A few hours ago, the news broke that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has been selected by Sen. John McCain as the vice presidential candidate for the Republican ticket.
As a Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund supporter, you are no doubt aware of Governor Palin’s dismal record, from her staunch support for special interests and Big Oil to her terrible assault on wolves and other wildlife.
As much of the nation wonders just who Sarah Palin is, I wanted to pass along my statement that I've just released.
Please read it and pass it along to everyone you know. Thanks for your continued support, Rodger ---------------------------------------------------------------- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 29, 2008
Shocking Choice by John McCain
WASHINGTON-- Senator John McCain just announced his choice for running mate: Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. To follow is a statement by Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund.
“Senator McCain’s choice for a running mate is beyond belief. By choosing Sarah Palin, McCain has clearly made a decision to continue the Bush legacy of destructive environmental policies.
“Sarah Palin, whose husband works for BP (formerly British Petroleum), has repeatedly put special interests first when it comes to the environment. In her scant two years as governor, she has lobbied aggressively to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, pushed for more drilling off of Alaska’s coasts, and put special interests above science. Ms. Palin has made it clear through her actions that she is unwilling to do even as much as the Bush administration to address the impacts of global warming. Her most recent effort has been to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove the polar bear from the endangered species list, putting Big Oil before sound science. As unbelievable as this may sound, this actually puts her to the right of the Bush administration.
“This is Senator McCain’s first significant choice in building his executive team and it’s a bad one. It has to raise serious doubts in the minds of voters about John McCain’s commitment to conservation, to addressing the impacts of global warming and to ensuring our country ends its dependency on oil.”
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The Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund (www.defendersactionfund.org) provides a powerful voice in Washington to Americans who value our conservation heritage. Through grassroots lobbying, issue advocacy and political campaigns, the Action Fund champions those laws and lawmakers that protect wildlife and wild places while working against those that do them harm.
So yesterday my buddy Frank came over in the afternoon. He is a plumber by trade, and what he did in 30 min, would have taken me hours I am sure. He fixed my toilet (it kept running), he installed a new faucet in the bathroom sink, and he fixed the pipes under the kitchen sink. Couple things about the kitchen. The last time he was over, he saw how horrible a job the previous plumber did organizing the layout. I'm not sure how to explain, the pipes had too many curves, and the wrong pieces. For all the stuff he did, I invited him back over this weekend and I'd grill up a couple steaks, plus I want to try a recipe that uses that smoked paprika. It's an African Spice butter, you spread on top of the steak. I discovered Frank accidentally put those new kitchen pipes in and didn't move the sprayer cord out of the way, so right now, I can only pull the sprayer nozzle out about 1 inch!
After he left, I ran out to do some shopping. I plan on making a Sopapia cheesecake desert, and my Jalapeno-Lime chicken this weekend for lunches. I also grabbed a new set of 300 thread count sheets!! Man, who doesn't love brand new, dog fur free sheets, I give Barkley maybe a week before he has these ones covered in fur while I am at work. Oh well, it's because he loves me right?
Typical Frank, he is one of my best friends, and the guy is great. He has horrible luck, a few years ago, a squirrel attacked him for bejeebus sake. Last weekend he went to the air show here in town, so in Frank fashion, he got a horrible sunburn on his forehead from looking up all day. Tan line and everything, he looked like someone threw acid on his forehead! It is in the healing phase and might start peeling soon.
So Wednesday night was bowling. I'm sorry to report, the pro shop needs to do some more work on my ball. I want him to put in a thumb insert, like my last ball had. After about 1 game, the joint where your thumb meets your palm, was killing me. I actually had surgery right there years ago. So I struggled with the new ball, and also through the pain. In the end, I set a 143 average. Not as bad as I thought it would be. Last year I was bowling (on good nights) 170-200 games, so 143 is a good starting point.
The good news from the night, is I asked Andy what I need to buy, and what I need to do for my deck. Should I stain it, paint it, spray it, brush it? In the end, he said he will try and come over this Sunday and we can stain it! Next I will start using subliminal messages to see if I can get his help on replacing the floor in the kitchen, bathroom, entryway, and a new one at the basement garage door. I could do most of this stuff on my own, but with Andy it gets done allot faster. The deck, with his sprayer is a 20 min job, with a brush, a few hours. Don't think I am using him, we have been buddies for probably about 15 years now, the road has always been a two way street, and whenever he needs help he can always ask me. As for the floors, with the one bathroom, and the fact that Andy a few months ago re-did all his floors, he has the experience, and know how. If I tried this on my own, a two day job would turn into a week long event, lots of cussing, and no kitchen or bathroom in the house!
Last night I watched my girl (one of) in a movie called 'Watching the Detectives' a video store owner, Cillian Murphy's live revolves around classic films, until he meets my girl (stay tuned). His life is turned upside down, as she teaches him that the only reason a person even needs a TV is if their life is not adventurous. It was a decent movie, I'd recommend it.
