Sunday – 17 December 2006
After dealing with the roads last night, I figured that Fuckin’ UDoTâ„¢ would have performed a rectal craniotomy and seen to it that the streets and thoroughfares were sufficiently plowed for Sunday’s faithful to make it to their places of worship in peace (and not in pieces).

I was mistaken, to a degree.

I know this because and I headed down to Utah County to watch the Browns-Ravens game with and . It was slow-going. A trip that would normally take roughly thirty minutes took just shy of an hour. At one point, nearing Point of the Mountain, I was nearly perpendicular in my lane. In traffic. It was lovely.

We made the rest of the trip without (further) incident. We watched the game and hung out with and , who were gracious hosts. makes a delicious German Pancake, by the way.  Thank you, again, to both of them for their kind hospitality.
The trip home was much better: The roads had been nicely plowed and no one attempted to break any land speed records around – or through – us.  We did see a couple of accidents on I-15, both of them between 90th South and 72nd South, but those were the only apparent signs of problems.  We stopped at Hoppers Grill for dinner.  Steak Sandwich and Madame X Stout, with a Colossal O-Ring appetizer.  Can’t go wrong with that combination.

I had considered going out again, but Mother Nature put the kibosh on that as she blanketed the valley once again with her frozen, mocking laughter.  Instead, I grinded through a few more bubbles of Level 47 with Indi.  I need to do the same with Corvus Nox, but I am not sure when I’ll get a chance to do so in the near future.
Football Update

Cleveland at Baltimore
17 – 27
The Dawg Pound came to the Ravens’ roost for another round of a great rivalry match.

The Ravens took them on and sent them back to Cleveland with their tails between their legs.

It was a good game: Solid performances on both sides of the ball by both teams. Good hits. Good tactical decisions by both QBs. Both squads were on their game today. It was fun to watch this game… and not just because Nox and I got to rub it in to about the win, either.

I have to give a lot of credit to Baltimore QB Kyle Boller. He was demoted to backup QB when Steve McNair joined the team this season. My biggest complaint about Kyle in the past was that he, in his first season, didn’t seem “ready” for the step from college into starting QB. For the past couple of seasons, that’s changed… somewhat. He still seemed a little shaky in the first half, but would come out and play well in the second half. Unfortunately, in most cases, it was too late for him to engineer a come-from-behind win. Today, Kyle was on his game from the get-go. Yes, he made a couple of mistakes, but nothing insurmountable. He exhibited all of the qualities that one would expect from an NFL QB.

And with this win, the Ravens not only go to 11-3 on the season…  they clinched a playoff berth.

Stray Toasters

Namaste.