Adventures at IKEA

Last night Manuel and I went to IKEA. We wanted to pick up a TV stand for the bedroom, because we’re doing a lot of TV rearranging. The new LCD HDTV is now in the entertainment center in the living room, so the TV that was there is going into our bedroom, but it is HUGE and I don’t want it sitting on top of the dresser, hence we were looking for a TV stand.

But that’s not the point of my story, that’s just why we were at IKEA last night. Here’s the point of my story…

It was after 6pm when we got to IKEA and we hadn’t eaten dinner yet, so we decided to eat before we shopped. IKEA actually has some pretty good food; we recommend you try the meatballs the next time you’re there. So we each get a meatball plate and notice a sign on the counter that says you get a free roll with each hot food plate. Score – a free roll!

We go to get our rolls and as we’re doing so there are 2 ladies also with a meatball plate at the roll place. I overhear their conversation:
Lady 1: Let’s get a roll.
Lady 2: No, you have to pay extra for them.
Me: No you don’t. They’re included in the price of a hot plate.
Lady 2: No they’re not.
Me: Well, that’s what the sign on the counter said…

And I walk away, thinking to myself how much of a bitch that lady was for arguing with me. It doesn’t come across in print, but she had a tone and a half when she said, “No they’re not.” Well excuse the hell out of me for trying to help you out!

So Manuel and I are in line waiting to pay, and bitchy lady is behind us. The line is longish, as you can imagine, what with it being dinnertime and all. An IKEA employee is cruising down the line, asking if anyone plans to pay with a credit card. Manuel and I NEVER have cash and ALWAYS pay with credit cards, so he raises his hand and says that we are. He calls us to a different register and as we’re walking away, I hear bitchy lady say, with an unreal amount of disgust in her voice, “Can you imagine paying with a credit card?!”

Excuse me?! Who is she to judge how we choose to pay for our food? We pay off our credit card bill every month and I guarantee our credit is better than hers. What I should have done was turned around and said, “I’ll remember you said that as we’re taking our free flight to Europe.”

What a Christmas

I had a great Christmas and I hope you all did as well. Tamales on Christmas Eve were great and even greater knowing that once again, I took part in making them. I also did pretty damn well in the gift department. Let's see if I can think of everything I got:
Patio furniture
Gas barbecue
Cap Gun
Alien statue (as in the movie) made from random car parts
Fart tshirt
Sword holder in shape of claws ( I have a sword collection)
Cookie jar
Cookies
Guitar Hero 1 for PS2
Ice Chest
Bully for PS2
Lucky Number Slevin DVD
50 First Dates DVD
4 pairs of fun boxers
Young Guns 2 Soundtrack
Monopoly Here and Now Edition
Rocky tshirt
Cobra Kai tshirt
Punisher tshirt
2 Comic Book tshirts
Buddah Belly tshirt which will be returned - too small
PJs
Resistance for PS3
X-Men Encyclopedia which is a history of the comic and the marketing of the comic - HUGE
Stuffed PEZ snowman
Gift certificates to comic shop
Antique WW2 German Bayonet

I think that is it. Hopefully I didn't forget something. Yeah, I am pretty spoiled. It is weird. I am 28 years old and I see many similarities to when I was 12 years old - video games, comic stuff, etc. I am not grwoing up in the least.

In case you didn't notice, I made a post on December 22 where I gave all you fellow bloggers a Christmas gift. Be sure to check out what I got you if you haven't already.

Brilliant

We just saw Rocky Balboa. Brilliant is all I can say. Truthfully, this is now one of my favorite films of all time. The emotion in this movie is just magnificent. My mom pretty much cried the WHOLE movie. Jess, who wasn't really excited about going, said she got teary eyed a few times. Now, I have been always partial to Stallone as one of my first posts ever was a tribute to Stallone films - http://manuelsview.blogspot.com/2004/12/why-hate.html. But seriously, this film exceeded my expectatins by a mile. There were plenty of naysayers when I first blogged about this movie many months ago. But truthfully, this one might be even better than the first. Bravo Stallone. You did it. You have silenced the naysayers. You have made a movie to stand up with the original.




