Voyage of one Man's Broken XBox 360

February 13, 2006 - Somewhere in China there was a birth that would cause me much joy...I rephrase that, a birth that would help steal hours from my life, a birth that would help me in times of boredom. This was the date that my XBox 360 was manufactured.

Later that month, or maybe it was March (details), I walked into a Best Buy store in Janesville, WI and find the treasure that I have been seeking for months, the coveted XBox 360. They were impossible to get a hold of since their release the previous fall. But the Gen 2 models were finally released in mass quantities. I had two choices at that time, the Core model, or the Pro model. I of course opt for the pro edition...wireless controllers, hard drive, basically every feature that you would eventually have to get for the Core anyways.

The 360 Pro Edition

I walked into my gigantically enormous living room of a bedroom, opened it up, sat on my sofa and played away. I think my first game was Ghost Recon - Advanced Warrior.

My XBox was there for me when I finally moved out of Whitewater and moved into Cottage Grove, it came with me when I became homeless for a few months and stayed with Guss at his Grandma's place by Pretty Lake, and it of course has been hanging true with me in Waukesha, it has been by my side (or rather by my TV's side) for almost 3 full years, until recently, when it took a turn for the worse.

There were initially rumors, ones I knew of when I first purchased the unit, that XBox's were failing do to overheating, they said though, the problems were resolved with the Gen 2 units, so no worries I figure. Rumors persisted that Microsoft had knowingly released the gaming console with a defect. They finall did fess up to it and created a 3 year warranty for any console that experienced this unique problem.

What was happening, from what I read somewhere and I don't feel like citing, is that components were to big to fit into the footprint, and the heat sink over the GPU (Graphic Processor Unit, I think) was shrunk in size. This decrease in size can allow too much heat to get to the GPU and along with natural vibrations, the GPU's glue gives way. This might not be what really happens, but was the jist of what I read. Anyhoo, when this happens, you get what is commonly referred to as the "Red Ring of Death". The XBox power button has 4 lights surrounding it, lit normally to show what controllers are on. But when 1,2,3, or 4 of them are red instead, this means there is a problem. Three of the lights are fairly simple fixes, but when you see 3 red rings (oddly 3 worse than 4).

Satan's Doing...I mean Bill Gates

I figured I received a good console, even though some like 5-30% are expected to fail. My friend Guss got the dreaded rings a couple years ago, and late last year Mark also experienced this. I was one of the first of my friend's to get a unit, and mine was still ticking I thought.

February 14, 2009 - Three years and 1 day since its birth. I was playing some Call of Duty - World at War online, waiting for my buddy Peter to show up. We were going to just stay in and drink in an attempt to save money, and if you notice the day, my intent was also to boycott the holiday as my initial plans fell through and I didn't feel much like going out. I was going to give my attention to the thing that was always there for me the last 3 years (Yes, I am purposely trying to make myself sound super-lame and pathetic, haha). We were going to kill some Covenant and Flood, maybe destroy some Halo's while we were at it. The game loads, it tells me there is an update available, for I haven't played the game for quite some time. I mean to hit the button to accept the update, but missed and continued. I wanted to update, so I shut the system down, with the thought to reboot and install the update.

I turn the unit back on, and I see red...."no, no no" Try again, and again, same result. I let it sit for a while, take the hard drive out and it turns back on, ok, good sign. Put the hard drive back in, RED. Take the hard drive back out, turns on, we play a mission. I try the hard drive again, red, red, red, ever since, red. It was official.

I slept on it, but of course it was broken. So, I called Microsoft to see if I was within the 3-year warranty, as I knew I as close and wasn't sure when exactly I purchased it. The dude, who talked way too fucking fast and sounded Aussie, told me it was all good, (I think he said something along those lines). Monday I printed off the shipping label that Microsoft sent to me and after work removed my XBox from its home and took it to the UPS store for its journey.

You can still see the dust prints :(

The Journey
Monday, February 16 5:25 PM - Elm Grove, WI (C'mon, just say Brookfield)
I officially leave the XBox in the care of some punk ass looking kid at the UPS store. I make him scan me the tracking #, so I know he takes care of this and doesn't steal it.

10:48 PM - Elm Grove, WI
It hops aboard a truck, bound for somewhere great, I hope it takes pictures for me to look at

Not Elm Grove/Brookfield

11:14 PM - Oak Creek, WI
Umm, well, tomorrow it will go somewhere great, it must have wanted to say hi to Mike & Andrea before it took off.

Tuesday, February 17 6:55 AM - Oak Creek, WI
Godspeed, my the brave UPS men and women handle you with care little buddy.

So, the first pic for OC was the A&W off Ryan Rd.

There is silence, I begin to worry, did weather cause an accident spilling packages all over the road? Then did a deer in, let's say, Arkansas, stomp on it. Birds then began to grab the shreds of plastic and use it for their nests? The suspense was killing me, not really, but if you haven't noticed, I am overdramatizing just a little bit.

Wednesday, February 18 4:47 PM
Whew, it has arrived in Mesquite, TX...bring me back some barbecue please.

10:01 PM
I guess it was loaded on a truck, not sure why the scan.

Shit you not, the Mesquite Hooters - They'll take care of my buddy

Thursday, February 19 9:20 AM
It has arrived to the repair center. Here, finely skilled techinicians, who were probably trained for, minutes, maybe even hours, will try to coax my buddy back to life. For now I wait, it is out of my hands...probably in the hands of an illegal immigrant or some white trash dude, but, the point here is, it is out of my hands.

