And another huge surprise: Our President, known for strength on national security only because he continues to throw unconscionable amounts of money toward Iraq and Afghanistan, still hasn't even secured his own backyard.



Edit: This is my 100th blog post. Not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing but looking forward to 100 more.

Surprise, surprise: There are more Virgos on the Forbes billionaires list than any other astrological sign. Virgos are known to be "hardworking, determined, detail-oriented, and analytical," according to the article. Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett and Oracle's Larry Ellison are among the Virgo billionaires.

The iTest just received substantial corporate funding from the Alabama Power Foundation, marking nearly four months to the day of receiving word the IRS accepted our non-profit application.

The 2006 iTest is going to debut a variety of new technologies that will improve the test-taker experience by allowing online collaboration and communication. Combine this with a flawless actual test and we're going to be in great shape by the end of the year.

5 songs you need to download. The sooner, the better.

1) "Cab" - Train. Their new album is really different than anything they've ever done, in a good way, and this single (which is really doing well at radio apparently) is great.

2) "Touch the Sky" - Kanye West. Don't just download this song, but this video is a MUST-SEE. This guy is as hilarious as he is musically talented. The song is just awesome and better than anything else I've heard from Kanye West's Grammy-winning album. Oh, and also features some random guest rapper doing an actually-decent cameo appearance, something that doesn't usually happen unless that guest rapper is LUDAAAA.

3) "Who Says You Can't Go Home" - Bon Jovi w/ Jennifer Nettles. Bon Jovi isn't the highest on my list of quality acts but this song is really good. Bon Jovi does usually have great melodies and this song is one of the better ones I've heard, and Nettles really is a nice choice complementing him. DOWNLOAD NOW.

4) "The Real Thing" - Bo Bice. Another Alabama boy winning American Idol...but who cares unless you deliver some good material after the fact? This is a great song that Bice was performing back on Idol a few weeks ago. I play this song all the time, love it.

5) The entire "See the Sun" album by Black Lab. Led by amazing talent Paul Durham, this band has been around since the 90's delivering moody, spirited albums. This entire album that was recently released is just awesome.

STOP READING AND GO DOWNLOAD NOWWWWWWWWWWWW

Project budget and business plan due very soon ... so its starting to get tense around the TCMH office...

Actual conversation from earlier today from when I was about to go to lunch:

"I'm going to head out and get lunch now, and then come back and work more on the business plan."

"No. Haven't you already eaten lunch? Here, go have a donut (points to donuts from early morning meeting) ... donuts are good..."

LOL...

My XBox 360 just died. You have really got to be kidding me.

Whoa...big news....Bonds cheated!! What a surprise! This upcoming book about Bonds' steroid usage in the late 90's and early 00's ought to be pretty interesting, but as you know, some of us predicted this fall from grace a while back. (cough, cough, BondsCheated.com!)

Anyway, Bonds is an idiot but an idiot who will likely end up with the all-time home run record. Like I've said before, I'm really counting on him winning it because I look forward to watching the firestorm of backlash and outrage that will erupt when it happens.

I'm now blogging from the strange world of Beaufort, South Carolina. I haven't had cable TV or internet for days now (rough, I know) which has cast this strange silence over my apartment when I get home from these long days at work at Tri-Command (tri-command.com). Its given me time to think...and to breathe...in peace. And I've been able to spend more time just reflecting on life over the past few months than I've had in a long time.

I have avoided blogging about the negative aspects of my job situation and will continue to do so, but certainly I have dwelled on it while being down here. The project director here, Peter Ross, is just a magnificent managerial talent and has really re-energized me. His energy is infectious and he just flat-out gets things done. That's my kind of person.

Enough about that lest I wander into a topic that I would rather not discuss.

The fantasy baseball draft is coming up next Monday. That's going to be insane...one of my favorite times of the year. This year, we're drafting for a league that will run for the next 3 years, making this draft even more important. Better start preparing now ... signing off. Catch you guys later.