Lobster Bake in the Burbs

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of being invited out to the suburbs for a delicious lobster bake at my friend Tom's place. He was gracious in scoring all of the remaining lobsters at his local grocery store (to the dismay of the woman in line behind him, he claims), and preparing them with a delicious butter sauce for dipping. Along with the grilled corn and baked potatoes, it was a fabulous way to end the summer.

It made me think - I need to prepare lobsters more often.

I rarely cook seafood at home, and never think to cook anything still alive - lobsters, crabs, clams - I just feel that I'd prefer to leave that to the experts and eat it in restaurants.

But lobster prices are extremely competitive these days, and they seem easy enough to cook if I have the stomach to boil a living crustacean. I'm not sure that I do, but perhaps after a glass of wine or two...

Bummed by Lunch

One of the greatest parts about working downtown is the multitude of lunch options. I'm sure I won't feel this way after a few more month here, but it seems that every day, I'm trying a new establishment.

I remember hearing about some interesting pushcart in Downtown Crossing that sold Latin American sandwiches with green beans on them. I thought I would take a stroll a few blocks in that direction, just to see what I could find.

As I was on hold with my eye doctor (I needed to reschedule an appointment), I saw a restaurant that had an enticing menu posted. I was planning to order some chicken kabobs when I started pacing on the sidewalk outside, still on hold with the doctor's office.

I happened to stroll back past a storefront called Chacarero. It's a small Chilean restaurant that serves sandwiches...with green beans on them.

Cool, I thought! This must be the place!

Turns out that they started as a push cart in Downtown Crossing, and have expanded into this location.

I ordered a small chicken and beef sandwich, which came on a lightly salted bun, and was served with guacamole, tomatoes, muenster cheese, and hot sauce. There was also a large sandwich available, but the small was too big itself, I can't imagine what a large would have looked like.

I sat down to enjoy the sandwich, and was...kinda underwhelmed, unfortunately. I felt like the interesting flavor combination was still missing something. Salt? Garlic? Secret Sauce? I don't know. But it didn't make my taste buds sing and dance. Total bummer. I thought I discovered a delicious sandwich place, the likes of which were far from Southie, Quincy, Kenmore Square, and anywhere else I might have been paid to show up.

While I'm sure it's a popular establishment (there is a page of testimonials on their website), I must say that I'll probably just wish them well, figure many others will enjoy their food, and have to find myself walking elsewhere for midday eats. No ill will toward them - it just wasn't for me.

United States of Beef

I grilled a few steaks on Sunday, and thought that this one looked suspiciously like the continental United States (well, minus Texas and Florida).

If I start seeing the Virgin Mary in a bag of potato chips, I'm going to be concerned.

Perfect Weekend

What a perfect Labor Day weekend!

I'm home...
...not dealing with traffic whatsoever
...spending time with friends and Rosie
...grilling steaks later
...catching up on some reading
...have the windows open, ocean breeze pushing through my place
...still wearing shorts, but feel the autumn air approaching

...and getting ready for some football!

Another Home Run

As far as I can tell, my softball season has finally ended. No more league play, and no more tournaments (to my knowledge). It was a fun ride!

This week, we placed 6th in the tournament (out of 39 teams in our division), and had a great 6-2 run, best of all six Boston entries. I batted .500 over the eight games, and somehow cranked a home run and a triple over two unsuspecting left center fielders during our final two games. Along with my walkoff game winning single in Game 3, I had a pretty exciting series.

Toward the end of the week, I started feeling the dreaded tickle in the back of my throat, and awoke in a pool of sweat on Friday morning, thanks to a fever that kicked in and then broke. The fact that my two extra base hits came while sick makes me wonder if I shouldn't play ill more frequently.

I was set to return on AirTran's Sunday evening MKE-BOS nonstop flight, but instead found a cheap $120 one way fare on Midwest for their Saturday nonstop, and decided to head home a day early for some needed extra rest. A day trip to Chicago would have been fun, as would have been a photo trip around Milwaukee. Unfortunately, I had to skip both of those options. Hence, no photos!

Softball Tournament

After a week of futzing around on the bus during my new commute to Chinatown, I decided to clear out of Boston and hit up a softball tournament instead.

Actually...this trip had been planned for months, and I was lucky enough to have been granted this week off by my new employers (albeit an unpaid week, but that's only fair given the short duration of my time with the company thus far).

