So after all of the excitement Wednesday afternoon, yesterday was kind of dull.
The Dish receiver's DVR functions did magically start working again, so that was pretty interesting. It allowed me the chance to at least write down all of our timers so that I know what we had programed and can set everything back up when the new receiver gets here.
The only other thing that happened yesterday was that I got a chance to try out some of the new Gears 2 content. Edwin had the night available, so we got on and played through the deleted scene. Sneaking was all that sneaky and it was a lot more fun to just push our way through on the "guns blazing" option. We also played some horde on one of the new maps. I liked the map, but it didn't really lend itself to the horde game format very well. We only got a chance to play on that one though, so we've got a good bit more to run through. If we just try to get the new achievements, that alone should keep us busy and playing Gears for a long time to come. Sorry DeAnne and Courtney.
Well, it looks like it's going to be a wet weekend, but hopefully it'll be a good one. Have a good Friday.
--Paul
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
DeAnne: Snake Charmer
Yesterday was a fairly uneventful day until just before I got home. Right before I left work, DeAnne called me and said that there was a snake under the hood of her car. I figured it was just a lizard or a small garden snake. I wasn't really prepared for what I saw when I opened the hood.
It was indeed a garden snake. He was as green as a lime, and he was huge. I've lived in this house for 15 years now and I've never seen a snake on the property and the few garden snakes that I've ever seen have been pretty small, so I was a little shocked to see this guy sitting on top of DeAnne's car battery.
After the initial shock wore off, I tried to coax him onto a broom handle. Well, I missed and he instead crawled down the side panel next to the battery and disappeared. This whole time DeAnne's freaking out and I'm having a pretty good time with her about it. She decides that the only way to get him out is to crank the car. So I crank the car. Then she decides that I need to move the car out of the garage and onto the driveway. So I back the car out and as I'm getting ready to get out of the car, I put a panicked face on and throw the door open and go barreling out of the car. DeAnne looked like she was ready to faint. A cruel joke? Yes. Funny? Without a doubt.
At any rate, I put the hood back down and after a few minutes the snake got brave enough to come back up to the battery. I finally got him on the broom handle but he got wrapped around something and I couldn't get him out. Instead he crawled to the other side of the engine compartment and down the back of the other side panel. So we waited some more. After a few more minutes, I noticed something in the crack where the passenger door opens. It was him. So I opened the door and after a little coaxing he came on down to the drive way and I was able to pull him away from the car with the broom handle and pin him down with it.
I didn't really want to kill him, but DeAnne was freaking out so bad that she never would have gone outside again otherwise, so she brought me a shovel and that was that. Out of curiosity, I got the yard stick out and measured him and he was 31". I was pretty shocked. I figured he was at least 2' when I saw him in the engine compartment, but that's close to 3' than 2'.
So that was our adventure yesterday afternoon. DeAnne will probably post some pictures latter today, so keep an eye on her blog for that.
Have a good Thursday.
--Paul
It was indeed a garden snake. He was as green as a lime, and he was huge. I've lived in this house for 15 years now and I've never seen a snake on the property and the few garden snakes that I've ever seen have been pretty small, so I was a little shocked to see this guy sitting on top of DeAnne's car battery.
After the initial shock wore off, I tried to coax him onto a broom handle. Well, I missed and he instead crawled down the side panel next to the battery and disappeared. This whole time DeAnne's freaking out and I'm having a pretty good time with her about it. She decides that the only way to get him out is to crank the car. So I crank the car. Then she decides that I need to move the car out of the garage and onto the driveway. So I back the car out and as I'm getting ready to get out of the car, I put a panicked face on and throw the door open and go barreling out of the car. DeAnne looked like she was ready to faint. A cruel joke? Yes. Funny? Without a doubt.
At any rate, I put the hood back down and after a few minutes the snake got brave enough to come back up to the battery. I finally got him on the broom handle but he got wrapped around something and I couldn't get him out. Instead he crawled to the other side of the engine compartment and down the back of the other side panel. So we waited some more. After a few more minutes, I noticed something in the crack where the passenger door opens. It was him. So I opened the door and after a little coaxing he came on down to the drive way and I was able to pull him away from the car with the broom handle and pin him down with it.
I didn't really want to kill him, but DeAnne was freaking out so bad that she never would have gone outside again otherwise, so she brought me a shovel and that was that. Out of curiosity, I got the yard stick out and measured him and he was 31". I was pretty shocked. I figured he was at least 2' when I saw him in the engine compartment, but that's close to 3' than 2'.
So that was our adventure yesterday afternoon. DeAnne will probably post some pictures latter today, so keep an eye on her blog for that.
Have a good Thursday.
--Paul
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Storm's A Brewin'
Well, at least a storm was brewed yesterday and it seems to have wrecked havoc on some of our electronics. It was over by the time I got home, but I dealt with it's effects for about 2 hours.
The first thing was that our Dish receiver was reporting an error that we could no longer pause or record T.V. We can still watch regular T.V., but we're in a bit of a state of shock not having the DVR. I called Dish and they're sending a new receiver. Fortunately, we had watched most of the stuff we had recorded, but we've lost all of our timers. I called Dish and they're sending a new receiver. You may recall, this is our second receiver. Our first one died last year around September/October. It was around a holiday though and it took about a week for the new one to get here. This one should be here on Friday.
