Bloggen-Dazs

Self Service

2010-09-07T23:11:00.002-04:00

My hands have been killing me all day and I couldn't figure out why. Jenna just pointed out that I spent 45 minutes yesterday with and without the proper tool trying to remove her factory installed oil filter on her CX-9. Some robot, no, some super advanced terminator robot at Mazda must have screwed this thing on because the tool designed specifically for making removal of the oil filter easy still needed me to use all my strength to the point of shaking uncontrollably just to get it to budge. Next oil change should go smoother but I'm definitely gonna need a friend and some beers to help out just in case.

Chrome to Phone

2010-08-04T10:12:00.003-04:00

Here are the steps to setup Chrome to Phone

1) Setup the app on your phone
- From your phone click here
- Pull your alerts page down and click on the completed download
- Click Install
- Once installed, click Open
- Click Next in the Chrome to Phone app
- It should have your Gmail account defaulted, click Next
- Select whether you want to automatically or manually launch links
- Click Next and then click Finish

2) Setup the extension on your browser
- If you are running Chrome click here
- At the bottom you'll get a warning. Click Continue
- Click Install
- If you are running Firefox click here
- Click Install Now and then Restart Firefox button
- Open any web page and click the new Phone Icon in the top right
- Click the Login link that pops up and log in to your same Gmail account.

3) Open any web page, Google Map, or Youtube video and click the phone icon and it will be sent to your phone's browser, Map, or Youtube app respectively

Great Scott!

2010-05-03T00:19:00.006-04:00

The excitement of this weekend started Saturday evening when Jenna and I headed out on I-75 to go to Ft. Lauderdale to see Daniel Tosh. The drive down there took forever, riding the entire west coast until we crossed the deserted and exit-less Alligator Alley. The upside to the swamplands is there are never any cops on it so when a Tahoe passes you doing 100mph you have no reserves following the train of cars right behind him.

We get to Ft. Lauderdale right around 8pm when the sun is setting. In an almost perfect setting with the sun going down, I spot the turnpike/interstate high-rise intersection that David and Max point out at the end of Flight of the Navigator. This was just a smidgen of childhood things to come this weekend.

We got great seats right in the middle for Tosh. The Improv was nicely setup so that each section was just a step higher than the one in front of it. Tosh's opener was really funny and got the crowd warmed up pretty quickly. Tosh came out and did about an hour and a half of racy "nobody's safe" jokes. Almost all of his material was new. The only recycled parts came from his "Completely Serious" DVD so most of the crowd hadn't heard it anyways. We were quite disappointed that he didn't come out for pictures or autographs afterward, especially since he did it in Tampa with almost twice the crowd size. We were told it was because his girlfriend was in town. I'm not sure how I was supposed to take that excuse.

We get back on the interstate around midnight. It's completely pitch black with nothing more than my headlights and an occasional car passing in the opposite direction lighting up the roads for nearly an hour through the swamps. It was so monotonous just watching the white lines whiz by at a cruise controlled 80mph. No Tahoe this time so I had to play it safe. I get to Naples on the other side and had never been so happy to see amber street lights. The remaining two and a half hours of white stripes were less monotonous, but Pandora decided to play nothing but slow music with lyrics about sleep (not joking) no matter what station I put it on. We arrive home at about 4am and I am mentally and physically exhausted.

Alarm starts ringing. It's 10am. It's time to go see Christopher Lloyd!! We get ready and head over to Westshore's Double Tree hotel where I see Trekies hauling luggage to cars and taxis as they exit. The Star Trek Convention was pretty much over for everyone else but was just starting for us. As soon as we walk in the door, there's my favorite childhood vehicle sitting in the lobby with lights glowing and gauges flashing. The Back to the Future DeLorean. I snapped a picture from every angle I could and then headed into the event. The convention definitely wasn't as large as I had imagined it would be. It was roughly 4 or 5 ballrooms full of people and tables with tons of merchandise for sale. Most of it was Star Trek stuff naturally, but as I poked around I found quite a few BTTF items. I bought the things that really caught my eye and passed on quite a few others.

We went back to the DeLorean and after I donated $20 to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research through the owners of this fine time machine, I got to sit down inside. I had my picture taken in the driver's seat and got to turn on the time circuits and enter my birth date in the "Where you were" part of the dash. They even let me take some pictures with the hoverboard they had in their car.

