For the 2nd year in a row we lost the hockey championship game. This time we got shutout, 2-0. It was quite a game, very physical and hard fought.
Cdubya called me after the game. Sazi is doing poorly again. She started seizing Friday night and it's continued all weekend. She's not moving, just laying in one spot forever. I think it's time to face the inevitable. I'm waiting for the vet to call me back but I think today might be the end. Cdubya is pretty broken up and is at home with her. It is probably for the best. She keeps having these 4 day stretches of seizing off and on and she can't be enjoying life.
On the golf front, I played the Oaks on Saturday and had a good stretch of 4 holes (8-11) but other than that I was off and on. Too many putts for sure (37) and didn't chip particularly well. My 3 wood and hybrids worked really well though. It's encouraging to play well in stretches but discouraging that it doesn't happen more often. Argh, golf is so hard!
Monday, April 30, 2007
Friday, April 27, 2007
NBC HD Hoses me
I tivo'd The Office in HD last night as I do every week. But this time it was an unpleasant experience. 15 minutes into the broadcast the sound completely cut out and it never came back until a couple minutes into 30 Rock. Talk about pissing me off! I attempted to lip read for a couple minutes before just giving up. It LOOKED funny but I have no idea.
The other thing that pisses me off about NBC is that they offer episodes of SOME shows online to watch but not The Office. Earl yes, Office no. Who decides that crap?
Speaking of 30 Rock, it appears Alec Baldwin will not be back next year as he wants to spend more time crafting voicemails to his daughter.
The other thing that pisses me off about NBC is that they offer episodes of SOME shows online to watch but not The Office. Earl yes, Office no. Who decides that crap?
Speaking of 30 Rock, it appears Alec Baldwin will not be back next year as he wants to spend more time crafting voicemails to his daughter.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
eBay Account Hijacked!
So, Monday, I get an email from eBay that my account had suspicious activity and has been locked. I hadn't been on there in months and I'm not a big eBay'er so I knew it wasn't me.
I reset my password Tuesday and yesterday I got on with live support and they reactivated me and just said there was suspicious activity but had no more details.
After I was reactivated I started checking around to see what might have been going on. No bids on anything, didn't sell anything, couldn't see anything.
Then I went to My Messages area, nothing in the inbox. I clicked on the Sent folder and there were 25 messages sent to all sorts of different sellers. I started looking through them and every single one was the exact same spam email. eBay notified all those sellers to explain that it wasn't me and that my account had been compromised (I feel like I'm on 24).
I forwarded one of the spam messages to my email account and sent it along with a scathing message, containing many 4 letter words that my mom wouldn't be proud of, to the email address listed as a contact in the spam. Haven't heard back yet.
Here's the body of the message:
Feel free to bombard this jackass with crap...
I reset my password Tuesday and yesterday I got on with live support and they reactivated me and just said there was suspicious activity but had no more details.
After I was reactivated I started checking around to see what might have been going on. No bids on anything, didn't sell anything, couldn't see anything.
Then I went to My Messages area, nothing in the inbox. I clicked on the Sent folder and there were 25 messages sent to all sorts of different sellers. I started looking through them and every single one was the exact same spam email. eBay notified all those sellers to explain that it wasn't me and that my account had been compromised (I feel like I'm on 24).
I forwarded one of the spam messages to my email account and sent it along with a scathing message, containing many 4 letter words that my mom wouldn't be proud of, to the email address listed as a contact in the spam. Haven't heard back yet.
Here's the body of the message:
Dear Sir or Madam,
We are a big company which mainly sell electronic products with outstanding reputation.
The product ranging from Notbook,TV,PC,Camera,GPS,to MP3/MP4 and so on and so forth.
All kinds of electronic products with best quality and lowest price can be found here, what do you thirst for?
Now , You'll find your favorite here on our website: www.violet8.com
So, don't be hesitate to contact us!
Contact us
www.violet8.com
E-mail: violet8_serve@hotmail.com
MSN: violet8_serve@hotmail.com
Feel free to bombard this jackass with crap...
