My What Nots

An Awesome Week In Fantasy Sports

2011-11-22T14:15:00.001-05:00

Sunday's Ford 400 was the last race of the real and fantasy NASCAR season for 2011. My team had been stuck in 5th place in my league for a few weeks but still in striking range of a top 3 spot.

Fortunately, I switched my lineup Sunday morning and started Carl Edwards. That move earned me enough points to take 3rd place for the season! The league competition was tough this year. After 36 weeks of racing, the difference between 3rd and 4th place was only 10 points!

Then both of my fantasy football teams won their games. It's always a good week when that happens. Even better with an upset win over a higher ranked team. As a bonus, I had the highest point total of the week in a league that awards for that. First time this season I've gotten it.

One more thing to be thankful for this week.

Fantasy Golf: Missing the Cut

2010-10-23T23:39:00.000-04:00

It seems every major pro sport has a fantasy equivalent now. Football and baseball are the most well known but basketball, hockey, auto racing and even golf all have their own fantasy game. Fantasy Golf? Yup.

I've played fantasy football and fantasy NASCAR for years. For some crazy reason I decided to try fantasy golf this year. My reason was to see if I could use a similar strategy as I do in fantasy NASCAR, which has a similar format, to win in fantasy golf. (I need a better hobby)

I enjoy playing real golf but can't watch more than 5 minutes of it on TV. Golf news doesn't interest me and I don't follow the tour. For example, I'm such a PGA dunce that I didn't know the season had already started when I registered (did you know the tour starts in January?) and I had missed the first 4 tournaments! Fortunately there's not a draft and new players can join at any time.

But I like a challenge so I stuck with it. Despite earning 0 points for those first 4 tourneys and not following the sport at all (not easy given the news media's obsession with Tiger this year) I still finished the season in the top 37% of all Yahoo! fantasy golf teams!

That's not great but better than I expected. I'm guessing the bottom 50% probably quit updating their roster during the season.

In fantasy golf you should check your roster the day before and every day during a tournament. Every golfer doesn't play in every tournament so you have to make sure they're entered that week. Even then they might chicken out at the last minute...I got burned by a couple late withdrawals. Some of your starters might miss the cut before the final two days so make sure you at least check then...and hopefully your back up made the cut.

At the start of the season I picked my roster based on Yahoo's so called expert picks. They sucked. This caused some grief because I wanted to use the same strategy that works for me in fantasy NASCAR. That is to use the expert picks to fill my roster, then adjust as needed based on my knowledge and player starts remaining. I had to abandon that strategy after 4 or 5 weeks of lousy scores.

Next I switched to starting the scoring leaders who were entered that week. That worked a little better. By the middle of the season I realized that the biggest thing costing me points (other than not following professional golf) was players missing the cut...and me missing that they had missed the cut because I didn't check my roster Saturday morning.

So I looked at the ratio of a player's starts to their missed cuts (MC). If a player had 12 starts and 1 MC, he'd get the start over a guy with 11 starts and 3 MCs...even if player #2 had a higher average score. Since I didn't check my roster every day during a tournament, it was more valuable for me to have players with a higher likelihood of playing and scoring something versus a high scorer with a habit of missing cuts and scoring zero.

This approach worked well for me in the 2nd half of the season, my weekly scores got more consistent and I climbed in the rankings. If you follow golf regularly and are willing to dedicate the time to check your roster frequently then I don't recommend this strategy for you. But if you're someone with only a slight interest in golf that got roped into a fantasy league with your buddies, it could be worth a try.

Will I continue playing fantasy golf? No. This season was an experiment. None of my friends play it and I'm not interested in following the PGA tour. So there's nothing to justify the time cost...I'd much rather spend that time with my family or doing something productive.

But if you're into golf and fantasy sports...give fantasy golf a shot.

Lessons From My First Fantasy Football Auction Draft

2010-09-16T22:37:00.000-04:00

After 7 years playing fantasy football I finally did an auction draft last week. My 14 team work league made the switch this season. It was a lot of fun and kept my attention more than a traditional serpentine draft.

In an auction draft you're always on. I had to consider each player on the block, manage my budget, make bids, plan my next nomination, evaluate my team's needs and try to figure out the strategies of other coaches. That's a lot to process but it was exciting and made the draft more strategic.

Here's a summary of what I did right and wrong in my first auction draft...

My Auction Draft Mistakes:

Overpaid for my kicker and defense. I let myself get caught up in a run on kickers and spent $4.
Got burned a couple times trying to drive up prices. This is how I overpaid for my D...thought I could get another coach to outbid me one last time. Not.
Didn't bid high enough on stud players early in the draft and finished the draft with $10 unspent. That money would've done me more good going after top players I wanted earlier.
Did very little player research and barely followed NFL news over the summer. It's tough to value players, identify sleepers and avoid problem players that way.

Things I Did Right In The Auction:

Mostly stuck to my strategy. The FantasyGuru draft kit on Yahoo's "Draft Central" tab provided good auction strategy advice.
Did a mock auction draft the day before. This helped me learn the mechanics of the online draft tool so that I could focus on my strategy during the draft. Definitely do a mock draft before doing your first auction draft.
Nominated some players that I wasn't interested in to determine value and get money off the table.
Looked for other coaches' strategies during the draft. This wasn't easy to do with 13 other teams so I focused only on the guys I knew had experience with auction drafts. They were usually the ones nominating backups and kickers early in the draft.

One downside to the auction format is that the draft can take longer. Snake drafts in this league have taken 90 minutes to 2 hours in years past. The auction draft ran about 3 hours before the last teams were done. Some coaches were done in under 2 hours...it took me 2 hours and 15 minutes to fill my roster.

Overall I liked the auction draft format better than a snake draft. It was fun and I drafted a decent team despite my rookie mistakes. What do you think...is an auction draft or snake draft better?

Oregano Takes Over The Garden

2010-05-23T10:33:00.001-04:00

Plants can surprise you. Last year I planted a little oregano plant. It did well and we enjoyed fresh oregano all summer long.

Oregano is a perennial (something I learned after planting it) but I didn't expect this delicate looking herb to survive the winter...hah!

This hardy plant survived freezing temperatures plus several feet of snow! You can see in the photo that it's now spreading out across the garden. That's a lot of oregano. I'll have to harvest much of it to make room for the rest of this year's crops.

What to do with all that oregano? We'll use some now and dry more for future use. For the rest...I hope my neighbors like fresh oregano.

The Garden's First Soil Test

2010-05-01T08:04:00.000-04:00

A soil test provides good intel on how suitable your garden's soil is for the plants you want to grow. I didn't do one last year after building my garden (when I should have) and finally got to it a few weeks ago.

I've been reading an excellent gardening book called The Vegetable Gardener's Bible by Edward C. Smith which has several pages on soil tests and what to do with the results. I was wary of using a home test kit but Smith recommends it for most soil testing and a full lab test when building a new bed or making major changes to an existing one. Since labs are busiest in spring, he also says you can get quicker lab test results in late summer or fall when the labs aren't so busy.

Unlike a lab test which provides data on many soil nutrients, a home kit only tests the four things that make the most impact on your plants...acidity (pH), Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium levels. I wanted quick test results in order to make changes to improve this year's crop and got a home test kit.

The test is easy to take. Dig up soil, pick or sift out the big pieces and add distilled water. Use distilled water to prevent minerals in your tap water from skewing the results. The test kit includes color coded vials and powders to use for each test. The pH test is done right away by adding the soil, water and powder directly to the vial and shaking. For the nutrient tests, you have to mix the soil and water in another container first and wait for the soil to settle out. Then you mix the water and powder in the vial.

