Just wanted to sign off before I leave the good ol' US for Iraq. We'll be there for seven months, so should be back in September. I should be able to update the blog from over there, but, if not, Tally will take care of it. Thoughts and prayers are always appreciated. If we have the internet connections we are supposed to have, I will have access to Skype and other video-calling sites. So, if you have a webcam, look me up. Send e-mails to my current Yahoo! account for now, or contact Tally--she can let you know if I have a new e-mail that I am supposed to use while over there.
No pictures from the last week, but we've had a good time. My mom, Jill, came out, so we've been showing her around. We were down to the coast today, which was a little chilly by CA standards, but fun. There were several dolphins that we could see surfacing just a little ways out, so that was cool. We also finally got to Joshua Tree National Park, which we enjoyed. That's all for now.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
New TV
As you can see, nice picture. Also, for sizing purposes, I'm not sure of the "inches" per se, but it is approximately 3 wiener dogs wide and 1.5 wiener dogs tall.
Super Bowl 43 (they should just get rid of the Roman numerals)
Tally and I had a lovely and quiet day on Sunday watching the good ol' Super Bowl. We decided to not have or seek out any Super Bowl parties, since I'll be taking off in about a week and we wanted to hang out together.
First, the TV. Let me take you back a little. The heat in our house went out on January 9th. Luckily, we are in CA and not in ND, but it does get a little cool here at night, and with no heaters going, the temp in our house was getting down to 54-55 degrees by morning. Why it took until today (25 days) to get our heat going, I have no idea--you'll have to ask our property management company and the local heating/AC company that was working on our furnace. Despite that, we did not have to pay rent at the beginning of February for the days that we did not have heat in January. This added up to a savings of ~$900. Keep this and a picture of a TV in your mind.
Next, I need to explain to you about wives. So, while our heat was out, our house was obviously cold (we did have a couple of space heaters going). Also, during that time, Tally came down with a cold and had a couple of days off from work. Me, being the perennial husband-of-the-year candidate that I am, moved our only TV into the bedroom for her, so she could stay in bed with a space heater on her and watch TV on her days off while she was sick. This led to the natural conversation of her suggesting we could get another TV for the living room and leave the first one in the bedroom. I didn't really go for this, so then she reached for the "Well, it helps me relax at night, and otherwise, the dogs and I might get spooked by noises we hear--the TV would block this out". I eventually buckled and agreed. Of course, I had nothing against getting a new TV right before the Super Bowl. Also, we had purchased a Nintendo Wii a week or so before. Now, even though I might enjoy and use these things more than Tally, there's that other thing...OH YEAH!...I'm going to Iraq for seven months in about a week. So, who will benefit on all fronts from the new technology. That's right. It's the wifey...it's always the wifey. Just remember that.
So, we blew our rent savings on the Wii and the new TV, and we don't regret it. The Super Bowl was great--I like both teams, but was cheering for the Cardinals. I should have bet on the Cards, since they covered the spread (Pittsburgh was favored by 7 points), and maybe I would have won eleventy billion dollars. We made some homemade Super Bowl snacks which turned out pretty good. I'll slap some pics up of all this stuff.
Stay tuned for Jill (my mom) coming out in a few days, and John and Quinn going to the UCLA-Notre Dame men's basketball game on Saturday, while Tally valiantly attempts to set the Guinness Book of World Records record for "most shopping done on a Saturday morning in LA ever".
First, the TV. Let me take you back a little. The heat in our house went out on January 9th. Luckily, we are in CA and not in ND, but it does get a little cool here at night, and with no heaters going, the temp in our house was getting down to 54-55 degrees by morning. Why it took until today (25 days) to get our heat going, I have no idea--you'll have to ask our property management company and the local heating/AC company that was working on our furnace. Despite that, we did not have to pay rent at the beginning of February for the days that we did not have heat in January. This added up to a savings of ~$900. Keep this and a picture of a TV in your mind.
Next, I need to explain to you about wives. So, while our heat was out, our house was obviously cold (we did have a couple of space heaters going). Also, during that time, Tally came down with a cold and had a couple of days off from work. Me, being the perennial husband-of-the-year candidate that I am, moved our only TV into the bedroom for her, so she could stay in bed with a space heater on her and watch TV on her days off while she was sick. This led to the natural conversation of her suggesting we could get another TV for the living room and leave the first one in the bedroom. I didn't really go for this, so then she reached for the "Well, it helps me relax at night, and otherwise, the dogs and I might get spooked by noises we hear--the TV would block this out". I eventually buckled and agreed. Of course, I had nothing against getting a new TV right before the Super Bowl. Also, we had purchased a Nintendo Wii a week or so before. Now, even though I might enjoy and use these things more than Tally, there's that other thing...OH YEAH!...I'm going to Iraq for seven months in about a week. So, who will benefit on all fronts from the new technology. That's right. It's the wifey...it's always the wifey. Just remember that.
