Adventures in Time

Candice wanted a laptop for XMas, so we’ve been looking around the ads the last few weeks keeping an eye out. This week, Best Buy had a combo deal for a pretty decent laptop (best one I’ve seen in the $500-$700 range), printer (which Candice also wanted), and laptop sleeve.

We went to the store, but when we asked customer service about the laptop, they told us that the only laptops they had left for the deal had all been “optimized” by the Geek Squad, to remove all the needless junk programs, and had some recovery disks created, and that this service meant we would have to pay an extra $60 if we wanted to buy the laptop in-store.

So we headed back home, and went to the Best Buy site. But ordering online would add $25 shipping. So then I decided that we should try in-store pick-up, and just to test a personal theory, I chose the same Best Buy location who told us they only had the $60-extra “optimized” laptops.

The next day when picking up the laptop, sure enough, there is a huge sticker on the side that says “OPTIMIZED BY GEEK SQUAD: 11-02-2009″ and it came complete with 4 recovery DVDs.

So take that Best Buy. I think it’s BS to advertise a laptop at one price, and then the only laptops you keep in stock have all been “optimized” forcing your customers to pay an extra $60 if they want to buy a laptop from your store. So I still got the laptop, even an “optimized” one, at the ADVERTISED PRICE.

Imagine that.

PS: Candice knew this was her gift, knew I was buying it, and is already using it (though I’m making her wait til XMas morning to open the printer and sleeve). She’s pretty excited about it, since it’s her first non-work laptop, and her first laptop that doesnt suck.

Just sharing my tuna I just cooked. It’s awesome!

1 Ahi Tuna Steak
Black Pepper
Sesame Seeds
1 tbsp Sesame Oil

Marinade:
1/2 cup Low Sodium Soy Sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp ginger
1 tbsp cilantro

Mix all the marinade stiff together, in my case into a ziploc baggie, and add the tuna… let it sit for about an hour or two. You can put it in the fridge, but the tuna comes out better if its room temp when you start cooking it.

When ready to cook, heat a skillet over med high heat, and heat up the sesame oil. Before putting the tuna into the pan, season it with as much black pepper and sesame seed as you like on one side, then toss that side down into the frying pan.  Season the other side, and flip after a minute. Then after one more minute, you should be done.

Your tuna should have a nice brown crusty outside, and a nice warm, rare inside (the inside will be kind of cold if you seared it straight from the fridge).  Juicy yet flavorful!

Oh, the one thing I forgot to do, that would have made this better, was to slice up some green onion and put it on top.

Originally published at Brad's Main Blog. You can comment here or there.

I need to stop pretending like my daily LJ twitter stream is any more interesting than anyone else’s auto-posting LJ twitter stream. In that it’s not interesting at all.

Given the choice between sparse updates and a daily collection of my 140 character direct thought-to-internet posts, I have to believe people would rather the sparse updates.

Does anyone really need to know I told Wil Wheaton that Toy Soldiers was on the Encore channel Friday night? Because if they did, they would already be following Wil and I on Twitter, and would have received the information they needed.

Sometimes just because technology *enables* you to do something doesnt mean you *should* do it.

Originally published at Brad's Main Blog. You can comment here or there.

• @greggrunberg "JJ Abrams is so old… when Matt Parkman reads his mind, all he sees is cave paintings" in reply to greggrunberg #
• Still feeling pretty bad even after a 5 hr nap. I hate how mowing the lawn wipes me out for a whole day. Missing the NOLA scavenger hunt #
• At roller derby http://twitpic.com/8mp5w #
• Finally feeling better with allergies… Guess I just needed lots of Coke and roller derby… #
• @BrentSpiner Were ID1-ID3 *so* bad that you chose to ignore them? Like Matrix 2 & 3, Star Wars 1-3, or Star Trek V? in reply to BrentSpiner #

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• siiiiiiiiiiiigh. Is it October yet?? http://bit.ly/MfWud #
• @ticktock6 *whatever* I wanted? North California, and get drunk on good beer and wine for 2 weeks.. in reply to ticktock6 #
• @ticktock6 haha, I'm just being a smart-ass. I would just play video games. Maybe get past the first 10 minutes of Bioshock finally in reply to ticktock6 #
• I love McAuslen – St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout. Such a thick, chocolatey, oatmealy beer! #
• @gabetax you lucky bastards in reply to gabetax #
• Just cut yard… Allergies already making me wish it was Sunday already. Loaded up on benadryl.. oh, it's like 95 degrees outside too #

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Bands I want to see:

• Jane’s Addiction
• Widespread Panic
• The Flaming Lips
• Justice
• Gogol Bordello
• Wolfmother
• Eagles of Death Metal
• The Black Keys
• Silversun Pickups
• Squirell Nut Zippers
• Black Lips
• Mates of State
• George Clinton And Parliament Funkadelic

Originally published at Brad's Main Blog. You can comment here or there.

