W.Addison

Gator-ville

2008-03-06T03:27:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, just an update on the FL adventure. I've been hanging around the clubhouse in the AM doing physicals as the position players straggle in. Monday night I got to hit the RAW sushi bar in downtown. I am not the sushi aficionado that others are, but it was very good. Tuesday the Reds beat the Indians 7-4 in a rain shortened game and I got to accompany the Daggys to Two Senoritas, a charming Mexican restaurant. From there we headed to SKOB (Siesta Key Oyster Bar) where they had an amusing man strumming the guitar and Matt's bros downed the Village idiot- 8 different kinds of alcohol in a plastic bucket. Yesterday, it was gorgeous and I got in another 15 holes of golf. I played with Ed, Ron and Monty, all GM retirees from Michigan. They were a lot of fun and it was great golfing until the heavens opened up and rained us off the course. Today is the last day of physicals, so wish me luck.

Sarasota, FL

2008-03-02T10:27:00.000-08:00

This is nice. I am down south in the friendly confines of Sarasota where I am hanging out with the Cincinnati Reds. Yesterday, after preforming physicals on the minor league pitchers and catchers, we saw the Reds beat the Pirates in a most ripping contest. Griffey and Dunn each had home runs, and the reds scored 2 in the bottom of the ninth to win 12-11. Then there was a nice medical personnel reception where I got to meet Dusty Baker the coach, Wayne and Bob, the GM and owner of the reds. After that my inebriated boss adjusted my neck (scary) as we were on our way to Club beach to dance the night away.
Today started slow as I was run down from last night. But then I made it to St. Martha's church for the noon service. There was this fantastic Hispanic priest who announced it was rejoice Sunday because we are half way through lent. He had to have been in his 70s but was very vibrant, and he introduced the celebrating priest, Father Bob, who had his birthday yesterday. Of course I am picturing some mildly overweight, balding Fr. Bob, but when he walk down the aisle, he was a young Indian priest, who was excellent. When the congregation was praying the "Our Father" it was different from what I am used to. The cantor would sing a phrase, and as she finished, she would raise her arms and the congregation would echo the words. But this adorable elderly Latino woman behind me could not for the life of her figure out the cadence. Every single phrase, she would come in with this loud high pitched voice 2 or 3 beats ahead of everyone else. It was hysterical.
From church I was able to meed with some friends of a friend to golf. Gorgeous weather, there was a real live alligator on hole number 2. I got my first par of '08, and we finished about 15 1/2 holes. On the last hole, it was so dark we couldn't see. So we all hit drives, Greg lost his ball, I had a good drive and Dave crushed one over 300yrds. On the second shot, I lost my ball, and Dave put his within 5 feet of the hole, and he sank the put for the only birdie of the day. Fantastic.
Now, after taking a spin on the elliptical, I am ready for a late dinner. Florida is fun.

Long time

2007-06-29T15:10:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody, I know it's been a long time since last posting, but now that I have my new macbook, the updates should be frequent and exciting. I would like to celebrate today for several reasons. First, I officially finished my residency. It's been 3 years, and now its done, onto fellowship. Next, the chicago cubs won in dramatic fashion today when aramis ramirez hit a 2-run walk off homerun off of the most dominante closer in the national league. Lastly I have tix to the reds tonight, and I always like to hit the baseball game. Hope everyone enjoys the new improved blog.

Not so Bitter

2007-01-29T15:04:00.000-08:00

Sorry about that last blog everyone, but you know how easy it is to get cranky after a long layoff between sleeps. Anyway, as the readers of this pulitzer prize winning blog may know, I am a bit of a fan when it comes to professional sports. I would like to take a moment and congradulate both Tiger Woods and Roger Federer on their respective victories over this past weekend. As many in the media are saying, these gentlemen will be reveered, barring injury, as the greatest men in their sports. As was the case when Michael Jordan played, it is truely a joy and honor to be able to witness greatness as it is happening.

Is it that hard

2007-01-26T15:02:00.000-08:00

Honestly, I just spent 13 hours overnight in the hospital. 2 people had to go to intensive care, one lady didn't make it, a handfull of patients are begging for narcotic medications, and all I want is to do is give the info over to the daytime team, head home and get some sleep. But no, apparantly, the daytime employees feel that the 7 am start time is more of a suggestion than actual requirement. I suppose that it is just too much to expect people to be professional.

Not exactly up lifting

2007-01-22T23:16:00.000-08:00

http://bored.com/deathforecast/result.php?record=841058.
The above website predicted I will be 79 yrs old when I kick the bucket. On one hand, I am excited about the next 51 years, on the other hand, I was always shooting for 100.

9 to 5 it's not

2007-01-19T17:46:00.000-08:00

It is 1 in the morning and I am at the hospital ready for, at any moment, catastrophe to strike and to be thrown into life saving action. Actually, we have already admitted all the patients we are allowed to, and we don't actually go to the codes on this service, so I am futilly trying to go to sleep and can't. Therefore I blog

Fun Fun Fun

2007-01-16T14:32:00.000-08:00

The long weekend is over and it's back to work for everyone. I am especially excited because I start my last shift of overning work tomorrow. Sadly that means I'll miss a free dinner, a concert and a hockey game all tomorrow night, but oh well. I had a fun weekend. Swung up to Columbus to see the Blue Jackets get man-handled by the Nashville Predators, but with a name like the blue jackets how do you not lose every time? And capped off the evening enjoying some very average cover band music at the infamous Sneaky Pete's. And then on Sunday, broke out the Brady jersey and cheered on the New England Patriots to their very improbable win over the highly touted San Diego Chargers. Then got to spend MLK day answering 20 pages from different patients from my office, joy of joy's. Who knows what tom-foolery the following weeks will bring

Wild

2007-01-05T09:37:00.000-08:00

I tell you, my friends, I love the world of sports because it offers crazy and exciting moments. Boston College, my alma mater, recently won its seventh consecutive bowl game when the Navy Midshipmen inexplicably fumbled a pitch with under 2 minutes to go, and a walk on kicker, who never played football before this year, sent a 37 yard attempt down the middle to take the lead and victory as time expired.
And then last night, the Dallas Stars were playing the Edmonten Oilers. The Oilers had pulled their goalie to try to tie the game at 5 all. A star got a puck in front of the open net, and the puck magically hopped over his stick, he missed the net, Edmonten corralled the puck and scored with 2.5 seconds left to tie, so much fun.
Lastly, unrelated to sports, I took in "A Night at the Museum" last night, and was pleasantly surprised, it was quite funny, and the special effects made me yearn for about a decade delay for the release of Jumangi.

Happy New Year

2007-01-02T07:59:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year world. I rang in 007 at Sneaky Petes, and had a great time. Hope everyone has a great new year.

One more to go

2006-12-28T14:16:00.000-08:00

Today I brought new life into the world, which means that I only have one more to go before my necessary deliveries are done. This is a momentus occasion which means I have one more requirement almost out of the way. Hopefully the last delivery will not interfere with my plans to see the columbus blue jackets hockey game on 1/13 which was one of the many cool christmas gifts I got. Happy new year all.

