Nomadic Scribblings.....

My employer hasn't even been sold yet, and already the dismantling is underway. Our beautiful New York City office, located at the World Financial Center, with views of Ellis Island, Governor's Island, New York Harbor, and the Statue of Liberty, will close to employees at the end of next week.

Sure am glad Cherie got promoted and transferred!!!!   

...than watching your daughter smile from ear to ear as she plays with snow for the first time ever, shouting, "Papa! Look at me!!!" Pictures to come...

Ten years ago, before Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) existed as a retail telephone service available to the masses, (it represented only about 1% of all voice traffic at the time), I worked for a boutique consulting outfit. The commercial arm of the firm did a lot of work for telecommunications customers, and one of them gave us a single "Internet phone" to use for the hell of it.

We displayed it on a pedestal, and it was a fantastic novelty item, with employees taking turns placing domestic and international long-distance phone calls "over the internet" for free.

Well, fast-forward 10 years, and we have VOIP at work, and VOIP at home, and since 2003, a VOIP service called Skype, which has largely been used by personal computer users to talk to each other over the internet using webcams and microphones. Skype has really blown up in the last 3 years -- as of the 4th quarter of 2008, Skype has 405 million user accounts...which in that 4th quarter generated 20.5 billion minutes on Skype-to-Skype calls.

Skype was created by a polyglot group of Europeans based in Estonia. It now has offices in several countries, including the US, and was acquired by eBay in 2005 for $2.6 Billion.

I've been aware of Skype for years, but really have only tried it out in the last few months. I use it to hold video calls with both sets of grandparents (in Illinois and Maine), chat with my brother in Cambodia, and speak with friends scattered around the country.

I must say, I love me some Skype. The video and audio quality are pretty damn good for a free service. Thus far, it appears that even a cheap webcam/microphone combination (I have the Logitech QuickCam, and I think it cost me $29.99), combined with Skype's software (downloadable at www.skype.com) yields pretty decent audio and video -- certainly I get much better audio over Skype than I do on my Blackberry (Blackberry's shitty audio is a topic for another post).

We experience minimal a/v stuttering (known as "jitter"). and it really helps my family stay connected with family and friends in a way that we could not  previously. My parents and Cherie's parents LOVE being able to see their grandchildren live, and Audrey especially loves to ham it up on camera.

And I have to say, as something of a geek, ever since I watched Aliens, and Robocop, and who knows how many other sci-fi films, I've always wanted a videophone. Skype fits the bill pretty darn well.

So, I love Skype. If you read this entry, and you don't have Skype, you should download it and find me. My account is bchapinsoxfan. This way, you can see my shaved head in person :-) 

Earlier today, Cherie and I packed up the kids and took them to Bender Arena on the campus of our alma mater, American University, to watch the men's basketball team (the Eagles) defeat Patriot League arch rival, the Holy Cross Crusaders, 56-50.

Until today, Audrey had only ever watched basketball on television -- and seeing as AU is rarely on TV of any kind, it has usually been an Illinois game (they're on national TV a lot, and Cherie's brother works for the Illinois athletic department, so there's a family connection), or some random, interesting ACC game (like today's upset win by Maryland over North Carolina). And of course, being 6 months old, Edziu has never watched a basketball game in any meaningful sense of the word, "watch".

I'm happy to report that we had a blast. This being a late-season game between rivals, the arena was packed and filled with the energy of cheering fans from both sides. I was concerned that between the crowd noise and the buzzer/PA announcer, one if not both kids would freak out.

When I took Audrey to Fenway Park this past summer to see the Red Sox play, she loved everything but the loud noises -- which at Fenway meant she was cringing or crying every 2 minutes. But, thankfully, Audrey loved the whole experience -- she yelled and clapped and cheered and clambered over and among the bleachers, smiled the whole time, and at the end of the game, leaned over the balcony railing (firmly in my grip) to wave goodbye to the departing crowd, shouting, "Buh-Bye Eagles!"

Edziu was happy to be held and never once even cracked a frown. 

The game was exciting, AU won, we all left happy, and I could not have asked for a more enjoyable experience.

And, at 3 tickets, 2 hot dogs, 2 Cokes, and parking, the whole experience cost us $40 plus probably a 1/2 gallon of gas. Not bad for a few hours' entertainment for a family of 4.