9:30 PM
I receive an e-mail that the service center has received my buddy, an e-mail will follow when the unit is repaired and sent back to me.
Saturday, February 21 5:50 AM
Excellent news, I receive an e-mail fro Microsoft saying that my XBox was repaired and being prepared to ship. Another e-mail was to follow the tracking #.

.....

.....

No tracking number shows up in my inbox. Panic sets in, worry consumes me. I log into the XBox website to track the status. Good news, it did ship, it was currently in Hodgkins, IL on that following Wednesday.

not one good picture to use for Hodgkins, IL....worthless, like the rest of the state.

Thursday, February 26
I arrive home from work to see a note on my door, it is from UPS...my package was in the apartment front office....I hop in the car, and the first thing I do is....go to Taco Bell, Iwas hungry and in need of tacos. Yeah, so, I picked it up, hooked it up, downloaded GTA IV Lost and the Damned, play for like 10 minutes, and, yeah, that is about it, been busy ok.

Back Home - At Last

Tuesday, March 3
After warmly welcoming home the XBox by playing several times with a smile, I decided it was now time to punish it for breaking down and running away. I went to Best Buy to purchase my brand new Blu-Ray player, which took the form of a Playstation 3. Truly, all it is meant to be is a Blu-Ray player, but a new baseball game was out, The Show, and it looked so much better than what XBox had to offer. I have been playing that since. But, no worries, when I get bored with that, I shall return.

Back to the Present! (Would have made for a terrible movie title)

First off, thank you to those who have been actually reading my college story. I have found that a few more people than I initially thought actually read this, literally few, but HEY awesome! I have been getting comments from several of you(I thought I said few).

-Some are scared of when they might arrive in the story, but still seem to be glued and intrigued. I will tell everyone now, my intentions are not to make anyone look or feel bad, maybe other than myself. If I think a statement will make anyone maybe feel uncomfortable, I will probably omit it, though I will throw some funny, uncomfortable moments against those I know will laugh about it.

-Some have commented on my amazing memory. Now, the first few days, are easy, but as things became routine, things will become more and more vague and will probably jump timelines a little bit.

-A couple times I have gotten some comments building upon my memory of events that were written, those are very much appreciated.

-One person is sort of upset that he/she...ok she, has not yet been mentioned...soon Stacey.

So keep reading, but right now, it is back to 2009.

A lot has happened to me since my last actual post. In August I was laid off, went through a pretty rough patch to be completely honest. I was given three weeks severance and had 3 months of health insurance, and to honest, I didn't think it would be any trouble getting a job. The experience I have, no problemo. The first week and a half, I didn't work too hard at it for I thought I was going to get a job that I was already well through the interview process prior to me getting laid off, I knew I was down to 2, and I had a friend who referred me.....turns out the other candidate already was working there through an agency, bam, ouch. Set back, I quickly ended up collecting unemployment checks. Guess what else was happening around that time, September 2008, oh, just the complete economic meltdown. Jobs were not going to be easy, I started working with a recruiter.

Well, end of October, I did get a call from another recruiter, woke me up, I answer, he wants me in for an interview that day in Mequon. I hungoverly suit up, and head over.....he wants me to meet the company. That goes well, and early the next week I go back again, that went well....then they wanted me to start the next week. That was fast, but, that works perfect for me. November 6, I was officially employed again. And 3 months in, I can say, I feel like a person, not a number.....it is very pleasant.

I do want to thank all of my friends and family for being there in tough moments for me. My buddy Peter said, you can tell who your true friends when you lose your job. Everyone was concerned, and offered their help or showed their concern. I do want to personally shout out a thank you to Peter, Bernard, Jake, Mike & Andrea, Erin Healy & Matt K, for being awesome to me during awful times, and of course Lauree for the amazing care package, that was awesome!!!


Other Stuff

Really, past blogs talk of my rowdy drunken adventures. There really haven't been those, unforgetable stories to talk about, just, all average nights and weekends. I have been having, fun, just nothing to write stories about. I think that has to do with winter, I'm a summer time guy.

I did start losing weight at New Years. I decided to not post all about it this time, as that has not worked for me in the past as I hoped it would. I am proud to say overall I am down about 30 lbs. I still am a long ways from where I want to be, but, have been developing better habits, and once it warms up will start working out again.


Okay, Current Current Events

Well, now just the busy things that you only would hear about when they just recently happen. The most disturbing thing in my life at the moment, my XBox 360 has died. The dreaded Red Ring of Death! I have had this XBox for approximately 3 years, the warranty for the RRoD, 3 years. My unit's manufacturing date 2/13/06, the date of death 2/14/09. errrrrrr. Well, the guy from Microsoft said it was cool, emailed a prepaid UPS label, and today I sent it off for repair, godspeed buddy.

Speaking of games, I finally found a Wii Fit. Played a bit yesterday, but today I went through everything they have....and no lie, that thing really actually works you out pretty good, though I might just be out of shape though.

Umm go Brewers in 2009!


That Was a Lame Post

Yeah, it was, I hope you wasted your time though. I am sitting in bed, and am getting more and more tired, and this piece of garbage was the result. Stayed tuned for the adventures of my Xbox oh, and Chapter 2 is coming of my college story. Chapter two doesn't really have any funny moments, and is pretty short, and I have to start on Chapter 3 still, so, just keep on me!

