chocolatefries

R.I.P. Chevy S-10

2009-06-14T20:10:29Z

So, earlier this week, I finally tried to figure out why my S-10 wouldn't spit any heat out of the heater.
Turned out that there was a hole in the Radiator, and no coolant.
So, I got the Radiator replaced on Friday.

Then, I drove to Wausau, and it still was not working, then the check engine light came on.
I checked the coolant, and it was brown.
I checked the oil, and there was smoke coming out of it.

I'm pretty sure driving around with no coolant earlier caused my head gasket to fuck itself.
I also read that driving around like I am currently doing (coolant in the oil) can mess up the engine entirely.

So, I decided that it's time I finally get a vehicle.
I was looking at Toyota Camry's online, which I really liked Jake's 2004 or 2005 Camry.
However, on Saturday I decided that I wanted to look at some small hatchbacks, because I really liked the looks of them better, and from what I've read online, the Honda Fit and the Mazda 3 are pretty fun to drive.

So, I went to the Courtest Honda-Nissan-Mazda dealer.
The 2009 Honda fit was kind of ugly, since it had no back top spoiler thing, it's just kind of rounded off and weird:

However, they did have a fully loaded 2010 Mazda 3 S Grand Touring there, which I liked the look of a lot better:

I was a little worried if I would be able to fit inside or not, however.
So, Jake and I asked the guy if I could take a test drive, and he let me.

I proceeded to push the seat all the way back and down, and was able to fit fairly well into the vehicle.
I still had to get used to driving so close to the ground, and the positions of the pedals, (I had the same problem when I drove Raider's Impala, which is a much larger car), but after a little while of getting used to, it was very fun to drive.

The interior was pretty much decked out:

It had the upgraded 2.5L engine, heated leather seats, a GPS, a Bose sound system with 6-CD changer, a shift-tronic automatic transmisssion, Bluetooth, a push-button start, motorized headlights that turn around corners, rain-sensing winshield wipers, and a bunch of other pretty cool stuff.

I talked to the salesman, and he's currently setting up financing, and hopefully I'll be able to drive it home on Monday or Tuesday.
Also, it wasn't too expensive, especially since it was new, after taxes + fees + trade-in + $2,500 downpayment, I'll owe under $22,000 on it.

chocolatefries @ 2009-03-25T19:38:00

2009-03-26T00:38:57Z

I got a longboard.
Ordered it last week, got it today.
Never skateboarded before.
Didn't die.
It's pretty fun.
It's cold outside.

Catsitting: part 2.

2009-03-04T03:20:52Z

I'm turning Jake's cat into a lolcat.

I iz on ur couch, watchin ur teeveez:
http://twitpic.com/1tzg0

Hanging with Coltrane: Update 1

2009-03-03T23:09:18Z

Jake dropped Coltrane off this morning.
Their taking him back Thursday night, after work.

I got home, and thought he disappeared.
I looked everywhere.
Even inside the oven.
Couldn't find him.

I called for him.
Couldn't hear him.

He was sitting on my dining room chair, under the table.

He's pretty fun to hang out with, though.
Even though every time one of the people living upstairs makes a loud noise, he stares at the ceiling.

Madison Weekend

2009-02-23T05:03:41Z

So, Madison was pretty awesome.

Friday night, rode down with Raider, Tyler, and Dirk to Kevin Smith's.

Hung out there for a while, then went downtown to get some drinks at Brocach's, an Irish Pub.
It was kind of expensive, but pretty awesome.

Saturday morning went to Denny's with Kevin, and Jen, his roommate.
He had to leave for an interview in Detroit, so we told him goodluck, then went to meet-up with Randy, Staci, Ru, and Ru's friend from Japan at the mall.

The mall was pretty awesome. I ended up getting 2 t-shirts, a pair of shoes, a dvd, and a cd.

Randy, Ru, and Ru's friend ended up going snowboarding, so the rest of us went to a folk-show downtown.

It was a decent show, plus they didn't care if you brought in booze, so we all had a bunch of beer during the show.
Randy, Ru, and Ru's friend stopped by as soon as they were done snowboarding.

