Recently in What's New in My Life Category

As I mentioned in a previous post, since I became a homeowner, I have had occasion to learn quite a bit about home repair as things (a) broke and needed fixing, or (b) as I decided to add things. This weekend involved the intersection of (a) and (b) as the result of some bad luck.

Yesterday, near the end of my shower, one of my feet hit a slippery spot, and I started going down. I tried valiantly to right myself, to no avail. Trying desperately not to become one of those statistics insurance salesmen always talk about (“more accidents in the shower,” yadda yadda), I grabbed for the only thing I could get my hands on to break my fall — the shower curtain. Which was (operative word being “was”) hanging from the shower rod I described installing in the above-mentioned previous blog post. It did slow my fall a bit — I fell ass-backwards out of the shower, and I’m convinced that I’d have hit my head harder on the toilet than I did if not for that curtain. Sadly, I took the shower curtain rod with me. Which left some rather ugly-looking holes in the wall.

Now, I realize I was damn lucky. And after I managed to convince myself that I was alive, and that it could have been much worse, I realized I had another new home repair project on my hands. Yesterday and today were spent patching and painting drywall, which I managed to handle reasonably well for an amateur. I’m hesitant to tell my dad about this, however, because I will have to admit that I put to work some things I learned observing his mad home improvement skills when I was a kid, and I’m not looking forward to the gloating and “told you so”s.

Anyway, a couple pieces of fiberglass, a couple of coats of patching compound and sanding, and a coat of paint later, and you almost can’t tell anything happened, except for the missing shower rod. Which goes back up tomorrow after the paint dries.

Now if only I could repair my sore neck and wounded pride …

Today might possibly be one of the best days I’ve had in a while. It was gorgeous outside — about 70 degrees, not humid, sunny with no clouds. I had breakfast with Amy, and then went to Greenfield Village for their annual Memorial Day Civil War Remembrance activities (as a history geek, this is something I really like doing). The only downside is that Amy was busy with schoolwork and couldn’t go with me.

And now, the Detroit Red Wings are playing in the Stanley Cup finals against Pittsburgh, and the Detroit Pistons are about to start Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Celtics here in Detroit. And thanks to picture-in-picture, I can watch them both.

Like I said, a damn good day.

(Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten my promise to post my Best of Michigan 2008. Soon.)

My old friend Ben Kepple, of Daily Rant fame, was in town as part of his Economic Stimulus Vacation Tour. In keeping with the theme of his trip, we stimulus-ed the economy of Ann Arbor with a visit to an old favorite, Good Time Charley’s. A good time was had by all.

Well, they say time flies when you're having fun. Apparently, it also flies when you're not having all that much fun because you've been working so much that even your bosses lament the fact that you've been working too much (mind you, they're not saying you shouldn't keep working too much, just lamenting that in a perfect world you wouldn't have to, which wouldn't be much consolation except for the fact that they seem to have it worse than you do. But I digress).

So, anyway, it's been months since I've written much of anything here. I would have guessed it'd be easier to keep this up, because I've always enjoyed, and been somewhat skilled at, writing. In fact, it's pretty much the majority of what I do -- writing thousands and thousands of words on behalf of our clients. It ought not be too hard to come home and write a few more, but for some reason, it is. I guess it's like the guy who owns an ice cream shop, and then wants anything but ice cream at home, or like the gynecologist who comes home and wants nothing to do -- well, you get the idea.

In the past, I've popped up and vowed to post more often. And you all (all two of you who read this) know how well that turned out. So I won't do that again. But I'm hoping that posting this will help get me back into the groove of posting more in the future. And I'm also hoping to post some more humorous writing, and maybe a few of you will actually enjoy it. And even if federal Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kosinski thinks that blogging is a “hateful,” “grandiloquent” waste of time, well, hey, it's cheaper than therapy.

So that thing I said in my last entry about emerging from my cave? I seem to have been just kidding about that.

So it seems once again that I have spent far more time maintaining the machinery behind this blog than in maintaining the actual content. Perhaps part of this is the fact that, as an appellate lawyer, I do a whole hell of a lot of writing for work as it is. When you're writing the equivalent of a few novels a year, it gets hard to come home and be witty. Plus, apparently, a federal judge whom I've often admired, Judge Alex Kosinski of the federal Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, apparently thinks blogging is a "hateful," "grandiloquent" waste of time. Judge Kosinski is well-known for his computer geekery and his love of video games, and thus is a man after my own heart, so I'm almost saddened to see his take on blogging. Then again, I'm not convinced he's wrong, either.

