Samuel Alito Elected Next Supreme Court Justice

It is official: Judge Samuel Alito was confirmed this morning to be the new Supreme Court Justice. After weeks of speculation, this political affair has finally come to an end and our Congress can now re-focus its energies on the political matters of the day.
I have to say that I am a bit disappointed in our Senate for voting along party lines during this process. While Judge Alito is seem as being somewhat Conservative, he was clearly not 100% Conservative. He comes with many fine credentials and answered the questions he was asked at the Judicial Hearing with truth and precision. It was very sad when Senators attacked his credibility and forced the Judge's wife to leave in tears. The purpose of the hearings was to get at the core of where the judge stands on issues, not question his integrity.
In the end, this tactic backfired on the Liberal who asked these nasty questions. The court of public opinion shifted towards the election of Judge Alito as these Senators were seen for what they were.
One thing our media forgets to report is that our Supreme Court is made up of nine judges, not one! They think that because a judge is more Conservative that all future decisions made by the Court are going to hinge on his one voice. Again, he is ONE voice, not nine! Extremists have gone out on a limb to say that civil liberties, including the right to abortion, will be taken away because of Judge Alito being on the bench. How can one man command so much power in a group of nine?
I am not trying to undermine the importance of Judge Alito's confirmation. I do understand that he will bring with him a set of values and experience that will have a small affect on the Court. But at the same time, people are already saying what he is going to do and how our country is going to be destroyed and he hasn't even been sworn in! It's time people stop crying Chicken Little's the sky is falling just because of the election of one man. He's in as judge, deal with it!

Big Al's Celebration

For those of you who do not watch the Today Show on NBC, today's is Al Roker's 10 year anniversary with the show. Al is the weatherman who took over for Willard Scott.
This morning, they were showing highlights and clips from his time with the show.
I use to Watch Fox News in the morning up to a year or so ago. Then my wife got me watching the Today Show. It is OK, but nothing great. Seems like most of the shows are the same, whether it is the Today Show, Good Morning America on NBC, or CBS' Early Show. I am amazed at how the Today Show has been #1 in its time spot for years now. It has been very interesting to see how no one has been able to knock them off their stoop on top.
By I digress.
I am writing today about Al Roker, who lost a large quantity of weight and when he and is wife could not conceive a child naturally, they did Invetro. I have to say that at times it appears that he is on drugs, with his happy demeanor and overall positive attitude, but at the same time he is not too annoying like some people can be when they are happy all of the time. They were asking him what is favorite moment on the show has been and he said interviewing Charles Schultz, the creator of the Peanuts comics. That is a very unique choice being that Al has interviewed Hollywood celebrities, political figures, and foreign dignitaries. But alas, that shows the true nature of his character.
Not being overweight myself, but having had problems losing weight when I've had to, I admire his courage for going through the stomach surgery and then dieting to lose weight. A night and day difference between when he was obese and after he went through the surgery and diet.
I am not a proponent of Invetro fertilization for various reasons, but at least the good thing that came out of it is that he got to be a parent.
So to end as Al would say, "That's what's going on in this part of our country, here's what's going on in yours..."