After getting off the phone with Dish, I tackled the other problem, no internet connection. I reset the router and the modem and still nothing. So I connected straight to the modem and changed a few settings and we had internet. Put the router back in the mix, lost the internet again. So obviously, the router was the problem, but how to fix it? I tried restoring an old backup of the settings that I had and that didn't do any good. Finally, I just took the route I really didn't want to follow and restored the router to factory defaults. I check and I had a connection. I then had to reconfigure all of my router options. It wasn't much fun, but I didn't have to buy a new router and our internet connection is working again.
So all that made for a fun afternoon. Maybe today will be a little more mellow. Have a good Wednesday.
--Paul
The first thing was that our Dish receiver was reporting an error that we could no longer pause or record T.V. We can still watch regular T.V., but we're in a bit of a state of shock not having the DVR. I called Dish and they're sending a new receiver. Fortunately, we had watched most of the stuff we had recorded, but we've lost all of our timers. I called Dish and they're sending a new receiver. You may recall, this is our second receiver. Our first one died last year around September/October. It was around a holiday though and it took about a week for the new one to get here. This one should be here on Friday.
After getting off the phone with Dish, I tackled the other problem, no internet connection. I reset the router and the modem and still nothing. So I connected straight to the modem and changed a few settings and we had internet. Put the router back in the mix, lost the internet again. So obviously, the router was the problem, but how to fix it? I tried restoring an old backup of the settings that I had and that didn't do any good. Finally, I just took the route I really didn't want to follow and restored the router to factory defaults. I check and I had a connection. I then had to reconfigure all of my router options. It wasn't much fun, but I didn't have to buy a new router and our internet connection is working again.
So all that made for a fun afternoon. Maybe today will be a little more mellow. Have a good Wednesday.
--Paul
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Give Me Something To Talk About
If you're reading my posts on my blog site and not my facebook page, then you've probably noticed the "National Debt" clock that I put on the right. It's pretty amazing to just sit and watch it for a few minutes. It's just mind blowing that the people we have elected and entrusted to make decisions for us have put our country into over $11,600,000,000,000 worth of debt. The interest alone drives the thing faster than you can see the numbers. Literally, in less than a second, more money than I make in a YEAR is added to the debt. And now we have a congress and a president that have no qualms at all in multiplying that debt just as fast as they can.
In other news:
We're looking for a new camera. Our point-and-shoot died a rather horrible and sudden death while we were at the beach a couple of weekends ago and DeAnne doesn't like being without a camera. I've gotten a few replies from folks on twitter and facebook and I appreciate all the help. I hate to spend more than $200 on something that's going to be going various places with various levels of danger and DeAnne wants something with a 5x zoom, so the pickings are a little slim, but I'm sure we'll find something.
Have a good Tuesday.
--Paul
In other news:
We're looking for a new camera. Our point-and-shoot died a rather horrible and sudden death while we were at the beach a couple of weekends ago and DeAnne doesn't like being without a camera. I've gotten a few replies from folks on twitter and facebook and I appreciate all the help. I hate to spend more than $200 on something that's going to be going various places with various levels of danger and DeAnne wants something with a 5x zoom, so the pickings are a little slim, but I'm sure we'll find something.
Have a good Tuesday.
--Paul
Monday, July 27, 2009
A Full Week
Well, barring any unforeseen events, this will be my first full week of work in two or three weeks. I wish I could say I'm looking forward to it, but you know...
I joke, but I really do love my job. I work with great people at a great company doing stuff that I love to do. It's frustrating sometimes, but for the most part, I couldn't ask for a better way to earn a living.
Anyway, so the weekend was good. Beth Cox got married and the wedding was nice. I think the sound guy did a rather exceptional job, but of course, I'm biased. The rehearsal went really well the night before and dinner was great. It was really one of the more enjoyable weddings I think I've been to.
After the wedding, we headed over to DeAnne's Mom's house and helped her put up some peas. We came back with about 16 quarts, so that should last us a pretty good while.
Sunday, it was nice to be back in church again after being out of town the last two weeks. It was homecoming, so we didn't have evening services. That was kind of strange, but the morning service was great. Fresh Anointing came and sang for us and it was the first time I've had a chance to hear them. They were really good and I really enjoyed the songs they shared.
All in all, a great weekend. Now let's see what we can do with the next five days. Have a good Monday.
--Paul
I joke, but I really do love my job. I work with great people at a great company doing stuff that I love to do. It's frustrating sometimes, but for the most part, I couldn't ask for a better way to earn a living.
Anyway, so the weekend was good. Beth Cox got married and the wedding was nice. I think the sound guy did a rather exceptional job, but of course, I'm biased. The rehearsal went really well the night before and dinner was great. It was really one of the more enjoyable weddings I think I've been to.
After the wedding, we headed over to DeAnne's Mom's house and helped her put up some peas. We came back with about 16 quarts, so that should last us a pretty good while.
Sunday, it was nice to be back in church again after being out of town the last two weeks. It was homecoming, so we didn't have evening services. That was kind of strange, but the morning service was great. Fresh Anointing came and sang for us and it was the first time I've had a chance to hear them. They were really good and I really enjoyed the songs they shared.
All in all, a great weekend. Now let's see what we can do with the next five days. Have a good Monday.
--Paul
Friday, July 24, 2009
The Weekend Again, Already?
It seems like the week has flown by. It makes me kind of sad to think that it's been a week already since we first arrived in Navarre. Can we go back now? Please? No? Oh, well...
