Fortunately the kids were visiting their Grandparents in Michigan. I'm not sure their tender ears would have withstood the blistering tirade of curses, oaths, and mumbled dire imprecations for the designers of this do-it-yourself game from Hell.
Not that the instructions were difficult; indeed, they were quite clear, concise, and relatively easy to follow. Not that the parts were packed poorly; everything was labeled, each hardware component was packaged separate and marked, nothing was damaged, chipped, worn, or scratched.
Sportscraft, the maker of the foosball table, did an excellent job with this product. Other assembly-required manufacturers would do well to emulate Sportscraft when packaging their products.
No, the trials and tribulations of assembling the game table came from two sources: the sheer volume of parts and the idiocy with which I went about putting it together.
Clearly this was going to be a two person job. Of course, I went it solo.
I had my trusty Black & Decker cordless power drill. I had my case of Craftsman hand tools. I had plenty of floor space in which to work. I had ample lighting. I had a big-screen TV with all sorts of Christmas specials on to entertain me as I worked.
I was ready to work!
Except that I had forgotten to charge up my drill. And, several screwdrivers, the Allen wrenches, and my crescent wrench were mysteriously missing from my tool case. And, the volume of pieces from inside the tightly packed, deceptively small box grew to take over the living room, the couch, and portions of the walking area between the front and back of the house. The lighting was fine ... from one angle; the rest of the place may as well have been the dark side of the moon. The television was fine. Except that with all the product pieces carefully strewn about I couldn't comfortably see anything, let alone sit down to watch it while waiting for my drill to charge. It did give me time to locate my missing tools. Most of them. A few are still AWOL. You might see their pictures on the sides of cans of WD-40, right under the "Have You Seen Me?" caption.
Long story short, after several long sweaty hours, a few splinters, a scraped knuckle or two, and much moaning, groaning, and general cursing, standing before me in all it's glistening glory was a bona fide, working foosball table. A 48'' x 24'' x 32.75" monument to perseverance, ingenuity, and sheer stubbornness.
I couldn't have been prouder.
Until my mother came out to see it and asked me if all the handles were supposed to be on the same side of the table.
...
Longer story shorter, after another sweaty hour, more splinters, a scraped knee to match the knuckles, more moaning, groaning, and enough cursing the FCC threatened to shut me down, I had wrestled the table apart, swapped the bars to their correct positions, and reattached everything. In the meanwhile I cracked an important stabilizing piece and almost cemented myself to both the floor and the table with some strong wood glue.
Did you know wood glue is great for removing fingerprints? Off your fingers?
The game table looked sharp. Darth Vader glowered from one side. Yoda brandished a lightsaber on the other. Clone Troopers and Federation battle droids faced each other in stony silence (well, hard plastic silence), waiting for the momentous occasion when the first plastic ball rolled onto the slate battlefield. The goal nets waited like ravenous maws. I swear I could see them salivating.
Well, the kids came back home, oohed and aahhed over the foosball table ... then proceeded to play their new Gameboy games.
Over the last two years, the table has been used several times, but serves mostly as a convenient travel path for the cats to get from the couch to the top of the television.
Yesterday was one of those days where the plastic clone troopers and Federation driods did footie battle.
The kids and I played a cut-throat tournament of winner-plays-loser. Star Wars foosmen spun like demented dervishes, dancing wildly across the table. The ball spacked and popped back and forth, a white blur on the blue-green field of deadly battle. You could almost hear the roar of a crowd as fancy moves and well-timed kicks sent the ball soaring into the awaiting maws of the goals.
Okay, what really happened was I had my ass handed to me by a 13 and 10-year-old.
I jammed my pinky trying to quickly grab one my sticks to block a shot. I pinched the skin of my thumb in the small hole the pole slides through. My back seized up trying to awkwardly stoop down so as to reach the gaming rods. And once, the ball flew out of the table box with enough force to knock my glasses askew.
After a celebratory dance by the kids, whom ended up tied when i called a halt to the tournament (no fool, I), the table was slid back into its customary spot.
The cats were pleased their highway was returned and promptly sat on it, shooting looks of scorn at their crazy humans who needed plastic men mounted on rotating rods to bat a ball around. That's what paws were for. Sheesh.
