Weekend is here, but working today

I get to go to work today, so great. Bad week for a couple of our machines at work this week. One of our box converters lost the hard drive to the computer which runs it causing it to be down 12 hours.
And we also lost two of the knife options on our 3 knife capable corrugators meaning it could only trim one knife or just one order against itself. For example, a 51" wide sheet order could trim itself out twice against itself out of 106" of paper. If it could not trim itself out of 110, 106, 100, 94, or 89, it would have to run on our other machine. To say the least, it caused a lot of headaches the last couple of days.
Off to work.

I have been away and yelled at for not blogging

Karen was disappointed to not see anything posted on here for awhile. I could say I was boycotting from writing anything until I was given a prize which was to be given for coming up with the best lines from the Neil and Sammy Christmas picture which I was told I won, but no prize has been delivered. I have had 4 guitar lessons and learning some things here and there. It is fun to actually play the instrument and hear the song- or at least hear a bit of it which sounds right. Thinking about taking longer lessons, but they are more expensive. It could cost almost 120 a month then. I am thinking that is too much now. I am going to buy the Metallica guitar hero game for PS2 when it comes out, just need to get the guitar. But the game doesn't come out until May anyways for the PS2 system.
We could get up to 18 inches of snow today. That is just crazy. I pulled a Kowalski the last three days and took naps in the afternoon. I slept Saturday before playing poker, Sunday before the Super Bowl (which I would haven't seen unless I took the nap) and yesterday after work.

Still looking for suggestions for what to do with my TV and entertainment center when I finally buy a new TV for the downstairs. Options are:
a. Put the TV in the living room with the entertainment center,
b. Put the TV in the living room without the entertainment center and convert it into a dresser
c. Same as above, but sell the entertainment center on Craigslist.
d. Put TV and center in the backroom (thinking no already though)
e. Put the TV in the backroom on different table.

Vote now. I got nothing more for now. Just dreading having to go outside and push snow around today. Jeeps are good for going through it though.

One last movie from Moline

At the 6:40 mark, James is standing about 12 feet away from me. I was standing at a 2:00 from where he was singing.

Road trips........

It looks like I will be spending some time hanging out with Dave and Jamie or Karen and John a lot this year. This looks so awesome.

Attack of the beach balls

Worth the drive

I took a small pilgrimage to Moline, IL. Was it to get as far away from Ohio State football as I can since the team was playing an hour away at Northwestern? No, but it didn't hurt.
I drove the 3 hours to have a relaxing, mellow evening with the soft sounds of




They didn't disappoint. They played 5 of the new songs from new release and even adopted a laser light show ala Pink Floyd. I held my spot in the third row of the general admission crowd through the first two opening bands and about half of the Metallica show before getting tired of boxing people out who tried to get closer. I caught a guitar pick from Kirk at the end of the show and tried but failed to catch a black beach ball with the Metallica logo on it for my nephews.

Now, I have the desire to see them play again when they come back to Chicago, but am worried that they could play almost the entire setlist I just saw. They are only changing 8-9 songs out of the 18 song set. I will probably wait until the end of next summer when they should be going on tour again. Maybe, just maybe with Alice in Chains when they release their new album. Anyway, I will hopefully be seeing both bands next year either way. Enjoy the video, it is For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Song suggestion again

Alright, I just spent over $100 for a Metallica ticket which will allow me to see them play, get a copy of the concert I will see via download online (one of the best thing bands have done in the past 5 years), received a free copy of the new Metallica album (which I already bought because I was not going to wait a few weeks for it to come in the mail - it is going to Dave) and of course the customary one free song on iTunes.
Now, what to get with that one song. I need suggestions. Currently I have 6924 songs in my library after downloading the entire Izzy Stradlin catalog. (Before you laugh, it is pretty good. He wrote a majority of the GNR songs).

Let me hear the suggestions.

100 years...... and still going

Wow. After 100 years, you would think it could happen once. Just once. The Yankees have won 27 championships since the Cubs won in 1908.

