Today, I ended my subscription to Netflix. Yes, I suck at Netflix. As my father's day gift from my favorite sister-in-law (Janine) was nearing an end, I decided to cancel my membership altogether.
It was probably a good thing that I canceled Netflix. Truth be told, I did waste a lot of time watching movies, whereas I could have better spent the time being more productive. (Heck, I probably could have finished renovating the first floor bathroom with all the hours I spent watching movies... Yeah, right.)
So, it appears that the last movies that I will have watched via Netflix are: The Haunting in Connecticut, The Incredible Hulk, and The Wrestler. Of the three, I have only watched The Haunting in Connecticut thus far. I have a week to return the other two.
(The video below is a trailer for The Haunting in Connecticut.)
The Haunting in Connecticut, by the way, was a little lame... and really not that scary at all. Sure, it had the dramatic music and the split second shots of ghosts, but on a whole it was not that good. But, it did have Beaver from Veronica Mars fame in the movie (and the movie had Virginia Madsen too).
Not to be confused with "A" Haunting in Connecticut, which is the documentary about the family and its experience with the haunted house, this movie took a few creative liberties. Either way, I'm sure my friend (Garv) would be absolutely scared. Garv is afraid of ghosts. It's almost comical as to how afraid he is in regards to the supernatural.
Interestingly enough, it turns out that my favorite brother-in-law (PJ) is also not a big fan of scary movies. In the words of my favorite niece (Kaleigh), he screamed like a girl when she snuck up on him after he had watched the movie with my favorite sister-in-law (Janine) and her BFF (Gretchen).
Anyway, having canceled Netflix, Karen and I planned to celebrate with a dinner at Strawberry Fair located in Norwell. Okay, perhaps we weren't celebrating the end of my Netflix subscription. We had talked about going out for dinner after work. It just so happens that the last time we went to Strawberry Fair, we received a coupon for a free strawberry shortcake dessert that would expire today.
Needless to say, we figured we'd give Strawberry Fair a shot and try its strawberry shortcake dessert. The only problem: Strawberry Fair was unexpectedly closed. So, we ended up going to Not Your Average Joe's, which was right down the street.
As usual, Not Your Average Joe's was delicious. I tried their calzone for the first time today. (Cue Rachael Ray's "Yum-O" sound.) It was very good. All in all, I had a good time today with Karen.
Monday, August 31, 2009
I Suck At Going To Lowell
On Sunday, I found out that there is a lot to like about Lowell. For anyone curious, "There is a lot to like about Lowell" was once the slogan used by the "All-America City" of Lowell. To me, I find it strange that a city needs to promote itself. It almost makes it seem like the city needs to repair its shady self-image or something.
I don't know if Lowell has a shady past or anything, but if someone said, "you know, there is a lot to like about Mike... He's an all-american guy..." What would you think? You'd think something is wrong with Mike, right? (Or that he's ugly. Or possibly both.) My thoughts exactly.
Needless to say, I suck at going to Lowell. Karen's aunt (Denise) was having people over for a cookout. And it so happens that Denise lives in Lowell. It is Denise's daughter, Karlene (and her husband Tommy) whom Karen and I generally see during the New Year... along with some other family traditions.
Anyway, as usual the food was delicious. It seems like it has been a long while since my in-laws got together. Granted, we got together last week to celebrate Karen's grandmother's (Nana) birthday. Last week, however, was very brief.
Whether true or not, it seemed like in the past, Karen and I went to a lot of family gatherings. That was, of course, back when Nana was not in the nursing home. Since Nana entered the nursing home, the family get-togethers have been few and far between. (I'm obviously not complaining.) Of course, that's just my opinion.
Regardless, it was nice to attend a family gathering again yesterday. And as it's my nature, I may have instigated a little. Nana's sister (Mary) actually came for the cookout as well.
As long as I have known Mary, she has never had a great memory. At one time, she used to refer to people as "Whosywhatsit". It's like seeing someone who you think you should know, but can't remember their name... and when they say "hi"... you point to them and say "hey... you..." I sometimes fear that I will become Mary because my memory is equally terrible. Unfortunately, her memory has gotten worse with age.
