The URL is here...

www.fullthinktank.com

Bookmark it, tell your friends, the URL is here...(if you click it you come right back)

New Car?

Got a new car! Well, not really. But I did take a picture next to the car I want - this baby is on the 5 year plan. That's 4 years of saving, and 1 year of convincing Susan that I need a 2nd car. Also notice how I defaulted to the Abu-Ghraib prison pose for the picture - double guns and everything - completely unconscious and unconscionable at the same time. Try spelling those words back to back.


It's a Roush 427 package - basically a Stage 3 Roush with 427 HP. The real blocker is the price tag - $54K. You're in Z06 and Viper territory with that price...not sure what Roush is thinking. The Roush Stage 1 version of the car runs at $35K and 325HP - a more fiscally responsible package, right?

DVR Picks

Last week I discovered Dexter reruns on CBS, and found that I really like the show now that it is toned down for broadcast television. I caught an episode on Showtime while I was on the road, and it made me a bit queasy (which is also a word that would be a great nick-name for grandma to be Sharon....grandma "queasy"...I like it).

Also check out some spots from our Arrested Development crew - Jeffrey Tambore is staring in Meet the Captain, which I am slowly warming up to - his character worked on the set of Three's Company back in the day and he constantly name-drops it into every conversation - "When I was with 'Three-Co', ..."

And Will Arnett and Will Ferrell are making the rounds promoting Semi-Pro, so set your DVRs for Conan and David Letterman this week for some good time.

Baby Update

BabyEidson Blog is updated with week 10 ultrasound pics - looking like a baby to me. Just chillin' in there, resting up before I make it do all the chores around the house. This will be totally sweet.

My Blake incarcerated...

I have been walking around the house randomly shouting "My Blake, incarcerated" (1:35 mark) in a heavy accent, followed by Susan yelling from another room "Ray-Ray and Joe!" (1:24 mark). Love it.

Wealthy Habits

Great article from TheStreet.com on habits that produce/preserve wealth. Surprisingly balanced, since usually articles from TheStreet need to be taken with a "Jim Cramer is nuts" grain of salt...

iPhone $299

iPhone 4GB Refurb from Apple for $299 while they last (usually not long...)

In my experience, the refurbs from Apple are 99% new, and you still get the same 1 yr warranty so there is really no reason to say no...

On the refurb note, I just picked up a refurbished 37" LCD from NewEgg for a sweet price - check out NewEgg's deals - lots of free shipping, and tons of discounts - you can sort by rebate type and discount amount using their nifty form.

Superbowl 42: Football

I am headed to the store to buy a Citizen watch, so my entry here will be brief.

I rooted for the Giants, but not against the Patriots - I really did not want to see a perfect season. What happens then?

Giants defense was incredible, Eli caught the breaks and made the most of every opportunity, and ultimately made this the most fun and intriguing NFL game I have ever watched.

Eli's pass to Tyree on 3rd down (w/sound!) was the most incredulous and improbable play I have ever seen.

Strahan's "stomp'd 'em out" routine (w/sound!) is kinda freaking me out. Or maybe it's his teeth.

Quick Updates

Baby Blog is updated with Week 8 pics. Still black and white. Asked the doctor about a high-def option, but apparently I am now an idiot for asking obvious questions.

Also in breaking news, someone at work used the word Ginormous in a formal meeting. Pretty sure my personality is having an unindented affect on those around me.

Superbowl breakdown coming...

I'll have a Superbowl breakdown including commercials out this week - but in the mean time, someone should review the go-ahead touchdown catch made by the Giants. I am pretty sure that Petey tackled Plaxico before he entered the end-zone...you be the judge....

Oceanic 815

Yes we watched Lost, and then Eli Stone just to see the Oceanic commercial. The skewed URL said find815.com, which was launched a month ago, but is now blank...or so it would seem. Anyone have theories on the second Oceanic 815 found in the ocean? (Patin - aren't you a Lost fan?)

By the way - this is the DVR recommendation of the week. Should be bonus replays this weekend or next Thursday...

What's your domain?

Recent conversation I had with Julie Whitaker aka "julesdwit":

Julie: "I lost julesdwit.com, can you believe it?"
Me: "Really?!?"
Julie: "I guess there's always Julesdwit.org"
Me: "I've always pegged you as a julesdwit.biz, seems more street..."

And the conversation digressed from there....the point of the story is to register your domain early and often, so in honor of julesdwit, I am registering fullthinktank.com. I will post when the site is up and running. Gotta protect the value of the name. And register fullthinktank.biz for some street-cred.

Julie is also on IMDB....apparently she is famous....

Alarm Systems

For those who might own the alarm system that came in your house, here is an interesting alternative to the $30/month+ Brinks or ADT home alarm monitoring services.

Basically, for $5 a month this service will send an email/text/call to your cell phone if you alarm is triggered or if a smoke alarm goes off. Or for $12 a month they will dial the police or fire department just like Brinks/ADT.

Here are some reviews - take them for what they're worth. I'll update the blog if we decide to switch over to NextAlarm.

Speaking of alarms, have you seen the ADT commercial where the guy puts on his hood and then does a round-house kick to the lady's front door during the friggin middle of the day? Seems pretty likely. Especially the hood part. Straight up Unabomber. These commercials are the worst at preying on people's fears....sorry, couldn't find the video....

