The Famine in Nigier......

No, I'm really not going to write about the famine in Nigier. I spoke with my college buddy Greg and his wife Ann, who suggested that my next blog topic be 'The Famine in Nigier.' I know absolutely nothing about the famine in Nigier. I can imagine that it is pretty bad though. Famine is terrible. This weekend we did watch parts of "Tears of the Sun" staring Bruce Willis and Monica Bellucci which is about the civil war in Sierra Leone. Terrible stuff. Some of the things that happen over there are truly terrible. I won't go into it because the movie is pretty good, but I know that Jessica works with several nurses and nurse aids that came over from Africa to escape the wars over there. One of them said that there is no way she'd ever go back. It really makes you thankful for what we have as American citizens. Sure things are bad here sometimes, but at least we don't have soldiers killing all of the men and children and raping the women before killing them. Sorry. I don't mean to get so heavy this early in the morning. I'm not one to get all political with my blog....

A good little article on ESPN.com about games to watch this year. Ohio State is in three of them: vs Texas, vs. Iowa, and at M*ch*g*n. I'm sure that all three games will be great and I feel that the Big Ten title (and a trip to the Rose Bowl to face USC, probably) will come down to the Game in Ann Arbor. We need to first set the OSU sights on Miami (OH). The Red Raiders won the Eastern MAC conference last year and that is no small feat any more. Plus they have gone to bowl games for the past few years. Looking at their schedule, Ohio State is definately their huge game of the year. They will have big MAC games and will probably go to another bowl game, but Ohio State is the biggest school on the list. I'm just hoping that the Buckeyes don't overlook the Red Raiders. With Texas around the corner, it could be easy to forget that Miami is a good team too.

T minus 6 days and counting

That's right. Six days until we move to our new house. Lots to do, lots to do. Jessica's dad was kind enough to take the kids for a few hours so that we could get busy on packing without the drama that is children. We have noah's room 100% packed, Gabriel's room 90% packed, and the rest of the house probably 70% packed. The basement has been my current project. All I need to do now is pack up my computer stuff, which thanks to my new blog addiction, will be one of the last things packed. Of course, I need to take it to the new place and set it up first thing since Time Warner Cable is coming to hook up cable, Road Runner, and our new phone services. I'll need to ask the tech if I need to call a number to get 911 activaged, because I heard that some cable phone systems do not include emergency numbers unless you activate them. I also emptied one of our storage places and moved everything out of it and into our garage. That way the movers can get some of the furniture that we had stored moved instead of me doing it. I also emptied out my garden shed and put everything in the garage. Fun stuff. This coming Saturday, the first wave will be taking paint, the afore mentioned computer, and as much other stuff over and then starting painting. We have a Barney purple dining room that just has to go. Jessica's mom, dad,and her friend from work, will be helping out with the painting. I am hoping to get all of the little stuff moved first, before the movers come for the furniture on Sunday. We have our actual closing on both houses this Tuesday. I am a bit paranoid because I am not 100% sure we will have enough money for both closings. I think we do, but it all depends on what we will have to pay for selling out house. That's right. We have to pay for this fucker to buy our house. If you ever sell you house, I hope that you will be in a neighborhood that is growing and has increasing property value. We are not in one of those neighborhoods. Our street is nice, but the area we are in is on a decline thanks to the getto apartments that are down the street. We were lucky to get as much as we did for our house. Other houses in the area are selling for $30,000 less. Well, I sure that you all are sick and tired of hearing about my house selling and moving ordeals. I know that I can't wait for this all to be over with. I really hope that I never have to move again. If you ever do buy a house, use my realtors. Thay are great. They went above and beyond to find us the perfect house and to sell the house we are in. There is a link on my blog site, so check them out.

System of a Down kicks ass

Now, there are two different types of music groups that I would call 'favorites'. The first group is the All Time Favorites. These bands are the ones that you don't necessarily listed to every day, but will always buy a new CD when it comes out or turn up the radio when any of their songs come one. For me, these groups are:
1. Rush - Probably the most talented three musicians that have ever formed a group. I have every single album ever released by Rush (at least the US releases)
2. Pink Floyd - The Wall, enough said
3. Led Zepplin - It's too bad their drummer died young. Who know how many other great albums this band could have put out...
4. Korn - you may raise an eyebrow at this, but they have a very origional sound and great intensity
5. System of a Down - The new addition. More later.

The other caregory is One time Favorites. These are the groups that are a current day fad that you eventually grow out of. One Time Favorites of mine:
1. Pearl Jam - I'm so sick of Pearl Jam now that I immediately change the channel if they come one the radio.
2. Creed - Can they make a song that doesn't sound like every other song they've released?
3. Live - Their first and second albums were great. After that, it's like they forgot how to rock.
4. Sound Garden/Chris Cornell - Have you ever counted how many times the lyrics 'black hole sun' are whined in that song? Too many. Chris's new group is pretty weak too.
5. The artist formerly known as Prince. KIDDING!! I just wanted to make sure you were paying attention. I did own the Batman sound track though. 100% Prince music. Then I grew up.

