Pool

I got roped into playing pool leagues last night, spent at least $50 in beer, not in the budget. Will pay for this.

I Will Gladly Pay You Tuesday For A...

On Monday I weighed 220 with my shoes on. Normally I'm spot on 222. No big deal? Not for me! I ordered two $2 burgers from the cafeteria and made one a double for an even $5. Ate like a king.

Weird Toes

This is just weird. Back in the days my hot Korean cousin could do this, too. Must be something in the genes.

Sorry about the last post. I thought I was sober enough at 10:00 am to post but I guess not.

Home Owenership

I've been questioning my purchase of my house/home lately. I bought it five years ago, pretty much at the peak of the housing market. Not even sure there still is a "housing market". My neighbor bought his house for $45,000 less than I paid, $30,000 less than I owe on mine. That a big difference.

I bought my house because it was a block away from my favorite bar (which has since closed). I was sick of walking eight blocks and slipping on icey sidewalks so hey, let's drop a boat load of money on a house! Sure, I was old enough and financially stable enough, but still, it was a rash decision. I did a little research, made an offer, made a counter offer and moved in. Bang, bang, I was in.

Now I have this rather large cloud hanging over my head. Sure, the FA would say that's "good debt", but it's still a debt hanging over my head. And now that interest rates are below 5% I can't even get that rate without putting another $20,000 against my loan. I'm currently at 5.5% so I'm not that much over 5%, but every percentage helps.

I have a coworker who just moved out of her ex-boyfriend's apartment into an apartment of her own. She's paying $650 for rent. Last mont I paid $660 in interest. Sure, there's a tax credit and all but still, cash out the window. I pay extra towards the principal every month but there's always the FA in the back of my head, investing more, hopefully making more than 5.5%, and having cash on hand verses paying down a debt. It's a brutal tug of war in my mind. Most people wouldn't think this way, but I do, even in my self medicated sleep.

But then, like every night this week, there's the Klipsch SW-450. Since I bought it I've cranked it every night watching movies. I couldn't do that living in an apartment. I'm surprised I can do it with the Renter (she complains that it's loud but I think it actually tickles her vigina a little). The fact that I can crank the stereo to it's limits and not get in trouble is a big plus in my mind. Coming from the guy who had four 10" subs in his '87 Chevy Celebrity.

I don't know, guess I'm fortunate, in today's day and age, that I'm faced with this "problem", saving verses debt reduction, trying to find the right ratio. "Disposable income" isn't a term most people know.

Fuck, now I'm sounding pompous. That's not who I am.

Oh, and my dad, who I haven't had much contact with after he left my mom high and dry, is retiring and moving to Florida with his girlfriend at the end of the year. Bought a house and everything. Maybe it isn't the new subwoofer that's keeping me up late self medicating myself well past my bedtime.

Remember when this blog used to be funny? I don't.

Klipsch SW-450

With the temperature dropping I've found myself spending more time in my basement. Half my basement is finished, the other half has my weights and laundry facilities. I have a decent stereo/TV setup with the 61" LCD and "old school" speakers as the Renter calls them (each has two 10" woofers, a 6.5" and a horn, standing four feet tall and weighing 120 lbs each). But when watching sports or movies lately, while extremely loud and crisp, all the sound was coming from in front of me. It wasn't horrible but it was still lacking something. How did I fix it?

First, I got really drunk. One of those 10:00 am deals.

Then I had the Renter take me to Best Buy. It didn't take me long to find what I wanted. When I'm drunk money becomes no object. I was going to get the biggest, baddest subwoofer that they carried. Looking back on the whole experience, thank goodness it only cost me $450.

I found the Klipsch SW-450 which had a 10" woofer with a 450 watt class D amplifier (200 watts RMS). In the wearhouse setting that most Best Buys pose, I couldn't really get a good sense of how it would perform but again, I was on a mission and I was going to get their biggest, baddest model. I also picked up some cheap surround speakers and the necessary cables and wires.

I got it home and hooked it up in minutes with the subwoofer cable sprawled out across the basement floor. Aesthetics really aren't my thing when I first get a new toy. I placed it behind the couch against the wall hoping it would balance out the front speakers a bit. I put one of my favorite movies in and fast forwarded to a good action scene.

Then I crapped myself.

At only a quarter on the volume knob the Klipsch SW-450 rocked my whole basement. I had to turn the volume down in order to balance out the sound front to back. The Renter just sat there and rolled her eyes. "Really?" It might have been a little loud. I got a stiffy. Then I crapped myself again.

My whole purchase at Best Buy totalled just under $650 and they had a holliday special of 0% apr for 18 months. I can handle $36 a month for all the ball smacking bass my new toy puts out. It's really quite amazing. I haven't put the surround speakers up yet but should get to that this weekend since the Packers have a bye week.

But then there's the post-purchase reflection. Was it really worth it? Did I really need it? No and no, but it's still fucking awesome to watch movies and feel the bass from anywhere in the room (or house for that matter). It's a keeper.

