Erik's Vacation - Day Two: Hollywood & Los Angeles

Today started early.. both Erik and I were excited to start the day so we were up early. I made food for us and we enjoyed a nice breakfast before heading out to Hollywood.

Our first stop was the Walk of Fame, we started at La Brea and made our way down to the Grauman's Chinese Theater. Once at the theater we looked at all the hand and foot prints. Most of my friends aren't really interested in doing this but to find someone who's excited to stop and check out every single one of the hand prints was fun. After the hand print we walked over to the Hollywood and Highland shopping area. We took a picture of the Hollywood sign and visited Hot Topic were I found this fun Gandalf hat and beard combo. I showed him where the Oscars are held every year at the Dolby Theater and then we continued our walk down the Walk of Fame.

We made our way to Hollywood and Vine and of course had to take a picture. We stopped by a CVS as we needed to get something to drink and some sunscreen as we forgot to put some one before we left the car and it was getting hot.

Erik and I made our way to the Hollywood and Vine subway station which was a few blocks away. We took the subway to downtown Los Angeles so I could show him around. We exited the subway in the middle of LA and made our way to LA Live/Staple Center which was a few miles away. It's interesting walking around downtown as I don't do it very often. We stopped by a KFC to grab some lunch before finally making to the LA Live. We spent the next half hour trying to find a bathroom through the maze of buildings.

After we found the bathroom we headed to a different subway station and went through a sketchy part of town, but it was daytime so I wasn't really worried and Erik got to experience some different parts of LA.

We made it back to the Hollywood and Highland subway and as we were walking by the Chiense theater they were setting up a red carpet event for the premiere of Robocop. I was happy that Erik was able to see this.. it's not everyday they have red carpet movie premieres events in Hollywood, okay it probably happens more often then not.. but still it was cool. 

Made it back to the car and I drove us to Whimsic Alley. Erik, like me, is a huge Harry Potter fan and it's a must see store if you visit LA. It was fun experiencing this store through someone else's eyes.. every time I go they always have something new.. this time they have an entire section devoted to Doctor Who.

We left Whimsic Alley and made our way a few blocks south to the La Brea Tar pits. This is an active tar pit location that spews methane gas and tar everyday. I haven't been there in over 20 years so it was fun to re-visit this place again and share the experience with my buddy.

After the Tar Pits we made our way through Hollywood heading to Universal City Walk. While in Hollywood we came across the Jim Henson Studio's.. I have driven that road so many times but never noticed it. Luckily traffic stopped us right out front and we got to take some pictures.

Up at Citywalk we were meeting up with some of my friends to see the new Lego Movie. We got there a few hours early so we walked around Citywalk and grabbed some dinner at Hard Rock Cafe.

We met up with friends at 8pm, got tickets and headed into the theater. The Lego Movie was totally awesome... I'll blog a separate review for it after this blog.

Now at home... we were exhausted from all the walking but Erik wanted to open up his mystery grab bag that he had purchased from Whimsic Alley. It had a ton of things it but it was more likely meant for a teen age girl.

It was a fun filled day. I got to share with Erik some great parts of Hollywood and Los Angeles as well as some not so great parts of LA. I love being a tour guide and sharing some of my favorite parts of living in the Los Angeles area.

We walked just over 13 miles but that's just the beginning as tomorrow and the next day we will be doing Disneyland and Disney California Adventures.. so our walking adventure has just begun.

Erik's Vacation - Day One: The Arrival

Was up early as I couldn't sleep because I was excited that my friend Erik was flying down from Portland today to begin his week long vacation here in SoCal with me. This would be his first time in Southern California and I have so many awesome things planned for him.

I finished cleaning up the guest room and making it as presentable as I could with tons of bins and boxes in it. I also finished cleaning the house. My injured right calf was doing better, still sore and if I stepped on it wrong it's painful but I think by tomorrow it should be good enough to begin our tour around SoCal.

I got to the Burbank Airport around 2:15pm and his plane was delayed a bit and touched down about 2:45pm so I waited anxiously for him. He texted me when he was here and about to get off the plane. He also told me which gate he was going to and I was at the wrong one so I quickly (or as quickly as I could) walked over to the other gate on the other side of the airport.. luckily it isn't a very large airport. I waited at the gate and about five minutes later I saw his smiling face coming through the door.

If you read my blog on a regular bases then you all know who he is. If not here's a brief backstory about Erik. This incredibly fantastic guy popped into my life one month and five days ago and we have been chatting everyday since via phone, online, skype and google hangout. We've really gotten to know each other and formed this amazing friendship.

