I Still Suck At Chauffeuring

today is my last day... of chauffeuring.

i'm retiring my little black chauffeur's cap (not that i actually own one) because i still suck at chauffeuring. so as of this moment, all of my miss daisy friends will have to use the very reliable... very comfortable... public transportation system known as the mbta. very sad, i know.

anyway, i offered to give my friend (hot amy) a ride home today as i normally cut through boston. as is quite typical of my behavior, i generally bolt out of the door when it's closing time at the office. so, i didn't know if hot amy took me up on the offer or not.

knowing hot amy does not like to sweat, i assumed she would want the ride. plus, truth be told, i was hoping she would want the ride. commuting home from marblehead... very boring, especially when you have to sit in traffic by yourself for over an hour if you're lucky. it sometimes drives me crazy (assuming i was not crazy to begin with). needless to say, i was hoping for some company on my long commute home. and actually, i thought it would be nice to see hot amy again. i don't think i've seen her in quite some time. i don't remember the last time i did see her. so, i thought it'd be good to catch up on things.

as it turns out, i arrived in downtown boston fairly early. hot amy didn't want to fleece the taxpayers of the commonwealth by leaving too early (although if we went shopping, that probably would have been acceptable). so hot amy declined my offer for a ride home. thinking nothing of it, i decided to call my friend (aimee). i was in town anyway, so i figured i'd see if aimee would leave early. plus, i haven't seen aimee either in quite some time. (it seems like i haven't seen a lot of people in quite some time.)

well, aimee and i chatted for awhile. she finally convinced me to wait a little while longer so that it would not be too early if she left for the day. so, i drove around a little to pass the time. i contacted hot amy again to see if this time she would would want a ride. as i was waiting for aimee, it would not be as early so hot amy took me up on the offer. i then called my friend (carlos) to see if he could leave early too. unfortunately, he could not... stupid job.

anyway, i started to get hungry. seeing a van drive away from the curb, i parked my car in the recently vacated spot. i looked at the meter and thought... great... there's still time left in the meter from that van. woo-hoo!

thinking nothing of it, i literally walked down to cvs, walked down the candy aisle, picked up a bag of watermelon pull 'n peel twizzlers, picked up a bottle of powerade, got in line, paid for the items, and walked back to the car. when i returned to my car... there it was... the little orange ticket! my entire trip to cvs could not have taken more than 5 minutes.

needless to say, i was a little disappointed. after reading the ticket, i saw that i was cited for parking in a no stop zone. i then looked around and saw the sign. d'oh! what a bummer.

anyway, i picked up aimee and hot amy and we headed off to the mean streets of quincy.

(pictured below is hot amy. the picture was taken by special guest photographer... aimee.)


i drove like a bat out of hell all the way to quincy. i was slightly bummed by the ticket. and since i already broke the law once for the day, i didn't think lightning could possibly strike twice in a given day. so i figured i had free reign to break more rules of the road. pedestrians were diving out of the way... it was like the video game, grand theft auto... just kidding.

aside from the parking violation, i did actually have a good ride home. i got to see two of my friends who i haven't seen in quite some time. (of course, it'll probably be the last for a while since i won't be chauffeuring anymore.) seeing aimee and hot amy reminded me what it was like to work in town... not that working in marblehead is all that bad. marblehead is a very beautiful town. it's just that i don't have good friends to spend time up there with.

oh well. and in case anyone is curious... it was the best $75 bag of twizzlers and bottle of powerade i ever had... karen was not too pleased. hence, the retirement of the chauffeuring business...

I Suck At Going To New Orleans

last night, my favorite sister-in-law (janine) and brother-in-law (pj) got back from there little getaway with my friend (jen) and her brothers (bill and dan). their destination: new orleans.

now, i suck at going to new orleans.

i have never been to new orleans. i have always wanted to go to new orleans... not just because new orleans is known for its mardi gras party and breast exposing women (although that does not detract from the appeal).

the mass devourer that i am, i do enjoy cajun cuisine. speaking of the french influence, i tried my first beignet yesterday... courtesy of janine who brought some back from her trip. a beignet (pronounced ben-yay) is basically fried dough with lots of sugar on it. according to wikipedia, a beignet

"refers to a French doughnut being a pastry made from deep-fried dough and sprinkled with confectioner's sugar. Beignets are often found in, and typically associated with, the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. Savory versions of beignets are also popular as an appetizer, with fillings such as crawfish or shrimp."

needless to say, i would love to go to new orleans... if not for mardi gras or the breast exposing women... then for the food. funny thing is, i actually had an opportunity a long time ago when my friend (hugh) attended tulane college down in louisiana. he would invite all of us down to stay with his fraternity every year for mardi gras. unfortunately, i never went during his four years there.

someday...

I Suck At Hannah Montana

tonight was the big night...

this weekend, karen and i babysat my niece (kaleigh) and nephew (pj) while my favorite sister-in-law (janine) and brother-in-law (pj) had a little getaway in new orleans with my friend (jen) and her brothers (bill and dan).

tonight, however, was the much anticipated night of the weekend. tonight... was the hannah montana / miley cyrus best of both worlds concert in 3-d! apparently, janine and pj had gotten the 3-d glasses ahead of time at the evil empire known as wal-mart. so, all of us were prepared for the concert. too bad i suck at hannah montana.

both pj and kaleigh seemed very excited for the concert. they kept asking when the concert would start (after having to watch a marathon of hannah montana episodes on the disney channel). disney sure knows how to advertise and promote its brand.

anyway, as we got ready for the concert, we encountered a little snafu. the 3-d glasses did not fit kaleigh's noggin. apparently, the glasses were too big. so in a macgyver sort of way, karen rigged up a strap to hold the glasses in place for kaleigh. crisis avoided. (of course, the glasses kept falling off kaleigh's head because she kept moving her head everywhere...) the glasses were a little too big for pj as well, but he didn't move as much so they stayed on his head.

(pictured below is pj, with the 3-d glasss, watching the concert.)


needless to say, we made popcorn and enjoyed the concert. surprisingly... the concert was not that bad. hannah montana sang a few songs. the jonas brothers sang a couple of songs while hannah montana changed into miley cyrus. and then miley cyrus sang a few more songs. bubble gum pop never sounded so good. throw in a few behind-the-scenes clips...

pj absolutely loved the concert. the 3-d portion made the concert because he was amazed at how hannah montana was coming out of the tv, how the guitar came out of the tv, how the confetti came out of the tv... basically how everything came out of the tv. and i must say, the 3-d gimmick did make the concert pretty entertaining. the concert was well done.

now i'm not saying i'm a big hannah montana fan or anything...

