Good News, Good Eating, Good Weekend

The weekend was a lot more enjoyable than I expected it to be, extra weight I packed on notwithstanding...

Friday night we took the baby to dinner with my mother-in-law, brother-in-law and his girlfriend. We found out that brother-in-law Brian got a very cool job that he interviewed for last week. He had a rough go on the job search upon moving to Brooklyn, but found something that he didn't see coming. We are all very happy for him. The food at Rino's was very good, I had gnocchi and meatballs, and loved every bite. The Man Zachary is top-notch behavior-wise in public. I must say he has been better than I could have ever expected. He enjoys being around people, and he flirts like crazy with any pretty women that we encounter. Whether its a shoe sales girl at the mall or a waitress - he is all over it. Should Kim ever ditch me, I am taking Zachary out on the road.

Saturday night was Kim's cousin's wedding. I wasn't sure if it would be a good time, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. Neither of us had to drive, so we cut loose a little bit. No scene was made, some good pictures were taken and no one got hurt. All-in-all, a successful outing.

Sunday morning saw a slow recovery, but we were expected for brunch near King of Prussia at 11:30. Picked up The Man and Gramma and made our way north. Had myself a fantabulous two-plate brunch which more than hit the spot. Zachary charmed the family and everyone seemed to enjoy hanging out with him. Went home, the baby took a three-hour nap, and so did I after failed attempts to raise some of the fellas for an impromptu card game at a buddy's house. Woke up from the long nap and no one felt like cooking, so we ordered out and had another very good (though not good FOR us) meal, watched The 4400 and The Dead Zone, and went to sleep. The only drawback to the weekend was my missing some World Cup matches, but I will get over it.

Got into work today and checked my email to find that two of the nicest people I have ever known (James and Jess) had their first child! Anthony Domenic. What an uber-cool name! Mom and baby are healthy and that is what counts! I am also happy to report that over the past few weeks, some very good and very old friends have managed to track me down through MySpace. While it may be creepy, and I have been tempted to kill off my account on it, it has helped me touch base with some people I might not otherwise have ever been able to track down again (Nolan, Mike, Dave...). Also on the good news front, my main man E-Dog was found not-guilty of the ridiculous charges thrown at him stemming from an incident at a baseball playoff game last year in San Diego.

There was one other downer on the weekend. During my couch-intense tv-and-nap-a-thon session Sunday, I saw a documentary on HBO that brought me to tears. It is called "Chernobyl Heart", and it documents the hardships of so many children born in the contaminated area of the Ukraine that was so badly damaged during the infamous nuclear disaster of April 26, 1986. The kids that they showed on the program, born with what can only be called unimaginable defects caused by the radiation their parents were exposed to, I could not help but cry for them (one child was born with his brain outside his skull - and . Most of the children have been abandoned by their parents. I felt so horrible for these kids who were born with no shot whatsoever. It reminded me of a SportsCenter piece that highlighted a U.S. family that adopted a Ukrainian boy with no legs - who turned himself into one of the leading scorers at the Para-Olympic games in Italy. So many of these kids need help, and their country is too backwards to help them properly. The volunteers who have gone to the region to help these people are true heroes. There will be a special place in heaven for them. I highly recommend checking the documentary out if you have the means. I will say that it made me thankful for a great many things - including our having a very healthy son, and our being able to live in a country where top-level medical care is available to us.

[Currently Listening: Phil Collins - "Long Long Way To Go"]

Hot Heat and Some World Cup Thoughts

I am in a fairly bad mood today. Not sure why exactly, but I am pretty sure I woke up this way. Not sure if it is job/pay dissatisfaction or something else, but not even an ice tray full of auto-made cubes could cheer me. The U.S. ouster from the World Cup today did not help matters at all.

The Americans 1-1 draw with Italy and their 2-1 loss to Ghana have reinforced my belief that the widespread revulsion of Americans worldwide is not limited to political circles, it has found its way onto the futbol pitch as well. Both matches were marred by TERRIBLE calls against the U.S. side, a highly questionable red card on Saturday (a clear make-up call by an obviously intimidated and in-over-his-head referee) and an even-more-ridiculous penalty that was called in today's match, which gift-wrapped a goal for Ghana.

