2 Days Before the Day After Tomorrow

The Gainesville Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Burton Meahl) — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 16:33:00 +0000

After a full 24 hours at my old stomping grounds, I found that Gainesville had changed a lot since I graduated in 1995. At first, I had uneasy feelings when I realized certain things were gone or had moved. However, at the end of the visit, I realized that I too had changed.

I went to Gainesville on Tuesday with 2 friends to meet up with another friend and attend the final home basketball game for the Florida Gators. We opted to get to Gainesville early to hit the spots we remembered so well. That was when we got most of the news that our old world was gone.

The first discovery was that a popular bar, named the Purple Porpoise, was gone and replaced with a new place called “Gator City.” Honestly, I had only gone to the Purple Porpoise a couple of times, but my other two friends had gone many times during their time in Gainesville. They were affected more by this change than I was. I am sure that many people who lived in Gainesville at that time will miss that landmark when they return. Below is a picture of a painting the way we all remember it.

Other things in that area (which is right across the street from campus) had changed too. There were no more music stores to buy-sell-trade music. I figured the e-data age had changed their outlook. Burrito Brothers had moved (but was closed by the time we got out of the game!). There was nearly a block of buildings that had been completely cleared off. We wondered if the university had purchased the land to expand. There were newer, more hip restaurants up and down the street. It was strange to see.

We went to one of them for a snack and drinks before the game. The place was called “The Swamp Restaurant.” Interestingly enough, the restaurant was established in 1994, but even though I was there through 1995, I have no memory of it at all. The weather was beautiful, so we took a table on the upper deck, overlooking University Avenue. We only had the Macho Nachos topped with black beans, but we decided that we would come to visit the restaurant again as that appetizer was delicious.

The game itself was one of the best games of the year to attend. We follow the Gator basketball team closely, but it had been years since any of us had been to a game. I had forgotten how intimate the setting of a college basketball environment was compared to the NBA environment. There wasn’t a bad seat in the house and everywhere you went, you felt close to the floor where the game was played. The Gators won the game decisively on senior night so that was great to see.

Next, we decided it was time for dinner. However, as previously mentioned, Burrito Brothers was closed at 9 PM. We decided to eat at another landmark restaurant called Leonardo’s. That restaurant had not changed at all. The pizza was great.

Even though it was a Tuesday night, we wanted to see if there was any place that might have some evening activity. We walked back to the car and took a trip downtown. A couple of the bars that we remembered hanging out in were open, so we decided to visit. One thing that we had not remembered was how smoky those bars were. We realized that the extent of our bar-visiting now included sports bars or family bars like Chili’s. Those establishments serve more food than alcohol so we had not even considered the idea that smoking was still permitted in any of those places. We spent virtually no time in those places as none of us could deal with the smell.

We ended our evening at a place called “The Top.” We sat in the bar area and chatted for the rest of the night. I was amazed at the fact that I was able to pull in to a parking place directly in front of the entrance. In fact, my friends in the passenger-side of the car took about 5 steps from the car to the front door. It was a little strange as we were used to parking from afar when we visited anything in Gainesville.

At the end of the night, we stayed at a friend’s house in Gainesville. He did not have family, so it was the best option, considering the fact that we had taken in plenty of alcohol for the night and were a noisy group. We all fell asleep between 3 and 3:30 AM.

We ate brunch at “The Flying Biscuit” before leaving town. Only one of us had ever heard of the place and he was under the impression that it was a great little establishment. The draw for us was that they served breakfast all day. The restaurant seemed very nice, but the service was very slow. Two of us got breakfast while the other two got lunch items. None of us were very impressed. The signature items were the “creamy dreamy grits” and their biscuits. The grits were strange and seemed to have a lot going on in them. I am not a big grits guy, but when I do eat them, I guess I don’t need much added to them. The biscuits had sugar speckled all over their tops. I wasn’t crazy about that either. I did like their chicken breakfast sausage though.

At one point that morning, we drove by a school where my buddy, Wayne, teaches. We considered crashing his classroom for a surprise visit, but a member of the group was not doing well and would have provided a great example to the students on what CAN happen when you use alcohol. Instead, we hoped he simply sensed a small disturbance in the Force as we drove by.

As I went to bed last night, I decided that I was comfortable with the changes we encountered in Gainesville. I was pleased with the trip overall, but in the future will try to steer our activities away from the “downtown” scene. I never was much of a “downtown” scene guy even when I lived in Gainesville, nor do I enjoy it at this point in my life. In talking to my friends who went with me, I found out that they actually felt the same way.

Don't Dream It's Over

noreply@blogger.com (Burton Meahl) — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 17:16:00 +0000

The last time I posted was a long time ago. You can find out the exact date by scrolling down my blog page here as I am too embarrassed to discuss the exact date. In my last post, I talked about changes to Fantasy Insights, a company that I worked for writing and editing work for at least 15 years. It was no coincidence that the post before this was the last one you would see for a long time as it was only a few weeks before the start of the NFL season.

Anyone that knows me understands that when I decide to do something, I make sure I hold up my end of the bargain. Well, shortly after the previous post here, I discovered that at Fantasy Insights, I signed up for a lot more than I realized.

During the NFL preseason, the changes became apparent. The previous owner of Fantasy Insights was the publisher of all of the work everyone turned in and I came to find out he spent about 40 hours weekly performing all of the tasks for the site. There was a lot that happened "behind the scenes" that I not only did not see, but also was not aware of. I was charged with figuring out how to publish our work in the various formats that we had promised to our client base over the years. At first glance, one might refer to that position as "that company's web guy" or "website administrator." Whenever I tried to put a title to the work I performed over the past NFL season, however, I found that there was no SHORT combination of words that could describe the type of work I performed or the amount of time it took from my life. At any rate, for the first time ever, my job in the NFL preseason was not JUST to edit the 375 page-everything-you-ever-needed-to-know-about-fantasy-football-in-2010-report. It was also to pursue the completed work from each writer, format their work and add it to the overall template. Once the painful process of getting everyone to complete their work close to the deadline was complete, I had the monster task of editing that big bad report. I called on the help from a good friend who also works for the site and has been a professional editor for more than 15 years. If you ever require editing or publishing assistance from someone, contact me and I will put you in touch with him as he is the best there is at what he does.