I Suck At Horse Shows

although today is the usual day i hang out with my friends (marc and kelley), karen and i went to see our nephew (pj) compete in a horse show.

pj takes therapeutic riding lessons at briggs stable located in hanover. it so happens that the briggs stable was having its sixth mini show of the year today in the rain.

for pj, today would be the second horse show he has competed in. in his first horse show, both sets of grandparents attended and watched him take second place in the competition. unfortunately, karen and i missed his first show.

feeling like the bad aunt and uncle, we made sure we made today's horse show... rain or shine. (mother nature chose the former.) it was quite an interesting experience to attend a horse show. now, i suck at horse shows. i have never attended a horse show. i don't even know what judges use as criteria for a horse show. i always imagined a horse show to be like those best in show dog competitions where a trainer runs back and forth with the animal.

from what i'm told by my brother-in-law (pj... the older one) , one of the things a rider is judged on is "posting", which is when the rider rises out of the saddle seat for every other stride of the horse's forelegs. posting smooths the jolts from sitting on the horse and makes riding the trot much more comfortable for the horse and rider.

anyway, as it turned out.. the horse show competition was like a best in show dog competition. pj simply rode the horse back and forth.

(the video below is pj's trot during the horse show.)


afterwards, the judge declared the blue ribbon winner (which is the ribbon given for placing first) and it was pj. congratulations pj! pj did a fantastic job. (yep, my mere presence propelled him to victory this time around. hot amy should learn from this when it comes to having competitions against me. it's part of the awesomeness i exude... just kidding.)

I Suck At The Dentist's

today, i had my routine cleaning at the dentist's office.

i suck at the dentist's. every time i go to my dentist, i am alway amazed by the people who work at the dentist's (including the dentist). after all, i see them basically two times a year (for the routine cleaning), yet they seem to remember so much about me.

granted, they know my name and all that beforehand because i'm scheduled for the appointment. perhaps i'm just envious because i wish i had that great of a memory. heck, i wish i had any memory. i'm like that guy in the movie "memento". maybe i should start doing brain exercises or something. damn you booze for killing my brain cells... or whatever little brain cells i had to start with.

anyway, i think i may have been the only one scheduled today because i was there for quite some time (almost an hour). i basically ended up talking to the dental hygienist for most of that time. (incidentally, the dental hygienist used to be karen's dental hygienist at karen's dentist's office.)

basically, i got to learn about how the dental hygienist (joan) was dog sitting and the dog, named lily, had lyme disease (like my bff) and how the dog earlier had heartworms. her kids, by the way, also want a dog. i learned that her husband started a new job and loves it as he has every other friday off during the summer. (i'm obviously writing this down so that i can review this blog posting the next time i have a cleaning and show them that two can play at this memory game!)

i even had a nice conversation with my dentist, who also lives in the norwell area. my dentist and his neighbors are currently trying to fight a developer from building over twenty apartments on some nearby wetlands. i think the development is near circuit street and white barn lane. apparently, the neighbors have to spend about $100 a month for the lawyer fees. very interesting.

anyway, all things considering... i had quite an enjoyable dental cleaning. the good news too is that i didn't have any decay or cavities. plus, i got a goody bag of whitening toothpaste, a toothbrush, and floss. what could be better?

I Suck At Gourmet Garden

today, a new member was added to our development team.

the newest team member (vasudha) is an asp developer from florida. she moved up here with her husband, who will be teaching at salem state.

in celebration of our newest team member, our development team went out for lunch. the destination for that lunch: the gourment garden. now, i suck at the gourmet garden. i have never been to the gourmet garden, probably because i've only been in the marblehead area for a little over a month due to work.

the gourment garden is a chinese/japanese restaurant located in the nearby town of swampscott. apparently, the restaurant was voted #1 by the readers choice awards from 2003-2006 for best chinese restaurant (or so the broken english website would have you believe).

although i'm not a big fan of chinese food (or many things chinese in general) my coworkers hyped up the restaurant with the all-you-can-eat buffet that the restaurant offered during lunch. with my penchant for devouring mass quantities, i figured the restaurant couldn't be all that bad. again, i didn't get my current body shape eating just bread and water.

unfortunately, the all-you-can-eat buffet was not being offered today. very sad. instead, the restaurant was trying its hand at having special bento box-typed lunches. i think a lot of my coworkers were disappointed by that fact.

needless to say, we enjoyed our lunch at the gourmet garden. i had chow foon noodles. normally, i would say cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound... but i was a little disappointed with the dish. the noodles weren't bad or anything. i just think my mom has scarred me for life because every chinese dish i eat simply doesn't compare to my mom's home cooking... which is yet another reason why i'm not a big fan of chinese food. curse you mom! just kidding.

anyway, it was good it get to know our latest team member over lunch. plus, any opportunity i get to see what is around the town of marblehead is always good.

I Suck At Blueberry Picking

yesterday, my bff (kerry), karen and i got up bright and early.

kerry had spent the night at our house again after a torrid day of shopping at target and colony place.

normally, we probably wouldn't have gotten up bright and early. on our agenda though... was blueberry picking. now, i suck at blueberry picking. luckily, there is a place not too far from where i live that allows you to pick blueberries. the place is called tree-berry farm" and it is located on the norwell and scituate town border. as you can probably guess by the name, the farm specializes in trees (christmas trees) and berries (blueberries).

(pictured below are karen and kerry picking blueberries.)


i have come to find out that picking your own blueberries is quite the deal. the farm currently charges $2.60 per pound of blueberries. the local store charges about $3 per pint. based on karen's dietitic calculations:

1 pint of blueberries weighs ~ 290 grams;
there are 453 grams in a pound;
thus, it would cost ~ $4.50 - $4.60 per pound at the store.

needless to say, we got a good deal on blueberries. we ended up getting over 6 pounds of blueberries. when we were done, all three of us headed back to our place and enjoyed some blueberry pancakes. (karen also made blueberry muffins later in the day.)

i'm going to be so full of blueberries... i can't wait to see what color my poop will be. (i'm hoping it will be blue. but don't worry, i won't subject you to a blog posting about the color if it is.) oh yes, for anyone curious... according to the tree-berry farm website, blueberry season generally runs from early july through early september. peak season is late july through early august.

even though we still have a lot of blueberries left, i already want to go back to the farm and pick some more. i wonder if this is what anit-oxidants do to the body... make you crave more anti-oxidants. blueberries... the gateway drug. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.)

