I Love You McGriddles

Gotta love the food while on the road.

Hulk Hogan's House

Clearwater, FL

At Our Christmas Party

My Beef With LOL vs. non-LOL'ers

I'm a fairly confident person and, as such, have no problem doing
something that may be considered "dorky" or "out of the ordinary"as
long as it makes me happy. For example, I own a blue colored Chicago
Bears replica football jersey with my last name, and the number "0" on
the back instead of one of the Bears actual players. Some guys in the
NFL community (and sports communities in general) consider this a
no-no (See: Bill Simmons "The Sports Guy", Page 2 ESPN Funny
Guy/Blogger/Writer/Fellow Geek).

My reasoning for going with my surname instead of someone else's: 1)
I don't really have a favorite player on the team, so why commit
myself to a guy that's not even my favorite? 2) Odds are, whichever
player's jersey I decide to purchase, that player will end up on a
different team at the end of his current contract (See: My #8 Rex
Grossman jersey). 3) What if I pick Robbie Gould's jersey, and he's
convicted of manslaughter 2 weeks later? Do I really want to be
wearing the jersey of a murderer? Sorry to digress...

So even to the most casual of observers, it would seem I make well
informed, and well thought out decisions, but don't ask my wife about
that, OH BOY!!! Sorry, terrible married joke. Anyways, what's with
people that OVERuse "LOL" when e-mailing/texting/IM'ing? It seems to
be generation Y or whatever this latest rung of teeny-boppers is
considered. "I needz 2 go 2 the store lol What are u doing 2nite lol
I need herpes ointment for my 89 year old grandmother lol Seriously."
Last time I checked, LOL means Laugh Out Loud and does not take the
place of punctuations such as periods or exclamation points. It's
these freakin' LOL-overusin' youngn's that lead to perfectly normal
people to shy away from the correct use of LOL, like my wife.

Here's where my decision-making process comes in. I thought about
never using LOL again mainly to distance myself from those Gen Y, Z,
i, whatever they're called, kids. Then I thought harder (I had a lot
of down-time in college) and realized if I use it sparingly, ONLY when
I actually LAUGH OUT LOUD, then there's no reason to be afraid! My
wife vows never to use LOL when emailing me with the rationale I just
mentioned. She would rather take the time to type out "oh my goodness
gracious, you may very well have made a joke funny enough to actually
make me emit a joyful noise, coupled with a smile! I believe you just
made me laugh here at my desk! By golly you did!" When she could
have just said "oh LOL! LOL! Nice!"

Oh sure, you say, that will save a good 10 seconds per day, but who
cares? Well I've been carefully crafting my humor to effectively mesh
with my wife's for almost 12 years now, and I believe I make her "LOL"
via email around once/day on average. We work about 50 weeks/yr times
5 days/week = 250 days. 10 seconds per day = 2500 seconds = 41.6
minutes that my wife wasted instead of simply typing "LOL". That's
right, if she would only have been confident enough to say "Oh Mike,
LOL, love you!!!" she may have found the cure for ALL CANCERS.

Ah well. I guess that's why I'm writing this rant. Don't be afraid
of LOL. Embrace it. Don't overuse it, and please, PLEASE, teach the
over-users to LOL in moderation. Good night.

Got It!

Line Behind Me

At Best Buy.

Rock Band Line at Best Buy

I'm sitting in line waiting for the release of the game "Rock Band" for my Xbox 360. Some guy just drove by us saying "look at all those people with no boyfriends and no girlfriends" while his girlfriend sat cackling in the car. I hope they miss a McDonald's breakfast tomorrow by 30 seconds, that will show them!

Oh, I'm about the 15th person in line, and the Best Buy guy said they should have like 50 Xbox 360 bundles in stock, so I should be good to go!

Microwaved Cheese Omelet

I made this omelet in the microwave at work. Many people don't know you can make some good scrambled eggs in the microwave. I learned that from my little brother back in the day.

