Do you really think about this?

We are totally inundated with commercials about auto insurance in this country. You can't go 5 minutes on any form of media without being told how some lizard can save you money, or how the guy that lives down the street from you is your best choice, or how the state minimum is the way to go. Do you really ever think about auto insurance Ohio? I know that I don't. I have the same insurance guy that I've always had and as far as I know my coverage is fine. I'm also not interested in switching because I would lose all the discounts I get for combining policies. I just don't know who the people are that are constantly reevaluating their auto insurance.

OSU and Texas

While I'm very happy that we get to play in a BCS bowl game, I'm a little bit frustrated that we are all but assured another beatdown in a big game. Texas is the best team in the country, and it stinks for them that they have no shot at the title this year. True, OSU will be the best defense Texas has seen all year, but that offense just isn't going to slow down enough to give the Bucks a chance in this game. I just can't see it. I'm just hoping that it won't be TOO embarrassing.

Nice Equipment

Nice faucets can go a long way to making a bathroom or kitchen look nice. Even if it's a cheap brushed nickel model as opposed to a Walmart special. You don't have to spend tons of money on Moen faucets or other name brands to get the job done. It made a huge difference in our old house as to how things looked. We sold our house once we got the kitchen and bathrooms looking nice. So if you are looking for a quick fix, check out some new faucets at your local home center. You will be very happy with the difference.

A Great Buy

My wife is cold all the time. Cold weather would be defined by her as any temperature that could be expressed with less than 3 digits. I on the other hand am a very warm person. My perfect temperature is about 68 degrees. Clearly we have some thermostat issues but one way that we were able to solve some of those was by buying heated mattress pad. Ok so we only have one, but it works great. She can cook her side of the bed to the temperature of a closely orbiting dwarf planet, and I can keep my side nice and cool. Definitely worth the money.

We're Saved!!

Finally Ken Dorsey is going to start for the Browns. We are saved.

Ok really, can things get much worse for the Browns? No offense intended to Mr. Dorsey but I just can't see this ending well. The Browns went from a solid team with hope to a joke. I'm getting tired of waiting till next year, but it looks like that is where we are again.

Oh and it's a joke that Texas won't be playing for the national title. They are the best team in the country and the only team that would give Florida a game. As it is, the Gators are all but assured another title.

Bill Cowher, please, save us from ourselves...

Be Careful

It frustrates me when something is designed for a good purpose and then gets twisted into something else. Phentermine is an appetite suppresent that is intended to be used in the short term by obese patients who are at risk when it comes to exercise. It is not intended to be a substitute for Joe Flab who wants to lose 20 pounds and is too lazy to go to the gym and work. If you want to be healthier, or look better, then you need to get active. Do something that you like, do it a lot, and be consistant.

A Win is a Win

Well I guess a win is a win, but that was not a well played game by the Browns. Nothing about that game led me to believe that the Browns are on the right path to correcting their myriad of problems on both sides of the ball. Talent is the issue right now for this team (except at corner back), but they still don't function as a team. There is enough skill in the locker room for this to be a playoff team. All they need is a coach to bring them together.

Bill Cowher, please come to Cleveland and make this team a winner.

Logistics?

What kind of jobs do logistics experts do? I really don't know much about this. I heard the term and really had to ask myself if I knew what it even meant. I guess it's probably just planning and coordinating, but what specifically? Or is it simply not specific? I don't know. What kind of stuff would you find on logistics resumes? Would it be vague or specific? Does anyone out there have a title that includes the word "logisitic"? What kind of job is it? I'm just curious.

Time for you to buy a watch...

I really like clocks. I guess you could say that I have kind of a clock "thing". I have the odd tendency to stop and check out the clock aisle a store in a way that probably isn't all that proper. Clocks just rock. The odd thing is that I haven't been into watches in a while. I used to have one all the time but not so much for a long time now. I guess if I had a really nice one like Tag Heur or Oakley watches then maybe I would. As it is, those things are low on my totem pole for now.

Are you ready for a 4th quarter collapse!!!!!!

Yes that's right. The Browns are again on Monday Night Football. This week our opponent is the Buffalo Bills. I'm banking on a huge second half collapse.

Please, someone give Bill Cowher a blank check before next season.

No, seriously, please....

Ads

I am so very thankful for DVR. Mainly because I hate commercials and now I never have to watch them. This political season has been far more bearable and I never have to hear about how I need auto insurance quotes every 5 minutes. The unfortunate side effect is that products are now resorting to product placement within the show you are watching. That isn't quite as annoying on most shows. The Biggest Loser is the bad example. They write commercials into the dialogue. Man is it annoying.

Candy

I am sick sick sick of candy. Seriously, candy at this time of year just won't go away. The bowl full of it on top of our fridge seems to be refilling itself. Thankfully my back is finally feeling better so I should be able to start working out again this week. I had planned to do it today but ended up hanging out at lunch with some folks from around here. I'm a little bummed about that but hey. Maybe I'll take an hour of vacation and do it anyway I don't know.

Candy

We have more candy right now than we know what to do with, and Halloween isn't even here yet. Between trunk or treat, the black walnut festival, and maybe even some labor day candy, we are swimming in it. Our kids hardly ever eat any of it, which is good, but the down side is that there is no one to hide it from me. I haven't seen any Ju Ju Be type stuff but I have been going crazy on the sweet tarts and pixie sticks. On the plus side my back is feeling much better so my plan is to be back in the gym on Monday. Hopefully I can keep my hand out of the bad until then.