Merry Christmas

2006-12-23T09:13:00.001-08:00

It is Christmas Eve Eve today, and I am off to the festivities of Canton, OH, so this will be the last post prior to christmas. I hope all my readers have a truely wonderful Holliday and we will talk to you next week.

Huge

2006-12-19T11:42:00.000-08:00

What a huge last ten days it has been for your's truely.

1) I was chosen to go on the ice at a local minor league hockey game, and won a free weekend to Vegas

2) I was featured on the local Cincinnati news for research I helped with regarding hockey

3) attended "thirsty thursday" promotion night at the cyclones hockey game where crazy people chugged beer on the ice for menial prizes

4) Saw the most rediculous thing at a local bar, there was this guy who had a drum set, no microphone, no band. So the bar then turned on the juke box, and this guy just drummed along. I think maybe he was warming up for a tryout with a cover band.

5) Went golfing on freakin' december 17th, it was 63 and beautiful.

to be honest, it was a fun week.

Rock Christmas

2006-12-08T10:46:00.000-08:00

Last night I got to go see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra at the US bank arena in beautiful down town Cincinnati. Many of you may know them for "Christmas Eve in Sarejevo" and it really was fantastic. Very reminiscent of an 80s band with the long hair and tight pants. The "orchestra" part was all of 4 violins, 2 violas and 2 chellos, not really orchestral in my view, but still cool. So after doing about an hour of rock versions of christmas music, they just break out into Clapton's "Vada" and suddenly I was listening to the worlds best cover band. Anyway, good times, and I am officially in the Christmas spirit.

Act Your Age

2006-12-06T18:42:00.000-08:00

This is crazy. Today I'm in the hot tub at the gym enjoying the jets of warm water gently and rythmiclly massaging my sore back when this guy wearing camo swim trunks starts to head toward the jacuzzi. No big deal, right? It is a gym and there are often multiple people in there. However, there is a nice little set of stairs allowing entry into the warm water. This guy, who had to be at least 45 years old, gets a two step running start and leaps into the hot tub, subsequently splashing water, which is 89% chlorine, into my face. As I try to rub the burning out of my eyes, this guy then stands up and takes his trunks down to around his knees, and then submerges himself entirely under the hot water. Now you will have to believe I was suffering from a bit of trepidation. I was now alone, in a hot tub at the gym with a middle aged naked man somewhere under the 105 degree water. Being to scared to move, I remained still and 45 seconds later the man emerges, now completely naked, tosses his camo trunks on the ground hops out of the hot tub and storms off into the locker room. what the %$#!$

Doctor Diva

2006-12-02T06:51:00.000-08:00

I like to think that I am a pretty laid back guy, but the other night I busted out the attitude for the first time in a while. Let me set the stage first. Two weeks ago I get paged at 1 AM by the hospital because they apparantly can't reach the doctor in the hospital for a question. Well, apparantly they paged me and two other docs at the same time, so that when I called back at 1:20 am, they said "oh, never mind we got it." And that was a bit frustrating, but apparantly the other doc that called in explained the appropriate chain of numbers to call to contact the in house doctor. Fast forward 10 days, and I get paged at 2:55 AM. I call the emergency room at 3:15 and get the same response, "oh, never mind" And that was it, I kind of lost it, I yelled at that person, that persons boss, the bosses boss and kept people on the phone for 20 minutes at 3 am verbally lashing them until I was satisfied that enough information had been exchanged so that this doesn't happen again. I felt a little bad for getting all up in there grill, but honestly I was exhausted.
Nintend dogs rule

Creepy old guys

2006-11-26T15:07:00.000-08:00

So I just got back from the gym and man are there a lot of creepy old guys. As if old naked guys walking around isn't bad enough, today I go to throw my towell in the hamper, and miss. I walk over to it wearing just my happy face boxers because I like to feel happy after a work out, and pick up the towel with my feet and toss it in the hamper. I turn around and there is this old guy just staring at me. For a second I thought he was going to make some jack ass comment about my boxers but then he said "what dexterity" and gave me this huge goofy grin.

12 worse than 13

2006-11-22T08:59:00.000-08:00

Ok, so everyone has heard that 13 is an unlucky number, despite studies that show there are no more accidental deaths on friday the 13th than on any other friday. And actually the whole concept of 13 being unlucky is from those crazy christians because guess how many people were at the last supper? That's right, and it didn't exactly end well for the big JC. Anyway, I think that 12 is even worse and here is why. We had 12 guys playing hockey the other night and lost 4-0 to a terrible team. We have never won having 12. with 11 you have an extra center, 10 is a perfect 2 lines, nine means the defense can play one short (no big deal) and 13 gives 3 lines of offense and 2 lines of defense. BUT with 12 you always have someone pissed either there are 5 defensmen which sucks or there is an extra winger which sucks or you have 3 sets of wings and 2 centers which pisses off everyone. That's it, 12 is terrible (Oh, snap, I just remembered if you count our goalie, that's 13... creepy)

hooray hockey

2006-11-18T11:09:00.000-08:00

The big football game gets underway in a few moment. whoopie.
Anyway, I had a hockey game last night and got 2 goals both on the backhand, yeah. Oh, and I found out that when you dream, there is a complete shift in the chemical balance in your brain, yikes.

Congradulations Madd Dog

2006-11-15T14:47:00.000-08:00

I was excited to hear today that Greg Maddux has won his record tying 16th gold glove for defensive superiority on the baseball field. I have always been a big fan of Maddux, and it was great to see the sure fire first ballot hall of famer recognized yet again for his outstanding efforts in the field of play.

In other news I was a bit dissappointed last night as my hockey lesson was not all it could be. The ice was shaved, not new, and the lesson was cut a half hour short by another group of puckers. And after all that, it was still full price, what the heck? Oh well

Politics, Politics, Politics, Politics, Politics.

2006-11-09T14:54:00.000-08:00

Who else is glad the mid term elections are over? The people have spoken and after 6 years of W, they are ready for a change and that is democrat. I guess I am officially a conservitive, but I can not blame these people. The best news is that the smoking ban passed here in Ohio, so by this time next year I can hit the clubs and not come home smelling like a dirty ashtray. Hoo-Ray

Crap

2006-11-08T07:02:00.000-08:00

My muffeler blew, the whole thing just popped. So that was a tidy little unexpected stop at the mechanics. But the guy I go to is cool, and said he saved me a hundred bucks (nice guy) and I believed him (sucker) but at least the muffler is better and I can hear important things while driving like the radio, my phone, myself think.

I must be 2 thin

2006-11-05T15:36:00.000-08:00

Obviously the title of this blog is rediculous and obsequious, especially since my BMI of 29.6 puts me 0.4 points under the obese range. But honestly. Today I went to Wendy's for lunch. I got th #7, and for those of you who do not frequent the Wendy's as much as I, that is the crispy chicken sandwhich, I ordered the side ceaser salad instead of fries, and a diet coke. So over all, not a holy unhealthy order. But the thing is that this is the third consecutive time that they have given me the salad AND the fries. Are they not paying attention, is this a new promotion, or do I appear to be wasting away to practically nothing. Oh I suppose I could remind them and simply disregard the fries, but it is so hard to deny something free. That's it, no more fries. (today)

3s

2006-11-02T15:13:00.000-08:00

People often say bad things happen in 3s. Assuming that the fall on the ice was #1, then I think I completed the trifecta. The other day I was working out on the elipical machine, reached for my watter bottle and... Missed my entire mouth. Got nothing but chin, and the water ran off my chin onto the elipitcal console, must have gotten inside the buttons and freakin shorted out the machine. There was no smoke but the display went dark and wouldnt turn on. Of course being the upstanding patron of the gym, I ran off and told no one, haven't been back since.