I present to you, my girl....Lucy Liu
I should be getting two movies in the mail today, Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, and Invisible Target. I know, you are asking yourself, what happened to the Shield marathon? I just took a short break, with some other movies, so I wouldn't get in a rut. Haroldand Kumar looks like some good 'ol fashioned stupid comedy, which everyone needs on occasion. Invisible Target I saw a review for. I guess you could call it a Kung-Fu movie, one of the three main characters is Jackie Chan's son. It looked decent, so I figured why not.
After work today, I am running over to the bowling alley where I bought my ball, and ask for an insert. Tomorrow the plan is for my brother in law to help me get the new furniture, after that is all done, Frank is going to come over for steaks and to watch Rambo on blue-ray (the new Rambo). Sunday, hopefully, breakfast with Andy, grab materials at Home Depot, and then the deck. After that, the dogs are getting baths (might save that for Labor Day, since it is quite a laborous task). My Mom wants to see Babylon AD (so do I), I'm crossing my fingers it turns out ok. It seems good sci-fi movies are hard to come by lately.
Big news also, more to come on this, but the 2008-2009 University of North Carolina Men's Basketballschedule was released. I immediately printed off four copies, and took one to my trainer Wednesday. This might be the year I get to go to a game, as long as my trainer keeps his word. I'll try filling in the details of that story next post.
Have a safe weekend, if you do any drinking, don't drive, if you do any drugs, don't fly a commercial airliner jet, and if you're like me, make sure you get off the couch every few hours to circulate the blood.
ciao!
(the now playing song, is from the movie Darjeeling Limited soundtrack!)
Since I figure I won't post tomorrow, I can give a bowling update Friday. I wanted to post these movie trailers...
Watchmen I might have already posted this, but it deserves another posting. This is based off of one of the best graphic novels ever written. "the world will look up and shout, Save Us... ....and I'll whisper, No"
Role Models Sean William Scott and Paul Rudd, doing some community service hours, hey we've all had those stuck on us by the courts, oh wait, maybe just me.
Fireflies in the Garden This is the international trailer, hence the subtitles in german I'm guessing. Intense looking drama.
Pride and Glory Ed Norton=One of my favorite actors of all time. What happens when the lead suspects in a multiple homicide are your fellow police officers?
Appaloosa Ignore that stupid text at the beginning of the video. Two lawmen for hire are really good at what they do, they kill people. If you never saw the mini-series 'Empire Falls', starring Ed Harris, then grab your keys and go rent it now.
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People Simon Pegg has made allot of movies I still want to see, like 'Run, Fatboy Run', it will be hard to ever come close to 'Shawn of the Dead' though. Co-starring Kirsten Dunst AND Megan Fox!!! Daddy like.
The Boy In the Striped Pajamas A young boy during WWII discovers what his father really does, at a 'camp'
What Just Happened De Niro = money, tons of it. Here he plays a producer type handling the circus around a movie. On top of that, he finds out his ex-wife is sleeping with his friend.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince For you HP fans, (don't tell anyone, but even though I've never read the books, I am one too!)
Yesterday, the weather was perfect for Golf. Too bad no real golf was played!! I had a couple shots that were ok, but more that made me wave my fist in the air and curse the game. I lost so many balls, but I am not upset about that. I actually left with more balls then I showed up with. All the time spent in the high grass looking my ball, I found plenty to make up for the lost one.
Afterwards, I took Victor to the Sushi Train (Sakura) restaurant. It was his first time there, and I am confident in saying he loved it. After that I went by the mall to finally find my new cologne. My last resort was Macy's. They wanted $70 for a 3.4 oz bottle, and $50 for the 1.4 travel size. As I was browsing the other scents, I saw a gift package for Dirty English. They had the big 3.4oz bottle, plus a tube of their shower gel. They were asking $75 for it. I checked and the individual price of the gel was $40!! So I chose the gift box.
Next I went by the furniture store. I had cut a deal with Victor to have him help, (and use his truck) to avoid the $90 delivery fee the store was asking. I should note, the plan is to go Saturday and pick all three pieces up.
I purchased a dresser/mirror, a nightstand, and an armoire.
If you look at the drawers on this, there are actually only 3 on each side. The middle pulls open a super deep single drawer (on each side).
My little 27" TV will fit nice inside here, plus drawers below for storage.
I couldn't get a picture on their site of the nightstand alone, but here it is, nothing fancy, but it matches the other pieces.
When I got home I watched Son of Rambow, and then later on a movie called August. Not August Rush, but just August. I also rearranged my bedroom to make room for the new stuff.
Son of Rambow was good, it was about a boy whose family is in a very strict religious order. He isn't even allowed to watch TV. He meets the misfit of their school, who at first bullies him around, but they soon become best friends. The bully wants to make a movie for a local screen test contest. I recommend this one.
August stars Josh Hartnett, who with his brother opened their own dot.com company (this takes place a few years ago). The movie starts with them on top of the world. And then fast forwards to 5 months later, and their attempt to keep the business alive. It was good, nothing spectacular.
