Dwight Howard gets it - mostly

Dwight Howard, of the Orlando Magic, was on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon this past week and they talked about his impending free agency... and how another former free agent who is also now playing in Florida handled things.

Mount Vernon

I had a LivingSocial coupon for Mount Vernon, George Washington's house, that expired on March 31 so I headed down there to use it before it expired. I'd never been there but had been planning on going at some point. The coupon enabled me to make that happen for cheaper!

The only problems with going in March is that it was still pretty chilly, none of the crops were in bloom, and some of the features do not operate in the winter. However, overall, it was really nice, with the best part definitely being the property's view. The view is just gorgeous, right on the river; it's no wonder he lived there for like 50 years. There are vegetable gardens, flower gardens, (most of which were not in bloom at all) and livestock.

You go through the mansion on a guided tour so you aren't free to just roam around aimlessly or take pictures. Besides the main mansion, there are a lot of other buildings around, like the greenhouse, the slave quarters, the laundry house, the smokehouse, the garages, the stables, etc... There is also the crypt. George is in the tomb on the right, Martha on the left (that you can barely see).


You also can walk down to the dock and get really close to the water and also see his sixteen-sided barn, which was one many agricultural inventions he apparently had.

I didn't take a lot of pictures but it was pretty cool and wanted to share. It's like a little piece out of the 18th century nestled away outside of 21st century life. Someday I might go again because I didn't really have time to walk through the museum part of it and might take advantage of some of the things that are only available April to October.

Tivo Frustration

I've been a Tivo user for almost two years and have been a huge fan of theirs, praising them to everyone who will listen, but a couple of days ago, my Tivo box died. And since then, I've had a lot of drama involving the company. Like, I've found that their customer service kinda sucks.

Let me start at the beginning. My old box (I have two) started acting crazy on like Tuesday of this week. Quite honestly, it had a couple of little hiccups that led me believe it was aging. But, I had moved it into my bedroom and I don't watch or record things in my bedroom much at all so I wasn't worried. But, on Tuesday, I turned on the TV while I was getting ready for work and the "Welcome" screen was on. The "Welcome" screen comes on when the Tivo is powering up. So, I was confused - had the power gone out? I didn't think much of it until I came home from work and the "Welcome" screen was still on. I unplugged it and then it seemed to boot fine. On Weds. morning, the "Welcome" screen was on again so that day I checked out the Tivo online support site, found a resolution and all seemed fine. By Thursday evening, I had had to "fix" it a few more times and suddenly it wasn't booting up at all. It would go through the actions and then right when it got to the main menu screen, back to the "Welcome" screen it would go. Uh oh.

So, Friday, I called tech support. The guy I talked to, Dennis, was very nice and helpful but told me that it was dead. He suggested I could exchange it for a new machine for $149 or perhaps get it repaired (which I later found out cost $279). I had just a few weeks ago purchased service for it for a year, so I was concerned about getting that money back or getting that service moved to another machine. He said that service could probably be transferred to a new machine of the same type but not a newer model. Otherwise, I would be out the $99 service fee I'd paid. I wasn't happy with any of those options. I don't want to have to fork over any money. But, Dennis gave me time to think about my options.

Saturday, I happened to pull up my online account and saw the words "Eligible for 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee" next to the service details for my broken box. Which, I assumed, meant I could get my money back for this $99 service. Hooray! Well, my account is charged on the 12th of each month so I assumed today was the 30th day of that guarantee (a guarantee that Dennis didn't mention at all). So I called customer support again. I got put through to someone named Steve who very rudely told me that he couldn't do anything for me while their system was down for a few hours. "Call back in a couple of hours," he said. Umm, thanks? How about taking my phone number and calling me when your system comes back up? Wouldn't that be good customer service? Or, god forbid, listening to my problem and seeing if it can be answered without the system? I tried that approach and he basically hung up on me.