Those are just a few examples. I could go on, but who has the time? Back to the band of topic: System of a Down. I first discovered them when Chop Suey was played on the radio. I wasn't sure how to take them at first, but eventually bought Toxicity. There are a few songs on the CD that I tend to skip over when I listen to it, but in general, Toxicity is a great album full of intensity and powerful music and lyrics. Chop Suey, Toxicity, and Ariels are all great songs off of Toxicity. SOAD is a fairly political group and aren't afraid to express their views in their lyrics. Prison Song and Deer Dance are good examples of this. Hungry for more System of a Down, I went and bought their first, self titles album. It is much heavier that Toxicity and it isobvious that there was much growth of the band musially between the two albums. I'm not saying System of a Down is a bad CD, but Toxicity is just that much better as far as the musicality goes. It's only natural that a group grows and evolves from album to album. Songs to listen to on the debut album are Spiders, Sugar, and Suite Pee. The group then took their time with thier third album, Steal this Album! There were a couple different CD packages and the one I got looks like a CD that someone would have burned for you and doesn't have a insert on the front of the case. This CD continues to show how much System of a Down is growing as a band. Their songs are filled with intesnsity and intricate musical composition. You may think, "whatever, they're just a heavy metal band," but I say this, anyone can pick up musical instruments and make loud noises that can make your ears hurt. System of a Down is a well above bands that are just loud and play the same three cords in every song. There are too many good songs on Steal This Album to list. Finally, after way too long, Mezmerize came out this year. The first listen through scared me a little bit because it was different than everything else that SOAD has released. It was obvious that it was System of a Down because of their unique voices and musicality, but some of the lyrics can take you off guard a bit. Of course, BYOB is their big release from Mezmerize, but almost every other song on the album kicks just as much ass. I highly recommend this album. Revenga, Cigaro, Question!, Sad Statue,....all great. They actually have another album coming out this November called Hypnotize. It is part two of Mezmerize. Not too sure why they are releasing them separately, but they are. I really want to go see them in concert, but am having trouble finding anyone to go with. Anyone interested? The Mars Volta is opening for them. Plus, tickets to the show get you into the 'BLITZ Bash', the Local radio station's annual party. Sept 25th.

Ready for some football?

If not, my friend Ben sent me a link to a cool video promoting the Ohio State vs. Texas Game coming up on 09/10/2005. It looks like a Texas fan's site, but the video is pretty unbiased. I got pretty pumped up after watching it. Go to recent additions and check out the “OSU/Texas preview lets do this thing”. Do a right click File: save as. It won't open unless you save it first. It's really cool. It goes to show you that Texas fans take their football as seriously as Ohio State fans. These team have some similarities:

1. Both teams beat Michigan last season :-)
2. Both Teams beat Oklahoma State last season
3. Both teams have huge rivals. OSU has Michigan and Texas has Texas A&M (I spoke with an A&M band member when I was at the Sugar Bowl and he said that if he saw a Texas fan lying on the ground, injured, he's just keep on walking. I can only assume that Texas fans feel the same as A&M fans. I could be wrong though)
4. Both teams have game breaking talent on offense and defense.

I could research some more, but I really don't have the time or patience. I really just wanted to get everyone excited about the upcoming season. GO BUCKS!!

My day off.

Lately, he kids have been so high maintenence that Jessica and I have been calling our days at work our 'days off'. It's not Alydia, it's the boys. Mostly, Noah. He is bored (mostly because he'd rather sit on his ass than go outside and do something) so he's finding entertainment by picking on Gabriel. Yes, it is normal for brothers to pick on each other, but it is different when one is 11 and the other is 3. Thankfully, summer is almost over and Noah will be back to school. Anyway, I was off of work yesterday and staying home with the kids. Gabriel was at day care (we let him go once a week still. he likes it) and Noah went over to play with a kid across the street. Let me just say, that being almost alone (Alydia was still there) was great. I enjoy being with the kids, but a day of relative quiet was very nice. I didn't do anything different, but by not having to yell at the big kids at all, the enjoyment of my daily activities was increased immensely. I just want to say good luck to Amy, who is expecting her first child. It's alot of fun when they are small and cute, but as they get older, it gets harder.

