A few Friday links

Pretty slow over here in oreo-land past couple of days. Still trying to get over my cold/flu, and all that's left is a sore throat and coughing. I did go running last night so that is a good sign.
We're down to the quarterfinals in the WC, so I'll likely be watching that all weekend (2 games today, 2 tomorrow). Also, my friend Rob is back from Germany, and I think I'll be going to the Braves game with him Sunday, as he has an extra ticket.

Well, the title said there'll be some links, so here they are:

• NBA Draft was yesterday, and I watched the (once again) miserable job the Hawks did. Loved the Bulls draft by the way. Here's an interesting recap on the draft that sums up my exact feelings as I watched it.
• FSW's Jaime Trecker talks about FIFA pulling the 2010 WC in South Africa? And perhaps moving it to the US (if S.A. can't handle it, of course).
• Secret video of the Italia soccer team training session???
• Farecast - this website makes predictions of when you should buy airline tickets based on analysis of prices over time.

That's it for now. I'm going to have to start adding pictures here real soon to make this a little more interesting .
Looking forward to what should be a great matchup today, Argentina vs Germany, a rematch of WC86 and WC90. I believe the Argentines will win because of a porous German back line, but like any good Brazilian, I wouldn't really mind if they got knocked out of the World Cup...

I can hear!

I'm still feeling like crapola, but I can hear! I can hear!!! Not sure if my right ear is unclogged, or if the liquid/wax or whatever got moved pushed back in the plane flight is finally gone. Whatever the case may be it feels great to have clear hearing from both ears once again.

That is some relief. However, I'm still feeling really bad. Cold/flu symptoms...body aches, headaches, congestion, sore throat, etc. I do feel better than I did this morning and I'm sure this has a lot with all the meds.
Didn't work today, sick day. So it did give me some time to watch Brazil-Ghana and Spain-France. Brazil didn't look that good, but they still pulled off a win. Ronaldo to the rescue, with a brilliant strike in the first 5 minutes of the game. France and Spain was entertaining, and France will pose a lot of problems to Brazil, because Henry will have some good scoring opportunities.

I also cleaned up a little, as Paul might have some people look at the apartment. I'm going to have to start packing this week, because it's not too much longer before I move out. I'll have some soccer-free time this week, as play won't resume for a couple of days. There are some great quarter-finals matches that I look forward to seeing...but in the meantime I can work on doing the things I need to do without the soccer temptations.

Bizarro World and hearing problems

Just spent 3 days in Seattle for my friend's wedding. 3 beautiful days. Not one cloud in the sky, perfect weather. Get back to Atlanta and it is muggy and rainy and foggy and really really ugly. Bizarro world, no? Definitely not what I would expect.

And what a beautiful wedding it was. Nic and Peter were so very happy that it was very hard not to be touched. They're a great couple and are great together.

Flight back was ok, had the emergency aisle again, which I love. Love the extra leg space. Only problem was the descent back to Atlanta. I have a cold/sinus problems, so my ears on the way back were about to explode. Never felt that much ear pain on a flight. Nothing I could do helped either. And as if that wasn't enough, now I can't hear much out of my right ear. Now from all I've heard and read this happens (especially if you already have a cold), and it should go away soon. Been 18 hours and it hasn't yet. It better go soon, because having little/no hearing in my right ear is really really annoying me, and what I don't need is any further ear infections or complications.

Finally in Seattle!!

After a debacle at the airport and the most confusion ever, I finally land on Seattle. I left my apartment before 6am, and by 7:30 we were at the airport and I had absolutely no hope of going to Seattle. I had given up. Why? Well, Stef bought my (our) tickets, and didn't add my name to the list. So really she bought two tickets for herself. And the Continental people would not change it. I have to give it to Dan the ticket counter guy, he was an absolutely unhelpful jerk. Well done Dan, you just lost two (hopefully more than two) Continental customers. The guy just didn't want to help, and really went out of his way so that I did not get on the plane.
Don't want to get into anymore than this, but Stef ended up buying a last minute plane ticket through AirTran for me, and I finally got to Seattle. She had a trying day as well, and got in just before the cruise.
The cruise, by the way, was amazing. Huge boat that went around Seattle, open bar with plenty of food. Weather was great and it is beautiful to see Mt Renier and the SpaceNeedle on the edge of the city. Oh, and Bill Gates' place is just HUGE.

I'll have more on this weekend later. So far, so good though. Can't wait for the wedding later today!

