My First Truly Boring Post (1st of many....)

So, many of my neighbors continue to not have electricity due to the hurricane-strength winds last sunday. According to the Dayton Power & Light website there are still over 38000 people without power here in Dayton. I'm lucky to not be one of those.

I officially got my 1st post-promotion paycheck this friday. I'd be more excited about it if I hadn't been told I was getting promoted last November, only to have it take until now for it to get done. The government can obviously make even the simplest, straight-forward good news and manage to piss people off about it. But I'm over it, and it's just in time for October, which just happens to be one of those glorious 3 paycheck months (I get paid every 2 weeks). I've got a fever, and I think the only cure is more Playstation 3! (well, just one would be enough) I dont' really have a fever, but I've seriously been fighting off Playstation3 procurement urges off and on for about a year. If I'm going to waste money I really oughta buy a bed. Mine is a piece. But for 5 years I figured I'd just keep using this one because if I ever get a serious g/f (stressing serious here) she'll probably either already have appropriately nice bedroom furniture or she'll certainly be in charge of picking new stuff out. Segue.............

Potential Procreation Update (for Megan)

I have consistently spoken out against 'persistence dating'. This is when someone pursues another and the pursue-ee says 'no thank you' many, many times, but eventually gives in and goes on a date. I've never understood the logic and have been quite critical of this philosophy in the past. The phenomenon lives on mostly because every time it happens it gives false (kinda false) hope to all the people getting the 'no'. Well, I gave in and went on a date with a girl that's been jonesing for a date for quite awhile now. That was a mistake. Hopefully she's not reading this, but she surely should know that it didn't go all that well. Nothing horrendous, just kind of an 'eh...' experience, and one that doesn't warrant further investigation. But we did go to a thai restaurant that is part of the group known as the 'Dayton Independents', which I'd never heard of before. As you might imagine it's a group of independent restaurants that have a loyalty rewards program in place. I am now going to slowly start going through this list to check these guys out (there's only about 20 restaurants in the list). In conclusion, I tried the persistence dating scene, and will now go back to criticizing the participants. I can take 'no' for an answer; and now I'll expect any progressive, forward-thinking female pursuer to do the same.

Cooking Update

I'm risking comparisons to Steve Correll in '40 Year Old Virgin' with this section, but I do like to cook. It's officially fall starting tomorrow, and that means it is completely reasonable to start firing up the crock pot. I do own the Biggest Book of Slow Cooker Recipes, (BBSCR) and also the CIA's Soup cookbook. With the CIA book I've learned that you'd better set aside 4 hours of time and make sure you have an internet connection. There's going to be some assumed knowledge in the recipe that I don't have. But with the BBSCR you basically just cut a bunch of stuff up and throw it in the crockpot. This friday I made 'Golden Beef and Apple Cider Stew', and I give it a 6 (out of 10). Nothing spectacular here, and I probably won't make it again. It had all the usual suspects in a typical stew (potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, beef), and also obviously had apples and apple cider in it. It was certainly edible and tasted good enough for me to eat it for about 4 meals, but I won't go so far as to endorse it.

Travel Update

No travel plans here, but I did actually enter in the Tampa Bay Rays' raffle to win the chance to buy postseason tickets.......unlikely I'd go, but it doesn't cost anything to throw my name in the hat.

Movie Review - Tropic Thunder

This could have almost gone under a previous section. I went with a female friend, but it's been decided that this wasn't a date. Actually this female friend is Meghan, who came with me to Lindsey and Brent's wedding last year. ANYWAY, Tropic Thunder is unlikely to be enjoyed by anyone that can't deal with really crude humor. If you're into that type of thing it's certainly worth a rental, but maybe not worth going to the theater to see. Tom Cruise has a small part in it, and he manages to steal the show and be the funniest character in the whole thing.

Alright, I gotta get back to reading a case-study for my Master's class. Maybe I'll include a picture next week...........