So, a couple hours passed and I called back and wouldn't you know I got Steve again. When he asked me how my evening was going, I was so tempted to say "Not so great since you were so rude to me a couple of hours ago," but I refrained. So, Steve is clearly a sales guy and in order to give me that money back, first he's going to go through every other option available to me that involves me keeping my service. He mentioned at least 6 options - none of which were the ones that Dennis had mentioned the day before, by the way. Steve kept going on about how if I didn't want to keep the service, then I should sell my box to a friend or family member. I'm like, "The box doesn't work!!" Then, he suggested I put the box on Craigslist. Again, I had to remind him that the box is broken. He seemed to think the box was still very valuable despite being broken because people pay for the service on the box. Whatever. He was driving me a little crazy. So we get to a point where I ask if he can send me something listing all the options he's laid out for me because there were so many. He gets all defensive and says he most certainly cannot send me the options. He explains to me that their privacy settings prevent him from contacting me - even though he had read off my email address at the beginning of the conversation as a way of proving who I was. When I pointed this out to him, he insisted he wasn't allowed to contact me. Whatever. So I asked him to go through those options again and he only gave me two and then seemed to be in a big hurry to get rid of me. It was really rude, honestly. The only thing he did that was nice was extend my 30-day guarantee so that I would have until April 11 to make a decision. The call was kind of exhausting, truth be told. Steve was kind of a jerk and I still had a broken machine and was out $99.

I hung up, unsure what I was going to do. Sunday, my Tivo box was laying in my living room because I had unplugged it on Friday immediately after Dennis told me it was dead. Somehow, I got the idea to test the box on my living room TV. I guess the thought I had was that the power strip in my bedroom had problems. I hooked it up in the living room and of course it didn't load. But then, a few hours after I had plugged it in, I happened to check it and it was working! I couldn't believe it. It worked the rest of the day. Right before bedtime, I moved it back into my bedroom. And it worked immediately there too. And this morning, it was still working.

So I had all this drama with the customer support for nothing! It's so bizarre. It worries me that the box was acting funny once, so how long before it acts up again? Clearly there is SOMETHING wrong with it. Luckily, I do have until April to figure out what to do. Maybe I should take advantage of one of the options presented to me after all and get a new box? Such a roller coaster ride.

Loving Redbox

I just started using Redbox to rent movies pretty frequently in the last month or two, thanks to free rental coupons and a Groupon I bought that gave me three rentals for $1.00. And it's so easy and cool that I can't believe it took me so long and I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't tried it and wants to rent movies! I won't be giving up Netflix anytime soon but since I downgraded to one movie out at a time, there are definitely times when I want a certain movie NOW and Redbox comes in very handy for that. It probably helps that there is a grocery store 2 blocks away that has two Redbox machines and is open 24 hours a day, so it really can't get much more convenient. But it's nice that you can check the inventory of all boxes easily online so before I head out to the grocery store, I can see if they even have the movie I'm looking for. Or, maybe go somewhere else. And you can reserve online. And, you can return a movie anywhere - it doesn't have to be returned to the box where you got it. I've used all these features.

Charlie Sheen Fired

I don't know why I'm now posting twice in a few days about Charlie Sheen because truth be told, I'm barely following all the drama... but I came across the full text of the document the CBS lawyers sent firing Charlie and it's awesome. It's eleven pages of trying to prove how he's violated his contract and then ten full pages of references to his craziness from articles and interviews about him, most of which he conducted himself. It's a great read seriously. (via)

Charlie Sheen is ruining my favorite baseball player

As is most of America, I'm intrigued/baffled/obsessed/horrified with Charlie Sheen. Not enough to be one of the millions following him on Twitter or to watch his live web broadcast but enough to watch/listen to some of his various interviews. During a lot of the interviews, he can be seen wearing an Indians hat or jersey, which I find awful (doesn't Cleveland have enough sports woes?) but I chalk it up to his appearance in Major League over 20 years ago. However, during last night's Dateline NBC coverage, I discovered that it's not just the fictional Indians he's a fan of, it's the real Indians too! See the video below, in the shot below and then starting at about 1:11 in the video... notice the baseball jersey hanging in the background on the right of the screen. Lofton, #7. It's Kenny Lofton's Indians jersey!! Only my favorite Indians player ever. Ugh. Then I found out, too, that Charlie invited Kenny over to watch Major League with him and other baseball players a few weeks ago. Kenny, get away fast!!!

