Had to close the garage...

I went back outside after posting the previous entry and there was another Mexican guy coming up the driveway. He asked if I was having a garage sale, and I told him no. He then proceeded to point to the stroller, pedal car, and other things that we have asking how much I wanted for them.

Geez.

I finally ran him off, grabbed the tools I needed, and was about to close the garage door when another woman came up with her 3 kids.

I closed the garage and inspected the brakes on the Expedition and changed the serpentine belt (forgot to do it a couple of weeks ago when I did the hoses and spark plugs).

Now, to start working on the garage (with the door closed while I work).

I guess I need to clean the garage...

My garage is a mess. All of the Christmas decoration boxes are still in the garage, as well as several other items. The fact is that since Christmas, both of our cars have been sleeping outside.

Well, this morninng I went out to look at the brakes on Shelly's truck and had the garage door up. Some random Mexican woman came walking up the driveway. Of course, when you are involved in something and someone comes up, it sort of startles you.

She started looking through my stuff. I said "Can I help you?"

How embarassing....

She thought I was having a garage sale...

Yes, after I look at the brakes, the garage is getting straightened...

Dinner Guest Etiquette...

Chances are, unless you are a complete recluse, you have wither invited friends to dinner at your house, or been invited to dinner at a someone else's house. With a dinner invitation, there is always the question of what you can bring.

Many times, the host will take you up on your offer of a dessert, a side dish of some sort, or at the very least a bag of ice if the parts will have several guests.

A few months ago, we hosted dinner and when asked, politely told the guests that their presence was all we cared about, everything else would be taken care of. I like to cook, and made what I thought was a great meal, complete with appetizer and dessert. When the guests arrived, dinner was close to being ready, and I had just put dessert in the oven. They arrived carrying a dessert. At that point, all you can really do is serve their dessert and put the one you prepared up for another night. Of course, since the guests usually hang out in the kitchen, it was obvious they noticed the dessert, and it was a little awkward.

Fast forward to this week. We accepted a dinner invitation to a neighbors house for tonight. When Shelly accepted, she asked if we could bring anything, suggesting maybe a dessert or a side. They thanked her and declined, asking that we just show up hungry (no problems here...).

I was at the grocery store yesterday and sent the neighbor a text and asked what his favorite flavor of beer was. He informed me that he had plenty, just show up and we would be all set.

Clear enough? Not for my wife. What is it with women that they can't just graciously accept an invitation without having to take something? She baked a loaf of bread last night. Of course, our bread machine hates us. In the 7 years we've had it, we've NEVER had a loaf turn out right. Always too dark, hard, falls, etc. This one was the proper shape, but too dark and quite hard on the outside...

She just got home, so we'll see if I win the argument about just going empty-handed...

Does anyone else have this problem? Do you take something even after being told multiple times not to?

Problem with the tunes solved....

I loaded up 8 or 10 CD's worth of music up tonight. Of course, I figured out that it's much easier if you choose only the songs you like from a CD instead of waiting for it to install every one of the songs. I had to raid my car, Shelly's truck, our bedroom, the upstairs office, and the garage (don't ask) to find all of the CD's. There are about 130-150 of them I think..

The conclusion I cam to is that I have TONS of songs that I like, and my commute isn't that long. Between the 5 or 6 podcasts I subscribe to and all of this music, I don't need to buy much. I'll take my chances with the odd $.99 or $1.98 when there is something I want.

Wreg, I still need those tips, just in case...

Shelly, if you read this, the previous post was a hypothetical question. No need to inspect my grocery store receipts...

Ethical Dilemma...

OK, so I bought the iPod last week. I've having great fun with it. I've found all sorts of neat applications to put on it as well as subscribed to a couple of podcasts on varying topics. The one thing I don't have on it is a ton of music.

Sure, I've got a PILE of CD's hanging around, and it would seem to be fairly easy to pop them into the drive on the computer and save them to my iTunes folder, but what seems to be MUCH easier would be to load up from the iTunes store. The problem with that is that my dear wife is a pretty smart cookie. She has the initials CPA & CFP behind her name. She also peruses the activity on our credit card several times per week. She knew the next morning the last time I downloaded music and questioned the frivolity of the $1.98 I had spent.

