Snowed In !

Second straight day of being snowed in. Wind is causing some pretty big snow drifts here.

Valentine's Day Storm

Mother Nature dropped almost 2 ft of snow on us today ... probably the heaviest snow I ever had to shovel. Now comes the fun part ... below freezing temps and high winds predicted for the next few days with wind chills near -20.

Ahhh ! Baseball is in the air !

Pitchers and catchers reported to spring training today. I can not wait for the Yankees season to start. This year will begin a changing of the guard from the old Yankees to the new Yankees. I look forward to seeing a lot of rookies mixed in this year. However I am kind of hoping they keep some of the better players in Scranton for a little while so I can get a chance to see them play.

Finally ! Ice Skating on Newton Lake

Annie & Emily finally got to put on their ice skates. It's been a long wait but there is finally enough ice on the lake to skate. They had a blast. Hopefully we can start ice fishing soon !

Yankees Cano to switch to Jersey # 24

Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano will give up his No. 22 jersey largely to the demands of Jack Bauer.

A team official told ESPN that Cano approached the team's equipment personnel and said he had felt threatened that he was wearing another number and hoped by wearing the No. 24 jersey that Bauer might avoid traveling to New York to torture him. In a released statement Cano had said he chose his new number because its digits reversed would be Jackie Robinson's old number. However a source close to Cano states it was due in fact to the demands of Bauer.

Cano's uniform switch was first reported by The New York Post.

"I am happy to wear the number of my idol," Cano said in a statement, according to The Post.

"Hopefully, someday he will be one of my teammates, I'll have the pleasure of him not killing me."

Bauer, who has spent the past two seasons in a Chinese prison, is the only person who can allow another player to wear No. 24.

The Post reported that the number switch already might have been relayed to Bauer's'representatives at CTU. However, Bill Buchanan, Bauer's' supervisor, told The Post in an e-mail that he is not aware Bauer's demands to Cano.

"No decision will be made until well after Bauer helps clean up from the nuclear bomb dropped on Los Angeles, perhaps until after the four other nuclear devices are located," Buchanan wrote to The Post.

The move by Cano would not be unprecedented, earlier this year, Los Angeles Laker, Kobe Bryant switched his jersey from No. 8 to to No.24. While Bryant denies it was related to Bauer's demands. Sources close the Lakers star, revealed that indeed Bryant was subjected to Bauer's interrogation methods while in custody in Colorado, and soon after made the decision to switch his jersey number.

When asked his opinion of this latest development, Boston Red Sox outfielder, Manny Ramirez, who Bauer also allows to wear No. 24, stated, "That's just Jack being Jack."

History will say: Bush Worst US President Ever

After seeing the State of Union last night, I think the following paragraph pretty much sums up George W. Bush. However you should read the whole article to understand the author's reasoning.

Historians are loath to predict the future. It is impossible to say with certainty how Bush will be ranked in, say, 2050. But somehow, in his first six years in office he has managed to combine the lapses of leadership, misguided policies and abuse of power of his failed predecessors. I think there is no alternative but to rank him as the worst president in U.S. history. - Eric Foner

BTW ... did anyone hear anything in last night's speech regarding how the rebuilding effort in New Orleans, Mississippi and Alabama are going ? I guess Bush forgot about those people.

State of the Union

Tonight is the much anticipated State of the Union. Where our fearless leader will tell us how great everything is.

In years past it was this platform where we heard Bush tell us:

• 2002 Osama bin Laden would not escape the justice of this nation
• 2003 The full force and might of our military would be used to fight in Iraq
• 2003 The feared WMD's that Iraq had in its possession
• 2004 The "K" report has identified many WMDs in Iraq
• 2005 Thanked congress for providing our military with the resources they need
• 2006 We have a clear path to victory in Iraq
• 2006 We should be further able to reduce our troop levels in Iraq
• 2007 ???

WOW ! It is so difficult to understand why Bush has a 35% approval rating when he is so truthful and forthcoming.



... and Clinton was impeached over lying about having an affair.

Here is a quote from Abe Lincoln that seems so fitting when discussing George W. Bush.

"It is better to remain silent and thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt."

Bill Man Boobs Parcells Retires

Bill Parcells retired today... guess he realized his only success came when he was riding Bill Belichick's coattails. Obviously Parcells was no match for Terrell Owens, and instead of putting up with that idiot for another year he choose to move on. I actually hope at some point he becomes and NFL analyst again an tells us how he really feels about having Owens on his team.

