Month’s end

Guess who had his six month review at work? Yep it was me. It went well, I mean I still got to watch my pre-quailty errors but it went well. My formal review will be at my first year anniversary but the whats unque is I got to write my own review then defend it to upper manangerment. Never had to do that before but it seems like a interesting challenge that I am looking forwards to. On to main topic month’s end is always a busy time at the bank there is a policy that any and all loans received by my department by 3pm has to be coded and on the system before anyone leaves for the day. It was challenging but I more then pulled my weight that day because I managed to complete eight loan packages that day. One them was especially messy cause it was a modification of a original and he got to “play” with what’s already on the system to get it to work the way the new agreement reads. I did just that – can’t wait for next week to see how audit likes it! J I did get one loan back Friday from audit that they say was full of errors but there was a senior employee that looked it over and was like “no it is not wrong it is right, I told him.” So I think that is going back as error free, yeah chalk one up for me!

Besides the bank, my on going quest to achieve my ultimate goal of teaching is coming along. It is not as smooth as I thought it would be, I transferred my graduate credits back to Point Park University because they recently developed a program where I can get my masters in education but also earn state certification. The State of Pennsylvania recently reengineer the requirements for all teachers – the bottom-line is this I can not earn a masters in education and state certification together. I can complete all my course work to earn that coverted certification and then additional nine credits after I complete that program for my masters. That is one option I have but the other option they gave me is I can earn a post-baccalaureate degree in education and my graduate credits can easily convert to any of the course work at that undergrad level. I was thinking of doing just that because it is less money … my advisor told me that I can think about it. I can take all of this term and if I decide on the post-bac. The graduate credits will be accepted as courses for any of the undergrad course work. Or you think I should transfer back to Duquesne University? I think I am going to stay the course at Point Park!

I was talking to Victoria again, just chit-chat about stuff.

Maybe they won't notice

So at work today I was batching out - batching out is bascially balancing your accounts. I do not touch money, not the kind that we all love and want but I move money via financial transactions Anyway the day was winding down so I was batching out and I noticed that my figures are not adding up. I was out of balance. Not good when you work for a bank and it was not just a couple of dollars it was $300,000.00 so I said to myself,"crap what I do?" Then for a split second I thought, maybe they will not notice then reality dawned on me - of course it will be noticed so I resolved to find out exactly what I did to be out of balance so I reviewed my transactions and realized that I did not take down the disbursement for the one loan. Whoa was that a relief! The past few days were fun at te bank but more importantly I had date number three with Victoria.

Who is Victoria? She is someone that I am getting to know well. I met her using that online personal site, you know the one - match.com. I emailed her first and she responded, and neither had a photo of the other we exchanged about three emails then it was time to exchange photos so I went first and was a bit concerned on her response because you see I do not consider myself a handsome man. Anyway she responded with her photo and we then talked for a bit on the phone as time progressed we agreed to meet. The first date was very informal, we just met for coffee at Starbucks - I took a tip from my brother and the second date was more formal or so I planned it anyway. The second date was going to end before it even got started cause her babysitter canceled on her at the last moment so it was still earlier enough I suggested her daughter tag alone. We ended up going to the Children's Musuem then had out dinner at - Wendys. Afterwards we went back to her place and her little one went to bed and we stayed up talking. It was indeed a nice evening. The third date was just the two of us and it was a night that was or will be longed remeber. :) I do not mind her having a child, in fact as I get to know her I think that is awesome. Most single mothers - heck I know married fathers that do not take the role as a parent serious instead of being home with their kids they are out at a bar. Anyway there is still a part of me when I am with her that feels she is so out of my league, she beautiful and I am well I am not a a handsome man. She is also fairly successful in her career she works as a administrative assistant for a local law firm in downtown Pittsburgh. If you catch my drift I like her but I feel as if I am holding myself back because I am fearful of being dumped. The other part of me is I am not stettled into my career, I have only been with the bank for six months and before that I was with FedEx and my dream job is teaching. At this time I am just starting to make decent money and I guess I expect women to look at that and judge me harshly. Now Victoria or Vika as she perfers to be called gave me no indication that is something she is looking at it just me. Am I being to critical of myself? I wanted to ask her out again for this Saturday but we talked the other day and she mentioned she has her daughter this Saturday and plans on spending the day with her as she only gets her every other weekend. I am not sure fi I should even be talking about her on my blog at some point she will get the url.

