A meme

1. How old will you be in five years?
35

2. Who did you spend at least two hours with today?
singularly, nobody

3. How tall are you?
5 feet, 11 1/2 inches.

4. What do you look forward to most in the next six weeks?
Sam's Birthday

5. What's the last movie you saw?
The Dark Knight

6. Who was the last person you called?
Court, yesterday

7. Who was the last person to call you?
Court, today

8. What was the last text message you received?
Psych

9. Who was the last person to leave you a voicemail?
My Mom

10. Do you prefer to call or text?
text

11. What were you doing at 12am last night?
Reading

12. Are your parents married/divorced?
Divorced

13. When did you last see your mom?
Last Tuesday

14. What color are your eyes?
Brown

15. What time did you wake up today?
7:18a

16. What are you wearing right now?
Green shirt, khaki dockers

17. What is your favorite Christmas song?
Jingle Bells?

18. Where is your favorite place to be?
Home

19. Where is your least favorite place to be?
A restaurant where I know there's nothing I'll like

20. Where would you go if you could go anywhere?
I'm fine here

21. Where do you think you'll be in 10 years?
Probably the same job, maybe in a different house if we move.

22. Do you tan or burn?
Neither, somehow.

23. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child?
hmm...nothing really.

24. What was the last thing that really made you laugh?
Probably Psych the other day...or something from Juno.

25. How many TVs do you have in your house?
2

26. How big is your bed?
King-sized

27. Do you have a laptop or desktop computer?
Both

28. Do you sleep with or without clothes on?
With

29. What color are your sheets?
Don't remember which ones are on there.

30. How many pillows do you sleep with?
Two, but I hold the one.

31. What is your favorite season?
Fall

32. What is your second favorite season?
Winter

33. What do you like about Winter?
The Cold

34. What do you like about the summer?
Nothing, really

35. What do you like about Winter?
Uh...duplicate

36. How many states/provinces have you lived in?
Two

37. What cities/towns have you lived in?
Park Ridge, Elk Grove, Schaumburg, Bartlett, Hanover Park, Carol Stream, Orlando, Wood Dale

38. Do you prefer shoes, socks, or bare feet?
Shoes.

39. Are you a social person?
No

40. What was the last thing you ate?
crackers

41. What is your favorite restaurant?
Le Cellier in Epcot...Wild Fire, here, I guess.

42. What is your favorite ice cream?
Chubby Hubby

43. What is your favorite dessert?
Apple pie.

44. What is your favorite kind of soup?
Tomato

45. What kind of jelly do you like on your PB & J sandwich?
None

46. Do you like Chinese food?
yuck, no

47. Do you like coffee?
Nope

48. How many glasses of water, a day, do you drink on average?
3-4

49. What do you drink in the morning?
slim-fast

50. Do you sleep alone?
No

51. Do you sleep on a certain side of the bed?
Yes

52. Do you know how to play poker?
Barely

53. Do you like to cuddle?
sometimes, I guess

54. Have you ever been to Canada?
Yes

55. Do you have an addictive personality?
Yes

56. Do you eat out or at home more often?
lately, out, but mostly home

57. Do you look forward to your birthday?
I don't mind it but most of the time I can't remember how old I am.

58. Do you know anyone with the same birthday as you?
No.

59. Do you want kids?
Have a great one

60. Do you speak any other languages?
No

61. Have you ever gotten stitches?
No, but I probably should have because the original injury still hurts 10+ years later

62. Have you ever ridden in an ambulance?
ridden, no. Been in one, yes

63. Do you prefer an ocean or a pool?
prefer neither

64. Do you prefer a window seat or an aisle seats?
either

65. Do you know how to drive stick?
No

66. What is your favorite thing to spend money on?
electronics

67. Do you wear any jewelry 24/7?
wedding ring

68. What is your favorite TV show?
LOST

69. Can you roll your tongue?
Not sure

70. Who is the funniest person you know?
Sam

71. Do you sleep with stuffed animals?
No.

72. What is the main ring tone on your phone?
Depends who is calling - default is Modest Mouse's "Float On"

73. Do you still have clothes from when you were little?
maybe some stuff

74. What red object is closest to you right now?
Project 3000 bracelet

75. Do you turn off the water while you brush your teeth?
Yes

76. Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed?
Open

77. Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of bees?
bees

78. Do you flirt a lot?
No

79. What do you dip a chicken nugget in?
Ranch

80. What is your favorite food?
Tacos I guess

81. Can you change the oil on a car?
No

82. Have you ever gotten a speeding ticket?
Man

83. Have you ever run out of gas?
Once

84. What is your usual bedtime?
midnight-1am usually

85. What was the last book you read?
Warpath by David Mack

86. Do you read the newspaper?
Online

87. Do you have any magazine subscriptions?
Consumer Reports and Time

89. Do you watch soap operas?
No

90. Do you dance in the car?
Only to amuse Sam

91. What radio station did you last listen to?
The Score

92. Who do you have in a picture frame near you?
Sam, eating my phone, and Sam, with her cat hat on in her walker

93. What was the last note you scribbled on a piece of paper?
Don't remember

94. What is your favorite candle scent?
None

95. What is your favorite board game?
Monopoly

97. When was the last time you attended church?
Regularly? Never

98. Who was your favorite teacher in high school?
Ms. Sindelar (sic) from Gym helped me out once

99. What is the longest you have ever camped out in a tent?
4-5 days

100. Who was the last person to do something extra special for you?
Court

Breaking radio silence...

The quiz made tears come out of my eyes, I was laughing so hard.

27

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Dating Sites

And growing up is hard to do...

When you're a kid, you don't have money for all the toys you want, but you have room for them.

When you're an adult, you have the money for all the toys you want, but you don't have room for them.

And when I say 'toys' in a grown-up sense, I don't mean TVs and DVD players and that crap. I mean actual toys. Actual toys that purposefully remind you of the things you wanted as a kid but couldn't/didn't have. Of course, it being the 20th/25th/30th anniversaries of a lot of my favorite toys this year doesn't help.

Since this is one of my favorite GI JOE sequences...


I of course couldn't pass up this...complete with jetpack and American flag.

Teeth and the Teething Teethers with Teeth

After a few days of 'issues' with getting the little one to sleep in the new crib configuration without getting up every five minutes, things went back to the way they were and she slept all through the night.

Then the molars came.

Her mood changed. Her sleeping patterns changed. What she wanted to eat, and when, changed.

Luckily, this (mostly) happened during a week we were both on vacation so the sleeping didn't really matter that much. If not, I think we'd have both been in rehab by mid-week.

There's nothing like seeing your daughter hold her hand up to her mouth while saying 'ow! ow!'

Things have gone back to normal once again, luckily.

bleary eyed

Let me just tell you that my daughter can STILL escape the crib whenever she wants, so the old "yeah, it's the middle of the night, she's crying, but she'll probably conk out any minute" thing that used to happen a couple times a month has now been completely transformed. Without relating the whole story, let me just tell you that I probably watched 3 Handy Manny's before 4am today. I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

uh oh, here comes a milestone....

Tuesday morning (actually, like 3am) the little one was crying a little bit in her crib. We decided to see if she'd tire herself out so we just waited on it. Suddenly, the crying noise started getting closer and closer, and it wasn't coming out of the monitor anymore. The little monkey was walking down the hallway into our room. She'd escaped the crib.

I should just make "I'm not dead" a post tag.

Yes, I'm still alive. Let's have a few quick hits:

• I got a ticket Friday. It was a BS ticket for something I've probably done every weekday since my little monkey starting going to the sitter. So since that's probably 300+ times, I figure I've gotten away easy.


• I've stopped going out to lunch at work because the weather is so nice I just want to drive home.


• We took down the structure that was enclosing our hot tub on Saturday. Let's just say it was LONG overdue and keep it at that. There were ants involved. Hundreds of them.(ok, I didn't let that be that)


• Obama has won the Democratic primary, so we'll see how that goes.


• The Cubs are doing pretty well, so we'll see how that goes too.


• Some enterprising and intelligent people have updated MVP 2004 with the 2008 rosters since there's no real Baseball game for the PC anymore. My Cubs are doing well, and last night Carlo Marmol did something he does a lot in real life...give up a triple to the first batter and blow the next 3 guys away on strikeouts. Of course, the game seems to think Ryan Dempster is the Ryan Dempster we were all afraid we'd get in a starter (read: crappy) instead of the one we've really got (read: VERY strong).


• The monkey's current vocabulary: Mama, Dada, bob (bottle), yeah, no, elmo (for Elmo and Nemo), up, uh oh, whoa, juice (or something that sounds like that), ummm... (when thinking), and she also calls Hooper something nonsensical but consistent...I think it's na-na.


• Considering I put out a ton of garbage from the hot tub house for the garbagemen and the remains of a large bush we destroyed for the recycling/lawn bag guys, I'm sure both groups hate my guts right now.

More, as I think of it...

Household Political Endorsements

I don't think it will come as a surprise to anyone that I'm throwing my endorsement for the Democratic Primary Election (and the 2008 Presidential Election) to Barack Obama.

Hooper (our dog) is not yet old enough to vote. He really likes John Edwards though.

