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http://mgoblog.com/diaries/nard-wars-episode-iv-new-hoke

We're Back

I've said this many times over the past few years, but this time it is true. I said it in 2009 after the Western Michigan game. The truth is I was so fearful that after the 2008 debacle I didn't even have confidence we could beat Western the following year. However, we took care of business and beat them easily. I remember texting my brother, "we're back!!!!!!!". then I made the bet that we would win 7 games, which was regrettable. We started the year 4-0 and I thought we were back, but we weren't.

Yesterday we beat Ohio for the first time since 2003. I was at both games. We are likely headed to a BCS bowl game, although our team seems much worse than any other of our BCS teams - 1999, 2003, 2004, 2006.

The future looks bright. After a 10-2 year, I don't expect the same next year considering we are at Alabama, at Ohio State, at Nebraska, etc. but WE ARE BACK.

In other news, Michigan State only had one conference loss which would have given them the outright B1G title in any other setup but now with divisions, they will have to beat Wisc again to be champs, and I have little faith they can do that. Ah the irony.

Black Friday

I like to browse the weekly ads from places like Best Buy and ABC warehouse just to know what stuff costs. Today they have some killer deals out there. However, we don't NEED anything. So what is the point?

Well yesterday on the radio, I heard the Home Depot Black Friday ad and it was a deal on front loading LG washer/dryers for half off. We've been looking at them, but our set is only 7 years old and probably has 5 good years left. But the new ones are silent and have larger capacity, and have steam, which in theory means no more ironing or no more taking my dress shirts to the cleaners even?

So we got them. I went to Home Depot at 9am and had instant service. No long lines at the depot!

the picture above is the one we got, but we went with stainless steel, and upgraded to the steam.

Beat Ohio

This is it. Tomorrow Ohio comes to town looking for their unprecedented eight straight win against michigan. We are 10-2 and they are 6-5. We are 15th, they are unranked. We are favored by 7 points, the first time we've been favored since 2003, the last time we won.

This year the game is a week later due to the new B1G scheduling and for some reason I feel like i haven't given it enough attention due do Turkey day. Or maybe its because I am so confident we will win? One thing is for sure - if we don't beat them this year, I don't even know...

This is the year they are down. Kick them while they are down. These Seniors have battled through three coaches, starting with Ap State, beating Florida, Lloyd leaving, Rich Rod debacle, and now as 5th year seniors a 3rd coach. They've never beat Ohio. Let's do this. This is Michigan.

Nebraska Football Fans

Ever since Nebraska joined the B1G, I've heard about how they travel well, are gracious hosts, are educated fans, and are very good sports about winning and losing. There was a decent amount of red in the stands last week, but what stood out to me were the three huskers sitting behind me. They were respectful, courteous, educated about the game, and at times appreciative of a good Michigan play because it was good football. After one Michigan touchdown, one of the huskers was doing a slow motion clap as to say "well done," despite it meant his team was going to lose.

This day in age it is rare to see sportsmanship of this kind. Especially when I compare this experience to my brother, who is the opposite of husker fan in favor of Michigan State. For example, instead of the slow motion respect-clap, it would be like "eff-you, you son of a *&^&*, ref, why have you forsaken me?!?!?!?"

Well done corn, well done. I used to hate Nebraska because they went undefeated and shared the 1997 national championship. But it wasn't their fault they went undefeated. I forgive you.

Its So Cold in the D/Why Must I Cry

In one of the latest Beavis and Buttheads they were watching the video for "Its So Cold in the D" by T-baby. The video is so bad that it is good. And now I have it stuck in my head.

See:

I don't know if the song or the video production is worse. I am inclined to say the video production is worse. I mean, the guy has a camera pointing at the part and T-baby and her goons just leisurely walk into the frame, stand there, and do their thing. Its hilarious. If they were trying to make the video funny, it wouldn't work. They are dead serious, which makes it funny.

Another one that a friend recommended based on my enjoyment of "So Cold" is "Why Must I Cry" by Reh-Dogg. I'm pretty sure this is way worse than "So Cold." The funny thing is the production is much better, but the direction is shameless.

See:

I mean, he goes from the fish tank to the shower (SHOWER????) to running through the woods. why must I cry why must I cry why

So it turns out this guy has several CD's published on cdbaby.com. WHo would pay for this shit?