Hooker boots

The ultimate salute to hooker boots or fuck me boots, whatever you prefer to call them!

London calling

I hear London calling and it is not the song but it is time for a vacation. I am thinking Costa Rica but I have been there and saw all I could see but Europe is where I want to go to. Besides if I do go to Europe I should visit Lithuania the land that my grandfather came from. Or perhaps Sweden, hey thats it Sweden I could visit Fraggle Rock! How about it KM? Or maybe I could visit Mother Russia? Next to Lithuania I always wanted to vacation to Russia. Then again there is Australia - how about it Kaz throw a shrimp on the barbie for a yank and maybe throw down a few Fosters too?

It was a good day

Had a good day, got most of my work cleaned up. I finally resolved a very nasty loan that just would not work regardless how many times I coded the son-of-bitch it just would not work the way it should! On that note I finally got myself off that dam report for "no accural schedule is in effect" - woopie! On other fronts I signed up for a program via northway to be a tutor for Pittsburgh Public school student everyday after school - that reminds me I must call about that tomorrow. I got to make sure I can do it after 3:30pm thats eastern standard time for those that wanted to know. What else... ummmm there is a banker's happy hour being planned this Friday, we usually have one every Friday to celebrate end of month - the busiest time for a banker. My brother has a steady girl this one is super sweet and I hope it works out for him! As for my love life well I have been seeing this one girl she is nice and a single mom. She does not want a serious relationship now which is fine by me as I want to just get stettled into a career something that is long term then I can feel better about making those long term plans like a girlfriend, house perhaps children :) First I got to get into a career that I know I will be happy with after all most women my age looks at things like that. Anyway this girl we had two dinner dates and a lunch date, the lunch date was with her and also her daughter.

I have to take my car in to get inspected, she is due by Sept 30th, I also want to get her oil change to. I was just thinking about that, in the past six months I probably put on 1000 miles on my car, in the past I had put on at least 2000 a month. That was back in the day when I lived in the boonieville, PA (not really called Boonieville) and I had to commute 28 miles everyday to get to a crappy job I hated. Now during the week I might drive 8 miles a day and some weeks I walk, or bike - it's great of course I have only been biking for a week and ahalf but it is nice. I hope my baby does not think I like her anymore cause I do. BTW my baby is my car, yep she might be just a Saturn ION Quad coupe but she is my ION. I suppose I could buy a ford Mustang but I just do not want that kind of car payment - I got a sweet deal now.

I like living in the Southside of Pittsburgh there is a sense of life, you can see it in the business, and people. Believe it or not there is more then just bars in the southside! Looking back on it I am glad I moved when I did, I should of moved alot sooner then I did cause ... I am sleepy so I will pick this up tomorrow. I got a great deal to say especially about specific Ms.

A movie for your entertainment

Sunday madness on the Northshore

Needless to say it was a disappointing game Sunday, yes it was indeed disappointing loss for the Steelers, and their fans. The Steelers faced their second consecutive defeat this season. It was their first loss at Heinz Field. During his post-game press conference, Bill Cowher was said that turnovers contributed to the Steelers 28-20 loss to their AFC North Division rivals, the Cincinnati Bengals. “Obviously the two big turnovers in the fourth quarter there were obviously pretty much the difference in that ball game,” Cowher said. “We turned it over five times and you’re not going to win many football games doing that.” Ben Roethlisberger, the darling of Pittsburgh last year threw for 208 yards, said the wind didn’t make things any easier. “The wind made it tough, you know, no excuses obviously, but there were a couple throws he threw and the one specifically he threw to Cedric that the wind just knocked it straight down, or at least that was what he told reporters. Cowher said his team never threw in the towel.“Those guys never quit playing and I was very proud of that,” he said. This was only the third game of the season, but there’s plenty more games down the road. Speaking as a loyal Steeler fan I say hang tough we shall meet again on Dec 31st and Cincinnati will get theor come upings!

