I really need to stay off eBay.

I just bought a new guitar. I wanted to go back to something simple, with no Floyd Rose tremolo. I bought this cool Ibanez guitar that is red and has 2 humbuckers in it. It sounds ok. I have already ordered new pickups for it which should be here today. I am also going back to an all tube amp. I have a Peavey Valveking 112. It is a great amp. You can switch between Class A and Class B amp types. I had been using this Digitech GNX 3000 which is an all digital effects unit. It was cool but I missed glowing tubes and the feel of analog pedals. I have an old DOD Grunge pedal which is a bit much over the top. It is real gritty. There are a few mods you can do to it to clean it up. I would consider trying one or two out.

I am on eBay and I found a Ibanez Tube Screamer TS-9 pedal on eBay. I start bidding on it with another guy. I end up snagging it for about $70. They normally go for $99 new. I do not really need a new overdrive pedal; but, I figure what the heck? It finally shows up today around 2pm. I plug in my guitar, fire up my tube up and try it first on the clean channel. The overdrive is a little weak for my tastes. I like things a little meatier. I had seen in Guitar Magazines where guitar players have this pedal in their pedal board. Many folks like to use this pedal as a clean boost. I move over to the overdrive section of my tube amp. I put the distortion on about 50% and start playing some riffs. I fire up the Tube Screamer and there is a poof and a little grittier distortion. It is not "in your face/over the top" but still nice. I can hear the notes I am playing instead of hearing a bunch of fuzz. I did toy around with the gain, level and tone controls. I got a great sound with the knobs all at 12 0'clock. You could max the level and gain and would still get useable tone. I even tried it with the gain set at zero. I got a great clean boost. I am definitely starting to see what all the range is with these Tube Screamers. I may not mod this one. I would consider IndyGuitarist's "Tube Screamer on Steroids" mod, especially if I could keep the characteristics of the original pedal and boost it when I need to. I need to spend more time with it to see what kinds of tones I can get. I did manage to score a Boss MD-2 Mega Distortion. The only reason I got that was because in Guitar World Magazine they list a setting for Van Halen's "Somebody get me a doctor" in it and I love Eddie's old tone when it was gritter.

I definately need to stay off eBay because I also picked up a Pioneer INNO to replace my XM Roadie from a guy in Houston that was selling them for like $60. I will probably unload this Jackson Guitar and Kustom Tube 12A amp on eBay to try and recoup some of my costs. I also have some pedals that I need to unload on eBay too. Until the next eBay adventure.

Thanksgiving at my house

Both of my brothers have their own homes and have their separate Thanksgiving traditions. Daniel normally works Thanksgiving. He and I think alike because I used to work the holidays as well. I would get time and a half plus get an extra floating holiday. My brother John usually has Thanksgiving at his trailer in La Vernia. He makes Fajitas and invites his in laws and his sister in law and her 6 kids. (4 of the kids have different dads.) He only has a single wide and when you get my parents, my clan, my brother's in laws and his sister in law and her 6 kids, it becomes standing room only. Plus., La Vernia is outside San Antonio and a tad bit far for me to travel. For the past few years, I have told my brother that it is a little too far to be traveling way out there. I have had Thanksgiving once at my house and invited my brother and he never came. I will always invite him and he is always welcome. I love my brother but he is very nosey. The last time he was at my house. I was at the store and when I got home, he had gone up into my spare bedroom, taken out my guitars and plugged them in to play. I have also caught him snagging stuff from my house without even asking. Once, he had my mom's van loaded up with stuff. When he realized he had been caught, he replied, "Can I have this?" If he would have asked, I am sure I would have let go of some of the stuff. He also always wants to borrow my guitar gear. I see him like twice a year. I hate lending him anything because I know I will never see it again.

My house got volunteered this year for Thanksgiving. My mother is going to bring my great aunt which I have yet to go see. We used to see her all the time but its been years since I have seen her. I will buy all the food no problem and have my mom bring a dessert. I will end up with turkey and dressing to eat for about two weeks after all that. I told my brother Daniel he is welcome to come out out. He and I have been close for a few years. He is also in the computer industry. I usually touch base with both brothers at least once a week. I am finding myself as the older, wiser brother that helps point my brothers in the right direction, which is kinda cool. I enjoy being able to jump in and resolve issues when problems arise.

It shall be interesting to see how this Thanksgiving turns out. I am tempted to just goto Bill Millars or HEB and order one of those complete Turkey Dinner meals where all I have to do is open up the package and heat it up.

