Yeah, I know, it's been a while! Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a good holiday season.

I just had a good laugh looking at John Hall's voting record. (BTW, congrats to Congressman Hall for beating Runaway Sue Kelly, our former rep!) Some background as to my amusement... The old GOP-controlled Congress got very used to their old work schedule, wherein they basically only met from Tuesday to Thursday. A 3 day work week???!!! How do I get one of them jobs? Anyway, just before lunchtime today (a Thursday,) someone, probably a Republican, made a motion to adjourn. Obviously looking to leave work early, head home, do some fishing, or whatever... When put to a vote, that motion was shot down pretty much along party lines. No- 233, Yes- 184. Sorry boys, Speaker Pelosi (I LIKE the sound of that!) said you should expect to work Monday-Friday just like the rest of us, and by gum, that's what you're gonna do!

In other news, I'm back playing in the Iona College Pep Band. The music is as fun as ever, but the team is, how to put this diplomatically, lacking in the experience necessary to put a complete game together. Their record now stands at 0-17, having just tonight lost to Canisius, 72-65 in OT. Their free throw percentage is around a miserable 30-40%, and they have too many turnovers. Last years team went to the NCAAs, but 4 out of 5 starters graduated, and this years team has had some injuries and academics sideline key players. If they could get the free throws happening, that alone would make up most of the margins they've been losing by.

That's all for now! I'll try to post a bit more often, stay tuned, and feel free to drop me a note to nag me if I let too much time go by!