the army surplus url

By the way, the army surplus dealer that screwed up my order so bad was Uncle Sam's at armyynavydeals.com. The customer service guy was nice enough on the phone, and blamed the problem on their inexperienced seasonal help during the Halloween rush, but he could have offered me some sort of discount or at least expedited shipping for their mistake. Or as I mentioned in my last post, they could have allowed me to bill it to their shipping account, instead of offering to reimburse me for shipping the return. I'll post a follow-up when and if I receive my replacement order.

holiday consequences for army surplus

I finally received my army surplus order yesterday, and was quite disappointed. The BDU pants were the wrong kind and the Danish web pack that I was going to use for caving and hiking came in without any straps. I was already a bit annoyed that it had taken them 12 days to ship my order, and then I receive it and two out of three items are wrong. I guess I should have gone ahead and ordered 5.11 tactical pants directly from a dealer instead of relying on an army surplus outlet during the Halloween rush. I immediately called the store and they were friendly enough. They apologized and promised to make it right. Of course, I need to return the pants first and they say that they will refund me the shipping cost. Why couldn't I just bill it to them, since it is their mistake?

I guess I'm lucky that this wasn't a Halloween costumer order, seeing as today is Halloween. This is an inherent problem with ordering from army surplus stores online, though. They carry so many different styles of clothing, and even within those styles there are subtle variations and degrees of wear and tear. So how can one expect to actually receive what is pictured on their website? It will be interesting to see if they get my replacement order correct. If not, this will definitely be the last time I order from an army surplus store online. As much as I like the idea of recycling clothing and picking up items that have been washed many times over and are now extremely comfortable, I'm thinking that the predictability of buying new has its advantages. I may have to just stick to dealers of new tactical clothing so that I know in advance what I am getting when I place my order.

deliberate climate change

Back when I lived in Nebraska, I once heard a story about how some scientists decided to try and transplant a forest into the Western plains of Nebraska. They planted thousands of seedlings and watered and nourished them to try and get them to grow. The idea was that if they could make them survive, it may cause a radical climate change for the state. The experiment was a failure as it required more constant maintenance than they had the resources for.

But I was recently thinking that this is pretty similar to what is happening in areas like Denver or Phoenix, which are essentially desert climates. The only green grass you are going to see is the transplanted type that requires lots of water to make it survive the low humidity. My uncle once made a comment to me that if everyone stopped watering their lawns (as they are sometimes forced to do due to water restrictions), the area would be as brown and dried up as the desert, and I believe it.

But it doesn't stop people from moving there and propping up their vision of utopia. In Arizona luxury real estate is selling like hot cakes, and in Colorado the high-end homes don't appear to have been affected by the national slump that the rest of us are going through. Some may blame it on the West Coast transplants who come with big bucks to scoop up what is (in their collective mind) a great deal. For natives who aren't accustomed to paying $300k for a start home though, it can be quite disparaging.

A good friend of mine is in this exact predicament. He is a single father and never finished high school, but he managed to work his way up to a decent technical job. Unfortunately, because of his lack of education and other experience, he is a slave to that job and that company. He worries about getting surplused. He can get approval for a loan for a home, but there are no homes to be had for what he has been approved for. Even with the buyer's market and housing slump we are seeing for non-luxury markets, the prices have not fallen very far from the inflation tree just yet.

I'm trying to convince him to move somewhere else. Move somewhere greener and cheaper, I tell him. Somewhere that you don't have to be so concerned about getting let go and struggling to find another high-paying job. Move to a place where you can find a home for so cheap that you could work for anyone and still pay the bills. And start to develop multiple streams of income. Just like a retirement fund, why put all of your eggs into one basket? As nice and (over?) developed markets like Denver appear to be, they are still one or two sprinkler cycles short of a sandstorm, and with our nation's approach at conserving resources (like water), I'd be looking at (naturally) greener pastures instead.

so good to be bad

Isn't it great to find a website offering truly spooky Halloween music? I am so sick and tired of every store that I walk into selling some crappy sound effects disc with people shrieking like cats or trying to howl like a werewolf. And since when does every Halloween song have to be played on an organ in the classic Phantom style?

Halloween is still my favorite holiday of the year, but it is unnerving to see how commercial it has gotten recently. You know its bad when you can buy fake tombstones and inflatable skeletons at the local Wal-mart. So much for anyone doing anything creative. Let's just have another store bought holiday. Back when I was a kid, I made my own tombstones out of cardboard boxes. These days, I'm debating casting them from concrete and using them as stepping stones in the off season. Why not?

diet pills for kids

The latest controversy stemming form the pharmaceutical industry has to do with diet pills for children. Personally, I find it repulsive that we've put ourselves into this situation, but I am not surprised. After all, our kids are only going to eat as good as their role models do, and as role models for eating we should be ashamed of ourselves. The American population is a fat population.

I believe that our eating habits are warped. We're not the only country to price itself in its food, but we are one of the few that has no respect for eating as an experience. In most other countries, eating is a respected traditional experience that is allowed as much time as it takes to do so comfortably. I believe that our "fast food" approach to living is what is killing us off. And I'm not just referring to the food.

We've got synthetic alternatives to everything healthy and natural. From vitamin supplements to fake tans to liposuction, it seems like every new exploding industry is an attempt to substitute lazy man-made health for a healthy active lifestyle. I am guilty myself. I don't get the exercise that I should, and I don't take as much time as I should to sit down and appreciate every meal. Instead, I'm forced to sit and contemplate whee I have to be next, what kind of deadline I am facing, or why I don't have time to properly chew that food flowing into my belly.