When that process was complete, I came to find that updating the website was not nearly as easy as posting a blog entry or Facebook status notification. The processes that the former owner had in place were developed over the course of a 16 year history involving restrictive funding as well as slow steps in technology. Let's just say that over the course of 16 years, when he found a solution that worked for him, he stuck with it. I love the guy and appreciate all that he ever did for the Fantasy Insights brand, but there are better ways to publish than what we went through this past season.

During the season, another good friend of mine (who also reads this blog) came by my house one evening to take a look at the work that I performed. He is a technical writer, a wordsmith, and a dabbler in all things web-publishing. He also possesses advanced analytical skills which usually lead to great suggestions, so I was anxious to get his take on ways that I could improve the process. He had many suggestions. Most of them involved rewriting of code embedded on the website pages to make for a more efficient posting process. I hate to simplify the suggestions he provided, but if I told you about all of the details, this would probably be the last post on my blog you would ever be willing to read. His suggestions were legitimate ideas that would make the process easier to manage and less time-consuming. However, the new owner was not willing to hire him for the services at that time claiming that funding was not available.

We did find out that the new owner had a technology guru in mind to make changes in the offseason when funding was available. Our site has been migrated to a new server with new data contracts in place. There are apparently developers who have been notified of the work to be performed at some point when more money is available. Overall, the new owner has many good ideas for the future of Fantasy Insights.

However, today, I made the decision to end my time with Fantasy Insights. Over the course of the last 2 months, he has devised a plan for the site to start coverage for fantasy baseball and fantasy soccer. Baseball just made sense as many of the writers on the staff are baseball fans. Soccer was a business decision because there are very few resources out there providing insights for fantasy soccer. Pay was going to be minimal over the first few years with ownership profit percentage promised in years to come.

Nothing was in writing and the work seemed overwhelming for my life where it is right now. I could not see a reason to continue to slave over the project. I do have some fundamental issues with the business plan (I am a business administration major) so that probably does not help my lack of eagerness to stay involved. I will miss the opportunity to continue to write and edit with F.I. but there are many positive things that will come of this.

1. I can post on this blog regularly (as well as the sports site I hastily threw together just in time to abandon prior to this past NFL season. www.passionbucketsports.com)
2. I can check my email without fear of having 3 dozen messages within a few hours involving Fantasy Insights which would eventually lead to more unpaid work.
3. My friends said that even though I worked for Fantasy Insights, my personal fantasy football insights seemed to be lacking. It makes sense. I was working the tech side and writing generic articles during the season. I watched only Green Bay and Tampa games, so my knowledge was limited. That should not be the case any longer.
4. I can always go back to Fantasy Insights when they can pay for article submissions, or I can apply to other sites with the 15 years of experience I had with Fantasy Insights. Right now, I don't feel it, so it doesn't concern me.

Now you are caught up to 2 Days Before the Day After Tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Living the Dream or, at least, Heading in that Direction

noreply@blogger.com (Burton Meahl) — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 03:49:00 +0000

Fantasy Insights is a website dedicated to bringing our readers up to the minute information about pro football. The information provided is in the best possible format to help the readers make sound decisions when managing a fantasy football team. Fantasy football is a hobby which has existed far longer than the internet. It is an opportunity for people to get together and "draft" a team of real players from the NFL. These people then use their team to submit a lineup, used in a head to head format, which will compete against another "owner" in the league. Each player in the lineup scores points based on their real-time performance on the football field. It may sound like a silly game where guys get to test out their levels of testosterone. However, the fantasy football industry is one which has grown into a multi-million dollar industry and demands that it is taken seriously. No matter how rough our economy has been people continue to play fantasy football.

For the past fourteen years, I have been contributing to Fantasy Insights as a writer and editor. It was the first site on the web of its kind. That is an exciting fact. However, since the time I began with F.I., more recognizable brands have come onto the scene and have dominated the landscape. This year, Fantasy Insights is taking a turn toward becoming a bigger name. In the offseason, Jim Lenz, the owner of Fantasy Insights had to make a tough decision to sell Fantasy Insights. He put an incredible amount of heart and effort into the organization and brand. The new owner happens to be a contributing writer, Dish Adams. In a sense, the company stayed in "the family."

What is interesting about the change of ownership is how my role has developed in this period of transition. I started at Fantasy Insights contributing to their free part of the site called "Insights Intelligence." Compensation was limited only to accessing some of the premium content on the site. I was always proud to have that access and to be associated with a group of writers who could produce such content. However, as the years passed, my role grew. I contribute to the weekly report during the season in a feature called "The Red Zone." It is simply a topical commentary dealing with the lighter side of fantasy football and advice on decision making. I have also been a contributor to the big monster that we publish called "The Fantasy Insights Pre Season Report." I have had as many as four articles in this annual publication. In recent years, I have been named the editor of the Pre Season Report. It may not sound like much, but it is 375 pages of EVERYTHING you ever need to know about the upcoming season of fantasy football. Yes, 375 pages!

With the transition, I am in discussions with Dish concerning my new role. He has named me the Editor In Chief of the entire operation. This will mean a better payday but he is including a percentage of profits as an additional part of the compensation. This is exciting to me, because it has a strong chance of leading to my ultimate goal of writing and/or editing for a living. The compensation at this time will not allow that. However, many avenues could lead to realizing that goal.

First scenario: If Fantasy Insights grows to become the brand that we envision, it could become something big enough to produce a primary income. Dish has a radio show lined up and is already working on networking to get Fantasy Insights more firmly on the map. He lives in L.A. and has a "grow it" approach to the business. His approach to the marketing side of the business could push us to the next level.

Second scenario: I started a sports blog, only last week, when I started to understand the magnitude of my role with Fantasy Insights. I thought it might be time to develop my own recognizable brand. The purpose is primarily set up to attract readers to the point that one day, when I apply to write for a publication for a living, one of my credentials can include "bringing on board 5,000 followers." That sounds ambitious, but I have no idea how big I can grow my own readership. You can read the blog at www.passionbucketsports.com. The design and layout is still in the developmental stages, but you can see what I am trying to accomplish. Dish has already agreed to plug my blog in our publications as well as our radio show. When we start to do that, readership should get quite a boost.

Third scenario: Recruitment. This happens in all parts of life. It is not far-fetched to think this could happen in this line of work.