Our bracket has 39 teams from across North America (well, just Canada and the U.S.), and in the round robin games, we went 3-0 to earn a 5th place seeding in the actual tournament, which begins today.

We ended up winning the final game on a walkoff game-winning single that I hit with two outs and two strikes! Normally that kind of pressure might have caused me to think a bit too much, but since the game was tied and it would have either ended that way or we would have won, I approached the at-bat pretty lightheartedly. Nothing to lose. Smack the ball and run fast to first, which is what happened. Run scored, I was safe, game over.

But every game is a new one - and we still have six more to win if we'd like to win the title.

Props to the MBTA

So, my week of MBTA adventure customer service has taken a surprising turn.

I received an email on Wednesday morning from someone in their systems department, asking for more detail about my issue. I didn't have a chance to call back until Thursday afternoon. When we spoke, I learned that somehow a different Charlie Card was credited with my online transaction, and this probably caused the glitch. He asked if I had a second Charlie Card in my wallet at the time (which I didn't), as he attempted to troubleshoot.

I asked him if they monitored bloggers and twitterrers since he responded so quickly. Turns out that they do! He has a Google Alert set up, which caught my posting. Kudos for reaching out to me so quickly.

The second surprising turn was what I received in the mail yesterday - a new Charlie Card with a stored value of $16, and a letter apologizing for the inconvenience. What I expected to take four weeks (if at all), took two days. Just when I thought that I would be buried under public bureaucracy, I was pleasantly shocked.

The MBTA takes its lumps every day, but they deserve credit where credit is due. Thanks.

The Death of My Charlie Card

Usually trips on the MBTA's system of buses and subways are more adventurous for me than they should be.

Now that I am working downtown, I have the pleasure of stepping out my front door, walking a block to the bus stop, and riding that same bus all the way to the work. It's a simple commute. The bus isn't swamped, and thus far attaining a seat has not been an issue.

Paying for my rides, however, is a taller task.

Now that the MBTA allows for online registration and replenishment of Charlie Cards, I figured that I would be adventurous and fill my card over the weekend and be good-to-go until I receive my September monthly bus pass from the office.

One would assume that tying a $10 purchase to a specific Charlie Card would send me on my way. Sadly, that is not the case.

Little did I know that after charging $10 online on Sunday, I would then have to tap my card at any MBTA machine located...at a T stop.

The problem here is that I take the bus. No subway.

So, I step on the bus on Monday morning, and I don't have enough money on my card to pay the fare. I have to load another $10 onto the card on the bus.

I emailed customer service, and was sent an email saying that my card would be updated by 12 noon, but I would later realize that this was incorrect the next time I tap my card on a bus' card reader during my ride home. I emailed customer service again, and was then told I would have to actually go to a machine at South Station to update the card.

After work on Tuesday, I did just that - walked over to South Station, tapped my card on the machine to update it, and had the machine....

...cancel my card.

Seriously?

I asked an MBTA employee, who verified that my card had indeed been killed. She suggested I walk to Downtown Crossing for some strange reason, and speak with someone over there.

I kind of wanted to simply get home. So she gave me a card with $1.70 loaded onto it (which...I learned was also untrue when I tried boarding the bus), and sent me on my way.

While waiting for the bus, I called the number on the back of the car, explained the situation to the operator, and she took my information. She didn't seem to question my story, and instead told me that I should expect to receive a check for $16 (my $10 I charged online, and the remaining $6 that was on my card before it died) in about 4 weeks.

4 weeks?! There's no way to apply the balance to another card? Grrr.

And the kicker? I now have a new Charlie Card with $0 on it. Being that I have just $20 bills in my wallet, I am now going to be loading ANOTHER $20 onto my new card when I board the bus on Wednesday.

So that's $40 to the MBTA this week, all because I tried to save some time and conveniently load my card online over the weekend. This system should be simpler and more efficient.

************ UPDATES ************

1. My attempt at loading $20 onto my new Charlie Card on the bus this morning was also a failure. Apparently, I didn't tap my card on the pad quickly enough after loading the $20, and it instead shot out a Charlie Ticket, so I now have the please of paying the inflated prices for $20 worth of bus rides. For the record, I tapped my card on the pad within a few seconds of its instruction, so I have no idea what happened here. I'm probably just doomed.

2. I received a personal email from someone at the MBTA asking about the situation and asking me to call his work or cell numbers. As the email was in my spam box, I didn't see it until this evening. I'll give them a ring on Wednesday. They must be monitoring blog activity, because this posting did not receive any outbound links yet. Very interesting that they are reading the chatter. Good for them!

