The Local Baseball Team DTK (Down to Strikeout)

Hey there.  So it's happening...  I'm on a local baseball team.  I'm still not 100% how it happened but I'm glad it did.  I've been feeling a little slow lately since I really haven't been exercising much, but since I've committed to the team, I've picked it up a bit.  I've been hitting the batting cages with my son and bro, working on that eye hand coordination, and even tossed a ball a bit to work on glove mechanics (or whatever the baseball lingo is).

Great Father's Day Gift Ideas at Walmart

Hey there.  Father's Day is near!  What have you picked up for your pops?  Nothing?  Oh man... No worries, I'm about to show you some pretty awesome stuff that you can pick up at your local Walmart for your dad!  But before getting into that, let me tell you of a time before iPad 2's and Blackberry tablets.  I'm talking about the 80's where a VCR was the main tech attraction.  You see, I was born in 1982 and I only had my dad for 9 short years before it was time for him to move on from this life.  I didn't get the chance to shower him with some of the awesome technology we have today.  Most of my gifts for dad included hand drawn cards and pasta encrusted creations.  Sincere, loving, and always from the heart.  It would have been cool to grab my dad a GPS navigator (we got lost a few times... I know that for a fact) or an awesome big screen TV for the big fight or game.  Even though he's no longer here, this Father's Day, I will be getting my pops a gift, it just won't be of the tech variety.  And kids... I know you're reading this.  Use this post as the "Unofficial Daddy's Wishlist".  lol

What We See... What Kids See...

Family Trip to SeaWorld

Hey there.  I haven't had a chance to catch up with you guys over what went down this Memorial Day weekend.  I decided long ago that we were not going to stay home this weekend and we were going to have ourselves a good time.  I toyed with the idea of taking the family to Las Vegas, Disneyland, and LegoLand, among many other places but due to high entry prices and/or road trip time, I crossed many of those places out.  In the end, I managed to grab a great deal (buy 1 get 1 free) on SeaWorld admission.  BAM!  We were soooo there.

Marlins Fan Drops Daughter for Foul Ball... and Drops That Too

Hey there.  Wow...  have you guys heard about this?  A dad, at a Florida Marlin's baseball game, dropped his daughter in an attempt to catch a foul ball.  Wow...  The dad is saying that his daughter is ok but that's besides the point.  It makes me feel as if this man would protect himself over protecting his daughter.  If I were to see a projectile coming towards me, such as a baseball, I think I would have turned around, having the ball bounce off my back, while protecting my young one.  That's fatherly instincts... I don't know about this whole dropping the kid to free your hands for yourself.  If I was the wife/GF here...  I don't think I'd allow that guy to hold my kid.  lmao  What do you think? Check out the vid.

Vote for the World's Greatest TV Dad

Hey there.  Father's Day is about a month away and Man of the House is doing this great campaign to find out who will reign supreme out of 32 popular TV Dads.  That's right, it's a World's Greatest TV Dad Contest!  How awesome is that?  There have been wonderful father figures in our favorite TV shows and it's about time that we find out who the people believe to be the best.  From memorable fathers such as Cliff Huxtable to new comers such as Michael Kyle, a bracket of 32 dads has been composed to find out who will earn the title, World's Greatest Dad!

CDC Recommends We Prepare for a Zombie Invasion

Hey there. At first, I thought this was a joke... but it's not. Yahoo News has posted up an article from the CDC (Center of Disease Control) that states that we should prepare for all natural disasters... INCLUDING ZOMBIES! That's right, The CDC is saying that zombies are a possibility and that we should prepare in case it happens. Can you imagine that? A world, not unlike that of Left 4 Dead, Dead Rising, Resident Evil... and many other kill em up zombie games. I don't know if I should be scared or excited. lol

Practicing Our Swing at the All Star Park Batting Cages

Hey there.  I'm not a huge baseball fan.  I just can't watch it and enjoy it on TV.  I don't mind playing it though.  Yesterday, my brother decided that he wanted to take my son to the batting cages.  Sure, why not?  The boy likes basketball and football but has not been exposed to much baseball so maybe this outing will spark an interest in the sport.  So I go pick up my brother and our cousin wanted to come along so the four of us are off the batting cages.

