Officially, Sugar Bowl Bound

When my wife and I found out that LSU was going to be in New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl she said, "We need to go!" I was pumped. After about a half of a second I became more realistic.

I said, "Honey, how are we going to get tickets without selling off our youngest child?"

She replied, "Look, I don't care how you get them, just do it!" "Within reason, of course," she added.

I approached several of my contacts for tickets that I received for past games. No luck. At work the next day I had an epiphany. I'll just go on ebay. Let me fill you in on a little secret. I have never bought or even bid on anything on ebay. Needless to say, I was going in blind, but I was going to give it a shot. During my lunch break, I decided to take a look at what was on auction at the time. It was about 23 minutes past the hour and 'lo and behold' there were a couple of tickets being auctioned off in the nosebleed endzone of the Super Dome. There were only 7 minutes left for bidding and the top bid was $405. I preface this next statement by saying I have NEVER paid that much for any sporting event and didn't think I ever would. Anyway, I put in a bid for $410 with my upper limit being $450. Well, with 1 minute left in the bidding I was still the high bidder. With 30 seconds left the top bid went straight to $450. I was thinking, "Aw Hell. This guy is going to out-bid me with a $455 offer." My computer chose this particular time to freeze up. After rebooting, I logged back in to ebay to find out that I was, in fact, the winning bidder for the tickets. Well, I called the missus and told her about the tickets. She screamed my ear off through the phone. She was very excited about the chance to go see the Tigers in New Orleans.

This is where it gets interesting. I paid the seller for the tickets and opted for the Fed Ex delivery option. By the way, make sure you check the sellers feedback before placing any bid requests. I bid on some sucky seats but what the heck, I'll be amoung friends, huh? Well here it is December 27th and no tickets. My wife is about to strangle me for not having the tickets in hand yet. I'm wondering how I am going to evade the potential explosion if these tickets do not arrive before we go visit her brother in Houston this weekend. Well, yesterday I get home from work at about 5 A.M. and go to sleep. When I wake up, I go to our mailbox and happen to look at teh front door.

At this moment, I have a "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" interlude moment when the heavens open up and all the cheesy music plays. My Fed Ex package has arrived while I was sleeping. I tear open the envelope and find out that the seller has upgraded me from the endzone to 30 yard line seats. Granted, we are still in the nosebleed sections, but I'll be able to see some action. My wife was happy and I avoided another trip to the doghouse.

I am stoked about the game. I am really looking forward to attending my third bowl game in a row. I'll be sporting my purple and gold with the rest of the Tiger Faithful and I hope to see all of you there!

Welcome Rebecca and Jason

I have recently re-connected with some friends from my college years. I am so greatful for the opportunity to begin a new/old relationship with my friends from Colorado. Rebecca and Jason feel free to leave comments and contact me at any time through this blog. I am so happy that at least two people will finally read this nonsense blog.

I love y'all and come back often.

Merry Freakin' Christmas

Damn, the Celtics have the best looking dancers in the NBA! I'm not a basketball fan, but I had to post this picture of their dance team.

It's been a long time since my last post and I'm sorry. Not that anyone reads this blog, but I'm sorry all the same.

There are less than two weeks 'til the Tigers lay a good ol' ass whippin on the Fighting Irish of Notre Dammit. I'll be in the Big Easy watching the Sugar Bowl play out on the 3rd. I hope to see all of the Tiger Faithful there in full force.

I am quite unsettled on Alabama's search for a head coach. What's the problem with them. You would think they had an idea of who would possibly accept the job before they fired their coach. Evidently not. Good luck on keeping any great recruits with that 'Charlie Foxtrot' in Tuscaloosa. I was looking forward to the road trip over there next year. If their AD doesn't get his shit together and hire a coach, they are going to lose out on prime recruiting. Auburn is eating this whole scenario up. They thought their coaching issues were serious several years ago but this circus is making them feel tons better for Tuberville.

Hey T'smack, what the hell happened to the website? I'm missing out on all of your wisdom of the Coaching Circus in Alabama. I've had to revert to EDSBS and Loser With Socks sites to get a chuckle. By the way, thanks for linking their sites, those guys are great. I hope your road trip turned out OK. Looking forward to reading more from you in the future weeks.

Merry Christmas Everybody and Have a Happy and Safe New Year!

It was F'n Cold!