So naturally, I had a little fun with Mary yesterday. Mental note: don't anger the elderly. Mary, after forgetting who I was after telling her minutes before, asked if I were in high school. As much as I enjoyed having a youthful look, I told her that I was in kindergarten. She didn't like that I was teasing her. I was relatively sure that she would forget everything I said in a matter of minutes anyway. In fact, I was banking on the fact that she would not even remember who I was after a few minutes. But when I was teasing her, she sure did give me a nasty look.
All right, so maybe I'm no boy scout. But for the record, I did already tell her that I had graduated college moments before she asked me if I were in high school. I was just having fun.
Anyway, it was a good time at Denise's... even if she does live in Lowell. I found out, by the way, that Lowell has a "Plan E" form of government in which the city's councilors elect a mayor amongst themselves (and not by the city's residents). I found that quite peculiar.
The topic of government came up because Karen thought Tommy would make a great mayor of Lowell, much in the same way that I think my friend (Cass) would make a great mayor of Quincy. By the way, vote Cass in the next election for Quincy's mayor! And for those of you who do not live in Quincy, it's okay to still vote for Cass.
After all, it turns out that the current Mayor (Koch) received votes from non-Quincy residents. Shady? Most definitely. Of course, I still have to convince Cass to run for mayor... which could be problematic. But I can dream... (And for the record, I think Tommy would make a great mayor of Lowell as well.)
I don't know if Lowell has a shady past or anything, but if someone said, "you know, there is a lot to like about Mike... He's an all-american guy..." What would you think? You'd think something is wrong with Mike, right? (Or that he's ugly. Or possibly both.) My thoughts exactly.
Needless to say, I suck at going to Lowell. Karen's aunt (Denise) was having people over for a cookout. And it so happens that Denise lives in Lowell. It is Denise's daughter, Karlene (and her husband Tommy) whom Karen and I generally see during the New Year... along with some other family traditions.
Anyway, as usual the food was delicious. It seems like it has been a long while since my in-laws got together. Granted, we got together last week to celebrate Karen's grandmother's (Nana) birthday. Last week, however, was very brief.
Whether true or not, it seemed like in the past, Karen and I went to a lot of family gatherings. That was, of course, back when Nana was not in the nursing home. Since Nana entered the nursing home, the family get-togethers have been few and far between. (I'm obviously not complaining.) Of course, that's just my opinion.
Regardless, it was nice to attend a family gathering again yesterday. And as it's my nature, I may have instigated a little. Nana's sister (Mary) actually came for the cookout as well.
As long as I have known Mary, she has never had a great memory. At one time, she used to refer to people as "Whosywhatsit". It's like seeing someone who you think you should know, but can't remember their name... and when they say "hi"... you point to them and say "hey... you..." I sometimes fear that I will become Mary because my memory is equally terrible. Unfortunately, her memory has gotten worse with age.
So naturally, I had a little fun with Mary yesterday. Mental note: don't anger the elderly. Mary, after forgetting who I was after telling her minutes before, asked if I were in high school. As much as I enjoyed having a youthful look, I told her that I was in kindergarten. She didn't like that I was teasing her. I was relatively sure that she would forget everything I said in a matter of minutes anyway. In fact, I was banking on the fact that she would not even remember who I was after a few minutes. But when I was teasing her, she sure did give me a nasty look.
All right, so maybe I'm no boy scout. But for the record, I did already tell her that I had graduated college moments before she asked me if I were in high school. I was just having fun.
Anyway, it was a good time at Denise's... even if she does live in Lowell. I found out, by the way, that Lowell has a "Plan E" form of government in which the city's councilors elect a mayor amongst themselves (and not by the city's residents). I found that quite peculiar.
The topic of government came up because Karen thought Tommy would make a great mayor of Lowell, much in the same way that I think my friend (Cass) would make a great mayor of Quincy. By the way, vote Cass in the next election for Quincy's mayor! And for those of you who do not live in Quincy, it's okay to still vote for Cass.
After all, it turns out that the current Mayor (Koch) received votes from non-Quincy residents. Shady? Most definitely. Of course, I still have to convince Cass to run for mayor... which could be problematic. But I can dream... (And for the record, I think Tommy would make a great mayor of Lowell as well.)
I Suck At Finishing The Garage
With the non-stop rain, Saturday was the perfect day to organize things and put them neatly back into garage. After all, the heavy downpour pretty much made going outside not exactly the most favorable option. The only problem: The garage was not finished. Now I suck at finishing the garage. It just so happens that I was not finishing the garage. The contractors were.
