Hi, my name is John and I have too many things on my mind right now.

The holidays are coming and my wife is turning… well, she can tell you if she wants, but her birthday is tomorrow. I got her some cool presents throughout the year I did find a very cool place to take her for dinner and she will get her first Chicago true Italian restaurant experience. (Yes I did try Italian in KC and everything was meh, and unless you have eaten at a Chicago Italian restaurant here, don’t challenge me… seriously.)

Work is crazy busy, and not just a little crazy, really insane crazy… but I do get tons of time off and will take the last week of this month off! Yey, I need the brain reboot for sure.

We will be meeting a blogger this weekend that I first started to follow because of the KC peeps… but anyway, that is for another post or her to reveal.

The weekends are filling up way too fast, there are holiday parties sprouting like chia pet seeds… and that is not even counting my family “must attend” events.

I need to find a lap pool quickly. Even though I seem to not be ballooning with all the good food now available, (Bea’s and my Mom’s home cooking paired with the proximity to a Trader Joe’s and various eateries… see my Facebook gyro face stuffing picture for detaisl) I do need to get some exercise in and a regular Gym is just not going to happen after having to fight Gold’s Gym to cancel my “month 2 month” membership… how so I attend a gym just a couple of weeks, pay for 2 months in advance and they still want 2 additional months just because it is their policy to rip you off?

I do miss KC, especially the Plaza that now has their lights on. We did find a great Indian restaurant that has great food, but not the service we used to get.

I have been downtown a couple of times already and being able to get there by train in 20 minutes is just a whole new world. How lucky is it that there is a express train right to our stop. Walking to the downtown office was not all that bad, but wind tunnels and cold weather might just make me take the shuttle when I have to go.

The cafeteria in our building is probably the reason I am maintaining my round figure instead of expanding it. They have food at good prices and I have healthy choices.

We have not enjoyed our back porch as much as we should have, in fact I had not set foot on it until one of my cousins came to visit. Pretty peaceful to sit there and stare at running water. Which also means that we have a couch and started to have people over. We will probably take some pictures soon.

So this is what you get for a Friday post, disjointed paragraphs because I guess I don’t twitter enough.

Things are work continue to be crazy busy, but there are several lights at the end of the tunnel. No big guiding lights, more like LED flickers, but still. I will be happier once the candidate that I really liked finally fills a position to free up some of my time.

We enter one of those weekend that I did not miss at all. There are 3 different invitations from friends to parties because the word has finally spread that I’m back, two on them tomorrow night. There is also an outing with the motorcycle crowd, but its early on Sunday and we have family commitments in the early afternoon. It turns into a balancing act of having too many things to do and not doing any of them.

I am super excited that a new Cirque de Soleil is going to be in town soon

The cats have a new play thingimayigy that I think Bea is going to review. Not sure if they will like it but they freaking better.

We have a couch, with double recliners!

Our place looks more and more like a home every day. We have put some of our pictures up and don’t have any more boxes to unpack. Big YeY!

So what is your crazy life like?

With reservation we decided to give Comcast a call to see what they offered and when it was all said and done our first bill for just two TVs was going to be over 150 bucks. That was not their bundle with everything, that was just for plain old cable service with an HD DVR for one TV and a regular set top box for the second TV. Even if I dial it down to just getting one TV with digital signal for HD and a DVR they still want way too much money every month since everything is “rented.”

So I have been looking at alternative and TiVo now is its own company not associated with DirectTV any longer, but for their HD offering they want $300 bucks plus a $15 dollar monthly fee. Other non subscription alternatives are still $300 bucks.

Direct TV is not an option, nor are other providers (there is one I know of) because the condo association only allows comcast since the lines are already in.

We got the little converter box and a good antenna and started getting HD reception like a champ, until we realized that CBS does not have a strong signal. This is frustrating because I actually don’t watch much TV anymore, but Heroes and The Big Bang Theory which are the shows that I do like to watch are both in that channel.

