Tiago Has Arrived
And oh, did my Spurs need it.
I'm absolutely thrilled that Tiago Splitter is finally a Spur and I'm hoping that the extra seasons in Europe have helped him even more finely-tune his skills. I'm glad that we're finally going to have a real big man to accompany Tim out there. Now we just need a shooter, especially with Jefferson opting out of his contract.
Who will we be able to snag with so very little cashflow to use on someone? Time will tell. Perhaps we'll end up hoping to find a diamond in the rough with one of our Summer League entries. For a list of who is still available on the free agency market, mosey on over to SI's site.
I'm only somewhat excited about this season, as I'm not overly thrilled with many of the going-on's around the league. Perhaps the most disconcerting for me, was adequately expressed by my friend Ethan:
I miss when great players were rivals determined on being number one. Not lazy ass people happy to make 100 million and vomit up some rings that dont mean anything because there was no competition. You cant take 3/5ths of the all-star team on one team. Those are players who are clearly not very driven as competitors. They want money and glory and get no pride in the game itself. Michael Jordan would have killed himself before agreeing to play with one of his rivals; he had to beat them to be happy. These players just dont care about the game per se, its all image and media. It would be so bad for the league for the heat to win because nobody will care. You have these great guys who could be creating awesome rivalries and dynasties and really boosting the league but instead theyre gonna make sure they profit to the max at everyone elses expense.
Miami will either tear it up this coming season or fizzle out on the backs of too many star players. We shall see. Either way, no doubt there are many things coming over the next two years that very well may change the NBA for forever. We'll see if it's for better or for worse.
The Tale of the Angry Washer
So, as most of you know, this past weekend was Independence Day weekend, with Sunday being July the 4th. Seeing as I had Monday off work, I decided to make the trip up to the parents' house in Burleson, Texas. This normally isn't a long trip, ranging from 3 hours to 4 hours typically. Well, Friday it took almost 7 hours, thanks to some absolutely wonderful traffic on i35 North. I had hoped we would beat the rushing traffic for the holiday, as we'd managed to get on the road at about 2pm.
Once we finally arrived, the weekend was enjoyable. I had the first cheeseburger I've had in about a month, went and saw The Last Airbender in 3D at The Hulen Movie Tavern. -- Good food and great seats. The movie wasn't as terrible as I was expecting, but it left much to be desired for a fan of the show. On Sunday, we got together with some friends of my parents, messed around in their pool, played some cards, talked and had some pretty kick-ass Sangria margaritas.
Unfortunately, Lila had to work Monday evening, so we opted to make the late night drive home. Leaving Burleson at about midnight, we traversed the cop-laden highway and made our way home, landing at approximately 3 AM. - Needless to say, I was tired, as I hadn't slept well while we were in Burleson, due to some whistling vents and not having my blankie. We promptly passed the hell out after taking the dog out.
Monday morning rolls around. I have breakfast, waffles with Lite Syrup and two eggs. Not too shabby! After eating, I take Chloe out and on the way back upstairs, I notice I big puddle and water rolling down the wall on the second floor's landing... directly beneath my apartment. And sure enough, when I opened the door to my apartment, I was greeted by water-laden carpets, sinking feet, and electronics that were in danger of being shorted.
Apparently, the washer decided it didn't want to continue its wash cycle and simply kept filling the wash basin, causing water to keep running and eventually to overfill. I was able to move all of the electronics in time (hopefully, as I haven't tested the computer, external HD, etc.) and thankfully none of the tax files, etc. were soaked. Putting ourselves to work with beach towels, a pitcher, busy hands and soaking feet, we worked diligently to soak up as much water as possible while waiting for maintenance to arrive.
Unfortunately, the wait for maintenance was rather long, due to it being a holiday, but eventually Jesse (SP?) arrived and immediately went about finding the problem with the washer as well as calling their carpet guy. Another few hours passed before he showed up and worked on extracting the water from the carpet. The carpet in the corner of my living room was pulled up and a fan was installed to blow air beneath the carpet to dry it and the carpet pad. This fan is loud and I've had it running now for over 48 hours straight now. Needless to say, I've gotten again very little sleep and Lila says despite the fan that it's starting to smell of mildew. I have no idea what mildew smells like, but there is indeed an odor.
I'm hoping to hear from the carpet guy soon and our new Samsung High-Effiency Front-Load Washer and Dryer set will be delivered tomorrow from Lowes.
Thus far, $1140 spent. We'll see if it goes any higher.
Cheers.
Sleepless In San Antonio
It was one of those nights, last night. I went to bed at eleven o-clock, after taking the day off work to rest (I've been extremely tired the past few weeks and I'm not sure why. It worked, as I felt very refreshed throughout the day.) and I laid in bed for about three hours, tossing, turning, and staring at the ceiling. Eventually, I grew tired of that and went to the couch. Another few hours there with the fans on, restless again, and I eventually returned to bed. Finally made it to sleep around 5 or 6 am, just in time to wake up for work. Awsomeness!
Anyhoo, hoping today goes by fairly quickly, so I can get the workout over with and rest more.