Archive for October, 2005
Thee adjectives to describe how I feel today: tired, sick, and proud.
The Astros lost the World Series last night. In the end, this scrappy ballclub just could not overcome the ChiSox arsenal of great pitchers and clutch hitters. I spent the moments after the final out reflecting on what an awesome season they’ve had. Fighting back from a horrific start to make the playoffs, then beating the Braves and Cards to finally get to the big dance. Never been done in their 44-year history.
It dawns on you just how incredible a feat it is when you realize there are no other ballgames on TV. And every other team in baseball would kill for the chance to be there.
This past month I’ve lived and breathed Astros baseball. It might not be a surprise that I’m a huge fan, but the surge in pride and dedication to Astros baseball in October really drained me. I’ve been sick since last Saturday, fighting off a sinus infection. I have been getting horrible sleep. I quit biting my nails six months ago, but suffered a relapse. My entire body feels like it went through a washing machine. And still, I wouldn’t have traded it for the world.
On the productivity front, I’m happy I have my life back. I’ve been plenty distracted — following the game, the news reports, the commentaries, the numbers, the discussion boards, you name it — all at the expense of school and the job. I’ve got plenty of time to catch up now. But not too much time…spring training is 5 months away.
My brother went to the game and took loads of photos, so I’ll be posting a link to them once they’re uploaded.
October 27th, 2005
I’m always on the hunt for a quick meal for lunch. When I’m running out of the house — late for work again — I try to find something in my kitchen that’s easy to make on the spot, or something that I can take with me to nuke or un-can at lunchtime.
Normally, that meal is a sandwich: bread, mustard, ham, cheese, wrap it, bam done. Other times, it’s a Lean Cuisine or Progresso soup: grab the package and I’m out the door. It’s no gourmet, but I try to keep myself on a budget.
This week, we’ve had no bread and no soup, so I’ve had to improvise. Today, I stole my son’s microwaveable mac and cheese. (He probably won’t like that when he gets older, but he’s 2, so I can get away with it.) Mix up a can of tuna, and you’ve got a meal a college student would be proud of.
October 26th, 2005
My new, new favorite site.
Bill Simmons’ take on the NLCS:
Sadly, the rest of the Astros-Cards series seems predictably depressing (unless you’re a St. Louis fan). Not only are the Cardinals back at home, not only have they been handed a second life, but out of every sport, baseball hinges on emotion and momentum more than anything else.
What about biathlon or ski jumping? Or emotionball? How about momentum-hockey?
I enjoy the Sports Guy’s articles, which makes this all the more funny.
October 21st, 2005
44 years in the making…
Finally, FINALLY.
National League Champions.
All the pain, torture, heartache, and drama that comes with loving this team…makes this moment all the sweeter.
WORLD FREAKING SERIES, here we come.
October 20th, 2005
Here’s a fairly insightful website that gives you a virtual field trip of the island of Puerto Rico. Anyone interested in visiting PR could benefit from knowing the basics presented. Some people just don’t know that Puerto Ricans are American citizens, much less the facts about the government and infrastructure of the island. Seems kind of ignorant, but everyone’s got to learn it at some point. Now’s your chance:
A Puerto Rico Field Trip
October 16th, 2005
Someone found a way to force over a million MySpace users to add his profile as a friend. Awesome…much easier than grubbing for friend requests.
news
his story
For nerds like me, check out his technical explanation of how it was all done. Lots of interesting tricks there on how to obfuscate javascript through DHTML. I’ve already adopted one of his techniques — automatically routing people visiting elrubendelmar.mirandafamily.org to elrubendelmar.org. (Yes, I have a new domain.)
October 14th, 2005
What a terrible time to hold midterms.
Yesterday I set aside 4 hours to review material, but had to combine that with watching Game 1 of the NLCS. I figured I probably spent less than 2 hours actually studying. That’s a utilization of less than 50%. If I was a company I’d be out of business in 6 months.
It gets worse…with work and family life going on, my only times left to study are Thursday evening, Saturday afternoon, and Sunday afternoon. Wouldn’t you know it, the Astros play in every single one of those time spans.
And the kicker is, Game 5 (if the ‘Stros can get there) would be Monday night, DURING my first midterm.
Something must give, of course, But easier said than done.
Between B-school and the Astros, only one of them costs 24 grand a year. If I’m a completely rational human being, I’d totally ditch the ballgames and lock myself in a cell-jamming, WiFi-free room. No way to check the scores, no way to call my brother for updates. If the Astros lose tonight, it’ll be a lot easier to make that decision.
Obviously, I’m not going to root for my team to go down. instead, I’m hoping for 7 games…they’ll still be playing after the tests are done.
October 13th, 2005
My new favorite site.
Libelous Claims About Large Corporations
October 11th, 2005
There’s an interesting article on the Daily Texan that discusses podcasting class lectures.
This is something that I’ve been curious about since I started school. I’ve seen people bring iPods into lecture and record the audio with one of those Belkin voice recorders. I’d love to get my hands on those mp3 recordings — especially with a few midterms coming up — but getting other students to share them is a pain in the ass. Having a way for the university to distribute them would be much easier.
Turns out, the university set up a pilot program based on Duke University’s approach.
Blackboard site may offer free lectures to download
A very interesting question of ownership, but I honestly can’t see what the big deal is. Something tells me that out of the 25% of students that downloaded the lecture, fewer than 10% will actually listen to the whole damn thing.
October 10th, 2005
Wow. 18 innings later, I am totally spent. Listening to the greatest game in postseason history can do that.
I said listening, because the game was on ESPN, and the wife and I got rid of cable a few months ago. (A decision I don’t regret either — we’re saving almost $500 a year) The radio broadcast was available as a web feed, so I jumped on it.
This was how I “watched” Game 4 of the National League Divisional Series:
It’s MLB GameDay. Probably the best web-based game updater out there. I’ve always been disappointed with the updaters from Yahoo and ESPN. GameDay has next to no buffering or lagging, and in fact was quicker than the radio web feed. Strange to see the result before hearing it.
The wife and I spent the last 6 inning listening to the game on our kitchen floor, too tired to pace around the house.
Overall, we agreed this was a great weekend for sports if you live in Texas. With the Horns crushing the Sooners (on sloppy play no less), and the Stros’ Roy Oswalt winning Game 3 earlier on Saturday, all in all it’s a great way to start the week.
Speaking of which, this week consists of two big things: (1) watch the NLCS and (2) study for midterms. That’s going to be interesting.
October 9th, 2005
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