Rob Williams - Orangejack

You may have noticed that the background of this blog has turned black. There's a reason.

This blog is dead.

But fear not. For Rob has a new place!

Come check it out. Be sure to reset your RSS feeds also!

Good friend of mine and fellow blogger, Tom Seely, is a missionary in Budapest and having to deal with a serious delima. Please pray.

From his blog today:

The news from Dr. Varga wasn't good. I have a severely Herniated Disk between L5 & S1 (if that means anything to you). He said that it can't be helped by therapy and that we should move quickly towards surgery. Valerie & I will go tomorrow morning to meet with him and discuss the situation.

Now the big decision. I never imagined myself having surgery in Hungary. If I did, I wanted to do it at the Private Hospital in the country that caters to Westerners like me. It appears that if I have this surgery done here, it will be in a city hospital that looks like something from 50 years ago. I have total confidence in the doctor because he is a leading expert in the field and does these surgeries all the time. I don't have confidence in the hospital where I'll have to spend 3 or so days recovering. Having surgery and being in the hospital is stressful in the US and it seems like adding language barriers, cultural differences, etc .. . will increase that level significantly.

On the other hand, should I return to the US to do the surgery? That means a long plane flight (this whole thing got really bad on the last plane flight I took), and probably a long stay in the US in order to recover. It would be difficult to be away from my family that long.

CU Sporting News » Clemson - USC moves to post-Thanksgiving date

This is interesting...and some interesting reasons for it. I think it'll be fun. New Thanksgiving tradition of having chicken with my turkey.

But I don't want a turducken.

Thanks to my sister-in-law's inspiration, I've been published by Why Go?

Check it out...Casa Mila Roof

Ashley Falls



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For my flight today the lines were long to check in. Nothing new. But I found a great thing in the Orlando airport as a result.

In Orlando they have one set of kiosks to check in for those not checking bags. There were four self-help terminals for us with carry-on bags only. Only three of us checking in with four terminals.

Check-in took less than three minutes...counting "standing in line".

More airports and more carriers should have this! Thanks, Ted and MCO!

I'm trying to figure out where can I download mp3s inexpensively. But here's my requirement...I don't want to download software. I just want to grab the mp3 file myself.

Any suggestions?

In the morning I'm getting up early and going to the airport. There I'll fly to Chicago's O'Hare airport. I'll ride a shuttle to a hotel. In that hotel I'll eat all my meals, attend a conference, and sleep. On Thursday I step out of the hotel onto a shuttle to take me back to the airport where I'll fly back to Orlando.

Though my ticket says I'm going to Chicago, it almost doesn't count.

But I will be back in time for Survivor.

Oh man, you've gotta check out mashuptown.com. It's like old school DJ mixes of songs. Some of them really rock! A few of my favs so far:

• It Takes A New Sensation
• Vertigo Tripper
• The Doors Take a Walk Down Sesame Street
• Spending One of These Nights with Kelly
• Sharp Dressed Party (my favorite)

It's halftime of the Clemson/Maryland game. We're down 7-10. I wanted to give some first half thoughts...

• Last week we had a problem punching the ball in for a TD. This week our problem is getting into scoring position.
• We put together a great opening drive that went 80 or so yards and took about 7 minutes. Ended with our only TD. Very nice.
• On that drive we were pounding the run. It was 2nd and Goal on the 2. I think we should have called a pass.
• Our DE looks good in the red-zone. But they've been burned twice on the long ball.
• Horrible snap on a punt gave MD great field position but the Tigers stepped it up and only gave up 3.

If we won't get burned on the long ball and get the O working good drives again, I think we'll pull this one out.

CU Sporting News has a good preview of this game.

UPDATE: Clemson pulls it out! Whew! Man, I don't like how we keep winning close games. but we're winning! 2-0 on the season so far and more importantly, 1-0 in the ACC!

I was glad to see Clemson go downfield on a pass or two. Finally connected and we got a TD out of it. Our running attack is looking good...really good.

Oh man...next week we host Miami. This is going to get good!

UPDATE: Per usual, CU Sporting News has a good recap.

Falling Waters



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Well, she made it to hurricane status today. Who knows where she's going. My bet is she'll loop around and come through Florida still around St. Augustine.

Here's something interestingly cool. I know that Ophelia is almost 100 miles north-east of Orlando. We're close enough to where we get wind (avg 15-20 mph) and rain often. We're far enough away so that the "fury" isn't here all the time. What that means is quite often (like on the way to work this morning) you can look at the sky and see bands of clouds moving very fast out of the NE.

In a way it's kind of cool. You look at the satellite and know it spins, but when you're near the center of a hurricane, you can't tell it's spinning. It just comes hard and fast. But on the edge, you can really see how it cranks.

Interesting side-note about a possible Katrina effect in Central Florida: I was talking to a friend about the housing market here. It's in a real boon. But there is a shortage of "quality workers" on site. There's a fear that the quality workers may jet for the Gulf effected by Katrina because there may be more money to be made. If that happens, the boon could slow...or crappy houses will be built.