Anyone who believes the U.S. failure to score a second goal makes this a moot point are sorely mistaken. If the match is 1-1, the entire second half would have played out differently. Ghana had no way of knowing if a tie would have gotten them through to the knockout round of 16. Thus, they would have been pressing for a go-ahead goal - which would have created chances for the Americans to counter. The awarding of the penalty shot doomed the Americans (not that their collective failure to show up for their opening match against the Czechs wasn't a huge contributor to their fate, mind you), and Ghana was given a free pass to advance. The officiating of the final two matches involving the U.S. was disgraceful. The Americans are viewed as gate-crashers on the world football stage. I am already hyped up for 2010 in South Africa - that is, if there is a World Cup in four years...

A widely-published report released today by The National Academy of Sciences, one that will no doubt be ignored by the Republicans and their Big Business cronies, states that global warming has made the Earth hotter than it has been in at least four centuries - and very likely warmer than it has been in millennia. The four centuries figure has to be thrown out there as it is doubtful that scientists were concerned with this sort of thing before the year 1606. Ranting and raving about this on my blog is probably pointless - but I wonder - at what point will this administration be made to take steps to better ensure the future of our planet and species? The days of Republican abject dismissal of the scientific world's findings should be well over...shouldn't they?

[Currently Listening: Sick of It All - "Uprising Nation"]

Ode To My Ice-Maker

My first Father's Day was very nice. It was laid-back, and I even got to take a nap. Kim got me a DVD-recorder and a cool shirt. I got an uber-neat handprint picture from Zachary as well - which I must get framed ASAP for the office. Spent most of the day sporting matching Hawaiian shirts, which most people we saw said was cute - but I fear most of them were muttering nasty things under their breath at us. I don't care, I think it was cute, and I am bigger than most of them anyways.

I have heard it said many times that one must take the time to appreciate the good things in life. I have also heard more times than I might have cared to that it is the little things that make life worth living. Both of these sentiments/philosophical points are true, and they both apply to the increase in my daily happiness that the installation of my ice maker is bringing into my life.

Almost three years ago, my wife and I were looking at houses - as we were about to be married and were looking to put down our familial roots. We found a house, and during our walk-through with the home inspector, Kim nosily checked out the soon-to-be-ex-owner's stuff. My wife can be very nosy, and I have come to rely on her nosiness in certain situations. After purchasing our home but before we could move in, we were in the furnishing stage - and looking at refrigerators. My wife was certain that she saw an ice maker in their freezer, so when I bought our new fridge, I paid an extra who-knows-how-much for the optional ice maker. One of the many pre-homeowner desires I have had is the ice maker. Others include(d): central air and heat, a card room (er, finished basement), and an in-ground pool...

Suffice it to say, we got the fridge to the new Casa de Famiglia to find that there was no water line to the area previously occupied by the former owner's refrigerator. Sadness ensued. What would follow over the course of the next nigh-three years is an epic tale that will be re-told through the coming generations. A tale so grandiose that not even a Kevin Costner movie could properly contain all of the drama. So, I will sum up. We rotated two ice cube trays the entire time, and my wife (who does do just about everything around the house) vehemently refused to ever fill a single tray. Fast-forward almost three years to this past Thursday evening...but first, yet another aside.

