Since I'm in picture mode, here are some flooding pictures from the city that I live in.

The master bathroom



The family/game room







The guest bedroom






The living room






The master bedroom






The office

Tino Martinez is El-Sucko.

Bring back Harold Reynolds!

Overnight in a 10 hour period, 7-8 inches of rain fell on my house. The yard has a bit of standing water, but nothing even close to what I've seen within a mile of it. Overall it handled it really well. There were two small leaks in the bathroom where those exposed nail heads were, but that was it. There are yards that look like the lake because you can't see any grass at all. My work flooded on the first floor in the front of the building. My step sisters house flooded on the first floor. Her house doesn't have a basement, but she said water was coming out of the vents and was in the ductwork. My grandparents whole street had water in their basements. Within a block of my house a huge tree fell across the road and took out power lines. To my knowledge, my house still doesn't have power.

There's a seafood restaurant (Pickle Bill's) that is on the Grand River about 10 minutes from me. It literally floated away into Lake Erie. There's places that are covered by 10 feet of water. It's crazy.

The only way I can describe last night is that it was like a movie. In movie thunderstorms there is constant lightning going on, but it's never really like that. Well, last night it was like that. I've never been in a hurricane, but for a period of time, that's what I would expect to see in one. Horizontal rain. Coming down so hard that in an unmoving car, you couldn't see anything at all. Trees being snapped in half like they were twigs. Dozens of roads closed because of standing water at least 4 feet deep. Entrances and exits to the highway blocked off by police so that people don't drive into the water and drown.

It was certainly a weird night. I didn't even grasp it until I saw it for myself in the daylight.

I'd estimate that there are more people not at work than there are at work. I didn't come in until 11:30 and I'll probably leave for home in about 5 minutes.

The National Weather Service estimates that another 4 inches of rain will fall tonight. Lake County (where I live) has already declared a state of emergency...

For those that don't believe in the Cleveland sports curse, here is more evidence:

"Pro Bowl center LeCharles Bentley sustained an injury to his left knee during the Browns' first 11-on-11 drill of training camp on Thursday."

The screen door is installed. All the shelves have been put in place in the office and the giant map that I use to show all the baseball stadiums I've been to is up. The guest bed is there but still needs assembly, which should happen tonight. Then I just need to populate the shelves with crap and hang the rest of the pictures. The last interior thing I should need to buy are blinds for the skylight in my bedroom. After that, I believe the inside will be complete.

The last thing to do on the outside is pressure wash the siding. Well, a new roof is coming too. I thought it had 20 year shingles, but it turns out it's 15, and I'm on year 13. Rather than wait for more leaks to appear (2 small streams appeared in June due to 2 exposed nail heads, which has been corrected), I'm getting it taken care of now. 30 year dimensional shingles (burnt-sienna for those keeping score at home) and new roll material for the patio roof. The ridge vent will be re-done and all the flashing and crap around the skylights will be done too.

Hopefully they'll shoot the birds that keep throwing nest material through the gutter guards too. Especially the ones that hang out right outside my windows and CAW CAW CAW as loud as they can all morning. Then once I get up, they fly away and probably laugh amongst themselves. Stupid birds.

I've completed everything on my schedule and have even gotten a few additional things accomplished. The guest bedroom is painted, the office is painted, the deck is pressure washed and stained, my office desk is put together, the computer and home network are up and working perfectly, most of the pictures have been hung, and the entertainment center has been re-positioned and the surround sound placed for optimal audio performance.

Up next, decorating the office, new screen door for the back door (which presently has no screen) and a new guest bed.

The NCAA is investigating the University of Kentucky for recruiting violations.

What kind of violations you ask?

Some UK fans posted pro-Kentucky statements on the MySpace page of a high school senior basketball player. FANS!

That's utterly ridiculous. The University is getting punished for some posts it's fans made on a MySpace page? Give me a break.

Purdue should get the death penalty then, because I wear clothes that act as billboards with Purdue's logo or name on them. Some high school athlete might see them one day.

Hey NCAA, why not just make it illegal to have fans? Oh, because then you don't have any money to prop up your worthless organization. I forgot.

1 day post-chemo

My grandmother seems to be doing fine. She's not feeling sick and is generally showing no side effects. She said she feels a little tired, but I assume that's to be expected.

She went out for lunch and dinner last night and had no problems eating or keeping food down. I'd have to say, so far so good.