My parents will attest to the fact that since I was young enough to pick up a pencil and write, it has been my dream to write for an audience for a living. Throughout my life, my "published" dream career ranged from becoming an architect to becoming a leader in the IT world. Under the surface, I have always enjoyed writing more than any other work I have done. It will be an incredible day when I can say that I truly do what I love for a living. For the first time in my life, that dream looks like the future.

Scenario of the Day: July 5

noreply@blogger.com (Burton Meahl) — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 19:25:00 +0000

When faced with the terrible task of finding replacement tires for my car, I looked for an easy way out. The tires I had were 60,000 mile tires and they lasted for 77,000. I figured it would be easiest to just go with the same tires.

Bad choice. Those tires had become significantly more expensive. I asked if it was because people were actually getting their money's-worth out of them for once. That was probably where I went wrong.

"Out the door price on those is $736.00," said the manager of the tire store with a pasty smile.
"Okay, that is quite a bit more than I intend to pay. What else do we have?" I asked.

"We have [brand X] for $722.00."
"You weren't $14 from my goal. I am looking to pay $500 for 4 tires at max."

"How about [brand Y] for $710.00?"
"You are still $210 away from my goal."

Silence for a few minutes while he seemed to have gotten the point.
"Okay here we go. I have some [brand z] for $705."

It seemed as though he could not hear my comments. This dealership usually works with me so I left and called back later to get a different person. They were very helpful and met my goal while providing me with an appointment. Was THAT so hard?!

It reminded me of the standup routine from Demetri Martin where he approaches the shoe salesman and asks to try on a shoe. The salesman says "Sure, what size are you?"
"I'm a 10."
The salesman goes to the back for a few minutes and returns with a box and an enthusiastic look. "I am all out of 10's, but I have 9's!"

Demetri says, "Great! Because while you were in the back, I had a nasty accident where my toes were severed off. Normally I would say you were stupid for coming back with a size other than that we had agreed upon. However, considering my recent accident, you're still hired!"

I felt like being very sarcastic with the guy just like Demetri was with the shoe salesman in his routine. I refrained and still managed to get a good deal there with a sales associate. It turns out that the person I first worked with was the store manager. That figures.

Kinder Fortunes

noreply@blogger.com (Burton Meahl) — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 14:08:00 +0000

A tradition like none other is the one where you read your fortune from a fortune cookie and add the phrase "in bed" at the end. Instead of a stale and boring fortune, you now have a much more interesting insight into your future in bed.

Examples I have had in the past:
"Someone will give you something you will never forget...in bed."
"Provide for others as you would want to be provided for...in bed."
"Soon life will become more interesting...in bed."
"A pleasant surprise is in store for you...in bed."

It doesn't always work well. Sometimes you get puzzling insight:
"Nothing is as good or bad as it appears...in bed."
"Action speaks nothing, without the motive...in bed."
"The best things in life aren't things in bed."
"Rest is a good thing, but boredom is its brother...in bed."

But then there are the over the top phrases which will make you laugh out loud:
"You are a person of strong sense of duty...in bed."
"To make the cart go, you must grease the wheels...in bed."
"Your problem just became your stepping stone. Catch the moment...in bed."
"Everybody feels lucky for having you as a friend...in bed."

There is a reason I thought of this today. Where I work, I manage a queue of incoming trouble tickets for technology-related items. Our ticketing system now allows someone to send an email for their non-urgent issues and a ticket is automatically created. However, the messages in the tickets are usually very demanding and unkind. I thought a great activity would be to add the word "please" to the end of every ticket request.

"I need Excel 2007 as soon as possible, please."
"My monitor is displaying its image upside down and I need this fixed, please." (An actual ticket I resolved yesterday, by the way.)

Sometimes it doesn't work, because the clients do not even provide a sentence of request, they simply state the problem:
"I don't have the templates in Word."
"My keyboard is broken."

"What can you take from this?" you might ask. Here is a message to take with you that will make the world go round happier than ever if everyone adopted it.

"You must find a kinder way to ask for things...in bed...please..."

A Small Hiccup

noreply@blogger.com (Burton Meahl) — Fri, 28 May 2010 20:54:00 +0000

I am not a morning person. I never wake up before my alarm clock makes its first attempt to force me out of my slumber. Last Monday, however, I woke up 30 minutes before my alarm clock. My eyes opened as I realized I was in pain. The right side of my abdomen had an acute pain which did not feel like it could have been mistaken for bad gas or other stomach issues. I knew something was wrong.

Kelly called in a substitute for her class and she retreated back to the house to take me in to the emergency room. The pain was constant and pretty unbearable. I was glad I got Kelly before any of her classes started so she could help me through the situation. When we pulled into the parking lot at the hospital, a strange thing happened. The pain completely went away. I was almost afraid to tell Kelly because I knew she would give me that look. She wouldn’t mean to give me the look but she did anyway. I knew she was wondering if I had jumped the gun on heading to the ER. She probably wondered at that moment in time how severe the pain was. I was frustrated and really did not want to wish more pain upon myself. However, I knew what I felt and knew that even though the immediate pain was gone, there had to be something wrong in there.

We eventually made it in to the ER after some discussion and as the pain did return. We learned quickly that if you HAVE to go to the ER and want quick service, it appeared as though Monday morning is the morning to have an emergency. There was only one person in the waiting room when we arrived. After a CT scan and some X-Rays, the doctor determined I had a large kidney stone. They prescribed pain meds, lots of fluids and gave us the name of a urologist and Kelly was able to get us an appointment that very day.

I was given a choice by the urologist. Neither option was a desirable option. Either we schedule a surgery immediately and sound blast the stone into smaller pieces so I could pass it or I could try to drink an abundant amount of fluids and try to pass the stone as it was. He said I had a good chance of passing the stone, so I opted for no surgery.

During the whole ordeal, we heard many people compare the pain given by kidney stones to pain given by labor during child delivery. The part the Kelly and I could not get over was that we heard this several times from mostly male caregivers. We immediately decided it was our mission to find out from women who had experienced both.

Over the next two nights, I experienced what I could best describe as pain as close to labor pains as I could ever imagine. Kelly recognized the signs and agreed that it was pretty bad. She called the urologist on Wednesday and asked if we could take the other option. Thursday morning, I went in for X-rays and found that the stone had moved very little. Long story short, they got in there and did their business.

