Welcome to hell!!!

With this entry marks the end of my two week vacation from work. It has been well saved up for the past two years, and well used. The whole E3 experience I detailed a couple entries ago was a blast as usual, and even though I had one of those post-jet lag colds up until yesterday, I didn't let it bog me down as I was still pretty active throughout the week.

This week was pretty fun actually, minus my vehicle almost screwing up. When I had my last oil change two months ago they said my battery was producing a low output in voltage or something to that affect and recommended that I have it replaced before winter starts or it'll probably die out on me. It didn't start a few days ago, and it just did that 'click' noise and not even a single engine rev. Thought it was the battery dying out at a bit earlier than expected. Went and bought a new battery with my dad and had it replaced and it still made the same click sound with a brand new battery. Didn't know what was going on now, Dad said he thinks its my starter, so I got it jumped and took it to a mechanic and got a full checkup/diagnostics check and he said nothing is wrong with it and the starter is fine. It's been fine since and have no idea what to expect. I'm not very car-literate but my only theory is that it might've been a dead battery and the jump is what my vehicle needed to recognize the new battery. Blah, damn car problems!

Other than that incident and my cold, it has been a fine week. Actually hold that thought, other negative stuff has happened but it really isn't getting the best of me. The weather has been pretty crummy up here lately, we should be averaging upper 70s/low 80s for highs in May here in North Dakota, but its been pretty chilly overall with highs mostly settling in the upper 50s/low 60s range. I swear April was warmer than May, I don't think that has ever happened before here. Also, my sister Jane had to go to the hospital to get some gallstones removed in surgery, I visited her last night and she seems to be recovering fine, just some nasty bad luck.

I have been spending a bit of time with family and friends this week, and still have enough time to myself so I haven't been feeling like I have been out and about too much. Went for some happy hour wings and drinks with my dad one night. Was a good night of talk and drinks. Hung out with Steve on Friday for awhile, we had a close back and fourth game in ESPN NFL 2K5 goin. His Chargers tied the game up 28 all with 12 secs left in the 4th quarter, and he then kicked off and I had time for one play with the Saints. Steve must notta picked his defense wisely as I simply did a play action pass to Joe Horn on a streak, and he blazed it all the way downfield for a TD. I celebrated the unexpected win, but Steve was pissed and turned off the system before I had a chance to save the win to my profile. What a prick!

In the midst of all these activities I still managed to write two reviews this week too. For some reason I have been reviewing a bit of portable games lately, mostly PSP games actually as I got my fourth one in here. I also got my first new GBA review done for the first time since around the end of 2003. Just click on the links for my latest two reviews here:

ATV Offroad Fury: Blazin' Trails (PSP)
Racing Gears Advance (GBA)

Gotta spend some time with both my sisters too. Stayed up late and watched a movie with Ann & Mike one night, and just kinda chilled at home with all the family another night and visited for awhile. Hung out with Chris and Joe a bit too this week. Did many of gaming and movie marathons. We watched National Treasure last night. Nicholas Cage's first good film in a while, and yes it is better than Sahara. I'll go about ***1/2 stars on it. Also relived some of my older favorite sports comedy flicks as I watched Major League 2 & 3 again with Chris. Saw two movies at the theatre this past week too.

As noted before I saw Revenge of the Sith and just a couple days ago I saw the new Longest Yard. I didn't think Adam Sandler would've been the greatest role to play as QB, but he filled Burt Reynolds' shoes nicely, and I dig the supporting cast too. Got a kick on how they make Kevin Nash out to be a wuss for a lot of the film. Adam Sandler knows his football movies, and I'll go for a solid **** stars on this one. I also saw the original on DVD the day before the remake so I knew what to expect. I wasn't expecting much out of a 31 year old football movie, but it held up surprisingly well, with a more darker, less comedic story and some very well produced football scenes. Only part that puzzled me must of been some old football rule where they called a "field goal" a "dropkick" in the original. Still very enjoyable, but I'll still rate it the same as the remake with **** stars as well. Only thing I wanted out of the remake was the return of the infamous "ESPN8: The Ocho," but coverage from ESPN2 will have to suffice instead. Also watched Pauley Shore is Dead a few days ago. Not a big Shore fan, but this was ok and the constant rollout of the dozens of cameos made this cookie-cutter storyline a mildly enjoyable flick that I'll generously give ** stars.

I believe that covers this week. Kudos to you if you managed to read this far again. 'twas a great vacation, and now time to start another fun-filled two years of work without a break.

-Dale out!