Tonight is our first night of bowling, so tomorrow, along with a long list of movie trailers I've been saving, I will report on how horrible of an average I will set tonight!
So I finished up my week long on call shift for work. The biggest pain is lugging around the laptop everywhere. Most of the time I don't get a single call the whole shift. We get 8 hours of straight extra pay for just carrying the phone. Now if you get called, no matter how long it takes, you get 2 hrs of OT that first call. Any other calls, is OT as well, but if that first one only takes 5 min, you get two hours. Well, of course, I get called Friday night. To sum up that fiasco, which I just finally finished this morning. I will be reporting about 12 hrs of OT, plus my 8 hrs of straight pay. I am taking tomorrow off, to go shoot 9 holes of Golf with my brother-in-law.
So, the other things I did this weekend? The plan was to hang the storm windows back up with Andy Saturday morning. Since it was raining, we went and had breakfast. After that, we went and saw Step Brothers. It was hilarious, vulgar, and a couple parts dragged a little, but I'd recommend it to the adults definitely. When the movie was over, I went to Sears to buy a new air filter for the pressure washer before returning it. I was supposed to call Andy when I got home and he'd drive over to help with the windows. Once I did get home, as I let the dogs out, I noticed the windows were not in the backyard! For about a second I thought maybe they were stolen, then I noticed they were already up. Apparently Andy didn't wait, he went straight from the movie to my house and hung them himself. What a buddy huh! After I called and thanked him. (P.S. My Mom sent him a thank you card with a decent chunk of cash as a thanks as well)
Mind you mixed in with all this is me checking emails from work, getting called by my boss, etc etc. Saturday night I logged in around 7pm and was online til 1am working on that issue.
Sunday, my Mom drove over around 11, and I loaded up the extra wood, and supplies from painting into her Armada. We returned them, and I'm glad to say I got back $160 from that. We went straight back to my house, and I loaded up the pressure washer, and the 18' ladder into her SUV. Since my Dad was worried about her driving with the back window open and a ladder sticking out, I drove her SUV back to their house and she drove my car. Once I unloaded all that, we drove into town to go by a furniture store and look at dressers for me. I am glad to report I found a dresser (with a mirror) and an armoire for my bedroom. I took the measurements home, and they look like they will work out. I am planning on going by tomorrow after lunch to discuss delivery vs taking them home myself. I also hope to locate some cologne my sister says I have to wear, called 'Dirty English'.
After the furniture store, I stopped by Costco for some groceries. I needed more of the frozen chicken breasts, a large bottle of Olive Oil and I wanted to look for a bulk box of those individual flavored creamers for coffee. I was excited to find a big jug of Kalamata Olives! When I got home finally, I watched a little TV, and did a small amount of house cleaning, really small!
Anyway, I better try and get some work done, since I am off tomorrow (w00t!)
So far, today has sucked. First off, I woke up a little late. Let me start before that.
Thursdays I work from home, and yesterday I had a dentist appointment for a cleaning. Andy and I had discussed pressure washing the driveway/sidewalk, or reinstalling my storm windows. Once I got home from the dentist, I decided I would start washing, until Andy got there. So I get the pressure washer started, but it doesn't sound right. It is a fancy gas powered expensive washer I borrowed from my Dad. After about 2 minutes, it dies. I couldn't get it to restart. So I decide I'll start cleaning the storm windows. A few minutes later Andy shows up, and guess what. The washer still won't start. My neighbor had just gotten home as well, the neighbor I like. He is currently taking apart a friends motorcycle, I guess for parts. So he walks over, and figures out somehow the air filter was soaked with oil. I have no clue how that happened. He tells us I will need to replace it, (strike 1) but we can run the washer for awhile with it off. So we get it started, and Andy begins washing the driveway. I went into the backyard to continue cleaning the windows. On the very last window, I break these small plastic things that hold the sliding window part of the storm window off (strike 2). I grabbed some super glue, to try and fix them, so we'll see when I get home.
Talk about a dirty job, I finished the windows, and came out front to help Andy. I pretty much moved the hoses around as he washed And when he did the side where my neighbor was working in his driveway, I stood with a flat board as a shield. I was covered in dirt from that. When we were all done it looked good, I was excited to see it after it dried out. Andy and I decided to do the windows tomorrow, and possibly get breakfast, see a movie, and even go bowl a few games. I'll talk about bowling in a sec though.
So we finished around 7pm, and I had forgotten to start marinating my garlic and soy chicken. It has to marinate for at least 4 hours, so right after I showered I prep'd that. I knew I wasn't going to grill these up at 11pm, so they will get to marinate until I get home today. For dinner I had some chicken pot stickers, the frozen entree variety. I also threw together a sandwich. I sat down finally and went back to watching The Shield dvd's. I am on the last disc for season 4.
