Fast Food Freestyle

The advertisement from hell

Photo by: Jessica Shannon

I had memorial day off again this year. I didn't really have anything planned... well, I take that back. I had a whole lot of nothing planned... until I got a call to play some tennis. So, I penciled in Tennis Scramble for my 9-12AM spot and scratched 'Matlock' and 'Murder, She Wrote'.

After I got back from Tennis, I turned the bathroom radio on and got into the shower when I heard an ad for a lease on a new accord SE for $189/month. $189/mo. sounded like a great deal to me... I just didn't get a chance to hear that fast talking fine print at the end. So, I looked up the dealer's web site, had a look at the offer and convinced Katie to go out for a test drive. So, test drive we did. Loved the car. Didn't like the lease so much.

We played the numbers game for about 2 hours before Katie and I finally decided we'd had enough. The first monthly payment was $268. The second round began at $240. We never did see anything resembling $189. I was prepared to postpone my lexus dream for three years for a new v6 accord. Alas, Holmes Honda wasn't prepared to deal with my lack of understanding of advertisements (read: lack of ability to understand/predict what fine print actually meant).

After another call tonight from Holmes Honda (3 or 4 actually), I talked to the General Sales Manager there who cleared up a few things for me. First, the $189 was for people with super preferred credit... whereas I was 11 points under 'super' credit. It was also $2500 cash or trade down plus Tax, Title and License plus first month's payment (more like $4800 down). After clearing that up, we talked about the sticker price and the so called 'tax' payment of 1800 dollars, which isn't actually a tax at all. It's an amount you pay to buy down the monthly payment. Nice.

So, at the end of it all, they offered an LX model for $198/mo. with $2500 down. It was a pretty big step down, and would be a rush to finalize all the details (trade-in, current loan details) so I've decided to stop considering it... though it was fun to fantasize about being in a new, problem free, warrantied car.

I'm still bothered by the fact that I wasted 4 hours or so total chasing a pipe dream. This imaginary great deal that Holmes Honda cooked up and put out there really lured me in. I went against my general principle of not leasing since I have an older car with a heavy repair bill in the wings and was considering a purchase soon anyway. I hate that advertising still has that power over me. I still tend to believe that if someone says something on the radio that I may not have to listen to the micro machines man give his 30 second detail/fine print speech. Ads like these just confirm the opposite though... that if it sounds like it's too good to be true, it probably is.

Memorial day weekend...? More like Labor day weekend!

Photo by: LeeLeFever

If you read the blog fairly regularly (even if you skip the political ones) you may remember that I mentioned trying to surprise Katie with a finished back yard while she was gone to Alabama for 4 days. The sod people couldn't get 6 palettes of sod to me on such short notice, so I had to scrap that plan.

Well, this past Wed. I set a plan in motion to seed the backyard instead of sodding it. The main differences between the two are that sod would be about $6-$700, then a few hours of work, wheras seed would be about $100 + $50 for a tiller and even more hours than sodding. Since I have loads of time, but no piles of cash laying around, I decided on the seed method. My dad volunteered to come over and help, and Taylor and my Mom were going to come over at lunch for some fajitas, and then do what they could to help.

So, the day started off with a flop. At 7:30 I set out to get rent a tiller from Home Depot. The problem was that my home depot didn't have a tool rental department (which my Dad and I both thought would be at each location). So, since my dad would be passing right by the location that does have the tool rental, I asked him to pick up the tiller. Well, I didn't tell him how overgrown the backyard was with weeds, and I didn't know how wide the tiller was that he had in mind. So, when we eventually got after this tilling business, we realized that it would take us a week to till the backyard.

I called home depot and told them our predicament (got the smallest tiller and have 900 sq ft to till), and we decided to go back to get the largest tiller available. When we arrived, there were two guys standing in the back, one who I talked to on the phone and another employee. The second guy said, "So you're the guys that tried to till 900 sq ft with the mantis (smallest tiller)", and then proceeded to have a good chuckle at our expense.

Anywho, we tilled 'til we couldn't till no more. At just after 3, I think it was, we had gotten just over half the yard tilled... and we started at 10 AM with interruptions for lunch and an hour trip to home depot. About that time, genius struck. We saw the tractor our subdivision's builders use for various tasks racing down the street. We'd seen them use this to scrape weeds from around the pond before, so Katie suggested that we go ask to pay them $40 bucks to take care of the rest of the yard for us. She and Taylor hopped in the truck and went to the house they're working on and pleaded her case. They said "Sure.".

