Thursday is the day we read from your letters

This blog post brought to you by Lloyd Bircher.

205mph Speeding Ticket on a Honda RC51

"For perspective, that's Austin to Dallas in 52 minutes and that motorcycle has an engine displacement equivalent to two cans of Coke."

Afternoons and Coffeespoons

This week television season truly begins. Monday we watched the season opener of Raymond and it had Melissa rolling on the floor. The scene when Ray tries to throw Deborah on top of the fridge in celebration was the best display of physical humor I have seen in a long time. Tuesday saw the return of Gilmore Girls. Yes I watch, and love, Gilmore Girls. Get over it. When Luke and Lorelia finally found a moment to talk about the kiss I was so giddy happy Melissa got a little worried. The scenes with Rory were hard to watch though. We'll see how it goes.

Went to GolfTEC yesterday for my fifth lesson and we finally got to the downswing. Hooray! The movement I am working on now the instructor calls the meat and potatoes of the golf swing. It also happens to be damn hard. The move is to twist you hips as fast as you can while at the same time binging the club down from well behind your body. The first couple of times I tried it I completely missed the ball and even when I finally did hit the ball it went ... well let's just say the instructor moved a shield to make sure he didn't get hit. I'm still learning a lot with the lessons so that's good. I'm looking forward to playing this weekend with Taylor's dad though I don't think I'll be trying out this particular lesson on the course.

Since I spent of majority of the weekend watching football I figured a few football links would be in order. First the bad news, it looks like Duece is out for four or five weeks. How will the Saints offense adjust to a no Duece world? Beating San Fran by the skin of their teeth probably isn't a good sign. But hey, at least they won. Next, something thoughtfull. What would rankings be like if you didn't have last week's rankings to think about? Stewart Mandel gives it a try. And let's finish off with something funny. Don Banks muses on how Jeff Garcia could possibly get a QB rating of 0. "And remember, it's not easy to get a passer rating of zero. Browns rookie quarterback Luke McCown saw only one snap on Sunday against the Cowboys, threw an incompletion, and still wound up with a 39.6 rating. I think you get credit for just signing your name on the test."

What else? America lost the Ryder Cup, again. Rick Reilly thinks a rule change is in order. "Just as England and Ireland were allowed to add Continental Europe in 1981 to restore the balances of these Ryder Cup matches, America will also be allowed to add a region. We take Fiji." Yes I read a lot of CNN/SI, especially on Mondays.

In financial news, Bill Mann argues the true value of Krispy Kreme could be zero. In bizarre news, Fort Worth has a light bulb that has been burning for 96 years.

One final thought. Yesterday morning I got to work before 8AM in order to get some work done in the lab. I was the only one in the place, so I decided to put on some music using the MP3s on my laptop. "I'll Think I'll Disappear Now" came on by the Crash Test Dummies and I heard a line that reminded me why I liked that album so much.

"Running into you like this without warning
Is like catching a sniff of tequila in the morning
But I'll try, I'll try to keep my food down"

linktastic

Ever watch something like the Emmy's and spend most of your time making fun of what everyone is wearing? The this page is for you. Claudia linked to it a while back and Melissa asked me to link to it as well so that more people could appreciate it.

With nothing on our minds other than hurricanes for the last week, I've been doing a fair bit of surfing on the topic. I found a pronunciation guide for the storm names. I'm not saying I agree with their decisions, but these are the official pronunciations.

If you think you have Libertarian leanings and wonder how far gone you are, take the Libertarian Purity Test. I don't remember my exact score, but this was the category. "You are a medium-core libertarian, probably self-consciously so. Your friends probably encourage you to quit talking about your views so much." How did they know?

Taylor and I had a good talk the other day about standards and web browsers. I had just read an article about alternative browsers and I knew Taylor was the guy to talk to. If people have a moment, drop a comment stating what browser you use and why.

Ever thought about how to fix Social Security? Every thought we should just scrap it? Check out the Motley Fool article Why I Hate Social Security.

A Day in the Life of Chad

This morning I woke up a little too early in order to see our hurricane evacuees off. After the Baratinnis drove away, I decided the one thing I needed to do most, was sleep. Ah sleep. So sweet.

A few hours later I eased into the morning with college football on the television and a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios. Melissa originally bought them for her, but having them around the house has reignited my passion for cereal. It'll be interesting to see how long this breakfast thing lasts.

I decided yesterday that going to ACL today wasn't the right idea for me. It's been a busy week due to Ivan and I needed a break. Plus with the Vaths in town for the event and the Riches going as well, I knew Melissa wouldn't be lonely. So with a whole day to myself, what would I do?

Football. Things got started at 1:30 with Madden. I've been practicing a good bit since I bought the game, but hadn't actually played a game by myself against the computer. After having played with Tony the night before and losing to the Bucs, I figured a rematch was in order. The first half was mixed. I threw three interceptions and missed an extra point, but still wound up ahead 13 to 10. The second half was all me baby. Two touchdowns and the Bucs never moved. Final score, 27 to 10.

Now on to real football. 2:30, Auburn vs LSU. I was expecting to watch the game in HD, but for some reason, maybe Ivan, it wasn't available. Once the game got going, I didn't care. It was the type of game I really love to watch. Two teams, both very good, battling it out on every play, like a live-action full contact chess match. The 'Gulf Coast' offense of Auburn was fun to watch and I was amazed at how the Auburn running backs refused to be tackled. In a double dose of poetic justice, LSU missed an extra point early, and Auburn was allowed to re-kick theirs. It was almost a shame one of the teams had to lose, they both looked so good. Almost. The one thing I discovered watching the game by myself was I am an Auburn fan. There have been doubts in the past but this settled it. I am an Auburn fan. Interesting.

As a rule, I hate chores. I mean really hate them. Ask my dad about me cutting the grass, or Melissa about me washing dishes. But lately I have found them to be rather calming, almost meditative. After the game I put on a Coldplay CD and got to work. First I cleaned the kitchen then moved on to the main area mostly just picking stuff up. After that I ventured outside, checked on the lawn and the rose bushes and picked up the mail. I then made my way to the office, shredded a few things and updated Quicken. All in all very relaxing. Who knew?

A little after 7:00 I sat down to watch some of the Tennessee Florida game mostly because it was supposed to be in HD. Unlike the game from before it actually was in HD so I was happy. After one of the scores I went for a walk in the neighborhood mostly to exercise but also just to get out of the house. Later on tonight I'll be meeting up with the ACL crew for an after party. Right now, I need to eat and watch more HD football. Or go pick up the ACL crew. You know, whatever.