Herein lies the ethical dilemma... I do the vast majority of shopping for our household. At least once a week I hit the grocery store, and periodically, I hit Wal-Mart or Target for household goods. I also visit Walgreens on occasion for random purchases. All of these places sell iTunes gift cards in varying amounts.

You see where I'm going with this...

In amongst the packages of toilet paper, grocery items, assorted whatnots, suppose a gift card found its way into the basket? Of course, the receipt would have to be "lost" so as not to give away what seems to be a perfect plan...

In the past, I've used the same tactic to purchase stockpiles of "projectiles" for the home protection. Of course, that can be justified as being for the "common good", and I eventually ended up admitting to it anyway (she saw the stockpile and questioned whether any government bureaus should be notified...). iTunes? Any thoughts on how to justify that purchase as being for the "common good"?

Any thoughts from faithful readers?

Rules for a successful marriage (man's perspective)...

Those of you that are friends with me on Facebook have no doubt taken note of my many status updates. It's quite obvious that I wear many hats in our household. Necessity dictates that Shelly and I both work outside the home. With 2 young children and a household to maintain, life is in a constant state of chaos.

Last night, I posted something to the effect that I had vacuumed the downstairs, cleaned the kitchen, and put on a load of laundry. This generated the question "Where are all of the men like you?" Of course, the answer is that they are everywhere. The women will attest that "Men are all the same". Some of us just forgot the rule that if you do something well, and do it often enough, it becomes your job.

This started me thinking along the lines of rules for a successful marriage. Sure, there are lots of things on the wish list from a guys perspective sex , but honestly, many of the ones you would think of first lots of sex will probably be less important as you get older. Besides, if you do things right, most of those things sex SHOULD be a mystery until you have said "I do".

Basically, you can break it down into two rules:

1. Choose carefully. Choosing the "right" woman is the key to your marriage being happy for the long haul. This is where you check off the wishes from your list.

2. Be on your best behavior, and help out around the house after you get married. This rule is VERY important. Why? Well, if she married your sorry butt, it is inevitable that the day will come that she realizes that she failed miserably with rule #1. When that day comes, if you have proved to be a nice enough guy and useful enough around the house, she will probably let you stay.

The gift that keeps on giving...

Facebook is a huge time sponge, but quite addictive also. I'm amazed at the sheer number of my friends from days gone by that have show up on Facebook. In reconnecting, there are many things I've been reminded about that were filed in the recesses of my mind.

In December 1996 I moved to Lake Charles, LA to take a job as a Producer for an insurance agency. At one point while I was there, the opportunity presented itself to rent a small house instead of the apartment I had been living in. I met a guy named Hank through some mutual friends, and he moved into the house with me. This is where the story gets funny. The house was pink, and it was on California Street.

Being quite secure with our manliness, neither one of us was overly bothered by this. Some good times were had in the "Pink House". As I remember it, there were always people hanging out at our house. Maybe it was because many of our friends still lived at home with their parents at that point, or maybe it was that we were so damn cool, but we always had a couple of people hanging around.

Food was a major deal around a house with 2 guys in residence. We generally either grilled something or ordered pizza. At one time, Dominos had a deal where you called a number for a phone survey after you ordered a pizza. Probably 1 in 5 surveys received a coupon in the mail for a free pizza. So, being guys, we figured that if you called the survey phone number each day, you would get a free pizza 5 or 6 times a month.

Armed with a decent stack of coupons, we started calling to order free pizzas. We very quickly figured out that if you tipped a driver $5 in a town where they get stiffed on a regular basis, they are so excited about the tip that they forget about the coupon. We figured a $15 pizza for $5 tip money was a pretty good deal. We even had our little "free pizza dance" we did when we closed the door after receiving the pizza. It was like the gift that kept on giving.

But, all good things come to an end. After 8 or 10 free pizzas and the same number of coupons that we had started with, we took delivery of yet another free pizza, tipped the driver, and closed the door. About halfway through the dance, there was a knock on the door. Crap. We briefly contemplated not answering the door. You know, hollering through the door "Nobody's home!", but like a big dummy, I opened the door. We were busted. They were onto our scheme, and the driver was warned not to come back without the coupon.

After that, we still got several free pizzas, but for whatever reason, we never won another coupon from a survey, and the drivers never forgot the coupon.

I'll post more Pink House adventures later. Definitely some fun times in that house.