And if that was number 2, then number 3 would be my viewing of the movie "Constantine" last night with keanu reeves. The former Ted Theadore Logan of Wild Stallions fame struggled to breath life into this limp attempt at a supernatural thriller. Needless to say... I guess I don't need to say it.

Thank goodness, now I can expect 3 good things, because that is the way it works.

Man that hurt

2006-10-28T19:17:00.000-07:00

I like to think I am a pretty humble guy. In fact there is no one more humble than me. But every once in a while you have that event that helps to bring you even a notch further down the humble ladder. Today I went ice skating with my friend and her 11 yr old son. I was trying to teach the kid how to stop on skates when I bit it... Hard. Man that hurt. Imagine, my ass going from 3 feet in the air onto the rock hard, ice cold... ice and putting 215 pounds of pure man on top of it (that's right, I'm a big boy). After some R&R and some ibuprophen, my back side is starting to improve, but it will be a long road to recovery.

JL strikes again

2006-10-27T16:29:00.000-07:00

I had planned on dedicating this entry to a movie I saw today entitled "Seducing Dr. Lewis" Which is a foreign film that takes place in a tiny village in rural France that needs to convince a doctor to work there full time or the town will go under. It was a cute film and reminded me a lot of "Waking Ned Divine." However, the day was soiled by my return trip to the Jiffy Lube. I went to go get my aforementioned receipt, and because it took me 3 days instead of one, they decided that their corkboard space was too precious and threw away my recipt, but decided to keep the scrap of paper that had my name and phone number. Then the employee had the stones to tell me that it was my fault for not coming the next day. Well pardon me ass wipe, for working 13 hours overnight and having to help people when their hearts stop or their lungs give out. Crimeny! Now the brainiacs at the JL claim they will mail the receipt, which in the grand scheme of things really doesn't mean anything anyways since I paid cash. I am spent after typeing all this, goodnight.

Aviator

2006-10-26T16:11:00.000-07:00

As the title of this entry implies, I saw the Aviator last night starring Leonardo DiCaprio. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. There was great camera work, I found the choices for background music interesting at times, and the acting was well done. I don't know, the whole thing with 50 bottles of urine in the theater really creeped me out, who does that?
In other news, the World Series, the only thing I look forward to every year was rained out last night. Hopefully, they will be able to play this evening.

How many Jiffy Lube employees does it take?

2006-10-23T21:26:00.000-07:00

Being time for the every important oil change in my car, I took my illustrious ford escort to jiffy lube, which is just a stones throw from my place. I dropped it off and went back to my condo so as to be productive with laundry and cleaning and the like. Returning to the JL about a half our later, my car is done, and I proceed to stand in line for 20 minutes while the braintrust behind the counter fumbles unproductively on their circa 1992 PC to ring up the customer in front of me. Apparent something drastic had gone wrong, and they could not figure it out. Finally I just slapped some money on the counter, gave them my name and said I'd return on the morrow for my receipt. Cheese and Rice, is it that hard to operate a computer (says the man who calls the only reader of this blog for any and all technical problems)

Scanner

2006-10-21T20:57:00.000-07:00

Scanning in photographs, I found is not a particularly difficult task. However, today I scanned in 5 pictures, only to find that each one of them was terribly tainted with several dust particles. Much to my chagrin, the particles were not on the scanner, but in it. How, oh how can I solve this problem? Help

A Classic

2006-10-19T21:47:00.000-07:00

In a great game 7, The St. Louis cardinals defeated the New York Mets 3-1. There was a fantastic leaping grab by the Met's Left fielder, a couple of ridiculous errors (one on each side) and some great pitching. In the end it was the light hitting Yadier Molina of the Molina brothers, who deposited a 2 run home run over the left field wall which provided the margin of victory. Though the Cardinals' closer made it interesting by loading the bases before striking out Carlos Beltran, the cardinal killer, LOOKING, how can you end your teams' season looking. On a side note, St. Louis should consider relegating Preston Wilson to East St. Louis for as bad as he sucked. A mean thing to say about Mookie's step-son, but sometime the truth hurts.

2006-10-18T21:33:00.000-07:00

I came to the realization that a majority of my blog entries begin with the word "so". and this disturbs me greatly. With all of the verbage afforded us by the english language, to begin my tale telling with such a drab word is inexplicable. I am going to try and start no more entries with that sad, small little word.

Everyone knows its Wendy...

2006-10-17T14:53:00.000-07:00

Two epiphanies struck me today while in the que at the local Wendy's resturant. First,is that chipotle can have a line literally 3 times longer than the 6 people I was behind today and still serve you in a more timely fashion. They have truely mastered fast service. Secondly, and this may just be a personal thing, but if I believe that the establishment serving my food is up to healthcode in sanitation, I would prefer that my server not be wearing a gold grill whilst I order my crispy chicken sandwhich.

Cubs Get a New Captain

2006-10-16T15:40:00.000-07:00

So after the regime of Dusty Baker came to a close in the Windy City, there was much speculation that the Cubbies would turn to Joe Girardi who was recently fired by the Florida Marlins, and who many believe will win the Manager of the Year award. However, the North Side occupants announced today that they will instead go with the well traveled Lou Pinnella. Lou won the world series while managing the Reds in 1990, and since then was the skipper for the Seattle Mariners, and the much maligned Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Over the last season, Lou was a full time commentator, but apparently has had the coaching itch, and decided to scratch it in Chicago. Hopefully the Cubs can garner some more talent for Sweet Lou to work with, otherwise there isn't much reason to expect an '07 post season birth regardless of who is at the helm.

Hooray

2006-10-15T14:40:00.000-07:00

I learned today that I passed step 3 of my board examinations. For those of you who don't know, this test is a 2 day, five hours per day exam that evaluates your overall medical knowledge. Now that it is behind me I can move forward towards becoming the worlds most wonderful doctor. Yea!

Being John Diehl

2006-10-14T08:58:00.000-07:00

So I watch "Being John Malchovich" and I came to the conclusion that Mr. Malchovich is a fine actor. When he was acting as if John Cusak's character was controlling hime, I believed it. But overall just a strange movie. The most amazing thing is they succeeded in making Cameron Diaz look unattractive. No small feat.

5 in 3

2006-10-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

So I learned today that I am not the most patient of people. I got up and played hockey at 6 a.m. And I realize that this is a good way to exercise and have fun, and I know I am not the most talented player ever, but sweet jimminy did the guys I played with this morning suck. They were slow, no one could make a good pass, people fell down. I am not going to go pro, but I would still like to get better, and playing with these jokers is not going to help attain that goal.
But keep on pressin, this was the first of 5 times I plan to play hockey this weekend.

