Tag Archives: milwaukee

General, Sports, Uncategorized

I Wouldn't Mind a More Regular Schedule, Either

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Howdy.

Had a nice weekend of baseball on Friday/Saturday. The Bock-fam & Co. tailgate went off without a hitch. I’m going to look at putting it together again next year, per the encouragement of a number of folks in attendance. The Brewers also won both the games I saw, and quite convincingly at that.

I realized last Thursday that I really need to watch the alcohol consumption now that I’m living in this town again. The opportunities for libations seem greater somehow in the MKE area, so I need to remind myself that a decent night’s rest, my (relatively) healthy weight, and low credit card balances are all predicated on OCCASIONAL social engagements involving intoxication. I’m going to keep myself more aware of the amount and frequency that I’m drinking, because I don’t want any of the aforementioned areas of my life to suffer.

Had the last two days off so I could get packing and stuff done up in Oshkosh. Originally, I had asked off for Thursday and Friday this week, but I’m glad things worked out as they did, because it turns out I need a lot more time than just two short days. I will be commuting for the rest of this week, and I think with those extra few hours in the evenings, I’ll be able to finish. Most of what needs to be packed is packed, but I haven’t really cleaned anything yet. I should disassemble some furniture when I get home.

I should also really get some work done, since I’ve been gone for two days.

General, Uncategorized

That IS a Good Idea…

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My folks (mostly Mom) have been telling me that when I move this time, I should think about buying a home. They think I should do this despite the fact that I have no money for a down payment, and I’m struggling to find a place that I can afford to rent in Milwaukee.

At first, this didn’t seem very feasible. But, after filling out some pre-approval paperwork with my bank and looking at some listings for condos on the web that Mom sent to me, it might turn out to be a good idea. I’ve said for a while that if I can own a place for the same price that it’s costing me to rent, why not?

So, I’ll make some calls tomorrow and we’ll see what happens. There is potential for excitement here…

General, Uncategorized

Short Entries

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I wanted to pop in and say a little something in here today, for the simple reason that I’ve been lax in doing so most of this week.

Moving to Milwaukee and starting a new job is going to be an adjustment. I really really can’t wait to find a place to live down here. The commute is longer than I’m used to, processes and stuff at work are (of course) different, and I feel a little out of my element in general. I want to sleep in my bed.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s going just fine, and everything will come together eventually, but this period of transition is going to weigh me down for a little bit. I felt like I wasn’t paying much attention to Michelle early in the week because I was having a hard time finding myself a place (not to mention a method) to relax.

Tomorrow is Friday, though, and that means I’ll only have five weeks left before I have to move. I should put my vacation requests in right now. Don’t let me forget to do that today. I’m going to the Brewers game with Nick Petters tomorrow. Hopefully being back at home will help get them on the right track again. I’m also planning on going out to a ‘happy hour’ thing with people from work, somewhere around Bayshore Mall.

Saturday, I’m going up to Oshkosh so I can pack, get a haircut, and be at my house. I forget if I told the mailman to hold my mail *through* Saturday, or *until* Saturday. I also wonder if the way I think of those things is the same way the US Postal Service thinks of them.

OK, and the stacks of paperwork around here only get bigger, so I should get to it.

General, Uncategorized

Closing Up

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You’ll probably notice the server going offline for a bit later on today. I start my new job at UWM on Monday, and I’m going to relocate this box to the Mundschaus’ house for a few weeks until I have someplace to live.

Brief recap of my last weekend “living” in Oshkosh:
Met up w/ Knitt and Michelle on Friday. Joe and I had a cigar and a game of darts after he got done with work. The three of us went to Peabody’s, but no one else showed up. *shrugs* We still had a good time.

Yesterday, Michelle and I tried to shop for a Brewers jersey in Appleton, but the only sizes on the rack were for the excessively heavy gentleman. I might have to try ordering something online.

We had dinner at Texas Roadhouse, and then later we went to Dick’s Halfway Inn for Dave Schrubbe’s graduation party. We met his GF, which was neat, and had a good time in general.

OK, well– gotta finish getting ready and then head down to MKE. Next time I write, I will be in a different zip code.

General, Uncategorized

Last Day

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I managed to get everything done during this last week of work. On Monday, I didn’t think I’d be able to crawl out from under all of it, but I got a lot of help.

It’s exciting to be starting something new down in MKE. I’m getting a little bit nervous now, but still not too bad. I’m a lot more concerned about
A) where I will sleep on Sunday, Monday, etc.
B) how I will get to the office without driving.

I’m gonna put a picture of myself in my cube on the last day up on the Flickr in a minute.

If you’re in Osh Vegas this evening: I’m gonna meet some peeps out @ Peabody’s around 8.

General, Hollywood, Sports, Uncategorized

Beginning of the End

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Started my last week at UWO today. I feel remarkably normal about everything. Had a couple people ask me today if I was nervous about starting a new job, or excited to be leaving Oshkosh. Had to say neither. Maybe it just won’t seem as “real” until I start in MKE, but for the time being, I’m feeling fine about the whole thing…

I forgot to bring new coffee filters in for the second day, and I tried to make due with about 3 cone filters cut up and arranged inside the basket. That didn’t work, either. I put a ziploc bag full of filters on the steps so I won’t forget them on the way out tomorrow.

