A Day Off to Celebrate the Guys on our Money?

The title describes exactly what this day was, but who am I to complain over a day off? After having to work on Martin Luther King Day, while many others had the day off, I enjoyed this Monday off while others around the country were at work or school. Hey, it all works out in the end. I just can't figure out why Presidents' Day is so big in the New York area. The schools have the whole week off, and this is just 6 weeks after the Winter Break and 6 weeks before the Spring Break. That sounds like they definitely have more breaks than we ever did in the Philadelphia area. But what can you do? That's all water under the bridge for me.

It was a relaxing weekend with not too much to report on. In fact, I really didn't do anything at all and it was fantastic. Watched some TV, caught up on some reading...slept. Yes, definitely caught up on the sleep. I always say that I'm not one who needs a ton of plans on the agenda. I'm perfectly fine with hanging out and having the whole calendar empty. So now I feel refreshed, ready for the work week, and am still searching for the reasons why the 3 days off went so quickly.

- I caught some of the NBA All-Star Saturday Night on TNT, and of course, Charles Barkley had some great comments during the Slam Dunk competition, as we've come to expect from Sir Charles. Some of my favorites...

Commenting on on Knicks guard Nate Robinson: "If he's really 5'9", then I'm skinny."

Again, commenting on Robinson: "He really can't get all that depressed about missing these dunks... after all, he's playing on the Knicks."

Commenting on the Hawks' Josh Smith and the ridiculous dunks that he was attempting: "He's got as good of a chance of making that dunk as Dick Cheney has of finding a new hunting partner."

Gotta love Barkley's honesty and wit. He's a finalist for this year's NBA Hall of Fame class and definitely has my vote (not that it counts, but if it did, he'd have it).

- Anyone see this new Pepsi commercial with Jimmy Fallon and Parker Posey dancing around like a couple of crazies? The commercial itself isn't all that innovative, but the song is an extremely catchy electronic tune. And since I enjoy the challenge of finding out exactly what these songs are, I've already completed the research and found that it's called "Streamline" by Newton.

- Winter Olympic events that I didn't plan on watching, but ended up enjoying:

a) 2 Man Bobsled - must be fun to ride in that thing...
b) Short Track & Long Track Speedskating - like track and field, but on skates...
c) Normal Hill & Large Hill Ski Jumping - now that's gotta be a rush when you're flying like that...

- Winter Olympic events that I could probably do without:

a) Ice Dancing - except for the highlights of the falls...those are priceless.
b) US Men's Hockey - with that performance, they should have just taken the 2 weeks off from the NHL and gone on vacation to their Minnesota lake cabins...
c) Snowboarding - The skiing I like, but if I wanted snowboarding on the half-pipe, I'd watch the Winter X Games on ESPN...

- I'll never understand these people who win the PowerBall Lottery and then wait several days before turning themselves in as the winner. The latest PowerBall went for $365 million, the officials know the ticket was sold in Nebraska, and yet no one has come forward. This makes no sense to me. I know that on the occasions that I've bought lottery tickets for the PowerBall for sh*ts and giggles, I'm checking the numbers as soon as they are announced. You mean to tell me that someone buys a ticket and then either (a) forgets they have it as it sits on their desk, countertop, or in their jacket pocket; or (b) checks it, but not carefully enough as they think they've lost and have thrown the winning ticket in the trash can. I don't buy it. And we're all gonna be pissed off once the person comes forward anyway, since in our mind, the person who wins is never the one we visualize as being the most deserving recipient of $365 million. If you guys know anyone in Nebraska, start making some phone calls.

- Lastly, I'm going to hope that President Bush gets his head screwed back on the right way and decides against this deal that would give an Arab-based company control over 6 major US ports. Think about that for a moment. Then read the article. You'll realize that this might not be a good idea given the fact that the US doesn't exactly have the best relationship with nations of the Middle East. Brilliant ideas by W! Good times in the US!

With that wonderful news, that's all I have for right now. For those returning to work on Tuesday, enjoy the week that's been shortened by 20%. For those of you who didn't have off on Monday, it's alright, you've already completed 20% of your week, so we're all even.