Atlanta Needs a Miracle

Alright, so the season is coming to an end, and the Braves are 95% out of it, 4% pushing for a miracle, 1% making me lose my hair. Last year, there was no doubt that we didn't make it, so I got over it quickly. This year, not so much. Big Tex has been doing everything he can to see the playoffs, as have Diaz, Escobar and 1/2 of the Jones boys. The Mets lost 5 in a row allowing us to make up some much needed games.

What do the Braves need to make the playoffs? Heh, you don't want to know.

Here are the current stats of the three contenders in the NL East:

NYM: 0 GB (*duh*), Won 3, 4-6 in last 10, facing WASx3, STLx1, FLAx3
PHI: 2.5 GB, Lost 1, 8-2 in last 10, facing ATLx3, WASx3
ATL: 5.5 GB, Won 2, 8-2 in last 10, @PHIx3, @HOUx3

For the Braves to make a run, we need the Mets to lose to the Nationals and the Braves to beat the Phillies. A Nationals/Braves sweep will put the Braves in first place - but come on, can you really count on the Nationals to beat the Mets, much less sweep them? This year, the Mets are 6-9 against Washington, 1-5 against St. Louis, and 5-10 against Florida. That's a 12-24, or .33%. So in the Mets last 7 games, they should win 2 or 3. SHOULD.

The Phillies face the Braves and Nationals, both at home. They're 7-8 against us and 10-5 against the Nats. 17-15, or just over 50%. They should win 3 of these games, and hopefully they're the Nats games... :)

Atlanta is 10-8 against the rest of their schedule, and hopefully this means pulling out 4 wins. Sounds easy enough facing Houston, but the Astros have been killers against the Braves late in the season. Heck, you just have to go back to this (*http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=251009118*) to feel the love the Astros have given us.

My prediction - the Braves will win the first two games in Philadelphia and give me true hope, then they'll lose the rest of the games...

Only time will tell.

Atlanta Braves Moving in Wrong Direction

After being swept in a three-game home series versus the Mets, the Atlanta Braves are now down 7.5 games in the NL Eastern Division race. We still have three games at the Mets in NY and three games against the Phillies. The Braves need to pull themselves up and not go through another 15-4 series... Honestly, how can you get outscored by over ten runs and still think you have a chance?

Well, here's to hoping for a "miracle". :)

Atlanta Braves Fading Fast

As some of you know, I've been a Braves fan since I was seven years old. I remember the days of finishing last in the division (*back in the NL West*). Then, thanks to a heaven-sent miracle, the Braves started winning, and they didn't stop until last year.

This year was supposed to be a "comeback" year for the "Baby Braves". Even more young talent (*I miss you Salty*) and the pickup of a really good first basemen (*keep it up Tex*). Things were looking up...

Andruw Jones is having a career worst year and at a really bad time. First of all, this is the last year of his contract, so if he's pushing for hundreds of millions, he's not helping his case. Secondly, his perpetual slump is bringing down the team's offensive production. Sure, he breaks out for a HR here and there, but we need more than a solo home run out of you.

After another heart-breaker last night, the Braves are in third place, six games behind the much loved Mets, and two behind the Phillies (*yeah, they're the ones with 10,000+ losses*). In order for us to have a chance at the playoffs, we need to win a lot in September. We have six games remaining with both the Mets and Phillies, so taking 2/3 in each of these series' will have a great impact on our standing in the Division. Add in "likely win" games against the Nationals and Marlins and I can still honestly say that I still have hope...

But it's fading fast.

Anaheim, Here I Come

I'll be in the Anaheim area next week (*6-12 Nov*)...

New York, Here I Come

I'll be in the NY area next week (*17-22 Oct*)... I plan on taking lots of pictures. :)

Sigh

Another year, another quick defeat of the Atlanta Braves in the early rounds of the playoffs. I do have to admit, though, that Game 4 vs Houston was a classic - 18 innings. Too bad our pitching gave us up, we could have been a contender. :)

Promotion Day

The base is having a "group" function today to honor all of the promotees - oh the joy. I'll be heading out to that in about an hour (*eventhough it doesn't start for another 3 hours - they want us there early*) :)

Headache Part II

Remember that headache I had awhile back? Well it's still here... :)

14 Consecutive

Division Titles for the Atlanta Braves. Even with all of the rookies that had to come up due to injuries, they've managed to claim another notch in their belt. What a great year it's been for Braves fans - now if only they can hang around past the first round of the playoffs... :)

Please No!!

I was looking up my old high school's web site (*that I designed oh so many years ago*), just to find that a.)it hasn't been updated since like 2003, and b.)the person in charge of updating it at the time couldn't spell.

On the left side (*in the links section*), they had the 'fun' of typing "Extra Qurricular" -- WTF?? ESJ was one of the top schools in the state, and it comes down to this? Even better, if you click on the link to go to that page, THEY SPELLED IT RIGHT!!! :)

Headache

It’s never good when you have the same headache for almost a week now, is it?

A New Direction

Alright - I think I'm officially tired of airports. I've started on something to fix something else that Microsoft wasn't good about doing in FS - modeling buildings -- stadiums to be exact. Who knows, I might get tired of this in a week or two and give up, but for now, it's something different... :)

Below is Turner Field, home of the Atlanta Braves...

GIM?