Thank you...

COME ON!!!!!

Let me relay to you a telephone conversation that took place at work today. When I'm done, let me know if I was justified in wanting to murder this woman.

Background: She previously had a girlie-problem for which the doctor prescribed a pill, and now this girlie-problem was back and she wanted the pill again. She called me asking for it and there are a few pills I can prescribe via standing orders without asking a doctor and this is one of them.

Me: What pharmacy do you want me to call this into?
Her: The Walgreens on Fruitridge and Mack.
Me: Do you have the number?
Her: Yeah, it's 339-0872 (not the real number.)
Me: 339-0872?
Her: Yes.
Me: I'll call it in right now.
Her: Thanks.

So I dial the number but it's not the Walgreens on Fruitridge and Mack, it's the Walgreens on Auburn and Madison. But I leave the prescription anyway. And I didn't have to do this, but I'm a nice person so I call her to tell her.

Me: I wanted to let you know that the number you gave me was for the Walgreens on Auburn and Madison, so I called the prescription there.
Her: No, that's too far away!
Me: Well, that was the number you gave me.
Her: No I didn't.
Me: Um, yes you did. I even read it back to you before we hung up.
Her: 339-6549?
Me: That's not the number you gave me.
Her: Well I don't know how you got that other number... Oh, I see it right here on the bottle. Sorry.
Me: OK, so the number to the one of Fruitridge and Mack is 339-6549?
Her: Yes, 339-6549.
Me: OK, I'll call it in now.
Her: Thanks.

So I call this number. But it's not Walgreens. Oh, no...

Ring, ring...
Him: Yolo County Sherrif's Department.
Me: Um, you're not Walgreens...
Him: No...
Me: Sorry.

I try the number again, thinking maybe I misdialed. No such luck - I called the sheriff's again.

So I call the patient back... again.

Me: I've never had this much trouble calling a prescription for a patient. The number you gave me was for the Yolo County Sheriff's Department.
Her: It was? 399-6549?
Me: That's not what you gave me. I'll try that.

And indeed it FINALLY was the Walgreens on Fruitridge and Mack but MY GOD!!!!!

Present time!!!

Time to hand out presents to all my fellow bloggers. I worked hard on finding the perfect gifts for all of you who have entertained me with your writings over the past year. So what did I get you all?

Battlerocker - Yeah, I think this shirt explains it all. With one semester left before he graduates from law school, he will need this novelty shirt soon.

Sebastien - He like art so much, why not get him a big book of nothing but famous art.

Crazybitch cousins - I'm sure this calender will be right up their alley!

Rhys - Yeah it is a lot , but I know he really wants one of these 360s. Of course, if he was smart, he'd go with a PS3. Hehe.....

Jose - He likes Harleys and I think he likes to eat. Why not a cookbook of good foods to cook before you go on a long ride?!?

Night Panther - Well, he really doesn't need a book on how to do phoography as his pictures are all amazing. Here is a book of great pictures taken in Life magazine.

Jerry - Mr. Political gets a book that I believe makes fun of politicians. Hell, he has probably read it already!

Sonja - The parrot who owns me? Yeah, I think she'll like this one.

Sushi - Not to make light of her situation, but maybe it will help her get a good laugh .......or idea.

Jerkstore - Ya get jerk Sauce. Yup, pretty original.

Val - A Rouge graphic novel. Yeah, I am sure she'll read this.

Merry Christmas everyone. Enjoy the holiday...

I don't think I can move to the UK

Before I start my post, where the hell is everyone?!?!? I think I am averaging like 3 comments per post the last week or so. Is it because I switched to BETA? PLEASE, if you are having trouble commenting on my blog now, please email me at mrmanuel @ surewest . net to let me know about it so I can give some suggestions. I miss my readers...