I thought technology was supposed to move forward, why am I still dealing with bunny ear antennas and transmitter positioning?

Looking at my stacks of blank DVDs I figured, well the technology is there for DVDs to be used like VHS (set the time) type of recorders right. Sure they are, but a good unit is still over $200 bucks if you want it to have a tuner.

I could build a PC to take care of everything, there is even a Linux distro that is not all that bad to set up, but I would still be spending about 200 bucks for really good hardware with a sizeable hard drive and good TV tuner card.

I am almost ready to break down and get comcast, but they are a horrible company. We signed up our new number for the Do Not Contact list, but we are still getting telemarketers. Out of 10 calls in the caller ID, 5 are from comcast. If you have any ideas, I all ears.

Driving back to the condo from my Mom’s place last night was when it hit me, we live in Chicago now and are not just visitiors anymore. When Bea asked if we should get something for breakfast on our way home, I told her we could go and pick up Colombian “empanadas” for breakfast. Even better is that we can go to Mekatos a Colombian bakery not too far from where we live.

Even though the Bears were handed a beatdown by the Bengals, I was watching the game with other Chicagoans. Driving down the streets I see people wearing orange and blue and businesses supporting the Bears. Its nice to spend a lazy afternoon on my Mom’s couch watching TV while everyone else naps.

Last week was one of the busiest weeks I have had in a long time. Drove back down with Bea to pack up our house of 3 bedrooms with a full basement for storage; while trying to downsize it to a two bedroom condo. Even though I have moved even internationally before, this time I was actually driving the truck to the final destination and we were doing all of the packing. I compromised with my job and did the move ourselves while scoring a month’s worth of vacation a year, which to me seems to make more sense in the long run, my back begs to differ.

The biggest mistake of the week was while giving away my fish tank I decided that rather than empty it all, to leave some water in and use it as fish transport. I had moved the tank before almost empty, but 25% of the water proved to be a lot heavier than I calculated. I am not in pain anymore, but it felt like I had ripped some tendon around my elbow for the next 3 days. Thankfully from moving before I had learned plenty of packing tricks to make boxes a little less heavy. There is probably enough for a full post just about packing, so maybe I will do that later.

Without the help of some of our “stronger” friends we were able to pack in almost professional time. I cannot thank Phil, John, Andy, Celeste, Alicia, Sherrie and Robert enough. We even did some post packing gaming and played Pandemic which I LOVED! and just like that I managed to leave undefeated on the BSG Board Game! (mostly because we did not play the last night).

Driving up the rented truck was no small feat. I would have more respect for truck drivers now, but after several rear death experiences caused by them either blowing past me way over the speed limit or cutting me off I actually don’t like them very much anymore. Truckers know they cannot cut off a car because their acceleration will spell trouble, but I had more trucks cut me off than smaller cars. Overall driving with a load behind you is a horrible experience, you are at the mercy of wind currents, semitrucks wakes and people that make our nation’s highways their personal racetracks. Hundreds of dollars in gas later and probably a couple of gray hairs I earned we got here in good time.

Unloading was done yesterday and we were able to sleep in our own bed last night. Even though there is still tons of unpacking to do we are actually “moved in.” Its bitter sweet because we left Kansas City in a very rushed way, but I guess that is the way it was supposed to be. We have been lucky enough to already have someone visit us up here, and another one this week. I am looking forward to being able to have people visit and show them around Chicago.

Some people never move from the town they are born in. Both my wife and I ended up in other countries. It is always amazing to me that even thought we are from the same town back in Colombia and having friends in common, we just never met while we lived down there. If I would not have moved up here during my teenage years and actually gone to College down there I am sure our paths would have crossed since she went to the same University that many of my classmates went to and I would have gone to a University that some of her friends attended.

I ended up finishing high school and college here in Chicago and ended up leaving here during the years that I think shape someone’s personality. Since most of my immediate and extended family have lived here for decades, I have always had ties to Chicago even when living in Michigan and Kansas.