Treak or Treating in my neighborhood

I went out Trick or Treating with my son who had his plan to hit the neighborhood for Trick or Treating. This was his 2nd year Trick or Treating. (He is 9.) I am on my way home and he is already starting to freak out because I am not home yet. I get home, we eat dinner and he is already in his costume. This year he is a pirate. We start off at my neighbors house. We worked our way around the rest of the houses. My son keeps telling me, "The scarier the house, the better the candy." There are quite a few houses whose lights are off. We work our way around walking for about 2 hours. By that time, Josh's candy bag is full. He tells me he is getting blisters for carrying it.

I am amazed at how many kids are out this year. My A/C repair guy was having a Halloween party for the kids. There was a big screen playing VeggieTales. They had face painting and games. It was pretty cool. There were quite a few high schoolers out. One girl screamed, "I am NEVER too old to trick or treat." Wait till you have kids, you will be out carting them around. There were also parents who were driving their kids around to trick or treat. First of all, that is cheating. That is the whole point of Halloween. You dress up and walk all over the neighborhood to trick or treat. You do not drive. This girl's mom was on the cell phone the whole time. My neighborhood is still being built. It is like 10 years into a 25 year build plan. The Mexican nationals who are working on the houses brought their kids trick or treating. You could hear them speaking Spanish up and down the street screaming, "Ninos!" I was also amazed at my neighbors who were already buzzing from the beer they were drinking who were out with their kids, beer in hand, trick or treating. Hey guys. This is not New Orleans. I realize you are in a neighborhood but you can not walk around with beer or alcohol in you hands thinking this is just some big picnic.

Josh finally made it back to the house and complained the last 20 minutes of our trip about how his hand hurt, his feet hurt and how he had blisters on his feet. It kinda makes me laugh. He will walk like 8 blocks to trick or treat but complains walking a block to school and gets mad when I do not pick him up from school when I work from home. His bag was on the table. He had already started to sort out his loot. I was amazed that some folks gave pencils. There was lots of sweet and sour sugary goodness. There was not much in terms of chocolate. Perhaps that might be a good thing. If I am up late one night, craving something sweet, you might find me raiding that container of chocolate.

Drivers in Suburban and Expeditions

If you drive a big SUV like a Suburban or a Expedition, this does NOT automatically mean you have the right of way. I realize you are bigger than me and would crush my little Honda Hybrid if you hit me, but because you drive a bigger vehicle does not give you the right to drive like a moron. Secondly, there are these things on your steering wheel called TURN SIGNALS, please locate them right now and start to use them. I can not stand you drifting into my lane with no signal at all and you expect me to realize that you wanted to move over. Do I look like a mind reader? Third, if you miss your turn or about to pass your exit, do not take the right of way away from me just so you can try to make it in almost taking my front end off my car. You need to take the next exit and take the whip around. Fourth, if you can not park your big monster, gas guzzling SUV, you do not need to be driving one.

Lunch at Jack In the Box

I am rolling into work late today today and figured I would stop and get some lunch. I wanted Chik-Fil-La but the line was wrapped around the building. I decided to stop at the Jack in the Box around the corner from my work. I roll up to the window and this guy takes my order. I ordered the sirlon burger combo meal. When I get to the window, this lady who takes my money is a Hispanic lady with a thick accent. It reminded me of George Lopez's story about Mexicans working at Jack in the box. "You wanna Yumbo Yak? You wanna french fries?" The kid responds, "No sir, my friends are fine." It was all I could do not to start laughing while this lady took my money.

I admire anyone that is working at all, even if it is at a fast food place. Of course, fast food restaurants seem to hire anyone that can barely speak english. I have gotten rotten service at the Burger King and the Taco Bell in Kyle and Buda, TX. When you roll to the drive through, the person working at the drive thru will usually go, "Yeah? Anytime you are ready." Geesh, what kind of greeting is that? This woman at the Jack in the box was very friendly and professional. It just amazes me that a fast food restaurant would put someone who has a thick accent or has problems communicating because they are hard to understand to work at the drive thru.

My great aunt from Monroe, LA

My great aunt finally moved in with my parents. She has been talking about doing that for years. I never thought she would move. She was living in my grandmother's house in Monroe, LA where my dad grew up. The whole neighborhood has gone downhill for years. My dad had mentioned the house was in dire need of repair. He ended up selling the land for like $5000 with the house and then paid $1100 to get it knocked down. My great aunt is in her 80s. My dad lived with her while she was in college. She is a sweet lady.