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Best Brats Ever
After hearing the Grinder continually espouse the virtues of the new Copps grocery store in Sun Prairie, Cdubya and I went there on Sunday to check it out.
I have to admit, he was dead on. As far as grocery stores go it was top notch. It reminded me quite a bit of Larry's Market in Seattle. The produce, bakery and meat sections were outstanding.
We'll be going back this weekend to pick up some steaks for barbecuing. But last night, I bbq'd brats that I bought Sunday. They were fresh made, jalapeño and cheddar brats, about 8" long that were, in my opinion, the best brats ever. I wolfed down both, enjoying every bite, and announcing afterwards "I will tell everyone I know about these brats." Hence, this post... :)
If you have a chance to get over there and pick some up I give them 2 thumbs way up. They have many different varieties if jalapeño and cheddar isn't your bag.
Mmm, mmm, good.
I have to admit, he was dead on. As far as grocery stores go it was top notch. It reminded me quite a bit of Larry's Market in Seattle. The produce, bakery and meat sections were outstanding.
We'll be going back this weekend to pick up some steaks for barbecuing. But last night, I bbq'd brats that I bought Sunday. They were fresh made, jalapeño and cheddar brats, about 8" long that were, in my opinion, the best brats ever. I wolfed down both, enjoying every bite, and announcing afterwards "I will tell everyone I know about these brats." Hence, this post... :)
If you have a chance to get over there and pick some up I give them 2 thumbs way up. They have many different varieties if jalapeño and cheddar isn't your bag.
Mmm, mmm, good.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Golf, Golf and Hockey
Time for the Monday weekend wrap up...
Friday, played 9 at Door Creek with Dr. Mike. We both played ok, good thing we went out before Saturday's tournaments to get used to the greens. They were about 30x faster than the weekend before. My first putt was a 20 footer uphill and I blasted it 15 feet past the hole, yowza!
I was up 2 strokes going into the 9th hole and ended up 3 putting from 10 feet for a double bogey while Mike hit a wedge to 3 inches and made birdie to beat me by 1.
Saturday was the Spring Opener 6-6-6 tourney (6 holes Scramble, 6 Best Ball, 6 Alternate Shot). Neither of us putted very well but we were doing ok plus we had 20 strokes of handicap to play with. We were +2 on the first 6 and +7 on Best Ball but we were still in it. After 15 holes we were sitting at +10. Parring out would have put us at 61, which would have been 2nd place. Instead we went triple, double, bogey and finished with an 87 (67 net), finishing about 15th or so. Alternate shot kills us every time.
Our hockey game yesterday was a do or die game to make the championship next week. We needed to win plus have no more than 2 more penalties than the other team (2nd tie breaker). It was a rough and tumble game that went back and forth. Lots of penalties but they took way more than we did so that wasn't an issue from early on. Just needed to win the game.
We jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the 2nd only to have them come back to tie it at 3 by the end of the 2nd period. We went back up 4-3 but they scored 2 straight to go up 5-4. We then scored to tie it only to have them score right away again to take a 6-5 lead with about 4 minutes left.
At this point we had a faceoff in our own end and we tried a set play that we've attempted many times but never successfully. I was playing center for the first time this year and had to win the draw back to the defenseman behind me. I jumped the draw and won it cleanly to him. He rifled a pass of the far boards to our other defenseman (Jeff) who was streaking up the left side. The right winger (Greg) bolted down the right side as I was following down the middle. Jeff got around the defenseman and fired a pass to the backdoor where Greg one-timed it in the open net to tie the game at 6.
On the ensuing faceoff at center ice our center popped the faceoff past the other center, beat the D and scored to give us a 7-6 lead. We held on the remaining 3 minutes to escape with the W and a chance to win the championship next week.
Friday, played 9 at Door Creek with Dr. Mike. We both played ok, good thing we went out before Saturday's tournaments to get used to the greens. They were about 30x faster than the weekend before. My first putt was a 20 footer uphill and I blasted it 15 feet past the hole, yowza!