It's really sad, and I wouldn't be surprised if over time we find that our country is comparatively challenged in its life expectancy.

when the water heater leaks

Seeing how troublesome our water heater ordeal just turned out to be, I've decided to compile a collection of tips for those who run int this problem in the future. With any luck, this post can get indexed by Google so that you can get all of this information in one place, as I had to read several different pages of info to get it. Anyways, here goes...

First and foremost, make sure that it isn't just condensation. This should be fairly easy to recognize, as condensation won't cause very much water. If there is a large growing puddle on the floor, it probably isn't condensation. If you've got carpet nearby that now goes "squish" when you walk on it, that's also a good sign that you've got real trouble on your hands. In our case, we could actually see the water running out form the base of the water heater tank.

Once you've determined that the water heater is in fact leaking, the first thing you want to do is shut off the cold water supply going into the tank. There should be two copper lines going into the tank. One supplies cold water and the other carries the heated water to various areas of your home. The cold water supply line will have a shutoff valve. Turn it clockwise and close it off completely. This will prevent the tank from filling up with more water as it is drained.

Next up, find the breaker and switch it off. If you've running a gas water heater, I'm not sure of the steps involved but I would assume that you need to shut off the supply of gas and blow out the pilot light at some point. Google for more instructions if you need to.

Next, go to the bathroom and flip on the hot water faucet in the tub and let it run. You may want to put the drain stopper in and save this hot water for later, as it may be the last hot water you'll have for a day or more. Get yourself a garden hose and connect it to the small drain plug at the base of the water heater unit. Run the other end to a bath tub or outside. Then open the drain and allow it to drain the tank as much as possible. If you find that there is no water coming out after you've opened the tank drain, you've probably got a ton of sediment crusting up the bottom of the tank. You can try taking a metal coat hanger or other rigid wire and sticking it into the tank drain to scrape some of the crud loose. Make sure you have a towel handy, so that you can catch the water if/when it starts to flow out. Then shut the valve, reattach the hose, open the valve and allow it to drain.

While the tank is draining, you should start mopping up as much of the water as you can. If your water heater sits on concrete, you can use a mop and some towels. A wet dry vacuum or a steam cleaner also works good at sucking up excess water. If you've got carpet near the heater that got wet, you're in for more work. First suck up as much water as you can. Then you'll need to pull up the carpet by the edges, and prop it up so that you can blow a fan between the carpet and the pad. This is the only way we were able to get our carpet pad to dry, as it is made of a foam material that soaks up moisture. It is also where mold is likely to grow if you leave it untreated. Your carpet should basically create a tent with air blowing through it and the pad.

Get as many fans blowing in the room as possible, and crack some windows to allow for more air flow. The best fans to use are the small snail-shell styles that sit close to the floor. This is what the professionals use, but you can find inexpensive ones at places like Wal-Mart being sold as shop fans. Some people suggest turning on the heater to promote evaporation, but I also read that this can promote mold growth, so I wouldn't recommend it. Cold air obviously won't help, but I'd leave it at room temperature.

Once you've taken care of the water on the floor, and you've drained the tank as much as possible, you should be calling for a plumber to replace the water heater. Within a day or two, the carpet should be dry and that moist smell should be subsiding. If it isn't, you may have to have the carpet professionally cleaned or replaced.

tactical gear for civilians

A long time ago, I picked up a pair of BDU pants from the local army surplus store. They were used, washed about a million times and dyed an interesting shade of dark blue, so that the camouflage pattern was barely noticeable. They are the most comfortable pants I have ever owned and the extra cargo pockets are awesome. I went back to the store but couldn't find any more in my size. I returned to the store several years later, and had the same problem. Just the other day, I finally found a pair online of some British BDU's that I am hoping will be the right size.

So why am I buying military pants? No, I'm not a fashion whore so much as a utility fashion enthusiast. I've recently gotten into several new hobbies that require lots of pockets and durability. One of these is spelunking in underground caverns. Another is hiking and another is skateboarding. Each has its own rugged challenges but I find that tactical style pants serve them each quite well.

So I was more than happy to take on an assignment to review a TDU site - that's "Tactical Dress Uniforms" for the combat-impaired. The site is called LA Police Gear and they offer the latest in 5.11 Tactical gear and clothing. The site is a Yahoo merchant store, and it's fairly easy to navigate. Their prices are reasonable - A pair of rip-stop TDU pants will set you back about $40, and these are new not used or surplus.

They include free ground shipping and all kinds of goodies with each order, from free hats and kneepads to belts, socks and coffee mugs. One thing that really surprised me was that they offer free shipping both ways. So even if you get the wrong size or the wrong item, you don't have to worry about paying to ship the item back. This is something that I don't think I've ever seen being offered. Most stores will only pay for return shipping if they screw up the order.

For some really incredible deals, check out the boots in their closeout section.

the hot shower

It is funny how much one takes hot water for granted. We had our hot water heater replaced today by Lowe's and my wife and I managed to take our first hot shower in a couple of days. We didn't give the tank much time to heat up, and were worried that we may run out of warm water prematurely, so we decided to shower together. We were so relieved to have hot water again that we were almost "giddy". Let's just say that the water wasn't the only thing "hot" about the shower. But I digress...

