UB2SF

In my career in HR, including as the head of HR for a couple different firms, I've never seen management take a "retribution" stance and fire someone for offering his/her resignation. The more notice the better, especially for more senior-level and/or more specialized positions, in which cases it could take 3 to 6 months to hire a qualified replacement. If I were you, I'd give notice as soon as my WNY plans were set in stone, and I'd be honest about the concern you're raising with this post: "Part of me wanted to wait and give you two weeks notice in case you decided to turn around and fire me, but I decided the right thing to do would be to give as much advance notice as possible." Send the message that you're trying to make the transition as smooth as possible... maybe even offer to be available by phone periodically after you relocate.

Ahhh, I was wondering when someone would raise the NASCAR angle in this thread. I was having a discussion over lunch about this thread topic, and one of my co-workers (whose life has trailer-trash overtones) wondered why I didn't give NASCAR the same props as I was giving football. "Um," I said, "I don't consider NASCAR a sport." At that point, she spit tobacco in my face and started singing the lyrics to some country song about murder. OK, I made up that last part, but the rest of it is true.

I have no qualms about putting it on a pedestal. (Reminds me of Steve Martin's old stand-up routine, in which he talked about putting women on a pedestal... high enough to see up their skirts. ) In all seriousness, I believe firmly that the state of the NFL right now is pretty damm healthy. In terms of steroid and substance abuse issues, the NFL's policy is usually cited as the gold standard by people looking at how to fix baseball's issues. And yes, the NFL players have striked, but that's not a current issue, it's a historical issue. The NFL's current economic model works out pretty well for everyone... teams, players, and sponsors... and while ticket prices are awfully high, the value-for-the-dollar ratio remains good. If you don't want to put the NFL on a pedestal, then don't. But I will. And maybe I'll even sneak a peak at some cheerleader undies while I'm in the process.

OK, I'll add WNBA to my list: WNBA? -- whatever

Last night, while watching SportsCenter, I was reminded of the greatness of the sport of football, especially relative to the other major sports in the US. NHL? -- season cancelled, future in doubt MLB? -- players are juiced on 'roids, payrolls are bloated and imbalanced NBA? -- bunch of me-first brawlers MLS? -- whatever Football ain't perfect, but as the other major league sports deteriorate into national embarrassments, I'm doubly pleased to be a devoted fan. Is it September yet?

MAIN RIG - Lowden D10 acoustic (handmade in Ireland, cedar top, mahogany back/sides, Sunrise pickup) - Daedalus acoustic amp (handmade oak cabinet, Hafler power amp, Rane preamp, Lexicon Alex processor, Celestion speakers) - 1982 Phillip Kubicki custom strat - black, EMG pickups, flame maple neck, vibrato bar with locking nut - 1992 Les Paul Studio - dark red, chrome hardware - Digitech GR21 preamp/processor BACK-UPS and BEATERS - Martin Backpacker acoustic travel guitar - Washburn acoustic/electric guitar - Aria Pro II Explorer guitar - Peavey Bandit

As a Bay Area resident, here are some of my "local" tips... - Fall is absolutely the nicest time of year in the Bay Area, so you should have fantastic weather. Don't even worry about rain, because it rarely rains between May and November. - Head north to Marin County. In one short drive, you can visit Muir Woods (outrageous redwood grove) and the summit of Mount Tamalpais (a.k.a., Mt Tam). You could also extend the trip by a bit and go to Stinson Beach while you're in Marin. - You could extend the Marin trip even further and head to the Wine Country of Sonoma and Napa counties. - In the city, try to get a sense of the local flavor in each neighborhood. Chinatown is OK, but each neighborhood has it's own groove. North Beach (Little Italy), The Haight (hippie central), Cow Hollow (yuppie ville)... each one is unique. - Head up to the top of Twin Peaks, which is the highest point in The City. Absolutely amazing views. - If you're into the arts, check out the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), or the San Francisco Symphony (world class). - If you're into night life, check out who's playing at any of the local venues, like Slim's, The Warfield, Bimbo's, The Paradise Lounge, Cafe du Nord, etc. That's it for now. I could go on all day! PM me if you want more details.

Beatles - Hard Day's Night -- one of the earliest examples of Rock & Roll cowbell!

Darius is more of a run-support guy than a cover guy, so (unfortunately) I don't think it'll have a dramatic effect on Jax's ability to stop Houston's respectable passing game. Our best hope for a negative effect is from the bad vibes and distraction caused by the situation. I just feel bad for Ferguson, who's still in the hospital.

I'll be there! Not sure where I'm sitting, though -- I got tix through a friend of a friend who works for the Niners, so I'll be picking up tix at Will Call, with the specific seats based upon availability.

Dr. Z moves us from #24 to #16, with the following quote: Buffalo Bills (3-5) They creep into the top half of the board for the first time this season, and this is not as outlandish as it looks because there are now no, repeat no, teams left that have winning records. So in lieu of their two straight wins at home, beneath the beating of the frigid wings of the Hawk, the Bills stake a modest claim toward respectability.

Great post. Despite my own recent Donahoe-bashing (or at least, Donahoe-questioning), it's pretty remarkable how he managed to shore up our D Line and Secondary through free agency and lower-round draft picks, thereby addressing the needs that the pundits said far outweighed the Willis pick. Hey -- we've been a top-5 defense for both of the years since those pundits had their say. And for Willis? The recent Gayle Sayers reference in one of the articles on TBD gave me chills.

