How do these things not get shut down immediately by police?

It’s unfortunately really hard to stop them. They’re not exactly going to pull over for the police and when chased people tend to get hurt (not just the bikers themselves, but pedestrians as well). I don’t know about other cities, but DC has taken to photographing and looking for them afterwards

This was scene in Atlanta. Am I the only one who sees this as a Lord of the Flies governing body? You can’t have 100 motorists saying “fuck it” to the traffic laws. I’m a big supporter of freedom of expression, however, expressing your right to get a group of people together to do whatever the hell you want on the rules of the road, is where the line has to be drawn. I saw these guys in Philly too, and I thought that a police helicopter was following the crew but maybe that was wishful thinking. Undoubtedly people get hurt. This is like Mad Max meets real life. It would be hilarious to see the cops pulling these guys over and handing out traffic violations. The wheelies are also insane.

I would love to write more about each topic but I’m pressed for time. Here are a few thoughts on topical events:

• Super Team – I’m back on forth on the NBA Finals and what’s happening. On one side you have a team that hasn’t lost a game in the playoffs laying pipe in their own stadium. The one dimensional, click bait, dipshits start posting headlines like “Can the Cavs Win a Game?” or “Is KD the Best Player in the League?” Hold on one second. The Cavs got blown out by 15 and 33 last year and the same people start chirping. They won game 3 by 30 and ended up winning in 7. Does this feel a little different because of KD? Maybe a little, but cool your jets. If the Warriors win by double digits in Cleveland, I’ll write about the idea of  a super team, both good and bad, but we’re not there yet.
• Kathy Griffin – This is the news that I can’t stand. It’s not news. Let this idiot chop off the President’s head. Stop paying attention to her and she’ll go away. It’s like she sits down and says, “this is easily the best idea I have to show my disapproval of what is being carried out.” It’s another turkey who instead of making good happen, they spew their bad after bad.
• Snaking Back Monday – I finally got to a topic worth commenting on. We are playing tonight for the finals for thousands of dollars. I don’t know the actual breakdown because the league isn’t as transparent as it should be, but I know winning is the move. Money is nice but the reputation of champion is better. It’s what we’ve been playing for from the beginning and I’m sure I’ll post after it’s over.

If you saw my last post and got to the end, you’d see a sweet green backdrop, white title, and black text against it. High end shit. Moving forward I’m going to be using the Avada editor to build posts and you’ll see more sweet shit. My next step will be getting this site to its own dedicated server. The speed is unbearable for me and this can be improved by getting off of a HostMonster server filled with thousands of other shitheads. It will cost me a few more bucks but it’ll be worth it. With all of these fantastic steps forward, I wanted to bring back the very first post I ever wrote back in 2008. I’ll comment on it further in a subsequent post but all I can say is myself at 25 was pretty annoyed with life, an alcoholic, and gambled over his head. Some things haven’t changed.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

I’m not going to hold the suspense of our bowling playoff match…we won.

Snaking Back Monday got off to a slow start losing game 1. It’s hard to explain how this happens but we had 3 opens in our first 4 bowlers. Without putting any blame on any one individual, I was 100% the reason we lost game 1. I rolled a 158 while the rest of the team was around their average. I flat out wasn’t putting strikes on strikes and I missed a 7 pin. Inexcusable performance.

Game 2 was all my brother. Sam carried the team on his back with a well timed 269. The other team came back down to Earth during this game as well and we ended up winning by 50 pins. I’ll note that I threw a 3rd frame, first ball gutter, that cost me many pins and thankfully didn’t suck the wind out of our sails.

Game 3 was for all the marbles and a spot in the finals. Obviously this was crunch time as this 1 game was going to determine our fate. Fortunately for us, we didn’t win the game as much as the other team lost it. Don’t get me wrong, we bowled well, but the other team caked their pants. I stomped their will with a final game 239 and the team did its part in the providing full support. Strong final game by the Wevs and and we’re anticipating the Weens to be brought back to life in the finals. Positive thinking.

I welcome all blog readers to support us in the finals on Monday, 6/5 at 6:30 pm. Everyone is encouraged to show up as a cheering section will hopefully spook the other team. Home field advantage means a lot and I’m sure we’ll buy plenty of drinks with our winnings from the 31 week season.

My family went home for Mother’s Day and we were rummaging through old pictures. People love seeing how styles change so I’ll present to you some 90’s pictures to the early 00’s. I didn’t bring the Sam and I with dumb and dumber haircuts which had me on the floor but these will still be entertaining.