I Suck At Ziggy's

today, we made a spontaneous plan with my bff (kerry).

kerry, karen and i spent most of the day shopping. we ended up at colony place which is a shopping area located in plymouth.

colony place happens to have the nearest location of a red robin which was highly recommended by kerry for its burgers and unlimited steak fries. as we ate there for dinner, karen picked up a local map of the plymouth area.

according to the map with cartoon drawings, there was an ice cream place called ziggy's down by plymouth harbor. saving room for dessert, we decided to go to plymouth harbor and get some ice cream at ziggy's after the red robin.

now, i suck at ziggy's. i have never been to ziggy's. in fact, i don't think any of us had ever been to ziggy's. since we were in the neighborhood (of plymouth), we figured that we'd give it a try. so, we took a little stroll through plymouth.

it was quite easy to get to the harbor. parking in the public parking lot, the three of us walked down to the harbor. the tourist attraction of plymouth rock, by the way, is currently under construction. very sad... if you're a tourist. interestingly enough, the three of us looked like tourists when we were looking for ziggy's. we had a cartoon map that we kept looking at. i had a camera. throw it all together and it has tourist written all over it... which is sad since we live in not too far from plymouth.

(pictured below are karen and kerry looking at the cartoon map.)


anyway, we walked down water street... strolling like tourists... viewing the attractions. (incidentally, there is a wax museum in plymouth that neither kerry nor i knew of... but karen did.) we finally got to ziggy's and ordered ice cream. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.)

needless to say, all of us were stuffed afterwards. it was simply nice to just hang out and eat ice cream together. kerry even suggested that it would be nice to have an annual tradition of getting a place for a week and just hanging out... and i agree. i do sometimes think people in general forget that they need to find time to enjoy the company of their friends. plymouth, by the way, seems like a very happening place on a saturday night... who knew?

anyway, i had a very enjoyable time with kerry tonight. we basically spent the day shopping. i'm not exactly a shopper, but it was fun because i got to spend it with a friend... and i think that is what made the day.

I Suck At Red Robin

today, after our day of shopping bliss, karen, my bff (kerry) and i had dinner at red robin.

now, i suck at red robin. i have never been to red robin.

apparently, kerry has been to red robin when she lived down in virginia. she raved about the burgers and the all you can eat steak fries.

for anyone curious, the whole topic of red robin started when we were watching "the phantom gourmet" after returning from our shopping excursion at target. a commercial or something aired about red robin, to which kerry informed karen and i about how good the place was. since neither karen nor i have ever been to one, we decided to look for the nearest location of the restaurant... which happened to be colony place in plymouth.

from there, the rest is history. we decided to go to colony place and eat at red robin. in exchange of course, kerry had to spend another night at our place. it seems like a fair trade to me.

anyway, kerry was right. the red robin was quite delicious. i had a sante fe burger (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound) and an ungodly amount of steak fries and diet soda. yes, my nutritional downfall is portion control. i didn't become so girthly huggable eating just bread and water. besides, we can't all be hot like hot amy.

adding to the pleasurable dining experience, kerry treated karen and i for the dinner. what can i say? kerry is just an amazing bff. it was very nice of her. so thanks bff!

I Suck At Colony Place

today, i went shopping with my bff (kerry).

we ended up at target where kerry got a super duper vacuum deal. afterwards, we went to wendy's for a quick lunch where i got to try wendy's new strawberry frosty shake. the shake was rather good. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.) and from there, we went back to our house to unload the shopping goods and prepare for the next plan of attack, as we weren't done shopping yet.

after catching a quick episode of "the phantom gourmet" and "property ladder", we decided to go to colony place which is located in plymouth. now, i suck at colony place. i have never been there. karen has been there with my favorite sister-in-law (janine) and her friend (anne) some time ago. for those of you who do not know what colony place is... colony place is a basically a shopping area. according to the website, colony place is

"the largest outdoor shopping and entertainment center in the region. An exceptionally designed lifestyle destination for the entire family, Colony Place has more of what you want. And all in once place. With special events, specialty retail, restaurants, home furnishings, services, electronics and even groceries, Colony Place is the one place for everything."

one of the reasons we decided to go to colony place was red robin. red robin is a restaurant change down south. neither karen nor i have ever been to red robin. kerry, however, has eaten there when she lived down in virginia and loved the all you can eat steak fries and burgers. that was enough to convince karen and i (well... more appropriately... me). and as it turned out, the closest location was colony place. so, we figured we'd go do some more shopping and then eat at red robin afterwards.

i must say colony place is very nice. we started our shopping at bed, bath and beyond. while kerry got a discount on some new cooking utensils, karen was absolutely elated to get a deal on a framed piece of art. the framed artwork apparently rang in less than what she thought it was. so, she was pleasantly surprised.

from there, we went to wal-mart. yes... wal-mart. for anyone who knows me, i am not a big fan of the evil empire known as wal-mart. although we didn't end up purchasing anything (and kerry was close to because she saw a reasonably priced trash can), i was quite surprised by this particular wal-mart. this particular wal-mart was absolutely ginormous... and the people there... were actually quite nice. had i not been tainted by the wal-mart locations of quincy and weymouth, i would have never known how awful wal-mart was. as kerry had mentioned to me, the store in comparison to those locations was a complete night and day. you would not have known that this particular store was a wal-mart. it was shocking to me.

once i recovered from my inexplicable awe over wal-mart, we walked around colony place to see the stores. karen picked up a dress at the maternity store there. i don't remember the name of the place. i do, however, remember they have quite the weird return policy because you can only return the item within 10 days... and only for store credit (even with the original receipt) which is quite odd to me. regardless, karen got a goody bag as it was her first time in the store.

from there, we saved the biggest shopping deal for the end. we went to some store called ulta. i have never heard of the store... and probably for a good reason. apparently, the store is a beauty store much like sephora. kerry has one by her way. since karen needed a new hair dryer anyway (because her hair dryer apparently burns her hair), we went in to browse around. as it turned out, it was kerry who scored the sweet deal on a new hair dryer. karen simply got a basic one. (i just played with all of the hair dryers there. who knew there were so many types of hair dryers?) kerry ended up getting a super duper fancy hair dryer for 20%. she was very excited.

needless to say, kerry had a very good shopping day today between the deal she got at target and the deal she got at ulta. all in all, it was a very enjoyable shopping experience. i would definitely go back to colony place.

