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Have you ever seen anything like this? I haven’t.

For more on the project, go here and here.

Let me say THIS right up front…
“I PREFER BIG DOGS!”
Ok, with that out of the way, here is the newest member of the Jones household.
His name is Frankie.
(Frank if I’m trying to toughen him up)
He’s 10 weeks old.
He’s 4 1/2 pounds.
His mother is a Maltese.
His father is a Miniature Poodle.
That would make him a “Maltapoo”
Save your ridicule.
My friends have beat you too it.

After weeks of calling the pediatrician we finally got the kids in for their flu shots.  My son (2) got the H1N1 and the seasonal flu shots. For this, I am happy.

My daughter (4) was only given the seasonal flu shot.  They wouldn’t give her the H1N1 because she’s not considered “high risk”.  I’m having a hard time understanding the age cut offs that decide who gets the shot and who doesn’t.  My daughter is only four years old!  H1N1 has affected kids much older than her, like the kids in Wayne and Genesse counties that died, or the nine year old girl in a coma.

I’m not trying to be a fear monger here. I’m just frustrated that the thieves at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup were given their H1N1 shots before my kid.  I think I might have to get into white collar crime so my kids can be healthy this year.  Prison inmates across the country, (including some at Guantanamo) have been given their H1N1 shots. But my pediatrician wasn’t given enough for all of their patients?

Looks like I’ll have to become a rapist or terrorist for the sake of my family.  If I’m gonna do this right, I should begin raping terrorists in front of Goldman Sachs.  That should get SOMEONE’S attention, and my daughter might be first in line for her shot.

WTF?

9:50 PM HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY "One"

While playing around with the Metallica iPhone App, I noticed that the Buffalo show was for sale! Check out LiveMetallica.com for that show and a TON of other Metallica live shows.

They also have a bunch of history about every show on the tour. Little details like “Metallica performed 18 songs tonight from 7 different albums: Kill ‘Em All (3 songs), Ride the Lightning (1 song), Master of Puppets (2 songs), …And Justice for All (1 song), The Black Album (3 songs), Garage, Inc. (2 song), and Death Magnetic (6 songs) “

Today’s show is brought to you by the number 4

I came to learn that the water has to be right, the pump has to be drained, etc. I stopped at a pool store and got my water tested and picked up the proper chemicals to get that part done. Now, I wonder if there are any more surprises ahead as I shut down my 28′ round above ground.

I’ve had very little experience with them before.  The first was as a kid. My best friend Dana had a wood stove. It was the main source of heat for the whole house.  That meant that every fall, we lost a Saturday to the woodpile.  The two of us had to lug a couple truck loads of wood down into his basement and stack it.  That’s how every teenage boy wants to spend his day, right?

My mother in law has one, but I only see it around Christmas time, and it’s already going when I get there. The only other fireplace I’ve had ANY responsibility for is at my father in law’s house.  His is different.  If you’re cold, pick up THE REMOTE and turn it up.  When you go to bed, pick up THE REMOTE and turn it off.  I gotta get me one of those.

My fireplace is a good old wood burning fireplace.  I don’t know much about it except that it passed inspection, and the clean out thingy is in my basement.  That’s it. I’m sure I can look up the basics online somewhere. I could also stop into a local showroom and ask a bunch of dumb questions.  I’m afraid of doing that though, because stupid me will walk out holding a receipt with a comma in the dollar amount and a new remote.

I guess what I really need to find out is how much wood will I need for the winter?  How much should it cost?  I’ll probably use it most on the weekends. Do I just get those prepackaged logs at Wegmans?  I might be jumping the gun a little, I haven’t even closed my pool yet.  Maybe I’ll go do that right now. Right after I Google “How to close a pool.”

Here’s a tip. Use Private Browsing Mode (aka Porn Mode) in Firefox whenever you don’t want your “sensitive” links popping up on the big projector at work when you’re standing in front of all your coworkers. I’ve seen that happen too.  I never knew there was Star Trek porn until that day.

It’s called Quake Live, and it kicks ass. I expected it to be slow and not look very good. I was wrong.  This FREE web based version plays fast and looks better than the original CD-ROM based version did.  Technology has come a long way over the years.

While I ate lunch at work today, I spent 20 minutes playing. Ya know, just to make sure it was good before I told you about it. I hope you appreciate my sacrifice.

Go play on your Mac or PC here.

It’s also quite simple to prevent this kind of attack. My grandmother knows her way around a wireless router, so why can’t a business set up some WAP2 and a password to keep bad guys from getting my credit card info?  I’m just frustrated i guess.

I had my card forged once, and they spent $900 at truck stops and drive throughs throughout California.  Luckily my bank caught it, and I got my money back.  I just don’t want to go through the ordeal of someone emptying my bank account again.

I might go back to using cash only.

For more on this, check out this article.

This morning I got to jump into a “slightly” modified (and BARELY street legal) IndyCar.  We darted around downtown. The cops showed up. It was fun.

But sometimes, the woods can be a scary place. All you need to do is change the music and add some effects.

Enjoy a special “30 Seconds” remix.

In today’s episode, we see what happens when my 2 year old son is let loose in the woods.

The kid can run.

Fast.

If all of this is hitting a little too close to home, go here.

Sometime soon, I will be killing my MySpace accounts.  I have 2, and I never check them. I don’t miss them, I have FaceBook. MySpace annoys me. It’s clunky, ugly, and what’s up with all the sparkling rose animated graphics?  I left myspace for a reason. I left because of all the stupid polls, stupid people, spam, porn, and sparkly roses.

