Survivor 10, Episode two picks

Four for four last week. We'll keep a running tally.
Week 2 picks:
Reward: Ulong
Immunity: Koror
Boot: Toss up between Jeff & Ashlee, but I'm going with Ashlee.

My Daughter is Beautiful

I flew down to San Jose and saw my daughter (Caitlin) this past Saturday. To most of you, that means nothing, to me...it means everything. You see, I haven't seen her since she was 5 years old. Saturday was her 13th birthday. The reasons I haven't seen her are far to complicated to get into here, but the important thing is I am a part of her life now.

I picked her up Saturday morning and we walked & hung out at her local mall. Just me and her, walking, talking & getting to know each other. We shopped, ate & had a good time. Afterwards we met my family and hers at a place called Boomers. All though it was raining, we still managed to play a round of mini golf, laser tag (twice) and a boatload of video games (Caitlin rocks at the dance game). After dinner the families went to Buca Di Beppo (Caitlin's choice) for a great meal.

The experience of seeing Caitlin and just hanging out with her was an awesome one. I was pretty nervous leading up to the actual day. We'd only talked a few times over the previous weeks & not in 8 years before then. To say I was worried about what she would think of me is an understatement. I think everything went about as well as could be expected. Caitlin is a very beutiful, very smart, young lady.

I'm heading back down to San jose at the end of next month & I hope to see her again. Regardless if that happens or not, we're trying to work out something to have her come visit me during Spring Break and/or this Summer. I can't wait for my wife and two boys to meet her.

My Survivor 10, episode 1 Spoiler picks

Based purely on what I've read around the web, here's my picks:
Two people who don't make the cut and have to leave the game prior to tribal council:
1. Wanda
2. Jonathon

Tribe that wins first Immunity:
3. Koror

1st person VOTED off the island at TC:
4. Jolanda

Tonight we'll see how I do.

Fox or Chicken? Network Pulls Ad at NFL's request

For my taste, I thought the GoDaddy Ad on the Super Bowl broadcast wasn't very good. That being said, the Fax network had agreed to broadcast a 2nd ad for the company. At the NFL's request, they pulled it at the last minute. Watching the ad I could understand if Fax had told GoDaddy they did not want to air their ad from the start, but the fact they chose not to air it after appriving the ad...and only pulling it at the NFL's request...seems like a chicken move to me. You can view the commercial here. The good thing is, GoDaddy won;t have to pay the 2.4 million bucks for this 2nd spot & they will get far more exposure for this lack of airing than they would have received for actually showing the ad. BTW, the "Tobasco" commercial showed more skin and was racier IMO.

From Godaddy.com:
What happened to Go Daddy's 2nd Super Bowl Ad
As you may have noticed our Super Bowl ad only appeared during the scheduled first quarter spot. It was scheduled to run also in the second ad position during the final two minute warning. Our ad never ran a second time. Instead, in its place, we saw an advertisement promoting "The Simpsons."The NFL persuaded FOX to pull our ad.We immediately contacted Fox to find out what happened. Here's what we were told: After our first ad was aired, the NFL became upset and they, together with Fox, decided to pull the ad from running a second time. Because we purchased two spots, we were also entitled to a "Brought to you by GoDaddy.com" 5 second marquis spot. They also chose to pull the marquis spot.Our ad is finishing high in opinion polls.So far in early opinion polls, our ad seems to be finishing fairly high. In fact, in checking the one on the Fox site, it is in the number two position. Not bad for an ad that could only be aired once.Stay tuned for more news as it develops.I'm sure you'll be hearing more about this over the next few days. I believe that it's the first time ever a decision was made to pull an ad after it had already been run once during the same broadcast.If you haven't seen our Super Bowl ad, or want to see it again, there's a link provided in the previous Blog entry "Pre-Super Bowl coverage" that will take you to it.

Bush Proposes Amtrak Funding Cuts

Last year the government paid Amtrak 1.2 Billion dollars just to keep their doors open. Bush’s plan wants to reduce that this year to 360 million bucks.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The Bush administration will for the first time propose eliminating operating subsidies for passenger train operator Amtrak as part of a push to cut budget deficits, people close to the budget process said Tuesday.
President Bush's fiscal 2006 budget, which he will send to Congress on Monday, will allocate no subsidy for Amtrak to run its trains. But it will offer $360 million for maintenance on the flagship Northeast Corridor between Washington and Boston -- which Amtrak owns -- and for commuter services.
An influential Democrat warned that if enacted, the Bush administration's budget would set the nation's only city-to-city passenger service "on a course to bankruptcy."
Last year, the Bush administration proposed $900 million in subsidies, but Congress increased that to $1.2 billion after the railroad said the administration's proposal would force it to shut down.
A senior administration official added: "Amtrak should be treated like any other form of transportation and funded like any other form of transportation. The other forms don't get operating subsidies."
An official said the Bush administration would continue to support commuter rail services, "if necessary, even in the absence of reform."
The administration has long hoped to wean Amtrak from federal subsidies, criticizing the state of its infrastructure and service. It wants to open its rail lines up to competition.
Amtrak employs 22,000 people and operates 265 trains a day, excluding commuter service, in 46 states.
The administration budget has proposed funding levels over the previous two years that the railroad said were unsustainable. Each year, Congress came through with extra money at the last minute to boost Amtrak's appropriation to levels the railroad said it could live with but still far below what it sought.
Amtrak has never made money in its 34-year history.
Brian Riedl of the conservative Heritage Foundation said the move was long overdue.
"The White House is saving money for the taxpayers and hopefully serving notice to other agencies that they must be efficient and effective in order to continue receiving tax dollars," Riedl said.