I Suck At Target

today, i got to spend the entire day with my bff (kerry).

kerry spent the night at our house after last night's shindig at my favorite sister-in-law's (janine). with the hot and humid temperatures outside, the uncomfortable warmth experienced from living on the third floor, and the fairly long commute from the city (medford) that was home to fannie farmer, james plimpton (the inventor of the roller skate), and michael bloomberg... it only made sense to have kerry spend the night.

so this morning, as part of my bff duties, i made breakfast for both karen and kerry (banana pancakes and regular pancakes respectively). it definitely pays to have me as a bff. all of hot amy's bffs should simply forget about wanting to be hot amy's bff and attempt to be my bff. granted, hot amy is better looking than i am... but who really exudes awesomeness? i think we know the answer to that.

after breakfast, it became apparent that neither of us had any plans for the day. so, what could possibly be better than hanging out together and spending the day doing what i love the most... shopping. all right, maybe i don't really like shopping that much... unless shopping involved something with a circuit board or some tool of some kind. needless to say, i was more into the hanging out with my bff portion.

we first visited a few furniture places to see if there were any items kerry could use at her new place in salem. there really wasn't. so from there, we ended up going to one of kerry's favorite places... target. now i suck at target.

the target experience today was quite interesting. we went to the target located in abington. for any of you who are curious... i prefer target over the evil empire known as wal-mart. wal-mart is actually physically located much closer to our house than target is, but i am more apt to travel to target before traveling to wal-mart. past experiences with wal-mart, particularly the locations in quincy and weymouth, have not left a favorable impression on me. i guess you could say that the wal-mart of those locations resemble the color of my trash... white.

anyway, target was fun. the highlight of the shopping experience at target was kerry's super duper vacuum deal. she got a dirt devil upright vacuum, for half price. not a bad deal, considering she doesn't currently vacuum (her roommate usually does most of the cleaning). as well, she scored a gift card for getting a brita filter. both were very nice deals.

karen and i, on the other hand, finally got a full length mirror (not for me of course). karen has been wanting a full length mirror for quite some time so that she can see her entire outfit or whatever but could never find a mirror that was reasonably priced. sadly, we couldn't beat kerry's super duper vacuum deal as we got the mirror at the regular retail price... (hence... i suck at target). regardless, it was still a fun time at target.

I Suck At Guitar Hero

last night, i got to see my bff (kerry).

kerry called asking if i wanted to do something. naturally, i said yes. as it turned out, karen was working late last night and my friend (jen) actually had plans with my favorite sister-in-law (janine).

jen, her brother (bill), janine, and my brother-in-law (pj) are spending next weekend in bayou country... also known as new orleans. (i probably could have called this post "i suck at new orleans" because i've never been to new orleans. i would love to visit new orleans some day... just to try the authentic cajun cuisine, listen to old school jazz music, etc. and sure, the occasional boobie shots wouldn't hurt either.) speaking of which, jen and janine plan on acquiring some form of beaded jewelry that weekend.

anyway, when karen finished work, all of us (karen, kerry and i) headed down to janine and pj's to meet up. and what is typical in my relationship with mother nature, it absolutely poured, complete with flashes of lightening, when we were walking to our cars. some of the streets and highways were covered in puddles of water because the rain came down so quickly. but, it was nice to finally get some rain amid this humid weather.

once at janine and pj's, we found out that pj's brother (mark) and his girlfriend (emily) were also there. they spent most of the night playing the nintendo wii. i attempted to play guitar hero. well... let's just say i suck at guitar hero. my video gaming skills are not what they used to be. don't get me wrong, i can still probably beat my friend (hot amy)... with my eyes closed. after playing guitar hero (mind you... just one song on the easy level), my hand started to hurt. i think my days playing lead guitar in a rock band are over... not that it ever started.

anyway, it was a fun time at janine and pj's. janine busted out the sugar goodness known as candy; bill and pj looked for youtube videos of breasts; kerry got janine's opinion on color swatches for her new place; and marc and emily played the wii. it was great just hanging out, talking and having fun.

I Suck At Hellboy 2: The Golden Army

today is the usual day i hang out with my friends (marc and kelley).

our plan today was to go see hellboy 2: the golden army in the theaters. now, i suck at hellboy 2: the golden army. in preparation of this sequel, we had watched the first movie last week.

anyway, we were all pretty excited to watch the movie at the national amusements showcase cinemas in randolph. in particular, karen and i were excited to watch the movie from the lux level as neither of us have ever been to the lux level for a movie. marc and kelley, however, have been to the lux level before.

for anyone curious, according to national amusements:

"Lux Level is a luxurious, in-theatre dining experience at select theatres. Movie-goers can indulge themselves with premium reserved-seating, where guests can enjoy in-seat dining before and during the show, as well as other special amenities. The menu features American fare, luscious desserts, and innovative specialty signature cocktails. Lux Level is available to patrons 21 and older only."

apparently, when you order lux tickets online (which marc kindly did for all of us), you get to park in the special lux parking lot which is right in front of the theater. you also get a $5 voucher per person to use while you dine.

the lux level itself is quite nice: the comfortable chairs pivot and lean back; there is a table separating the chairs that have a button on them that contacts the waitstaff; the food is actually quite delicious (i had the grilled eggplant panini... cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound); and the drinks are equally good. i had the long island iced tea, but there are a bunch of martinis on the menu. kelley tried a strawberry and pop martini in which pop rocks coat the rim of the glass. (it was very good.) i think the lux level would be a nice place to take someone on a date.

as for the movie, hellboy 2 was very good.

(below is the trailer for the movie.)


without giving anything away about the plot, i will say that i enjoyed the movie thoroughly. unfortunately, i can't say the same for the trailers before the movie. there were a bunch of awful trailers: one with nicholas cage in bangkok as a hitman; one with jason statham in jail racing cars; the other with vin diesel in some sci-fi movie... they all looked awful.

luckily, hellboy 2 was very good... so i had no problems forgetting about those awful movie trailers. (watching those awful trailers definitely made me want to finish my own screenplay that i started last summer. after all, my screenplay couldn't possibly be any worse than those trailers.)

anyway, i had a great evening watching the movie in the lux level of the theater. it was fun!

I Suck At Removing Furnaces

today, the contractors came to remove our furnace.

now, i suck at removing furnaces... (hence... the contractors). now you may ask, what will we do without a furnace? how will we heat our house in the winter time? luckily, we had two furnaces when one of them was removed.

when we purchased the house, the house originally had only one furnace. with the second floor addition of last year, however, a second furnace was added to independently heat the second floor... much like a zoned system. thus, our oil lines were split to divert oil between both furnaces.

unfortunately, over this past winter, the original furnace died. the original furnace could not and would not start. although the flame in the furnace was strong, the rest of the furnace had signs of corrosion. apparently, there was a gaping hole on one side of the furnace... which you can imagine would be a safety hazard.

anyway, we had the contractors who worked on our house review the furnace. they presented two options: replacing the original furnace with another one; or connecting all the ductwork from the first floor to the newer furnace used for the second floor.

we opted for the second choice... even though karen, apparently does not like the fact that there will no longer be zones for control. needless to say, our heating contractor (kevin) wrote up a proposal quite some time ago.

well... yesterday, kevin stopped by and notified us that he could start removing the furnace today... and that it should only take one day to do so. today was that day. anyway, we now have one furnace heating the entire house. as for the cooling system, we also now have one central air system as opposed to two. the central air system for the first floor is currently sitting in our garage.

now we'll have to see if the house gets cool enough in the summer and warm enough in the winter.

