What A Party!

August 19, 2008

There are reasons why I always carry my camera with me to work. While my phone-cam definitely works in a pinch, there are times when I want to shoot something at a higher resolution than my phone is capable of. It is a phone after all.

Yesterday while walking to the train I happened upon a site that I believed was worthy of such quality. See what you think (click to embiggen):

An empty bottle of Beefeater gin, A1 Steak Sauce, and a few cigarette butts.

That must have been one hell of a party.


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Another Vegas Post

August 15, 2008

In our perpetual on-again, off-again, love-hate relationship with Las Vegas, we’ve decided once and for all that the trip we scheduled for October is off for good.

There are many reasons I can get into as to why we chose to give up staying in a plush Las Vegas hotel for free, but to get right to the heart of the matter, it’s really simple: it’s a waste of money.

I know, I know. Thanks for that insight, Captain Obvious. But we’ve been really good at putting money away to pay off one of our many credit cards. If we went to Las Vegas, between eating out for each meal for nearly a week, going to shows and gambling like drunken sailors, we’d be dipping into that cash and have very little left.

Our current plan is to keep depositing money into one of those phantom Internet banks, pretend it’s not there, let it gain some interest, and then lay the smack down on some of our smaller credit cards. This will continue until we have enough to pay off the spa next year when the 6 months same-as-cash offer expires. Not only that, once tax time rolls around we’ll use that to pay off a few more cards and if we continue this trend, we’ll be in great shape should things go as planned.*

It’s no secret that Ann and I are terrible at saving money, which is why we’re actually proud to have accumulated a decent amount of dough in order to pay off something very soon. (We’re even considering going back to pre-paid cell phone service since our Verizon bill was a scary $150 last month! WTF is that, people?!) So we saw it as a waste to see our hard work go out the proverbial window while driving 300 miles north on Interstate 15 and arriving at Las Vegas in an amazingly quick 3 hours a very conservative 5 hours.

We still do plan on taking the week off, however, to be a family and do family-type activities such as going to Disneyland (for free since my brother’s a Cast member), taking advantage of our zoo and aquarium memberships, or just hanging out at the park.

And that’s something all the money in Las Vegas can’t buy us.

Oh, the weekend’s here! We’ve got nothing planned ‘cept for some garage sale-ing tomorrow morning. Take it easy and have a good one!

*Ain’t sayin’ a thing ’bout that. Nope, I’m not.

Lost

August 13, 2008

I held on as long as I could, but yesterday spelled the end of my wedding ring.

It’s done. Over. Kaput.

It’s sad but true. At this point, I’ve lost so much weight that my wedding ring no longer fits. In fact it had gotten to a point where I could shake my wrist, fling it off and sail it across the office in the hopes of smacking a loud-mouthed co-worker in the noggin. (And believe me, there have been times when I wanted to do just that.)

There’s no hope of getting resized–it’s titanium. You know, the stuff they make golf club heads from? Yeah, that material. And it’s pretty much indestructible.

Ann had suggested that I buy one of those dorky plastic ring fillers to slip underneath it but I chose not to. I had tried one of those before and it was akin to having a chicken wing stick between your teeth or a rock in your shoe: annoying as hell. One co-worker suggested I put it on a chain and wear it around my neck. I told him I might as well call it “my precioussssssss” and live in a swamp if I were to do that. Or change my name to Christine Daae.

I’m sure a non-gold replacement–gold rings give me a nasty rash–will be bought soon but for now, I’m ringless. And it’s strange. I thought that by taking it off I would be relieved of all the annoyances that came along with the way it was now fitting.

But nothing could be further from the truth–I feel lost without it.


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Google Search Terms for My Blog, Part Deux

August 11, 2008

A regular check of my blog stats yielded this comedic gem:

In the words of Yakko Warner…

“Mmmmwa! Goooooooodnight, everybody!”


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A Second Garden, Part Deux

August 8, 2008

My, how things have changed in the backyard.

You might recall the two gardens we planted in the backyard not so long ago. It’s been a long time since I mentioned anything about them so I thought I’d take some time and do it now.