During her move, she told my parents she was bringing her 3 dogs with her. She never had children, so the dogs are like her kids. She had a couple who was coming to San Antonio anyway bring her. She was only able to get 2 dogs in the car with her because the other one was too scared to get in the car. A few days later, I find out that my dad, who has medical problems as is, is driving her to Monroe, LA which is a 9 hour drive, getting the dog and driving back.

I called my father to check on him and he was fine. When they got to Monroe, they were trying to get the 3rd dog and the dog bit my dad. They eventually got the dog in the car and they drove back to San Antonio. My dad ended up going to the hospital because of the dog bite.

My mother is biting her to tongue with regards to my great aunt and her dogs. She was like, "I can't say anything about those dogs. Those are her kids." I responded, "Mom, its YOUR house. You should have laid down the law and said that you can only bring 1 dog or 2 dogs tops." My mom was telling me she is worried about my Dad because with his medical problems she is worried that he is going to have another heart attack from trying to get the house ready for my great aunt and having to go back and forth to Monroe.

What is even more ironic, my great aunt has a room with a bed in it. The first night she was at my parents house, she slept on the porch to make sure the dogs were ok. My mom came home that day and found she had cleaned the porch completely. My dad then went out and bought her one of those Aero Beds so she can sleep on the porch and be with those dogs. On one hand, I think it is good that my great aunt cames to live with my parents. My parents are pack rats. This is forcing them to purge much of their clutter. I have even offered to come in and do painting and lay new tile to help them improve their house. My great aunt is also going to pay them money every month since she is going to be living there which will help with the added grocery expense. On the other hand, my dad has a lot of medical problems already. He does not need to add to them with street from my great aunt's move and her 3 dogs.

I already do call my parents once a week to check in on them. I will definitely have to start calling them more frequently and make sure my father takes care of himself.

Updates from my middle brother

I have started to make a habit of calling my middle brother at least once a week. He and I had never been real close. He is the one that thinks since he is the middle child, everything should be handed to him. My mother bought the land that his trailer is sitting on. He told my mother that he would pay her back. My mother saw about $200 from him and nothing more. I laugh because my mother complains, "We do not have any money." I usually tell her, "Yeah you do, John's trailer is sitting on top of it." His wife is my age and were in the same graduating class. I knew of her, but did know her personally. She always has this "sour puss" look on her face at family get togethers and sits there with her arms crossed like she is upset about something. She hardly ever speaks to me. She has a short leash on my brother. Every time I see his kids, I try to visit with them. Recently, his wife has started getting a little better in the "being social" department.

My brother got his bachelors degree about a year and a half ago. He was working for a Radiological Office but got fired from that job. He worked at a hotel for like the third or forth time just to bring some money in. My son's mom got a job at Home Depot supply in New Braunfels. I had made mention that he should apply. He did and got hired on. He works in the credit department in a big call center. During the summer, he was trying to get a teaching job and was offered a few jobs outside of the San Antonio area. Of course, his wife would not let him relocate his family outside the San Antonio area. She is too close to her own family. My brother has the dreams of being a coach, which I think is a great dream to strive for. In his mind, he wants a coaching job his first year teaching. My suggestion to him is to get his foot in the door of a school district and then worry about getting a coaching job. He has taken the Exit test a few times. It is never mentioned how many times he has taken it. The last time I had asked him about it, he told me it was going to a review session in San Marcos for that test. He is like my mother that never does well on tests. The other big problem is that he does not have teacher's certification. He has had schools tell him they will not even look at his resume without that.

He tells me in an email that he wants to quit his Home Depot job and go substitute at East Central. I asked him if he would make what he was making at Home Depot subbing and he tells me he would have to get a part time job at a hotel to make up the difference. I try to explain to him that would cut into his family time and he needs to be working during the day so he can be home with his kids. I told him to just hang loose with his Home Depot gig until another teaching job opens up. I also tell him he needs to start looking at other school districts. I will say he has been trying to get his foot in the door. I think he needs to step up his search in trying to get a teaching job and stop thinking he is going to be a coach his first year out as a teacher.

I think God wants me to be the older, wiser brother to help direct my brothers, to help point them in the direction they need to be. I am happy to help my brother out in any way I can. I just would hate to see him make choices to where his family would never see him because he is always working to makes ends meet.

