Power Blogging

I purchased a Vizio 42″ HDTV over the Internet. I know some people might think it wasn’t a good buy because of Vizio’s reputation (or the lack thereof). I got it as a refurbish from tigerdirect.com but the picture looks great. Isn’t that the only thing that matters?

I’ve been weary about writing anything about it because I don’t want anything to go wrong with it. So far, it’s been superb. Right now, I’m in side-by-side mode. I’m watching the Indians’ season opener on my left and watching my computer on the right. Both screens even with them being scrunched, look clear. That’s power blogging!

I was impressed with the service and the shipping from tigerdirect.com. By the way, the TV is sold out online as of today.

I’ve run all of the video + audio into the Vizio through HDMI cables and then ran the digital output into my surround sound system. This way I’m able to control the audio and the video from one remote. In other words as we say in the TV business, audio follows video. Now, I have to get the remote situation settled. I’ve gone from 2 essential remotes to 4 of them. I’m not worried because it’s just entering a couple of codes into the remotes. I just don’t know which one I’m going to use yet. It most likely will be the CATV remote.

On the way right now to my place is a Microsoft Media Center multimedia keyboard. It’s wireless and has the mouse (pointer) on board. My friend has one and it works for what you want to use it for. The pointer is a little cumbersome. Because it’s an IR, you have to make sure you’re pointing it at the receiver, think remote control. I can’t wait for it to get here because it will allow me to sit on my couch and surf the Internet. It’s coming from mwave.com. I’ll update what I think of their service as soon as my keyboard arrives.

By the way, the Indians lead 7 to 4 in the bottom of the third inning at Progressive Field. The boys of summer brought back some spring like temperatures. I’m just happy the mounds of snow in the Powerhouse parking lot are melting.

Go Tribe!
p.s., if you’re reading this you’ve likely gotten here by going to www.taawd.com. I’ve moved my blog to my domain. In a couple of days, taawd.blogspot.com should work again. Thanks for checking out my blog!!

“I’ll Look Back & Laugh, Right?”

One of my friends, Lori, left a profound comment at the end of one of her myspace blogs. “I’ll look back and laugh, right?” Her entire blog was interesting to read but more than anything I hope she realized what an interesting thing she wrote at the conclusion of the entry.

I’ve made mistakes in my life and think it’s the end of the world. Some of them were more life changing than others. My life mistakes aren’t for this blog or for the Internet. I know what they are and I deal with them, some everyday.

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to transport yourself forward in time and see how you’ve dealt with current situations and problems in your life? I look back at some of my errors and situations now and can laugh about them or at least smile. Somehow everything you do seems to happen for a reason. It’s a lesson in life. The right way to do something or just a reminder you don’t know everything.

I think the answer to Lori’s question is “yes, you’ll look back and laugh”. Somethings just take a little longer for you to find the real humor in them. I’ve found that humor for somethings and somethings I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to crack that smile. I hope so though…

A Sad Day

Being on mornings is tough because if I have one weakness (actually I have a lot of them) but if there’s an overwhelming one it’s McDonald’s breakfasts.

Back when I worked at WKYC, I’d always stop at a McDonald’s. It honestly got so bad I could pull up to the drive-thru and tell them “Good Morning, It’s Todd.” and they’d say “Good morning, pull around!” I know it’s terrible but I crave the McDonald’s Sausage Egg McMuffin with Cheese value meal… with milk instead of coffee. I don’t do caffeine even though I like coffee but I don’t drink decaf.

Imagine my horror when I read this morning, “Mr. Egg McMuffin”, Herb Peterson passed away earlier this week.

McDonald’s says Peterson demonstrated creativity and innovation as the inventor of the restaurant’s Egg McMuffin, which revolutionized the food service industry. Through this breakfast product innovation, Herb leaves a long-term legacy with McDonald’s.

The fast food giant goes on to day Peterson’s invention altered the face of the food-service industry and literally changed the eating habits of millions of Americans as no other quick service restaurant offered breakfast before the development of the Egg McMuffin.

Today, breakfast accounts for approximately 30 percent of sales at McDonald’s restaurants.

I love ’em! Yum!!

Hot Dog!

So Patty blinked… I just wanted my picture taken with Ketchup, the new Progressive Field Hot Dog.

A Fine Motown Mess..

As a former Metro Detroiter, I’m watching the text messaging scandal involving Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick play out with great interest.

One thing I can’t help thinking about is how easy it is to send out a text message and what kind of trouble they can cause.

If you don’t know already, Kilpatrick and his aide are accused of lying under oath about an affair and the firing of a deputy police chief. The Detroit Free Press reported text messages between the two reveal racy comments and information about how the deputy police chief was “demoted”.

Both Kilpatrick and Christine Beatty’s lawyers say their clients will be exonerated.

Both the Detroit News and the Free Press have called for Kilpatrick to step down.

