Main > News
.:Picture of the Day:.



 

Saturday, April 29th 2006

I'm home, but I have bad news. I went to use my home computer, and it was acting very sluggish. I decided to reboot it, but that took a long time to actually get to the Start, Reboot options. Finally, I just had to hit the power button to get it to shut off, so that I could reboot it. Now my PC doesn't start up anymore. I keep getting this message that windows\system32\system is damaged, and that I may need to use the original WinXP cd to repair it.

I've been trying to do that, but I can't figure it out. It eventually dumps you to a DOS screen, and gives you a list of arcane DOS commands (some I remember) to choose from. That's it. I gotta either call someone, or take it to Best Buy for repair.

What if I lose my data? I haven't done a backup to CD in a month. Shouldn't I have known better? After all this, I'm picking up one of those one-touch-backup external hard drives.

12:39pm

After being on the phone with my buddy Plexy, I still have no luck with reviving my PC. :(

|

Friday, April 28th 2006

10:26am

Yo yo yo. The countdown has begun. My week here is done. I've performed my review work, I've written up my findings, and now I'm wrapping up workpapers. I'm leaving around 2:30pm this afternoon to catch my flight. I'll be home around 8:30pm. It'll be good to be home.

I'm done with Toronto.... for now. Here's the big news. I'm leading my first audit in just two months....in Toronto! Just when I got out, they pull me back in. I'll be the Lead Reviewer, I'll have a team working with me, it's international (okay, it's just Canada, but let's fluff this job up a bit.) So now I own two audit entities. Joel is moving up the department totem pole. I think I've pulled even now with Scuba Steve. I'm not certain about the timing, but I think it starts in June.

Last night, my buddy Paul drove in, and met me at the hotel. We got all gussied up, and took a taxi down to the King and John St neighborhood. It's supposed to be a happening place, and it was alright. More clubs and restaurants than in my area. We strolled around the strip, got some dinner, then went bar hopping. We didn't know exactly where to go, but we followed the college crowd. we finished off the evening buying some so-so hot dogs from a chinese hot dog vendor.

We got back to the hotel around 3am. I packed my suitcase, and we both crashed. Somehow I woke up this morning, and met the rest of the team in the hotel lobby at 7:25am.

Who da man?

3:31pm

Well, the good news is that I'm already at Toronto's Pearson International Airport, Terminal 3, Gate B13, and I've got plenty of time to catch the 3:40pm Delta Flight 1447 to Atlanta. What did you say? I don't live in Atlanta? Isn't my flight at 5:14pm?

Why yes, you are correct. I'm extremely early for my flight. Two hours early. Turns out that I budgeted too much time for check-in, immigration, and security check-in. Fool. I'm going back to my old strategy of just being late to the airport, and barely making my flight. It's more stressful, but at least it's interesting. Now I'm stuck here at B13 staring at ugly people for the next two hours. That's right. Ugly. I think I booked myself on the ugly flight. How did this happen? Does our automated travel planner know something about me that I don't know about? Who are these people, and why are they all going to Newark?

You think I'm kidding, don't you?

It's good to be going home, but I find it humorous that I'll be back here in 2 months... for weeks. I miss my family. I watched some of my posted home videos almost daily. It was nice to see my family. I'm not exactly sure why I missed them so much this week. It's not like I haven't travelled in a long time. I was just in Dallas in February, right? You know what it was? I bet you that it's because there are all these new sights to see in Toronto, and I don't have my family to share them with. It's like going to the movies by yourself. What's the point? There's something in sharing the experience.

I like being with my wife. Going places, eating in nice (and not so nice) restaurants. Taking pictures of ourselves. Cracking jokes with her. Pretending to laugh at her jokes. (Whoops, the secret is out.) Instead, I spent my week working in a conference room, with a bunch of guys who wouldn't look as good as my wife does in a bikini.

You people can stop thinking of my wife in a bikini. Animals.

