We had another layoff today. That makes 6 in 6 months. The company laid off 23 and re-assigned 10 more. We're down about 35% across the board now.

I also heard something that there was one employee whose blog they were reading. I guess the employee was talking about specifics and management found out. I don't know if they used that against them or not though. It would seem to me that it'd be illegal for them to do so unless the employee was doing it on company time though... Still, it sets a really bad precedent. I know they're already searching the web for details when they recruit someone, which at best is an invasion of privacy and at worst is illegal, but apparently they're still doing it anyway.

Indians were leading Boston 5 - 0. Next thing I know it's 5 - 5. The Tribe bullpen is just horrible. Of all the people they added this year, the only one working out (for the most part) is Kerry Wood.

Also, on Sports Time Ohio right now, there's a catheter commercial offering free samples. Great.

Good idea dudes.

The kitchen is progressing so slowly it's driving me crazy. In between traveling out of state every other weekend and all of the glitches that are slowing us down, it's looking like it will be another month before it's done.

We're one week away from 2 months with no kitchen. It sucks. A lot.

The Georgia Aquarium was really cool. The King Tut exhibit wasn't as cool, but was amazing. To think of all the things that are thousands of years old...

I'd say that I'll post pictures, but we all know that I won't.

But then again, maybe I will.

Also, it's really hot here right now and I can't sleep. It's supposed to be at least 20 degrees cooler tomorrow though. Then it will most likely snow on Wednesday. Then 100 on Thursday.

Apparently someone named Lash thought it would be funny to impersonate me and create an account on Facebook for me.

It makes it a lot easier for me to maintain, that's for sure.

Now I can continue to not be bothered with stupid social networks.

Thanks Lash!

The only thing is... I said I'd never join Facebook, and that's still true.

We're here in Hotlanta. Going to see King Tut tomorrow along with the aquarium. Should be fun.

Why LeBron will stay in Cleveland:

If he wants to leave, there's nothing that anyone can do to stop him. The key is making him not want to leave. The Cavaliers have done that by consistently upgrading not only the team, but the facilities as well. They've consulted with him about players and styles of play. They've made him comfortable. Normally I'm not one for coddling players and treating certain guys different than the rest of the team, but in this case the way the Cavs have pulled it off makes it seem like none of the other players mind. They're having too much fun to mind. They're as tight-knit and as loose as any team I can remember. They hang together off the court and that comraderie helps them to play better on the court. Because of the atmosphere surrounding this team, I think that LeBron will stay in C-Town regardless of whether he wins a championship or not. Of course, I say that now. A lot can happen in a year.

Will he leave because of money? There's all the rumors about a $100 million increase in his Nike contract if he goes to one of the 3 big markets. Is he going to play for the Clippers? I don't think so. The Lakers have no need for him and can't afford him anyway without gutting their roster of all of its depth. I don't think he'll go to Chicago and work in the shadow of Michael Jordan. That leaves the Knicks and the Nets. If the Nets don't move to Brooklyn (and that's looking less and less likely as time goes on) then there's no draw for him. He could go to the Knicks but that team is reminiscent of his early years with the Cavs. Does he really want to go through that again? I don't think so. Ultimately players are measured by their rings and if he wants those then he'd have to wait at least 5 years to get one in New York. That leaves the Cavaliers. They can pay him the most salary, and with the cap likely dropping, they can pay a lot more than the next nearest team.

I think he'll stay because he's comfortable here. He's from here, and regardless of whether he wears Cowboys and Yankees hats or not, he knows what it's like to be a Clevelander. He knows the ever present sense of dread that exists whenever a sports team is close to anything meaningful. He knows the history. He knows that there have been no champions in this city in over 50 years. Fifty years! He has a chance to end all of that, and if he does and then he leaves he will have thrown all that away. However, if he wins it all and he stays... well, you might as well rename this place Jamestown. LeBronville. Bronburg. Whatever. He will own the city more than he already does and 50 years after he retires he will still be beloved here, in much the same way as Jim Brown. That's a meaningful legacy. That's why he'll stay.

