Nathan as Russell

Earlier today Nathan and I walked outside to go to the car. When I opened the front door a business card fell to the ground because some people don't understand what a sign means when it says "No Soliciting." Before I could pick it up and throw it in the trash, Nathan grabs it and puts it firmly between both hands. He looks up at me and says, "Good afternoon. Are you in need of any assistance today sir?" Oh man, I lost it. Too funny. For those of you that haven't seen his new favorite Pixar movie and don't know where the quote is from, watch the video below.

The Weight

Around the end of August, beginning of September I started cutting my calories. I did a little research on how to calculate what I needed and decided since this is the only "diet" that I hadn't really tried I would give it a shot. In my research I found that a rough estimate is to take your goal weight and multiply it by 13. So I want to weigh 155 but overshot and said 150. So I took 150 x 13 and got 1950. That's how many calories I could eat each day.

It was really hard at first because you get so hungry throughout the day. After the first two weeks it was a breeze though. My hunger subsided in-between meals and I got on a pretty regular schedule. How I began was cutting out unnecessary calories. I already drank diet soda so that wasn't something I could change. Things like big snacks in-between meals got the axe though. I also cut out big sides to the main parts of my meals. I am now on a pretty regular "diet" of a small breakfast, a decent lunch, and a big dinner. I put diet in quotations because I really just consider this how I eat now, not a temporary way of cutting weight. And that's really how it has to be in order for this to work.

My breakfast usually consists of Eggo Cinnamon Toast waffles. I have 2 each day with nothing on them. Trust me, they're that good. Lunch I have a sandwich with little or no side. If you have been following my Facebook posts you know that I frequent Subway. That's not because of the advertising of losing weight from Jared, but more that it provides low calorie food and is also my favorite fast food restaurant to begin with. Dinner is most of the time at home. Jenna and I have found recipes online that are not only delicious, but low in calories. As long as you keep breakfast and lunch low though, you can have a hearty dinner and not feel bad about it.

Watching every single calorie is very important the first two or three weeks. It lets you know how many calories you have left for the day and gives you a feel for what is acceptable food to eat. Trust me, we've found some food that is just jaw-dropping in calories that we used to eat all the time. It's not to say that you can never have high calorie foods or go out to eat any more. You just cut calories in certain meals if you know you want to have a bunch during a certain one.

The two tools we use most to help us are iGoogle which has a free app called "Food and Calorie Finder" and "Lose It" for the iPod Touch and iPhone. Food and Calorie Finder let's you search pretty much any ingredient or restaurant for calorie information. It's a bit quirky but it gets the job done. My suggestion is when you're searching for stuff, leave out the apostrophes. They screw up the results and make them unclickable. Lose It is basically the same thing, but more convenient when you're out and about.

Jenna started probably 3 weeks after I did and is up to 17 pounds lost. I started back in early September-ish and just hit 30 pounds lost. It's an amazing feeling to have old clothes fit you and have people notice that you're losing weight by asking you.

The Arcade Project

There's a lot of technical mumbo jumbo in this blog so a short and simple story to go with the pictures is that I'm building my own MAME arcade. Click here to skip the story and see the pics.

Back in July I started researching the world of building my own arcade. It’s very fascinating what people have done and can do to say the least. There were so many paths and options I could take. It took me about two weeks just to get a feel of what all needed to go into it and where to get everything.

First I had to decide whether I wanted to use an emptied out original cabinet, build one from scratch, or fork out the money for pre-cut pieces. The emptied out cabinet offers true form and is pretty cheap, but could lack quality due to wear and tear. Building one from scratch gives self satisfaction of doing the job and let’s imaginations run wild, but could lack in quality depending on carpentry skills and requires quite a bit of garage space. Pre-cut arcade frames look fantastic and professional, but cost quite a bit.

