BagOfNothing.com

• There didn’t seem to be a lot made of the ending of one decade and entering another, and least I didn’t think so.
• I got one last Christmas card from Mike and his dogs of Welland, Ontario.  Cute dogs, Mike.  They look like they like to avoid the Canadian chill next to that fireplace.
• The first time I saw Dick Clark perform the New Year’s Eve countdown after his stroke I thought it was 55% courageous and 45% awkward.  Now I think it’s close to 30/70.
• It was good to hear Pat Summerall broadcasting again, even if it is just the Cotton Bowl.
• The first comment on this blog for the new decade was quite a doozy.
• I think I’m in favor of the post office not delivering mail on Saturday.  Last Saturday I got two bills that require me to call in to rectify a few things, but of course I can’t call in because offices are closed on the weekend and I have to wait and dwell over it until Monday.
• One of those bills is in regard to my ER visit when I had a chemical spill in the eye, the insurance company is telling me it didn’t qualify as an emergency.
• I think I may have some foundation problems with GeedingManor.  There’s an upstairs bedroom that is on the corner of the house with has a closet door that will no longer shut and the floor slopes, but there are no cracks on the walls and the bedroom underneath that one doesn’t show any damage either.
• There are few new enhancements to BoN that you will notice on the sidebar.  I’ve updated the recent comments feature that actually tells you what post the comment appears on, the Flickr badge has changed, and I have a live traffic feed which will tell you where people have most recently come from- country and webpage.
• BoN reader Hans Steiniger has completed his journey of watching an NFL game in every NFL stadium.  Link
• Some of you may think I have an issue with Rick Warren asking his flock for more funds for his church to cover the budget shortfall, but I don’t.  His letter was very detailed and reasonable.
• Yesterday after the game in an interview Brett Favre mentioned he grew up a Cowboys fan.  Huh, who knew?  That makes me think he watched the Cowboys the most during a time in which they really weren’t that good.
• It appears the Cowboys are finally playing different music as the new stadium.  When they came back from one commercial break I heard U2.
• Bono’s latest Op-Ed for the NY Time – 10 for the Next 10
• I think what the NHL does each New Years day is fantastic, having an outdoor game.  The last I looked, the Boston Bruins still had a live webcam at Fenway Park.
• There’s word going around that Jerry wants to bring that game to the new Cowboys Stadium.  Sorry, but Arlington just doesn’t have the atmosphere that most northern outdoor stadiums/parks have.
• The Cowboys defense has just been amazing the last three games.  They held a high powered Saints team scoreless for three quarters, and then two straight shutouts.  They are certainly streaking at the right time, but I have also learned over the years not to get my hopes up with this team.
• Weird fact, but until yesterday, no Dallas QB has taken every snap for an entire season, with the exception of special teams and special wildcat plays.
• Tashard Choice left the game with a concussion, I heard he spent the rest of the game watching the game from inside a shed.
• Unless the Cowboys get demolished this next game I don’t see Wade losing his job.  The defense is playing lights out and he’s won the NFC East two out of the three years he’s been here.
• Was Noah’s Ark circular?
• Even though Focus on the Family had to lay 8% of their workforce last year, they might buy time to run a Super Bowl ad featuring Tim Tebow’s mother.
• ATT looks to get rid of the landline

Instead of providing a generic list of things of the decade, here are some personal observations that I jotted down in one sitting about the past decade:

