Christmas 2014

Went to NoVa for Christmas as is customary since, pretty much forever. Traffic going up was pretty good. Coming home (yesterday) not so good.

Christmas was just myself, sister and brother-in-law. A very nice, quiet Holiday.

Christmas Eve dinner was at a Chinese restaurant. Christmas Day at Founding Farmers. Best described as upscale 'comfort food'. A Cracker Barrel for yuppies and trendies. Actually quite good. Nothing new or exciting - basic food you had before done very, very well. I had the fish and chips which came with a 'white beer'. I think it was a wheat beer. Pretty good - even for someone like me who is not a beer fan. The fish was some of the best I've had. The chips - kind of over fried and soggy - but OK.

After Christmas Lunch we went to see The Imitation Game. Excellent film. Highly recommend. Alan Turing was an unsung hero of World War II. He was, of course, brilliant. He also had a serious personality disorder. Add to that he was gay - and in the 1930s - 1950s he had a pretty sad, tormented personal life.

His work formed the basis for modern computers and he is credited with shortening the war by 2 years saving an estimated 14 million lives.

Yesterday back at home, watched the UNCheats Bowl game. They lost badly to Rutgers. The team which beat Georgia Tech and Dook has somehow fallen completely apart. Coach Fedora needs to do some major restructuring and, frankly, he needs to get his players attitudes straightened out by seriously kicking some major ass. There's a lot of guys who I'd kick off that team. No questions asked and no more chances - starting with that Stupidvisor of Morale. Talk about having your team priorities ass-backwards. Even the ESPN studio talking heads were making snarky remarks about UNC's 'Morale Coach' at halftime.

State played the University of Central Florida and pretty much dominated - although from the score we only won by 7 points. Actually, we should have scored at least another 13 points as we shot ourselves in the foot and gave up 1 sure touchdown and 2 sure field goals. All due to understandable mistakes from a very young team.

Over 20 of our guys who have played defense this year are freshmen. A slightly less number played offense. And still, Coach Doren overcame a mid-season slump where we lost to the top 4 ACC teams - as we should have lost to. Clemson, Georgia Tech, Clemson and Louisville - all top 25 teams as well. Plus Boston College - which we could have, and should have, won. We were only really blown out twice - by Clemson and Georgia Tech. We played Florida State and Louisville well enough to win - but just not quite. So - we exceeded possibilities with a very young team. We have a sound coaching staff who are recruiting good solid athletes and students.

Not much else going on. It'll be a weekend of bowl games on TV. Next home basketball game is Tuesday against Cincinnati.

Weekend December 14, 2014 +Addendum(s)

Nothing new. Nada. Zippo.

Works is routine, home life is routine. Let's see, I need to re-set one of the laundry room bi-fold doors. It somehow came out of it's track and I'm having a little bit of difficulty getting it set back correctly. How's that for the most notable thing going on?

Actually, I have been updating my will and updating the beneficiary information on my retirement accounts, 401k, investments accounts and so on. One needs to keep those kinds of things up to date. Plan to get the most recent will witnessed and notarized this coming week.

On the college basketball front - NC State is playing well. The ACC season starts right after Christmas (although we did beat Wake Forest last week).

College basketball season is my favorite time of the year. I truly enjoy watching college ball. I'd watch the Fighting Spuds of Idaho State A&M University of the Happy Valley Potato Conference if they existed and were on TV. Going to State b-ball games is a lot of fun. Even more so with this year's team. They are a blast to watch.

That's about it.

Routine is good.

Addendum

I can't believe I forgot.

Went outside last night at 9:30 to watch the geminids meteor shower. It was excellent. Saw at least two dozen very bright, but short, meteors over a span of about 40 minutes. Best meteor shower I've seen in years.

And, while I'm editing this post . . . Watched 'Almost Famous' again yesterday.

What an excellent movie. Funny, great script and comedy situations, great soundtrack (of course), well developed characters and overall wonderful, spot on acting. A much under-appreciated film.

Addendum Redux

I despise Karl Hess.

Thanksgiving Saturday 2014

"This is a blue collar school.  This is a work ethic, hands in the dirt school.  It’s an agricultural school, it’s a textile school, it’s an engineering school and it’s founded by tough people. And that’s what this football team will be and that’s what we were today. And I’m very proud of our guys representing NC State and our alumni the right way."

