If You're At Work, You Can't Read This
Imagine how surprised I was when I tried to pull up thebigtymer.com at work, only to see it's now blocked by the WebSense filters. Well, at least my site is popular enough to be filtered.
I haven't been inspired to write that much in about a month, but today was just awful.
It was all punctuated by when I was driving down 440, when a garbage bag fell out of the garbage truck, and drifted all the way to my windshield. Now, I didn't wreck or have any damage to my windshield, but it was still a stank-ass mess.
At least my birthday is in less than a couple of weeks, so things can only get better.
This past weekend, I was over in Knoxville visiting family. I stayed at this hotel that was cheap... that was about all it had going for it. The remote control had the battery held in by tape, the shower switched between hot & cold water, and there were cigarette burns on the bed. Did I mention this was a non-smoking room?
I'm really looking forward to taking some time off around my birthday. God, I need it.
Posted 6.22.2009 - 0 Comments
Long Time, No Blog
It's been almost a month since I wrote something here. I guess there just hasn't been a lot of news lately. I'm not one of those people who'll write a bunch of crap just to write something. Plus, nobody really reads this, so why does it matter?
Since last time, I did get the dish installed. I was impressed. The installer was scheduled to be here between 8 and 12, but they were here right at 8 AM. I was still sleeping, because I wasn't expecting the installer to show up then. So far, Dish has been better than Comcast by far.
My birthday's coming up in a little over a month, and I'm thinking of getting a smartphone. Something to work with AT&T, but I don't want to get it direct from AT&T... they'll lock it to their network, plus saddle you with a lot of crap, same like any other cell provider. I would have gone with the Nokia E71x from them if they hadn't crippled it, so I may get an unlocked E71.
Again, as I said, not a lot of news. But at least you know I'm not dead.
Posted 5.25.2009 - 0 Comments
I Balance Out Free Food With My Gym Membership
When you're saving for furniture for your new place, you realize that you need to save every damn nickel and dime. I went out to browse the selection at various furniture stores a few weeks ago, and there's so many choices at so many prices. It makes your head hurt.
I know what I want as far as computers and electronics go, but furniture is so confusing. I want something contemporary, but not too "Swedish" (read: Ikea). I saw a bedroom set I liked at Ashley, but that's all I've really liked so far. Too many furniture stores have "traditional" (read: stuffy) furniture.
Right now, it seems like the recession is affecting restaurants, so they're offering mega-deals or free food. Last Wednesday, I picked up a $15 gift card to a sandwich place called Which Wich, even without having to test-drive a Scion.
That same day, I tried to take advantage of the $4.99 8-piece deal at Popeyes. However, you couldn't even get NEAR the damn place, it was so crowded. I sent a letter through the website saying as such, and I come home today to find a couple of coupons for 2 free 2-piece dinners. Now you know why I love that chicken.
Well, all the free and cheap food is fattening, and I needed to work that off. So, I signed up for a membership at the Y. We get a payroll deduction and discount at work, so why not take advantage of it? Plus, with over 30 locations around town, I can go work out wherever and whenever I feel like. And they don't play the Village People either.
Lastly, I'm finally getting around to getting a dish installed. Finally, I'm not stuck with Comcrapstic™ cable. And while there are some good shows with over-the-air digital television, you also find shows like Bibleman, where the bad guys are defeated by the aforementioned "superhero" quoting John 3:16 instead of using real sweet superpowers.
If anyone has suggestions for a good furniture store in Nashville, leave me a comment. I also want to see if the comments feature actually works.
Posted 4.29.2009 - 0 Comments
First Blog From My New Place
Well, I finally moved into my new house today. And one of the first things I do is write a blog.
Actually, I got the cam set back up. You can now see Wal-Mart from my window. If you look in the distance at night, you can see Antioch all lit up. Sometimes, you might see a plane in the picture, as the airport is not that far from here.
Well, we got the closing done yesterday afternoon. It was originally scheduled to be done yesterday morning, but we had to delay it for about 6 hours for some last-minute paperwork to be finished. Other than that, everything else was painless. I just don't feel like signing anything for a while.
My new refrigerator was also delivered this afternoon. It's stainless-steel, has an in-door ice/water dispenser, and has temperature controls on the outside. I got a real sweet deal on it.
I tried to parlay my luck into getting some free burritos at the new Moe's in Belle Meade on Thursday. The first 50 in line got free burritos for a year, and the second 50 got only half that. Obviously, this appealed to the unemployed and college students, who don't have meaningful jobs to go to, and can camp out all night for a free burrito. It's funny that they actually allowed the unemployed and the college students into Belle Meade. So no free burritos for me, but I can always buy my own.
Now I just need to buy some furniture for my new place. I've been looking at furniture, but I can't decide what I want. I know how much I need to save, though.
Well, for now, I'm going to enjoy MY new place. No more apartment living for me for now.
Posted 4.11.2009 - 0 Comments
Everything's Coming Up BigTymer
As I mentioned recently, I've been working on the financing for my new house. I did a good bit of comparison shopping, and ended up going with Wells Fargo for my mortage. I ended up getting a 5.125% 30-year fixed mortgage with 10% down and no points.
My local bank came close, but did not beat Wells Fargo's rates and fees. Another lender was actually able to go a wee bit lower, but I was uncomfortable doing business with them because the lender didn't seem to have the best knowledge of new Freddie/Fannie guidelines for condos.
I'd rather pay a little bit more for someone who I am sure that I know what they are doing. The appraisal process is being done, and everything is on schedule to close in about 3 weeks.
As I mentioned last time, I am going to have to get my own fridge. A couple of weeks ago, I won a $250 Lowe's gift card in a radio contest, and I won a Lowe's gift card off of eBay at 15% below face value this week. Needless to say, I'll be able to get a stainless-steel, side-by-side, door-ice-dispensing fridge without spending a lot out of pocket.
I recently cancelled my cable service, and got my final bill from them, which says they'll be sending me a refund check. Not quite sure how that happened, but I'll take it.
Yesterday, I went to Burger King to use one of those free Whopper surveys. I ended up getting TWO free Whoppers. And no bodily fluids were found in either of them.
It looks like the new Moe's in Belle Meade is opening up soon. I hear that the first 100 visitors get free burritos for a year. Maybe I can pull that off... we'll see.
I'll be taking down TheBigTymer.Cam this weekend. I've got to start straightening up and cleaning up this apartment before I move out. I want as much of my deposit back as possible.
In 3 weeks, I should be in my new crib. After that, it'll be time to buy the fridge, and then a flat-screen or two. Things are good right now, and they can only get better.
Posted 3.21.2009 - 0 Comments
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