yup, that's right my suzuki's engine gave up the ghost over the weekend and initial estimates are $2,500 to rebuild the engine. Hopefully i can find a place that will do it for less, as I'm going to call around for other estimates. Also, there's a slight problem in that i don't have $2,500 on-hand, but i'm working on solving that too.
At least, in the meantime, my wife isn't working so i'm using the van and will likely borrow one of my father-in-law's vehicles for a short time until we get this mess solved. One thing i'd like to avoid is financing another vehicle altogether.
2006-02-27
2006-02-24
Get a free buffalo chicken sammich at KFC
First, go to http://www.kfc.com/buffalosnacker/ and watch the ad... if you follow the directions, you will figure out how to get the code for the free sammich.... but since i know yer lazy, i've done the hard work for you already.
The code word is "Buffalo"
The code word is "Buffalo"
2006-02-22
cats and kids and other family matter updates
Contrary to how we thought our three cats would react, all have them have taken very well to the new baby. Its obvious that they are still somewhat apprehensive of a mini-human (well, Vicky more than the others) but overall they love coming up to Myles and sniffing him and giving him those small head-butts which are a sign of affection coming from cats. Of course though, we never ignored the cats when we brought the baby home so as to let them know they are still loved, but i guess that we were concerned with them being somewhat jealous about a new life form in the house but that was simply not the case. Perhaps the fact that Hunter seems to have developed a decent rapport with the cats (especially Gabriel who sometimes sleeps with Hunter at night), that might have allayed their fears about mini-humans.
In any case, I'd like to say that I'm proud that my kitties have accepted into their home a new baby human as one of their own. Because yes, we are under the impression here that the cats run the house and they are simply gracious enough to allow us mere homosapiens to live with them. LOL.
Now my father in law's great danes are a different story completely.. but then again, one of them is affectionately referred to as "scooby dumb" which is an accurate description. They do okay around the baby, but their large size, clumsiness, and general oblviousness about their surroundings have caused trouble. At least Myles doesn't get too upset when they bark like crazy, which is quite loud.
Although unrelated to the rest of the post, Myles is now 33 days old and is growing like a damn weed... he nurses on Lanette until she's as dry as bone and yet still keeps eating like a little machine. We just pray that he keeps up this habit and stays healthy. We love ya little guy!
Also, in other news, we took Hunter to a behavioral specialist today so that we can start helping him to bring his behavior more in line with what his potential shows. Since he has ADHD, we know he struggles, but regardless we want to be effective parents and give him the most effective tools to deal with his condition while learning ourselves out to deal appropriately him from a discipline standpoint. Instead of just simply throwing medicine at him and hoping the problem goes away, we want to take the proactive approach, but if medicine continues to be an aid in his therapy and one of the bullet points in our plan to ensure his success, then so be it. We just want him to fulfill his life's potential - to do otherwise means we've failed as parents.
In any case, I'd like to say that I'm proud that my kitties have accepted into their home a new baby human as one of their own. Because yes, we are under the impression here that the cats run the house and they are simply gracious enough to allow us mere homosapiens to live with them. LOL.
Now my father in law's great danes are a different story completely.. but then again, one of them is affectionately referred to as "scooby dumb" which is an accurate description. They do okay around the baby, but their large size, clumsiness, and general oblviousness about their surroundings have caused trouble. At least Myles doesn't get too upset when they bark like crazy, which is quite loud.
Although unrelated to the rest of the post, Myles is now 33 days old and is growing like a damn weed... he nurses on Lanette until she's as dry as bone and yet still keeps eating like a little machine. We just pray that he keeps up this habit and stays healthy. We love ya little guy!
Also, in other news, we took Hunter to a behavioral specialist today so that we can start helping him to bring his behavior more in line with what his potential shows. Since he has ADHD, we know he struggles, but regardless we want to be effective parents and give him the most effective tools to deal with his condition while learning ourselves out to deal appropriately him from a discipline standpoint. Instead of just simply throwing medicine at him and hoping the problem goes away, we want to take the proactive approach, but if medicine continues to be an aid in his therapy and one of the bullet points in our plan to ensure his success, then so be it. We just want him to fulfill his life's potential - to do otherwise means we've failed as parents.
