When we got to Vegas, one of the first things Sam said when we were walking around our hotel room (which was off the strip) was “hey! I can see where I got mugged from here!” Gee, thanks, Sam.

In the day time, when walking around, we found some bullet shells:

Gee, thanks, Sam.

Towards the end of the trip, we heard a series of loud bangs across the parking lot near the Tropicana. It was later taped up and cops were patrolling the area:

Apparently, there was a gunfight:

Needless to say, I think someone else is in charge of our hotel reservation next time.

In the morning (~6AM), a few hours after the incident, we had cops knock on our door. Viraj answered it after waking up and the cops asked “if we heard anything last night” very obviously referring to the loud bangs. Viraj then proceeded to blatantly lie and said “no, we just saw yellow tape and police.” When we confronted him about it later, he claimed he lied because he was “scared.” Police asked him if there was anyone in the room that wasn’t supposed to be there. I wish I had woken up, looked at Viraj and said “who are you?” Maybe Viraj really is a terrorist…

Chad, Nancy, Oman, Sam, Viraj, and I went to Vegas this past weekend (plus a few days) and had a great time. Dean and Julie joined us later. It was also Sam’s birthday, so we gave him some good old fashioned birthday “spankings” (warning: there is profanity):

Here’re also a few other photos:

More on my flickr set, including this gem (again, warning: profanity):

“Can anybody find me somebody to love?
Each morning I get up I die a little
Can barely stand on my feet
Take a look in the mirror and cry
Lord what you’re doing to me
I have spent all my years in believing you
But I just can’t get no relief, Lord!
Somebody, somebody
Can anybody find me somebody to love?” - Queen

… hello there, Internets!

I decided to do something for April Fool’s at work yesterday and spawned a ticket related to our products (I’m leaving the attached image referenced in the ticket out, sorry =):

The ticket then got passed around to various parties including some directors and a VP. Here are some of the memorable ones:

This reaffirmed the notion that I’m working at the right company. =)

“Making young girls pine
I don’t have the time
Babies, get in line
I’ve got a protractor
Got a stapler now
it goes Ka-ching!
gotta have the math club crown me king
gotta rock the screen with the cosine graphing
on my calculator
If you’re up
and if you want a piece of me
wave goodbye and blow a kiss
Cause you can’t handle this” - Five Iron Frenzy

I created a tauren hunter the other day and I named him Cowbama. Once I hit level 7, I stopped by Thunderbluff and some level 63 death knight started trying to make fun of me. He kept on whispering me with “hey, can you do this?!” and ran across the Thunderbluff pond. Despite not being able to walk on water like death knights, I replied “YES, WE CAN!”

I didn’t get a reply after that, so I’m not sure if the death knight was just confused or if he got the joke…

“And we both know, that our love will grow
And forever it will be you and me
Ooh your life is sun,
Chasing all the rain away,
When you come around you bring a brighter day” - Atlantic Starr

I’ve had recent conversations recently about not “getting” Twitter. To a certain extent, I understand how it can be useful and the examples of it being so are neat, I suppose. Maybe it just seems like more effort than its worth for me. Or maybe it’s just that I feel connected enough to my close friends as is? I don’t know.

I think the thing that bugs me most about Twitter and “micro-blogging” like Facebook statuses is that personal blogs in general have died down quite a bit. I liked the time/effort people used to put into blog posts and being able to read someone’s thoughts more than 140 characters at a time. I like the historical “diary” nature of blogs. On Facebook it seems like everything is a constant stream that you lose track of after a while (I know that’s not entirely accurate, but it seems that way) and having all that interaction “trapped” sounds less than desirable to me. I enjoy being able to dig through years of blog posts and see what I was writing about years and years ago without it being locked in a “proprietary” system.

Digressing, one of my favorite things to do in my new house is sit on my couch and surf while I play music with my Mac Mini on my speaker system. I somehow generally don’t get very lonely doing that and it keeps me pretty content. I’m sure I’ll get tired of this music eventually though…

“It can cut you like a knife, if the gift becomes the fire
On a wire between will and what will be

She’s a maniac, maniac on the floor
And she’s dancing like she’s never danced before” - Michael Sembello

So I’ve had one of those Citi credit cards that give you cash back ever since 2005. Apparently, I’ve never actually claimed the cash back that I’ve earned throughout these four-ish years. I logged in to my account recently and noticed that I had accumulated over $600 that was just waiting for me to press a button to claim.