Boots (our cat) is the only Republican in the house. He's actually a hard-line conservative, and we have many arguments about this. Because of his hard-line stance, he's having some issues with McCain as the Republican nominee but he'd sooner choke on a hairball than vote Democrat. I haven't really investigated it (mostly out of fear) but I do believe he had something to do with George W. Bush winning Florida in the 2000 Presidential Election. I suspect he was an integral part of the Republican Political Machine down there.

Oba-mania? Barack the Vote? GOBAMA?

Crosscut Seattle - Here's one reason students Barack the vote: respect

Interesting reading.

Starting back up

A little hitting to all fields, and then the starting of regular postings soon.

• The sprout and I weathered a little over a week of Mr. Mom-age. Worked out well since it was so nice to spend so much time with her. We had fun.


• I want to go on the record as saying it has snowed about 6 times since I told my wife in January that I thought it was time to put away the snowblower until next Winter.


• GOBAMA baby, just GOBAMA


• Got the car washed yesterday...perhaps it will rain today.


• Pitchers and Catchers have reported...and there was much rejoicing.


• More of my TV shows are getting canceled. This can't be good.


• I think I have watched 20 episodes of Mythbusters in the last month.


• I think Iraq is what scares me most about people who say they'll jump to McCain if their Democratic candidate doesn't make it. Hello, the guy wants to keep us in Iraq!

more later...

Yes, I'm alive (again)

Question and answer time:

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? My father and his father.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? I got a little sad reading about what is discovered to have happened to that poor little girl, Baby Grace.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? It's horrible.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Boiled ham.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Yep, my little monkey.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? If I had to spend some time with me, yeah.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? I guess I would.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Frosted Flakes

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES BEFORE YOU TAKE THEM OFF? no more than I have to.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? probably average.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby.

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their face I guess.

15. RED OR PINK? Red.

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? Not knowing when to just Stop.

17. WHOM DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My family who has moved to Arizona.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO FILL THIS OUT? If someone wants to they can.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Light brown pants and a navy blue shirt.

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Dinner last night, Raspberry glazed chicken.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? training class call.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Brick red baby

23. FAVORITE SMELL? There's a smell that happens in the spring sometimes that takes me right back to growing up in Bartlett.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? on a conf call now

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON YOU STOLE THIS FROM? Sure

26 FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Baseball.

28. EYE COLOR? Brown

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? yes

30. FAVORITE FOOD? Shake and bake pork chops with mashed potatoes and corn.

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy ending is fine.

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Shrek 3 and then the first half of Ocean's 13.

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Navy blue.

34. SUMMER OR WINTER? Winter, the colder the better.

35. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs.

36. FAVORITE DESSERT? apple pie

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? not sending this out

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? not sending this out

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Star Trek - Titan - Sword of Damocles.

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? At work, Cubs. At home, a black optical mouse pad.

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? A Bones from a month ago (the Halloween episode) and then last night's Chuck.

42. FAVORITE SOUND? Rain

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles

44. WHAT IS THE FURTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Beijing, China

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? None that I use for 'good'.

46. WHAT IRRITATES YOU MOST? People who are just ignorant or are so slaved to their way of thinking that they don't accept what's obvious.

Out of it for a little while

Ok, yesterday was my first day back at my desk at work in 3 weeks. 2 weeks of training, one of vacation. I learned a lot in those 3 weeks, but I also forgot a lot.

• How to wear my brown shoes which I wear to work. For some reason they now kill the backs of my ankles. Maybe because I haven't worn them for almost a month?


• How to wear pants. Yes, in three weeks, I did not, not once, wear pants. The fact that it was hotter than heckfire at home and in DC aided in that fact.


• How to drive to work. There's been pretty extensive construction cutting 53N down to one lane around 90. Stinks for me because my exit is the next one after 90. So I hadn't been taking 53 to work for a long time. Until yesterday, when I forgot all about the construction. Whoops.


• How to shave every day. Maybe some day they will invent a whole-face Nair that won't cause people to go blind. Then, I can just shoot that stuff on and be done with it all. The days of me with a mustache or beard (or both) are long done. I hate shaving with the fire of a thousand suns. I think it stems from the fact that for the first 5+ years of doing it I had no idea what aftershave was (thanks Dad) so shaving when I was in High School resulted in my fact getting all dried out and feeling like sandpaper.

So that's how dumb I've gotten. I'll post about the stuff I learned later, when I'm feeling a bit smarter.

Better know a country

1m 50s

Click here to try the quiz.

And we're back!

Hey! I'm NOT dead! Isn't that great?

I'll do a little version of 'hitting to all fields' now.

Am I becoming a flight snob now?

I've just recently returned from a one night (and next day) work trip to Miami. As expected, it was hotter than Hell. Work-wise, it went well, which is nice. I took an early flight back (yeah!) but first was full so no upgrade (boo!) but what are you gonna do?

I'll take that deal every day of the week and twice on Sunday

Since our sitter (who is great, btw) was on vacation last week, I took last week as a vacation week and watched the sprout all week long. It was a pretty amazing experience, spending so much time with her. I'm glad I did it. It only reinforced my thought that (if the $ were not an object...) I would be a stay at home parent, no doubt.

That smell on the DC Metro? That was me.

The week before that, I spent a week in SCADA training in Washington, D.C. Now, I've always wanted to go there and see the National Mall and all the memorials and all that. And this was the perfect occasion to do so. Training was Wed--->Fri so I flew out Tuesday morning and did some site-seeing for the rest of the day. I took the DC Metro from Vienna, VA, into the city. I walked around for almost 6 hours. It was hotter than Hell and I was major-league sweating. I'm sure by the end of the day, I reeked. It was so bad I washed the clothes at the hotel.

Now that everyone's grossed out...

I have to say, DC was amazing. I saw the Air & Space Museum, Capital Building, White House, Supreme Court, Washington Monument, FDR, Jefferson, and Lincoln Memorials. Vietnam Wall, Korean War Memorial, and the new WW II Memorial. I also saw the Holocaust Museum.

Someone with my same first and last name is on the Vietnam Wall. I plan to see what I can find out about him.

Since 9/11, all the areas around the White House are pretty locked down. You can't even walk up to the fence anymore. What a drag. I did take a zoomed in picture of some guys standing watch on the roof though, which was kinda cool.

All in all, it was a great trip. Even greater since I earned the certification I was there for in the first place. But what stays with me is the memorials to so many of the people that made this country what it is. I don't think they make people like that anymore.

question mark

60 questions...(and answers, by me)

1. What time did you get up this morning?
7:30am

2. Diamonds or pearls?
don't have a particular use for either

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

4. What is your favorite TV show?
Smallville

5. What do you usually have for breakfast?
Slimfast, on weekends, a bowl of cereal and some toast

6. What is your middle name?
Anthony

7. What food do you dislike?
eggs (just thinking about them now makes me want to wretch)

8. What is your favorite CD at the moment?
Mostly listen to podcasts and stuff but probably the Superman Returns soundtrack

9. What kind of car do you drive?
2007 Toyota Camry

10. Favorite sandwich?
ham and cheese on rye

11. What characteristic do you despise?
lying

12. Favorite item of clothing?
sleep shorts, probably

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation?
New York

14. What color is your bathroom?
grayish

15. Favorite brand of clothing?
don't have one

16. Where would you retire to?
cabin somewhere in the woods where it was cool out.

17. What was your most recent memorable birthday?
don't remember

18. Furthest place you are sending this?
not sending it

19. Favorite saying?
"Come on, now" OR "Just think it through"

20. When is your birthday?
November 20, 1977

21. Are you a morning person or a night person?
night

22. What is your shoe size?
11 and a half

23. Pets?
dog and cat

24. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share?
I don't have to go to China next week, which is nice.

25. Who did you want to be when you were little?
Fireman

26. How are you today?
Feeling good

27. What is your favorite candy?
California Starbursts

28. What is your favorite flower?
uh, no

29. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to?
October 2, 2007 (and 2008, and 2009, and 2010, and...)

30. What church do you attend?
Don't attend church

31. What was your pets name as a child?
We had two dogs, Chico and Meeko, boy and girl pekingese. They had puppies...Lefty, Right, Tattoo, Omega, and Maui (and I think another one). We gave Meeko away with the puppies and kept Chico. He died of dog cancer (I think) and I didn't have another dog for another 20+ years. We should have kept one of the puppies.

32. What are you listening to right now?
people jabbering about something

33. What was the last thing you ate?
Small piece of cheese last night while I was reading.

34. Do you wish on stars?
No

35. If you were a crayon, what colour would you be?
Brick Red

36. How is the weather right now?
Pretty damn hot.

37. Last person you spoke to on the phone?
wife, and before that, wife, and before that, my Aunt

38. Do you like the person [from whom you got this]?
I read his blog, so I guess so

39. Favorite soft drink?
Barq's Root Beer

40. Favorite restaurant?
fast food: Chick-Fil-A, sit down: Chili's

41. Hair color?
Brown.

42. Siblings?
younger sister

43. Favorite day of the year?
Thanksgiving, probably, but Christ Eve is a close second

44. What was your favorite toy as a child?
GI JOE guys

45. Summer or winter?
Winter

46. Hugs or kisses?
depends who it is

47. Chocolate or Vanilla?
Chocolate

48. When was the last time you cried?
Don't remember

49. What is under your bed?
nothing, but sometimes a cat

50. Who is the friend you have had the longest?
A number of people whom I don't really talk to anymore, like my friend Doug. After them, my sister-in-law, whom I talked to regularly.