The installation crew from Lowe's was quite professional and friendly. They gave me a few scares at first saying that they weren't sure if the new tank would fit with an expansion tank (which is supposedly required by code), but everything went pretty smooth. We're still trying to get the carpet dried out, though. I pulled it up at the corners and have the fan blowing beneath it like a tent now, and that seems to be helping to get the pad dry. My biggest concern is mold, although i have to admit that the idea of replacing the carpet isn't something that we would have a problem with. We've been discussing new flooring for the entire house for some time now. I'm just not sure that we've got the budget for it.

I was looking at carpet tiles as a possible alternative. They aren't that much cheaper than traditional carpet, but they are much more flexible and it sounds like a good option for an area that may be prone to flooding (like a bedroom near the water heater). I really like the idea that we could install them ourselves, and that you can easily pull up a tile and wash it if it gets a stain on it. I'm just not sure how well they would stick down to the concrete, and how much prep work would be required. I noticed today that the existing carpet pad is glued to the concrete floor, so that would probably have to be scraped up. Sounds like a pain.

If we can get the carpet dry and there are no signs (or smells) of mold, I may be able to delay this decision for a little while, but we're going to have to do it some day.

modular concrete garages?

I was recently given the opportunity to review a prefab garage dealer online, and found their products to be quite interesting. They are based out of the UK. Here in the states, most prefab garages are built tough-shed style or out of tornado-magnet aluminum. I'm not sure that I have ever seen one of these Lidget concrete panel garages before. I have, however, seen similar buildings used for telephone and right-of-way communications buildings. And from my experience working for a Telco, I know that they take quite a beating.

I really like the idea of a modular style garage building that you design based on how many prefab concrete panels you need to match your desired dimensions. Unlike "space-age" aluminum sheds that look much the same as they did in the 1950s (very out of place), the rough rock textured finishes of these concrete panels helps them to blend in. In the Southwest, these types of buildings blend in perfectly with their natural surroundings and until you get used to their appearance, it is quite easy to miss them. I used to travel to many of them to do quality audits and site surveys and you really need to keep your eyes peeled or you drive right past them on the highway.

The construction process seems pretty straight forward. They deliver the materials to the site and construct it for you. I would imagine that it goes very quickly, too. If you're in the market for a new garage but don't want to build it yourself, and you're looking for a cost effective and long-lasting alternative, check out these concrete prefab units. They may be just what you are looking for.

home depot versus lowe's

I spent most of the day on the phone with Home Depot and Lowe's, in search of our new water heater. I was going to call up one fo the local companies but decided that with a national chain I might get a better warranty service. Plus I know that I can raise hell with a big company like Home Depot should disaster strike and probably get some resolution. I also wouldn't have to worry about verifying that their installers are license, insured and/or certified for the work at hand. I also like to be able to look at the products on their websites before I buy. Call me spoiled in a true American consumer fashion.

I started out at the Lowe's website, since I also had a $20 off coupon. They had a couple of water heaters that would have worked for me based on the limited space in the closet. Their website also states that they can install same day if ordered by noon. It sounded promising, so I called their 800 number to order my water heater and schedule the installation. I was happily surprised that the phonecall took me directly to the "water heater" service line, and I didn't have to fumble over a bunch of voice recognition software. The customer service person was very friendly, too. Unfortunately, both of the water heaters that would have worked for me were out of stock. Seeing as I didn't want to have to wait seven days or more to start taling hot showers again, I figured that I better try Home Depot.

Home Depot only lists two water heaters on their website, both by GE and varying based on the warranty. One has a six year and the other has a twelve. No prices were listed. I went ahead and called their 800 number. After routing myself to the right service department by talking to their answering machine, I was finally connected. The customer service person was friendly, but the call seemed to take forever as she didn't have immediate answers to any of my questions. After about thirty minutes, she had finally gotten all of the details in order and I now had a purchase order for a new water heater and installation. I gave her my credit card number, and she gave me my order number and said that the installer would call me in the morning to schedule a good time to do the work. Everything seemed to be under control.

Unfortunately, six hours later I received a voicemail from the local Home Depot store indicating that they do not do water heater installation and that they were canceling my order. Needless to say, I was just a little bit upset. This is yet another example of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. Don't you think it would have made sense for them to check with the local store before placing the order and taking my payment information. The straw that broke the camel's back for me was when I received another phonecall from Home depot letting me know that my payment should be refunded to my credit card within the next three business days. I can't believe that they went ahead and charged me the money before they knew if they could even do the service. Let's just say that I'm glad that my credit card limit isn't much lower or I'd be waiting three days to get the water heater from someplace else.

I decided to go ahead and call the local Lowe's store to see if there might be a chance that, like their Home Depot brethren, their national service line may not know what the local stores could or couldn't do. I was on the phone with the salesman at the local Lowe's store for about twenty minutes as he tried to get my order processed. It wouldn't have taken as long if he wasn't putting my on hold every time an in-store customer would walk up. As luck would have it, he eventually found a suitable replacement and I am now expecting a call within 48 hours to schedule installation. So much for the same day installation promise.

All in all, I am fairly disappointed with the service from both of these chains. The total price for parts and labor was about the same ($775 versus $750), but the included lifetime warranty at Home Depot would have been nice. I only get nine years from Lowe's. That's about the life of a typical hot water heater. Finding the right water heater and checking availability shouldn't have been so difficult on their websites and with their telephone service reps. I can probably blame myself for trying to do something like this over the phone with their national service centers, as opposed to visiting my local store, but isn't that what they are there for? It's too bad that both stores are about an hour away or I would have placed my order in person.