All-WC team from group stage

Here's my all-WC team, from the group stage:
GK - Buffon (ITA)
DEF - Juan (BRA)
DEF - Lahm (GER)
DEF - Nesta (ITA)
DEF - Marquez (MEX)
MF - Nedved (CZE)
MF - Kaka (BRA)
MF - Essien (GHA)
MF - Ljungberg (SWE)
FW - Crespo (ARG)
FW - Klose (GER)

Here's who I'd have on the second team:
GK - Cech (CZE)
DEF - Sorin (ARG)
DEF - Puyol (SPA)
DEF - Cannavaro (ITA)
DEF - Trabelsi (TUN)
MF - Riquelme (ARG)
MF - York (TRI)
MF - Pirlo (ITA)
MF - Xavi (SPA)
FW - Van Persie (NED)
FW - Delgado (ECU)

Lots of other guys have had good showings. I'm looking forward to the round of 16, some great matchups ahead!

Mixed feelings this weekend

Busy weekend for me, but I have a lot of mixed feelings about it. I'm going to Seattle for my friend Nicole's wedding. That's great, should be a good time. But Heather starts orientation in Greenville this weekend, and we'll be apart for a couple of weeks before I go up there. That's no fun.

In soccer news, Brazil is through perfectly, sweeping the group. That's good. US is going home early. That's bad.
The US team needed a win today against a talented Ghana side, and came up short. Got hosed on a call (again), but they did a lot of it themselves and I'm going to blame a lot of it on the coaching staff. Too unprepared, too conservative. And believe me, changes will be made and B.Arena will not be coaching when qualifiers begin for WC2010.

Combined Accounts

Took a big step in married life yesterday, and created a combined checking account for both Heather and I. I'm guessing we will put in money that we make on that account and that will cover all the mortgage and house bills, etc. But this money thing is really a little more complicated than I thought. I mean, how much do we put in there, and how much do we put in our individual accounts (cuz Heather will be making way more 'cheese' than I will)? What about credit cards...she doesn't have any, so she'll be going under my credit cards. That's fine, but I'll be paying the bills...so I guess I'm going to have to divide the amounts that we spend with our personal checking accounts. So a couple of tricky things there that I never really thought about.

Going running tonight. I need it. Peachtree Road Race is less than two calendar weeks away, and I'm not in the shape that I want to be. Hopefully getting a good 3.5 mile run today in some heat will help.

F--- Men's Warehouse

Finally bought a much-needed black suit yesterday. It'll be handy at Nicole's wedding this weekend, and I can get good use out of it on job interviews. Haven't bought a suit since '97, and was wondering 'where do you find a suit these days?'. Well, I haven't really seen suits anywhere but places in the mall like Nordstrom, but I thought the mall-places would be a little pricey. I thought 'well, why don't I head to the Men's Warehouse?' I mean, their advertisements make is seem like it would be a good price, right? Wrong!!! I hate that fn place. Can't believe I got played that bad. Walked in there, and the car salesmen took me like a sucker that I was and I ended up with a $400 suit. I mean, it looks nice, I guess. And I really needed one. But I got played bad.

The cigarette-smelling car salesman played the game with his boss about not having enough tailors around and suits never fitting. Well, lo and behold, the most expensive suit there fit me perfectly! "That never happens" says the greaseball. "Wow" says Heather. I should've known then to just run out of there. But no...with his pushiness I ended up trying the thing, and he didn't want to show me any more suits because he said all the other black suits had pleated bottoms. Yes, that's another sign for me to get the heck out of there.
Heather (god bless her) didn't really help either, every time I tried to get out of there she kept encouraging me. But to her defense she just wanted me to get a darn suit.
I just feel bad for myself that I broke ALL the shopping rules that I usually follow:
1. Buy something in the first store I find, especially knowing that I can't quite return it.
2. Do almost no research on prices before shopping.
3. Don't try (and look at) any other options, buying the first one from the rack.
4. Never go shopping with a girl when she wants to go shopping as well. Normally she would help me LOOK around, but with her needing to go shopping she just wanted me to get done so she can shop for her own stuff.

Didn't help that I went into one of my favorite stores minutes later, Express Men, and they had a sale with suits going for half the price of the ones that I just bought.
Oh well, I'm being cheap. I just don't like being played and pushed into a "sale", which I was. Not a good feeling.
The good news is that I have a suit and that it fits me and that it will probably last me a long long time. Can't really complain about that.

14 more days of work

My last day of work has been set to July 7th. That's 14 work days from now. I'll miss some people from work, and a lot of the customers that I've established a good relationship with. But there's a lot that I'll leave behind that I don't mind leaving behind, and I guess everyone has that at their jobs.
One of the things I'll miss the most is this wee little laptop. Not that it is the most powerful thing in the world, but I've got Firefox setup the way I like it, with just the right extensions, and bookmarks and everything...plus all this software ! Sigh! That's another thing that I'll be hunting for in the next couple of weeks...new laptop! Anybody knows any deals let me know...I've got a couple of leads, but the hunt is on!

