Dead Mans Chest Trailer

I know that theWife will be excited about this one, heck so will I. We still haven't gotten to see the Goblet of Fire yet, and now there's this:

Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest:

Daily Links:
2005 "10 Worst Toys" List: Make sure you check the list before Santa checks his.
Bartender jailed after tequila drinker dies: Yeah, it was the bartender's fault. Sure.

Filed in: Video Movies Trailers

The Deer Call

When we built our house, we picked a lot that backs up not to another road, but to 40-acres of privately owned farm land and 310-acres of publicly owned and maintained reservation. The farmer recently plowed all of his corn, leaving us a view of the whole field and all the deer that graze in it.

theWife told me that there was one this week who got closer than any deer before her has. She also told me that it was theDaughter who called her in using theBoys' deer call. As you can see in the pictures below, theDeer got right up to the property line between our houses and the farmer's property:



theWife then had to call theBoys, who are in Iowa with their Dad for Thanksgiving week, and tell them what had happened. Of course, theElderSon did what theBoys both always do, asked for more details that we do not know. Everytime I say I saw a deer they ask me what kind it is, so theWife was expecting that. She got something else though:

theElderSon: Which call did she use?

Hmm, let me think about that for a second. Not being a hunter, and knowing that theDaughter is only 7 and would not know either, I would have to say the one in which she put the call to her lips and blew air into it.

Daily Links:
Taxi Driver: Put the passenger into the glass.
Where's the Rake?: An oldish joke but made better by animation.
Mario Unleashed - Google Video: It's Mario's world, we just live in it.

Filed in: OutOfTheMouthsOfBabes Family Pictures Links

Overheard in the Hallway

Thanksgiving. A day to give thanks. Thanks to families. Thanks to friends. Thanks to life and health. But especially thanks to higher education and uncommonly senseless people who are put on this earth to entertain the rest of us.

I passed two girls in the hallway at work the other day, and I couldn't help but to overhear their conversation. It actually wasn't much of a conversation because only one of the girls were talking, but I overheard it just the same:

So anyway, like croutons are like the coolest. They're just like bread....but crunchy

Before you ask, yes...these are college kids.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving all.

Filed in: Overheard UncommonlySenseless

...And Everything is Right with the World

Somtimes, not all the time but sometimes, there's no better feeling in the world than being a Cleveland sports fan. Sure, we've had our share of disappointment to deal with, more than our share if you ask me, but I know that I, for one, have learned to be happy for small victories.

After the Cavs won on Friday and then there were two amazing come from behind wins, one from the Cavs and one from the Buckeyes, on Saturday, theMom asked me if I knew what that meant. When I said the I didn't, she informed me very simply that the Browns would win because the Cavs and Bucks both did. If that doesn't make sense to any who read this, then you are obviously not a Cleveland Sports fan.

By the way, the Browns did win, pulling off the Cleveland sports trifecta....and everything is right with the world.

Daily Links:
2005 "10 Worst Toys" List: Make sure you check the list before Santa checks his.
World's Ugliest Dog Dies at 14: Anybody else going to miss him? He's still a dog you know.
Crazy Christmas Lights: This is just too cool.

Filed in: Cleveland Sports Browns Cavaliers Buckeyes

Candy Land

Sunday, we decided to take theDaughter to a place we saw on the news Saturday night. Penitentiary Glen Reservation on the East side of Cleveland has a life size Candy Land display, in which the people walking on the game board are the pieces. Just like the board game, theDaughter had to draw colored cards and move to the corresponding spots on the board. theWife and I walked along with her and I snapped the pictures. I would have played against her, but theDaughter usually ends up beating me at Candy Land and I wouldn't have been able to handle the defeat.

Check out the gallery or the slideshow, but here's a little preview:

Filed in: Family Places Cleveland Pictures

What Did That Bowl Ever Do To You

With so much going on around the house, I do not know where to begin. I've got pictures to share from our day trip on Sunday. I have video to share of theDog and I have good news about this site to share with all of you. Let's start with some video...

theDog, or as we have so affectionately dubbed him, P-Doggy, is a growing boy. He's tripled, or maybe quadrupled, in size since we brought him home just a few short months ago. He is also a hungry boy. When he eats, he eats, most of the time without even chewing his food. This causes him to be done with his dinner much faster than he would like to be. I took this video of theDog and what happens when he finishes his dinner. Do you think he's trying to tell us something?

