Drinking Right - Arizona Style

This was swiped in its entirety from RDW


Drinking Right Support Arizona Edition!

On our regular second Tuesday of the month Drinking Right night in August the Arizona Diamondbacks will be the midst of their only appearance in Milwaukee this season.

For one night only Drinking Right will relocate from Papa's to Miller Park (Tuesday, August 10).

The preliminary plan is to have a pre-game tailgate at around 5 o'clock (location to be determined and announced later).

People have different preferences for seating so we have two options.

1. Get your own seat in your preferred section.

2. I'll be reserving a block of seats in the Loge Field Box section. Those seats are $38 plus the handling fee of $9 per seat. If you would like a seat in that section with us just get me the money by the May edition of Drinking Right at Papa's on May 11. I'll place the order for seats after that event so we can get the best seats possible. If we get 25 or more people we can order through group sales and that gets your name on the scoreboard but to my understanding they do not discount seats for groups of less than a hundred people.

We are not suggesting that you do not root for the home team but to come out and support an Arizona business. (Well Dean will root for the Diamondbacks, that's just how he rolls)

Please spread this around on your blogs folks and leave a note in the comments section so we can get an idea on how many people to plan for.

Ride for the Cure

Hey y'all!! My friend and fellow blogger Nick is riding in the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure. It's a 100 km (62 mile) ride with proceeds going to diabetes research.

Diabetes research is a cause very near and dear to my heart. My dad has had Type II diabetes for about 30 years. One thing that is so promising is that in my lifetime, there have been so many advances in the treatment of diabetes. In this day and age, people who suffer from diabetes are able to have a much better quality of life than in the past, and the future looks even more promising.

Nick only needs $160 to reach his goal...let's see if we can help him out!! For more information and/or to pledge a few bucks, just click here.

Thanks for whatever you can do! :)

Happy Birthday!!!

Thirteen years ago today, my little miracle was born weighing in at a whopping 3 lbs., 3 oz. Since he takes after his father, I'm assuming that will be the only time he's early for ANYTHING!! You can read more about that here if you want. Suffice it to say that he is a happy, healthy, smart-a$$ed teenager. So here are a few thoughts to him.

Buddy - you know I love you. You know that because we say it to each other many times a day. I love that you still like to hang out with me. I love that you still like to give hugs. I love that you're not (yet) ashamed to say "I love you mom"...in front of your friends. I love that I was able to teach you to throw a frisbee like a pro, and you still enjoy playing with me. I love the time we spend in the kitchen cooking together (I know, I know - we'll get back into that habit).

I hope you know, or will one day realize, that when I punish you it's because I love you. I want you to understand that there are consequences to your actions and your decisions. I want you to have a good work ethic. I want you to care about others. In other words, I want you to be the best person that you are capable of being, and for right now, it's my job to instill morals and values in you. So when you get angry with me, try to remember that it's because you mean more than anything in the world to me. I only have one shot at raising you, and I'm doing my best to get it right.

I love you buddy! Happy 13th Birthday! Love, Mom

People Suck

Inexcusable

A heroic homeless man, stabbed after saving a Queens woman from a knife-wielding attacker, lay dying in a pool of blood for more than an hour as nearly 25 people indifferently strolled past him, a shocking surveillance video obtained by the New York Post reveals.

Some of the passers-by paused to stare at Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax last Sunday morning and others leaned down to look at his face.

He had jumped to the aid of a woman attacked on 144th Street at 88th Road in Jamaica, Queens, at 5:40 a.m., was stabbed several times in the chest and collapsed as he chased his assailant.

In the wake of the bloodshed, a man came out of a nearby building and chillingly took a cellphone photo of the victim before leaving. And in several instances, pairs of people gawked at Tale-Yax without doing anything.

Later, another man stopped, leaned over and vigorously shook Tale-Yax’s body. After lifting the victim’s head and body to reveal a pool of blood, he also walked off.

Not until some 15 minutes after he was shaken by the pedestrian -- more than an hour and 20 minutes after the victim collapsed -- did firefighters finally arrive and discover that Tale-Yax, 31, had died.

Firefighters were responding to a 911 call of a non-life-threatening injury at 7:23 a.m. when they found his body.

Seriously? Could NO ONE at least call 911?? I don't understand how someone could see a fellow human being suffering and just walk away. Have we, as a society, really become so self-involved that we can't stop and help a dying man? Unbelievable.

