Milestones - 20th work anniversary

Today. Officially. I hit twenty years with my current employer. Yippee for me! It's been a long tenure and at some businesses I could retire from but I'm sure it'll be at least another twenty.

No worries. I don't hate working but I do kind of hate having to work.

I have gotten some things from my current employer albeit not high enough annual raises but the environment has been much better than my previous employer's. So I can't complain...a whole lot.

Here's to another twenty years...or five with a move to Hawai'i would be just fine.

Jeep CJ66 Retro Wrangler

Just saw an article (here while it lasts) about Jeep showing a retro Wrangler concept vehicle to celebrate their 50^th birthday.

In the photo, it looks like a Hot Wheels die cast toy.

All I can say is, "I want!!"

I miss my 1990 Jeep Wrangler. I should have never sold it.

I still don't know why I did.

Stupid.

That's why.

Colleyville Public Library

I sometimes play tennis early on a Saturday morning in Colleyville. I think the park used to be called Bransford but now it looks to be called Colleyville City Park.

I've been to this park many times but have never walked around it. Years ago I brought my kids when they were little because it had a pretty cool playground facility made out of railroad-ties type timber...but not exactly. It was like a giant wooden fort or an on-the-ground tree house. That's been since removed for a "safer" playground.

This one particular Saturday I drove out to play I had arrived fairly early. My friends, for doubles play, weren't going to arrive for at least twenty minutes so I decided to take a walk around the park to stretch my legs from the thirty minute or so drive from my home in North Dallas. It was a pretty cool day compared to the energy-sapping heat/humidity we had been having. I walked about halfway around the park and saw that it actually backed up to the town square. I've driven through that square once years ago because I thought I could cut through it to get to the tennis courts. I was wrong.

Anyhow, this is the first time I noticed the Colleyville Public Library building.

It's not a huge deal for all people but it looked kind of cool to me. I walked in the little archway there to see what it looked like. I peeked into the building through the large glass windows like a little kid. Nothing extraordinary but nostalgic since I've probably not been in a public library in many, many years!

It briefly took me back to the days I'd go to the Euless Public Library as a kid for class field trips or the occasional origami book to check out so I could learn new paper-folding patterns to impress people.

The Game of Washers

This is a little...okay, a lot...late but when I was on vacation in Taos, NM a couple of years ago I entered a Wal-Mart looking for one thing and happened upon these little gems.

This is what we poor people call the game of washers. Before they became a product at Wal-Mart, Target, and wherever else, these washers were randomly found at hardware or plumbing stores or maybe just by dumb luck.

My dad created a "course" in the backyard of our house out of the bottom of a dual burner gas grill and some washers that were like 2-3 cms thick, about 2-3" in diameter with a center hole about a 1/2" in diameter. I don't know where my dad found these washers because you can't find them anywhere nowadays. They cannot be found exactly like I remember nor can they be found similar in size and weight. They are either too thin or too light and typically none in 3" diameter. They at least can't be found at your local Lowe's, Home Depot or Ace Hardware stores.

Anyway, this is a really fun pasttime for the family. It's similar to horeshoes in scoring and play (tossing something on to something else). When I was in junior high school, the coaches made the game out of an empty can goods can. Again, the washers weren't the same in size and weight as the ones my dad had but the ones they had served the purpose. It was fun playing a game that these adults were new to that I was used to playing my entire life.

When I saw this package in the Wal-Mart, I had to buy it. Even if I didn't have a 'course' set up to play it on it was worth already having the washers because the holes are easy to construct out of just about anything. It wasn't until months later when I got back to Dallas that I saw these again at Target. However, this time they were part of a set and it wasn't exactly the same game I grew up playing. There are tons of variations but none will replace the game of old. Some of the variations are similar in set up to the old game.

There's just nothing like sliding or bouncing a washer from about 10 inches in front of the hole into the hole. Or having a washer toilet bowl the hole to either make it close or inside the hole. Some of the variations now are set up to where you have make a hole-in-one to get a point or points. That's not the fun part of it. The fun part is being able to knock the opponents washer away from the hole if it's closer than your washer OR making a sinker. The sinker isn't the end all be all.

Anyway, that's my brief walk down memory lane that only took me two years to type about. I'm glad to see it the washers game coming (or came) back. I guess we should thank tailgating and it's appreciation of any game that can be made into a drinking game.

