10/30/05---Normalcy beginning to return

Life here in south Florida is beginning to return to norm.  The lines for gasoline are now maybe 15 minutes tops, 50% of Broward County has electricity.....including of course, your beloved writer.  Yesterday the ultimate state of normal returned when my neighbor Jimmy helped me to realign my DirectTv satellite dish to its proper configuration and I was able to watch a Saturday worth of college football.  All hail satellite t.v.!  Cable t.v. sucks!
Kim and I went and got gasoline today (its good to know that manager of a Mobil station--gets you right to the front of any line) and afterwards did a little bit of driving around.  Its really amazing how many trees are down.  A lot of the powerlines that still haven't been fixed are down because a tree fell on top of them.  However, I must say that we did see crews out working on the problems, so its not like you can say anyone is taking a Sunday off or anything.  Well, unless you work at the courthouse!  No word yet on our return, although scuttlebutt is that the first official day of work at the building will be on Monday the 7th.  Personally, I think they'll call the employees in on Friday the 4th, just to get our work prepared for what I'm sure is going to be a complete nightmare of a day on the 7th.  I'm just waiting for every mutant in the county who might have had a court date the last two weeks to come wondering into the courtroom wanting their case resolved right then and there.  UGH!

My beloved Irish had the weekend off, but that didn't stop them from being the lead story on most college football sites.  Not bad for an "irrelevant" program.

ND's top teacher granted 10 year-deal - Chicago Sun Times

Out in the Pacific time zone, Willingham might be asking why Weis was showered with love after a 5-2 start when he began 8-0 in his debut season in 2002. But if Willingham's ouster was unfair in the way it was handled, it's clear he is far inferior to Weis in most coaching facets. Ty wasn't real good with game plans and preparing his team. Weis is a master in both categories and never will let the Irish slump to a level in which they're not only losing often, but being routed -- the state of the program when Willingham was fired. This isn't about race. This is about nothing but quality of coaching.

I quoted that portion of his column because it's the first time Mariotti has acknowledged that Weis is superior to Willingham in 'most coaching facets' (even though he really knows it's all facets).

Thanks to the BareDown blog for the link and their thoughts on the matter.  Personally, I'm happier than a pig in a poke over the new deal.  Its obvious that Charlie gets it...that he's the man for the job, and because of that, the NFL is going to eventually be sniffing around (including my Vikings, who should stay the hell away in this particular instance) the administration grab the bull by the horns and addressed the problem before it reached the critical point.

I feel pretty happy knowing that Charlie will be steering the ship for 10 years.

Later,
Jeff