WhaaZoo

Sorry for the lack of crappy blog posts in the past few weeks. I'm afraid things are pretty much always busy around here, and I don't make the time to sit down and write something. Mostly just to put something up here, enjoy this list of marginally interesting tid bits.

I'm buying television advertising now. If you live in the Chicago area, be on the lookout for ads from an up and coming IT services company. It's kind of interesting; we're using a company that organizes and sells spots, and also helps you create your ad, making it really easy. I'll probably end up doing a fair deal of this, which is sort of odd as I'd been moving away from the marketing and deeper into the numbers for a while now.

This has also made me feel like I need to change my title (as far as I know, my job title is only written down in my email signature). I believe I will now call myself Director of SEM, Analytics, Television and Windmill Dunks

The Packers lost to the Cowboys last night, which sucks, but I had a great time watching it with PJacks and some guys from Atlas/work. What makes it really hard to swallow are the terrible calls and blown opportunities that paraded past. There were at least two golden opportunities in the last few minutes alone that would have let us drive for a comeback win, but we either screwed up or were screwed over by the refs. In the end, it's mostly just good to see the Packers are legitimate competition for anybody out there.

I'm starting to think seriously about buying a home. The biggest thing I keep running into is the fact that I absolutely hate the idea of buying a condo. Having to deal with a condo board, share walls/floors with people, and just generally still having annoying neighbors completely sours the idea of home ownership to me. In the end, I may just decide to rent as long as I live in the city, and not buy a place until I can get a house. I'm also terrified of the idea that an opportunity may arise to move out of the city, and I'd be stuck until I can sell my stupid condo. But then again, financially its the right move (plus I'm sick of moving, so if we move again, it'd be nice to make it semi-permanent). Good thing I have at least several months to obsess over it until I have to make any decisions.

I'm going to be back in Brookfield from Christmas Day until New Years Eve (and maybe New Years Day, depending on what's going on). I think that some of us bfieldians should go in together and buy Rock Band on the day after Christmas. Then we could spend a week rocking out together in Harry's basement. The visit will be capped by a December 30th Packers game in Lambeau with Pat, Joe and Dan. That's going to be ridiculous.

My broken Xbox goes in for service today, just as soon as I walk two blocks to the UPS store. The red ring of death became a constant error before I sent it in, which is good (just because they're sure to see it). From what I've heard, they pretty much just swap the system out for a refurbished unit and send it back, so I'm hoping to have a new system in a couple of weeks. Keep your fingers crossed, as there are about a half-dozen great games I should really be playing. In the mean time, Mario Galaxy and Zack & Wiki will be good reasons to turn my Wii on for the first time in two months!

QUICK BURSTS!!!

The first Futurama movie comes out tomorrow!

My Xbox is dead! I hope Microsoft fixes it!

Thanksgiving was delicious and fun!

Caps visits on Saturday!

Maria just got a promotion at her job involving obscene amounts of vacation time!

No Xbox means I'm playing God of War - it's great!

I'm going to watch Razor tomorrow, I think!

In the Boston Afterglow

I just returned from a long weekend in Boston with Joe and Pat. It was a fantastic time - I absolutely loved the city and the people. They have done an amazing job there of preserving centuries-old buildings and streets while building a modern city; I especially loved the neighborhoods of old row houses, brick sidewalks and narrow alleyways. Towering above all this is the ocassional high-rise, which reminded me quite a bit of Half Life 2 (which I'm still plodding through at a slow pace). Returning to Chicago after seeing a city that takes such care to keep things looking clean, and a place full of such considerate people, has been a bit jarring. Drivers stopped and waved us past any time we needed to cross. Bar tenders smiled and started conversations. Strangers stood up to give us chairs, and baristas called me Davey.

We toured Boston much the same way Joe and I did New York - pick a random neighborhood and wander aimlessly, stopping in any place that looks good. We stumbled into a ton of great little bars this way, and I can't think of a better way to have spent a couple of fall afternoons. Joe put a gallery of photos up here, if you'd like to check them out. We also ventured out to Cambridge and Newton (two cities/towns West of Boston). While they didn't have that same great dense, old feeling as the city proper, they were still full of friendly people and beautiful streets. Someday, when I'm crazy rich, I'll own a little row house in Beacon Hill.

This return also marks the end of my uninterrupted streak of weekend travels. Maria and I will be heading to Iowa for Thanksgiving, but I won't be leaving again for at least a few weeks (and I won't be flying again until the New Year). It feels good, sort of like I'm returning home after a long time away, and I'm trying to rededicate myself to living better here. Basically, I want to get out of the house more, spend more time with friends, and stop watching quite so much televsion. The weeks have felt like my chance to rest up before my next big weekend lately, so I really haven't been doing much outside of working and sitting on the couch. These changes begin today, so if you're in Chicago, we should do something.

A Quick Word on the I-Pass

As you all know, I love the I-Pass. You should all have one, but just in case you don't, a word of caution. I've heard a few times that if you go through a toll, the worst that will happen is that you get a ticket for the toll amount. I learned today that this is not true. You actually get a ticket for the toll amount + $20, and they add up. I forgot to update my license plate on file, so I recieved a ticket for $275 over the weekend, from fines going back to May.

In my case the fines were waived, as I just had to update my account, but I wanted to spread the word just in case anybody's heading home for Thanksgiving and was planning on skipping some tolls.

The Shoutboard, She is Sleeping

Alright, since the Shoutboard is apparently going to be drowned in spam from now on, I've just removed it from the site for now. If I ever wanted to fix it, it would be possible to make you log in with your Facebook username to post, but screw that. It was a fun thing to build, and for some reason it still being used by 23 Facebook users!
Now I find that I miss the nice green box that used to be up there with the other content links in there. Maybe I'll have to resurrect that at some point, though there is no time now - not when I'm about to go to Minneapolis!

Beard + Sick = Gross

Blowing your nose with a moustache is no walk in the park.

Pat and I are driving to Maaaaad-o-lantern

Dear blog,
Pat and I are driving to Maaaad-planet. To be more accurate, pat is driving and I am but a spectator / documentarian. We just passed Spookyville (population: bones).

Pat wishes the world to know he is stir-crazy, though I am afraid only a small portion of the world will ever see these words, and only a portion of those lucky enough to see them will be able to read english. Consider yourself lucky (you must be a member of the group within the group if you're still with me).

Pat and I are arguing over the semantics of accounting. Though he had to chamnge the topic when he realized he went a stupid way where you can't get on the freeway. We'll undoubtedly spend the next half hour zig-zagging back and forth until we finally get back on.

Until then, blog
-dave

p.s. cool houses!

Finally, a Good Use for Children