I found out about the home show from a commercial. I had (have) no plans at all for the rest of the year so I figured why not? I'm buying a house, something like this could help me make some decisions, give me some ideas, and find some quality companies to do some work on my heezy. I knew I wasn't gonna take a personal day for this so that meant I had to lose some sleep so I could make it there in time to enjoy a good portion of it. I got off work at 5:30a and only got about 4 hours of sleep. I asked my homeboy earlier in the week if he was down and he said he'd go with me. So I told him to wait for a text from me letting him know when I was on my way to pick him up.

It was probably about 2p when we got there. We thought they only took cash for parking (which was 8 bucks) but turns out they take credit cards too. Got inside and they only take cash to buy tix (2 for $8 Valentine's Day special). Go fucking figure. Luckily we had just enough physical cash between the two of us to cover both since we very rarely carry money. I've been to the convention center more than plenty of times so it was nothing new for me. No need to take any new pics cuz I've already got the place covered. Once inside, I started snapping away and then stopped cuz I realized that my time was limited since I had to be to work later that night. So there won't be any photo category or video for this event.

The door attendant was a very attractive, classy looking black female. Don't take this the wrong way, but most black chicks I have direct experience with are either ghetto or hoochie. But this chick had the voice, the bod, and the clothes. That's what I like. And we'd later find out that there'd be plenty more top notch chicks in the joint too. We started from left to right and our first stop was a row of boats. Neither of us lives on the ocean or a lake so that was something we didn't care too much for...or know much about to be honest. That'll come later on in life. I need windows for my place and what do you know? A booth for a place called "Window World." I see their ad in the paper all the time so I got their biz card and will do my research. I mostly got pamphlets/brochures and biz cards with websites on them. I wasn't about to sign up for shit (unless it was a contest). I like to do my homework and make a decision from there. Lots of the companies weren't local (like in Orlando) so those automatically got disqualified.

Home Depot was there and offered up a free no-obligation estimate for a variety of home improvement projects. It's a reputable name so I did sign up with them for a consultation on my windows for when I close on my home. I got a free bag out of it too. Lots of people were asking where I got it from. I told them they had to sign up for a consultation and they were like, "Oh, you gotta sign up for something." Shit, it ain't like it was a scam. They actually offered something I needed and I just happened to get a gift for it. Not a bad gig as far as I'm concerned.

There were a few places offering complete home water filtration systems. That was new to me. I didn't know that was something that could be done. One company gave me a bottled water to try out. The water was filtered from their machine. It tasted like water is supposed to: tasteless. Another company gave some samples from a dispenser and said it was clean, pure h2o. Yet it had an aftertaste. People, the one beverage on earth that has no taste of any kind is water. You taste shit like that Dasani bullshit, that shit where they put shit in it, then don’t bother. Really, don’t even buy bottled water. It took a fucked up economy for people to realize what a waste of money that shit was. Shit ain’t no better than tap. Save the plastic bottle for future use. That’s what I do. Or recycle. I do that too.

Lots of places offering solar energy options. I plan on taking advantage of that later on though. Wanna get the house comfortably paid for and my savings padded up nicely too. I want a solar water heater, solar heating for my future pool, and my house to be solar powered with the possibility of selling energy back to the grid. But that’s much later on. Fairtax.org was there. I was like, "What the fuck does this shit have to do with homes?" But as we walked around, there were places selling shoes, sunglasses, and a lot of other unrelated shit. I guess as long as someone paid the booth fee, they were in. I'd do the same shit if I was running the show. This ain't the type of economy to be picky in.

There were some RV’s in the very back ranging from small to luxury. Pretty much anyone could go up in 'em, lay down, sit, chill, or whatever inside of 'em. But there was only one way in and one way out. You had to wait for people to get off before you could get on. On one occasion, an old lady was getting off and what should've taken a few seconds took about a good minute. That geri was moving so slow walking down the 3 stairs that I thought I was watching an ep of Time Warp. My friend couldn't contain his laughter so he covered his mouth and walked away. I covered my mouth but stuck around to watch the spectacle. Her hubby looked older than her but he was walking on his own, helping her down. There was a power chair next to the RV and now I know why it was there. It was hers. Man, she had gravity on her side and took that long to get off the damn thing, I can only imagine how tough it was for her to get on that bitch. Ain't like she gonna be drivin' the motherfucker...

