Author Archives: Joel

Josh & I @ his 1st basketball game

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Joel

During last year’s NBA playoffs, my son Josh developed into a fan of Derrick Rose on the Chicago Bulls. I’m not exactly sure why, and maybe it somehow connects mentally to the past few seasons of soccer he’s been playing. … Continue reading →

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Gone Baby Gone (2007)

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Joel

After sitting on our tv stand literally for months, I finally had some free time to watch Gone Baby Gone today on my day off. This is a 2007 film directed by Ben Affleck, and starring his brother Casey Affleck, … Continue reading →

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10 years ago I was unemployed

Posted on February 4, 2012 by Joel

I had a sudden realization that it was 10 years ago this week when I got laid off for the first (and knock on wood, the last time.) My period of unemployment was unnerving, and if I didn’t have the … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal | 3 Comments

I upgraded to TiVo Desktop Plus

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Joel

This week, I upgraded to TiVo Desktop Plus. I had planned this a few months ago. One of the benefits of TiVo is the TiVo Desktop software, which allows you to transfer your recordings to another device (desktop, laptop, Mac.) … Continue reading →

Posted in Technology | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Reupped our Verizon FiOS contract, and got an automatic upgrade to 25/25 Mbps

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Joel

Times sure flies. It’s been over two years since Verizon flipped on our FiOS service in 2009. Apart from the initial hiccups, it’s been smooth sailing, and I don’t believe we’ve an outage since ’09. We’ve had the Triple Play … Continue reading →

Posted in Technology | Tagged , | 2 Comments

TiVo Update 20.2 finally makes the Premiere worth it

Posted on January 28, 2012 by Joel

Regular readers will know that I’ve had a love/hate relationship with the TiVo Premiere since we got it December 2010 (for my Christmas present, actually.) My wife and I weren’t particularly happy with the Verizon-supplied Motorola 6400-series STB/DVR we were … Continue reading →

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Slate.com: No Pet For You

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Joel

I can sympathize with some of the troubles that other would-be pet adopters have experienced. When we were looking to adopt our kittens last year, I went through a bit of a rigamarole with the adoption process. The animal hospital … Continue reading →

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Pretty neat mash up of Lionel Richie’s “Hello”

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Joel

I have to give some people credit for the creativity they display and the willingness to put out the amount of effort to make this stuff up. Hello from ant1mat3rie on Vimeo.

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Bridesmaids (2011)

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Joel

Sunday night was date night here at the Ipe household. The kids were staying over at the in-laws, and we had the evening to ourselves. After mucb contemplating about extravagant evening entertainment, we went the simple route — have dinner … Continue reading →

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My list of stuff I need to get or do in 2012

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Joel

I’m putting a stake in the ground, and listing the stuff I need, and things I need to do in 2012. This is my official running list. Better get my list done now, so I know what to work towards. … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal | Tagged , | 1 Comment