The NFL season starts tonight with Oakland taking on New England. I can't wait.

This also means the 2005 season of the East Coast Football Club will begin tonight. My Orlando Chupacabras are going to reek havoc – or just reek. We’ll find out which soon enough.

Time to spot the ball in the NFL and ECFC!

All my Aggie friends have been curiously quiet this week. I bet they won't like this video either: This is my BOOMSTICK!

Sorry folks, but for a while if you leave a comment, you'll have to jump through one little hoop now. You must type in a code provided by blogger to leave the comment. I'm going to see if this will slow down the spammers. Ugh.

A friend of mine just bought a Dell laptop off eBay cheap. She has no money and an MSN account. Another friend of mine is trying to get her new laptop setup cheaply.

It got me thinking...what are the free and/or inexpensive tools/downloads they should be checking out for protection, entertainment, and personal management?

I thought of some already such as:

• Yahoo's email, calendar, etc
• BackPack for organizing projects
• Flickr for photo sharing
• del.icio.us for web bookmarking
• Spybot for spyware
• Maybe OpenOffice for software?
  

That's all I can think of right now. What else can be added to the list?

Hey everyone, I set up a league in Yahoo to play "Survivor Football". All you do is each week you pick just one NFL team you think will win that week. If you're right, you advance to next week. If you miss, you're out (until we're all out and I reset the group...did it three times last year).

If you want in, leave a comment today. I'll send you the invite. Since the NFL kicks off tomorrow, the deadline to make your pick is tonight.

Bummer. It was by far my favorite old sitcom.

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Tuesday, September 06, 2005 2:43 PM
Subject: CNN Breaking News

-- Actor Bob Denver, 70, of TV's "Gilligan's Island" fame has died, his agent tells The Associated Press.

Time for Central Floridians to watch Tropical Storm 16. She may very well become Tropical Storm Ophelia. Hopefully nothing worse. But she's heading towards the Daytona area just south of St. Augustine Beach.

National Hurricane Center / Tropical Prediction Center

Is Jerry Rice the GOAT? Maybe. But what I'm wondering is now that he's retiring, how much would it cost (and hurt) the 49'ers to bring him in for one more home game? Suit him up, put him in. Let him go out as a '9er.

Or maybe that's too embarrassing for him? I dunno. I heard someone on the radio today say that Rice wouldn't be so great if he didn't have Montana and Young. Well, that's true. But you know what? Montana and Young wouldn't be as great as they were without Rice.

Goodbye, Jerry. I don't know if you're the GOAT or not, but you are one of the very best the NFL has ever seen.

I posted this last year and thought I'd post it again to get ready for the new season.

Orangejack Blog: BCS Mess :: aka Rob's Blog

What are your thoughts?

This is fun. What's your pick? It must be in before the season starts Thursday. I'm going with Panthers beating Colts (at least that's what I'm pulling for...though more likely it'll be the other way around if those two are in it). This came from an email from draftsharks.com

** Today we've gathered Super Bowl XL predictions from NFL analysts all over the country:

Steve Young (ESPN) – Colts over Vikings
Mark Schlereth (ESPN) – Ravens over Vikings
Mike Golic (ESPN) – Colts over Falcons
Joe Theismann (ESPN) – Steelers over Redskins
Chris Mortensen (ESPN) – Eagles over Colts
Merrill Hoge (ESPN) – Colts over Falcons
Len Pasquarelli (ESPN) – Patriots over Falcons
Michael Smith (ESPN) – Rams over Patriots
Paul Zimmerman (SI) – Panthers over Colts
Peter King (SI) – Patriots over Vikings
Tony Moss (Sports Network) – Patriots over Vikings
Brian Baldinger (FOX) – Chiefs over Eagles
Ron Borges (MSNBC) – Colts over Panthers
Jeremy Green, Scouts Inc. – Colts over Vikings
Dan Arkush (PFW) – Panthers over Jets
Paul Attner (TSN) – Colts over Eagles
Chris Bahr (TSN) – Colts over Panthers
Dan Pompei (TSN) – Eagles over Colts
Vinnie Iyer (TSN) – Panthers over Jets
Arnie Spanier (TSN) – Falcons over Colts
'War Room' (TSN) – Colts over Falcons
J. Brockerman (UltimateCapper.com) – Colts over Cowboys
'Gridiron Goose' (EFS News) – Eagles over Patriots
Adam Nelson (SportsColumn) – Colts over Vikings
Howard Balzer (Lindy's) – Patriots over Falcons
John Pezzullo (Sports Ticker) – Patriots over Eagles
Lenny Pappano (Draftsharks) – Vikings over Chiefs
John Miller (Draftsharks) – Falcons over Bills
Marty McDonald (Draftsharks) – Chiefs over Eagles
Lary Bump (Draftsharks) - Colts over Eagles

** Here are the top-16 teams according to Vegas, ranked by fixed odds (for recreational purposes only):

1. Indianapolis Colts: 13/2
2. New England Patriots: 13/2
3. Philadelphia Eagles: 7/1
4. Carolina Panthers: 16/1
5. Atlanta Falcons: 16/1
6. Minnesota Vikings: 16/1
7. Pittsburgh Steelers: 18/1
8. Baltimore Ravens: 20/1
9. New York Jets: 25/1
10. Buffalo Bills: 33/1
11. Kansas City Chiefs: 33/1
12. Jacksonville Jaguars: 33/1
13. San Diego Chargers: 40/1
14. Denver Broncos: 40/1
15. Seattle Seahawks: 40/1
16. St. Louis Rams: 40/1

Fantastic Litany for Katrina used this week.

