NASA has found Jimmy Hoffa!!

Well, it’s official. Jimmy Hoffa has been found. As you’ll see in this photo on nasa.com, there is no doubt that the mob burried him on Mars. Apparently they were in a hurry because they could only dig the hole deep enough to cover all but his head… I’m sure they didn’t expect others to find it way up there….

Tim Burton’s Big Fish

Even though I had seen some ads and read some reviews, I really didn’t know what to expect from Big Fish. It has some actors in it that I really like from other movies (Helena Bonham Carter - Fight Club, Billy Crudup - Almost Famous) and some big names (Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Jessica Lange). And, let’s not forget that it’s directed by Tim Burton. With that in mind, you have to be expecting something just a little outside the normal. Big Fish delivers.

First off, I loved the look of the film. It’s sets are wonderful. The way the story goes back and forth between present day and the past is done wonderfully as well. I normally feel when movies jump time too often they lose the flow. This doesn’t happen because how well the story goes along with the jumps.

We took our kids with us to see it. I don’t think either one “enjoyed” the film, but, neither was running to the exit, either. However, both my wife and I loved it. It’s got a very touching ending that I won’t spoil for you here.

Before I go, just a quick rant… as I mentioned, I took my kids to see the movie. I was NOT pleased when the previews included a trailer for the new Dawn of the Dead. I understand that Big Fish is a PG-13 movie, but come on! I think they could have chosen a better trailer than that to show based on the type of movie we were about to see.

Sense of accomplishment

I’m amazed! Over the past few weeks I have been keeping on track to do exactly as I said I would at the beginning of the year. This may not sound like much since we haven’t even hit February 1st, but, for me, this is a big deal. My goal was to put on paper my list of projects and get them done in the order I wrote them down (after some minor adjusting). The idea is to stick with project #1 until it’s actually done. If you can’t say it’s completely done, then it’s not really off your list, is it?

Well, I haven’t actually gone to the trouble of writting the list on paper, but, my mental list of what I want to get done is fairly clear. Project #1 was to complete the fairly extensive list of changes needed for one of my software packages. Project #2 was to create an affiliate program for my software site. As of this evening, I can say with much pride that both #1 and #2 are DONE!

Let’s Motor!

Well, that didn’t take long. We were told it would be about a week to get the car and it showed up 4 days later. I got the call on Saturday at 1:00 that we can come pick up the new Mini. After the drive across town, we drove in to find it sitting there ready to go! Here are a couple photos. (click the images to enlarge)

Mini
Mini

Mini

Mini

All good things must come to an end…

For the past 3 years I have been driving a Porsche Boxster. It was a company car that was on lease. I’m about 30 minutes from driving it for the last time. Heading to the dealership to drop it off as the lease has come to an end. I will be very sad to see the car go. It is a truely awesome car to drive and I’ve enjoyed the living hell out of it. I don’t think I’ve ever felt as comfortable driving a car at high speed as I did in the Boxster.

There are, however, a few things I will not miss about seeing the car go. For example, having to put in Supreme gas instead of regular. Getting in and out of the Boxter (especially for some friends/family) isn’t exactly an easy task.

So, you may be asking yourself, what is he going to drive if he gets rid of his car… Well, we have a Dodge Durango that my wife currently drives. I’ll take over driving that. And, last week we purchased a new car for my wife. A 2004 gold & black Mini Cooper. I am very excited for her as she has wanted one since they made their comeback a few years back. I am also excited about getting to drive it from time to time. (I keep telling myself she’ll let me drive it…)

Feeling Better! Less on the go!

Well, it’s been a week since I said I was going to minimize the amount of stuff I have on my plate. I have to say, it’s going pretty darn well! In the past week I kept my focus on my #1 priority (finishing a software update) and I was able to get it completed. I then spent a couple hours on a project that I have been wanting to get done (updating this blog to use Word Press instead of the VERY basic program I was using before… And, at work, I have started using an organizer where I keep my list of things to follow up. It’s different than a “To Do” list as I really only need to make sure these things are getting done. Ok, perhaps it’s the same thing as a “To Do” list, but, I feel much better calling it a follow-up list. It doesn’t feel as daunting. So basically, I’m a pretty happy camper right now!