We then went to the bars and Raider met back up with us, and brought along Gary, the loveable alcoholic.

We got some drinks at a bar, had a few drinks, then went back to Ru's.

There were like 8 people staying at Ru's studio apartment, and it was no less than 80 degrees pretty much the entire time.

Then, this morning Raider, Randy, and I went to church, then all of us went to breakfast at Mickey's, which was pretty tasty.

We went back to Ru's, and Tyler did a jam session on her keyboard. It was pretty awesome.

So, all in all, pretty neat weekend.

NyQuil, more like SWEAT-Quil.

2009-02-16T05:01:38Z

I think I may have some sort of bad reaction to NyQuil.

I took it before bed time like 3 or 4 times this past week, and a bunch of time after going to sleep, I'd wake up less than an hour later, cold and covered in sweat.
Not sure if it was because I was sick, because it didn't seem like I had a fever any of the times, or if it was from the NyQuil.

Either way, waking up sweaty is not cool.

Maybe I should start sleeping in silica gel from now on.

Or just stop taking the NyQuil.

No Idea.

2009-01-29T05:57:25Z

So, my tooth really hurts.
But only intermittantly through the day.

I got it drilled 2.5 weeks ago. (It didn't hurt before I got it drilled.)
It would hurt on and off.

I went back in on Monday, to see what the deal was.
They said that a lot of times, it will be because they ground the filling down wrong, or whatever.
So, they ground a bit more off, and figured they got it right.
It still hurts.

Randomly, it will just hurt really bad for 1/2 hour to 1 hour.

Then, it will feel fine for 3-8 hours.

It's really annoying me.

I'm pretty sure it's not what I had last summer, where my tooth got infected and I had to get a root canal.
Because when that happened it hurt constantly, not intermittantly.

...dammit

chocolatefries @ 2009-01-25T02:04:00

2009-01-25T08:06:10Z

There was a guy at the bar with a Pilsbury Doughboy NASCAR Jacket.
It was awesome.

He got kicked out.
It was awesome-er.

He then came back, and got kicked out again.
It was awesome-est.

chocolatefries @ 2009-01-02T01:57:00

2009-01-02T08:05:22Z

So, yesterday I went grocery shopping.
I was busy, so I was in a rush.
I did not notice that the 3-pack of Kleenex I purchased included a bright pink and blue box with Disney Princesses on it...

Not cool.

Awesome list:

2008-12-11T05:34:48Z

1. In the span of 1 week, on 3 separate occasions, I got 2 candies for the price of 1 at the vending machine at work.
2. I emailed Malt-o-Meal, and they emailed me back and answered my question about what shape their marshmallows were. Also, they're gonna mail me coupons for their cereals, in appreciation.
3. I got a coupon for a free Blu-ray Rental from Hollywood Video, no strings attached.
4. At work, Rick bet other people on my team he could stump me by asking me what "onomatopoeia", is. I came back from the bathroom, he asked, I knew it. Everyone in my group said: "Ohhhhh!" I blew Rick's mind. He's convinced I know any question he can ask me, now.
6. We went to the new sushi place tonight. It was very good. I had fish roe for the first time. It had a pretty weird texture, but didn't taste too bad, for being hundreds and hundreds of tiny fish eggs.
7. We also went to Best Buy, got The Muppet Christmas Carol, and watched it. Awesome movie, especially since I used to watch it all the time on VHS as a kid.
8. They didn't have Ernest Saves Christmas (best Christmas movie, ever) :(. However, I did find it on Wal-mart online, and am getting it shipped Site-to-Store :) I'm really looking forward to watching it again, since I haven't seen it in around 10 years.

Pushing Daisies.

2008-12-04T03:35:07Z

So, I was thinking how I needed to expand my Blu-Ray library.
I only owned 1 Blu-Ray movie before today.

So, I was planning on getting Wanted, because it came out today and it got good reviews, and I kind of wanted to see it.
However, when I was at Target, I decided that I kind of wanted to pick out a TV show to get on Blu-Ray instead, since it would take longer to watch a Season of a show than just a movie.

Luckily, they had Pushing Daisies: Season 1 for only $34.99, which is a decent price for a Blu-Ray t.v. season.