SNL did a funny joke with Bill Murray concerning the Cubs. Click HERE to see the funnies (depending on how you are looking at it).

Eddie Vedder said it would happen someday, just not in the calender year of 2008.

The week that was

It is official, the Cubs have made the playoffs by winning their division today. The Tampa Rays will probably clinch a playoff spot tonight also or at least by the weekend. How sad would it be if the Cubs met the Rays in the World Series and beat the Cubs when they have only existed for 11 years? Nevermind, we cannot think that way.

Eddie Vedder put out a song called "All The Way" which is a song about our beloved Cubs.



I received my ticket to see Metallica in Moline, IL in November. I have a floor seat which means I can get as close as I want to the stage. I would like to apologize for all the small folks who will be standing behind me in advance.

In other music news, Rick Wright, keyboardist and founding memeber of Pink Floud back when they were called the Pink Floyd Sound, passed away on Monday from cancer. He was at one point forced to quit Pink Floyd by Roger Waters before the release of The Wall. He was hired to play with the band, but was on a contract and did not receive a percentage from The Wall tour. He continued to play with Pink after Roger left, but legally was not allowed to be part of any decisions of the band which was enforced by Waters and all his suits he had against the band in the 80's. So, I would have to say, Live 8 could be the last time the name Pink Floyd will not be used again by Gilmour or Waters on a tour. Wright continued to play with Gilmour on his solo albums and the last tour.

Now, I need to figure out a system of sleeping which will allow me to stay awake for the playoffs but not cause me to be too tired for work at 4 in the morning. This could be a long October.

Happy belated gift from Karen

The Metallica album finally arrived yesterday and it sounds good. It is better than any of the other cds they put out in the past 15 years. I think subtracting Bob Rock as producer and adding Rick Rueben (produced Red Hot Chili Peppers and Beastie Boys albums) was needed.
They are playing fast again and they added guitar solos to the songs. And, an instrumental is also played. Finally, some old Metallica influences added into this record.
It is good enough for me to buy a $100 ticket to see them play in Moline, IL in 2 months. The promos for their tour are pretty pathetic. James and Lars were recorded talking about coming out on tour and when they are to name the city and the venue, a voice over is put in saying what city they are playing in. It is sad and funny. Like a bad Japanese movie without the picture.

I also went out and bought a new book called Watch you Bleed which is about the Guns N Roses history, breakup, and the new record Chinese Democracy which has been in production for only 12 short years. But nothing has been released. I guess one song was put online and the guy was arrested for doing it and another song will be on Rock Band.

Check out some of the new Metallica songs

The new Metallica album is coming out in 6 short days. Tickets go on sale beginning on Monday (somehow, not sure if I can get them then or not). The album sounds like old Met. It is fast, full of multiple riffs in each song, and fast solos. And James decided to actually sing songs during speed parts of the songs instead of slowing them down to sing.
I am excited to hear it and see them play live again. It has been a long 5 years since I was bored listening to them, but I think this year will be different. This will be 11th show live.

Football Season is here and with it.......

I have to deal with these guys more and more. And I have had to watch these guys talk football from the end of the Super Bowl all the way through until the season opener. Maybe not all together, but why is ESPN thinking we need to know about fantasy football players in March and who is going to win the Super Bowl in April? Seriously. Baseball season is not even a month into the seaon and they run a half hour show where they talk about the NFL and another half hour show to talk about college football. Everyday of the week during the day. Why not carry a baseball game?
It is not wonder no one is watching baseball anymore.
And, ESPN puts the baseball Hall of Fame speeches and presentations on ESPN Classic. But, the NFL gets theirs on a Saturday night or Sunday on ESPN.
I used to watch ESPN for hours when in high school and in college. But these days, I can watch PTI and maybe Around the Horn and then I have to watch something else. And I only watch these because if they are going to talk about football, I can see how long they will talk about it since they put a stop watch in the corner.

