Day 2...

...of my unemployment.

Day 1 was spent talking to my lawyer in the morning, and then taking in the Sox game yesterday afternoon. They actually WON with me persent for the first time since late July. It was a perfect sunny afternoon, and a whopping 5,000 people showed up to see Joe Borchard hit an absolute moon shot. Yesterday at least, I was willing to ignore the fact that he fanned 3 times after his blast.

So today I have to draft a letter to Townsend to try and let me out of my non-compete, arguing that the firm I am interviewing with is not in direct competition with them and that my duties in my position there would be completely dissimilar to the functions I performed there. It's gonna be a good ol' fashioned "compare and contrast" essay straight out of freshman year of college.

My buddy Kevin and I have agreed to boycott Bruce Springsteen until after the election, mainly because of crap like this. There's nothing I hate more than entertainers trying to get involved with politics...unless of course they actually run for office.

Didn't watch the convention last night, but I guess Guiliani was pretty inspiring. Granted, the guy's had some issues in the past with the NYPD, but I still view him as America's mayor. It's not like he was personally responsible for the brutality anyway...I'm guessing that had been part of the NYPD's culture since long before he was elected.

William Raspberry (who has a great last name) has a piece in the WaPost today about how the whole "Anybody But Bush" movement is likely to fail with Lurch as the standard-bearer.

Got to play in the ESPN1000 golf outing yesterday at Bolingbrook Golf Club, which has got to be the toughest track I've ever played, putting even Oak Hill and Harborside to shame. Narrow jagged fairways, bunkers galore and TONS of water...good thing I threw an extra dozen balls in my bag since I used almost all of them.

Our celebrity team captain was Peggy Kusinski, from NBC 5 sports. She's an absolute riot, and one hell of a golfer. We ended up using more of her tee shots than mine. Russell and I both played like absolute crap, hacking and duffing our way through 18 holes, but it was a great time for a good cause, I'll probably be back next year.

And now on to the big news....today is my last day at Townsend Analytics. I resigned 2 weeks ago and kept it on the down low, but I suppose everone had to find out sooner or later. I'd really prefer not to get into the specifics of what happened (it really isn't that bad, but this is after all a public forum), but if you want to know, drop me a line. I have a few irons in the fire already, so hopefully unemployment will be blissfully brief.

Bears game tonight, Kevin Dever's ribfest tomorrow, sailing Sunday. Why do I get the feeling this weekend is going to be over in about 45 seconds?

Tennis Anyone?

Played tennis last night for the first time in 5 years. Just getting to the courts was an adventure. Initially, Aaron and I were going to play at UIC, but their new courts are closed to the public once school resumes (as of yesterday), so we missed that deadline, which is a damned shame since the courts are pristine, and chock full of nubile young college students. Drove down to McGuane Park in Bridgeport, which had courts that looked really really sad...finally ended up playing over by IIT at 30th and Michigan, on some really nice courts which unfortunately were unlit.

Anyway, my first serve needs work. I think I only got 2 or 3 over during the course of the set. I can't charge the net as fast as I used to, and I'm not able to stripe my backhand down the line anymore, it ends up popping up way too high. There were a couple shots which I flat out swung on and missed, verrrrry embarassing. Aaron won the set, 6-3. But I'm gonna start playing regularly again for sure.

I spent most of this past weekend at US Cellular Field, watching the White Sox take on the Red Sox. I should have just stayed home...they lost all 3 games.

After watching them for 27 innings, I've come to the following conclusions about the Carmines:

-There's a huge difference between Red Sox fans at Fenway and the rest of Red Sox nation. Fenway fans can provide a lot of insight into the team, but the fans I encountered at the ballyard this weekend proved to be just about on par with Cubs fans in terms of baseball knowledge. To them, Manny Ramirez is their Sammy Sosa. They were by and large an obnoxious bunch of drunks, although I did notice that they tend to have a lot of pretty hot female fans. I wonder how they'l manage to choke this October.

-Johnny Damon is a machine. Gets on base every single time he's up...I don't remember him being that good when he played with KC or Oakland. Back in 2001, Russell and I went to batting practice in April for a game against the A's, and Damon came over to us and chatted with us for a few minutes. Nicest guy in the world, and I guess I'm glad to see him do well.

-Manny Ramirez feasts on fastballs, and David Ortiz is a lot more dangerous now than he ever was as a Twin. Having the heart of your lineup be Ramirez/Ortiz/Varitek/Millar/Mueller is pretty damned scary.

Baseball aside, we went out to the new outlet mall in Aurora yesterday, and proceeded to get lost on the way back in. I did buy a new bathing suit, jacket and shoes, all at rock bottom prices.

Apparently my grandmother is doing a lot better...my sister is back in Dekalb and Mom flies back to Seattle tomorrow. The long term prognosis is still terribly bleak, but she seems like she'll be hanging on for a little while. We'll see.

Straight Out Of Boiler Room....

Interesting scam trying to get people to bid up worthless stocks...surprised no one thought of this sooner, but now the SEC has even put a warning out against it.