I am now left to pass several small stones. The pain has not been anything like those two nights. However, it has been a rough ride. My wife has been amazing and has been the best help through it all. At any point, when she sensed a caregiver was not providing a reasonable response or timely service, she stepped up and said what had to be said to get their attention. She stayed pleasant throughout the process and continues to help me.

We have continued our polling process and have found about 50% results to show that women who have experienced both labor pain and kidney stones feel that stones are more painful. We came to the conclusion that there are many variables, most obviously, the extremities of either case. At any rate, I don’t think I could ever compare my pain to labor pain. How would I ever even know for sure?

Today has been an average day as I continue to drink fluids and hope to pass the pieces of stone. I have had hiccups nearly all day and I can tell you one thing for sure. Hiccups and kidney stones do not mix well.

T-Ball Follies

noreply@blogger.com (Burton Meahl) — Fri, 21 May 2010 18:17:00 +0000

Toby was involved in a season of T-Ball at our local YMCA. Unfortunately, the program had issues. I spent some time putting together one of my world-famous strongly-worded letters and I know it hindered the posting of at least two possible entries on this blog because of time restrictions. At any rate, below is the letter I wrote. It outlines all the shortcomings of the T-Ball program.
---------------------------------------

Hello

I hold a family membership to the local YMCA. One of the reasons that our family agreed together to join the YMCA was to participate in the youth sports programs. Obviously, the YMCA has made a name that to this day, speaks for itself.

Our first actual experience with the YMCA youth sports programs happened just recently through the local branch. What happened is noteworthy and needs to be corrected as soon as possible before more seasons in other sports are ruined the same way ours was.

My wife signed up our son for the T-Ball program. We were told that the season would begin in April. 2 weeks into April, my wife stopped by the desk at the YMCA facility to see what had happened to the season as we had not heard from a coach. She was notified that the season was in progress. In fact, 2 games had already been played. When my wife asked why we were not notified, she was told by the program director it was because she did not insert an email address on the application. The phone number was there. We are members in your database with alternate options for communications, but we were not notified simply because there was not an email address on that form. He simply told her that they do not make phone calls for that sort of thing.

I volunteer for other organizations and also grew up involved in youth sports. I know that if a parent pays money to take part in your program, you are obligated to notify them when the program that they paid for begins. A phone call is a reasonable method of notification if email is not available. There is no excuse for that negligence.

However, we rolled with the cards we were dealt and attended the next game day. We were shocked to see the lack of organization and worst of all – there was no coach. In other organizations, the program director makes offers that parents cannot refuse to help out. Most of the time, when you discuss the issue with the parents, you do not even need to make an offer. Other organizations have been known to provide a free season for the child of a parent who volunteers to coach. There are always ways to get parents involved.

None of our kids knew who to turn to. They did not know who directed them to a batting order. They had no idea who was assigned where on the field. Most of them stopped attending practices and games. Many times we only had 5 to 6 players show up on game day.

Each time our players took the field on game day, we either faced the same team every game or we were placed in a mix with players in the level below our kids where there were obviously 3 teams scheduled for a game on the same field. Our poor players were constantly told by adults they were not familiar with to let the smaller players get the ball once it was hit. All of the guidance our parents did try to provide was thrown out the window on game days as we had no idea what to expect or even what the rules for our kids would be.

Add to this the fact that our kids did not have uniforms until the 4^th game and you have a program that normally could not possibly be mistaken as one from the YMCA. Who could blame the parents that did not bring their kids to games toward the end of the season? The program leaders were not taking their patronage seriously.

I had no idea what the roles were of the representatives who came on site other than to make sure the game started and the kids stayed safe. Every person I encountered represented the YMCA well with respect to that. There was only one YMCA representative that seemed a bit distracted as we were trying to get a game started. It was last Saturday, he answered a phone call right after he first called in all three t-ball teams ranging between the ages of 3 and 6. We waited patiently for his conversation to complete as we tried for several minutes to keep the kids busy yet still nearby.

I think it is important to take a look at what has happened and to make arrangements to correct it immediately.

Communication to the parents needs to be constant and flexible.
You cannot start a season without a coach. That part of your program will fail without a coach.
Your on-site representative needs to have all eyes on the kids. The intrusive phone conversation was irresponsible and honestly, a liability. Consider the fact that you have three t-ball teams full of kids with full access to bats.
Have a second person check over the schedule to make sure three teams are not scheduled at the same time on the same field.
Any of these shortcomings could have been handled with grace by simply communicating with the parents ahead of time. The best overall solution would have been to provide the scenario to the parents. Let them decide whether or not they want to get involved with a league of only one team. Perhaps they could have divided the kids up into two smaller teams so that each game day they would have a special game with fewer players on a team and more opportunities. They even could have practiced together to keep the organization of the two teams simple.

Parents appreciate honesty. You can expect most members of this Christian organization to be understanding and willing to adjust as needed. You JUST have to work with them. During this season, there has not been someone there from the YMCA to make sure this program has been working properly. You probably do not have any idea who the guy was in the picture with our team.

It was me. I decided to provide what time I could to help these kids. The fact that I volunteered unofficially to help is beside the point, but I wanted you to know that I witnessed this season first-hand. As the paying parent of a child who was in your program, I am completely disappointed and will not return any of my three children to your youth sports program until it has decisively corrected these issues. I truly hope that you can make these changes and provide a better service to your paying community.

Hooky, Hamburgers and Flat Tires

noreply@blogger.com (Burton Meahl) — Fri, 14 May 2010 20:38:00 +0000

Kelly and I celebrated our 15 year anniversary on Thursday. We decided to do something we had never done together. We both took the day off from work and as soon as the kids were off to school, we headed for the beach. The beach is between 30 and 40 minutes away for us so we enjoyed a ride in peace while carrying on an uninterrupted conversation.

It was a beautiful day. We took our magazines and blanket to find our spot and we soaked it all in. We kept making comments on how weird it felt not having to nervously scan all around ourselves to take inventory of our kids. We enjoyed wonderful adult conversation that we normally could not enjoy during the daylight hours.
We ate lunch at a place Kelly had heard about from friends named The Breakers. Apparently, they are very famous for their hamburgers. The burgers were tasty and the beer was cold. However, we had to get home before the kids got out of school.