Now I've got my fingers crossed, as I fear the next phonecall that I get from Lowe's will be to let me know that they can't install it after all, or that I'm going to be without hot water for another week. I guess I should have just called one of the smaller local companies.

moron engineering strikes again

Last night, my children came rushing into my office to inform me that there was water all over the floor in my daughter's bedroom. Intrigued by their enthusiasm (and half expecting her aquarium to have sprung a leak), I soon found myself walking on spongy carpet near her closet. Unfortunately, the morons who built our home (who I have mentioned a number of times in the past for their creative electrical feats) apparently ran out of room when they were designing the layout of our home and realized at the last minute that - oops - we need to put the hot water heater somewhere.

So they stuck it in my daughter's closet, since her bedroom is in the finished basement. Now, I won't go into detail why I feel like sticking a hot water heater into a bedroom closet is a stupid idea. I don't really think that I need to elaborate. Let's just say that if I was going to install a hot water heater into the closet of a carpeted bedroom, I might do a little more than just stick a piece of plywood beneath it. For example, it might make sense to install a drip pan or even a drain in case the water heater should ever leak. But that would make too much sense.

So there I was, sucking water out of the carpet with a wet/dry vacuum for about two hours, cussing quietly at the anonymous builders of my home. I can only hope that we get all of the moisture out so that we don't get mold and mildew growing under the pad.

kid-friendly and high-tech?

It's been a long time since we've purchased a new TV or home stereo. We don't really watch TV anymore anyways, so it's not that pressing of an issue for us. But the media would have us believe that we are freaks for not having our own personal wall-sized flat panel TV and 9.1 surround sound system. Whatever. As a parent, I say make it safe for my kids first. Make it so that my kid can't walk up and stick a slice of Velveeta into the DVD player. Make it so that they can't break the buttons on that $3000 television.

What parent in their right mind would be looking at $6000 projection televisions when their toddler could walk up and rip off the volume knob? You would think that the TV manufacturers would have learned how to make these items practically indestructible by now, especially when you consider the price. But I guess it is more profitable to make them fragile.

Another big joke is the push for everyone to move to HDTV and other extraneous items like BlueRay technology. We've gotten so wrapped up into making things better that we never considered whether the average consumer would even notice. Can the average consumer tell the difference in audio quality between a CD and a DVD? Not likely. How about the difference between a regular DVD and Blueray? Nope. Is the negligibly noticed quality boost offered by HDTV worth the upgrade cost? Not in my book.

The next big "economy boost" being fostered by the FCC is the switch to digital TV. Yes, anyone still using an analog TV in 2008 or 2009 will be required to buy a new TV or get a converter if you still want television. Rather than play this game, which the government itself is now sponsoring, I've got a better idea. When the big "switch" happens, turn off the TV. Give it up. You'll be amazed at how much your life changes for the better. You'll quit longing for so many material possessions, and so will your kids. After a few years of no television, if you happen to see some at someone else's house, you'll find it grotesque and alien. It's great. We only rent DVDs these days, and even our interest in those is waning. Our kids are also very creative and not obsessed with the latest toys, games and gimmicks that television bombards them with 24/7. I don't regret it one bit.

pedal powered coasters

Since I was curious, I had to do some quick Googling to see what up with roller coasters in japan. And guess what I found? A pedal-powered roller coaster. Check out this article here on the supergreen roller coaster. Although I'm not so sure that roller coasters were burning that much energy to begin with (don't they mostly use gravity once the initial lift is over?), this certainly makes for an interesting idea. Even more interesting was a suggestion made by one of this blog's readers - why can't this be translated into some form of public transportation?

Talk a bout a great concept. You get good exercise, it's green and you get to experience some light thrills in hills and valleys. Although in its current form there appear to be lots of potential safety hazards, I'm sure that with a little ingenuity those could be taken care of. I may just have to toss this idea at my city council...

coasters of europe

Although we Americans are quick to assume that we've got the best (or even the only) roller coasters around, we can't forget that this is not only an American phenomenon. I fact, there are amusement parks all cross Europe offering their own version of these thrill rides. While Disney always comes to mind, true roller coaster enthusiasts know that Disney isn't the best place to go for coasters. They offer a great experience for families, but their focus has never really been on thrill rides, and let's face it - it is expensive. For what you pay or a trip to Disneyworld, you could easily afford to go to Europe, and even ride a few coasters while you're there.

One coaster that I've got my eye on and will have to check out should we ever find ourselves in the UK is one called Grand National. It is a classic twin-track racer that was built in 1935. It is just one of the coasters at Pleasure Beach Theme Park UK in Blackpool. I don't really know what the "theme" of this park is (to be like an American park?) and it looks more like a traditional amusement park, but they do have some great looking coasters. I guess it goes to show that we Americans don't have an exclusive market when it comes to thrill rides. I can only imagine what they're coming up with over in Japan, too...

too old to spin?

At what point in our life does spinning start to make us feel sick? I have watched in amazement at my children spinning for twenty minutes straight and it just blows me away. Sure, they still get dizzy and their eyes are wiggin' out when they finally stop, but they never get the nausea that we get as adults. I remember being able to spin like that when I was younger. So when did it change?