 

 

This year, for the first time ever, and owing to a desire to take advantage of the Thanksgiving weekend to continue unpacking, Cherie and I stayed home for Thanksgiving. It turned out to be a great decision.

First, it was really nice to spend the day at home with the kids. Audrey was just a peach, and Edziu smiled his way through most of the day. If he learns from his sister, he's going to be a happy kid! Cherie and Audrey spent a good portion of the day in the kitchen, Cherie teaching Audrey the finer points of food preparation for Thanksgiving Day -- at least as much as a 2 yr old could understand! I spent that time holding Edziu and watching football!

Second, the two of them pulled off a fantastic Thanksgiving feast. We had a turkey -- the juiciest, tastiest I've had in years; we had mashed potatoes, cornbread stuffing, sweet potatoes, the ever-present green bean casserole topped with fried onions, fresh "whole berry" cranberry sauce made from scratch from fresh cranberries (not that gelatinous awfulness that comes out of a can in a red-purple cylinder and never loses form), and fresh cornbread. We had apple pie and vanilla bean ice cream for dessert. It was all quite tasty.

We watched some of the Cowboys' 34-9 whooping of the Seattle Seahawks while we digested, which of course, put me in a good mood!. Then, we went for a family walk along a path that runs from our development into a local park. After some playground time for Audrey, we retired for the evening. We gave Audrey a bath, got her, Edziu, and ourselves ready for bed, and were enjoying some family time in our bed before putting the kids down in their beds. Cherie ran downstairs to get a bottle for Edziu....

...and then Audrey began projectile vomiting.

It was straight out of the Lard-Ass Hogan scene in Stand by Me. One minute, she was sitting quietly but happily next to me in our bed in the master bedroom. The next, her mouth was open, stretched as widely as possible, vomit jetting out of her mouth like pressurized water out of a firehose.

She got everything -- me, the dog, the comforter, herself, our pillows, the sheets...and then it all soaked through to the mattress pad and down to the mattress itself.

Eventually, we got her, the dog, the bed, and me cleaned up and got her off to bed. Then she vomited again. And again. After about 4 a.m., things calmed down.

Friday, she seemed totally back to normal...until we started eating an early dinner, during which she vomited macaroni and cheese and milk all over the dining room floor, her booster seat, and herself. The most disgusting part of that event occurred when, while I was kneeling on the floor wiping up vomit, the dog moved in to lick up the bits of partially digested food. I almost lost my own cookies right there on the spot.

Today, no vomit. No, now it's diahrrea time. Ugh. That's all I have to say about that....

1. A week ago Friday, we moved into our new home in Alexandria. It's beautiful, and it's located in a beautiful patch of land. Several mornings, I've watched the sunrise through the french doors and windows in our living room. I've been surprised by the intensity of colors in the autumn leaves here. I don't recall northern Virginia autumns being so colorful, and it's been a pleasant surprise. We left Connecticut just after the peak of fall colors there, so it's been nice to still have fall here. Last night, our dog, Sam, flushed a whitetail deer out of the woods about 20 feet from our front door. Nice.

2. Our movers did a great job packing us in Connecticut but a godawful job unpacking us here. We'll be unpacking boxes and straightening out confusing jumbles of household goods for weeks if not months to come. I hate moving.
 
3. Audrey has had a lot of trouble making the adjustment to being here -- which shouldn't surprise me, seeing as Connecticut was the only home she'd known in the first two years of her life, and we pulled her out of a daycare facility with teachers she loved and deposited her in a new place that however nice, doesn't measure up to the old place. This "trouble" has manifested itself in a refusal to sleep in her own bed. Every night for the past 9 days, upon being put to bed, she has screamed and screamed and screamed and screamed until one of us breaks down and carries her into our room. Upon being deposited in our bed, she promptly falls asleep. Even this isn't positive, as she turns sideways in our bed and kicks me all night long. A few nights ago, I gave up, went down to the living room, and slept in a recliner. Last night and tonight, we've made some progress, and as of tonight, she finally went down and hasn't awakened screaming in the last 4 hours. Awesome.

4. Otherwise, she's been a peach. She's such a helpful, happy child -- I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, but she comes up with new ways of making me smile just about every day. Edziu is doing just great, he's a happy, cute baby, with big, blue eyes, and a developing laugh that makes me laugh every time I hear it.  

