So my driver side window in my car as been acting weirdly. Basically it has not been working in the afternoons and nights. I am guess from the heat. Its a big pain when you have to go in and out of a garage where you need to roll down your window to use your keyfob. I took my car in this morning to Plaza Lexus in St Louis. They gave me a loaner car like they always do. I walked out of the service bay with the service writer looking for the loaner car. The porter said it was one of the three cars in front of the building. We couldn’t find it so asked the porter. He said it was the one we were in front of even though my key said 3 and this one was 13. It started right up with the keyless ignition fob in my hand so I didn’t think anything. The gas also matched what my paperwork said which was between 1/2 and a 1/4 so I assumed this was it.  I drove away and hopped on I-270. I noticed that I had a bunch of alerts. The first two being oil change and filter needed. Thought this was pretty weird being its a dealers car. The third one said “no key.” I immediately moved the key closer but assumed that the diagnostic screen was messed up since I was now 5 miles away from the dealer and the car started. I got to my office after a 30 minute drive then tried to lock the car with the key fob. It wouldn’t lock. I then tried to start it and it did not. Looks like I did have the wrong car. So how did the thing start the first time. Either the porter had the key in his pocket or even scarier possibility is that the car was close enough to the office that it picked up the key fob. We were probably 15 or 20 ft away so not sure the range. What is scary about that is what if that was your unlocked car in your driveway. A kid or a thief could go start your car while you were watching TV in the house. Why did the car not shut down once out range of the car? Pretty odd.

• I have not played video games since I came back from Chile almost two months ago. Pretty odd considering I was addicted before I left.
• I can not get on top of my DVR situation.  I have my DVR 75% full which is about 900 GB. I have complete seasons of Chuck, Dollhouse, Tudors, Flash Forward, V, and probably others. I have over 5 episodes each of Simpsons, Parks and Recreations, The Middle, American Dad, America – The Story of Us, and many others.
• I do not know what to think about this shift from the Big 12. I thought it was a money issue but I read last week that MU has gotten around $22 million a year in the Big 12 revenue sharing program where the Big 10 programs get 20 million. Doesn’t make sense. It sounds like the whole league could fold if MU and Nebraska leave which is eerie. I read a stupid article yesterday that said KU and K State would be out to dry. Both are major sports programs so I am sure they will have no problem finding their way into a strong conference.
• I love that I somehow got new HD channels with Charter. I believe 6 in total. Comedy Central is huge and the Disney channel is not bad. Bravo is also a big one even though I do not watch any shows from there. My girl friend can now watch Drop Dead Diva in HD on Lifetime now too.
• I had a brief stroll down Wash Ave last night and saw a lot of development started back up again. The market that was started before Culinaria opened looked to be going again and almost finished. There is also a convenient store next to Lucas Park being built. Copia looks to open any day and the Vodka bar next door to Copia is open.
• The Lakers Celtics series is pretty good but I think the referees are deterring from the game. There has been a lot of missed calls in terms of fouls….more than normal on both sides. It seems life refs automatically call a foul if the player falls down but don’t call one when players get whacked in arm. The 2  minute replay review needs to be looked at because the Odom-Rondo reversal was ridiculous. Rondo fouled Odom (and it was easy to see) on a rebound that made Odom knock the ball out of bounds. The refs originally called it Lakers ball and reversed. Obviously he would not have knocked it out of bounds if Rondo would not have knocked is right hand off the ball.
• Looking forward to Vegas. More and more people keep signing up plus I can’t wait to hang out with friends I have partied with in a while.

My girlfriend and I went to some of the Augusta, MO wineries on Saturday for a friend’s 30th bday party. My girlfriend had been planning it for the past month. She decided on the Mount Pleasant winery since this same group had such a blast last year at the same winery. The weather was amazing. There was barely a cloud in the sky and the temperature was in the mid 80′s.

Unfortunately, Mt Pleasant was a huge disappointment. We were the first group to basically get there at 11:30. We grabbed some tables and went back to the entrance for the tasting. Upon looking at the list, we realized that the choices were pretty dismal. We were told that the sweet wines were moved to Branson but we could still buy them at local stores like Walmart. My big problem is why would you not offer all the wines even though they might be made at different locations? I just got back from Chile and went to several wineries where they made only certain wines at each locations but all the locations carried all the wines. Don’t you want to market your products? Especially in Mt Pleasant’s instance that their Augusta location has always been their bread and butter location (in my eyes). This was huge for us since my girlfriend and I both prefer Merlots. The second big problem was the winery changed their policy and did not allow food to be brought in. Thus we were told after being there for an hour that we needed to take our food out to our cars. Every single table had food and was equally distraught. They told us we could buy food at the market. The problem with this statement was that the normal market was under renovation so they didn’t even offer winery basics like meat and cheese plates. Instead they offered pulled pork sandwiches which they supposedly ran out of anyway. We continued to eat our food out of protest (along with everyone else) until we were told again a hour later. We argued that they did not state their no food policy on their webpage not are they providing an alternative source for food. They explained it was a trash issue which is just hogwash….that is the logistics of running a business. The other big issue I failed to mention was the price of the wine. It was outrageous. We were buying $33 bottles of wine which is ridiculous. Like everyone else, we decided to go somewhere else. It was actually pretty sad because the place had probably 4 or 5 small groups at 3 o’clock on a perfect day. Their policy has to be a losing proposition in their revenue plan. I know they lost a couple hundred dollars from our group of 15 since we went somewhere else.