The powder reacts with each sample and will change color depending on the level. A color indicator chart on each vial tells you what the result is. Simply match the color of the test sample to the color on the chart.

The Results...

pH - Soil Acidity
The pH test result was in the 7.0-7.5 range. That's neutral to alkaline which is ok but not optimal. The sweet spot for most vegetables I plan to grow is around 6.5.

I added peat moss and dead leaves to increase the acidity. Of course two days later I read that using peat moss isn't environmentally friendly. Well, I can't return it back to the bog. I'll look for other options next time.

N - Nitrogen
The first key nutrient test and I flunked. No color change at all. That means the Nitrogen in the soil is depleted and my plants will be lucky to grow at all.

I added a couple bags of organic compost (which I planned on getting anyway) and worked in some fresh grass clippings. Hopefully that will be enough otherwise I'll have to buy blood meal or some other organic fertilizer. I'm trying to avoid adding any commercial fertilizers unless necessary.

P - Phosphorus
Bombed this one too. To increase the Phosphorus I bought a 10lb. bag of rock phosphate and added half of it to the garden. Smith recommends occasionally throwing a little rock phosphate into your compost pile to keep the garden's phosphorus level up over time. I might try that.

K - Potassium
I nailed this one! The test results showed a surplus of potassium (it's the orange one in the picture...ain't it pretty?). From what I read it doesn't sound like a surplus of this nutrient will do any harm so no changes needed.

Based on the test results I've made some changes to the garden's soil and I'm ready to start planting. I'll test again in the fall (maybe a full lab test) to give more time for any needed changes to take effect.

12 First Year Gardening Lessons Learned

2010-03-13T20:33:00.007-05:00

My family always had a big vegetable garden when I grew up and I have many memories of tending it with my dad and enjoying the fresh veggies we grew. That was a long time ago and last year was the first time that I had a big enough yard to start my own garden. Now that the winter snow has finally melted and I can see the garden again, it's a good time to review the key things I learned from my first year of gardening...

#1 - Protect The Garden From Critters
I knew bugs and slugs could be a problem but didn't realize how many rabbits and deer are in our new neighborhood. They quickly put a hurtin' on my unprotected plants. Eventually I found a way to keep them out that still allowed me easy access to the plants. Lesson here is to defend the garden early and well before the first critter gets into it. Once he does and finds that delicious buffet line, he'll tell his buddies.

#2 - Cherry Tomatoes Grow Like Crazy
I put in 1 grape and 2 "Sweet 100" cherry tomato plants (we love fresh cherry tomatoes on our salads). The grape tomatoes did well but the cherries would've taken over the entire garden if I'd let them! Both plants shot up and out with at least 4 or 5 new trunks growing out from the base. We had so many cherry tomatoes I was taking them to work for a healthy snack every day. There were dozens that fell off the vine because we couldn't pick them all in time.

#3 - Space Out Tomato Plants
In addition to the cherry and grape tomato plants, I had one each of Big Boy, Better Boy, Early Girl and Cherokee Purple planted in about 18 square feet of the garden. This was way too dense...the 2 cherry plants could've taken up that space by themselves. By the end of summer, all the plants (except the Cherokee Purple which suffered the most damage from the deer) were so large and interwoven that it was nearly impossible to tell the big tomatoes apart. This also prevented enough sunlight to get in to fully ripen some of the tomatoes and prevent rot.

#4 - Build Garden Beds Long & Narrow
My first raised bed garden is 10'x6'. I figured that a 6' width would maximize the square footage and I'd still be able to reach plants in the middle without stepping in and compacting the soil. What I didn't fully consider was that I'd need to put a fence around the whole thing to keep the critters out (see lesson #1). Reaching over or through the fence makes it difficult to reach the middle. Future beds will be 3' to 4' in width.

#5 - Start With Seedlings For Some Plants
It took forever for my cucumber, zucchini and squash to get going. I had to reseed each of them. Maybe I did something wrong planting them or they didn't like the soil...I haven't figured that out yet. This year I'll start them indoors and transplant the seedlings.

#6 - Harvest Carrots On Time
I forgot that the seed packet had given a time to maturity for these. When I finally pulled them out of the ground, it was 30 days past their maturity. The carrots were tough in the middle and tasted bitter (this could also be a soil issue). I'll pay more attention this season and hopefully have better tasting results.

#7 - Soaker Hoses Work Well
These hoses are made from recycled tires and slowly weep water out over their entire length. It's a great way to water your garden and minimize water lost to evaporation.

#8 - Mulch The Garden To Reduce Weeds
Covering the bare soil helps prevent weeds from taking root and keeps moisture in the ground for your plants. We never mulched our garden when I was a kid but someone recommended it and I'm glad I tried it. I used grass clippings as mulch and had very few weeds to pull. Straw, old leaves and shredded newspaper are some other things that can be used as mulch.

#9 - Mr. Stripey Tomatoes Rock!
Mr. Stripey is an heirloom tomato plant that I bought because I wanted to try different heirloom varieties and this one looked cool with its red and yellow stripes. Unfortunately I planted it in a container on the deck using some old topsoil and it never thrived. It produced only one tomato...an awesomely delicious tomato! Possibly the best I've ever tasted. It will get a proper spot in the garden this year.

#10 - Plan Your Garden
Before planting anything I plotted out where every plant would go on graph paper. Using different sized coins and other round objects I traced a spot for each plant based on its expected size at maturity. It's much easier to move things around with pencil and paper than when they're already planted. Even though I underestimated the full size of the tomato plants (especially the cherries), this chart helped me get the most use of my limited garden area.

#11 - Use The Right Stake For Tomatoes
My dad rarely staked the tomatoes (or any plant) in our garden when I was a kid. I don't know why, maybe because we had so much space, maybe because his dad didn't. Since I have limited space in my garden, I bought bamboo stakes for staking the tomatoes. They worked well for the first month but once the plants reached a few feet high and started producing fruit, they pulled the bamboo stakes over. So I had to buy heavy duty 5' wooden stakes and drive those in next to each plant, possibly damaging its established root system. Now I know to use big stakes when planting and can avoid wasting time, money and risk of root damage.

#12 - A Garden Can Be Started Almost Anywhere
I said at the top that last year was the first time I had a yard big enough for a garden. Well, it was really the first time I thought I had a yard big enough. For most of my life I believed that a garden required a big yard. Last year I learned that's not true at all. Turns out I could've planted a garden in any of the small yards or decks I had before moving into this house. Whether it be a salad box or a couple small raised beds, you can start a garden almost anywhere and start learning valuable gardening lessons. It only takes a little initiative and creativity.

What lessons have you learned about gardening?

How The US Census Bureau Is Wasting Taxpayer Money

2010-03-09T05:32:00.007-05:00

Yesterday I received an envelope from the the U.S. Census Bureau. "Cool, must be our census form", I thought. Nope, it was a letter from the director to tell me that I should receive a census form in the mail in about a week. Huh?

Why bother wasting the money to print and mail out these notices when they could simply send me the form? People are as likely to open the envelope with the form as they are the envelope with this advance notice. I know the census is this year and will gladly fill out the form and send it back.

I don't know how much the Census bureau wasted sending this letter to every address in the country. When the IRS sent a similar advance notice about the tax rebate checks during the Bush administration, news reports at the time placed the cost at around $20 million.