#4 - My Collegiate Life - A Random Rant to Close Chapter 1

The Previous Posts:
#1. Prologue - The Night Before it All
#2. Moving In
#3. Meeting People

Now for the Thrilling Conclusion to Chapter 1

The next day was Labor Day, and it was the last day before classes were to begin. I had yet to really explore the campus, so when I woke up, I printed off my schedule and took to the campus for the first time. It was a fantastic day, the weather was perfect for a good walk. My first class Tuesday was in a building called Carlson Hall. My first class was Micro-Economics. So, I found Carlson then headed over to where my other classes were, most were in Heidi Hall that semester. I was an undeclared major, but I knew I was going to go into business, just wasn’t sure which aspect I wanted to pursue. I wasn’t concerned about being undeclared, most of the classes the first semester were all gen-eds anyhow. After walking around, I decide to head back to see if I had a roommate yet.

Carlson Hall

At last! Chris was there, organizing his stuff. You know how you form an impression of how someone might look just from talking over the phone and forming an opinion of their personality. I pictured a clean cut rich boy. I was off a bit. Chris had a large wallet chain and had an obvious like of the color black. Sort of unkempt greasy black hair. Oh lord, what unlucky draw did I get? Immediately from talking with him though, I knew he was a good guy, not some hardcore jackass, so was slightly relieved and sort of excited that he obviously shared the same taste of music as me and let me remind you a 32” TV and an Xbox! My most pressing question was why he would live in the dorms when he lived just two blocks away. His answer made sense, to get out of the house and experience the college life. Let me be pretty general with Chris here, he comes off with his appearance of a tough hardcore guy, but he is a complete softy. He was/is a great guy! He did hang a Canadian flag in our room and loved hockey, which I still find weird to this day. But the flag did make it fun when people would stop to ask if one of was Canadian, then see their confused faces when we both replied no. Chris just loved hockey, cold weather, and the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police), so it was natural for him to like Canada. Overall, our very different exteriors and personalities with the same type of interests seemed to make a really good match.

Unfortunately, poor Ben’s roommate had yet to show up. What a jerk! I mean, he does realize that there is school tomorrow right? Speaking of school, I was nervous, college, here it was, officially. Part of the fun of being in the dorms, is finding friends who have the same class as you. Unfortunately for me, no one I knew had economics, so, I was going at it alone. I took it easy that night and got myself a good night of sleep, for the next day, Tuesday September 4, 2001 would be the start of a new beginning, by the next Tuesday things will just be routine…I figured.

Chris & I - Apparently after a Tornado Strike

I showed up about 20 minutes early (last time that happened) picked a seat in the middle-back away from anyone else. It was a very nice room, state of the art equipment. That was the only economics class in that room, the rest of the classes were in what amounted to a cement fortress. We went over the syllabus and the expectations of the class. Talked a bit about economics, supply and demand, that sort of stuff and then we were done. My first day of school was done at 10:45.…awesome! Also, good news for Ben, his roomy, Jon, had moved in finally. The kid seemed really cool, he liked to drink and party and was a pretty normal dude.

Wednesday was a bit more packed with classes, with four. It started off with my one and only math class of college. I had tested out of the algebra class and was put directly into MATH 103, which dealt with matrices, which let me tell you, was unlike anything I had ever done in math before. You see, I hate math, though I can be good at it if I were to apply myself. All I knew is it was easier than calculus, which I had my senior year in college. The best part of this class was Terri was in my class. Umm, double ‘in’! Well, actually, the best part of this class may have been the Teacher, Rao, who really liked flowers, and liked when you drew flowers on your test, he was, a weird individual. The worst part of this class was that is was at 7:45 in the morning. This seemed ok to me at the beginning and when I scheduled it. I always had to be to High School by 8:00, and had to wake up at 7:00, this won’t be any different. Yeah, I quickly learned that college is not the same. That was the last 7:45 class I ever had! Friday mornings were the worst. Who would have guessed that Thursday night was the big party night in Whitewater?

I had English 101 right after math, and then a break. The afternoons, after I ate lunch, I had History of the United States with the most, monotone, professor ever. Now, I like history, and in High School the history teacher was sort of boring, but had some energy to him. Granted, I learned more of his personal history than world or U.S. history, but, I could stay awake. This professor though, wow, have you ever listened to paint dry? That was this guy! Thankfully, the girl sitting next to me was absolutely gorgeous. Before class we did the typical Frosh thing making sure it was the right room and whatnot. She seemed pretty cool, her name was Christine, and I found out she too lived in Knilans Hall, on the 1^st floor. I just found myself a walking buddy! I was always too shy to try and press anything with her, but I always wondered if she was ever attracted to me at that point. We always stayed as alright friends and she even lived in a house next to me a couple years later.

It turned out Christine also had Economics with me as well, and I think she had another class afterwards normally or was always with other people, so we weren’t walking buddies those days. But later in the semester she did head back to the dorms after class and we walked back. I remember this simply because a friend of hers walked back with us. He was a short, stocky guy with a red coat, and his little legs just wouldn’t move as fast as mine and Christine’s did (Christine is short as well though), we had to keep holding up for this kid, man Mr. Slow Guy annoyed me! I’ll give you readers a hint, there is a bit of foreshadowing here.

Not to sound boring, but I honestly can not tell you the first party I went to, who I went with, or even if that first weekend if I stayed in Whitewater or went home. I have a hunch that my first party was somewhere on Prairie St. It apparently was a good one! Life was definitely good though!

#3 - My Collegiate Life - The Freshman Years - Meeting People

The next day, I woke up pretty early with the thought that my roommate would show up sometime soon. Not a whole lot happened until I got a knock on the door. Not my roommate, but a large group of people saying they were trying to get people from the floor together to play ultimate Frisbee. Ultimate Frisbee? What? This was definitely a foreign concept to me, and certainly sounded extremely hippyish. Frisbees are for throwing back and forth, and FYI, I suck at it! After I explain I have no idea what this ‘Ultimate Frisbee’ is, I decide it would be best to meet these people I would be sharing my life with for a year. They explain that the game is sort of like football rules, and then I had no problem even though there was no tackling…what kind of ‘ultimate’ game is this?