That's Big

2006-10-12T14:30:00.000-07:00

So I love getting the kids meals. They are just the right portion size, they come in a colorful bag and are often accompanied by a special surprize. So this day at Wendy's the little toy was a personal record kit from the guinness book of world records. In it are cards with differnt random facts as well as a tablet so that you can keep a journal of all the world records you set in daily life(like the number of bad blogs you read).
But one of the cards said the tallest man ever was Robert Wadlow who, when he died in 1940, was 8 feet 11 inches. That is freakin huge. My best verticle jump only takes me to 8'8'', way to go robert.

Dream Big my friends

2006-10-11T19:55:00.000-07:00

So I've started reading this book I got in D.C. about Dreams and how they are actually a marriage of art and science, and let me say that 2 pages into it I am fascinated. However, I had to stop to look up the word exegesis, which means, according to Webster.com, an explanation or critical interpretation of a text.

I personally felt that the author was just trying to show off w/ fancy words. Anyway, I also found that the local library branch near me has an awsome music collection (OK, well maybe not awsome, but still there are several hundred titles from both country and western) and I can borrow the CDs, rip them to the computer, and Bob's your uncle. Not only that, but also quite the movie selection, and as we all know I am never going back to that blockbuster crap. So I rented Being John Malchovich, can't wait to see it.

that's all for tonight knuckleheads

Something for our sporting friends

2006-10-10T08:32:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be a good idea if I put together our graduation slide show for the event next spring. Not only could I offer my superior knowledge of imovie and idvd to the project, but I could also decide which if any of the numerous embarrasing pictures of myself make it into said presentation.

In other news, I found out the origins of the game of lacross, according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacrosse, The sport was invented by Native North Americans. Its name was dehuntshigwa'es in Onondaga ("men hit a rounded object"), da-nah-wah'uwsdi in Eastern Cherokee ("little war"), Tewaarathon in Mohawk language ("little brother of war"), and baaga'adowe in Ojibwe ("bump hips").

The game was named lacrosse by early French observers. It is widely and inaccuratley believed that the name stems from the French term "crosse", for the shepherd's crooklike crosier carried by bishops as a symbol of office. Pierre Francois Xavier de Charlevoix noted the resemblance between the crosier and the shape of the racket stick in 1719. Nevertheless, the notion that the name lacrosse derives from this reference is a myth, albeit a remarkably persistent one. In fact, the term crosse was a general word in French for any type of bat or stick used in a ball game. The term crosse was applied to the Native playing stick by the Jesuit fathers nearly a century before. The name lacrosse is simply a reflection of this term, and perhaps a shorthand for a phrase such as "le jeu de la crosse" (the game of the stick)." [6]

and if medicine doesn't work out, look out lacrosse league

What I learned today

2006-10-09T19:48:00.000-07:00

So today I am at the gym and doing my typical exercise on the elliptical machine, and there are all these numbers and lights on the machines that show how far you've gone and how many calories you've burned but there is also this category entitled "mets" and assuming it had nothing to do with baseball, I asked a personal trainer what a met was. What I found out was two fold. First, 2 personal trainers and a physical therapist at my gym have no idea what a met is, and second, according to http://www.brianmac.demon.co.uk/mets.htm, The energy cost of an activity can be measured in units called METS, which are multiples of your basal metabolic rate.

which begs the question, what is a basal metabolic rate, and the same site states, Basal metabolic rate (BMR) is "the energy required for essential physiological functioning after 8 hours sleep and 12 hours fasting" - the number of calories to keep your body functioning whilst at rest. Your BMR (calories/day) can be estimated by multiplying your weight in pounds by ten for women and eleven for men e.g. a 150lb man has a BMR of 69 calories/hour (150 Ã 11 Ã· 24).

therefore a met is your BMR times x. Thank you and good night.

What I learned

2006-10-08T20:31:00.000-07:00

Hello to all the W. Addison fans, and thanks for reading. There has been a shake up in management and the format for this particular blog is undergoing a change, meaning that I am actually going to update the freaking thing

first, we had the fall formal for all the doctors, residents and dentists at a country club last night. The food was good and the drinks were free, and lets just say that some people really hit the bar hard. Dancing is a lot more fun if there are other people doing it.

second, I am going to start something that I hope will change the world. I am going to write down one thing I learned everyday, whether it be a new song, how to do a magic trick, random trivia or the meaning of life. And I would like to encourage my readers to submit something that they have learned and by way of international interaction we can stimulate some resounding conversations or get people interested in events and activities that they may have never been interested in otherwise.
So for today 10/8/06, I learned about a little shop just down the road from me called Micro wines (microwines.com) and they have wines from smaller vineyards from all over the world and every Friday have a wine tasting with appetizers and a presentation from an area expert in the tasty beverage. I hope to attend one of these tastings over the next couple months.

and again, I encourage all of my readers to submit anything at all, a new math equation, the secret to dusting stereos, a recipe for chicken, and we can all benefit.

Here we go

2006-10-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to see if I remembered to log on. Updates on my recent trips to Sandusky, chicago and DC soon to come. peac

iTunes iRock

2006-03-03T14:51:00.000-08:00

As if iPod was not already the best thing since bread came sliced. First of all it is desinged to delight the eyes, and then the ease of use is just rediculous. But now it is also inspirational. Prior to each of my last 2 hockey games, I have sat in thoughtful meditation in the locker room while vibing to my iPod. In those two games I have had 3 goals, 2 assists, no penalties, a plus/minus of +5, and the game winner in my teams first victory this session. Thank you iTunes, Thank you apple.

Tom-foolery

2006-02-20T05:22:00.000-08:00

So it was a pretty good weekend, my friend. I delivered my first baby. 1 down, 9 to go. I then went to a wine tasting w/ the daggy's that was a bid weird. I guess the more astute a taster you are, the more you regurgitate into the spit jar. And then I went ice skating w/ a co-worker and her kid. This guy was skating right at me, thinking he was going to lay a hard hit, when I moved at the last minute and the kid absolutely smashed into the boards and fell to the ice in comedic agony. Man I loved it. Ah well, back to make the doughnuts.

It's friday night

2006-02-17T20:18:00.000-08:00

Hello ladies and gentle men. I greet you from the friendly confines of Bethesda north Hospital. I am currently saving lives and stamping out disease, and just wanted to pause for a moment to share my joy with all of you <> Wasn't that wonderful. Well I guess that unconscious guy on the fifth floor is calling my name (well, he's not actually calling, the nurse is because he's unconscious). Have a good night and a pleasant tomorrow.

Garage Band Rock

2006-02-13T19:56:00.000-08:00

So today I attended my first lecture at the apple store. It was great. I learned all about Garage Band 3. However, I have garage band 2, so I will just extrapolate the pertinant information I gleaned from the lecture and apply it appropriately to my own software. I will be spinnin tunes that will knock off your socks, droppin sweet beats like a bunch of hot rocks. Wow, I'm doing it already.

Super Blow

2006-02-07T06:59:00.000-08:00

I guess I will congradulate the Pittsburgh Steelers on winning superbowl XL. It takes a lot of benjamin's to buy off all those referees. All the superbowl really means is that football (also known as "stupid" around the country) is finally over and there are less than 2 weeks until pitchers and catchers report for spring training and this country's true national pastime will be underway in '06. As I've been saying for 25 years, THIS is the Cubs year.

