Houston, We Have a Problem

Yeah, I'm Still Alive and Still Addicted To

2011-07-13T17:03:00.000-04:00

After meeting with a group of bloggers including Avitable, Father Muskrat, Dave and Coal Miner's Grandaughter in Atlanta last weekend, I realized I should at least "attempt" to get back to writing a personal blog with the hopes of staying on the Blogography blogroll. No, I'm not a dead beat - I've been focused on my technical blog where I'm a god. Okay, not really, but it's well known in the industry whereas this blog is known by about 3 people.

Upon digging around for something to write about, I came across my blog post from August of 2008 where I reveal my addiction to video games. Here I am 3 years later and guess what - I'm still hooked. I'd love to say that the PS3 is a stress reliever, and that it prevents me from drinking and getting angry all the time, but it doesn't. In fact, it probably gets me MORE stressed out. I could stop playing, but what would I do with all my free time? Go outside? Play with my kids? Nah, I'd watch TV, so at least by playing games, I'm able to exercise the left side (or is it the right side) of my brain.

We all have addictions: some people play golf, others may smoke. I know my addiction - what's yours?

"Welcome to Great Clips!"

2010-05-06T09:27:00.000-04:00

I'll be the first to admit I'm not really a people person. I don't hate people (all the time) I just don't find myself to be chatty with strangers, so I dread the typical banter of the hair stylist. Today I thought I was off the hook when my Great Clips stylist started off saying, "I'm not going to talk much because I'm tired." However then she proceeded to tell me WHY she was tired. In the 10 minutes it took to cut my hair, I found out the following:

the GC stylist stayed out until 1 a.m.
her and her husband met a friend from 30 years ago for Cinco de Mayo
the GC stylist only smokes 3 cigs a day, but they were stuck in the smoking section of the restaurant
her friend was with a date who was paying for the meal, who arrived already drunk (and they live in an apartment)
her friend ordered everything on the menu and the date was pissed
the GC stylist's husband drinks 3 beers a day
all Americans drink 3 beers a day, don't they?
she is from Venezuela
she learned English from Happy Days
she defected from Cirque du Solei to become a hair stylist
she gets paid by the hair
she's not really trained to cut hair, in fact she doesn't even work here

I don't really mind the banter, I just wonder how people do it. Do people, like these hair stylists, really think we care, or am I just a people hater? I suppose in the lines of profession where you service people, talking helps to pass the time. Don't know. Perhaps it's a skill I'll develop one day. But I doubt it.

Longest Distance Traveled?

2010-04-28T21:41:00.001-04:00

This past week I attended my first TequilaCon and I was amazed at the amount of people who attended. I'm not into the blog crowd as much as many of the attendees were, so I didn't know most of the people, but it was pretty cool to see so many different bloggers. I was also amazed at the work the TequilaCon crew put into the event. There was a lot of cool swag and it was apparent they put a lot of effort into the event.

I also want to thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Down With Pants for ordering Tequila shots for everyone! Seen in the picture on the right, it seems like Brandon could pound down some Tequila. (Now if we can only get Brandon to beat Copasetic Beth in Words with Friends.) Also thanks to Brandon and Jen for the save...

There was some discussion / debate on who traveled the furthest to get to TequilaCon. While I would love to claim that title, I have to admit I was already in Vancouver for business. So the winner would have to be my beautiful blushing bride, Beth, who flew in to Vancouver the Thursday prior. I'm lucky she was able to actually come into the country since she was stopped at Customs and questioned about why she was in Vancouver. I'll leave you to read all about that on Copasetic Beth's blog.

According to Google, she would have traveled 2,836 miles by car, but by plane it looks like roughly 2,249 miles is the distance travelled. Of course, since she flew to Salt Lake City, Utah then to Vancouver may help confirm her winning distance.

Overall, the trip to Vancouver was great, we met some really nice people. A special shout out to Sizzle, Brandon and his wife, Laura, Dave, Vahid, Jenny, and Dustin for going out of their way and making me feel welcome.

Time for a Change

2009-12-10T12:38:00.000-05:00

For that one reader I have, I've decided to change up the look of my blog, so if you read this in a feeder, take a minute to visit the blog site itself. It's been several months since I've touched this personal blog, but it's only because I've got nothing to blog about that anyone would really care to read. I have, however, enjoyed starting up another blog that is more "business related" (BladesMadeSimple.com). It's been fun writing that blog because it's about a topic I'm sincerely interested in and I've gotten over 5,000 page views since I started it in October on Wordpress.com (http://kevinbladeguy.wordpress.com/).

My time has also been devoted to Twitter (www.twitter.com/houstonsproblem). It amazes me how watching people's comments can be so transfixing. If I only had a way of watching Twitter feeds on my 52" HDTV. Maybe that's coming...

San Francisco 2009

2009-09-05T21:15:00.010-04:00

Beth and I got to spend 5 days in San Francisco. We absolutely love the city because of the vast variety of things to do. Although the city is only 7 miles by 7 miles, there is SO much to do. When we came two years ago, we did the tourist things like ride a cable car, visit Alcatraz and visit Fisherman's Wharf, but we still barely scratched the surface.

Cupcakes!

One of the highlights of the trip was finding a store, called Kara's Cupcakes that sells only cupcakes! Beth absolutely loves cupcakes, so we had to check it out. It was like walking into a donut shop - there were so many varieties to choose from. We ponied up $9.75 to try the Vanilla Chocolate, Banana and Lemony Lemon. While they were cute and packaged in a pretty little pink box, they were just "ok" - a little plain, not worth the $3.25 ea. Beth's cupcakes are MUCH better, so perhaps one day we'll open up our own cupcake shop.