So, a large group of us head to a park nearby, to an area I am not sure I ever visited again even though it had a close proximity to my dorm. It was nice getting to know a group of people. There was Ben, Matt, Luke, Terri, Jean, Liz H., Becky, and some more who I feel bad for not mentioning, Chad maybe as well? I was meeting new people and couldn’t necessarily remember everyone. If I didn’t say your name, and you happen to be reading this, I am sorry and please let me know you were there.

Now this game was actually really fun and I was pretty decent. It was a hot day, and it felt good to be active and work up a bit of a sweat. I was happy to meet people, but while these people were all extremely nice and people I could see myself being friends with, they didn’t seem to fit the match of any other friend I had. I couldn’t see me partying all the time with most of these people, so I knew I still had work to do to meet more and more people. Please don’t get me wrong, this was just an initial thought, and I partied with most everyone there at some point, and I was great friends with all mentioned.

Of this group, I had my eye on Terri, not sure what it was, but something about her caught my attention. Anyways, I decided afterward to have a post-game conversation back in the dorms over in the girl’s wing to get to know Terri, and the others, a little bit better. It is weird how something as new and exciting as college can make you forget that just two nights before I was going through a tearful goodbye and was only a day and a half into being single again and here I am flirting with no thoughts of the past. I really feel kind of bad about this now. Back to the point here! I found out that Terri was from Blue Mounds and went to school in Mt. Horeb. This is what I consider to be in my ‘home territory’, which happens to include most of southwest Wisconsin. I actually happened to work at a cheese factory in Blue Mounds and knew several of Mt. Horeb’s finest citizens. Umm, hello my ‘in’ for conversation! I’ll be fair here, I got to know and talk with the other girls as well.

Terri & I

Back to my room to see if I have a roommate yet. This was sort of nerve-racking. The guy I am supposed to live with for a year in a small space has yet to show, and I just want to get the initial awkwardness of the first meeting over and out of the way. I open my door, and well, good sign, there is a large TV on the floor of my room, but, no roomy. Well, he must be making trips, all good. Well, he doesn’t show up at all the rest of the day. This is really getting me upset, but I’ll survive and I had to get myself ready for our first mandatory floor meeting. Great opportunity to meet everyone on the floor.

The meeting is a typical group meeting. The RA’s, Ben and Tess went over the rules and we all had to introduce ourselves and say something interesting about ourselves. I also believe there was some game we played as an ice breaker. The RA’s seemed to be nice, which is good, because they were the ones I needed to watch out for when I was drinking in the dorms. I believe this was the first time I met people such as Giddee, Cory, and Jacque.

After the meeting I was walking around the hall and stopped in to talk to Ben, the kid who lived in the room directly across from mine, room 209. His roommate had yet to show up also, so, it was good to actually sit down with someone who was in the same boat as me and chat. Turns out Ben was really into music, which I was too. At the time I was into hard rock pretty hardcore. Ben enjoyed the same music, but really, he just loved all music, which was neat. He had a large Dave Matthews Band poster and I explained that was my ex Liz’s favorite band. I didn’t know too much about them except for a few songs that Liz had shared with me, along with ‘Crash’, their big hit. I later would learn to loathe DMB because apparently everyone was obsessed with this band and I like to spite. Plus, the more I listened to the music, the more it just sounded the same, and it got really, really boring to me.

Ben & I

Ben loved going to concerts and recording the shows. He showed me his collection of mini-discs. This was awesome to me, for mini-discs were the obvious wave of the future; CD’s were going to soon fade out into the mini-disc. Well, that was what we all assumed then at least.

The Sony Mini-Disc

#2. My Collegiate Life -- The Freshman Years - Moving In (09/01/2001) pt. 1

Previous Posts

The Intro

#1. My Collegiate Life - Prologue (The Night Before It All)

Early September in Wisconsin, typically nice weather and today was no exception. As the miles counted down, my nerves were going up. I am weird in the fact that I like change, but am always nervous or too scared to do it myself. I had no choice, this was it.

Knilans Hall

Finally, Whitewater, time to move into my new home. We left home early in hope to beat the move in crowd. I think everyone else had that same thought. Cars everywhere, small refrigerators, microwaves, storage containers, boxes, clothes…..this was going to be a long day competing with the elevators and small hallways space. Well, elevators were a bad idea because of the massive amounts of people fighting for its precious space, but I only lived on the second floor, so the stairs would work just fine. After taking several loads of my possessions up into the small cell that would be my room I realized that airflow in this building was going to be a problem, my word was it hot. First thing was first; we had to assemble the loft that my dad had built for my sister when she went to college. That bed was six years old and did not want to be put together easily. I was quickly jealous of everyone else that spent the extra money for the pre-made lofts that quickly snapped together. I already knew of one thing I had to change, this bed had to go.

Me Hating on My Bed

Room 215 is ready! Well, for now. My roommate had yet to show up, so I was expecting that we might have to move everything around again to accommodate his stuff. Especially since he said he would be bringing a large TV for the room. His name was Chris, we only talked once, briefly, on the phone. He told me he was going to buy a new TV and would bring an Xbox. I said I had a fridge and a microwave, so we were set. That was the phone call, a brief two minutes. I think it was pretty awkward for both parties. I was, however, very nervous about this kid because his house was literally two blocks from the dorm in which we were staying. Why didn’t he save money? Then I thought about if for a while, large TV, Xbox (at the time the latest and greatest of all video game systems), big screen TV (well 32" is about as big as a dorm can hold)…..this guy was loaded! Or so I had hoped.

