In honor of getting the Internet back...

Here is something from the Way Back Machine. I'm not sure when this was, but I'm guessing it was 1992, or close to it. For some reason I decided to go all out for Halloween. I never did that before, not even when I was a kid, so I don't know what got into me this particular year. (No, it wasn't booze. Well, at least not when I bought this stuff).

Anyway, Jenn and I were at some Halloween shop and I saw this Klingon kit. Now I watched Star Trek, but I wasn't a super huge fan. At least not enough to dress up as a Klingon. Or so I thought. So, yes, I bought the kit with the wig and ridged forehead and the makeup. It turned out okay for my lack of skills in the makeup department. I know that the guy throwing the party didn't recognize me. Anyway, here you go. Laugh it up, fuzz ball. Wait, that's the wrong movie...

I look kid of bad ass, don't you think? Well, except for the straw in my beer cup. I had no choice! That stupid beard thing kept getting in the cup. You didn't expect me to got to a party and not drink beer, did you? 

I hope you all had a good laugh.

I don't know why I post these things...

Our Summer Vacation Part 1: The Beginning

Like I promised in my last post, I'm back to talk about our vacation. I hope you can contain your excitement!

Some time last year, I can't remember exactly when, I was at work and Jenn had gone to her parents with the kids and when she came back we somehow had plans to all go to Hawaii this summer. Don't get me wrong, I didn't complain at all, I was more surprised than anything. After a year of figuring out where, and exactly when to go, we decided on renting a house in Kailua-Kona. By this point Jenn's sister and boyfriend dropped out, but we found a great place to stay on the water. Okay, Jenn found it, are you happy?

Seriously though, this place was perfect. There were three bedrooms and a nice patio (lanai) to look out on the water. Check out the view to the East:

And to the West:

You can't get much better than that. And, since we were splitting the cost, we didn't spend anymore than we would have on a hotel. Our plan was to save a bunch of money on food since we were at a house where we could cook. Well, we did eat breakfast over there, but that is about it. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. 

See, the vacation didn't start off so well. Before the vacation even started we had medical problems. From the beginning of July until we left either my mom, stepmom or dad were in the hospital at some points. All with different illnesses with various degrees of severity. Everyone is out now, but my mom got out two days before we left and my stepmom got out about two days after we were in Hawaii. Then, to top it all off our flight to San Francisco was cancelled the night before we left. 

Since I work in the airline business, we planned to fly stand-by all the way out to Kona. Well, once that flight cancelled it threw a wrench into everything. To make it short, we bought tickets to get to San Francisco. We were supposed to be there about 11am, but ended up getting there around dinner time. And with a lot less money. But, hey, we were halfway there! 

The next morning was better, we got out on the flight we wanted. We were split up on the plane, but it was no big deal. I got to sit next to a very nice guy who had a house out on the Big Island where he spends most of the summer. He gave us some nice tips about the island and was probably the nicest person I've ever sat next to on a plane. 

Anyway, we got to the Kona airport, which is an awesome open-air small airport around 1pm to start off our vacation. I tried to wait at the bottom of the stairs (no jet ways here, people) to take Jenn's and the kid's picture coming off the plane, but I was told I couldn't wait around down there if I wasn't waiting for a stroller.  It may seem like a laid back airport since it is wide open, but they still follow their security procedures. 

After we shoved 47 days worth of luggage into the rental minivan, we headed out to town to get something to eat on the water. We ended up at Huggo's, a nice causal place on the water. We spent about 45 minutes there and I got sunburn on the side of my neck. I took the one little spot with no shade to spare the kids. After lunch we headed to the beach to wait about an hour until we could get into the house. This was the first time the kids had been in the ocean and they loved it, once they got used to the waves that is. 

Finally, we headed to the house to unpack and get some groceries. This little (actually big) guy greeted us in the kitchen. I assume this guy promotes good eating and digestion. 

I was a little worried about how warm the house was when we first got there since there was no central air. But, once we had the a/c units running in the bedrooms and opened the windows to let the ocean breeze in, it wan't too bad. 

We got to watch the first sunset on the water and plan our attack for the week. Our first full day was a casual plan of hitting the beach. We knew we'd be tired because of the time change. And boy, were we. The kids were probably the worst, but we all were dragging by about 6pm. We grilled up some food, and hit the sack early. 

I'll stop here for now, but stay tuned for dolphins, helicopters and volcanoes! 

Vacation is over, so I'll be back soon.

After much traveling fun, we are home from our trip. I'm tired and have a lot of photos to go through. I'll come back very soon to tell you all about it. I'm sure you can't wait!

In the meantime, enjoy this picture of a gecko. I named him Fred. Fred has a lot of friends in Hawaii. Sometimes they come in your house to say hi.

Be right back!

I have some questions about this wallet

I'm on the midnight shift again, so my brain is a little mushy. But, is that really anything new?

Anyway, I saw this commercial for the Aluma-Wallet, and I have a few questions. First, here is the commercial for your viewing pleasure.

First off, when did we have such a problem with getting our wallets wet? I can't recall any time mine has gotten wet? Do they mean if you drop it in a toilet? If they do, I don't care what the thing is made out of, I'm burning it. Ladies, have you ever spilled a bottle of water in your purse? Is the first thing you pull out to salvage your wallet, or your makeup that costs a million dollars. Now that is something that should come in a water-proof case.