On the way home, we discovered right away that we had a nail in one of our tires. We pumped it back up at a gas station and continued homeward. I dropped Kelly off and took the van to the tire shop where we experienced "free replacement." There are few things more satisfying than coming out of the "oh crap - how will we afford this?!" and entering into the realization that "this is covered under our agreement? Wow." That was a pleasant surprise.
For our 15 year anniversary, I got Kelly a Tim Tebow jersey from the Denver Broncos. The significance was not just the fact that he was "The Chosen One" from our alma mater, the University of Florida. The jersey has a 15 on it (for 15 years) and Tebow comes from where it all began for us. If Tebow does well in the NFL, she was the first on the block to have the cool jersey. If he does not do well, she can proudly wear the jersey reminding her of our special day celebrating our 15 year anniversary.
When I first began this scheme, I was fully confident that she would love the gift. However, I did what most guys do. I asked around for other opinions. Opinions ranged from a guffaw-stare (characterized as a guffaw without the noise) to "yeah...sounds okay. You better get her something else too though." Doubts entered my mind as to whether or not this was even appropriate. She would love this jersey, but is this the wrong time?!

For the record, I ignored the doubts and proceeded with the plan. She loved it and even sounded off the pitiful squeal of a star-struck Tebow fan. She completely approved of the jersey and wore it proudly to work today to show it off.

The Blind Side

noreply@blogger.com (Burton Meahl) — Wed, 12 May 2010 13:26:00 +0000

It took me a while to finally watch "The Blind Side." I thought the first hour was the start to a great film. The challenge when making a film about true events is that the story will not be the part which will take the audience by surprise. The actors involved have to truly embrace their roles and get you lost in their characters. Quinton Aaron really nailed the over-sized and constantly dazed young man in need of guidance. I expected to be blown away by Sandra Bullock's performance, given that the Academy decided this was the best performance by a leading lady in 2009. In my opinion, the role was an easy one where I can think of at least half of a dozen actresses that could have filled in just as well.
The second half of the film seemed to follow the trances of Aaron's character as it seemed to sleepwalk to the end. From about 65 minutes into the movie through the end, it just seemed like they had a checklist of events to cover to stay true to the actual story. I have not researched to find out how accurate the movie was, but I don't care to either.

A Look Back

noreply@blogger.com (Burton Meahl) — Tue, 11 May 2010 23:40:00 +0000

I can claim that this project took a lot of my time recently. However, I cannot account for ALL of the time I have been away from my blog for the past year or so. Look at this entry as the ice breaker. This is the 2010 version of the video that I put together for the teachers at Kelly's school. Kelly and other teachers start the process off by grabbing the video camera and filming along a theme. Then they turn over 60 or so minutes of random film to me and say that they want a 5 minute film full of entertainment for 400 of their students to enjoy. It is a tedious process, but secretly, I love to do it. Here is this year's result. There are a few transitions that are rough, but the transition I wanted would have taken more time, which we did not have.

Teachers 2010 - A Look Back from 2daysbeforethedayaftertomorrow on Vimeo.

What were the IB teachers like back in their high school days?

If playing it in this space does not work, go to the link below the video which is the direct posting on my Vimeo site.

20 Promises

noreply@blogger.com (Burton Meahl) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:52:00 +0000

Two years ago, I posted a blog entry about an annual Christmas party that a friend of Kelly's has at her house. At the time, I was very ill but admittedly administered performance-enhancing products to get myself in form.

Last year, I went again. I was also sick again. However, I was not nearly as bad off as the previous year. Let's put it this way: I did not get the repeat husband-of-the-year award. It simply was not as dramatic as the year before. (Note taken!)

This year, we are 3 days away from the party and I am healthy. Our only danger may be coverage for the kids. Kelly knows I go to the party for her, so it is no secret that this would not be earth shattering to me (except for the disappointment Kelly would experience, of course!).

She is looking for options and should have something in the next day or so. If she is willing to put her sick-in-bed husband up to a night like that, I am sure she will stop at nothing to have the baby-sitting duties covered.

Since I will be attending the party with a clear mind, I will carry a camera instead of a handful of kleenexes and cough drops. You may remember, the highlight of the party for us was the fact that this person had 20 Christmas trees in her house. This year, my goal is to document each and every one of them for your viewing pleasure.

I Never Cared Much for Purple

noreply@blogger.com (Burton Meahl) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:53:00 +0000

It has been a whole week and I can finally discuss it without feeling a knot in my stomach. Many do not understand that knot. I am not sure I really do. I’m talking about the loss that the Packers took when they took the field against the Minnesota Vikings last Monday night.

Over a year ago, Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers put on a display of the NFL’s version of a drawn-out divorce. At the time, it was heartbreaking to see Favre leave, but it was pretty easy to handle because I found faults with the way both sides conducted themselves. The only player that handled the situation with grace was Favre’s pending replacement at quarterback for the Packers, Aaron Rodgers. Last year, Favre was traded to the New York Jets and our family embraced the idea. Tyler is a Jets fan and was energized over the idea that Dad’s favorite player now played for his favorite team.

Long story short, he retired in the past offseason and then chose to resign with the Minnesota Vikings. It never really seemed to bother me throughout the process. I was of the opinion that if he could still play at a competitive level, then he had the right to come back to the league as many times as he wanted. I did not care for the drama, but ultimately, for what he had contributed to the game I thought he should be able to play if he wanted.

That was until Monday night. For whatever reason, when I watched that game, the knot started as soon as I saw the promos with his head in that purple helmet. Then as the game progressed, he seemed excessively happy about his successes. His celebrations seemed spiteful and juvenile. By halftime, I was sick and tired of the announcers drooling over all things Favre. I wanted Rodgers and the Packers to come out victorious more than almost any other game I had ever watched. That didn’t happen and I spent an entire week avoiding the subject with everyone I knew.

The Packers will face Favre and the Vikings again later in the season at Lambeau field. I am not sure that the knot won’t return. However, I imagine that I am getting a taste of what opponents of the Green Bay Packers felt for the 16 years that Favre was under center.

Thinking back to the early 1990’s, Favre has been a big story no matter what is going on. As a fan, I never grew tired of it. From the viewpoint of an opposing team, I can honestly say I am over it. That’s right. You heard it here first.

