Kreblog

Plug In

2006-01-03T22:33:00.000-05:00

Here is my new idea, say you always shop at Hannaford and you know it so well that you could find mustard in a second. Now, let's say you go into a Shaws you've never been in before, find the mustard now? The solution? Strap on my virtual reality goggles that will overlay an image of the store you are used to with the store you are currently in... ah, there's the mustard! Bingo!

2005++

2006-01-01T23:45:00.000-05:00

We did our usual stay at home thing last night, LNotes made an awesome Shrimp Scampi using real Italian dried pasta (which tastes better than fresh). We pulled out our lists from last year... verdict: hey, we kayaked and I remodeled the bedroom, that's not half bad. We made a list of what we accomplished in 2005 and what we plan to accomplish in 2006... dream big I say. Thanks goes out to YouWho for his awesome Espresso Martini recipe... well I thank you, my head was kind grumpy about the whole thing this morning.

Just Like Being At The UN

2005-12-29T20:58:00.000-05:00

Donning my best Ambassador sash, I headed to Manchester last night to meet LNotes and the Rants for our first Makers Mark event. Rewind to a few weeks earlier and, one afternoon while checking my email, I found an invitation in my inbox to a Makers event at the Element in Manchester. Knowing Mr. Rants was a fellow Ambassador, I forwarded the email to him to see what he thought. Before my finger could release the "Send" button, I received an email from Mr. Rants asking the same question. A few emails later, a thumbs up from LNotes and Mrs. Rants, and the date was set. The evening started with meeting LNotes and the Rants outside of Gauchos Brazilian Restaurant. Mr. Rants had created quite a gastronomical buzz with this dinning suggestion so, when we enthusiastic entered the restaurant, we were unprepared for the punch in the stomach the hostess gave us when she asked, "Do you have reservations?" Huh, on Wednesday?!?! Apparently there must have been a couple buses idling out back as they had four groups of ten... coming any minute... Huh, on a Wednesday?!?! Undeterred, we marched on until we found ourselves outside The Shaskeen. A quick check of the menu, a couple positive head nods, and we were being shown to our table by our hostess... which is right about when someone from the wait staff exited the kitchen and blinded us with a light only previously seen being used by the FBI to break the wills of those barricaded in religious compounds... we quickly asked to be seated elsewhere. Everyone in that kitchen must look like they live in Florida. After the obligatory Guinness Stew and a couple $5 pints on Guinness (yes, $5, that is not a typo), we were on our way to our main event. Actually, on the topic of the FBI and psychological weapons, has anyone heard the Christmas tunes Manchester pipes out into the streets? I think it was LNotes that mentioned they must use the "music" to keep people from sleeping on the park benches. Anyway, back to the Element. Entering through the roped entrance, we were greeted by our southern host and handed a free Maker's Mark drink token. A quick trip to the bar (to cash in our tokens) and we were then directed to the red glow of the "VIP" room... and things quickly got bizarre. Now I know Maker's Mark is not a hip young drink, a drink consumed by the fabulous people in the those Baileys commercials, but as I entered the room, I was unprepared to see faces of a slightly "older" crowd... a crowd who, under normal circumstances, probably wouldn't frequent a "VIP" room that played "chill out" electronica on the sound system. As we scanned the room, we quickly noticed that everyone was just sitting there staring into space, kind of like they were waiting in a doctors office. Ok, lets stop here so you can get a good mental image: a "VIP" room (with hip/trendy couches), flooded with red light, "chill out" music coming from the DJ booth... full of people who look like they are waiting to get a flu shot... got it?, good. Well we quickly figured out what they were waiting for, the free swag being raffled off. The first raffled was uneventful: a few footballs, a fleece blanket, a few cigars, and a few pens. An announcement went out that a second raffle would be held in a few more minutes and to sample some of the Markers concoctions being handed out by the gaggle of "demo bunnies" that then flooded the room. But tonight this crowd was living by the philosophy of "Why wait when you can just take." It first started with the older gentleman sitting next to the "prize" table reaching over and grabbing pretty much all the pens and cigars. Mr. Rants labeled him "Captain Stubing", due to his somewhat nautical Thurston Howell entire.... I was getting more of a Bob Crane "off the set" vibe, which was only strengthened when Mr. Rants saw him slap a woman on her arse. Next up was "Drunk Girl" (from SNL) that came over to take the last football. She was later busted by our southern hostess, but she played it off with her "Hehehe, I'm druuuunk" alibi. Our southern hostess, who I think just about had it with this group after seeing her prizes looted down to near nothing, returned the ball back to the prize table and put Mrs. Rants in charge of protecting the it. No sooner than our southern hostess exited the room, back comes "Drunk Girl"... "Hehehe, I'm druuuunk, I'm just want to hold the football."... denied... Mrs. Rants stood her ground. "Drunk Girl" left, but not without swiping some more drink tokens. Oh, and I'm forgetting the dude who was caught trying to pocket the little bottles of Makers Christmas lights that was on one of the tables. ...and then came the shrimp platter, which you would have thought were encrusted with diamonds and rubies the way this crowd jumped to their feet and devoured it. At this point I think our southern hostess just wanted this thing over with so she raffled off the remaining football. We left the room with people ravenously dismantling a ficus tree decorated with Makers Christmas lights. As we finished our Makers out in the main bar, and started to pack away our swag (we got some really cool glasses and coasters... which for the record was given to us... no really), a "demo bunny" (with a Makers t-shirt) approached us to see if we wanted to win some more swag by answering a couple of trivia questions. The bizarre part about this was, she started handing us Knob Creek swag for each right answer, not Makers swag... a mole perhaps? All in all, I think everyone had a good time... I mean: free Makers all night, free swag, and the best people watching in a long time, what else could you ask for? Oh, and our southern hostess gave us her card in appreciation of Mrs. Rants efforts. Mr. Rants and I are thinking maybe a little "bump up" in the distillery tour when we check out or barrels.

Thanks

2005-12-27T22:55:00.000-05:00

Thanks again to everyone who gave me such great gifts this Christmas.

The New Face Of Syndication

2005-12-23T11:56:00.000-05:00

I really love that IE has announced that they will be using Firefox's "feed" icon in the next version of IE. I really hope this catches on, "xml" on a orange background always seemed too techie.

Dear Music Industry

2005-12-23T10:54:00.000-05:00

After listening to the seasonal songs on the radio this year, I must beg of you, please stop trying to create new holiday songs! There are only so many ways you can sing about a particular holiday, only so many ways to sing about: Christmas trees, lights, snow, presents, being with the one(s) you love... on Christmas. It has all been done, there aren't any more angles, nothing has been missed... and frankly, do you really think you can top Run DMC? On the topic of "the standards", can we also agree not to record any new versions just for the sake of cashing in? Is your rendition of "White Christmas" really going to better than the forty thousand plus renditions before you? Thanks, - Kreblog

Ewww, Gross, Food

2005-12-23T10:42:00.000-05:00

The Chosen One has a great post about eating with his co-workers. I once worked with an older gentleman who's group was going to a Mexican restaurant for their holiday lunch, and he actually said to me, "It should be fun, I've never been to a Mexican restaurant before."... Wha? I also worked with a woman who would act like a brat if we didn't go to The Olive Garden (she was older too). Prior to the one that was built, she would go on and on how she dreamed that one day they would build a Fridays. Hey, I dig some chains too, but I would never put Fridays on the top of my food chain. Hahaha, that's saved for the "Nines" ;)

Bakers Dozen!

2005-12-23T09:40:00.000-05:00

Ok, now it is Christmas, I got my cookie delivery yesterday. I probably don't say it as much as I should but, being far from my family, I do miss being with them, especially around the Holidays. These cookies are one of the highlights of my Holidays and always brings me home. I can see the Tupperware containers of cookies on the back porch now :) ...hey, get out of there! That ginger crinkle is mine!

The Chronic What?

2005-12-18T21:07:00.000-05:00

This is probably the funnest thing I have ever seen on SNL.

Red Is Bad, No?

2005-12-18T16:14:00.000-05:00

I've been meaning to give Portsmouth a "thumbs up" for offering free street parking throughout the city to encourage holiday shopping... but I have a little problem with the way they went about implementing it. Now we have all seen covered parking meters in the past, and usually it means, "Don't park here." We have also been trained, especially in regards to general traffic safety, that red is a warning. So why would you place red bags over parking meters to tell people, "Hey park here, it is free"? Well, you might say, "Hey you idiot, they say free parking on the bags!", and I resemble that remark, but the wording, which is in dull black on glossy red, is kind of hard to read when you are in the car. The first time I saw them, which was after a snowstorm, I immediately thought, "Wow, they must be doing snow removal because you can't park anywhere." Call me crazy but, what's wrong with white text on green bags?