Anyways, today I got a Christmas card in the mail from Rhys across the pond in Wales. I thought it was cool we were exchanging cards. I've never received a Christmas card from Europe. It was cool because I have always had a fascination with the UK because of things like Manchester United, Wimbledon, etc. I've always wanted to go there. In fact, my parents promised me when I was a freshman in high school that they would pay for me to go after I graduated. Still waiting on that one. So back to the card. I opened it up and what did it say? Read below(sorry for the blurriness):







"We don't have Santa here!!"

What?!?! No Santa? I still really want to go there, but my heart just broke into a million pieces. I can visit there, but not during Christmas time! Regardless, thanks for the card Rhys.













By the way, here's the trailer for Ocean's 13.

http://movies.aol.com/movie/oceans-13/24822/trailer

FUCK YEAH!!!

Quick post. The new Transformers trailer is up. Go see it. Go see it now!!! Here is the link!

http://uk.promotions.yahoo.com/transformers/

My god, it looks good. CAN NOT WAIT!!!

Another brawl

Last night saw another brawl in the NBA. Not really too surprising, as the big grown men beat on each other for two and half hours. It just drew my attention because some of my least favorite people in the NBA were involved. First the background: Nuggets were up by around 20 with only a couple of minutes left and still had the starters in. Why? Were they rubbing it in? Well, according to some people, yes. Larry Brown was treated pretty shittily as a coach last year in his one year as coach of the Knicks. Isiah Thomas, who controls the Knicks, could probably be seen at the main person responsible for it. So who coaches the Nuggets? Not Brown, but George Karl, who is a good friend of Larry Brown. The rubbing it in was seen by some as Gerge Karl retaliating against how Isiah, now the coach of the Knicks, treated his friend. What a better way than a blowout?

So, according to sources, Isiah picked up on this and told Carmelo Anthony, a player for the Nuggets, that it wouldn't be a good idea to go anywhere near the paint. If that is true, that is definitely a threat. "Come anywhere near the basket and we will take you out," is pretty premeditated. So, it comes as no surprise that a Nuggets players, JR Smith, was fouled pretty hard by a Knicks player, Mardy Collins, when trying to dunk. From there the brawl was on. Pandemonium ensued. It could have been just between the two players, but Knicks player Nate Robinson was the first to get involved and take it further. Once another player gets involved, you can be sure more will follow. If Nate had just let the other two go, it might not have been so bad. But he is not the only one to blame. Carmelo, who I probably hate more than any player in the league, then ran over and sucker punched Collins right in the face. The audio picks up the brutal bunch very well.

So does Carmelo stand his ground and fight? Nope. As Collins recovered and started to give chase, Carmelo ran away like the bitch he is. When Nate Robinson tries to confront Carmelo, who is a foot taller than him, Carmelo continues to back pedal away from the fight. So that's how you fight Carmelo? Punch someone and run?

There is just so much I hate about this fight. First, Isiah. I have always hated that little bitch. If it is true that he made the initial threat, then fuck him! In fact, based on what I know about Isiah, it probably is true. He probably ordered his player to take the brutal foul. Fuck you Nate Robinson for getting involved. You made a bad situation just escalate out of control. And finally, fuck you Carmelo. Sure, your team was threatened and then the threat was carried out. You know what, I have no problem with you sticking up for your teammates. I actually have no problem with you throwing a punch to fight for your teammates after they were attacked. But, I do have a problem with sucker punching someone and then running. Thanks for confirming my belief that you are nothing but a bitch.

I would post a video of it all, butI know the NBA is already taking action to take all of the videos of the fight down so I won't even bother. I'm sure most will be gone in a few days anyway...

Back to back baby!!!

Last night was the player of the year tournament at my house. All year we earn points from the poker tournaments at my house every two weeks. These points give us a certain number of chips for the final tournament. Well, after the elimination of 11 other players, I am the player of the year again for the second year in a row. Like I said last year, sure the money is great. I got almost $250 for first place. It might mean more to me to actually win the dorky trophy and be considered the top player of the year out of all my friends. They are all really good players so to be at the top for the second year in a row means a lot. Hey, I might be pretty good at this poker thing!

The player of the year trophy, right next to my good luck card marker.

Are You Serious?!

