Category: Misc

I had my first opportunity to eat one yesterday. I’ll save you the trouble- DO NOT EAT THEM. They are awful. Horrible. Beyond words. Really- I’m speechless.

Instead, you should immediately contact me via the comment section of this post. I will then provide mailing instructions for you to send them to ME. I can then dispose of them properly, as I have had extensive training in this sort of thing.

I repeat- DO NOT EAT REESES DARK CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CUPS. Contact me so that I can dispose of them properly.

That is all.

Proof positive that anything can be made funny.

Two things I’ll note from the weekend. First, while eating out on Sunday morning I was referred to as the “jacka$$ in the cowboy hat” by an elderly patron of the joint. I quietly scanned the room, noting a guy in a baseball cap and a guy in a fedora. So the problem wasn’t just that I was wearing the hat indoors. He made some other comments as well, but they weren’t as clear.

Now, the guy was at least 80 and my guess is he was speaking in a way such that he thought he wasn’t loud. In other words he was unaware that his target had heard him. None the less, I chose not to say anything at the time. Mainly because I couldn’t come up with something suitably condescending but not too belligerent. Afterwards, a couple of lines came to mind, but it was too late. I wish I had quicker responses for stuff like that. I suppose I could have walked over, put my hat on his head and said “Howdy, jacka$$!” but that still seems belligerent. Oh well.

Especially when it’s a stairwell.

And one wall is 16 feet high.

Up by the ceiling.

And the only option is a paint brush on a stick.

sigh

… go on the wishlist. I can’t really say why, exactly, though. I was never all that enthralled with the iPhone. Don’t get me wrong, I thought it was neat to play with. Not exactly a toy, but something like that. But I never felt the “I want one” thing kick in.

The Droid was different. I played with it, and I doubt it does anything that the iPhone can’t do, and the more I played with it the more I liked it. I didn’t even try to use it as a phone. Probably should have. Maybe it was the sense that, I could make it mine. As opposed to the iPhone which, by comparison, I’d just be renting from Steve Jobs.

For roughly the same price I could get a netbook- but a netbook won’t fit in my shirt pocket either. Plus, I’ve got one I’m happy with. Can’t say that about my cell phone.

Definitely on the wishlist.

The Sony Bravia!! The 40EX500 to be exact.

Originally, I thought my dithering cost me about $150 since the price I paid last night was higher than what I thought I’d seen a couple of weeks ago. After a little investigation, it turns out the model I was looking at then was the 40EX400. The main difference appears to be the 120Hz refresh on the 500 model versus standard 60Hz on the 400 model. So there’s a metric for future reference.

Anyway, I got it setup last night. Always fun playing with A/V cabling because it quickly becomes a dizzying array of inputs and outputs and which TV input gives which capabilities. I got an assist from the Bro last night as we had to reverse engineer our cable-box/ Tivo/ DVD player configuration. The main difference was feeding the cable to the TV directly from the wall to get access to the digital channels- fortunately, I had an extra splitter lying around.

The only ‘gotcha’ I encountered had to do with the physical setup of the TV. The pedestal causes the set to sit back about 3 inches from the front of the cabinet. The screen width exactly matches the width of the cabinet opening, so when viewed from an angle, part of the view of the screen is blocked by the cabinet. I’ll have to figure out something to remedy that.

Otherwise, looks nice. On to the next thing…

Last Monday was the first night since early November we didn’t have a fire going to keep the house warm through the night. Last night was the second and with the predicted weather for the weekend, that pattern will be increasing in frequency.

Definitely wet ’round these here parts. Streams have overflowed their banks. Puddles have become ponds. Ponds are lakes. Good weather if you’re a duck.

On my way home from racquetball I felt like I was in a Frogger video game. Except, of course, I wasn’t the frog. Just the car trying to avoid frogs. Some of them were BIG suckers too. Looked like a couple could’ve swallowed my head.

With teeth too…

I blame global warming.

Our current 37″ tube TV is dying a slow death. We’ve started looking at flat panels to replace it. The good news is that size wise, we have an easy decision- it has to be a 40″ set because it needs to fit in the current TV cabinet. The screen would get clipped on the sides of anything bigger. For power and longevity reasons, I’ve opted to further narrow the criteria to LCD TV’s with LED backlights.

In that class of flatpanel, there aren’t a lot of options. Ideally, I’d like to get the full-array LED backlight as opposed to the edge-lit versions. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to tell which are which. It appears that Sharp has something, possibly Sony and Samsung, and that’s about it. Also, it looks like the full-array costs a pretty penny as well- possibly $300-400 more.

The guys at Best Buy said that the Sharp Aquos has had some problems and the Samsungs and Sony’s are superior. Price wise, they’re all in a similar neighborhood. My main hesitation is that I think the Sharp is the only one with the full-array LED and is priced a lot lower than the other two would be with the full-array. But I don’t want to buy a lemon either, or worse, something that dies in 6 months.

Decisions, decisions.

This post is so I can exercise my blogclient. The following piece of writing:

Is a blockquoted section with code and lists.

This is a nested blockquote.

