my dog ate my homework

Not really, but kind of.  A long hiatus because of our little monster who chewed up our laptop power cord.  She didn’t stop there.  She chewed up our last comcast remote, so now we are DVRless and changing the channels manually, which is a bitch.  Life sucks without remote controls!  But thanks to ebay, they’ll be coming soon.  All six of them, haha!  We’re prepared this time.

I’m truly blessed to still have a job.  Since October, I became scrooge, worried about my job.  I stopped going to Peets every morning and started drinking tea.  I tried to stop buying soda and took up water.  I cooked every night (including weekends) for 3 months straight.  I stopped buying stupid sh*t that I don’t really need.  But since I found out in Feb that I still have a job (for now at least), I decided to help jump start the economy by buying some stuff.

• A Titleist SW.
• A new putter.
• A valentine gift for Trish.

That’s about it, not as much as I thought it was.  And the golf clubs I bought replaced one’s I got for free a while back.  But this week, Trish and I went on a pretty big shopping spree.  But it’s not really for us.  It’s for our little one.  You see, we found out last week that Skye has hip dysplasia.  It’s a genetic disease that can be common for certain dogs.  We’ve got the feeling that it’s from her German Shephard side, but who knows.  The hard part is that she’s only 1 year old, so it kind of sucks.  We guessed she might have it eventually, but not this early.  So now we have to do some preventative stuff so it doesn’t get worse.  So now we’re boosting the pet sector of the economy.

• A ramp for the truck so she doesn’t have to jump up. This will also come in handy for hap who’s too lazy to jump up.
• A new dog bed.  And one for Hap because he will get jealous.  I’ll save that story for another time.
• All new dog bowls with stands so she eats/drinks upright.

So that’s all I got for now.  peace outside.

kanye west…he’s the greatest

…dumbf*ck of the century.  Yeah, he’s got talent.  Producer, rapper, whatever.  Didn’t really care about his music…liked flashing lights, but NO MORE.  This guy is a f*cktard.  Sorry if I insult you if you’re a huge fan.  Actually, I’m not.  That’s right you Kanye West fanboys.  F*CK him.

Dude is a total dumbass douchebag.  You’re a grown ass man dude, don’t throw a hissy fit if you get bumped off an awards show.  Don’t cry because one of your concert stages isn’t perfect.  Don’t throw a tantrum if you don’t win an award.  Yeah, I get frustrated at times, but I’m not in the public eye and make millions. How do you respect a man who’s arrogant and a crybaby at the same time?

Now he is the self-proclaimed voice of this generation. This is so dumb that I have to write in caps and spell it out.  WHAT THE F*CK?  Dude, I’d rather have Brittney Spears as the voice than this guy.  I’d rather eat a pound of mushrooms.  I have more respect for Sarah Palin than Kanye.  Do I need to go further?  I’d rather turn into a hippie than agree that Kanye West is the voice of this generation.  Oh, but his concerts are so awesome, his beats are dope, blah, blah, blah.  I don’t give a f*ck.

Ok.  Whatever.  But then you get OWNED by Colbert.  Operation Humble Kanye!   HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…now that’s entertainment.  And all Kanye could come up with is “who the F*ck is Stephen Colbert?”

STEPHEN COLBERT IS THE VOICE OF OUR GENERATION.

How’s this?  I’d rather listen to Gwenyth and Huey’s crappy ass butchering of Cruisin’ than agree that Kanye is the voice of the generation.  Rant OVER.

so you want to get a dog…

Do me a favor and think long and hard (that’s what she said) about it.

Unfortunately for us, we managed to find two demons.  So if you’re thinking you want a dog…I present to you ART by Hap and Skye.

I’ll start with Hap first, since he’s our first dog.  His reason for redecorating our house was boredom and his puppy chewing phase. But he’s all grown up now and has stopped chewing on our sh*t.

-He started with our kitchen drawers

-Then worked on the dishwasher

-Then the microwave

-The freaking floor??? C’mon…

-Hap had a thing for wood…let’s say that this is gonna cost us a pretty penny.

-Irony? No, a Husky.

And now we move on to Skye. Skye’s a little different than Hap. She doesn’t get bored like hap, but since she’s adopted, her destructive tendencies are due to separation anxiety…aka nervousness when we’re not home.

-Nothing will hold her back…she broke out of the kitchen within a few months. Then she found out how to break out of her crate too. Our little Houdini. So now she has partial roam of the house, and….

