Last year, they let LoDuca go. They let Mota go. This offseason they let Finley go. The let Beltre go. Soon it looks like Green is gone. And they pick up Jeff Kent? The Dodgers are done. Frank McCourt & Co. need to be driven off the Santa Monica Pier. I can’t believe they even let Ross Porter (longtime Dodger announcer) go. I wouldn’t be surprised if Vin Scully throws his arms up in disgust and quits. My new prediction is Dodgers: 4th place (hoping they can still beat the Rockies)

Check out my favorite site, DodgerBlues.com, for details. Also, here’s a nice story about the Dodgers at MSNBC, and an even better commentary by Bill Plaschke at L.A. Times.com.

I was thinking about car names (numbers like 325i are disqualified), and so, another list for my five loyal readers:

Car names I like:
Element
Z
Scion
Jetta
Scirocco (loved the early models)
Xterra
Echo
Impreza

Car names I am not fond of:
Escape
Vitara
Nubira
Leganza

My prediction for the NL West of ‘05

First place: SF Giants. With the addition of Benitez as closer, Vizquel and Matheny for defense, the Giants should be able to eek out a few more wins.
Second place: AZ D’backs. If they manage to keep the Big Unit, they should do good. Glaus and Ortiz should be great additions for them.
Third place: LA Dodgers. They haven’t done much to improve the team in the off-season, and the loss of Finley can only hurt them. They will barely be above the Padres.
Fourth place: SD Padres. They lost Wells, and the Pad’s are never any good.
Fifth place: CO Rockies. Someone has to reside in the cellar.

Tonight it will be around 27°F. Brrrr.... And of course, we come home from work to find our heater is broken. Arrrgh! The temperature is dropping and our little portable electic heater is working it’s little butt off to keep us warmin our bedroom. I hope it doesn’t cost too much to get the house heater fixed, since this week is gonna be cold. Just our luck. You’d think they could make a heating system that stays trouble free for more than five years… I guess they could, but they don’t want to. Gotta spread the wealth around to the repairmen, extended warranty programs, etc. I hate the shysters.

gonna have to disable comments for a bit while i set up the registration pages. yes, you will have to register to leave comments… 180 spam comments today alone is forcing me to do it. sorry!

*12/13 update* I have upgraded my blogging software to the latest version. Hopefully the comment spam will be reduced! And no, you will not have to register to leave comments. Commenting should be available again.

My friend sent me a link to GeneralZod.net. It’s pretty damn funny, if you know who General Zod is. Check out the sno-cone story, it’s awesome.

[Link via Tony “The Plumber"]

First off, I have had a serious cough for about three weeks now. It’s the type of cough that feels like it is just below the throat, and hanging above the lungs. Coughing sometimes will clear the phlegm, but I have to cough so hard, it gives me a headache. And most of the time, the irritation is just below the surface, meaning that I usually can go about my business without coughing, but when I start to talk, I can get about two words in before I start to hack. It’s awful. It doesn’t hurt (except for the headache) but is extremely annoying.  So, this cough has been with me for some time now.

Then, last Friday night, as I lay half-asleep on my back in bed, Bay decides to walk around and trip. The next thing I know, the back of his head hits the bridge of my nose, and I hear a cracking sound. Mariko heard it too, but apparently, my nose didn’t break. Bay is fine, of course. I think he was scared because I let out a somewhat loud yell “My Nose!”. We both got ice packs, and went back to bed. The next morning, my nose had a big bump. It’s still sore today.

Last night, I was going down the stairs to get Koa a bottle of milk, when I slipped and slid down about four stairs. I hurt by butt and both elbows. On top of that, I have flu-like symptoms (chills, soreness) which kept me home from work yesterday. Well, things gotta get better from here!

Current craving as of 9:43am: Kentucky Fried Chicken

I really like cars and driving. I only wish I was a multi-millionaire who could afford a car collection, or at least have the option of trading cars for a bit. With that in mind, here are a few “affordable” cars that I wouldn’t mind taking for a spin:

Honda S2000
Nissan 350Z
Nissan Sentra SER SpecV
Subaru WRX
Mini Cooper S
VW Beetle

Alas, my ‘99 Sentra GLX will have to suffice…