262 Miles

That is what a man I just read about in my December issue of Mens Health ran straight without stopping! Can you believe that? 262 miles without stopping to go to the bathroom, eat, etc.
According to this small bit in the issue (Yes, I am 2 months behind in my reading), this man on his 30th birthday went out and ran 30 miles and started at 11:00pm, without any serious training. Now he ran 262 miles and his next goal is 300 miles!!!
It amazes me what man can do when we put our mind to something, especially when it comes to athletics. Before this, one of the most impressive athletic events I ever heard of was an event in Hawaii called the Double Ironman. In a regular Ironman, people swim something like 4 miles, then bike 126 miles, and finish by running a marathon. Now double that and you got a Double Ironman (swim 8 miles, bike 252 miles, run over 52 miles). WOW!!!
I was watching NBC about 10 years ago and there was, and probable still is, a 100 mile race through some California hills and mountains. These athletes start REAL early in the morning and walk/run a course that takes them through some high altitudes and narrow trails. Once darkness sets in in the evening, the competitors are trully on their own. If they get hurt, fall off the mountain, etc, there may not be anyone that comes along for hours and search teams can't start until their daylight.
When I was in high school, I ran Track for 4 years, Swam for 2 years, and ran Cross Country for 2 years. When I was training for Cross Country during the Summer, I got up to a 14 mile run and ran a couple of 12 mile runs. On the Swim Team, during Christmas break when there was no school, we had double practices every day except on Christmas Day and New Years Day. Practices went from 7-11am, then we came back at 1pm and went until 3:00pm. During the morning session we would swim no less than 12,000 yards and in the afternoon usually somewhere around 10,000 yards. Add to it that the power in the school was shutdown and the pool was cold and yes, I was trully insane to WANT to be on the team. At one practice, the coaches bought us all Dunkin Donuts as a treat for practicing so well. When I got done with practice, I ran over to the donuts and proceeded to eat 6! Oh, one other sidenote to that story: I had just swam over 3000 yards STRAIGHT without stopping (it was distance swim).
I still enjoy exercising today, but it is not quite that intense today. Yes, my martial arts that I do three times a week can be painful and strenuous, but it is not that intense.

New Jersey

Well I am back from New Jersey, where I travelled to for 3 days. I stayed in a town called Cherry Hill just outside of Philadelphia.
Getting my rental car was an interesting experience. The airport bus took me to the rental building and I was immediately helped. The girl said she had a newer Chevy Impala and reinforced how nice it was. I signed the paperwork and walked out to my car. Upon walking up to it, I immediately noticed a few dents in the side. I put my stuff in the trunk and when I opened up the front door, the front passenger seat was all dirty and looked as if someone had spilled coffee on it at some point. I took my hand and brushed the dirt off of it. I then walked around the car and found some other nicks and dents. When I was pulling out of the parking lot, I handed the guard my contract and mentioned to her all of the problems. With a face that would stop a tank, she looked at me, walked into her booth, wrote some stuff with her pen, then handed me the contract and raised the gate. Talk about cold? Whoa, I thought that this girl must REALLY have woken up on the wrong side of the bed that morning.
Only thing I felt was that people seem a little more rude from that part of the country. Our booth at the convention I was at was next to a guy who kept putting things on our booth table including a large cup of coffee that had it tipped-over it would have spilled all over OUR table cloth, forcing us to pay for it. With the other stuff, he would place things like books, clothing, etc on our table, say he would move it, then leave it without ever moving it.
Then while driving, I was amazed that there were not more cops around busting people for their speeding and wreckless driving. It was not just on the expressways either. On rural routes where the speed limit was 40 mph people flew past me doing at least 60!
I walked-up to check into my hotel room and was greeted by a young guy, maybe 22, who was well dressed. When I inquired about checking in, he mumbled something and I thought he said the check in desk was to the right. I walked 60 feet when I realized there was no other desk and went back to him. He rolled his eyes when I asked him to explain the check-in again and it was then in a loud and clear voice he said that check-in was not until 3:00pm. OK tough guy, relax, I just asked you to clarify yourself, not my fault that you do not know how to communicate effectively nor my fault that you have no patience.
During the convention, convention attendees would either not acknowledge me with a look or they would look for 2 seconds at our booth, then quickly scamper away, harldy enough time to hand them a brochure or quickly explain our company to them. Why are they walking around looking at the vendors if they don't have the time to talk to them?
I can't say that my entire experience was bad. I belong to a spiritual group with national meetings and had the opportunity to stop-by a meeting for two hours Friday night. The people there were very welcoming and made me feel like part of the group. When the meeting was over, they even invited me to go out with them for some coffee and if it wasn't already 10:45pm and I didn't have to get-up early the next day I would have gone out with them.
The weather, at least compared to Chicago, was beautiful! It was in the mid 50s, lower 60s and they were breaking records for highs on one of the two days I was there. There were a few clouds, but Friday and Saturday the sun came out and it was great. I didn't even need the spring coat I brought it was that nice.
I was at the airport 3 hours early and tried to get on the earlier flight, but was informed that I would have to pay Southwest $75 to get on that flight (that got in 3 hours earlier than my scheduled flight). So I chose to take it easy for 3 hours. I took my time eating lunch, then spent an hour and a half entering all of our new contacts from our Texas trip AND this trip into our database. This was work I would have had to do during the week this week, but now that it is done I can focus on other things. Yes, it would have been nice to be home sooner, but it didn't happen, so make lemonade out of lemons.
I probable wouldn't spend too much time in New Jersey per say, but looking at Philadelphia and talking to my wife who was there once, I would spend more time in that town. It was cool the way the city was layed-out and was a big city, but not a towering metropolis. The airport was easy to navigate around and city has a nice river and port area where large ships are worked on in the shipyard.

