Why be Normal

Surgery Day

Mark Poffenberger — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:58:50 +0000

Steve had his shoulder surgery today. 7 holes and 8 hours at the hospital, he was able to go home. He has to make sure to move his fingers and wrist around, so I guess that will give him a reason to play xBox – not that he ever needed a reason. No need to worry about pain at the moment, since he has a pain pump, and a script for some happy pills.

Doctor said there will be about an 8 week recovery period after his surgery. Off to college in the fall, so he’ll be ready for wresting season.

Steven receives the Ackerman Award

Mark Poffenberger — Fri, 29 May 2009 15:04:37 +0000

On May 16′th, Steven received the Ackerman Award at the Allegan High School Hall of Fame dinner. The Ackerman award, named in honor of Bernard Ackerman, is given to a male and a female athlete who has displayed outstanding sportsmanship throughout his/her athletic career at Allegan High School.

Take a look at the video below of the event to see Coach Rose presenting Steven the award.

Wordpress 2.7 – Upgraded…

Mark Poffenberger — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 19:33:33 +0000

Woo Hoo. Easy as pie upgrade to Wordpress 2.7. Gotta love Wordpress.

Wrestling Begins

Mark Poffenberger — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 01:51:02 +0000

Wrestling season began on Wedesday, and continuted on Saturday. Wednesday Steve had two matches, and pinned both his opponents.

Saturday was the much anticipated Southwest Michigan Classic at Allegan. The chart for the 125 pound weight class was shaping up to have the top 3 placers from Division 2 119 lbs State Finals from March. Steve started out his first match pinning his oppenent in 1:32. Steve’s second match was a mirror of the first, with Steve pinning his opponent. The semi-final match was the same as the first 2, with Steve pinning his opponent.

The championship match was a re-match of the State finals, between #3 ranked (D3) Steve, and #2 ranked (D2) Andrew Stepanovich from Forest Hills Northern. Steve came through and beat Andrew. The final score was 6-3.

Why do Gorillas have big nostrils?

Mark Poffenberger — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:53:48 +0000

Because they have big fingers.

Why I live in Michigan

Mark Poffenberger — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:49:42 +0000

Double the commute time. Cold that will make your fingers ache. Idiots that don’t seem to remember how to drive in the snow. All things that I endure every year when fall turns into winter.

However, every morning when I can wake up and see the view out back, it makes it worth it. Yesterday, I woke up to 6 inches of new snow, and by the time it was done today, we had 11 inches of snow. Most of it melted throughout the day today, but it’s not over by a long shot. Not to worry, since they are calling for significant snow for Thursday and Friday.

Where I live it’s not uncommon to get a foot or more of snow at one time. We are close enough to the lake to experience “Lake Effect” snow. Lake effect snow is when cold winds blow over the lake picking up moisture, and then depositing it inland. We average about 100 inches of snow a year.

I’ll see the yard in the spring….

Another use of Google

Mark Poffenberger — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:57:10 +0000

Not only is Google the de-facto search engine, but now you can use it to see where there is a flu outbreak.

Check out the Google FluTrends. It’s really interesting how search data can be used.

Go Vote Today

Mark Poffenberger — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:07:24 +0000

If you want to have the pleasure to bitch about your government, then go vote today. If you don’t vote, then don’t bitch about it.

November is NaNoWriMo time

Mark Poffenberger — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 23:32:26 +0000

And what the hell is NaNoWriMo? It means National Novel Writing Month. It’s the time of the year that you sit down for a month and pound out a 50,000 word novel. It can be more then 50,000 words, but you only win if you meet the word count goal. What do you win? Nothing but the satisfaction of writing that novel.

Whether you are a daily writer, or one that thinks you have a story in you, it’s time for you to get it out and on paper. Or computer. Or parchment. Or what ever you write on.

I have participated in NaNoWriMo for the past 5 years, but have yet to win. I put the blame on not really planning anything. I just dove in and started writing. And quickly running out of steam. But not this year. I actually have a plan.

I’ll be handwriting mine this year, as I have done in years past. I can’t write on the computer screen, as there are too many distractions (internet, email, forums, etc), so I find it easier to write with my fountain pen on paper.

I’ll be blogging my daily process, as well as updating my daily word count on the left bar. I may post snippets, but I doubt it.

So, let’s all have fun and start writing on Saturday.

Sex with a vacuum is illegal

Mark Poffenberger — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 21:22:26 +0000

At least it is in Michigan. On October 20′th, a police office in Saginaw County’s Thomas Township responded to a call from a resident who reported suspicious activity at a car wash. The office caught the man in the act of “receiving sexual favors from a vacuum“.

I have a couple of questions on this one. How can you receive sexual favors from an inanimate object? It’s not like the vacuum cleaner had any choice in the matter. The vacuum was just minding it’s own business at the car wash with the only expectation to vacuum up someone else’s mess. It was not to actually help someone make a mess.

And the other question is, wouldn’t this be rape? If the vacuum cleaner did not consent to the sexual act, isn’t that the very definition of rape? Shouldn’t this person have been charged with “raping a vacuum cleaner”?