-Damn dog is jumping on our dining room table

-This would be my bluetooth headset

-Trish wasn’t too mad about this one.

-But was pissed when she saw this one…brand new unworn shoes…

-Does this look familiar????

-How about this?

-This was a two day old controller…to replace another one she chewed up.

-Guilty, Guilty, Guilty!!!!!

So there you have it.

decisions, decisions

About five months ago, I was on a tirade against at&t.  When my sprint contract expired in 2006, I signed up with at&t with the iphone in mind.  When it first came out, damn, way too expensive for me.  then 3g came out, and i was pissed that they finally made it affordable, but i was still under contract.  Yeah, yeah, I know these phones are subsidized by the carriers through the contracts, but it sucked anyways.  I called them multiple times and offered to sign a new contract plus five months.  Makes sense, right?  Win, win!  But they wouldn’t let me do it.  I signed up with at&t, gave them my business for 19 months, and they couldn’t do anything?  BS.

So anyways, my contract finally expired last week.  Sweet.  You see, I currently have a razr because it was free.  I’ve never had internet on a phone and it takes me 5 minutes to text “ok”.  But work doesn’t allow us to check fantasy sports or emails, and if you know me, I’m way behind in both…as in I don’t check at all.  So I’m looking for a phone that can allow me to check these things.  So now I need to make a decision…should I get the iphone or not.

Just get the damn thing…

• Get to get back on track with fantasy.
• Get to check email at work.
• Seems to have cool applications that will keep me busy during my commute.
• GPS.
• Can hold music…my entire collection of 32 songs.
• Everyone who has it loves it.

On second thought…

• I’m still pissed at at&t.
• Uncertainty with work.  lending, real estate, and IBs are getting slammed now.  Ouch, triple whammy.  If i get the axe, I’ll regret spending the money and I won’t have a need to check my email at work anymore.
• Being yuppie, metro, and doing the “in thing” isn’t really my style.  Case in point, Mike and Vic have one….ahahahahahah.  On the other hand, having a blackberry (the competition) isn’t any better.
• Being contract free is sweet.
• I don’t want this to trigger me into becoming a mac fanboy.

So now the Walmart rumor for $99 is making it even harder (is it 3G?).

Thought: When texting on a standard phone, why do I have to push #1 a crap load of times to access “1″ or “0″.  You’d figure that those numbers would have easy access since most of the time, you text times.  I hate texting 10:00.  What a bitch.

quick unedited post

• Skye can escape her crate at will.  We found that out a few weeks ago.  Absolutely no idea how she does it.  So now we just give her full roam of the house.  So on Monday, she decided to destroy my playstation controller (now a total of two), my bluetooth headset, Trish’s make up brushes and two lotion containers.  EVIL DOG.  Anyone got one of those surveillance camera setups you can lend us?
• Walking from my house to basketball, playing basketball, then playing volleyball is WAY too much in one day.  But Hap was the happiest dog in the world during that walk.
• Long story, and I don’t want to go too much into it, but Hap got us kicked out of the GG dog park by a bunch of dog walkers.  They all ganged up on us.  Damn fat asses just stand there and talk to each other.  They call themselves dog walkers.  If I paid that much money and knew that they just sat around on their fat asses, I’d be pissed.  Their dogs attacked Hap.  He just happened to escalate.  Sorry we ruined your peaceful afternoon conversation.  All dog “watchers” except for us.  So three yelled at us since it was so peaceful before we came (cause your f*cking dogs have a pack mentality since they’re there everyday while your fat asses socialize instead of exercising them).  So I started yelling back.  Lots of swearing.  Then two more joined in.  They all know each other.  So I left before the rest could join in – f*ck them and their fat asses.  In hind sight, I should have just let Hap run amuck.  That would have been funny.  So much for not going too much into it.
• The Office needs to go to one hour episodes.  Permanently.
• Finally got my teeth checked, and to my surprise, only two cavities.  It’s been over a year since I’ve been there, and let’s just say my flossing isn’t the best (not to mention fashion wise).
• I want to post pics up, but I’m so damn lazy to download them from my camera.
• Wanna get depressed?  Read anything financial.
• $213 dry cleaning bill.  A new record for us.
• Resistance is too addicting.  But I gotta vent a bit.  Freaking medics need to get the hell out of the way when the spec ops are giving ammo to the soldiers.  And People need to shut the hell up when there’s only one spec ops guy and the whole team expects ammo to fall from the sky.
• I’ve re-jammed the same knuckle twice now.  My body is definitely not healing as fast as it used to.
• Have Luna and Kram blogged yet?  I feel their pain.
• I wonder.
• Still wondering.
• No it doesn’t make any sense.
• But why?
• Because.
• Haagen Dazs does not belong in a coke float.

mmmmmmmmmmm gordo’s

that’s for lunch.

resistance is futile

No, I’m not a trekkie, but I was sick all weekend.  I think I’ve only seen a few of the og star trek shows.  I’ve only seen that one movie where it was based in sf.  Anyways, it always sucks being sick during a weekend.  I have a bad habit of this, but on the brighter side, being sick means staying in, which means VIDEO GAMES.

