New Fence Plans

I had to submit my plans for our new fence to the president of our HOA for approval.  I threw this together in a few minutes using Keynote in iWork 08.

Raven’s 2008 NFL Draft

I love the NFL. It is by far, hands down, the best sport on TV. I can’t wait for Sundays in the fall. I am obsessed with fantasy football. I REALLY love the Ravens. I even enjoy watching the NFL draft.

Last season the Ravens had a disappointing season finishing 5-11. One of the bright spots about that finish is that now in 2008 they have higher draft picks. The Ravens haven’t had a top 10 draft pick since Terrell Suggs was taken #10 in 2003. This year the team had the #8 overall selection.

The Ravens have a big need for help in the secondary. McAlister had some health issue last season and Rolle is just plain old. They also need some help on the offensive line. J.O. will retire and there isn’t a true left tackle on the roster. Of course the biggest need is for a franchise QB. McNair retired, Troy Smith is too small, and Boller just sucks.

There was one player that I hoped the Ravens would go after. Being a University of Delaware alumni, I had been hoping for weeks that the Ravens would draft Joe Flacco.

After weeks of speculation and numerous mock drafts, 3:00pm Sunday 4/26 finally arrived.  I fired up the big screen and set up the PIP.  ESPNHD on one screen and NFL Network HD on the other.  I switched back and forth between the two telecasts all day.

So here was the scenario. Matt Ryan was the highest rated QB on the board. There was a chance that he would fall to the Ravens at #8. Instead, the Falcons took him with the the #3 pick. That brought up an interesting scenario. #8 was too high to select Flacco, but he probably wouldn’t be available when the Ravens selected again in the second round.

When the #8 pick finally arrived the Ravens traded down with Jacksonville to the #26 slot. I knew right then that Flacco was going to be the pick. Now the question was, did they drop too low. Another team could trade in above the Ravens and steal Flacco from us.

Finally when the #18 pick arrived, the Ravens traded back up and selected Flacco. To say that I’m jazzed is a understatement. This guy is going to be the next Ben Rothlisberger. He is going to be the franchise QB that the Ravens have been searching for.

So the second round finally rolls along and the Ravens have a high pick. Admittedly, I’m getting a little burnt out on the draft by this point, but I have to see who we take, then I’d probably turn it off.  So of course, the Ravens trade down again. This time down to the #55 pick. Time to get something to eat, this may take a while.

I was hoping the Ravens would pick a CB in the second round. Justin King from Penn State was still available and he would have been a great fit. Instead they took Ray Rice out of Rutgers.

Now don’t get me wrong, Ray Rice is a great player. He was actually a Heisman candidate, but we don’t really need another running back. McGahee is a pro-bowler and Musa Smith is a good backup.  I guess they know more than I do.

The good thing though is that with all these trades and moving down in draft slots, the Ravens picked up a couple 3rd round picks and another 4th rounder. Maybe King will be available in the 3rd round tomorrow morning and Ozzie will look like a genius again.

All I care about right now is that we got Flacco.  I think I may head over to NFL.com right now and pre-order my new Joe Flacco authentic Ravens jersey.

How to get a free lunch

Last Thursday afternoon some of the people on my team were discussing what we were going to do for lunch that day. One of the guys on my team had a coupon for 99 cent roast beef sandwiches at Arby’s. That sounded pretty good and most of us decided that we would hit Arby’s for lunch.

That was when Jaye had one of the greatest ideas I had ever heard. He called Arby’s and told them that we were having an associate appreciation food day. He asked them if they would like to donate some food for the cause.

They actually gave him 25 roast beef sandwiches for FREE!!! There were only 11 people on our team working on Thursday, so we each got 2 sandwiches and had a couple left over.

I can’t believe I didn’t think of this idea. Back when I was in the restaurant business, people called every day asking me for donations for fundraisers and such and I usually always gave them something – party platers or at least some coupons.

