Day 164

Now as most of you know, I am not really opinionated on world affairs unless it involves that moron president of ours. Speaking of which, its funny how many people I know who voted for him who now admit that it was probably not the best idea. But I digress. Earlier this week, Hamas-led Palestinian militants kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. This made huge national headlines. Shalit was the first Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants in 12 years, and the fate of the teen soldier gripped the country. Large pictures of Shalit's boyish face appeared on the front pages of local newspapers. The joke of all jokes is that A spokesman for the Hamas-led government is urging those holding the soldier "to protect his life and treat him well." Come on, who are they fooling. But here is where it gets interesting. The Israeli defense forces don't mess around. They don't just sit back and take shit. The Israel Defense Forces took care of their own business and arrested 87 people overnight. Of those, it said, 64 were members of Hamas. Another 23 belong to other factions. "They have to decide if they're a government or if they belong to a terroristic organization," Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said, explaining the Hamas arrests. "Their arrests were not arbitrary. They will be put to trial, and they will be able to defend themselves in accordance with a legal system which is internationally recognized."

What is interesting to me about this is that everytime an American citizen gets kidnapped in Iraq, we see a video with demands of releasing of Iraqi soldiers, or else the person will be killed. We obviously do not negotiate with terrorists, but from this end, it seems like little is done and more innocent people get killed. Remember Daniel Pearl? That poor guy had his head cut off and shown all over the internet. Has there really been a repercussions over that? We got ourselves into this mess in Iraq and can't get out of it and more and more of our soldiers and reporters are dying every day. I know the Israel/Palestinian conflict goes back decades and is a completely different situation, but it just had me thinking. You know, there is more in my head than Tribe ball, reality TV, food, friends, and family.

While we are on the subject, I have yet to see the Al Gore documentary on Global Warming, "The Inconvenient Truth," but I hear it is amazing, thought provoking, and scary all at once. Some see it as nothing but a platform for a potential Presidential run again in 2008, others as a Gore's realistic view that if the human race wants to survive, we've got about ten years to start turning things around. I for one am very interested in seeing this movie. On the other hand, I am very excited about seeing the new Superman movie as well.

Leah and I took Casey for a long walk last night before I settled down for one of my favorite events of the year, the NBA draft. It is funny because I do not particularity like the league itself, but being a huge fan of college basketball, I watch every minute of it. While I was happy with the Cavs draft picks (Michigan State SG Shannon Brown at #25 and Texas PG Daniel Gibson at #42), what struck me most last night was the pathetic job the announcers on the show did. ESPN always does a great job, but other than Jay Bilas, they fielded a group of people who literally knew nothing about these players. Stephen A. Smith, the loud and obnoxious NBA reporter, showed last night again why he is the most overrated person on the ESPN family of networks. He readily admitted on the air about not knowing about certain players. His ego is out of control, and the guy never shuts his mouth. Then you have Stuart Scott doing the post draft interviews. Talk about the king of no-talents. He is about as qualified to hold that job as my 1 year old niece. Every time it was a black guy who was drafted, he changed into a different guy. Watch his interview of JJ Redick compared to his interview of Brandon Roy. He asks the worst questions. Its the best night of these guys lives, yet he brings up Redick's DUI and Marcus Williams arrested more than a year ago for theft. There is a time and place for that, last night wasn't it. Redick looked so pissed. The best was when he said to Bradley Center Patrick O'Bryant "So Bryant, are you excited to be drafted this high?" My other favorite was seeing how unhappy Arkansas G Ronnie Brewer was to be drafted by Utah. You could just see it in his face - "great, I have to live in Salt Lake City, Utah for the next 4 years."

Then there is the Tribe last night. We battled back to score three and take a 4-3 lead into the 9th inning. Then the microcosm of the 2006 season occurred. Cardinals OF So Taguchi pops up at home, nobody takes charge and Tribe backup C Kelly Shoppach eventually drops the ball. Taguchi ends up on 2nd. He is bunted to third. One out. Aaron Miles doubles home Taguchi. 4-4.
A groundout to first gets the second out with a man on third. Up steps SS David Eckstein. He hits a slow grounder to short. Jhonny Peralta hurries the throw to Victor Martinez at first, playing his third major league game there. Its in the dirt and Victor has no clue how to pick it.
Tribe loses 5-4; an embarrassing loss that sums up the season.

Two more weekends left pretty much here. We have a ton of plans and another open house on Saturday. We had a showing on Tuesday night, a showing today at noon, and another one at 6. Come on someone, make us an offer!!!!

