Uncanny Resemblance

You know, I always thought future Hall of Fame pitcher Randy Johnson looked like he came out of the Civil War (especially when he wore the mullet).

I discovered I wasn't too far off the mark when we visited Gettysburg. Standing atop Little Round Top is a statue of General Gouveneur K. Warren. If you were to put a baseball in his left hand, he'd be a dead ringer for Randy Johnson, scowl and all.

Serving as Chief Engineer for the Army of the Potomac, General Warren went to Little Round Top to assess the situation when he noticed the Confederate forces maneuvering towards the unoccupied mountain. Warren acted quickly to commandeer a regiment to rush in to defend against the Confederate attack just in the nick of time, thereby protecting the Union left flank and saving the Union forces from a disastrous defeat. Gouveneur Warren is considered by many to be the savior of Gettysburg. He was the ace that day, just as Randy Johnson has been the ace on many a day.

By the way, do you know who else was at the Battle of Gettysburg? Major General Abner Doubleday - mistakenly credited as the inventor of baseball (but he did patent the cable car that still runs in San Francisco!). But I do digress...

I don't believe in reincarnation, but wow - the resemblance between Johnson and Warren is uncanny.

Thursday Report, 3 May 2007

New Appliances Anyone?
Last month I paid off Home Depot for the new dishwasher we got last Christmas. Now our refrigerator is on the blink. Keep in mind that my wife has been wanting a new refrigerator for quite some time. So I went and looked up refrigerator repair on the internet and came back to my wife saying, "So you want a side-by-side this time?" The new fridge arrives Monday.

Just When You Thought Things Were Bad in YOUR House
Our older daughter J and our grandson have moved in with her fiancee and his daughter. You may recall they have a new puppy, Zoe. Well Zoe had a little accident a few weeks ago and apparently (although not apparent the first time it was X-rayed) she broke one of her front legs. She's having surgery today.

On top of that, J went to the emergency room because of abdominal pain. She has gallstones. She will be discussing gall bladder surgery soon.

A Good Supreme Court Decision
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that those idiots who get involved in police chases can't sue the police for stopping them, provided the police don't use excessive force in stopping the suspect vehicle. Mind you, when a car is speeding along and barely under control, it only takes a tap of its bumper to push it completely out of control. Just ask the plaintiff - he was speeding along at 100 m.p.h. on a suspended license. The police intervened according to the standard procedure for stopping these wingnuts, and now he's a quadraplegic. If you ask me, it's better than having him kill an innocent bystander and ruin other peoples' lives.

Iraqi Government Entity Targets Sunnis
While we're busy "surging" against the insurgency, it was reported that Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki has set up an office within the government consisting of military advisors dealing with the whole mess over there. This agency has been found to have an extreme Shiite agenda which is only contributing to the sectarian violence. Cute.

Oh, What A Tangled Web We Weave
Meanwhile, it appears that some Sunnis have had enough of al-Qaeda, as evidenced by the increasing numbers of Sunni militants who are fighting against al-Qaeda; they've even claimed that they killed the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Gosh, don't you just love a civil war based on differing religious, political, and economic agendas?

Phoenix Suns Advance to the Western Conference Semifinals
Last year they made it look hard. This year, they made it look easy (except for the one game they lost). Just like last year, the Suns faced the Lakers in the opening series of the NBA playoffs. But this year, there's something different about this team, and I like their chances. The Suns were able to dispatch the Lakers in five games. Now they face the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday. Should be interesting. And a lot of fun to watch.

How 'bout Those Diamondbacks?
Since last week the Arizona Diamondbacks are 5-2. I'm not sure how, sometimes, but I'll take it. Looks like their biggest nemesis this year will be the Dodgers.

Thursday Report

Thursday Report
The idea for this title comes from a former coworker of mine who has quite a wit about her, and whom today I was reminded of one of the things she would do.

Every Monday we used to receive an email sent by my employer about things that were going on in our center and in the company in general. It was called the Monday Report. Then the next day, our coworker W would send out an email to our team which was essentially an amusing commentary about the Monday Report, as well as other amusing anecdotes. It was called the Tuesday Report. The Tuesday Report was not so imformative; but it was definitely worth looking at each week.