• This is list item 1 in the nested bq
• This is list item 2 in the nested bq
• This is list item 3 in the nested bq

Back to original blockquote

1. This is an order list in the bq
2. This is item 2 of the ordered list in the bq
3. This is item 3 of the ordered list in the bq

That should be a pretty good test. I expect most of these will fail for the time being. I’ll work out those kinks in good time.

While I’m at it:

1. Ordered list item 1 in a p-tag

   This is a second paragraph under item 1.

2. Ordered list item 2 in a p-tag

   This is a second paragraphc under item 2.

3. Orderes list item 3 in a p-tag

That should be enough for now.

It’s impossible to sneeze with your eyes open?

Go ahead, try it.

Being a reformed video game junky, I can attest to the notion that life has a wicked sense of humor.

We got the kids a Wii video game system last Christmas. Now, having familiarity with video games growing up, I was well aware of the possibility that the kids would be smitten with it to the point of obsession. Fast forward a year later and I have the following conversation with each kid almost daily:

Child: Dad, can I play the Wii?

Me: No.

Child (whining): OHHHH, I want to play the Wiiiiiiiii. Why can’t I play the Wiiiiiiiiii?

Me: Because I said so.

Child (still whining): That’s not fairrrrrrrrrr…. I want to play the Wiiiiiiiiiiiii

On a few occasions, I strayed from the above script by taking the time to explain that they need to find other ways to play. That they have other toys and games that they need to explore. That they should be using their imagination to invent worlds and scenarios and whatever else they can come up with. The Wii substitutes someone else’s imagination and it isn’t healthy for them to play the Wii all the time, or even some of the time, at their tender age.

Every now and again, the boy will try reverse psychology on me:

The Boy: Dad, I’ve been trying to think of something else to play and all I can think of is the Wii.

Me: Well, try harder.

The Boy: Don’t even tell me what else I can do. All I can think of is the Wii.

Me: Well, that’s the problem.

The Boy: Can I play the Wii?

Me: Nope.

The Boy: GRRRRRR!!!! (stomps off in frustration)

When I really want to flummox them, I go all Zen and tell them that they can only play the Wii when they don’t want to play the Wii. That’s usually good for a confused look, an eye roll, or a huff as they stomp away.

So, based on my experience, I would advise parents to save themselves a headache and put off video games for as long as possible. The headache of putting it off pales compared to the headache of keeping them from it.

Who comes up with those commercials for Sun Life? What the hell are thesupposed to be proving? That Sun Life employs idiots and morons in theirmarketing department?

Really, other than that they are an insurance company, what do we get from thosecommercials? Crikey, even the people they talk with in THEIR commercials can’tstand them. Why should anyone else?

Methinks that heads need to roll. Starting with the two on those goons in theircommercials…

Today being the 2-week recovery mark, I just thought I’d note my current condition related to the concussion.

I still have ringing in my ears, though it is greatly reduced from when it started. I’m can’t tell as yet, but there is clearly the opportunity for permanent hearing damage. I haven’t noticed anything in terms of volume, but I have noticed issues with higher frequency ranges. Sounds like “shh” or hissing, ‘s’ sounds there is definitely an effect.

As for pain, there basically isn’t any. Coughing and sneezing are fine. The only thing that bothers my head is popping my ears.

One thing I’ve wondered about, now that I’ve had the experience, is what it would have been like to suffer a concussion during football. I’m certain that, had I suffered this identical sort of event during a game, I would not have finished the game. But I am also certain I would have played the following week.

That’s where I wonder- how susceptible would I be to another one? How well would I have been able to handle playing? Would I even have given it a seconds thought? Remember, before accusing me of braggadocio, that wouldn’t have made me unique or special in any way. I can recall other guys who suffered concussions from repeated collison playing after a couple days rest. That’s just what was done.

I think about a guy like Muhammad Ali whom suffered multiple concussions over his career. Clearly, something I don’t want to aspire to. One is enough.

Yet, oddly, given slightly different circumstances I would have subjected myself to the opportunity for more without much thought.

Why is it that milk tastes best after fresh-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookies, warm brownies and ice cream?

I’m particularly curious about ice cream. I mean, a glass of water doesn’t satisfy. Plus, obviously, ice cream is made of milk.

Maybe it’s better not to know…

My ears have been ringing for the past few days. Still hurts my head to sneeze and cough. It also hurts if I do something like “popping” my ears; pain is in the front above the eyes. Still have the mild dizziness.

I saw my chiropractor and basically all the progress that had been made on correcting my neck is gone. My C5 is pushed back and is almost touching C6. He’s kind of a funny guy- he gets excited when he gets to see something new and different from a patient. He’s all revved up to fix my neck… again.

One of the cable channels has been showing “The Bourne Ultimatum” all weekend. I’d already seen it, but I watched it again because it’s so well done. In particular, the fight scene between Bourne and Desh has to be in the top 10 of movie fight scenes.

Unlike Jet Li type stuff, which is spectacular but ultimately unbelievable because of obvious wire work, or Dark Knight type stuff, which is more believable but the camera work is so phrenetic that it’s impossible to see what’s happening, the Bourne fight scenes have an authentic feel to them. The blows are quick and precise and done in full view of the audience. Further, the ebb and flow of the fight as each combatant alternates between defense and attack fluidly is breathtaking.

I’m hard pressed to think of a better movie fight scene.