Plenty of people were out giving cookware and small appliance demos. We got some sorbet samples, popcorn, cookies, and grilled chicken. Hey, can’t fuck with free food. In one booth, a construction company, there was an older broad in her 40’s, real short, easy on the eyes, and wearing tight clothes to show off her big fake ass titties. Wouldn’t keep the little bitch but she’d get that knock for sure. There was this one white chick, meat everywhere, super tight clothes, big ass badoonkadoonk with a slim waist. She was tops on my homeboy’s list but there was another chick we saw on our way out; black, really classy lookin’, everything on point. Looked so damn good that I wanted to turn around and holla. By the time I made that decision, her and her two busted lookin’ friends were long gone. Dammit!

I signed up for a few other free estimates, like storm gutters that don’t get clogged up, and a Brinks security system at the recommendation of my homey. Comments were made that the show was kinda small and I agree. There coulda been more booths with a bit more variety. I’m interested in a triple sink and no one there had that. No large appliances. Not much for carpets or furniture. I got better ideas from a trip to Lowes I made a few months back.

Probably the most shocking thing that happened there was the employees at a Sprint booth had no clue what the Palm Pre was. Can you believe that shit? The phone that may be the saving grace of the company, the most buzzed about phone since the iPhone, the only gadget getting major buzz from the most recent CES, one of the most anticipated phones in recent memory, so much so that Palm’s stock price has more than doubled based strictly on speculation, and these idiots didn’t even know it existed till we told them. And you wonder why the company is in the doldrums. Uninformed ass employees. Makes you wonder who they got rid of if they kept these morons.

AAA was there. The auto club, not the mexican lucha libre outfit. Me and my friend plan on doing Disney this year. He wants an annual pass for $341. I want a 3-day, non-expiring, water parks and more pass and I’d do the 4^th park on my birthday for $194. Even with parking my pass comes out to much less than his and it doesn’t expire. His thing is that he thinks it takes more than a day to do a Disney park. Not these days. And if you don’t care for shows, like me, you can do the park in a day since most of their shit is indoors, so you don’t have to worry much about rain. I could be wrong on that though. Regardless, we had a good 15 minute discussion in front of the booth employees on the benefits of each pass. He’s dead set on his and I’m dead set on mine. Hey, his money…

They had some pretty cool looking chairs made out of dead tree branches. Looked like some shit you’d see in Lord of the Rings or something. One lady said she wouldn’t buy one cuz she didn’t wanna get poked by any splinters. She does have a point but the things were shaved and smoothed pretty well (like a pussy is supposed to be). Not like you’d have one at the dinner table, sitting in it every damn day. It’s one of those vanity items to show off. Like a giant king-size bed frame that one person actually thought cost a million bucks cuz it looked so grand. It really cost about $7500 or so, I think. You know, I shoulda took pics of some of these things. Oh well…

They even had animals there. Nope, none that rip faces off like chimps, but they had a poisonous snake, a young raccoon, and a few other animals, like some kind of colorful bird from Australia and a lizard of some type, I don’t remember specifically. They had a tortoise there and the handler said they can get upwards of 300 pounds and live for 150 years. I had no idea that any animal on earth could live for that long. That was probably the most useful bit of knowledge I got out of the show.

The best overall product didn’t have shit to do with home improvement or remodeling. It was a cell phone holder called the clip hanger. Older broad there, varicose veins and all, gave us a full demo and everything and it was legit. Did everything she said it would do. Only thing I don’t like is that once you put it in place, she said it takes a lot of heat, like a hair dryer, to get the adhesive to loosen up. She clipped it on my belt notch and I liked the feel. It can’t get snatched or fall off. Would be good in a car too but you gotta put that shit in the right spot the first time. Put it between your fingers, it won’t go fiddling around. I just may end up buying one for my next phone, the Pre, if it’s on point. But I can verify that the product works as advertised. Didn’t buy one from them right then and there cuz, you know, a nia gotta do his homework.

