Do you think this would work in Chicago?

European Cities Do Away with Traffic Signs

-Mark

Time to Bear Down

After a relatively smooth first 5 weeks, the Bears have struggled in 2 of their last 3 games. While an inoordinate number of turnovers played a major role in the near-loss to Arizona and actual loss to Miami, the Bears' struggles to overcome that adversity was a definite eye-opener. When they are healthy and playing up to their abilities, the Bears can beat any team in the NFL. When they turn the ball over and get taken out of their game, however, they lose to bottom-feeders.

The next three weeks are going to tell us a lot about the Bears' chances come January. Without Mike Brown and Bernard Berrian, and with Brian Urlacher less than 100%, they will head on the road for three tough games in hostile stadiums. If they can play well and win 2 of those games, I think they'll be alright. If they struggle, however, it might be time to start canceling those South Florida hotel reservations for early February.

Of course, all the Bears can do right now is focus on the task at hand, the New York Giants. It should be a hard-fought game featuring two teams that could meet again in January. The Bears should be focused and come ready to play, and they'd better—lose this game and New York gains a leg up on home field advantage. Let's just say I'm slightly relieved that we won't see Michael Strahan on the field—although I'm not sure what the status of his fellow starting defensive end, whose name I dare not attempt to spell, will be.

With all that said, GO BEARS!

My name is Mark, and I approved this blog post.

Is it November already?

Have you ever had a strong desire to blog (or write anything, for that matter) only to lack anything that you really want to say? Such is the dilemma I'm faced with at the moment. Fortunately, I'm a trooper and I shall continue on...

Since I last wrote, I have gotten engaged. Okay, so that's old news to you, I'm sure—I really need to blog more often—but I figure I should mention it here as a matter of public record. The wedding planning has been cruising along, so much so that there are a scant few items left to be addressed. Thanks to Stacey for making that happen, because if it were up to me nothing would be done I'm sure. :-)

Let's see, what else is going on? Well, the sneak preview of the upcoming season of 24 came out a few weeks ago, and I'm intrigued, as usual. Too bad there are two and a half months until it begins! Speaking of TV shows, the new season of The Office has begun and I have to say I've been underwhelmed so far. Season 3 has had it's moments, yet the writing hasn't been as sharp as previous seasons. I think the problem is Jim's absence from the Scranton branch, which has created a void that has yet to be filled. We all know that he will eventually return to Scranton, so it's just a matter of when—hopefully sooner rather than later!

Stacey bought a new laptop from Dell last week, thanks to a generous 30% off deal they were running. Her new computer is decked out with the latest and the greatest, and now that she's finally managed to snatch it from my clutches she is able to enjoy it. :-)

After getting blown out of the gym last week, my rec league basketball team came on strong yesterday and won big. It was a lot of fun and I think I played well for the most part, but man I am out of shape. By the time I got out of the game after playing my longest stretch I think I could have been beaten down the court by a peg-legged pirate minus the peg leg.

That's all for now. Sorry to disappoint those of you expecting an interesting and/or well-written post! Take care.

-Mark