Here in Michigan, spring seems to finally be here to stay. Which is nice when you've grown as tired of winter as I have. With spring has come the NBA playoffs, which the Detroit Pistons seem to have well in hand, the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs, in which the Detroit Red Wings seem to be doing well, and the NFL draft, where the Detroit Lions seem to have done what they do best -- making ill-advised draft picks.

And I, of course, have been slacking off on my blog posts. I'm sure all two of you who read this have been devastated. And I guess we know what Judge Kosinski thinks.

This morning, I took a little detour on my way to work to pick up copies of the new World of Warcraft expansion, "The Burning Crusade."

Thing is, I didn't pre-order it. Not only did I pre-order it, but I also had my sights set on the relatively rare "Collector's Edition," which has all kinds of nifty extra stuff. And not just one copy, but two -- one for me, and one for Amy.

I know what you WoW players are thinking: "Are you nuts?! You didn't pre-order?! And you think you'll get a copy today, on release day?!? Of the Collector's Edition?! TWO COPIES?!?" Yes. People have always told me what can't be done, and I've found that if I want it to be done, "can't be done" is usually not an issue.

I hadn't planned on buying the expansion today. After all, I'm only level 45, and most of the nifty stuff requires you to be level 58. And I hadn't planned to get the Collector's Edition -- the standard was going to be good enough, and I'd get around to buying it eventually. I even ended up winning a copy of the standard edition from the Detroit Free Press. Then I decided it might be neat to have the Collector's Edition, and decided to give it a shot. I'll be honest, I didn't think I'd get it, so I was geeked to have scored a copy from the Free Press.

Anyway, I rolled up to a local Best Buy store about a half hour before it opened ("only a ahlf hour?!?!?" you hard-core geeks are shrieking. Of course, most of you were at the launch parties at places like GameStop at midnight last night. I'm hardcore, but not that hardcore), and one dude was standing outside the door, and apparently had been for quite a while. He looked like the kind of dude you would expect to be the only guy "standing in line" for something like this, if you get my drift. The kind of geek that makes me feel like "The Fonz" by comparison. No one else in sight. Eventually, other cars not belonging to employees showed up. One other guy got "in line" around twenty minutes before opening. About ten minutes to opening or so, as more cars came in, I decided I'd better get in line myself. I ended up being person number three. And good thing, too, because sure enough, a bunch of people lined up behind me - a good twenty or more. Oddly, the guy in front of me and the guy behind me had pre-ordered it, so they were apparently just waiting for the store to open because they wanted to get right on to playing it without any more waiting, but couldn't score a copy via the midnight release. Though I was third in line, I may have been the first person without a reserved copy. Most of the people there seemed to be WoW players from all kinds of walks of life (I may not have been the only lawyer, and I know for a fact I'm not the only lawyer who plays). But one woman a couple people behind me was only there to get it as a surprise for her son's birthday -- apparently she wouldn't let the kid go with his older sister and her boyfriend to the GameStop midnight shindig because it was a "school night." She professed to knowing nothing about the game. Now that's one lucky kid.

Now, here in Michigan lately, it has been relatively mild, like 40s and 50s even, for a while. During the last few days, though, it has been colder and there has been some ice, snow and sleet though nothing like the apocalypse they predicted. Today, of course was the coldest day yet, and there was a nice cold wind. I'm talking 20s with a stiff wind, the one day I ended up deciding to stand around outside in a line for something. At least it was sunny.

The store finally opened, and a bee-line ensued to the table where they had everything set up. I was so cold and focused on the objective that I really got into tunnel-vision mode. Grabbed two copies of the Collector's Edition from the clearly limited supply, and bee-lined to the registers before they could tell me I was doing something wrong, because they started saying something about people with reserved copies. As it turned out, that was apparently just them asking you to tell them whether you had reserved a copy before you took one off the table, so they could cross you off the list, but they also said that, no, the ones on the table were not reserved but up for grabs. Again, though, there was no pausing on my part. I figured once I had paid, I was home free. Which, as it turns out, was the case. I was in and out of the store in less than five minutes, and then it was time for the bee-line to work.

Once I got home, and once Amy got home, we cracked open our boxes, started installing, and decided to check out the other stuff in the collector's box. There was a behind-the-scenes DVD that was nifty. The game itself doesn't seem different yet because, unlike a lot of our friends, we hadn't maxed out on the previous version of the game. Our maxed-out friends were ready to install the game so they could leave behind the previous maximum of level 60 for the new cap of level 70.

All in all, a good geeky time was had by, well, us at least. It was almost like another Christmas.

