WTF Man?! W T F ?

So, what's with Purdue doing well in the Big Ten? Did we all see they beat Wisconsin - at Wisconsin. Uncool that they now own full rights to the Big Ten 1st Place position. Ugh.

FBR Fun!

This weekend, Stacey and I met Troy and Kelly, her sister, Jen, and friends Chris and Jane at the PGA's FBR Open in Scottsdale.

This was our first time at the FBR and we're sure to go back!  Because the Super Bowl was in town too there were record crowds at "Golf's Biggest Party."  I could've done without a few (thousand) of the people there (mainly those girls and guys dressed like there were going to a NYC or Miami club).  But, once you got out of the major party area around the 16th hole there was still good times to be had.  We stayed on the 17th green and watched the last few groups of golfers go through.

After the FBR, Troy, Stacey, Kelly and I had dinner at this fantastic Italian restaurant near their house in Scottsdale.  And by fantastic, I mean FAN-Fing-TASTIC!  Not too expensive (if we didn't get those two bott-ows of wine) and family-owned ... it was great!  We'd definitely go back!

The weekend itself had much to be desired as far was the weather goes.  Saturday morning and early afternoon were actually nice - sunny and in the low-60s.  Then, in the late afternoon, clouds rolled in and it got quite cool.  Superbowl Sunday was not so great with a few rain showers and highs only in the low-50s.  Worse yet was Monday.  I had an all-day meeting in central Phoenix/Tempe and when I left at 4:30 it was raining and 43.  43?!?  The rain was actually partially slushy/snowy.  In the mountains just east and north of the valley there was quite a bit of snow.  We've been lucky to have a lot of snow in the Arizona mountains helping to alleviate the drought out here.  In fact, tonight, I heard that the Arizona ski resorts could NOT GET ANY MORE SNOW from today forward and still be open until late April!  Maybe I'll get to ski this year yet!  It's still weird to me ... today I was in North Phoenix/Scottsdale and although the immediate mountains in the suburbs were not snow covered, the McDowell Mountains and the eastern Superstition Mountains were all covered in snow.  In fact, all the mountains past the immediate ridge of the valley were white.  It's crazy to see palm trees and snow all within the same view!

But, this week brings much warmer weather ... weather we haven't seen in about two months!  By Friday and Saturday (I have to work both days, ugh!) we are supposed to be in the upper-70s and keep it that way for the length of the forecast!  This is what I'd expect in a desert winter!

So, this past weekend was good times!  Hopefully everyone else had fantastic fun too!  Woo hoo Giants!

Happy Super Tuesday!

Well, the past has not been too political in our lives.  However, since the last presidential election (my first time voting - for Kerry) I have slowly become more interested in "the issues" and politics...

Last week, I was in Albuquerque conducting some training downtown.  As it should turn out, Barack Obama was speaking in a convention center directly across the street from the hotel where I was located.  

On my lunch break, I walked out (this is actually when I found out it was the convention center next door) and saw secret service agents and police all over.  About two minutes later I was directed to either go back inside or stay on a street corner.  As I was walking to the street corner a parade of SUVs came plowing through and out hops more secret service agents, suits and Barack Obama himself!  He waived to the few of us that happened to be on that side of the convention center (there were fewer than 15 of us).  Wow, I saw a possible future President from just twenty feet away!

So, I go back in, eat, and decide to go back outside and see if he had left.  Outside, everything looks the same (secret service, police, etc).  I could hear the crowd cheering in the convention center.  There was a downtown park right nearby that I saw a bunch of people gathered.  I thought, "wonder what's going on there ... maybe a republican candidate or something," and I walked over there.  

When I got to the square there was not much happening except a bunch of people there.  Then, as I turn around I saw the police taping off the street with yellow tape and I couldn't get back across the street.  Sure enough, Barack was coming from the convention center to the square to do a little public speaking!  

He walks up, gets on the stage and tries to use the handheld loudspeaker ... but it wasn't working.  So he says, "the heck with it ... I don't need this thing!"  The crowd cheers.  When he was done speaking (about 7 or 8 minutes) I was cutting my lunch short and started walking back to my hotel.  I had five minutes until my class started and the secret service and police stop me and others from walking across the street so that Obama could walk back.  

He walked right up to us, shook our hands and moved on.  He had really soft hands.  Sounds weird, but I thought Larry would appreciate this, given his soft hands.  Many of you may not understand.  He looked young and healthy!

So, today, regardless of that experience ... I voted for Barack Obama in the Arizona primaries.  While I'd probably be happy with either Hillary or Obama ... there were a few issues that I agreed with Obama more on, most notably, healthcare.  

So, there you have it!  Me (and Stacey too, but she forgot she registered as an "Independent" so she couldn't vote today) being political and involved!