You go through life and you meet people all the time but there are those rare moments when you meet someone and you just click, call it fate, call it destiny, all I know is Erik is a kindred spirit. From the moment we started chatting online I knew Erik was meant to be part of my life, now are we just friends or is he my knight in shining armor... who knows but it's going to be a fun adventure finding out. 

Soon as we hugged hello the chemistry that we felt online was there in person and it was AWESOME!!

First thing we did was head to Islands for some lunch. He told me about his adventures of getting from his place to the airport as there was a freak snow storm attacking Portland the past few days. Transportation has been hit hard but luckily perseverance paid off and he made it to the airport in time for his flight.

After lunch we headed back to my place to crash. I didn't plan any activities today as I knew he would be tired from his travels so we watched Frozen. He had not seen it and being a big Disney fan I knew he would love it... and I was right.

Once the movie was over we headed to a grocery store to pick up some food for the week. On our way back we picked up some Wienerschnitzel (he's never had it) for dinner. Once home we watched the latest three episodes of Faceoff. It's a series that we've been watching together. We also shared a beer that Erik brought with him. Erik is really into home brewery and beers and since I haven't really found a beer that I like he has taken on the challenge to introducing me to various beers in hopes that he'll find one that I might enjoy.

Around 11pm we called it a night.. as I have planned a fun filled week.. starting tomorrow with Hollywood and Los Angeles.

Badges, Bobbles and Buffy

Today started out with a group of 30+ Guildies meeting in a Facebook chat preparing to battle it out for some San Diego Comic Con tickets. I have already gotten my tickets but I wanted to be there to help out my friend Thomas and anyone else who wasn't able to be online when the tickets went on sale.

So I was up at 6:30am and logged into the waiting room right at 7am. SDCC were doing things differently this time around. They were allowing folks to log into a waiting room from 7am to 9am and then they would randomly line you up to purchase tickets. So it didn't matter want time you got into the waiting room as long as you were in the room.

As I mentioned by 9am we had a group of about 30+ people in the waiting room all willing to help get tickets for all of those who needed them. 9am came and went and we were all still waiting. About 20 minutes in a few folks said they got it and the frenzy began and over the next hour the group managed to purchase about 50 or so badges for SDCC 2014. My friend Rachelle was able to get my buddy Thomas' badge as I was one of the few unfortunate ones from our group that didn't get in until almost all the days were sold out.

Needless to say that this was a success. Everyone who wanted a ticket/badge got it. I say this every time but Guildies are am amazing community of geeks, always there to support each other in everything we do. Thanks Anne for organizing this successful event.

Around noon my brother and his family stopped by to help me move my old refrigerator out of storage and take to their place to store for now until I can sell it. When they got here I went outside to greet them and my nephew Kenobi came running up to me and kind of tackled me with a hug. I pretended that he pushed me so hard that I started to fall back but as I placed my right foot down from actually falling back I heard something pop and then felt immense pain in my right calf. I don't know what happened but this isn't a good time for me not to be able to walk since my buddy Erik is coming to visit for a week and I'm showing him around SoCal... Ugh

But on a good note.. we were able to get the fridge out of storage and also pick up the bar stools which were going to my brothers. I am officially out of the storage unit and my move if officially over.. yay!! 

After the crazy morning/afternoon I went back to decorating around the house.. first I put out my Star Wars bobble heads. When I was in the guest bathroom I saw this ledge that I thought would be perfect for the figures. Once I put them all out I thought they looked great. Then I went in there to pee and it was kind of strange having 15+ Star Wars figures watching you. Luckily for me I don't use that bathroom very often :)

I started putting up Buffy Action Figures in my guest room. I don't have many walls available in that room yet (due to a ton of bin/boxes) but the wall next to the guest bed is empty so I decided to put my Buffy figures there. It's always a slow process putting up figures as it take a while digging through the remaining bins looking for stray figures but by the end of the day the wall came together nicely.

It was late by the time I was done and my guest room was still a mess, which wasn't good since my buddy Erik was flying in tomorrow to stay with me for a week. Luckily he doesn't get in until 2pm.. so that will give me some time to finish it up and have it ready for him. I so can't wait for him to be here. Oh and my right calf is extremely sore but I don't think I tore anything... thank goodness.

Sherlock Series 3 Finale - My Review

During the evening my friends Dallas and Jes come over to watch the finale episode of Season 3 of Sherlock. We also watched the two speicals that aired after episode 2 and 3.