51. What did you do last night?
watched the last few episodes of Everest: Beyond the Limit.

52. Favorite smell?
There's a mixture of cut grass and a few other things that takes me right back to where I grew up in Bartlett. It doesn't happen very often but when it does, it's immediate.

53 What are you afraid of?
something happening to my daughter

54. Plain, buttered, or salted popcorn?
buttered and salted

55. How many keys on your key ring?
2, car and house

56. How many years at your current job?
a few months over 9 years.

57. Favorite day of the week?
Saturday

58. How many towns have you lived in?
Bartlett (IL), Hanover Park (IL), Carol Stream (IL), Elk Grove (IL), Orlando (FL), Wood Dale (IL)

59. Do you make friends easily?
I don't mind meeting new people and always try to be friendly to them when I do, but sometimes I'd rather be left alone.

60. How many people will you be sending this to?
Just posting it up

Stepping out, with my baby...

Big news yesterday. The sprout has taken her first 'real' steps. Before, she'd take a step or two and then plop down. Yesterday, she took about 4 steps right in front of my wife and I. The funny thing was, she did it just as we were discussing whether or not we'd actually witness her first steps. It was amazing to see.

Also going along with the title of this post, my wife and I are going out to dinner and also to see the latest Harry Potter movie.

Kids, just sneak in.

That tears it

I'm going to come right out and say I'm fucking sick and tired of reading stories in the news about little children fucking dying.

The other day, murder suicide where 3 (I think) little children were killed and 1 survived. (thank God)

Yesterday, a story where a fired consumed 5 little kids while their babysitter was supposed to be watching them.

Today, 3 kids murdered (along with a woman, possibly their mother) in an SUV.

So, in closing, if you want to do violence to somebody, or hurt somebody, do us all a favor and just fucking kill yourself. Hopefully in a way that doesn't cost taxpayers any money.

Sorry for the language, but I'm pissed off.

Well, two out of three ain't bad

My daughter is amazing

On Monday, with my wife behind her and me up at the top, coaxing her, my daughter crawled up the stairs. I'm blown away by how much progress she has made in the last 2-3 weeks. She crawling around at top speed, pulling herself to stand against stuff around the house, and generally shooting around the house like a little monkey.

My wife is amazing

After finding a recipe online my wife has duplicated a dipping sauce that we really really really LOVED from the Japanese Steakhouse we always used to visit in Florida. She made it on Monday and we had it with chicken for dinner and it was GREAT. Fantastic job by her.

I have done nothing of importance

That much is certain.

It's a whole new ballgame.

Boy, I haven't posted in a while. At least, beyond the different question/answer stuff I post now and then. Anyways, some catching up to do.

Our little one is now scuffling around the floor and pulling herself up to stand against just about anything. It's pretty amazing to see. It seems so cliche to say that time has gone by so fast, but it does not seem so long ago that we were at the hospital begging her to eat a half an ounce so we could finally take her home. Now, she's eating Stage 2 foods and regularly draining her bottle. Last night (and this morning) I went into her room in response to her making some noises to find her standing up in her crib and clutching onto the top railing. It's simply amazing.

Work has been pretty busy. I have not been traveling as much as I used to but I have a trip on tap for June. Ottawa, Canada for a week. At least it's not over Father's Day. I'm not sure what there is to see there but if there is I'm sure we (I am going with someone from work) will see it. No baseball team though, so that's too bad.

I've found that the combination of watching Tivo and listening to my iPod in the car has totally made me intolerant of commercials. I just can't stand them. If they could find some way to target them towards things I actually use, that's fine. But the majority of them are for beer (no thanks) or insurance (already have it in multiple forms) or for other products that I have no use for. Just about the only ones I enjoy are the funny ones (a rarity) or ones advertising new products like a new dish at Olive Garden or something. There has to be a better way, because literally 95% of the ones I see are for stuff I have never and would never purchase.

I think much like a person who drives in a ton of traffic ever day becomes numbed to it, and a person who doesn't gets bothered by the slightest amount of traffic, I can't stand commercials at all because most of the time I don't have to listen to them.

On that subject, when I listen to the Cubs games on the radio commercials are unavoidable. There's a beer commercial (at least I think it might be Old Style) where a guy talks about 'local traditions' with the catchphrase "It's a local thing"...the only problem is that these commercials are so annoying AND it seems like the guy is just reading various bits of Chicago trivia off of a script. I can't stand them.

Some days I find myself getting really annoyed at the smallest thing. Maybe I'm too busy at work or not getting enough sleep. Who knows, but I'm sure it's annoying my wife and friends.

I was able to order this, which I was very happy about. Wedge is one of my favorite characters.

I've decided that instead of aiming at last year's model of LCD TV I will most likely choose this year's model, which has 3 HDMI inputs. I'll mostly likely get it from Grants and try to get a good price and financing. Timeframe is TBD because I still haven't found a nice stand for it. I think the TV will end up getting mounted to the wall. I think this will make the front room look bigger. (oh yeah, and my 30th is months away...)

After looking at the ticket stub I have for Borat (dated 11/10/2006) I discovered it's been some time since I've seen a movie. I would like to see Spider-Man 3, Fantastic Four 2, and Pirates 3 and Shrek 3 can go hang for all I care, since I can't stand Shrek. Oh yeah, and I WILL go see Transformers on or around the release date. Hello, it's the original voice of Prime!

Podcasts I listen to:

Tony Kornheiser show on Washington Post Radio
Official Lost Podcast
Battlestar Galactica Podcast
Jim Butcher.com Butcherblock Podcast
ESPN's Eye of the Sportsguy Podcast

It's time for the Happies

Happy Birthday to my nephew, who turns one today! Woo hoo!

Where do you want to go today?

Bold where you've been, italicize where you WANT to go, and name one place you want to go that is NOT on the list.


1. Times Square, New York City, NY: 35 million visitors every year
2. National Mall & Memorial Parks, Washington, D.C. (Washington Monument, Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, the war memorials): About 25 million
3. Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.: 16.6 million
4. Trafalgar Square, London, England: 15 million
5. Disneyland Park, Anaheim, Calif.: 14.7 million
6. Niagara Falls, Ontario and New York: 14 million
7. Fisherman’s Wharf/Golden Gate National Recreation Area, San Francisco, Calif.: 13 million
8. Tokyo Disneyland/DisneySea, Tokyo, Japan: 12.9 million
9. Notre Dame de Paris, Paris, France: 12 million
10. Disneyland Paris, Marne-La-Vallee, France: 10.6 million
11. The Great Wall of China, Badaling area, China: About 10 million
12. The Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Tennessee/North Carolina: 9.2 million
13. Universal Studios Japan, Osaka, Japan: 8.5 million
14. Basilique du Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre, Paris, France: 8 million
15. Musée du Louvre, Paris, France: 7.5 million
16. Everland (amusement park), Kyonggi-Do, South Korea: 7.5 million
17. The Forbidden City/Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China: At least 7 million
18. Eiffel Tower, Paris, France: 6.7 million
19. Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure at Universal Orlando, Fla: 6 million
20. SeaWorld Florida, Orlando, Fla: 5,740,000
21. Pleasure Beach (amusement park), Blackpool, England: 5.7 million
22. Lotte World (amusement park), Seoul, South Korea: 5.5 million
23. Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise, Japan: 5.4 million
24. Hong Kong Disneyland, China: 5.2 million
25. Centre Pompidou, Paris, France: 5.1 million
26. Tate Modern, London, England: 4.9 million
27. British Museum, London, England: 4.8 million
28. Universal Studios Los Angeles, Calif.: 4.7 million
29. National Gallery, London, England: 4.6 million
30. Metropolitan Museum, New York, NY: 4.5 million
31. Grand Canyon, Ariz.: 4.4 million
32. Tivoli Gardens (amusement park), Copenhagen, Denmark: 4.4 million
33. Ocean Park (amusement park), Hong Kong, China: 4.38 million
34. Busch Gardens (amusement park), Tampa Bay, Fla.: 4.36 million
35. SeaWorld California, San Diego, Calif.: 4.26 million
36. Statue of Liberty, New York, NY: 4.24 million
37. The Vatican and its museums, Rome, Italy: 4.2 million
38. Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia: More than 4 million
39. The Coliseum, Rome, Italy: 4 million
40. American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY: 4 million
41. Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Hollywood, Calif.: 4 million
42. Empire State Building, New York, NY: 4 million
43. Natural History Museum, London, England: 3.7 million
44. The London Eye, London, England: 3.5 million
45. Palace of Versailles, France: 3.45 million
46. Yosemite National Park, Calif.: 3.44 million
47. Pyramids of Giza, Egypt: 3 million
48. Pompeii, Italy: 2.5 million
49. Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia: 2.5 million
50. Taj Mahal, Agra, India: 2.4 million

I'm talking here

What American accent do you have?
Created by Xavier on Memegen.net

Northern. Whether you have the world famous Inland North accent of the Great Lakes area, or the radio-friendly sound of upstate NY and western New England, your accent is what used to set the standard for American English pronunciation (not much anymore now that the Inland North sounds like it does).

Take this quiz now - it's easy!

We're going to start with "cot" and "caught." When you say those words do they sound the same or different?

Same, no wait I mean different, maybe, a little bit different... Different Same

Time has flown...

Was putzing around on amazon. Just noticed that my first purchase was in December of 1997. I sent a gift-wrapped hardcover copy of 'Chicken Soup for the Soul' to the woman who is now my wife.

