Pens open their season with a win 5-4 in OT, debut of the new interim PA Announcer, Ryan Mill

The boys are back on the ice, well some of them, but it's a good season when hockey season comes around. It's the preseason, meh, the Penguins beat the Blue Jackets 5-4 in OT, meh, but the real story is the new interim PA Announcer Ryan Mill's first day on the job.

It was a little rough for everyone in the building, being our first night back, but Ryan did an excellent job. Sure there were a few bumps along the way, I will take the blame on a few of them as in telling him the goal was scored at 15:54 in OT, when OT is a 5 minute period, not a 20 minute period, so it should have read 0:44. It happens, he's new, we're all picking up the slack that John Barbaro did on his own, we'll get it.

I'm a little annoyed, ticked off it you will, at some of the fans posts on messageboards right after the game, with their unwillingness to consider that this man is BRAND new to the job.

Here's the link to follow along: http://www.letsgopens.com/scripts/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=39703

My favorite poster so far, Username: DrBoni.

In reference to the Penguins announcing when the Penguins are on a Powerplay, "the penguins are now on the powerball powerplay" - it is a sponsored read.

DrBoni: Attn: Pittsburgh Penguins/Ryan Mill

We are not stupid fans. Please do not allow the announcement of the power play to become a trend at the Igloo. Thank you, Boni

Without going too much further and going off on this guy, I should consider:

DrBoni: First game, but it clearly showcases his style. I'm not faulting him for some of the blunders. (Though being someone who DOES have experience doing this, that rhythm can easily be worked out before taking the mic.)

With the power play, I'm sure that a lot of it is a matter within the organization. I'm just really disheartened that it's found it's way to Pittsburgh.

For being someone who does have experience doing this, why didn't you send in your resume like the rest of the applicants and get the job?

Without saying something that will ultimately bite me in the ass, because as we all know, when you voice your opinion on the internet and you are affiliated in direct correlation with the subject matter at hand, it will bit you in the ass, I will say this.

People who say things like this, after a person's first day on the job, are the type of people who are exactly what they are, nothing more than a FAN, with a VOICE, crying to be heard, because they think they know better than anyone else.

It just drives me nuts.

This same guy also mentions style :

Style man, it's the style. It's not that he's not Barbaro, it's that he's on the other end of the spectrum...

Does everyone have to fit the bill, 100% of the way you've always had it? For one, Ryan did exactly to the Nth degree, what he was asked to do tonite. No one, can take that away from him.

There's no lie that mistakes were made, for reasons that are not Ryan's fault. I would say if there were 10 mistakes made tonight, the only one that was Ryan's fault were maybe 2 or 3. So he forgot to say the time on a goal at the appropriate time, but he go it in there and he will understand the importance of getting it right, as he DOES. It's his first time!

I just never get it how people will jump on someone else, when they aren't in their position, not giving them a chance to even EARN their position.

Finding hope when you have to

I think a lot of people find themselves falling more times than they find themselves running a straight line. It's easy to agree that as a people, we tend to sway ourselves toward the negative, more so than what may be more positive.

Everyone finds themselves frustrated at times, recently I've found myself frustrated in what seems like more than ever in my life, but I eventually come back down to one common theme....moving on.

Depending on how frustrated, someone might ask, well how do you just move on from that?

How can I not? Is what I ask back.

Does it drive me nuts when petty things get in the way of life, or that drama comes out of things that shouldn't even matter right now, yea it does...trust me, it does. When you wake up the next day, I've always found myself pondering, hey I got into tomorrow without any damage, so why would I think differently one day versus the next, what would make me falter from that process.

Everyone's different, and I get that. I'm not attempting to spell out that I have some magical way of dealing with stress and negative energy that flows through the daily course of one's life, I'm just giving my perspective. The way I look at it, if you've lived 2 conscious days of human life, what would make you believe that you couldn't make it to the next day? I've never understood that, it's quite difficult for me to put myself in someone's shoes that may be dealing with that in their life, I do not know how to relate to that in any way.

You may be thinking to yourself one of two things...
1) yea, what's with those people who want to end their lives or something like that, they're just trying to grab attention

-or-

2) How I view it...I may not want to take my life if things get out of whack for me, but there are those who do feel that could be their only solution, so why do they think that's the only way, when I will find hope in the objective sense of "tomorrow"?

Sadly, it seems like there is only one topic that really pushes people to this brink...maybe a few more, but this is a big one: Intimate Relationships (I say intimate because I push this beyond friendship).

You can be with someone for 2 years or 2 months, and you might have the same level of depression coming out of it, because you've invested time into that person, and at some point in either of those time frames, it's crossed your mind that you may spend the rest of your life with that person, don't lie, because you have.

That all ends, where do you go? You were set. You KNEW that this person was it for you. You were 100%. Then a week went by. They forgot to say "I love you" over the phone and you got nervous. Another day goes by and they just want to go to bed instead of spending the evening with you watching your mutually favorite rerun of some lame cable tv show. You start to worry, so it begins to unravel. You block out any notion that you know what might be happening, or that this has gone on before (not only to you, but in a million other lives across the planet for millions of years). Then something snaps, either in you or in them that makes one of you perpetuate the relationship, when the other sees nothing wrong which causes them to react against the will you've decided to choose...for the both of you.