We went to the All Star Park batting cages in Bellflower.  Not a bad spot at all.  Being my first time there, I didn't know how much this would run me or what kind of equipment I needed.  We took some bats and batting gloves just in case.  When we asked the clerk how much, he said it was $35 for a full hour, unlimited pitches (11 at a time), free bat rental, and helmet rental.  And the best part was that we all could take turns and get as many pitches as we could get for that hour.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.

I'm an awful hitter so I missed... and I missed a lot.  But that's alright because as the hour went on, my swing got better.  Not to mention my son's swing as well.  He doesn't have the upper body strength that we have so his swing was a little on the slow side as the hour went on, you could tell that fatigue was setting in.  However, when I asked him if he wanted to sit a round or two out, he refused.  We all told him that it's going to build some muscle on that small frame of his and that it showed good character to keep on swinging.  By the end, he definitely had a good time and asked if we could go back some time soon.  Awesome.

We left the cages saying how we all haven't been there in years, or never been there before at all.  This morning, my boy comes to me and says that his arms are sore.  lol  Mine are too.  I'm surprised that his hands are not aching a bit.  My palm and forearm are a little sore and I'm sure it's because I was using muscles I've never used before.

Perfect form!  Too bad I missed it!  

My cuz... he's been waiting 8 years for this moment.  lol

My brother the loser!  Swing and a miss!  hahahaha!  Where's the dingers you promised the boy?

My boy!  Taking a swing!  You can do it, boy!

Even though baseball is not the sport for me, it could be for my boy.  Nevertheless, I wouldn't mind going back to take some more swings.  If anything, it'll work out some of those muscles that I don't use and will better my hand eye coordination.  We all had a good time so I wouldn't mind heading back there with the same line up.  lol  Until then, later!

A Happy Birthday and the Lakers Downfall

LAKERS GONNA WIN!!!  Oh wait...

Hey there.  The Lakers are out of the playoffs...  I think I can now talk about it without getting too upset.  This was the team that was favored to sweep the Mavs, if not win in 5 games.  What the hell happened?!?!?!  Now there's talks about them being too old, Kobe not being Kobe, Gasol having personal issues, Odom is too inconsistent, blah blah blah...  Listen, this is the same team that has gone to the finals for 3 straight years.  This team is still made up of pretty much the same guys.  So what the hell happened???  Don't know.  But just by looking at the team during the games, they just looked uninspired.  Kind of like they were saying, no worries, we'll win the next one, and pretty much just sleepwalked through the games and that kind of attitude bit them in the ass.  The great thing about the Lakers is that we measure the season's success by championships.  If we win the title, it was a successful season.  If we don't win the title, then the season was a bust.  It's really as simple as that and all Laker fans are spoiled by that mentality.  We expect to win and when we don't, all hell breaks loose.  I'm hoping that they'll be able to get their act together and make another run next season, but man... did we just stink it up against the Mavs...

Now, on to brighter days.  My birthday was yesterday!  The big 2-9!  lmao  I don't make a big deal out of my birthday, I never have, but the wife loves to make it a little festive.  This year, she did this:

Playing Black Ops, dad.  Oh yeah, and Happy B Day!

 

The wife is great at creating an atmosphere.  I know, I know...  Lakers were eliminated on Sunday, but we all didn't think that was gonna happen.  lol  So she carried on with her Lakers theme and prepared my meal of choice, T bone steak, mashed potatos and veggies!  Oh yeah!

The woman sure knows how to make a mean batch of mash taters!

Then we all sat together, had our dinner, and goofed around a bit.  Cause that's what we do.  The wife and I sat on the couch, watching the kids play with, wait for it...  balloons...  lmao  That's right, balloons.  I understand that the young one would want to bat around a balloon for kicks but the older kids were having a blast themselves.  lol

Oooh...  Balloon...

Almost... got... it...

Then it was time for the cake.  As the wife gathered everyone around the cake and snapped a few photos, she asked to take one of me and the cake.  I think it's some kind of tradition to do that.  lol  So I sat in the chair waiting for the pic and this happened...

Why so serious

Whoa...  what is that?!  lmao!  Hand me a knife and some evil cloak because there is definitely murder in those eyes!  hahahahaaha!  The wife wasn't too happy with that one so we took another.

