BACK UP AND RUNNING

Well after not having power for electricity the last 3 days and no internet for the the last 4 days Mickey's Place is back up and running.  Hurricane Irene caused all kinds of problems here in Colonial Heights leaving more than 85% of the city without power and knocking down numerous trees.  Down at the beach they got hit pretty hard is some places on the OBX and most of the damage came from sound-side flooding.  Highway 12 on Hatteras Island was completely washed out in several places and will not reopen for a couple of weeks.  The storm could have been a whole lot worst than it was but it was bad enough.  Here in Colonial Heights there still several areas who still don't have power.  Also in cleaning the debris from Hurricane Irene in the backyard I know have 2 blisters on my left hand.  All the picks are now in for the Mickey's College Football Pick-Contest with college football season starting Thursday night, there are 23 entries in this years contest.  The Colonial Heights football team is scheduled to open up its season Friday night against Thomas Jefferson however right now the middle school area does not have any power right now so the game could be moved to Friday afternoon at 4pm if the don't have any power.  Hopefully they will be able Friday night so I can go up and watch the game.  MICKEY

HURRICANE IRENE GETTING READY TO MAKE LANDFALL ON THE OBX

It looks like Hurricane Irene will make landfall just south of Ocracoke Island and will travel just west of the southern OBX before going back out to sea in the Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills area before heading to the northeast. Some areas down on the OBX have received over 3 inches of rain since midnight and it is raining here in Colonial Heights as well. I will post some photos from down there once they become available later today. Kyle Busch won his 50th career Nationwide race last night at Bristol edging Joey Logano for the win, with the win Busch has won more Nationwide races than anybody in Nascar history. Tonight at Bristol the Sprint Cup Series will take to the track with Ryan Newman leading the filed to the green. Well 1 week from today the Virginia Cavaliers football team will open up its 2011 season at home against William & Mary and I will be in attendance. In high school football action locally last night Petersburg opened its season up with a 34-33 win over GW Danville, the teams combined for 12 turnovers in the game. All the games at the beach were washed by Hurricane Irene. I have about 10 entries in so far for week 1 of the contest, hopefully the others will start coming in the next few days. I went to Wal-Mart at 5am this morning try to beat the storm but it was already raining when I got up, I also did go over to Hopewell a get some donuts at the Dunkin Donuts. MICKEY

HURRICANE IRENE, TS WARNING FOR COLONIAL HEIGHTS AND HURRICANE WARNING FOR THE OBX

Well after allot of speculation on where Hurricane Irene was going to make landfall it appears that the eye is going to do so somewhere just south of Cape Hatteras and will travel just to west of the OBX before going back out into the Atlantic somewhere near the VA-NC border.  With this change it appears we will just get some very heavy rain up to 4-8 inches of it and some winds around 35-45 mph here in CH, however if it moves back to the west a little bit we could get some stronger winds.  Whatever the storm does it appears the OBX is going to get the worst of it.  The Nascar Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series are both racing at Bristol this weekend, they will run the Nationwide race tonight and the Sprint Cup race tomorrow night.  The Colonial Heights football team will be scrimmaging at Amelia tonight.  So far in my football contest I have received 8 peoples picks for the 1st week.  MICKEY

IT LOOKS LIKE IT IS GOING TO BE VERY BAD ON THE OUTER BANKS

It looks like the Outer Banks are going to take a major hit from Hurricane Irene with the eye of the storm passing to the west of Cape Hatteras, Nags Head, Kill Devil Hills and then going back out sea near the VA, NC border.  With the storm having 115mph winds sustained and 140mph gust this situation is not going be good at all for any of the OBX.  Dare County will begin mandatory evacuations this morning at 8am in advance of Hurricane Irene which will likely be a CAT 3 storm when hitting the OBX.  Some foretasted tracks have storm moving even more to west later today which good give Colonial Heights tropical storm winds as well.  There was another aftershock that measured 4.5 on the Richter Scale early this morning around 1:08am, I have to say I didn't feel it because I was sleep and it was centered in the same area of Louisa County.  Also today is Glenn's birthday so I want to wish Glenn a HAPPY BIRTHDAY.  MICKEY

