Deja vu all over again..

So I learned something amazing and new last night at the wedding without the wedding. Jennifer and I are friends with a group of folks from Crowe Chizek, an accounting/consulting firm that Jennifer used to work for.

Included in that group is Kathy Koehler who was there last night. As we made our move to the finger-food table which included one of the oddest items I have ever tried (more on that later) we had a discussion about the fact that Kathy was on vacation and leaving Monday I believe for a vacation on the New England coast.

Upon learning this I mused that while I was born in Massachusetts, I had unfortunately spent no time there since my birth. Kathy looked at me amused and said, I was born in Massachusetts too. Where? Shirley, Mass at the Fort Devens Army Hospital.

At this point Jenn's face and I'm sure mine as well, were showing a "you're screwing with me right?" look. I was born in that same hospital in September of 1971. Kathy in October of 1971. Her father spent a short time in the Army and they moved to Germany shortly after her birth. My father was in the Air Force for 21 years and we hopped all over the place before he retired in 1976. I think the link above is the right hospital, I found two names, Lovell and Cutler, but either way, the hospital at Ft. Devens was closed in 1996 as part of the military's down-sizing.

My take is that after 25 years of trying they couldn't come close to duplicating their successful deliveries of Kathy and I in the fall of 1971.

Anyways, I was completely amazed that despite knowing Kathy for about 6 years and spending a pretty significant amount of time over a bar table and some drinks we never figured this out.

As for the odd finger food? How about this...candied crabs... Yes, entire crabs about the size of a dime. The cook said they were candy...ok, I'll bite. So I try them, they taste like fish, as you would expected and nothing like the candy I like, say Butterfinger, Reese's Cup or Snickers. Oh well. Can't complain too much considering the lack of the service.

Finger Foods and beverages

Jen and I have the pleasure of going to a wedding tonight...oh wait, we aren't going to a wedding, we are only going to the reception. Now before you start getting judgemental about how we are crashing someone's wedding reception to get finger foods and a couple drinks, we know these people and they asked us to.

How great is that. They had a personal family only small wedding service this morning at the Botanical Gardens in Indy. Tonight they invited everyone to get their party on in celebration. Perfect!

We get the finger foods and the drinks and we don't have to suffer through a bad rendition of the Wedding Song or Butterfly Kisses. Someone please slap my hand for that one.

Anyways, I feel a bit like Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn tonight! Loving every minute of it though.

Superman wears Mark Richt PJs!

I'm sure all of you saw ESPN Gameday yesterday morning where the Alabama fans in preparation of thier thrashing of my Bulldogs had signs of all shapes and fashion in support of their Crimson Tide and head coach Nick "$32 Million" Saban and bashing possibly equally, Georgia and Auburn.

I felt two particular signs should be edited morning following the Bulldogs' dramatic 26-23 win in Overtime. Here are the new wordings.

"Superman wears Mark Richt PJs"

and

"Chuck Norris tells Mark Richt jokes"

I guess Alabama and Nick Saban aren't quite back to the days of Bear Bryant yet.

Making an Impact

Many of you know that I work for the Finish Line. We have an employee newsletter that included the letter below to our home office from a customer. For me, it is really exciting to see that something we did as a company had a much broader impact that perhaps increasing sales or profit margins. It isn't often that a company can say we changed or improved someone's life, but apparently in this one we and more specifically the manager at this store did so. A little background is needed here. We recently launched a Finish Line Brand campaign called Be Heard. (Check out the link as it shows some of the marketing materials that fill in the blanks a little bit). It included tv advertising, in-store marketing displays and employee t-shirts that were all black with the block letters BE HEARD across the chest. The idea here is that your shoes, clothes and attitude tell alot about you and your personality as well as what you stand for without speaking. So on to the letter. I don't know if this is open game or not, so I changed the names that were in it.

Sir or Madam

My name is Samantha, and I was in your store about two weeks ago. I need to tell you what an impact you made on my son's life. My son is 12 years old and a deaf child who cannot speak very well. He has always been a quiet type, never wanting to be noticed. He always wore grays and blacks.

