Saturday, September 29, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
9/19/07---Disturbing day in court
So today we finished up a felony trial that we've been doing. The charges were sexual battery against a child--2 counts, and a 3rd count of lewd and lascivious in front of a child. Needless to say, when you're used to DUI after DUI....it was a change of pace.
Another way of putting it would be to say that its not the sort of trial you want to hear every day. Suffice to say, its no fun to watch a 9 year old get on the stand and talk about things that....uh....a 9 year old shouldn't know anything about. I figured the jury would somehow walk the guy of the most serious charges (he was facing, hello...LIFE in prison) and convict the guy of one of the "lesser included" charges. You have to understand the mindset of most jury's. Its not easy to convict someone and send them to prison for the rest of their life. That's why OJ is walking around---whoops, did I say that?---anyway, the jury comes back today.
Not guilty....all three counts. The guy was facing life in prison, had been in custody since March of 2006....and today he walked out of court a free man. He walked out of the courtroom saying "Praise Jesus".
Which was sort of interesting considering he had met the alleged victim at church.
I sort of hope my judge goes back to DUI's.
Later,
Jeff
Another way of putting it would be to say that its not the sort of trial you want to hear every day. Suffice to say, its no fun to watch a 9 year old get on the stand and talk about things that....uh....a 9 year old shouldn't know anything about. I figured the jury would somehow walk the guy of the most serious charges (he was facing, hello...LIFE in prison) and convict the guy of one of the "lesser included" charges. You have to understand the mindset of most jury's. Its not easy to convict someone and send them to prison for the rest of their life. That's why OJ is walking around---whoops, did I say that?---anyway, the jury comes back today.
Not guilty....all three counts. The guy was facing life in prison, had been in custody since March of 2006....and today he walked out of court a free man. He walked out of the courtroom saying "Praise Jesus".
Which was sort of interesting considering he had met the alleged victim at church.
I sort of hope my judge goes back to DUI's.
Later,
Jeff
Thursday, September 13, 2007
9/13/07--Dealing with teenagers
So last weekend, we went to the kids football game--and naturally we arrived early, because if there is one thing that my wife is CRAZED about, its being on time. For everything. So we get to the game early, stake out our seats near the band and wait for the game to begin.
After awhile, the seats near us start to fill up, and we have a couple of teenagers who sit down near us. The game proceeds and the kids are for the most part well behaved and things are fine. Near the end of the lst half, (which saw the kicker for the kids school kick a school record 54 yard field goal) the section began to fill up with more and more teenagers, who obviously wanted to sit or stand next to one another. As the new person would come into the area, rather than take a spot at the end of the row, they would sort of pinch into the middle of the section and the line would sort of slide down a little at a time. So eventually, I have the kid sort of invading my personal space (or as my daughter likes to call it..."my personal bubble".) I'm standing there and my wife tugs on my pants leg and asks:
"You aren't moving basically on principal, aren't you?"
"Your damned right."
So the first half ends, and then the section clears out and it looks like we're going to have plenty of extra space come 2nd half. There are only the original couple of kids there, and for most of the 3rd quarter things are fine--but then--the section begins to fill up again with those damn teenagers. The top row is once again beginning to spread out, and the kid who spent most of the first half hanging on top of me is once again starting to invade my personal bubble. Then, with the row as about as full as it could get, another kid came and tried to nudge his way into the row. He asked the other kids to move and they told him that there wasn't room...but the kid kept insisting. Finally, I couldn't take it:
"Hey kid, its not gonna happen. You know why? Because if you come into this row then this kid next to me is going to spend the rest of the game hanging on top of me like he did the whole first half. And I'm not going to do that again. So if you want to sit down around here, do it in the row in front of you, because you're not standing here."
Dead silence in the section.
It was hilarious. Finally I turned to the original kid and said:
"You know, allyou guys had to do was to ASK if my wife and I would mind moving down a few spots so that your friends could hang out together. But you guys didn't do that. All you had to do was ASK."
The kid looked at me as if I had just asked him to explain quantum physics. Blank stare.
Another kid then walked over and tried to crowd his way into the row, but was told by the other kids that "that guy isn't going to move".
