Goings ons

Phasing out the esp2002

2007-02-15T14:14:00.000-08:00

Whoa...can you believe it? I am actually phasing out the esp2002.com account. I am moving over to the new server. If I want you to know it, you already know it. If not, don't ask.

OK. So I messed up the blog.

2006-10-11T13:31:00.000-07:00

Don't go to the new blog location yet. Apparently, I messed it up. So stay here for now.

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What's going down in just a few weeks.

2006-10-09T22:46:00.000-07:00

Yep. Just a few weeks and then it's Anaheim to go see MercyMe, Audio Adrenaline, and Phil Wickham. I am super excited. It's backstage passes. It's autographs. A small group of close friends and my fiancee. It's good times.

I know I need some cheering up...that's for sure. I mean, the Padres are out. I haven't been blogging because of this weird idea that if I so much as mention them or watch them on TV--they'll lose.

Well, they lost.

So yeah, I have got this awesome concert, a drifting event for my brother's birthday, some dinners with old classmates, and perhaps a few driving range visits to look forward to during the rest of this very quick month.

technorati tags:mercyme

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Why is it...when I watch the game on TV, they end up losing?

2006-09-29T21:11:00.000-07:00

Yep. Padres' game tonight was not too good. The odds were against the Diamondbacks, yet--they won. Why?

technorati tags:padres

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Much in the way of updates, time--not so much.

2006-09-29T20:13:00.000-07:00

*Currently watching the Padres game (versus the Diamonbacks--tonight, they take the NL championship!)

Anyhow, there's been plenty of stuff happening in the past few days. A Hawk Nelson & Runkidrun concert, two days off work..., HP buying Voodoo PC, the Padres about to be NL Champs. If I hit a topic you want to discuss, see you in the comments.

So that's what's been going on in my neck of the woods.

technorati tags:padres, hawknelson, runkidrun

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Naprosyn rocks the house.

2006-09-26T11:25:00.000-07:00

So I am running into my usual bi-monthly bouts with arthritic pain. My ankle and foot are swollen, so much so that the usually quite oversized and loose Crocs that adorn said foot actually is too tight.

I have lived with this pain for several years. I remember back in college, taking 18 Advil pills in one sitting while laying back at a friends house. His mom was looking at me like--whoa, you better not be overdosing and dying on my couch. Then sometime in 2004, my doctor introduced me to Naprosyn. 1 pill every so often, and I am good. Well, at least can tolerate it a little more. Sometimes I take two.

This morning, I took two and the pain is sort of going away. I fear, however, when my body begins to get used to it and I no longer feel the benefits of Naprosyn. What do I do? Vicodin doesn't seem to work as well on this. And all this presription drug try-outs seem to be messing around with el'kidney.

Any recommendations?

Spoiled kids suck.

2006-09-25T11:48:00.000-07:00

If you read the other post, you can see what I did this past weekend.

Well, while preparing for the trip up to Murrieta, my fiancee and I decided that it would behoove us to use this time for working on our wedding website. As my entire design sit on the hard drive of my Mac Mini, I decided that it would be good to bring it along and work on it up there, tweaking the design and adding content and stuff. Since it was a generation 1 mini, which did not have Wifi built-in, I was trying to configure my 802.11b bridge to work with the Mac. After more than an hour, and needing to rush to hit up Costco for some gas, I had a total and absolutely crazed technology fit.

I was violent against that useless crappy networking bridge and on the fence about taking my Mac Mini with me. It was weird. I was about to throw away the bridge in a rage, but instead haphazardly took my Windows laptop and left my Mac disconnected at home. I drove away recklessly (for me, at least) sucking up extra gas to get to the Costco off Market. The entire way, I was complaining the ear off my fiancee about how I needed a Mac laptop. I actually felt that I needed it so I could design on the go. I felt better after I got more food in me (care of Ikea), bought some large picture frames and had my trusty woman at my side.

Well, after leaving San Diego for the weekend, I sat like a lazy slob in front of my parent's huge HDTV absorbing the Discovery channel, some food network, and VH1. Then I saw part of some show that pissed me off. It's about these stuck up little spoiled kids who get whatever their little heart desires. This one girl got this R&B singer for her birthday to attend her party as well as a large SUV and America's first Eclipse Spyder. I wasn't jealous--seriously--I just have this soapbox about what little kids really need and how spoiled youngsters grow up to be spoiled older pricks who get whatever their grown up plastic surgery if-you-can-even-call-it-one heart. You know the type. The ones you just want to punch in the face.

Then this morning, on the way to work, I had this weird thought. I actually saw parallels between my behavior and the little spoiled kids' behavior. It was disgusting. I was a little brat on Saturday. I threw a fit like a chubby kid who can't have another Oreo cookie.

In retrospect, I couldn't believe how insane it was for me to get all crazy about not having a Mac laptop. I mean, I am perhaps the poster boy for technological excess. I have a laptop dedicated to my HDTV, with a dual-tuner and a large hard drive hidden away in the cabinet. Then I have an old Dell laptop under my bed. Then there's the nice x64 red Ferrari laptop that has provided me with mobile computer PC happiness. Then there's the two laptops I have dedicate to some Stanford Folding. Not to mention the sweet PC setup with three LCD displays connected. And then there's the little Mac sitting, never giving me any problems, atop a RAID of external hard drives.

So now that I am simmered down from that whole thing, have my opinions on what I really need (technologically speaking) changed?

Not really. Well, sort of, but not really.

For now, sitting at my desk to get all my Mac needs catered to will have to do. No coffee and Mac laptop love while sitting like a bohemian at a Starbucks. No pleasing cool white apple logo illuminating my lap while kids are ringing the doorbell for some Halloween candy.

What will happen, however, is that I will delay my purchase. I can afford to get one right now, but I think this technological discipline is a step in the right direction for my techno-lust affliction.

Anyway, I have to wait until OSX Leopard comes out, not to mention the iLife 7 suite and the Core2Duo-based mobile processors.

I mean, can you imagine the fit I would throw if I buy one now only to have better tech stuffed into the matte aluminum laptop one month later?

It's what's for dinner.

2006-09-25T11:47:00.000-07:00

Another nice weekend. Hung out with Billifer again on Friday after a quick jaunt to various Fashion Valley stores. I got to touch an actual Mitchell & Ness Cooperstown throwback Padres jersey. There was a wedding shower/luau that I went to on Saturday. I got to play a perverted toilet paper/fly swatter game in front of a large room of Filipinos. After that, I was preparing for a weekend up at my parent's house, where I could possibly learn how to cook Thai food and go for a bike ride.

I ended up not cooking Thai food or going on a bike ride. Instead, I watched development on the Bering Strait bridge and saw a group of A-list actors (Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, Dylan McDermott, and possibly LL Cool J) screw up their career cache by partaking in a movie with Justin Timberlake. It's called Edison Force. The movie was straight to DVD and is possibly worth the rental just to see excellent actors mail their performances in. Also watched The Wild (eh) and Lucky Number Slevin (pretty good).

What I ate this weekend:

Banana Coconut Frappucino
Unlimited french fries
Bleu cheese hamburger
Chinese fried rice
Stir fry
Tons of filipino food at the luau
Clam chowder
Uno burger with cheddar and bacon
More french fries

Now I am just waiting for a nutritionist to leave a comment about wanting to do studies on my stomach.

This blog is brought to you by Costco

2006-09-22T09:39:00.000-07:00

No, I am not looking into any type of subsidized blogging (though it would be cool).

Rather, I am talking about talking about my trash can. In it, after taking down my drink, I notice an empty soy milk carton, a few tissues, an empty carcass of a weight loss shake, and (ironically) next to it sits an empty bag of Cheetos. All of these products that I have purchased from Costco. The tissues, drink and soy milk are Kirkland (a Costco brand) and the chips are from that huge 50 pack of small chip bags purchased at Costco.

I wonder how Costco chips would taste like.

Membership socialist USSR Costco. It's kind of funny, if you think about it. We all get in line, by the same things made by the same people who also provide my gas.

Anyway, I still like Costco.

What's going down, my homies?

2006-09-21T11:29:00.000-07:00

It appears to be a fairly slow day for me. I finally got my beta of Office 2007 Technical Refresh working with my PDA and running properly. After the first hour or so of slow performance, and--oh yeah--not being able to open any of my documents, I finally figured out what was up. It seems that my antivirus (circa 2002) does not support the technical refresh of beta office software supposedly coming out the first quarter of next year. Go figure.

Anyhow, I solved that simply by disabling the Office Protect feature.

What else, what else. Oh yeah, I had this dream where I was losing all this weight and I was having a hard time getting used to my look. I was goofy looking. Probably bouncing around in a bubblegum ball the size of a chair in a weird pink (pink, as in a comedic look inside a human's lungs kind of pink) didn't help. Anyhow, point is that I was skinny. That was strange.

I also watched the Padres game last night. I was bummed to see David Wells not win his first game back this season. We lost, yes, but are still first place in the NL West. The Dodger's lost, too--which was good.

OK. I'm about out of steam. Till the next time.

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iTunes 7.0 is nice and all, but...

2006-09-20T10:57:00.000-07:00

...it's pretty damned buggy for the Windows release.

Last night, I was adding some music to a iPod nano. Since I wanted to clear the whole thing and just start fresh (as my fiancee was getting tired of the music), I decided to use the restore feature. I did this so I can move forward without any bias to the good times I've had with my current music selection and end up keeping everything on there anyway.

Well, while iTunes seemed to take eons to scan my music for gapless playback options and updating the album covers (which, by the way, hasn't finished after three hours), I decided to add music to the nano. I mean, I've got tons of memory, a decent multi-core processor, and a fresh install of everything (Windows, drivers, and friends).

