Father, Husband, Geek. One Cool Monkey.
Ben
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Homepage: http://www.onecoolmonkey.com
Posts by Ben
Crazy Day in North Texas
Nov 17th
Mrs. Monkey and I got new phones yesterday, which finally got us away from Cingular. I don’t have any particular complaint against Cingular, other than the fact that they gouge their customers every month for service. What we were paying for the service we got is really pretty shabby. We went back to Sprint, which is what her family has. That alone should save us some money with the all the calls about the mini-monkey.
Today was a day on the go for sure – lots of errand running and feeding of the little monk in the parking lots of North Dallas. We left for some lunch with friends around noon, expecting to be back around 2:30 or 3, and we got in around 7:30pm. Crazy day.
That’s all I have for right now. Hope everyone is doing well while gearing up for the fun holiday here in the States coming next week. We’re very excited about it, and have lots to be thankful for – this year more than most.
Dumb Rambling
Nov 16th
The weekend is here – plenty of relaxing to be had, and hopefully a few exciting times as well. I really want a pizza. Advertising to those who are hungry and craving cheese should be unlawful. Unfortunately, I guess it’s hard to know who wants the fromage and who doesn’t. Bah. I want pizza.
I Love This Time of Year
Nov 15th
It’s a beautifully crisp night out tonight – weather that reminds me strongly of the Northeast. The air is very cold and smells like decaying leaves and far-off chimneys. Your breath hangs in the air after you exhale or talk…it just feels right. I really love this season the best, but can’t point to just one thing – it’s a combination of them all.
Mrs. Monkey and I are getting things in order to put Thanksgiving Dinner on the table this year. It’s going to be a lot of fun this time around – we’ll have Mrs. Monkey’s mom and grandmother here, as well as our good friends A&E. We’re very excited about the full table. I’m going to cook some of my famous pork stuffing and Mrs. Monkey is making her famous pumpkin pecan pie. Yum!! Any favorites out there? The stuffing is something my mom made every year and I just LOVED. I could eat it all by itself by the pound. What was your family’s favorite dish?
Oh, and I have a TV in my office that stopped working a few months ago. It just all of a sudden up and died one day. Was the strangest thing… Well, I’ve tried to turn it on and see if it’s running a few times but the status hasn’t changed. So, I was sitting in there the other night, and I just had this feeling I should turn it on and check…I ignored the urge for a while, but finally I turned it on, just to appease the notion. Well, sure enough, it was working again. It was the weirdest thing. But, at least it’s working again.
A Return to the Cool…
Nov 14th
Seriously, Southwest Airlines? Why is the freedom to sit where you want such a big perk when it comes to airlines seating. Is this really what surveys revealed to be passengers’ biggest gripe? Honestly? Keep the scary food, keep the limited leg room – let’s make sure passengers can sit where they want? Whatever, Southwest.
We had a cold front come in today, and are finally feeling some more autumn-esque temperatures. I was really getting tired of the low to mid-80s temperatures in November. Not my idea of a good time, if you’re writing this down. I like the cool, crisp autumnal weather. ‘Course, a good number of you are saying, “well, don’t live in Texas, dumbass.” Fair enough.
I’ve decided to focus a fun link on hockey today, inspired by the cool breeze blowing in through the opened windows and the hockey game that is currently showing on my television (Stars and Sharks are tied 3-3, currently). I went on to YouTube, and doing a search of “Stanley Cup”, was reminded about one of the best moments in Stanley Cup history – Ray Bourque finally getting a chance to lift the Cup (even though it was for that Colorado Avalanche team I hate so much). Yay Ray!
A Bit of This…A Bit of That…
Nov 13th
Oops – missed a few. Well, you didn’t think I’d make it all the way through the month posting everyday anyway, did you? I actually thought I might be able to, but oh well. Hey – I’m still going to do my best to finish out the rest of the month strong.
So, the Stars made a few moves today. They fired Doug Armstrong as the GM and replaced him with Les Jackson (who I think was the director of scouting operations – could be wrong) and Brett Hull, who will be “co-general managers”. It’s an interesting twist, and I didn’t see it coming, for sure. I saw the writing on the wall for someone, and had a feeling it would be either Armstrong or head coach Dave Tippett who would get the axe, but I didn’t think that Hullie would be one of the replacements as GM. He’s definitely loved by the fans…maybe owner Tom Hicks and team president Jim Lites wanted someone in the front office that the fans wouldn’t get angry at. Hard to get mad at the man who gave us our one-and-only (so far!) Stanley Cup.
In non-sports news….well, there’s just not much non-sports news right now. My buddy Trog (I’ll call him that for reasons known to him and the world of WoW) and I are going to see a theater screening of The Menagerie, which is a 2-part episode of the original Star Trek series. It should be pretty cool – we’re both Trek fans (and not Trekkies…just don’t have that kind of time to devote to a TV series….any TV series). That’s on Thursday. Will let you know how it goes. They reportedly have cleaned up the film and turned it into a high-definition projection with stereo surround sound. It’s hard to do something like that when your original is mono (I think it was recorded mono) and in “Panavision”. But, fingers crossed….