Rock Band Demo

That's a picture of me holding the drumsticks for the PS3 version of the Rock Band demo in a local WalMart. The drums took me the whole Weezer song, "Say It Ain't So" to get the hang of, and I was on my lunch break so I had to hurry. From what I played though, this thing is a must-buy for me.

I just found out the Best Buy in South Tampa will have a midnight release of the game, so I'll probably be there to get it in time to show it off on Thanksgiving. See you there!

Super Target

Across the street from our house.

Neck Cut

I got a haircut at Big League Haircuts on Hillsborough in Tampa, and this is what I come back with. The chick cutting my hair was trying to give me a close shave on the back of my neck with her clippers. Normally I appreciate this, but this woman just wouldn't take my apron off to get down further, so not only was she choking me, but she managed to burn/cut my skin as you see here.

Yes I still tipped her, but I shouldn't have. :(

Happy Christmas

Man, I just love to see these red Starbucks cups, they remind me of Christmas which is always great.

When I used to work in downtown Chicago, it was very rare to walk around and not catch a glimpse of one of these red cups, but I swear some people viewed it as a status symbol. I'll take my Dunkin' Donuts any day, thank you very much.

Happy Friday!

September 11th Prayer

I was just wondering if there were any prayers out there to remember the September 11, 2001 tragedy and I found this one at http://www.appleseeds.org/9-11_prayer.htm by a Navy Chaplain:

 

Almighty God, the past year will be indelibly inscribed in our memories.

We looked with horror on the terrorist attacks of last September 11th.
But we looked with honor on acts of courage by ordinary people
who sacrificed themselves to prevent further death and destruction.

We shed our tears in a common bond of grief for those we loved and lost.
We journeyed through a dark valley, but your light has led us to a place of hope.
You have turned our grief into determination.
We are resolved to do what is good, and right, and just.

Help us to remember what it means to be Americans—
a people endowed with abundant blessings.
Help us to cherish the freedoms we enjoy and inspire us to stand
with courage, united as one Nation in the midst of any adversity.

Lord, hear this prayer for our Nation. Amen.

NEW Mobile Blog!!!

I just started a new blog in preparation for the San Diego trip.  So feel free to check it September 7th through September 10th to see what we are up to in San Diego.  Here's the link:

 

http://perneckymobile.blogspot.com

 

Go Bears!

San Diego Here We Come!

So a group of friends and I will be flying out to San Diego on 9/7 and attending the Chicago Bears vs. San Diego Chargers game on 9/9. Should be a great time, here's a map of the place we'll be staying, and where we will be. If you're a Bears fan, and in the area, come on by!


View Larger Map

Madden!

I haven't written anything in quite some time, so I thought I would take a second to let everyone know that I have my new copy of Madden NFL 08 and will be playing it on my Xbox 360 until Halo 3 comes out. How's that for a run on sentence?

Who's The Wino?

Allison (my lovely wife) and I are cooking dinner, so I asked her to take a normal sip of her wine and hold it in her mouth. Then I took a normal sip of my wine and held it in my mouth. I then rushed to get these glasses so we could compare sips. You guessed it, my "sip" is on the right, and hers on the left. There's the Pernecky genes working at their finest!

My Weekend

How was my weekend? Pretty good, thank you for asking! Oh, besides the fact that I was attacked by a rabid middle-aged woman that had clearly forgotten to take her meds on Saturday night.

Here's how it went down: My dear coworker Joanie was having a birthday party at her house to celebrate 3 birthdays including her's, her daughter's, and her best buddy's. There were about 30 people there, a bunch of food, and plenty of drinks...great times were being had all around.

Darkness settles in...it was about 9 or 10pm, and my wife and I were having a conversation with "Dawn" about good looking celebrities I believe. So I say something about Katharine McPhee being smoking hot, and how my wife would be OK with it if Kat offered to snuggle with me for a night. I also mentioned how my "get out of jail free" card used to be Britney Spears circa her "One More Time" years. Every couple has these tongue-in-cheek agreements.