So 4:30 finally hits and I'm sitting in the lobby with the DeLorean while Jenna goes outside and smokes a quick cigarette. In usual fashion, the celebrity we're waiting to see is outside while Jenna is smoking. She calls me and tells me to come outside. I go out there and sure enough Christopher Lloyd has just arrived and is out in the parking lot. I took a quick picture but didn't want to press on and end up annoying him. We go back inside and start lining up with the crowd to get his autograph. The line seemed to fly by as we were scrambling to get everything in order for when we got to the table. We got him to autograph a 25th Anniversary BTTF poster I bought at the convention and the case to the BTTF trilogy that we brought with us. While he was signing he was very polite and all smiles. We were a bit star struck but I managed to remember to ask him if the Facebook profile that I showed him from my phone was in fact him and not just somebody posing as him. He confirmed that it was indeed him. The guy working there next to him said to him "He's asking if that's your Facebook profile," in kind of a disbelief tone. Lloyd looked over at him and confidently said "I know." We sat around the auditorium a bit to let the ink dry on the paper and kinda bask in the awesomeness that is Doc/Fester/Judge Doom/etc. We headed home giddy and satisfied that adults can still feel like kids.

Nathan as Russell

2009-12-13T18:10:00.005-05:00

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

2009-11-05T01:19:00.004-05:00

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

2009-11-05T00:32:00.008-05:00

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

2009-11-05T00:12:00.003-05:00

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

2009-11-03T18:45:00.002-05:00

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

2009-08-31T14:16:00.002-04:00

Dog Tired

2009-08-30T12:08:00.003-04:00

Notice I'm still using the remote.

Fun With Photoshop

2009-08-30T11:55:00.003-04:00

You need to enlarge it to really see the effect.

Mountain Pooper, Not Mountain Cooler

2009-08-26T12:06:00.004-04:00

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

2009-08-19T14:10:00.004-04:00

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

2009-07-28T17:47:00.007-04:00

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

Rootin' For Gates

2009-07-25T12:24:00.007-04:00

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

Big Mac Land x 5

2009-07-02T09:34:00.007-04:00

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

2009-06-26T14:29:00.004-04:00

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

2009-06-24T17:11:00.004-04:00

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

2009-06-04T00:53:00.003-04:00

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

2009-05-21T11:04:00.008-04:00

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

2009-05-18T22:00:00.004-04:00

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

2009-05-12T12:07:00.005-04:00

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

2009-05-11T14:53:00.004-04:00

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

2009-05-11T14:11:00.002-04:00

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

2009-05-09T11:13:00.005-04:00

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

The Firefighting Toddler

2009-05-07T11:06:00.003-04:00

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

2009-03-20T19:08:00.004-04:00

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

2009-03-20T18:21:00.007-04:00

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

2009-03-17T21:09:00.003-04:00

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

2009-03-12T22:16:00.004-04:00

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

2009-03-12T22:04:00.003-04:00

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

2009-03-06T06:58:00.003-05:00

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

2009-02-02T12:05:00.008-05:00

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!

2009-02-01T15:19:00.004-05:00

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!

2009-01-26T21:55:00.004-05:00

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

2009-01-26T21:51:00.004-05:00

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

2009-01-26T21:44:00.004-05:00

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!

2009-01-24T11:52:00.010-05:00

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

2009-01-21T13:53:00.006-05:00

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

2009-01-15T12:26:00.004-05:00

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

2009-01-13T12:28:00.006-05:00

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.

Bulls On Parade!

2008-11-18T20:29:00.003-05:00

Nathan has got rockstar in his blood. The kid is just obsessed with music, well rock music anyway.

Hangin' In The W.C.

2008-10-08T12:09:00.004-04:00

Last Saturday, Jenna and I went to the W.C. with Josh and Lauren to check out their new movie theater. The Cobb Theater Cinebistro was extremely nice. We will most likely only go to this theater from now on. When you walk in and go up the stairs you're greeted by a hostess just like any restaurant and seated. We ordered our drinks and meals and they take down your movie time so they can try and get everything in before it starts. The food was one of those things where you're like "this is good, but I think they're overcharging me." We didn't order any alcohol but from what I heard the price was jacked way up. We then went into the theatre with our tickets that have assigned seats on them. We were in the upper balcony which is 21 and up because they will serve you alcohol and dinner in the actual theater 30 minutes before the show. You can also go and get alcohol during the movie if you want. The seats were incredible. They're huge leather seats that you could almost fit two people in one. They also have an arm-rest inbetween them that goes up (Jenna and I couldn't get ours to budge) that will basically turn your two seats into a small sofa. On the outside of the pairs of seats are small swivel tables similar to a school desk so that you can put your food and drinks on. I was so impressed with the theater itself, it was hard to enjoy the movie as a movie. We saw Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist which was great. It was comparable to one of Michael Cera's other films Juno. Hilarious dry humor, but a great story to go along with it. If you get a chance, I highly recommend the Cinebistro experience and I will definitely drive the extra 15 miles to avoid the nightmares of the Brandon theater parking lot.