Here’s my problem. People on FaceBook keep trying to get me to participate in all the stupid crap I hated about MySpace.  Do they not realize it’s just spam?  I wish my”friends” would just stop already.  I had no idea exactly how many times I’ve been bugged by a “Pass a drink” or “Come play Scrabble” request until  I was digging through my FaceBook settings the other day.  Take a look at the long list of FaceBook applications I’ve blocked so far.  And please….stop.

Really. Just stop.

View H1N1 Swine Flu in a larger map

So I just moved into a new house.  Everything in it was updated recently, except the stove. So I got online to research like I would for any other purchase I’m considering. I only like to buy things once, so I tend to look for the best product in my price range.  As I was deciding which stove to buy, I realized that I could now add a new item to my “Geek List.”  Ya know, I’m a Beer Geek, Mac Geek, etc.  Yep. Now I’m a Stove Geek.

Dual fuel, convection, high BTU burners, oh yeah. This thing has it all. And, it’s just sexy looking! Yep. I have a sexy stove. Who knew there was such a thing…

While I’m away, my buddy Ferris has been kind enough to fil in for me.  He likes doing it because it’s a chance for him to use my own show to poke fun at me.  He’s a dick. That’s why we get along so well. Evidently he thought it would be cute to start a faceBook group that somehow has something to do with me.  He calls it “Dem Jones Is My Homeboy.”  To my shock (and horror) people have actually joined it.  You can too if you wish. It’s right here.

TIme Warner shut off the previous owner’s cable today. That means I have no tv, and no internet. Soooo, I’d like to give a shout out to which ever one of my new neighbors has their WiFi wide open.  I’m sure they don’t even realize it’s unlocked. Lucky for them I’m a nice guy and I won’t go and rename all the tracks in their iTunes.  I’m sure they’d consider me their Homeboy for that.

I was watching President Obama’s first address to a joint session of Congress.  The first thing I noticed was my reaction when he walked into the room on his way to the podium.  I was excited!  I really can’t think of a time when I had that reaction to this event.  For the last eight years, I probably felt sick to my stomach watching our old prez walk into the chamber.

Listen. I’m no political genius. I don’t know all there is to know about bailouts or the finer minutiae of American economics.  All I know is, I have seen few real life examples of why we need to get out of this hole we’re in.  I watched my 401k lose over $6,000 in less than a year.  I just sold my house for $15,000 less than I would have a year ago.  I scrambled to get a mortgage for my new house before new bank policies prevented me from getting one.  I watched as my wages were frozen and my 401k matching was halted.  I also had to watch as thousands of people in my industry were let go from their jobs.  So, I guess that makes me lucky?  I’m the lucky one. I still have a job.

“It is time for America to lead again!”

Again, I’m no economic genius.  All I know is how I feel when I watch Obama speak. I feel hopeful. I feel confident. I feel proud.  This feeling along with the actual guts of his economic plan, will hopefully be the answer to our nations death spiral.  I do not want my kids to live through the great depression my grandparents told me stories about.  I want them to have every opportunity to lead long, healthy, successful lives.  That is my hope.

The address: (fast forward to about 15:00 in)

More:

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will be carried out with full transparency and accountability — and Recovery.gov is the centerpiece of that effort. In a short video, President Obama describes the site and talks about how you’ll be able to track the Recovery Act’s progress every step of the way.

As soon as I saw it, I said to myself “I NEEEEED ONE OF THOSE!!!”  Again, I only thought it.  Never told anyone. In fact I had forgotten about the gadget by the time I went to bed. Take a look at a quick clip of Sheldon using this fantastic piece of geek laundry goodness…

Awesome, right?

Fast forward a few weeks to my 36th Birthday.  I’m opening presents on my living room floor.  My mother in law handed me a flat, gift wrapped box.  I tear off the paper and disregard what it says on the outside, choosing to open the box and see what was inside.  I pull out the present and quickly realize that it’s the clothes-folding-thingy I saw on TV weeks before! It’s a FlipFOLD!

…and it works!!!

I asked my mother in law how she knew about FlipFOLD.  She says “I was watching Big Bang Theory and saw him using it. I thought of you RIGHT AWAY.”  All I could think was “Great….is it THAT obvious that I’m an anal retentive geek?”  Well, I am. So I guess I’ll just embrace it and enjoy my FlipFOLD.

If you aren’t convinced about how great this thing is, here’s the sales pitch…

Seriously. I can’t wait to do laundry now.  If you don’t share my excitement for folding shirts quickly and precisely, maybe you should employ this method instead…

Praise the film gods for finally realizing the world can wait no longer to see The A-Team on the big screen!  That’s right kids, there’s finally gonna be an A-Team movie.  I can’t wait!  I wonder if they’ll bring back George Peppard, Mr T, Dirk Benedict and Dwight Schultz?  I’m guessing they won’t, but it would be cool if they all made some sort of cameo appearance.

Did you know you can see the old show right here on the same screen you’re looking at right now?  Check it oot!

See it all in the video blog!

Many thanks to Bruce, Mark, and everyone at Tap & Mallet for their help.

(When I say help, I mean pulling a tap handle and holding a glass under it)

Never in my life have I been excited about a government website.

(Okay..maybe the CIA has some interesting stuff)

I just checked out the new Whitehouse.gov and I am in shock.

It’s actually COOL!!!

At the same time I was streaming a page from CNN that was tied into Facebook. I also had a Twitter client open on my laptop as well.   I could watch the ceremony and see what many of my friends were thinking from around the country.  Oh, and my mom was texting me from her Blackberry as she watched from Canada. AND..my wife sent me pictures from her cell phone of the students at her school all watching on the big screen in the school auditorium.

We now have a President that has his own Facebook page and Twitter account.  It might seem trivial to you, but it matters.  We finally have a president that I feel connected to.  Literally and figuratively.  Some might say technology takes away from personal interaction. I disagree.