Unfortuantely, The Chicago Bears Have "A Lot Of Football To Be Played"

"I'm a Loser, I'm a Loser,

And I'm not what I appear to be..."

--John Lennon of the Beatles, 1965.

Another terrific loss by the Bears!

I mean, you really have to try to lose that badly.

That game was pitiful. When will they learn: the cover two does not work if your middle linebacker and your safety are not in synch and superior athletes. Two touchdowns: one to the tight end and the other to a mid range receiver were directly tied to Farve picking apart the “cover two.”

Mark, my brother, called me on the Bears first series and I picked the first and second play the Bears would run on their first offensive series and Mark picked the third. WE both agreed with each other and we were absolutely dead on correct. If a guy from Illinois and another from Ohio can predict what is happening in Minnesota, why doesn’t Ron Turner think a Defensive coach with more knowledge than either of us have can do the exact same?

Someone has to be fired at this point, and I think the “fall guy” will be Ron Turner. I also think Lovie has another “Lovie Buddy” in Ron Martz waiting in the wing. I am not saying Ron Turner deserves to keep his job, but this is just putting a band-aid on a gaping wound. If Turner goes, then the Bears are going to keep Lovie around until it is too obvious. Why haven’t we heard Ron Marinelli’s name lately? Oh, I know, because the Defensive line sucks. How about Bruce Babbich? Oh, that’s because the linebackers are woeful with Urlacher. How about Harry Hiestand and Luke Butkis? Who are they, you may ask? Why they are respectively the Head O-Line and Assist O-Line Coaches. Do those two have a job when the season is over?

And if we want to replace the coaches, let’s look at who brought in all of the “talent” and let the “worthless” players go. I think talent evaluation is the key to success. I mean, yesterday’s game showed what a waste Bernard Berrian was to the roster; his yardage was so much worse than Hester’s wasn’t it? And Orlando Pace played so well, didn’t he? Didn’t the Bears lose a draft pick to have an impact player like Gaines Adams added to the roster? His impact has been tremendous, yes?

So our Genius Football Guru, Jerry Angelo, should do the respectable thing and step down. If he cannot do the respectable thing, then the McCaskeys ought to fire him.

I am so tired of hearing the same old dreck from Lovie after a game…”we missed opportunities…lots of football left…we are a good football team…blah blah blah.” First, you missed a great opportunity in not resigning Berrian. You have a lot of football left? Great, can’t wait to see who else slaughters us. You are not the coach of a good football team, or even a mediocre one. You are the coach of a bad team because the play calling and personnel are weak. Cut through the “crap” (your word, not mine) and be honest.

Ironically, after the Bears “tremendous” loss, NFL.com sent me an email to purchase Chicago Bears Merchandise at 20% off. I wouldn’t buy that “crap” (Lovie’s word, not mine) for 80% off.

Thank Goodness it is hockey season.

Go Blackhawks.

I have a new slogan for the Blackhawks: “Watch da ‘Hawks; it’s better than watchin’ da Bears!”

Quick Updates time:

Me vs. State Farm

My car has been fixed and State Farm Insurance finally paid out and ponied up the money. It only took 21 days for my “good neighbor” to offer me assistance, but they at least paid. In the final tally, there was a discrepancy about a $4.50 cent nut they would not pay for. I have a nut I would offer, but frankly I am sick of State Farm squeezing it, so I will move on. All is well that ends well, I suppose. If this was a fight, I would consider it a draw.

Me vs. The Bears

After last week’s debacle, the Chicago Bears need to seriously consider finding a new coach and a new GM. I would court Mike Shannahan and bring in some offensive linemen and a new defensive scheme. The cover two is not working at all and having Cutler eating dirt back there is not a good thing.

Me vs. The Bird

Jen cooked a nice turkey breast/roast yesterday. We had some green beans, some baked sweet potatoes, some rolls and some pumpkin pie. It was all excellent, and we tried to watch the carbs. We also watched two boring football games and one good one. The Denver game was entertaining; the others were “meh…”

Hot Steel; Cold Ice

Hockey tonight for Jen and me, as the Bloomington Prairie Thunder takes on the Port Huron Icehawks. It should be a good one. We are looking forward to more Thunder wins, as Port Huron is in second and we are in third.

Lastly—Thanks.

