Recently Bought a Nintendo DS Lite

I have had the Sony PSP since day one when it launched. I was the first one in my group of friends and co-workers who got one. I was getting the early jump on them in this gadget. Almost two years later and I am still the only one. Oh well. I had some fun playing some semi-decent games. And who needs local friends when I can play online...oh wait. Not that many titles out there that interested me. I like shooters but not that much. All my friends were getting their DS on with Nintendo and a few already got their Wii before me. So, while waiting for my chance to pick up a Wii I bought an onyx ds lite. Its a sleek little gaming device with alot of fun packed in. I've owned the thing for almost 2 weeks now and I've already have more online time then the whole time I had my PSP. My friends and I do a lot of Mario Kart over Wifi and also locally during lunch breaks at work. I've picked up quite a few games since buying this little handheld and have my eyes locked on a few more.

Mario Kart DS
Tetris DS
Polarium
True Swing Golf
Metroid Pinball
Advance Wars DS
New Super Mario Bros.

Soon:
Metroid Prime Hunters
Clubhouse Games
Final Fantasy III

I don't know what I will buy for my PSP. I don't think it has even been turned on yet since buying the DS. I should fire it up soon and finish Vice City.

Discraft Ace Race 2006

This past weekend I along with 58 other discers participated in a Discraft Ace Race event at Hickory Run. This was a great turnout for the Bearclaws and many thanks to Mike Solt who made it all happen. I had a few close shots that almost hit the basket. My buddy nailed the basket on the first throw of the day, all thanks to a lucky bounce off a tree. There were only two people who actually hit an ace. One person had more basket hits so he walked away with the $300 prize package. Hopefully this will become an annual event for the Bearclaws or maybe get an Ace Race at one of the Lehigh Valley courses and rotate each year.

Anyone who participated in one of the ace races should fill out this survay. You could win further prizes from Discraft.

After the event there was random doubles which I performed horribly. So did my partner. I think I bring everybody down. My buddy who made the trip with me came in third and split $30. Good for him, he was able to pay the tolls on the turnpike.

Next event for the Bearclaws is the Prehibernation Doubles.

Coke Zero Sucks Ass

Every food and drink these days needs to boast lower calorie, sugar, trans fat contents. That's all good and all, but does taste have to suffer too? I'm all for healthier things in our kitchens. We as a country are a bunch of lard asses with no self control when it comes to Burker King's quadruple patty bypass burgers. Soda is a big beverage in our country and is probably found in sippy cups of children more often than 100% fruit juices. So we do need some changes.

Coke's one attempt last year (I think) was C2. Half the sugar and calories than the original recipe. It was great. It tasted like Coke and I bought it often. It even tasted great with Captain Morgan. Then a few months later, it was gone. No where to be found in my area. I kind of saw it coming. Sales numbers weren't high so instead of sticking with a product longer than one business quarter, it will get dumped. Well it got dumped for this Coke Zero.

Coke Zero is a low-calorie variation of Coca-Cola Classic sweetened with aspartame and acesulfame potassium (also known as Ace-K). The biggest change is the overall taste. It tastes like cold flat diet coke and leaves an aftertaste in the back of my throat like I just threw up. My wife likes it but she also likes Diet Coke. No amount of rum can cover up the nastiness of Coke Zero.

I want C2 back!

Update On My Grill

Just days after my burner collapsed, my father-in-law calls me asking me about what grill I have. Apparently, on of the sales reps that works out of the beer distribution center he works at destroyed their new grill. He took it in a truck and didn't bother to strap it down. Well, lets just say the grill got some serious road rash on Rt. 10. Luckily, the parts match up and he stripped what was salvagable for me. So now I don't need to drop my money on new parts.

Congratulations if you were born between...

Congratulations to all the kids born between 1930 to 1979.

-First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.
-They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
-Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.
-We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.
-As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
-Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.
-We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.
-We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.
-We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because......WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!
-We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
-No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.
-We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
-We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
-We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
-We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
-We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
-We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!
-Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!
-The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever! The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned...

HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

And YOU are one of them!

CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the government regulated our lives for our own good, and while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

My Grill Is On The Disabled List

My poor poor grill has suffered an injury that will put it on the DL for my kitchen roster. The grill burner has officially rotted away and caved in. I think pieces of the burner fell down the hoses and is blocking the propane. The flames are lucky to melt an ice cube right now. I can and probably rebuild her with parts from GrillParts.com or buy a shiny new rookie. Home Depot should be having an end of season sale soon. However, is it worth to abondend my reliable friend that just needs 30$ in parts or go all out and drop a few hundred. If it can be rebuilt, so be it.

I've got to do it soon. My kids birthday party is in two weeks and our annual halloween/wedding anniversary jam is coming up.

I grill all the time including through the winter. I don't care how bad it is snowing, it's still perfect weather for a grilled steak.