The average U.S. tax payer pays roughly $7,907 a year in income taxes. If the $20 million figure holds true for this mailing, that would mean income taxes paid by the hard work of 2,529 U.S. taxpayers funded nothing else but this useless letter. And the government wonders why citizens are upset over wasteful spending and budget deficits. That $20 million could've gone towards paying off the federal debt (a drop in the bucket, but still a lot of money and drops add up).

The census is a valuable tool, only happens every 10 years and is only as accurate as the data provided by citizens. The bureau has the responsibility to get the word out and reach a high participation rate. I get that and support their efforts.

They also have a responsibility to taxpayers to spend our tax dollars wisely. Sending out useless letters and producing lame Ed Begley, Jr. commercials that aren't effective doesn't help them achieve either goal.

An Afternoon At The Catoctin Central RR

2010-02-17T20:12:00.008-05:00

My oldest and I visited the Catoctin Central Railroad in Frederick recently. It's a large HO gauge train layout built by the Frederick County Society of Model Engineers (FCSME) on the east side of town. They were having one of their regular free open houses (donations accepted).

The layout's housed in an old Chesapeake & Ohio rail car originally used to transport race horses. It runs nearly the full length of the 70' rail car. There's also a G gauge garden layout outside that was running and a big hit with kids despite the drizzle.

Touring the layout was fun...we went through three times to make sure we caught as many details as possible. Members of the club gladly answered questions and one even showed us how to use an old telegraph. We'll definitely visit again and I'm adding this to my list of favorite things in Frederick County.

The Voyage Ends - Completed the Master & Commander Series

2009-12-23T22:13:00.007-05:00

About six years ago I discovered Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian. It was when the movie based on the books came out. From the previews, the movie looked like one I'd enjoy...action, adventure, thrilling naval battles; and I was curious to read the book before seeing the movie.

That book was like no other I'd read before. It engaged and challenged me as a reader, immersing me into the time period and action of the story. Many historical fiction authors write their characers' dialogues in modern language, but not O'Brian. His characters speak like they would have at the dawn of the 19th century. Add on the unfamiliar vernacular of a ship's crew and the occasional Latin or French phrases and there's a learning curve.

It wasn't easy at first but the more I read, the more I enjoyed O'Brian's writing style and mastery of story telling. I yearned to discover what would happen next. I was hooked and became an avid reader of the series. I even started catching myself wanting to use language from the books in regular conversations some times.

So why did it take me 6 years to finish? Life happens. I typically read 2-3 in a row then took a break. These aren't books to be read in 10 minute bites, so I'd wait to start the next one until I knew I could devote time to reading. And along the way I read other books, including O'Brian's biography.

Sadly, O'Brian passed away while writing book #21. His unfinished manuscript of nearly 3 chapters was published posthumously. I don't know if O'Brian intended it to be the final book of the series, but those three chapters make it seem so. Events are going well for Aubrey and Maturin (professionally and personally) and it's easy for a fan of the series to picture them living out their lives happy in their pursuits. O'Brian would've kept them busy, of course, and thrown a few twists in their paths. It was a premature but fitting end to the series.

I got a little melancholy while reading the last couple books, knowing that the end was approaching. Now that I'm done, I miss the characters and their thrilling adventures. At some point I'll go back and re-read select books, maybe the whole series. I've already listened to the audio book version of Master and Commander. That was fun because I got to hear how many words I'd been pronouncing wrong in my head. For now, I'm going to read one of O'Brian's pre-Aubrey/Maturin naval adventures, The Golden Ocean.

Survivor Samoa - The Best Survivor Ever

2009-12-18T07:18:00.011-05:00

And it's all because of Russell H. Without him, this season would've been mediocre at best. But with him...we've watched smart, brazen game play and suspenseful blind sides nearly every week.

He's played the game harder and better than anyone before him. He eliminated threats quickly, formed good relationships, found 3 immunity idols (2 without clues!! no one's done that before), masterminded multiple tribal council blindsides and led Foa Foa to the near total obliteration of the former Galu tribe. It helps that most of his competition was overly confident and played like they never saw the show before applying.

Galu had an 8-4 advantage at the merge and now they're down 1-4. They're so inept and bad at this game that they couldn't get rid of a single Foa Foa! Watching the tide turn so dramatically was fun. If Russell S. hadn't left due to health issues, Galu might've had a fighting chance.

I don't know what'll happen in Sunday's finale, but it should be good. No one can win against Russell in the final two, he's earned every vote. If Jaison and Mick want any chance at winning, they better work with Brett to vote Russ off at the first tribal council.

What do you think? Leave a comment below or go cast your vote for your favorite Survivor season.

Wendy's Drive Thru Update

2009-12-11T19:53:00.006-05:00

Wendy's lost my business last year when they were misleading about the size choices at the drive thru. Today I gave Wendy's a second chance and am glad to say they passed!

This time the cashier asked if I wanted "small, medium or large" and he asked another customer the same when I pulled up to pay. The spicy chicken sandwich is pretty good, too.

First Snow of the Season!

2009-12-05T21:05:00.011-05:00

Woke up today and last night's drizzle had turned to snow! Big wet flakes, the kind that really cling to the trees, and lots of 'em...close to 6 inches by dark.

Fortunately I didn't have to go anywhere and could enjoy it. Watching it snow out the back window while rowing before breakfast made the workout go quicker. Later on came sledding and lots of shoveling.

An early snow fall's the perfect way to start getting in the Christmas spirit. Makes it feel like winter and we should be out singing Christmas carols and what not.

Now if only the local TV station would take down their annoying "winter weather advisory" logo...seriously, anyone can look outside and see the wintry weather. It's not breaking news.

Guy Gets Paid For Getting Dressed In The Morning!

2009-11-08T10:33:00.010-05:00

Saw this article about Jason Sadler who basically gets paid to wear a t-shirt every day. He founded I Wear Your Shirt and hires himself out to wear a different company's t-shirt each day, take some pics and post online about it.

He made over $80,000 this year! That's good money for maybe a few hours' effort each day. And he already has more than half of next year's days sold out.

This is a brilliant idea, and I wish I'd thought of it. Not sure how scalable it'll be...he's doubled his fee and added a 2nd t-shirt wearer on the West coast. But it's a sweet side business and must give him tons of freedom to pursue other things.

What I like best about this is it exemplifies one of many things that make America great. Anyone with a good idea and the initiative to make it real can be successful...even in challenging economic times. Congrats, Jason, well done!

Shaolin Warriors Invade Maryland

2009-10-05T19:49:00.006-04:00

Yesterday we saw the Shaolin Warriors perform at the Maryland Theatre in Hagerstown. They're a group of Shaolin disciples from China demonstrating their mastery of kung fu.

Most of the show was choreographed fight sequences with performances of individual stunts and skills mixed in. The discipline and athleticism of these guys is amazing. They did all kinds of jumps with crazy flips yet made it look effortless, appearing to move in slow motion through the air. It was impressive and fun to watch.

It's a family friendly show. We took our little one and there was a part of the show where they brought about 25 kids from the audience on stage to teach them a form.

I couldn't find a full schedule of their tour locations so check your paper or StubHub for a Shaolin Warriors show near you. If you'd like to learn about life as a Shaolin disciple, read the book American Shaolin by Matthew Polly. It's a fun read about an American who travels to the Shaolin Temple and trains to become a Shaolin monk.

Here's the show's promotional video from the theater:

This was also our first visit to the Maryland Theatre. It's a beautiful old theater built in 1915. Very intimate and nostalgic with ornate decorations, balcony box seats and vaudeville era organs. You don't find that kind of character in today's mega-plex theaters. We'll look for more shows to see there.