Sherlock Season 3 Episode 3 "His Last Vow" Lady Elizabeth Smallwood is one of many victims of master blackmailer and media tycoon Charles Augustus Magnussen and asks Holmes to retrieve some incriminating letters for her. Having cultivated Magnussen's secretary Janine, Holmes breaks into Magnussen's office but is confronted by a mysterious black-clad woman, who shoots him. He recovers in hospital and goes after her to discover her identity and reason for wanting the blackmailer dead before he and Watson visit Magnussen at his country house for a confrontation and shoot-out.

This episode started off in one direction, with Sherlock seemingly falling off the wagon and back on drugs and then took a completely different turn out of left field that was awesome. They introduce an extremely creepy and disgusting new villain Magnussen. He made my skin crawl every time he was on screen. The huge game changer was the revelation that Watson's wife Mary is an assassin or something similar. She took on the persona of a Mary (who had died or was killed, five years earlier). And then she shot Sherlock!!! I was dumbfounded as I loved Mary and it was very difficult to think that she isn't the person that I thought she was.

And then Sherlock tricks her into confessing to John which was a pretty incredible scene. At the end you find out that Mary shot Sherlock to save him and if she wanted to she could have killed him. And it was great that John forgave her and accepted her for who she is now because she truly loves John.

Again this episode had so many fantastic scenes of going into Sherlock's head and seeing how he solves problems. And then there was then ending, which I kind of predicted but still was amazing.. it was really the only way to finish off Magnussen. And of course the final scene we still the "return" of Moriarty.

Can't wait for series four!!!!

Podcasts & Toy Rooms

So I'm bad at drinking water.. I know it's good for me and I love it but I don't drink as much as I should. So I recently purchased this new 64 ounce bottle so that I can fill it up everyday and make a point to drink it all and that way I will know that I got my allotted amount of water for the day.

I have a MASH podcast due to be released on the 15th and I have to get it done before my buddy Erik arrives in a few days for a week vacation that he'll be spending with me. I still haven't been able to get my Avid up and running so I had to set up my older computer (which I still have). It has an older Avid program on it but it does work. It's more complicated to edit on this older computer but it has to get done. So I transferred over the media to the older computer and started to edit. What normally takes me about four hours to edit took me about ten hours. It was frustrating but I got it done. I also wanted to do a quick message/mini podcast for my Alien Nation podcast. I haven't put out a new podcast for Alien Nation since November. Both my brother and I have been extremely busy and just haven't had the time to get together and do one. But with the move and now my UK trip we won't be able to get one done for another few months and I wanted to put out something letting folks know that we haven't stopped podcasting and that we are currently on hiatus and will be back.

But again that should have been a ten minute edit but it took me nearly two hours to finish it. That one will be released on Feb 10th and the MASH one will be released on Feb 15th. It may have taken me longer but I'm happy that they are both done and I don't have to worry about them while Erik is visiting.

I spent a few hours throughout the day putting up action figures in my master bedroom. By the end of the night I got about 95% of the walls done. I left a bit of free space for the expanding "Hobbit" action figures.. still have one more movie and I expect them to produce some figures for it. But other than that it's done and I have to say it looks pretty AWESOMETASTIC!! Pictures don't do it justice but that's all I have at the moment.. so what do you think?

Mice & Action Figures

Today was all about going through my toy bins and looking for any more action figures to put up in my bedroom. In the master bedroom I am putting up Star Trek, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter along with a few odds and ends. But in order to save space in the bins I would put a few pieces here and there scattered throughout all 50 bins. So every time I think I have found all my figures a few more would pop up. So I spent the majority of the day going through box after box trying to find every last one.

I'm happy to report that about 80% of my action figures are still looking pretty good. The other 20% have crushed bubbles or bent card backs and I knew after all the moving and storage over the years that they wouldn't all have survived. But the worse of the damage were to my Battlestar Galatica figures. I opened a box and there was a foul smell but it wasn't horrible so I didn't anything of it. As I was pulling out figures I noticed a large pile of cotton in the corner of the bin.. I have seen this before and knew it meant mice had gotten in to this bin. What I didn't expect was the dead mouse next to the pile of cotton and as I pulled out figures I noticed that about ten of the figure card backs were actually damaged, some with small tears and some with huge bite marks taken out. As I pulled the last figure out I could see mouse feces and urine stains at the bottom and a second mouse but all that was left of this one was the skin and tail.

Needless to say I tossed the bin with the mouse carcases in it, cleaned up the action figures and stored them in a new bin. I'm bummed that several were pretty damaged but in the end it's all about the action figures and those all still look great.

