GO COLTS

So my beloved and truly amazing Indianapolis Colts take on some crap ass team from New Orleans today in a game that is going to be intense.

The crap ass team from New Orleans is getting an inordinate amount of good press, and I don't really understand why.

-Hurricane Katrina? The dumbest reason to support a sports team ever. A lot like the miraculous flood of Yankee fans not living in NY after 9/11... Give me a break, I feel bad for the city and it's people, but in no way do I think that it means that they "NEED" a Superbowl Championship. Or anything sports related for that matter. They need developers to sink money into rebuilding neighborhoods, and jobs to draw back people whom still have not returned after the devastation of that hurricane. They need a Superbowl like Oklahoma City needed a professional sports team... More on that one in a later post.

-Rooting for the underdog... Screw that. Wanting the inferior team to win means that your priorities are all kinds of screwed up. That means that a team which was "better" takes a loss because of random events that all occurred at just the right time to take victory from them. Take a look at Superbowl XL... Neither team played well, and as a result, the outcome of the game came down to a lot of very controversial calls from an officiating crew that would have been out of place in a high school football game. Granted the Steelers victory is not universally loved, but it's not as though the Seahawks played well enough in that game to make the case that they had the victory taken from them... Either way, wanting both teams to perform their best means that the statistical favorite should have the edge. If the Saints win today it will be because of a combination of Colts mistakes...

-They've never had a Superbowl win before... Yeah, and I have never had a cavity in one of my teeth, that doesn't mean that I go out and root for it to happen. If the team could manage to win, and had repeatedly had Coug'd It (a term describing Washington State University's Athletics Department for the last hundred years... To snatch defeat from the jaws of victory), doesn't "deserve" to win one. One B. Favre might have gotten some sympathy from me, but the NOS do not.

There are a ton of additional reasons, but I need an Ice Cold Refreshing Coors Light. Have fun watching the game peeps. I sure know that I will.

Sherlock Holmes

So I went and saw Sherlock Holmes, finally.

I was very worried that it might be horrible, and it actually turned out to be quite good. Thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and it didn't even really have any "slow parts" that I remember. For a whole two hours it manages to be very involving.

But of course the ending sets up a sequel. Which I will go see promptly.

Friday's Supposed To Be Fun!

I feel seriously bad using my blog to bitch about work, but today was a seriously lame day.

It was just one of those days where you get almost nothing done and the entire thing feels as if you somehow wasted time by actually being there. Like I owe the company money, because we sure as hell got nothing done of any substance while I was there. Definitely don't feel like I earned my salary...

I am going in Saturday to try and recover from the waste of time that today was...

Project From Hell

So if you recall my post a while back showing my floors covered in writing, the house is currently being remodeled. I am currently sick and tired of this project and I have no idea why it was believed to be a good idea in the first place...

There was a wall taken out... No big deal, no problems found. Holes in the connecting wall and celling have been patched. Texture and paint applied.

-Time to complete: 3 weeks

All new can lights put in. A dozen of them spaced out over two rooms (so six per). Holes cut, problem found... Holes patched, new diagram for lights drawn, new holes cut, no new problems found. Lights installed and wired up. Dimmer switches installed.

-Time to complete: 2 weeks (thanks to problem #1)

LCD TV wall mount installed and HDMI cable installed in wall to make connecting TV easier. Bracket up, holes cut, problem found... Holes patched, bracket moved, new holes cut, no new problems found. The TV is on the wall and good to go.

-Time to complete: 1 week (thanks to problem #2, should have been 1 day)

Carpet and linoleum removed, new hardwoods installed. Got the carpet out, the linoleum removed, and even the sub-floor taken out. The hardwood is here... Except a couple of pieces that I kinda need, and the slate tile for the entryway. Problem created out of thin air... Supplier can't deliver on time.

-Time to complete: IN PROGRESS

This project is now past two months and I am dying here. I have no idea why in the hell I thought that this was a cool idea in the first place. I just see a torn up house with a kitchen that I can't really use. A place that I pay to live at, but have no desire to be in at all right now. Seriously lame...

Missing Appointments

I hate people who miss appointments... It seriously blows and makes
everyone involved miserable.

I went into the office for ONE appointment, and the person missed it
and didn't even bother to call and notify me.

Fucking people...

History Channel Nerd

So I am a total History Channel nerd. I could watch some of the shows on History for hours, even days.

"The Universe" - An awesome show on the knowns and unknowns of the universe. The show covers just about everything, and has definitely taught me a thing or two.

"How The Earth Was Made" - I find myself saying "duh" a lot at the TV, but almost every episode teaches me something I did not know about the planet we live on. There are always going to be obvious points being made, but theres a lot of neat stuff to learn about the planet and how it has changed over the past several billion years.

"Pawn Stars" - Let me preface this with the disclaimer: "I HATE ALMOST ALL REALITY TV." But this show is good. One of the few reality TV shows that I will watch.

and

"Gangland" - Wanna learn about Americas street gangs? This is the show for you. I absolutely love it.

Nerd or not, I can't get enough of the above shows. Check 'em out sometime.

Are We Evil?

So of course "the banks" seems to be a hot button topic right now, and we banks seem to be catching a lot of heat over stuff that doesn't make any sense to me. It really doesn't make sense to anyone at work, if you look at it from a logical point of view.

TARP - Many of us didn't want it, and almost every major US bank has repaid the funds with interest as required. We repaid our loans... Loans that many of us DID NOT WANT but were told that we were taking. And now because we haven't gone bankrupt we are somehow vilified as "evil." Nothing but a bunch of Fat Cats on Wall Street... Even though most of us are on Main Street, not Wall Street.

So we are profitable now? YEAH, and that's a good thing. Most of the banks in this country help all Americans lead an easier life on a daily basis. We provide security (not only in deposits, but in transaction security and fraud prevention), access to money that makes life simpler and easier (hell, I transfer balances on iPhone whenever I need to), and funding to those that have worked hard and earned good credit (home, student and credit loans). People abuse those things. People take on debt that they then decide that they can not repay. People spend irresponsibly...

If someone gets into a car accident, do we blame the auto maker for their bad driving?

Hell no, most people realize that is ludicrous...

But yet somehow when people make bad fiscal choices that's their bank's fault? I guess I know how cigarette makers feel. Perhaps the Treasury should add a printed warning to currency:

"WARNING: Excessive Spending can lead to debt, bad credit, and even bankruptcy..."

How stupid does that sound?

At the end of the day I am just sick and tired of ill informed and downright ignorant people blaming the banks for everything that has gone wrong in the past two years. Perhaps people need to open their eyes to the truth.

-The government kept interest rates low despite rampant growth and an unexplainable rise in housing prices.

-The government pushed lax lending standards and stood behind Fannie and Freddie as they back mortgages that were foolish contracts.

Banks made mistakes, but the government was right there making bigger mistakes and pushing an agenda that was unsustainable. They bragged about the large numbers of Americans buying homes, and now berate the banks for giving those Americans loans using lending standards that the government itself was backing.

At least the banks cut spending, revamped policies, and are returning to profitability. Is the government good at profitability? Hell, is the government good at running anything with even decent customer service standards? Losing money or not, has anyone every felt satisfied with the PEOPLE who work in government offices and the service they received while there?