The steps are nice and clean, too; I had to give the apartment a nice little ‘once-over’ this evening, cuz my landlord is showing it tomorrow. It made me think about some of the shit holes that I’ve looked at while searching for apartments. I know that I probably won’t meet ANY of these people, but I really think you need to have some pride, a little self-respect, and try to make it look like you don’t live like a complete slob. Even if you do sometimes. So I did the floors, wiped the counters, washed all the dishes, and spot-cleaned the bathroom. Everything looks better.

Brewers won their 4th game in a row tonight. That’s also 12 out of their last 15. Pretty impressive. Still room on the bandwagon, folks…

I heard an interesting story over the weekend, wherein Steve Schrubbe’s car burned to the ground. That’s right– his car.

I also saw the third Spider-Man installment, and I’m giving it a 6-out-of-10: entertaining, but with some glaring holes/points of contention for the casual comic book geek (which I am). I’m a little too tired to chart the exact measures on a graph for you, but from the rough sketch below, you can see that some slight geekocity will allow you adequate background to enjoy the film, but as geekitude exceeds 50%, the issues with Spidey 3 rapidly approach infinity. I’d mark myself as about half-geek, so I guess the chart is skewed a bit through my perspective. But you get the idea (clicky for biggification).

OK, night-night time then.

General, Uncategorized

Schlemiel! Schlemazl! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated!

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I’ve been keeping it on the DL, just so as to avoid a lot of questions, or to jinx it, but now things are set in stone.

I took a job in the financial aid office at UW-Milwaukee. This will be more or less a lateral move for me professionally, but with a slight increase in pay and it puts me down in the city where I spend a vast majority of my free time (for obvious reasons).

It’s nice to stay in the UW System, because my benefits and retirement will basically follow me. Also good timing because the lease at my apartment is up as of June 30, and that’s pretty much exactly 60 days from now anyway.

So, I’ve gotta get back to work and start thinking about all the crap I need to finish up around here in the next 10 working days. Gimme a call or an email if you want. I’m excited.

I leave you with an “oldie but goodie” photoshop:

General, Sports, Uncategorized

Quiet (Good) Friday

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I finally have a couple moments to breathe today.

It’s been a really hectic week of work, just due to the volume of processing that had to be accomplished. I feel bad that I haven’t really been inclined to blog even when I get home, in part cuz I’ve missed the news for most of the week…

What *can* I tell you?

I thought the end of the business with Iran and the British sailors was pretty interesting. I don’t think anyone can really fool themselves into believing that anything Iran does right now won’t have some effect on the international response to their nuclear program. Personally, I can’t imagine why any nation’s leader with half a brain would want to get into a pissing contest with G-Dub– just give us 21 more months, and it’ll all be over, everyone will be able to relax and stop sleeping with an ICBM under their pillow.

Well, except for Israel, of course.

In sports, the Brewers 2-1 start to the season is nothing to sneeze at. They can’t win every game all season, but hell– if they win twice as many as they lose all season, that will make them… (ponders the math)… 108-54. They’ll never win that many games. They could get sort of close to that and still be unbelievably awesome. I’ve been saying to people, “less than 90 wins will be disappointing.” I’m going to stick by that. It’s only 9 more victories .500 ball, and should be totally do-able for this group.

The only two things that have been troubling to me so far this year:
1. Carlos Villanueva’s shaky first appearance of the season (I think he’ll be OK in the long run)
2. Jose Capellan’s crybaby attitude

Note that both items relate to pitching, which is the most important thing to this club– they’re still very young, and are going to be prone to streakiness at the plate. They need consistency somewhere, and there are a lot of dollars invested in the pitching staff.

Last sports comment of the day: If you want to believe for a second that the Bucks are NOT trying their damnedest to tank the season while appearing to not tank the season, then please follow this link to some listings for a lovely condominium development I’ve recently invested in down in the Mississippi delta.

I went off a couple weeks ago about the integrity of my profession, to the confusion of some and the disinterest of others. If you are at all interested in what has become the hottest news item in financial aid departments across the country, check out this article from Inside Higher Ed on some new info that’s being turned up. I still think that the vast majority of my colleagues are ethical and honorable people. It’s this 1% or less that are (A) making the rest of us ill, and (B) going to cause some changes in the way we do business. Just a matter of time… Until then, my hope is that the students don’t suffer more confusion or stress than they already have.

I’ll be in Madison this evening (Friday) and then the Milwaukee area for the duration of the weekend. Plan accordingly.

Have a happy Easter!

Sports, Uncategorized

Finally Time for an Opener

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It has been a bleak, bleak winter in Wisconsin if you enjoy professional sports.

Not to take anything away from the accomplishments of the Badgers and, to an extent, the Marquette men’s basketball team, but if you live in Wisconsin and you enjoy following your hometown pro teams, this fall and winter were fairly forgettable. In every way.

I said to a co-worker back on October 1, “I’m just counting down the days ’til spring training.”

And count them I did.

Now, after the most optimistic spring I can recall since 1993, the Crew takes the field for the first day of the season right here at Miller Park. And if you ask me, there is no team more fun to follow when they’re playing well than your hometown baseball team.

They’ve got the longest season, spanning nearly everyone’s favorite season of the year. They’ve got a fantastic atmosphere surrounding a beautiful park, and a number of young players poised to make some great strides in their respective careers.

And who’s to say how everything will turn out come next October? For today, that doesn’t matter. Regardless of what happens, you can’t beat the feeling of a gorgeous Opening Day, and the optimism of the long summer ahead.

For those of you stuck at work, home, or school today, I will try to update the flickr stream with some regularity during the day…

Off to the game!