Think Twice

2005-12-18T13:05:00.000-05:00

...and another thing, thank you toilet paper company whose name I won't mention! I "tried" using your product as 'demonstrated" by your overly expressive cartoon bears... well apparently you forgot to mention how far back in the woods you should place your product on a branch. Thanks a lot! I now have a date to appear in court! ...and unflattering photos of me floating around on the Internets which I think the squirrels took.

Toilet Paper Math

2005-12-18T12:00:00.000-05:00

I just recently noticed on the back of our toilet paper brand's wrapper, they have a nice graphic that breaks down the always confusing: "How much toilet paper is on a roll?" I can't remember how many times this question has puzzled me, even to this day, so I hopefully can get it correct here: Ok, the basic unit of measurement (as defined by them) is a "Single Roll"... so far so easy. Now it starts get tricky so you may need to read this twice and/or get a pad and pencil, a "Double Roll" equals two "Single Rolls". Still with me? So a "Triple Roll" equals? Wait, think... ~~eight~~ three "Single Rolls". I know that tripped me up too, I was like "Really?" but again the nice graphic really clears it up. I really wished this toilet paper company was there for me when I had to suffer through three quarters of Calculus... which I might add, have never used since I graduated! Thanks college, I'm still waiting for the day when I'm at the post office and the woman behind me goes, "Hey, do you know the area under this graph that goes to infinity?" Speaking of Calculus, I have to add that I once had a teacher that had "injured" his eardrums at some concert (I swear he said once it was some soft rock show). So for the two quarters I had him, he would walk into class with those headphones the airplane dudes wear (he could also be seen with them on walking around campus). I also remember that he would end the class, and before you could blink, have his headphones on and be at the back of the room before anyone had the remote chance of making a screeching noise while pushing back their chair. I don't want to make fun of another person's aliment, but it was quite a unique course of treatment.

The Warmth Of Moscow

2005-12-18T11:46:00.000-05:00

I just would like to thank (and I know LNotes would as well) the You Who's for inviting us to their excellent cocktail party last night. We had a lot of fun. If you are ever lucky enough to be invited to You Who's house, for any occasion really, you are always guaranteed to enjoy food and cocktails that rivals anything you might get in some trendy establishment "downtown". Now I don't really want to single out just one thing from last night, but I did quite enjoyed the Moscow Mule that was on the cocktail menu. After reading about the Moscow Mule this past Summer, it was on my list of cocktails to attempt to make. I never did get around to making one so it was nice to finally try it. If I remember the article correctly, I think the Moscow Mule was concocted by a distributor that wanted to introduce Americans to vodka (so he could of course make a killing on vodka sales). Again, if I remember correctly, vodka wasn't really known to Americans up until that point.

All In One

2005-12-18T11:21:00.000-05:00

When it comes to using IM, I have for awhile narrowed my running clients to just MSN and Yahoo. I know there are options out there to merge all the networks into just one client but those applications strip out all the useful features that each individual application offers... like having a pet monkey standing next to me in Yahoo. That's not to say I have don't have accounts on GTalk and AIM, and I do have times when I need to jump on those networks, that's why meebo.com looks pretty interesting as it allows you to log into the "Big 4" from all within your browser using a very slick interface (including drag and drop "windows"). Also, since it is browser based, it is a nice option when your Internet connection is slightly restricted. (If you are worried about privacy, they do have their privacy principles posted)

Here's A Thought

2005-12-18T09:48:00.000-05:00

You know if sites like Yahoo, Hotmail, or Plaxo were smart, they would offer a download for the Holidays that, when run, would access your online address book, allow you to check off who you want to send cards to, and then generate a Word document you could create mailing labels from. What better way to advertise and drive traffic to your site? (I know most of these sites can sync with Outlook but it is usually not a process that works "right out of the box")

Random Acts Of Violence

2005-12-17T13:04:00.000-05:00

I think Santa might want to skip our house this year if this is any indication. Our youngest cat thinks it is quite entertaining to beat up on our Santa tree topper while we are sleeping. Our tree is by our stairs, and every morning, Santa is either tipped over or completley off and hanging from his cord. I love our cats but I find myself quoting my Mom and saying, "We can never have nice things in this house", as each morning there is more Christmas carnage on the floor. It has gotten to the point where our tree has become top heavy with ornaments. Ornaments at floor level... game on.

Home James (Or Whatever Your Name Is)

2005-12-17T12:25:00.000-05:00

I'm never driving to Boston again, I found nirvana. This past Thursday I had an opportunity to go down to Boston for a free Microsoft developer event, and while I had originally intended to take the train down for fun, the train's schedule just didn't jive with the event times. So instead I opted to take the bus, which I had taken before to Logan, but it had been awhile. Except for the slight mechanical difficulties right outside of South Station on the way down, this is the way to travel: $23 (same day round trip) fare, coach seating (this isn't a transit bus), free coffee, free Portsmouth Herald, center of town location, free parking, and departing at least every hour... I say let someone else worry about traffic. The nice touch though was, since I left early morning and got back around 7pm, the driver had the lights off. One minute I was driving down 1, next minute I was waking up in Newburyport... come to think if it, I think I might have done that before driving myself. As an aside, I love Microsoft events, if for nothing else than for the food (again this was a free event): Breakfast: I had a muffin and coffee. I could have opted for a bagel and/or danish as well as juice. Lunch: I had the roast beef lunch "box" which, besides the roast beef sub, included: pretzels, pasta salad with olives, Vermont cheese, a big cookie, a orange, and a choice of soda or water. Afternoon snack: I had chips and a soda. For chips they had baskets and baskets of at least eight different kind of chips... from pita chips to Frito Twists. I could have sworn I saw on a slide during one of the presentations a heading: "How To Serve Human"... but I was having trouble breaking into my cookie to read the bullet points.

Hooray For Bollywood

2005-12-17T11:54:00.000-05:00

We've had digital cable for awhile now, and in the beginning, I used to take the time to cycle through all the channels we received to see what I was missing. But after awhile I had pretty much abandoned the "200's" because of all of the "unavailable" gaps and the niche programming (a channel just for tennis?)... which kind of kills me because I'm paying a boat load of money for them. So while I was setting up the channels on my Harmony last week, surfing the "200's", I was pleasantly surprised to find that we get AZN Television, but more importantly, we get Bollywood movies... and the best part, they have English subtitles. So maybe that boat load of money pays for something after all. Speaking of the "200's", we are finding that we are ending up on VH1 Classic a lot more now when there is nothing on. And while they still play videos, they are starting to branch out into more original content. Just recently they had a hour mix of videos and an interview with Depeche Mode talking about their latest album. Our generation is now niche programing in the "200's".

Minimize

2005-12-17T11:34:00.000-05:00

The car pool crew have been raving about theirs before but it wasn't till I bought a Harmony Remote Control myself that I could fully grasp what they were raving about (I promise to stop making the "cookoo" sign around my head behind their backs). I've had "universal" remotes before, but those didn't even come close to a Harmony. First, there were no codes to figure out, you just enter the model number, Harmony knows the rest. Second, they have function buttons like "Watch TV", which turns on the TV, changes the TV to the right video setting, turns on the audio receiver, switches it to "video", and then turns on the cable box... all this, one button. "Watch DVD": turn on DVD player, switch TV video setting, and switch audio receiver to "DVD"... again, one button. The model I got even replaces the the Tivo remote and works on Comcast's PVR. Watching TV/Tivo/Cable used to require dragging at least four seperate remotes around, now I'm down to one... brilliant.

What is Cool?

2005-12-11T19:47:00.000-05:00

I have to agree with Granite ... being one of those "kids" who is constantly checking their cell phones every minute to make sure they didn't get left behind from the "crowd", drinking cheap/bad beer at some friend of a friend's apartment party, or hopping from one loud "packed in like cattle" bar to another is not "cool" in my book. What is "cool"?... being with friends who enjoy a night of good conversation/laughs over drinks and can appreciate something a little more upscale than a tuna melt at the Friendly Toast. I don't have time to be mourning the loss of my youth, I'm too busy having a blast with my posse of "home by 11" geezers.

Snow Bound

2005-12-09T15:40:00.000-05:00

I took today off from work today thinking that I could catch up on some holiday errands, but instead I'm home watching the snow. The thing that is really making me worried though is I have no milk and bread... I'm really craving milk and bread... WHY DIDN'T I RUSH TO THE STORE LAST NIGHT LIKE EVERYONE ELSE TO STOCK UP ON DAYS WORTH OF MILK AND BREAD!!! I'm so stupid, now I'm stranded at my house, unable to go to a store (I'm guessing anyway), without milk and bread. I guess I should snow blow my cars out in the mean time.