Hot Dogs at Exxon?

I am at Exxon the other day getting a drink. I usually will grab something healthy like a granola bar to eat in addition to my drink. The big joke I normally use when my son can not decide what he wants to eat is, "I'll buy you hot dogs at Exxon. They are 2 for a $1." There was this well dressed lady in the Exxon and she was making chili cheese hot dogs. She sat in front of that chili and cheese dispenser for about 10 minutes making sure she got all the extra cheese and chili should could put on the thing. You would have thought it was her last meal.

I have eaten hot dogs at Exxon. They are not bad. It is a quick and inexpensive lunch or dinner while you are on the road or going from one place to another and need to put something in your stomach. It just amazes me how people just to try to get everything they can from that $.99 hot dog. The condiments are free, but do not just sit there for over 10 minutes to make sure you get a ton of cheese and chili that comes from a dispenser that squirts out by pressing a button. It is not nice, fat , juicy steak. It is a hot dog that is 2 for $.99, get it, put your chili and cheese and go. That is why they call it, "Grab and go" not "Grab and engorge yourself".

iPhone lawsuit seeks over $1 billion in damages

Lawyers filed a class action lawsuit against Apple and AT&T seeking $1.2 billion in damages because the iPhone is locked to AT&T’s wireless network. The suit also notes that Apple will not allow unauthorized applications on the iPhone.

First of all, give me a freaking break. You knew that iPhone would only work on AT&T and they are in a partnership for a few years. Eventually, it will not be locked to only AT&T. If you knew this ahead of time, why sue? Should I go into Burger King and sue because they do not sell McGriddles? Should I sue Honda because my car will not run on BioDiesel when I knew I was buying a hybrid to begin with?

Secondly, this is a new product. Apple will eventually open up the door to developers to develop all kinds of apps on the iPhone, which will make the iPhone a even more valuable tool. There is already VoIP and Messaging on it via the Safari browser. These people just need to give it some time and eventually you will have a iPhone not locked down to the AT&T network and all kinds of apps being developed for the iPhone.

Our legal system is already locked up with silly lawsuits. Instead of whining about AT&T and trying to sue, why not do something useful with your time? What about building a house for Habitat for Humanity? Why not volunteer at a hospital? Why not go after auto manufacturers and the government to start making better fuel efficent cars? We have the technology to do so. We need to cut down on our emissions before we do more damage to the world that we have already done. Life is too short to be locking up our legal system with preposterous lawsuits like these. These people need to redirect their energies to do good in the world instead of wasting time and money.

More Moron Drivers

Driving to work today I saw a girl talking on a cell phone and was not paying attention. She was in the fast lane of IH35 N and signaled to move over to the middle lane. She immediately jets over and does not realize that there is an 18 wheeler behind her and almost rear ends her. You have to wonder about people.

People need to take $10 and goto Target and buy a corded headset for your cell phone. You can even get a bluetooh headset for about $40. If you are going to drive your car, make sure both hands are on the wheel and your head is not cocked to the side wit you yapping on your cellphone. I am sure IH35 would flow much smoother if the moron drivers who talk on their phones while driving would get some common sense.

My birthday dinner at the Green Mesquite Austin, TX

I have always wanted to goto the Green Mequite here in Austin off Barton Springs. Monday (August 20th) was my birthday. I packed up my son and we headed over to there. I had called ahead just to make sure I was not going to get there too late. They closed at 10pm, so there was plenty of time.

We roll in and the place is almost empty. We were immediately seated in a booth and our drink orders were taken. The menus are under the plexiglass covering the tables. This is a BBQ place, so I wanted to try some of that. The special for Monday was Meat plate which was Brisket; but, I wanted something other than brisket. The waitress comes back to take our order and Josh is indecisive. She suggests a hamburger as Josh is looking over the kids menu. He orders a hamburger and fries. I ordered a BBQ sandwich that comes with two meats with fries. The sandwich comes with sausage and turkey. The food is brought to us rather quicky. The waitress brings a ketchup bottle of BBQ sauce which is nice. I hate BBQ plates the drown their BBQ in sauce. The bread for the sandwich is a cheap hoagie roll and is very dry like it had been sitting out all day. The sausage had a nice smokey flavor to it as did the turkey, but both meats were dry and chewy. The Sausage was apparently cooked way too long as it was shriveled up. The food is editable but has to be covered in BBQ sauce because the meat was soo dry. The fries were hot and homemade. I do not have a french fry preference. It was good that they were not too greasy. Josh gets his hamburger and it has mustard on it and he does not like mustard. I try scraping it off and he tells me he is not going to eat it. I then tell him I will save it for tomorrow's lunch.

