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January 26, 2004

Buzz Buzz Buzz

OLATHE, Kan. - A man who came to a court hearing wearing a bumblebee costume — to protest what he called a "sting" operation by prosecutors — left a judge buzzing.

Conrad J. Braun, 54, was in Johnson County District Court on Friday to hear a judge rule whether a blackmail case filed against him last summer should go to trial.

District Judge John Anderson III was not amused by Braun's getup, which included yellow stripes, cloth wings and a foot-long stinger.

Anderson told Braun that although there is no rule prohibiting the wearing of such a suit in court, the judge has a duty to uphold court decorum.

Braun assured the judge that he meant no contempt to the court and promised he would not do it again.

This is my friend Jason at the BGSU V. Northern Illinois game this year trying to get on ESPN GameDay.

Posted by Pepperguy at 09:31 PM | Comments (0)

January 24, 2004

Cold, light and fluffy

We got about 4 inches of the lightest, fluffiest snow EVER yesterday. Made the drive home from work a little treacherous, but I made it. The joys of having an overpowered light 2WD pickup truck w/no weight in the back. Mmmmmmmmmmmm....fishtails!

Shoveled the snow this AM, it really could have been just puffed away with a leaf blower, but I don't have a leaf blower so I shoveled it. Very pretty morning, sunny, bright, about 10 degrees. Nice! Ran to the bank b/c I found a check in the pocket of the pullover I put on this AM. Kind of funny. It was an expense check from work. Then went to the post office and stopped at Red, White and Brew and got a mocha caramel for me and a hot chocolate for Maryellen.

We're going out with Brandon and Cheryl tonight. Probably going to go to the new "Asian Bistro" on Monroe St. I believe it's called Stixx or something like that. Tomorrow we will probabaly see if mom wants to go along to the Cabela's store in Dundee, Mi. We stopped there the other night after spending some time in Ann Arbor, we only got to spend about 15 minutes though b/c it was closing time. Not like we hunt or fish or anything, but it's still a cool store!

Oh, my friend Andrew, who just turned 19 on Thursday, transferred back to BGSU!! The really cool thing is that he's living in Haven House apartments, which is where I lived. They told him that next year they already had his current apartment leased, but apartment #12 was available. I lived in apartment 12 for 2 years!!! How freaking weird!?!??! I stopped in and saw his place last weekend. Very nice. He's got it all decked out in BGSU sports stuff. Definiately a good man!

Posted by Pepperguy at 11:21 AM | Comments (0)

January 20, 2004

Parsident Boooosh

George W. Bush will be about a mile from me tomorrow. I'm sure THAT won't cause any traffic problems. Nooooooooooooooooooo...

Posted by Pepperguy at 06:40 AM | Comments (0)

January 15, 2004

Guh

I left work early yesterday for a doctor's appointment, then got picked up by a couple of guys from the AZZ site and headed to Akron for a basketball game. It was a fun trip! The guys I went with were fun (Andrew and Brian) and BG won. Except for the weather, it was just a great trip. We took Bri's 4runner b/c of it's 4WD abilities and I think we're pretty glad we did.

I finally got home last night at about 1AM and the dog was WACKO!! So I let him out to play in the snow and he just ran around and around and around. You have to know my dog to understand this and laugh at it, but it's just so funny to see him get into his running mode.

Maryellen works tonight, so I'll probably just come home and crash since I didn't get more than 4 hours of sleep last night. That's cool though. I do ok on 4 hours usually. Got a full weekend coming up though, so I have to get rested up for the festivities.

Posted by Pepperguy at 06:58 AM | Comments (0)

January 13, 2004

Appetizing!

Here's a couple of yummy stories from the BBC Online:

Cannibal victim never told lover...

Woman survives losing her skin...

I read the BBC website every night before bed...I'm starting to wonder why.

Posted by Pepperguy at 10:47 PM | Comments (0)

January 12, 2004

I don't like Mondays

Well, the day is almost over. Work sucked, then I got home and it pretty much sucked here too. Maryellen worked 2 in a row so tonight she was pretty much unconscious all evening. So that means I'm bored and kinda lonely AND that I have to be quiet. LOL... Oh well...

My tummy hurts too. Dr. Narra put me on Zithromax b/c of a big hard lymph node in my neck. I don't know which is worse, the throat pain or the crappy feeling from the anti-biotics? Again...Oh well.

Wednesday I have another Dr. appointment then I think I'm going to Akron for a basketball game. Right now, though, I'm going to bed.