So upon hearing this, Dawn starts to say things like "listen you piece of s***, your wife is fantastic and she is gorgeous" to which I replied "I totally agree with you, she is awesome, but we just have this deal..." and she says "no, you f****** jerk, you listen to me, you have no idea what you have." It went on like this for about 3 minutes, we were even standing up and yelling at each other in the middle of this party of about 15-20 people.

I'm not sure what order this happened, but you'll understand why when I tell you she shoved the palm of her hand into my forehead not once, or twice, but THREE times, hitting me pretty well, enough to make me a tad dizzy. So then I say "I'm going to guess you're from New York" and she was! This got her in a full-blown tizzy, so she proceeded to jump over my wife who was sitting to my left, and then jumped up on top of me in my chair, straddling me with her legs on either side of me in what I can only imagine was an attempt to choke me or something. I immediately grabbed her wrists and kept saying "I am a man, you are a woman, and that means I am stronger than you!!! This is useless, you won't be able to do anything!!!" Just as she was letting up, I started to let her go, and she lunged at my neck, trying to bite me! No joke!!! So I pulled her wrists again and successfully stopped her from sinking her teeth into my flesh. Just then her very embarassed husband came up and pulled her into the house, saving my life.

Luckily, I was right and I held her off pretty well, except for a couple scratches, one of which I've included the picture of:

Just a little scratch, I know, but I didn't expect to get attacked while enjoying a few beers at my coworker's party.

I'm told "Dawn" was inside still really mad at me for the next few hours, doing what she could to get back outside and teach me a lesson.

Either way, this chick is fit for a straight-jacket, and I lived to tell the story.

Besides that, we had a great time! So what did I do wrong? Anyone?

Mikayla Says "Hello World!"

EDIT: Click here to see all 5 pictures we have so far of Mikayla. I posted 2 of my favorites below...

Here's one of the first pictures of my new Niece, Mikayla Ann waving "hello" to this crazy new world! She was born this morning and is right around 8 lbs, sorry I don't have more specifics.

A big "hello" right back at ya, little tyke!



And the cutest one so far:

Erika Pernecky Makes Deans List

I just heard that my sister made the Dean's List at Governor's State University again, so I thought I would take this time to give her a shout out, and say "way to go, sis!"

 

So, uhhh, WAY TO GO, SIS!!!!

 

Besides that, I've got nothing.  Oh...90 DAYS UNTIL GAME 1 OF 2007 CHICAGO BEARS FOOTBALL!!!  Hello to Rex Grossman, as he is a regular reader of this blog.  Surprised you guys didn't know that.  I heart Rexy!

Berries!

I was reading my Men's Health magazine and they said all sorts of berries are in season RIGHT NOW, and usually are every year in June and July.  Yes this may be obvious to some people, but I'm glad they brought it to my attention  This is good for a few reasons:

 

1)  Berries are high in antioxidants, so they're very good for you!

2)  In season = they're at they're peak of taste!

3)  In season = lowest prices of the year!

 

Ally and I just picked up strawberries (the biggest I've seen in a long time, and they're are SOOOO good!) raspberries, and some blueberries.  OH SO GOOD!

 

So get out there and berry up!

My FREE Xbox 360 Elite!

Thank you to all who made this possible (and you know who you are)! Below is a picture of my new, FREE, Xbox 360 Elite from getting 10 people to complete 1 offer each!

For those of you that didn't think this was true, I will see you on Xbox Live with my Gamertag Perno!

If you would like to do the same thing as me, just sign up here on the link below. Any questions? Email me at mikepernecky ({shift2 )) hotmail [d0t) co/\/\.

http://www.360Elite4free.com/index.php?ref=3868223


This picture courtesy of Ally P, RD.

Food Porn

Here's what my buddy at work Robert had for lunch today. Looks pretty good, no? He eats like this daily, but he stays under 200 pounds.

The Saga Continues

I'm on the road to recovery, and here's a picture of the robocop boot I'm supposed to wear for the next 6 weeks. I've already attempted a bathroom break, and everything went swimmingly, thank goodness.

