Thought i'd get a quick blog post in before I end my trip here in The Netherlands - overall it's been a great experience. It's a lot like being in a Jason Bourne movie - weird sirens going off, people walking everwhere, sidewalks that turn into streets which turn into dangerous situations, and a covert US agency trying to kill you....or maybe it's nothing like that. I digress.
This place is a bike heaven, everyone rides their bikes to school, work, or out for the evening all dressed up. No helmets mind you.
I used a pay toilet just for the fun of it, not as awesome as I thought, although you should never get your expectaions up when using a public toilet.
Prices are out of control here. Most evident are the electronics and cars. Add up the taxes and difference against the Euro and I'm not sure I could survive.
Will post pics soon....
Friday, January 16, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
The eBay garage
Car prices on eBay are falling from the sky. Here's three picks:
1) 2002 BMW M5 Sedan - $12k auction - the fact that you can get a car of this caliber for under 20 large is phenomenal. 0-60 in 4.6, 1/4 mile in 13.08 (that's almost a 12 second sedan....). AND you can pretend to be Jason Statham from the first Transporter movie (the only good one in the series) and charge people to ride with you.
2) 2006 Dodge Ram SRT10 Quad Cab - $22k auction - basically you get the fastest truck on the road for under $25k. Plus you can tell your friends "yeah, I was changing the oil in the Viper engine this weekend, whew, 10 cylinders uses a lot of oil. Or Maybe it's the 500+ horsepower. Who knows...."
3) 2005 Pontiac GTO - $15k BUY IT NOW! - with 400hp, that's under $38 per horse. For comparison, a Corvette of the same model year has the same engine for about $80 a horse, and with the GTO you don't need to go into retirement, live on a golf course, and wear a wind jacket to drive it.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Fail Blog Favs
Over the past couple weeks I've become a big fan of the Fail Blog. I compare it to the cartoon strip "The Farside" where you have to think about the picture to really get the point, then you laugh. No pain no gain. FYI - best to stay on the main page, it's PG while the "Vote" pages earn a PG-13. Here's a couple favs:
Home Theater on a Budget
Here's some thoughts on creating a nice home theater on a shoe-string budget:
1) 37" HDTV - Price $500 - It's more screen than you realize. When you're in the store and the 72" DLP is staring you down, the sizes under 42" look tiny, but when you upgrade from a standard square screen to widescreen you are gaining considerable ground. Widescreen content on a 32" square TV is really only about 27" of viewable content, that means an upgrading to a 37" gives you a 10" boost. Here are the latest deals - and look for low cost 720P sets, at 37" I can't tell a difference between 720P and 1080P.
2) Upconverting DVD - Price $40 - Can't say enough about these players, they take your old movies and make them look incredible. Plus those $5 bargain bin movies at WalMart are still fair game. Just stay away from the straight-to-DVD releases or anything with Mario Lopez in it.
3) The Woo-Woo (see below) - Price $40 - 5.1 stereo surround is nice, but actually using it is rare. Basically, unless it's a Rambo movie with a Russian helicopter bearing down on you, the 5.1 rarely kicks in. The easiest setup I've found is using a nice set of 2.1 computer speakers. The key is running all your sources (Cable, Ant, Game system, DVD) directly to the TV, and then running the sound from the TV to the speakers. That way all your sources get to use the subwoofer and speakers without having to mess with an expensive amplifier and mess of wires that come with.
Total - Less than $600, and you are watching in style.
As promised, the Woo Woo ("we does it for decorations")
1) 37" HDTV - Price $500 - It's more screen than you realize. When you're in the store and the 72" DLP is staring you down, the sizes under 42" look tiny, but when you upgrade from a standard square screen to widescreen you are gaining considerable ground. Widescreen content on a 32" square TV is really only about 27" of viewable content, that means an upgrading to a 37" gives you a 10" boost. Here are the latest deals - and look for low cost 720P sets, at 37" I can't tell a difference between 720P and 1080P.
2) Upconverting DVD - Price $40 - Can't say enough about these players, they take your old movies and make them look incredible. Plus those $5 bargain bin movies at WalMart are still fair game. Just stay away from the straight-to-DVD releases or anything with Mario Lopez in it.
3) The Woo-Woo (see below) - Price $40 - 5.1 stereo surround is nice, but actually using it is rare. Basically, unless it's a Rambo movie with a Russian helicopter bearing down on you, the 5.1 rarely kicks in. The easiest setup I've found is using a nice set of 2.1 computer speakers. The key is running all your sources (Cable, Ant, Game system, DVD) directly to the TV, and then running the sound from the TV to the speakers. That way all your sources get to use the subwoofer and speakers without having to mess with an expensive amplifier and mess of wires that come with.
Total - Less than $600, and you are watching in style.
As promised, the Woo Woo ("we does it for decorations")
Monday, January 5, 2009
Christmas 2008
Christmas this year was a whirlwind of delight - we had snow, I got a fishing knife that reminded me of this web gem (sound!), I finished Halo 3 by playing in 12 minute increments over a 3 week period, and I watched an episode of Friday Night Lights Season 1 each time I fed William (22 times in all) in preparation for Season 3. Overall a 10 outta 10.
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