QB T BRADY NE
QB P RIVERS SD
RB J CHARLES KC
RB J KUHN GB
RB J HARRISON DET
WR V JACKSON SD
WR C OCHOCINCO NE
WR J NELSON GB
TE R GRONKOWSKI NE
K S JANIKOWSKI OAK
DE CHARGERS SD
My team this was good in week one, but far from great. Fastpoint, the company that offers this game via Facebook, ranks all teams in terms of their Global Performance Percentile and my team finished with a rank of 85 PCT.
My QBs played very well, especially Brady with 4 TD’s. I paid up for my QBs and they paid off. The challenge in this game is finding players who may not be top tier players, but are still good values because they are capable of posting good stat’s, which equate to good fantasy point totals.
In this paticular game you receive 4 trades each week. All trades that you do not use are carried over to the following week.
I arrived home about 5 minutes before San Diego lost power at about 3:40 pm PST. Thankfully, the blackout only lasted 10 to 12 hours. I went to bed at about 10:00 pm with the expectation that power still might not be restored in the morning because SDGE had warned that it could take 24 hours or longer to restore power. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the gird was back up by the time I woke up at about 5:00 am.
I took the picture above on Laurel Avenue, facing west, toward San Diego’s major airport, Lindbergh Field. The runway lights remained on at Lindbergh, but operations came to a halt because the terminals lost power and the TSA could not properly screen passengers.
Before I called it night I took a walk around some of the neighborhoods surrounding my building on Cortez Hill, including Bankers Hill and the Gaslamp. The people that I encountered in those neighborhood handled the situation with complete calm. Most of the bars in the Gaslamp closed, but a few remained open, operating by candlelight, and they were packed in some cases.
It was reassuring to see several San Diego PD cars stationed in the Gaslamp. As I noted earlier, I did not see any signs of unrest, but it was good to see San Diego PD officers on patrol.
AFTER ACTION REVIEW
The blackout gave me a chance to assess how well prepared I was for a catastrophic event such as a massive earthquake or large scale terrorist attack that would cause a loss of power and/or water for several days.
I had enough bottled water to last for several days. Good to go there.
My food stocks were a little low. I think I am going to buy some MRE’s. I purchased 12 MRE’s back when I lived in Manhattan, in the aftermath of 9-11, but I never replenished my supply when I moved out to San Diego. Time to purchase some new MRE’s.
I used my battery-operated Radio Shack emergency radio for the first time. I’m glad I bought that item. It finally came in handy. It has a hand crank for recharging and is also equipped with a built in flashlight.
I had a Mag Light flashlight, a AA Krill Light and a portable lantern ready to go, as well as back-up batteries. I used all three items. I will probably order at least one more Krill Light.
Fortunately, my iPhone was fully charged at the time the power went out, but my iPad only had a 40% charge, although I was able to boost the charge to 63% by plugging it into my MacBook, which I totally drained. I didn’t mind doing that because my iPad is 3G equipped and my MacBook is not. The iPad proved to be a valuable tool for keeping updated on the latest developments, especially via Twitter. SDGE, to their credit, used Twitter to keep the public informed.
Another lesson I learned from this event is that I should have an external battery capable of recharging my iPhone and iPad. There are several good ones out there and I plan to order one soon.
I must say I had my doubts a few months ago that there would be a full NFL season this year, but here we are. I’m pysched about putting my “team” into action in my Fantasy Football League. Rotohog moved their Salary Cap Fantasy Football game to Facebook this year, so you have to play via FB. I’m not real happy about that because I don’t particularly like FB, but the Rotohog version of Salary Cap FF is quite good imo, so we’ll play there.
At the beginning of the season I always feel like I’m relying more on intuition than real analysis of player performance, but I’m pretty comfortable with my line-up. I think I’m rolling the dice on a couple of guys, but I don’t think any of my players will get totally shut out on the stat line.
I will reveal my entire team after Sunday and I will post my global ranking (my rank among all players on FB) from week to week during the season.
I always enjoy taking a look at new buildings in New York whenever I visit because there is always something new going up in that city. During my visit this past July I was able to make my way over to 8 Spruce Street, in lower Manhattan, to see Frank Gehry’s new 76 story residential tower. I then took a walk over to the site of the new World Trade Center.