4:00pm

Let's talk about work, then I'll go back to doing some work. So.....Lead Reviewer, eh? Feels pretty cool. I've got two audit entities now. I'm leading my first audit in two months. And unless I royally screw up on my first audit, I'll be leading the next cycled review of my other audit entity early next year.

I have so much to plan. I've got two months before I have to start Planning.

Another busy weekend coming up. I have a million things to do this weekend, and we have Doug & Kathy's wedding reception on Saturday. I'm hoping it's another surprise party for me. Hey, let's keep the streak alive. I'm going to jump through the restaurant doors with a big surprised look anyway, just in case. Better to be safe than sorry, I always say.

I'm thirsty. But if I get up to buy a soda, I have to pick up all my stuff, and go to the airport shop. If I do that, I run the risk of losing my seat to an ugly person. What do I do? Will thirst or laziness win out? Only time will tell.

4:23pm

I bought a bottle of Diet Pepsi for $2.96 CDN. What a rip. I wish I had more self-control. I still have my seat. The ugly people are still here.

My plane has arrived at the gate. It's only a matter of time. I want to sit on the plane and take a nap.

|

Wednesday, April 26th 2006

4:49am

Yes, I'm awake. I'll explain why, and why it doesn't bother me.

Remember how I mentioned that I have business monitoring work to complete? First quarter business monitoring work is due EOB this Friday. This is the first time I'm doing it, but if I didn't finish it, then it was going to make my team/dept look bad. Not just me, but anybody. Well, I'm late with it. Sorry.

I had a lot of it done, but not enough to be any good. I was debating if I should connect online from the hotel and try to finish it tonight, or wait until the morning. The problem is my boss (who has to review my work, make any suggestions, send it back to me, I make the changes, send it back, lather, rinse, repeat) has to finally approve it all. He's travelling internationally right now, and I've got a small window when we're both awake. Wait or don't wait for the morning?

I decided to pay the money and send whatever I could to him, so he could start reviewing. I got an email from him, and if you read between the lines, you could sense worry from him and his boss. Not good. I sat down to work, and he and I have been shooting emails back and forth with various revisions to the document. It's funny that I do my best work at night, because he said my doc looks to be in good shape. I'm staying up now for him to approve it. I'm not taking any chances. Still, it's a big weight off my shoulders if this is done.

Want to know why quarterly business monitoring is important? Well, the government regulators read them, so it's best to not give them garbage. They don't like that. See? Auditors don't have it easy either.

5:00am

It's approved! I'm going to bed! For an hour! I have a Global Town Hall at 8am! I'm so tired!

|

Tuesday, April 25th 2006

8:28am

Day 2 in Toronto. After work yesterday, I hit the hotel gym, and ran for 20 mins. I was pretty proud, because this was in the first time in months where I was in the zone, and just ran as fast as possible. I haven't had that kind of energy in a long time, so I figured I'd take advantage. The guy on the treadmill next to me kept looking at my treadmill display every time I bumped the speed up faster. Hmmm, I hope he wasn't checking me out. What I like about the Four Seasons gym are the free amenities: free bottled water, free fruit, nice machines, good quality machines, personal TVs and headphones. Great experience.

The guys on the team out here this week and I went to dinner at this nearby pub. After that, we hit the hotel bar for coffee, etc, I called home to speak to my wife, watched some tv, and hit the hay. I was going to do work, but I was pooped. Which means I'll be working late tonight.

I'm really irritated that I seem to have left my razor in the Mahwah Sheraton. I'm currently using a $2 disposable from the hotel gift shop, and all it's doing is a poor job taming my tough beard.

More later this afternoon. I've got meetings galore today.

12:00pm

I've started receiving photos from the party attendees, so thanks to Vib and Jiji. If you have photos, please do me a favor, and send me a link or zip them and send them.

A final note on the party, and I'll shut up. I can't believe my wife has been planning this party since last October. That she's been working on this for months: inviting people, sending out invites, creating a party website, hiring a DJ, deciding the dinner menu, pricing out everything, and finding the money for this. All completely without my knowledge! How does she love me this much? Blows my mind. How do I adequately thank her? A really good backrub? Dunno. Anyway, now I'll shut up.