Thanksgiving is upon us and we all know what holiday is next. Right, it is my birthday, in a few days. Anyways, I hope you had a good holiday with time spent with family and friends. I have quite a bit to be thankful for, so thanks for checking this out and being a part of my life.

Thunderstruck: Hot Steel On Cold Ice And Awesome Hockey

“I was caught

In the middle of a railroad track (Thunder)

I looked 'round,

And I knew there was no turning back (Thunder)

My mind raced

And I thought what could I do? (Thunder)

And I knew

There was no help, no help from you (Thunder)

Sound of the drums

Beatin' in my heart

The thunder of guns!

Tore me apart

You've been - thunderstruck!

Thunderstruck--yeah, yeah, yeah!

Said yeah, it's alright

We're! Doing fine

Yeah, it's alright

We're! Doing fine

So fine

Thunderstruck, yeah, yeah, yeah,

Thunderstruck, thunderstruck, thunderstruck!”

--Angus Young of the band AC/DC from the song “Thunderstruck” from the album Razor's Edge, 1985.

Hey, let’s face it: The Chicago BEARS Suck!

All my prognosticating has led to a futile effort on my part of hoping against hope and dreaming the impossible dream.

Sigh…

So I have turned some of my attention to my second favorite sport, HOCKEY! This year, thanks to the Dish Network, I will see quite a few Blackhawk Games. I love to watch hockey and no, for the ignorant masses who do not understand the game; it has nothing to do with fights.

Hockey athletes are like soccer athletes and physically in good shape. There are no Orlando Paces out there on the ice (as it might crack and the players have to move). There is a grace and a skill involved. There is enough slamming and violence to keep me entertained (OK, maybe a fight once in a while is fun to watch). Finally, I just understand it and many others out there do not.

Jen enjoys the games as well. This is a sport we can cheaply enjoy together.

Our local hockey team is the Bloomington Prairie Thunder. Our mascot is a Buffalo named Chip (Buffalo Chip, get it?) which I think is funny. We are affiliated with the IHL and we have players who are starting their careers and some who are in the twilight of their careers, but it matters not to me. They put a good product on the ice and we are entertained. I like the action, Jen enjoys it to a degree, but she really likes the Music they play in between breaks in the action. Every game we hear AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” full blast echoing off the rafters.

After three years of mediocre play, The Thunder have a much-improved team. We had a run at seven straight wins this season, a bit earlier and now we have drifted down to third place. Still, having gone to my fair share of games, they are a much-improved team. They have an offensive strategy and two goalies that are incredible.

So while some go for the music, the contests, the promotions, such as: if the Thunder score four times, the local McDonalds gives the audience a free Big Mac the next day when a fan brings in a ticket stub or every game a row in a section will be given a scoop of the local Carl’s Ice Cream, and some go for the “kiss cam” or to see themselves on the jumbo-tron screen. I made the screen last night, but never have Jen and I made the kiss cam. Since we are never on it, she just kisses me and says “we don’t need no stinkin’ kiss cam.”

Jen dragged me to the “festival of Trees” a local Bloomington/ Normal benefit event; and next door to it they had the Sports-tacular with the college teams in town, the arena football team members, and representatives of the Thunder. I met Defensemen Armando Scarlato at the event and was taking shots on goal. From about forty-five back, I hit seven of eight shots. They gave Jen an autographed shirt for my efforts, as I talked to the player about the team. He was at the Thunder game last evening, and posed for a photo with me in his autograph booth. Nice guy and he says he enjoys playing on the team.

Tickets are twelve dollars each and the Thunder has tons of promotions as well.

I think I just may have to keep going, as I am never really too worked up if they lose, because I think the intention of the team (to provide good efforts and entertainment for the family) is honest, sincere, and legit.

Now, about those lazy Bears…

This Is Now Getting Silly...

“No more Mr. Nice Guy,
No more Mr. Glee;
No more Mr. Nice Guy,
I’m sick, I’m obscene…”
--Alice Cooper, “No More Mr. Nice Guy” from the album Billion Dollar Babies, 1973.

Well, I guess State Farm owes me a kiss, at least what I usually receive when I have been screwed, but enough sick jokes for now.

The unreal has taken a turn towards the surreal, and the disbelief continues.

October 30, 2009; my car is damage.

October 31, 2009; I call in the accident to State Farm. Also on this date, with State Farm’s knowledge, I buy two new wheels from the local Saturn Dealership in Youngstown Ohio and have the local Pep Boys take care of it.

