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What was plan B?

“I was going to have you fight Klondor in a stone circle death match.”

I stopped watching network when The West Wing went off the air. Was it the really annoying commercials? Or was it because shows weren’t aimed at me anymore when I reached 50 thereby falling out of the favored demographic? Or was it because the shows were too predictable, because I had seen so much TV to this point in my life, there was nothing new anymore?

“You should definitely step outside the circle”

Commercials have always been annoying, so that probably wasn’t it. A lot of shows were never aimed at me even when I was in the most desirable demographic. Probably not that either. Predictable? Yeah, but even predictable when done right will make me tune in.

“Yeah… just to avoid any confusion.”

Reality killed TV for me. Apparently a lot of people want to be famous and will go to great measures to try and get there. And the rest of the people tune in to see the missed attempts so they can feel superior. I don’t want real life on TV (I’ve got my own reality show starring me going on right now), but I want fantasy. Aliens on X-Files, an intelligent President on West Wing and now magnetic anomalies, smoke monsters and time travel on Lost.

“Klondor, let’s, aah, pack it up.”

I’ve found a couple of new shows that I enjoy. Both are on Fox, one just ended it’s writers strike shortened season and the other just started up in it’s time slot. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles stopped after nine episodes and there hasn’t been any word on wether or not they will film anymore or even if it will return next season. Tonight is episode 5 of New Amsterdam which I will watch tomorrow on the internet because Donna is watching something else. Who knows how long this show will last.

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 88

Weekend Wrap Up

We went downtown last night to get an ice cream. The place was hopping. That was to be expected because the middle jewel of Aiken’s Triple Crown, the Spring Steeplechase, was yesterday and it routinely attracts 30,000 people and a lot of them hang around town long after. The restaurants were packed and there were several venues with live music. We arrived at the Sweet Cow Creamery at just the right time, we were next in line to be served and by the time I paid for our ice cream there were a half dozen people storming the door to get in.

This morning after watching last Thursday’s episode of Lost with breakfast, we went out and got lost in Hitchcock Woods. As usual, we were not really lost, we just didn’t know exactly where we were. The map hasn’t been updated in a long while and there are quite a few new trails that can confuse us for a short while.

To help you through the next few dark days until April 24th, go to the Lost Island Video and see want some talented Losties have created.

So far I am 31 of 48 in my March Madness picks leaving me only 20 points behind the leaders and next round games are worth 15 points. That’s the good news, the bad news is that there are still 15 of the 21 people entered ahead of me. Unlike last year when I watched none of the games, this year I have actually watched a few of the games. The b-ball players these days love their tats. There was one guy playing for Memphis who I could have sworn had the whole Declaration of Independence tattooed on his upper arm.

We are taking the day off from work Tuesday because the BMW’s are coming to town. We can’t start driving until 9:00AM, but that is OK because I have the perfect way to spend those pre drive hours — baseball. The FRS open the season in Japan against Oakland and the game starts at 6:00AM on ESPN2.

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 86

March Madness

The Freighter captain puts the beatdown on one of his own crew.

“You can’t kill yourself Michael, the Island won’t let you.”

We find out the real reason Tom is called Mr. Friendly. đŸ˜€

Ben’s sharpshooter guns down the French Chick and Carl.

After the NCAA Tourney is over we will still have 3-1/2 weeks until Lost returns.

Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 86

Libra

Because of where the date of my birth falls in the Gregorian calendar I am considered a Libra. The symbol for Libra are the scales of balance representing the balance that Libras continually seek in their selves and their life.

I don’t put much stock in astrology and my wife doesn’t either, but one or both of us must subconsciously because it is my job to balance the checkbook. And when I get done posting here I need to get back to seeking what happened to the $5.41 the bank says we have that I don’t think we have.

An interesting side note (or maybe not): Libra is the only inanimate sign of the zodiac, all the others represent either humans or animals.

Might be something to this astrology after all, because I am constantly seeking ways to be inanimate.

The FRS almost didn’t go to Japan for Opening Day.

