First, sorry for the lack of posts last week. Was out sick on Tuesday and was too busy to post the rest of the while while I played catchup.

Here’s what I’m thinking about:

1. Great debates?

Don’t know if this makes me apathetic, but I didn’t watch one second of Monday’s presidential debate. Of course, it was going up against Game 7 of the National League Championship Series and the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football. I watched part of the first debate and almost all of the second one. Don’t know that I heard anything to sway my vote. The debates were good theater and gave the news channels something to talk about. It will be interesting to see how comes out on top.

2. Why vote early?

Early voting started in Illinois on Monday. I can see if you’re going to be out of town on Election Day why you would cast an early ballot, but just going early to go early doesn’t make much sense to me. There’s something special about going to the polls with the masses on Election Day. Sure, you might have to wait in line for a couple of minutes, but it’s not like you’re going to the DMV or the doctor’s office. I’ll be there on Nov. 6.

Here’s what is on my mind.

1. Was there a full moon on Monday?

What started off as a normal Monday — normal for those of us who don’t get Columbus Day off of work — turned weird in a hurry. I visited the fire scene at 219 Oak around 7 a.m. to get some details for a story. When I went back around 11:30 a.m. to do some follow up work, there was police tape strewn throughout the scene that wasn’t there earlier. A few hours later, we found that human remains were found at the scene. Adams County Coroner Jim Keller said Tuesday morning that the remains are of a female, but they can’t identify the victim yet. In between my second and third stops at the Oak fire, I tried to go home for lunch, but there was a call for shots fired just a few blocks from my house. After an hour or so investigation, which included some members of the Adams County Sheriff’s Department going into a house in full riot gear, it turned out that some kids were popping an air rifle. Add two sepearate scanner reports of people fighting in the streets and it was a rather wild Columbus Day in the Gem City.

2. Hitting the stretch run

Four weeks from today, we’ll go to the polls to pick the next President of the U.S. I don’t follow too much politics — although I probably should. I make it a point never to talk politics. The main reason is that I’m not that well versed on all of the issues. There may be a day when I’m more comfortable debating about Obamacare than the proper use of the Infield Fly Rule, but I’m not there now. I do enjoy watching people bicker about the Obama-Romney battle on Facebook. I’m fully prepared for an endless stream of attack ads between now and Nov. 6.

Here’s what I’m thinking about:

1. What a way to go

I think it’s only natural to think about how you’re going to leave this world. We think about best-case and worst-case scenarios about death. I hope I just die in my sleep — the ultimate nap. That’s probably the way most of us hope to go after we’ve lived a good, long life. I doubt most of us figure on going out the way an Oregon farmer did over the weekend. According to reports, Terry Garner, 69, was found eaten by his hogs in Coquille, Ore. A family member found Garner’s dentures and several piece of his body in a hog enclosure several hours after Garner had gone out to feed the pigs last Wednesday. Oregon authorities think Garner could have had a medical emergency like a heart attack and fell to the ground. They are also not ruling out foul play in the death. Several of the hogs weighed more than 700 pounds.

2. On the “Breaking Bad” bandwagon

I don’t watch a ton of television — at least not as much as I used to. TV usually means whatever game is on. If I’m not watching a game, I usually have the TV on Investigation Discovery for whatever crime show is on. I am intrigued by crime, which is one of the reasons I left the sports world to take over the crime and courts beat. I have read a ton of great things about the AMC show “Breaking Bad.” It deals with a dying high school science teacher who decided to become a meth cook so that he can leave money for his family after he dies. I’m 10 episodes in and am hooked. I haven’t watched a series from start to finish since getting “Homicide: Life on the Street” for Christmas a few years ago. I’m pretty sure that I’ll have “Breaking Bad” knocked out soon thanks to Netflix.

Here’s what’s on my mind on this rainy Tuesday.

1. It’s been a month

I’ve been out of the sports business for a month now. I’m finding the work on the news side to be more rewarding than I thought. I like that there’s always something different to write about on the crime and courts beat. I covered a trial last week where two people couldn’t identify the defendant with him sitting 20 feet away from them in open court. That one was a doozy. The charges were dropped and the story wound up being the most-read story on whig.com last week. I’ve learned people love their crime news around here, too. Crime stories — most of which were nothing more than 5 or 6 inch briefs — took up the top nine spots on the Whig’s top 10 list last week. It’s good to know that the stuff I’m writing is being read.