Days Until Leah Stops Working: 5
Days Left in Chicago: 18
Song of the Day: "That's the Way of the World" by Earth, Wind, and Fire

Day 163

The weekends are getting fewer and fewer here and we are running out of time. Crazy. It is really starting to hit me. Anyways, we had a solid weekend here. Friday night we went to Chinatown with Jessica and Justin. As I said in other posts, we are trying to get in as many different things as we can. Saturday we had another open house so we had to be out of the house from 12-3. Gregg and Dave had arranged for this to be the day of the Chicago Food Tour -I described it in detail in the last blog. The first place we went was Hot Doug's (www.hotdougs.com). As usual, the line was 45 people deep, out the door and around the corner. Gregg did all of the ordering at every place. At Hot Doug's, you pretty much only ate off of the specials menu. So here is what we ordered. 8 Sausages of the following mix:

Hickory-Smoked Pistachio Ostrich Sausage with Blue Cheese Dijonnaise, Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Smoked Almonds
Ribeye Steak Sausage with Horseradish Cream Sauce and Roasted Garlic Cloves
Smokey Cheddar Pork Sausage with Sriracha Mustard and Sharp Cheddar Cheese
Merguez Lamb Sausage with Harissa and Feta Cheese
Uber Garlic Beef Sausage with Chipotle Dijonnaise and Smoked Gouda Cheese
Kangaroo Sausage with Cassis Creme Fraiche and Purple Haze Chevre
2 orders of Duck Fat Fries.

Our move was to each take a bite of a sausage and rotate so we could each get a taste of the different flavors. My top two had to be the Ribeye Steak and the Kangaroo. All of them were good though. Our next stop was Johnnie's Beef (http://www.hollyeats.com/JohnniesBeef.htm) This is an out of the way place out in Elmwood Park, west of the city. It was a good 30 minutes. 290 West to Harlem, then go about 15 minutes North. They are known as the best Italian Beef place in the Chicagoland area. I'd say we got there around 1:45-2 and the line was at least 30 people deep. Here we ordered 4 Italian Beefs (2 dipped in au jus with Giardinara sweet peppers) and 2 Italian Sausages (one dipped with sweet peppers). I also buried a chocolate milkshake, which was more like a Wendy's frosty. I was surprisingly ok after Johnnie's. I was worried I would have no room left. The good news is that the next place was probably another 20 minutes plus away, which gave us plenty of time to recuperate. We headed straight South and East to Freddy's Pizzeria (http://www.freddyspizza.com) in Cicero. Gregg has touted this as the best Meatball Sandwich he has ever had. It is an Italian Market which is most famous for its Gelato and Sicilian Pizza. We buried 2 Slices Of Sicilian pizza, 3 Meatball Sandwiches, and 2 Gelatos. The Meatballs were amazing. At this point, even Gregg, who can throw it back like nobody I have seen since my father, was starting to tap out. We were supposed to go to a place on the deep south side for BBQ next, but had to call it a day. At was 4 PM at this point and the traffic at that point would have been terrible. Overall, it was such a great experience and so much fun. We took some solid photos, a couple are seen above.

Needless to say, I was planning on doing nothing that night, figuring I would be to full to move. Little did I know how much fun Saturday night would be. I ended up meeting Sean and P for some drinks. Dave, Sara, and Dave's friend Larry met us out and we ended up at Marquee Lounge. We took over the bad jukebox, had several drinks, and laughed it up. Shots of Jameson whiskey were flowing. Sean was in rare form, P was his usual classic self, and Dave never disappoints. At about 12:45, Leah called to tell me that her bachelorette party was moving from Howl at the Moon to Marquee Lounge - completely random occurrence. What is so strange is that I haven't been to Marquee Lounge in 7 years. The one night I am there, Leah ends up there too. It was a great, old school kind of night. Totally unplanned and unexpected. That right there is one of the things I will miss the most about the city. My days of going out with a big crew of my friends, or even going out for that matter, are for the most part going to be over. It was great to have a night like Saturday night as the days here dwindle down. Our going away party July 8th is going be so great, but it is also going to be so sad in the sense that it will be the beginning of the end of a great chapter in my life.

Sunday was a lazy day. Since we got home at 2:30, I took the dog out then figuring she would sleep late. Casey had other ideas. She had us up at 6:15, but went back to sleep after licking my face to death. At about 8, she was back growling at us, so I had to take her out. Leah slept later, but we had to go to a brunch down in Old Town at Bistro Margot with our Chicago family, The Rosenstein's. They are my in laws best friends and have been so good to us since we moved here. We are always invited to all of the Jewish holidays with them. They are such good people. After brunch, we essentially napped and watched Tribe ball all day. It was raining here most of the day, so I did not feel guilty doing that one bit. We had Turkey Taco salad for dinner, watched Entourage, and went to sleep. Overall, a solid weekend. We are down to two weekends left essentially, our last weekend is Leah's friend Jenny's wedding and rehearsal dinner. Crazy how fast the time goes.

The Tribe still sucks, but at least they brought up Jeremy Sowers. I can't take another day of Aaron Boone at third. Not one more. Bring up Andy Marte before I kill myself. The funny thing is, I am still watching every game. I am a glutton for punishment. My latest column was posted on Saturday morning: http://www.theclevelandfan.com/article_detail.php?id=512.

Days Until Leah Stops Working: 8
Days Left in Chicago: 21
Song of the Day: "Stranded on Death Row" by Dr. Dre

Day 162

To start today, I have got to send mad love out to my good friends and loyal blog readers Andrew and Jules Rafal. Yesterday in the 3 PM hour in Scottsdale, Arizona, Andrew and Jules welcomed a beautiful baby girl, Winter Harlow Rafal, she was 5 lbs, 6 oz, and close to a month early. Jules had as rough of a pregnancy as anyone can have. She suffered through a disease called Hyperemesis, which essentially affects the mother's ability to keep anything down. Jules was literally throwing up every day during the entire pregnancy, was very weak, had to get IV's at the hospital almost weekly, and obviously could not work. As hard as the pregnancy was, Andrew told me last night on the phone that her labor was very short and she only had to push for 20 minutes. So in the end, it worked out great for them. Congratulations out to Andrew and Jules, and welcome Winter to your new crazy world that we call "Raffe Style."