Travelling - Not all it is cracked-up to be

Last week, I had to go to Waco, TX on business. This week, I am going to Chery Hill, NJ on business. In December I went to Daytona Beach, FL as well. When all is said and done, I have to say that unless you are going on a vacation, travelling is NOT fun!
Take my trip to Waco, I had to get up at 5:30am to walk my dog, finish packing, then be at our meeting point. My co-worker and I got driven to O'Hare airport by his dad who was also flying-out that morning. We checked-in, went through security, then waited 45 minutes to board. We flew over 2 hours to Dallas where we dragged our 200lbs of luggage through the rental car terminal and drove 2 hours to Waco. I then spent 3 days/2 nights in a nice hotel, but slept in a foreign bed with VERY soft pillows. Now reverse the above process and that is how we pretty much got home Saturday night where I finally got home at 9:00pm.
I realize that I only travel for work a few times a year. I see the glass as half-empty in that I do not travel every week and am only gone a couple of days when I do travel.
However, that does not mean that I like travelling any more and it certainly makes me appreciate my simple office job. Just think about all the work I had to just to go to Texas for three days.
One thing I also didn't mention is that I have to be away from my wife and 1-year old daughter when I travel. That means my wife has to up her work around the house and take care of my household chores while I am gone in addition to getting-up with our daughter and taking care of her for all three days. She accepts this as part of my job, which I appreciate. Also, my in-laws, who watch our daughter one day a week, also watch our daughter an extra day while I am gone.
Another point is that I do not have time to go and see the local tourist attractions when I travel. Our company has booths at conventions and I am responsible for helping to man it the duration of the convention. After standing for sometimes 8 hours, I am very tired at the end of the day and do not have the time nor the energy to go see any sites.
Again, I state that if I was going on vacation, all of this hassel would not be so bad. In fact, I actually prefer to drive sometimes over flying. In a couple of weeks I have to drive to Madison, WI and am looking forward to that. It is an overnight trip and I get to spend some quiet time with myself in the car while I am driving. I can put a book on tape in the stereo or just be alone with my thoughts during the 2-1/2 hour drive. Best of all I have time to pray or talk to God.
There are a couple of perks to travelling in that you can earn miles and free airline tickets if you fly a lot. Also, hotels sometimes offer free stays after you stay with them so often. These perks allow you to cut your costs when you go on vacations. If it is possible, you can see some interesting places or visit historic sites that you might not otherwise get a chance to see. This happened for me when I was in Kentucky and got to view some beautiful geography. I did not know that that state was so beautiful. After driving 3-1/2 hours, I did get to see something I was prevy to.
One last note, I did travel almost every week witha job I had about 6 years ago. I was usually gone about 2-3 days and travelled mainly to Wisconsin, until the end when my territory expanded and I travelled throughout the entire Midwest. During that time, I drove places and flew. I also put on about 15-20lbs from all of the eating-out I did. Like my father, I never looked more forward to a home-cooked meal than when I came home from a trip. Even the simple act of eating out got boring very fast.
I have a better appreciation for people who travel all the time for their jobs. My father travelled for 25 years. He estimates that he flew to Texas 200 times in his career and was in Europe over a dozen times. One good thing for him was that when it was available, he was able to spend some time seeing the sites in the evenings or weekends. He has some nice pictures he took, but it does bother him that he had to leave my mom alone to raise four children and that he could not share the tourist portion of his travels with my mom.

