Thursday, 28 November 2002: I'd like to say Happy Thanksgiving to all and Happy Birthday to my brother tomorrow (not that he'll ever read this to know that I said it). See y'all next week.

Wednesday, 27 November 2002: Does anybody else out there watch "8 Simple Rules"? I gotta say that it's my favorite new show now officially. Last night's episode had Patrick Warburton (Puddy from "Seinfeld") as Paul's new boss. The two are able to commiserate because they both have teenage daughters. Warburton was funny as hell. It's great to see this guy who is normally very stoic and deadpan seemingly cave in under the pressure of raising daughters. I loved it. I hope he's going to be at least a semi-regular character like Larry Miller has been as one of Paul's co-workers.

Also, Katie and I were able to catch up on this week's "Boston Public" last night. I still have to say that this is probably my favorite show on TV although I tend to teeter between this and the original "C.S.I." The writing on Boston Public, while it was not bad last year, has actually gotten better so far this year. I am upset that Harry Senate (Nicky Katt) and Lauren Davis (Jessalyn Gilsig) are off the show, but I love how they've developed on the character of Steven Harper (Chi McBride). They've given him emotional range that was never really attempted prior to this season and his character is all the better for it. If you're not already watching this show, you are missing out.

Tuesday, 26 November 2002: Good news for all of us "C.S.I." fans. Turns out the first season of the show will be released on DVD sometime next month. Kinda odd for a company to say that they will be releasing an entire DVD set and not give a specific date especially when the target month is only a week away. Hmmm... I'll have to keep y'all posted.

I got a kick out of this little note from the U.S. Government. Apparently, the good ole gov feels it is time for them to take advantage of our technological capabilities by using our cellphones, pagers, PDAs, etc. as an alert system. In cases of terrorist attack or deadly weather phenomenon like tornadoes, an alert would be sent automatically to whatever little electronic device we prefer. Not an entirely bad idea, I suppose. But how long will it take for someone else to figure out how to hack into this system and then sell the distribution method to some spammer so we can now get messages that read "enlarge your penis 25%" flashing across the screen of our cellphones? Oooh, I just can't wait.

Monday, 25 November 2002: There are times when I feel like a complete and utter loser. Today is one of those days. I say this because the Boston Red Sox just named their new general manager today. His name is Theo Epstein and he is officially the youngest GM in baseball history. He's 28 years old. I'm 27. I will be 28 in just a couple of weeks. My job is nothing compared to what he's going to spend his days and nights doing. I've been able to chalk off the idea of ever being paid what a pro athlete would make. I'm not even jealous of them and their contracts because I don't think I could ever do what they are paid to do. In some cases, I do envy actors and think... nay "know"... that I could do a better job than some of the crap actors that are out there today. But, how much fun would it be to run the day-to-day operations of a professional baseball team? And the Boston Red Sox at that. One of the most storied baseball teams in America and one with some of the greatest history ever (even if they are lacking in World Series wins of late). Yes, it would be tough. Yes, you would be the target for all complaints when things go wrong. Yes, you are likely to be hated by most of the players on the team. But, damn if it wouldn't be cool to see your name on a business card with the title "General Manager" underneath it and the Red Sox logo off to the side. I'm such a loser.

I've got way too much time on my hands, don't I?

Sunday, 24 November 2002: The Bears finally won today, breaking their eight-game skid. What makes it even better is that I was there to see it. And, yes, while I am glad that they did win, I can't say I'm happy about how it happened. It was ugly to say the very least. There are an easy 10 extra points we should have had in that flubbed first quarter field goal by Paul Edinger and that dropped touchdown pass by Marty Booker in the endzone. And I have one last complaint... why can't the Bears play like they did during that hurry-up, no-huddle offense more often? Jim Miller looked like a QB God while it also seemed that Leon Johnson and Dustin Lyman could do no wrong. Where are these plays during the rest of the game? The Bears were nearly unstoppable for two minutes near the end of the fourth quarter. C'mon guys, let's pick it up a notch. We've got the Pack to contend with this coming weekend.