Filed in: Pets HomeVideo Humor

Driving

Driving theBoys to Illinoise...hope we won't need this guy:

Filed in: Family Humor

Ready or Not, It's Here

It's been twelve years. Twelve years since I could look out my window at home or at work and see snow. Twelve years since I've had to drive home from work in snow. Twelve years since I've had a White Christmas. And if you think that's a long time, theWife and other members of theFamily have never had these experiences. Until now.

On Tuesday night our house was assaulted by heavy winds, but the temperature outside was a comfortable 70 degrees. I was beginning to wonder if our first snowfall would ever come. Wednesday morning, however, mother nature heard my request and dropped the temperature into the 40's by the time I left for work. Then she did one better by dropping it into the 30's by the time I left work and into the upper 20's Wednesday night.

Snow flakes started to lightly fall out of the sky, but the snow would get no heavier than that. Yesterday, however, while I was at work, again, the snow decided to pay me a visit and remind me just what Cleveland winter is all about. Mother Nature's way of saying welcome home.

Daily Links:
Message Server Chat (with Google Maps): Chat with someone and see where they are on the map.
Mom Makes Teen Stand on Street With Sign: This will make your kids think twice about not doing their homework.

Filed in: Christmas Cleveland

A Real Life Reverend Henry Kane

As my regular readers and those close to me outside of this blog will attest, I am very rarely serious. Especially on here. I have to be serious enough in my offline life that I've always wanted to keep things loose and entertaining here.

That changed as I watched Fox 8 news on Tuesday night.

They aired a piece that they kept promoing throughout their newscast. A story about a pastor and his congregation rejoicing in the deaths of American Soldiers. Fred Phelps and the WBC are protesting at their funerals with signs that proclaim the dead soldiers were "burning in hell" and that "God hates America". Literally spitting on the American flag and in the faces of the families of the deceased, claiming that the American Army is a "fag army" and only in death do soldiers get "what they deserve". Having done my part and served my country, even though it wasn't during a time of war, you can understand how enraged I was watching this story unfold.

I had to do more research. This story stayed in the back of my mind all night and into the next day. I turned to wikipedia for more information and found this picture of Fred:



I found my reprieve. I was able to find a little more humour in Fred's plight because, look at him. Doesn't he look just like that creepy bad guy from Poltergeist? Is he going to take his followers to California and then hide in a cave to live through the end of the world that never happens? I mean c'mon...they could've been seperated at birth. Then I read the article further:

Four of his children, his sister, former congregants of his church, enemies, acquaintances, and other pastors who have worked with Phelps claim that he abuses both his children and wife, and his two estranged sons claim that Phelps may have been instrumental in the death of his 17-year-old daughter-in-law Debbie Valgos (the first wife of his son Fred Phelps Jr.), who was not supportive of Phelps' teachings.

How come it always seems like this type of holier-than-thou ignorite (yes I just made up my own word) always seem to be complete scumballs in their own lives. Running around pointing a finger at every one and everything except themselves. I just have one thing to say to you Fred Phelps...If I burn in hell for not adopting your teachings the way you say I will, at least I'll be able to beat the living snot out of you every chance I get, for all eternity.

Technorati Tags: Fred Phelps, Westboro Baptist Church, Westboro, Fox8News, Wikipedia

Filed in: UncommonlySenseless

Classic Gaming Systems

Which gaming system did you own as a kid? No, I mean before Nintendo. These classic ads may take you back and jog your memory. I had the Intellivision. Little did I know that George Plimpton Digs Intellivision

George Plimpton says Intellivision is far superior to Atari. Just look at those super-sophisticated graphics. Why, you can practically see the beads of sweat on that baseball pitcher's forehead.

You read that right, it says "Super-sophisticate graphics".I was given the system as a Christmas present. It was the best present I had ever received and I played it for years. That system lasted for at least five years. They sure don't make them like they used to.

Technorati Tags: Intellivision, Baseball, Classic gaming systems, Classic, Gaming, Systems, Atari, George Plimpton

Filed in: Games Nostalgia

Zen iPod Docks

These Zen iPod Docks, as seen on Gizmodo make me long for an iPod even more. I get all crazy when I see cool iPod accessories, when I don't even have an iPod. Why must accessory designers torture me this way. Why....Why?!!!

