Weekend Review

Weekend Ball: There are two recepients of the weekend ball this weekend. Dad and Brian Berknopf.

Dad had a big birthday (I will keep his age confidential) and celebrated it well with a nice dinner at Bluepointe Sunday evening, a Torah reading Monday morning (his actual birthday), and a trip to the Aquarium with Mom and me on Monday to check out some neat fish. Happy Birthday Dad!

Brian is a friend of mine from Atlanta, who I went to school with at Texas. He came into Atlanta to watch Texas play in the Sweet Sixteen and the Elite Eight. We watched the Elite Eight game together and hung out afterwards. It was good to see him again. He gets the co-game ball because of his steadfast support of Texas Athletics. His travels include Dallas for the OU game, Columbus for the Ohio State game, Houston for the Big XII Championship, and the Rose Bowl. He topped it off by coming home to Atlanta to support the basketball team.

Weekend Goat: In my NCAA bracket I had all my Final Four teams remaining in the Elite Eight games. They all lost. So the goat goes to Uconn, Texas, Villanova, and Memphis for going down in the round of eight.

Quote of the Weekend: I am going back to Thursday night at the Sweet Sixteen games in the GA Dome for this one. It goes to Erin Andrews (hot announcer) who said two words "Hey guys" which was directed toward Howard, Jeff, and I.


THUMBS UP, THUMBS DOWN SEGMENT

THUMBS UP: Howard whose heavy negotiation gave us a good deal on tickets for the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight games here in Atlanta.

THUMBS UP: Paulino, for his heroic three pointer with time running out against West Virginia Thursday nights completing the best college basketball game I have witnessed live. With 13.9 seconds Texas was up 3 only to have Pittsnogle drill a three to tie it. That set up Paulino's amazing shot

THUMBS DOWN: Whatever the hell got in my eye at the Georgia Dome Thursday night

THUMBS UP: Jeff for flirting with a Texas cheerleader

THUMBS DOWN: LSU, for winning Thursday night setting up...
THUMBS DOWN: LSU beating Texas on Saturday ending a great run of 2 national championships (baseball and football) and an elite 8 in basketball

THUMBS UP: Texas chick who ripped on West Virginia fans on MARTA ride home
THUMBS DOWN: MARTA for being the worst mass transit in the US

THUMBS UP: Guy wearing a Texas hat at Don Pablos who recognized me from the game (I think my black eye gave it away)
THUMBS UP: Three J's for making it to dinner on Friday night
THUMBS DOWN: Jorge, for not making it 4 out of 4

THUMBS UP: John, for his exploits

THUMBS DOWN: Brianna, young girl who got Kevin and Camille one of the same gifts as me for their wedding shower.
THUMBS UP: Howard for his selection of the rice cooker for a gift to Kevin and Camille
THUMBS DOWN: Guy who walked to the center of the living room and taped the rice cooker receipt to the box right in front of Howard's face
THUMBS UP: Aaron for defending mens' rights

THUMBS DOWN: Referees who didn't catch Brad Buckman getting punched in the face during the TX-LSU game
THUMBS DOWN: Texas for not showing up in overtime in the Elite 8 game
THUMBS DOWN: Thrashers for losing to the hapless Islanders

THUMBS UP: Bluepointe's food
THUMBS UP: Dad, Richard Smith, and Steve Krosner for beautiful Torah reading

THUMBS UP: A delightful day at the Georgia Aquarium with my parents

THUMBS UP: Dr. Ross for checking out my eye for me (and rarely charging me)

I find myself in Boston for St. Patrick's Day this year, which should be interesting given that there are many crazy Irish people here. Yesterday at Barnes and Noble there was an author of the book "A Criminal and an Irishman" speaking about his experience as a member of the IRA here in Boston. It was interesting to hear his stories, so I bought his book. There were some of his friends there too, all ex-IRA members. While in line to get the book signed, I asked a woman and her daughter if they'd read the book and if it was good. They said they had and it was well written. A few minutes later I realized it was the author's wife and daughter, so I told them I had wanted an unbiased opinion. They laughed and assured me the book was good, and if it wasn't they would have told me so.

The NCAA tournament started yesterday, and it had some great games as usual. I was able to watch the thrilling Boston College-Pacific double overtime game at a sports bar next to Fenway with a bunch of BC fans. Tonight Texas gets its tournament started against Penn. My friend Evan, who I am visiting here, went to Penn, so there has been a lot of tension in the air.

All is good in Boston, except it is a bit on the chilly side.

Miscellaneous items:

1. Todd- Have a great trip!
2. Howard- Do not ignore Boss during your glee over the NCAA tournament
3. Nancy- Happy Birthday
4. Kit- Happy Birthday
5. Adrienne- Happy Birthday
6. MM- Do not worry about Todd, he'll be fine. I gave him one of my venison sausages and he can eat on that for a week and not need any other sustanence.
7. Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

Weekend Review

Due to unforeseen circumstances the Weekend Review was not published last week. elliottintheatl.blogspot.com is happy to report the revival of this post in its normal time slot.

Weekend Ball:
Marshall celebrated his birthday on Saturday and in between Accounting and rock climbing was able to find time to celebrate with friends and family. Happy Birthday to my big brother!