5. To my everlasting annoyance, my Cox bundle of services (telephone, internet, HD cable) has been performing terribly. I already wasted nearly a full workday waiting on a service tech who was supposed to show up between 0800-1000, was late, and then stayed at my house working until 1500, and now the equipment he set up is malfunctioning in a serious way. I'll be calling Cox in the morning.

6. To top things off, both of the kids brought home bugs from the new daycare facility, and I got sick in the middle of this past week.

7. On the plus side, my commute to work is about 15 minutes. Love it.

Moving sucks. That's all.

The constant whirlwind that is our family life continued this week. My parents visited last weekend and left on Monday. My brother came for a 24-hour visit Tuesday. Wednesday morning at 5:45, both of us left -- he for Boston, me for Washington. I spent 3, very busy days in Washington. Wednesday and Thursday I performed work on my new project, which, compared to working for NYPD, feels like moving at the speed of sound. Friday, I conducted the "pre-move in" inspection at our new home, and when that went well, took possession of the townhouse.

Friday night, I returned home to focus on the many pre-move tasks left to finish before the movers arrive on Tuesday. The good news is that most rooms of the house are ready for the movers -- the basement, kitchen, living room, dining room, kids' bedroom, both baths -- all are fairly ready for the movers to arrive. Our bedroom is a disaster, and we still have to do things like file change of address notices, turn off certain utilities, etc. I can't wait until next Friday, when we're moved in down in Virginia. It can't come soon enough.

Today, I am depressed. I had, no doubt like many Red Sox fans, hoped to be gearing up for the World Series. We were all on a high coming into last night -- the Sox, wounded and depleted, had willed their way to an astonishing comeback in Game 5 and a solid win in Game 6. I think we all felt like Game 7 was in the bag, especially when Dustin Pedroia lined a home run into the first row of bleachers in left field at the Trop in the first inning to give the Sox a 1-0 lead. I had only a little doubt, saying to my dad earlier that day, "the one thing that worries me is that the Sox have had trouble putting together 3 consecutive, solid games all year long."

Sure enough, they just couldn't put everything together last night. Jon Lester pitched an outstanding game, but the Sox couldn't pick him up, and the Rays hung around, then made the most of a small number of opportunities to take the lead. It was a tight game all night long, and Tampa was just a little better on the mound and at the plate. The Sox had several opportunities late in the game but never capitalized on them.

When Jed Lowrie bounced out to Akinori Iwamura, it was the Rays and their fans, not the Sox and the Nation, jumping for joy. In a way, it was fitting. The Rays had the Sox' number all year long. They deserved for things to play out this way.

Still, when you follow a team as passionately as we members of Red Sox nation do, and when a team takes you to such heights as occurred when the Sox came back to tie the ALCS at 3 games apiece, you can't help but feel a crash when it all breaks down. I will say this feels monumentally different than 2003. When the Sox lost in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS to the Yankees, I hurled my remote control at the wall, shattered it into several pieces, and was angry for days, and depressed for weeks.

After two World Series championships in the last 5 years, it's just a mild sort of hurt, and a sense of early optimism -- there always IS next year! Thanks, Sox, for a wild ride this year, and if it ended just short of heaven, well, you gave it your best, and true fans will always love the 2008 Sox for a spirited defense of the 2007 title.

And, April can't come quickly enough. I can already smell the brick dust and freshly cut grass.

Thursday, before the Red Sox pulled off an improbable and nearly incomprehensible comeback in Game 5 of the ALCS, I enjoyed my final day as a member of my employer's New York City public sector account team. It was a microcosm of everything I've come to love and hate about New York City. It left me both grateful for the time I spent there, especially in lower Manhattan, and grateful to be leaving.

I got up early, intent on arriving at work early on my last day...only to be thwarted when the terminally overburdened 4/5 "express" subway line took 28 minutes to move 3 stops. NYC subway, how will I miss thee, let me count the ways...zero.

After turning in a large proposal late in the morning, a few colleagues and I met in Brooklyn for lunch. The company picked up the dime for us to munch at a place where a plain hamburger cost $18. I love and hate that about New York.