In other news, Jonesy's brother just moved down to Florida, and packed his Xbox 360, so Jonesy has officially been introduced to the next generation of gaming. Hooray!

Mother Earth is Not an Ashtray

Whenever someone strongly supports recycling - and is a cigarrette smoker - I wonder if they think about the estimated two billion cigarette butts that are tossed on the ground every day. Do they know that the filters are non-biodegradable? A good read for the fight against this often overlooked form of littering.



read more | digg story

My Bone Contusion (Bruise) FAQ

So, the verdict is in...I just got a call from the doctor with the results of my MRI I did this morning.  Turns out I have 2 bad bone bruises (or stress responses) in the 3rd and 4th metatarsal bones of my foot.  It doesn't sound serious, but he said a lot of bone bruises ultimately lead to stress fractures, so luckily mine did not get to that point.

 

Just a bone bruise?  That's it??!?  Yes, a bone bruise, just like famous NFL players Shaun Alexander of the Seattle Seahawks (which led to a broken foot since he overused it) and Anquan Boldin of the Arizona Cardinals.  Both of them missed a few games because of their bone bruises.

 

What is a bone bruise? Bone bruises are also known as periosteal bruises. The most painful bruises, they can sometimes take months to heal. What happens in a bone bruise is a compressive force pushes the in on itself. When this happens the outer layer of the bone, which is fibrous, breaks down. This leads to leaking of fluid.

 

How did it happen?  I'm not positive, but I believe it was from a time in October when I was running (almost sprinting) with my Pug Dempsey for about a half mile while wearing flip flops.  I don't normally do that, but it just so happened that the next morning I could hardly walk, so that's a pretty good indication to me.

 

How long will it take to heal?  The doc says I will need to be in a walking cast / boot for about 6 weeks.  I'll be getting fitted for it tomorrow hopefully, and then be pain-free in a month and a half after wearing it.  It should smell awesome during this Florida heat!

 

You're so hot, are you married?  Yes, happily.

 

Any other questions?  Feel free to email me!  Thank you for your concern!

 

Found a good article on bone bruises as well:

http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/news/TT_bone_bruises_040712.html

Beard: "Very Nice"?

So I'm growing a bit of a beard in support of the Tampa Bay Lightning and their current playoff run. Not sure how they're related, but it makes me feel like part of the team. So, is it naughty or nice? Obviously female opinion matters more than male but please feel free to comment either way. Toodles!

Don't Be Afraid

It's recently been brought to my attention that there are people reading my blog but not commenting for fear of something. Whether your fear is rejection, manipulation, emasculation, or penetration, I welcome all thoughts. So please, if I write anything that doesn't make you dumber for having read it (or even if it does) then by all means, blow up the comment section! Hungarians need not apply (thank you Stephen Colbert)!

Free Xbox 360

Ok, here we go...I'm sucking up some pride and asking everyone that reads this to take 10 mins out of your day to check this out. Here's what to do:

1) Click this link, and you'll be taken to the site www.360Elite4free.com, but it's my referral link so that I get credit for when you sign up. They don't require any info besides the standard address, email, etc. They haven't sent me any spam at all yet, so they seem to be a pretty good company.

2) When signing up, you'll be asked if you would like a Referral Account or Points Account. I choose Referral Account since it's easier and a better deal, so go ahead and pick that one. You can change in the future if you'd like.

3) After signing up, you should complete an "offer". I've had 5 people complete offers so far, and the most popular offer was Stamps.com since it doesn't require any initial investment. Stamps.com is a website that allows you to print REAL postage from your printer at home with their proprietary software.

4) To complete the Stamps.com offer, just click on the Stamps.com offer, fill out the info along with your credit card information (they need this in case you would like to stay as a member after your free 30 day trial), then download the Stamps.com application. Open the program, print out a stamp or a mailing label, and you're done!

After that, make sure to call Stamps.com to cancel your account, unless you would like to keep your account, then by all means please do.

5) Other offers my friends did were Blockbuster.com, Gamefly.com (game rentals) and Netflix.com.