Google is releasing an instant messaging program? According to CNN, it'll be almost like Skype, allowing voice communications. It will also allow users to connect with other, already existing, instant message programs. Google's been on a roll lately - I think I'm actually looking forward to seeing this one... :)

Boredom

You know you're bored when you write an entry about being bored. I'm sitting here at work, running a test script that will not finish for another 5 hours or so... and now I have nothing to do. I can't really work, because I'm already working. The forums are quiet this morning except for a few posts about the new KSEA scenery.

How can people afford to purchase all of these sceneries? I know that some people are single with no children, but do people really have that much money? Between payware aircraft/sceneries/other addons, it's not really much of a game anymore, now is it? The last thing I paid for was FSPassengers, and I've enjoyed that one very much. It works every time I fly, so I don't need to pay for seperate versions, I don't need to worry about upgrading my graphics card because of it, or anything else. $30 and the deal is done.

Amanda's been playing Battlefield 2 during the day while I'm at work and the girls are asleep. She's almost up to 1,000 points now, which means that I'm only 2,000 points ahead of her at this point. She's doing better than I expected her to do. Now if only I could get her to understand the point of joining squads...

Space, the final frontier - these are the voyages.......... :)

Perl

Just started to do some PERL scripting for some testing that I'll be running through over the next few weeks... interesting stuff. Of course, right now, I'm still doing the basic "copy" and "move" commands, but it'll get deep in a little bit. Sigh - oh for the days of simple HTML programming. :)

SSgt

After three years of waiting, I've finally done it. I should be putting on my new rank either 1 Sept or 1 Oct (*the dates haven't come out yet*)... Ahh - more money on my paycheck. :)

Another Surgury

My oldest daughter is once again scheduled for surgury after a previous one has not succeeded. She has a blocked tear duct which is causing her eye to almost always be red and draining fluid. The big day is next Thursday up at the Air Force Academy Hospital, bright and early at 0530 - which means we have to leave our house at 0430, and get up at 0345 - yay, lots of fun.

She's Gone

Finally, after almost a month, my mother-in-law is gone. (*Trust me, I just dropped her off at the airport. The only way she's getting back is if she walkes the 5 miles to my house... or takes a taxi*) Anyways, there are some pro's & con's to her leaving...

PROS:
I get to sleep in my own bed now
No more annoying comments every 5 seconds
No one to tell me how to raise my own children
Spending money increases
Gas costs decrease
She's not here anymore

CONS:
Not as much freetime to "play" on the computer
No one to give Amanda that extra helping hand while I'm at work
I have to start cleaning again
Not as much freetime to "play" on the computer

Hmm, even with listing a CON twice, the PRO's to her leaving are still greater - GOOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!

Sleep

I remember the days when I'd complain about only getting 6-7 hours of sleep... oh how I beckon for those days to return. Sure, I'm still getting about 6 hours of sleep a night, but the 15 minutes of awake time every two to three hours is a great pain. Now if only I could get in a quick nap here at work...

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iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

:: wipes drool off of keyboard ::

:)

Battlefield 2 Action

A group of guys from FlightSimmer.com got together and had a scrimmage against another clan/the public. Quite a lot of fun was had by all. Over the 2 hour period, I managed over 215 points, and another Silver Star. If I were still single, I would have nothing better to do than sit at home all day and play this game - it's quite addictive. :)

Beta Testing is Fun

I'm currently working on Dan Bourque's excellent ANG package for "Alaska & the Islands" - it's really nice to see someone putting all of this military AI together. :)

(*Right now, I'm just waiting for EditVoicepack to finish "creating 57160 wavefiles"...*)

In case you missed it, Dan has done 3 previous packages available on AVSIM - Plains ANG, Southeast ANG, and Southwest ANG - all winners. I'm sure that if a viable AI F-15 comes out, then he'd quickly jump on updating them... :)

Aliens and the Space Shuttle

Seems that a little Piper Cub encroached on the no-fly zone of Kennedy Space Center. Once discovered (*how do you miss that?*), it was escorted by 2 F-16's to an airport ~50 miles north of KSC. When law enforcement arrived, the plane was there, but no pilot.

First of all, how do you let an unauthorized aircraft 20 miles into a 40 mile no fly zone? Secondly, wouldn't you call ahead and tell the cops where you're going so that they'd be there when you arrived? Finally, what kind of pilot doesn't read his NOTAM's pre-flight?

And Tonight's Secret Ingrediant Is...

Alright, so my wife used to watch the original series all the time, and decided that she'd give the new one a shot. If any of you ever saw the old version, they would always have some really random ingrediant that would make you think either "is that edible" or "who would want to eat that" or even the occasional "what is that?"... Last night, on the "new and improved" version, the main ingrediant was the ever illusive HAMBURGER... I am sure that the original chefs, and even "The Chairman" were all turning in their graves on that one (*okay, so they're probably not dead, but that's besides the point*)

I immediately went back to the computer and played a rivoting game of Battlefield 2... :)

Another Day, Another Day

Between the lack of sleep through the night, and having to get up at 0530 for work, I'm pretty beat. Never mind the fact that I still have 8 hours of "work" to accomplish now.

We've been granted the rights to the upcoming FSP models, so that should make a few people happy. Now if only I could get the "other" stuff from FM, I'd be all set.

Sometimes people don't feel appreciated in their work environment, and it's a real drag. It's never good when you hate going to work...

(*Guess I should go get my uniform on now, eh?*)

ds

Virgin Entry

Okay, so I just started it - leave me alone...
I'll be back later on to put in a real post