Soccer season winding down

We only have 4 games left in the season. Our U-10 team is looking like a good bet for the playoffs with a 5-1 record. The U-12 team needs to win a few in a row to have a chance, but they are playing better and looking pretty good. I always miss it at the end of the season and it seems like a long time until spring soccer starts in March. It's actually more than 4 months, which is a pretty long time. This year, we will try to train instead of just sitting around playing video games.

Watch that t-shirt on Southwest

I think it's interesting that Southwest Airlines doesn't have a dress code. Someone needs to tell the employees about it because they apparently don't know about it. There needs to be some limit as to what you can wear, but it can't be easy to decide what's offensive enough for the person to be told to change their clothes. What do you do if you've only got the clothes you are wearing?

Red Sox - Angels

The Angels are a local team, but I'm not much of a fan. I enjoy watching the Red Sox because they've got so many good hitters and they play in a unique ballpark. They look unbeatable at home right now and we'll see what happens in Anaheim/LA. I like their chances of making it to the World Series this year and maybe they'll play the DiamondBacks if they stay hot.

One thing I don't get is why they have to play the east coast games so late. It was about 1 AM in Boston when the game ended and I'm sure it takes some time to get out of there and to their plane. So they end up in California around 6 or 7 AM and then what happens? Do they sleep until 2:00 and then practice at 3 or do they just rough it on limited sleep and catch up the next night?

There was an interesting article about Manny Ramirez in the LA Times today. His workouts sound very interesting and really effective for a hitter.

Check out a Cardiff Bed and Breakfast

There's a Cardiff close to where I live, but the one in Wales is much more interesting. It's the home of the National Assembly of Wales as well as a famous castle. There are lots of nice hotels in Cardiff, but when you visit, you might prefer to say in a Cardiff bed and breakfast where you'll get nice accommodations with breakfast included. Prices are good and you'll usually get great service with a personal touch. Enjoy your visit to Cardiff even more in a B&B

PayPal plugin for RapidWeaver in beta

Something that is a real challenge is selling stuff on your website without giving away a huge cut of your profits. At least, that's what I've seen with most of the solutions out there. There's a new plugin for RapidWeaver which might make this much easier. Payloom is a PayPal shopping cart creator which works with RapidWeaver. You can check out the beta version right now.

With PayPal's 30 cents per transaction plus 2.9% fees, and the Payloom plugin, you could have a functioning online store set up very quickly. I just need some stuff to sell.

Canterbury B&Bs

If you are heading to Canterbury, you'll really enjoy the Canterbury Cathedral. I've been there myself and it's an impressive building and should be on your list of places to visit when you are in England. And while you are there, you should plan to stay in a Canterbury bed and breakfast like the Bulltown Farmhouse. It's only £30 per night for adults, £25 for 3 nights or more, and of course, breakfast is included. They've only got 3 bedrooms, so make your reservation early and don't miss out.

Jim Rome impersonation

I was changing channels last weekend when I saw the Frank Caliendo segment on one of the NFL pregame shows. I thought it was hilarious. He has the lingo and the mannerisms down pretty well and the intonation. Hilarious! I wonder how that goes over with the clones?

All day soccer

It's nice that we don't have any overlapping soccer games this season. We usually end up with one Saturday when both games are played at almost the same time a few miles apart. It makes it hard to watch both and to get both guys there on time. Tomorrow we have the opposite. The first game and the last game. One at 8 AM and the other at 3:05 PM, so our whole day will be involved with soccer. I think I will go out and get some pictures of referees for fun.

Try a B&B in Harrogate

Bed and Breakfasts aren't as common in the US as they are in England, which is too bad. I had some great experiences in B&Bs in England. It's a nice way to meet real people and it's a more personal experience than staying in a hotel. Harrogate, in North Yorkshire, is a town with a rich history and the architecture that goes with it. If you are thinking about a trip to Harrogagte, check out a Harrogate bed and breakfast before you go. It will make your trip a memorable one!

MacSurfer is empty - what happened?

MacSurfer is a great site. It collects Mac-related links every day and organizes them into categories. This makes it really easy to find any Mac/Apple items. The site has changed how it's organized over time, but it's still an excellent resource. It's blank today, though. No links, no nothing. What happened.

Cal could be #1 in 2 weeks

Two of my alma maters could work together to put one of them in the top spot in college football. If Florida can beat LSU tomorrow, and that is a big if, and then Cal can beat USC in two weeks, Cal should be #1. I don't know if they've ever been #1 before, certainly never as long as I can remember. I think it's going to take some luck for Florida to beat LSU and Cal's defense is going to need to play much better to beat USC, but it could happen.

