Yesterday my wife and I went out to purchase some lamps for the living room. This room has a light in the center on the ceiling that does not give off any sort of warm light. We even tried to change it out at one point but hated the way it looked. Target was our only hope in this matter. We ended up buying 2 table lamps and one floor lamp. After some moving around it looks so homey now. Maybe now I will not be so uptight while trying to relax.

As is life with one solution comes another problem however. As I was sitting in our well lit, cozy inviting living room I started brainstorming about our tv stand. Since we purchased the 46" tv I had to move my floor standing speakers out and put some replacements in. The floor standing units were to tall and the tv was to wide. I was on the hunt for a good stand last night and I am a little disappointed. They were either massive or downright expensive. My main goal is to get the surround sound set back up. So I either have to build a stand myself or maybe even buy a smaller set of speakers.

Today was not a fun day for me. Work was crazy because of this project I am working on and I was tired besides. We have so many devices and hardware to keep straight that you can't carry it all. The worst part is that I have to be totally mobile. So if I leave something in one building because I used it there last I have to go and get it to use it somewhere else. There is really no telling when or where you will need it next. However, it keeps me moving and prevents what my wife likes to call "9 to 5 ass".

I was mentally and physically drained today though. I felt like I was making more work for myself actually being at work. Oh well I guess you can't win em all.

We capped off the night going to Amicis in Kenmore recommended by (e:mrdeadlier) I had the Penne and Shrimp with the Vodka Cream Sauce.....it was fantastic. I'm a sucker for vodka and cream sauce. Yum!

So this is my first rant post (great!). Let me give you a little background:

I have not carried a CC balance since 1996. That was the year I first signed up for a card and it was a Sabres Mastercard no less. I have been very proud to say every balance has been paid in full every month on time.

For Christmas I ordered the same TV that (e:paul) just got. Under the impression that I was getting 1) $30 dollars off at Amazon.com for my first purchase with the Amazon Visa card and 2) 18 Months no interest. This was a win win because the tv was cheaper then any retail store. Plus there was free shipping and no tax.

Tonight I got my second statement and noticed that there was $19.24 in interest. So I called Chase to clear this up and found out the 18 month promotion was offered through GE????? What? Don't they make light bulbs? So I called Amazon directly. I am not someone who enjoys confrontation but on the phone I don't really care. I am never going to see/meet this person and if I do then I would not know anyway. I ripped into everyone I talked to tonight...all 3 of them.

It came down to the fact that I signed up for the Amazon.com Visa and not the Amazon.com Store Card. Now maybe this was my mistake but Amazon in my opinion did not make this very clear. Who knew that they had two cards? So it all came down to "Oh you signed up for that card...well you needed this card."

Needless to say I am very pissed off tonight. However, I guess I have a lot still going for me.

1) I got $30 off
2) The TV was 700 cheaper then getting it in a retail store
3) I got a $25 gift card from Amazon as a reward for buying the tv
4) I managed to talk Chase into giving me a credit for the finance fees

I do feel cheated though. I have the money to pay this off tomorrow which I will do and then cancel the Chase Amazon card. The principle is the thing that kills me.

Man this blogging thing is like free therapy. I feel better already!

No not those pipes. I am sure (e:mrdeadlier) was going to jump all over that one.

For some reason the person that decided to put in a great master bathroom did not know exactly what he was doing. From what I can tell the hot and cold come up from the basement and then go out into an overhang that covers the back entry way. They continue back into the house to the toilet, shower and whirlpool tub. That means they are out in the cold for a good stretch.

This is probably the 5th time this has happened in the past two winters. I have been able to avoid anything bursting because I open the valves until they thaw. From what I understand this gives the ice a place to go which is a good thing. This summer I plan on doing some demolition so I can finally stop this cycle.

For now we have to use the guest bathroom but at least we can shower in the morning. If I can't shower then I am not a happy person. I would be a dirty unhappy person at best.

Friday I had an urge to just stay inside and watch 80's movies. So we went to Blockbuster and picked up the following:

Back to School

License to Drive

Money Pit

I have never actually seen Back to School until yesterday and I thought it was funny.

We are talking about getting a NetFlix subscription but I have heard some good and bad things about it. Every day that passes I get closer and closer to a PS3....I REALLY WANT BLUERAY NOW!

Ok this is starting to get crazy and this is only week one. Last night we upgraded the switches in two other closets and I am very tired this morning. I think it is time to look at the schedule and push some of these off so I don't go crazy. I think I am going to ask my manager for a cot so that I can take a nap on days like these. He probably would go for it since we really have been burning the midnight oil and they coming in early the next day to make sure everything is working.

Tonight was the first of many late nights at work. You can't just change out switches in the middle of the day. We are currently working on the hospital and will be installing over 120 48Port Cisco switches. The new ones are so much better then the old ones. I could bore you with the details however I am sure you have better things to do.


Here is the rack after it is done. You can see the old switches now have nothing connected.


We will remove the old ones tomorrow

I almost dropped my MacBook Pro taking this picture

Tonight was the first night I was pissed off at my Blackberry. I have the Verizon 8703e Blackberry and so far it has been great. The keys are easy to type on and it is a pretty good size. For some reason lately the sound does not seem to be as good and the first 2 seconds of every call is one way audio.

It makes me want to just go out and buy some cool device like (e:paul)..I really would l just like to get a small phone. I am tired of having my email on my hip 24/7. Just ranting a little here......

Ugh, I hate this weather. I think most of all I hate the fact that when I leave work and get home it is already dark out. I need some of that sunshine to get here soon. Don't get me wrong, I love a white Christmas and I actually find it fun driving in the snow. There just comes a point in the year where I say "Alright time for the sun to come out!"

Not that anyone really cares but I figured I would sign up. Lately I have found myself going to estrip to see what everyone is up to. I don't want to lurk without contributing. It's time I get on the wagon I guess.