I was the number one heel in the section, and like Ric Flair in his prime, I was loving it.
So finally, the kid who was hanging on top of me the first half turns to me and says:
"Um, excuse me sir, do you have kids who go to this school?"
"There in the band," I said, gesturing towards the band.
"The band? Oh, I love the band. They're really great."
"Yep."
"Um, may I ask you....is your daughter's name Kellie by any chance?"
"Well, yes...it is. How'd you know?"
"Well I had a class with her a few years ago where you did a project on your family tree and I thought I recognize your photo from it."
"Really? Wow, that's a great memory."
And I spent the next 15 minutes or so talking to the kid, who turned out to be very nice.
And on the ride home I told Kellie that I had a great story for her. I related the story of my little run-in with the teenagers and how it ended up with someone that she knew involved. So I told the whole story, and at the end of the story through out the kids name. Which was Austin.
And she says:
"I don't know anyone named Austin."
And she tries to remember who this kid could be for the entire ride home. When we get home she gets her yearbook from last year out and I start going through it, trying to find the kids photo. Finally I locate him, and point to his picture.
"Here he is," I said.
"I have never seen that kid before in my life," Kellie replies.
"Well, he knew you."
And then my daughter said it.....and it was great.
"I gotta be honest with you. A lot of people know me."
Oh man, its not easy being a celebrity at school.
Later,
Jeff
After awhile, the seats near us start to fill up, and we have a couple of teenagers who sit down near us. The game proceeds and the kids are for the most part well behaved and things are fine. Near the end of the lst half, (which saw the kicker for the kids school kick a school record 54 yard field goal) the section began to fill up with more and more teenagers, who obviously wanted to sit or stand next to one another. As the new person would come into the area, rather than take a spot at the end of the row, they would sort of pinch into the middle of the section and the line would sort of slide down a little at a time. So eventually, I have the kid sort of invading my personal space (or as my daughter likes to call it..."my personal bubble".) I'm standing there and my wife tugs on my pants leg and asks:
"You aren't moving basically on principal, aren't you?"
"Your damned right."
So the first half ends, and then the section clears out and it looks like we're going to have plenty of extra space come 2nd half. There are only the original couple of kids there, and for most of the 3rd quarter things are fine--but then--the section begins to fill up again with those damn teenagers. The top row is once again beginning to spread out, and the kid who spent most of the first half hanging on top of me is once again starting to invade my personal bubble. Then, with the row as about as full as it could get, another kid came and tried to nudge his way into the row. He asked the other kids to move and they told him that there wasn't room...but the kid kept insisting. Finally, I couldn't take it:
"Hey kid, its not gonna happen. You know why? Because if you come into this row then this kid next to me is going to spend the rest of the game hanging on top of me like he did the whole first half. And I'm not going to do that again. So if you want to sit down around here, do it in the row in front of you, because you're not standing here."
Dead silence in the section.
It was hilarious. Finally I turned to the original kid and said:
"You know, allyou guys had to do was to ASK if my wife and I would mind moving down a few spots so that your friends could hang out together. But you guys didn't do that. All you had to do was ASK."
The kid looked at me as if I had just asked him to explain quantum physics. Blank stare.
Another kid then walked over and tried to crowd his way into the row, but was told by the other kids that "that guy isn't going to move".
I was the number one heel in the section, and like Ric Flair in his prime, I was loving it.
So finally, the kid who was hanging on top of me the first half turns to me and says:
"Um, excuse me sir, do you have kids who go to this school?"
"There in the band," I said, gesturing towards the band.
"The band? Oh, I love the band. They're really great."
"Yep."
"Um, may I ask you....is your daughter's name Kellie by any chance?"
"Well, yes...it is. How'd you know?"
"Well I had a class with her a few years ago where you did a project on your family tree and I thought I recognize your photo from it."
"Really? Wow, that's a great memory."
And I spent the next 15 minutes or so talking to the kid, who turned out to be very nice.
And on the ride home I told Kellie that I had a great story for her. I related the story of my little run-in with the teenagers and how it ended up with someone that she knew involved. So I told the whole story, and at the end of the story through out the kids name. Which was Austin.
