Much geekery to be had here.

I always like to keep a few spare vacation days for the end of year, just in case something unexpected were to occur and I'd need the time off. Usually this just means I have a couple extra days to burn come December. Last Friday, MoPo and I pondered whether we should spend our day off sleeping in and being slackers or whether we should be ambitious and cultural and head on over to the Museum of Science and Industry. Astonishingly, the museum won out.

I've never been there before and was really, really impressed. I'd count these amongst my favorite things (be warned that there is much geekery beyond this point):

• The U-505 Submarine exhibit, the only real German submarine in the United States, now a national war memorial. It was definitely one of the most memorable exhibits I've ever been to because, you know, it's a real German U-boat.  The exhibit starts by acquainting you with the Battle of the Atlantic and describing how the American capture of the U-boat took place. Then you turn a corner and, remarkably, the submarine is right there, so close you can reach out and touch it. The Museum employs volunteers who go around talking to visitors; the one who approached us had served on an American submarine in the 1950s and chatted our ears off for a good 10 minutes (you could tell that this guy was the talker type--he even gave us a recipe for homemade muffins; how's that for random?). Interestingly, we found out that one of the POWs from the U-505 actually came back to work as a guide when the sub was moved to Chicago. However, while the standard exhibit is impressive enough, paying the extra $8 to go inside the sub is where it's at. You start to appreciate the living conditions of the 50-60 men who lived on that sub for 100 days at a time.  They had to sleep in rotations in order to share a limited number of cots, could not shower while only possessing one set of clothes, and had only two ridiculously small bathrooms for their use (of which they had to "eat" their way into the second one, since enough canned food for the entire tour was stored throughout the ship). The most telling realization I had, however, was that the Germans tried to recruit men under 5'6" for a very good reason, as I spent the majority of my time on board hunched over to avoid hitting my head.  
• The temporary Jim Henson's Fantastic World exhibit, which displayed many of his conceptual drawings, storyboards, and puppets (Rowlf! Gobo!). I didn't realize that Henson got his start by making short, eight second commercials. Nor did I realize how rough of a time it must be to man that Big Bird costume on Sesame Street.  A full body costume, Big Bird's head is operated by the puppeteer's arm (wouldn't his arm go numb after having it elevated for so long a period of time?) while using a camera wrapped around his stomach, located inside the costume, to navigate around the set. The exhibit didn't just address the creativity of Jim Henson but also the themes of much of his work, such as how people can work together and reach unique compromises because of their differences. I guess there's a reason why I own the complete Fraggle Rock series on DVD, despite it simply being awesome. :)
• They had smaller exhibits dedicated to tornadoes and tsunamis (where people could "control" the movement of the tornado or the strength of the tsunami), had a baby chick hatchery where kids can witness these little birds pecking their way out of the shell (I couldn't find anybody to ask what they do with all these baby chickens after they hatch), a really intricate electronic train set that was massive in scale, and so many other really cool things.

It was a good time, made even better by capping the night off with a delicious Indian meal.  Not a bad way to spend a day away from work!

-KP

Randomnicity (12.12.10 Edition)

Hello, all!

Another Thanksgiving come and gone; another Christmas *thisclose* to being here, and all that holiday family drama that drives a person like me, who tries to remove himself from any and all kinds of drama, absolutely crazy. To be fair, the drama wasn't all that ridiculous during Thanksgiving--it's just that my tolerance for drama ebbs and flows, and my threshold for it wasn't particularly high for it this last go around.

Anyway, let's get to it.