Last night was the first time that I was able to sit in the upper deck for an LSU home game. Actually, it was pretty cool. It's amazing how one can see plays develop from the line of scrimmage. When Williams rushed for his touchdown, I could see the lane before he hit the line. But DAMN it was cold! The wind kicked my ass all game long.

I was concerned the whole game about our defensive backfield. It seemed to me that they were out of position more than normal last night. They did come up with big turnovers when they needed them. Good Job guys.

I have to tell y'all about a little pre-game amusement while we were heading to the stadium. Let me preface this story by letting you know that we were with some friends that traveled from out of state to see the game. They are Crimson Tide fans. We were walking past Tureaud (sic) Hall when some chick decided to yell, "Bama Sucks!" Now let me tell you, these guys we were with are good natured fellas that were extremely good sports all day with the "Tiger Bait!" thing. Well, anyway, this chick decided to take this a little farther. She yelled the previously mentioned "Bama Sucks!" Well, she wasn't ready for the "Well yeah but I see that you swallow!" reply from one of my out of town friends. I knew that she was pissed, but I thought that would be the end of it. We had walked all the way to the design building and she finally caught up to us. She started screaming and hollering that what my friend said insulted her. Next, some dude came from behind us and screamed that she deserved an apology. At this precise moment, the chick noticed that an LSU fan was holding one side of our ice-chest. I could see the wheels turning in her head. She couldn't grasp the concept of Bama fan and LSU fan hanging out and drinking with one another. She was dumbfounded! Of course this is an understatement, but I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt because of her inebriated state. She stuttered something incoherent and said, "We're cool" and just left.

Just an observation here, the vast majority of the Tiger Fans we encountered Saturday were great and had a great time. However, scenes like this are just too amusing to pass up. That girl ought to have a sign.

It is amazing how pissed Bama Fan is at their coach. I was sitting in the upper deck surrounded by Bama's faithful. They are crawling all over Shula about their team's performance. I tell you that the majority of them were screaming bloody hell at Shula and his running back Darby. They are sick. I also found out that many Bama fans sold their LSU tickets after the loss to Miss. State. Man, they were HARSH!

Anyway, did I mention that it was F'n COLD!

Happy to be Wrong

Boy, am I happy that my gut feeling was wrong about Saturday! But the 2nd half was like a roller coaster ride. The ending was a happy one though. After about 5 beers in the 2nd half alone, I was feeling a rather nice buzz. It just got better when the Tigers scored with 9 seconds left in the game.

I was kind of bummed that 'Bama lost to State. I was hoping they would win convincingly, so that the game Saturday would be more significant. I do have tickets and will probably be the only fan in a yellow shirt in the middle of all those 'Bama faithful. Thanks Jeff for the tickets, by the way.

By gametime, my Crown Royal Special Reserve bottle will be very empty and I will be feeling little or no pain. I can't act up too much because my better half will be attending the game with me. I hope to see all of y'all on campus Saturday. If anyone has any interesting tailgating options on Saturday, please let me know. I would really like to meet anyone who follows the Tigers and raise a toast to fellow Tiger Fans!

See everyone on Saturday!

It's Saturday in Vol Country

I don't know what to think about Saturday's game against the Vols. My gut tells me that the same team that showed up at Auburn and Florida is probably the one that will show up in Tenn. My heart wants the Tigers to show the rest of the nation what they are truly capable of. You see, I'm torn.

I am having a difficult time with the idea that LSU's best win happens to be against ULL. WTF? After Saturday, LSU could turn out to be the most under-achieving an overrated team in the country. The lackluster offensive production in the last two road games is enough to give the most rabid Tiger fan pause. Will they kick it into high gear, or will the same team that dropped the two previous CBS games show up? I truly don't know. I hope after I return from the little Purple Tiger's soccer games Saturday, that I will be pleasantly surprised. I couldn't think of a better way to finish this crappy week, than with a quality win in Tennessee.

If Les Miles ever wants to catch a break in Baton Rouge, then he had better have his team ready to play in front of 100,000 Rocky Tops Saturday. I have been trying to give the man the benefit of the doubt this season, but he makes it extremely hard to feel good about the coaching this season.

Memo to Les: At this point your team has nothing to lose and everything to prove. Have the tigers ready to play and get your in-game adjustments right on Saturday or you'll see some very ugly things down the pike. After 'Little Nicky,' Tiger fans are not as forgiving for failure. We have come a long way since DiNardo. We do not, I repeat DO NOT want to go back to the days of Hallman and DiNardo. I personally like to be in the top ten every season. I don't want to go to future LSU games and see the stadium 3/4 full. I want 92,000 screaming fans in the stadium every Saturday. This will not happen if the Tigers continue to 'lay eggs' against quality teams.