To get you ready for tomorrow’s Episode 8 of Lost here are a couple of theories on what the “Island” is all about:
1. Coolest. Theory. Ever.
2. The Great Gedanken Expriment, a Tale of Time Travel and Schrodinger’s Cat

They are kind of long, so you might want to save them for next Thursday night, because Lost won’t be on. Tomorrow is episode eight of thirteen total for this season and there is going to be a six week break before we get to see the last 5 episodes (dang writers strike.)

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 85

It’s very stressful remodeling a Bathroom, Jack

The Home DepotLast Saturday we were in Augusta for an MMC breakfast event. Afterwards we went over to look for ideas for our bathrooms remodeling project. We visited home improvement warehouse number one and marveled at the selection of stuff to choose from. We looked at new bathtubs, tile for the walls & floor and fixtures.

“It’s not easy, but marriage is wonderful. Let’s face it, every decision that you try to make takes twice as long, because you always have to talk them into it.” — Bernard Nadler

A tub is a tub, so that wasn’t too much of an issue. We think we found a floor title we both like a grayish-blue 12 x 12 and thought we would just go with a plain 6 x 6 white for the shower walls and tub enclosure walls. But we couldn’t agree on faucet style. Well, truth be told, neither one of us could come up with one we liked enough to try and talk the other into it. Off we go to the competition, home improvement warehouse number two, which was literally right across the street. We struck gold on the faucet here, we found a style we both agree on – Savannah by Price Pfister.

On the way home we stopped in at The Tile Center in downtown Augusta and got some professional help. The woman who helped us listened, suggested, listened some more, held our hands until we found our perfect tiles, 13 x 13 blueish-gray for the floor, 10 x 13 white with a slight gray marbling for the walls and a 3 x 3 blueish-gray accent. Thanks Janie.

Monday, Contractor #2, who we saw on Friday, called with their preliminary bid. Yikes! can you say steep? It was 2-1/2 times more than the first contractor’s bid. And they weren’t including as much of the materials as the first guy either. We have pretty much decided to go with Contractor #1, but if we do we need to do more shopping. We need to pick out a vanity and top for the bigger bathroom.

Tonight we visited both big box home improvement stores here in Aiken. These are actually almost a mile apart and much smaller than there Georgia counterparts. We really didn’t get much accomplished except for more confusion. And actually, we found some stuff we like online, but it is hard to spend that much money without seeing it in person. We are leaning towards this: Pegasus Exhibit 48 In. Vanity and think it will look nice in the room, but we will need to get a top that, not necessarily matches, but at least coordinates with our floor tile…looks like another trip to The Tile Center is on our agenda.

You think watching Lost will make your head hurt?

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 84

White Out

Hard RainMissed two nights blogging this last week. The first was Wednesday because I didn’t really have anything to write about. That wasn’t the case last night, I had a great topic to write about, but that topic was the reason I couldn’t blog about it.

It rained. Really, really, really hard. At one point we couldn’t see the street, 50 feet away, from the living room window because it was coming down so strong. About 5:30 the cable (and the internet with it) went POOF! As I was turning off the now nearly useless laptop, the power to the whole house went off as well.

Not 10 minutes later the clouds broke and the sun came out, so we sat around with the curtains open reading. When the sun started going down and we could barely see the words on the page anymore we opted to go downtown for some ice cream. At about the same time as we were putting on our shoes, the power came back on. But no cable.

After ice cream, no cable. I watched Blade Runner – Final Cut while Donna read. Rise and shine in the morning, no cable, so we bought a newspaper. Went for a hike in Hitchcock Woods and when we got back, no cable. Boy would I feel foolish if we were the only ones in town without cable, so I dialed the office, busy signal. Guess we weren’t alone.

This afternoon I pulled down off the top shelf of a closet, the box that held my old TV-Radio card. I was going to use the cheesy dipole antenna with in on the living room TV so maybe we could pull in a couple of the local channels. As I opened the box, the TV picture flickered and cable was back. Re-booted the router and the internet was back as well.

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/08: 80