How did I ever manage...

...without DVR?

OMFG, it is simply awesome - and that realization comes after less than 24 hours of having it in the house.  Yesterday, we had the 'ol Verizon technician by to hook the house up with FioS, their fiber optic service for internet, television, and phone.  They sold me via, if you can believe it, a door-to-door soliciation and a deal that was just too good to pass up on.  How good? 

Old:  ~4meg down, 600kb up internet connection and digital cable consisting of perhaps 60 regular channels and 10 or so HD channels
New:  15meg down, 2 meg up internet connection (tested out at 16.6/2.3 last night), digital cable with 200ish regular, 20ish HD channels, and a dual room DVR setup

All for about $5 more a month.  Can you say SOLD! 

So after some fiddling around last night, I re-worked the Harmony 880 remote to work with the new hook-up (and, btw, I can't highly recommend that remote - the thing ROCKS) and settled down for some dinner and a night of Heroes with the family.  Well, with Monday's being unusually hectic at my house between CCD, baseball practice, and a softball game, we never got everything quite done before the show launched.  Well, what better time to test out the Pause-and-Resume live TV function....and it worked like a charm! 

The wife has already figured out how to get her daily shows onto a constant recording schedule, and I'll be following suit tonight with the shows I like to watch on a routine basis.  No more hunting and settling for piss-poor options to watch late at night as I try to fall asleep...nooo...now there'll be a constant stream of quality shows coming from the 'ol DVR ready and waiting. 

Balek is a happy camper. 

Anatomy of the Back

We'll start with the educational part of this blog...

There you go...the human back and it's associated muscle groups. Now I know what you're thinking....WTF has Balek been smoking?

Well, I just wanted everyone to be able to visualize just how many muscles are current aching, throbbing, and otherwise twitching involuntarily in spasms of pain and discomfort this morning in my back. The culprit - first practice last night for the corporate softball team. Lo and behold, I get there and the company paid for a pair of new bats for the team...w00t. One was even a 34in / 28oz (right size, and uncharacteristically heavy for a softball bat) badass DiMarini. With that bad boy, I was crushing the ball over the center and right fielders heads consistantly beyond what I've hit before. So, it was either the new bat, or some additional distance from the new workout regimine that I've been on. Either way, it felt goooooooooooooood!!!!

That is, until this morning.

So, here I sit at work, with 600mg of ibuprofin flowing through the bloodstream, and hoping I don't have to move quickly in the office chair anytime soon. But... *thinks back to some of the hits from last night*...it was worth it.

B.

It's about time...!

Been a long time in the wait for the show to get back on the air for the final 5 episodes of the season. I haven't ever heard of why there was such a long hiatus just to return for a few shows. I have a guess that they weren't expecting such a big following to form up, but who knows. Either way, I'll be anxiously looking forward to tonight. The show has so much potential with a great cast, a IP limited only by imagination, and an already fairly-rabid fan base (myself included).

So, pull up the barka lounger, kick back with a beer and some popcorn, and let's see some heroes in action tonight!

Life Lessons By Comic

Well, not necessarily anything to learn from this comic per se, just a bit ironic to have come up as there’s a chance I’ll be taking up racquetball again after a … oh 25 year hiatus or so. Way back when I used to play a fairly regular game with my father for a few years before other items caught our attention and/or demanded our time more so than the weekly outage to the local racquet club.

Now, I can’t claim that this could happen because of my own good will and forethought. Nope, it all stems from the fact that my wife likes to talk.

/me ducks the virtual shoe that is flying towards his head as she reads this…

Yup, it’s true. My wife doesn’t just like to talk, she loves to talk. Unfortunately, the prick who runs the gym she had been going to for the past 2-plus years isn’t a fan of talk…to the point there is a rule there called “Be Seen, Not Heard”. He outlawed talking while people work out. Talk about someone who really is in the front running for my annual Scumbag of the Year award.

It doesn’t matter than he’s collecting money from people just to use the exercise equipment. Nope, the dick has such a God complex that he has stupid rules over how things run like this one, or…get this, you can get kicked out for working out too much. That’s right…go to the gym more than 5 times in a week and you can find yourself booted right out. Everyone with me now.

Gimme a D...
Gimme a I...
Gimme a C...
Gimme a K...

DICK! That’s what you are you douche! I seriously hope you catch the first known case of terminal herpes.  (No…I’m not a little bitter at this at all… ).

Anyways…after getting her walking papers, my wife had to go on the search for a new gym. Unfortunately none are as close as this other crapheap of a facility, but it looks like she’s worked it down to two, one of which includes a racquetball facility. For less than she was shelling out for this other place (primarily because she’ll be dropping her weekly trainer sessions…she can do it all herself now thankfully), we might pull down a family plan that includes all the gym equipment, plus the pool, sauna, spa, various other health classes (e.g. Pilates, spin, etc.), and the racquetball courts. If we end up there, I could see myself getting back into the sport as a means for some good ‘ol fashion competition and another way to try to get my ass back into some semblance of shape.

B.

Life Lessons By Comic

Sometimes the right decision isn't the easy one.  This comic actually hits home with me quite powerfully as I just started 'officially' training to run a 5k with my wife towards the end of May.  I had the brilliant idea to draft up one of those "birthday coupons" for her in Febuaury, and give her a race partner.  As someone who abhors running, it probably wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done in my life.