Sabre Dance

Ohio Street to Michigan Ave. is (to me) preferable to the Skyway. Nothing worse than perking along at 55 MPH and then hitting the traffic signal at the foot of the Skyway. I only use the Skyway when I want to stop at Starbucks on Delaware on the way into work (which lately hasn't been very often at all).

Actually, the Skyway is bad enough, but then you have the Marine Drive Apartments - those are ugly buildings and they block the view of the Inner Harbor at least as much as, if not more than the Skyway does. In a perfect world, both of these would be gone. Knowing Buffalo, we'll be seeing them for years to come. Both Webster Block proposals look good - if I had to choose, I'd go with the twin ice rinks. Knowing that available ice time around Buffalo is always in short supply, putting these in would guarantee increased activity at the foot of Main Street. But whichever one is chosen, PLEASE actually build the thing! We've had too many years of having our hopes raised, only to be dashed upon the rocks of local politics.

Every year, right around July 4 (or maybe a week or so earlier), I watch the movie 1776. Although not completely accurate historically, it does show how extraordinarily difficult it was for the founding fathers to actually declare independence. It truly was a miracle that the US managed to become an independent nation. (But, you do have to listen to William Daniels sing... :huh: ) Also, we'll being going with traditional picnic fare; hot dogs, potato salad, watermelon, chips...and probably a brew or two ;) (Maybe a Liberty Ale from Anchor Brewery).

Bio and Arc - prayers and good thoughts go out to your loved ones... No, not Canada! Panama! http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/On-Retirement/2011/01/24/10-reasons-to-retire-in-panama

Just grabbed a ducat for Heart at Artpark in July. Seeing Heart for ten bucks? Yeah, I'll do that any day of the week! Saw them live back a few years ago (might have been at Marine Midland Arena, but it could have been the Aud) and they were great. Anyway, the tickets were way more than ten bucks. Might be interested in seeing Yes and Procul Harum, but Yes is minus Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman/Tony Kaye/Patrick Moraz. On the plus side, this show is only five bucks...

Kassian always worried me - when he played up to his "toughness" potential, he had a tendancy to go that one step too far. When he didn't play with that "tough" edge (like, his last stint with the Sabres), he was less than effective. He may have a place on the Canucks or with some other team, but he'll likely be in the same boat. He'll either wind up sitting out a lot of suspensions or he'll play like Boyes. With the two Gs just taken in the draft, it will allow Hodgson a little more room out on the ice and I think we will be very pleased with his play. Sulzer was a nice bonus - pretty steady, not flashy....the kind of defenseman you don't notice because he has no peaks and valleys. He takes out the puck carrier and moves the puck up to the offense, that's it. For those old enough to remember, a Bill Hajt-type defenseman. Always good to have, even if just in reserve.

:blink: I'm not even sure how to address this. If the entire team played like Gretzky/Malkin/Perreault, we'd have a whole shelf full of Stanley Cups by now. The thing is, they haven't and we don't.

Wow - TWO Folignos in Buffalo uniforms? Man, that would be great....so of course, it won't happen.

My complaint is people who were hired after me and got promoted to a position that they don't deserve (and aren't really qualified for). Then they send out a message to the entire office that is rife with grammatical and spelling errors, proving to everyone that patronage was the only reason they got the job in the first place. If you aren't sure about the spelling and/or use of a word, look it up! There are certainly enough electronic nannies available. Good grief! :blink:

Summer road construction... They are re-paving a relatively busy intersection in South Buffalo (which funnels traffic to Route 5). They ripped off the top layer of asphalt yesterday morning (during peak rush hour) and this morning, were actually laying down the new asphalt and rolling it, again during peak rush hour. Traffic was backed up for FOUR blocks. Many people (including me) did a U-turn and headed back the other way. I was almost, but not quite late for work. Why in God's name couldn't they have waited until after 9:00AM to start the paving (or even 8:00AM)? To top it off, at every intersection I encountered on the way in today, the signal would change to green and the first car in line would sit there and stare at it for five or six seconds. I fully realize that there are many people who blow through red lights and you have to be cautious when venturing into an intersection after the light has changed, but five seconds is a long time when there are a dozen impatient commuters waiting behind you. Aside from that, the weather is gorgeous today.... B-)

1) If Hasek does decide to come back, it will likely not be with the Sabres (unless TPegs and Darcy go nuts in the off-season and bring in some big-time players). I'm sure Dom would want to go to a contender, which right now the Sabres are NOT. 2) Does anyone remember the playoffs where Hasek suddenly came up with a groin issue that seemed to heal mysteriously in the next round? You could have a lot of these kinds of "injuries". 3) Hasek at 47 could be as good as Brodeur at 40 - except Brodeur has actually been playing in the NHL all this time. And Hasek won't be as good as Brodeur... 4) Seriously? No.

I learned a valuable and (slightly) expensive lesson about A/C - you have to clean the compressor housing every so often in order for it to work correctly. I just paid $125 to have the guy hose off my A/C unit..... Well, truth be told, he did shoot in a bit more refrigerant and cleaned the furnace/air unit in the basement as well. He also lubed up the blower motor, so we should be ready for summer's heat. Cheap insurance, I guess...