November 3, 2009; I call State Farm and speak to claims to explain what happened, and I get the “we-may-not-pay-for-it-all” runaround because State Farm did not have an adjustor inspect the car and I could be out $1,400.00.

November 6, 2009; I call State Farm and make an appointment with my local Saturn dealership to have someone look at the car on November 10, so State Farm (whose Corporate Office is four and a half miles down from my Saturn Dealership) can find time to arrange someone to look at my car.

November 10, 2009; State Farm agrees to the realignment, when Saturn discovers the knuckle and struts need to be replaced.

November 12, 2009; after leaving my car a second time at the local Saturn, State Farm Adjustors come out and look at it again and agree with the knuckle and Strut work; parts for which must be ordered. In the meantime, I have had two further calls to the Claims Department as they try to sell me more insurance (rental car) and I notice the company people on company time with their State Farm IP addresses on my site meter are visiting my blog after I rip on them.

November 13, 2009; I meet with my State Farm agent who is relatively nice and apologizes for the fore-mentioned runaround. Everything will be taken care of and I will be refunded the money I put in, minus a $500.00 deductible and no further repair costs will be made to me, I am assured. I am feeling better, and I am told that my strut and knuckle will be in on November 17, 2009.

November 17, 2009; My strut and knuckle are put on the car after the adjustor comes out. He leaves early as has been his custom, according to Saturn, and after the work is done, my car needs to be realigned, which is typical any time someone does any front-end work, especially like a strut and a knuckle. I mean if I know something about a car, I am more than confident 90% of the world’s population knows it as well.

Everybody up to speed? Good, here we go again…

After I learn that the adjustor left early again, I found out from the Saturn that the car needs another alignment. Since State Farm has to approve it, I have to take the car back again. This would be the fourth time. And still State Farm, who has receipts of my costs, has yet to contact me or pay me a dime.

Like a good neighbor? Well maybe in a condemned neighborhood, but not where I wish to live.

So tomorrow, we are back at Saturn, the adjustor comes out again, and we finish the job. The entire incident now is about hours. I called my agent, after Saturn told me that they felt the realignment would take 3 hours and State Farm Claims says it should only take 2.3 hour. Now I have to go back and forth for a lousy 45 minutes difference of time? That is just plain stupid.

When I called my agent today, I was given the goofiest nonsense yet. I was told by agent how she was surprised that Saturn did not give me a loaner car (you see, my insurance would not allow that—sheesh!). I was also told that Saturn should have told them it would again need to be realigned (don’t they usually have to after front end work on the wheels are done? I mean, even I assume that is a given.). And I was also told that State Farm has a book that tells how long it takes to do these jobs and if there is a discrepancy, State Farm is accurate.

All I want is my car back and as close to how it was as before the accident as possible. Well, that and the money I had to front because I dared to go back to work and not lose pay.

Now I must go back to Saturn with my still -"not fixed"-car-from-going-on-19-days for one more time. I turned to the Saturn Service Department leader and asked if he would please go over any and everything else related to my claim in the brief minutes the adjustor was there tomorrow so I can be done and over with this deal. He said he would and apologized for any problems. State Farm, who has paid nothing, makes excuses, not apologies. I was even told by my claims team that this was taking too long. You are telling me. I told her (the claims worker) I wanted their money so I could pay my Visa bill since it was the big expense on my card, and she laughed on the phone at me.

So what do I do now? Well, I have to admit, this has opened my eyes as to what insurance Jen and I go with or choose not to go with, when we are married next year. I also plan on going up the chain of command; and for the record, State Farmers, quit looking at my blog and get back to work on my claim.

Yesterday, a Thanksgiving card came in the mail from my State Farm agent; how thoughtful--how nice. Thanks, and happy Thanksgiving, as I hope to have my check or my car, and hopefully both, by then. Speaking of turkeys, there’s this company I know of…oops, that would be telling, wouldn’t it?

How The Chicago Bears Can Fix The Season Now And More Seasons To Come

“This is a tricky situation;
I've only got myself to blame.
It's just a simple fact of life;
It can happen to anyone.
You win - you lose;
It's a chance you have to take with love.
Oh yeah - I fell in love;
And now you say it's over and I'm falling apart…”

--Freddie Mercury of Queen.