• I finished reading Lamb last week and while the middle third of it was a touch slow, on the whole I rather enjoyed the approach (what did Jesus do for that missing 30 year time period in his life?) and humor ("What is this thing?" / "It's a Yeti. An abominable snowman." / "This is what happens when you fuck a sheep?" / Not an abomination, abominable.").  Christopher Moore says upfront that he's not trying to change anyone's religious views; rather, he is trying to write an entertaining story that anyone would enjoy. I think, for the most part, he succeeded (I do think that the uber-devout and the serious may not appreciate it as much as those folks who can laugh at life).  Personally, my takeaway was this: that true faith and religiousness spans across all walks of life, no matter what institutions you belong to or what rituals you practice--and that it is man who had a hard time accepting Jesus' preachings that the Kingdom is open for everyone. I'd recommend giving it a read.
• Keeping on the theme of religion, can I say it's a pet peeve of mine when people tell me that they'll pray for me? Unfortunately, I recently had a conversation with a family member about my religious world view. Mainly, that while I'm not convinced a God exists, I'm also open to the possibility of a God (in any shape or form). I'm more of an agnostic than an atheist. And, truly, it bugs the crap out of me when people talk about "God's plan" when it pertains to my own life. My successes are due to my hard work; my failures are due to my shortcomings. Sure, there are things that are out of my control (I may get killed in a fiery car crash by a drunk driver) and I am entirely OK with that, but don't try and take away my accomplishments by attributing them to somebody else. During this conversation, I tried to explain this sentiment, how I possess an internal locus of control (vs. the need to believe that my life is determined by fate or God, etc.), and how I believe my decisions are all my own, and I was informed that all this means is that I just don't believe in God. Fine. Maybe not. But like I said above, I don't don't believe in God, either. But now I'm hearing a lot of "I prayed for you on Topic X."  Even if I were an atheist, why would you tell me those things? It does nothing but irk me.  I will support you and understand it if you you are religious and believe in a God, but if I'm entirely OK with leading my life as I am, why should it bother you? It doesn't affect you at all. OK, rant ended.
• Let's shift this to something far less serious. How about fantasy football? This is only my third year playing fantasy and it is as every bit as life-consuming as you've heard. As reigning league champion (yep, that's bragging), I couldn't believe my atrocious 2-5 start to the season. The supreme worthlessness of Randy Moss (first round draft pick) and the injury of Pierre Thomas (third round draft pick) heavily contributed to that start, but somehow I managed to go on a six game tear and currently sit at 8-5 (thanks Michael Vick and Jacob Tamme!), ranked second out of 12 teams but, because of a divisional format, only hold a potential wild card berth at the moment. The real kicker of it? MoPo is in the same division (hell, the top three finishers from last year were corralled into the same division) and we go head to head this weekend. She's a game behind me at 7-6 and I'm fairly certain we're the only teams duking it out for the wild card. Everyone else would finish with seven wins or less. If she wins, we're both 8-6 and she advances to the playoffs because of the divisional record tiebreaker. If I win, I'm in. And in no way, shape, or form are we a competitive bunch and egging each other on (anyone seen the FX series The League?)... 
• I think I may have been the only one who actually liked the Packers' throwbacks last weekend.

• Oh, and because I keep forgetting to blog about this--I saw one of my favorite people at Lambeau when Green Bay played Detroit!

• Definitely taking two vacations next year. We're pretty committed to spending 7-10 days on the Big Island (I love Hawaii) and then we're trying to take another vacation with some good friends of ours. Getting that full extra third week of vacation is going to be awesome--if only the American capitalist mentality would provision for more vacation days!
• I just looked outside and all this blizzardy snow that the midwest got slammed with must have missed the northwest suburbs of Chicago (though it didn't miss the Metrodome---hahaha). Either that, or the wind has blown it all out of view from my apartment windows--it just looks like a light dusting out there.
• The next book I'm attempting to conquer is The Passage which, at about 180 pages in, seems pretty well written and is creeping me out.
• MoPo keeps asking me when I'm going to shave off my beard. I keep finding ways to prolong that decision. Truth be told, I'm not keeping it because I necessarily like it, but rather because I like that it's different (much like I grew my hair out to a ridiculous length last year).
• I finally succeeded in getting back into a gym routine over the course of the these last four weeks. If anything, the vacation planning was the final motivator I needed to accomplish this.  Now, if I'm just sitting around the apartment with nothing productive to do, or I partook of the beverages the night prior, I actually feel a little bad if I haven't exercised.  In essence, that need for external motivation has led to a new set of internal motivators, and that's kind of cool.

 Alright, time for my pre-game ritual of video game playing.

