Lately it seems that my spare time has shifted from my poker addiction to a new Madden 06 addiction. I'm sure no one will be surprised by this as football has been a way of life for me since I was a wee Max, but it has caught me a little off guard. I played the game once in the first couple weeks I owned it, and maybe three times total in the first month. Now that we are getting into the NFL grind it seems that I have almost abandoned the poker, I hope my free rolls will be good for a while, to advance my football fixation to the CGI level as well.
Sooner or later I will take the time to write a Madden 06 review, but it'll have to wait until my Redskins are done with their first season under me. 1-0 so far. Dallas is next. Watch out Cowboys!
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Saturday, September 24, 2005
Within five minutes I am one click away from....
I need to limit the time I spend online. Companies today make it way too easy to buy things from their website. I had some extra time this morning and decided to check out the new iPod Nano. I already want one and plan to buy one very soon, so what harm could come from checking it out online? HA!
Within five minutes I am one click away from having it shipped to me in 1-2 weeks because of high demand. Then I check out the specs to see if it comes with the dock or not, and if I'll even need one. Along the way I see that you need at least Windows 2000 on your computer to load anything onto the Nano. My not-so-new computer still runs 98.
So I think, "It's high time I get that old piece of crap out of the house anyway....let's see what specials Dell has today. Find exactly what I want, and get a coupon code from TechBargains and within five minutes I am one click away from having a brand new system shipped to me, with $5000 of instant Dell credit at my disposal. Only have to hit the customize button and get rid of the monitor as I already have a top-notch Dell flat panel. Only problem with this is I can't do that with the package I want, and paying for the monitor that comes in the package puts me over my budget for a new desktop....but not for a new laptop.
Within five minutes I am one click away from having a brand new notebook shipped to me, after finding a great deal on TechBargains that will save me nearly 1/3 of the money I would have normally spent. This is too easy. Have I thought this through yet? What accessories will I need for the notebook? Will this be enough to completely replace my desktop? What do I do with the new monitor I have that's just waiting for the rest of my new desktop?
Many more questions fill my head as I am one click from tossing more than a grand, and probably up to about 2k, at these electronics that I don't NEED. Can I wait for these and make sure I have the best deals? Of course I can, I am a great at budgeting and finding deals. Will I wait? This still remains to be seen.
I am beginning to cool off now and imagine the potential buyer's remorse involved here. Because I like always finding the best bargain, buyer's remorse is one of the worst feelings I get and an excellent way to stop myself from buying things I don't need.
Every week the deals get better and better for new desktops. I'm sure I can wait at least a couple or few more and take the money I would have spent with me to Vegas in January and have a much better time out there while still enjoying the very things I nearly bought in haste.
Within five minutes I am one click away from having it shipped to me in 1-2 weeks because of high demand. Then I check out the specs to see if it comes with the dock or not, and if I'll even need one. Along the way I see that you need at least Windows 2000 on your computer to load anything onto the Nano. My not-so-new computer still runs 98.
So I think, "It's high time I get that old piece of crap out of the house anyway....let's see what specials Dell has today. Find exactly what I want, and get a coupon code from TechBargains and within five minutes I am one click away from having a brand new system shipped to me, with $5000 of instant Dell credit at my disposal. Only have to hit the customize button and get rid of the monitor as I already have a top-notch Dell flat panel. Only problem with this is I can't do that with the package I want, and paying for the monitor that comes in the package puts me over my budget for a new desktop....but not for a new laptop.
Within five minutes I am one click away from having a brand new notebook shipped to me, after finding a great deal on TechBargains that will save me nearly 1/3 of the money I would have normally spent. This is too easy. Have I thought this through yet? What accessories will I need for the notebook? Will this be enough to completely replace my desktop? What do I do with the new monitor I have that's just waiting for the rest of my new desktop?
Many more questions fill my head as I am one click from tossing more than a grand, and probably up to about 2k, at these electronics that I don't NEED. Can I wait for these and make sure I have the best deals? Of course I can, I am a great at budgeting and finding deals. Will I wait? This still remains to be seen.
I am beginning to cool off now and imagine the potential buyer's remorse involved here. Because I like always finding the best bargain, buyer's remorse is one of the worst feelings I get and an excellent way to stop myself from buying things I don't need.
Every week the deals get better and better for new desktops. I'm sure I can wait at least a couple or few more and take the money I would have spent with me to Vegas in January and have a much better time out there while still enjoying the very things I nearly bought in haste.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Cancelled
So after being moved to Galveston from New Orleans, our cruise has actually been cancelled now. All the excitement for our warm Caribbean vacation has been cancelled as well. The company I booked the cruise through is currently "working on getting me a refund" and Northwest Airlines wants to charge me 1/3 of my original fare to cancel my reservation. No wonder they filed chapter 11. Union-busting, imperialists jack holes.