A lot better

After I made my wish and blew out the candles it came time for the family portrait (which my wife conveniently decided she needed to take manually so that everyone comes out 'nice'  lol) 

Happy birthday Dad!

Baby says, my cake!

Awesome.  Awesome.  Awesome!  From the decorations, to the meal, to the cake, to the laughs.  A great b day spent with my family.  So why not go out to a "fancy" restaurant for your b day?  Eh.  I'd rather spend the time at home, messing around with the wife and kids than to have to "behave" at a restaurant.  The wife will tell ya, she jokes (well I think she's joking...) that I can be just as bad as the kids.  It just comes to show you that I like to have fun.  Regardless of what the candles on the cake say.  lol  Later!

The Joys of Knuffle Bunny

Hey there. You know, children are funny, little creatures. lol The most mundane of things will keep them entertained and happy. Me, being "funny daddy" and all, take advantage of that knowledge all the time by doing quirky little things around the house. With my youngest daughter, we have mini dance offs. We do the robot together all the time. With my oldest daughter, we've been having a "flinch contest" for the last week or so where we try to make each other flinch (I'm winning because I have awesome ninja focus!). lol With my oldest, well... he's kinda a preteen now and little quirky moments don't affect him as much as much as the younger kids. He does, however like it when I create absurd movie trailers and they usually begin with, "In a world..." lol Yeah, they definitely like that those.

Anyways, I bring up those little quirks because yesterday, I was reading a book to my daughter.  You know, they (or you) need to read a book every night for homework?  Yeah, that.  So I pulled out the book that was chosen and it's this book:

I recognized it from when my oldest daughter brought it for her "read at home" homework and she claims it's one of her favorite books.  I've read it a few times this year already since they keep sending it home to read so I decided to have a little fun with the reading.  It's an awesome little story of a young one that can't speak words yet and travels with her favorite stuffed toy, Knuffle Bunny.  The toy gets lost and the adventure begins.  It's definitely for the younger readers and the book has few words, as well as some baby babble.  When I read the book, I did voices for the characters.  The young one in the book had a "monster" voice, I did Bean's voice, from KROQ Kevin & Bean fame, and I just did a regular "mommy" voice for the mom.  The kids loved the Bean and monster voices.  lol  But I think it's because I ad lib some of the lines.  lol  Yeah, I'm cool like that.  The oldest, which was in his room watching Dragon Ball Z or something, came out and chuckled and said, "Dad, what are you doing?"  lol  So even my voices got his attention and the girls asked me to read it again cause he wasn't there from the beginning.  Kids...  lol

So, do you guys do anything of that sort with your kids?  Am I the only doofus that will change a story and make it their own for a few innocent laughs out of the kids?  Do you have any stare contest with the kids?  Dance offs?  Or any crazy, quirky things for a laugh.  Kids are awesome.  lol  I love my munchkins, cupcakes, and goofballs.  lmao!  Later!