While I was watching TV, I was also installing Photoshop CS3 on a thumb flash drive. I'll talk about it more maybe Monday, but I found a program you can install on an external storage drive (usb/ipod/flash drive) and run programs from.
Now to this morning.... I woke up late, let the dogs out, and started getting ready for work. When I checked on the dogs, they were nowhere to be found. I freaked out, and noticed I had left the fence gate open. I rushed into the garage, and jumped in my car. I was wearing my pajama's and driving around almost in a state of hear attack. About 2 blocks away I spot them together (Thank the powers that be) and walking out of the back alley. By alley I mean the breezeway behind my house and the houses behind me. I jumped out of my car, and practically tackled Barkley. JayJay actually listens and followed me to the car as I carried Barkley. Of course their legs were soaked from the dew. I was an hour late coming in today, and of course walked in with boss who normally arrives around 8:30. (strike 3 and 4!)
The plan this weekend is to put the storm windows up, try and squeeze in a movie (Step Brothers, Tropic Thunder, or Pineapple Express), bowl a few more games, and try and relax for awhile, after the last few busy days.
Let me break down the bowling ball controversy. The two pictures I pasted Wednesday, are plastic balls. These are used by regular bowlers only to pick up the 10 pin spare (or 7 if you are a leftie). Your strike ball needs to be a resin ball, with a special core material to create a hook. Now there are all kinds of different core's to create different hooks, and you can also drill the finger holes in a certain way to create a hook as well. The plastic balls roll straight (unless of course you force a hook). In the past, I never had a ball specifically for spares, I was about 70/30 on picking up the ten pin spare.
Here is the ball I ended up with. The Hammer Black Widow. There were a couple other balls in the pro shop I liked, but this one was the best price for me, and per the pro shop owner, who I trust, the best ball for what I wanted to do. I explained I wanted the ball to 'break late' which means it rolls straight and right before the pins, it hooks. My old ball I had to put a little wrist twist on my release to get a hook. This time around I wanted the ball to do the work. So Wednesday night, after our league meeting a few of us bowled a game. Andy, my Mom, and a guy who works with Andy (Jerry). My first roll with the new ball my eyes almost popped out of the socket. It rolled straight sure enough, and at the last second it hooked all the way left almost to the gutter. I adjusted every frame to try and get used to it, and managed to end with three strikes in a row. I told Andy I really wanted to bowl a few more games so I won't embarrass myself this Wednesday when the league officially starts. I also might need to buy that 10 pin spare plastic ball.
Ok, I rambled enough this morning. I hope everyone has a better day then I'm having so far.
Welcome to the site Mrs Clugston!! Has your daughter made you sit through any garage sales lately? To answer your question....if I got anything from Brain (I call him brain) I'd steal some of his IQ, so I wouldn't have to call him to find out what kind of oil to use in my car! I am supposed to ask how your boxing skills are coming along on the Wii? I was told you are the current title holder at the Snyder's house, but only because Brain's controller was 'broken'...
ARgH, I caught some poison ivy apparently last weekend. It must have been when I was trimming around some of the bushes to make sure we could paint. It's not bad so far, I have it on a couple fingers, and my forearm (thanks Kel for helping me remember that word! lol ). It's almost, and I stress almost because all weekend my buddy Andy kept saying he wouldn't go near anything that looked like poison ivy. You see the first trip I took to Italy, back in '04, Andy and his wife took care of the dogs for me. Andy, being Andy, they decided to also do some landscaping. He and his wife trimmed some bushes, mowed, and they both caught poison ivy!! I felt bad, but I was actually dating a doctor at the time. OMG, yes it's true, I actually had a significant other. Well she came to the rescue and prescribed them some medicine. I still felt a little guilty. I went ahead and canceled with the trainer tonight after work. No sense in getting it all over the gym equipment.
Yesterday, when I got home, I mowed the yard, trimmed the ivy (not the poison kind) around the brick planter in my front yard, and folded some clothes.
So now, since I have time after work, I need to drive down to Micro-Center and replenish my blank DvD supply at home. I also need to hit a pharmacy for some Tums. We have our bowling meeting tonight, and then my team all decided to practice a little for fun. I hope to order a new bowling ball. I'm trying to decide between these two...
I am completely joking, but it would be fun to have one of those designs....the only reason would be for a spare ball. You see, they are both made out of plastic, and that means it is easier to throw it without a hook. So it would be good for the 10 pin.
Real quick, before I go, check out this movie trailer, for an upcoming movie. A little backstory; Max Payne was a really cool computer game, and it looks like they decided to adapt it. The game revolved around a detective, whose family is murdered, and he goes off the deep end chasing down the killers. That almost sounds like the comic book hero Punisher, but I still remember how fun the game was.
