cps10's Blog

I for one will be pulling for THE Ohio State University tonight in the BCS National Championship Game against the Florida Gators. Being an ACC guy, we aren't too into the SEC that much, and Gator fans around the Charlotte area are almost as obnoxious as DOOK basketball fans. I agree with Billy Packer's son Mark (aka The Packman on WFNZ.com) in that Southern Fried Football is the best, but I have to say the Buckeyes are the best team in the nation this year. Plus my loyalties lie with my family since my wife went to OSU and she also pulls for my beloved Tar Heels.

My prediction will be a bold one, as I think QB Troy Smith, RB Antonio Pittman, RB Chris Wells, WR Ted Ginn, Jr and WR Anthony Gonzalez will run up and down the field on the vaunted Gator defense. And Bronko Nagursky Award-winning LB James Laurinaitis, and DT Quinn Pit will stuff the little bit of offense that hometown hero QB Chris Leak of Charlotte will be able to muster.

Final prediction: OHIO STATE 38, Florida 17

So who do YOU think is going to win and who are you rooting for?

North Carolina's men's basketball team will likely be ranked number one in the polls when they are released on Monday. This will be a result of the Tar Heels' impressive 84-58 victory tonight against Florida State in its ACC season opener. This, coupled with Oregon's upset of then top-ranked UCLA on Saturday will create UNC's newfound pinnacle of achievement this season. This will mark yet another season of the Heels being #1. Only 3 seasons in the past 20 have the Tar Heels failed to take the top spot at some point in the season.

The Seminoles 12-4, 0-2 ACC) hung tough with North Carolina (14-1, 1-0) much of the first half, in fact, holding an early 11-8 lead. Then UNC flexed its offensive and defensive muscle, defeating its 8th consecutive opponent by 20 points or more. The Tar Heels also won their 11th straight game in the process.

The Tar Heels next play Virginia Wednesday night at home at 9:00. Virginia was defeated tonight at home on a last second shot by Stanford.

The North Carolina men's basketball team seems to be hitting its stride already, and we are only a week into January. This Tar Heel team came off the month of December undefeated at 7-0, becoming one of 7 Tar Heel teams to go unbeaten in December. Six of those teams went on to the Final Four, and the most recent, the 2005 squad, brought the title back to Chapel Hill.

How good is this team? It's hard to say really. With a cast of underclassmen - there is only one scholarship senior in Reyshawn Terry, and one other regular senior in Wes Miller - the Tar Heels were expected to win the ACC this year, but were going to have trouble distributing minutes to its talent-rich bench. The Tar Heels have had a moderate schedule thus far, defeating Tennessee, Ohio State and Kentucky this season by an average of 11.7 points, but other opponents have not struck as much fear into them as hoped. Aside from a slip-up against then-nationally ranked Gonzaga, the Tar Heels are a formidable 13-1, riding a 10-game winning streak into their ACC opener Sunday night at home against Florida State. This is usually a "trap" game for the Heels, as Florida State loves coming into the Smith Center to lay the upset on a highly-ranked Carolina team that is beating its chest and reading its press clippings. The Heels have beaten their last 3 opponents by an average of 35.6 points, and have won by 25 or more points in 6 or their last 7 games, and the one that wasn't by 25 points or more was a sound 21-point whipping of St. Louis on their home floor, which is just miles from first-team All-American C Tyler Hansbrough, who hails from Poplar Bluff, MO.

Speaking of Hansbrough, who has heard much from him this year? As an All-American as a freshman last year, he was expected to take double- and triple-teams all season long. He is still very productive, continuing to lead the 2nd-ranked Tar Heels in scoring (18.1 ppg) and rebounding (7.4 rpg). He is also tied for the team lead in steals with PG Ty Lawson with 22. So don't think he is being overlooked. It's just that the Tar Heels' talent is that rich this season. The Tar Heels legitimately can go 10 deep, and their second team could probably finish at or near the top of the ACC and contend for a national title. Freshmen PG Ty Lawson, G Wayne Ellington and PF Brandan Wright have given Hansbrough the help he needs offensively to get this team to outstanding offensive heights, averaging just a shade under 90 points per game. And their defense has recently become spectacular, allowing only 65 points per game, a 25-point differential.