After lunch, my workday complete, I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge back to Manhattan. I loved doing that. I've wanted to do it ever since reading David McCullough's "The Great Bridge". And I finally walked the bridge on my last day. The Brooklyn Bridge represents something I love about New York City, and particularly about lower Manhattan -- the palpable presence of history. Be it the Brooklyn Bridge, Federal Hall, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island -- both within sight of my employer's office in lower Manhattan -- or the history being made every day at the NYSE and other local financial institutions (though not much GOOD history the last few weeks) -- there is history everywhere one turns in New York City, Manhattan especially. For a history buff, it's good times.

I then took the 4/5 uptown to Grand Central, then walked west on 42nd Street to its intersection with 7th Avenue...aka, Times Square. What a carnival for the senses -- a freaking neon, LED, technicolor extravaganza. I fought my way through the crowds, which for a mid-day afternoon in October, were staggeringly large. I won't miss the crowds in Manhattan. They make DC at its busiest appear a ghost town.

One heavily tattoed fellow leaned into me to try to give me a shoulder block, but he didn't know I wasn't a tourist. I leaned back into him and delivered my final dose of "full contact walking", New York Style.

Then, I was accosted by a guy trying to lure people to a Comedy Central Comedy Showcase...and would have gone except that I needed to turn around and hoof it back to Grand Central to catch a train.

Back at Grand Central, I bought a lemonade from Zaro's , enjoyed the view from the first landing on the steps at the east end of the Great Hall, then boarded a train to White Plains, where Cherie, Audrey, and Edziu picked me up. It was a perfect end to a wonderful day.

So long, New York City. I will miss you after all............


 

That's all I have to say about that.

8-7, Red Sox. It's on to Tampa Bay, and suddenly it feels a lot like 2004.

GO BOSOX!

I didn't have a chance to blog about debate #2 between Barack Obama and John McCain. But, polls indicate that Barack Obama was seen by the public as the "winner" of the debate.

Tonight, Barack Obama has, in my opinion, won Debate #3. Why?

1. John McCain's physical and personal quirks: there are the shrugs; the bizarre smiles; the weird eye-rolls; the strange laugh; the nonsequiturs; the constant need to interrupt Obama; the need to correct the moderator totally unprompted (never a polite thing to do, especially on top of all the other things McCain is doing); the snorts -- I could go on. All add up to a disturbing visual and aural picture. I paid little attention to the visual aspect of Debate #1, trying to focus on the thoughts articulated by the candidates. It led me to declar McCain the winner, only to watch just about every poll indicate that McCain had lost the debate because of some of the weird and offputting physical things he did, most pointedly refusing to look at his opponent. Tonight, I watched, and I watched McCain undermine some of his own strongest moments with the just, plain weird and offputting physical things he did while on camera.

2. John McCain offered nothing new of any significance -- either with regard to new policy initiatives or new angles of attack on Barack Obama. He repeated his idea about buying back mortgages, but offered nothing else. He needed to shake things up by bringing something new that would attract voters to him or would cause voters to doubt Obama. He didn't do it.

3. Blowing his stack?  John McCain, especially early on, looked like he felt anxious to score points against Obama, and as he didn't, looked like he was getting increasingly desperate and angry. He really looked at some points like his head might explode. He recovered himself as the debate wore on, but his early, angry expression left an impression.

4. John McCain had a bizarre argument that I suspect hurt him with A LOT of women. During a discussion on abortion, Barack Obama essentially stated that he opposed a certain bill in the Illinois State Senate because it left no exemption for allowing a particular abortion procedure in the event it would preserve the health of the mother. McCain strangely scoffed, in a manner I've never heard a politician do, saying that the "health exemption" has "really been stretched" by pro-abortion forces. It left me with the distinct impression that he doesn't respect the "preservation of health" clause that (if I recall correctly) many Americans support -- in fact, I think for many of them, it's the only circumstance in which they support abortion procedures. I think he must have really alienated a lot of women, and even must have given some in his base pause. It was downright odd. 

5. McCain made another bizarre argument that ACORN was on the verge of "perpetrating the biggest voter fraud in US history" and perhaps "destroying the fabric of democracy". Uh, WHAT? It was a way-over-the-top claim that I think caused most people watching (on both sides of the aisle) to scratch their heads. My thought was, "Wait, I thought we've been hearing for 8 years that Al-Qaeda is the biggest threat to democracy. Now it's ACORN???"