When I get the bill i was shocked to see it was over $20 just for 2 people. The drinks alone totalled over $6. The waitress had charged me full price for the hamburger. I had asked her about it and she proceeds to tell me that there is no hamburger on the child's menu. Of course, I laugh to myself because she is the one that suggested it after we were looking at the kid's menu. I then notice on my receipt there is a "suggested tip" at the bottom for 15%, 20% and 25%. The service was prompt and the waitress was nice, but she never came back and checked on us or to give us refills or even ask if we wanted dessert. She definitely did her job but she never went out of her way to serve us.

Overall, I was not impressed with the food at all. I have know people that have gone to this place and they said it was great. I have gotten better BBQ at Rudy's and they claim to be the "Worst BBQ". If they are the worst, what is the Green Mesquite? With the food being fair and the service marginal, I will not be returning to this place at all. I did notice the owner was opening a Green Mesquite in Russia. Apparently, Russians are used to bad food and marginal service.

If you want good BBQ, goto the Salt Lick or any of the BBQ places in Lockhart, skip the Green Mesquite. Or if you are on Barton Springs, go over to Chuy's or Shady Grove.

People who ride bikes to work

I have no problem with people who want to ride their bike to work to get exercise or save money on gas or reduce pollution. In fact, my boss rides his bike to work every day. My pet peeve with this brave souls who brave the heat in the summer, cold in the winter and Austin traffic is the fact that many of these cyclist do not realize that if they ride on the streets, they are subjected to the same traffic laws as cars.

I was headed to the post office today to mail some bills before I started to head home. There is a 4 way intersection where I needed to make a left turn on. I get the this intersection. I let the car in front of me go because he had the right of way and I started to pull out. There was a cyclist who blew threw the 4 way stop without stopping, only to wave at me for not hitting him. Did he stop? No. Did he slow down before he got to the intersection? No. I waved at him back by giving him the "You're number one" sign. I can not believe how some of these clueless people have not been run over by totall not paying attention.

Please people who ride bikes, I admire what you are doing but do not do stupid things like disobey traffic laws.

New iPhone

I was lucky enough to get a free 8G iPhone today. I have not really had a chance to use it much because you would think moving one address book to the new phone would be easy and painless, right? NOT!

First of all, I spent about 3 hours trying to get all of my contacts over to the new iPhone. It first synced my contacts with what was on my MacBook, which I did not want. I then went in and deleted everything. You would think after saving the contacts to the SIM card, I would be able to use them. I finally called AT&T and this guy did try his hardest to try and help me. His answer? The Apple Servers to activate are down. I explained that trying to pair bluetooth between the 2 phones are totally independent of that. I tried pairing the 2 phones together and then sending the contact file over and my old phone would not connect with the iPhone at all. I then tried taking the Outlook card file and trying to import it into Outlook 2007 and then have iPhone sync with Outlook. Outlook would only see my first contact in my list and nothing more. I had to once again delete and restart. I finally went to my address book on my MacBook, emailed myself the Outlook card file from the Memory Stick from my old Sony Ericsson and deleted all the contacts already in that address book. I then went in and and imported that file into the Mac Address book, synced and PRESTO! It worked!!!

I would love to see an easier way to manage contacts in the iPhone. You can not delete them inside iPhone, you have to update them using the Address Book and syncing. I am sure there will be a piece of software or another software update that will allow me to do all of that.

Overall, I am impressed with this thing. I heard one guy review the iPhone and he complained about it not having an expansion slot. My respond to him is, "Give me a break, it has 8 gigs of space. How much space do you need? It is a phone for crying out loud." I did see a guy who had put the new Casino Royale movie on his iPhone and it looked great. It was better than the iPod Video. I might have to load up with some movies for my flight to California and I would not have to pull the MacBook out to watch movies. This phone definitely blows my old Sony Ericsson W810i out of the water. I would get frustrated with that phone because you would try to hit back and it would bring you into Walkman mode. That was a pain. My only real complaint other than the address book syncing nightmare is that the keyboard is a little small for me to touch type. (I have fat fingers, so I find myself constantly trying to correct my typing.
) I look forward to using this device, especially having the ability to VPN into my office through it using the WiFi connection. That would be sweet being able to check stats on the fly.

