Changes

cookWhat’s up faithful reader? Hope this update finds you well. I certainly can’t complain. I have some news, some observations, maybe a rant or bitch or two and well lets get into the meat of it all and waste no more time.

Lately I have been noticing change. Change in everything really. Obviously things need to change and change is natural. I don’t mind change at all and if I am prepared for it.  I usually welcome change. However I am a firm believer in that once a person or item or situation reached its fundamental pinnacle of perfection or awesomeness then it should be left alone. Of course this doesn’t work with everything otherwise things become stale and life would be boring. So although I preach and welcome the idea of change there is just some shit I wish would be left the hell alone. I’ll give an example.

Fruit Loops! With the exception of raisin bran or oatmeal I probably haven’t ate cereal in twenty plus years. Recently I have delved back into the realm of sugary children’s cereal for breakfast consumption. Now back in the day before all this Michele Obama healthy eating school lunch bullshit and other organic natural food kick there was an entire population of Generation X kids like myself that mainly subsisted on Fruit Loops, Happy Meals, and Totinos toaster oven pizza.

Last week, I bought a box of Fruit Loops Cereal. Right across the top of the box, right above that crazy fucking Toucan Sam with his LBGT friendly rainbow snout is the words, “made with whole grain.” I was like “oh thats nice a healthier option for the kids with anal parents.” I search throughout the grocery store shelves for the “old school gangster” Fruit Loops. You remember the kind made with white enriched full gluten crackling goodness in the three basic colors, and lacquered in pure sugar and the finest of high fructose corn syrup that left the milk in the bowl a rainbow tinged slurry of milk sugar that could keep a kid going all day.

Here I am slinging boxes of this fake Fruit Loop crap behind me in my quest for the real Fruit Loops of my youth. After standing in a pile of semi healthy boxes of Fruit Loops at my feet, and garnering more then one dirty look from a passerby and the fat pig in the electric cart who could not pass my General Mills cereal barricade I realize this new healthful brand of Fruit Loops is all there is for sale. Pissed off I grab a box (hey I am not a quitter and will try anything once) and I punt my way out of the pile of Fruit Loops around my feet swearing under my breath about another lost childhood staple and how the world is in a downward spiral to hell all somehow connected to this new bullshit healthy whole grain version of Fruit Loops.

The following week, I crack open the box one morning and pour a bowl full out. Right away I can tell the actual bits of cereal while still round seem to be smaller and more dense then what I remember of the crack like full puffiness of the originals. Secondly theres about three to four more neon colors in the cereal that I know were not in the original version. I pour in some milk and resign myself to the passing of another staple of my childhood. The taste was ok I guess, and while there was some semblance of the sugary milk payday at the end, it was just not the same.

Why did we have to screw with Fruit Loops? What did we gain? A generation of children grew up eating the old Fruit Loops. Hell Fruit Loops are generally the first real food babies are given to eat. My mother poured the cereal out dry onto the tray of my high chair and I ate those circles of sugary goodness before I could say my name and not crap my diaper. This is where I do not believe in change.

IMG_1476Good Change? A little over a year ago I said goodbye to my angel Golden Retriever Lucille due to cancer. As of this afternoon I now have three dogs in this house with me. A Cocker Spaniel, a Mastiff bulldog mix, and a full AKC Dogue De Bordeaux. Yea I know I haven’t quite got past the point of wondering if I am slowly slipping into “crazy cat lady” like insanity but so far so good. Everyone is getting along, no aggressive posturing so it looks like the pack is growing in size.

His official name is Coconut Head. All my dogs are named after characters from the movie Cool Hand Luke. I pretty much have the main characters of the movie covered now. Lucas, Dragline and now Coconut Head. (Coco) for short. Coco handles all the bets for cool drinks. “Coco we got us a bet here!”

In reality I don’t call any of them by their names. They are all referred to some size of “nug” or nugget. I have Little nugget (short for butt nugget) middle nugget and now big nugget or big nug. mmm yea no really I’m not losing my mind at all.

Anyway this is probably it for me. As I look around the house its not crowded and there is plenty of room for the four of us, but as it stands I can probably only comfortably walk these three dogs at a time. Its also probably on the threshold of lunacy I’ll have to try and  explain away to any future girlfriends I may invite over here.

More good change is Apple finally released the new iOS 7. Lots of people commenting that it looks cartoonish etc. In the end I am finding it a step up in the right direction from what we had with version 6. When it comes to electronics and computers most people get used to something and denounce change but in the end change is good in this case. The evolution of computers and science is based on change and without change well we cant hope to survive as a species. iTunes radio is also about six weeks away from driving the first of the numbered few nails into the coffin of Pandora internet radio. You heard it hear first folks. Watch.

