January 2002 Newsletter
Happy New Year! The holidays are finally over and college football is coming to a
close, while the NFL is getting ready for the playoffs. Too bad the New York Giants
couldn't get into one of those wild card slots. At least Michael Strahan got the
sack record for the year against Green Bay. Well, where do we begin for the month
of January? First off, Merri Beth and I spent New Year's Day together taking down
Christmas stuff. The lights came off the house and the tree came down and went back into
the attic. I had to work that day, but didn't have to go into the office, I was just on
pager duty. I didn't get any calls but was ready if one came in.
Katie, my sister, finally started her second semester at N.C. State. She was having trouble with
her financial aid and started classes a week late. She brought over SSX Tricky for
Play Station 2 and everyone in the house was getting Tricky. I finally got a ranking
of Master on the game with the character Zoe. Bates is really close but got stuck at
the same place that I was stuck at in the Alaska location. MB is playing catch-up but
has as much fun as we do.
My good friend Margie gave us a call and invited us to dinner. MB, Bates and myself
ventured up to North Raleigh and had a delightful lasagna dinner. Afterwards we caught
up with each other and then headed out to downtown Raleigh. I wanted to check out a new
place so we decided on Tir Na Nog, an Irish Pub. I love Irish pubs, I always have good
times at them. In fact, another good one in Raleigh that we go to is called Rira's.
Tir Na Nogs was cool, it was a $3.00 cover (Friday night) and the band was pretty good.
We sat on the opposite side on the band so we could actually hear each other talk. We
bumped into Ward Blanchard, oddly enough, who is attending UNC Chapel Hill. We went to
high school with both his brothers Tom and Gorden.
So the time has come, Round 1, ACC Season, Mens NCAA Basketball. Duke University
versus N.C. State University! We decided that since the game was sold out, we would have
a small N.C State party. We cooked up some food and called some friends. We had a good
show of people, but it wasn't enough support to help State beat the Dookies. NCSU lost
76-57. Can we ever beat Duke in the Raleigh E.S.A. [Entertainment & Sprots Arena].
My dad, Scott, came into town on the weekend of January 19th. He installed
a garage
door opener in the house. We went to go see Blackhawk Down on Saturday night
but it was sold-out. We ended up seeing Ocean's 11 instead. It was a pretty
cool movie with a star-studded cast, but seemed to develop really slow.
I've had the last couple of Monday nights off so we've been sighted at
The Flying Saucer for pint nite.
Every beer on tap is only $2.50 and I've been working towards my UFO club membership.
The Flying Saucer has a deal where you can get credit for 3 beers a night, and when you
reach 200, you get a $100.00 party for you and your friends. Most importantly, you
will be immortalized on The Ring of Honor with a personalized plate dedicated
to you! 15 down, 185 to go.
My buddy Steve came over and wants my help with getting his website started. He wants
to start an online photography business. He's got a lot of good pictures and some
great ideas. I will give you more information about his sight when it's complete later
this year.
How about a 4 day shutdown. The doctor said I had "flu-like" symptoms, I had
a fever as high as 102. The fever finally broke and I am on the road to recovery.
Well I finally got better and enjoyed some unusually warm weather that we had here
in Raleigh. We've had a 6 day stretch of 70 degree weather and it's been lovely. I got
into the back yard and began raking up and clearing out some of the wooded area. I also
was able to get Dot over to Lake Johnson for a couple days to enjoy the trail around
the lake.
MB and I were able to get tickets to the Wake Forest vs. N.C. State game thanks to Rob.
The game was awesome and both teams played well. We would have had a better time if
State could have pulled out the win. They went on a 14-5 run in the last few minutes to
pull within 2 points. It was SO loud in the E.S.A that I don't think Wake Forest knew
what was going on. Miller went inside on the last play and couldn't pass the ball back
out to Grundy or Hodge for the win. Bummer. See the January results of N.C. State's
basketball season below.
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