Computer Issues, Twitter Followers & SHIELD

This morning I attempted to edit the next MASH 4077 Podcast, but when I went to activate my Avid program on my computer I kept getting errors. I've been having computer problems the last few weeks but it looks to be spreading. First my itunes went down and now my Avid. I tried reinstalling both but with no luck.

Early afternoon I had scheduled to interview Teal Sherer for My Gimpy Life Companioncasts as Season two of My Gimpy Life will be starting in a few weeks. Again for whatever reasons I couldn't get "Pamela" to work so I couldn't record the conversation. I have other audio tools but since I've always used Pamela I didn't know how to work them so I had to postpone the interview and work on a roundabout way to get this done. It took me about an hour but I figured out how to record both our audios separately and then blend them back together but by this time Teal was busy and we had to reschedule for another day.

Since my computer was being a dick.. I decided to go work on my toy walls in my bedroom. They are coming along nicely and I should be done in a few days.

I tweeted a story about a young boy being bullied for liking My Little Pony and my friend Felicia retweeted it. Of course I didn't know this had happened until I started getting mass amounts of new followers in a matter of a few minutes. I went from around 2520 followers to 2545 in about ten minutes. Every time Felicia (Day) mentions me or RT's me on twitter I tend to get a boost of new followers.. this time it was about 25 new followers. And I'm sure when they find out that I'm not that cool or interesting they will unfollow.. but for now I'm happy that I'm a bit closer to 3000 followers (which is my goal for 2014).

I came across a new word that I saw in an article "AWESOMETASTICNESS" It combines two of my favorite words AWESOME and FANTASTIC.. I tend to use Awesome alot... It's even in the Urban Dictionary and defined as "The highest level of awesome in the whole world!" Gonna try and integrate it into my daily vocabulary.

I ended my day by watching the latest episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D  titled T.R.A.C.K.S. Here's a synopsis; In order to find the Clairvoyant, the team boards a train in Italy, on which a Cybertek security group is shipping a package to Ian Quinn. The team splits into groups, with Coulson and Simmons posing as a father and daughter while Fitz and Skye work with Ward and May to track down the package. However, the group is exposed, leaving Coulson and Ward to flee the train. May also goes missing, but when Coulson and Ward track her down, they learn the team was sold out by Luca Russo, who is killed by May. The team finds the train and Simmons, but Fitz and Skye are gone, having disembarked to track the package to Quinn's mansion. In the basement, Skye is confronted by Quinn and Mancini, who reveal that Mike Peterson is alive, having been kept in a hyperbaric chamber. Mancini opens the package, which a high-tech prosthetic leg that he fits onto Peterson's severed right leg. To test Peterson's obedience to Centipede, Quinn orders him to kill Skye. He refuses as it is not what the Clairvoyant ordered. Instead, Quinn then shoots Skye twice in the stomach and leaves her for dead stating that he has his own orders. Peterson then executes the Cybertek security team because they led S.H.I.E.L.D. to the mansion. Quinn walks right into a S.H.I.E.L.D. raid on the mansion. Quinn is arrested, but Skye is left near death and Simmons can only sustain her temporarily by placing her into Peterson's hyperbaric chamber. In the final scene, Peterson secretly observes his son at a playground and requests the Clairvoyant to let him see his son by writing on a piece of paper for the Clairvoyant to read. The Clairvoyant says "not yet". The view zooms in on his new prosthetic leg which bears the name "Project Deathlok".

What an amazing episode.. this series continue to impress. I loved the storytelling in this episode. Since the team was split into three groups we are told the beginning of this story three times.. each time we get a bit more information until we have the full story. It then shifts to Skye who is shot by Quinn... If I could reach through the TV I would have strangled Quinn for shooting her.. not only once but twice. And the look on his face when he did it just infuriated me. Of course you are left with a cliffhanger of will Skye die or not and with Joss Wheadon behind this show I would count anything out. They also introduce or reintroduce a new character Deathlok/Michael. Which I know he is in the comic books but I don't know much about him, so I can't wait to find out more about this good guy/ bad guy.

And of course we are on break for a few weeks because of the Winter Olympics. And then I'll only be able to watch a few episodes before I leave for my vacation for month. This will be one show that I really miss while on vacation, but don't worry my Tivo is set to record.

More Action Figures, Facebook Goodness and Running

Putting action figures up on the walls continues. My place is a wreak, bins all over the place and empty boxes and bins filling up my kitchen.. but I know it has to get dirtier before it get's better. I think the master bedroom is coming along nicely. I'm really hoping I can get most of my toys out of the bins as I don't have anywhere to store these bins and if I can't store them then they will have to be sold. I think by the end of all this I will have sold about 1/3 of my toy collection.

