april showers...

this weekend has been a complete washout. it started raining on friday and has only stopped a couple of times, presumably to regroup before it started again. it's kind of a drag to be stuck inside but at least my lawn is loving it. you can almost see the green hues getting brighter and more intense. as the local weatherman keeps reminding us, it's payback for the warmer and sunnier spring we have enjoyed so far.
i have spent the weekend doing the usual indoor chores, puttering around on the computer, and trying to master mlb 2k6 on my xbox. next weekend is alaina's birthday. hard to believe she'll be turning 9! hopefully the weather will be better and we can get outside.
i'm in the early stages of thinking about making over the site again. i get easily bored and usually get tired of my look about once a year. no immediate plans but look for a change in the next month or so.
thats it for now. april is a wrap...more in may.

more birthday shout-outs...

big ups and birthday wishes to my main peep, jeffrey.

Happy Birthday Dad!

rebates are evil...(part II)

i lamented earlier on my disdain for submitting rebates. a short recap, i submitted 3 rebate forms for various linksys products the first week of february. i waited the required 6 weeks before i could even check the status of my rebates, checked the linksys rebate submission website, and received the message "there is no rebate submission matching your inquiry" message day after day after day. when i was finally able to talk to a highly skilled rebate center customer service representative, she informed me that my rebate submission were never received. - apparently lost in the mail. "aha!" says i, i was halfway expecting this to be the case, so i had the foresight to make copies of all 3 submissions, including the upc codes. i was told to follow the re-submission process, yes, re-submit all of my forms including copies of the driver and software cd's, and manuals if possible. i would then be required to wait an additional 6 weeks before i could again check the status. yesterday i pulled up the linksys rebate website, plugged in my information and behold, there were my rebates with a status of "in process" (step 2 of the four step process: 1 - mail submission, 2 - processing, 3 - approval, 4 - mailing). i'm on my way (i thought) and began to think of ways i could spend the $35, maybe flowers for the wife, a nice dinner out and a movie - what have you. today i checked the status to see if my submission had cliked over to step # 3, the most important "approval" stage and to my suprise i received the afore mentioned message "there is no rebate submission matching your inquiry". hmmmmm, interesting i thought. i seem to have taken a step backward. after stumbling through linksys's confusing IVR i spoke with stacy who told me my rebate submission had been denied. impossible i say, i followed the submission AND re-submission steps to the "T". i was prepared to offer a DNA sample if required. stacy then asked to put me on hold so she could speak with her supervisor. at this point i picture stacy chatting with her friends about american idol, desperate housewives or the new "pink" cd. after a few minutes stacy came back on the line and as if by magic, all 3 of my submissions had been approved. in fact, i could expect my $35 rebate check to be mailed to me in the next 4-6 weeks! with any luck, i'll be heading to the bank with my check by father's day. if i always had to work this hard for $35 my family would be in big trouble.

the walk...

springtime is here and that means daily (or very near) lunch-time walks at work. as you can see this particular route winds halfway around a lake, a highway, and a 9 hole golf course.

egg-cellent easter weekend...

the price's enjoyed a fine easter weekend. saturday the kids went to the annual easter egg "hunt" (translation: mad-scrammble and grab) at driftwood park, just down the street. 5,500 plastic eggs strewn across a soccer field disappear in 45 seconds.
sunday we went to easter mass and then hosted a brunch at our house. later on my folks came over for round two. we ate dinner and watched the yankees take revenge on the twins. the weather held up despite a rainy forecast. a great way to end the weekend. tomorrow back to work. grrrr.
digital pixalated documentation can be viewed here.

speak and spell...

if i had a better vocabulary, i would find ways to slip these words into casual, everyday conversations. since that is obviously not the case, i will use this post as an opportunity to list my top-ten favorite words to say.
(in no particular order - as that would be too hard to determine)

boondoggle

comeuppance

besmirch - (previous entry)

superfluous

behemoth

juxtaposition

cantankerous

conundrum

lilliputian

placebo

the great outdoors

finally a nice enough weekend to get out and do some much needed de-winterizing and spring\summer preparation. with temps near 60 i was able to clean out and sweep the garage, wash both cars, put away the snow-blower, shovels, and sleds, get out the weber, set out the deck table & chairs, tune-up the bikes, ect., etc. even went for a bike ride with the girls tonight. the weather is supposed to be nice all week...bring it!

observations...

very early this morning the time was: 1:23,4-5-6, OR: 1 2 3 4 5 6, the only time that that will ever happen again. worth mentioning? probably not but on a slow wednesday it seems blog-worthy.
driving to work this morning i noticed in my rearview mirror, i fat woman, with cig hanging out of her mouth, applying makeup while looking in her rearview mirror. a frightening site by any measure but made all of the more disturbing by the fact that she was operating a motorized vehicle. it would have been nice to get a pic of this but then someone would have said "look at that moron taking pictures while driving".

spring forward, fall...asleep?

daylight savings time always requires a little adjustment period...it's not the first morning because it's sunday and you can sleep in (a little). it's the second day, monday, where the alarm goes off, it's not as light outside as you are accustomed, and it still feels like the middle of the night. man, this morning was rough.
it's not often i do this but i felt compelled this afternoon to drop the $1.25 to get a 20 oz. bottle of mountain dew. calories + caffiene = jolt of energy. hopefully at least enough to make it through the rest of the day.

wikihow offers this tip to get up right away when the alarm goes off.