thanks!

Thanksgiving weekend, 2006, has consisted of eating, and tv... and that's pretty much it. Actually, more has occurred, one (of three) of my brothers in law came and stayed with us, which is always nice. Saturday, we used the Los Angeles public transit system, the green, blue, and red lines, to be specific. It was great! Only 3 bucks for unlimited use the whole day. Only bad part is that we had to drive up to Norwalk to the nearest station. We could have walked down to the nearest metrolink station, which is close, and taken it up to Union Station in downtown LA, but that would have added 15 bucks for each of us, round trip. Too bad we don't have those trains coming all the way down here, or at least somewhere closer. But, it's really not all that much longer than driving the whole way.. it took just over an hour and a half to get from hollywood home, which is probably about how long it would have taken driving the whole way. So, it was definitely worth it. We also bought our tickets to see Wicked, in April from the theater, so no Ticketmaster fees!
I did have to "work" on Friday, but I put it in quotes because it was super slow, and only half a day, so no big deal. Plus, since I worked that day, I get the day after Christmas off, which is a much better deal, if you ask me, and you should!

Chone Dijon Murphree

Well, this is what's new, this little car. We made all the agreement/arrangements yesterday, and will probably be picking him up next Saturday. He is a 1974 Clubman Mini. He runs just fine, and is quite fun to drive. he has a few problem areas, but that's just fine with us, we both were in the hunt for a project that we can work on every once in a while, and still be able to drive right away.

As you can see, it's definately seen some moisture and rusted a bit, but it's actually not nearly as bad as minis can get. This one came from New Zealand, instead of England, so there was less moisture, and less salt on the roads it lived on. Oh, and yup, it's a right hand drive. It actually didn't feel weird to sit on that side, what took getting used to is shifting with my left hand. On the test drive, I frequently hit the door with my right hand as I went to shift. It drives like a little go kart, is loads of fun. The steering has barely any play, the suspension still feels tight, the transmission didn't have much play. Overall, it's in really good condition. Once we have him in our posession, and own a digital camera, we'll be able to post more pictures, of the engine, and the boot (the trunk).
Good times!

Nothing is final

So, I decided last week (with the permission of my wife, who does all the bills, thank you Jesus for that) that it was time to finally break down and be one of the last people in the world to get a little game called Final Fantasy XII (it came out the day before, I'm so behind on the times). Yup, they're on their 12th installment, which means is 12 times awesome! The problem, of course, is now how do I spend my time? On WoW, which I've devoted many hours/days to, or to the brand new, never before seen content of FFXII? Easy choice, my friend. Does this mean the end of my WoW playing days? I don't think so, but honestly, you never know. I've pretty much done everything I am able to do, with the amount of time I can play, and when those times are. I mean, to do anything significant in it now, I have to have at least 2 hours free, and that's just a minimum. I can play FFXII for 30 minutes, save, and have advanced something. I'm just saying....
Ok, weekly mac and cheese dinner is eaten, time to get moving.

Snip Snip

So, one of my best friends, whom I've known for the majority of my life, got the old vasectomy today. I talked to him, and how he has described the procedure, and how he feels now, well, made me cross my legs. But, has not made me change my mind about whether or not I'll be doing the same thing some time in the future. I mean, going through a small, quick thing, is way better than my way better half having to endure actual surgery. The thing that I find kinda odd is that not every guy in the world feels this way. Maybe I'm naive, but how any guy could think that it's not ok for him to do that and make his wife go through worse, is beyond me.

So, you know how it feels when you are the recipient of a solid strike in the junk? Ok, the females will not, but the guys do. That feeling after the initial pain, when you feel like your testes are lodged in your throat? My friend is experiencing that part, non stop. Yikes. Also, he said that during the procedure, when she (yeah, it was a she) was pulling on the first tube, he could feel it in his stomach. And then she had to do the second one. Ugh. Plus, the actual smell of them cutting the tubes (with some sort of blowtorch device) was the worst smell he's ever endured.
So, that's about it for now, I want to try and get to this more often, because I enjoy it quite a bit, but we'll see.. it's so hard to not play WoW when I have free computer time.

Loco Roco
For those of you that have a psp, stop reading this, and go to psp land, then the downloads section, then download the demo for this game. You'll need the updated software, but it's completely worth it. This game is beyond description. The song, although of unknown language, is so annoyingly catchy, but at the same time, makes you smile, even though you'll have it in your head all day. And, I'm not talkin about the song on the website, I mean the actual one in the game. I'm trying to figure out a way to have a good reason to buy it, but with the WoW expansion coming sometime soon, and FFXII soon as well, and Spore somewhere on the horizon, I'm not so sure it's gonna be possible.
As a side note, I went to culinary school, and it never fails that when someone finds that out, they always want to know what my speciality is. Well, I've never had an answer until now. This answer might be because I'm starving, and this was the easiest thing to make, or maybe it's also because it's one of my favorite foods, but anyway, enjoy.

NOBODY calls me chicken

So, I just couldn't help but link this little gem of news. The thing that really was interesting to me was that it didn't happen in a place you might expect, like Kentucky, or Texas.
Enjoy

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14702323/

I'm stupid?

Wish I had remembered the website, but...
I was driving home the other day, and ended up behind one of those cars with tons of bumper stickers, the kind that has way too many to actually read and remember any single one. Until I saw one that made me chuckle. In really big letters it said "The internet makes you stupid" and right underneath it, there was a website listed. Of course, maybe it's a joke site, like they know that the sticker contradicts itself, but I'm more amused with assuming that they didn't realize it.