24 - The New Season

For those of you who have seen the first episode of 24, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER!!
I have to say that 24 seems to keep evolving itself and making each season better than the previous season. I was a little disappointed by all the hype on the ads about not missing the first ten minutes of the season premiere, being that president Palmer got shot was a surprise, but not as big as a I thought it was going to be. Looking back, they kind of gave that away when in the preview they showed Chloe talking to Jack and she said something to the affect of "I am the only one left", giving us the impression that everyone Jack knew was dead.
But I did like the way the last season ended because it was left so that they could end the show and never make another episode, or that Jack could still come back. And so now we find Jack being pulled back into his role as hero to our country, this time he is accused of assassinating President Palme and have to prove his innocense. Interesting premise that someone, other than Palmer, Michelle, Tony, and Chloe, knows that he is still alive and wants him and all his comrades dead.
My wife Lisa and I were already jumping ahead, playing detective and placing our theories as to who is all behind setting-up Jack. Some suggestions were that his ex-girlfriend found-out that Jack is still alive and is angry at him leaving her without telling him. Another is that President Palmer is still alive and is faking his deathThe one Lisa came-up with is that the current President found out that Jack is still alive and wants him dead because he does not like being lied to nor does he like that Jack hurt the US's relationship with China in the last season. They have already shown us that one of the heads of the Secret Service is in on it, which could lead to some very interesting story lines.
Nevertheless, we are going to record and play-back tonight's episode (Lisa has to work tonight) to see how this saga continues. Fox is also doing a good job of hyping this up by making the show open with two-two hour segments instead of four-one hour episodes.
Other things noteworthy:
1) They got President Palmer's brother involved already
2) Chloe is already in custody for helping Jack
3) The current president's wife is schizophrenic
4) Tony is still alive
5) Jack's new friend (more like girlfriend) has a teenage son that has been taken hostage
Just as a sidenote, for those of you who do not know my wife and I, we watched the first season of 24, only to refuse to watch the 2nd season after they way they killed Jack's wife to end the show. We found out that they had three endings they filmed and THAT was the one they went with. After hearing from friends how good the 2nd season was, we reluctantly watched the 3rd season and have become 24 fans again after watching that and the 4th season. Now we are in the 5th season and hope someday Kiefer Sutherland will win a tv award for his role as Jack Bauer.