I used to be extremely annoying with the Chicago thing when I first moved to the tri-city area in Michigan. I was not the foodiot (another moniquer thanks to Meesha) back then, but I did enjoy going to good restaurants and I think in my time in Michigan I could count the good ones in one hand. None of them better than anything I could find in Chicago. It did not help that many people in Michigan had no pride on their state or cities and Saginaw (where I worked back then) was known as Saganasty and Bay City a place I seldom visited was Bay Shitty. I did not come up with any of those names, that was what people truly called them. I used to live in Midland which was the snob city, but it had nothing going for it either and the proximity to the chemical plant just made me nervous… people would make jokes about the color of the clouds and which ones would mean stay indoors and which meant run away.

Besides my friends there Michigan does not have anything that really interests me, sure it is beautiful but even the cheeseheads have better lakes.

When I moved to Kansas City I had no clue what I was getting into. I knew next to nothing about the city, the company that paid to move me, I left after six months. It would have been easy for Bea and I to pick up and take off to Chicago, Montreal or Colombia at that point, but we decided to stay and I was lucky enough to find a job that I thought was going to be a career. Then the blogger community embraced us and I made some awesome friends at my new job. Little by little our support system was bigger than I could have ever expected.

I have plenty of family here in Chicago. Just this weekend I got to go and play football (tackle, I am actually in pain right now but I will survive) with my cousin and their friends. Bea and I have been spending time with my sister and Mom and loving it. My friends are little by little finding out that I am back, and the schedule keeps on getting full before we even have a chance to make any plans of our own. Its a great feeling but still very bitter sweet.

Kansas City had become home, Bea and I already felt that when we used to drive back from Chicago after a weekend. Saying good bye a couple of weeks ago was tough, but we still have one more week down there of packing and it is starting to settle in my head for sure that we are not going to live down there anymore. I know some people I will see again, and hopefully I will see often. I never expected to leave Kansas City so soon, and to leave so many people who I consider family behind. We will be making trips back and hope to stay in contact with everyone, maybe twitter and facebook will make that easier, only time can tell.

There is a little anecdote I hear about someone that got a chance to move and work in Switzerland. Someone from the company he was working for was driving him to work every morning and he noticed that he parked very far away from the entrance in a very limited parking lot. The person’s curiosity was eventually too much and they asked why did he park so far since they obviously got there early and were there first. The driver explain it in very simple logic, “When we arrive earlier, we have more time to walk to the door. Someone that come in later might need the walk time to actually arrive in time.” To some this might seem dumb, in our society we always want to be rewarded for doing something, we want self gratification so if we get somewhere early we want the “best” parking spot. Thinking of others is not something I see in many parking lots here. Something very small, almost trivial, but it illustrates a lot about how being thoughtful can be applied even to where you park in the morning. If you take that last parking spot right next closer to the door are you making someone running late, even later? Is that just their problem for not getting to their destination with more time?

This morning I wrestled the Chicago traffic once again and it solidifed my view that I need to find a place close to the office because with snow the commute could turn into a two hour mess quicker than you can say Chitown. There are new things here since the last time I lived in the area. A lot intersections now have cameras that will politely request money from you via mail. The highways don’t have the virtual cops and people are just as nasty as I remember. There was a dude in a red mustang that was cutting people off just to get a spot ahead in stop and go traffic.

I am not sure where that shift in the brain happens, that waking up 30 minutes earlier to drive at normal speeds and without stress is just not acceptable compromise. The pace of life here is quicker, but does it really have to be? Can I keep some of that slower pace from Kansas City in here? I guess we will have to wait and see.

If you have never been to Chicago, the city is overwhelmingly huge… but the Chicagoland area now extends from Chicago to Winsconsin and pretty much all the way to Joliet and almost all the way to Rockford. Just look at a map.

I know a lot of the Chicagoland area as if I was a cabbie, however the north side and suburbs beyond are kind of a black hole in my map. Sure I know Glenview because a friend from college used to live there, but we did not hang out there too much, only went there for great family cooked dinners. So besides on main street and a couple of bowling excursions with my northsider friends I used to see it as the exits you pass to get to Six Flags Great America.