Crazy Texas drivers!

For the drivers out there that do not know, I am going to educate you about 4 way stops. I know you must have missed that at Drivers Ed. I am going to make it real clear and easy for you.

In the United States and Canada, there are many 4-way intersections with a stop sign at every entrance. In this case, the default rule is:

1. Whichever vehicle stops first has priority.
2. If two vehicles stop at the same time, priority is given to the vehicle on the right.
3. If three vehicles stop at the same time, priority is given to the two vehicles going in opposite directions.
4. If four vehicles stop, drivers usually use gestures and other communication to establish right-of-way. In some areas, the custom is for the north-south or the more-trafficked road to have priority, although this is rare.

Now, there is a 4 way stop next to this large HEB called the Kyle Parkway. I was coming from the HEB because I had just gotten gas. I had stopped at the stop sign. There were 2 other cars who had gotten there before me. I waited for them to go and then I pulled out. This lady in an SUV on my left pulls out as well and almost takes my front end off. I honk my horn and she stops. I continue through the intersection to make a left turn at the next stop sign. This lady pulls up right next to me and rolls down her window in the wrong lane. (The lane for traffic going in the other direction.) She rolls down her window and starts yelling, "What the heck is your problem?" I roll my window down and ask her, "Don't you know how to yield? I got to the intersection before you, so it was my turn. Besides, the person on the right has the right of way if you think you got to the intersection at the same time." She looks at me and goes, "Oh. I am sorry." She then pulls away.

First of all, this lady had kids in her car. Why do something stupid like that? Secondly, I had my kiddo in my car. If you are pulling up to make threats to me with my kid in the car, then you are committing assault. (If you strike me it becomes a battery. Road rage is a felony offense in Texas.) I am amazed at the level of stupidity in people. It makes you wonder where people get their driver's licenses. I am starting to believe when you purchase a big SUV or big truck, you automatically get a Napoleon complex and everyone should get the hell out your way. To the stupid drivers out there: 1) If your kids are in the car, do not pull up to drivers you do not know and start screaming. 2) Life is too short to get all upset driving. You live in a small town outside of Austin, you are not fighting Austin traffic. Stop being a hot head just because you think you are in the right, when you know you are not. (Heck, Kyle only has 1 red light. I could only pray the put one at that intersection.). 3) Learn to use your turn signals. Yes, your car has them. They are not optional equiptment. 4) Learn the rules of the road. They are there for a reason. If you need a refresher, take a Defensive Driving course. They are only $20 to $30 online.

If TxDOT would start giving intelligence test as part of the driving test, we would have a lot less morons out on the road.


Drive Safe!

My Brother and his crazy family

This past weekend was my nephew's 5th birthday. My brother did not send out invitations. He proceeded to email me that we were meeting a Chuck E Cheese at 6pm followed up with a phone call. I asked why soo late and he told me that his wife did not get off till late and his mother in law and just got in from Florida. As I drove into the party, I called my mother and asked her what she was getting Travis for his birthday. She proceeds to tell me, "Call of Duty 2 for the Gamecube." I respond, "You do know thats not an age appropriate game for a 5 year old. It is a T for Teen game." My mom tells me that she things my brother is asking for it for his son because he really wants it. My brother then calls me and I tell him, "Call of Duty 2? You know 5 year olds are not supposed to be playing that." He proceeds to tell me that he lets his 5 year old play Grand Theft Auto and True Crime. He tries to justify it by saying he makes him turn the sound off so he can not hear the curse words. My son is almost 10 and I will now allow him to play either game.

I end up at Walmart and get Travis a Sponge Bob Ants in the pants game and another card game. I am sure my brother will try to figure out some way he can try to return both so he can get the money and buy another Gamecube game.

As I am getting close to Chuck E Cheese, my mom tells me that it is a "nightmare" there and they are going over to Mr. Gatti's. The funny thing about this whole thing is that he did not reserve a party room and everyone had to pay for themselves. My brother did not even order his son a cake of his choosing, stating "I will just get cupcakes. They are easier." He did get all the kids Powercards to play video games. Josh comes by back like 15 minutes later telling me he has no more credit on his card.