I, the man with 4 different Favre jerseys will probably not be able to wear any of them again until several years after his real retirement. Brett Favre’s enthusiasm and the way he played the game got me truly interested in watching the NFL. For years, I have wondered if I was really a Packer fan or if I was just a Favre fan. The truth is, over the years, I became a Packer fan. The Packer/Favre divorce gave me an opportunity to take a blood test. The results…I bleed Green and Gold!

Assembly of the Dark Side

noreply@blogger.com (Burton Meahl) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:48:00 +0000

When we were in Atlanta a few weeks ago, we stopped by the Lego store in one of their malls. Tyler does not look too impressed in the picture because he was fighting off an apparent stomach issue which would begin haunting our evening about 90 minutes later. However, now he is quite proud to have been able to pose with a 7 foot Darth Vader made of Legos. The photo quality is that of a camera phone but we captured the moment!

Design Flaws

noreply@blogger.com (Burton Meahl) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:19:00 +0000

Sometimes, we analyze things to see how we can make things better. It is in our nature. However, some things are flawed in design but nobody ever fixes the problem.

For instance, when you go to the grocery store, you park your car. Then you cross the street to get to the entrance. This creates issues for both pedestrians and drivers. To the drivers, it can be stressful making your way through the street avoiding pedestrians that have chosen to walk without looking or simple confirmation with an oncoming driver. Many of these pedestrians can jolt from blind spots and really surprise a driver. An exchange of unpleasant words is inevitable and we move on. Nobody makes any changes. From the perspective of the pedestrian, you feel guilty for making cars wait, but you have to get across the street at some point. Sometimes, the traffic flow would never stop. You have to look out for the drivers who will not allow pedestrians to cross or the drivers who simply are not watching closely.

Here is a simple thought which helps both parties. Take the street in front of the store out of the equation. Place the parking lot at the entrance and let business roll! Need to pick up or drop off? No problem. Go to the loading zone parking up front behind handicapped parking. Have a delivery? Go to the back of the store.

I saw a parking lot like this at a grocery store in Cozumel. As soon as I saw it, I recognized the genius in the layout.

This is just one design flaw that creates friction with all drivers and pedestrians at some point. Can you think of similar flaws that we simply deal with daily?

Finally Done

noreply@blogger.com (Burton Meahl) — Tue, 19 May 2009 12:14:00 +0000

I'll bet you thought the title had something to do with our bathroom project. Wrong! Those pictures are coming in 2 days.

Every year, Kelly and the rest of her school's IB staff sends photos and video my way to put into a presentable format to be shown at the end of the year banquet. The key on the video is entertainment, especially for the kids. The kids seem to get a kick in seeing their teachers out of their normal environment.

Help! Teachers on the run. from 2daysbeforethedayaftertomorrow on Vimeo.

Spaghetti in Da Hood

noreply@blogger.com (Burton Meahl) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 13:57:00 +0000

I figure that it is time to share something other than pain from our bathroom renovation. Here are a few random photos we have taken recently of the kids.

Casey currently must have a morning nap and an afternoon nap. If she does not get one of those, she is very grumpy around the time of night when we are trying to get everyone motivated in the evening line-up. Sometimes, while in her playpen, she just TAKES a nap, even if everything is chaotic around her. Sleeping baby pictures are the best.

The other morning, Toby REALLY put on Tyler's clothes without realizing they weren't his own. He came out asking why his clothes were so big today. Toby is easily confused lately so you can imagine his displeasure when Tyler and I were laughing our heads off at him.

Spaghetti night the other night meant that Casey would inevitably get caught on film in a messy shot as most babies do. We have a little movie to share of this at a later time. Here is the goopiest shot I could find.

We went to the zoo a few weeks ago and took the children of a great friend of ours. We had a lot of fun and it was surprisingly easy to keep 5 kids on the move at the zoo. The most difficult task was to get all 5 to look at the camera, keep their eyes open, and smile at the camera, simultaneously. Also, Tyler is at a stage right now where smiling for pictures is apparently not very cool.

Home Stretch

noreply@blogger.com (Burton Meahl) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:45:00 +0000

As I mentioned before, the contractor has left the building. The rest of the project is pretty much up to us on this bathroom renovation. It is looking pretty polished at this point with a pesky little punch list to follow up on. Here is a list of what has yet to be done and the outlook for each item.

Paint - 2nd coat application - tonight - me
Cabinets - toe kick installation and small fillers - tonight by our friend who is a professional installer
Light fixture - tonight - the same friend who is helping us with the cabinets - the install box is not centered
Knob and pull installations - Wednesday evening - me
Towel racks - Wednesday evening - me
Shower sill replacement (Corian) - No word - I am to call the shop on Thursday (the original cutout was wrong size) - right now, they are not sure when because they did not have enough business to have anyone in the shop working today. Apparently getting a former job correct is not on the list of priorities. Another strike for "The Big Orange."
Shower enclosure - waiting on sill replacement before we even get someone to measure.
Grout sealant - I have to wait until a week from this coming Friday - me

The reason the delays are not earth-shattering is because the plastic cement that was used for tiling in the shower takes about a week to set. We should have everything complete that is not shower-related by Wednesday evening. Then we can move in to our new bathroom and showering will be the only business we have in the kids' bathroom. The biggest relief will be that we can have our dining room back!

Once I have tools cleared out on Wednesday and the shower enclosure is all that is pending, I will get a few snapshots to share.

Early Reading for Casey

noreply@blogger.com (Burton Meahl) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:26:00 +0000

This picture was taken last August during our annual HFFL draft. We have 12 teams in the league and most of the owners have been a part of the league for 18 years now. Casey is in my hand there and she seems to be studying the incredible literature we had on hand to keep us on our toes.

Dust, Urges, and Barters

noreply@blogger.com (Burton Meahl) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:57:00 +0000

The contractor and his helper have been working on our bathroom all week and should complete their work tomorrow morning. All I can say is....amazing.

For a long time, I have been looking forward to the thrill of getting moved in to our new bathroom and getting back into a normal routine. The project is still a few weeks away from being complete because we will need to measure and order the shower enclosure after the work is complete tomorrow.