So last week I posted about Mega Man 9.  Well, after reaching deep into my old school 2D gaming skills, I’ve beaten all the bosses except for Dr. Wily.  It finally came down to consistency, and once you take down one boss, gain his power, you just have to find the next boss who’s weakness is said power.  Dr. Wily seems pretty easy, but I didn’t have time to beat his 4 part level.

Next up is Resistance 2.  A first person shooter, but with an 8 person cooperative mode.  That’s right, 8 people fighting aliens in an all out bloodfest.  We first played this Sunday for a few hours, and my initial thouht is wow.  First of all, I’ve always been a fan of multiplayer coop.  I still love multiplayer deathmatches and teams and capture the flag versions, but rarely does a game come with coop, and not to mention 8 players.  I think the last one was Serious Sam on PC.

Anyways, Mike, Dave and I played on Sunday.  Nick was MIA.  Dan was excused.  Eric is a wuss.  Vic just got it.  There are three characters.  A Soldier, who basically has a gatling gun and shield who runs straight into battle.  Special Ops, who has a powerful long range weapon and is responsible for providing ammo to the team.  Finally, a Medic, who heals everyone on the team.  I can’t believe how tough this game is without communication.  Since we weren’t using our headsets, we were getting slaughtered.  CRAZY!  I love the strategy in this.  If someone doesn’t play his role, everyone else is f*cked.  For instance, Dave, a soldier, kept running head first, full speed, into any enemies, no matter how many of them there were.  Me, special ops, and Mike, the medic, don’t have the shields that Dave has.  So he kind of left us, died, and all the enemies would come after us.  But to his credit, I didn’t stay back far enough and Mike didn’t heal since we couldn’t tell him we were low on health.

Anyways, next game this weekend, and hopefully with a full crew.  Can’t wait!

a bittersweet day…

The Sweet

This election was awesome.  Be proud, as so many people saw the power of voting, whether they were for Obama or McCain or whether they were for Prop this or Prop that.  I hope it gets a lot more people in the booths down the road.

I’m glad Sen. Obama won, although probably for different reasons than others.  Like I said in a previous post, I’m right down the middle.  I don’t agree with some Democratic policies and I don’t agree with some Republican policies.  I’m against universal healthcare and I’m against the war.  I’m stuck in the middle class where we pretty much get caught in the struggle between Democrats and Republicans.  First, let me just say that I love Obama’s speeches.  He has the ability to mesmerize, captivate and inspire.  In times like these, I think this is an overlooked ability of a president, and it is much needed since our current president probably couldn’t even pronounce his name correctly.  All eyes are on Obama, nationally and globally, and even though he isn’t in office yet, you could see that we won back some of the global credibility that Bush has destroyed over the past eight years.  Although the president doesn’t make all the decisions by himself, he chooses who he surrounds himself with to help him make those decisions, and Obama will surround himself with the right people.  He proved it to me with his decision to chose Biden.  Obama took one of his weaknesses, foreign policy, and made it a strength with Biden.  I must admit, I’m still cautiously optimistic about the future.  It’s pretty bleak now, and it’s going to get worse before it gets better.  But I think he’s gonna be the one to pull us out of it.

Hat’s off to Sen. McCain.  I know some people are basically Go Obama, McCain sucks, but this man has my respect.  In a few of his rallies, his supporters said some nasty things about Obama, and McCain stuck up for him.  If you didn’t see his speech yesterday, you should.  Not even close to Obama’s, but he took his defeat with sincerity.

A huge sigh of relief that Palin won’t be part of the new administration and Dave won’t move to Canada.

The Bitter (or sad):

Michael Crichton passed away today.  My favorite author.  The first book I read of his was Jurassic Park before the movie came out.  After that, I pretty much read all his books within the next month or so, and then eagerly waited every 3-4 years for his next book to come out.  Cancer is absolutely horrible.

