One Man's Trash Is Another Man's Treasure....

Bricks.

In Bergenfield, the Tuesday night before the monthly bulk day (4th Wednesday of every month) is a big deal. You can throw out anything you want on bulk day. Refridgerators, furniture, doors, toys, wood, etc. There are people who drive around town in their pickups and look for hidden gems sitting at the curb waiting for the trashmen to pick them up the next day. Over the 4 years I've lived in Bergenfield, I've come to recognize the regulars. Yesterday was a new one for me. I was outside watering the flowers and I see a car slowing down, then it backs up, goes forward again, and finally stops. Inside were a man, woman, and two kids. The man then got out of the driver side. I figured he was going to ask for directions or something. That's a pretty common occurance on our block, since people confuse our blocks often (Glenwood Drive East, North, & South). Nope. He wanted my bricks. I am in the beginning stages of building a shed between my garage and fence. In order to do so, I need to clean out the space with all the junk that was there when I moved in and that has accumulated since that time also. There were approximately 75 bricks like the one pictured above that I had put out for bulk day. And this guy wanted them. I had no use for them, so of course told him to take what ever he wanted. I finished watering the flowers in the front and back yards and put away the hose. The guy was still loading the bricks into the trunk of his Toyota Camry. Needless to say, he drove away with his back bumper almost touching the ground.

What Would You Do With One Million Dollars?

Putting fantasies aside, if you hit the lottery and cleared $1,000,000.00 after taxes, what would you realistically do with the money?

Why Isiah Thomas Should NOT Hire Larry Brown

From a business stand point (I started on the premise that there are two sides - business and team, but really it's all business):

Yes, hiring Larry Brown will generate some excite for the team and put more people in the seats. For 1 month. Until the euphoria wears off and people realize that the Knicks still suck.

When Larry leaves in 3 years, it will be just as messy as his divorce from the Pistons. The Knicks will be on the hook for millions (unless their smart and have a bunch of provisions written into the contract)

Yes, Larry will get the team to overachieve and win more games. But that worsens their position in the draft. They need to rebuild. High draft picks are a premium since they don't have the money available to lure free agents (75m over the 50m cap already).

To put more fans in the stands, the team needs to win more. In the short term (read: months), attendance will rise, but in the long term (read: years), attendance will be hindered by the team's ineptitude.

If this team where in some other town, there would be no problem rebuilding. But since this is New York, rebuilding is not an option. A tough spot to be in for Isiah.

It's Gotta Be A Male Thing....

Yesterday while Jennie was out with the baby, I took the boys (Nick - 4 yrs & Thomas 2.5 yrs) outside for some outdoors time. I need to clear out the space between my garage and the fence so I can put a shed there. It was/is very overgrown with all kinds of plants. The boys were exciting about getting to help daddy to some work outside and they lasted longer than I had expected. They helped cut some of the weeds and dispose of them. I guess they got bored. We've got a plastic 55-gallon drum with the cover cut off that we use for throwing all of our recylable cans, bottles, jars, etc. in. One of them must have accidently bumped into it and it made some noise while it teetered. Then they realized it would be fun to knock it all the way over. It wasn't a big deal since there were only about 5 cans in there at the time. Nicky took the cans that fell out and threw them in another garbage can then the boys proceeded to take turns and crawl into the drum and rolled each other back and forth in the driveway. This was done with no urging or suggestions from me. This is no knock on the female gender, but there's no way I could picture two girls coming up with that little game. As it was getting later in the afternoon and an hour past their usual lunch time, they took it upon themselves to go into the house and grab a couple bags of gummy fruit candy to eat. They then both climbed into the knocked over drum and sat there and ate together until mommy and baby sister got back home.

More Isiah Bashing....

The Knicks just signed Jerome James to a 5 year contract for 29 million dollars. Let's see.

Jerome James is a 7-foot-1 veteran who averaged 4.9 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.39 blocks per game in a career-high 80 games for the Sonics last year.

For his career, James is averaging 4.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.20 blocks.

That's his answer to the need for a center on the team?

If they wanted someone to bring along the rookie Channing Frye, they could should have gotten a better player for less money. How about Chris Anderson, Andrew DeClercq, Ervin Johnson, Mark Madsen, Dikembe Mutombo?

Would You Like Fries With That?....

Let's play make-believe. You're a bank teller working the drive-thru window. A customer pulls up to the lane and puts a note inside the canister and sends it to you via the tube machine. On the note it reads: "This is a stick up. Give me all of your money." Do you A)Empty your cash drawer and send it back to him via the tube. B)Call the cops. C)Send back an empty tube D)ignore the request?

In real life, a bank teller at a LaSalle bank in Chicago chose option A. The bank robber got away with $56,000.

Answer To Max's Questions....

Where are the answers to Jerry's questions?
See previous post.

When did you decide that Jennie was the one for you? (may be too personal)
Some time in the late summer of '99. There wasn't one defining moment when it all became clear, but something that evolved over time. And each day that has passed since then has only further strengthened that belief, that Jennie is the one and only for me.

If you found out a friend was cheating on their wife, what would you do?
It depends. It depends on where my loyalty lies. With my friend or with his wife. I'd definitely tell him that he needs to stop cheating and to tell his wife what's been going on.

Answers To Jerry's Questions....

How come you don't play defense?
Laziness. Pure and simple. No alterior motive behind it. Just laziness.

If you had maybe gone to a big college and stayed on campus and such, do you think you would have finished?
I have often pondered the same question and I have never come up with an answer. Living on camplus would have definitely have been better than commuting. No doubt about that. But my unreadiness/unwillingness to go on to higher education might have trumped that. I honestly don't know how that would have turned out.


