Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone had a very nice Thanksgiving holiday, I know I did. This year was the first year ever that my wife and I actually didn't have to run around all day. Yup, we made everyone come to us this year and it turned out really well. In fact, I can't think of how it could have been any better! The weather cooperated, and we had very decorative snow on and off all day. The only minor problem was that up until about 24 hours before the party we didn't have a table, and needed something that would sit 8 people! After a ton of searching, we found a table, and four chairs straight out of 1965 for $125 from the local antique mall!

The rest of this week I've been on vacation. I was once again surprised to find just how lazy it is possible to be. I spent Friday on my couch. I'm not kidding, other than the restroom trip here or there, I spent basically all day on the couch! It was pathetic, but also fun! This week it's back to work, and a trip to Chicago. I'm driving, which is absolutely mind-numbing, but I've got Harry Potter and Jim Dale to keep me company.

Harry Potter Review

I went to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire last night, and I have to say, I was disapointed. But that's probably because I read the book. Okay... I had the book read to me by Jim Dale. Anyways, I can sum up the movie like this:

If you read the book, you'll spend the entire ride home talking about what they left out.

If you didn't read the book, you will likely leave with absolutely NO idea about what's going on!

Now, I know that the book was HUGE, and had a TON of stuff in it. So much so that if they included all of it in the movie, it probably would have been a six hour movie! But, I think they left out some significant underlying fabric that is going to be really important in following movies. I know that everyone hasn't seen the movie yet, so I won't go into too much detail yet. Maybe in another month or so.

For those of you who haven't read the books, which was me up to a month ago, do yourself a favor, and either read this book, or go down to your library and get the book on tape. Jim Dale reads the books on tape, and does an amazing job. He might be better thatn the movie! You see the first three movies stayed pretty close to the books, but this one is way off. I honestly think you're missing at least half of the story if you only see the movie for this installment. Okay, that's all I'll say... for now.

Well, not everyone is destined for college

I really feel like we don't have enough craftsmen left in this country. Years past, it was a minority of people who went to college after high school. Those that didn't went either into armed forces, trade schools or apprenticeship programs. Now it seems like kids are just expected to go to college. I'm a little concerned at this. I know from my perspective, I got into college, and I had no idea what I wanted to do. I ended up going to a technical school to get my MCSE (Microsoft) certification. It was something I was interested in, and gave me the skills and credentials I needed to get a good job that led to a career.

I really think people need to work with their kids before they push them off to college. I would really like to see more skilled, finish carpenters, electricians, plumbers and such. They are all highly skilled, needed, and valued careers. I recently went to night classes to learn welding, and I had a great time. I learned a lot, and created some pretty cool stuff in the process.

Somebody Help Me get to a Mountain....

For weeks now I keep checking vacation packages, hoping and praying to find some way to get out to Vail this year for a snowboarding vacation. But all I've discovered is that I don't have the $1500 for a decent trip.

I went out to Breckenridge a couple of years ago and it was amazing! So, anyone have any tips on vacationing on the cheap? Or, are there any long lost relatives out there with timeshares in major ski areas?

Do people listen to the fine print?

I don't know where you folks are from, but around here we get some really stupid advertisments on the radio. The latest one I heard today was a car advertisment where the talking head said that you should come down and buy a car because they will pay off the balance of your current loan up to $10,000! The thing that had me shaking my head was that they make it sound like they would just take care of your current loan, and the balance would just vanish into thin air. Do people really think some car dealer is going eat a $8000 loss just so they can make $1000 on that Hundai they're trying to get rid of.

At the end of the ad you can hear the disclaimer in soft-fast dialogue, "Balance of trade in transfered to new loan." I have to guess that people fall for this, or else why would they run the same ad year to year?

Royal Pain

Could someone please let me know what the allure of the Royal family is? I just don't get it. They don't do anything. They are basically inbred glorified goodwill ambassadors. On some level I feel bad for them. It seems like they are just there for the people's amusement. They try so hard to look like they've got everything under control, meanwhile their subjects just sit there staring for a hair to be out of place so they can ridicule them. It really just seems like a cruel experiment or something. I guess the Brits have the royal family, and we Americans have our celebrity fascination. No, I can't explain that one either.
I guess reguardless of where you are, people just want to see the famous fall on their faces.