So, plans for this weekend mainly involve the wedding of Beth Cox. I'm doing the sound, so we've got rehearsal tonight and then the wedding tomorrow afternoon. It should be a lot of fun. I met with Beth yesterday afternoon to go over a few special requests for the music and her and her future husband are doing a few unconventional things that should make for a great wedding that should be a blast. I don't normally enjoy weddings a whole lot, but I'm kind of looking forward to this one.
Other than that, it should be back to somewhat normal for us. We'll actually get to go to church Sunday for the first time in two weeks, so that will be nice. It's also the church's homecoming, so it should be a great couple of services too.
So that's all I've got today. Have a good Friday and a good weekend.
--Paul
So, plans for this weekend mainly involve the wedding of Beth Cox. I'm doing the sound, so we've got rehearsal tonight and then the wedding tomorrow afternoon. It should be a lot of fun. I met with Beth yesterday afternoon to go over a few special requests for the music and her and her future husband are doing a few unconventional things that should make for a great wedding that should be a blast. I don't normally enjoy weddings a whole lot, but I'm kind of looking forward to this one.
Other than that, it should be back to somewhat normal for us. We'll actually get to go to church Sunday for the first time in two weeks, so that will be nice. It's also the church's homecoming, so it should be a great couple of services too.
So that's all I've got today. Have a good Friday and a good weekend.
--Paul
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Up
We also saw "Up" this past weekend while at the beach.
As much as I loved Harry Potter and as good as Star Trek and Transformers were, Up was easily the best movie we've seen all summer. We also couldn't have seen it at a better time and place.
We were checking around for something to do on Sunday night and I found a little theater that shows art films but also carries a "discount" movie. They were showing Up so we decided to go see it. It cost $4 a ticket and we were the only two souls in the place watching Up. It was about as awesome as it could be. It was like having a huge screen in your living room because it was just us.
It probably also helped that the movie was great. It was really an emotional movie and had a few parts that were real tear-jerkers. I really hadn't heard much about what the movie was actually about other than some old guy ties balloons to his house, so we really weren't prepared for everything that took place.
Anyway, it was a great movie, beautiful animation, great story, good voice-acting, just all-around awesome. I don't know how Pixar keeps putting out such good movies, but this one may be their best yet.
Have a good Thursday.
--Paul
As much as I loved Harry Potter and as good as Star Trek and Transformers were, Up was easily the best movie we've seen all summer. We also couldn't have seen it at a better time and place.
We were checking around for something to do on Sunday night and I found a little theater that shows art films but also carries a "discount" movie. They were showing Up so we decided to go see it. It cost $4 a ticket and we were the only two souls in the place watching Up. It was about as awesome as it could be. It was like having a huge screen in your living room because it was just us.
It probably also helped that the movie was great. It was really an emotional movie and had a few parts that were real tear-jerkers. I really hadn't heard much about what the movie was actually about other than some old guy ties balloons to his house, so we really weren't prepared for everything that took place.
Anyway, it was a great movie, beautiful animation, great story, good voice-acting, just all-around awesome. I don't know how Pixar keeps putting out such good movies, but this one may be their best yet.
Have a good Thursday.
--Paul
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Harry Potter and the Half-Baked Plot
Well, that's maybe being a little harsh. Actually, it's being a lot harsh. I loved the movie. I don't think I'm ready to declare it the best Harry Potter movie yet, but none of them have been "bad", so...
I guess my problems with the movie stem from comparing it to the book. A good bit of information was left out and the way the movie was put together seemed kind of hap-hazard. By the time they tried to fit all the different aspects of the book into the movie, it left the movie moving from one thing to the next in a way that didn't lead to much plot developement.
I'm probably being overlly critical. They did do a lot of things right. When Harry takes the luck potion, that entire sequence is spot on. The ending is also perfect, even with the minor changes they made. I just wish they would have made the movie 20 minutes longer and added another memory or two from Voldemort's past. I really think adding just the memory of how he got the ring would have made the movie more cohesive.
Anyway, like I said, the movie was great and I'm excited for the next two. Maybe watching it again would help me get past my problems with it. Who knows.
Have a good Wednesday.
--Paul
I guess my problems with the movie stem from comparing it to the book. A good bit of information was left out and the way the movie was put together seemed kind of hap-hazard. By the time they tried to fit all the different aspects of the book into the movie, it left the movie moving from one thing to the next in a way that didn't lead to much plot developement.
I'm probably being overlly critical. They did do a lot of things right. When Harry takes the luck potion, that entire sequence is spot on. The ending is also perfect, even with the minor changes they made. I just wish they would have made the movie 20 minutes longer and added another memory or two from Voldemort's past. I really think adding just the memory of how he got the ring would have made the movie more cohesive.
Anyway, like I said, the movie was great and I'm excited for the next two. Maybe watching it again would help me get past my problems with it. Who knows.
Have a good Wednesday.
--Paul
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Back To Reality
We had a great time in Navarre this past weekend. The weather wasn't that great on Sunday, but for the most part it was nice and even on Sunday, we were able to enjoy the beach for a pretty good while.
We drove down Friday afternoon, got checked in, unpacked and hit the grocery store. By the time we were done there and had everything back to the condo, it was time for dinner. We drove over to Gulf Breeze and Pensacola Beach, had dinner and then went to see Harry Potter. So Friday was pretty basic. We mainly just got familiar with the area and kind of got geared down and into vacation mode.