Haha… so I went ahead and did that. That, combined with the extra $500 from the new First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit is going to go a long way in me actually getting a washer/dryer… now I just need to wade through a ton of reviews to actually find one…

“It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There’s nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in Africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had” - Toto

I got a new Mac mini and installed Plex on it which has been pretty nifty. I don’t like its music playback as much as Front Row (which is a bit sad because Front Row is a bit lacking there too), but it’s overall more capable than it despite being a bit less stable for the time being. Seems like there’s a lot of development for it, so it’ll likely improve rapidly.

I also FINALLY upgraded my Wordpress install after doing a recent brand new install at work. Seems like they’ve been busy as well… =)

I think I’ve moved the last of my stuff from the apartment, so I’m “officially” moved out. I still can’t find a few things though… like the charging station for my hand-held vacuum (which would come in handy). Andrew was kind enough to clean off all the shelves I had there and set it all by the door. I’ll have to write another Andrew Approved post to thank him. =)

“Something evil’s watching over you
Comin’ from the sky above
And there’s nothing you can do

Prepare to strike
There’ll be no place to run
When your caught within the grip
Of the evil Unicron

Transformers
More than meets the eye
Transformers
Robots in Disguise” - Lion

I know not everyone will be with me on this, but here’re my thoughts on what’s on TV right now that I’ve either watched or am watching.

No longer watching or on the verge of no longer watching

• 24 - I haven’t watched the past few seasons and though this one isn’t particularly horrible, it’s just the same old. I feel like they’re just churning on the same formula over and over and it’s just lost its excitement factor. Throw in stupid computer-related “twists,” and silly plot elements and I’m done.


• Heroes - I am this close to ditching Heroes. It has such potential, I don’t understand how a group of writers could mess it up so much. It’s like they’ve been given Freddie Mercury in front of a colosseum of Queen fans and instead of letting him rock out, they make him play chess against Hannah Montana and let the Jonas Brothers deliver the encore. We want to see super-heroes use their powers. Who doesn’t want to see super-Peter totally kick butt and duke it out with Syler? It was great in the first season when they hinted at it over and over, but they never really came through. I want Peter versus Syler Dragon Ball Z! Instead I get a horrible horrible Hayden that can’t execute her poorly written lines at all. I really wish they had just let the chearleader die. Forget the world. I probably have one or two more shows left in me, then I’m done.

Still watching

• House - I wouldn’t be upset about missing an episode, but it’s consistently entertaining. It’s nice to enjoy a show that you don’t really feel you have to be caught up on.


• Lost - I’ve always been skeptical that Lost will be worth it in the end, but it still is entertaining and I have a bit of hope that they’ll pull through in the end. My fear is that they’ve thrown in so much mystery, they won’t be able to explain it all (or they just won’t at all).

Wouldn’t miss

• Dexter - watched first season or so after Mark and Andrew started watching it and raved about it. I whole-heartedly agree. Dexter is rock solid and awesome.


• Battlestar Galactica - BSG isn’t typically very fast paced, but I still find it highly enjoyable. The past few episodes have been hot.

Obligated

• CSI: Miami - when I lived at the apartment, Andrew was rarely there Friday nights, and everyone else was too lazy to arrange for something to happen. On these nights, I chilled alone surfing the net and watching hours and hours of CSI: Miami. A&E plays this show for probably 30% or more of a day. It’s not even really very good, but it certainly is pretty, so I feel obligated to watch it when it’s on and I have nothing to do.

“I wear my sunglasses at night
So I can so I can
Watch you live and breathe your storylines

(And) I wear my sunglasses at night
So I can so I can
Keep track of the visions in my eyes” - Corey Hart

My family’s always filled the garage with… things not cars, so my new house was pretty much the first time that I’ve actually used a garage for my car. I drove from my apartment to the house in pretty heavy rain today and man… having a garage is awesome.

In other news, I also got my sectional in today. Yay! Lost at my place tomorrow?

Updated checklist:

• TV (Samsung HL67A750 67” DLP)


• Fridge


• Living room sofa (sectional from Haverty’s)


• Washer/Dryer


• Sound system


• Blu-ray player (PS3?) (PS3)


• Bean bags

“Oh mama I’m in fear for my life
From the long arm of the law
Lawman has put an end to my running
And I’m so far from my home
Oh mama I can hear you a crying
You’re so scared and all alone
Hangman is coming down from the gallows
And I don’t have very long” -Styx

“Father wears his sunday best
Mother’s tired she needs a rest
The kids are playing up downstairs
Sister’s sighing in her sleep
Brother’s got a date to keep
He can’t hang around

Our house, in the middle of our street
Our house, in the middle of our…” -Madness