OPENING DAY JUST 1 WEEK AWAY, DUKE BEATS VIRGINIA

Opening day is just a week away for the 2008 Colonial Heights Colonials baseball team, the Colonials will be at home next Thursday afternoon when the Sussex Tigers come to Shepherd Stadium. We are are suppose to have another scrimmage game Saturday at Henrico but the weather doesn't look to good for that. We weren't able to practice on the field yesterday due to wet field conditions at the stadium, we did hit in the cage which gave my arm a day off since we used the pitching machine for that. My arm should be good as new today. The Virginia basketball didn't have one of its better games last night and fell to the Duke Blue Devils 86-70, they just couldn't get into a rhythm offensively. It looks like today is going to be the best day weather wise for the next three days with a high around 61 before the rain comes in for the next two days. It sure seems like we have been getting allot of rain lately but I guess thats good because the experts still say were in a drought. The blog sure has been slow lately, where is everybody at? MICKEY

An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.
Gilbert K Chesterton

HEALTH TIP
Avoid aspartame and other sugar substitutes.
Otherwise known as nutrasweet, aspartame was pronounced "safe" by the FDA only after political manipulation by the system in 1981. Although the government declared it safe for 20 years, they have now quietly downgraded it to "probably not safe" after several lawsuits were filed against the makers of such items as Flintstones vitamins, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Dannon yogurt, and Wrigley chewing gum. Long-term studies show a direct correlation between its use and lung cancer in women, the primary users of sugar substitutes.

Think the newest sugar substitute is any better? Splenda, otherwise known as sucralose, is a molecule of sugar chemically bonded to chlorine. Yes, the same chemical that's in your bleach and has been linked to breast cancer. Canada is considering banning chlorine bleach because of cancer studies there.

What's more interesting is that sugar substitutes don't even help you lose weight. There is substantial evidence showing that it alters a person's ability to perceive sweetness and this is detrimental to determining your satisfaction level. The same studies show a rise in the use of sugar by people using sugar substitutes and positive weight loss when the substitutes are taken out of the diet.

Ed McMahon TV personality ("The Tonight Show," "Star Search") 85
Alan Greenspan Former Federal Reserve chairman 82
Doug Dillard Country singer 71
Joanna Miles Actress, writer 68
Ben Murphy Actor 66
Kiri Te Kanawa Opera singer 64
Mary Wilson Singer (The Supremes) 64
Hugh Grundy Rock musician (The Zombies) 63
David Gilmour Rock musician (Pink Floyd) 62
Kiki Dee Singer 61
Rob Reiner Actor, director ("All in the Family") 61
Tom Arnold Actor 49
Skip Ewing Country songwriter 44
D.L. Hughley Actor 44
Yvette Wilson Actress 44
Shuler Hensley Actor 41
Connie Britton Actress ("Spin City," "24," "Friday Night Lights") 40
Moira Kelly Actress ("One Tree Hill") 40
Amy Pietz Actress 39
Shaquille O'Neal Basketball player 36
Trent Willmon Country singer 35
Shan Farmer Country musician (Ricochet) 34
Jimmy Galeota Actor 22
Eli Marienthal Actor 22

Hidden in plain view
The most valuable secret of success is that there is no secret. Success comes not from seeking to uncover some exotic hidden formula, but rather through persistently following through on opportunities to create value.

The best shortcut to achievement is to avoid looking for a shortcut. Simply get busy and do the work required, for that is the quickest way to reach the goal you've set.

The most effective way to handle what must be done is to do it. Procrastinating, agonizing, complaining and avoiding will only prolong the task and add greater difficulty to it.

Life is not always easy, and wishing for things to be easier will usually make them more difficult. The time-tested strategy for making life truly easier is to go ahead and work through each challenge as it comes along.

By so doing, you grow stronger, more capable, more effective and more experienced. You put yourself in position to live life on your own terms.

The route to success is no secret, and is in fact hidden in plain view. Use every opportunity to make a difference, and you'll go precisely where you choose to go.
-- Ralph Marston