If I remember correctly, it wasn't the normal book, but a tiny coffee-house version of it. Oops.

Well, the relationship between amazon and I has gotten better since.

Me-ology

TECHNOLOGY

Q. Number of contacts in your cell phone?
A. 70

Q. Number of contacts in your email address book?
A. Not going to count them. Tons.

Q. What is your wallpaper on your computer?
A. A picture of the Orion Crew Vehicle from here.

Q. How many televisions are in your house?
A. 3

BIOLOGY

Q. Are you right-handed or left-handed?
A. Right

Q. Do you like your smile?
A. No. My showing teeth smile is TERRIBLE. Just terrible.

Q. What's your best feature?
A. Height. Not too tall or too short.

Q. Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
A. No.

Q. Which of your five senses do you think is keenest?
A. I think my hearing is pretty good, when I'm awake.

Q. When was the last time you had a cavity?
A. Never.

Q. What is the heaviest item you lifted last?
A. Probably our TV, which weighs 200lbs.

Q. Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
A. No.

MOUTHOLOGY

Q. What is your salad dressing of choice?
A. Ranch.

Q. What is your favorite fast food restaurant?
A. McDonald's.

Q. What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
A. Olive Garden, probably.

Q. On average, what size tip do you leave at a restaurant?
A. start at 15% and scale accordingly...which almost always makes it 20%.

Q. What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick off of?
A. Tacos.

Q. What are your pizza toppings of choice?
A. Pepperoni, or bacon.

Q. What do you like to put on your toast?
A. Butter

Q. What is your favorite type of gum?
A. Hubba Bubba or Bubba-licious. (do they still have those?)

PERSONOLOGY

Q. If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
A. Probably not.

Q. Is love for real?
A. Yes.

Q. If you could change your first name, what would you change it to?
A. I would rather change my middle name to John.

Q. What color do you think looks best on you?
A. Blue or Green.

Q. Have you ever swallowed a non-food item by mistake?
A. Yes, a contact.

Q. Have you ever saved someone's life?
A. Not as far as I know. I did find somebody's dog running loose yesterday and I suppose it could have gotten away forever if I hadn't done anything.

Q. Has someone ever saved yours?
A. No, but I have almost been killed.

DAREOLOGY

Q. Would you walk naked for a half mile down a public street for $100,000?
A. No.

Q. Would you kiss a member of the same sex for $100?
A. No.

Q. Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for $200,000?
A. No.

Q. Would you never blog again for $50,000?
A. Sure. (I forget to all the time for free)

Q. Would you pose naked in a magazine for $250,000?
A. No.

Q. Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000?
A. Yes.

Q. Would you, without fear of punishment, take a human life for $1,000,000?
A. No.

Q. Would you give up watching television for a year for $25,000?
A. No. Think of what I would miss?

DUMBOLOGY

Q: What is in your left pocket?
A: Money clip holding $81.

Q: Is Napoleon Dynamite actually a good movie?
A: No, it's actually a horrible movie.

Q: Do you have hardwood or carpet in your house?
A: Both, and I hate the wood. HATE IT!

Q: Do you sit or stand in the shower?
A: Stand. Not sure why I would sit.

Q: Could you live with roommates?
A: Yes. I lived with my (now) BIL while in college, and that was fine.

Q: How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
A: Two, but they're more like rubber sandals.

Q: Where were you born?
A. Lutheran General.

Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?
A: Various things at various times. Fireman, Policeman...

Q: Who is number 1 on your top 8?
A: No clue what that means.

ULTIMOLOGY

Q: Last friend you talked to?
A: In person, Aimee. (not work people)

Q: Last time you had a run-in with the cops?
A: I got a ticket Feb 26/27, 2006.

Q: Last person you called?
A: Court

Q: Last person you hugged?
A: Court

Q: Last movie you saw?
A: Talladega Nights, which is really a travesty so I should watch something else soon.

FAVORITOLOGY

Q: Number?
A: 847/957 (numbers I use whenever I'm exaggerating something)

Q: Color?
A: Blue.

Q: Season?
A: Winter

CURRENTOLOGY

Q: Missing someone?
A: My sunglasses are somewhere in Cathedral City, California. (I've gotten a replacement pair though)

Q: Mood?
A: Tired

Q: Listening to?
A: Other people walking

Q: Watching?
A: Nothing

Q: Worrying about?
A: Nothing in particular.

RANDOMOLOGY

Q: First place you went this morning?
A: downstairs to let Hooper out.

Q: What can you not wait to do?
A: Watch Lost tonight

Q: Do you smile often?
A: smirk, maybe.

Q: Are you a friendly person?
A: yeah, but sometimes I'm faking.

Q: Now that the survey's done what are you going to do?
A: work

The cat is under the house...

Long-time readers may remember the first name of this blog. This post title is an homage...

The weekend before this last, I installed some in-ceiling speakers in our house. This mean not only drilling two holes in the ceiling, but drilling a hole from the crawlspace close downstairs to the bottom of the attic upstairs. Doing it this way went you wouldn't see the wires at all...unless you were in the crawlspace. Long story short, with the help of my wife it worked out nicely. (and I didn't even have to go into the attic)

While I was in the crawlspace guiding the speaker wire, our cat got into the crawlspace. I would normally be content to leave him there (forever), but I didn't want him to go to the bathroom down there and both A - make it smell bad down there, and B - have me stumble into it accidentally 6 months from now.

He's all about exploring new spaces, so of course he went into every nook and cranny of the damn thing. The tons of tubs down there made it a whole bunch of fun getting him out. I eventually chased him out and exhibited a TON of restraint by not beating him to death.

Rich (optimistic)

Bleed Cubbie Blue :: A Chicago Cubs Fan Community, Founded February 9, 2005: "# Bud Selig dropped by the WGN radio booth and hinted that something might be done about Ron Santo's Hall of Fame status. Yes, voting has already occurred -- but the Hall, being a private institution, can modify its rules at any time. If the Board of Directors of the Hall wants to disband the Veterans Committee and induct Ron Santo this year, they are free to do so."

It's Happy Time

Happy Birthday to my sister, who is 25 today.

Have a great one!

This post brought to you by the letters A, C, and the number 5.

A

...for the Hostess Apple Pie I ate today. Since they've put them in the vending machines here about 6 months ago, I think I've had 6, which would match the amount I'd eaten from 1995-2005 probably.

C

...is for my car, which I got washed the other day and looks clean for the first time in months. It's also for cellphones, which I observed 4 drivers in a row talking on while I was driving home the other day.

5

...is the number of times my daughter has slept through the night, including back to back nights Monday and Tuesday. Woo hoo!

snow-fair

After buying the snowblower the day before BlizzardDay 2006 in December, I've used it about a half a dozen times. 3 times in 3 days a week or so ago, actually. Let me tell you, it's really fun trying to snowblow your driveway when the wind is creating a mini-tornado between your house, your neighbor's house, and your garage. I think the snow blasted me right in the face 4-5 times. See, a smarter person would have STOPPED at that point. But there you go.

Of course, yesterday it got around 45F so the snow began melting...and melt it did. There's some left but the roof is totally bare and I actually got my car washed last night...the first time it had been washed in months. Look for a rainstorm to follow.

All about me...

1. How old will you be in five years?
34

2. What month is your birthday?
November

3. How tall are you?
5'11"

4. What do you look forward to most in the next six weeks?
my daughter being another month older and doing something amazing.

5. Whats the last movie you saw ?
Borat

6. Who is the last person you called?
Court

7. Who was the last person to call you?
Van

8. What was the last text message you received?
Shell, telling me she deleted her LJ.

9. Do you prefer call or text?
text, text, a thousand times text

10. Do you have any pets?
Two: cat and dog

11. What were you doing at 2am last night?
Making a bottle, letting dog out, and seeing that it snowed

12. Are your parents married/separated/divorced?
Divorced

13. When is the last time you saw your mom?
Last Monday I think

14. What color are your eyes?
Brown

15. What time did you wake up today?
7am

16. What are you wearing right now?
jeans, maroon sweater/sweatshirt, brown shoes

17. What's your favorite Christmas song?
Not sure

18. Where is your favorite place to be?
Home

19. Where is your least favorite place to be?
traveling for work

20. Where would you go if you could go anywhere?
drive around on vacation with family

21. Where do you think you'll be in 10 yrs?
Probably in the same house, maybe promoted in my current job

22. Do you tan or burn?
tan, sometimes, burn, sometimes

23. As a child, what did you fear was going to get you at night?
was never really afraid of anything like that.

24. What was the last thing that made you laugh?
for crying laughing, the story my BIL told me about his Dad doing something funny while in Poland.