Justin raised a very interesting question. If the Cavs win a championship, does that increase LeBron's likelihood of staying here?

I'll have to answer that tomorrow.

For now I have to finish packing. We're leaving on a jet plane tomorrow afternoon. We're heading to Atlanta for the weekend.

Then we're home for a weekend and then gone again the weekend after that. Then home for the next weekend and gone once again the weekend after that.

Will our kitchen ever get done? I sure as heck hope so.

The Cavs let a 29 point 4th quarter lead dwindle to 7. You simply cannot do that in the playoffs. They're lucky to have won that game.

Apparently I'm old and falling apart. Quickly too, I might add.

I just got back from the foot doctor and will be having the first of two surgeries in June. I'll be off my feet for 2 weeks and then in a walking boot for 2 more. Then I can gradually get back to normal activities, but I might experience pain for up to 8 months after that. Knowing my body, it will be more like 16 months.

We're back in C Town after being in the very ritzy Bloomfield Township area of Detroit. We saw some really ridiculouly ginormous castle-eta up there.

I wore my Cavs gear on Saturday and no one threatened to per on my head (unlike in the Bronx when I was wearing my Indians stuff.). I was slightly disappointed.

We're heading to Detroit tomorrow. Lindsay's brother is in school at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. He is studying sculpture and will get his Masters of Fine Arts in May. This weekend is his thesis presentation essentially. There's an art show with all of the seniors having a piece. There's supposed to be about 1000 people in attendance.

Maybe we'll get to go to Michael Symon's Roast while we're up there...

I stayed home from work today. I tossed and turned and was up every hour during the night, but I was able to get an afternoon nap in from 3 PM - 6 PM. That was nice. Will I be able to go to sleep on time tonight? Time will tell.

I went to urgent care again tonight. I have strep. Again. This is the second time in 14 days.

Suck.

We're weeks behind on our kitchen. Mostly because we won't be home for the next two weekends, but still...

I want my kitchen back!

I'm hopeful that tomorrow all of the following will happen.

1. The remaining drywall will be up.
2. The ceiling will be mudded and textured.
3. Any wall texture that remains will be completed.
4. The last coat of mud will be done.
5. The tile work will be finished.
6. The ledger board will go up for the upper cabinets.
7. The floor will be leveled off for the base cabinets.
8. The upper cabinets will be joined together prior to mounting them.

It's really not all the much work. There's no reason why all of that cannot be finished. Especially now that we're done with the electrical nightmare.

Once all the mud is finally done we just need to wait for it to dry. That means that this week we can sand, prime, and paint.

The electrical in this house sucks. Neutrals are switched. Hots are wired together. Turn off one breaker and it doesn't turn off a switch because it's wired into two breakers. Whoever did it screwed the pooch and we're paying for it. Anything we touch in electrical is taking 4 times longer than it should.

As such we're behind and have no hope of getting cabinets in this weekend. That sucks because we're gone for the rest of the weekends in April, which likely means no working kitchen until May.

Second coat of mud is up on the drywall. Some more electrical was done tonight. I opened up the ceiling so that we can finish up the last bank of light switches that need to be installed.

Thursday we should be able to sand. Friday morning Lindsay doesn't have school, so she's going to do the primer throughout. Then we can paint Friday night if we want to, or just leave it until after the cabinets are installed.

We're getting there. I can almost feel it now.

After a design change today we're finally really and truly done with demo. The drywall has a second coat of mud. We're going to prime on Thursday and paint on Friday. Electrical should be finished (it was finished, but now we changed it again) as well as the tile floor on Wednesday.

So what was the design change? I know you were wanting to know.

We scrapped the pantry idea and instead decided to open up the kitchen \ dining room flow more. I think it was a great idea. It meant taking out a wall that we had just drywalled, mudded, and textured yesterday though. Oh well.

Now I just want it all to be done already.

We've still got a long way to go though.

It's official. I have strep. It's weird though because I have no spots in my throat. My strep test came back in 15 seconds though, so that's a a pretty strong confirmation.