Halloween – Pretty sweet costumes made by our parents. If I wasn’t just crying, I’m about to be.

First Day of School – Notice my shoes in this picture. This was my favorite shirt.

First Day of School –  We were poor, my shoes didn’t change from the previous year. This was actually my favorite shirt. Laura had that pose nailed down. My mom said it was from a different day rather than year…

2nd Grade Project – The scan didn’t come over right but I wasn’t very creative as a kid. Art was my worst subject every single year. Upper left was a descriptoin of yourself which was smart, athletic, and I’m thinking small unless Spud Webb was my favorite player. JC and Cal Ripkin as role models. I obviously knew what I born to do at a young age. The Bobby Hurley player was a bit odd but I remember the 1990 Topps Bball set with draftpicks was my favorite set of cards.

Our Grandparents Motorhome – Plaid shorts with Shaq shoes. Nailed it.

Best Travel Baseball Team UD Has Ever Seen? – 40 game win streak.

TC Pre-Puberty – I make this point all the time in athletics that when you are young for your grade, you don’t stand a chance early on.

Golfing in High School Years – These old style golf shoes are so early 00’s.

My bill from Comcast was $236 this month and that didn’t sit well with me. I have all the movie channels except TMC , 2 DVR HD boxes, and supposedly fast internet. I watch a decent amount of sports and HBO so it’s worth it to me. I truly have no idea how people live without this type of package. I assume they read more or just don’t know what they are missing.

My good friend Evan works Q and A at Comcast. He answers questions which sounds like a pretty needed job at Comcast. Just kidding. QA as quality assurance for their apps. He actually has nothing to do with customer support I only wanted to include a human being to make this my experience more personable.

I called up and got a customer service rep and we were reviewing my package. I asked what my internet speed should be and he said 200mbs. When he said “200mbs”, I spit out my coffee and I wasn’t even drinking any. I did a speed check while we were on the phone and it was 2.0. I moved on to demanding that he discontinue my modem rental fee as I’ve been paying for 3 years and I have to had purchased it at this point. He was giving me a hard time so I told him that I was done talking to him and I want to be transferred. He asked if I would like technical or retention first. I said what the hell does it matter, give me technical suppor.

Technical was going through my account and told me there was an ingress on my account. I was like what the fuck is that? She said that it was put on there on April 17th. I asked what year? She mildly laughed and said she would have to get a rep out to me which we scheduled for Friday. I then asked for her to patch me to retention which she did.

When the new rep got on she said they can give me the same promotion without the sports package, which I only want for Red Zone, for $164 which is $20 less than my current bundle. Then I said this to her, “If you ordered a sandwich at a restaurant, and I gave you half a sandwich, you wouldn’t pay full price, this is what is happening with my internet speed. I’m paying for 200, and your giving me 2, I would like some compensation.” She was only doing her job and gave me a $40 credit which even though minimal, at least admits they are wrong.

All that being said, it took 50 minutes, I shaved about 30 bucks a month off my bill, got the new modem and X1 boxes, and have a technician to make sure I’m getting what I pay for. If I don’t make this call, I’m sitting here in the stone age waiting 3 minutes for this blog to post.

After a brief hiatus, the blog is back.

I traveled to Austin, Texas on Thursday morning for Big Steve McGrath’s bachelor party. A group of us arrived at 1ish in Austin to start with some beers and Bangers, the bar, near Rainey Street. The early restaurant experience gave a feel of a slower pace in the South from the Northeast, but overall likable people. I’m going to breeze through these days only because a complete write up at this point holds little value. Essentially most bars have outdoor patio areas, Lone Stars, and plenty of people looking to party. The first night had its array of arm wrestling contests, drunken conversations, and a bike ride back from 22nd street.

Our boat…not.

The next morning I awoke, chugged some coffee, ate a breakfast burrito, and got ready for the boat ride around Devils’s Cove on Lake Travis. We boarded a school bus that drove us 45 minutes to a lake where we had rented a party boat. Ian was encouraging a case race on the bus but the group was a bit frazzled from the night before and this wasn’t happening. Ed got Gerald some Cider’s and we killed a few cases of High Life and Tecate to set the tone. Noted that I drink beer faster than Ian.