My Fantasy Football Draft Day Nightmare

2009-09-13T14:04:00.005-04:00

Serving as a league commissioner is usually an easy job...not this year. I'm the commish for a fantasy football league that me and two friends started years ago. We rotate the commish job each season and this year it's my turn again. There's usually 8-10 returning players with some new additions each year. We always do an online draft since everyone's all over the country.

Being a responsible fantasy league commissioner, I set up the league in Yahoo back in mid July, scheduled a good draft date/time near the end of pre-season and sent out the invites. About a week from the draft we had 8 teams registered. I started sending emails and making calls to get us up to 12 teams. Two days before the draft we had 11 and one of the other league founders had #12 lined up.

On draft night I logged in 45 minutes early and #12 still hadn't signed up. Tried calling the guy who recruited him but couldn't reach him. Meanwhile I'm planning to boot #11 if we're not at twelve teams right before draft time. Last thing we want is an odd number of teams and have to deal with bye weeks...that's no fun for anyone.

Then the real trouble starts. Refreshed my browser 29 minutes to draft and see a message from Yahoo that the league was switched to an "Auto Pick" draft format (where the computer picks players for all teams) because we didn't have an even number of teams. Crap!

I quickly kicked out team #11 to get us down to even teams. #11 is a long time league member, and I hated doing that, but he dragged his feet and signed up last. I thought that if the league had an even number of teams and I set the draft type back to Online, we'd get our original draft time back. Sounds reasonable and it's how I would've designed the system.

But that's not how Yahoo works. It let me switch to Online draft mode but forced me to pick a new draft date and time! And it wouldn't let me pick any draft times that night! Are you kidding me?!

All this time I'm trying to keep folks updated via the league message board, get one of the other league founders on the phone and fire off a quick email to Yahoo support. And I called #11 to explain why he was booted.

One guy suggested creating a league in another system and trying to draft there. The members who replied on the message board all wanted to do the draft that night so I told him to go ahead. He set up a league in ESPN and got us a draft time two hours later. We had everyone who was online sign up for an ESPN account and create a team.

There was some discussion about still trying to get 12 teams. Unfortunately, the format that the dummy draft league was created under only allows 10 teams using ESPN standard scoring. The scoring wasn't an issue because I would load the draft picks back into Yahoo but we couldn't change league size. I decided to stick with 10 teams. Getting a hold of everyone again to join yet another league and try to get #11 back plus a 12th team in time to meet ESPN's league size cutoff (1 hour before draft) was too much chaos.

One league member wasn't available online so I registered a team for him and sent him the login info. Since he wasn't online for the original draft time and Yahoo would've picked his team, it would be ok for the ESPN system to auto draft his team. I forgot to consider that he might have pre-ranked his players in Yahoo.

That guy ended up getting on in time for the draft but couldn't get ESPN's draft tool to work on his computer so he got an auto pick team. Another team couldn't get the draft tool to work either but he had someone else log in for him and told them who to pick over the phone.

It was a mess but we got through it and the league had a successful draft. I'm very thankful that the league members were flexible and patient enough to roll with the changes.

Turns out the guy whose team had been auto picked by ESPN knew he wasn't going to make the Yahoo draft and spent a lot of time pre-ranking players. He wasn't happy and has a legitimate gripe. Unfortunately there wasn't much else we could've done without rescheduling the draft to another night which didn't work for most people.

Afterward I manually loaded all of the draft picks into our original Yahoo league. That was a lot of fun.

So what did I learn from this draft fiasco?
1. Make sure all league members register in advance. This was my responsibility as commish and I dropped the ball. Mainly because I don't like hounding people. Give your league a deadline to register well ahead of the draft and hold to it.
2. Know your system's rules on league size and draft type. We always have an even number of teams so I didn't pay attention to these when creating the league. Yahoo supported odd number leagues in the past via bye weeks and I assumed it wouldn't complain if we had an odd number right before draft time. Well, they changed that rule this season and I got caught by surprise because I didn't do my homework.
3. Have alternate contact info for league members. Having a list of phone numbers or IM IDs for everyone might've helped me get folks re-organized quicker. If we had a league IM chat going, it definitely would've helped.
4. The commish has to make decisions quickly. There wasn't a clear solution. Rescheduling to another night this close to the season opener wasn't feasible. After a reasonable amount of input from the league it's up to the commish to make the call.
5. Don't count on Yahoo's fantasy sports support! The only support is an email link which I didn't expect much from. I got an auto reply email saying that I'd get a reply in 24 hours. No response until 54 hours later and they couldn't do anything for me. ESPN on the other hand has a toll free number which one guy called and got a live person and an answer right away.

It was a lousy situation but I'm good with the decisions made that night. We got the draft done and the season can begin. Here's hoping for a trouble free fantasy season!

Sneaky Tricks Some Gas Stations Use to Rip You Off

2009-08-05T21:30:00.008-04:00

Imagine you're on vacation or a business trip. You're running late getting to the airport for the flight out and still need to fill up before returning the rental car. No worries though because you saw a gas station across the street from the rental lot when you got into town.

You pull into the station, swipe your credit card and start pumping. While the fuel is flowing you look around and realize there's no big sign with the gas prices. Hmmm...that's odd. Then you look at the price on the pump and realize you're paying two dollars a gallon more than the local average price! You're getting ripped off!

Yeah, this happened to me recently while vacationing in Orlando...almost. I did swipe my card but noticed the price as I was reaching for the nozzle. It was $3.99/gallon. The local going rate was $2.06/gallon at the time!

The culprit was the convenience store gas station on SR 436 (Semoran Blvd) north of Orlando International Airport directly across from the Thrifty and Hertz lots. No sign anywhere with prices except the little display on the pump...which is difficult to read due to sun glare. No doubt they're hoping that rental car drivers will stop and fill up in a hurry before they realize their wallet's getting cleaned out.

I expect stations to charge a little more in locations like that because they're selling "convenience". But nearly double the going rate?! That's ridiculous. They must make a ton off of tourists and business travelers...I can't imagine many locals buy gas there.

Fortunately I saw the price before I started pumping and in time to alert the guy at the next pump. We both canceled our credit card transactions and drove a mile up the road to a 7-11 charging $2.11/gallon.

Lesson learned...always check the price on the pump before filling up...especially at a station you haven't used before.

P.S.: Make sure you select the fuel grade you want. I stopped at a station in rural Maryland once that had the grade buttons in the order Premium, Regular, Plus...not Premium, Plus, Regular like every other gas station. If you expected Regular to be on the end and hit that button, you're now buying Plus instead.

They also had the octane stickers down near the bottom of the pump instead of near the buttons so you don't have that extra visual cue that something's different. That tells me they're intentionally trying to trick customers into selecting a higher priced fuel grade.

Prosper.com Reopens For Peer to Peer Lending

2009-07-18T21:24:00.011-04:00

Prosper.com announced last week that they finally got through their SEC registration and are back open for business. If you're not familiar with Prosper, it's one of the first online person to person lending sites...basically an eBay for unsecured personal loans up to $25,000. I've been a lender there since 2006 with mixed results and haven't bid in a while.

About 9 months ago the SEC shut Prosper down for selling unregistered investments. For some reason, Prosper thought the SEC rules didn't apply to them. They were wrong. Hopefully they used the 9 months down time wisely to improve their fraud detection and collection processes...things lenders have complained about.

The sad part is that Prosper had to shut down during the height of the credit crunch when lots of credit worthy small businesses and other folks were having difficulty finding lenders. It was a perfect opportunity for peer to peer lending to shine and Prosper missed it.