Less than a month to go here. Time is really flying by. The weekend is almost already here. The highlight of the weekend is Saturday afternoon. Gregg and Dave are taking me on a food tour of the city. Gregg is famous for his knowledge of restaurants whether it be here, Kansas City, or abroad. He goes on food tours of other cities once or twice a year. So in honor of the big move, we are doing up Chicago. Gregg told me the itinerary is a secret - the only place he will divulge is Hot Doug's because it the only place I have mandated. Knowing Gregg, we will be eating Barbeque on the deep Southside where we are the only white people in there.

Still no offers on the condo. Another showing on Monday has produced nothing so far and another open house awaits us on Saturday. Its getting to become such an old bit. I know it only takes one person, but I have no patience. I am my mother's son. Luckily, Leah is very patient. She has to be to be married to me for almost 5 years. It is pouring out right now and Casey is in full freak out mode underneath my chair.

My work has picked up in the last two weeks. Summer is the biggest season for us and it has kept me very busy. On top if that, my boss gave me another account to manage, Sysco Canada. We had a guy living there and he quit a few weeks back. They have split Canada in half, east and west coast, and I am now in charge of the east. We just hired a broker in Toronto who I will be managing. I have to go up there probably 4 times a year, but with the broker in place, the work will be minimal, but it helps my bottom line immensely. Before I leave, probably during my last week, I have to go up to Toronto and train our brokers with my boss - a day and a half trip.

I know I am sounding like a broken record, but I am disgusted with my baseball team. After getting swept in Milwaukee last weekend, we just lost two of three at home to the sad sack Cubs, two in blowout fashion. But what is most disturbing is the fact that the supposed ace of the staff and team leader C.C. Sabathia admitted to quitting during his putrid performance in last night's 9-2 loss at the Jake. As for why he quit, Sabathia said, "As a professional, that's never happened to me before. I just lost focus. On one play, I went to back up home and dropped my glove." He went on to say "What was inexcusable tonight was for me to give up." "I'd like to apologize to my teammates, the fans, my family and whoever else was in the stands. That's the first time in my career that's happened to me. I just lost focus." The lack of focus, sleepwalking through games, and overall lack of energy is proof to me that manager Eric Wedge must go. He has lost this team. Worst of all, they are nosediving while Minnesota, Detroit, and Chicago never lose. They are sinking to the bottom of the AL Central. Not exactly what I had in mind for my summer.

Anyone catch Britney Spears on Dateline last week? What a piece of trash she has turned into. She was chomping on her gum like a 14 year old, she cried about how the paparazzi won't leave her alone, and overall sounded like a washed up hick. The sad thing is she is only 25. Now I don't feel the least bit sorry for her. She chose to marry that t-rex Kevin Federline and have his kid with a second on the way. She couldn't have come off worse if she tried in this interview. Who I do feel sorry for is her publicist who will assuredly be fired within the next few weeks for allowing this interview on the air.

There is now another countdown listed below...peep it.

Days Until Leah Stops Working: 10
Days Left in Chicago: 25
Song of the Day: "Keep Risin to the Top" by Doug E. Fresh

Day 161

What a weekend. Very long and tiring, but overall pretty good. I write this on the plane on the way home from C-Town. We are less than a month away from the move, so the activities are being ramped up. So as you know, this was our two wedding weekend. My old KU roommate “The Buatch” was getting married in Chicago, and Leah’s cousins Sharon was getting married Sunday night in Cleveland. Friday night was the Buatch and Sara’s rehearsal dinner at Maggiano’s. Now the last Maggiano’s rehearsal dinner we went to was Sean’s in Cleveland. The room was triple the size of the one Friday night and had less people. I’d say the room held 70-80 people comfortably. The problem was there were 140 people attending. One bar. It seemed like the air conditioning wasn’t working, and it was 95 degrees outside with extreme humidity. Needless to say, it was a schvitz-fest. Maggiano’s food was good as usual, but it was overshadowed by the temperature of the room and the 16 speeches. The best line of the night came from my guy Todd “Fritzer” Friedman. He started his speech by saying “I haven’t known Josh as long as most of these guys, but one word comes to mind when describing him: Obnoxious schmuck.” It was a long night to say the least. You all know me, I tell the truth.