2006-02-21
sonic drive-in coming back to fort wayne
according to carol tannehill's column in the fort wayne news-sentinel today (2/21/06), sonic drive-in is set to open a new restaurant in april at maplecrest and rothman. normally i don't get too excited about YAFFR (yet another fast food restaurant) opening up in this franchised hellhole they call a city, but sonic's non-standard, high quality fare in the market segment coupled with the drive-in concept really stands out here. unfortunately for me, this one will be a much further drive than the one on lima road that closed down over a year ago, but again the great food makes the drive worth while.
in general, we've been starting to see more restaurants invade the area that don't follow the mcdonalds/applebees/taco bell mold but instead offer more progressive menus than we had typically seen before in this formerly meat-and-potatoes stronghold. about the lone, singular genre that had defied that convention was the locally-owned greek restaurants whose diverse fare and generous portions seem to thrive nearly anywhere they are operated.
last year we saw culver's and moe's franchises enter the area, and this year so far sonic is set to come back.... it can only make me wonder (and salivate) about what restaurants await us during the rest of the year.
in general, we've been starting to see more restaurants invade the area that don't follow the mcdonalds/applebees/taco bell mold but instead offer more progressive menus than we had typically seen before in this formerly meat-and-potatoes stronghold. about the lone, singular genre that had defied that convention was the locally-owned greek restaurants whose diverse fare and generous portions seem to thrive nearly anywhere they are operated.
last year we saw culver's and moe's franchises enter the area, and this year so far sonic is set to come back.... it can only make me wonder (and salivate) about what restaurants await us during the rest of the year.
butter beans and a ford f-250.. what do they have in common?
Yesterday, whilst driving home from MAL*WART i was behind this modern Ford F-250 that had this magnetic sign on the tailgate that said BUTTER BEANS in a rounded arial-ish font and the letters were all rotated at different angles that were all less than 20° or so from normal. Oddly though was that this was your typical redneck truck that had a lift kit on it. There seemed to be no brand name or any other marks that would identify this as some sort of advertisement and makes me wonder if the owner just simply has some sort of fetish for the legume in question. In hindsight, i shoulda snapped a picture from my phone, but i'm not sure it would have turned out too well. Anyways, if anyone wants to offer up a theory aside from the legume fetish, i'm certainly more than willing to entertain it.
2006-02-17
powerball record jackpot
i don't normally buy lottery tickets very often because i'm aware of the statistical improprieties designed to give the state the advantage, however when the PB jackpot grows to a record amount, i suppose that dropping $5 a few times a year for that infinitesmal shot at extreme wealthiness at least satisfies my curiosity where i might otherwise think "if i would have bought that ticket, it could have been me that won all that money"
and what would i do if i had that kinda scratch? i'd start figuring out how to do some good with it like fund and start up a non-profit service organization dedicating to serving the public. sure i'd probably buy a house and a new car, but putting the money into a socially responsible cause seems like the right thing to do.
here's to dreaming big.
and what would i do if i had that kinda scratch? i'd start figuring out how to do some good with it like fund and start up a non-profit service organization dedicating to serving the public. sure i'd probably buy a house and a new car, but putting the money into a socially responsible cause seems like the right thing to do.
here's to dreaming big.
2006-02-16
raped again by the ticket bastard!
So i bought my ticket to the stereolab show in chicago tonight... since i live 4 hours away, going to the venue's box office to get the ticket was out of the question... and the only other way to get the ticket was to order through ticketmaster.com or by phone through ticket master. Somehow a ticket that was supposed to cost $20 ended up being $32.82... As you can see that ticket master likes to double dip their customers - not only did i pay a "convenience fee" (whose convenience? mine or theirs?) and an "order processing fee" which gave them $11.55 or roughly 58% percent of the original price. what a crock of shit i say. 
Whats even more appalling is that i could have printed my ticket at home for an additional $2.50 - now why would i pay $2.50 to save them $0.39 in postage? they should have paid me the $0.39 to print it out for myself!!!you could say i'm frugal (read: cheap bastard), but 58% just seems ridiculous.