Prosper still has several legal hurdles to clear. Residents of many states aren't eligible yet to lend on the site which makes it more difficult to fund loans. I'm in one of those states but I won't bid until the delinquency numbers improve.

For anyone with decent credit history needing a loan, Prosper is worth a look. Here are some tips to get your loan funded on Prosper.com. Just make sure to pay it back on time.

More Reasons Why Chrysler Is In Bankruptcy

2009-06-07T08:06:00.007-04:00

Yesterday I received a letter from Bob Nardelli, the CEO of Chrysler. It's a form letter sent out to Chrysler customers (we have 2 Chrysler vehicles) with info about the bankruptcy and assurances that they're still making great vehicles, will honor all warranties, blah, blah, blah.

At the end is an "Owner Loyalty Certificate" offering $1000 toward the purchase of a new Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep vehicle. Sounds like a good idea to retain customers and maybe generate some sales. Then I looked at the fine print and a couple things hit me...

The offer is only valid from May 5 to June 30. The letter was delivered to me on June 6, halfway into the program. The fine print says the offer's "not valid on a prior purchase or lease". So if I had purchased a new Dodge last week and then got this certificate for $1000 yesterday that I couldn't use, I'd be one ticked off customer and brand loyalty would be the last thing on my mind. Note to Chrysler...when running an offer like this, send it out in time for people to use it.

Only good for purchase of a new 2008 or 2009 vehicle with some models excluded. There are a lot of models on the excluded list which I understand. Manufacturers don't want to discount their best selling models. But it's now model year 2010...if you still have a 2008 Crossfire or Magnum on the lot, you want to sell it now. A $1000 loyalty offer is one way to do that. So why are there any exclusions on purchasing a 2008 model?

I'm disappointed to see Chrysler go into bankruptcy. We're overall pretty happy with the quality, styling and what not of our Chrysler vehicles. And I hope that they continue to make great cars and trucks. But they need to get smarter about how they run their business.

Unfortunately, the writing was on the wall when we bought my wife's car in 2005. It was a new purchase and Chrysler offered us an extra $500 rebate if we would finance through them at 0% interest for 4 years. In other words, these financial geniuses paid me $500 to use over $20k of their money for free for 4 years! Is it any wonder they're in bankruptcy now?

But I guess the joke's on me as an American taxpayer since we're squandering billions to bail these guys and GM out of a mess they created. Meanwhile Ford could get the royal shaft because they used smart management to avoid taking bailout money.

Body of Lies Review

2008-10-11T07:26:00.009-04:00

It's been years since I've seen a movie the same day that it opened but I got to go see Body of Lies yesterday.

The plot is a CIA agent named Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) trying to bust an Islamic terrorist ring responsible for several bombings in Europe. To get inside the terrorist organization he has to rely on his boss and mentor, Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe), back in Langley and Hani Salaam (Mark Strong), the head of Jordan's intelligence agency. Since they're all in the spy business, none of the three really know who they can trust.

The movie has lots of action and intrigue that keeps the plot moving at a good pace. Mixed in with the violence and seriousness of the situation is a surprising bit of humor. The sarcastic exchanges between Ferris and Hoffman define the relationship of the field agent trying to accomplish the mission (and stay alive) with his bureaucratic boss who may have other ideas. There's also something ironically funny about a CIA director discussing top secret life and death decisions over his cell phone while helping his toddler go potty in the morning or dropping the kids off at school.

Crowe, best known for his action roles, plays an out of shape, CIA bureaucrat only concerned about stopping the terrorists now. He leads operations remotely either in a command center in DC watching satellite feeds or from his kids' soccer games via cell phone.

DiCaprio's character is the one whose life is on the line. Before meeting an informant, Ferris and his partner agree to shoot each other if either is captured so that they don't get their heads cut off in a terrorist propaganda video. Unlike his boss, Ferris shows concern for his informants and views them as more than expendable resources.

The acting is pretty good and mostly believable. You assume the characters are using encrypted communications but it's hard to believe that spies would talk so freely on cell phones in public places about their missions. Other than that, the movie kept my interest and was worth watching in the theater. Some of the shots from the UAVs and satellites are pretty cool to watch on the big screen.

Squidoo Rocks! Record Payout and a Giant Squid

2008-10-08T21:15:00.004-04:00

The global economy is in a rut and the US presidential campaign has devolved into an ugly unproductive mess but at least I'm having a good week on Squidoo.

Every quarter, Squidoo promotes a new batch of lensmasters to Giant Squid status. To qualify, you need a minimum of 50 good high quality lenses. I ended the quarter with 55 lenses and apparently they were deemed worthy because I got word late Monday that I'm now a Giant Squid!

So, what are the benefits of being a Giant Squid? First looks at cool new features, an extra lensrank boost for your lenses, an official badge (see above) on all your lenses and a bunch of other stuff that is probably interesting only to fellow lensmasters.

Monday was also when the August payouts were posted and I finally earned over $100 in a single month! On top of that, Squidoo HQ found an error in their payment calculations that caused lensmasters to be underpaid in prior months. They corrected that by issuing a one time adjustment to square everybody up. My share of that payment was nearly $80 which gave me a total of just over $200 for the month.

Granted, I should have been getting that $80 in bits over the last 2 years but I'm glad Squidoo owned up to the mistake and set things right. They're a good operation that works hard to do the right thing and I'm glad to be part of the community there.

I guess my next Squidoo goal will be 100 lenses. That's a ways off yet...it took me over 2 years to get 55.

One Hundred Push Ups - Week 3 Update

2008-10-05T11:26:00.006-04:00

I'm now into week 3 of my one hundred push up workout and seeing progress. The week 1 and week 2 workouts weren't easy but I could finish them. After completing week 2 I did the next max push ups test and cranked out 32. That's a 28% improvement over my initial test when I started the program.

The first week 3 work out was tougher...set one was 25 push ups which tired my arms enough that they gave out before I finished a couple of the later sets. I visited the workout website again and found that they had updated the workouts since I printed them out. Looks like they distributed the number of push ups across the sets more evenly so you don't burn out on the first set.

I did better with the "easier" week 3 work out, but my arms still hit muscle failure before completing the 3rd and 5th sets. So I'll keep repeating that workout until I finish it. Minor set back but the third time should do it.

How Wendy's Tries To Rip You Off At The Drive Thru

2008-10-01T21:22:00.002-04:00

Guard your wallet when ordering at the Wendy's drive thru. I went through the drive-thru at Wendy's for lunch today and placed my order for a #6 combo with Dr. Pepper. The cashier asked, "medium or large?" I don't eat at Wendy's very often so I assumed they must not offer a small size and replied, "medium". Then I took a quick look at the menu board and saw that they do have small and the medium size is an extra 59 cents!

After changing my order to the small size I pulled around and paid for my order. I could hear the cashier inside asking the next customer the same "medium or large" question. Drive-thru cashiers typically follow a script so I suspect this is Wendy's standard tactic to get people to spend more without realizing it.

Why do I say they're trying to rip us off? Because they asked if I wanted "medium or large"...that implies there are only two choices. They're not being honest about the choices. They could've asked if I wanted to upgrade to a larger size or simply asked if I wanted a small, medium or large combo. Instead they're trying to get customers to spend more by subtly removing the lower cost option from consideration.

To top it off, I got back to work and found that they didn't even give me any ketchup for my fries. It's doubtful I'll be eating at Wendy's again any time soon.

