It’s been two weeks since I’ve been to the gym and it’s not because I haven’t had the time. Things have been moving along fine with work and all but I definitely could make time to get there. The problem is the same as always. I start out fine but after a while lose interest until I’m paying for something I never use, the membership of 85 or so bucks a months. Lifetime Fitness is great and I have no complaints but I’m lacking the dedication needed here.  Spending money each month for something I don’t use seems foolish to me. I’m in a funk here with the fitness thing all around which unfortunately includes proper diet.

For the record there is nothing appealing AT ALL to me about “wrestling” via Friday night smack down, WWE/WWF or whatever they call it these days. If that’s your thing well good for you. This article however does interest me considering it features one helluva’ fighter and how he beats up some big monster. So I know it’s all fixed and totally, for the most part, planned out.

My reason for this post is I can only hope and pray the day will soon come when they allow lions, swords, spears and the such in the ring. The glory days of real gladiator style fighting should return and you better believe it would bring in monster crowds of people frothing at the mouth for the chance to see some guy with a sword or knife sticking out their neck. Or better yet a lion tearing apart some fearless fool limb from limb.

ORLANDO, FLORIDA (TICKER) —The best pound-for-pound fighter had a successful debut in the wrestling ring Sunday.

WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather defeated the seven-foot, 441-pound Big Show at the Florida Citrus Bowl by virtue of a knockout at WrestleMania XXIV.

At 5-8, 159 pounds, “Money” Mayweather overcame nearly a 300-pound disadvantage, courtesy of his right hand and some dubious tactics.

After attempting to play cat-and-mouse with the Big Show for much of the match, Mayweather found himself in trouble when the “world’s largest athlete” wrapped his hands around the boxer’s neck.

But Mayweather countered with a kick to the giant’s groin and – due to the stipulation that “anything goes” – repeatedly hit the Big Show in the head with a steel chair.

The six-time champion then finished off his opponent by putting brass knuckles on his right hand and delivering one big punch to the jaw.

After the Big Show went down, the referee ruled him out at the count of 10, setting off a celebration from Mayweather and drawing loud boos from the 74,635 in attendance.

The match was one of the highlights at the event. The WWE is looking to break the wrestling pay-per view record of 1.2 million buys – set at last year’s WrestleMania.

Mayweather owns the boxing pay-per view record with 2.4 million buys for his victory over Oscar De La Hoya last May.

The Mayweather-Big Show rivalry began at “No Way Out” in February, when Big Show taunted the six-time boxing champion, and Mayweather responded by bloodying the giant and breaking his nose.

Mayweather, a long-time WWE fan and friend of wrestler Rey Mysterio, was in attendance, but couldn’t stand by and watch Big Show destroy Mysterio.

Big Show was returning to WWE after a 14-month absence that night, and his melee with Mayweather sparked headlines around the world. But it also left him embarrassed, so he challenged Mayweather to the fight, and the speedy boxer readily accepted.

I know I bitch enough about our weather but today’s temperatures are a sign of good things to come. But right now I am on the fence with this because I would rather it be a high of 40 and sunny than a high of 57 and raining. It’s that time of years here, April showers bring May flowers. I guess when it comes down to it for me I need actual sunlight over heat. Have you ever noticed how it can be cold outside but with the sun being bright it always seems less cold? Saturday was a prime example of this with temps in the low 40’s but with bright sunshine.  Today I should be out at the botanical gardens taking photos but it’s dreary and muddy so instead I will fold laundry in our equally dreary basement.

A temperature of 57 is the highest temperature we’ve seen in at least five months. Did I forget to mention this winter brought the fourth largest amount of show in Michigan history? At least that’s what someone at work told me.

Seriously I think this is a great idea. My woman might not be down but I’m thinking about the money we could save and the good stuff I could get. So anyone wanna go dumpster diving with me?

The drive out to Chicago was a complete nightmare with heavy snow and we passed at least 25 cars either in ditches or being pulled out of them. We pretty much spent most of the trip going under 50MPH making it a long stressful drive. Fortunately around the time we got out of Michigan the ground was wet but there was minimal snow so I got to make up some time. Really I was worried about arriving at our friends house late which would suck considering she was making dinner. When we arrived I was promptly given a Guinness ; ) and shortly after dinner was served, and delicious. Unfortunately I was tired as hell and went to bed a little early, sorry Kirsten. But I must say I love love love that bed.

We made an amazing discovery over the weekend. Chicago buses are not only clean but WAY cheaper than a taxi! So it’s not an amazing discovery but certainly a learning experience brought on by the encouragement of my wife. Heading out to the Science and Industry museum on Saturday we decided to take a taxi on the way there which put us back 20 bucks. When we arrived we saw a bus dropping people off so Kristen thought it might be a good idea to look into taking the bus to our next destination. I’m definitely more likely to just take a cab instead of trying to figure out what bus goes where but she looked at the various routes and determined which one we needed. The end result, less than two buck each to get where we wanted to go which was ever further back than the initial taxi ride.