I had heard good things about Pushing Daisies, as the people on one of the podcasts I watch really liked it.
Plus, the main character guy is also in the movie The Fall, which I really liked (and also own on Blu-Ray).

Anyways, I watched the first episode tonight, and it was pretty awesome.
Plus, it's not nearly as depressing as Mad Men, which I am also currently watching.

Great Costume?

2008-10-14T01:23:38Z

Or Greatest Costume?

I'm going as Charlie from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the greatest show ever.

I found the costume on http://begreenman.com/ for $76, with shipping.
It's a lot, but I feel I made a good choice.
Plus, now I don't have to assemble a costume, since it's just a 1 piece spandex green bodysuit.

I'm planning on going up to Houghton that weekend.
Massey manor party on Friday night, and try to find another party on Saturday night.

It's kind of obscure, but even if you haven't seen the show, it's still awesome.

I'm not sure if I got the correct size.
I had to choose between a XXL, which fit most of my measurements, except for my height.
Or an XXXL, which fit my height.

I went for the XXL, so hopefully it stretches well vertically.
Although, I sent an email to the company, saying if they thought an XXXL would fit better, just to send me that.

Now one question remains:
Do, I try to hide the bulge this costume creates, or do I just go full-on moose-knuckle?

Killer Bees on a Swarm

2008-10-05T22:48:51Z

So, I went to my first Packer game ever, today.

It was pretty awesome, even though the Packers lost by 3, it was still a close game.

I got cheese-curds, beer, a brat, a 22 ounce bloody-mary, and a vodka redbull, all before the game, and all pretty awesome.

However, there was like a 5 year old kid sitting next to me.
He would scream and cheer constantly, the annoying 5 year old kid yell that shatters ear drums.
He also held his hotdog and ketchup alarmingly close to me when he was eating it.
Luckily I've got good dodging skills, and avoided all potential ketchup disasters.

The best moment of the game, by far, was when a bee flew by the kids face for like a minute.
He started screaming, and almost crying, and his mother kept saying: "It's as afraid of you as you are of it."
I turned to my right and just kept laughing at the kid and his mother.
It was mean, but that kid was annoying.

Also, Jason told me that I should tell the kid that I was that bee's keeper, and I can tell it to come back and sting him.

The best jersey, by far that I saw all day was a jersey that was #69, and the name on it was "Mike Hunt".
It was sooooo awesome.

YAY

2008-09-30T03:40:10Z

Cool things happening:

I purchased a neocube
http://theneocube.com/

It may be here by the end of the week.
I'm pretty pumped.
------------

I'm going to the Packers game this weekend.
It will be my first time ever at a Packers game.
Plus, I'll be sitting in the 6th row, in the corner of the endzone.
I'm pretty pumped.

-----------

The Brewers made the playoffs.
Especially cool because I saw them this season.
Super-especially cool because they haven't gone to the playoffs in 26 years, so before I was born.

-----------

At work, if we donated $25 to the United Way, we could wear jeans for the ENTIRE month of October.
I did.
I will.

Also, I signed up to donate $300 next year to the United Way, taking around $11.41 out of each of my paychecks.
Which ends up being 1 hour a month.
I think it's kind of cool that I make enough money doing something at a job to donate to charity.

------------

chocolatefries @ 2008-09-24T22:54:00

2008-09-25T04:01:36Z

So, Kayla's visitation is tomorrow night, and her funeral is Friday morning.

I'm not planning on going to the funeral, because I'm not a big fan of funerals.

But tomorrow night, I'm going to go the visitation to try and pay my respects.

Markus is taking it very hard, which I expect anyone would, if they lost their sister.

It's going to be weird, probably seeing a bunch of people I didn't really like in high school, but as Jake P. told me at work today:
(Paraphrased):
"Sometimes you have to put up with the people you don't want to see, in order to help out your friends".

Damn... this is going to be hard to face.

I'm going to miss her.

2008-09-24T02:54:23Z

So, I got a call from Markus tonight.
I thought it was going to be talking about Anthony, or hanging out some time, because Anthony and him hung out on Saturday.