Facebook turns 10 years old this year and in celebration they compiled this very short but also very cool video. Anyone with a Facebook account can create their very own. Here's my "A Look Back".

In the evening I went for a jog/run/walk with my friend Jen. We went around the park three times and I'm actually very proud of my performance. I didn't think I'd be able to run as much as I did but I have to say I am in better shape then I thought... so woohoo.

Earthquake x2 and Action Figures

It's been a rocky morning.. we've had two Earthquakes within a few hours of each other. The first one was 1.9 and the second was 1.4. Now I know these numbers are small but when you are less then a mile away form the epic center you get a good shake. The first one was alot sharper then the second.

I headed out and finally picked up a prescription that I have been trying to get filled for the past two weeks. While I was out I searched three different places for thumb tacks and finally found them at my fourth location. I purchased 600 tacks.. that should be enough to hang all my action figures.  So when I got back and continued working on putting up action figures in my master bedroom.

Hanging action figures is a long process because they are scattered throughout 50 or so bins so it takes alot of moving things around and searching to find everything. After I finished LOTR action figures I moved onto Star Trek.

I took a break from action figures to work on some podcasts. But when I started up my Avid I got an error and then there was a glitch and now I can't get it to start again. I spent a few hours trying to figure out what the issue was, I even removed and reloaded Avid but still no go. Not sure what I'm going to do now but I have to come up with a solution quick... I got lots of podcasts to edit before I leave in March.

Spent the evening catching up some TV.. my Tivo is starting to get loaded down so I took a few hours and cleared some of the programs off. I also got to video skype chat with my buddy Erik and that's always a great way to end my night.

Action Figures, Captain America & Being An Extra

Started resurrecting my Toy Walls. I have decided to put up action figures not only in my "office/podcasting/guest & toy room" but also I'm putting them up in my master bedroom. Might as well enjoy my collection and I can't do that when they are all in boxes. So I started in my master bedroom and with Lord of the Rings action figures.

I can't find my large bag of push pins and thumb tacks but I did mange to find a small stache so I started with those. I quickly ran out but plan to get more while I'm out tomorrow. But it's a good start and it makes me smile.

I'm continuing my efforts to be nominated for a Shorty Award. I need to be in the top 4 and I'm currently #16 and need quite a few nominations to make it to the top 4. If you have an active twitter account then please consider me for "best podcaster". I made it super easy.. all you have to do is click on the LINK and complete the sentence... I nominate @Geekyfanboy for a Shorty Award in #podcaster because... it only takes few seconds... Thanks

During the superbowl they released the 2nd trailer for Captain America: The Winter Solider. I was excited when I saw the first trailer but this one pushed me over the top. Captain America is my favorite of the Avengers.. and not only because (Chris Evens) is beyond gorgeous but I like the character and what he stands for. So I'm super excited to see this movie in April.  Check out the trailer below. 

I got a text from my friend America about the shoot tomorrow.. she is doing pick ups for her new movie The Concessionaires Must Die. I was going to be a featured extra in a scene but unfortunately the scene was cut. But she did have a new scene I could extra in but it's tonight in Oxnard. She asked if I was interested. Of course I didn't hesitate and said yes I would love to be an extra tonight. So around 7:30pm I headed out to Oxnard. My buddy Erik kept me company (via cell) for the hour long drive. 

The call time was 9pm but we didn't get to my scene until around midnight. It was fun watching my friend America in action. I had never seen her direct before and she's a natural. My scene was a lot of fun and hopefully turned out as they were hoping for. We did a few takes and that was it. I was wrapped but I hung around another hour or so and watched them film.. I finally left around 1:45am and was home in bed by 3am. 

This movie is going to be amazing.. you can watch the trailer below. It reminds me of some of my favorite 80's movies.

D&D - Grizzly Bears & Dead Ponies

Now that I have a refrigerator I went shopping this morning. No more eating out for every meal. I'm super excited to finally get back on a better eating schedule and hopefully start losing weight again.

But the big thing today was D&D - Pathfinder. The group hadn't played in almost a month due to our DM's computer crashing. But we were back and 99% of the group was there today.

Since it was a Saturday we played the drinking game along with D&D, though I didn't join in this time. Though I did do a shot of some crazy blue concoction that my buddy Will created. It was quite tasty.. unlike last time.