I Suck At The Village School

today, i went for a little stroll during lunch.

my friend (jen) apparently works with someone who grew up in the town where i currently work, marblehead. interestingly enough, that someone is named amy... not to be confused with hot amy, aimee, or amy the czar (i refer to her as the czar because her last name begins with those four letters). who knew that i would know so many amys.

that actually reminds me of a skit that appeared on one of my favorite shows growing up... the kids in the hall (not to be confused with the new kids on the block). according to my friend wikipedia, the kids in the hall

"is a Canadian sketch comedy group formed in 1984, consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson. Their eponymously titled television show ran from 1988 to 1994 on CBC in Canada, and 1989 to 1995 on CBS and HBO in the United States. The theme song for the show was the instrumental 'Having an Average Weekend' by the Canadian band Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet. The troupe made one movie, Brain Candy, which was released in 1996.

The name of the group came from Sid Caesar, who, if a joke didn't go over, or played worse than expected, would attribute it to 'the kids in the hall,' referring to a group of young writers hanging around the studio."

anyway, the skit had to do with the "daves i know"... although in this case... it would seemingly be the "amys i know"...

(below is the video of "the daves i know".)


needless to say, i asked amy (jen's co-worker/friend... not hot amy, aimee, or amy the czar) about places to eat in marblehead during lunch break and she told me a few places. then, like the running geek that i am, i asked her if she knew of a nearby track that i could use. she recommended the track at the village school. now, i suck at the village school.

i think the village school is an elementary school. situated behind the school, however, is an athletic facility complete with football field and surrounding track.

in my attempt to get back into shape (and possibly restart the high intensity interval training that i completed weeks before), i decided to scope out the track during my lunch break. the track is quite nice. granted, it's not an eight lane track... but it'll do. the track is only a 15 minute walk from where i work, which is not too bad.

unfortunately, it was quite hot outside when i went for the walk. so needless to say, i was dying... and i didn't even run. very sad. i may have to rethink this whole running in the heat thing.

I Suck At Hannah Montana Parties

yesterday, i had the pleasure of attending a hannah montana birthday party. my friends (hugh and jenny) have a daughter (allison, aka ally) who turned five years old. where has the time gone?

anyway, ally wanted a hannah montana party. as is customary, hugh and jenny held ally's birthday party at her grandparents' house located in weymouth. her grandparents have a pool. in addition to the pool, there was a moonwalk, a karaoke machine, and a dancing area for the hannah montana themed party. (i was quite tempted to use the moonwalk machine to attempt yet again... another kip-up... sadly, i'm still feeling some discomfort from my one and only attempt.)

for anyone who does not know who hannah montana is (i would be surprised if you did not know because the marketing juggernaut known as disney has promoted the heck out of hannah montana)... hannah montana is the character played by miley cyrus (who's real name is actually destiny hope cyrus). according to my friend wikipedia,

"The series focuses on a girl who lives a double life as an average teenage school girl named Miley Stewart (played by Miley Cyrus) by day and a famous pop singer named Hannah Montana by night."

basically, i would consider hannah montana as jem-lite... or even possibly jem: the teenage years. (for anyone who doesn't know who jem is... jem is truly truly truly outrageous. she was an animated character who led a double life much like the character of miley stewart.)

anyway, i suck at hannah montana parties. lucky for me, i "get the best of both worlds" by hanging out with my group of friends. the party, though, was good. ally got a whole slew of interesting gifts. so, i imagine that she enjoyed her birthday party very much.

I Suck At Boston Interiors

during my conversation with my bff (kerry) last night, the topic of furniture came up after finding out she had lyme disease. kerry is moving to salem in a couple of months and consequently needed furniture to fill her new place. with the limited number of furniture stores available in massachusetts, the topic of boston interiors came up.

boston interiors is a furniture store that advertises great design at affordable prices. it just so happens that kerry has never been to boston interiors. it also just so happens that there is a boston interiors located not too far from where i live. needless to say, kerry came down for a little visit and to do some furniture shopping... and she actually bought something today... albeit it was a tape measure. (i'll get to that later.)

we started our little adventure in marshfield at the halfway cafe, which is one of kerry's favorite places to eat. we couldn't shop, after all, on an empty stomach. as usual, the food at the halfway was very delicious. (i had the $7 calzone special... cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.)

from there, we went to lowe's to pick up some mulch because karen and i ran out of mulch for the flower bed. it was at lowe's that kerry decided to get the tape measure. my hard sell on craftsman tools couldn't convince her to put the stanley tape measure down. (i guess it's a good thing then that i am not a spokesperson for sears.) kerry was also tempted to get a new tool kit, but decided against it.

after lowe's, we made a little pit stop at staples for my geek tendencies. i needed to get more blank cds because i only have one left... a result of my geek tendency to physically back up my tunes in the event of a computer hardware or software failure. luckily, with my new network server that i built, the chances of failure have been drastically minimized because i'm not using microsoft for storing the files. yay!

anyway, we ended up at boston interiors shortly afterwards. kerry was primarily looking for a sofa. with kerry's love of beverly hills 90210, she had to sit on the "brandon" sofa. there were a bunch of sofas that we sat on. i don't think kerry liked boston interior's style of sofas that much. i think she preferred their style of tables instead. so needless to say, there was not a sofa to her liking. oh well.

even though kerry didn't get anything (other than a tape measure), it was fun to go shopping with her before she had to go back to the tick-infested house in lexington. by the way, i saw the tick bite... it's big... and at a very weird location on her body. it's located on her pectoral muscle near her armpit. i told her it was a great way to pick up men... by showing them her tick bite.

i hope kerry equally had a good time. with the antibiotics she is on for ten days to combat lyme disease, she couldn't hang out by the pool in the sun like she had originally planned. so, i hope she had a good time furniture shopping instead.