The Pacific Ocean
Last time we came, Beth journeyed over to the north side of San Fran to view the Pacific Ocean, so this time, I wanted to go. We hopped on the #38 bus and rode up to Ocean Beach and arrived at the biggest, cleanest beach I've ever seen. However, it was 5:30 p.m. and it was San Francisco, and it was COLD. I figure it was about 58 degrees, and Beth and I were wearing shorts. We couldn't complain, because it was the Pacific Ocean. Since we live on the east side of the continent, getting to see these waters are a rare treat. A little secret though - it looks the same as the Atlantic. Once we finished freezing our ass off, we determined hike up to the top of the cliff, where the park was. We had already walked about 3 miles this day, so the site of a straight up hike didn't sit well, but we did it - and it was well worth it. From the top of the cliff, there was an awesome site. I definitely recommend this to anyone visiting.

Homeless

Throughout our trip in San Francisco, we ran into many people who were homeless. I know that every city has some homeless people, but San Francisco seems to have quite an abundant number. Seeing these individuals truely make me appreciate the things I have in life. I may complain about my job, but at least I have one. I may complain about my income, but at least I can eat, and have shelter over my head. I may complain about my children and bicker with my wife, but at least I have a family to live and love. I really am blessed.

On every trip that Beth and I go to, we always buy snacks and drinks. This trip was no different. I was also in San Francisco for a conference, so I managed to collect a large number of t-shirts. We also also connected a nice supply of shampoos, mouthwash and toothpaste from the Hilton we stayed at, so at the end of our stay, we decided to collect all of the snacks we didn't eat, the toiletries we didn't need and shirts we wouldn't wear, and we put them in a bag to be given to a couple of homeless men. I know that these items were not going to change their lives, but my hope was that it would give them hope. I'm not blogging this for any praise or recognition, but in the hopes that others will consider doing the same thing the next time they visit a city. The little things can make a difference.

My business conference will be back in San Francisco in 2010. Will Beth and I attend - who knows? But if we do, I'm sure we will find more things to do.

Blood Donation Time

2009-08-12T19:56:00.007-04:00

Time to update. Sorry to my two followers for the nearly 30 day lapse.

Today I gave blood to the American Red Cross. This is something I've doing since college between 5 - 6 times a year. I think it is an easy way for me to do something for someone else. I am very fortunate in that I have really good blood. I'm A+, so it's not a rare type or anything, but it only takes me about 5 minutes once they start to donate my pint. I've lost track of the number of times I've donated, but I think I'm up to about 8.5 gallons. Keep in mind that the average person has 10 pints of blood in their body, so doing the math - I've given enough blood to fill up over 6 people!

I understand that some people, like my Beth, can't give due to medical reasons while other people don't give because they are afraid of needles, especially in the arm. I don't mind that - what REALLY makes me cringe is the finger stick. They can stick me in the arm all they want, but that 1/2 second poke of the razor sharp edge pin just to get a drop of blood almost makes me want to cry. Okay, not really, but it hurts. In fact, it usually gets the band-aid treatment for a couple of days, meanwhile the hole in my arm gets nothing.

The best part of donating, other than helping save lives, is having to sit and eat a snack afterward. My favorite snack of all is the Nutter Butter cookie. In fact, I'd donate once a week if I was able to, just to get the yummy peanut butter sandwich (and to save more lives, of course.) I also tend to take a few extra cookies with me so I can munch for the rest of the day. Yeah, I know, that's probably not right seeing how the American Red Cross is a non-profit organization and all, but hey - I just gave a 10th of my blood supply.

On a final note, the American Red Cross has a new program through their NASCAR® Racing team where you can create teams and earn points toward prizes as your team gives blood (or attempts to give.) If you are interesting in joining Team "Houstons Problem", then head over to Red Cross Racing and join my team. My team code is: EM985HO

New Video - Michael Jackson's Hair On Fire During Pepsi Commercial

2009-07-16T15:38:00.002-04:00

Wow.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Ghostbusters 3 Coming Soon?

2009-07-07T20:29:00.004-04:00

There's been a lot of talk lately about the planned Ghostbusters 3, as the original movie celebrates its 25th Anniversary and having been twenty years since the last installment. It makes sense to me as the new Ghostbusters PS3 game has just come out. I came across an interview that confirms the 3rd sequel is on its way.

ComingSoon.net interviewed Harold Ramis, who says that he has written a script and is "Everyone says they'll do it", however no one has signed any contracts and no dates are set. Ramis also says in the interview that there will be a younger cast donning the backpacks and outfits with the original cast acting more as mentors to them.

To read the entire article, go to ComingSoon.net.

Mickey's Cover-Up: 1 Dead in Monorail Crash

2009-07-06T09:33:00.002-04:00

The operator of a monorail at Walt Disney World died Sunday morning when two monorails crashed. According to the Reedy Creek Fire Department, the accident happened about 2 a.m. at the ticket and transportation. Read more at

http://www.wesh.com/news/19955188/detail.html

One would think this type of news would hit National News, but it hasn't. Either they are too pre-occupied with the Michael Jackson story or there's a cover-up. Disney has lots of money and this is their peak season. Makes you wonder...

Fish With Human Teeth

2009-07-03T23:46:00.003-04:00

Check this out - a fish with human teeth.

http://newglobalwarmingeffects.com/2009/07/03/fish-with-human-teeth/

Actually, it's been around for a while. It's a Pacu. Pacu fish are cousins to the piranha and known as "frugivores." They have human-like teeth that can crack nuts and fruits.

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/hooked/4255/Videos/06848_00?

Crazy isn't it?

Michael Jackson's final performances released

2009-07-02T20:49:00.002-04:00

The Michael Madness continues...