I was up 2 strokes going into the 9th hole and ended up 3 putting from 10 feet for a double bogey while Mike hit a wedge to 3 inches and made birdie to beat me by 1.
Saturday was the Spring Opener 6-6-6 tourney (6 holes Scramble, 6 Best Ball, 6 Alternate Shot). Neither of us putted very well but we were doing ok plus we had 20 strokes of handicap to play with. We were +2 on the first 6 and +7 on Best Ball but we were still in it. After 15 holes we were sitting at +10. Parring out would have put us at 61, which would have been 2nd place. Instead we went triple, double, bogey and finished with an 87 (67 net), finishing about 15th or so. Alternate shot kills us every time.
Our hockey game yesterday was a do or die game to make the championship next week. We needed to win plus have no more than 2 more penalties than the other team (2nd tie breaker). It was a rough and tumble game that went back and forth. Lots of penalties but they took way more than we did so that wasn't an issue from early on. Just needed to win the game.
We jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the 2nd only to have them come back to tie it at 3 by the end of the 2nd period. We went back up 4-3 but they scored 2 straight to go up 5-4. We then scored to tie it only to have them score right away again to take a 6-5 lead with about 4 minutes left.
At this point we had a faceoff in our own end and we tried a set play that we've attempted many times but never successfully. I was playing center for the first time this year and had to win the draw back to the defenseman behind me. I jumped the draw and won it cleanly to him. He rifled a pass of the far boards to our other defenseman (Jeff) who was streaking up the left side. The right winger (Greg) bolted down the right side as I was following down the middle. Jeff got around the defenseman and fired a pass to the backdoor where Greg one-timed it in the open net to tie the game at 6.
On the ensuing faceoff at center ice our center popped the faceoff past the other center, beat the D and scored to give us a 7-6 lead. We held on the remaining 3 minutes to escape with the W and a chance to win the championship next week.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Yay, it's Friday!
And the temp will hit 68. I'll be golfing at 1:00.
Tomorrow we have the spring opener at Door Creek Golf Course. It's supposed to be 76, what a great weekend we're going to have (79 Sunday).
In other news, I got an email from one of my neighbors yesterday. He's a singer/song writer with a new cd out. His name is Michael Brandmeier. His music is available from his myspace site or from iTunes, among others. Give him a listen.
Have a great weekend!
Tomorrow we have the spring opener at Door Creek Golf Course. It's supposed to be 76, what a great weekend we're going to have (79 Sunday).
In other news, I got an email from one of my neighbors yesterday. He's a singer/song writer with a new cd out. His name is Michael Brandmeier. His music is available from his myspace site or from iTunes, among others. Give him a listen.
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Hockey Update
I missed our playoff game Sunday due to the golf tournament. I found out that we did win 11-1 (maybe I'm not needed?). The first place team lost in a shootout to the 3rd place team. That means if we beat the 3rd place team Sunday everyone will be 1-1 and it will go to the tiebreakers.
First tiebreaker is goals against in all postseason games. So far, that looks like this:
1st place team: 3
Us: 5
3rd place team: 4
If we beat the 3rd place team by 2 goals we're in.
If we only beat them by 1 we will still be tied with them. If that happens it goes to the 2nd tiebreaker which is fewest penalties. We have 3 fewer penalties than them, so all we have to do is win by 1 and have no more than 2 more penalties than they have and we're in. Piece of cake!
First tiebreaker is goals against in all postseason games. So far, that looks like this:
1st place team: 3
Us: 5
3rd place team: 4
If we beat the 3rd place team by 2 goals we're in.
If we only beat them by 1 we will still be tied with them. If that happens it goes to the 2nd tiebreaker which is fewest penalties. We have 3 fewer penalties than them, so all we have to do is win by 1 and have no more than 2 more penalties than they have and we're in. Piece of cake!