If you can learn something from this mess that has all of Motown talking, make sure you don’t care if someone else reads that text message you send. If you don’t want it public, you probably shouldn’t send it in the first place.

The Traffic Dance

Okay, it’s Friday morning and there’s no traffic to talk about. I mean, you’re in Cincinnati. There’s almost as little traffic there as there is in Cleveland. If you want traffic, go Motown.

This is how you fill the time and get people pumped up in the process.

C’mon Frank Marzullo, why didn’t you think of this? I’m disappointed!! And to think, I thought you were the newly crowned king of the Queen City.

An Open Letter To RTA

This one should get Brad’s attention…

I was recently reading the Cool Cleveland newsletter I get at work and it included a link to Cleveland City Living. One of its most recent posts talks about the free trolleys running downtown Cleveland. I’m glad RTA has made this choice along with the financial support of some businesses in the districts where the trolleys run.

As the post says, “The trolleys were made free by a sponsorship from the Cleveland Convention and Visitors Bureau, Cleveland State University, and the Corner Alley. Now entering their second winter, they are a great asset to downtown residents.”

I consider myself living downtown. It’s not in the heart of the city. It’s just a 10 minute walk to the Warehouse district for me. However, the closest RTA bus stop is on West 25th street. The closest rapid stations are W.25/Lorain and Settler’s Landing. I can see the rapid running through the East Bank. I wonder what the ridership numbers are for the train. I don’t see a lot of people on it especially with the demise of the East Bank.

My problem with the RTA is why isn’t there a stop of some sort down on the West Bank of the Flats. Stonebridge has more than 1,000 residents but yet we don’t have an good access to public transportation. A great idea to merge the Warehouse District, East Bank and the West Bank would include a bus going through the different districts. The Powerhouse complex, Shooters, and several other businesses would profit by having a bus stop. I understand the rapid’s not going to have a stop over here anytime soon because that would take construction. RTA should think about expanding some sort of service to the West Bank in the form of a trolley or circulator service.

I’ve been wanting to blog about this for some time. I took the RTA back from the airport after my recent trip to south Texas. I don’t know if I felt 100% safe the entire ride with some of the people who were also on the train but the experience wasn’t a bad one. I was riding the train just as school got out for the day. The kids were loud and somewhat obnoxious. It probably wasn’t the best time to take the train.

I could have taken the rapid to Tower City then transferred to the Waterfront line which would have dropped me off at Settler’s Landing. That would have taken longer and since I was pressed for time however so I got off at West 25th street. I did have to hoof it back to my place. It wasn’t close. It was probably a 10-15 minute walk. By no way was it far but it wasn’t close either.

Take a look at the downtown RTA map and you’ll see where the service is lacking for yourself.

Busy!

I’ve been busy over the past couple of weeks. We’ve lost some people at work and a bunch of us are picking up the slack. It’s been tough on all of us. I hope there’s a break in the near future. It’s even been hard to update my blog and you know how much I like doing that!

My sleep pattern has been off so much. I slept last night and then was up for a little bit this morning. I fell asleep from 1pm until 5:30pm. I felt like I was in a daze yesterday afternoon. You know the feeling like you aren’t really there but it’s happening anyhow.

It’s funny because while I’m sitting here writing this about three cars have slowly driven past my apartment. I love how people gawk inside the windows of people who live in my apartment building. I wish we had reflexive glass that would allow us to see how but not others to see into the place. I hate closing my blinds because part of the point of having this place is the view of Cleveland. Sometimes I feel like a zoo animal. I feel like putting up a sign that says “Don’t feed the tenants!”

When I wave to the people in the cars, they realize I see them looking at me and they drive off. I’m just being friendly and acknowledging their interest in my exciting and sloth-like life.

Well, it’s time to get ready for another week at work. Fun!

Enjoy the week!

Talkin’ In Your Sleep

I wonder what I’d say. I’d probably be trying to convince myself to stay asleep longer.

People claim “your body will adjust to the schedule”. I don’t agree. It’s just not normal to get up at 3am in the morning. Your body is conditioned to be inactive and sleeping at the time of the day.

I don’t feel as tired this week but I do have to admit to sneaking back into an office for a quick 10 minute nap. That feeling normally hits me around 8 o’clock every morning. It’s kind of like that dozing off feeling some people get when they’re in class or even worse, driving. The funny part, I feel so much better after I power nap.

Here’s to making it to Friday!!

Bridge: To Light Or Not To Light?

It’s very strange that the B&O Bridge outside of my window is sometimes lit up and other times not.

The bridge is lit up with a maroon light. The bottom part sometimes is lit up with a blue light. It’s wierd that during the week when there aren’t as many people around, it’s illuminated. During the weekend, only the long part of the bridge is lit up.

I hope someone makes that change. It’s very inconsistent.