We went to Sugar Creek because we heard from other groups that they allow food. We were a little worried that we were not going to get a table being so late. We arrived just as a group was leaving to secure a table so it was pretty awesome. The place was packed. There was a band, all the tables were packed, and even the grass was full of people on blankets. It was a great atmosphere. People even brought their own tables and chairs. We had a huge spread so it was good that we could enjoy it here. Plus we got two bottles of wine for $31 and it was better tasting so goodness all around. Also, Sugar Creek specifically stated their policy on what can and can not be brought unlike Mt Pleasant. I would definitely go back.

The one other issue I had with both wineries was their no outside water policy. I understand trying to prohibit liquor, sodas, and other liquids but water? It promotes safety when it comes to alcohol. Especially in the hot sun. Even Busch Stadium (the mother of all rip offs) allows you to bring in water. Even more is that their was another DD checkpoint on 94 which has to hurt business for the winery. I was responsible and had only one glass of wine at both locations but brought a group of people that was drinking. Should I be punished by having to buy water when I am bringing revenue to their business? I think not.

Here are my thoughts on Lost and my experience as we hit the stretch run for the final episode.

I first started watching Lost right before the second season started. My friend Matt kept telling me that I needed to watch this show. Especially since I was depressed that HBO’s Carnivale was not picked up for a 2^nd season. Carnivale was the first show I really got extremely into and read a lot online about theories and what not. So I downloaded (I know but this was before they were online) the first season of Lost and watched all the episodes straight in 3 days while I was on a business trip. I was addicted and could not wait till the second season.

The first two seasons of Lost were the best for me. It took two seasons to get a full understanding of the main characters back stories and see how everything was related. All the other seasons are just filler now that I see how the series is ending. The reason I say this is because it seems like the writers kept throwing out more and more questions which seem like they will never be answered. I know I hate to think this but the show would have been perfect in 3 seasons. Going into this last season, I was expecting it to be jammed pack with action and finally understanding what was going on with this island. Instead, the writer chose to continue with a lot of fluff and give half answers. I may seem upset and I am but I have come to the reality like many other Lost followers that it is not the intention of the writers to provide answers. Instead they want to focus on the theme of redemption. It a great storyline but it makes it seem like a lot of the episodes and what we thought we major occurrences and plotlines were worthless. This is why I think the show would have been better in 3 years. The Lost blogs keep referencing the idea that the 1^st season was written so the show could have ended hitting the writer’s storyline if it wasn’t picked up for a second season. I agree that it is possible after looking at some of the facts.

Even though I am complaining about the ending, I am going to be so disappointed to never have Lost again in my life. I know that sounds creepy and weird but I have never been into a show this much. It is the one show that I have to see as soon as it is on. It is also a show I spent countless hours reading about online and discussing with my friends. This is why it is the best show ever! The downfall of the show is that you basically can’t start in the middle thus why viewer ratings went down every year (even though I did convince two coworkers to watch all the episodes in a couple months before the start of this season…and they loved it). It is also another reason why the show should have only been 3 seasons.

And one theory that I can’t wait to find the answer to about the show is why the island was sunk in the beginning of this season. Everyone has speculated because the people found a way to kill Flock, MIB, or whatever you want to call him. The last episode gave a new possibility that the MIB can use Desmond to destroy the island. Is it possible that Lost could end with a sad ending?…I hope not but Carnivale did which made we crave it even more.

I can’t wait till Sunday and dreading it all at the same time!

I was recommended this Yahoo article earlier in the night about things not to buy in 2010. There was a couple items in the list that intrigued me thus I looked it up. Overall, I highly agree with 8 out of these 10 items but totally disagree with the other 2.