Now, as I said, everything was set, everyone’s parents were leaving, so it was time for me to let go of my dependency once and for all. So, went and had supper, and said our goodbyes. Yeah, I knew I still had them to rely on if possible, but from here on out, I am in control of my life. Mwa ha ha!

I was excited with what was to be my collegiate career. I obviously knew the stories people always have about college where all anyone does is drink and have sex with every hot co-ed in sight. I obviously knew these were Hollywood fabrications, but they had to have some truth, right? There was only one way to find out! First, there was this important matter of the Wisconsin Badgers football team, they were playing Oregon in what was billed to be a great game.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

I answered the door and it was my RA (Resident Assistant) saying that I had to go to Freshman orientation. It couldn’t have been a worse time, I wanted to watch the game, but I guess I had to do what I had to do. Droves of freshmen were following the same path to the Young Auditorium for what was sure to be a boring event.

I didn’t really talk to anyone yet, I am sort of a shy person with people I am not comfortable with, but when I sat down in the auditorium the guy next to me had no problem starting a conversation. Problem, he talked like how I would picture a homosexual person to talk. I have never encountered a gay person before, so I tried to play naïve. I was trying to not think about it, but this kid was coming across flaming.

Let’s step back a bit. I grew up in what I learned to be an abnormally small town. I knew I grew up in a small town, but the reactions I would get for the following years of my life would make it seem as if I was a foreigner. To me, it is what I knew. It was a small farming town, surrounded by other small farming towns. Each town is proud of being independent of one another. The thing is with these small farming towns is there is no diversity.

Back to the auditorium with the obvious homosexual sitting next to me, talking up a hell of a conversation, mostly to himself, as I had little input. I want to get this clear, I am not a homophobe, what people do in their personal lives’ is just that, personal, but I was very, very uncomfortable for this being a complete shock to my system for a first day. Fun fact, that kid was roomed up with a guy who was a complete homophobe, it was like a sitcom in the making! Anyways, the orientation was boring, as predicted, but they said something of free ice cream, and while that Badger game was really, really important to me, I decided to grab a cone and head back right away.

When it comes to directions, I often get myself turned around. This first night, I was trying to walk back to my dorm room to finally watch the game. On my walk, I started talking with some other guy who was on his way home from the orientation. Funny story, this man happened to be black, which, wasn’t then and isn’t now a deal in any way, but once again, white, rural town. The closest thing we had to a black person in our school was a dark skinned white guy, who was our ‘token’ black guy. So, gay guy, then a black guy on my first day…our little Dustin is growing up and becoming more socially aware!

I walked the wrong direction! Yeah, walked back to the dorms with this dude, and I was on the wrong end of campus, shit! I had to hustle now; this game had to be getting over soon. I skipped through this large, torn up area that was under construction near where the visitor’s center was. I recalled my building, Knilans, was near a water tower, so using that as my guidance I was back on the right track. Sure enough, I find another person to talk with, this guy had a Badger skin on his big brick Nokia phone, so we got talking a lot about the Badgers, this guy was a huge fan and he lived on my floor, in the triple room (this room will be a significant part of my Sophomore year). Seemed like a friendship in the making right there. I am not sure I ever saw that guy again…which, is really weird considering he lived two doors down from me.

Nokia 5165 - Also My Cell Phone (best snake game ever!)

Finally, my room, still no roommate, I was able to watch a crucial point in the game, the Badgers were driving for the win, and then Nick Davis dropped what seemed to be an easy pass to catch, and cost the Badgers the game….devastating! Anyways, it was a long day, I was tired, and so I climbed up the ladder to bed. It wasn’t long before I heard many drunk voices in the hallway. I probably should have tried to party! My first night, a Saturday, in college, and I went to bed early and didn’t party, it just didn’t seem right. I could be missing out on lots of fun! I vowed I would not get shortchanged on my college experience, and peacefully went to sleep.

#1. My Collegiate Life - Prologue (The Night Before It All)

Summer 2001, possibly the greatest summer ever! At least at the time, it was the greatest summer without a doubt! Why? Life was good, I was free from the grips of high school forever, I was now a regular at the party scene (Beermitzvah anyone?), and best of all, I had a girlfriend in which I adored. However, I knew that the summer would end and I would have to go off to college. Liz, my girlfriend of about 10 months, and I had talked about what we would do once the time came, but never really put too much thought into it until the time arrived.

Highland High School (No Scuzzie Pond in 2001)

Well, eventually, the time arrived. It was the last night before I was to move into my dorm in Whitewater, WI, some two hours away. Liz was the first person I had ever been in love with, so I was confused as to what I really wanted, but we both knew what direction we would be heading, it was the most logical. She was about to start her junior year in high school, I was about to start my freshman year in college. We were going to be in complete different settings and needed to experience life in its fullest, breaking up that night was the smart choice it seemed, instead of prolonging the inevitable.

As I headed to her house that evening, I knew it was going to be a sad night but one that had to be done. We said our tearful goodbyes and promised to stay in touch. Of course, in order to make us feel better, we told ourselves that if things were meant to be with us, it would all come full circle in the end. We gave our final kisses and hugs and I left.