Brazen Old Man

I returned from my walk with Rosie to find a toothless old man sitting on my stoop. Friendly guy, but sitting on my stoop nonetheless (i.e. not his stoop...my stoop).

As Rosie and I attempted to get past him and into my home, he stood up, snickered a bit, and pet Rosie.

The logical thing to do when the owner of a home comes home and you're sitting on that person's stoop is likely to walk away, and say something like "oh, sorry."

Nope, when we shut the exterior door, he went back to what he was doing...sitting on my stoop.

Momentary disruption by the homeowner. God forbid I disturb his trespassing and loitering.

New Vodka Drink - Absolut Boston

Last week, I was chatting with a friend at a watering hole here in Southie, and noticed a bottle of "Absolut Boston" vodka on the first row behind the bar.

Naturally, this intrigued me. I seem to recall having seen Absolut Los Angeles recently, and was thinking that they released another city version of their spirits (which turned out to be Absolut New Orleans after I researched it). Ruling out the potential creativity of this particular establishment in painting its own vodka bottle with the name of our fair city, I started thinking....

Did Absolut release a number of local "city bottles," all containing regular vodka?
Is this a new flavor?
Is this only available in Boston?
When did this come out?
Why have I never seen this before?

I asked the bartender, who showed me the bottle. Indeed, Absolut Boston is a unique flavor - Black Tea and Elderflower. Interesting combination to represent Boston. He told me that his distributor said this was a limited release to only 1,000 bottles (which I now doubt that it was limited to 1,000 bottles, as I subsequently bought a bottle myself at Liquor Land for $28, where another 10 bottles sat behind it, and I'm pretty confident that this particular store did not possess 1% of all production.)

According to the brochure, Absolut will donate $50,000 of the profits to The Charles River Conservancy to support the renewal efforts of parklands, which is kinda cool.

So I broke open the bottle yesterday afternoon, and mixed some with tonic and a lemon wedge. The flavor is definitely fruity and refreshing - not bad! I'm going to have to try a few more of their suggestions, such as the Absolut Boston Home Run (with white grape juice and ginger ale) or the Absolut Boston and cola.

Cleaning Out the Closet

I used to revel in shopping for clothes. Each year for Christmas, I would ask my parents for money and then hit the outlets and malls on December 26th to take advantage of the after-holiday sales. I'd spend most of my gift money on my wardrobe.

Somewhere along the line, that changed. I don't mind the process now, but to me it's become a bit of a pain. Not agonizing, but not particularly enjoyable either.

I think the inflection point was when I started buying the next size up. I had been gradually putting on a pound or two, and reached the point where the decision to buy bigger pants was easier than the dedication to losing weight.

Yesterday, I decided that it's time to clean out the closet. Purge the unfashionable. Rid myself of the pants and shirts and sweatshirts that just aren't doing it for me any more. Usually I undertake this process when I realize that my closet is too full and I have run out of wood hangers, which was the case once again.

What's great about this particular closet cleaning is that I'm 25 pounds lighter today than when I bought some of these clothes. Usually, I have to rid myself of the tight jeans. This time, it's the opposite. In fact, I kept a handful of slacks from my last closet cleaning "just in case" they would fit again someday. Now, they do. Comfortably.

There's the enormous polo shirts, both long and wide, the short sleeves touching my elbows. I bought them to conceal the belly and cared little that they were too large elsewhere. Today, they just look silly. Into the pile.

There's the four flannel shirts, hidden deep in the back of my closet, once go-to items of comfort during casual weekends. My friends tell me that flannel is back this year, so I kept two of them and put the other two in the pile.

There's the cargo pants and khaki pants - big in the waist, big throughout the leg, even a bit long on me. It looks like I'm swimming in these, and far fatter. I remember when a few of these waists didn't even button, so the fact that I can button them and then pull them right off without unbuttoning them is simply awesome. Thank you, large pants, for keeping me decent during my chubby days. Into the pile.

There's the college sweatshirts. Seriously. I have these for sheer nostalgia. I even tried one of them on yesterday, looked at myself in the mirror, realized that it looked enormous on me and that I'm almost half a life away from when I bought it. Into the pile.