Highs In The 70's

2005-12-07T21:31:00.000-05:00

Cooler At The Coast

Brilliant

2005-12-07T21:06:00.000-05:00

Ricky Gervais... the Podcast. The "Monkey News" is worth it alone.

Frustrated, Inc.

2005-12-04T20:59:00.000-05:00

After all the discussion at BnB on how Comcast now has karaoke on its OnDemand, I figured I had to check it out myself. Big mistake, I got Soul Asylum's Misery stuck in my head... and when I say stuck, I mean it was in my dreams and it was the first thing I thought of when my feet hit the floor. Let this be a warning.

Christmas Pumpkin

2005-12-04T10:48:00.000-05:00

I wanted to start a new Christmas tradition but my wife shot me down. I wanted to add a Christmas pumpkin to the list of festive decorations. Our pumpkin from October is still hanging in there and I figured, since it lasted this long, why not keep it going? Needless to say, my Christmas pumpkin is now in the woods... haha, but I can still see it from the window... go pumpkin go!

Blog N' Brew

2005-11-30T22:16:00.000-05:00

My deepest apologies, 5 is a close typo to 6. So to those who were at Red Hook at 5:30, I had really meant 6:30... and I really apologize. In the future, if you ever see anything before 6:30, know that I would need a worm hole to get there. Again, my deepest apologies.

Loaded

2005-11-28T21:36:00.000-05:00

So maybe I'm giving away my million dollar idea, but during our usual awesome idea brainstorming commute last week (so many ideas... so little time), Carpoolguy and I formalized our new business venture: nacho delivery. Think about it: Friday night, drinking beers/margaritas at home, 10 o'clock runs along and it hits you... dude, nachos would be awesome right about now. Do you make nachos... who has all the stuff? Do you go out and order nachos... you just opened a new beer, plus you would have to put your shoes on. That's when you call: "Why Nach?" (that's the name of the delivery service), and get hot, loaded (to your specifications) nachos, delivered right to your door (I'm thinking we could make them in the truck on the way). But here is my special touch... you know all that good nacho stuff that falls to the bottom of the plate? The stuff that takes too much effort to pick off and eat? Our nachos are served on a soft tortilla shell.. just wrap up the shell and finish off the goods. Pure gold I tell you... now if only someone would steal my idea so I could call in myself.

So That's Why

2005-11-28T21:13:00.000-05:00

We ended up watching Star Wars III this past Friday and I was unprepared for the way it would effect me. Like every other single celled organism and up, I grew up with Star Wars, it is ingrained in every fiber of my pop culture being. I saw each of the originals in the theater with my father and each time I wouldn't come down from my "high" for days. As an adult I watched the first two new movies and I enjoyed them, but just not in the same way (luckily for my wife and coworkers I didn't have the same high and practice my light saber moves with broomsticks or shoot down X-Wings from my BMX). I liked the newer movies but the stories and characters were different, there was a big disconnect from my childhood memories. That was until the credits rolled on Friday night, suddenly the plug was connected to the wall and it all made sense. These questions I carried with me through my childhood were all answered. As crazy as it sounds, I honestly had to step back and take it all in.

A New Angle

2005-11-27T20:03:00.000-05:00

I've been pretty lazy, I remodeled my dining room and bedroom but I have put off finishing both by installing ceiling molding (over a year long now for the dining room). I think it was a little fear of the unknown (picking out the right molding, measuring, cutting angles) and getting the stuff home (in my short time here on earth I have yet to master the art of tying things to my car). Well given the opportunity of a long weekend, I knew I couldn't put it off any longer. I drove up to HD ready to face any challenge that may arise. It was to my relief that the molding I liked came in sizes that fit inside my car (I later discovered that I had chosen a chair rail molding, but who cares, it looked better than what they had for ceiling molding anyway). Here is a list of things I learned why installing molding:

When you are a simpleton like myself, it take a few practice cuts to wrap your brain around a miter box (duh, that 45 or that 45?).
Cutting angles is easy.
Getting angles to match up is hard (especially when you add the fact the house is old and has warped walls and ceiling.
Caulk is a great way to fill the gaps between molding and the ceiling.
Wood putty is your friend (there is more than one way to make it look like angles meet)
Standing on a step ladder all day looking up does wonders for your lower back.

I must say that, even thought I chose the wrong molding, I think I did alright. I should also add that the week before I finally finished the windows I had installed probably almost two years ago. Luckily they are up high so you can't see my mistakes (although I must say I didn't do too bad with my jigsaw by hand).

Big Box

2005-11-25T11:28:00.000-05:00

Mr. Rants has an excellent Thanksgiving post on Wal Mart. I would add that American manufacturers should stress style as well as quality. The other thing I find funny about Wal Mart is when towns get all worked up and try to block Wal Mart from building in their town. They go on an on how they need to protect "Mom & Pop" establishments. Here's a thought, let them build the new Wal Mart and don't shop there. "Can't... resist... smilely face... must shop... Wall Mart." By all means, I'm not a supporter of Wal Mart, but let the market decide.

Panera Wednesday

2005-11-23T22:05:00.000-05:00

Turkey Bravo & Starbucks... yes Virginia, there is coffee fairy person or something. It even smelled new... although the "cream" bar had that scuzy "wiped down a million times with the same dirty towel" look already. The most amazing thing I heard while there was the woman behind me say to her friend that she had never been to a Starbucks before... can you believe that? That's like saying "I've never had water before." That's just crazy. We made sure we called Mr. Perspective and rub it in that he was missing out. Our master plan is to convince Mr. Perspective to make Starbucks runs on his "smoking breaks."

Number 2

2005-11-22T22:41:00.000-05:00

I am the king of recycling, I view it as almost a game to see how much I can recycle each week. My wife hates it when we clean out the fridge because I just won't throw things away like old bottles of mustard... if it can be recycled, I will recycle it. For awhile now I have boycotted the cafe at work and bring in my own lunch and bottled water from home (the boycott is really about saving $$$, not because they don't use fair trade coffee or something cool like that). But because my office doesn't recycle, I've started taking the "carry in/carry out" approach to my waste. If I drink three bottles of water at work, three bottles come home to go into the bin. I've now carried this philosophy to the gym... I'm afraid I might start wandering the streets.

Merry Armageddon

2005-11-22T22:24:00.000-05:00

It was a little eerie this weekend at the mall. Everything screamed Christmas, but late on a Sunday afternoon, there was hardly anyone there. I imagine this is what Christmas would look like after some sort of nuclear induced zombie attack. "What do you want for Christmas?" "Arrrr, Brains... and a zen garden from that kiosk by Sears." Speaking of shopping... what is the point of shopping at 5am on Friday? That my friend does not sound like a proper use of a vacation day.

Blog N' Brew

2005-11-20T21:55:00.000-05:00

Alright already... how's 5:30 Wednesday November 30th at smoke-free Red Hook? Backup will be Patty's if for some strange reason Red Hook is packed that night (which I have seen on occasion during the week).

Well I'll Be

2005-11-17T22:21:00.000-05:00

It seems Wednesday has becoming Panera "Adventure" day lately. The other week Carpoolguy and I left the Panera parking lot in search of the new Starbucks (rumored to be just an exit down). Well after driving like a tourist for awhile, we finally found the Starbucks... still under construction. All was not lost as on the way back we checked out the "compound" of the big company up the street (I think they even have their own Wal Mart). Yesterday wasn't much of an adventure in driving but it still involved coffee. After Panera we headed over to Target to check out inexpensive things we could tell people we wanted for Christmas (instead of telling them what we really want like a video iPod or laptop). On the way back to work Carpoolguy yelled out: "Hey I want my free McDonalds coffee!" Now we all have had McDonalds "coffee" before but this new Green Mountain stuff isn't half bad... and its free without purchase until I think next Wednesday, just walk in and say "Hey I want my free McDonalds coffee!" (just like that). The other cool part is they don't just give you some dinky "trial" cup, they give you a medium... for free. (I must say, I was unprepared for the caffeine shock)

Don't Put Things In Your Mouth

2005-11-09T20:11:00.000-05:00

I now have a foreign object in my mouth. Dentist: "Your blah blah C-34 blah tooth has cracks." Me: "Alrighty... see you in 6 months." Dentist: "You should get a crown. If you don't, and it gets worse, you may need a root canal later on." Me: "[Damn... I was almost free with my toothbrush and floss... that will end up next to about three years worth of floss in the closet.]" Dentist: "Here, let me take a picture... seems the camera is not working. I really want to show you this. Maybe we can schedule a quick appointment for you to come back?" Me: "Yeah, I could totally schedule an appointment [excellent, I just bought time]." Well time won’t give me time and this week I went under the drill, where, within couple of minutes (or a lifetime), my tooth was reduced to a stub. Actually, after suffering through the pain, I got to witness one of the coolest things I've seen in a long time. Through the magic of some medical supplier, the dentist made me a new tooth... right there on the spot. This magic "tooth" machine sounded like my old dot matrix printer growing up, except louder. Actually the similarities didn't stop there, it took like ten minutes to finish, about the same time it took to print my three page English paper. Some strange smelling glue and magic blue light later, wham... I had my first crown... and it looked like my own. It feels a little weird, and my bite is a hair off... oh, and it occasionally FREAKS ME OUT that I now have my first artificial "part" in my body... but I think it went pretty well.