[Not in my original story, blog readers only ] - For those who know me, or at least the fun parts about me that you like...a large portion of that is in part to Liz...I want to throw her props on helping me break out of my protective shell and helping me live life to the fullest. Many of you know me now as the guy who will do about anything for a good time, but, and I am sure she can attest to this, I used to be more concerned with what was considered 'wrong' or 'right'. --Thank you

Liz and I - Summer 2001

Before I went home I decided I would head to the most famous of all hang out spots in my town, the church parking lot! Not many people were there, mostly the soon to be Seniors. I went there to try and clear my head after the night’s events. There I was standing in the parking lot, next thing I know it is morning and I am in my car driving to Whitewater. What the hell just happened to the last 8 hours, well obviously most of that was spent sleeping. The truth is I was so filled with different emotions that there was not enough brain power to process to my memory. I was sad to have just broken up with my girlfriend, but I was excited for my new life as an undergrad to begin. What the hell happened in the lot? I don’t remember driving home, always scary (no, I was not drinking). I certainly don’t remember getting up and getting ready in the morning, and I was still bummed over Liz. You know when I came to though? It was when I got rid of my sorrows and completely replaced it with the excitement and fear of college. I was on I-90, Southeast of Madison, and pathetic story, that was the first time I ever drove on an Interstate. It was officially time to move into the next chapter of my life. My high school days were over. College, here I come!

Snow.......Not the Guy Who Sings Informer

HOLY HELL!

Well, listen, it just snowed about a foot overnight last night. It reminds me of the 'SWITCH!!!' night in Whitewater.

Oh, well, stay tuned to my blog, the first post of my Collegiate Life Story will be posted following this. Hint, you will not read about the 'SWITCH' night for a while, so, if you are interested, then, for just read my f'ing blog all the time, religiously.

good talk

My Collegiate Life

Recently I was going through some files on my computer when I came across a story I had started writing. It was me starting to write about my college experience. I think that most people always like to think that their college experience is book or movie worthy, when in fact, it really isn't. However, I still decided to start adding on to it, for my own amusement. I then realized that it would be perfect blog fodder! The first few posts are already written, and I will probably put them up in pretty rapid succession, but it might slow down for a while as many stories still have to be written. I will still be writing about other things as well as I get more ideas or rants.

The proper thing to do is to start a whole new blog for this, but Imight jeopardize losing readership as people aren't sure where to go ever, and why lose any of my 5 readers, haha. It will always be entitled 'My Collegiate Life', so you know when the next part is. I will probably always let people know via facebook or AIM.

I am going to be fairly open on this, as this was my life and what I was thinking, so, maybe some things come out about you! haha. Anyways, this will all start the moment I get a job, which is looking good at this point in time. At that point I will unprivatize my blog for all to read again.

Stay Tuned!

MVP

Umm, CC Sabathia and Dustin Pedroia.

Cy Young

these are going to get shorter and shorter, as I have a short attention span.

American League
Cliff Lee -This guy was amazing this year and completely came out of nowhere. Everyone was expecting that CC Sabathia would repeat, but after early season struggles, the Indians performing poorly and them not coming to terms on a contract, he was traded off. If it was to be another Indian pitcher, it would have been Fausto Carmona, certainly wouldn't have thought Cliff Lee, but, it was, congrats.

National League
Brandon Webb - Late season struggles won't overshadow what he did to start the season. Though Tim Lincecum should get a nod here as well. That is it, my expert analysis.

Rookie Of The Year

This years ROY awards, are simple. I think everyone knows who will be winning in both leagues. So, here they are

National League
Geovany Soto - I spoke about him in the last post as a runner up for the silver slugger award. For the ROY, he has little competition. The closest may be Joey Votto of the Reds. What is most impressive about Soto is that he not just hot well, but controlled an amazing pitching staff. As a Brewers fan, I was hoping his ability to call games was lacking, for I knew he could hit. Unfortunately for me, he can call the game just fine.

American League
Evan Longoria - Sort of Ryan Braun effect, comes up in the bigs after a month or so, and just pounds the ball. Unlike Braun, Longoria doesn't have any close competition (Tulowitzki). He was a main part of the Rays reaching the postseason. I think you should keep an eye on this kid, superstar is written all over him

2008 Silver Slugger Awards (NL Only)

First Base

Runners Up:
Ryan Howard - After getting off to a horrid start, things weren't looking good for the superstar who was making a record $10 million arbitration contract. He deserved it though, after winning the Rookie of the Year and MVP awards, he was due some coin. However, Howard got things moving after the slump. He led all first basemen with 48 HRs and an 146 RBIs. Helped drive the Phillies into the postseason with a monster September. He whiffed 199 times though.

Lance Berkman - A model of consistency, on BOTH sides of the plate. Berkman is the heart of the Astros team. His numbers were great 106 RBI's with a .312 AVG, that gets you consideration, but someone's #'s were better.

The Winner:
Albert Pujols - While he does have almost 100 ABs less than Howard, Pujol's numbers are, as usual, amazing! He had 116 RBIs, 342 TB, 37 HR, 104 BB, with an astonishing .357 AVG. Should I even have to mention he struck out only 54 times?

Second Base

Runner Up
Dan Uggla - The Marlins were in the playoff hunt for 2/3 of the year before they finally fell back to reality. Uggla helped to give them that chance. He belted 32 HR and had 92 RBIs. Not bad for a middle infielder. He only had 5 SB though, and an ugly 171 Ks with a .260 AVG.

The Winner
Chase Utley - There really was no contest here. Utley, as expected, was the best hitting second baseman in the NL. 33 HRs, 104 RBIs, 292. AVG, and swiped 14 bags. He is a true five tool player!

Third Base

Runners Up
Aramis Ramirez - I hate to say it, but this guy can hit. His lack of hustle of course is something to be worried about if you were a Cub fan, but you can't get too upset with a guy hitting .289 with 27 jacks, and 111 RBIs. Ramirez though, should be able to put up better number than this.

