I **** (pun intended) you not. Some stupid zoo in Cincinnati is making paper out of elephant poop . I saw this on the news and I saw the zookeeper handling the poop with his bare hands, just fiddling around with it like it was Play-Doh or something. And if that wasn't stupid enough, the zoo's gift shop is selling the elephant poop paper in the form of journals, stationery and greeting cards: all for $15 per 6 sheets. I studied ink, paper and book manufacturing in college, and I don't have to tell you that's an absolute horrible value. I spent hours and hours in Estimating c'lass where we had to figure out the cheapest way to sell paper in bulk, based on size, rate, weight, quality, etc. There was like 800 calculations and formulas & it sucked. Also part of the proceeds goes to some elephant conservation in Africa, which I find putting any money towards saving any animal as a complete total waste of time and money.

Geez, more rain and severe weather due in the Chicagoland area today with 100 degree heat index. 3 months ago, we were in a drought phase, and now we're in a flooding phase. It is raining every day and it's to the point where I have to mow the lawn every 4 days. And in the world of Meteorology, the most expensive costly weather-related occurrence is flooding. I once heard a phrase: "In the end, the water will win over all." Perhaps, but maybe not. I watch people on the news filling up bags with sand to fight against the flood waters, and some places there's over a thousand bags surrounding the building and I'm thinking, "geez, couldn't they make the bags a little bigger? Seems like a pain in the ass for all that work on small bags." Enough with the rain! It's almost Fall, growing season is almost over & we don't need the rain anymore. And let this be a lesson to never buy land near a river. And everybody lives in a flood zone. Everyone.

I really hope the St. Louis Cardinals win the N.L. Central because well, the Cubs suck and the Brewers are just too young and inexperienced. You know everyone talks about how the Cubs are a 1st place team and how they spent over $400 million in the past year to "keep their 'great' core of players", but the thing everyone seems to forget, that they're still just a .500 team! If that's what it takes to win a division, then that's just another example of why I don't favor the unbalanced schedule. You absolutely cannot have an unbalanced schedule if you have uneven divisions, Wild Card and completely yearly-random interleague play. If the Cubs do somehow make the playoffs, which I hope they don't, they will get crushed by a superior team.

And for all you youngsters out there who think tattoos are so wonderful and all, after watching a segment on the news, a recent survey taken by employers said that 85% of employers disapproved of applicants who had tattoos & it would hurt their chances of getting a job. Personally, I'm not a fan of tattoos, and I think they look tacky & ridiculous. I never understood this obsession or love of tattoos. If you like a design, that's what t-shirts are for.

Update: Yeah, looks like that Zambrano contract is really paying off already: Zambrano hurt his wrist swinging the bat today in SF. He gave up 4 ER in 5.1 IP and fell to 14-10.