"The Namesake"

The next few lines are probably going to sound like sarcasm, but in this particular instance I mean ever word.

Some of you may recognize the smiling picture above. This is a picture of the greatest man in the world, Mike. Mike has blown away the competition and is the undisputed bestest friend in the history of mankind. He was one of my groomsmen. Little did he know, he had a far, far greater calling upon his life. He is getting married later this year. He is getting a very nice wedding present from us. A very nice wedding present. Well, not too nice, I still have my frugal reputation to maintain. Let's just say it will be better than the kitchen knife and frying pan I got Ashley for her first birthday that we were together, which was less than two months (HA - true story - I can't believe I did that, and I can't believe she is fine with it).

Anyway, what did this great man do? As of August 20, 2009, Mike was able to install the device that is the namesake of our blog, a Slingbox. Mike gets all of the NFL games every week - yes, all of them. I now have the same access to these games beacuse of this man.

I tested it out the first night and it works, it really works. I watched 5 minutes of "Bones" on the first night before realizing I don't like that show (plus it was a re-run; I had already seen it). This is a machine that will save my sanity. As much as I wanted to move to Switzerland and as much as I wanted to believe that I was flexible and able to move with relative ease from a culture I've known all my life, I must now confess that I only deceived myself. Every time I said, "it's only 2 years; I can put up with anything for 2 years", I was lying, and I knew it. I cannot live without the NFL. There, I said it. It's true. It hurts me to admit that I am this dependent upon a form of entertainment. The only reason I got a Slingbox in the first place was for the upcoming NFL season (the season begins Thursday, September 10th @ 8:30 PM!!! - who cares who's playing?). The timing is perfect. Early games start at 7 PM local time, and the late games end just past midnight! Double-header, primetime football every week for 4 months!!! Can you imagine, a relatively inexpensive little device (with no subscriptions required, don't you know!) will allow us (well, me) to watch LIVE football games each and every week on my Swiss TV!! How crazy is that! I can even watch it live on my iPhone! This is possible in 2009! This is far better than the flying cars our grandparents envisioned happening by now. The marketplace knew what we really wanted - TV accessible 24/7 anywhere on the planet - Capitalism rocks!!!

(...3 cold showers later, and we're back...)
That being said, I/we recognize that it is a dangerous tool. I am all for the sentiment that we came over here NOT to watch TV. It is only to be used for the bare necesseties, of which football is DEFINITELY #1. We are not getting a Tivo (Lord, give us strength) because we do not want to even have the option to record shows. We have even made a promise to ourselves that on average we will have one out-of-town trip per month. The phrase "on average" is used as some concessions will have to be made during busier times at work, but overall, our goal is 24 distinct trips in our 24 months. Tomorrow is Montreux, in fact (you know, Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water - "We all came out to Montreux, on the Lake Geneva shore....Smooooooke on the waaa-ter, a fire in the sky..." - I promise you know it).

In sum, I can't believe it actually works (!) and I will leave you with another picture of the great one, with me in the picture to prove that I really get to say I know him. In case you are wondering, no, those are not flowers behind our ears. Did I mention I'm married and he's engaged? Just want to make sure that is clear.....