I Got A Fever

2008-09-25T12:52:00.004-04:00

Well, in actuality I have a head cold. But I do have Rays fever and the only cure is more Rays' cowbell. I have been watching this team for a couple months now since they're the only ones on TV down here anyways. Well, they have got quite the squad. I have been impressed on a daily basis with their skills in pretty much every department. It's amazing how far being great at the fundamentals of baseball will get you. I mean when almost every game has someone trying to bunt with nobody on, my (Ray's) hats off to them. We were out in St. Pete on Saturday and ended up going to the game. Man, what a great decision to go to this. I thought they were going to clinch the night before and Saturday they would be all hung over from celebrating. Well, they didn't clinch their playoff spot so Saturday was one of the most exciting events I've ever been to. If we would have been one of the first 10,000 fans in the door we would have got a Troy Percival figurine, but we weren't. However, since the Rays had a good chance of clinching that night, they were handing out the Rays' cowbell. We got our bells and took our seats on the third-base line. The seats were amazing to say the least. We had so much fun and our hands are still calloused from clapping so hard. Even though I know I have a head cold, I think part of the problem with my throat might be from yelling so much and so loud at the game. If you haven't caught Rays fever yet, just watch some of their games. Each play, each at bat, each decision is exactly how it should be executed and that makes them an enjoyable spectacle to behold.

Tastes Great and Less Filling

2008-06-07T10:21:00.004-04:00

>No seriously, tastes great, and less filling. Bud Light Lime is amazing. I had it when it first came out for Cinco De Mayo but I'm just getting around to blogging about it. Please, if you like beer, try this. It's so friggin good. I stopped drinking Bud Light awhile back because it used to fill me up really quick. Not this one. Everyone drinking this has told me, this is their new choice in beer. I wish I could become a salesperson for this. It would be too easy to become salesperson of the year for Anheuser. Enjoy!

Gas Hoggens

2008-05-31T00:25:00.003-04:00

Due to the increased price in gas these days, I am forced to raise the price of Bloggen-Dazs. I think it's ridiculous that EVERYBODY is raising the price of everything and blaming it on gas prices. Yeah I'm sure there are more costs for some things, but I guarantee that most of the price hikes blamed on gas prices are more of a scam than anything.