Weekend Goat:
Julie and Michelle. With their move having been delayed for 3 weeks and them using “we have to stay home and pack” as an excuse for not going out for the past month and a half, it was assumed items would be nicely packed and the move would be smooth. This assumption proved to be false. Upon arrival at their old apartment items were loose, boxes had no lids, and there was no organization. The move was long and arduous and apparently someone had the wise idea not to splurge $10 for a dolly. To top it all off, on a hot day, the water was all left at the new place, meaning the move out of the apartment and into the truck had to all be done while parched and dehydrated. But congratulations to them on their new place. Note to Julie…Beware of the landlord/friend relationship. She could very well attempt to put on her “friend” hat when really the “landlord” hat needs to be on. Do not get deceived! Be on constant guard!

Quote of the Weekend:
This is a 2nd hand account of an event which happened a few weeks ago told by Mike, one of Marshall’s co-workers who is a few years removed from UGA. Mike was out with a few friends in Buckhead one night and one of his friends, who is not a big drinker, imbibed more than his usual amount. This apparently led him to believe he was Jack Bauer from the hit series 24. They hailed a cab to head back to Mike’s house in Roswell. “Jack” gets all worked up thinking the cab driver is a terrorist and he has to take him down. He hits the driver a few times and Mike subdues him in a half nelson and pins him to the seat of the cab. At this point the cab driver is absolutely terrified, but they do make it back to Roswell. Once at Mike’s house, “Jack” gets out of the cab and immediately rushes into the woods not to be heard from for the rest of the night. The morning comes and still no sign of “Jack” until an ominous phone call from…JAIL. One of the neighbors, seeing “Jack” in their yard called the police. The police arrived and asked Mike’s friend “What is your name?” to which he responded “My name is Jack Bauer and this is a matter of national security.” He was promptly arrested for loitering and public intoxication.

Honorable Mention: “Woke up this morning, and got myself a gun”—The Sopranos are back!


THUMBS UP, THUMBS DOWN SEGMENT:

THUMB UP: Marshall’s co-workers, for being hilarious at Five Seasons and showing a side of accountants many do not get to see.
THUMBS DOWN: Heather, for forever scaring me of a podiatrist office.
THUMBS DOWN: Toes
THUMBS UP: Ben Goodman for getting engaged. Congratulations!

THUMBS UP: Opie Grandominico, for clearly being my “favorite Grandominico under 30”, although there really isn’t any other competition.
THUMBS UP: Opie Grandominico for bringing me a 6-month supply of venison sausage.
THUMBS UP: Waitress at Park Bench
THUMBS DOWN: Crowded bar at Five Paces

THUMBS DOWN: Jimmy Buffett, for being too damn hard to get tickets.

THUMBS DOWN: John Fulcher, for not being the voice of reason to Michelle and Julie and demand they get a dolly, or at least hire some illegal immigrants.
THUMBS UP: Me and Jorge for successfully moving the precious chest.
THUMBS UP: Me for corrupting Michelle’s cousin into sneaking off to the high school in hopes that other people would move the remaining heavy items
THUMBS DOWN: To all those other people who moved absolutely nothing during the time Michelle’s cousin and I were hiding out.

THUMBS UP: Nan, for being delicious again. Highly recommended for good Thai
THUMBS UP: The family for having a nice celebration of Marshall’s birthday
THUMBS UP: Barbara for sending me a birthday card even though it was not my birthday
THUMBS DOWN: Everybody else who did not give me gifts on my non-birthday

THUMBS DOWN: Texas Longhorns and Ohio State Buckeyes for choking in their respective conference finals
THUMBS DOWN: Foster and Sylvester for forgetting that the purpose of basketball is to get the ball in the hoop, not just in its general vicinity.

THUMBS UP: Jonathon for making Emily a DVD of the Chappelle Show
THUMBS UP: John Fulcher, for providing us “non-HBO subscribers” a place to watch The Sopranos…and dinner as well.
THUMBS DOWN: Jennifer Caron for turning down a date
THUMBS UP: Uncle June for starting the new Sopranos season off with a bang!

THUMBS UP: Jeff, for being gone, allowing Howard and me the ability to sleep late.

Come Monday, it'll be all right. Come Monday...

Monday morning might be the last of an approximate 1,400 times I have driven to work at 5555 Glenridge Drive for SouthernLINC. As many reading this blog already know SouthernLINC is going through a re-organization. For the re-organization the company posted a website with the new organizational chart and asked the employees to apply for up to 3 positions in which they were interested. I've been wanting something fresh for a while and took the opportunity to apply for just one position--Information Systems Applications Analyst, a job that I quite frankly am not qualified for. If I get it then it would be a good opportunity to learn a new side of business, and if I don't I can get severence and move on to something new--really a win win situation. I think I shocked some people by not applying for any positions in Marketing, my current department, but the timing of this corresponded nicely with my need to move on. If I am unemployed come Monday afternoon I know I have gained some valuable experience and made some good friends at LINC. It is not the best or the worst company in which work. I probably should have moved on earlier, but the pay is decent, I don't have to work long hours, and it is easy to become complacent. I am anxious and excited about what the future holds.

I do want to thank the people who listened to my concerns and helped me through the decision process. In the end I felt really good about what I decided to do. I especially want to thank Sam Schwalb. Sam has been my friend since 1998 when I interned at NationsBank. Since then his career has taken many paths, some of which I am considering taking myself now. He gave me good insight and advice regarding this decision. I also want to thank in advance all the people who I might be hounding to help get me a job a few months from now.

A co-worker yesterday said to me "The grass might or might not be greener on the other side, but you never know until you cross the street." Well, stop the traffic, because no matter how Monday pans out, I'll be starting my walk across the street.

On an administrative note, I know many people like reading my "Weekend Review" on Mondays. More than likely with all going on on Monday for me I probably won't be posting the "Weekend Review" until later in the week.