It was a hot day and I applied sun screen to my face but not my whole body. Mistake. You’d think 5 hours on a boat with 18 bro’s would be a bit much, and it probably was. The day was perfect though and everyone enjoyed themselves. Survivor flip cup was a fun drinking game which Ian eventually lost for our team after saying, “this could be my moment”. We made sure to finish the keg on the way out and then kept drinking on the bus ride home. People were all over the place at this point and pretty exhausted. We rallied for BBQ at Cooper’s and a night at the Container bar. I called it a night around midnight but this was an all day drinkathon and people were dropping like flies towards the end.

Good picture of 6th st

On Saturday there was a street festival down 6th which made the day quite packed with people and activities. We tried to find a breakfast establishment but this was not as easy as it seems. It appears that Austin can’t serve alcohol until 11am which puts the kabash on most breakfast joints. The group found a luxuriously weird breakfast spot in the Marriot. After that we gathered together and bar hopped for the day watching the Kentucky Derby somewhere in there. The night found us rendezvousing and eventually staying out all night. Details excluded.

Death called on Sunday as we gathered to head to the airport. I’m sure everyone was feeling it at this point. I slogged through the 3 hour plane ride in an almost catatonic state that wouldn’t leave me until 8:34pm Tuesday evening as I type this post. Either way, I wouldn’t change a thing. It was a life experience I’ll never forget.

Special thanks to Ed for doing all the planning. To Ian for being a weirdo and taking the verbal abuse away from everyone else. And Steve for having a great group of friends. Til next time.

I’ve been splicing the Museum Deli into my Dunkin Donut’s morning breakfast routine and I’ve been quite pleased. Museum Deli is owned by an Asian family who keep a neat store but don’t do a great job with advertising. The Dunkin I go to routinely has between 2-15 people in line and is that way from 7am to 9am. The Museum Deli routinely has between 0-1 people waiting in line from 6am to 6pm. This is good for now unless it becomes too popular.

At Dunkin I always get a medium coffee with cream and sugar, and a bagel with cream cheese. The total is $4.23 which is a bit of a rip off but the process of ordering and getting my items is less than 3 minutes makes it worth it to me. It’s 2 minutes from my house which is the real reason why I go there often. Jay never toasts the bagel properly as he throws it towards the back of the machine so it doesn’t get full heat. His spread of the cream cheese is embarrassing as well. I’ve complained about this before but there is no real change being made. Because of these details, I decided to swap to Museum for at least 2 days a week.

Museum Deli costs exactly $5.00. I get the sausage, egg and cheese and the apple juice Nantucket Nectar. I prefer the Half and Half but the apple is still good. I like this because it keeps me away from drinking coffee every day. The sausage egg and cheese is a way better sandwich and the guy who makes it always repeats, “salt, pepper, ketchup” like it’s the only English words he knows. I refused the first day but now I get it just so I don’t disappoint him.

All in all this has been a positive life change. Even though it is a bit slower even with Dunkin having a line, I’m helping out a small business and I enjoy the meal more. Thank you Museum Deli.

I’ve pretty much turned into a hermit who bowls and golfs. These are actually much more constructive exercises than getting shitfaced and blacking out so it’s not all bad but I do feel like I’m not doing a whole lot.

On Friday I woke up at 5:30am, picked up Jeff, met the Shee, and golfed at the Links in Marlton. It was a speed round and we were back to work by 11am. Worked like a charm. I played pretty well with loads of par putts but they certainly weren’t tap ins. I finished with a 91 and Shee and Jeff were battling with other numbers.

I worked out and went bowling after work where I rolled 7 or 8 games. I managed a 240+ and almost finished with a 200 avg aside from a few crappy games at the end. I went to sleep early because…

I woke up at 5:30am the next day and met up with 2 friends and played golf at Hickory Valley. I once again played well except for 2 8’s on par 5’s and not getting off the tee on 1. I finished with a 92 with the same issues of loads of putts for pars that weren’t converting.

I then met up with Sam and the Weens for some bowling at South and we rolled 7 games. Aside from one barn burner where the Weens ousted me 250 to 240, we had our ups and downs. I manged a 114 which had to be my lowest score in quite some time. Fun time.

This took me to my bed where I had to nap to recover from the Turkey shot. I got up at 7pm and was see sawing whether I was going to meet up with Sam and Jordan but it wasn’t to be. I went to sleep and that takes me to right now where I just finished a 7 mile run and am going to get some drinks. I may golf in the afternoon just because. Enjoy the Easter.