I hate cell phones

2006-01-26T12:04:00.000-08:00

I do hate cell phones, but specifically I hate cingular wireless. Not only have I had to deal w/ bad coverage, poor customer service and a crappy phone for the last 2 years, but now that I stuck it out through the contract, I find there is no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, only a lump of poo. I tried to upgrade my P.O.S phone today, first I dealt w/ dumb and dumber at the worst phone store ever, then went online and found that you can't just be rewarded w/ a new phone, oh no. They want the rights to suck away another 2 years of your life to their evil ways. I have had it. I threw my old phone off the bridge into the putrid Ohio River and I am now cell phone free. So it might be really, really hard to get ahold of me for a while, but have no fear, I will press on and continue to fight against all that is wrong and cellular.

Amazing

2006-01-24T06:00:00.000-08:00

This is, in fact, John Diehl writing from the world famous childrens hospital of cincinnati for this weeks update. First off, congrads to the Pitsburg Steelers and Seattle Seahawks on making it to Superbowl extra-large, unfortunately no one cares. To quote david letterman, after Kobe Bryant scored 81 points 2 nights ago, second most ever, he then went out an bought his wife a huge ring, I guess out of habit. And Alexander Ovechkin, hockey player for the washington capitals, last week scored one of the most amazing goals ever, while on his back, sliding away from the goal, one handed using the very tip of his stick, you'd have to see it to believe it. No crazy stuff at work yet today but I'm sure something spine tingling will happen sooner or later.

Nano-riffic

2006-01-16T10:22:00.000-08:00

So, on the advice of someone in the know, I went out and got the agent 18 protective cover for my new ipod nano. this is a fantastic product. Not only is it sharp in appearance and effective in protection, but it also came w/ a cling to add protection to the screen and an adaptor so that you can dock the ipod without removing the cover. Now all I need is a way to keep the cover on when I workout because my current set up requires removal of the case. But otherwise, great product.

Welcome 2006

2006-01-02T11:06:00.001-08:00

Hello and happy holiday's everyone. What an exciting couple of weeks it has been. First what is better than christmas with Grandma and her delicious mashed potatos. My brother, always the gentleman, got me a brand new iPod Nano. It is impossibly small and a lot of fun. Then Paul, of dport7 fame, came down to the Cinci area and we hit the town like gangbusters. Then we had to say goodby to '05, and welcome to '06. Rachel and I got to do this down at the wonderful Jillian's establishment. Sword swallowers, fire eaters, tons of food, air hockey, bowling and champagne. What a great way to ring in the new year. Happy 06 everyone

Good Week

2005-12-15T19:22:00.000-08:00

hey everyone, what a fun week it has been in the world of John. First I got to go hang out with my cousin krissy in Columbus OH. We had an awsome meal at the Mongolian Grill, man those guys can cook. Then it was the coolest game. The blue jackets took on the Devils and it was great. A guy who graduated the year after me from BC scored a goal, and a teen phenome for columbus scored 2. The game was tied at the end of regulation taking it to overtime. The Jackets absolutely sucked in OT, they couldn't pass, they couldn't shoot, they could not do anything until they scored with 12 freakin seconds left. Fantastic.
Then a couple days ago was one of my favorite type of days. It just did not stop, I went to the office, then to lectures, then to the gym, then to a cookie partie with the co-workers, then to trivia night at the dubliner pub, then to my own hockey game. We lost, but I got a penalty and an assist, so that's good. Then to the bar with the fellas before absolutely collapsing in bed. Man those are good days. To top it off, we will soon be invaded by the killer snow-man army from calvin and hobbs if my mom has anything to say about it.

Stupid

2005-12-10T16:15:00.000-08:00

So I had tix a couple days ago to go see a concert down town. But there was so much snow, that people were only moving 3 miles/hour on the high way, which precluded me from seeing the concert. However, since the money grubbing punks at US Bank arena don't care about the people, they put the show on anyway. Now on their flippin web site, they say that they are "trying to address" the thousands of people who could not get there. It's not that hard to address. Give me my money back. Arrggghhh.

Skater Girl

2005-12-01T19:17:00.000-08:00

I'd like to thank my skateboarding brother, for it is through the peripheral knoweldge of the skating world i learned years ago that I was able to comment on a girls Independant sweatshirt at work. This earned me a date and digits, rock. Sadly, I lost the number, and no longer work with her, crap.

I Hate Cell Phones

2005-11-19T18:49:00.000-08:00

So I just went to see the new Harry Potter, which was a very good movie especially on the IMAX screen. But here's the thing, cell phones need to be banned from theaters all together. Not only is there at least one moron that does not turn off the phone even after the on screen reminder, but now you have to deal with people checking to see who is calling their silenced phone or texting friends from the theater. The guy in front of me might as well put a flashlight in my face when he was texting, it absolutely ruined the film for me. And it wasn't just him. Being in one of the back rows, there were little points of rectangular light throughout the audience. Seriously, if your not going to go to a movie to watch it, then don't go and save your 10 bucks.

SNOW

2005-11-17T20:46:00.000-08:00

Happy winter every one. Yesterday cincinnati saw the first snow flurries of the year. I am very excited. This is the best time of the year. The snow is coming, hockey is in full swing, and all the holidays with Christmas, thanksgiving, New Years, and Quanza. who wouldn't love this time of the year. i also had a discussion with a friend of mine, and he theorizes that you can adequately strengthen all of your major muscle groups with only three exercises: squats, bench press and dead lift. Fascinating.

Happy Birthday

2005-11-10T19:24:00.000-08:00

If you scanned the shirt, it would read Happy Birthday. It might also read 2 for 1. Happy 25th to Paul S. Preston Esquire, lead guitar player of Wild Stallions. You will never again have to pay a penalty for being to young to rent a car, so you got that going for ya'. On a side note, what do tight jeans a sweatshirt and knee high boots with fur trim have in common? Apparently they are the newly accepted ensemble to walk the track in the gym.

Happy November

2005-11-06T12:02:00.000-08:00

What a way to start the month. I am working with the kids, and they get me sick right away. Then I have to take a test at work and absolutely bomb it, and now the hospital has me working the graveyard shift. What the heck. But hey, how about that hair.

October in review

2005-11-02T17:35:00.000-08:00

What a month. The White Sox are world champs after 88 years, I took care of dozens of people with no major incidents, and Hockey is back on Eh! Now it's off to the land of the lilliputians as I will brave the festering world of the children's Emergency Room. Not only to I get to take care of the ill little ankle biters, but they have me working overnight on Thanksgiving. Punks. But this shout out is to honor the 2 best partying physicians I've met. So without further ado, put your hands together for those dynamic dancing doctor divas, Stacy and Shama, take a bow. Kareoke never looked so good. Actually I'm sure it has, but the picture came from the wall of the VT.

Astros Roll

2005-10-22T16:44:00.000-07:00

As the '05 World Series is about to begin. I would just like to congradulate this years participants on their accomplishments thus far. The White Sox staved off a late season lull to win their division, they rolled through the defending champs, Boston, and took down the Angels with some help from the umps. The Astros were able to survive the aforementioned crushing game five loss, and perservered to become the first Texas team ever in the fall classic. Meanwhile the Sox get into the series for the first time since '59, and are trying to end their own 86 year drought between championships. I look forward to a low scoring, well pitched world series and may the best team win.