Freschetta Simply Inspired Bamboo Cutting Board Give-a-Way

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of FRESCHETTA® for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
Hey there friends.  Who doesn't love pizza?  Pizza is usually considered an unhealthy choice of food but now a days you can find a wide variety of mouth watering and healthy pizzas.  That's where our good friends at Freschetta have our backs and rolled out their Simply Inspired line of pizzas.
I was fortunate enough to get to try one out over the weekend and all I can say is wow.  Since my boy and I are the resident pizza experts at our house, we went to the market to choose the FRESCHETTA® Simply…Inspired™ pizza of our choice.  With 8 different varieties, it was definitely a hard decision.  I would have loved to have ry the Chicken Bianco style pizza.  Mmmmm....  Grilled chicken, red peppers, black olives, and alfredo sauce.  Man, that just sounds awesome.  Alas, it was not to be since no one at home eats olives but yours truly.  After a brief debate with my son, we decided that we were going to try the Hawaiian style pizza.  The family would enjoy that more than the Chicken Bianco.
Anyways, one the of first things that I notice is the packaging.  It's not in a standard, old pizza box.  It's in this light, plastic container that is different than any other pizza packaging that I have seen.  I was glad to see that on the back it states that it is using 30% less packaging so not only is Freschetta looking out for me, but it's looking out for mother Earth as well.  The second thing I noticed was the fresh smell of pineapple once I opened the container.  Once you peel it open, the sweet aroma of fresh meat and veggies fills the air.  Unlike many frozen pizzas, Freschetta did not seal their pizza in what seems like shrink wrap.  I guess that's what they mean by "Fresch-Taste-Seal".  So far, simply awesome.
Personally, I like thin crust pizza and the FRESCHETTA® Simply…Inspired™ line of pizzas are all thin crust.  The argument that my wife makes is that there's less pizza to eat if it's thin crust.  I say, it's just a different texture.  Sometimes you're in the mood for a little thickness in your pizza slice, sometimes your not and if you're in the mood for some awesome thin crust pizza, this is it.  It has the perfect amount of crunch that it doesn't take away from their signature sauces or ingredients.  Did I mention that this one had a sweet BBQ sauce on it?  I'm not a BBQ sauce fan and I was pleasantly surprised by the how great it was.  For far, I'm loving the ingredients, the taste, and the style.
The family definitely enjoyed the pizza and we already decided that this weekend we're going to try the Chicken Bianco style pizza.  (YES!)  lol  The kids gobbled it up, the wife thinks it's a great, healthy pizza, and I think  that any pizza that can satisfy a family of 6 is always welcome at our home.  But don't take my word for it.  Go to freschettasimplyinspired.com and check out all the pizza varieties in the Simply Inspired line and find out which style is simply you.
Still not convinced to try one out?  Here, I'll give you a coupon for a free pizza!  Whoa!  Whoa!  Whoa!  I don't have one for EVERYONE reading this post.  1 lucky reader will walk away with a coupon for a free FRESCHETTA® Simply…Inspired™ pizza.  And to sweeten the pot, our good friends at Freschetta are throwing in a wooden bamboo cutting board!  Check it out!







How awesome is that?  So how do you enter for a chance to win?  I'll make it easy.  Simply leave comment on this post on this post with your favorite pizza toppings.  That's it.  Once the the deadline has past, I'll use random.org to chose a number and that will determine our winner. Let's recap the rules:

• Give-a-way is available to US and Canadian friends only.
• Give-a-way will run from now until May14th.  Winner will be announced on May 15th.
• Leave a comment on this post stating what your favorite pizza toppings are to enter.

Be sure to check out Freschetta on Twitter and Facebook for upcoming news and give-a-ways.  Like Freschetta on Facebook for a free downloadable and printable coupon for $2 off any Simply Inspired pizzas.  So let's hear it friends, what are your favorite pizza toppings???  Later!

Easy Games for Girls Online

Hey there.  I like to think of my family as a gaming family.  I have my genre of games that I enjoy (Bioshock, Final Fantasy, etc.), the boy has his genre (CoD: Black Ops, Left 4 Dead, etc.), the girls have theirs (Kinect Adventures, Dance Masters), and the wife enjoys side scrollers (Super Mario, Super Mario World, and other Mario related games).  lol  But when it comes to going online, the girls are the ones that are a little lost.  They like to play games and while they'll venture off to iCarly.com or Disneychannel.com, more often than not, they'll leave the site no more than 10 minutes later because they couldn't find a game that they enjoyed.  They just can't seem to find many girl games that are easy and fun to play.

While doing a quick search for easy girl games, I came across the site, http://www.easygirlgames.com.  Easy enough.  lol  One of the things that I really wanted to focus on, aside from being kid friendly, is the ease of getting into the game.  One of the things that seemed to irk the older kids is having to sit with my youngest daughter to explain how to play the game.  They wouldn't mind showing her, but since she wasn't too happy with certain games, the older kids would explain up to 6 different games to her.  I wanted to find one that was easy enough for her to understand on her own and I like that that is the case here.
 
I also liked that the fact that games ranged from extremely simple for the younger girls to not so simple for the older girls.  It gave me the impression that both my 5 and 9 year old can play games on the same site.  They even have some light hearted romance games called "kissing games" on there.  I don't know about those, though.  I don't want my young one to get any ideas.  These are definitely geared towards the older girls and come to think of it... I guess I'd rather have my girls play a kissing game as opposed to kissing boys.  *shudder*.  lol

I think girl gamers are cool so I want to encourage my young ladies to play.  I'm not pushing them, of course, and they're free to choose whatever genre of games they would want to play.  I get a special joy of hearing my young say, "You haven't passed Silent Hill yet, dad.  What are you waiting for?", or "Oh, look dad!  Final Fantasy stuff!"  lol  Later!

