I usually spend a lot of time on the Chicago Blackhawks Message Board, but had to step away for a few days. Ever since the Hawks squandered a 4-goal lead in the third period and lost in a shootout to Minnesota and then came home and dropped another game 3-1 to the Ducks, Hawks fans have been on the ledge, worried that the season is over. I felt like I should be posting some suggested treatments for depression to talk them all down! So the team lost two winnable games… I was sure they’d use it as a learning experience.

And that’s precisely what they did, coming back for a 3-0 shutout win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Granted, the Blue Jackets are cellar dwellers this year, but whatever. In hockey, you take momentum wherever you can get it. The Hawks now lead the league with 8 shutouts on the season, and remain in first place in the Western Conference.

Saturday marks the start of a very long road trip. Let’s hope the momentum carries through!

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

I don’t pay much attention to the news. I never watch TV news, and I don’t subscribe to any papers. I have Yahoo set as my homepage, so I just scan their headlines whenever I land there.

What I want to know is why there was no mention of the “Tea Party” protest from this past September 12?? Tens of thousands of protesters descended on the Capitol to protest the direction this country is heading in. This wasn’t just a march against health care, it also was a protest against higher taxes, government intervention in big business, the growing federal debt, etc.

I’ve seen pictures of the event, and it looks like it was a major gathering. But I didn’t see a single article about it on Yahoo at all during the weekend. In fact, I actually found out about the protests on the Daily Mail site — a UK newspaper! Why is that??

Anyway, the Daily Mail says “up to 2 million” people converged on the Capitol, but further research showed that no one can quite agree on how many were there. I’ve seen low estimates at around 30,000 as well, so who can tell.

Well, since I’m not exactly sleeping anyway, I might as well get up and get this day started. I’ll head out for my walk/jog, then come back, down a weight loss supplement for “breakfast”, get the family ready for work and school, and then settle in for my day. I’ve got a lot of schoolwork to do, including a paper that has to be written by Sunday night (just 3 pages, fortunately), and then some freelance work that I’m behind on for one of my long-term clients.

By the time I finish that stuff, I’m sure I’ll be ready to crash for a two- or three-hour nap! Still, I have to stay focused today because I’ve got plans for the weekend and won’t be around to finish this stuff up. I have to get it done by tomorrow night.

I got a flier in the mail today about a home improvement store that just opened up around here. It’s not one of the “big box” chains, thank goodness, and actually looks like a pretty decent place. They carry everything from light bulbs to discount faucets, lumber, and fencing.

We need a couple of small items for the house, including a new hammer and miscellaneous hardware to repair some broken kitchen cabinet handles, so maybe we’ll go check out the new store this weekend. The prices look comparable to other places, so why not give the new guy a fair chance!

Jerry has wanted a PlayStation 3 ever since the console came out back in 2006. He is a pretty hardcore gamer, and has several other systems at home, so I wasn’t surprised that he wanted this one as well. But the problem for us was always the price, as the PS3 is considerably more expensive than other units on the market. So we decided to wait on the purchase.

Now, nearly three years later, I think we’re finally ready to take the plunge. The price has indeed come down a bit, with the PlayStation 3 80GB model costing less than a 60GB unit did a little while ago. But what’s even more important to Jerry these days is that the PS3 game library is significantly larger than it was three years ago. The worst scenario for a gamer would be to plunk down a lot of cash for a great system only to be stuck playing the same two titles over and over again because there’s nothing else available. But it looks like this won’t be an issue anymore.

So after doing some shopping, I found the 80GB PS3 on Sale at Buy.com for $398.99. That’s as good of a price as we’re going to get for a brand-new console, so we might as well go for it. As added incentive, Buy.com offers free shipping on this product and we can even get another $30 off the total price just by applying for a Buy.com Visa card. I’ve seen that credit card offer before, but never took advantage of it. This might be the perfect time to do it, though!

Usually, I’d balk at spending this much money on a non-essential item, but I know that Jerry will use the PS3 almost every single day, so it’s not like this thing will just collect dust in the corner of the living room. And as long as we get our money’s worth, I’m ok with the purchase!

I just upgraded to the latest version of WP and need to test the results….

The Philadelphia Phillies won what has to be the most anticlimactic Game 5 ever in World Series history. This game began Monday night, when the start was delayed several hours because of rain. The two teams were able to play to a 2-2 tie through 5 1/2 innings before the game was suspended. Inclement weather on Tuesday prevented the game from being continued then, so it wasn’t until Wednesday night that the teams picked up right where they left off — in the bottom of the sixth.

Three and a half innings later, closer Brad Lidge nailed down the 4-3 victory, and the Phillies won their first World Series championship since 1980.

While I’m glad that someone other than the Yankees or Red Sox won the title, I was really hoping that the Rays could take this one. The Phillies seem like such a boring team that I couldn’t get behind them and wasn’t happy for their win. I guess it was nice to see Jamie Moyer, a former Cub, get a ring after all this time in the majors, but other than that, there was no compelling angle to the Phillies win.

Anyway, now the baseball season is finally over. The new champs can go on their customary Disney vacations (or is that just for Super Bowl winners?), the Rays can go home satisfied with their complete turnaround this season, and everyone can look forward to next year.

Time to focus on football, basketball, and hockey now!