Random fun video of the day: Wanna Buy a Ghost?
A Brief Entry…
Nov 10th
Had a great time tonight – went out for a bachelor’s party for a friend of BurntoutZen’s and mine tonight. Saw a fun show by Poison Cherry (Glam is BACK baby!) – will have more info about that tomorrow. As I haven’t gotten to bed tonight, this is still the 10th. 
Where’s My Staple Remover?
Nov 9th
I posted this site about two years ago on here, but I had COMPLETELY forgotten about it. GO. Become an NHL superstar, and then we can rule the league together!!
Whip Out Da Tongue and Squirt That Mofo!
Nov 9th
A lot of my posts have been kind of Apple-centric lately (sorry to those MS fanboys & fangirls that might be out there), but what can I say – I work at an Apple-centric job and it’s been moreso lately.
Anyway, today I got to take apart the LCD Screen on a 12″ iBook G4. Wow. Man, it’s really impressive how they orchestrate everything inside of those panels. The planning and coordination that goes on to make those things work as slickly as they do is really impressive. And I learned something – Apple was using Philips/LG flat panels when they made the G4 iBooks. Didn’t know that – putting in the new one was lots of fun but, MAN….time consuming. Two hours flew by like it was 30 minutes. I get part two of the re-assemble, therefore, on Monday morning. I just couldn’t wrap it up in one day.
The Stars dropped another game last night – was tough to watch, but I couldn’t tear myself away. I just can’t make myself believe that Phoenix is good enough to put up 10 goals against us in two games, but it’s hard to argue with reality. But, so far on the four-game road trip, Dallas has gone 2-1, so the worst they can finish is .500, and that’s not too bad for a Pacific Division road trip.
Time to get back to my iTunes library. Still trying to get it back in shape after the horrible accident. *sigh* All the music is there now, at least…it’s just not in the Smart Playlists I had it in or rated. That’s where more time at the computer comes in… Give it up for the big Pale Indoor Kid.
Oh – here’s a funny for you: Word.
Apple Dinner
Nov 8th
Today at work we had an impromptu visit from some Apple representatives. It was interesting, because I’m not completely Apple Certified yet, and don’t have anyone that I work with who is…I am therefore at a loss, sometimes, as to how to use their help pages and support site. During the visit, they cleared up a bunch of things which was nice.
They also let me know about a “Bench Table Live” event that was going on this evening, and told me they would be doing some live demos, giving some explanations about the support site and providing food. Well, that was all I needed! It turned out to be a really nice event. The event was at the Palomino Hotel in Dallas – a relatively new hotel in a pretty nice area (right near SMU and Mockingbird Station). The food was VERY tasty, and the information was helpful. All in all, a good time.
Other than that – a quiet day. Thanksgiving is getting close, and A&E will be visiting. Mrs. Monkey and I are really looking forward to their visit. They’re great friends and we have a great time whenever they’re around.
Back to my hockey game and my beer… Oh, FU-D – you can get beer towers at several places around here, including Humperdink’s (all their locations) and Blackfinn in Addison. Enjoy – and bring a designated driver…
The Guys’ Evening
Nov 7th
After work today, I went to go pick up my son. This is something I don’t usually do – getting the Monkeyling from the in-laws, who watch him while Mrs. Monkey is in school and I’m at work. It’s not because I don’t want to do it, or like doing it – I simply don’t have the tools to do it. I drive a little beat-up pickup truck, and though it’s endurance is a trait that I LOVE (nearly 110k and no major garage visits *knocks on wood*), the lack of safe child-seating is a bummer. So, my wife, who drives the new car with the good 5-star safety rating, gets the job of fetching Little Monkey.
Well, she had a late day at school today, and so I took the car and got to go get him. It was a lot of fun, because he’s kind of worn out from the day with the grandparents, but is just getting to the age where he recognizes me and will sometimes give me a smile when I see him. The kid’s got one of the best smiles ever, I swear. The melt-your-heart variety. He’ll be a lady-killer one day….he’ll flash the little crooked smile and give them the big brown eyes…..it’ll be all over for them!
Anyway, my son and I got a couple hours this evening of fun bonding time – laying on the bed while he showed me his Bruce Lee routine (lots of good punches and kicks), walking the halls of the MonkeyHouse, rocking in various chairs, bouncing on knees…anything to keep the cries back pretty much. And, by the time Mrs. Monkey got home, I had successfully squired him off to dreamland. It was a nice little victory, even though it was short lived – the little bugger was up 5 minutes after she was in.
But still – she got to come home to a sleeping baby. That’s not so shabby…
