Backs, Tusks, Black-and-White!

I continued my progress on the rhino's back and managed to connect them together. That rhino is going to be big!

Crystal started to work on "something" and we didn't know what. It took me about 2 days of puzzle work to determine what it was ... it turns out to be the big crocodile. I stopped working on it because the zebras were going to be easy and Crystal wanted me to start working on them ...

Gah! So I thought the zebras were going to be easy. I figure all of the black and white strips were going to go the same general direction, thus identifying and placing them would be a breeze. Boy was I wrong. I spent the entire weekend (and a few work nights) working on them. Apparently there are more then 3. There are like 13 of them scattered throughout. But the main 3 were (are) freaking difficult. I still have a bunch of do. I'm not sure where all of the pieces are (if they are a bunch of them buried in the extremely large black pile).

I had the elephant tusks done for a week or so, I just forgot to take a picture. They were easy (took like 20 minutes to find and put together).

So, my progress has slowed. I guess slow and steady will eventually win the race. *sigh* another week has passed, and it looks like I haven't done much (except for the sky).

Pieces Everywhere!

This week's update features less things getting done and a larger mess all over the 'living room'. There are pieces everywhere! We've started to use those some takeout containers to put different types of pieces. Like greens, animals and fur.

I've split out the zebra pieces from the other 'animal pieces.' Crystal has started working on the zebras. Apparently there was a lot more then I originally thought!

I've gotten started on the rhino! It hasn't been as difficult as I had originally thought. Its a pretty distinct "bluish-grey" colour.

We've also been able to finish up a lot of the little plants like things. I'm not sure what they are called and have attached them to the edge. The edge is most complete and I've been finding random edge pieces in the piles as I've been sorting.

I've also got other people into puzzling .. well, one guy, Dave. Its his 30th birthday today. Happy Birthday Dave. And since its on the Internet, it must be true.

Sky Complete?

So, the last puzzle was a pain since doing the sky took forever. I decided to tackle the sky first this time. Its almost done! Plus I've finished *most* of the flamingos.

Now, I've been looking at the piles of the colours and there is a lot of black left. I think that's going to be annoying colour of the puzzle.

Here are a bunch of other things we've (Crystal and I) have been working on.

We are making some progress, I think we have completed about 1000 or so pieces ... 17,000 more pieces to go!!

Oh, by the way, rule #1 gets borken all of the time. I need to start going to be bed earlier. Shhhh, don't tell Crystal ... or my boss.

General Sorting Complete!

So, I've finished sorting 18,000 puzzle pieces ... it took about 40 hours to sort them all.

I would have been done earlier if it weren't for Rule #1 ;)

Split into 5 or so "categories" (Green, Brown/Grey, Reddish, Black, Sky/Blue, Animal Fur, Rainbow)

Oh the edge pieces are in the box! See I've already started to put things together

Puzzle Rules ....

Rule #1: No puzzling after 2 am on a work night.

At The Waterhole!

Some of you may have remembered the last crazy puzzle I did ...

It was 9,000 pieces of "The Wedding Feast of Cana."

I got a new one! Its called "At The Waterhole"!

Came in 4 bags, but you know me! Gotta mix 'em up real good before starting out!

We moved around our furniture to give ourselves more room. The finished puzzle is about 9' by 7'!

So, now I sort. I figure by Saturday I should have a few piles of pieces sorted. Hopefully all of the edge pieces! I've found a corner already!!! Its the lower passenger side corner.

The Estimate:

Based on the 9,000 piece puzzle, I figure it'll take me (and some family and friends) about 6 months. There is not anything that overly blue. The 9,000 piece puzzle took about 5 months ... but there was about 2,000 pieces of blue. That took me about 3-4 weeks alone. But I'm not sure how the massive elephant will turn out!

I hope to make frequent updates (weekly possibly?) with pictures of my progress!

Recharge with milk!

Gotta get me some chocolate milk!

http://www.rechargewithmilk.ca/event-videos.php?video=9

Pacquiao - Marquez III

Being the only boxing fan left in the world, I actually ordered the Pacquiao - Marquez PPV tonight.
And it worked. Score one for boxing (since the only other time I had attempted to order PPV was for UFC and it didn't work).

Anyways, the televised under card was very entertaining.
Luis Cruz vs. Juan Carlos Burgos
This went to decision with Burgos' well deserved win. There was a lot of good back and forth but Burgos seemed to clearly win.

Mike Alvarado vs. Breidis Prescott
Prescott was up by a large margin by the end of the 5th round it was clear Prescott was going to win if it went to cards. (Prescott was the only man to defeat my boy Amir Khan by knocking him down 54-seconds in the 1st round - so he has a lot of power). However, as the fight wore on, Alvarado was making a great come back. By the 10th (and final) round, it was clear Prescott simply needed to hang on, BUT HE COULDN'T!! The ref had to stop the fight with 90-seconds left in the fight. All Prescott had to do was last through the final round. Alvarado hit Prescott with 2 punishing upper cuts.

Timothy Bradley vs. Joel Casamayor
This was the first time I saw Bradley fight and I was unimpressed. I simply didn't enjoy how Bradley fought. He was clearly better then Casamayor (considering all of the fouls); it just seemed the fight was less then inspiring. It could have been because Bradley has not fought since January because of legal issues. In any case, Casamayor's corner threw in the towel in the 8th round as Bradley simply would have continued to beat up Casamayor. I know Bradley wants to fight Pacquiao next; however, he isn't even the best fighter in his division (KHANNNN!), so I'm hoping Bradley fights Khan next!

Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez
The fight was seemed very timid. There was a lot of nervous energy and both fighters were sort of 'feeling each other out'. There were several rounds that *could* have went either way. It went judges decision and Pacquiao was declared the winner (114-114, 115-113, 116-112). People are shouting that the match was fixed and all of that garbage; however, Marquez's corner in the 11th and 12th rounds told him that he was winning! That is a cardinal sin! If you are not the champion, you NEED to take the championship away and not just 'play safe'. There should have been far more engagement and Marquez should have attempted to control more of the fight instead of boxing defensively to 'protect the lead' that he apparently never had! Complain all you want, but Marquez should have taken it to Pacquiao. Its Marquez's fault for letting up. Marquez has no one to blame but himself.

Bridesmaids ...

... Crystal and I watched Bridesmaids. I would not normally admit this, except that I can only believe there was a reference to "The Wrong Guy". Perhaps even a homage ... one character's name is Harris ... Helen Harris.

I can only assume her character was a doctor.

Best 14-0 Loss Ever.

... Yes the Jays lost 14-0 to Boston.

But, Dustin McGowan pitched tonight!! In a Major League Baseball game!

4IP, 5H, 3R, 3ER, 3BB, 5K.

Now, 2 of the base-on-balls were in the 9th near the end of his pitch count (75 pitches). And a couple of the hits were in his 1st inning of work. I chalk them up to nerves.

In any case, he is back! Dustin McGowan is back!!!!!11

He is the epitome of "Hustle and Heart." I think I teared up little ...

He is back!!!

After 3+ years (July 8, 2008) Dustin McGowan has returned to the majors!
The Jays activated him today! I'm going to be watching tonight.

Welcome Back McGowan!

Longest Tenured Blue Jay!

I went to the game tonight with Lee and we discussed the deal that sent John McDonald and Aaron Hill to the Arizona Diamondback. Now, get who is the longest tenured Blue Jay?

Yes that's right! DUSTIN McGOWAN.

So, what's the plan for McGowan? It seems that he will have a couple more starts in the minors and will be called up to the Majors (hopefully start). If he starts, you can bet I'll be in the stands (if its in Toronto).

I'm Falling Behind!!!!!!

Work has been so busy that I have not been able to keep everyone up to date on Dustin McGowan's progress!

His 5th start was much like his 3rd start:
2 1/3 IP, 2H, 0R, 2 BBs and 4Ks

Tonight, he started his 6th game of the season!
3 IP!, 3H 1R, 1ER, 0 BB and 2 Ks.

That's 3 innings! Good progress ... fingers crossed!
Hopefully in September we can see him!?!?!

Excitement must stay contained ....

Khan!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

Tomorrow on HBO at 10:00 pm.
Amir Khan versus Zab Judah! Unification fight Jr. Welterweight championship.

And I think I'm the only one that cares.

If anyone else does ... swing by my house as I'll be watching with great interest (Crystal will be watching too).

My prediction: Khan KO 5th round.

Go Khan Go!!

McGowan's 4th Start ....

2.2 IP, 1H, 0R, 1 BB, 3K

Lookin' good! Seems that he had a lot of good downward motion on his pitches since all of the non-strike outs were all ground outs.

I'm guessing the next start is going to be similar to this. Must ... be ... patient ...

New Saying ...

... if it turns green add chlorine. And LOTS OF IT!

My pool is now blue!

New Toy ...

... I just got a new blood glucose meter.

I've been with the Abbott FreeStyle line since I was diagnosed in early 2008. But the new Contour USB Meter caught my attention about a year or so ago when it was initially approved by the FDA. The device intrigued me as it was a USB stick. And I HATE keeping my readings via a log book with a pen and paper. I figure that I would simply print out my readings for the last 2 weeks for my doctorb. Ie. less work for me! I finally took the plunge and purchased one for $64.99 today!

I haven't done much with it. I took a reading ... I love the strips! You can actually see the blood fill in the little compartment so you know if there are enough blood, unlike the FreeStyle strips, as it seems that I would simply attempt *guess* if there is enough blood. Other then that, its currently charging and I haven't been able to access the on device software (since I some how uninstalled JRE on my Mac). Once I fix that I'll probably have more to review. But its late and I just remembered I have a tech spec to write for work ... so I'm going to do that and then see if I can get things to work ...

Start #3

Dustin McGowan's Road to Recovery as taken another step!

My favourite Blue Jay has made his 3rd start for the Dunedin Blue Jays today. His line:
2.0 IP, 2 H, 1R, 1ER, 0 BB, 1 K.

A good days work for him. I'm looking forward for his next start. Maybe 3 innings!?!

I couldn't find the numbers for the number of pitches though ...

Must .. Contain ... Excitement ...

.... Dustin McGowan's road to recover took another large step last Saturday. First start in the Florida Coast League (Single-A), he only went 2/3rds of an inning and gave up 3 runs on 3 hits. Walked 1 and struck out 1. Pitched 34 pitches. He was on a strict 35-pitch pitch count (or 2 innings).

Tonight, he went 2 innings, no hit, 2 strikeouts and 2 walks. 4 ground ball outs. It was a good start. Same restrictions (35-pitch pitch count or 2 innings).

I've read for his next start, the pitch count is going to be increased to 40 or so pitches (maybe 3-innings?).

Can't ... get ... too ... excited ... but ...

Boxing ...

... I think I'm the only person who still watches boxing.

Tomorrow on HBO at 4:45 pm: David Haye versus Wladimir Klitschko!