Since the contractors began work on Monday, the house has been a complete dustbowl. I am not being finicky here. It truly is bad. I wrote a message on Kelly's jewelry box yesterday morning which could easily be seen from 12 feet away or more. When we came home last night, the dust had thickened so much, you could no longer see my message. After the first day, we realized it was our error that we had not covered much of our belongings in the house. However, it was obvious that it was too late, so we left it. All week long we have fought off urges to dust off our television, our bedroom furniture, the kitchen counters, the dining room set...you name it. Our #1 desire is no longer to move into our new bathroom. Our new number 1 objective is to clean our house up.

It won't be your average neat-cleaning either. It is the kind of cleaning where it is required that you broker off your kids for a day. Saturday is that day and Kelly's parents have agreed to help us out in that respect. Thank goodness. I am not sure how much longer we can take that dust.

The contractor asked for more tile yesterday. In the middle of the project, we all agreed on some changes and he also had somehow miscalculated what he needed. The tile place was a long drive away, so I had to take some time away from work. The great part of this process is that the tile will not end up costing me at all. After talking for a while with the owner of the tile store, I came to find out he had a computer problem that I could help him with. In time, we worked out a barter. I give PC work and he gives tile.

Here is a sneak preview of our tile and the pattern for the design in the shower. No grout yet though.

Conserve Water - Share a Bath with your Sibling!

noreply@blogger.com (Burton Meahl) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 15:06:00 +0000

Casey loves bath time. It is probably her favorite activity, outside of eating! The funny thing is that most of her baths take place right after she eats.

Tyler really wanted to get in there and have fun with her because she is so happy during this time.

Jackhammers are Cool…Outdoors!

noreply@blogger.com (Burton Meahl) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:30:00 +0000

Yesterday, the bathroom remodel moved to high gear. The contractors came and began their work. I had taken care of removal of all of the former tile, the marble, the toilet, and everything else that had to go. I also took the time to scrape the floor of all debris from the linoleum that I pulled up. By the time the contractors took over, I had provided them with a fresh pallet with only a bathtub and new cabinets with counter top – all surrounded by brick wall (from the exterior) and wooden studs.

Yesterday was the day when we would see the least dramatic change by the end of the day over the coming week. They replaced all of the old green board (which I had already removed) with a board that is actually water proof instead of just water resistant. They also changed the plumbing to PVC instead of copper – which was purely a proactive move, since we were digging around there already. The most interesting change was that they took a jackhammer to the old shower tile and shower pan. I thought this was intriguing as I left for work. When I got home, every single thing in the house was covered in dust. It occurred to me that jackhammers are only cool when used outdoors. Oh well. At least we have progress on this bathroom project! They also poured the first stage onto the shower pan.

This is not that thrilling of a picture. I just wanted you to see where we are as of this morning. This is the first stage for the shower pan.

That's our shower. I can't wait to actually use that shower space again!

To rework the plumbing to the tub, they had to break out some of the drywall. This seems like a pain in the butt to me. However, to contractors, replacing drywall squares is as easy as changing your underwear.

This used to be our second toilet. It sounds weird but we really miss that device about now.

Yuri the Granite Guy

noreply@blogger.com (Burton Meahl) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:05:00 +0000

We received a quote from our contractor who will be performing the work on our shower. It was higher than we had planned for, so we are working on details to whittle the price down a little. I am trying to find little jobs within the project that I can do which will save money. For instance, I will complete the demolition part of the project. I will also remove the toilet and replace it for the tile work. If the price still needs adjusting, I may elect to do the tiling on the floor myself, which is something I have a little bit of experience with. The good news is that the contractor is patient and working with us. He is a neighbor, after all.

One of the things he said I could save money on was buying the tile directly from his distributor instead of through him or “the Big Orange.” Yesterday afternoon, I drove to one of the parts of our city which is known for being very industrial to seek the tile distributor. After about a 35 minute drive, I found the store. It was a garage with the front open for people to see tile at the very front of the garage. Inside there was a room that was built to conduct business. No electricity was being used and the person manning the store barely spoke English. I was not sure what I was in for.

I found out later that the gentleman I worked with for nearly an hour and a half had come over from Cuba less than 7 months ago and was learning English. He and I did not have an easy time communicating. His favorite words in English were “similar…see?” and “no”. My favorite words in Spanish were “no” and “no es bueno”. We tried to help each other but it was a very painful 90 minutes. I even said out loud, “It is amazing to me how 2 years of Spanish in school can do so little good in a situation like this.” He laughed but I do not think he understood at all.

When the owner, Roger, arrived, we made quick work of the selection process. I highly recommend working with him if you live near me and want to buy tile at a decent price. We completed the process and I was just about to pay him when he saw the credit card. He had a long explanation that involved him revolting against the company that provided his credit card processing. I could not pay cash because I simply did not have it. He would have to use credit if he wanted the business. He made a quick call and we drove across the street. It ended up that Roger knew the granite store owner across the street and elected to ask him to use his phone line to process a transaction.

The granite shop’s owner was Russian with a thick accent and introduced himself as Yuri. His handshake actually popped a few of the bones in my hand. If I went blind tomorrow and in twenty years, he shook my hand, I know I would remember that handshake.

After a little bit of scrambling Roger got the phone line plugged in and the power plugged in. However, the device would not power up. He called Yuri back over and asked jokingly if he paid his power bill. “You did not ask for power!” Yuri shouted. “To get power, you must run the line into my office in the back of the shop.” We followed Yuri into his office. It was a cozy little office. It had just enough room for Yuri to sit behind the desk and another person to sit in a chair directly in front of the desk. The plugs Roger needed were behind a bookshelf. He struggled for a bit while Yuri worked around him and opened what appeared to be a refrigerator. He pulled out a beer. He offered one to each of us. As quickly as I said “No thank you,” he had popped one open and downed it. As I looked closer, it appeared to be some sort of Russian brew. It was the kind of beer that I know that if I downed it the way he just did, I would immediately be buzzing.

He pulled out another one quickly and asked why Roger and I did not want a beer. Roger said he was watching his waist. I nodded and patted my stomach to confirm the same reasoning. Yuri pointed at Roger’s stomach and said, “Your belly is big because you are stressed. Beer will reduce your stress. Go on. Have one.”