Saturday became day 4 of the garage renovation. The original estimate provided by the company hired by Home Depot was two days. In two days, Karen and I were supposed to have a new wall panel system installed in our garage with a new floating rubber floor. Instead, in two days we had a partially completed wall panel system and no floor.
Having finished the wall panel system on Friday, all that was left for the contractors was the floor. So while the contractors worked on installing the floor on Saturday, Karen and I wasted time around the house. We were itching to do something productive during the bad weather. Unfortunately, that was not going to happen.
One of the things we were hoping to do was laundry. Our washer and dryer are currently located in our garage. With the contractors working on the garage (and particularly the floor), our washer and dryer had to be temporarily disconnected... for four days. Four days may not seem a lot, but it did make having clean clothes seem like a long time.
Eventually, the contractors finished installing the floor. Truth be told, the garage looks great. I'm ecstatic with the way the garage came out. Sure, I think the company could have done a better job of estimating the time it would take to finish the garage. If I had to take days off from work, I would be extremely perturbed. Luckily, I work from home most of the days.
Needless to say, I'm happy with the garage even if there are some slight imperfections. Like my friend (Cass) sometimes says... "It's not how I would do it..." I'm particularly happy that I didn't have to renovate the garage myself. The garage would never have gotten completed had I renovated the garage myself because I would always put the project off. (Heck, our first floor bathroom is proof of that.)
Regardless, it is nice to have a finished garage now. The problem, of course, is keeping the garage nice and tidy. With any luck, I'll have the garage door opener working and we can actually park the car in the garage. (Baby steps...)
Anyway, to celebrate the new garage, my friends (Marc and Kelley) came over. Marc and Kelley were coming back from their vacation on Saturday. They were quite excited about their vacation. It sounded like they had a great time, which is cool.
I actually felt bad for asking them to come over. They had been driving around all week, so I'm sure driving down to Norwell was probably a pain. At the time, the contractors were still installing the floor, and I couldn't leave the contractors alone to finish their work because they needed my signature and stuff for when they completed the job. As it was, Marc and Kelley arrived while the contractors were finishing up.
Needless to say, the four of us had a great time. Marc and Kelley had some cheese that they had gotten on their trip... as well as some wine. So we hung out and tried the food. The cheese was good. The cheese had bacon in it... how delicious is that?
All in all, the day turned out to be pretty good despite the heavy rain and the lack of being productive during the day. (It really was agonizing during the day. Karen played some Bejeweled... We watched Senator Ted Kennedy's funeral service. I twiddled my thumbs. Yes, very boring.) So needless to say, hanging out with friends is always a good thing. Karen and I are lucky to have good friends.
Saturday became day 4 of the garage renovation. The original estimate provided by the company hired by Home Depot was two days. In two days, Karen and I were supposed to have a new wall panel system installed in our garage with a new floating rubber floor. Instead, in two days we had a partially completed wall panel system and no floor.
Having finished the wall panel system on Friday, all that was left for the contractors was the floor. So while the contractors worked on installing the floor on Saturday, Karen and I wasted time around the house. We were itching to do something productive during the bad weather. Unfortunately, that was not going to happen.
One of the things we were hoping to do was laundry. Our washer and dryer are currently located in our garage. With the contractors working on the garage (and particularly the floor), our washer and dryer had to be temporarily disconnected... for four days. Four days may not seem a lot, but it did make having clean clothes seem like a long time.
Eventually, the contractors finished installing the floor. Truth be told, the garage looks great. I'm ecstatic with the way the garage came out. Sure, I think the company could have done a better job of estimating the time it would take to finish the garage. If I had to take days off from work, I would be extremely perturbed. Luckily, I work from home most of the days.
Needless to say, I'm happy with the garage even if there are some slight imperfections. Like my friend (Cass) sometimes says... "It's not how I would do it..." I'm particularly happy that I didn't have to renovate the garage myself. The garage would never have gotten completed had I renovated the garage myself because I would always put the project off. (Heck, our first floor bathroom is proof of that.)
Regardless, it is nice to have a finished garage now. The problem, of course, is keeping the garage nice and tidy. With any luck, I'll have the garage door opener working and we can actually park the car in the garage. (Baby steps...)
