Sunday, October 28
What I've Been Up To....
It's been a while since I posted. I've had a lot of things going on at home and work. At work, I got un-promoted. Mind you, not demoted, but un-promoted. Called into the office and told that my promotion never happened, that it was an administrative error. No, really, that is what happened to me about 3 weeks ago. So, I've been pretty demotivated at work. I don't trust my employer any longer, and I'm not happy there. Don't know what will happen, but I'm exploring many options for this situation.
In early October we took a trip to New York City with my parents and my oldest kiddo. We had a great time. We went to the Empire State Building, Ripley's Believe It Or Not, the 21 Club, took a River Cruise, and more stuff than I can remember. Everyone had a great time.
While in New York, we drove down to New Jersey and meet up with a bunch of the gang from Clan Easy Frag at Six Flags Great America. While there I rode the world's tallest, fastest roller coaster, Kinda Ka. Four times. I also rode their new El Toro coaster a couple of times. If you hit a Six Flags on vacation any time soon, the "Flash Pass" is absolutely worth the money.
In late October I got suspended from XBOX Live! for a day, due to my online motto of "My Rectom Hertz". No kidding, it had been that for over 18 months. More horrible Microsoft Customer Service. No way to appeal, no warning that I had crossed a boundry 18 months earlier.
Two weeks ago tomorrow I had to put my odest dog down. It was really sad. She was nearly 14 years old and her health started deteoriating very rapidly one weekend. I took her to the vet one last time, she had a kidney infection, a bacterial infection and horrible arthritas. While it was the right thing to do, putting her down was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I held her head as she passed, I wouldn't dream of letting her go through that alone, or with strangers only. They made a paw print at the vet, and I had her creamated. Got her ashes about three days later. I'm going to spread them under one of the tress in the yard in the spring. She was the first pet I picked out as an adult, and I'll miss her, but she is not suffering any longer.
So, that's the quick version of what I've been up to for the past two months, or at least the hilights. Here come the holidays, can't wait to see what pandemonium they bring to my world.
In early October we took a trip to New York City with my parents and my oldest kiddo. We had a great time. We went to the Empire State Building, Ripley's Believe It Or Not, the 21 Club, took a River Cruise, and more stuff than I can remember. Everyone had a great time.
While in New York, we drove down to New Jersey and meet up with a bunch of the gang from Clan Easy Frag at Six Flags Great America. While there I rode the world's tallest, fastest roller coaster, Kinda Ka. Four times. I also rode their new El Toro coaster a couple of times. If you hit a Six Flags on vacation any time soon, the "Flash Pass" is absolutely worth the money.
In late October I got suspended from XBOX Live! for a day, due to my online motto of "My Rectom Hertz". No kidding, it had been that for over 18 months. More horrible Microsoft Customer Service. No way to appeal, no warning that I had crossed a boundry 18 months earlier.
Two weeks ago tomorrow I had to put my odest dog down. It was really sad. She was nearly 14 years old and her health started deteoriating very rapidly one weekend. I took her to the vet one last time, she had a kidney infection, a bacterial infection and horrible arthritas. While it was the right thing to do, putting her down was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I held her head as she passed, I wouldn't dream of letting her go through that alone, or with strangers only. They made a paw print at the vet, and I had her creamated. Got her ashes about three days later. I'm going to spread them under one of the tress in the yard in the spring. She was the first pet I picked out as an adult, and I'll miss her, but she is not suffering any longer.
So, that's the quick version of what I've been up to for the past two months, or at least the hilights. Here come the holidays, can't wait to see what pandemonium they bring to my world.
Labels: bad support, boss, family, funeral, kids, NYC, roller coaster, travel, vacation, wife
Saturday, May 26
They Might Be Giants
Here is a video from last Friday night's concert at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Las Vegas.
