could there be anything else? You get to dress up in some crazy costume, go to some stranger's house and ask for candy, receive candy, and it's perfectly OK. This is the most amazing concept for a holiday ever. When I was in Virginia, my brother and I had a tradition of setting up a table at the end of the driveway with a cooler at our side and handing out candy, while consuming a few adult beverages. Now I get to walk around with my boys and carry on the tradition of begging strangers for candy. Another reason is that during the month of October, a few cable networks feel it necessary to show plenty of older horror movies throughout the month. Awesome! Great holiday with lots of candy, you just can't beat it.

My Cubs

With the baseball season quickly approaching, and being a continuously disappointed Cubs fan year in year out, I felt it necessary to talk about the top 6 disappointments I have experienced. I know, it seems that every year has some kind of major disappointment with the Cubs, but I will be the first to admit that some years I fully expect them to be crappy. Needless to say, those years probably won't make this list. This list will only feature events that have happened in my lifetime. As much of a disappointment 1969 was, I cannot put that on here because I didn't experience it.

6. 1998: Kerry Wood was a rookie in 1998 and was coming off a Rookie of the Year win and, in my opinion, the greatest pitched game I have ever seen when he struck out 20, walked none, and gave only 1 hit. But the playoffs were a different story. The Cubs had to beat the Giants on a play-in game just to be the wild card that year. They wound up drawing the Atlanta Braves that year and faced, in order, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, and Greg Maddux in the the playoffs. In hindsight, this doesn't sound like too much of a disappointment. Actually, during the regular season the Cubs had a winning record against the Braves and my opinion at the time, a better team. Needless to say, the Braves swept the Cubs in 3 games with only one of them being remotely close.

5. 1989: In 1989, the Cubs had a great duo of rookies in Jerome Walton and Dwight Smith, who finished first and second in the Rookie of the Year voting, respectively. If you couple this with Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson, Greg Maddux, and Mark Grace, you had the makings of a really big season. They seemed to breeze through the season only to meet the San Fransisco Giants in the playoffs. They probably would have been OK if anyone other than Will Clark was playing first base for the G-men. He batted .650 with 2 HR's and 8 RBI in the series and completely took the wind of the sails for the Cubs.

4. 2007: This was a strange matchup because the Cubs SHOULD have played the Phillies since they were both division winners and the D-backs SHOULD have played the Rockies since that would have been a 1-seed against the wild card. But since divisional teams can't meet in the first round, the Cubs had to play the D-backs. The Cubs had an OK team this year and I really didn't expect them to make the playoffs but they got really hot at the end of the year and headed to the playoffs with a lot of momentum. But the lack of offense from the Cubs finally caught up to them and they got completely shut down by the D-backs. The only positive from this series was that Geovany Soto used this as his coming out party and it propelled him to a Rookie of the Year campaign the following year.

3. 2008: Here are where the fun ones begin. 2008 was a year that marked a century since the Cubs last won a world series. That's right, 100 years! So coming off of a good campaign in '07, everyone thought the Cubs would finally get that title. Almost for the entire season, the Cubs had the best record in the major leagues. They won 97 games and had all of the cylinders hitting for the entire season. The starting pitching was great, the bullpen was lights out, the lineup was extremely productive. But just as they did in '07, they completely pissed down their legs in the playoffs. Watching them in the regular season was a complete joy. Conversely, I could not bear to watch them in the playoffs because they could barely hit the ball out of the infield. The Cubs had only one less hit in the series than the Dodgers but had FOURTEEN (14) fewer runs. Let me say that again, one less hit and FOURTEEN fewer runs. Talk about a complete lack of focus. This series made me so extremely disappointed that I swore I would not watch them in the playoffs until they actually win a playoff game. Now we all know that's a lie but that's what I felt.

2. 1984: Before the ball rolled through Bill Buckner's legs for the Red Sox, Leon Durham thought that actually catching a softly hit ground ball with runners on base would have been right thing to do. Unfortunately, his body did the opposite and he did not catch the ball and the Padres wound up winning the game and the series. The Cubs were up 2-0 in a best of 5 series only to lose three straight (that happens frequently with them). They had a great team of Sandberg, Jody Davis, Ron Cey, Gary Matthews, Rick Sutcliffe, Bob Dernier, and Lee Smith. They simply should have won this series. I will give great credit to Steve Garvey for batting .400 and knocking in 7 RBI. But the Cubs collapsed big time on this one. At the time, they hadn't been to the playoffs in over 40 years. This should have been the one and it wasn't. F'n Leon Durham!

1. 2003: Here we go...5 outs away, Prior on the hill, Cubs in the lead...then it happened. I'm not going to say that Steve Bartman cost the Cubs the game because any fan would have attempted to catch that foul ball. But the fact that happened causing Alou not to catch the ball which gave the Marlins another chance completely shifted the landscape of that game. The very next batter hit a (very) soft ground ball to shortstop Alex Gonzalez, who during the regular season committed only 9 errors. Just as Leon Durham did 19 years before, Gonzo booted the ball and allowed the go-ahead run to come in and score. The next night Kerry Wood was pitching and one could just feel that things weren't right. Forget the fact that Wood and Prior hadn't lost back to back games all year. Something just didn't sit right that night and you could just feel that every time the Cubs did something positive, like Wood hitting a HR, the Marlins would counter. Sure enough, the Marlins won the decisive game 7 in Wrigley and danced their way to a series title over the Yankees. Did I mention that the Cubs had a 3-0 lead in the best of 7 series and wound up losing 4 straight? I told you it was a common theme. Words cannot begin to describe the disappointment I felt after both games 6 and 7. I'd like to think that as a somewhat intelligent adult, I wouldn't get too caught up in the emotional impact of a loss, but 2003 was painful. 5 outs...

