Entries Tagged as 'cold weather'

USPS Rant, Fry’s.com Cookie Problem, And Dodgers v Cubs Game Two Thoughts

Quick-hitters:

- Boy was it COLD today.  Cold, chilly, windy…can I have summer back?

Oh well…cold weather means I can go have pho again!  Yum!

(And yes, I did have some today.  Gosh I missed that stuff.)

- A new toy arrived at my doorstep a few days ago, delivered by USPS (more on that later):  an LG Shine!

Too bad it was for my sister.

Nevertheless, I ripped open the box, popped the battery into the phone, popped the backplate onto the phone, and then immediately plugged it in.  I hit the power button, and it immediately asked me for a SIM card.

Nooooooooooooo!  A new toy, and I can’t even play with it???

Then I remembered…I used to have an AT&T Prepaid plan.  Would the SIM card work?  I rushed to my desk, dug through my desk drawers, and somehow found the little SIM card buried between some manuals.

I rushed back to the phone, stuck in the SIM card, and it worked!

I played with the phone for about ten seconds, before putting it away :P.

- Current rebate-o-meter:  ~$1300.

With the fall season comes new TV shows, the MLB Playoffs, NFL football (of course!), and the NBA regular season on the horizon.  For me, I like to add “2009 Rebate Deals!” to that list!

Yeah, I’m a rebate degenerate, as well as a gambling degenerate, and a fantasy sports degenerate.

- My USPS carrier has NEVER left a package on my door.

(I’d argue that she never actually knocks, but who knows?)

The package could have been torn apart to reveal a t-shirt inside, and she still wouldn’t have left the package in front of my door.

So you could imagine how absolutely shocked I was to see a USPS Priority Mail box sitting on my front door, containing my sister’s cell phone!!!

(clears throat)

YOU WON’T LEAVE ANY OF MY PACKAGES ON MY FRONT DOOR, EVEN IF I FILL OUT THAT STUPID POSTCARD PERMITTING THIS, BUT YOU DECIDED THAT THIS ONE PACKAGE WAS WORTH LEAVING ON MY DOORSTEP??????????????????????????

(I need a throat lozenge.)

- To my loyal readers (all none of you), I present an UngsungBlog PSA.

If you have attempted to order from Frys.com lately, you might have run into a situation where adding an item to your cart leads you to a webpage asking you to enable cookies.

If you run into that problem, there’s an easy workaround:

  1. Copy the seven-digit Frys.com item number.
  2. Enter the item number into the search field.
  3. When the item shows up, click on the “Buy” button, and the item should show up in your cart.

Hope that helps.

- (Yeah, I should have posted this yesterday.  Shoot me.)

Andre Ethier at first, none out, and the Dodgers played hit and run.  James Loney hit a grounder to short, and oops!  SS Ryan Theriot, running to cover second base, overran the grounder, and stuck his hand out to try to barehand the ball.  It glanced off his hand, trickled into left field, and all of a sudden, it was first and third with none out.

You could just feel Cubs fans fearing the worst.  Even after Matt Kemp struck out looking, you could hear the nervousness in the crowd’s response.  Once Blake Dewitt hit that grounder directly to 2B Mark DeRosa, though, you could almost hear the crowd breathe a heavy sigh of relief.  4-6-3, inning over, right?

Whoops!  DeRosa kicked the ball, and then tried a desperate flip to Theriot.  Loney beat the throw, Ethier scored, and you just had the feeling the the Cubs were in deep trouble (and members of the crowd were probably calling their therapists).  But then, Casey Blake hit a hard grounder to 1B Derrek Lee, and the Cubs had ANOTHER chance to get out of the inning!

So close!  Derrek Lee booted it, everyone was safe, and now the Dodgers had the bases loaded with only one out.  At this point, you almost felt sorry for Cubs fans.  But wait!  Chad Billinsgley was up, and down he goes on strikes!  Two outs now, and Carlos Zambrano only had to get Rafael Furcal out to escape the inning!

Of course, Furcal ends up burning the Cubs by laying down a perfect drag bunt—it would have been terrible, except for the fact that Mark DeRosa was playing on the outfield grass!—and all of a sudden, it was 2-0 Dodgers, and Zambrano had to face Russell Martin.  The rest was history; Martin lined a double into the left-field gap, and the rout was on.  The crowd was ABSOLUTELY DEAD by that point.

I could spend some time explaining how the Cubs aren’t close to being done in this series—Harden could quickly shut down the Dodgers’ roster, and so could Lilly, and then the Dodgers would have to win a Game Five at Chicago, possibly facing Zambrano!—but I’m not going to waste my time.  It seems that Cubs fans are so certain that their team is cursed that Peter Gammons couldn’t convince Cubs fans otherwise, much less a stupid blogger.

One parting topic about this series:  can people stop arguing that the Cubs are choking this series away more than the Dodgers are winning it?  Sure, Ryan Dempster was crazy wild in Game One, but Loney still had to hit a 1-2 pitch into the center field seats, right?  Sure, the Cubs’ infield defense looked like they were using frying pans as gloves, but the Dodgers still had to make contact with Zambrano’s pitching, right?