Oscar documentaries

The last few years, I'd managed to watch one of the Oscar-nominated documentaries before the telecast and it turned out to be the winner. This year, I watched three of them so I won't be surprised if one of the other two is the one that wins. Ha ha. Actually, I've heard Inside Job is the favorite and that isn't one I watched.

The three I watched were: Exit Through the Gift Shop, GasLand, and Restrepo. Of those three, I would award the first. It told an interesting story, plus the director is a secret figure so I am curious to see what would happen if it wins - who would accept the award?

By the way, I came across this article that details what will happen at the Oscars, segment by segment, so when it starts to run over, you can see how far over it is.

I Want One: Cherry Sweater

I know it's got an extra "e" but this sweater is perfect for me! Too bad it's $360. (via)

Catalog Withdrawal

This sounds super lame, sure, but I'm going through withdrawal because my local public library is switching its library catalog this week and it's been unavailable to patrons since Sunday. I check the catalog like ten times a day, at least, especially when I have books or movies on hold so I can see where I am on the list. And it's killing me to get the black message of doom that taunts me with "The catalog is not available."

Movie review: Just Go With It

I got a chance to see an advance screening of the Adam Sandler-Jennifer Aniston comedy Just Go With It on Thursday and I enjoyed it. It had a lot of funny moments, more than what you see in the previews. Jennifer's character is really likable and her two kids in the movie are real finds. Sure, there's a lot of over-the-topness because the whole premise of the movie is built on Adam's character lying about being married and of course, one lie piles on another and so on... But as long as you don't analyze it too much (my friend & I started to) and just go with it (ha ha), I think it's pretty good. Predictable, yes, but still pretty good. My only complaint is that Adam seems to be talking to the women's breasts the entire movie and I found that pretty annoying. Maybe he isn't, maybe he's just not making eye contact but it certainly looks like that's what he's doing. And I guess that would be in character for him to do that but then again, it would also be in Jennifer's character to call him out for that and she didn't.

New Year's Resolution

The month of January is drawing to an end and I thought before it got too far into the new year, I should record some of my resolutions or goals for the year. So here they are in no particular order.

1.) Exercise more.
2.) Read more.
3.) Stop watching so much TV.
4.) Travel someplace(s) new.
5.) See a Broadway show.
6.) Don't let work stress me out.
7.) Go to bed earlier.
8.) Walk to work more (that could fulfill #1 too!)
9.) Find a new job.
10.) Put myself out there for more dating opportunities.

Yuck?

Umm, this is called the Tampon Organic Catnip Crocheted Toy. What a bizarre idea. (via)

Christmas movie review: 2010 Wrap-Up

I had one more I was going to try to watch this week but who knows when I'll get to it so instead I'll just do my wrap-up post. Not a good year for Christmas movies, with nothing scoring higher than an A-. That's never happened before.