Aquatica

2008-05-06T10:56:00.003-04:00

This weekend Josh, Lauren, Jenna, and I went to Aquatica in Orlando. Although they need a lot of improvements to make the park great, we had a blast. When we first arrived the traffic getting in was just awful. There is one lane in all directions getting into the park. We were in the one right-hand-turn lane and it took us about 45 minutes to get in. The parking lot was already in overflow by time we got there which was like 10:45am. Even though we didn't get preferred parking it was not all that bad. It was a very short walk to the park. We had print outs to get our new season passes so the line at the kiosk was very quick. The other line was ridiculous. Once we got into the park we wanted to get a locker but the line for the first section of lockers made us want to turn around and leave it was so bad. So we got a map to find another section and walked to the back of the park. We stopped by the back lockers to get some food at the Mango Market. The food there was like airport prices, just absurd. But they did have Bud Light Lime which made it all seem a little better. That beer is delicious. The food was ok, not really anything to brag about. After that we headed to the lockers and there wasn't a single key in any of the doors so we figured they were all sold out. We turn around to head back to the front to go to a different section of lockers. As we were walking we went by the original section and the line had died down. We get in line and come to find out there's a desk you have to buy your key at. So we bought our key which was 8 friggin dollars and began searching for our door. After much searching by both couples we find out that you have to walk to the other lockers throughout the park. What a pain. So we're finally ready to go on a ride. We're close to the Dolphin Plunge so we get in line. Omg what a nightmare. It took us about two hours to get through the line. This ride is a definite pass. Do not waste your time. If you do want to rough it out cause you don't believe me, there is a section of the line where you're gonna think "Someone in front of me puked and/or crapped in their swimsuit." That's not the case. There's a large fish tank below one of the bridges that is part of the Loggerhead Lane lazy river that needs to be removed for sure. You will see the dolphins while in line that look strangely like shamoos. We were calling them sholphins the whole time. Once you go down the slide the part you waited for this entire time, seeing the dolphins while going down the slide, will not happen. It's not that they're not there cause I'm sure they were, it's that the slide is angled such during that part that you get a fire-hose like spray of water to the face so you can't see anything no matter how hard you try. All four of us had the same thing happen so it's not just me saying this. Since we were so incredibly thirsty after standing in that line for so long we stopped and I grabbed a water and everyone else grabbed a beer. Then we headed over to the Whanau Way where you grab either an individual or double inner tube and ride it down a twisting water slide. We figured we were in for another long wait so we got in line. Nope, only took maybe 10 minutes so of course Lauren and Jenna weren't done with their beers yet. They both handed them to me to finish off, which was not a good idea cause I now had a full bottle of water and about a full beer sittin' in my stomach. It didn't end how I thought it was going to but my stomach definitely hurt. So up at the top another planning mishap by Anheuser is that there are no trash cans at the top, and we obviously couldn't go down the slide with our beer bottles. So we look around and sure enough there is a pile of bottles in the corner that we added ours to. Jenna and I get on our double inner tube and start down the slide. We notice a pattern forming. Pitch black tunnels in the beginning which you think would be fun but they're more of a nuisance because you don't know which way to lean in the tunnel. We come out the bottom to two large jumps which were fun. But then we hit the water. The front end of the tube goes down into the water and so does Jenna. I did not. I'm still up on the slide for a split second longer so Jenna is slowed down by the water and I come flying into the back of her head and flip and twist like a train wreck at sea. Jenna loses her sunglasses and starts lookin for them when she comes up. The life guard starts yelling at her to "Get Out Of The Water!" She does but tells her she lost her sunglasses. The lady is really rude and basically says "oh well." We stand there and wait for another life guard to come over. He tells us that were gonna have to go to the main gate and file a report. We move on and decide we will file the report as we are leaving the park. We go to the Loggerhead Lane lazy river and grab a double inner tube per couple and go around a couple times. Lazy rivers are always enjoyable. We then head over to the Walhalla Wave and HooRoo Run ride. The line took about 30 minutes which wasn't too bad. We get to the top and we're all on the HooRoo Run side which is a straight slide that has a few jumps in it. We all four wanted to get on one tube and the guy told us "No." So, we looked over to the other side where Walhalla Wave was and saw four people getting on one tube. We asked if we could just cut over and he said that was fine. So, we hop the line and all get in one raft. We start down the slide and guess what? Another pitch black tube where we have no idea what's going on. But unlike before where we were just annoyed that we didn't know which way to lean, it has now become a threat on our life. As the raft speeds down the tube and comes to the very sharp turns, it slides almost completely up the side of the wall. Josh and I are opposite each other, and Jenna and Lauren are opposite each other. Lauren is screaming bloody murder because she can feel how high up the side we are going. I have my hand up in front of me trying to block Josh or any other body that may come crashing into me at any moment. We were all terrified that someone's head was gonna come crashing into our own while not knowing from where because it was so dark. We come out of the darkness and there are still very sharp turns. I'm not sure being in the light was any better because you then see just how far up the side of the wall you're going and think to yourself "this thing is going to flip and it's gonna be a blood bath." Some how we made it to the bottom safely. We're all yelling at the life-guard "we almost died, that was horrible." He laughs. He thought we were just being over-reactive, but that was definitely a terrible experience. I highly suggest only 2 people on this ride. We didn't take a chance at the HooRoo Run because it was supposed to be even faster than this ride. Jenna and Lauren go to Roa's Rapids while Josh and I get in line for Taumata Racer. The girls didn't want to go on this because it had a 90 degree drop at the end and it was a face first only ride. As we're waiting in line and going up the many stairs with our rafts, I tell Josh "this is not gonna be good." I was not excited about going face first straight down a slide. I told him about a water park I had been to in Illinois that had a slide just like it, but you went on your butt. Then I remember the bumpy bottom after you come down the slide at 100mph. I tell him, we're gonna be on our stomachs and that bumpy part is gonna be a ball buster. We get to the top and they have lights next to each slide. They're all red and then turn green at the same time so that everyone can race down the slide on their foam raft. Well, what we didn't know is that the sensors we're broken. So we hear a girl's voice call out "Ready......Set.......GO!" and some people went. Both Josh and I were like "NO!!!!" Then we figured out it was the life-guard calling it out and that the lights weren't changing. We felt kinda dumb. We get up on our slides and are anticipating the countdown. I feel the butterflies in my stomach for many reasons. I hear GO! and take off down the slide. What do ya know? Pitch black tunnel. I come out of the tunnel and have less than a split second to realize I'm about to go straight down. I get to the bottom immediately and start to see stars. Bam! Bam! Bam! Sure enough my ball busting theory was proven correct. I get up and feel like I'm gonna vomit. Look over at Josh and muster out "I...told....you." We tell the next group that takes our rafts "wear a cup." We meet up with the girls and tell them that it's definitely lazy river time for awhile. So we all get in Roa's Rapids and this thing is awesome. It's a water jet propelled lazy river. We all grabbed life vests, put them on, and took off. It was so fast. Fantastic ride for many reasons including no line to get in. Just go. We went round and round several times and let Josh and I regain consciousness. We get out and as we're walking around we ask what time the park closed. 6pm the girl told us. It was already 4:30 so we said we would just head out to beat traffic. As we were walking out Josh asked an employee if we returned our key for our locker would we get a deposit back? No. I don't get this. Another bad planning at this park. What is my incentive to give my locker key back then? Why should I walk all the way over there when I paid $8 for it. So we now have permanent locker keys to Aquatica. Another complaint we had was that platinum passes get you nothing special at this park which is very disappointing. Overall this was a great trip and we really enjoyed ourselves. The lack of planning that went into the park is compensated by the fun you will have and the near-death experiences.

