Zoom Zoom

Learning for the day: Oblong

2009-12-25T23:12:00.000-08:00

During Christmas dinner, I re-learned the meaning of the word "oblong."

This came up in the context of describing our dining room table.

Bye Zuma, Hello Sims 2

2008-11-09T15:16:00.000-08:00

It's been just one day, but I think my fiancée is addicted to The Sims 2: Castaway.

Goodbye Sonics, I will miss you

2008-07-02T20:46:00.000-07:00

I loved this team.

When I moved out East, I bought a Seattle Sonics themed checkbook because this was my favorite team and league. I am too upset to use these any further.

Goodbye to the NBA as well. You won't get another dime from me.

David Stern: you've lost yet another fan.

Clay Bennett: http://www.killclaybennett.com/index.html

ABC HD Feed during the NBA Finals

2008-06-17T18:45:00.000-07:00

Looks like ABC's HD feed is broken. The image is hurting my eyes.

Screw you ABC. Screw you Comcast.

Happy Father's Day, from the United States Postal Service

2008-06-08T16:26:00.000-07:00

I'm not alone in thinking the USPS Forever Stamps are hideous. While at the local post office, I purchased a pack of beautiful comic stamps and have been saving Spiderman for a special occasion, such as Father's Day.

I picked up a simple card from Target and a 1 cent stamp from the post office (yeah, the Forever stamps would've saved me a trip). The card had a decoration of similar thickness to a shirt button on the front.

A few days ago I received a friendly reminder that a "non-standard thickness" would have a 48% markup over normal price.

Happy Father's day, from the USPS!

Wii Age: 24

2008-06-04T19:21:00.001-07:00

After taking a couple quick tests, Wii Fit told me my age was 24 (-2 from reality).

I'm busy polishing off my second beer of the night. I think my BMI is changing the wrong way.

Gifts to "Jumpstart" Grads

2008-06-03T20:58:00.000-07:00

Semi-interesting article from msn.com, about 12 gift ideas for new grads:

A sharp new look
File drawers
A start on retirement
Student loan relief
A financial education
Health and wealth
Entertainment or travel
Luggage
An investor starter kit
A laptop computer
Furniture
Cash

My grad gift was #12, which then went exclusively to #7 (Europe: UK, Ireland, Germany, Netherlands, Asia: Vietnam). It didn't even cover the plane ticket to Heathrow :).

Goodbye Zuma. Hello Wii Fit?

2008-06-03T20:42:00.001-07:00

We've got 180/200 gamer points from Zuma. I'm satisfied with that.

Wii Fit is the new "in" thing, and yesterday I was fortunate enough to track down a copy for us. I'll have more to report after I get clowned by the virtual trainer.

Zuma

2008-03-26T21:01:00.001-07:00

Zuma has consumed my life after work and dinner.

Happy Easter

2008-03-16T19:50:00.001-07:00

Thanks J, for the awesome picture.

Kudos to whoever arranged it:

Weekend Summary

2008-03-16T18:16:00.000-07:00

I love the weekend because it's my chance to unwind after a long week of work.

This weekend's method of relaxation:

Dinner of Corned Beef and Cabbage, for St. Patrick's Day
Walking a few miles around Quiet Waters Park
Cleaning the interior of K's SUV
Browsing a used book sale at Oseh Shalom
Walking around the flea market

I have to say that I'm jealous of the new (and old) goodies around Columbia, MD. Within a few miles, there's a Trader Joe's, Target/Walmart, BJs/Costco, Staples/Office Depot, Best Buy, and full shopping mall. Not too far from that is Centennial Park, one of my favorite places to watch the leaves turn color.

Random artwork from Quiet Waters:

Chili Cookoff

2008-03-11T19:17:00.001-07:00

I can't wait for the chili cookoff. Hope the weather heats up soon.

Chili and beer.

Not a Slickdeal

2008-03-10T16:58:00.000-07:00

During my jog today, I looked at two housing fliers for virtually identical townhouses, just 1500 ft away from each other. The difference in price? $65,000. Give me a break. I've been watching the lower priced one (see image below) fall every few weeks, and even that one is still overvalued by its seller.

Spring e-cleanup

2008-03-09T12:44:00.000-07:00

It's that time again: spring e-cleanup.

What's this? It's my method of keeping my electronic data clean and up-to-date:

Organize stray pictures/music/etc. (on your desktop, email inbox, etc.)
Update resume with key projects of the past year
Update residence list (where you've lived in the past year, how long, landlord #, etc.)

Why bother? This really makes finding and backing up data a breeze.

You may find a few lost songs for your playlist, just in time for running weather!

Latest Slickdeal

2008-03-09T11:42:00.000-07:00

I'm a bit impulsive when it comes to slickdeals.

I've made more than a few purchases with their help. Just in this room, there's a "featured" TV, iPod touch, Led Zeppelin 10 disk set, and Family Guy 5 season set. As K noted, I like to make a "purchase" every month.

The latest item is a Dell Vostro 1500 laptop with the following specs:

Intel® Core 2 Duo T5270 (1.4GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic
15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA LCD Display
2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz, 2 DIMMs
Intel® Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
160GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
8X CD/DVD+RW Read and Burn CD and DVD
Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Wi-Fi Mini Card
85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
1 Year Basic Limited Warranty plus 1 Year Mail-in Service

The final price? $340.19 (including everything, tax, shipping, etc.)