I received a call from my realtor yesterday. Immediately I think 'now what's wrong?'. It turns out that the guy that is buying our house can't make it to our scheduled closing time of 12:00 noon on Tuesday the 30th. He claims that he can't get off of work. Now, he works for Nationwide. I too work for Nationwide. It is SO easy for me to take a long lunch if I need to. I can stay late to make up the time or use some time off. Piece of cake. I just think that this guy doesn't want to meet us because of how he is screwing us over. The closingplace wanted us to pre-sign on Friday or Monday and then the guy buying our house would sign asfer he gets off work. Sorry. No. We are not going to change our plans so that this guy doesn't have to be inconvenienced. So, we are still going in on Tuesday at noon to sign everything and the buyer will sign everything later. We are totally not cleaning anything for him. He has been such a pain iin our ass that I'm not doing anything more for him that what I absolutely have to do. I'll sweep up atleast, but that's about it. I'm sure that since my mom will be down watching the kids, she will probable have the house spotless by the time we're out. She has a bit of OCD when it comes to cleaning. Oh, by the way, we're moving in ten days.

Trying this link thing again

I am going to try this link thing again. Here is my realtor's web page. They rock!

a test

Woody said I need to learn to add links. Well, I am trying to link to his blog. Cross your fingers.

NCAA Football Baby!!

Yes, I know the whole 'Baby!' thing is from Dickie V. and that he is a basketball announcer, but how he feels about basketball is how I feel about the upcoming NCAA football season. Ohio State kicks off in 12 days against Miami (OH) University. Now, I'm no where near as informed about sports as Woody is, but here's my take on the upcoming season:

Ohio state is ranked 6th in the AP top 25 poll, 9th in the USA Today poll, and 9th in the Coaches poll. This makes me happy. They are ranked high enough to be competative in the National picture and low enough that they won't be too cocky. They have a pretty good schedule, having 7 out of 11 games at home, including huge games against Texas (#2) and Iowa (#10). Their big away games this year are at Penn State (unranked, but always dangerous) and Michigan (#4). Two team that I am glad that OSU is not playing this year are Purdue (#15) and Wisconsin (unranked, but always a tough game for the bucks). I have a feeling that if Ohio State can get past the first tough game against Texas, we should be well off until we meet up with the Team Up North. The Buckeyes are returning a huge supply of talent this year and I think that the momentum that we had at the end of last season (wins against Michigan and a Bowl Game victory always take the sting out of a rough season) will carry over this year. Now, I don't know stats and I don't have the roster memorized, but I do know that we have one of the toughest linebacking corps in the country and one of the most dangerous recievers/kick returners in the country. If the O-line can give the quarterback (either Zwick or Smith) time and open a few holes for a running game, the offense could be just as dangerous at the defense. The one thing that worries me is the loss of Nugent. He was a garunteed 3 points anywhere within 50 yards. With the way Ohio State gets into tight games, we need a good kicker.

I was watching Sports Center the other day and they arepredicting USC in the title game (big suprise). It is more than probable that the Trojans with vie for a chance to three-pete this year since they are returning a Heisman winning QB and a great tail back. The interesting part of the spot was when the analysts picked the top three teams they expected to meet the Trojans in the Rose Bowl. First was Texas, not a huge suprise, but it irritated me that the guy said they needed to get past Oklahoma if they want to compete for the title. Hello!!! McFly!!! What about the night game in the 'Shoe on September 10th???!!! They say that the Texas A & M field is tough to play in, but I think that the Horse Shoe with 100000+ screaming their heads off could be a bit of a shocker for the Long Horns. Anyway, the second team they perdicted is Miami (FL) who are top ten in all of the polls. A good pick, but with Tennesee and Oklahoma in there, it could go to any of them. The last pick was a Big Ten team, Purdue. Purdue??? They are top 25 in the polls, but the highest ranking that they have right now is 13 in the ESPN poll. True, they do not play OSU or Michigan this year, but they have a 10:00 pm game at Arizona, a home game vs. Notre Dame, and home vs Iowa. Five gets you ten that one of those games won't turn out well for the Boilermakers. Plus, throw Penn State and Wisconsin into the mix, and you have a rough schedule. Yes, OSU has a tough scedule too, but if you want to read an impartial commentary, you've come to the wrong place.

I think that the Buckeyes going to the title game comes down to one thing: The game in Ann Arbor. I think that the defense will keep the Texas game close and a special teams TD from Ted Ginn Jr will seal the deal for the Bucks. I also think that they will be able to get past the Nittany Lions in Happy Valley and the Hawkeyes at home. The Game is going to be the decider. Michigan is returning a lot of talent this year, and when you go up to that shit hole they call a stadium (biased, remember) it's tough to win. The bright side is that Tressel is not intimidated by the Maize and Blue and has won three of his four games against the Team up North. That, and they lost Brailen Edwards, who was really their only effective weapon against the Buckeyes last year. (I feel strange cheering for him as a Browns fan, but he did catch the wining touchdown Saturday vs. Detroit) My (extremely biased) opinion is that OSU will have some tight games, but will run the tables and smell the roses this year. After they get there, if they have to play USC I would be scared, but I was scared at the idea of playing Miami a few years ago and that turned out OK. The two things that scare me about the season are the running game, which has been poor lately, and the kicking game. If those aspects are taken care of, I think that we will have a great season and possibly another Nation Title.

