Les thoughts

Hard to believe the summer is already winding down, even if I am an old man and don't have true summers anymore (at least, not right now). Either way, here's what's running through my head as July comes to a close:
*This is the last weekend sans football until the weekend of January 28th, or basically half-a-year from now. That's beautiful.
*How quick is the hockey offseason? By next Saturday, we'll be half-way between the 'Canes Stanley Cup clincher and their first pre-season game. Nuts. By the way, it's a pretty awesome thought whenever the fact that they are the champs crosses my mind.
*READ A BOOK (!!!) this week at the beach, which is a major development. Was a fiction work titled "Tunnel Vision" and had been picked up by my sister at the biblioteca for the trip. Interesting read in several regards, mainly due to the high-concept storyline...the day before getting married, a man makes a bet with a fellow London Underground ("the tube") enthusisast that he can go to the Underground's 260-so stops in one day. Even worse, he wagers his honeymoon tickets and train tickets to Paris, the site of the wedding, and hands them over to his counterpart, who will only return them when he has completed his journey. The journey must finish by 1 AM, or his wife will leave from Waterloo for Paris on the scheduled train without him. Not sure anybody could possibly pull this off, since you'd have to average a station every 5 minutes to do it and some doubling back is necessary. But it's fun reading about this dude try and the dorkiness of the friend that put him up to the bet. I'd recommend a read. Would be an incredible story if somebody actually tried this in real life.
*As for the beach trip, it turned out to be really good. Nice having a week just to think things over and be away from everything for a while. Definetly some things that I want to put into practice that came out of the trip.

That's about it. Next few weeks will be busy as I shower law firms with my resume and my desire to work for them. Hopefully an offer or two will come about as a result

Quick thoughts

Gettin ready to pack for a weekend with the family in Virginia, so here are a couple quick nuggets:
*Japan is pretty much gone from the picture for this upcoming year barring a last minute massive change of heart...which has happened before...in the last week. So a change could come. For now, DC and a law job or bust.
*Unloading packages from a truck actually has some advantages, believe it or not. One of them is not, however, leaving work feeling fresh. It is not the heat or exercise that gets to one, but the massive bruises from battling trucks full of packages that do their best to not cooperate with the poor saps working there such as myself. Every night upon my return home it looks like I have been fighting a small war, and losing. Ah well, some say such scars supplement one's appeal. We'll see about that.
*The Panthers were crowned champions of the Sportscenter Ultimate Depth Chart "it's July and we're bored and have nothing else to talk about" marathon by ESPN. So for the second straight year, this team will be getting hyped and talked about by the prognosticators (SI, and myself, picked us to win it all last year). Could happen, we're probably a more talented team than last year. Of course, last year we had a cake road schedule that made the NFC-best 6-2 road mark a reality. This year's road sched? Playoff team Washington, improved Philadelphia, playoff team Cincinnati, improved Baltimore, +.500 Minnesota, division champs Tampa, Vick and the Falcons and Reggie Bush and the Saints. A 6-2 mark or better against that lineup is all but an impossibility. It will be said again, if the Panthers want to live up to the hype this time around, THEY MUST DOMINATE THE VAULT. Particularly when the Steelers and Cowboys, and their legions of fans, come calling.
*I'm a little worried the Hurricanes are all but keeping the same roster that took the ice in 2005-2006. Management did the same thing after the '02 cup run, and in '03 we were the worst team in the league. Would have loved to see one more goal scoring forward (Anson Carter? Sergei Samsonov?) with Cullen/Weight/Recchi jumping ship, but can understand the salary squeeze. If it's signing one of those guys or giving Cam Ward a massive extension next year, I'll take the latter. And you gotta love the commitment Staal/Williams/Cole have shown in signing long-term deals to stay in Raleigh. If nothing else, the Cup has propelled the 'Canes from the league's lower-echelon to its top 10 or 15 in terms of how the team is thought of by fans, the media and (most importantly) the players.
*World Cup Final Sunday, Italy vs. France. Tournament dominated by defense, so no surprise that the world's two most historically stingy defenses are meeting up to decide it up. Italy seems to be the clear favorite: slightly better defense, much better offensive depth and a MUCH, MUCH better goaltender in Buffon vs. Barthez (also, is it just me, or does Buffon look just like the villain from Red Eye? especially with the red pajamas he wears, for some reason). France has the starpower in ZZ and Henry, which has led me to question my initial thought of an Azzurrii blowout, but the guess here is Italy neutralizes the stars, gets an early goal and then tacks on a late capper to allow Rome to party like it's 1982. Interesting side nugget: the teams will meet in just 2 months, on September 7th in France in Euro 2008 qualification, since they are in the same group. And on that note, go Ireland! (who is in a different group, thankfully)
That's it.

J-O-B update

Been a while since I've posted. Thanks to all for the birthday wishes, much appreciated.
Nothing official to note yet, though the order of potential jobs listed in my last post has shifted.
Essentially I think I have all but decided to put off (maybe forever) the idea of going to Japan. It would be a great opportunity for me for all of the obvious reasons...but it likely would not help me much in my search for a career, and I'd be committed to spending a full year abroad no matter what. Since law is something I've always wanted to try I'm thinking about moving to a larger city and looking for a gig in a major firm as a way of determining if I really want to get the J.D. or not. And if a law job is impossible to come by, something in sports or something in journalism would be very helpful as well. And I could still go to Japan next summer, if I so desire.
The likely destination? Washington, D.C. I need to do mucho research on the city in terms of cost of living (I am at least working at FedEx weekday nights to make some cash) and some other factors. But D.C. seems to have a good mix of an enjoyable city, proximity to home (not so much, Chicago), decent weather (adios Boston, New York City), strong law schools (iie, Philadelphia) as well as good, affordable road trips. B$'s wedding and Oxford, Mississippi would be enjoyable destinations, among others.
No final decision to be made for a couple weeks though as I ponder this a little further. I am planning on going with the fam down to the beach in the last week of July, so I have until at least then to make up my mind. And for real this time.
That's it and that's all for today. More tomorrow.