A-
The Christmas Blessing
James Patterson's Sundays at Tiffanys
Unanswered Prayers
Holiday Baggage

B+
A Dog Named Christmas

B
On Strike for Christmas
Home for the Holidays
Christmas on Chestnut Street
November Christmas

B-
Christmas Cupid
Christmas Crash
A Dad for Christmas

C+
The Christmas Clause

C
The Ultimate Christmas Present

C-
How to Marry a Billionaire: A Christmas Tale

Christmas movie review: The Christmas Blessing

The Christmas Blessing is one of those CBS ones that now airs regularly on Lifetime. I'm not sure if I had seen it but it's sort of a sequel to The Christmas Shoes, which I watched and reviewed in 2007. The young boy in The Christmas Shoes is now all grown up and the main character, played by Neil Patrick Harris, of The Christmas Blessing. Neil's character has become a doctor but when he loses a patient he heads back to his hometown to reconsider his career and reconnect with his father. While Neil's character reminisces about his deceased mother all the time, his father is having difficulty moving on and is trying desperately not to wallow in his grief all the time - a task that is made difficult when Neil shows up. Neil volunteers at a playground and meets a sick motherless kid, which reminds him of himself. He also meets a teacher, played by Rebecca Gayheart, who also ends up sick. What cheeriness!

Despite the depressing subject matter and overlooking some major story holes (At least 20 years has passed since the events in The Christmas Shoes but these characters carry on as if it happened yesterday - or 3 years ago. Another glaring problem is that Rob Lowe looks EXACTLY the same despite the time passed - they didn't even try to age him.), this is pretty good. It's well-acted, touching and emotional. It definitely ranks as one of the better ones I watched this year, although truth be told this was a bad crop.

Rating: A-

Christmas movie review: A Dog Named Christmas

A Dog Named Christmas aired on CBS last year and sat on my Tivo for a full year before I finally got around to watching it. It's about a young man, Todd, who is mentally slow so still living on a farm with his parents. He loves animals and hears a story on the radio about the local animal shelter asking residents to take in dogs for the holiday season while their staffing is low. The dogs can be returned on December 26. Todd begs his parents to let him adopt a Christmas dog and finally they relent, despite the fact that the prospect of having a dog brings back Vietnam flashbacks for Todd's dad. Don't ask. Of course, once the dog arrives - nameless, they call him "Christmas" - everyone settles in and loves the dog and he changes the family. The dog protects the family and when they return it to the shelter, it escapes and comes running back to the farm, where they all lived happily ever after.

I enjoyed the movie - the CBS ones tend to be pretty good - but it was very slow-moving. Very slow-moving.

Rating - B+

Christmas movie review: On Strike for Christmas

On Strike for Christmas debuted this year starring Daphne Zuniga and David Sutcliffe. I give it props for a unique story, for sure. Daphne is a mom of two teenage boys who finds herself doing all Christmas preparations by herself. Her husband shows up like a week before Christmas and announces his department Christmas party will be at their house this year... and offers zero assistance in putting the party on. She's had enough and, inspired by local picketers, decides to go on strike. She refuses to do any of the Christmas preparation until she gets help from her men. Other women like her idea and follow her cause. Meanwhile, the men try to bake cookies and do other holiday tasks and have a gigantic failure. Of course, eventually the men figure out what's what and manage to pull stuff together and the mom kind of realizes that Christmas doesn't have to be perfect. And they have a happy Christmas. It wasn't a bad story and, like I said, it was original. But some of it was so over-the-top stupid. And, honestly, I can't really blame her for being fed up but maybe she shouldn't have let the men get away with doing ABSOLUTELY nothing for 18 years.

Rating: B

Christmas movie review: James Patterson's Sundays at Tiffanys

James Patterson's Sundays at Tiffanys, starring Alyssa Milano, was new this year and was based on the book by James Patterson (obviously). I recorded this movie and then was looking through my books for something to read and saw that I actually owned the book so I both read it and watched it in the last couple of weeks.

The plot of both is that a young girl is basically ignored by her workaholic mother so she has an imaginary friend, or at least she does until she's 10 when the imaginary friend must leave. Apparently, that's just one of many rules of the imaginary friend. Twenty years later, they happen to meet up again in New York, where she is shocked to find that he's not so imaginary. Yes, there's a level of fantasy involved in the plot but I love the idea. Neither can figure out why he has shown up in her life again. She's engaged to someone else but remembers the times she shared with the imaginary friend so they slowly reconnect and then it turns into a love triangle. It's only incidentally a Christmas movie as it's one of those that just happens to take place during the holiday season. Ironically, the book doesn't take place at the same time of year - so it was an interesting choice by the filmmakers. However, considering the magic involved in the story, it was a wise choice.