There's the button down short sleeved shirts. When I worked in radio, I saw many people wearing these kinds of shirts at conventions. They were usually middle-aged and had bellies. Somewhere along the line, I picked up a few and thought they looked good. Today, they just seem awkward, at least on me. I'm keeping two of them that probably won't make the next closet purge. The rest of them? Into the pile.

Then there's the button down long sleeved shirts, mostly striped, and of many colors. Too many colors. What was I thinking when I bought these? Seriously? Into the pile.

I still have to thin the pile of denim today and bring everything over to a donation center. Part of me feels bad for donating the less fashionable to the less fortunate, but I'm reminded that one man's trash is another man's treasure.

Always Try New Bulbs Before Calling the Electrician

While I'm not the most handy person in the world, I hold my own when it comes to home improvements. I have managed to paint almost all of the interior walls to my place and common staircase, installed cabinets and slate tile backsplashes (with help from friends), and refinished my deck (also with help).

When it comes to electrical work, however, I think it's best to contract out.

I did successfully install a few new lights at pre-wired receptacles, and changed all of my switches and fixtures from white to new grey ones. I have even added a few dimmer switches myself.

Last summer, I called an electrician. I needed some undercabinet fluorescent lights to be added to my new cabinet unit, and needed an outlet to be moved and secured at a new location. Perfectly legitimate project that was a bit outside of my fake electricial expertise. $500 later, I was all set.

One of those lights stopped working recently. In a separate but what I thought could have been a connected issue, the overhead light in my bedroom and plug immediately beneath that light's switch also stopped working. I distinctly remember plugging my vacuum into the socket, only to learn that I'd have to find another power source.

So, I called the electrician back and explained all of my problems. He said that he could come by on Thursday morning, and should be finished within two hours (the minimum time he bills, I'm figuring).

When he arrived, he brought a different undercabinet light with the intention of switching out some parts, as the ones I had installed last year were a special order, it appears. Fifteen minutes later, part switched, light works. Perfect.

I brought him into my bedroom to check out the outlet and switch. He used his voltmeter or whatever device he carried to test receptacles, and sure enough...both of them worked just fine.

Seriously?

I plugged the same vacuum into what I thought was a faulty socket, and sure enough - sucking power.

I looked at my overhead light and realized that I probably did not try new light bulbs. What were the odds that both bulbs would go at the same time and a plug would fail (which clearly...it didn't). I figured the problem was behind the dry wall.

I grab two new light bulbs, change them, and voila - we have light.

Ugh.

How much of an idiot am I?

Not enough of one....

...because I then brought my electrician friend onto my deck for the final electrical problem - a GFI plug (the kind with the Test and Reset buttons) that had really never worked from day one of my moving here.

He hit the two buttons, and bingo - power.

Now, I know I have tried those buttons before. If a plug didn't work, and I saw two buttons on it, I would safely say my next action would be hitting those two buttons to see what happened. I did that years ago, never received power, and gave up on the socket.

But now, magic electrician comes, resets the switch, and we're back.

So, two hours of billed work became about twenty minutes of actual work, including one legit mini-project, two non-projects, and one idiot customer (me) who did not remember to try new light bulbs before calling the electrician.

Big Rigs on the Southie Waterfront

Big Rigs on the Southie Waterfront, originally uploaded by southiejason.

I love how the sunset can change from an orange sky to a purple/grey/pink sky within minutes. Fortunately, we witnessed all of the beautiful colors during Friday's harbor cruise - from clear blue, through orange and red, into the colors in this photo.

These rigs are on the northeastern edge of Southie, and are visible from Castle Island. I don't know what they do, to be perfectly honest, but imagine that moving large storage containers is a likely responsibility of such heavy machinery.

Copley Square Skyline at Sunset

Copley Square Skyline at Sunset, originally uploaded by southiejason.

On Friday, I was invited onto a Boston Harbor cruise for my friend Andy's 30th birthday. We boarded the Boston Belle out of Marina Bay in Quincy for a three hour private excursion that took us into a number of the wharfs along the Boston waterfront.

The weather was perfect for the boat ride - not too hot, cold, humid, windy, or anything else - simply perfect!

I'm always snapping photos whenever I board a boat, fully aware that keeping the shots in focus is not always the simplest of tasks depending on the calmness of the water and the speed that which we are traveling. As the darkness approaches, it becomes even more difficult to remain in focus, even with my image stabilizing lens.

I grabbed a few cool shots nonetheless. This sailboat was practically inviting me to photograph it, especially with the beautiful sunset and city skyline in the distance.

