Yeah, They Might Let You Say It, But It’d Take All Day to Explain It

Wednesday. Not much going on today, which is good because I used the morning to finish catching back up on some things I fell behind on due to the Thanksgiving break and my focus on deduction resolutions. Right now I am writing out my end-of-the-month treasury reports, which are a pain to do since you are basically asking the company to borrow money to cover your past-due accounts and explaining why they got so big/old. Hey, I inherited these accounts; I'm not the culprit. Unfortunately I can't really say that to the treasury VP. At least this month I have actually brought in a good chunk of money to pay some of these balances down, so I at least have some good news to share in my reports.

Ok, I know I said a few weeks ago that I was going to learn HTML and radically change the design layout of this site. Well, my plans haven't changed, only postponed for now. I ordered a book that looked pretty good, but unfortunately I haven't had any spare time to sit down and start going through it yet. Between this job, the seasonal tree lot job, and grad school I've had my plate full lately. However, after Xmas the tree lot job will be over and I will have graduated grad school (yeah!). Then I should hopefully have time to finally work on some design code. So, hang in there. It's coming, I promise!

Today I listened to Keep It Like a Secret by Built to Spill. I didn't wake up with anything in particular in my head, and I didn't feel like straining my brain that early in the morning trying to decide what to pick. Since I love this album and I haven't heard it in a while, I chose this one. I've reviewed it before, so I'm not going to retread. However, as far as how awesome this album is, I won't Keep It Like a Secret. Check it out!

I Don’t Believe in Illusions ‘Cuz Too Much is Real

Tuesday. Well so far this has been a good day. I just got off a conference call with The Big Boss Lady and other co-workers of various rank and departments. The meeting concerned deductions on a particular account that I have worked hard on the past month or so to clean up, and during the call The Big Boss Lady announced that in just this month alone I have brought in $350K of aged receivables. If you add this to the $1.3 mil that she told me came in on another one of my accounts, it looks like darthjohnny might actually be having a good month. The hard work is far from over, but I'm happy to see some of this effort is finally paying off (literally). Sorry to blow my own horn a bit, but I am just a little excited I guess from the BBL's kudos.

So, they recently announced the 2006 inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Now in past years the inductee list has been somewhat controversial, such as when they inducted Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and incited a huge debate over whether rap artists should be allowed into the "rock'n'roll" hall of fame. However, there seems to be a pretty decent field this year. Black Sabbath will be inducted, and while I am not a huge Ozzy or Sabbath fan, there is no argument over their influence on rock music (however, didn't Ozzy once say he never wanted to be inducted into the hall of fame?). Lynyrd Skynyrd will also make it in, answering Freebird's question that even if they did leave here tomorrow (or in a 1977 plane crash), they would still be remembered. Blondie is on the list, and while they definitely had some hits in the 70's, they are probably the weakest of the inductees. I know a bunch of Debbie Harry fans will probably be upset at that statement, but I just don't see them as having the same amount of influence as some of the other current and past inductees. The most controversial name on the list is Miles Davis, since he is widely known as a jazz musician, not a rock'n'roller. However, as I mentioned in this review, Davis' experiments in jazz/rock fusion is widely seen as some of the most phenomenal music ever made.

Finally, despite a relatively short musical career together, The 5ex Pistols will be inducted into the hall of fame. This one goes after my own heart. You see I have a particular fondness for the Pistols. Never Mind the Bollocks played an instrumental part of my youthful development. Along with The Ramones and The Misfits, the Pistols made up a large part of my junior high/freshman years. Bollocks was brilliant and terrible at the same time. The music was discordant, the lyrics were inaudible, and the attitude was definitely f-off. They were the exact opposite of what a pop music act should be. They were the real anti-establishment, in-your-face punk rockers. What angst-ridden 13-year-old boy couldn't latch on to that message? Sure, I'm older and assimilated now, but as soon as I started listening to Bollocks this morning I was transported to a time when it was me-against-the-world and when my friends and I thought our rebellion actually meant something. I still see underage kids hanging out in front of the mall smoking cigarettes and wearing Misfits T-shirts, and I laugh because some things never change. Then, sadly, I'm reminded that despite it all some things never change.

Never Mind the Bollocks is highly recommended for those who think the compromised and commercialized music of Blink 182, Good Charlotte, Sum 41, et al, is punk rock. Take a listen to Anarchy in the UK, God Save the Queen, Pretty Vacant, Holiday in the Sun, etc. and then tell me that Stacy's Mom is a punk rock song. Really.

