5 Reasons The Terminator Franchise Makes No Goddamn Sense | Cracked.com

Posted on June 25, 2009 by Joel

I love the Terminator movie franchise, but uh, these are all good points.

5 Reasons The Terminator Franchise Makes No Goddamn Sense | Cracked.com

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Joanna Krupa and Terrell Owens are perfect for each other

Posted on June 25, 2009 by Joel

In this clip from this new ABC network reality show The Superstars, model Joanna Krupa and Terrell Owens were paired up to compete in some stupid games.  I don’t know much about Joanna Krupa (except that she is a model), but I know all about T.O. and his need for an attitude adjustment.  From what I’ve seen here, Joanna Krupa is as much a tool as T.O.

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So I’m drinking coffee now

Posted on June 25, 2009 by Joel

I must be getting older. I used to have the energy of a bull. Most nights, I’d be up until 3am, yet still ready for work the next morning. Any regular night that I drank caffeinated soda, fuggedaboudit. I’d be up the whole night.

These days, not so much. My limitless energy reserves must be drained. By 8:30pm, I’m starting to drag. By 10pm, I’m starting to nod off. Caffeinated soda isn’t working anymore. Sheer willpower isn’t working either.

I was never the coffee-drinking type. I usually drink one bottle of Diet Coke at lunch these days to get me through the afternoon. This week, I’ve started drinking coffee.

What has happened to me?

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So we have cable tv and the internet back

Posted on June 24, 2009 by Joel

A happy announcement — as of Monday afternoon, we had our cable tv and hi-speed internet back.  Cause for celebration? Yes.  Could it have been fixed sooner?  You betcha.  Let me explain.

Last Thursday, a Comcast technician was supposedly dispatched to our house to check the lines outside to find out what happened to our service, assuming something happened to the connections outside.  Lo and behold that night, we still have no tv or internet.  All the Comcast Live Chat rep can tell me from the details in the service record is that the technician noted that our lines were damaged.  Okay, but did they do anything to fix it?  No info.

So we waited for our service appointment until Monday. I got to the office super early, so that I could leave at 2pm to get home for the appointment.  Just before 3pm, I arrive home to find the Comcast van in our parking spot, and the technician snoozing in the van. I wake him up, and he tells me that he fixed the problem already.  Turns out, the cables outside our house were damaged, so he fixed them.

Uh……….

I told him that we had someone out here last Thursday who reported that.  Why wasn’t it fixed then?  Get this: this technician tells me that he doesn’t know, and “maybe he was a moron.”  We go inside, and verify that our service has been installed.  Can you believe that we could have been fine last Thursday, and I wouldn’t have had to jump through hoops on Monday for a job I didn’t have to be home for?

Unbelievable.

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Maryland Adventure Day

Posted on June 24, 2009 by Joel

This past Saturday, we left ab round 9:30am for Maryland.  Our friend Barb was to be a guest at her own supposed-to-be-a-surprise baby shower, but she found out somehow.  No matter.  The plan was for the girls to go the baby shower, and I would take Josh to the National Aquarium in  Baltimore. After driving through the rain on our way down south (again!), we made it down to the Maryland area.  Since we hadn’t had any time to pick up the baby shower gift, we ended up hitting a Babies “R” Us in the immediate area, buying and wrapping the gift in record time.

After I dropped off the girls, Josh and I got some quick lunch, and then we were off to Baltimore.  I haven’t been to Baltimore in many years, but I didn’t remember the harbor area being all that built up the last time.  There were so many restaurants and big box retailers in the area.  It appeared to be a pretty happening place now.

National Aquarium in Baltimore

National Aquarium in Baltimore

First off, my goodness, the aquarium is very popular and very expensive.  It was 2:30 by the time we had parked the car, and made it to the ticket window area.  There was a long line to buy tickets, and it took some time to make it to the window.  Due to the crowds, they were staggering entrance, so even if we bought tickets, we couldn’t enter until 4:30pm.  Two hours! I was worried that after spending $40 on tickets, we’d make it 5 mins into the aquarium, the baby shower would be over, and we’d have to leave.  For some reason, the ticket window agent gave us a 2:30pm entrance time, and I didn’t ask questions as I bolted with Josh to the entrance before they figured it out.

We spent about 3 hours in the aquarium, taking in and absorbing all the different exhibits, and seeing all the marine wildlife.  It’s a pretty cool aquarium, I must say. You can learn a lot, as there is much to see.  There was no way we could hit everything, so we missed events like the puffin feeding time, and definitely no time for the dolphin show.  In the middle, I decided Josh and I could use an ice cream break, and we sat and watched the boats in the harbor.