Gameworks in Grapevine Mills Mall is gone!

As you can see from their website, Gameworks is no longer in Texas! I don't know when this happened but it did. I was thinking about what to do with the kids over the three-day Memorial Day weekend (yes, this post is a week behind) and thought about the times in the past when we would spend a few hours doing unlimited video games at Game Works in Grapevine. They used to have these gaming "happy hours" where you'd spend something like $15-$20 for 2-3 hours of game play. It was a pretty good deal because most of the games cost at least a $1 or more to play. That wouldn't be too bad if your turn on the game wasn't over in less than a minute! The only real issue with the "happy hours" is that they would normally begin around 8 or 9 p.m. which was my kids' bed time back in the day. The bedtime wasn't so bad on a weekend but the drive to Gameworks at Grapevine Mills Mall was like 20-30 minutes. Add that on each end of the two hours and it would be somewhere between 10pm and midnight when we'd get home. Not something that went over well with the wife.

I enjoyed the "happy hours" but I never played during the other hours of operation because they weren't a very cost-effective arcade...especially for my cheap ass! As I mentioned, the games were expensive to play during non-happy hour hours and kids nowadays have their iPhones/iTouches to play games for free or a minimal charge. When kids are eternally playing something as stupid as Angry Birds for $5 or less and unlimited restarts, an arcade that charges $1 or greater to play 1-3-lives-and-your-done video games is not a good business model.

Anyway, I just thought it was interesting how there is no longer a Gameworks in the entire state of Texas.

Red Dawn...remake?

Can they really be making a remake of Red Dawn?

Apparently so.

There's just no replacement for Patrick Swayze for Jed, Charlie Sheen for Matt, Lea Thompson for Erica, C. Thomas Howell for Robert and Powers Boothe for Lt. Col. Tanner.

Some movies just shouldn't be remade. Footloose. Bad News Bears. Clash of the Titans. The Hitcher. Anyway...

WOLVERINES!

Mrs. Baird's bread factory is no more.

Drove by the intersection of Mockingbird Lane and Central Expressway this morning. I knew they were deconstructing the old Mrs. Baird's Factory but I didn't realized it had progressed to so far so fast. It felt like just the other day that I read an article that some copper was stolen from the sight. The price you get for copper must be well worth it to steal from such a busy intersection. Of course, it could be easily taken if you are a sneaky enough thieving bastard! Anyway, thought it was worthy to note of the passing of a historical landmark (albeit not officially recognized).

Here are a few Google map shots of what it used to look like before demolition.

L & L Hawaiian BBQ in Plano, Texas

On my unexpected day off yesterday, I was out in the Plano area. On my way back to Dallas, I remembered wanting to try this place called L & L Hawaiian Barbecue in Plano. It's located in a shopping center on the east side of Preston Road just south of the 121 Tollway.

I wasn't really hungry for lunch when I stopped by because we had a big breakfast and I had just finished a Starbuck's Venti Cafe White Mocha. I was just purchasing some food to take home for a late lunch. I didn't want to miss the opportunity to try the L&L since I was in the area.

I entered the establishment and it was pretty dead. I didn't think it was a very good sign for business, especially a restaurant, to have only four and a half occupants at around 11:30-12 o'clock. It's even worse when the occupants are the cook, the cashier, the elderly parents of the cashier and probably owners of the franchise, and a baby which I'm assuming is the grandchild of the owners. While I was trying to decide what I wanted from their surprisingly limited menu options (I compare their menu choices to the L&L in Waikiki), an Asian family of six entered. I told them they could go before me since I was still trying to decide if it was worth my time to purchase something since my anticipation was better than the actual menu choices.

After the family ordered, I decided to go with the BBQ Chicken Salad and the Lau Lau/Kalua Pork Combo which comes with rice and mac salad. I thought I could drop off the BBQ Salad to my wife on my way home as her office is on the way. They had a picture of both the Salad and Kalua Pork but not the Lau Lau. I vaguely remembered what the Lau Lau was from this past summer in Hawaii but wasn't sure until it was served. I think the BBQ Chicken Salad was like $8.50 and the Pork Combo was like $9.50. I got the aloha portion which gives you more mac salad and two scoops of rice. I think the difference in price is like a dollar for aloha size.