"A monk saw a turtle in the garden of Daizui’s monastery and asked the teacher, “All iPod docking stations cover their bones with plastic made of white. Why does this being cover its flesh and skin with stones?” Master Daizui took off one of his sandals and covered the i-Stones Wabi with it."

Technorati Tags: iPod, iPod Accessories, Free iPod

Filed in: Tech Wishlist

Now That's an Alarm

Until I have my morning coffee, I am incapable of intelligent thought. People claim this all the time, but I am not making some empty claim. I really am not capable of anything even remotely intelligent until I induce my bloodstream with my caffeine habit. The most recent example of my morning stupidity has a few ingredients. theDog, our security alarm, theFamily, and a few signs posted on the doors, but notthing seemed to break through my sleep-induced haze.

The first time theDog normally wakes up is very early as he is still too young to hold it all night long. So normally, I stumble out of bed, let theDog out of his area, head downstairs and let him out the back door to do his business. The other night, as I forgot during my stumbling, I set the alarm that we have not been setting because of theDog going out multiple times throughout the night. Now that he has reduced that to only once before I am ready to wakeup, we went back to setting the alarm. I remembered as I opened the back door and my brain was jolted awake by the loudest alarm my ears have ever heard.

The next day, theFamily had their fun with it. As we were going to bed they decided to post reminders to me about the alarm, so I would not repeat the events of that morning, which I admit almost gave me a heart attack. So while they were having their fun, they were also trying to help me with these:




Unfortunately, two mornings later, with my head in a thick fog and my eyes closed up pretty tight, I opened the door. Once again I remembered the alarm was set only after my ears were assaulted by this alarm of ours. I need a caffeine solution that will allow me to ingest my fix before my feet hit the floor, no matter what time it is.

Filed in: UncommonlySenseless

Kovu's Law

I've always thought that I would someday like to write a book. It seems easy enough, but I have never been able to think of a story for this eventual book. I have just realized though that a story is not what I need. I have all the material I need right around me. theDog. The book will be about the things in life in which we humans need to know before taking ownership of a puppy. Things like this:

Kovu's Law #27
When the Cats knock items like pencils off the counter that the Kids will later be blamed for leaving laying around, the puppy will be the first to find that item. And he or she will eat it.

The other morning, the first thing I took away from theDog was a pencil. Of course, I immediately blamed on of the children, chastising that child for not keeping their stuff in order and leaving a pencil on the ground where theDog could get it. That same night theWife and I discovered who the real culprits were.

Noises came from downstairs while theWife and I were laying in bed. First came the subtle sounds of the cats jumping up onto the counters, which immediately gets our attention. Next came some shuffling of something unidentified accross the counter and finally the unmistakeable sound of a pencil hitting the floor. Looks like I owe one of the kids an apology, I just have to remember which one.

I'll leave you with another one of Kovu's laws:

Kovu's Law #4
If one of the animals, including the puppy, happen to get sick in the house, the puppy will be the first one to find it, and he or she will eat it.

Daily Links:
If you are going to file a frivolous law suit for something embarassing, make sure you don't try it twice. Some idiot has sued two different companies for getting glued to their toilets.
This eBay item is funny, but not something I would want on my mantle.
Space Mountain is now just a Google Video away, thanks to someone with a good memory and RollerCoaser Tycoon 3.
Finally, a new product for cleaning the shower that will actually work. The Shower-Shower.

Filed in:

• Humor
• Pets

Root of All Evil

Some people have been claiming for years that technology is the root of all evil. For years I have looked at their point of view as being scared of change. But I have seen the light, and know now, that it really is.

I'm working from home today and tomorrow, taking care of theWife, so I've been using the companies OWA. When I fired off an e-mail to an employee, the spell checker came up and proved to me that technology is evil:



Daily Links:
Children suck at drawing. This proves it.

Filed in:

• Tech
• UncommonlySenseless
• Family

Finally

Today is the day. I am taking theWife to the hospital late this morning, so that she can have her knee operated on. Does it sound like I'm relieved that it's finally going to happen? I am.

Seven months, and 2,600 miles, ago, I was at work going about my normal daily routines when my phone rang. Expecting to hear theWife's voice on the other end, I answered the call. theWife's voice was not on the phone, however, it was an employee of hers. She told me that theWife was hurt and needed to go to the hospital. I rushed over to her work.