Everything is running nicely--except iTunes.

OK, fine. So I fired up my Mac and did the restore there. It only has a G4 processor (a slow one, at that) and not much else, plus I haven't wiped it clean since I put Tiger on it the middle of last year. And it worked fine. Of course, it doesn't access my huge amount of music, so it didn't have to scan for gapless playback or album covers.

While many may think that--hey, that just shows the stability difference between the PC and the Mac. I see it differently.

I am not going to go so far as to call it a conspiracy, but I do think that the Windows version of iTunes was not programmed as nicely as the Mac's. It could be the relative inexperience the Apple x86 programmers have compared to the rest of the programming team, but the Windows version of iTunes just isn't up to snuff. And there's no reason it shouldn't be good. My 4200 64-bit x2 SLI PC is pristine. My computer is quick and has tons of resources. It's plugged into a good UPS and cleaned from dust regularly. Yet, iTunes much worse here than it does on the passively-cooled single core 1.25 GHz RISC PowerPC CPU.

I am not trying to start a flame war--I'm not. I am just saying that the company that stands behind it's mantra that it's the best OS (Apple) needs to NOT make crippled software for the other guys (Win x86).

technorati tags:apple, intel, amd, windows, osx, itunes, ipod

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What OS are you?

2006-09-19T10:45:00.000-07:00

That's so weird. I have been wondering for a long time, if I were an OS, which one would I be? Now I can.

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Picasa 2 is no longer beta.

2006-09-19T10:09:00.000-07:00

Sick! Check it out here.

A quick blurb on Picasa. It has become the center of my post-processing photography. Yes, I have Photoshop and Bibble. Those powerhouses just are overkill since Picasa even supports my RAW files. While it may not be multi-core capable, it does most things I need. And it's free. I was one of the few who actually paid for Picasa back in the day when it wasn't owned by Google.

Check out my pictures here.

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Broken Cake

2006-09-19T09:10:00.000-07:00

My weekend report is coming in quite late this week. It's Tuesday and you poor folks probably need your Spencer-what-did-you-do-this-weekend fix.

Yeah. Hardly.

Anyhow, I'm going to tell you anyway, because it was a rather eventful weekend. It was one of those long off-Friday weekends, too.

This weekend started on Thursday. Right after work, I went up to Oceanside and enjoyed some comeradere during a bachelor party. Not mine, but David's. He was getting married on Saturday. So we went to a Hooters, then afterwards (more like, because they had no space for us), we went to Fuddruckers. I have never been to one, and now I can see what I have been mixing. You see, they have this magical device that, when pushed, this yellow elixir of goodness comes out. On the front of said device, it comes adorned with the letters "C H E E S E" and it goes great with my fries.

Friday, that was an interesting day. Let me say, on my laptop--Vista is awesome. Vista on my desktop, for the singular reason that I sync my entire life into Outlook, uhm, not so much. So that morning, I was to recover from an image I made on Wednesday and compute like I never even installed Vista on my desktop.

If only it were that easy. I'll spare you the details, but note that the whole image recovery hinged on updated Symantec software--software which Symantec seemed to turn off the update servers for. Let me just say, thanks goodness for Princeton University.

It didn't help that I had a podiatry appointment later that day and a crazy knee pain like I've never experienced. Thanks to my fiancee, I was able to survive the day.

Saturday came. Let's see. Dropped family off to the airport. Went to the beach for David's wedding, then hung out deep into San Diego's farmlands (yes, they exist) for the rest of the day. The reception was cool. It was understated and the food and air was good.

Sunday. Woke up super late. Made a late breakfast that finished cooking just in time for lunch. Then got stuck in front of the TV watching the Discovery Channel when a friend came over and got stuck in front of the TV watching the Charger game.

So there's the weekend play by play. Now you can go on living.

Peace out.

Spiderman 3 trailer

2006-09-18T19:24:00.000-07:00

Yes. Oh yes. Here it is. Make sure you have Java.

Oh wow!!! A web version of Visio.

2006-09-18T14:06:00.000-07:00

http://www.gliffy.com

So, let's see...what isn't available on the internet?

technorati tags:Gliffy, visio

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David Wells back in San Diego

2006-09-14T13:37:00.000-07:00

You know, it feels kind of cool to have Wells back here. He's a good pitcher.

Anyway, the Padres are still one game back--and they play the number one team for the next three games. I hope they manage to beat the Dodgers.

OK. That's all for alpha-male talk. Back to normal Spencer.

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I am borg.

2006-09-13T15:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was cool.

After work, I went home and played with the notion of putting MS Vista x64 on my home computer--the core of my computing when I am not at work. I already have it on my laptop, and it's awesome. But I don't sync my PDA with my laptop. I don't use my laptop as a file server, nor do I use it for the games. It is where I work on websites and where my research takes place. I have thought about putting x64 Vista on it all day. I wanted to backup my computer in case the bits hit the fan.

Then I panicked. I didn't even Ghost the drive yet and I freaked out about not being able to use my PDA. I mean, if I couldn't sync my PDA--my life would be a mess. I am not exaggerating in the least--my brain can be used for telling me when to breathe and when my heart should beat. My PDA does the rest. So, instead of the whole Vista movement, I decided to upload my latest images (including the kick boxing pictures) up to my Picasa web account.

Afterwards, I cleaned up my guinea pig's cage and put him in the car. He was going for a ride with me to Mission Valley. I was to meet up with my fiancée and Billy for some Wahoo food--which was not bad. A little on the pricey side, but good.

Now on to my friend Billy. My good friend Billy. He caters to my I-want-to-talk-about-technology side of my brain. I can do that with my other friends, yes, but not very many friends can I sit with and, instead of watching some cool DVD, sit back and watch the Apple keynote and clap hands and yell as if watching some type of football game. Geeky? Yes--you have a problem with that?

We also went on a mini journey through the maze that is his apartment complex to simmer in the jacuzzi and I listened to him discuss binaural sets of frequencies that the brain can use to do certain tasks. We topped the evening with some diet Pepsi with lime and some weird, 1970's spaceship hypnotism and meditation. (*Have a confused look on your face? I guess you just had to be there.*)

It was good, clean fun. I am a nerd that enjoys insightful tidbits of useless information and hanging out with good people.

Anyhow, the reason I write this "yesterday review" is because it dawned on me at work today that my life really doesn't begin until I clock out for the day. I am noticing the same sentiment from many of my colleagues. It's not that the jobs are bad. It's just that, regardless of how much school I went to to get to where I am at in my career, it doesn't define me. I guess it's good that way.

I am not some engineer toiling away at work even when I am at home (or should be home). I don't want to have those types of habits, either. It's not something I want to instill in my kids (when I have them in the future) and I don't want it to steal time away from the people I love and the things I enjoy.

If I could guess, the majority of the people in America would state their job and position when prompted with the question, "What are you?" It could be the way our society rears us. I mean, how many kids do you suppose say that, when they grow up, they want to be loving husband/wife and a great father/mother and go to church and be able to cook really good spaghetti? You'll usually hear, lawyer/astronaut/doctor/paleontologist. I would be amused when I hear "I don't know. Probably fat and hating my cubicle dwelling job."

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate my job. I am just saying that many people seem to fall into that template. My job is cool. Yes, it does suck me into the cubicle-dimension. You have your bad days. But you also do have your good days. I have also had jobs where I've enjoyed every moment of it. It certainly didn't feel like work. But the career I have now pays the bills. And it's one of those jobs that can pay larger bills (read: it pays well). So I'll keep it for now. But there's no way that it's indicative of who I am.

So, what do you do and what do you want to be when you grow up?

technorati tags:weekend, career, job, apple, keynote

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Apple keynote...standing by.

2006-09-12T10:50:00.000-07:00

AJAX and Apple keynote? http://www.macrumorslive.com/

I don't know about you, but I am waiting for the new iPod video announcement.

Update: New iTunes 7--and it runs on x64 Vista!!! I'm running it right now. Oh, and the new iPods are cool, but Jobs...give us our huge screen video iPod already.

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Weekend...good times.

2006-09-11T21:54:00.000-07:00

Wow. I am having some good weekends.

Let's see...it started with a photo outing in Old Town. That was fun. Then I went up to Temecula with my fiancee to meet up with an old boss and friend, then to hang out with an old classmate from high school. Then we saw some kickboxing. Then we slept.

When we got up, we hung out with family, went to the pond and just chilled. We also saw a movie, and I got to work on our wedding website. Afterwards, I went to church where Mass was led by arguably the coolest priest ever. During the service, he brought out his iPod, his Pocket PC, and his bluetooth headset. The most connected man of the cloth, I asked him if he would be the officiant at our wedding. Hopefully it works out.

It was a great weekend.

Then I went to work on Monday.

We saw Phil Wickham

2006-09-06T10:02:00.000-07:00

Zooomr :: DSC06295

technorati tags:philwichkam

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Actually...this is something I have wanted to write about for a while.

2006-09-06T09:22:00.000-07:00

Rebates.

They make me think that I am getting a cheaper price on something. They have helped persuade me on a purchase before. When I do receive the rebate, it feels like that particular chapter in my purchasing book can end. I usually expect a large load of rebates around the February through April time frame from all the holiday spending.

But I really hate the whole rebate process.

I read somewhere that rebates are how business make more money. Something like less than half of the people fill out rebate forms for rebates worth $100 or more. It drops to something like 15% for purchases less than $50. So customers end up paying more, thinking that they will fill out this sheet, include a photo copy of the receipt, and mail it in. Many people forget about the rebates and sometimes, it feels like the rebate companies don't send out the check. Since the consumer forgets, there's no expectation there.

I'm religious about filling these out. I make sure I get my money. I even list it on my PDA to expect a check around a certain time.

