"A loaf of bread, a container of milk, and a stick of butta"

Ha, ha, ha! Name that tune!

Brings back memories.


-- C.

Dog food and brand names

While we were out shopping, Paula stopped by the pet isle to get some kitty litter. I just happened to see a new brand of dog food from the Disney company.

Tell me if this is something you'd feed your dog. "Old Yeller" brand dog food.

"What's it do, give your dog rabies?" my sister later asked. I don't know, but that seems like a very inappropriate brand name. Imagine your kids seeing the pleasent image on the front (young boy playing with his faithful dog) and wanting to watch the movie. Then explain why you're feeding this stuff to the family pet.


Hmm.
-- C.

PS: Lest you think I'm fibbing:

Weekend Activities: Botanical Garden and Shopping

A week ago we drove by the Botanical Garden downtown and saw their sign advertising a "Chocolate Fest and Spices" event. We went there Sunday afternoon. It only cost $4 for each adult to get in. They had about 10-15 tables set up through the gardens. Some of the tables talked about different spices and had samples you could smell and sometimes taste. One table let you take small samples and make your own potpourri. A few tables had chocolates to sample, including a table from DeBrands and another table that had a chocolate fountain.

It was a fun tour. It had been a long time since either Paula or I had been to the Botanical Gardens. But to call this event a "Chocolate Fest" seemed a little misleading.

Oh, and I saw the former librarian from our old high school. It was his birthday and his family was taking him out for a little fun. One of his sons was in my class, and his wife was too. He had his (very cute) seven-month old daughter there, along with his other two children.

We also went shopping. Now, I've seen pork chops and lamb chops, and they're very tasty. But I saw something else in the meat department that kinda scared me. Pork chops come from pigs. Lamb chops come from sheep...

But where in the world do they get "butterfly chops" from?! Good grief, judging from the size of the chops, that'd have to be one ginorous butterfly!


-- C.

Reading List

Here's a little follow-up from a previous post regarding my reading list.

"Eats, Shoots, and Leaves": Cute book. Short. It talks about grammar and spelling. I'm not an expert, but I try to get the basics, like knowing the difference between "there", "their", and "they're." It starts off well but gets a little preachy toward the end. Its also not a bad little review for you budding writers. The author is British and mostly talks about their language rules, but she does point out the differences in American English.

"Pooh: On Management": Like I said, it's not the exact title, but you get the idea. I didn't care a whole lot for this one either. Taking a character from childrens' literature and talking about management priciples is distracting; the two just don't fit together. I mean, sure you want to find analogies to help explain your points, but using Pooh as an example of a good leader? I don't think so.


Still haven't read these two:
Runny Babbit (Shel Silverstein)
Run Rabbit, Run

Added to the list:
"100 Most Influential Books"
"Information Nation Warrior" (the author was the keynote speaker at the Vegas conference and gave everyone a copy of his book)
"Career Tests" (little tests that are supposed to help guide you into a career you'll enjoy [it was discounted down to under $5; another purchase while wandering through a bookstore])

I know there are more lined up, but these are on the top of the stack.


-- C.

Linky-links!

I added two more "friends' blogs" I just found.

Also, here's a guy who reviews games that have good physics simulations. There's some nice-looking games on there. I'll have to try them out, especially the rabbit fighting game (that ought to get your attention).


Happy Weekend!
-- C.

Jigsaw puzzle

A blonde calls her boyfriend and says, "Please come over here and help me. I have a killer jigsaw puzzle, and I can't figure out how to get it started."

Her boyfriend asks, "What is it supposed to be when it's finished?"

The blonde says, "According to the picture on the box, it's a tiger."

Her boyfriend decides to go over and help with the puzzle. She lets him in and shows him where she has the puzzle spread all over the table. He studies the pieces for a moment, then looks at the box, then turns to her and says, "First of all, no matter what we do, we're not going to be able to assemble these pieces into anything resembling a tiger."

He takes her hand and says, "Second, I want you to relax. Let's have a nice cup of tea, and then..."

He sighed..."Let's put all these Frosted Flakes back in the box."


-- C.

Links to articles I like

I've run across a few articles on the Internet that I found especially enjoyable. Here's a couple:

Peter Goes to Boot Camp. Or more appropriately, Navy SEAL Training Course. It's well written and pretty humorous.

Apostrophe Now. "Welcome to the Internet" Some DO's and DONT's of using message boards.

And lastly writing tips.

I also added some links there off to the side.

Gotta go!


-- C.

Transformer!

Transformer!

-- C.

Valentine's Day

My wife got *me* flowers for Valentine's Day! Well, it's only one flower in there, but it's a rose!

Ain't she sweet?

-- C.

More info about the Vegas trip

Monday night we went to eat at SeaBlue in the MGM Grand. Our host ordered appetizers (oysters, crab, and shrimp all in a big bowl of ice; some kind of tasty lobster dip deep-fried on a stick like a corndog; fried flat bread with dipping sauces), enough for the 30-some people spread out over three tables. He also had bottles of red and white wine making the rounds. He then found out one of his guests doesn't eat meat, so he ordered salads to share.