Anyway, to celebrate the new garage, my friends (Marc and Kelley) came over. Marc and Kelley were coming back from their vacation on Saturday. They were quite excited about their vacation. It sounded like they had a great time, which is cool.
I actually felt bad for asking them to come over. They had been driving around all week, so I'm sure driving down to Norwell was probably a pain. At the time, the contractors were still installing the floor, and I couldn't leave the contractors alone to finish their work because they needed my signature and stuff for when they completed the job. As it was, Marc and Kelley arrived while the contractors were finishing up.
Needless to say, the four of us had a great time. Marc and Kelley had some cheese that they had gotten on their trip... as well as some wine. So we hung out and tried the food. The cheese was good. The cheese had bacon in it... how delicious is that?
All in all, the day turned out to be pretty good despite the heavy rain and the lack of being productive during the day. (It really was agonizing during the day. Karen played some Bejeweled... We watched Senator Ted Kennedy's funeral service. I twiddled my thumbs. Yes, very boring.) So needless to say, hanging out with friends is always a good thing. Karen and I are lucky to have good friends.
Friday, August 28, 2009
I Suck At Electrical Work
Yesterday was day 2 of the garage renovation. So far, everything looks great. I think Karen is pretty excited about the new garage as well. I am hoping that after today, my man cave will be complete.
Anyway, yesterday was a little bit more labor intensive on my part. In addition to the odd three way switch wiring, there is conduit running along the ceiling of the garage. Technically, there are two conduits: one that is used to power the ever popular septic system; the other used to power... absolutely nothing.
Needless to say, one of the conduits has to stay. The other conduit had to go. Now, you may be thinking why the conduit had to go at that moment. After all, couldn't I just remove it at a later time?
Well, I could. The problem was that if I were to leave the conduit and remove it at a later time, there would be a big gaping hole in the garage paneling system. And if people have not figured it out yet, I am somewhat peculiar about things. Karen sometimes makes fun of me because I can stare at walls for a long time.
The reason as to why there would be a hole in the paneling system is because the installers would have to cut around the conduit. That is not a problem for the conduit being used to power the septic system. It does, however, seem a little silly to cut around conduit that does absolutely nothing.
Naturally, the conduit that does absolutely nothing has wires going through the wall and into the garage's electrical panel. So, I would have to do some electrical work to not only remove the conduit from the ceiling, but take out the wires that lead from the electrical panel, through the wall, and into the conduit. Unfortunately, I suck at electrical work.
Luckily for me, I did not get electrocuted. (Look ma, no shocks!) I removed the cover to the electrical panel... did a little snip snip here... a little snip snip there. I capped the wires. I yanked out the rest... and voila! Conduit removed.
It's amazing what one can do when there is a time frame placed on a project. I should probably give myself a time frame for the other home improvement projects that I have to do. The projects would actually probably get done that way.
Anyway, yesterday was a little bit more labor intensive on my part. In addition to the odd three way switch wiring, there is conduit running along the ceiling of the garage. Technically, there are two conduits: one that is used to power the ever popular septic system; the other used to power... absolutely nothing.
Needless to say, one of the conduits has to stay. The other conduit had to go. Now, you may be thinking why the conduit had to go at that moment. After all, couldn't I just remove it at a later time?
Well, I could. The problem was that if I were to leave the conduit and remove it at a later time, there would be a big gaping hole in the garage paneling system. And if people have not figured it out yet, I am somewhat peculiar about things. Karen sometimes makes fun of me because I can stare at walls for a long time.
The reason as to why there would be a hole in the paneling system is because the installers would have to cut around the conduit. That is not a problem for the conduit being used to power the septic system. It does, however, seem a little silly to cut around conduit that does absolutely nothing.
Naturally, the conduit that does absolutely nothing has wires going through the wall and into the garage's electrical panel. So, I would have to do some electrical work to not only remove the conduit from the ceiling, but take out the wires that lead from the electrical panel, through the wall, and into the conduit. Unfortunately, I suck at electrical work.
Luckily for me, I did not get electrocuted. (Look ma, no shocks!) I removed the cover to the electrical panel... did a little snip snip here... a little snip snip there. I capped the wires. I yanked out the rest... and voila! Conduit removed.