Wow, that was easy.

Putting images up on my Blogger account is cake! I just had to click 'add image' and it walked me right through it. The first one is of Gabriel on his birthday, the second is what Gabriel's room looked like after he 'made it snow', the fourth is all three kids on the couch, and the fourth is Gabriel's 'monster teeth'. As time moves forward, I'm sure I'll add more pictures of the kids and old pictures to bring back memories.

I am trying to add a picture to a post. It is Gabriel and Alydia together. I hope this works. I need to start paying back Mona for breaking out the high school pictures. At least she added one of her own to the mix. Still, Eric with a mullet on the net is pretty harsh.

By the way, we move in 13 days. Just thought I'd let you all know.

Sorry about that.....

As you can probably read, I had to cut short my last post. The kids were all being crazy and I had to go give them a whack or two. Just kidding. I don't whack the kids. Much.

Anyway, Sin City was really good. If I had to complain, it would be about Jessica Alba. Don't get me wrong, she looked hot. The problem is that she played a stripper who never took her top off. In the comic, the character that Jessica Alba played was topless 90% of the time. I'm not saying that Jessica Alba needed to peel off her top and compromise her morals, I'm saying dump Jessica Alba for an actress not afraid to take it off. There were other topless women in the film, so why didn't the director insist on an actress willing to go the extra mile to truly fit the role? It's not like there weren't enough big names in the film... Bruce Willis and Frodo were both in it. I know, I know. You're all thinking, "Eric, you just want to see Jessica Alba's boobies." Well, although that is true, my big complaint is that they didn't find someone willing to play the role as Frank Miller created it. I mean come on, who ever heard of a stripper that wouldn't take her top off? Well, I still like her, even if she's not the best actress and is a prude.
Other than that, it was really shocking how closely the actors in the movie resembled the pictures of the charactors in the comic.

15 days until we start our move. Craziness. It seems like just yesterday that I was freaking out about selling our house and buying a new one. Now I'm freaking out about moving. It should be OK. We have most of our stuff boxed already. Plus we've gone through alot of stuff and threw a bunch of it away. Good times. I won't bore you with more details of our upcoming move. I'm just anxious to get it over with. We're having Volunteers of America come to take a couch and some old dresser tomorrow. If they won't take them, I've already called Columbus bulk pick up to have them taken on Tuesday. I am on it! I've even called all of my utilities and have things set up to change service from the old house to the new house. I guess after you've moved eight times in your life, you learn a few things.

Shows I gotta see:

Every night Jessica and I have television shows that we ritually watch. People try to turn me on to other shows, but honestly, I don't have the time. Well, here are the shows that we try not to miss:

Monday: Monday is kinda weak over the summer, but we normally watch Fear Factor (I laugh at the crazy shit people do for money) Las Vegas and Medium. All of these shows are not the greatest, but are quite entertaining. I can see Medium getting old after a while (honestly, how many times can a woman predict people dying and still be original?) but I find Las Vegas quite entertaining, mostly because I want to go back very badly.

Tuesday: We usually watch some type of reality show. It makes me sad to admit that. Average Joe is a favorite. We laugh at the hijinx of it all. There's also American Idol. Tuesdays generally make me sad. I think that there is a new show coming on Tuesdays about a woman becoming president that looks pretty good. We'll probably watch the pilot and see how it goes.

Wednesday: That 70's show is hilarious. It may suck now that Eric is gone, but I'll give it a few episodes to see if it is worth watching any more. We also watch House, which is a pretty good show about a doctor that knows it all. It has the same problem as Medium does. How many weird illnesses and diseases can they come up with before the show gets old?

Thursday: Usually, Thursday is my bowling night, so I miss alot of shows on their first running. Way back in the day it was Cheers and Seinfeld. Back in the day it was Friends, now we suffer through Joey. It's on OK show, but no where near as funny as Friends was. After that, we watch CSI, the best show on television, and then ER. I don't care as much about ER anymore because all of the good characters are gone. Now that Carter is leaving the show, I think that only a few nurses with small roles are left from the original cast.

Friday: Movie night, usually. We would Watch Third Watch and Providence, but both shows are cancelled now. We haven't found anything new yet.

Saturday: Another Movie night. There really isn't too much good on Saturdays until Football season starts up. Jessica hates football season, but she is an OSU football fan at least.

Sunday (probably the best TV day of the week!): We start out with Extreme Makeover Home Edition, then we watch desperate Housewives, and finally Grey's Anatomy. They are all great shows. We actually started watching Grey's Anatomy over the summer with the reruns, but I thin that it will be a keeper.

News of the day, Herb has a blog now. Check out the link!

