Ten Reasons Life is Really Good Right Now

I struggle to recall a time when my destiny dealt me so many great cards at once. The full magnitude of my recent good fortune struck me as I drove into work with the windows down, sun in my face and wind in my hair, after watching Aramis Ramirez take Bronson Arroyo into the bleachers with the most violent home run hack I think I’ve ever seen.

So this needs documentation. For those days down the line when I feel like nothing can go right – shoe-drop mode, I like to call it – I thought I’d run down the ten reasons my life is really good right now:

1. Paula Sands Live

Just getting the job at KWQC was a godsend, but Paula Sands Live is the best part of my workday. Unlike the newscasts that are rigid and monotonous, this half-hour talk show allows the camera operators to improvise. I’ve found myself competing with the other camera operators to get the most shots on air, and there is no greater motivator for me than competition. Speaking of which…

2. The Cordova Confederacy

In my first week of fantasy baseball I had one pitcher on the DL (Kerry Wood) who I missed the chance to replace in my lineup. On the first day of real baseball I lost another starting pitcher C.C. Sabathia to injury. Now, another pitcher, Eric Gagne, is having a possible season ending surgery on Friday. Needless to say, my first match-up with Brian has been a rout. And I honestly could care less. I was apparently a closeted stat geek all this time, and I have spent the better part of the past two nights scouring the waiver list looking for a solution to my pitching quandary. All of this is in preparation for my Week 3 match-up with Baby Brother. He talks oh-so-much shit.

3. Juan Pierre

As a Cubs fan, I’ve trained myself to look for silver linings. While I could be dwelling on the fact that I have no idea who is in the Cubs rotation besides Z and Maddux, I choose to look for those new elements of this year’s team that could push us the way of success this season. One such element is Juan Pierre. After the three years of praying Corey Patterson’s raw talent would materialize into a real ballplayer, the Cubs sent him packing and went and got themselves a serious lead-off man in Pierre. Mashers like Derek Lee and Aramis Ramirez were reliable last year, but with nobody on base all the long balls added up to a fourth place finish in the Central. But with his couldn’t-have-written-it-better triple to lead off the season, Pierre arrived in wonderfully dramatic fashion. If he can keep delivering, Lee and Ram-Ram should have ample opportunities for the RBIs that were so embarrassingly elusive last season.

4. Fox Mondays

If I hadn’t had the miracle of DVR, I don’t know if I could have accepted the job at KWQC. HA! I kid. I kid. A little. I could stand to miss a few shows, but Fox Mondays have become the most harrowing night of television I’ve ever seen. And I’m a TV geek. After several months hiatus, Prison Break returned with newfound character. Always reliable for harrowing cliff-hangers and sick twists, the first two episodes back took a more character-oriented tack. The downtime did little to diminish this show’s energy. Meanwhile, 24 continues to fire on all cylinders, ending this week’s episode with one of the more intriguing twists in its run (which I won’t spoil for my brother). Its most brutal season thus far (at least four major characters have bought it so far… nope five), season five is neck and neck with last season as the show’s best. And with this week’s shocking turn, it has the potential to get even better.

5. Fridays with Dad

One of the blessings of my job (thanks to DVR) is that I don’t go into work until three in the afternoon. That means my mornings are free. And that means for the first time ever, my dad and I will have a regular date on Friday mornings for golf. I love golf, almost as much as baseball. I would have been playing golf by myself, but I’d much rather be out there with my dad. Classic bonding time. Plus there’s always room to add some challengers to the mix every once in a while. Uncle Mike. Uncle Mac. Norm. I'm talking to you guys.

6. Windows Down

Simple. Classic.

7. Kingdom Hearts II

I’m not a video game guy. When I worked at the boat, there were fleets of my co-workers who spent hours upon hours in front their X-Boxes duking it out in Halo or …. That’s the only one I really know. Still, there are those times when I go through a month or two flurry of gaming. This past binge was a little longer, being that I was unemployed, but over the course of that time I discovered an absolute gem for PS2 called Kingdom Hearts. This remarkably entertaining title mixed characters from the long-running Final Fantasy video game franchise with an abundance of characters from Walt Disney’s vaults. How can you go wrong when your sidekicks are Donald and Goofy? Honestly. One of the breakthrough launch titles for the PS2 when it was released in 2001, the much-anticipated sequel dropped last week. While I can only play about a stage at a time with the job running interference, I can’t wait to get back to this quirky adventure as soon as I get home. Fun for the whole family.

8. Sexy Beast in Training

It’s been a long while since I was pleased with my physical appearance. Nearly a decade, I think. But thanks to Weight Watchers and my two hour lunch break, I’m just about as close as I can be to aesthetic contentment. Since starting Weight Watchers eleven weeks ago, I’ve gone from 235 to 208 (as of this morning), and since KWQC has a company gym in the basement I spend my time between the 6 and 10 newscast rotating between the treadmill and my brother’s West Point try-not-to-puke workout. By my own estimation that puts me approximately twenty pounds away from Sexy Beast status.

9. Mix CDs

I don’t listen to the radio anymore. The Top 40 station around here is so saturated with generic thug rap that I’d rather bang my head against a Casio than endure another gold-tooth bitches and hos remix. But thankfully, I still find a handful of gems, mostly from The OC and IPod commercials, to bolster my music library and keep my driving time easy.

10. St. Ambrose University

Ironically, I applied to SAU to bolster my resume for the channel 6 job. Then I got said job. Fortunately, that allowed me more freedom for my class schedule. I no longer needed to learn how to operate studio cameras. Instead, I can turn my focus to my calling (according to mom) – video editing. So come fall, I will be permanently latched to SAU’s Final Cut Pro Stations.

Now, in the sake of full disclosure, here are five things that remain a concern to me. I hope my luck these can eventually turn my way as well.

1. Ouch My Bank Account

Despite the prestige one might infer from the words "television job" unless you run the station or appear in front of the camera, TV doesn’t pay squat. So while it might be sexy to say you work for a TV station, it remains the worst paying job I’ve had since high school. Positive Spin: Doing something you love is its own reward.

2. Duck and Cover

Obviously, I wish people would stop shooting at my brother.

3. Single

This one really doesn’t bother me a whole lot. Still, it would be nice to find a lady I could spar with (intellectually). At the moment I'm looking forward to a potential hot Wrigley Field date with an old friend lined up for later this summer.

4. Thank God My Parent's Don't Have a Basement

Technically I have four years before I become the full cliche – the 30 year old man still living with his parents. But with my lowly income, I have some concerns.

5. Hamstring

I tend to get a little overzealous on the new workouts, and I think I tweaked my hammy. Oh well. I'll have to take her easy tomorrow.