Although he walks away from the NFL, he does leave us with some unforgettable memories.

• He was the first to receive Gatorade Baths
• He had the biggest man boobs in NFL history
• Biggest ego in NFL history

Oh yea... and in other news... the Bears and Colts won yesterday. Who cares ?

As the War in Iraq lingers on ....

Saw these quotes on the web today and found them amusing. They were all made by republicans when President Clinton made the decision to go into Kosovo.

"Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is." -Governor George W. Bush (R-TX)

" President Clinton is once again releasing American military might on a foreign country with an ill-defined objective and no exit strategy. He has yet to tell the Congress how much this operation will cost. And he has not informed our nation’s armed forces about how long they will be away from home. These strikes do not make for a sound foreign policy."
-Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA)

"No goal, no objective, not until we have those things and a compelling case is made, then I say, back out of it, because innocent people are going to die for nothing. That’s why I’m against it."
-Sean Hannity, Fox News, 4/5/99

If we are going to commit American troops, we must be certain they have a clear mission, an achievable goal and an exit strategy." -Karen Hughes, speaking on behalf of presidential candidate George W. Bush

"You can support the troops but not the president" -Representative Tom Delay (R-TX)

The Wheels on the Bus don't always go Round

There are certain situations that prevent the wheels on the bus from going round n round :(

King Crab

The family came over tonight for steaks and crab legs. Hope nobody has to get their cholesterol checked tomorrow. The crab legs were huge, and the steaks done just the way I like them.

Also ... the "24" season primer was tonight .. and it didn't disappoint. Action packed for 2 straight hours, and two more hours tomorrow. I can't wait. Jack Bauer's best line of the night ... "Drop the coffee !" Only Jack Bauer could pull off that line. ;)

There's No Crying in Football !

The only thing better than watching Tony Romo drop the snap on the Cowboys last second field goal attempt would have been to see Terrell Owens drop a pass that would have cost them the game. Either way .... COWBOYS LOSE ! I LOVE IT !

Happy New Year !

Great Party Last Night ! Photos can't be included ;)
Long day today.

Penn State whipped Tennessee so that was nice... but a long nap would be even better.

Hope everyone has a happy and healthy 2007.

Merry Christmas !

Merry Christmas from Newton Lake PA. Santa made his annual appearence last night and he brought the girls bunk beds. They were quite surprised.

Here are two short videos of the girls on Christmas morning.

Video 1 and Video 2

The Cookies are Here !

Marion had two assistants tonight to help her making her Christmas cookies.

Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson ) visits Scranton

Not since JFK visited Scranton in 1960 has there been this much hoopla in the City of Scranton. Today, one of Dunder Mifflin's finest, Dwight Schrute visited the city and thousands of people waited hours to see him. From a young boy growing up on beet farm to walking the Red Carpet at the Emmys, and now Scranton, it seems this man has really made it. What's next ... maybe he'll be the first actor to walk on the moon. In all seriousness... it seems like Mr. Wilson really made an effort to show the people here he appreciates all the support the show gets from the area.

Here are some links to photos,video and an article related to his visit.
Photos 1
Photos 2
Video 1
Video 2

Scranton / Wilkes-Barre Yankees

Well ... after a long wait ...and zero creativity. The new name for the Yankees AAA team will be the Scranton / Wilkes-Barre Yankees.

Kudos to the staff for the painstaking effort to come up with such an original name.

Still happy the Yanks are here, just disappointed in such a lackluster effort to distinguish this team from the parent team in NY. However the after the great "Lackawanna Wonderful" ad campaign I guess I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up.

My pick was the Scranton / Wilkes-Barre Bombers .

End of Deer Season 2006

Deer season ended today without a bang ... at least without a bang from my gun. I saw nine more doe today and one buck, but I couldn't tell how many antlers he had so I couldn't shoot. We'll try again after Christmas with our muzzleloaders. Maybe we'll have more luck !

In search of the perfect Christmas Tree !

Tonight the Sokoloski's and Yurgosky's made their annual trek to find the perfect christmas tree. In keeping up with tradition ... we failed.

Regardless ... the kids had a great time.

First Snow of the Winter !

Had our first snow of the year today, and it looks like I'll have some help shoveling the driveway this year.