Merry Christmas!!

So, the planes mentioned in my previous post flew over our house the next day (15 Nov). I think they were flying over the Air Force Academy. One was a copper plane with tiger stripes and the others were blue with tiger stripes. Very neat!

Oh... and Merry Christmas to everyone!

Silly construction workers...

I can't imagine these guys DIDN'T know what they were doing. They were installing a sign for some company called "Compass". They decided to wait to install the "p" until after their lunch break. Unfortunately, while watching this, I missed getting a picture of the two F-14s that flew over. They were painted with tiger stripes. One was copper and the other was blue... VERY COOL.

Okay... I've REALLY got nothing...

So, I ran into these at the Peterson Commissary. I did a double take trying to determine what these things were... according to the package, they are "Scented Beans". I guess the people who designed the packaging intended for them to be sold in a different kind of store, perhaps.

A different kind of urgent care...

So, I saw this while I was driving down Academy Blvd in Colorado Springs and saw this sign. It's a little tough to read, but says, "Complete Pizza and Beer Care Provided. Walk-ins Welcome"

Fog coming down the mountains

This was the view of the mountains from the office. The fog had rolled in and covered the mountains completely, then slowly burned off. About 10 minutes later, the sky was blue and everything was clear. Reminds me of San Francisco.

Mmmm.... Tossed Salad

How do you prefer your salad? Tossed? This was an eatery at the Prudential Center mall in Boston...

Things that are new: Candy Corn Hershey's Kisses

To round out our trio of "new" things that really don't sound good today, we have Candy Corn Hershey's Kisses. I was expecting white chocolate with a candy corn flavor. Instead, I got something that looked like a candy corn, tasted a little like candy corn, but wasn't the same material. I guess if you like candy corn, this one is for you. Otherwise, it's a novelty and about as good as the candy corn Jone's soda. 3 out of 10 in my book... others rated it higher since they love candy corn.

Things that are new: Pumpkin Spice Hershey's Kisses

Another item that doesn't sound so good. For these, I think the bottom line is, if you like pumpkin pie, you MIGHT like these. They aren't great, but are far better than the Skittles. I give them a 6 out of 10 since they are original and slightly tasty.

Things that are new: Chocolate Mix Skittles

Found these at a KMart. The idea really just sounds bad. After tasting the "S'mores" and "Brownie Batter", I think my instincts were right on... 1 out of 10 on the goodness scale. Vanilla tastes like something besides the title. Chocolate caramel sorta tastes like it sounds. One thing is for sure, I wouldn't want to eat these in a dark theater... the flavors don't go well together and are not good. Save your money and avoid this one!

Colorado Balloon Festival

From 8/31/08: The annual Colorado Springs balloon festival.

So many things come to mind...

This is a picture from a couple of months ago... never managed to get it on the blog. Let's see, where to start... both books by the same author... titles go good together. They were sitting just like this on a shelf in a book store in the airport. Feel free to use the comments to post what you think.

Mommy, what are those monkies doing?

No comment needed...

Odd street graffiti

I saw this on the corner near Starbucks in downtown Colorado Springs. I think it had to do with the Senior Open. I noticed a few others later, but never quite figured out what they were... anyway, a dolphin coming out of a golf green.

Cake or death?

Cake please! Russ and I went to see Eddie Izzard tonight. He was very good. After the show, he came out and spent some time answering questions. He was very nice about answering the odd questions.
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blogged from mobile using Nokia 6680 and gmail

autobots in colorado

I saw this car parked at Schriever. Thought it was funny.
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blogged from mobile using Nokia 6680 and gmail

little or crazy

Russ found this place. Not sure what they're selling. Could be some small rocky mountain oysters.

They're crazy or worse...

At Costco they had this package of nuts. So, either it reads "Everyone is nuts" or worse, "Everyone's (possessive) nuts." The fact that they are from California doesn't really help clarify anything. So, either way, I'm not going to eat everyone's nuts.
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blogged from mobile using Nokia 6680 and gmail

What's your pleasure? How about CPR.

I arrived in LA Thursday morning. I spent the day trying to get some work done. I was barely successful. When I got to the hotel, I noticed several oddly dressed women in the lobby. They had on more than the average amount of leather. I didn't think much of it, this is LA. Later that evening, I went to the gym. That's where I saw the sign in the picture... "Welcome to DOMCON". Based on what I'd seen, I guessed that meant dominatrix conference. The next morning, while at breakfast, I heard a couple of women talking about the conference. They were specifically talking about the CPR class. I guess if your client has a dodgey heart, that training will come in handy!

