Waiting for the spring thaw

It has been a busy couple of weeks and admittedly I've been a little bit on the lazy side.  I've been working a on a larger blog post, but now it seems dead in the water.  I wouldn't call it writer block,  because I have plenty of thoughts on what to write.  The problem is that I have a lot to say, and i just keep writing what ever thought pops into my mind.  So to counter act that I'm going to try to clear my mind of other things and maybe that will help redirect my focus.  In no particular order these are some of the things on my mind today.

Death in the Family
This past week a member of what I consider my extended family passed on.   She was a great woman and was always a beacon of happiness when she was in the room.  I know that she is in a better place and while it makes me sad to know she is taken from us, I understand that everything must happen for a reason.

NBA Trade Deadline
The deadline is today,  and I have decided that I don't want Dwight Howard to be traded, but I am still holding out for a new head coach.  After last nights win against the Celtics I have an increased hope for a playoff birth and hopefully the team will be healthy enough to make a strong run.

Badger Basketball
With only a few games left of the regular season,  the team is looking good,  and headed in the right direction.  A strong showing in the Big Ten Tournament and I think they are a lock of a 4 or 5 seed in the big dance.

The Weather
It is cold,  It always is this time of the year.  After the mild winter we had last year, it makes sense that this winter would be a little more intense.  Either way, I have a little bit of a case of cabin fever and I can't wait to be able to walk outside with out needed a coat.

Moving
In a just a couple of weeks I will be moving to a new apartment.  It is much closer to work and I look forward to saving the money on gas and also saving some time spent in the car.  I don't like moving, not that anyone does.

Bacon Picture
This is one got posted on my Facebook a couple of days ago and made me laugh.

Super Bowl Preview And Pick

In just a couple of days, there is going to be a game of football played.  The fun thing about this game is that 1/3 of the country wants one team to win, 1/3 wants the other team to win, and the remaining group could care less.  It is brother against brother, and East coast against West coast.  It is in New Orleans, which means most everyone will be drunk or hungover.  I can't wait to watch some sloppy football, and to keep my hopes up that someone pukes on the field.  More importantly it gives me a chance to make a prediction for the heck of it based on totally random information.

East coast versus West coast
When the East coast and West coast had a rap rivalry, that mattered.  It was much more challenging to gather news about what was going on the other side of the country then it is today.  Now when we are talking about east versus west, it usually has something to do with Asia and it also seems to involve the world’s sexiest man.  So, I base my pick on the fact that I liked the West coast rivalry rap better than I liked the East coast stuff.  
Edge: San Francisco

Brother versus Brother
It is a little known fact that definitely isn't getting the press that it deserves, but the head coaches for the teams are brothers. This means that they have the same parents, and even grew up in the same house.  Clearly this affects the game on some level.  To shamelessly steal a joke I heard on the radio, this will be the second time that brothers are head coaches the super bowl, I'm looking at you Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith.  Anyways, I'm sure there is some way to tell the last time the brother’s mother told one of them to stop being a bully and just let his brother win.  Hopefully it won't be Sunday.
Edge: the favorite son's team. (Draw)

Side note: it was a bad idea to give my mom a tablet before the trip we are going on.  Her frustration level is high and my ability to not laugh at her is fading fast.  Also our flight has been delayed just over two hours, if I would have known this would happen I would have made a running diary for this experience.  It is pretty awesome.

Feel Good Story versus Hate for a player
Ray Lewis is both a reason people cheer for the Ravens and a reason people cheer against the Ravens in this game.  A guy who has been the heart and soul of his team for so long gets a chance to win a second Super Bowl in his last game.  He had a tough upbringing and overcame a lot to get to where he is today.  He is leaving the team after this season so he can spend time being a family man and being there for his son as he plays college football.  On the other hand there is a guy who makes himself the center of attention and even created a distraction for the team by announcing his retirement before the season was over.  Also, there is that little fact about the time he was involved in the murder in Atlanta.   I tend to lean towards the more positive side and wish him the best of luck because while he was on the field he was the prime example of what you want from a professional athlete.
Edge: Baltimore

Stupid Story of The Week Award
Note to the guy on the Niners team who made the comments about having gay teammates: You are dumb, STFU.  Seriously, you live is San Francisco, at least know something about your fan base, Also his retraction was super fabulous.

