I finally scheduled an appointment to have new tires put on my car, having talked myself into and back out of looking for a 2008 BMW to finance at 0.9% several times over. Since the lobby of Discount Tire is clearly not designed for “hanging out” – they have space for a display of racing slicks, but the waiting area consists of half a dozen chairs crammed in a corner – I went to Starbucks in hopes of finding free wi-fi. Surely an hour at Starbucks couldn’t kill me… right?

I have never once entered a Starbucks without being made to feel like an idiot. I asked about wi-fi, which apparently takes a registered Starbucks card. I didn’t even ask if that cost anything. I’m carrying around a MacBook these days and certainly don’t need my name in a Starbucks database, too. After I paid the guy who took my order and he wandered off, I realized I was supposed to wait near the little round thing at the end of the counter. I was disappointed but not surprised to see that $2.50 at Starbucks gets you a hot chocolate that’s roughly the size of a children’s Frosty. Then again, if you know what size a children’s Frosty is you’re probably not Starbucks’s target demographic.

In Europe are all the tables extremely tiny? Is Europe where Starbucks picked that up from? I am sitting at a table with three chairs around it, and it’s like a TV tray. It’s as if all the furniture in this place was designed by Lilliputians. +10 points to Mac for their dictionary’s simple and shiny confirmation of the spelling of Lilliputian. -100 points from EA for blocking me from playing Spore Creature Creator without an internet connection.

[Update: Typos, begone. Who misspells "Frosty" - seriously!]

Mark Steyn points out at The Corner that the residents of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire – 100% of whom apparently vote at midnight in each presidential election so the rest of us can ask “where the heck is Dixville Notch?” every four years – favored Obama, 15:6. Steyn comments about what this may foreshadow.

Mark is missing the bigger picture: in the past two presidential elections, 100% of the voting population of Dixville Notch was 26 people. It’s now 21. The village’s population has dropped over 19% in just four years! I can only conclude that National Review’s self-described Resident Demography Bore has been swept away in the uplifting tsunami that is Obamania. Shoot, at this rate Dixville Notch will be devoid of native citizens around the same time as much of Europe! Hopefully they’ve got a few Undocumented Americans filling in, doing jobs Dixville Notchers won’t do.

But seriously… I hope and pray that as the rest of our results come in, we see a majority of Americans who don’t want all the miserable things an Obama-Pelosi-Reid leadership would yield, and are prescient enough to vote accordingly.

USF, the nation’s #10 college football team, lost last night to unranked Pitt.  Just another wrench thrown into this season which I susupect will be interesting throughout.  Great year to be a college football fan!

It’s been a great weekend for football fans. Especially for me – I’ve always rooted for Ohio State, followed by the Big Ten, followed by The Underdog. So it’s fun to watch a few days straight of upsets, strong Big Ten teams, and another win for the Bucks. Even when one of the upsets is Meeechigan.

Watching the second half of the Penn State – Illinois game reminded me of being in high school at the end of the Cooper years. The Big Ten was tough and Ohio State won more than they lost, and that was all the more thought I put into it. To be honest, I like football season better that way. I cannot and wouldn’t much care to memorize facts and statistics; ESPN has a sharp slope of diminishing returns for me. I don’t need to hear seven different analysts all say the same things over and over, ad infinitum.

I’m glad, too, that I’ve gotten used to Musberger being “the guy” announcing most of the games I watch. He’s no Keith Jackson – whose voice I’ll always associate with my favorite time of year – but the man’s a good announcer. Especially with Kirk Herbstreit, who all of my female friends (and several of the guys) openly admit to being in love with, next to him in the booth.

….Since when have the Penn State fans chanted the bass line to “Seven Nation Army” when the team is doing well? That is really annoying.

Obama-Biden ’08: Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

I woke up at 11:45 to the sound of Hilliard’s tornado siren – something that’s always annoying, but greatly preferred over the potential alternative of waking up to a tornado showering you in broken class and neighborhood refuse. I started to turn on the radio, then thought maybe that was a terrible idea since my bedroom is on the second floor. I unplugged the radio instead, and hurried downstairs to grab my wallet, phone, and keys.