T Hands

2005-11-07T18:04:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday we sort of went on a nostalgia trip down to Boston with no other purpose than to bum around (I couldn't remember the last time I've walked around Newbury Street or Harvard Square). The biggest part of our adventure was finding and parking at the Sullivan Square T Station. It was fairly easy to find, and at $3.50/day, it was a steal... especially with it being only a few stops away from either the Green or Red line. We did luck out as there were only a handful of parking spaces left (my backup was Wellington). We ended up starting at the Prudential Center (due to its bathrooms), and then taking a walk down Newbury Street. But because we weren't really feeling the "vibe" (and it was sort of ho-hum), we ended up not walking very far, grabbing some coffees and splitting. After fighting our way back onto the Green line (at the Prudential Center... where the trains come full every fifteen minutes, and only the front doors open), we changed to the Red line at Park and headed over to Harvard Square. At Harvard, we hit the furnishings department of Urban Outfitters and then the Gap before trying to find some food. After walking around a bit, we ended up at John Harvard's Brew House for dinner (tasty Pale Ale). Once we were done with dinner, we thought we would go to Crate and Barrel, but it ended up being closed for a "function"... what sort of function do you hold at a Create and Barrel? You got me. We ended our Harvard visit by drinking some Peets in the park... all in all, a fine day of bumming about.

Yawn

2005-11-04T21:44:00.000-05:00

I don't know why but lately I have no desire to watch movies anymore... which is starting to make my Netflix subscription look kind of pointless. I won't go into some rant on the quality of movies Hollywood is producing, that's not it, its just that there is something always else on or something to do. I will say that I'm done with going to the theater. I know, never say never, but really for the money, what is the point?

That's Me In The Corner

2005-11-04T21:14:00.000-05:00

Last night happened to be another round of the monthly eBrew, where I and my fellow carpoolers slap on our name badges and head to our corner to be anti-social for the night and drink Sierra Nevadas... which is quite the opposite of what you are supposed to do at a networking event. Actually, for being anti-social, we have manged to meet quite a number of people over past events, most notably Contagious' brother-in-law. Last night's special guest star: Bionic... who stopped over with his work crew... and didn't win an iPod Shuffle. Actually I should say the special guest star was Seacoast Perspective who graced us with his precence after being MIA in the carpool these past few weeks. Mr. Perspective is sorely missed as we have come to realize that he channels all the anger for the carpool (while he listens to NPR). This conclusion was reached after one morning this week when Carpoolguy and I were usually angry at the world for no reason. Mr. Perspective is our box of baking soda in the fridge. The carpool ended up at Fat Belly's for dinner where it seems every time my eyes end up being bigger than my stomach. Fat Belly's is definitely not for the timid. (I'm still in awe after watching Granite eat a one pound burger once)

Damn You Bourbon

2005-11-01T23:05:00.000-05:00

Well they did it again, Makers out of the blue sent me another package. This time it was a package of Christmas cards with personalized labels and stickers (of the famous wax) to seal the envelopes.

Running With Scissors

2005-11-01T22:26:00.000-05:00

As Granite mentioned, I met up with him and his posse to head out to the Stone Church this past Saturday to see Scissorfight..... aaaand, there... I just got my hearing back. I was a little nervous when the first band came out and they just played the same "machine gun" guitar cord, song after song, while the lead singer just screamed into the microphone. At one point Granite leaned over and asked: "What do you think he is singing." To which I said: "What he did on Tuesday." I will say this, the drummer was the real star of this band. He had this long hair that would mop over his face as he looked down and pounded on his set, never flinching. This guy could be a solo act. The second band was better, but I didn't really leave much of an impression. Then came Scissorfight, these guys were awesome. They had the confidence, they owned the stage, and they rocked. It has been awhile since I've gone to a club but it was like riding a bike, I felt like I was right back in college... just this time a few more people back from the pit... and buying better beer. As for the new and improved Stone Church, I had only been there once back in '95 and I all I can remember is it was dark, so for all practical purposes, it was like being there for the first time. I can say this, from the funky lighting, stylish bar, and three tap systems, they spent some money on the remodel and it looks like it has payed off. Oh, and I don't know what Tuckermans I was drinking but it was brown and it was good.

Mmmm, Doughnuts

2005-10-31T22:53:00.000-05:00

I don't think I've had cider doughnuts since I left Rochester but that injustice was finally been rectified when yesterday my wife and I took her grandmother to Applecrest in Hampton Falls. I can now die happy.... actually I can die happy after I finish the apple pie my wife made last night. Talk about a place than needs an express lane: "Anyone who is not going on a hayride, picking their own apples, getting their face painted, milling around pumpkins, and who just wants to buy apples, cider, and doughnuts, please come to lane #1." My wife whimped out on the cider thought... pasteurization is for whimps. The French take the fun out of everything!

Avoiding The Crowds

2005-10-30T16:20:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we took a trip down to the Cape for a little R&R. After taking our time on Friday to pack, we got down to our bed & breakfast late in the afternoon, where, after getting situated in our room, we dumped our Barnes & Nobel bag out and dug into our freshly purchased books/magazines... what are vacations for other than loading up on magazines that you wouldn't normally buy though out the year? Later that night we eventually found our way to Joe's Bar & Grille for dinner where they had what looked like a great eclectic menu, but for some reason all I had was cheeseburger on the brain (it must have been the Harpoon IPA talking). Saturday we were pretty lazy getting ready and down for breakfast but we eventually filled up with coffee and headed out to Chatham. Once in Chatham we popped in for some slices and then tooled around the stores for a bit before heading out to Orleans and YouWho's coffee stop. From Orleans we drove out to the National Park in Provincetown. Now up until this point the sky had been dark and gray all day, but no rain. That all changed when we got out on the beach and then had to make a mad dash back to the car (running in slow motion... due to the sand). We finished our afternoon back in our room trying to make a dent in our magazine pile, and watching Food TV (Food TV always seems to be on when we are in a hotel/inn). That night we had dinner at the Academy Ocean Grille were we had an excellent dinner by fire alarm. All in all a very low key but relaxing vacation, well until Saturday night when, while watching the 11 o'clock news, we were alerted to fact that back home our house was under a flood watch. Visions of a wet basement interweaved with strange dreams for the rest of the night. Actually the other hightlight was driving throught the Big Dig... a lot changed in two years.

Phone Home

2005-10-21T09:35:00.000-04:00

Why do UFOs usually have lights? They seem kind of pointless.

Awkward Comedy

2005-10-16T13:07:00.000-04:00

Just when I was thinking of canceling HBO, they hook me back in with Extras (featuring Ricky Gervais of "The Office"). Slightly different, slightly the same, just as funny.

The Great Flood Of 10/16/2005

2005-10-16T10:25:00.000-04:00

Yesterday started out like any other lazy gray Saturday: we went downtown foraging for food, came home, sipped our coffee, caught up on web posts. It was right after my wife left for the supermarket that the mood changed due to the fact that rain just suddenly started pouring from the sky. After first I didn't think much of it, after a week of rain, the "wow" factor had warn off. But when I stood up and walked past a window, that's when the panic kicked in. To backtrack a bit, we live by a small brook, and for most of its life, it just trickles happily along, it is never something you worry about when it rains. Well that was until yesterday when this mild mannered brook suddenly flooded it banks and took over the back corner of my yard. Now actually I wasn't concerned that the water would start flowing from the brook into our basement, my concern was with the state of the water table. To backtrack a little more, we have a hole dug into out basement floor where the sewer pipe exits the house. This hole is about two feet deep, and for the most part stays dry except for a short period during the Spring thaw. We learned to watch this hole though after our very first basement flood back in March 2001. This is when, after about three huge snow storms, a "100 Year" storm dropped what felt like the Atlantic Ocean on us over a six hour period. Water just started oozing up from below and flooded our basement with three inches of water. Thanks to the Fire Department, we were able to pump the water out, but we lost a lot of things we had on the floor from our move ("It has never flooded", the previous owner told us). Back to yesterday, after marveling at my new riverfront property, I pulled the boards over this hole to discover it was full of water and about five inches away from floor level. Of course at this point I quickly surveyed the basement floor and wondered how I got to where I was standing without stepping on something. Needless to say I was able to cross "Clean Basement" off my to-do list and I put the washer up on bricks (the dryer is already on a pallet). Eventually the rain eased, and the water in the hole stopped rising. We escaped the mess we had back in 2001 but we did get about two Shop Vacs full of water in one corner (mind you our Shop Vac is puny... not much variety when you buy one during a "100 Year" storm). The vast majority of the floor stayed dried, but I could see how close we came to flooding as a few cracks in the floor were damp. I love being a homeowner... hey, my basement is finally clean! Update: We took a trip downtown for coffee this afternoon and the falls were incredible. The water looked like it was a foot from the base of the bridge and Kelley's deck was underwater. From the other side the water looked like it could just wash over the bridge.