Apparently, the CBOT now has a members only message board, and in typical pit trader fashion, the language can get a bit salty on there. I'd kill to read some of the gossip, maybe I need to lease an IDEM seat just to see some of the chatter.

I tell you what, Amanda Beard might be the hottest athlete on the US Olympic team. Wish I'd Tivoed her more as my favorite event (women's swimming) is pretty much over. Phooey.

Other than that, not much going on. All White Sox, all the time this weekend. I get to see Curt Schilling pitch for the first time since he was a Rochester Red Wing tonight.

Here's today's malapropism of the day. A friend of mine just interviewed for a job, and sent the obligatory thank you email. She got a reply from the recruiter at the firm telling her she admired her DUE DILIGENCE. As anyone who's ever worked in the financial world knows, due diligence is:

The process of checking the accuracy of information contained in a company public statement, such as a prospectus, before recommending that company to others. Is also the act of one company investigating another company before buying its shares.

Unless Rhonda is going the way of Google and making a public offering, it sounds like the recuiter at that company is trying to play smartypants.

Football In August?

For some reason, the commissioner of my fantasy football league insists on having the draft long before the leaves start turning colors and the grills start getting fired up in stadium parking lots. In fact, what better time to have it than mid-August, when baseball is still #1 in my mind and the rest of the league can take advantage of me being distracted by the American pastime?

So the draft went off last night. I spent about 10 minutes ahead of time prepping, with only the CBS Sportsline draft cheat sheet and a whole lot of notebook paper to help me. Go ahead and rate my squad:

QB: Aaron Brooks, Jake Delhomme
RB: Travis Henry (keeper from last year), Warrick Dunn, Marcel Shipp, Duce Staley
(I found out shortly thereafter that Shipp is out for the season. Waiver wire time!)
WR: Peerless Price, Isaac Bruce, Ashley Lelie, Andre Davis
TE: Itula Mili, Antonio Gates
K: Josh Brown (1st time in like 6 years I don't have Jeff Wilkins)
D: Saints, Rams (gotta shore that up for sure)

That's about it for now. After saturating myself with Olympic coverage all weekend, I really haven't watched much this week. I hope I get to see at least one more night of women getting out of pools.

Here's a nice clip with good simple visuals that shows what a taxmonger Lurch is.

Ridin' The Storm Out...

It always amazes me about how when a hurricane hits someplace (usually in the South, usually in an area populated by Gomers and gun nuts), so many people decide to play tough guy and ride it out. This quote from a St. Pete Times article is just classic, and emblematic of how tough/nuts these people are.

Down the road in the park sat Vietnam veteran Gary Snyder, drinking Miller High Life. Snyder, who was among only a handful in Harborview who rode out the storm, said residents were anxious about looters, but he was prepared.
"If I see 'em, I'll shoot 'em," he said. "They're gone. I'll tell 'em I had a flashback."

Bonus points to this tough old bird for drinking one of my favorite cheap beers. It's the only stuff I'll drink while bowling.

Oh..forgot to mention earlier this week- Called Dad Saturday to see how they handled the storm. Actual conversation is below:

GMW: Hey dude.
MGW: Hi Dad. Guess you're still alive. You outside?
GMW: Yep, still here.
MGW: You cleaning up?
GMW: No, I'm lining up a 6 foot putt. Call me later.
(click)

"City That Works" Update:

So this afternoon (I'm off today) I hopped on the bike and rode from "the aerie" down to the ballpark and back. Most of the side streets that one takes to get to Bridgeport are service roads for the warehouses that so permeate the near south side of Chicago. Turns out these service roads also are great for shirking work, as here's some of the sights I saw:

People's Energy truck under the Stevenson viaduct with the driver and his partner both taking a snooze.

Streets and San all purpose big blue truck (they're used for everything from snowplows to dump trucks) in a gravel pit off 18th with a dozing driver.

Sun Times delivery truck just south of Canal and Roosevelt with (I am not kidding about this) a card table set up in the back and 4 guys in there playing cards with the back gate wide open, cranking D12.

I think I'm in the wrong racket.

Quick rundown:

Haven't heard anything more about Grandma since the start of the weekend. I'll give my sister or Mom a call tonight. Guessing things are pretty stable, or as stable as they can be.

Went to RR and MB's Saturday, and then to a BBQ out in Plainfield. Still trying to figure out what the point behind men's synchronized diving is. Sailed yesterday...finished last, but we were really competitive, finishing right with the pack.

2 out of 3 for the Sox in Boston. Are they trying to get back in it just to lead us to another heartbreak?

Lurch, master of the tall tale.

OK, so today's post is going to be a little depressing.

Got a call from my mom yesterday afternoon...she was heading from Seattle back to Rochester to see my grandmother, who has brain cancer. She just found out yesterday when some test results came back after she was hospitalized after a fall last weekend. My sister called last night with more detail...looks like she has a tumor at the base of her brain and only has a few weeks to live.