Why the Silence?

Hey - what do you know...I'm still alive!! I just wanted to pop in and write a little bit about, well, why I'm not writing. The answer is...I don't know. I really don't.

You see, I'm one of those bloggers who has to be passionate about what I write. I like expressing my opinion (I know, you're shocked, right?). I'm not one who will just pop in and post a link to another story; not that there's anything wrong with that. I appreciate bloggers who do - I come across all sorts of interesting stuff that way. But that's not me.

Now, there's certainly enough going on locally and nationally that is worthy of a blog post. In fact, there have been things that I DEFINITELY have a strong opinion about. So what's the problem? I think I've finally figured it out, at least in large part. I'm exhausted. Completely and utterly exhausted. You see, there's a situation at work that I'll not get into that is sapping me of every bit of energy. It is taking so much energy to hold it together for 8 hours that by the time I get home from work, I can't form a cohesive sentence. So while I do, in fact, make notes of things I want to blog about, by the time I get home the passion is gone.

I'm not writing this to whine. The reason I'm writing this is twofold. First and foremost, I don't want y'all to forget about me or think I forgot about you. Eventually, something will give me the spark I need again. That brings me to the next reason - I'm hoping that perhaps by writing this, the spark will come back.

In essence, I'm asking you to have patience and check back once in awhile...I don't know of much that can silence me for long! :)

Help Wanted: Update #2

Wendy posted a comment on my last post that I will simply make into a post of its own.

I am MORE than willing to make more than one trip! If we can collect more than my one minivan can hold, I will happily drive as many trips as it takes.

Just think about the things you need in your daily life: toothbrush, toothpaste, kitchen supplies, wastebaskets, hangers, toilet paper, tissues, clothes, underwear (new!), socks, shoes, toys for kids,... Let's see how many minivans we can fill!

There are about 20 children and 40 adults that we are trying to help. Let's see what our blog friends can do!

Soooooo - if anyone in my neck of the woods would like to donate anything at all, please get in touch with me and I will make arrangements to pick it up. I simply cannot IMAGINE losing everything I have...there are many things that can't be replaced. For those things that can, we should all band together.

Help Wanted

Here's a total copy and past from Wendy at Boots & Sabers

It dawned on me today that the school kids of the 24 families who were displaced from their homes yesterday by the fire are probably without backpacks. It’s Spring Break now, but wouldn’t it be nice for them to be able to go to school a week from Monday with something other than a WalMart bag for their books and papers?

I’ll let you in on a secret. We almost always buy our next year’s backpacks in April when they are on clearance in the very back corner of Kohl’s and sometimes at WalMart and Shopko. When you’re doing your shopping this week, do you think you might pop into those departments and buy one for a child?

Ginny found a church that is assisting the families. Maybe we could help out in this small way.

Now, I mentioned to her that I would love to help, however I work 8 hours a day and it would be difficult to get to West Bend. BUT!!! Here's a way to help. I will be at Mo's Irish Pub in Wauwatosa from 7-9 Tuesday, April 6. If anyone would like to pitch in and donate a backpack, clothes, or ANYTHING that these families need, please come to Mo's, and I will be hooking up with Wendy later in the week to get the donations straight to those who need it.

We all like to donate to natural disasters around the world - how about helping those in our own community?

UPDATE: If you can't get to Mo's tonight but would still like to donate a backpack, school supplies, clothes, whatever you think these families need, please get in touch with me, either in the comment section, email, twitter, whatever. I will be dropping the items off on Friday after work, so if you are able to donate, let's see if we can work something out!

April Fool

I started this blog so I can express my feelings and opinions on many different subjects. This is of a very personal nature. Today is April Fool's Day. To many, that means it's a good excuse to play practical jokes. I have no problem with that whatsoever. However, to me this day has a completely different meaning. You see, my little sister's birthday was April 1. She died in a car accident in 1985. She would have been 43 today. Yes, it's been 25 years, but you know what? The pain never goes away. It changes, but it doesn't go away. In fact, for the last three years, it's hit me HARD. I can't explain exactly why, but it has. She was 18 when she died, and she was a pretty messed up kid. By that time, she had already been in rehab. Was it working? We'll never know. I think the reason it's hitting me hard these past few years is that I really wonder what she would have been like as a 40-something adult. Would she have turned her life around? Would she have remained a mess? I don't know. No one knows, except God.

Happy Birthday Val. I love you, and I'll never forget you.