EARTHQUAKE RATTLES AREA, HURRICANE IRENE MAY HIT THE OUTER BANKS

A 5.8 magnitude earthquake rattled the area yesterday afternoon and was centered in the Mineral area of Louisa County and it shook the east coast from Florida to New York and was even felt in Canada.  There was some structural damage in Louisa and other areas but the injuries which occurred appear to be minor in nature and it was the strongest earthquake to hit Virginia since 1944.  The current track of Hurricane Irene takes eye of Hurricane Irene right over Cape Hatteras and pretty much right over the Nags Head area as well.  The latest model trends continue to push the system a little further east so hopefully the next few model runs will move the eye offshore of North Carolina.  However if it stays offshore it does look like will slam into somewhere in the Northeast.  There is also a pretty strong smell of smoke in the area again this morning from the Great Dismal Swamp fire.  Also just a week before the college football season was to began the University of Richmond is looking for a new coach after Latrell Scott resigned after being charged with a DUI on Monday.  MICKEY

IT'S NOT LOOKING GOOD FOR NORTH CAROLINA

The projected path of Hurricane Irene is to come ashore in they area of Wilmington, North Carolina Saturday or Saturday night as a Major Hurricane and we are likely to feel the effects form the storm here in Colonial Heights as well.  Some computer models are taking the storm back out into the Atlantic in the area of Duck, NC or just to the north of that while some models have the eye coming just to the east of Richmond.  I have to say it's not looking to good right now.  Well Keith & Guy must be feeling pretty confident with there picks because they have already sent there picks in for week 1.  Speaking of the weather today is going to feel like a chamber of commerce day with temps in the low 80's and low humidity as well.  MICKEY

HURRICANE IRENE UPDATE, KYLE BUSCH WINS AT MICHIGAN

Well it looks like Hurricane Irene is heading for the Southeastern United States and right now the National Hurricane Center is projecting the hurricane to make landfall somewhere in South Carolina next weekend.  There are still allot of uncertainties with this storm so everybody on the East Coast should be watching this system closely.   Kyle Busch held off Jimmie Johnson yesterday at Michigan picking up his 4th win of the year in what I think could be a preview of who will fighting it out for this years Sprint Cup.  I have sent out the games for the 1st week of the Mickey's College Football Pick-Em Contest so check your e-mail.  Well I am off to work.  MICKEY

WEEK 1 GAMES

Well its time to make your 1st picks of the season.  Since it is the 1st week I thought I would give everybody a little extra time to make there 1st picks of the year.  I need all picks to be in by August 31 at 9pm, however you can send them in much earlier than that if you like.  As I have said before you cant win the contest the 1st week but you sure can lose it.  With so many schools playing I-AA schools it was a little harder picking this weeks games.  Also below the 1st weeks games I have enclosed the standings of how things ended up last year.Good Luck, Mickey