About an hour later, we arrived home and it was time to test the food. The kids and I stood around the styrofoam container (which styrofoam isn't a problem for me like some others) with high expectations. The Lau Lau was indeed what I expected: pork steamed/cooked in a taro wrap. I'm not much for the wrap portion as it's not very flavorful (to me) and is mushy. I scraped the leaf off and ate the pork. The kids didn't want any of it although. The dish was very close to that which I had in Hawaii but I think it steamed longer in Hawaii because the pork was more tender than this. One child devoured the mac salad which is very good and exactly like it was in Hawaii. The other took a scoop of rice and half of the Kalua Pork and cabbage. The Kalua Pork was very close in comparison as well but it wasn't as tender as on the islands. It's shredded but you can still tell that it wasn't as tender. It was still very good and it's better than nothing. I finished everything in the container that the kids didn't eat except for the leaf so it wasn't awful. It just wasn't my Hawaiian/Filipino cuisine that I remember.

The wife came home many hours later and I asked how she liked the BBQ Chicken Salad. She thought it was very good but she too felt that it wasn't actually Hawaiian/Filipino cuisine. The BBQ chicken does have a specific glaze/sauce that is often represented in H/F cuisine. But it too was basically an iceberg lettuce, tomato, cucumber salad with glazed chicken and a side of Asian dressing. Was it good? Yes. Was it Hawaiian? Sure, maybe. Can it be had at Pei Wei, Royal Thai or some other Asian cuisine restaurant for a similar cost? Yes, something comparable can be found in non-Hawaiian-specific restaurants.

Is L&L truly H/F cuisine? In my opinion, it is not entirely. I think it has been modified over the years just like many cuisines to capture the tastes of the locals...these locals just happen to be White Americans and this location specifically for Texans. I'm not saying that's entirely bad but the website professes that they bring the Hawaiian homeland cuisine to those many displaced Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders that had to migrate to the mainland. Personally, I feel gypped.

The L&L in Waikiki is very Hawaiian/Filipino. I could get Pork or Chicken Adobo, Shoyu Chicken, Teriyaki Beef or Chicken, Pancit and many others. It was freaking awesome! I think the money-grubbing expansion has destroyed the L&L brand. Again, I'm not sure what the other L&L franchises serve in the other states but if it doesn't have a corporate structure of what should be offered, then it's not genuine to those of us that truly know.

I posted a picture and comment on Facebook and my cousin (a crazy and rambling one) commented saying I shouldn't hate on the braddahs trying to bring the homeland to the mainland. I didn't respond but he's so ignorant that he doesn't realize the founders are not Hawaiian. I'm not completely positive but I believe one is of Chinese descent and the other may be Korean. I believe one came to Hawaii for schooling at the University of Manoa.

Anyway, it doesn't matter who it is. If they aren't going to properly bring the homeland, I'd much rather them not bring it at all.

25th Anniversary of the Challenger tragedy

So, the word about town is it's the 25^th anniversary of the Challenger explosion. Click here for a good article with pics and vids over at Gizmodo.

I remember exactly where I was when it happened. I was in 3^rd period science class in 9^th grade.

I remember my teacher, Mrs. Allen, wheeling in the TV cart—there weren't laptops or video projectors available at the time. My science teacher was so excited that she wanted all 20 of us to be quiet when they weren't really saying anything on the TV that was important.

I remember the teacher in the next class came over to watch as well, bringing his students into our already crowded classroom. Now there were around 40 of us.

I remember being pretty interested in the launch. Not because I was a space fanatic but just because I always wanted to fly and space launch was pretty close and probably fantastic in itself. I also just like seeing rockets launch. I'm a boy. What else do we care about at that age but electronics, sports and planes/rockets (I liked girls too but that's another story).

I remember the count down.

I remember it starting to lift off.

I remember the flames and all the smoke coming out of the rockets.

I remember how cool it looked on the 27-inch tube TV.

I remember it getting higher and higher.

I remember seeing this quick, smokey explosion thinking this was when the booster rockets separated.

I remember seeing the two booster rockets bow away from the cloud of smoke between them and start to wiggle into their own random flight pattern.

I remember not seeing the shuttle continue its ascent.