While we are talking about getting your wallet wet, what is ruined when it gets wet? The ink won't run on the money. The credit cards will dry just fine. What's left? That receipt you've been carrying around for five years? An old losing lottery ticket? I can't think of anything that is in my wallet that would need to be replaced, except for maybe the wallet itself.

And How thin is this thing? With it being aluminum, it's not going to flex very much. That doesn't seem very comfortable to carry in either my front, or back, pockets. Of course, I wear super tight pants, that may be why. (No, I really don't).

Oh, about the RFID chips, Is that a big theft thing? I don't have any cards with that, so that is more of a real question rather than a sarcastic one. But, it doesn't seem like it should be as big of a big deal as they make it out to be.

You know what that commercial is missing? The exasperated idiot who can't close a wallet without money and credit cards flying around the room. They show some close-up of wallets not fitting into pockets and purses, but I'd like to see a man or woman's face with that helpless look on it as they try to shove a comically large wallet into their pants our purse.

You should go buy this anyway. To help the economy and all that.

I need to go to sleep.

This Dog Cracked Me Up

Jenn and I were watching Animal Planet last night (we were flipping, okay?) and we saw this video during some funniest dog show thing. I don't know, maybe it was because I was really tired, but laughed very hard at this. I know, I need to get out more often.

Now, maybe this dog has some kind of brain issue that we shouldn't laugh, but I don't care. It's funny!

I know this is a little old so if you've seen it already, I'm sorry. If you haven't, consider it my Fourth of July gift to you.

The Shed Vac

Do you dream of vacuuming your pet? Do you really believe that your pet will sit still for this? Is your pet 15 years old? Then you're in luck! The Shed Vac is for you!

Look how much the pet enjoys it! I bet your dog wished it's mother would have used this on him instead of her tongue when he was born. Wouldn't you rather vacuum yourself instead of taking a shower? Think of all the money you'd save on water bills!

Get it the Shed Vac today! Your pet probably won't kill you. Just make sure you have a good supply of bandages available if using this on your cat!

Cars 2: Electric Boogaloo

That joke in the post title is never going to get old. Well, until there is nobody alive who remembers that movie.

Anyway, we went to see Cars 2 today, and even with all the bad reviews out there, we didn't die. Hell, we didn't even hate it. Believe me, we've seen so much worse. So, what is the deal with the reviews? Well, I have a few ideas.

First, check out the review from Linda Holmes on the NPR Monkey See Blog. She points out many of the things I was thinking. Cars 2 is probably the most straight forward kids movie that Pixar has ever done. Sure, there are some things for the adults to enjoy, some of the character's names, the scenery and even some of the voice actors. (That was Bruce Campbell!) But, overall this was really aimed at the kids so they can see the cars zoom around the track and, especially, to see one of Mater's Tall Tales in a long format.

Anyone who has kids has seen these Mater's Tall Tales on Disney Channel, well this is the same thing except expanded to a full feature. We should have seen this coming. Now, I'm not going to pretend that Mater is my favorite Cars character, but he is no Jar Jar Binks. I didn't want to shoot myself while watching it. The kids love Mater though. He's the village goof that the kids can laugh at since he says, and does, silly things all the time. Why wouldn't they make him the central character, it is a kids movie after all?

So, what is Car 2 really? I like to think that it is a action/spy movie for kids. It has all the cool locations, the cool gadgets and the bad guys from some vaugely eastern European country. Also, it has a convoluted plot that doesn't make much sense. But, what Spy movie doesn't have a nonsensical plot? Have you ever seen The Tailor of Panama? Do you know what happened in it? Neither do I, and I watched the whole thing. Also, pretty much any James Bond movie. We adults don't watch spy/action movies for plot, we watch them for, well, the action and the cool gadgets. So, why should Cars 2 be any different?

Oh, yes, it's a Pixar movie so there has to be some deep underlying emotion to it, or something like that. Why? Why can't they just make a fun movie for kids to enjoy? Actually, after I watched the movie it reminded me of one of my favorite cartoons as a kid. It think it was from Hanna-Barbera, where the taxi cab and his wife had a baby car. The baby car wants to be a dragster and his dad is pissed. They end up making up after the boy saves his dad's life. I liked it because it was about cars that were like people. Kids love that stuff. They don't need anything more. The adults do.

I saw in the Chicago Tribune that they gave it 1 1/2 stars today and that is what got this blog post started. They really want me to believe that Mr. Poppers Penguins is a better movie? Come on! I bet if this same movie was released by DreamWorks it would get at least 2 1/2 stars. (Plus more fart jokes). Yes, Pixar has made some great movies, but could this be that much worse than the previous Cars movie? Or is this a bit of, "Let's knock the big guy down because this wasn't awesome?"

Based on my kid's reactions, it seems like the latter. I'm not saying Cars 2 should get four stars or anything, but I think some critics are beiong overly harsh because it is a Pixar movie and they expect more. It's a movie about cars that are like people. We are not talking Citizen Kane here.

Oh, did I like it? Yes, it thought it was fine. No worse than the first Cars movie. It certainly looked incredible. Speaking of which, when do we get Incredibles 2?

The Toy Story short was good, too. Just go take the kids to see the movie already. Your next movie you'll be dragged to is probably going to be the Smurfs. We all know how great that will be.

(Where there enough rehtorical questions in this post? See, I can't stop. What is wrong with me? Stop it!)