My Disc Golf Summer Wrap Up

Well, the summer is over. I call it quits after Labor Day. This was a good summer since I started playing disc golf again. I sport that I once played frequently and then just blew it off once I began a "baby farm" with my wife. I needed to get out of the house and start having fun for myself. When I was a single man, I played 3-5 times a week. It was a good time to go out with friends and get totally shit faced in the woods while throwing plastic. In 2001, my first son was born and stopped discing and stopped regular ball golf to help out at home. I only did the annual Ice Bowl every winter.

That is all changing. This year I added 9 new played courses to my resumee. Check my played courses out here. Of course, five years absence will really show when you start playing regularly with some local club members. I've shaved almost 10-12 strokes off of the two regular courses I play at. I started practicing and playing regularly in April. Lehigh Parkway I was shooting a 80 and now range between 67-69. Just a hair under amateur par for the course. South Mountain I was shooting a 70 and now I am even par at 54. Still could be a little better once I get some more distance. My approach shots were never an issue but putting I was horrible. Now since I bought a basket for the backyard, I don't worry too much within 30 feet.

Some other notable events this summer. I won my first Closest to the Pin at the 1st Annual Hickory Run Soltstice tourney. Shot a -6 at Harry Dunham Park in New Jersey. Sank my farthest air shot on Hole 1 Jordan Park at 159 feet.

Still waiting for my first ever ACE!!! Came oh so close at Lehigh Parkway (hole 12) and Harry Dunham (hole 12 as well). First one grazed the chains hard and the second bounced off the top of the basket.

At least three more tourneys this year for me including a Discraft Ace Race (haha) and a night time Glow Tourney on Halloween.

This year I am also thinking about biting the bullet and registering with the PDGA and tossing money at them to be recognized as a player. Pointless but will only make it cheaper for clubs that I am hoping to play PDGA events at in 2007.

Finally Beat Kingdom Hearts 1

It's been a long time coming. I would of had this game beat months ago but I only played this one with my 5 year old. He played most of the levels and I read the storyline to him. I of course did all the hard fights and tedious tasks that go with a RPG video game. This was a good classic from the people behind Final Fantasy (Square Enix) and Walt Disney. My kid fully enjoyed seeing all his favorite Disney Corp. characters and enjoyed the easy fighting controls. The storyline was one of the better ones I've seen and it left it open at the end for the sequel that is out. It wasn't a cheesy segway like the dead enemy's hand twitches to live as it fades to black. Now I know my kid is going to get me KH2 for Xmas for us.



That image above is one I made for my PSP Wallpaper and can be downloaded here. I also have a few other PSP wallpapers out there including a PDGA one.

Damn You Ernesto!!!

Looks like this tropical storm named Ernesto is going to screw up my Labor Day weekend. Every Labor Day we go for a 3 hour drive to my uncles house south of York, PA. He always puts on a good spread being the high class chef that he is. Prime rib, wings, crablegs, shrimp, and lots of beer. The rain that will be in PA (unless Ernesto turns out to sea) will make for a soggy day. Luckily he has a big garage and rents huge tents.

However, my return trip the next day was going to be a disc golfing venture to courses that are further west for me for normal play. I was hoping to hit Codorus State Park or Boulder Woods at Pinchot Park or Lancaster DF Buchmiller Park. It will be hard to convince the wife to stop if its muddy.

Ernesto take your shit out to see!!!

New Carpet At Work

All this week they have been installing carpet throughout our building. What a nightmare. Not only is it unorganized but also poorly done. They used those squares and each square you can see the seam. When I installed carpet in the 90s, you would never see our seams. Amatuers! You should see the carpet they picked for our one lobby. It makes you wonder when the nickel slots and buffet are. It's the worst cheesiest casino carpet ever. And the patterns don't match.

Next screwup was these installers and our cubicals. A blind man without a level and a straight edge can make a straighter line. We have lots of computers and wires all over the place. So, what do they do? Throwing everything in boxes unlableed in one tangled mess that makes christmas light tangles easier to unravel. And who of course works the weekend after the project...me. So, here I am trying to make sense of everything and make sure everyone has their proper computers and gear for Monday morning. Will I get one thanks or acknowledgement? Nope. But, I'm sure I'll get complaints...this ain't my monitor, power cable, pen. Fuck you and get to work!

My knees hurt from being under these desks all day. Damp rainy weather and concrete flooring covered by thin carpet.

A New Beginning

It's a new start to a new blog. I've gone between the Blogger Basic, MySpace, 360 Yahoo, Wordpress, and some other worthless piece of shit. Now I see this more in depth remake of Blogger for Google accounts, so I'm back. Whoppee! Yea, I see you are just as thrilled as I am. Meh. We'll see how long this lasts. MySpace is just ass slow so it's pointless to go and post a blog over there. This blog will be an epicenter of my online profile and of course it will showcase real life experiences, because real life was what only existed before the internet.

What will you see talked about on my blog? You'll probably see some interesting crap that I found on the web site, my web sites, video games (which I don't play as much as I used too) and alot about disc golf. Disc golf is what I like to do when I'm not online. Which I'm online alot. Mostly because I work for a web hosting support company and I get paid to surf. Can't beat that with a stick. This first post will be short, it's more like a test to see what the blog will look like.