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Pirate Master
From my mole at the local CBS affiliate.
CBS ANNOUNCES "PIRATE MASTER," A NEW REALITY-BASED SERIES WHERE 16 INDIVIDUALS WILL COMPETE AS PIRATES ON THE HIGH SEAS IN SEARCH OF HIDDEN TREASURES
The Next Epic Adventure Series From Emmy Award-Winning Producer Mark Burnett Premieres Thursday, May 31
PIRATE MASTER, the next epic adventure reality series from Emmy Award-winning producer Mark Burnett, will premiere Thursday, May 31 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.
PIRATE MASTER will send 16 modern-day pirates on a high seas adventure where they will live as buccaneers and travel around the Caribbean island of Dominica in search of hidden treasure that will total $1 million. Over the course of 33 days, these pirates will live aboard a massive 179 foot, square-rigged barque which carries 12, 500 square feet of sail.
Each week, the pirates will embark on extraordinary expeditions where they will decipher clues along the way in search of missing treasure. Gold coins -- real money which the pirates may take with them beyond the show -- will be awarded after each expedition, but only to some. The gold will play a key role as pirates strike deals with each other or plead for long-term security. In addition to claiming the lion's share of the week's riches, one pirate will become the captain of the ship and will assign roles and chores to the remaining crew members, setting the tone for either law and order or betrayal and sabotage, which could lead to mutiny by the crew.
Each episode will conclude on the ship at Pirate's Court, a lively gathering of public speaking and judgment where one individual will be eliminated and "cut adrift." In the end, one will be the first to find the largest booty, worth $500,000, and claim the title of "Pirate Master."
Series creator and executive producer Mark Burnett explains, "Pirate Master breaks new ground in that it's the collision of fantasy and reality. This is a show where, in true pirate fashion, anything can happen with a group of people that live by their own set of rules and usually break them. It's adventure, excitement and loads of treasure. Anyone who ever wanted to be a pirate will love this show!"
PIRATE MASTER is produced by Mark Burnett Productions. Mark Burnett and Lisa Hennessy are the executive producers. Eden Gaha and Page Feldman are the co-executive producers.
CBS ANNOUNCES "PIRATE MASTER," A NEW REALITY-BASED SERIES WHERE 16 INDIVIDUALS WILL COMPETE AS PIRATES ON THE HIGH SEAS IN SEARCH OF HIDDEN TREASURES
The Next Epic Adventure Series From Emmy Award-Winning Producer Mark Burnett Premieres Thursday, May 31
PIRATE MASTER, the next epic adventure reality series from Emmy Award-winning producer Mark Burnett, will premiere Thursday, May 31 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.
PIRATE MASTER will send 16 modern-day pirates on a high seas adventure where they will live as buccaneers and travel around the Caribbean island of Dominica in search of hidden treasure that will total $1 million. Over the course of 33 days, these pirates will live aboard a massive 179 foot, square-rigged barque which carries 12, 500 square feet of sail.
Each week, the pirates will embark on extraordinary expeditions where they will decipher clues along the way in search of missing treasure. Gold coins -- real money which the pirates may take with them beyond the show -- will be awarded after each expedition, but only to some. The gold will play a key role as pirates strike deals with each other or plead for long-term security. In addition to claiming the lion's share of the week's riches, one pirate will become the captain of the ship and will assign roles and chores to the remaining crew members, setting the tone for either law and order or betrayal and sabotage, which could lead to mutiny by the crew.
Each episode will conclude on the ship at Pirate's Court, a lively gathering of public speaking and judgment where one individual will be eliminated and "cut adrift." In the end, one will be the first to find the largest booty, worth $500,000, and claim the title of "Pirate Master."
Series creator and executive producer Mark Burnett explains, "Pirate Master breaks new ground in that it's the collision of fantasy and reality. This is a show where, in true pirate fashion, anything can happen with a group of people that live by their own set of rules and usually break them. It's adventure, excitement and loads of treasure. Anyone who ever wanted to be a pirate will love this show!"
