Facebook Unsure of Penguins' Trade

A chuckle and head shake were all the more I could manage last night upon signing into Facebook and checking everyone's status. Roughly 50% of the 36 friends with recently updated profiles had their status set to their reaction about the Penguins trading Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, Angelo Esposito and whoever the other guy was for Thrasher's star Marion Hossa and some French guy. Some were "excited!", while others believed "Hossa's great, but not worth the price we payed," and there were the skeptics who remained "unsure :-/."

I'll follow the Pens, can't say I'm a diehard, but I give credit to those who are. Hockey is a tough sport to be a fan of. Your games are on Versus and the league is consistently fighting for its mainstream survival.

Back to the Facebook thing, the reason I got such a kick out of it is that, a few years ago, everyone a lot of people besides Scott and Cory trounced the Penguins and said they didn't care if they stayed in Pittsburgh or not. They claimed hockey sucked, the Penguins sucked and it wasn't worth wasting time following such a bum team. Many of these people are now thrilled with the team and can't imagine a Pittsburgh without them. I tend to agree.

How quickly many forgot the glory days of the 90's and the mania the Pens instilled. The rants of apathy for a once formidable organization and competitor for the other Pittsburgh sports team accompanied the Pens on their way to the basement of the NHL. This of course all changed when the Pens miraculously won the lottery draft after the lockout season and landed Sidney Crosby, who immediately regained the old fanbase while luring an entire new generation of fans to the Igloo.

I don't mean to say that the fandom displayed on Facebook is bad, I don't mean to make fun of Penguins fans, hell, I don't even really care to use the word 'fandom.' I just wonder where all these people were four years ago?

UPDATE: 10:15 am

Get ready for the 'RIP Myron' statuses tonight.

Lack of Green Contacts Frustrates Worker

BUTLER -- Local office worker Casey Boyd is disgruntled this morning due to the lack of 'available' Gmail contacts currently online.

The popular instant messaging software helps Boyd through the usually mundane and tiresome workdays.

"It's all I really have," Boyd said. "Like, last night Paul told me he had meetings basically all morning. There was no way to hide my disappointment, I knew it was gonna be a long day."

Boyd, like many other twentysomethings in the workplace, appreciates the solace and entertainment the Google-created "Gmail" e-mail service provides. When the company debuted the 'chat' option in 2005, many said goodbye to the old-time remedies they used during summer jobs or college classes.

"AIM [AOL Instant Messenger] Express is so three years ago," UPMC Admissions Coordinator Paul McCartney said. I have a BS in Accounting and an MBA in Management, there's no time to be pussy-footing around with Buddy Lists and away messages with the inability to see profiles,' McCartney continued.

Gmail users are happy with the ease of communication to the outside world during their not-so-busy times of the day.

"We like to afford office workers the ability to have a real-time conversation with their pals and at the same time e-mail crude forwards and pictures to those who've yet to be 'invited' to Gmail," Google co-founder Sergey Brin said.

Deloitte & Touche IT Consultant Ian Mavero is often away from his desk, but enjoys the myriad of messages left by Boyd, Adam Novak, Ryan Sullivan and Matt Brown when he returns.

"I work about 22 hours a day, so it's nice to know I still have friends out there enjoying themselves," Mavero said. "Sometimes I'm even able to respond to them if I get back quick enough."

As for the afternoon, Boyd is optimistic.

"Right now I have three messages going and hopefully a lot more to come. 'LOST' is on tonight so I'll probably chat with people about that, or maybe some financial stuff. It depends. I do have to be careful so I don't swear. 'NSFW' sucks, man. Hopefully later I'll be able to throw something on my sweet blog about it. Have I mentioned that yet? So awesome dude, check it out."

Boyd's post-lunch Contacts list

Maybe Congress can investigate the $900 trillion deficit

One of my work rotation sites, FreeMoneyFinance, had a post today mentioning the current onslaught by Congress into the various malfeasance's and underhanded tactics used by our professional sports leagues. The point of the discussion was to ponder whether Congress is too busy interrogating Roger Clemens and Bill Belichick to kind of sit back and focus on other things.

What do I mean by 'other things'? Oh I dunno, like the war? Or maybe the terrible economy? Trust me, I'd love nothing more for the Patriots to be found guilty of cheating during their Super Bowl years. I am from the Steel City, after all. While my opinion on steroids is somewhat neutral - if everyone was doing it, who cares? - I appreciate watching Roger Clemens fumble around like a sack-drunk Tommy Maddox as much as the next guy, but come on.

Does Arlen Specter really have so little to do that he needs to be taking initiative to go after the NFL?

Paul showed me an article today entitled: "Bernanke: 'Outlook For The Economy Has Worsened'"

Are you kidding me? Where has Ben Bernanke been for the past year that he's just now admitting that our economy has worsened? All of this is happening while the United States has a national deficit of somewhere near seven hundred million trillion dollars.

Here's to You, Spec of Unknown Substance in my Drink

Here's to you, little spec of grossness gracing the bottom of my drinking glass. Whether it's an iced tea, beer, Sprite or water, you're always infiltrating the friendly confines of my delicious beverage with your underhanded schemes and germs.

How do you get in there? From what I can tell, hunks of alien matter aren't falling from my skin, and God forbid you suggest I backwash. So, what gives?

Invariably, you create such a stir that I'm forced to waste my fluids and dump them in the nearest sink or drain. All I'm left with is the taste of an equally as cold, but not nearly as fulfilling, replacement that pales in comparison to the original.

So I curse you, spec of unknown substance in my drink. I damn you to hell.