Here are my picks for the Conference Championship games tomorrow:

Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers – I’m picking the Steelers here. Even though the Ravens have a great defense, I think the Steelers will be able to pull this one out.

Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals – I think Arizona will pull an upset out of this one. Warner is doing really well so far, and even though Philadelphia has also had a good run, I don’t see them winning this one.

I predict that on Monday, a lot of pardons will be announced by the White House. I also believe that there will be some blanket pardons for high level administration officials such as Rumsfeld and Cheney.

Dear People Who Claim to Know How to Drive,

I know that the Commonwealth of Kentucky has blessed you with a drivers license, and you have somehow scraped together the money for a car, have gotten the keys to mommy and daddy’s car, or have a spouse that can get you that nice expensive SUV. But you need to get some help in driving. What you are doing is not driving, it is moving a motor vehicle in a generally forward direction.

To the asshat in the Audi yesterday on I-64, I’m sorry that my driving 5 miles over the speed limit while trying to pass the semi got in the way of you weaving in and out of traffic. I appreciate you testing your horn, flashing lights, and finger when you climbed up on my bumper. Thank you for not running into me while I finished my lane change and using the shoulder for the left half of your vehicle to pass me so that I had time to safely pull back into the right lane.

To the nice police officer in the well concealed SUV on I-64, thank you very much for immediately turning on your lights and pulling Mr. Asshat in the Audi over. You made my afternoon.

To the nice lady who stopped her vehicle 3 feet to the rear right of my car when I was trying to pull out of the Walmart parking space last night, thank you for honking your horn to let me know that you were there and for flashing your brights so that I could clearly see the inside of my car. I apologize for not immediately pulling out, but I would have had to drive up on your hood to do it. I’m sorry that you had to put your car into reverse and pull back a few feet, but I hope that the 3 minutes I had to wait for you to get the clue and back up were worth the wait for the parking space.

To the NASCAR fans in the F-150 and Chevy Silverado that were driving side by side 5 miles under the speed limit on the freeway this morning, please drop the green flag and then jockey for position in one lane. The rest of us have to get to work.

I hope all of you have a great weekend. I pray that our weather stays clear so that you won’t have to deal wiith wet or slippery roads. In that event, you can have the roads, I’m parking my car and waiting for natural selection to take hold on our roadways.

if when Obama takes the podium on Tuesday, he beings with:

“Excuse me while I whip this out?”

Just a thought

Senator Hillary Clinton, with her buck toothed spawn looking on from the gallery, underwent some gentle questioning by a clearly cowed Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Heck, I wouldn’t push her. She might flip out and go all Carrie on you and the other members of the committee.

She has promised to use her new position of Secretary of State for good, using something called “smart power”.

Here are some examples of what I think of when I imagine Mrs. Clinton using “smart power”

• Heads of foreign leaders exploding after a few moments of agony as Clinton stares at them blankly.
• American ambassadors and diplomats who fail to advance Mrs. Clinton as the future Empress of Earth are killed as she holds out her hand and intones “You have failed me for the last time“.
• United Nations meetings breaking up in a panic as Hillary levitates above the desk, intoning a curse in the language of Mordor.
• The customary kiss on each cheek and handshake upon her arrival at a foreign airport will be replaced by her ordering the local potentate to “Kneel before Zod“.
• Will teach the crowds in the Middle East who chant “Death to America” to instead chant “4 legs good, 2 legs better“

What do y’all think?

It’s been kind of a crappy day for me, but it could be worse.

2000 gallons of raw sewage in a nice neighborhood is probably going to go down as a bad day for most of the residents.

Makes me glad that the worst part of my day was sitting in a meeting with other techies listening to someone drone on about a new testing environment.

On Saturday, I took Girlie Bear out to lunch and a movie. She wanted to see “High School Musical 3”. I would have preferred to shove pencils into my eyes and beat my head against a desk, but since it was her day, I gave in.

Little survival hint here: Get yourself a Coke, some popcorn, and watch a movie on your iPod when you’re at the movies with the kids and it’s sickeningly bad, but they love it.

Not the end of the world, but pretty neat!

Comet Lulin will be coming close enough to the Earth to be visible next month. I’ll have to break out the binoculars and telescope and have an early morning stargazing session with the kids!

Just saw that Tony Dungy is stepping down as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts.

I have to say I’m sad to see him go.

I’m not a Colts fan per se, but since I only live a couple of hours from Indy, I get to see quite a few Colts games every year.

Coach Dungy has always been a calm, strong voice in a sea of yelling and cursing. Even if I don’t support his team, I respect him for refusing to become part of the current wave of anger and cussing that we have become accustomed to on the sidelines.

I wish Coach Dungy well, and hope that he will continue to be a voice of reason in the NFL.

Well, I went 3 and 1 this weekend in my picks.

I watched all of the games, for the most part. I really enjoyed watching the Titans/Ravens game. I love a good close defensive game. Collins needs to learn to lead his receivers when he throws the ball, not the people who are covering him.