First, let me say, I LOVE the Chicago Bears. I plan my week around the game; I have spent numerous dollars on Bears paraphernalia. I encourage my students to follow the examples of players with positive actions and moral stature. Now, however, I feel betrayed.

My God, the BEARS SUCK!

OK, I feel better.

What a wretched and apathetic team. They have no fire, they have no sense of the game plan, and they have no sense of the team’s history.

Who do I blame? Lovie Smith, and it is time to fire him now.

Now I am fully aware that Lovie is not playing the game. I am further aware that yelling at players (ala Ditka) has long since his departure lost an appeal to the players, and I understand that Lovie is only as good as his players, buts let’s be fair.

Who calls the once formidable Defense? Lovie. Is cover two working anyone? Why no, it is not. Short mid-range passes will beat the Bears every time because they do not have a good safety. In fact, they let their best one go in Mike Brown. Without a good safety, the cover two does not work. Using it when it does not work and losing Mike Brown, that is the fault of Lovie. I will not even mention how Lovie’s ego could not handle Ron Rivera, who was also let get so “good buddy” Bruce Babich could come in and stink it up. Further on the Defense, the Bears and Lovie brought in another “good buddy” in Rod Maraneleli (sp?); a guy whose team went 0 and 16 last season. With friends like these, Lovie need not worry about his come-uppitence; and the fans just drudge through. I have many friends, that does not mean I would recommend all of them to do my job with me.

Ultimately the coaching staff rests on the decisions of the head coach.

Speaking of which, Ron Turner should be let go as well. I ca predict and figure out the offensive schemes within the first five minutes. Jen laughs at me when I call the offensive plays, just by looking at the alignments or when I predict with amazing accuracy (about 80%) of who will get the pass from Cutler. The predictability factor squarely rests on OC Ron Turner, yet Lovie refuses to let him go. Lovie does not even ask him to mix it up. The Screen Left play with three receivers bunched up DOES NOT WORK. The “reverse” DOES NOT WORK. The Tight end “over the shoulder catch in the end zone” worked the first week, has not since.

The Offensive line looms as the Bears largest and most obvious problem after not having a safety. Frank Omiyell cannot play, Orlando Pace, is too old and too fat, they messed with Beekman’s head and now he doubts himself, and Garza is always good for a hold every two games or so. Mike Gandy, who Lovie released, played well against them two weeks ago—so much for Lovie’s ability to judge talent. Not bringing in capable talent at core positions is the fault of Lovie’s as well. We have all seen what a wasted draft pick Chris Williams is, but watch the San Fran game for yourself if you do not believe; he was whipped like a drunken mule the entire game. This is the main reason why Forte is looking so poor. He does not have holes created and he does not trust his line. The offensive line is the reason for the interceptions as well. Cutler is running for his life and does not have time for the plays to develop as he heaves the ball downfield.

As far as the “not-so” Special Teams, has anyone noticed that since the experiment of Hester as the “go-to” receiver, he has not scored? Hester’s lack of scoring reminds me of my high school career at dating, which is funny, but not very productive or satisfying. I believe Hester WANTS to score, but he cannot find a good opening to charge through (I will not stop with the analogy, as you get the idea). That decision to move Hester to the “go-to” receiver was Lovie’s as Turner argued they needed to keep Berrian and Lovie said “no.”

Lastly, and psychologically, Lovie needs to be fired because no one on that team respects him. That is the main job of the coach, to pump the players up and earn their respect. Again, look at the all-too telling San Francisco game. At the end, Mike Singletary calls a timeout to pump his players up to stop the Bears in the last twelve seconds. Lovie is looking up at the clouds. There is no pumping anyone up, there is just “we’ll be OK” Lovie looking as if his mind is wandering. I had more passion when I “coached” a volunteer game for charity a month ago. Seriously, I did.

I think almost as telling was Lovie’s lack of attention or lack of reprimand about Tommy Harris’s ejection the week before. The inmates are running this asylum and Lovie has lost the authority and mutual respect he once had.

Even if we give credit to Lovie for brining in Jay Cutler, my argument is the same: if you put a prom dress on a pig, you still have a pig. Cutler is the prom dress, the rest of the team is that pig.