Who Robs Banks Anymore

I was listening to the news today and was really shocked when I heard there are actually a lot of bank robberys. I just can't imagine robbing a bank these days. I mean, I don't think any of them have big piles of money in their vaults do they? There's no huge mountains of gold bars anymore right? I think all the money is transfered electronically any more. At best a bank would have maybe $20,000 on hand to cash checks on Fridays. If you think about it, that's really not that much money. Definately not worth jail time. Amazing.

Totally Called It!

If you haven't had a chance to watch The Colbert Report yet, then either you work for a living and can't stand to stay up till midnight on a weeknight, or you're just lame. You don't want to be lame do you?

Well, if you saw it a couple nights ago you'll know that they did a bit where Stephen "Totally Called It!" where he foresaw some events. Like Walmart becoming a sovereign nation. Well my wife totally called it with the Harriet Miers nomination.

Remember Harriet Miers? She was the totally unqualified supreme court nominee last week. Well, my wife (republican) and I (not republican) were sitting around trying to imagine why on earth Bush would nominate her. I just couldn't figure it out. If Bush wanted to nominate a minority, (as most people expected he would be forced to) there were many, many more qualified candidates that he could have choosen. But instead he picked this lady who couldn't even fill out the paperwork required. This is when wify got here epiphany.

She said, "Well, all he had to do is nominate an unqualified minority, and when they get ripped apart and withdraw, the door is open for him to nominate the white male Bush really wants. If someone tries to bitch about it, Bush can say, "Hey, I tried to nominate a minority and you didn't like her.""

Okay, and this is like exactly what happened. Bush now has an open door, and he has taken advantage of it. He's nominated a right-wing white male. Now, how do you think Altio would have been recieved if Miers hadn't been between Roberts and Altio. People would be pissed. Well I'm pissed and it seems like Bush is just pushing it to see how much he can get away with.

I fought it as long as I could

I can't help myself, I'm about to fall into the same niche of every other blogger. That's right I'm going political. No one's commenting on my blurbs, so it's time to piss some people off.

So, for my first topic, let's just go after the big one, President Bush. Could someone please tell me why anyone likes him?

Now, I'm not a Republican, and I can't really consider myself a Democrat. I think I'm like most people and consider myself somewhere in the middle. I judge on an issue by issue basis. My wife is a Republican. Yes, it took me a while to forgive her for supporting Bush in the last election, but even she is getting sick of his shit. It really seems like he's got something to irritate everyone.

Far Right - Although I'm sure they get excited every time he makes comments about religion, they can't like him that much. I mean, he's really just a bad Republican. He goes against most typical Republican Dogma. They are supposed to be for small government, responsible spending, and state's rights. He came into office with one of the largest surpluses in our nation’s history and has created the largest deficit in history. He's created the biggest government ever, and takes every opportunity to try and remove power from the states.

Middle Right - This is basically where my wife would fall. They don't like most of the aspects above, but also cringe every time he makes decisions influenced by his religious beliefs. (Like saying that Harriet Meyers was qualified because of her religion)

Democrats - Well, just about everything he does ticks them off. Irresponsible spending, a long occupation in a hostile country. A baseless war, criminal staff, and all around dim wittedness, all are just toppings to the cake.

So really, what is he doing that people like? What I hate more than anything though is people who like or dislike politicians based solely on what team they are on and what team the person is on. Like people liking Bush because he's a Republican and so are they, or hating him because they are Democrats.

The Most Beautiful Bike ever!

Just wanted to give you a eyeful. Warning... Don't drool on your keyboard, it might short out!


That's a stock picture from Ducati, but it is pretty much exactly the same as my bike. Below is a shot of my bike that makes a great wallpaper image.

Motorcycle Polar Bears!

Nothing quite wakes you up like a nice vigorous motorcycle ride at 45 degrees. Just remember that for every few miles per hour, the wind chill drops a degree. So, as I approach 70 mph, any exposed piece of skin is getting subjected to sub-zero temps. Luckily I did a pretty good job of bundling up, sort of like the kid from Christmas Story.


So, everything except my neck stayed pretty warm. Fun ride!