Case of the Mondays

Remember in Office Space when the guy says "sounds like someone's got a case of the Mondays". I have heard a lot of people talk about it being Monday and them not getting the week off to a good start. Meanwhile I am as happy as a clam like this guy.

I have never really hated Mondays and let me explain my theories of why I don't think it is as bad as everyone thinks. First of all people seem to think that Monday is the start of the week. Yes there is a lot of pressure to get your week started off the right way and it is hard to do with having to go to work after the weekend but it is my belief that Monday is not the first day of the week. Stay with me here.

It makes since to me that Sunday is the first day of the week. Why do you ask? Take a look at a calendar and tell me what day of the week is on the far left .... Sunday. Doesn't it make sense that the calendar would put the first day of the week on the first column.

It makes sense because it is true. Sunday is the first day of the week based on religious reasons I don't know for sure but google it. Thus why do they consider Sunday part of the weekend? Wouldn't everyone feel better if they knew each week started and ended with a day off. What a better way to start your week then watching football or lying around on your couch watching movies. You never hear "sounds like someone's got a case of the Sundays".

Of course for us in college athletics sometimes you go months without a day off so it is really just one very long week. Even still I don't mind Mondays. I don't really even have a favortite day of the week although I mostly think of any day off as my favorite day. For some reason though I felt like I needed to write about it because so many people complained about it being Monday. I am trying to be happy and joyful at all times now so for me it is just another great second day of the week.

Closer to my green jacket

I found out today that I am that much closer to obtaining my Master's degree in Education from VCU as I passed my comprehensive exam I took in December. Now for winning the Master's don't you get a green jacket?

Green jacket, gold jacket, who gives a shit? I now only have to pass my last two classes and that degree is mine. I will have paid something like $15,000 for a sweet piece of paper that will go in the back of my closet with my other two multi-thousand dollar pieces of paper. The bright side is I will not get any more money at work and won't get promoted. So I have that going for me. My dad did tell me I would get my picture in the paper so to the town of Hugo - look forward to that.

As for passing my final two classes - it shouldn't be a problem. This spring I have a sports business class with an awesome professor. I took a class with him last year and he was great. I have a book review and a couple of open book, open notes exams so I should pass that with the flying colors of the rainbow ... you know ROY G BIV. That is made in the shade because my grandpa's name is Roy so mark it down. My other class is a two-week trip to Europe. If they give credit for how many beers I can drink in Dublin I will easily pass. If not then I should get an "A" because we are going to London for a celebrity death match between Big Ben the clock and Big Ben the red, white and blue American. Team USA always wins just like you will see again in August in the London Olympics. I might even take my shirt off, carry my 2x4 and chant USA, USA just like one of my heroes Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Paris could be my downfall although I do like french toast and french fries so if they have those I will do alright. 

Things are looking up in the world of this Big Ben. I am closer to finishing school and two buddies from High School visited last weekend to provide a lot of fun and entertainment for me to help 2012 kick off the right way.

Quite the Morning

Today started out just like any other Monday normally does. For most people it is the start of the week but for us in college athletics it is just the continuation of one really long week that seems like it starts in August and ends in June.

However, this Monday I was excited. In relation to last week's blog today was the day to get rid of my cable. The Broncos lost on Saturday, well lost puts it lightly, more like got Tom Brady and Gronkowski laid for the next week with some Boston jersey chasers. After getting ready for work I packed up the cable box and never looked back as I headed off to work.

Here is where my day became a lot more interesting. First of all it was raining slightly but as I have learned in a few months, people in Austin drive crazy when it rains like people in North Carolina do when it lightly snows. There is something that makes these people think they will wreck with the tiniest bit of moisture on the ground. Right as I go to turn on I-35 (AKA the parking lot), of course there is a wreck being cleared on the on ramp. So even with an empty lane to go around this everyone slams on their breaks and fish tail around a little.