25. How many TVs do you have in your house?
2, and 1 we don't even really watch.

26. Who do you miss most?
I wish I had known my Grandpa Rich. I also miss my friends from college.

27. Do you have a laptop or desktop PC??
Both

28. Do you sleep with or without clothing??
With, yikes, what if there's a fire?

29. What color are your sheets?
No clue, today.

30. How many pillows do you sleep with?
Two. head on one, clutching one.

31. What is your favorite season?
Winter

32. What do you like about fall?
It starts being cold and breezy, and I like that.

34. What do you like about the summer?
Baseball games.

36. How many states have you lived in?
Two - IL and FL

37. How many cities/towns have you lived in?
7 (time to not move for a while)

38. Do you prefer shoes, socks, or bare feet?
shoes

39. Are you a social person?
yes, but in single-serving increments. (Fight Club)

40. What was the last thing you ate?
Hot chocolate

41. What is your favorite restaurant?
Probably Canada at Epcot or Olive Garden

42. Favorite ice cream?
Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby.

43. What is your favorite dessert?
See #42.

44. What is your favorite kind of soup?
Hot, plain, tomato soup

45. What kind of jelly do you like on your PB and J??
Don't like jelly.

46. Do you like Chinese food?
No.

47. Do you like coffee?
No.

48. How many glasses of water, a day, do you drink on average?
3-4.

49. What do you drink in the morning?
Slim-fast.

50. Would you rather sleep with someone else or alone?
sleeping is sleeping.

51. Do you sleep on a certain side of the bed?
Usually, but somebody tries to steal my spot.

52. Do you know how to play poker?
For fun, yes. With any skill, no.

53. Do you like to cuddle?
No.

54. Have you ever been to Canada?
Yes.

55. Do you have an addictive personality?
Yes.

56. Do you eat out or at home more often?
Nowadays, at home.

58. Do you know anyone with the same birthday as you?
In my life, no. Bobby Kennedy had my same BD though.

59. Do you want kids?
Have one. :)

60. Do you know any other languages?
No.

61. Have you ever gotten stitches?
No, but I probably should have while I was in college. I cut my arm deeply and it still hurts sometimes when I move in a certain way.

62. Have you ever ridden in an ambulance?
Ridden, no, but I sat in one after a bicycle accident 10+ years ago.

63. Do you prefer an ocean or a pool?
Neither, don't like communal water. (Monk, hello)

64. Do you prefer a window seat or an aisle seats?
Window, so I can fall asleep against the plane wall.

65. Do you know how to drive stick?
No.

66. What is your favorite thing to spend money on?
computer stuff, TV/video stuff...

67. Do you wear any jewelry 24/7?
Just my wedding ring.

68. What is your favorite TV show?
Smallville

69. Can you roll your tongue?
No.

71. Do you sleep with stuffed animals?
No.

72. What is the main ring tone on your phone?
RHCP - Hey Oh

73. Do you still have clothes from when you were little?
Somewhere

75. Do you turn off the water while you brush your teeth?
Yes.

76. Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed?
Closed, I think.

77. Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of bees?
bees, I could probably outrun them.

78. Do you flirt a lot?
Not particularly

79. What do you dip a chicken nugget in?
ranch

80. What is your favorite food?
Italian.

81. Can you change the oil on a car?
pssht, no.

82. Have you ever gotten a speeding ticket?
heh, yes.

83. Have you ever run out of gas?
yes, once I did in my big blue car.

84. What is your usual bedtime?
before baby, anywhere between 12am-2am. Now, 11pm-12am.

86. Do you read the newspaper?
online, yes.

87. Do you have any magazine subscriptions?
Consumer Reports.

88. Best comedian?
None in particular. I think Seinfeld is funny.

89. Do you watch soap operas?
no.

90. Do you dance in the car?
I don't dance in the anything.

Ok, this made me laugh out loud

ESPN.com: Page 2: "Anyway, Mary J. Blige wins for 'The Breakthrough' and thanks Jesus Christ AND God. Let's hope they're watching together."

batting .333

Of the three things I wanted to accomplish during lunch, I only was able to get one of them done successfully. You'll not notice eating among any of that, unfortunately.

• pick up CableCards from Comcast - local office does not issue CableCards, even though they said they did when I called the other day. This does not bode well. Installer coming next Friday morning.


• get 802.11g bridge working to Tivo for internet connectivity - not working from some reason. If I had more time to work at it I'm sure I could have figured it out. Tivo-branded wireless adapter is coming today via amazon but I'd rather get it working using stuff I already have so I can return the adapter.


• get new Tivo remote working for both Tivo's...but not at the same time! - The new Tivo remote has a switch to go between 2 DVR's. Now, '1' is the DirecTivo and '2' is the Series3. This way, we don't have to cover the IR detector of one while using the other...since one Tivo remote will work for all Tivo's by default. This I actually figured out and saved me from going oh-fer for the day.

HD-We

In what is an early 30th birthday present for me, the Series3 HD Tivo arrived yesterday. It's great. Setup was a breeze. I had ordered a DVI--->HDMI cable from amazon since the Sony 32" has a DVI input and the Tivo is HDMI-out. Cable worked fine. HDMI carries both audio and video but since the Denon receiver I have doesn't have HDMI (see my future receiver here...) I just used an optical cable to handle the audio.

When a local radio shack closed I picked up an antenna for over the air HD broadcasts. I hooked it up to the Series3 and picked up HD signals. Stunning. They look great on the Sony. The weird thing is, I can't pick up WBBM (CBS) but I guess that is normal since they kinda got shafted by the FCC and got something of a crummy channel. What's funny is that for broadcast television CBS has always come in crummy in the Chicago area. ABC, FOX, NBC, WTTW, and a bunch of other stations come in flawlessly though...and it's free over-the-air TV. Fantastic!

Today I'm going to go to the comcast office to pick up 2 CableCards, which are credit card-sized devices which allow you to receive digital cable without a cablebox. These will be put into the Series3 to allow us to pick up HD Cable channels and other digital channels such as Sci-Fi and others. There have been some issues with other people getting the Cards and getting them to work, but we'll see what happens.

Arriving today (I believe) are the in-ceiling speakers I ordered. These will serve as our surround speakers. In FL, we had Sony bookshelf speakers on speaker stands that were on either side of our couch. In our new home this wouldn't really work out, so I decided to go the ceiling route. It will take some work (and crawling around in both the crawlspace and the attic) but when it's done it will look sharp and work great.

And like I said, the Sony looks great, but I can't help feeling that this on this is on the horizon eventually...

Eating with Elvis...

No, this post is not to focus on the baby-weight that I still haven't lost. It's about bagels. Specifically, peanut butter and banana crunch bagels from Panera Bread.

See, my wife had to go for physical therapy a few times on Saturday mornings. On her way home, she'd pick up bagels for breakfast. The first few times I got a plain, but once she told me they had peanut butter and banana bagels, I had to have one.

I've always been a fan of peanut butter and banana sandwiches...despite some people thinking they are gross. I love them. They're fantastic. The two tastes go together so well. I understand Elvis used to like them too...though he fried them and I would never do that.

Anyways, I had my first one this past Saturday. It was so great I went out Sunday morning and got another even though it was snowing and colder than hell, and I hadn't even showered yet.

I'd like to think they are around for good, but that's doubtful. I'm sure they'll disappear...even though Panera still carries the Smokehouse turkey sandwich (one of the few restaurant sandwiches I can order 'as is' and not have anything removed) and I always thought that'd be gone too.

Well, if it does go, I guess I can just order some kind of banana bagel and just put peanut butter on it.

The State of this Union...

State of the Union: Your reaction to president's speech - CNN.com: "Carmeletta Hepburn of Lakeview, Arkansas
Bush sounds good, but almost everyone knows that it is just a bunch of hype. He did not say 'I resign,' which is all I wanted to hear from him."

Sorry, but that's funny as hell.

Might be worth a read...

ESPN.com - NFL/PLAYOFFS06 - Smith: Judge Smith, Dungy by character, not color: "It's character, not color, that separates Smith, Dungy"

I thought this was a good article that made some interesting points. Enjoy!

A nice alternative to BS...

Shows - Veronica Mars

If you don't particularly want to listen to the President blather on tonight, I'd suggest you watch Veronica Mars instead. Of the networks, it's the only show on opposite the State of the Union. (and isn't watching that just too depressing these days?)

So that's what that is...

ESPN.com: Page 2 : The skinny on new NHL uniforms: "Lots of readers have been inquiring about that little nub that appeared on Lovie Smith's jacket the past two Sundays. The short answer is that it's a pump; "

I had seen him wearing that jacket a few weeks ago and I liked it. I've been wondering what that valve thing was on it though...

Pardon the Prognostication...

Today's topics for PTI...

• Peyton Manning getting to the Super Bowl
  
• Bears getting to the Super Bowl
  
• Parcells retiring
  
• Mike Vick - no marijuana found in his bottle
  

In that order. Print it!

Hell Frozen Over - I agree with Mariotti

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Jay Mariotti :: Ditka doesn't matter -- it's all about Rex: "Who really cares if Ditka, paid by ESPN to maintain a neutral outlook, isn't confessing whether he's rooting for the Bears or the last team he coached, the New Orleans Saints? "

I'm not to sure why everyone is caring what Ditka thinks. Sure, he coached the 85 Bears to a Super Bowl victory, but he's gone on and done other things.

Much like I do with Captain Kirk and William Shatner, I try to separate the character of "Da Coach" of yore from the way the guy acts today.

Storm leaves 55 dead, thousands shivering - CNN.com

It was colder than hell this morning.

Thank God I bought those wrap-around ear covers last summer.

Two Bits of Good News

1 - Tony Kornheiser may be coming back on the radio in February.

2 - A SciFi Channel executive has stated he'd be pretty shocked if Battlestar Galactica was not renewed for a 4th season.

and death is not an option

By popular demand

Wednesday:

Breakfast: Slimfast
Snack: a small bag of animal crackers
Lunch: Slimfast
Snack: a few goldfish crackers
Dinner: Barnaby's pizza

Coming Soon: Thursday!

