"Custom" Curtains

It has come to my attention that we need some window treatments for our living and dining rooms.  Our chewed up, raggedy old blinds with missing pieces aren't as pleasing to the eye as they once were. 
I have been kidding the wife that the garage is a month away from qualifying for "Clean Sweep" and that surely Clive and his crew were already biting at the bit to get here.  So when she said that someone was coming to give us a free estimate on some windows treatments, I was hoping, of course, for "Design on a Dime."  Much to my dismay, a dime doesn't get you much when it comes to window treatments.  Especially "custom" ones.  Well, unless we are talking about a dime in gambling terms because unless you are laying about a dime a window, you're not getting custom windows treatments.  And that's if you use the illegal immigrant installation option and finnagle the assembly costs by routing it around to different companies.  I had no idea they were so costly.  I was thinking, you know, a couple hundred dollars at best.  I mean, its 50 yards of fabric, and a piece of plywood or two for the cornice board and a rod and some rings, right?  Based on what I know from buying fabric at WalMart and buying plywood at my local lumber yard, several thousand dollars and a small business loan should not be required to purchase curtains.  Unbelievable.  After the "custom" window treatment was gone, we checked at the price at our local Bed Bath and Beyond.  Much better.  If you can go to JCPenney, Bed Bath and Beyond, Sears or numerous other places and get the same stuff at a tenth or even twentieth of the cost, why pay more?  I mean, I can understand double.  Maybe even triple or quadruple the cost for custom made treatments.  But 20 times as much!!!  Save yourself the money.  Go to a chain and invest the difference, you'll thank me later.

Greenville County

I've been posting a lot of negative rants lately (when I do post) so its time for a rave. I had to go down to the county building to update my voter registration and get a new card. I need to update Jeni's as well. Normally, trips to the county building are dreadfully long and painful. However, the folks down at County Square impressed me. They were knowledgable and I was in and out in 15 minutes (during busy lunch time hours). Actually, this was my second straight successful trip there. So, thank you Greenville County, for making my governent experience a positive one.

Burn Victim

Well, I am now a burn victim.  As I said before, Jeni and I are destined to burn this place down. 
Recently, the handle broke on the electric skillet in my hand.  In an attempt to save the rice-a-roni and at the same time, salvage the screw so that I might be able to repair the handle, I sacrificed my hand.  The left hand side of my left hand suffered pretty badly.  It burned for about 2 days.
However, there is a positive to this.  My office is soooo cold (we can't turn on the heat on my floor because of the server room) that it has been nice to at least have a portion of my body warm.  Friday, I was wearing long johns and a parka and a sock hat in the morning, but my left hand was warm, dang it.
Until winter is over, I may have to periodically burn parts of my body, for survival.  My office was below 60 degrees much of the week and never got above 64.  It doesn't sound cold at first, but try sitting in it for a few hours. 
Jeni, have you seen the matches?

2nd Place

Once again, I've been defeated in a Christmas lighting contest. Still winless. It's starting to get frustrating. Best decorated house for years, all the "contests" I've been in, second place every time.

-Apartments at Clemson - Wasn't sleeping with the RA so our building didn't win
-Apartments in Greenville - We weren't the "favorites", probably chewed out the building manager too many times or maybe they figured out I was the one that kept disconnecting the speakers at the poolhouse (that were always left on and loud) every day.
-No official contest in the neighbor this year, and then, it turned into an arms race. That's right, we've been one of the few that actually put anything out the last couple years. In fact, last year, less people than normal put stuff out. But this year, it was on. Neighbors who'd never put anything out suddenly got that Clark Griswald streak in them and went to town. I have to admit, we had some tough competition. I never thought that the competition was in the bag. By sheer number of lights, 1st place easily. By number of extension cords, 1st place. But a couple other houses were more "organized". Judges seem to like it more if all the lights are the same color or if there is a clear theme that is carried out. My theme is "Christmas" and we have gold lights, multi lights, double filament lights, etc.
Oh well, you can't win them all. I'll take the Cubs motto for now, there's always next year. We bought a few more things this year on sale (gotta love the Boxing Day sales). We'll take the loss and learn from it. We aren't going down without a fight.
Next year, we win.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

In this PC world, I'm not afraid to use the words "Merry" or "Christmas" on my blog.