Hiking in Escondido Falls

Hey there.  I've been meaning to post about our hiking trip to Escondido Falls for about 2 weeks now.  I've been caught up so many projects and family stuff that I just haven't had the time.  This is why I'm posting on a Saturday.  lol  It's been a long while since I've done some Saturday work.  Anyways let me tell you about our trip.

I've been wanting to take the family out to some sort of outdoor activity.  Living in Sourthern California definitely has it's perks when trying to decide something like that.  There's the beach, hiking trails, camping spots, mountain climbing, and many others and I wanted to do something that I, myself, haven't done.  Believe it or not, I've never been hiking so I decided that we're going to look for a trail and go for it.  That's when I hear about Escondido Falls and it's waterfall.  Whoa... a waterfall.  From what I read online, the trail itself is not that bad and is relatively easy to walk through and when you get to the end of it, there's a waterfall to bestow upon.  I thought it would be perfect to take the kids and check it out.

The trail was difficult to find.  The parking space for the trail is small space and it's right off the famous pacific coast highway.  The problem is that there is no sign that says, "trail this way" or anything of that sort so as you're driving, you're swiveling your head keeping an eye out for a sign showing you the way.  Naturally, we missed the entrance, and on our second pass, we see it.  We parked on the gravel and walked towards the trail.  It's weird at first because you are walking near a residential area so there are houses around you.  Once you go further into that residential community, the trail begins.

No guys, the houses are not part of the trail!

 The trail is simple enough and there is nothing too difficult to overcome.  There were a few small creeks that you get to jump and walk over so that was pretty cool and after about a 3 mile hike or so, you reach the waterfall.  The kids loved it.  We gazed at it for a bit and took some pictures.  It would have been great to take some lunch and have a picnic there.  The scenery would have been perfect.

Jump!

You're gonna fall!!!  Oh wait... you already did!  D'oh!

Mr. Cool Guy over here makes it look easy.

Look ma!  We made it to the waterfall!

Time for our hero pose!

The wife and I enjoying our hike.

Shortly after, the boy and I decided to climb a litter higher to check out the top of the falls.  That hike is for more adventure seekers and is a difficult climb.  After using a rope to get up a steep uphill trail and walked around a small narrow cliff edge like path, we managed to reach the second waterfall.  Not too shabby, but there's more climbing to do.  The third waterfall blew the first 2 away.  It was definitely worth the climb.  The whole area was misty because of the force that the water was hitting the small pond.  It was simply breath taking.

The Rocky theme song would have made this moment perfect!

We did it dad, we did it!

All in all, an awesome time.  If you're in the Southern California area, I highly recommend the hike.  Again, the main trail itself is not a difficult hike so it's not a strenuous walk, but to reach the other waterfalls near the end is definitely more difficult.  Only the boy and I went up since I didn't think he ladies would have been able to do it.  Well, let me rephrase, I think they would have been able to do it if they took their time, but because there's a lot of hikers going up and down and you literally have to stand in line or move out of their way, the chances of slipping and falling rise.

I also wanted to bring this picture to your attention.  Can somebody tell me what that thing in the sky is?

Is that a UFO?!?!?!

We didn't notice that thing when we first took the picture and my wife claims that it's a bird.  I don't know...  I think it's a UFO.  She just doesn't believe.  lol  In my opinion, it seems to far away to be a bird.  There would be more clarity to the "bird" if it was close by but it's pretty damn fuzzy, which tells me that it's off in the distance.  What do you think?  Later!