It turns out that Mark's sister, Kayla, got in an accident while riding on a motorcycle, and died.

She was always so nice to me.
Whenever I would hang out at Markus's, we would flirt, because we both new it would piss Mark off.

She and I were going to get dinner in Wausau some time, since she was going to school there.

She had her whole life ahead of her.

If no other reason to vote Obama:

2008-09-19T03:19:18Z

Rick and all of the other manic Sarah Palin fans.

Seriously, Jake P. and I just about can't stand Rick at work when he talks about politics.

Rick has been talking about an Obama sign that's on his way home from work, and how he wants to spray-paint "baby killer" on it.
Jake and I just shake our heads.

Then he talks about how it's cool that Sarah Palin is in the NRA.
I don't have any problem with the NRA, but Rick makes it sound like Obama wants to get rid of every gun out there.

This makes no sense:
1. I don't think Rick even goes hunting, and don't think he even has guns in his home.
2. Obama doesn't want to get rid of any consumer-guns, he only wants to get rid of assault weapons, and whatnot.
3. Rick also talks about how he wants the government to kill everyone in inner-city gangs. (The same gangs that have easy access to assault weapons that him and Palin want to protect.)

Also, Jake asked Rick if he thought Obama was a terrorist, or something.
Rick is sure he's a Muslim, and thinks that although he might not be a terrorist, he's opening the White House to terrorists in the future.

When talking about Palin, Rick said: "She's just like us!"
This, scares me, because I don't want anybody as weird or creepy as Rick anywhere near the White House.

Also, it sounds like Rick gets all of his information from Obama-bashing, rumor-causing email forwards.
He tried to explain to us, how Obama doesn't pledge allegiance to America.

And at the end of explaining how great Palin is, and how Obama just kills babies he says to us: "Vote for who you think is right in your heart."

Now, I can understand and even appreciate political arguments based on policy.
But this shit hurts my brain.
I think I'm going to go find and buy an Obama polo-shirt to wear to work.

I'm not sure though, because Chad sits right next to Rick, and is a McCain-Palin supporter.
Although not as foaming at the mouth right-wing as Rick, Chad's a former Marine, and I don't really want to get on his bad-side.

No subject can fully explain my terror.

2008-09-16T04:58:01Z

I just heard the very large lady who lives above me, and her large husband.

From the best I can tell they were jumping on the bed.
Then, started jumping faster.
Then, started jumping really fast.
Then, jumped slower.
Then, stopped.

I wonder if their mattress salesman ever told them that jumping on the bed is bad for the springs?

Excuse me while I go throw up the entire contents of my dinner.
Which was a cup of tea, and a half pint of ice cream.

I'm dying.

2008-09-16T04:50:37Z

Dear Mystery Ailment I have come down with:

I wrote some Haikus just for yous. (By the way, that totally rhymed).

I don't feel so good,
why it is, I do not know.
Work will be no fun.

My nose is stuffy,
junk running down my throat
I feel like dying.

It could be bird flu,
SARS, west nile, bubonic plague,
or even all 4.

I need some codeine.
It wouldn't cure my sickness.
Guess what? I don't care.

Flashing Lights.

2008-09-12T12:36:32Z

Not cool.
I woke up this morning, and my head hurts at the base of the back of my head.
Which is weird, because I don't usually get headaches.

Also, my left eye started getting weird.
Like, at first, I noticed that I couldn't see things directly to the left of where I was looking with it.
And now, my vision towards the bottom of my eye is getting really weird.
It's like... seeing flashing crap.
...not cool.

Random things...

2008-09-11T04:18:21Z

So, a few days ago, we tricked Rick... again.

He has this water cup with a lid and bendy-straw.
The lid also has a circular hole in it, to let air in, so you can drink out of the straw.

When he puts his mouth on the straw, and drinks, he doesn't drink like a normal person.
Rick drinks like a gerbil/hamster/guinea pig/small rodent.
He moves his mouth all around all goofy-like.
We tell him this.
Like 3 months ago, Adam told him to put his water-cup upside down and drink from it, like a hamster-bottle.
He did.
He forgot there is a giant hole in it, and it poured all over him.

