Fireproof

This weekend I got a chance to see "Fireproof" with my wife. We had 2 showings at our church, and from what I can tell, both were well attended.

If you haven't seen the movie yet, I highly recommend it. It's something that we as a faith community can get behind.

There are books (Love Dare), curriculum (kits, participants guides, DVDs) and other ways to help promote this concept.

Of course, the best way to promote staying married is to "live the life".....




(C.Cameron isn't even that distracting, he does well)....thankfully it's a higher production value than some of his other "Christian" offerings (yes, I'm talking about you, Mr. Left Behind).

Highs and Uh-Oh's

Well....it won't be the NFC Championship game, without an Eagles loss.

I barely remember the 1 time (out of 5) that they actually did win. I believe I was in a hotel room in Illinois with a few co-workers.

I suppose, in time, you can make an appreciative attempt at putting things in perspective (how many coaches/QBs actually make 5 Championship round games), but for now the loss still stings.

Am I one of those despondent, rabid fans who now has a dim view of life....no. I am a guy who enjoyed the ride the last few weeks have given, bought into the concept that the Eagles were the '07 Giants, and believed that things were breaking right for them, and despite the collective history of the city, Philly would get a rare championship.

On a more humorous note, prior to the Panthers-Cardinals game, I heard a story of an interview Kurt Warner gave. In that interview he said that his wife told the kids if "daddy" makes the super bowl, the family would get a puppy. The point of the story was, you don't bet against God (Warner's a devout Christian) and you don't bet against puppies.

In that light, the Eagles really had no chance....

At least they made a game of it. It looked like they were done, but they came back, took the lead, and allow Eagle fans to dream. To the Cardinals credit, they came back with a(now) astonishing 7 minute drive and scored a touchdown.

They deserved to win, and I'll be routing for them in the Super Bowl.

On a minor note, I really like the LeBron Browns commercial, and thought the Ditka-Billick Coors Light commercial was okay, even if they denigrated the "Coach" (insert Chicago accent).

Wow, this is why I'm a football fan. Just when it looked like the Eagles were going to finish another season on a huge let-down (losing to the Redskins after collectively raising the hopes of all Eagles fans).....they find a way to DEMOLISH the Cowboys.

Thanks to clever scheduling by the local CBS & Fox stations, we were able to track the Raiders/Bucs game, and the Vikings/Giants game. Both games had meaning to the Eagles, though it was the combination of the Bucs & Bears both losing that opened the door for the Eagles.

Earlier in the afternoon I had said to Linford, it's probably like a 5-10% chance they actually make the playoffs. For one, the Raiders had next to nothing to play for, while the Bucs on the other hand were at home, would clinch a playoff spot with a win, and were trying to stop a 3-game losing streak.

Of course then it came down to which Eagles team were we going to see: the listless, unimaginative team that lost to the Redskins, or the exciting, passion-filled team that beat the Giants, Cardinals and Browns in 3 weeks running.

Turns out it was better than anything we could have imagined.

Very few games in sports are just out-right enjoyable games. Too many games (Football & Baseball) are the type that you enjoy along the way, but with a degree of nail-biting.

This one had the same feel that Victorino's grand slam against C.C. did....in that the team I was rooting for, in this case the Eagles, was going to win, and it was going to be quite a ride.

I felt that way after seeing defensive-lineman Chris Clemons rumble 75 yards for a touchdown, after a Romo fumble bounced right into his hands, AND stiff-arming a player before falling over in exhaustion in the end zone.

What a game!!!!!

Now, it's setting up for a let-down game, on the road against the Vikings, but it's not inconceivable that they win there, and play strong against the Giants a week later. The second part is considerable harder than the first, because usually only 1 team of the 4 that advances to the 2nd round (and play the rested 1 & 2 seeds) will win that second game.....but you never know....could be a nice ride.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone.

I'm looking forward to a little time off, okay 1 day, after a whirlwind of activity.

We haven't had much snow in the east, but have had our share of ice and cold winter weather. The wind makes all the difference (negatively).

