GO HEAT!!!

Wow, who would of thunk it. Down 2-0 in the series and down by double digits in Game 3 with 5 minutes left. Five minutes and two days later and we have ourselves a series. Tied 2-2. Awesome!!!

The Heat played some great ball last night. Wade started it off early with his mid range jumper, and Posey and Udonis kept Dirk in check. These two guys are really starting to get to Dirk. Seems like once you get a little physical with this guy, he disappears. Even though Shaq picked up an early foul in the game, I think the hard one he gave to Dirk in the first quarter sent a message... Don't take it to the rim again.

Mourning also came up big in this game. We finally saw him making a difference down low. He blocked shots, altered shots, and caused Dallas to think before taking it the hole. Really caused problems for the Dallas offense.

I also like Walker one on one against Dirk off the dribble. When Shaq is out of the game we need to take advantage of the match up. We could get some easy buckets or try to get Dirk into some foul trouble. Oh yeah, and all of you Heat fans that are Walker haters need to keep quiet. The guy is doing what he was brought here to do. Providing some offense when Wade and/or Shaq are on the bench. He's not going to get 20 every game, and he is going to air ball a three every once in a while, but the he is an offensive weapon that is getting the job done, and on top of that his defense has been pretty good.

Game 5 will be interesting. Scary to think we could be one game away if we win Sunday. Hopefully we will come out with the same kind of energy and being going to Dallas with a 3-2 lead.

GO HEAT!!!

Getting Ready for Game 4

I still can't believe we pulled off the win in Game 3. I am so glad I decided to stay up and watch the end of the game. Hopefully we won't need the late game heroics for this one, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's necessary.

Seems like it's been a while from my last post, but can't think of too much to update on. Father's day is this coming weekend so that's pretty cool. Going out for lunch with Les's side of the family, and having my side coming over for dinner.

Sam was a handful this morning. She woke up at 5 this morning. I woke up and changed her diaper and put her back in her crib... LOL, I was dreaming if I thought that would work. She then cried for an hour straight before we brought her into our room. She then proceeded to have a temper tantrum. She just stood in the middle of the family room screaming and crying. It was a fun morning. Finally after giving her some muffins and milk at 6:30 she settled down.

Work is good. Have been working on a bunch of different things. Seems like I have 5 or 6 projects going on that are all about 90% done, but getting them completely done is taking forever. Reason is because I am getting to the point where I need to get the stuff in production which means depending on others to help me. Well, it's not that easy getting some people's time. So, projects continue to wait to be completed.

Finally going to be playing tennis on Saturday. Feels like its been a while since I have played tennis or basketball. Just got new strings on my racket, so I should be killing the ball. We'll see.

Well, the game is about to start, so going to take off.

GO HEAT!!!

I must admit...

Before I get to my confession, let's talk about the Heat vs. the Mavericks in the Finals. The storylines this Finals matchup has are unbelievable.

1 - Let's start with the future of the NBA. Does it get any better than Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki. Well, I guess some people would include LeBron, but I think these two guys are the best right now. Nowitzki is the future of what every team will want at the center position (of course this after Duncan and Shaq retire), and Wade should be what every kid playing ball on the streets strives to be like. Wade does it all and unselfishly.

2 - First year coach versus hall of fame coach. What Avery Johnson has done with this team is unbelievable. A lot of people think the coach is an overrated position, but I am one of those fans that think it is very important. Motivation, focus, and keeping your team under control pays big dividends. You almost have to view the coach role as a CEO with basketball knowledge. It takes someone who has been in that position to understand how important it is (weird, since I have never had the type of positon... at least yet). It's so nice to see Riles being in the big game again. It feels like yesterday (ok, not really yesterday), that he was taking my favorite team (yes, I was a Laker fan preHeat) of all-time to the Championships in the 80s. Which of course included who I view the best basketball player of all-time, Magic Johnson (ok, I guess that's my biased opinion... but he's any easy second best of all-time).

3 - One word. Shaq. Do I need to say more. The humor, the one-liners, and his kid like behaviors always provide entertainment. Not to mention his dominance on the court.

4 - The amount of veteran all-stars (particularly on the Heat), that are probably looking at their final opportunity to get a ring. Payton is a good story. Walker and Stackhouse are as well. But nothing would make most Heat fans happier than seeing Alonzo Mourning (my second favorite player) get a ring. This guy has been the heart of the Heat for so many years now. Aside from Magic (my favorite player, if you didn't catch on to that in the earlier point), I can't remember a guy who brings his best game to the court day in and day out, and puts his entire heart into the game. The guy gets me out of my seat when I am watching him. What this guy has overcome with his kidney ailment is unbelievable. Hopefully the Heat will win it for him.

5 - How could we have a story line that didn't include Gator Nation, especially since the entire world revolves around the best city (gainesville of course) and college in the nation. We are witnessing pure greatness when we speak of players like Udonis Haslem and Jason Williams. We could expect nothing less from Florida graduates... I mean a Florida graduate and a Florida ex-student.

6 - And now to my confession. Probably what could turn into the biggest story line of the series... Mark Cuban. I have to admit, I am a BIG Mark Cuban fan. I know he has more haters, but I think this guy is awesome. Successful business man, lots of money, and the Dallas Mavericks as a hobby. Are you kidding me?!?!? I envy this guy. He does what any successful business man would do. He does whatever he thinks he can do to get an edge for his business. Whatever it takes. One hundred thousand dollar fines, blogging about anyone and anything, and getting in anyones face (including Mr. Stern and the refs) when he isn't happy with what he sees.