2006-02-15
Commentary on olympic curling
Okay, I, like many other people around the planet, have been watching the winter olympics on television. Most notably however, I've been sucked in by the sport known as curling. I'm not really sure why I like it because it is a particularly slow-paced game and not only requires precision motor control to deliver good shots, but because it is also very cerebral as each throw of the stone requires intricate planning. Maybe its the ice, maybe its the odd intonations uttered by the players who speak other languages, or maybe its the canadian accents of the announcers that makes this sport so compelling for a geek like me to watch. The flow of the game is very entrancing (save for the occasional time-out) and the level of etiquette amongst competing teams is incredible.
Being American and not living near the Canadian border, we rarely see this sport on tv so maybe that also adds to the mystique and wonder about a game that is little-known amongst us staters. In any regards, this post is an open call to ESPN and other sports networks to start carrying more non-olympic coverage of this outstanding sport instead of inundating us with 24 hours a day of high stakes poker among people who show little to no emotion.
Being American and not living near the Canadian border, we rarely see this sport on tv so maybe that also adds to the mystique and wonder about a game that is little-known amongst us staters. In any regards, this post is an open call to ESPN and other sports networks to start carrying more non-olympic coverage of this outstanding sport instead of inundating us with 24 hours a day of high stakes poker among people who show little to no emotion.
2006-02-13
i feel miserable!
Not only did i oversleep by over 45 minutes, when i awoke i was extremely dicombobluated. I'm really supripsed that i didnt' trip and fall over anything. It was as I was acting out the drunken bum that when the bar closes he sleeps ouside the bar.
most be a case of the mondays LOL
UPDATE: ambien and benedryl do not go well together... either i want to sleep or i want to supress my alergies but not both at the same time... ACK. They potentiate each others worst side effects.
most be a case of the mondays LOL
UPDATE: ambien and benedryl do not go well together... either i want to sleep or i want to supress my alergies but not both at the same time... ACK. They potentiate each others worst side effects.
2006-02-10
cigarettes... only $7.59 a pack! what a bargain!
According to an article in the Chicago Sun-Times, the average price of a pack of Marlboro's in the Chicago will rise to $7.59 starting March 1st. The total tax on a pack will be $4.05, with $2 of it going to Cook County. I'm not going to fully editorialize the issue now, but I see this as a step in the right direction as it will encourage more smokers to either cut back or quit completely thereby reducing healthcare costs incurred as a result of smoking.
IMHO, vices such as alcohol and tobacco should be taxed such that it is uneconomical to make a habit out of them. And this is coming from a guy who really likes to drink beer. But, there comes a point where something is taxed too much and the black market opens up to fill in the void thus causing other problems. The idea is to strike a balance where excessive use is discourage, but at the same time making a black market not profitable enough to seriously exist.
My guess though, is serious smokers in chicago might just make the short trek to northwestern indiana where they can buy in bulk and get packs for less than $4 thereby shunting the cook county tax effort completely. oh well.
IMHO, vices such as alcohol and tobacco should be taxed such that it is uneconomical to make a habit out of them. And this is coming from a guy who really likes to drink beer. But, there comes a point where something is taxed too much and the black market opens up to fill in the void thus causing other problems. The idea is to strike a balance where excessive use is discourage, but at the same time making a black market not profitable enough to seriously exist.
My guess though, is serious smokers in chicago might just make the short trek to northwestern indiana where they can buy in bulk and get packs for less than $4 thereby shunting the cook county tax effort completely. oh well.
2006-02-07
i'm getting sued for 28 bucks part 2
reference: http://www.mabusland.com/blog/2005/12/im-getting-sued-for-28-bucks.html
today's the hearing at small claims court. I never received any calls from the attorney, and despite us sending the doctor office a check for the originally billed amount, they never cashed it.
I will update this later when i get back from court. Attorneys don't scare me, and I'm not about to sell out my principles to settle this thing in their favor. I'm almost hoping this will get ugly, because it will cost them more than it does me as they could be fighting cases where the recovery amounts are greater.
today's the hearing at small claims court. I never received any calls from the attorney, and despite us sending the doctor office a check for the originally billed amount, they never cashed it.