My job search

As some of you may know, I am currently unemployed. Well, I sort of am working for a startup business opening at the end of the month but I haven't gotten paid yet. So I guess that doesn't really count. In my time of being unemployed, I have had a lot of time to think about how to attack my job search. I found out VERY quickly that my current job search is not like any other job search I have ever done. Below are the 6 biggest observations from my job search.

6. My degree stinks!: After I got out of the military, I went back to college to finish my degree in exercise science. I did this because I absolutely love fitness and thought that after a bruising time in the military, I deserved to do something I loved. It is awfully nice to go to work in sneakers every day and not have to worry about ironing that tie crumpled up on the floor of my closet. But at the same time, I'm finding out that in our current economical situation, my degree may as well be a BA in history, or art, or Indonesian anthropology. My degree is not what people look for right now regardless of what my experience is. I guess I should have listened to my dad, again, when he said he didn't think this was the right move to make.

5. Job search engines stink!: Currently there are 3.8 job seekers for every job opening in our country. So when a job is posted on a job search engine, every flippin person with a resume applies for it. So what happens is recruiters get tied up in hundreds, if not thousands, of applications. Basically, my application turns into a needle in the haystack of everyone else's application. Also, I'm finding out that job search engines, I'm talking to you indeed.com, absolutely love health care. I'M NOT IN HEALTH CARE! If my wife was looking for a job, it would be no problem. Grrrrrrrrr!

4. My experience: My biggest problem that I am realizing I have is that I have a ton of work experiences from a lot of different backgrounds. Because of this, it is hard for me to come across as an "expert" on a particular subject matter. I guess I could right up a few different resume's that each showcase me as an expert in a particular field, but who has time for that...wait don't answer that.

3. Unemployment pay: This could be seen one of two ways. I could look at it as a huge blessing in that I am getting free money. Because it is a set amount per week, it is extremely easy to budget and I am really not in any dire straits financially because of this. On the other hand, because of this great comfort, it limits the job search a little bit. I have passed up on a couple of jobs because they didn't pay as much as unemployment does. While these particular jobs didn't pay a whole lot now, they could in the future if I stayed there long enough. But with my family, that a risk I'd rather not take.

2. My computer stinks!: I need a new computer. The more I am doing on it now, the more I realize that it is holding me back. The only problem with that is that I just paid off a ton of credit card debt and am simply unwilling to use that credit...EVER! So, until I get another good job, I'm stuck with this piece of crap.

1. The search stinks!: I'm a worker. I was a worker before the military, during the military, and after. I need to be working. The problem with that is that I am currently not working. There are a lot of emotional problems that go with this that I might get into some other time but not having a job stinks. If you are reading this and you have a job, or better yet, a career, feel blessed. You could be one of the millions of Americans like me who don't. It will get better and I will continue to have a positive spirit (that's who I am).

My Hometown

You may have noticed that I was absent this past week. Last Wednesday, I took my family to the great metropolitan Quad Cities for a mini-vacation. That's right, I voluntarily went to Iowa for a vacation in February. Don't ask me why, it's a long story. Fortunately I get to make up for it in April when I go to Cancun. While in Iowa, I was reminded on numerous occasions just why I don't live there anymore, thus the inspiration for today's list.

6. My friends: The close friends that I still talk to are all gone. There still remains a couple of people there that I would happily get together with, but for the most part, they have all gone away and spread themselves across the country. I completely understand why as the next 5 reasons will explain.

5. Too cold: As I have gotten older, my tolerance for snot freezing cold weather has gotten lower and lower. I simply cannot stand the ice cold weather there. And it wasn't even that cold this past week. It's just colder than what it is in Louisville. Ugh, I need to move to Arizona.

4. No jobs: Because I am currently at a crossroads in my professional life, I notice the job outlook in various places. The great city of Davenport currently has a pretty crappy outlook on the employment front. Then again, so does everywhere else. But it seems to glare at me everytime I go there whether I have a job or not.

3. Western Davenport: Holy cow! I drive through the West end of the city and it looks vacant. Businesses are closed, people are moving, and my great alma mater is a joke. It seems to get worse and worse every time I go there.

2. Parks: Living in Louisville, I have grown accustomed to great parks. I'm serious, if you ever get the chance to come to Louisville, the parks here are one of the few reasons why I love this place (notice I said few). When I go to my hometown, the parks stink. There is one really good park in the entire place and that is in Bettendorf. Outside of that, the playgrounds are old and dirty and I feel I need to give my kids a tetanus shot when they are done. And outside of Scott County Park, there is really no place to go for walks. As someone with a couple of boys that love going to parks, I got to say Davenport stinks.

1. It's depressing: Whenever I drive around the city, a sudden depression comes over me. I"m not sure if it's just one of the previous reasons or a combination of all, but whenever I come there, I can't wait go get back home. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love to visit my wonderful family and friends, but outside of that, I have absolutely no reason to go there. Oh well, it's like the saying goes, you can never home.