"World's greatest burger..." Not

We flew back from DC on Monday. Since we flew on American from National, we were presented with the option of getting a burger from Fuddruckers. It seemed like a good idea since they usually have good food. We got our burgers and were slightly disappointed with the hockey pucks we received. It made me wish we'd flown another airline to go out of the gates by Five Guys which actually has the best burgers.
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blogged from mobile using Nokia 6680 and gmail

Things that are new: Mint crisp M&Ms

We found these at the commissary the other day. They are the Indiana Jones special edition. The flavor is a bit odd, but overall not too bad. I give them a 7 out of 10. Worth a try.
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blogged from mobile using Nokia 6680 and gmail

Things that are new: wildly cherry M&Ms

We found these at the Davis store in Fairfax Station. On a scale of 10, we all thought they were good and gave them a 8.5. Definately worth a try.

10 miles to go

A search for Cheerwine in Virginia lead to a long drive to get a buy one get one free dozen Krispy Kreme donuts. After passing through Lorton, Wes said "it's like ten more miles..." he was right. The drive was worth it for hot Krispy Kreme though. The bad news was that they don't give free samples anymore. Cheap bastards!

Jodi likes sausage...

This is the first time I've been into the "D" terminal in Las Vegas. As Russ and I walked to the other terminal, we say this place. Nothing like a sausage kingdom.

What is this?

It would probably make a good background on the computer. Use comments to guess what it is. Best guess gets a gift card.

EDIT 01 Apr 2008: Only one guess??? I guess that's enough. Rhondi was pretty close! It's actually ice on the sliding glass door at the back of our house. The south side of our house was completely covered in ice the other morning... the front was perfectly clear. The temperature kept going up and down during the morning... one minute things would melt, the next it would freeze solid. I guess I'll be sending her a gift card! :)

balloons in the sky

On the way to work today, this is what I saw. Two got air balloons taking off.

Tasty snacks...

This is one of the things they were serving at the Marriot for our team meeting. Mmmm... mouse. I hope the chef had a different menu!

I think there's feces in the hot tub

That's what I heard when I walked back into my hotel last night. I stayed at the Embassy suites just south of Disney world in Anaheim. The hotel is focused on Disney and had a ton of families staying there. So, put a bunch of excited kids in a pool of warm water, and surprise! there's feces in the water. On a related topic, USAToday reported that the ACLU is outraged that the postal service is tracking people's mail. I'm mad that they aren't tracking mine! I keep getting mail from my neighbor and people living on the other side of town. Who knows where my mail is going! Anyway, here's a picture of the lion and waterfall in the lobby of my hotel.

More odd things in Vegas

First, I'd like to share that I finally have a mobile blogging solution. Google now has an even more simple email gateway. Check out mobile.blogger.com for details. Using gmail from my phone them allows me to send emails easily. Formatting is limited, but I can post quick images and text.

Anyway, on to the strange. Today is my last day in Vegas following 9 days of classes and conference. My flight home leaves at 11:00p. That left me a few hours to wander around. My coworker, Amy, was in the same situation. We went to a few hotels to shop and see what was new. In short, not much new. We ended up at the Hilton to see the Star Trek museum and ride. The museum is neat. The employees are a little scary. The rides a bit lame (although better than when I was there in 2000... There are two now.) As a little background, the opening key note speaker was Craig Furguson from the late late show. One of the lines he used over and over was "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas... in other words, enjoy your hooker." Pretty funny.

Anyway, during the first ride, Amy said to me, "We can't tell anyone that we spent our free time at the Star Trek exhibit." I said, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." She replied, "Enjoy your hooker."

As we were exiting the first ride, we both noticed a rather attractive young woman that looked very out of place at the Star Trek museum. She was dressed in a very nice black dress. She was with a much older man that was wearing an aloha shirt. They were very touchy feely in a bad way. I asked Amy if she thought he was her father, husband, or "uncle". Her response... "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." I think she might have been spot on...

More from Vegas

Here's another picture from the "Which one is Pink?" Pink Floyd tribute concert from the annual Pink Elephant conference.

Pink Floyd at Pink Elephant

(published from mobile)

Strange Days in Vegas

So, the Pink Elephant conference continues...
I'm sitting in the Bellagio with Amy. She's drinking Coors Light and we're eating risotto while watching a Pink Floyd concert from a tribute band.... it doesn't get any stranger than this!

Pink Elephant Conference

Did I mention I am in Vegas for the Pink Elephant IT Service Management conference?? Well, Pink Elephant is the name of the company that provides training in IT Service Management (also known as ITIL). Well, as part of the opening session, the president of Pink Elephant arrived in dramatic style... see below.

Odd things at Borders

Borders was selling this... thought it was "different"... we could all use a Summer Hummer :)

Hokie in Vegas

I've been in Vegas for over a week... while driving around on Monday I saw a BMW with the licence plate below. I guess Hokies are everywhere!