What Could Have Been

Well... this is a picture of the now-it-doesn't-matter Green Bay Packer NFC Champions T-shirt. These T-shirts get donated to impoverished countries where you see people wearing all sorts of odd combinations. Like the Chicago Bears 2007 Super Bowl Champion hats or the purple and white Philadelphia Eagles shirt. When we lived in Bulgaria and traveled to places like Turkey or Albania we would see these types of shirts. These shirts got shipped off and donated to Nicaragua and Romania. Kinda funny, but it still stings!

Words Can Not Describe How I Feel

Well... I suppose it is Thursday evening and I should be over the big Packer debacle vs. the Giants, but I just ain't. Yes, I am sleeping better, but I have a self imposed 1 month ESPN ban and I'm still debating whether or not I will watch the Super Bowl. This one hurt. I know... it's just a game... blah, blah, blah. It hurts. This was our year. 4th and 26 was our year too, and that one hurt. But there, we were on the road, etc... this was at the holy land. It was cold, we weren't supposed to lose. AHHHHH!!!!

I will get over it, Favre will be back for another year and we will be better. I know I shouldn't have expected 13-3 and the Super Bowl, but I did. May be I'll just go out and get a Packer tattoo. In the end, that is why I love sports though. They make you feel like the end of the world when you lose and at the top when you win and they don't really matter.

Green Bay Cold

I don't usually post other people's blog posts, but seeing as all we hear about with the Packers lately is how cold it will be, this is interesting. For the record, I'd be there today if I had tickets. This is from weatherman Jeff Master's blog (http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=896&tstamp=200801)

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Sure, it's cold in football's Pole of Cold--Green Bay, Wisconsin--where game time temperatures for today's NFC Championship Game will be lucky to crack zero degrees Fahrenheit, making it the third coldest NFL playoff game ever. Yeah, those crazy bare-chested Green Bay fans sure look pretty tough in that extreme cold, but they are total pansies compared to the people living in Siberia's Pole of Cold--Ojmjakon, Russia. The temperatures in Ojmjakon this weekend fell to -76°F, making the game being played in Green Bay seem like a summer tea party.

This weekend's -76°F reading was not very unusual for Ojmjakon (also spelled Oymyakon), which is considered to be the coldest inhabited town on earth. Ojmjakon also reached -76°F in both 2007 and 2005. The city lies in a river valley in eastern Siberia, and the cold air pools at night in the bottom of the valley, creating ridiculously low temperatures. On February 6, 1933, an absolute minimum of -67.7°C (-89.9°F) was registered in Oymyakon, putting the city in a virtual tie with the -67.8°C (-90.0°F) measured at Verkhoyank, Siberia on January 15, 1885. These are the two coldest temperatures ever measured on earth, outside of Antarctica. On January 26, 1926, a astonishing -71.2°C (-96.2°F) was measured at Ojmjakon. However, this temperature is unofficial, since the temperature was not directly measured, but obtained by extrapolation.

Figure 1.The world's coldest inhabited city, Ojmjakon, Russia, lies in a river valley in eastern Siberia. Image credit: Google.

According to Chris Burt's Extreme Weather: A Guide and Record Book, supply trucks servicing the area must never turn off their engines in winter. If the engine block freezes, truckers light a fire underneath it to warm it up. When the temperature falls below -58°F (-50°C), ice crystals in the atmosphere make a swishing sound called the "whispering of the stars". What's it like at -80°? Again, Chris Burt's book provides some insight. Two weather observers at the Snag airport in the Yukon of Canada experienced -81.4°F on February 3, 1947, and reported:

"We threw a dish of water high into the air, just to see what would happen. Before it hit the ground, it made a hissing noise, froze, and feel as tiny round pellets the size of wheat kernels. Spit also froze before hitting the ground. Ice became so hard the axe rebounded from it. At such temperatures, metal snapped like ice; wood became petrified; and rubber was just like cement. The dogs' leather harness couldn't bend or it would break...It was unique to see a vapor trail several yards long pursuing one as he moved about outside. Becoming lost was of no concern. As an observer walked along the runway each breath remained as a tiny motionless mist behind him at head level. These patches of human breath fog remained in the still air for three or four minutes before fading away. One observer even found such a trail still marking his path when he returned along the same path 15 minutes later".

Happy Owen

Some recent pictures of Owen. The second one shows his missing two bottom teeth pretty well. Go PACK!

Presidential Election

Now, I'm not here to tell you who to vote for... I can't even say that I have taken the time to verify where I stand on many of the candidates - probably because I don't live in a state with an important primary or caucaus. I did, though, take 5 minutes and take this test to see who "they" say I align most with. For the record, I don't think I even know who Tom Tancredo is. At least it might give me something to go on. I like the ability to weigh issues in this poll because there are certain ones that do hold a higher place in my mind. Mainly, abortion and the fact that our next president may get to appoint two more Supreme Court justices. I would be curious to hear where others stand.

67% Mike Huckabee
64% John McCain
63% Tom Tancredo
55% Mitt Romney
55% Fred Thompson
54% Bill Richardson
53% Hillary Clinton
50% Joe Biden
50% Chris Dodd
50% John Edwards
48% Barack Obama
45% Rudy Giuliani
37% Mike Gravel
37% Ron Paul
34% Dennis Kucinich

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

Packers

Hard to believe that I didn't have a post all last year about what all of you know is one of my greatest loves: the Green Bay Packers. I'm not as obnoxious as I once was, although I still sent out some text messages to my favorite other team friends yesterday. Not only was yesterday a great game for us in some awesome weather but with the loss of the Cowboys today the Packers will host the NFC Championship game next Sunday. I've made some great sporting trips. The PGA Championship, Final Fours, Camp Randall, Memorial Stadium (awesome), Orange Bowls, the BCS National Championship, and many more. But for those of you who have never made the trek to Lambeau Field you need to put it on your top 10 things to do before you die list. I don't care if you are a Packer fan or not, you need to go and just see it. If you let me know, I'll be happy to accompany you and give you an expert's tour of the place. Some people say they have more fun watching from their living room, but I still need to go once or twice a year. Here are some pics for you.

Liam the Artist

Liam has always been a drawer. He loves to paint (when mom lets him). I scanned in two of his most recent pieces of work. The first was the wrapping to my Christmas gift from him. It was an ornament which Cathy proceeded to drop and break. Luckily he made another one for me. The second was a picture he drew for me today. He said it was a picture of me, which is what 'BEE' means he said. Oh, and it cost me $.41.

White Doe

First off, hard to believe that I actually kept up a monthly blog for one whole year. Here is to another year.

We have a white deer, a doe, who lives in our neighborhood. She isn't an albino (no pink eyes), but rather a white deer. They are protected, as are albino deer, from being hunted. Last year I almost hit her with the Geo as I turned the corner. Well as the temperature has risen a lot and the snow has melted I guess the wildlife has decided to come out. When I walked out to go to start the car for church on Sunday... there she was walking across the street. I went and got Liam and Cathy to see her since Liam had never seen her. When we got in the car she was walking away and we snapped a picture, not a great picture, but you can make her out - too bad she didn't turn around. Interesting day.