Month: July 2008

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Cleveland Construction

I really am getting fed up with the overnight construction on the Innerbelt. I’ve been late to work each night because I have to go to East 55th Street and double back to E.30th and Euclid.

It’s not fun going through that area at the time I head into work. There are stoplights every block and of course, I obey all of the red lights and don’t simply treat them as suggestions after looking both ways.

The worst part is there’s no rhyme or reason to when the crews are out on the job. If I knew each night then I’d take downtown streets to work.

I’m not saying I don’t feel safe. I see at least one police car on my way to work every night.

The first night, I took East 55th Street and followed the advice of my GPS to what I thought was my place of employment but it wanted to take me W. 30th. After I caught the error, I corrected it even though the GPS argued with me about the address.

The next night, I relied on my own knowledge of downtown Cleveland to get me to work. It still added extra time.

This morning after no construction detours, I saw the orange barrels again but this time I detoured to South Marginal and took a couple of extra minutes off of my delay.

I hope the construction is over soon because it’s causing me all sorts of headaches and frustration.

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Exhausted…

I came home this morning after an appointment and collapsed. I was exhaused! I wanted to post an entry, catch up on some e-mail but kept dozing off. I will NOT admit on this blog that my head actually hit my laptop twice before I gave up and went to sleep.

My body loves to let me have four hours of sleep before it’s time for Timer. (If you don’t remember how annoying that commercial was on Saturday mornings, check out the link. That’s how I feel when I get up in the afternoon.)

I was supposed to work dayside tomorrow but that’s changed. I’m working mornings and keeping the morning show on the road. The switch to the switch suits me just fine. It also allows me to do a couple of things this week that I wouldn’t get to accomplish working days.

Motorola needs to get me my wireless bluetooth headset replacement. I expect its arrival any day and I want it badly for my workouts. I’m been bad this week but I’m going soon to work the stress away.

Repeat Message Alert:
I don’t know how anyone can say there’s nothing to do in Cleveland.

Tomorrow night, they’re having a taping of a new beer at Rock Bottom. I’m part of the Mug Club so I get the invite to come for dinner. I think I’m going to do that. By the way, I again want to say how good the food is at Rock Bottom. The service is good too, especially when certain servers are working.

Friday, it’s Gavin DeGraw and Marie Digby and Scott Smith.

Saturday, I volunteer at my non-profit, I can’t wait. There’s also Luau on the Lake which seems like a good time. I think I get good karma points for helping two non-profits in one day.

Sunday, taawd will rest.

Moving downtown was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. You can’t help but get sucked into the life of the city.

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Chicago From The Viaduct


That would be Chicago playing at the Plain Dealer Pavilion in Cleveland…

I didn’t get a shot of the PDP but we took advantage of the proximity of my building to the venue to listen to the concert. Actually, if you stand where the picture was taken, you can hear the music better than if you were at the end of the Viaduct. However, at the end of the Viaduct, you can actually see the concert. Shhh, don’t tell anyone.

Now that the Viaduct is closed to cars for parking, it really has become somewhat of a park atmosphere. You can stroll down without having to worry about getting hit. Now, we have to get the people who walk their dogs to pick up their droppings.

Now, I digress… You’d have thought Chicago would have opened the concert with a classic but we didn’t even recognize the first song. I thought maybe it was an opening act. It must have been from their new album. They rolled out all of their hits during the show and came back for an encore with “26 or 6 to 4”.

Grilling, music and a beautiful night after the storms rolled away.

I’m ready for Earth, Wind & Fire next at the PDP.

This Friday at House of Blues, I’m going to see Gavin DeGraw and Marie Digby. My friend, Scott Smith, plays Flannery’s on Friday and Saturday night. Check him out if you’re in the neighborhood.

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Rebuilding A Friend

I know I’ve gotten sort of “Dear Abby” in a couple of posts, that’s at least what my friend, Jennie, had to say.

So, time for a little Tim “Tool Time” Taylor entry. The computer I’ve had the longest took a poop, at least the power supply did. I want more power (electricity and speed) on the computer so my next door neighbor is trying to convince me to take a trip to Micro Center to get a new motherboard, processor and power supply. He guarantees I can build it better and faster for about $300.

The old HP at least needs a new power supply. It’s a Hewlett Packard Media Center 864n and it’s been a workhorse for me over the years. It’s still looks slick and new. I bought it, believe it or not, about five years ago as a refurbished unit.

It’s been able to keep up with my needs since then and allow me to do some video editing, photo fixing and just every day surfing the Internet. I feel like I do need a desktop in my place. Sometimes you just want to sit down in front of a computer at a desk, don’t get me wrong, wireless is great but you can’t rival the desktop sometimes for productive projects. Buying a new desktop isn’t in the cards for me right now, I can use the money to do other things that I want to accomplish this year.