Saturday we had another open house at the condo, so we had to disappear from 12-3 with the dog. We went to lunch and ate outside with Jaimo and her dog Jackson, who is fast becoming Casey’s new boyfriend. According to our realtors, we had the most traffic we have ever had at one of our open houses, plus we had showing scheduled for Sunday and Monday. I have a good feeling about this week. I had to be downtown at the Renaissance Hotel by 5:45 for pictures. Buatch asked me to sign his Ketubah, which I was honored to do. Upon arrival, it was good to see classic Buatch. Even on his wedding day, my man kept it real to the end. My man had four or five or eight vodka/cranberry’s while waiting to take pictures. He kept his same jovial demeanor. Although seeing him swing a glass of cranberry and vodka near Sara’s white wedding dress was a cause for concern. By the time the ceremony began, he was all good. Laid back and chilled. We all had big smiles watching our goof-ball friend walk down the aisle. This is a sight I’d never thought I’d see, but was so proud to be a part of. As much as I have described Buatch over the past few months as a wild guy, he has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know. He has always been a good and loyal friend to me. He is in that club with me nobody wants to be in – his mother died in a car accident just after college. We share that bond. I give him a ton of credit for being one of the people who was really good in the months following dad’s death. He always asks me how my mom is doing - he is good like that. He also is the same guy who in the picture attached is cupping his new wife’s boobs on the dance floor at his wedding. Gotta love the Buatch.

Anyways, the teasers at their wedding were the best I’ve ever had at a wedding. Mini-cheeseburgers, mini-grilled cheese sandwiches, hot dogs, amazing fries. Add in the Asian stations with sushi, pot-stickers, and noodles. I loaded up on Grey Goose and Soda’s and all of this food. By dinner time, I was barely hungry. Overall, the wedding was beautiful. Sara looked amazing, we danced most of the night, and Buatch graced everyone with some of his patented dance moves including his new favorite – the earth worm. We didn’t get home until about 2:30 (thanks to the ramp on Ontario being closed and being detoured 15 minutes out of the way!) but it was a lot of fun.

On the other end of the spectrum, we had to be up and out of the house by 8:30 Sunday morning to fly home for Leah’ cousin Sharon’s wedding. Our day was packed. We literally flew to Cleveland and went straight to the cemetery to see my dad on Father’s day. We spent about 45 minutes there and headed back to my mom’s house. Buried corned beef sandy’s from Davis bakery, got in our wedding clothes again, and headed to Landerhaven for pictures. We arrived about 3:30 and what we witnessed was quite different from any wedding we had ever or ever will attend. Sharon is studying to be a rabbi as is her now husband Hillel. To say that the two weddings this weekend were different would be a serious understatement. They started around 4:00 with this thing called a Bedeken (I’m sure I spelled that wrong). Sharon was in a raised chair and people lined up to talk to her. Supposedly, she is as close to God as she will ever be and people should tell her anything they want God to hear. Then in another room, the men were dancing around and chanting and signing Hebrew songs. That was just the beginning. Hillel then came out and thy performed a ritual where he was supposed to lift Sharon’s veil to make sure this was the woman he was about to marry. All of that took an hour or so. Then the ceremony took place. During which Hillel was wearing what looked like a lab coat over his tux. I have never seen a groom sob the way he did during the whole thing. He had some serious love for his bride. His father, a rabbi, married them, with help from Sharon’s mom, a cantor. After the cocktail hour, came another of dancing and chanting that turned into the longest hora known to man. We are talking 45 minutes of circling, dancing, chanting, and lots of Hebrew. I thought poor Hillel was going to pass out this was going on for so long. Long story long, the rest of the evening involved listening to a band sing Hebrew songs mixed in with some oldies. Sharon sang. Hillel sang. A group of 25 or so Jews sang Hebrew harmonies. Aunt Laurel sang. It seemed like every J in the place was singing. It was crazy. The highlight had to have been watching Jessica dance around like a crazy woman and dragging Leah into it. It was classic. We left around 10:30. This morning my father in law informed me that right after we left, the prayer books were broken out and the praying began…..Whatever floats your boat I guess. Nobody saw both ends of the Jewish wedding spectrum quite like Leah and I did this weekend.

Days Until Leah Stops Working: 12
Song of the Day: “Lets Ride” by Q-Tip

Day 160

I'm all riled up this morning over a few things. I saw this last week, but today I had to discuss it. Ann Coulter, the ultra-conservative journalist who is best known for bashing liberals through her books and the media, came out with a new book titled "Godless - The Church of Liberalism." Not only is the title laughable, but there was a chapter with some of the most insensitive and disturbing quotes I can ever remember seeing. The uncompromisingly right-wing Coulter writes the "Jersey Girls" or "The Witches of East Brunswick, as she refers to them, have no right to criticize President George W. Bush or any of the failures that led to the terror attacks. "These broads are millionaires, lionized on TV and in articles about them, reveling in their status as celebrities and stalked by grief-arazzis," Coulter writes.

"And by the way, how do we know their husbands weren't planning to divorce these harpies? Now that their shelf life is dwindling, they'd better hurry up and appear in Playboy ...

"These self-obsessed women seemed genuinely unaware that 9-11 was an attack on our nation and acted as if the terrorist attacks happened only to them. I've never seen people enjoying their husbands' deaths so much."