6) That's it! If you want to get a free Xbox 360 or a free gift card, then just have some of your friends or family sign up for an offer through your referral link, and you're on your way! I got my first 5 referrals in a matter of 2 days, you just have to make a list of people that may be willing to help you, and contact them about it.

Any questions? Please email me at mikepernecky (shift2) gmail d0t com, or just call my cell phone if you know me. Thanks for your help, it's GREATLY appreciated!

Garlic Chicken for Lunch! Whoooooooo!

Chicks and Cell Phones

So I was in my "special office" yesterday at work (usually this takes
place daily from about 10am to 10:30 or 10:45am depending on what I
ate/drank the night before) where I usually get some of my best
thinking done.

I brought my cell phone into the loo with me to keep me company,
because I never know what/who I may need to Google/text/picture
message (ewww!) from the head. As I was taking out my cell phone to
get the Internet all up and going, while simultaneously pulling down
my knickers, I thought to myself, "wow, that would really be terrible
to drop this pretty little phone (Samsung SGH-T629 slider from
T-Mobile) into that excrement-infested water below, but I've never
really even come close to it luckily."

Just then, I began thinking of everyone I know that has dropped their
cell phone into the crapper by accident. "Ok, there's her, then that
one girl, and my good friend *****...huh that's weird, a bunch of
girls." Now I'm not really a social butterfly, I keep in touch with a
couple people from college and high school, and I've even made some
delicious new friends here in Florida, but everyone I knew that's had
the problem of the ol' "Dropped the Celly in the Stinkwater" was a
girl!

Can someone back me up here? Are there any guys out there that have
had the misfortune of watching your personal lifeline to the rest of
the world take a plunge into the deep, cold depths of a pooper?

Maybe it's because girls always have to sit when they "eliminate" so
there's more of a chance of that happening, but I'm not taking that as
a valid excuse. Holla at me, Mike Pernecky (shameless attempt to up
my Google ranking) and PLEASE leave a comment, ya dig?!?!?

Super Bears, Super Bowl!!!

Unbelievable, I can't believe the Chicago Bears will be playing in Miami
for Super Bowl XLI.  This has been a great season, full of excitement.
Sure, backing Rex Grossman is like riding a roller coaster, but it's a
great time anyways!

Here's to hoping the Bears can take down the Indianapolis Colts and
achieve a Super Bowl championship for the great city of Chicago.  It's
always been a Bears town! :)

Interesting side note: this will be the first Super Bowl with one black
coach, much less two black coaches.

Oh, and if you're a Bears fan like I am, you may want to download their
fight song.  Here's a link to where I found it:
http://www.chicagobearsbandwagon.com/beardown.htm
RIGHT click on "Bear Down MP3", then click "Save Link As" or
something similar, and decide where to save it on your computer.

Good luck and GO BEARS!!!

Lyrics to "Bear Down, Chicago Bears":

Bear Down, Chicago Bears.
Make every play clear the way to victory!
Bear Down, Chicago Bears.
Put up a fight with a might so fearlessly!

We'll never forget the way you thrilled the nation,
With your T formation.

Bear Down, Chicago Bears.
And let them know why you're wearing the crown.

You're the pride and joy,
of all Illinois.

Chicago Bears, Bear Down!!!

Microwaving as art

Let's cut to the chase...I microwave a lot of food. It takes of lot
of carbs, fats, proteins, and alcohol to maintain my slim and trim
weight of 240 lbs. Luckily, most alcohol doesn't have to be heated up
so I stick to microwaving those other calorie contributors.

For the longest time I've put my foods in the microwave, punched in a
few minutes on the display of the glorious magic heating box, and let
the little guy work it's magic. Most of the time I'd have to stir my
food halfway through the process to help my sweet microwaving buddy
heat my food more thoroughly.

I'm writing today more as a Public Service Announcement than
anything....so here's the announcement: DON'T BE AFRAID OF YOUR
MICROWAVE POWER SETTINGS!!! Sure, we've all tooled around with these
settings at one point or another, whether it be a Hungry Man meal or
two, or even a Lean Cuisine for you ladies out there! Unfortunately,
I have yet to meet anyone that regularly adjusts the power settings to
achieve optimal levels of food heating. Well if you're reading this,
then please do me a favor and start spreading the word...the power
settings are actually useful!