Overall, I liked this movie. It was sweet and magical and well-acted. I didn't agree with some of the changes from the book, though, mostly involving the imaginary friend character. In the book, the friend is like a 35-year-old man and when he shows up 20 years later, he is still a 35-year-old man. In the movie, he's her age as an imaginary friend and then grows up at a regular pace and is her age when he shows up again. I get that it's kind of odd to have a young girl hanging out with a 35-year-old, but the change meant that she didn't recognize him and that he basically turned into a stalker. Plus, in the book, it's like the character gets these various imaginary friend assignments and does them but lives a life between assignments. In the movie, it was like the imaginary friend had no idea what life was, like he was a naive young baby. I thought the dynamic in the book was much better. But, overall, the movie worked and I enjoyed it.

Rating: A-

Christmas movie review: Christmas Cupid

Christmas Cupid debuted on ABC Family this year and is this year's version of A Christmas Carol, where an awful person is visited by ghosts of the past, present & future and comes to realize that they need to change pronto. In this case, Christina Milian plays a celebrity PR person who blows off her family and friends in order to make partner at the firm. She's also dating the son of the owner, presumably because she thinks it will get her the promotion. Her biggest client, a young Hollywood starlet who likes to party, dies and gives us our Jacob Marley. The starlet proceeds to show up to Christina's character throughout the movie to both help and warn her. Mixed in with all the work drama is an old flame - a nice guy - that resurfaces who she uses to make her current guy jealous. In fact, a lot of the past/present/future visits involve her love life. Obviously, you can't lose with A Christmas Carol story but some of these have been done better than others and I would put this on the lower end. It seems manic, unorganized, boring, and, quite honestly, I think it suffers from bad acting by Christina Milian. I've liked her in other things but not this.

Rating: B-

Christmas movie review: Unanswered Prayers

Based on the lyrics of a Garth Brooks song, Unanswered Prayers is a pretty good movie but, to be honest, it doesn't really qualify as a holiday film. Maybe a Thanksgiving film (it ends with Thanksgiving dinner) but definitely not Christmas. But, Lifetime did debut it at this time of the year so I'll go with it. It does have the feel of a holiday film. It's about a man who is married with a high school aged son who seems to still be hung up on his high school girlfriend. Actually, I think he's still hung up on high school as he is reliving his high school football career through his son. When the high school girlfriend shows up back in town for her mother's funeral, the guy finds himself spending more and more time with her, to the detriment of his marriage. It's one of those where you think you the grass is always greener... but maybe it isn't. Overall, it's good because I'm sure it's something we can all relate to plus it's well-acted and poignant. Christmas movie or not, I'd recommend it.

Rating: A-

Christmas movie review: The Christmas Clause

The Christmas Clause sat on my Tivo (well, technically I moved it to my laptop) for a year before I finally got around to watching it. It had some potential; for instance, star Lea Thompson is a top draw for us children of the 80s and its plot is one of the most tried and true Christmas stories - that of the person who makes a wish, gets what they wish for and then realizes things weren't so bad pre-wish. That can be a great, great plotline. Unfortunately, this movie doesn't work at all. It's very disjointed, like they had a bunch of scenes they wanted to film but didn't have an editor. We didn't get a very clear picture of what things were like pre-wish so that we could compare them to post-wish. For example, she wasn't a very loving mother or loving wife pre-wish so do we really buy that she would miss her children or husband? In fact, the entire story post-wish is her trying to get her husband back. Overall, it probably wasn't as bad as the rating indicates but it had such great potential that it was disappointing.

Rating: C+