Coach Dave Doeren

Thanksgiving 2014

Thanksgiving with the Newcombs in Southport.

I'll probably stay down till Saturday. Might call my friend Dave in Wilmington and see if he can break away for lunch Friday. Other than that, will just veg out here and watch college football and basketball - same as I'd do at home.

Speaking of College Basketball - State is playing great. We're a young team and we're going to lose some games. But those guys can play well and play together. They are fun to watch. I gave away my tickets to tonight's game - first game I've missed and hopefully the only game I'll miss this season.

Basketball and Wake Forest

Basketball

The lopsided win over a very weak warm up opponent isn't the main take away from last night opening game. What really counts was how well State played as a team. Of course, it's easy to work on team play  in what was basically a practice game. But even still - the Wolfpack looks like the high post point guard driven team that Coach Gottfried has been wanting to put on the floor since he came to State.

Watching this team play - and the great personnel dynamics - I honestly think if these guys will stay together for a couple years - there is no limit to their potential.

We have two 'for sure' future NBA players, Trevor Lacey and Cat Barber. The freshmen Martin twins were awesome. Our team played so well together, they actually over shadowed our top freshman blue chip recruit Malik Abu.

And there are about 3 upper class men, lead by Senior Ralston Turner, that could have a legitimate chance at trying out and playing for NBA teams or in Europe certainly.

While not quite there yet - I'm beginning to think this is what it is like for Dook and Carolina year in and year out. Going to games to watch a team with potential to have great seasons and the possibility of going very deep in the NCAA Tournament.

Maybe not this year - but if these guys stay together (i.e. if Lacey and Barber don't bolt early for the NBA) - NC State will be back in the top ranks of NCAA basketball.

It's been a long time since 1983.

Wake Forest

3 PM game. I'm going to fix country ham biscuits. We also will have mimosas. I hope they have coffee and chocolate at the Stadium - it's freaking cold outside. Still in the low 30's at 10:30.

We (better) should win this game to become bowl eligible. If so - we'll be the worst team in the nation in a post season bowl game.

The requirements really should be upped to no less than a 7 - 5 record to go to the post season.

And every team should be allowed extra practice - bowl game or not.

Finally

Coach Double D finally got an ACC win - against Syracuse. I still have a hard time thinking of Syracuse as an ACC school.

Anyway - it was definitely a "Not At All Pretty" win. But a W is a W - and on the road even.

Our last three games are home vs. Georgia Tech and Wake Forest and at UNCesspool Turkey Day weekend.

Odds are we'll go 1 and 2 and end up being the worst team in the nation to get a bowl bid. I'd sure like to go 2 and 1. Winning all 3 would be - well - beyond words.

We'll see.

UNC Makes It To Saturday Night Live

Congratulations UNCheats - You're now a joke on SNL (2 min mark)




They had me 3 years ago at "arrove"

October 12, 2014

At yesterday's game, the weather started out sunny and hot. By halftime - heavy clouds had rolled in and it started raining and lightening.

Right before halftime - when you could see lightening in the distance - it was announced that spectators were encouraged to go to their cars in anticipation of a lightening delay.

During halftime - I was going to wait out the rain on the concourse under the upper deck - but announcement was made that all spectators were to evacuate the stadium.

So, I went to the truck and decided to head on home and watch the second half on TV. Partly because I did not know how long the weather delay would be - and mostly because of the disappointment in the very poor play by NC State.

Brett Friedlander of the Wilmington Star is a really good sports columnist. He sums it up perfectly -

http://acc.blogs.starnewsonline.com/44260/time-for-n-c-state-to-stop-pointing-fingers-and-start-manning-up/

Breakfast

Drove down to Fayetteville to have breakfast with my brother and sister-in-law. They were visiting from Georgia for Chuck's High School Reunion.

Fortunately Chuck called me this morning around 7:00.

I had set the alarm on the clock radio - but I think there must be an additional step to turn the alarm on. It's a Sony Blue Machine and the operation and controls, to be honest, kind of suck. It's hard to tune radio stations, it is overly complex to set the two alarms and also the blue on blue display is hard to see.

This Sony Blue Machine is a replacement for my previous Sony clock / radio that died a couple months ago. It's operation was also cumbersome and could have had a much better design.