I knew an hour drive today was pretty much a given, so I double that to make sure I had plenty of time. Surprisingly I did the trip from where my sister lives to the office with enouth time to spot for an actual sit down breakfast. I had missed family restaurants like the one I got to enjoy this morning.

I am working now for a large corporation, and just like in the past I am not going to tell you were exactly. Lets just say that they are global and have at least 3 letters on their name.

I met my supervisor who was nice enough to take me for a little lunch excursion, you cannot be mad at paid lunch. We discussed a lot of information that I am still digesting, but the coolest is that I can probably just telecommute on Fridays if I chose to. He does not come to the office every day and most of my team is all over the world, so besides one other person in my team most of the interaction will be technology based. I am pretty used to this from my time in the consulting world and love that there is no micromanaging. You know what you have to get done, as long as it is done there are no issues.

I will have to adjust my pace to a big company, which moves a lot slower in some aspects; like I am probably not going to be able to VPN until Wednesday, but already lighnight speed on others; I am already part of a huge number of projects and getting tons of e-mails.

It is a nice to be back in the content management world and the Senior Analyst does have a good ring to it.

He was nice enough to post a link to our departure post, and his first commenter was nice enough to inspire this post. He called KC a “sh!thole cowtown.”

I have lived in 3 US cities now, and let me tell you that even though Chicago is a great town, KC is really not that far behind. I actually think that KC is ahead in many levels.

When it comes to great food Chicago might have more food choices, but in all reality you pay a lot more for them. For 15 bucks you can have an excellent meal in KC, in Chicago you have to pay over 25 to get the similar quality. There is defiantly more high end places and choices in KC, but with resources like KC lunch spots there are many things that I am sure you still have not tried.

The airport here is AWESOME. It has a very simple design, you can find parking easily. You get in and out in no time, try to do that in O’hare or even Midway, I dare ya.

Traffic. I laugh when people think that there is traffic in KC. They don’t know what a 2 hour work commute looks like. Sure Chicago has the train system and it works great, but try to get anywhere near downtown even at 4 AM and you WILL hit traffic in Chicago.

Accessible Art and Music scene. You can find a lot more art in Chicago and their museums are excellent but they are both super expensive and horrible to get to. You park and you walk forever, here you can make it an afternoon trip and have dinner and see some good art. Add to this that artist here in town are people you can interact with, if you have not done so you are missing out. The music scene here is the same way, you can hear some good music and not have to pay a prohibitive entry price at the door. In Chicago there is a lot of stuff, but when it comes to being able to actually get to meet an artist it cannot touch First Fridays.

Air quality. You have no idea what pollution can do to your body until you have lived it. Be thankful for the great air and plenty of trees that you have around. Concrete jungle might look pretty but air quality truly sucks.

Winter… you guys don’t have winter here… enough said.

Pace of life. It is a lot more relaxed here, it will take Bea and I a bit to go back to big city mode even though she lived in a city about the same size as Chicago (Montreal). People yell a lot more, and more crunched for time, there is a lot more running… the rat race is just something I don’t really look forward to and hope I can keep as slow as it is here.

The thing that hands down is great about this city is its people. There are nice people here, from the waitres that actually has a conversation with you and knows you by name, from the people that still hold doors for you. The a$$wh0l3 ratio is a lot lower here. I am not looking forward to fighting for a parking spot all the time or have people hunk on their horns like they just bought a new la cucaracha ring tone for their rice burner.

I learned how to parallel park in Chicago, and even though I am out of practice I can get my car into some pretty tight spots. Parking last night at 75th Street Brewery was a pain because the lot was full, so I got lucky and found a street parking spot where I would not be towed. Wait… no… just ticketed. That is when I realized something, I am super paranoid about getting towed.