My take on the CBA is: 1) The owners make too much money. 2) Some players make too much money; others don't make enough. 3) I don't really care what teams play in what conferences/divisions/tiers; I just want to watch entertaining hockey, preferably with the Sabres winning a lot. 4) If the owners are dumb enough to lock out the players again, NHL will stand for "No Hockey League". That would suck. :P

I think this definitely qualifies as something awesome.... :clapping:

It is awesome that the Flyers bow out of the playoffs again, in front of their own crowd (who booed them). I can't say I'm a Devils fan but it sure was sweet watching them skate circles around the Flyers defense. :thumbsup:

When I'm riding, I tend to behave in traffic just as if I was driving a car (well, my bike is almost as big as a smart car). No weaving, no lane-splitting, no passing on the right. I have stock mufflers on the Harley (which are loud enough, thanks very much) and I don't rev the engine since it is fuel injected and idles just fine. I only wish every motorcycle rider behaved the same way. I still see way too many riders doing silly things at highway speeds. There have already been a tragically high number of motorcycle fatalities so far this spring in the Buffalo area. Riding is fun, but it is also serious business. Bikers, please ride with caution and intelligence. Drivers, please be aware of those on two wheels and give them some leeway, even if they ride stupid.

I work in downtown Buffalo - the snow is just beginning to stick to the grass, nothing sticking to the roads yet. I think the weather forecasters neglected to take into account the heat already stored in the ground (after all, it was over 70 on Friday) and that the sun is now high enough that even on a cloudy (and snowy) day, enough solar radiation gets through to heat the roads (blacktop) so that the snow doesn't stick. The temps would have to drop below freezing and it would have to snow a LOT more to get anywhere close to a foot. I'm not buying it.... Oh, and the snow seems to be tapering off as I write this...

Stanley Cup overtime games. Awesome.... :thumbsup:

Oh dear - that just ain't right, man.... Not exactly comparable, but I always wonder why, with an entire parking lot full of empty spaces, people find it necessary to park right next to my truck. Close enough so I can only open the door halfway. But at least they're not naked :unsure: .

I'm interested in a different job that would be literally around the corner from my office (same floor, same building). I submitted all of the paperwork, but I wanted to discuss this informally with the head of that department who I run into all the time on the elevators. Since I decided to put in for the job, I have not run into this person once in the last three weeks. The new position would be sweet - a grade level higher in pay, working for the PBC rather than grants, doing pretty much what I am doing now except in person instead of over the phone. The other people in the department (and the director as well) are all really very nice people and would be great to work with. If this doesn't come through, I need to get me some of those Mega Millions tickets - half a billion dollars! Woof!

Inferno: The World at War, 1939-1945 by Max Hastings. Different from other WWII histories in that he assumes you know the basics; the author presents accounts by individuals who lived through (or died in) the war. It puts a human face on the tragic occurrences of the time. Definitely not light summer reading.

The warm weather is finally here - going tomorrow to arrange to get my motorcycle out of winter storage. The weather looks awesome for next week (and the rain has washed the residual salt off the road). Plus, my tax refund came just in time to buy me upgraded speakers for the bike. I love listening to tunes as I ride through the countryside... I know this post is a bit old, but I had to put in my 2 cents. I had the idea of doing this myself BUT then I thought; 1) I'll never get back the time spent ripping the discs. That is, when I want to watch a movie the time spent getting into the computer, finding the movie and playing it versus popping the disc in the player is about the same. Why do more work to rip the discs? 2) After year of working in computer support, I know disk drives go bad when it is least convenient. So, then you need to back up your movie drive, which takes more time and more hard drives. (Or you could retain the discs as a backup, in which case, why rip them to the drive in the first place?). 3) If you want to save space, buy one (or more) disc albums. These have plastic sleeves (like pages in a loose-leaf binder) that hold 4-8 discs in one sleeve. You can put an entire collection into two or three albums which will take up just a bit of space on a bookshelf and (if you are OCD like me) they'll be in alphabetical order by genre, so that title will be easy to find. 4) Having the movies stored digitally will allow you to watch them on your phone, tablet, etc. But, I paid good money for my 54" plasma TV and my surround sound system. I want the full movie experience. I watched one movie on my iPod Touch and swore I wouldn't do it again. If I want to watch a movie on a laptop while traveling, I can just toss the disc in the case. 5) Some of the recent movie releases come with a DVD, Blu-Ray and a digital copy that you can download. I have several flicks on my laptop and phone, although I can't tell you when I would ever actually watch a whole two hour movie on such a small screen. Sometimes being able to do something doesn't necessarily mean you have to do it.... :)

Hey! It's not IT's fault when the user doesn't know how to use their computer (OK, just kidding! No flames, please!) Seriously, although I work in IT, my degree is in laboratory medicine. I know what a pain it is to deal with IT-types sometimes. Including me. :angel: Occasionally, really speaking your mind on one of these surveys results in an email from administration that begins, "It has come to our attention that..." No message that begins with those words has ever been good.

You do know that there is an accessory that will allow you to use regular ground coffee with your Keurig machine: http://www.keurig.com/accessories/my-k-cup My machine came with one, but you can buy it separately. I've not used mine, but it seems pretty simple. Just a thought.... BTW, I love my machine - it is a Cuisinart, but it uses the K-cups. I used to drink tea at work because it was easier to make, but now I have about three cups of Joe a day (in fact, I'm going to make a cup right now!)