Next was the decision on what type of monitor to use. There’s the original arcade monitors that will obviously give a true feeling of an arcade, but can be pricey and are also known for electrical shock even when unplugged. In some cases I read where people died from this capacitor electrocution. I could put in a television that would give me an arcade feel and is cheap, but it can be difficult to find the right size monitor that has s-video and power return (more on power return later). The other option is a computer monitor which works well since there is a PC running it anyways so it obviously hooks up, but it can cause sound delays that really take away from the arcade feeling.

I also had to decide on a control panel where all the joysticks and buttons reside. With any choice of cabinet, I could choose from a number of control panel options. I could buy one flat out which again looks professional, but is definitely costly. I could build one which requires a lot of know-how on running wires and would have to convert to USB eventually. I could also buy an original arcade control panel. This would give me original feel, but limits you to one style as far as where the buttons are and I would still have to convert to USB.

So my decisions were an emptied out original cabinet, a TV for the monitor, and a purchased custom control panel. The cabinet I bought off of Craigslist was in really nice condition and was super cheap. I haven't purchased the TV monitor or custom control panel yet because my money has been pretty much frozen since we started house shopping. The TV monitor is the safer route and let's me go up to a large screen without ridiculous weight like a computer monitor. It will need power return which means when I power the arcade on, the TV will turn on and go to the correct input that it was last on without me having to touch anything. LCD's would have been nice but I did a test with one and the choppy sound lag was unbearable. The control panel is going to be the most expensive part, but it will allow me to put the buttons in the places I want and in the colors that I want.

I bought a PC off of Ebay to run the arcade. The motherboard was DOA and so I got a refund for it, but got to keep the tower. I used the refund to buy a new mobo and a faster processor for it, so it worked out. I also bought a wired Xbox 360 controller to add to the one I already had to provide controls to the games until I can buy the control panel. I also picked up a smart power-strip from Target that allows me to shut everything off by shutting down the PC. This is done through it's master/slave power sockets. The only other purchase thus far is a nice wireless keyboard and mouse from Logitech off of NewEgg that provided quick access and easy hiding when I needed it.

As far as graphics for the cabinet, I have picked out Mortal Kombat II vinyls for the sides and control panel, and a plexi-glass marquee for the top. Mortal Kombat II was and still is my favorite arcade of all times. I play it constantly already on the setup I have now.

Currently it is an unfinished project, but after we move into the house this things gonna be perfect. I will blog about the finished project and provide more links on where everything came from and the prices of each component. Here are the pictures of the arcade currently.

The House

Jenna and I are buying a house in Apollo Beach. It's a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom with an office, and it has a screened in back patio. It was an investment house, so not only are we getting it cheap but the entire interior is being completely redone. They are putting wood floor throughout, tile in the bathrooms, new carpeting, new paint which we picked out, new outside accent paint, granite counter-tops, new refrigerator, and bathroom light fixtures and mirrors. We're really excited about everything and can't wait to move in after our closing date of December 20th. It'll be a nice Christmas present to ourselves. Shortly after moving in we plan on doing some renovations of our own that include knocking down a wall or two but that's another blog.

Update

I have quite a bit to blog about but want to get my thoughts together before posting. Stay tuned.

Calvino Inman easily next True Blood star

Dog Tired

Notice I'm still using the remote.

Fun With Photoshop

You need to enlarge it to really see the effect.

Mountain Pooper, Not Mountain Cooler

Sitting at the dinner table last night. Nathan says to us, "Look he's pooping." That's a Bill Cosby's Kids Say The Darndest Things quote if I've ever heard one.

Happy Days Are Here

Jenna got her very own laptop in the mail yesterday. She finally never has to say to me "Hey, when you're done on there can I use the computer?" Now it will be "Hey, I broke this. Please fix." :)

Murphy's Law

Man, I can't believe I'm not the only animal on this planet with luck this bad.

Rootin' For Gates

Bill Gates has taken a giant leap in the world domination competition. Take that Google.