Saturday was the beach. All day. We were there before most anyone else, got a good spot and started looking for shells. There were several good shell deposits on the beach and just into the water. Also, the beach wasn't very crowded at all. Surprisingly though, the water was pretty cold. It rained the couple of days before we got there and that probably contributed to it, but I was pretty shocked at how cold the water was. Saturday also had some good waves. We got in a good bit of boogie boarding. We did hit the pool one time, but it wasn't for long and it was towards the end of the day. By the time we cooked dinner and cleaned up, it was getting pretty late and we were both exhausted, so we actually went to bed a little early.
Sunday, we trucked down to the beach only to get rained on after about an hour. The water was colder than on Saturday and when it started raining, we packed it in and headed back to the condo. It rained for a while but finally quit around lunch. After giving it a little while and checking the weather channel, we headed back out. We stayed for a few hours, but the water was so cold that it was uncomfortable after a little while. Sunday was also the day that we saw a dolphin a little ways off shore. After leaving the beach, we decided to go back to the pool and stayed there a pretty good while. The pool water was much warmer than the gulf and was really nice after being so cold.
Sunday afternoon ended a little earlier because of the weather so we ate an early dinner and cleaned up and then went and saw "Up" at a small theater in Gulf Breeze that was running it as a discount movie. It was really a pretty nice place and it only cost us $8 for the both of us to get in and we were the only two people watching the movie, so we had the whole place to ourselves. It was almost like being at home with a movie screen instead of a T.V.
Like all good things, Monday came and brought our vacation to an end. It was nice to come home, but we both would have given anything to be able to stay longer. I've been trying to think about what I'm going to say about Harry Potter, so look for that tomorrow.
Have a good Tuesday.
--Paul
We drove down Friday afternoon, got checked in, unpacked and hit the grocery store. By the time we were done there and had everything back to the condo, it was time for dinner. We drove over to Gulf Breeze and Pensacola Beach, had dinner and then went to see Harry Potter. So Friday was pretty basic. We mainly just got familiar with the area and kind of got geared down and into vacation mode.
Saturday was the beach. All day. We were there before most anyone else, got a good spot and started looking for shells. There were several good shell deposits on the beach and just into the water. Also, the beach wasn't very crowded at all. Surprisingly though, the water was pretty cold. It rained the couple of days before we got there and that probably contributed to it, but I was pretty shocked at how cold the water was. Saturday also had some good waves. We got in a good bit of boogie boarding. We did hit the pool one time, but it wasn't for long and it was towards the end of the day. By the time we cooked dinner and cleaned up, it was getting pretty late and we were both exhausted, so we actually went to bed a little early.
Sunday, we trucked down to the beach only to get rained on after about an hour. The water was colder than on Saturday and when it started raining, we packed it in and headed back to the condo. It rained for a while but finally quit around lunch. After giving it a little while and checking the weather channel, we headed back out. We stayed for a few hours, but the water was so cold that it was uncomfortable after a little while. Sunday was also the day that we saw a dolphin a little ways off shore. After leaving the beach, we decided to go back to the pool and stayed there a pretty good while. The pool water was much warmer than the gulf and was really nice after being so cold.
Sunday afternoon ended a little earlier because of the weather so we ate an early dinner and cleaned up and then went and saw "Up" at a small theater in Gulf Breeze that was running it as a discount movie. It was really a pretty nice place and it only cost us $8 for the both of us to get in and we were the only two people watching the movie, so we had the whole place to ourselves. It was almost like being at home with a movie screen instead of a T.V.
Like all good things, Monday came and brought our vacation to an end. It was nice to come home, but we both would have given anything to be able to stay longer. I've been trying to think about what I'm going to say about Harry Potter, so look for that tomorrow.
Have a good Tuesday.
--Paul
Friday, July 17, 2009
Short Because I'm Late
I'm running a little behind this morning, mainly because I wanted to shave so that I wouldn't have to while we're at the beach. I was a bit overdue though and it took longer than I thought it would. Anyway.
I'm heading in to work for a few hours before we leave for the beach. I hope to be on the road no later than 12:30. Check-in is at 2:00, so if we're gone by then, it should put us getting there just as we're able to check in. My only real concern now is that we're going to get rained out of a day or two. They were saying 60% chance for today and tomorrow. Well...I just took a moment and checked and now it's 60% today and 30% tomorrow, so that's a good bit better. If it's raining tonight then we'll definitely be going to see Harry Potter.
Heck, I think that's what we'll be doing even if it's not raining. I've seen some quick reviews on facebook from people I trust and I'm pretty excited for it. Evidently they've messed with the end, but overall, everyone seems to be extremely happy with the movie.
No blog on Monday...We're staying through then. I should be tweeting from my phone all along though, so if you're interested, you can follow my twitter feed on the right on this page or if you're my friend on facebook, you'll see those messages come in as my status updates. Have a good weekend, a good Friday and I'll see you back on Tuesday.
--Paul
I'm heading in to work for a few hours before we leave for the beach. I hope to be on the road no later than 12:30. Check-in is at 2:00, so if we're gone by then, it should put us getting there just as we're able to check in. My only real concern now is that we're going to get rained out of a day or two. They were saying 60% chance for today and tomorrow. Well...I just took a moment and checked and now it's 60% today and 30% tomorrow, so that's a good bit better. If it's raining tonight then we'll definitely be going to see Harry Potter.
Heck, I think that's what we'll be doing even if it's not raining. I've seen some quick reviews on facebook from people I trust and I'm pretty excited for it. Evidently they've messed with the end, but overall, everyone seems to be extremely happy with the movie.