Feel free to continue the litnay in the comments.

Lord, hear our prayers.

This photo comes from someone in Pass Christian, Mississippi. Sometimes photos really are worth 1000 words emotions.

Virginia Tech beat NC State tonight 20-16. Glad to see them win. But man, watching the game on TV was a pain. The announcers must have reminded us of Marcus Vick's legal problems about 15 times. Good heavens! They must have not had anything to talk about. Oh, and that Marcus is Michael's little brother. I think they showed Michael as much as they showed Marcus...and Marcus was playing the game!

But the Hokies win. Good deal.

Here's an article on how the Clemson/Texas A&M game went. I have to say though, I'm excited and bummed about what I saw...when I saw it.

A friend of mine and I went to a place to watch the game with the Clemson alum in Orlando. We got there right at kickoff but it wasn't on TV. They were still showing the Florida game. Then the dude turned off the UF game and went to us. Well, that made everyone mad! Then he put our game on a small TV, then moved it to another TV, then back to a large screen that we couldn't see. It was a mess. By then a third of the first quarter was over and we had seen about 3 plays.

So we left. We got to another place and got a screen once the UF game was over. That was about 10 minutes left in the half.

Then in our last drive (the game winner), ABC broke in to tell us that Rehnquist died. Though it was sad and worthy of a break-in, it lasted for what seemed an eternity since everything was hanging on that last drive!

It was good to see the Tigers win.

UPDATE: Jeremy has a great game recap including a fantastic halftime show I saw nothing of.

Man that was close! Clemson beat Texas A&M tonight with a last minute field goal. Kicked 6 of those suckers tonight.

Man! I'll take the win, but I don't like we got into the red zone several times and couldn't punch it in. But all in all, well, we won. Whew!

The 50



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There should be more of these articles written: Yahoo! Sports - NFL - Packers' team plane also carried supplies to South.

Katrina Relief Efforts

Today is Blog for Hurricane Relief Day. There are so many organizations to choose to make a donation to. My wife and I have decided to make a donation to GAIN:

Global Aid Network, the humanitarian aid ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, is working in coordination with other Campus Crusade ministries and churches to supply compassionate help and hope for many of the victims of Katrina. Already supplies such as juice, clothing, ice, soup and other food items are being transported for distribution in churches, camps, and other places of shelter for displaced people who have been left homeless.

Will you join us?

Instapundit has a long list of alternatives. This blog is listed with Truth Laid Bear who is organizing the blog relief day. Let your blog count too, but more importantly, do something.

Woo Hoo! College football gets underway tonight! Oh baby! The highlight game will be South Carolina taking on UCF. UCF has not won in their last 15 tries and Carolina is coming off a 6-5 season sporting their new ol' ball coach.

I think Carolina will win...but to be honest, I won't be to surprised if UCF actually hangs around a bit. I think they only hang around IF Carolina lets them. It's the Gamecock's game to lose.

I'd love to post the headline tomorrow "Good Knight!" for a Golden Knight victory. ;-)

I was thinking about this on the way into work this morning: the state of South Carolina has a couple of humbled coaches.

I wonder how the seasons will be effected at Clemson and S. Carolina because of it.

Bowden was a proud man. Then he got that pride handed to him on a plate against Wake Forest in 2003. One of the most embarrassing losses he and Clemson (and I) ever endured. But I think it humbled him. He's a better man. He rallied the team and they made it through the season. They only did fair last year (by record). I'm a true fan...we were better than our 6-5 record!

Spurrier was a proud man. There's no doubt about his pride. There was a joke: what's the difference between Spurrier and God? The answer is one knew he was God and the other thought he was. Spurrier thought he was so smart when he went to the NFL. He thought he could run his style of football there...even bring in ex-UF QB's to run his O. What a laugh. He was humbled. And listening to his interviews now I think he is more humble.

It'll be interesting to see how this new-found humility for both coaches will play itself out this year.

BTW, my pre-season pick: Clemson wins 7. Carolina wins 6.

Okay, weigh in. Which Vick will have the better season? NFL Vick for the Atlanta Falcons or NCAA Vick for the Virginia Tech Hokies?

My vote is little bro will have the better season.

(better is subjective...could be based on stats, wins, etc...you choose)