I have found that some stores are cool about the whole rebate thing. Staples has got to be the best, as you can fill out the rebate online, even. Believe it or not, Fry's actually isn't too bad about the whole rebate thing, I have found. In my experience, stores such as CompUSA and Circuit City can suck about rebates. Best Buy has made efforts to stop doing the rebate thing all together.

When you buy online, however, it's different. Regardless of what store I buy from (Amazon, Dell, TigerDirect, CompUSA.com, Outpost.com), all my rebates seem to be processed by this administration called rebatesHQ. And rebatesHQ suck.

RebatesHQ suck hard.

The last two times I have mailed a form to them, they have been invalid--though I have successfully done my part in the rebate portion. It's getting to be that, not only do they make money from the customers that forget to fill out the form, they make money by denying those that do send them in.

I ordered this cool 3D fish screen saver for my computer (which I never use and it doesn't work with multiple monitors anyway). The shipping was free, and after rebate, the item would have been free as well. I dutifully sent it in. A little over a month later, I received a postcard that said I didn't send it in on time. Lame!!! I called up the number listed on the card, spoke to this guy named Jay and was put on hold several times. It was like this (paraphrase):

Jay: We have listed that you did not submit your form in time. Let me verify this.
- Hold -
Jay: What was your name again. I need to check it in my system.
Spencer: Spencer. Isn't it on your screen somewhere? I mean, you are looking at my issue.
Jay: Let me check.
- Hold -
Jay: It says that you have not submitted your form in time. I am going to check with our manager. Can you hold, please?
- Hold -
Jay: OK. Your rebate was invalid. But as a valued customer, I can honor your rebate. Can you spell your name?
Spencer: S P E N C E R.
Jay: OK. Hold on just a moment.
- Hold - *Sound of tapping on a keyboard in the background--but way too many characters than simply my name. More like replying to an email or chatting to someone online
Jay: OK. Your rebate was invalid. But I have changed it's status to valid. You should receive your rebate within 4 to 6 weeks. Is there anything else I can help you with?
Spencer: No. Thanks.

I was hoping to never have to go through rebatesHQ again.

Unfortunately, this was not the case.

I bought a hard drive from TigerDirect. It was an exceptional deal (yes, indeed, too good to be true). At the time, it was a 400GB hard drive for $70. Of course, that's after a huge rebate. This was the big one. This was the rebate that better work or I am going to bust down some buildings.

So I sent it off. This one was easy. In fact, when the hard drive came, I didn't even need to cut out the UPC. It was on a sheet that said something like "Use this sheet for the UPC." Again, I dutifully sent in the rebate. It was the middle of July. I checked pretty much every week, through July and August.

And then today--I checked it out. It was finally on the status page at rebatesHQ. Again, it said it was invalid.

Now buildings were about to be busted down.

I haven't even received my postcard telling me that the rebate was invalid. I wasn't going to wait. I looked around for a number to call. It wasn't listed on the page. I had to go to TigerDirect.com and pretend like I was buying another drive to get access to the rebate form, which hopefully had the phone number. It did, and I called them up.

It was pretty much the same process again. But this time I found out that the reason the drive rebate was invalid was because the UPC code was invalid. That was ridiculous as the product made it completely clear which UPC sheet to submit. It was an OEM drive. There was no box or manual. The only documentation was the UPC code. This could not be any clearer which UPC to submit. How on earth can this be invalid?

So I spent another 10 minutes on the phone. Again, I just had to say that I submitted the form. I didn't even have to prove the validity of the form. It was just explaining myself and my situation. I didn't call with a pissed off attitude. The person I spoke to wasn't impolite. But it felt like he was doing his job, as if he was part of a system of denied rebate handling.

The system was the following:

Wait for a customer to submit a rebate.
Mark the rebate invalid.
Update the rebatesHQ site indicating the unfortunate circumstance and some random reason as to why it was invalid.
Send out postcards for the issue.
Repeat for all rebates.
As the last obstacle between the customer and his rebate, wait until he calls--if at all.

When he calls, pretend to be typing to give the illusion of working hard on helping the customer when the truth is, the check box marked "Valid" simply needs to be clicked by the mouse. Put the customer on hold as if leaving my desk to speak with my manager. Bite into sandwich. Don't forget to click on the "Valid" check box. Then take the customer off hold and explain that, yes, the rebate was invalid. The customer did something wrong, but you have now come and made it all good by telling them they are a valued customer and that you will hook them up.

I checked after a few more minutes. The rebate is now valid and is processing.

So, from the customer who fills out the rebate, it seems that the new process is the following:

Buy product.
Fill out the rebate form.
Cut out the UPC code from the box or include the UPC sheet.
Make a copy of the receipt.
Make a photocopy of the entire package.
Put inside envelope and apply a stamp. Place in mailbox for the mailman to pick up.
Wait for the postcard in the mail telling the customer why the rebate is invalid.
Call up phone number on postcard.
Explain that you did everything you were supposed to do.
Get rebate validated.

Isn't that lame? Let's hope that we don't have to add an additional step about the rebate check being lost in the mail and calling up rebatesHQ again and explaining everything again.

technorati tags:rebates, rebatesHQ, tigerdirect

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OK. Now that I am at least able to write.

2006-09-05T10:22:00.000-07:00

So the last blog blurb was done way past my bedtime.

Now that I have survived the weekend and am at least slightly more coherent, let's do a recap.

- Told everyone (those we wanted to know, but haven't told yet) about the engagement.
- Won free tickets to an excellent concert in October.
- It was my girlfriend's Birthday yesterday.
- I had (am still having) a nasty bout with tennis elbow--on both elbows.
- Experienced increased leg pain

Alright. Now for some further detail.

We told many people this past weekend about the engagement. The reaction? It was like they already knew. Many in fact, did already know. But some people seemed keen on that element already. Still, it was nice for people to actually see the pictures and the engagement ring.

I got an email from the INO Records street team administrator that said I won two tickets to MercyMe's concert in Anaheim in October. That's sweet! I already bought some upgraded seats anyway, but now this means that more people get to go. It's going to be awesome.

My fiancée and I had dinner at Humphrey's By The Bay yesterday and had two salmon specials. It was good, could use a little more salt, though. We celebrated her birthday together watching the sunset over the hill just past the private yacht dock. We also sort of celebrated her birthday in small episodes throughout the weekend, from the tiramisu at the british pub, small MySpace blurbs, and phone calls from friends and family. Again, if one day late in the ol"blog, Happy Birthday my shnookums. :)

So now we are over a week after the LAN party madness that was August 25-27, I am sitting, typing, with a Futuro Sport tennis elbow strap around one of my arms. Yes, I got tennis elbow in perhaps the least honorable way--not by actually participating in some agressive-good-for-you-sport, but by fragging away the whole weekend. Yep, and I got it bad. I couldn't put on or take off a shirt. I remember actually hunching over and sort of crying at Bible study last week. It was bad. Vicodin was barely doing its job.

Then, as the pain of the elbow began to very-slowly subside, I noticed some rapidly increasing stiffness in the knee. Then, to add to a weekend of walking in some flat sandals, swelling of the ankles. Am I beginning to become one of thoe obese motorized wheelchair bound 60-something's? I hope not.

Some cool things!

2006-09-02T22:29:00.000-07:00

OK.

Here's a list of a few things that have happened from my last entry.

Let's see, let's see. I won free tickets to the MercyMe concert in Anaheim. I now get to come up with some type of contest or something to give them out, as I already bought some tickets for the event. That is going to be fun.

What else. My girlfriend's birthday is this weekend. So it's cool.

My elbow pain has started to decrease. However, my knee is starting to kill me.

And now the big one. Now the whole world can now know that I am engaged. Yeah. Many of the blog readers here already know that I am engaged. However, some don't. This is for all y'all who don't know.

We are getting married. It'll happen next summer.

Yeah! So, for now, that's all.

Wickham, Wicker, and Elbow

2006-08-31T14:38:00.000-07:00

No, that's not a name of a new country band (though, in retrospect, it sounds like it would be).

Last night, the girlfriend and I went to Maranatha Chapel to meet up with Alicia for Bible study. We were presented with a great performance by Phil Wickham, who Alicia and I are going to see in October. While his CD sounds really good, listening to him live, doing exactly what I would think he would do on worship songs--it was great. He sounds good.

Tonight, I had plans to go see the Wicker Man. It looks cool and I was excited when I was given tickets to see a screening for free. However, seeing it tonight has a few things going against it.

It's in Mira Mesa. About 30 minutes north of my house.
It starts at 10:00 PM. This, after I have been deprived of sleep all week and am still recovering from the LAN party.
My elbow.

Yep, my elbow. For the first time in my whole life, I am actually showing signs of repetitive strain (stress) injury. The LAN party and my job--they are all participating in taking its toll on my elbow. And my wrist, but not as bad.

Dude, it sucks. I mean, I am taking my four hour vicodin doses in order to type. How do I blog after my prescription depletes?

What? Where am I?

2006-08-30T15:36:00.000-07:00

Zooomr :: PICT0772

So, if you look at the dates, the last blog entry I put in has been about a week ago.

Dang. This pause from the guy who would blog three times a day. What's up?

Let's see...LAN party from Friday to Sunday. Sunday night, was tired from the weekend. Took part in a American Pie marathon anyway. Monday night, went to Miguel's with the woman and her sibling/in-law/cousins. Tuesday...saw a screening of Gridiron Gang (which, I will talk about later, is a damn good movie). My computer still sits in pieces in my room, waiting for me to reconnect everything. That brings us to today--the grilled chicken daily deal sandwich at Subway day.

OK. Now you're all caught up.

