Killing time until Columbia

There is not a whole lot to do around the office, so I am biding my time until we leave for Columbia about 4:30 this afternoon. It is significantly colder today, but it appears Columbia is about 10 degrees warmer (in the high 60's to our 50's) and tomorrow looks great...mid 70's and sunny.

I am very, very excited to go to Carolina Cup. There is just something about being outside, drinking, dressed up, and looking at girls in sundresses while listening to southern rock. My Carolina Cup 2007 mix is made and in the car.

It rained some today which washed away some of the pollen, but now there are just streaks of pollen everywhere instead of a big coat of it.

I'm dreading getting on I-20 East through out towards Conyers...what I don't understand is that we have HOV lanes on I-20 from downtown to the Perimeter where there usually isn't much traffic, but once you get outside the perimeter, where ALL the traffic is (because everyone lives out in the suburbs) it is bumper to bumper, and no help for the multi-passenger vehicles/motorcycles/hybrids.

In any event, we'll be eating at the Wendy's in Thomson and it's a short hop, skip & jump to Columbia from there!

Horse Racing Season

Above is a video of Foxfield Races in April in Virginia...I did not take this video but I think I know some of the people in the video. In any event, Carolina Cup is this weekend in Camden, South Carolina. I am very excited. Going with the wife and our friends from Columbia and we'll be having a somewhat 'adult' Carolina Cup. We'll still be mixin' up the cocktails, but we'll have plenty of food, including ham biscuits and sour cream cake. I'll be in the seersucker, pink shirt & Carolina Palmetto/Crescent Moon tie. So far the weather looks perfect as well....75 & sunny w/basically no chance of rain.

I'm making a "Carolina Cup 2007" mix for the car ride over (33 miles but could take an hour w/all the traffic). So far:

1) 2001 Space Odyssey (South Carolina football intro)
2) Carolina Girl - Chairman of the Board
2) Raise Up (This one's for South Carolina) - Petey Pablo
3) Carolina in My Mind - James Taylor
4) Doraville - Atlanta Rhythm Section
5) Georgia - Ludacris & Field Mob
6) Bama Breeze - Jimmy Buffett
7) Coast of Carolina - Jimmy Buffett
8) Ramblin' Man - Allman Brothers
9) Long Way to Richmond - Travis Tritt
10) Margaritaville (Live from Atlanta) - Jimmy Buffett
11) Soulshine - Allman Brothers
12) Ridin' - Chamillionaire
13) 5 o'clock somewhere - Jimmy Buffett & Alan Jackson

Back from the Big D (I actually do mean Dallas)

Trying to recover from our Dallas trip, but it sure was a lot of fun. Did the wedding thing in Grapevine/Irving and drank WAY too much the entire weekend and tried to catch some college hoops in between. Saturday night after the reception we went this place called the Glass Cactus, which is part of the Gaylord Texan Hotel. Although I've never been out in Vegas, it would seem to fit right in...bouncers everywhere, glass and weird lighting. It also overlooks Lake Grapevine which is really cool.

UVa lost in the 2nd round of the NCAA to Tennessee, although I'm not too upset because we played well and won handily on our first game. I guess I'll have to root for Carolina now!

ACC Friday

The ACC tournament is on....790 the AM Georgia Tech station is broadcasting it through the internet. I'm at my desk with almost nothing to do, waiting for a report to come in so I can file it online. Until that happens though I have to wait.

All the "better" teams lost in the tourney yesterday. Hopefully that doesn't mean bad things for UVa. However, Carolina is rolling, and N.C. State should be tired after going Overtime with Duke yesterday (Thank the Lord we don't have to play Duke!!!).

We shall see...hopefully I can sneak out of here between SEC games and go watch at home...lots of Kentucky Wildcats around here today though!

Could it be? Pseudo-Cinderella?

As most of the country knows, Virginia won last night...never thought I'd see the day where there is a prominent article about that fact on the front of most major Internet sports outlets (Fox Sports, ESPN, etc.). Not only did we beat Virginia Tech, our rival, but we also moved squarely into first place by virtue of our friends at Georgia Tech beating North Carolina. For once in our sordid athletic history, UVa is in control of its own destiny, and will be the top seed in the ACC tournament assuming it can beat Wake. Most people think that this is no big deal, being that Wake is tied with Miami for last place team in the ACC...however I know better than to count my chickens b/c: a) We lost to Miami last week, or we wouldn't be in this mess to begin with; b) It is an away game and we don't do well on the road (or haven't historically); c) We just played a very emotional game last night; and d) Wahoos aren't trained to think that anything is a gimmee, b/c it's usually not. We shall see!

Also, this morning was that tragic bus crash in Buckhead that everyone has heard about. Very sad...looks like the culprit was the driver not realizing that there are HOV exits...he may have thought this was the exit to continue on I-75 South, or just that there were going to be 2 HOV lanes after that point. In any case, very sad news.

March comes in like a lion...

Ok, I'm sure I'm not the only one that has said that, but it is a stormy day today. Nothing too severe yet, but I can't see out my window and it's pitch black out. There are tornadoes in southern Alabama and southern Mississippi, but then again, when aren't there tornadoes there? Reminds me of a joke:

What's the similarity between an Alabama tornado & an Alabama divorce?
A: Either way someone is going to lose a trailer.

I was looking today at tours of Southfork Ranch in Collin County, Texas. It's $9.50/person, but I think well worth the money & the 28 mile trip up from Dallas. I can hear the theme music now.

Also, El Nino is gone, which means 2007 might be a bad hurricane season for the Atlantic. We shall see. To make matters worse, not only is El Nino gone, but La Nina might be coming, which enhances hurricane activity.

UPDATE:
Looks like the most severe storms with Tornadoes are staying to the south of us, around Columbus and Macon. However, it is very dark here, unusual for just 5:40 at night.

Also, tonight is the HUGE VT/UVa game...whoever wins this is at least tied for 1st place in ACC play, and if Georgia Tech beats Carolina (here in Atlanta), the VT/UVa winner takes ACC outright (at least for now). Go Hoos! Go Ramblin' Wreck!