Escape From Boston

2005-10-14T11:48:00.000-04:00

I now have three Def Leppard concerts under my belt. It was fun to see the excitement in my wife's face as she stood just six rows back from Mr. Elliott and crew. But the real fun for me was after the show in what I would like to describe as: Escape From Boston. Driving down wasn't all that eventful, well maybe except for: the misty rain that never really got cleared by the wipers, severely cutting someone off who was in my blind spot on 1, never really being in a lane on 1 or Sturrow Drive (due to the fact you couldn't see the lines because of the misty rain), and driving pretty much blind through Kenmore Square/Commonwealth Ave on the way to the BU Agganis Arena (which I might add is a really nice venue). No, the really adventure started when we left the arena. First we were directed to turn right out of the arena when we really wanted to turn left, back to where we came from. Alright, I've spent some time on Commonwealth Ave before, just usually in a T car or Discount Kid's car... around ten years ago. Dive... this looks familiar... drive... so does this... drive... ok, this sort of looks familiar... drive... ok, maybe I should have turned there... drive... none of this looks familiar... drive... do I turn around or act like I know what I'm doing and keep going... drive... hey, I know that Dunkin Doughnuts! Feeling a little better with a landmark I had driven by a hundred of times on the way to DK's old apartment, I then had to quickly flip through the old filing cabinet in my head to "1993: Getting to DK's apartment via Sturrow Drive (in reverse)." A couple gut feelings, a few "We used to eat there", and a "Wow that is new" later we were turning right on to Sturrow Drive..., mission accomplished... set auto pilot... wake me when we are home (or probably sooner since I'm driving). Now, I'm no Sturrow Drive expert but I used to drive it every weekend (be it that was again, ten years ago), and I know enough that at the end, I need to be in the left lane to get back to 1. The problem this time was, after being directed to the right lane (via a big blinking orange arrow), I kind of lost track exactly where I was on Sturrow Drive. So after passing a few cones, I followed my fellow driving companions back into the left lane, thinking "That's why we got in the right lane for? Whatever." Well that wasn't all we got in the right lane for, and after a few cones appeared in the middle of the lanes, I realized that "we" (my fellow drivers) made a mistake and we are driving in a closed lane. I like say when in Rome, do what the Romans do. I got a Mass plate in front of me and a Mass plate behind me, I'm going to blend in with the locals and ride this out in the left lane... at least we are moving. Well that lasted till about the second big orange arrow telling us to go right, just this time it was blocking the entire lane. Time to merge through the cones into the right lane. Merging is always fun, but usually everyone is from PAX and the cars happliy merge: left lane, right lane, left lane, right lane, and so on. Well when it got to me (left lane), the "right lane" guy was from Spike and decided it should be: right lane, right lane. Just one thing, I was already merging. Needless to say, colorful words could be heard in the distance... awkward. Drive... stay left... drive... stay left... drive... I can't see, what is with all the blinking lights... drive... all these signs point to nowhere... drive.. stay left... drive... crap, I'm turning left, away from the onramp past the Science Center. Right, time to think. We use to travel this area to DK's other apartment. That's when out of the corner I spotted a Tobin bridge detour sign... quick turn here... and with that all subsequent detour signs just vanished (if they were even there to begin with). Drive... quick, turn around... drive... follow those cars... drive... look a 93 sign... drive... look a 1 sign... drive... where did that lake in the middle of the road come from?... drive... Fake it, I have no idea where we are... drive... Hey, a 16 sign, I think that leads to 1... drive... 16 leads to 1 right?... drive... same to you buddy, stop honking your horn and stay in your lane... drive.. Hey 16 lead us to 1... drive... man, where did the lane markings go? Safely back on 1, and eventually on 95, my story could end here, but why should it? How about constant gale force wind gusts that would suddenly send you into the next lane? Or the fact that, at one in the morning, there were just two other cars on the road... both on either side of me in a state of "I'm going to pass you... just not right now, cuz of the wind gust an all." The bright side is I've contacted the Boy Scouts and my Orienteering badge should be in the mail... that and I got to see my wife rock out to Def Leppard... Rock it, yeah, Armageddon it! A special thanks goes out to Discount Kid for moving around Boston every year. I used to think you were crazy but now I know you were a Jedi Master and I was the student. Thank you for teaching me The (Boston) Force.

Ambassador

2005-10-14T11:46:00.000-04:00

Last year I alluded to my love of Maker's Mark by announcing I had a new title. Since then I have received nearly monthly "Ambassador" emails describing events at the distillery (including the company Christmas party), charitable efforts, and a invite to a dinner/tasting with fellow Ambassadors in Boston. The greatest thing about these emails is they aren't just some PR pieces written by the Marketing department, they are written by the president in a manor that conveys "down home" life in Kentucky. Anyway, what really got me was the other day was I received a small box from Maker's out of the blue, and in it were two DVDs (one for me and one for a "friend"... including postage). On the DVD was a short video explaining the how they make Maker's, but focusing really on how they make the barrels that gives Makers its flavor/color. Why barrels? Well beside being an integral ingredient, my name will shortly appear on one of these barrels and in three years I will be offered the ability to buy a bottle from my barrel... just one of the benefits of being an Ambassador. I just thought this was a great example of viral marketing, hell I've already helped Granite become an Ambassador. ...and to think I discovered Makers from a wine show of all places.

Spelunking

2005-10-14T10:52:00.000-04:00

Our youngest cat discovered a new hideout. Under the bed? Nah, too passé. How about inside the bed? Now you are talking. Seems at some point a slit formed in material covering the bottom of the box spring. Insert cat curiosity and now you have a hideout envious of cats all over: "Where's the cat?" "Check under the bed." "He's not there." "Hehe, excellent." How did I discover this wonderful hideout? How about the second just after I had fallen a sleep, when my ear was in prime listening position on my pillow to hear every movement magnified ten times. I just hope our oldest (bigger) cat doesn't attempt to climb into this super sweet hideout. Or worse yet, discover how fun it might be to whap the youngest one through the material, while he is in this hideout, while we are sleeping, at three in the morning.

Stress-free October

2005-10-09T07:37:00.000-04:00

What's there to say about the Sox... (insert Speed Buggie sputtering) they just ran out of gas. As much as I would have loved to see the Sox go all the way, it is sort of nice to finally have the anxiety of "now if only they can protect their two run lead for four innings" finally lifted. Go get'em crazy White Sox manger dude!

Crazy Man

2005-10-09T07:13:00.000-04:00

I must have looked like a crazy man yesterday as I put my crazy man outfit on (rain coat) and went out to do my crazy man "storm" routines around the yard. My "storm" routines consists of digging small canals in my neighbor's dirt driveway to direct all the water pouring down my street away from coming down the side of the house. It also involves crouching under my back desk to make sure the canal I dug there is clear to handle the water from the roof as well as making sure the puddles growing in my dirt driveway eventually find the stream. Maybe I'm overprotective of my house, maybe I am crazy, but when it comes to water, I tend to be overly cautious.

Intruder Alert

2005-10-09T06:25:00.000-04:00

Yesterday morning we were hanging out, being slugs around the TV, drinking our coffee, when our oldest cat spotted something out the front door. Now this is not unusual as many of the neighborhood cats come up the front walkway on their way to the backyard (we call it "The Cat Highway"), but when I sat up to see if it was maybe "Grey Cat", "Bell Cat", or "Dog", to my surprise is was neither, it was a damn skunk. Now this skunk was the mother of all skunks, it was huge, and from the looks of its off-color hair, it was old (we dubbed it "Grandpa"). This dude did not care it was broad daylight, he was looking for a port from the storm... and the desired port was under our house. It knew exactly where to go, first it tried to get under our front deck, but was blocked from all the bricks I had around it from the last skunk attack this past Spring. Then to my surprise, it went to the spot on the side of my house that I bricked up from a raccoon attack last Fall, it is like he had a map of all my previous breaches (I think the squirrels are selling maps to my house). After moving a few smaller bricks and realizing he wasn't going to budge the cinder blocks, he bumbled his way back down the front path defeated, all while we were yelling at him from the front door (which he could really care less about). Wet skunk: 0, Me: 1, but I know all too well this game is not over and I will face more foes in this battle.

