Football Epilogue

About the only time of year I don't mind the mess in my living room is the week between Christmas and New Years. I like to let the kids and I bask in the holiday afterglow. The tree is still up and shedding needles (damn balasm) and doing well. The gifts are out for people to look at and tinker with. There are still some cookies, there's definitely good coffee (I got a couple cans of illy from my son). There's Premier League soccer on boxing day and over the weekend. The college football and bowl games are just getting underway. There's a nice reprieve from work and school. It seems that a lot of people like to set up the tree and decorate right after Thanksgiving and take everything down as soon as it's done. To me that seems to make the holiday more about the shopping season and as soon as everything is opened and handed out, it's time to move on without even taking time to enjoy what was just given. In a way it's a statement as to how...

One of my relaxing-based life pleasures is getting to sit in my recliner with a cup of coffee, reading the paper, or The Economist or working on one writing project or another. A recent addition to this having the TV on in the background. I'm not a big fan of watching the talking heads (not to be confused with The Talking Heads ) on the networks and cable news. College and NFL "gameday" shows are just as annoying. Still, I like something live and light. Also, this fall my daughter played a lot of soccer. She was on two teams, so I've been attending a lot of her matches. Enter Premier League (PL) socce r, i.e. English professional soccer (football). England is six hours ahead of the US Central (my) timezone (CST). So 9:00 am CST is 3:00 pm in the UK. This is just in time for live broadcasting of the matches that correlates well with quiet weekend mornings. NBC is championing the PL broadcasts with at least four games on NBC-sports network (NBCSN) and the ma...

If you're like me, you're trying to figure out who to buy what for and dealing with a deluge of Christmas shopping lists from the youngsters, and not-so-youngsters in your life. To that end, I've been starting to notice smart and fitness tech low key become prominent in daily life. Friends now check their texts on their smart watches as well as get directions and notifications without the hassle of pulling out their smart phones. Additionally, wireless earbuds and headphones are becoming common place. It would be great to save a little on some of these items, which are likely on someone you know's list. Fortunately, right now is a great time to pick up the wearable tech people want. In fact eBay is  running a wearable tech promotion with massive discounts of up to 40% off. I'm planning on stocking up with some earbuds for hitting the gym and may pick up my smart watch/fitness monitor. I've had my eye on the Garmin Vivofit series for quite a while. If any of ...