It's amazing what one can do when there is a time frame placed on a project. I should probably give myself a time frame for the other home improvement projects that I have to do. The projects would actually probably get done that way.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
I Suck At Changing Outlets And Switches
Yesterday, Karen and I went out for a little celebration. We ended up celebrating at our local hot spot, Not Your Average Joe's in Norwell. Needless to say, the food (and the bread) was delicious. (Cue Rachael Ray's "Yum-O" sound.)
One of the reasons for our celebration: our garage. Woo hoo garage! Who doesn't celebrate their garage? Anyway, contractors began renovating our garage yesterday. The project will definitely take longer than expected. The main installer (Keith), when he saw the size of the garage was surprised that only two days were scheduled to complete the job. (Keith seems to think the project will be finished in three days.)
Keith seems like a nice guy. He used to be in the Marine Corps (Semper Fi!). His dad used to be a carpenter and he was in business for himself for quite awhile. Unfortunately, he could never make money... not that his work was awful or anything, but apparently health insurance took a big chunk of change out of his pockets. Hence, he became a contractor for Home Depot as their corporation provided benefits. (It's amazing what you can learn in a couple of hours as he unpacks all of his tools and materials.)
Oh, and Keith is proud of his first and only video creation: a documentary he did on a fire that left his friend homeless for some time. Other than that, he is not too savvy with the computer. (Yes, I have too much time on my hands to get all this information.)
Anyway, for a while I have been organizing the garage... trying to clean things and get them... well, out of the garage. The purpose of all the organization was for this garage install project. The project would have started sooner, but Karen and I were away on vacation in Onset when the installers originally wanted to begin.
The entire garage project basically started on a whim. Some time ago, Karen and I were in Home Depot and one of the sales associates approached us. Always one to be polite, I listened to his sales pitch. The next thing you know, Home Depot scheduled a designer to stop by the house and look into the possibility of renovating the garage. Heck, the design was free, so why not?
After speaking with the designer, Karen and I started to think about the real possibility of letting Home Depot renovate the garage. Apparently, Home Depot purchased this company that has what is called a Viking system. (I think the company used to be called Viking... or Blue Viking... or something Nordic like that.) Basically, the Viking system is a bunch of panels that attach to the wall. Hooks, baskets, cabinets, etc. can then be attached to these panels at any location. And from there, organizing the garage will be easier to maintain.
The whole thing sounded great. Plus, I was really in no mood to tackle a huge project like the garage. After all, I still have the bathroom on the first floor that has been patiently waiting for my attention. So my resources are stretched a little thin. Having someone else come in and renovate the garage sounded like a good thing.
And so Karen and I signed on the dotted line and promised them an arm and a leg. (I don't really need my arm or leg anyway.) If yesterday is any indication of how things are going to be with the garage, then I am happy we decided to have professionals do the work. I have had no complaints thus far. Of course, it has only been one day.
The only thing that I had to do, however, was change the outlets and switches. Unfortunately, I suck at changing outlets and switches. Keith had put up the Viking panels on one side of the room. The panels look great. The only problem was that the old outlet in the garage was... well... awful. The outlet was painted over and rusted. Yes, very aesthetically pleasing.
Hence, the dinner at Not Your Average Joe's in Norwell. Not Your Average Joe's is located near the Home Depot. So after dinner, Karen and I went to pick up some outlets and switches to match the garage. (The outlets and switches... and the wall plates for them... are black, like the trim in our garage.)
Needless to say, I spent much of the night installing the outlets and switches. The outlets were easy to switch because they were on a separate circuit than the garage lights. Changing the light switch in the dark, however, was a little more complicated. I actually had to bring in a work light to install the switches.
And interestingly enough, the wiring for some of the switches: bad. As my friend (Cass) would say... "it's not how I would do it, but..." I would actually ground the grounding wire. That's just me. And I would actually make the three way switch work like a three way switch.
The three way switch in the garage does not properly work. Whichever end you are on, that side controls the light. I can't switch on the light from one side, then go to the other side. Sure, it's annoying. The three way switch in our front area of the house is similarly annoying. That switch does not function properly either and that was installed by an electrician. Damn three way switches.
