Tempur-Pedic Pillows - Well worth it

Wednesday, January 23, 2008
I have a Tempur-Pedic pillow and I love it. Whenever I don't have it with me, I just don't sleep as well. I bought my first one about four or five years ago. About two years ago I bought the best pillow they had which cost me almost $200. It was money well spent. What is so great about it? Well it just conforms to your head. It is neither too hard nor too soft.

After I bought my second pillow, my girlfriend liked it so much, she started stealing it from me. It forced me to buy yet another pillow from them. I considered buying their stock for a while (I actually should have as it went up like a rocket several months after I looked into it)

Think about it. You sleep on your pillow every night. You spend, hopefully, eight hours on it every day. What else do you use as much (other than the mattress itself). I guess I see it kind of like designer jeans. If you are going to use something a lot, you might as well really enjoy it.

Installing a Second Hard Drive

I installed a 2nd hard drive in my computer today. I didn't really need the space but figured I didn't want to ever worry about it so I just bought a 500 GB hard drive from Fry's (only paid $100 which was a pretty good deal) and went to open my computer to install it.

Installing a second hard drive is actually a pretty easy process which most people can do themselves You simply have to open up the chassis, screw the hard drive into a slot, find the power cord and the data cord and plug them in. If you have an older computer, it can be slightly more difficult, but with SATA drives, which most drives are these days, it is a snap. Boot the computer and your computer should recognize that you installed a second drive.

Of course, I find out that my stupid computer doesn't have a slot for another 3.5 inch drive, which is the standard size for all modern hard drives. So I had to go back to Fry's to go buy a sleeve to install the drive into a 5.25 inch slot. Stupid thing cost me another $20 (they did have some cheaper options but I went with this one). Nothing ever comes easy to me I guess.

Lakers are Cursed

Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Seriously, it's true. And you know who is doing it? Chick Hearn. Ever since Chick Hearn has died, the Lakers have not won an NBA title. Their last title was won in 2002, the exact same year that Chick Hearn died. I'm not sure why this is the case, but it clearly is.

First they lose a championship they should have easily won when they had four future hall of famers.

Then they make one of the worst trades ever by trading Shaq for a bunch of garbage. They make the situation worse by trading the only all-star of the bunch for a guy who has bricks for hands.

There is a ray of light for the team with the development of Andrew Bynum, until he sprains his knee. They might be able to limp through until he gets back, that is until Trevor Ariza breaks his foot in practice. Practice man, we are talking about Practice. Well at least Brian Cook isn't coming back.

The Lakers were sports best franchise while Chick Hearn called the games. Since he has left the franchise hasn't been the same. If you are reading this somewhere Chick, please lift the curse.

How to Find Guitar Hero 3 for the Wii

Saturday, January 19, 2008
Really easy way to find Guitar Hero 3 for the Wii. Every day, just go to another store and look for one. Repeat for several months. This is what I did to finally find a Wii.

In all seriousness, I finally got Guitar Hero 3 for the Wii. I had been looking for a Guitar Hero 3 while but just could not find one. Understandable since it was a hot gift for Christmas, but even several weeks after the fact, it was still kind of amusing to me that I couldn't find one. I wasn't looking hard, but I was looking. I would just casually look whenever I was in a store that might carry it like a Target or a Best Buy.

Today, I walked into my local Target, and there were three just sitting there. Was tempted to buy all three, and resell them for a profit, but decided it wasn't worth the hassle. Just got lucky finding one I guess, kind of like what happened with the Wii. Although I somehow doubt the game will still be impossible to find this time next year, unlike the Wii which is still pretty damn hard to find.

Jerks do Win

Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Today, Bobby Knight won his 900th career game. I am not a Bobby Knight fan. I think the guy is a complete jerk. There are rarely if ever times you should lose your temper, yet Bobby Knight does it with frequency and people just brush it off as, "oh, but he is Bobby Knight".

How come just because you are successful you get to be a jerk. Nowhere else is that more true than sports. Only winning matters, everything else is just secondary. I've written before that nice guys finish last. I guess the converse is true, assholes do finish first.

What a Small World

Monday, January 14, 2008
Today on my way to work, I parked my car and walked toward the elevator. I saw someone I know from work and tried to wave at her. She didn't see me. However, there was another woman who did happen to notice me wave. She thought I knew her and held the elevator for me (I didn't want that to happen since I hate when people hold the elevator).

I walk into the elevator, and wouldn't you know it, I did know her. We went to college together at Princeton. She was a year below me, and we had a mutual friend who we both keep in contact with. I haven't seen her in about 5 years though. Turns out she works in the building across the street. What are the odds that I would wave at someone, she thinks I know her, and I end up knowing her?

Women Overthink Men

Sunday, January 13, 2008
I was asking my friend what she was doing this weekend and she told me how her friend wanted to go shopping for a new dress for a party that she was going to. I asked her if she was doing it to impress some guy that was going to be at the party. This turned the conversation toward why women go to such great lengths to impress men.