Wednesday, 22 August 2007
Adventures in Foosball
Wednesday, 15 August 2007
AC-DC
No, not the rock band.
In this case AC-DC stands for Air Conditioner Does Cool.
That's right, my AC is working again! Yay!
Per the tech guy (who looked a little like Corbin Bernson) the unit was just frozen solid. No repairs were required. Freon was charged, pressure was good. He also mentioned the unit looked like the Trane equivalent of Frankenstein. (We've had numerous repairs to it over the years, especially after it got fried by lightning.)
We were charged a total of $130 for two trips out. I was a bit miffed at that, but can only blame myself because I did not see any ice in the unit and did not shut it off before his first trip out. This required a second trip after we sweltered all night with the AC off.
Still, small price to pay in light of what it could have been. Though the tech did state the unit was on its last legs, and we had better start saving for a new one. We're hoping it lasts until the lawsuit against the roofing company that screwed up and caused major water leaks is settled before this happens.
So, if you live in Tampa and need air conditioning repairs, I highly recommend Action Air. Friendly, not as prompt as I like, but they did not push us to get a new unit, and no mysterious ailment of the machine was diagnosed. It wasn't broken, they said so, and I appreciate that kind of honesty in a business.
We've found our new AC company, and when we do get a new unit, they'll be who we go through.
For anyone who thought they'd find some real AC~DC stuff here, and for those of you who read through the entire post above, and because as hot as it got last night reminded me of Hell ...
Thursday, 19 July 2007
A Long Two Days
Sorry there was no blog entry yesterday, nor really one for today.
Yesterday was filled with doctors appointments, at the tail end of which the car began to overheat. Not fun to have happen in Florida near 100°F weather. We had to turn the air conditioning off in the car to limit the stress on the radiator. We also ended up having to stop several times to allow it to cool down. (Once was at an Arby's, so at least I had a good lunch!)
My poor mom does not tolerate heat very well. I was worried about her, quietly freaking out that the car would make it home, and trying to put forth a confidant, cheerful face. If my emotions got to me, Mom would fall apart quicker than a Jenga game played by termites.
By the time we got the car home, it was past 4 o'clock. I've posted far later than that, but I was beat. After cooling off, I relaxed on the couch, ate some supper a little later, then played some WoW.
I had hoped to complete a long, arduous class quest chain for my mage. But circumstances precluded that, which was just as well. I was worn out from the long, hot day and tiring fast. Plus, I needed to be up by 5:30 to get the car to Firestone by the 6 AM opening.
Sure, I could have set an appointment, but you know car places. They'd get to the car when they got to the car. And, the earlier it was in, the earlier they could diagnose it, and the quicker parts could be ordered. I knew parts would have to be ordered.
My thoughts were that either the water pump had gone, or there may have been a hose problem or a blockage. the radiator didn't seem to be drawing water from the reservoir.
Turns out the radiator was blown. It had to be replaced to the tune of around $700. It also took from 6 AM until 2 PM of me sitting in the slightly warm, very noisy shop office. I'm beat.
So, ummm ... no funny videos, no stupid jokes, not even a half-hearted fart moment.
Lucky you.
Saturday, 7 July 2007
Common Scents
A woman in Detroit is suing the city over co-workers' use of strong perfumes and air deoderizers. (Read it here!)
This story comes at a great time because I was going to revisit a previous post from a week ago when I wrote a mild rant about strong scents in public places. In that rant, I mentioned a poll you could take in my blog's sidebar.
The poll question read, "Should Strong Perfumes, Colognes, and Hand Lotions be Banned From Use in Restaurants and Work Places?" There were 9 votes total; 6 for banning (66%), 2 for not banning (22%), and 1 undecided (11%). And, yes I know there is a percent missing, gimme a break this isn't advanced math I'm doing here. ~.^
Now, I should have reworded that from Ban to Restrict. I don't think actually banning the use of personal scents is a reasonable response. But the scent wearer (user) should also exercise some common sense on how much to wear.
An anonymous comment on that post claimed the scent users have a right to personal expression.
To an extent, I agree with that statement. people should have a right to express themselves. Of course, obvious limitations to society and laws need to be observed. I may like walking around my house naked, but my kids don't need to see that, nor my neighbors across the street who happen to glance through my unshuttered, open picture window. I'm also pretty sure my cats don't particularly care for it either. Sure, they put on a good show of ignoring it, but I hear them sniggering to each other about it later.