Car What?

2005-10-01T12:11:00.000-04:00

Man, Carpool guy goes off to some conference and the whole carpool falls apart. Four days I had to drive myself, and then Seacoast Perspective tries to turn it around on me and says: "What about Friday", knowing I'm working from home that day (he probably would have bailed Friday anyway knowing his track record). You know, my commuting skills are severely out of shape, all this continuous driving day after day, it's hard work.

Von Who?

2005-10-01T11:53:00.000-04:00

Our number was finally transferred to Vonage this week (only took two weeks), and so far, no one has called us. So either it is broken or it is justifying the fact that we hardly use the phone and paying close to $60 a month for a land line was ridiculous. One note of caution, if you are a DSL subscriber, transferring your land line number makes things interesting. Right now we are in some weird state where we don't have a land line, our new low usage land line is to be installed next week, but the DSL still works... don't anyone move, you might jinx it.

The Windows Are The Windows To The Soul

2005-10-01T10:47:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a big day at the ranch, we got our new windows installed... ok ok, hold on, I know it is exciting and I'll try to get to all your questions. They are HD (Simonton) six over zero replacement (not new construction) windows with Low E and Argon. The HD crew showed up with our new windows at 9am and around 9:01am all the old windows had been removed from the house... well maybe it was more like 9:02am, they had to put drop cloths down first. It was pretty amazing to watch these two guys work and in six hours, they were driving away with my old 1948 windows in tow. (It was amazing because I know if I did it myself, after six hours I'd still be at "Thank you for purchasing HD windows...") I know I could have probably gotten the windows cheaper if I went with an independent contractor and that they aren't super fancy Pella windows. But at the end of the day the HD sub-contractors were professional as well as knowledgeable, and these babies have a life time guarantee where a HD rep will come out and fix even a torn screen. I'm just happy I never have to paint windows again, and if you ask me to help you paint yours, I'm washing my hair that day.

Dynamite!

2005-09-24T13:25:00.000-04:00

How do you get people to go to the Utah State Fair? Get Napoleon Dynamite.

Things To Do

2005-09-19T21:54:00.000-04:00

Re-write Coldplay lyrics to make their songs sound more "happy." Maybe use lyrics around topics like puppys, ice cream, and/or sunshine.

It's A Beautiful Day

2005-09-14T22:57:00.000-04:00

I cried on the way to work today when I saw that the bridge right after the 293/93 off ramp was open and that they opened a new EZ-Pass only lane in Bedford. I probably should have bought a lottery ticket. Speaking of lottery tickets, they should make scratch tickets for stupid people like myself. None of these "if you get three of the same number, one on each line, and the lucky number is divisible by that number, you get the prize located one over from that number" tickets. I just want one place to scratch that simply says either "you won $2" or "not a winner". Just tell me what I won, I already took the SAT.

What's There To Say?

2005-09-14T22:54:00.000-04:00

It looks like everyone has beat me to the punch so I'll just say that I'm glad I didn't choose basketball over last night's Blog 'n Brew... if I played basketball that is ;)

Blog 'n Brew

2005-09-12T21:26:00.000-04:00

Reminder: Tuesday Sept 13th, Paddy's (in Pease) at 6:30pm.

Lessons Learned From The Radio

2005-09-12T21:20:00.000-04:00

"Now it looks like this... and you can swallow or you can spit, you can throw it up or choke on it, and you can dream, so dream out loud... you know that your time is coming 'round, so don't let the bastards grind you down."

Update

2005-09-11T13:34:00.000-04:00

I was just re-reading my posts and I figured that I'd mention that I installed a rock door on the Gopher Dude's home (sorry man if you were still in there) and I'm still caffeine free (it is nice not worrying about getting headaches if I don't get a cup).

What Are Books?

2005-09-11T13:05:00.000-04:00

I can't remember the last time I read a book. I'm just happy that I was able to read all the articles I wanted to in this month's Wired.

York Beach

2005-09-10T12:58:00.000-04:00

Why Not?

2005-09-10T12:35:00.000-04:00

I was thinking, I should be the next head of FEMA. I mean I did have a basement flood once, that makes me more qualified than someone who was once in charge of a horse club right?

Where Are The Power Brakes?

2005-09-10T10:51:00.000-04:00

As LNotes mentioned, we took the opportunity our vacation provided to try our hands at kayaking this week. Now I am a child of NJ suburbia, my swimming skills were honed in backyard swimming pools and my boating skills consist of the ability to sail a peddle-powered paddle boat around Colonial Park, needles to day, my nerves were a nice shade of "High" orange. In all seriousness, I knew the life vest would keep me afloat, that in a non-Jenny Thompson like manor I could swim if I fell out, and that people of all walks of life kayak everyday (hence it's growing popularity), I just feared that I would be that "special" person in the group, the one that ends up in the back with a instructor yelling "no, your other right!" for the two hours. My fears were somewhat eased as we stood around waiting to enter the water and no hands went up when one of the instructors asked, "Who has kayaked before?" But then I thought, "Yeah right, you are all like those 'super people', the ones that could land a plane by themselves in an emergency with no instruction and say 'It was nothing.'" With life vest secured, and paddle in hand, I confronted my fears and launched my kayak into the water. It was then my brain quickly grasped that 1) steering was opposite from the direction you really wanted to go, 2) while trying to steer, you end up propelling yourself forward, 3) docked boats come really fast, 4) in the midst of trying not to hit a boat, the thought of braking never offers itself as an option.... and who launches a bunch novices in a crowded (working) marina anyway? Oh, and those "I've never kayaked" people, all paddling away in the distance. After re-enacting the Titanic, and understanding "left" means "right", I made it out into the open water and caught up with the rest of the group, where the new challenge was avoiding people in front of me who would just suddenly stop paddling and float... um yeah, this thing doesn't really stop on a dime all that well and I need a little more room to steer away. Luckily I didn't hit anyone but, for awhile, it did prevent me from easing back a bit and taking it all in. It was after I got my space a bit that a smile came to my face and I thought, "This is cool, I wonder how much these things cost". I envisioned loading up the car and heading out to some lake and tooling around for a Summer afternoon. I also thought that if I did buy one, I'd like to find some shallow water and just tip the kayak over to get that feeling over with and practice getting back in. So in the end, I think I might have found a new hobby... and strengthen my mistrust of "I've never done that" people.

Ah, Vacation

2005-09-10T10:08:00.000-04:00

By deciding to super-size our three day weekend, we opted to take the rest of the week off as vacation. I think the highlights were:

Scheduling HD to come out and measure our back door for a new storm door.
Cleaning the house.
Running non-stop at 5.5 on the treadmill for 40 minutes (new high).
BBQ at the in-laws. Sub-highlight: Encouraging nephew to pat his head with blueberry pie hands.
Signing up for Vonage (Verizon: $50+/m v. Vonage: $14.99/m).
Eating lunch at Loco Coco’s Tacos in Kittery (you were right Mr. Perspective, excellent).
Buying stackable bookshelves for the living room (we now have our own $10,000 Pyramid).
Packing away all our CDs (an end of an era).
Eating LNote's Italian pressed sandwich.
Hanging out on Jenness beach, watching the surfers get beat up by the waves (out of the dozens of surfers there, I think I only saw one successfully ride a wave).
Eating a way too big breakfast at Harvey's Coffee Shoppe in Dover (mmm, pancakes).
Driving around Dover looking for cheap gas ($3.09... up from $2.99 just a few days earlier).
Spending two hours paddling around Newcastle in a kayak.
Getting my annual furnace tune-up.
Finally, after living in Dover for ten years, eating a famous River Bend Steak Sub (excellent).
Buying eight windows (installed) from HD (man that hurt, but we'll save on heating oil right? right?)
Waiting for the cable guy.
Kickass weather.

Comment Spam

2005-09-10T10:07:00.000-04:00

To all those Blogger users out there who want to get rid of their comment spam, I recommend turning on word verification.

Cat Scratch Fever

2005-09-09T12:09:00.000-04:00

What happens when you try to pick up your "rescued" feral beach cat to crate him for the vet? (I say "rescued" because sometimes I wonder if he feels that he's really been rescued) Not content with just drawing blood, "Tinkle Bug" (as we now call him, a play on his original nickname, "Sting Bug") decided to let loose and not go down without dowsing the stairs.

Jenness State Beach

2005-09-07T12:57:00.000-04:00

Great Band Names

2005-08-29T21:57:00.000-04:00

Bile Belch

Suits

2005-08-29T21:32:00.000-04:00

I was thinking, if cats ever ran a publicly traded kibble factory, there would most likely be a lot of SEC investigations over misstated earnings due to the creative ways they would probably use to take inventory. I would also guess that the health plan that they would choose for their fellow (cat) factory workers probably wouldn't be all that great. I just don't think management would big on "social issues" like health care. But then again, I think very few cats would take management up on a health plan and voluntarily go to the doctor anyway.