Sin City baby!

So, I went out and got Sin City, the movie, not the comic book. I wasn't sure what I'd think of it since I'd never read the comic, but everything I've seen and heard told me that it would be pretty good. If you haven't seen it, it's black an white with splashes of color for emphasis. Let me just say, I was riveted the whole movie. It was a bit over the top in some places, but it's based off a comic book, so it should be over the top. It had everything a movie should have: action, comedy, violence, hot girls, more violence and pretty good stories. I won't get into details, but I will say that I really liked it. I give it an A.

Gotta go, the kids are going nuts......Have fun with parenting amy and Johnny!

should I forgive Mo'?

No, not Moe Hoffman. I've got no problems with him. I'm talking about Maurice Clarette. I bashed him pretty hard on a previous post and have been going back and forth with Woody about the subject.

My stance: He disgraced my university and football team and he deserves no love from OSU fans.

Woody's stance: He was a big reason for Ohio State going 14-0 and winning the National Title, so I should take it easy on the guy.

Really, Woody has some good points and I respect his opinion. It angers me to think about it, but without Maurice Clarette and some of the plays that he pulled out of no where, Ohio State probably would not have won the title. I became a huge Clarette supporter after he ran through two players during the NC State game. Does that mean I should give him some slack? After much thought on the subject, I have come to a resounding NO. I cannot show any love to someone who is given everything and then bites the hand of the delivery guy. All he needed to do was keep his mouth shut and follow the rules for a few years and he would have won at least one Heisman and would have been a first round pick. The bottom line is, even though Maurice Clarette did help the Buckeyes win a title, he almost got them in some deep trouble by running his mouth when he didn't get his way. To me that is unforgivable. OSU could have been stripped of the title and the program could have been seriously hindered. As I respect Woody and his opinion, he is looking at the situation from the outside. As an OSU alum and a former member of the OSU Marching Band (which is tied very closely to the football team) I find it very difficult to look past the negative press caused by Maurice Clarette. Maybe, in years to come, after Maurice fumbles a few balls to help the Browns beat the Broncos in a playoff game, I may be able to like him again. Until then, whenever someone notices the number 13 on my OSU Jersey, I will immediately say that it's for someone other then Mo C. Sorry Woody.

21 days 'till we move!

I can't believe that we are moving in just three weeks. It is amazing how time flies when you have a shit load of stuff to do. Believe it or not, we have a majority of the packing done. There is a pile of filled boxes (marked with room destinations) in out basement. Most of the rest of the things to pack are last minute items.

Jessica and I watched Guess who last night. It has Bernie Mac and Kelso (Ashton Kutcher). It's about a mixed couple going to visit the girls black family, only she didn't tell her family that she's dating a white guy. Hilarity insues. Actually, there were only a few good laughs in the film, and it played to a lot of steriotypes that are out there in regard to black folks. It does have a pretty good message about society though: After all of this time, people still freak out about mixed couples. That's just silly. People are attracted to whomever they're attracted to. I've been in a few mixed relationships (nothing that lasted too long or was too public)and I don't get what the big deal is. It's almost the same concept as gay relationships. If someone is happy with a member of their own sex, WHO CARES?!? My opinion is that if it makes you happy, do it. It may not be something that I would do personally, but I don't see any harm in any two people finding happiness together. Anyway, I got of topic, sorta. The movie was pretty good. Kelso did his usual bang up job of playing a pretty but dumb guy and Bernie Mac is always funny. There is a good ilne in the movie (dont' read further if yo don't want the line spoiled) when Bernie taked Kelso to a hotel to stay in and Kelso learns that the room had been booked a week in advance. Kelso says "you knew you were going to book this room a week ago?" and Bernie says, "I knew I was going to book this room 24 years ago when I had a little girl." That is so like me. I give the movie a B-.

Ok, you can start reading again.

So, now that I've finished reading 'The Half Blood Prince', I am re-reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I am doing so in preparation for the upcoming movie in November. We watched Extra last night because they were showing clips from the film. It looks neat. We will definately have to go and see it when it comes out. The Goblet of Fire is where the book series really takes off. The first three books are good, don't get me wrong, but Goblet is where things turn dark and is jammed packed with action. The thing that worries me about the movie is that they may not be able to fit all of the action in from the book. Really, it will need to be about four hours long to fit everything. I had heard some talk that there may be two movies, part one and part two, shown back to back so that people can have a potty break. I doubt that though. They will probably just cut alot of stuff so that they can keep it around three hours. That's going to be hard to do with everything that happens.

So, I am going to try to win System of a Down tickets today. I was going to buy them, but I just can't justify paying that much money to see a band play. After taxes and Ticketmaster's charges, it probably would have been about $100 for the pair. I don't have that much to spare at the moment. So, I am going to listen to the local radio station that is sponsoring the show and see if I can't win a pair. They are actually having a contest to win tickets, so it's not like I'm just listening and hoping that they will give them away out of the blue. They are giving a pair away every hour. Wish me luck!