Nums & Barb after the babyshower

Nums & Barb after the baby shower

We left around 5:30pm, and picked up the girls.  They had a good time at the baby shower, and Lily was her usual life of the party.  We hit a Waffle House on the way back for dinner, and got home around 11pm.

Truly, a spur-of-the-moment Maryland Adventure Day.  Photos are already posted, so enjoy.

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Test blog posting

Posted on June 23, 2009 by Joel

This is a test blog posting from Joel’s iPod. Neat!

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Back to NJ and off to a baseball game @ FirstEnergy Park

Posted on June 22, 2009 by Joel

Woohoo, time for a big, fun-filled weekend.

On Friday, we got out of the office a little late (the usual wrapping up of work), dropped off the rental car, and headed over to the ticket counter.  Of course, our flight was delayed, but they said it was “negligible.”  Somehow, between the check-in counter and the gate, “neglible” turned into a 2 hour flight delay.  Say whaaaaaat, Continental?  And while we were collectively scowling at the departure screen, it changed to a 1 hour delay.  Uh, how long did we have to scowl at the screen before the flight was on time?

So we had time to eat lunch, then board the flight.  Of course, I appreciated how Continental split the original delay, because now we were delayed taking off and again as we circled around Newark Airport after that.  Somehow, we ended up only touching down in Newark 90 mins later than expected.  One of my coworkers and I shared his car service back to his place, and then I drove home from there.

Lakewood BlueClaws game at First Energy Park

Lakewood BlueClaws game at First Energy Park

As soon as I got home, it was time to get ready for some minor league baseball!  My wife’s company paid for tickets and dinner to see the Lakewood BlueClaws play the…. er…., you know, I have no idea who was playing, nor where we were exactly going.  I didn’t care, actually, because it was a Friday night.  I found out during the drive that we were heading to Lakewood NJ, which is down the shore halfway to Toms River.  Checking their website now, it was the Lake County Captains, so…… okay.

By the time we arrived at FirstEnergy Park , it was after 8pm, and they had stopped serving our free food.  Thankfully, my wife’s friends/coworkers saved us some plates.  Josh wasn’t all that interested in the game, but we were all surprised to learn that a nearby Toyota/Scion dealership was sponsoring fireworks, which was a welcome treat.

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Why is hotel TV so entertaining?

Posted on June 18, 2009 by Joel

Do you know what I don’t get? When I’m home, I watch very little TV.  Maybe I don’t have a lot of time at home, maybe there’s not much on.  I’ve at the TV on at 2am while I was doing work, and it’s just crap.  However, when I’m on the road, I can be up super late watching all the interesting stuff on TV. 

I want to go to sleep, and there’s an interesting documentary on the Korean War.  Maybe a super-interesting CourtTV-type of mystery/crime re-creation.  Here in Canada, do you know what they have?  Space, a 24-hour sci-fi channel.  Last night, I watched two hours of Star Trek, and Aliens!  It’s a better sci-fi channel than Sci-Fi in the States (soon to be SyFy in July 2009.)

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There are not enough movies about Nazi zombies

Posted on June 18, 2009 by Joel

I happened to find this Norwegian movie called Dead Snow. Read the following, and I am not making this up.

A ski vacation turns horrific for a group of medical students, as they find themselves confronted by an unimaginable menace: Nazi zombies.

Nazi zombies? Seriously?

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Comcast! What are you doing to us?!?!?!?

Posted on June 17, 2009 by Joel

My wife called me Tuesday to inform me that both the digital cable and internet were both out.  Reset modems and cable boxes, and we’ve still got nothing.  I haven’t been able to dial out to their 800 customer service number, so I’ve been contacting them via Live Chat online.  So far, I’ve spoken to “Earl” and “Bruce”.  I wonder how many Earls and Bruces there are in Chennai?

After chatting with “Earl” Tues afternoon, they were able to send a tech to look at the outdoor box on Wednesday, but according to my wife, no luck.  Wed night, I chatted with “Bruce”, and he didn’t have any great details.  However, what he did know was that the tech reported the cable line was damaged.  Damaged?  What the heck is going on?  How are we having all these issues right when we’re ending our cable service?  Isn’t this just bizarre timing?

Funny though, I don’t know if the chat reps from Comcast were all that bright.  I’m chatting with Bruce, and he asks me to reset the cable box.  I tell him, uh, I’m not at home — I’m travelling internationally.  If I have no internet access at home, how could I be home chatting? It took him a few seconds, then he said, “I see sir.” Natual mistake, I guess.

Since my wife has to, you know, go to work, we’re not going to have the situation resolved until Monday.  You bet your sweet bippy that I’m going to get some sort of credit for no cable/internet for a week.

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