Gridiron Gang. Great movie. It seems to have a little bit of everything. Think Crash meets Stand and Delivery meets The Longest Yard meets (sheesh) Remember the Titans. It was good. I remember last week sort of giving a review about how movies abiding the underdog formula has to be good by nature. This one was good on its own. Watch it. It's visceral. To add, it's based on a true story.

This Thursday, I've got a screening of Wicker Man to watch.

Also, stick around. This weekend, I *might* have something to announce on this here blog.

Lastly, check out my friend's blog, Paxoo. It's the something-to-think-about blog.

technorati tags:weekend, lanparty, GridironGang

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28 October 2006--you know where I'll be.

2006-08-24T09:30:00.000-07:00

- - - ( INO Records ) - - -

Yeah--MercyMe is coming to town. While not exactly San Diego, if MercyMe comes to Anaheim, southern California becomes "my town."

So far, Alicia and I have a pair of tickets to see them. Plus, they are not the typical cheap seats, either. We splurged on this one. If you are interested in buying some tickets, you should go to the Ticketmaster. Or, you can buy the tickets that I have and let me bid on some crazy premium auction seats that also benefit the Go Foundation. Or, you can bid on those seats, too--when they become available for Anaheim. They are awesome live. Plus, they are touring with Audio Adrenaline and San Diego local, Phil Wickham (bro, where were you last night--I thought you were going to be at Maranatha).

To check out my MercyMe pictures at concerts I've attended, see my esp2002.com MercyMe gallery page.

Google Search of the day

2006-08-24T08:35:00.000-07:00

Have you done a Google search for the word "failure" lately? Go ahead, try it out.

technorati tags:google, search, failure

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K-Fed not so much.

2006-08-23T12:13:00.000-07:00

That's all.

And I am not just doing this because I want to be part of the anti-Britney K-Fed matchup. The only reason I wanted to record the Teen Choice Awards 2006 show was to watch how horribly this guy would be. I wanted to hate him upon grabbing that mic of his. And he didn't dissappoint.

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Saw a movie.

2006-08-23T09:05:00.000-07:00

So we saw a screening of Invincible (the football movie with Mark Wahlberg). Suffice it to say, it was a great sports movie about someone who wasn't expected to succeed who ends up making it to the top. Just like every other movie of the type (read: Coach Carter, Glory Road, that Titans movie, and even the original Mighty Ducks), it's good simply because of it's underdog-beating-the-odds nature. It's not the best movie of the sort, but it's not the worst.

What's interesting to note, however, is how early we showed up for the preview, only to need to sit up in the few rows right before the screen. To add, we were in the front half of the line. I feel bad for those who had to be sent away after standing for about an hour to get in.

I've attempted to do it, that is, to sit up front. I forgot the movie, but it was a mind jarring ride, as it was an action movie, and it became unbearable after a few minutes as each slight camera jerk forced our entire heads to move along with the action happening on screen.

This is clearly an issue with action movies.

Unfortunately, all movies take on action movie status when viewed up close like that.

Even the drama on screen in Invincible became jarring as the camera pans across a building. I was as leaned-back as I possibly could be in the seat and still trying to grasp the emotion that a 30' image of Marky Mark's face seemed to exude when he sat quietly in the corner of his living room all alone.

Anyway...I'm hungry.

Sick

2006-08-21T13:30:00.000-07:00

Zooomr :: PICT3921

So I didn't even make it to the Beerfest preview.

Yesteday, right after my last blog entry, I got sick--really quickly, too.

I had a sore neck, achy joints, an enlarged lymph node, a headache, and would vary from ridiculously cold to sweaty warm in minutes.

So I didn't see the movie.

And I slept from about 1pm until about 7pm. Then my fever increased.

So now I am sitting at home wondering what I am missing at work. Oh well, at least I can catch up on my Strong Bad emails.

technorati tags:sick, weekend

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Bobble-heads.

2006-08-20T13:55:00.000-07:00

Zooomr :: PICT3753

We showed up early for the Padres game to see the shinanigans that the Padres do before a game.

Bad idea.

By the third inning, we were there for about 2.5 hours and were wondering what to do. It moved faster afterwards, after watching two home runs and recording videos of ourselves dancing at Petco Park.

Anyway...what else, what else.

Busy weekend.

Saw Accepted movie. If you know what to expect walking in the theater, you won't be dissappointed. It was pretty funny.

Went to the Point Loma Lighthouse and saw the Pacific Ocean through the marine layer and much of San Diego. Went there with some out-of-towners (actually, peeps from the UK).

Obviously, went to the Padres game.

Went to Red Sails Inn and had more clam chowder.

San Diego Zoo. It was nice and tiring, and we got in a long line to see three pandas sleeping, showing us their butts.

Went to Costco and bought Starbucks frappucinos.

Going to see Beerfest screening.

Yard work, blah blah blah.

That's a pretty busy weekend. Now my body is all tired and sore.

technorati tags:weekend, padres, sandiegozoo, accepted, beerfest

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I don't know why I come up with these weekend checklists anymore.

2006-08-17T16:18:00.000-07:00

This weekend, a Padres game. The thing is, I bought tickets back when the Padres were first place (which was super exciting), but now they are third place...what the hell? So I guess now I'm going for the bobble-heads. Yay! Anyways, that's where I'll be if anyone reading wanted to meet up.

What else, what else. I will be going to the zoo.

I also have to look for some missing CompactFlash cards and a missing SLR battery. I wouldn't mind it so much, except for the fact that they are proprietary and no longer being manufactured.

So that's what I've got. The checklist is smaller than it usually is, hopefully I can do all these things--I'll let you know Monday. :)

technorati tags:weekend, padres, sandiegozoo

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Thomas Hawk's entry on a lame notion that started by a lame writer who doesn't think that photography is art.

2006-08-17T11:27:00.000-07:00

Tony Long at Wired has written an article on how photography is not art. I invite you to read it. Then I invite you to read Thomas Hawk's perspectives on this.

To summarize it, Tony Long feels that photography is not art. He writes that art requires "a selective re-creation." He continues and states that a camera cannot paint to make a visual conceptualization.

I am sure that you already know what I feel about that.

If you apply Tony Long's opinion (and you know what they say about opinions) on what art is, what can be said about dancers, singers, writers--pretty much anybody who uses the left frontal lobe for getting a task done. They are all artists.

I can't imagine anyone with any sense would write an article as lame as this and not provide a disclaimer at the beginning stating that this is satire or a joke. Instead, the reader (pretty much starting with any amateur photographer who knows what the manual settings on a camera do) who decides to continue reading through this I-can't-believe-he-writes-for-Wired-this-is-lame article constantly scratches his head wondering if this guy is serious.

Seriously lame.

technorati tags:wired, tonylong, photography, art, thomashawk

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My cubicle mate is leaving

2006-08-16T14:37:00.000-07:00

So, if you know me and ever speak to me about my work, you already know how I feel about it. If you have never spoken to me about it, call me sometime and let me tell you. Otherwise, you are not going to find out here in this blog.

Anyhow, those who do know then understand how sad that my cubicle neighbor is leaving. She's found greener pastures with which to graze.

I hope you have a good time in your new department. :)

technorati tags:cubicle, neighbor

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A special treat

2006-08-16T10:22:00.000-07:00

I just read a particular blog that I find quite funny. I decided I would share it with you. It's from Toot's Mcgee's blog (tootsmcgee.blogspot.com).

Enjoy:

so i just went to the bathroom, and i looked in the mirror. i noticed that i had incorrectly buttoned my shirt. now the sad part is, i'm wearing a polo shirt. there's like 3 buttons.

THREE BUTTONS.

who can't button a polo shirt? and i'm only buttoning ONE. and it's the bottom button. the part where the shirt starts to split for the buttons helps guide you in buttoning your shirt. feel for the lowest button and put it through the lowest hole. simple, right? well this dee-dee-dee decided to put the middle button through the lowest hole. so my incorrect buttoning had created a bump. kinda like when you sit down and your pants bunch up at the crotch to create something that looks like a "special appendage." well i decided to name the bump i had craeted with my polo shirt. i'm going to call it "button boob."

technorati tags:tootsmcgee, buttons, shirt

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Red lights blow.

2006-08-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

I don't normally stress out about mornings (as it's my last part of the day that I have to myself before throwing my body into cubicle hell), but today was weird. Every single light that I went to on my roughly 5 mile drive before I even get to the freeway--it was red.

Every single one.

To add, I had to drop off two movies to Blockbuster before they became late this afternoon. And to do that would mean driving the opposite direction as work.

Thankfully, the freeway was quick moving (which was odd) and it allowed me to make up for lost time.

Anyhow, that's it.

technorati tags:freeway, redlights

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From Gizmodo

2006-08-15T10:19:00.000-07:00

I was on Gizmodo. I came across this article about a new cell phone. I read it. And now, I share it with you.

Motorola W220 Phone Gets FCC'erized, Just Stop Making Phones Already

So Motorola, you are up to what 7, 8 million different cellphones available? The W220 is the latest phone from Motorola to the FCC vertical anal thumb protrusion, which means it should be hitting the shelves within a few months. It is an entry-level clamshell phone that interestingly includes an FM receiver and color display, but lacks Bluetooth or any kind of a camera. Just think of it as a shittier RAZR.

Here is my personal challenge to Motorola: take a month off. Just one month, put everything down and go outside. Play in the park, BBQ, go swimming, hunt rabbits, record a Grammy-worthy album, whatever. Just take a month off. Every week there is another ho-hum Motorola phone announced and the people of the world need a break from upgrading. – Travis Hudson

Bye Jen!