Bell peppers and beefsteak tomatoes: They never really grew as large as we expected so we ripped them out a few weeks ago. I don’t think we’re missing much.

Pickling cucumbers: The cucumber plant yielded plenty so we made lots of pickles. And are they good–very good! We still have a few jars in the fridge and no, you can’t have any :) We have since taken the cucumber plant out as it was starting to wither, but I think you’d start to wither if you gave that much produce as well.

Cherry tomatoes: Anthony got great enjoyment out of picking his “red, juicy tomatoes.” Like the cucumbers, we got more than our share and they made for great additions to salads. We still have a few vines left but they are going to be yanked over the weekend.

Corn: Six stalks, six ears! In fact we barbecued three ears tonight for dinner and were they gooooood. The stalks have been cut and will be removed soon.

So with everything dying off, what the hell’s left?

Onions: They are still growing. I wish they’d hurry up.

Apple tree: See “Onions.”

Pumpkins: Oh boy, do we have pumpkin vines. As of this post, there are about eight pumpkins in various stages of growth. I thought this would be cool for Anthony so he have some for Halloween but if you chose to do the same, here’s some advice: make sure you have room. They vine like mad and will take over your backyard if you’re not careful!

Eggplant: Ann’s dad likes eggplant so she started growing these just for him. I’m glad he likes them.

Watermelon: My little watermelon vine only has three watermelons but that’s better than nothing if you ask me. Right now the big ones are about the size of a softball.

Sunflowers: Ann likes ‘em so they are still left.

Interested in seeing what’s left? Head on over to this Flickr album and check it out for yourself! If you’ve never seen a pumpkin growing on the vine you should give this a gander.

Have a great weekend, all. We’ve got nothing planned so who know what kind of trouble we’ll be getting ourselves into!


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Special Request

August 7, 2008

Here’s a special request to the folks over at Harmonix.

I had originally started to write a post about which new music game I was going to be purchasing since, well, there are so many coming out soon.

But based on the track list and the fact that I already own Rock Band, the choice was rather easy to make: Rock Band 2 will get my money. (C’mon…you can’t deny the musical mastery of Steely Dan’s “Bodhisattva” unless you’re some sort of commie pinko swine.)

And since my “guitar” is pretty much shredded it looks like I’ll have to buy a replacement–or end up buying the whole damn set, which would be a downright shame [Sarcasm Level: Severe].

I also have plenty of DLC songs for the game that hopefully will be transferable. In fact the other night I downloaded a few Stone Temple Pilots songs as well as Judas Priest’s “You Got Another Thing Comin’.” But if there was ever a song born for the Rock Band franchise, it’s this one. And I hope The Powers that Be take notice and get the rights to use it:

The Smithereens’ “Behind the Wall of Sleep” has been one of my favorites for as long as I’ve owned Especially for You, their debut album. And it just doesn’t get any easier than this: guitars, drums, bass and vocals, a nifty solo and some great riffs. In my opinion, it’s just an awesome song that would be perfect for the game.

So there’s my special request. Not bloody likely to happen but hey, it’s worth a shot to get the word out.


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Happy Dance!

August 6, 2008
(WOO HOO! My first Flickr-hosted video!)

We went to our local National Night Out festivities last night where Anthony made a dancin’ fool of himself (along with his best friend Jakob). Then again, Anthony rockin’ out is nothing new to us.

The kids had an absolute blast and all got to meet policemen, firemen, Marines and anybody else from our community that puts their lives in harm’s way to keep us all safe, locally over overseas.

And to all of them, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Pictures from the event can be seen here!


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Should I Worry?

August 5, 2008

In casual conversation yesterday, Ann mentioned that she and her mom are already talking of plans for my 40th birthday next year.

Because I don’t want to be surrounded by stupid little tombstone-shaped Mylar balloons and “Over The Hill” cakes, I told her “no parties” and she promptly told me that there wouldn’t be.

And she knows damn well I’m acrophobic so skydiving is definitely out of the question.

Um…so should I be worried?


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