I’m in a deep funk lately. It’s not because my Lotusphere abstract didn’t get selected. I can’t explain it. It’s my job, my work in the Knights of Columbus, my home, everything…. I’ve pissed off one of my Knights of Columbus idols so much that he didn’t even speak to me this weekend, and just tonight, I’ve pissed off one of my Lotus idols. (I’ll give you a hint: We ALL read his blog!) That’s been the way my life has been going lately…I’m alone on this inflatable boat in the middle of an ocean…and I CAN’T SWIM!

Sorry to bother all of you with this, but I just don’t know what to do anymore….

Thanks to Ed Brill, I am reminded that Lotus Notes is 15 years old! Next year, and it can go out and drive. In a few years, it could even have a drink with the rest of us!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LOTUS NOTES! My, how you have changed!

The bad news is that I haven’t received anything from anybody concerning my abstracts submitted for Lotusphere 2005, and because of other factors out of my control, it looks like I will NOT be attending Lotusphere this time.

The worst thing about it is that this is the year that I REALLY, REALLY wanted to attend. There’s going to be stuff on Workplace, ND6 and ND7. I think that I would have gotten a lot out of it.

Good luck to all those that will be going. It looks like there are going to be some great sessions. I’m especially going to miss attending “OpenNTF – An Open Source Community” BOF and “The Lotus Blogging Community” BOF.

UPDATE (12/7/2004): I got the official NO from “The Lotusphere 2005 Content Team”. I know that I’m not suppose to feel this way considering how many submissions there were this year, but given my mood as of late, I feel like I suck I’m not a good person, and that the “gods that pay for Lotusphere” are frowning on me. Oh well, at least I’ll see some great presentations when it’s over. (They WILL make the presentations available for download later, won’t they?)

The good news is that I’m scheduled to speak on Thursday, December 9th at the Detroit Notes Professionals “Fall DominoFest 2004” about IBM Lotus Domino 7. Check out the agenda here and register for this session. Hope to see you all there!

According to the Detroit Free Press, they have found the alleged chair throwing fan. He could face a felony assault charge. I’m not going to put his name here because it’s in the Free Press story.

In other related news, a lawyer for the Pacers have told the police in Auburn Hills that the players involved with NOT cooperate in the investigation. Meanwhile, NBA Commissioner David Stern has his thumb up his butt and a blindfold on hoping that this will all go away. Hey David! Why not show that the NBA really cares about ending this and ‘encourage’ the players to cooperate!

It’s around 3:20AM and I’m getting up so I can drive 20 minutes to a Disney Store to get there when it opens…AT 4:30AM!!! (BTW, I got to sleep at around 1:20AM.)

It’s ‘Black Friday’, and we’re out shopping for deals. Wish us luck!

From everyone at Bilyk’s Pride to your pride…HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I am thankful to all of my friends out there for coming by and reading my random thoughts. I hope that you all enjoy your Turkey Day…watch parades, eat and drink well with family and friends, and watch a little football! (Even though the Detroit Lions are not favored to win, the Thanksgiving game usually does something for them…don’t count them out!)

Thanks to Nexty, I was told that you can check out the video and get some more stories about the Ron Artest (and others) fight with fans of the Detroit Pistons at http://www.basketbrawl.us/. I’m getting a lot of hits from people looking for the video, and for good reason.

FREE BEN WALACE!

It seems police want to talk to the man who threw a chair during the Pistons-Pacers mess at the Palace of Auburn Hills. That coward should turn himself in, but he won’t. It will take a friend, co-worker, neighbor or family member to narc on him.

‘The Man with the White Hat’ and Ron Artest are making the rounds of news media this morning. They shouldn’t get 15 minutes of fame…they should get 15 minutes of shame!

As many of you already know, the Salvation Army was unceremoniously asked NOT to put their red kettles in front of their stores. They claim that they’re now enforcing a company policy that’s been in effect for years. I think they’re being Scrooges.

According to The Salvation Army’s national spokesman, Major George Hood, the Target store ban is likely to cost the Christian charity $9 million in lost holiday collections. This is going to directly screw up lives. We have to help!

Head over to http://www.redkettlecampaign.org (a Lotus Domino site) and make a donation. Even if you don’t normally donate, please help! In the ‘Company Name’ field, put my URL (http://bilykspride.servehttp.com) so they know that I sent you there.

Thanks for caring this season!