Self-serve frozen yogurt. This place rocks! Here’s why.

You walk in, grab a cup (one of three sizes), fill it with as much or as little as you wish (of a plethora of flavors), add as many or as few toppings as you wish, and pay a mere .30 cents an ounce.

Our total was just under $10 for three cups with toppings. That’s just a few bucks more than three single scoops at Baskin Robbins sans toppings, so I’d say it was definitely worth the trip and money.

The funny thing about all this? It’s next door to a Dairy Queen, which was totally empty.

Watch out, Golden Spoon and 31 Flavors. You might be next!

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You might recall back in February that I was contemplating purchasing a new iPod Touch.

Yesterday I did. Allow me to explain.

No, I don’t absolutely need this. A hole in the head could provide more use in most cases. But given the situation, I think you might have bought one, too.

After many purchases at Best Buy I was awarded $15 in Rewards Certificates the other day. That means that I spent umpteen dollars to get $15 back, but hey, the Best Buy card is paid off almost as soon as it’s used so there’s not a real concern over interest accruing.

So fine, I had $15 to play with. Then I heard of a Web site–thanks, Cyberguy!–that buys back used cell phones and trust me, we have plenty around here. I entered all the information on the site and found out that those phones that had been stored in a freezer bag (but not in the freezer) were about to pay me a cool $188! Right on! (Note that some phones were so old/outdated/in poor condition that I was only given the option to “Plant a Tree” rather than collect the money. That’s cool.)

From there, it was a matter of where I wanted to buy it. Target was offering a $30 Gift Card with the purchase of the 8GB model while Best Buy offered a bundle for $307 that included headphones and a DLO Action Jacket. Considering Apple still insists on packing iPods with those regrettable excuses for earbuds and that I would probably buy a protective case for the thing anyhow, I opted for Best Buy’s offer (and earned more Rewards Points, too).

I see this as killing two birds with one stone. Firstly, it’s my way of rewarding me on my weight loss progress. C’mon, 82 lbs. is twice as much as Valerie Bertinelli lost and I didn’t have to buy any silly foods. Secondly, my iPod Shuffle is, well, getting old. There’s only so long you can listen to the same 200+ songs during your daily walk, on the train, etc. And transferring songs to the thing is slow as hell, so this only made sense. It will be my Shuffle, not my 30GB, replacement.

The final tally: $307 - $15 - $188 (on it’s way upon receiving of cell phones) = $104 out-of-pocket total. Okay, so I used a credit card to buy it while I await my FlipSwap check, but it’ll be paid in full once the bill and check arrive.

All in all, not bad. And it’s a neat-o little gadget.

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Another Friday is upon us! Got anything cooking?

About the only thing I currently have planned is spending some time with a friend of mine that is visiting from Japan, where he teaches English. I used to work with him at my last photo lab job and even back then he was committed to moving to Japan upon graduating from college.

And I’ll be damned if he didn’t do just that. So congrats, Dave. Not many of us do what we say, and I’m completely jealous.

I had requested that he bring all of us a little something from Japan to which he obliged, so who knows what we’ll end up with. (C’mon, Mr. Sparkle box…) And since he’s also a gamer, chances are the night he visits will be Game Night. Should be fun.

There are no other concrete plans for this weekend, save for possibly posting a few entries at my other blog, which seems to be getting more and more neglected lately. Actually, aside from the Weekly Weigh-Ins, there hasn’t been much to say. But I thought I’d better tend to it soon–I heard it whimpering the other night as if somebody kicked it in the nuts.

That’s about all I gots for now. Make it a safe weekend and see you here again on Monday!

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I had been seriously second-guessing my decision to purchase the PT Loser from the time I brought it home. At the time of purchase, it was simply my intention to dump my Explorer in exchange for something that got better mileage, was fun to drive, and had affordable payments. (Note: If gas prices were still reasonable, I would have never gotten rid of my Explorer.)

The truth is that I was never happy with the PT Loser despite whatever I may have said about it here. In fact, you can see some reasons why I didn’t like it in this post. In addition to the reasons mentioned in that post, Anthony never liked having the top down—ever. And quite frankly, I didn’t feel very safe with him back there in top-down mode.

Not only that, but it seemed to me that the only people I ever saw driving convertibles were balding fat guys in their 50s wearing sunglasses, Hawai’ian shirts, baseball caps and listening to Jimmy Buffett. Chances are they’d also wear a Speedo to the beach. Not exactly my crowd of peeps.

Summarization: convertiblism was more of a novelty, not a way of life for me.

Then there was the PT Loser’s performance, which was lackluster at best. Suffice it to say but after owning a Dodge Caliber and PT Cruiser, the Chrysler Corporation had ruined my love of driving and my expectations of what a car should be, and they can smoke a great, big flaming dick for that. Granted, Dr. Z wasn’t standing behind me with a Glock pointed at my head while I was singing the paperwork so I’ll just admit to my own stupidity, swallow my pride and proclaim the following: Dodge products are pure shit. Hell, my 1991 Nissan Sentra four-speed was more fun to drive than either the Caliber or PT Loser.

So last night we went to the Ford dealer where I’d purchased many a vehicle, dealt with the same guy I’d dealt with each time, and came home in a 2005 Lincoln LS. This is the car Ann had wanted from the moment she saw it but at time they were new, the price tag of $31,000 was pretty steep.

But let’s just say that if a dealership has only sold one car on any given day and they are dealing with repeat-repeat-repeat-repeat customers just before closing time, they will do whatever it takes to sell Car Number 2.

And that’s just what they did.

