Chicago Cubs Baseball Season 2006

I got a joke for you. How do Cubs fans know it's baseball season? Their star players are on the disabled list. It's going to be another long season.

Blog Mad Beta 2 Launch

Recently, the new blog traffic site BlogMad launched their beta 2 version. Users are now allowed to upload their blogs, surf for credits, and increase traffic to their site(s). I just noticed this today, so I don't have the exact date it went live. There is a verification process for BlogMad, so you aren't allowed to sign up your buddy's geek site.

I'll be testing it out over the next few days. I currently use BlogExplosion, which accounts for alot of my traffic (outside of my random top spots on some engines). It will be nice to see some competition once BlogMad gets the user base up. Currently they don't have many active sites but I'm sure that will change shortly. The setup they have is very similiar to BlogExplosion, with a clock counting down and the user having to click the correct number. They also have a credit lottery, where tickets cost 10 credits. You can also setup your blog with a referral link to increase credits.

Honda CRV 2006 - Our New Car

The new car in the Shaffer family. I must be getting old because I lost some of my haggling skills when at the dealership. They made more off of me than I would have preferred. I got a few extras that were already on it like door guards, mud flaps, and the cargo mat. I also dropped some on fog lights. For some reason I really like them. I'm sure they'll help out with the lovely Redmond weather we have.

I traded in the Honda Accord that I just bought barely a year ago. They of course tried to screw me out of the true value, but after I told the finance manager he was full of it, they decided to pay off the value. Well, apparently when they called the bank my most recent payment wasn't marked off, so guess who got a little extra back in the bank? Stupid dealers. I really do think they are the scum of the earth. Them and mass tort lawyers.

Kona Blast 2006 - My New Moutain Bike

Well, a few months ago I got married. Most of the gifts were in the form of gift cards from various places. My groomsmen did hook me up with the best gift card however, a couple hundred bucks to the local bike shop. In the card they hinted that I needed to drop a few pounds and learn how to share only one car. Well,

I finally found a Saturday where the weather was nice and I had time to shop. I was talking with a friend at work who is an avid outdoorsman. He pushed me towards the Kona mountain bike. Kona is a brand I hadn't heard much of (but let's be honest, the last time I owned a bike it was a Hutch, and I don't even know if they still exist). The frames of these mountain bikes are squared off, which gives it some more stability. Anyway, being on somewhat of a budget (the tax man cometh) I looked for one of the best low level entry bikes they had. I ended up looking at the Kona Blast, a nice bike that has some better than average upgrades on it. Most of the parts are Shimano, chain, wheels, shifters, etc. This particular style has front suspension (I don't have the bones for full suspension), which has a Marzocchi fork. From what I was told, it's italian so it must be good. Since I'm on an italian kick, I'll have to agree. I took it for a test ride in the parking lot and ran over a few curbs.

I've never had a bike with shocks on the front, so it will definitely take some getting used to. I also got a helmet, you know, for when I take it off some sweet jumps. I guess I'll have to start riding it to work. I also can't wait till my first wipeout. I'll probably throw the bike off a cliff. Good thing the frame has a lifetime warranty!

My Fetching Cat

Yeah yeah, dogs are man's best friend. Too bad man's best friend is usually landlord's worst enemy. Well, my wife (then girlfriend) a few years ago got me the best graduation present ever. Actually, it was the second best. I originally asked for a Harley Davidson but she bailed out on that one. So, I got a cat instead. He's over 2 years old now, and he's a spitting image of his daddy, just slightly less hair (zing).

One of the great things that Sammy does is fetch. He's better than some dogs I know. It started with him bringing those tiny toy mice back to me. Since he's all grown up now, those are good enough. His fetch toy of choice is a stick with a string on the end that ties to a little feather thing. Our apartment is a loft and my computer is upstairs. Usually around 10pm, he'll come upstairs, bitchin, draggin the stick behind him. this turns into a good 10 minutes of me tossing the toy over the ledge and Sammy hauling tail downstairs. Our neighbors must think we are nuts (who can blame them). When he retrieves it and brings it up stairs, he starts meowing when he gets close to me. As soon as I grab it, he bitches some more, but waits for the overboard toss.

Well, I can't play fetch all night long so Sammy reminds us of his talents. Every morning, and I literally mean every morning, we wake up with at least one of his toys on the bed and 3 or 4 scattered around the bed. Mind you, these toys are all downstairs when I go to bed. I think he misses the days when I could stay up till 4am. Hell, I miss those days. Damn the man and student loans!

Google Joins S&P 500 - There goes the Neighborhood

So Google has joined the S&P 500. Well that's just great. So in 12 + months when the P/E ratio goes to a normal number, the stock price will drop like a rock and screw up index funds all over the street and reak havoc on the market. I knew they would be added sometime, but they are still immature as a company and stock. This one revenue trick pony is going to stumble soon.

