Door-to-door flan salesman

The other day I was leaving my apartment and as I was locking my door I look down the hall and see a gentleman knocking on someone's door, about 3 doors down from me. He was holding a box and saying something towards the door. I could tell he was selling something. I begin walking in his direction just as he was giving up and moving to the next apartment. He sees me, and takes out a small container from his box and lifts it towards me. "Tengo flan!", he exclaims and stares at me as if I'm supposed to be very happy about this.

"Umm, no, gracias", I say, and continue on my way.

Are you kidding me? This guy was a door-to-door flan salesman? Home-made flans? Who buys flan from a complete stranger who walks up to their door? Isn't flan supposed to be refrigerated? It was all pretty bizarre.

I wonder what his success rate was?

P.S. - Gabe, I know you would have bought one if he knocked on your door.

The wonderful world of Apple

On Monday I bought an iMac. The 20", 2.66GHZ model. I've needed a new computer for a while and early on I decided that I wanted to get a Mac. I researched for about a week all my options; I went for the standard 13" MacBook, to the 15" MacBook Pro, to the various iMac models. In the end, I reviewed all my options and since I do 98% of my computer use sitting at my computer desk, I ruled out all the notebook variants. I'd just be paying more for a machine with weaker specs and I won't be taking advantage of its biggest selling point: portability. I then
ruled out the 24" iMac because the screen was just too big. My computer desk is a smaller corner desk and that beautiful 24" screen would have been overkill for such a small space.

So, the more advanced 20" version it was.

Buying it was a snap too. Since I already knew exactly what I wanted and since Best Buy now sells Mac products, I take the 1 minute drive to the Best Buy on the corner of my street, walk to the Apple section, point to the one I want and say "ring it up". I was out of the store in 5 minutes.

I'll say one thing about Apple, they make some sexy looking stuff. Once I had the iMac all set it, it looked gorgeous. Very sleek, very clean, minimal wires and chords; a work of art. Set up was a breeze, it immediately picked up my wireless network and it was up and running in a few minutes. I now need to learn the ins and outs of the Apple operating system. Being a PC user all my life, it might take a while. But I'll get there. And there seems to be a lot of helpful info and videos on the Apple site for people doing this very transition.

I'll add impressions on how the system is working out in the coming months as I begin to really take advantage of it. So far, it is great!

Gears of War 2 impressions

Last Thursday, just before the GoW 2 launch, I decided to pop in the original to re-familiarize myself with the controls and play style.  I haven't used RB to reload since Halo 3 after all.

 

A weird thing happened.  I found the game dreadfully boring and I stopped playing after 10 minutes.  I shrugged it off.  I have played through the game multiple times after all.  All games get old after a while.

 

What I wasn't expecting was to have that same feeling while firing up the sequel.  But I did.  As soon as I stared playing my solo campaign, I was underwhelmed.  Graphically, I didn't find the game very impressive.  It looked about the same as the previous title.  And while the original was a fine looking game, we've had Bioshock, CoD4, Far Cry 2 and Dead Space since then.  All of which I consider better looking games (your opinion may vary).  The opening hospital level just seemed bland.  Gameplay-wise, it seemed stale.  I was very disappointed.

 

I turned the game off and called it a day.

 

The next day something happened.  I sat down to play, expecting more of the same, and four hours later I found myself completely mesmerized.  I am not sure what happened.  I don't know if the levels got a lot better.  If the new gameplay elements became more apparent.  Or if I just got used to the GoW play-style again, but as I advanced through the campaign I was floored by how much I was enjoying it.  My initial impressions of the visuals being more of the same also went away.  Some of the later levels have simply amazing vistas.  It is funny, I am usually more impressed with vast, open, natural environments like forests, or sections with lots of greenery.  But the most impressive visuals for the Gears series I have found to be the sections that take place underground.  In the original Gears, the single most impressive area for me was the giant cavern in which you meet the Theron Guards for the first time.  That section, with its huge scale and Immulsion waterways was simply breathtaking.  There are many sections in Gears 2 that take that to another level.  The scale of this second game has certainly gone way up, in all aspects: story, stakes, environments, battles. 

 

Another technical aspect that has impressed me is the audio.  I am playing with my headphones once again (my new favorite way to game) and there were two instances that really blew we away from an audio standpoint.  The first is a really small detail, but as you know, it is the small details that impress me the most.  While playing the single-player campaign, my teammate Dom was speaking to me.  He sounded normal, since he was standing next to me.  But he continued to advance down a path while I stayed behind to search for ammo or hidden items.  As he got further away, I heard his voice change from normal, to having a slight static hint as it transitioned from earshot to Marcus' earpiece.  I found that a pretty amazing detail.  I am not sure if the first game did this since I never played it with headphones and it is harder to pick up those small details with speakers, but I was very impressed.

