Ullmer made the (turning into) annual trek to Chicago this past weekend. We started the festivities with a show at Donny’s Skybox Theatre at The Second City called No Offense, Assh*le. This show is written by up-and-coming writers that take classes at the famous Second City; one being Ullmer’s friend LeMar. The show lived up to its title – it had some rough content that was sure to offend someone, just not me since as BM says I have no soul.

Saturday started out slowly as we watched the OSU game at a subdue Vaughan’s Pub. The victory left us hungry so Kate suggested we grab a big bite to eat at Minnies. This place was sweet and really resonated with my wife’s propensity to seek things mini.

We concluded the night with LeMar’s 30th birthday party at Rocks; by far his favorite bar. One observation I need to air here. I can no longer hang late night with the youngsters – getting older is a bitch.

Oh, did I forget to mention I took delivery of the iconic designed iMac lamp. This legacy system is going to server as my learning platform for my switch to Apple. I can hear Caldwell’s sigh from here.

Obviously updates and posts have ceased. After May I will have plenty to add to the site in way of restaurant and product reviews, trip experiences, museum visits and a major pending purchase. So check back in a month to see what has happened.

Irony can be a spooky event when items unexpectedly coincide. The wife and I drove out to the western ‘burbs today to pick up a few items before the NFL championship games started. Needless to say we were on a tight schedule. During the 25 min drive to the mall we casually chatted about the mileage and condition of our beloved Passat and what auto we might want next. We briskly ran our errands and returned to the car with half an hour before the Bear’s kickoff. I unlocked the car sat down and inserted the key into the ignition when a strange feeling washed over me. (more…)

And to all a good night for 2006. This past year ranks up there with the best of them even if the blog posting was lack luster. Here is a list of events that happened to Stickrod throughout the year:

January - Visited the wife in Bermuda where I discovered the Dark & Stormy resulting in injury

February - Celebrated 1 year of marriage on the 5th

March - Observed St. Patrick’s day in a Mexican bar

April - Wife’s birthday, age not to be listed

May - Vision problems, and wedding at the ocean

June - Wicked, another wedding this one with military flare

July - Holiday at the Cape. Finished 2nd in a charity kickball tourney. Venetian night on Monroe Harbor

August - Achieved 30 years of age, need I say more

September - OSU football commenced (and finished with a perfect, undefeated season as of this post, I am optimistic)

October - Friend lost

November - Mock Thanksgiving dinners. A legend passes

December - Holiday galas. iPods multiplying like rabbits

I look forward to 2007 with new challenges and experiences on the docket. Here is to wishing all of you a happy and healthy new year.

The S-rod’s wish you a happy Thanksgiving. Our bird is currently in the oven and the sides are soon to be started. We hope you enjoy your day with family and friends.

Chi-town out.

After putting in long hours to get through a tough week the wife and I played host to a former coworker, Stark and his three friends from Ohio. The weekend started out a little rough with an unbelievable thunderstorm for this time of year (on may way home I witnessed a guy get knocked off his bike by a strong wind burst). Once the guys navigated through the storm, threw down their gear, we headed out to a local watering hole, Kincades for a lengthy Lite session. The next day entailed a limo ride to Evanston to watch the Buckeye’s beat the pants off of the Northwestern Wildcats. It is always fun to walk into a stadium that is overcome with a sea of red chanting O-H-I-O. Game ended (more…)

Off to Boston for a business trip. Be back in a couple of days.  Like you were going to miss a post or something.

We’re back in the city after a wild, wonderful weekend in nature. Due to some terrible directions from Google we were beginning to think we would never make it out there on Friday night. I was shocked by the overabundance of animals roaming the dark streets including a three-legged raccoon that gave us a dirty look for rushing him across the street.

Saturday we headed to Brewmasters, the lone drinking establishment for miles, for some college football and were delighted with the best service we’ve had in ages. The bartender even made a special trip into “town” to pick up some Jägermeister for our much needed Jäger bombs. She even bought cigarettes for some of the group and sent us home with a 12-pack of Miller Lite. To top it off, our entire bill for the afternoon was less than a round at Moe’s. We tried to convince her to open a bar in Chicago, but to no avail. I guess we’ll just have to go back for another weekend this summer.

Large panoramic photo of the lake.

Too.. tired.. to.. blog.

Heading to Lake Thunderbird this weekend. Should be a great time.  Hopefully pix to follow.

I know that this will disappoint at least one of my casual readers but my new favorite light beer has changed from Miller Lite to Budweiser Select. Maybe I am just a sucker for the snappy television commercials or possibly the fact that their website is designed from the perspective of my daily commute, a CTA rail car. I feel that it actually does have a noticeable and pleasant taste. Sorry DC.

Have you ever had one of those days were nothing is comfortable – your chair does not feel right, your clothes are not fitting properly, you hit your head and then your knee kind of day? When typing you are consistently hitting all the wrong keys and pounding the back space button repeatedly? Boy, I am having one of those days today. As of 10am nothing is coming together. Wish I had more than four vacation days left in the year; this is a day to start over.

The painting crew has been busy as of late. When we first looked at purchasing our current home one of the first things I noticed were the sprayed white railings and spiral stair case. The wife and I like dark, cavernous places so I knew this was going to be one of the first items to get a fresh coat of paint. We started with the railings and slowly moved to the spiral stairs which required much more time and attention than I had anticipated. These things were a bitch to paint with all the crevasses and difficult angles and the dark grey/brown paint required many coats to cover the nasty white.
Still to complete, the underside of the upper landing area. I plan on applying matching wood veneer to the underside and painting the surround while the stairs themselves need to be stripped and revarnished. A project to which I am not looking forward.

The weather has changed for the colder since list time I wrote. Leaves are beginning their color alteration and daylight keeps fading away. Football is in the air and the Buckeyes have been looking good less the first quarter of the Cincinnati game. I watched the wonderful upset of Norte Dame by Michigan from a hotel bar in Cleveland while waiting for a wedding reception. Looks like Lloyd will be keeping his job for at least one more year.

In other news, the wife’s luggage has never shown up from her business trip to Atlanta. Not too shocking that Delta has not lifted a finger; who knows if we will ever see a dime from that stellar company.

More great things to come to stickrod.com namely updates.

Back from the holiday weekend. It was refreshing visiting with family and friends; well half of the crew anyways. Although the weather was not stellar we managed to enjoy ourselves at Beckett’s tailgate. Prior to kickoff big red smokies and MLite were abound. The Buckeyes played a respectable game against Northern Illinois winning 35 to 12. The southstand seats were better than I expected. From the high vantage point on one end of the stadium I felt as if I was playing Madden on my PSP.

I spent Monday cleaning up Mother’s garage and car. A fresh coat of wax on the 6 really makes that car shine. I love the look of black car all carnaubaed up with Zymöl. My car fever is in full swing as my sister provoked me by displaying a new BWM 3 series coupe. The styling of the new 335i is striking while the power increase is just plan ridiculous. This staggering increase in horsepower makes me wonder what the Germans will put in the new M3. A new bimmer is not in my immediate future but a boy can dream.