2006-08-15T08:25:00.000-07:00

Zooomr :: PICT3667

So my favorite band was performing this past weekend at Harvest Crusade in Anaheim--not too far from where we live (well, I suppose it's all relative, it is two hours away. I guess it all depends on how far you would travel...for instance, I wouldn't see Sean Paul if he were playing in my backyard). And everyone knows that they are my absolute favorite band. So was the concert cool or what?

Actually, I didn't go.

I hung out with my friend who is leaving for the Bay area and ate with her friends and shared in some literary banter with others. Also, I had some Pad Tai noodles that were a smidge spicier than expected. I also got to show her my Bubba Gump shirt with a picture of a boat with her name on it (her name is Jen).

And it works out, too. Harvest Crusade saves video archives of the entire event on the internet. So I will watch that later.

But for now, Jen--we'll all miss you when you leave. Remember to write us and send us pictures!

The weekend, in review.

2006-08-14T10:20:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was nice. It really was. To add, I even got to do a few things that I meant to do--which is rare. I usually don't stare at my PDA on Saturday and Sunday.

The ceiling removal dude didn't call me back--I don't think I'm going to hire him. I didn't play any video games, which was OK, as I am still on a kick from beating the Matrix game. I still need to go to Costco and also look for where my SLR battery (and 2 GB's of missing compactflash cards are).

Anyhow, on my trek to the wedding, I popped in a CD (Seventh Day Slumber) and found the entire album really good. CD's that are good like that are rare today. There are even some Kutless and Hawk Nelson songs I usually push ">>" on. Seventh Day Slumber is an excellent band if you like the sound of a more agressive Creed meets POD. It's such an excellent sound. It's a band from Texas (what's up with all those great bands from Texas--mm) which is led by a former cocaine addict who almost died from an overdose. Then he saw God. It's really good music.

At any rate, the wedding was nice, in fact, one of the nicer weddings I have attended. I learned a ton about the speaking qualities of many people, including the surprisingly eloquent groom and best man. What was the greatest surprise, however, came from my girlfriend, who was the maid of honor. She was crying and it made everyone cry and people were looking at me, like "What did you do?"

Psht. I don't know. She's all emotional--what was I supposed to do? But it was good.

What else did I do? Oh yeah, I spent about 9 hours reworking my entire website. After letting the site sit all weekend, though, I think I'm going to change it up a little bit more.

technorati tags:wedding, seventhdayslumber, weekend

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New Site - and Yes, it's very draft

2006-08-12T00:45:00.000-07:00

Zooomr :: PICT3245

I uploaded as much as I cared to for this much time sitting in front of my computer. I know it's got broken links and gallery pages that don't show pictures--but you are still seeing this website in a very beta (not quite ready) for public release. But at least the infrastructure is up.

Feel free to let me know what you think about www.esp2002.com.

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New Updated Website

2006-08-12T00:22:00.000-07:00

Alright...so I think I've had enough Mountain Dew and it's time for me to shower and sleep. I've been working on this updated site since I got home yesterday afternoon and I think I am just going to upload whatever I have.

Let me know what you think. It's at www.esp2002.com.

technorati tags:esp2002, website

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What I'd Rather Be Doing on a Friday

2006-08-11T11:33:00.000-07:00

Zooomr :: PICT3252-1

I have a wedding to attend this weekend--which will be cool. The air outside is of the nice and warm sort. My pool needs water, and more importantly, me--swimming in it. I also am waiting for a phone call from a guy who will give me an estimate on removing the acoustic on my ceiling. There are a ton of games I want to play (Godfather on my PC and NBA Streets 3 on the PS2). I also need to charge my cellphone and shuffle some songs on the iPod. Shopping at Costco to get more of the morning shake things that are supposed to help you lose weight but instead do nothing. I also need to play with the guinea pig and find out what happened to my other digital SLR battery.

But I don't mind doing any of these things.

I need to go and do these things. You see, my real weekends begins at 3:46PM on working Fridays. That's when I am rolling the windows on my car down, sitting with my hands on the wheel and some loud music stuck in traffic pondering what I should do first.

Weekend...hurry up and get here.

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Uh...yeah. An engagement party.

2006-08-10T23:30:00.000-07:00

People, what is the purpose of an engagement party?

We all got around and hung out with our girlfriends--except, mine was out of town, so I hung out with a friend who was in town.

And we ate. Well, I had a burrito and he--he had some cantaloupe or something.

And wondering what we were doing there.

But the burrito was good.

Wow. That is drool on my keyboard.

2006-08-09T16:34:00.000-07:00

Anyway, it's one thing to hear and watch the Apple keynote on the introduction of the Mac Pro.

But when you see someone actually unpack it...my friends, that is something to behold.

That means that now I want one.

It's got 2 CPUs inside, each with it's very own dual-core brain. Plus, it's all aluminum and supposedly quiet and power thrifty. It's friggin' awesome.

Oh...OK, maybe that isn't drool on my keyboard. *Just kidding (sheesh, can't a geek make one joke?)

technorati tags:apple, macpro

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BlackHat computer security conference

2006-08-08T08:38:00.000-07:00

And now for something a little different, I take information from WXPNews to share with you. I found something interesting on the creation of a security exploitation, a new type of rootkit (watch out Sony...you better not be putting this on Switchfoot's next album).

Blue Pill is a type of rootkit - that is,malware that conceals itself from security software. Although some articles andblogs have given the impression that it's based on a vulnerability in the Vistaoperating system, it's actually based on AMD's SVM Pacifica virtualizationtechnology (and Rutkowska herself has been very clear that the exploit is notbased on any flaw in Vista). The Pacifica technology provides "chiplevel" virtual partitioning to allow for running multiple operating systemssimultaneously on the same computer (virtual machines or VMs). Pacifica is anextension to the 64 bit x86 architecture and is included on the Athlon 64 andTurion 64 processors. Although Rutkowska's Blue Pill prototype was developed torun on Vista, it can be adapted for Linux or any other 64 bit operating systemthat runs on this hardware.

The reason this rootkit is so difficult to detect is because the operatingsystem is running inside the hypervisor, or VM, whereas the rootkit is runningunderneath the VM. Since the rootkit files are outside of the virtual OS,there's no way for the operating systm to detect that they're there. MicrosoftResearch had previously developed a proof of concept VM rootkit called SubVirt.

OK. Now off to your Goggling.

Spiders and movies

2006-08-07T23:27:00.000-07:00

Zooomr :: PICT0968

So, I am sitting with my foot just swollen. I have a joint inflamed and my huge ass foot won't even fit in my oversized comfortable Crocs. The best way to explain it is it looks like a newborn baby's foot--just adult sized.

And I am watching South Park on broadcast TV. And a spider was crawling up my leg.

Today, Apple came out with the new Mac Pro. That was cool. That 4 computing cores in a $2500 computer. Yeah, I'm getting one. Maybe. Perhaps when it's refurbed, because it's going to have about 17 different issues from discoloration to high frequency humming.

OK. Time to go, the laptop is burning my crotch.

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Alright, one more.

2006-08-07T16:39:00.000-07:00

ReverendFun.com's daily Christian cartoons brought to you by Gospelcom.net

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Funny, from Reverendfun.

2006-08-07T16:10:00.000-07:00

Yes. I saw this and wanted to share it with you, the reader of my blog.

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AOL Breach of Privacy

2006-08-07T13:49:00.000-07:00

So apparently AOL allowed more than 650,000 of its subscriber's information to be searchable over the weekend--to everyone on the internet.

To add, they held on to the $23 per month internet dial-up access for way too long. Now this $10 per month may be too little, too late. To add, I recall the ridiculous phone call that this one guy tried to cancel his AOL service and was given this insane run around by a hostile AOL employee.

This is the end of AOL. I'm calling it.

This time next year, Goggle is going to own them. ;)

technorati tags:aol, google

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Yeah. It was a great weekend.

2006-08-06T21:49:00.000-07:00

It was a really good weekend. Hung out with the brother (he's the skinny one). Ate filipino food. Played video games (no wonder I'm the fat one).

Had some friends come over. Played more video games--but the type that lets you lose weight (notice I am not playing). That was cool. We ate some chips (that's the Lays bag in the corner that I was eating).

Did some of that karaoke madness. That's me on the mic. Yo yo!

Went swimming. I could say something funny about this picture (which I like by the way), but there'll be these funny jokes about how this guy has a lack of head and all that...I just won't go there.

Went back inside and did the whole guitar bit.

And then just waxed poetic about relationships and ate more.

It was great. It was how weekends are meant to be.

Now I am sitting in front of the TV watching Hustle and Flow not wanting to go to work tomorrow.

Yeah, it was a great weekend.

technorati tags:weekend, guitar, pool, karaoke

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Wow. A whole day.

2006-08-04T23:49:00.000-07:00

Today, I was off...went to the doctors about my blood pressure.

It's actually not bad. Then it became this huge conversation about my weight. You know--that's why I haven't gone to the doctors in over a year--for fear of sitting in that little chair that seems to make me look fatter, discussing how big I have gotten in the past year.

Oh well. Time for more ice cream.

What else...what else. Private mortgage insurance is lame. Dusting the house makes me sneeze. Don't forget about the load in the washer.

I read that Dell is exiting the PDA business.

2006-08-02T14:11:00.000-07:00

Those of you that know me (and by that, I mean have eaten with me, watched a movie, came over, hung out), have seen that I carry something with me everywhere I go.

That would be my PDA. I have used PDAs since the late 90's and it has become my brain. I no longer need to remember anything.

Unfortunately, I just read that Dell is killing the PDA division. To add, HP's PDA lineup has been dwindling. To add, smartphones have come out that try to replace the need for a individual organizer.

The PDA's end is coming.

That's unfortunate, and let me tell you why.