Research

Do you have any good research on weight loss pills? If you do, please send me a link. I'm curious to read it. I haven't tried them and typically choose to use more conventional means for weight control but I'm curious as to how they work and what affects they have when you take them. Obviously they aren't all the same so I'll be interested in a wide variety of ideas. Thanks in advance for any info you can find for me on the topic. If I get enough info I may write some sort of review.

So Much For That

Well it looks like the Browns are back to being irrelevant again. They looked absolutely terrible yesterday and are now staring at a 3 game deficit to a much better Steelers team. Time to start thinking about draft picks. Throw the rest of the games and ensure a top draft pick and then try again next year. While you're at it, trade one of these QB's and pick up some more defensive help. With a little luck, we might have a slightly less dissapointing season next year, but I'm not counting on it.

This Old PC

Man this computer is getting slow. I've thought about asking for someone to buy memory for it but I'm getting a new one soon enough that it probably isn't worth the effort. It's hard when I have so many memory intensive things running at ones. I find myself shutting down everything in the system tray to free up every last shred. Hopefully soon my new pc will be here and I will no longer have to deal with this. It will be nice to hum along at an even pace once again.

New Life?

The Browns suprised me greatly this week. I had actually picked them to lose to the tune of a 45-17 score. After the way the Giants dismantled them in the preseason, coupled with their less than lackluster play of late, it isn't surprising why I felt that way. As it turned out, they proved me wrong, which is a great thing. They looked like the team that I expected after last year. They have a lot of talent but until this week hadn't shown any of it. My only hope is that it will last. Can they continue to play this well?

This week they have to travel to DC to play the Redskins. Another tough assignment given that the skins are coming off of a bad loss. The Browns will need to keep their heads in check and play like underdawgs again if they want to keep this rolling. They need to go on a run here in the next few weeks if they want to get back into the division race. Pittsburg is catchable, given all their injury issues so the Browns need to take advantage.

Here's hoping for another big win this weekend!

Bad For Business

You have to wonder if the casino owners out in las vegas are a bit worried right now. Most people aren't going to have a lot of disposable income for a while I don't think. The sad thought that just occurred to me though is that a lot of people will probably spend their last dollars in the hopes of getting rich quick and just end up poorer than they were to begin with. Entertainment industries are going to suffer as much as anything else I think. I bet even pro athletes aren't going to get the size of contracts that they once did, just because the teams won't be able to afford them anymore.

Yum

I love baking at Christmas time. My sister and mom and I used to have a baking day every year in which we would make rock candy, Christmas cookies, fudge, and even caramels. It was a blast for us every year. We've started doing that with our kids as well but so far just with the cookies. I'm not sure I trust them around hot molten sugar just yet. That stuff is a WHD (weapon of holiday destruction) if I've ever seen one. I just hope that our kids grow up to love Christmas as much as I did. My mom and dad did a great job of that for us, and it didn't really have anything to do with what we got.

Upgrades

We did a lot of home improving to our old house in order to get it sold. We replaced the kitchen counters, the bathroom sink and counter, painted all over and even redid the bathroom floors. We even picked out new bathroom lighting for the master. In then end it all worked out and we got it sold. Sometimes I wonder if we could have gotten away with not doing anything at all, but I guess we'll never know for sure. I just wish that we could have avoided the septic tank issues. That wasn't cool.

Hot n Cold

My wife and I have very differing views on what constitutes a comfortable temperature. For me, around 67 or 68 is about perfect these days. For her it's closer to 78. So naturally we have some thermostat wars from time to time. One of the solutions we came up with was a dual electric blanket or mattress cover in our case. It works out great because we can turn the thermostat down for me and she can still bake like a potato at night if she wishes. It's all about the right solution sometimes.

Forceful

Some things just never run out of cool. Take magnets for instance. Who could ever get tired of playing with them? Even the guy on Mythbusters loves them. He actually has a licsense to get the really extra powerful ones that could take your hand off if you aren't careful. Personally I could see that as being really fun, but I can't imagine a real use for them besides just goofing around. Besides, I like my hands. So what else can you think of that never runs out of cool?

Over There

It's amazing to me that our world is so hugely interconnected in this day and age. The American economic crisis is having a huge affect on the rest of the world. I don't even have a passport but business sure do. Iceland may go bankrupt as a side affect of all this turmoil. It's kind of scary in a way. There are no longer any isolated hubs for survival if one area fails. We are all going to succeed or fail together. The sooner we learn that lesson on a global scale, the better. Hopefully we won't have to learn it the hard way.

Dish It Out

I recently spent a considerable amount of time hashing out tv deals in an attempt to get the best value for our family at our new house. In the end I think I found it but wow was it more annoying than I had ever hoped. Temporary pricing and installation cost and service areas all gave me headaches. And I'm not going to even get into the fun I had "bundling" my services. "Bungling", might serve as a better description. I just hope that the bill doesn't give me sticker shock. At this point I just have to hope that the deal I got is a good one.

Tikes R Us

Some friends of ours recently adopted four kids. A monumental undertaking right? Yeah well factor in that they already have three of their own and you have almost enough of a zoo to start charging admission. They do a really good job of things but I have no idea how they handle it all. I joked that they needed to buy a bus to get around and they nearly did. It's one of those big church van type huge passenger vehicles. I'm guessing the gas prices right now are not making that much fun. I feel bad for them about that. But, if those kids grow up in a loving home and learn about Jesus when they wouldn't have otherwise then it will have been worth it all.