Come to think of it - my Sony Stereo Receiver is also difficult to operate.

Sony makes great electronics. But their user-interface usually leaves a lot to be desired. Intuitive design is NOT Sony's forte.

Wasn't Even This Close

Clemson's 41 - 0 shutout wasn't even this close.

Clemson pulled their starters early and kept the ball on the ground. Even forgoing scoring late inside the 10 and called a running play on 4th down just to keep the clock going and to keep from running up the score. Clemson could have easily scored 70 points on NC State.

It was a humiliating defeat.

The worst possible thing would be a let down from last week's awesome performance - and that's exactly what happened.

It will be difficult to regroup after this kind of loss. Next Saturday - Boston College at home.

Here's a stat that makes me very concerned about our next game -

In the first quarter of the NC State - FSU game the score was 24 - 7.

Over the next seven quarters through the Clemson game - NC State has been outscored 90 - 17.

Ranked Teams

The following AP ranked teams lost this week -

#2 Oregon, #3 Alabama, #4 Oklahoma, #6 Texas A&M, #8 UCLA, #14 Stanford, #15 LSU, #16 USC, #18 BYU and #19 Nebraska. That's 10 out of the top 25 teams.

All the naysayers who think #1 Florida State is over-rated may want to rethink their positions.

Exciting Game

What a fun and exciting game. Only could have been better if we'd won.

The kids played motivated and inspired football. The FSU offensive and defensive lines were the difference in size, talent and the game.

Our kids did everything they could to win. I'm a State fan and 27-year Wolfpack Club member - I could not ask for anything more.

Who Do I Want to Lose +Addendum

I do not like East Carolina University. The school itself is really OK. It's their fans.

I also don't care much for UNC-CH right now. The "flagship" of the North Carolina University System has been shown to be cheaters through and through - in both football and basketball.

So - this weekend - UNC visits ECU in football.

It isn't who I want to pull for - it's who I want to lose more.

The Pie-Rats or UNC-CHeaters. Decisions, decisions. If there was only a way both could lose . . .

State Football

State has won it's first three games - as expected. The first two, which should have been the easiest, we had to come from behind to win. The third, expected to be the most difficult, we totally dominated. So - is State any good this year? I have no idea.

Actually - I'm still pretty sure we're a 6 and 6 team.

However, I would not be shocked if we went 7 and 5 or even - gasp! - 8 and 4. Pleasantly surprised - but not shocked. I would be disappointed at 5 and 7. That really should not happen. I don't think it will.

I see some real signs that the kids have bought in to Coach DD's system and it is already paying off in his second year. Ahead of schedule actually.

DB is coming up this weekend for the Presbyterian College game. We should win easily.

The following week - No. 1 Florida State comes to Raleigh to start the ACC season.

Addendum

State shut out Presbyterian. Next week, it's gonna be tough against Florida State. It could even get ugly. If we just 'stay in the game' and don't get blown out - I'll be very satisfied.

Speaking of getting blown out - since both EZU and UNC-CHeats couldn't lose - a humiliation for one of them was the next best thing. I wasn't surprised ECU won - however - I never would have guessed the Pie-Rats would hang 70 points on Carolina.

Among the articles in today's paper was one about how the various participants handled the after-game emotions. One example perfectly sums up why I dislike UNC's 'better than everyone else' attitude. The article contrasted the ECU euphoria with UNC's players leaving the field with a lot of cursing. Here's a quote:

"They're not better than us." Donnie Miles, a UNC freshman linebacker, was screaming as he walked off the field.

Ahhh, yes Donnie, ECU's football team is better than UNC's. A whole lot better. Seven-hundred-eighty-nine yards of offense better, Seventy points better and Thirty-six first downs better. In fact Donnie, your UNC defense, set three UNC "worst" defensive records. Congratulations.

Donnie Miles' outburst is a perfect example that clearly reflects UNC's sense of self-importance and entitlement.

Labor Day Weekend 2014 +Addendum

Football

The heat and humidity were awful at the game yesterday. I don't know how the kids play in conditions like that.

I stayed hydrated but in the fourth quarter I was starting to feel a little sick - like I could throw up. I didn't say anything about it to anyone - but in retrospect - should have left early.