The PDA's that Dell came out with did so much more than the organizer portion of a smartphone. With a large enough memory card (CF or SD), I used it to watch my Media Center movies while traveling. It also had wifi-built in on a VGA screen so I can browse HTML websites fairly nicely. Recently, I used the PDA as a GPS to travel across California. Not to mention the games and the fact that you can do some small word processing and work with spreadsheets.

Unfortunately, I read somewhere (I think it was Palminfocenter.com) that about 10 percent of all PDA users use all the features that PDAs have. I am one of them, and lament the death of the PDA. There's just so many things that it can do that a cellphone wouldn't be good for.

PDA's have its place in the pockets of many of us. They fit that large gap between a cell phone and a laptop.

Here's hoping that it's use will be realized before it really is too late.

technorati tags:pda, organizer, smartphones, dell

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The milkman, the paperboy, evening TV.

2006-08-02T12:50:00.000-07:00

Zooomr :: PICT1696

Oh yeah. This is a picture of the Full House set of homes in San Francisco.

I know--it's real. Weird, huh? Anyhow, this is a picture my girlfriend took. Does anyone know which one is supposedly the Tanner residence?

Anyhow, after a yummy chicken sandwich for lunch, I am about ready for a nap.

What makes you sick?

2006-08-01T23:15:00.000-07:00

It's hard to tell from this picture that looks like I am endorsing them, but I hate Pea Soup.

It made me so sick.

I had to hold my gut in my arms on the drive back to San Diego from this forsaken restaurant in the middle of nowhere.

Just a warning. My girlfriend and I went there just because of the novelty of it.

Yeah.

That makes as much sense as stopping by a restaurant called "Road Kill Guts."

Look really hard.

2006-08-01T23:05:00.000-07:00

Zooomr :: PICT1162

That's a picture of my girlfriend and I.

Oh yeah--also, I uploaded more pictures to my Zooomr account. Check it out!

Spencer

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Bands/Artists to watch out for!

2006-08-01T11:16:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah. Everyone knows I love MercyMe, Kutless, Switchfoot, and Jeremy Camp (which, by the way, made an excellent worship driven concert--SWC Del Mar, SWEET).

What people don't know is that I am listening to a good amount of bands that aren't as big, but after listening to them, it won't be long.

- Stellar Kart
- Leeland
- Aaron Shust

Their music is awesome. So listen to it.

I haven't even gone to a Padres game yet.

2006-08-01T11:15:00.000-07:00

Zooomr :: PICT1491

So, as you can easily (!) tell from the picture above, I have gone to a baseball game. In fact, it was the Giants game up in San Francisco. Do I live there? No. But I decided to go to a game there. Are the Giant's first place in our division? No. That would be my favorite team, the San Diego Padres.

Wait a minute.

So, I would drive across our state (the long way, mind you) to see a Giant's game? To add, I haven't even gone to a Padres game this season.

That's all about to change. Oh yes, I will see the Padres and Arizona game where they are giving away little bobble-heads. Yes!

OK. I went to the Giant's game because I've never been to ~~Pacbell~~ ~~SBC~~ AT&T Park. Well, I've never been inside. I just stood outside one rainy night to see it in person when I went up last year. I wanted to go inside, so that's why my girlfriend and I went.

Man, I want a chicken sandwich.

Weekend in review.

2006-07-31T08:53:00.000-07:00

Well, now that the "blog the most this weekend" is over, and I won, it allows me to look back at things I would have hoped to do this weekend.

Let's review. While the girlfriend was gone this weekend, I said I was going to do the following:

- Blog to win the contest.
- Play video games.
- Watch awesome movies that she won't.
- Work on the adventure website.
- Swimming.

I did blog. In fact, I won the contest. It was cool, too, as there was a ton of interesting things I did this weekend.

Play video games. Hell yeah, I played video games. Really cool thing, I beat Matrix: Path of Neo. If you don't know, it's the best game out of the entire Matrix series. You essentially play the entire trilogy (even parts from the gaps, that Animatrix tries to cover). It also allowed me to better understand what happened in all the talkie parts of the third movie (which I liked the least because of all the talking). As far as game play, it seemed pretty easy, up until the French man levels. That's when it got lame. After those levels (which was about an hour), it got better again. Then when you thought it was over, you get a little blurb from the creators of the trilogy, the Wachowski brothers. They rewrite the ending of the movie to make it more game friendly. Eh. But at least I beat the game.

Watch movies? Saw the Ringer again with Jeff. He came down and we wanted to see Miami Vice, but it wasn't playing at a time convenient to us, so we went to my house and put in a DVD.

Work on the website? Yep. Pretty much completed the infrastructure. Now we need to work on the PHP back end, but at least the framework is up. CSS is nice.

Commercial picture

2006-07-30T11:27:00.000-07:00

I love it. This is a picture that my girlfriend took.

It can either be a Konica Minolta ad (which we'd do for free, nevermind the fact that they no longer have a camera business) or maybe an Oakley ad.

I'm leaning more towards the KonMin ad, as the bokeh effect is significant and pleasing. :)

Whoa. Thomas Hawk left a comment on my page.

2006-07-30T11:03:00.000-07:00

OK. Many of you will be like...mmmkay.

But DUDE, Thomas Hawk left a comment on my July 28th entry.

He's one of the biggest names that come up when you talk about photography, internetting, and blogging. He a contemporary great whose works are amazing in this digital world we live in.

Whew!

Granted, his message thanked me for hosting my photos on Zooomr.com, nothing about my skills as a photographer, but still. One can almost imagine him thinking "you know, his photographs are amazing. I think he's a great asset to Zooomr. I will thank him for hosting."

I'd be like, "Bird, get off my car!"

2006-07-30T10:54:00.000-07:00

Yo!

So, I went to bed last night at 4:00.

- Why do I look forward to the weekends and sleeping in and all that when I usually just sleep less?
- Why do I find myself so enamored with a website and uploading 300 megs of data to a personal webserver?
- Why do I play video games, games that I own and can play at my leisure, way late in the night into the wee morning hours?
Why?

Whatever.

I took my Lisinopril today. I know I forgot to take it yesterday, but interestingly enough, my blood pressure didn't suffer too bad because of it.Do you think my blood pressure is so high because of lack of sleep?

Eh. I'm going to play some more Matrix: Path of Neo.

Free Winrar today

2006-07-30T10:36:00.000-07:00

Apparently, Winrar is free today. That'spretty cool, as I have been using an older version of Winrar for about two years.

It is quite awesome software.

Blogged with Flock

Good ice cream for lactose-intolerant people doesn't exist.

2006-07-28T17:17:00.000-07:00

Zooomr :: PICT0612

So my girlfriend bought some floor tickets for a really great concert in Anaheim in October. It's for MercyMe, AudioAdrenaline, and Phil Wickham. At least I hope Phil Wickham is going to be there. Apparently he's touring with MM and AudioA, but on ticketmaster.com, it doesn't mention him for that event.

He better be there.

But at least MercyMe and AudioA are going to be sick^!

For those of you that know me, you know this is going to be an excellent concert--almost as good as the MercyMe and Jeremy Camp on in March 2005.

Interestingly, I am going to this with another friend. The girlfriend will be in LA that weekend. It's still going to be cool.

She did ask about bringing cameras. They said that only non-professional cameras are allowed. Whatever that means. I have a digital SLR I want to bring--I hope they don't freak out.

At any rate: spthealien: 3; tootsmcgee: 1. Hehe.

^Sick, used in this context, means excellent; gratifying to the utmost degree.

Blogged with Flock

Oh, that's funny.

2006-07-28T17:15:00.000-07:00

ReverendFun.com's daily Christian cartoons brought to you by Gospelcom.net

Seriously.

Anyway, I spoke to my neighbors earlier today about fixing the fence. I thought it would be all hard and stuff--that they would be like "No...you fix the fence."

They were totally cool about it.

So, now I get to kill this immense nasty yucca plant in my backyard before I can even get contractors to come to the house to look.

And it's been nasty hot and sticky outside.

Nasty.

Blogged with Flock

Who can blog the most in the next few days contest.

2006-07-28T09:55:00.000-07:00

It's hot outside. Today, I couldn't find my badge for work. I feel a sticky patina over much of my arms. Ahhh, yes--it must be that time again.

The time where I can't wait for the weekend to start.

Let's see...what am I going to do while the girlfriend is away?

- Play videogames, check.
- Watch awesome movies that she won't, check.
- Work on the adventure website, yep.
- Swimming. Most definately.

Most importantly...

- Blog to win the contest.

Oh yeah.

Blogged with Flock

These are spirit fingers.

2006-07-26T10:05:00.000-07:00

OK. So I am stuck at home today with some of this migraine action.
But do you know what the worst part is? I have been prescribed some mandatory video watching by Dr. Girlfriend, herself.

I am watching Bring It On.

Now I see why I have managed to avoid this all these years.

Anyhow, there's this picture here that looks like I am peeing into Lake Hodges.

I thought you would enjoy that.

Blogged with Flock

Sober for one week...not doing so well.

2006-07-25T14:35:00.000-07:00

I think my body is going through withdrawals. I have been super tired lately. It's not the lack of sleep. I mean, I know I don't sleep too long, but it's never been like this. Now I am just moping around, waiting for something to happen, all droopy with my hands dragging on the ground. I have been sober for one week.

It was one week ago that I drank my last energy drink.

Now that it's all flushed from my body, I can't help but feel like a large lump of mass set in motion only by gravity and wind. It's not that I can't just go to the store and buy some--I can. It's that the store doesn't have my choice any longer. I am talking about Vault Zero.

Remember years ago, there was this awesome sweet nectar of green bubbles. It was called Surge.