Posted by Pepperguy at 11:05 PM | Comments (0)

January 10, 2004

Schmupdate

Seems like there's no time to update this thing anymore. I'm not sure where it's all going. Work has been VERY busy for me for the past week or so. That's a good thing though. The ladies in accounting get on my nerves a bit, but hey, that's OK. (THAT'S A JOKE, OK?!?!?!) Meegan and Anita were complaining that I hadn't written anything about them, so there it is.

Let's see, today I played in the Alumni Athletic Band at BGSU for a basketball game. Lots of fun, as always. BG won too, keeping the streak of Alumni Band victories in tact!

My HS band director showed up with his wife and played too. Kind of weird to play on the same "level" as the guy who taught you music. It was nice to see him...wasn't all that great to have clarinets in the band, but hey...it's all they know. LOL

OOOOOOOOOH! Excitement for me this week. XM Radio announced that they'd be going completely commercial free on all music stations! Now Sirius' only claim of superiority over XM is for naught.

Maryellen's working this weekend, so I'm "Bach-ing" it. Kinda bored tonight actually. Watching a DVD of John Wetton performing live in the XM studios. One of the best voices in music!

Our furnace crapped out on us the other night. We had come back from a meeting with our Edward Jones rep and the house was about 55 degrees. The furnace, less than 2 years old, decided that it would burn, but not blow. So we had to call the installers for an emergency on call visit. They fixed it, but not until about midnight. It was one of the single degree nights too. Guess that's what warranties are for.

Posted by Pepperguy at 10:58 PM | Comments (1)

January 01, 2004

2003 ==> 2004

No resolutions this year. I don't usually make them. In fact, I really don't care for the whole "New Year's" celebration, but it DOES make a good excuse to look back at the year past and categorize good and bad things that may have happened.

We lost Maryellen's dad in 2003, that sucked. Plus all the hassle of selling his house, settling the estate, etc...it was a major headache. Plus he's been missed more than I think we ever expected.

Maryellen's health was relatively un-eventful in 2003. She's had minor exacerbations with her MS. Some numbness, some vision issues, and some dizziness, but nothing that she hasn't been able to deal with. She didn't miss any work in 2003 b/c of her MS!!

Both M and I started running in 2003. She is more of a runner than I am, but I'm proud that 9 months later, I'm still doing it!! I just ran 2.5 today outside. It's kind of fun to run outside in the winter. I had to chuckle to myself this AM though, I almost NEVER see other runners in Elmore when I'm out, but this AM I saw 7 others! I just wonder how many of them were New Year's resolutions? :-) I hope they're able to stick to it.

Health wise, I've improved. I've lost weight, gotten my blood pressure under control and have felt pretty good all year with the exception of my sinuses and a cold here and there.

2003 brought me a new friend. I'm very grateful to know Nora...mini-she-me...she's brought a lot of joy and fun into my life. Kind of weird to feel so close to a 17 year old girl, but I'm really glad she's there. She's taught me a lot about myself, whether she knows it or not, and I hope I've been able to do the same for her. I think she's going to be one of those life-long friend/soul-mate type deals. She's the best!

My truck made it through 2003. As of right now, it's got 172,000 miles on it. The new car is on order, but it could be a while. I may be able to get 180,000 on the truck before all is said and done.

I got the best job I've ever had in 2003. Glasstech has been wonderful so far. I'm busy each and every day, I make a difference in people's work days. It's challenging, but not overwhelming. It's a great job! I could seriously see myself retiring from Glasstech some day. Not necessarily in the position I'm currently in, but it's a good company with some great people. The kind of people who make things happen. (and I'm not just writing that b/c I know my boss reads my blog from time to time. ;-)

I've read a LOT of books this year. I've still GOT to get that database set up for books that I've read. Maybe I'll put some time into that this weekend... I have listened to more XM radio than I ever fathomed. It's the greatest invention since TV IMO! Listening to 80's on 8 as I write this.

BGSU Football had a dream season this year, I was more involved than ever in it. Ay-ziggy-zoomba.com grew by leaps and bounds this season. Almost 500 registered users, and over 800 unique visitors a day from September on! In terms of "hits" that's 1.7 MILLION a month!! Yes, really! In December, www.ay-ziggy-zoomba.com served up 256,670 individual web pages. And I haven't made a penny on it. LOL Dumb? Maybe...but it's something my dad and I dreamed of doing, so I just do it.

I could go on and on with memories and thoughts of 2003. All in all, I think it was a pretty good year. It was a year of change to be sure. 2004 will be full of much of the same. It's the way things work. I'll just continue to be who I am, try to grow as a person, try to love as many people as possible, and all will be right with the world.

Happy New Year!

Posted by Pepperguy at 11:35 PM | Comments (2)