I remember my teacher looking at the other teacher wondering what had happened. Both were confused.

I remember silence in the classroom. Then...

I remember the commentator saying something like, "Where is the Challenger?" and "They seemed to have lost contact with the Challenger" and then after a few minutes or ten, the realization happened. NASA reports that the Challenger space shuttle has exploded and all crew members have perished.

I remember Mrs. Allen crying, subtly at first and then somewhat hysterically. She bolted out the classroom door into the hall and continued to cry.

I remember Mrs. Allen composing herself and then wheeling the TV cart back out to the hall and into another room where she and a few other teachers continued to watch the drama. I think it was smart of her to do this for the students and her as well.

I remember going home later in the day and knowing what had transpired but it really not affecting me personally. I knew it was tragic. I knew it was historical. But what did a 14-yr-old boy really care about in the world?

As a mature adult, I look back and I feel for the families of the crew. I understand this now as I have a family of my own that I care for and raise. I also see that if I was a kid and my mother/father had the opportunity to go into space it would be the fucking coolest thing EVER! In fact as a parent, if my child had that opportunity, it would still be the fucking coolest thing but I would worry in the back of my mind.

So, as an old guy, I say to those young and old: Remember the events in your life directly and indirectly, big and small, because one day you will say, "That was the fucking coolest thing...EVER!"

Thundercats! Thundercats! Thundercats...HO!

Image courtesy of GeekTyrant

Dude! I loved this show! I used to watch this growing up. I can't remember if I was 7 or 15 but it was something I watched on a weekly basis during Saturday Morning Cartoons...known now as Saturday Morning CRAP!

Anyway, I don't have a lot of time these days to begin with so all my excitement will be all for naught but it would be cool to see this again. I think Lion-O looks a little young compared to the original series but I don't know the story line behind this reboot. Also, Cheetara doesn't look as "refined" as she did in the original. She was portrayed more sophisticated and mature than the character looks in this new image. She looks too trashy and Kesha-like.

I know. I know. It's a freaking cartoon. Leave me alone!

Anyway, can't wait to see if it lives up to the original.

Some of the greatest songs, in my opinion

At work, I'm listening to a stream on WinAmp called 181.FM -- Classic Hits -- Home of the 60s and 70s. I thought I'd find some station that doesn't play the same old "new" shit every 10-15 minutes. The songs of today are bad in the sense that they are repetitive themselves and then the radio station repeats them multiple times within an hour. This in turn makes me annoyed.

So, I looked for diversity at work. I found it in 181.FM. It repeats some songs as well but the songs themselves aren't repetitive with their lyrics so it makes them way more tolerable. Also, they sometimes flash me back to times through my life.

Anyway, I heard a few songs that made me think that they are timeless. Songs that have been passed from generation to generation and still hold their own to the "music" of today. Here is a list of what I've heard and consider somewhat timeless and great songs (I also added songs from the 80s just because I can).

• When A Man Loves A Woman by Percy Sledge
• Kokomo by The Beach Boys
• Black Water by The Doobie Brothers
• Hot Blooded by Foreigner
• Double Vision by Foreigner
• Blinded by the Light by Manfred Man
• Bennie and the Jets by Elton John
• Tequila Sunrise by The Eagles
• Lyin' Eyes by The Eagles
• Hotel California by The Eagles
• Take It to the Limit by The Eagles
• One Way Or Another by Blondie
• Rock'n Me by Steve Miller Band
• Fly Like An Eagle by Steve Miller Band
• Abracadabra by Steve Miller Band
• Babe by Styx
• Get Down Tonight by KC & The Sunshine Band
• That's The Way (I Like It) by KC & The Sunshine Band
• (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty by KC & The Sunshine Band
• Wheel in the Sky by Journey
• Open Arms by Journey
• Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin' by Journey
• Anyway You Want It by Journey
• Don't Stop Believin' by Journey
• Who's Crying Now by Journey
• Separate Ways by Journey
• Faithfully by Journey
• Send Her My Love by Journey
• Wrapped Around Your Finger by The Police
• King of Pain by The Police
• Roxanne by The Police
• Every Breath You Take by The Police
• Still of the Night by Whitesnake
• Here I Go Again by Whitesnake

There are plenty more but these are the ones that I've heard and have popped off the top of my head within the past 10-15 minutes of typing this. Besides, I think I should get back to work for a while.