Take a half minute and watch the recently released video footage of Michael Jackson's "This Is It" tour practice at the Staples center.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Based on this footage, I'm starting to wonder if he was OD'd, or if perhaps, just perhaps, his death was faked and he's off living on an island in the Florida Keys. After all, he was 90% plastic - he could be easily duplicated for a body. I'm just saying...

Michael Jackson filmed 'groundbreaking' 3D video

2009-07-01T15:38:00.002-04:00

I have to admit, I am somewhat of a fan of Michael Jackson, and the news of his passing was sad, but in my mind, he left a long time ago. Once the allegations of child molestation came around, I was done with him. However, it appears we're not done seeing him yet. The Associated Press is reporting that Michael Jackson filmed a "groundbreaking" 3D video called the "Dome Project" that was to be used in his upcoming concert tour. The 5-week taping was completed two weeks before Jackson's death, and is now in post-production. Hopefully this video will be free, because I'm not sure I'd be willing to pay to see him one last time.

KFC Begins Search for "Second Colonel"

2009-06-29T21:03:00.003-04:00

Here's an interesting article. For more than 60 years, the image of Colonel Harland Sanders has represented Kentucky Fried Chicken. Now, along with online partner MySpace, KFC is embarking on a worldwide search to identify the new face of Kentucky Grilled Chicken (KGC).

Are you the ultimate KGC fan? Whether it’s an uncanny resemblance to the Colonel, the ability to create a sculpture made of Kentucky Grilled Chicken buckets, or a story about what KGC means to you, fans can submit their videos through July 7 at http://www.blogger.com/www.myspace.com/unthinkfc.

Unfortunately, I don't have a MySpace account, otherwise I think I would be a good one...

New Star Wars Trailer

2009-06-29T20:56:00.001-04:00

Check out this new trailer for an upcoming Star Wars PC game.

Belive it or not, I don't play these online Star Wars games, but this trailer could get me hooked.

"Chi-Ca-Go" Char Dog

2009-04-07T20:47:00.005-04:00

I absolutely love Chicago. My work allows me to travel to Chicago a few times a year and my first stop in the airport is at "Gold Coast Dogs" located in Terminal 3 at O'Hare. No matter what time of day, I have to get my char dog. In case you don't know about the Chicago Char Dog, here's what it is:

Snappy, natural-casing, all-beef wiener, from Vienna Beef

Seamed high-gluten, poppyseed bun,

Yellow mustard

NEON green sweet pickle relish

Chopped raw white onion

Dill-pickle spears

Fresh, ripe tomato slices

Whole, pickled sport peppers

Dash of celery salt

Absolutely no ketchup (unless you are under the age of 3)

Although the ingredients sound awful, it is absolute Heaven. Don't let the relish scare you. It does look like something from The Incredible Hulk, but it is great. Also - don't remove any of the ingredients. It's the combination of flavors that makes the meal.

The next time you are in Chicago, take time to enjoy a Char Dog. You will be glad you did!!

I'm A Freebie King

2009-02-28T21:15:00.004-05:00

I'll be the first to admit. I LOVE free stuff. It's a nice little hobby I've picked up over the past few months (years, decades...) and it's fun. I've found free magazines, free coffee and my favorite - free food.

TodayI found a link that shows that DQ recently did a post on their blog (http://blog.dairyqueen.com/2009/02/25/dq-sweet-deals/) that they are introducing a new way to order. "You can mix and match nine menu items, choosing two for $3, three for $4 or four for $5. You have the freedom of choice with more than 20,000 combinations." Now, I love having the ability to make my own combination, but on their blog, they say if I tell them what I would do to convince them to give me free food - they just might do it. Now, that's a good deal. So, this post is a feeble attempt to not only inform you of DQ's new Sweet Deals menu, but a lowly plead for DQ to give me some free food.

I'm A Hero

2009-02-20T21:55:00.008-05:00

Dave @ Blogography.com recently did a post where he created his own superhero. If you want to create your own superhero, go to http://www.cpbintegrated.com/theherofactory/. Here's me as a superhero:

Whoops. Wrong picture.

Here's me (notice the video game controller on the chest:)

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY - Now Shut The F*@& UP

2009-02-14T13:57:00.002-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day to all. I hope you get a chance to enjoy being with your friends and loved ones. If you are planning on going out for a movie tonight, please remember to be courteous to those around you and shut the hell up!

Last night I took Beth out for a date. We went to a nice upscale restaurant and followed it up by going to the movies. We went and saw He's Just Not That Into You, which was a funny film that was recommended as a "great date movie". (Yeah, right. It's a great date movie for SINGLE people, but married couples beware!) Anyway, I've never seen so many groups of women in one place. Groups of 5 - 8 woment continued to file in - so I figured this would be a good chick flick, and help me score points with Beth. However, what I did not know is that women love to talk in movies. Okay, maybe this is a general statement, but I've never heard so many people comment during a movie - speculating what the guy was going to do next, guessing how the girl would react. Of course, there were two ladies directly behind me who talked through the entire movie. I wanted to turn around and say, "shut the F*@& Up", but I didn't want to ruin my date with Beth, so I kept my cool. Instead, I just made sure to sit up straight with my big head blocking their vision, and I continued to see what time it was with my BlackBerry's bright screen.

Enjoy the day today, and remember, if you don't love yourself, get a dog. He'll love you.

Toronto - Day 2: Just Shoot Me

2009-01-05T22:41:00.002-05:00

Day 2 Recap:

woke up freezing my ass off, as the heat didn't work in the room.
there was no hot water in the shower
my sore throat is getting worse
I didn't make the annual company Quota Trip

Oh well, at least there's my health (cough, cough). Just shoot me...