Look at these pictures and tell me what you think...

This is Manuel playing Guitar Hero 2. If you look very closely, you can see something in his hand...

Yes! He's playing while holding a piece of pizza!

The switch

Well, I switched the blog over to BETA. Hopefully, this fixes my problems with posting comments on other blogs. I heard that it makes it hard sometimes for people to post on blogs that have switched to BETA blogs so please email me if you have trouble posting on my blog. My email, in case you need it to let me know of problems is mrmanuel(at)surewest (dot) net.

Guess what I saw today?!?! A trailer for a movie coming out next summer that I am VERY excited about. A sequal (well, isn't everything). I was going to post it, but it got taken down already because it accidently got leaked one day early. The trailer fucking rocked! What is it? Well, if they release it back on the net tomorrow as promised, you will see it here. Yippe Kiya mother fucker!!!!!

Again, please email me with any problems that arise from me switching, please!
EDIT: It won't let me copy and paste the long code right now to put the video on the blog for some reason, but here is the link to go see the video. Go see it, you won't be sorry! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHbpRg86Vi8

Random Thoughts

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. There’s not much new to report, but I do have a few random thoughts I’m willing to share…

Thank you, Sonja, for asking how the new job was going. All is well. Apparently the holiday season is slow, so I have a lot of down time. I usually have 5 patients I see each day – these days I’m lucky to have 3 scheduled. And I’m even luckier if they actually show up. I never knew how many people just didn’t show up for their appointments. No call, no reschedule, no kiss my ass, nothing. So yeah, I spend a good deal of time playing Minesweeper or wandering around, looking for things to do. I like the cushy, laid back, relaxed atmosphere – a BIG change from the stressful, crazy, hectic pace of the hospital. Things will pick up after the New Year. I’m just hanging in there until then.

My name is Jessica and I’m a Guitar Hero 2 addict. I know I bought this game for Manuel for our anniversary, but I admit that I play it more than him. In my defense, he plays his PS3 more, but still, I’m always the one asking if we can play. It’s addicting! We try to beat each other’s high scores, plus I think it fills the little musical void I’ve been feeling in my life. Granted, I’m not REALLY playing the guitar, I’m not REALLY making music, but it’s a pretty good substitute.

Anyone who knows me, or has seen pictures of me, knows that I’m a bit fluffy, voluptuous, curvy, thick, heavy, fat - whatever descriptive words you want to use to say that I could stand to lose some weight. I’ve been heavy ALL MY LIFE. That’s my cross to bear, I suppose. It upsets me, sure, but I try to make the most of it. I think I’m surprisingly healthy for my weight. And when it makes me feel self-conscious and uncomfortable, I use self-deprecating humor. I know I should be happy with who I am and not worry about what others think, but I do – I think that’s human nature. I make fun of myself so they know that I know I’m fat. For some reason it’s my ultimate fear for someone to look at me and think, “Does that girl know how she looks?” Yes, I am painfully aware, thank you. And I can honestly say that I’ve done everything under the sun to lose weight without 100% success. Oh sure, I’ll lose the weight, but keeping it off is the hard part. My point? I am, easily, the heaviest girl who works in the back at the office (the back sees patients, the front checks them in.) Everyone else has a cute little figure, and if they have weight to lose, it’s 20 pounds at the absolute most. Why then do I constantly overhear my co-workers talking about how fat they are and how they want to lose weight? Are they serious?! I want to scream at them, “ I’m sure your problems are real to you, but open your eyes sister! I WISH I had your weight issue!” Then I want to hit them until they fall down, then kick them until they die, then go through their pockets to see if they have anything good to snack on.

I made myself laugh with that last part. But really, if you’re going to talk about your weight issues, please be aware of your surroundings and not to it if someone heavier than you is within earshot.

Christmas is fast approaching. Thanks to my wonderful husband going out to shop while I was at work today, we are very nearly done. I think we have 2 things left to get for 2 different people, and that’s it. It’s a good feeling, to have all of your shopping done - a big weight off the shoulders, almost like you can enjoy the holidays now.