I tried my best not to get mad at the customer rep reading off of her script at whatever hour of the night it was in her part of India, but I was so frustrated that everyone else was so helpful and/or tried to help me to the best of their ability in the wake of this amazing disaster, and there was this smug woman telling me that flights are running to New Orleans and I could go there tomorrow if I wanted. She had no smug answer for me when I asked where I could stay if the hotel I booked was still partially submerged. And after I asked to be assured that my money would at least go to hurricane relief, she told me she could not guarantee that because it was a billing issue. The last straw for me was when I asked, "So the airline is just going to profit off of one of the worst natural disasters in this country's history?" and the woman flatly said I guess so. I had to hang up....lest I unleash my anger upon this woman who had no options to exercise herself where my airfare was concerned.
Well, I still have my reservations at the soon to be Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino but currently bankrupt and still hemorrhaging cash Aladdin for the first week in December. Maybe Vegas is trying to tell me something??? I've got to call the Aladdin one way or the other....maybe I can call to see about lengthening the stay. That way I can just switch my ticket to Vegas instead of New Orleans and not give Northwest my money for nothing....interesting. Let's look into that.
It's been almost three years since my first stay at the then fairly new Aladdin, and I can remember the bankruptcy talk even back then. It just goes to show that merely opening a large resort on the strip doesn't guarantee a windfall for the owners. Bad planning and poor management decisions put the resort in a hole from the very start, and with the interest on their debt accumulating faster than the profits from the small casino and surreptitiously configured shopping mall, there was really no rosy outlook for the young resort.
Planet Hollywood's plans portray a much better design, and a flashier facade that is more inviting, contemporary, and rather gaudy. This all sounds very Vegasy right away, but more and more it's beginning to sound more Times Square than Vegas Strip to me. It will be interesting to watch how the transformation of this resort plays out.
I tried my best not to get mad at the customer rep reading off of her script at whatever hour of the night it was in her part of India, but I was so frustrated that everyone else was so helpful and/or tried to help me to the best of their ability in the wake of this amazing disaster, and there was this smug woman telling me that flights are running to New Orleans and I could go there tomorrow if I wanted. She had no smug answer for me when I asked where I could stay if the hotel I booked was still partially submerged. And after I asked to be assured that my money would at least go to hurricane relief, she told me she could not guarantee that because it was a billing issue. The last straw for me was when I asked, "So the airline is just going to profit off of one of the worst natural disasters in this country's history?" and the woman flatly said I guess so. I had to hang up....lest I unleash my anger upon this woman who had no options to exercise herself where my airfare was concerned.
Well, I still have my reservations at the soon to be Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino but currently bankrupt and still hemorrhaging cash Aladdin for the first week in December. Maybe Vegas is trying to tell me something??? I've got to call the Aladdin one way or the other....maybe I can call to see about lengthening the stay. That way I can just switch my ticket to Vegas instead of New Orleans and not give Northwest my money for nothing....interesting. Let's look into that.
It's been almost three years since my first stay at the then fairly new Aladdin, and I can remember the bankruptcy talk even back then. It just goes to show that merely opening a large resort on the strip doesn't guarantee a windfall for the owners. Bad planning and poor management decisions put the resort in a hole from the very start, and with the interest on their debt accumulating faster than the profits from the small casino and surreptitiously configured shopping mall, there was really no rosy outlook for the young resort.
Planet Hollywood's plans portray a much better design, and a flashier facade that is more inviting, contemporary, and rather gaudy. This all sounds very Vegasy right away, but more and more it's beginning to sound more Times Square than Vegas Strip to me. It will be interesting to watch how the transformation of this resort plays out.
Friday, September 16, 2005
Drizzle Me This....
It's nice to see the rain again....even if it does block my view of the Fisher Building from the 23rd floor. I could probably count on one hand the number of days we've gotten any significant rainfall in the last two months. I love Vegas and all, but I'm not asking for their weather to be imported to Detroit....one of the appealing things of this part of the country is the change of seasons.
Fall (Autumn, if you prefer) will arrive next week and it seems that our weather is going to fall in line with that for once. Just this past Monday the temp topped out at 90 degrees, and today it's going to be a struggle to be above 70. How great would it be to have a job as a weatherman in Detroit? You go to work and spend some time preparing your forecasts, which of course are nothing more than an educated guess, then you tell everyone what to prepare for and at the end of the day if you are totally wrong you can just say, "Hey, it's Michigan..." and you are off the hook.