Ok, I snapped off a couple pics, but once I got inside last night and sat down on the couch, I was done. I had to stop at Target on the way home to get soft dog treats for JayJay, soda/pop/coke (whatever u call it), some chips (since I planned on grabbing goodcents after target), and I forgot antacid pills. I find myself taking allot of Tums, so I usually grab the biggest jug they sell. As I mentioned though, I remembered everything except the Tums. I then ran over to grab a sandwich, because I knew I wouldn't have the energy to cook. I could have strangled the guy working there, both of them actually. Let me break it down.
idiot- 'How can I help you' me- 'hey, I'd like a whole Italian, with provolone cheese, on the garlic pepper bread' idiot- 'did you want the 12" deal or a half? me - 'the whole please' idiot- 'what kind of sandwich?' me- 'the Italian' idiot- 'what kind of bread?' me- 'the garlic pepper' idiot- 'any cheese?'
go back and read exactly what I said when I ordered.
So then some dude comes into the store and goes straight to the counter, starts asking if there is a manager, because he is selling advertising in some newspaper. Two seconds later my sandwich is done, I'm at the register, but idiot #2 has to call the owner. I stood there for at least 5-10 minutes while he talked on the phone, and with the sales guy. I'm thinking he could have multi-tasked.
So I finally get home, let the dogs out, checked out my shed (Andy had gone over and trimmed while I was at work, since he is on vacation all week). I cleaned the kitchen, started some laundry, and brought up two baskets of clothes to fold. I threw in Season 3 Disc 3 of The Shield, heated up my hoagie (I like to nuke goodcents sandwich for about 15 secs, but not subway's). Once I sat down on the couch, that was the end of the night for me.
I feel allot less sore today, so I am going to try and pressure wash my driveway when I get home. Tomorrow we have our meeting for my bowling league. It's crazy that it's already time to start next week. I am going to price out a new bowling ball, since mine is 5+ years old, and looks like its 10+ years old. It has quite a few chips and scratches. We might bowl a game or two after the meeting, most of my team will be there, just to get the swing down before we officially start next week.
I am dying to see three movies right now, and there is a good chance I might go see them by myself this weekend. Tropic Thunder, Pineapple Express, and Step Brothers. I couldn't even say which I want to see more.
Ok, here are a couple real pictures of the house. Still needs a couple things touched up. I should have closed the garage door I know. I think it looks awesome, could have tacked on a few $$ for when I sell. (hopefully soon!)
This is a shot of the side, minus the storm windows. Look at that awesome job somebody (hint, hint) did adding the bottom trim piece.
I am so sore this morning, it hurts to walk, to sit down, and I have a feeling if I was lying down I'd still cringe if a strong breeze came my way.
Friday, I rushed to my parents, loaded the pressure washer and the extension 18ft something ladder into my Mom's Armada. I rushed to my house where my buddy Andy was waiting, unloaded both of those, then rushed back to my parents to return my Mom's SUV, and bring my car back home. Andy went ahead and got started while I drove back and forth.
We came up with a plan when Andy came by Thursday night. Friday
Pressure Wash the house, make a supply list
Saturday
Go back to Home Depot, buy all the wood/paint/supplies.
Replace any wood, scrape, paint
Sunday
Paint house!
So let me walk you through how our plan worked.... Andy got carried away (I didn't mind), and even pressure washed my deck and steps. We realized I did not need to rent a truck from Home Depot, we could easily fit it all back in my Mom's Armada. We were done right as it started to get dark, and I called my Mom to see if I could use her truck/SUV again Saturday.
Saturday Andy called me around 830am ready to go, so he drove over, and we went to my parents. We swapped car keys, and were delayed. There apparently was some sort of accident right at the entrance to their neighborhood. We had to turn around on our way there and back track to use the other entrance. When we left, we should have just gone that way, but for some reason I went down a different side street that apparently every moRon who owns a street bike had decided to take a ride on that day. I don't mind bicyclists, I do mind dumb ones. Pick a street where cars can pass you, and won't be stuck behind you on hills, or miles of winding blind curves. Finally we made it back to my side of town, and we tried to stop and have breakfast, by then it was closer to 10:30 though. I didn't even check, but by the time we ate, and grabbed everything we needed at Home Depot, we were behind on schedule.
We didn't replace near as much wood as we thought we would need to, so I'll be making a refund trip to Home Depot, between that, and the last case of caulk, I might recoup a couple hundred bucks. We worked through the day, ending with Andy climbing onto my roof to clean my gutters. You see, I'm ok with heights, and not exactly comfortable, ok with ladders. The thing I have an issue with, is stepping off the roof, back onto the ladder. We stopped around 7pm I would guess. Replacing the wood, included removing the storm windows, taking down the shutters, and a few other things.