6. Barack Obama successfully parried just about every thrust McCain made, especially the unprompted salvos about Bill Ayers and ACORN. Obama explained away each salvo in an effective manner. As George Will said on ABC, Barack "mastered the old axiom: A soft answer turneth away wrath." Obama also scored by saying, "No one cares about this crap. Let's talk about the big issues." Then McCain was forced to defend his campaign, saying it was about the issues...then went back to talking about Ayers. He didn't help himself.

7. I do think McCain scored with his early bits about "Joe the Plumber", and hs victimization by Obama's proposed tax policy, but McCain weakened the power of Joe by going back to him over and over and over throughout the night.  He should have mentioned him once or twice, then left it to linger in people's minds -- a "thing to make you go hmmm..." Instead, he beat that horse until it was dead. He also scored with his "If you want to run against George Bush, you should have run 4 years ago." But, I think that score was overwhelmed by the preponderance of the night's content.

8. McCain hurt himself with his "hurt" over John Lewis' comments. I think that many viewers must have thought, "Huh? Your campaign is throwing out the bloody red meat about Barack travelling with terrorists. How can you claim to have your feelings hurt?" My opinion is that nothing coming out of the Obama campaign or Obama supporters has compared to the deceitful, hate-inspiring crap coming out of the McCain campaign. The "palling around with terrorists", and "Barack Obama doesn't see America the way you and I see America" coming from Sarah Palin has been downright disgusting, and the most recent polls reflect that Americans dislike it and are not embracing it, but turning away from it.

Overall, it was a small but significant net positive for Obama -- which is a huge net loss for McCain, because he is slipping away in the polls. He may get a small bounce among certain segments of the population -- in part because the post-debate coverage is, "This was his best performance yet" (though that's not saying much). But 10 days from now, he'll be right back where he was before.

ALCS: Red Sox 1, Rays 0

What a nailbiter of a game tonight! And how exciting that the Red Sox took a 1-0 series lead on the road in a tough road venue.

The Red Sox went on the road tonight to the inhospitable (and aesthetically unappealing) Tropicana Field at the St. Petersburg Dome. Ugh. I hate Tropicana Field even more than I hate the Metrodome. I hate domes in general for baseball -- baseball is a summer game, baseball is an outdoor game, it should always be played outdoors. And the "Trop", with its blinding lights and baseball-colored roof that causes players to lose balls in the roof, is possibly the worst incarnation of a dome I've ever seen in professional baseball. But I digress....

Daisuke Matsuzaka was one again a pitcher of extremes. He walked 4 batters in the first 2 innings, loaded the bases on walks at one point, but then pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings, didn't even give up a hit till the 7th inning, and struck out 9 batters. He shut out the Rays, and then the bullpen held on to his shutout. Unbelievable.

Offensively, Mark Kotsay's excuse-me, checked-swing double down the left-field line,  and Kevin Youkilis' sinking liner to left gave the Sox the only two runs they would need. Dustin Pedroia finally got a hit, while Jacoby Ellsbury went hitless. I can't remember if Ortiz managed to sneak in a hit, but certainly he wasn't much of a factor in the game. He needs to sit out an entire offseason to let that wrist heal.

Ultimately, the Red Sox come up 2-0 victors. With Beckett lined up for tomorrow (and likely itching to avenge his poor performance in the ALDS), Lester for Game 3, and Wakefield in Game 4, the Red Sox (and the Nation) have to feel pretty good about where we stand. Tonight was really the biggest question mark -- would Dice-K walk his way into allowing 7 or 8 runs, or would he successfully tiptoe along the highwire and come up a winner? He came out a winner, the Sox did too, and now they are in the driver's seat. LET'S GO SOX!

What a day. It began with a heartbreaking, frustrating 5-4 loss to the Angels in the 12th inning of Game 3 of the ALDS, denying the Red Sox a sweep. The Red Sox left a lot of men on base all night long, and it cost them.

Then tonight, the Sox and Angels fought a tough, close, low-scoring match. It was 2-0 Red Sox going into the 8th, and all looked right with the world. Terry Francona made a couple questionable managerial decisions, yanked his red-hot starting pitcher, then his relief pitcher let him down, and suddenly it was 2-2.