Sucky Delta Flight to Toronto

2009-01-05T00:05:00.004-05:00

My company has a company-wide meeting at their corporate headquarters in Toronto each year IN JANUARY! This is possibly the worst place in the world to gather together 600 people for a kick off meeting because it's cold. I've already got a sore throat going, and this is just Day 1...

My day started off today with my 9:40 am Delta flight to Toronto being postponed until 10:20 am. Once we got on our way, we got 30 min in the air when the pilot informed us that there was a vibration in engine 2, so we're going to turn around and go back to Atlanta. This sucked, but hey - it's better to be safe than sorry. However, about 10 min later, the pilot says that we were too heavy to land, so we'll have to circle around Atlanta for a while to burn off some fuel. (REALLY? If there's a problem bad enough to make us turn around, should we really continue to fly with it?) Apparently the answer was YES. We stayed in the air for another hour. I wondered why we just didn't dump our fuel like they do in the movies, but I guess the people on the ground wouldn't like it. We landed back in Atlanta a little after noon and we were informed that Delta they're going to let us get off the plane, because they didn't know if the plane could be fixed, or if they needed to get another plane. Long story short - they got another plane and we re-boarded at 3:20 pm.

After everyone got seated, the flight attendants told us to shut off all our electronics, then we sat for another 5 min. The pilot came over the intercom again to tell us that the tower had changed our flight path and now we need more fuel - so we've got to wait for the fuel truck to come back. (REALLY? Could Delta not have planned on us needing some extra gas, and topped us off when they had the chance???) We ended up leaving around 3:45. Funny thing - our original flight time said it would take us a little over 2 hours, however on this 2nd attempt they stated it would be an 1 hr and 30 min. Funny how the airlines can just make up time when they want... Guess it's kind of like pressing the accelerator all the way down and going full speed.

We finally arrived in Toronto around 6 pm, however the flight team failed to tell us that we'd have to get off the plane onto 12 degree weather where all 72 of the passengers would have to board a large bus with no seats that would carry us to Customs. I was warned ahead of time that Toronto Customs were tough with interregation questions, but I had no idea. Here are just some of the questions asked:

Where'd you come from today?
Are you here on Business or Pleasure?
What do you do?
What company do you work for?
What do they do?
What are you here for?
Where are you staying?

You get the point. I heard from some other people in my group that they had to show their itenerary for the company meeting. WOW. It's a shame that all US Customs are this strict.

So - Day 1 is over. Hope Day 2 is less eventful than today.

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T17:39:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year to all. Let's see if 2009 has as much change as 2008 did. Not sure I can take it if it does. As with every new year, I'm interested to see how many resolutions I'll keep, and how long I'll keep them. Here's my top 5 resolutions for 2009:

I plan to blog at least once a week. (Okay, maybe once a month...)
I plan to be a nice, positive person. (Another stretch)
I plan on not hating people as much as I do now.
I plan on not being a procrastinator.

I'll finish the rest of this list later.

Places I Don't Belong

2008-12-31T07:51:00.007-05:00

As I wrap up my end-of-year vacation, I have time to run errands and do things with the fam, like go shopping. I'm glad to be able to get my "honey-do" list done, but I'm also realizing there are places that I just don't belong. Here's my short list:

Home Depot: let's face it - I'm not a handy man. I don't mind working on things, I just don't have a clue what I'm doing, or what I need. As an example, it took me over 6 months to get a drawer fixed in our bathroom because I kept buying the wrong things. Beyond not knowing what to buy, when I walk into Home Depot, I have NO CLUE where the stuff is. Everytime I go into a Home Depot, I wander around looking for whatever it is I need until I find someone in an orange vest who can help me out.
AutoZone: just like home repair, I'm clueless with cars, too. I walked into an AutoZone yesterday and wondered what I was doing in there. So many items that I had no clue about, and once again, I had to rely on one of the workers to help guide me toward what I'm looking for. I'm just thankful they don't make you show some sort of card that certifies you know what transmission fluid is before they let you in the store.
American Girl Store: in case you have been in a cave for years, or have no exposure to little girls, American Girl is a company that makes small dolls that girls can dress up and provide accessories for. While the well-known American Girl store is in Chicago, we are fortunate to be near the store at Northpoint Mall, in Alpharetta. I typically sit at Starbucks while my girls go shop at American Girl, but yesterday I went in. It was a frenzie of girls, young and old, looking at all sorts of dolls and accessories, but what really made me realize I didn't belong was watching the boutique where the DOLLS GET THEIR HAIR DONE! That's right - the dolls, not the girls, get their hair done. I actually saw a grown woman arguing that her doll's hair was not straightened like show was promised. WTF? It was at this point that I realized, this store is not for me.

There are more places I could list (like any place that has people), but I'll spare you from the extended list. I'd love to know what places YOU think you don't belong. Feel free to comment...

Get Your Flu Shot - at the airport??

2008-10-14T14:34:00.003-04:00

Yes, I still exist.
I realize it has been over a month since my last post, and for the one person who reads this blog, I apologize. I won't make any excuses, I'll just say that September sucked. My bad, negative attitude creeped back in me causing the world to go dark again. But I'm working hard to get back to the happy version of Kevin. Seeing things like what I saw today sure helps.