We finally got to the main course, a variety of four meats: tuna, beef, pork, and...I forget what else. But it was all very delicious. By now we needed more wine, so he order another red. Oh, and somewhere in there he ordered a quail appetizer, too.

Then it came time for dessert. I wasn't very hungry (wonder why?), but saw they had an order of mini-cookies which included a mini creme brule (which is my favorite). I ordered that and shared the cookies but kept the creme brule for myself. Some people were ordering their own mixed drinks in addition to the wine.

This all took about 3 hours. I heard a rumor the bill as in the $4000 to $5000 range. Yikes!

After we ate, most people went back to the hotel. I was very tired, but I was in Vegas! Tonight was the only night I'd have any time to explore. Our host took a group of us to the Strip and we walked about a mile down to Caesar's Palace. Along the way we saw Bellagio (and it's water fountain show), Alladin, Paris, and New York-New York. Off in the distance we could see Mandaly Bay, Golden Nugget, Frontier, California, and Stratsophere (see my flickr account for photos). Even though I was totally beat, it was worth the time and effort.

After the conference sessions on Tuesday, we piled on buses and headed to Las Vegas Motor Speedway (about 40 minutes away). I was very excited and even a little vervous. We drove through the gate and had to drive all the way around the outside of the grandstands to get to the tunnels to the inside track.

They had 8 cars running, going 4 at a time. The line for a ride was like an assembly line. "Here's your jump suit. When that's on get your skull-cap liner-thingy (my words) and then your helmet. When it's your turn you'll get your shoulder harness that connects to your helmet to keep your head from bouncing too much." (Again, see my flickr photos for more detail.)

I had a little trouble climbing through the window into the passenger seat. I had to squish way down into the front in order to fit my helmet through. But I made it. And I dutifully told the driver what my wife told me to say:

"My wife said to drive carefully."

His response? "Yeah right!" as he chuckled evilly.

It was quite a ride, but too short at just a couple laps. It's hard to tell where on the track you are, until you realize the turns are all marked.

There were extra tickets, so I got to go a second time!

Between rides we spent time in the tent filled with tables, chairs, a live band, a food buffet, and an open bar. At a seperate trailor truck, you could get a plaque with a picture of you in the race car...for a mere $35 (we figured $32 of that was pure profit).

Those are the highlights of the trip, other than what I've already posted. The only gamlbing I did was on slot machines; I don't know much about other forms of gambling. I spent a total of $45 and didn't come out ahead (I did win a few times but not more than I spent). I made sure to turn my $20s into $10s and just put in one ten-dollar bill at a time. At Caesar's Palace I managed to end up with $0.50 and cashed out, so I have a ticket voucher as a souvenir.

It was a fun place to visit. If you aren't into gamlbing, then the city won't hold your attention for long. There were a lot of interesting shows though. If I had more time, I would have planned on going to some.


Gotta go, lunch time is almost over.
-- C.

Easy come, easy go?

As I mentioned, I won an iPod Shuffle at the conference. I installed iTunes on my laptop and managed to put a couple songs (and one of my friend's ArchTalk podcasts) on the device before leaving for the airport.

We took the shuttle from the hotel to the airport, checked our bags, and headed to security. The line wasn't too long, much to my relief. When it was my turn, I pulled the laptop out of its bag, took off my shoes, and arranged the rest of my stuff in a tray. But I left a few things in my shirt pocket; I didn't think they'd be a problem. However, I set off the beeper as I went through the metal detector, so I backed up and emptied the rest of the stuff into a little tray. This time through the detector was silent.

I grabbed my shoes and put them on while I waited for my laptop to come through the X-ray machine. I was trying to hurry and move along, but the laptop just sat there. When they finally moved it along I stuffed it back in the bag and met up with my co-worker to find our gate.

Our flight left from a separate terminal (D terminal for those who are familiar with Vegas airport), so we took a tram over to it. We found our gate and I sat down to relax and listen to my brand new iPod. Hmm, not in this pocket. Not in my coat pocket. Not in my shirt pocket.

Ah crap.

I had left it at security in my rush to get out of their way. I started heading back and came across an information booth. The kind lady said I should hurry back to where I left it; if they sent it on to Lost & Found it'd be very difficult to retrieve. I took the tram back again and made my way to security. There was a nice security guard cleaning stuff up. I told him the situation and he said he had just taken it to the security booth. We walked over to it, he went inside, and returned with my iPod and my memory stick (with lots of files on it that I've never backed up anywhere else). I was very relieved! He had me sign for it and I was on my way back to the gate.

All-in-all it was a good flight experience, despite the cancellation and re-routing at the beginning of our trip. The other passengers weren't too bad either. Although, as I sat on the plane to leave Vegas, a woman sat down next to me, pulled out a Burger King bag, and proceeded to eat a nice, juicy, fragrant, Whopper. Man, that's not fair. Here's a tip people: Don't bring food like that on a plane, it will just piss-off your neighbors.

The first half of the flight from Dallas to home was very rough and bouncy. The pilot apologized but said there was little he could do. I found the flight to be more turbulent than the NASCAR ride! It settled down after a while and I made it back home safely. It was a very fun and exciting trip! Er, I mean, it was a helpful, informative, and very useful conference.


-- C.