My opinion is that your right to personal expression stops at my personal space. If I can smell you from three or four feet away, strongly and clearly, then you are invading my personal space, and you should move (or maybe wash it off). Perfume and other scents should be a personal thing. A person should have to be right up near you, within your personal space, to smell it.
Unless you are stating that your personal space extends around yourself in a substantially larger radius than others?
I consider it rude for someone to use a scented lotion, or to spritz perfume, while in a public place. Especially an eating establishment, or a grocery store.
Would they like it if I walked by their table and ... farted?
Hey, it's a natural bodily function. God created the ability for the human body to release excess gas. Perfume is a man-made substance, not natural. But, if I stood there and played the Flight of the Bumblebee with my Tushie Tuba, I'd be tossed out of the restaraunt; maybe even arrested.
Why? Because it is rude, offensive, and fairly gross ... by society's standards (and my own). Is not the stench of floral assault not as rude, offensive, and gross? I don't want to smell it at my table, let alone taste it! Yuck! But, perhaps farting is my way of expressing myself?
No? I don't think that excuse flies for either circumstance.
The above reminds me of a true story. It takes place long before smoking was banned in restaurants. I was maybe 16, so this had to be in the mid to late '80's.
My mother, my sister's mother-in-law, and myself were at one of our favorite pizza joints. Seating was in booths down a very long room, about 15 booths to a side; six seaters, eight if you were thin or very friendly. A wall ran along one side of the booths, with a six foot high barrier wall along the other. It was topped with various plants and a bronze runner bar.
We were seated, about half-way though our meal, when a group of five men entered and asked (almost demanded) that we move because this was their traditional booth. Of course we said no, there were about twenty or so other booths available for them to sit at and we had already begun eating. They cursed at us and sat directly behind us. Three on the bench directly behind my mother and myself, two across the table from those three.
Immediately they all lit up cigarettes and cigars. Annoying, but not much we could do other than move. Even though my mother has breathing problems compounded by smoke, she was adamant about not moving.
Then the "gentlemen" began holding their lit cigarettes (and one cigar) over their shioulders. Smoke began to billow into our eating space. We politely asked them if they would stop holding their cigarettes like that. They laughed and started to turn their heads and blow the smoke at us. One guy even tapped his ashes onto my mothers neck.
We complained to the restaraunt owner, who we knew as my sister had once dated his son in high school. Dimitri, the owner, apologized, and gave us our meal free, but said he couldn't tell them to stop because he didn't want trouble with those men. I got the picture. Yeah, Dimitri's place was THAT sorta pizza joint. >_>
We got the rest of the food packed up in boxes and my mother and my sister's in-law left, walking down the small hallway to the exit, the six foot barrier wall high wall to their right. As they passed where the men were you could hear them laugh harder and call us all sorts of cruel and nasty names. I was at the front counter, talking to Dimitri.
About this time I saw their waitress bring over their orders.
I said goodbye to Dimitri, casually grabbed the lid off a very full floor ashtray next to the counter, walked down the hallway, and as I got next to the Darwinian rejects' booth, I upended the entire ashtray over the wall and onto them, their food, and the huge pitcher of beer they were drinking.
Then I ran like hell.
The next time we ate at Dimitri's place, he said absolutely nothing to me about it, but I did get a free piece of baklava, "just because". ~.^
So, the next time someone sits near me in a restaurant and whips out the lotion or perfume, I think I'm ordering up a mess of baked beans.
Ah, I smell victory!
Tuesday, 26 June 2007
The Cable Guy
| No, His Name Wasn't Larry Everything Works Now |
I'd been having intermittent Internet outages caused by my cable modem. After I went through TeleHell to get a live technician, he eventually set up an in-house technician to come out.
The tech came today. Nice guy, contracted out by BrightHouse to service cable equipped homes.
He did a signal test on the cable line which runs to my modem. It was at a -2. Now, I thought -2 sounded horrible, but he assured me that the cable modems are rated to work well at signal strengths of -7 to +7. He also told me the sporadic outages were likely due to the modem overheating.
