Check back here for my latest updates. When I find out where I'll be, what I have to do, and when, I'll post it here ASAP. The itinerary for the near future:
Currently at home in Rockaway indefinitely. So come visit me.
A few weeks ago, Jeff made an announcement that he would be remaining in the NBA draft. This announcement came at the same time Roy Hibbert announced he would be returning to Georgetown for his senior year. With 2 stud guards coming to G'town next year, the Hoyas would have remained a powerful Final Four contender and top 10 team.
But, with Green returning alongside Hibbert, the Hoyas could potentially be the favorite to win the 2008 National Championship. Only deep reserve Sead Dizdarevic and walk-on Kenny Izzo graduated this past May, so the Hoyas would be returning every significant player from last year's Final Four team, with the addition of 3 recruits, 2 of whom are ranked in the top 20 in the national recruiting rankings.
Earlier today, ESPN.com's Andy Katz reported that Jeff is conducting all his workouts at Georgetown rather than incurring any expenses by traveling for NBA sanctioned workouts. Also, he has not signed with an agent (and from the sound of it, doesn't plan to do so anytime soon) and those factors which help to maintain his eligibility coupled with recent comments from coach John Thompson III suggest he may be strongly considering returning for his senior season.
If Jeff comes back, Hoyas in '08. You heard it here first.
Despite incessantly talking about how beloved he was at his pharmacy in Newark, I've known for years that my dad has wanted out of Newark ever since the day he was transferred there years ago. Due to some people within the company hierarchy above my dad that have had it out for him for years (even decades), despite routinely leading or being amongst the leaders in sales year after year, they exiled him to Newark a few years ago with the hopes that he would finally quit. If you've never been to Newark, I don't suggest you try; it is not a nice place, to say the least. My dad has had to deal with passing addicts and dealers on his way to work, having his life threatened by angry (and armed) customers at work, and having his car stolen in broad daylight.
Yesterday, my dad was transferred to another pharmacy in Kinnelon, which is about as far from Newark as you can get in terms of the surrounding environment. Kinnelon is a sleepy almost boondock-ish suburb, and while it's about the same distance from our house as compared to Newark, there's far less traffic, and of course, it's much safer. Understandably, my dad's been ecstatic the past few days, and his relatively good mood has permeated to the rest of the house. I've noticed far less arguments between my parents, and less abrupt outbursts from my dad when he returns home from work. As a result, I've also been in a better mood myself for the past week or so (I'm sure all my fun travels recently have had contributed to that as well).
I just hope this all keeps up. I've been trying to get rid of the stress that has plagued my life for years, and I hope this is just the start of removing it permanently.
I've been running around the past 10 days or so, so I haven't been at the computer much at all to post. A brief summary of my travels:
5/24-5/25 - Made a trip down to AC. It involved probably the most ridiculous drive down there to date, with Eric pissing on the side of Rt. 287, puking and crapping on the Garden State Parkway, and Alex badly cutting his hand on something underneath my car seat while attempting to recover a quarter (stupid Jew :) ). We stayed overnight at Showboat (hooray for comped rooms), and despite another fluky set of losses at the tables, was generally a good time.
5/28 - Drove up to New Haven for Linda's graduation. The town still sucks, and Yale's deans decided it'd be cool to extend the diploma ceremony by giving a short bio on every kid in addition to announcing names. The only redeeming quality of New Haven was their one local sub shop "Gourmet Heaven," where I picked up the "High Protein Special," aka turkey sandwich with avocado, roasted peppers, wet mozzarella, lettuce, tomato, onion and chipotle sauce. A family style dinner at Maggiano's back in Jersey later that night capped off a great day of eating.
5/30 - Bert wins the Cy Young in the Arlene Drive League as he rediscovers the childhood game of wiffleball. Despite 3 extra base hits and 4 RBIs in the top of the 7th inning, we were unable to fully come back from an early 6-0 deficit, and wound up losing the game in extra innings, 17-16.
6/1-6/2 - Headed up to NYC for the night to hang out with Ray, his college roommate Nate, and Anne for her birthday, which we celebrated at Sutton's Place, a bar in Midtown East with an outdoor terrace on the roof. I was also supposed to meet up JC that night, but she flaked (not out of the ordinary). Saturday consisted of hitting up the Third Avenue fair while watching Anne put together a Puerto Rican ensemble of clothing for under 30 bucks, missing the subway stop to transfer to the 7 Train to head to Shea for the Mets game and just skipping it altogether, and drinking pitchers of Long Island Iced Teas on $.35 wing day at Brother Jimmy's.
And after nearly over 100 blocks of walking today in the Big Apple, I'm tired. This post is over. Good times (outside of work, and more on that later) in recent days, and I hope they keep up.
If this was a prelude to how the Memorial Day Weekend this year will play out, I'm starting off on a good note.
Fri. night: Went with Eric, Kim, and a bunch of other people to a place called New Jersey Bar and Grill, about 10 min from my house. Looks like an absolute hole in the wall from the back road that it's on, but inside, there's about 8-10 plasma TVs, a dartboard, and 2 hot bartenders. And supposedly the food there isn't bad, either. Definitely will have to check that place out again. Oh, and Jose Cuervo is good stuff. :)
Sat: Saw Uncle Henry and Aunt Cecilia for the first time in awhile. My parents and I had lunch with them and Uncle Henry's brother/sister in law. Nice people, especially the sister-in-law, who had an incredible memory... she knew the address of our old house on Daniel St. after not having seen us in nearly 20 years. That is just sick! That and she was able to carry a conversation with my dad long enough that he actually had a decent time. Quite a woman.
Sun: Wiffle ball game in the morning capped by the Yanks salvaging the finale of a 3 game set against the Mets. Entourage/Sopranos are DVRed elsewhere, so there's something else to look forward to.
So, even though I missed the Preakness due to a faulty weather report (eff you, Weather.com), it still turned out to be a pretty nice weekend. Starting with AC on Thursday, this next one figures to be even better.