This morning I had to fly into Raleigh, NC for a day trip. On my boarding pass, my flight shows gate B01, however when I get there, the flight was moved to gate B31 - at the other end of the terminal. Fortunately, I arrived early, so I was able to take my time and look at the different stores and restaurants. About half way through my trek across the B Terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson, I ran into this:

Now, I understand that getting a flu shot can help prevent the flu, however I also have heard it can possibly give you the flu as well, since they're injecting a flu bug into you to make your body create the antibodies to defend against future flu bugs - I get that. What I don't get is why ANYONE would want to get a Flu Shot while waiting in line for their flight. Perhaps I've heard wrong and that a flu shot doesn't get people ill; maybe they've fixed the shot so that it makes you happy and you never get sick again. I'm just afraid that I'll be the one sitting next to the old man who gets deathly ill and starts vomitting while at 30,000 ft in the air.

Oh, the things people come up with...

A New Breed of Redneck

2008-09-02T17:12:00.010-04:00

Unlike Bigfoot, Rednecks are real.

I live in the heart of Redneckville and have the pleasure of observing them like animals in the wild each day. It is fun to watch trucks go by with 40" tires jacked up 5' tall with rebel flags waving in the wind, and references to NASCAR, guns, or deer hunting (often times all 3).

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the typical redneck, as he is usually honest and true, but this weekend, I discovered a new breed of redneck - the camping redneck. As Beth wrote about in her blog, we went camping for Labor Day weekend, and as contrary to belief, I did have fun, however it was the discovery of this new breed of redneck that amazed me.

The camping redneck is unique in its qualities. It has the ability to drink cases of beer well into the early morning and then be awake to watch the sun come up without any trace of a hang over. The camping redneck loves to have four wheeled motorcycles and ride them at top speed with no shirts or helmets on. They also have the gifted ability to take a picnic table, a riding mower, some NASCAR flags and turn them into a carnival ride for all the little kids while drinking a 6 pack of Budweiser.

This weekend we also ran into a rarer breed of redneck - the gold miner redneck. I have only seen these guys in rerun episodes of Little House on the Prairie and on Scooby Doo cartoons. The gold miner redneck is an old timer who enjoys wading in the river, panning for imaginary gold and posing as a member of ZZ Top. He has probably been drinking all day (a redneck trait) and when he speaks, he speaks in gibberish that only his family can understand. Although I make fun of the gold miner redneck, I envy his passion to look for small grains of gold with the hopes of one day finding enough to make him a millionaire.

As much as they are joked about, I have learned some lessons from rednecks. They have the ability to make complete strangers feel like they are best friends and they demonstrate a love of life, family, and friends (as well as NASCAR and beer.) If only society today were more like rednecks, the world would be a better place.

But Everyone Else is Doing It!

2008-08-28T20:31:00.003-04:00

Remember the good old days when the entire school met in the gym and were given the sales pitch about how if you sold a box of candy or wrapping paper that you would win a million dollars? Remember the excitement you felt leaving the gym, and how you knew you were determined to be the kid who could jump for the most dollars when you sold 50 items? Remember how big of a scam all that crap was?

I think those school day gimics are what makes us fall for things like Acai Berry juice. "It'll save your life and increase your sex life, however you have to buy 40 cases a month and get 3 other people to join you..." I'm not necessarily saying that multi-level marketing is what is going on in schools that are trying to get the small innocent kids to be their dope pushers - I'm saying that this is where it all starts.

I remember falling for the excitement of winning it big by selling crap for school when I was young, and now I get to experience it again with my 6th grader. Yesterday, my oldest walked in the door all excited about her school's magazine sales program. It's real simple - all she has to do is fill out a special postcard book with 10 addresses of people and when she turns it in, she will get a special magic "trick wallet" that is filled with:

a) an iTunes gift card
b) a gift card to an ice cream place
c) a $20 bill

WTF? A $20 bill? Does she really believe that this magazine company is going to pay her $20 for 10 addresses? YES, she does. She got so brainwashed by their big pep rally to sell magazines that she started CRYING when we told her that there was no way in hell she was going to participate in this. She replied with tears in her eyes, "but everyone is doing it!"

And there it was. The pre-teen beginning of the pure hell that is to come from my 11 year old daughter. I thought I'd have at least another year, but I guess I was wrong. Funny thing is she is freaking out over $20. (If I'd had known 20 bucks had this kind of Jedi mind trick effect, I would have been bribing her with twenties to wash my car, do my laundry, clean her room, clean the litter box, etc.) Beth and I tried to explain to her that there was NO FRIGGIN WAY they were going to hand out a twenty for every 10 addresses they have, but my daughter was convinced we were wrong. I told her if they gave her $20 for 10 names, I'll give her $20. Determined to let her find out the hard way, we gave in and let her send in the names - it will be worth it for us to do the "Told Ya So" dance. Hopefully she is not yet conniving enough come home with a borrowed twenty from a friend...

I Love Video Games

2008-08-14T11:33:00.004-04:00

It's no surprise - I love my PlayStation 3, in fact I'm hooked on it. I've always been a video game junky. I remember playing the Legend of Zelda on the original Nintendo in between football practices before school. Do you remember the Atari 2600? How about the Intellivision? (I still my first Atari in my garage.) If you remember the days of the Atari, then you'll appreciate a video I came across on YouTube. The video is "The Video Game crash of 1983" and it talks about why Atari went away. It's pretty good info.

Just curious - are video game addicts mostly geeky guy nerds like me or are there video game gals?

Tweet, Tweet

2008-08-12T18:57:00.004-04:00

As you can see, I've been behind in posting on the blog. It's not because in my "new state of mind" I have nothing to say, it's because I've found a new toy - Twitter. Since I got into blogging, I found myself thinking all day long about what I could post. I began obsessing to the point of insanity. I'd come up with single ideas that I wished I could blog about, however I knew that no one would want to read pointless words and thoughts (kind of like this post) so I'd pick a topic and roll with it.