And she says:
"I don't know anyone named Austin."
And she tries to remember who this kid could be for the entire ride home. When we get home she gets her yearbook from last year out and I start going through it, trying to find the kids photo. Finally I locate him, and point to his picture.
"Here he is," I said.
"I have never seen that kid before in my life," Kellie replies.
"Well, he knew you."
And then my daughter said it.....and it was great.
"I gotta be honest with you. A lot of people know me."
Oh man, its not easy being a celebrity at school.
Later,
Jeff
Thursday, September 6, 2007
9/6/07--Big fun with a reaction to an injection
So the other day, I go to my doctor for the old annual physical....ya know...the "yearly", and after the various blood tests, urine tests, blood pressure tests, etc....he tells me that he wants me to be inoculated for pneumonia and the flu. No problemo. So I go into a small room with his nurse, and flex my Schwarzneggar-like bicep (cough) and get the injection. Sounds good so far, right?
So the day proceeds along nicely and in the early evening we go pick up the kids from band practice and then around 9:30ish I start to feel a little...hmm......crappy. That is probably the best word to describe it (sorry Dad). It was so bad I even felt like going to bed early (never happens). The next morning I woke up and told Kim that I felt like I was burning up. Utilizing her basic medicare//Mom skills, she held her hand up to my head and prounced:
"Yep, you've got a fever."
What medical degree?
However, being the brave trooper that I am, I continued forward and went to work. After being there for about 10 minutes I thought I was either going to pass out or throw up, one or the other--or both. At about 9am, I told my supervisor that since I didn't have court that day, that I was going to go home and try and break this fever. The ride home was interesting, to say the least, as I had the air conditioner on full blast. I ended up sleeping for the better part of around 5 hours, waking in a pool of sweat (lovely) and feeling for the most part, like cr.....uh, (cough), lousy. (that one was for you Dad) Now, despite all of this, I had an appointment at 6pm to see my dentist, who was going to be putting in a permanent crown for me. I ordinarily would've just canceled the appointment, but the office was going on vacation on the next day and my temporary crown was fitting horrible and driving me crazy. So I made the appointment with the dentist. I walked into her office and she greeted me by saying:
"Hey, you look horrible."
Thanks Doc, appreciate that. So the crown goes in and I'm back home and in bed for another 2 1/2 hours. Oh, and I should mention, that on the way home from work, I called my primary physician and asked him if it was normal that I was having just received a flu shot, I should now be....ya know....apparently catching the flu.
"No, no. You do not have the flu. You're only having a reaction to the vaccine we gave you."
Well that made me feel better.
So again I went to bed early, woke up only to call into work....and went back to sleep.
Anyone who sees me yawn in the next week should have a real story on their hands.
I woke up around 10:30ish, again, covered in sweat and this time with a monster headache. Now, I've never had a migraine, but I have to guess that this felt at least in the same ballpark. I'm talking "I don't want to open my eyes"....that sort of headache.
The feverish feeling had sort of broke though (thank God!) and now I was left to deal with the Godzilla of headaches. Finally, around early afternoon, the headache finally subsided and it didn't hurt anymore to have my eyes open. The sweats are pretty much gone...no doubt due to the support of my compassionate wife:
"I was going to wash the sheets today....but I'll give it another night just to be sure."
Man oh man, do I love that woman.
I know one thing...next year, no flu shots.
Later,
Jeff
So the day proceeds along nicely and in the early evening we go pick up the kids from band practice and then around 9:30ish I start to feel a little...hmm......crappy. That is probably the best word to describe it (sorry Dad). It was so bad I even felt like going to bed early (never happens). The next morning I woke up and told Kim that I felt like I was burning up. Utilizing her basic medicare//Mom skills, she held her hand up to my head and prounced:
"Yep, you've got a fever."
What medical degree?