So, after 4 hours of good tilling, we'd gotten half the yard done. Now, the mexican construction workers were going to make short work of the rest of the yard. Within 15 minutes, they'd scraped the rest of the weeds and had even leveled the whole area for us (something we would have had to do manually AFTER tilling). I can't express what a relief that was.

After our neighborhood construction workers had been paid, we got to work with the garden rake, loosening the top soil and creating little grooves for the seeds. We spent another hour or so dropping seed and then watering the yard to give the little guys enough moisture to get started.

We took a good number of pictures yesterday, so check them out on our flickr page (just click here).

It's official: Ron Paul gets my vote

I tried to take some time away from the computer. I washed Katie's car, cleaned it out and armor-all'd it. Watched some of the Music Man on HBO (did I just admit that?), then came back to see what else I could find about Ron Paul. I hit gold, Jerry, gold.

The above video is a clip of Sean Hannity trying to intimidate Ron Paul and twist his words. Dr. Paul defends himself well and infuriates Mr. Hannity in the process. I can't help but be dumbfounded at the nerve of Mr. Hannity... however, I'm happy to see each of his points refuted and his surprised look toward the end as Dr. Paul asserted himself.

He also looked surprised when he announced the poll winner from the GOP debate... slightly angered too maybe. Let the spin begin.

Ron Paul for President

Good grief. I don't think I've ever seen anyone like this on a national debate.

This man is my personal candidate for president. Things may change as I look into him more, but I can't imagine voting for anyone else. Ron Paul may end up being the first candidate for president to which I actually contribute. Why did I have to hear about this man from that Pompous (yes, that's with a capital p) windbag, Bill Maher?

Flipping through the movie channels the other day, HBO was showing Real Time with Bill Maher, who was talking about Ron Paul. You see...there's been a crud storm of debate over whether he said in the GOP debate that he blames America for 9/11. Fox news got involved on the action with a panel bashing Paul for his comments. Whenever I see Fox News attacking a republican by putting words in his mouth I have to wonder what's going on. He clearly speaks his mind and doesn't contribute to the typical idea that the terrorists are attacking us because we're free. That breaks with the republicans who say that terrorists are lunatics (which they are) and that we must continue to fight them in Iraq, lest they follow us home and murder us all *gasp*. They're scared... probably by the fact that msnbc and drudge report polling showed him as the people's favorite after the debate (some say the mainstream media is ignoring his success to favor their choice candidates).

What Ron Paul did say was that America's foreign policy contributed to the origins of 9/11. It's fairly obvious to me that our foreign policy and presence in the middle east was a contributing factor in the minds of these terrorists. This doesn't mean that we're to blame, only that we need to accept the possibility that our actions have consequences. If Americans don't think that our military/intelligence actions played a part in inspiring the acts of 9/11, they need to have a drink, take a breathe and reevaluate their positions.

Ron Paul says some pretty shocking things - shocking, true things. Unfortunately, there are people like Rudy Guiliani who are adept at twisting opponents' words and using them for their advantage. So, most likely, in debate and elsewhere, people will continue to try to pry the truth from shocking statements and Ron Paul will be classified as a sideshow. As long as he sticks to his ideals (ideals which I agree with for the most part), I will vote for him... sideshow candidate or not. A lack of similar thought from voters in previous elections contributed to us being where we are today.

Ladiless, bellyful, and entertained

This weekend is Nathan's graduation... Nathan being Katie's brother. He moved/was sent to Alabama to live with relatives a year ago and some change. So, Katie and Lil' Sneak are in Alabama this weekend attending to the festivities. I wasn't up to the 8 hour drive (each way) with Katie's family and one of Nathan's friends from the port city, so here I am at home having man time.

So far I've mowed the yard, washed and cleaned out the car, watched Shaun of the Dead, The Rock, and V for Vendetta. I also managed to sneak a shower in there, in case you were wondering whether I would bathe left to my slovenly self.

Back to the movies. Shaun of the Dead was a little disappointing after seeing Hot Fuzz a few weeks back. It starred the same two actors, and may have been produced and directed by the same bunch. Hot Fuzz seemed like an evolutionary step past Shaun of the Dead... but my preference for Hot Fuzz may have also been due to my lack of fondness for horror/zombie movies. The construction of the movie made it bearable, though. Great comedy, interesting direction and entertaining characters mixed with . Both movies were the same, just different genres and plots - similar characters, similar feel. It's a formula I enjoyed, though.