Big Mac Land x 5

I know this video will probably be pulled, but while it's up check out how Jayson Werth hit the 5th! deck in Toronto. Unbelievable!

Ah Florida

You ever see a group of good ol' boys dressed in camouflage overalls loading up styrofoam coolers full of Budweiser in the back of their raised pick-up truck and think to yourself, "ah, someone's goin' to the hospital today"?

Lookin' For The Wizard Of Tampa

If anyone knows where the Wizard of Tampa is please let me know. I gotta couple things I'd like to ask him for. Really? They couldn't come up with a better logo than this? Pretty unoriginal. Unless they were trying for that look, in which case I think someone may owe likeness rights money.

Space Opening Up

So tonight I was thinking about my Myspace. Namely because Jenna was thinking about deleting her account it kinda got me on a thinkin' train as well. I know Josh deleted his awhile back but has since found at least one social networking replacement. I'm not really on the hunt here to find a replacement. This is more of a "have less crap to check on a daily basis." So thank you Josh and Jenna for showing me the way to be more like Tyler Durden and just let go. Let the chips fall where they may. I'm not my khakis and I'm not my Myspace. Goodbye Tenacious Lee.

Andy Samberg

Ok, I usually try to avoid just a copy and paste of other crap out there on the net, but this video is just too funny. Andy Samberg has become a favorite and may actually convince me to start watching SNL again.

The Amazing Seth

I have been a huge fan of Family Guy since season 1. I always knew Seth MacFarlane was the creator of the show but not until recently did I find out how unbelievably talented the man is. When you get a chance, check out some of the things he does on his shows.Check out the history on him, his media accomplishments, and the list of voices he does. The list of voices on the last page is just astounding, not to mention all the other things he does on the shows. When you consider all the episodes they sing in, and how good the characters sing, it's just mind boggling. Bravo sir and keep up the good work.

Quote of the Day

Today on a radio show Roger Clemens spoke in reference to the book coming out American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America's Pastime. When speaking about using steriods he said, "It doesn't make sense. Our family has a history of heart problems. My brother had a heart attack in his late 40s. My step-dad died of a heart attack." Awesome. Just awesome. This opens up a whole new field of medicine. Marital Genetics.

The Broken English Language II

Another story that comes to mind here is one that Jenna told me. A co-worker of hers has a sister that works in the maternity part of a hospital. She went into a new mother's room to check up on her and her daughter. She checked the sheet and saw La-Ia. She asked the mother, "How do you pronounce it?" It sounded pretty to her either way. Lie ee ya or Lie ya. The mother responded, "The dash is not silent. It's La Dash Ia." Holy crap. Someone please pray for this kid when she gets to an English class. My mom has had the best response to this story so far. What if it's a hyphen? La Hyphen Ia.

The Broken English Language

Today I am at Great Clips in Brandon returning a haircut I got on Saturday. I'm waiting in the lobby when I hear a lady in one of the chairs call back to her son on the floor next to me "Are you being have?" As in a separation of the word behave. OMG!

Irony

Irony has kept people laughing for hundreds of years. It may also one day kill someone.

The Firefighting Toddler

In our apartment we have to have the most sensitive fire alarms I've ever seen. Every time we turn on the stove, microwave soup for too long, or someone smokes on the back porch with the door open the fire alarms go off. As a quick resolution Jenna or I will usually take a kitchen towel and wave it over the alarm to get it to stop. Well, today the apartment complex is testing the fire alarms. They have a main panel right outside our door where the maintenance guys push a button and every fire alarm in the whole building goes off. Since they're checking each apartment individually, the alarms are going off a lot. I'm sitting here just letting my ears bleed over and over again. What does Nathan do? Goes to the kitchen, grabs a towel, and starts fanning the alarms. Man he cracks me up.

