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Today is my first day back at work since Friday. I’ve been sick since Friday night with…well…you don’t need the details. Let’s just say it’s been bad. Just to get back into the habit of blogging again, here’s a few things I learned from being sick:

1. Daytime TV is BORING!
Even with 100 channels, my choices are limited. Do I watch Sportscenter for the 8th time? Soap operas? Spanish soap operas? SpongeBob Squarepants, SpongeBob Squarepants, and later…more SpongeBob Squarepants? Maybe syndicated game shows hosted by Donnie Osmond where the grand prize is a new bike? It’s rough!

2. Daytime TV is targeted at people living in their parents’ basement
No joke! Pretty much every commercial starts out, “Hey, are you sick of living in your parents’ basement?” And then it’s (unrealistically) followed by, “Do you want to make lots of money in a professional field you absolutely love?” And then comes the greatest part…you only have to sign up for a 2 week course at a local community college and you’ll be on your way to designing graphics and animation from the 1980s, working in a technology field with computers that still use floppy disks, and becoming a dental hygienist while wearing glasses that were popular with the cast of Saved By the Bell. Gotta love outdated “come-to-our-school-and-find-a-job-in-a-bad-economy” commercials.

3. If you can’t eat food, you don’t want to see food!
Seeing a commercial for Chili’s or accidentally turning it to the Food Network was like being waterboarded. I didn’t even have to eat the food to feel it start coming back up. Too graphic? Whoops. But you get my point!

4. Gatorade and Powerade are part of a delicious and balanced breakfast.
I would probably be dead and dehydrated without you! Thank you!

5. If you take medicine that makes you a little loopy/crazy, don’t text, call, or chat with anyone online.
I sincerely apologize. ‘Nough said.

For those of you are like me and only get your news from ESPN (I’m exaggerating…a bit), you might have missed this story. As of July 1, 2009, it is against the law to text while driving in the state of Tennessee. Here’s the full story from Knox News:

NASHVILLE – Rachel Nichol says reading or sending cell phone text messages while driving isn’t such a good idea – she’s had five fender benders, including one in a fast-food drive-thru.

“I was texting and I rear-ended someone each time,” said Nichol, a 20-year-old Nashville bartender. “You’re not looking at the road. You’re only using one hand to drive and it’s really dangerous.”

That’s why she supports a law prohibiting the behavior. It’s among new Tennessee laws that take effect today.

Violators of the texting prohibition would be fined $50, but the action would be considered a nonmoving traffic violation, meaning no points would be added to a person’s driving record.

It also exempts certain officials – such as officers of the state, campus police officers and emergency medical technicians – when performing their duties.

Opponents argued that law enforcement may not be able to tell whether drivers are texting or dialing and that texting is already covered under the state’s distracted driving law.

Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper agreed with that in an opinion he issued earlier this year when he said officers can currently cite a driver “whenever unsafe operation is caused by cell phone use, text messaging, applying cosmetics or any other activity that prevents the driver from operating the vehicle in a safe manner.”

But Maggi McLean Duncan, executive director of the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police, said the group believes the new law is still necessary.

“They felt the proposed legislation which is now becoming law clarified it very succinctly not only for law enforcement, but for the judicial branch, as well as for citizens,” she said.

Safety Department spokesman Mike Browning said the new law “does create a challenge to law enforcement in distinguishing between texting and dialing on a mobile phone, since the statute does not require that all communications be performed with a hands-free device.”

However, he said the Tennessee Highway Patrol will enforce the law “to help promote public safety.”

“Motorists should be aware that texting while driving is a dangerous behavior that can result in an injury crash or even death to the driver or other motorists,” Browning said.

Philippians 4:4-9

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Today is May 5, or Cinco de Mayo. All across America, people are celebrating this “holiday” in different ways. But have you ever wondered what Cinco de Mayo is all about?

Cinco de Mayo is a regional holiday in Mexico, celebrated primarily in the state of Puebla. The holiday commemorates the Mexican army’s unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín.

The outnumbered Mexicans defeated a much better-equipped French army that had not been defeated in almost 50 years.

While Cinco de Mayo has limited significance nationwide in Mexico, the date is observed in the United States and other locations around the world as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride. However, a common misconception in the United States is that Cinco de Mayo is Mexico’s Independence Day, which actually is September 16 (dieciséis de septiembre in Spanish), the most important national patriotic holiday in Mexico.

In the United States, Cinco de Mayo has taken on a significance beyond that in Mexico. The date is perhaps best recognized in the United States as a date to celebrate the culture and experiences of Americans of Mexican ancestry, much as St. Patrick’s Day, Oktoberfest, and the Chinese New Year are used to celebrate those of Irish, German, and Chinese ancestry respectively. Similar to those holidays, Cinco de Mayo is observed by many Americans regardless of ethnic origin. Celebrations tend to draw both from traditional Mexican symbols, such as the Virgen de Guadalupe, and from prominent figures of Mexican descent in the United States, including César Chávez.

