Technology Free Day

Great Parenting at It's Best

Weird Al's Trapped in a Drive Thru

The Oakland Raiders QB Carousel

Hey there.  I don't usually write about football during the offseason.  It's just not the time or the place (in my opinion at least) but considering that the draft was a week or so ago and my team, the Raiders, made a few moves, I just had to let in on my thoughts.

First off, the Raiders selecting LB Rolando McClain is the best draft move in years!  After several disappointing or at least not yet productive draft picks, Al Davis finally went against picking a strong QB or a super fast WR in the first round and went with what the team needs, a tough LB to stand along side Seymour. 

Another thing that the Raiders did this offseason that raised a lot of eyebrows is their hoarding QBs.  As of right now, the Raiders have 5 QBs on their roster.  Former #1 draft pick, JaMarcus Russell has just not been what the Raiders hoped.  Al Davis selected this young man based on his arm strength alone.  Figuring that you only need someone to launch the ball down the field, the WRs would only need to run and go get it.  The "Al Davis" method, as I call it, just doesn't work.  We have all sorts of speedy receivers, but their hands are suspect.  We have a QB with a cannon arm, but doesn't have the agility or the smarts to play in the NFL.  He simply does not put in the work.  And considering that this man is getting paid millions and is failing... it's really hurting our chances in obtaining good free agents.

Now, I don't know if this is meant to scare Russell straight, but big news came in last week that the Raiders acquired QB Jason Campbell from the Redskins.  Campbell is not steller, but he gets the job done.  I strongly believe that he just wasn't a good fit for the Redskins.  Maybe he'll shine brighter now that's in the Silver and Black.  But why make a move for a QB knowing that you have Russell?  Not to mention his back up QBs Gradkowski and Frye.  And let's not forget the other QB that the Raiders acquired this offseason, QB Kyle Boller.

Why are we stocking up on QBs?  Conventional wisdom says that the Raiders are not happy with Russell and he's being replaced by Campbell.  The remaining 3 QBs will be playing for the 2 backup spots.  But now, I'm reading that owner Al Davis is not just ready to give up on Russell.  What the hell?!?!?!?

I love my team.  I'll stick with them through the Super Bowl years and through their top 10 draft selection years, but man... what the hell are you guys thinking?  We need to either cut our losses with Russell and focus on getting our team in place or get help in the Offensive Line to continue to develop Russell.  If we cut Russell, I really don't see him playing in the NFL after only 3 short years.  He's displayed some talent, but his inability to focus, to prepare, and quite frankly care about his job is detrimental to the Raiders and will more than likely be a cancer for other NFL teams as well.  What we need to do is start Campbell and have him get acquainted with the receivers.  He's glad to be a Raider.  He's glad that we went out and asked for his services.  You don't think that he'll want to succeed considering that he was in a QB controversy in Washington with QB Tavaris Jackson and new Redskin Donovan McNabb and we, the Raiders, went out there and asked him to join our team?  Play the man that wants to play.  He'll be ready, he'll be focused, and I'm sure he'll be a hell of a lot more productive than Russell has been. 

I'm sorry Russell, but my faith in you is gone.  You've had more than enough opportunities to be the one to lift the Raiders from this slump and you just have not put the effort or the heart in your position.  You've showed up to camp out of shape and unprepared and it all started to go downhill since the day you held out of your first camp to get more money, which wasn't even day 1 for you.  At this point, don't be surprised if you start being compared to Ryan Leaf.  Yeah, Russell, that bad.  best of luck to you.  Later!

I Gots Me a Blackberry

Hey there.  It was about time, no?  I've been complaining about my Dash since forever.  Slow, unresponsive, and would take forever to boot up (even after many restarts, the damn thing would just not boot up!).  I was getting extremely frustrated with it and decided long ago that I needed a new phone.  I tested the market and messed around with a few of my friends phones and finally decided on getting a Blackberry.  That Blackberry finally arrived yesterday.
 
I'll admit that I should have jumped on getting a phone sooner but I just don't like buying things for myself.  So when my wife's G1 decided it didn't want to work anymore, I ended up getting a Motorola CLIQ for her and went ahead and got a Blackberry Curve for myself.  There's not much flash in the Curve, unlike the CLIQ.  The CLIQ is touch screen, sliding keyboard, all sorts of cool apps and what not.  The Curve is what it is, a smartphone that does the Email and web thing pretty damn good.

I've only had the chance to mess around with it for a few hours but I'm pretty happy with it so far.  I'm still getting used to some of the applications and the scroller/button/thingy in middle is something to get used to, but other than that... I'm glad with my purchase.  Now... let's just hope that it doesn't turn into a Dash sometime in the near future.  Until then... Later!

4.28.10 - Update

I just realized that this thing has it's own exclusive Blackberry Messenger.  If any of you would like to add me, for whatever reason, here is my PIN for the messenger: 21F7521A  Chat with you guys soon.  Later.

Headaches with Medical Billing

Hey there.  You know what... I really hate dealing with medical bills.  If it's not one thing, it's another.  We've been in a constant battle with medical bills ever since our son was born.  We've already spent countless hours on the phone with our insurance companies to assure ourselves that we know what is covered and what was not.

First, it turns out our son was not covered... How the hell can that be when we are insured and our son should be automatically added for a month or so, to our insurance.  After a lengthy battle there, turns out he was covered and we got it taken care of.  Then we had to deal with the ear doctors since our son needs to get his hearing screened (turns our he has fluid in his ear so they couldn't do it in the hospital).  After that nightmare, we finally got "authorization", we got the appointment done and we took care of business.  Now we get a call from those same people saying we never showed up for the testing.  What the....  My wife was there... I yelled at some people there because the docs "lost the chart".  My wife took a pic of the girls near some giant ear because it would be a cool pic.  Yet... these people say were missed our appointment?!?!?!  Now we gotta call them back and set them straight... Not to mention to call back the hospital where our son was born because it turns out we owe them money for stuffs we thought was taken care of by our insurance!!!  UGH!!!!

I was pretty upset this morning when they called saying what they had to say.  I'm allowing myself some "calm down" time because I don't want to yell at these people while I'm at work.  I plan on calling after lunch and taking care of this because we were clearly under the impression that all was taken care of and we were good to go.  Now, almost 7 months after our son is born we get this call out of the blue saying we owes money.  Hell with that...  We didn't receive any bills and it's extremely upsetting that these kind of calls just spring out of no where.

Oh... and we just got a call from the school...   Turns out our daughter got whacked by a kickball.  What a way to start the week....  Later!