 

The second was even cooler.  One of the levels take place in the rain (the rain effect looks amazing btw).  The sound of the rain also sound good.  But I was really blown away as I walked out of the rain, under some cover composed of a small tin roof.  It smoothly transitioned to the sound of the rain hitting the tin roof and the effect was spectacular.  I am not sure how it comes across with speakers, but I can tell you that with headphones it really put me in the game.  It sounded amazing.  Almost like a binaural recording.  That's how effective it was.  I had a huge smile on my face and spent the next few minutes moving in and out of the rain.  I know, I am an idiot.

 

But, the biggest improvement between Gears 1 and 2 is the story.  And not just the story, but the story telling.  I've commented before on how I felt Epic really dropped the ball in the first game.  The background story for the game was great.  It was really thought out and detailed.  Yet for some reason Epic decided to leave all of it out of the game.  If players had not read up on the story from online sources, all they would have to go by was a small blurb in the instruction manual.  And the actual narrative for the title was weak and was conveyed poorly to the player.  That completely changes with the sequel.  It helps that we have the first game to set this one up, but the story of this game is a lot more compelling.  I find myself wanting to advance to the next section just to find out what is going to happen next, instead of just anticipating my next firefight (which is all players really had to look forward to in the first game).  There is some emotion in it this time too.  The story arch of Dom and his wife actually worked for me and the way it concludes was very powerful.  I still need a whole Act to finish the game and I can assure you, I am completely intrigued by what is going on, what has been revealed, and all the twists that have been thrown at me.  Impressive stuff.

 

All this and I have yet to try out the multiplayer.  I am especially looking forward to Horde mode, which I hear is a total blast.  So in closing, after a shaky start, I am having a blast with GoW2.  If you're a fan of the previous one, this is a no brainer.  And if you weren't, because it felt shallow with poor story telling, you might want to try this one and see if it works for you.  Just stick it out through the first few segments, it definitely picks up after that.

 

P.S. - I actually miss the Berserkers and Kryll.  Wish they would have brought them both back at some capacity.

 

Michael Crichton R.I.P

I just found out that Michael Crichton passes away yesterday.  That is just terrible news.

 

I became a huge fan of Michael, along with millions of others, with his novel Jurassic Park.  I remember reading that novel my sophomore year of high school and falling in love.  I've gone on to read it five times since then.  Each time I have been captivated by it.  Being a huge dinosaur fan as a kid, Jurassic Park was a truly exhilarating read.  Those who read my post on Stan Winston know of the obsession I had with Jurassic Park (the movie), but it all began with the novel.

 

After Jurassic Park, Michael became my favorite author and I went on a marathon reading session of his novels.  Rising Sun, Sphere, Congo, Terminal Man, Andromeda Strain, The Great Train Robbery, A Case of Need, Eaters of the Dead, The Lost World, and most recently, Prey.  Being that I have always been interested in science and technology, Michael Crichton's novels were right up my alley.  He would go into so much technical detail, either on the technology or medicine behind his novels, that as a reader you conclude that everything he is writing about is completely plausible.  A dinosaur theme park?  The way Michael presented it, sure why not.  I still expect this to become a reality in the next 20 years.  :)

 

My mandatory Michael Crichton reading is: Jurassic Park, Sphere, Rising Sun, and The Andromeda Strain.  I have read all of those multiple times and I am sure I will read them all again in the future.

 

I am deeply saddened to learn of his passing.  I still have several of his novels that I have yet to read, so I still have plenty of MC in my future.  He was a brilliant person and one who will be missed.

 

Far Cry 2 impressions

I have been a console gamer my entire gaming life.  I didn't own a PC until I was already knee deep in console games, so I never got into the entire PC gaming scene.  My experience with the Far Cry franchise was on the Xbox with Far Cry: Instincts.  A game which differed greatly in playstyle from the PC version that inspired it.  I am a big FPS fan, but it has all been in the console realm.  I am used to going down a pre-determined path, having clear objectives, and having a linear narrative to work with.