Well, after all that ranting I did about the BCS National Championship fiasco, my beloved Wolverines go and lay an egg against USC in the Rose Bowl. Thanks, Llloyd. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, and it's hard to be angry about an 11-2 season ending in a Rose Bowl trip, but it seems like we're better than this.

Of course, it's taken me a week to bring myself to be able to talk about it. And tonight, the Ohio State Walnuts play in the championship game against Florida. Go Gators, I say. I know, I should be pulling for the Big Ten, but not when it's Ohio State. I'm not a big fan of Satan, but I'd root for Satan before Ohio State.

I should also be blogging more, but that wonderful time vortex known as World of Warcraft commands a lot of my free time. For those who play, my human paladin is up to level 43, and quickly rising. I was always a fan of the old Warcraft, but this game is just plain cool. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to work on my blacksmithing.

Well, slowly shipping, anyway. Haven't lost a whole ton of weight yet, but my clothes fit a lot more loosely, and my belt now gets tightened to the last hole, meaning I need a new belt or I need to add more holes to my belt. Plus I generally feel better now that I'm getting more exercise and eating better. So far so good. The whole waking up earlier thing blows a little, though.

Proving myself to be the geek that I am, I have once again spent far more time upgrading the site than I have actually posting stuff to it. I upgraded from Movable Type version 3.2 to 3.32. I also updated a bunch of the plugins. Basically, this newest version makes it easier than ever to move stuff around, add all kinds of content, and keep the site up to date. If they can make a plugin that will write blog posts for me, I'll be all set.

Well, I went and joined LifeTime Fitness today, and hauled my ass out of bed early and went in before work. I have been lamenting the rather terrible shape my years of desk-job sedentariness (is that a word? It is now, dammit) have gotten me into -- especially given that I was in pretty good shape once upon a time. So I'm hoping that a disciplined regimen of diet and exercise will shed a few pounds and get me back into the good shape I used to be in. At the very least, it will perhaps keep me from needing the services of my good friend Heather, the vegan cardiologist, and from having her fund her vacation home with my laziness. Heather is fun to hang out with, but I'd rather not have her cramming stents into my arteries. I have given her too many reasons to seek revenge over the years ("Uhhh, I don't want to tell you how to do your job, Heather, but I really didn't think you were supposed to place stents rectally using PVC pipe.")

With any luck, I'll be in much better shape, and Heather will have to settle for a smaller vacation home.

Turned 31 today. Headed out to a low-key dinner with Amy and my friend Jim, and then ended up, somewhat ironically, at the same place I celebrated my 21st birthday ten years earlier. Let's just say that bad things happened that night, and it was a while before I went back, and we'll leave it there. Tonight was much tamer to be sure.

Just got back from a trip to Mackinac Island, Michigan. It's in the northern part of Michigan, in Lake Huron between the lower and upper peninsulas of Michigan. Despite having lived here my life, I hadn't ever been there. My dad always said that the only thing on Mackinac Island is horseshit and fudge. And there was plenty of both. But there was certainly lots more there to see.

Mackinac Island is a bit unique because no automobile traffic is allowed on the island. If you want to get around, it's by bike, by horse or horse-drawn carriage, or good, old-fasjioned walking. It's also got the oldest, still-intact historic fort, Fort Mackinac. It dates back to colonial/Revolutionary War days.

The main area of town is dense and touristy. While there is a lot to see there, sadly, most visitors never venture beyond it. If you bring your bike, or rent one from one of the ubiquitous rental places, you can ride around the eight-mile road that encircles the outer perimeter, and you don't have to go very far to get "off the beaten path" and onto the quieter, more scenic part of the island.

All in all, it was a nice weekend getaway with Amy and her folks. If you haven't been there, I'd look into it.

Tonight we took in the "Salute to America" at Greenfield Village, now part of The Henry Ford. The Salute featured a concert by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra followed by fireworks. We weren't sure whether the weather would hold up, but, except for a couple minutes of sprinkling rain, it ended up being a dry evening.

The Henry Ford, which features Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum, is one of my favorite places. As far as historical attractions go, it's tough to beat. If you're anywhere near Detroit, you should check it out, too.

Amy and I ventured out to Detroit for the annual Comerica TasteFest (See an article about TasteFest in the Detroit Free Press).

TasteFest is a great opportunity to get out and try new food from a whole bunch of area restaurants. And if you're into food and cooking like me, that's just plain fun. Plus they have several stages with various musical acts performing throughout the whole thing.

Afterwards, we headed over to the Detroit Institute of Arts, widely considered to be one of the best art museums anywhere, to take in a special exhibit and just generally enhance our cultural awareness, which is always good for a nerdy type like myself.