My Thoughts: AGHHHHHH!

AGHHHHHH!

They Lost! How could they lose to that team and by 8 points!!!

The most anticipated game of the year is here in Week 3.

The most anticipated game of the year is here in Week 3.

These two teams with Super Bowl aspirations loathe each other. The fans despise each other. The Bengals won the AFC North last year, only to watch Pittsburgh celebrate a Super Bowl championship. And the road to the Steelers' title started with a first-round playoff date in Cincinnati, where Bengals star quarterback Carson Palmer had his knee shredded on a legal hit and had to leave the game in the opening minutes. After the game, Steelers coach Bill Cowher mocked the Bengals' "Who Dey" chant. And it got even hotter over the summer when Palmer, a former USC star, told Mike Silver of Sports Illustrated, "I hate the Steelers. I hate them more than I hate UCLA."

Bring it on!

Right now, Cincinnati boasts the better running attack with Rudi Johnson running behind a great offensive line. As former Steeler and current ESPN analyst Merrill Hoge told me this week, "Rudi Johnson is the toughest back to take down in the NFL."

And the Steelers have to play this game with a banged-up Troy Polamalu. The superstar safety's shoulder is banged up. It was easy to tell Polamalu wasn't right on two plays this past Monday night, when Fred Taylor broke a potential tackle, and when Maurice Jones-Drew stoned Polamalu as he tried to sack Byron Leftwich coming on a blitz on a key third down. But Polamalu practiced fully on Wednesday.

And Palmer shook off his Week 1 rust by looking like his brilliant self last week in Cleveland. You just know a game, a situation, like this is made for Palmer and Chad Johnson.
Ben Roethlisberger comes off an uneven game last week against Jacksonville, still rounding into shape from everything he has been through — missing time and losing weight after his motorcycle accident, then not being able to play in Week 1 against Miami following an emergency appendectomy. But as Bengals safety Madieu Williams told me Wednesday, "We fully expect to see the efficient and play-making Roethlisberger this week."

So how is going to win? How about it Brian

Pictures of yours truly...

There are some that want to see what I looked like so I created a web site and posted some pictures if you want to see them click here but beware they are graphic.

Poor Lilly

I get this message in my email inbox, poor Lilly is in trouble. I have to give her or him credit this was the best email scam I got in ages! This would be the 2nd of two emails I got from someone calling themselves Lilly the first one came out and asked for my bank account information! Okay like am I that dum? Te scary thing is this, some people would think this was for real and send them the money or give them their bank account information and then after their account is drained they ask why? Oh well it takes all sorts to make them world go round.

Hello, sound wonderful to be honest with you I am coming to United State to search for my ex-boyfriend who betrayed me and made away with my money. Brandon is a journalist we meet in Iraq four year ago during the Iraq war through a friend that we work together in United Nation peacekeeping force where I work as undercover last year I was assign for a mission in Sudan to keep eye on the vice president of Sudan and the family who as been treating by Rebel to kill his family. Five month ago Brandon came to Sudan to get story about the fight which is going on there, to cut the story short. The vice president as me to help him and his family out of Sudan with the help of my boyfriend Brandon and promise to pay five million dollars if we can help him so we help him to a country called Nigeria spending two week in Nigeria we plan to move to United State and get married and start a new life but Brandon made away with the money living me behind with nothing to live on, Now I decide to call my friend in Iraq to give me his information which she did. Brandon is from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania United state I only what to start for a month and some weeks to locate him and get my share of the money and promise if you can help me I will give you 10% of my own share of the money. All I need from you is to help me, my friend in Iraq promise to send me some money but I can’t cash out money where I am now because of there banking system here but I have a traveling agency to help me with ticket and pay for my hotel bills all I need from you is to help me with this info I needed I know there are scam this days please I am in pain here now and by the time I get to United State we get to know each other may God Bless you. please mail me to my private box Regards Lilly

Monday night football

Monday night football is tough on Tuesday morning workdays. Needless to say it was indeed a disappointing and BORING game. The Jacksonville Jaguars scored 9 points the Pittsburgh Steelers scored zero... Big Ben was back. He wasn't back to form. Wearing protective padding around his midsection, Ben Roethlisberger returned to Pittsburgh's lineup against the Jacksonville Jaguars Monday night, barely two weeks after having an emergency appendectomy. He was far from effective, though, and Jacksonville's defense had a lot to with that.The Jaguars harassed Roethlisberger, held Willie Parker to 20 yards on 11 carries and ended the defending Super Bowl champions' nine-game winning streak with a 9-0 victory - it was the lowest-scoring game in Monday Night Football history.