WEEK1 GAMES

WAKE FOREST AT SYRACUSE

VILLANOVA AT TEMPLE

BOWLING GREEN AT IDAHO

TCU AT BAYLOR

NORTHWESTERN AT BOSTON COLLEGE

UCLA AT HOUSTON

COLORADO AT HAWAII

BYU AT MISSISSIPPI

ARMY AT NORTHERN ILLINOIS

BOISE STATE VS GEORGIA  IN ATLANTA

OREGON VS LSU  IN DALLAS

INDIANA VS BALL STATE IN INDIANAPOLIS

SOUTH FLORIDA AT NOTRE DAME

FRESNO STATE VS CALIFORNIA IN SAN FRANCISCO

WILLIAM & MARY AT VIRGINIA

RICHMOND AT DUKE

DELAWARE AT NAVY

JAMES MADISON AT NORTH CAROLINA

APPY STATE AT VIRGINIA TECH

COLORADO STATE AT NEW MEXICO

FINAL RESULTS

1. THE CHIEF 200-100--

2. LES 200-100--

3. KEITH 192-108 -8

4. BIFF 188-112 -12

5. SCOTT 188-112 -12

6. JULIANNE 187-113 -13

7. PHILLIPS 185-115 -15

8. BOBBY 185-115 -15

9. MICKEY 184-116 -16

10. ANDREW 181-119 -19

11. LEE 175-125 -25

12. DUSTY 172-128 -28

13. JOY 167-133 -33

14. JOHN 166-134 -34

15. GEORGE 166-134 -34

16. MURPH 164-136 -36

17. GLENN NEW PLAYER

18. CHIZ NEW PLAYER

19. GUY NEW PLAYER

20. RICK NEW PLAYER

21. TOM NEW PLAYER

AMBROSE WINS AGAIN

Fresh off of last weeks Sprint Cup win Marcos Ambrose captured yesterdays Nationwide in Montreal holding of Alex Tagliani for the win.  Today at Michigan Greg Biffle will lead the field to the field to the green flag in what I am predicting will be a fuel mileage race.  For some reason the last two nights here at the beach I have not slept very well at all, it seems like a sleep about an hour wake up for about 30 minutes and then sleep another hour and hen its time to get back up for another day feeling not very well rested.  We have new Tropical Storm which looks like it will threaten the United States by next weekend, the storm is named Tropical Storm Irene.  Well I will be sending out the games for the 1st week of the Mickey's College Football Pick-Em Contest later this morning and with 21 participants it's going to be very tough to win it this year.  MICKEY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LES

I almost forgot we had a fellow blogger with a birthday today.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY LES

TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY

Well 2 weeks from today the Virginia Cavaliers football team will open up it's 2011 season against the Tribe of William & Mary, the last time the Tribe came to town the went back to Williamsburg with a win.  I will be sending out the 1st weeks game in my college football pick-em contest tomorrow morning.  In high school football action here at the beach last night First Flight beat Cape Hatteras 58-8 and Manteo beat Currituck 48-24.  Greg Biffle won the pole for this weeks Sprint Cup race edging out Matt Kenseth for the top spot.  The Nationwide Series is Montreal today with Jacques Villeneuve on the pole with fellow Canadian Alex Tagliani joining him on the front row.  We did get a little rain here on the OBX last night and there is the potability of a tropical system effecting the area towards the end of next week.  MICKEY

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

I went up to watch the Colonial Heights football scrimmage last night and they looked pretty good on offense but the defense did give up some big plays.  Also it appears that we only have about 24 or 25 players on the varsity team and I think we did have a couple of players go down with some injuries.  Down at the beach tonight all 3 Dare County High Schools open up there season tonight.  Cape Hatteras will be at First Flight and Currituck will be at Manteo.  I think I am going down to beach tonight for the weekend.  I think that this weeks Nascar race will come down to fuel mileage again at Michigan.  MICKEY

"Wise men learn more from fools than fools from the wise." Cato Elder

FOOTBALL SCRIMMAGE TONIGHT, DANICA TO NASCAR FULL TIME

The Colonial Heights football team will hold it's 1st scrimmage of the year at home tonight at 6pm against Nottoway, next weeks they will travel over to Amelia before opening the season at home against Thomas Jefferson on September 2.  Danica Patrick will announce today that she will run the full Nascar Nationwide Series next year in the #7 Jr. Motorsports Chevrolet and will run a part time Sprint Cup Series schedule for Stewart-Haas Racing including the season opening Daytona 500.  It appears the following season she will move to the Sprint Cup Series full time for Stewart-Hass Racing.  This weeks Nascar Sprint Cup Series will be back at the Michigan International Raceway.  The 2011 college football season begins 2 weeks from tonight and I will be sending out the 1st weeks games in my college football pick-em contest this Sunday.  MICKEY