Time is an Arranger, I am a Derangement

Monday. Well, I guess we're back at it after the long holiday weekend. I hope all of your respective Thanksgiving dinners went well. I spent a good part of my long weekend working at the tree lot loading and unloading Xmas trees off of a big semi truck. I haven't done much actual selling of trees (only two) since most of my time has been doing hard manual labor. Thus far I have learned an important life lesson: while this job may bore the complete tar out of me sometimes, I am extremely grateful that I don't have to completely bust my rear end lifting and loading heavy materials for a full-time living. My sincere respect goes out to those who do, because my body seriously hates me right now. So, the moral of the story is stay in school, kids.

Well, the football weekend went ok I guess. The good news is that Tennessee beat Kentucky, continuing the second longest series of domination over a rival school (Notre Dame holds the #1 longest streak over Navy). The bad news is that the Volunteers are ineligible for a bowl game even with the win, so I guess that's the end of the season for my boys in orange. Rest up fellas, you have a whole lotta work to do in the off-season.

Colorado State didn't play, but they did accept an invitation to the inaugural Poinsettia Bowl. I guess that's better than not going to any bowl (see above), but the Poinsettia Bowl???

USC didn't play but I think it is fairly certain they will be seen in the Rose Bowl. #2 Texas defeated Texas A&M pretty handily, and will next take on the Colorado Buffaloes for the Big 12 Championship. Um, the Buffs just got spanked by unranked 14-point underdog Nebraska. They don't stand a chance against the Longhorns.

#3 LSU won a close one over Arkansas, but I don't see them sneaking into the BCS title game with their one loss. Did I mention that their one loss came from Tennessee in one of the few bright spots of the season?

Not too much else happening in college football that wasn't already predictable. So, we'll see how the conference championship games go and then how the BCS shakes out. Get ready for controversy, it's inevitable.

In professional ball, the Broncos won a close one over the Dallas Cowboys in overtime. That was an excellent game, and I'm sure the TV people were well pleased that the game stayed close since it was the Thanksgiving showcase game. The Broncos will now face another tough week as they try to extend their divisional lead over Kansas City in Kansas City. They are also vying for home field advantage during the playoffs, so watch MNF tonight to see if the Steelers can help out by ending the Colt's undefeated streak...

I listened to Bossanova by The Pixies this morning. I needed something to wake me up and get me going after not getting up so early in the morning the past four days or so. I don't know if it completely did the trick. It may be time for another cup of coffee now.

Talkin' Turkey

Wednesday. It's Thanksgiving Eve! Yeah! The place is dead here today. No one is in, and those who are in aren't very busy. I am creating bill-backs for deductions. It is basically busy work, but it has to be done by the end of the month and I might as well get it done now. Other than that, not much else is going on.

I started out listening to Sketches of Spain by Miles Davis this morning, but ended up having to turn it off after about four tracks so I could hear the traffic report. For some unknown reason as of two days ago the left lane on I-25 heading into Denver has all of a sudden ended without notice. Literally, the lines were repainted overnight to form a merge, yet there is no warning that the lanes are coming together. There used to be a left lane there for years, but now there isn't. And since there is no sign telling us so, people are flying in at 65-70mph only to find out they better get over and soon (and of course no one on the right is going to let any of the lefties in). Needless to say there have been several particularly nasty accidents the past two days heading into work. A guy here who travels the same path said he saw someone take out the concrete barrier this morning. So, I don't want to end up going into a rant here (too late), but seriously somebody in city planning should lose his or her job over this one. Whatever they are doing to the road, they better get it done quickly because I will be seriously fearing for my life if I have to go through this too many more times. Anyway, that's why I don't really have a music review today.

I hope that you all have a very happy Thanksgiving and a good long weekend. See you all when you get back-

It May Be years Until the Day My Dreams Will Match Up With My Pay

Tuesday. A pretty busy day considering this is a holiday week. I am currently working on a project to clean up all of our deductions by the end of the year. At first I was free from having to deal with this mess, but I volunteered myself to work on a group of them so I could mediate between two people who can't stand working together. Seriously, we're grown adults but it seems like we're in junior high sometimes. On top of that I am getting slammed with orders, so I have had plenty to do today.

