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I am officially finished.  I am never taking IH35 to San Antonio again.  This might not seem like much of a boycott, and admittedly it isn't.  But the final straw came this past weekend when it took nearly 6 hours to get home from S.A. on Sunday.  And none of it had to do with Austin.

First, an 18-wheeler was stalled in the right lane in Temple, causing an hour-long delay (we actually worked around some of it thanks to our Temple connections).  The fact that the driver lacked the ability to get it off the road at the first sign of trouble is a testament to the average IQ of the typical IH35 driver.

Second, construction in Hillsboro (which I think has been going on since 1946) caused the other long delay.  Traffic comes down to two lanes before the split and signs explain miles in advance that the right lane goes to Dallas and the left lane to Fort Worth.  However, despite the fact that both lanes are crawling along at the same slow speed, some drivers inexplicably try to wait until the last minute to get in the appropriate lane.  The car in front of me tried such a maneuver until I laid on the horn and got right on his ass.  He then peeled off and sped off towards Fort Worth and I never saw him turn around.  Did he really want to go to Dallas or was he just stupid?  It's questions like these that will, unfortunately, never be answered.

But by the time we hit the open road on 35W to Fort Worth, my mind had already been made up, and a pleasant Saturday morning trip down was marred by the events a day later.  The reward of possibly getting there 30 minutes sooner is no longer worth the risk of traffic delays in numerous places.

So goodbye 35 and hello 281.  Lesson finally learned a few days too late.

I just can't bring myself to read the indictment, but I've learned enough after reading all the articles discussing Michael Vick and dogfighting, and it makes me absolutely sick to my stomach.  What's even worse are the small pockets of people defending Vick or playing the racism card.  But that's another issue.

There have been plenty of suggestions from columnists, writers, bloggers, etc., on how the NFL and/or the Falcons should handle it.  But Don Banks on SI.com nailed it with his column today.

Falcons owner Arthur Blank needs to grant him a leave immediately.  There's no need to worry about due process or presumed innocence in this case...the courts will handle that.  But Blank needs to save his franchise now, because if I were a season ticket holder, I wouldn't go to watch him play.  It would disgust me too much.

Sometimes the things people will do still amazes me.  Recently, we bought a brand new grill from Barbeques Galore.  A four-burner Capt'n Cook.  We've used it once so far, and I can already tell it was a great purchase.  It opens up a whole bunch of different culinary opportunities.

The problem was what to do with our old grill.  It was still in decent shape since it hadn't been used that much (it was a hand-me-down).  But it was old, a little rusty, and something that would be hard to throw in the back of the car to take to the dump.  So my wife suggested that we should put it out on the curb on a Saturday so someone could just take it.  Since it's hard for me to jump into the minds of others, I thought this would never work.  Who would stop on a street and pick up some old, rusty grill sitting on someone's curb?

I decided it was worth a try, so I dragged it down there (since we live on a corner, there was a lengthy discussion of which curb to take it to) and she made a sign that said "Free - Just needs gas" (or something like that).

Less than five minutes later, it was gone.  Five minutes!!!  I had barely gotten back inside and washed my hands.  Needless to say, she was right once more and my understanding of the human race took another hit.

Most, if not all, readers of this blog already know this by now, but I thought I would share my excitement here.  Mercedes had a sonogram Tuesday, where we found out that we will be welcoming a little girl in 4.5 months.  Now the fun begins.  Today we went to Pottery Barn Kids and bought some stuff for her room.  And I'm here to tell you that it can get addictive and dangerous as everything in the store becomes essential and something you just have to have.

Mercedes has been doing great, and aside from her growing belly and newfound ultra sense of smell, you would never know she was pregnant.  Most importantly, Alex is extremely excited about his new baby sister.

On a business note, I'm going to be upgrading my service plan, which may result in some down time on the site.  Don't worry, it won't be down long.

After a three-week "sabbatical," I figured it was time to start back up again.  I ran across an article today in the Star-Telegram that caught my eye regarding the city of Arlington's smoking ban.  Saltimbocca's, one of the few decent restaurants in Arlington, had to close its doors recently after its bar business suffered a 45% decline since the restrictions went into effect.  According to the owner, the restaurant had just begun to become profitable, and now its gone.  Sure to be replaced by an Applebee's or Olive Garden, no doubt, and making Arlington even more soulless than it already is.

Even as a nonsmoker, the smoking ban makes no sense.  It is an extremely rare occurence for me to walk into a restaurant and smell smoke from the bar area while dining.  So who is the ban trying to protect?  Bar patrons should be well aware of the fact that cigarette smoke will be present in a bar.  If they can't handle it, then they should go elsewhere or stay at home.  It's a bar, for crying out loud.

Instead, smokers are now the ones relegated to find other places, go outdoors, or stay at home (and even those options might be in jeopardy).  I think cities regulating how people should enjoy themselves is an unfortunate thing, and the awful byproduct is the elimination of standalone restaurants in favor of the big corporate, homogenized chains that can withstand the dip in steady traffic.  And now everybody loses.

Sorry for the lack of posting over the last week.  The last few days have been a little crazy, but it's now back to the regular gig.

This afternoon I completed an act that had me venturing into virgin territory.  I entered a comic book store and purchased a new comic that had just been released today (or at least the second printing).  Not an old one or a "classic" mind you, but a new comic.  What could have possibly led me to these uncharted waters:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

My love for this show has been well documented.  It's easily one of the best shows in the history of television, which ended after its seventh season.  Now, Joss Whedon, Buffy's creator, has started this comic book, which picks up right where the television show left us.  And there was no way I was going to miss out on the continuing saga of Buffy.

I've never been that interested in comic books.  I always recognized their potential for rich storytelling and impressive illustrations but never really thought much about them.  Until now, that is.  The fact that Whedon has decided to continue the story himself and with his vision was the clincher.  And I now join the cadre of comic book readers worldwide.

So that's what a year with Kevin Durant gives us...a second round exit.

Swell.

Thursday has to go down as the most uneventful first day in the NCAA Tournament that I can remember.  Only two close games that came down to the wire.  Hopefully, things will pick up today and the rest of the weekend in the second round.

Also, I finally changed the rotation in the music section.  I had been listening to Wilco's upcoming new album almost nonstop, but I'm hanging it up until its release date on May 15. 

And I'm just as sick at looking at Borat's ugly mug everytime I come to this site as much you are.  So, despite the fact that I haven't really seen anything recently, I'm putting a new movie I actually enjoyed from last year.  I also am working on my top ten movies from last year, which I'll post soon enough.