People, The Fordometer (The Official Mood-measuring Tool of The Official Blog of The Ford) is revving pretty high today. Sure, The Ford's gone so long without a haircut that he now has a semi-permanent cowlick, regardless of how he combs his hair. Sure, he's got a headlight out on his truck, restricting him to walking at night for the timebeing.
But one huge thing happened that has his world a-rockin'!

Direct deposit.

Now, it's not official. But the paycheck I normally receive on Wednesdays (cashable on Thursday) was replaced today by a slip saying it was NOT a check. I won't entirely believe it until I see the fake money in my account, but I am feeling pretty confident right not.
And, now, onto The Fury (The Official Emotion of The Official Blog of The Ford).

OK, we're breaking the pattern that I seem to have set the last few days. No hot women, today. (Again, The Ford's blog accurately, but sadly, represents The Ford's life.)

My favorite story of the day: Why skaters glide across ice.
It's reassuring to know that there are still SOME things science isn't so clear on, and that one of them is ice.
Makes all that time I spent at freshman honor roll mixers staring at the ice in my drink and pondering the chemical reactions causing the sides of my glass to perspire really seem worthwhile.
Or, at least, relatively sane.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/21/science/21ice.html?ex=1141275600&en=dcb20a82e684de0c&ei=5070&emc=eta1

My second favorite story of the day: The Nationals' possible name change.
Now, most of this story is crap. Just a semi-boring business story about how baseball screwed up and didn't get anything in writing before announcing the name of the Nats. But i the sports section. Sooner or later, someone will hit the magic number in negotiations, and the problem will go away.
The thing that makes this story notable is the bit at the end, talking to Tony Tavares, where he nonchalantly threatens a move unless the city council folds in their fight against the team's lease.
Regardless of what I think about the city council's fight (against a deal they already voted for), this seems like a really shitty place for Tavares to bring up the fight, even if he's "chuckling."
Cause here's the thing. I remember what it was like to have a baseball team threaten to move. It's a painful feeling for fans, especially to be reminded of it every day. And after a while, a long interval of threats and posturing like Tavares is doing here, after a while, you just don't care anymore. You're ready to see the team leave. That's how teams destroy their fan base. Not the moving. The threats to move.
Yeah, I know, I'm making Robert Irsay and Art Modell seem like good guys, but at least when they moved, they didn't gut their cities' fan base with a scorched-earth effort to not seem like the bad guys.
Meanwhile, you have teams like the Seahawks, who threatened to move so often in the mid-90s -- and actually did move to L.A., before Taglibue put his foot down -- and then wondered why fans didn't seem particularly enthusiastic about the team for another decade.
(The Sonics are doing this, now, too, making me wonder if anyone actually pays attention to history in the Northwest.)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/21/AR2006022101721.html


Third favorite story of the day: Bret Boone's hair.
Boone, for years the Mariners' answer to Johnny Damon (a good, occasionally great, player who gets all the ladies' hearts beating with his cuteness and frequent hairstyle changes) is now in New York, a city fully prepared to devote its attention to him. Whether he's good or bad.
This should be interesting. Well, that, or horrifying. But for now, the honeymoon's on, and Bret "Christian Kane played me in a movie that had Angelina Jolie" Boone's got a new hair color. Rejoice.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/story/393533p-333701c.html