Tuesday, July 24, 2007

My new iphone

It's everything I thought it would be. I plan on keeping it despite the fact that it needs a software upgrade.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

The Great Nacho-Off

Once upon a time, Snugglepants and I once had a competition to see who could make the best nachos. Yes, I'm mildly retarded, but that's beside the point.

Anyway, the premise of the competition was really to prove a point. Point being, to show that the microwave wouldn't make the chips soggy once the cheese melted on top. I said it wouldn't. She said it would.

Needless to say, the nachos cooked in microwave ended being just as crunchy as the nachos cooked in the oven in about 20% less time.

I was thinking about this the other day, and it made me smile.

The Perfect Frozen Pizza

My stepmom bought me a Pizzazz Pizza Oven for Christmas last year. It was one of the best gifts anyone has bought me in years. (It's funny how a nice gift elevates your opinion of someone. lol)

So, I started buying a particular frozen pizza at Costco. It's has an "ultra thin crust." The only topping is diced tomatoes, and I take about 90% of them off. Then I chop up and sprinkle on some honey baked ham and "bread and butter" jalapeno peppers--they're not too spicy and kind of sweet--like me. Then I sprinkle on a little parmesean cheese for some extra goodness along with some garlic powder.

I set the pizza on the tray, set the timer for 14 minutes, and go watch TV. 14 minutes later it shuts off automatically--the best feature, IMHO.

The pizza cooks to perfection every single time--cheese is melted to a golden brown and crust is always crunchy--just the way I like it. Everyone I've made one for likes it too.

My next car will most likely be a Plug-In Hybrid

They won't start hitting the market until about 2008. Most likely, I won't be ready to buy my next car till 2010.

I'm still waiting to see the data on what it costs per mile to run a car on electricity. My guess is, it's a lot cheaper than gas.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Astanga Yoga by Tara Fraser

Yoga is amazing. It's the perfect stress reliever.

This book is basically a handbook for the primary series. It's format is excellent.

I've started practicing some of the poses.

John McEnroe's Adventures with Rogain

Do you remember when McEnroe used to be a spokesman for Rogain? He had a bald patch that appeared to regrow hair with the aid of Rogain.

I was watching this years Wimbledon, and lo and behold, he still has his hair. This could mean 1 of 2 things--He's either continued using Rogain or he's gotten implants.

Personally, I hope he's been using Rogain for my own personal reasons--I'm not bald, but thinning hair is definitely part of my genetic make up. I'm not vain enough to get surgery, but I would use Rogain. I sort of view it as "hormone replacement therapy," if that makes sense.

If Rogain works as far as helping guys hang on to the hair they have, I'll definitely add it to my routine especially now that they've come out with a foam--Although, a shampoo form would be more ideal.

Obviously, I'm not afraid to admit I'm willing to use it. I would, however, like an update from McEnroe.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Iraq: George Bush's Artificial Frontline on "The War on Terror"

Al Queda wasn't in Iraq when the U.S. 1st got there, but since Iraq is in the dead center of the middle east, they all came.

To make matters worse, the terrorists are still being paid dividends from the Abu Grab scandal, and that's not going to change until we leave. (Most Americans think that scandal is over because the press doesn't talk about it anymore here in America.)

Moreover, the War in Iraq has cost a trillion dollars of taxpayer money.

That trillion dollars could have paid for a college education for an entire generation of American kids, which would have gone a lot further towards the defeat of terrorists than anything else.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Reconsidering The New Bill of Rights

There were some things that were underdeveloped in the book. I wasn't sure what those things were until I watched Sicko. I think I finally have the right ideas.

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

My July 4th Navy story

There are several Navy stories I like to tell. This is one of them.

The date was July 4, 1996. I was 2 and a half years into a 3 year contract--considered a short-timer by some. By this time, they had thrown all the shit they could throw at me, and I was still standing. I hadn't quite reached the point where I no longer had to give a shit, but I was getting close.

Our ship had been in San Diego for 6 months after a 6 month cruise, and we were doing a lot of boring jobs like painting, swabbing, and bullshit maintenance. Time was going slow, and the Navy routine was getting old.

On this one particular July 4th, I happened to have duty, which meant, while everyone else got to go to the beach, drink beer, and have fun, I got to stay onboard and work, which sucked. In addition to doing the regular work, everyone who has duty is assigned a watch. My watch assignment was color guard--one of the easiest watches. It takes a grand total of 10 minutes out of your day. Actually, it beats the hell out of standing on the quarter deck for 4 hours having an endless stream of people ask you if they can "come aboard" or "go ashore"--I'd take colors any day of the week over that.

Raising and lowering the Stars and Stripes is a big deal in the military. It's part of the daily ritual. If you're outside when the colors whistle blows, you better stop whatever you're doing, face the flag and salute until the whistle blows again a minute later. If you think no one's watching you, and you fuck around, you might earn yourself a 1st class ticket to see the Captain--I've seen it happen.

Holidays are special in the military especially the 4th of July. There's a huge holiday flag--it's twice as big as the normal flag. It's also cleaner and brighter because it only gets used on holidays--duh.

On this particular July 4th, I stood on back of my ship and saluted the American Flag before I took it down. The sun was setting. The breeze was blowing. It was another beautiful day in San Diego, and there was this big flag with the wind flowing through it. I could see on either side of me ships with sailors giving the same salute to the flag on their ship. I knew at that moment I was never going to have a better understanding of everything the American Flag represents. It was at moment when I realized why I joined the Navy.

It is an honor and a privilege to be an American.

As soon as I took down the flag, I knew immediately this was a moment I was never going to forget, and I realized how lucky I was to have duty on that day.

Monday, July 02, 2007

Note to self: Turn off your television

I have several books I'm nearly finished reading, but the damn TV gets in my way. I have a bit of a problem.

iphone update

I've gone to the Apple store and played around with an iphone. They were sold out.

Pretty much every aspect is as you would hope it would be. It's brilliant.

No one's coming close to topping the iphone for a long time.

Note to self: place a bull-call spread trade on Apple's stock. They're anticipating selling 10 million units over the next 6 months. Personally, I expect that number to be about 15 million. I'm projecting the stock will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $140 dollars a share by September.