I know this country is founded on the freedoms that we hold so dearly. Freedom of speech is at the top of that list, but who does this crazy bitch think she is? She has a right to voice her opinions, but does she have any shame? I didn't lose anyone during 9/11 but it doesn't take a loss to understand the agony of those who lost love ones - especially those who lost a spouse. She struts around this country, giving interviews and defending her indefensible stance and it just sickens me. Even Bill O'Reilly, a conservative talk show host, says her comments are way off base. No wonder this rag is single. She makes me sick. Anyone who buys this piece of crap needs their head examined, yet this new book debuted at #1 on the New York Times best seller list. Unfortunately, there are more morons in this country than forward thinking people. Typical that she was on Jay Leno the other night and all he did was lob her softballs and let her liberals and his white bread, cookie cutter, crowd cheered her wildly. Give Matt Lauer from the Today Show credit. When he had Coulter on last week, they got into a huge argument on the air as he called her out as being cruel and insensitive to the 9/11 widows. He jumped up 1000% in my book. Coulter? She is a despicable human being who should be ashamed of herself.

Now onto my beloved Cleveland Indians. I have faced the facts that this has turned into a lost season. Last night's pathetic 6-1 loss to the Yankees was the last straw. This team has no fire. No sense of urgency. The Tigers and White Sox gave us every opportunity to get back into the race the last month by playing .500 ball, yet we have done nothing to get back into the race. Playing well would have us withing 4-5 games and in striking distance. Eric Wedge and Mark Shapiro have allowed this season to slip through the cracks with a series of mistakes - bad managing of a severely flawed roster. I had this conversation with MD and Jeremy last night, two of the biggest Tribe fans I know. We are all in agreement - its time to drop all of these 4A bench players and pitchers, bring up the kids and start to develop. I've had enough of watching Jason Johnson (3-7, 6.00 ERA) being trotted out there every 5 days, when top prospect Jeremy Sowers is 7-1, 1.37 ERA in AAA. I'm tired of watching Aaron Boone kick the ball around the infield and swing over the top of breaking pitches. You traded Coco Crisp for Boone's replacement Andy Marte, so bring him up already. Why waste roster spots on guys like Todd Hollandsworth and Tim Laker who shouldn't be in the majors anymore. Jer said it last year, the best chance we have for a title is The Cavaliers because of Lebron. I have been blinded by my love for the Tribe - like MD says, Bobby D and his sons bleed Tribe Red, White, and Blue - to see that fact, but I see it now. The shoestring budget, cheap ownership, and zero room for error, makes it so much harder for the Indians to win a World Series. Meanwhile, the KU Jayhawks return our top eight scorers, bring in two McDonald's All-Americans, and will be a preseason top three team. The Cavaliers will only get better as long as Lebron is around. The Tribe continues to be a maddening bunch.

This weekend, the infamous Buatch is getting married Saturday night at the Renaissance. We have the rehearsal dinner Friday night and wedding Saturday. Meanwhile, Leah's cousin Sharon is getting married Sunday in Cleveland, so we have to get up Sunday, fly in for the 4 PM wedding, and fly back Monday. Just what we want to do! That is life though, you do a lot of things that you don't want to do and in the end, they usually aren't that big of a deal.

Leah has officially started her Cleveland job search and has her resume out there for the persuing. Anyone with contacts for HR jobs in Cleveland, please email me or call me. We have a lot of balls in the air now and cannot tell you how much we appreciate everyone's help. We are about a month away from moving now so the job search is in serious mode now. No, we still haven't had an offer on the condo yet, but there is another open house this weekend.

I had dinner with Mark P at one of our old favorites, Lincoln Station. Not only is it still my favorite Buffalo Chicken sandwich in the city, but we spent a lot of good times there. Like P said at dinner, that place had a great run for us between 2000-2004. It really hit me during that meal that we were moving so soon. Its crazy. I'm going to miss my friends terribly, but am so excited to start the new phase our my life. P, Dave, and Ags have organized a going away party for us on July 8th at The Grammercy. The evite went out yesterday and was hysterical. P is a true wordsmith.

Days Until Leah Stops Working: 14 Days
Song of the Day: "Don't Stay Home" by 311

Day 159

I'm struggling today all. We will see where this goes. It was a long three plus days in Florida. Anyone who thinks that Florida in the summer is better than Arizona in the summer needs their head examined. It was beyond disgusting there weather-wise. It was 85, overcast, and 100% humidity. Walking off the plane, I thought I was going to kill myself. It was so miserable. You could just feel the steam coming in from outside. I finally know understand the difference between the dry heat of Arizona and the sweat-box that is the Midwest during the summer. The problem I ran into all weekend was that there was no happy medium. Either we were outside and it was 1000, or you were inside and the air conditioning was on about 55 degrees. Anyways, the work was the usual at these conferences. Long days of talking and being on your feet all day, and even longer nights of drinking. I am convinced that these reps finally get one night away from their spouses and kids and go nuts. They know vendors like me have an open credit card and take full advantage. It was definitely good to get back home Saturday night.

We had another open house Saturday and had a few prospects out of it. We had a showing here at 4 today as well. Still waiting for that first offer. Leah is so good about it. She is so patient and I of course am totally freaking out about our lack of offers. Sale or no sale, we are out of here on Monday July 18th.

The Yahoo problem has escalated and my account is still down. I called them again today and the supervisor told me that they have no control over when this will be finished - its all on AT&T and they haven't been given any indication if when it will be done. So meanwhile, I have created a new email address td2103@gmail.com. So from now on, use this email address. When and if Yahoo ever gets its act together, that will be my backup address. If you are a reader of this blog and did receive an email from about about this topic, please shoot me an email with your address as this means I couldn't remember yours off the top of my head.

