Thursday, April 27, 2006

Gmail Killer

I like Gmail. I like how it puts things into "conversations". The problem I have with it, is that it's been around for what 2 years now and it's still in Beta. The only way to get an account is to either have a friend with an account who will send you an invite or to give google your cell phone number (via SMS message). The google talk is a nice addition, but honestly everyone is on some IM network or another. The other down side is that it's slowing down. I think they are trying to pack so much stuff into it. First google talk, now google calendar. It used to be so fast, now it seems like I have to wait 45 seconds for it to load.

I'm currently testing the beta version of yahoo mail and I have to say that I'm really impressed. The funtionality looks just like outlook. Including drag and drop messages into folders. Highlight multiple messages with shift or ctrl (and then drag/drop them to where you want them to go), and a preview pane. I'm sure pretty soon that you'll be able to sort messages by conversation as well (that's functionality that's already inside of outlook)

The beta is currently closed unless specifically invited, but I read a way to get yourself invited. If you're interested in trying it out check the instructions below:

  1. Login to your Yahoo Mail account
  2. click on options located at the top right of the screen
  3. click on account information located on the left hand side of the screen
  4. if prompted for a password enter it
  5. click the edit link next to member information
  6. Scroll down to "preferred content" and click on your current choice (most likely US english). On the next page change it to Yahoo United Kingdom and click finish.
  7. Agree to the terms of service.
  8. You should be back on your member information screen. click on finish.
  9. You should now have a screen inviting you to try the new yahoo beta.

If you don't like the beta you can switch out of it. (there's a link called switch back) and you can also change your settings back to the original settings and keep the beta.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Shayna Gave me a W

This is how it works: Comment on this entry and get a letter. Write ten words beginning with that letter, including an explanation what the word means to you and why.

Willis - What a great last name. So versatile. What Choo Talkin Bout Willis, I hate that guy Willis, Where there's a Willis there's a way. You can use it anywhere! As the guinness ads say "Brilliant!"

Walt Disney - The man pioneered a ton of things, but after looking at this site, it seems he just pawned off the same 3 movies for his entire life:http://www.prodisney.ru/clones.php

Wove, Twue Wove - The Princess Bride description of Shayna, my...

Wife - The Super Hot Sexy temptress that she is.

Weird Al Yankovic - Even though Schnepper doesn't recognize the talent, Weird Al is my favorite musical artist.

Why does this always happen to me? - Shayna's favorite Weird Al song.

Work - Where I am now and what I should be doing instead of this post.

w00t - If you want to know what it means you'll have to go to the ol'..

wikipedia.com - A great encyclopedia of information you wish you never knew.

Washington DC - My home. Sure there's lots of traffic, and sure housing costs are beyond belief. But I wouldn't have it any other way (ok, that's a lie. If I could fix those two things I would)

Friday, April 21, 2006

Somewhere Over the rainbow

This site is absolutely amazing. A person was able to get some of the best photographs of a rainbow that I think I've ever seen. It's awesome to see the beauty that God has made. And who knew it would be in Missouri?? (Just kidding Jenifer) (Shout out to Jenifer!)

Friday, April 14, 2006

Tavern on the Green

Our first night in NYC. We spend some time in Times Square (ok, we went to the Toys R Us to see the Ferris Wheel), had a hot dog from a street vendor and then got ready for Tavern on the Green.

We got all dressed up and then took a cab ride over. After seeing all the traffic (and watching how long it takes to get anywhere on Apprentice) we figure we should leave pretty early. We take a cab and it takes the cab approximately 10 minutes. So we have about 45 minutes to kill before our reservation.

While we were there some handsome cab rides were there (Handsome cab rides are the ones with the horse and carraige). We decide to take the "30 minute" ride around central park. After what seemed like 15 minutes we arrived back at Tavern. We go in just to see if we can get in early and sure enough that's no problem.

The menu at Tavern has a lot of items on it that I don't know how to pronounce. I knew stuff like Salmon, or chicken but all the sides and such were just way over my head. I'm sure for others who understand it and can eat dairy it would be awesome. The service there is awesome. You have 2 waiters. One that actually brings you your drink/food and the other is the captain. The captain takes your orders and makes sure you are taken care of.

The captain was very understanding of my milk allergy and practically had the chef create whole new meals that wern't on the menu just for me. Shayna has the crab stuffed lobster with twice baked potato & asparagus. From the look on her face, it was good. She also had the chocolate mousse cake for desert.

So the overall review is thus:
If you have an opportunity and can afford it, you should try it once. Shayna recommends the twice baked potato.

Thursday, April 13, 2006

From 32nd to 45th

Continuing our story of "As the Vacation Turns" our young couple find themselves at Penn Station trying to make their way through the labyrinth of underground tunnels just to get to street level..