Halfway down the basement steps the siren was ending its cycle but the thunder and lightning would have none of that quitter’s attitude. Fortunately my flashlight was sitting out in the living room from yesterday’s surround sound wiring adventures, and I found room for that in my hands, all the while expecting tree limbs and cattle to come bursting in from all sides. “Why would you turn around for the flashlight?!”, the audience moans. Good thing I don’t live in a big-budget action film.

Short story shorter, there was a sound in the basement I did not ever want to hear: dripping. One of the entry points for what looks like a Brinks wire is also an entry point for water. Doggone it. In the basement CD101 will only come in audibly if I hold the radio, which I realize is probably unacceptable as I’m standing there in a horrendous thunderstorm holding a wired electronic device next to my face. Now that I’m about to go back to bed I can see that the leak downstairs is a result of the north side of the house getting freakin’ steamrolled with rain. This is no consolation.

Man. I thought the worst of the storm was past here 20 minutes ago, but the foundation-rattling thunder just keeps keepin’ on. So much for a good night’s sleep. Is that hail? Delightful.

Lately I’ve been busy being “grown up” – and the oddest thing is how natural it all seems until I stop and think about it. Coffing’s jet-setting about the cosmopolitan city of St. Louis at an athletic training conference. One of the guys just bought his first new car. One of my sisters is gettin’ hitched. And, the Saturday before last I moved out of the apartment and into a house.

So, if you rely on me as your fount of nerdiness and have grown parched of late as I’ve run off in other directions, a thousand apologies. Somehow I managed to miss for an entire week the announced pricing for the 2009 Dodge Challenger. See, I read somewhere that they would start “under $30,000,” and I knew a 6-cylinder model was part of the mix. This had me assuming that, instead of buying one next fall about fifteen seconds after I pay off the Mazda, I would have to mope about the fact that any Challenger with three pedals and a HEMI was stupidly expensive. From the press release:

The U.S. MSRP for the all-new 2009 Dodge Challenger R/T is $29,995. Featuring the new-generation 5.7-liter HEMI V-8 engine, the Dodge Challenger R/T produces an estimated 370 horsepower (276 kW) and 398 lb.-ft. (540 N•m) of torque when paired with the standard five-speed automatic transmission.

Pricey? Yes, but not as horrible as I expected. Purty? Yes again. Sadly, manual transmission isn’t an option for the $22,000 base model, and it sounds like you’ll have to cough up another $995 for stick-shift on the R/T. Miserable. I’ve always wanted to drive a noisy, beautiful American muscle car before we burn up all our gas or the EPA forbids anything bigger than a golf cart. Don’t make me buy a BMW 128i in 2009, Dodge! Let’s see some financing promotions and racing stripes on the Challenger R/T, or I’ll do it!!

Not often have I watched an episode of a TV show that was advertised as “Don’t miss!” “You’ve got to see it to believe it!!!” and all the rest without being disappointed. But, once again The Office doesn’t disappoint! Let’s keep the spoilers vague for the poor fools who missed tonight’s episode for whatever reason…

Michael was more tolerable than he’s been since the Jan & Michael meltdown episode. Still, I’m not ready for the character to be happy all of a sudden – he’s been way too awful a person for the last three or four episodes. As for the season-ending surprises, they were funny, moved along a couple of plot lines, and didn’t leave terribly annoying cliffhangers. Kevin in particular was hilarious, and the new HR rep looks to be an enjoyable addition to the show.

That said, before the strike cut things short I was hoping this season would be the last. I hope that whatever the writers have in mind for season five lives up to what they’ve done so far, ties things together nicely, and then brings the series to a close. I don’t want the usual tired on again/off again muck in the Pam and Jim storyline, I don’t want to watch current characters get stale or less-interesting new ones filter in like clockwork, and I’d really rather they not milk this cash cow. I’m crazy, I know.

Who knew that, at this very moment, the state of Idaho is in danger of being devoured by a titanic Peregrine Falcon? It’s amazing the things you learn thanks to the 50 State Quarters program.

For instance, Esto Perpetua is Latin for “Gah! It’s back!!”

Just a quick note, mostly because I wanted to write a post from my new Blackberry.

It is days like today that I love what I do for a living. Great weather and plenty of interaction with great people. I can’t think of anything that would make the weather today any more perfect…70 and sunny, with a slight breeze.

No real news today that I can think of.  I watched the movie “American Gangster” last night and really enjoyed it.  I suggest watching it at some point, it is well worth at least a rental.