Blog 'n Brew

2005-08-29T21:00:00.000-04:00

Right, Tuesday Sept 13th, Paddy's (in Pease) at 6:30pm it is.

Blog 'n Brew

2005-08-28T12:04:00.000-04:00

I know this is short notice but Mr. Perspective (a.k.a Mr. Snufalufagus) has an extended "fun pass", anyone up for beers on the either the 13th or 14th of September?

How To Get Yourself Killed

2005-08-28T11:59:00.000-04:00

Take one senior driver, pack the car with other senior passengers, place an out of state handicap license plate on the back of the car, place the car in a traffic circle, stand back and watch as diver stops (in the circle) at each "spoke" to let the entering traffic pass before proceeding to the next "spoke". You can also use the same steps to watch a traffic circle come to a complete deadlock.

A Big Pane

2005-08-28T11:30:00.000-04:00

Not being content with a construction free home and also living debt free (or more like less in debt), we decided to entertain the thought of replacing our windows before Winter. Now our house has two sections: the old section (built in the late 40's) and the new section (built in the late 80's). Everyone loves a good puzzler so I'll let you figure out which side has the crappy broken windows (hint: it is the new section). The older section of the house still has the original, double hung, single pane, weighted windows with "Auto-Close"(tm) technology. Someone at some point did screw storm windows on to the outside, kind of like those kids who buy the after market air foils for their '95 Sentra (sweet). The newer section of the house has crank out casement windows that were probably the last remaining windows to roll off the assembly line right as the creditors were putting the padlock of the factory. Sometimes, when the air is perfectly still, I worry that movement in the air's atoms will whip the window wide open and snap the balsa wood-like hinges. After meeting with some companies, and learning way more than I ever knew about windows, I think we are ready to pull the trigger. As with all home improvement projects, I like to think of the debt we are about to enter into as good debt, at least someone will be able to collect on the increased house value when I check into the poor house.

Jenness Beach

2005-08-27T10:40:00.000-04:00

With the number of Summer days dwindling down, we took yesterday off to just park ourselves in some beach chairs for a couple hours. The beach was busy but I imagine not as busy as a comparable day in July as it was mostly just kids and parents. I guess we should have checked with "Frank" though before we picked our spot. Frank was very protective of the small parcel of beach we were on. He spent most of the day yelling at the other seagulls and defending his turf.

The Silent Treatment

2005-08-26T08:57:00.000-04:00

Bad news for Rafael. I went to Panera yesterday (for my Turkey Bravo fix) and when it came time to ask me my name, I was handed one of those light up coaster pagers. I guess carpoolguy will now have to use his secret identity of Dick Hertz somewhere else.

It's Alright, I Had the Rabies Shot

2005-08-22T21:48:00.000-04:00

On the ride home tonight I promised Carpoolguy I would post some of the Firefox Extensions I have loaded at home. First off, if you haven't installed Firefox yet, I recommend giving it a test drive as I personally find it a better browser than Internet Explorer (plus it is free). The other plus of Firefox is the numerous add-ons, or more specifically "Extensions", you can install to enhance it, here is my list:

Bloglines Toolkit and Livelines: If you use Bloglines to keep up with your blogs, this extension gives you right-click access to subscribe to the current site you are on (if there is a feed available). It will also notify you (in the lower right corner of the browser) when you have new items to read.
Tabbrowser Preferences: Arguably the #1 feature most people fall in love with when using Firefox is the ability open multiple web pages in just one window. This extension give you a little more control on how these pages are opened.
Netcraft Anti-Phishing Toolbar: I usually have this one hidden but this toolbar will tell you who actually owns the site you are on. This is good for keeping eyes on scams that say, take you to a page that looks legit, but is actually a scammer trying to steal your user name and password to the real site.
Google Toolbar: All the goodness of Google a mouse click away.
Yahoo Toobar: Simple access to your Yahoo Calendar, Address Book, and My Web Search. Tip: I don't like a lot of toolbars taking up my browser real estate, but the nice thing with Yahoo's is you can hide it but still get to all its functions from Menubar.
SpellBound: Right-click and spell check any text box.
Forecastfox: Get your current weather conditions (and radar) in the lower right corner of your browser window.
Qute: Not an extension, but a "Theme". I personally find it easier on the eyes than the default Firefox theme.

That's pretty much the ones I have at home but you can fine more on the Firefox site. Also, you can uninstall any extension at anytime by going to Tools/Extensions in the Menubar. Usually any install or uninstall will require you to close and re-open your browser. Lastly, keep an occasional eye in the upper left corner of your browser. When there is an update to either Firefox or an extension, you'll see a little icon you can double click to get the update(s).

No Fair, I'm On Home Base

2005-08-22T21:26:00.000-04:00

Ok, I'm notorious for never getting around to doing these things but I like music so what the hell. Now, the thing is, I haven't really been listening to new music lately, so the best I can do is the artists/albums I listened to today:

Buffalo Tom
Catherine Wheel
The Trash Can Sinatras
Electronic
I ran out of time but I was eyeing Death Cab for Cutie.

So I have to "tag" five people now? Alrighty:

Things To Keep You Busy At Work

2005-08-20T10:57:00.000-04:00

Google Maps: Checkout the "Hybrid" button in the upper right corner of the map, also scrolling the map by dragging it around.
Google Earth: Kick up Google Maps a notch. A must for map geeks.
MSN Virtual Earth: Microsoft's answer to Google. Different satellite views from Google Maps, plus zoom in/out with your mouse wheel.
Yahoo 360: Social networking and blogging rolled into one. Setup a blog so that only certain people in your network can read it (like work stuff).
Yahoo Messenger: New version with new voice functionality and easy Yahoo 360 posting. Personally I think this version makes Yahoo the top IM client. Tip: Use Messenger as your one click access to your address book from at work or home.
Yahoo's My Web Search: Use it to store your bookmarks and then later search the content of your bookmarks (which is really what you want to do with your bookmarks anyway). Also "tag" your bookmarks into categories. I recommend installing the Yahoo Toolbar if you use it for one click bookmarking.
Yahoo's Konfabulator: Fill your desktop with small "widget" applications. Personally I like the Calendar widget at work, it integrates nicely with Outlook to show you your schedule for the day on your desktop.
Google Toolbar: Now works in Firefox. Includes a Blogger "Blog This" button to blog the current page you are on, as well as spell checking (good for when posting comments). A personal favorite is the form Autofill. Set it up to automatically enter your address into a form (instead of typing it for the hundredth time).
MSN Toolbar: If you use IE as your browser you can now enjoy tabbed browsing (no more multiple IE windows clogging your Taskbar). The Weather add-on is a worthwhile toy as well. It also includes MSN Desktop search so you can search your hard drive and inbox faster.
Flickr Explore: Quickly view the top photos on Flickr. You can also now log into Flickr using your Yahoo id.
LinkedIn: Connect with co-workers from the past to now. Mine your connections for job or sales leads. (how did YouWho grow his connections overnight?)
Google's Picasa: If you have more than one photo on your hard drive, this will make your life a whole lot easier as it will index each and every photo for easy access. Also includes a simple photo editor.
Plaxo: Sure you can use it to bug your friends for their contact info but it is also a slick way to sync your Outlook data to the web. Also syncs with Yahoo Address Book and AOL.
Blogger for Word: In case you are more comfortable typing in Word than a tiny box in IE or Firefox.

Who Was The Advertising Genius?

2005-08-20T10:46:00.000-04:00

One, to bring Lee Iacocca back to television, and two, pair him with Snoop Dog? The guy is like Caveman Lawyer next to Snoop Dog: "Mr. Dog, I am unfamiliar with your urban ways."