OUTside

I don't have a lot of outdoor furniture, so I'm not sure I understand the concept of patio furniture covers. Are these covers somehow made to be waterproof, or are they intended for the not-really-outside-but-it-has-a-lot-of-windows-so-I-can-pretend-I'm-outside-kind-of-room? If that is the case then I suggest calling it Florida room furniture. Not much chance of rain in rooms like that. Unless it's like our old house and the Florida room roof is so rotted that the rain literally poured through the ceiling. We didn't put any furniture out there....

Trunk Revision

I honestly don't give much thought to swimwear. I have one pair of trunks that I think look pretty cool and thats about it. Frankly I don't swim much so it isn't much of an issue for me. I'm sure that there are a lot of people that put quite a bit of thought into that sort of thing but I'm not one of them. Maybe if I ever reach all of my fitness goals, then I will care more. I still can't see going anywhere but the trunk route. The other guy options are, well, gross. Well I think I've said about all I care to about this subject.

Straight Cash Homie

I have never been to vegas myself but several of my friends have. I can't imagine that there is a lot around the area over there. How exactly did they manage to create a giant city in the middle of a desert anyway. So I probably won't be on the lookout for Las Vegas travel deals but obviously plenty of people go so there must be a lot to do, besides gambling of course. Talk about expensive vacations. I probably don't even want to know how much money people waste out there.

Flight or Gas?

The age old debate is getting murkier. It's no longer a slam dunk that driving is going to be cheaper than flying. The only issue is that the travel deals that are competitive generally have to be set up pretty far in advance. I have a feeling that driving will still end up being the cheaper method in most cases though because flying also incurs the slightly hidden cost of a car rental. It would be nice if gas could get back to a more reasonable level but I somehow doubt that we will ever see the south side of $2 a gallon again.

Cough-E

I hate coffee. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against coffee drinkers. I just don't like it myself. It is one of the few 'foods' that violates the smell rule. Normally if something smells good, then it tastes good. Well coffee fools you on the first count, because it tastes terrible. You won't find me in line for one of those new instant coffee machines any time soon. Nope I think I'll stick to green tea thank you very much. It's healthy AND it actually tastes good! Whodathunkit?

eeewwww

I'm not a big fan of spiders. It is odd to be grossed out/afraid of something so small in comparison to myself but I think I can track it back to my childhood. When I lived in Arizona, I wasn't allowed outside to play until Mom or Dad could spray for Black Widows first. To a 5 year old, that gave spiders a pretty serious reputation that obviously just stuck in my subconscious. Hopefully I can manage to keep our kids from developing that. Otherwise we will need to invest in spider traps.

Connect The Dots

I really hate acne. I struggled with it a lot when I was in high school to the point that it was one of the main excuses I used to not ask out girls was that there was no point when I looked like I did with all that all over my face. My big fear is that our kids will get it as well. The upside is that there are a lot better treatments for it now. My hope is that they will not have to suffer as I did, and my son will have to come up with all new excuses to not ask out girls instead of just admitting that he is nervous. (Just do it man, the worst they can do is say no, and despite what you think, that isn't really that big of a deal, besides, the more you ask it the better you'll get at asking)

Rollin rollin rollin....

I'm not one of those impulse purchase types that jumps on the band wagon before asking questions like "who's driving?" and "where are we going?". I typically wait a while and get a pretty good idea of the wagon's abilities and direction before jumping on, and even then rather reluctantly and probably only holding onto the outside so that I can make a quick exit if need be. So needless to say I don't have a whole lot of home gym equipment laying around my house. Almost all of those bandwagons ended up broken down before they could get 3 blocks down the street. The only one that is still running strong is the weightlifting and good diet bandwagon, of which I am a proud rider. Give me your hand, I'll help you up.

Lectric!!

The new house that we are buying has a full basement and thankfully a sump pump to go along with it. Our previous home only had a basement that was about 4 feet deep so it didn't need a sump pump. My insurance lady told me that I will need a battery back up for the sump pump or our insurance may not cover any damage caused by flooding during a power outage, and since most heavy rains are accompanied by lighting, that has the unfortunate effect of cutting out power from time to time, I figure that having a battery back up is a good idea. I find myself a little jealous of my Dad who has one of those natural gas powered generators that kicks in any time their power goes out. It's connected to the city gas so it has an inexhaustible supply of fuel and runs enough of their basic needs that they are fine. Too bad that those cost more than batteries.

Vacay Time

Finally it is time for vacation. We are leaving this Sunday and will be gone for the entire week. I can't wait. We skipped vacation last year and I am very ready for it by now. We are going back to a place we have been before which I don't typically prefer to do. I like to see new places but I won't complain since I'm just happy to be going. I'm supposed to find a way to slip something in about a medical id but I can't think of a way to do it. Maybe I will if I spend some more time thinking. In any case I am excited about the time off. It will be nice to recharge and spend some time hanging out with family.

Flash Gordon

flash memory is really cool. I have been around long enough that I can really appreciate holding a stick in my hand that holds 2 gigs worth of data. You can hold that amount of data on a chip the size of a postage stamp these days and I remember when a 1 gig standard hard drive was an amazing amount of storage. We used to joke about computers having a gig of ram in the sense that that was so far out of the realm of possibility that it was funny. Like saying your car would have 5000 horse power. Now a gig of ram is considered middle of the road. Things have leveled off in recent years, but it's still amazing.

Storms

I realized the other day that we don't have any flashlights or candles in our apartment that are easily accessible. I realized this just as the power went out the other night due to a storm at about 11pm. Fortunately for me it didn't stay off for very long. It came back on about 5 minutes later. So did I learn my lesson and go find a flashlight so that I would be more prepared? Nope. So I'm probably going to have the same problem again next time. My solution this time seemed to work well so I will probably just repeat it then and go to bed.