The Bus

During the holidays, I was at a party where a lengthy discussion entailed regarding famous people we would have on a metaphysical bus going off a short cliff. You know these people. These are the ones who annoy you when they simply open their mouths, who's 15 minutes of fame have been up for 9 months, who do stupid things and you wish you could write a Darwin Award for their death....you get the type I am talking about.
Well at this time, I present my list of people I would put on that list. See who you would agree with, disagree with, or would add:
1) Kanye West - I know he has a great voice, has been nominated for all kinds of music awards this year, and had a really hard life and made it big. My reason for putting him on this list stems from the comments Kanye made during Hurricane Katrina Relief Telethon. Lord knows that a lot of what happened to those victims could have been prevented and both our federal government and the state of Louisiana government should have done more, but to call George W. Bush a racist that doesn't care about black people showed Kanye's true colors. It may have been said out of frustation, but even to this day he has not apologized for his statements. Yes, George W. is not perfect and has made a lot of mistakes as president, but one thing that is far from the truth is that the events of Katrina did not come about because of his lack of caring for those people because of the color of their skin. When Mrs. Bush, who stays out of the political spotlight, has to come out and defend her husband's non-prejudicial attitudes publicly, you know that Kanye has booked a seat on the bus.
2) Paris Hilton - I do not even know where to begin with this one. Do I REALLY need to go into detail about someone who's best asset is here looks and even that, in my opinion, is questionable? The press loves any juicy gossip they get about her and I am so tired of hearing anything about her, thus I would gladly mail her a ticket for the bus.
3) Joan Rivers - Joan's days have long gone. She was mildy funny, in the 80s!!! She has had more plastic surgery than most manequinns I know (and I know a lot). Yet, E! keeps her on to work the runway at big events like the Golden Globes and Oscars. The sound of her voice reminds me of car screeching to a halt to avoid an accident. I would like someone to explain to me what real value she adds to showbiz. Maybe I can Fed-Ex her the ticket for the bus.
4) Courtney Love - Can I say, FREAK! I applaud her for her efforts to get away from drugs and alcohol thought treatment programs, but even off of them she still acts like she is on them. She is not just strange, but almost scary. I have seen her intervew and she acts like she would dive off of platform into a crowd at any given moment, especially if dared to. I made the mistake of taking 5 minutes to watch Comedy Central's roasting of Pamela Anderson 2 months ago and there was Courtney Love making a fool of herself trying to respond to the rippings people gave her. She opened her mouth and people weren't laughing at how funny she was, but the stupidity that rained onto the audience. She definitely gets a seat towards the front of the bus.
5) Howard Stern - The champion for freedom of speech thinks he is the future of radio and signed a deal with Sirius Radio. Just how many interviews with porn stars can one listen to before turning the dial? Repitition has been known to drive even the sanest person insane. While he has the right to freedom of speech in this country, it is no longer free to everyone unless you subscribe to Sirius Radio. He needs to constantly mold his show into something new and exciting. Most of what is done on that show is old and boring. It becomes predictable. His ticket on the bus will be delivered to Sirius in his name.
6) Eminem - This guy might be big in the Rap world, but take him out of it and he does not amount to much. He walks around with the biggest attitude and so many people in music like him for it! I never hear of him doing anything charitable. He states that he is from the streets of Detroit and has lived a hard life, yet when was the last time you heard of him doing something to help people who lead the life now that he use to live? Also, he got real big a few years ago, scoring an Oscar of all things for his music, but where is he now? Why is he not winning any awards or making any albums that sell lots? It seems like his star is falling fast and burning up in the atmosphere. I will WRAP his ticket and make mail it to the Real Slim Shady.
7) Cindy Sheehan - For those who are not familiar with this name, she is the lady who lost her son in Iraq and has made a compaign to meet the president and discuss immediate withdrawal of our troops from Iraq. While I could only imagine how painful it must be to lose a child, especially since I am a father myself, she does NOT speak for all parents who have lost their children due to the Iraq war. A good friend of mine, Mike, lost HIS son in the war. My heart went out to him and his family and words could not even convey my feelings. Yet, recently I asked him about his feelings towards the war and he said it would be an abominiation if our troops did not stay the course without getting the job the done. His son would have died in vein if we did not stay to get the job done. One thing people have forgotten about Cindy is that she has ALREADY MET THE PRESIDENT! I haven't met the president and she wants to meet him twice. She protested outside the president's ranch in Texas, then went on a media campaign. I just read recently where she is in England speaking out against the war. She knows her 15 minutes of fame is up here in the US, so she went to England. She is no longer doing this for her son or for our country, but for her own ego and publicity. She has earned a seat on the bus!
***Honorable Mentions:
a) Tom Cruise
b) Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt
c) Chevy Chase
d) Ryan Seacrest
e) Joel McHale (From "The Soup" on E!)
f) Ted Kennedy
g) Kevin Costner
h) Heath Ledger
i) Mike Tyson
j) Alan Keyes (Lost Illinois Senate election to Barrack O'Bama)
k) Britney Spears and Kevin Federline
This is the list for now. I know there are a lot of sports stars, tv personalities, and others that I missed. These were the few off of the top of my head. I will try add more later when I have the time.

My New Blog Name

Yes, I have changed my Blog name from part of my name to "An Ant's Eye View". I need to get more creative in my life and figured this was a good place to start.
Why "An Ant's Eye View"? No reasl reason. Just something different. Why did David Letterman call his company "World Wide Pants"? It's just one of those strange things that differentiates you from others and from the norm.

Comments....PLEASE!

I need some feedback on this BLOG. Should I keep it going? Is it too boring? Any suggestions for topics?
I started this BLOG about a month ago and it has been lagging comments from you, my large (insert sarcasm) viewing audience. If you find this enjoyable, please let me know. If you don't, please let me know. Just because there have not been a lot of comments does not mean it is not enjoyable, so I can keep this going. I try to dedicate about 15 minutes or so a day to it, but won't waste my time if it is not that great. Personally, I like to speak from the heart on a few topics and I also like to talk about what is going on in this crazy world around us.
Thanks for your input!