Thank you John Madden

Today is the best day in a long time.  John Madden has finally thrown in the towel.  I will not have to suffer through another minute of watching him stumble through his commentary talking about god knows what while his fake, makeup laden face bobbles around the television.  On behalf of fans everywhere, I want to thank you John for sparing us all.

Hardwood Floors - Done!

The floors are done!  Here are some pictures.  Everything turned out really nice, I can't wait to get some furniture in there and be back to normal.  Also Christie is going crazy without TV :)

Hardwood Floor Refinishing Day 3

Yesterday the sanding got done, and the first coat is on.  Today is the final day, with 2 more coats going down.  Oh, the last picture is a shot of our kitchen in its current state.... we are pretty excited to be able to use our house again come this weekend.

Hardwood Floor Refinishing, Day 2

Here is some shots of the floor after day of sanding.  As you can see in the middle of the room, we found a nice little easter egg left by some previous owners who didn't do the best job of patching :)  I guess its a good conversation piece.  Ironically, this is the ONLY part of the carpet I did not pull up when I attempted to do this job last year.

Below, I took a photo of the patch that was installed yesterday.  Its a little hard to see because they did such a fantastic job.  Right where that cable comes up, there used to be a 2 foot wide hole in the floor.  Hard to believe looking at it now.

Hardwood Floor Refinishing, Day 1

Today is the beginning of the final chapter in the saga of our hardwood floor refinishing project. Last May I started pulling up the carpet and found some beautiful 100+ year old maple waiting to shine again...Then I found a big hole in the floor covered with plywood from an old gravity heating system. At that point, I knew the project was out of my league, and it was time to call in the experts.

Fast forward to today, when our contractor showed up ready to cut, rip, and tear up that hideous white carpet. Fellow environmentalists, do not fret, we are recycling the carpet (and padding) and using eco-friendly water based stain and sealant.

Reclaimed maple from a home built in the same period is being used to patch the hole in the floor today and staining and sealing starts tomorrow. Stay tuned for photos!

Fun with Google News

Sometimes the automated mashup of news article headlines and images doesn't do the best job over at Google News. Here is an image I snagged today that seems like a particularly terrible scenario:

Why I have a fake christmas tree

From Christmas 2008

Buy Wind Power!

Did you know Xcel Energy sells wind power?  This month it cost me $5 to have all of my electricity usage purchased from wind farms.  $5.  Considering how much people might spend on solar power systems and the like (thousands of dollars), this is a pretty good value in my book.  

Xcel charges you an increased fee per kilowatt-hour which worked out to $23 for me this month, but then you get back the fuel surcharge (because you are not using any fuel), which was $18 this month.  If you are considering switching to wind power, keep in mind that the up-front cost that is listed is different from the net increase of your bill because of this fuel cost refund.  

Follow this link to find out how to sign yourself up:

http://www.xcelenergy.com/Residential/RenewableEnergy/Windsource_/Pages/WindSource.aspx

Get your Freedom Membership while you still can!

http://www.secureourdream.com/

Go look at this page, then come back.  I will wait.

Ok good, I sure hope you signed up for your freedom membership.  Thats right, freedom can now be had at the low low price of 14.95, payable to Joe the Plumber.  What a deal!

Don't forget to pre-order Joe's new book on american values.  

Selling bullshit on a stick to flocks of mindless souls really is the american dream.  

/salute to you, Joe.

Election Day, Yay!

Well I hope you voted already, and if you did not, get out there and do it.  Tell your boss to shove it, tell the customers that democracy is more important than their cup of coffee, throw down your toolbelt or apron or keyboard, and get voting!

Humurously, all the free election day giveaways turn out to be illegal under election law.  Starbucks sent out a twitter last night:

"IMPORTANT: To ensure that we are in compliance with election law, we are extending our offer to all customers who request a tall brewed drip."

McCain, republicans, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

John McCain supports the united states federal government overtaking Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  Of course he does, but then he turns around and gives us the same republican rhetoric: Less taxes, less big government, people can take care of themselves and their businesses.  Guess what jackass, sometimes they can't, and that is when government must step in and take action.

Stand by your guns, you coward.  Situationally saying "yes" to big government and increased taxpayer burden only when its good for your campaign is bullshit.  Republicans keep feeding us this horse shit about lower taxes and less spending, meanwhile waiting for another 9/11 or Freddie/Fannie crisis to come along as an excuse to spend money our government doesn't have because of their policies.  

I am sure Sarah Palin supports increased funding for programs helping families with Down Syndrome, but if you ask her if our government should spend more money on social services in general, what do you think she would say?

Google Chrome

Well, its here.... Google's new browser just came out. The link may or may not work, but give it a go.

http://www.google.com/chrome

That's a huge bitch!

Look at the diver next to it, this fish is huge! Check out the article below:


http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/08/080825-new-grouper.html

Where Michelle Bachman Came From

“[Pelosi] is committed to her global warming fanaticism to the point where she has said that she’s just trying to save the planet. We all know that someone did that over 2,000 years ago, they saved the planet — we didn’t need Nancy Pelosi to do that.”

-Michelle Bachman

99 Beers

I stumbled across this web app today while reading a news article this morning... Its a pretty cool graphic with information about who owns popular beer brands. Some of them are pretty obvious, but there are a couple surprises in there.


http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/storysupplement/beer/2008/

New Travel Blog

Here is a link to Christie and Scotts travel blog:

http://christiescottstravels.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

Flushing before peeing

I don't understand this. Some guys will come in, pull up the urinal, and then flush. Before they pee. Best case scenario, you just wasted water. Worst case scenario, you just washed your dick in a public urinal and have water all over your pants. WTF?

Cat-Man-Do Lunch Buffet

Yesterday Christie and I ate lunch at Cat-Man-Do on Grand near Macalester. Its a bit of a cliché name, but the lunch buffet was real tasty. There are only a few things at the buffet, and the place was pretty empty, so we were a bit nervous walking in. After tasting the pekora and the potatoes, we both knew staying was the right decision. The only bummer was the nahn (flat bread), which was not as light and fluffy as I would have liked. They had a decent patio we sat out on, and it was altogether an enjoyable meal. Plus I got real full for cheap.

Funny Comic

forwarded from fathead

No Deliverance

http://nodeliverance.com/

Toadies. New album. Holy shit.