So I'm missing an important department meeting in NJ today. They're even having a fancy lunch. Meanwhile, I'm in Toronto, and probably having lunch @ McDonalds. Insert a big :( right here.

BTW, it's not business formal dress here in this office. It's business casual. I brought my suits and ties for no reason. Argh. Speaking of Canada, I was emailing my boss, and I may have some good news re: my 2006 schedule. More on that later when the schedule is firmed up.

6:03pm

Almost time to go back to the hotel. I'm staying in tonight so that I can work on my 1st quarter Business Monitoring work. Sounds exciting, doesn't it? I found a KFC not too far away -- today is Toonie Tuesday, after all. I could use some greasy fried chicken. Kanishk, stop rolling your disapproving eyes at me. Go back to the flirty ones.

I found an Apple Quicktime tutorial on the EMBED tag. I can now embed multipe movies on a single page, and they won't all play simultaneously. In the spirit of embedding more videos, here's another short video of Joshua.

Tivo finally is releasing a dual tuner Series 2 DVR, and it features dual tuners. Of course, I'd much prefer the Series 3 hopefully coming out in late 2006. I'm not holding my breath.

10:06pm

I went out for a walk around my hotel this evening. Some upscale stores: Vera Wang, Couture dress stores, Ferrari, Rolls-Royce. Too rich for my blood. On my walk, I found this Indian restaurant, Host. I had samosas, chicken vindaloo, and some naan. It was the hottest chicken vindaloo I've ever had. My eyes were watering. Good food, but bad service. The waiter was never around.

802.11n is coming. Products from Linksys are supposedly available at Best Buy now. I'd love it, but we just moved to 802.11g early last year.

Dell has really gotten on my nerves. We ordered a new digital camera, and we're trying to get the Sandisk Ultra II 1Gb SD card. Dell's website stated it was available for only $55. I placed the order, and forwarded the email to my wife without actually reading it. She immediately shoots me an email, asking why our order is going to be shipped in two months.

"What?", I said? I check my email, and it says the SD card will ship June 29 2006. 2 months from now. I check the order on the website, and it says June. Swearing under my breath, I struggle to find a way to cancel my order on the Dell website. Not easy to find, and when I did finally find it, the website didn't recognize my order or customer numbers. I had to call and cancel it..... once I could find a telephone number, which also wasn't easy.

My favorite part of the conversation with "Sarina" was when she checked her systems, and offered to guarantee somehow that my order ship on June 30th. I was shocked. "No. It's an SD card. I can just pick it up from a store today. It doesn't make sense to wait 2 months." I had to explain my rationale twice to her, and I still don't think she got it. We ended up ordering it from Buy.com, and should be here late this week or early next week. I really don't respect a company that discourages customers from contacting them.

|

Monday, April 24th 2006

9:11am

I'm sitting in yet another illustrious conference room. I picked up breakfast, but I'm having trouble with my VPN connection, so no email, no replicating my workpapers, nothing. I'm hoping the LAN guys can figure it out. No network connectivity the entire week would royally suck.

9:46am

We have connectivity!

|

Sunday, April 23rd 2006

4:39pm

Boy, am I suprised. More on that later. I'm currently sitting at Gate 87 @ Newark Airport, Terminal C, waiting for my flight to Toronto. After rushing around today, I got to the airport for my 5pm-delayed-to-5:47pm flight, but now is delayed to 6:20pm. Ugh. I hate flight delays. Ah well, such is life. Stuff happens, and you take it in stride.

I've travelled so much in the past 7 years since graduating college, no travel hiccups bother me anymore. I think the worst travel experience I've ever had was back after Sept 11 2001, and waiting over 17 hours at the Detroit Metro Airport for a flight that never happened, getting kicked off a plane over 9/11 hysteria, and being mistaken for a potential terrorist. I think that one takes the cake. Any travel woes certainly pale in comparison. The only way I'm going to top that is to get arrested in Thailand, and be held in a Thai prison. That would suck.