It turned out that theWife was coming down a ladder and missed the last step. She landed on her knee and has been dealing with the pain, doctors, physical therapy and workman's comp ever since. Had her boss not been such a stress monger and been able to handle a couple of people being in their store, he wouldn't have needed to yell for her help while she was getting up on the ladder to get at a heavy piece of stock. But, that's why they make workman's comp.

For the next few months, doctor's continually checked theWife's knee and continually recommended an MRI be done. Workman's comp had other ideas however. They denied the MRI each time and replied that physical therapy would be all she needed. It took us moving 2,600 miles away and getting a new doctor, before workman's comp finally approved of theWife getting an MRI. But the fun didn't end there, no sir.

The first doctor that read her MRI told her that the only thing they could do was pain management and physical therapy. He then said that he didn't like to take on long term cases, which is what theWife's would be. I think it more likely that the jerk didn't want to have to deal with an out-of-state workman's comp case.

The next doctor read the MRI, the very same MRI, and came to the conclusion that there is a tear in theWife's cartiledge surrounding her knee. This was good news. It doesn't sound like good news, but it was. It was fixable. Then he suggested arthroscopic knee surgery, an outpatient proceedure with about a 6 week recovery time. This sounded much better than years and years of pain management and physical therapy, don't you think?

Thankfully workman's comp approved the surgery and we will be going in later this morning for theWife to have the operation she has needed for the last seven months. Rehab can then begin and with any luck, theWife will be out on the slopes with us in no time.

Daily Links:
Copy Goes Here, it's a movie...get it?
Argh, why didn't we be having this technology in our days, argh.
Have you ever watched something and then thought to yourself that was a waste of time...

Filed in:

• Family
• Health

Trick or Treat

I realize it may be past the trick-or-treat season, but with so many other things going on in my head right now, a real composition simply can not worm it's way through my head to make it onto this blog. Besides, this is too funny not to post, even if I'm a week late with it:



Daily Links:
Did you know there's physics involved with cow tipping?
Play Risk using google maps!!

Filed in:

• Humor
• Video

Put-In-Bay

Saturday, theWife and I took theKids to Put-In-Bay, which in case your not from around this area is an island in Lake Erie. I had never been there myself, so I was expecting a tourist trap. What we found out, on the contrary, was that almost all of the stores and restaurants had closed up for the season. This meant that all of the normal tourist traffic also did not show up. They all missed a beatiful day.

Having the whole island to ourselves, pretty much, meant that we got to see the whole island. We rented a 6-passenger golf cart for the day, and cruised (if you can call the golf cart cruising, although being passed by a local on a bicycle was pretty embarassing) around all day long. Highlights of the day, included walking around a Peace Memorial, skipping rocks on the Islands rocky beaches and eating our packed lunch without being rushed for our table. Their was a winery there too, but I would definitely not call our visit there a highlight.

Of course, we took the camera along with us. Check out the whole set of our day, or view some of my favorite scenery shots we took in:






Daily Links:
Just what every town needs, some rich schmo who wants wifi wherever he goes in the town.
According to this, 114 cups of coffee would kill me. Maybe I should switch to chai tea, at least that would take 378 cups.
Anyone else think George Lucas may have been inspired by these when he created AT-AT's.
Send an e-mail to yourself, 20 years from now.

Filed in:

• Family
• Pictures
• Recreation
• Places
• Travel

Wall Street for Kids

theWife and I were talking as we were driving, and I was recounting some of the events of that morning. I had noticed theBoys, theElderSon and theMiddleChild, were watching TV before they had finished getting ready for school. That they were watching TV did not surprise me. That they were doing it before they were completely ready did not surprise me either. What did surprise me was what they were watching. I would have expected a hunting or fishing program to be on, but what I found them watching was neither. It was the local morning news show.

I was not only surprised, I was impressed. Here were theBoys catching up on local news and events. Sure they weren't ready yet, but hey, they were watching the news. theWife, however, was not surprised. She then explained to me what they were doing and the two words she spoke to me struck a recognition in my mind. A memory long forgotten, since the days when I myself would wake up and get ready for school. Two words that kids dream of in the early morning hours, before having to run off and catch their bus.

School closings.

My first thought was why would they be watching the news for school closings now, it's not even close to being time to snow here yet (really, it's not...shutup). theWife then told me that just about every day, one or more schools were closed because of electrical problems or flooding and they would announce it on the news by way of ticker tape, the same way they do when schools are closed for snow.