Yuri explained that he used to be a doctor in Russia. I cannot imagine having someone like him as my doctor! He went into a very scientific explanation as to what “dee stress” does to your body. At the end of his explanation, he had finished #2 and pulled out another. “Here…”

We still declined and he said dee stress did not affect him the same because of beer. He pulled out this large ball with a handle and held his arm straight out with it. “See?” he said, “You try.” I took the handle from him and the ball nearly hit the ground as the weight had taken me by surprise. The ball was slightly larger than a volleyball but weighed about 50 lbs. I tried to hold my arm straight out with the weight in my hand and managed to do so for about 2 seconds. I then lunged the weight in his direction and he playfully scooted it under his desk as if it was a volleyball.

Roger explained that this man could put down 30 beers in a day and still function without apparent impairment. He had downed 3 in less than 5 minutes with me and seemed fine, although a bit loony. He was quite entertaining. I asked what the customers thought of his work after so many beers. He said, “You can ask any one of my customers about my work. Day LOVE it!”

Meanwhile, Roger had gotten the device to scan my card and it was time for us to leave. We bid Yuri farewell and went back to load up the tile I had purchased. It was a tile-purchasing experience I shall never forget.

Cabinets in a Day and 30 Minutes

noreply@blogger.com (Burton Meahl) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:12:00 +0000

Picking up where I left off, I need to update you on the cabinet situation. Last entry, your heroes were simulating bumbling idiots for an entire day in what were supposed to be attempts at getting our nice new cabinets installed. Luckily, a friend that saw this read my chronicles to her husband, who happens to be a professional installer.

She immediately called me and told me “No offense meant, but he says he can have those cabinets installed in 30 minutes. He’s such a showoff!”

I eagerly accepted the offer of help and scheduled to meet him at the house that night. I was hoping to learn a little bit so I could trip through the process sometime later in life, if needed. However, there were several steps in the process where I made note that he had specific tools that I may never think about owning. I knew that he was an efficient installer already. The tools just made it that much better. When it is part of your profession, you surely have those tools readily available.

His quick work made me feel inadequate in every handy way possible. It was a good thing though. I would have been very disappointed if he had walked in and just performed a series of tasks that I felt like I could have done. I watched in amazement and tried not to get in the way. The icing on the cake was how efficiently he managed the cuts for the crown molding in just one attempt. I probably would never have gotten that right – never mind the other tasks. The very second his work was complete he was walking out the door with his tools. Not only was he a quick worker, but he was so organized with his work, that he could probably have picked up his tools to leave with a blindfold on.

When he left, the cabinets looked wonderful. I scheduled the template measuring (for the countertop) immediately. If you need cabinet work done, let me know and I will put you in touch with him.

As far as pictures go, I am holding off on pictures until I have a final product for you to see.

Voicemail - Dated Technology

noreply@blogger.com (Burton Meahl) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 19:33:00 +0000

I have a little gripe. First of all, I hate voicemail. I understand the need for voicemail in general, but 90% of the time (Remember that approximately 62.45% of all statistics are made up on the fly.) the message someone leaves says “blah blah blah…call me back.” Can’t we all save each other a little more time and just not leave a voice mail message? I’ll give you an example.

If my wife calls me and I do not answer, she does not leave a voice mail message. In fact, I cannot remember ever getting a voice mail message from her in years. I simply see I missed her call and can easily identify her number (which already is stored on my cell phone which holds 500+ numbers in memory!). Then I call her back as soon as I can. Why can’t we all be this efficient?

Many of my friends call and leave a voice mail message. Some have meaningful content. Others simply say, “blah blah blah…call me back.” I almost always forego the voicemail-checking and call the person right back. Many times there’s that awkward moment when someone says, “Did you get my voice mail?” I say no, but explain no further to stay efficient in conversation. I figure breaking into a “I hate voicemail and on average check my personal voicemail once a day” rant is too bulky of a conversation when I am not even sure what the call was going to be about. Why waste our time? Some people would surely take it personally.

Here is why leaving a voicemail is inefficient.

1. The person leaving the voicemail has to take the time to listen to your witty greeting. Most greetings say pretty much the same thing “Hi you have reached XXX-XXXX. We are unable to get to the phone right now. Please leave your name and number and we will get back with you as soon as possible.” What a waste. Try leaving a message like this, “Thanks for calling. Leave a message at the tone.” It is a recording after all. It is already pretty clear that you can not get to the phone. I think the days of people saying “Hello? Is that you Bob? ---- Hello?” on voicemail because they are lost are pretty far behind us.

2. Some of the cell phone companies have the worst voice mail systems – AT&T and Sprint come to mind. You can go to the trouble of leaving a nice greeting, but your callers still get that recording after your greeting – the one with the lady that says “To leave a message press 1 or wait for the tone...” That is one of the shorter ones off of the top of my head. Some of them are painfully long. Why do we have these recordings? I think we all have this voicemail thing down now. Why the extra instruction? I can hear that lady’s voice giving all sorts of mundane advice that these recorded messages remind me of. “To sit down, pull the chair out from underneath the table. Wait for it to stabilize and sit down butt-first.” “In order to eat your pudding, use your spoon with the concave side up.” “When brushing your teeth, remember to open your mouth first.” Is it just me?!

I do understand a professional need for voicemail. You get calls from many different people that you don’t know and voice mail can help you manage your tasks efficiently before calling someone back. However, that is the 10% of messages out there that are meaningful.

If you leave a voice mail message, make sure it says something other than “I am calling you and I would like for you to return my call.” Give the message purpose – or just don’t leave a voice mail and wait for the callback. Does anyone agree with me here?

Don't Look Down

noreply@blogger.com (Burton Meahl) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 03:17:00 +0000

A friend of mine told me that demolishing a shower would be some of the most satisfying work I would ever get to do. For about 10 swings of the hammer, I was totally understanding his point. In fact, it was my most efficient outing with a hammer -- ever.

After 10 swings, I wanted it to be over. I am a bit of a clean-freak, so it was difficult to fight the urge to clean as I went. The tile was helpless against the power of my iron fist. It fell to the ground splintering off into pieces that I may never find. I found that the only way to complete this phase was to avoid looking into the pile of rubble. As long as I kept my eye on the wall, I was okay with it all.

Here is what remains of our master shower. I already took out a trash can full of tile, so the pile pictured is not nearly as impressive as it was. Still, it was my most productive outing for this remodel project. I also got the walls cleaned and patched. Next step is getting orange peel applied on the walls and applying a coat of primer. I still have a bit of tile to remove from the tub area as well.