2. Replacing the replacements

I wrote about the replacement refs in the NFL in last week’s Two-For-Tuesday. The guys can’t get a break. A heated newsroom debate broke out this morning over Golden Tate’s game-winning catch from Monday’s Seahawks-Packers game. A bunch of former sports writers debated the play as if they were on Pardon The Interruption. You think replacement NFL refs are bad? Just be thankful that we don’t have to worry about replacement doctors or replacement police officers.

Here’s what’s on my mind this chilly Tuesday morning. I guess fall is coming.

1. Poor replacements

Some of us remember the replacement players the National Football League used in 1987 when the players were on strike. Can’t imagine the uproar over using those replacement players being as big as the uproar over the league’s use of replacement officials this year. Of course, there weren’t outlets like Twitter and Facebook back in 1987 for people to instantly complain about how bad things were on the field. If you watch football, you can’t get away from how bad these officials have been through two weeks. Hopefully, the regular referees come back soon.

2. Check that money

Ever wonder if you’ve carried around a counterfeit bill without knowing it? I don’t know how much funny money is floating around out there, but we’ve had some reports in the area of bad bills being passed. What if you received some of those counterfeit bills as change at a store. You could be out of luck, like a Michigan woman who visited a Wal-Mart and got a bad $100 back. Leann Ward used her state benefits card to get $100 in change at a Wal-Mart. When she took the bill next door to Menard’s to buy a few things for her house, the bill was rejected after a worker used a counterfeit detection pen on it. Ward tried to go back to Wal-Mart to fix the problem, but the store couldn’t do anything because she already left. Maybe we should start thinking about carrying those counterfeit detection pens around with us — or just make it mandatory that businesses be forced to check all big bills with them.

Here’s what is on my mind today:

1. Never forget

If I wasn’t busy working, I’d probably be home watching the coverage of the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terroritst attacks. I wrote an entire column about what I remember from that day in today’s Herald-Whig. Take a second today to remember those who were lost on that day through no fault of their own.

2. Is there such a thing as watching too much football?

I’m now in my third week as a “news guy.” While I haven’t been able to get out to a local football game yet — I’m hoping to go to Quincy University’s home opener on Saturday night — I have watched plenty of football on the tube. My new schedule allows me to soak in all of the games on Saturday and Sunday, something I wasn’t able to do previously. I will never say I’m bored watching sports, but I am looking forward to seeing some good games. We haven’t had a lot of them early on this season.

Hope you enjoyed your Labor Day. Here’s what I’m thinking about today:

1. It’s my anniversary.

On this day 18 years ago, I married my wife, Stacey, in Galesburg, Ill. We got married on a Sunday, which is kind of rare. I look back at those photos now and can’t believe how young I looked. It’s been a wonderful run that I’m looking forward to continuing for many years to come. Here’s the column I wrote about what I’m supposed to get her for the 18th anniversary. If you’d like to see what you’re supposed to get your honey on your big day, check out this website.

2. Are you ready for some (fantasy) football?

While others were enjoying their Labor Day by doing nothing, I was hard at work drafting two fantasy football teams. The leagues I’m in draft two different ways. One is a straight draft and the other is an auction. Both have their merits. A straight draft takes less time than an auction. The team owner takes a look at the list of available players, decides what hole they need to fill on their roster and simply picks a person. The auction is much more complicated. One owner throws out a name of a player and everyone in the room can bid on that player’s services. It can get quite intense when two people are going after the same person. One of the best aspects of draft day is the smack talk that’s thrown out. If you’re in a hurry, the regular “snake” draft is the way to go. Our draft took less than 90 minutes for 12 teams, while a 12-team auction took nearly three hours to complete.

Here’s what is on my mind on my second day on the job as a news reporter.

Yes, I have left the comforts of the sports world and challenged myself with a new assignment. You can read how much I love change here.