Is it unreasonable to think that North Carolina will be playing in late March at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta? Not at all. In fact, it should be expected. With the rest of the ACC down this season, the Heels should roll through the ACC - although probably not unbeaten - and then take a #1 seed into the NCAA tournament. And although they will have a fight then, it's not out of the realm of possibilities to see them in Atlanta, and also hoisting the same trophy that they earned in '05, Roy Williams' first national title in his storied coaching career. All of this is possible, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. They are a very good basketball team. But there is a lot of season left, and remember, these kids are young. If they do continue rolling, look for this young team to become a potential dynasty in the years to come. That's assuming they all stay. And they could. With all of the balance in scoring and playing time these kids are getting now, a pro scout may feel that they are too much of role players to come out and star in the NBA right away. And that should keep Tar Heel fans smiling for years to come!

I want to congratulate the University of Louisville and Wake Forest University for the fine football seasons they both had. Nobody expected them to be where they were, yet because of their accomplishments, they were rightfully rewarded with a trip to one of the oldest and most prestigious bowl games - the Orange Bowl in Miami.

The pregame was spectacular - Arnold Palmer was the honorary captain for Wake, and Muhammed Ali The Champ for Louisville. How could it get any better than this? It couldn't.

The game was a little less exciting than anticipated. Wake's normally exciting motion offense and UofL's normally powerful offense fizzled throughout the night. Entertaining game - good result for Louisville. It was almost like watching a bulldog chewing on a wasp.

To make matters worse, FOX - who's NFL announcers are top notch in my opinion - decides to give the game, which historically is one of the best in the land, a 3rd rate crew to annouce the game. Matt Vesergian (spelling?) and Pat Haden are probably two of the biggest boobs in Broadcast Land. They couldn't get anything right, and their commentary was atrocious. And to top it all off, their sideline reporter, and I can't recall her name, looked like she just got out of the spin cycle of a washing machine.

I know that it's "sexist" to make comments about a woman on the sideline. After all, it is a male dominated sport, and men like pretty young things roaming the sidelines making comments that go in one ear of a man and out the other. They could sound like Charlie Brown's teacher as long as they had a smokin' hot body, a pretty face, and gorgeous hair. Which brings me to my next point. If this is what the network powers-that-be are looking to do, get the attention of men, couldn't they have an attractive woman roaming? I mean Jill Arrington - who is my neighbor's granddaughter - is hot. So is Melissa Stark. Hell, I'll go so far to say that Bonnie Bernstein is not bad looking either. Give me your Sam Ryans, your Stacey Dales'. All suitable if you are trying to get that look. Like I said, their comments go in one ear and out the other. She looks great, so it's all good.

So, we have this wash mop with ears working the game last night. As if that's not bad enough. I will come back to her in a minute. The feel good story of the night is how Jon Abbate, a terrific linebacker from Wake Forest, lost his 16-year-old brother this past year to a car accident. Jon, the good kid that he is, dedicates this season - who would have known an ACC championship and Orange Bowl appearance was coming! - to his late brother. Great story. The kid plays with passion and is a ball hawk. He changes his number that he had last season of #40 to #5, because that was his brother's number on the high school team where he played. So it's all warm and fuzzy and up comes the wash mop to interview his parents. The usual B.S. questions come about, but then, the wash mop asks his dad what his late son would think of this accomplishment. Good grief woman! Leave the poor guy alone...he's about to break down in tears. How is he supposed to know what his son would  think? Probably something good inevitably. What a stupid question. Just leave the guy alone already.

Just a capper of a great football story, ruined by FOX's ineptitude to find good announcers and a decent "wash mop".

