Seriously?... How to Grind? [WTF?]

For those of you who couldn't care less about me whining about my broken toy, I will share this little bit of joy with you. On my iGoogle homepage I have several little boxes that I don't really pay much attention to very often, but are there in case I get really bored. Case-in-point: the How to of the day, which displays the title of three "How-To" articles the change everyday.

The other day I went to search for something and out of the corner of my eye I caught the title "How to grind". I kind of laughed thinking to myself "surely they are talking about skateboarding" (this is specifically addressed in the "article"). Nope.

If you need a laugh [or lesson], please check out this story. This shows the dark side of user generated content (and why Wikipedia is not a reliable source for your research paper). But you have to give credit to the person who could actually type the following line and still hit the save button:

If repositioning does not work, you may want to excuse yourself for a few minutes to let things settle down.

Bonus: it comes with Tips, Warnings, and a video tutorial.

http://www.wikihow.com/Grind

Why I am WISHING for an RRoD...

Keegan got up a bit early this morning and since I was off today, I decided I'd take him downstairs to watch a DVD with me while mommy slept. Since we had a finite space for entertainment components (and the DVR takes up three quarters of it), we decided to sell our DVD player and just use the Xbox 360. This little arrangement had worked out fine... until today. I went to turn on the 360 to put in a disc and that's when I saw it...

(Sign you are about to have an 8 lb paperweight)

Now at first this didn't bother me, because I saw this same error message (E74) the other day and just took the Hard Drive off and put it back on and then everything was fine. Not this time though. It has now been a full 12 hours and every time its the same result. I looks like its officially dead.

So that got me a little upset as it was, but I remembered Microsoft had automatically extended their warranty period for the 360s because of their horrible failure rate (around 16.4% last year when they extended the warranty). So I did a little research and found out the extended warranty only covers the infamous Red Ring of Death (RRoD), which is three red flashing lights. My error is covered under the standard warranty... which expired JANUARY 2ND!!! So now I have a few options here:

• Pay the out of warranty repair fee ($95 or approximately HALF the cost of a new system)
• Buy a new system (yeah... right)
• Try to fix it myself (voiding the extended warranty)
• MAKE it get the Red Ring of Death (oops! shit! I thought that was a bag of microwave popcorn)

Regardless, I always kind of felt like I was biding my time with the console until it crap out on me.

Wait... what's this dusty white thing with the glowing blue light? /Sings: Baby comeback...

Yeah... Nice try! [WTF?]

Today my office informally (read: pay for yourself) went out to lunch to celebrate one of our co-worker's last day. Since it was her lunch, it was her pick of the restaurant we would eat at, she chose Romano's Macaroni Grill. I wasn't too excited about the pick since Natali and I had gone out to dinner there and the service was sub-par at best. But I figured, its not my lunch and maybe the lunch service will be a little better. We got there and the restaurant was practically empty. There were only two other tables of customers and our group of ten easily doubled the number of patrons. We quickly learned why the restaurant was so empty, the lunch service is no better than the dinner. Despite the sparse number of eaters, it still took us over an hour to get our food (which is our entire lunch break), even every person except one ordered salads or sandwiches! I usually judge our service based on the number of times I have to slurp out of the bottom of my water cup. ( Total number of water refills during the 90 minute lunch: 1). Of course because of the size of our group (even though we split the bill in to two halves of the table) the gratuity was added into the bill automatically (at 18%, which is way more than I would have tipped for the ridiculously bad service).

Side note: My method of tipping at a restaurant goes as such: you start off at a 15% tip. You earn "points" for good service and lose "points" for bad service. At the end of the dinner, your tip is 15% +/- the number of points. (everything ends up relating to a game for me)

We quickly divided up the bill and everyone gave their cash so I could put the bill on the card (I forgot to go to the ATM). My original receipt had two totals on it: the first was the bill and tax ($53.70) and the second was with the bill, tax, and 18% tip ($62.65). I stuck my card in the folder and handed it back to the server. When he returned, he had the two receipts (my copy and the original) folded in half on the left side and the "restaurant copy" on the right side facing me. Since we were now 20 minutes past when we should have been back at the office, I quickly added the the $9.00 tip to my "charge amount" and signed it. I set it down grabbed my jacket and headed toward the door... WAIT! I went back and looked at the receipt. The charge amount included my tip! I scratched out the tip amount and wrote a big "0" in both the "tip amount" and "additional tip" (WTF? and why is this one "optional").

I'm still a little pissed about that. The Caesar salad that I didn't order, almost cost me twenty bucks!*

I actually ordered a chicken plate, but instead got a caesar salad, since it was taking so long and I didn't have time to get my actual order. :(

ETA: I don't know how I didn't see this, but on the back of the main receipt is... yep, you guessed it a "Guest Experience Survey". I get to complain AND I have a chance to win $1,000! :)

Fresno (No. 1 for a good reason!) [Winning Wednesday]

It's nice to open your paper and actually see a "good" story about your city.