I am still a bit sore from unloading all of those Xmas trees on Sunday, but I am starting to limber up now. I talked to the manager of the lot last night and it looks like I will hopefully be making some green from the greenery by this Friday. I looked up a bunch of Xmas tree trivia on the Internet (yes, there is a surprisingly ample supply of xmas tree trivia on the web) so I can know all of my trees and tree care in time for the big holiday push. Two things I learned about marketing in biz school: know your customers and know your product. At the very least I'll be half-prepared. I'll figure out the rest on the fly.

I listened to a new album today, Let it Die by Feist. Now if you were unfamiliar with that album, you might think that this is some kind of German industrial nihilistic death metal release. This album is actually pretty much the opposite of that. I heard the song Mushaboom on the radio and since it sounded like Billie Holiday, I thought it was a Madeleine Peyroux song that I hadn't heard before. When the DJ said it was Feist, I sampled the album and it piqued my interest. Since it magically appeared on my computer hard drive just in time for my drive this morning, I thought I would give it a trial spin. While several of the tracks do have that jazzy Billie Holiday feel, not all of the songs follow this genre. All the songs are fairly mellow, but several have a kind of electronica background to them. There is even an interesting cover of the Bee Gee's Inside and Out. Overall, I thought this album was pretty good. If you like Madeleine Peyroux and, say, Norah Jones and that variety of female vocalists you should check this one out. If you are into German industrial nihilistic death metal you might want to look somewhere else.

I'm Working on Drinking, I'm Working on Driving, I'm Working on Driving My Dreams

(no, kids, I don't advocate drinking and driving, but I thought that was a good line)

Well everybody, I'm back. I know you missed me. The trip to corporate went well. It was nice to finally meet some of my co-workers face-to-face instead of over the usual instant messenger or email correspondence. I don't know how much I really got done while I was there, but I was able to train in my backup on how to run the receivables website since the only other person besides myself in a company of 9,000 people who knew how to do it moved up to a different department. Hopefully he caught on, but if not I at least got a free lunch out of the deal while I was there...

I just took on a seasonal job selling Xmas trees to bring in some extra holiday cash. This was the easiest job interview I have ever had. I filled out an application last week and handed it to the boss. She took one look at it and told me to show up on Sunday morning ready to work. Well, I showed up yesterday and work I did. We spent the day unloading the trees from the delivery truck and let me tell ya, I can't remember the last time I worked that hard. If you are ever curious about how in shape you are, unload about a 1,000 Xmas trees for 2-3 hours. I consider myself a somewhat-fit guy, but I can barely move today. I guess it will all be worth it to see those happy faces on Xmas, even if Santa and his elves get all of the credit...

I don't even know if I want to talk about football today. Tennessee lost to Vanderbilt. This is tough to take for several reasons. First, it means that UT will not be bowl eligible for the first time in 17 years. How does a team start the season ranked #3 and then not even make it to a bowl? Second, Tennessee lost to Vanderbilt. I know I have been saying all season long that I was glad that Vandy was finally turning their program around, but really, I didn't expect them to actually beat Tennessee. I mean that hasn't happened since 1982. They haven't won in Knoxville since 1975! This is just disgraceful. I love my Volunteers, but they are really testing my loyalty this season. At least beat Kentucky this week, guys, ok? Please don't go out losing to Kentucky...

My Alma mater, Colorado State, beat UNLV this weekend. And to help out, BYU lost. That means that there is a four-way tie for second place in the MWC conference. With the win the Rams became bowl eligible (yeah!), so we'll have to see how the tiebreakers shake out to see which one they get invited to.

#1 USC had another scare this week from Fresno State, but was able to pull out the win. Texas didn't play, but unranked Georgia Tech upset #3 Miami. #4 LSU clobbered Ole Miss, and Penn State secured the Big Ten title with their win over Michigan State. The story of the week, though, of course is Ohio State's rally to defeat their bitter enemy Michigan. I have a lot of family in the Buckeye State and I think I could hear them screaming all the way over here in Colorado when they won...

In professional ball, the mighty Denver Broncos had a very impressive shutout win over the NY Jets. Unfortunately, they don't have long to celebrate since they have the Thanksgiving Day game against Dallas this year. Dallas is a decent team and will surely show up for their traditional Turkey Bowl. However, I am predicting that the boys in orange and blue will taste the turkey legs this year.