What do YOU think about the Nets moving to Brooklyn?
I think it's a great move for the organization. The meadowlands is a terrible place to host a professional team. Public transportation is a HUGE factor in attendance figures. Moving to Brooklyn will put more people in the seats. They definitely have the more exciting team of the NYC area, and hopefully this will put them over the top and make them NY's team instead of the Knicks

The Morning After....

The area affected is very sore this morning. More so than yesterday. Walking up and down stairs is painful. So is driving the car and hitting bumps. Otherwise it's just a constant ache. Hopefully the tylenol I popped will help dull it. I'm going to try to put it out of my mind so I can get some work done.

The Aftermath....

It's done. My little soldiers will be stuck at homebase with no way out.

I'm sitting here at the computer with an ice pack on my crotch.

According to all the pamphlets I read before today, this was supposed to be a simple procedure done with only some local anesthesia. To my dismay, that was no that case. I wasn't given general anesthesia via the gas mask, but rather with some medicine into the i.v. Once the anesthesiologist injected the drugs, it must have been only 5 to 10 seconds for it to take effect. Amazing stuff. A couple observances:

The i.v. drip makes your hand go cold. In hindsight, I should have expected that. The i.v. bags are room temperature (about 70 degrees - more on that later) and my body temp is 98.6 +/-.

The hospital loves to keep the place cool. I doubt it was as high as 70, more like 66 to 68 in that place. In all of my previous visits there, I was always a visitor and never had to get naked and wear only a hospital gown. Thank goodness for the blankets....

The hospital keeps their stock of blankets in a reverse refrigerator. A big heating machine so that the blankets are nice and toasty when they put them on you.

The hospital experience was very good, however the doctor who performed the surgery needs some improvement. When the surgery was scheduled, I did all the pre-registration over the phone with the hospital. They told me the doctor scheduled a 9:30am surgery and asked that I come in at 8:30am to get everything set up and ready. We got there at 8:30 and everything went very smoothly and quickly. There wasn't the wait we had the last couple of times we went. I was escorted into the operating room by 9:20am. While laying there on the table, the nurse discovered that in the doctor's folder for the surger, it was scheduled for 10:45am. What the fuck?!?! The anesthesiologist and nurse were very nice and kept apologizing for having to wait for the doctor to arrive. The doctor finally arrived (although I have no idea what time it was - my contacts were out and I couldn't see the clock). As far as I know the surgery went well. The only thing the doctor ever said to me was "Hi. How's it going?" when he walked into the OR. He spoke to my wife in the waiting room while I was still knocked out and told her everything went fine and that I should take it easy for the next 24 hours.

I woke up fine with no side effects from being knocked out. Had some juice and they wheeled me back into my waiting cubicle. Had a bit to eat there and some more juice. Pissed in the toilet and had to let the nurse see the piss just to make sure I wasn't dehydrated (hospital policy) then they let me get dressed and signed out. We went to the pharmacy to pick up the anitbiotics and headed home.

All in all, a successful day.

The Big Day Is Approaching....

This time tomorrow, I will be home recuperating from my vasectomy. (Hopefully I'll have my computer back up and running and I will respond to Max and Jerry's questions - hold on fellas)

Is it the right choice for me? Yes. Jennie and I have 3 wonderful children so far. When we first discussed having children, I wanted to have 2 and Jennie wanted 4. 3 is a nice compromise.

Am I ready to have a doctor with a sharp scalpel that close to my genitals? I don't think anyone is ever ready for that, but I have to trust that he is a professional and has done this hundreds of times and knows what he is doing.

Aren't condoms cheaper and less painful than a vasectomy? Yes, but as I can attest - they are not 100% effective - hence Thomas and Alexis. They were not planned, but definitely a welcome addition. We would have had more kids eventually and in hindsight, having them so close together will be a good thing. They will only grow up that much more close to each other.

Tomorrow: The aftermath....

P.S. Click here for detailed info on the actual procedure (if interested)

Answers To Joe's Questions....

What has surprised you the most about being a parent?
During pregnancy, or pre-birth, you know that life as you know it is going to change. But there's no way to prepare yourself for the absolutely sheer joy of being a parent. So I'd say the biggest surprise is how much joy and happiness I've gotten from becoming a dad. There's no way I would have known how great it would have been before it happened.

Now that you have the benefit of hindsight, why did you not finish college?
Hinsdsight is no benifit here. At the time I knew it wsan't right for me. Hindsight has only strengthed that decision.


Why would you want to get spanked by a transvestite?
I was drunk.

If You Can't Beat Them - Join Them....

Joey did it first. Then Max did it. Then Jerry did it. It looks like fun, so I think I'll give it a try.

Ask me anything.

No topic is off limits, but if it's too personal, or would not be right to answer in such a public forum, I won't answer.

Let the questions begin....

Never Underestimate The Importance Of Breathing....

I don't know if it's a cold or allergies (I'm leaning towards allergies), but I've had this runny nose condition on-and-off for about the last 3 or 4 weeks. I was at a doctor last week for me pre-op check-up and she gave me this nose spray to help get rid of my post-nasal drip. I tried it when I got home that day and it seemed to work.

Today I woke up with a stuffy, runny nose and decided to give the nose spray another shot. I think it made it worse. Now I can't breath from my nose I'm so clogged up. And I can't get that horrible tase out of my mouth from the nose spray. It is just absolutely terrible.

Another thing: I feel like such a spas having to breath thru my mouth all day. No matter how many times I blow my nose, I can't seem to get rid of the clog....