PIRATE MASTER is produced by Mark Burnett Productions. Mark Burnett and Lisa Hennessy are the executive producers. Eden Gaha and Page Feldman are the co-executive producers.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Kohler Cup Spring 2007
I have a feeling that I know what it would be like to be hit by a truck. That’s how I feel this morning after hoofing it for 36 holes this weekend lugging my golf bag on my back.
We had planned on riding Saturday and walking Sunday but the carts were restricted to cart path only both days so we walked instead. I was not ready for that. Played all day yesterday in pain.
On Saturday we played the Original Championship course at Blackwolf Run. This is the course the LPGA played a number of years ago for the US Open. It consists of the back 9 of the Meadow Valleys course and the front 9 of the River course. The River course is usually $250 to play while the Meadow Valleys is $150. We got a great deal. I really enjoyed the course layout, much more so than just the Meadow Valleys.
We didn’t play great Saturday but when one of us was messing up the other was doing well so we managed to shoot -7 (64) as Mike made par on 18 and was getting 2 strokes for a net eagle. We were jacked. Finished tied for 2nd after the first round and were 2 shots off the lead. So, what did we do? We got drunk of course. I passed out around 11pm and came to around 4am wonder where I was and what time it was (no clock to be found). Then the sun came up and again, I wondered if it was 6 or 9… Finally just got up and it was 7:15.
We had breakfast, which was hard to eat, stopped at a gas station for Gatorade and beef jerky and headed for Whistling Straits. After warming up for a half hour it was obvious I couldn’t really take a full swing without pain.
Too make matters worse, in a shotgun start we had to start on 18. 18 is a long, long par 5 with a tee shot over a lake and trouble everywhere. It is my nemesis… With trepidation I walked up to the first tee and promptly dunked it into the lake. And then again… I took an 11 to start. Luckily Mike had a bogey for a net par so he saved me.
I stumbled around the course for 5 hours and then birdied the very last hole for my one good hole for the day. The biggest difference on Sunday was when one of us did poorly the other also did. In fact we had the same score 7 holes in a row at one point.
We ended up shooting 76 somehow for a 2 day total of -3 which was good for 9th place (-15 won). Much better than our +20 or whatever it was last year.
After a couple beers and lunch we headed home only to get detoured through a small town because of a massive accident on the highway. That didn’t help matters. By the time I got home my entire body was one huge knot.
We had planned on riding Saturday and walking Sunday but the carts were restricted to cart path only both days so we walked instead. I was not ready for that. Played all day yesterday in pain.
On Saturday we played the Original Championship course at Blackwolf Run. This is the course the LPGA played a number of years ago for the US Open. It consists of the back 9 of the Meadow Valleys course and the front 9 of the River course. The River course is usually $250 to play while the Meadow Valleys is $150. We got a great deal. I really enjoyed the course layout, much more so than just the Meadow Valleys.
We didn’t play great Saturday but when one of us was messing up the other was doing well so we managed to shoot -7 (64) as Mike made par on 18 and was getting 2 strokes for a net eagle. We were jacked. Finished tied for 2nd after the first round and were 2 shots off the lead. So, what did we do? We got drunk of course. I passed out around 11pm and came to around 4am wonder where I was and what time it was (no clock to be found). Then the sun came up and again, I wondered if it was 6 or 9… Finally just got up and it was 7:15.
We had breakfast, which was hard to eat, stopped at a gas station for Gatorade and beef jerky and headed for Whistling Straits. After warming up for a half hour it was obvious I couldn’t really take a full swing without pain.
Too make matters worse, in a shotgun start we had to start on 18. 18 is a long, long par 5 with a tee shot over a lake and trouble everywhere. It is my nemesis… With trepidation I walked up to the first tee and promptly dunked it into the lake. And then again… I took an 11 to start. Luckily Mike had a bogey for a net par so he saved me.