My all time favorite MC books:

5. Jurassic Park

4. Eaters of the Dead

3. Sphere

2. Andromeda Strain

1. Congo

May you rest in peace.

The Rest:

Glad to see Reeg back, now where’s MC JC and Kram?

bringing back the old school

I used to be a huge fan of Mega Man.  Well, Mega Man 1, 2, and 3…then I kind of lost track.  Hell, I even have mega man as my ring tone (yes, I’m a nerd).  So Mike and Curtis are over the other night, and they start talking about Mega Man 9 on the PS3.  They say everyone says it’s hella hard (that’s what she said) and close to impossible.  Now I remember MM1 being challenging but beatable, and 2 and 3 were easy if I’m not mistaken.  So out of curiosity, we download it and start playing.

So they really brought back the old school.  I mean, PS3 and this game is 8bit nintendo style with midi music and everything.  SWEET!  They have some of the old enemies, so definitely a flashback to the o.g.  Even the classic jump into the next screen is there.  It’s got new things, but the old school is there, like the disappearing blocks (electroman?) and the guys under the helmet (bomberman?).

So anyways, THIS GAME IS TOUGH.  We probably spent an hour or two playing this, and we only beat one boss.  Galaxyman or something like that.  We only saw one other boss.  Damn, pretty sad, three gamers and stumped by a video game based on the 80’s.  So it got us thinking…are we slipping?  Has our hand eye coordination gotten worse as we’ve gotten older?  Are we too spoiled with save points every minute, weapon powerups every level, and health powerups with shields?  What the hell is going on?

My guess is it’s a combination…the games back then were harder and the games today are easier.  I mean, how many games back then did we actually beat?  Those were some serious bragging rights.  I know Super Mario Bros had some shortcuts, but dude, the last level was crazy.  Back in the day, if you lose all your lives, you had to start over.  No saving where you left off…gotta start from the beginning.  I mean, I don’t know ANYONE who has beaten Contra without using UUDDLRLRBA.  Or Ikari Warriors.  Ultimate test of patience when you have to play a level over and over and over again.

So if you want an old school challenge that gets you a little nostalgic about one of the greatest nintendo series ever, get Mega Man 9.

a bunch of thoughts

Went to the Acadamy of Sciences this past weekend with Mike, Curtis, Nick, Tiff and Louise.  First thought is damn it was crowded.  It seemed like everyone and their mom was there.  Crazy.  Big changes, very nice exhibits and facilities, but it seemed to lack the volume that the old one had.  Gone are the long hallways of fish tanks.  Now it resembles the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which is nice, but it seemed like forever when you got to the next exhibit.  There were long lines to get into the Planetarium and the reptile/butterfly world.  It was nice to see the familiarity of the African safari.  The giant reef tank was incredible, but they need to put some more corals in there.  Overall, it was cool to see some old stuff that brought back memories with my grandpa, but I think the experience would be better if there were less people.  Thanks Tiff for the hookup.

—>

Gotta vote tomorrow.  Just a quick note on who I’m voting for.  I’d have to think a lot harder if McCain chose a different running mate.  I’d put less than 1% chance that he croaks in the next four years.  But that 1% is what scares the hell out of me.  Sarah Palin embodies all my fears in one person.  Anyone who has to use the word “god” so many times in a speech scares the hell out of me.  god’s plan…god’s message, god this god that…it doesn’t belong in politics.  Period.  Keep that sh*t to yourself.  Now I’m all riled up.  Kings had a great quote representing her followers.  Ask him about it sometime.  Obama has my vote.

—>

I’m hungry.  I hate monday nights.  I don’t eat before basketball.  Then I’m too lazy to make something after.  Then my blood is pumping and it takes me a while to get tired.  It’s two in the morning right now, and the Colbert Report just ended.

—>

Where has Regan been?  I hope nothing is serious or anything.  I don’t want to call or text him to update his blog just in case something bad happened.  Then I’d feel guilty.  So I’ll just blog about it and maybe if nothing happened, he would get the hint.  And if something did happen, I’d be covered.  Ok, weird.  Hope nothing is wrong buddy and you just got lazy.

—>

Read the fishing report for vaqueros.  The water temp is cooling now and so has the fishing.  But the water level is also dropping, so that means less hiding places for fish.  Probably another two weeks and we’ll need to hit the lake up again.

—>

The trip to the Academy also reinspired me to set up my fish tank again.  But it took a whole three seconds to realize how much it will cost.  It will have to wait.