Category Archives: Fun

Yogurt Story

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As a treat for ourselves the boys, we took them to a frozen yogurt store called Yogurt Story. I can’t explain the name. Just go with it. Its business is delightfully simple: about a dozen flavors of self-serve frozen yogurt and sorbet, a huge variety of toppings, and a scale. The customer picks some flavors and toppings, sets the cup on the scale, and pays 35 cents per ounce. (The lone sign behind the counter says “.35c”, but I decided not to press the issue by offering a dime as payment)

It’s good yogurt. My favorite flavors were NY Cheesecake, Snickerdoodle, and Strawberry. I think I tried eight or nine different flavors before we left. Not nearly the sugar addict that his parents are, Brenden took a few bites and then preferred to wander around the store. Because I am a good daddy, I volunteered to finish his.

A steady stream of customers came through, mostly couples and families. Jonathan flirted with some 18-month-old twin girls. One family came through straight from the son’s first baseball game of the season, the son still in uniform. Someday we hope to do the same.

Partner Yoga

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For Valentine’s Day, Jenny and I took a partner yoga class at her gym on Sunday. We both enjoy yoga and do it together at home sometimes, so we thought this class would be fun. I was expecting a traditional yoga class with some extra partner-assisted stretches, which would have been great. But what we got was different and even better. The class was mostly partner-oriented balance poses in which one partner supports the other in various ways. We had a blast! Afterward we enjoyed cheese, wine, and chocolate-covered strawberries.

Our instructor took this picture of us doing one of the poses. Do not try this at home, folks. We are professionals.

What I’ve Been Up To

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Sorry it’s been so quiet here lately! Here are some highlights from the week (other than seeing Les Miserables, which I covered in its own post):

  • At work, we needed to vacate our office for cleaning during the overnight shift. Instead, we midnight guys worked at our remote operations center (ROC), something we had never done before. The facilities team worked really hard to make sure we had all the computers, software, phone capabilities, and other tools needed to run the airline from the ROC. Overall, I think it went very smoothly. In case you’re wondering, the ROC exists as a backup in case our main facility is unavailable due to a natural or manmade disaster or some other significant problem.
  • I’ve worked back up to 7 miles for my long run. I hope to try 8 on Monday before the weather freaks out. If I can build up to 10 without any significant problems, I’ll probably sign up for the Dallas Rock and Roll Half Marathon in March.
  • During my nights off, I’ve been enjoying a new PS3 game called Demon’s Souls. It’s a horror adventure game with a few twists. First, it’s extremely difficult, even for someone who has played video games for decades like me. If you jump in and simply start mashing buttons, you won’t last a minute. It forces you to think, experiment, study your opponents, and strike at the right time. To advance, you must actually become a better player. Second, it allows players to interact indirectly by leaving hints for each other, watching how other players approach an area, and watching how and why they got killed. It’s a fascinating game even though it makes me want to scream sometimes.
  • Some of you already know about the other big thing going on this week. I hope to be able to discuss it on here very soon if things work out.

Little Things I’m Thankful For

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Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! In addition to all the big things on most of our lists, such as family, health, freedom, and Jesus, I’m also thankful for many little things that sprinkle bits of joy throughout my life, such as:

  • When Brenden asks me to come play with him
  • Miso soup
  • When Jenny laughs so hard she can’t talk
  • Getting high-def TV for free over the air
  • The smell of cold
  • Jonathan’s wrinkly-nose grin
  • Jet airliners and their ability to shrink the world
  • The beautiful park by our house
  • The sound of rain
  • Having much of my family close by

What are some little things you’re thankful for?

Posted in Fun

How to Make Money on the Internet

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While researching our recent problem with the PlayStation 3, I found lots of people eager to make money on the Internet. Here’s one method that nearly worked on me:

  1. Identify a real problem, such as the Blinking Red Light of Death on the PS3, that costs time and money to fix.
  2. Assemble a repair guide for the problem. It could be real or fake, whichever you prefer.
  3. Build a website to sell your repair guide.
  4. Post fake reviews around the Internet that make your repair guide sound like the only good solution. Use search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to ensure that your site rises to the top of the search results.
  5. Recruit other greedy people to repeat Step 4 for you. Promise them a 75 percent commission for every sale. Provide them with fake reviews, banner ad graphics, web forum signature links, and other tools to help them drive traffic to your site.
  6. Anticipate that people might wonder whether your repair guide is a scam. Post more fake reviews specifically affirming that it’s not a scam. Use SEO to ensure that these reassuring fake reviews are near the top of the search engines when a user searches for “is [your product] a scam?”
  7. Watch the money roll in.

The site in question, or one of them at least, is http://www.ps3lightsfix.com/. After learning about the darker side of this “product”, partly through their hidden “affiliates page“, I decided to keep my $37. Honestly, I don’t know whether this repair guide is any good or not. It might be wonderful. However, its shady marketing techniques make me suspicious. I can’t even find a real review of it because the author and his minions have posted so many fake ones.

Instead I found a free video guide that a kind and helpful person named Gilsky posted on YouTube. I tried it, and it worked. Unfortunately, since I am an amateur, I damaged two other components in the process, so our PS3 is still unusable. I’m probably going to sell it for parts and use the money to replace it at some point.

You Dirty Rat

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We have a rat; ’tis sad but true
I’m glad we know just what to do
He stole our seeds for starving birds
At least I haven’t seen rat turds

Somehow they’re cute when in a cage
But in my house, they stir up rage
In me and Mrs. Box alike
At least she hasn’t gone on strike

I saw him first in the garage
Perhaps in search of some fromage (shut up – my options are limited)
Up on a shelf just out of reach
He scurried off – “Can’t touch this, beech!”

Next night I heard a scratching sound
From in the walls – he must be found
Our lazy cat can’t get it done
Is it that hard? There’s only one

So soon he’ll learn that cheese can kill
Forbidden fruit meets manly skill
From then our home will be rat-free
And I’ll have saved my family.