COPS

When I was growing up, I remember seeing this store in a town near my home that always caught my eye. It was a clever acronym for police gear. Central Ohio Police Supply or COPS. I always wondered who shopped there and what they bought. Apparently no one and not much considering that the store is no longer in business. It was clever though and I still wonder who they sold to. My thought as a kid was that they were the suppliers to the police department but clearly that wouldn't have been the case. This was more along the lines of a surplus store. Apparently there are still stores like that around because I heard about one online. I guess if you are selling something with a thin customer base, online is the way to go since you can reach anyone and everyone. So if you are in the market for an old riot shield, yellow police tape, old flack jackets, or Blackhawk holsters then just jump online. You can find it. You can find a lot online. Some of it is cool and some not so much but at least you don't have to drive around Central Ohio wondering what ever happened to your old surplus store.




This is a sponsored post.

New Phone

I still have my old phone from a while ago. Honestly, I haven't really desired a new phone all that much. The new ones that you can get for free are pretty junky so why would I downgrade just for the sake of getting a new phone? The one I have is great and until I can afford that kind that you can watch tv on all day then I don't intend to waste my time. I looked all over ebay for phones but saw nothing much that sparked my interest. I have verizon so the Nokia N82 Silver won't work for me, not that I know anything about it either.

Workshop Tools

We are in contract for a new house now. The really great thing about it is the 1200 square foot workshop out back. There aren't too many guys who wouldn't be as excited about this as I am. I love working on cars, and I've always wanted to have a woodworking shop. So I'm in the market for a table saw and I'd like to find a used one or at the very least one on sale somewhere. There are other things I'd love to have for the house, and I'm excited about moving in and getting settled. We will even have a nice big flat paved driveway for shooting baskets, so I'm also in the market for a permanent hoop. Clearly I need to keep my spending in check...

Wireless

Having a wireless router has been one of the best and coolest things to happen around our house technology-wise since the discovery of dvr. Being able to play the Wii online (which is awesome with Mario Kart by the way) and being able to be on the internet simultaneously with my wife via the laptop is great since we both need to use it quite a bit. I don't even have a great router, it's just an old one that a friend of mine that he found in the back of a closet. So in closing, if you don't have a wireless router, get one, you'll love it.

Plain Planes from the plains

In a few months my sister will be moving to Colorado. I have never been to Colorado so I'm sure that I will be looking for some flight deals in the somewhat near future. It will be a bummer to not see her on a regular basis anymore but the upside is that I now have an excuse to go to Colorado an go snowboarding. Just trying to look at the silver lining and all... Hopefully they will have an easier time selling their house than we did. Speaking of which, we are in contract on a new house and I am pretty excited about it. More on that later.

Here we go again

I saw somewhere something about a list of best diet pills. That really annoys the crud out of me. I hate that there are companies that are profiting on the lack of knowledge of consumers in this area. People think that they are improving their health, and maybe they are to some degree but there is no replacement for the real list of weight loss.

Caloric deficit
Strength training
Getting your heart rate up, via intervals or standard aerobic exercise.

It drives me crazy to hear stuff like this. It really is doable for most people if they really do decide that they want it, but the belief that there is a quick fix is falsely leading people down the wrong path.

You've Been Framed

I went to a store once about custom picture framing, and boy was it expensive. I had no idea that building a frame could cost so much. I also can't truly understand the need for it, as there are plenty of nice looking pre-fabricated ones for a lot less. I guess if you want a particular style and you can't find it anywhere else? Obviously I had a reason at one point in my life although I couldn't tell you now what it was. Have any of you ever bought a custom frame? Why did you do that and for what purpose? Just curious.

Hot-Lanta

I have been to Atlanta but it was a long time ago. Nice city as I remember it. I'm not really in the Atlanta jobs market as I'm not looking to move out of state but I can see the appeal of living there. A top of the line city in a market where it doesn't really ever get too cold. If I could move anywhere it would probably be to Cali, where I would be close to good skiing and on the west coast where all the good stuff is. It seems like that would be great but I've never been there so I can't say for sure. Where would you move?

Vacation

I am so ready for vacation. We didn't go on one last year so I am more than ready. We are going to a state park again and getting a cabin with my wife's family. It is usually a lot of fun and I expect more of the same. It isn't Caribbean villa rentals but we really like it. My wife really wants to go to a beach next year so we will probably do that. At some point in the future we are going to take our kids to Disney world, which should be great since I have never been there.

Windy

I think my parents are in the market for new patio furniture. Not that long ago a really bad wind storm sent there glass outdoor table to that big patio in the sky. It was a bummer too as it was quite a nice table.

I don't have to worry about things like that for a while now as I no longer own land. Sometime soon I might be in the market again but for the moment I'll suffice with indoor furniture.

Besides, plenty of our friends have outdoor stuff that we hopefully can use more often now that we live reasonably close to them. That will definitely be nice.

Quoted As Saying

Not that long ago I got a term life insurance quote, and it was less than what we are paying now. Not a ton less but definitely less and the coverage was higher. I hate messing with that stuff because it is such a hassle but it is a necessary one. I really don't want to go through the ordeal of applying again and what not though so I probably won't.

I had actually forgotten about all this because of our move. Pretty much everything else went out of my brain once all that happened. Today is the first day of normalcy though so hopefully all the other things that my brain shoved under the rug will come back out again.