Now, to recap recent events, i.e. why am I surprised. I was supposed to be at a wedding reception for one my wife's former coworkers. Instead, as many of you wonderful readers were well aware, there was NO wedding reception to attend. This former coworker of hers was NOT married in Cancun. Was probably NOT even married.

There was, however, a surprise 30th birthday party for yours truly, and I'm still shocked over it, and how many of you jerks conspired together in this endeavor, and kept it from me too. Well, good job, I had no idea, and it worked. I do admit to being suspicious a few times, but one reason or another, changed my mind. I was not, in my wildest dreams, expecting a party on that grand of scale. In a banquet hall, with DJ, and surrounded by 50+ of my friends.

Thanks to everyone. If you weren't there, you missed a good party. :) We have lots of photos, and Chirag (our talented director) shot some video. And thanks to all who took photos, and I hope are zipping them to me at the moment. I'm looking forward to seeing the footage when I return to the States. Can I say the phrase "return to the States" when I'm just travelling to Canada?

Anyway, Num and I stayed at the Sheraton in Mahwah NJ overnight (pre-planned), and we drove to Doug & Kathy's for breakfast. Paul and Sean (of Michigan) even drove in for this party, and were staying with them. After breakfast, we drove back to pick up Joshua from my in-laws. We visited our friend Barbara, scarfed down some brick oven Margherita pizza, and drove to the airport.

And here I still am.

10:25pm

I arrived no worse for wear. I slept through most of the flight. I'm here at the Four Seasons Hotel, and just ordered a steak from room service. I'd venture out for Canadian KFC, but it's late, and pouring rain. Room service, it is. The room is very nice though.

On the drive in from the airport, I was slightly surprised to see so many U.S. brands on the billboards. Japanese cars on the highways. Everything looks the same. Eh, the globe is getting smaller, right? Global economy and all that jazz.

I had read there was wireless internet available at the hotel, but turns out they charge $10 CDN for 24 hours. I asked how much was high-speed in the hotel room, and it's $15 CDN. I'm like, "$10 for wireless internet, and I have to sit in the lobby? No, thanks anyway." I'll have to find a Starbucks this week.

I spoke to my wife, and she's still recuperating from the party. I miss my family already.

|

Friday, April 21st 2006

Man, I didn't get out of the office tonight until 7:45pm. Had a lot to do before my trip Sunday night. I hope the weather is good in Toronto.

Tomorrow is my birthday. 30 years old. Hmmm, who'd uh thunk it?

The Quality Assurance Department (AKA my wife) has approved Video #1 for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy.

I won't have time to blog tomorrow, as we have a wedding reception to attend, and then I fly out Sunday evening. I'll blog from Toronto sans pictures, though I'm considering bringing the camera. Ah hell, I'll bring the camera. You talked me into it.

|

Thursday, April 20th 2006

Oh, it's warm, isn't it? We've turned off the heat, and it's still 75 degrees in the place.

I went to the gym today after work. I feel much better about going..... once this week. Better than not going at all, like last week. This evening, we had Boston Market for dinner. My sweet potatoes were delicious!

Video is coming, my friends. Video is coming. I've put together four short Quicktime videos of Mr. Joshua. They're currently "in review" by my wife (we call her the Quality Assurance Department), and if they're okay by her, I'll post them tomorrow. I hope she doesn't the notice the subliminal messages to buy more pound cake.

I think Wikipedia is so interesting. Where else can you get informative answers on diverse items like the Indian state of Kerala, Transformers, and deep fried Twinkies. Pictures too.

I love news about stupid people. Some good stuff in the news recently:

  • 76-year-old Florida man going door to door offering free breast exams to women. How does this gimmick work for this guy? It's never worked for me.
  • The Backhoe Bandit of Kansas City, Kansas. So many smart folks in the Heartland of America. BTW, you can have President George W. Bush back.
  • The drug addict in Tennessee who sold his car for a $150 bag of cocaine, then realized that's a stupid thing to do.
  • A lotologist is someone who collects scratch-off lottery tickets. People, see me. I've got plenty laying around.
  • People who steal gas are always good for a laugh. Mental note: don't use lighters when siphoning gas from someone else's car.
  • Pennsylvania GOP Supervisor sends out a joke email about Breast Appreciation Day to..... everyone. Oh yeah, with nudity.