The other thing Golic correctly pointed out was that Willis gave up from the moment the ball was intercepted. He made no effort to fight off the first block, but rather slid to the side, and then never even fully accelerated before deciding there were too many Ravens breathing down his neck to continue pursuit. It was a bullstevestojan effort by Willis and I hope the entire team gave him a world o' crap during film review this week.

I was listening to the second half of the game on the radio yesterday while driving in the car with a friend -- a female friend who generally doesn't pay much attention to football. As the grim events unfolded, she uttered the following phrase about a half-dozen times: "THAT's not good!" So true. So profound. So simple. And thus, a new Bills slogan was born. Call the marketing department -- it's got a nice ring to it! "Buffalo Bills Football: THAT's not good!"

Willis's blocking definitely helped. I think our success could also be chalked up to... 1) fewer all-out blitz packages from the Dolphins than we've seen from other teams 2) better "max protect" schemes for Drew -- rarely was he back there all by his lonesome 3) good reads by Drew and crisp routes by the WRs. In spite all the gushing about Willis's pass-blocking, which I tend to agree with, the lone sack on Drew was the direct result of Willis missing his pick-up (tried to make a block, but had a poor angle).

The picture certainly is interesting and leads one to believe that Shaw may have disrupted Moulds. HOWEVER, if shaw was "blocking" someone intentionally then that would be offensive pass interference. Either way, I get the feeling that Shaw has been less than, shall we say, "focused", and that the coaching staff made an example out of him.

I'm never sure whether Bob looks "tired", or just "old." As a personal note, on Thanksgiving Day 2003, I went with my 85-year-old father and my 5-year-old daugther on a hike at the top of Mt Tamalpais, in Marin County, CA. It was a misty, chilly day, and combined with the holiday, the normally crowded East Peak of the mountain was nearly empty. But as we walked along the trail, along came a group of three men, walking briskly while chatting and laughing joyfully. The man at the front of the pack? Bob Weir. As a lifelong fan of All Things Dead, I greeted Bob warmly and thanked him for all the joy he's provided. He responded with equal warmth and thanked me right back. But the point of all this is to say that as Bob approached on that trail, and as he walked briskly away, he looked to be in absolute great health. I know that was almost a year ago, and a lot may have transpired since then, but I don't feel like this current situation is a matter of addiction or chronic, underlying health problems.

Hang on a second... Yes, McGahee made a bad-a$$ block and completely blew up the oncoming pass-rusher. Yes, after the block he stood over the fallen Patsie like a hunter surveying his kill. BUT......... HE BLOCKED THE WRONG GUY!!!!!!! Henry and McGahee were both in pass protection, w/ Henry to DB's right and McGahee to the left. Henry slid to the right to pick up the outsider pass-rusher. McGahee, inexplicably, also slid to his right and *waited for* rushers to come up the middle or from his right. Problem is, there was an outside rush coming from his left, which McGahee never even saw because he was looking to the right. It was the outside rusher he missed that wound up sacking Bledsoe. Would the guy up the middle, whom McGahee blocked, have had a shot at the sack? Yes. But his assignment should be to pick up any unimpeded rushers on his side of the line.

"Miami coach Dave Wannstadt leads his team in the ultimate mood-lifter, If You're Happy and You Know It"

I was at the game and didn't miss a play -- I didn't see any such hijinks fromn Fletcher.

Tell me about it! Oh -- I understand -- you mean the picture itself!

OK, maybe Baker has an excuse. But does Jerry Gray have an excuse for putting Baker on an island, only to bite on a Gannon pump-fake? And I'm sorry, but I don't think Baker has an excuse for watching a perfect onside kick bounce over his not-fully-outstretched arms -- he coulda/woulda/shoulda caught the ball in mid-air and ran untouched for 6.

It was a glorious day for a football game in Oakland, except for that loud sucking sound eminating from our offense. Some observations: - I saw a decent amount of positive interaction between Travis and Willis on the sidelines and during substitutions. Looks like the "rift" is much more a media creation than a reality. - Coy Wire looked totally lost on a lot of plays, as usual -- poor tackling angles, uncertainty about his assignments. I decided to watch him on one play, and I saw him do a full 360 in the process of finding the ball carrier. Oy. - Speaking of safeties... Rashad Baker, what on earth are you doing on our roster? - That shot to the head that Bledsoe took was vicious -- he had already thrown the ball and was totally defenseless. A flag on that play would have had a significant effect on the game. - The Oakland Coliseum wasn't as intimidating a place as it's made out to be... although I heard more screams of profanity there than any time since I saw Sam Kinison in concert at UB in the late 80s!

I didn't read through all the responses, so apologies in advance if this has already been posted... just wanted to encourage you to think about safety concerns with 3rd-row seats. Rear-end accident tests are not currently standard procedure in rating car safety, even though rear-end crashes are the most common. Organizations who have independently reviewed rear-end accident data have found that most vehicles with 3rd-row seats expose those passengers to extreme danger. This is especially true in minivans and station wagons, where there's only a foot or two of crumple-zone between the rear bumper and the 3rd row, but it's also a concern in SUVs. If it was me, I'd buy a Subaru Legacy Outback Wagon -- all-wheel drive, zippy, great handling. Good luck!

I'm glad your persistence paid off, Melissa! Congratulations, and thanks on behalf of our fellow humans for doing such meaningful, important work.