The movie I most enjoyed this weekend was V for Vendetta. It was a strange kind of movie, but completely surprising since I didn't really know what it would be about - the best way to watch movies, by the way. That's why I'm not going to say much about it other than the fact that I liked it. See it when you get a chance and leave me a note if you liked it.

So, I think this weekend has been pretty productive. I've been left to my own devices (:-)), but I still managed to get a few things done, including feeding and bathing myself. Tomorrow I may get some clothes washing taken care of... and may even go to Wal-mart and do some grocery shopping on my own. We'll see how it goes, because if there are any good movies on (I already found 'Unleashed' at 9), shopping and housework may be touch and go.

Car woes

Photo by: Tavallai

My track record with cars hasn't been that great. Here's the rap sheet

1995 Pontiac Grand Am - Sold for being a shoddy car.
1995 Buick LeSabre - Sold to get a truck. Great car.
1999 Ford Ranger - Problems here and there, but extended warranty kept costs in check.
1997 Honda Accord - For two years, an ideal car. We bonded. It is now slowly losing parts and functionality like appendages on a leper.

I think I may have detailed the Accord's problems here before, so I won't get into all the little things... especially since all the problems will not add up to anything that would prevent me from being able to get from point A to point B (albeit a sweatier and angrier man). However, let me just say that making this car appealing to a potential buyer (without having to give a disclaimer) I'd have to spend $500-$1000 at least. That's not something I want to put into a 1997 accord.

My original thought to resolve the situation with the accord was just to buy a used car... an old lexus. A cousin of ours from Dallas, Scott, bought himself a '92 lexus es 300. It runs, rides and looks better than my accord. So, I started toying around with the idea of a something similar, but a little more recent - a '97 es 300. Katie wasn't a big fan of paying $8000 for a 10 year old car... and by not a big fan, I mean that she threatened me with my life (mouse over link) if I spent $8000 of our money on a 10 year old car.

So, my current solution is three-fold. First, open a new savings account and begin contributing monthly (already started). Second, contact a relative of Katie's that buys cars from dealer-to-dealer auctions and ask him to keep his eyes peeled for either a 2001 IS 300 or an ES 300. Lastly, learn to hypnotize people. The last step may seem oddly placed, but I will have to have some way to get Katie to accept my purchase. It's quite simple, really.

Here are the two lovely cars I'm considering... ripped from online classifieds...

Lexus ES 300:

Lexus IS 300:

Crappyright

Things are getting interesting

Photo by: buggs

Things are getting interesting around here. Our neighborhood is two weeks into the construction of the recreation area (for lack of a better term), which means that in another few months we'll have a pool, playground, tennis court, basketball court and a soccer field about 100 yards from the house. An elementary school will also be opening up another quarter mile down the road...but that will be for the 2008-9 school year, I think. We don't have any kids (of our own) to speak of, and it would take 7 or so years if we started trying to produce one now before they'd be able to attend, but it's great nonetheless to know that our neighborhood is coming along nicely.

I, of course, have an alterior motive for being excited about the school. Katie is as stressed out as I've ever seen her with her new job. She runs around chasing psychologically disturbed children all over town, most of whom are not at school when they're supposed to be and whose parents aren't reliable in meeting scheduled appointments. The job requires a certain amount of billable client hours per week, but when your clients are on drugs or have psychological disorders themselves, you can't rely on them to meet appointments. You also can't bill time spent to go meet with someone where they don't show up. In addition, you have mountains of paperwork. Katie runs around for 8 hours a day to get ~5 hours of billable time, then comes home to face another 2 hours of paperwork every night. Ridiculous. So, back to my motive. It would be great if she could become the school counselor at the new school. She would make the same amount of money, work 9 months (7-3:30)... and have some of the sane kids mixed in with the crazy ones. It's gold, Jerry! Gold!

In other news, I'm planning to take a weekend relatively soon to finish the backyard. Katie and I already went all new-homeowner on the front yard, planting thirty or so little flowers of three varieties. The backyard, however, has no fence and no grass, just a knee high collection of weeds that I'm responsible for mowing each week. Expressions like "growing like a weed" never really hits home until you have to mow them every week. I'm beginning to understand gardener's obsessions with the little boogers.