Sorry, Cubs faithful, but the Dodgers are winning this series 2-0.  However, THEY HAVE NOT YET WON!

(Never mind.)

Other Division Series-related thoughts:

- How are all four DSes 2-0?

- How did Brett Myers (????) draw two walks against C.C. Sabathia?

- How are the Rays doing it?

- How are the Angels not?

One parting thought about the Angels:  as an Angels “hater,” I was mildly amused with watching K-Rod give up the game winning bomb in the Los Angeles Angels nowhere in Los Angeles’ loss to Boston tonight.

Then I realized who hit the game winner.

Damn that unnamed right fielder.

Until next time!

Vince Young, Diva Favre, and Other Week One NFL Thoughts

Boy did it get chilly over the last two days!

Stupid weather girl lied…she said it would be warmer, not colder!

I want summer back =(.

Quick-hitters:

- I now have somewhere along the lines of fifteen rebates that need to go out soon.

(Yes, that includes the ten or so that need to go out by next week.)

- Why do teams continue to pitch to Manny?

Sure, Manny grounded into a double play, struck out on a wicked change, and then hit a towering fly ball in his first three at bats tonight against the Rockies. Come on, Rockies! That’s only going to motivate him to try! RBI single, single to load the bases, and ho-hum…another 2-for-5 day.

I’ll miss you, Manny. Enjoy the Yankee pinstripes next season.

- Better late than never, right? :P

1) So first Vince Young, allegedly, refused to re-enter a game after injuring his MCL (He only returned after Titans’ coach Jeff Fisher pleaded with him to get back in the game).  Then, after the game, Young went missing.  Later on, we found out that he was at a friend’s house, eating chicken wings.  His mom decided to chime in as well, demanding space for her son.

And now there’s word that he spoke to a therapist about suicide?

I’m not going to pile on the guy, like some people on ESPN; I’ve read enough “You make millions of dollars, you poor baby!” comments to last me ten lifetimes.  All I’ll say is that Young’s MCL injury might be a blessing in disguise; if I were the Titans, I would leave Young in Tennessee to recuperate AND find someone to talk to about his personal issues.

2) I felt a little bit guilty about rooting hard for Chad Pennington to rally against the New York Favres.

(Just a little bit.)

Too bad Chad Pennington remembered who he was, right before throwing that back-breaking pick.

3) I’m so glad everything in the world is back to normal, now that T.O. is once again going after Donovan McNabb.

Thank you, Terrible Owens.

4) I’d worry if I were a Jags’ or Seahawks’ fan.  I’d temper my expectations if I were an Eagles’, Bills’, or Bears’ fan.  Colts’ fans, I wouldn’t worry too much, especially if Jeff Saturday returns next week and is healthy.

And finally, Pats’ fans…

5) Is Matt Cassel going to be the next Tom Brady?  No.  At this point, Pats’ fans better hope Matt Cassel is the next Trent Dilfer, and I mean that with all seriousness.

Remember, it was Trent Dilfer that did not cost the Baltimore Ravens Super Bowl XXXV.  If Matt Cassel can do that, and the Pats’ defense stays solid throughout the year, then who knows?  Last time I checked, the Pats still had Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Lawrence Maroney, and Bill Belicheck.

(Can you believe this?  A year ago, I would have puked in my mouth at the mere mention of the Pats, and now, I’m actually being sympathetic???

Part of this is because of Diva Favre, by the way.  If the Jets should win the AFC East, I’m going to plaster asterisks all over that title :P).

Maybe more NFL Week 1 thoughts next time, as well as a Shot-Online update, and the worst piece of steak I’ve ever cooked (*cry*).  Until then!

My Ridiculous CVS Haul, Baby It’s Cold Outside, and The Perfect Cup of Coffee

I’m such a slacker…

Quick-hitters:

- Argh!  Watching the Pats-Ravens game was so aggravating!  I was SO hoping for the Pats to choke!

Full commentary on that game tomorrow, along with yet another reason why I hate Fantasy Football.

- I could not believe that my Bruins lost to Texas on Sunday!  What an awful first half!  I hope UCLA coach Ben Howland does something to fix the slow starts that the Bruins have had in recent games.

- Current rebate-o-meter:  $2,600.  That includes the $400 or so in rebate checks I got over the last two weeks, and I have yet to file over $300 worth of rebates.

Anyone wanna bet on whether or not I’ll hit $3,000 again by the end of the month?

Speaking of rebates…seriously, Symantec, why even offer upgrade rebates if you’re going to reject every single one I try to claim?  I filed four more upgrade rebates in the past month, and all four were rejected for various reasons.

- I’m not sure if my loyal readers knew this, but I love CVS.  ECBs + rebates FTW!

(Rite Aid Single Check Rebates don’t suck either.)