Thank you Wikipedia for that awesome information.

Yesterday, Carl Crawford of the Tampa Bay Rays tied a Major League record by stealing 6 bases in 1 game. That’s pretty impressive when you consider David Ortiz has only stolen 10 in his 12 year career (Well not too surprising if you look at him).

That got me to thinking….what is the greatest sports record of all time?

Here are a few that I’ve come up with. Feel free to add your own to the list. What do you think is the greatest sports record of all time?

Baseball:

- Joe DiMaggio- 56 game hitting streak

- Pete Rose- 4,256 hits

- Cal Ripken Jr.- 2,632 consecutive games played

- Orel Hershiser- 59 consecutive scoreless innings

- Hack Wilson- 191 RBIs in 1 season

- Hank Aaron- 755 Home Runs (In my mind, Hammerin’ Hank still holds the record)

Basketball:

- Wilt Chamberlain- 100 points in a game

- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar- 38,387 career points

- UCLA- 11 National Championships

- UCLA- 7 consecutive National Championships

Football:

- Dan Marino- 5,084 passing yards in a season

- Tom Brady- 50 passing TDs in a season

- Brett Favre- Most career TDs, INTs, and yards

- Jerry Rice- 22,895 career receiving yards

Hockey:

- Wayne Gretzky- 92 goals in a season

- Wayne Gretzky- 894 career goals

- Wayne Gretzky- 163 assists in a season

- Wayne Gretzky- 1,963 career assists

- Patrick Roy- 551 goaltending wins in a career

Tennis:

- Pete Sampras- 14 Grand Slam Titles (singles)

Golf:

- Jack Nicklaus- 18 Major Championships (Tiger Woods is currently at 14)

Dear Crazy Drivers…

Please stop driving while talking on your cell phone and smoking at the same time. That is all.

A report on Yahoo! caught my eye today:

Friendly ‘Death Star’ Laser to Recreate Sun’s Power

Lasers have usually represented weapons of mass destruction in movies such as “Star Wars,” but a newly completed facility has begun harnessing lasers to create a fusion reaction rivaling the power of a miniature sun.

The National Ignition Facility has already test-fired all 192 giant lasers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California as part of this effort. The lasers will eventually focus their power on compressing and heating a single, pea-sized fuel capsule to more than 180 million degrees Fahrenheit in order to trigger thermonuclear fusion.

Now I’ll be the first to admit I don’t understand anything about science, I don’t like science, and I really don’t care too much about science. But this story made me laugh a little bit. Here’s why:

For hundreds of years, scientists have been trying to discover how the earth was created, where we came from, how things happened at the beginning, how many evolved, etc. Now, ~4000 years after the earth was created, scientists think they finally have found a way to create a miniature sun using 192 giant lasers. 

Isn’t it ironic that it’s taken scientists many years and millions of dollars of research to create a miniature replica of something they believed happened by chance? Isn’t it odd that we don’t have the capabilities to create another sun, but scientists believe ours was created by a Big Bang and just so happened to be placed at an exact direction away from us so we won’t freeze or burn to death?

All this does is reaffirm my belief in a wonderful Creator who put the sun in its exact place, and yet also loved me enough to place me on this earth.

Today has been a rough day. My uncle’s funeral is being held today in Oklahoma. I wish I could be there, but I had to stay in Nashville for several reasons. If you get a chance, say a prayer for my family. This has been very difficult on all of us.

Well, I’m back in the country, back in Nashville, and back at work. Kinda a downward progression. Don’t get me wrong…I love this country, Nashville, and my job…but I wouldn’t mind a few extra days at sea or on the beach. Anyway, to get back in the spirit of blogging, I figured I’d post a few lessons that I learned in Mexico (my cruise went to Progreso and Cozumel). 

Lessons Learned in Mexico

1. “Fake” = Junk and “Real” = Fake

Every street salesman thinks you should buy his stuff and only his stuff, and everyone seems to have a gimmick, as was the case with Oakley sunglasses. The “fake” sunglasses were obvious fakes and plastic pieces of junk. The “real” sunglasses were also plastic and fakes, but looked more authentic and said Read more…

Last night I sat in front of my TV and watched about 4 1/2 hours of the NBA Draft. While the first 15 picks were exciting to watch, I got a little bored once players with 18 syllables in their name started getting drafted from the Congo. However, I continued to watch. 

Something that intrigued me even more than the actual picks was the interview with the players after they were drafted. After the top picks were drafted, they sat down with Stephen A. Smith of ESPN for a brief interview. Smith asked every draftee what they could immediately bring to the table for their new team.

While every player took the opportunity to brag on their own skills, every player also mentioned that they would immediately bring leadership to their new team.

This really made me stop and think. How in the world is an 18-22-year-old kid going to bring leadership to an NBA team that is full of adults. Read more…