What's in a Meal?

Just for the hell of it, I've thought about writing down everything I eat all day. Sounds interesting, doesn't it?

Anyways, for yesterday:

Breakfast: Slimfast
Snack: a few lifesavers
Lunch: Slimfast
Snack: a dozen goldfish crackers
Dinner: 2 hard tacos (no lettuce), chili-cheese burrito, side nacho from Taco Bell

Gator-ain't

The new Gatorade machine at work (glass front, bottle retrieved by a mechanical arm) contains no, none, zero, Gatorade. It is filled with Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, and Mountain Dew despite the large Gatorade signage on both sides.

Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out

TV shows I watch, and when they return...

The Office (NBC) Jan. 4

Apprentice (NBC) Jan. 7

Rob & Amber Against The Odds (Fox Reality) Jan. 11 (I think I might watch this)

Smallville (The CW) Jan. 11

Monk (USA) Jan. 19

Psych (USA) Jan. 19

Battlestar Galactica (SciFi) Jan. 21

Dresden Files (SciFi) Jan. 21 (new show I will watch)

Heroes (NBC) Jan. 22

Studio 60 (NBC) Jan. 22

Veronica Mars (CW) Jan. 23

Sarah Silverman (Comedy Central) Feb. 1 (I think I may watch this)

Lost (ABC) Feb. 7

Jericho (CBS) Feb. 21

Won't Get Fooled Again

Saddam Hussein - Dead

Saddam Hussein was executed today.

It's certainly been a long road from way back when I was in Junior High (actually acting in a play that particular night) when Desert Shield became Desert Storm and the First Gulf War began.

I won't pretend to know what this will do to the region. I only hope it doesn't cause further violence. I think there's enough violence in Iraq already.

Terminal Case

I'm realizing that I left off the last day of my trip, the day where I (thankfully) returned home.

Our flight was supposed to leave at noon local time. That would get us home around 6pm Central time. Not too bad and only a little later than I'd get home had I worked a regular day on Thursday.

We left for the airport around 9:30am, since my colleague wanted to get there a little early and do some work. I figured, 'why not', since I had a few books and my iPod. Plus, we would be sitting in the AA Admiral's Club (since he's a member) and they'd have food and drinks there and stuff.

Getting through security was no problem (even with two laptops each) and we headed to the club. We relaxed for a couple hours and then WHAMMO...our flight's departure time was changed to 2:15pm. It stunk, but there's nothing you can do, right?

around 1:45pm, we headed down to the gate...and here comes Round 2. The woman announces that the flight to Chicago that was to take off after ours (originally at 2:15pm, coincidentally) has been canceled. This does not do much for the holiday cheer of those around us. Also, our flight will now *board* at 3:45pm. I say *board* because we will not actually be leaving to fly anywhere. We'll just park somewhere out there because they need to clear the gate. Basically, they need to get rid of us. She said we'd probably leave at 5pm, but she couldn't promise anything. That's always nice.

We go back to the club. There, we hear about a guy whose flight was canceled and he would not be able to get out until that Sunday...Christmas Eve. Yikes.

We did actually board at 3:45pm. And we did actually leave at 5pm. Our seats were in First so even though we sat there without going anywhere for a while at least they were nice chairs. Also, they played the movie "Invincible" which I wanted to see, so that was nice.

When we got there, we headed to our baggage claim and waited and waited. Our flight was up on the monitor for this claim, but it was another flight's baggage. I told my colleague that I was going to look at the other claims and see if our bags were anywhere else. After walking down 4-5 vestibules I found them and called him. After I got my bags I walked past our original claim and told everybody where our flight's bags actually were and people were pissed at the airline big time.

Anyway, I'm just glad we got home Thursday, and safely.

Another thing to agree on

This guy is talented, and Natalie Imbruglia is a great sport.

Can we all just agree on this one thing?

Do we really need instructions for leaving voicemails for people? I swear, when I call somebody and have to leave a message not only do I get a 'leave a message at the beep' from the person, but I get an automated voice "press #, blaa blaa" telling me to do the same thing. 90% of the time these automated messages are longer than the actual person's "I'm not here" message, and 100% of the time they're longer than the message I intend to leave.

RIP

Former President Gerald Ford died today at age 93.

RIP

(story)

Merry Christmas!

Have a great holiday.

The Light at the End

We checked out of the hotel this morning. We have reservations at another one that's a lot closer to the airport for tonight. Originally I had thought we would be onsite tomorrow as well, but as I looked at the itinerary I saw that we were leaving at noon so going into the office was out.

We get back home tomorrow around 6pm. A Monday--->Thursday night trip, so that's not too bad. At least our flight home is in first.

Also, we passed a Chick-Fil-A between the John Wayne airport and the office. Maybe we'll stop there to eat dinner on our way back.

Me Gone

I somehow lost my sunglasses today. I'm not sure where. They were my good pair too, damn it. The hotel took my info so if they ever find them (yeah right) they'll send them to me.

IF somebody found them and kept them for themselves, Merry Christmas I suppose.

We went to a local mexican place for lunch. I had tacos and they were pretty good. At this place they put the cheese in first, and then the meat, which I thought was odd.

We went to a sportsbar for dinner. NIU was playing in a bowl game and getting their ass kicked but we got to see the end of the Bulls/Lakers game and the Bulls won.

For Fantasy Football, even though I'm out of the money (and have been for a few weeks) I'm in the playoffs (consolation bracket) and will play this weekend for 5th place. Not *too* bad in a 10 team league, especially since I haven't been able to spend as much time with it as I'd like...mostly I just add free agents who are better than my guys and start yahoo's recommended roster. I just haven't had the time to research guys like I normally might.

In the other yahoo league I'm in (where I'm the commish) I've gotten my ass kicked all year and I'm in last place by far...even worse than a guy who doesn't even check his team I'm sure.

Oh well.

Being away stinks. I miss my family. I'll be happy to be back home...and then Christmas will be right around the corner.

Away Message

I have been lucky enough over the last 6+ months to have not had to travel for work.
That ended this week, unfortunately. Leaving home and my wife and daughter stinks.

I'm not sure if it is easier leaving a baby than it is leaving a child who's a little older. I suppose an older kid can understand and talk to you about it and stuff, whereas with a newborn, who knows what they are thinking, if anything about it at all. I know I miss her a lot. I'm sure I'll have to travel again. Who knows when. I'll try to make it the bare minimum I can. If it wasn't for the busy weekend we just had and the weather at home, I would have taken them both with me here. Maybe the next trip will be to somewhere where we can take a little vacation.

One saving grace was that the destination wasn't too bad a place...Palm Springs, CA.

The flight wasn't too bad. I started the new Michael Crichton book "Next" at the airport and read the whole flight. I think I might have tried to close my eyes for about 10 minutes but that didn't do any good. Even though I got up early (for me) and Sunday was a late night, it didn't matter. The book was good though. I actually had about 20 pages left by the time I went to bed in the hotel, so I just finished it.

We landed at the John Wayne airport. They even have a statue of him down there by baggage.

Because the location we're visiting is kinda the middle of nowhere, the hotel was about 2 hours away from the airport. We didn't fly into the Palm Springs airport
for some reason...either itinerary or price, I don't remember which. Anyways, we rented a car and drove there.

The hotel is nice. It kinda reminds me of the hotel in "The Shining" because it's so empty. It's a golf resort and I guess most peopel think it is too cold to golf here now. I don't think it's too bad...though it gets pretty cold (maybe ~40F) at night. There are mountains all around us. IT's weird...growing up in the midwest and spending most of my life there, I always think the mountains look fake somehow.

Puttin' on the Ritz

Peter Boyle died today.

I thought he was great as Raymond's father on Everybody Loves Raymond, but I first saw him in Young Frankenstein.

He was a great comedian. He'll be missed. RIP

Ravensoft Elite Force General Board

Raven Software is closing its forums.

A board has been setup here for those of us who want to stay in touch.

Not sure on when the official board will be shut down, or how long it will be shut down for.

This could be a bad sign

The previously owners of our home had satellite internet. Because of that, they had an antenna on the roof which was attached to a tripod. They removed the antenna when they left, but the tripod was attached to the roof and I told them they could leave it. I figured we could put a flag up there or something, but I didn't do anything about it for months.

A month or so ago, I bought a Bears flag and attached it to the tripod. I didn't do a very good job of attaching it but I figured I'd get back up there later and really make sure it was secure. Cold weather and snow came shortly after and I didn't do anything about it.

The other day, I noticed a weird formation of ice coming over the gutter in above our front door. I broke some of it away, and I noticed a part of my Bears flag was underneath it all.

Yes, the Bears flag is now in the gutter. The snow is melting today, so I'll retrieve it--but this does not bode well for this season.

And yes, I'm the same guy who attached his Bears windsock to the Santa Fe for the drive up here. The wind tore it to ribbons.

If I was a show, I wouldn't even watch me.

3 Episodes ( 53 Costs, 36 Reception, and 46 Cult Appeal )

Everything seemed to go wrong with you. You had high hopes and high expectations, and you poured the money into making sure it happened. But something along the way went wrong. People just didn't tune in. And because you tried to go for the bigger mainstream audience, you didn't inject enough innovative material to make the experts take notice. An failure in every sense of the word, FOX lets you go after a meager three episodes.