We were in your store looking for school shoes, and I think the young lady's name who helped us was Melissa. While she was getting our shoes, a young gentleman who introduced himself as George asked how we were doing and I told him we were being helped. He told me that was fine and explained about a backpack sale you had going on and socks that were on sale. Before he walked away, my son asked him what "BE HEARD" meant. He told my son that it was an advertisement campaign by the Finish Line that meant through you are, what you wear, and the attitude you have, you could be heard without saying anything. He said like Forest Gump said, you can tell a lot about a person from their shoes.

We ended up purchasing some shoes, a backpack and a few sale shirts they had and left. We had a lot more shopping to do that day, and for the first time, my son was looking at shirts that I never thought he would ever pick out. He was going for the bright colors, and he even picked out a dress shirt that was blue, orange and white. When we got home, and we were putting away his clothes, he turned to me and said, "Mom, I'm ready to be heard." I cried that night for a long time because of the impact that young man had on my son. He is ready to start the school year and is not afraid of what others will think of him.

Thank you very much.

In appreciation,
Samantha

Wow...That is all I can say...I almost cried the first time I read it, the first time I told Jennifer and now again typing it for cyber space.

Priceless Vick Jury Selection Cartoon.

Feels like the 1990s all over again...

I generally dislike Tony Kornheiser as an announcer on Monday Night Football, but he said something Monday night I found amusing, albeit a quote from someone else...I can't remember his quote or the original source 100% but the gist of it was, the Cowboys, Packers and 49ers are all 2-0 and O.J. is back in jail. It feels like the 1990s all over again. That was awesome. For the uninformed, the Cowboys, Packers and 49ers have been moderately bad to terribly bad for the last 5-10 years each and well, you know about O.J. Cheers Mr. Kornheiser.

Why should she have all the fun?

So Oprah has this annual, semi-annual or somewhat regular show about her favorite things. Well, actually I don't know it might be once a decade, I don't know, I just know she has done it at least once, I got stuck watching one of those with Jenn. Anyways, I was thinking, why in the world should she have all the fun.

So here is my edition of My favorite things...some of them I have, some of them I want, but all of them, in my eyes are super cool.

I'll start with something that anyone can have, well provided you have an internet connection, and considering you are reading this, I would assume there is a check mark in that column.

First on my list is this web-page: MIT Open Course Ware. What is it you may ask? Well, consider yourself however many years ago that it was that you attempted to gain entry into the college or university of your choice...You there with me yet? Or did you kill those brain cells during said college or university years. Anyways, if you were anything like me, there were some schools you could get into (Georgia and many other fine public Universities) and some that I couldn't (well I didn't try, but I would put Harvard, MIT, Princeton etc. on that list).

Now, through the miracle of A. the internet and B. a huge wave of shared knowledge and broad based collaboration (i.e. Wikipedia,.......) You can do the reading, see the lectures, take the exams of any of the courses at MIT. For some of you, this may seem odd. Afterall, why would one want to take college classes when:

A. Your parents aren't making you.

B. You already have the sheepskin.

C. You already have a job.

Yeah, I wonder myself, but I have found myself in the last couple years trying to learn more and more. Maybe it started with graduate school at the University of Phoenix brick and mortar campus in Indianapolis for my MBA, or maybe it was the discovery that my PR degree from Georgia with a business minor wasn't terribly relevant in my current gig. I don't know but I dig this site. Check it out, peek around, maybe you will find something you like and take on the challenge.

Next on the list is this fine object to the left. Jennifer and I first saw this on Home and Garden TV last year sometime. Yeah, I know, Home and Garden TV, but it is about the only thing we can both agree to watch...she watchs Scrubs, the View and other miscellaneous drivel and I watch Law and Order, war movies and sports. Oh well, we are still a match made in heaven. Anyway, this is the coolest aquariam ever. First, it hangs on the wall. Second, the cat can't get to it because it hangs on the wall. Third, it looks like a picture frame. In fact at last year's Ramsey Family Christmas Party a couple people went through the night thinking it was a picture until they finally saw the fish moving within.

Of course some good things have a down side and this one is that with an aquarium this size (about 9 gallons I beleive) it is very hard to keep the water balanced for the little fishies. We lost a couple early on. a couple more later on, we will soon attempt round 3. 8-) Here is Jennifer's take on the death of one of our favorites.