I have been a fan of Gehry’s buildings for long time and I was most impressed by this addition to his great body of work. I think this tower already stands as one Manhattan’s most unique and distinctive structures and will stand the test time well. I would rank it among Gehry’s top 10 buildings right now. Here are a few pictures I took of the gleaming skyscraper.
I have visited the Ground Zero several times in the past few years to see the progress being made on the new skyscrapers that will form the new World Trade Center, but my visit this past
July was the most impressive yet, because WTC 1, the tower which will replace the iconic Twin Towers had finally surpassed the many tall buildings that surround it in height. WTC 1 was over 70 stories when I saw it. The pictures below show WTC 1 from different angles.
I got a real kick out of seeing the cast of The Big Lebowski reunite in New York City earlier this week to celebrate the release of the Blu-Ray version of cult classic film. I find it a little funny to be referring to the 13 year old Coen Brothers film as a “cult classic”, but that is indeed what it has become.
Here are my current 10 favorite comedy films:
1. Dr. Strangelove
2. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
3. The Big Lebowski
4. This is Spinal Tap
5. Bob Roberts
6. Blazing Saddles
7. Animal House
8. Annie Hall
9. A Fish Called Wanda
10. Some Like It Hot
Honorable Mentions: Repo Man, The Last Supper, Sideways, The Life of Brian, Young Frankenstein, The Life Aquatic, The Hangover.
On my recent trip to New York I made a point of visiting the High Line park on Manhattan’s lower westside. The High Line park is built upon an elevated railway platform that was built in the early 1930’s and was opened in 1934 for freight trains so that they could ferry goods to the rail yards at West 34th street from the warehouses and factories that existed in lower Manhattan many decades ago. The last train ran down the High Line in 1980 and the platform remained abandoned for over 20 years. The High Line was facing demolition by the city until a private group proposed converting the High Line into unique urban park and walkway.
The entrance at Ganesvoort Street
Click the link below to see my High Line slideshow. I took these pictures very early, on a Saturday morning, just after the park opened.
I was pleasantly surprised that the NFL owners and players were able to come to an agreement in time to have a full season for 2011. I thought there was a good chance that regular season games would be lost. I can’t say that I would have devastated if we lost a season. I am a big fan of Pro football and I love playing fantasy football, but I would have found other enjoyable things to do with my Sunday afternoons, as well as Monday nights. But now that it on it this time to start prepping for my fantasy league play.
I took this picture of the World Trade Center and lower Manhattan exactly 10 years ago (07-29-2001) with my first digital camera, a Kodak DC 290. The picture was taken at Eagle Rock reservation in Montclair, NJ, which is about 15 miles from Manhattan and provides outstanding views of Manhattan on clear days. I was living and working in Manhattan at the time I took this picture, but I had decided to make a trip out to Montclair to take some pictures with my fancy new digital camera. I had previously lived in and around Montclair for many years and the 400 acre “Eagle Rock” has always been one of my favorite places to relax at in that area.
I visited Eagle Rock on my recent visit to NJ and discovered that a 9-11 Memorial has been built at the place where I took the picture above.
I returned from trip back East last Sunday night. I spent about 9 days visiting family and friends in NYC and the Lehigh Valley, in PA. I also made a couple of side trips to various points in the great state of New Jersey, the state I grew up in. All in all, I had a very enjoyable trip. My only regret is that I missed Comic-Con here in San Diego, but I hope to catch that next year. More on that later.
I’m visiting New York City for a couple of days. The city is beautiful this time of year. I plan on taking quite a few pictures on this trip and I will post some slideshows later. Manhattan seems to be as prosperous as ever. There are gleaming new buildings everywhere, packed bars and restaurants, and high-end retail stores all over the island. The city may be nicer than ever, but I’m not sure that it is better than ever. In my opinion, Manhattan has lost a bit of character, it just doesn’t seem to have the edge it once had. NYC is still a great place, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think it is as dramatic as it was only a few decades ago. I will expand on that thought in later posts.
gmf journal 