MRI

So I had my MRI this afternoon or as I named it Merciless Reverberating Irritant. I went the wrong direction on Tesson Ferry and ended up being three or four minutes late to my 2 pm appt. Usually not a problem, b/c doctors or xrays don't run on time. Wrong. B/c I was late, I did not get an open MRI like I had insisted on. No, I got the CLOSED MRI. I was not happy. So I had to hurridly fill out some forms, and just as I sat down, they called my name. This little old lady was sitting in there saying she was next. The person doing my MRI said that there were two different slots; one for MRI's and one for mamograms(which the little old lady was having I'm guessing). The little old lady reminded me of my grandma. Not the nice grandma, but the mean old tyrant inside my grandma's body. So since I had this closed MRI, I had to calm myself big time. Thank goodness I know how to do this. I thanked GOD at least three times that I'm little. The lady who did my MRI told me to lay really stiff and when I heard the noises it was important to breathe normal and relax. So I listened to the radio on the headsets (the left side was the only side working), relaxed my body, closed my eyes, pretended I was on a beach and tried to take a nap. It worked. I was only midly irritated by the noises. Towards the end, I'd had it. My right knee (which has two screws in it about inch/inch and a half long) from a previous knee surgery started hurting and burning. So I intentionally caused pain in my thumb in order to direct pain to another part of me, and so I ignored my knee and didn't panic. It took about an hour. So I treated myself to chocolate ice cream with sprinkles, oreos, and chocolate chips for being so relaxed. Results should be in t/m. Hopefully the doc can figure out what the heck I did to my back and I can get better. I am so sick of my back hurting. Its so irritating.

World Baseball Classic and Cardinals news

Spring Training is officially underway and the Cardinals have a new coach. And its someone they know very well; former left-fielder Larry Walker!! He is enjoying his new job, and is of course being ribbed by everybody. Third base coach, Jose Oquendo, who is also the manager for the Puerto Rican Team for the World Baseball Classics, is giving him a hard time insinuating that Puerto Rico is going to beat Canada. Puerto Rico has a really good line up of imposing players. Here is their story. Juan Encarnacion arrived in Jupiter yesterday, and Devi Cruz and Juan Mateo are expected t/m. A few other players are experiencing problems with visas; such as Ricardo Rincon, Hector Luna, and the three players above mentioned (thats why they are just now arriving to camp even though Spring Training started on Monday with full workout on Tuesday). The Cardinals, even with several new editions to the roster are still expected to be the team to beat in the National League. Scott Rolen is getting healthier and expects to back to top shape in time for opening day (Notice the counter I have). That's all for now. Be sure to check back later on next week for more Cardinal updates or do what I do and visit their website everyday! (or at least I try to).

Spring Break

So this year Spring Break is going to be very different. One, I'm actually getting out of St. Louis, two: its a cheap trip, and three: I could very well get lots and lots of service hours for it. Where am I going or thinking of going? New Orleans, LA. I am thinking of going with a group of students from Campus Crusade for Christ to help rebuild after the wrath of Hurricane Katrina. So far, I know of three of my brothers in my fraternity that want to do this. I think I want to go, it will only cost $30 and for that we get three meals a day, a place to sleep and warm showers- not the Ritz, but thats okay. I just don't want to drive. I want to have someone else drive their car; I will help with some of the driving and hopefully ride down with my brothers. So what should I do?

Changes

I was inspired to give my blog a "facelift" by my friend Froggiegirl who recently renamed her blog. So I chose my same template- just selecting it as new so the date of the posts wouln't be huge as they were before. What's with the new name? Well I grew up and still reside in South County. When I was younger I had a website through AOL called Bears Den. So this is the more mature title or new age(whatever you want to call it). The bear part remains as my nickname from day 1 on this earth has been Bear. Hope you enjoy it. There should be a counter coming soon aluding to how many days until Opening Day!!

This could soo open a can of worms, but I am going to be brave and put this up.
http://kevan.org/nohari?name=JBear

Spring Training!!!

The boys are back in town, the boys are back in toooowwwnnnn! Well, not quite. Catchers and pitchers reported to Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida today. Workouts start Friday, February 17th. Two of the pitchers will be a few days delayed due to visa problems; Ricardo Rincon and Juan Mateo. Starting catcher, Yadier Molina, has decided to change his number. Molina will be starting his third season in the big leagues with the new jersey number 4. This means I have to go and get another Molina shirt (oh darn ;) ). The reason: Molina wanted a smaller number. Molina, teammate John Rodriguez, and third base coach Jose Oquendo will not be in camp long however. The three will be leaving to begin preparing for the World Baseball Classic; they will be representing mi abuelo's home land Puerto Rico. I can't wait until baseball starts up full swing again. Until then, I will have to be content with the Olympics and then the World Baseball Classic. Go Team USA and GO Team Puerto Rico!!

Check this out.

I kinda stole this idea from Liz, but what the hey. This window is used in a lot of my business classes. Click here.

Olympic XX Winter Games, Torino 2006

The Winter Olympic Games are offically here! I will be watching avidly Speed Skating, focusing on short track- watch Apolo Anton Ohno- he is really good! Singles figure skating, of course bobsledding. I want to watch the Snowboarders Halfpipe for the first time- there is a 19 year old redhead, Shaun White aka "the Flying Tomato" who is expected to do really well. Well, the Flying Tomato from California snagged the gold medal for the halfpipe. For all Olympic Info go here. C'mon Team USA! Let's get some Gold Medals!!
Also, a point of interest: Michelle Kwan, who was granted a private trial for the Olympics- and won a spot on the team, has withdrawn from the competition. In my opinion, she should have not requested the special treatment- she was hurt and in no shape way for the Olympics. This withdrawing after special treatment b/c of her name is not good. Here is her story.

