Mind on a Different Track

I just find a really cool way to record Internet radio and it is very simple to do using a program called Audacity. 

I actually needed to use this because there is a sports program that I like to record on my PC for listening to it latter.  You might have others reasons.  For example, the guy in the article linked to above records foreign language programs to help him learn the language. 

Anyway, the process for recording is fairly simple.  You download the Audacity program and then hit the record button.  For many of you, it will be this easy.

However, I could not record audio so easily because I am a Windows 7 user.  I had to use the link above to figure out why none of this worked with Windows 7. 

Well, I came to find out that Windows 7 hides the actualy driver that is needed to make it all work.  I needed to go to the control panel and unhide the driver to get it all working properly, which I did.

Thankfully.

Now, I am recording radio shows on my PC which is truly awesome.  I can now listen to Internet radio whenever I want.

It is like TV for radio…but free.

As you all know, I am a big baseball fan and today, at work, I will watch baseball live online to make my day go a little quicker.

The game that holds most interest for me today is the Cubs Mets contest. For some reason, the Chicago Cubs are a team I sympathize with greatly

For starters, let’s take a look at the schedule for this game. The Cubs versus Mets contest will begin at Wrigley Field on May 24th

If we look each team’s win-loss record, the Mets would be favored in this contest with their record of 22 - 24 versus a record of 20 - 25 for the Cubs.

However, this is not a big difference and I look for my Cubs to prevail in this contest today!

Yesterday, I watched the final round of the Farmers Open Golf Tournament out at Torrey Pines.  The two people I was rooting for were Tiger Woods and John Daly, both of whom were in contention after the first day.  Unfortunately however, both have forgotten how to swing a golf club when the pressure is on and Bubba Watson won the Farmers Open, making it his 2nd tour victory.

Tiger Woods new swing clearly didn’t hold up under pressure when he took to the weekend.  He shot plus 70 yesterday and had his worst performance ever at Torrey Pines. 

Similary, John Daly faltered when the weekend came.  After playing great on Thursday and Friday, big John let his erratic ways surface. 

For these guys who play great leading up to the weekend and then falter swinging the golf club under pressure, I am with you. 

You’re golf swing must hold up under all conditions. 

When this happens to me, I really struggle Driving a Golf Ball.  When the money is on the line, I tend to slice or hook my drives.

This is why, after seen Tiger and Daly this weekend, I don’t feel entirely alone.

Now, I am off to the range to try to improve my golf driving so I can win money on the weekends!

I am a little frightened as to what WikiLeaks has to say about Bank of America. 

As a long time customer of B of A, I have been very happy, but Mr. WikiLeaks is affecting the bottom line of everyone he goes after.

Is my money safe?

Since it is Sunday, and a great football day, I am set on getting a new LCD TV by the time the Superbowl starts.  Thus, I am interested in who makes the best LCD TV?

Of course, like many of you, the big names stick out.  There is the one that seems to be everywhere:  Samsung.

I was just over on ESPN.com and checking out the results from yesterday’s game–the Jets won???–and saw a big ad for the Samsung television, which is says is now…”better than ever”.

But there is a price for better than ever.  What I have learned is that you pay a lot for a big name.  The Samsung is usually fairly priced but it is still quite expensive unless you go for yesterday’s model.

However, is yesterday’s model that bad?  What do the new LCD TVs have that the old ones do not?  As far as I can tell from my research, these are bells and whistles that I do not need.  What I want is a big LCD TV that won’t break…I don’t need Internet on my TV.

With this in mind, I came across the The Biggest LCD TV on market.  It’s a Sharp Aquos TV that is 60 inches and it comes in at a great price. 

This one is it.  In 3 weeks, I will be watching the Superbowl on a 60 inch LCD TV.  You’re all invited if you want to come!!!

As this is the time to look at New’s Years Resolution, I am taking a look at my life.  And, there is one thing that I have always wanted to do but never done:  Learn Spanish.  There are many reasons why spanish is important including that many Americans now speak Spanish which makes it great not only for work but for fun.

It’s odd.  When we are young, we spend so many hours in the classroom Learning Spanish but we really get nothing out of it.  I have recently spoken to 10 random people who all took Spanish classes for 8 years.

Do you know what they can say?  “Hola” and “Cerveza por favor”. 