Sunday morning, I actually called Andy. He joking said we would start around 6am, so I called him at 10 til 7 asking when he was going to be over! Sunday, pfew, that was the roughest day. Between every neighbor wanting to talk, and the heat when we got into the backyard, I am in pain. When I woke up, my ankle felt like I had twisted it, so I started the day with it wrapped. My parents came by to take a look, right as we started the trim. I freely admit Andy did most of the work. I painted everything I could reach, and he did the rest up. Where I could get on the 12 foot ladder I did, but with the one sprayer, I spent allot of time moving hoses around for him, untwisting them when they got caught, or operating the sprayer when it was clogging. When my parents came by, they brought us a pizza for lunch even though it was around 2pm when they got there. After they left, we had made a list of supplies we forgot the first time, so as Andy kept painting I made another trip to Home Depot. I bought some small buckets, new house numbers, a new doorbell (buzzer), and new outside lights for the front and back.
We didn't finish Sunday completely. We stopped around 8pm, and all that is left is painting the trim on the shed (which now matches the house), and checking for any mistakes. I will need to do some detail cleanup around my door-knocker, (I purchased it in Palermo,Sicily). Andy said he would stop by while I was at work today, even though I said it wasn't necessary.
I didn't take enough before shots, and I really should have done before anything shots too, I sort of felt rushed at the last minute when this finally happened, but here are a couple before pics.
The pictures all start after the scraping was done, so don't think it looked this bad before!
This is a shot over my garage doors.
Here is a shot of the front door.
The side of the house (if you are facing it, the right side)
I promise, I'll try and take some more after shots, maybe tonight, but I got behind on other chores, spending the weekend painting. I didn't cook any thing, need to clean the kitchen, and do laundry, plus vacuum.
For now, you will have to deal with just one After picture..... . . . . . . . .
. . . . . ready for it? . . . . . . . . . . . . . are you excited? . . . . Ta-da!!!! Amazing what a little paint, does, isn't it?
Ok, on a more serious note, I'll try and upload real pictures tomorrow....
So make sure to vote on the poll at the top of the right hand column on the new layout. I'm actually already working on another one. I found a nice template that will take some HTML editing to get it the way I want, so one day this will change again!
I also added Kel-Koo's friend, and new visitor to my site on the blogroll down below. Don't think I'm playing favorites, it sorts them by latest post.
I'm pretty excited, my buddy Andy came through for me and stopped by last night. We set plans in motion to paint my house this weekend. I am going by my parents after work today, to borrow my Dad's pressure washer (more oomph than mine) and a tall ladder. The plan is to use my Mom's Armada SUV to get them to my place. Andy will meet me there, since he starts his vacation today he won't be at his work a full day. We pressure wash the house tonight, and see if, or how much wood I will have to replace. Saturday, we will head to Home Depot, and as long as I am approved for a shiny credit card, I'll buy all the paint, wood, caulking, etc. I may need to also rent their Home Depot truck. You know, the one that says 'Rent me for an hour'!!
Saturday we will replace any of the wood needed, and unless something changes, Sunday will be P-Day, as in paint day, if the weather permits.. Andy has a sprayer, and the tools, plus he was a professional painter for years, so he thinks we can knock out the actual painting in no time at all. With him there, I'll clean out my gutters (he is much better on ladders than me) and unless we run outta paint, we will match the shed in the back to the new house color. I am being a copycat and using the same paint scheme Andy used last summer on his place. It's a green, with tan trim, and red shutters.
I'll try to snap some before and after pics, and share them Monday. After Andy and I chatted for awhile, I went back inside to make lunch for today. I made my sister's favorite since she is meeting me here today (possibly with her husband) to have lunch and borrow my sawzall, aka reciprocating saw. They need it to cut a metal stud out of some brick on their house. If Victor gets off work in time he will join us. He works nights for Burlington Northern (Railroad). I almost forgot. Her favorite is my Italian Chicken & Potatoes, made in the slow cooker. Possibly one of the simplest recipes I have. It's simply chicken breasts, potatoes, seasoning, Italian dressing, and Parmesan cheese for about 6-8 hours in the crock pot.
Back in the day, Victor was a favorite subject in Photoshop for me. Not that I'm skilled now, but I can see I am much better at working some magic than then. Here are a couple favorites, I dug out of the archive.
His stint in a boyband................... After that, he went back to his life's passion. A backup dancer for Reba McIntyre, No clue how to spell her name, I can't stand country music.
I also want to share I am a little upset with the Netflix issue going on. Something happened with their shipping database, and I haven't gotten my fix of The Shield for a few days. I am right in the middle of season 2. If anyone reading this has never seen this show, I can't stop screaming its praise, it is an amazing show.
Before I wrap this up, Kel and her Friend have suggested a chick flic movie night at my place. I think if I agree, they have to take me to a nooody (+)(+) bar after and each buy me a private dance with an employee of my choice. So the ball is in your court ladies....
Lastly, a short rant.......
Yes, I know smoking is bad for me. It was not groundbreaking news that it is not healthy. I didn't gasp in shock when I heard it was addictive. So here is my problem....well a couple of them.