SNOW DAY!!

Yea Baby!

Update: The official reason UMSL closed was because there was no power on North Campus. I'm not sure if there was any power on South Campus. The emergency generators were on. SSB was very dark and creepy. The escalators in the MSC didn't work (and this is different from any other day how?) . It was snowing and the roads were slick, but ultimately it was the lack of power that resulted in our "snow day".

Commericials

Every year millions of viewers turn the tv sets on to watch the Super Bowl, well to be more honest: most watch the commercials. Budweiser did a good job this year creating commercials that grabbed the 1 and 2 slots in the ranking. "Magic Fridge" and The little clydesdale were ranked 1st and 2nd respectively. Froggiegirl and I enjoyed the hamster from the McDonalds ad. The cyldesdales playing football with the "streaker" (the just sheered lamb) was funny. Pepsi did it again (I completely agree with Froggiegirl's boss Jason on this) they spent the most money to get ads on, and their ads were the worst ones. "Brown and Bubbly"?? Are you kidding me?! Horrible. Diet Coke didn't have to spend a dime and they still got product reconition- being the stunt double for Diet Pepsi in the Jackie Chan bit. Very smart Coca-Cola. Even though their soda can got smashed, they still got publicity. So the joke is on Pepsi, who spent millions of dollars to produce these horrid ads, Coca-Cola comes out on top! AB proved once again their brillance in advertising- sticking with classic, timeless symbols- the Cyldesdales. For the record, I did watch the game- my Steelers were playing- of course I watched as they slammed the Seahawks 21-10!

Steelers are Superbowl XL Champions!

Congratualtions to the Pittsburgh Steelers!!! My team won the (extra large for me and froggiegirl) Super Bowl and I couldn't be happier! The first half of the game wasn't impressive, but the game really came to life in the second half. The last five minutes of the game was when all of the crucial plays happened. Quaterback Ben R (really long last name) #7 did a great job. Jerome "the Bus" Bettis announced his retirement from the AFL following his teams victory- what a way to go out! An estimated 90.7 million people watched the Steelers trounce the Seattle Seahawks, apparently this is the largest Superbowl audience since the Steelers played in the last title game in 1996. This year's audience was 5% larger than last year's Super Bowl. Well, duh. This year a really good team was actually playing in the Superbowl! (New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles). After the game, after the presentation of the trophy (given to team coach Bill Cowher who then presented the Vince Lombardi Trophy to 73-year-old owner Dan Roone) and MVP (Hines Ward) award, the post-game show came on with three broadcasters dressed in awful tweed (or something equally icky) sports jackets and mock turtlenecks. What I want to know is: What mook told them that they looked good? At one point, after returning from a commercial break the guys had to be told "GO" to actually start their speil! The guy in the middle, I forget his name, looked like a walrus- so we will call him Walrus man. He looked bored and out of it- totally unaware of the world around him. What I need a pic of him and photoshop two walrus tusks and then you will get a better idea of what I'm talking about. Then one idoit had to mention that Mike Martz was "haunting" the Seahawks. What the?! This comment came out of nowhere, I wonder if somebody dared him to do it.

Time to defend the cops

The police officers of Hazelwood and one officer of St. Louis City are on probation while an invesitagation of police abuse is on. The day after the big 11 minute car chase (or van chase as the vehicle was a full size van), protestors were lined up, quickly calling the police involved in the chase and beating, racists. Only one pereson there seemed to have a brain. He was the one holding the sign in favor of the police. A few days ago, in Hazelwood stretching into the city, a police officer was in hot pursuit of a van. The van apparently rammed the cops car and then sped away. The police immeadiatly took up the chase. The van had no apparent thought to the saftey of others as he wove wreaklessly in and out of traffic. The van also sped past several school buses. The van sped along Martin Luther King Drive, in the turn lanes, running stop lights, stop signs, making illegal turns and the like. The chase lasted approximately 11 minutes, news channel 2 caught the entire chase on their cameras in a helicopter. It took three cop cars to ram into the van before the van finally stopped the suspect then took off running, with the cops in pursuit. They finally caught him and tossed him to the ground. In the video you can see the officers hitting him, but you also will note that the suspect is fighting back, thus making the hits necessary. The officers finally got handcuffs on the guy, and escorted him to a patrol car. There they pushed him against the car to search him for weapons. They told him to stay there, but he didn't listen, he kept moving away and spitting on the ground. They finally got him into the cruiser and had more trouble shutting the door. The suspect kept preventing the officer from shutting the door by placing his legs/ or feet against it or outside the car. The next day, people were all too quick to jump in and accuse the police officers of racial profiling. However, at the time that the officers were pursuing the van, they were unable to determine the race of the driver. Like that really matters as the driver had no thought to the safety of the other drivers on the road. Apparently the driver's lawyer says that his client was looking for a safe place to pull over. Yeah right. I don't call driving a reckless speeds, passing school busses, and getting rammed by three patrol cars just to stop the vehicle looking for a safe place to pull over. Running away from the cops doesn't help that theory either. I am supporting the police officers actions that day. They did exactly what they are supposed to do; get dangerous drivers off the road. UPDATE: The car chase began when he failed to pay for gas, and then rammed the cop car who tried to stop him from going anywere. The driver isn't too intelligent if he has that many infractions against him and decides to ram a patrol car and then take off at reckless speeds. The officers are on paid leave. Hopefully, the FBI will soon see that the cops were doing their job and the cops can return to active duty. However, I don't expect this to be anytime soon as there are morons out there who will do whatever they can to impede the investigation. These same morons are the ones accusing the officers of racial profiling. If you ask me, its the protestors who are racial profiling. Well, you can't fix stupid.