With all the different restaurants within a few miles of work, Jaye could do this a couple times a week. Maybe on Monday he’ll call Chick-fil-a

Texas de Brazil

A few months ago on the DIS Unplugged podcast, they were talking about local Orlando restaurants that were not on Disney property. One of the restaurants that they raved about was Texas de Brazil.

After a little research, I found out that not only was this a national chain, but there was one within an hours drive in Fairfax, VA.

Texas de Brazil bills itself as an authentic Brazilian churrascaria. The basic premise is that after feasting at a forty item seasonal salad bar, including meats and various soups, you sit at your table and are surrounded by “guachos” trying to persuade you to eat whatever meats they are carrying on their skewers.

In front of you is placed a small colored disk, one side green, the other red. As long as the green side faces up, you are bombarded with opportunities to gorge yourself on the meat. Turning the red side up means “No Mas”, and you get to take a break.

The Salad Bar and the Brazilian Cheesebread provided more than enough variety to get you started.  Then the procession arrived. You are offered many different choices – as much and as many as you like, and as many servings as you can cram into your expanding waistline.

The meat is brought to your table on a skewer, and depending upon the cut, you are either given a chunk or a slice. After a while you learn to pace yourself and get choosy over the next dish to try.

My personal favorites are the Flank Steak and the Filet Mignon wrapped in bacon. The flank steak is carved table-side right off the skewer. It has a very distinctive seasoning which was very salty but also delicious. As for the Filet, it literally melted in your mouth.

My Dad and Sayra both enjoyed the Brazilian Sausage, although, they thought it was a little spicy. My mother really enjoyed the lamb chops and the chicken wrapped in bacon.

All of the red meats are prepared to medium rare, although you could request any temperature and the guachos were very quick to accomodate you. I was the only person at my table that didn’t eat well-done. We let our waiter know and it was no problem. A steady flow of both mid-rare and well-done were offered to us throughout the evening.

The food just keeps coming until you beg for mercy or dessert. I’d absolutely recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a place to celebrate a special occasion.

The reason that I wouldn’t necessary frequent here is the price. For 4 people, after tip, the bill came to $250. That also included one glass of wine and one dessert.  The price was a little high, but well worth it my opinion.

Texas De Brazil is absolutely worth a visit for those meat-lovers out there. You will leave drooling either because your stomach is full or you had not been able to sample all fourteen styles of meat.

Another neat extra was the e-club. When the manager presented us with the check, he also gave all 4 of us a card to fill out. On the card we needed to put or email address, our birthdays, and our anniverseries. Every year on these dates, Texas de Brazil will email us coupons good for one free dinner. That’s a really nice touch and a great way to attract return customers.

Dinglepop

iJustine turned me on to a new game on iminlikewithyou called dinglepop. The game is pretty self explanatory and extremely addicting. All you have to do is match 3 like-colored dinglepops to free them before they are pushed past the dotted line.

The best part about dinglepop is the team play. Much like blockles, there are items that you are able to use against your opponents to further your chances of winning. Popping and dropping dingles send new dingles onto your opponent’s screen.

If you pop dingles containing items, you can add them to your queue. You can use items on yourself or others by pressing the numbers on your keyboard. Unfortunately it took me 3 hours and about 50 games to realize this. I guess I should have read the instructions.

What’s cool is that I’ve played against people from all across the world. I’ve never really explored the iminlikewithyou site, but it seems to be a more interactive version of facebook.

I can not stop playing dinglepop.  After every game, I say that this is the last one and every time I play just one more. I can not have my last game be a loss, so I also have to keep playing and can’t stop until I win.

Last night I got stuck in a game with some kid from Germany that was like some kind of savant. I could not beat her and I wouldn’t quit until I did.  Around 2 am, she finally quit and I was able to win the next round and go to sleep.

Okay, now you must excuse me. I have some gaming to do.

Dell Latitude D610 Laptop

Last month I received a promotion at work. After 2 attempts and 15 months, I was promoted to a band 6 Team Lead. As a Team Lead, one of the “perks” I receive is a laptop computer that I can take home with me every night. This allows me to check emails, catch up on listenings, or to just pull some reports away from the office.