Chipper Jones - This poor guy can't stay healthy. Shame too, in only 439 ABs he hit a remarkable .364 with 22 HRs and 75 RBIs. If he had a full season, this award is his for the taking.

The Winner
David Wright - Once again, there wasn't much contest here. He is easily the leader of the Mets sqaud. And while once again. the Mets managed to have a fatal September collapse, Wright's numbers helped them at least be in it until the end. 115 Rs, 33 HRs, 124 RBIs, 15 SB, 94 BBs, all while batting .302.

Shortstop

Runner Up
Jose Reyes - This is such a tough call, as there are two amazing SS's in the NL. I actually just switched Reyes from the winner to the runner up. Reyes batted a ridiculous 688 times and maintained a .297 AVG. However, if I have to look at those extra 100 ABs, how does he stack up to his main competitor. He has 17 HRs less, 1 more RBI, and 12 less runs scored. His stolen base number is 56, which is jaw dropping, but, that doesn't mean he is the best hitter, just a better runner. I am looking at it this way: in 100 extra plate appearances, he only has 1 more RBI than his closest competitor.

The Winner
Hanley Ramirez - Hanley hit a stupifying 33 HRs for a shortstop. Have you seen how big this guy is? He scored 125 times and finished with a .301 AVG. He was able to work the count often with 92 BBs (Reyes 66).

Left Field

Runners Up
Matt Holliday - I had Matt winning until I noticed one thing, he only had 290 total bases. He hit an amazing .321 over the course of 539 plate appearances. Not to mention 25 HRs and 88 RBIs. I wouldn't be surprised to see Holliday get the award, but, not in my books.

Manny Ramirez - He really stands no chance of winning, as he only played the NL for 1/2 a season. But his numbers the 2nd half, and what he did for the Dodgers are certainly noteworthy!

The Winner
Ryan Braun - I really tried to not be a Homer on this, but the numbers don't lie. I started writing why he didn't win, but I was kidding myself. He led all of MLB outfielders with 338 Total Bases! He hit 37 HR's and had 106 RBIs. While his AVG was much lower than Holliday's at .285, it is still respectable, and he did have more than 70 ABs more than Matt did.

Center Field

Runners Up
Nate McClouth - Not sure what the Pirates would have done had they not had this guy? 26 long balls and 94 RBIs with a .276 AVG. Keep an eye on this kid for the future!

Matt Kemp - Another star in the making. He stands no chance to win, but is someone of note for sure.

The Winner
Carlos Beltran - It is still baffling on how the Mets failed to make the playoffs, well at least with their batting lineup. Beltran had 303 TB , batted .284, hit 27 Homers, and batted in 112 while he himself scored 116 times. He accounted for a lot of Met runs throughout the season!

Right Field

The Winner
Ryan Ludwick - Wow, it is shocking to see how average the National League outfielders are! There is not runner up, the winner straight up goes to Ludwick! Batting .299 he hit 37 long balls and drove in 113. His 318 total bags is impressive as well.

Catcher

Runners Up
Geovany Soto - Lets not kid ourselves, this kid is going to win a few of these awards when he is said and done. He can rake! In his rookie year, he hit .285 with 86 RBIs and 23 dingers!

Russell Marten - Another extremely bright future! Hit .280 with 69 driven in

The Winner
Brian McCann - It used to be, the catcher was just about defense and controlling the pitching staff. The new wave of catchers can also hit, as seen with the two youngsters above as well. McCann hit .301, 23 HRs, 87 RBIs, and had 266 TBs. Not shabby!

Pitcher

Runners Up
Micah Owings - So, I thought he would be the winner going into this part. But apparently I was thinking of his 2007 numbers still. Also, apparently he became a Red during the whole Dunn trade, I missed that. His average for the year was still great for a pitcher well over .300 for the year.

CC Sabathia - Like Manny, stands no chance at winning. But his AVG is respectable and he hits for power, big time! If he stays in the NL, he should get 1 or 2 of these awards. 1 HR with 6 RBIs.

The Winner
Carlos Zambrano - No big shocker here. If you are the Ace of a team, and you bat .337, hit 4 HRs, and drive in 14....as a pitcher with 83 ABs! You pretty much are guaranteed this hardware.

MLB Awards

I have decided that I am going to decide who should get all the major awards in baseball this year. These are not predictions, but who I feel is the most deserving winner. I will likely have the winner and then some runners up with a description of why I chose who I chose or did not choose. I will obviously try to be objective in these awards.

Hopefully this afternoon I will be starting these awards off with the Silver Slugger awards. Then tomorrow the Rookie of the Years. I can't say for certain if I will be writing anything over the weekend, but the order will go after ROY: Cy Young and MVP. I will cover both leagues on all except the silver slugger, as I am far more knowledgeable of the NL than the AL, and breaking down every AL position wouldn't cover anything except stats, and more goes into these than stats in my opinion.

You may wonder why I would cover the Silver Slugger and not the Gold Glove. The answer is simple, there is so much more that goes in to the Gold Glove than just Fielding %, assists, and putouts. Ryan Braun has a 100% fielding percentage...0 errors! That is almost unheard of! However, he should be nowhere near anyone's consideration for Gold Glove as he took many a bad routes to the ball along with other simple things such as missing cut off men, etc. Gold Glovers, while rarely let errors happen, still do. It is their style of defense that gets factored in, and I couldn't possibly break down every fielder in the NL.

So, hopefully this afternoon, you will see the Silver Slugger awards for every NL position!

NLDS Game 1 - Brewers @ Phillies

Below is a timeline of the game and my thoughts:

1:45 - Jake and I arrive at a bar near his place called Grainger's. It was a fairly simple looking bar and grill, but had plenty of TVs to make sure no one missed a pitch, so, it would work perfect. There aren't too many people here as of now, but it is Wednesday afternoon and most people have a job (unlike Jake and I).

