The Power of The Pensblog

My favorite Pittsburgh Penguins blog, The Pensblog, is known for it's creative photoshops. Another blogger recently "stole" some photoshops from The Pensblog. Not a smart move. The Pensblog and its readers basically flooded the photoshop thief with comments and the thief had no choice but to take down the stolen photoshops. Readers of The Pensblog are numerous, united in their love of the Pens, and united when it comes to a cause. Do not underestimate the power of bloggers, in particular, the Power of the Pensblog.

Myron Cope Passes Away at 79

Mryon Cope, writer, legendary broadcaster for the Pittsburgh Steelers, the inventor of the Terrible Towel, and a pioneer in sports talk radio, died today at the age of 79. My prayers go out to the Cope family.

Pittsburgh Penguins Blogs

With the Pittsburgh Penguins having another great season and the blockbuster Marian Hossa trade, I thought I would list my favorite Pittsburgh Penguins Blogs. So here goes:

• Pittsburgh Penguins, The Official Web Site - No explanation needed here. Go here for the official schedule, stats, etc.
• THE PENSBLOG - This is a great website run by a group of die hard Pens fans. The guys here make liberal use of reader submitted Photoshop pics, which at times have made me fall off of my chair laughing. Warning, do not visit this blog if you are easily offended my male, testosterone driven humor.
• Faceoff-Factor - a little bit more cerebral than THE PENSBLOG.
• Pittsburgh Sports Insider - these guys usually have the latest breaking news. Not just the Penguins, but all Pittsburgh Sports teams.
• 105.9 the X - the official radio broadcast station for the Penguins games. You can listen to the games live on 105.9 FM, or listen live on the internet.

The Symphony Over Lunch?

I brought my vehicle to the Sears at Ross Park Mall to get my tires rotated. I was pleasantly surprised that the Three Rivers Symphonette was performing at the mall. The Symphonette is comprised of 35 students, aged 10-15, strings only. Classical music usually is not my thing, I am more of an alternative rock kind of guy. These kids were very good, their parents should be proud of their hard work and dedication. Hats off to the Ross Park Mall for bringing these kids in to perform.

Winter Driving Tips

The last two days have been an adventure driving to and from work. I feel fortunate that I do not have to drive on any of the Parkways to go to work. I live in Northern Allegheny County and drive up Route 8 to Butler. Even though I avoid the traffic jams of the Parkways, I have to deal with Penndot's less than desirable snow and ice removal on Route 8. You know immediately when you have crossed the Allegheny/Butler County line. I am not an expert on winter driving, but I wanted to share information on how to drive in the winter. Rather than me writing my personal observations, I used Google, and found what I believe to be, one website with very good overall winter driving tips. I could have provided links to several sites, but I found that AAA has a downloadable publication which seems to cover just about everything. It is called "How To Go On Ice And Snow". Please take the time to read it and be safe out there.

Year of the Rat

Happy Chinese New Year! 2008 is the Year of the Rat. If you are interested in the Chinese Zodiac, some attributes of the Rat are: Rats are leaders, pioneers and conquerors. They are charming, passionate, charismatic, practical and hardworking. Rat people are endowed with great leadership skills and are the most highly organized, meticulous, and systematic of the twelve signs. The Chinese New Year is sometimes called the Lunar New Year. If you collect stamps, see the stamp issued this year by the United States Postal Service.

Back on the Bench

Yesterday, I made my first attempt in 3 months to exercise my upper body. I have been on a self imposed, but wise, decision to let my elbow tendonitis heal since the beginning of November. My elbow is not entirely healed yet, but I really need to do something before my body turns into Jello. My weight and percentage bodyfat has not changed significantly in 3 months, but my body seems to have re-distributed itself. I do not want to re-aggravate my elbow tendonitis, so I was very careful with my workout. Yesterday, I attempted some bench presses with a few differences from my normal routine. I dropped the poundages to one-third of my normal poundages and I completed only partial repetitions so my arms were not fully extended with elbows locked. So how do I feel? My chest is actually a little sore. It is probably a result of my inactivity and not the actual poundages. I also completed the partial repetitions very slowly and with good form. One of my objectives from last night was to get my body accustomed to the movement again, muscle memory as it is called. My elbow is not sore today, so it seems like I accomplished what I wanted to. I am pleased that I am taking baby steps to getting back into the groove of things.

Tennis Elbow Update - 2/4/2008

I saw my hand surgeon this AM for a follow up visit after receiving a cortisone shot one month ago. I had an 8:30AM appointment and was pleasantly surprised by the non-existent wait time and the very pretty receptionist who could have a second career as a model. Anyway, my grip strength has improved but is not quite equal to the grip strength in my good arm. The Doc recommended gripping/carrying items with my elbow bent versus elbow extended straight out. Also, I should carry items palm up versus palm down. This puts less stress on the elbow. My Doc likes to spread out cortisone shots every 3 months if necessary. I should also wear a Band-It elbow strap as needed. He did not schedule a follow up appointment. Instead I am supposed to schedule an appointment if my progress starts to go backwards.