• After 4 years I finally got to use my master's degree for something useful! contributing to a usability analysis of a site. #
• Yes, but you only have to do it once, not every day RT @cwethern: (Is that #squarespace thing still going on?) #
• @vasuvasu Ochsner in reply to vasuvasu #
• RT @hodgman: Mr. @johnmoe wrote this: "I was most surprised when Sanford apologized for calling his son Lamont a "dummy" all those years." #
• RT @Orbitz: We’re giving away a free airline ticket today! FOLLOW @Orbitz & RT this msg to be eligible to win http://bit.ly/bVSuU #
• @voodooexp2009 eagles of death metal in reply to voodooexp2009 #
• @edcookdotorg are you tweeting from the bottom of the stairwell? Or are you ok? in reply to edcookdotorg #
• I'm really liking the Shortwave Set's album. #
• Holy Crap! Avenue Q and Wicked… in NEW ORLEANS! http://bit.ly/doyKi (thanks to @KaylaC and @zzcrawfish for the info) #
• @voodooexp2009 Whooooooooooooooo YES! in reply to voodooexp2009 #
• @voodooexp2009 shooter jennings in reply to voodooexp2009 #
• @BrentSpiner You may be on the C list of actors, but youre on the A list of my heart… (is that *too* Trekkie stalkerish? ) in reply to BrentSpiner #

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• just finished putting dynamic jquery controls *inside* an element dynamically created by jquery… I love jQuery's .bind function! #
• @bradsbunny good things are worth waiting for in reply to bradsbunny #
• so hot. AC only cools house off 10 degrees. This was fine back in May. Now? Not so much. I dont like to drink after 9pm… but…Harpoon IPA #
• @voodooexp2009 silversun pickups! yay! in reply to voodooexp2009 #
• Darn! Looks like I was 2nd again for #voodoolineupscramble Hey @voodooexp2009 – get Joseph Arthur again, and this will be the BEST YEAR EVER #
• @vaxinate I wish… @SabsRoussel keeps winning. (at least according to my twitter search) in reply to vaxinate #
• For @OnanRulz RT @phdaisy OMG @petshopboys just added a Minneapolis show!!! in reply to phdaisy #
• @cwethern please elaborate for us non-minneapolisians in reply to cwethern #
• RT @verarocks Louisiana Gov Jindal vows to veto all arts funding. Link for writing legislators: http://bit.ly/wLNar Please RT! #

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Originally published at Brad's Main Blog. You can comment here or there.

• just finished putting dynamic jquery controls *inside* an element dynamically created by jquery… I love jQuery's .bind function! #
• @bradsbunny good things are worth waiting for in reply to bradsbunny #
• so hot. AC only cools house off 10 degrees. This was fine back in May. Now? Not so much. I dont like to drink after 9pm… but…Harpoon IPA #
• @voodooexp2009 silversun pickups! yay! in reply to voodooexp2009 #
• Darn! Looks like I was 2nd again for #voodoolineupscramble Hey @voodooexp2009 – get Joseph Arthur again, and this will be the BEST YEAR EVER #
• @vaxinate I wish… @SabsRoussel keeps winning. (at least according to my twitter search) in reply to vaxinate #
• For @OnanRulz RT @phdaisy OMG @petshopboys just added a Minneapolis show!!! in reply to phdaisy #
• @cwethern please elaborate for us non-minneapolisians in reply to cwethern #
• RT @verarocks Louisiana Gov Jindal vows to veto all arts funding. Link for writing legislators: http://bit.ly/wLNar Please RT! #

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Originally published at Brad's Main Blog. You can comment here or there.

Originally published at Brad's Main Blog. You can comment here or there.

• camellia grill = $$$, sound of music at prytania = $$$, grilled steak w/ cayenne butter garlic sauce = $$$, black bear stout = $$$ Great Day #
• RT @MudbugMedia: Hiring: Linux admin/programming interns and graphic design interns. http://mudbugmedia.com/employment/ #hiring #jobs #nola #
• @voodooexp2009 Wouldn't you prefer a nice game of chess? in reply to voodooexp2009 #
• @voodooexp2009 justice in reply to voodooexp2009 #
• @voodooexp2009 Nice- they should be pretty fun… in reply to voodooexp2009 #

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Originally published at Brad's Main Blog. You can comment here or there.