1:58 - I just remembered I forgot to eat lunch. This is troubling news as I have no job and should not be spending money on food. Jake notices a large wall filled with tequila, neat.

2:00 - We both agree FrankTV is just, not good.

2:07 - First pitch! We are under way.

2:08 - I ponder if Cameron will strike out, we both agree he probably will, Jake thinks looking, I say swinging.

2:09 - Yes, Cameron does strike out, looking, I win!

2:12 - Quick 3 up, 3 down. Hamels looks sharp.

2:16 - Did Rickie Weeks just flash leather? Maybe his defense won't ruin us (ha)

2:19 - Gallardo has a quick inning as well, he too is looking sharp. The bar is sort of dead right now, I think I may have been the only one cheering at this point.

2:25 - Hart still is not good....maybe later (ha)

2:27 - It is raining in Philly, will the game continue? (it does)

2:29 - I can not stand Shane Victorino's two-flapped helmet. I understand he is a switch hitter, but be normal and buy two helmets, you look retarded.

2:32 - I should be a color guy on TV. Jake asked if the rain would help or hinder a pitcher. I say that it would help a curve ball but hinder a fastball. Just a few short moments later they say the exact same thing on TV.

2:36 - The fans that spent $1,000s of dollars to sit directly behind home plate have all left to the confines of dryness. Panzy asses. If I was sitting there, they would have to pry me away after the game.

2:44 - Oh god! What a terrible play. Bill Hall bobbles it to ruin a double play, then Rickie Weeks drops the throw to first for an out. The ball hit his glove, he is absolutely terrible, I hate Rickie Weeks!

2:50 - Cameron just dropped the 3rd out scoring 2 runs.....would have been a tough catch, but it was in his webbing, tough to swallow right now how this all went down. Should have never come to this, Weeks is to blame for sure.

2:58 - Yo just walked in the 3rd run, Weeks is still to blame. In the playoffs, you can't give teams extra outs.

3:04 - We are being no hit through 4....not good

3:07 - I wonder at this point in time if Ned Yost is drunk watching the game at home, I mean smashed drunk! Dale Sveum is being interviewed and I envision a drunk and raged Yost tossing a bottle of beer through his TV. I'm sure he has another set he can watch.

3:13 - I still hate Weeks right now.

3:20 - Hart has just gotten the 1st hit of the game for the Crew...maybe he can keep it up now (ha)

3:22 - Weeks strikes out, I hate him

3:45 - Weeks = shitlist still

4:06 - Sorry for the delay, but the Brewers have nothing going for them, they suck

4:19 - Really, really gay

4:28 - Last chance, oh god

4:36 - Braun hits one down the line, 1 run in! How about a rally against Lidge, he is due for a blown save.

4:42 - Fielder has a good AB, but stikes out on a ridiculous pitch that would have been ball 4.

4:42 - Hardy is walked, WOOHOO

4:46 - Umm, Hart just struck out with two guys in scoring position....ugh he has been terrible. Brewers lose.

10:55 - Until tomorrow folks!

BREWERS ARE IN THE PLAYOFFS!

Some have waited 26 years for the Milwaukee Brewers to return to the post-season (last time in 1982). I respect those people, for I have only waited 25 years (my age), and one more year would have about drove me insane. True, I was certainly not hooting and hollering as an infant, for the Brewers at least, but I am a life long fan and have been waiting for this moment for a long, long time, as has a good majority of the state of Wisconsin.

Some of my favorite memories as a kid were going to County Stadium to watch the Brewers. This to me was my vacation, as I grew up on a dairy farm and we rarely were able to leave the farm for extended periods of time as constant work always needs to be done. But, 3-5 times a year, we would make the 2.5 hour adventure to east to Milwaukee. I remembered certain landmarks along the way, to know how close we were getting. I always enjoyed the 'Smiley Barn', which is now just red and sells Amish furniture in Delafield. I still gaze on that barn on get fond memories, as my sister and I always found it to be quite amusing to have a big bright yellow barn with a gigantic smiley face on it. The next landmark, was the Brookfield water tower off of I-94, the cylinder shaped one. That was when I knew we were just a few short miles from the wonderful County Stadium. Who would have thought I would end up living right smack in the middle of those landmarks!

I loved County Stadium, it was the only stadium I had ever known up to that point, so there was no way another stadium could be any better! Of course, there certainly were better, much better, stadiums, even at the time, but for my own nostalgia, I would beg to differ. I grew up idolizing Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Jim Gantner, B.J. Surhoff, Dale Sveum, Greg Vaughn, Cal Eldred, Teddy Higuera, Dan Plesac...and many other throughout the late 80's and early 90's. They had a good team, and even with a couple 90+ wins seasons, with no Wild Card, the poor Brewers did not ever make the postseason.

Now, 2008, a whole new batch of Brewers, and things seemed to be falling apart yet again in September, as they had in August 2007. But, as we all know, they perservered, and sucked it up when they had to in order to clinc the wild card spot for the NL Playoffs. I will tell you that my emotions were all over the place. At first, jumping and clapping and hollering like a mad man...followed by me kneeling and clutching my hands to my mouth in utter disbelief as I watched the madness ensue on the field. I went to the game the day before, hoping to see them clinch then, but it wasn't to be. But, it was every bit as sweet watching it from my living room, just pure joy!

I will try to keep up with the Brewers in the postseason on the blog. Yesterday I went to the big rally, and I have a feeling that might come up.

LET'S GO BREWERS!