Fall (Autumn, if you prefer) will arrive next week and it seems that our weather is going to fall in line with that for once. Just this past Monday the temp topped out at 90 degrees, and today it's going to be a struggle to be above 70. How great would it be to have a job as a weatherman in Detroit? You go to work and spend some time preparing your forecasts, which of course are nothing more than an educated guess, then you tell everyone what to prepare for and at the end of the day if you are totally wrong you can just say, "Hey, it's Michigan..." and you are off the hook.
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Sigh....
I can't figure out why this blogger won't let me space out the bottom of my last post the way I normally do....I know it looks bad and jumbled, but just grin and bare it....
Monday, September 12, 2005
Football and Poker Weekend
My big football weekend started this week with, of course, a baseball game. Friday night I came upon two tickets to the Tigers/Royals game. Having nothing of note planned for the night, Jen and I decided it would be fun to head out to the Copa and see the Tigers play a team who actually has a worse record than them. We figured it was a good bet that they'd end their double digit losing streak....HA!
By the time we left the game in the 4th or 6th or whatever inning it was before the 7th, the Royals had already peppered the Tigers for 10 runs while the home team could only muster one. Our seats were so close to the bullpen, 6 rows directly behind it, that I had to leave the game before I started to imply to the pitching staff that I would have given up less than ten runs in that short span, and risk getting ejected from the game or relocated like some fans earlier in the week when the umpire decided he was also head of security at Comerica Park for the day. I certainly wouldn't have given up the home run that one of the Royals pounded into the right field stands, but that's because I lack the power to throw a ball fast enough to have it travel that far after being struck by only a slight piece of lumber. That was all very bad, but the cherry on top had to be Pudge's baserunning error. Sliding into second to try and break up a double play Pudge is called safe when the shortstop drops the ball. Pudge then gets up and jogs toward the dugout thinking he was tagged out on the play. And this is our marquee player???
Anyway, the final score ended up being 12-2....well after we exited the park and headed over to the town pump for a bite and a drink. The end of the night came pretty early for us as Fridays all seem rather long now that I get up so early....
By the time we left the game in the 4th or 6th or whatever inning it was before the 7th, the Royals had already peppered the Tigers for 10 runs while the home team could only muster one. Our seats were so close to the bullpen, 6 rows directly behind it, that I had to leave the game before I started to imply to the pitching staff that I would have given up less than ten runs in that short span, and risk getting ejected from the game or relocated like some fans earlier in the week when the umpire decided he was also head of security at Comerica Park for the day. I certainly wouldn't have given up the home run that one of the Royals pounded into the right field stands, but that's because I lack the power to throw a ball fast enough to have it travel that far after being struck by only a slight piece of lumber. That was all very bad, but the cherry on top had to be Pudge's baserunning error. Sliding into second to try and break up a double play Pudge is called safe when the shortstop drops the ball. Pudge then gets up and jogs toward the dugout thinking he was tagged out on the play. And this is our marquee player???
Anyway, the final score ended up being 12-2....well after we exited the park and headed over to the town pump for a bite and a drink. The end of the night came pretty early for us as Fridays all seem rather long now that I get up so early....
So after the horrible baseball game I sat through, I was looking forward to some good, hard hitting U of M football....yeah, that was a waste of three hours. Henne played poorly, Hart was injured and left the game early, when the Henne finally got the ball to our WRs, they acted like the ball was going to explode if they caught it....all this and we only lost by a TD. NIU showed us a bad team could stay with us if we didn't play our A game, and Notre Dame just took that one step further.
Later that night we headed out to Michelle and Bill's for a little poker. Small game, small buy-in, small time play on my part....I played loose/aggressive and finished out of the money each of the three games....I was the big stack for most of the first game and played pretty well, but lost four consecutive "coin-flip" hands late in the game when I had others all-in. I guess I really can't complain about my play in the first game, just the results....
My only ray of sunshine for the weekend ended up being the Lions....go figure. Green Bay has had our number for a while now, basically since Barry retired, and we ended up pulling out a victory in a game that was a lot closer than the score indicates.
At least I have a lot of work to look forward to this week....
Friday, September 09, 2005
Still here....
Well, I haven't said much lately and I think that is a direct result of the damage and despair I see playing out in the south every day now on CNN, FOX News channels, NBC channels, ABC, even ESPN....I still have my voice and stand firm with it....but it has been overshadowed by this awful natural disaster.
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