Time for bed. G'nite.

|

Wednesday, April 19th 2006

Did I mention that I got a traffic ticket last Thursday? No? Yeah, I received an impromptu traffic ticket on the way to work Thursday morning. You know, my vehicle registration had expired recently...... February, and I never got around to renewing it. You can do it online, but we haven't been able to find the renewal form, which necessitates time off to visit the DMV in person. Who has time for that, I ask?

Last Thursday morning, I was sitting at a traffic light when a police car pulled up behind me. We both wait for the green light, but as soon as we both make the left, he turns on the lights. He pulls me over, asks for ID and all, and I tell him, yes, the registration is expired. Been meaning to get it done, etc. He walks away with my documentation, and I wonder, "Why did he pull me over in the first place? We were sitting at a light."

I ask him later, and he says he ran my license plate in his computer, and my car came back as unregistered. So, now you know that police officers will just run random license plate numbers into the system, just to see if anything pops up. You have been warned.

Today, I went to the DMV, and got the registration renewed. Now I just have to get the inspection done too.

In other news, Joshua got another haircut today. Since we're borrowing the 2nd car, my wife and child drove up to my area around lunchtime. We had lunch at the nearby Afghan restaurant (Hmmm, chicken kabobs!), and Joshua had his haircut. We sat in the sun, had a nice lunch. It was really nice.

|

Tuesday, April 18th 2006

What a miserable day for commuting.

  1. Even though I woke up around 5:30am this morning, I still managed to watch my 6:10am bus drive off without me today.
  2. I ran to the main bus stop in 5 minutes (normally a 10 min walk), hoping to catch the bus at the end of its circle around the complex.
  3. I catch a bus, but I belatedly learn it's the 6:20am local.
  4. 6:50am, and we still haven't gotten onto the NJ Turnpike yet. Need I remind you it's an 8am meeting, a 1 hour drive to NYC, and the office is on the East side?
  5. We hit construction traffic around exit 15. Is rush hour really the best time to close off a northbound lane?
  6. I catch the E train, and get to the meeting room at 8:17am. Tiny room, and quite easy to notice anyone walking late.
  7. In order to borrow a car this week from my in-laws, I had to take the bus to their place. Delays on the 2/3 subway line to 42nd St and Port Authority.
  8. I got lost in Port Authority trying to find the ticketing windows.
  9. I had difficulty finding the right line to stand on at the gate. I stood on the right line, got told it was the wrong line, stood on two more lines (both incorrect), and ended up back on the line I had initially chosen..... but now much farther back down the line.
  10. Traffic in the Lincoln Tunnel. Of course.
  11. Skip ahead, I momentarily forgot there was no EZ-Pass tag in the car, and go through the EZ-Pass lane, and a big warning that a tag couldn't be read.
  12. I pull over to the side, and run into the nearby Turnpike office to get a ticket for entering/exiting the Turnpike.
  13. I get home at 8:30pm. I left work at 5pm. 3.5 hours to get home? Yup.

I woke up at 5:30am this morning. What a tiring day.

|

Monday, April 17th 2006

I was going to do work tonight, but "Ugh", I can't. I'm tired, and I have to be in midtown for an 8am meeting. I'm in NYC the rest of the day. Hmmm, did I use "Ugh" correctly in a sentence? Very nice.

First test of home video exported to Quicktime worked swell. I'd post it, but I was too jittery with the camera-work. I'll try again for better-quality video later this week.

After I got home from work tonight, Joshua and I went grocery shopping today at the local SuperFresh. Their selection isn't so great, so I think I'll stick to ShopRite from now on. Joshy and I ran the gauntlet of grocery store aisles, which was daunting.

"Where's the ginger?"

"Joshy, do you see jasmine rice anywhere?"