Around this time, Beth started getting into Twitter on her iPhone. Every evening before we went to bed and every morning when we woke up, I'd hear "tweet, tweet" coming from under the covers and I wondered what her fascination with Twitter was - so I decided to check it out. I came to discover that Twitter is nothing but a bunch of people sharing their random thoughts to whoever wanted to listen. THIS IS PERFECT FOR ME! Since my brain is full of random thoughts that I'd love to share with the world I decided to get on Twitter. Long story long - I've been putting more time on my Twoughts (Twitter thoughts) instead of blogging and for those of you who take the time to read my blog, I apologize for taking so long to post something, however I encourage you to follow my pointless dribble comments on Twitter.

The Morning Drive

2008-08-04T19:26:00.002-04:00

Honeysuckle, pine trees, grass and maple. These are some of the aromas that make me love to drive to work in the early morning. Yes, it's cheezy, but it's something that people often overlook. How many times do we drive around with our windows up with the a/c running smelling the funk of dropped french fries or old coffee cups? Give it a try sometime. You might enjoy it.

Life's Fun When You're Not an Ass

2008-08-02T22:35:00.003-04:00

Okay, I have to admit. I've had a couple of pretty good days. It really is amazing how cool life can be when you aren't looking at it as an ass. I'll be honest, though. The past 48 hours has NOT been easy. My cat barfed on both chairs, my Internet when down - just on my work computer, and I've had a headache all afternoon, HOWEVER, that's okay. As George Castanza's dad would say, "SERENITY Now!" I'm cool. No lost temper, no raised voices, no anger (on the outside, at least.) I really think I can do this. When I step back and really look at my life, I am VERY blessed and should be very happy and thankful for all I have. Cheesiness aside, life is more fun, when you're not an ass.

The World Through Rose Colored Glasses

2008-08-01T17:46:00.003-04:00

Today is the beginning of a new era. I have decided to become an optimistic, glass is half full type of person. Up until today, I've always had a bad attitude, always pessimistic, and negative, but that side of me is gone. I seriously don't have any reason to have a crappy attitude. I've got a wonderful wife, great children, I have a job, a house and a PS3 - so life is good. Will this new attitude stick? I hope so. I'll let you know. For now, I have to go smell the roses...

What Day Is It???

2008-07-29T13:08:00.002-04:00

Ever have one of those days when you don't even know what day it is. I walked into Subway this afternoon to take advantage of their daily special. I go there quite often and was knew that that today was turkey breast - my fav. I go up to the counter and ask for the $3.99 daily special of turkey, and the lady says, "today is meatball". WTF? Is she smoking crack? I argued, "no it's supposed to be turkey". She says, "no, meatball. Turkey is Wednesday". Duh - I know that. Today is Wednesday... isn't it? I actually had to check my watch, and of course it showed"TUES". CRAAPP! Now I not only have to pay full price, but I also realize that it's ONLY TUESDAY!!!

I'm really wondering if I'm slowing going insane. I blame it on all the Starbucks coffee...or maybe all the Diet Cokes. Oh well. For those of you who didn't know - TODAY IS TUESDAY!

4 Days Left / What's Your Favorite Movie?

2008-07-27T18:43:00.005-04:00

Four more days until I start a new attitude toward life, so I've got to bitch and complain as much as I can before Aug. 1. I actually have good news, though. In November of 2005, I got an email from Netflix stating that I'm part of a class action lawsuit and that I "may" get something as a result. Funny thing is, I never had a subscription to Netflix. I think I did a free trial or something, but hey - I'm not going to argue. In May of 2006, I got another email stating that the lawsuit was settled and they'll be giving everyone 1 free month. That was great, however it didn't say anything about when my freebie would be given.

Well, today I finally got the email from Netflix telling me how to get my free 1 month subscription. So, it appears my patience paid off. Now I just have to figure out how I'm going to make the most out of my 1 month. Whenever I go to Blockbuster, it takes me 30 minutes to pick out one movie, so I'm not sure how I'm going to pick out 3 at a time.

Can you help me out by telling me what your favorite movie is?

5 Days Left

2008-07-26T09:35:00.004-04:00

I'm a crabby old man who hates everything. Okay, not really old, but I'm pretty darn crabby and negative with a very short temper. Most of my 'arguments' with Beth stem from me getting angry at the drop of a dime. It seems I've been this way for a very long time, however there was one time that I was able to have a normal, happy, positive attitude, and that was on my 10th wedding anniversary. Beth and I went to Prince Edward Island in Canada. We were able to escape the stresses and worries of our everyday lives and actually have a good time. We didn't argue and I wasn't negative.

SO - I've decided I'm going to try to go back to Prince Edward Island in 5 days. I'm not going physically, but I'm going mentally. I'm going to be a happy person, no more negative-ness....in 5 days. I can't quit being an ass cold turkey.

Okay, I'm Officially Old

2008-07-23T08:47:00.005-04:00

This morning I was sitting in my chair, drinking my 2nd cup of java, watching the Today show, when a segment came on where they are saying the 80's styles are coming back. Blue eyeliner, Duran Duran, the Breakfast Club...it's supposedly all coming back. I know I have greying hair, but when you are old enough to see a style come back around, you become officially old. I'm an 80's junkie, but if I have to watch a bunch of teenagers and 20-somethings walk around in leather pants, I might just have to shoot myself.

