SteveCook.net

Let see…. this week started interesting, with eBay having some sign-in issues. BidNip (the Best Auction Sniper) worked through much of it (using multiple attempts at user sign-in), but it took a while for eBay to get back to 100% (they were ‘randomly’ signing people out for no reason, right during the bid process – very frustrating). It’s working now. Most of the BidNip users were understanding, since even when they tried signing in to eBay it didn’t work for them either . My personal opinion is that eBay’s having some tough scalability issues and software updates are becoming harder and harder to test and verify. eBay takes a lot of grief from sellers, but I think they’ve got a pretty tough job, so I don’t bad-mouth them at all. They’re trying to make improvements, they just need to test a little better!

I drove my grandfather to a specialist yesterday to get a barium enema …er… procedure. It went fine and then we went to Village Inn for brunch. He wasn’t allowed to eat anything for about 36 hours before the appointment, so he was starving. We talked for a little bit about all kinds of things. My great grandfather (his dad) was the manager of a coal mine in Edinburgh, Scotland and also did a few other things. It was a nice breakfast.

Tonight, we’re going to dinner at my mother-in-laws, and Jonah might just see that fat man in red…

Big news this week: completed both Finance and Ethics finals this weekend. I’m sure I did just fine. Next semester is Investment and Portfolio Analysis and e-Commerce for the Solo Entrepreneur taught by Nick Flor. Both should be great – I’ve got high expectations for both, as both professors are highly respected and have great recommendations from others I’ve talked to.

I bought a pair of Shimano bike shoes from this really nice lady at REI. I ordered the SPD-SL pedals and cleats from eBay (using auction sniper BidNip, of course!). I think her name was Deb, and she was really helpful. I told her I would blog about it, and she probably didn’t beleive me! HA! In your face Deb!

I made it back to my pre-Thanksgiving weight this week too. Not too exciting or difficult. Just had to work out a bit more, which was tough while I was trying to study for finals. Other than that, nothing exciting

Janet and I went to see Walk the Line this past Saturday. I wanted to see it, but I was also a little afraid of seeing it as well. I’m a fan of Johnny Cash, but my father (who passed away in 1993 from colon cancer) was a HUGE Johnny Cash fan. I have many memories of listening to Johnny Cash with my dad – whether it was riding in Old Blue across the country from Michigan to New Mexico, or cruising to a lake or river to go canoeing, fishing, or water skiing. There’s even a few songs that I avoid because they’re tough to listen to – which is why I was afraid to see the movie.

Janet really wanted to see it to, but was a litte perplexed at my hesitancy. I still haven’t really told her, so maybe she’ll read it here (but I doubt it *grin*). Anyway, she bugged me enough, and my mom had Jonah for the evening, so we went to see it. It was a good movie – not great but very well done and worth seeing. For me personally, it was tough, but not unbearable. At many points in the movie I’d think about what my Dad was doing around the same time. The movie had Dates at the bottom, and I’d think about what was going on in my Dad’s life at the same time and how he was probably listening to these songs on the radio or on his reel-to-reel tape deck (which I still have – with Johnny Cash albums on tape). So, the movie was good, but on a whole different level for me, compared to the rest of the world.

This morning I was looking through Outlook and went into one of my rarely used sub-folders and found an email from my Grandpa Cook. He passed away almost a year ago now, and I read through the emails. It’s weird having email from people who are now dead. Just really strange. I’m glad I didn’t delete the emails, but still… it’s a very odd feeling. I guess it’s because I use email a lot, and never really think about it’s possible “permanent” nature.

I really should update this more… Anyway, her goes the big list of things over the past week and a half.

Thanksgiving went well – I didn’t burn either turkey! I didn’t get a chance to make a cheesecake though, so I got one this Monday and shared some of it with my mom and Uncle Alan. I threw the rest of it out to avoid the temptation. I gained about 4 pounds over the past week and a half, so I have to be good now – at least until Christmas. Uncle Alan and “Uncle” Marcello came out to visit my grandparents over the holiday and came over for Thanksgiving too. They showed us great pictures of their trip to Italy and France earlier this year. It looked like a lot of fun! Now Janet really wants to go! They’re planning a trip to Scotland in 2007 and Janet and I are begging them to let us go too

Uncle Alan and Marcello treated us to Scalo’s on Saturday night. Scalo’s Northern Italian Grill used to be quite good with excellent service, but this time, not so much. The wait staff was nice enough, but way over-worked and confused… it took us nearly two hours. The food wasn’t that great this time either, and the portions were definitely smaller. I have since heard that they have a new owner (or possibly a new manager) – if that’s the case, the new guy sucks.

The day after Thanksgiving, my grandfather wasn’t feeling well. (NO, it wasn’t my Turkey!) They thought it was the flu, but by Monday morning, he went to the doctor, and from there, they sent him by ambulance to the Heart Hospital. He just got out yesterday, and he’s at home recovering nicely. My uncle was originally leaving on Tuesday morning, but stayed until my grandpa was stable, so he went home yesterday.

I bought a new DVD Recorder earlier this week too. I had a “CyberHome” P.O.S. recorder that didn’t work very well, so we never used it. I bought the Lite-On that was on sale at Costco, and it works GREAT. Very simple to use, and I’ve been transferring video from my TiVo to DVD. (Mostly Good Eats shows, Fifth Gear supercar segments, and F1 Decade).

I played in the Sandia Casino sunday no-limit texas hold ‘em poker tournament this weekend. Won 60 bucks in the cash game before the tournament, and went out in the third round of the tournament. DOH! Bad bluff on my part – Late position bluff after everybody folded, but big blind had KK, so he called and my 6d7d didn’t hold up. Bad timing. O-well…

I have a new Monteverde fountain pen. It writes great, and I really like it. If you like fountain pens with “fine” points, I highly recommend it – it wasn’t expensive and they’re available at OfficeMax.

Ethics and Finance are almost over (2 more classes each), and next semester is some interesting topics that I’m looking forward too. These classes weren’t bad, and I may have even learned a few things! Can’t beat that with a sharp stick.