Winter has Arrived

We woke up to 30F (around -1C) this morning and the weatherman was talking about all the rain from the last 24 hours changing to snow later in the day.
I didn't pay much attention ... I was running late.
Then I stepped outside and noticed the landscape was covered in white.
I snapped a quick picture of my car in the dark, before clearing off the light blanket of wet snow.

The commute in to work was a bit sloppy and the traffic was pretty snarled.
Thankfully there were no accidents or cars that had driven off the road.

First "snow-on-the-ground" of the cold season on the first day of December.
I must admit it looks pretty.
Ask me how I feel about the snow in a couple of months though, and I might have a slightly different opinion...

Even though technically there are still a few weeks left in autumn, I would like to wish everyone a "Good Winter" (Kalo Xeimwna in Greek).

What makes a Fan?

Saturday seemed pretty ordinary until the opportunity presented itself to go to the 1:00 pm Pittsburgh Penguins hockey game against the visiting Calgary Flames.  We are not what you may call a "rabid" Pens fans, however both my daughter and I jumped at the opportunity to attend.
This game was being played at the new Consol Energy Center - a really nice venue, as hockey arenas go.

We wore our Pittsburgh Pens black shirts, braved the wind and the cold (it was around 38F or 3C at noon time) and filed into the arena along with a whole bunch of other fans.  This was another sold-out game, so there were plenty of folks there (capacity is stated at over 18,000 and there were folks standing too).

The game started with a 3-0 run by the Penguins, and the fans in the Arena were going wild!

I snapped this picture immediately after the Penguins scored their second goal, while every person in the Arena was on their feet.

 
Then the Flames came alive.  They scored a goal and were really pressuring the Pens.  With little time left in the last period, the Flames pulled their goalie and replaced him with another player, so they could outnumber the Pens players, as they tried to score again.

There were mere seconds left in the last period and the Penguins were still leading by a score of 3-1, however they were short-handed, as they had a player in the penalty box - the Flames now had a two-man advantage.
Then I saw the Penguins captain, Sidney Crosby, entering the game.
Time seem to slow down and the thought raced through my head that he just might try to score again (Crosby had scored two of the Pens' three goals in the game at that point, including the 200th goal of his career).

With 37 seconds left to play, Crosby indeed scored an "empty-netter", achieving the elusive hat-trick and setting-off a frenzied celebration in the crowd!  Hats rained onto the ice from all directions, as the fans showed their appreciation for Crosby and game was suspended for several minutes, as the Arena crew tried to collect them all.

The game ended with the Penguins winning 4-1, while the excitement was palpable in the crowd.
Here's a link to a recap of the game online.
After the game we walked rapidly through the cold, stopping traffic and savoring the victory.
Maybe we were not quite die-hard fans, but on this day, most Pittsburghers certainly counted themselves as Pittsburgh Penguins fans.

This picture was taken right after the game ended, as the Penguins players were congratulating each other.

Baby It's Cold Outside

Leaving the house at 7:00 am yesterday, I noticed a pretty thick blanket of fog and it felt quite cold. 
My car was covered in what appeared to be rain drops. 
Upon closer examination however, it became clear the water on my car was frozen.

I snapped a picture of my car's roof, before I began to scrape the ice off the windshield and windows.

The meteorologists are talking about "freezing precipitation", or "wintry mix" starting tomorrow.
Indian Summer seems to have left us for good.

Thus the title of this blog entry, and a cute little song too: Baby It's Cold Outside
(link to YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3H6YE-40xg)

Indian Summer

Last Saturday we experienced snow flurries in Pittsburgh and a temperature which struggled to reach the high 40'sF (10C).  Every night since then the sky has been clear and the temperatures dip down to (or below) freezing.  Every morning I scrape ice off my car's windshield -- the meteorologists talk about a "hard frost".

Despite the frigid mornings however, the last few days the weather has been warm and sunny, with temperatures ranging from 60-70F (16-21C).  My mid-day walks in the woods are an absolute pleasure and the warmer temperatures provide a chance to wear short-sleeve shirts for a few more days before the cold weather returns with a vengeance.

Traditionally this is called "Indian Summer" and it is a part of autumn I really look forward-to every year.
According to the wikipedia link I inserted above, Indian Summer typically occurs between mid-October and late-November.  While the colors on the leaves this year are not as dramatic as in past years, it is the balmy temperatures which really make these days so enjoyable.

The picture was taken in the latter part of October, as I was driving around my neighborhood, when the leaves were still mostly on the trees -- now they are mostly on the ground.

Speaking of driving, the car's heater needs to work in the morning to warm-up the frigid car, while if you drive during midday, you might actually get to use the A/C -- that's another definition of Indian Summer, I guess.
My advice to myself: enjoy it while you can, since the cold and cloudy skies will be here soon enough - and the "white stuff" will not be far behind.