Anyway, I did not have time to actually look into the matter of the three way switch in the garage. By the time I had discovered its peculiar behavior, it was pretty late into the night. In fact, I may have discovered the weird wiring during the airing of my friend's (Hot Amy) guest appearance on Quncy Access Television. Yeah, Hot Amy is famous now. I haven't seen the episode. I can't wait to watch it though.
Needless to say, I decided to leave the wiring as is. After all, it is just the garage. I suppose I could look into fixing the problem at a later date. But for now, the switch will continue doing its thing: being weird.
Hopefully the rest of the project will still go smoothly.
One of the reasons for our celebration: our garage. Woo hoo garage! Who doesn't celebrate their garage? Anyway, contractors began renovating our garage yesterday. The project will definitely take longer than expected. The main installer (Keith), when he saw the size of the garage was surprised that only two days were scheduled to complete the job. (Keith seems to think the project will be finished in three days.)
Keith seems like a nice guy. He used to be in the Marine Corps (Semper Fi!). His dad used to be a carpenter and he was in business for himself for quite awhile. Unfortunately, he could never make money... not that his work was awful or anything, but apparently health insurance took a big chunk of change out of his pockets. Hence, he became a contractor for Home Depot as their corporation provided benefits. (It's amazing what you can learn in a couple of hours as he unpacks all of his tools and materials.)
Oh, and Keith is proud of his first and only video creation: a documentary he did on a fire that left his friend homeless for some time. Other than that, he is not too savvy with the computer. (Yes, I have too much time on my hands to get all this information.)
Anyway, for a while I have been organizing the garage... trying to clean things and get them... well, out of the garage. The purpose of all the organization was for this garage install project. The project would have started sooner, but Karen and I were away on vacation in Onset when the installers originally wanted to begin.
The entire garage project basically started on a whim. Some time ago, Karen and I were in Home Depot and one of the sales associates approached us. Always one to be polite, I listened to his sales pitch. The next thing you know, Home Depot scheduled a designer to stop by the house and look into the possibility of renovating the garage. Heck, the design was free, so why not?
After speaking with the designer, Karen and I started to think about the real possibility of letting Home Depot renovate the garage. Apparently, Home Depot purchased this company that has what is called a Viking system. (I think the company used to be called Viking... or Blue Viking... or something Nordic like that.) Basically, the Viking system is a bunch of panels that attach to the wall. Hooks, baskets, cabinets, etc. can then be attached to these panels at any location. And from there, organizing the garage will be easier to maintain.
The whole thing sounded great. Plus, I was really in no mood to tackle a huge project like the garage. After all, I still have the bathroom on the first floor that has been patiently waiting for my attention. So my resources are stretched a little thin. Having someone else come in and renovate the garage sounded like a good thing.
And so Karen and I signed on the dotted line and promised them an arm and a leg. (I don't really need my arm or leg anyway.) If yesterday is any indication of how things are going to be with the garage, then I am happy we decided to have professionals do the work. I have had no complaints thus far. Of course, it has only been one day.
The only thing that I had to do, however, was change the outlets and switches. Unfortunately, I suck at changing outlets and switches. Keith had put up the Viking panels on one side of the room. The panels look great. The only problem was that the old outlet in the garage was... well... awful. The outlet was painted over and rusted. Yes, very aesthetically pleasing.
Hence, the dinner at Not Your Average Joe's in Norwell. Not Your Average Joe's is located near the Home Depot. So after dinner, Karen and I went to pick up some outlets and switches to match the garage. (The outlets and switches... and the wall plates for them... are black, like the trim in our garage.)
Needless to say, I spent much of the night installing the outlets and switches. The outlets were easy to switch because they were on a separate circuit than the garage lights. Changing the light switch in the dark, however, was a little more complicated. I actually had to bring in a work light to install the switches.
And interestingly enough, the wiring for some of the switches: bad. As my friend (Cass) would say... "it's not how I would do it, but..." I would actually ground the grounding wire. That's just me. And I would actually make the three way switch work like a three way switch.
The three way switch in the garage does not properly work. Whichever end you are on, that side controls the light. I can't switch on the light from one side, then go to the other side. Sure, it's annoying. The three way switch in our front area of the house is similarly annoying. That switch does not function properly either and that was installed by an electrician. Damn three way switches.