WBZ-TV FAIL

Hey, WBZ-TV - nice job spelling the name of the Pats.

I seem to have forgotten about the "I before O except after R" rule.

WBZ-TV FAIL !

Jason Mraz / G. Love at the Bank of America Pavilion

Last night I found myself amid thousands of screaming women at the Jason Mraz / G. Love & Special Sauce show at the Bank of America Pavilion - one of my favorite venues in the area.

I bought tickets on a whim a few months ago, figuring this would be a cool show to see outdoors right on Boston Harbor. I saw G. Love years ago in Las Vegas at House of Blues, and hadn't been to a Jason Mraz show yet.

I truly underestimated the popularity of Mr. Mraz. Two almost sold-out shows here in Boston, much likely attributed to the success of "I'm Yours." I remember when his last album was pretty dead in the water, and even though I liked a few songs from it, I figured he would kind of disappear into the abyss of early millennial singer-songwriter pop.

Guess I was totally wrong.

His vibe is perfect - quirky love songs, self-deprecating humor, and the feeling that his music would perfectly complement a summer soundtrack. He recorded a song with Colbie Callait, another performer who I figured would disappear after her initial hits, but has since recorded a new album with songs written on lovely Hanalei Beach in Kaua'i (which...I miss). Slacker-songwriter music is alive and well.

Jason Mraz had the crowd going during most of his set, less a lull of unfamiliar, slower tunes around the middle of the show. He had an eight or nine-piece band backing him, complete with a Chicago-esque brass set. Jason totally worked the crowd, bantered between songs, and seemed entirely comfortable on stage. I'm a bit surprised he bailed on a few singles that were non-hits (but singles nonetheless) like "You and I Both," "Wordplay," and "Geek In the Pink," but he managed to fill two hours with consistently good music.

G. Love is a unique cat. You love him or hate him. I think he's great. Bluesy pop that works in limited doses. I think I'd go nuts if I had to listen to G. Love for five hours straight, but for a 45-minute set, or for songs that shuffle into my ears while at the gym, G. Love is perfect. I still think "Cold Beverage" is one of the most fun songs from the 90's.

The Hen House - Newmarket Square in Boston

Props to a kinda hidden restaurant near Newmarket Square.

The Hen House

I think they have been open for over a year now, and it's my new guilty pleasure when I want to indulge in an entirely unnecessary meal of fried chicken and a delicious cornbread waffle.

Ironically enough, I went there for a late lunch after my workout, where today I weighed in 24 pounds lower than I was when I started my diet on Feb 1st.

What better way to celebrate weight loss with fried chicken and waffles?!

I have been there three or four times, and the place is always empty, which makes me concerned for their business. It has nothing to do with the food - it's delicious. Amazing breading on the fried chicken, a great selections of dipping sauces, and to-die-for freshly made waffles with whipped butter and syrup. So good. So bad for you...but so good.

I think their location isn't front-and-center, and there's very little parking in the vicinity.

Eating at the restaurant is a better idea than bringing it home, as the one time I had takeout, the waffle was a bit soggy by the time I feasted, probably a result of the heat having nowhere to escape.

I'm sure there are better fried chicken places hidden throughout the city, and joints that serve better collard greens and mac & cheese, but The Hen House does an admirable job with their speciality - fried chicken and waffle.

Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs - Under the Covers, Vol. 2

It might be a bit old skool of me, but I love learning about new music by reading magazines. I learn what's being released, read the review, and then find the music on itunes.

Sure, I read a few music blogs and listen to Pandora which are also helpful in finding new music. But given the captivating powers magazines have on me during my workouts, I find that my time investment in periodicals sends me searching for music frequently.

Last week, I learned that Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs (from The Bangles) released a new CD of 70's cover tunes called Under the Covers, Vol. 2. While googling for information about the album, I learned that their first volume of this sort, covering 60's songs, had only sold 32,000 copies since its release in 2006. As a result, I'm a bit surprised that this project was greenlit and funded, but I'm thrilled that it was.

I have been a Matthew Sweet fan since 1991. For me, his albums Girlfriend and Altered Beast are two of the quintessential albums of my college years. I saw him play at Lupo's in Providence back in '93 or '94, and remember him pleasing the crowd with two separate encore sets of four songs each.

In the years since, I've found myself enjoying a song or two from each of Matthew Sweet's subsequent releases, but nothing struck me like those two albums.