I luckily hit the eye of the storm in morning traffic so I thought and easily cruised at 45 mph past where I normally turn off for work. I decided to drop the cable box off first thing and be done with it. Now I knew where the place was at but Austin loves its frontage roads, one-way exits and streets and divided interstates so getting there was less than easy. For some reason the interstate splits into a high/low divided interstate with some exits off the high and some off the low. My experience with the frontage roads have made me learn to get off two exits early because they are one way and you end up circling around two or three times to try and get to the other side of the interstate.

Today it didn't matter I took the low I-35 and the exit I needed was still off the high one. I went down the frontage road and tried to do a u-turn but it was a one-way street so I couldn't even turn around. I was forced to get back on I-35 and go to the next exit about four miles away. This put me on the frontage road again and another mile or two down I finally got to u-turn. I got off on the 51st street exit and decided to take the frontage road to 41st where Time Warner's office is. However, the exit just went to 51st street and not to the frontage road. Thus I turned on 51st and then made a left on Airport to try and take that road. This took me right back to I-35 so I got back on hoping the next exit is what I needed. It was but that would have been on the lower I-35 and I was on the higher so I ended up going all the way back towards my work exit. I went to get off but construction cones blocked the exit so I had to go a couple of miles down to the next exit and take the frontage road past the capital into downtown, circle around and head back towards work.

It was smooth sailing from there to Time Warner but I was cursing the entire time, flipping off every building and street in Austin and yelling at a few idiots for driving stupid because they couldn't wait to talk to their BFF on their cell phone until five minutes later when they weren't driving. I pull in to the parking lot, grab the cable box, get out, walk to the door and there it is. A sign reading "We will be closed January 16 for Martin Luther King Day"

My reply, "F*cking F*ck, chicken beaters". Yes I need to work on my language but Austin has that effect on me. But c'mon really.

Well after that I just counted my losses and headed back to work. Of course one lane was closed going back for no apparenet reason other than some jackass decided to put 100 orange cones in the middle of one of the lanes. With it for sure being a day campus would be closed and nobody with a life would be working at least I could park in the upper administration's parking spaces. I went past the street where I usually park to go there but sure enough the road was closed and there were probably 5,000 people with banners and crap walking towards me in some stupid parade.

I am now in my office for what will be about 30 minutes before I give up on this day. No matter how much work I have to do it can wait because I am afraid of what will happen next if I don't go home. 

End of Cable

The decision has been made - I am cutting my ties with Time Warner Cable. I may miss a couple of things but overall this is a good move. I decided that once the Broncos were out of the playoffs I would no longer need to watch TV. I, like many of you, don't know what life will be like without sitcoms, reality TV shows, sports or the same movie showing every two hours on TBS and TNT Friday through Sunday.

Of course the Broncos won on an 80-yard touchdown pass in overtime against the Steelers last weekend so I will have cable at least one more week. However, here is how I see my AC (after cable) years.

Netflix - I have signed up for Netflix and can now view tons of movies and TV shows whenever I want. With my limited time at home these days anyway I can easily fill a couple of hours with a movie on Netflix or one of my hundred DVDs I own.

Friday Night Lights - I have to mention this because it is the best TV show of all time and there will never be another show like it. I own every season and can just keep watching episodes over and over again. The only show I watch now on TV is Gold Rush on the discovery channel and the season is almost over.

Sports - I still will be paying for internet so with my Watch ESPN website I can catch almost all Duke games or any other college hoops game online. For any other sporting event it will make me leave my apartment to go grab a brew at a local sports bar.

Cost savings - Time Warner has ridiculously increased prices to over $100 a month so I started thinking about what I could do with $1,200 a year. Some options for where that money can go include my trip to Europe for my final Master's class this spring, buying a new car this summer, eating at Sonic four times a week instead of two or paying homage to the Landing Strip from Friday Night Lights  but that would also be throwing money away so I won't do that.

In my mind it makes perfect sense to cancel cable even though I hated not having it when I moved to Texas and didn't have a TV for a month. I feel like I need to get out more though and if I don't have TV then I really have no reason to be home other than to sleep and entertain during my dinner parties.

Oh wait I am not the Great Gatsby so really I just need to sleep at home.