Anyway, I did not have time to actually look into the matter of the three way switch in the garage. By the time I had discovered its peculiar behavior, it was pretty late into the night. In fact, I may have discovered the weird wiring during the airing of my friend's (Hot Amy) guest appearance on Quncy Access Television. Yeah, Hot Amy is famous now. I haven't seen the episode. I can't wait to watch it though.
Needless to say, I decided to leave the wiring as is. After all, it is just the garage. I suppose I could look into fixing the problem at a later date. But for now, the switch will continue doing its thing: being weird.
Hopefully the rest of the project will still go smoothly.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
I Suck At Celebrating Nana's Birthday
My BFF (Kerry) spent the night after our John Hughes movie night. Truth be told, I enjoy it when Kerry spends the night. After all, whenever she spends the night it generally means that Karen and I can continue with our Veronica Mars season. (It's a good show, trust me.)
Plus, I'm sure Batista enjoys it whenever Kerry spends the night too. Batista gets lonely in the room. So sharing the bed with Kerry is probably a plus for him. It's probably the only action he'll get. (For anyone curious, Batista is an action figure of the WWE wrestler: Batista. Marc and Kelley got it for Karen because Karen is a big fan of Batista's exotic look.)
On Sunday, however, there would no Veronica Mars to watch. Karen and I actually had family plans. Luckily, we got to hang out with Kerry beforehand. Well... technically, Karen got to hang out with Kerry because the two of them went shopping while I worked on the garage. It's good though. I think Karen needs quality girl bonding time every now and then.
Anyway when Kerry left, Karen and I went to the nursing home to visit Karen's grandmother. Karen's grandmother (Nana) recently had a birthday and the family celebration happened to be on Sunday. Happy birthday Nana! Unfortunately, I suck at celebrating Nana's birthday.
It was actually nursing home day because Karen and I also visited Karen's other grandmother who was in a transitional nursing home rehabbing from a cracked bone in her leg. So we pretty much made the nursing home rounds on Sunday.
Regardless, Nana's birthday celebration was interesting. Karen and I carpooled with my favorite sister-in-law (Janine), my favorite brother-in-law (PJ), my niece (Kaleigh) and my nephew (PJ). Starving, all of us headed to Salsa's for a quick bite to eat. (Cue Rachael Ray's "Yum-O" sound.) The appetizers at Salsa's was delicious. It's too bad we had to cut the visit short.
The party for Nana actually seemed rather quick. There was the usual cake and presents. And then shortly thereafter, everyone left. I think Nana had a good time. She seemed thrilled that a lot of us where there. Anyway, I hope Nana enjoyed her day.
Plus, I'm sure Batista enjoys it whenever Kerry spends the night too. Batista gets lonely in the room. So sharing the bed with Kerry is probably a plus for him. It's probably the only action he'll get. (For anyone curious, Batista is an action figure of the WWE wrestler: Batista. Marc and Kelley got it for Karen because Karen is a big fan of Batista's exotic look.)
On Sunday, however, there would no Veronica Mars to watch. Karen and I actually had family plans. Luckily, we got to hang out with Kerry beforehand. Well... technically, Karen got to hang out with Kerry because the two of them went shopping while I worked on the garage. It's good though. I think Karen needs quality girl bonding time every now and then.
Anyway when Kerry left, Karen and I went to the nursing home to visit Karen's grandmother. Karen's grandmother (Nana) recently had a birthday and the family celebration happened to be on Sunday. Happy birthday Nana! Unfortunately, I suck at celebrating Nana's birthday.
It was actually nursing home day because Karen and I also visited Karen's other grandmother who was in a transitional nursing home rehabbing from a cracked bone in her leg. So we pretty much made the nursing home rounds on Sunday.
Regardless, Nana's birthday celebration was interesting. Karen and I carpooled with my favorite sister-in-law (Janine), my favorite brother-in-law (PJ), my niece (Kaleigh) and my nephew (PJ). Starving, all of us headed to Salsa's for a quick bite to eat. (Cue Rachael Ray's "Yum-O" sound.) The appetizers at Salsa's was delicious. It's too bad we had to cut the visit short.