Labels: hotel, music, travel, vacation
Tuesday, May 22
Concert Review
Ok, like I've said, we were in Las Vegas last weekend. I get regular mailings from They Might Be Giants, and after I got my trip set, we got a newsletter saying they would be playing at Area 108's The Gathering, along with The Bravery, Plain White T's, Shiny Toy Guns and Silversun Pickups.
The concert was originally at the Orleans Arena, and we secured great front row tickets for one of the center sections. Just before the trip, we got an e-mail that the concert had been moved to the Joint, at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.
Sounded cool, we love the Hard Rock, it is a pain in the ass to get to, so we usually don't go there without a reason, now we have a reason this trip.
So, on with the review:
Venue - The Joint - F - I was disapointed to find out that this was not the concert hall that you see on the HRC live music specials. This is realy just a large room with four tiers of floor and some handrails. There was a balcony with seats, but you had to be a VIP to get up there. Typical Vegas High Roller shit. We ordered two drinks from one of the bars, it was $18 for two well drinks. WTF? I know it is a tourist trap, vacation hot spot, but come on, $9 for well drinks?
It was also apparent to me from the process entering the venue, to trying to go to the john durnig one of the breaks, that the Hard Rock Hotel was in no way properly prepared for the deluge of people that came to this show. The people working security and crowd control were impolite, rude and relatively unhelpful.
First Band - Plain White T's - B- - Ok, we had never heard of this band, but we decided to go with an open mind for all the bands with which we were not familiar. As far as sound goes, I think that the band's raodies didn't understand the difference between a somewhat large arena, and a small room. The instruments were overamplified and too loud, somewhat distorted. Conversely, the vocals were too low and washed out by the overamplified instruments. We liked the band, their songs were good, but didn't really stand out for us in any particular fashion or style.
Second Band - Shiny Toy Guns - A+ - Again, another band that we were not familiar with, but we went in to see what we might find good this night. This band suffered from the same disproportionate amplification problems of the first band. But we really liked this band, in fact, I'm listening to thier album, "We Are Pilots" right now as I write this review. This band uses dual lead singers, one male, the other female, and the band also takes turns playing different instruments. The female lead reminded me of Terri Nunn from the band Berlin in the early 80s. The music is great, I especailly liked the second song of the set, "Le Disko". I bought their CD, and I'm looking forward to them doing some more albums.
Third Band - Silversun Pickups - F freaking Minus - Again, another new band. Again, the same amplification problems. But with a bonus, the lead singer screamed his way through the first song, sounding like Donald Duck. To top that off, the band seemed more focused on feedback than actually playing their instruments in some musical fashion. To top it all off, this band does not have any real maturity as songwriters, and their 'songs' go on for 10 minutes or longer and just sound progressively worse. This is absolutely the worst band I have ever seen live. I've made it a point to memorize their name, so that if I hear a song of theirs is upcoming on the radio I will know to change the channel.
Fourth Band - They Might Be Giants - A+ - Ok, this is the meat and potatoes, what we came to see. First, the amplification was correct, instruments sounded right, were not overwhelming, and the vocals were loud and clear. This is part of a warm up album for TMBG's soon to be released album "The Else". They led of with "Not the boss of me", and proceeded to play a ton of old favorites, then some of the stuff off the new album, and all too soon it was over.
Fifth Band - The Bravery - No Grade - By the time TMBG was done it was 11 PM Vegas time, 1 AM home time. We were dead tired and had been up for about 19 hours. We had not had dinner yet, and had been in the venue for about 5 hours. So we left. We had seen the Bravery in 2005 when they opened for Depeche Mode, and they were an enjoyable band then. But ot memorable enough to stay for another hour plus to see this band.
We had a great time, found one new band to enjoy, and got overcharged for weak drinks. All in all a great evening. We ended up eating pizza slices on the strip at the food court between Harrah's and Casino Royale. Don't eat there.
The concert was originally at the Orleans Arena, and we secured great front row tickets for one of the center sections. Just before the trip, we got an e-mail that the concert had been moved to the Joint, at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.