-KP

Hallows or horcruxes?

It was a relatively low key weekend, which is probably a good thing to have before the constant back and forth of the holiday season begins. The only real piece of excitement?

After seeing the IMAX version of Deathly Hallows late Friday night, I was left with these following thoughts:

• I rather liked Deathly Hallows, just as I've liked all the David Yates directed Potter films.  I feel the creative teams have really figured out how to appropriately condense the stories from each book.  And, more importantly, they're doing their best to overcome J.K. Rowling's horrible style of storytelling (that is, telling and not showing... there's way too much damned exposition in her books).  Truly, most of my issues with the movie were issues I have with her book.  
• The only somewhat awkward scene was the softcore wizard porn (which may have only been awkward because there wasn't more of it).
• The score of the film was spectacular.  I already bought the soundtrack (much to MoPo's chagrin; she doesn't understand my fascination with film scores).
• The $17 per IMAX ticket was a complete waste of money. Is this what all theatrical movies look like on IMAX? I've never seen a "real" movie on IMAX before (just the more environmentally-themed films they tend  to show at the Milwaukee Public Museum). There was nothing remotely 3D about this -- truly, it was like the Marcus UltraScreen except every seat in the place felt like it was 5 feet in front of the screen.  It was not comfortable and it wasn't even close to an ideal movie-going experience.  Horrible.

-KP

Romanes eunt domus.

This is one of those nights that reminds me of my youth--video game in hand, I'd spend the entire night with my face glued to the computer monitor. On more than a few occasions, I'd actually greet my mother, my eyes glassed over, as she left for work in the morning. (Incidentally, another amusing anecdote: I also had a tendency in those days to gulp down an entire 24-pack of Mountain Dew, with my cousin, as we stayed awake all night). You know what? Growing up was awesome. And why shouldn't I have a Saturday night where it's 3am, I'm not tired, and all I want to do is continue playing Fallout: New Vegas and say, "Sleep be damned"? Probably because I know I'm going to regret it Monday morning. Stupid adult responsibilities.

Unfortunately, I replaced the Mountain Dew of my adolescence with coffee tonight, and since I'm not tired whatsoever, I thought a night cap in blog form may help relax my mind.

1. I'm re-reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in anticipation for the movie. I had been trying to make my way through Lamb, but a lot of the religious references fly right over my head since, while growing up, I was pretty successful at avoiding church. After sloshing through that book for more than a few months, I'm getting through Deathly Hallows at quite a brisk clip. It's refreshing since my tendencies to buy books outpace my tendencies to read them.

2. The first two episodes of The Walking Dead have been tremendous! Yeah, I'm an absolute nerd when it comes to the comic (it's so good!) and I have an overall fascination with zombies in general, but I feel that the show gained a lot of cred with "normal people" when MoPo said she really liked it. If you're not watching it, you really should check it out. (Disclaimer: I have been having more zombie-related dreams these past two weeks, but rest assured--they are walking zombies, not running zombies; that makes a lot of difference!).



3. Speaking of zombies, zombie pub crawl!




4. MoPo and I are trying to brainstorm vacation ideas for next year. We did the "adventurous, out of your element" trip last year, so I'm currently thinking a tropical, warm weather, relaxing theme for 2011. Suggestions? Hawaii is always tops on our list (we've been there twice) but we also don't want to get in a rut (however, there's definitely a reason that Hawaii vacations are so cliché).

5. How about some not-fun news? Last Monday, in all their infinite wisdom, my employers decided to lay off 50% of my department. The layoffs weren't surprising--we've known for 6 months that this was coming (Nielsen brought in a guy over 3 years ago whose sole job was to outsource American jobs to India--dude's even got stock in the consulting firm we use), however no one really expected such magnitude. Of course, a lot of this is money-related (how couldn't it be?)--the venture capitalists who own Nielsen want to take the company public. But you know what's scary? The consultants who will now do the tasks traditionally done by statisticians are not, in any sense of the word, statisticians. To say it will be "interesting" to see how this all unfolds would be an uber-understatement.