But I'm a cheap bastard. Now, knowing that I'm payng $1 a day for the awesome setup, I've been forcing myself to the basement so I get my $1 worth. Every night.

I've been a zombie all week staying up till after midnight watching movies I've seen eight times already. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, they're all a blur in my head as I couldn't differentiate one from the other if my life depended on it. And of course, staying up past midnight means I've been drinking past midnight. I've had some rather rough mornings.

If you're looking for a subwoofer for your home I'd highly recommend the Klipsch SW-450. If you live in an apartment, don't even think about it. If you didn't know your neighbors before you will certainly meet them if you buy one of these. And no, Klipsch has not compensated me one dime for this review.

(Note to Fred Klipsch, CEO of Klipsch: I'd take a 30-pack of Milwaukee's Best if you offered.)

Trusting Friends

During the summer months my house was where the party was at. If it was nice outside people would know that I'd be sitting outside and they'd stop over. No calls, no texts, they'd just show up with coolers filled with their own beverages. I enjoyed it. People kept me company.

This also meant I'd have people constantly in my house either going to the fridge or to use the bathroom. Sure, I'd have to keep the house and bathroom somewhat clean but no one ever broke anything or made a mess. A small price to pay for being Mr. Popular.

Now that the summer months are winding down less and less people are stopping over. A couple have moved to Chicago, a couple others I've just fallen out of touch with. No big deal, it gives me a little break till it gets warm again.

I've had two people over in the past week and now, after all the summer activity, now my $1's have disappeared.

I have this little savings habit where I empty out my pockets at the end of the day and put any one dollar bills I might have into a cigar box. It might not seen like much but at one time I had $1,800 in one dollar bills. That was before I found out the local casino could cash 100 into a $100 bill in less than a minute but that's besides the point.

So now I have $350 missing. There are four options why the money is missing.

1. Someone broke into my house and stole it. My bedroom window didn't lock before (does now) and someone could have crawled in and taken it. Mind you nothing else was missing, laptops, TV's, speakers, Playstation 2 (but who would take that?). Nothing but the cash was gone. Maybe the scariest thing is that's the same room where Puppy sleeps during the day. If she were missing... might as well put the cuffs on me if I found out who took her.

2. I have a friend who's girlfriend was over for Halloween, trying on her outfit while the Renter was in the shower and my friend and I were sitting outside. She's broker than Yao Ming but I wouldn't take her for a theif.

3. Then there's the little buddy from down the street. Also broker than shit, but I wouldn't take him for one to steal from me. He did recently get a $230 ticket for parking in a handicap spot (who does that?) but after all I've done for him? The Renter and I got him a cell phone for $40 a month. We got him set up with car insurance when Wisconsin made it mandatory. He was acting a little funny on Sunday, disappearing for 30 minutes while he went out to his car to get cigarettes while I sat downstairs watching football. Then he said he went to the gas station to get two corn dogs for $2 for a little grub. But I know his habits, he doesn't eat that much and when I offered him beef stew two hours later he jumped on it. Just not like him. I felt bad calling another friend he hangs out with asking if he'd watch to see if he was spending a bunch of one dollar bills. Felt like I was already accusing him.

4. Lastly, there's a 5% possibility I stashed the money when I was drunk over the weekend. I've been known to do this in the past. But I've looked in all the usuall places, in one of the forty shoes I have in my room, the usuall high places that only I can reach without a chair, and any othe drawer/closet space that I could think of. I came up with nothing.

The worst part of this is now I don't feel I can trust mu supposed friends. But then again, I could be at fault here and my distrust for my friends would be without cause. I'm a trusting person naturally so I'm not sure if I'm being taken advantage of here or if I'm over reacting. $350 won't kill me. They were all $1 bills and had probably sat there all summer without being touched (kind of the definition of saving). I don't/didn't really need that money. But the fact that it's missing now creases my ass a little. Actually a lot.

I've already (almost) put this behind me. I'll find other ways of saving money without it being accesible to others. One, quite safer, is to put $1 away in an ING account for every hour you work per paycheck (at 1%, don't tell the FA). Live and learn.

As long as there's beer money.

114

With my lifestyle, I hope I don't have to think I'll live till 114 and look like this. I think I'm good.

Capri Anderson, Charlie Sheen's Hooker

Have you seen pictures of Charlie Sheen's hooker? These are the tamest ones I could find. I swear, if I had millions I'd have a sex addiction too, especially if I could afford the likes of Ms. Anderson.

And her friends...

Five Day Fax?

I guess in some aspects I hold an important position at my place of employment. With the job title of Accountant I'm also what the Renter likes to call the HR Bitch. I have to make sure everyone's payroll and benefits are handled correctly. It's not that tough as long as you keep on top of it.

Recently we had an employee go to court and get full custody of his kids. This meant that he wouldn't have a sizable portion taken out of his pay check for child support. He gave me the court papers for evidence and I assumed the order from Child Support Enforcement would come shortly thereafter.