All in all, I’d say the show wasn’t worth going to. Let me rephrase that. I got good value for my dollar but not as much advertised bang for the buck if that makes sense. People kept saying the bigger one next month or the next couple months is the one to peep. It’s supposed to have everything. Blame the economy for the lack of companies at the booths? I don’t know. Can’t say. I don’t see myself attending anymore home shows. I got all the ideas I need. Not like there wasn’t room in the hall the show was in. There just weren’t many vendors and not enough variety. A small event? Didn’t have to be but that’s what it was. If that was the intention then it’s all wood. But I get the feeling this show could’ve had more and it just didn’t deliver. We got done in a few hours and bounced. Not what I was expecting since I planned on being there for twice as long. Come to think of it, If Sprint could afford to show up, you can’t blame the economy. Their marketing department didn’t approach enough companies? I still don’t know. But here’s the big question and answer: would I recommend this show? I hate to say it but I gotta be honest and say no. I wanted more but got less yet I got my money’s worth. Valentine’s Day to me is just another made up day for retailers and such to get paid but I got half off admission. I ain’t complaining about that.

Ice on my windshield. That’s what I saw during the recent Florida cold snap at the end of last month. Not like us Floridians have scrapers in our cars or anything. So what did I do? Drove as best as I could with all that ice on that motherfucker. Oh yeah, the defrosters were pumping out air (not heat) to the windows but not quick enough. Windshield wipers proved ineffective against the ice. Didn’t wanna use washer fluid cuz that’d just freeze up too. And since I was only driving a few blocks away to get home, it wasn’t a big deal. There were some clear spots I could see through. And it was very early morning. No other cars on the road. So it was safe for the most part. Turned off the defrosters cuz they weren’t helping worth a shit though. If I was driving long distance, then I wouldn’t have moved an inch till I could see normally.

I don’t get how you yankees do it. Puttin’ up with that ice and snow and cold, year after year…fuck that! I couldn’t do it. I keep my roots in Florida for a reason. The thing that gets me most is these old timers keep telling people to let their cars warm up for a few minutes before driving. That’d be true up north cuz everything would be cold and frozen. But down here, cold like that happens very rarely. No need to waste gas, oil, and time letting your car run in idle. Just start it up and go, but be gentle at first. Your car will heat up a lot quicker with everything moving and no harm will be done. These same people that rubbed Benadryl on your gums to shut you up when you were a baby and you’re gonna take their advice? Please…

American Express emailed me asking me to take a survey and if I took it, they’d donate 2 bucks to one of 3 charities. It was pretty much to help improve their service, of which I have no complaints, so I took it to mainly help out a charity. I chose the American Cancer Society cuz I recognize how dangerous the disease is and anything I can do to fund research to find a cure is cool with me. But finding a cure is one thing. Educating people is another. Some cancer is hereditary. Other afflictions occur due to lifestyle choice. You smoke cigs, gars, or weed or do drugs and shit, hang out in smoky environments or in places with crap air quality, you put yourself at risk. That’s why I don’t hang in clubs much anymore. And I don’t go to bars at all. All that second-hand smoke WILL catch up to you.

Aunt Jemima came through with that coupon. Up to $3.50 off the purchase of any of their products. That doesn’t mean you can apply that towards just one. I learned the hard way that you can use the whole coupon value. I bought 2 breakfasts that only totaled to about 3 bucks. I thought the coupon was just gonna get applied to one but it applied to both. I woulda bought one more if I knew I had that extra 50 cents available to me. Now I know.

I’m noticing that there’s some people out there sharing my downloads, preview images, and streaming links on sites that I didn’t post them to myself. I don’t have a prob with this at all and it’s not like they’re taking credit for anything. I understand if you like something, you want others to know about it. But presentation can be an issue. I try to present quality in my shit. But some of these reposts don’t have the full size preview images and all the text isn’t spaced for easy reading. For those of you reposting my work, at least try to make it look presentable. Especially those preview images. Don’t copy and paste the thumbnail. Copy and paste the full size image or the link to the full size image. I offer those previews for a reason; so that people know what they’re downloading. I’m not saying don’t repost. I’m just saying you know how I present it, just do the same for others.