6. For better or worse, I've grown a beard! MoPo does not approve. I find it amusing.

Alright. 3:04am. Still not tired, but I think I'll try my hand at reading myself to sleep. Or maybe I'll just go back to playing Fallout (and possibly encounter more Monty Python references like the title of this blog post).

-KP

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

I feel I've gone quite a bit bonkers recently.

I suppose it boils down to a fundamental dislike of making Big Life Decisions and that, within the last six months or so, it's become clear we'll need to be making some of those BLDs. Let's rehash some key points, shall we?

I received a double promotion and started a new job in April. This was awesome because I hated the role I had been forced into and I was still making the same salary that I had been hired in at.

While the subject matter of my current role is more interesting, the primary fun factor of working in this department, and in this company, is the people I work with.

That becomes problematic when those people start leaving.

I'm tired of renting. We pay a lot of money per month to avoid the responsibility of home ownership. I'm starting to question whether that trade off is worth it.

The housing prices around here are nothing short of ridiculous.

The salary vs. housing costs vs. job happiness issues become more aggravating when I learned that some of my peers, with similar enough backgrounds, job titles, and current responsibilities as I, are making quite a bit more than me. I am not a greedy individual but I do not like feeling being taken advantage of.

I was informed that there really is no hope of me "exceeding expectations" this year given my new role is primarily research-based. I disagree with this. It also peeves me off because I've exceeded expectations for the last two years when, of course, there were wage freezes.

My friends are one of the most important components of my life and I love being around them. Unfortunately, most of them reside in Waukesha/Milwaukee, with a good number of others located around Columbus and Chicago. (I'm not forgetting about those of you peppered around Green Bay, Minneapolis, etc!).

I absolutely, unequivocally, passionately hate change. Also not a fan of large scale decision making.

So this rapidly becomes a series of fundamental questions: Should I stay? Should I go? If I go, where should I go? Unfortunately, the side effect of all of this is that if my future comes up in casual conversation, I start to become irrational and, well, stupid. I start reading too much into things, as if I can discern some hint of the decision I'm supposed to make through the current conversation. Quite frankly, I've forgotten how to be awesome and how to make awesome decisions and that drives me absolutely crazy. I think it drives those around me crazy, too.

I'd much rather feel awesome than feel crazy. Unfortunately, I think that might mean I have to seriously contemplate what the hell I want to do with my life.

Or I could just have a drink and procrastinate on thinking about BLDs some more.

Auto Fail

Sometimes I fail at being male.

Unlike most of the guys in my family, I'm not mechanically inclined; changing a burned out headlight is about the extent of my car "repair" skills. Apparently, now I can't even do that right.

I went out to dinner Tuesday night with some senior leadership from work (I'll save those details for a separate post) when I noticed one of my headlights was out. The next day I popped the hood, took out the bulb and went to the store to get a replacement. Once returning home, I put the new bulb in only to find out I had erroneously removed the bulb for the brights instead of the regular headlight.

*sigh*

Of course, the two require different bulbs so I returned to the auto store the next day to get the correct one. Success!

However, that doesn't end the story. What happens next? MoPo tells me one of my brake lights is out.

ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDING ME?!

So, over my lunch hour today (since we're leaving for Columbus right after work), back to the auto store I go...

-KP

The in-between.

Today marks a very important date in my summer—it is officially the midpoint between two of my most awesome (and perhaps drunkest) weekends. Factor in the Green Bay scrimmage game and I’m truly having a pretty spectacular August.

Last weekend MoPo and I hightailed it out of IL for our 5th annual Team Vodka/Team Captain camping excursion. Those who know me realize that when I say “camping” I really mean “pitch a tent, build a fire, and drink all weekend.” There is very little actual camping involved (especially since we were rained out on Friday night this year and slept indoors). Amongst this year’s Rated PG highlights:

I’m a beer guy. Ever since MoPo’s oldest brother coaxed me into overdoing it with Jack and Coke, I haven’t been one for mixed drinks. I decided to break the mold and live dangerously and drink mugs of Captain & Coke. Let’s just conclude that liquor definitely takes a different toll on KP than beer does.