At this point I have probably made Dave angry with my commentary and Dave could be explaining to Neil how his Uncle Chris is wrong and doesn't know what he is talking about. I can see Neil telling his dad when I walk into the house, "That's your big brother, the crazy one!"

Just a thought. GO CUBS!! Baseball season is not over until the end of October, but as far as ESPN is concerned, it might as well be Spring Training at this point.

It died......

Ivan Drago was right (Rocky IV for those scoring at home), it died. I cannot believe it, Swanson said it was a piece of cake to move it and he accidentally took one nail out, and everything fell down. I was getting everyone a bottle of water at the time and come back to this.
Crazy.

As far as the fridge is concerned, I had a small gathering of people to discuss probabilities and odds of which card would be dealt next at my house on Saturday evening/Sunday morning. We had 13 people total come over and it was a good time. At the end of it, we finished off about 20 beers, a half case of Diet and regular Coke, and 18 bottles of water plus 9 pizzas and a couple bags of chips total. At least now I have room to go to the grocery store and fill it back up with things to eat instead of drink.

Before I forget, anyone need any wood or used nails??

If the playhouse, dies..........

It dies.
My buddy came over two days ago to try to move my playhouse out of my backyard with a forklift owned by his father in law. We had the trailer, part of the fence removed, strapping, and plywood so we could keep screwing up the lawn to a minimum.
After trying for a little over an hour, the only way it seemed it would move is if we dragged along the lawn and possibly risk tearing up the lawn.
The forks were just too short (only 4 feet long) while the house was 13 feet long. It could not get the leverage needed to remove it. We were able to rotate the playhouse 45 degrees from where it sat before. Today is the day it will go bye bye, at least being torn apart. Still need to figure out where to go with all the scrap afterwards. I figure I could always throw a little away every week until it is finally gone.

Ready for MTV to come over

I am ready for my Cribs episode to be taped since every time I remember flipping past it, they always show what is in the fridge.
Good thing they drank most everything that was inside or else I would not have anywhere to put food if no one was thirsty.

The Day that Never Comes

So far, I have listened to four - 10 seconds of snipets of the new Metallica album. The parts they have been playing have sounded pretty good, but you could pick 10 seconds out of almost any song and it would sound good. Hence the reason, iTunes only lets you get 30 seconds.

Well, today they released one song online to listen to. If you have windows media player, check it out. It is called The Day that Never Comes. It is alright. It reminds me a little of a couple songs from ...And Justice for All. There are multiple riffs going on which is more like the old stuff. The drums sound as if they are playing the same song which is nice compared to St Anger.

If you go the Myspace page, you can listen to a live version of a song called Cyanide. I listened to it, and do not worry they do not cuss so kids can listen and become fans. Then eventually I will be taking Neil, James and maybe even Sammy to see Met play. Of course, by then it will only cost $400 for four tickets and I would would need to take an advance on my salary.

Could be a good year for Rock fans

Not only is Metallica coming out with a new album this year (9/12), but it was also reported that Alice in Chains will be coming out with a new record before the year is over.
Somehow, I feel more confident that Alice's album will be the better of the two. Maybe Met can prove me wrong for the first time in since 1992.
That also means Alice will probably be on tour again this year. I hope it will be a small venue type place again. And I know Dave will be going again if it can fall on a weekend. I would like it to be in Milwaukee again because I think I could get their autographs there compared to Chicago.

Most responses ever

The happy birthday post brought back the most responses ever in the history of the story of the importer/exporter.

And to celebrate this feat, here is the song which will make everyone sing.

Happy Birthday Little Sister

Today is Karen's birthday. Today she is............... 29 years old. On behalf of all the guys, we got you this.

It's a sweater.

Sorry, Just saw 3 Amigos.

Here's a riddle.......

What do you get when you add Led Zeppelin





Plus, Pink Floyd





Plus, Pearl Jam?





Answer is:




I just got this new poster and deciding if I should try to use it to trade for another poster. There are a couple I like that have nothing to do with music. I traded for this poster for my Hartford show poster. So I got one that is worth $70 for one that cost me only $25. Not bad.