I don't know anything about it. I suppose he was telling me the truth and not feeding me a line. When my modem was not on the fritz, it worked fantastically well. But, I can see the overheating thing. I am online way more than I should be. Also, it is pretty dusty down where the modem sits, though the modem itself had very little dust on it, or in it, when I blew it out with compressed air.
There was, however, a HUGE sticker with esoteric scribbling on it which the previous cable guy had placed over a significant portion of the air vents/heat sink on one side of the modem. I had removed that the other day, at the urging of a good friend, and only had the cable modem crap out on me once since.
Anyhow, I also mentioned that the digital signal to the tv set-top box occasionally was distorted, resulting in staticy pictures, skipping frames, or garbled sound.
He replaced a splitter piece with a new, better one. And he also replaced a length of cable which had a barrel connector (a splice, basically). The Brighthouse guy who installed my digital service less than year ago apparently spliced a R59 cable into an R6 cable. (I didn't know the significance of that either ... cable man enlightened me).
The R59 cable is pretty thin, extremely flexible, with less wiring inside, resulting a poorer signal and increased chance of kinked and broken lines inside the sheath. He was pretty shocked that someone would use that kind of cable to carry a digital signal and wondered that we did not have even more problems than I described.
Cable man cut an new, single length piece of R6, a much thicker, less flexible line, and installed that. He also exchanged some hardware components out in the main box outside.
Everything seemed fine when he left, no troubles since in the hour he's been gone.
Hopefully, everything stays working with no distortion or outages.
Time will tell.
Found out he plays Everquest, the original version, since 1999. So we discussed online gaming for a while as he worked. I used to play EQ, then played NWN Neverwinter Nights), followed by GW (Guild Wars), leading up to my current obsession with WoW (World of Warcraft). We agreed to disagree on which was the better MMORPG (Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Game).
Speaking of which, my new Blood Elf Priest is feeling lonely. I think I'll get her some exercise slaying evil critters or something. ~.^
Sunday, 27 May 2007
It Never Stops
*sigh*
I had planned on doing up my blog after lunch today. You know, all those animals shots from Busch Gardens? The ones I keep promising to put up, but never do?
Well, Mommie Dearest has decided that I am now going to take the boys out for haircuts. Then, to the library.
Okay, the library is my idea, as I promised them we'd go today assuming I wasn't sick or something. But I had planned on doing that around 4 PM. The library is only a few blocks away from Fantastic Sam's, where we go for their cuts.
It's 12:30 PM now. And we just finished eating. I get time to type and gripe because they do all the clean-up chores! muahahaha
I might ... *might* ... get the pics up today, sans my rambling anecdotes for each one. But that's not really fun. For me. You probably want to just see the pics and not read my drivel.
Then again, once we get back, I may decide to relax and kill a few hundred cold-eye basilisks in WoW. They have something I want. And they have yet to give it to me. I shall hunt them to extinction, ripping out their squishy eyes, intact spines, large tails, and curved claws, until they bequeath unto me at least one cold basilisk eye!
Drat! I hear the muffled grumbles of disconsolate boys. They must be done with their chores and grousing about getting their hair shorn. Muahahaha
They'll thank us at camp when it's 95 degrees in the shade.
Today's Penny Doubled Daily Cumulative Amount for 147 days is:
$1,784,
059,615,882,449,851,322,857,461,811,857,925,362,155.51
Thursday, 17 May 2007
Busch Gardens - The Day Before
I've spent the entire morning running errands and getting things (partially) prepped for tomorrow's trip to Busch Gardens.
It's been a long time since I've visited there. At least 4½ years since the kids came to live with me. Plus the year or so before that when I was constantly sick with respiration problems. So, 6 years or so.
Since my last visit, they've added new rides: Gwazi, a dueling wooden coaster; Cheetah Chase, a wild mouse coaster; Pirates 4D, a comedic show with all sorts of sensory stuff; Rhino Rally, an off-road safari adventure including a river raft ride in the truck; and SkeiKra, vertical drop coaster that is going floorless (not until June, so it'll have it's floor when we go).
There are new shows, too. I am especially eager to see KaTonga. It is a 35 minute, Broadway-caliber stage show. Characters in costumes that look like real animals (sorta), singing, dancing ... think Lion King show and you've got the idea. There's also the Mirage Canteen musical show that looks interesting. Done in a 1940's style musical review. Should be cool.