Pete Sampras was robbed

Not on the tennis court from a bad call but from a public storage facility.

From TENNIS.com:

LOS ANGELES (AP)—Tennis star Pete Sampras says most of his trophies and other memorabilia were stolen from a West Los Angeles public storage facility.

Click here for actual article while it lasts.

I'm sorry but I would think that with the money Pete Sampras has made from a phenomenal tennis career (supplemented by his wife, Bridgette's 'acting' gigs) he would be able to find storage on his land in his own house for his memorabilia.

I have a lot of shit and even I wouldn't trust it in a public storage location much less I wouldn't pay to store the shit.

However, I would invest in building or buying a public storage facility because those apparently make good money. I say this because the sheer amount of those businesses I can find around Dallas AND those I've seen built in the middle of nowhere on I55 through Missouri. All the land a lot of people have through the "country area" of Missouri and yet they will put shit in public storage. It's just amazing to me what people will waste their money on instead of just purging.

Anyway...I feel bad for "Pistol Pete" but if these items were important enough to keep, they should have been kept on his immediate premises.

Taylor Momsen was Cindy Lou Who?

The wife just informed me that this...

Used to be this...

I'm weirded out by this knowledge...in a strange, awesomely cool kind of way.

The Lost Boys: The Thirst (2010)

The Lost Boys: The Thirst (2010). Watched the listed movie a few nights ago. To start, I must say that to me it was better than Lost Boys: The Tribe (2008). Either they had a little bit bigger of a budget or they decided to make a graphically better movie. I'm not saying it was hugely better...just better.

They upped the ante by adding a few shots of boobies and made the death of the vampires more Blade-like where they sort of explode in ember ash. Zoe and Gwen are pretty hot additions but they weren't utilized quite enough or properly, in my opinion.

The acting still was somewhat sub par. The story line slightly week. The lame attempts to appeal to the fans with flashbacks to Sam and the Frog Brothers in the original movie. The lame voice of Edgar Frog trying to be more fierce than he really is (that's not the way he was in the original). They sort of took themselves [the Frogs] too seriously.

To keep from rambling on, I'd say if you are a fan then it's sort of a requirement to continue viewing the sequels no matter how bad they might be. If you aren't a fan, then I'd say you could find someone to clip the pieces together of the hot and sometimes naked chicks. It would be more worth your time and effort than watching the entire movie.

In the news 10/26/2010

From cbs11tv headline reads:

Two Boys Shocked During Downpour Saturday

Click here for article while it lasts.

Read the story. It is a story of awesomeness. It warmed my heart to know there are kids out there like this. Maybe there is hope for the future.

To have one kid try to save his friend and then another kid go to save the two of them is just...awesome! I don't think there is another word for it. It's just awesome!

I did find a chuckle in the story when the 3^rd kid's father describes what he did upon arriving at the scene:

"I started getting on James, but before I knew what happened," John Evans said. "I said, 'what are you doing down here? What are you doing playing?' He said, 'no, I was helping I was helping.'"

It reminds me a lot of what my dad would have said and had said many times. He'd jump my ass before he knew the situation. My dad probably would have been proud but at the same time would have said, "If you wouldn't have been there, you wouldn't have gotten in trouble in the first place!"

Anyway, I hope the kids recover. It's a great neighborhood to live in even if the culvert isn't properly maintained for safety by the city.

Neighbors: WIN! City: FAIL!

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Consider Yourself Randomized!

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In the news 10/14/2010

From cbs11tv.com

A federal appeals court has rejected a Dallas-area parent's challenge to the Texas pledge of allegiance over the words "under God."
Click here for article while it lasts.

I say, "GOOD!"

I'm not a religious fanatic. Heck, I miss church on a regular basis because "better" plans come along. I know, I'm a sinner.

I think this is a good thing in the sense that some things don't need to be changed because they aren't really harming anybody. God is and has been a fundamental part of the country whether its inhabitants like it or not.

The Constitution says "Year of our Lord" under Article VII where it lists all the witnesses.The Declaration of Independence uses "God," "Creator," and "Divine" within the text.