I have a horrible secret to share. I have a very bad habit that irritates Shayna to no end. The habit is this: We will be walking somewhere and something will catch my eye. I will stop to look at it but at no point in time will I say anything to my loving and understanding wife and she will keep on walking and occasionally say something to me as if I were still right next to her. It is usually at this point she realizes I'm not right next to her.

This can happen in pretty much any venue from Best Buy (expected) to the grocery store (not so much). However, this particular habit can be especially dangerous in NYC where there are tons of things to look at (signs, buildings, stuffed monkeys that scream when you squeeze their tummy's). When we made it top side I made absolutely sure that I did not stop under any circumstances. And if I did I would have to alert Shayna right away. This worked well with the slight exception of when we passed the Toys 'R Us in Times Square that has a Ferris Wheel inside of it. I think I said something like "WHOA" and that alerted Shayna ahead of time that I was distracted.

After much walking we arrive at the hotel. While waiting in line to check in, we see two guys that had ridden the same train we had. Shayna said they were married gay lovers having a romantic weekend. I said there was a possibility they were just metrosexual friends. Either way it felt like we had lost a round on Amazing Race. They got to the hotel a lot faster than we had. We felt stupid..and contagious. We vowed that the gay metrosexual couple would never beat us again. And they didn't.

While checking into the hotel they ask for ID as well as a credit card to put incidental charges. Shayna breaks out her ID. I break out my wallet and flip open the part where my ID is located. No ID. I had taken it out to get on the train and Shayna had held on to it. I ask her for the ID and she says she doesn't have it. She gave it back to me on the train.

Very few times has my heard actually stopped beating. This was one of them. The ID is needed to board the train home. The ID is needed to check into the hotel. The ID will now be required any time I use my credit card (because that's my luck). In total embarrassment to Shayna I started unpacking our backpack (which we used to pack books/games/etc) at the checkout table in a frantic attempt to find my ID. After much searching it was found..in my wallet, where I normally put my AAA card (the AAA card was needed for the train as well).

Next post will be later tonight about our first night in NY. Nyeh nyeh nyeh

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

And now for something completely different

I'm going to steal a page from Shayna's blog and do this wikipedia thing. Go to wiki and put in your birthdate sans the year. Pick 3 events, births, and deaths. Discuss

Events:
  • 2000 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average reached a record high of 11,722.98 (I'm so money)
  • 1972 - The TV comedy Sanford & Son (an American import of the British comedy Steptoe and Son) premieres on NBC. (I didn't know that was a ripoff of a British show..maybe the office will last as well)
  • 1954 - Marilyn Monroe weds Joe DiMaggio. (both of these people are in We Didn't Start the Fire) (side note here: In 5th grade as a project my social studies teach Mr. Sarnoski had us research 30 items off this song. My mom hardly knew any of them and was a horrible reference for this project.)

Births:

  • 1969 - Jason Bateman, American actor (yes, the Jason Bateman. Shayna says I look kind of like him..don't know if that's good or bad)
  • 1741 - Benedict Arnold, American general and traitor (d. 1801) (yes The Benedict Arnold)
  • 1948 - Carl Weathers, American actor (yes THE Carl Weathers. Shayna says I look kind of like him..don't know if that's good or bad)

Deaths:

  • 1957 - Humphrey Bogart, American actor (b. 1899) (Here's looking at you)
  • 2006 - Jim Gary, American artist (b. 1939) (I thought this said Jim Cary when I first read it and I was like NO WAY! HE'S DEAD?! But then I saw it was some guy I never heard of)
  • 1968 - LL Cool J, American rapper and actor (ok, this is actually another birth but I didn't know anyone else on the death list and I have some MONEY people on the birth list.)

come on ride dat train

Our vacation was only 4 days, but so much stuff happened in those 4 days that it would be impractical to have it all in one post. So I'm going to split them out a bit..today: Just getting to NYC.

Shayna and I stayed up late Thursday night making sure everything was in the right place for J-Mo (shout out to J-Mo!) to feed the animals. We got everything packed etc. There is a little drama here because we are out of cat food. So far we have only been feeding them Science Diet kitten food (official kitten food of the adoption agency). However, we've only been able to find science diet in petco & petsmart. Those places closed at 9 pm and open at 9 am. We need to be at the Springfield Metro by 9:30 am to make our train on time. At 10:45 we make the call to just get kitten food from the grocery store. Typically it's a bad idea to change food so quickly like that..especially for a kitten. But we realized that J-Mo was feeding them and would have to clean up anything in case things went disastrous. Crisis averted to future J-Mo (Shout out to future J-Mo!).

We get to the metro and I have my handy card to pay for parking, but there are big signs with an unfriendly font stating that max parking is 24 hours. We were pretty sure that they would tow a car if it were there 4 days, so we parked at the mall, hoping that the mall wouldn't care enough to have it towed.