Then, of course, are the animals. Tons of animal exhibits where you can get close to them ... sometimes as close as a pane of glass. A very, very thick, shatterproof, pane of glass, but a pane of glass nonetheless. And when I say tons, I means tons. A great exhibit is one with hippos who swim right next to the glass which is half submerged. Okay, the viewing chamber is half underground, but you know what i mean. There are lion and ape exhibits with similar glass viewing areas. Very cool!
Busch Gardens has tons of animals to see. You could spend most of the days just wandering the park, looking at the animals. I like the Serengeti Train ride. You get to see a lot of animals you couldn't easily see otherwise. The sky-ride is pretty good for that, too, but my mother will be using a mobility cart, and I don't think we'll be able to ride the ski-ride. Maybe a round trip or something. We'll see.
I wish we had more money to spend, because you can actually purchase special safari tours where you get to feed giraffes, or be a zookeeper for the day. Several price ranges for matching experiences, but ... we're close to tapped for entertainment funds before we start to dip into the bills' money. That's a strict no-no.
I was going to take pictures to post, but my digital camera (old as it is), seems to have misplaced it's memory card. It was only a 16MB card, and could hold about 30 or so decent quality images.
I looked for a replacement (and bigger memory) while at Wal-Mart picking up some fill-in shopping and fanny packs, but they didn't have what I was looking for. Plus, the employees were unusually unhelpful. Well, unknowledgable is more true. But if you don't know what you are talking about, especially if you work in the photography department, then you're also unhelpful.
I may hit Walgreen's down the road later today and price 512MB cards. If I can get one for around $20, I will.
Health-wise, let alone weight/size-wise, I won't be able to ride too many rides. The coasters are likely out unless they have bench seats. My seat won't fit in their seats. *sigh* Plus I'm not sure inversions will be too kind to my sinuses. The water rides should be okay; I know they are bench seats with drop bars. Well, Congo River Rapids might pose a problem, but I don't think it will.
Some flat rides, like the bumper cars, should be okay. I don't even know if they have flat rides any more. There used to be a ton; bumper cars, swings, crazy camel, sandstorm, pirate ship, carousel ... Guess, I'll see.
I'm going to play those rigged carnival games. I love playing those. Plus, now I don't have to carry a wad of sweaty, crumpled ones around. Busch has introduced a game card you buy and load money on. Now all I have to do is hand the card ot the bgame barker, he swipes it, and I play. It'll be great fo the kids, too. I can give them a card pre-loaded with the amount they may spend on games, and not worry about them spending their lunch or water money on games. >_> Same goes for me, too. hehe
There are some nice restaurants to eat at in the park, fancy to casual. With prices to match, I'm sure. We'll eat at the less expensive of the non-food stand places. Likely the Desert Grill.
The Desert Grill has tons of good food, at fairly reasonable prices. Spaghetti, pastas, steaks, ribs, chicken ... good eats all around. It used to be the OktoberHaus, with awesome German food and live polka band and shows. I used to love eating there as a kid. We'd get up and dance around in a polka line. Great fun!
It was right next to the Scorpion coaster and the Sandstorm flat ride, too. So you could go throw up every thing you just ate.
Well, time to go hit the laundry so we have clean clothes for tomorrow. Plus spares. Those water rides can soak you good. Or, maybe we'll need them after a ride on the Scorpion after eating at the Desert Grill. ~.^
Too, remember tomorrow will not have a post. This one is long enough to tide you over, I hope. hehe
Today's Penny Doubled Daily Cumulative Amount for 137 days is:
Monday, 14 May 2007
Weekend in Review
I took the weekend off from blogging, as you may have noticed. In part because it was Mother's Day weekend, in part because I needed another break, in part because I was sick from the smoke in the area and chemical fumes at a skating rink.
This post is making up for lost time. It's long. Grab a cup of coffee and settle in. You may want to go pee before you start reading, too. The next rest stop is a few hundred words away, and I'm not pulling over. And no, you can't use the empty Big Gulp cup. That's just gross.
Buckled in? Good. Here we go.
One of the nice things that came about this weekend (aside from my best friend, Tek, getting out of the hospital!) was the arrival of my Busch Gardens Fun Cards! 
