An amazing 10 days

Since I last posted a lot of great things have happened to me. First and foremost, Heather and I went home last weekend to visit la familia. We had a great time, but once again we didn't get too to do quite as much as we wanted to. I doubt we will ever be able to when we are only home for three days at a time. We did manage to make it to Ocean City for a couple of hours and that was really nice. We laid out on the beach, went in the ocean, walked the boardwalk, and enjoyed Thrasher's fries and some caramel corn from Fisher's. The next day we had a cookout and played horseshoes, which I love to do during the summer. Although I was quite sore after playing horseshoes, I think the heat and lack of water made my muscles sore. We then came back late Sunday night in anticipation of a busy and tiresome week.

Monday marked the beginning of my internship at HSTV in Uniontown. Overall it went well but I was rather nervous when it came time to practice in front of the camera. I knew what I wanted to say, but it just wasn't happening once I opened my mouth. In addition, I need to quickly train myself to change my way of speaking which might be difficult. Probably my main problem is that I need to project my voice more. That being said I think I can work out the kinks in a short amount of time...I know I can do this.

I ended up working 10-6 at the bookstore on Tuesday, which made for a long day since we had to bring in 194 or so boxes of textbooks. Needless to say I was really sore. Not much happened on Wednesday other than working at the bookstore and still being sore. But exciting times were about to resume...

On Thursday I went down to Uniontown for my internship again. Kind of a busy day weather-wise as we were closely monitoring severe thunderstorms moving into the region. Because of that I didn't get the chance to practice unfortunately, but I still enjoyed myself...except for the $4.00 can of Mountain Dew! That will be straightened out on Monday though. I was informed that everyone will make sure that I practice next week, and if all goes well I can begin my TV meteorology career on the following Monday (July 3rd).

Friday was a day to remember. After Heather and I came home from work, we left for Pittsburgh to see Pearl Jam!!! They are my favorite current band by far, and second favorite all-time behind Led Zeppelin. I had seen them at Nissan Pavilion a couple years ago and it was by far the best concert I have ever seen. This was Heather's first Pearl Jam concert experience. Of course I was expecting an awesome show, even moreso because I knew they were well refreshed and ready to rock. Their current tour is divided into four segments. After a three-week layoff, the Pittsburgh show was the first show of the second segment of the tour.

From the first note on, they kicked major arse! (Note: I will post the setlist from the show sometime tomorrow) I can not imagine any band that puts on a better show than Pearl Jam. There was just so much adrenaline and excitement in both the band and the crowd. Simply an amazing show that was even better than the previous Pearl Jam show I went to. Heather and I both agreed that it was above and beyond any other concert we had seen. I expected a great show and it was even better than that. Absolutely phenomenal!

The downside to the week was that we didn't get back from the show until 1am and I didn't fall asleep until about 2am. Since I had to work at the bookstore from 8-3 today, I had a very rough morning, but it was well worth it after Friday night's incredible experience.
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It is my hope to post forecasts tomorrow, as well as some baseball stuff, in addition to the setlist from the Pearl Jam show. Talk to you soon.

Heading Home

Just thought I'd let you all know I will be leaving tonight to go home for a few days. I will be back late Sunday night and should probably resume blogging on Monday evening. By the way, I had my job interview today at the TV station and it went great. I start Monday morning! I am really looking forward to this opportunity. I'll be sure to let you know how the first day goes. Catch ya later.

Happy 70th Birthday Pop-Pop & Happy Father's Day Dad

The Baseball Card Blog

I just stumbled upon a website called The Baseball Card Blog and the author is currently counting down his/her opinion of the Top 30 baseball card sets ever. They are already at #6, so to go back and read previous sets in the countdown, just navigate through the links on the right hand side of their blog. What I have read so far is very interesting thus far as it details many sets from my generation. Check it out!


EDIT: After reading further into matters, it turns out to be more than just a Top-30 baseball card set countdown. According to the above posted blog, there were 53 sets issued in the 1980s and The Baseball Card Blog is counting down all 53 sets from the 80s in an effort to choose the best baseball card set from that decade. Boy that's a lot of crappy sets to countdown. My vote would go to either 1989 Upper Deck (Griffey RC!) or 1982 Topps Traded (Cal Ripken RC!!!). Both should be in the top 5 as I haven't seen them listed yet.

Speaking of baseball...