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 99% on Costs You scored higher than 99% on Reception You scored higher than 99% on Cult Appeal

Link: The When Will FOX Cancel You? Test written by hashtable on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

The Undiscovered Country

I just read that yesterday was the 15th anniversary of the opening of the movie Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. It's the first Trek film I can remember going to see. I saw it in a theater in Naperville with my Uncle. It sure doesn't feel like 15 years ago. Yikes.

What did I do in 2006?

What have you done in 2006?
With 2006 coming to an end, have you...

1. had any relationships this year?

yeap, with my wife.

2. had your birthday yet?

Yes

3. cried yet?

I don't think so. I was upset when I thought my daughter might be in danger before the c-section, but I don't think I cried.

4. cheated on someone?

No

5. been to a live play?

No

6. drunk Starbucks?

I'm trying to think if I've had a caramel apple cider since we moved back. I don't think so.

7. gone camping?

No, but it would have been nice.

8. bought something?

Sure

9. met someone special?

yes, my daughter. :)

10. been out of state?

State, Country, Hemisphere

11. gone snowboarding?

No, but it would be neat.

12. What are you thinking about?

my upcoming trip

13. hugged someone?

Yes

14. slept in someone else's bed?

Plenty of hotel beds

15. drunk any alcohol?

Yes

16. loaned out money?

Not more than $5-$10 over the course of a day or two.

17. gotten in a car accident?

No, but I got a ticket in February.

18. gone over your cell phone bill?

I don't get billed for my phone, but my wife has gone over hers.

19. been called a whore?

heh, I don't think so.

20. done something you regret?

yeah, today's lunch at portillo's. I should have had a salad or pasta.

Not going anywhere for a while?

I've noticed that everybody's favorite candy bar seems to be Snickers. Given a bag of candy with lots of choices, most people grab the Snickers.

Personally, Snickers has been eclipsed by Take5 as my favorite candy bar.

Time for a Good Cry

The Thanksgiving Edition of this literally had me in tears on the way into work. I'm talking laughing so hard with so many tears that I was afraid of getting into an accident.

Check it out, if you have time. The previous three seasons of the podcast are available on itunes.

Baby-fresh Scent

Part of the Process

Well, yesterday was election day. After days and days of signs, calls, and commercials, it all came down to one day. Long story short, in the race I really cared about, my candidate (Tammy Duckworth) lost. However, for Peter Roskam it was a pyrrhic victory due to the fact the the Republicans have lost control of the House of Representatives, and seem poised to lose the Senate as well. (some races still undecided)

I feel this election was a referendum on the Iraq War, which seems to be more of a boondoggle with every passing day, and President Bush, who is as unpopular as ever. I'm just glad that the family member who was over there has returned safely. Hopefully he doesn't have to go back to that shit as Iraq seem to be turning into Vietnam II where this Congress (or the next President) will pull us out of there.

For Governor, I voted for Judy Baar Topinka, who also lost. I did not particularly support her but as I feel the incumbent (don't feel like googling to make sure I spell his name correctly) is somewhat corrupt and a crazy spender, I voted Republican. The Green party candidate was pro-concealed carrying of weapons so he was a no-go for me.

Personally, I am something of a social liberal (gay marriage: ok, stem cells: ok, abortion: ok but rather not) and a fiscal conservative...which is kinda funny because I don't pay attention to what I spend and have no clue what we have or don't have in the bank. Thank God for my wife.

Name Game

When you google my daughter's full name, you don't get any results. (until she cures cancer, that is)

In any case, it's a far cry from the mess that comes up when you google *my* full name.

Question of the day

What good is using a "handsfree" bluetooth earpiece while driving if you are using one hand to drive and the other to gesticulate while you talk on the phone?

baby dazed

Picture time...



More later.

Cuz tonight's the night the world begins again...

Very long story short...

7lbs, 2oz, 20 inches long, and cute as a button.

More later...like when I've eaten and slept.

So instead, the cutter gets death by a thousand cuts...

CNN.com - Bush: Democrats the 'party of cut-and-run' - Sep 28, 2006: "President Bush counterpunched at Democrats on Thursday, saying their criticism of the war in Iraq has turned their party into one of 'cut-and-run' obstructionists."

I'll never understand this way of thinking. First of all, I'm pretty much against labelling an entire party in any way. Secondly, why does it become all about 'cut and run' if you're simply wondering about specific goals and timeframes? If we just stay there while little insurgent attacks keep happening against our troops until enough is enough and *everybody* thinks we should leave, isn't that just 'death by a thousand cuts'?

September Showers

We had our baby shower this past Sunday. It was at the same place as our wedding shower. When we got there the room was hot so I went back home and got a fan so Court wouldn't be too warm. Unfortunately, the fact that I wore a Bears jersey under my shirt made me constantly sweat the whole day. Oh well, at least they won.

We got a ton of stuff. Today we'll be going to get our baby furniture. Amazon points, baby!

The shower was nice. The whole thing is really not my deal. I'm uncomfortable with being (near to, anyways, since Court is the real center) the center of attention with these types of things. Add in all the baby stuff on top of that. I wonder why we need so many of these baby outfits considering sometimes it seems we do laundry so often I wear the same 3 pairs of socks every week. There seems to be some type of device for every baby scenario, and I'm sure the stuff we have barely scratches the surface. It's amazing.

I got to see my Godson, which was nice. Pretty soon there will be a lot of babies/children around with our kid, my Nephew, and my Godson. I've said before that I am not much good around babies since it seems they are just really fragile and holding one is just an excercise in making sure you don't drop it. I can't wait for them to get older.

My BIL tells me that once our baby comes I'll really start to understand it all. I'm sure he's right but I can't stop thinking about what my Dad thought/felt when it came to me (and my sister) and how things ended up working out as they have. I already know I've done things I can't imagine my Dad would ever do (registering for a baby shower, I don't think so) but what's that mean, really? The true test is being a real *team* with your wife (or husband) and facing things together...a case where my dad (seemingly) made things worse rather than better.

I find myself looking forward to our kid really coming into his/her own rather than just being something that's passed around like the most fragile thing ever.

The day has arrived

huzzah!

So very ready for some football

Being a Cub fan, I've only been ready for the first Bears game of the year for about 4 months. Being that they tore the hell out of Fav-ray and the Packers, the wait was worth it. It's my first full-year back in IL so my BIL came by and (in what will become a back and forth tradition) he came over and we watched the game. My SIL and MIL came by with my nephew (who has gotten a lot bigger this past week, I swear) and then the girls left to go shoppig or whatever. We ate a bunch of junk and watch Rex the Beast and the Bears D destroy Green Bay.

It'd be sad to watch Favre these days, if he hadn't spent so much time kicking our asses. He should never have come back. For the first time ever he was looking like he didn't even care. He sucks.

Our Five-Year Mission

My thoughts and remembrances of 9/11 have been stated here before, so I'll save the recanting of it all here. I find that five years has passed pretty quickly. In that time, we have invaded Afghanistan and Iraq and in my opinion squandered some of the international goodwill that was felt for us in the aftermath of the events of 9/11/2001.

Though the jury is still out on Iraq, it seems to be a quagmire of sorts. For Afghanistan (and the destruction of the Government which support Al-Qaeda) it would seem that we were successful. I am not sure whether the absence of any sort of 9/11-type attack against this country since then is proof of the righteousness of our actions or simply coincidental.

but was I ever?

I must not be net hip anymore, because I have no clue why somebody I don't even know wants to add me as a myspace friend.

Movie ticket stubs currently in my wallet

• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest


• Clerks 2


• Superman Returns (IMAX)


• Superman Returns (opening night in TX)

priming the pump

We had a nice weekend. My BIL and SIL are moving to Bloomingdale from Naperville, so we are happy about that. It's a lot closer to us (probably 20 minutes closer) and this way we'll see them more often.

Court spent yesterday watching their baby son (our nephew) while the rest of us shuttled a few things to the new house. I think it was good for Court as we are not too far away ourselves from having a little one around. Personally, I am not much of a baby-holder but I think they are amazing. I think this little chair they have now (Braiden has one too, and we registered for one) is the neatest thing beacuse the baby just kind of sits in it (once he can hold his head up) and looks like a little person with his chair.

I'm exited about our little one, but I will be very happy when he (or she) hits 4 or 5 or so and starts running around like a maniac. I've told Court many times that I'll take over the reigns at that point. :)

His beard has a beard

Depending on what we are doing I usually don't shave on weekends...or at least on Saturday. Sometimes on a Friday (if it doesn't look too bad) I won't shave...I guess because it's 'casual day'. I didn't shave this past Friday. This past weekend I'd planned on seeing family on Sunday so I was going to shave. Problem was, I didn't feel well so this fell through. On Monday I worked from home so I didn't shave. Consequently, on Tuesday morning I pretty much looked like a homeless man.

Yes, this is a strange post, but it's all I have time for now.

Proud to be...

You Are 73% American

Most times you are proud to be an American. Though sometimes the good ole US of A makes you cringe Still, you know there's no place better suited to be your home. You love your freedom and no one's going to take it away from you!

How American Are You?

ESPN.com: Page 2 : A Sports Guy can dream ...

ESPN.com: Page 2 : A Sports Guy can dream ...: "My bosses won't allow me to say which six announcers I would deport to Eastern Europe, but here are their initials jumbled together backwards: WBMABCMJMTBJ."

