Back to the old habits…one day left in January and there has been little expression in this space. Better put a few things here before I run off everyone. Well, run off the last spider anyway.

- Hey Rich: knock this crap off and pay us the $4 mil. I’d admittedly a biased observer, but nothing you or your representatives have said about this whole affair lets you off the hook or even makes a shred of sense. (A $4,000,000 buyout paid by you is “unfair”, yet you sing a term sheet in Ann Arbor with the exact same obligation? WTF?)

- The basement is looking more open these days. We had to do some emptying, cleaning, and arranging to accommodate the air hockey/pool table combo Christmas gift from the in-laws, and just that act makes it more livable down here. Almost enough of a push to clean it the rest of the way.

- After linking through stories related to the efforts of QTrax to unsuccessfully launch, I stumbled upon a site probably already known to everyone called SpiralFrog. It allows for free & legal tune downloads, and since Universal is signed on as a licensee it includes people I’ve actually heard of. Because I’m very uncool and don’t own an Apple-manufactured player, I can actually use this service. It uses the Microsoft PlaysForSure DRM, and as long as the player is synched every so often the free license is renewed. So far it’s a very nice service – I’m finding current and old tracks to download without the digital skips & pops of the underground P2P sites.

- I’ve spent most of the last few months doing assignments at work designed to teach me about the functionality, structure, and technical components of our database, so a PDP goal for 2008 is to become more integrated about the theoretical & philosophical issues around it. I’ve gotten a good baseline with the “what”, “who”, and “how” aspects, so now it’s time for the “why”s. First step that I’m making headway – I was able to bring up a topic for discussion yesterday that totally derailed our status meeting.

The new year rang in this week with an arctic blast. The snowy backdrop in Day 1 provided the right mood for laying on the couch watching bowl games and the outdoor hockey match in Buffalo. Wednesday brings a crucial victory. Thursday brings one more day of Christmas vacation for the kids (I used to love snow days…now they are the scourge). Today, even though it’s a work day, is a day of recovery both for rest and illness.

- Six inches of fluffy powder fell Wednesday through Thursday evening. Being powder, it didn’t pack for anything but we finally got a couple of sled runs going for the kids. Powder is also a PITA to clean off. If it’s wet packing snow, at least it comes off the car in chunks. Any time we get the fluff stuff I keep meaning to get the leaf blower out, and I always forget. Still, the kids have a blast in it and it’s nice to look at in the winter.

- It does remind me about getting older. As a kid we prayed for snow days so we didn’t have to go to school. Now we pray for schools not to be closed so that we can get them out of the house for seven hours each day.

- In case the pictures don’t clue in, WVU got a huge win in the desert Wednesday, besting Oklahoma in a surprisingly easy 48-28 win. This win caps off a terrible month of December where in a few short days a national title shot and our head coach slipped through our fingers. By winning the Fiesta Bowl, the bleeding at WVU was alleviated for a moment and the ship has stopped sinking. While the 2005 Sugar Bowl was probably our biggest win ever (introducing us on a national stage, beating a traditional SEC power, saving the Big East conference, etc.) this was definitely our most crucial. Lesser teams would have folded under all the adversity, we’d still be coach shopping, and the program would take another gut shot in the span of 30 days.

- Speaking of the coaching search, the Fiesta Bowl trophy didn’t have enough time to be wiped clean of fingerprints when Bill Stewart had “interim” removed from his head coach” title. I have met Stew a number of times, and I think he’s a great person. He’s always warm, friendly, and makes time for a conversation & story no matter how busy he is. I’m not yet convinced, however, that he is what we were looking for in a head coach. He did a wonderful job in the face of adversity prepping this team for the bowl, and it appears he let his coordinators do what they’re paid to do during game. The players and recruits seem to like him, too. He coaches my team so I support him, but I’m going to need a little warm-up time to him as the head guy. There’s enough talent here that Frank Cignetti (the old one) could win a bowl next year, so I want to see how 2009 plays out.

- The single/double quote key on my laptop is losing it’s sensitivity. When I type words like the one in the last sentence, I have to physically stop and make sure the key gets a good mashing.

- This flip flopping weather is killing the sinuses. We’ve both had occasional bouts of misery as we go from December days to July and back.

- We’re almost through all the previous House MD seasons & episodes we never saw. I hope this writer’s strike is resolved soon. Not sure what the next show set is on our queue.

CFN’s Fiesta Bowl “Stream of Consciousness”

- “The WVU linebackers are destroying the OU offensive line.”

- “And there’s goes Schmitt. OU misses two tackles, Schmitt gets to the outside, and he just became a sure-thing top 75 draft pick. He was already the top fullback prospect, and now everyone knows he can run the ball.”

- “The OU coaching staff is getting pantsed.”

- “Wow, wow, wow. 79-yard touchdown strike with White hanging in until the last possible second and connecting with Tito Gonzalez for the score.”

- “Is there a tougher pound-for-pound player than White.”

- “Stoops just had a look on his face like ‘(Bleeeeeeeeeeeeeep).’ ”

Instant Analysis: Fiesta Bowl

- “Their 2006 Sugar Bowl victory against Georgia was for the Big East Conference. On Wednesday night, however, the West Virginia Mountaineers won a BCS bowl game for themselves, their loyal coaches, and a state that needed—and received—a massive dose of healing.”