We no longer get the Monday Report. And since W has left the company, we haven't been getting our Tuesday Report either. But since I was reminded today of the Tuesday Report, I have been inspired to write a blog article each week that had some not-so-in-depth commentary just for fun. And I work half-days on Thursday. Hence the Thursday Report.

Don't worry, I will continue to comment on other topics as I am inspired to do so.

She's Baaaaack...
Over the past weekend, one of our grown children has moved back in with us. We love her dearly, though, so it's okay. Besides, it gives us an excuse to clean the garage again (always a work in progress). Our little dog Princess is thrilled to have another people in the house as well. Granted S & I have had to make some minor adjustments, but it's nice to have E home with us for the time being (whatever that will be).

Speaking of Princess
We've had some other adjustments in our household since the passing of our last cat, Snoopy. We now have a doggy door. Woohoo! I can't tell you how much that makes us happy - no more getting up to let the dog out, let the dog in, let the dog out, let the dog in, etc., etc. Princess can go potty any time, go sun herself when she feels like it, come back in and sleep whenever. It's great. Princess also no longer has a problem with jumping onto the bed at night knowing she won't accidentally land on the cat (always a plus).

How 'Bout Those Suns!
The NBA's second season - the playoffs - have now started. Our Phoenix Suns are now leading the Lakers 2-0 in the first playoff series. The first game was a bit shaky, but the Suns won in a fashion typical of their regular season. In the second game, though, the Suns absolutely demolished the Lakers. In fact, Charles Barkley, who is frequently critical of the Suns, was pretty quiet Tuesday night.

Sir Charles has been somewhat right about the Suns. After great seasons the previous two years, the Suns could not get it done. This year, many - including myself - have a sense that the Suns may win that elusive NBA Championship. We shall see.

The D-Backs: A Different Story
The Arizona Diamondbacks have certainly had their struggles this past week. Not even the ace from yesteryear, Randy Johnson, could eke out a win in his first start of the season. It's just a matter of slow offense. But they did manage to win it last night with a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 9th with two out. Wow.

Spring Weather Ending?
I sure hope not. Although we did barely touch 100 degrees last March, we've had quite a nice spring. We've actually had a bit of rain, too. Enough to delay the fire season by - oh - ten days. But this weekend is the time we may actually hit 100 for the first time this year. Let the hot times roll.

Done Deal - The Unit Comes Home

Well, it's official. Randy "the Big Unit" Johnson has returned to pitch for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He's seen here sporting his classic #51 on a newly revamped D-back jersey (not sure I'll get used to the new logo and color scheme).

Yeah, some of the fans are moaning and groaning about Johnson's return. Mostly about the money aspect. Listen, if you can understand the high-finance accounting of big league sports contracts, rant and rave all you want. Otherwise keep your big yap shut. Besides, what do really care about how a corporation spends its money, especially when they're entertaining you?

Some are bitching and moaning about the mere 17 wins he got last year. Excuse me, but D-back ace Brandon Webb only won 16 games last year - do the math. Oh, and by the way, Webb won the National League Cy Young Award, despite playing for a mediocre team that gave him little in run support.

Some are concerned about his age and his health. He may be 43 years old, but he's healthier and in considerably better shape than most 20- and 30-somethings I know. Then again, I may be biased since I'm pushing 47. Go, Randy, go!

Perhaps the 2-year stint with the Yankees didn't go as well as Randy had hoped. Nobody knows that better than Randy Johnson. He decided to do something about it when the opportunity arose. People tend to perform better in an enviroment that's friendly to them. Randy has returned home to where he won four of his five Cy Young Awards and a World Series Championship. Personally, I look forward to seeing him on my TV kibbutzing with our other Cy Young Award winner. Welcome back, Randy!

Big Unit Returning to Phoenix?

Rumor has it that 5-time Cy Young Award winner Randy Johnson may be on the NY Yankees trading block - and that the Arizona Diamondbacks may get him back. He also has one year and $16,000,000 left on his contract with the Yankees and it could cost the D-backs about four players in the deal. I'm not sure that's a bargain when you consider the Big Unit is 43 years old (I can relate - I was that age just three years ago) and he's just had back surgery. And most likely he'd have to play second fiddle to the current Cy Young winner, Brandon Webb. But RJ does love our city and our fans love him. Might be worth it.