A Review of InkGrabber.com

Hey there.  You know, it's kind of tough to find quality printer ink without paying a lot of money for it.  This is one of the reasons why I've been out of a printer for so long.  I simply refused to pay so much money for ink.  But you know what... I have realized that I need a printer.  Especially now that my oldest son is in JR High and there will be a need to print out reports and essays.  So I'm on a mission to check out websites that sell printer ink to see where I can find the lowest price.  I'm not looking for cheap ink, I'm looking for ink that's cheap.  First stop:  InkGrabber.com

Right off the bat, I'm liking this site.  They have a listing of ink by brand on the left hand side while showcasing major brands right in the middle.  And to make it even better, they proudly display a coupon code on the right hand side to save me money on printer ink.  If a store is willing to give discounts right off the bat, I'm  definitely interested.  Upon clicking on a brand, a whole slew of printer models come up.  If they don't have what you're looking for, I'd be extremely surprised.  They seem to have a vast array of inkjet cartridges available for all kinds of printers.  That is a huge plus.  I distinctly remember having to buy ink cartridges at a store for my mother's printer and it was hit or miss on whether or not the store carried it. 

After browsing around, I like how the site is organized.  You can clearly point and click on what you need and most importantly, the prices are more than fair.  And again, they offer discounts, not only through their ongoing promotions, but through Facebook as well.  Ordering is fairly simple and I like that there's a toll free number to call if you need assistance or looking for an update on your order.  All in all, a very decent online store for ink.  I definitely recommend you guys check it out for all your printing needs.  Later!

The Green Latern Arrives in the Metallman Home

Hey there friends.  How awesome is it that I was chosen to participate in this great promotion!  I arrived one day from work only to find these 2 great toys waiting for me:

How awesome is that?! That is the Green Lantern Colossal Cannon and Kilowog!  The boys were definitely thrilled with receiving new toys.  They started playing with them immediately and that's when I knew that this is definitely a toy that they would bond over.

The Colossal Cannon definitely got more attention that the Kilowog action figure.  Even the though the action figure came with it's own Green Lantern Power Ring, it couldn't convince the kids to drop the cannon to play with it.  lol  The only problem that I had with Kilowog is that when you attach his green, glowing attachment to his arm, and raise it, there was no way for his to stand on his own.  That was a huge downer since it made him seem weak in the heat of "battle".  lol  My young one would use him to fight with his other action figures and by him standing without his power made him an easy target for defeat, or so he said.  

My boy:  "Dad, it sucks that Kilowog can't stand with his green power thing.  If he's the Green Lantern and can make anything with that ring, maybe he should have made a cane to keep him up."

Kids...  lol  Once we figured out that he can stand with the attachment if we keep his arms down, the kids started to line him and others up for target practice.  The Colossal Cannon is a great toy.  At first glance, I thought that it would be a projectile shooting gun with the potential to hurt people.  Thankfully, the discs that the cannon shoots seem to glide though the air as opposed to being blasted out.  That is a huge plus!  The gliding motion minimizes risk of injury and the cannon has enough power to send the discs a good 15 feet or so.  The discs are made of plastic but are not heavy at all.  As my oldest son practicing his shot, my youngest son would run around picking up the discs.  I even caught my youngest daughter taking aim at Kilowog!

Kilowog the action figure is just that, an action figure and would be a great addition to a child's army of heroes.  The Green Lantern Colossal Cannon is an awesome toy that will bring much fun and excitement to kids.  I greatly recommend you guys check them out!  To find out more about these and other great Mattel toys, head on over to Mattel.com For more information.  Thank you, Dad Central Consulting, for the opportunity!

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Dad Central Consulting on behalf of Mattel and received Green Lantern toys to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

I Think I'm Ready to Branch Out

Hey there.  I picked up the game for the monthly give a way last night (which will be posted shortly!) and my son was pretty excited about the game that I'm giving away.  He was hoping that it was for us to keep until I told him that it wasn't.  That's when he decided that he was going to enter the contest himself in order to win it for himself.  lol  After I explained to him that he can't win cause he lives in our house, he went on to say that he's going to get his friends to enter so that if they win, he can play the game there.  lol  Kids.  I told him to go for it, and that's when it hit me...  His friends love games and I like to give stuff away so I think I'm going to get some personalized pens to give out.  It would be awesome to have small tokens to give out that will have the Metallman name on it.  I think something like this would be awesome.  It matches my logo colors and it looks pretty cool.

It's been a long time coming.  I want to have t shirts made too, but I still need a logo.  Something a little more modern and something a little more catchy.  I'm still in the market for a good one so if you know anyone that can create one for me, send em my way.  Once I get that done, I was thinking of making some custom envelopes so especially made for the winners of the monthly give a ways.  It would be awesome to be able to send out prizes with style.  I was able to find good prices at Amsterdam Printing so I'm thinking of going with that.