Earlier today, Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident in Pittsburgh. Big Ben was reportedly not wearing a Helmet and ended up going face-first into the rear of the car in front of him. Reports say he lost most of his teeth, had facial lacerations, lost a lot of blood, and had major injuries to both of his knees. He is in stable condition. While we all hope he will be ok and he probably will be, he has to be taken to task here. Three years ago, Chicago Bulls rookie and #2 overall draft pick Jason Williams essentially has his career ended when he crashed his motorcycle. At points during his weeks of hospitalization, doctors thought he would have to have his leg amputated. Last summer, after missing the last 14 games of his rookie season, Browns TE Kellen Winslow II missed the entire season after crashing his motorcycle while doing tricks in a parking lot. He tore up his knee amongst other various injuries, robbing him of his second season. The speed that made him the #7 pick in the 2004 draft will probably never re-appear. Winslow was killed in the national and local press for being so irresponsible. Big Ben, the new golden boy QB in the NFL following in the steps of Tom Brady, is in serious trouble. It isn't known yet how extensive the injuries to his knees are, but it is possible his season and maybe his career could be over because of a moronic decision. Almost every NFL, NBA, and MLB contracts now include clauses that say that if the player injures himself in a motorcycle accident, their contract can be voided. Bill Cowher, Roethlisberger's coach, had a well documented discussion last summer with Big Ben about staying off the bike because of the possibility of injury. So the question is, assuming he is ok, do you feel sorry for him or think he is moronic for not seeing what happened to some of his colleagues?

Days Till Leah stops working: 16
Song of the Day: "Only God Can Judge Me" by 2Pac

Day 158

This blog entry is being crafted 30,000 feet above your heads. I’m on my way to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida for my second of four Edward Don conferences. The first was the one I went to in Dallas in late April. Dallas in late April is much better than Florida in June. The forecast is calling for rain and humidity the whole time I am there. Oh well, I’ll be inside the whole time anyways. The good thing about this conference is that unlike the Dallas conference, I have two other reps with me who actually know what they are doing,so my job is more of an entertaining, handshaking and “being seen by the right people” situation. The other reps will be doing the majority of the talking during the two days of rotations, which is nice. The only bummer is that I am missing the Artie Lange roast on Howard Stern tonight. Oh well, life goes on.

I know some people hate it (Jaimo, Tony Kornheiser, John Madden), but flying doesn’t bother me in the least bit. I have been a business traveler now pretty much extensively for the last 7 years. I don’t know about you, but every time I fly, I have the same exact thoughts at the same exact time. Right when I take off, as the plane is starting its ascent, my thoughts immediately are “what if I die in a plane crash” and I think about Leah, my mom, and my brother. Or when Leah and I fly I think about our families in general losing us both. I know that may sound crazy, but it happens without fail; especially when I get on an earlier flight, I think about Leah asking herself why did I get on an earlier plane and why is our luck so bad? Kind of a morbid train of thought, especially when I am writing this on a plane, but as you know, I’ve tried to share my random thoughts on this blog as much as I can. It has become such a big part of my routine and has really helped me personally deal with all of the shit I have gone through. I’m not trying to have anyone feel sorry for me or anything like that – I know how good I have it – but sometimes I wonder what I did in this life or any other previous life to be dealt the numerous blows I have received. By the way, still no offers on the condo.

We have had such a great week of weather – yet another reason this trip to Florida is so untimely. 70’s and sunny, not humid at all. We have been taking Casey on walks every night this week. Last night we had another showing for our condo. The silver lining in all of these showings and open houses is that our place is always clean and we have packed up a lot of things. On one of our walks this week, Leah and I have essentially made the executive decision of making July 18th our move date with a caveat. Since we would have to store our furniture in Cleveland anyways, if we haven’t sold our place by them we are going to leave our furniture in the condo. It shows better with it in there anyways, plus we wouldn’t have to pay to store it. We will take all of our clothes, electronic equipment and boxes with us. I will be coming back to Chicago for work, so I can let the movers on one of my trips to remove he remaining stuff. This works out well for everyone. That being said, anyone who reads this, Saturday night July 8th is going to be a big blow out going away party for us. The great Ags and Dave have taken the lead on this. Time and place will be announced soon, but its going to be our last big night in Chicago. Lock me up for shedding a tear or too at the end of that night. Come one come all.

My Yahoo email is still down. They are still giving me run around and it is beyond aggravating. Hopefully by today it will be fixed, but this is getting ridiculous.

This Saturday and Sunday is the staple of every summer for almost everyone I know who lives here – the Old Town art fair, the best street fair of the summer. That is yet another great thing about Chicago, the summer street fairs. There is pretty much one every weekend in a different part of the city. There is this one in Old Town that I love. We usually hit the Sheffield Garden Walk, Retro on Roscoe which takes place in August on our street, The Taste of Lincoln which we hit every summer as well. That is just naming a few. C-Town has the Feast of Assumption and the Rib cook off. The good news is that we have a big house in our dream neighborhood!