Next on the list is a simple t-shirt. It is barely imaginative, given that it is stealing the well known "Got Milk" ad campaign. But as a Cowboys' fan I couldn't resist.

Yes, we are America's Team and yes we have five Super Bowl Rings. And yes, I can call us, us, I've been a fan that long. 8-).

Number 4 is a thing that I actually purchased last year, despite the ridiculous price tag, well for what it is, which is a 2 6-packs of Jones Soda.


Anyone who has had Jones, knows that it is first of all wonderful, but also typically has two identifying factors from many other Sodas, fruit drinks, etc. First and foremost they have interesting pictures that are contributed by their many drinkers across the country. Second they have a saying under the cap that is usually fun or inspirational.


At the link above you can actually turn in your own photo and have it put on a bottle for your personal enjoyment. I did this last year with the photo below of Jennifer and I. It was supposed to be for Valentine's Day, but first off it was late (the first shipment broke in transit, I assume a occupational hazard). Second off all I am a moron so I put Happy Anniversary. Anyways, fun all-around.

And finally, here is the long awaited Number 5 on my current list of my favorite things....my wife Jennifer! Here is a scene of her adorable little behind at the end of a long day of tailgating and football at my alma-mater University of Georgia last year. God love her, she had the jersey, the hat, the I'm Georgia towel and a smile.

Georgia v. South Carolina In-game thoughts

Pardon me, non-Georgia football fans while I digress and talk about my beloved Bulldogs for a moment.