Well, it's been an eventful day. We went to my Mom's last night for corned beef, cabbage and hoppin' john. Was a delicious meal. The old lady decided to tie one on last night as my sister continuously and often, made my wife pomegranate/peach martinis. So, after about 5 or so...we finally decided to go home. As I was going to go back to work today, I was a little bitter about getting home after midnight for no reason at all except for the fact that my wife wanted to get her drink on at Mom's. No big deal...I've gone to work with less than 5 hours of sleep before, I could suck it up again last night.

She gets up in the middle of the night...I don't know if it's the Jimmy Legs, the booze or just the fact that she probably needs to be medicated to get a good nights' sleep, but she was up a few times with an upset stomach...go figure after drinking a distillery's worth of booze...but at 4am, she got up to go to the bathroom, laid back down and got back up again - does wonders for my sleep and Jan. 2nd disposition! This time, she says, "you need to get up, there is a fire in the house".

I smelled something that smelled like a chimney and a fire burning, but we hadn't burned a fire in the fireplace since New Year's Eve. Surely that wasn't it. Yet the kitchen was full of smoke. No stove on. What the hell is going on here? I thought at first maybe it was me, since my Mom smokes and I figured her black lung dust got on me and that was it. Nope. Not with a kitchen full of smoke. No smoke detectors working. Shoot! (only it was the 4-letter variety of that word).

So, we call 911 with the cell phone. Because we haven't signed up for local telephone because it would make more sense to just use the cell phones with free long distance, the 911 went to Charlotte. That is a problem because we are in South Carolina now. So, after some re-routings from the 911 services in Charlotte and Rock Hill, SC, we finally get Fort Mill..where we live. So they ask 20 questions, meanwhile, my house might be burning to the ground. Fortunately, there were no visible flames. Could this fire be in the wall? Oh my...what will happen.

Well, 10 minutes and 5 fire trucks later, the Men in Red are investigating. Surely they are going to find something bad - faulty wiring or whatnot, and I am going to go through the roof with the builder. Nope, two hours later, a quarter-size Duraflame ember was still stoking in the fireplace from two days ago! Because it didn't have enough heat to move smoke up the flue, it got into the vent system which in turn pumped it downstairs. How stupid I though. We just wasted all these men's valuable time and had 5 freakin' trucks waking up the neighbors.

Needless to say, I didn't go into work today. Just too exhausted...my wife's booze, the tossing and turning, the fire threat. Too much for me. I have 33 vacation days this year anyway, and I'm working from home today. Big deal.

The weird thing is that the fire alarm did not go off in the house. What if this was a real fire with real flames and real threat to kill us and our pets? Who is responsible? The builder is going to get an earful today for sure. The Fire Chief told us that the manufacturer of these alarms stinks. They have had several problems in the past 6 months in other neighborhoods. Cheapness pays, doesn't it? I imagine we will check everything before going back to bed from now on!

I guess the three morals to the story are: 1. Douse remaining logs in the fire; 2. Get one of the expensive fire alarms and install immediately; and 3. Get local telephone service for possible 911 calls!

Happy New Year to all, and I feel blessed that this wasn't a real emergency. Now let's concentrate on winning some money.

And oh yeah, Go Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl tonight (even though I am a Louisville native and fan), and most of all, Go Ohio State in the National Championship (after all, my wife - the OSU grad -  roots for my Tar Heels in basketball!)

Maybe it's just me, but I have seen about enough of ABC wheeling Dick Clark out there for the traditional New Year's Eve celebration. Not that I like Ryan Seacrest any better, because that's impossible - Dick Clark was a part of my childhood, adolescence, college, and so on. One of the greatest personalities and entertainment moguls to ever live. I love the guy. But I don't love the fact that I can't understand him anymore. It pains me to hear him talk. I understand that last year he wanted to give it a go after his stroke. And I commend him for the bravery it took to get in front of a camera with the speech problems he incurred. But this year I wanted to cry for the man. This is not the DC that I grew up with. His mind is still sharp as always, and his zeal for the event still unrivaled. But I want to remember DC from the old days, hell, even 5 years ago!