No blog on Monday...We're staying through then. I should be tweeting from my phone all along though, so if you're interested, you can follow my twitter feed on the right on this page or if you're my friend on facebook, you'll see those messages come in as my status updates. Have a good weekend, a good Friday and I'll see you back on Tuesday.
--Paul
Thursday, July 16, 2009
I Don't Know
It's another one of those blank days. Sorry. How about updates from my twitter tweets?
Foxnews.com had an interesting link up yesterday that I twittered about. This is a flow chart of what the democrat's universal health-care plan would be like. It took me about 15 minutes to even begin to make some kind of sense of it and all I could gather is they take my money, my employers money and then tell us all we have to have health care and use a whole bunch of government agencies to do it. How anybody thinks that this is a good ideal, I have no idea. Have you ever tried to get your driver's license renewed? I rest my case.
Also, over the past couple of weeks, FunnyorDie.com has posted a couple of videos that are spoofs of match.com commercials. They're for Jon and Kate from Jon and Kate + 8. Obviously, it's not the real people, but they're pretty hilarious. Jon's especially.
Also, news that I didn't twitter...I got bit by an ant on the bottom of my foot a day or two ago while outside wearing my sandals. It's really itching right now, so I'm going to call it a morning.
Have a good Thursday.
--Paul
Foxnews.com had an interesting link up yesterday that I twittered about. This is a flow chart of what the democrat's universal health-care plan would be like. It took me about 15 minutes to even begin to make some kind of sense of it and all I could gather is they take my money, my employers money and then tell us all we have to have health care and use a whole bunch of government agencies to do it. How anybody thinks that this is a good ideal, I have no idea. Have you ever tried to get your driver's license renewed? I rest my case.
Also, over the past couple of weeks, FunnyorDie.com has posted a couple of videos that are spoofs of match.com commercials. They're for Jon and Kate from Jon and Kate + 8. Obviously, it's not the real people, but they're pretty hilarious. Jon's especially.
Also, news that I didn't twitter...I got bit by an ant on the bottom of my foot a day or two ago while outside wearing my sandals. It's really itching right now, so I'm going to call it a morning.
Have a good Thursday.
--Paul
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
400
I'm going to talk about Harry Potter, but first: This is my 400th post to this blog. Thank you all for reading.
Now, on to more important matters. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince hit theaters last night. I have several friends on facebook who posted about being at midnight showings. All I have to say to those people is: I'm so jealous, it's not even funny. If done right, I really think this could be the best movie out of all of them. Book 6 was one of my favorites, if not the favorite of all the books. They're all great, but something about 6 really struck a chord with me. Maybe it's the ending, or maybe it's the fact that after 5 books full of hints and glimpses, we really learn about Harry, Voldemort, and several other main characters and what part they're playing in the grand scheme of things. It also contains one of the most devastatingly sad and moving moments in the series. If nothing else makes sense or follows the book, that will be fine as long as at that moment, every single eye in the theater is wet. Those that have read the books know what I'm talking about.
As for actually seeing the movie, we're probably going to be going either Friday or Saturday. I don't know if either of us can wait until Saturday, so it's more likely that we'll go Friday after we get settle in at the beach. Dinner, a movie and the beach...sounds like a great Friday to me.
Have a good Wednesday.
--Paul
Now, on to more important matters. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince hit theaters last night. I have several friends on facebook who posted about being at midnight showings. All I have to say to those people is: I'm so jealous, it's not even funny. If done right, I really think this could be the best movie out of all of them. Book 6 was one of my favorites, if not the favorite of all the books. They're all great, but something about 6 really struck a chord with me. Maybe it's the ending, or maybe it's the fact that after 5 books full of hints and glimpses, we really learn about Harry, Voldemort, and several other main characters and what part they're playing in the grand scheme of things. It also contains one of the most devastatingly sad and moving moments in the series. If nothing else makes sense or follows the book, that will be fine as long as at that moment, every single eye in the theater is wet. Those that have read the books know what I'm talking about.
As for actually seeing the movie, we're probably going to be going either Friday or Saturday. I don't know if either of us can wait until Saturday, so it's more likely that we'll go Friday after we get settle in at the beach. Dinner, a movie and the beach...sounds like a great Friday to me.
Have a good Wednesday.
--Paul
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
No Fun Yesterday
Talk about "back to reality". I came home from work yesterday and cut the grass. I didn't actually get to sit down until around 7:30. Bit of a stiff change from the weekend.
My sunburn has started to itch and it's driving me crazy. I doubt I'll be so lucky, but I'm hoping it'll go ahead and peal and be over and done by the time we hit the beach this weekend.
I guess I should have saved some of the weekend tales for today. I'm kind of struggling here. The weekend did offer one odd thing. I was very disconnected from the internet. I took my iPod but there wasn't a wireless signal anywhere near by where we were staying so all I really had was my phone. The internet is incredibly slow on my Blackberry, but the Twitter app is pretty good, so Twitter was about all I had access to. I had a good bit of catching up on things to do when we got home, but it was really kind of nice to leave the noise behind.
Have a good Tuesday.
--Paul
My sunburn has started to itch and it's driving me crazy. I doubt I'll be so lucky, but I'm hoping it'll go ahead and peal and be over and done by the time we hit the beach this weekend.