I probably have seemed rude in the past here in Kansas City when in a suburb I park on their driveway when visiting them. In the Chicago area parking is a big ordeal. You have to have a city sticker allowing you to park there over night. However, just visiting friends can result on being towed or getting a ticket. After seeing my Dad get towed and having to pay a hefty fine to get the car back I became paranoid. These is one of those ordeals you do not forget and neither does your wallet because it can be more than $200 bucks down the drain.

I have to get out of the mode of parking on people’s driveways and just park on the street since there is no danger of being towed on the suburbs over here. You rarely have to even parallel park.

It seems unfair to just dismiss the building because it is going to be gigantic, a word often used the right way. I blame marketing types. However two engineering marvels are being built in Chicago that will be spectacular.

Aqua USA does not look all that impressive when looked at from a distance, but once it is built and we are able to look at it from a closer angle a water effect is going to make the building appear as if it was made out of water. I actually considered architecture as a career path, but back then i did not realize how fantastic the field could be.

There are other impressive buildings being built in China, Russia and these very futuristic building in Penang, but the one that I am looking forward to the most is the drill bit like building called Chicago Spire by Santiago Calatrava. Call it Chicago Pride, or just the fact that this is probably the tallest building I will ever be in, once it is constructed, but I am really looking forward to it changing the Chicago skyline.

To most people in the US, Mexico is just a dirt down south of the border where you can go see a donkey show. It is also the place everyone runs to when the law is on your tail. Some more sophisticated individuals have actually travelled to our friend to the south and been to Cancun or Puerto Vallarta and think it is an awesome vacation destination and they could totally see themselves living there. What people don’t realize is that the country is huge and it has many different groups of people. Just like the people on the coasts look at midwesterners, people from the capital aka Chilangos look at the rest of Mexico.

One little known fact about hispanics is that overall people from different countries have stereotypes about each other. It goes from the joke that Colombians are just drug dealers to the point of not associating with each other because of their country of origin. When living in Chicago I was told a reason Puerto Ricans do not like Mexicans is because they come to work for lower wages, Puerto Ricans being American citizens take that very personally because someone in their family might have lost a job in the past. Mexican people are not the bad guys of this post, but they do seem to be center stage. I think it is mostly because it is the predominant country of origin that people think of when you say hispanic.

We buy calling cards to make calls to Colombia. It is cheaper than have a plan through a phone carrier still. It is almost a fun trading card game to see which one will give you more actual time when you are making a phone call. I ask the attendant at the store which one is working better recently and most of the time he will have a suggestion.

While waiting in line to buy my card a group of Chilangos was in front of me. They kept on looking back and later I found out that I looked a lot like one of their brothers… not sure if that was true or not. I am not sure why but they thought I was from Guadalajara. I took it as a compliment because the people from Guadalajara I have met have been pretty nice, but I am not sure it could have been an insult. They were young and were just being very open about what they said. I corrected them and told them I was from Colombia and this is when the difference between white people and hispanics begin.

Even the most ignorant person in the US has seen a couple of movies that tells them that Colombians are the drug dealers of the movie world. Just like the Russians are the nuclear arms dealers and the British are the cunning villains. Colombians worst representation comes from Scarface where they are portrayed as savages that want to use a chainsaw on Al Pacino.

The hispanic world has a “better” source for information, Telemundo. There Colombians are painted as violent kidnappers that will kill you if you look at them wrong. While it is true that Colombia has its issues and it is dealing with the FARC, most of its people is very removed from kidnappers, murderers and drug dealers.

The Chilangos took a couple of steps back almost looking scared and started joking about how they should be careful or they would get kidnapped. It was half joking, half kind of ignorant behaviour but I did not do much more than just smile. They confirmed they were Chilangos and told me I look a lot like one of their brothers.

Its funny when people put all of hispanics or even every Mexican into one stereotype box. Even within Colombian there are many cities and we are not all alike. If you like, or dislike me it means nothing when you talk to another Colombian. Even though we might have a lot of values in common, we could also have nothing in common. I just would love for people to drop the labels and start looking at people in an individual basis, but I guess that is still kind of a crazy dream at this point.