It never came.

We process our payroll on Tuesday to be paid on Friday. The Thursday before I had called CSE and they didn't have any record of the change. I called the next day and they said they saw the change and would fax it over.

I checked the fax machine every two hours on Monday but nothing showed up. I called them at 3:45 and the message said their hours of operation were from 8:00-4:30 - and that they were now closed. ???

I called back first thing Tuesday morning in order to hopefully get everything settled before I had to call the payroll in. I got a nice lady on the phone who said she saw the support had been terminated. I asked her about my fax request since I kind of wanted something a little more concrete than a verbal ok to make the change. She asked when I had asked for the fax. She then informed me the fax requests take five days to be processed.

Five. Days.

For. A. Fax.

Seriously? It's 2010 and a fax, which by nature is almost instantanious, was going to take five days. FIVE DAYS!!!

Going on her word I took the child support payment off when I called the payroll in. An hour later I got a fax that said he owed a smaller amount each pay check. I immediately called back and the payroll was already processed. We'll just double up on the next payroll, no big deal.

The next day I got a letter in the mail stating all payments were to be stopped. The letter was dated the 25th and I got it on the 27th (faster than a fucking fax, who knew!).

Oh, and every time I have to call there I have to sit through two and a half minutes of blabber before I can even choose the "employer" option.

And wait five days for a fax.

Heat Wrap Up

Chris Bosh, 8 points, 8 rebounds, $11,000 for each one. Is this what the NBA has come to? Glad I lost any real interest in it years ago.

First Heat Game

We're going to have so much analysis of this first Heat game in the next two days it'll be insane. Mark my words.

Keep Your Pants On

I have this bad habit of dropping my pants when I'm drunk. It probably started with my 50 something year old friend baring it all on my deck. Figure if dudeKs made it this far in life, happily married, what the hell, I can do it too. So after the Packer's win against the Vikings on Sunday, loaded, my pants came off. I'm not sure if the whole cell phone camera phenominom is a good thing or not, you be the judge. For the record, I was the willing participant in this photo.

My Worst Nightmare

There are a lot of things in life that I'm afraid of. I don't like spiders at all. When (not if) dead people start walking around and beat on my door I'll most certainly hide in a closet (thanks Halloween). I know for a fact that if I drop $1,000 on two hookers I wouldn't be able to get it up. (First, I'd have to be drunk to pay a hooker. Second, I'd have to be really drunk to spend $500 on a hooker. Third, I'd have to be really really drunk to spend $1,000 on two hookers, hence the not getting it up part.) "So, how'd it go with those two broads llast night?" "Yeah, don't want to talk about it."

But tooday, standing outside at work I felt a rumble in my stomach. I had a pizza for dinner last night and I know my body doesn't handle cheese that well, let alone all the red peppers I doused on it.

Last drag of the cig and I notice my car isn't in the parking lot. The Renter drove today. I don't have my car. I've always said the most embarrasing/easy way out of work is to shit your pants. What boss wouldn't take pitty on an employee who shit his pants? But today I didn't have my car to drive home. Even worse, the Renter was at a conference so I was really stuck at work.

I could feel my ass crack start to sweat. I know when that happens I need to find a bathroom fast. Squeezing my cheeks together I hurrried back up stairs only to find the cleaning lady in the men's room.

I had to throw my underwear away.

Can You Find $2 Million In Diamonds?

I don't see anything but Adriana Lima's supple, ample boobies. Damn those puppies are nice. Imagine those dangling in front of your face while she's on top? Just imagine... Crap, I've gotta change my shorts.

Simply the Best

I found this shirt at Old Navy for $8. If the distributors of Milwaukee's Best had witnessed the summer I had, four 30 packs purchased every Saturday morning at the grocery store on top of $1 can's at [super secret location] every Tuesday, well, I'm sure I'd have at least seven free shirts.

Jenn Sterger Not Cooperating

In the big business that is the NFL, with an aging hall of famer's reputation on the line, in his final season, is there any doubt that Jenn Sterger got paid off to not cooperate with this investigation? No doubt in my mind.

Hopefully, at the end of all this, Brett Favre at least gets a blow job for the million he probably shelled out.

All These Left (Leafed?)

Vacation Day Chores

Doesn't sound like much of a vacation but I always like to take two or three days off in the fall for house maintanence. 9:30 and I already have the leaves taken care of (till more fall). The rest of the day will be spent sanding the good old deck down in prep for the yearly staining/waterproofing. Ya'll have fun at work. I'm feeling like I've already accomplished something, must be time for a beer.

Tough Packer Loss

This is what happens after my beloved Green Bay Packers bungle away an easy win against a sub par opponent (and cost me $160 in the process).

There also may or may not have been a picture taken with a penis on my forehead. Don't think I can/want to post that on here.

Whistling

Whoever is whistling at the Phillies game can stop anytime now.