• camellia grill = $$$, sound of music at prytania = $$$, grilled steak w/ cayenne butter garlic sauce = $$$, black bear stout = $$$ Great Day #
• RT @MudbugMedia: Hiring: Linux admin/programming interns and graphic design interns. http://mudbugmedia.com/employment/ #hiring #jobs #nola #
• @voodooexp2009 Wouldn't you prefer a nice game of chess? in reply to voodooexp2009 #
• @voodooexp2009 justice in reply to voodooexp2009 #
• @voodooexp2009 Nice- they should be pretty fun… in reply to voodooexp2009 #

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• Second Voodoo Fest 09 band announced via lineup scramble game: George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic! Follow @voodooexp2009 for more! #
• @voodooexp2009 I know! I was gone all day/night and phone died around 10… Got home at 1am to see contest over. I will pay better att'n! in reply to voodooexp2009 #
• Waiting in line at camelia grill, then off to the prytania for sound of music #
• Camellia grill is awesome http://yfrog.com/62uzej #

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• @Pontchartrain Dont know, but I do know they have a beer tasting tonight from 6-8 in reply to Pontchartrain #
• @bellasegari I agree in reply to bellasegari #
• RT @MudbugMedia: Our new site is live! Check us out at http://www.mudbugmedia.com #
• just cut the yard, need to clean kitchen and bathrooms, and go see a play. tomorrow is camelia grill, old movie, cork n bottle, fathers day #
• @bradsbunny Hooray! in reply to bradsbunny #
• @abbyroc If you get a job there can you get me a discount? I like Murphy Goode. when I was in Healdsburg I brought back 3 bottles in reply to abbyroc #
• @hodgman http://twitpic.com/7wl3n – What kind of shitty imaging software are they using that only allows you to use a font on one line, … #

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• @TPIRhost My favorite Drew Carey horn memory is when our band was behind your float in Bacchus, and you grabbed my friend's trumpet & played #
• Yo dawg, I heard you like dynamic form fields inside your dynamic form fields… I am quickly becoming skilled at JS/jQuery (by necessity) #
• The Sims 3 is out… and on Mac too… I may have just lost my wife *and* iMac forever. #
• @OnanRulz buck the trends – wear your old ROTC hat, or beret! in reply to OnanRulz #

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• freaking cucumber/selenium… The Firefox 3 fix is NOT WORKING. GRAAAAH #
• fixed Selenium Firefox issue (Mac osx likes to have two copies of all my files for some reason, and one was broken) #
• Key #nicerfilmtitles #
• @OnanRulz Saw… A key is a much nicer way to get out of leg irons. in reply to OnanRulz #
• @cwethern Now just get her to sit through all 7 seasons of DS9 in reply to cwethern #
• @OnanRulz Why not??? It's the superior Trek! Only #squarespace and Charles Manson disagree! in reply to OnanRulz #
• Fairness Doctrine is socialist for forcing equal airtime to opposing viewpoints. ABC is socialist for not giving RNC equal airtime. What??? #

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Originally published at Brad's Main Blog. You can comment here or there.

Originally published at Brad's Main Blog. You can comment here or there.

• @YatPundit I also got a car warranty postcard from these people too… I saved it. Could it potentially be some kind of mail fraud now? in reply to YatPundit #
• @YatPundit definitely wasnt a dealer card- a nondescript blue postcard, with lines for name, car model/make/year..just like the phone calls. in reply to YatPundit #
• I wish we hadnt waited so long to plan a July 4th gulf coast beach trip- good hotels are full or super-expensive. #
• #squarespace killed Uncle Ben and framed the thief that Peter Parker let go. #
• God I hate the Monty Hall Problem. You have a 2/3 chance of winning if you switch. This has been PROVEN. Continued arguing is pointless. #

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• I heard #squarespace smuggled Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun out of Germany and murdered a look-alike to pretend Hitler had committed suicide. #
• @rolyaty haha, my friend @OnanRulz and I are making up ridiculous statements about #squarespace… it's fun *and* you might win an iphone. in reply to rolyaty #

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• @rolyaty working good now… Did you catch up in 3d? in reply to rolyaty #
• @rolyaty I guess thats important… in reply to rolyaty #
• @normalnorman Yeah, Pixar can turn out some great movies. in reply to normalnorman #
• #squarespace nursed me back to health after a car wreck, but then tied me to a bed and crushed my ankles with a mallet when I tried to leave #

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Originally published at Brad's Main Blog. You can comment here or there.