Last night my wife, me and my sister in law took my mother in law out for her birthday. We went to Outback Steakhouse. I made a complete pig of myself on a slab of rib-eye steak that should have fed a small country. We mostly eat fish and chicken because we watch fat and cholesterol among other things. One thing is for sure though. Since we don't go out to eat that often, when we do I toss the rules out the window.

Hey an update on my ESPN Fantasy Baseball team The Blake Street Baying Beagles. The Beagles have moved from 10th place to 7th place. I credit our success to two things. Firstly, somehow I ended up with Albert Pujols of St. Louis. Probably the best player in the game right now, secondly I purchased a copy of Baseball for Dummies. The second reason may indicate why we were in last place to begin with. I haven't really followed baseball for over 20 years. I had no clue anymore what ERA, WHIP, SLG or OBP meant or even when the count is 2 and 1 is it 2 strikes and 1 ball or 2 balls and 1 strike. It has actually been kind of cool though. Watching a baseball game fits my more relaxed slower mental pace. What is really cool is that I remember my dad teaching me these things when I was a kid. When there is a runner on first and the batter gets a base hit the force out is at 2nd. Of course the batter needs to be careful not to hit into a double play. It actually helps me in a cognitive way to process as many options as I can as I watch a game.

Funny, if I try to do any engineering stuff that was my career it ends in nothing but frustration, but sometimes like I wrote above I can remember the smallest things from my childhood. Also as I think about it, if I had to chose I would rather remember my Dad teaching me the finer points of playing first base than how to abstract a computer algorithm so it can be used in a generic way. Thanks Dad for all the important and meaningful stuff!!!