I stumbled around the course for 5 hours and then birdied the very last hole for my one good hole for the day. The biggest difference on Sunday was when one of us did poorly the other also did. In fact we had the same score 7 holes in a row at one point.
We ended up shooting 76 somehow for a 2 day total of -3 which was good for 9th place (-15 won). Much better than our +20 or whatever it was last year.
After a couple beers and lunch we headed home only to get detoured through a small town because of a massive accident on the highway. That didn’t help matters. By the time I got home my entire body was one huge knot.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Tournament Back On!
My depression lifted yesterday as I realized Kohler did not get nearly the amount of snow we did and the weather forecast for this weekend looks decent (mid 40's, sunny). I called Whistling Straits and they said they hardly got any snow and it was melting fast and they predicted the course would be fine this weekend.
I quickly checked with Cdubya and Dr. Mike and we decided to give it a shot. I called reservations and got back in. We leave tomorrow morning.
And since I wasn't prepared I have a ton of stuff to do today. I'll be leaving at 1:30 to get going on it.
Survivor made me mad last night. Dreamz is an idiot and he totally hosed himself and Mookie with his moronic vote of Michelle, which knocked Cdubya out of her pool. This will come back to haunt him when Stacy, Ed and Alex vote he and Mookie out later.
That's all for now, have a good weekend.
I quickly checked with Cdubya and Dr. Mike and we decided to give it a shot. I called reservations and got back in. We leave tomorrow morning.
And since I wasn't prepared I have a ton of stuff to do today. I'll be leaving at 1:30 to get going on it.
Survivor made me mad last night. Dreamz is an idiot and he totally hosed himself and Mookie with his moronic vote of Michelle, which knocked Cdubya out of her pool. This will come back to haunt him when Stacy, Ed and Alex vote he and Mookie out later.
That's all for now, have a good weekend.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
How depressing...
Woke up to about an inch of snow and there's no sign of it ever stopping. What a beautiful spring we're having. I'm totally in golf mode now and this is really putting a damper on my mood.
Here's the latest radar (9:10am CDT). Madison is circled in red.
The blue is snow.
Here's the latest radar (9:10am CDT). Madison is circled in red.
The blue is snow.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Stupid Wisconsin
What the fuck? It's April 10th and they're predicting 4-6" of snow tomorrow. Do they not realize we're supposed to golf in a tournament all weekend? I'm quite angry now, going to have to call and cancel our sweet weekend getaway to Whistling Straits where we were going to drink Guinness, smoke cigars and play 36 holes of glorious golf. Instead I will get to shovel snow...
What a great trade. Al Gore and his global warming can bite my white ass.
UPDATE
Latest storm watch predicts 6-10" of wet, heavy snow tomorrow. I have canceled my reservations.
What a great trade. Al Gore and his global warming can bite my white ass.
UPDATE
Latest storm watch predicts 6-10" of wet, heavy snow tomorrow. I have canceled my reservations.
Monday, April 09, 2007
Brain overload
Well, all the things in my stupid little brain caught up to me last night. Went to bed at 10:30 ready to drop and laid there till after 3am thinking of all the things I have to do this week.
Tack on top of all that some major project issues at work that resulted in a 3 hour meeting being scheduled for this afternoon (with about 2 hours of sleep) and I'm feeling a bit stressed. Plus hanging out at my sister's for easter my result in my becoming sick soon since there were sicko's there... sheesh.
I did manage to watch every minute of CBS's coverage of the Masters in HD. It sure was nice to see Tiger not just intimidate everyone in the final round and watch Zach Johnson continue to be clutch down the stretch at a very difficult course. Looked more like an Open championship than the masters the way the balls would roll off the greens. Quite enjoyable to see the pro's actually seem human. Many of the things that happened to them happen to me all the time! Of course, if I played conditions like that I'd shoot 125 so they're still pretty amazing.
- Fix the part of the fence that fell down this weekend.
- Pay my taxes.
- Oil change and tire rotation on the Murano
- Figure out if I need to cancel my reservations for this weekend for the golf tournament in Kohler because of the weather.