One Hundred Push Ups Or Bust

2008-09-13T17:21:00.003-04:00

One hundred push ups. That's my new fitness goal. The other day my wife sent me a site with a training program to help you get to one hundred consecutive push ups in 6 weeks and I figured "why not?".

Like a lot of people, I've let myself get out of shape as I've gotten older. Even when playing sports in high school and college I don't remember ever doing one hundred push ups straight. 50 or 60 maybe, but not 100. So this will help me get working out again plus I'll be better at doing push ups than I was in my prime. Cool.

The program looks good, it's similar to a pyramid type work out and starts with an initial test of how many push ups you can do now. Then you follow one of 3 workout plans based on your initial number. The plan tells you how many push ups to do in each set and how much rest to take between sets. You do three work outs a week and each work out should only take 5-10 minutes total.

Last night was my initial test...25 push ups. Not too shabby. I'll do my first workout tomorrow. There's another push up test every two weeks to measure progress and adjust the plan as needed.

Will I be able to do one hundred push ups? We'll know in 6 weeks...hopefully less.

Finally Saw Pirates of the Caribbean III

2008-09-09T19:53:00.007-04:00

We missed Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End when it was in the theater last year and finally got around to renting it Saturday. It was disappointing.

I've been a big fan of the original "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride at Disney World since I was a kid and loved The Curse of the Black Pearl. Dead Man's Chest was good but not as good as the first movie. This one had lots of action and was well produced like the first two but the story just got stupid.

It was a chore to watch in parts and I kept thinking "c'mon, c'mon get to some good stuff". Especially during the scenes in Davy Jones' locker and in the brig with the multiple Jack Sparrows. Those were boring and too artsy.

The first movie was a fun swashbuckler...At World's End wasn't. The plot was convoluted and it relied too much on the supernatural elements. Movies also get annoying when there's an unrealistic behavior like the pirate and East India Co. fleets doing nothing while the Black Pearl, Flying Dutchman and Endeavor fight it out at close range. The East India Co. fleet should have been protecting its flag ship at least.

On the plus side, I got to watch another film from my list of tall ship movies and did enjoy the ship battles. Those would've been even better on the big screen. And they left the door open for a fourth movie, hopefully that one will have a better story.

Drink up, me hearties. Yo ho!

Cramming For My Fantasy Football Drafts

2008-08-25T21:18:00.002-04:00

Uh-oh, both of my fantasy football drafts are later this week and I've done zero prep work (unless you count 5 minutes watching the Redskins pre-season fiasco against Carolina). No cheat sheet, no draft strategy, no mock draft, nothing.

Time to start hitting the fantasy sites and cramming. Cramming is a bad thing for fantasy drafts...especially in a 14 team league where 210 players are drafted. There will always be last minute updates and adjustments to your rankings right up to draft day. But you have to be familiar with the players and their teams in order to make those tough middle round picks.

Can't do that all in a cram session. It needs to be started weeks in advance, even earlier for best results. That's something I didn't make time for this summer.

Fortunately both are online drafts this year. Might help if I'm able to do a quick search online before pulling the trigger on a pick. Yeah, I'll keep telling myself that.

The Mole Revealed

2008-08-13T20:29:00.002-04:00

My pick for the Mole (Mark) ended up winning the $420,000 prize. I was convinced he was the Mole. Mark played a good game and I'm glad to see he won the cash. He was surprisingly close to being executed many weeks while Paul, the guy who pegged Craig as the Mole earlier than anyone, got whacked at the final four.

This season was a big improvement over season #2 and those disasters known as Celebrity Mole. The game was better balanced and Jon did a credible job as the show's new host. We're looking forward to the next season.

Craig played a great game as Mole. He played up his weaknesses, got on everyone's good side and had them all rooting for him as a fellow player. Brilliant.

Now back to the Olympics...

Fallen Sword Hits 2 Million Registered Players

2008-08-07T20:51:00.001-04:00

The web based MMORPG Fallen Sword registered its 2 millionth player this week. I don't know how that compares to popular titles like World of Warcraft but considering that Fallen Sword is a free game, two million sounds like a cool milestone.

A friend introduced me to the game last year and it's one of the most impressive free games I've tried. Lots of features and no ads. Congrats to the FS team!

Survived The Great Urban Race

2008-08-07T20:28:00.001-04:00

Didn't qualify for the national championships, but we had an awesome time running The Great Urban Race in DC last weekend! We finished in the top 100 out of 174 teams.

The race was fun and tougher than expected...there was only one mandatory clue on the list and none of the teams solved it. It was to take a picture at the address where XM Satellite Radio was established. We found out later that the correct answer was the NPR building.

We made a couple mistakes that cost us serious time. The biggest was not taking more time at the beginning to solve more clues and better map our route. Unlike The Amazing Race where teams get one task at a time, in the GUR you get a list of 12.

Several teams competed in costumes (there's a prize for best costume). Our favorite was the Yip-Yips. They were also the craziest for running around hot, humid DC in costumes made out of fleece blankets.

It was a great time and we got to see some cool parts of DC. We'll be back next year!

The Mole - Final 4

2008-07-22T22:50:00.004-04:00

Clay was executed on last night's show and now we're down to the final 4 players. Correction...final 3 players and the Mole. Is Paul, Craig, Mark or Nicole the Mole?

It's Mark. Mark's the Mole. He was my top pick for the Mole after episode 1 and I'm sticking with him. In last night's episode, he was the only player who didn't obviously try to sabotage a mission...he even stopped Clay from using his wacky lawyer math to mess up the "Smart" team. Every other player was trying to make themselves look like the Mole.

Up until then Mark was usually the one stubbornly refusing to complete a mission or was playing the hyper-paranoid card. Now he's Mr. Mission Success...at a point in the game when every player is trying to get people thinking they're the Mole. Coincidence? I think not.

What about Nicole or Paul? Everyone's favorite obnoxious couple. Neither is the Mole. Although Nicole was making some odd faces when she survived the execution ceremony...she never intended to leave the game. That exchange between her and her mom about hiding dead bodies was funny...I laughed when her mom called Nicole "Omarosa". I like Nicole's mom.

What about Craig? He could be the Mole. He's played a good low key game so far and is my #2 pick as Mole.

I'm happy to say that this season has been good. Jon Kelley is getting better every week as host and isn't doing the cheesy announcer voice so much. The exemptions have been much better blended into the missions than they were in Season 2 and most of the tasks have been fun to watch.

Looking forward to the remaining episodes...

A Mini Version of The Amazing Race

2008-07-12T15:54:00.003-04:00

The Amazing Race is one of the best shows on TV. Similar to ABC's The Mole it takes players on an adventure around the world. My wife and I love the show and even applied once to get on...our video was horribly lame so no surprise that we didn't get selected.

Recently I discovered an event called The Great Urban Race. It's a race held in 19 US cities where two person teams compete against each other to complete a set of challenges throughout the city. It's a mini-Amazing Race that anyone can join. Brilliant!

Each team gets a list of 12 challenges to complete. The goal is to be the first team to complete 11 of the 12. Some tasks are mandatory and others are optional. Each challenge is different and could be a puzzle, physical task, scavenger hunt, etc. The rules are loose...basically you can bring anything you want (cell phone, laptop, GPS, etc) and can only walk/run or use public transportation.

The top finishing teams from each city qualify to compete for a $10,000 prize in the national championship race held in Las Vegas this November!

After securing a babysitter, we signed up for the Washington DC leg of the race on August 2! We're very excited about the race but have some preparation to do. Our knowledge of DC is mainly limited to getting around the Mall. We know the Metro system well but have no clue about the buses in DC. Odds are good we'll have to take at least one so we need to brush up on that.