Couple quick hits while I'm blogging:

-December has been busy (as most are), sorry I've been so quiet. New Years Resolution #1 : Blog more. Have to keep my public happy, right?

-Just finished listening to "Promise Me" by Harlen Coben on CD. Books on CD really make the miles fly by while travelling. But anyway, highly recommend listening to or reading this book. It kept us on the edge of our seats for hours.

-I love bowl season.

-I'm loving my new DirectTV install as well. This DVR is amazing. I had wondered how so many people could effectively use DVR when 80% of those same people couldn't set their clock on their VCR. But it's so easy, and takes TV to a new level. Plus, it looks amazing on my new 50" DLP TV.

-Kids these days are brats. I can't stand this "new era" of non-spanking. Everywhere I go lately, kids are running amock and need to be spanked.

Starbucks Guy

Question for all you readers out there: Over the last couple weeks, I've gotten several Starbuck gift cards. And at least twice, it's been said that I "look like a Starbucks guy". So my question is, what makes me look like a Starbucks guy? Jeni said its because I always look tired, I say maybe its because I always look jittery and nervous. Do I always look on edge? Like I've had a little too much coffee? Or maybe I look like one of those metrosexual guys who are sometimes a little too fashionable and well groomed and you always wonder a little about? I certainly hope that's not the reason. Maybe its because I'm a computer guy? Or really intellectual? I'll bet that's it, right?
I have nothing against "Starbucks guys", I guess I'm just a little miffed as to how I came to be known as one. I don't particularly care for coffee, but I do love the smell of it brewing. And I've never been one to turn down a fresh breakfast pastry or cup of hot chocalate, no matter the time of year. I'm just curious as to how I am a Starbucks guy. Thoughts?

Ron Cherry

Ron Cherry is the worst ref in the ACC. I swear he thinks we bought a ticket to see him throw a yellow flag. The calls he makes are terrible. Absolutely terrible. Whenever you see him on the sidelines, you know there will be at least 3-4 abysmal calls that will make an impact on the game. I know, I know, if you are better team, you should be able to win without all the calls going you way, there are probably other opportunities you missed. But that doesn't stop the fact that I dread seeing him on the sidelines of our games.
That said, here is a great example of a call he made during the recent NC State/Maryland game last weekend. He called a personal foul for one player "giving him the business". By him, he means the other player. Um, is that in the rule book? I didn't think that it specifically said that you couldn't "give someone the business". Watch it all here:

Nooma - Extended

Jeni and I had the chance to see Rob Bell speak on Monday night in Atlanta. It was pretty cool. I mean, we've seen most of the Nooma videos so we know what he looked like. We'd heard his sermons online a lot, so we knew what he sounds like and the way he teaches. And we've read one of his books. But still, to see him in real life was interesting.
I thought it was odd that the whole thing was just like a really long Nooma video. Basically, they dim the lights, play some music, lights come up and he comes out and just jumps right into it. No, "Hi, how are you doing" or anything like that. And at the end, they bring the music up as he is making his final points, he says "God Bless" and that's it. He walks off.
The biggest thing I disagreed with all night was that everyone gave him a standing ovation at the end. I guess I just don't think a preacher should get a standing O, I mean, technically, if his heart is right, that is God speaking through him, right? I just think that many people there were standing to praise Rob and not God.
Maybe that's why there were so many street preachers outside warning of false prophets and how we were told we were all going to Hell because we went to hear Rob speak. How we were biblically illiteric and being led astray. I just wonder if they would being saying the same things if any one was preaching. Anyone other than them that is. I mean, if Billy Graham is talking, do they say the same things?
Anyway, if you get a chance to hear him, I strongly suggest it. His stuff will really make you think. If you know don't who he is, check out the below clip.