travel

So I'm in Kansas City, east side. Not a lot going on over here, and there are no nice resturaunts. I ended up eating at the casino here of all places. It was the only place within 15 miles that was recommended.

Well, at least I got an upgrade in my Hampton room to a suite.

Oh yea, so check this out. My return home flight tomorrow... Kansas City -> Dallas/Fort Worth -> Minneapolis. Nothing like going out of the way...

crimes of the car stereo salesmen

It’s my belief that one of the largest racketeering industries is that of car audio manufacturing. Let me tell you why, because here is what they do. They convince you to take a perfect good working stereo from your car and replace it with a newer, better sounding, gadget filled, state of the art radio/CD player/Satellite-ready deck. But, here’s the part they don’t tell you about, also know as “the rub”. Your car stereo not only works, but will more than likely last the life of the car. The stereo you are about to purchase for $300 will fail in less than 3 years, placing you in a position to contemplate buying another one.

The thing that really irks me is for the $300 price tag you’re buying one of the better decks out there. Typically, the higher the cost means the higher the quality. Now granted, you can pay a grand and get one with a flat screen TV attached, or one that probably gives you a massage as you drive, but even I have limits to spending.

So less than 3 years ago I went to go purchase the THIRD deck to go in my car (forth including the original) and at that time my car was 7 year old. I decided to finally spend the coin and by the best deck I could since I was sick of the cheaper decks breaking. I broke down and spent the 3 bills walking away happy with my choice. Fast forward to less than one year ago and my deck slowly died over the course of 2 months. I checked the warranty and I was within the two year warranty. So… I brought it, got it serviced and got it back in working order. Well, as of 3 weeks ago my deck is once again 100% broken and dead. How’d that happen? How can a new deck last 1.9 years, totally break, get sent in, work for .5 years, then break again? I think its genuine fraud by the manufactures selling products that they know will fail just outside of the warranty date. It’s criminal and disgusting.

YES!

I'm so frickin pumped. I got home today and what was waiting for me in my mailbox? My laptop power supply that I won on eBay for $29. I had heavy doubts at to whether it would fix the problem of my laptop not charging since I had the power surge come and hit my house a while back. Well, I'm proud to say it DID fix it! I was really worried too. If it didn't fix the problem then I would have had to send the laptop in for repair, a $200 bill at a minimum. Whew!

I also have my new power supply cord for my printer that I ordered, since that too went out to lunch during the surge. I have yet to plug 'er in since I want to get a surge protecter downstairs first. Maybe I'll celebrate my good fortune and purchase one tonight so I can be 100% back online!

Man, it's been a long 2 weeks surfing the internet on my 6 year old laptop... hope that never happens again (knock on wood).

long time

It's been a long time...

since I posted here.
since a republican has been re-elected president.
since I've taken a day off work.
since I've taken a day off work due to being sick.

At least I can watch the inauguration while resting on my couch - trying not to be sick.

I dislike being sick. I went to bed last night at 8:45 and got out of bed this morning at 7:30. I think I woke up 30 times, plus or minus 20. I feel fatigued, achy, and my throat is sore. I've been gargling hot salt-water beginning last night, another one of my favorite past times.

Well, maybe I'll post back here later, since I have nothing better to do.

soccer sunday

Today I did something I haven't done since my youth... played in a soccer tournament. They way this one worked is there were 8 teams broken into 2 brackets with 4 teams per bracket. You played 3 games vs your own bracket and depending on the results get seeded. The winner of bracket 1 plays the winner of bracket 2 for the championship, 2 vs 2 for third and so on. Well, we ended up winning the tournament going 4 and 0, scoring 8 goals and giving up 1. Too bad we didn't even get a shirt for winning. Oh well, it was a good way to get exercise on a Sunday later morning/early afternoon.

fatigue

I'm so worn out today. The past three days have been action packed full or work and athletics. This week we're on 8 hour days and I've been putting in 9+. After work I've had broomball (Monday and Wed) and soccer (Tuesday), all of which get me home late. This has resulted in getting to sleep late. So, today I had an extra early day since I had a 7am flight to catch out to Chicago, where I sit today. Man, I'm so exhausted. I can't wait to get my sleeping patterns normal again...

movie review

I forget to mention I did get to see one good movie over this break, Luther. I heard of it and knew it was in and out of the theater quick. I figured it was because it was poorly written... I was wrong. Luther is an accurate portrayal of the early Christian Martin Luther who rises up against the false teachings of the Catholic church in the late 1500's. I've read a fair bit on Luther and seeing it take place on screen really hits it home. After seeing it, I can see why it didn't get rave reviews, since so many Americans are Catholic. I really hope all Catholics see this movie and understand that this is the way it was back then. It's sobering to say the least.

Luther, 5 stars of 5 and a must see for Christians.

nyd

Happy New Years Day! 2005... wow, how time flies.

I've been off work since this past Thursday and since I have had zero plans, I did something a little spur of the moment. I decided to go out and buy a XBOX so I can entertain myself over the NYE holiday. Needless to say, I've been sitting on my ass doing nothing since the purchase. Take today for instance. I awoke at 9... played XBOX till 12:30. At that time I grilled up some burgers. By 1 I was done eating so I continued playing on the XBOX until 4:30. At that time I turned the TV to cable and watched the last half of a movie. At 6 I turned the TV back to XBOX and played more games. At 10:30 I decided to watch some more TV and just a few moments ago I decided to check my email and post here.

What a waste of a day.