Recycling Sucks

2008-07-22T09:27:00.002-04:00

Okay, I get the whole idea of recycling - save the world, save the cheerleader, yada, yada. The problem I have is having to find a way to save all the recycled stuff. If we could put every plastic bottle into a little hole and it magically transported to the recycling facility, that'd be great, but since we're not smart enough to invent a transporter, I'm stuck with collecting them until I can justify taking them to the recycling place. In our house, we use fancy garbage cans - one for Diet Coke cans, one for plastic and one for cardboard. When the recycling bins fill up, the bags inside the container go out on our back porch. When the back porch fills up, I get the glorious job of taking them to be recycled (at the local garbage dump.) The process is SUCH a pain, and most of the time the stuff smells from being outside in the rain and heat. If only there was a better way to get rid of the stuff. Maybe I should just dig a big hole in the backyard and just pile it all there. No one would notice, would they?

I'm Dying to Find Out

2008-07-21T07:52:00.004-04:00

The Dark Knight apparently set a new record for the most money taken in on the opening weekend and I am dying to see it, however since Beth and I spent the day at Davelanta, our babysitting time has been used up for a few days. I'm going to have to wait until Wednesday to see it. I've got to know - is it really worth seeing? If you saw it, I'd love to hear your comments, good or bad.

OK...I'm Addicted

2008-07-20T19:43:00.004-04:00

They say the first step to quitting an addiction is admitting you have one - so I'm taking the first step. I am addicted to my PlayStation 3. Okay, not just the PS3, but to a certain Army game, called "Battlefield: Bad Company". At first, I played it because it had a story line about 4 Army rejects fighting bad guys and using really cool guns, but THEN I found out it had an "online" version where you could play against OTHER PEOPLE. I played a few times and thought it was okay, but THEN I found out there was another version where you get points for eliminating the opponents (killing the bad guys) and as you get more points, you move up in the ranks. Okay, now it got fun. There's nothing I like more than trying to become #1, or to reach the top. It seems like 15 minutes of game play has gone by, but it's actually 2 hours. My free time is becoming more and more obsessed with playing so I can make my way higher in the ranks (eventually becoming a 4 star General.) As I type this, I'm thinking, "I should be playing..."

SO - I admit, I have an addiction. I'm looking for any kind words to help me learn how to wean myself off of this time consuming crack addiction known as the PS3.

Fun with Dave

2008-07-19T23:57:00.007-04:00

Today was the annual Davelanta event. Davelanta is where Dave, from Blogography, arranges a place and time for all of the bloggers in the Atlanta area to meet, talk and to just have a good time together. Dave arrived early, so Beth and I had the chance to

eat lunch with Dave at Savage Pizza

visit the High Museum of Art

stop by the 20th Anniversary of the National Black Arts Festival

take Dave to get a Frosted Orange at the Varsity.

Dave and Beth playing light sabers with their iphones. Click to go to my Picasa album at
http://picasaweb.google.com/khouston53.

Davelanta kicked off with meeting of a group of great people at Hard Rock Cafe. I figure Dave will be talking about the day on Blogography, so I'll take this time to list the top 5 things I learned from today's events:

1) Savage Pizza rocks. Although it's 30 min away from my house, I'll be back.

2) Art is really interesting, even if someone thinks a gray square with a blue square inside is worth putting up in an art gallery.

3) Wear ear plugs when you go to the Hard Rock Cafe in Atlanta - unless you want to leave being permanently deaf.

4) Bloggers are really cool people. I never would have thought that meeting strangers who read someone else's blog would have anything in common with me, but I was wrong. In fact, the blog you are reading may be from someone who lived in the house next door, went to the same school you went to, and even took the same class you did!

5) If you are going to blog, make sure you update it more than every 33 days or risk getting harrassed by other bloggers who blog daily. Yes, Lil' Dave, I'll update more often now.

Thanks, to Dave, for being a great blog matchmaker and for having another great Davelanta!

P.S. 123!

2008-06-16T01:46:00.004-04:00

I love my wife.

My birthday came and I enjoyed the time with my family, even though I was sick with Salmonella from tomatoes (another story all together). I got my Tron shirt and I was happy, but no Blu-Ray. Yes, after getting my big TV, I had to get a Blu-Ray player, but of course, I couldn't bring myself to buy it. I figured at this point, I'll wait until my government stimulus check came."

Father's Day came today and I GOT MY BLU-RAY player - EVEN BETTER, I got a PS3!!!!! I had no idea how cool the PS3 was. I can show movies and music from my PC downstairs, I can play Blu-Ray DVDs and of course, I can play PS3 or PS1 games (but not PS2 games - odd). I am now officially the biggest geek on the block.

I love my wife for knowing that I wouldn't buy a PS3 and for buying me one. I love the way she listens to me (i.e. the Tron shirt), and I love the way she doesn't mind if I stay up late and play with my new toy. We're celebrating 15 yrs of marriage this week. I'm lucky to have such a cool gal. She's awesome!

Burned

2008-05-30T21:11:00.005-04:00

As a guy, it's natural for us to jump right into something without reading directions. With my new TV, I thought, "oh, I'll just hook it up and get it going", which I did. As I previously mentioned, I don't have high-def programming *yet* so the picture, when viewed in 16:9 widescreen mode was stretched. It looked 'okay', but I thought, I'll change it to the 4:3 mode and watch a normal, square, picture - no stretchiness.

Today, I turned on my Wii and noticed a line on both sides of my tv screen. I thought, at first, it was the reflection from the window - however as I studied it more, I realized, it was a BURN-IN!!!! In case you aren't familiar, "burn-in" is where an image is left on a plasma screen for an extended period of time and it burns itself into the plasma screen. Apparent, the 4:3 mode viewing had black bars on the sides to form the square, non high-def picture, and it left burn-in lines. Crap! I thought, "I'll call up Samsung and complain", so I opened up the User's Manual to find the 800# to call, and I saw this, on the first page:

"Important Warranty Information Regarding Television Format Viewing
Watching the TV in 4:3 format for a long period of time may leave traces of borders displayed on the left, right and center of the screen caused by the difference of light emission on the screen. Playing a DVD or a game console may cause similar effect to the screen. Damages caused by the above effect are not covered by the Warranty."