I have a "My Name Is Earl"-esque belief that I owe the world a lot of good deeds due to my past transgressions (especially those of the past couple of years). So it is to that end that I give help to a self-employed contractor who cannot read. A couple of times a week, this guy will come by and I will generate his invoices for him. It usually takes all of 10 minutes, and uses very little in the way of resources. He is a very good guy, and a very good contractor. As luck would have it, the gentleman described above has a way with plumbing - and after hearing me cry about the un-hooked-up ice maker for a few months, decided to hook it up for me. Oh happy day! We (mostly he - as my handyman abilities consist of handing tools to people that know how to use them) got the water line hooked up around 7pm. The next three to four hours would be the longest of my recent memory. He had never hooked up an ice maker before, nor did either of us know how long it would take before the unit would start pooping ice. At 10:47pm, our newly-hooked up ice maker gave birth to its first drink-cooling three-cube lump. I was so happy! The next couple of days were touch-and-go, as I was unsure if the unit was producing as it should. I am happy to report that the ice tray is full. Nay, it is bountifully nigh-overflowing. Life is good. It's not central air, but I will take it.

[Currently Listening: OAR - "Wonderful Day"]

A Near Miss

My wife performed one of the greatest defensive driving maneuvers I have ever witnessed last night, and it saved my family from what would have been, at the very least, most serious injury.

We were on our way to the "Y" for The Man Zachary's water acclimation class and I was telling Kim the story about a co-worker's friend whose viewing he had to attend who was killed in an auto accident Saturday evening. Someone had blown a red light, and at 7:30pm one would guess that it was due to someone not paying attention. My co-worker's friend was driving a Yukon, was hit from the side, thrown from the vehicle and killed. Not 20 seconds after I told my wife this story and asking her to promise an attempted avoidance of using her cell phone while driving, a car entered the intersection we were traveling through (blowing a red light) from right to left. Kim screamed, swerved to the left (just missing the light-blowing idiot) into oncoming traffic and managed to swerve back into our lane (narrowly avoiding oncoming traffic and a head-on collision). Had she not reacted in time, the car that blew the red light would have slammed into our passenger-side (and me) and most likely would have flipped our car into oncoming traffic. After our heart rates finally slowed down after this near-miss, it became clear to me that if Kim was on her cell phone, she would not have been able to maneuver the car in the manner necessary to keep her, Zachary and me safe.

I don't know if I am getting old, or perhaps its my protectiveness of my family that has me so rattled by how people drive nowadays. What I do know is that one of my biggest pet peeves has become one of my largest sources of anxiety. It seems to me that people are driving more and more recklessly. Driving is a dangerous enough undertaking - once you factor in how easy it is for someone to obtain a license, the slap-on-the-wrist sanctions for reckless driving, the gargantuan size of many vehicles on the road today, and the myriad distractions available to us in our vehicles - its a wonder that more of us have not lost loved ones to car accidents.

I was planning to post links for all sorts of statistical backing for my arguments, but anyone who does not believe me is free look them up themselves. The truth of the matter is that most kids are not mature enough to handle the responsibilities that come with driving. We need a stricter standard for the awarding of drivers licenses - or at the very least mandatory classes/seminars on vehicle safety that must be taken before anyone gets their license. These classes should include video or photos from car crash scenes, as evidence of what can happen when mistakes are made on the roads. We must have harsher penalties for reckless driving, speeding, running red lights and the like. All states should implement a ban on hand-held cell phone use while driving. States such as Ohio have shown a dramatic downturn in accidents since their bans have gone in place. DVD players in the back seat for passenger viewing are nice, but dashboard viewing monitors should be outlawed as well. If there is a human being alive capable of performing defensive driving maneuvers while watching a movie, I do not know of them.

People need to be reminded that driving is not a right, it is a privilege. My DUI from August of 2004 haunts me to this day. I am eternally thankful that I did not hit anyone that night. If I would have hurt anyone that night, I doubt that I would be able to live with myself. If the government would have given me a harsher penalty for my actions, I could not have complained. I was very lucky that night - and so was every other person on the road in my path.

Drivers need to be shown that getting to their destination in the fastest way possible is not the most important thing. Getting there safely, and the safety of those around them is what should be paramount. I am guilty of this at times. What is the normal reaction to those in front of us who are traveling the speed limit? More often than not, traveling behind someone exhibiting this behavior causes outrage! Trust me, I know. I am wrong for my reactions to this in the past, because it should not be this way. Speeding should not be the norm, while those traveling the speed limit be looked upon as pariahs.