It's like that relative you had (such as my dad) who just had a heart attack and you see them for the first time with tubes all over them. Or the star athlete who comes out of retirement to recapture his glory days who ends up flopping and tarnishing his legacy (a la Mike Jordan with the Wizards). Maybe I am being too rough on ol' DC, but I think it's time he sit back and enjoy New Year's without all the commotion.

I have a friend of mine who is going through a tough time...divorce and all that...having to move out of his house, all because of indiscretions his wife took. She is the one that should have moved out in my opinion, but that could be an entirely new blog entry that could go on for days.

The other day, my friend called over to his old house - he is allowed free access according to the separation agreement - to tell her that he was coming out to get some of his things that he needed. He called an hour and a half before said excursion. He got her voicemail, but being polite, he said he would call again when he got close. Now, she has been seeing another guy for quite a while, so he figured that he would have the courtesy to get hold of her to make sure the new boyfriend (we will call The Guy) was gone to prevent any discomfort. So, he gets about 30 minutes from the house, and calls again. Same thing...voice mail. Said he would call back again when he got there.

He gets to the house and The Guy's car is in the driveway. He is livid. He gives her two chances to get him out and she didn't pick up. So he calls the house phone and she answers and my buddy says "I tried calling you...I am here to get some things". She tells him it isn't a good time, and acts like she is inconvenienced. My buddy can't believe what's going on...here he is in the driveway of HIS house where a guy is having sex with HIS wife and she tells him it isn't a good time. Can the guy not zip his pants and leave for a half hour while my friend has time to do his thing?

The wife acts like she did nothing wrong. It's okay to have The Guy in her bedroom while my friend is getting stuff. What sense does this woman have? None apparantly. It's common courtesy to make this comfortable. She has no kouthe whatsoever. My buddy is a better man than me I must add...if I was in that same situation and my wife's new b/f was in the other room, chances are he wouldn't either make it out alive, or at least without a scratch. I must commend him for his restraint. I wouldn't have been so fortunate. And is The Guy that stupid too? If I knew my girlfriend's husband was coming over, I would be long gone, even "flapping in the breeze" if need be. No telling how capable people are these days, especially when dealing with emotions.

The worst part about this is that she calls my friend yesterday and apologizes to him, even though she said she did nothing wrong...

Maybe she needs to up the dosage....

Okay, I haven't brought this to the attention of LP yet, but I thought you all might get a laugh out of this, and I welcome your comments as well, as many of my colleagues are perplexed to say the least.

Our company has it's annual holiday lunch in the beginning-to-middle of December. At this lunch, the president gets up and does his usual rant on how we made so much more money this year than we ever had, thanks to your hard work, blah blah blah. You know the same old B.S. Now, we haven't had bonuses in nearly 10 years, and I have never "expected" such a thing. At these luncheons, the company gives their token gift, like a mug or sweatshirt with the company logo on it, etc., and this year was to be no different. The speculation was killing us, and many of us had said maybe they will give us a gold-plated paper clip or something like that. Well, lo and behold, they went lower than I could have imagined....they gave us a water bottle. That's right...a 35-cent logo'd water bottle. I know how much these things cost, as I am also in the customized poker chip biz, and know how much it costs to make such items.

Now, is it me, or is that a complete bag over the head, punch in the face that you've ever heard of? You get praised for hard work, busting your ass and making tons of money for the company, yet, they spend a total of $200 maybe for the trinkets they gave us? Now, personally, I would rather get NOTHING, not even the lunch - which is a nice gesture - than have something like this happen. What did they expect us to do? Jump up and down? Even my boss grumbled "cheap bastards" as he got his. Who could possibly have thought this was a good idea? Obviously more than one person had to think "you know, they are going to love this!". Let me also add that I don't blame the water bottle itself...it didn't ask to be given away. It's a nice water bottle. I've even put some booze punch in it. I like the water bottle. I just think it's a little, how should we say it, "inexpensive" to be handed out as a holiday bonus.