Then I truly remembered. Like little Wall Street brokers, on a snowy day, millions of kids sit there in front of their TVs, eyes glued to the bottom of the screen, watching for their school name to appear in the ticker tape of schools who were closing that day. The suburb I grew up in started with a "W", so you can imagine how long I would have to wait to see if my school would be closed that day. The whole time talking to the TV, willing my school name to appear, emphatically telling the newscasters who ran the ticker tape that it would not be safe for busses to be out in this weather.

Then my school name would appear, and like millions of other kids, I would do a victory dance, head back to bed and mentally plan where I would go sledding that day before falling back to sleep. Not once did I ever give thought to the irony that was arguing that roads were unsafe one minute to planning my day's journey on the road the next.

Then theWife brought up a point that brought me back out of my nostalgia. She told me that theKids wouldn't need to do that anymore, they could just look it up on the internet. This thought never occured to me. I could not believe that I had not thought of the internet as their source for school closing information. They would be missing out on a time-tested ritual as old as TV news itself because of something I have always been a proponent of. Any question that they ever have asked that I have not known the answer to (yes, both of them) I have told them to look it up online. Now it appears that they could miss out on something special because of my constant advice. How sad.

We have decided however, to keep theKids in the dark just this once. We will not tell them about finding school closings online. Think of all the fun they would miss out on.

Daily Links:
Hey, you...want to be happy? Start throwing things away. I'm going to start right this min...
These are the people in Arnold's neighborhood.
Ready for war? Let's see. Weapon...check. Side-arm...check. k-bar knife...check. Silly-string...check?

Filed in:

• AboutMe
• Nostalgia
• Family
• Kids

Strange Animal Behavior

Our youngest cat has a strange habit. Whenever he has been petted, he likes to continue that pleasurable feeling by suckling on himself. He has even been known to follow theWife around the house, pawing at her, until she picks him up and cradles him so that he can do this.

Our theory is that this is what happens when a kitten is taken away from it's mother too young. From here on out, he will be referred to as "theSuckler".



Daily Links:
These guys got $400 in donations to buy and destroy an iPod. They should have just gotten a free one.
Yahoo! has finally let developers have at it's maps to develop some neat apps. Here's one that let's you map out upcoming events. Very cool.

Filed in:

• Pets
• HomeMovie
• Humor

I Don't Need No Stinkin Alarms

Who needs alarms? I have the best alarm clock in the world. It's called theDog, who actually should be referred to as thePuppy, but just so's we don't have to change things later on, we'll stick to theDog. A puppy's bladder is only so big, so when one has to go, one has to go.

I took the day off (story another time), so I set the alarm for an hour later than usual. What I forgot to do was tell theDog. At 5:00 AM on the dot theDog woke us up in his usual way of jumping around the bathroom, letting us know it was time for him to go. But he was not satisfied with just going out, no sir. He needed breakfast. theDog wasn't alone either. By the time I brought theDog back in and started to feed him, we were joined by all three cats looking for their breakfast as well. Routines are strange things aren't they? Once started, they're pretty hard to just take a break from.

Daily Links:
Just how much thujone is there in absinthe anyway?
That's all we need, is a burping, crying, ticklish garbage can.

Filed in:

• UncommonlySenseless
• AboutMe
• Pets

Building a Better (and less expensive) Cat Tree

When theWife and theDaughter picked out theKittens, we went to the store to pick up necessary kitten items and we bought a cat tree. It was cheap, but the cat's didn't seem to mind. They constantly played on it, even if it would fall over while they tried to climb to the top because it was pretty cheap. TheWife, however, kept an eye and ear to the blacktop, looking for a better solution for her babies.

After looking at the local pet stores, we found that cat trees are very expensive, and usually made pretty cheaply for the stores. theWife did not get discouraged though, she simply moved her search online.

There she found a multitude of better cat trees. Of course, even without taken shipping into consideration, they are very expensive. The ones we liked run $300. Sure it is extremely cool looking and appears to be much sturdier than the store bought versions, but $300 is $300 and definitely more than we wanted to spend on a cat tree. theWife was not quite ready to give up though.

Due to our recent successes with another project and the use of power tools, we decided that it would be much more economical and fun to build our own, better, cat tree. With that decided, theWife procured the materials during the week and we got a start on it last weekend. We're currently halfway through it, what do you think so far?




Daily Links:
Sign my map
I wonder if these guys knew they would end up on the net.
Some guys are too talented to be part of the mainstream.

Filed in:

• Family
• Recreation