Drive safely people. Keep your heads on swivels when you are out and about. The stories I have heard from co-workers, friends and neighbors of late concerning accidents and loss - combined with our near-miss last night - have opened my eyes. A vehicle can become a lethal weapon, in the blink of an eye. While you are driving, think about the people you love, how much it would hurt if you were to lose them forever - simply because someone was reckless or not paying attention.

[Currently Listening: INXS - "By My Side"]

The Return of Evil Vince

Game #2 of the summer hoops season was a mixed bag for me as far as results. We were short-handed again, and again playing against a younger group of guys. I had 14 points in the first half, but my legs were like lead in the second. I finished with 18 or 20 points, but my lack of hustle in getting back on defense hurt us more than my points helped us. Rebounded fairly well, but had a tough time getting off the floor against younger players with springier legs. I need to get tougher and I need to get the exercise bike Kim's aunt gave us to our house and start hitting it hard. I got a technical in the first half when a player from the other team wildly swung his arms and hit me on top of my head. He started taunting me on the way back up the floor, so I told him in no uncertain terms how much pain I would introduce to what was left of his life should he anger me further.

As the game wore on, I did a couple of very sportsmanlike things, and was even commended on it by the refs. Then, as the game wound down - I undid all of the good will with one outburst, the first part of which was wholly justified. My team was trying to foul - in order to send the other team to the foul line and stop the clock. I fouled one of their players, cleanly, right in front of one of THREE referees. He stared at me, did not blow his whistle, and allowed play to go on. I lost it. I yelled "come ON! Make the call!!!". He blew his whistle and was about to give me another technical foul, and I told him "go ahead, T me up, retard". I regret that part of the outburst, because he is a nice kid who is a newer ref. But he made at least three horrible mistakes while reffing our game last night, and something needed to be said. He is not a retard, and that is a mean thing to call somebody, no matter how badly they are performing on a given day. I will apologize to him the next time I see him, but at this point I think my apologies in this league ring most hollow.

The man Zachary had his 9-month checkup at the doctors yesterday and the doc says he is a very healthy little guy. The doc said that with his size and full head of hair that it is important that we not let people forget that he is still just a baby. That hit me, because I don't really think of him as a baby. Monday was my first day with him alone, and it went really well. I felt a lot closer to him after being able to spend that kind of time taking care of him. I am happy to report that there were no missed meals, no injuries and no sustained wearing of dirty diapers. While this does not qualify me for Dad of the Year, it gave me a little confidence in that fatherhood department.

Looks like I am going to have to throw together some kind of fundraiser for Gabby's adoption costs. The lawyer told my parents that an uncontested adoption would run around $2,000.00 or so. We out up a $1,500.00 retainer and all seemed well. Complications in the proceedings have jacked up the costs to slightly over $4,000.00. My parents do not have the money. I don't have the money. But, it needs to be done, as Gabby is scheduled to start Kindergarten in August. The drama never ends. However, I will very likely be hastily organizing a beef and beer and/or poker tournament to raise the cash. More details later.

[Currently Listening: Social Distortion - "I Was Wrong"]

A Fairly Nice Weekend

I had myself a fairly decent weekend. Friday started quasi-evil, as I was dismayed to find that my work ISP was not compatible with the ESPN 360 - and the web cast of the World Cup matches. However, my being a Verizon customer came in handy as I found a way to login and check out the games. The networks providing free web casting of events such as March Madness and the World Cup will definitely save me personal and vacation days. Next year. I felt the need to be with family and friends (namely my Dad) for Monday's matches, so my last personal/bereavement day was a must-use.