JUST NOT ALLOT GOING ON

There sure just isn't allot going on around here.  The only sport that it is going on is Major League Baseball and the Reds are not having a good year so I have been following the Atlanta Braves pretty close.  The Braves are playing some pretty good baseball but the only problem with the Braves is that they are in the National League East and the Phillies hardly ever lose but the Braves to lead the NL Wildcard race by 7 games.  In the next few weeks football seasons will began at the high school, college, pro level and I sure am ready for some football action.  Also it wont be long now before the school bells will be ringing again.  MICKEY

DON'T WATCH TO MUCH TV
Spending your days in front of the television may contribute to a shortened lifespan, a new study suggests. Researchers in Australia found that people who averaged six hours a day of TV lived, on average, nearly five years less than people who watched no TV. For every hour of television watched after age 25, lifespan fell by 22 minutes, according to the research led by Dr. J. Lennert Veerman of the University of Queensland.

AMBROSE WINS A WILD ONE

Marcos Ambros picked up his 1st career Sprint Cup race in 150 starts yesterday winning  a wild one at Watkins Glen.  On the final restart of the race Ambrose was in 3rd place behind Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski, when they went into turn 1 Busch drove it in a bit to hard and Ambose moved to 2nd and then muscled his way past Keselowski a few turns later picking up his 1st win.  On the last lap there was a violent collision on the track with David Ragan and David Reutimann taking the worst end of it.  After the race there were some fireworks between Greg Biffle and Boris Said not seeing eye to eye and having a bit of a skirmish, Said said Biffle needed a good whooping.  It sounds like there was a race and hockey game broke out.  MICKEY

THEY WILL TRY AGAIN TODAY

Well they will try again today to run the Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen but more rain is expected and Nascar says it may be forced to run the race on Tuesday if they have to, today's race is scheduled to start at 10am weather permitting.  Speaking of rain we got some yesterday afternoon and last night, it wasn't a whole lot but some is better than none.  The Virginia football team had meat the team day yesterday and Keith, Maureen and Andrew went up there and here is a photo they took at the event.  MICKEY

KYLE BUSCH TAKES THE POLE AT WATKINS GLEN

Kyle Busch won the pole for today's race at Watkins Glen edging out A.J. Allmendinger for the tops spot.  There is a chance of rain at Watkins Glen so we could have another break in the race like we had at Pocono last week.  Kurt Busch won yesterdays Nationwide race at the Glen holding off Carl Edwards for the top spot.  In NFL preseason action last night the Packers lost to the Cleveland Browns 27-17.  One week from today I will be sending out the 1st weeks games in my college football pick-em contest giving everybody plenty of time to make there all important 1st week picks.  There is a pretty good chance of rain both today and tonight, hopefully we will get some because we sure could use some.  MICKEY

Not everyone needs a trophy. "Parents don't want their kids to experience pain, so even the losing team gets a medal," says Anne Josephson founder and director of the Josephson Academy of Gymnastics. Letting kids think that everyone wins every time isn't giving them a realistic view of the future. "Losses teach children to cope," says Josephson.

A VERY SLOW WEEK ON THE BLOG

I don't know where everybody has been all week on the blog but this past week may have been the slowest week in the past two years.  One day on 16 people visited another day only 17 people visited as compared to the week that VCU was in the Final Four when I had over 100 people each day for about 2 weeks.  My regular readers seemed to have dwindled down to a very few people, I think Facebook may have had allot to do with the big drop-off.  I will be running allot of my Mickey College Football Pick-Em Contest information here on Mickey's Place.  They will qualify today for tomorrows Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen and they qualify and run the Nationwide race there today.  The Redskins won there preseason game last night against the Steelers 16-7, the Packer will be in Cleveland tonight but as I said before it doesn't to any good to win the preseason.  MICKEY

IT IS FRIDAY AGAIN

Well I woke up this morning to the sound raindrops hitting the house a very welcome sound on this Friday morning.  However with the rain the smell of the fire burning at the Great Dismal Swamp has returned so I am sure the air quality today will not be good.  The NFL preseason started last night with several games and will continue through the weekend, I just cant get to interested in these games because the good players only play a few plays in the game the first couple of weeks of the preseason.  The Nascar Sprint Cup Series will be in New York this weekend at Watkins Glen, the Nationwide Series is also at Watkins Glen this week.  MICKEY