House Repairs

Our house is finally sold. We closed on it yesterday. Now it's time to move on. There were still things that I would have liked to have done to improve it but obviously they weren't necessary to get the sale done. I really wanted new carpet, siding and cabinet knobs. Now that job can fall to the next owner. It will be interesting to see what they do with the place. We did a lot to improve it so I hope they keep it up and make it even better. I'm not as sad to leave as I thought that I would be. I'm ready to move on and I feel like we are doing the right thing.

Why?

It's interesting that some people have surgery all the time to improve their appearances. There are lots such as botox, lipovox, and others. Is it really the culture in some places that these things are totally necessary? Obviously tv personalities and models have an obligation to keep themselves looking a certain way to remain employed. Is that the start or is there more to this story? Clearly there are far more people doing it than just models and celebs.

USC

USC is in trouble again for "not noticing" that one of their recruits was getting money from a booster while still at school. Not only did they have a prior history of issues with the booster but it should have been pretty obvious that the kid was getting kickbacks. I'm not talking gold cufflinks everyday or anything but he clearly was living beyond his means. The school obviously turned a blind eye in my opinion and went for the "we didn't know anything" route which just makes them look ridiculous. I personally think that NCAA athletes should get some sort of sallary beyond tuition so as to deter stuff like this. With all the money they make for the school it only seems fair, but sometimes people turn a blind eye to the obvious solution.

Bad Business

Have you ever wondered how some businesses feel about their clients? For instance, a drug rehab clinic's main purpose is to drive itself out of business. Think about it. In order for them to succeed at their business objective, they need to eliminate the needs of all their customers. I'm guessing they didn't write it that way on the business plan, though. How many other businesses can you think of that operate in this way? It definitely seems strange when you think about it in that kind of light. Good ole modern times.

Houses

If you haven't heard, our house finally sold. Now the problem is finding someplace to live. Lately I've been shopping for a nice refrigerator box and a good dry spot under a tree in the park to put it. We've also been looking into more permanent options like foreclosure homes and short sales and general homes for sale in our area of interest. So far we have found a few that we like but nothing has really panned out for one reason or another. I found a house that we can rent month to month on Friday so assuming that it is still available, I think we will go that route and then we will be able to take our time and really look. It's a frustrating but when the dust settles it will all be worth it I think.

The Eyes Have It

Have you heard all the buzz recently about how Lasik isn't always as effective as advertised? Apparently there was a lawsuit recently regarding how the risks aren't always made fully aware to the people before hand. At least I think it was something about that. Even without that I'd be pretty nervous about having eye surgery in general. Thankfully I have 20/13 vision and don't need it but people like my wife have to make the decision everyday. When it comes down to it, our contacts really so annoying that you would take even a 1% chance (I'm making that up for point of conversation, I have no idea of the actual potential risk) of blindness or permanent eye pain/damage to get rid of them? It's a tough choice to make.

A Wrinkle In Time

Why is it that guys look distinguished and tough with wrinkles and what not and women fight them like the plague? What is it about us that caused things to be that way? Seems unfair that the precedent for women goes against nature and the one for men is the lazy way.

Of course men aren't generally as concerned about their appearances as women are. If they were, there would be wrinkle CAUSING creams for guys to use. I don't expect to be doing wrinkle cream reviews for that any time soon.

Have You Seen This?

I saw a commercial the other day for something called a walk in tub. My first thoughts weren't about how nice and convenient it would be to take a bath without having to worry about getting up. Clearly that is important for a lot of people and I'm not making light of it at all.

It's just funny how your current situation will skew your perceptions of things. My first thought was, "How would you possibly ever sell a house that had one of those?". It would definitely limit your demographic of possible home buyers.

Lights!

I bought some new outdoor lighting for our house recently to make things look a little nicer. The one thing that bugs me is that the one by the door is a little slanted due to the angle of the siding. I tried to make up the difference with some washers which helped a little but it still looks a little silly from the side, which wouldn't be a big deal if the walkway to our front door didn't give you a great view of that light from the side. I guess I won't worry about it as there isn't anything I can do about it anyway.

Golf Season

Golf season for me is nearly here! We start the new season this coming Tuesday night and I am very excited. I can only hope that my game starts out like I finished last season.

I don't need an orovo detox, but I am ready to bash some shots around and I am loving the great weather. I'd really like to drop my handicap again this year. I dropped 4 shots last year and I'm hoping I can continue to get better. I'm really hoping to avoid the down year after a good year syndrome, but I think my swing is good enough that I should be able to avoid that.

Here's hoping

Wireless, Baby

I love laptop computers. They're great. When I was laid up at home for a few days this past week it was really cool to have the laptop right beside me and the wireless router humming away.

They aren't the easiest thing to type on if you are used to a standard keyboard, however. It has taken me some getting used to. It just feels different and my fingers don't seem to instinctively know where to go like they do on my standard keyboard.

They are really useful though and I am glad we have one available. It has been an eye opener as to how much use I can get out of them.

Weight Loss

We just finished watching The Biggest Loser for the season. I hadn't watched the show before but I will definitely be watching from now on. It's a very interesting show for anyone who has interests in exercise and diet as well as it's just cool to see people turn their live around like that.

I'm trying to get back in the game. I took some time off from worrying about that stuff after our baby was born but now it's time to get back into it. I've already started being more critical about my diet again and next week I will head back to the gym. I'm looking forward to it.

I keep hearing a lot about diet pills and that bothers me. I hate diet pills. They are a "quick fix" that does nothing of the sort. It just isn't the right way to fix the problem. The best diet pills that work, is a myth. Try eating right and exercising and you will see results. It doesn't fit in a pill but the best solutions often don't.