Sand Blasted

2008-04-11T09:41:00.005-04:00

I think it's time for stricter laws on trucks carrying any sort of gravel or rock or any other loose material. I'm expected to go out and stimulate the economy by buying a new car, but for what? So I can have the hood dented, my windshield scratched and cracked, and my paint just tore up by gravel bouncing out of the back of 18 wheelers? It's just absurd that its deemed ok for the trucks to spill out like that and then my insurance premium goes up when I turn all this damage in.

This freaky house...continued

2008-03-27T09:22:00.005-04:00

Last night I was completely freaked out in our house again. At about 8:45pm I was sitting playing Halo 2. Nathan was sitting right in front of me playing with his cars. Everything was pretty quiet and almost all the lights were off in the house. All of the sudden BOOM!. . . BOOM! The whole house shook and the windows rattled back and forth in unison with the booms. I didn't know what to think. The first thing that I could make my mind accept as logical is someone drove through two walls of our house. Amanda is in town so its reasonable :) So I called Cru and was like are you home? Are you slamming doors or something. He laughs at what I describe to him as one of the scariest things thats happened to me in awhile. I hang up with him and start lookin out the windows for like a tank our a wrecked semi or maybe those tripod things from War Of The Worlds. I see nothing. I think to myself theres no way I'm going out there to find out what it is. I didn't want to be "that guy" and run outside and be like "What the heck is going on out here?" And then have some horrible thing attack me and then I end up on Youtube or Around the Net on Attack of The Show. So I just kept going back and forth to the windows hoping to see something. Finally I calm down and sit on the couch with Nathan to watch some Family Feud. Cru calls as soon as I sit down. He's kinda laughing as he says to me "It was the shuttle." I'm like what? "The shuttle was re-entering the atomosphere." So all this freaking out was caused by the rarely occurring night shuttle landing. Crazy the things your mind can make you think when you don't understand something.

American Holiday Catastrophe

2008-03-12T09:58:00.003-04:00

This year, sort of as a late New Years Resolution, I am gonna spend less money on every holiday. It's not because of the declining market and it's not because I love the people in my life any less. It's because I'm tired of the commercialization of every single last holiday on the calendar. I'm still waiting for them to start marketing 4th of July gifts. It's comin' just you wait. I'm gonna focus more on the important days like anniversaries and birthdays. The rest of the holidays will probably be a card, if that. Sounds selfish, but I believe thats how retailers want us to feel, that we're being selfish if we don't spend a bunch of money on our loved ones. I'm goona bring back the good 'ol acts of love instead of gifts of love.

"That Guy"

2008-03-12T09:49:00.003-04:00

One of my key goals in life is to not be "That Guy." The one that everyone hates or stares at or expects to do something. For example, that guy AND that girl are here in the auditorium for jurors today. Blabbity blab as loud as they can on their cell phone. I don't mind people on their cell phones. They have become a necessity in our day to day life. Hell I'm blogging from mine :) But don't involve the whole friggin' room in your conversation. Just because you're talking on your cell phone does not make you any more important than anyone else. We don't care that you went out last night and you're regretting it now that you're up so early. Either talk in a normal tone or hang up.

April Fools

2008-03-12T09:29:00.003-04:00

This incridible holiday is fast approaching. Although most people don't even take a second thought about this day, I love it because it's not only one of the days that hasn't just been completely commercialized, but it's also a day to make at least yourself laugh, if not others. This year is gonna be a good one. I usually pick only one person to prank and in the past my ideas have been good but nothing to brag about. This year will be different. I can't put it up here on my blog for classification sake :) but I will definitely have it up on April 2.