Family Portraits

While on my lunch today, we took Nathan up to the clinic to get an x-ray of his sinuses to make sure he didn't have an infection. Well after the terrible-twos tantrum in the lobby for about a half an hour, they finally took us back to the second waiting room. Seriously, it was just another waiting room but back behind the closed doors. There was another tv and magazines and everything. We waited there for another 10 minutes and the technician finally calls us in to get the x-rays. First Jenna takes him in and they close the door behind them. Five minutes later I'm called in for backup. Nathan is not happy about what is trying to take place. I walk into the x-ray machine room they have for kids and it seemed like I walked into a janitor's closet with 1950's vaccums and hoses computers strapped to the wall. The pipes and cables looked like they were from the personality test from the State Fair or something. So they give me a lead apron to put on. I look over at Jenna and she has a full body apron going from her shoulders down to her knees. I look at mine and it looks like a waitor's apron that just barely went from my waist to the top of my knees. At least my car keys are safe I thought to myself. Nathan had something similar to what I had on, but he's so skinny it was sagging off his waist. Then we get in front of this light that puts cross-hairs over his face and we're told to keep him still. Nathan doesn't keep still. When he's sleeping it's like Curly from the Three Stooges running around in a circle on the ground, so when he's awake it's like trying to keep an alligator still. The technician starts poppin' off x-rays like we're at a photo shoot. She eventually runs out of cartidges or gets tired of the alligator bayou show goin' on in front of her and leaves the room to check the results. She comes back and says we have to start over. Jenna gets on the other side of the x-ray machine and tries to entertain him with videos from her phone. So Nathan and I are standing there with our aprons strictly designed to protect only the parts that make us male and the technician starts firing off the particle blaster again like she sees Galaxia on her screen in the other room. She leaves the room again and I swear my arms were hot. Not in that sense where you're like "man, feelin' the burn in my muscles from restraining this child." This was more in the sense of "Is someone roasting a chicken in here?" I don't know if that can actually happen but my arms definitely felt hot. Hopefully the doctor can tell if Nathan has a sinus infection and at the same time tell me if I have any problems with my ulna, radius, humerus, or clavicle. We all left the room the same way anyone would leave a janitor's closet they were forced into, quiet and feeling violated.

Torn Between Two Loves

My St. Louis Cardinals are what bring me back home. They have been my team for so many years. They've been my come-back, ace in the hole against my Cubs fan friends. Whenever they said something I didn't like, I could always come back with the World Series card. My Tampa Bay Rays are what make me call Tampa home. They exhilarate my love for defense and left me thirsting for more after last season. They are what bond me with my Cubs fan friends, a mutual ground that we can both call our team. Thursday's game was harder than I could have imagined. Every single play of the game was an explosion of joy, and a tearful let down at the same time. For the first time at a baseball game, I found myself cheering at every play that happened. I confused several people around me wearing my Evan Longoria jersey and my STL white and red baseball hat. Pat the bat, Yadie, Longo, Ankiel. I couldn't stop cheering. So when the game finally ended and my heart finally started to slow down, the man sitting next to me summed it up best. "Good news is you won, bad news is you lost." If you want to see some of the great views of the Charlotte Sports Park and the two best teams in baseball, check out our pics from the game.

Irresistible Force Meets an Immovable Object

Thursday is going to be sensory overload for me. We are going to see the St. Louis Cardinals take on the Tampa Bay Rays in Port Charlotte. I saw the last "home" game here in Tampa in 2005 during interleague play and it was total internal euphoria and personal paradox at the same time. In a way, I wish these two teams were in the same league so I could see more games versus each other, but I guess it makes it that much more exciting when they do. Go Rays! Go Cards!...head's gonna explode!