Baby Clothes

One of our friends did a really cool thing for us when we had Brock. She made us a bunch of personalized baby clothes. We have a bunch of onesies and burp cloths with his name on them and some other ones with boy related stuff. They are really cute and not that hard to make I found out later as we did the same for another friend of ours that is due soon. It's pretty cool that you can do stuff like that that doesn't cost that much and it still turns out pretty cool. Hopefully my wife's friend will like them as much as we did.

New TV

I'm not expecting to be able to buy a new tv anytime soon but I sure do love looking at them. I'd love to have one of those flat panel ones that use a plasma tv mount or whatever to connect to the wall like a picture frame. Those look really sweet. Unfortunately a new tv is about 360th on my list of things that need bought so it's probably not going to happen until every tv in my house is broken, and as we all know that might never happen. I can look at the bright side, flat panel tv's might be pretty cheap by the time I need one.

Memphis Blues

Well if you are Memphis fan this morning, you are probably looking for cheap flights out of San Antonio. It was really hard to watch a team that had be admonished for it's poor free throw shooting all season, blow it at the line like they did last night. I know that Rose and Douglas-Roberts will be be thinking about those missed attempts for a long long time.

On the other side you have to feel good for Bill Self who was able to emerge from the shadow of Roy Williams and establish his own legacy. Speaking of Roy, what was he thinking wearing a Jayhawks sticker on the sidelines? I can see rooting for his old team, but wearing their logo seems to cross some invisible line in my mind. Not that I intend to make a big deal about it either.

House Work

Well we are at it again. Making teak patio furniture. Ok just kidding. We are trying to get our house ready to sell. For the third straight summer we are dumping some money into it to try and make it more palatable for buyers. I have been working my tail off on all kinds of projects and we aren't close to done yet. I really hope it works out for us this year because I'm tired of all this and I just want to be moved and settled and not have this hanging over our heads anymore. I've been praying about it a lot and I know that God has a plan so I'm just doing my best to just wait and see what happens.

The Dollar

The dollar has been a serious decline lately. It's pretty amazing how worthless it has become. Soon penny stocks are going to have to be renamed as dollar stocks. I'm getting the point where I might ask if I can be paid in Euros. I could get an English address but I figure the traffic would be terrible every morning...

Soon even dollar menus are going to be too expensive for those of use who are paid in them. We might need to start working in Canada on the weekends just to make up the difference. I'm sure they could find something for us to do up there. Like, figuring out why they like Hockey so much and yet no one goes to games so that they can't support teams at all anymore.

Insured?

So if Obama actually does get elected should he buy term insurance? What about Hilary? With the track records of the last two head men to go by, I'm thinking it might not be a bad idea. I'm not sure what the premiums on that might be, but hey, you gotta be prepared.

Seriously though, I have no idea who to vote for. Of the three candidates, two are out the window right away because they represent a party that thinks that killing innocent children is a fine and lawful act and should be permitted at all costs. That leaves us with a 70ish year old man who is known for having a bad temper and thinks Iraq is a good idea. Maybe it is, I'm really not sure about that honestly.

So who are you voting for?

The Magic Bed

The last couple of weekends we have been out of town visiting friends and family and both times we took Brock's little travel bed with us. Both times he also slept through the night 2 nights in a row. He never does that at home, or in Branson Missouri either.

So we thought we'd try having him sleep in his travel bed instead of the cradel last night at our house. No dice, still woke up like clockwork at 3:30am. I'm not sure what the difference is but at least he is sleeping through the night sometimes and usually only gets up once.

Browns Making Changes

I read online the other day that the Browns have made some major free agent acquisitions in the last week. A couple of defensive tackles, and Donte Stallworth, the other reciever on the Patriots this past season that no one knows about because he never caught any passes unless he was on the bench for my fantasy team. Bad feelings aside, it's hard to tell if these things will amount to a deep playoff run or not but that is what the experts are talking about and I have to say it is nice to be talked about in that light again. It's been quite awhile. Here's hoping they make good and bring some football joy back to Cleveland.

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300!!

Today is the 300th post I have made on this blog! Unfortunately, I'm fairly certain that my grand total number of hits is probably still below that. In any case, it's cool that I have stuck with this blogging thing and I intend to for a while to come. Who knows, maybe someday I'll even have a double digit number of readers.

I'm also at a bit of a crossroads. I'm tempted to make my blog more specific. To this point it has been all over the place. I could focus on fitness topics full time, the PGA Tour, or something else.
I'm open to ideas, let me know what you are interested in reading.

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New Rules For Women

I've found one of the best diet pills. I recently got ahold of a copy of Lou Schuler's new book, "The New Rules Of Lifting For Women". I'm a huge fan of the male version so I thought I'd take a look at this one because my wife asked me to help her find a workout routine.

The book is great and if you are a woman or know one that is looking for a great workout plan, then I highly suggest picking it up.

I haven't finished it yet but so far it lives up to it's counterpart in telling you the way things really work and showing you how an what to do.

Hey, Don't I Know You As Someone Else?

Something crazy happened to me the other day. If you know me, then you know I have a terrible memory. Well for once I avoided embarrassment in regards to that fact.

I was in Kroger picking up a few things when I saw a guy that I knew. It was my wife's old principle. (She used to be a teacher). So I wandered up to say Hi. I wasn't loud or confident in my greeting because I have messed this up enough times to be cautious, and thankfully I didn't say anything too stupid.