I guess I should have saved some of the weekend tales for today. I'm kind of struggling here. The weekend did offer one odd thing. I was very disconnected from the internet. I took my iPod but there wasn't a wireless signal anywhere near by where we were staying so all I really had was my phone. The internet is incredibly slow on my Blackberry, but the Twitter app is pretty good, so Twitter was about all I had access to. I had a good bit of catching up on things to do when we got home, but it was really kind of nice to leave the noise behind.
Have a good Tuesday.
--Paul
Monday, July 13, 2009
What A Weekend
Well, we had a great time this past weekend.
I took off work on Friday at lunch and we packed up and headed down to Panama City. Once we got there, we unloaded and then went to pick up a few things and hit a store or two that DeAnne wanted to go in. We ate dinner at Angelo's Steak Pit and it was pretty good. Neither of us had ever ate there before. I don't know if the hype was too great or if we just didn't order well, but it just didn't seem to be worth quite what we paid for it. Don't get me wrong, it was a good meal, I just don't know if it was that good. After dinner we headed for Pier Park so DeAnne could do some more shopping and we met up with Bryan and Adrienne at Target. By the time we all got back to the house, it was about 10:00. We sat and talked for a little while and then called it a night.
Saturday we got up and headed to Shipwreck in time to be there when it opened. We met Taylor and Brandon there. Shipwreck was pretty awesome. I had never been before and I had a great time. DeAnne really enjoyed it too. She's a big kid at heart and I think she had more fun than anybody. I think it was a little after 2:00 when we left. We headed back to the house and everyone got cleaned up and then we went to Captain Anderson's for dinner. We enjoyed Capt. Anderson's a good bit more than we did Angelo's. After dinner we played a round of put-put and then went back to the house to hang out.
Brandon and Taylor had to head back home Sunday morning, but the rest of us hit the beach for a little while. We had done good the day before at Shipwreck, but evidently something went horribly wrong Sunday morning and I now have a pretty good sunburn on my back and shoulders. I coated myself in sunscreen and DeAnne slathered my back, but it wasn't enough. My head did make it through unscathed though, so I was glad for that.
After we left the beach we finished cleaning up the house and then hit Pier Park again. I wanted to try out Five Guys Burgers and was not disappointed. After eating, we walked around and did a little shopping and then Bryan and Adrienne headed home. We had to run back to the beach house to finish up some laundry and to pick up Emma and then we headed home too.
It was a great weekend and we had a lot of fun. I'm a little exhausted, but I'll survive. Plus, I've got another weekend at the beach coming up this weekend to help in my recuperation efforts.
Have a good Monday.
--Paul
I took off work on Friday at lunch and we packed up and headed down to Panama City. Once we got there, we unloaded and then went to pick up a few things and hit a store or two that DeAnne wanted to go in. We ate dinner at Angelo's Steak Pit and it was pretty good. Neither of us had ever ate there before. I don't know if the hype was too great or if we just didn't order well, but it just didn't seem to be worth quite what we paid for it. Don't get me wrong, it was a good meal, I just don't know if it was that good. After dinner we headed for Pier Park so DeAnne could do some more shopping and we met up with Bryan and Adrienne at Target. By the time we all got back to the house, it was about 10:00. We sat and talked for a little while and then called it a night.
Saturday we got up and headed to Shipwreck in time to be there when it opened. We met Taylor and Brandon there. Shipwreck was pretty awesome. I had never been before and I had a great time. DeAnne really enjoyed it too. She's a big kid at heart and I think she had more fun than anybody. I think it was a little after 2:00 when we left. We headed back to the house and everyone got cleaned up and then we went to Captain Anderson's for dinner. We enjoyed Capt. Anderson's a good bit more than we did Angelo's. After dinner we played a round of put-put and then went back to the house to hang out.
Brandon and Taylor had to head back home Sunday morning, but the rest of us hit the beach for a little while. We had done good the day before at Shipwreck, but evidently something went horribly wrong Sunday morning and I now have a pretty good sunburn on my back and shoulders. I coated myself in sunscreen and DeAnne slathered my back, but it wasn't enough. My head did make it through unscathed though, so I was glad for that.
After we left the beach we finished cleaning up the house and then hit Pier Park again. I wanted to try out Five Guys Burgers and was not disappointed. After eating, we walked around and did a little shopping and then Bryan and Adrienne headed home. We had to run back to the beach house to finish up some laundry and to pick up Emma and then we headed home too.
It was a great weekend and we had a lot of fun. I'm a little exhausted, but I'll survive. Plus, I've got another weekend at the beach coming up this weekend to help in my recuperation efforts.
Have a good Monday.
--Paul
Friday, July 10, 2009
And We're Off...
Panama City, here we come!
In case you haven't noticed, I'm pretty excited about the upcoming weekend. So much so, that I'm taking off at lunch and we're heading on down as soon as we can. I don't know if we'll make it to the beach this afternoon or not, but just getting on the road is good enough for me.
I haven't been able to find any dog-friendly beaches, but I'm going to try again today if I have a chance. We would really love to get Emma out on the beach and see what her reaction would be. You never know with her. Sometimes she's excited about being in new places and then some times she's incredibly timid about new surroundings.
It's a short one today, but I'm sure I'll make up for it next week with tales of the weekend. Have a good Friday and a good weekend.
--Paul
In case you haven't noticed, I'm pretty excited about the upcoming weekend. So much so, that I'm taking off at lunch and we're heading on down as soon as we can. I don't know if we'll make it to the beach this afternoon or not, but just getting on the road is good enough for me.