Still waiting for my Tribe to go on a big run. We can’t seem to get a streak going. Everytime I think we are going to turn the corner, our fundamentals let us down. Tuesday night was the classic Tribe loss. Bad managing, an error followed by a stolen base, and a single and we lose by 1. Leah asked me the other day how I can have the same conversations every night with my brother and Ags. I told her “how long have you known me? This is par for the course, every summer, pretty much every night.”

Don’t forget to watch the season premier of Entourage this Sunday on HBO. That is the best show on TV right now and approaching my legendary status with Seinfeld, Dallas, and the Sopranos.

I am starting a new feature on this blog that goes along with our move. It’s the Leah work countdown. We started one on the fridge and at the end of each day, she X’s off another day. As of this morning, she has 19 days of that horrible commute left.

Days Till Leah stops working: 19
Song of the Day: “What You See is What you Get” by Xzibit

Day 157

An absolutely beautiful weather weekend here in Chicago just ended. This by far will be the best weather we will have all summer. It was in the 70's without a cloud in the sky. I tried to be outside as much as possible. Saturday we had another open house from 12-3 and we had to be out of the house. Leah had her friend Jenny's bridal shower, so she was gone all day, leaving me with Casey. I ran a bunch of errands, listened to some tunes with the windows down and the sun roof open. Under normal circumstances, the fact that it took me 35 minutes to essentially go about 3 miles in the city to pick up Casey's medication would kill me, but since I couldn't go home, it was no big deal. I'll say it again - I certainly will not miss the traffic in this city. Especially during the summer months where you literally can't go anywhere on the weekends without it taking forever. But I digress. I met Dave and his future father in law at Hot Doug's, which I have chronicled in this blog. Is it bad that I went there both Friday and Saturday for lunch? At least on Saturday I didn't order the Duck Fat Fries. Seriously though, on Friday I had a Brown Ale and Chipotle Buffalo Sausage with Guinness mustard and sharp cheese. Saturday I went for the Tuscan Veal Sausage with lemon-dijon mustard and jack cheese. The place is too good. I brought Casey along and she enjoyed waiting in a 55 person deep line Saturday, which went out the door and wrapped around the corner. Saturday night we had a mini-bachelor party for Josh "The Buatch" Morris. It was the KU boys and Mark P, since none of us went to Vegas for his real b.p. a few weeks ago. If you know or have ever heard of the Buatch, you know why we didn't go to Vegas. Anyways, we took him to Hugo's and went out for drinks afterwards. We went to the Kerrymen for a while, which was a good time. Then the busted call of all time by the Buatch - he had to go to this place called Narcisse, which none of us wanted to go to. I didn't like going there 5 years ago and things didn't change one bit. The place was pretty much empty, real loud, and we for some reason had to have a reserved table and bottle service. I wish I had that hour of my life back. The only people in there were unconfirmed K-Fed's.

I spent Sunday afternoon at Gregg's daughter Samantha's first birthday party in the burbs. We drove up with Dave and Sara. To see one of your lifelong friends, especially one who is younger, at his kids first birthday is truly scary. Gregg is really good with her, but it really hits me when I see it in action. They put a big piece of cake in front of Samantha and she absolutely ravaged it. Another highlight of the party (besides the french toast) was that I was able to get Taich on the "cake smells funny" routine. Since Samantha can't have dairy products, the cake was dairy free. So I said, "Taich, tell me if its just me, or does this dairy-free cake smell funny." He leaned right in and I buried it in his face. Again, my top two laughers were with me in Sara and Leah, and we just laughed and laughed.

I have to comment on last night's season finale of The Sopranos. If you haven't watched it yet, stop reading here. Why is it that it seems like almost nothing happens when you are expecting something big? So we learned that Christopher is sleeping with the woman Tony wanted but passed on and is back using drugs. But what did that do for the storylines? Nothing. AJ went from working construction one day, to fully dating a Dominican woman 10 years older than him with a 3 year old son. So what? Carmella's spec house is back on. Swisher sweet. Who cares? Here is a question for Sopranos fans - Why did they waste an entire episode about Artie Bucco and the credit card scam? That was never mentioned again and Artie wasn't on any other episodes after that. What about Pauly and his prostate cancer? We never heard about that again. But the biggest waste of all was the half of an episode following Carmella and Ro Aprile in Europe. That meant absolutely nothing other than she had a dream about Adrianna. My grade for this season was a B-.

One season finale that didn't disappoint me last night was Big Love. Other than Rafal, I know nobody else who watches it, but I loved this show. Things here were resolved, yet a cliff hanger was out there as well. I never knew I could feel so sorry for a polygamist TV characters played so well Bill Paxton and Jeanne Tripplehorn. I have also been watching Six Feet Under reruns pretty much every night at 10 PM in bed for the last month. Now that was a great show. Such great writing and so unbelievably deep. You get a much better picture of it when you watch them continuously the way I have instead of once a week each season. Tonight through Wednesday are the last three episodes. Most importantly, Entourage, the best show on TV right now, starts next Sunday night.

Props go out to Dave and Sara for getting a new puppy this weekend. It is some sort of spaniel mix, but will be about 40 pounds in the end. Casey is very excited to have a new friend. In classic Dave fashion, they haven't named the dog yet. They got engaged a month ago and haven't set a date yet either. Sara actually called for a 30 day moratorium on planning since her mom was driving her crazy, and Dave has extended it another month. Too funny. They both want a small, destination wedding, but can't decide where. I am definitely going to miss them when we move.