It wasn't cheap. A single day admission is $61.95, plus tax. For the four of us it totalled $270.11. Steep, when funds are limited.
But, since we live in Tampa, and can be at Busch Gardens at any time, any day, for the next year, within 15 minutes of leaving the house, it was a deal we couldn't pass up.
We get bored, have nothing to do, pop on down to the theme park, and ride a few rides, or watch one of the many shows. The kid's summer camp (another hefty expense) also makes a trip to Busch Gardens, and we won't have to pay extra since they can take their Fun Cards. Their schools, too, sometimes have trips out there, and with the Fun Cards, we'll only have to pay for the bus ride for them.
In the end, we'll save money. Okay, we'll break even with the normal costs we would have paid, but we'll be visiting more often.
Matter of fact, depending on the smoke situation, my youngest's birthday is Sunday and we will be breaking in the Fun Cards on a trip out to Busch Gardens for the day. Or as much of the day as my Mother can handle. (She's disabled, plus heat and humidity wipe her out. We'll be renting a go-buggy for her, though ... $35! Yipes!)
It'll be fun, and I'll try to take some digital shots to post.
The other great thing this weekend was Mother's Day. The kids and I got my mom three round puzzles. She loves doing puzzles and shaped ones, especially round ones, are her favorite.
I got them through Amazon, and they came last week, so we gave them to her early. Technically she had them finished before yesterday, but she loved them anyhow.
I also ordered her the Roots DVD set coming out May 22nd. She's been wanting this movie for a long time. It's one of her favorites. And, she'll likely watch it all in one sitting some lazy weekend. She does that with The Thornbirds, too.
Most restaurants (and grocery stores) try to keep the temperature cool. Cool, or cold, air triggers a subconscious need to eat, or supply yourself with, more food. Thus when a store or restaurant is nice and chilly, you may buy more groceries, or order more food. Like those impulse purchases at the checkout, or those high-calorie, over-priced desserts. (Mmmmm ... Chocolate Thunder Down Under. Of course, after I eat that, I experience the namesake later. ~.^)
Anyhow, I think they left it warm inside so that people who were coming would eat faster, and get out, thus freeing tables for more customers. Volume of total customers over quantity per seems to have been the goal. Because any other time I've been in there, it was nice and cool.
Psychological warfare by the restaurant. I feel so used.
The third fun thing this weekend happened later on Mother's Day.
I'm a sucker for three types of movies: superhero, zombie, and survival. Zombie and survival movies often are the same thing, but you know what I mean.
I got "Phoenix" a week or so ago from the Cube-O'-DVDs at Wal-Mart. You've seen it. The huge 5'x5'x5' black cube near the electronics department. Filled with low-priced DVDs on all the vertical sides, likely covered in boxes of candy as if a movie theater concession threw up on top of it. I love the Cube-o'-DVDs because lots of movies I like end up in there for around $5 each.
Anyhow, don't waste your time on the 2004 remake of this movie, even if it does have Dennis Quaid in it. (Actually, it is a fun movie, too, but the original is vastly superior).
I mean, how can you go wrong with James Stewart, Richard Attenborough, Ernest Borgnine, George Kennedy, and Peter Finch? Drop them in a plane wreck in the middle of the Sahara Desert and you struck gold. Or, oil might be more appropriate.
I love the tension and drama in this film. The acting is great. You feel as if the desert is leaching your sanity away right along with the characters'. And, I love how you can visibly see them weaken, their skin dry and crack, their clothes weather as the long, hot days and freezing nights slowly roll by taking their devastating toll on the survivors.
It was the first time my kids had seen either version, and they liked it. Nothing blew up. No sexual innuendo involved. Very little cursing, and that was the 1965 kind of movie cursing. You get worse on Family-style comedy shows now-a-days. there are a few semi-graphic scenes ... blood dripping into a pool after one guy commits suicide, the slit throats of two characters after a failed attempt to deal with Arab raiders ... but even then you only see the aftermath, not the act.
All in all, a nice way to spend the day with the family.
Yet, I still found time to level my Shaman, Roflmoo, four levels in WoW! heh
Okay, here's the rest stop. You can get out, stretch your legs, take care of business, whatever.
Oh, and you're emptying that Big Gulp cup. I warned you.
Today's Penny Doubled Daily Cumulative Amount for 134 days is: