Every Intention of Buying a Bed

I went out today with definite intentions on buying a bed. But the malarkey the idiots in the mattress industry have foisted upon us unsuspecting public people was just too much. I ended up almost buying a bed, but they didn't have it in stock. So instead I just walked out.

Good thing too, because I probably wouldn't have gotten a bed I liked. But it was an experience in feeling like an idiot. And it got me wondering about what the hell these guys are up to.

Google coughed up a very decent article on Slate about The Mattress Trade. Everything in there rings true to me.

I actually had the following conversation with the mattress sales-person (an aging man named Walter).

Walter: I can let you have either of these models for $599. Just pick out the one that you think is more comfortable.
Me: So these beds are the same price and quality
Walter: Yes. It's just a matter of chosing the one you prefer.
Me: Okay. So then why is this one labeled "Silver" and this one labeled "Bronze"?
Walter: Well, that's just a rating system they have. They say some mattresses are bronze, some are silver, it goes all the way up to "Solid Gold".
Me: So the one labeled "Silver" is better than the one labeled "Bronze"?
Walter: It's a scale. A measurement of quality. Bronze is good. And silver is good. It's a scale they have.
Me: Um. Okay. So the Silver is higher-quality?
Walter: Not neccesarily. They're very similar in quality, these two beds. They have the same warranty. It's just a scale, and you should really just see which one you like better.
Me: Right.
Me: So what makes this one "Silver"?
Walter: They decided it was worth a silver rating.
Me: You're very good at this.

You can read the official non-information information about the Sleepy's mattress rating system here. Here's a good quote "Platinum Plus mattresses make every night a night to remember and look forward to, for the gift of tranquil, deep and deeper drifting sleep."

But I mean, as the Slate article points out, there's really no need to go the traditional box-spring & mattress route. If you find a mattress with the appropriate firmness for you, then you shouldn't need a box-spring.

How will this melodrama play out? I don't know. I have to go to Ikea and see if they can hook me up with a sweet, stylish and comfortable bed. I have a lot of hope that something like this mattress and this bed-frame will be just the ticket for me.

I got the keys today

I went over to my new apartment today to meet the owner (and her new family) and get the keys. The owner is incredibly friendly and gracious. The apartment is just as good as I remember it. New fixtures, freshly painted, clean and spacious (especially since there's nothing in it).

I took some photos. I'm afraid I could never get a job working as a photographer for a real-estate agent. But I mean, they get the general idea. I should have taken a photo of the stairs leading up into the apartment.

Here's a rough idea of the layout of the apartment.

• Walking up Washington Drive
• My apartment from the street
• Walking towards my apartment
• My new front door
• The dining nook (the kitchen's behind the wall)
• The kitchen (as seen from the dining nook)
• The bathroom
• The bedroom & closet

I took the picture looking down Washington Drive while standing in the middle of the road. There's almost no traffic on the street. Because it's a private road only people who have business there can use it. That also means that parking on the street is allowed.

There's plenty of storage in the apartment (lots of closets and attic storage). There are two nice large windows in the living room, one small one in the bathroom (above the tub), and another large one in the bedroom. There seems to be a good amount of light that spilling into the apartment.

Everything seems to be in good condition. I'm really looking forward to March 1 when I move in

Savannah is beautiful

I have to admit, I was a little worried, going into this thing, that Savannah might not be the best place to play in February. That the trip, with it's connecting flights, and rental cars and all those further complications, could potentially be a disaster.

But, sports-fans, it was not a disaster. It was a rowsing success. I had a fantastic time.

Images and short writeup below:

The weather was beautiful. The sun was shining, and the temperature got above 70 on both days. The fields were soft and covered in green grass. We played on Saturday at Forsythe Park and then on Sunday, the co-ed teams joined everyone else to play in Dafin Park.

There were no public restrooms at Forsythe and that was a problem. But otherwise, the tournament was a rousing success.

It took us a while to shake off the rust from several months without competitive ultimate. We were the only team from up-north, so most of the teams we played had been practicing and competing throughout the winter. Predictably, we came out flat and tanked all our games on Saturday.

Sunday, however was another matter altogether. We came out stiff and tight, despite the efforts of the fantastic hot-tub and heated pool at the Doubletree. Once we'd loosened up, we were able to wrestle the chumpionship trophy all for ourselves, an official 5th place finish. But that number can't capture the quality of our Sunday play.

Walking to the fields

Hutch & Sweaty (me) posing for the camera

Trying to play some defense in the 2nd game

Courtney leading a rousing game of Cowboy/Stripper-Pole/Spoon

The Cowboy/Stripper-Pole/Spoon Movie

Lee's Pictures on iPhoto
Daniel's Pictures on iPhoto

Not too many photos (currently) of the drinking and whatnot that went on off the fields. A good time was had by all, and Savannah is a very gracious host.