He started talking and clearly recognized me, however the things he said didn't mesh up with him being who I thought he was.

Turns out he is a guy that used to work here in the office who had quit recently. Not someone I knew well but had seen around.

I just think it's pretty funny to mistake a stranger for someone and then end up knowing the guy afterall from someplace totally different.

Well, thats a day in the life of being me.

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Ways To Save Money If You Aren't Even Trying

I read this article recently called "7 painless moves to save $1,000" on msn. Check out the great advice below:

(here is the article)

1. Look for discounted dinner en trees.

Honestly, if you are still eating out often enough for this to matter, then you either don't need to save money or you aren't really serious about it yet.

"I'll have the fillet mignon, but I have a coupon..."

2. Return unopened, unused items

Or maybe consider NOT BUYING things you don't need. AND who buys things and never opens them? What people do this?

3. Look for extra grocery savings

Honestly if you are trying to save money and you haven't figured this one out yet, then you need more than an MSN article to help you...

4. Check out materials from the library

Ok this is a good idea, especially for DVD's. I've been doing this for a long time. I'll give them this one.

5. Bundle cable, phone, and internet services

OR perhaps GET RID of cable and internet services and use only your cell phone so you aren't paying two phone bills. I did without cable for a year to save money and probably shouldn't have gotten it back, but hey, nobody's perfect :)

6. Negotiate with monthly service providers

Not a bad idea, but the part that makes me laugh is that the examples they give are your "alarm company and lawn-care person".

And while your at it, consider talking to your butler about a pay cut.

7. Stash money for easier savings next year.

Yes, you read that right. The best way to save money is....(drum roll)...to save money.


With advice like this out there for free I fail to understand how the average American family is rolling in debt.

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Golf Is Expensive

Even now when I have equipment that I am pretty happy with I find that I still have to buy 50 things to start the season.

I need:

New golf balls - And unfortunately I played really well with a couple of the expensive kind that I found in the woods last year, so now I want those.

New gloves - It takes at least two to get me through a season.

New Spikes for my shoes - I've gone years without changing these out before, but I can't possibly see how that did anything but hurt my game.

So I need to spend a ton of money just on golf "perishables". At least I like my clubs at this point. I'd love to buy some new irons someday but I'm not unhappy with the ones I have. They're just old, and I think it's mostly operator error when things go bad.

Mostly.... ;)

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Texas

I don't think that my kids are ever going to believe that Texas is a real place. I have a tendency to stick to the same jokes once I've found ones that I like. This happens because things almost never stop being funny to me no matter how many times my brain encounters them.

When Kylie was younger she used to ask the same questions over and over and over and over, and was never satisfied with the correct answer no matter how many times you gave it. So out of boredom I started giving nonsense answers once it had gone past my point of patience. "Texas" was always my answer of choice to questions about where something or someone was or went to and before long became my answer to everything.

So now I have to try hard not to say "Texas" to every question my kids ask. I'm sure it annoys them at this point and I don't want to get to the point where I'm the annoying Dad that always makes the same stupid jokes over and over. Luckily my oldest is only 4 so I have time to change this bad habit.

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Another Edition Of....

What in the world is it?

Today our topic is Coaster furniture.

My first guesses were, roller coaster seats, coffee tables with glass tops( no coaster needed), and furniture literally made from old coasters.

Roller coaster seats seems like a small niche market so I'm guessing that one is out since I saw this advertised online. I doubt the company that makes those need to drum up much business in that way.

Coffee tables with glass tops seems to be the most normal option. The only problem is that what idiot would market glass top tables in this manner? Seems to me that they should have better selling points than that if they want to stay in business.

Furniture made from coasters seems like just the thing you might find someone trying to sell on the internet, but who would buy such a thing? I'm presuming that some sales have been made that paid for the advertising so whatever this is must be at least a semi-successful business already.

So my guesses are probably way off as usual. Time to go find out for sure. Click on the link or scroll down for the answer.













Well they fooled me. "Coaster" is just a brand name. The way it was written I took it to be a descriptive word, not part of the name.

Oh well, until next time.

Van Wars : Episode Three

We had our first experience today with trying to go somewhere with all three kids. It didn't go too badly but Kylie was a little upset at having to sit in the back of the van and Kerrigan was pretty upset at NOT getting to sit in the back of the van. Despite this Kylie was not willing to switch seats with Kerrigan. Giving her sister something that she wants just isn't in the cards yet.

Brock slept through the whole ordeal. In fact he is still sleeping in his car seat now, albeit in the house. Speaking of his car seat, I still really like it, but the one issue we have had is that it doesn't lock into it's base very easily. You have to spend a decent bit of time pushing on it from various spots to get it to click in solidly. The market research I did never mentioned this but I'm just hoping that we will get the hang of it.

Now that we have three I can foresee spending more time at home as a family. I can't even think about trying to take all three someplace by myself. I have no idea how my wife is going to manage it when I go back to work, but I'm sure she'll surprise me, she usually does.

First Pick In The Overdraft

Not that long ago, we got a bit of a shock. Our bank charged us a bunch of fees for overdrawing our checking account. It was annoying the way that they did it. The processed all the debits first and fined us for each one and then after that, they put our deposit in. Turns out they always do things this way to insure maximum penalty fees. I'm sure all banks do this.

So having learned my lesson I signed up for overdraft protection. This is a nifty thing that banks offer so that they can fine you less, but do it all the time. You get charged $5 a month for the service no matter what plus a $3 fee anytime you use it. It's better than getting hit with 3 unexpected $25 fines on one day but in the long run the bank makes even more money this way.