~ Two wrongs don't make a right, but they make a good excuse. ~Thomas Szas

COLLEGE FOOTBALL STARTS 3 WEEKS FROM TODAY

Well the college football season will kick off 3 weeks from today with a number of Thursday night games before kicking off in earnest on Sept 3.  It wont be long now before this years college football contest kicks off.  Well I didn't win last nights Powerball  lottery game so I will be heading back to work again today.  Some very nice weather is going to start here today in CH with high temps in the 80's and lows in the 60's with low humidity and it now appears we have pretty good chance of rain on Sunday as well, we can use all the rain we can get.  MICKEY

~ A good snapshot stops a moment from running away. ~Eudora Welty

COOLER WEATHER ON THE WAY

Well after today's temperatures in the mid 90's it's going to be in the mid 80's through Sunday with lows in the 60's and there is a chance of some much needed rain on Saturday and Sunday.  There is fast moving fire in the Great Dismal Swamp which has already consumed more 3,200 acres and with some rain soon it is going to continue to grow and likely bring smokey conditions to the area depending on which way the wind is blowing.  I have now officially wrote of the Cincinnati Reds this year, the Reds have simple just fell apart and are now 11 games out in the NL Central and are 12.5 games back in the NL Wildcard race.  MICKEY

“We don't have an eternity to realize our dreams, only the time we are here.” - Susan Taylor

I SLEPT GOOD LAST NIGHT, ANOTHER BAD DAY ON THE STOCK MARKET

Well for the first time in about a month I slept pretty much all night, I didn't toss and turn at all and feel pretty rested this morning. Hopefully it will be the start of a good sleeping string. Well it was another very bad day on the stock market yesterday with DOW crashing another 634 points, my mutual funds have really hit rock bottom the last few days. I am now well below what I put in them about 15 years ago, the next time get back to what I put in them I thinks I am just going take the money out and run. MICKEY

“The victory of success is half won when one gains the habit of setting goals and achieving them. Even the most tedious chore will become endurable as you parade through each day convinced that every task, no matter how menial or boring, brings you closer to fulfilling your dreams.” -Og Mandino

KESELOWSKI WINS AT POCONO

Brad Keselowksi picked up his 2nd win of the season winning yesterdays race at Pocono holding of Kyle Busch for the win.  There was about a 1 hour and thirty minute rain delay in the race and when the rains came it appeared that all 3 Joe Gibbs racing teams where the teams to beat but only Busch ended up with a chance to win.  Next week the Sprint Cup Series head to Watkins Glen, New York.  Today is the first day of high school football practice here in Colonial Heights getting ready for the season opener against Thomas Jefferson on September 2.  Well the week is going to get off to another hot start with temps in the upper 90's today and tomorrow before dropping into 80's by Thursday & Friday.  MICKEY

"All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move." - Benjamin Franklin

COLONIAL HEIGHTS FALLS IN CHAMPIONSHIP GAME, LOGANO ON THE POLE

The Colonial Heights Optimist Club team lost to the CBC Americans last night in the Championship Game of the BIB Tournament 3-1 in 8 innings. The CH team fell behind 1-0 early in the game but tied it up at 1-1 in the 4th inning before falling 3-1, there were several great defensive plays in the game which kept the game tied at 1-1 before CBC pulled out the win. Joey Logano captured the pole for today's Sprint Cup race at Pocono edging out Kasey Kahne for the top spot, lets hope it doesn't rain at Pocono today because yesterdays truck race had to be stopped because of rain. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won last night Nationwide race at Iowa in a very wild finish, Stenhouse car blew an engine on the final lap coming of turn four and Carl Edwards who was running 2nd got caught up in the oil slammed into Stenhouse's car sending across the line in front of Edwards giving him the win. With the competition getting tougher in this years football contest it has come to my attention that one of our players has gone out and bought one of those college football preview magazines hoping to help his efforts this year. I am in a bit of a sleep rut for some reason, I seem to sleep good for about 4 hours every night and then I woke up and toss and turn until it's time to get up. MICKEY