More new tv shows have come and gone and the only survivor this time around was the UK 2-episode series Hunter. Yet another crime drama. Not as good as Above Suspicion but it had its twists and turns. Enough to keep me interested. Getting the first ep was easy via torrent. The 2nd one was a pain cuz only private torrents had it so I had to dl like 7 parts via Rapidshare. I hate that shit but had no choice. But I least I have it and I’ll be streaming it eventually. Plus One isn’t a bad show at all, just not good enough. Huntik lasted a good 4 eps with me until it started wearing thin. Just wasn’t keeping my interest up as the story progressed. Lots of new shows still coming down the pike. Most of them reality tv. Sorry, but I’m not giving many a chance. Actually none of them. Not a lot of quality tv coming out these days. People will say that ideas are running out but I don’t think so. Networks are favoring shows that cost the least to produce, and fill in programming gaps and meet a niche, all the while hoping that these shows will bring ratings and ad dollars and that’s fair. But I’m sure there’s shelves and hard drives full of great ideas that we’ll probably never get to see. You know, there is something called the internet. Fuck the networks, make the shows available exclusively online. If it’s good, people will come.

Anyone else pissed off that we still have to get paper w2’s? In this ‘going green’ era, we still hold on to this antiquated delivery method. Do they not realize how easy it would be to make them available online? Via email and/or a secure site? And from there we could just dl them to our computer which would make life so much easier since a lot of us do our taxes online anyway? And since the world is pushing for us to do our taxes online, wouldn’t it just make sense? Companies could save paper, postage, and time by making them available to those of us that want this option. Some companies do but not enough of them. Your cell phone company, credit card provider, bank, etc are pushing you to go paperless. So why not w2’s? As soon as they’re ready, BAM, their online instantly. No need to wait for them in the mail. No need to risk them getting lost and we all know what a pain in the ass it is to not get those last few w2’s on time or to get a replacement. And then you gotta send emails and make phone calls and shit. Just a complete waste of time that’s totally and completely avoidable. An option for online w2’s needs to become the standard.

I have all mine but I’m waiting to see what happens with Obama’s new bill. Specifically, I wanna know what’s gonna happen with the homebuyer tax credit and if interest rates will be lowered for new homebuyers. I like the idea of getting a credit that I don’t have to pay back cuz I could use that bread for home improvements. In other words, I’d spend the money which is what they want me to do. And getting a 4% fixed interest rate would be so on point. So I’m patiently waiting to see what happens. Things go the way they should, I’ll wait till I move and then file. But I do hope something involving a lower interest rate passes before then along with the tax credit.

Why is Hell’s Kitchen still doing men v. women? Frankly, that formula is a bit sexist and tiring. Why not mix shit up if there’s another season? Mix the men with the women. Have differing age groups or whatever. Anything but men v. women. Hell, do what Survivor did and pit ethnicities against each other. Everyone else v. whites. Now that’d bring some ratings.

I had to work during the Super Bowl. Not that I woulda watched it anyway. I went to a Wal-Mart Supercenter after getting off work and it was only midnight. I’ve never seen that parking lot or the store so empty before. It was me and probably 3 other customers in the whole store cuz I kept running into them while shopping. It was nice to pretty much have the place all to myself without all them damn kids running around and yelling and screaming and crying. Carts and people all in the way and shit. On this rare occasion, it was practically just me and the store. So if you ever want a pleasant Wal-Mart experience, only one night out of the year will grant you some peace. Or just go during/after a huge event or game, televised or local. Most people drink (unfortunately) and on big occasions most likely won’t know when to stop. So that means us sober folk can take advantage of their stupidity. No, not by snatching some dumb drunk bitch who can’t walk straight. But by being where they aren’t.

I’ve learned that since I’m making good money now that I’ll only be getting 20gs in dpa from the county. I was purposely working less hours and not going out in the hopes that I’d still get the full 30gs but since that ain’t gonna happen, I’m putting in more hours and only going out for special occasions. Most recently I went to a Ring of Honor card and wasn’t satisfied with it. So I won’t be attending anymore of their shows. My reasons are stated here on a pro wrestling forum. I’m mainly working the extra hours to put some improvements into my home and to build my savings for other shit, like braces which I’ve needed my whole life. The last vanity purchase I made was for Paradise X tpb vol. 1 and that only cost me 10 bucks. No way was I passing on that deal. Next outing for me is a home show at the local convention center. Deets are in my calendar. Hopefully I’ll find some good ideas and merchants there.