I listened to Modest Mouse today, so sorry, no jazz review. I was so sore and tired this morning I didn't want to even think about making a big decision like what to listen to on the drive in to work. This post is getting too long anyway so that's it for now.

Feeling Wholly Beat (Plus Some)

Wednesday. Man, I am just really not into work today. Not that I am on other days, but today even more so. I have nothing due today, so I basically have to find things to do. Needless to say, I am not searching too hard. I am traveling to corporate HQ tomorrow, so I most likely won't be posting for the next couple of days. I know it will be hard on you all, but try to fight back those tears. It's only for a few days...

I listened to Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet this morning. I first heard this album several years ago (‘98? ‘99?) when a former boss lent it to me when she heard me say I liked Miles Davis. This album is of mention for several reasons. First, Take Five from this album was the first jazz record to sell over a million copies. Second, this record is renowned for its experiments in time signature, specifically 5/4 (hence the name, Take Five). Of course, this album also has its detractors. Some argue that Dave Brubeck wasn't the first person to experiment with time signatures and only because of his ethnicity did people pay attention (or buy that many records). Others argue that time signature is irrelevant in jazz music, and it isn't the time in which the note is played, but the way the note is played (or in some cases, not played). I don't know. I'm not going to comment on the ethnicity issue, and I don't read music well enough to have a strong enough opinion on the other. All I know is that my brain and ears tell me that I like it when I listen to this album, and that is pretty much the deciding factor in cases such as these. While to me it is no Kind of Blue (to which it is often compared), I think it is a pretty good record and accessible to even the most casual jazz fan.

(I once worked at a place where a customer called up and for some reason went on a tirade about how much she despised Dave Brubeck. At the time I was less puzzled by her abhorrence than I was that she didn't even stop to question if I even knew who Dave Brubeck was (I did, see above) in this age of rap and rock domination.)

Here Comes the Son

A HUGE congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. lampsidebriefcase on the birth of their new son, Lennon James, born November 13 at 6:30pm. Way to go, guys! I am very happy for both of you.

(yes, I am aware that is a George Harrison song, but I just couldn’t turn down a good pun)

Running the Voodoo Down

Tuesday. Not much is going on today. It's a typical Tuesday. I'm putting together my preliminary spreadsheet report for this week's upload right now, and after that I will probably do a mixture of order approvals and collections. The Big Boss Lady is still in town so I have to look at least somewhat productive, but she does grant me a bit of levity so that is cool.

Speaking of cool, I listened to Miles Davis' landmark album B1tches Brew this morning on my way to work. I really like Miles Davis and have about 4-5 of his albums (Kind of Blue being my favorite). On this double album, Davis sought to go beyond cool and usher in a new, exploratory form of jazz. While this genre was never given a name, it has been described as a fusion of jazz, rock and funk. Its formless and improvisational style inspired many a musician, including The Grateful Dead who toured with Miles on his B1tches Brew European tour. Apparently there are some detractors of this album. Much like when fans became angry at Bob Dylan for going electric, many fans who were expecting another Kind of Blue were turned off by this new, electric sound. So, is Miles Davis a sell-out or a pioneer? I tend to think that a true artist should push the envelope and explore new realms to make us appreciate what we never knew was there or never paid attention to before. This album is phenomenal in my opinion, and I highly recommend it. If you think of jazz as a bunch of rag-timey guys sitting around playing trombones and clarinets, pick up this album. Your perception of jazz will never be the same.

Life is But A Dream...

Well, I'm sure you noticed that I did some changes to the layout over the weekend. As I mentioned about a week or so ago, I am going to teach myself website design starting with HTML. I know a lot of the basic tags, how to link, etc, but my first goal is to create a page display template from scratch. I ordered a book on HTML code, so I am pretty excited about that, but in the meantime I have been playing around with the existing default template just to see the results. What do you all think of the new color scheme?

I didn't do too hot with my football picks over the weekend. Sure, Tennessee won, but they had to come from behind to beat Memphis. They seriously almost lost to Memphis. I can't believe it.

Colorado State blew their chance to become bowl eligible with a loss to San Diego State, and since BYU won their game over Wyoming, the Rams are now no longer even in second place.

I picked Alabama over LSU, but LSU beat the Crimson Tide in OT. Ahhh... I remember early in the season when it was Tennessee beating LSU in overtime... how quickly things change. I also picked Florida over South Carolina, but unfortunately Steve Spurrier got his win over his former team, providing even more padding to his over-inflated ego.

