Bill Watt’s Blog

Well, you get the rest.  Link

Blizzard just introduced a new tool called the armory where you can look up any character and see really everything about that character. Check out my main character here.

So, my poor Honda Passport was starting to really show it’s age after 8 years of wear and tear. The breaks were gone, the check engine light has been on for >1.5 years with 2 different dealers telling me that they couldn’t find the issue, and there were other noises going on that boded poorly.

I got the Honda back in 1999 after my Saturn SL2 took one too many hits. That Saturn was an accident magnet. Not the make or model… just that one car seemed to have been destined for trouble. Seriously, most of the accidents were not my fault. There was one winter back in Boston where 3 different people slid into me at different times and from varrying distances. There was one incident where a woman behind me slid about 25 feet on ice and bumped into me. When people are being pulled into your car from that far away you start to accept it.

I used to joke that I had the Honda longer than I’ve had Alice (only by about 30 days).

Well, this weekend we decided it was time to let the Honda go before it broke down on me and we upgraded to a new Acura MDX. We went in early Sat did some shopping and test drives and had it home by 2PM. I went a little overboard with the accessories but it is fun and you only live once! Here’s one image:

I guess the biggest surprise feature so far is the surround sound system. Tonight, while waiting for a take out dinner order, I was watching a TV show stored on the video iPod and running through the car entertainment system. At one point in the show there was a knock on the door and it was so clear that I actually looked left thinking someone was knocking on the car door.

I have seen advertisements for custom computer systems you can install to do all kinds of extra stuff. Maybe I’ll have to look into that. Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing if I can keep this one for 10 years.

And even if someone did say it about life that person would certainly not extend that expression to cover reality TV contests. And despite that we have someone every week crying on national television that this or that wasn’t fair.

One of the best examples would be the Amazing Race’s Kentucky team who likes to wait on their friends and cry when people pass them. Yes, they may be nice people and the salt of the earth but then again… it isn’t “The Nice People and Salt of the Earth Sing Along!” It’s a race. Being first is the only thing that matters at the end of the race. Yes, there are 1k strategies and no one needs to kick someone out of a speeding car but it is a race folks. There will be losers and only one winner.

The same is true of The Apprentice. Everyone is all lovey dovey until the boardroom and then people are surprised when the gloves come off. Just an aside- I love that Donald Trump fired a guy last week for calling himself “white trash” in the boardroom. Donald looked to his right and said something along the lines of, “That’s a horrible expression. Why would I want to hire a guy who thinks of himself in such a bad way?” That was a good reminder for me that everything (EVERYTHING) in life is sales. That guy packaged his product and Trump didn’t buy it.

OK- back to my main rant.

I guess I’m just surprised that everyone seems to forget that these are contests and sensationalized contests at that. While Alice is not a big fan or Rob and Amber I like that they come to win and never forget that it is a game. Rob never hurts anyone but I like that he’s not afraid to take the taxi that the other team called.

Oh god… I really don’t like tons of talking while I’m watching TV or movies. I actually like to pay attention and watch for myself.

Something was going on tonight and Alice was full of comments. I think people would have enjoyed watching me take in every comment… and there were many. My favorite of the night was when we were watching American Idol and Alice, while looking down at her dinner just blurted out, “Totally forgettable!” and then started shaking her head like she was a judge sitting on stage.

She is a funny one.

Ok, was having a nice email thread with Mangelo (FAIM) and this was a comment he included:

Nice blog by the way. You’re so silicon valley you’re almost shiny. There’s not even that much Sarcasm on there. I mean there’s some. The @$$hole post was a funny one. Amp it back up man, life is too good for you right now, good job, love your wife, etc…..you’re losing your edginess. Where’s the biting wit that IS Bill Watt.

So, Mike, this one’s for you:

I’m in our favorite little Mexican restaurant the other night and there must have been a soccer mom / baby stroller convention in town. It seemed like 4 parties of 8 all waited until prime time to go out to dinner with their perfect angels in tow. Now, that’s fine with me. I was picking up an order to go so I foolishly was thinking that this had no impact on me. That is, until these people started trying to manage the world. They started getting in front of the servers and helping them organize the restaurant. “It would be better if we put these tables like this and then you could get in an extra set of tables over there…”

Very little bothers me as much as when people breeze in, speak as if they are experts and THEN proceed to let their kids make a mess and impact those around them. Localized chaos is fine but when it spills into my personal space then we’re going to have a problem.

I will also say that I love how my brother and sister in law manage this. The kids are cranky- they don’t go out. The kids get cranky while out- someone takes them out of the public area. Both my nephews are really good kids and have great temperaments but they are kids. Spills are gonna happen and moods are gonna turn sour. The difference is that they already know it won’t be tolerated.

Hell, I even see some people encourage bad behavior. It doesn’t have to be as blatant as ”Yeah Tommy! Go push that lamp over too!” It can be just be parents not paying attention to their kids as they destroy things  that don’t belong to them or giving them all kinds of sugar and crap food and then taking them to church or the opera. I enjoy when a child is stomping around and screaming and the parents look at you like they’re daring you to comment on their perfect angel’s beautiful independence.

It all boils down to this for me. A trained dog is a welcome dog. Shouldn’t it be double for kids?

I made it to lvl 70 on my hunter and was able to sell some crafting materials to get to the 900 gold i needed to train in the new riding skill and buy my flying mount. Flying is soooo much better.