First of all, I am amazed that my cheapo brother has not reserved anyplace. At least when I have had Josh's parties, we always had food for everyone. Secondly, I alway purchase my son the cake he wants. If he wants cupcakes, thats fine too. I am amazed that my brother would wait until the last minute to buy cupcakes for his party. Given, at 5 year old you really do not care what kind of cake you get.

Of course, my brother's sister in law was at the party. I recently found out she is pregnant with baby number 6. She has 6 babies with 4 different fathers. The funny thing is she can not even take care of the kids she has. Her mom takes care of most of them. She did marry the father of her last son and new baby on the way. My question is when does the State come in and make this woman tie her tubes because she is becoming a welfare case? My tax dollars are paying for her and her kids. Just because she is too lazy to use protection does not mean that I and the other tax payers should have to pay for her making bad decisions. You would have thought she would have learned her lession the first 2 kids she had. What kind of example is she showing to her own kids that its ok to have a ton of kids and not take care of them?

Fox Rent a Car Austin

I had planned to rent a car for my trip that I was recently taking, so I did not put that many miles on my car. I checked around and found that Fox was the cheapest. I was going to rent a full sized car for 1 week. The 1 week rate was $178.87 which included all the airport taxes. It was still cheaper than most car rental places. I get an email from some guy at a @aol.com email domain. I am thinking he is either the owner or one of the managers at Fox confirming my rental. I then get an email from this guy telling me I do not have UNLIMITED miles as the website stated, I have 200 miles a day since I am not flying into Austin. I email him back asking him for clarification and he says because I am not flying into Austin, that he would only give me 200 miles and this was standard practice. I told him to please cancel my reservation and I would be renting elsewhere. I tried calling Fox directly to make sure they canceled the reservation, and the girl on the phone told me she was not able to do that, that I had to do it myself. The reps that work for Fox are totally clueless and customer service is not one of their strong suits.

If you are going to rent a car with Fox, I would avoid them at all costs. They are cheap for a reason. You basically get the quality and service you pay for. I would go with a more reputable company like Dollar, Alamo, Budget or Avis. Ironically, I did rent with Enterprise and ended up paying about the same as I would have with Fox and got UNLIMITED miles. I will report how the rental goes when I get back from my trip.

My Wyndham hotel stay in Arlington TX

I own two online travel websites as well as being a Referring Travel agent. I primarily got into it because I wanted to save money on my own travel. I had to book a hotel room close to Grand Prairie because my cousin's house was going to be full. I first checked my 1st travelsite.

http://www.travelwithbill.com

I could not find anything higher than a 2 star hotel for under $60 a night. I then checked my 2nd travel website.

http://www.minutetrip.com

Once again, I could not find anything under $60 a night. I have used the Hotwire website before and had good results. I have gotten the Candlewood Suites twice before for less than $50 a night. Candlewood does not have a pool but it is a extended stay suite which is nice. The one up in Arlington is very nice. I noticed on Hotwire they had a 3 star hotel for $52 a night. I decided to go ahead and book that hotel. To my surprise, it was the Wyndham which is right next to Six Flags and the Baseball stadium. I have stayed at the Wyndham last year. The hotel is more like an office building. The pool is nice and they do have a restaurant and bar. I am a Wyndham By Request member, so I figured I would use my card to check in. Because I had booked my hotel via Hotwire, they would not let me use my By Request card. That is a tad bit silly because other hotels, including Airlines will let you use your frequent flyer or frequent stay card even if you booked your hotel or flight online. I then proceeded to ask them if they had free WiFi. At the bare minimum I figured in the common areas, free WiFi would be good. The lady told me no and told me it would cost $12.95 a day. I then told her I needed a roll-away bed for Josh. I was told it was $15 a day. I then asked, "Do you at least have free breakfast?" "No. Breakfast is served in the restaurant at $12.95 a person." she replied. I got the key and went up to my room.

My first impressions of the room? First of all, the room was right next to the elevator. I could hear the elevator go up and down all night. Secondly, the walls were paper thin. Josh wanted to go get some ice from the ice machine and there was a couple having sex down the hall. That is not good when you have curious 9 year old boys who are wondering what all the noise is. The cable tv in the room was fuzzy. If you moved the TV, it would clear up. You would think a hotel of that size and being a 3 star hotel would have digital cable. There was a desk with plug ins for the internet; but once again, you had to pay for it.