Now I'm a strong believer that a little bit of work on yourself goes a long way. I'm fully for someone spending time on your hair and putting on makeup that suits you. If you want to put on a special outfit to impress that special someone, great. But very quickly the law of diminishing returns happen. While spending one hour getting ready might make sense, spending three hours probably does not. While picking out a special dress might help, spending a day and a fortune on a new one probably does not.

Most men are not detail oriented. They aren't going to notice that special extra touch that you did just for them. Women should accept this and understand this. Most women actually get upset that men don't recognize these fine little touches but it is just the nature of man. We are always looking at the bigger picture and not so much on the fine details.

Sit 'N Sleep Has Never Given Away a Free Mattress

Friday, January 11, 2008
There is a company that sells mattresses called Sit 'N Sleep. They are located mostly in the Los Angeles area. The radio spot states, "Sit 'n Sleep will beat anyone's advertised price, or your mattress is FREEEEE!!!"

This really really bothers me. The commercial makes no sense. There is no way that Sit 'N Sleep has ever made good on this promise. Here is why. Why on earth wouldn't they match the price? Forget the fact that you won't find the exact same mattress at another store. The problem is that from a logical perspective they would ALWAYS be better off matching the price. There is nothing less than free. So the commercial just bugs me because it doesn't make any sense. If the advertised price of the competitor was $0.01, Sit 'N Sleep would still be better off taking the penny.

New Hampshire is a Bunch of Liars

Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Most polls had Obama winning handling in New Hampshire. But sure enough, Hillary won the state. It's odd. Most of the time polling is so accurate, especially when they predict a win as big as Obama was seemingly going to have. But somehow, Clinton pulled it out. I know why, New Hampshire citizens are a bunch of liars. Pollsters asked who they would vote for, and then the people of New Hampshire just lied to them. That's the only reason I can think of.

Perhaps women connected with Hillary after her tearful outburst. Perhaps there were some other shenanigans. Who knows. But I'm done talking about the race until November rolls around. Despite the fact that I like to consider myself up to date on current events, the presidential primaries have always turned me off.

Still Can't find Guitar Hero for the Wii

Monday, January 07, 2008
I've been searching for a while, but for some reason, I can't find a Guitar Hero for the Wii. I've looked in a few different stores and still can't locate one. You would think now that the holidays are over, it would be easy to find one. You would think that because it is a game, and not the console itself, it would be easy to find. But alas no. Even checked on Amazon, but not available.

Can't Motivate at Home

I use to never be the type to not be able to do work at home. But lately, I can't seem to actually get myself to do any sort of work as soon as I enter my home. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I don't have my own place quite yet, but I don't know why all of a sudden I can't seem to motivate for a new job. It should be easy for me, especially considering my girlfriend isn't with me, so I don't have a lot to distract me. Wonder what's going on with me.

Whatever happened to Best Buy

Saturday, January 05, 2008
I use to love going to Best Buy. Not only did they have a great variety of stuff, but they usually had a pretty good deal on the things I was looking for.

However, lately this has not been the case. They still have one of the better selections around (Fry's is better but they aren't as omnipresent) but I almost never find a deal that entices me to buy whatever it is I might be looking for. I went today to look for an earpiece for my phone. Important now because I'm talking on it a lot more with my girlfriend and California's impending headset law. However they didn't have any headset that was on sale. I don't particularly care which one I get, I just want a good deal on one.

I'm sure Best Buy went away from this because special deals lowers the margin they make at a store, and thus makes the numbers look bad. But I think they have went away from why people like myself liked them. I'm now much more likely to just stop going to Best Buy and switch most of my electronics shopping online.

Honesty Doesn't Pay

Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Normally, I love Costco. I like that they a liberal return policy, even if I rarely if ever use it.

About a month ago, I bought an air mattress for my girlfriend who was going to need it at her new place. It ended up that she didn't need it so I decided to go return it. Normally, at Costco, you do not need a receipt because they can look up the item on your card and that is sufficient. So I didn't bother looking for the receipt.

However, I had purchased the item after my membership was up for renewal. I don't pay for the membership, my brother does, so I told the cashier this. He said that was fine, and overrode the computer, letting me purchase the item. I did not realize that this was not noted on my card however.

When I went to return it, the lady helping me must have been in a bad mood. She was very short with me and acted like I had stolen her first born child or something. After finding how much the item was, she had asked a co-worker if there was a discount on the item. Without the discount, it was $129,99. I spoke up and said, yes, in fact I did receive a discount. if I said nothing, she would have had to give me back $129.99. She found the discount, and applied it. However, it was for $30 while I only got a $20 discount. I told her this and she said to me, very rudely, "Either you take the $99 or you leave with the item." I was in shock with her rudeness. Costco is known for their good customer service, and this lady was not showing it.

Goes to show you, honestly doesn't always pay. If I would have just kept my mouth shut, I would have gotten $30 more. Oh well.