Jury Duty

2008-03-12T09:18:00.003-04:00

I shoulda brought a book. Today I am reporting for jury duty for the first time in my life. When I lived in Illinois, the way they chose jurors was by people registered to vote. Here in Florida I believe it is any one registered at the DMV. Im not 100% sure on that, but I'm registered to vote here anyways. I'm not complaining whatsoever. I'm just pointing out the fact that I've never experienced this so I didn't know to bring a book or something to do while I wait to be called in. Everything I've ever heard about jury duty was negative. I haven't gotten through the day, but I couldn't be happier to be here. Jury duty is exactly that, a duty as a citizen and I know I will feel that way at the end of all this. Proud. Next time I'll know to bring one of my many programming books I've been trying to get through. I definitely coulda got through one of my books that I never have time to read otherwise.

Mother Nature Comes Through Again

2008-02-12T11:33:00.001-05:00

Who would have thought that something natural could cure something these days? Last night Jenna had a horrible toothache so much so that she said she couldn't sleep and was crying laying in bed. She said she got online to look up home remedies for toothaches. After a quick search, she found that people have used limes. She went to the kitchen, cut up a lime and stuck it in her mouth. She said the pain was gone instantly. No pain whatsoever. She went right to bed and slept great. So if you're having tooth problems, pop a lime in your mouth and thank Mother Nature.

My Neighborhood

2008-01-17T01:20:00.002-05:00

I don't know what the hell is going on in my neighborhood lately but it's freaking me out. Last week after I had arrived home from work, Nathan and I are playing in the living room. When I start to hear a helicopter outside. Well, I thought nothing of it and continued to play. About 30 minutes go by and this thing is still hovering what sounds to be right over our house. I started feeling like Ray Liotta at the end of Goodfellas. I look out the back porch and sure enough there is a helicopter directly over my house shining a light into the field behind us. And I stand up to look out the window and there are a few cop cars driving around in the field shining spot lights out of their cars. I never found out what or who they were looking for. So, Saturday night we were having a party and everything was going fine and then Jenna and Tiffany come into the house and are whispering/screaming (that thing you do where you're trying to be quiet but as loud as you can be quiet), and saying "there are #%@%#^ people outside with sniper rifles!" "They were like GO! GO! GO! and then ran down the street." We're all like yeah whatever. So we all go out in the front yard like typical horror movie idiots and are lookin each way down the street. We hear THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!.....THUMP! THUMP!THUMP! Someone is pounding on a door several houses down. Everyones outside just watching and listening. We see red lasers flashin around in the yard and then back towards the house. We're all like "oh, #$#@ they weren't kidding." Eventually two cops come walking back down our street one dressed in typical cop uniform and the other dressed in all black with bulletproof everything carrying the biggest friggin gun ever (pictured above). It was an AR-15 with a laser sight and sniper scope. This guy was not here to arrest somebody. He was here to kill and with a gun like that he could have killed somebody inside the house from outside. It was crazy. We asked them what was going on and they just said "If you see a white Toyota pick-up truck with front end damage call 911 and tell them it has to do with the Temple Terrace incident." So ever since then I just look down at that house hoping that I see/don't see a white Toyota pick-up truck with front end damage. If I do see it will be exciting, but you also gotta wonder how dangerous is this person they are looking for if the standard 9mm won't cut it.

America The Unsocial Revisited

2008-01-11T13:42:00.001-05:00

>With a recent visit to Pitas here in Tampa, I noticed that the soda fountain needs a total of four or more beverages on each side for the person at the fountain to feel comfortable with another person on the other side. The one at Pitas only has three per side and when I went to the fountain to get a drink from the other side the lady did the slouching shoulder/scrunch face combo to let me know that I was unwelcome at that fountain while she was there. However, everywhere else I've been that has had four or more was just fine. Sociology is fun.

Shoulda Known

2008-01-10T14:09:00.001-05:00

Because of Bush, the nation has basically been forced to vote for president when they may not have voted otherwise. Although to me it's always been guess and check with what they say compared to what they do once they're in office. "I guess we'll go with this one he sounds like what I want to hear," "Op, we guessed wrong." So I decided to get involved with politics this year, at least on the topic of the President. Now that I'm reading up on each candidate for my party (Democratic), so that I may choose on January 29th for the Florida Primary, I find out that my vote will not count. The Democratic National Committee has a rule that no state except for a select few may hold their primary before February 5. Florida Legislature changed the date of the primary to January 29th. Well, DNC said that they will enforce the rule and Florida will lose half of its delegates and the other half cannot choose a candidate that has campaigned in Florida, eliminating Clinton, Obama, and Edwards. If you are a Democrat and live in Florida, you might as well just sit at home and watch this year's elections on TV. It's crap. Makeitcountflorida.com (which is a completely hilarious url now) says that turnout is crucial to influence other states on the Tsunami Tuesday Feb. 5. Here's a good way to influence other states...have 210 delegates that can actually have their vote counted. So, because we have a Republican majority state legislature and they found a loophole, I guess, the Democratic voters of Florida are screwed again. I should have known that moving to Florida as a Democrat would mean my vote would not count.