Pujols Rocks

2005-10-19T12:24:00.000-07:00

We'll see if the ending in game five has any bering on tonights contest in St. Louis. But I want to just take a moment and pay the most sincerest congradulations to the Cardinals on the game five win. For those non-baseball fans this was something out of a story book. The Astros were winning by 1 run with 2 outs and 2 strikes on the third batter in the ninth inning. One strike away from going to the world series for the first time. The Houston club has been close other times, well chronicled on sports shows around the country these last few days. They were just one more strike from the fall classic for the first time in the 45 year history of the club. But that last strike was put into play for a base hit, and the next batter walked. This brought up the best hitter in the game today. Albert Pujols then, with a might swing, deposited the 1-2 hanging slider from the most dominate closing pitcher in the game onto the train tracks behind the stunned Astro fans. You could hear his foot steps as he ran the bases, it was that quiet. The wonderful thing is that this most amazing sequence of events transpired over the course of 10 minutes, and it just happened to be the ten minutes I had off from work when some one wasn't complaining of pain, or dropping their pressurs, or falling over. It was a beautiful thing, and I am grateful for having witnessed it. Thank you Albert, thank you Cardinals, thank you baseball for injecting much needed excitement into my otherwise quiet life.

Thoughts

2005-10-11T07:50:00.000-07:00

I have decided that the next time there is an employee talent show, I will preform a flawless lip-sync to Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" Thoughts?

I was thinking the other day, while buttoning my shirt, that I can remember being a little kid and actually being excited about buttoning my shirt. Now its not only not exciting, but downright mundane. Why is it that events that were once delightful become a bore. I mean if it was fun once, why does it stop being fun? Thoughts?

This guy in Subway had his cell phone ringer set to the infamous "Barbie Girl" song. Just creepy.

Manly or not

2005-10-06T15:24:00.000-07:00

So today at the gym, I'm getting changed in the locker room and they are piping in cheesy music. It happens to be the tune "My Guy," and some guy elsewher in the locker room is softly singing along. How he did not get a beat down I don't know, but I ran.

Zoo Party

2005-09-26T15:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had the pleasure to see the immortal Blessed Union of Souls play at the Cincinnati Zoo for the zoo's 130th birthday. Man those guys can rock, but I'd still take the tiger in a fight.

Wedding Bells

2005-09-21T15:51:00.000-07:00

And this weekend I had the honor of being best man at Mr. Matt Geiger's Wedding in Marshall, MI. (I just can't stay away from the wolverines) We had a crazy day of golf and a beautiful Wedding and reception. Hope the Alaskan Honeymoon rocks.

2005-09-21T15:47:00.000-07:00

The Big House

2005-09-20T19:29:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay in updates, so much going on. But last week I had the pleasure of joining mr. Ron thompson and crew in the exciting Notre Dame vs. Michigan college footbal game in which the mighty fighting irish upset the heavily favored Wolverines. And I learned how to shotgun a beer.

Labor Day Fireworks

2005-09-05T11:57:00.001-07:00

So this is supposed to be a huge deal here in Cin town. These fire works put on by a local radio station. And I go down there with some neighbors and the fire works are great, very colorful. But I want to give 3 cheers to the abundant white trash of the tristate area. This clown and his whore girlfriend, right as the fireworks begin, come up and stand right on my neighbors blanket, which he set up 5 hours earlier to have a good view. The moronic couple then begins moving stuff around on the blanket and dive into their cover beer that they snuck in. What's wrong with people, honestly. But at least the fire works lived up to the hype. Nicely done

The Renegade Gambler Strikes Again

2005-09-05T11:57:00.000-07:00

JD, the renegade Gambelr, along with his sidekick lemur, Blur, are once again on the run from the law. Be ware, this desparate duo will do anything to not be wisked off to the local jail. Watch out!

Chicago '05: Part 3

2005-09-04T15:18:00.000-07:00

So now, after that great first day, the exciting part of the adventure begins. Happy Birthday to me 8/28. After a lovely mass at Holy Name Cathedral, its off to Wonderful Wrigley Field. In the Subway station, I help a bunch of guys who are also going to the game by telling them which way to go and what stop to get off. From then till the end of the subway ride I was known as
"the embassador of Chicago" to this group of mildly inebriated bleacher bums.

Once in the stadium I take my seat (8 rows off the field...Sweet). There was a wonderful ceremony for Mr. Ryne Sandberg, they raised his flag on the right field foul pole, and he and his wife walk around the ball park to a thunderous standing ovation for one of the top 10 second basemen ever. He also threw out the first pitch and sang "Take me out to the ballgame" as the Cubs man handled the Marlins 14-3 in the most exciting blowout I've ever seen. Truely a happy Birthday.

Chicago '05: Part 2

2005-09-03T13:36:00.000-07:00

After the theater and bidding farewell to my new friend from down under, I took a stroll to famous Navy Pier. Along with the bright lights and bustling people, it seems that the pier had gone international this particular night. Just a few yards onto the pier there was a cruise ship that said "Jazz Moonlight cruise" and forming a huge line were all the brothers of Chi town and their fine women. Then, there was another ship that read "Starlight Salsa Cruise" and sure enogh all of the latinos in the area had shown up for a night on the water. A little farther down was the Budwiser Beer garden and some Jamaican band. This seemed to be the hangout for the resident white trash of Chicago. And at the very end of the pier in this large, glass room were a sect of the rich white folk all enjoying an extravagant wedding reception. It was like the Epcot of Illinois. On the way back to my hotel room I was able to admire the massive ferris wheel. That was until I was surrounded by 4 large black men and one of them dumped 1/3 of his beer on my leg, and then began fiercly beating the cloth of my pant leg so as to "not waste any beer" Thank god I was to tired to retaliate in any way, because I think I may night be writing these words to all my readers if I had tried to step to this group of rabble. As it was, I walked on and anticipated the comeing day of baseball and birthday celebration.

Chicago '05: Part 1

2005-09-03T13:17:00.000-07:00

Okay everyone, and Paul, here it is, the thrilling rendition of my trip to chicago, so expansive in description and exhastive in adventure that it needs 3 parts to be told. To begin, I arrived in the Windy City 8/27 in the late afternoon. After checking in and having nothing to do I wandered down to the theater district to see what was playing on the stage this warm saturday evening. Well, it turns out the newest Broadway sensation, Wicked, is playing. I go up to the box office and try to buy a ticket.

"sold out," the gentleman says. "But you can enter the drawing next door at Borders for discount tickets to tonights show"

So that's what I do. But my name in the hat, sit down and read a book until the drawing. The guy calls 2 or 3 names, and then says, "and all the way from Cincinnati, OH, John Diehl"
Wah-hoo I think. I jump up and get my tickets. They actually give you 2 fron row tix for $25 each. So who to take? Once it was known I had an extra seat, I was instantly popular with offers left and right. But I decided on a sweet Aussie named Amy Edwards who starts school in Canada in 2 days. We get our tix with an hour to kill. So what to do in Chicago, go bowling of course. Right next to the house of blues was a cool ally called 10 pin w/ a dozen huge projection screens a full bar and great music. After a game, off to the Theater, and it just happened that we were dead center, front row. Not bad. The show was great and the music was better, and the lead was this famous chick from Saturday night live. A rock and roll evening, but things were just getting started on the Big B-day Weekend.