I didn't expect much from Friday night, but it ended up being a lot of fun. The neighbors all came over and we had an impromptu game night. Had some cold ones and a pretty good time. Saturday night I had a handful of the fellas over for the Hopkins fight and a 5-man card game broke out. I played really well, winning a little over $130 with a $30 investment. I didn't play anywhere near as well as Hopkins fought. Bernard Hopkins put on a clinic in his dismantling of former light-heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver. Hopkins stepped up in weight class to take the fight and not a lot was expected from him. He turned in a truly great, albeit surprising, performance - especially when you take into account his (Forty-something) age. I had my share of cold ones on Saturday night, and Sunday morning was a bit of a struggle. I knew I was expected at my man Josh's house for a $20 buy-in tourney, but I wasn't feeling up to it. Then I remembered how much support he has given my game, and I decided to suck it up and get down there. I finished second, and pocketed another $60. I watched The 4400 on Sunday night - and enjoyed the season premiere. Went to bed starting to get very excited for the USA-Czech Republic match Monday at noon.

Johnny S. arrived at my house at approximately 11:30am to find me in my American flag shirt and Uncle Sam hat. I was stoked. As the morning wore on, I was getting more and more fired up. Then, the broadcast came on, and with it the pre-game playing of the national anthems. I had goosebumps. I was fired up. Too bad the American team wasn't as well. The US squad left Sam's Army and the rest of us national team fans in a state of disappointment as they were smoked 3-0. Thankfully, Italy won 2-0 to bring at least some happiness to those in attendance. As I stated in my last blog, I grew up rooting for Italy - and I said that I would be rooting for a draw in this coming weekend's matchup between Italy and the USA. However, it dawned on me this weekend that the US is my team. I will always root for the Italians - as long as they are not matched up against my home country. I am a US fan first, an Italian fan second.

[Currently Listening: The Connells - "Slackjawed"]

World Cup Excitement and a New Word for Suck

As long as I can remember, I have been a huge sports fan. Adult life and responsibilities have tempered some of my enthusiasm over the years, but I still follow the four major Philly sports teams (Eagles, Phillies, Sizers, Flyers) and their respective leagues. Baseball was my first love growing up, and basketball became the sport I focused on in my teens. Football is my favorite sport to watch and follow, but one of my favorite sporting events in all the world is upon us, and I cannot wait for the games to start. The FIFA World Cup (soccer) starts this Friday, and I can't get enough pre-tourney reading or viewing. I grew up rooting for Italy as a youth (my Dad is from Torre Annunziatta and the U.S. was not a factor), and some of my fondest memories are of watching the matches with my Dad. His meltdowns during frustrating losses (Italy uncannily gets eliminated from every tournament when their tie games go on to penalty kicks - one of the worst ways to determine a winner in any sport) were legendary. He made me laugh last night when he said that if Italy is forced to go to penalty kicks during this Cup, he will turn the tv off and just assume they have lost.

I am very psyched for Fathers Day weekend, as my Dad and I will sit in the air conditioning at my house watching the games. One downer for this year's Cup, the U.S. and Italy are in the same group, and play one another the Saturday before Fathers Day. I will be rooting for a draw.

The World Cup has always appealed to me because of its importance to the rest of the world. Soccer is the world's game. Because the tournament finals are staged only once every four years, the Cup takes on added meaning. The matches shut down entire countries. It has always amazed me how politics always seem to intertwine with the matches. The Cup is truly a spectacle, and I can't get enough of it. In fact, I am in the process of "killing off" a phantom grandparent to cash in some needed bereavement days for early next week (The U.S. and Italy both have matches on Monday).

There is a trendy drink that I have been seeing splashed on restaurant menus and on commercials for the past few weeks, one that I can't remember ever hearing of prior to this spring. The drink is called a Mojito (moe-HEE-toe), and it sucks. There are various flavors for the Mojito, and they all also suck. I do not know much Spanish (three school years of it notwithstanding) but I am certain that mojito means "suck en espagnol. I took a sip of my first mojito and assumed they forgot something. But no, apparently the minty sugar-watery suckiness I experienced is all the rage. Guh. Everything tasted funny after my four sips of mojito. From now on, when something is so extremely awful that there is no word in English that properly sums it up, I will refer to it as mojito.

[Currently Listening: The Police - "So Lonely"]