So, you want the day off?

Let's take a moment to look at what you are asking for.

• There are 365 days available for work.
• There are 52 weeks per year of which you already have 2 days off each weekend, leaving 261 days left available for work.
• Since you spend 16 hours each day away from work that accounts for 170 days. There are 91 left available for work.
• You spend 30 minutes each day on breaks that accounts for 23 days a year, leaving 68 days available for work.
• You spend 1 hour a day at lunch, that that accounts for another 46 days per year leaving 22 days available for work.
• You spend 2 days per year on sick leave, leaving 20 days available for work.
• You take 9 holidays per year, leaving 11 days available for work.
• You take 10 days vacation each year, leaving 1 day left available for work.

NO WAY are you getting that day off!

I've been hearing this audio on the Jim Rome Show regularly since it first occurred.   We all know that Ashlee Simpson can't sing live, especially after the lip-syncing incident on Saturday Night Live, but at last year's Orange Bowl, Ashlee Simpson was one of the halftime entertainers...

After much searching, I finally found hte video and wanted to share it with you.

Remember when...

Memory was something you lost with age
An application was for employment
A program was a TV show
A cursor used profanity

A keyboard was a piano
A web was a spider's home
A virus was the flu
A CD was a bank account

A hard drive was a long trip on the road
A mouse pad was where a mouse lived
And if you had a 3-1/2 inch floppy ..

... you just hoped nobody ever found out. ;-)

Okay.  So maybe they won't save my game.  But I'm tired of using my old Palm Springs Gravity Balance drivers that my grandpa built for me in 1988.  It's time to move own.

One thing I've found is that every other driver that people use has a larger club head and weighs a lot less than mine.  My drivers have steel shafts.  I'm not sure what the club heads are made of.

Take a look

Okay.  So maybe they won't save my game.  But I'm tired of using my old Palm Springs Gravity Balance drivers that my grandpa built for me in 1988.  It's time to move own.

One thing I've found is that every other driver that people use has a larger club head and weighs a lot less than mine.  My drivers have steel shafts.  I'm not sure what the club heads are made of.

Take a look

What exactly happened in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi?  We discover that there are two remaining Jedi in the universe - Luke and Leia.  Anakin has fulfilled his prophecy by bringing balance to the force (yes, it took him 6 movies to do so!).  He did it by killing the Emperor.  But is that the end of the Empire?  There are thousands of star systems, and a complete command structure in place.  With Emporer Palpatine and Vader gone, it will certainly be weakened, but I'm sure someone in the bureacracy will take over.

Ok, I'm not sure what to make of this one. For years now George Lucas has been saying that these 3 new Star Wars films will be the final ones ever made. Personally, I believe him. However, Cinescape posted the following quote from TheForce.Net that will have lots of Star Wars fans raising an eyebrow or two:

We're making an offer today on a home in Pearson Farms.  It just came on the market Friday.  2153 square feet, 3 bedrooms, bonus room, and an office / sunroom.

The main floor consists of a living room, dining room, kitchen, breakfast area, utility room, and the office.  They call it a sunroom - it has a lot of windows in it, with double french doors - but for us, it'll be an office.

On the second floor, there is a large master bedroom with one small closet and one larger walk-in closet.  The master bath has a separate tub and shower and is nice and roomy.  It is painted purple with a hideous blue-green vinyl tile.  You can't have everything, I guess.  There are two additional bedrooms, both of which are decent sized with good closets.  And a second bathroom.

The third floor contains a finished bonus room, with built-in bookcases, a built-in for a TV and stereo system, wired for surround sound.  The bonus room is actually divided into two areas by the stairs - the other side has duct-work that is boxed in with pads making a cool little bench seating area, along with more built-in bookcases.  It would make an excellent play area for Emily.

Pearson Farms is a nice development only a mile or so from our current house - a little closer towards town.  It has a nice pool and tennis courts and a really nice little playground, which we'd be pretty close to.  Also, there are walking trails behind the lot that access the Beaver Creek Greenway.

If you'd like to see a close-up satellite image, click here.

At some point in the past, I read a list of rules for winning arguments.  It was one of those funnies that gets passed around in emails from person to person.  One of the rules was "Whenever possible, compare your opponent to Hitler".

As in, "That sounds like something Hitler would say."

Apparently, the Wal-Mart executives that want to open a supercenter in Flagstaff, Arizona took this seriously, and published an advertisement in the newspaper there that included a picture of a book burning in Nazi Germany.

They're now apologizing.  Here's an article about it.

Well, the home search continues.  We looked at some houses yesterday and didn't find anything.  One house was nearly perfect until we went into the 11x16 master bedroom.  It may not sound too small, but trust me, it is.  Especially if you've got a king size bed!   It looked like the previous owners had only a queen.  The house was otherwise perfect.  Nicely upgraded, too, with stone on the front, tile backsplash in the kitchen, etc.