What the???? According to Samsung, this TV should only be used to watch TV in 16:9 (no video games or DVDs). Are they smoking crack? Do they really find this acceptable? I've got an idea for Samsung and the other plasma manufacturers - make a product that won't burn-in! Fortunately, the TV has a "feature" that lets you run rolling black and gray lines left to right and it helps to remove 'most' cases of burn-in. In my case, it looks like it removed the burn-in - for now. Now I'm afraid the next DVD I watch will do the same thing. I guess I should have bought an LCD TV. I'm sure I could turn around and sell this on Craig's List and not lose too much money if I wanted to, but I had a hard enough time deciding on this TV, and LCD TVs are so much more expensive.

Oh, well. Lesson learned. Always read the manual first...

UPDATE 6/16/08...
The "burn-in" was not permanent. I'm just being anal. I've taken the approach to just not look for it anymore. Life's much more happier that way...

Congratulations, It's a ...

2008-05-28T08:29:00.002-04:00

Please join me in welcoming the newest addition to our family

- a 50" Flat Panel Samsung Plamsa TV!!! Yes, it's official. I bit the bullet and made a decision. It arrived yesterday via a 53' tractor trailer. Yes, a 53 foot long tractor trailer for a 50 inch tv. It was the only thing on the truck. I felt sorry for the poor guy driving the truck because his company didn't do research to find out my road is a dead-end, and there was no turn around. He managed to get out, and deserves the "Best Driver Who Works for a Stupid Company That Does Not Do Their Research" reward however I digress. My new 50" beauty is wonderful. The picture is so crisp and clean. Now I just have to buy high-def DISH service and a Blu-Ray DVD player, and a new sound system, and wireless rear speakers, and put in canned lighting and get a universal remote, but other than that - I'm all set.

My new purchase made me feel like I was "someone" as I'm joining the masses of people who are moving to new flat panel TV high dev technology - however, my bubble was busted when my wife walks in and says "it's not as big as I expected it to be". Ouch. There goes my manhood. Oh well. I guess I have no choice but to send this tv back and get the 65" TV....

Problems Deciding

2008-05-15T11:20:00.009-04:00

I've been waiting for 3 months to buy a big plasma HDTV. One that will make the movie theaters look small. The time finally came and the money is in the bank, but now I can't make a decision. Do I buy it from Amazon or Buy.com and pay shipping and have to wait 3 - 5 days, or do I go to Sam's or BJ's and pick one up today,for a little bit more and pay $150 sales tax??

Yes, I know, there are people starving in Africa and I'm crying about what plasma TV to buy, but there's a real problem here. I never can make a decision - especially when it comes to buying electronics. I'm always wondering if there's a better deal that I'm missing. I guess I should chalk it up to my being so frugal (or 'cheap' as my wife would say), but it makes life hard. Every day, I wonder -where should I go to lunch? Should I splurge and go to Schlotzsky's, or just save a few bucks and go to Taco Bell. My personal decision making skills just suck. I go to a drive-thru with my family and I panic. I can't decide and there are people behind me---what am I going to do????

I'm sure there's help for people like me out there somewhere, but in the mean time - does anyone know where I can find a good deal on a 50" plasma HDTV???

Where No One Remembers Your Name

2008-05-14T12:07:00.006-04:00

I have a favorite rolled sandwich restaurant whose name I can not say because my wife gets ill at the very mention of the name (due to the fact she was pregnant with my 7 year old the last time she went there). I probably eat at this restaurant 3 - 5 times a month, in fact I'm working on my 3rd "frequent visitor" card.

Each time I eat at the rolled sandwich restaurant, I get the same thing - a "1/2 order of #13 - combo". I never vary - same thing EVERY time. Today, I went to this place to have lunch and after ordering the same meal I always order, the same lady asks, "what's your name". I looked at her for a second to see if she was serious. I mean, I have a frequest visitor card. I'm 2 visits away from getting a plaque on the wall and a parking space out front. Does she really not remember my name? Am I THAT unforgettable? Sigh. Where's Cheers when you need it? Maybe I'll find another rolled sandwich joint to start going to lunch at.

Anyone have any suggestions???

Healthy Sausage Gravy

2008-05-13T10:26:00.008-04:00

I took my wife to golden corral for a Mother's Day breakfast. It was great - every breakfast food you'd ever want. I was happy and getting full when I saw this sign. Really?? Since when did Sausage Gravy become a "Healthy Dining Choice"? If that were true, I'd be 20 pounds lighter. I guess in a small enough serving, anything can be "healthy"...

Starbucks Employees - Too Much Caffeine?

2008-05-13T09:36:00.000-04:00

Starbucks recently updated their policy so that if you have a registered gift card, you can get all sort of "freebies" like free refills on brewed coffees. What they don't tell you is a) you have to have money on that registered card and b) you have to explain to the Starbucks employee running the cashier about the new program. EVERY single time, I have to explain to them, I'm getting a refill and I'm using the new "benefits" program and EVERY time they try to charge me. So frustrating!

Another Starbucks annoyance is that I like 2% milk in my coffee, but they don't have it on the bar - so I ask them to please add 2% when they pour the coffee and EVERY single time they tell me "the milk is on the bar". I then have to tell them they do not have 2%, only skim and whole (who still drinks whole milk today??) They then realize oh, yeah - he's right and they add the 2%. This happens in EVERY Starbucks I go into.

You'd think for $2 a cup of coffee, they'd have their act together. I guess I should just chalk it up to the employees being doped up on caffeine...