I disagree with the Smartphone logic. This articles logic seems to be that you should only buy an iPhone or a Blackberry because they are the market leader. I bet ever consumer electronic company wishes that everyone followed this ideology on market leaders. Unfortunately, that is not the case. The iPhone was once a disruptive product and earned its market share from Motorala and Blackberry. What makes new smart phones incapable of doing this? This topic is even more hot since CES is this week and Google’s Nexus One was unveiled. There are plenty of new phones out there to cut into Blackberry and Apple’s market share.

The other one I disagree with even more is their theory about SLRs. Larger and better cameras have always been around albeit more expensive. Compact camera became popular because their ease of use, good quality, and small size. This concept still holds true today. You can’t tell me that every girl in the world wants to carry around a SLR in their purse instead of a small compact! They even disprove their theory by saying “Canon’s digital compact cameras start at $110, while the SLRs start at $570.” The average consumer is not going to buy a SLR when they can get a good picture out of a $100 camera. What the article fails to call out and which also goes back to the smart phone logic is that I can see the compact camera losing popularity in the years to come as phones are starting to have standard 5MP or more cameras. With that said, I still don’t see people getting rid of the compacts in the next couple years.

5 out of the items I believe should have been on the list for 2009 or earlier. I guess this writer is out of touch with technology….or at least behind. For example, I haven’t had a friend with a home phone line in 10 years.

First off, I have always been a huge fan of Microsoft. Ive own their stock for multiple years and have always been a huge fan of their operating systems. I also was a huge fan of Xbox 360. I thought it has been ground breaking and offered more features than PS3.

Lately, I have been rethinking my stance. Enough that I haven’t installed my Windows 7 that I preordered. The reason for this spite is that my Xbox 360 Elite quit working last month. Everyone knows that Microsoft has experienced a huge problem with defective units due to overheating. I bought an elite almost 2 years ago because it had the new processor that ran at a lower temperature and was quiet. Well, I turned it on last month to watch a DVD and I got two red lights. I looked it up and saw that it was an overheating issue. I knew they extended the warranty to 3 issues for an overheating issue. 2 out of 3 people I know with an Xbox had to send theirs in to get fixed. So I filed a warranty claim to find out that I did not have the “right” overheating problem (i.e. The Red Ring of Death). What is up with that? How can there be more than one over heating issue and have different warranty periods? It cost $100 to send in to Microsoft to get repaired which I thought was totally crazy. Why would I pay for half the cost of a new one to run into the possibility that it would just fail again? My next thing was to take it apart to clean it. I did that and it still overheated. It had no dirt on the fans anyway. I also took off the heat sinks and applied new thermal compound based on possible fixes I read but that did not work either. So that leaves me with a tough decision. I really like having a Xbox and have a ton of money invested in it with Rock Band songs. I also really want to get the new Call of Duty but am struggling with the idea of buying a new one to have the same problem again. I might just buy a Wii because it rocks and a PS3 because I can play COD and also the new upcoming Gran Turismo.

All I can say is how can Microsoft have allowed such a nightmare? They have basically lost a huge fan and purchaser of their products.

I told my brother a while ago that I would post this but I forgot. My brother is selling his 4-wheeler. Here is a link to the craigslist add. Please contact him through craigslist or me if you are interested.

I am not having a very good couple weeks in fantasy sports. I am currently playing the elder Rengel brother in the finals in baseball. We were by far the best two teams in the league. I snuck by as regular season champion while the #3 person in our league was 33 games behind me. The reason for my dominance was two fold. I drafted early for pitching and ended up with a bunch of studs. I got the AL and NL Cy Young pitchers plus a bunch of other solid starters as well as top notch closers. I believe I have 4 or 5 of the top pitchers ranked with quality starts so I think I did well. On the batting side, it could have been a disaster. All my top picks were somewhat busts. I got Hanley Ramirez in the 1st pick which was pretty good but it would have been better to get Pujols based on my team makeup. Nate Mclouth, Verson Wells and Matt Holliday were all 1st half busts but they did step it up in the 2nd half. My three biggest surprises were Mark Reynolds, Russel Branyon, and Adam Jones. All did well and carried my team. Maurer and Abreu did better than expected too. With that said, my late season downfall has occurred partly because of injury. Both Branyon and Jones are out for the year and were major contributors to a lot of hitting categories. On the pitching side, I lost Santanna who was a strikeout king.

All in all, I still thought I had a chance in the finals even though my opponent had over twice as many starters than I had. Because of this, I had to pick up and drop players. I have not done good at this. My opponent last week got lucky with every pick but I have not had the same. Luckily my regular players have been amazing so I am still winning in ERA and Whip but cant compete with K or Wins. Last night was the last straw when my opponent had 4 guys pitching and got 3 wins, 33 Ks and a good WHIP and ERA. He had one guy that I never even heard of get 16 Ks. He did have Arroyo who is part of the Ballgate scandal……lol. I am trying to catch up in assists, wins, and Ks but don’t think I have a chance. Also, my hitters have just all gone cold. Not very many homers or SBs. It funny that I once had 20 SBs in one week and now cant even get 5 in two weeks.