That’s not the only “amazing discovery” of the trip. Heading to the hotel we saw a parking garage advertising weekend parking for 15 bucks, a huge savings from the 45 or 50 we paid last time at the hotel. The only catch was you had to leave your vehicle there unless you wanted to pay to get back in. We managed to get around that later on though when we decided the 15 bucks was worth not taking a taxi to a warehouse party later that night. The attendant said he would only charge us 10 bucks to take the car out for a few hours but when we got back to the structure, around 3AM, there wasn’t anyone around so we just parked.

The Base Camp party was held in a warehouse that seemed more like an art studio to me which is a far cry from the old school warehouse parties in Detroit. This place was clean and had a bathroom so I’m pretty sure it was a legal party despite the fact they didn’t announce the location until that day. The people at the party were all pretty cool with absolutely no problems that I saw and the drinks were cheap as hell. Fortunately I exercised moderation and limited myself to three drinks so I was buzzed but not drunk.

Some reviews:

Science and Industry Museum–   I was really excited about checking this place out having seen some of its attractions online. Sadly when we arrived we found out there’s a general admission and the really neat exhibits are extra. We decided on the general admission but a good amount of things were not even available. For me I thought it was just a lot of filler with not enough really interesting things. There were however a couple things I thought were cool. The exhibit that shows the various stages of a baby developing was creepy but interesting as heck. I’m not saying there were no cool things but I wasn’t impressed overall.

Palmer House Hilton– This place is beautiful and deserves a little time walking around and looking at the design which unfortunately we didn’t do either time. Our first visit was in a general room but it was still nice except for the fact it was near a utility closet. The building attendants were in and out of this closet all night which preventing me from sleeping more than a few hours. As a result we were given a free night in an executive suite. This room was so nice, complete with a bar, huge bed, complementary snacks, drinks and breakfast. Our next visit to the Palmer House will definitely be in the executive suite.

Oriental Theater – We went here last month to see Wicked which was really good other than the humor which I thought was a little cheesy. The theater was amazing with an incredibly intricate design throughout. I could spend an entire day just looking at the ceiling of this place.

Uno Chicago Grill – This place exists in several places, even in our area, but after reading several reviews online I thought this would be the right choice for us. We went straight here after the museum and walking in we could see there would be a wait as the front entrance was packed with people. After being told there was a 45 minute wait we placed our order, deep dish number one, and Kristen suggested we wait at the bar. We each finished about half our glass of beer when we were able to get our table which was only 20 minutes. Waiting for our pizza to arrive we decided to get onion rings. By the time we finished those I think we would have been satisfied with that alone and when the pizza arrived we were able to eat only one slice each. Unfortunately I can’t remember the street but the Uno’s we went to was great all around.

It’s good to be home but I’m looking forward to our next Chicago visit.

  AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – A shoplifter looking to make a quick getaway from a Dutch supermarket after stealing a packet of meat left police a crucial piece of evidence — his 12-year-old son.

In his haste the 45-year-old thief made a solo dash to his car, batting away a supermarket worker who had flung himself on the vehicles’ bonnet in a bid to stop the escape.

Police in the southern Dutch town of Kerkrade said they managed to contact the thief via the boy, but he had refused to return and collect his son. The man told officers to get hold of the youngster’s mother instead.

The thief later turned himself in Thursday, a police spokeswoman said.

(Reporting by Alexandra Hudson; Editing by Matthew Jones)

First off for this guy to simply steal a packet of meat tells me he and his son were having a hell of a time making ends meat, no pun intended, and just wanted something to eat. I’m not at all saying he was in the right because it’s wrong to steal but damn I feel bad for him and his kid, enough so I wish I knew his address so I could send him something. Second, what kind of idiot would throw himself on the hood of a car for some damn meat!?!? It’s just MEAT and it’s not even yours making it totally not worth having your head run over. In the end you come out not the hero who saved the day but the jerk who probably lost his job for being such a liability. Either way if you’re going to rob a store for a flank ALWAYS be sure you either don’t take this kids or just leave them in the car.

For some reason this store has me craving meat!

The cold gloomy weather has got me down like a mofo this weeks. Each day I plan to do this or that but it seems like all my energy is just drained despite the good amount of sleep I’ve been getting. Perhaps it’s just that, I’m getting more sleep than I’m used to and it’s making me tired. The real reason I think is just the weather here which is blotting out the anticipation of Spring.  Looking at the forecast into next week I know it’s going to get progressively warmer but it’s just not fast enough for me.

My view from the couch