I remember throwing up at a carnival after riding the "Scrambler" four times in a row. I think I was about twelve years old at the time. Perhaps that was the onset of my centrifugally challenged existence. But what causes it?

I understand that our sense of balance has something to do with our ears. Perhaps our "new ears" during our youth haven't established that same sense of balance (or the ability to get sick when it isn't detected). It's really difficult to say. None-the-less, I still enjoy riding roller coasters and hope to someday take my kids on a vacation near Ohio, where they seem to have a plethora of great amusement parks with lots of great coasters. We've never even been on a twin track racing coaster yet, although they've been around for centuries.

uptown saturday night

My wife and I have been watching the DVD collection of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservation" series and we find it absolutely fascinating when he visits foreign countries with their old world food markets and street vendors. I remember seeing something similar in New Orleans at the French Market, and it is something that I would love to see here in my own hometown. We do have a farmer's market and an art/craft market, but there isn't much to it, and it just doesn't feel very "cultured".

I was really offered an opportunity to take a look at what they do in St. Augustine, Florida for their Uptown Saturday Night events. In addition to some of the best St. Augustine shopping, the event promises interactive artist experiences and live music. It sounds like a lot of fun, and I dig the fact that St. Augustine is the oldest city in America, with its rich Spanish explorer heritage. Although I've never thought of myself as being a Florida type of person (I don't dig the beach that much), I could definitely see myself in St. Augustine, as it truly has lots of character and lots to do.

Their Uptown festival takes place on the last Saturday of every month, with dates remaining for this year on November 24th and December 29th.

rockies ticket frenzy

Yesterday, baseball tickets for the World Series went on sale via the Colorado Rockies site, but nobody was able to get in. I personally tried to get into the site, which was obviously crippled under heavy traffic as it kept giving me "server not found" errors. The news reported that the site was under stress due to "malicious attacks", although I have to wonder if this wasn't just an excuse for an ill-prepared attempt at selling these tickets exclusively online, especially when unofficial sources are estimating a potential 8 million interested purchasers.

Adding further to my speculation is the fact that the site appears to be having similar problems today. The site puts you into a queue, in which you have a counter that attempts to contact their server every 120 seconds. The problem is that after a few count-downs, the counter stops and eventually the site fails to connect and you need to start again. What a joke.

For a corporation that has been trying to thwart scalper sales, they sure are driving up the cost of resale tickets by making them so hard to purchase legally.

next kitchen project - spice rack

After moving into our home, one of the first things we decided to do was pull down some of the kitchen cabinets that were hanging from the ceiling, blocking the view and making the kitchen feel closed off. I've since mounted new light fixtures and a wall sconce where they once hung, and I've repainted the ceiling with a new coat of "ceiling white" paint. I've been debating my next move and I think I am going to build a spice rack - not one of those wire-frame deals that could double as a wine caddy, but one that will fit in with the rest of the kitchen decor.

So I have decided to reuse one of the cabinets that i had pulled down. That way, it will have the same finish and all I have to do is make it much more shallow. I thought about cutting into the wall, but decided against it because the 2x4's that I would be cutting are load bearing. I don't need that potential headache.

So why a spice rack, you may be wondering. Well, it goes like this. We used to have one of those fancy rotating Kammenstein spice holders, and it was okay but we're growing tired of having so much stuff on our counter tops. And we've never even had coffee makers or espresso machines - just the basics, really. Between the bread basket, paper towel holder, and toaster oven, we have very little room for cooking. Adding a counter-top spice rack would give us no room. And I use a lot of spices. But having them in a cabinet makes it difficult to find the one that you need. I'm constantly taking some down to get to the ones behind them, and then having to put them back. So I'm building a spice rack that can hang on this one awkward wall in our kitchen.

I'm going to cut the cabinet so that it is about five or six inches deep, and then reattach the back to it. Then I'll cut the old shelves down to fit inside and we'll have our spice rack. I may try to add some try around the edges and top to make it look more intentional, too. I wonder why we never see spice racks like this anymore. My guess is it has something to do with how few people have time to cook anymore. It's really a shame, because cooking (and eating homemade meals) is fun.

movie review: are we there yet?

My wife had a "girl's night out" last night to travel to a book-signing to see the illustrious food TV critic Anthony Bourdain. They ended up being gone for seven hours, all the while leaving me playing the role of babysitter for our kids and her friend's, and I was a bit ticked off. When I agreed to watch the kids for a book signing, I had no idea that it would be an all night event. On top of that insult to my generosity, she had presented me with a newer movie that she had rented from the library titled "Are We There Yet?" for me to watch with the kids. Gee, thanks.

The movie starred Ice Cube, a man not too well know for his role in kid flicks, but he managed to pull off the big-hearted ex-ghetto (not-so) wanna-be rap star persona quite well. I always have a hard time discerning Ice T from Ice Cube, as they are both rappers that have gained a strong foothold on the movie industry, and both of their names are rooted in the food industry. Obviously, the two are very different looking and their music is quite different. But it has still been difficult for me over the years. (I've had no such problem recognizing Vanilla Ice though. Go figure.) My best way to try and remember which is which is to remember who had a cameo on the old 1984 breakdancing movie Breakin' - which of course was the studded old school deejay Ice T.