Sounded cool, we love the Hard Rock, it is a pain in the ass to get to, so we usually don't go there without a reason, now we have a reason this trip.
So, on with the review:
Venue - The Joint - F - I was disapointed to find out that this was not the concert hall that you see on the HRC live music specials. This is realy just a large room with four tiers of floor and some handrails. There was a balcony with seats, but you had to be a VIP to get up there. Typical Vegas High Roller shit. We ordered two drinks from one of the bars, it was $18 for two well drinks. WTF? I know it is a tourist trap, vacation hot spot, but come on, $9 for well drinks?
It was also apparent to me from the process entering the venue, to trying to go to the john durnig one of the breaks, that the Hard Rock Hotel was in no way properly prepared for the deluge of people that came to this show. The people working security and crowd control were impolite, rude and relatively unhelpful.
First Band - Plain White T's - B- - Ok, we had never heard of this band, but we decided to go with an open mind for all the bands with which we were not familiar. As far as sound goes, I think that the band's raodies didn't understand the difference between a somewhat large arena, and a small room. The instruments were overamplified and too loud, somewhat distorted. Conversely, the vocals were too low and washed out by the overamplified instruments. We liked the band, their songs were good, but didn't really stand out for us in any particular fashion or style.
Second Band - Shiny Toy Guns - A+ - Again, another band that we were not familiar with, but we went in to see what we might find good this night. This band suffered from the same disproportionate amplification problems of the first band. But we really liked this band, in fact, I'm listening to thier album, "We Are Pilots" right now as I write this review. This band uses dual lead singers, one male, the other female, and the band also takes turns playing different instruments. The female lead reminded me of Terri Nunn from the band Berlin in the early 80s. The music is great, I especailly liked the second song of the set, "Le Disko". I bought their CD, and I'm looking forward to them doing some more albums.
Third Band - Silversun Pickups - F freaking Minus - Again, another new band. Again, the same amplification problems. But with a bonus, the lead singer screamed his way through the first song, sounding like Donald Duck. To top that off, the band seemed more focused on feedback than actually playing their instruments in some musical fashion. To top it all off, this band does not have any real maturity as songwriters, and their 'songs' go on for 10 minutes or longer and just sound progressively worse. This is absolutely the worst band I have ever seen live. I've made it a point to memorize their name, so that if I hear a song of theirs is upcoming on the radio I will know to change the channel.
Fourth Band - They Might Be Giants - A+ - Ok, this is the meat and potatoes, what we came to see. First, the amplification was correct, instruments sounded right, were not overwhelming, and the vocals were loud and clear. This is part of a warm up album for TMBG's soon to be released album "The Else". They led of with "Not the boss of me", and proceeded to play a ton of old favorites, then some of the stuff off the new album, and all too soon it was over.
Fifth Band - The Bravery - No Grade - By the time TMBG was done it was 11 PM Vegas time, 1 AM home time. We were dead tired and had been up for about 19 hours. We had not had dinner yet, and had been in the venue for about 5 hours. So we left. We had seen the Bravery in 2005 when they opened for Depeche Mode, and they were an enjoyable band then. But ot memorable enough to stay for another hour plus to see this band.
We had a great time, found one new band to enjoy, and got overcharged for weak drinks. All in all a great evening. We ended up eating pizza slices on the strip at the food court between Harrah's and Casino Royale. Don't eat there.
Labels: best buy, review, travel, vacation, vegas
Monday, May 21
Viva! Las Vegas!
The wife and I got away to Las Vegas this weekend, and a lot of stuff that happened in Vegas will stay in Vegas. But here are a few photos from the camera phone that I can quickly share tonight.
Took this photo for my sister in law. Evidently she is a fan, and I thought she had good taste. Oh well...
And here is what it looks like after I consumed this stuff.
Labels: dining, georgia on my mind, shopping, travel, vacation
Sunday, May 13
Hectic Month
I haven't been posting much here, not for the lack of things to post about, but just from being so busy I'm never sure if I am coming or going most of the time.