It's the kind of weather that makes reading a book in front of a fire enjoyable....if you have a fireplace. If you don't have a fireplace....well that's a different kind of trouble...

I was in line with a lady today who was complaining about Christmas "today". She said out-loud, to no one in particular, why do we spend so much money at Christmas, and become so busy.....why can't it be like the "old" days.

You mean like the days without indoor plumbing, the days during the World Wars, the Crazy 60's/70's, "Cold" War, Gas shortage, recession of the 80's.....which days might you be referring to???

Ironically she was in line to buy something...sooo....if you don't want to spend so much money, why are you buying more stuff?????

Sure culture/society has something to do with it all, but if you want to change the way you perceive Christmas and the Holiday season, than do it....

....but like always, I kept my mouth shut, and minded my own business.

What is Up

Life moves along these days at a pretty stiff pace. When I here "12 days of Christmas", I'm usually thinking of the time before it, when we get extremely busy at work.

When I'm not at church in the evening, or at work, I've taken an evening (okay 2) to play NCAA Football on xBox. I'm living in the past, because I have the year when B.Quinn and Mardze were great. I shutout Michigan the other night for a cheap, video-game thrill.

I think I'm going to take a Sunday afternoon, use my created player who's rated 99 (why give him weaknesses) and try to lead the university of Toledo to a national championship (Go Mud Hens!).

On a professional level, I am rooting for the 'Birds to make every Eagles fan's Christmas wish: an improbable trip to the playoffs with 2 wins over the Redskins and Cowboys. They created this mess by losing to the Bears, and tying the Bengals, but maybe....just maybe...



(No Kittys were harmed in the making of this image)

(Though in somewhat related news, we are now down to 1 kitty: Joshie is no longer with us).

Da Weekend

It's always interesting from retail perspective, to see the time and energy put into the "black friday-saturday" weekend, and then measure the results. I'm always excited to see how we'll do, increase sales from last year, position ourselves for a great last 6 weeks of the year etc.

As I drove into work at 5:45am on black friday I had to smile at the radio announcer describe lines outside retailers, and the madness associated with the day. At least I didn't have lines or unruly behavior (or dealth/injury...see i.e. Walmart) to deal with, or so I thought....

Enter the After-Thanksgiving Webkinz Promotion:



We, like most retailers sell the furry, soft loveable Webkinz, gatekeepers to their own private virtual world.

Well, marketing decided to offer the first 100 customers in our stores a promotion where a customer would get a webkinz for $.01 (normally $12.99).

This brought the crowds....

I was working at our smallest store (2,000 sq foot) and the lines were the length of the store, for people waiting to check out.

We only have 2 cash registers, so for the first 30-45 minutes we were quickly working through the line of customers. It was crazy, frenetic, and somehow both energizing and tiring at the same time.

One hour later we still had a good customer flow, but the pace had changed back to "normal".

Needless to say, even with a lot of $.01 transactions, we did more sales in that one hour, than we sometimes do, total, on our slowest days.....and that was from 7am to 8am on Black Friday.

At least people were decent, and no major issues erupted.....I never saw the store so full of people.

Lots of happy customers.....now I hope to see them again for the rest of the year.

Oh....Deer

I find this picture equally disturbing and hilarious.

Needless to say, me 'n the bambis aren't getting along these days.

Long story short, I hit a deer in the mountains of Virginia at 2:00 am in the morning. That in of itself is a separate story, but the deer decided my right side of the car needed to reflect sunlight in a concave manner. 2 door and 1 fender panel later and we're playing the waiting game for vehicle repair.

Thankfully we can (and could) still drive the car. It could have been worse.

However, I now suffer from a deer 'phobia. With the time change I now am driving the back-roads to our house in the dark, or near dusk and see deer. Thankfully none of them are as close to the road as "Virginia", but it's slightly unnerving none-the-less.

None of them have ended up like the one above in the picture, can you imagine going to that guys/gal's house? I think I'd use the door knocker, or my own knuckles...

"Why didn't you ring the doorbell?"

Um.....