- Pick up the prize money and figure out who gets what for couples bowling league.
- Decide if I want to bowl Wednesday or not for fun night.
Tack on top of all that some major project issues at work that resulted in a 3 hour meeting being scheduled for this afternoon (with about 2 hours of sleep) and I'm feeling a bit stressed. Plus hanging out at my sister's for easter my result in my becoming sick soon since there were sicko's there... sheesh.
I did manage to watch every minute of CBS's coverage of the Masters in HD. It sure was nice to see Tiger not just intimidate everyone in the final round and watch Zach Johnson continue to be clutch down the stretch at a very difficult course. Looked more like an Open championship than the masters the way the balls would roll off the greens. Quite enjoyable to see the pro's actually seem human. Many of the things that happened to them happen to me all the time! Of course, if I played conditions like that I'd shoot 125 so they're still pretty amazing.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Major disappointment
The Masters starts today, always my favorite tournament to watch, especially in HD. Luckily our friends at CBS are showing 3 hours of coverage today and tomorrow in HD before the big coverage on the weekend. I've already got my tivo set up for today and tomorrow's matches.
Speaking of the Masters, I feel a little like Phil Mickelson at the PGA last year this morning. We had the 2nd half bowling title in our hands and we gave it away. Up 2 points going in we got thoroughly whipped all 3 games and lost any chance of winning the championship. We were never in it, never had a lead the entire night. As disappointed as I am, I'm glad it's over. The bowling season goes way too long, I was done 2 months ago. I'm thinking it would be nice to have someone bowl the first and last months for me and I'll just bowl the middle. Wonder how I could work that deal...
Speaking of the Masters, I feel a little like Phil Mickelson at the PGA last year this morning. We had the 2nd half bowling title in our hands and we gave it away. Up 2 points going in we got thoroughly whipped all 3 games and lost any chance of winning the championship. We were never in it, never had a lead the entire night. As disappointed as I am, I'm glad it's over. The bowling season goes way too long, I was done 2 months ago. I'm thinking it would be nice to have someone bowl the first and last months for me and I'll just bowl the middle. Wonder how I could work that deal...
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Addition by Subtraction
My new Harmony 670 remote arrived last night!
After a mere 3 hours of futzing I have it all set up and I must say it's awesome. No longer do I have to dig through a basket of 5 remotes to find the right one and hit many buttons just to watch tv. It's one button now. I set up 3 activities:
With the press of one of these buttons everything that is needed is automatically turned on and switched to the correct input. The beauty is everything is set up through an application on the computer (mac os x included) and you just enter all the devices you have (make and model #) and it does most of the work for you. There are a couple of fine tuning things to program in additional buttons and so forth but it has a learning mode which lets you do that very easily. Once you're done you just connect the remote to the usb port and click the update remote button and you're on your way to tv bliss.
The hardest part was getting the apple tv to cooperate. There aren't any included set ups for it so after googling for some info for awhile I found a way to do it. Basically the set up was similar to a digital music server and there's an entry for Apple in that list. After selecting that and renaming to Apple TV I had to customize the power/stand by feature which requires you to hold the play button down for 6 seconds to go to stand by. Fortunately again, there's a "learn raw commands" option that will learn how long a button needs to be pressed for. I also programmed in the up, down, left and right buttons on the remote for navigating through the apple tv screens. You also have to tell it to turn on your tv and what input it needs, as a digital music server doesn't typically need a tv.
I know that sounds pretty complicated but it's not that bad. And the end result is a thing of beauty. The basket of remotes is now hidden in a cabinet and in it's place is a single shiny remote. Now, the training of Cdubya begins... :)
After a mere 3 hours of futzing I have it all set up and I must say it's awesome. No longer do I have to dig through a basket of 5 remotes to find the right one and hit many buttons just to watch tv. It's one button now. I set up 3 activities:
- Watch TV
- Watch a Movie
- Watch Apple TV
With the press of one of these buttons everything that is needed is automatically turned on and switched to the correct input. The beauty is everything is set up through an application on the computer (mac os x included) and you just enter all the devices you have (make and model #) and it does most of the work for you. There are a couple of fine tuning things to program in additional buttons and so forth but it has a learning mode which lets you do that very easily. Once you're done you just connect the remote to the usb port and click the update remote button and you're on your way to tv bliss.