Purdue is supposed to have a good basketball recruiting class. I predict a Mike Robinson situation.

10 minutes before the start of Mackey Madness:

Oh I'm so excited! This year is going to be crazy! We got this McDonald's All-American that supposedly has unlimited range!

10 minutes after the start of Mackey Madness:

That guy hasn't made a single shot. Not even a dunk. That guy sucks. Boo!

I would like a whole day of sitting. Very little moving would also be acceptable.

The home network of the Indians is showing the all-star games from Cleveland tonight. I just watched part of the 1997 all-star game. You remember right? That was back when Barry Bond's head was a normal size, Jason Dickson would partake in the first of many all star games. At least, many more than I would participate in, i.e. one. Kenny Lofton got a standing ovation (that was the year when he got traded to Atlanta in the off season) and Albert Belle was relentlessly booed (that was after he took the money and ran to Chicago.) Ah, the good ole days.

Thanks Tony Fernandez! Way to go Charles Nagy! You were always reliable Jose Mesa!

I have nothing to say of any particular insight, so I will just say this:

The face of a child can say it all, especially the mouth part of the face.

Comcast. The brightest star in the sky.

Here's an exact copy of an email I sent them.

"I previously had online billing setup for my account. I moved recently, and now have a different account number. Because I no longer get actual bills, I do not know my new account number.

Please email me my account number so that I can log in to it. Thanks."


Here's their brilliant reply.

"We hope you understand that we ask for contact in this manner for your own protection. Security measures guard against unauthorized individuals accessing and or altering your account without your permission. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

A Comcast representative is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to assist you! When contacting us, please have your 16-digit Comcast account number available.

We appreciate your patience and understanding, and look forward to properly assisting you.

Thank you for choosing Comcast.

Sincerely,

Amy
Comcast Customer Care Specialist"


Look Amy, if you had actually read my freaking message you'd see that I DON'T HAVE MY ACCOUNT NUMBER! That's why I emailed you! What you basically told me is that I can't get my account number without having my account number. Thanks for the help!

New and improved! Now with 1,000,000 grams of deliciousness!

I'm already behind schedule now. I re-arranged the living room and moved the entertainment center. I moved some of the cable connections in the attic to make that possible. I finished hooking up the game systems, and now the living room is basically done.

Granted, this was on my list of things to do, I just didn't figure on doing it yesterday. On top of that I had unannounced visitors, so that threw me further off schedule.

On to a more serious thing, the oncolygist appointment was yesterday. Basically here's what they said: she has the most aggressive kind of cancer there is, and they want her to start chemo immediately. They want to run an 8 week course followed by 4 weeks of radiation. She instead is going to wait until the 18th to start and is only going to do 4 weeks of chemo. Why you ask? Because she's stupid and either doesn't grasp the severity or is in denial. It's very irritating and there's apparently nothing I can do about it.

Upcoming events in excrutiating minutiae

7/05/06 - Paint walls in guest bedroom
7/06/06 - Attend Indians game versus the Yankees
7/07/06 - Stain deck
7/08/06 - Paint ceiling in guest bedroom and paint walls in office
7/09/06 - Venture to Cedar Point
7/10/06 - Recover
7/11/06 - Paint ceiling in office
7/12/06 - Assemble massive desk and unpack boxes in office
7/13/06 - Venture to Cedar Point
7/14/06 - As of yet unplanned future disaster
7/15/06 - Probably recovering from unplanned future disaster
7/16/06 - Venture again to Cedar Point
7/17/06 - Stay over at Cedar Point

I saw Superman Returns yesterday. It was pretty good. I had no problems with the guy playing Superman. In general, it did nothing that seemed to create lasting negative opinions. I wouldn't buy it on DVD, but I'd watch it again if someone brought it over. On my scale I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and go with a 6. Would accept as a gift / would pay money to rent. I'm not sure that I would actually pay to rent it, but I would accept it as a gift. It seems a bit better than a 5 though, so I rounded up.

The special effects are good, but I don't think they're as mind-blowing as other people thought. Then again, maybe they are. I can only recall one part where I was taken out of the story by the effects, and that's just because I'm an idiot who notices the smallest thing. The goal of effects should be to be completely transparent. These ones seems to do the trick.

Also, I won a poker tournament last night. I was low chip count in the final three players (by a long shot) but somehow pulled it out. I think in the last 10 hands I played I went all-in in about 7 of them.