Ugh ...

... Tomorrow (Wednesday) is going to be a bitch at home. Thank God I took the day off.

To wit:

*We have a water pipe leak in the back corner of the house. Workers will be arriving at 9 a.m.
*The septic tank is full. A truck will be arriving to empty said tank sometime around noon.
*Ed's parents are coming this weekend, so I've called in my trusty Yaneth to get the house in order. She is awesome and worth every penny -- and then some. She also arrives around noon.
*Cable is pixilating in our bedroom, so the cable guy will be out between 10 and noon.

Seriously, can anything else happen? Can we have even more visitors? Wait ... I better shut up now.

At least two good things have happened in the last two weeks though. 1, Ed and I finally got the new 47-inch LCD flat screen mounted on the wall. It really is picture perfect. And 2, while we were doing that construction, he finally finished the wall around the French doors in the back bedroom. Three years later. It looks great.

Until next time America ...

Clearing the space between my ears ...

*Pitchers and catchers report for the Cubs on Feb. 14, for the Nationals on Feb. 16 and for the Orioles on Feb. 13. Baseball IS America's Pastime. I can't wait.

*So I heard there was some kind of BIG football game on Sunday. Ohhhh, that's right. Super Bowl XLV. The Packers beat the Steelers. Whoop dee doo.

The bigger story was that about 400 people are going to sue the NFL because even though they had tickets to the game, they didn't get to see it from their seats. Some had to watch on TV. The NFL offered triple the cost of the ticket and free tickets to next year's game, but you can bet that won't be near enough for some people.

The even bigger story was that we bought a new 47-inch Vizio LED flatscreen. Can you say sweet? Costco has some good deals. And when Ed and I went to bed Sunday night, it was on our brand new Simmons fluff mattress. We'd been sleeping on a cheap IKEA mattress for about 5 years, and it was killing our backs.

Doing our part to keep the economy going. Yay!

*We went to the D.C. Auto Show on Friday. Fell in love with all the usual suspects, but the vehicle I really liked is pictured here. The Ford Connect. Kind of like a Honda Element, but different. Half car, half van. I think most people buy it for their businesses or as taxis, but I've seen a few people out & about who use it as their primary car. And with three dogs, it would be perfect for hauling them around. And just about every review of the Connect has been very good. Gotta keep an eye on that one.

*Going to visit the family units in Little Rock on March 1. They are supposed to get 6 inches of snow tomorrow. They've already had more snow there than we've had this year. Effers. Just kidding. I know where I don't want to be right now -- at Cheryl's house in Des Moines. The current temperature there is -4. That's MINUS 4. Brrrrrrrrrrr.

Just stuff ...

... Wanted to get a few things off my chest ...

*Other than the Washington Redskins, the two teams that I hate the most happen to be in Super Bowl XLV on Sunday. Ugh. Steelers vs. Packers. Really?

Several people have asked me who I think will win or who I want to win. I DON'T CARE. I've told these people that I'll only be watching for the commercials this year. Seriously, I have no vested interest in this game, and that's the first time I can ever remember saying that about the Super Bowl.

I mean, it is the biggest game of the year, right? Gazillions of people will be watching, but I'll bet a good portion of them only want to see the commercials too.

OK, OK. I guess if I had to pick ... Steelers 17, Packers 13.

But you didn't read that here.

*So the biggest blizzard in like 40 years hits everywhere else in the country but the Washington, D.C. area. I mean come on! How many storms are we going to miss this year? Maybe last week's thundersnow disaster is all we're going to get this year.

My sister Cheryl in Des Moines was saying they were going to get 10-15 inches. This picture at left is outside her house last night. The Chicago area got something like 30 inches and had winds of more than 50 mph. They were comparing it to the blizzard of 1967, which I remember as I was 7 years old. But if last week's clusterf*ck is an indication, a storm like that around here would shut this area down for days.

After going four days last year with 40 inches on the ground, no power for 4 days and having to listen to the Super Bowl on the radio, I'd say Ed and I can handle it.

Bring it on.

*Can't wait for the next versions of Survivor and The Amazing Race. They both have redemption themes this season, with some people I've loved to hate back to try and win. Survivor is back Feb. 16. TAR returns Feb. 20. Should be fun.

*This stuff going on in Egypt and the Middle East is crazy. Very reminiscent of the Berlin Wall going down. President Hosni Mubarek says he won't run for office again. But that's not enough for the protesters. Let's just hope the violence, which has gotten a bit worse around Cairo today, doesn't get out of hand. And here's hoping that U.S. citizens in Egypt are able to return home safely.

Zach Wahls speaks about family

Wow. What an electrifying speech from this 19-year-old from Iowa, who was raised by lesbian parents. Awesome.

100 sled dogs slaughtered in post-Olympic slump

... and these people need to be held accountable. I know what I'd like to see happen, but then I'd end up in prison.

These dogs didn't deserve this.

Photo courtesy AP

Another reason not to watch Fox News ...

... They don't even know where Egypt is. Really?

(via Towleroad)

Groundhog Day storm

Accuweather is already beating the drums about a BIG snowstorm next week.
Click here

What a great idea!

Road trips for beer!

Snowmageddon

So yesterday's thundersnow was probably the weirdest weather I've ever seen. Heavy rain, heavy sleet, heavy snow. From about 3 p.m. to 10 p.m., we got about 8 inches of snow at work in the Tysons Corner area (only 3 or 4 at home).

Thank God I went to work early.

If you've never been to Tysons Corner, it's a cluster of a burgeoning metropolis off the Beltway in Northern Virgina, about 10 miles from D.C. Metro is going in, the HOT Lanes project -- you name it, there's some kind of construction going on there.

So when yesterday's storm hit, at rush hour, it was a perfect storm of events that led to people abandoning their cars in the middle of the road and the beltway. It took a co-worker 7 1/2 hours to get from his home in Baltimore to work. He left home at 3:30 p.m. He arrived at 11.

Even President Obama's motorcade got stuck trying to get from Andrews Air Force Base to the White House. But why they decided to drive through the middle of D.C. during a snowstorm at rush hour is beyond me.

I've lived here 19 years, and I've never seen a place where people panic at the slightest bit of precipitation.

There was really no reason for yesterday's clusterf*ck. Everybody had ample warning this storm was coming. And for once, the forecasters got this one right.

So seriously people -- get a grip.