The copious amounts of Apple Pie did not help. But oh were they so delicious.

I got my second wind Friday night after “rudely” being awakened by two of my closest friends and their spouses, who somehow managed to stay up far later than MoPo and I. Everyone was finally asleep by 5am.

I’m surprised I didn’t kill anyone with the super-sized bull horns I found laying around the neighbor’s garage.

Most of Saturday involved sitting around the pool, recuperating from the night before (unusual in the sense that Fridays are normally our low key night). Pool time probably sounds awesome and relaxing, right? Unfortunately, the mosquitoes were simply atrocious. I got bit so bad that I look like I have the chicken pox.

This weekend we are hightailing it out of IL once again to visit JC & P* and their new house in Columbus. This is one of those things were I’m uber-excited that things worked out for them like they wanted, but at the same time things have been notably less fun around here since they left. For instance, it doesn’t really work having your work spouse be your real spouse. Having a work spouse in addition to your real spouse leads to far more fun (and frustration—I can’t forget about all that frustration!).

Now if I didn’t have to drive through that horrid state of Indiana to get to them…

-KP

Wait. I have a blog?

I am rather listless tonight so I thought perhaps giving some attention to this tremendously neglected blog may help pass the time.

This weekend proved to be a splendidly good time. On Friday evening, I proved once again that there is a higher probability of me hitting a bull's eye than hitting the gosh darned 20 when playing darts. Alas. Then MoPo and I went up to Green Bay to visit a very awesome individual who we don't see as much as we should. Oh, yes... there was also a Packers scrimmage game that the three of us then attended.





Being Family Night, Lambeau had some post-scrimmage fireworks to ooh and ahh the kiddies.



However, as the fireworks were choreographed to music, we had to high tail it out of the stadium once they played the horrendously awful Justin Bieber (whose "talent" I've avoided like the plague). This turned out to be OK because we were outside by the time the Glee version of "Don't Stop Believin'" came on:



Actually, I'm not even sure this particular picture was from "Don't Stop Believin'"; if not, we can just pretend it was.

So August is proving to be one of those rather full months, chock full of excellent activities and fun friends. This is not a complaint. I am lucky to have plenty of awesome friends (though some of them have committed a most heinous act of betrayal by moving far, far away!). It just reaffirms, however, that the work week is far too long and dull.

-KP

A lazy update.

Holy crap--am I really behind on updating my Flickr account or what? In addition to missing a good chunk of 2008, I haven't updated "current events" since November. So I figure since I'm bored, but don't have the patience to do a large photo update, I'll post a few here instead.

Yep & I at Burmeister's wedding.



Wicked cool HD goggles (!) with wicked long cool-guy hair.



Nothing screams "cool" like bowling on NYE. But seriously, these people must never leave Chicago. Never, ever, ever.



Luck of the Irish on St. Paddy's!



That's all for now.

-KP

Stream of consciousness.

Oh, health care reform, how you have replaced the war in Iraq as the big, divisive subject in this country (which is amusing in the not-so-funny way when you consider how an emphasis on quality of life has replaced an emphasis on death and destruction). My current political philosophy seemingly coincides with my educational background, and largely follows what the statistics would predict: the more education one has, the more liberal one tends to be. I’d also wager that my coursework, so largely focused in sociology, doesn’t hinder my desire for a more progressive society, either.

I’ve incited some arguments on my Facebook page lately, probably against my better judgment. I probably should just know better and keep quiet, especially since I generally hate debating (I have to be in the mood, and that mood is ever so fleeting). But, gosh darn it, I think this bill does some great things for the United States and I want the right wingers to get that. Instead of focusing on the good (no more pre-existing conditions! no more getting dropped by insurance companies when you become sick!), they see a Big Brother/1984 loss of all individual rights and a conversion to full and utter control by Big Government.