On the flip side, I did successfully predict a USC win over Cal, a Texas blowout over Kansas, and a Miami win over Wake Forrest, so not all turned out badly. Also the mighty Denver Broncos beat their archrival Oakland Raiders in Oakland, so things are definitely going well as far as professional ball is concerned.

My daughter came home the other day and asked me about Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald because she learned about them in music class. Now wait a minute, when I was in first grade I remember singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat in a round (poorly, no less). She's studying Beethoven’s Fur Elise and bebop jazz. Crazy. So, while I would never consider myself a jazz aficionado, I do consider myself a jazz appreciator. I have a small collection of jazz albums (luckily I had some Louis Armstrong for her) and I just picked up some more, since I figure I better get on the ball if she is showing an interest in it. Anyway, this is all just a long segue into why I listened to The Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall this morning on the way to work. It was excellent; although I have to admit I expected more of a bop-style vs. cool. That's okay, though, because I am cool with cool. I am excited to get back into this wonderful genre; however, it does mean that I will for the most part be lacking clever lyrics to title my postings...

Life is One Big Question When You're Starin' at the Clock

Friday. A good day so far. I found some missing money that I used to pay off and close out an old account, so that was pretty cool. It wasn't the big $$$ that I still need to bring in, but every little bit helps. A lot of the local branch managers are out today, so there is a very relaxed atmosphere today on top of the usual laid-back Fridayness. The Big Boss Lady is here in town, but that's ok, because that let's me touch base and catch up with all of the happenings over at HQ plus she got to witness me finding that money, so now she'll actually think I'm making some progress over here...

I missed yesterday's post. Sorry about that, it has been a rough week for me. Since I didn't do college football picks, I do a quick rundown:

My Tennessee Volunteers are playing Memphis State... I mean University of Memphis. Ok, they've been U of Memphis for over 10 years now, but they'll always be MSU to me. Ok, I know the Vols are having a rough season, but if they lose to the Tigers I'll never watch another UT game again... who am I kidding, of course I will but it would be downright embarrassing if they couldn't put this one away.

After losing out on a chance at the conference title last week, Colorado State has found themselves in a tie for second place. So this means that the Rammies must win against San Diego State and Kat's BYU Cougars must lose to Wyoming (sorry, Kat) because the Cougars hold the tiebreaker over the Rams. So go Rams, boo Cougars!

A crazy week in the SEC: #4 Alabama plays #5 LSU (my pick = 'bama), #9 Georgia plays #15 Auburn (my pick = Auburn), and my least favorite football coach Steve Spurrier's South Carolina takes on his former team the Florida Gators. Who do I despise more, the Gators or their former coach? I am going to pick the Gators to win at this one. At least Urban Meyer was cool when he was at Utah.

Around the league, #1 USC will try to avoid an upset by Cal, #2 Texas will stomp Kansas, and #3 Miami will handle Wake Forrest.

In professional ball, the Denver Broncos are going into the black hole to take on the dreaded Oakland Raiders. For those who don't know, the Raiders are the Broncos' sworn enemies. While the stats would indicate a Bronco advantage, records are meaningless for rivalries. I'm still pretty confident the rested Broncos will take this one. Go big orange!

Ok, that's it. I listened to Sublime this morning to kick my day off right, and it must have done the trick because today thus far has been pretty cool. I probably just jinxed it, though...

Tempus Fugit

Holy cow! Where did the time go? Well, the day is over and I didn't get a post out, so sorry about that. To sum up: I was bored at work and I listened to Modest Mouse. You know, the usual.

Don’t Think it’s Madder to be a Genius

Tuesday. Not much going on today. In fact, things are rather lame. I just finished my preliminary spreadsheet report for this week's upload and now I plan on doing some more collection work. My vendor database project is pretty much dead, but that's ok. This was pretty much an understood consequence of bringing me back into collections. The Big Boss Lady advised that she was thinking about bringing another person aboard, and if so, may help finish up the project so that is cool. I'd like to get rid of this box of files that has been sitting by my desk for months now.