To make matters worse, there are some "select" people in our department and others that get 4 and 5 figure bonuses for their hard work. The funny thing is that these are the same people that dirtbags like me have to clean up after because they are so incompetent. But, they kiss just the right amount of ass, and get what the powers that be think they deserve. It's downright sickening. Again, I never expect a bonus, but I certainly deserve it more than the others, and a water bottle is a slap in the face.

To keep with my rant, I go to an old dive here in town called Vinnie's. It's a raw bar with some of the best waitresses in town (much better than Hooters or the go-go clubs!), incredible food and $1 beer specials every day. There are five locations in greater Charlotte (I know, shameless plug for them, but they are the best - if you are in Charlotte, check it out). Anyway, there is one I go to at least twice a week with either my family or the fellas, or both. There is this corporate training company that we have used here for seminars, employee motivation, sexual harrassment training, etc. One of their best trainers comes to the bar all the time. He has a military haircut, from South Carolina and one of funniest and at the same time, most genuine guys you could ever meet. So I'm over there on Saturday night. We have a free night from the kids, there is basketball on, and we just feel like getting out.

I see my old trainer at the bar, and I went up and wished him Merry Christmas and we just got to talking. So I tell him about the water bottle. Now keep in mind, this man is a trained HR professional, who has dealt with my company many times. Let's just say the look on his face was priceless. He was stunned. He was for the first time since I've met him in '95, speechless. When he finally snapped to, he asked me who thought this was a good motivating idea. I told him I didn't know. He said that someone should have just come up to us at the luncheon, and said "Here, here is this bag of sh*t. Thank you for all of your hard work. If you'd like, we could light it on fire for you and you can stomp that out too!".

I about fell out of my seat laughing, but the sad part is, that something like this would happen. I told him to make sure to use that as an example for his next training sessions. He said he would. He will entitle it "How to De-Motivate Your Staff".

Un-freakin-believable!

Yesterday, we took the family over to my Mom's house where my sister and her husband were waiting on us so we could open Christmas gifts. We finally got to unwrapping when my Mom hands me a bag and says that she will be back in a few minutes.

Inside the bag was something from a jewelry store about a block from Mom's house. Inside was a signet ring with my initials CKC in it. It looked similar to the huge one my Dad wore on his finger right up until the day he died in June. Mom wanted me to have his ring since we have the same initials. Only the bad thing was that someone stole it off his finger after he passed away. We don't know if it was from the hospice area at the hospital or the funeral home, but someone took it, as it was probably worth several thousand dollars. It's one thing to steal something of value, but the senitmental value of that ring to my Mom and me was far greater than any price tag or insurance document could cover. I felt disgusted that someone could do such a thing, but alas, life goes on.

I was shocked to see this new ring in the box yesterday. My Mom then quickly came in and said it was inscribed and then left the room, tears flowing from her eyes.

Inside the ring said, "CKC to CKC Jr". Talk about the most meaningful gift that my "Dad" ever gave me :)

Well, the Carolina Panthers put together an ugly 10-3 win over arch-rival Atlanta. Atlanta looked like they have mailed it in, and the Panthers are getting ready to place the stamp on the envelope.

Tell me how a team with Super Bowl hopes can realistically win a playoff game in the event that they make it? The Panthers threw the ball a total of 6 times I believe, and they used a wingback set for most of their 3rd down plays, with RB DeAngelo Williams being the "QB" and snapping the ball to himself and running. Whereas it worked most of the day against a depleted Falcons defense, doing this against a team that actually gives a damn will net the Panthers ZERO points in their next games, in the event that there is another game after the regular season finale next Sunday at New Orleans.

The Panthers seem to do this to us every year. They looked dead to rites the past 4 weeks, then they decide to win a game that they shouldn't have won. It gives the city false hope just have them either lay an egg at the Saints next week, or have not enough to get into the playoffs.

A loss today would have made us all relieved and we could have started shoveling the dirt on this 2006 season. But until after next week, Geaux Panthers!