Had a hard time walking back to the truck after the game. And when I finally got home, I still felt un-well for a couple of hours.

At least half the crowd at the game was gone by the fourth quarter too - due to the heat and the score.

State did pull out the last minute (1:37) victory with a great march down the field and touchdown. It was the only time we led in the game.

Don't know what to think about the team yet. Hard to tell with this game. The first half we looked like NC State of last year. The second half we looked pretty good.

Weekend

Have 2 days left of the 3 day weekend. Absolutely nothing planned.

Addendum

Right after the above post, I went out for breakfast and stopped at Target to pick up a cheese grater.

I've been meaning to get a handle / rotary cheese grater for, gosh, years? I just never think about it when I'm out running errands. So, made a special point to do that this morning.

The one I got has a cap for the open end so you can leave the block of cheese in the tool - cap it - and just put the whole thing in the fridge. It also comes apart very easily for cleaning.

Here's the one I got:

http://www.target.com/p/oxo-softworks-rotary-grater/-/A-13567830#prodSlot=medium_1_6&term=cheese+grater

Wonder how long the link will last?

Football Addendum Note

I feel much better about yesterday's game and the rest of the season after watching Coach Doeren's post game press conference. He answers questions directly and doesn't cop out with coach-speak or bull-poop.

http://www.gopack.com/collegesportslive/?media=462421

There were a lot of comments about conditioning and how that helped our team finish the game while the other team was having problems.

Not said was something about conditioning that I've been thinking and carping about throughout the Tom O'Brien era.

Every year with T'OB we were plagued by seemingly endless injuries. The same thing last year (Doeren's first year and carryover from T'OB's conditioning program). I always felt that we had so many injuries each year that it had to be linked to our strength and conditioning coaches and methods.

This year - Coach D's first full year - with his new strength and condition coaches and regimen, we've had only 1 serious practice injury resulting in a player being out (for probably 3 or 4 games). And - no injuries in our opening game - and all the guys did well. Especially in horrible temperature and humidity conditions.

Clearly T'OB could never figure it out. He was not the coach and leader I had hoped he would be. And frankly, he was mired in his own out of date philosophy and did not possess the intelligence, temperament and ability to adapt and learn.

2014 Football +Addendum

The 2014 College Football season has begun.

Watching Texas A&M at South Carolina - didn't even know I had the SEC network. Wonder if I'm paying extra for that?

Thankfully Johnny Manzel is in the NFL so I can pull for A&M over South Carolina. I do not like the University of SC. They are an ignorant state's version of ECU. You ever visited South Carolina? If you look up Trailer Trash in the dictionary - the entry reads "see South Carolina".

NC State Football

It's going to be another long football season for Pack fans. Not as bad as last year - but nothing to write home about either.

We expect to win our first 4 warm up games - although no team we play should be taken for granted. After we start 4 - 0 it will likely be a struggle to win 2 ACC games to become bowl eligible.

Something like 70% of our players are freshmen and sophomores. I expect us to be 'in' all our games - but experience (or lack of) will have an effect.

Rebuilding takes time. Those freshmen and sophomores will become juniors and seniors making up 70% of the team in 2 years. So the future is indeed bright.

And who knows, we may surprise ourselves and exceed expectations this year.

Either way - I enjoy watching college football and going to the games.

And - college basketball (which I like best of all) is right around the corner.

Picking up Chip and Weeble Saturday morning for the noon-thirty game. I'm going to fix up some country ham biscuits first thing Saturday and have OJ and Champagne for mimosas. That ought to make a nice little pre-game tailgate.

Addendum

Enjoyed watching SC get totally drubbed by A&M.

Switched over to the Wake Forest at UL-Monroe game (UL-Monroe quarterback is an NC State transfer). A contest of "who is the worst team in this game?"

Wake Forest could easily go 0 - 12 this year.

And we lost to WF last year!? Jeebus . . . .

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Work

I've been working at NC A&T for the last two weeks - commuting each day. That makes for very long and tiring days. I'm glad to be done there (mostly).

Last Thursday, happened upon a deer that was lying next to one of the academic buildings (Marteena Hall). It looked healthy but wasn't moving - except to turn its head to watch us. We called Campus Security and Guilford County Animal Control arrived shortly after our call.