Just some thoughts from things I am seeing during the game.
** First loss against South Carolina in 6 years, that completely blows, but there were signs of good and bad. This team isn't bad. The defense was ok. The offense was ok, they actually outgained Carolina, I believe, but couldn't get in the end zone. I think South Carolina is finally reaping the benfits of the recruiting Spurrier has done. They are a pretty good team. They had some undisiplined penalties, but they had ZERO turnovers and essentially the difference was the fact that they were able to get in the endzone and Georgia wasn't.
** It was overall a clean game. Only 12 penalties between the two teams.
** After being unstoppable in the red zone against Oklahoma State, the Dogs couldn't punch it in against South Carolina.
** This is totally not a shot at Brandon Coutu, or the kicking game in general, but the playcalling at the end of the game would have been completely different had he made the 48 yarder in the first quarter.
** Mike Bobo is again calling a ton of short passes, wide receiver and running back screens and such in the first half. Is it conservative by nature or is he concerned about the OLine's ability to hold up to SC defense? Last week it worked to perfection with the yards after the catch, but that obviously wasn't a SEC defense.
** The ironic thing here is that late in the game (specifically the 2nd half) when Georgia was behind in the game and Bobo HAD to open it up, the boys reacted. The protection for Stafford was average to slightly better and some holes were being opened for Moreno.
** On the subject of the OLine, I think Moreno and Brown are a good fit for this offensive line. I feel bad for Lumpkin, but with this line, I haven't seen a ton of big holes. Those guys are a bit shiftier than Lumpkin and without a stud OLine that is a good thing.
** Continuing the offensive theme, I feel like this team is REALLY close to being the best Richt has had offensively. That might be a bit premature, but there are a TON of playmakers out there and with Stafford and Moreno there is long-distance potential on any play. I still wonder who is going to step up among the WR to be the go-to guy...Massaquoi and Bailey are showing flashes, Wilson has played alot, but isn't producing much. Mike Moore and Kenneth Harris are pretty invisible. Bryant got hurt again and Henderson still seems more of a screen guy, although he had a nice play on a out in the 4th quarter.
** Just a statement about pass protection and such, on the final drive, Thomas Brown was in the game and they were putting him or Southerland on the side of Sturdivant to chip the Carolina DE and help the Frosh out.
** I loved Greg Blue and Thomas Davis for their hitting ability, but I am excited to see what Reshard Jones, Kelin Johnson, C.J. Byrd and Quinton Banks can do as more athletic playmaking and coverage guys than Blue or Davis were capable of. I remember the days of Sean Jones and company from the SEC Championship Team and they combined the occassional big hit with great playmaking in general.
** The wide receivers aren't getting open a ton, but are making plays when they can. Massaquoi just had an amazing play on 3rd and 23 to move he chains in the 4th quarter.
** I love the play fake, hold the ball play that David Greene was great at and honestly, I think that 3rd quarter sack by Carolina on that play might be the first sack ever on that play. Greene usually had an incomplete if it wasn't there, but Stafford, either waited too long or Carolina didn't buy it or something...not to mention good coverage by Carolina. Still, I am not sure that was the spot for it. I know Bobo (or Richt) was shooting for an all or nothing, but down 7 with a struggling offense, perhaps just trying for a 1st down was the call there. Huge balls to call that play when if it fails, Carolina takes over on downs.
** I would LOVE to see Moreno in more pass plays like the fly pattern down the right sideline that Stafford overthrew. Back in the day that was a staple of Wayne McDuffie's offense with Garrison Hearst. There was a game in 92, I believe Auburn where Hearst was miserable on rushing but had about 100 yards receiving including a long TD. In man-to-man situations, that is a winner because there isn't a LB in the league that can cover Moreno. Even in zone it would be darn good getting him into the open field.
** I hate to say this but Blake Mitchell is not playing like a complete moron that we have seen in the past. Maybe some of Spurrier's coaching is finally sinking in. He has been solid today with very few if any boneheads...besides a couple slippery fumbles. I say that and then he almost gets a pick on the slant to Freddy Brown in the 4th quarter. Actually could have been offensive pass interference.
** What happend to the days where we had Boss Bailey and others leaping in the middle to block kicks. We haven't blocked a placement from the middle in a while that I remember. In 2001 they seemed to come every game.
** I feel alternately great that Sean Bailey and Thomas Brown are back on the field and bad that Antavious Coates can't play. Coates reminds me of Albert Hollis a few years ago. He was supposed to be a great kid and just couldn't get healthy to get on the field. Great to see Howard wearing 17.
** I couldn't tell where Coutu missed the first kick from but the next four were money. He is back 100% if there was any doubt.
** After settling down in the third quarter, the defensive line and linebackers are getting GASHED again in the fourth quarter. Garner and Martinez must have made some adjustments, but in the fourth quarter on two straight drives, Davis and Boyd were strolling through the middle.
** Great play again by Marcus Howard on South Carolina's attempted reverse with McKinley on 3rd down under 2 minutes.
** Oh and just for the record, where the heck are Mike Gottfried and Ron Franklin. I hate these two bozos they have doing this game tonight. They didn't say that Thomas Brown missed the whole year this week but did put that on a graphic saying he missed the season on a graphic late in the game after his block in the back. They also told a couple of the same stories (i.e. Moreno backflip). Oh and Mikey Henderson again shown on the offensive line graphic. That is HORRIBLE! I liked Ron Franklin much better.

L.J. Smith and the Good Samaritan

Most of you know that I am a bit distracted at times. In grade school, I once got in trouble with a teacher when I got busted for talking to another student but then recited to the teacher what she had said...yes, my smart ass streak started early.

I like to multi-task, but the gist of this is that sometimes I have a VERY hard time concentrating on the task at hand. My brain will get pulled in another direction by darn near anything and it's over for whatever was happening. Some people call this ADD, but I have a hard time believing that myself. Some people call that denial.

So last Sunday in church we had a visiting preacher. Our pastor is in Uganda on a mission trip teaching student pastors about the bible.

The text for our visiting pastor's sermon was the Good Samaritan story from Luke. Some of you know it, but for those who don't a quick summary. A lawyer is questioning Jesus about who is my neighbor in the Love thy neighbor text. Jesus replies with a story of a man who is beaten and left for dead, and two men a Levite and a priest cross to the other side of the road and leave him there. Finally a Samaritan comes along, helps the man, carries him into town and leaves money to cover his tab at the local Hampton Inn.

In part of his sermon the pastor used the phrase, "There but for the grace of God I go" about the Samaritan thinking, that could be me beaten and dying on the side of the road.

Here is were context is needed for the remainder of the story. Most of you know I am a bit of a fantasy sports fan (i.e. fantasy football, survivor pools, rotisserie baseball and such. ) So I had a fantasy draft the last 2 weekends, including the day before this sermon. So in my research I had come upon in Pro Football Prospectus, the biography of L.J. Smith, a decent tight end from the Philadelphia Eagles.