Top 9, Angels have 1 out and a man on 3rd, it looks like they're going to go up 3-2. Mike Scioscia calls a squeeze, Erik Aybar can't put wood on it, the runner gets run down and tagged out. Aybar is out moments later, and the inning is over. Still 2-2.

Bottom of the 9th. Jason Bay smacks a double down the right field line. Now he's stranded on 2nd with 2 outs after Mark Teixiera makes a great play on a Mark Kotsay line drive that would have ended the game. Everyone is exahusted from the back and forth.

Suddenly, Jed Lowrie, he of the late-season slump, steps up, hits a curve ball JUST past a diving 2nd baseman, Bay is sprinting for home, sliding in head-first, and RED SOX WIN RED SOX WIN RED SOX WIN!!

We're on to the American League Championship Series for the 4th time in 6 years. Thoughts on the Tampa Bay matchup later.

All is right with the world!

It's all in your hands, Josh (Beckett, that is). Let's do this. Sweep your way to the ALCS.

My condolences to Mr. Chris Close on the pathetic playoff performance of the Chicago Cubs.

I spent much of tonight's first presidential candidate debate between John McCain and Barack Obama looking away from the screen, trying to judge the content of the candidates' words and not their appearance.

From that vantage point, I thought John McCain schooled Barack Obama thoroughly in the art of political debate. To me, it was the seasoned pol vs. the rookie, with the rookie coming up on the short end of things by night's end.

Throughout the debate, it seemed to me that Senator McCain had mastered the art of the debate -- there was the punchy, recurring line -- "Senator Obama just doesn't understand", drilling home Obama's lack of governmental experience at the national level; there were the stories illustrating his decades of experience; there was a depth to his answers that Obama could not match; and time and again, it seemed to me that McCain was on the offensive. Whatever one thinks of the accuracy of his claims, it seemed to me that as the debate wore on, McCain hit Obama again and again, with Obama often reduced to, "John, that's not true," or "John, you know that's not true".
 
For Obama's part, he seemed to me to still be too much of "Professor" Obama. He often hemmed and hawed at the beginnings of his answers -- one could almost see his mental wheels turning -- "Which erudite point should I make first," he was asking himself. He also talked around the core of his answers to questions and even his zingers aimed at McCain. He should have absolutely shredded McCain on the current financial crisis and its relationship to McCain's history of espousing deregulation, but he was too damn rambling, stumbling, and stuttering to be effective.

I'm not a political professional, but I think that if Obama hopes to survive the next month and a half and the next two debates, someone in his camp must crack the whip during debate prep -- his answers must be cut in half the length they are now, and Obama must master the Four/Five Word Zinger -- "Senator Obama Just Doesn't Understand", (McCain) or "There you go again," (Reagan), and/or the pithy one-liner -- Reagan's was, "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" I think Obama should adopt/steal it or modify it to make it his own, perhaps, "Do you want four more years of the last 8 years?" or , to steal Sarah Palin's line, "Say thanks but no thanks to 4 more years of the last 8 years."

In any case, I think McCain won. I think he and his camp will be energized by this performance. I think it overtook an overwhelmingly negative week for his campaign. And I think Obama should humbled by the experience and should work to perform much better next time around. Otherwise, he's in big trouble.

I have always, always respected Chuck Hagel. He's like John McCain, only more authentic and competent.

He has a track record of success and excellence in both the private and public sectors.

He has served in the United States Army as an infantryman, where he earned 2 Purple Hearts, among other awards.

He served ably in the Reagan Campaign and then as Deputy Administrator of the Veterans Administration, establishing a well-known intolerance for incompetence by the government. He quit in principle over outrageous comments made by the VA Administrator, who called veterans groups "greedy" and referred to Agent Orange (responsible for Cherie's dad's cancer) as little worse than "a little teenage acne".

He has served the state of Nebraska ably as a senator for 12 years.

He has founded and run multiple successful businesses, including Vanguard Cellular Communications, at one point the largest wireless provider of the 1990s.

Most importantly, as a public servant, he has been unfailingly independent, candid, and demanding of excellence. He has shown no patience for toeing a party line and no compunction about speaking the truth.