A strong thunderstorm is moving through the area right now and I’m just sitting on the floor looking out my window watching it rain, wondering if Chicago will get to take the stage tonight at the Plain Dealer Pavilion. I don’t really want to drive over to Mayfield during rush hour in the rain. Maybe the old friend will have to wait a couple of hours before emerging with new power and speed.

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Life, Not As I’d Planned It

One of my friends called me last night upset about things in their life. To them, it seemed like everything had been piling up and it’s hitting them all at once. I can sympathize.

My mother always told me and my sister never to compare yourself to anyone else. I’d say that’s sage advice. I often look at other people’s lives and think they have it all together. The truth is they probably don’t. We’re all human, make mistakes, get depressed, feel happy and long to be loved by that special someone.

My friend told me how they thought I had my life all together. They told me how they thought I had everything in my life on track. The truth is, I don’t. I had to think that I thought my friend had the same things going for them. I thought some of the things they did were more brave than anything I’d done in my life. I look to my friend for strength, advice and the energy that keeps me ticking.

I shared how I’d always thought my life would be much different at 35. I’d never thought I’d be single and living downtown Cleveland. It was what was supposed to happen to me, it was the right thing to happen to me. It wasn’t what I thought was supposed to happen to me. I figured I’d be married with kids and living somewhere in the ‘burbs. Of course, this blog would be a lot different if that were the case. I’d probably be complaining about my wife, kids or just life in general. For now, you don’t have to worry about those ramblings.

Another one of my friends taught me a valuable lesson, nothing happens on your schedule. Phil hammered it into my head until I got it. Now I get it. Whether you believe it’s God’s will or just how the universe is spinning out your life on this planet, I know I have limited control over my life. Sure, I try to flex my muscles and strong arm life sometimes but I realize I don’t have the strength to make somethings happen.

I get through my days with this outlook: What happened was supposed to happen. There’s a reason. Maybe I don’t understand it now but what happened did because it’s the right thing for my life. I’ll grow from it and my life will somehow be better whether it takes grief and happiness to get through it.

It’s my philosophy. Everyone may not agree with it but that outlook works for me and that’s how I get through each day… second by second, minute by minute, hour by hour.

By the way, we’ll all look back and laugh right?

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What A Match!

Four hours and 48 minutes of match play. It was a thriller at Centre Court that took a long time to end. I was on the edge of my seat throughout the match. I wasn’t happy with the outcome but it was still phenomenal.

Roger Federer did not want his five year reign at Wimbledon to end. Rafeal Nadal played tough throughout the match, trying to play spoilers to Federer’s chance to tie a record at the All England Club. He had the chance to become the first man since the 1880s’ to win a sixth consecutive championship. Today was not to be that day.

Federer looked like a champion and genius during some of his plays but was consistently inconsistent. He had 25 aces to Nadal’s 6. The tale of the match lies in the unforced errors. Federer had 52, almost twice of Nadal’s 27.

It was the most exciting match I’ve ever seen at Wimbledon. I think only Sampras/Agassi match-ups at Centre Court were close when it comes to excitement. The match consumed the better part of my Sunday due to all of the rain delays. Next year, a retractable roof that will be able to shelter the players and the crowd from England’s rains.

Here’s the final scoring – 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7

I can’t wait for the U.S. Open.

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Breakfast at Wimbledon

#1 takes on #2
A tradition I have on the July 4th weekend is getting up to see NBC’s “Breakfast At Wimbledon” coverage of the Men’s Finals.

Again this year, my favorite player, Roger Federer, is competing for the championship. Federer was born in Basel, Switzerland. It’s the hometown of part of my family. He’s trying for his sixth straight title at the All England Club.

Federer is taking on Rafeal Nadal, who’s currently serving for a set point. Nadal and Federer are no strangers to each other. They’ve faced off at the net for six Grand Slam title matches. Federer is currently ranked number one and Nadal is number two.

They’re meeting for their third consecutive Wimbledon final. Nadal has never taken a championship from Federer at Wimbledon.

We’ll see how things play out today. Nadal took the first set, now Federer is leading on the second set.

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The Parents & The Second Parents

My mom and dad and the people I’ve always considered my second parents got to put up with my shenanigans for about 24 hours. It was great playing host to them so they could see the fireworks.

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Fireworks Over The Flats

A packed Superior Viaduct. Some people came out around 4:30pm to stake their claim. They may have been entertained by looking into the apartments and condos.
One of the first big crowd pleasers. A lot of “ooohs” and “aahhs”.
We had great seats from my balcony.
It’s amazing how they can make the fireworks so colorful.
One of the last big displays before the grand finale. It was a great show. Thanks to everyone who made it happen.