Big Daddy

2007-11-08T08:35:00.001-05:00

I have a lot of things I need to catch up on with my blog, but I had to put this on here cause it was just too funny and gross. Last night, I was eating some of my left over birthday cake. I gave Nathan a tiny tiny bite of it and he walked out of the kitchen. So I'm still standing in there and I could smell this acidy/rank smell. I walk around the counter and look in the living room and Nathan had puked EVERYWHERE. I don't know what caused him to puke because he's not sick. Maybe he gaged on the icing or something. It was like an explosion. It looked just like when the boy on the movie Big Daddy pukes. Since he was covered in it, I picked him and took him to his room to change his diaper and his clothes and to wash him down. After I get him all cleaned up I walk back out into the living room to start the carpet clean up. The puke is gone. So, I yell down the hallway to our roommate Jen and ask "did you clean this up?!" She says "no." I look over and our dog Roxy is licking her chops. She ate all of his puke while I was in the bedroom. Every last bit of it. The carpet looked like nothing had happened.

Better Check His Video Game Collection

2007-10-11T17:27:00.001-04:00

I know the media will point to violent video games on this one. Don't get me wrong, I think the high school violence problem is definitely that: a big problem. But, don't blame social and/or parenting problems on video games, movies, or music. I don't pay taxes in my video games, you don't see me avoiding my taxes. What video games were these people playing?

America The Unsocial

2007-10-11T14:02:00.001-04:00

I find it funny that in America, it is socially acceptable while someone else is filling up their cup at a soda fountain to:
1. Get ice from the center ice dispenser
2. Get soda from the opposite side of the person originally filling up their cup.
But, it is NOT socially acceptable to get soda from the same side as the original person at the soda fountain. They get all bent out of shape and feel like you're invading their "intimate zone" if your soda cup is next to theirs. As if the soda cup is an extension of their personal zones. Ridiculous.

System Of A Down lead singer is a genius

2007-10-10T13:44:00.001-04:00

Good lord. Serj Tankian is a musical genius. I can't believe how good his music is. He has yet to do any song that isn't simply amazing. His new album Elect The Dead is a must have for me on October 23rd. Although Korn was my favorite band growing up, System Of A Down has to be my all time favorite, simply because I love every single song from beginning to end from all of their CDs. Not one bad song. (hed)p.e. was right up there with them until they came out with Only In America which was absolute crap. If you would like to hear the incredible sounds of Serj listen here.

2007-10-08T14:47:00.001-04:00

Oh It's Cruise Time! This Saturday Jenna and I will be taking off from Tampa on a 5 day cruise of the Western Caribbean! We can't wait. It's just pure excitement around our house. We already started packing Sunday night. Our first stop will be Grand Cayman. There, we're just gonna walk around. We didn't really book any excursion. I heard it's expensive there anyways. However, when we get to Calica we're going on Mayan Ruins tour. Neither of us can wait for this. It's gonna be so awesome. I would like to get a picture of the December 21, 2012 prediction if possible. I have heard way too much about this "end of the world" prediction for me not to be skeptical about that year. Anyways, I'll put more about this trip up when we get back.

My Little Gamer (MLG)

2007-10-02T11:19:00.001-04:00

It took some time to convince myself I should put anything really personal like family on my blog. However, this was just too cute to not tell everyone about. As this blog has shown I am a very faithful Halo fan. Well the other night I was enjoying some Lone Wolves action on my conquest to become a 50 when I got up to get a drink. Our one year old son Nathan climbed up into my chair, sat down, and picked up my controller and started playing Halo 3 for me. That would be so awesome if he became MLG (Major League Gaming) when he grows up. To think he could make $200,000 a year for what I do for fun. He can be whatever he wants, it's just cool to see him pick up something like playing a game before he can even really talk.

Master Chief owns Spider-Man and Harry Potter

2007-09-27T11:53:00.001-04:00

Halo 3 lives up to its hype by generating the most revenue in a single day by any media. Read about it here.