And I think that’s it from here. Thanks for listening to my random thoughts, and feel free to comment as you like. And if I don’t talk to you before, have a fantastic Christmas and a safe and happy New Year.

What the hell?!?!?

Blogger is having some major issues right now which is keeping me from commenting anywhere. I was able to try something different and comment on my cousin's blog using a google account, but it is not my true blogger account. I don't know if this is keeping people from commenting on mine. So if I haven't commented on you site since Monday, you know why. Hopefully, this gets resolved soon...

Movie Recommendation

Yesterday, Jessica and I saw a TREMENDOUS movie called Lucky Number Slevin. It's a little less than a year old so some of you may have already seen it. We didn't get to see it in the theaters so we had it on our Netflix list. This was a really fun movie. It's kind of a cross between Pulp Fiction and Usual Suspects with an element of black comedy thrown in. It may seem a little confusing to some at first so just be patient and it will all start to make sense in the end. If you liked the above movies I mentioned, you should definitely give this movie a chance. We liked it so much, I think Jess and I might buy it. Anyone else seen it yet? Anyone planning on seeing it now?

The celebration

Well, I missed the post yesterday, but I did mention that December 9th, was going to be a special day. Why? Well, besides it being Sushi's birthday, it was also the 2 year anniversary of my blog. Yes, I have been writing on this blog for a whole two years now. It's amazing that it has lasted this long. In fact, I am more enthused about ti now than ever before. I actually have readers and even though my last two posts have only garnered 3 and 2 comments respectively, I know I have a readership. Thanks to my wife and MrVideoGuy for their great contributions.

So what do I hope for the future of the blog? I don't know. More good ideas. More bloggers that I can share ideas with. More people commenting. You know, the usual stuff. I just hope I can keep you entertained for many posts to come. Thanks to everyone.

PS3...and then some

So, I promised my view on my PS3 today. It is 10 o'clock, but I keep my promises. In simple words, I LOVE it. I have had it almost a month now and I am so not disappointed. At first, I was excited about it, but I knew it had more to offer. The problem was, it was meant for an HD TV. So, although it looked great, I knew it had more potential. I convinced Jessica, rather easily, that we should get a new TV as well. Of course, that was really out of our price range until Circuit City so kindly did a 3 year no interest plan on TVs over $999. With that kind of plan, it was more than affordable. We ended up buying a 32" Samsung 720i. I wanted a 1080, but that was definitely out of our price range. So, with the PS3 now connected to the brand new TV, it looks AMAZING. Amazing what a TV can do to improve graphics. And to boot, the sound on the new TV is amazing. So, how do I feel about the PS3 overall? It's great. I think it is great that it has Wi-Fi and connects to the internet. Now, I won't be surfing on it for fear of getting a virus, but it is cool that Sony sends updates to download and you can download everything from game demos to full games. I downloaded one demo and realized that I had to have the game. That is what is cool - not sure if you want to get it? Download the demo. So far, I am VERY happy with my purchase.

I don't suck...the worst!

Well, as I said before I entered a photoshop contest at the ADVANCED level. Truthfully, my picture wasn't THAT good, but I had an idea for the contest and figured, "What the hell, just enter it and hope you don't get last place." So, after the voting began and I saw all the entries, I realized even more how much I have to learn. But, I didn't think I had the WORST one. And I was correct! I got 99th out of 121 people which is way down the list, but hey, think of all the people I did beat. What was cool is that I asked for constructive criticism and I got a lot of good ideas. It felt good. I don't think I will enter an advanced one for awhile unless I have a REALLY good idea, but it was still fun. Anyway, the contest was to take a cartoon character and put it in a real life setting. I thought of the game Mouse Trap, and figured I would put a few cartoon mice we all know and love in the game. Here is what I came up with:


Some of them were just awesome! One of our favorite things to do now is vote for each contest. There are two contests to vote on every day, one beginner and one advanced. All you have to do to vote is register and registration is FREE. Of course, you can always just look at the daily contests without registering. Curious? Check out www.Worth1000.com I promise, sometimes you see the most amazing entries. Be sure to tell me if you check it out, and be sure to REALLY tell me if you become addicted to the site like me! Hey, maybe you will see a contest that you have an idea for me to do! I always like ideas...