This week’s tirade is not personal against Lovie Smith. He is a nice guy and has served the Chicago Bears well. His service, however, is no longer doing the job and for the Bears to reach a better position sooner rather than later, Lovie must be shown the door and a new coach should be brought in to clean house; just as Ditka was. I suggest Mike Shanihan as that coach and he and Cutler can light up the Chicago skyline with some excitement of their own.

Thanks for sticking with me this far, now I must find my meds….

You Mean This Site Has A Site Meter? Uh-OH!

“WE GET THERE BY HOOK OR BY CROOK,

WE DON'T DO A THING BY THE BOOK.

NEVER NEEDED SPECIAL CLOTHES, (oh-oh)

HOW WE DID IT, NO ONE KNOWS. (oh-oh)

GUESS WE MUST HAVE HAD WHAT IT TOOK.

HEY, HEY, WHAT DO YOU SAY?

SOMEONE TOOK THE PLANS AWAY.

SO WHAT'S ALL THE FUZZ,

AIN'T NOBODY THAT SPIES LIKE US, SPIES LIKE US.”

--Sir Paul McCartney, from the song "Spies Like Us" from the Spies Like Us Soundtrack,1985.

Well, I think I may have offended some readers. Since my “neighbor” blog on State Farm Auto Insurance, I checked my site meter and noticed that quite a few of the local State Farm employees have been using Google Reader and have logged into my site. Many have stayed for quite a while like 22 minutes, ten minutes and the like.

This site, besides showing me where folks are logging in from, and how long they are here, also catalogs the time visitors log in, whether someone checks my site out at 10:30 AM, 11:17 AM, 1:41 PM, or 3:15 PM.

This of course causes me to wonder and even begs the question, why are people logging into an internet blogging site when they are supposed to be working to keep my insurance costs down? Hmm….makes me wonder. So apparently, State Farm has time to play around on the internet, but they do not have time to go to check out what service needs to be done to my car, which I scheduled on Tuesday to give State Farm their ample 72 hours notice.

At what point did these guys stop working for me and decide that paying out claims was not a part of the insurance package?

I can only imagine that my rates will soar because I dared to file a claim when someone driving my car, in the dark hours of the evening, hit an errant piece of wood which fell off of another vehicle onto the road and an accident, in which neither I nor the driver have done anything faulty, ensued.

Perhaps, State Farm should take a line from Robert Frost and their new slogan could be “Good Fences Make Good Neighbors,” not that I am saying, like organized crime, a fake business is referred to as a fence nor am I stating that this company wishes to block people out, I am just trying to be poetic.

Next time I will try something more fun. Now for you State Farmers, get back to work and quit reading blogs on company and consumers' time, not that anyone is noticing or anything.

With "Good" Neighbors Like These, I Just Might Move

“Is it any wonder...

Is it any wonder...

Is it any wonder...

That we fuss and fight?

Neighbors, do unto strangers,

Do unto neighbors,

What you do to yourself, yourself, yourself!”
--Keith Richards and Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones from the song “Neighbors,” from the album Tattoo You, 1981.


Well, I got the scary Halloween stuff out of the way, or so I thought.

Jen’s driving was actually quite remarkable, as indicated by our accident. She managed to avoid hitting a vehicle in front of us that also hit the hunk of wood, she managed to move us to the shoulder, and she managed to keep my car under control.

Having said that, we were stranded a bit in Youngstown, which is not bad as we had a great place to stay with fantastic accommodations as Mark and Mary were wonderful hosts and Mary is a terrific cook. Our room was to our liking, although I would have preferred Beatles décor as opposed to Elvis, but Mark is older so I understand his clinging to the less desirable heroes of the past, as we all know my pop culture references are not as transfixed on merely American influences.

That stated, everything was fine and we were able to relax, after Mark made some quick calls, with some minor amounts of pleas and cajoling for my sake, to have the only two Saturn Aura rims in Youngstown Ohio checked out to see if they would work. I was blessed as there are four types of rims that could have been offered and I was fortunate enough to have ruined the type that they just happened to have on hand in their parts department. I was also fortunate that the Pep Boy guys were fantastic and did quick and quality work on my car.

Suddenly the company of “like a good neighbor,” decided to shut their blinds on me and refused to answer their door.

So when I came home, a different crash occurred. I had been in contact with State Farm since the day after the accident. I reported the crash reference number I was given by the kindly State Highway Patrol Officer, explained no one was hurt, explained the exact damages on the car, was told to call State Farm when I arrived home, and thought I would receive $1200.00 of my $1700.00 back.