This is what we get after spending hundreds of hours in the classroom.  So, we know that this is not an easy pursuit.  It’s difficult but doable. 

Thus, my goal this year will be to begin my quest to learn Spanish.  It’s extremely valuable to know as it opens up a huge part of the world.  Plus, I want to travel throughout South America and this will help quite a bit!

Ah, I love my Sunday morning cup of coffee.  The hot flow with a little cream to make it perfectly golden brown.

On Sundays, I wake up before anybody else to get my day started solo.  I have a routine.  I make my coffee, do my morning ritual, grab the paper, and simply enjoy the morning catching up on the news of the week. 

One hitch in my morning ritual is that my coffee maker is barely chugging along any more.  It still churns out a cup of great coffee but now it is making a lot of noise and I think that it is about to go on the disable list.  Thus, I began investigating A Coffee Maker for Christmas this year and i don’t want to go cheap.

Sure, there are many Mr. Coffees out there that you can get for a low price of about $20.  But I use this thing everyday.  Thus, I always want to have one of the Best Coffee Makers to compliment my Sunday morning ritual.  Not only do I want it to make great coffee, I want it to look good in the kitchen.  Gotta have great aethetics, right? 

Some suggested that I go for one of the fancy, one-cup coffee makers.  One cup, excuse me?  That simply will not cut it.  I can take down 4 or 5 cups on an average weekend.  Then, when the others wake up, I often have to make another pot.

In the end, I went with the Cuisinart DCC-1200.  This thing brews 12-cups, works great, didn’t kill the budget, and looks very pleasing with its stainless steel in the kitchen.

I opened it before Christmas–shame on me–and I am using this morning.  I could not be more pleased how it compliments my Sunday morning!

I have been struggling what to get the teenagers in my life for Christmas this year. 

The struggle just ended this Tuesday night.  I just located the top 10 gifts for teens and all is now right in the world.  There, I found gifts for everyone.  I was not sure that these were good choices until I started Mixin’ With the Teeny Bops and realized that all of these things, many I had never heard of, were all things that teens loved.

For instance, I would have never thought of lotions for teenage girls but apparently they love them.  And this thing called the Ripstik caster board…I have never even heard of it.  I need to get with the culture I suppose. 

Of course, we had the gifts such as MP3s and cameras which I had thought of but even with some technology gifts I was lost.  Did you know that there exists a portable LCD TV for less than $100.  Now, that’s a deal that all teens would love.

And then of course there is pop culture of which I was totally unaware.  Apparently, this Twilight Saga bookset is what prompted the success of these movies and all kids love them.

Odd.  I am searching for gifts for teens but I feel like I am the one being given the gift…the gift of knowing my culture a little better.

It’s pretty fun

So, I log in this morning–mind you, it’s Monday–and I can not bring up the Internet yet again.

WTF?

What is wrong with Internet Explorer?  I have had some people tell me to switch over to Firefox but this doesn’t make sense.  Microsoft makes Windows.  Shouldn’t they be able to make products that work with Windows better than another company?

I have also read that one of the best Web browsers comes from Google called Chrome.  This is the first I have read of that.  Google usually makes kick ass products so I imagine its pretty good.

Thus, today, instead of working for the first two hours, I am going to install another browser.

I will go with either Firefox or Chrome…I am going to go try them both right now and tell my boss that I could not work this morning because of Microsoft–Bill them!

This is odd but I am now reading a book by one of my favorite authors whose name is Tim Robbins.   The book is called Jitterbug Perfume.

In this book, a man gets turned on by the smell of a women’s urine after she eats asparagus.  I have never noticed that with me but perhaps I have not been paying close enough attention.

So, I learned How To Cook Asparagus because I did not really know how and I decided to serve it for my boyfriend and I last night.  I made a lot it.  Presumably, if your pee smells with asparagus, it will smell even more with a lot of asparagus.  No?  This is solid reasoning I believe.

So, when my bf arrived and I served him dinner, he said, “Holy Sh*t, that’s a lot of Asparagus.”  And I told him that he had to eat it all without telling him the reason. 

Later that night, he went to the bathroom and lurked for a scent…and boy did I get one.  Yes, a lot of Asparagus makes your pee smell alot!  Mine smelled to, but sadly, unlike any my book, my boyfriend was not at all turned on!