$2 Hot Dogs - $2 Fries - $5 Beers

2005-08-20T10:16:00.000-04:00

Well, continuing their relentless stalking, the Rants followed me to the Fisher Cats last night. Sure they brought other family members to make it look innocent enough, but come on, sitting two rows down is a little too obvious. Actually the strange thing was, I went with my old Ctron crew and we mistakenly had two sets of tickets to choose from. We could have easily been in another section of the park (although maybe the Rants had perpared for that, I don't). Not strange enough? How about running into LNote's co-worker (who I've only met one or twice)? No? How about LNote's co-worker sitting in the same row, two seats over, from the Rants? Whoa! This state is too small. How was the game? I don't really know. But I did talk to a woman who was an armored car driver, discovered how to get free fries at Wendys (via Granite), and I found, if you go just a little bit further, you'll be rewarded with a Smutty. (my apologies to the Rants and Co for not giving a proper goodbye before we were all herded like cattle out of the park... moo) (thanks goes to Gimmay for helping me find my way out of Manchvegas, I always miss that turn)

Life Bullets

2005-08-18T20:36:00.000-04:00

Tokens, the new E-Z Pass! To my fellow EZ-Pass drivers, I know the electronic sign is cool and all, but the whole ecosystem is based on you not coming to a stop.
I can see in a few years, after EZ-Pass is in place and the tolls are still backed up, the state will introduce a new technology that uses round disks of metal to pay for tolls: "We plead with people to have patience, 130,000 people have ordered these new 'rolls' and we can only fulfill 40,000 at this time."
LNotes had a great idea, luxury commuter buses. Sort of like the LimoLiner we took last year. A bus with big seats, internet access, CNN, coffee and doughnuts. Sign me up.
After reading about how a woman urinated on herself so she wouldn't loose her place to buy a four year-old iBook, Mr. Perspective jokingly said there isn't much that he would urinate on himself for. This got me thinking, what would you urinate on yourself for in order that you could keep your place in line.
The bedroom project is coming to a close. The molding has been painted, blinds hung, curtain rods installed, even got a quote on refinishing the floor. The only thing left is the ceiling molding, but if the fact that after a year my dining room is still sans ceiling molding, it may be awhile.

Daniel Son

2005-08-11T22:53:00.000-04:00

For any Flickr contacts out there, if you want to see what color we painted the bedroom, I just uploaded some photos.

I Didn't Even See The For Sale Sign

2005-08-04T23:00:00.000-04:00

We have a new neighbor: "Gopher Dude" (actually he/she might be a woodchuck). Overnight Gopher Dude setup up shop on the side of front patio. You would think if you were looking for a new home, and had a tendency to run when you see/hear humans, that a patio with a lot of human traffic wouldn't be in the "plus" column of your list. Go figure.

Now That's What I Call Music

2005-08-04T22:45:00.000-04:00

I always say that radio sounded better when British bands are all the buzz. Lately I think I'm going to have to add Swedish bands to that statement. ...and you jerk it out.

Lessons From The Radio

2005-08-04T22:42:00.000-04:00

"I want to be adored"

What Did You Wish For?

2005-08-04T22:35:00.000-04:00

Wouldn't it be great if cats instinctively knew how to make martinis? That would be sooo cool: "I'm home from work... sweet, martinis."

Life In Bullets

2005-08-02T22:51:00.000-04:00

I made my deadline for painting the bedroom. Now comes the procrastination in putting the molding back up and painting it. I have plenty of time.
I made it back to the gym tonight after taking the month of July off (to work on the bedroom). I've said it before, it is pretty depressing how quickly your body starts to go back to being a slug.
I think Bobby and Whitney are actually pretty cool... and crazy.
Why can't scientist genetically engineer yellow fireflies into blue, red, and green ones? Now that would be something cool to see out your window in the summer. Come on, what's the worst that could happen?

How To Spend A Vacation Day

2005-07-23T11:18:00.000-04:00

(well at least half of a vacation day) As it stands the bedroom has been: stripped, sanded, mudded, sanded, and mudded. I'm hoping I can get away with just one more sanding before I can at least put two coats of primer on. If you have never sanded drywall compound, man are you missing out.

One Week

2005-07-23T08:55:00.000-04:00

I can remember when I started drinking coffee, it was when I worked the "6am-4pm" shift at the supermarket. All the "full-timers" would gather around the bakery's coffee machine and chat before heading out to their respective departments for the day. It was the really the only "on the clock" break you got, so either you joined them or started in on hauling out boxes of produce, needless to say, I quickly learned to join them (plus you got to hang in the "full-timers'" club). When I first started college, my coffee drinking pretty much halted. I had a percolator in my dorm room, but waking up a few minutes earlier than I had to, in order to brew a cup, was pretty much out of the question. Plus we never went to breakfast for pretty much the same reason, who wanted to get up earlier than you had to. It wasn't until I moved off campus, and actually bought groceries, that my daily coffee drinking really took off. First I used my percolator, then I had my daily routine of stopping off at 7-11 and buying the biggest coffee they had, before heading off to my mail room job. We also used to go out for late-night coffee and then immediately go to bed (the college body is an amazing machine). When I graduated, and got my first "fancy" job, I started grounding my own coffee and bringing coffee to work, a practice I still do today (for over ten years now). I, and now my wife, will fill the grinder to the top and use that to make coffee for two (we like our coffee dark). Now I've never been a multi-cup kind of guy. I only drink one (large) coffee a day, and very very rarely get a coffee in the afternoon (in fact an afternoon coffee makes me extremely tired). I also drink that one (large) cup over about a three hour duration (I'm a sip'er, not a chug'er... a insulated mug also helps). I've found that if I drink more coffee after my cup from home that I'd really start to get the jitters and my heart would have a word or two on how it felt about the extra caffeine. With all that said, we cut caffeine out of our diets starting last Saturday. It wasn't cold turkey, we had been gradually decreasing the caffeinated coffee and increasing the decaf for about a week prior, but Saturday was pretty rough none the less (a nice mild all day "f you, where's my damn caffeine" protest from my head). But that was it, one day of headaches. As for "waking up", it is hard to tell, I've always been pretty much a zombie until around 9:30am, and I've always been ready for nap time around 3pm (when I was drinking coffee), being "decaf" hasn't been that much different. Soda isn't much of an issue as I've converted to seltzer for awhile now (I'm not a anti soda person like some people, I do enjoy a Coke or Sprite now and then). The biggest issue is my Honest Tea kick, I can only find one decaf tea by them, and they don't sell it at the supermarket. I don't know how long this decaf lifestyle will last, but I'm hoping I will get some added health benefits. So far just not having the "must have coffee now or I'll get headache" ball and chain has been pretty liberating.

How To Measure A Good Day

2005-07-21T22:52:00.000-04:00

Getting two toothpicks, in each half of your sandwich, with the same colored frilly ends.

E-Z Reminder

2005-07-21T22:37:00.000-04:00

Right now, when you go through the E-Z Pass lane, there is an electronic sign that says "Go E-Z Pass". This had me thinking in car pool today: they know who you are in order to charge your account, and they have a website you can log into in order to view your account status, why not take it further? I think they should allow you to enter reminders on the website and then later have them displayed on the electronic sign: "M-in-law bday today." Seacoast Perspective also had the idea that people could also "IM" you: "Pick up milk."

Blog 'n Brew

2005-07-20T22:38:00.000-04:00

Success! (again success is measured by if I have an ice cold beer or not) All kidding aside, I think tonight was best Blog 'n Brew EVER! Tonight's crew was:

4 Kids, Mom, and Dad (or 4 Fuzzy Puppies and a Kitten)
carpoolguy
Contagious
Granite Rants
Lnotes
You Who?
The New American Blog

Highlight: 4KMD's self defense tips... go for the pinky, grap, twist, & pull, and never go to a second location.

Come On Lady!

2005-07-17T22:49:00.000-04:00

You got to be kidding me, a check?!?... how did you get here, on your horse? Man, what are you writing now? Date, amount, name, done... no one uses the memo field! What?!? You have the receipt, you know you wrote a check, balance your checkbook on your own time! Sure, why not, I have time to stand here as you get your purse situated. I know how hard it is to find something as small as a checkbook in a small purse. Soylent green should be made of people who still use checks at the grocery store.

Naked

2005-07-17T22:37:00.000-04:00

Well it took like three years or something but I scrapped the last bit of crappy old wallpaper from my bedroom wall sometime after three yesterday. Honestly, there were many times during this ordeal where, after an hour or two, I would stand up from scrapping, chunks of wet wallpaper clinging to every part of my body, and almost break down in tears of agony in seeing how little I had actually progressed. What's next you ask? Mudding and sanding... yay!!!!

Blog 'n Brew

2005-07-17T22:27:00.000-04:00

Wednesday July 20th Paddy's (Pease) 6:30-7ish

Blog 'n Brew

2005-07-12T23:01:00.000-04:00

Well if it is alright with bob, it looks like a Wednesday night is the night that gets the most ballots (unless we want to open it up to a Thursday). So now we need a date: 7/20 or 7/27?

E-Z Pass Envy

2005-07-12T22:34:00.000-04:00

While Carpool guy rages about E-Z Pass, my E-Z Pass is lost somewhere in the mail ($@#^@*&). So it was great entertainment last night crawling along in one of two long "Non E-Z Pass/Token Only" lines surrounding the shiny new "E-Z Pass Only" lane. Cars would come speeding down, barreling towards the big open "E-Z Pass Only"lane, and then come to a halt when they realized that couldn't go through. Did you honestly think the rest of us were a bunch of idiots and that you found some way to get through the tolls that the rest of us were too dumb to see? Hey buddy, get in line with the rest of the idiots!