• Monday Night Football not only went through plenty of new announcers, but it moved from ABC to ESPN.
• John Madden and Pat Summeral are no longer broadcasting.
• I never thought the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would ever win a Super Bowl.
• The Cowboys didn’t win one playoff game and have went through more head coaches than I expected, and ten years ago I would have never thought that by decade’s end they would have a new stadium.
• I bought a brand new 35″ CRT television in the year 2000 thinking televisions couldn’t get any larger or flatter.
• I thought the DVR would never catch on.
• Before this decade I have been to a U2 concert, now I have been to three.
• Long distance calling plans are really no longer a player but you would see all sorts of long distance commercials ten years ago.
• I was a devout Baptist.
• I use to have the Christian radio station set to the first preset on my car stereo.
• I picked a bank ten years ago by the amount of ATM’s around town, now I don’t ever need cash.
• You don’t see as many pay phones anymore, I’m not sure when was the last time I actually used a pay phone.
• I thought mobile Internet browsing would never take off thinking that no one would want to stare at a small screen.
• I didn’t own a cell phone until this decade.
• The Mavericks have become a good team this decade and ever have a nice place to play in.
• I live in a house.  Better yet, I’m married and have two fur-children.
• At the beginning of the decade, I never thought I would be managing my own webpage.
• I’ve gained about 40 pounds in the past ten years.
• I’ve lived in Irving (Valley Ranch, Las Colinas, back to Valley Ranch), Grapevine, Mineral Wells (needed a place to stay for several months before marriage), and Lewisville.
• The begging of this decade started with a very controversial election which I thought no matter the winner, would only be a one term president.
• I eat more vegetables and actually like to eat beans.  Also, I’ve embraced Mexican food.
• I pretty much have no ties to my home town.
• I am parentless.
• I’ve done my fair share of church-hopping and my faith has developed to point I never thought it would – more mature and confusing all wrapped up in one.
• My income has more than doubled, but then again, I was straight out of college in an entry level job.
• I’ve changed my voice mail greeting only once.
• At the beginning of the decade all my music came from Napster.
• I never thought I would willing pay for HBO.
• Two of my friends, people my age, have been through cancer.
• A few of my friends, some very close to me, have died.
• I have spoken at two funerals but have not been in a wedding other than my own.
• An extra value meal at McDonalds use to cost $3.24, not it will cost well over five bucks.
• I use to love playing video games and just couldn’t wait until the next version of Madden came out.  Now I no longer play video games, probably because I spend so much time on this here website.
• It’s been a very tragic decade – 9/11, space shuttle disaster, wars, recession, how fragile American auto makers have become, no Cowboys playoff victories, the Bush Administration.
• Lance Armstrong stared the rubber wristband trend then it just went crazy.
• Before this decade I never heard of the word ‘chipotle’ and now it is everywhere.
• Running seems to have become more popular.
• I did not know one homosexual personally, now several are close friends.
• The Atkins diet seems to have come and gone.
• I’ve bailed someone out of jail.
• Brett Favre played the entire decade as a starting QB in the NFL.
• Growing older never made me less insecure.
• I thought people that sought counseling and took antidepressants were weak, now I understand I was weak for thinking such a thing.
• NBC use to be a powerhouse and CBS was a bit of a joke.
• Currency has changed designed and value.
• I no longer think Guess jeans are cool.
• I actually buy and wear clothes from Wal-Mart.
• How I spend the holidays have dramatically changed.
• Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather, and Peter Jennings are no longer the big three anchormen.
• I’ve changed job positions several times, but have only worked full time for two different companies.
• The only reality TV I can remember was MTV’s The Real Life, now there’s great reality TV shows like Survivor and The Amazing Race.
• I no longer like to listen to sappy love songs.
• I use to look forward going to the movie theater, now I try to avoid going because I enjoy watching things at home much better, and I’m married to a woman that falls asleep before 9:30 PM everyday.
• I thought Jason’s Deli and Chick-fil-A were very feminine places and avoided them, now I love to eat at those places.
• For the first time in my life I have been out of the country.
• I now floss everyday.
• I use to wear a necklace everyday.
• I’ve learned to set my expectations for other people’s behavior, especially those close to me, pretty low, because I was only setting them up for failure without them even knowing it.
• Talk radio is now a big influence in my life.
• I have not held one single baby this decade.  A while back I told myself the next child I will hold will be my own.
• In this decade, all within a year’s time, I saw the sun rise on the east coast and the sun set on the west coast.