 

That is why it was pretty intimidating when I completed the "tutorial" section of Far Cry 2 and I was set free on my own.  I didn't have an immediate mission or objective.  I had 50 kilometers of African savannah, jungle, and swamp land waiting to be explored and no invisible walls or artificial obstructions ushering me down a path.  I've played open-world games before, but never from a first-person perspective, with first-person combat.  Bringing up my map I could see various points of interests where I could acquire missions, similar to GTA, but it felt foreign (and liberating) in a FPS setting.

 

One thing I immediately liked about the game is that everything happens from your character's perspective.  I'm a big fan of this technique, since I feel it is a much more immersing experience.  There are no "cinematics", you experience all story elements from your character's point of view.  When hopping into one of the many vehicles, again, no 3rd person view kicks in.  Even viewing your map keeps you in your character's perspective, since you bring up a paper map with your left hand and can continue to move around while viewing it.  Sure, this is a "magical map" which you can zoom in and out of and displays icons and points of interest, but it works for me.

 

Another thing I noticed immediately was the impressive technology running everything.  I followed the game's development close enough to have seen all the demos for this game engine and the final product doesn't fail to impress.  You have a huge open word, day and night cycles, solid physics, a dynamic weather system, destructible foliage, great draw distance and a solid frame-rate.  Morning and dusk are particularly beautiful and walking through a dense jungle with sunlight trickling in through the trees above is a sight to see.  Weapon models are very detailed and reload animations are great.  If you are using old, war-torn weapons (the kind you pick up from the enemies) you can see their visible wear-and-tear, as they are often rusty and gritty.  They are also prone to jamming, resulting in great animations of your character trying to un-jam them.  Fire acts like fire and throwing a Molotov cocktail at some bushes is a sure way to start a blaze that can get out of control and char a pretty large area.  All these elements come together to create a realistic, immersing, and totally satisfying experience.

 

So far I have spent my time tracking down some diamonds (the game's currency which you use to buy new weapons) and unlocking safe houses (unlocking means killing the enemies that guard it).  Once unlocked you can use that house as a HUB to save your game or sleep (which you can use to advance time to a different time of day).  I've only done a handful of actual missions.

 

Given the large game world, getting from point to point will require a lot of driving.  Vehicles are essential, unless you use the bus system, which teleports you to pre-determined stations across the map.    I actually don't mind driving.  I enjoy it and it makes the game world seem even more realistic.  However, it does introduce my only complaint with the game so far.  Stationed at most intersections are guard checkpoints.  Usually manned by 3 guards.  These guys will engage you on sight.  These battles can vary in difficulty depending on the size of the checkpoint, but on average you can be done with them in a minute or so, and they typically shouldn't be a problem . . . but there is an inherent flaw with them.  After you clear one of these guard posts, if you drive a bit further down the road and decide that you need to make a u-turn and come back, the guard post will be fully manned again, even though you just killed everyone one minute before.  This is not only very unrealistic, but after a while it makes driving around a bit of a chore, since all guard checkpoints will always be manned, no matter how many times you've cleared them, and they are frequent enough to realy make getting around more of a chore than it should be.  I am sure the developers put all these guard posts in the game so that the player does not get bored driving around, but in all seriousness, they are more annoying than fun after you have to battle through the same checkpoint for the 5th time.  I really think they should have had the guard posts stay empty for at least a day until new guards show up.  I mean, the game has day and night cycles already, it would not have been very difficult to program this in.

 

That complaint aside, I am really enjoying the game.  It really is a fresh experience, a first-person open world game.  I just hope I can get all the way through it without stopping in frustration because of the previously mentioned travel problems.

 

Weekend notes . . .

- The Dolphins could not have looked worse against the Cardinals on Sunday. In week one against the Jets we gave up a few big plays and we didn't look great, but at least we were competitive and had a chance at the end. This Cardinals game was over in the 1st quarter. You knew it was going to be a long day when on the Cardinals' first possession they get back to back offensive penalties, setting up 1st and 20, then score on a 79 yard TD pass. Kurt Warner was in MVP form and it looked like he and his monstrously talented receives (Boldin and Fitzgerald) were out there playing catch. Our secondary could do nothing but watch. It is going to be another loooong season . . .

- Once the Dolphins game was 31-3, it was quickly turned off in favor of Rock Band 2. I played a few sets (it was me, Jeanette, and my buddy) and it was loads of fun. We took turns alternating between instruments and it was a blast. Not much has changed as far as gameplay goes (I am using all the original instruments too), but the song selection is great!