UNC Beats Murray State

UNC squeaked by Murray State Friday night. I was on the edge of my couch, literally tugging at my hair. I kind of enjoyed it, since it might be the last time before I end up scalped. Tyler Hansbrough dominated again, scoring 24 points and pulling down 9 boards, 4 of which were offensive. The stat that kills me - both teams shot at least 40% of their shots from the 3 point line. Murray State had more offensive rebounds, but UNC led the way with 34 total. They also had 3 times as many assists, which shows me that they are getting some great ball movement on the offense.

In other ACC news, Herb Sendek probably got a contract extension with his team's win over California.

My bracket(s) are okay, however I'm sure I won't be winning anything. I've realized my knowledge of basketball outside of the ACC is limited but that will change now that I hardly get to see the best conference in action.

If Dook wins the National Championship

If Dook wins the National Championship this year, I'm shaving my head. Although I don't have the white man afro like Evan had pre Shaffer wedding, it has gotten pretty long. My wife keeps complaining about the hair on the side being over my ears. I've also mastered the art of bed-head. The sides stick out like porcupine spikes.

Anyway, back to the point of this rambling. Duke is not good, period. They have JJ and Sheldon. Both can be shutdown, and it's not that hard of a task. The key to shutting down JJ - KEEP A MAN ON HIM!! BC failed to do this in the ACC Championship game and they got smoked. Look, he's not fast - he's white. You know they have moving screens set up for him, so pay attention. "But Thomas, what about Sheldon, he's such a force on the inside." Hell him. They won't have ACC refs helping him out so maybe when he smacks the shit out of someone they'll actually call a blocking foul. The rapist, er accused rapist, err.... person formerly accused of rape but charges mysteriously dropped, can swat the crap out of the ball. However he does foul and will foul. Go hard to the inside often and you can break them. Rebounding - Dook is horrible at rebounding. Remember that they love shooting threes, so there will be long rebounds to grab. Don't get caught up in the dook hype. "Oh it's dook, it's Coach K, they are #1." All media hyped crap. Dook during the season was 3 missed shots and several BAD calls away from more losses.

In summary, I hate Dook. But, if my statement about them not being good are wrong and they do win the National Championship, I will shave my locks.

New Car: One Year Later

So just over a year ago, I bought a new car. It's a wonderful 2005 Honda Accord LX and I've managed to keep the mileage below standards. I had a few posts on how to buy a car and I think I did pretty good. Well, a lot of things change in a year, like getting changing jobs, moving across America, getting married, and finding out that a stick shift in a hilly area is not the best thing for a novice (the wife).

So, we decided to get a new car. Since money is tight, we can't both have a car so we are going to trade in the Accord and get a CR-V. It's smaller which is good for all the damn compact car parking around here, it's got decent space so we can lug stuff around (like my new bike when i get it), and it's a Honda which means affordable, safe, reliable, and holds value.

I'm supposed to go visit the guy today, and I'm a little nervous. I've never had to trade in a new car, only cars older than the Olsen Twins. It's a lot different, however I did follow my advice and looked on the KBB site and found the blue book values for both the trade-in and the new car. I have researched on Edmunds, however this time around I found KBB to have prices more in my favor. The trade in for KBB was a lot higher and would cover what I owe. I've got 5 dealerships that I'm talking to their internet rep. I actually like the guy we test drove with the other day, so I'll try my best to give him the sale. That being said, If i can get the same car for a dollar less somewhere else - peace out! Anyway, Hopefully these guys will beat each other up over the price and i'll end up with a solid deal. So far the offers are sitting just around invoice. My goal this car purchase is to get below invoice. For the Honda I paid $500 over, and even though I got a solid deal, I want a better one!

In Remembrance

In loving memory of the best dog I have and will ever know. I miss you greatly and think of you always.

UNC Beats Duke: JJ Chokes

83-76 UNC rolls into Cameron and humiliates JJ, Shelden, Dockery, and whatever the hell the names of some other seniors on dook's bench coach k never plays.

I've said it before and I'll repeat right now - JJ Redick isn't the best shooter in college. Hell, he's barely in the same breathe as those in the competition. This can be seen in his 5-21 shooting performance in his final game at home. He came out on fire, but tanked miserably as he missed 15 of his last 16 shots. He also was a dismal 2-10 from the 3 point line, hitting only one more than UNC's big man Tyler Hansbrough (who was 1-1).

Say what you want about my Heel bias, but the numbers don't lie. My new favorite writer seems to agree with me. The great white hype.

Anyway, a wonderful night. Happy Birthday to the SuperCool Kim, she celebrated her annual 25th bday tonight with a kickass Argosy Cruise of Seattle. I'll post about it later.

Baseball Season Begins!

Well, at least single season ticket sales began today for the Mariners. I miss North Carolina and all the UNC games I had "spoken" tickets for. However, I love being in a Pro sports town. I get to see football, baseball, and basketball (if I cared).

Tickets went on sale at 10am today, and I got some pretty good seats. I'm not much of an American League fan because I'm a die-hard Cubbie, but I'm happy about my selection. The best part is I got seats for Opening Day, the most exciting day in baseball each year. I'm looking forward to taking the day off and enjoying the beginning of what will hopefully be a successful season. I also got some nice tickets behind home plate for the Red Sux. I look forward to yelling at Manny (if he's still around).