Another Trip to Marukai

Yes, we spent some more money at the Marukai Super 98+ store today. Note that they are now "98+" as they carry items more than their traditional 98-cent price point. Their high-end merchandise will cost you from $1.25 to $1.50. Still, not bad.

Today's finds included volumes 4, 8, and 9 of "Classical Music on TV" CDs. They are CDs that have various classical tunes that were used for Japanese commercials. Most of them are recognizable. I mean, hey for $1.50, you get some pretty good tunes. Volume 4 alone has the William Tell Overture and In The Hall of the Mountain King, both instantly known by most.

What would have really been cool was if the CDs had videos of the commercials. Oh well. I also managed to find some reflectorized stickers to put on my bike, as well as a flashing red LED light. Damn, I just spent $8 for one at Target! There was this sticker I should have gotten, too. It just was a red square with the silhouette of a presumably vicious dog and the word "DANGER" superimposed over it--in English and Japanese. It looked so damn cool; it could probably work well on a t-shirt.

Again, I highly recommend this joint. And they now have website goodness! Find a location, go there, and be prepared to spend lots of yen!
If you go to the Fountain Valley location, eat at J&J Subs which is in the same parking lot, next to the Baskin Robins. Great food and always-friendly people.

You're A Jackass

To whoever took the opportunity to use my blog comment area as a means of advertising for "hot stocks": You're a jackass.

For those of you who want to leave actual comments about my posts, you must be a registered Blogger.com member. Comments will also show up in a popup window and not be part of the post. And for the record, I deleted the spam in question.

Thanks to you, zimb0gxja82nlzy, whoever the hell you are, for making me do this. Go spam somewhere else ya worthless idiot.

I Want to Ride My Bicycle...

On Sunday, I opened up the shed and was greeted to the overpowering smell of week-old cut grass and gasoline. After letting it air out for a minute I went back in and wheeled out the old Huffy Canyon 18-speed mountain bike.

Yes, it's old. No, I don't care. I rarely rode the thing to begin with. But I've started to ride it again in the evenings to give Ann a break from the kid--and from me.

I've got one of those kid buggies attached to the end of the bike so I can bring Anthony along with me on my Adventures through Long Beach. When we first tried it months ago he wasn't too happy about wearing the helmet or being strapped in. But he's a little older now and he absolutely loves riding in it. In fact, on Sunday we ended up riding nearly 4 miles. Not too bad.

And that's what motivated me. It didn't seem like I rode that much, and considering I lugged around an almost 30-lb. baby in a 15-lb. cart, I'd say I did alright. So now I'm keeping track of how many miles I'm riding. Thank Jesus/Allah/Buddha for my Garmin eTrex Legend GPS unit which I can now easily strap to the handlebars with the handlebar mount I found on clearance at Target for $7.48. From Sunday through today, I've gone 7.48 miles, average speed of 7.1mph, average top speed of 13.2mph.

I'm trying to ride at least 2 miles a day, which is really nothing. Maybe later I'll be daring and go for 5 miles. I've ridden more but without the added weight...it was also years ago when my knees could handle it.

After doing this for a few days, I forgot how much fun it is to get out there and ride a bike. Well, that small-as-hell seat that really hurts my ass doesn't help matters, but it's still great exercise. You begin to see your neighborhood in greater detail. You say hi to joggers and fellow cyclists out for their nightly jaunt. You just get out and have a good time.

And it lulls Anthony to sleep, which is probably the best reward I can think of.

Don't Do It!

Like anybody else, I get tired of everything I hear on the radio and need a change once and a while. So every now and then I switch over to KFI 640 for some "stimulating talk radio" as they call it. While I enjoy Bill Handel tremendously, John and Ken kind of work my nerves but in an amusing way.

At any rate, I heard a promo on their show for a free 3-day, 2-night stay at a "5-Star Las Vegas Strip resort." Being a Las Vegas veteran, I know that most every place there gave up on the term "hotel and casino" and now refer to themselves as a "resort." It's just the thing to do.

So I got to thinking. A free vacation at a Strip resort? Which will it be? The Mirage? Caesar's Palace? Bellagio? More importantly, what do I have to do?

Curiosity got the best of me. I called the number when I got in my car and waited. And waited.

Finally, it picked up. I was shocked and dismayed to hear the recorded voice of Alan Thicke telling me to wait for the next operator. It wasn't someone who sounded like him; he clearly identified himself as Alan Thicke.

That's when I knew this was some kind of racket. I mean, c'mon. Alan Fucking Thicke from "Thicke of the Night" having any kind of job in 2005? Was this some kind of joke?

Well, sort of. After hearing Alan Thicke's recorded message somewhere near 20 times and being nearly suicidal as a result, I got an operator. That's when I got the bad news.

This isn't for an actual big-name Las Vegas resort. It's for a goddamn timeshare called Soleil and in order to "qualify" for your stay, you have to attend some seminar and give them a credit card number. I said yes to the seminar but told them I didn't have a credit card. Yes, I lied and you would, too.

Once they got all my information they told me they'd send a packet with everything I needed to know. Almost 4 months later I still haven't gotten anything.

I suppose it's just as well. Fuck you, Alan Thicke.

Rats...

At this time, there is a rat inside one of the walls of my home. We heard it eating away at the structure this morning.

Can't image why we have rats around here. Could be the grapefruit tree. Or the orange tree. Or perhaps it's the fact that my trailer-trash neighbors caught one and hung it up by its tail on their clothesline:



Seriously...why?

I mean, I did a lot of stupid and strange things when I was young, but they never involved hanging a deceased, diseased animal by its tail. Not only that, chronologically these guys are adults. Mentally, I dunno.

Stupidity aside, this is a health issue. Anthony's 16 months, our neighbor on the other side of Motel 6--the loving nickname given to our trailer trash neighbor's house as they frequently "leave the light on" for guests--also have a small child. And yes, there's a smaller child living at Motel 6, too. This might have even been hung up by the kid's dad. Can you imagine...?

The Health Department has been called. I'm waiting for their callback. I had to take a day off work to buy rat traps, cut down the orange tree, and other assorted Verminator activities.

Got to get going.