If you are even considering staying at the Wyndham, do not. I have had better stays at "budget" hotels such as Motel 6, Days Inn and Super 8. It did not bother me that they did not have free breakfast because that is the whole point of traveling, you go out to eat at someplace you have never been before. Of course, other hotels are starting to offer hot breakfasts with eggs. The La Quinta up in Kerrville has waffles. I brought my laptop with me, figuring I could use the internet to check for places to see and do around Dallas while I was there. I did not want to use my cousin's computer because I figured that would be rude of me. You would think a fancy 3 star hotel would at least have free WiFi for their guests. Just as a suggestion, they could have had a website where customers could order room service or order gifts to send home, flowers, whatever. It is not like they would not make money off offering free WiFi. This hotel was far from a 3 star hotel. I have stayed in 1 and 2 star hotels that were a heck of a lot nicer than the Wyndham. I would maybe give this hotel 1 star, 1.5 stars tops. Even checking the ratings for this hotel did not help. I would advise not using Hotwire because you are basically getting a hotel room blind. Given, that is part of the fun. It is a gamble and sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. What was even more insulting is when I checked in and whipped out my Travel Agent ID, she could have cared less.The courtesies they give Travel Agents are at their discretion, so they do not have to do anything. How am I supposed to recommend a hotel to clients that can not even live up to being considered a 3 star hotel?

The next time I head up to Dallas (even go out of town and need to rent a room at a hotel) I am going to go for a extended stay suite. At least that route, there is a stove and a fridge where I can at least feed my child before heading out because you know how cranky kiddos get when they have not eaten.

I stopped to get gas at Exxon

I stopped during lunch to get gas for my car at Exxon off Burnet and 183. That place is normally busy during the day. I normally do not go to that one. I usually hit the one over off Parmer closer to my work. I had circled around the station 3 times looking for an available pump. I was pulling out when a guy who was behind this lady in a truck who could not manuver this thing to save her life. (It goes to show if you can not drive or park a big SUV or Truck, you should not be behind the wheel of one.) She parks and I pull out. As I pull out this guy is about to cut me off and gives me a courtesy wave. I go on and move into the open pump to get some gas. Apparently he wanted the same pump. I jump out, paid with speedpass and started filling up. I look back and the same guy waves at me again. I was not sure if it was like "sorry, I did not mean to cut you off" wave or what. I finish and grab my receipt when he pulls into the pump next to me. I hear him tell me, "Thanks for the cut off." in a snooty tone. I replied calmly, "Anytime." As I hop into my car to pull out, he jumps out of his car and starts saying something to me with his hands out to his side. I replied to him with a "whats your deal" hand sign. He starts to walk towards my car and puts up his fists. I laughed and drove off shaking my head.

People listen, life is too short to whine and cry about getting cut off, or just because you got to the gas pump 2 minutes later than you wanted to. Secondly, this guy was practicing road rage. Life is too short to get all huffy about something silly about who got to the gas pump first. Sure, I could have stepped out and asked him what his deal was and why he was threating me, but why? I had the upper hand, I walked away laughing because he was being a clueless person by freaking out. I am sorry if you did not get enough sleep, or maybe you were late for work, or you were having a bad day or maybe your mother did not cuddle with you enough. It is too much to ask to take your meds on a regular basis and stop being such a hot head before you either land up in jail for being a moron or get pissed at the wrong person and you end up getting hurt or end up in the hospital?

I think to myself what if I had my kid with me? What would I be teaching him if I reacted to Mr. Moron's plea for me to get out my own car and stoop down to his level to handle the situation. I want to teach my child that violence is wrong and to be the bigger guy and walk away.

So Mr. Moron, do us all a favor and go home, cool your jets, crack open a cold one and realize, life is too short for you to be such a hot head.

To my neighbor mowing his grass

My neighbor was outside working on his yard. He just mowed and had his weed wacker out. I had to shake my head in disbelief as he was weed wacking with no shoes or socks on at all. I have seen some people to stupid stuff; but, if you are going to mow your grass and weed wack with no shoes on, you have to have a few screws loose in your head.

To guys who wear rubber clogs

Ok enough already! These rubber clogs are cute on women but guys who wear them? Thats a tad bit metro sexual you think? I have seen tons of guys wearing these silly shoes. I hate to burst your bubble guys, but they look silly on you and you look mental when you wear them. My kid's daycare lady said her son wanted some too and she told him not to wear them around here because he looked retarded wearing them. Stop the madness! NO more Rubber Clogs on Guys, Please! (Or I am going to have to start taking Man Cards away from some of you!)