I Suck At Talking Over The Phone

last night, i did something out of the ordinary: i spoke with my bff (kerry) over the phone... apparently for quite some time. now, i suck at talking over the phone. it's not that i have anything against my bff. after all, she wouldn't be a bff otherwise, right? it's just that i very rarely ever have a conversation over the phone with anyone.

growing up, i used to love the phone. i used to call my friend (aimee) all the time... and simply have conversations of pure silence. i'd call many of my other friends as well... whether it was meredith or jeannette or amy (not hot amy)... or whoever. simply put, i was a phone whore.

since those childhood days, however, i have used the phone less and less... and less. in fact, i was one of the few remaining people on the planet who did not have a cell phone until a few years ago. everyone seemingly had a cell phone, but i opted not to get one because i just did not use the phone at all, if ever. the only reason i even ended up with my current cell phone (which i still have) is because karen wanted me to get one so that she could reach me in cases of an emergency.

so needless to say, i have not been a big communicator over the phone. (i'm more of the email/instant messaging type, probably because i like to write... as evident from this blog.) last night, though, was quite fun and refreshing.

last night, kerry had called. in what has become commonplace, neither karen nor kerry are contacted whenever jen and hot amy hang out together. perhaps it's a bff ritual or cougar bonding or something. i don't know. but karen was at work with the car, which left me at home. so, both kerry and i had a lot of free time last night... and we spent it well.

we commiserated over our health... me with my spectacular display of acrobatics in my attempt to do a kip-up... and kerry over her lyme disease. as it turns out, kerry was bitten by a tick while house and dog sitting in lexington. as she did not have any internet access in lexington, kerry asked if i could google lyme disease and all that.

from there, we just started talking about random things... like nick esasky, the former red sox player who had to retire from baseball due to vertigo (which is a symptom of lyme disease if left untreated). we talked about furniture; her move to salem; the fact that jon bon jovi can apparently pull off the tight jeans look; the fact that richie sambora looks bloated now and amazingly was able to score heather locklear and denise richards; etc.

it seemed like we talked about everything. and it was fun. i had a great time talking with my bff. conversing over the phone made me feel like it was the good old days. i don't know why i stopped using the phone. perhaps i should use the phone more often. maybe then my friend's (pam) husband will finally call me on his way home from work.

I Suck At Kip-Ups

my body is definitely not as spry as it used to be.

today, i had a nice conversation with my friend (aimee). aimee recently started taking a capoeira class at her gym in boston. for those of you who do not know what capoeira is... capoeira is a form of martial arts. according to my friend "wikipedia", capoeira is a

"blend of martial art, game, and dance originated in Brazil, from the regions known as Bahia, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo. The art-form started up in Brazil during the 16th Century, an obvious result of the slave trading that took place in conjunction with the previously slaved native Indians. Capoeira was created and developed by slaves brought from Africa. Participants form a roda (circle) and take turns playing instruments, singing, and sparring in pairs in the center of the circle. The game is marked by fluid acrobatic play, feints, and extensive use of groundwork, as well as sweeps, kicks, and headbutts. Less frequently-used techniques include elbow-strikes, slaps, punches, and body-throws."

so in a few weeks, don't dance with aimee. and it's probably safe to say, don't mess with her either (not that i would because i've been privy to the vengeance of aimee for a few summers).

anyway, i started joking with aimee that capoeira is breakdancing with some martial arts thrown in. (i chose breakdancing because "break" had such a good ring to it when it came to martial arts.) naturally, that got me thinking about breakdancing and how i never got into that craze growing up. a few youtube videos later, i was thinking breakdancing was the best thing since sliced bread.

in particular, there was a breakdancing move called the "rubberband". the rubberband is basically a kip-up. according to my friend "wikipedia", a kip-up is

"one of several names for an acrobatic move in which a person transitions from a supine position directly to a squatting position by propelling the legs, and consequently the entire body, away from the floor. It is used in activities such as martial arts, acro dance, breakdancing, professional wrestling, and gymnastics. Because of the flashy appearance of this move, it is often shown in fighting and action movies. The kip-up is also variously called a rising handspring, kick-up, Chinese get up, kick-to-stand, nip up, and carp skip-up."

now, i have seen kip-ups before. in fact, i have been infatuated with kip-ups ever since i saw the most electrifying man in sports entertainment (the rock) perform one during a wrestling match. i thought it looked so cool. i never attempted to perform one... until now.

after watching a brief youtube tutorial on how to perform a kip-up, i thought... yeah, it looks harmless enough. what could possibly go wrong? little did i know, i suck at kip-ups. i don't just suck at kip-ups... i really suck at kip-ups.

(the video below is the kip-up tutorial.)


i started doing a few practice motions to see what it would feel like. laying on my back in just my boxers, i swung my feet over my head a few times. (yes, i was in my boxers as i working from home.) i even practiced a few push offs with just my arms positioned by my head. i did a few bridges like the video suggested. so, i figured i'd try to put them all together.

well, let's just say my first and only attempt was not exactly what was pictured in the video. i swung my feet back. i pushed up with my arms. thump! i came crashing down on my back. in fact, it still hurts when i turn my body certain angles. if my friend (hot amy) were to challenge me now to some sort of competition, she actually might win. that's how much pain i'm in.

anyway, i think there should be a "don't try this at home in your boxers" disclaimer for this video. needless to say, when i told aimee what i had just done... she thought i was a total nut. i actually laughed until it started to hurt to laugh. not to be defeated, i will someday master this kip-up... once the pain subsides of course.

I Suck At Fixing My Mosquito Magnet

over a week ago, the propane tank for my mosquito magnet ran out.

i love my mosquito magnet. i think they are the one of the best inventions in the world because they eliminate my most hated insect... the mosquito. (granted, i'm not sure if there exists an insect that i do like.) for the life of me, i cannot figure out the reason mosquitos are on this planet. they don't serve any usefulness in the whole balance of things within nature. they simply suck blood... possibly spread diseases... and reproduce to suck more blood. i guess you can say they are like vampires, only not as cool.

so in my attempt to be like buffy the vampire slayer (who, i might add, still kicks butt), i do derive some pleasure when the propane tank to the mosquito magnet runs out and i have to empty the net full of dead mosquitos. (there are generally a ton of dehydrated mosquitos in the net... i love it.) i imagine being a vampire slayer is equally fun.

anyway, i had gotten the propane tank refilled and awaited for the next batch of dead mosquitos for the next month. the problem was... my mosquito magnet did not restart. thinking nothing of it, i attempted to restart the mosquito magnet. it still did not restart. i tried again. it still did not restart. i kept attempting to restart the mosquito magnet to no avail.

needless to say, the mosquito magnet has not been running since the propane tank ran out. considering i live near a pond, that's never a good thing. so today, i decided to fix my mosquito magnet while karen and my bff (kerry) attended the bon jovi concert. and like bon jovi, i was going to be living on a prayer because i suck at fixing my mosquito magnet.

i really didn't do much to the mosquito magnet. i simply took the machine apart and cleaned the inside. inside the mosquito magnet was quite the view... dead mosquitos in every nook and cranny... love it! go buffy!

after some dry vac action and some 409 action, i reassembled the mosquito magnet, crossed my fingers, and hoped the machine would restart. like usual, the machine started to whir. and then... the mosquito magnet started! yay! i was so psyched...

mosquitos beware!