The party for Nana actually seemed rather quick. There was the usual cake and presents. And then shortly thereafter, everyone left. I think Nana had a good time. She seemed thrilled that a lot of us where there. Anyway, I hope Nana enjoyed her day.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
I Suck At John Hughes Movies
Yesterday, my friends (Marc and Kelley) organized a little movie marathon. The theme for the movie marathon: John Hughes, the person responsible for many great memorable movies during our childhood. For anyone curious, John Hughes died of a heart attack on August 6th. So, the movie marathon was a tribute to late great writer/director/producer.
Unfortunately, I suck at John Hughes movies. On the agenda for the night: Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Sixteen Candles, and Pretty In Pink. All of those movies... classic!
(The video below is from Ferris Bueller.)
(The video below is a trailer for Sixteen Candles.)
(The video below is from Pretty In Pink.)
Joining in on the movie fun were my BFF (Kerry) and my friends (Andrea, Cass, and Ellen) My friend (Aimee) was also able to make a little brief pit stop with her children (Rio and Amaya).
The night started off with a blast. And by blast, I mean pink martinis! Kelley made pink martinis for the occasion which were absolutely delicious. As it was a celebration of sorts, I naturally imbibed. Needless to say, the pink martini was good.
Not to be outdone, Andrea also brought a special treat for the night. Andrea generally brings something good to a party. It just so happens that on Saturday Andrea brought pudding shots. Pudding shots are like Jell-o shots, just with pudding. The pudding shots were quite delicious. I could have eaten the entire tray if given enough time. There is, after all, always room for... pudding.
Anyway, it was a fun night to enjoy the movies with a bunch of friends. I always like watching movies to see actors and actresses before they were stars. Case in point: Kristy Swanson, the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Kristy Swanson appeared in Ferris Bueller as Simone, the girl who explained to Ben Stein why Ferris was out sick. As well, she also appeared in Pretty In Pink as the girl who ended up with the one and only Duckie.
In addition to seeing actors and actresses of years past, I like to see how well movies stand the test of time. Sixteen Candles was interesting because there were scenes of sexual harrassment that were supposed to be comedic. Oh those silly kids. Pretty In Pink was pretty funny too, just for the awful kissing scenes between Molly Ringwald and Andrew McCarthy. (Their kissing scenes made Jake Lloyd's acting look good. Well, okay I won't go that far.)
Needless to say, I think everyone else had a good time because there is talk now of a regular 80's movie night. I'll admit... I'm pretty excited about it. Of course, I do tend to like all things 80's... even the big hair.
Unfortunately, I suck at John Hughes movies. On the agenda for the night: Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Sixteen Candles, and Pretty In Pink. All of those movies... classic!
(The video below is from Ferris Bueller.)
(The video below is a trailer for Sixteen Candles.)
(The video below is from Pretty In Pink.)
Joining in on the movie fun were my BFF (Kerry) and my friends (Andrea, Cass, and Ellen) My friend (Aimee) was also able to make a little brief pit stop with her children (Rio and Amaya).
The night started off with a blast. And by blast, I mean pink martinis! Kelley made pink martinis for the occasion which were absolutely delicious. As it was a celebration of sorts, I naturally imbibed. Needless to say, the pink martini was good.
Not to be outdone, Andrea also brought a special treat for the night. Andrea generally brings something good to a party. It just so happens that on Saturday Andrea brought pudding shots. Pudding shots are like Jell-o shots, just with pudding. The pudding shots were quite delicious. I could have eaten the entire tray if given enough time. There is, after all, always room for... pudding.
Anyway, it was a fun night to enjoy the movies with a bunch of friends. I always like watching movies to see actors and actresses before they were stars. Case in point: Kristy Swanson, the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Kristy Swanson appeared in Ferris Bueller as Simone, the girl who explained to Ben Stein why Ferris was out sick. As well, she also appeared in Pretty In Pink as the girl who ended up with the one and only Duckie.
In addition to seeing actors and actresses of years past, I like to see how well movies stand the test of time. Sixteen Candles was interesting because there were scenes of sexual harrassment that were supposed to be comedic. Oh those silly kids. Pretty In Pink was pretty funny too, just for the awful kissing scenes between Molly Ringwald and Andrew McCarthy. (Their kissing scenes made Jake Lloyd's acting look good. Well, okay I won't go that far.)
Needless to say, I think everyone else had a good time because there is talk now of a regular 80's movie night. I'll admit... I'm pretty excited about it. Of course, I do tend to like all things 80's... even the big hair.
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