PS - An underachieving Brazil is moving through to the next round. If the Americans make it through to the next round, it will likely have to play Brazil. Definitely not the best scenario,, but as an American fan I'll take that right now.

Where was Eddie Johnson???

US 1 - 1 Italy. A tie against one of the world's soccer powerhouses, while playing a man down most of the second half...sounds like a great result for the American team. And it was. But I can't help but come out of that game with a bitter taste in my mouth. This is a game that the US should've won. Plenty has been said about the referees' role in the match, so I'm not going to discuss that any further. What ticked me off in the end, is the fact that we went into the locker room after the game with a substitution left, unused.
With the team being down a player for the whole half, and with 9 players on its side, the team had really heavy legs towards the end of the game. Both teams did. Beasley came in and used his speed against a tired Italian side. And it worked. Why couldn't Eddie Johnson come into the game? The result would've been the same...Eddie has tremendous speed and with his fresh legs it would've created a lot of trouble for the Italian defense. Even if it was a straight forward for forward swap, with McBride coming out, that would've worked. It would fit two roles: EJ's legs would allow him to pressure more and run around more than McBride; and two his aforementioned speed would've created more chances up front. So if Arena was trying to come out of there with the tie, it wouldn't hurt to make another sub. If he was trying to get a much-deserved win, then the sub would've helped.

Yes, the end result was not bad. In fact, it was an epic tie that brought back some respect for the American side. But it was a missed opportunity to really shock the world.

In other news, Brazil plays today against a tough Aussie squad. I'm looking forward to it. After the game I might try to go play some indoor soccer. First time touching a soccer ball in about a month...should be interesting.

When it feels good to have your ears ring

I've got quite a busy day ahead of me. No, not looking for loans. Not submitting resumes either. Am giving my car the oil change that it needs? No. What about taking out recycling...no not that either. I'm in FULL World Cup mode. I still have the Argentina clinic on the DVR that I've yet to watch, and today Czech Rep/Ghana match should be great, then U.S. takes the field against Italy.
It's desperation time for the Americans against a team that I've got going all the way to the finals. Looking forward to watching it in Heather's parents basement (woo hoo to HD tv!!).

The TV will have to be a little louder than usual though....Thomas and I went to see a couple of great bands play last night at The Loft. It was an AWESOME show. Modern Skirts were good as they usually are, and then I saw Tim Brantley play for the first time (was his CD release party), and those guys were really really good. Gonna have to pick up that CD soon. So yeah, The Loft is small and cozy which is great, but my ears are still ringing a bit. My own fault, but it was well worth it.

So we found a house...

Ok, just a little bit on the logistics of things to get everyone caught up. Heather and I found a house in Mauldin SC. It's a cute little place in the suburbs of Greenville SC (just South actually). We're pretty excited about it. We accepted a counter-offer, and have just received the inspection report about a week ago. The inspection came back fairly clean and they have agreed to fix the little things we asked for.
It's the biggest buy that we've ever made and we're definitely excited. The only downer is that they're not moving out until the end of July...so until then, we get to live in an Extended Stay :(

So we found a house...what's next? We're now looking for a good deal on a loan. It's a little trickier than I thought it would be, but 10% down and Heather making decent money helps. Me having no job doesn't help (although I do have one now, and ok credit...but not sure they'll like the project of me having no job a couple of weeks from now). Anyone know a good broker let us know - we've heard from 2 or 3 people already and will take the best offer.

I'll have some pictures of the house uploaded once I find them. It's a cute and simple brick home, 4 bedrooms. I have the unenviable task of ripping down wallpaper and painting in the next couple of months! Woo hoo!!!

Welcome to oreo's NEW life!!!

Ok so this is my first blog post. Basically there have been some very big changes in my life recently (and there are more to come) and this is my little space to blog on it. Be prepared to see some stuff about being a husband, about being a brand-spanking-new homeowner and about living in a new town (completely different from my old one).
I'll also blog about my impending job search, as I have had to quit my job to follow my wife to Greenville SC. I'm very excited about this opportunity to change, to start life again in a new town. Not that I'm wanted in Atlanta or have burned any bridges or anything, but every now and then a little change is good for your soul. In my case, a LOT of change.

Also, I'm sure I'll write plenty about the Georgia Bulldogs, soccer, fantasy sports and movies. That's what my free time usually consists of...

Enjoy, and feel free to email me!

oreo