There wasn't a lot of action in this session but we did have a few skirmishes and my character Dash's pony was killed by some very large grizzly bears. Luckily I hadn't bonded with the pony or named him so it was as devastating as it could have been.  We infiltrated a citadel, found the missing Friar who died but mentioned the attack on his Abbey so that was our next destination. We ran into a thief who will be joining our party for a bit and by the end we were heading off to the dark woods.

All in all a fun session... our next one looks to be pretty crazy as Knights who have gone into the dark woods have never been heard from again.

MASH 4077 Podcast Episode 71

It's our 3rd Year Anniversary Podcast!!!

Download from itunes tinyurl.com/MASH4077itunes , listen on Stitcher Radio ow.ly/iZJIz or Listen, get direct download from our main website MASH4077Podcast.com

Show Notes

Kenny Mittleider from Knights of the Guild, Alien Nation: The Newcomers Podcast & Confessions of a Fanboy Podcast, Simon Meddings from Waffle On Podcast, & Al Kessel from Tales from the Mouse House, Fast Forward & Just Because Podcast discuss one of the most successful and longest running television series in history.. M*A*S*H

Today we cover Season 3, Episode #23 - White Gold
71st Episode Overall
Directed by Hy Averback
Written by Larry Gelbart & Simon Muntner
Production code B319
Original air date March 11th 1975

Set during the Korean War in the 1950’s

Plot Summary: The attempted theft of penicillin from the 4077th by a group of suspected black marketeers brings Col. Flagg to investigate. He comes up with a “brilliant” idea of trading penicillin for information. When Flagg is diagnosed with appendicitis, he comes to understand the critical importance of the medication.
 

MGL S2 Trailer, New Refrigerator & Dinner With A Friend

First up My Gimpy Life season two webseries has released a trailer. I had the good fortune of working on seasons 1 & 2 so I'm very excited to see the finished episodes. I also do the official podcast for My Gimpy Life which will be coming out after each episode. Watch the trailer below.

After a month of having no refrigerator my new fridge arrived. There was a bit of a panic when the moving guys couldn't get it up the stairwell and if you remember when I moved in a month ago we couldn't get my "larger" refrigerator up the stairs and that's why I had to buy a new "smaller" one. But I showed them the other stairwell that I for sure thought would not work but they managed to get it up that one and they did it without putting a scratch on the fridge.. yay!!

Of course once it was placed in my kitchen I realized that the doors opened the wrong direction and I had heard you can remove the doors and switch the brackets and such so the door open in the opposite direction. I had never done this before but figured I'd take a crack at it since I know having the doors open on the wrong side would drive me crazy.

The fridge came with directions on how to do this and though it was a slow process and learning experience I managed to get the doors to open the correct way!!  Now I have to wait 24 hours before filling it up.. I can't wait to have cold things again.

During the evening I picked up my buddy Christopher from the airport, he was flying in from up north. He was down visiting his boyfriend but we hadn't seen each other in a quite some time so before heading to his boyfriends we got to have dinner and hang out for a few hours. I'm so proud of my friend Christopher, he is thriving at his new job with LinkedIn, he's one of the my creative and business savvy guys I know. It was great getting to spend some one on one time with him.

"Get Fit" Week 26

I debated on blogging about my "getting fit" this week as I am really disappointed in myself. I am still unpacking stuff and just got a refrigerator today but I have no excuse not to be walking/jogging around the park which is just outside my apartment door. I use the excuse that I'm still crazed with all this moving stuff and part of that is true but I think I'm just using that as a crutch. I really need to kick myself in the butt and start my new workout regime. Last week I weighted in at 196 and today I weighted in at 197, that's a 1 pound increase.

I'm tired of excuses and I hope by blogging about this it will motivate me to get my butt in gear and start working out and losing weight again.

Travel Points, Selling My Couch & Buying A New Fridge

Started my day by redeeming some travel points that I have accumulated over the past year. I have a BofA Visa Travel card and get travel points on every purchase. Well I had 33,436 points which translated into $334.36 credit which I removed from my current plane ticket to Ireland. So instead of $864.36 for the plane ticket I only paid..  $530.51. How awesome is that!!!

I met up with a cute couple at my storage unit this morning, they were interested in buying my couch. Found out they had are newly engaged and just moved into their very first apartment. Both of them are EMT's and the girl is going to collage. They checked out the couch from top to bottom. I was originally asked $100 on Craigslist and got zero responses. So I lowered it to $50 this time and got about 20 responses.. and to be honest the guy was so cute with his crooked smile I would have given to him for free. But luckily he offered me $40 and I accepted. I helped them load it up into their truck and they were on their way. It was tough seeing this couch go, it was a favorite of mine but I just don't have the room at my new apartment and it had to go.