For instance, I usually do my microwaving at work, heating up all the
delicious leftovers my little wife makes for us (thanks
Giada!)...she's quite the catch! Anywho, the other day I had 4 pieces
of marinated flank steak, a big spoonful of mac 'n cheese with
chicken, and 3 meatballs to top it off. All I did was set the
microwave to about 4:30 or 5 mins, pressed start, and dropped the
power setting to 5 out of 10. All that does is turn the magnetron
(the device that transmits the heatwaves into your food) on for 5/10
(or 1/2) of the time, and off for 5/10 of the time, going between the
on/off every :15 seconds or so. If you have 6/10, the magnetron stays
on a little longer than it stays off, and 4/10 stays off longer than
on. You get the picture.

I could go on and on about this, but I can't stress enough...even
though this might add a minute or so to your microwaving, it will be
worth it in the long run. Go ahead, give it a shot...don't be afraid
of those power settings...they're there for a reason!

Dieting

I want to start off by saying I'm an overweight ( 6' 1", 240lbs on a bad day) 27 year old man with high cholesterol, high triglycerides (both of which I'm on medication for), and slowly-reaching-high blood pressure.  I may not be of the highest authority to offer my opinion on a person's "diet". 

 

Now here's the other side - I've been in constant contact with some sort of nutrition professional (Dietitian or Nutritionist) since I've been about 14 years old.  It started with my mom taking me to a Dietitian because of my triglyceride problem, and now I'm married to the cutest little RD (registered Dietitian) you ever-did-see.  [Quick side note - if you think I'm spelling Dietician wrong, it's actually spelled Dietitian, ask the American Dietetic Association, www.eatright.org ]  I've also been a subscriber to Men's Health magazine on and off for almost 10 years.  So I learned all of the in's and out's of the Nutrition Facts labels on foods, I know a lot about what foods are good for you, what you should stay away from, all the details on good fats, bad fats, trans fats, fats fats, you name it.

 

My downfall (the reason I'm a bit of a chubber) is portion control.  Instead of having 2 slices of pizza, I go for 4.  Instead of having one breadstick at the Olive Garden, I engulf between 4 and 6.  Usual exchange between Johnny Olive Garden and myself: "More breadsticks sir?" "Keep 'em coming, I don't feel like I'm about to explode yet, so there must be plenty more room!"

 

Anyways the whole reason I'm writing this is because of all these fad diets that everyone has been talking about since the beginning of time.  I'm not going to harp on any particular diet (Atkins, South Beach, Grapefruit), I'd rather lump them all together.  In the beginning, the word "diet" just meant "food and drink regularly provided or consumed" or simply "habitual nourishment" (thanks to www.m-w.com!)  So, really, a diet is just what you eat every day.  You know, like a penguin's diet consists of fish and cupcakes, or a flamingo's diet consists of shrimp (that's where they get their pink color), or my diet consists of beer and pizza during the NFL season.

 

Anyways, here's my main point of this whole deal...if you choose to go on a diet, make sure it is something you're willing to stick to for the rest of your life.  IF YOU CAN'T SEE YOURSELF NEVER EVER EVER EATING HAMBURGERS AGAIN, then don't go on a no-hamburger diet.  A "diet" should not be something to lose a quick 10 lbs, and then you'll keep the weight off by going back to your normal activities.  Guess what?  Most people never keep that weight off.  The most successful people are the ones who embrace the lifestyle change and make the commitment to eat better for the rest of their lives, and stay active while doing it.

 

Is your dog overweight?  I'm guessing you're probably overweight as well.  My dog is about 2lbs overweight (she's only 20 lbs) so we have to change our lifestyles together!  Let's do it!!!!!

 

Ok, I'm off my soapbox.  Here's hoping I'm watching the Bears play in Miami in February.