Anyways, the movie is chock full of cliche gags and skits that only a kid could still find funny. Most of them revolve around the destruction of Nick (that's Ice Cube) and his new SUV, a pimped out Lincoln Navigator with the standard rap star attire - spinner wheels, loud bassy stereo and custom billet grille. By the end of the movie, his car has been destroyed and he has managed to ruin his chances of scoring with the woman he has decided to throw away his "playa" lifestyle for - a cellphone doting divorcee with two obnoxious children hellbent on getting their parents back together and running any other suitor out of town. I believe that the little girl is the same one from Disney's Haunted Mansion. The little boy looks suspiciously like Ice Cube. Maybe he took a cue from Will Smith and his Pursuit of Happyness. Maybe not...they seem to have the same eyebrows, though.

For a kids movie, it was entertaining, albeit somewhat nauseating. Most of the gags have been done a million times before by folks like National Lampoon, but like everything else coming out of Hollywood these days, if it is new to the kids, it is new enough. The same goes for the music industry. Would I recommend seeing it? Perhaps if you have kids and have grown tired of animated Pixar knockoffs. Try and find it at the library - that way you're not losing any cash on it.

silver stranded seniors unite

The latest opportunity to come my way is a site review for DatingForSeniors.com, the latest in a string of uber-niche market singles services. As expected, sign up is free and the site claims to be the "#1 seniors community on the internet." With a claim like that, finding a senior match should be no sweat, right? But we have to remember that setting up a profile is the easy part. It's the dating market itself that can be hell for seniors.

Isn't it nice though that we now live in an age when even the most introverted singles can find new love without having to play the part of extrovert? I can't imagine what it must be like to be single and over the age of forty, since I was very fortunate to find the love of my life and marry her at such a young age. For example, those who are recently divorced (or God forbid recently widowed) must have an incredibly difficult time getting back into the "singles game" after so many years. My inlaws are divorced and I know that they have had a hard time adjusting to being single again. Senior dating isn't exactly something that anyone looks forward to when they are younger. We all assume that we'll be happily married and growing old with someone who can tolerate our quirks and eccentricities.

My only complaint about the site is that the form that you fill out to create an account doesn't ask how old you are, so I don't see how they screen out those that don't fit the senior dating pool - you know those college types looking for Mrs. Robinson in lieu of Mrs. Right. But perhaps there is an extensive profile questionnaire once you have signed up. The search function allows you to search for an age as low as twenty, though.

Ina nutshell, while I don't see anything extraordinary about this site, I can appreciate that they allow seniors to sign up for a free account to assist them in finding love so late in life.

unlocking the potential

These days, it only makes sense to try and pick up an unlocked phone. After all, why limit yourself to just one network when you can choose which one works best for you without having to get new hardware each time you switch?

Obviously, this isn't in the best interest of cellphone companies or carriers. That's why Apple made their nasty little announcement not too long ago that anyone with an unlocked iPhone was subjecting themselves to a unit that would no longer function if they tried to do any software upgrades. Now they've opened up the software for third party development - a smart move, but probably not enough to win back the faith of those who were so disgusted by Apple's sour grapes.

In a world where we can even "have it our way" at the local burger chain, why not get that same treatment from a much more expensive service? It's all about proprietary hardware and software and controlling how consumers spend their hard earned cash. I find it refreshing that unlocked phones are so easy to find in the market today. I only hope that this trend of service "mashups" continues so that we, as consumers, get the most value possible.

overrun by tourists!

There is a HUGE craft fair happening this weekend near my hometown. The traffic in town has been absolutely horrible and its times like this that I really despise living in a tourist town. It's something that I've been wrestling with since we moved here. While I love the town, the history and the architecture, the frequent influx of outsiders can be a real drag. I love the fact that there is lots to do here, and I realize that much of this is due to the tourism industry, but I still don't have to like it. The last thing I need is for my new hometown to become another Branson Missouri. Not that Branson is that bad - it's just not my idea of a good place to live.

Tourism is an interesting industry. It's one of the few industries that has no concept of internal competition or oversaturation, which is a fancy way of saying that you can never have too much of it. While the rest of the nation is dealing with over-population, global warming and trying to curb natural devastation, much of the tourism industry is still following the belief that "if you build it, they will come".

bush vetoes health insurance for kids

Our beloved U.S. president recently vetoed a bill that would have brought insurance to approximately ten million uninsured children. The bill would have been funded by a tax increase on cigarettes, which I see as quite fitting. The effects of secondhand cigarette smoke are well known and can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, so why not let those who smoke cover some of the cost of healthcare. We can also thank cigarette smokers for the overall cost of health insurance being so much. Bush claims that he has vetoed this bill so that he can be "more involved" in its details, which basically means that he wants to give the cigarette corporations more time to instruct him on how to best water it down. He states that when all is done, it will still offer coverage for an estimated 500,000 children. So it's not a total loss. I'm sure that the other 9.5 million American children will understand.

It's truly a shame that we as a country can afford to spend billions on the welfare of other countries in the middle east while so many in our own country cannot afford their own health insurance. We've got extraneous coverage like vacation insurance and pet insurance, but we have no basic national healthcare coverage for human beings. It's even worse when you consider that other countries who are considerably less "advanced" than we claim to be have national healthcare programs for their citizens that apparently work quite well.