I haven't been able to find any dog-friendly beaches, but I'm going to try again today if I have a chance. We would really love to get Emma out on the beach and see what her reaction would be. You never know with her. Sometimes she's excited about being in new places and then some times she's incredibly timid about new surroundings.
It's a short one today, but I'm sure I'll make up for it next week with tales of the weekend. Have a good Friday and a good weekend.
--Paul
Thursday, July 09, 2009
GDGT
There was a new site to launch on the internet last week called GDGT. It's short for "Gadget". It's kind of like a social network for geeks. You create a profile and once you're signed in and going, you can add gadgets to your profile. There are three lists: have, had and want. Each gadget has it's on page, kind of a "gadget profile", where you can check the specs and read and participate in discussion about the gadget.
As with any good social network, you can follow other users and see when they do different things on the site. My profile is at http://user.gdgt.com/jpdubose. They also run gadget news, a podcast, and a few other features but the main focus really seems to be growing the discussion on gadget pages and growing the database of different gadgets. I don't really have anything that obscure, so I've not found an instance where I wasn't able to add something, but if you look for something and it's not in the database, you can contribute it to the site. You just fill out a form with the specs and it goes off for final approval by the site admins. After a day or two, it'll either be accepted and added to the public database or it'll be rejected. I tried submitting my TV, but someone beat me to it, so my contribution was rejected, but they were nice enough to include a link in the rejection notice so that I could add the TV to my have list.
All in all, a cool site. The only downside is that it's another social networking site to keep up with. Also, I would love to see a native iPhone/iPod app similar to the facebook app.
Have a good Thursday.
--Paul
As with any good social network, you can follow other users and see when they do different things on the site. My profile is at http://user.gdgt.com/jpdubose. They also run gadget news, a podcast, and a few other features but the main focus really seems to be growing the discussion on gadget pages and growing the database of different gadgets. I don't really have anything that obscure, so I've not found an instance where I wasn't able to add something, but if you look for something and it's not in the database, you can contribute it to the site. You just fill out a form with the specs and it goes off for final approval by the site admins. After a day or two, it'll either be accepted and added to the public database or it'll be rejected. I tried submitting my TV, but someone beat me to it, so my contribution was rejected, but they were nice enough to include a link in the rejection notice so that I could add the TV to my have list.
All in all, a cool site. The only downside is that it's another social networking site to keep up with. Also, I would love to see a native iPhone/iPod app similar to the facebook app.
Have a good Thursday.
--Paul
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
One Of Those Days
It's one of those days where I don't really have anything to talk about so excuse me while I pull in something random.
Ah...At long last, I was finally able to squeeze in a chance to watch the last episode of "Dollhouse". I really didn't care too much for the show to start with but I stuck with it hoping that it would get better and boy did it ever. The last two episodes of the season were awesome. Hopefully the show can keep the momentum going into next season.
I'm starting to get excited about going to Panama City this weekend. Just a few more days and we'll be heading that way. Even Emma's getting to go on this trip. She's going to be so excited. I wish I knew of a dog-friendly beach. If anyone does know of one in or around PCB, then please let me know. We would love to see her reaction to the sand and water.
Well, I thought I could come up with one more topic, but I drew a blank. Sorry. Have a good Wednesday.
--Paul
Ah...At long last, I was finally able to squeeze in a chance to watch the last episode of "Dollhouse". I really didn't care too much for the show to start with but I stuck with it hoping that it would get better and boy did it ever. The last two episodes of the season were awesome. Hopefully the show can keep the momentum going into next season.
I'm starting to get excited about going to Panama City this weekend. Just a few more days and we'll be heading that way. Even Emma's getting to go on this trip. She's going to be so excited. I wish I knew of a dog-friendly beach. If anyone does know of one in or around PCB, then please let me know. We would love to see her reaction to the sand and water.
Well, I thought I could come up with one more topic, but I drew a blank. Sorry. Have a good Wednesday.
--Paul
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Izzy, Hunter
This all happened last week but I couldn't find anywhere to work it in. Of course, if you read DeAnne's blog, you saw where a couple of weeks ago, our cat, Izzy, brought a lizard into the house. He hadn't actually killed the lizard yet and when he put it down, it ran off and we couldn't find it. DeAnne found it a few days later and you can read her post about it here.
So last week, I'm out walking Emma and she's taking one of her usual routes around the yard when I notice something underneath the apple tree next to the house. I got to looking and it was a mocking bird. Every year around spring and early summer we have a pretty good sized mocking bird population move in and they tend to harass the cats pretty much all the time. It's pretty funny watching them dive-bomb the cats and seeing the cats react. I guess one got a little too close though, and Izzy got a hold of it.
A few days later, DeAnne and I were leaving to go somewhere and Izzy had been outside. As we left, he moved to go in but I noticed something wasn't right about his mouth. I stopped him and he promptly dropped a mole on the ground. He's brought us several moles over the years and even got one inside one time, so it wasn't much of a surprise, but I'm glad this one didn't make it past the door step.
Sorry if I grossed anyone out. Izzy brings us stuff all along, but he's been on a rampage here lately and I thought it would make for a humorous post. Have a good Tuesday.
--Paul
So last week, I'm out walking Emma and she's taking one of her usual routes around the yard when I notice something underneath the apple tree next to the house. I got to looking and it was a mocking bird. Every year around spring and early summer we have a pretty good sized mocking bird population move in and they tend to harass the cats pretty much all the time. It's pretty funny watching them dive-bomb the cats and seeing the cats react. I guess one got a little too close though, and Izzy got a hold of it.