For the future work weekend, I think I'm going to try to rent a tiller, if that's even possible. I'll grind all the weeds up in the back and turn the soil/dirt a bit and add a little topsoil. We should be able to drain our bank account fairly easily on sod, then lay it ourselves. The order of operations should then be fence, dog, flower bed, bird house, rose vines on back fence. Done!

Another change that's coming up will be the exit of Katie's little sister, "Little Sneak", from our humble abode. Her school year's ending in a week and a half and she's going to go back and stay with her mother. So, things will return to normal. No high water will, no endless busy signals on our phone line, no internet fiend, no more scooby snack wrappers beside my chair... She's heading back to no cable, no internet, no loud music... I'm heading back to FREEEEDOM! Boxers time immediately after work! Computer time! We'll see whether it's as grand as I'm thinking...

I have more that could be written, but I have church in an hour, followed by two mother's day dinners. We're heading to Taylor's tonight for my Mom's. Grilled fish for dinner and a movie.

The sneak

Image by: Kent Wang

I remember being a kid (11-15). Playing basketball in the driveway with the neighborhood kids. Visiting the grandparents in the summer. Talking to girls in the neighborhood. Church trips. Dreading school dances. Selling candy I bought at Sam's to kids at school. Those were the days...

I don't really remember getting into much trouble, though. Grades were a big problem with me, sure. My lack of ability to commit to school work made my life considerably worse (at least every 9 weeks), and put a permanent wrinkle on the forehead of both my parents. However, I think I was a good kid... and I think that's why I enjoyed being a kid.

I'm tempted every once in a while to tell the little one who's living with us now the same thing. "Child, the reason you aren't enjoying yourself is because you live a bi-polar life. You get to do things... you get sneaky... you get grounded. You get off grounding... you go do things... you get sneaky... you get grounded." Noone's winning in this situation. The people responsible for keeping you honest don't like it. You don't like being grounded. So why don't we both just call off this game of cat and mouse and we'll both be much happier.

As a person with a sneakiforous teenager in my house, I've been contemplating this subject for a while now. Is sneaky britches going to look back at her childhood and remember enjoying it like I am able to do now? Or will she remember being grounded and pouty over the fact that she "never gets to do anything"? Then again, maybe my childhood was just as full of sneaky events (I know yrs 15-18 were) and I'm just shedding favorable light on them now that they're so far in the past... I don't know. I know my parents read this blog every once in a while. Maybe they'll have an opinion on the matter.

The State of the Weekend Address

Photo by: sharumpe

Well, May has come along and it's pretty stinking hot. If it weren't for Al Gore being a giant pompous windbag, I might think he was on to something with this whole global warming bandwagon he's heading up. Too bad, I don't. It's just hot. I digress...

This weekend was finally the weekend Katie and I have needed. We got to get out and see some folks, but looking back it doesn't feel like we were busy all weekend. Friday night we went over to Taylor's house where he and his roommate had some friends over to grill. We played some guitar hero and ended up seeing Hot Fuzz. Taylor and I really enjoyed the movie, Katie thought it was OK, and Jay thought it "sucked". May not appeal to most people, and definitely not a family movie by any stretch, but it was one of the best movies I've seen in the last year or so.

Saturday morning I filled in for Taylor in a Tennis tournament at Eastridge. Taylor's doubles partner, a guy named Lance, and I beat a couple of high school students. I came home, watched a Mayweather fight and a De La Hoya fight on HBO and finally ended up going over to the mall to chat with Sami and help Katie pick out a dress.

Today, Katie and I headed to church... had the Sunday dinner at Sha Sha's, then headed home so she could get started on her logs for work (her job stinks). Emma came back early this afternoon and Patrick dropped by also - both were working on papers for school... only one was a middle school paper and the other was a college paper. I cooked tilapia stuffed with crab meat and fried some steak fries (with oregano and crushed sea salt)... good stuff. See your local target's meat section for the pre-made stuffed tilapia. It's good stuff.

So, here I am. Finally, I've got a computer. Patrick was using mine for his paper, Emma was using Katie's, and Katie was on my laptop. I was in a cold sweat with no computer... but now I'm doing a little better. Every once in a while I reach over and pet my monitor to let her know it's ok... I haven't abandoned her. Things are back to normal.