I read the news today, oh boy...

It turns out I haven't really made an attempt to update this at all lately. Kind of makes sense. I haven't had a full work week at home since before Thanksgiving.

I'm currently sitting in Des Moines, IA. Holed up while there's some kind of blizzard outside. Last week I was in Omaha, NE, which is a much cooler place than I ever expected it to be. The week before that, I had traveled to both Riverside, CA and Des Moines, IA. The week before that, I was in Kalamazoo the whole week.

That takes us back to the holiday weeks, which are fun, but busy getting through all the family holiday events, and then in December I had trips to Orlando, FL, Rochester, MN, and Madison, WI (which also had a blizzard while I was there).

So anyways, all the travel aside, it's easy to forget what I've been up to. I've been having some good times at hockey. For the fall season, my team won the league playoffs, which was quite fun. We all acted like dorks skating around with the trophy.

Since then, I actually had a hat trick in the first game of the winter season with that team, and although I've had to miss a bunch of games with them for work, the games I've played in have been a lot better.

I think it's actually been thanks to a decision I made to make better use of the hotels I stay in so often. Basically, I've been doing 60 minutes on the stationary bike or elliptical machine every night I'm in a hotel. I'm still exhausted in hockey games, but I've noticed I've gotten back a couple steps I had back when I played in Kalamazoo 25 pounds lighter...

Meanwhile, life goes on. Melissa finally got out of the job she hated and started at the Domino's corporate headquarters. It's been great to see her finally starting her "real" job after all these years. We've been spending more time reconnecting with some old friends and hanging out with some local people. It's been fun although I still have been missing the friends I can't see anymore (well, at least not as often).

Anyways, as far as upcoming stuff, it actually looks like I can stay home next week. Then I'm supposed to go to Phoenix in February for a vacation with my dad, and then I'll be going to MIX again in March to get in my trip to Vegas. I think I'm missing Defcon again this year, which is a bummer, but we are talking about a summer trip to Mackinac that would make up for it. Especially since I really don't like Vegas, but I seem to end up there once or twice a year anyways for conventions.

And since I always need a music clip...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

...or not. I haven't actually seen any snow yet this year. I am firmly in the camp of people who are annoyed that apparently the Christmas shopping season started the day after Halloween instead of the day after Thanksgiving.

Meanwhile, not a whole ton going on. Been keeping up with hockey, and last night we had a good game although we lost my defense partner to a broken collar bone.

December looks like it's turning crazy though. I think I'll be on the road for all three of the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Hopefully the weather holds up and I don't get stuck in the airport too often. This is especially worrisome since I'm going to Rochester, MN, Madison, WI, and probably New York in that time. I really should learn to avoid Minnesota in December...

Oh well, guess we'll see how it goes.

I am the Walrus

Well, just got into Kalamazoo today, and got the chance to hang out with my best friend Jeff. This finally gave me a chance to try out The Beatles: Rock Band. Nothing too surprising there. If you like Rock Band, you get to play Beatles tracks in it. I was also happy that there aren't any drum fills. I'd like to see that as an option in Rock Band 3 when it comes out. The biggest oddity to me was some of the guitar lines, which switch quickly between the actual guitar lines, string sections, horns, etc. Makes for an odd experience. Also, the backgrounds, while interesting and much higher quality than in Rock Band 2, can cause for a lot of distracting colors and make it hard to see the notes. I guess they had to do something to add a bit of difficulty though. My last gripe was the lack of Strawberry Fields Forever and Hey Jude.

Kalamazoo also gave me a chance to get lunch at the spectacular Taco Bob's. This modest taco stand has one of the best derivative Tex-Mex creations ever... the funny taco. I hope we can get one in Ann Arbor someday soon.

Maybe I should see if they'd let me franchise it.

So anyways, in honor of The Beatles: Rock Band...