I’ve never had more trouble writing a single blog post than I’ve had writing this one. In the dozen or so openings I’ve scrapped so far I’ve compared my relationship with my wife to the ebb and flow of the ocean, two symbiotic fish, and, in one particularly dorky attempt, two celestial bodies orbiting one another. Yes. I tried comparing my marriage to a couple of meteors. According to Susan, she knew the two of us were going to get married the first time our paths crossed in seventh grade. I, on the other hand, still wasn’t sure we were… (read more)

Last night for back to school night Susan and I took the kids to iHop for dinner. For some reason they think having pancakes and bacon for dinner is a real treat. Maybe they’re on to something. We were greeted at the door by a short lady with both the face and the disposition of an angry bulldog. “How many,” she snarled. Despite the fact that it wasn’t presented as a question, we answered and found our way to a table. We ordered dinner right around 5pm, and no food was on our table at 5:30pm. For at least ten… (read more)

Last week I picked up a book from the library about removing clutter from your life called Clutter Free by Kathi Lipp. It’s been an interesting read. As long time readers of this blog know, I’ve had quite the struggle with accumulating and collecting too many things — although technically, I don’t struggle at all with accumulating the things, it’s figuring out what to do with them, where to put them, and how to part with them that’s really the struggle. Acquiring them is no struggle at all! Clutter Free suggests one reason some people have trouble parting with things… (read more)

What follows will surely be the world’s most detailed review of Egg-Tastic, the Ceramic Microwave Egg Cooker (As Seen on TV). Background: My life was forever changed a few years ago when my wife bestowed the sacred knowledge upon me that scrambled eggs could be cooked in a microwave. I did not know this. I don’t even know how I made it to the age of 41 without knowing this, but somehow I did. And while most (all) people prefer scrambled eggs that have been prepared in a skillet on the stove, cooking them in the microwave has its own… (read more)

Twenty years ago, I gave up on college. By the spring of 1994 I had attended two years of school at Redlands Community College and one year at South Western Oklahoma State University, and still didn’t have enough credits or the right combination of classes for a two year degree. After three years of college I had run out of time and money. I quit school and joined the workforce full time. Me, in college. In the year 2000 (nine years after I had originally started attending college), Susan sat down with copies of my transcripts and ran the numbers.… (read more)

On August 1st, 2015, my family and I attended the second annual Internet Cat Video Festival in Oklahoma City. Everyone I have told that to has asked the same exact question: “Why?” My response has been, “Why does anybody do anything?” To be honest I don’t have the answer to either of those questions — it’s more of a diversionary tactic. Trust me, the entire time you’re sitting in a public park watching internet cat videos, you’ll be asking yourself “Why am I here?” the entire time as well. If you’re asking yourself “What kind of person shows up for… (read more)

The first day Windows 10 was available for download, I upgraded my laptop from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10. On day two, I upgraded the laptop I use for recording podcasts. I didn’t realize it at the time, but these laptops spend most of their time accessing online content — social media sites, music streaming, Google Docs and casual web surfing. Although both of these upgrades proved that Windows 10 was able to pluck drivers out of the cloud and apply them as needed (I didn’t need to manually find or install a single driver for either machine), they weren’t… (read more)

Windows 10, the latest version of Microsoft’s operating system, was released yesterday. I’ve already installed it on my laptop, and although I haven’t had time to dig through every nook and cranny yet, here are my initial impressions of Microsoft’s latest and greatest. WINDOWS 10 IS FREE FOR ONE YEAR If you have Windows 7 or newer, upgrading to Windows 10 is free for one year. That will give you enough time for all the tech nerds to download it, install it, beta test it for Microsoft, and work out all the kinks before you upgrade. By offering it for… (read more)

When I was a kid, Star Wars belonged to Lucasfilm and Star Wars action figures were made by Kenner. Today, Star Wars is owned by Disney and Star Wars action figures are made by Hasbro (who purchased Kenner). Now we have a new line of big and bigger figures being produced by Jakks. Things change over time, but one thing that never changes is that Star Wars fans (including myself) will continue to buy the same figures over and over again. Jakks Pacific is currently releasing figures in two sizes: large 18″ figures, and even larger 31″ figures. Over the… (read more)