I will update this later when i get back from court. Attorneys don't scare me, and I'm not about to sell out my principles to settle this thing in their favor. I'm almost hoping this will get ugly, because it will cost them more than it does me as they could be fighting cases where the recovery amounts are greater.
oil industry mad at the bush administration
President Bush's proposed budget cuts will eliminate $50 Million that was supposed to go for new oil and natrual gas exploration R&D at the department of energy. This has the oil industry fuming mad, which in my opinion doesn't make sense. I mean its not like the oil industry needs this money - seriously... ExxonMobil reported over $35 Billion in profits alone for FY2005. Chevron reported $4.4 Billion in profits last quarter as well.
Many people can't afford to even gas up their cars anymore to drive to their minimum wage jobs, so did the industry even need that $50 Million? I'm thinking not. As much though, as I want to laud the Bush administration for helping reduce America's dependence on foreign oil by fostering support for the R&D of alternative energy sources, my thinking is that this is not a large enough step to turn the tide in that direction. If anything, his tax cuts are also cutting out of other important social programs like financial aid and medicare and all these tax cuts are mostly realized by the upper 1% of all income earners so the money will all eventually flow back into the oil industry anyway. Those who pay less in taxes, have more to invest back into these companies that see ridiculous profits at the expense of the common man. My thoughts are that these tax cuts are only serving to widen the income gap and eliminate the middle class, not to mention we have record spending deficits of over $350 Billion for the United States next year.
Since I voted for Dubya in 2000, I can rightfully state that he let us all down... whatever happened to his promise of "ushering in an era of responsibility"?
Many people can't afford to even gas up their cars anymore to drive to their minimum wage jobs, so did the industry even need that $50 Million? I'm thinking not. As much though, as I want to laud the Bush administration for helping reduce America's dependence on foreign oil by fostering support for the R&D of alternative energy sources, my thinking is that this is not a large enough step to turn the tide in that direction. If anything, his tax cuts are also cutting out of other important social programs like financial aid and medicare and all these tax cuts are mostly realized by the upper 1% of all income earners so the money will all eventually flow back into the oil industry anyway. Those who pay less in taxes, have more to invest back into these companies that see ridiculous profits at the expense of the common man. My thoughts are that these tax cuts are only serving to widen the income gap and eliminate the middle class, not to mention we have record spending deficits of over $350 Billion for the United States next year.
Since I voted for Dubya in 2000, I can rightfully state that he let us all down... whatever happened to his promise of "ushering in an era of responsibility"?
mabusland is BACK online!
w00t!
we're back! moving the site to the new host was not as painful as it could have been. despite the fact that my router at home does not want to let go of the old IP address for the site in its DNS table, i was able to work around it and get the site moved and tested.
i can't guarantee that everyone will be able to access it immediately, but given enough time the DNS changes should propagate to most areas within 12 hours.
i need a beer or 7 now.
we're back! moving the site to the new host was not as painful as it could have been. despite the fact that my router at home does not want to let go of the old IP address for the site in its DNS table, i was able to work around it and get the site moved and tested.
i can't guarantee that everyone will be able to access it immediately, but given enough time the DNS changes should propagate to most areas within 12 hours.
i need a beer or 7 now.
2006-02-06
MABUSLAND OFFLINE (only temporary)
starting at 10pm EST tonight, there will be periods where mabusland.com is not available as i'm changing webhosts so i've gotta move files and repoint the DNS entries. i'm hoping to be back online by tomorrow morning.
my old webhost sucked and i need to make the move.
thanks for bearing with me.
~/\/\
my old webhost sucked and i need to make the move.
thanks for bearing with me.
~/\/\
2006-02-02
pop candy interviews mike mills
Whitney Matheson (author of the "Pop Candy" column at USA Today) has interviewed director Mike Mills (and Lou Taylor Pucci) who worked on the movie Thumbsucker. This is interesting because I am a big fan of Mills' who has previously directed some incredible music videos and DVD's for the likes of Air and Moby. Mills appears to follow in the footsteps of other notable directors like Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze and F. Gary Gray who all went from music video directing and turned their respective creative cachets into incredible screen work for major motion pictures.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