Laundry heaven

The new washer and dryer are better than I imagined. I won't get into it much (even though I'm sure you all think my washing and drying of clothes to be riveting) but it took less than an hour to do a load of laundry from start to finish. My old dryer alone took over an hour to finish a load. The energy saving is very exciting to me.

So, I watched the trailer for Serenity last night. It looks REALLY good. Of course, I thought Saving Silverman looked good from the trailer and it was trash. I was shameful after watching it. Woody's little Star Wars based trailer was neat too. I never really thought of Mal as a Han Solo type, but I guess it's a pretty good comparison. Both are smugglers with a hard candy shell hiding the candy sweetness in the middle. Anyway, the movie looks like it will be very good. Just a few weeks away too. I will do my part and go see it.

I was watching Sports Center and I saw something that made me smile. Now, I don't wish for bad things to happen to people. I'd always lend a hand to someone truly in need. However, I couldn't help but smile when I saw a story on my least favorite ex-OSU football player, you pal and mine, Maurice Clarette. As you may know, he was picked up by the Denver Broncos (another reason not to like them) and he is currently their number 5 running back. Apparently, he is having so trouble adjusting. Personally, I am shocked that any NFL team would want him. He causes internal problems on a team and is injury prone. In fact, part of the reason he is having trouble is because he's hurt. He's also missing reads and dropping passes. This genius, instead of signing a deal for a guaranteed paycheck, signed a deal based on performance. I doubt he'll be left on the roster, so how will he get paid for performance? He comes off a such an arrogant ass. I'm not wasting any more blog space on him.

The countdown begins: Only 24 days until moving day.

You know you're old when......

You know you're old when you get excited about buying a new washer and dryer. That was my fun for the day yesterday. I went to Lowes and coughed up some dough for a new washer and dryer. The set that we have right now are on their last leg. It takes over an hour to dry a load of laundry in our current dryer. Now, we will be washing in style. I will spare you from additional details since I doubt anyone is as excited by this news as I am.

I finished the Harry Potter book on Monday. WOW!. Lots of twists, lots of suprises, lots of questions. Book seven is going to be jam packed with excitement. I have some theories about what will happen, but I don't want to ruin anything for those of you who haven't ready the book yet.

Also, I watched the rest of the Firefly DVDs. I was upset when I saw the last one because I wanted more. Again, there were some episodes that we so-so, but there were others that were quite good. I will definately try to see the movie when it comes out. From watching some of the interviews, it sounds iike Joss had alot of trouble with the TV execs when it came to creative freedom with the TV series. Too bad. One criticism I have it that when they showed sex scenes, the actors are way too sweaty. Kinda funny. One thing that threw me a bit was, when looking at the DVD cases. the shows on the DVDs were not in the order that they were initially aired. I thik that was good though because seeing 'Serenity' first really helped me out with character development.

I'm starting to feel panicked about moving. Excited about having a new house, but worried that I will forget to do something. I need to call all of the utilities and credit card companies to have my address updated. Plus, I'm worried that we will come up short on funds when we go to closing. We should be ok, but there is still some paranoia. I'm sure it will be OK, I just tend to worry unnecessarily.

Garage Sale, Firefly, and Harry Potter

Well, I experienced my first garage sale this weekend. Not going to one, having one. I basically put out all of the crap that we didn't want hoping that people would buy it. I guess it was OK. We sold a few things and got $40 bucks out of the process. The rest of the stuff, we gave to charity. A lot of people stopped and looked around (our neighborhood has an annual garage sale day and it was this Saturday)but we only sold a few things. It makes you feel a little weird when people think your stuff is too crappy to become their stuff. The weirdest sale was an Asia couple buying 5 forks and 5 spoons for $2. They didn't want the whole set for $10. They only needed the forks and spoons. Strange. Noah made out ok too. He sold a pedal car (you sit in it and pedal) and some other crap to kids on the street. I still have two dressers and a couch to get rid of, but Volunteers of America will come pick them up. We won't have enough room for a big couch in our basement, so we are going to buy a foton or something like that instead.

I started watching Firefly episodes on Sunday. Amy let me borrow her DVDs. I liked some episodes a lot, but there have been a few that I found a little hokey. I am through the first two disks. The last episode I saw was about Jayne being a hero. That one bothered me because it put a crack in Jayne's bad ass image. I have to say that I really like Mal. He says some funny shit, like, "If someone tries to kill you, you kill them right back." Or something like that. It's good to see that Joss still has his gift of casting hot women and writing good one liners. I still have a lot of episodes to go, and maybe I need to see more episodes before saying this, but I really wanted Mal to let River and the doctor (Simon? I'm bad with names) burn at the stake. The whole mystery of River hasn't made me care enough about her yet. Maybe in future episodes when I find out more. All in all, I am glad that I get a chance to see this show and will probably go to the movie when it comes out. A stupid question though, when hey sound like they are speaking another language, they are cursing, right? I'm a bit slow about these things.