While I just finished up a PM to LOTTOMIKE, I was thinking of a humorous story to tell. Mike is from Memphis, which is adjacent to my favorite gambling destination in the world - Tunica, Mississippi. I  go there at least once a year, if not two or three times a year. This year, I've been busy with work, moving to Ft. Mill, the death of my dad, my son starting T-ball, etc., so I've only made the journey once this year. But for those of you who have never been there, it is the best gaming you can find, and that includes Vegas, in my humble opinion. Obviously, when you add tourist attractions and other things to do, Vegas is the world's entertainment capital, but if you like to gamble, you might want to consider Tunica for your next gambling trip. One, it's clean. It's in the middle of a delta in the middle of nowhere. No ridiculous development, as the government of Tunica County seems to be careful about what goes where (correct me if I'm wrong, MIKE). Two, it's so much more affordable than Vegas. You can get a top-flight suite at the Horseshoe on any given night for under $100. Find that in Vegas. Thirdly, comps there are reasonable. If you sit and play, and ask for a meal, they're going to give you a meal. There are a dozen or so casinos there, and they are all fighting for your business. There was a time a few years ago, when the casinos got tight, but recently, it has gone back to the old days when Tunica first came to the gaming forefront. And last but not least, Memphis is within arm's reach of Tunica, lying 20 miles south of a great city. With Graceland, some good shopping, and of course Beale Street and BBQ joints, how can you go wrong visiting when you've been "gambled out" for the day?

Now, back to the story that I originally intended....back in 1995, my wife and I had just started dating and we met her parents out in Tunica for a Thanksgiving gambling week. Her dad is a fun gambler, and her mom (rest her soul) was a riot - a Filipina who spoke the broken English - but was a lot of fun. We traveled to all of the casinos in the area (even the ones on the Arkansas border) and decided one afternoon to spend our time at Sam's Town. At the time, I was playing Caribbean Stud, my game of choice until my father-in-law turned me on to blackjack. It was an up-and-down game, until there came a time when my wife gets up and annouces she is bored. Lo and behold, the next hand...the old man to my left was dealt a Straight Flush worth $15,000. At the time, I was livid. If my impatient wife had just sat down until I was ready to leave, that would have been my $15,000! The reason being was that they dealt five cards at a time to the player spots, and therefore, her 5 cards that she would have had came to me. The five I would have had went to the man next to me, and so on. My father-in-law jumped out of his skin he was so mad. She took a lot of heat for getting up from all of us, and I sort of felt bad - nah, no I didn't ... after all, it was $15,000!!

Well, I'm hanging around the table thinking the man who just won all the loot would at least hand us players a couple hundred for being happy for him. I didn't expect that to happen, just thought I'd stick around just in case he was feeling generous. That wasn't the case. In fact, when the big boss of the casino came up to him and offered him a room for a couple of nights, he barked out "Where the hell was that room a couple of days ago when I tried calling for it?!" He was really pissed at the casino for not taking care of him earlier that week. So he gets up, grumbles something after he gets his money, and leaves the dealer a $25 tip and vanishes. It was really comical, that combined with my wife getting ripped up for getting up.

The irony of this was that a few years ago, I was back out there in Tunica for my best friend's bachelor party and within 5 minutes of sitting at the Caribbean Stud table, I was dealt a $21k straight flush, thus trumping my wife's "mistake" from years ago. And I had just talked to her that afternoon, and she said "all we need is $500 to cover the rest of day care for the summer". We got that and more :) And I tipped the dealer $500, and gave my buddies $1,000 remembering how I felt when the old man got bitter at casino management. All's well that ends well, right?

Some of you may know that I am preparing to enter the 2007 WSOP. I'm not sure yet if I will enter a smaller event (like a $1,000 or $2,000 buy-in) or the Main Event. But either way, I am confident that I will place in the money. Perhaps enough to get me into the Main Event and become poker's next celebrity. Not that I want fame and fortune (well, fortune perhaps), but I think it would be cool to be a "somebody" instead of a nobody. And I could provide my family with things they've never had. My daughter, for instance, is a special needs student. After seeing her psychologist yesterday, he suggested we send her to a private school in Charlotte at a cost of $17,000 a year. At this point, there is no way in hell I could afford that, but if it's needed, I will do what I can.