- I have been playing a TON of Castle Crashers and I love it! Jeanette is also addicted and we've been playing it every chance we get. Leveling up your characters and finding new weapons and animal orbs is a blast, especially when playing co-op. As soon as it is patched I expect to be able to play with Gabe online.

- Condemned 2 is pretty cool. I'm playing it in short sessions. Playing at night with the lights off greatly enhances the experience, so I don't play during the day.

I am having a technical issue though. I really want to play the game with my headphones, but ever since I got Comcast installed for some reason I am getting interferance from the optical cable of the 360 (I have the 360 connected to a toslink switcher, which I then have connected to my DAC and headphone amp so that I can switch between the 360 and PS3 when I want to use my cans). I must be getting interference from the cable signal since I have to run the 360 optical cable behind my TV stand, because I get no intererance when using the headphones with my PS3 since it is located in the same shelf as the headphone amp so the optical cable for the PS3 does not need to run along the back where all the other many (many) cables are. I have to get this fixed because playing Condemned with the lights off and a good pair of headphones greatly enhances the game.

Weekend

I had a pretty good weekend. The Dolphins beat the Chiefs 24-0 (the real Dolphins, not my Madden team). Granted, it was a preseason game and it means nothing, but dammit, we looked really good and it felt great to look good! I forgot what that was like! You know you're coming off several mediocre years when you end up yelling and celebrating more in a preseason game than you have at any point in the last 4 seasons. :)

I also beat Braid. I think. I found all the puzzle pieces and I got the achievement for completing the game. But it doesn't really "end" per say as far as I can tell. Anyway, the game was quite the experience. I highly recommend it.

I also played some CoD4 multiplayer this weekend. Wow, whenever I stop playing for a while I get absolutely massacred when I get back in. I must have stunk it up for about 10 games before I even started performing decent again. This is still my favorite competitive multiplayer game that I have played.

I checked out the Head Coach demo that is in the PS Store and played around with that for a bit. I like the interface and it seems to be insanely deep (as far as I can tell from the demo). Unfortunately, when I was going to play the week 1 game, the game got stuck in a perpetual load screen. It was loading the game and it did not appear to actually be "stuck" because it kept changing all the facts that were on the screen, but I must have waiting for about 5 minutes for the game to load and nothing. I just turned it off and went to bed. So, all I did basically was get a feel for the menus.

I also tried the Star Wars: Force Unleashed demo (PS3). Everything I have seem on this game to date has been very impressive and the demo continued that trend. Ever since I first played Psi-Ops in the Xbox I dreamed of a Star Wars game being made in that same style. Well, this game is it. I'm a big fan of games that give the player a feeling of empowerment and lets them wreck havoc and this game lets you do just that. The visuals are slick and the control scheme seems solid. I was still in the learning stages so I never felt totally comfortable toggling between all my abilities, but this game has a lot of potential. I'm going to download the 360 version and see which I prefer.

Lastly, after playing through the demo twice, I decided to buy Bionic Commando Rearmed (360). Grin really did a bang-up job with this title. Every little detail about it screams quality. They did not do a half-assed port, you can tell this project was a labor of love for the developer. I have fond memories of the original NES game, but nothing detailed. I remember really enjoying the game, but everything is a haze. So far I am really enjoying Rearmed. It has that great old school vibe and the controls feel great to me. Many are complaining that the controls on the 360 version suck because of the terrible d-pad, and I agree that the d-pad sucks, but I am playing the game with the analog stick and having no problems. The game even supports analog controls (tilt the stick slightly and your character shuffles forward slowly).

The play mechanics remain mainly unchanged, just tweaked here and there. It takes some getting used to though. Your character can't jump after all, and in a side-scrolling platformer not being able to jump just feels wrong on so many levels. That is actually why it took me two play-throughs to buy the game. My first time through was a mixed bag of "Oh yeah, I remember this. Cool" and "Holy $#*@, why can't I &#$% jump! I hate you!". Once you accept the fact that you won't be jumping around and feel comfortable with all the grappling techniques (the advanced tutorial is essential), the game really opens up. And the game is a lot deeper than you initially think. You get many new weapons and items later on so that there is always something fresh to mix things up.

For $10, this game is a crazy bargain. Another recommendation from me. This has been a great month for Live Arcade games. And we still have Castle Crashers to look forward to. Sweet.

I also played Madden (of course) and will put some thoughts up shortly.

