OBX 2008

We arrived at our vacation house on Saturday September 6th here in North Carolina just having missed Tropical Storm Hanna. We departed Ohio Friday evening and stopped halfway in Winchester Virgina(which according to MapQuest was our half-way point). On our previous trips we drove the full 12 hours in one shot, but with Katie getting older and my mother-in-law accompanying us, it seemed prudent to split the drive in two.
This was our first time coming down so late in the season, and we knew it would be a crap shoot with the Atlantic hurricane season, but good fortune was on our side and with the exception of some heavy rain on the second leg of our trip we arrived without incident.
Once we stocked up on the weeks supplies at the local Food Lion, it was time to get busy planning what was to be in store for the coming week. So far on the agenda we have a dolphin watching excursion, a trip into the 4-wheel drive area of the Outer Banks to do some wild horse viewing, assorted shopping trips, and a spending some time at the local "make your own pottery" shop. I am attempting to balance out THAT activity by enjoying some "adult beverages" in the hot tub under the stars at night!
Yesterday Jill and I rented a couple jet-skis for an hour and went out in the Currituck Sound for some fast and wet fun. Once the initial wariness of going so fast over water wore off, it was really a blast. The night was capped off by having dinner a a local BBQ joint specializing in "real North Carolina BBQ".
Watch for a complete recap in the form of a photo gallery when the trip is over!!

Murderer's Row

Be careful where you sit!

Last night as Jill, Katie, and I were leaving the Chapel Hill Olive Garden, I was putting our leftovers in the back of the CR-V when I heard Jill say "Oh my gosh, would you look at that" and then break into a fit of laughter. Not one to want to miss out on a good joke I asked what was so funny, and she pointed to the side of the building.

Now even though I don't like to miss out on a laugh, I am also not the quickest on the uptake sometimes. So after looking for what was so funny, my loving wife points out the above view to me. Once I composed myself, I knew I had to capture that image! I'm not sure if I violated anyones privacy by taking the picture, but I thought if you are dining at Olive Garden with your polka-dot panties and plumber's crack in full view of the general public...well, its fair game!

All-American Girl

Came across this on Saturday Night Live...perhaps its best to just let the music do the talking.

An Ode To Best Buy

I LOVE ELECTRONICS!

There, I have admitted it. I believe that is one of the tenets in any recovery program, to admit the problem. So now the healing can begin. Seriously though, I have always liked to try and get the most out of any form of entertainment I have, as long as I didn't go broke in the process or try and get over my head technical-wise. While my love for all things electronic is deep, I have never committed the time to become an "Expert" in the field. I usually followed two guidelines when I wanted something: (1) Does it sound good, and (2) Does it look good doing it?

That line of reasoning worked well when I was younger swapping stereos in my cars, or those of my friends. As time progressed and things got more expensive and technology more complex, I found I couldn't afford to just buy things that looked good, they needed to last and perform well. It was time to stop judging the books by the covers...after all, I'm not in a bar and its not 2am!

So I started to rely heavily on "User Reviews" that can be found on a lot of websites. CNET has a good amount of them, along with Editors Ratings for products they have investigated. EPINIONS is a good source for product reviews by consumers, and the mother of all review sites for unbiased looks is of course CONSUMER REPORTS. Recently BEST BUY started to include product reviews on their website along with a 1-5 scale for rating products.

So when I found myself with some as-of-yet unused gift cards, and a 12% off coupon for certain purchases courtesy of the Best Buy Reward Zone program, I started to look at the Sunday circular with a bit more curious eye. But what to get was the question...my iPOD was less than a year old, but boy that new iPOD touch looked nice. Our digital camera is still serving us well, and thanks to Jeffy, I am getting better pictures from it. My car stereo works just fine and has all the bells and whistles I need. Our living room would seem a bit more empty if I up and replaced our Toshiba rear-projection TV. We are Vista-enabled, so a new pc was out. And my Wii console will not go out of style for a long time.

While I'm sure Katie will soon share my joy in these things, her fun at Best Buy amounts to going there and "playing" the pianos on display, and while that will be a worthwhile purchase in the near future, I had gift cards and a coupon that expired soon burning a hole in my pocket. The one thing I could "justify" getting was a new TV in our bedroom, as that Zenith 27" tube model chewed up a good amount of real estate on the floor. Also when I come home at night from work and watch SportsCenter to unwind, the height of the stand made it impossible to watch without lying towards the foot of the bed to see the whole screen.

So with that in mind I had been on the lookout for a new TV that would be good as a second set, but still have some of the features I wanted. Price had to be foremost in the equation, followed by functionality and reliability. I had looked at a couple models over the past weeks, but neither had gotten good reviews from the sources I checked. The current ad had a nice selection, and I found one that was right in the price range I wanted, along with the features I needed.

Ah, but what about the reviews? At the time I decided on this particular model there were 80 reviews in and only 8 rated it less than a "4". Having read all 80, I decided that for what I wanted and how I would use it, this was a good deal. I also referred to Cnet which gave it a good reference. Epinions had nothing and I didn't check Consumer Reports. The one I finally settled on was this one. New TV

The Dynex brand is the house brand for Best Buy, along with Insignia. From what I was able to glean online, they are either a hybrid of Sony and Samsung parts, or made by LG. All of which make exceptional flat-panels. One of the better things about this model is that it is "Digital Ready" so when the switch to all digital broadcasting is made next year, I will not need a set-top box to convert the signals. For now I am content to use the cable direct from the wall, and still get the HD feeds from Time-Warner for my local channels. Maybe if they add more HD to their lineup I will get a box for this one, or if I catch a deal for a second box free change my current cable plan. But otherwise it is great for its current use. The HD is crystal-clear, and DVDs look super on it.