As some of you may know (I’m not always sure of what I’ve written on each blog), I’ve been putting in some new flooring in the front room of our house. We were working on it a little bit tonight and when we finished I noticed some of the scrap pieces of laminate flooring propped up against one of the walls. I instantly thought of the commercials that I’m sure we’ve all seen from AT&T about the more bars in more places.

I’m not trying to put in a plug for AT&T, and I don’t use their service, but the thought just occurred to me and I figured I’d post the picture here. A real life example of more bars appearing randomly in nature. Maybe it’s a sign that I should switch carriers, but I’m pretty sure I’ll stay with who I’ve got for now. (It can be quite expensive to break a contract you know.) So, have you perhaps seen any other randomly occurring signal strength bars?

When I was back in High School, my friends and I would frequently make 80′s references and were somewhat infatuated with the craziness that is associated with that decade. When we’d run across anything that was from back then we’d always refer to it as having broke the decade barrier. For example, the movie Kull the Conqueror came out when I was in high school, and it is just filled with 80′s metal music. (As an aside, if you’re into that sort of thing, it’s definitely a movie worth watching. I actually already own it myself.)

Well, this last weekend the decade barrier was broke once again. We went out with some friends from work to a bar down in south STL called Helen Fitzgerald’s to see an 80′s cover band, the Metal Studz. It was the second time now that we’ve seen them, and they put on quite the show. They dress up with the long hair wigs and the tight leopard print pants. The lead singer also has a fan “strategically” placed on the front of the stage that he can kneel in front of to blow the hair all around.

They don’t play any original music, but no one seems to care since they’ve come to be reunited with a piece of their past. We heard music from Def Leppard, Motley Crue, the Scorpions, and a bunch of others including Guns ‘n’ Roses. It was a great time (except for the totally rad smoker chicks standing right next to our table), and one where the decade barrier was definitely broke in two.

My wife is really into fantasy books and movies (no, not that kind of fantasy…), the kind with dragons, wizards, dwarfs and the like. I, on the other hand, am not at all into this type of thing. I don’t ever see myself reading these types of books, but I will be convinced to watch such a movie on occasion. And about a week ago was one of those occasions.

My wife really wanted to watch the movie Stardust that is based on a book she had already read. It was kind of a weird movie that had an odd premise, but I will say that it was at least entertaining. There is some magical world on the other side of a wall over in England. A star (which is actually a girl) falls from the sky and there are multiple subplots of different characters looking for this star, all for different reasons. It has the usual elements of a fantasy movie, and you’ll probably like it if you’re into that type of thing.

You might want to read Stardust, the book before you watch the movie, but that’s a personal choice. From what I’ve heard, the movie does change a few things and it’s obviously not as detailed as the book, but it’s entertaining all the same.

So, would I watch the movie again? Most likely not, but that’s due to a lack of interest in the genre on my part. I know my wife would watch it again though. So at least it’s not an all around bad movie.

As you may or may not know, The Milk Crate has undergone some drastic changes recently. I wanted to get away from the free hosting provided by Blogger and have more flexibility and a better ability to customize as I wanted. So I decided to sign up for my own hosting plan, and I went with Bluehost.com. I have never had my own hosting before, and was a little nervous about it because I thought it might be over my head. Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to get everything up and running, and I was pretty impressed with the customer service support (especially for a novice).

The service only costs $6.95 per month if you sign up for 24 months, and it costs $7.95 per month if you only want to sign up for one year at a time. It’s pretty reasonable for all of the server space and bandwidth that your allowed. You are also able to register one domain name for free if you don’t already have one or would like to get another one.

I was also really impressed with how easy it was to install the WordPress blogging platform. Bluehost already has WordPress right there for you to install onto whatever domain you choose. It really couldn’t have been much simpler. And importing everything over from Blogger was really easy as well. I’m really happy with the new look here at The Milk Crate, and hope you enjoy it as well. Feel free to make any comments about the design or leave suggestions for improvements.