I am now very sore and stiff, especially my legs. The lesson being that there's no amount of off-season training you can do to prepare yourself for the stresses and strains of actual ultimate.

And I can't wait to do it again.

Going to Savannah

Well, it's officially Friday which means I can say that this very afternoon I am headed to Savannah, GA. The beautiful flower of the south. But I am not going for any stupid touristy reason. No sir! I'm going to play the greatest sport ever created.

Ultimate frisbee.

And if you didn't know I was going to say that, who are you and how did you find this page?

The tournament is called Spring Fever. I'm playing with a team traveling under the name "Traffic". Traffic is a local NY co-ed team, but their members actually comprise only a small fraction of the people who I'm playing with. I'm not in charge of naming the team, or running this show in any way. My major responsibility is getting my butt down to Georgia.

Which, hopefully, I can handle. The weather, by the way, is supposed to be beautiful.

See y'all on the other side of President's Day! I should have some pictures, and hopefully a nice tan.

No Hockey For You!

It's a sad day in professional sports when a player's strike keeps the season from starting on time. These things need to be worked out in the off-season, seriously guys, what are you doing? But, you know, it happens. What has never happened before in professional American sports (a narrow category, I know) is a strike causing the cancelation of an entire season.

Until now.

This is kinda sad for me. I enjoy watching hockey. And the hockey playoffs are a pretty spectacular phenomenon. Somehow, during the playoffs, the game is elevated to a higher level. There's a serious level of tension for every game. Oddly, by the time you get to the Stanley Cup, it's a bit of a let-down. But that's neither here nor there... no season, no playoffs.

Other than the hardcore fans, the people that are going to most affected by this have to be those teams in markets where ice-hockey is an anachronism. Like the Tampa Bay Lightning or the Dallas Stars (and lest we forget the expansion Nashville Predators). These teams have a hard enough time convincing locals that hockey exists.

Ah well. This should be good for the NBA and minor league hockey teams all across North America.

As an aside... Does anyone else think it's more than coincidence that the hockey strike came at around the same time that high-definition televisions were becoming popular and widely available? Perhaps there was a little performance anxiety now that they knew that the people at home would be able to see the puck. Or perhaps hockey as a sport is an illusion and high-def would reveal that there is no puck. Just a bunch of loons on skates!

I'm not advocating file sharing

WASTE

Seriously, I'm not really advocating copyright violation. You can use it to share files between people you know. Regardless of where they are, what firewalls they're behind. It's completely secure, as long as everyone on the network can be trusted.

Which means that all my friends who want to send me files through AIM better get their crap together and set up WASTE.

I have my server set up at atnas.gotdns.org:51337. To connect, you need my public key (and I need yours).

Of course, Cablevision will randomly switch my IP every 3 days or so. Which kinda funks up the whole deal.

But that's what's great about DynDNS.org. Free Dynamic DNS! Sweet.

I should clarify. Dynamic DNS allows you to use the string "atnas.gotdns.org" which is then translated to whatever my current IP is (as long as I keep it updated). Since it's free, DynDNS could just pull up stakes and disappear. And then we're back to the stone-ages of raw IP addresses.

The Universal PDA

Who could possibly enjoy this holiday?

We're forced by societal pressures to confirm that the person we love (positing that there is such a person) is the person we love. It's important that we each do this in a way that is as vocal and gaudy (and preferably expensive) as possible. If we fail to deliver, the results can be devastating.

What were we supposed to be doing on every other day? Does our good work on this one day excuse us from showing love and affection on other, unlabeled days? On tuesday can we go back to ignoring our significant other without a guilty-conscience? Of course we can!

The result: we have a variety of public displays of affection. One big national PDA that makes everyone uncomfortable (even the participants). It's not an expression of genuine feeling, it's Valentines Day. And we're supposed to do it.

These gifts and confesions of feeling are given under duress. And so, technically, they do not count.

My advice, There are 365 days in a year. Two of them are your birthdays and one of them is your anniversary. If that's not enough, pick any day other than Feb 14 and celebrate the death of St. Valentine in your own way (e.g. don't buy a card).

It's Laurie's Birthday!

Yay! Everyone say happy birthday to Laurie!

Happy Birthday Laurie!

This is Laurie! She is so awesome.

I can't believe it's her birthday.

She's so the best ever.

Yeah, wasn't it worth it to click on that link and see more? See more of Laurie! And her hotness!

Google's At It Again

Google must be doing something right in their hiring practices. 'Cause they are churning out great things at a steady clip.

The latest Googl-ism to catch the attention of the myriad of web-geeks (myself included) is the slick Google Maps. Other than having a very cool interface for scrolling/zooming the map, it also challenges Mapquest & Yahoo maps:

You can find a place like Portland, OR

You can get directions to New Brunswick, NJ

you can also do a search for things in a specific area:

Skiing in San Diego
Surfing in Suffern

But I mean, regardless of the utility of the thing, it's amazing they can do what they do. No constantly reloading the page. A quick and responsive interface. I don't know if it works on other browsers. It works on mine just fine.