Speaking of which, still no offers on this place and we have dropped the price. Nothing is selling. There were 5 open houses in our building, 4 of which were two bed, two baths like ours. The good news is that they are all over the board pricewise and ours is still the most reasonable. We would like our move date to be July 18th and if all goes as planned, that is when it will be. But if we aren't sold, we won't be moving probably until the beginning of August.

For some reason Saturday morning, I woke up and my Yahoo email was shut down and I received an error message saying to was cancelled. After an hour of going on circles and getting to the right person, they accidentally shut down my account. Yet inexplicably, they told me that others are having this same problem and it would be 3-5 days before it was restored. So I am off personal emails until it is fixed. Hopefully, by Thursday it will be back up. I am going to Ft. Lauderdale for a work conference, coming back Saturday night. Nothing like Florida in June.

Song of the Day: "Why Not" by Erick Sermon

Day 156

I'm back in Chicago. We got back last night and we are both very tired. Casey too. Overall the whole week in Arizona was great. I'd give it a good solid A grade. Wasn't as relaxing as most of our trips out there, but it turned out beautifully. A few more things went down before we left that weren't discussed in the last blog. I posted more wedding photos above. Most important of those things was Casey's latest ailment. Monday night we went to dinner with Justin's parents. When we came back, Casey didn't run to the door as she usually does. She came off the couch and was limping. We had no clue how this happened, but we just dismissed it and hoped the next morning she would be fine. The next morning, she actually slept pretty late, which for her isn't normal when out in Arizona. The limp was worse and Stacey and I noticed that her back left paw was very swollen and she kept trying to lick it. So we made her a vet appointment for that day. She was sluggish all day. The vet said that she had something that lodged in her paw and it became infected. The same thing happened last summer and the infection grew a cyst, which burst, and I spent six weeks going to the vet twice a day getting her paw re-wrapped. The good news about this one is that they said it wasn't so severe, we have to soak her paw in Epson's salt twice a day for 4 days and take anti-biotics twice a day for 10. Dog owners know, it is always something, but the love for your dog overshadows all. That being said, it is official, no more plane trips for Casey. She is getting to become too much work to travel with. When we go out west, she never sleeps well which causes us not to sleep well. So when C-Town soon becomes her permanent home, she will be staying there for the duration. She does though deserve props for her performance at the brunch Monday morning. Max and Stacey had it at their house and there were 80 plus people there. She was a star.

While it is good to be back home, reality always strikes hardcore the day you get back. We came back to bills gallore and the fact that this condo still hasn't had an offer on it yet. Our realtor had another open house and showings while we were gone, yet nothing has come of it. She has another showing scheduled for today at 1:30. I just want out already. Leah's last day at work is July 7th and our tentative move out date, assuming we get this sold beforehand, is July 17th. I know I sound like I am beating a dead horse, but we are ready to get going.

The Tribe is starting to play a little better, but if there was ever such a thing as a must win game in June, it is tonight. We could take 3 of 4 from the White Sox, build off of this win and gain momentum. If we lose, we are just another middle of the road team chasing 9 games from the Sox. For more information on my tribe thoughts, check out the website I am now writing for, www.theclevelandfan.com and my latest column defending Jim Thome is on the main page. If you click on my name, you can get an archives of my columns below my bio. No - that picture isn't me, it is Artie Lange from the Howard Stern show.

In other sports news, make sure you all are rooting for the Heat to beat the Pistons tomorrow night. Why you ask? We need this series to be over asap for MD's sake. He is exhausted and is making the trip this weekend to Indy to see his kids and doesn't need an additional conflict involving the Pistons. He would have been able to get to Arizona for the wedding on Saturday had the Cavs finished the Pistons off. These things happen though. I predict Miami in a blowout in game 6.

I was so tired last night, watched the big Tribe win and unpacked. So I missed the series premiere of "The Hills" on MTV - the Laguna Beach spinoff starring Laguna alumni LC. I am pretty much finished with MTV shows, but I am all over this one. Not to worry because it was Tivo'd. I'll be watching it at some point this weekend. Should be an interesting weekend as well. Tomorrow I am at Edward Don for Vendor Friday and tomorrow night we are having dinner with our friends Maxine and Scott. Saturday night is the Buatch's Chicago bachelor party. Basically it is the KU boys taking him to Hugo's and out for drinks, but whenever the Buatch is involved, something funny always ensues. Sunday we are in the burbs at 11 for young Samantha Graines' first birthday party.

Lastly, I have got to give some love and a happy belated birthday to my original brother in law Scott. Crazy to think that it was his 23rd birthday and I attended his bar mitzvah. Scott just cracks me up whenever we are together. Like me, he has been known to repeat himself and drive things into the ground (did you know he attended an Eagles concert and sat in the front row? just ask him, he will tell you). He is turning into a master chef and this summer is moving into a condo with his girlfriend Lauren, who is transferring to ASU. I am so proud to see the growth in him, especially in the last three years. He is my little brother. I love the kid death and we had a blast this past week hanging out. Scott - do me a favor - save a life.....hahahahaha.

Song of the Day: "Breathe and Stop" by Q-Tip