Then I called State Farm yesterday. The claims adjustor was quite concerned because I had the work done without their investigator there to approve it. I thought, “you must be joking…” I tried to explain that I was over 500 miles from home, I would have been docked a day of work pay if I did not make it back, and Jen had to work as well. “Well,” said the agent, “ you paid full price for a car that is two years old and we may have outsourced them from someone other than a Saturn dealership, which could have saved significant dollars.”

So I asked, “Would State Farm had paid my lost wages and the lost wages of my fiancé’ if we were forced to stay a day longer or so?”

“Well,” she drew out, “no, we cannot do that.” No kidding. She then said it could take up to three day to have an adjustor or claims expert to go to the service area of the car to figure out the costs. So if State Farm did not pay for one day of lost wages, they certainly would not pay for four, counting the extra day it would take to fix it after parts arrived and all, as I explained. “Well…that’s true," she drew out again, "but if you had rental insurance, we could have provided a car and paid distance fees.” Again, I stressed that I was eight hours from home and work, and I would have had to have taken time off to retrieve the car and still lose a day’s pay. “Well, at least you would not pay rental car fees after $100.00. Can we put you down for that in the future?”

Unbelievable: if this is “like a good neighbor,” I might move to a different neighborhood.

They actually try to sell you something else, when you make a claim? I was stunned.

I still have some minor work to check on at the Saturn in Bloomington and told her that there was still work to be done on it. “So could you send someone to the Saturn dealer tomorrow afternoon to check on it?” I asked.

“Well, typically we ask for 48 to 72 hours to check on a car…” was the response.

I exclaimed, “Yeah, but its in Bloomington, Illinois, the same town as your corporate office. Certainly you have someone available?”

“Well, sir, we have adjustors throughout the country, we cannot say if they will come from Bloomington or not,” was the response.

And we wonder why our insurance costs are so high, right folks?

I mean, they could send someone from Scranton, PA to check on a car when they have a coprorate office less than four miles away from the exact dealership? As a consumer, I wonder if that is fiscally prudent (please note the sarcastic tone).

My Saturn dealership was well aware of the rigmarole that State Farm puts their customers through and the flaming hoops we must leap through to obtain service. They were helpful, said they would have exact price checks on the rims/wheels, exact estimates on the other repair needed, and would try to explain since they had just seen the car a week before, that it was in absolutely perfect condition, and that I was regular and thorough to the point of being excessive on my road checks and my routine maintenance checks on my car.

As a company, Saturn was helpful and even going beyond customer service in both my town and Youngstown, Ohio.

Now I ask the obvious question, why is Saturn going out of business, while State Farm is profiting in this market?

Hoo-ray For Halloween....

“Crawling from the wreckage…”
--Dave Edmunds, 1979.

This was a bit of a frightening Halloween. You know, this holiday costs more and more each year.

Jen and I traveled (and traveled and traveled for eight hours) to Youngstown, Ohio, to see Mark and Mary and go to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. We set out on our journey at 11:30 Am, met some road construction about 1:00 PM, and were nearing our destination bout 7:45 PM when WHAM!, we hit something in the road. A car about 100 yards in front of us was on the side of the road, and Jen controlled our car to avoid hitting anyone else and safely pulling us into the shoulder.

I asked Jen what she hit, and then how she was. I called Mark, Jen called 911 and the police came, as he also almost hit the 2 by 6 that had errantly fell off of some vehicle at some point and was left to lay across the left lane.

WE gave information, the road crew guy helped me change the tire, and we drove on the donut tire to Mark’s house.

To make a long story short, Mark contacted the local Saturn dealer to help me buy two new wheels at $1,116.00 and the local Pep Boys placed the wheels on the car, added the new tires, and I was ready to go another $543.00 later. I should get the majority of that money back and the good thing was Jen’s driving was perfect as no one was hit.

My nervous Nellie habits would have hit something else or killed us all.

Still we had fun at Mark and Mary's (excellent hosts), as the Bears won, we hung out with kids who were trick or treating in costume, and the TSO show was fantastic. Next year at this time, people from near and far will be driving, flying, and otherwise coming in to see Jen and me in different costumes, just for the record.

And the day before we thought of flying because I hate driving long distances, but we decided not to because of costs. Oh the irony.

More later…