Point against the 49er’s for that.

The Pick: 
I have no real interest in this game other than to hope that it is a good game.  I hope the Ravens win so Ray Lewis gets that second ring. I hope the Niners win so that I can argue that the Packers were would have won the super bowl if not for one bad game.  If I was a betting man, I would take the Ravens with the points.  If I was betting someone else's money I would on the Ravens to win straight up.  I think they have the heart of a champion and that is what sets them apart.  Final Pick Ravens 35- 49er’s 24.

Story Time!!!!

Right now, I'm sitting on a plane flying to visit my sister and her family in Wyoming.   We should have taken off at 2:00pm, but poor weather caused delays.  The airline was nice enough to turn direct TV on for us as compensation. The guy sitting in front of me was awesome enough to recline his seat back far enough that I can't see my screen clearly now.  At least I get to listen to the basketball game now.   Of course this won't post to the web until we land but I'm going to write as long as I can until the power on my tablet runs out.

I thought this might be a good time to tell a story.  So, as promised, I'm going to tell the tale of the day I purchased my first big boy bed. Try to contain your excitement.

First things first, some back ground information.  It was 2007, early fall or late summer.  That May I had just moved into my first apartment, with my good friend Jakers.  I owned a Chevy Blazer that was known by my friends as the "Blazza"(a rip-off from the movie dodgeball) I was just starting a relationship, with a cute girl named Kristi (cute was an understatement, and my friends wouldn't let me forget it. Way out of my league). 

Flight update:  deodorant just started to fail.   I can't pick out where the bad smell is on the plane, but it isn't me....yet.

Okay, back to the story.  My bed situation at the time was a futon.  It was one of those metal frame ones that you could buy at Wal-Mart for like a hundred bucks or so.  It worked okay for me at the time when I was flying solo, but now there was a girl that was interested in me.    The bed situation needed an upgrade, but I was a poor college kid. 

I used my situation to my advantage, to get back rubs from the attractive girl that was interested in me.  "My back really hurts from that bed; will you rub my back a little?” Smooth moves Andy.  Eventually one day my lady friend and I were making a list of things we wanted to accomplish before school started up for fall semester.  We were taking turns naming off things and eventually "get Andy a new bed" made the list.   I could tell that this was one of those items that would have good dividends if we could cross it off the list. 

Then, one day, I was in my home town and made a comment to my brother-in-law, Trevor, that I wanted a new bed and was looking for a good deal.  He was on it like a fat kid on a snow-cone in the middle of summer.  He called in a favor and we were on our way to the furniture store.  We meet a guy at the store and he took us around back to the area where they stored mattresses that they could no longer sell for one reason or another.  We found a nice mattress and box spring and he told me I could have it for $100.  Deal.  I just had to go back the next day and pick it up. 

The next day my buddy Cory and I head and pick up the bed.  Once we get there, the realization that even though the Blazer has awesome cargo space, the only way we are going to move the bed is to strap it to the roof.  We proceed to do just that, placing the mattress on top and then the box spring on top of that.

We were slightly limited in supplies to secure the bed to the roof so we mad do with what we had and off we drove.  The speed limit on the road was 55 MPH and that was about as fast as we felt comfortable going. As we drove the occasional wind gust would cause the set-up to shift so we had no choice but to hang on and hold the bed in place with one hand out the window.   

Being that time of year there was plenty of traffic on the road and many of the oncoming vehicles were actually semi-trucks.  When one of them would come past a huge gust of wind would also follow.  The gusts were strong enough that they could almost lift us clear off of our seat.

Once we got into town, Cory and I made a makeshift bed frame out of zip ties, a twin bed frame and the frame from the futon.  This make shift frame was so solidly built that it has never come apart since that day. It has made a few moves, and now resides in my mom’s basement because a more portable frame was found. 

I made it to Wyoming OK and now it’s time for bed.  I’ll post a Super Bowl column on Saturday or Sunday.

Have a Great Weekend every one,

Here’s some bacon.