Smokers are not second class citizens. I am not a rude smoker and won't do it around kids, never in a non-smoker's house/car, and I'm not going to sit in a restaurant and blow smoke into your dinner. What I am tired of, is these smoking bans, taxes, and dumb ass commercials telling me 'the truth'. Now these idiots are singing about the OH MY GOD, poisons in cigarettes. Tell me why smokers get this tax, but why not food with carbs too, aren't they 'bad' for you. Or maybe alcohol? I don't go out on a Friday night, smoke a pack of Marlboro's and then get in a fight because someone bumped me. Isn't that what drunk people do? If I want to smoke, I should not feel guilty, I shouldn't be forced to stand against the side of a building while it's raining/snowing/hailing/freezing cold. I don't expect to be allowed to smoke at my desk, but give me a roof outside at least I can stand under. When I started smoking a pack cost about $2, and some places they are now almost $5. That is not a deterrent for smokers, it's just making me broke. Plus allot of that tax is paying for these above mentioned dumb ass Truth commercials. Those commercials make me want to light up and blow smoke at my TV screen.
Ok, all done, I need to go smoke now.........
ciao!
PS....I wanted to share my new desktop background here at work. I wish I had this talent, but I found it on a website. ciao!
Click there to see the silly amount of movies I have at home. You need to select the 'Owned' tab to see the whole list, or you can run a filter, and see the few Blue Ray's I have so far, or one of my favorites lists I am still putting together.
It's the link in the Right column titled 'My Movies'
Pretty slick site, I already had the list on a spreadsheet, and all I had to do was copy it into a text file, then import. You can only do about 50 at a time, and you will need to go through them to pick the version, region (dvd vs blue ray).
At some point, once I move into my next home, I want to implement a dinner/movie night. I will invite friends over, they can pick a movie, and we can make dinner. Maybe a once a month thing if people show interest.
Make sure you check out the post from last night below. This morning I realized I should have added a color overlay, which I might try doing tonight at home.
Here are a few new trailers I'm looking forward to the movie releasing...
Burn After Reading
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Finally an English version of this trailer I posted awhile back
Smart People (dvd) Came out yesterday, it's mixed in my Netflix que, between episodes of The Shield
Igor I've always been a Cusak fan.
The Tale of Despereaux
The Brothers Bloom
Everybody Wants to Be Italian You can tell me, it's true isn't it?
First off, I have to say....I LOVE smoked paprika. I finally found a grocery store that had it, and it was worth the $4.50 for the jar. This stuff smells so good if I thought it would make suds, I'd shower with it tomorrow! I haven't actually used it on anything, I just keep sneaking into the kitchen to grab sniffs like it is a crack pipe or something.
Anyway..... I'm posting because my Garlic & Soy Marinated chicken is cooking as I type, and I just finished my original movie poster. So I figured I would share.
I think it turned out decent, I tried using a little from each tutorial on movie posters... (click to enlarge)
So yesterday, I watched a new Food network show. 'Ask Aida' airs Saturday mornings. I am so tempted to submit my own question, it would go something like this.
"Dear Aida,
I am a big fan of your new show, and would like to submit my own question. Want to get married?
Your Fan, Domenico "
During Saturday's show she said it was hard finding a boyfriend in high school smelling like garlic (from cooking). A reader had submitted a question about how to get the lingering smell of garlic off your hands after handling it. She threw out that if she could find a man who like the smell, she would snatch him up. And now for a riddle.... What has two thumbs and likes the smell of garlic? . . . THIS GUY
Anyway, I scribbled down the recipe for her African Spice butter, which she topped a steak with. I also wanted to try her other two recipes, so I wrote those ingredients down too. I ran up to the store Sunday afternoon, and was disappointed to find my local store didn't carry smoked paprika seasoning, or shallots, so I grabbed a couple staples I had ran out of, including some spicy brown mustard for an Italian Deviled egg recipe I've had my eye on to make for awhile. Once I got home, defeated, I decided to make my Cinnamon Carbonara pasta, since heavy whipping cream only lasts for so long. Here is where I was an idiot. I decided to go ahead and hard boil the eggs for the deviled recipe, planning to just grab the smoked paprika sometime on the way home today. Since I like to snack on hard boiled eggs, I went ahead and threw a couple extra eggs in the pot, that the recipe didn't need. I started boiling the water for the fettuccine dish, and chopping up the bacon and pancetta. The second I threw them in the pan, I realized I needed 6 eggs to make the carbonara sauce (yolks that is). Well, me the idiot was down to 2 eggs after throwing the rest in the pot to hard boil. arghhhh
Anyway, the rest of the weekend wasn't much better. I spent Saturday morning with my Mom, for her bday. We went and saw X-Files:I Want to Believe. It was good, I wasn't happy with a few storyline changes they made, but I won't say what here in case anyone reading had plans to see it. Afterwards she wanted to go walk around Dicks sporting goods, and we then tracked down the KC Culinary School. She keeps saying she wants to take some classes with me, so we'll see if that happens. We walked around the area around the school, and I finally went into a Spice store my friend D-Lo had told me about awhile back. Too bad I didn't know then I needed Smoked Paprika, this store was heaven. I wish they had a sitting area, and I would take a book, a mug of coffee, and spend my free time there.