George's Budget

George W Bush. George F*cking Bush! ARRRRRRGH!

The Guardian (a UK paper) has a little writeup on the President's proposed budget. He's following up on his pledge to "cut the deficit in half" by gouging into government programs, foreign aid & the environment.

Fortunately for all of us freedom loving people, he's upping the budget for the Defense Department and the Dept of Homeland Security.

It appears his math is a little shady, as in this case halving the budget deficit requires pushing the deficit estimate up. Also worth noting, Bush's "halving" of the deficit doesn't account for the cost of the Iraq war, the borrowing for the proposed overhaul of social security, or making his tax-cuts permanent. All three things to which he is firmly com-mit-ted.

But my favorite part of the article is this quote from the Pres himself:

"It's a budget that sets priorities," Mr Bush said. "It's a budget that reduces and eliminates redundancy. It's a budget that's a lean budget."

Talk about redundancy. He used the phrase "It's a budget that" three times in a row. It's like he's singing the chorus to a dumb pop song. But it's going to work. Because not even Paul Krugman can explain all that's wrong with Bush's schemes in less than 1000 words.

Dammit!

The Patriots are Lame

There's so much I could say about yesterday's superbowl. Where to start? Should I start by noting that Donnovan McNabb somehow both overperformed and underperformed in his first Super Bowl? Should I start by dissing Tom Brady and the Patriots offense?

No, I'll start with the silly commentators and analysis. Going into half-time, tied 7-7 in a game where the Eagles had turned the ball over twice already, the commentators all started talking about the things the Patriots needed to do to take over the game. No one mentioned the stifling Eagles defense, nor the way McNabb seemed to be trying too hard on every throw.

After the game, the talk was all about how the Pats were a "Dynasty". How impressive they were in these past two seasons. How dominant a performance they'd put on.

Hey guys, I hate to break it to you, but 24-21 isn't dominance. It's eeking out a win. But that's the way the Pats play. That's why I hate them.

It's taken me a while to formulate this concept. I've known for the better part of two years that the one team in all of pro-football that I really really don't like is the New England Patriots. (And it's not just that they aren't named after a city.) They play ugly. (And not ugly in the smash-mouth, down in the trenches and the mud way). They make football gross.

They win by making their opponents play badly. And for those of us who appreciate the skill of the game, the effortless grace with which these tremendous athletes perform incredible feats, it's really kinda depressing. (See the Patriots absolute trouncings of P. Manning and the dazzling Colts)

It gave me hope to see Terrel Owens shake off ankle surgery (is it possible that the eagles intentionally exegerated TO's injury?) and have his way all over the field. And for most of the first half, as the stifling Eagles defense shut down, fluster and confuse Tom Brady, I started to believe that skill and determination would win out.

Even in the second half, down by two scores, the Eagles wide receivers were keeping that spark alive. Down until the Eagles, unexplainably, let the punt fall and roll down to the four yard line I still held out hope that the Eagles just had so much of the beautiful game that the Patriots couldn't uglify the game enough to win.

But no. Alas.

My First Apartment Visit

Using my keen intellect, I've discerned that the only way I am going to move out of the house is if I find myself an apartment. Much like the Iraqis fumbling towards democracy, I took my first awkward step towards escaping my childhood home (again).

I went to look at an apartment in the Wayne Village apartment complex. (It's in Wayne, NJ). Not a bad place. I could live there. There's a kinda difficult left-turn to get out of the complex. And the NY State Thruway is just a tangled mess. But the apartments are spacious, the neighborhood is not completely dead, and the management seems active. (There's a roller-rink right across the street!)

I'm going to be calling some more places over the next couple days. I'd really love to find a place in Ridgewood, say. Somewhere within 15-20 minutes from Suffern. But, those places are harder to find (on the internet).

This is one reason why I could never be an archeologist. If Google doesn't know where it is, I don't know where it is.

French Yodelling Guy

Okay... standard warnings here.
Flash
Sound
Random Fat Kid

Foruntately, there's nothing seriously disturbing or pornographic. Just a kid singing a song.

I have to say, whoever this kid is, he seriously committed to the song. He really worked out a whole choreography. And then he made a video of himself.

Don't actually know if he's French or if the song's French. There may be absolutely zero French-ness. It's definately european and weird. Which easily lends itself to being French.

It's Groundhog Day

Well, I don't know if that means anything. But it looks like the winter will drag on.

There is, as always, a little controversy (brought to us by the excellent spellers at Canadian Television). Some Groundhogs see their shadow, some do not.

I had a dream last night that I was the democratic nominee for president. That was a pretty good dream.