The first section of Smith's write-up goes like this.

If he's honest with himself, L.J. Smith looks at Billy Miller and says, "There but for the grace of God go I."

I won't bore you with the details of why L.J. Smith and Billy Miller are essentially the same player in different circumstances, but suffice it to say that that sermon was in affect over. Man I wish I had better brain power to keep my self from going down some opposite path when something rings a bell. It's like I'm Pavlov's Dog with more than one catalyst.

7 years later, I get my lunch...

Greetings world of cyber space and welcome to Chiliburgers. This blog will start with a 7-year old story that finally reached resolution this week with an email from my loving brother-in-law.

For those of you not in my immediate family the photo at the left is of the snack bar menu at Mt. St. Helens in Washington state. Why, pray tell would I show you a snack bar photo? Here's the scoop.

Seven years ago, just before Jennifer and I were married, we decided to take a vacation to visit her brother Jeff in Vancouver, Washington. I was there the day before Jennifer arrived from a work road-trip, so Jeff, his step-son Ryan and I went on a sightseeing trip to the National Park at Mt. St. Helens.

Exciting park and story of the volcano eruption in 1980. However, the eruption is not the point here. At some point, the three of us decided we needed food, growing boys as we were.

Now, many of you don't know this, however considering my blog is named after a chili burger, I like to eat, and typically it is bad for me. So this particular beautiful day I decided that I would like a nice chili burger.

It wasn't on the menu, but I pride myself on the Burger King "Get it Your Way" theory of food and well, they had the Lava Dog which included chili and cheese and Hamburgers...couldn't be that hard right?

Well, this is a reasonable facsimile of the conversation that has become my brother-in-laws favorite story.

Hungry Bryan: I would like a Hamburger with chili on it.

Fearful Attendant: We don't have hamburgers with Chili on them.

Hungry Bryan: But you have Chili Dogs, right?

Fearful attendant: Yes.

Hungry Bryan: And you have hamburgers, right?

Fearful attendant: Yes.

Hungry Bryan: But you can't put the chili from a chili dog on a hamburger?

Fearful attendant: Nope.

Now I'm sure there are 1 million reasons why that attendant couldn't make a chili burger including possibly not noing how to ring it up or having the food pre made, so the chili wasn't by itself to be scooped, but actually on all the hot dogs they had, but I wasn't hearing it...I continued to ask...

Hungry Bryan: Well what would stop me from buying a chili dog and a hamburger, and spooning the chili onto the hamburger?

Fearful attendant: Well nothing I suppose.

But at this point I was too irritated to spend the extra money and well, Jeff had enough ammunition for the coming seven years. It is the perfect number, correct, seven. Well, seven years later, my father-in-law and new wife are visiting Jeff and they take an expedition to Mt. St. Helens.

The next day I get the following emal:

-----Original Message-----

From: Jeff

Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2007 12:09 PM

To: Bryan

Subject: We Did IT!
Bryan:

We got them to change the menu.You're not going to believe this, but we went to the snack bar at Mt. St. Helens and lo and behold...They Now have a chili cheeseburger! They call it a Blast Burger. I guess that's because it makes hot lava run down your leg as your are trying to get home. I didn't have the nerve to try it for that very fear. However, I did get you a picture of the menu.. Just in case you question my integrity, I have witnesses that will testify that we really were at the Mount St. Helens Snack Bar. And yes I did make a spectacle of myself when I saw it.I guess that the word got around because I told the story so often. In any event, you should get this one framed.

So there it is, seven years later some retail genius at the Mt. St. Helens snack bar has done what I wanted to do, scrape the chili from the hot dog onto the Hamburger and then charge $6.95 for it...a full $2.20 more than just your average Cheeseburger...err. Truman Burger.

So now, as I join the world of blog-o-mania, there is a story that provides my blog name. The future of this blog will be all over the place. Who know's where it will land...God only knows as my brain goes in a few directions.

But as we move along, please feel free to comment, provide topics, ask questions or any of the above. Viva la chiliburger.