So long, convertiblism. We shall never cross paths again.

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July 16, 2004 was a day much like today, save for the fact that I was 35 and Anthony was still in diapers. Oh, and I was about 80 pounds heavier and had more hair.

The summer sun shone brightly and the weather was just right. Well, it was right for those of us that live in the city.

For those few that call the mountains and hills their home, it was the middle of the so-called “fire season,” a time when the media whips up their usual pointless frenzy and begins to report on what the fires are doing.

And as is always the case, the fires were burning. Duh. Fire Watch 2004 had begun!

So it was at that point I decided to do two things: first, I needed to stop watching so much TV news. The talking heads no longer did it for me. Second, I chose to start a blog to voice my opinion on the fires and the media’s coverage of them. I signed up at Blogger (because I didn’t know any better) and wrote my first blog post, entitled “Fire, Fire Everywhere.”

In the post I attacked the media’s coverage of the fires because frankly, it’s pointless. If you read the original post you’ll see what I’m getting at. They make it sound like the entire state of California is on fire when nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, I had people e-mailing me asking how I’m doing when I’m nowhere near any of the fires. That’s like me e-mailing my friend in Japan to see how he is after watching a Godzilla movie.

But I digress. Four years, over 400 posts, 10,000+ hits, two domains and two blog hosts later, I’m still at it but with seemingly less frequency than before. This could be due to the fact that I now have two blogs, which…I seem to have less and less time for these days.

Either way, I’d like to take a moment to thank those loyal visitors—all two of you—for making my efforts seem worthwhile. Barring death, injury or severe beatings at the hands of rabid Steve Perry fans, here’s to many, many more years of blogging.

Cheers!

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Here’s how kids can seriously mess with your mind.

While driving home the other day, Anthony (now 4) saw the bike store where And and myself purchased bikes back in November. He wanted to know what the sign out front read.

I told him it was the name of the store. But being the inquisitive kid he is, he continued to ask questions.

Tony: Did you buy my bike there?

Me: No, we bought yours somewhere else because it was cheaper. Mommy and Daddy bought their bikes there because we’re big and aren’t going to grow any more. You will keep growing and will need a few more bikes before we buy you a big boy bike. And we’ll buy it at that store.

Tony: Okay, Daddy. But I want to keep my old bikes to give to my kids.

(Here’s where I just about started to cry)

Tony (cont.) : That way, Grandma and Grandpa can watch them ride. And Nana (my mom), too.

(Awkward silence)

Me: Yes, Anthony. I’m sure that they will all watch them ride your bikes.

Tony: (giggles) Yeah, that’ll be fun!

By the time I got home I was so emotionally drained I had to sit for a minute. Think about it: here’s this innocent 4-year-old child looking forward to the day when he can give his child his old bikes, so his grandparents can watch them ride them.

So why is that so significant?

Math time. I’m 39 now. If Anthony has a kid by age 20 (and he’d better not), I’ll be 55. His grandparents are an average of 70 now, so they’d be almost 90 if he has kids by age 20 (and he’d better not).

I’m not saying that it’s not entirely possible for all of us to see this actually happen, but you have to admire the kid’s optimism about it all.

Then again, he has eaten a few crayons in his time.

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…has been deleted. I’m sure there are mirrors of it somewhere but meh, whatever. Turns out most people–mostly message board members–were really up and arms about it and calling me a liar so hey, whatever, there you go.

Aside from this post, the only other place you’ll find his name on this blog are here and here.

Good night, and thanks for all the hits.

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Tony wins a goldfish!

UPDATED 8:50 p.m.: I was the first Fair customer at the Ten Pound Buns sourdough pizza place! Am I proud of this? Yes. Yes, I am.

That thing on my head is a foam cheese hat which coincides with this year’s theme of “Say Cheese!” Only those that were waiting in line for Free Hour–aka the cheapskates–got them. A few people had cheese envy as we strolled around the place.

And here we are posing with a totally big tennis racquet:

Oh, and we bought a spa. Let’s just say it was a really, really good deal. It will arrive next week and I will charge by the minute if you would like to join us. Airfare, accommodations, etc. are your responsibility

All in all it was a great day of fun and food. We’re definitely going back!

I know not many people have a look at it, but my Flickr account now has limited access until I decide to pony up the $24.95 annual fee. There’s a good chance it will be that way until next payday, which is July 25th.

It’s not like I don’t use it anymore because I do, and believe me I do love me some Flickr. I just have other things that I’d rather spend that money on until payday (read: the Orange County* Fair starts tomorrow–see you there for Free Hour!) and until then, everybody will have limited access to the account (including me).

Besides, I simply don’t want to start uploading my over 2,300 images currently stored on Flickr to some other image host. It just ain’t happening.

I’m still fighting off this sinus infection with prescribed drugs and I think I’m finally winning. It started on the Fourth of July and has been relentless: sore throat, coughing, pressure, etc. Today’s the first day I’ve felt good enough to walk for more than a mile at lunch so I take it I’ll be back to normal very soon. As far as my weight goes, I’m around 216 lbs. or so. That’s a far cry from the 297 lbs. I weighed back in 2006.

About the only post you’ll see here tomorrow will be from the Orange County* Fair, so come back then to see what kind of shenanigans we get ourselves into.

Will I eat a deep-fried Coke? Will Ann finish her cream puff? Will Anthony be chased by an angry goat in the petting zoo? Who knows for sure, so be sure to check tomorrow afternoon!

Aside from the Fair, our weekend is wide open.

See ya!

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* I still refuse to refer to Orange County as “the OC.” You know why.

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