On A Roll

For the longest time I've had a problem with several stores that are in business and I just can't figure out how. How they are so overpriced for crap that I can get at other stores for half the price. Well, So far I'm batting a thousand for predicting stores that will go out of business due to this problem. First on my list, and it has been there for so many years, was Circuit City. I can go on for days about this store and how bad it was, even after it's liquidation, but I say enough said and move on. Second is Linens and Things. I don't know if this was a nation-wide store, but a few minutes after browsing in there, and it instantly became inscribed on my list of future failures. That store too saw its demise and my batting average was safe. Well, I have another store on my list that is still going. I don't know if they've made an official announcement, but about 6 years ago when I lived in Illinois, I said Pier 1 Imports is going to go out of business. For the same reasons, this store will go down. Overpriced items just won't do. I'm no businessman, but to stay successful, you must be competitive. See ya soon at the Pier 1 liquidation.

Spectacles, Testicles, Wallet, and Watch

I finally got 'em all. I went to the eye doctor today and ordered a new pair of glasses. I haven't had a pair since I was about 14 and have worn contacts day in and day out since. I think my eyes need a rest. I wear my contacts for about 16 hours a day on average, sometimes more. I never really wanted to get a pair of glasses because I didn't feel like paying a whole bunch of money for something I might not wear all of the time. Well, since I have vision insurance now, I figured why not? I decided on this pair of Izod 375's in blue. This is the ONLY picture I could find of them on the net. Unbelievable. It's like the company tells these sites they can only use this standard picture. I really like them because they have a plastic side to the frame. My last pair were cheap metal and would bend, which pretty much warped them for life. I'll post again once I have them to write a better review of how they feel and look.

Endoscopy Today

Getting ready to leave for my endoscopy today, and I find it funny that I'm not actually worried about the tube they're going to be sticking down my throat. I'm actually more concerned about what I might say while on the anesthesia. You know when you have a night of drinking and are like "man, I wish I wouldn't have said that"? Well, this is like being super drunk, but around people with Ph.D's. Wish me luck.

The Dane Train

Yes, Saturday the Dane Train was at full speed. We had excellent seats about 20 rows from the stage on the lower floor. We even got to go in the VIP section for our food since we had floor seats. Dane was awesome of course, but I was surprised at how good his openers were. I found myself quoting them just as much the next day as I was him. I have video from the show but will not post it. He is coming out with a CD/DVD with this material and they were filming here so I know it will be on it. If you want to see it, buy it when it comes out.

This Sucks!

I didn't get to post this the other day cause we had to go to the Dane Cook show, so I'll put it up today. Saturday before the show, Jenna wanted me to go vacuum her car while she gets ready. I thought no big deal, grabbed her keys and drove down to the vacuum cleaner here at the apartment complex. I cleaned out any stuff laying on the floor board and seats. I put the two quarters in the machine and grabbed the hose. I run the nozzle across the floor board and nothing happens. Pick it up and place my hand on the top of the nozzle, sucks my hand in. It's good right? So I put it back down on the floor board. It seems to just be pushing the dirt and french fries around. After slowly going over the dirt and still nothing coming up, I decide to drive down to Hess and use theirs. Well, they got rid of their cleaner altogether. I was a little frustrated but decided to drive down to Mobil to use theirs. I get to the vacuum, open all the doors, put the hose in the car, and take the quarters out of my pocket. I go to put them in the slot and they bounce back. There's a piece of tape over the quarter slot. I'm thinking to myself "just wonderful." So I drive to the back of Mobil to exit through the Wal-Mart parking lot and I spot another vacuum behind the gas station building. I drive over there but there's a car parked right next to it with no one in it. I'm thinking this can't possibly get any worse. So I maneuver the car so that I can stretch the hose all the way through the car. I check the quarter slot, no tape. I open all the doors, drag the hose through, get my quarters out again, go to put them in and it says $1.25. I'm thinking that's a bit much, but it says for 5 mins so I went ahead and put them in. Nothing happens. It just took my quarters. Well, I'm in a hurry and I figure I'll just get my quarters back after I vacuum and I proceed to put another $1.25 in the second section of quarter slots. Another buck and a quarter gone. Nothing happend. I look around in disbelief and see that the huge metal cord that would normally go underground to some power supply is cut and frayed. Startin' to get a little ticked. I haul ass back around the station, go inside and demand my $2.50 back. "Well that machine is broken." I chuckle. "Um...I know that." "We can't give your money back" she says to me. I say "It's your machine isn't it? You knew it was out of order. You didn't put an out of order sign on it. I want my $2.50 back" She calls her manager over who proceeds to tell me the vacuum doesn't work. I tell her as polite as I possibly could at that moment "I know that, I wouldn't be in here if it wasn't." We argue for a little bit more and she finally gives me my money back. At this point it has become a quest to get this car vacuumed. For men, when we come to the fork in the road where what we were trying to accomplish fails, if we don't take that road of quitting, we're never gonna take it. It's either quit on first fail, or finish the project. So I drive to Race Track on Bloomingdale in this quest to find a working vacuum cleaner in Brandon. I get there and they're having a Super Bowl party/fair type deal. Cause when I think Super Bowl, I think Race Track gas station in Brandon. Well apparently it was sponsored by Ashley Furniture because they have a giant truck parked JUST in front of the vacuum. It's barely blocking it, so I try to maneuver the car again. No such luck this time. I have to leave again. I drive down to 7-11 this time. They have two vacuums! I pull up to the first one. Out of order. I'm pissed but at least they have the smarts to put up a sign. I pull up to the second one. No sign, no tape, no cut cords. This is the one. Put in the quarters. It worked! Put the hose on the floor, it sucks! We've got a winner. I finish vacuuming the car and head back home. I tell Jenna my horrific ordeal and the first words out of here mouth, "you know there's a car wash right across the street right?" Speechless.