Cans

Because I was always bothering Jeanette with my loud gaming sessions while she was trying to sleep, or surf the net, or read a novel, or just enjoy a peaceful, quiet Saturday afternoon, I decided to look into getting a pair of headphones to satisfy my need of being "immersed" in my games. Simply lowering the volume would not do, since the sound is half the experience.

Being the technology whore that I am and following my motto of "quality over quantity", no flimsy pair of headphones would do. I also could not walk into a Best Buy and just buy an expensive pair, since I need to do extensive research before all electronic purchases. Plus, the research is so much fun!

So, I stumbled upon the audiophile headphone market. And that is not good. Gaming was expensive enough and this hobby puts it to shame.

And I am all in baby!

Long story short, a month after I began my search for some "gaming headphones", I now own not one, not two, but three separate sets of cans. One is for Jeanette, a really cool pair of Grado's that she can use with her laptop. They have a great "retro" look to them which is right up her alley. I also own a pair of Ultrasone closed headphones (my favorite of the three), for when I need isolation from all outside sounds (I love these when playing drums in Rock Band since I do not hear myself hitting the pads, all I hear is the music), plus the Ultrasone's sound just fantastic with music (Pink Floyd is an experience with these things on). And then I own a pair of Sennheisers, an open pair which Ihave been using for DVDs and my regular, non-drumming gaming sessions. Since they are open they have a spacious soundfield and suit the bill well. Music does not sound nearly as good on them, but that is what my Ultrasone's are for (or the Grado's, which also sound great with music).

But wait, there is more. In my search I also discovered that for the most part, to get the most out of your headphones you need to drive them with a dedicated headphone amplifier, since most manufactures don't pay much attention to the quality of the headphone-out jacks on their equipment. Laptops in particular come with pretty crappy sound cards and headphone jacks, so I purchased a small portable amp for the laptop (Headroom's Total Bithead). It is a great product because not only does it function as a headphone amp, but connecting it through the laptop's USB port makes it over-ride your laptop's sound card and it receives the digital audio signal directly and uses its own internal DAC to decode the track. Chances are, unless you have a very expensive soundcard, you'll be getting a much better sound using the Bithead as your source. And it sounds great. Whenever I am using the laptop I fire up iTunes, go to their internet radio section, choose this one particular rock station with a high bitrate (when you begin using good headphones you can really notice the difference between poorly recorded/encoded material) and it sounds fantastic!

But of course, I am not done. The laptop is all set-up, but I do 100% of my gaming on my couch, in front of my tv. Using my headphones connected to my a/v receiver sound fine, but the receiver's headphone out is still pretty mediocre compared to the quality I could be getting. So I made a tough decision. Since I have been having an ongoing problem with my receiver (the center speaker stops working at random and I end up having to watch everything in stereo instead of 5.1 surround sound), plus the fact that I live in an apartment and have never been able to crank up my system as loud as I would want to, I decided to pack everything up (the mess of speaker cables spread across the living room was always pretty unsightly) and save my 5.1 experience for when I own a house. It was a good 10 years, but still, it was always a restricted 10 years since I have always lived in an apartment and have never able to take full advantage of my system. In its place I will be adding a dedicated headphone amplifier and a stand-alone DAC. When watching movies with Jeanette or just watching tv, I'll be using the regular tv speakers (which aren't too shabby, my tv has great speakers), but when I'm going to be doing my gaming, or want that extra "boom" when watching a dvd, or when I want to listen to music and enjoy it at levels I never have before (seriously, listening to music through a really good pair of headphones is a unique experience. I have heard things in tracks that I have never heard before. Tracks that I have been listening to basically my entire life), then I'll be using the headphones running out of the amp/DAC combo.

From what I gather, being a headphone enthusiast is a sickness. You get "upgrade-itis" and are always looking to improve your rig. I obviously believe it considering how quiet it has been in my home the last few weeks. When Jeanette is on her laptop listening to her music and I am gaming with my own cans, the neighbors must think we've moved out. I'm sure I am not done with this hobby (I still haven't received my Amp/DAC to replace my receiver and I have my eye on those Sennheisers HD650's . . . oh yeah, one day) but all in due time. For the moment, I am going to dim the lights, put on my Ultrasone's, and enjoy Darkside of the Moon.

Disney master!

What can I say, I am bored . . .

I SCORED A 86%

Looking for x-ray technician schools?

Zombie Apocalypse

Man, being a HUGE zombie movie buff and avid horror fan, I would have thought my chances of survival would be better. lol.

38%

Find Ultrasound schools near you

Miami Dolphins

Wow, the Dolphins suck. Our running game is non-existant, our defense seems to give up many big plays and we can't tackle for crap. It is going to be another long season. Joy.

