First, my deepest apologies to Green Bay Packer fans everywhere. Now, on to my rant.

I’ve absolutely had it up to HERE with the whole Brett Favre thing. For crying out loud, people, since when is it news when somebody doesn’t do anything?! Brett throws a couple of passes to some high school kids, and we see the video 612 times. He gets off his chartered jet, and we cut into live programming for a live shot at the airport. He sends a text message to a reporter, and everybody quotes it. I’ve even seen the computer generated Number Four in a variety of other teams’ colors.

Can he still play? Sure he can, and at a higher level than a lot of other NFL starting quarterbacks. But should he? No. The league doesn’t need him nearly as much as he needs the league. And I applaud the Packers for sticking to their guns and moving on.

Oh, I know all the stories: Favre battled back from addiction issues, played an outrageous game immediately after the death of his father, and so on. But I also know what a selfish and self-centered guy he can be. I lost all respect for him a couple of years ago after I heard him refuse to help the back-up quarterbacks on his team because “it’s not my job. Let ‘em talk to the coaches.” What are you afraid of, Brett?

Brett Favre made his decision back in March to retire, and now, he should just shut up, go away, and let the Packers get ready for the upcoming season. Aaron Rodgers is going to have a hard enough time stepping into those shoes as it is. If Favre cared at all about the Packers (rather than only himself), he would be currying favor with the fans to get behind the new guy. But I guess that’s not his job, either.

BJ and I are finally getting away to go to the lake later this week, and this time, we’re taking the bird.

I know — I’ll probably really regret this decision, but I can’t bear the thought of him being so crestfallen like he was last time when we left him at home.  He’s got a fine new cage — a lot bigger than his old one — and all kinds of toys, perches, and food to keep him occupied, but he was just so pathetic, and then so happy to see me.  Besides, we’re going to be gone for almost a week, and that’s a long time for the little darling to go without human contact.

He’ll probably have a fit when I put him back in his old cage for the trip, but I’m hoping he remembers it.  We’re calling it “his camper.”  I’ll let you know how it goes.  Somehow I don’t see him booking passage on any cruises, but hey, you never know!

You know the old but true saying:  If you have the money, you don’t have the time, and if you have the time, you don’t have the money.

That’s been pretty much why BJ and I have not gone anywhere except camping at the lake for a vacation for several years.  This entire summer has been tied up with summer school, and now, I’m looking ahead to the fall semester and the new job.  But we’ve made a pact.  Next summer, we’re definitely going to get away and travel to — somewhere.

The issue is where.

Both of us have so many places we would like to go, so narrowing the list to just one destination will be really hard.  At first, we were looking into Orlando vacations;  a good friend lives there, and neither of us has ever been to Disney World.  But between BJ’s still-sore shoulder, my absolute dread of roller coasters in general, and the fact that neither of us is a big fan of high heat and humidity, I think we’re going to look elsewhere.  That’s where you guys come in.

Can you help us out with a few suggestions?  I’m open to flying, cruising, train rides, whatever.  I would love to take a tour of Europe, but we won’t be able to save up THAT much moolah.  So if you know of something off the beaten path that would be fun and affordable for a couple of broken down bodies for about a week, I’m all ears.  Thanks!

I guess it’s just the price we have to pay, but still, I would rather be checking out Las Vegas vacations.

The little town just north of here is spending money like crazy. The race track in Wheeling needed a kennel to house all the greyhounds, and the county and the track reached a deal. Now, the town is falling all over itself, buying souped up police cruisers, huge granite monuments that haven’t been engraved to say anything, and a whole bunch of other stuff.

Quite a bit of the spending seems a little silly, but some of the projects are also badly needed. And that’s where I find myself having this dilemma.

The main roadway, good old State Route 2, is the only way to get through unless you take the overland route, following the cow paths up and down over the hillside, and that’s never a good idea. Right now, crews are out digging up the place to install sewer lines. Yeah, I realize the need for good reliable sanitation, and besides — we had to tie in and give up our septic tank years ago. It’s about time these folks catch up and get their monthly bills, too. But I have to drive through to get to work, and there’s no good way, so far as I can tell, to figure out just how long I’m going to be sitting there, burning my gas, waiting for the diggers to let me pass.

Yesterday, I was running a couple of minutes behind my normal departure time, and I wound up being stopped by a flagger for 17 minutes. Thank goodness nobody was looking to pass out speeding tickets once I got through that mess. I was still a few minutes late.

I over-compensated today, leaving about 20 minutes early. You guessed it: I drove right through, arriving at the construction site just as they were allowing the northbound traffic to go.

A mile or two further up the road, another group of workers is out scratching big holes in the pavement so their patches, once they get around to putting them in, will stick better. They propped up little signs saying “Rough Road.” No kidding. Hard to tell how long it will be until that little project is finished.

The worst, though, are the utility workers who create gaping holes in the middle of the street, leave the dirt piled up next to the hole, stick a couple of orange cones and a sawhorse around it, and disappear. That one could be there until the snow flies.

Sometimes it feels like a conspiracy.

One of the really cool things I’m very much looking forward to this fall is the chance to get my teeth cleaned for next to no money.