Today is the Cubs home opener, and I know many people will say that the Cubs have never done anything within my lifetime. I do not deny that, but then you just don’t understand what it is to be a fan. You like your team because you have lived there, or like me was the first professional baseball team you ever saw play.

One of the hardest things of being away from Chicago, even though I love Kansas City, besides being away from family is the great food. I have yet to have found good Chicago Deep Dish pizza, and miss my loaded hot dogs and Italian beef.

Thanks to Food, K.C. and Other Things, I found out about this Cubs home opener day lunch today. I might have to go and get an Italian Beef if have never had one, go to KC Lunch spots for the false advertisement (the first time I saw his blog I thought he had found this delicious dish here in a KC lunch spot). I am already wearing my Cubs jersey
I am predicting that the Cubs are going to win it all this year and hope to be right as I was when I predicted the Patriots demise at the hands of the Giants.

It can be a pretty traumatic experience to get into an accident like this one. I will not discuss the details but lets just say we are both glad that we are just sore and not really hurt.

Tengo un nuevo amigo por Internet. Es un Colombiano de Medallo! y conversando vía e-mail nos prometimos hacer un articulo de lo mismo pero desde las dos perspectivas, Medellin, Colombia y Overland Park, Kansas.

Aunque desde mi punto de vista tengo algo de ventaja, yo se que es una calle en Colombia por haber crecido en Cali, nunca he estado en Medellin así que será un poco interesante. El primer detalle del que quiero hablar es que en general la gente acá en los Estados Unidos no camina a ninguna parte. En parte por las distancias, nomas para comprar un galón de leche, acá no venden bolsas, se tiene que manejar a veces unos 5 o 10 minutos. Me acuerdo tanto que después de haber vivido en un apartamento en Chicago como tres anos, me di cuenta que nunca había cruzado la calle… pasado en carro, muchas veces pero nunca cruzado la calle. Tener carro acá no tiene nada que ver con estatus social, es casi una necesidad. Digo casi porque en las grandes ciudades hay transporte publico, pero apenas sales de una de las mayores ciudades así sea la población inmensa no hay transporte publico.

La palabra calle tiene dos significados muy distinto entre los dos países. La Calle en Colombia a veces se utiliza solamente para indicar que uno va a salir afuera de la casa. En algunos sentidos cualquier lugar afuera de donde uno vive es considerado la calle. En los Estados Unidos el termino La Calle tiene que ver mas con el lugar donde vives. El termino es usado negativamente hasta el punto que decir “street walker” que literalmente significa persona que camina en la calle significa prostituta. Cuando uno le dice a alguien callejero en Colombia significa solo que a la persona le encanta salir de la casa, pero acá seria alguien que esta como en malos pasos o en malos negocios en la calle.

Cuando salgo de mi casa veo los apartamentos de mis vecinos y al lado la oficina del conjunto. De donde vivo ahora si he caminado a comprarme una gaseosa hasta le estación de gasolina que queda a unos 200 pasos de la casa y he también salido a tomarme una cerveza al bar que queda casi a la misma distancia de la gasolinera pero hacie el otro lado. También he caminado hasta el parque que queda como a una cuadra a jugar fútbol y también solo a caminar por ejercicio con mi mujer.

La calle que recorro todos los días es la 87, trabajo y vivo prácticamente sobre esa calle. Me demoraría unos 20 minutos en caminar hasta el trabajo, pero la costumbre ya es de manejar hasta la oficina todos los días. Todo acá es cuestión de tiempo. Es cuestión de no gastar mas tiempo de lo que uno tiene y caminar parece una perdida de tiempo… aunque yo se que seria mas saludable y si no fuera por los cambios extremos del clima de acá depronto hasta me animaría a caminar hasta la oficina de vez en cuando.

I have a new blog buddy. He is a Colombian from Medallo! and talking via email we promised ourselves to make a article about the same subject but from the two different perspective, Medellin, Colombia and Overland Park, Kansas.