"Joshua, stop eating the grocery list."

He wasn't much help, but we got nearly everything on our list in about 90 minutes. It's tough being Mr. Mom, even for a single evening.

With great sadness in my heart, I announce that we cancelled our Blockbuster online rental subscription. We still had 102 movies in our queue, but we just weren't watching enough, often enough, to justify the monthly charges. It would simply cheaper to rent them when necessary from the bricks-and-mortar store. Blame my wife and her "common sense."

My birthday is coming up in 5 days. I'm not freaking out, but I do hit the big 3-0. That's just weird. Me? 30? How did that happen?

|

Sunday, April 16th 2006

Happy Easter, to those of you celebrating. Today is the nicest Easter weather that we've had in a while, so we're going out for a stroll, including baby.

I'm rather bummed out that my friend Dave is no longer with my company. Dave, I wish you the best. Good luck with everything. That's all I'm gonna say.

Been a busy week at work. The big news is that I'm now officially co-leading on my current audit. Yup, my boss made the decision this week. Now I'm super busy trying to be useful. Hopefully I learn something.

Doug called me on Friday, and told me that he was buying me Battlefield 2 for my birthday -- I just had to pick it up for him. :) The Kondorf brothers were playing from 6-9pm Friday night, so if I hurried, I could play a map. As soon as I got home from work (huge traffic, BTW), I took Joshy, and we went to the local Best Buy. I've got it installed, as well as the huge update patch. By the time I was ready, and Joshy had bathed, it was 9pm, and they were wrapping up. Next time, I guess. Here are some screenshots of the game. Pretty sweet.

../PG/Misc/04162006_002.jpg (57620 bytes)
../PG/Misc/04162006_003.jpg (38175 bytes)
../PG/Misc/04162006_004.jpg (345183 bytes)
../PG/Misc/04162006_005.jpg (53044 bytes)

I've got a crazy blackout story. It's obviously not on par with surviving the Great Blackout of 2003, it's still a story. Friday night, we're just wrapping up dinner, and watching episode 4 of the BBC's The Office. All of a sudden, a complete blackout. Not unusual since moving here last October. Power comes on, then off. On, then off. This happens for 5-6 minutes. Finally, just dark. We break out the flashlights and candles, put everything away, and go to sleep.

In the morning, still no power. I talk to the neighbors, and they've called the electric company already. They're told that the power should be up by 9am. I've flipped the breakers (at 9am), and now we're just waiting it out. It isn't until about 3:30pm Saturday morning, when I ask the neighbors again about the still-lack of power, and he goes, "You still don't have power? We got ours back at 10am."

Befuddled, I run back inside, and decide to try the breakers again. I hear the power come back in the house. 10am, but we've been living in the Stone Age until nearly 4pm? Sigh. In the evening, we went to my in-laws for dinner.

I've been playing around with our video editing software, and I figured out how to export stills from captured video. That means that I can extract photos from Joshua's birthday party. Will work on that later this week.

|

Wednesday, April 12th 2006

Oh man. I haven't been at the gym in over a week -- I can blame work, actually. I stepped on the scale this evening at home, and it was frightening. No further comments from me. My gym clothes and sneakers have been sitting in my cube all week, as I've been staying late. [Shut up, David. I don't want to even hear it.]

So, how's everyone doing?

The week has been fairly uneventful, except for working late. New audit. Reading documentation. Requesting deliverables. Creating a business monitoring plan for an audit entity the first time. Reviewing corrective action plans. Trying to get face-time with my manager. You know the drill -- the life of an auditor. Nothing exciting.

I feel bad about not having any photos to add to the March (and looks like April) photo galleries. I feel especially guilty for not capturing my old son in his ongoing quest to taste the cat. The digital camera is just acting all sorts of funky and unreliable. If only we could afford to get a new camera. If only we had friends, family members, and stalkers who were beautiful and charitable.....