Art can be Fun

2005-08-27T05:52:00.000-07:00

Two fun observations from my time at the Holy Grail, an establishment for refreshments and live music which I accompanied some aspiring artists and a bible study group. First I saw a girl that looked just like Sloan from Ferris Bueller. But when I asked she said no, she wasn't. Oh well. Second, some wash room graffitti read "Be Donkey," and even though I really took it to heart, I'm not sure what it means. What I do no is that there is no more Donkey of a site than DPort7.

Just Because

2005-08-25T20:54:00.000-07:00

I really don't have anything profound to comment on, nor do I have a fascinating event in my life to share. I just wanted to say that I think Paul Diehl rocks, He is the best product designer I know, and congradulations on the new job and the new place.

Stripes Salute

2005-08-24T19:06:00.000-07:00

So today I went to boot camp. An excercise program offered by my gym. Half way through we got paired up w/ other exercisers, so I got put with this random girl. And one exercise was push ups, which I can't do because of a bum shoulder. So this girl is doning these one arm push ups, and I'm cheering her on since I am not doing any thing else. After she finished the right arm and switched to the left I yelled out "just like last time only better," and no one got the homage to Bill Murray's brilliant character Private Winger. Three Cheers for Bill

Those hot summer nights

2005-08-20T05:54:00.000-07:00

The fun and frivolity of Aug '05 continues. 8/16 John goes with his cousins to see the Cincinnati Tennis tournament, where I got to see the number 2 player in the world lose to a nobody in an absolutly ripping game. Afterward my cousins and I enjoyed a couple hours of billiards on their basement table. Man I love pool. The next day brought more sports and more family members. My cousin Karen accompanied me to the Cincinnati Reds game, and we watched them put up a valliant fight before losing 3-2 to the SanFran Giants. Not without drama, though, as Sean Casey came up to PH with 2 out and 1 on in the bottom of the ninth down by one he clobbered the 3rd pitch hurled at him to the deepest part of the ball park before it was tracked down by the center fielder. Drat
Then comes the Clifton Pub crawl. Accompanied by the incomprable Dr. Bishop, we hit 3 bars, played darts and bocci ball, had a few drinks and absolutely owned photo hunt all in the name of a free t-shirt, and that was only the beginning as on 8/19 there was a CSL/q102 happy hour. 2 margaritas and 10 beers for 10 bucks, tough to beat that. I did learn one thing, Happy hour is more fun if you go with other people, but don't fret friends of the blog, john hung out with the cuervo girls, got all kinds of promotional goodies and gave his extra drink tix to a group of darling young ladies before calling it a night.

Great Weekend in August

2005-08-16T05:02:00.000-07:00

What a fun weekend it was. 8/12 I went the first pre-season game of the year for the Cincinnati Bengals. That is how pathetic the NFL (National Felons League) is, that they have so few games you have to get excited about pre-season. They took on the mighty New England Patriots. I, being a boston fan, walked in proudly sporting my Tom Brady jersey and received several derisive remarks, such as "patriots suck." Thus illustrating the collective idiocy of the Bengals fans. How can a team who has won 3 out of 4 superbowls suck? I don't know. Then it was off to the Clifton area for me to celebrate the Pat's victory and my friends to wallow in the concept of another sub-par season for the local football club
Saturday 8/13 brought the group Smash Mouth to a town just north of Cinci, they preformed at the Union Center Bash. It was a great show, the lead singer performed with energy and vigor. They played all their hits, threw in Johnny's got a gun and Running with the devil, and ended on All star. The cool part was that through the show, there was a massive cloud off to the west that was constantly lighting. It was a light show a la nature
And Sunday 8/14 brought me back to my roots in Defiance OH to celebrate the 80th B-day of my grandmother. Granted her birthday is November 19th, but whose counting. Nice weather, free food, and ultimate frisbee with the kids. Goodness knows I love the kids. Thats it for now all you skaters, check you later.

HOF

2005-08-03T08:59:00.000-07:00

The Baseball hall of fame was awsome. There were 50 of the 62 living members present, and it was a great time. But I'll tell you what, Cooperstown is the middle of no where. Its like the hicksville of NY. I got interviewed by a reporter from the Cooperstown Crier, so maybe I'll be in the paper. Cubs are the best

Musings of a disgruntled traveller

2005-07-28T07:02:00.000-07:00

OK, I realize that my planning for the Cooperstown trip is a bit last minute, but let me tell you about the worst place I've never been. The Lake View Motel and Marina, after confirming a price with AAA 3 times, decided to call and say "oh, by the way that price is going to be doubled" WHAT! Are you kidding. Completely unprofessional and quite bush league if you ask me. However the gentleman at the Cooperstown Motel, http://cooperstownmotel.com, could not have been nicer in offering advice about coming into this tiny town on a busy day. I salute you.

Back on Line

2005-07-21T16:52:00.000-07:00

YES SIR,
Back on line, back on top
the emergency room is coming to an end
Cooperstown here I come

Off to Chicago

2005-05-27T12:22:00.000-07:00

Vacation is like the best, except for those stupid car people, but any way, I am off to Chicago for baseball woo-hoo

It's been a long time

2005-05-09T06:51:00.000-07:00

I know that I have gone months since last updating, but here is another shot at blogging for all my fans. The excitement this weekend was attending the 131st Kentucky Derby, where fortunes were made and people got way too drunk. I was on the infield which functions mostly as mardi graw in May. Alcohol everywhere, people passed out, cops breaking up unruly groups, fantastic. And, oh yea, there was the horse race. Ha Ha Steinbrenner, your horse loses again.

OB rocks

2004-12-06T11:15:00.000-08:00

Let's just say there's nothing quite like birthin' babies

Turky day

2004-11-28T11:29:00.000-08:00

looks like the Macy's day parade was outstanding as usual. And let me assure everone out ther that the hospital food is no better on thanksgiving than any other day.

A day late and a dollar Short

2004-11-12T13:00:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the delay in updates folks, but stamping out disease is time consuming.
First, Happy Birthday to Paul Diehl, host of Dport7, and the best brother ever.
Second, The Incredibles is truely incredible, a must see.
Third, no one ever remembers the third thing
Lastly, know this... when one is pre-call and short-call simultaneously it sucks

good night

Lets Go Red Sox

2004-10-20T21:17:00.000-07:00

One of the best days in baseball history.

The greatest comeback in the history of sport was completed this evening when the Boston Red Sox won 10-3 over the hated New York Yankees. Highlighted by the long haired Johnny Damon hitting 2 home runs, including a grand slam, and 6 rbi. Terribly exciting.

And this was preceeded by a thrilling contest where the Cardinals of St. Louis toppled the Houston Astros with a walk off home run in the bottom of the 12th inning to force a seventh game.

And the whole evening was highlighted by having a delicious dinner from the Thai Cafe a la Mary Ann.

oh what a night

Rock and Roll

2004-10-12T20:43:00.000-07:00

What a fun weekend. Went dancing in the super nice outfit, then got to see the fantastic US womens soccer team kick the crap out of the New Zeland Kiwis. What's a kiwi anyway. I am currently updating my blog from the hospital, where I am in the middle of another 30hr shift. Rock.

