Richardson Wildflower Festival

Went with an old college buddy last night to the Richardson Wildflower Festival. What a time. Had a few overpriced beers and saw a few bands play. I was there for one reason, and one reason only, to see The Toadies. They are one of my favorite groups from the mid 90's, and they still put on a crazy show. I used to watch them in bars that had less than 200 people in them, they've come a long way.

Other entertainment at the festival included Night Ranger and Kansas. I watched the entire Night Ranger show but only about 20 minutes of the Kansas set. I really wish Kansas would have been on first. Since there were 2 big stages, Kansas' set started only 30 minutes before The Toadies came on, so we had to leave and hot foot it over to see The Toadies. Kansas did a good job from what I saw. Night Ranger, on the other hand, really looks like a bunch of washed up old dudes that are still trying to hold on to what they had 25 years ago. Still have the long hair, leather pants, leather vests with no shirt underneath, gyrating as if they really are as sexy as they think they are. They had 4 or 5 hits that I liked, they played them all, but it was kind of sad watching them. It would have been similar to watching my dad try to pick up chicks in a college bar somewhere. I'm sure one day he was really good at it, but that time has passed.

So, if you see The Toadies are playing somewhere near you, go see them. If you see Night Ranger is coming, save your money and your time.

Happiness...

- is getting a doggy door installed for my geriatric dog who needs to go outside 4 times a night
- is having a child old enough to mow the lawn. Dillon is all proud of himself. He apparently doesn't realize this chore isn't going to go away, EVER
- is when the Maverick's - Nuggets series will be over
- is having a new clothes dryer that isn't as loud as a freight train going through my living room
- is being drunk (oops, that has to wait til Friday).

What's making you happy?

Thanks for the extra 10% off, Best Buy!

So, our clothes dryer crapped the bed after 13 years of faithful service. This evening I went on a hunt for a new dryer. I'm still boycotting sears from 2.5 years ago, so I scouted Lowes, Home Depot, and Best Buy. Lowes had the model I wanted, but since I visited there first, I didn't want to buy right away. The same model was at Best Buy, but was about $50 more, it also wasn't in stock for pickup tonight. How does that equate to BB saving me 10%? Glad you asked. Best Buy had these 10% off coupons at the front door for a variety of items, including appliances. I took one, called Lowes and asked if they took competitors coupons, they said they would honor it. Saved me nearly $50.

Moral of the story, you never know if you don't ask!

Joys of a cube farm

Hey, I can appreciate why we have cubicles instead of offices in most buildings today. It's MUCH cheaper, does foster a sense of community (somewhat), easier to pull cable through, easier to reconfigure the floor...

I really try hard to not infringe on the space of those around me when I'm in the office. I bring my lunch, but try to bring things that aren't too smelly when they are heated up, I keep my conversations quiet, I NEVER use my speaker phone, I don't clip my nails in my cube, and I NEVER, EVER eat an apple while sitting at my desk. I have this weird aversion to food noises, and eating an apple in your cube, to me, is as tasteless as taking a shower in your front yard. Have some common courtesy people, slice that damn apple up BEFORE you get to work.

I cope with about 12 gigs of iTunes music and a set of Sony noise reducing (although it doesn't really reduce enough, but its better than none) headphones.

Guess what the guy next to me had for lunch today?

You're here thanks to LOTD

Yeah, I haven't blogged in like a year or so. I've been too busy Facebooking (I think that's a real word like Twibe or Tweets). Anyway, yeah, I need to get back to the blog and thanks to Cary, I've been motivated to start doing that again. Look out world, more meaningless diatribe from Big Lew!

But, since you're here, and we're all now BFF's, help me beat my wife in this important contest. I've bet her I will have more friends on Facebook than her. It was a dumb bet on my part as she's more popular, and good looking, than me. But Fans of LOTD can help. Look me up on FB and send me a friend request. I'm the kind of friend you want. I'll be there when you need a shoulder to cry on, or need validation. I'll even help you move if you live within a 300 yard radius of me. My FB email is biglew27 AT yahoo.com.

Thanks,

Jeff