Twenty years from now, Joshua can't completely resent us, because there are new photos added constantly to the Moblog. You are visiting the Moblog, aren't you? Why, just yesterday, I took a photo of my Nissen Instant Noodles Chow Mien. And it was scrumptious. Wouldn't a picture of that brighten your day? Wouldn't a picture that brightens your day be worth, oh, say, $5 each?

I like how I'm panhandling via blog. You know what's going to happen. My wife is going to call me in the morning, and ask me why I'm panhandling electronically, and what the hell is wrong with me.

Such is the life of Joel, the panhandler.

Seriously though, the weekend is sneaking up. Yee haw. We visited my in-laws Tuesday night. We picked up a few things of ours being stored there, including my bike. Yes, the bike is in the house. I'm gonna see about dropping it off for a tuneup at a nearby bicycle shop.

|

Sunday, April 9th 2006

../PG/Misc/04092006_001.jpg (45722 bytes)
A Teenager's Guide to Understanding and Preparing for the Second Coming

Stupid Monday is here already.

Check out this book. I especially love the phrase "How awesome will it be?" Awesome like Brad from 2nd period Math class asking me to the school dance!

I got bored this afternoon, and watched The Fifth Element on TV today. What a hokey movie, and the ending sucked too. How does Milla Jovovich keep getting acting work as an action star? BTW, wasn't Chris Tucker absolutely annoying?

On a related note, I watched the first 10 minutes of Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. I could only sit through the first 10 minutes, because that was crap too. I did somewhat enjoy the mindless entertainment of Scary Movie 2. Stupid and mindless, yes. Entertaining precisely because of that? Yes.

../PG/Misc/Movie_TheFifthElement_001.jpg (56909 bytes)
../PG/Misc/Movie_LaraCroft2_001.jpg (45850 bytes)
../PG/Misc/Movie_ScaryMovie2_001.jpg (51833 bytes)
The Fifth Element - who cares?
Lara Croft 2 - stupid
Scary Movie 2 - mindlessly amusing

There's a new live-action Charlotte's Web movie coming out? I see there's an all-star cast, but I prefer the original cartoon version. Of course, the book was good too.

Dinner with Doug & Kathy went well Saturday night. My wife got some new recipe for meatloaf (with bacon on top!), a tomato relish to top it off, mashed potatoes, and some squash & cherry tomatoes. D & K brought some excellent apple pie over for dessert. Todos muy excellente. My wife is un chef muy bien.

 

../PG/Misc/04092006_003.jpg (29080 bytes)
Sout Park mocking Family Guy

I spent some quality time with Joshamundo this weekend, and he's really getting better with the walking. Sure, he walks like Frankenstein's monster, but he's trying. It's really satisfying to watch him learn new things. I don't know how he's going to walk properly when he's giggling all the time.

After some much-needed grocery shopping, I made some decent Chinese food. Shredded beef & onions in a Lemongrass sauce, Teriyaki veggies, and rice. Good stuff!

Did you hear that South Park creators Matt Stone & Trey Parker hate Family Guy? People complain that FG is too random, but I think that's part of the magic of the show. Anyway, Stone and Parker mocked FG in last week's South Park episode. Here's a clip from it. I'm catching it later this week. Worlds collide!

Three great videos on iFilm.com, if you have the time.

  • An old '90's clip from this instructional video for [drum roll, please] Country Hip Hop Dancing.
  • Zsa Zsa Gabor once had a workout video? How much fat do you lose with this super-low impact workout?
  • A promotional clip for the Iranian Policewomen's Academy. Watching women in full hajibs rappelling down the side of a building is just priceless.

The official Spiderman 3 website is up. Not much there yet besides wallpapers to download, but I see that the "Spidey in Black Costume" picture is legit. Guess what my new wallpaper at the office is?

I'll be working late this week, with much to do, completing my task list at work.

Even better....... Payday is not far off.

|

Friday, April 7th 2006

Now commences the blog posting of random thoughts:

Thank goodness the week is over. I start a new audit (planning phase) next week. Yeehaw. Remember how I had about 12 items on my task list? I knocked out three of them today. Now I just have nine more to go.