Busted!

Every now and then when Jenna and I come home, there's something wrong in the house. There's poop on the carpet, there's garbage on the floor all chewed up, etc. and we usually can't tell which one of our dogs did it. Well, we came home to this the other day. I'm pretty sure we know which one did it.

Sesame Street Learn, Play, & Grow

Sesame Street Learn, Play & Grow for PC, where a kid can learn their alphabet, numbers, colors, and how to be an evil bigot. This is one of the activities that has random letters come up, that's pretty coincidental I would think.

Dog Tired

Although I knew the definition, I have learned where the phrase "dog tired" came from since I started working from home. Every day, I sit in my chair at my desk and this is what I have right behind me alllll day. Our two dogs are the sleepin-est loafs I've ever seen.

Dangel!

It has been 3 years 4 months and 24 days since the last time I saw Dane Cook live, and now I am just 7 days away from seeing him again. Back then I still worked at the Casino overnight on the 9:30pm - 630am shift. My friend Jesse and I found out that Dane was going to be at the Sundome at USF for FREE! We couldn't believe it, however, time was not on my side in this situation. The show was on a Thursday and my schedule was a Sunday through Wednesday. So, I woke up that Wednesday around 1pm and did my usual day to day stuff, and then went to work at 9:30pm. I got off work at 6:30am and waited for Jesse to get out at 7:30. We then went straight to the Sundome on Fowler and got in line. We were not the first ones there. In fact we were about 20th in line. So we waited all day there until the 7:30pm door opening. By that time I had been up for about 30 hours and was definitely feeling it. We got inside and ended up getting 4th row from the stage. They were amazing seats, and still free. The show started about an hour later and let me tell you, I just couldn't keep my eyes open. I kept falling asleep in the chair and was 4-wheelin' pretty bad. I definitely missed all the USF hoopla ra ra stuff at the beginning of the night. I also missed quite a bit of Dane's opener, Jay Davis' show unfortunately. When Dane came on it was so loud in there I finally was up. After his act he mentioned that there was some 8500 people in the dome and it was Jay's birthday, so he wanted everyone to meet him at Bennigan's next door after the show. Jay even came out and called Bennigan's on speakerphone to reserve a party for 10,000. Everybody was cracking up. Unfortunately I was so tired I told Jesse there's no way I'm going to Bennigan's just to see if they show up. I went home and got some much needed rest. When I woke up the next day and checked Jay's myspace page, you guessed it, him and Dane and about 3500 people showed up at Benningans. Unbelievable. I missed out. It was an unforgettable show none the less, but I missed out on a great after party. Just a little funny note - Jay's page says they were at UCF.