Like 1.5 months ago, Adam told him to do it again.
Rick was waaaay too smart to be fooled again, and wouldn't do it.
Adam told him to put his thumb over the hole, so water wouldn't come out.
It's not a waterproof cup, so water came out a crack and spilled all over him.

I was talking to Rick on Monday and got him to do the exact same thing.

Also, Jake Pearse and I are going to both dress up as Rick for Halloween.
1. We are going to wear non-matching white clothing.
2. We are going to get bald-caps.
3. We are going to get water-bottles with the bendy-straws on them.
4. We are going to get pairs of cheap-headphones like Rick always wears.
5. It's going to be awesome.

--------------------------------------------------------

So, I made my first Blu-Ray Movie purchase since I got my PS3.
I got a movie called The Fall.
It's possibly the most visually-stunning movie I have ever seen.
Supposedly, it uses no CG, which makes it even more amazing.
It's kind of like Pan's Labyrinth and The Princess Bride, and other fantasy/bandit movies.

The fairy-tale portion of it is so crazy, it's like a dream.
One of those dreams in which parts of it change (like a guy suddenly gets a French accent, or when one character changes into another person totally).

Long story short:
Best movie I've seen in a long time, and it looks amazing in High Def.

The Top Rick Moment, Ever

2008-08-29T02:50:55Z

So, today was quite nearly the best Rick Moment, ever.

He had a sore elbow this week, so he went to his chiropracter, and apparently to put pressure on his tendons or something, he taped up Rick's forearm near his wrist.

He didn't put anything under the medical-tape, so it stuck directly to his skin.

Apparently, a few months ago, somehow Rick got some duct-tape or something stuck to his leg, and pulled it off at work, and that moment was a legend around my group.

Today, he decided to pull off the tape on his wrist.

He kept trying to do it in one pull, but each time he'd only get an inch or so.
It ripped a majority of the hair off his wrist.

Rick nearly cried.
Chad, a 39 year old former Marine, laughed so hard he was nearly crying.
It was awesome.

My weekend in Milwaukee...

2008-08-12T03:39:49Z

was pretty awesome.
-----------------------------------------------------

Friday:
Went to work early.
Got out of work early.
Jason drove us to Milwaukee to my Sister's.
Hung out.
Got dinner at a place with supposed: "Women drink for $5 on Friday nights."
Didn't see many (good looking) women.
Dinner was decent.
Plus, I got PBR on tap, which was pretty awesome.
This is why it stands for P.retty A.wesome B.eer S.uper T.asty

We then went back to my Roz's place, watched the Brewers, played Sequence, and watched "Super High Me" in which Doug Benson (one of my favorite comedians) stops smoking pot for 30 days, then smokes constantly for 30 days. It was a pretty funny/good movie. Also, I made my own 6-pack at a beer/wine place. My sister found "Chili Beer" in which they put a chili-pepper into each bottle. The beer itself tasted kind of like salsa. I also ate the pepper. It was bitter.

--------------------------------------------------

Saturday:
Woke up.
Got Gyros for lunch (they were tasty).
Went to the flea market.
I had been looking forward to this the entire week.

It met all my expectations.
It was like all the shady parts of the internet converged, and materialized in 2 warehouses and an outdoor lot.

I purchased at the flea market:
1. A Milwaukee Brewers unofficial fitted cap. $9
2. A "Stop Snitchin" t-shirt. $5
3. An Obama t-shirt. $10 (Also, I noticed a grand total of 0 McCain t-shirts, and like 7 or 8 different Obama shirts on sale)
4. A turntable beltbuckle with belt. $30 (I totally sniped it from some dude who told the vendor to put it in the back for him, and he'd pay him tomorrow.)
5. 1/2 pound of Lychees. $1.50 (These are a tropical fruit I see on a bunch of food blogs, and I have never seen them in any supermarkets. They kind of tasted like big, sweet, grapes with skin you have to peel and a large seed in each one.)

6. I paid $1 at a booth to see "The Strange Thing", since Jason, Roz, and I were wondering what it could be. Also, I asked the attendant if it truly was strange, he said it was. I decided to take a look. It was a really creepy freak of nature thing. Kind of looked like a baby with a malformed head, 3-claws on each hand, and no legs, only a tail thing-y.