Portland Pics

Here are some pics from my Portland trip to pay Powerpuff a visit . . .

Vacation

I just got back from a trip to Portland. I got to hang out with Powerpuff. We hadn't seen each other in about 6 years. It was a great time. Thanks for all the hopitality. The Northwest is beautiful . . . and about a night and day difference from South Florida (well, they are on opposite ends of the country, duh!). I'll post a few pics up on the blog when I have a moment.

Jack's back . . .

It never fails. When there is a tragic shooting involving a young male, Jack Thompson is there pointing his finger. Before any details are released on the case, Jack has it solved. He knows what drove the shooter to do his horrendous act. He knows what his motivation was. He even knows how he acquired the "skill" to pull it off.

The answer/culprit/scapegoat? Videogames of course! It is soooo obvious. So simple.

I've written about Jack before (HERE). As a gamer, my opinion of him is clear cut. I think he is out of his mind. Simple as that. With the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech., I am glad to see that some people in the media are finally starting to see through his web of lies and realize that he is full shit.

He appeared on Chris Matthew's Hardball a few days after the shooting and Chris didn't want any of his crazy talk. (LINK)

MSNBC had a great article on the subject as well. (LINK)

And Bill Harris did a great write up (one of many) on his blog. (LINK)

I long for the day that Jacky boy here just disappears. When all media outlets realize that there is no merit in any of his spiel and that his is just using all these tragedies to get on his soap box and get attention. I do hope that day is near.

E for All

Well look at that. Americans are finally getting a Videogame Show open to the general public. I hope all major Publishers sign-up.

In the meantime, I'm going to have to try and convince Powerpuff that we need to attend.

Click on the picture for more info.

New York Pics

This is what we mostly did in NY . . .



Ok, fine, we did more than just drink. Here is my girlfriend as we're waiting for the subway



It was really cold, so we had to make many coffee/hot chocolate pittstops



And while walking the streets one night we came upon a very disturbing scene in a window. I am not even kidding, it was bizarre . . .

New York

This past week my girlfriend and I took a little vacation to New York. It was my first time going (her third).

Wow, what a great city.

We stayed just a few blocks from Time Square so we were walking distance from a lot of locations you would want to visit you first time to The Big Apple. And all the others were just a short subway ride away. Here are some of the places we visited/things we did:

St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center, Ground Zero, China Town, Little Italy, Metropolitan Museum, Museum of Natural History, Central Park, Carnegie Hall, Carnegie Deli (I think I'm still full after that giant pastrami sandwich), caught a Broadway show (Spamalot) and walked up and down Times Square.

We did a lot of walking. I'm surprised my legs aren't sore. It was pretty cold too, dropping down to 19 degrees on Saturday night. Throw in the 25mph wind gusts and we're talking a windchill in the single digits. Us Floridians are not used to that. It was actually a welcomed change, although when that wind really kicked up we started longing for Miami's trademark warmth. But only for a second.

Spamalot I should mention was absolutely great. It was hilarious and entertaining, even if you are not a Monthy Python fan (my girlfriend), and even more hilarious and entertaining if you are (with many inside jokes and references to famous Monthy Python skits.) Central Park is
quite a sight to behold, especially right smack in the middle of such a large city. The Met and Museum of Natural History were great. Ground Zero was somber and surreal. Times Square reminded me of Vegas, yet is nothing like it at the same time. The subway is intimidating at first, and quite confusing, but a great way to get around. The food was phenominal. O'Brien's Pub was a great hangout spot. Overall, the trip was just fantastic.

I'm already looking forward to my next visit.

What the?!

Ok folks, Hell has officially frozen over. After what seems like a year hiatus, we get not one, not two, but FIVE new posts from Powerpuff all in one day!!! The Apocalypse is here!!!!

Kidding my friend. Welcome back to Blogville, you have been missed.

THE STORM

Here are a few photos of the surprise snow storm and me the idiot driving during it...

POWERPUFF LIVES !!!!

The reported demise of powerpuff is false. Powerpuff indeed is alive and well. What has PP been up to. Lets see, continuing my studies to return to my first career nursing. I am taking my last class, microbiology before I enter a Registered Nurse program this Fall. I am also studying for my Practical Nurse examination to be taken on Janary 31st.
Thankfully, Tanis has been the one to keep blog updated with many fresh posts, many thanks to the "Nintendo Fan Boy" Tanis.