Parking Garage 500

I went up to Tampa General today to visit. The visit went well but getting home was a road rage test that I don't know how I got through. When I got to the hospital the garage was just packed with cars. I even joked around and told Lauren that I thought my nose was bleeding from being on the 7th floor of the garage. Well somewhere along my journey up I crossed into the employee side of the garage. When I followed the 1000 exit signs on my way down they led to a booth-less gate. I pulled up to it, nothing happened. Looked up and saw a Sunpass looking thing on the roof. So I screamed a few cuss words at my windshield. I drove up and down that garage for twenty or so minutes looking for this sacred cross over. I kept seeing where I needed to be but couldn't figure out how to get to it. Up and down, up and down, and always ended up at the same gate with the same BMW parked next to it just staring at me. Mocking me. I imagine the security guards watching on the camera were in tears laughing at this point. I found a guy painting one of the elevators and asked him how the hell I get out of this place. He says "I was afraid you were gonna say that." He explained to me that somehow I got into the employee parking garage. He told me he didn't know how to get back to the other side but showed me that the yellow poles sticking out of the ground were flimsy plastic and could be easily run over. As I'm leaving a guy in a truck pulls up to the painter and says, I think I have the same question he has. I laughed a little. I took one more trip up to the 7th floor and found a spot that looked like it should have yellow poles sticking up so I drove through it thinking I was home free. All the way down, 14 u-turns, I'm outta here! NOPE! Freaking BMW with a gate. Oh my god. I tell my windshield what I think of this situation again. I go up one level and just drive right over the yellow poles. It took me 32 minutes to exit a parking garage. I never thought I'd see the day where a parking garage would make me want to go have a beer. So, if you make your way into Tampa General parking garage, be wary of what side you're on.

Grid Airborne Achievement

Lookin' to get your Airborne Achievement in Grid for the Xbox 360? Do it the easy way. Hit an invisible Halo 2-like barrier sitting on the curb. I don't know if it works every time, but this spot on the curb of the Remus Drift Battle in J-Speed Super Two sent my Subaru WRX STI into a 3960° spiral (that's 11 complete spirals).

This - Not This

Friday morning I'm working from home. I'm sitting at my desk while Jenna, in her cold ridden-Nyquil doused state, is sleeping heavily in the bedroom. Well, Nathan is up and wandering around the house aimlessly. He keeps lookin' at me like "what can be so important on that computer that you can't play Rock Band 2 with me?". I hear him head off to the bedroom one more time to try and wake mom out of her medicinal coma and don't hear anything for a good 10 or 15 minutes. He comes back and holds his hand out to me. Well, every day when I take a shower, I grab a multivitamin out of the medicine cabinet and then go into the bedroom to get dressed. I usually set the vitamin down on the nightstand or our dresser while I put some clothes on. Since I have the short term memory of Tom Hanks in that old Saturday Night Live skit, I usually end up forgetting my vitamin until I see it later that night. The vitamin is what Nathan hands me. It's kind of slimy to the touch so I look at him for a disgusted look because I know I almost gag at the taste just from taking it with a glass of water. The half second it's on my tongue is enough to leave that fowl taste in my mouth for hours. He doesn't have a look. But it's wet, I'm sure he tried it. I ask him, "did you put this in your mouth?". He says, "there ya go daddy, not candy." I lost it! I said "very good Bubby, not candy." "Daddy's. Mehcine. Not candy." I couldn't believe how cute of a moment came out of one the parent's instinctual fears: kid getting into the medicine.