However, being the brave trooper that I am, I continued forward and went to work. After being there for about 10 minutes I thought I was either going to pass out or throw up, one or the other--or both. At about 9am, I told my supervisor that since I didn't have court that day, that I was going to go home and try and break this fever. The ride home was interesting, to say the least, as I had the air conditioner on full blast. I ended up sleeping for the better part of around 5 hours, waking in a pool of sweat (lovely) and feeling for the most part, like cr.....uh, (cough), lousy. (that one was for you Dad) Now, despite all of this, I had an appointment at 6pm to see my dentist, who was going to be putting in a permanent crown for me. I ordinarily would've just canceled the appointment, but the office was going on vacation on the next day and my temporary crown was fitting horrible and driving me crazy. So I made the appointment with the dentist. I walked into her office and she greeted me by saying:
"Hey, you look horrible."
Thanks Doc, appreciate that. So the crown goes in and I'm back home and in bed for another 2 1/2 hours. Oh, and I should mention, that on the way home from work, I called my primary physician and asked him if it was normal that I was having just received a flu shot, I should now be....ya know....apparently catching the flu.
"No, no. You do not have the flu. You're only having a reaction to the vaccine we gave you."
Well that made me feel better.
So again I went to bed early, woke up only to call into work....and went back to sleep.
Anyone who sees me yawn in the next week should have a real story on their hands.
I woke up around 10:30ish, again, covered in sweat and this time with a monster headache. Now, I've never had a migraine, but I have to guess that this felt at least in the same ballpark. I'm talking "I don't want to open my eyes"....that sort of headache.
The feverish feeling had sort of broke though (thank God!) and now I was left to deal with the Godzilla of headaches. Finally, around early afternoon, the headache finally subsided and it didn't hurt anymore to have my eyes open. The sweats are pretty much gone...no doubt due to the support of my compassionate wife:
"I was going to wash the sheets today....but I'll give it another night just to be sure."
Man oh man, do I love that woman.
I know one thing...next year, no flu shots.
Later,
Jeff
Monday, September 3, 2007
9/3/07--Hey, here's something that women will care NOTHING about!!!
So the other night, I got together with my former roommate Johnny the Rat Bastard and took part in our 5th annual fantasy football draft. This is another one of those mutually-exclusive-type-of-things....women sort of get a puzzled look on their face when you try and explain fantasy football. I had a woman at work ask me what it was, and I told her that question basically reflected the fact that her husband was not a football fan.
And I was right. Go figure.
So I'm in a keeper league, meaning that I get to keep up to 3 or 4 players for a maximum of 3 years--which might explain my decision to hold onto Peyton Manning.
Again...go figure. I also had held onto Roy Williams, the young WR from Detroit, and Jeremy Shockey, the TE from the NY Giants. So obviously my primary need going into the draft was to get a stud RB, and hopefully one that I could keep for a few years.
I had a certain player in mind, but without a pick in round 1 (I forfeited the pick to keep Manning), I had to wait until round 2 to make a selection. I took what might be seen as a minor reach in selecting Adrian Peterson from the Vikings with the pick. I figure that he's a guy I'm probably (barring a major injury) going to keep for a few years and he has shown unlimited potential in college and in the preseason. And, if for whatever reason he does not work out, I also selected Clinton Portis from the Redskins and Fred Taylor from the Jags--both of whom should get 1,000 yds without much trouble. Now that I've actually written that, if they both have terrible years, feel free to write me in January and tell me what an idiot I am.
Anyway, some of the other selections that I took included Miami WR Chris Chambers, New England WR Wes Welker and Indy #1 draft pick Anthony Gonzalez--who should fit real nicely into the number 3 WR spot for the Colts...which should mean at least 50 catches and lots of yards for a team with Peyton Manning at QB.
My backup TE is young Pittsburgh Steeler Heath Miller, who should put up some big numbers in case Shockey falls on his face (let's not forget he's stuck with the OTHER Manning as his QB).
My kickers are Shayne Graham from Cincinnati & Jason Hanson from Detroit (how long has THAT guy been in the NFL anyway?). I look for both their teams to put up tons of points this year....which makes them a better idea than the kicker for Atlanta or Oakland (or maybe Minnesota--gulp).
My defenses are Denver's and Minnesota's. I think their both pretty solid.