*sighs*

I get the concern. I really do. I love George Orwell’s 1984, Alan Moore’s V for Vendetta, and a whole assortment of dark and dreary plots where governments rule our every thought and action. I am not entirely thrilled by the requirement that everyone has to buy health insurance. I get the implications of that. I also acknowledge that a good reason to implement it is so that people can’t just buy health insurance when they need it in order to get away with paying the bare minimum. However, I just don’t believe that enacting this requirement means Obama is socialist, communist, Marxist, totalitarian, Hitler-esque, or whatever. I do not think it means Democrats want to destroy this country and remake it into Cuba. But I do admit, by using these words and association, that it’s a good way for right wing leaders to create mass hysteria amongst their followers and incidentally incite some violence. I don’t know, I just think that this is a conspiracy that doesn’t hold much in the way of reality. And maybe part of the reason I feel that way is because when the Republicans had power, holding a mantra of “less government,” they didn’t really, you know, act like they were being “less government.” That aspect of all of this is hard for me to disentangle.

I’d much rather see this legislation for what it’s trying to do—extending such a simple and human concept as health care to more people. It enables this country to be something special. The Republicans tend to think that we’re only extending health care access to people who are lazy, no good scum who just want freebies from everyone and everything. That is always their argument to ward off progress; their desire to maintain current levels of stratification is relentless. But there are people whose life situation simply doesn’t allow them access to affordable health care, given the way the current system works. I know quite a few people who have experienced that type of thing. Helping those people out is what makes this all worthwhile. That's the kind of country the United States should be: full of compassionate, tolerant people who want to help each other. Why do we want to support a health care system that screws good people, allowing companies to rake in the dough off our illnesses, sicknesses, and deaths?

Hell, if Richard Alpert would have had access to better health care, maybe his wife wouldn’t have died, he wouldn’t have been arrested for accidentally killing that greedy bastard of a doctor, he wouldn’t have been sent on a slave ship to the New World, and he wouldn’t have crashed on the island (the island is a cork?!).

See? I can connect Lost to anything. God I’m going to miss that show when it’s over.

-KP

Randomnicity (03.10.10 Edition)

Hey, folks. Hopelessly bored tonight, so here are some random musings.

1. I read an article the other day: a study indicated that, with regards to health care reform, if you simply describe the proposed changes and completely omit Obama's name, a decent chunk of conservatives actually get on board with it.

1a. Humorous anecdote #1: The leading GOP candidate for 2012 contributed to the enactment of "Obamacare" in his own state while he was governor.

1b. Humorous anecdote #2: Sarah Palin used to cross the border to Canada for health care, which makes sense considering how revolting she claims Canadian health care is.

2. Molly is watching America's Next Top Model right now. That show is like crack to her.

3. IT'S ST. PADDY'S DAY THIS WEEKEND. Not only shall Saturday be full of drunken debauchery (drinking starts at 8am; bedtime will be approximately 7pm, should past events indicate anything) but JC, MoPo, and I also took off for the real St. Patrick's Day to extend the celebration. Oh, if only I were truly Irish.

4. I interviewed for a new position created within the Measurement Science department. If I got it, I'd again be working for the manager who hired me into the company, plus it's two levels above my current pay grade (I was strongly encouraged by current and former bosses to apply for it... since I'm qualified and would have been promoted at least once already, had it not been for the "economic situation"). The job description sounds cool (in a geeky stats sort of way) and it would free me from babysitting Kraft every month, so please keep your fingers crossed!

5. With the release of the most recent BSG soundtrack, I have been listening to a lot of Bear McCreary lately. I love that guy.

6. I bought a new camera! Thanks to my sister and cousin, who steered me towards the Canon EOS Digital Rebel T1i. I'm so incredibly stoked to use it--now I need to go out, practice, and develop some mad skills before heading out for Deutschland.

7. I have hit a plateau with my bowling game, despite purchasing my own equipment. I can typically pick up 8 or 9 pins per frame, but picking up those elusive spares has been dogging me. Unfortunate.

8. How rockin' is this? Frank and Maria asked me to be an usher at their wedding! This is made even cooler when you consider the awesome picture of me they put up on their wedding website.

9. I know I mentioned this last time, but I'm still really, really, really, really excited for baseball to start. I've been listening to the spring training games while at work and I think, despite the turnover this year, we've got some promise. The players' statements about "growing up" (i.e. no more choreographed celebrations) are unfortunate, however. I think other teams just overreacted.