I got eight bottles of Febreze, a bottle of Tums, some soda and Doritos, four bottles of mouthwash, a Gilette Fusion razor blade, and a stick of Degree “Clinical Strength” deodorant.  Net cost:  about ten bucks, and it would have been three bucks less if the cashier had followed my simple instructions of scanning my ECBs in the order I stacked them.

(Yeah, I know I’m whining about three bucks here, but WTH?  I handed him three ECBs–a $10, a $5, and a $2–stacked on top of one another.  What gave him the idea to scan the $10 first (on the top), then the $2 one (on the bottom???

Note to self:  hand the cashiers coupons and ECBs one at a time from now on.)

So why so much crap?  The Febreze worked out to about a buck a bottle.  The Tums made me a buck after rebate (minus tax and the stamp, of course).  Each bottle of mouthwash netted me $1.50.  The razor and the deodorant were free after Rite Aid SCR.  I rest my case.

- I hate this time of year, weather-wise.  It’s kinda warm in the daytime–there’s enough sun to make it not cold–but it gets ridiculously cold and windy at night.   I almost long for the ~120 degree summer days again.

(I know, I know; I shouldn’t be complaining about night time temps in the low 40s.)

Rain is in the forecast in the next few days…fantastic!  And I’m considering a trip up to NorCal at the end of the month?  I must be insane!

(Tangent:  Until last night, I have never heard “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” sung by Rod Stewart and Dolly Parton.  My ears are still bleeding from hearing the song last night.

If I hear the song again, I might just pass out.  I’d rather listen to a record of chalkboard/fingernail scratching on infinite loop than hear that song one more time.)

Somebody get me an electric blanket.

- If you are the only coffee drinker in your house, and you do not brew coffee with a coffee press of some sort, you must be insane or only drink coffee five minutes before you leave the house.  No thanks to my sister, who was kind enough to give me a canister of Folgers Simply Smooth coffee, I am now hooked on coffee.

(Tangent:  I don’t want to be chewed out for suggesting that one can make a “perfect cup of coffee” using Folgers.  Go away.

And by the way, yeah, you’re right.)

I have one of these Vietnamese coffee presses, and all I know is that this Folgers coffee tastes like crap when brewed in my sister’s Gevalia coffee-maker, and it’s quite tasty when brewed with my press.  Water quality doesn’t explain the difference; my sister uses water filtered through her refrigerator–quite tasty water, by the way–while I use Brita pitcher water, which is drinkable only if I pass the water through the filter 2-3 times.

Drool…typing this up just tempted me to brew another cup of coffee.  Yes, I’m an addict.

Later.

Day At The Beach Ruined, And Pat Benatar In Concert


- So we decided to head out to Dockweiler Beach today, in an attempt to escape the valley heat.

Bad idea, but not for the reason you might have expected.

As soon as we reached LAX, the sun decided to disappear behind a slew of clouds. When we finally arrived at the beach, the winds and the lack of sun made the weather unbearable. Never mind the fact that the water was COLD, so much so that we didn’t spend more than a few minutes in the ocean itself. To keep warm, we started jogging back and forth in the sand.

(Tangent: I forgot how hard it is to run on the beach, and it doesn’t help that I’m not exactly at a high fitness level.)

We only spent a couple of hours on the beach–most of us were napping or reading a book–before we decided to pack up and leave. That was money well spent, eh?

So what does one do when a trip to the beach gets ruined by a lack of sunshine? Easy! One goes to the beach again the next day! No word yet on which beach we will be going to…

- After the trip to the beach, we went to Alhambra’s Summer Jubilee to see Pat Benatar in concert! In short, the concert was quite an enjoyable experience*.

* - except for the following:

  • the idiots occupying two rows in front of me, tossing popcorn at each other, crying because the ushers were only doing their job, talking and giggling throughout the concert, and basically not giving a damn about people around them. Did I mention they had two little kids with them, who did nothing but squirt water and toss popcorn at each other, causing the adults to act like children and retaliate?
  • one woman in said group that wore a backless shirt, when she really shouldn’t have (if you know what I mean)
  • another, ahem, “heroically portly” woman who kept leaning backwards, jabbing my knee every five seconds
  • the #1 Pat Benatar fan screaming “Sing Heartbreaker!” after every freaking song, and then screaming “Sing Heartbreaker!” even after Benatar sang it.

Benatar sang a bunch of songs I’ve never heard of, but she also sang Invincible (awesomely good, btw), We Belong, and Hit Me With Your Best Shot.

(Tangent: I should mention that a song can only be considered “awesomely good” by me if I’ve actually heard it before.)

Of course, at the end, she sang “Love Is A Battlefield” to the delight of the crowd. Yes, that was awesomely good too.

With regards to the morons in the stands: all we needed was a beach ball, a fight in the stands, overwhelmed security guards, a USC v UCLA debate, and a “Joan Jett sucks!” chant, and the experience would have matched that of an LA Dodger game in the cheap seats. Any true Dodger fan knows exactly what I’m talking about.

(I know, what should I have expected from a free concert?)

That’s all for today. Happy blogging!