1. Don’t get caught up in the courts

My first day on the job was a doozy. Had the chance to see a man be put away for the rest of his life for murder. While waiting for that sentencing hearing to begin, I had a chance to wade through various other cases that were brought before Audrain County judge Keith Sutherland. There was a guy who had been caught driving with a suspended licence — for the fourth time. He also had two DUI convictions on his record. He got 180 days in the county jail. Another guy got a year for assault. Several others had to appear to make sure they were paying their costs associated with previous misdeeds. I learned quickly there aren’t too many smiles inside a court room. It’s not somewhere you want to be.

2. I would love to figure out gas prices

One thing I have always noticed that the farther west you travel in Missouri, the cheaper the gas gets. I didn’t mind driving to Columbia or Springfield, Mo., for assignments knowing that there was going to be cheaper gas at the end of the trip. West Quincy is routinely one of the more expensive towns for gas. During my travels on Monday, I found the cheapest gas in Mexico. It was $3.52 there as opposed to the $3.65 in West Quincy when I gassed up on Monday morning.

Wonder if all of the kids in Quincy were as eager to get up today for the second day of school as they were for the first yesterday? Doubt it.

Here is what else is on my mind:

1. So Augusta National has two female members

I think Condoleeza Rice has a 50-50 shot to win Augusta National’s first women’s club title next year. Rice, the former U.S. Secretary of State, and Darla Moore, who has been labeled as a South Carolina financier, are the first two women to be admitted as members to Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga, home of the Masters. The news broke Monday of their inclusion to formerly all-male club. Of course, the club is getting drilled by many for not making this move years ago. I covered the Masters in 2003 when Martha Burke held protests outside the club. And by “protests” I mean one lame gathering on a lawn on Saturday morning that drew three or four times more reporters and media folks than “protesters.” I’ve always thought this issue was an easy one. Augusta National is a private club. It can let in whomever it would like as members.  The Masters is an invitational tournament. It invites who it sees fit to play. It’s never been a democracy at Augusta National. You might not like, but that’s the way it is.

2. The week has to get better

My week didn’t start off so hot yesterday. First came the news of Sergio Garcia, who currently ranks at the top of my most-hated athlete list, getting a win at the PGA Tour stop in Greensboro. Then I’m driving home from work to listen to my new adopted Premier League soccer team, Manchester United, get beat in its season opener. For the first time since 2004, the Red Devils dropped their opener as American keeper Tim Howard stymied the United attack in a 1-0 victory for Everton.  The good news is that Garcia won’t ever win anything of substance and United will bounce back.

Here is what’s on my mind this glorious Tuesday:

1. Having a change of heart

There was once a time when I was anti-traveling team. Figured there was no good reason why kids should be going all over the place to play soccer, baseball or basketball. That was until my kid wanted to join a traveling team. He tried out — and made — the River City Dirtbags 7U baseball team a year ago. His interest in baseball — the kid plays all the time — led  me to let him try out.

Quincy has two avenues for kids to play baseball recreationally — the Quincy Park District and Quincy Family YMCA. My sons have played in both programs and enjoyed themselves.

My youngest son wanted more of a challenge and the Dirtbags gave that to him. At the youngest levels, there isn’t a ton of travel. We played three tournaments locally, went to Jacksonville for one event and then had our lone overnight trip to St. Louis. He played about 25 games, about three times the number he would have in either the QPD or YMCA programs, and was part of a group of kids who were interested in learning about and getting better at playing baseball.

Having seen both the recreational leagues and the Dirtbags in action, I have no regrets letting my son play on a traveling team. It was right for him.

He and I still practice every day and he wishes there was a fall baseball program somewhere to play. Instead, he’ll play soccer and do a little flag football for the first time. He’s already looking forward to next summer with the Dirtbags.

A new crop of kids are trying out for the Dirtbags this week. Hopefully they will get the same kind of benefit out of the program that my son has.

2. Time to start thinking football

If nothing else, the Olympics provided a great distraction from the mundane early days of the NFL’s preseason. We haven’t had a ton of space in the Herald-Whig to devote to what is going on in training camps. Usually, we’d have nearly daily updates from the Rams, Bears and Chiefs, but those were boxed out for Olympics coverage the next two weeks. You’ll see more football in the pages of the Herald-Whig over the next few weeks as the season draw closer. We vow not to bury you with Tim Tebow stories, too.