Feel free to follow the link to my Facebook below to see some of the pictures I have taken during autumn in Pittsburgh (and feel free to connect with me while you are there):
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/album.php?aid=235126&id=820847511

Politicos

The word "politics" comes from the Greek word "Πολιτικά" (politika), modeled on Aristotle's "affairs of the city", the name of his book on governing and governments, which was rendered in English mid-15 century as Latinized "Polettiques".^[4] Thus it became "politics" in Middle English c. 1520s (see the Concise Oxford Dictionary). The singular "politic" first attested in English 1430 and comes from Middle French "politique", in turn from Latin "politicus",^[5] which is the romanization of the Greek "πολιτικός" (politikos), meaning amongst others "of, for, or relating to citizens", "civil", "civic", "belonging to the state",^[6] in turn from "πολίτης" (polites), "citizen"^[7] and that from "πόλις" (polis), "city".^[8] via Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics

As for the title of this blog entry, "politicos" is a word commonly used to describe those who are involved in politics (see above) and in modern Greek it is literally translated as anybody involved in politics, e.g. "a politician".

I posted the following to my Facebook this morning:
OK, I voted this morning -- can we now please stop all the disgusting political advertisements?
Enough is enough I say -- don't these folks have anything better to spend their money on, than slinging mud at each other?

For those of you who live in the U.S., I think you know where I am coming from.
Every time there is an election approaching, the advertisements begin to flood the airwaves and they are decidedly not pretty to watch and/or hear.
Each year it seems these advertisements get worse, as the advertisers strive to attain new levels of shock value -- of course repeated exposure to these advertisements causes sheer disgust in the public, however why should the politicos care about the public - right?

"I just need your vote," the politicos seem to be saying to the public -- "after that, you can leave me alone."

I am also astounded by the economic aspect of the pre-election advertisements.
One estimate I heard calculated that the political advertisements will amount to approximately $3 billion this year!
That's a major "cash burn" and what makes it even more eye-opening is that this kind of money is being spent while we are trying to pull ourselves out of the most serious economic crisis since the Great Depression.
Most politicos like to talk about how they will be better stewards of the public's money than their predecessors, however I don't see them taking aim at this most egregious spending of cash.

Enough of my rant however, Election Day is here, I have cast my vote and I declare to all the politicos out there:
Take your mud and leave me alone ... at least until the 2012 Presidential election approaches, when I expect you will start this all over again with renewed fervor.

Football fever

Here I sit in my hotel room in Cologne, just returned after a brisk 25 minute walk from the Haxenhaus zum Rheingarten restaurant, when a message causes my Blackberry to buzz.

My friend Brian sent me a message informing me there's a football game on TV -- Bayer Leverkusen is playing against Aris Saloniki - in Saloniki, Greece.  This is not American football, rather it is "real" (according to the locals) football, aka soccer.

I am sitting a few kilometers from the Bayer Leverkusen stadium, cheering the lads playing for the team from Saloniki - a city where I lived for a few years when I was younger - something tells me I'm in the minority compared to the rest of the fans in this town.
Memories of going to similar games decades ago wash over me, as I watch the game.
The fans are a churning sea of yellow and black, chanting at the top of their lungs, worked-up to a fever pitch as neither team has managed to score and the game will soon be ending.
Color-wise, it is very reminiscent of Pittsburgh Steelers (American) football games, where black and gold colors dominate the stands and the fans are equally boisterous and loud.

The game finally ends 0 - 0 and the fans are delirious, as the visiting powerhouse club leaves without managing to score any points and has only a scoreless tie to show for its efforts.
I in turn, feel the excitement of cheering for a team, which despite having their trials and tribulations from the last few years escape my conscious, have managed to light some sport-related excitement in me on this chilly night in Germany.

Time Flies!

Here I am checking my often-overlooked blog and am shocked to discover I have not posted anything since August ...  Where has the time gone?
Actually, I have a pretty good idea what happened in September -- my children are still "young" enough that the beginning of the school year can easily be identified as a culprit.
Then there are also work-related things, such as business trips for example, which manage to invade in my personal time.

The main point I want to make however refers to the visualization I frequently see in my mind's eye, of time represented as sand in an hourglass.  Sand, which once it has flowed through the narrow opening, is gone and cannot be taken back.  The same holds true for time - for once it goes by, it is gone and cannot be recovered.  We each have a finite amount of time entrusted to us and we should strive to make the most of it.

What is even more important however is that the world around us will also have changed through time's passing.  The dynamic environment we live in does not remain static - it changes based on the actions (or inactions) of everyone else.  This point was depicted brilliantly in the "Back to the Future" movies for example, where the time machine was used to go back in time and attempt to alter events, which would then lead to an alternate future.

I think of my children, one in high school, the other in college, and think about how quickly they seem to have grown up.  Time sure seems as if it has flown by since they were much younger!
Time has indeed passed, and since I do not have access to a time machine, I can only plan for how I will use my time today and in the future.  I hope to use it wisely.