When GCAC tried to net the deer - it got up and took off. You could then see its right rear leg was completely broken at the hip. They chased it down and took it away to be euthanized.

I hate to see animals suffer. Fortunately the whole episode took all of 20 to 30 minutes. Security and GCAC arrived quickly after our call and knew exactly what they were doing.

We were guessing the deer had been hit by a car. It would have suffered a slow starvation death if we had not seen it.

NCSU Football

Tickets have arrived.

The Wolfpack Club is building a new indoor practice facility which is taking up a huge portion of the parking at the stadium. The WPC has been sending out emails warning folks that there would be a major reshuffling of parking assignments. Well, turns out, they have renumbered the spaces and tightened them up (at least they look closer together). However, we seem to be in pretty much the exact same space as last year. The folks that sit behind us were parked 2 rows from us. They've been moved all the way out of the stadium and to a remote lot (the Trinity Lot). Per the WPC they were going to reassign everyone according to their club ranking - so I guess we've been pretty much where we were supposed to be.

Still rebuilding, we're going to have a pretty sad season. I'm expecting 6 and 6 - which sounds bleak - but will be a big step up from last year's 3 and 9.

It takes time. Looking for improvement. Especially on defense.

Home

Not much else to report. Weekend was pretty routine. Mowed the grass for the first time in 3 weeks - it's been raining the last 3 weekends and this is the first dry one. The grass had gotten way out of control.

My neighbor brought over a ton of grape tomatoes from his garden (and some cucumber and hot peppers). I sauteed the tomatoes with some onion and mushroom for a light sauce for pasta. Plus a little garlic, basal and oregano and dropped in a couple of the peppers - whole, not chopped. It was yummy. I love fresh food.

Sunday July 20, 2014

I've promised myself to post once a week to keep my writing skills up and to keep this blog active.

Unfortunately, there's really nothing much worth posting about.

Work has been absolutely routine this week.

Code Class

I've been taking the Building Inspection Level 1 Class that started the beginning of June. It runs to the end of July. It's held on Monday and Wednesday evenings from 6 PM to 9 PM. I will also need to take the Building Inspection Law and Administration Class. Then I'll take the State exam.

The course is going well and I'm learning a lot. I understand the exam is along the lines of how quickly one can find rule references in a short amount of time. Supposedly there is about a minute and a half to answer each question. I'm looking forward to getting done with the class and taking the test.

Then the Level II and Level III classes and exams follow.

NCSU Football

The ACC Football Kick Off starts today. It's the annual coaches and press and ACC officials get together.

State went 3 and 9 last year. It was a dreadful season. Our, less than mediocre, quarterback got injured in the first game - along with a ton of other injuries. And the season went downhill from there.

The only place left to go is up. I'm hoping for a 6 and 6 record. Honestly, we could very likely end up between 4 and 8 and 5 and 7. Anything 6 and 6 or better will be a dramatic improvement.

We really did have a bad to mediocre team. Former Coach O'Brien really let us down.

Still, I'm looking forward to going to the games. It's a fun time to hang out with Chip, Weeble and Nuke.

NCSU Basketball

There was a short article in the newspaper last week about basketball. Odds and ends - an interview with Coach Gott.

One thing that came out was about BeeJay Anya. As a freshman Anya showed up last year way overweight from when he was recruited (recruited at 275). In Section 129, we affectionately refer to him as Yum Yum. He huffed and puffed his way up and down the court - and still lit up the place with slam dunks and some super blocks. Even with all his weight, you could tell he's one heck of a player and that's why Gott recruited him.

Anyway - Gott pointed out that Yum Yum was 340 (at least) last year. He is now down to around 320. And has a target to be around 280 when the season starts.

This kid has the potential to be a monster basketball player. With a year's experience and dropping almost 80 pounds - look to hear a lot about him once the basketball season starts.

Ship Clock

Had to take Dad's ship clock to the shop a while back. Got it back this week. Can't recite what was wrong with it but was told it was just a broken part due to age. I know what that's like.

Runs great.

Visited the Beach Again

Went back to the beach this weekend on the spur of the moment. Drove down to Southport after work Friday. Met up with 'the Boze' on Saturday for lunch and then we went to a bar on the waterway for a while - Nuke was wanting a Scotch. Then we picked up some beer (Nuke again) and sat on the porch of Dave's Beach Club and people watched and talked.