The hardest part was getting the apple tv to cooperate. There aren't any included set ups for it so after googling for some info for awhile I found a way to do it. Basically the set up was similar to a digital music server and there's an entry for Apple in that list. After selecting that and renaming to Apple TV I had to customize the power/stand by feature which requires you to hold the play button down for 6 seconds to go to stand by. Fortunately again, there's a "learn raw commands" option that will learn how long a button needs to be pressed for. I also programmed in the up, down, left and right buttons on the remote for navigating through the apple tv screens. You also have to tell it to turn on your tv and what input it needs, as a digital music server doesn't typically need a tv.
I know that sounds pretty complicated but it's not that bad. And the end result is a thing of beauty. The basket of remotes is now hidden in a cabinet and in it's place is a single shiny remote. Now, the training of Cdubya begins... :)
Monday, April 02, 2007
Poor Start
Hockey playoffs started last night and we got off to a rocky start, losing 4-1 to the first place team. We actually had a 1-0 lead after 1 period and dominated for long stretches but they had the #1 goalie and he made several great saves to keep us at 1.
At the start of the 2nd period, we came out flat and they came out firing, getting 3 quick goals and their strong defense and goaltending never let us get back into it. We did have a goal disallowed late as my left toe was in the crease. I had no idea I was that close and I was on the other side of the goalie, no impact on the goal. It's automatic though, you touch the crease on a shot and they will call it. Of course, they missed about 10 penalty calls as well but I won't go into that.
It was a busy weekend at the house. I finally got Cdubya to clean out the big closet in the powder room that had become a collection point for everything she didn't want any more. She filled up 6 large garbage bags and it looks much better.
While she was doing that I was doing some wood work. First I built a U-shaped piece to slide under the tv stand to hide the cables and wires that were visible. I used 1x6s and stained them to match. Looks much cleaner now and when the dogs throw one of their balls under there they bounce back instead of getting caught in the wires.
I also turned a small closet at the bottom of the basement stairs into a new DVD storage area. Click on the My Basement Finishing Project to see the results. Only problem I had was getting the stain to dry with the cool damp weather we had.
Watched Lady in the Water on Saturday night. It was better than I thought it would be, but I usually enjoy M. Night Shyamalan movies so I shouldn't have been surprised. Paul Giamatti (Sideways) was very good in the lead role.
At the start of the 2nd period, we came out flat and they came out firing, getting 3 quick goals and their strong defense and goaltending never let us get back into it. We did have a goal disallowed late as my left toe was in the crease. I had no idea I was that close and I was on the other side of the goalie, no impact on the goal. It's automatic though, you touch the crease on a shot and they will call it. Of course, they missed about 10 penalty calls as well but I won't go into that.
It was a busy weekend at the house. I finally got Cdubya to clean out the big closet in the powder room that had become a collection point for everything she didn't want any more. She filled up 6 large garbage bags and it looks much better.
While she was doing that I was doing some wood work. First I built a U-shaped piece to slide under the tv stand to hide the cables and wires that were visible. I used 1x6s and stained them to match. Looks much cleaner now and when the dogs throw one of their balls under there they bounce back instead of getting caught in the wires.
I also turned a small closet at the bottom of the basement stairs into a new DVD storage area. Click on the My Basement Finishing Project to see the results. Only problem I had was getting the stain to dry with the cool damp weather we had.
Watched Lady in the Water on Saturday night. It was better than I thought it would be, but I usually enjoy M. Night Shyamalan movies so I shouldn't have been surprised. Paul Giamatti (Sideways) was very good in the lead role.
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