this is halloween...

this game is more fun than it really should be...

redox (domi) nation...

i have mixed feelings today. happy because my boston boys won the world series, but somewhat blue because it's all over until next april. i was hoping colorado could put up a better fight but they just didn't have the horses to run with the sox. i picked boston in 6, only because i didn't think they'd be able to win 2 of three at coors field - oops. now, just for clarification, i'm not one of these bandwagon guys that adopts a team simply because they are good, i lived in boston as a kid and went to my first ever game at fenway when i was 6, and still have relatives there...so, i'm legit. just so happens they are one of three mlb teams i can call my own, st. louis and of course minnesota being the other two.
read all about it at my favorite redsox site bostondirtdogs.

3 dimensional nightmare...

the kids and i survived the weekend just fine (like there was ever a doubt?:-). saturday i took them to see the re-released, 3D version of tim burton's "nightmare before christmas". i remember the original 1993 release of this film and don't recall it making much of an impact, at least on me. i have to say, seeing this in 3D makes all of the difference in the world. of course the kids thought it was awesome, despite my concerns that it might freak them out, especially owen. if he was freaked out, he put on a brave face and played it cool. there were no bad dreams that night (that i know of) so i think we pulled it off. in short, if you get a chance to see "nightmare" in 3D, check it out...besides, you get to keep the nerdy looking glasses, and they are not the cheapo cardboard kind either.

clock management...

this weekend i am playing mom, dad, peacemaker, warden, judge, jury, and executioner(minus the executioner), while allie is enjoying some time with her gal pals in a wisconsin cabin. it's not often that she is away on overnighters but she deserves the break and will give me a chance to bond with the kids in a way i don't always get a chance to. we have some activities planned, a movie, some homework, coerced piano practicing, and maybe some restaurant food, over the next 36 hrs. the goal is simple: we are in survival-mode until sunday afternoon and i just have to try to keep the wheels on the wagon and the inmates from running this asylum. more soon...

hannah mon-mania

when my wife heard that hannah montana was doing a concert at the target center in minneapolis she thought it would be fun to get the girls tickets. now my girls do not live and breathe hannah, as some apparently do, but they do like her and her music. to be honest i know virtually nothing about her but my wife follows this stuff pretty closely and being the daughter of billy ray cyrus, and a product of the unstoppable mass marketing force that is disney, it seemed like an ok thing to do. so a few saturdays ago, at the appointed hour, i logged into ticketmaster hoping to score a few seats. little did i realize that commoners like me and the thousands of other parents doing the same thing, had no chance at all at obtaining tickets as the concert "sold out" in a matter of seconds. as it turned out, hannah montana was the biggest concert of the season, and arguably the biggest concert in terms of ticket demand, EVER at the target center. the ticket brokers, and their "sophisticated" software sucked up all of the tickets almost instantaneously, where they appeared moments later at ebay and craigslist, before parents had a chance to buy them at face value. i had no idea that purchasing tickets would be this difficult but i found myself scouring the web to see if i could get tickets from a broker. as it turned out, the tickets were selling at about 3X's face value and i ended up sucking it up and getting three so my wife could take my girls. there were a lot of angry parents upset that brokers were profiting at the expense of parents who want to take their kids to the show, but i can actually see both sides of the argument. i wasn't thrilled that some ticket broker in new york city probably has some of my money now but its supply vs demand, free market society, blah blah. yes, it blew that i paid a small fortune for three tickets but i didn't HAVE to...nobody made me. thats what they cost and i paid it.
in the end, despite some logistical problems where people had to wait in line for the doors to open, the kids had a great time and really enjoyed themselves. would i do it again? probably not but it was part of the girls christmas and they know it was a once in a lifetime deal. sometimes you just want to do something for your kids and you shouldn't have to feel guilty about it.
believe the hype here or if you're really hardcore, check out the setlist here.

scheduled maintenance...

because thirdthoughts has nearly reached it's full capacity, it will be undergoing an "upgrade" in the coming few days. the upgrade will have nothing to do with content (we'll get to that later) but rather is to increase the webspace capacity on my web server. this may mean thirdthoughts will be temporarily offline for an unspecified but hopefully short amount of time. according to my web host, when upgrading a package all data is purged, meaning each and every page, file, etc. will be deleted and will have to be "re-upped" via ftp. i am taking great pains to see that nothing is lost and have backed up the entire contents of thirdthoughts on not one but two different computers. still, it makes one a little uneasy to think of the entire online content of the last 10 years of their life going "zap". this upgrade will ensure thirdthoughts being alive and well in the years to come with all of the witty banter, thoughtful insight, and weekly glimpses into my existence that you've come to expect over the years. see you on the other side.
the management

bytes

i realized to my shock that i have only 7 mb of web space free at the moment. i'll have to address that sooner than later.
please forgive my lack of recent posts. my days have involved getting up early and going to work, busting it all day and then going home to spend a little time with the kids before i watch baseball into the wee hours. speaking of which, it's not looking good for my redsox at the moment.
i've been so preoccupied that i spaced out on blog action day. but i haven't had a lot of time to think about global warming and our pollution problems much lately anyway. the only environment i've been able to focus on is my immediate one.
on to hump day!

a worthy cause...

the girls and i biked the 9.5 miles of the annual marathon for nonpublic education at minnehaha park this past saturday. it was a weird day weather-wise, unseasonably warm and muggy, but the rain held off for the most part. it's a mostly flat and very scenic ride, especially this time of the year. no wipeouts, blowouts or other unfortunate events this this time around as we completed the trek in about an hour with a short break at the midway point. thanks to my family members who contributed to the fundraiser.

just sayin...

this post could be mistaken as a rant or a whine...it is not. however, it would be a lie to say that this last week has not been a shock to the system. i have gone from idle to mach speed in the span of one week. i went from good morning america and afternoons with dr. phil to trying to dig out from a massive technical support back log. as it happened the weeks i was away caused work to just continue to pile up and now that i'm back, i'm a key member in trying to get everything caught up. it's a losing battle right now as i have spent about 99% of my time on unrelated projects that IT has deemed top priority. as i have stated before, work related stress is better than the stress of not having work, so i will continue to battle bravely onward, content with the fact that i have a job in which i can now occasionally vent about. the good news is that i am still somewhat under the radar as most end users in my facility have not yet realized that i have returned. i know this is a temporary solace but i have gained a fresh perspective and it's good to feel needed again.