So did I really make a smart decision?

Life Insurance

I didn't really know the difference between term life insurance and whole life insurance until very recently. Even now I doubt I could recite it to you if I had to, but all I know is that the stuff we have is the right kind.

I spent some time reading the paperwork and checking the internet to look up the stuff on the contract and it turns out that I bought the right thing. It isn't terribly cheap and no one likes to think about stuff like that but it is important.

Think about your family and look into it as soon as you can.

Manliness Training

Now that I have a boy, I've decided that we need a few changes around here. With two older sisters around, this little guy is going to need some help along the way. I've already been warned about little boys like him playing with dolls and wearing princess dresses.

Clearly we will need to have regular manliness training around here. I've already had him watching The Three Stooges as well as American Gladiators and the Super Bowl. I've even shown him a little of the PGA Tour to get him started. Too bad X games were over before he was born. Testosterone is in the house. No need for progesterone! :)

Nevertheless my task is set. Manliness is the only option. ;)

Brock Stephen Burgel

7 pounds 4 ounces, 21 inches long. Born at 10:29am on January 31st, 2008.

The Lord has truly blessed us greatly, beyond all that we deserve.

My four year old daughter prayed so hard for a little brother and the Lord heard her and answered her prayer.

(Daddy prayed plenty too, just to help out the cause ;)

B-Day

Tonight we are checking into the hospital to have our baby. They are planning to induce in the morning. I am very excited and nervous all at the same time. I get that way with hospitals. My goal is to not pass out a single time with this delivery. I'd also like to watch a little bit of the birth this time if I can handle it but I'm not going to put too much pressure on myself there. That is asking a lot of me to accomplish.

I am so excited about having another baby. We wanted a big family and now we will have it. I feel incredibly blessed and happy for all that the Lord has given us. "Grateful" doesn't come close to describing how I feel.

It will also be time to finally reveal the big gender secret. At this point several people have managed to find out through one means or another but if you are one of those who is still in suspense, then your wait is nearly over.

Weeee!!

I consider myself to be smarter than average but nowhere near the right end of the bell curve. I feel like I probably belong on the hill on the right side somewhere though.

Of course, there are days, like today that make me feel like the bell curve is a distant object seen through a telescope.

Someone asked me a question yesterday that seemed hard and I didn't know the answer. I have since asked several people in similar situations and all of them acted like I was asking them to recite the abc's.

So apparently I'm a moron. I guess if nothing else I need to spend some more time studying.

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We've Got Gas

No it's not what you think. We have a propane water heater and it would seem that we have a small gas leak through one of the knobs. Nothing to worry about but the part will need replaced.

I thought about getting one of those tankless water heater types but everything I read said that they had a hard time keeping up with demand. Plus the water would sometimes have "cold spots" which I can't imagine being very desirable, especially in the shower.

To top it off they cost gobs of money. 3 strikes....

2 More Weeks

Well we are getting close now. Baby Burgel #3 will be here in 15 days or less. I'm really excited and nervous at the same time. Nervous because I have gotten kind of used to our kids being a bit older and somewhat self sufficient, so I'm hoping I can readjust to baby level care again without too much difficulty.

Also having three will present some new challenges. We will have to keep the back seats in our van at all times which will severely limit our storage space in there as well as the fact that we won't have nearly enough hands to hold everyone and everything when we go places.

I'm sure it will all work out fine though as I had similar worries with both of the first two kids. Adjustments take time but it will all be worth it. Our big family that we always wanted will be complete, and I'm sure our kids will be excited to meet their new sibling.

Well, pray for us when you think about it, and we'll keep everyone appraised as the big secret will obviously be revealed soon!



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17 Minutes

17 minutes was about all I managed to watch of the game last night.

I can't handle watching teams I like lose....so I don't. I watched something else and checked back periodically to see if things were getting any better, which of course they didn't. At one point I did watch a few minutes of the 4th quarter in which I thought we had a chance to get back in it but of course we didn't.

Oh well, I guess we are a terrible team that doesn't belong to be in a Championship game. I can't really glean a whole lot more from that performance last night.

At this point I don't see what possible way I will have to get me overly interested in next season. I guess that's good in a way. I spend too much time watching football as it is.

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Sigh

Well add the Buckeyes to the list of highly frustrating and disappointing Ohio teams this year. First the Indians blow it, then the Browns, now the Buckeyes.

I'm sticking to golf from now on.

First, I don't really care who wins, I enjoy it almost no matter what.

Second, there is no inlaid pressure to root for Ohio golfers.

Third, an Ohio golfer is still the best ever, until Tiger gets a few more years under his belt.

Seriously though, there is no other sport in which an Ohio guy is thought so highly of?

So thankfully the pga tour started last weekend. Unfortunately the tourny was on the Golf channel which I don't get with my Dish Network package.

Sigh.....

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A Pain In The Neck

I threw my back out today which is really getting on my nerves, and before you laugh I do realize that my back and my neck aren't the same thing, but both tend to give me problems.

I need to get both adjusted soon although I'm not sure how I'm going to manage that. My wife is the same way. She got a migraine the other day due to her neck being out. It really is amazing how messed up your daily life can get when you have back or neck problems and don't continually keep them under control.

So now I'm going to have to figure out some sort of plan to get this fixed before too long because I don't want to miss a bunch of workouts. It stinks that I am trying hard to get back on track and then I have to deal with this. Hopefully it won't stay messed up long, but I know from experience that it will until I get it worked on.

Grrrrrrr......