The Bill of Rights gives Americans the freedom of speech and religion. It doesn't say that America needs to change the historical significance God has played to please the many different religions. It means that you can practice whatever religion you want. It means that you have the right to not say "under God" during the Pledge of the state or nation. Nobody is forcing you to believe in God versus Allah versus Buddha versus Buddy Christ.

The point I'm trying to make is nobody is forcing you to believe in God. IMO, it's a foundational thing that doesn't and shouldn't be changed for the few, if even at all. There are far worse things that need to be "fixed" in the cities, states, nation and abroad. Let's spend our monies wisely on those things versus some asinine thing like "we are Atheists and my kid shouldn't have to say, 'under God,' during the Pledge." Just mouth the word or skip it altogether, ya dumb ass! That's what I do when I don't know the words to something and nobody knows the better.

Besides, as far as I've heard, saying "God" never hurt anybody except for that one time when I was a wee little boy and it started pouring rain like cats and dogs and then hailed. I ran from the backyard to the breezeway and said, "Oh my God!" My dad said, "What did you say?!" And I said it again. That's when he hurt my feelings by yelling at me for saying "God" and ruined my happy excited moment about the harshness of the weather.

Elvira Returns!

I read somewhere a day or so ago about Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (Wiki or official site) returning to television. I don't understand why other than the whole vampire-romance stuff that's supposedly "in" right now.

Don't get me wrong. Elvira was a big part of my late-night TV watching as a young boy. I remember wanting to just see her -- who cared about the movie? I dreamed of the day one of her boobs would pop right out and my boyhood fantasy would have been complete. But gosh darnit, unfortunately, it never happened!

She's always been funny to me. Better entertainment than a lot of full-length big-budget movies these days.

So, I give Elvira props on becoming a cult icon and branding phenomenon. She was obviously smarter than she sounded! And at 59 yrs old, if she still has the goods like the photo below from her official web site, she will be worth every minute of renewing that hope of a boob slip!

Kids say the darnedest things

I was talking to my kids about how I met their mother. I'm such a sap that I remember it vividly.

We got into the "sometimes people put on weight over the years, blah, blah, blah" part of the conversation. I made comments like, "Your Daddy has always been cute," "The girls had always liked the looks of your Dad," and the like. I mentioned that even though I'm heavier than I was in high school (I'm not fat...I'm pudgy! Assholes!) the girls still occasionally shoot me a glance. It must be my overwhelmingly striking inner beauty. Anyway...

My oldest says, "Yeah, you are a cute guy Dad, like a bald panda." WTF? The follow-up was, "You know how pandas are cute looking and you just want to squeeze them but you don't have all that hair like they do. So, you are cute like a bald panda."

I guess it could have been worse.

Blue Man Group

PegasusNews had an article today about the Blue Man Group (official site and Wiki) in concert at the Winspear Opera House.

My first thought is "I didn't know that the Blue Man Group was still active or that anyone would care to see them anymore." Not that they are horrible or whatever. It's just that I don't see/hear them as the "in" or even "sort-of in" thing these days.

My second thought is "I haven't been to the Winspear yet." Not that I really, really care to but I would like to go once just to say, "Oh yeah, I've been there." I've heard the acoustics are phenomenal but the seating spacing isn't much better than the Dallas Summer Musicals venue at Fair Park. I'm sure I'll have some reason to attend something at the Winspear some time. It just won't be the Blue Man Group.

I remember seeing them growing up. The first time I remember seeing them is in a television commercial for some product. I don't remember which. As a teenager, they were interesting to see and watch but I don't think I ever wanted to see them in concert. I'm sure they have progressed in their performance but I still don't see them as a big attractant to pay however much they are charging.

Anyway, more power to them because they obviously have a good following if they are on tour and performing in the big venue of the Winspear versus something smaller. I guess I'll have to wait to read the reviews if I happen to see them.

Retro NES game player at Buy.com

Got an email today from Buy.com for this little gem: Retro NES TopLoader Video Game System. Yes, it is a gem. Those of us that remember the 8-bit graphics of the NES can appreciate this "machine."

One reviewer remembers the quick fix to get a game cartridge to if it wasn't working properly by "blowing in games and console." It's funny how this more often than not worked like a charm.

Oh the days of old. If I had any of my cartridges left, I would consider this for $25 or a black one for $18 but alas, the cartridges have been sold, given away, damage or forgotten.