Now that's off my chest; GEAUX TIGERS!

My Thoughts

I was driving home from work yesterday when I heard an amazing event in the works; USC was losing. The score was 33-10 in favor of the Beavers. I was thinking to myself, "Are they really going to lose to them, or will it be another sqeaker for the Trojenz?" Needless to say, USC almost, and I stress the almost here, pulled another win out of their collective asses. Now, I'm not one of the USC haters here, one of my good friends is an alum of USC. I am thouroughly sick of the complete hand-job the media has been giving USC this year. Before Cal was mauled by Tennessee in the first game of the year, I thought that Cal would be the only team in the Pac-10 that could play with USC. I see now that I was wrong. If USC doesn't watch out it could feasibly lose two more games. I do know that they play Cal and Notre Dammit at home, but the way they get behind early in their games this season, it could lead to a possible situation that they could have three losses. The chances of that happening are slim though. The Trojenz could very well come out smelling not quite like roses, but something entirely different.

Their Song Girls are very NIIIIIIIIIICE though!

This one's for you Randy!

Oh. . . Well

I was disgusted after the loss Saturday. If I would have been at my own house, I probably would have broken several remote controls. I'm not a fan who likes to criticize coaching, but WTF? Why are we trying to run the ball when we are sixteen points behind in the second half? I hope the Tigers can regroup and play well for the rest of the season.

BTW, the picture is of my brother-in-law's '65 mustangs that he has. He is trying to sell the black coupe. He went out and bought the fastback before he could unload the coupe. I just didn't have anything worth publishing, and I still don't. I just thought I needed to post something.

Game Day

I must work today for LSU's home game against Miss. State. I do, however, have a plan to see the game. I woke up this morning at about 350 A. M. and went to Wal-Mart to buy an adapter for my small hand-held TV. I will get to see the game. I know it is just State, but I don't like to miss any game. I'll be looking forward the whipping the Tigers are going to give the Bulldogs today.


On a side note. I did get tickets to the Alabama game this week. I was able to secure the tickets from an unlikely source. . . the Alabama Athletic Department. Mrs. Purple Tiger and I will be in the middle of the Crimson Tide faithful in Death Valley. Not my ideal situation, but I take the tickets as I can get them until I am able to somehow acquire season tickets. (long shot, I know)

My brother-in-law is from here and now lives in Orlando. His best friend there is an Alabama Alum and they attend the 'Bama and LSU contest every year. Somehow, he was able to get tickets for my wife and I for the game in Tiger Stadium. This is the second or third time he has been able to get tickets for an LSU game for me. I even had tickets to the Florida game in The Swamp if I had been able to make the trip. I am extremely grateful to him for all he has done to feed my LSU football fix. THANKS JEFF!

I'll be in Tiger Stadium in spirit today. Geaux Tigers.

Night Fright

I was making my midnight round in the unit, when lo and behold. . .a racoon. Let me tell you something, when one of these critters is agitated, you do not want to be close to it.

I was walking around one of our towers on the second deck logging my readings. After turning around writing down my pressure on one of the vessels, the healthiest racoon I have ever seen, was right in front of me about 2 feet away. It was not happy to see me there. It scared the living hell out of me. You don't expect anything up there to jump out at you at 12 in the morning. When I started walking away he slowly followed me for about 5 feet, then turned around and went under one of the supports of the tower that I walked by. This is the first time in my 5 years here that I have seen anything like this in the structure.

WOW

Well, the smartest thing Tulane did all night was not let their starting QB back in the game. I'm sure he needs a few Aleve after this sack by Dorsey. I think I'll take a 49-7 score. I'm sure Miss. State is REALLY looking forward to coming into Tiger Stadium next weekend.

I see that Tigersmack's corndog took another big hit this weekend. Good luck next week Comeaux!

Geaux Tigers,

Purple Tiger 006

My Little One

I just had to post a picture of my little girl playing her first season of soccer. Luckily, the organizers of the league thougt it would be a good idea to play on Sundays this fall to not interfere with LSU Football. By the way, if there was a conflict, I would happily miss the football game to watch the little Purple Tiger 006 play.