I Suck At Hellboy

yesterday was the usual day that i hang out with my friends (marc and kelley).

with the horrible heat and humidity yesterday, marc asked if they could come over to our house and bask in the glory known as central air. plus recently, they were having problems with their dell plasma television and did not feel they could entertain company. (the screen was not functioning properly.)

according to kelley and her google skills, no one services dell plasma televisions because dell only sells its television parts to its own service contractors. thus, the television would have to be shipped to ohio to be serviced and repaired. with the huge cost of shipping the television and then the amount of for the repairs on top of that, marc and kelley have opted to get a new television instead.

needless to say, we were happy to have them come over. marc and kelley have also been dog sitting this week while one of their friends is away. so, we also were treated with the presence of their fine furry friend.

(pictured below is Ringo, the dog... not the former Beatle.)


anyway, we had a little cookout of hot dogs, pasta salad, beans, and kettle chips. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o"). i even got to try tofu hot dogs, which kelley brought. let's just say... tofu hot dogs have come a long way. although not god awful... they were not that great either. tofu hot dogs definitely take some getting used to.

after dinner, we decided to get psyched up and ready for hellboy 2: the golden army (which comes out this weekend in the theaters) by watching the first movie... hellboy. i suck at hellboy. luckily, marc and kelley had the movie on dvd. like marc, i get pretty excited over comic book movies. it's part of my geek tendencies... which i have apparently been feeling a lot lately.

for those who are unfamiliar with hellboy, hellboy is a demon who is raised from infancy after being conjured by and rescued from the world's ultimate villains... the nazis. hellboy then grows up to battle the forces of darkness with his huge stone right hand. sure, the quick plot synopsis i just gave doesn't make the movie sound that interesting. trust me, though, the movie is good... and not in the same sense that marc considers roadhouse "good". the movie was directed by guillermo del toro of pan's labyrinth fame.

as an added bonus last night, i got to experience for the first time... smucker's magic shell. we had ice cream while we watched hellboy. i must say... the magic shell is so good... and such a neat idea. i have never heard of the magic shell until last night. apparently, the magic shell is the stuff you pour on top of your ice cream that hardens. it was so good. then again, i love all things related to ice cream. i even tried a waffle bowl for the first time. (a waffle bowl is a waffle cone... shaped as a bowl. it makes eating ice cream so much easier.) you'd think i never had ice cream with all these novelties yesterday.

anyway, as usual i had a great time last night.

I Suck At Walkways

today, i can cross off another thing on the home improvement to-do list.

with the heat and humidity, i worked on finishing the walkway to my house. i suck at walkways. the walkway project was part of the entire front lawn makeover that began with the whole
sodbusting fun in may.

as the new grass grew on the front lawn, the walkway to the front door remained largely neglected... until now. my brother-in-law (pj) had an unused roll of weed fabric and some extra flagstones... so, he gave them to karen and i to use. (thanks pj!) lucky for us, we still have the huge pile of crushed stones and rocks sitting in the driveway. (the crushed stones and rocks were used for the french drain project... which currently has also been neglected... is also part of the whole sodbusting/front lawn makeover... yes, the home improvement projects just never end... this is why i never seem to have any time.)

anyway, i first layered the walkway with the stones and rocks. from there, i added the weed fabric to eliminate the growth of any weeds. placed on top of that was another layer of stone and rocks. the flagstones were then spaced and placed on top of that. lastly, to finish the walkway off, more stones and rocks were added to make the flagstones flush. yes, i know... very thrilling...

(pictured below is the walkway to the house.)


anyway, cross another project off the to-do list. yay! too bad i still have more unfinished projects to work on.

I Suck At Building A File Server

one of the problems of being a geek is being prone to do geeky things.

so with the long 4th of july weekend, i decided to partake in geekdom by building a file server. too bad i suck at building a file server.

now, my journey down the path of geekdom this weekend did not exactly start out of the blue. my bff (kerry) recently purchased a new laptop because her existing laptop was somewhat dated and slow. i had originally suggested to kerry that she keep the existing laptop to network both computers.

kerry did not exactly want to networking the two computers, in part because the existing computer was quite slow and did not maintain any sort of battery charge (thus, requiring the use of the ac adapter).

anyway, i then started to brainstorm other things kerry could do with her existing laptop. the things that came to my mind, other than use the laptop as a big paperweight, were a nas (network attached storage) or a file server. needless to say, the two ideas peaked my curiosity and i wondered if it would even be possible to create either device with little overhead.

soon afterwards, kerry offered me her old existing laptop (and her roommate's old laptop) for my experimental purposes. i declined her offer because i knew karen would kill me if i brought home any more computers. i have a slight tendency to bring computers home because i am attracted to shiny objects... and objects that occasionally beep and flash. the only problem, of course, is with all the home improvement projects and whatnot that i have been working on... i very rarely have any time to do things with these computers. so what ends up happening is that the computers basically take up space and collect dust in the house.

luckily, kerry could recycle her old computer (and her roommate's computer) through the company that she purchased her new laptop from (dell). although i'm probably not as extreme as my friend (joanna), i am a big fan of recycling. i think it's great that dell will recycle your old computers. yay dell!

needless to say, the thought of putting an old computer to use stuck in my mind. so this weekend, i decided to turn one of my old computers into a file server. according to my friend, wikipedia:

"a file server is a computer attached to a network that has the primary purpose of providing a location for the shared storage of computer files (such as documents, sound files, photographs, movies, images, databases, et cetera) that can be accessed by the workstations that are attached to the computer network. The term server highlights the role of the machine in the client-server scheme, where the clients are the workstations using the storage. A file server is usually not performing any calculations, and does not run any programs on behalf of the clients. It is designed primarily to enable the rapid storage and retrieval of data where the heavy computation is provided by the workstations."

the old computer i decided to turn into a file server came compliments of the ceo from my previous job. the ceo had a media center pc that received the "blue screen of death", which is an error screen most notably seen on a microsoft windows computer. as the ceo couldn't be bothered by these error screens, he gave the computer to me.

because i have never been a big fan of microsoft, i reformatted the computer to use a more stable operating system: linux. linux has a whole slew of advantages over windows: it's free; it's open source; it's practically virus free as no one writes viruses for linux (because microsoft has the market share); plus, did i mention it's free? i could probably go on and on.

now, i've never used linux, so creating a linux file server to interact with microsoft windows computers in a network provided a good learning experience. it took some time trying to figure things out. in the end, i was able to successfully create the linux file server. immediately afterwards, i began moving all of my files from my primary computer onto the linux file server so that all of the computers on my network could use them.

i am so excited. and yes, i am such a geek. i even think karen is somewhat happy because i finally did something with one of those old computers.