So I'm in a huge quandary and have no idea what to do. My grandmother has made a habit of meddling in everyone's affairs, trying to drive a wedge between me and my father after my parents' divorce in 1996, using all kinds of passive-aggressive tactics to try and get her way in re: family issues...and in one of the most disgusting things I have ever seen, she told my cousins when they were little before a custody hearing to tell the judge that my uncle abused them so that my aunt would get custody.

She alternates that behavor with random acts of kindness. She's not a bad person, I think she just has no understanding of right and wrong when the agenda she wants is at stake.

Sarah is already on her way to Rochester. I really don't want to go. I don't handle dying people well, and I'd probably prefer to just wait until the funeral to pay my respects. I need to tell my mother this, but the problem is when I do she is going to lay the mother of all guilt trips on me, and I don't want to deal with it. So in a sense, I guess this makes me a pretty big chickenshit.

Meanwhile, I also need to get a hold of my Dad. Looks like a bad moon risin' in Florida and I hope they're hunkered down.

In equally dpressing news, went to the Sox game last night. Felt like September--only 18,000 people there, 55 degree temps, and they were playing like they're way out of it.

Here, have a joke...

Pete Coors beat his challenger in the CO GOP Senate primary.

So here's the question: If Coors wins the general election, will Ted Kennedy yell "hey beer man" when he walks on the floor of the Senate?

Monday. Yawn.

Weekend was alright. Went to the annual Nomadsfest tailgate extravaganza put on by the AOL White Sox message boards contingent. There was indeed Falstaff involved, which believe it or not, actually smells like rotting fish. There were also wicked good Polish sazziges involved...scarfed down 2 of them. Game itself sucked except for the 5 run fifth...I knew it was just a matter of time before Shingo blew a save. It seemed like Saturday instead of using the Frisbee as an out pitch, he was using it to set up too much (and mostly missing), so all the hitters had to do was wait for a fastball and it was time to start feasting.

Golf yesterday at 6:28 am, after not getting to bed until like 1 Saturday. I was a walking zombie most of the afternoon...in fact, we didn't even go to the game.

So Alan Keyes is officially in for the 'pubs. No chance in hell he wins, but this ought to be an ideological clash for the ages. All he's going to do is spout off about God and abortion, and it's gonna make my ears hurt.

Just another sunny day in an endless string of sunny days here. Not much too exciting to write about. Sox games tomorrow and Sunday...going to a big ol'tailgate with like 100 people tomorrow. Hopefully there's Falstaff involved!

Crappy one at work today, stemmed over from last night.

We had one of our new trading system migrations last night. It initially failed miserably. I had no desire at all to stick around last night to try to figure out what the hell happened, so I walked out at about 7:50, assuming that they'd just go ahead and backgrade. I've wasted way too many summer nights staying late at this place, and I wasn't in the mood for another one. There's a contingent of guys here who I like to refer to as the Townsend Martyrs. They'll come in at 6 am and stay until 10 pm if they have to in order to make things right. They'll work weekends. they won't take lunches. I am not one of those people--this isn't a law firm or an investment bank, I'm not being paid like a lawyer or an investment banker, so I, quite frankly, am not going to put in that kind of effort.

Well, I was paired with one of these martyrs last night. The poor guy knows the systems here inside and out, has been here for 5 years, does a ton of advanced testing. He ended up proofing things through to the finish and got it up and working by about 8:20 or so. By then I was home on my second glass of wine.

So today I walked in thinking I'd be fired, which honestly would be the best thing to ever happen to me. But no, I just got the silent treatment from my boss, after he INSISTED in an email he sent me before I came in that we talk. So who the hell really knows.

I shouldn't say getting fired would be the best thing ever...but I have such a love/hate with this place that it's not even funny.

Contreras on the bump tonight in his White Sox debut against a weak Kansas City team. We don't do well against weak teams. Client of mine who is a huge Yankees fan told me that when Contreras gets men on base, he's slower than an elderly man with constipation. I've only seen him once in 2 innings of spring training action and he didn't allow a single hit, so I have yet top experience that.

I was thinking earlier today about the psychology fans adopt when their team is a certain number of games back. For me, there's a big big difference between 3 and 4. Three games out makes you feel like you've got a real shot...but 4 or above(Sox are 5 out now) has me reaching for the hemlock.

Oh, and it's kinda funny that Ta-RAY-sa has resorted to juvenile name calling:

TERESA HEINZ KERRY: 'That Drudge, he's such a smudge.' First Lady hopeful turned her attention to Internet news in a recent interview with reporters.

Oh yeah? Well Mrs. Kerry is scary!

Another hot hot Monday.
Fun weekend--went out Friday night and got all kinds of hammered...Cody's, Holiday Club, Tropico, paid for it Saturday morning. I can't do truckloads of Rumple Minze shots anymore.
Saturday laid around hung over all day...Russell and MB came over for dinner. Whipped up Spedie's chicken sandwiches, grilled zucchini, and Russell made his homemade fries. Went to pretty low-key luau party in West Loop at a place with a killer deck/killer view. Home by 10.

Sailed yesterday. 22 knot winds. Boat took a beating and so did my ass from hiking out. I'm sore.

Other than that, nothing too exciting. More later perhaps.