Ok, can we unscramble this? I feel pretty safe with...

Joe Buck

Tim McCarver

John Madden Johnny Miller or (the HATED) Joe Morgan

Chris Berman

Al Michaels

But who is BW?

TV Nation

My plans for the upcoming fall schedule:

Monday -

8pm Heroes
9pm CSI Miami/Studio 60

Monday Night Football (live)

Tuesday -

7pm NCIS
8pm Veronica Mars

Wednesday -

7pm Bones/Jericho
8pm Lost
9pm CSI:NY/Kidnapped or The Nine

Thursday -

7-8pm Earl & the Office/Smallville
8pm CSI/Supernatural
9pm ER

Friday -

8pm Las Vegas
9pm Numb3rs
(also SG-1, SGA, and BSG)

6 random things about me

• I've never had a cavity.


• Stemming from an incident at DeVry, whenever I use a public bathroom I double (nay, triple) check that I'm going into the Men's room before I do so.


• I'm developing Monk-level OCD about some things. (swimming in communal water? no thanks!)


• My alarm goes off at 7am but I hit snooze 3 times.
  
• I have travelled almost entirely around the Earth. (as far east as Moscow, as far west as Beijing)

Strangely coincidental

Birthday Calculator: "You entered: 11/20/1977

Your date of conception was on or about 27 February 1977 which was a Sunday."

At least one person out there will find this kinda weird. oh, and gross.

Time to make some plans for the weekend?

Exploring 'Mars' should be easier with CW: "She'll meet some of her Chicago fans this weekend while signing autographs from 2 to 5:30 p.m. Saturday and 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the Wizard World convention in Rosemont."

I hadn't planned on going...we'll see what happens.

No real justification.

China kills 50,000 dogs in campaign against rabies: "Dogs being walked were seized from their owners and beaten to death on the spot, the Shanghai Daily newspaper reported. Led by the county police chief, killing teams entered villages at night creating noise to get dogs barking, then beat the animals to death, the reports said."

This is absolutely horrible. Words just can't express.

X-Entertainment - The Sectaurs HYVE Playset, 1984.

X-Entertainment - The Sectaurs HYVE Playset, 1984.

Yes, I had this. Yes, it was awesome.

The Heat is On

Man, it is hotter than hell outside. It doesn't help that my browser keeps throwing up Heat Advisories for Wood Dale that stretch until 9:15pm tonight. 9:15PM?? Man. It staggers me that people actually go to the beach in the heat for their vacations. Crazy.

We saw Pirates 2 over the weekend. While the company was good, the movie was just 'eh'.

You don't tug on Superman's cape...

Been a busy last few weeks. All sorts of things going on around our house. Crazy.

Anyways, I thougth I would write up some thoughts I had about Superman Returns, seeing as how I've seen it three times. (theater, IMAX, drive-in)

I enjoyed the movie, but as many have said, no as much as I had hoped to. It's a tad too long...the ending drags on few minutes past the logical end point. I enjoyed the story, but there was one bit that I thought was a missed opportunity. Not to put too fine a point on it, but since Superman actually 'returns' after a 5-year absence, it seems to me he doesn't really consider what that actually 'cost' others, besides what it cost him in terms of Lois. How many people didn't get saved, etc? It was just a thought I had.

The action is amazing. There's a plane rescue sequence that beats the 'Kong fighting T-rex' scene as the most amazing thing I've ever seen on a movie screen. Superman flies seamlessly...there's even sonic booms at times.

Brandon Routh plays a great Superman and a bumbling Clark Kent...just as it should be. There's one point there two characters start thinking Clark might be Superman and he gives such a dorky reaction that it puts those thoughts out of their heads right away. I thought Routh did a fine job. Kevin Spacey is a good Luthor too...kind of a middle point between the Smallville Lex and the Gene Hackman comedic Lex. There's one point towards the end of the movie where Lex is coldly brutal towards Superman...and it elicited a pretty strong negative reaction from me. (which I guess is the point)

I thought Kate Bosworth was a little too young to play Lois...plus, having a 5-year-old kid to boot. She did a nice job acting the part though. I thought that the Lois from Smallville might have done a better job.

I enjoyed the little bits that referred to the original Richard Donner Superman film...like the Kryptonite being discovered in Adis Ababa, Glen Ford being Pa Kent, Kitty saying that it seemed like Lex had visited the Fortress of Solitude before.

Anyways...the movie was't the total smash hit I had thought it might be, but it's made decent money. There'll probably be a sequel. If so, I'll go see it.

Great Minds...

ESPN.com: Page 2 : Why I love the World Cup: "4. There's something fascinating about the underlying baggage in every game. My buddy Kurt e-mailed me last week, 'If you're a Nazi war criminal who escaped the Allied forces after WWII, who do you root for tomorrow: Germany, who propelled you to the top of their system, or Argentina, who took you in and helped hide your crimes against humanity?'"

I know I said I wouldn't be all about the links anymore, but I made this same joke last week while the game was being played while we were eating at the airport on Friday.

Waiting for the ding, because there's something in the oven...

Hitting to all fields...

• In Texas now, heading back home tomorrow. It's been pretty hot here, but not too bad. As with all Texas trips, there has been way too much eating of food. Traveling means eating out, of course, and down here that means BEEF.


• After waiting what feels like FOREVER for this day to finally arrive, we went to see Superman Returns last night. The five of us (from the US, Canada, and Italy collectively) went to the 6:30p showing. We had no troubles getting in but the theater filled up fast. I even picked up a SR mini-poster for my friend's son. (review coming soon)


• I'm very close to being a one-car guy again, as Uncle Tom and Ricky picked up the Contour last Sunday. They're trying it out for a week and we'll talk when I get back. It was a good car--it still is.


• Surprise trip popped up in August. Can't give too much away...you never know who is listening.


• Some sort of beast got into our soffit while I was gone (of course). I was hoping the soffit would keep until next year, but there you go.


• I've given up on baseball this year.


• The NFL Head Coach game came out the other day. I've seen a TON of commericals about it too. Looking foward to that.


• Looking foward to heading home tomorrow...

ESPN.com - MLB - Guillen directs homosexual slur at Chicago columnist

ESPN.com - MLB - Guillen directs homosexual slur at Chicago columnist: "'I don't have anything against those people. In my country, you call someone something like that and it is not the same as it is in this country.'"

What BS. I hate Mariotti too, but Ozzie has lived here for 20+ yeasrs. THIS is 'his country'. He's just using that as an excuse.

The truth is hurting again...

those 3 bears QBs will combine for more victories than m. prior and k. wood this year.

(quote from a message board I read)

Pick a Car-duh

Saturday, it was our intention to go out and look at cars for a few more. More than a few hours later, we had bought a car. That was not the plan, but it worked out nicely anyway.

We first went to a Ford dealership in Elk Grove. I wanted to take an up-close look at the new Mustangs, and maybe...well...actually SIT in one and decide if I even liked it that much. Finding out about the upcoming new addition to our family had soured me on the Mustang a little bit, but not so much as to totally dismiss it.

After looking it over and getting inside, I wasn't ready to come out and say I didn't want it. I think a baby seat would have fit in the back...if only because a baby is about the only kind of human that would fit back there comfortably. Still, I had to think about whether it would be the best idea to get a sportscar when I KNEW there was a baby coming soon.

We left the Ford dealership (with the salesman saying there was room for discussion in terms of price) and went to the Toyota dealership in Lombard. I had looked at it a few times in parking lots and at a dealer, but I hadn't really *looked* at it closely to see how I'd like to own one. Plus, Court had not seen it. After talking with the guy for a while, we took a test drive.

One thing I really noticed about it was how quiet it was. Of course, nowadays, I can barely even tell if a new car is running at all with how quiet they all are. I'm not sure how I feel about that in principle...it reminds me of a Gene Hackman quote from Crimson Tide. "I don't trust air I can't see."

There's plenty of room all around, the handling and acceleration were really nice, and it really was the 'safe' choice in terms of buying a car. Nobody is going to fault anybody for buying a Toyota Camry, really. It's practical. And after thinking about it I figured I shouldn't fault the car for that. While the Mustang would have been the more fun choice (for me anyway, and that's what it's all about, right?) I just couldn't justify it to myself. I'm not exactly planning to be the primary baby transporter (who knows) but the Camry was the safer, more logical choice, ten times out of ten.

We ended up buying one, after I said a million times that day that we weren't. Oh well.

Negotiating with the guy was just like buying that fur hat in Moscow, but writ large. He did all the normal stuff, and worse than that, he was nice. That's the killer. I think we did ok on it, but who knows.

It does have integrated BlueTooth, which is nice. So now I can by that guy talking into the air while I'm driving. Look out.

It's nice to drive, and while it's not a Mustang it does have nice pickup...so I got that going for me.

Breaking Away

After everything that's been going on in terms of time demands, most of my posts are really just pull-outs of links I've seen on fark and other places. I'm going to try to get away from that...but if something funny or interesting pops up, I'll post it.

In an effort to get back to actually writing about actual stuff...

Filming Locations for Knight Rider 2000 (1991) (TV)

I'm not sure what is sadder...

A - The first thing I thought while walking through Rivercenter Mall was that it looked like the place at the end of Knight Rider 2000.

OR

B - That it actually WAS the place at the end of Knight Rider 2000.