Among large California (the most populous state in the US) cities, Fresno tied with Huntington Beach for diverting the most trash from its landfills.

"In 2006, both cities sent 71% of solid waste to recycling programs, according to the most recent data available from the California Integrated Waste Management Board".

That's pretty awesome! It's nice to make the top of a list that doesn't involve air pollution, murder, or methamphetamine.

Source: The Fresno Bee

Today's lesson: humanity

I was at Starbucks this morning (I know...BIG surprise), purchasing my morning coffee. As I reached the line there were two people in front of me and the first was finishing up her order. In the 15 seconds it took me to walk to the line and pull my wallet out of my pocket six people fell into place behind me, including a few "regulars" I recognized. My brother works at this particular Starbucks, so the baristas know me and were pouring my coffee as I walked in. Several of the other people in line were [actual] coffee drinkers and the barista scrambled to get their orders ready ahead of time as well. As the coffees started piling up on the counter the first lady took back her card and began to walk away. The cashier said thank you and as she was about to help the next customer she glanced at the register and noticed there was a balance of 80 cents. The cashier kindly called to the previous customer and alerted her of the situation. The customer explained she'd have to go to her car to get the balance and walked out with an embarrassed look as the line came to a halt.

Let me break here and give you a bit of a sidebar. I know its not fair to "judge a book by its cover", and this is something I try to follow. The things that most people get caught up on like (skin color, tattoos, sexual orientation, etc) don't really cause me to prejudice myself. However, there are a few things that I still need to work on. If people have any of the following, they have basically start "in the hole" and have to prove me wrong:

• NASCAR stickers on their car (I know, I know, its a sport...)
• Ponytail on men over 40 (I think they look ridiculous on men period, but have a particularly hard time with the 40+ crowd)
• Bushy mustaches (men or women :) )

Back to my story...

As the women made it to the door, a man handed the cashier a dollar. It was one of the regulars, a retired man, probably 5'3, bright yellow nylon jumpsuit, long grey ponytail, and a bushy mustache. The cashier thought initially thought (as did I) the man was being rude and trying to sneak in payment for a newspaper. He quickly explained it was to cover the lady's balance. The line began moving again, and when the woman returned she was elated that someone had come to her assistance and promptly thanked the man.

I felt kind of bad. I saw this man everyday, and every time I saw him I rolled my eyes. Not anymore... now I just have to work on the NASCAR stickers.

SIDENOTE: As I was typing this, it began to feel like a cheesy email forward. If this was an email forward it seems like it would probably end with "...and the woman pulled a gun out of her purse and handed it to the man. She then explained with a tear in her eye, 'I was going to use this on myself later but your kindness has shown me humanity still has some good...'" :)

Just send me a message on {insert social network}!

The other day, some friends and myself were trying to make some plans to have a "gaming night" via Facebook's message board. These nights usually involve Call of Duty 4, Rock Band 2, pizza, and lots of alcohol.

As we were trying to make plans another opportunity came up that I thought one of my friends might want to do, so I text messaged him to see if he was interested. After a few minutes a response came by way of the Facebook board. It was at this point I realized there are entirely too many ways to get a hold of each other. So many, that it almost makes it impossible to effectively communicate. I did an inventory of ways to "send me a message":

• Facebook Profile
• LinkedIn Profile
• G-mail
• Google Talk
  
• Yahoo Mail
• Microsoft LIVE Space
• XBox LIVE
• Zune Social
• Microsoft Messenger
• Yahoo Messenger
  
• Twitter
• Blog Comments
• Raptr Profile
• 360voice.com/gamerDNA profile
• Work email
• Text Message
• Voice mail
• Work phone
• House phone
  
• Cell phone <---At least I think my phone can receive calls

And I know that I probably forgot a bunch of other ways to "reach" me, but my point is, out of all of those, only about five actually are read on a consistant basis: Talk, Twitter, text messages, phone calls and G-mail (although almost everything else filters into my G-mail account). So if you sent me a message and I haven't responded to you, it is because either A) I didn't get it, or B) I got it, but am too lazy to go to the appropriate website to respond

So how about you, can you think of all the ways people can "communicate" with you?

Fact Friday: Me

What this guy has done in his lifetime:

My wife (Thinking Blonde) took this from another blog she reads (Seriously), and it has appeared on several others.

It is Friday... I am on a break... I am bored... and have nothing else to post. So I will steal it too. :)

The things that are bold, I have done. The things that are italicized, are things I want to do. Stuff that's regular text, I haven't done nor do I feel compelled to do. Enjoy.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band <---Only if Rock Band counts :)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise <----Dinner cruise in San Diego, but not an actual cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language <---- Does C# count?
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris <----I've been under it though
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby <---Well not personally, but my wife did :) 95. Seen the Alamo in person 96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

That's me. Feel free to use any of this information against me in a court of law.