My Personal Blog

This is it, folks… my final post for 2024. What will come in 2025? First of all, I will be an honorary uncle to a baby niece or nephew. I will be keeping my regular day job, but there will be no more new or renewal applications for SNAP unless tied to a renewal of medical coverage, resulting in 45 agents being terminated with one month of severance pay and health coverage.  (I feel for the 45 agents who were terminated through no fault of their own.  They will qualify for unemployment compensation because their terminations were through no fault of their own.  I take solace in the fact that myself and the other agents will be able to assist them.)  And in July, I will be 40 years old, hoping to receive 40 balloons each from some of my female friends. And there will be plenty more where that came from in 2025!

It came to my attention yesterday that once again, former Steeler Hines Ward, 2x Super Bowl champion, Super Bowl XL MVP, and the franchise leader in career receptions, was snubbed as a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  There are many theories that suggest why: The Pro Football Hall of Fame has too many Steelers represented There is a perceived bias against the Steelers Statistics All are good theories, but there is one overlooked theory I suggest:  Ed Bouchette, the Steelers beat writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, a member of the selection committee, is hurting Hines Ward’s chances of being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Why do I suggest this?  Back in 1996, when Lynn Swann was not inducted into the Hall of Fame, Myron Cope, the legendary voice of the Steelers, resigned from his membership on the selection committee, citing that he was hurting Lynn Swann’s chances of being inducted (Swann was inducted in 2001).  If Myron ...

Dear Mr. Claus: Wait.. what?  It's that time of year again? My first full year with my full time position was a rewarding one and I look forward to what the next year with my employer will bring. These are my Christmas wishes for this year: With my Nittany Lions playing in the College Football Playoff for the first time ever this year, I desire to see the Nittany Lions win the national championship for the first time since the 1986 season.  Along the way, I do wish to see my friend Jenya Moore for the first time since November 2023 and receive some balloons from her. As I approach my fortieth birthday in July 2025, it bothers me to see folks my age with a spouse and children and me having neither of those.  I don't want to be a bachelor.  I hate being a bachelor.  I'm tired of being a bachelor.  Bachelor life is boring.  I am begging you to play matchmaker and find this Lion looking at forty his lioness (with apologies to the late Jimmy Buffett). ...