Today, he did again, finally being the one Republican to say that the emperor has no clothes. Sarah Palin is a terrible candidate for Vice President, and we could at least count on Chuck Hagel to tell that truth. Thank you, Chuck. I wish you had run for president. You would have had my vote. The Republican Party, if it does not want to destroy its credibility in the eyes of the American public, would do well to turn to you for leadership.

When Cherie and I moved north from Washington to New York 3 years ago, I had a very difficult time finding a job. My background is as a management and technology consultant for public sector organizations. Every interview I had with a firm up here in New York ended with, "Sorry, but we're looking for someone with at least some commercial background."

Ultimately, it took me 13 months to find and start a new job up here in New York.

What a difference it makes to be going home to Washington. I started looking for a new professional home in Washington just about 3 weeks ago. This morning, I agreed to take on a new position with my current employer. I start full-time November 1, and will probably do some work for the position between now and then.

And, I'm going back to work for the Corps. OOH-RAH, motherf***ers!

Damn, it's good to be me.

Four years ago, late in the season, the Red Sox executed a bold and risky move in an effort to kick start their season and lay the foundation for a successful postseason run. They jettisoned popular shortstop Nomar Garciappara and picked up Orlando Cabrera and Doug Mientkewicz. Nomar had (in some cases justifiably) become angry with the Red Sox management, and his presence in the clubhouse drained the club of energy. 

The trade worked -- the Red Sox took off like a rocket, and the positivity in the clubhouse helped them come back from being down 3-0 in the ALCS against the Yankees. They rode that wave to a 4-0 sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals. Cabrera and Mientkewicz played important roles in the Red Sox' first World Series championship in 86 years. 

This season, the Red Sox executed another risky and bold move. They traded away their star slugger, Manny Ramirez, he of the career .314 batting average, 521 career home runs,  and 1706 career Runs Batted In (RBI).

An undeniably huge talent but with an undeniably mercurial manner, he had tired of Boston by mid-season, had begun to act out and tank games, and had become a cancer in the clubhouse. So, the Red Sox traded him in a 3-way trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Los Angeles Dodgers. In return, the Sox got the Pirates' Jason Bay, an outfielder, and a career .283 hitter with only 145 home runs.

So how has it worked out? Manny's poor behavior escalated right around the All-Star Break. In the 14 games between the All-Star Game and August 3rd, when Manny was traded, the Red Sox were 6-8 (.429). As of August 2nd, they were playing .583 ball overall, fading, 3 games out of first place, with only a tenuous hold on the Wild Card (1.5 games).

in the 32 games played since Manny was traded, the Red Sox have played .687 baseball, (22-10) and are possibly the hottest team in baseball. They are a mere .5 games out of first place in the AL East and have a strong 7-game hold on the Wild Card. They are almost assured of a playoff spot.

Their performance with regard to the division lead is skewed by the fact that the first place team in the AL East, the Tampa Bay Rays, played to an astounding 21-7 (.750) record in the month of August. If the Rays hadn't played out of their minds, and had, let's say, played a more human 17-11 (.607) during August, the Red Sox would have been rewarded with a 4.5 game lead over the Rays at this point.

Manny's replacement, Jason Bay, is now hitting .295 with 28 HR and 95 RBI, only 3 HR and 7 RBI short of Manny's current stats.

The parallels to 2004 are strong. Could the Red Sox repeat as champions after winning it all in 2007? Pitching will still play a huge role, and the Red Sox pitching staff' status is still uncertain. But, certainly, the Red Sox are playing like a ballclub freed from a huge weight slung around its collective neck. The vibe is good, the wins are piling up, and at least this fan is looking forward to October.

The Surivors (1983), starring Jerry Reed, Walter Matthau, and Robin Williams, is one of my favorite comedies of the early 80s.

One of its stars, Jerry Reed has passed away. Besides being a respected musician and a half-decent actor (elevated to better than decent when paired with Robin Williams), Jerry was among a number of performers who, thanks to USO, visited us in the hinterlands of northeastern Japan at Misawa AFB back in the late 80s. He was very gracious to everyone at Misawa, and I even got to have dinner with him after the USO show at the Misawa Officers' Club. I should say, I had dinner, he had cold beer in cans served out of a bin of ice water. That's just the kind of guy he was.