The laptop that is given to the Team Leads is the Dell Latitude D610. It’s a very sturdy business class notebook. It has a decent 14.1″ LCD screen, but when put in a docking station, you can view it on any monitor. I’ve never really used a laptop before, so I’m still trying to get used to the mouse pad. It just seems so much harder to navigate on that pad.

The biggest frustration I have with the computer is getting it connected to my home network. Obviously the bank has to take take security very serious, so it takes quite a while to connect it to the mobile access server. The main problem I’m having is getting it set up for Wi-Fi. The computer recognizes the broadband connection when I plug in an ethernet cable, but it won’t pick up the wireless network I run through my home. I must be doing something wrong or not have the wireless modem turned on.

I’m going to try and trick it out a little bit and put my own mark on it. I went to skinit.com and bought a designer skin. They have over 500 different skins for the D610. These are basically big vinyl stickers that you put over the plain grey cover.  They are easily removable if I want to change it.

I picked out the green biohazard skin. It was between this and a desert camouflage skin. I thought the biohazard looked mysterious and more gamer-like. No one else at work has put a skin on their laptop, so mine should be unique. I like being a little different and unique. It’s the little things that keep us from being boring and help you stand out.

Now if I could only add Linux or OSX and get rid of XP, this laptop could be pretty cool. Unfortunately bank security keeps us from making any changes or adding/deleting any software that on the laptop.  Why couldn’t they just give us Macs?

A White Pair of Heelys

Almost everyone who knows me, knows how much I love my Heelys.  I’ve owned a pair of Octanes for the past 15 months and I basically wear them everywhere I go except for work.  I actually do wear them to work on alternating Saturdays.  If Heelys made a dress shoe, I’d probably wear them every day.

It was almost impossible to find a pair in size 10 Mens, but I eventually found them at Dick’s Sporting Goods.  The Octanes were the only style they had in my size, so I didn’t have much of a choice.  I guess not many adults like to wear Heelys?

Like I said before, I wear these things everywhere I go.  It’s a little challenging wearing them on the street or sidewalk because of cracks.  If the crack is too wide, your wheel will get stuck and you will go flying forward and fall flat on your face.  

On the other hand, wearing these inside on a flat surface is AWESOME!!!  I never thought I would actually love going grocery shopping.  I can zoom around the store or in the mall in about half the time it would take to walk.  

Sayra hates me wearing them because she thinks I’m going to get in trouble with security, but I’ve only gotten yelled at one time in the last 15 months.  It was from some asshole at Weis.  He says to me, “You can’t wear those in here”.  I just ignored him and kept on rolling.  What’s he going to do?  Kick me out and not let me buy groceries?  

As much as I love my Octanes, I also want a pair of white Heelys for the summer.  White tennis shoes look so much better with shorts and nobody really wears black shoes in the summer.  

So I began the search for white Heelys in a size 10 Mens.  This is like finding a needle in a haystack.  If I was a kid I could have my pick of about 50 different styles, but for Adult sizes, I was lucky to find anything bigger than size 7.

I went to Dick’s website.  I went to Shoes.com.  I went to the official Heely webite.  I even went to Ebay.  I couldn’t find anything even close to what I wanted.  

Finally after weeks of searching both stores and websites, I found my holy grail.  It was at Zappos.com that I found a pair of White/Navy Ninjas.  These were the exact shoes that I pictured in my head.  They aren’t too wild, but very conservative.  They almost look like a normal pair of tennis shoes at first glance.  They cost $69.00

I immediately, without hesitation, placed my order.  Once I put them in my virtual shopping cart, they let me know that there are only 3 pairs left in my size!!!  

How close did I come to total disaster?  If I hadn’t gotten these after weeks of searching, I would have been devastated.  The new shoes should arrive in about 5 days.  The only problem left now is how to get them past Sayra.