I have only about 100 pages before I am done with the latest Harry Potter book. So far, I like Order of the Phoenix better. There isn't as much action in the Half Blood Prince. However, there is a lot of information and questions answered so far. All in all a good book so far. I read that the last hundred pages are impossible to put down, so I am planning on starting them early tonight so that I can get it finished. It's pretty good stuff. I won't spoil anything for anyone, but I will say that there is Quiddich, and Harry still doesn't get along with Malfoy. Sorry if that ruins anything for anyone. I just needed to let a few shockers come out......

How many fingers am I holding up today?.........

TGIF

Believe it or not, this is the first weekend off that I will have (other than vacation time) in a few years. I've been working Saturday shifts the last few years to save on day care costs. Now, I work every other weekend instead. The down side it that I have off the weekends that Jessica works. It's OK though. I get to spend quality time yelling at the kids and we still see each other in the evenings. It will be better when I work from home because I will be able to see her whenever I go upstairs. Anyway, I am glad it is Friday because I don't work tomorrow. My job is getting more and more tedious and I am basically just sick of it. I have my plan though, and will see it through. Right now my job fits the plan. Something stupid about my job: I (and the rest of my division) are moving up one floor in our current building in order to consolidate space. It is stupid because I will move my desk upstairs and in a few weeks move it home. I guess that is basically the same as if I worked from home next week and would then need to move my work stuff out to Hilliard. I guess I'll be a good soldier and go where they tell me.

I went to Chipotle today and met up with Amy. My friend Barb came too. Chipotle is GOOD. I had a bowl. Anyway, the main reason for the meeting was for me to borrow Firefly DVDs and for Amy to borrow Buffy DVDs. Now, I will be able to see the show that Woody talks about in his blog all of the time. If I like it as much as I like Buffy, I'm sure I will be happy. I will also be able to get more of Woody's daily quotes, since a lot of them are from Firefly. It was good seing Amy. Yes, I just went to her birthday party, but she was getting pulled around by so many people that it was hard to have a chat with her. Plus, I think that she was mad at me because of the Yeager Bomb that I bought her. I think the Red Bull made her a little hopped up on caffene.

Move update: Well, a little of my stress is gone. My realto called me and said that we don't have to be out of our house until 09/06/2005. that is good since we don't get to move into our new place until 09/03/2005. At first, we were told that we had to be out by 09/04/2005, giving us 24 hours to move everything. Now we have a nice window to work with. If anyone wants to help us with the move (I guess I should say, 'is willing to help'. No one ever WANTS to help people move) that would be great. I always provide food and drink to people that lend a hand.

Our cook out date is still planned for 10/08/2005 and the OSU vs Penn State game. It will also be our house warming party, so I'm hoping that a good time will be had by all. I've already requested a vacation day for the following Sunday. I am thinking about serving burgers, hot dogs, and hot BBQ chicken. We'll probably have the traditional cook out sides, and I think I will also make some of my famous monster cookies. Per requests, I will try to have Long Island iced tea fixin's on hand. I should warn you, my Long Islands tend to make people end up naked on my couch. I won't drop names as to protect the innocent. It was gross though.

Well, I guess that's that. I feel as though I should have a game that everyone can play at the end of my blog, much like Woody and Bryan do. So, after eaxh posting, I will hold up a number of fringers on one hand. The first person to guess how many fingers, wins! Ok, they don't win anything, but the cool ideas for games have been used already. I don't want to be a copy cat. So, I'm holding up a/some finger(s) now......

TGIF

Believe it or not, this is the first weekend off that I will have (other than vacation time) in a few years. I've been working Saturday shifts the last few years to save on day care costs. Now, I work every other weekend instead. The down side it that I have off the weekends that Jessica works. It's OK though. I get to spend quality time yelling at the kids and we still see each other in the evenings. It will be better when I work from home because I will be able to see her whenever I go upstairs. Anyway, I am glad it is Friday because I don't work tomorrow. My job is getting more and more tedious and I am basically just sick of it. I have my plan though, and will see it through. Right now my job fits the plan. Something stupid about my job: I (and the rest of my division) are moving up one floor in our current building in order to consolidate space. It is stupid because I will move my desk upstairs and in a few weeks move it home. I guess that is basically the same as if I worked from home next week and would then need to move my work stuff out to Hilliard. I guess I'll be a good soldier and go where they tell me.