So, we blew our rent savings on the Wii and the new TV, and we don't regret it. The Super Bowl was great--I like both teams, but was cheering for the Cardinals. I should have bet on the Cards, since they covered the spread (Pittsburgh was favored by 7 points), and maybe I would have won eleventy billion dollars. We made some homemade Super Bowl snacks which turned out pretty good. I'll slap some pics up of all this stuff.
Stay tuned for Jill (my mom) coming out in a few days, and John and Quinn going to the UCLA-Notre Dame men's basketball game on Saturday, while Tally valiantly attempts to set the Guinness Book of World Records record for "most shopping done on a Saturday morning in LA ever".
Movie time and Oldie McOldersonville...
On Saturday, Tally and I had a nice little outing to Palm Springs. We decided to see a movie, so I talked her into Slumdog Millionaire. I highly, highly recommend this. Maybe not "drop everything and go see it immediately", but "drop everything, take a 30-min nap, then go see it immediately". Nicely done, good story, cute little kids from India.
So, as we were waiting at the outdoor ticket counter, two old guys with thick Boston (I think) accents are going up to get their tickets for themselves and their wives (Dustin Little, grammar Ph.D., there's probably something incorrect there, but, oh well). The guy in front of us says "I'll take two tickets to Se-re-nah". The ticket lady, looking mildly confused says, "Do you mean The Reader (new movie with Kate Winslet)?" He goes, "Oh, I thought it was Se-re-nah". She explains again, that, no, it is The Reader. This goes on for a few seconds until I try to talk Tally to throwing me in front of the little golf-cart security vehicle driving by so I will hopefully knocked unconscious and not have to listen to any more of that. She mumbles something about calming down, and we go inside to load up on popcorn.
As I mentioned, I loved the movie. As the closing credits are starting, I start to get up, then realize that almost no one else is. Oh, there's a little song and dance number, Bollywood-style, along with some of the closing credits. OK, I sit down. When that's over, I attempt to get up and leave again, but still not much movement. I realize that this is because we are near the front, and the average age of those behind us (comprising about 80-100 people--the small theater was pretty full) is approximately 137. I sit down again. When we finally get to the lobby, it's "negotiate through the fairly-large crowd of people moving 0.01 mph" all over again.
Don't get me wrong--I like Palm Springs. There is a lot of stuff to do there when things get boring in Yucca Valley (which is often). There are fun things, too, like a water park, good restaurants, and 12 million artificial hips. And,...I realize that I'm going to be old someday, too, and will probably move pretty slowly. However, the combo of creaking joints, rampant plastic surgery, and 70+-year-old women dressing and wearing makeup as if they look like (and I think they really believe this) they are in their 40s was just too much on this day. But, being the warrior that I am, I'll regroup and do battle again another day.
So, as we were waiting at the outdoor ticket counter, two old guys with thick Boston (I think) accents are going up to get their tickets for themselves and their wives (Dustin Little, grammar Ph.D., there's probably something incorrect there, but, oh well). The guy in front of us says "I'll take two tickets to Se-re-nah". The ticket lady, looking mildly confused says, "Do you mean The Reader (new movie with Kate Winslet)?" He goes, "Oh, I thought it was Se-re-nah". She explains again, that, no, it is The Reader. This goes on for a few seconds until I try to talk Tally to throwing me in front of the little golf-cart security vehicle driving by so I will hopefully knocked unconscious and not have to listen to any more of that. She mumbles something about calming down, and we go inside to load up on popcorn.
As I mentioned, I loved the movie. As the closing credits are starting, I start to get up, then realize that almost no one else is. Oh, there's a little song and dance number, Bollywood-style, along with some of the closing credits. OK, I sit down. When that's over, I attempt to get up and leave again, but still not much movement. I realize that this is because we are near the front, and the average age of those behind us (comprising about 80-100 people--the small theater was pretty full) is approximately 137. I sit down again. When we finally get to the lobby, it's "negotiate through the fairly-large crowd of people moving 0.01 mph" all over again.
Don't get me wrong--I like Palm Springs. There is a lot of stuff to do there when things get boring in Yucca Valley (which is often). There are fun things, too, like a water park, good restaurants, and 12 million artificial hips. And,...I realize that I'm going to be old someday, too, and will probably move pretty slowly. However, the combo of creaking joints, rampant plastic surgery, and 70+-year-old women dressing and wearing makeup as if they look like (and I think they really believe this) they are in their 40s was just too much on this day. But, being the warrior that I am, I'll regroup and do battle again another day.
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