I Suck At The John Carson 2 Mile Road Race

yesterday was the fourth of july. happy independence day america!

naturally, like any good american, i celebrated america's independence by... of all things... running a 2 mile road race. more specifically, i ran the 20th annual john carson 2 mile road race in chelmsford.

for anyone curious, john carson is not the comedian and former host of the tonight show, johnny carson. (insert ed mcmahon's "yes!") this john carson was a chelmsford high star runner who was struck and killed by a train during a training run on december 30, 1987. thus, the proceeds from the race go to the scholarship fund bearing his name.

now, i suck at the john carson 2 mile road race. i probably would not have ran the race had it not been for my favorite sister-in-law (janine). janine had heard about the race some time ago and was very much interested in running the road race in her bid to become more fit. so to support my favorite sister-in-law, karen and i agreed to run the race with her.

when the three of us had decided to run, we had also hoped that karen and janine's cousin (karlene) would also be interested in running the race with us. karlene used to be a distance running freak. since college, however, karlene has had some setbacks and has been quite hesitant to run distance. (i would say karlene is quite competitive, and the reason for her hesitation is that she would be extremely dissatisfied and upset with her current running ability as she would be comparing it with her "glory days". but, that's just my opinion. if i compared my own abilities of today with my "glory days"... i'd be quite upset with a lot of things too... like my diminishing video gaming skills. a man needs his video games!)

needless to say, the idea of a "cousin's race" was not enough to tempt karlene to run again. it did, however, get her husband (tommy) to run the race (even though he left us in the dust with his friend, kevin, during the actual race).

so with no "cousin's race", things were looking pretty grim from the get-go. in addition, the rain was just coming down... and down... and down. (from past experiences, the road race is usually hot and sunny... not yesterday.) the temperature was cold. as all of us took shelter by the local liquor store waiting for the race to start, i dreaded the idea of running with wet boxers, wet socks, and wet sneakers. (i was even tempted to skip the race altogether and just hang out at the liquor store... it could have been more fun.) then all of a sudden... the rain stopped! (apparently mother nature does occasionally feel bad for me.)

(pictured below are janine and karen before the start of the road race.)


with the weather lightening up, we were able to run the two mile road race. the race was full of runners... men... women... children... young... old. there was just a fun atmosphere during the race. i think the most interesting part of the race for me was when everyone went under the bridge near the beginning of the race. everyone was hooting, hollering and cheering, and the sounds were just echoing off the walls. it was fantastic!

the race itself was not so bad either. there were people throughout the course cheering everyone on (in part because they were getting ready for the parade directly afterwards). karen and janine's aunt and uncle (denise and paul) cheered for us, as did karlene, and janine's family (pj, kaleigh and little pj) and kevin's family. it was nice.

anyway, the three of us finished the race together. according to the official results, janine finished 1556 out of 1645 runners. with her time of 27:41, she was 99 out of 111 for her age category. (that basically works out to a mile pace of 13:51.) that's pretty good! she did very well.

all in all, the race was a good time. (of course, getting free food afterwards and a free t-shirt also makes the road race seem all the much better.) i think janine enjoyed it as well (and that really is all that matters).

I Suck At Road House

last night was my usual day to hang out with my friends (marc and kelley).

as karen and i were home the entire day, marc and kelley came to our place for dinner. (we usually end up either going to their place for dinner, eating take out there, or going somewhere local to eat because we cut through quincy on our way home from work.)

so, we had a little cookout... complete with marinaded chicken, grilled vegetables, corn and couscous. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o"! sound). that was just the beginning of the fun.

it just so happened that yesterday, amc (american movie classics) was showing a particular movie on cable when we were done with dinner. that movie... road house. now, i suck at road house. (truth be told, patrick swayze and the rest of the cast of that movie should be saying the same thing.) for anyone who does not know what the movie roadhouse is about... the 1989 movie classic is about a "cooler" or bouncer (in this case, patrick swayze) hired to tame a dirty bar in a small town in the midwest. i don't know who thought this plot would be good, but somehow the movie was made... complete with the star power of patrick swayze.

(below is the trailer for road house.)


neither karen nor kelley have ever seen the movie. after last night, i'm sure they wish they still hadn't. (although, they did seem pretty into the movie.) marc, however, loves the movie. he considers road house one of the best awful movies of all time. so naturally, he was quite excited to watch road house last night.

needless to say, all of us had some laughs last night... compliments of patrick swayze and road house.

I Suck At Working From Home

yesterday, i had a brief glimpse into what life would be like to work from home.

i suck at working from home. for as long as i can remember, i have always wanted to work from home. luckily, my job is the kind of job that can actually allow me to work from home. (everyone i know thinks i "work with computers" or that i do something with computers. my job title is "developer"... so i develop stuff.)

needless to say, the mindless activity of developing requires me to program things... and well, i don't necessarily have to be sitting in an office to be programming things. thus, that was why i always wanted to work while enjoying the comforts of my own home.

anyway, my boss allowed me to work from home yesterday. karen had a doctor's appointment in which ultrasounds were going to be taken of my little minion-to-be. so rather than make the long commute to and from work, i asked my boss if i could work from home. i would have posted the picture of the ultrasound because you can see the little minion's face, but pictures of the ultrasound printouts didn't really come out that well. someday i'll get a scanner.

for anyone interested in the minion update, the ultrasound was pretty cool. karen had to drink a glucose drink because of her family history with diabetes. so, i imagine drinking the orange glucose drink was like drinking pure sugar. well, i think maybe the minion felt the rush too because he/she was quite active during the ultrasound. the arms were waving; the legs were kicking... all very cool.

after the doctor's appointment, i got to go home and start working from home. i must say... it was awesome. not that any of you need a visual or anything, but i stripped down to my boxers (because that is what any self-respecting developer would do) and sat in front of my computer... doing computer stuff. karen must have thought i was crazy. (and really, who is the more crazier one... the pregnant woman with uncontrollable hormones or her husband sitting in his boxers in front of the computer?)

boxers aside, i actually did accomplish a lot of work from home. (i'm developing a web site for work from start to finish.) i'm so looking for when i can actually do this telecommuting thing more often... not that i have anything against the town of marblehead... the town of marblehead is great... i just like my boxers.