Bracketology

The bad news is I'm out sick today. However the upside to that is that I've been able to spend all day watching the NCAA tournament. Normally I'm not a big sports fan, but something about March Madness just gets me going. Maybe it's the whole bracket thing and the "one loss and you're out" rule that really makes it fun. I find it fascinating to watch a team's progress as they move through the brackets. It's also cool because nothing is assured. There are always upsets and nail-biters. And since team rosters change nearly every year, the experience is always different.

Some years I tend to take risks and pick many of the underdogs as the winners. This year I played pretty conservatively. I do have Memphis getting knocked out by Texas, but other than that all the other No. 1 seeds are in my Final Four, with North Carolina winning it all.

I also have Arizona making it to the second round, but being knocked out by Duke. Now, I have to chime in on the selection of Arizona as a no. 10 seed while ASU did not get a bid. True, ASU beat the Cats twice, but Arizona's tough schedule (the 2nd toughest in the nation) and their performance against some big teams (as well as their long streak of tournament bids) gave them the nod. I thought a no. 10 seed was rather high considering, but they deserved a bid nonetheless. Who knows? Maybe they can pull off a good run this year. As I've said, this tournament always keeps one on their toes.

Why are you so quiet?

Wow...way, way, way, way too long between posts. November of last year? Pathetic. I could make some excuses, but really what good would that do?

Well it would make me feel better, so here we go. First, work. Sure, blame it on work! However in this case, it's true. Work has basically been hell since before and after the holidays. Not that it's bad, but I've been working long hours, which leaves me exhausted and cranky. I haven't been exercising, I haven't been talking to my friends, heck I haven't even read a books since I finished "The Terror." I just haven't had the energy. And it's not going to let up soon.

Second, wedding stuff. This is really starting to get crazy. There is so much to do/think about that it stresses me out. I mean we've done a LOT. Not matter what happens at this point, there will be a wedding, with food/flowers/music/booze/cake. So no matter what unforseen consequences happen in the next few months, the show most definitely must go on. The big hangups are ceremony decorations, the candy buffet, and music. We still need to pick a recessional. Why is that so hard? I mean we have most of the rest of the music picked out, so why is this one thing so difficult?

Finally, traffic. Yes, traffic. Seems silly right? But here's the thing: My office is about 25 miles from my house. With the only freeway nearby being essentially a parking lot from 7 am to 10 am every morning, that is not an option. So I have to take surface streets, which while not bad because the traffic itself is rather light, the construction on 51st ave. is so horrible that it gets backed nearly ALL DAMN DAY, even on the weekends! Couple that with equally evil construction on Price which is the only road to my office, you get a whole lot of steel-toed-road-construction-boot to-the-head misery. When we first moved in, even with traffic the maximum commute was 45 minutes. MAX. Normally, it would be 30 minutes. Now, an hour is not uncommon. So the only solution is to leave late since I can't drag my ass out of bed before 7. If I could hit the road by 7, it'd be a breeze, and I could leave at 3:30 every day. (Sigh)

Now lots of good things have happend since my last post. Jen and I went skiing, we had a rockin' New Year's party with Rock Band, Brad and Chris have come up to visit (I need to go down to Tucson soon!), I attended my first ComiCon, I got a new car (yes the Boxster was a fun, but ultimately too expensive, car), and a new laptop (I have been computer-less since October).

Yeesh. I should just post every week so i don't have to write novellas every few months. Not like anyone reads this anyway. :-)