Apparently there are some in the political realm that are more concerned with their appearance than just worrying about the issues while running for office. Dean Hrbacek is a Republican and former mayor from Texas who is running for congressional office. His campaign sent out a mailer that contains a photo of his head attached to a different body that just happens to make him look thinner than he really is.

His campaign has said that he’s been so busy that he didn’t have any time to pose for a full length photo for the mailer. For some reason I have a hard time believing this. I’m pretty sure that they were trying to put out a better image, but I suppose we’ll never know. I’m also a little disappointed that this type of thing would actually make a difference. But why else would they have done it? I wish people would focus more on issues and policy, but we’re such a superficial society.

As the political scene heats up even more with the presidential race, make sure you focus on what the candidates have to say, their track record, and their viewpoints instead of worrying about what they look like, how they talk or anything else that doesn’t matter. I would also urge everyone to register to vote if you haven’t already. You may not think that your vote will make a difference, but it’s what America is based on.

Now that both of the championship games have been played, we now know who is going to be in the Super Bowl. It’s no surprise that the Patriots are going to be playing in the Super Bowl, but I sure didn’t expect Eli Manning and the New York Giants to be there. It’s almost not a game worth watching, except it is the Super Bowl. At least I’ll have the commercials to look forward to.

As for the outcome of the Super Bowl, I’m not so sure I can make a reliable prediction. On the one hand, the Patriots are unstoppable. On the other, the Giants would only need to pull off one more upset which they’ve been pretty good at as of late. As much as I hate to say it (being a Cowboys fan), I’ll be rooting for the Giants since I don’t want to see New England win. I suppose the more acurate description would be that I’ll be rooting against the Patriots.

I also had one other thought earlier that I’d like to mention. How did Bridgestone become the half-time sponsor for the Super Bowl? Not that it really matters all that much, but honestly, a tire company? Even though the game is sure to be a disappointment, I can at least hope for enough media distractions and possibly clever advertising to help me get through it.

This time of year the weather is generally cold, but right now it’s brutally cold in many areas of the United States. This can put quite a strain on a home’s heating system, not to mention the extra costs of heating when it’s this cold. Well, I’ve run across a cool product that can help heat areas of your home. You can install gas wall heaters in some of the areas of your home that are most frequently used and occupied. These will provide a localized heat source which allows you to turn down the central heating system and not have to pay to heat rooms that aren’t being used. They also are available in multiple sleek designs so you can match whatever decor you might have. These heaters are something to check out if you’re looking for an alternative home heating solution.

This weekend are the two championship games to determine who goes to the Super Bowl. I don’t really like any of the four teams that are still in it, but I’ll still watch the games I’m sure. In fact, I don’t like three of the teams and I’m indifferent towards the other (San Diego). So here’s how I think it’s going to go down.

NFC Championship: Green Bay vs. New York

Most would say that the Packers have the advantage since they’re at home and can take the cold weather. As far as I’m concerned, both teams are going to be playing in the same conditions, and it’s supposed to be extremely cold. I wouldn’t give any advantage either way based on the weather, but I will tip the scales towards Green Bay for reasons of skill. I just don’t think that Eli Manning will last the whole game, and I think Favre will.

AFC Championship: New England vs. San Diego

Even though no one is really giving any credit to the Chargers, I think the team will step up their game because it’s the playoffs. They also have an even better reason to play for, and that’s to be able to say that they are the team who knocked off the Patriots. You also have to look at the Patriots last few games and they weren’t complete blowouts. I still think the Patriots will win, but it might be a better game than what most are expecting.

It can be extremely stressful to have a hard drive fail or to have accidentally deleted some important information. Hopefully it never happens to you, but if it does, Flashback Data provides computer data recovery and restoration. They also provide support for Computer Forensics if the data in question might be needed for litigation. So check them out if you ever have a problem because of lost data.

I was recently sent this picture which was dubbed Darwinism at its finest, and I would have to agree. It doesn’t take an electrical engineer (which I am) to see what’s wrong with this picture. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, there’s nothing that can be done for you. You’re doomed.