Also, I'm sick and tired of the increased occurence of the misused apostraphe s ('s). You use an apostraphe when you are showing posession, or when combining 'is' with a word like that's or what's. When you are discussing multiple objects, you don't do it. It's not spelled car's, or paper's, or book's or any other example. It kinda makes me wonder what's going on. I mean, are all the teachers now teaching it wrong? Or, do people just not know, and now that it's becoming more frequent, the people who don't know better just assume that it's the right way? Ugh, I try and point it out when I see people do it as much as possible, but it sure feels like a losing battle.

Super Troopers - Meow

I've definitely seen this before, but for those of you that haven't, enjoy.

hmmmm

The highlighted portion is the road trip I'll be taking as part of my upcoming weekend. Step 1, fly from San Diego to Oakland immediately after work. Step 2, finish loading up the moving truck. Step 3, drive my brother's pathfinder while he drives the rental truck, towing their other car, all the way to blythe on Saturday. Step 4, drive the rest of the way to Chandler, AZ on Sunday morning. Step 5, unload said truck into a storage unit. Step 6, drive both vehicles to our parent's house in Maricopa. Step 7, relax for 6.3 minutes, shower, and get a ride up to Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix and fly back to San Diego. Step 8, drive back home and sleep.

Then, for labor day, we'll be flying to PHX, loading that stuff into a truck, driving it to their brand new house, unloading, and flying home.

But, even though it's a ton of work, I am more than happy to do it. They get to move to a better place, and they get to own a home.

me = jealous

SW Muppet

It's 4 minutes long... just wait for the C-3PO tapdance portion at the end.

I Heart Bar

Went camping this past weekend. Just a one night trip, but it was still very nice to be away from noise. I especially love hearing a gust of wind going through the trees, getting closer and closer, until it's where I am. The site we got was sweet, someone had spent the time to gather up rocks and line the path from the parking spot to the fire pit, and partially around where the tent goes. Wish we had a digital camera to take a pic to post here. Oh well. It was perfect weather, just barely warm in the sun, and just barely chilly at night. Good times. Also, the bathroom, was clean, and didn't stink! That alone was worth the 15 dollar charge. I mean, it's not often where the toilet dumps into a giant tank that holds who knows how many months worth of, well, you know, and it's not hold your breath uncomfortable! We'll definately go back, just 2 hours away from home!
Heart Bar Campground, Aspen Loop, site #41
check it out!

Vent

Ugh, I hate computers so much.
Why can't all these companies just make everything work easily? Why can't I get a new router to replace the broken one, and then just plug it in and everything works together without difficulty? How come whenever I call SBC to fix the modem, it works before anything is done, so I call Linksys, and get frustrated with that conversation. Ok, so they are most likely in another country, which is fine, and some of them have very difficult accents to understand, but I can handle that ok. What makes me mad is twofold:

1. I can't find someone who understands that I know a little bit about computers. I don't need to be told to "click start, now click run, now type in cmd, hit enter, then type in......" and it continues, with a pause between each command waiting for me to say "ok". Or, my favorite, instead of saying to go to a certain web site, they have to guide me through the process of opening Internet Explorer, highlighting what's in the address bar, and typing in some site. Most of the time, I'm ahead of their commands, and am waiting for them to catch up to me. Ok fine... I can get through all that. but then there's number 2

2. Have a senes of humor!!!! Are these people working in jobs they hate? Have they been beaten since childhood any time a joke is told and they laugh. Heck, it's not like I'm trying to make them crack up. I just want SOME sort of emotion. You know how you can sortof see the look on someone's face over the phone, just by their tone of voice? Well, I picture all of these people staring at a computer screen, not actually focusing on anything, with no emotion at all.

Ok, so there's a third reason this all makes me mad. These people, with their lack of personality, working for a company that makes a product that doesn't just work on it's own, in who-knows-where-ville, these people, they know more than me. I should be able to figure this all out. I'm not stupid, I have some sort of a geeky brain upstairs, but I just can't do it. None of the instructions i find make sense, there are about 3million clever abbreviations that I don't know. And it's not like it's a secret, all the info is out there, it's just organized by the people who know it, who don't have personality, or a logical way of explaining or organizing information.

So, I've decided to get rid of it all. I'm canceling WoW, I'm no longer going to email, blog, buy stuff online, check traffic, look at maps, find flight information, watch ridiculous videos. I'm going to run over my pocketpc, burn my psp, blow up my cell phone. I'm going to disconnect my car's computer and ride a bike.

Strike that, I'm gonna go and sit on the phone with Linksys tech support and fix it.

I lose.

whoa

Well, looks like I'm going to see it again, this time as my new alter ego!

Ok, so we went to see this, with 5 other people, and it was awesome. It's a completely ridiculous movie, and they knew it when they made it. There are so many funny lines, you spend the time afterwards trying to remember as many as possible (Karen, get down!).

Good times... go see it.

I'm sleepy

Thanks for my hot wife

So, I'm a little bit focused on Talladega Nights, the ballad of Ricky Bobby. I just hope that the funny parts haven't already been shown on the previews. Actually, considering the fact that I find Will Farrel funny just standing still, I guess it's a sure thing funny.

Oh, and I've started blogging.