I'm a bit torn when it comes to government interference. I know that the idea of government regulated costs may not seem fair to medical professionals, but their fees to me don't seem very fair, either. And it seems that private insurance coverage has done nothing but skew those fees into extremely unrealistic amounts, like when the hospital charges you $6 for a drinking straw. Unfortunately, medical institutions aren't really to blame, but rather those who take advantage of the system without paying into it what they take out of it - the bogus malpractice suits, illegal aliens and yes, the smokers. Sure, smokers pay more for health insurance but they pay very little for what they do to those around them.

You can't really compare this with other insurance industries. There aren't any easily recognizable "second-hand" effects on things like home insurance or car insurance, although one could argue that uninsured motorists do their fair share of inflating our rates. So when do we fix health insurance and make it so that self-inflicting high-risk individuals understand the consequence (and cost) of their lifestyle choices?

This latest veto is just another example of how big tobacco still has a voice (or a stronghold) on any decisions being made in Washington that might affect their bottom line or persuade smokers to quit. And as long as big business has control, the interest of the individual (and their health) will always be low priority.

work for hire versus work for me

I'm having a dilemma. I've always considered myself something of an artist, and as an artist I am stubborn. I like to do things for me. Work for hire has never really been that enjoyable for me. I don't mind creating things that others will enjoy. I just like to be in control. I am a control freak. This was something that I realized fairly quickly back in college when I was getting my art degree, but I am starting to experience it again in my professional career.

As a web designer, I enjoy designing websites for myself, but I get annoyed with clients who want me to do things "their way". Usually, it has to do with taste and an understanding of the web (and their lack of it). maybe it's my fault and my responsibility to "enlighten" them, but not everyone wants to hear it.

Sometimes it also has to do with me creating sites that I see very little value in. I know that everybody wants to have a presence on the internet, but what do they have to say? If the answer to that is just to have a website that says "hey, look at me", what's the point? Why should we look at you? What makes it worth my time to look at you (or in my case to create something for others to look at?).

I guess I'm just having a bad day or something...

the silver lining to black gold

The BBC recently reported that oil will be hitting $90 a barrel. While we could try and dismiss this as yet more fear tactics from a media hellbent on feeding paranoia rather than a thirst for knowledge, the fact remains that we as a nation have done very little to break our dependence on oil. I was in my car the other day, noticing how many 10 mile per gallon SUVs and trucks there were around me and I was thinking to myself, "gee, the futuristic movies of the last few decades really got it wrong."

How many movies from the 70's and 80's (and even the 90's) portrayed a future filled with electric cars, most of which were tiny and sleek? Instead, we've got this rehashed muscle approach to the automobile industry. As if Hummers and Expeditions weren't enough, now we've got modern day muscle cars, too. The new Mustangs and Hemi-powered Chargers spring to mind. I'm a big fan of 60's era American muscle cars, but you would think that we would have figured out how to provide a good 400hp engine that gets 60 miles to the gallon by now. What remains to be seen is if the muscle car approach that got us into so much trouble in the 70's with the big gas scare could happen again.

I guess if there is any true "silver lining" with the gas crisis and the skyrocketing costs involved, it would be for those who were clever enough to invest in oil and gas. After all, the country is not making great strides to come up with viable alternatives so the future for oil profiteers seems pretty bright. In fact, oil and gas investment may be one of the few markets available that is still backed (and practically ensured) by big oil dollars in capital hill.

web apathy

With more of our lives being assimilated by the web, I am wondering if at some point we won't be faced with a certain amount of web apathy. The internet has already replaced most of our communication habits, and our entertainment habits are following suit quickly. Music and movies are slowly phasing out their physical product in favor of the cheaper distribution available online. Numerous sources state that books are next to go.

Fortunately, I don't see this happening very soon. And I use the term "fortunately" because I am starting to feel as if I experience enough of the world from in front of a screen. Books are very tactile in nature - we want to "curl up" with a good book, as the old saying goes. You never hear of anyone "curling up" behind a good screen - blah.

Already, as a web entrepreneur who spends much of his time on the internet, I find myself searching for excuses to perform acts not tied to the computer. While this attitude may be reserved for web geeks and programmers today, I would imagine that as the general population begins to spend more time behind the screen, they too will feel a certain amount of apathy towards the web. And this is understandable. We are human beings - living breathing creatures - not some digitized entity that feels more alive when it is "jacked in" to an electronic power source.

And what if we don't take the time to be human when we can? I suspect that society will begin to breed a new class of human - the digital human. Unemotional, unattached to anything but the virtual world, and failing miserably in all accounts of physical human interaction. We can already see the change in the youth of today. They don't value art forms as we once did - the music and pictures and film. Everything has become data, and therefore everything is of equal value, regardless of any intrinsic or aesthetic value. The idea of aesthetics are being thrown out in favor of what we do or don't "digg".

Are there others who feel this same way about the growing involvement that the web is playing in our lives? Have we not already ventured down a path of unhealthiness for the human race, triggered by 8+ hour bouts of sitting behind a computer screen? Are there others who suspect that we will have to some day go back to go forward, in order to regain our human identity and retain our ability to have relationships with one another? Perhaps there are. You're part of this web culture. What do you think? Am I "spot on" or am I just another paranoid luddite?

built to last

I've been getting into caving recently, and like any hobby in comes with a certain amount of initial expense. There are lots of things to consider - packs, helmet, lights, pads and of course some rugged clothing.

Unfortunately, I'm on a limited budget when it comes to new hobbies, because I already have so many that I have spent lots of cash on - some of which I don't end up using very often. For example, I've tried to get back into skateboarding, but find that I don't always have the time or energy. So all of that expensive padding and my custom built board don't get as much use as I would like. I can probably use some of the same pads for caving too, though. That's always a great approach - finding hobbies that can share resources.