I was tempted to forget the whole thing though after going through the online registration process and discovering there was a $4.19 per person "processing charge" that wasn't included in the already steep race registration fee. There was no warning about it before hand and the only way to register is online. That charge should have been included in the registration fee...not tacked on unexpectedly at the end. At least tell me about it earlier in the process. Bad form...very bad form.

Ok, I've got that off my chest...now I can focus on preparing for the race. It should be a lot of fun and I'll post about the experience here.

Fantasy NASCAR Mid-Season Update

2008-07-06T08:09:00.000-04:00

Yesterday's Coke Zero 400 was the 18th race of the NASCAR season and the end of the season's first half. My fantasy NASCAR team finished the first half in the 85th percentile of all Yahoo! teams. Overall rank is 50,219 which means there are approximately 335,000 fantasy NASCAR teams playing in Yahoo! this year.

Within my league, I've been stuck in 6th place (out of 12) for weeks. Everyone ahead of me is in the 92nd percentile or better (1st place is in the 99th percentile). I'm only 51 points out of 4th place in the league. That gap could be made up in a single week. My team is doing well and the hope for a championship is still alive so I'm psyched about the 2nd half.

Yeah, I know, 85th percentile overall and 6th place in my league don't sound so great. Here's the kicker...I barely follow NASCAR at all. I've watched maybe 30 minutes of racing this season and I'm still leaving serious fans in the dust. This isn't the first time I've done it...my team has finished in the top 3 of my league the last two seasons. And I play with some hardcore NASCAR fans.

How do I do it? Luck...and I pay attention to my team. Fantasy NASCAR could be the easiest fantasy sport to play. There are many variables that can change the outcome of a race. You never know when a wreck or car trouble is going to take out a driver. Skim through Yahoo's weekly previews, pay attention to your driver starts and you'll do fine.

Looking ahead to the 2nd half, I have some challenges. I used up my last start for Junior this week and only have 1 left for Kyle Busch who has been on fire this year. The times I started him were usually when he didn't win. I'll try to use that last start wisely. They're the top two drivers in the B class. Hopefully a lot of other fantasy teams have maxed out their starts for those guys.

In the C class, I have 2 starts left for Brian Vickers who is the top C racer. I've been spreading out the A class starts so I'm in good shape there. I need to make up a 312 point gap to win the league championship and 18 races to do it. That's just over 17 points a race, definitely doable.

Good luck in your 2nd half!

A Fantasy Team Name And A Dream

2008-06-22T07:12:00.004-04:00

With fantasy football season here, it's time to start thinking of good team and league names. The right team name could mark you as a fantasy pro in your league. The wrong name will make you the league laughing stock.

It seems my best ideas for a name happen while I'm driving, walking the dog, taking a shower or some other activity where I'm not near the computer or a pen and paper. Then I sit down to register my team and my memory fails me...along with all creative powers to think up a new one. That empty Team Name field just stares at me. C'mon, how tough can it be to think up a good name?

So I compiled a list of cool fantasy team name ideas that I use to help trigger the creative brain cells when needed. I found some good name generator sites and added those to the list for times when I need a name right now.

Remember that most fantasy sites allow you to change your team name whenever you want. I've seen teams change their name weekly. You'll want to keep your league names consistent to avoid confusion.

How do you think up your team names?

Fantasy Football Commissioner 101

2008-06-19T21:03:00.002-04:00

Every fantasy football season brings a new crop of rookie commissioners. Many of them don't have a clue what they're supposed to do.

That was me 5 years ago. My very first season playing fantasy football I got talked into serving as the commissioner. Fortunately the season went well, but I had a few "crap, what am I supposed to do now?" moments.

I've learned a lot since then both by being a commissioner and by playing in leagues with different commissioners and observing what worked and didn't work for them.

Here are my top 3 keys for success as a commish:

Plan early - Register your league, pick a draft date, set up the rules and get your invites out. The earlier you do this, the better. It will give you more time to deal with rule change requests and finding replacement players if needed. If you're doing an online draft, you'll have a better shot at getting a good time slot.
Communicate with your league - Make sure they know how to sign up, when the draft is, what the rules are and when their entry fee is due.
Be fair and consistent - As the commish, it's your responsibility to see that issues are resolved fairly and impartially. Not everyone will like your decisions but if they see that you're objective, they'll respect that and want to stay active in your league and play again next year.

Those 3 will give you the foundation to get the league running smoothly. Check out my full set of fantasy football commissioner tips to learn more.

Have a great season!

The Blogging Bug

2008-06-17T20:58:00.004-04:00

Wow, I only have a handful of posts here and I'm already starting a 2nd blog. The new one is called Lens Harbor and it will be focused on Squidoo related topics.

I still plan to post occasionally about Squidoo stuff here. The new blog is on SquidTop which is a blogging platform created for lensmaster blogs. It will mostly be quick posts about new lenses, tips and topics that other lensmasters might be interested in.

I'll add a Lens Harbor feed over on the side panel here. Please keep an eye on it and click through if you see something of interest.

The Truelove

2008-06-04T21:30:00.005-04:00

This weekend I finished reading The Truelove (aka Clarissa Oakes outside of the US). It's the 15th book in Patrick O'Brian's excellent Master and Commander series which I'm a huge fan of. There are 20 books in the series so I'm now 75% through...not counting the 21st book that O'Brian was working on when he died.

I like to read 2 or 3 Master and Commander books in a row to keep the story flow going then I'll read something else for a while. Otherwise I start talking like an early 19th century British naval officer and my wife looks at me funny...well funnier than usual. This time I read The Kite Runner and then The Mysterious Island during the break. The Mysterious Island takes place in the same part of the world as The Truelove (only about 50 years later) which got me in the mood to start the series again.

In this one, Aubrey's ship, the Surprise, is en route from Australia to South America when he receives new orders to stop a French attempt to take over the fictional island of Moahu. In addition, they are to recover the British whaler, Truelove, which was captured by the French. He also has to deal with an escaped woman convict (Clarissa Oakes) who one of the midshipmen smuggled on board while in Australia. Most of the book covers the events during the voyage to Moahu. Clarissa's presence on the ship creates tension among the officers which affects the entire crew's morale as they prepare for the upcoming battle.

The story telling was top notch as always. Not much combat action in this one but there were several sub-plots expertly woven in that defined this book and connected it to the overall series story line. O'Brian continued his style of abrupt endings that come too soon. I don't know why the publishers renamed the book for publication in the US. Clarissa Oakes is a more fitting title since so much of the plot revolves around her.

I suspect Jack is going to start having serious health issues soon. He's always been a heavy eater and his career is tough on the body. Maturin spent more time tending to him in this one. I'm sure he'll turn out fine though...he has 5 1/2 more books to star in. Up next: The Wine-Dark Sea.

Mole Episode1: Crowd Favorite Gets Executed

2008-06-03T20:50:00.000-04:00

The new season of The Mole debuted last night with a twist. Marcie, voted at the start of the show to most likely be the Mole by the other players, was executed. She was my first choice to be the Mole when they were doing the introductions. Why? Because, as I told my wife, "stay at home moms are sneaky." According to ABC's Behind the Scenes blog, the show's crew thought she was the Mole, too! So I wasn't alone in my first impression...still wrong though.

Jon Kelley, the new host, looked more nervous at the start of the show than the players did and his delivery of the intro was cheesy. He was much better when he turned the announcer voice off and talked normally. It seems like he's able to develop good rapport with the players so I expect he'll get better as the season progresses and he gets more comfortable with the job.