Kids are doing great, twins are over 10 months old and close to walking, and saying dada, mama, baba, ball, very simple stuff. I recently took my three year old to his first Astros baseball game. We had to sit in the cheap seats, but he had a great time. His favorite part of the game was the train that runs along the top of the outfiled fence when the 'stros hit a homer. Only problem is he really wanted to ride the train. My father in law went along on that day, and we all had a good time.
Meanwhile my lovely wife was spending the weekend in New York City with her sister and mom. Her sister lives there now and really seems to be doing well, so we're all very happy for her.
At work things are going well, I got a raise, then a couple of weeks later was promoted to Information Security Officer. Now I'm a bank officer, I got stock options, and lots more responsibility. Yeah! I'm still doing my old Network Analyst job till we find a replacement, I need someone like Jake for this job, but we aren't finding anyone right now. I hope we find someone soon, I'm gettting worn way out doing two jobs.
I went to a funeral for a friend's 21 year old son that was killed in a horrible car accident. Between the time I was 16 and 22, I had 8 friends die, and went to lots of funerals, so while this experience wasn't so new, it was the first time since I've been a parent. I'm also 39 now, and the sense of just what this young person had missed out on is very different from when it was my friends I was burying. All in all a very sad week.
I'm finally retiring the laptop I've had for almost 6 years. It was great when I purchased it, but it is starting to show it's age. I'm getting an Alienware Area 51 m5550 with an upgraded processor and DVD burner. I'm really psyched, it will be nice to have a modern, fast computer. It also comes with Vista, which I will try out, but expect to replace with XP Pro pretty quickly. Maybe for fun I will also load Office 2007. Never know.
Going to hit the road and go to Vegas next weekend. I need a vacation, can't wait to loose some hard earned cash in a slot machine. We also have tickets for They Might Be Giants at the Hard Rock Hotel and Spamalot at the Wynn hotel. Should be a great weekend.
Kids are doing great, twins are over 10 months old and close to walking, and saying dada, mama, baba, ball, very simple stuff. I recently took my three year old to his first Astros baseball game. We had to sit in the cheap seats, but he had a great time. His favorite part of the game was the train that runs along the top of the outfiled fence when the 'stros hit a homer. Only problem is he really wanted to ride the train. My father in law went along on that day, and we all had a good time.
Meanwhile my lovely wife was spending the weekend in New York City with her sister and mom. Her sister lives there now and really seems to be doing well, so we're all very happy for her.
At work things are going well, I got a raise, then a couple of weeks later was promoted to Information Security Officer. Now I'm a bank officer, I got stock options, and lots more responsibility. Yeah! I'm still doing my old Network Analyst job till we find a replacement, I need someone like Jake for this job, but we aren't finding anyone right now. I hope we find someone soon, I'm gettting worn way out doing two jobs.
I went to a funeral for a friend's 21 year old son that was killed in a horrible car accident. Between the time I was 16 and 22, I had 8 friends die, and went to lots of funerals, so while this experience wasn't so new, it was the first time since I've been a parent. I'm also 39 now, and the sense of just what this young person had missed out on is very different from when it was my friends I was burying. All in all a very sad week.
I'm finally retiring the laptop I've had for almost 6 years. It was great when I purchased it, but it is starting to show it's age. I'm getting an Alienware Area 51 m5550 with an upgraded processor and DVD burner. I'm really psyched, it will be nice to have a modern, fast computer. It also comes with Vista, which I will try out, but expect to replace with XP Pro pretty quickly. Maybe for fun I will also load Office 2007. Never know.
Going to hit the road and go to Vegas next weekend. I need a vacation, can't wait to loose some hard earned cash in a slot machine. We also have tickets for They Might Be Giants at the Hard Rock Hotel and Spamalot at the Wynn hotel. Should be a great weekend.
Labels: entertainment, funeral, in-laws, laptop, review, travel, vacation, work
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