We then went to the mall.
I purchased:
1. A pair of Nike Air Assaults. They are pretty awesome, plus on clearance for $50.

2. A blue Eazy-E shirt from Hot Topic.

Then we went to Burlington Coat Factory, because Jason and Roz told me they have a large amount of cool clothes.
I purchased:
1. A pair of bright green/blue/pink patchwork plaid shorts:

Then, Jason and Roz wanted to go see Pineapple Express, so we did that.
It was still decent, upon second viewing.

Then, we went to a sushi restaurant.
It was really good.
I got 9 pieces of random fish sushi (salmon, tuna, shrimp, calamari, etc.), plus a tuna-roll.

We also went to Discount Liquor, and I bought a 6-pack of the chili beer, so I could bring some back for Tyler and Raider, and others. I also bought a bottle of Agwa, which is a Coca Leaf Liqueur. (Coca leaves are what they use to make cocaine.)

We then went and watched The Office Season 2 on DVD.
We all had 1/2 shots of the coca leaf liqueur, and it tasted kind of minty/cinnamonny/spiced.
It was pretty good.
Also, it has guarana in it, so that mixed with the coca leaf stimulants can get you really messed up after a few shots, apparantly.

---------------------------------------------------------

Sunday:
Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Grandpa came down, and we went to the Brewer game.
It was one of the best baseball games I have been to.
It was really boring during the early parts, until the Brewers put in Gagne as pitcher in the top of the eighth, and he gave up 3 runs to make it 4-1 Nationals.
However, in the bottom of the eighth, the Brewers also got 3 runs.
It was tied, and went into extra innings.
In between the 11th and 12th inning, they bought the racing sausages back out, for a second race!
I think it was to discourage people from leaving.
It was awesome, anyways.
Then, in the 13th, the Brewers first batter got a home run, and won the game.
It was pretty exciting.

We then went to eat at Champps, a family-type restaurant.
There was a sign saying kids under 10 eat free.
My mom made a joke saying they should try to pretend I was under 10.
I told her that with every year passing, that joke gets less and less funnier.

It was a good time, anyways.
Jason and I then drove back to Point.

All in all, it was a pretty awesome-tastic weekend.
I bought some cool clothes.
Saw some crazy people.
Saw the "strange thing".
Had a good time with my sister/parents/grandparents/Jason.
Saw a good baseball game.

Also, I almost forgot to mention: The security guards at the mall in Milwaukee ride Segways.
This made me want to push them over, even more.

Alex is quite possibly having VH1's best week ever (knock on wood)

2008-08-06T04:32:34Z

1. Got my glasses, they look badass. (Even if I'm still getting used to the prescription, and things look a bit weird in them.)
2. Basketball today was awesome, and only 1/2 court, so less running.
3. I've been running/walking more, and trying to eat a bit less, because I have gained what looks like a "lovehandle-seed" on my stomach that could possibly turn into a love-handle some day, if I'm not careful. So, I ran close to 2 miles Sunday and yesterday nights, and just walked 3 miles tonight. Also, my zombie ankle hasn't fallen off because of it... yet.
4. Tomorrow after work I'm going to go see Pineapple Express with Randy and Jake... hopefully.
5. Tomorrow at work is "Administration Services Picnic/Thing Day". Technically I'm on loan to another group and haven't done any admin stuff, ever, BUT I still got the email, and my manager asked if I was going, so free food for lunch, which is 2 hours!
6. Also, all the people going to the picnic tomorrow get to wear jeans! Jeans days are hardly work days at all.
7. The thing on my webpage I was avoiding doing for the past two weeks was a lot easier than I thought it was, and I got most of it done today!
8. Milwaukee this weekend.

Raise your glasses, your glasses, your glasses to the sky...

2008-08-05T01:24:03Z

So, my new glasses came in today.
I couldn't be happier with them.
However, my eyes are still getting used to them.
Plus, the things that go over my ears are substantially larger than on my old glasses, so my ears are kind of sore at the moment.
However, those things aside, I'm pretty pumped.