Calming irritated skin, baking soda
Used topically, baking soda takes the sting out of sunburn and minimizes the itch and discomfort caused by a variety of skin conditions (including eczema, prickly heat, and poison ivy). "Sodium bicarbonate is a mild alkaline compound that can help neutralize the pH balance of your skin," says Linda K. Franks, MD, a clinical assistant professor of dermatology at New York University. "This 'buffering effect' may help quell the inflammation that occurs at the skin's surface, easing your soreness."

To get relief, place a cup of baking soda under a running bath tap so it dissolves completely, and then soak in the water for about 30 minutes.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD

Well today is Dad's Birthday and he is spending his birthday weekend down in Kill Devil Hills, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD.  Mom & Dads trip to the beach didn't get off to a good start yesterday when they got to the beach only to find the AC had gone out and it was a very sultry 98 degrees inside the house, however the AC man cam yesterday afternoon and fixed the problem.  The Colonial Heights Bib team will be playing in the championship game tonight for the 1st time since 2000 win the won the BIB.  The Colonial Heights team beat Dinwiddie last night 13-1 and will face the CBC Americans tonight in the championship game of the BIB, I might go up and watch tonight's game. Also yesterday the University of Virginia held it's 1st football practice of the season getting ready for its season opener with William & Mary. MICKEY

STOCK MARKET CRASHES

Well the stock market crashed yesterday with the DOW falling 513 points and the S&P & Nasdaq dropping allot as well is wasn't a good day for investments.  The only good news from the market crash is the price of oil dropped nearly $10 a barrel, we will have to wait and see if the price is passed down to the consumer.  Well the are going to have to race this weekends Sprint Cup race with a temporary flagstand at Pocono because the #66 transporter took down the stand coming down the frontstrecth heading into the garage, I hope they check to see if has a CDL license because I just don't know you don't see the stand.  I sure am glad that it is Friday.  MICKEY

IT LOOKS LIKE TROPICAL STORM EMILY WILL GO OUT TO SEA

Well it looks like Tropical Storm Emily is going to stay just of the East Coast the next several days before heading out to sea later this weekend.  It looks like the biggest effect from the storm will just be some higher than normal wave action along the coast.  The area from Virginia to Florida really could use some rain.  It appears that the football contest is now reached it's capacity and I will have more information on this over the next few days.  Well I am to work.  MICKEY

BAD T-STORM LAST NIGHT

A pretty severe thunderstorm came through Colonial Heights last night with some pretty sever cloud to ground lightning which touched off a residential fire here in the city.  When firefighters arrived on the scene they fire showing on the 2nd floor of the home which was brought under control pretty quickly.  We also got some much needed rain from the storm as well.  Speaking of the chance of rain Tropical Storm Emily looks to be making a run at the east coast this weekend, I have enclosed the 5 day projected path of the storm.  Well this years football contest is up to 19 players now which will be largest field in the history of the contest, I am still looking for 1 more player though.  I almost forgot to mention that fellow blogger Keith is out of town doing some more tough government work, he didn't have to go far this time though he just went down to Virginia Beach.  MICKEY

MENARD WINS THE BRICKYARD 400

Paul Menard picked up his first Sprint Cup win of his career yesterday upsetting the field and winning the Brickyard 400.  Menard used a bit of a fuel mileage strategy to pick up the win conserving gas until the final 2 laps when the turned him lose holding off a fast charging Jeff Gordon.  Next week the Sprint Cup Series will be back at Pocono.  In case you missed it on Scott's facebook page Scott is in school to become a high school football referee, I have posted a photo of him in his uniform and it looks like he fits the part pretty well.  Well today is August 1st, where in the heck did July go it just seemed like yesterday it was July 1st.  It won't be to long now before school starts again.  MICKEY