7 reasons why I'm glad I don't celebrate x-mess.

I have never celebrated x-mess. I am very glad of that fact for several reasons. Here are some of those reasons, in no particular order.

1.  I don't need to LIE to my children about a fat man in a red suit (and everything else associated with that LIE).
2. I don't feel obligated to spend money that I don't have just to satisfy the greed of others.
3. I don't have fill my home with a tree or any of the other pagan symbols associated with the holiday.
4. I don't have to wait in line to returns gifts that I never wanted in the first place.
5. I don't dishonor God by celebrating a day that is important only in the worship of the sun and other pagan deities, and not associated with Christ until falsely done so centuries after his birth.
6. I don't need to attempt to put Christ back into something that he was never in to begin with.
7. I don't need to spend money to buy lights to decorate my home, or the electricity to use those lights.

Okay, I could probably come up with more than 7 if I were to break some of them down. The point is, I'm glad that I don't celebrate the holiday. I could make a post on why I don't celebrate it, but suffice it to say that the holiday is un-Biblical and goes against God's command to NOT worship him as the other nations worshiped their gods.

Facebook stole money from me!

Yes, Facebook did indeed steal money from me. The amount was not great, but the principal stands that they stole from me. I don't like having things stolen from me, no matter who is doing the stealing. I'm not going to keep quiet about it, hence this post, which will be linked to via Twitter and thereby Facebook as well.

Please read me story and feel free to share it with others.

"They've got nothing on In-N-Out."

Not long ago a new burger joint came to Salem. It seems that
restaurants with quality burgers are a bit of a rarity, or too
expensive and off the beaten path.

This new place, Five Guys Burgers and Fries, seemed that it would be a
welcome addition to the burger offerings in town.

When we heard, or rather saw, that this was going in, we were looking
forward to trying it. After seeing their prices I decided that there
was no rush to try them.

A couple weeks ago we were nearby for something else and decided to go
ahead and try their burgers.

One of the first things we saw upon entering was a box of peanuts for
us to help ourselves to. There were also many boxes, or was it sacks,
of fresh potatoes.

Their burger offerings are not many: hamburger, cheeseburger, bacon
hamburger, and bacon cheeseburger and also a "small" version of each.
The only difference, other than $1 or more in price, between the
regular and small versions is 2 vs. 1 patty.

We each chose a small cheeseburger. The fun part was choosing the add-
ons. Every burger comes with you choice of toppings at no additional
charge. I think it's 19 different toppings with choices such as
lettuce, tomato, mayo, mustard, ketchup, pickles, grilled onions,
grilled mushrooms, and more.

We also got a large order of fries to share. They certainly provide a
generous serving of fries, even overflowing into the sack. We got the
Five Guys style, which are a homestyle cut fry.

While the burgers were not awful, they were definitely NOT anything
spectacular. I ordered the grilled onions and mushrooms, but they put
so few on that I couldn't even taste them. I had to look to make sure
they actually had put some on my burger. The seasoning of the meat
itself seemed to be fairly nonexistent as well.

They fries were well cooked but could also have used some seasoning.
Overall I found the food to be fairly bland. There was nothing to set
it apart from any other restaurant that might offer a burger on their
menu amongst the many other entrees they serve.

My wife grew up in southern California and is a huge fan of In-N-Out.
It was her that made the statement I used as the title of this post.
She knows where the nearest In-N-Out is, and would gladly drive the 6
hours to get there, but she isn't likely to drive the extra mile out
of her way to go to Five Guys Burger and Fries.

Super Fun High Quality

Because I just think it's great!

Do I really need any other reason?

Later!

Stone Wars for iPhone

As I've mentioned previously, I enjoy finding new apps for the iPhone/
iPod Touch.

Last week I came across this game, Stone Wars. I've spent a lot of
time playing it since. Sure, that's partly to do with the fact that
I'm not very good at it, but mostly due to it being fun.

As of right now, June 27, 2010, it is still FREE in the app store.

It's a turn based game where you, as a caveman, attempt to defeat your
enemies with primitive weapons.

So far I have only played the Arcade mode, but you also have the
option to play against others on the Internet, locally via wi-fi or
Bluetooth, or vs the game itself.

In the Arcade mode completing a level adds another weapon/tool to your
arsenal. Some levels grant you more than one.

The levels are not designed for fast play. Many are complex and quite
time consuming. You have to be able to figure out how to stay alive
and kill all your enemies. Many levels have a "teammate" that you can
rescue, or even one that you start with. As long as one is alive, the
level continues.

Survival often requires the purchase if food. To afford the food you
have to demolish rocks to find gold and gems. Unfortunately these do
not carry to the next level. The gens are also needed to pay for the
use of some items later on as well. If you don't have the money,
you'll need to do some more blasting.

The controls are quite simple. Just drag to aim, or to change the
viewing area. Pinch to zoom in and out just as you do in the Safari
browser you've been using. Use the left and right arrows to walk, and
the up arrow to jump. For most weapons the fire button is also a "hold
to charge" button, allowing you to control the force of your attack.

What are you waiting for? Go get it now while it's still available for
FREE. You can't beat the price and you are sure to get your moneys
worth.

2360: Battle For Cydonia

A while ago, I got a 1st generation iPhone. I use Verizon for cell
service, which precludes the use of the iPhone as a phone for me.
Because of this, it is merely an iPod Touch with a camera.
I have discovered that there are a ton of apps available for this
device - most are either garbage or useless to me.
Most of my apps are games. I refuse to pay for apps, as I don't see
them as being that vital to my well being.
I'm currently using an app called App Miner that allows me to browse
apps that are new or on sale. By viewing only the free ones I am able
to come across some enjoyable apps.
My pick for today is the app in the title of this post. It's free for
today only, so I'm glad I already got it.
It's a fun little shooter where you get to control a robot of sorts.
It was definitely worth a look for the price of free, and one that I
may play on a semi-regular basis.

I may continue to post my great finds to this blog as I come across
them. The apps I choose are always free and rarely "lite" or limited
versions. I hate apps that want to get you hooked with a free version
and constantly beg you to upgrade. Perhaps, if time allows, I'll be
able to give a mini-review with my picks in the future.



[Sorry for the picture orientation. It's an iPhone screenshot, and I could find no way to rotate it in the process of writing this post via e-mail. I will work on this for future posts.]

Check this video

This is a test of whether or not I can send video to thisblog.

The attached video was created using Qik VideoCamera application for
the iPhone.
For better compatibility, use QuickTime to play this video.

Late night TV

I'm watching The Tonight Show with Jay Leno right now. It's the only
late night TV show that I enjoy watching.

It's really quite nice to have Jay back on. I watched Conan (when the
channel would actually come in), but it seemed that he was always
trying way too hard. Some bits were a wee bit funny, but often to
contrived.

When the NBC signal doesn't come in, we get stuck watching Letterman
on CBS. I don't have a clue how he is still on TV. His bits are not
funny, and I don't know if he has actually ever told a joke. I missed
it if he did. It's also annoying how he rehashes the same old stuff
night after night, just in case it becomes funny I guess.

Anyway, NBC, thank you for putting Jay Leno back on the Tonight Show.
As for Conan, good riddance.

Time to start something.

I set this blog up a while ago, but I haven't bothered to actually
post anything until now.

Perhaps now that I have an iPhone/Pod, and can post via e-mail, I'll
actually get around to posting occasionally.

[I say iPhone/Pod because it is a first generation iPhone with no
phone service. Basically it works like an iPod touch, but has a
camera. I traded an iPod Nano, which I really had no use for, for it,
and it's been a lot of fun.]