What are your experiences in having your name out there in real world?  Did you provide pens, pencils, business cards, etc. etc.?  I would love to get the name out there but I know it would be foolish to do something grand without a grand following.  What do you think?  Suggestions are definitely welcomed.  Thanks!

Xbox 360 Repair Tech in Training

Just like my dad!

Hey there. I wanted to post this picture because I think it's awesome. lol  I haven't really had the chance to work on some Xboxes that need some repair.  They all have the 3 Red Rings and considering that I've had some moderate success in repairing them, I told my cuz I'd give it a go.  While I was cleaning the CPU and GPU chips on one of the machines, I got out of the chair to get a drink.  That's when I see my youngest boy on the chair, ready and eager to get to it.  lol  That's when I snapped the pic above.  My wife told me last night that our son grabbed his tools (toys) and placed them on top of the computer as if he was gearing up ready to work on it, just like his pops.  lol  That young one sure is something else. 

As for the Xboxes, I managed to get 1 of the 3 working.  I played some games on it and watched a DVD to make sure that it wouldn't over heat and it worked just fine.  I pieced it back together and it's ready to go back to the owner.  When I was about to work on Xbox #2, I decided to check the error code before digging in.  I find that it has error 0003, from what I've been told, may not be repairable due to a bad GPU or bad solder connections around the GPU.  I don't have the tools or the know how to even comprehend the problem, but I decided to remove the X-clamps and readjust the heat sinks.  Still no dice.  It has the same error code and considering that I'm not 100% what's wrong with it, I won't mess with it any more without the consent of the owner.  Xbox #3 will have to wait til tonight.  I haven't checked the code on it or anything but I'm confident that I'll be able to get it working.

I also picked up the Kinect for the Xbox not too long ago and I must say that it's pretty awesome.  We picked it up with Kinect Adventures and even though the games are simple enough, doing the "Adventure" really makes you move and gets you sweating.  Speaking of moves, we also picked up Zumba Fitness and even though I'm a terrible dancer, it's fun to try and do the dance moves.  lmao  I guess I'll need to do the tutorials on that one because trust me, I have no rhythm.  I'm surprised that the wife has not leaked the footage of me trying on youtube.  lol  Using the Kinect is definitely a work out on it's own and if you guys haven't had a chance to try it, you definitely should.  Until then, later!

Using ActivityTree.com to Get Kids Active

Hey there.  You know, I've been on a mission to better myself and as I browse the internet to find ways to be more active, I realized that I should get the kids to be a little more active too.  My wife and I have noticed that the kids are not playing outside as much as they should be.  The oldest is sitting in front of the XBOX, the girls are too busy looking at themselves in the mirror, and the baby... well... he's a toddler now, but you know they're like a walking tornado at times so they get their exercise.  lmao

Anyways, I looking to see if maybe I could find some kind of classes and camps where the kids can be more productive with their time.  Whether it be a sport, music lessons, or overall confidence boosting experiences.  That's when I stumbled across ActivityTree.com.  They have a huge listing of activity providers, camps, or preschools to get young ones more involved in better themselves.  You simply enter your zip code and the site will search your area for nearby activity providers such as a YMCA.  It's perfect to get the kids up and learning a new sport or skill.

Another awesome aspect of ActivityTree.com is their Kids Scholarship program.  Every 3 months, they provide $100 to a lucky winner to keep their kids active.  You can earn an entry to win by filling out a small and simple form and stating how you would use the money to keep your kids active.  Piano lessons, swimming lessons, basketball fees... you can use the money for whatever it takes to keep kids active.

Check out the site, friends.  It's good to know where you can stop by for some fun activities with the kids.  Especially if you're a stay at home mom or dad.  Once the kids are off from school (or don't attend school yet), you can check out the website and schedule a fun day.  You can also be a part of the Get Kids Active!  Facebook Campaign and get tips on how to get kids active via their facebook page.  It's an awesome site and one that you should definitely bookmark.  Have fun!  Later!