A few days later, DeAnne and I were leaving to go somewhere and Izzy had been outside. As we left, he moved to go in but I noticed something wasn't right about his mouth. I stopped him and he promptly dropped a mole on the ground. He's brought us several moles over the years and even got one inside one time, so it wasn't much of a surprise, but I'm glad this one didn't make it past the door step.
Sorry if I grossed anyone out. Izzy brings us stuff all along, but he's been on a rampage here lately and I thought it would make for a humorous post. Have a good Tuesday.
--Paul
Monday, July 06, 2009
Come Back, Long Weekend!
It's sad that the long weekend has to end. All good things, huh?
We had a great fourth. On Friday we went swimming with Bryan and Adrienne and then shot over to Dothan for a quick Sam's run with DeAnne's Mom. Saturday was actually pretty busy. We ate lunch with DeAnne's family, came home, had dinner with Dad, Sherry, Josh and Kelly and then shot fireworks with a bunch of friends over at Bryan and Adrienne's house. Yesterday was great too. We just went to church and relaxed in between services.
So July is shaping up to be pretty awesome if not busy. We had a long weekend this past week. This coming weekend we're heading to Panama City for a couple of nights. We're hitting Shipwreck and the beach with Bryan and Adrienne and Taylor and Brandon. The weekend after that is our anniversary trip to Navarre and then the weekend after that is Beth Cox's wedding and the church's homecoming. Things may be crazy, but it should be a lot of fun.
Have a good Monday.
--Paul
We had a great fourth. On Friday we went swimming with Bryan and Adrienne and then shot over to Dothan for a quick Sam's run with DeAnne's Mom. Saturday was actually pretty busy. We ate lunch with DeAnne's family, came home, had dinner with Dad, Sherry, Josh and Kelly and then shot fireworks with a bunch of friends over at Bryan and Adrienne's house. Yesterday was great too. We just went to church and relaxed in between services.
So July is shaping up to be pretty awesome if not busy. We had a long weekend this past week. This coming weekend we're heading to Panama City for a couple of nights. We're hitting Shipwreck and the beach with Bryan and Adrienne and Taylor and Brandon. The weekend after that is our anniversary trip to Navarre and then the weekend after that is Beth Cox's wedding and the church's homecoming. Things may be crazy, but it should be a lot of fun.
Have a good Monday.
--Paul
Thursday, July 02, 2009
The Weekend Has Arrived
Hurray for the long weekend. As usual for holidays, I won't be posting tomorrow. We don't really have any plans for the 4th. We're supposed to eat lunch with DeAnne's family, but that's about it. At least the grass doesn't need cutting. It should be a pretty laid back time and I'm looking forward to it.
I got to play some xbox with Edwin last night and for the first time in a while we both had some pretty good rounds with Gears. We also played some Magic: the Gathering. I'm a bit disappointed with the game though as far as co-op is concerned. I was under the impression that the co-op campaign would be online but evidently it's offline only meaning you have to have someone in the same place with you in order to play the co-op campaign. It's a pretty major missing feature and I hope that they add it in with a future update to the game. I probably would have still bought the game even if I had known about this, but I'm still upset that they weren't more clear about co-op being offline only.
I'll see you all back on Monday. Have a safe and happy 4th.
--Paul
I got to play some xbox with Edwin last night and for the first time in a while we both had some pretty good rounds with Gears. We also played some Magic: the Gathering. I'm a bit disappointed with the game though as far as co-op is concerned. I was under the impression that the co-op campaign would be online but evidently it's offline only meaning you have to have someone in the same place with you in order to play the co-op campaign. It's a pretty major missing feature and I hope that they add it in with a future update to the game. I probably would have still bought the game even if I had known about this, but I'm still upset that they weren't more clear about co-op being offline only.
I'll see you all back on Monday. Have a safe and happy 4th.
--Paul
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Kind of Disappointing
Well for all the hype, yesterday was pretty normal. I guess that's just a testament to how prepared we were. It's good, but it was actually a little bit of a let down. That probably doesn't make any sense at all, but anyway.
DeAnne's talked about it already on her blog and I've mentioned it a time or two here, but we're pretty obsessed with Rummikub right now. DeAnne loves puzzle type things and Rummikub runs right up that alley. I guess for me, it appeals to the programmer side of me in that it uses numbers and you have to come up with a series of steps in order to do something. We've had a lot of fun playing it and have played it most every night for the last couple of weeks. It's become our new "thing" for the moment and it couldn't have come at a better time since most of the shows we watch on TV are on reruns for the summer right now. As DeAnne pointed out in her blog, you can play it online at http://www.rummikub.com.
Short and sweet. Have a good Wednesday.
--Paul
DeAnne's talked about it already on her blog and I've mentioned it a time or two here, but we're pretty obsessed with Rummikub right now. DeAnne loves puzzle type things and Rummikub runs right up that alley. I guess for me, it appeals to the programmer side of me in that it uses numbers and you have to come up with a series of steps in order to do something. We've had a lot of fun playing it and have played it most every night for the last couple of weeks. It's become our new "thing" for the moment and it couldn't have come at a better time since most of the shows we watch on TV are on reruns for the summer right now. As DeAnne pointed out in her blog, you can play it online at http://www.rummikub.com.
Short and sweet. Have a good Wednesday.
--Paul
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