Harry Carey must be sick

2004-09-30T09:03:00.000-07:00

As much as it pains me to say it, the cubs don't belong in the playoffs this year. crap. Go Red Sox

Phoenix and beyond

2004-09-24T20:40:00.000-07:00

Hello to all my faithful readers, and Paul. I know it's been a while but what a whirlwind week it was. Just last weeek I made my way to sunny phoenix arizona. Why? Just because I could. And in Just two days I saw the Phoenix Zoo, the museum of history, the science center, the art museum, saw a baseball game, went golfing, attended a broadway musicle, and checked out the downtown phoenix bars. WHEW! Obviously the best part was the baseball game. I got to get my second ball ever, this time it was a batting practice ball down the left field line. The batter had hit a fowel ball, and no one seemed to notice. So I went from my perch in center field, around the foul pole, bounding down the aisl, and then with full extension used my Cubs baseball hat to fish in ball #2. Not as exciting as catching it, but hey, I was excited. And then I got to see Randy Johnson not only pitch, not only win, not only strike out 11 batters, but I got to see the Big Unit set the all time record for most strike outs by a left handed pitcher, and move into third place overall on the strike out list. On top of that I got to see a pool ball (for those of you not familiar, there is a swimming pool in center field, and a "pool ball" is a homerun landing in said pool) And then after all that excitement, I got to come home and watch the Cubs in Cincinnati beat the reds 12-4 to hold on to their play off hopes.
So three baseball games, in three cities (Pittsburgh, Cincnnati, and Phoenix) all in 6 days. Not to bad. And could only be outdone by my mother's stellar performance at her Tap-Dance receital, where she and her possy really wowed the crowd with Proud Mary. By the way, I don't know what it is, but this is the third consecutive time I have gone back to defiance, and gotten sick. I have a freakin cold. After a month in a hospital and travelling around the country, I get sick going home. Argh.

Hello from Dayton

2004-09-14T14:57:00.000-07:00

Who knew the Dayton airport would have comuters that actually work. anyway I am off to Phoenix via Chicago. Looks like great travelling weather. You ever just sit back and watch some of these people at the airport, I mean honestly who dressed them. It looks like they were a casualty of their dresser blowing up.Oh well.

Pittsburgh rocks

2004-09-14T08:40:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a great time in the City of Pittsburgh PA. I was able to talk my cousin, we'll call her Krissy, to meet me in pittsburgh for a baseball game. Thank goodness we decided to get there early because the steelers were also playing, but their game did not end until about 20 minutes after we arrived, thus barely avoiding mass chaos. We were the very first people into the ball park, which was fun, and got to watch the pirates and astros take batting practice, and I got my very first baseball ever, after going to games for almost 20 years. I got a batting practice homerun ball from one of the astros off the carom from one of the seats behind me. We sat in the bleachers next to the Left field loonies, who were a bunch of overweight middle aged men who were heckling the astro's left fielder like mad, but it was funny. The game was very good, with the Pirates tying it in the bottom of the ninth with a pinch hit homerun, but the evil astros winning in extra innings. It was actually a miserable baseball day with the cubs and redsox losing, and the yankees, padres, astros, cardinals, giants, marlins and phillies all winning. The planets were lined up just right I gues. But I did get on the Jumbotron TWICE, lets hear it for the loonies. I got to crash at Krissy's and then took in the Monday night Football game in championship style with a budlight and stacey @BW3. I can't wait for the next adventure.

Lets hear it for Vacation

2004-09-12T06:32:00.000-07:00

I'm on vacation, yeah

The Babe

2004-09-09T14:54:00.000-07:00

I tell you what boys and girls, John W. Diehl, MD can now die a happy man. Would you like to know why? Well I'm going to tell you anyway (why I otta). As some of you may know, I am somewhat of a baseball fan and, harkening back to my days of youth, continue with the leisure activity of baseball card collecting. It may seem a bit juvenile to some, and to that I say BACK OFF. Anyway, it had been some time, probably days, since I had bought some cards, and I had just had a long and strenuous day and I thought I would treat myself to 3 packs of cards. I open the first one, and what is in there but a Babe Ruth card which contains part of one of his Jersey's from the 1920's. On the back, the card says that there are only 25 of these ever printed. Man, I cannot express in words the excitement that surged through me as electricity does through a power cord. I mean the piece of jersey looks old, it feels old. It was part of the uniform of the one man who embodies the sport which I most enjoy. Who know's when he wore this jersey. It could have been in the 1932 world series when he called his shot at Wrigley field, it could have been on him when he got caught stealing second base to end the 1926 world series, it could have been the first yankee's jersey he donned after being sold in 1919. Or he could have worn it at practice once, and felt it didn't fit right (but I'm hoping for one of the others). It gives me chills just thinking about it, and has now assumed the top spot in my modest collection.
i was so excited in fact, that I went out and got a digital camera just so I could put it on the web for all my fans to see, however I can't get this Blog "hello" thing to work, but once it does, watch out!

Musical evening

2004-09-06T21:13:00.000-07:00

So for the second time in the last 4 days I had the privilage of attending an out of doors symphoney performance on a beautiful summer evening, and all I can say is what's with the kids. Honestly how does a screaming child enhance the listening pleasure of the parent, kid, or rest of the viewing audience, it's maddening. But the music was good. And God bless Lemonade and J. Crew.

The day that was not

2004-09-05T23:48:00.000-07:00

so the day before labor day Cincinnati has this huge Fireworks display that is like the one thing that the city offers all year. And for one reason or another I have been incapacitated on that day for the last 4 years. So I'm stoked to go, and litterally 2 hours befor the show I get this Splitting headache, and pass out for 4 hours. So that sucked. Then I tried to get in touch with a couple people and couldn't so that sucked. So I wind up going to the new Jet Li movie "Hero", and let me just say that that Sucked. Then I come out of the movie and get mugged by 4 very scary looking women, so that sucked (OK so the mugging was made up, but it would have fit with the rest of the day).

The story of the Symphoney

2004-09-03T22:20:00.000-07:00

Imagine, a picturesque late summer evening. 72 degrees and a cool breeze allow perfect relaxation as the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra plays upon a Marble stage under a delicate pearl canopy some 2 stories high. Here on the bank of the Ohio river I was seranaded by the energetic gaelic tunes from grand Ireland, and as the show moved on, the sun set to the west, leaving a brilliant hue of violet and magenta in it's wake, and the lighting for the musicians put them in a serene amber glow, and just when things seemed most right with the world...Crack. Suddenly the Irish step dancers arrive on stage, and who out of the 500 or more seniors should they pick from the crowd? That's right, none other than yours truely. So I get dragged up on stage and placed in the middle of a dozen women whose calf muscles are the size of Beech Tree trunks. They continue twirling and stepping around me for what seemed like the longest jig in the world, and when the freaking orchestra finally stopps with that rucus, the crowd erupts in a cacaphony of applaus. I guess the take home point is when you just stand there and look goofy, everyone claps for you.

The original

2004-09-02T20:43:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody,

welcome to John Diehl's very own BLOG. This is the place, the spot if you will, where you will see the updates of my not so mundane life, so sit back and buckle up.