Video Game Binging

2007-09-26T11:51:00.001-04:00

Well, the hype has come to judging time. Cru (I'm Good At This), Jessie (Twisted321), and I (Least Deaths) played non-stop from midnight Tuesday until 11p.m. Tuesday night. So since I was up from work on Monday, that puts me at right about 41 hours without sleep. We started off with a couple custom games to explore the new multiplayer maps. After a little bit of that we started 4 player online Co-Op with our friend Kyle. We blew through campaign on normal. It was just walking through the game and watching the story unfold. After that we all played online in multiplayer. The maps are gorgeous. The weapons look fantastic. The gameplay is very smooth. However, all the guns have been dumbed down to basically all the same strength. Bungie was so afraid of people owning online with one weapon that it seems like they took all the power out of every weapon. This HAS to be fixed. If Bungie does not come out with an update to bump some of the weapons power, I will probably stop playing online multiplayer which is like quitting smoking for Halo addicts. Except this isn't like I WANT to quit playing, this is like they took the nicotine out of cigarettes. It's like smoking for looks. Matchmaking is no fun. I couldn't believe it. So disappointed with the one thing that made Halo 2 what it was. I shed a tear for online matchmaking in Halo 3. After the multiplayer cussing and yelling and just pure frustration, Cru and Jessie and I moved on to beat campaign once again, this time on Legendary though. This was definitely not cake walk. It was easier than expected because we were playing 3 person co-op, but it was still hard. Lots and lots of dying and restarting. I will play solo next time on legendary and I'm sure I'll be brought to tears on how hard it is. We also found all of the gold skulls throughout campaign and 2 of the 4 silver skulls. Working on achievements became our priority so we worked on that. I believe I now have 770/1000 achievement points for Halo 3. Pretty good for day of release. Overall, it's an amazing game. If Bungie does not come out with an update for matchmaking, I'll have a better version of Halo 1: phenomenal campaign and decent multiplayer. If they do come out with an update, lord help my addiction.

The Wait Is Over

2007-09-25T06:19:00.001-04:00

Worth twice as much as I paid for it...just for the game itself.

Halo Eve

2007-09-24T07:54:00.001-04:00

Every once in awhile there comes an event that is so big that you cherish the thought of being part of it in any way. Tonight at midnight is one such event for me. Tonight is the release of Halo 3. There have been numerous articles bragging that this will be the media event of a lifetime. No other media has had such a pull, such an utter obsession by people. This game has sold over 3 million copies...and it's not out yet. This game has been part of my life for the past 5 years. From the intense campaign in Halo 1, to the ever addicting multiplayer in Halo 2. This trilogy is honestly the Star Wars of my generation. The following is so large, it should probably be considered a religion. I cannot wait to beat Halo 3 tonight in the first ever 4 player campaign and spend the following years owning in multiplayer. Bungie, Microsoft, thank you for taking me to a world outside my own. Thank you for making me feel like I'm in the game...not playing a game. Thank you for putting such detail and attention into something so that I may enjoy it for years, instead of enjoy it until I beat it. Thank you, for if I get no presents for Christmas this year, I will already have Halo 3. Let the countdown begin.

3

2007-09-19T16:29:00.002-04:00

On Monday, I bought a 2008 Mazda 3 from Ferman Mazda on Hwy 60. I drove up there Monday night after work looking to get a VIN number to give to my bank so I could see how much I could pre-qualify for. Well, I found the icy blue 3 that I had built online the night before. It had almost all the options I added except it didn't have anti-lock brakes. I couldn't believe it. Isn't it the law yet that a car comes with anti-lock brakes? So, the saleslady and I went to the back of the lot where they had about 100 3's. We walked in and out of almost all of them trying to find the one that had all the options I wanted, and didn't have the ones I didn't want to pay for. I ended up test driving the icy blue one with a sport-tronic automatic. While I was driving it I kinda thought to myself that blue was a little too "cutesy" so when we got back we started looking for different colors. I ended up finding the black one with a manual, power-windows, power-locks, ANTI-LOCK BRAKES, and 16" rims. I loved it. We sat down and did all the paperwork which took forever but we finally came to an agreement and worked out a payment I wanted. After the paperwork ordeal I went out to start cleaning stuff out of my old Grand Am and moving it to the 3. Well, I had a Coca-Cola Zero can in the cup holder which the saleslady said "If you don't mind I'll throw that Coors can away for you." I was speechless. I just grabbed the can and held it up to her. She of course started apologizing right away. Maybe she thought I had the can because my driver's license said I was from Riverview. Who knows. But, she was a great salesperson and I absolutely love everything about my new car. A manual is a whole new world of driving. It's great! I also noticed while sitting at work that from the right angle.....the Coca-Cola can does kinda resemble a Coors can :)