So, we're going to look at more houses this evening.  4 more, to be exact.  Three of them are in the MLS:

Dogwood Ridge:
http://www.hpw.com/SearchPages/Detail.aspx?MlsNum=800438

Surrey Meadows:
http://www.hpw.com/SearchPages/Detail.aspx?MlsNum=791837

Shephard's Vineyard:
http://www.hpw.com/SearchPages/Detail.aspx?MlsNum=800952

The fourth is a house in Crockett's Ridge that is the same model as two previous ones that we looked at, one of which we had made an offer on.  It's not in the MLS yet, but the owner is a realtor who will apparently be representing herself.  Nice comission there!  That one is 2200 square feet and $220,000.

Well, we had so much trouble bickering with the Builder over pricing (they had the gall to try to raise the price considerably after they knew we were interested) that we decided not to purchase a home from the Royal Oaks Building Group.  Although they eventually agreed to come down closer to the original price, there were some other issues as well.

We also noticed that at least one complaint had been filed against the builder with the Better Business Bureau (info).  I suppose one complaint isn't bad, and it was resolved, but I personally would not want to have to go to the BBB to file such a complaint.

Their MLS listings were also inaccurate, which concerned me, although this may have been the fault of their listing agent.  For example, the listing for the house we were interested in said it was 2300 square feet with 3 bedrooms down.  However, the actual layout of the house was 2 bedrooms down, 1 bedroom up, a dining room down (which was not listed), and a bonus room upstairs.  The "floor plan" was also inaccurate, as they were planning to finish a different area of the upstairs as the bonus room instead of the one listed in the floor plan.

Given our concern about the accuracy of the MLS listing, we asked for a square footage contingency, guaranteeing that the square footage would be at least 2300 feet, as advertised.  The builder would not agree to this contingency.

There was just a lot of poor communication and understanding of what was actually being done.  The builder's web site, www.royaloaksbg.com, did not list a contact phone number either, which concerned me.  So we decided not to paurchase a home from them.

I love news that puts North Carolina in the national spotlight.

*sigh*

Click the link below to read on....

Print out this coupon for a free box of Celestial Seasonings Tea.  Coupon expires 6/30/05.

Friend of mine sent me this link today.  It's an article on HowStuffWorks.com about light sabers.

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/lightsaber.htm

An excerpt:

Important Safety InformationA lightsaber is not a toy! Keep it out of reach of children at all times. Lightsaber locks are required in most states. There are two ends to any lightsaber -- one end has the belt ring, while the other end houses the blade arc tip and blade emitter. NEVER point the blade emitter of a lightsaber toward your own body. NEVER look down the "barrel" of a lightsaber, even if you are "sure" it is in safe mode. If you accidentally activate the lightsaber, serious injury could result.

My niece Ally sent me this one...

Miss Idaho 2005

Holy crap.... a 15 pound burger!  10.5 pounds of meat, 23 slices of cheese, etc...

What's most facinating about this story is that their previous "big burger" had 6 pounds of meat and 5 pounds of toppings... and was recently eaten within a 3 hour time limit by a 100 pound local college student.

111 pounds, after completion, I guess.

click through to read the article.

One of my favorite musicians, Brian Vander Ark, is coming back to Raleigh!

Brian, for those of you that don't recognize the name, was the lead singer for the band "The Verve Pipe", which had a huge #1 hit in 1997 called "The Freshman".  Anyway, he's gone solo now, and Brian is one of my favorite songwriters of all time - right up there with Bernie Taupin (who wrote most, if not all, of Elton John's songs) and Bob Dylan, if you ask me.

He'll be performing at the Raleigh Downtown Live event on June 11 with Better Than Ezra.

One interesting note, Better Than Ezra's first popular hit "Good" appeared on the AWARE 2 Compilation in 1993 before anyone had heard of them.  Brian's band The Verve Pipe also had a song on that compilation called "Spoonful of Sugar", a song which he's revamped and you may hear him play it!  If you want to be on the cutting edge of new music, check out www.awarerecords.com!

Calf with seven legs Seven-leg calf needs a home By krishna Maharaj South Bureau Monday, September 13th 2004

Chandarbhan Singh holds up the seven legs of his calf at Coosial Road, Ravine Sable, Chaguanas, yesterday. Photo: KRISHNA MAHARAJ Livestock farmer Chandarbhan Singh is looking for a home for a calf which was born at the weekend-with seven legs. Singh, 62, who has been taking care of cows for the past 30 years, said he would not be able to take care of the calf because of its condition. He lives at Coosial Road, Ravine Sable, Chaguanas and has seven other cows. "I believe its a miracle for something like this to happen. In my opinion it is of religious significance. It is the first time this ever happened to me or any one in this country," Singh said. He said he would not be able to take care of the calf because soon another of his cows is due to give birth . "Taking care of the calf will be costly and I cannot afford to take it to a vet for treatment. Animals like these need regular checks-ups and maybe surgery," Singh. said. He told the Express he was present when the calf was born. "I realised that something out of the ordinary was happening, but I like the way the mother of the calf stood calm until the birth was completed," Singh said. He said he did not know if the calf would survive but would like to see it get a new home . Singh said the calf has been attracting visitors from various parts of Central Trinidad since its birth. Rattandai Singh, not related to Chandarbhan Singh, said she has been living in Ravine Sable for 55 years and described the birth of the seven leg calf as a miracle. "We are living in the dark age which is called (Kalyug), and during this time miracles would happen all over the world, so no one should be surprised," she said.