It was a great way to spend a summer Saturday. Just relaxing and chatting (and by chatting we mean listening to Nuke lecture - lol).

Went back to Southport - had a light dinner at the Marina restaurant.

Left about mid-morning Sunday to come back to Sanford. Got home just in time to watch the World Cup Final. Enjoyable game - but - I'm still not sure if futbol is a real sport or not.

That's about it - nothing else new to report.

July 4th, 2014

The wind actually did blow the chairs around and we put them in the garage.
Staged photo taken on a beautiful Friday morning after the storm moved through.

Hurricane formed off the coast this week and was to go close to Southport. So naturally, I went down to St. James for the weekend.

Actually had already planned to come down here and arrived Wednesday.

Thursday was rainy and stormy with wind gusts - but not really much more than a prolonged thunderstorm. Heavy downpours though - with each passing rain band. The hurricane eye passed by within 20 miles - but it was such a small and weak storm - even just 20 miles away - the winds went from 90 mph sustained to just 30 mph gusts.

Not that it's wise to go to the beach with a hurricane - its just that forecasting has gotten so good that it was obvious it was going to be a non-event storm.

We had lunch with Boseman yesterday. Went over to the beach today and we got pizza and a sandwich. Just hanging out today and watching a little TV. We were going to grill out steaks but we really weren't hungry so we just ended up doing nothing.

Might go back to Sandford tomorrow - have grass to cut and chores to do.

May also add to this entry as the weekend goes on.

Sunday June 29, 2014

Gosh - my life must be boring.

I have nothing of note to report.

Other than going to work, coming home, eating, sleeping and then going back to work - the only thing out of the ordinary is -

• Had a dentist check up this past week - A-OK
• Taking a Building Inspection Level I course at Wake Tech

The course is relatively straight-forward. The test I am worried about. It's a 'how fast can you find it in the code book" type of test. Not so much knowledge, but how quickly you can navigate through the books. How can you memorize where it is - vs. what you know / learn.

This Level 1 course is the first step. Eventually I want to get my Level 3 certifications in both Building and Fire Protection.

The course is long however. Monday and Wednesday nights from 6 to 9 for 10 weeks - 60 hours.

Other than that - I saw a buck and a deer at the back deck steps in the last hour. They both looked young and smallish. The stag only had 2 points on each antler. I don't know how that is counted - as a 2 point or 4 point. Anyway - they were eating the clover in the back grass just beyond the deck.

That's bout it. Life is kind of steady - and boring.

June 15, 2014

Obviously I haven't posted in a while.

Just sort of quit. But - I'm going to try and do a post each week. It's good practice and keeps the mind working. Even if no one reads this blog.

US Open

Ward and Hazel came up this week to go to the US Open for a day.

I don't golf, but I certainly appreciate golf course design. I like the retro Pinehurst No. 2. I think the natural look is much more appealing and, frankly, pretty.

Talking with W&H, I think the next time the Open comes to Pinehurst, I'll go. But - I'll go on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday practice day. Much less crowds and a chance to get closer to the players. Then, come back and watch the actual tournament on TV. In the air conditioned house.

Wolfpack Sports

Well, it's the summer season. However, football is only about 10 weeks away. The way to early predictions are already out and State is probably a 5 win team. If we win 6 - we go to a bottom tier bowl game with the all important extra practices.

Still, no matter how you look at it, TO'B left State football in about as bad a shape as possible. Even worse then when CtheC was let go and TOB took over an abysmal team. Even worse.

Hard to believe.

Hopefully Coach Doeren is the turn around guy. He's really having to rebuild from the ground up. It won't be until next year to have even a possibility of hope for a decent team. Three years recruiting is the absolute minimum needed to start seeing results.

Basketball? Who knows what this fall's team will look like. Probably middle of the road with another squeak into the NCAA finish. I'd like to see us turn the corner and play better, and more consistently.

Work

Work is good. Very busy and we're finally fully seeing construction come out of the Great Recession.

Happy Campers

Snow

So, northerners are laughing at us down here in the South because we can't handle a few inches of snow.

Well, yeah, I guess it is funny. We just don't have any experience with snow and ice - it's really rare. Rare - like a northern school winning a BCS Championship.