Gambling $10,000 away probably isn't the answer, and I still have 4 years to worry about the tuition. The school apparantly teaches these kids how to live life on their own. Although as parents we are doing this every day to the best of our abilities, the school extends this by taking them on field trips, doing budgets, etc. in addition to grade-level academics. The public schools here are supposed to do this, but due to overcrowding, etc., they just don't have the resources to devote to the "special kids". Not only that, but our public schools are perhaps some of the worst in the country. The educators here just don't give a damn, and the parents of out-of-control kids who cause the headaches don't care either. It's a dangerous recipe.

I love my little girl, and outside of being known as a great poker player, I want to provide her with the best possible help to live life "on the outside" as comfortable as possible. So, that is my motivation.

Anyway, back to the update:

Week of Dec. 18, 2006:

18 1-table 9-person Sit-And-Go Tournaments

15 Cashes

As I write this, I have had a lead in the tournament I am playing now for 30 minutes (most of the tournament). It's been a pretty tight table, but grinding them down is the key to success in the Big Tournaments. Hopefully my luck will continue through next summer's Main Event!

I may have mentioned this before, but I love this story. I am watching People's Court, so this made me think about this...

This summer, for her birthday gift, my wife begged me to take her to Hickory to the Hickory Furniture Mart. For those of you that are unfamiliar with these terms, Hickory or actually North Carolina is probably where your furniture was made. We are supposedly the furniture capital of the U.S. and Hickory and High Point are the predominant manufacturing towns for furniture. Broyhill is world famous based I believe in Hickory.

Anyway, I am getting off subject here...we had been roaming this damn mall for hours with my son - who is 6 and really hates stuff like this - when all of a sudden I see this woman who looks familiar. I am wracking my freakin' brains trying to figure out who she is and I know I've seen her before. For most of the day, I thought she was a furniture salesman from Charlotte at Value City, but something in the back of my mind was telling me that might not be right. She had half a dozen times come up to my son, asked him his name and told me and my wife how cute he was. But I still couldn't place her.

Finally, it hit me like a ton of bricks...it was Marilyn Milian from The People's Court. I thought it was really cool she was in Hick-bygod-ory, NC shopping for furniture. One of the clerks at one of the stores was telling me about how celebs frequent the place since there are so many furniture bargains. So that made sense I guess.

So the end of my day comes and we see the Judge and her daughter? waiting at the elevator. Because my feet were so tired, I decided that I wanted to take it too. So I walk into the elevator with the Judge smiling (she is really an attractive woman in person) and I said to her "Judge, I've been walking this mall for 6 hours...couldn't this woman (my wife) be brought up on spousal abuse charges?"

She laughs and says "No...as a matter of fact, I'm sure you should be grateful because you get to have her decorate your house for free AND she is saving you money here!"

So much for being enamored with the Judge anymore...lol

I do still like her and her show though. It was a comical situation...the wife reminded me about all 90 minutes the way home that evening :)

...I'd have no luck at all....lol

Just when I am getting over that terrible flu, while having a tough cough attack yesterday morning, my body jerked so bad, that I threw my back out!! Although I would rather have a bad back for a few days than the flu for a few days, this just creates one long week of misery. Maybe I am due some big lottery winners?!

Anyone who has a good lower back remedy, please feel free to forward it on!

I know what this is...bad karma...I forgot to remind my Mom - even though she wouldn't have been able to attend - about the kids' Christmas programs at school, and this is how I am being paid back...no pun intended :)

Well, for the first time in three years, I have the flu. This is the worst feeling you could have I think, outside of death. I actually feel like I'm in a coffin with heat waves just broiling me..oh no, what does that mean? LOL Looks like Urgent Care for me tomorrow. Not that they will be able to anything about a virus, but here's hoping!