I need to start spending some time talking about the sport I love the most...baseball. I could blog everyday about baseball and have something interesting and unique to say each day. Although undoubtedly I will talk about the Orioles repeatedly. They just continue to find ways to frustrate me. How hard is it to go on a 4-game winning streak? We are one of the few teams that haven't. All I really want from the O's is a .500 record. I know they can't do any better than that right now. Even worse, they're starting to look like a team that will have yet another losing record and fourth place finish in the division. I'm kind of fired up right now, so I am giving myself an ultimatum. On July 4, if the Orioles are below .500 and/or at least 8 games back in the division, I will prematurely throw in the towel for the 2006 season. Unlike my best friend back home who has long ago given up and begun rooting for the Mets, I foolishly remain optimistic. But I can't go through a ninth consecutive losing season, I need to see some sign of improvement. So far, that hasn't happened. I will revisit this topic in about three weeks...hopefully with good news!

USA Soccer Sucks.....Still!

Well as I do with every World Cup, I spent a couple hours today caring about soccer. I'll admit it, I really don't give a crap about soccer unless it's the World Cup. That is the only time it seems exciting (as much as I wish the U.S. was exciting to watch, that's usually not the case). So anyway, as I'm watching the U.S./Czech Republic game I was force-fed a mouthful of b.s. that the U.S. was ranked 5th in the world! My first thought was "yeah right" and my second thought was "hey, maybe they'll actually win a game this time around." In additon, this is supposedly the best U.S. men's soccer team ever assembled. Two hours later, I was asking myself why I wasted my time watching the U.S. get their a** kicked in a sport I don't like.

If this is the best men's soccer team the U.S. has fielded, then we still have a long way to go. Quite frankly I don't even care if the U.S. ever becomes good at soccer. There are plenty of other sports more enjoyable to watch. Back to baseball, a real American sport.

Ben Roethlisberger is an idiot

First and foremost, I am glad he is ok. But he is still an idiot for not wearing a helmet while riding a motorcycle. I don't care if the state of Pennsylvania no longer has a helmet law and I don't care if it wasn't his fault. The bottom line is that he enjoys riding a very dangerous vehicle without any protection whatsoever. Yet another idiot that does not need to be on the road. If I could make a law concerning this, I would make it illegal for anyone under the age of 30 to drive a motorcycle. There are too many young and careless people riding motorcycles/motorbikes.

You know it's interesting to think that I actually liked the guy when he played for Miami (OH) and I thought he was the steal of the draft when he slipped out of the Top-5 and went to Pittsburgh (I think he was somewhere between 8th and 13th), but since the end of his rookie year he has said or done one thing after another to make me dislike him more and more. Now, I just think he's a tool.

Cambridge Forecast 6/11-6/15

Quick update

Just thought I'd let the handful of you know that I will post my thoughts later tonight or tomorrow. I'm a little too tired right now, so I will nap first. Lata.

Cambridge Forecast 6/5-6/11

Just click the image above to see an enlarged view of my forecast for Cambridge. Then just print it out for your own personal copy! If you have any comments regarding this forecast, just click the "Comments" link below and follow the instructions on the screen. Thanks.

Investing on myself

An interesting situation is unfolding for me and I am not completely sure what to do. I have a part-time job at the campus bookstore three days a week. It's not much but the money is very beneficial for us newlyweds. And it certainly takes some stress off Heather now that I can help out a little. I have no complaints with my job whatsoever. Here's where my dilemma begins:

In the near future I will begin a summer internship at a local TV station. However this isn't your ordinary internship. I, along with one of my peers, will be trained to become a part-time meteorologist at the station. Yes, I will have on-air time so locals will be able to see me on TV during the evening news!!! The only stipulation is that I will be working for internship credit rather than a paycheck. Of course I would rather be paid, but I am ok with that, as I am willing to make that sacrifice to "get my foot in the door" as a meteorologist. My problem is how do I balance this with my job? Both jobs are primarily weekday jobs. Do I spend more time at the bookstore to earn as much money as I can for the short-term, or do I cut my hours at the bookstore for more experience at the news station, which in turn would be sort of a long-term investment towards bigger and better things for my future meteorology career?

I am torn on this as this decision makes a huge impact on both the present and the future. I know the most important decisions are supposed to be hard, but I have been going back and forth on this for at least a week. Your thoughts are both appreciated and very much sought after. I will say this (in true meteorologist fashion): there is a 50-60% chance I make the long-term investment on myself. I will make this decision based on what is best for Heather and myself, but I really would like to hear your thoughts on this matter. Thank you.