The Presidential Debate
Now I watched the debates and was overall impressed. I learned a lot and had some questions answered and have more faith in my support and convictions. I will not discuss who was stronger or who is better. I'm not super political and my opinions and knowledge can not be based on one instance. What I do wonder is what network or channel you used to watch the debate? They were all pretty much the same. No network showed little excerpts during the debate and pretty much all of them showed split screens, but there was a difference. I chose to watch ABC because of one reason. At least where I was, they were first. All the other networks were slow and had delays. ABC gave it to me first and that's what I wanted. Not really important, just curious which network was watched and the reason for viewership.

A taste of home
I survived the latest installment of hurricanes R us and came away completely unscathed. Once again classes were cancelled which means that the test planned for today has been moved to Wednesday. So many of my classes have been messed because of these damn hurricanes. Okay God, we get your point, please leave us alone now?

I am very happy though. Today I stopped by a little food joint near a friends house that I knew I had to check out. It was Betos and thankfully had more in common than not. The signs and logos are all the same. The menu and selection of food is pretty much the same and even the prices are similar although a little more. But here are some big differences. Tons of specials advertised on the windows to be viewed from the street. All the workers were pretty American and could understand my every word, so unfortunately not Mexicans. The menu board actually looked more like a Nico's with pictures of the food items and plates, and the menu was permanent, not the yellow marquee board with the red slide letters I've come to love and associate with Betos. The food was good though, the salsa just wasn't as good and neither was the carne asada, but overall good and filled my stomach without getting sick. So yummy.

What goes around, comes around
Things just wouldn't be complete without the latest hurricane update. Hurricane Jeanne is on its way and looks as though once again it will head straight through central Florida. It's kind of pointless to say but I'm just sick of this. We'll probably have classes cancelled again on Monday since the storm is supposed to hit late Sunday afternoon. The biggest deal is power and gas. I don't think I'll experience much damage but it's very annoying when the power goes out. And thankfully I spent late last night looking for gas and filled my car up. Unfortunately I had fork over the big bucks for premium because that's all they had. I just don't get this place, one little reason to get gas and every place runs out in just a few hours. I guess they must get it shipped in by truck every day. My car better thank me for getting the good stuff.

Orlando is just crazy, and big. Anyplace that's good to go to eat is a good distance away. And most likely, even if it is just 10 miles west, I'll have to take 5 or 6 different streets just to get there. Only a very select few streets end up going straight through the city, all the others end or disappear as they try to avoid lakes. And the city planners here really love the islands in the middle of the road. I never knew just how frustrating those are. I guess they prevent a car from crossing over to oncoming traffic, but I think they disrupt the overall flow of traffic. There are not enough openings, which means that anytime I want to leave a street or strip mall I'm forced to take a right, and then drive half a mile or more to the next opening just to make a U-turn. I'm glad my car has a decent turn radius because I make tons of U-turns. I've gotten lost here a lot, so I guess I'll just have to get used to the roads and having every one named after a number that sounds the same, 434, 426, 428, etc.

Firefox
If you're not using Firefox to view this webpage then you're not using the right browser. If you're using internet explorer dump it now and download Firefox. It's a simple browser that performs well exactly for its purpose, browsing without all of the other crap and all at greater speed. It also uses tabs which is far superior to multiple windows and has fully upgradability with extensions. The ones I primarily use are for maximum efficiency when browsing, Tabbrowser Extensions 1.11, LastTab 1.0.4, and All-in-one Gestures 0.12.4 (the best). They can all be easily installed from the extensions page. I'd love any of the cool extensions that you're using.

On another completely geeky topic, I went down to the store today to pick up the new Star Wars DVD. I tell you the opening sequence of A New Hope is sweet in widescreen and nothing beats the classics right? Just remember that with any new DVD release they are always cheapest the first week. Check out Best Buy or Walmart for the best prices.

Fall Lineup
It's been a couple of weeks, and where there are still some shows that haven't had their season premiers, most of the new shows have already been unveiled. Unless it really catches my eye, I don't normally check out the new dramas, so LAX and Hawaii are out, but the new ABC one, Lost, does look intriguing. I of course checked out the new NBC sitcoms, the new Must See TV. First of all Joey, my Friends replacement. I was said when the show ended. I always knew what I'd do on Thursdays and at least at the beginning, Joey looks good. I had several laughs after the pilot and although a few less, plenty of laughs last night. I think LeBlanc can carry the show for awhile but the other characters are really going to have to step it up and become very important. Despite the show's title, I don't feel Joey can completely carry it and will depend on a strong supporting cast. Check it out, these early episodes should not be disappointing.