I listened to Good God's Urge by P0rno for Pyros this morning on the way in. I needed a change up, and I thought this album might do the trick. On Good God's Urge, Perry Ferrell (ex-front man of Jane's Addiction and insane musical genius) explores his more mellow and spiritual side as opposed to the more raw, emotionally powerful releases of Jane's Addiction or even P4P's debut set. Most of the songs have rich, mellow melodies and the album flows together well. 100 Ways is an excellent track, as well as Kimberly Austin, which I personally think is one of the most beautiful love songs ever written. Not all of the tracks are slow, however. The album speeds up in a couple of spots, namely Tahitian Moon and Dogs That Rule the Night. I think this album may have disappointed a lot of hardcore Jane’s fans. I welcome the change. An extraordinary artist like Perry Farrell can't be pigeonholed into just one style or genre. I think he just felt a need to explore other areas of his talent and interests. Growth is always better than stagnation in my book. I recommend this album, but if you don't already have Nothing's Shocking or Ritual De Lo Habitual by Jane's Addiction in your collection, you should probably get those first.

Let's Ride the Tiger Down River Euphrates

Monday. There hasn't been much going on today. It has been fairly slow. I finished my spreadsheet this morning and then I have worked on some collection issues for the rest of the day. I just got another $55K obligated to pay, which will close out a dead account, so a little bit of success there.

Well, this past weekend was pretty lousy football-wise. Tennessee lost to Notre Dame, so they will have to pretty much sweep the rest of their games if they want to remain bowl eligible. Normally I wouldn't think there would be a problem handling Kentucky and Vanderbilt, but the way this season has been going I wouldn't count on those games as given wins until the final score has been tallied.

Colorado State also blew its chance to take control of the Mountain West. Since for some crazy reason this game was not televised, I didn't get to see it. Apparently turnovers were quite costly for the Rams. The good news is that if the Rammies can take their next games, they will be heading into post-season bowl play. C'mon Rammies!

USC jumped on Stanford early for an easy win. As predicted Texas absolutely crushed Baylor, shutting them out 62-0. Ouch. I predicted the Miami win over Virginia Tech as well. Alabama blanked Mississippi State. The big shocker came from Vanderbilt, who almost beat Florida! Only an interception in OT saved the Gators. Man, would I have loved to see Vandy win that one. Good try, Commodores, good try.

Today I listened to Surfer Rosa by the Pixies. I didn't wake up with anything in particular in my head to listen to, so while flipping through I realized that it had been awhile since I cranked Black Francis & Co. Since I am pressed for time and my feelings for the Pixies are well known on this site I will end for now.

My Brain is Hangin' Upsidedown

Friday. Yeah! I have been busy today. I had a long teleconference meeting today regarding summary billings and deductions (yep, just about as exciting as it sounds) along with my usual Friday spreadsheet report. Along with that, we had a big potluck for lunch so I am totally stuffed. All of the blood from my head has rushed into my stomach making me incredibly tired and unable to concentrate. Factor in that it's Friday afternoon and I'm pretty much done for the day.

I listened to some perfect Friday music today, The Ramones. These guys totally rock (as I’ve previously mentioned here). I have been a big fan of the Ramones since about junior high. I remember trying to figure out the lyrics to Blitzkrieg Bop with my friend Brandon (what are they doing in the backseat?) and my other friend Mark's goal of growing his hair out like Joey Ramone so he could completely cover his face in class and sleep. Ahhh... those were the days. You know I recently saw a picture of Jennifer Garner wearing a Ramones T-shirt. At first, I was like "that's pretty cool" but after thinking about it, I wondered if that was really her shirt. Or perhaps she was just wearing it to get that chic retro-look so popular with the Hollywood crowd these days. I guess we'll find out if she stars in the sequel to this movie(or maybe even this one).

Words of Love and Words So Leisured, Words of Poisoned Darts of Pleasure

Thursday. Today is website upload day so that is pretty much what I have been working on here. I did get some good news as far as collections go. The customer's A/P report listed several old items that I have been working on getting cleaned up including the $77K that I mentioned yesterday. I am still about a hair away from bringing in an additional $60K, but I think I may have gotten the issue resolved today so hopefully we can get that one paid for as well. Now it's time to work on some of the big dollars...

Since today is Thursday it is time for college football picks!

Tennessee plays #8 Notre Dame this week. My Volunteers have disappointed me this season. Of course, when 7 out of the 10 teams you play are in the top 15 you are bound to have a rough season. The Vols are trying to pick up the pieces, though. The offensive coordinator stepped down and Phil Fulmer himself will be calling the plays this weekend. Will that be enough to beat the well-rested Irish? I sure hope so. I don't really care for Notre Dame. Join a conference, will ya?