I Hate Wrapping Presents, and I Hate Wrapping Paper

Wrapping paper is expensive. I mean really expensive. It is like $8.00 per roll. I am a much bigger fan of putting the gift in one of those fancy gift bags. Although those are expensive too. But if you keep all the bags that people give you, you can just reuse them later for free.

I just hate the idea of spending a lot of money and time wrapping up presents. The purpose is to cover up the box so you can't see what is inside it. But why can't we use newspaper? Does it have to be that fancy? Wifey's grandma loves all wrapping paper and always comments during the five minute unwrapping session, "what beautiful paper" and proceeds to carefully peel the tape and paper from the box, saving all of the paper. I just want to rip the paper so bad and scream "for the love of God unwrap the gift!" Then you have the huge mess of paper to clean up.

But above all else, I hate wrapping the gifts more than anything. I hate every aspect of it. Buying wrapping paper. Finding scissors. Finding tape. Cutting the propper size of paper for the box (I ALWAYS have too little or too much paper). I have a reputation for being a "goon" when it comes to wrapping gifts, and I embrace the label. I have no desire to learn how to wrap presents good. I think it is funny when I didn't cut enough paper and I have to end up cutting a new "patch" of wrapping paper to cover it up. I also think it is funny when I use too much paper and the ends are all rough and bunched up rather than neat, crisp, and clean folds. Fuck it.

Montessori Madness

Last night went to a talk by the author who wrote "Montessori Madness." We've been sending our four year old to Montessori for the past two years, so we thought it would be an interesting talk.

The author has several points as to why he believes Montessori is better than traditional teaching methods:

-children take ownership of learning
-children learn at their own pace
-children learn by participating in activities which interest them

I don't have any sources, but I know people who believe in Montessori will tell you how much of a better method it is realtive to traditional methods. So if it works better, why don't public schools integrate Montessori methods? Especially considering the cost of a Montessori education is cheaper than what public schools are paying for shit results?

Montessori cost - 7k
State public cost - 9k

I'm guessing that teacher's pensions are the difference.

This takes the "Montessori methods are more expensive, that's why they don't do it" argument of out the equation. It's sad that my property taxes can't be used more useful.

Beavis and Butt-Head are Back!

I love beavis and butt-head. If I had to choose between the two of them, I guess I like Butt-Head better. Last week I saw an ad that they were back and I was shocked! I immediately set it up for a season pass.

The first episode was last week and I have to say it was excellent. The best part is that in the 90's when it was on, they would have the cartoon and then the videos part where they would offer their commentary on the music videos.

Since MTV doesn't show music videos anymore, now B and BH offer their commentary while watching original MTV programming like Jersey Shore and 16 and Pregnant. This is wonderful; I love it. I love that B and BH make fun of MTV's stupid programming.

Side note: Circa 2003, for my birthday, I asked my brother for the box set of B and BH, and he happily obliged! It was great nostalgia. Now that we have new episodes I'm even happier.

I want this Car

This past April I got on my sports car/convertible/early mid-life crisis kick and was searching craigslist and auto trader daily for a BMW Z4. I actually went to go look at a 2004 Z4 with 90,000 miles for $12,000. It was in mint condition all the way around. It was a Sunday and I'm sure if it was a weekday I would have immediately headed for the bank to acquire a cashier's check. However, I was very nervous about making a purchase like this. First of all, it is completely irresponsible. Who really needs a third car? Plus it is a stick, and wifey has no clue how to drive a manual. Finally, I have two little kids, so when would I really even drive it?

So after thinking about it for a couple days, we went with the default option and did nothing.

I still want one. Badly.

I also want to finish the basement. With a theatre room.

Night Time Routine Addition: Making Lunch

Question: How many fathers in America are responsible for making lunch for their kids?

Answer: One.

The one, is me.

Now after the whole bedtime ritual is complete, it was now been determined by wifey that it is up to me to make lunch for our four year old for the next day. She also requires I make the lunch with "love."

He has a half sandwich, usually ham, turkey, or salami. Plus a fruit (banana, strawberries, or grapes), a dairy (yogurt), a snack (goldfish, crackers, etc), sometimes a vegetable (what is this?), and a small bottle of water.

