My New Toy
Posted on May 9, 2010 by Brian under Life, Toys.
I finally got the TV that I have been researching for the last three months. The 55 inch Samsung LED TV. It has great picture quality, an increadibly thin profile and the greatest feature of all, it comes Web-enabled. Thats right! I can access applications from the Samsung Apps store right on my TV. One of the coolest apps that we have been playing with is the Netflix App. Since we have a Netflix account and we watch the Instant Watch a lot already, it was a no-brainer for us to get a TV that would allow us to use this feature. Before, we had an old computer hooked up to our TV that let us watch Netflix. It was OK but it reached a point that if we left the computer running for too long it sounded like a jet engine spooling up in the TV cabinet.
Now we don’t have that problem. Our TV can access the Netflix instant watch, the Pandora playlist and a wide variety of other sites. It also has Yahoo widgets added so that you can look at the weather, Flickr and stock data. If you want you can also have a news ticker display news information across the bottom of your screen.
I am looking forward to getting a Bluray player to connected to it. I told Ching that once we get a Bluray player, there will be no need to go to the movies. We will just wait until it comes out on Bluray and watch it in the comfort of our home. I have a feeling that the next fight will be at our house. Although, I am very leery of having people over to the house. I am very protective of my new TV and dont want people around it. I name my cars, I am trying to decide if I want to name my TV.
Here is a picture of my TV on the Apps page.
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Flat Tire
Posted on May 8, 2010 by Ching under Life.
Brian and I have a taste of what it’s like to only have one vehicle this weekend. Brian noticed that Bebot’s right front tire was flat the other day. We’d been struggling with this tire for a while. We had it fixed and everything, but it looks like the problem is back. Brian said that Bebot, having reached about 45,000 miles this year (amazing to think that we started with only 30 or so miles; we’ve come such a long way), was finally ready for new tires.
When we stopped by Tracy’s after work on Thursday, the guys there agreed. It was definitely time. This unforeseen event isn’t in the budget for this month, but it’s something that needs to be done. So we went ahead and scheduled an appointment for Monday. We’re taking Bebot there right when they open at 7:30 AM.
In the meantime, we’re giving Bebot a much needed break. Probably not safe to drive around with that flat tire; so we’re using Crichton all weekend until Bebot is better.
This morning, I drove to the gym while Brian had to stay home and work. When I got home, it was Brian’s turn. He need the truck to go get his haircut. With two vehicles, we could have both done our thing and been done simultaneously. Of course, Brian still had to work, though. =P
Anyway, since Brian and I carpool almost everyday and since we’re always together, we’d often talked about selling either the truck or the car and just making do with one vehicle. Even though we only need the second vehicle only a few times a month, it’s clear that we still need it.
On the bright side, at least we don’t have any car payments. With four new tires on Bebot, I’m hoping to keep him for a few more years.
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2010 Sundown Parade
Posted on May 8, 2010 by Ching under Family, Flickr, Things to Do.
I can’t decide which is more fun: watching the Sundown Parade (the official opening event of the Wichita River Festival) or being part of it. Watching is definitely fun, specially when you have fanatical parade watchers like the Phelps’ who scope out the parade route and carve out their spot three hours ahead of time. Actually, it’s Christy’s church connections. They are “da bomb” when it comes to good spots for watching parades and fireworks. We sat with them last year for the fireworks final and they had a super spot by the river.
Nothing is ever boring with Cory, April, Jay and Becca around. The Dills watched the parade with us last year. They weren’t able to make it this year, though.
Then again, Brian and I didn’t really get to watch much of the parade. We only got to see the last portion because we were actually part of the parade this year. Since my work sponsored the parade this year, they needed employees to walk in the parade. Jan talked us into doing it.
Brian wasn’t enthused at first. Unlike his dad who is in the parade every year (he’s usually with the KMMH helicopter float), Brian doesn’t like parades. He doesn’t enjoy watching them, much less being in them. Anyway, I told him that Lila was giving him her River Festival button (Thanks, Lila!) so that eased some of the agony.
There was a lot of waiting around before the parade began so we decided to walk over to position #15 where the KMMH folks were waiting and said “Hi” to Brian’s dad. They all wore eyepatches this year to go with the festival’s pirate theme.
One of the women in our group said that we should have made a sign that reads “WESTARRRR!” and dressed up as pirates. That would have been really fun. I wish we could have thought of it sooner.
Don’t mind Carly eating her hair. It was very windy that day. That, and she was starving. She hadn’t had her “steak on a stick” ($6, new on the food court menu this year) yet. Brian and I are too cheap to eat at the food court so we packed some sandwiches. =P Scored a free bottle of Pepsi, too. Thanks, Cory!
We had a bunch of trucks in the parade this year. No McGruff, but Wattson was present. He was on the Power Town float, which Cory found pretty cool. I really hope that April got a photo of the float because I didn’t get a picture of it. One of the downsides of being in the parade is that you get to miss out on all the cool stuff that happens right behind you.
Did I mention it was really windy?
Carly and a bunch of people from work got to hold the official “Sundown Parade” banner. No one wanted to hold the other banner so Jan and I ended up doing it.
After we finished walking in the parade, we met up with Cory and April and their family to watch the rest of it. We got there just in time to see Jan’s friend Janet with the Swing Society.
Janet got to ride the float instead of walking this year. Jan and I called out her name, but I don’t think she saw us.
We also got to see the Star Wars group, which is probably the group that Brian should have been part of… LOL!
Although, out of all of the things we saw (granted, we didn’t see much this year because we only saw the last part), I think the highlight of this year’s Sundown Parade is Christy in her Snuggie. She looked like a monk but, man, what a brilliant idea! Hey, at least hers isn’t a tan color like mine. I think that would have been worse. =P
Just kidding, Christy! You know we love you.
Anyway, since I didn’t get a lot of pictures this year, I’ll share with you the pictures I took while watching the Sundown Parade last year. This way you’ll get a sense of what watching it is like, specially if you’ve never been. Maybe you’ll decide to come check it out next year. See you all then!
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River Festival Starts Tomorrow
Posted on May 6, 2010 by Ching under Things to Do.
The Wichita River Festival officially begins tomorrow. It runs from the 7th to the 15th this year. I love Riverfest week! Check out the festival web site for more information. The event calendar is a good place to start. The festival map is also helpful.
So are you ready for Riverfest? Do you have your buttons yet?
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Present Day
Posted on May 5, 2010 by Ching under Wishlist.
And so it continues… Here’s a picture of Brian and his dad attaching one of the decals they made using the Cricut Expression Electronic Cutting Machine
I know Brian probably wants one now too, so he can plaster his truck with decals all over. It’s like tattoos for your car. LOL!
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