Too much going on…

Have you ever stretched yourself so thin you can’t remember taking a break to breath? While my best friend has been telling me for years that I stay too busy, I have only recently really thought he may be on to something.

My main problem is that I have too many ideas in my head and not enough of them on paper. So, what happens is I’ll be sitting at my computer in the evenings and I’ve got so much bouncing around in my head, I have a hard time getting any of it done. Some of my problem comes from clutter. I have a VERY cluttered desk at home. But, the more I think about it, the more I need to create a list of priorities. It also doesn’t help that I’m convinced I have Adult AD/HD which forces my brain to jump from topic to topic on a constant basis. If I was really smart I’d set up an appointment with a Doctor to at least be checked out. But, the fact that I thought I broke my wrist and still took 4 months to seek help… well, it’s not likely I’ll do anything about it any time soon.

They say that admitting you have a problem is the first step towards recovery. I hope that putting this in writing will help me on my way to recovery. Starting tomorrow I’m going to create my list of projects and I’ll post it to my monitor. I promise to do all in my power to finish the first item on my list before starting on the second.

Jam Packed weekend!!

I feel like I need to go back to work to get some rest. Sheesh! Here is a bit of a summary of my weekend:

It actually started Friday night after work. A head-hunting agency that we work with gave us tickets to the Las Vegas Wranglers hockey game. It’s minor league hockey and it’s a lot of fun. They play at the Orlean’s Arena in a brand new facility. Not a bad seat in the house! The Wrangler’s lost 4-2, but was still a very fun evening!

Saturday morning, got up early and met a group of friends/co-workers and we headed over to CES - The Consumer Electronic’s Show. This is an annual convention heald here in Las Vegas that is SO MUCH BETTER than Comdex, it’s not even funny! If you want to check out what the latest tech gadgets are and who’s coming out with what to plug in to your home/office computer, home/car stereo, home/car video, portable music, cell-phone, etc… Look no further. I must have lost my mind because I told my wife I’d be at the show about 2-3 hours. I’m not sure we left the car-audio section in less than that much time. It was great to see some of the products I have done some research on and am looking to purchase. Nothing like seeing it in person to help make that final purchasing decision. You can bet I’ll be purchasing 2 (or maybe 3) of these ViewSonic Monitors, a KVM Switch that also handles audio, and, the one product I actually purchased while at the show, the 60 GB Creative Nomad Jukebox. I’m also likely to purchase a couple Shuttle Computer Cases to get rid of the 2 mid-tower machines that sit under my desk. No matter how you slice it, the CES show was absolutely awesome. I had a great time and plan to go again next year. Perhaps I’ll even be able to make it out of the convention center and in to some of the other buildings…

Saturday evening, most of the crew that I went to CES with came over to my place to play some poker. We started around 8 and didn’t end until after midnight. The big winner was Tom who walked away with an extra $5.20.

After waking up a little late on Sunday morning, the wife and I went back to CES to make the purchase of the Nomad. It took us about 2 hours to park, walk in, find the Creative booth and make it back to our car. We did make one extra stop at the Sony exhibit to check out the Dancing Robots. These things were incredible. I can’t wait to see what Sony has planned for their development. They moved with such fluidity, it was amazing. It wouldn’t surprise me to see these type robots becoming in-home care givers for the elderly or handicapped. This was truely exciting technology.

Ahh, and to finish the day off, I updated my software website to no longer use PayPal as the main form of payment. It now uses my merchant account and Ezic gateway interface.

Phew! I’m exhausted! I better go catch some sleep!

SILENCE!

Silence: Silence of the Lambs, The Musical

Truth in Advertising

Ya know, if all advertisers would just say what they really mean, perhaps they’d get better results… Tell me you wouldn’t go here first if you needed cash….

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