Sunday, April 26, 2009

BJ's Wholesale Club

I'd never been inside a BJ's club before this afternoon. Amy and I are looking for cost-cutting tools and we used to be members of Sam's Club, but it expired a few months back. So we got a mailer offering a free 60 day membership to BJ's which is also about 8 miles closer to us than the nearest Sam's. This BJ's is about 4 miles from the house, next to our SuperTarget and it has gas.

I looked at the membership offerings online, and got a better offer when I got there. Instead of the $45 annual fee, they charged us $30 and they tacked the 60 days free on to the new membership giving us 14 months for $30. Pretty good I thought as Sam's was $35 for 12 months last I looked, maybe higher now.

We were given the monthly coupon book and a new member coupon book and we went a browsing. Our goal was to check pricing and see what the place would hold. We took advantage of several offers including a free bag of bananas (3lb), and a free 37oz box of Cheerios for buying a 228 ct box of Pampers that is the same as the one Tante Toma got LynnMarie as a shower gift.

We also picked up some cheese (shredded and block) which got us free Ritz crackers, my shampoo with a coupon, some condiments, some Weight Watchers deserts with a coupon, cat litter, and the baby-feeding bonus, a gallon of milk for $1.99! On the way out we filled the Honda at $1.84 a gallon, which saved us over a dollar on the tank compared to the regular gas stations.

On the way home we got 6 beautiful Florida tomatos from the roadside stand for $5 and picked up the newspaper on the way home. Now we're relaxing. Baby is taking a nap, the Phillies finished a sweep of the NL East leading Marlins and life is good except for Jeff Gordon getting 56 laps back by the halfway point at Talladega today.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Tuesday TV

Most Tuesday nights I am working or catching up on other shows from the DVR, especially since we returned from China. The only thing I have to catch up on now is Chuck, and the DVR is down to about 20% full!

I had the day off yesterday and I began with watching 24. Granted, it's a Monday show, but I watched it on Tuesday.

24 - Jack Bauer has always had a good bit in common with John McClain, Bruce Willis' character in the Die Hard franchise. This week it really kicked in with the elements of "how can this guy keep standing after the physical toll his body has taken?"

We now know for certain that Jonas and Starkwood are NOT the end of the mega-conspiracy to usurp our government which NO ONE has a clue about. Tony is back to being a bad guy, now responsible for killing many FBI agents. Jack caught on, but of course his nerve agent exposure kicked in right as he was about to take Tony down. What's more? In the preview for next week we see Jack running around like he has zero physical problems again! The storyline is better than a few of the more recent seasons, but I'm about ready for it to end.

American Idol - We're still at 7 after last weeks Judge's Save, but we drop two tonight. Tonight we will likely see the departure of Lil (who the judges have been openly working against for over a month despite her trying to and sometimes actually doing what they have told her) and probably Anoop.

Lil - opened the night, a major strike against her. Only Adam and Danny can open a show and be guaranteed to be safe.

Kris - made Disco night bearable by making a disco song Santana-like. Good move.

Danny - nothing out of the ordinary or unique at all, but solid.

Adam - Takes the BeeGees in a totally different direction and it seems to work. I like the rock Adam better.

Matt - I like this guy. He may be channelling Timberlake too much, but I like his style.

Allison - the most OVER-rated performer this year. She's bettter than the skunk-haired nurse from last year, but she is not the talent they think she is and I can't look at her fake red hair.

Anoop - Last to perform and did a song I did not recognize. I won't miss him or his desire to be an R&B singer. V-103 in Atlanta would never play him.


Biggest Loser - From 6 to 5 and Kristin is gone!

Kristin has had so much more camera time than anyone else and Amy and I were tired of listening to her. Congrats on being the biggest woman ever on the show. She got SO very annoying at the end of the episode repeatedly telling Mike that he is "taking the easy way out to win the show" by eliminating her. Well, DUH! Ultimately it is a game to be won. His only real threats are Kristin and Tara, and Tara is a freaking machine! So yeah for the kid who has lost more than any other contestant in the history of the show and to his dad for helping him. I just hope that when they get home they can help brother Max who is left as the only big guy in the family.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Photo Tour - L.A. and 90210

My Cousin Hope and LynnMarie. Hope has a 90210 address and she drove us around while we waited for our flight to Atlanta.




The Regency Beverly Wilshire (where Pretty Woman took place).

The Beverly Hills Hotel

The Roxy and The Rainbow Room

The Whiskey A Go Go


Mann's Chinese Theater

The Capital Records Building


The Hollywood Sign


Monday, April 06, 2009

Wow

So it's been over two weeks since I posted anything here. Well, we were pretty busy the first week as we were still in China and then getting home. I wrote about t he experience as far as getting to Los Angeles over on the family blog and I have pictures to post from that point on.

We arrived in Atlanta at midnight last Saturday/Sunday. We worked on adjusting to the time change while sleeping through the NASCAR race with Amy's parents.

Monday they went home and I went back to work, for an hour. My foot had inflamed again to the point I could barely fit it in my shoe and I could not stand on it for 7.5 hours. I left and called the podiatrist for help in the form of steroids he called in for me. Tuesday was more like the same, another day missed at work.

Wednesday I made it to work, left at 1:30 to see the internist and returned at 2:30 to complete my shift. Based on the duration and harshness of my cough, she said it fit a CDC alert she had seen and about 5 other patients she has diagnosed with Whooping Cough. Yes, it is back. One of the symptoms includes coughing so much you vomit, which explains my China experiences.

We went to trivia Wednesday night to introduce the baby. I ate about half my entree and then said goodbye to it the way it came in.

I went to work Thursday morning only to discover shortly before lunch that my blood sugar had massively spiked, to over 500mg/l. (under 150 is typical). I went on break, shot up insulin and called Amy to take me home. By 5:30 or so we had it back to 150 mg/l.

Friday I returned to work and completed my first shift since returning to China.

Saturday I felt great early on. General strength was back. I had to run an errand at 10:30 for the store and I hit a Wendy's drive-thru for a jr. bacon cheeseburger on the way back. At 1:20 I went on break and I threw up the Wendy's. I ate my break food and finished my shift. I came home and cleaned the room my mom is using while she is here in Atlanta this week. I went downstairs to have dinner with Amy and immediately threw it up.

Since 8pm Friday I have kept my food down including the comfort food of mom's fried flounder and mac & cheese last night. LynnMarie LOVED the noodles and the corn side dish.

The cough is finally subsiding after a 6 day antibiotic pack and some strong cough suppressants. Now the shift is back to my feet and my inability to walk much. The podiatrist says gout. Amy and my mom want to hear my internist's opinion so we have a call in to her. We also have baby girl LynnMarie's first pediatric appointment this morning which will be a family affair.

So as it is, I have today and tomorrow off and I think I am out of sick days for the year now. Pray for my foot to heal so I can get back to life like normal, working, loving and caring for my baby and hopefully going to the gym.

Oh yes and yesterday was a mixed bag of emotions for sports as Jeff Gordon won his first race in over a year. Yeah! But the Phillies started an undependable hack for their first pitcher as World Series champions and he gave up 3 home runs in less than two innings including one to a kid who had NEVER been at bat in a Major League Baseball game in his life!

Final score Braves 4, Phillies 1. Mark Bradley of the atlanta paper (www.ajc.com) asked this morning why no bandwagon support for the Braves after one game. My answer, they know Brett Meyers is a hack who should be serving burritos at Taco Bell.