The metro ride went smoothly, as well as the train ride. I have to say that if you have the opportunity and time to take a train, you probably should. It is so choice. Plenty of leg room, a snack car that you can go to at any time, and not a lot of people.

We spent the 3 hours just playing card games and even took a little nap.

Coming up next..from the train to the hotel..or Bruce Willis took Mos Def 16 blocks. We can surely go 11.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Dagger!

The NFL announced the 2006 schedules this week. It's exactly 4 months until Preseason begins with the Hall of Fame game. Unfortunately, the Broncos have a brutal schedule this season. They play both #1 playoff seeds from last season (Donkey Shoes & Seaducks) as well as play the Stillers and Patsies.

Word on the street is that with the Broncos first pick they will take either Lendale White or DeAngelo Williams. I don't really see the need for them to take a RB. They can make anyone a good RB. Heck, sign me up coach. I'll play the league minimum and play RB for you.

In other news, Shayna and I start our vacation tomorrow. We are taking a train up to New York City (NEW YORK CITY?!), Staying at a hotel in Manhatten, eating at Tavern on the Green, seeing Wicked: The Musical, Gray's Papaya for hot dogs at midnite (or perhaps earlier), riding the cyclone at Astroland.

It's only 4 days, but it's going to be great to get away from the big city, travel in style through the land with "crap in the air" and arrive at the really big city. I can't wait!

Sunday, April 02, 2006

That's what he said

For the final day of this 6 days of Shayna, I thought I'd share my viewpoint on how I asked her out. This is also located on our wedding page (as well as her viewpoint).


I initially met Shayna while she was working in the George Mason University food court. She was wearing a pair of black vinyl pants that looked really nice. She was quite nice, always had a big smile and was very cheerful. She was very different from all the other cashiers who pretty much hated being there. (Most of them didn’t speak English either). Every time I went to the food court I made sure to look for Shayna and if she were working a register I would be in her line.

A little while later, I see that she is in the S.T.A.R. Center where I work. She had signed up for a video class and needed to complete some projects. This worked out very well since I was the video mentor and I could help her out at any time.

Shayna and I didn’t really hang out outside of our prospective work areas. Every time we saw each other though we would stop and talk. We did talk over AIM though (what do you know, AOL finally did something right!) which helped to get us know each other better. I probably wouldn’t have asked her out (because I’m a pretty shy guy when it comes to girls) if it hadn’t been for my friend Doug.

Doug is a friend that attended Virginia Tech at the time who was interested in a girl of his own. He thought for certain that she was interested in him but he didn’t have the guts to act on his feelings (pretty much the same situation I was in). I was trying to convince him to ask this girl out, when he came back with why wasn’t I asking Shayna out. Well, I knew he had a good point but I hate it when he’s right (even if it’s my point that he stole). So the next time I saw Shayna I would be sure to try and ask her out.

Well the next time I saw Shayna was at the STAR lab. She had to work on one of her projects. Thankfully the lab was pretty empty so if I got shot down not to many people would notice. As I approached her, I wanted to make sure that it would be a good fit and that we would have things to talk about if we did in fact go on a date. I had previously gone out with girls who had nothing in common with me and I didn’t want to have that same experience again. So anyways, I start shooting the breeze with her and so I ask her, “You like football right?”

“Yup” (excellent)

“You like basketball right?”

“I like basketball more than I like football” (an acceptable answer but not the most ideal)

“And you don’t smoke.”

“No, I don’t smoke” (definitely a requirement)

“And you don’t do drugs”

“No, drugs” (YES!)

“Do you have a boyfriend?” (Almost certainly she does, how could a Goddess like this go unattached??)

“No, I don’t” (oh…my…goodness. Don’t blow this!)

“Uhh..err..umm..Would you like to go see a movie sometime, or dinner, or dinner and a movie?” (Dang I’m smooth)

“I would love too” (SCORE!)



So that's how it all went down. We've been together ever since.

I love you dear. I wouldn't want to be with anyone else. Happy 2 (err..6) year anniversary!

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Thank you God for Your Son

So I'm not quite sure how I did it, but I think I skipped a year somewhere. Oh well, tomorrow will be another story from somewhere.

Last night, Matt Dyer had his "bachelor" party. In our group of friends the bachelor party isn't quite the same as traditional bachelor parties. We don't get drunk and hire a stripper. We get together and play video games. Halo to be exact. While waiting for others to arrive Jeff Young brought Chipotle to eat.

Shayna and I have given up Chipotle for Lent. Everytime she says she wants Chipotle I say "Thank you God for Your Son". It's funny and slighty irritates her which is what makes it great. (For those of you about to be married, slight irritation is the way to go. Not enough that she gets mad, but just enough to get a rise)

So Jeff Young asks if I want some chips and guacomole and the first response in my head is "Thank you God for Your Son". I told him about the joke, and he thought it was funny..but not nearly as funny as Shayna does.

It's great to have inside jokes.