On other fronts I have started biking to work, there was a time that I would use the stationary bike at my old job in every morning and it felt wonderful. This is different because I am commuting to work by mountain bike - I never really noticed but the Alleheny river smells odd in the morning... like poo. Here another interesting fact, at work I am no longer the new guy but the experienced employee getting harder loans and having to answer questions from new employees. When it comes down to my job I am Feelin' Way Too Damn Good and it concerns me because Well as the song goes something's gotta go wrong Coz I'm feelin' way to damn good - on the job that is. Indeed my crazy world has changed ... but I still have a regret a deep longing of belonging to an old circle.

Rally around Pope Benedict XVI

As a Christian and also an American but not a Catholic I want to rally around the Pope as a al Qaeda-linked extremist group warned Pope Benedict XVI on Monday that he and the West were "doomed." Protesters returned to the streets across the Muslim world to demand more of an apology from the pontiff for his remarks about Islam and violence. The Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of Sunni Arab extremist groups that includes al Qaeda in Iraq, issued a statement on a Web forum vowing to continue its holy war against the West. The authenticity of the statement could not be independently verified. The group said Muslims would be victorious and addressed the pope as "the worshipper of the cross" saying "you and the West are doomed as you can see from the defeat in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya and elsewhere. We will break up the cross, spill the liquor and impose head tax, then the only thing acceptable is a conversion (to Islam) or (killed by) the sword."Islam forbids drinking alcohol and requires non-Muslims to pay a head tax to safeguard their lives if conquered by Muslims. They are exempt if they convert to Islam.

The pope on Sunday said he was "deeply sorry" about the angry reaction to his speech last week in which he cited the words of a Byzantine emperor who characterized some of the teachings of Islam's Prophet Muhammad as "evil and inhuman" and referred to spreading Islam "by the sword." Let's take a moment and think about the two key sentences in bold, then think about the acts of terror spreading across the Middle East against all non-muslims so I ask you do you think Islam is a religion of peace or a religion hijacked by haters of all things western? Sort of reminds you of the protests and violence stirred up by those cartoons that were published in a Danish newspaper of the Prophet Muhammad. Angry demonstrations took place in many countries then to, and most of the violence was directed at Western targets and Christian churches.

The Fear Of Failing

I have a deep fear of failing. Saturday I was getting information together about the praxis, I need to pass the praxis before Sept 2007 so that I can do my student teaching. My fear is that I will fail the math portion of the exam. Its been on my mind all weekend the fear of what I would do if I was unable to pass the praxis. This evening I was looking at other peoples' blog and I came across Olivier Blanchard's BrandBuilder blog entitled 'Fear is Irrelevant'. He talks about fear and failure as crucial 'points on a learning curve'. Here's a taster:

Don't settle for being the best. Instead, work your ass off to be the first. This isn't about beating the other guys. You can't. You won't. Those kinds of victories are short-lived and meaningless. Be unique. Become an icon. Become a legend.
But expect to fall on your face a lot. It's the price you pay for getting there, and getting there first. By first, I don't mean necessarily first to market. I mean first to success.

Did it help calmn my fear? A little but the praxis is important and I have to prepare for it so tomorrow I purchase a praxis study guide. Since establishing My Thoughts well over a year ago, I have experienced many 'failure points' during the steepest learning curve of my life. A few months ago I deleted my original blog and started fresh – something that I do regret. I have made some progression in my life, compared to where I was last year it is a improvement. Currently I am working for a bank, but my dream job is teaching. I want to be a teacher, I want to have not just a job but a career that gives me a sense that what I do for a living makes a difference. Do you know what I mean? I have to work hard, apply myself over the next 12 months if I am successful by the end of the school year 2007 I will be a certified public school teacher. My fear is failing the praxis exam! What’s the praxis? They are state exams, the praxis is to a teacher what the bar exam is to a lawyer, or the state board is to a doctor. I know I will pass the English and reading section but the math part of the praxis is what I am concerned about. It’s that old time feeling of failing. Anyway going back to Oivier's post, I can still say there is no-one offering the service of getting over the fear of failure.