Afterwards I went to Lowes to buy my new refrigerator. As I was checking out I tried to use my travel Visa as this would have been some good points but the card was declined. So I had to use my debt card. As I was leaving Lowes I got a call from my credit card company, it was an automated system informing me of suspicious activity on my card and if I could review and approve the latest three purchases. First was a purchase from 7-11, which I had done earlier in the day. The second was from San Diego Comic Con for a 2014 badge and the third was the Lowes purchase that I just tried to do. I guess because two of the purchases were of rather large amounts and in two different cities they thought someone got control of my card.

I mean I appreciate that they are looking out for me but it sucks that it was declined and I wasn't able to get the $400+ purchase added to my travel Visa for points. But the good news is I got me a new refrigerator... it will be delivered tomorrow.

Had a rare moment today.. was in my guest bathroom and just happen to see myself in the mirror and I don't know what it was.. the angle or lighting but I actually thought to myself.. "I look pretty good today" Now if you know me you know I don't think I'm a nice looking guy. I think in a certain light I am cute but as I have gained weight over the years I see it less and less. But that little moment made my day and I was in a very happy mood the rest of the day.

Final Episodes of Babylon 5 S3

It's Wednesday so that means TV night at my buddy Robert's place. Tonight we continued out first time viewing of Babylon 5

First up was S3 Ep 19 "Grey 17 is Missing" Garibaldi investigates a missing person in the mysterious Grey Sector. Delenn becomes the leader of the Rangers.

This was just an okay episode.. after all the crazy awesome stuff that we saw the past few episodes this one was kind of a let down. It wasn't bad but it wasn't an OMG episode but then again I guess not all episodes can be OMG. It did have Robert Eugland, who I will already remember as Willie from V.

Next was S3 Ep 20 "And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place" Some religious acquaintances of Brother Theo's come to the station. Meanwhile, Londo is instructed to end his feud with Lord Refa even as he conspires to get rid of G'Kar.

This episode just increased my dislike of Londo. I mean I'm glad he set up Lord Refa and made him the fall guy for all the things Londo had done but Refa was not a good guy. Loved the interaction between Sheridan and Delenn and we finally get what we've been waiting for all season.. the kiss. 

Third episode of the night S3 Ep 21 "Shadow Dancing" Sheridan and Delenn assemble a fleet composed of a myriad different alien races and confront the Shadows. Franklin, still on walkabout, finally finds what he's looking for, though it's not what he expected.

Lot's of action in this episode with the huge battle betweeen Sheridan and Delenn's army against the Shadows. I liked the bit of humor with Ivonnava and the Mimbari beds. Was not a fan of the Doctor's walk about storyline so I was happy to see it come to an end.

And the final episode of the night as well as the final episode of Season three, S3 Ep 22 "Z'Ha'Dum" Third season finale. A face from Sheridan's past takes him on a dangerous mission to meet his Shadow counterpart. Londo receives important news about his political future. The Shadows mass a fleet against Babylon 5

Just when Sheridan and Delenn's relationship looks like it's going to the next level, Sheridan's "dead" wife arrives on Babylon 5 and throws a wrench into everything. Just when you think it's the end of their relationship Sheridan hatches a plan and what a plan. He sacrifices himself and blows up the home base of the Shadow creatures. It's heartbreaking as Delenn get's a goodbye message from him and he confesses his love for her.

Season 3 was an amazing season. They started giving us answers to things that we were introduced to in season 1. I know Sheridan isn't dead and it looks like Garibaldi is off to rescue him. Is the war over? Are the Shadows gone? Still have to deal with the corrupt Earth government. Can't wait to see where season 4 goes.

Serenity Comic, SDCC Tickets & Shorty Awards

The new Serenity/Firefly comic book mini series comes out today. It's going to be a six issue mini series hopefully it does well so they do another one. This takes place after the movie. I think they are releasing six different variant covers to issue #1. I need to makes sure I get to a comic shop soon and pick this one up. I have really enjoyed the previous Firefly comic books and I see no reason why I won't love this one as well.

Today at 10am SDCC 2014 tickets went on sale for "professionals". I was at my computer at 9:45 and clicking on the link just in case they opened early. Well at 10am on the dot I clicked the link and got in. I filled out everything and managed to get my free badge, a free guest badge (last year these were gone within a few minutes) and I purchased one other badge. I filled in all my credit card information and pressed the button.. I got a "processing" window but after a minute an error page popped up. I wasn't sure if it all went through or if I had to start over again. By this time five minutes had passed and when I went to select tickets again they were out of the "free" guest badges. But when I signed in to try and order tickets again I noticed that the information that I had put in earlier was still there.. it looked like my order went through before the site crashed.