I went to Chipotle today and met up with Amy. My friend Barb came too. Chipotle is GOOD. I had a bowl. Anyway, the main reason for the meeting was for me to borrow Firefly DVDs and for Amy to borrow Buffy DVDs. Now, I will be able to see the show that Woody talks about in his blog all of the time. If I like it as much as I like Buffy, I'm sure I will be happy. I will also be able to get more of Woody's daily quotes, since a lot of them are from Firefly. It was good seing Amy. Yes, I just went to her birthday party, but she was getting pulled around by so many people that it was hard to have a chat with her. Plus, I think that she was mad at me because of the Yeager Bomb that I bought her. I think the Red Bull made her a little hopped up on caffene.

Move update: Well, a little of my stress is gone. My realto called me and said that we don't have to be out of our house until 09/06/2005. that is good since we don't get to move into our new place until 09/03/2005. At first, we were told that we had to be out by 09/04/2005, giving us 24 hours to move everything. Now we have a nice window to work with. If anyone wants to help us with the move (I guess I should say, 'is willing to help'. No one ever WANTS to help people move) that would be great. I always provide food and drink to people that lend a hand.

Our cook out date is still planned for 10/08/2005 and the OSU vs Penn State game. It will also be our house warming party, so I'm hoping that a good time will be had by all. I've already requested a vacation day for the following Sunday. I am thinking about serving burgers, hot dogs, and hot BBQ chicken. We'll probably have the traditional cook out sides, and I think I will also make some of my famous monster cookies. Per requests, I will try to have Long Island iced tea fixin's on hand. I should warn you, my Long Islands tend to make people end up naked on my couch. I won't drop names as to protect the innocent. It was gross though.

Well, I guess that's that. I feel as though I should have a game that everyone can play at the end of my blog, much like Woody and Bryan do. So, after eaxh posting, I will hold up a number of fringers on one hand. The first person to guess how many fingers, wins! Ok, they don't win anything, but the cool ideas for games have been used already. I don't want to be a copy cat. So, I'm holding up a/some finger(s) now......

my mid week weekend

I now have Tuesday and Wednesday off every week. How did I swing that? Well I work every other weekend. As much as I dislike my job, it at least gives me the flexibility to work basically whenever I want to. I work the days that Jessica has off so that we don't have to pay for day care. I work long days in the week and work every other weekend. The only down side is that I don't get a day off with Jessica ever. I am hoping that it won't last too long though. Anyway, on Tuesday, I basically did a lot of stuff for the house. My loan guy stopped by I got to sign about 5378 forms. Give or take. Someone from my realtor also stopped by so that I could sign some other forms and a home appraiser stopped by followed by a termite inspector. No termites. That'll save me some money.

WARNING!

If you ever plan on buying and then selling a house, please keep these things in mind:

1. Buy a house in an area with good growth potential. If you buy a house in an area that will soon be over run by low income minorities, your house will lose value. I have nothing against living near low income minorities myself, but apparently many house seekers do. We are selling for more than we bought the house for, but only because of the improvements I've made.

2. When making an accepting an offer to sell your house, it is not necessarily the final offer. After the home inspection, the buyer can change the offer to include repair costs. For example, we have to give the guy buying out house $2000 for a new roof. Basically, we're fucked because we already made an offer on our new house and if we back out of the sale of our current house, we will have two houses, which we can't afford.

3. If you are in an area with several homes for sale, even if you have the best house, you are at a disadvantage. If you can, try to sell when there are no other houses for sale in your area. Otherwise, the buyer has all of the leverage. It sucks.

4. When you buy a house, make sure that it is something that will last you for more than three years. After three years in our house, we have enough equity to break even (give or take a couple hundred dollars) but it would have been nice to have enough so that we could make some profit. Also, make sure that your loan fits your needs. Our loan primarily had us paying interest and very little went to out principle.

5. Make sure that you have enough time to move. The way my contracts worked out, we may only have a day to move out of our house. I'm trying to get this fixed, but will be hard pressed to move out if I can't buy some time.

All in all, this has been one of the most stressful and bothersome experiences of my life. The only thing that has helped at all is the fact that my realtor kick ass. The selling agent is bending over backwards to make the sale of our house happen and the agent that has been showing us houses has been working her ass off to find us just the right place. We've probably seen over 40 houses. I would think that she'd get sick of showing us houses by now. Which brings me to probably the biggest thing about buying a house: BE PICKY. It is going to be your home for a long time. Make sure that it will fit your needs for a long time. Anyway, I am putting a link to my realtor's web site on this page. Honesty, they are great. If you know nothing about buying a house, they will hold your hand the whole way.

SOAD anyone?

I saw on their web site that System of a Down are coming to town. Tickets go on sale this Saturday. Anyone interested? I think that they are playing on the 25th of September (Sunday) at the Nationwide Arena. I am currently a huge fan and want to go check them out. I just don't think Jessica is into them as much as I am and I don't want to go alone. If anyone wants to go, I can pick up some tickets this weekend.