Selling on Craigslist

Craiglist is slowly becoming my favorite site - I bought a TV, washer, couch, and fridge, and sold a car, fridge, and lawnmower since we've been in our home. Now I just surf it by location (like Downtown or Pearland) looking for stuff to buy. A family friend sent me an email this week asking for advice on how to sell on Craigslist, and here was my advice:

• Put lots of good pics (4 max).
• Search current items for sale to get an idea of asking price.
• People like to haggle, so price your item 10% above what you want.
• Accept cash only - too many fake checks/money orders out there.
• Have another person present when the transaction takes place - there can be some weirdos.
  
• Also advertise in local cities (i.e. San Antonio and Dallas for us in H-Town) since people will travel for large purchases.

I am currently selling my old HDTV - check out the sweet pics with the Arrested Development DVD...

The Terminator

Over the weekend, we powered through the new Terminator series on Fox, and I am not sure if I enjoy it or not. It might be due to a lack of new episodes because of the writers' strike and I am driven to watch anything that is not a rerun.

Pluses for the show - Really, this picks up right where T2 left off and there are lots of references to what happened in T2 (i.e. Cyberdine) and I am glad to say that it forgets T3 ever happened (what a mess). Also, you kinda have that inkling that John Conner is going to hook-up with the female terminator - not sure how I feel about that, but we'll count it as a plus for now.

Problems - The time-travel inconsistencies are a mess. As the story line grows more complex and more robots and people have jumped to the past, historical record vs. current event contradictions begin to mount. This is the whole problem with time-travel: nothing could have happened in the past without it becoming part of the historical record. So Terminators searching for John Conner would never have happened - those in the Future have a historical record and attempts by John to evade the terminators would only amend the historical record for those in the future.

This is all rendered moot (vocab of the day....) since Terminators had the right idea in T1 - kill Sara Conner before John is born. Why would they choose to jump in later when John is a young man, the jig is up, and resistance is greater? Logic says they would continue to jump back in time to when Sarah Conner unaware of the Terminators, or was still pregnant, OR when she was just a baby, OR go even further back and destroy her parents, OR destroy Mankind in it's infancy.

This leads Susan to say "Just enjoy the show...you're thinking too hard". Agreed.

Other items - the action scenes are somewhat illogical - too much busting through walls - and why are the robots bound by human limitations? Example - they scale a fence just like humans (even when their cover is blown). Shouldn't they be able to jump 30 feet in the air with their mechanical legs?

Check out this quick article on the CEO of iRobot (you know, those vacuum cleaners) - he makes a great point that Sci-Fi says that robots need to look like humans, but in reality robots need to be built to carry out tasks that the human body is not naturally built for - if you can build a machine to take on a particularly grueling task, why would you choose the human form?

My First Car

Since there has been so much talk of cars the past week, Kyle made me promise I'd post a story on my first car - a 1986 Olds Cutlass with rally wheels, 305 V8, and 60K miles in 1996 - but it was the features it didn't have that make the story.

When I bought the car it didn't have A/C due to a bad compressor, so we got a great deal in Houston where A/C is mandatory. But here's the best part - after a month or so the transmission lost reverse. That's right, I could go forward but not backward. This lead to some techniques I collectively deemed "strategic parking":

1) Never pull into a spot with a cement block
2) Always pull thru a spot and never give someone a chance to block your front end - cause they will....
3) Always have a younger brother (Craig) or friend willing to push the car out of sticky situations
4) When parking in a driveway, make sure there is a slight grade that will allow you to coast back out in neutral.
5) Parking at Sonic is out of the question

My favorite part was getting up in the morning for school, starting the car, and then sticking my left foot out the door in order to Flintstone my way out of the driveway. Needless to say it built character...

Having a baby!

Susan is pregnant! Here's the blog we setup to cover all the action...

http://babyeidson.blogspot.com/

(Check out the PhotoShop work...)

This ain't your Grandpa's Caddy

Altough the new Cadillac CTS commercials give me the creeps - you know, the one's with the doctor from Grey's Anatomy (I've just been corrected....Private Practice), and she is all over the car like (insert metaphor here).

At any rate - the fact that the new CTS comes with a manual transmission got me doing some research, and sure enough, those CTS-V cars that you see every now and again are freaking sweet - starting in 2004, GM dropped the LS6 Engine and Transmission from the Corvette Z06 and offered it as the CTS-V - 400HP, manual transmission, upgraded suspension, and Brembo brakes. Not bad. Looks like you can get a 2004 for about 22K with low miles.

In 2006 GM upped the ante with the LS2 engine, which gives another horsepower boost. The 2009 CTS-V (sound) will have the latest 550HP supercharged Corvette engine, which is shared with the Corvette ZR1 (unreal...check out the ZR1 see-thru hood and carbon fiber)

The selling point for me - the CTS-V edges out its only price-point competition (Dodge SRT-8 Charger) not on looks, but on the standard manual transmission.

Check out this video...never would I have expected a Cadillac to sound like this. This car is sneaky fast.

2007 Return on your money?

So, I find that a lot of people will brag "I made 30% on that stock last year", or "I doubled my money on fund XYZ". But rarely do they admit what their overall return was for their investments for the year. So, in the spirit of transparency, here are my returns (albeit modest) including dividends for my investments over the past 3 years:

2007 - 10.6%
2006 - 10.1%
2005 - 12.4%

Take the poll on the right column to let me know how you did - show me up! If you did better (which I am sure some of you did), post your picks for all to see using the comments.

Milestone Ahead

Well, December had just over 500 hits, and now January is on pace for over 1000 hits. Let's see if we can break 1000...

Good thing the most popular blogs get up to 10 million hits a day. Nice...