Well, through the years, people have beckoned for its return. Thousands of people have called for it. There have been efforts, actually people doing actual work, to get Surge back. Coca Cola then tested out this green concoction on the east coast. On the west coast, we could only read about it--our mouths dripping with the mouth watering desire that could only be satiated by one (kphssshhhttt) sip (gul-gul-gul-gul-tik-ahhhhhh) of this wonder tonic.

It was called Vault.

And for us diabetics (or people needing to lose weight), Vault Zero was the healthier version.

My girlfriend and I stocked up, purchasing several cases of it from a local grocery store. But we finished it.

And we could no longer find it at the store.

Then there are all these crazy blog entries about the disappearance of Vault Zero.

Noooooo!

Again.

Noooooo!

I had so much planned for you and I. I was thinking about enjoying the sweet crisp taste continuously at LAN parties. I was thinking about sticking the can on my bike frame and quenching my thirst at the end of a long two-mile bike ride. Grabbing you from my center cup holder while parking at the edge of some cliff.

I was even thinking about bringing you to my wedding table, to be enjoyed with my loved one--the first drink to be shared as a couple.

I must get to the bottom of this. Coca Cola must ship more. They must.

They must.

technorati tags:vault, surge, energy, drink

Blogged with Flock

But I use Google (with text that follows that has nothing to do with the title)

2006-07-25T14:11:00.000-07:00

Hello, all. Just another text ping to the blog. This was a hot weekend. I did go swimming. Just another instance for another near-300 pound man to take off his shirt outside. But oh well. It was nice and cool in the pool.

We avoided the craziness that is Comic-Con and worked on the yard. Plus, I did buy a present for one of my friend's wedding. That was at least the reason I told myself to get out of the house. BB&B turned out to be a nice air-conditioned store with plenty of chairs.

OK. Well, I will be at Shelter Island this Wednesday evening for a photo shoot of downtown with the rest of the gang from San Diego DSLR club. Come by for some photo shooting fun.

I took this picture last weekend at the Giants game.

technorati tags:san, francisco, giants, yahoo, san, diego, dslr, wedding, present

Blogged with Flock

I have actually fallen in love with the internet.

2006-07-19T11:31:00.000-07:00

Seriously.

I love Flock. I love Web 2.0. And I love free stuff. When I found out that I can get a Pro account from Zoomr just because I have a blog, I said to myself...SWEET.

Now if Flock could only integrate with Zoomr, I would be good to go.

Blogged with Flock

Zoomr Blog This, baby!

2006-07-19T11:06:00.000-07:00

OK. So it sounds like that new up-and-comer web 2.oh site Zoomr will give out pro accounts to bloggers.
I say--SICK! This is sweet. Let's give this a shot.

technorati tags:zoomr, pro, account

Blogged with Flock

Blogs are my friends.

2006-07-13T10:46:00.000-07:00

You know what's weird. Blogs today.

This entry is going to become a little bit of a "whoa-but-look-at-what-you-are-doing-yourself" entry. But, oh well.

Blogging has becomes pretty much the only way I read about things. It's weird just how the pieces fell into place. The browser I use (Flock) makes blogging so easy--both the writing and the reading (Flock's RSS viewing is the best I have ever used, even better than the previous stalwart, Safari, and slicker than IE7's). My little browser toolbar even has a little icon that becomes orange when a new entry has been inputted by any of the oh-so-many blogs I read.

Then my email client (Outlook 2007 Beta) supports these RSS feeds that blogs can output. I have gone from several hours reading about news to simply minutes just skimming past non-interesting articles. Plus, RSS seems to strip away all the advertisements.

But what's weird is how I communicate with my friends now. Before, I used to see them--walking to class, sitting next to them, eating food with them. Then I graduated. We all got jobs and did our own thing. It shifted into the phone calls with the occasional party. Then to emails that got answered every now and then, based usually on how bored we were at work. Then one day, I discovered personal blogging.

It's always been around. I've known about it when reading about up and coming gadgets. I have seen it integrated into a few bands webpages. But I never thought I would have one of my own.

Now, it seems that when I want to find out how a friend is doing, I simply visit his blog. Now, I am not talking about the ever-so-popular MySpace crap, which I have easily resisited and will continue doing so, as that is a horrible concept (let's have thousands of friends, blah blah blah, none of which I know who exactly they are). For instance, I have a good friend, Billy, who is about the hardest man to hang out with--he's always doing something. So I read his blog at my convenience.

Another weird aspect is how we have been replaced by our own digital presence. Much like the CDs I own are now replaced by it's MP3/AAC version on my iPod while the originals sit collecting dust in a dark corner of my closet--while its compressed digital ones-and-zero copy get played hundreds of times (no one email me about how the original CD is a set of digital ones-and-zeros--it's different). Take, for instance, my friend Alfred. He has recently become known to me as the guy with the cool wedding website. I know he's more than that, but as of now, his site has become his presence. Another example is this person I see every now and then at work. He's not the kindest person, but now when I see him, I chuckle inside remember that he likes the Gilmore Girls (says his MySpace profile). I see that people actually answer the blog comments more than they do their own voicemails.

This change in communications has come quickly, yet transparently to this overweight techie writing this blog right now. If you stay on top of technology, I guess you just don't see that the "next big thing" is happening everyday, so frequently that it becomes old and not so apparent. I know blogs have been around for a long as time, but it hit me earlier today just how much it has affected my everyday.

Want to know something cool? My next phone is going to have blog capabilities built-in. I can take pictures and transmit it directly to this blog spot.

Cool, huh?

Well--till the next blog entry--see you later.

technorati tags:blogs, cell, phones, flock, rss, outlook, beta, change, friends, sony, ericsson, camera

Blogged with Flock

Can't wait for the weekend, Nagle, and cool things on a website.

2006-07-13T09:54:00.000-07:00

I am so done with this week.

My back hurts from sitting in this friggin chair from designing networks to typing and talking on the phone with solution providers. Argh.

I can't wait for the weekend.

A nice long drive up the coast of California with the one I love. No work involved there. Just her presence, some cameras, great views, cold drinks, and some music. Sunroof open and sunset off in the distance.

That will be nice.

Anyway...I read an article on Matt Nagle in Wired. Really amazing stuff. Google him. It's a crazy foray into cybernetics. He's a C4 quadriplegic who's spine had been severed during a fight with a convict. Doctors have put in his brain a microchip that is allowing him to operate basic motion using a prosthetic arm. Wish him the best.

On to another topic.

My good friend Alfred is getting married (yay!). But, while cool, there's something else I am going to discuss on this blog entry--his wedding website.

He actually has created, using PHP, a database keeping track of the attendees. Hey--it saves some stamps. What's crazy is the field he has populated. If you are lucky enough to be invited, then you can experience this. If not, too bad. It's really quite cool.

Well--that's all for now. I will be sure to put up a few pictures after the weekend.

Blogged with Flock

Tired, but excited.

2006-07-09T00:34:00.000-07:00

OK. So I just got to my parent's house and I am pretty beat. My girlfriend and I just came back from her city where we got to go to a few parties and eat all this food. It was nice--but it was pretty warm.

Now that we are in Murrieta, it's nicer--less humid and the air is sweet.

I am buying a wide-angle lens in the morning. It will be used for taking cool pictures. Unfortunately, it's going to cost me a pretty penny, so I better use the hell out of it.

Anyhow, that's it for now. I just wanted a blurb that showed I was still alive in July.

Later.

Blogged with Flock

Lame

2006-06-26T11:20:00.000-07:00

Today is lame. I am at work, and my nose is stuffed up--like some type of cold. It is lame because it is summer time. Who gets colds in friggin' triple digits? Anyway, if you are reading this, which is amazing, because then you would be the only person probably reading this little known blog, then know that you are appreciated. I want to hug you until your little eyes bug out of your sockets.

I read earlier today about this tip on a quick and frugal bedroom tip (I have the weirdest portal page). Anyhow, here's a paraphrase. To change the look of a room, use bed sheets as curtains and find creative things to use pillowcases for. Yeah. That's a quick and cheap way to change your room from it's current state into an even lamer state.

Lameness is abounding.

Much love.

Blogged with Flock

Today is hot and muggy.

2006-06-25T11:37:00.000-07:00

Really blows. It's sticky. Went swimming and got a sunburn.

Blogged with Flock

My times in Hawaii

2006-06-16T22:35:00.000-07:00

Come check out the photos I took in Hawaii. http://picasaweb.google.com/spthealien/HawaiiWebAlbum

They include photos from Mike's wedding, snorkeling, eating, taking pictures of way too many flowers.

Blogged with Flock

2006-06-15T23:44:00.000-07:00

A macro shot without a macro lens.

2006-06-15T23:41:00.000-07:00

Waikiki beach.

2006-06-15T23:39:00.000-07:00

Mike and I after snorkeling in Hawaii. Just the guys chilling after his wedding.

Wedding photography

2006-06-15T23:29:00.000-07:00

Damn. They are expensive. I want to be one and get paid lots of money.

Blogged with Flock

Training blows.

2006-06-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

Seriously. I am falling asleep. Too much food during lunch. I had a salad and one of those fattening bowls of chicken and potatoes from KFC.

I would much rather play video games.

Blogged with Flock

Good Roommates are hard to find.

2006-06-12T12:11:00.000-07:00

OK.

I have gone through two roommates in 3 months time. Yeah--I know...you are probably thinking--dude, it's us. But it isn't. First, I am hardly home. Second, the people we get are truly weird.

Anyway, I think I am about done finding one. I will just be super poor for the rest of my time as an unmarried man.

Anyway, tomorrow is my birthday, and I will be having Thai food with my parents and my girlfriend. It will be gewd.

Till the next time.

Blogged with Flock

Home loans

2006-02-28T09:22:00.000-08:00

Sheesh.