If I were to come up with a phrase to describe Mark Cuban it would be poker's check-raise, and here is why. Old schoolers frown upon the check-raise. It was considered rude and bad form. People would get killed for check raising back in the day (I think, maybe they would just be kicked out of the game). Well today's generation is all about the check-raise. It's all about doing whatever it takes to be successful at what you are doing. If it's a check-raise, complaining about the refs, or blogging about a coach or player, then you have to do what you have to do. That's the new generation for you. The old-schoolers just have to accept it and get with the program, or they will be lost in the dust...

But for the next week or two I will be putting my Mark Cuban fan club T-Shirt in the back of the closet. I am officially on a two week hiatus of admiring this guy, and will join the old-schoolers in criticizing his antics. Hopefully he will not get in the way of the Heat winning the championship. Hopefully he will keep his mouth shut, and stop complaining about anything and everything (yeah right).

Only time will tell. All in all it should be a great series. My prediction of course will be for the Heat to win. I'm thinking in 7. Should be fun.

GO HEAT!!!

I'm back

I know, I know, it's been a while since I have had time to post on the blog. But here I am, I'm back. Hopefully I haven't lost my four consistent readers (Leslie, Justin, Aunt Debbie, and Doobie). Sorry guys, hopefully we will be seeing more posts in the next couple of days. A lot has happened since my last post, and I don't know where to start, so I will randomly talk about everything (hopefully I will cover everything).

First the job. I have been back at ADS for two weeks now, and so far it has been great. I really like my boss (which was a big question mark since he started two weeks before me and I hadn’t met him). He has a very strong technical background, knows how to deal with politics (which I lack), and is a no-nonsense type of a guy. In the two weeks I have been there I have already learned a good deal from him. I have created a couple of windows services, and have started designing a new database for one of the major applications used over there.

Next, Leslie is 10 weeks pregnant. Yeah!!! We went to the doctor's office last week and got to hear the heart beat. It was a big relief considering Leslie hasn't been feeling great lately. So far this pregnancy has been a lot different from Sam's. Leslie is tired a lot (which she was with Sam), but she is constantly feeling nauseas and sick. Hopefully it will go away in the next couple of weeks.

Samantha is doing great. She has four teeth coming in on the top, and two coming in on the bottom. She is doing awesome at swim practice. She is going under the water without crying, and is starting to have a really good time during the class. She's walking all over the place, saying hi to every person she sees, and displaying her independence every chance she gets. We are still struggling with eating meat and veggies, but it seems like every chance we introduce a new fruit she finds her new favorite food. Here is the latest picture.



Leslie and I went to an amazing wedding a couple of nights ago. It was for a close family friend. The wedding ceremony (which started at 8:00) was in a beautiful room that seemed like it was taken out of a fairy tale. It took about twenty minutes just for the wedding party to walk in. I was of course on my blackberry for the majority of the time trying to get updates on the Heat vs. Pistons Game 3 playoff game. The party started off with the Broadway cast of Fiddler on the Roof performing for about thirty minutes. Was a surprise for everyone, and was amazing. A one hour hora followed the performance. And then it was off to partying (two bands so there was constant music). By the time we got the food it was past my bed time. We ended up leaving the party around 2:00, but I heard the party lasted until 3:30.

Last night we went to Blue Moon Fish Company for my Mom's birthday. Of course, the food was amazing. I had some Gumbo to start off. Awesome. Next a Caesar Salad. As far as I'm concerned, a salad is a salad. Then it was the main course, the Lobster special with a shrimp milanese rice pilaf. Awesome. And then we finished the evening off with a liquid filled chocolate torte. Awesome!!! Was the perfect dinner...

Well, almost. About half way through the dinner my second glass of wine was on the way to the table. As the waitress was handing my dad his glass of wine, for some reason the bus boy thought he was helping out the waitress by taking the tray from her (without her knowing). The tray then falls right on my Aunt Debbie. Her shirt was ruined along with her pants. Some of the wine got on my cousin Melissa's Coach stuff (you don’t mess with my cousin’s Coach stuff). The waitress was completely embarrassed, while the busboy was smiling when this happened and snuck away instead of helping clean up.

The manager came over and took care of everything. She comp’d my Aunt's dinner and the coffee. They are replacing her clothes, and she got a free Blue Moon Fish Company shirt out of the deal.

After dinner I headed of to my buddies house to play some poker. Was only five of us for most of the night. Turned out to be a good session for me. Was up $73 for the night, and played some really good poker. Made a couple of really good bluffs, but also got some really good cards.

Whew, I'm tired of typing and Game 4 of the Heat Pistons series is about to start. Hopefully it won't be too long before my next post.

Prediction for the game:

Heat - 102
Pistons - 89

Last Day at the Bank

So today is my last day at the bank, and then next week it is back to Access Diabetic Supply (ADS). Should be lots of fun. Will have a lot more responsibility and will be working on creating a ASP.NET/C# intranet application. Will also be responsible for redesigning the database in SQL Server 2005. Have a some processes I plan on bringing over there that I took from my job in Tallahassee. Hopefully I will get some buy in from the team.

Will have more updates after next week...