Link Of The Week

It's no big secret that tomorrow will be the most unproductive work day of the entire year -- everybody will be online getting all of the info and filling out their NCAA basketball tourney brackets to turn in for the company pools. If you want the latest up-to-datest info on the NCAA tourney just visit the official NCAA Tourney site of TWIT, http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/mayhem/brackets/viewable_men. You can get the brackets in printable form and get some inside info.

Happy National Peanut Month

TWIT is happy to report that March is National Peanut Month. And peanuts happen to be one of the favorite snacks here at The Compound. There are usually at least two bags of salted in-shell peanuts in the pantry at all times, in addition to a couple of cans of salted already-shelled peanuts for when we're feeling lazy.

Peanuts are my favorite snack to eat at the ballgames (even more so than hot dogs or nachos) and I know I'm getting fleeced when I pay their $$$ price for a paper bag of hot roasted peanuts but they are worth every penny.


So the next time you're at the grocery store, please pick up a bag of can of peanuts and celebrate. And if you have some peanuts that are a bit stale, don't throw them away; instead toss them outside for the squirrels to eat. They want to celebrate National Peanut Month, too.

Flashback Friday

Top Ten TV Shows Thirty Years Ago In 1980

1. Dallas
2. 60 Minutes
3. The Dukes of Hazzard
4. The Love Boat
5. Private Benjamin
6. M*A*S*H
7. House Calls
8. The Jeffersons
9. The Two of Us
10.Little House on the PrairieAlice

Vizio Update

I am happy to report that the Vizio will be repaired and returned to The Compound tomorrow. The repair shop called me this afternoon and gave me the quote on the repair, and I told them to go ahead and fix it and get it back to The Compound as soon as they could. They assured me it would be back tomorrow. And they said they would even hook up the DVD player and VCR, that have both been sitting underneath the TV gathering dust for the past 18 months because I didn't know how to hook them up. So this time tomorrow evening we will be back in business.

While I'm happy about getting the Vizio back, I'm still a bit reluctant, thinking that I could have used the money I'm spending on the repair toward the price of a new TV. But we'll just hope for the best. As always, I'll keep you posted.

Spring Is Almost Here

We had the warmest day of the year so far - it got up to 71 degrees this afternoon. We've got a couple of weeks left before it's officially spring, but you couldn't tell that to the city of Louisville today. I saw quite a few pairs of shorts being worn this morning when I passed by PATs waiting for the school buses. It was in the mid-50's for the morning commute and seemed a bit too cool for shorts but who says that PATs are the smartest creatures out there.

I experienced another sign of spring while I was riding the bike tonight. I passed by a neighbor's house where they were grilling out and hosting a pretty big cookout. If I hadn't eaten supper I might have stopped by and bummed a hot dog.

I saw probably one of the biggest signs of spring when I pulled into the driveway this afternoon: the 'Rents were out working in the yard. When you see them outside raking and trimming and such you surely know that spring can't be too far away.

I Know How Elvis Felt

As a big Elvis fan, I've read and heard stories about how Elvis would get mad at the TV and reach for his gun and shoot the TV. We never knew if he shot the TV because there was a program on he didn't want to watch, or if there was a problem with the TV itself; all I knew is that I heard stories about Elvis shooting out the TV. At 6:50 this morning, I knew how he felt. I had just gotten up and walked into the family room to find Dad standing there with the TV and cable remotes trying to get the eighteen month-old Vizio to come on. "Trying" is the key word. I got my cup of coffee and quickly got dressed for work and came back to the family room and attempted to get the Vizio to come on. "Attempted" is the key word. I got nothing. The only thing that came on was the "Vizio" logo on the front of the set. It was at that point I wanted to go get one of the guns and shoot the TV.

As soon as I got to work and told my coworkers about the problem, it didn't take us long to disover dozens of websites that listed tons of complaints about the Vizio TV's; more specifically, the same problem that we were having. After a lengthy call to Vizio and a call to a friend who is the manager of a local appliance store, I got the name of a reputable local TV repair shop and gave them a call. They were able to come out today and after diagnosing the problem they hauled the Vizio back to their shop for the repair. The cost of the repair is well over one-third of the amount that we paid for the TV, and I'm sure I'll probably regret not just using that money to go towards the purchase of another TV. But I just wanted it fixed so the 'Rents could watch TV. But I digress. Let me say for the record that I will never buy another Vizio TV again. Never. Ever.

As I said, the repair shop hauled the Vizio to their shop and said they should have it back within a week. You can rest assured I'll keep you posted on this, because I'm pretty it's not over yet.

What's This Got To Do With Remodeling?

My friend and faithful reader SH attended the Home Remodeling Show at the Fairgrounds this weekend. During lunch today, she was telling me about some interesting observations she made at the show; specifically, things that she saw at the show that had nothing to do with home remodeling. Here's her list of Booths Selling Things At The Home Remodeling Show That Have Nothing To Do With Remodeling:

1. Quilted purses

2. Puffed corn

3. Fudge

4. Quilts

5. County Clerk's Office

6. Modeling Agency (note: modeling - not remodeling)

7. Cheap paintings (like they sell at the "art shows" at hotels)

8. Frozen alcoholic drink mixes

9. Branson vacations