10. I'm glad Avatar didn't clean house at the Oscars. It's strange: if anything, I am a sci-fi geek... and I have no desire to see this. Maybe it's because there is too much CGI? Or just that Sam Worthington is the star? (I finally watched Terminator Salvation... awful). I'm not even sure what the reason is, to be honest. What I do know is that I liked The Hurt Locker and have no problem with it winning Best Picture.

-KP

"What's Jagermeister?"
"You know how in a fairy tale there's always a potion that makes the princess fall asleep and then the guys start kissing her? Well, this is like that except you don't wake up in a castle — you wake up in a frat house with a bad reputation."
-Luke & Phil, Modern Family

*tap, tap*

...is this thing still on? How the heck did it get to be so long since my last blog? I realize most of what I say is uber-trivial but, at the very least, one would think I could have killed some time at work by tossing out a blog or two. Oh, well... since I had a very delicious and gluttonous turkey dinner tonight (rendering me largely immobile), how about I try to reconstruct the last 3 months in no particularly structured way?

1. I was fortunate enough to attend three Packers games this year, including my first Monday Night Football game. Talk about a great spur of the moment decision--we bought tickets a few days beforehand, enjoyed a Green Bay victory (with numerous hot chocolates!) and drove back to the IL afterwards. Kudos to the Red Bull and 5-Hour Energy that kept me safe and alert on our drive back. Getting back to Wheeling at 3am meant a particularly awesome next day at work.

1a. It was highly unfortunate that the Packers weren't able to advance further in the playoffs, but we were able to experience the highs and lows of that game at Will's, a particularly awesome Packers bar down by Wrigley. (Semi-humorous anecdote: we got into a fight with some drunk old dude, but made up and were BFF's after the Packers made their second-half comeback... nothing like Packer solidarity to settle personal differences).

2. After spending a relaxing but not-so-exciting 2009 vacation at my parents' place up in Tomahawk, MoPo and I are thinking a little grander this year and booked tickets to Germany. It should be a great time--can't wait! Plus, I'm going to use it as an excuse to buy a nicer camera. :)

3. I almost titled this blog "ZOMGIT'SALMOSTTUESDAYANDLOSTISBACK!!!!" but I am trying to keep a calm demeanor. Unfortunately for MoPo and a few of my coworkers, calm does not equal quiet... and I have not shut up about Lost all week. Hell, I even re-watched all of Season 5 the last few days (on blu-ray!). And there may be some truth to the rumors that I'll dust off my Halloween costume and Dharma beer labels to welcome the show back in style.

4. Books like Under the Dome make me realize I have no survival skills or instincts whatsoever. If forced to survive on my own, my super useful education and computer skills would do me no good whatsoever. Awesome. I'm usually reminded of this once a month when the latest Walking Dead issue comes out (I think I'd be among the first to go come a zombie apocalypse), but finishing Stephen King's latest read made me contemplate this on a whole new level. And make me feel guilty about cruelty to ants.

5. We totally joined a bowling league with our friends Frank and Matt. I subsequently found that I redefine "suckage" unless I have a personal pitcher of beer to guide my game. With beer, I rise to "meh" status.

6. Molly's parents bought the Brewers 20-game ticket package again this year. I really cannot wait for baseball season to start up. Words cannot convey how much I need my Brewers and Miller Park fix right now.

7. We had a Club 715 reunion last night, which was particularly awesome.

8. I haven't been to Wisconsin at all in four weeks! I think that sets some sort of record. In fact, we've done so many different things in the city lately that it's actually starting to feel like we live here. Though I'm sure that feeling will change soon enough.

Alright, time to jet out for now. Shall we see how long it takes for me to blog again?

-KP

78,185

You may remember that, way back when, my magic number was 79,151. Tonight I began organizing a 6 foot stack of paperwork and found my updated waiting list number for Packers season tickets (I don't even know when I actually received this!). That number?

78,185.

That's right, I moved up a grand total of 966 places. I'm on a roll!

-KP

PS: I really need to update this with something substantive!