A billion and one reasons why you should get your ventilation system cleaned.

click on pic to enlarge

I just got my vents and registers cleaned yesterday and man what a difference! My air is cleaner and there i so much less dust. I did cost me a couple hundred bucks, but for you home owners, I totally recommend it.

Here's how it works:
They hook up this ginormous (yes I just used that word...it accurately describes its size) vacuum to the furnace and then proceed to go throughout each register in the house and use a hi-pressure air gun to blow all the dust and debris into the vacuum through the vents.

The picture above shows what was removed from my house and the bag was empty before.

it took about 2 hours to do and they cleaned the dryer vent as a bonus (which had enough lint in it to make a small pillow). This is also a common fire starter in homes too for you non-believers.

Quite possibly the best acoustic guitar player I have ever seen!

My Wife and I went to Corning, New York this past weekend to visit her brother who is a glass blower for Steuben Glass which is the art side of the Corning Glass Factory. Anyway while we are up there we go on wine tours, check out waterfalls and go out for drinks at some of the local bars.

Every time we have been up there we always see these 2 guys who play acoustic guitars...You've seen it before. But not these guys, especially the leead player. He is an amzing player. Granted they play all covers, they are the most entertaining acoustic duo besides Tenacious D.

Check out the video and watch til the end where he does some finger tapping.

Yngwie Malmsteen, Move Over!

What ever happened to good 'ol CUSTOMER SERVICE!?

Ok, this subject has really bothered me really for the last couple years and has become quite a pet peeve of mine. What happened to Customer Service? It used to be when you got in line, say at the grocery store, and people greeted you and asked if you wanted paper or plastic and followed with small talk while they rung you up. Nowadays you are lucky to even get any eye contact, let alone any kind of greeting. It almost makes you feel like a piece of shit! I'm not saying that this happens EVERY time I go somewhere, but seriously, it happens probably eighty to ninety percent of the time...Literally. It almost seems like it has become the consumer's responsibility to say hello and to be nice to ensure they have a good experience. Honestly this has become an epidemic.

I realize that there are shitty jobs out there and I don't expect it so much anymore, especially in places like Target or fast food joints but C'mon, it takes more work to be miserable and mean than it does to just say hello with a smile and thank you. It is not uncommon anymore for me to go through the line at the grocery store without one word being exchanged between me and the cashier. That's ridiculous! It has gotten to the point that when you do get good customer service, it catches you by surprise and it ends up being the major topic of discussion at the dinner table.

Ok case in point: We are at the Home Depot the other day and we go to the tool section because I have to buy a drywall saw. I have a couple of other small items in my cart and since you have to pay for the tool at the register in the tool department, I figure I'll just pay for everything in my cart. One guy is ahead of me with some pre-treated base molding and a few small items. He pays, and as we inch up to the register, 4 dudes walk up in front of me and proceed to start to buy something and the woman at the register didn't even blink to say "oh, this gentleman was in line" Mind you I didn't say anything to these guys mainly because one, I was with my wife and daughter, and 2 if I wasn't with them, these guys could have kicked my ass anyway, so I just called them fucking assholes in my head, and gave them a look that showed I was pissed.

So as these guys just cut in front of me there was another guy - I think he was Haitian (not that it matters but it paints the picture more vividly) that got behind the guys who just cut in front of me and he proceeded to put his stuff on the counter. He knew he was cutting in line because he didn't even wait for the other 4 guys to finish. I looked at him in utter disbelief and proceeded to put my stuff in front of his and gave him the dirtiest look I could muster up (which probably was a look of constipation). He looked back at me as if I dare do that when it was obvious that I was there before him. Finally the lady took my stuff and started to ring me up, mind you with NO greeting or acknowledgement whatsoever. She was busy talking to her coworkers about how hard she was working an how much she needed a break. So while she is ringing me up, the Haitian guy tries to give me and my wife a flyer of some sort - we didn't even look at it - and we were like..."uhh, I don't think so"

Finally after not saying a word to anyone through this entire ordeal, including the cashier, we leave. As we are walking out there is the little hot dog street vender guy out front so we decide to buy a couple sodas. There is a big fridge that holds all the sodas like in a 7-11 and it's self serve. Sheri opens the door and a soda falls out. She grabs 2 sodas and puts the fallen one back (of course we aren't going to take a fallen soda) the guy inside the "roach coach" gets pissed and said, "did you just put that back?" My wife was like "YEEAAH". He was so concerned about it. He said "no, don't put that back there" At this point we were both fed up, and sheri was like "YOU deal with it, I'm the fucking customer. Do your fucking job"

It basically has become the popular consensus that we should feel sorry for people who have jobs that they hate and that it is okay to be treated like shit. Well they chose their path. We the consumers are the ones who give their jobs purpose. Don't get me wrong, I don't need any one to kiss my ass or anything, but if I am going to give you some of my hard-earned money for something, a hello and thank you should be in order. After all they are there to serve us!

I think we as consumers should demand a little respect and not put up with the shit anymore. It has become the epitome of our society.

Now don't EVEN get me started with waiters. To make a long point short. If you give good table service, this equals at LEAST a 20% tip. If the service is shitty..NOTHING. The 15% tip is NOT automatic. An don't give the sob story of how hard it is. I used to wait tables too. The worst is when something does go wrong and the waiter decides to avoid you instead of just telling you that there was a problem. 9 times out of 10 that will put the customer at ease.

Okay, I am done ranting about this for now.

"Scorrrpeeuns! Lets throw a rock at 'em"

Ok, so after a whirlwind of a 2 week vacation that included flying out west to Arizona for a week, then coming back only to go to the beach 3 days later for another week, we are finally back home. Don't get me wrong I love vacation but it sure is nice to be at home.

We went to Arizona and that was just awesome. I've been there before but every time I go there, the desert just amazes me. It barely rains and there is so much vegetation ( in the form of many cacti).

We went to the Desert Museum which is pretty much a zoo but it is unique in that you truly feel like you are in the middle of the desert seeing these animals in their natural habitat. They aren't in cages or anything. They have a netting system that is barely visible...Almost like fishing line so it almost feels like there is nothing between you and them. (see picture of coyote below)

While we were there, we went to this Humming bird exhibit and there were some scorpions on this grate. There was this woman there who could have been a poster child for the beaten redneck wife and in the southern-most drawl you can imagine she yells and says "LOOK Billy....SCORRRPIUNS!" (see pic below) I looked at the scorpions and decided they were fake and told that to the woman. She insisted "No, I walked by here before and they weren't there." Then she said "Lets throw a rock at 'em" I told her "be careful, those things can jump up to 18 feet." After a moment of disbelief, she decided that I wasn't telling her the truth (and she was right). Just as she proceeded to throw the rock, the ranger came up and told her that they were fake. She insisted that they weren't there before. I laughed and walked away.

I guess no matter where you go you just cant escape red-neckism. Although I would have expected more of a cowboy sort of redneck and not the back woods kind.

Regardless it was a blast!


We also hit Old Tucson Studios. This is a Hollywood lot turned tourist attraction where they shot several movies there with John Wayne, Dean Martin and even former President Ronald Reagan. The picture of the saloon below is the one Chevy Chase went to in Vacation. They also had some pretty cool stunt shows with people falling off buildings and shooting guns. Made me feel like a kid again.

We did a whole bunch of other stuff...Too much to go over here in detail but we had an awesome time. I recommend it.

I have tons of pics of the desert and will post a link once I get them all up.