My Rant

WTF

What an AMAZING country we live in. What other nation in the world would let an hostile foreign head of state into their country and absolutely trash the country's leader? Hell, I know this has nothing to do with LSU Football, but WTF?

To top it off, Chavez goes to a church in Harlem the next day and continues to rant and rave about the 'devil' to applause. Wait. . .Did I miss something? I can tell you one thing, I used to like Danny Glover, but I wish that bullet in Lethal Weapon #whatever, would have ended his spot in that particular franchise.

Memo to Chavez: Get back to your country and fix your own country and stop spewing your illogical and insane rhetoric here!

Now that's off my chest, Geaux Tigers. Have a great time at the Tulane game everybody, I'll be listening to the game on the radio, because I'll be at work making double-time listening to the game.

L8R,

Purple Tiger 006

Update

I'm playing around with my blog layout. Please forgive any unneccessary movements. I'm just working it out.

Long Night

Aw Hell. . .

After watching the first half of the LSU/Auburn game at my parents' house I made my way, somewhat comfortable, to work. LSU and Auburn were in the midst of a SEC battle and I had to miss the second half on TV. Auburn's only scoring drive left me feeling nervous but confident that there was time left in the game for LSU to put something together.

Oh, but it was not meant to be. After a penalty that gave Auburn a first down on a 3rd and 29, I had a sinking feeling in my gut. The Tigers stopped Auburn a few plays later, but with precious time coming off the clock. LSU had their chances, however, Auburn's defense kept them from the end zone.

The penalties that were called on the two last drives of each team seemed to contribute to the outcome of the game. It doesn't mean that the pass interference call on the interception or the overturn of the alleged pass interferene call lost the game. If Russell wouldn't have taken the sack on the last drive with time running off the clock, LSU might have had enough time to run one more play from the 5 yard line with 15-20 seconds on the clock.

The loss was painful. Not only because it almost certainly keeps LSU out of the SEC Championship Game, but it made this night at work very long indeed.

LSU has 2 home games coming up before they have to travel to Florida to play a Gator team that pulled out a last quarter win at Tennessee. I have to revise my prediction of the Tigers' season. I originally thought that they would drop 2 of the 4 road games. I now think they could possibly run the table if the offense can put any running game together. I really believe that Auburn's defense is the toughest that LSU will see for the rest of the season. I know that the Tigers will bounce back. They must if they want even a chance to play for the Western Division title. I know that Auburn must lose two, but stranger things have happened. Not very likely though.

Ready for Relief and Ready for Bed,

Geaux Tigers and L8R,

Purple Tiger 006

Roach Coach

Look,

I'm the last one to complain about how someone prepares food in their own kitchen. On Monday of this week, one of the operators had a little 'surprise' in his boxed lunch from one of the trucks. Looking at the title of this post you can hazard a guess on what he found in his red beans after he had eaten half of the lunch. I have never seen lunch boxes disappear off of the table quicker than they did that day. Before, the other guys started eating they were kidding me about my frozen french bread pizzas that I put in the oven. Well, I had a full stomach while the others were left hungry for the rest of the afternoon.

The tech who found the little critter in his lunch proptly began calling the other control rooms to warn them about the incident. After that, he went out front to get his money back from the vendor. When he showed the guy the roach in the box, the guy had the nerve to ask him, "Do you want your money back?"

DUDE, What the HELL do you think ?!!???

The following day, the guard at the gate said there were no operation technicians eating from that particular truck. I wasn't too keen on that one anyway, but this little 'incident' sealed the deal for me.

I have asked a couple of guys to post any stories or anecdotes they hear while they are at work. So, if you see any others posting to this blog, it is with my permission. There are so many stories here that I need a lot of help to get them down.

By the way, the Tigers will win this weekend. . . The purple and gold ones that is.

Geaux Tigers! I'll be pulling for them even though I'll probably miss most of the fourth quarter.

L8R,

Purple Tiger 006

Saturday Night in Death Valley

Don't let the title fool you. I didn't make it to the game Saturday night. I did, however, watch it on Tigervision.

Look, I know we were playing USL err. . . UL-Lafayette, but there couldn't be a better way to kick off the 2006 season. USL gets a good payday without having to travel to the Big-House, and their fans get to drive down I-10 to do some out-of-town drinking on the campus of LSU.