The Mountain West Conference title may be decided this weekend when Colorado State takes on #20 TCU. If the Horned Frogs beat the Rams, then they take the conference. The Rams are 1-½ games out of first, so if they defeat TCU and then San Diego next week then they take the MWC. This will be a huge game for sure, so let's go Rammies!

#1 USC will take on Stanford. Unless USC has a complete breakdown (which is quite possible) they should have no problem taking this one.

#2 Texas takes on Baylor. You have to give it up for teams like Baylor and Rice. Every year they take on Texas and every year they get smoked. Yet they still come back the next year for more. Of course none of that will mean anything when Texas blows them out yet again.

Now here's a good game: #3 Virginia Tech vs. #5 Miami. We should see a lot of high flyin' action in this one. I'm expecting a lot of big plays with the Hurricanes coming in on top.

#4 Alabama is playing Mississippi State. This should be no problem for the Crimson Tide. I'm only mentioning it because Alabama is the sole undefeated left in the SEC and I'm counting on them to represent big in the BCS.

And talking about SEC games, Vanderbilt takes on Florida. I would love to see Florida go down to Vanderbilt. C'mon Vandy!

I listened to Franz Ferdinand on the way in to work today. These guys are ok. Their self-titled album got a bunch of rave reviews, and I liked the song Take Me Out on the radio, so I picked up the album (I reviewed it previously here). It's not bad, and it is quite listenable, but I didn't get all crazy over it like some people did. This kind of stuff is in now, though, as evidenced by the success of The Killers, who I think sound just like FF. Franz Ferdinand recently released a new album that I want to check out. Look forward to a review of that one sometime in the near future.

Well, the Point was Fast But it was Too Blunt to Miss

Life handed us a paycheck, we said, "We worked harder than this!"

Wednesday. Another slow day around here and I am pretty bored. It is the start of the month so another collection period has begun! Yee haw! I am pretty close to bringing in about $77K on one account, which would bring it current, so not too bad there. I haven't brought in any of the really big bucks that are sitting out on some of my other accounts, but I am slowly chipping away at some things people thought would never be paid.

As you can tell from this website, I have some fairly novice HTML skills. I can do the basics, but I'm not exactly ready to overhaul the design layout of this default page template. I am looking to improve this situation, so hopefully there will be some good changes to come. We'll see how it goes.

Today I listened to Good News For People Who Love Bad News by Modest Mouse. I wasn't in the mood for anything in particular today and I hadn't heard this one in awhile so I decided to give it a go. It was definitely Modest Mouse, and that's a good thing. However, it is probably not a good thing for people to read about me gush about MM once again so I will spare you. Hey, if my brain was awake enough this morning to realize today is El Dia de los Muertos I would have cranked out some Grateful Dead. Maybe tomorrow...

When You Can Fall for Chains of Silver You Can Fall for Chains of Gold

Tuesday. Tooslowday is what they should call it. Man, is this day dragging. I did some spreadsheet stuff earlier and now I am just working on some odds and ends trying to get the small stuff done before it becomes big stuff.

Well, I bought my copy of Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith today. I ran out on my lunch break to grab it. No, I was not cool enough to camp out for the midnight madness sale but a guy here did and he said that about 200 people turned out for it just at that Wal-Mart alone. Pretty crazy. I went to Wal-Mart as well, not because I am a super big fan of the discount store, but because they were offering an exclusive bonus DVD with each purchase and I just couldn't turn that one down. If you haven't seen RotS yet, give it a shot. While it is no Empire Strikes Back, it is easily the best of the prequels.

I listened to Dire Straits on the way into work today. My brain was hurting again and it seemed like a good choice, especially since it had been awhile since I listened to them. My former college roommate first exposed me to the musical talents of Dire Straits. Of course, I had known Money for Nothing and Sultans of Swing from the radio, but I had never really listened to the lesser-known selections from the band. Like most groups you hear on the radio with an extensive catalogue, the tracks you hear are rarely the best that they have to offer. The same goes with Dire Straits. Mark Knopfler is an excellent guitarist and often employs a stripped-down, bluesy approach to his playing. Dire Straits' music is generally mellow and absorbing, although they can pick up the tempo pretty well also. For those who have never heard beyond the standard radio plays, I recommend Down to the Waterline, Romeo and Juliet, Lady Writer and Water of Love for starters and then go from there.