Proper Condom Use

Texas Independence, Screw Mexico

On March 2nd 2006, was Texas Independence Day. It's only celebrated in Texas, maybe by Dubya Jr. but anyway on that date in 1836 the Texans at Washington on the Brazos signed their Declaration of independence from Mexico. Recently Houston got an MLS soccer team and they named it 1836, the year Houston was founded. This is also the year of Texas Independence. But, it depends that the "Hispanics" are upset by that name.

Last month, the team decided to drop 1836 because its connection to the year Texas gained independence from Mexico offended some Hispanics. The revisnists historians are busy at work re-working not just American history but world history where anything European (a.k.a. white) is bad and anything non-European is good. I don't know why anyone from Central America would be offended by Texas winning independence from Mexico, so let's just call them Mexicans. Let me list the ways this upsets me:

• Can you imagine the British being "offended" by 1776?
• If it wasn't for Texas Independence and joining the United States 9 years later, do you think there would be a steady stream of Mexicans crossing the border to live in Texas because it offers them and their families a better opportunity in life?
• Did they forget the "Hispanics" or Tejanos that fought along side the Anglos in 1836?
• Why aren't they offended that Santa Anna, a ruthless dictator who ended his life in jail in Mexico, killed everyone at the Alamo and then burned the bodies?
• Why aren't the offended that Santa Anna was with a whore when Sam Houston attacked at San Jacinto on April 21st, 1836?
• I find hispanic women beautiful, sort of just threw this one out there.
  

This is ridiculous and it has been going on for a while now-revising history. Look, Texans are proud people and like it or not these events shaped Texas and made it what it is today. They have a place being celebrated. I would accuse them of being sore losers, except no one was born when this happened and they are benefiting from the result. Viva la Texas!

No orgasmic chit chat today - just lots of cheesie crap

A little bit of nothing for the weekend because we know how the weekends are. Yeah, I have been around long enough to know the pattern of blog readers by day of the week. Many of us are scarce these day’s - at least as far as overt internet presence goes - due to starting new endeavors, working, getting over vacation lag, or just plain internet apathy. I sometimes wonder what the hell I’m doing trying to fit a quick internet post - often articulated poorly - more so now then ever before in between one "real life " task and another. There is no reason I can think of.

I prefer not to post about my personal life; I just don’t have the kind of "sharing" personality anymore needed for that type of posting. I have no need, or so I have been told in random emails in the past, to post about depression, oppression of any kind because after all I am not depressed just fucked as for being obessed - well that would be in the eye of the self-absord or oppressed, hey I’m white, I’m not financially struggling and I don’t live in Africa so I should shut the fuck up’ about being oppressed. So maybe it’s best to just use the internet for playing around and posting diatribes against the Dubya's new world order, while using words like orgasmic awesomeness. (I created that last one) Maybe I need to settle for posting random videos which make people laugh but really do nothing to make a point but get one a lot of hits from superblah.

The thing is I never wanted a Fark audience; I think the majority of Fark readers are idiots.
So I’ll sit around planning the completion of an education - which will allow me to address humanitarian issues, faulty social and economic policy, helping the next generation from making the same mistakes I made all this while writing bad posts - and leave internet reviling to others.
At least until tomorrow.

I’m thrilled about the emails. I thought I was losing it there for a week or so but well I recovered. In the meantime I have some links for you.

Sara had a cute post about her new baby, so check it out. Her new born baby is so cute! Congras again to the mommy.

Here is Kaz she is getting ready for a break to Vietnam with friends now that will be a awesome adventure. Kaz if you read this send me a post card, I'll give you my postal address.

Then there is Alice she is unique as her blog has much like my own changed radically from what it was when I first started reading it.