Looking out towards the future, I spent a 17th & 18th round pick on WR Maurice Stovall from Tampa Bay (Gruden supposedly loves him) and QB Tarvarious Jackson from the Vikings. Three years from now, those are the sort of picks that will either make me look very smart...or the idiot that you are by now guessing that I might be.
My team is rounded out by David Garrard of Jax as my back-up QB and Chris Brown from Tennessee as an extra RB.
I'm going for the league trophy this year. Victory will be mine!!!!
Later,
Jeff
PS...let the ladies know that they can resume reading in the next entry. (cough)
And I was right. Go figure.
So I'm in a keeper league, meaning that I get to keep up to 3 or 4 players for a maximum of 3 years--which might explain my decision to hold onto Peyton Manning.
Again...go figure. I also had held onto Roy Williams, the young WR from Detroit, and Jeremy Shockey, the TE from the NY Giants. So obviously my primary need going into the draft was to get a stud RB, and hopefully one that I could keep for a few years.
I had a certain player in mind, but without a pick in round 1 (I forfeited the pick to keep Manning), I had to wait until round 2 to make a selection. I took what might be seen as a minor reach in selecting Adrian Peterson from the Vikings with the pick. I figure that he's a guy I'm probably (barring a major injury) going to keep for a few years and he has shown unlimited potential in college and in the preseason. And, if for whatever reason he does not work out, I also selected Clinton Portis from the Redskins and Fred Taylor from the Jags--both of whom should get 1,000 yds without much trouble. Now that I've actually written that, if they both have terrible years, feel free to write me in January and tell me what an idiot I am.
Anyway, some of the other selections that I took included Miami WR Chris Chambers, New England WR Wes Welker and Indy #1 draft pick Anthony Gonzalez--who should fit real nicely into the number 3 WR spot for the Colts...which should mean at least 50 catches and lots of yards for a team with Peyton Manning at QB.
My backup TE is young Pittsburgh Steeler Heath Miller, who should put up some big numbers in case Shockey falls on his face (let's not forget he's stuck with the OTHER Manning as his QB).
My kickers are Shayne Graham from Cincinnati & Jason Hanson from Detroit (how long has THAT guy been in the NFL anyway?). I look for both their teams to put up tons of points this year....which makes them a better idea than the kicker for Atlanta or Oakland (or maybe Minnesota--gulp).
My defenses are Denver's and Minnesota's. I think their both pretty solid.
Looking out towards the future, I spent a 17th & 18th round pick on WR Maurice Stovall from Tampa Bay (Gruden supposedly loves him) and QB Tarvarious Jackson from the Vikings. Three years from now, those are the sort of picks that will either make me look very smart...or the idiot that you are by now guessing that I might be.
My team is rounded out by David Garrard of Jax as my back-up QB and Chris Brown from Tennessee as an extra RB.
I'm going for the league trophy this year. Victory will be mine!!!!
Later,
Jeff
PS...let the ladies know that they can resume reading in the next entry. (cough)
Sunday, September 2, 2007
9/2/07---Um....can we have a do over?
33-3. At home. It was not pretty. Couple of quick points....um, I'm thinking that Demetrious Jones is not going to be a QB anytime in the near future. Nice kid, heck of an athlete...not a QB though. And, uh...our offensive line? Its either really, really young-
or its horrible. Someone give me a reason NOT to think that O-line coach John Latina does NOT suck. He's terrible.
I say we bring Ga Tech back up, say Tuesday night....and we have a do over.
Yeah, that's the ticket.
Later,
Jeff
or its horrible. Someone give me a reason NOT to think that O-line coach John Latina does NOT suck. He's terrible.
I say we bring Ga Tech back up, say Tuesday night....and we have a do over.
Yeah, that's the ticket.
Later,
Jeff
Saturday, September 1, 2007
9/1/07--Gameday
The long months of waiting are officially over. Its Gameday in South Bend, Indiana.
And yesterday....after a little bit of waiting--I found out that my tickets for the Air Force game in November....have arrived. Face value baby. Yeah!
Here's a little something to get your motor going:
YouTube - Notre Dame 2006 Football Highlights - Gearing up for 2007
Here's another one to get ya fired up!!
YouTube - We Are Notre Dame
Later,
Jeff
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