So I previewed some of the tracks in itunes, and found myself liking almost everything from Under the Covers, Vol. 2. His and Susannah's harmonies are killer, and their terrific song choices make sense - lots of 70's power pop.

Among my favorites:

The Raspberries - Go All the Way
Todd Rundgren - Hello, It's Me
Yes - I've Seen All Good People
Blondie - Dreaming
Derek & The Dominos - Bell Bottom Blues

Susanna sings lead on Bell Bottom Blues, and it's very cool to hear a female voice interpret this one.

The Blondie track is on the deluxe edition of the album, which I didn't realize was available until I had already downloaded the full "regular" release, so I picked up that song and Elvis Costello's "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding." I also circled back to the Volume 1 release, and found "The Kids Are Alright" by The Who, "Cinnamon Girl" by Neil Young, and "Monday, Monday" by The Mamas and The Papas as standout tracks worthy of purchase.

I'm assuming they will tour in support of the album, so I need to investigate a bit more. If so, and if they find themselves here in Boston, I'll be one of the first in line for tickets!

Cardio and Softball

I had a great day of activity yesterday - 70 minutes of cardio at the gym, followed by a 2-for-3 day at our final softball game, where we clinched second place under the lights and amid the gnats of Boston Common.

Surprisingly, I ended up batting .467 during league play and .500 in the 7 games of the Philly tournament. Actually, after my 1-for-5 start during my first two games, I hit .513. Granted it's softball, and averages are usually inflated a bit in recreation leagues, but I'm happy to see that I contributed and that my high school batting gloves still have hits in them.

I love the aerobic equipment at the gym because it allows for exercise in a comfortably heated or air conditioned environment and doesn't kill my knees. I'm pretty amazed how the simple entertainment of an ipod, magazines, and iphone apps can keep me entertained at the gym for so long. Usually after 30 minutes on the elliptical machine, my feet start becoming a bit numb and I switch over to the exercise bike for another half hour, all while playing games such as Peggle, Bejeweled, and Bookworm - all incredibly addictive. Somehow yesterday, I stuck with the elliptical for 45 minutes because I was engrossed in a GQ article. Figures.

Why I Still Use The Club and Wear Tevas

I have never pretended to be the most fashionable, nor most current human walking the historic streets of Boston. While I'm not stuck in the 80's with my fashion or technology - I don't exactly saunter around with my cassette walkman wearing parachute pants and a neon mesh tank top - I do believe in getting full value from my products, goods, and services, and combine that with buying some fancier devices such as iPhones, DSLR cameras, and MacBooks.

For example, I love eating leftovers. I was raised this way, it's practical, it's economical, and it reduces waste. I usually cook for multiple meals and divide portions for future lunches and dinners. Why waste good food?

I also drive cars until they go no longer. In my 18+ years of legal driving, I have owned exactly three cars, and I hope to drive my current 2003 model-year vehicle for a few more years as I own it outright, and there are only about 74,000 miles on it.

As a security measure, I still use The Club on my car, to the consternation of my friends. I bought this exact Club in 1991 for my first car, and have been using it ever since. While I cannot prove that this device has dissuaded burglars from breaking into my vehicle, I figure that it can;t hurt. Why try to steal the car with a Club on the stealing wheel, when other cars are easier to snatch? I realize that Clubs are not foolproof, and that it's a technology from the 80's or 90's, but mine works perfectly well, and it takes seconds to engage it.

My stereo speakers and receiver are from 1994, and still work perfectly fine. I have them hooked up to my 40" LCD television. Technology has far surpassed my setup, and I have been very close to purchasing surround-sound systems many times during the past decade-and-a-half. But, I haven't. Someday. For now, what I use suits my living room viewing and listening pleasure. The TV in my office is a 32" Sony Trinitron CRT, purchased as a $900 indulgence from Sears in 1998. It's very heavy and bulky, but it still works. I don't use it much, and it's not necessary to replace it at the moment. So again, why bother.

The shoes that are presently on my feet are Teva sandals, also purchased in 1998. I love Tevas - great traction and support, comfortable, and good for light hiking on dry and wet ground. They are practical and apparently extremely unfashionable in 2009. I don't think they are unfashionable, but a number of my friends certainly do. They kind of look like this model currently available for purchase from teva.com. They are still producing them, and people are still buying them, so I'm going to continue wearing this perfectly good vintage pair.