Tomorrow - My views on my PS3.......and my new tv I bought to go along with it after.

Saturday - A special day!

Lazy, disgusting, and stupid...

Three stories, but first my results. I ended up getting 49th place out of 99. So I just squeaked into the top half of entries. I know I was better than some of the ones that beat me, but what can you do? What kills me is that I actually got a lower score average than I did on my last entry, the musical note crop circle. I feel my new entry was better, but somehow, got a lower average score. Oh well. I actually entered an advanced contest today for fun, but I will talk about that tomorrow.

LAZY
Yesterday I went to Sam's Club to pick up some stuff. I found a great spot and then as I am pulling in, I notice that there is a cart right in there. I sihn and park a few spaces back. As I am walking to the store, I notice that the cart that was in the spot I did want, is RIGHT next to the cart rack. Seriously, is it that hard to take your cart back to the cart rack out of consideration for others? That is why I ALWAYS take my cart back. Racks are never that far that it is that big of an inconvenience. Please people, rerack your cart!

DISGUSTING
On the drive to the same said trip to the Sam's Club, I pulled up to a stoplight. I look around and notice a girl in her sports bra and shorts jog up to the light. I look over as any male would and notice she is quite attractive. She jogged in place to keep up her heart rate and then.....she barfed. Yeah, that is what I get for looking at other women I guess.

STUPID
So this morning I wake up and turn on the shower. If I haven't put on my contacts already, one of the first things I do is put on my contacts as the water warms up. So this morning, I go to the toothpaste instead. I proceed to open the toothpaste, spread it on my finger, and finally put the toothpastey finger in my eye as if I am putting on my contact. It only took a second to realize what I had done and I jumped in the shower to quickly wash off the burn that had overcome my eye. How I mistook toothpaste for contacts this morning, we will never know. But trust me, do not spread toothpaste in your eye.

Pissed.....

Ok, with 12 hours left in voting, my photoshop entry is on SIXTY THIRD place out of 99. That is crap! I saw all the entries. Yes, some are better than mine. I can't deny that. But nowhere near 62 of them are better than mine. That is bullshit. Some in fact are really crappy. Some people commented that the hat on Steve was unrealistic and too bright. Maybe a tad too bright, but I don't think that it makes a HUGE difference in the poster. This pisses me off because I know I am going to see the ones that got better than me and be pissed off at some of them. Remember my crop circle entry awhile back that was musical notes?? That got a better score than the one I have right now and that wasn't even that good. You know one reason why I think my entry is doing so poorly? My entry is near the bottom of the list for voting so once people get that far down, they are tired of voting. That could be killing me with 99 entries. Look, I may come off as bitter and a poor sport, but after seeing what I am up against, I think I deserve better. CRAP!!!

Photoshop contest

I entered another photoshop contest today. I won't find out the results for awhile as today was just the first day. It ends tomorrow and there is another whole day of voting after. So, I won't find out how I did until Monday around 9pm. However, I decided to show it to you guys ahead of time. The contest was to take a movie poster that has nothing to do with Christmas, and make it a holiday film. I thought about it only briefly and came up with this.

Here is the original poster.





















Here is what I changed it to. The guns they are holding, in case you didn't know, are old Nintendo guns. What do you think?

Hot Fuzz

Here is the trailer for Hot Fuzz, a new movie that I am super excited to see. This movie is created and stars all the same people who made Shaun of the Dead. In case you didn't see it, and I wouldn't be surprised, Shaun was a zombie movie that was half horror, half HILARIOUS comedy. Jessica and I watched it and found it to be a very pleasant surprise. It comes highly recommended. Anyways, here is their new movie. Check it out and if the trailer seems even remotely funny, rent Shaun.



Jess and I are going to attempt to Christmas shop today. We truthfully haven't started yet and I am not freaking out quite yet, but I would like to get as much done today as I can.