So it ends. Right? You feel pain, some emotional, maybe forced physical because you're thinking too much and giving yourself a headache. But it happens, so why pour your soul out on the asphalt attempting to repair something that wasn't meant to be repaired? That's the automatic default mode someone goes into, once you've lost it, you attempt to save what parts are left, in the hope that it will come back.

It may not come back, for various reasons, and at some point, you should come to grips that it may be better that it doesn't.

Does that sound to cynical? Maybe, but I don't think it does, I think it's more of what you eventually come to understand as time heals your wounds.

Is there someone out there meant for everyone? This is a faith and psychological question, so your own personal feelings answer that question. In my own opinion, I can honestly say I don't have that answer, I don't think it's fair to question the world with something like that, as you can control the outcome if you choose. People don't just fit together like a puzzle, if they did, then yes, we would have someone waiting for us. Rather, people fit like an orchestra tuning their music to pass along the vibrant waves of music, playing together in tune with one another, compromising and adjusting, finding that specific point and where they both see eye to eye.

Does everyone have the right to find themselves upset and questioning life, sure, I think you do.

But isn't that the whole fun in life? Figuring out what you're supposed to do? If you're only 23 (like me), what would be the fun in life if you had your paper done before the rest of the class?

The Teacher isn't going to let you leave, He'll probably only let you rest your head on your desk.

A good website for a resume

I found this place through viewing resumes for prospective higherings and it made me turn to the site for my own resume, I'd take a look....

http://www.visualcv.com/

Put the Toy back in the Box

Does anyone notice the caption on this classic Quaker cereal, Quisp, from the 1960s?

"Free Comic Book INSIDE"

That's right, Inside. When was it that the cereal companies decided that it was no longer a good investment with putting the toy inside? I'm eating Frosted Mini Wheats at the moment and on the outside of the box reads:

"Free DVD.....by mail in rebate" ARE YOU SERIOUS?

1) Not only are we giving kids DVDs now with their cereal, but DVDs are soon to be obsolete, so way to give out an outdated toy.

2) A DVD is not a Toy...this could be a whole new debate.

3) Mail in rebate? If it doesn't fit....then don't give it away as FREE!

No one is going to bother to really persue watching the DVD you got from mailing in a box top of a Frosted Mini Wheats box, honestly the nature of the cereal box toy is have instant satisfaction, not 3-5 business days later.

I just want to know what happened to the cereal industry, just like the housing industry, they're both closer to the crapper than ever before.

In memory of Stubby

My brother-in-law Joe and my Sis' pup "Stubby" passed away this morning on September 2nd, after having trouble breathing and problems over the last few months. Joe had Stubby since she was 2 years old, she lived to be 14 in pup years.

She was a clever pup, she had a great personality and loved attention. I remember meeting her for this first time and being introduced, to a round rump of this brown pup, as she appropriately so liked to invite people to rubbing her but...apparently her favorite spot, as well as her belly. Stubby was like every other dog out there, striving for attention and to be loved, but she certainly had her own unique character traits and personality like any other. Stubby could easily make you feel warm and comfortable in a room just by plopping herself down waiting for you to rub her head.

It would have been nice I think to have her around when Katie and Joe's child comes along, sometime around February next year, but it was time for her to go. She hadn't been herself in a long time and it just wasn't good for her to continue to go through what she went through. Katie told me that she and Joe were by her side as they think she may have passed on, holding her before they rushed her to the vet.

Here's to you Stubby, a positive proof that the world creates gifts in our world through incredible means.

I'll always remember her as "Stuff-a-lupagous" or "Stubbers."


that pup knew which team was the best!

"What a difference a week makes" or "Gone in 60 days"

Stealing a line from the ever so popular 60s character's: Rocky and Bullwinkle, I think it is appropriate to have to title's for the following scene: "what a difference a week makes" or "Gone in 60 days" (if you are an avid R&B fan like myself, you will know that during jumps of the episodes, they preview the upcoming title to jumping back to the main story, giving you two possible scenarios embedded within the title).

A week ago, I was prepared to move into a house that was a "work-in-progress" but after attempting to begin major cleaning and adjustments to the house, I decided against my first thought and hit the reset button on my life....at least the relocation portion of it anyhow.

I was able to get my roommate, Greg, to stay at our current apartment, he hadn't signed on the dotted line yet elsewhere, and I was able to have our apartment complex rip up our move out notice. Needless to say, I've very fortunate for that.

What changed in the past week, was going from the advantageous and over-zealous attitude, to realizing the actual foundation of the situation was structured on false pretenses, improper motivation and not enough time. My time table was 60 days to go into a house, clean out someone else's belongings, clean out the dirt and grim in all the rooms, replaces three exterior doors for safety issues, as well as a possible 12 windows that all were single-paned, did not lock and were a disaster. When my friend Andy came in to look at the large kitchen with all single paned windows, his first thought of "money pit in the winter" was mine when I first saw it, but I neglected to listen to my own conscience to make the proper decision in the first place.

I think I may have thought it was a better idea than it actually was, after each person I took to the home said "oh my god, you weren't exaggerating when you said how much work needs done." Let's not forget, after replacing all of those items, my goal was to paint each room and the exterior...in 60 days.

It stinks when a plan doesn't go the way you hope, but it's better not to make a terrible descision you can't go back on than living through it and feeling miserable about it.

To cheer myself up, I've decided to go to Ikea or somewhere to look for a new desk, to replace the one falling apart in my bedroom.