It only takes about 5-10 minutes, but that is on top of all the other BS I/we need to do starting at 8:00 to start the bedtime ritual. It sucks.

Eviction Update

After much anticipation, I finally secured the judgement for possession and the money judgement! It took three court appearances and $450 in legal fees to win this case.

Here is how it went down:

When I walked into the court house, to my horror, the tenant and kids were already there. Why would they not bother to show up for the first two rounds and come for #3? It is like she knew I filled out the paperwork wrong the first two times! Funny.

I was prepared for defeat as soon as I saw her there. I just figured the judge would pull something out of his ass and find a way to feel sorry for her position. But to his credit, I filled out all the paperwork this time properly, and he was obligated to follow the law. He even referenced that making these sort of judgements is the hardest part of his job.

To the credit of my tenant, she didn't put up a fight and make up a lie about me that would make the judge postpone the case or anything. She owned up to her mistakes. She admitted she was behind in payments and things were tough for them, and they were trying to get assistance from different agencies, etc. After this testimony the judge gave a long lecture about how the assistance programs work and how they are very difficult to work with. He took his time explaining the rules and even told her she and her family would be in his thoughts and prayers!

The most ironic part of the whole case had to do with the money judgement. As you may recall, the reason the first two cases were thrown out had to do with the amount of money I was requesting on the paperwork. So when he was filling out the judgement paperwork he took the liberty to add in the month of November (the court date was Nov 2) which is exactly why the case was dismissed in round two (asking for the month of November when it was still September).

In closing, she has until November 14 to vacate the property, unless she can come up with $3,600 (july - nov rent plus $152 in court costs). I suspect there is a zero chance they will come up with anything, so they are toast.

I will need to go to the house on Nov 14 to see if they are still there. If they are, then I need to go down to the courthouse and file a writ and pay a small fee and the sheriff will throw their shit in the street.

Case closed.

Please Evict my Tenant (s)

I will be in court tomorrow morning to try and recover posession of my rental property and a money judgement. In Brighton, this is cake. In Chelsea, watch out.

In the past, I have evicted two tenants in Brighton, which was seamless: 7 day notice, file the papers, the tenant doesn't show up for the hearing, I win the possession and money judgement by default (don't even get me started about trying to collect a money judgement ((I have three judgements out there totaling about $7,000 which I will never collect))).

In Chelsea, I sent the 7 day notice then waited eight days and went to court to file the paperwork. The court aid informed me my 7 day notice was not sufficient because it didn't have the proper disclosures in it. But the same one worked in Brighton twice. So I had to do another 7 day notice and re-file. Strike one.

Strike two was on the court date. It was my turn to get in front of the judge and of course, the tenant did not show up. I would win by default. but wait.....the numbers on my 7 day notice did not match the numbers on my Summons. The pay or quit figures were higher than on the Summons. therefore, the case was dismissed. The logic is that the tenant receives a notice for, say, $3,000 and says " I can't pay." So when I come to court asking for less, I have made an administrative error and I'm done.

Strike three was when I refiled yet again - this time I made sure the figures matched. However, I went for the full amount on the remaining lease - time that the tenant should not have to pay for. Again, I was in front of the judge and the tenant didn't show, so I was sure to win by default. But I was greedy, asking for too much money.

Will I get a strike four? Tomorrow is my THIRD court date for the same case. Embarrassing. this time, the numbers match and I am only asking for the time they were in the house. I should win, but I am scared. I have fear this judge is going to fu^k me again for some sort of small administrative mistake. I covered all my bases - could I lose again over a technicality?

The worst part is that this is November 1. I haven't received any rent since June 30. July, August, Sept, Oct - four months of bullshit. The first court date was August 2! If everything would have gone right, they would have been forced to move out August 12!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! On top of that, each time I go to court I have to pay $110 for the court costs plus $40 to have the deadbeat served. Since this is my third filing, that is $450 plus the missed rent! FML

On a side note, I will be in Brighton on Nov 9 to kick another deadbeat out of that house. I'm guessing that one will be easy - that judge likes me. However, the process server can't find the tenant, so I can't collect the money judgement - just recover possession of the house.

Check back tomorrow to hear how court went in Chelsea!