Although from my point of view I have somewhat of an advantage, I did grow up in Colombia and kind of know what a street is like in Cali, I have never been in Medellin so he this will be interesting. The first detail I want to point out is that generally people in the United States do not walk when they have to get somewhere unless they live in a big city. Partly because of the distances, just to buy a gallon of milk (in Colombia they sell milk in bags, but that is a whole other post,) you have to sometimes drive for 5 or 10 minutes. After living for 3 years in an apartment when I was back in Chicago, I realized that never I had never crossed the street walking… in a car, often but never actually walked to the other side. Having a car here is not about making an economic status statement, it is almost required. I say almost because in the great cities there is public transportation, but if you go outside of one of the majors cities, even if there is a great number of people and you still will not find good public transportation.

The word street has very different meanings in both countries. The Street in Colombia sometimes is used only to indicate that one is going to leave the house outside. Almost like when we say here hey “I am going out”, in Colombia people say, “I am going to the street.” In some senses any place outside of where one lives is considered the street. In the United States the term street has a little more with social status. The term is used negatively to the point that to say “street to walker” that literally means person who walks in the street (if someone was to translated to another language) to people in the US it means prostitute. When one says that someone “runs the streets” in Colombia it only means that that person likes to get out house, but here it is used to describe someone that is literally doing something bad on the streets. At least in my experience it has a very negative connotation.

When I step out of my door I see the apartments of my neighbors, and to the side the office leasing office. I have made it a point to walk more around where I live and have actually gone to get a soda from the gas station and also a beer from the bar in the opposite direction. Also I have walked to the park about a block away to play soccer and also to only walk with my wife just for exercise.

The street that I cross every day is the 87, I both live and work on that street. It would take me about 20 minutes to walking to get to work, but I am too used to just driving to the office. Time is money as the saying goes. Walking to the office seems like wasted time… it would probably be a lot healthier to walk to work everyday but the changes on the weather here do not make it very pleasant.

I don’t watch much college football, partly because I like doing other things on Saturday and also because my college did not have a football program. This weekend KU and KSU played. I like the Jayhawks because they were the underdog and I am now a fan. They played football with a lot of heart and came out with a W. Mind you they were the underdogs by a lot even though they have an undefeated record. The pundits have been talking a lot of trash saying that they had just beat no name teams, but beating the team that defeated the powerhouse of Texas means something now.

After playing soccer today and not having our regular goalie I started to hit the low point on the sports weekend. We lost the game, but I came home to football. I started watching the Chiefs get beat by Jacksonville. Even though they were about to get totally blown out of the water with no points, Dunge gave Croyle his chance and he performed scoring a TD. Larry Johnson had just 12… no not carries, YARDS! If the Chiefs are not having buyers remorse, I certainly am for them. I think they need to get Holmes some playing time and maybe the run game can start getting some balance. If you pound the ball you can maybe start opening the pass game for Croyle who I hope starts from now on. I know he is not going to be a star just yet but the sooner he gets experience the better.

I have to be honest here, the Bears vs Packers game was a nail bitter. I dislike Brett Favre quite a bit because he is a packer. I do have to admit that he is an amazing athlete. However, if Ulracher were to sack him and come away with a body part I would not feel very sorry. I still feel the pain from an 88 yard touchdown bomb he scored not too long ago on us. Today however was different story.

The Packers had an unreal first half, over 300 passing yards. The Bears defence picked up the slack of an offence still trying to find its rythm and Tillman created two forced fumbles that made the difference. Then super Favre sent a pass right into Urlacher`s hand that I believe totally changed the momentum of the game. From then on the Offence started finding its groove and even first round pick Greg Olsen even had a TD. The Packers were too scared to kick to Hester, my favorite Bear right now and I will take his Jersey if everyone wants to send me a present, because he has been returning balls like there is nobody else on the field. Gould kicked like the stud he is and made sure that every opportunity counted. The Bears are not out of hot water and won because the Packers had tons of mistakes and penalties, but the offence did look better and the team does look to have a future beyond the regular season.