Anyone been watching the final season of Breaking Bad? I’m on that every Sunday night like stank on shit. I am going to be sad when the series ends this next Sunday, but with change there is always something more. Saul Goodman the slick assed lawyer from the show, is getting his own series on AMC. Yep “Better Call Saul” is getting his own show. It will be a prequel of sorts detailing how Saul Goodman came to be the scumbag lawyer we all have come to love. I personally can not wait.

That’s about it.

Let ‘er rip, tater chips!

Hold On, I’m Coming

Don’t you ever, be sad
Lean on me, when times get bad
When the day come, and you know your down
In a river of trouble, your bout to drown

Friday afternoon and no Brock blog? What the heck? You’re safe, I’m here and didn’t forget. Let’s bust this mother out.

I never thought I would wish for Thanksgiving and the holidays to get here, but I am this year. Between the election, the weather, birthdays its a never ending roller coaster ride of emotion, stress and other nonsense.

I finally went ahead and upgraded the iPhone 4 to a 5 this week. I have been using iPhones since they came out and I must say I am pretty happy with this new model. I never really paid attention to the incremental releases such as the 3S or 4S but rather just go for the new full models when released. The nice thing now is I have started selling back my old iPhones to websites like www.gazelle.com It really doesn’t get any easier. You enter in what kind of phone you have to sell and the condition. Gazelle gives you a quote to buy it back and the quote is good for 30 days. If you choose, Gazelle will then send you a free box and shipping package with pre-paid postage to send the phone back to them. When they get your old phone, Gazelle will send you a check, deposit to your Paypal account or send you gift cards to Amazon etc. You can also send the phone back in your own packaging and print a shipping label right from the website.

In essence my new $200 iPhone 5 only costs me $60 to upgrade. I received $140 for my old iPhone 4. If you have an iPhone 4S Gazelle is offering $215 for it! That means if you are eligible to upgrade iPhones through your carrier from a 4S to a new 5 for the subsidized price of $199, Gazelle will give you enough money that after tax you should be able to upgrade your iPhone for free with Happy Meal money left over.

In all the iPhone 5 is probably the best of the iPhones yet. Better camera, better bigger display, faster chipset all in a thinner smaller case. Then there is Siri. A lot of people don’t like it and don’t use it. Frankly I didn’t think I would either, but I have to be honest. I have been playing with it and she works. In fact she is typing and creating this entire blog post for me right now while I drink coffee and scratch my nuts. Ok well I am kidding. I’n not scratching my nuts. However the service does work so far for me and its pretty neat. I had her post an update to my Facebook page and all I did was ask her to and tell her what I wanted the status update to say and ding, that was it. Pretty cool. It’s nice to have a friendly subordinate female in my life again who’s only mission is to make me happy. Bitch still wont make me a sandwich, but she’ll find one online and order the darn thing. I’m serious. I was so impressed with Siri this morning when I asked her how cold it was outside and the information she returned to me, I then thanked her. Siri came back and replied, “No Brock, its you I should be thanking.” I had tears in my eyes and wanted to propose on the spot. I think I am in love. We’ll see how long the honeymoon lasts.

Sunday I am supposed to be going to watch the Dolphins play the Titans down in Miami with some friends. Kind of looking forward to it since lord knows Rex Ryan has ran one up my proverbial ass with what he has done with the Jets this year. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not jumping ship to the Dolphins but they seem to be shaking out some of the kinks I have been watching them play with the last couple of years. Frankly speaking a decent group of Pop Warner kids hopped up on leftover Halloween candy should beat the Titans so we’ll see what Miami can do on Sunday. Pictures to follow.

That’s really all there is to report this Friday afternoon. The blogosphere and internet are still in contraction with all the “told you so” bullshit comments going back and forth about the election results. I have given my opinion on the matter and frankly don’t care about it anymore. I’ll take care of “mines” as my socialists friends like to say and move along.

Funny thing  and rather ironic as I think about it. National Geographic or Discovery channel or a combination of the two are running new shows about “prep’ers” and “gold mining”. The prep’ers are all getting ready for the end of the world stockpiling fool and ammo, living off the land, building bunkers etc. I watched with curiosity the last couple weeks and thought to myself. “What a bunch of whack jobs”. Then I look at the stock market after the election. UGH! Gold is a damn safe place to put your money folks. I would do it now if you have the means. Gold is going to go up even from where it is now. If not gold think precious metals and other cash positions. Those doomsday prep’ers don’t seem too freaking crazy right now either.

TGIF folks. Be nice to each other. The ass you have to kiss today may be the one you have to wipe tomorrow.

Let ‘er rip, tater chip!