Thinking About Getting a New Pool

Hey there.  A wonderful perk about living in Southern California is the weather.  It's usually sunny, warm and overall very pleasant.  We don't deal with severe cold winds (though you would never have guessed that with last night's winds...), blizzards, and all things cold so it's usually grilling and pool weather all year long.  We already have a grill and pool.  Not any fancy schmancy ones, but they definitely get the job done.  But what has crossed my mind is maybe getting a built in pool set up in my back yard.  Here's my back yard:

There definitely is space here for a pool.  It's just a matter of whether it's worth it or not.  We have one of those inflatable pools that is pretty sizable.  Not monstrous but a good 8 feet in diameter and about 3 feet deep or so but it's a pain to set up and put away.  Putting it away is the worst!  You can NEVER fold it the way it came packaged.  NEVER!  So it never fits all nice and snug in the box so you can't neatly set it aside.  It's a bulging mess and once frustration hits, it's just tossed in a corner of the shed. 

Having a built in pool will definitely fit that.  But then new issues come up.  Cost and maintenance are the big ones.  Will it cost me a fortune.  It needs plumbing, it needs water, it needs a filter (maybe one of those automatic pool cleaners), it will need a cover, it will need a fence, etc. etc. Especially now, that I have a very curious and adventurous 1 year old roaming the yard, I don't want to risk my boy falling into the pool.  I'm just so iffy on it.  The older kids would love one, the wife always mentioned that we COULD have one but in the end, I'm the one that usually shoots the idea down.  What do you think?  Take the plunge and build one or be on the safe side and stick to the more affordable build it yourself pools?  Let me hear your thoughts.  Until then...  Later!

Teen Mom: Some Thoughts

Hey there.  I was watching Teen Mom last night with the wife and I noticed the disclaimer right before the show stating something along the lines of teen pregnancy being 100% preventable.  There is this one couple on the show that smoke pot.  Now, I'm thinking to myself, they're underage, smoking pot is illegal (it wasn't for medicinal purposes, that's for sure) and they're filming and talking about it and broadcasting it on TV.  Am I missing something here?  The girl has a child and she's smoking pot to "get away".  Now, I understand that it's nowhere near the level of teen cocaine addiction, but don't you think that someone at MTV should be telling this girl that she may need help?  Her mother has custody of the girl's child, the girl has nowhere to stay, and it turns out that both her and her boyfriend smoke pot on a regular basis.  It's safe to say that the girl's family life is in shambles.

At the end of the season, Dr. Drew has a reunion type show with all the mothers and follows up on how their lives have changed since the show.  Dr. Drew is awesome.  He has his own show on MTV, Celebrity rehab with Dr. Drew.  Some of the testimonials that come out of that show are amazing.  These are spoiled celebrities who can be stubborn and if they make it through the show, express nothing but sincere gratitude to Dr. Drew.  But he doesn't just deal with adult treatments, he also specializes in teen addictions and helps with all sort of treatments such as teen cocaine treatment.  Anyways, I like how he gives them guidance on how to move forward depending on their situation.  What I don't like about the show is that there even is a show about it. 

I understand that teen pregnancies happen.  Hell, I was a father in my teens.  But MTV and other networks shouldn't be glamorizing it.  I think I read somewhere that one of the mom's on this show said she was a role model.  No she's not.  It's difficult as it is to be a parent, let alone do it while still in high school, without a job, and without family support.  It's tough and I think it sucks that shows like this potentially add to the notion that if you do get pregnant at an early age, they can be on TV.  In my opinion, if you're about to have a baby and you don't have the slightest clue on what you're going to do, the last thing that should be crossing your mind is to be on TV.  

I understand that some TV is meant for entertainment purposes.  I get the extreme stuff, the fashion stuff, the crazy stuff, but I don't get the teen pregnancy one.  Tell me again why people would care to watch a child raise another?  If it's a documentary or a movie, I can see the appeal, but this is a TV show that is meant to entertain the young demographic that MTV caters too.  And let's be real, here.  This is NOT a reality show.  The pregnancy is real, but when you're getting paid a 6 figure salary, see previous teen mom train wreck Amber, there is no way that MTV is not staging some of the stuff on the show.  If you want to watch for entertainment purposes, by all means go for it, but don't believe that the "stories" and "drama" behind it are real.  Later!