So I waited a few minutes to see if I would get a confirmation email or something but nothing came. My friend Doug tweeted that his confirmation came instantly. That was disheartening so I figured I got screwed and would have to try and get "regular" badges when they go on sale next month. I fiddled around with the site and somehow managed to get a confirmation page to pop up for my order. I took a screen grab of it just in case they said I didn't have tickets.. but luckily a few minutes later I got an actual confirmation email with my barcode for all my tickets.. so I did get the maximum amount of tickets that I could get at this time, one free one for me, one free guest one for my brother and one paid one for my bestie Chris.

I was a bit stressed out when I didn't think my order went through but in the end I'm just glad I got my tickets for SDCC this year... now we need to get a hotel... the fun never ends.

Shorty Awards are still happening.. I'm currently in 18th place with 40 votes. It's a far cry from where I need to be to get into the top 4 but what can you do. I still don't understand why friends and followers aren't throwing me a vote since it's so easy.. but I guess they have their reasons. If you would like to nominated me for a Shorty Award you can just follow this LINK.. it only takes a few seconds... thanks.

Spent the evening at my buddy Robert's place eating pizza and wings and watching Babylon 5. Will do a separate blog post on my thoughts on tonight's episodes.

HIMYM, DMV, Storage, Mail and Great Friends

Started my day by watching last nights How I Met Your Mother and I have to say that was one of my favorite episodes of the series. It was titled How Your Mother Met Me and was all about the kids Mom. I love the actress they got to play "the Mom" and it was great watching how her storyline interwove with Ted and his friends storyline. I don't know if the writers planned all that but it was some very nice writing and storytelling. Of course they didn't meet yet and I know they are waiting until the final episode for these two characters to finally meet and I'm hoping the last line of the series will be.. "And that's how I met your mother"... End of Series.

I had a very productive day, first was a trip to the DMV. My registration for my car was due, I had to change my address on my license as well as my car registration and I've been wanting to get an updated photo for my license as I'm tired of folks not believing that the picture on there now is me  ---> . I made an appointment a few weeks back so when I got there I got in the appointment line which had only one person in front of me. A few minutes passed and a guy gave me a form to fill out and then a few minutes after that a number for one of the customer service people. I waited about ten minutes for my number to be called and I walked up to the window and explained all that I wanted to do. When we got to my picture on my license the woman looked at the picture and then gave me a smile. I said.. yeah I know it's long overdue for an updated picture.

I changed my address on my car registration and license and also got my 2015 tags for my car. I had to go to a different person to get my picture taken. Again the woman taking the picture looked at my old picture and asked when I took it. I told her it had been 20 years, 40 lbs lighter and a head full of hair. She kind of laughed and took my picture. I have to wait 10 or so days before I get my new license in the mail. And I have to say an appointment is the way to go. I got out of there in about 30 minutes total.

After DMV I headed up north to my storage unit in Santa Clarita to put my refrigerator back together and clean it up as well as my green couch as I need to get them up on Craigslist and sold asap. The fridge took some time to put back together and after cleaning it up I realized that we didn't do as much damage to it during the move as I thought. There is a rather large scratch on the front and a few minor ones on the sides and handles but overall it's not that bad.

I got an email informing me that the folks who purchased my house left some mail at their realtor's office which was about 30 minutes further north in Acton so I headed up there to pick it up. I am very thankful that the owners of my former house saved the mail for me as there were a few tax related forms as well as several refund checks adding up to about $1400.  I don't understand why the post office is not forwarding all my mail as I am getting some mail at my brothers house which is where I forwarded my mail to.

Talked with my buddy Erik via skype. We've been talking either by skype or phone since the day we officially met Jan. 4th (25 days ago)... he's pretty awesome!!

My friend Jen called me while she was driving home and asked if I wanted to walk around the park with her when she got home. I said of course, so around 8pm she stopped by my place and we headed across the street. We walked around the park five times ( probably 4 or so miles). We had a blast because when Jen and I get together we always have some very "interesting" conversations :)

After the walk we said our goodbyes and I came home to find my buddy Chris (who is currently abroad) asking if I wanted to do a skype chat with him. I haven't visually talked to Chris since new years and that was with a group. We haven't had any one on one time for quite some time so I was excited to be able to chat with him. It was only for a half hour but it was great seeing his face. I miss talking to him daily. It was a great way to end my night.