Fantasy Football is a complete disaster. My team scored a combined total in weeks 2 and 3 of what it did in week 1. My strategy of getting defensive players early did not pay off and I ended up with a lot of guys that are not doing well. My wide receiver and running backs are all weak. This will about sum up my experience so far….I dropped  Gores backup running back last week because he was getting no touches even though I just felt like Gore was going to get hurt. I pick up a guy who ends up getting me zero points while Gore does end up getting hurt.

In conclusion, I think I am getting sick of fantasy sports. There is no reason to play anymore. It use to be fun amongst our friends but the fun has died. There is absolutely no “trash talking” between players when we play each other so what is the point. No one even congratulates the winner of the league once the season is over. I thought placing wagers would help but the amount we bet is so low that it really doesn’t make a difference. If I had it my way, we would only have a league of our close friends (no matter how small the league) and have some bet that means something (and I’m not thinking momentary wise). It would need to be something like doing something that they would not want to do or some type of ritual. We need a new commish like David Stern or Gary Bettman to spruce up the league.

So I am back on a new “health” kick. Hopefully it will last. I have really done a poor job with my workout in the last year. It had actually gone downhill ever since I started school but I at least worked out somewhat regularly the first two years but basically gave up the last year. I thought that I would get back into it once I finished in May but injuries, sicknesses, and lack of will have prevented me. To put it in perspective (since I log all my workouts), I have been to the gym to lift weights twice in the past two months. I’ve been twice this week so I already eclipsed my total for a while.

I don’t think I’m on a specific diet so you can call it the Eric diet. It’s a mix of low carb with a lot of fruit.

Breakfast

I normally eat a banana or yogurt first thing in the morning then follow it up with a scoop of protein in a shake around 9AM. I do eat some hard boiled eggs during the week. On weekend, I always make up some omelets.

Lunch

My goal is to bring my lunch 3 times a week which should be easy. I have more of a problem eating at the office on Mondays and Fridays so I am going to allow them. When I go out, I hope to eat a high protein mixed salad. When I stay in, I normally eat “meat rollups” with sharp cheddar and chicken/roast beef combination. The funny thing is that I bought bread for the first time in forever last week for lunch and ended up taking it off. I like the rollups. I also mixed in some hard boiled eggs.

Pre Workout

I having been eating a granola bar but I would like to mix in a protein shake. I realized that this pre-workout meal was one of the main things prohibiting me from working out in the past. There is a dilemma in that I am hungry when I get home so if I eat dinner after getting home then  too full to make the gym before it closes. If I wait, I feel too hungry to workout. So I need something that holds me over.

Post Workout

A protein shake.

Dinner

I am going for a high protein meal at dinner. I have been eating a lot of sirloin kabobs lately. I like the mix of other items with the steak compared to a normal plain steak. As a side, I have been eating either plain broccoli or broccoli with rice and cheddar cheese. I have also been eating a lot of pulled pork salads. I have a ton of vacuum packed bags of pulled pork that I buy from a guy at work. I have been following up these meals with mixed fruit. The good thing about Culinaria is that they sell all these different kinds of mixed fruit containers from $2.50 to $4. They are expensive but I love fruit. They are a variety of Berry or Melon assortments. I am chickened out so will take a break from baked chicken. I keep buying it but never use it.

Goals

I have a couple mains goals in which I do not want to do. They are (1) do not eat out of the refrigerated vending machine at work. I have been eating turkey sandwiches for breakfast the past month which isn’t bad but I want to stay away from that thing since there are so many other good items in there (2) no fast food (3) no eating after 8PM. This rule worked good for me in college but really failed at it since.

Workout

I am trying to keep my workout simple (at least at first) so I stay motivated. My goal is to do three sets of two muscle groups each day then follow that up with a 15 to 20 min run on the elliptical. I am basically cutting out 4 or 5 exercises a day so knocking out another 20 or 30 mins from my previous workouts. I am going to try to go every day that I can. For now, I do not want to lift weights 3 days in a row so I will do abs and run on the third day. My Day 1 workout is chest/shoulder, Day 2 is triceps/legs, Day 3 is biceps/back.

So I fractured my thumb last night in the first minute of our last basketball game. I tried to make a steal and jammed it. It was supposedly really loud. Enough for the ref and the players to question if I was okay. It didn’t hurt at first but it hurt more and more as the game went on. I woke up to it being blue so I went to get a x-ray and they confirmed my suspicion.