My wife successfully made me guilty enough today to clip my toenails. I don't know why I told the entire world that.

We (finally) started working on a household budget. Do you know what's about that? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. As soon as you think you're done, you find some other expense we forgot to budget for. Alright, alright, I'll say "Uncle." Can I stop being an adult now.

../PG/Misc/04072006_002.jpg (21692 bytes)
The original BBC's
"The Office"

Related to the budget, we're officially cancelling our Blockbuster Unlimited Rentals membership this month. Sniff sniff, but my wife has a good point. Where are the savings to pay $15 a month for one rental? We really only watch 1 or 2 movies a month these days. Cie la ve. Au revoir, Blockbuster. I just want us to finish our last two DVDs: Rebel Without a Cause, and The Office Season 1 (BBC version).

Speaking of the BBC version of The Office, call us stupid Americans, but we had a lot of trouble understanding what these Brits were saying. I thought I found British accents great, but now I just think they're unintelligible. Then we turned on the subtitles, and all was right with the world.

Doug and Kathy are coming over tomorrow night for dinner. Yeah, baby.

The cat is back. No tumor, no kidney stones. She's just a 13-year old cat with behavioral problems. The vet wanted to run some additional tests, but I was like, "Uh, she's been urinating on our collective belongings since 1994. She's mental. No more expensive tests."

I'm leaving for Toronto in two weeks. I'll be there for one week on an at-close. My buddy Paul may drive up to visit from Detroit. Poor, poor Toronto.

Speaking of travelling, one of my work-related tasks is to submit my planned vacation time. It doesn't sound difficult, but it's hard to commit. As a family, we're looking to visit Atlanta, Maryland, and Virginia this year. I can't wait.

Now for the random links:

  • First, piracy is bad. Now, here are step-by-step instructions on how to get songs off of your iPod.
  • Cable TV provider Cablevision has this idea to eliminate DVRs.... network DVRs. You store your shows/movies on the cable provider's network file servers, and stream them when you want to watch it. Interesting? I think so.
  • What's up, Houston? Where's the love? Houston folks are tired of the Katrina refugees. So sad. Jimboy, is there really a backlash? [This was from last month, but I'm starting to catch up.]
  • Identity theft sucks. Here's a crazy story of a woman who found out when her new ATM card arrived with someone else's face. [This is from Feburary 2006. Read it anyway.]
  • President George Bush may have authorized the leaking of classified information? Ho. Lee. Crap. Am I surprised? Not one bit. Democrat. Republican. Independent. Self-serving liars. [Not you, Rick. You're a good city councilman.]

Too.....tired.....to.....blog.

Must......sleep.

|

Thursday, April 6th 2006

Busy busy busy. I decided to compile all things I have to do into my task list at the office -- it's around 12 items right now. Fantastic.

The big news is that Joshua started walking this week. He's not an expert or anything, but he's taking a few steps here, 10 steps there. It's pretty cool. I was working from home today, as my wife had a doctor's appointment. Joshua and I spent a lot of time today in the waiting room practicing.

If you like the Mac X Tiger GUI, I just heard about this website osx.portraitofakite.com where you can download this mixture of windowblind skins and other files, and it'll transform your Windows XP interface into what looks like Mac X. I would have done it already, except the C|Net.com video said you should back up all your files, set up Restore Points, yada yada. I figure I'll wait, because with my luck, I'll turn my nice shiny Dell into a brick.

|

Saturday, April 1st 2006

The taxes are done!

We went to Red Lobster Friday night, to make up for missing our surf & turf meal from Cynthia's wedding last Saturday. Okay, I don't eat lobster, so this lobster was just for her. I agreed, because she wears the pants in the family. We called ahead for 6:45pm reservations, but I got stuck in traffic, and we missed the time slot. We got there around 7:15pm, and we put ourselves on the long list. How long? 1 hour and 20 minutes.

We fed Joshua 3 times, virtually introduced him to everyone in the waiting area, and used every trick in the book to keep him occupied. In the end, we got our dinner.

That's the big update.

|