Here is a interesting bit of news trivia I copied off some news service its about the California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. He recently told advisers in a closed-door meeting last spring that Cubans and Puerto Ricans have "very hot" temperaments because they have a mix of "black blood" and "Latino blood." Of course he quickly apologized after reading his comments in the Los Angeles Times this morning, saying they "made me cringe."

"Alice was heard calling the governor her "dull witted, small skulled Nazi" because of course all German’s are Nazi’s and all terminators are pea brained, misogynist pigs."

One more thing.

Please don’t forget, Darfur is an Unforgivable Hell on Earth .

I’m off to see a beeaycha in Aliquippa, PA about a little poon.

A defining moment in history

Five years after the attacks left the world's superpower reeling, September 11 remains the defining moment of Dubya's presidency and also as a watershed in recent American history, its shockwaves continuing to reverberate. The attacks spurred the United States to go to war in Afghanistan - a war in which I was behind the President and Iraq - a war that I do not support the President on. Why? Because it is not just polarising American public opinion, but also it is reshaping the diplomatic landscape and straining old alliances.

The war on terror should concentrate on the hunt for Bin Laden but despite the billions of dollars spent on the military campaigns, Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden - believed to be hiding in the rough, mountainous region straddling the Afghanistan-Pakistan border - remains at large.

Sept 11th was a day that saw the worse side of humanity but it also saw the best in humanity, it was a day that saw heroes, people like Todd Beamer and Mark Bingham who confronted the terrorists on flight 93. Countless unnamed NYC firefighters and police officers that gave their lives to save others not to mention many other aveage citizens who also gave their lives and won't have thier stories told - September 11th 2001 is or was a defining moment on the history of the United States of America.

Shawn, Casey, Kimie and one dead Dolphin

Thursday night I went to the locker room to watch the first game of the season with some people from work and also my brother showed up ... his new girl had a final exam - she is aiming to become a registered nurse so he was chic-less that night. We met Casey - oh yeah that night it was confirmed that the Locker Room is owned by Heinz Ward. Anyway besides Shawn, Casey and a few other fanatic Steeler fans there was also Kimie... Kimie was so nice. She might only be 23 but she acted very mature for her age and best of all she gave no guilt trip about having someone spend money on her so as Casey explained that was refreshing. The game was good, 3rd half ended badly for the Steelers but they pulled it together and rallied to win 28 to 17. The Pittsburgh Steelers needed two big plays from unlikely sources to pull out a season-opening victory behind their backup quarterback - Charlie Batch. Maybe Miami Dolphins coach Nick Saban should be flagged for a costly delay, too. As the Tight end Heath Miller chugged his way down the Steelers' sideline on an 87-yard touchdown pass play midway through the fourth quarter, fill-in QB Charlie Batch's third scoring pass of the game, and the Super Bowl champions beat the Dolphins 28-17. Only Miller didn't really score - TV replays clearly showed him stepping out between the 2 and 1-yard lines. However, Saban waited until too late to throw his red challenge flag, which fell to the turf sight unseen behind and referee watching the extra point kick. That meant the Steelers didn't have to try to get the ball into the end zone from short yardage. I am looking forwards to September 24th because on that day the Steelers take on the Bengals.

The game was good, Thursday night was awesome but Saturday night was not so good. I fell into old ways of thinking again. It's like if i have to spend more then two days alonhe I go into one of my darken moods... banker happy hours are only planned to celebrate end of month deadline and unless there is a game there are no banker happy hours planned. Why is it so hard to change internal thought processes? I can change if push comes to shove, I proven I could do it when I quit one job that I came to hate I can change but what is hard is to change thqat internal thought process. I felt lonely Saturday night and I did something dum really dum that today I am ashamed of.

Deep thoughts for 2006

Number 10 - Life is sexually transmitted.

Number 9 - Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.

Number 8 - Men have two emotions: Hungry and Horny. If you see him without an erection, make him a sandwich.

Number 7 - Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day; teach a person to use the Internet and they won't bother you for weeks.

Number 6 - Some people are like a Slinky...not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs.

Number 5 - Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospital dying of nothing.

Number 4 - All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.