I believe JaMarcus Russell did look improved over last season. I am a little concerned about Justin Vincent. I thought I saw him limp off the field in the 1st half. If anyone knows anything please let me know. Alley Broussard finally got in the game and looked pretty good. I know it was against a tired and almost defeated USL defense, but I think it was a nice spot for him to get his game legs back after his injury last year.

I just read a blog from tigersmack.com and came away laughing. Evidently, there is a DUDE on the Ragin Cajun dance team. WHAT ?!!??? What the hell is that all about? The poster for the tigersmack blog said that the big screen in the stadium focused on him for the entire song. I don't know about you, but a guy on a college football dance team seems somewhat. . . wrong.

I'm looking forward to next week when the 'Cats come into Death Valley. I'll actually be there with the rest of the Tiger Faithful getting drunk, loud, and hopefully after getting laid. (sidenote: don't tell my wife that I'm going to try to hit on her Saturday)

By the way, the decision to eliminate "Tiger Rag" from the pregame because of student "vulgarity" is absolutely riduculous!

Geaux Tigers and Looking for Overtime,

L8R

Midnight Ramblings

My weekend at work is almost over. It is around 1230 A.M. and I am waiting for relief to get here. Well, my relief will not arrive until about 5 in the morning. I still have about 4 1/2 hours left.

I am anxiously awaiting L.S.U. football season to begin. Right now, the way my schedule looks, I might be able to make it to a few games. I have tickets to the Arizona and Fresno State games. I am hoping to get tickets to the Alabama game. Yeah, I know. . . tickets to that one are extremely scarce. It won't keep me from trying to score some tickets. I went to Tuscaloosa last year and had a blast! My wife, brother-in-law, my wife's friend and myself went to Alabama to see L.S.U. defeat the Crimson Tide in their own house. By the way, the Alabama fans were great. This enabled us to have an enjoyable experience. I would like to make that trip again someday.

We are trying to get some tickets to the Florida/L.S.U. game in Gainesville this year. Right now, we are not having any luck. My wife's brother lives in Orlando and we will probably go to Gainesville, even if we do not have tickets. The bars and restaurants across from 'The Swamp' are a great place to see the game if you don't have tickets. We've been there before and had a pleasant trip. Hope to have another one this year.

I know I'm rambling, but what do you expect from someone updating their blog at almost 1 in the morning. I'll be back when I have something to say.

Geaux Tigers!

Beginning the Weekend

What a week it has been! We have been working out here all week, and here I am working nights all weekend. Don't get me wrong, I like the money but the heat will take all of your energy after a while.

Here is a quote from the venerable sensei here in my unit. Try to guess what he is talking about, "That was just a little baby. . . In a little while there's going to be a growed up 'm f' in the bathroom." I was moving from our control board portion of the control room to the eating area when I walked into a "wall" of foulness. He ran 2 people out of the area he was in. It didn't clear out for a few minutes.

I'll post later when there is more to say.

L8R

Honeywell Incident

I just read online about an incident at Honeywell's chemical plant in Baton Rouge. Evidently, they had a release of Hydroflouric Acid at one of their units. I find this pretty disturbing, because they had a fatality at this same facility as a result of HF.

I know how difficult it is to prevent releases and spills on a 24 hour operation. It seems that the leak was detected by a remote monitor as well as the operations personnel and a "deluge" system was activated to prevent any additional exposure to personnel and equipment. My hat is off to the operators at Honeywell for handling this potentially dangerous situation rather quickly.

I hope no one was exposed and stay safe guys!

More Golden Girls

Here is another great photo of the Golden Girls. I hope once the season starts, I'll be able to get some more.

Golden Girls

Initial Entry

"You better write these stories down, these guys are going to retire in a few years."

This quote from one of my co-workers is the reason that I decided to begin this blog. There are many stories told in a chemical plant during the workday. I am going to share some with y'all. My feeling is that we all have stories to tell. Some of them, though, are more interesting than others. My goal is to share some of these stories with you. Granted, what I find interesting might not be what you enjoy. That's O.K. I just feel the need to relate anything that I hear or see at work so that anyone bored enough might be entertained for a few minutes.

I work 12 hour rotating shifts in a chemical facility in Louisiana.

I am an outside operator, which means most of my time is spent outside working on equipment, making rounds, assisting maintenance workers, and keeping management happy. Because we all know that when management is not happy, no one is happy.

Anyway, I'll be back to post as I can. I have to actuall go back to work now.

L8R,
Purple Tiger 006