Sunday my buddy was supposed to come over, and I wasn't that surprised he was a no show. The plan was he could figure out what we need to paint my house this upcoming weekend. I hope that still happens, but I'm not holding my breath.
I was up late Friday night finishing up the dvd's for season 2 of The Shield. I gotta say to anyone reading this, if you have never seen this show, rent season 1, I can't get enough of it. I'm excited to start season 3, and that I have like 5 more seasons to go after that.
Anyway, I better get to work.
ciao!
PS awwwww yaaa, I obtained the Def Leppard Greatest Hits 2 CD set this weekend, flashback baby!
Maybe I should start writing some 'favorites' posts, or even top 10's.
Let's see, I'll make a new post label called Favorites, and this will be the first.
I'm going to start with........drum roll.....The Muppets!
I have so many favorites, but if I had to narrow it down.
Fozzie the Bear Statler and Waldorf Pepe the King Prawn Beeker and Dr Bunson Honeydew Animal Swedish Chef Kermit Rolf
one of the best lines ever at the beginning of this one. Rolf- 'Stay away from women, that's my motto' Kermit- 'But.......I can't' Rolf- 'Neither can I........that's my trouble'
So I took Friday off last week and went golfing with my brother-in-law Victor. We started at 9am, thinking we'd avoid the really hot part of the day, and be done in time to grab some sushi for lunch. Unfortunately, the course was packed, and we spent most of the morning waiting on the group ahead of us, and being rushed by the group behind us. I grabbed 2 powerades from the clubhouse, planning on getting more on the turn. We had to scrap the lunch, since we were still on the course after 1 o'clock. I forgot to grab my wallet when we took a short break after 9 holes, but Victor paid for another powerade for me. As the back 9 holes dragged on, we considered calling it quits, because the temp had gone over 100 degrees and we were feeling it. It was the standing around waiting that took its toll. We ended up skipping the 17th hole and going straight to 18.
I had a pretty good headache from the heat and stopped at QT on the way home, grabbed a Dr Pepper and a milkshake. As soon as I walked in the door, Barkley was snoozing on the bed, so I layed down and used him as a pillow. I dozed in and out, but finally got out of bed, because I got sick. Having not eaten anything and not drank enough liquids, I felt feverish, and chilly at the same time. I took a shower and went back to bed. After another round of being sick, I slept it off til around 7pm. I felt allot better, so I drove to my parents house to water my mom's plants, and look for any packages that had been delivered. I definitely learned my lesson, and next time I will be prepared.
Saturday my sister called and asked if I wanted to meet them for lunch, and since I had a couple errands to run I agreed. I had to hit the grocery store for ingredients of a couple recipes, wanted to check out the store closing sale at Linens and things, then head by Bed, Bath, and Beyond if the last store didn't have what I was looking for. I bought a toaster/broiler oven on sale for $17 and a set of funnels for cooking at the first stop. We met over at Home Depot then hit Popeye's for lunch. At Bed, Bath, Beyond I had 3 of those 20% off coupons, and a $5 off coupon from one of their ads, so I grabbed a few things. I bought a flat griddle pan, a single egg saute pan + a spatula that fit it, and a garlic slicer. They still didn't have (or I didn't see it) what I was originally looking for though. I was looking for a timer that let you set two countdowns.
I spent the rest of Saturday catching up on some TV, and watched 'The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant' from Netflix. I can't recommend this 3 1/2 hour based on true events story. I thought the acting was horrible. I started into Season 2 of 'The Shield' also.
Sunday I felt a ton better so after making some french toast for breakfast, I went outside and mowed the grass. I made sure I drank a whole bottle of Gatorade while sweating in the heat. Afterwards, I ran up to Target, and found my new dual timer. I finished watching the first disc of season 2, and made a cinnamon strudel bunt cake. More to get the dang box outta my cabinet, and see how it would turn out, since I had never attempted making a cake.
I was excited to watch the new episode of 'Generation Kill' a mini-series on HBO. They are up to week 3, but when I was browsing the channels, I noticed 'Roman Holiday' was about to start on the TCM channel. I watched that instead. I think Audrey Hepburn may have been the most stunning, beautiful woman ever to have lived. I see a slight, resemblance when I see pictures of Kiera Knightley or even Natalie Portman. Just in the facial features.
Anyway, no big plans this week so far. I have to water my mom's plants again Tuesday, and they are supposed to be back in town Wednesday. This Saturday is her (my mom) birthday, so I need to think of what to do with her. My personal trainer canceled this week, but he had another trainer there call and ask if I wanted to work with her for a week so I don't 'get behind' which I find funny, because I don't see any results from working with him these last few months. I haven't decided if I am going to call her back, I am so out of shape I think I'd be embarrassed having a good looking female trainer. I also need to help my buddy Alex move some furniture Wednesday. A BIG congrats on him closing on his new house last Thursday.