Number 3 - Why does a slight tax increase cost you two hundred dollars and a substantial tax cut saves you thirty cents?

Number 2 - In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.

AND THE NUMBER 1 THOUGHT FOR 2006 - We know exactly where one cow with mad-cow-disease is located among the millions and millions of cows in America but we haven't got a clue as to where millions of illegal immigrants and terrorists are located. Maybe we should put the Department of Agriculture in charge of immigration

Summer is over, the fall begins

Summer is over and the fall has begun at least weather wise anyway. My summer was good, for the most part anyway. It was nice not being in school, not having to worry about midterm, final exams or writing endless papers. For the most part I have not really spent much time on my blog its mostly for personal reasons. In the past I expressed my inner most thoughts and was told that I wallow in self-pity and my blogging buddies where the only ones to give that pity. Of course in those days I called people friends that were self centered. I can see that now it is to bad I wasted so much time trying to win their friendship. I know now that I am a good person and they, well God bless them both. The past week was not altogether bad, Friday I had my 4th date with ... well I will just say a woman. Won't say anything more then that because if I should ever let her read this... I don't want anything ebarrassing on it so I will leave it at that. Date four went well, she has a lovely house and her kitchen was absolutely beautiful but the thing that I liked most was her bathroom cause she had a whirlpool/bathtub. You know the kind? I have a shower stall in my apartment! Another interesting thing about her is she is a TEACHER. Yes she teaches 2nd grade so thats cool. On to other topics as I got to private with this and I rather no one know about it until I feel really good about how the DEAL is coming with the teacher.

Saturday I made my return to Point Park, yes I transfer all nine of my credits from Duquense to Point Park. Feels sort of nice being back in Point Park, I like the small classroom size so that is cool. I am enrolled in four courses this term and the beauty of the promgram at PPU is this. I complete these four courses, then I take another four in the spring, four in the summer and finally I do my student teaching in the fall of 2007. After which I am a certified public school teacher! Oh I almost forgot I have to also past the praxis state exam.

My favorite video

Steve Irwin

I heard on the new today that Steve Irwin died doing what he loved best, getting too close to one of the dangerous animals he dedicated his life to protecting with an irrepressible, effervescent personality that propelled him to global fame as television's "Crocodile Hunter." According to CNN the 44-year-old Irwin's heart was pierced by the serrated, poisonous spine of a stingray as he swam with the creature Monday while shooting a new TV show on the Great Barrier Reef.

"Crikey!" was his catch phrase, he would repeat it whenever there was a close call — or just about any other event — during his TV programs, delivered with a broad Australian twang, mile-a-minute delivery and big arm gestures he was indeed a star - now he will be a legend.

New Motherhood Part Two

This goes out to Sara, who gave birth to her 2nd child on Wednesday. As Sara explained her new baby's name is Eve Lillian and at birth she weighed 10lb and 6oz and was 21in long. I want to wish Sara, Jake, Ben and now Eve a heart felt congratulations and also to wish them all a happy life!

I leave you with a short poem taken from a google search...

New Motherhood

This morning,
In the hush of dawn,
I knew the miracle of birth -
I looked on the small child
In my arms -
And felt full ownership
Of earth!
- Katherine Edelman

They proved us wrong cause the Wildcards took the Bus home to Detroit

But for most we had our doubts

Only an Hardcore Steelers fan believed they could go all the way

A short tribute to the Mayor

Prayer services and masses were held all across Pittsburgh over the past days, praying for the mayor's health. Yesterday those churches held services in his remembrance. Parishioners at St. Paul Cathedral in Oakland weren't praying for a miracle; it's too late for that. Instead, they prayed for peace for deceased Mayor Bob O'Connor's family and loved ones.

Bob O’Connor became the 58th Mayor of Pittsburgh on January 3, 2006. A true son of Pittsburgh, Mayor O’Connor is or was spearheading Pittsburgh’s renewal into a vibrant 21st century American city. His platform highlights fiscal responsibility along with increased neighborhood and downtown development, more robust job growth, and improved service delivery. Bob O'Connor is suceded by Council President Luke Ravenstahl, 26, who becomes the youngest mayor in city history shortly after Mr. O'Connor passed away last night.