This is getting so stressful. Homes are expensive. Getting a loan is ridiculous. My head a-splode.

Ping

2006-02-22T14:16:00.000-08:00

Not too much out of the normal going on. But I see some big things up ahead. I will keep you posted.

What's been going on, peeps?

2006-01-19T16:00:00.000-08:00

So, I have been busy lately. Sorry (to myself) I haven't written in here in a while. This has been some crazy holidays. Always--I had to juggle getting gifts, buying a house, fighting with my mother, getting ready for travel, all the crazy stuff that happens and then some.

I managed to fall completely in love within the span of a year and a half. So, I had to do some deep down inside searching for what I want to do/where I want to go. :)

Anyhow, I will be having dinner tomorrow with another couple, my homie Alfred and his fiancee.

That's all I can write for now. Tonight, I am going to a concert to see Kids in the Way.

Peace out all you readers.

2006-01-19T15:57:00.000-08:00

Went to CES. That was cool. My brother got to play against Fatal1ty. Last year's was better, I think. Plus it was actually warm this year in Vegas. If you know me, you know I don't handle a warm Vegas very well.

2006-01-19T15:26:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! Even though it's a few weeks into the new year, I just wanted to have an entry for the OH SIX (06).

Auction/Sick/Media Center/EiB

2005-12-06T08:24:00.000-08:00

Woohoo! I am seeing MercyMe this weekend—no matter how much this auction is going to cost me. (*Just don’t tell that to my girlfriend*) The auction will be over in a few hours and things are looking good. I just hope that eBay snipers don’t go to Christian auction websites and overbid me at the last minute.

That’s all for now. My mood is, eh. My girlfriend is sick today. I did a number on my fingers last night so the tips of my fingers hurt a little bit when I type. I broke my TV tuner in my Media Center computer so I was soldering it. It works now, but I need a new S-Video cable.

I have been playing Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood. That’s a super good game.

OK. Bye.

Update

2005-12-05T14:54:00.000-08:00

Sorry, it has been a very long time since I have last written to you, oh blog, and to the three people who come to visit you (*oh, I can't include myself as one of them?).

Anyhow, let's see...what have I done lately. Let's see. Went to Boston. Got to hang out atop Fenway Park (on top of the Green Monster). That was cool. Got to hang out with my girlfriend as we walked through Harvard and MIT. I bought a sweatshirt from MIT which I call my CompUSA sweatshirt (*ha, tell me that the Pentium 4 chip is the fastest chip out there!).

We also had our 1 year anniversary. That was super fun. I can't believe it's been a year already. I love her. I really do. If you haven't felt what it is like to be in love, people, you are missing out on so much.

Speaking of a year, 2005 has been crazy. We are diving into December already. So much has happened in the past year. I got better (from being in the hospital). I got in contact with many of my old classmates. I lost a friend (you just DO NOT talk unkindly behind one's back about me or any of my other friends--you just don't, you hypocrit--but I digress). I got Windows Media Center (which is the biggest thing to ever happen to the Windows world). And I added rims to my vehicle. Which makes the every now and then security check on my car not as menacing, as the guards usually compliment my car. "It's very nice. I can't believe it's a Saturn."

What do I have to look forward to in 2006? If I can sum it up in one word, it's "Weddings." Who isn't getting married in 2006? I know most of my close friends are...Alfred, David, Mike, and Anna. Some of my old classmates are...Mycah, Tristen, and Patricia. Perhaps I shall also be thinking about that next step in my life.

I'll have to discuss that in another blog entry.

This is also an interesting time of the year for me. Christmas is usually my most favorite time of the year, and it still is, but I can't help but feel weird about this year's. One of my family's holiday visitors has been one of my friends for over a decade. This year, however, he is in another country. My mom even misses him. Another sign of a different holiday, my brother is flying solo this year. No bitch-ass girlfriend to cheat on him. I think he's adjusted, but still, I wish him luck. Also, no pointsettias at my house this year. I have a small Christmas tree, but that's all.

Speaking of the holidays, I am going to a MercyMe concert next Saturday. Not only are they my favorite band, the concert is for charity. That, and I will be attending a meet and greet. To know Spencer is to completely understand how much that is going to mean to me. Also, I went to Jingle Ball last weekend--cool, cool. Switchfoot was awesome, Hootie and the Blowfish--awesome, too. Alanis Morisette, her set felt a little long to me. Train was cool. Los Lonely Boys, if I knew more songs, it would be cooler, but I still had a super time. The B52s, however, hmmmph. Last month, I went to see MxPx, Relient K, and Simple Plan. I think after this coming weekend, I'm all tapped out for concerts.

That's all for now. I will try to remember to put into words my feelings as they come later.

Peace out, folks.

Spencer

2005-10-11T07:47:00.000-07:00

I am so bummed that the Padres are done. Now I have no need to even watch MLB.

2005-10-03T13:56:00.000-07:00

Again, sitting at work--waiting for the day to finish so I can watch a movie or something. It's free day at the zoo today--unfortunately, they close at 4. So it looks like March of the Penguins for me.

2005-09-26T10:18:00.000-07:00

The tension is in the air. Now...we get to wait to see who wins the nano.

2005-09-20T22:42:00.001-07:00

Autoblog for a nano

OK. I want a nano. My girlfriend--she has one. She loves hers. I want a nano to love.

Then I found out about this contest from a site I visit multiple times per day (if it's any indication of how much I love my job...I find myself aimlessly surfing the blog scene). I email out cool links from this site all the time, I might as well write about a few of my favorites.

If you know me, you will see why I have so many links to Saturn stories.

Here goes:

Next-Gen Saturn Vue
I am a huge fan of Saturn. I especially like the Vue because I own one. I like this article because it takes a peek at the next generation Vue, allowing people out there to scratch there heads in amazement pondering...wait, whoa, was that a Saturn I just saw? Yes. Yes it was.

2006 Saturn Vue
I just bought a Vue in 2004--they've looked the same way in 2005 as they did in 2002. I knew they were about to change, and was curious to see how drastic, I was glad to see they got slightly uglier in the new year. It makes me love what I currently have for a longer period of time. It's sort of when Apple changed the way the iPods looked. I thought they got uglier. OK, maybe it's just me.

Saturn wins beauty pageant
If it isn't apparent already, Saturns have a special place in my heart. And this is from a company that many people feared (or not) would crumble soon. In a move that Cadillac did that made there cars better looking, Saturn does the same thing and excells at it. It's an underdog story at its very core.

Toyota Supra
The Supra left the car scene at its finest. And you know what they say...leave them wanting more. The Supra left us wanting more. When it comes out again, I know it's going to sell. Plus I am getting a little tired of the 350z. I hope the Supra doesn't dissappoint because it would suck if it came out looking like a Civic.

Ebay ad for motorcycle helmet
It's a super entertaining read about a guy who pretty much treats his eBay auction as a shoulder to cry on, an auction blog, if you will. It's funny, though he comes down a little harsh on his baby. But it truly shows that relationships where one person expects the other to change might not end up being good.

69 Camaro
My dad had a 67 Camaro. I like them. I never knew about this one in particular, but I remember fondly the times I drove around in it...up until some drunk driver hits it in front of our house. Anyway, what's super cool about this is how much the 69 Camaro goes for.

Windows Automotive 5
Because I am a nerd. Electronics and convergence is super cool, and when it appears in that space that most people who live in southern California spend half there lives in, it's even sweeter.

Ugly mats
This is hilarious. You know what they say: one man's garbage is another man's treasure. This link displays some truly atrocious floor mats that one can customize. It cracks me up that some of these uglies are someone's creation--not a conveyor belt mess-up. If I ever go in a car with pink-yellow-green mats, I don't know what I would do.

Drunk drives into body of water
The reason I enjoy this is because it's always fun to broadcast stupidity as a warning to others. I could only imagine how this guy must be in person. I would love to just poke him in the forehead when he's completely inubriated.

Rental car company...something
I actually don't really know what this one is about, but it's one of my favorites because of the picture that was included. It shows a woman driving along a country road of some sort--perhaps on her way to the city where she can sip her coffee or be with some silly corporate types. However, the question is will she ever get there. In the picture, she's totally enamored by this one doohicky on her dashboard that she actually may get in an acccident. Tsk, tsk.

2005-09-19T23:48:00.000-07:00

CSUSM computer science study group. Study time, anyone?

2005-09-16T23:44:00.000-07:00

Goofy and I--just hanging out.

2005-09-15T21:31:00.000-07:00

Lebanese food--not so much.

I got to meet up with some of my old classmates from decades ago.

OK. More like 1995. But this was before the internet for me, so it may as well be stone age.

Anyhow, we all met up in this little Lebanese place off El Cajon Boulevard. My girlfriend and I ordered a garlic chicken wrap. It sounded good, and the owner recommended it if we're new to Lebanese food. I have had Lebanese food before (more like hummus) from a friend at work. It was OK in small sizes. When we received the wraps--they were huge! And they smelled good.

Then we started to eat. Not bad, not bad.

Then after we had about three bites, I realized it was like a huge wrap of hummus with sprinkles of chicken. Taken in small quantities, I can swing it, but when it's in a huge wrap--it's a bit much.

And when I say the wrap was huge, I mean it was huge. Don't think I am a panzy little eating girly man. I am a big guy who can put down an 8 piece KFC meal. Solo. This was a good size.

So, this is a shot out to that restaurant. They did good in serving it to us, smelling nice and with huge portions. But if you don't like Lebanese food, then don't be stupid like me and go to a Lebanese restaurant and order a garlic chicken wrap.

Spencer out.

2005-09-04T17:30:00.000-07:00

Ricardo's Birthday.