Now on to the other much hyped NBC show, Father of the Pride. I was very disappointed with its pilot. Too much celebrity voice and no substance and no laughs. The second episode wasn't much better. I was so bored I stopped watching. I was excited for the show because I like animated shows and as long as they have good to decent writing they can last a long time or have strong following ie. Simpsons, South Park and even the popular syndicated Family Guy and Futurama. SO I gave Father one more try this week and watched the third episode. Genius. If this episode shows what there is to come count me in. I laughed so much. It took a real world situation and turned it into how it would appear in the animal kingdom. They found their daughter taking Catnip. For shame. And then the side story around Siegfried and Roy was sidesplitting.

So the verdict is still up, but I suggest checking these to out. And don't forget to watch the best show out there right now. It has an unfortunate time slot and needs support to stick around but nothing makes me laugh more. That show is scrubs, check it out on Tuesday nights during the second half of the second hour of primetime.

Not the weekend I expected
So it all turned into nothing. I thought I was going to the football game with a bunch of friends and people and they all bailed. Now things here are a little different. Of course the game is free for students but the stadium is not on campus. UCF plays at the Citrus Bowl in downtown Orlando. Now I wasn't exactly ready to go down there all clueless and go to the game alone. And then the few people that I did meet all had company in for the weekend so I basically did a whole lot of nothing. Although I did get a chance to clean up a lot.

Okay, this for all of you out there that love reality shows and watch people at their worst. The Benefactor is your show. Basically it's a show where Mark Cuban gets to play god and all of the 'contestants' are his pawns. He basically makes all the decisions and can make them without any plan or warning. Immediately as the show began, he cut someone in the first ten minutes of the show, as everyone was arriving to the mansion. All based on first impressions. The game is on always. He's basically out there to push everyone to their limits and have fun and see just how far they will go. There is nothing wholesome about the show but I expect to be absolutely amusing.

For all of those curious minds out there, no, it looks as though Ivan will miss me. It looks like it will hit my friend in Pensacola as a category 3 but just rain for us and perhaps some tropical depression. No big deal. So it's still safe to visit and here's my little promo.



Until next time, may you kick the little piggy on the floor.

Crazy thing just happened
I was walking by my television when there was a commercial for Wendy's. Then I was totally craving a Frosty but thought, "There's no way I'm driving out just for that," but then I remembered that I left my nalgene at CREOL. Ah, the perfect excuse. So I drove out and reclaimed my bottle and then purchased a Frosty. Hits the spot.


Until next time, may you get what you crave.

Disappointed
So Frances wasn't as bad as Charlie. It brought a lot of rain and knocked out power for about a million central Florida residents but not mine. I was lucky and power = not as bad a storm. Unfortunately Brevard and Valucia counties got hit hard especially Daytona Beach. Cancel any soon vacation plans to that local. But guess what? Ivan is on his way, and looks to be very destructive. So once again, bring it on!

My old nemesis
Honestly, who has two hurricanes? Well I meant to post this before this weekend but I thought I didn't have any webspace to post the picture but now I got it working. While the picture is a little late I hope it still holds some entertainment value.
Behold, hurricane Frances:

We'll see how long this image stays up.

Just a warning
Well I don't know when everything will go out but I'm definitely going to lose power so this may be my last post for a very long time. I can't believe this. Have you seen the size of it. Although it is quite beautiful from space.

There are truly some crazy people out there. I really would like to leave and not be anywhere near this but here's someone who wants to come and shoot it. Just crazy!

Until next time, may you be alive and with power. He's not kidding about the empty gas stations and packed highways.

It's back!
Well not quite. As David so nicely pointed out, Frances is now coming to me. This hurricane looks to be bigger than Charlie and frankly I could do without that. This one looks like it just might miss Orlando though, which would be a good thing. I still expect lots of rain and 60 mph winds at least, probably more. Depending on where the forecast is coming from it may go right through Orlando. Crazy thing though, I have a friend that wanted to come visit this weekend. He wanted to "check out the hurricane since he missed the last one." Well I don't think he'll want to come now. This is insane. No hurricanes here in 40 years and now two in three weeks. I've had enough of this shit.

Until next time, may you find a natural disaster to punish you.

The good and bad of Orlando, Florida
Bad: it rains every afternoon
Good: I kind of like the rain

Bad: there is so much rain in Orlando
Good: at least the streets drain.

Bad: the water here really smells
Good: the city doesn't.

Bad: there aren't any fighter planes flying overhead drowning out all noise Good: unfortunately every afternoon you can count on it thundering so loud you can't think.

Bad: all the streets seem to lead nowhere and into dead ends
Good: I really don't have anywhere to go to

Bad: tons of traffic
Good: The streets are wide enough for the most part

Bad: all the buildings are really new and commercial
Good: they're not old and ghetto

Bad: all the places to eat are chains
Good: there are some good local chains to eat at

Good: there are three sports talk radio stations
Bad: every afternoon you can count on all of them to go static

Until next time, may you find the good and bad in everything.