The college has a killer good dental hygiene department, and the students are always looking for patients to hone their skills. The seniors are only a few weeks away from getting jobs in real dentists’ offices, and the instructors ride them pretty hard to make sure they’re doing it right. They need to pass their board exams, and the success rates are high. So while I’m not exactly ready to become somebody’s FIRST guinea pig, I have no problem being one of the last before graduation.

Cleanings used to be totally free, but I think they charge a dollar or two now. They give you a tube of toothpaste, a brush, and a little container of floss, too, so it’s worth it all the way around.  Now if only I can talk the administration into opening up a new department featuring one of those massage therapy schools….

Do you remember awhile back when I was going on so about how pretty those spa murals were and how much I would like to have one? Well, guess what? The folks at Spa Scenes were so taken with me that they (and my friends at Pay U 2 Blog) decided I should get one — free!

Yep, I’m a winner. And since my hot tub is blue, I chose this scene because it matches so well — and it turns my deck into a lush tropical island:

Isn’t it beautiful? I can hardly wait to get it home and enjoy it!

In the meantime, be sure you check out all the wonderful designs available at Spa Scenes — and get yourself hooked up with PayU2Blog if you haven’t yet done so. No, I did NOT have to write this post to qualify for my free spa mural, and I’m not being paid for this, either. I’m just saying thank you — and tipping off my readers as to some of the fabulous goodies PU2B comes up with. So thank you. And Rock On!

I forgot to tell you all about my trip to school on Tuesday.

I still don’t have the keys to my office and the newsroom yet, but I guess it’s not all that surprising since my contract doesn’t officially take effect until August 16th. It’s still horribly frustrating, though, to have to check in with the 14-year-old behind the counter at the Service Center and ask for his keys.

What’s more, the guy who had the office before me hasn’t moved out yet. He says he’s been assigned new digs, but since HE DOESN’T HAVE HIS NEW KEY YET, he can’t move. I’m beginning to see a trend here….

The walls are coming down — literally — in the newsroom, though. I asked that the Buildings & Grounds guys knock down a couple of walls to open the space up, and they’ve gotten started working on it. That made me feel better (but not quite good enough to pick up a sledge hammer and take a few whacks myself).

I sorted through that $700 worth of office supplies hiding out in my conference room and became absolutely giddy. It’s scary how four big boxes from Staples can actually make my hands tremble. Oh, yeah — the day’s getting much better now.

I turned in my signed contract to the Provost and checked on a couple things with the Registrar. The bookstore manager commended me on my ability to fill out textbook order forms. I didn’t find it all that challenging, but apparently, some folks do. I guess it’s a lot like being afraid of looking for an auto insurance quote online.  Go figure.

Oh, and I ran into the college president. We had a lovely chat. Turns out he would like to have a yearbook (the college hasn’t published one of those since circa 1985). It’s gonna be a whale of a semester!

I love sales.

BJ and I went to Kohl’s (a) because it’s a new store in our area and (b) because I needed some new clothes to start out the school year.

Regular prices were, well, steep.  Not since my mother bought all of my clothes have I seriously shopped at a store with prices this high.  Just as I was becoming discouraged,  I heard BJ’s call from around a corner.  “Come look at this!”

I figured I would see more beautiful items I couldn’t afford, but I was wrong.  There, laid out before me, was the mother lode — racks full of the same items I had been admiring, only marked down anywhere from 60 to 90 percent off!  I was running around grabbing stuff so fast, you would think I had overdosed on diet pills!
Combined with the buy one get one free stuff I had already collected, the sales items came to just under $100, and I had way more new clothing than I had expected.  Fifty dollar shirts marked down to five bucks make me very happy.  I’ll be back to look for more sales!

I’m having trouble getting motivated.

I’m finally starting to shake this stupid cold, and now that my head is coming out of the fog, I’m noticing how much stuff I need to get done. The problem is that I still don’t feel much like doing any of it.

I need to get up to the college to oversee the renovations and set up my office. I need to order textbooks for the fall. I need to take care of things around the house. Even just thinking about all of this makes me tired.

First thing tomorrow, I’ll swing by West Liberty to see how it’s all going. Right now, though, I think I’ll take a nap before heading up to teach my summer class.  Or log on to authorize.net and see if I can allow somebody else to go do it for me.  (Teach the class, not take the nap.  I’ll do that myself!)

With BJ and me both suffering from this dread disease, I’ve noticed a few things about how different we can be, especially when we don’t feel well.

BJ, when sick, simply wants to be left alone.  A dark room, some aspirin, fluids as needed, and everyone out of the way.  No fuss, no muss.  Just everybody go away.

I, on the other hand, want to be waited on, hovered over, fanned with ostrich feathers and fed grapes.  I want my pillow fluffed, and it has to be cool on the side next to my fevered head.  I want hot chicken soup.  No, wait, that makes my nose run.   Better make it French Onion.  Homemade.  From scratch.  And hand me the TV remote.  I can’t quite reach six inches.  Sniff.

Ordinarily, BJ indulges me when I’m sick, but with both of us down at the same time, things aren’t exactly going my way.  I guess I’m going to have to get some Z-Packs and one of those Air O Swiss humidifiers to clear up BJ’s problem if I hope to get my pillows fluffed this time.  Sigh.