Cal moving up

Cal was ranked #6 at the start of the day and since #5 and #3 have lost, they should be 4th. However, my other team, the Gators, is in trouble. They're #4, so if they lose, and I hope they don't, Cal could be #3. That would be about as high as they've been ranked as far as I can remember. I know they were up pretty high a few years back when they got a raw deal from the BCS, but I don't know if they were #3. I think I'd rather see Florida at 3 and Cal at 4.

How many menu items are there?

I called the attendance hotline to report that my son was staying home from school today. Usually you get a recording that says, press 1 for help, press 2 to leave a message, etc. This one said "press 1000 to leave a message", then on that one it said "press 1500 to record your message". Were 1-999 already used? That is ridiculous and not user friendly.

Mets look done

With all the talent on the NY Mets, it's hard to understand how they have faded so fast in the pennant race. I didn't think there was any way they wouldn't make it to the World Series this year, but it looks like they won't even make the playoffs. I heard that this would be the 2nd biggest collapse in baseball history -- maybe they can win their last two games and pull it out, but I think things may be out of their control at this point. They need some help from somebody else to get the wild card or the division. It may not happen.

School Food -- junk food is still around

Our local school banned any outside food for parties last year as part of the push for healthier food at school. Not everyone liked that, but I think it was a good idea. There's still room for improvement, but at least they don't serve a soft pretzel as an entree for lunch any more. That was one thing I never understood. Who eats a large pretzel for lunch?

I was talking with someone yesterday who does catering for events and he said he was thinking about selling food at fairs and that the kind of food most people preferred was junk food. That sells the best.

SFGate says that the state regulations on school food still allow lots of room for junk food, but that's only because the junk foods have had some fat and sugar taken out. A loophole that keeps the junk food producers happy along with the kids.

"The industry is committed to providing products that promote health and wellness," said Robert Earl, senior director for nutrition policy at the Grocery Manufacturers Association, a trade group. "Companies are doing everything from portion packs to baked chips."

In order to adhere to California nutrition requirements, snacks sold in middle and high schools can have no more than 250 calories; in elementary schools, snacks must be 175 calories or less. No more than 35 percent of the snack's calories can come from fat and no more than 10 percent from saturated fat. Sugar is limited to 35 percent by weight.

Fruit, vegetables, nuts, legumes, nut butters, seeds, eggs and cheese are excluded from the regulations, as is food brought from home.

Individually sold entrees such as pizza, burritos and hamburgers can't be more than 400 calories, with a maximum of 4 grams of fat per 100 calories. The law does not limit how many snacks or entrees students can buy at a time.

In addition, half of the drinks sold on high school campuses must be juice, water and low-fat or non-fat milk. In 2009 all soda will be banned (it already is banned from elementary and middle schools). The sale of sugary athletic drinks is still permitted.

Women's World Cup

The Women's World Cup games I've seen have been very exciting. I only wish the games were on a little later here in California. At 6:30 AM I can catch the last part of the 2nd half. Brazil looks unbeatable, but Germany hasn't given up a goal yet, so the final should be a good one. We have our own soccer game at the same time, so we'll have to settle for watching the highlights.

Chargers not the same team

The Chargers had the Packers with about 2 minutes left and should have beaten them. You can say don't blame Norv Turner all you want, and that it's really a problem on defense, but the offense isn't the same. They've got almost the same guys, and their primary playmakers are the same, but the results aren't there. Norv Turner is the guy who calls the plays and something is just not working so far. It's a long season, and the next three games should be wins, which would make them 4-2 with some momentum. We'll see what happens.

KPCC - This American Life

I was in and out of the car and in and out of radio reception tonight, but I heard parts of a really interesting program on KPCC. It must have been a segment of This American Life based on the schedule. I never heard the title or ending but it was a kind of personal family history done by the daughter of the dad who was the focus of the story along with his many children and wives. I want to go find it and listen to the whole thing.

Two defeats in soccer

We had losses in both soccer games for the first time this season. After our 2-0 defeat this morning in the cold and rain to the second place team, I was surprised we didn't get rained out in the second game. Unfortunately, we lost that one 4-0, with 2 cheapo goals among the 4. Not a good day.

Rainy Day Soccer

It rarely rains in Temecula and I can't remember much rain at all during September in years past. It's raining today though, and our 8 AM game was played mostly in the rain and cold. It was less than 60 degrees during the game. The slick ball didn't help as many of the kicks didn't go far and there were some balls slipping through the goalie's hands. We suffered our first loss, 2-0. The game was close, with no score at halftime. The other team came through with a couple of goals in the 3rd quarter. One seemed to be helped by the wet ball and on the other one, it looked to me like an offsides call was missed. We didn't have many shots, and the other team played well. They will now move into first and we should drop down to 4th or so. It's a 10 game season and we'll be in the playoffs at the end, I'm confident.