One of the things that I didn't have already was a good sturdy backpack to take with me on my underground excursions. I checked out some outdoors outfitter shops and saw some really cool packs made by companies like North Face, but seeing as I don't know the longevity of this new hobby, I just couldn't justify the expense.

So I decided to check out the army surplus shop once again, and ended up ordering myself an olive drab Dutch military web pack that can be worn as a backpack, shoulder bag or strapped to my waist web-style. It may not be very fancy looking and it may not utilize all of the latest and greatest trends in outdoor fashion, but it serves its purpose. It also looks as though it has seen its fair share of military field training so I have a feeling that it will last me for a while - at least until I have decided that caving is a hobby that I want to be involved with for the long haul.

of kids and clutter

We've been having a real problem trying to get our kids to clean up their mess every day. It seems that by the end of each day, there are hundreds of toys scattered throughout our lower level and my wife and I end up picking most of them up. I told my wife that I'm sick of picking up the kids toys for them. As far as I'm concerned, we should just take the toys away if the kids refuse to cooperate. Otherwise, we're just propagating their habit of making a mess and not picking up after themselves.

Realistically, trying to keep the house clean is almost a full time job. Both my wife and I work, so that makes it difficult to determine who gets that job, or where to squeeze the time in to get it done. Sometimes I feel a bit guilty yelling at the kids to pick up their toys when I've got tons of stuff of my own cluttering up the garage.

I've got a number of storage shelves in the garage, but they are all full and I'm just glad that we only have one car right now, as a second car wouldn't fit with everything that we have lying on the floor in there. So what happens when you run out of space for new shelving?

There are a few companies out there specializing in garage storage that offer overhead storage solutions. This is an interesting concept, although the idea of hanging a bunch of stuff over our car worries me a little, especially knowing how our home was built. Knowing my luck, finding studs would probably be impossible, or I would find out that they did something weird when constructing the frame of our garage. Or, like the wall in my bathroom, I would discover that they somehow rigged it without studs!

never change insurance!

The title pretty much sums up my advice for the day. The problem is that if we were to follow this advice, we'd probably be stuck with the most expensive insurance out there. So why am I sharing this type of advice? It's simple, actually.

This is just part of a little fit that I am having right now due to a problem I am having with my insurance company. My wife and I changed insurance about seven months ago, and since that time, every time that we go to the doctor they mistakenly try and bill our old insurance first, and then we have to call them and have them correctly bill our new insurance. So why is this such a problem for them to get this straight in their records? I'm not really sure.

What I find interesting is that the doctor's office states that it is our new insurance that has our old insurance "on file" and that they will continue to try and bill our old insurance until they remove it. This makes absolutely no sense to me. Why would the doctor rely on the records of our new insurance company to determine what insurance we have? After all, wouldn't any insurance company just throw any other insurance company into your records to save them (or at least temporarily defer) any incoming payments? Why not ASK THE PATIENT who their current insurance company is, or what insurance companies they have? I guess that would make too much sense, eh?

I am so sick of this billing crap. I have NEVER had a health insurance company that got our billing straight. We have ALWAYS had to call them over and over again to get our bills corrected. What a total waste of my time. I ought to send them a bill for the amount of my own time I have had to spend cleaning up their incompetence.

a second look at timeshares

A recent happening has made me reconsider my relatively negative opinion of timeshares. My parents had purchased a Vegas timeshare not too long ago, and I remember thinking how ridiculous it was of my Father, seeing as it practically sets a requirement for you to take a vacation each year. But there were a number of things that I hadn't really considered. For one, you can sell your timeshare to someone else. And what's even better, you can trade.

My father got a really great deal on a recent trade that surprised me quite a bit. He got a trade for a high-end Disney World timeshare that was worth about six times as much as he paid for his. It was a pretty impressive deal. So while he could have been paying mondo bucks each time he went to Vegas and stayed at one of the nicer hotels like the Flamingo Las Vegas, he now gets to take the deal that he found on the internet on his timeshare and apply it towards other locations, sometimes with miraculous results. Even more unbelievable is that he not only got the huge upgrade for the unit in Florida, but he still has a week of a half-unit in Vegas because the week he traded is highly desirable in Vegas, but not so in Disney World. Crazy!

Granted, I still think that one needs to consider the longterm savings before purchasing a timeshare, but I have to admit that there are still occasions where the deal may seem to be too good to be true, when in fact is isn't.

the single commission salary?

I have noticed a number of very expensive high end homes coming up on the market in our area lately - I'm talking million dollar homes. Most are tucked away on some lake front acreage somewhere in the mountains. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to act as the real estate agent for one of these homes. Let's say a home is selling for $1.2 million. At an average commission rate of 7% (of which the selling and buyer's agent would each get half), you could walk away making $42,000. Can you believe that? For one sale!

Even if you have to hold their hands every minute of the day (which you should be more than willing to do for that type of commission), you could essentially sell that one home and take the rest of the year off. With the low cost of internet advertising, you could easily throw $5k into marketing the property and probably sell it in a month or so, and still walk away with a heck of a profit for only a month's work of work. What an amazing world we live in. The only problem is that to be a successful real estate agent and get high profile properties like that, you probably need to be constantly active in the market. It's a catch 22.