No this isn't the Weekend Update of my youth, with the anchor telling me, "Good evening. I'm Chevy Chase, and you're not." If you don't get it, you're too young. Ask your Uncle Google, and get off my lawn.

This weekend was an interesting, for several disparate reasons. The first one, chronologically, at least happened on Friday: I became officially unemployed. I don't expect that condition to last any longer than 8:00 am tomorrow morning, though, when I sign my employment papers for my new position. As my father (RIP) told me oh, so many years ago, "Never leave a job with no place to land." Ever since that advice, I've never resigned one position without a second already arranged. It made sense to me then as a teenager and it makes even more sense to me now as a parent. I will keep a job regardless of how unpleasant the work, or the conditions, if I have my kids to provide for. I will admit, I've never had a really ugly, shitty job though. If I did, my absolute statement may not stand.

The second thing that happened was my daughter participated in a 3 vs. 3 soccer tournament. I hadn't seen one of them before, and I must say, they are fun to watch. It's kind of like Futsal, but outdoors with a smaller goal and no keeper. Her team, CSC  U10 won their age division with a 3-0-1 record, outscoring their opponents 16-6 (1-1, 5-2, 5-1, 5-2). Congratulations, Mikaela, you and your teammates played awesomely! And it truly was a team effort. The passing was what really made the difference. The weather, was not a factor, though...

Winter made an appearance in mid-March. That's not unexpected, but really? Really? After a super dry (though chilly) Dec - Feb., March has come to call, both cold and wet. Three inches of snow on the ground when we left for the final game today, but only a bit left on the field as you can see from the photo. That wasn't the tough part: the tough part was the raw 20+ mph winds and mid 30sF temps. Brrr. I think the parents deserved medals for standing in it like frozen statues. All applause was muffled by gloves: whump, whump, whump.

I had been planning on spending my Saturday in Fernley in the warm confines of a gymnasium, leaving the cold of the soccer pitch to my blushing bride. But my man-cub forgot his wrestling gear, and so attending the tournament was a no-go. I played the gallant, and offered to do the soccer thing. An offer that was accepted almost before I finished offering. Well, hmm. We'll have to see what that gets me. Karma points anyone?

After a gloomy, gray, cold and damp two week stint in Columbus, Ohio, I am finally going to be winging my way westward later today. Unfortunately, I won't be quite making it all the way back to Nevada, as I have a weekend of pain awaiting me in Denver, and will make it all the way home on Monday afternoon. 
Speaking of Carson City, it was recently ranked as the number one American city to have not recovered, Reno/Sparks followed at second worst. Of course local officials dispute the claim. Another interesting read is about the top 10 large metropolitan areas in the world that haven't recovered.
In my opinion, statistics are like a lamp post to a drunk: theoretically to be used for illumination but more often for support. Or they can be likened to a bikini on a hot woman, revealing, but still hiding that which is critical.
I find it interesting that the news article, though the mentioning the site by name (247wallst.com), doesn't actually link to the report.