The show itself was good...up until they announced the exemption. I'm not a fan of exemptions, they make the show distracting for viewers. I want to watch players complete the tasks and try to figure out who the Mole is...not scheme to win an exemption. The introduction of exemptions spoiled the 2nd season. This one was a surprise reward which makes it more acceptable since it doesn't waste as much show time. It sounds like players will know when it's up for grabs next week from the preview.

It's only the 1st episode but here are my top 3 picks for the Mole this week:

Mark - He's a history teacher...he should have known during the Selkirk scavenger hunt that batteries and blue jeans weren't around in 1704. That sob story during his interview may be legit but the delivery was a scam. I believe he does need the money...the money he'll win as Mole.
Liz - She seems very confident and crafty...like she's got an inside joke. Her occupation is listed as "Retired". Retired what? Undercover cop or secret agent perhaps? She was also one of the appraisers...but she did get the bag over the falls...but she also knew it probably wouldn't have money in it. Keep an eye on this one, she's up to something.
Paul & Bobby - Hey, it's the first episode and my #1 choice got executed so I'm calling a tie for the #3 spot. It won't happen again. Both of these guys were slackers in the scavenger hunt. Paul is over dramatic and is trying to get people to think he's the Mole...maybe too much. Bobby (aka Walking Skeleton...that dude is thin) was huffing and puffing from a collapsed lung while walking on the beach. Not sure if that's an act or not yet...from next week's preview it looks like he'll be doing more of it. He spends a lot of time hanging back and observing, letting others talk...good strategy for a player and the Mole.

Of course, the real Mole is probably someone who got little air time on this first episode. We'll learn more next week...

Give Your Old Jeans New Life...As Home Insulation

2008-05-30T19:38:00.004-04:00

Few things are as comfortable as a favorite well worn pair of jeans. Unfortunately, even the best pair of jeans can become unwearable over time. My jeans tend to get rips and holes around the crotch for some reason, not an easy place to patch. I wear them as long as I can for doing household chores and yard work but the holes are way too big for that now. I'm too frugal to throw them out and have been trying to find a good use for them.

Then I came across an article in the local paper about an 8th grader organizing a denim drive sponsored by Cotton Inc. and the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. The jeans get recycled into a cotton fiber insulation that goes into homes Habitat for Humanity is building in the New Orleans area. What a cool idea! It's good for the environment and helps out a worthy cause. Bang! My search is over.

Yesterday I stopped by the local ReStore and dropped off several pairs of jeans. There was a big bin just inside the door that was filled with donated jeans. They even had a piece of the insulation there so you can see what your old jeans will turn into. It's about 4 inches thick, soft (it is cotton) and looks like really thick carpet padding.

It takes about 500 pairs of jeans to insulate one home. Here's a promotional video about the program. Contact the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in your area to learn if they are participating in the drive and where to drop off your old jeans.

I never heard of the ReStore before...it's basically a thrift store for surplus and used building materials that gets donated by contractors and individuals. They had tons of stuff...furniture, flooring, complete kitchen cabinet sets, appliances, doors, windows, plumbing fixtures...you name it. Most of it was in good condition (some brand new). The prices are low and the proceeds go to support Habitat for Humanity. It's worth the time to visit and check if they have something useful for your next home project.

Dutch Wonderland - A Fun Amusement Park For Families With Young Kids

2008-05-26T21:37:00.002-04:00

We recently went to Dutch Wonderland for the first time and had a blast. If you've never heard of it, it's an amusement park in Lancaster, PA (Pennsylvania Dutch Country). It has a cheerful prince and princess theme complete with castle and a friendly dragon. Think DisneyWorld but much smaller with generic characters and a bit of Amish charm thrown in.

The park is perfect for kids under 10. Our little one was grinning from ear to ear the whole time...the kind of smile that lights up your world as a parent. I counted 34 rides...everything from a classic merry-go-round to a big wooden roller coaster. Kids under 36" tall can go on most of the rides and there were only 4 rides that kids had to be taller than 42" to go on. The rides are fun for adults, too, who can go on most although some are a snug fit. The smaller roller coaster had nice tight turns and good speed. The lines were short and we rode our favorite rides multiple times.

DW offers a preview deal that you should consider if you go. Buy a full day admission ticket in advance and you can go into the park after 3pm (or 3 hours before they close) for free the day before you use the ticket. We bought our tickets on Sat, went in to the park right at 3:00, rode a bunch of rides then came back Sun morning and spent the whole day there...all on the same ticket.

The park is clean with a friendly atmosphere. Maybe this was because we went early in the season, but the staff seemed really friendly and cheerful too. There are also live shows and carnival games. As I tried to tell my wife, you will get wet if you sit in the "splash zone" seats at the Frog Prince diving show. What else to tell you...oh yeah, the parking is free.

We stayed at the Old Mill Stream Campground which is right next door to DW. It took ~5 minutes to walk to the entrance of DW from our site so the location is great. Several restaurants and the outlet malls are also in walking distance. The campground has good facilities, friendly staff and is secluded enough that you don't feel close to the highway. Lots of big leafy trees and a stream running along the back of the property with farms and parkland on the other side. You can also buy discount tickets ($2 off) to DW at the campground office. Every evening an old Amish couple rode through the campground in their horse and buggy selling baked goods...cakes, pies, even farm fresh eggs. Delicious!

We'll definitely plan to go back to Dutch Wonderland again...now if I can just get their theme song out of my head.

The Return of the Mole

2008-05-26T19:35:00.001-04:00

Less than two weeks before the new season of The Mole starts! My wife and I are cautiously optimistic for the show. We loved the first season back in 2001. It had intrigue, exotic locations around the world and cool tasks to complete. It was the kind of show I'd like to go on.

In season 2 the show went down hill...the producers got exemption happy. Instead of players trying to complete tasks and identify who the Mole was, they were too busy competing for exemptions from the execution. The show lost focus and wasn't as fun to watch. ABC pulled it after only a few episodes.

Then the worst thing possible happened...Celebrity Mole. We saw maybe 5 nauseating minutes of it and never watched again. The show was dead to us.

Flash forward 4 or 5 years and a new non-celebrity season is about to start. The previews for this new season look good. It's got a new host...Anderson Cooper hosted the first two seasons but decided a serious journalism career was more important. Too bad, he had a great rapport with the contestants (to his credit, he didn't host the celebrity version) that added to the fun of the show. The new guy is a former sports reporter so maybe he'll do some cool stuff with the players, too. And maybe, hopefully, they'll go back to the original rules without all the exemptions.

We'll know on June 2. Stay tuned...

Hello, world

2008-05-24T16:59:00.001-04:00

Ladies and gentlemen, the award for "Most Original First Blog Post Title" goes to...not me.

Welcome to my first ever blog and blog post! Whenever I learned a new programming language, the first assignment was usually a "Hello World" program. This is my first blog so it seemed like an appropriate title. No doubt I'm the first person to think of it.

What is this blog about? Good question...guess I should figure that out. I've read that a good blog should be focused, preferably on one subject. That's good advice and I might like to build that kind of blog some day. First, I need to figure out which of my interests I'm able to write about well enough and in enough volume to justify its own blog.

So this blog will be about the "what nots" of life. What nots to me are the things that add flavor to every day life...little details, happenings or passing thoughts. It will cover a range of topics including entertainment, the internet, news, fantasy football, travel and what not. I'll do my best to keep it interesting and hopefully you'll find something of interest or benefit to you.

Who knows...eventually I may see a trend in postings to a specific subject and can spin off a good focused blog.