richmackey - the blog

So I made brownies tonight. Brian usually does the cooking, but I started dinner (he had to come finish it) and so I decided to make some brownies. They're out of a box, but still yum. I mixed them all together according to the directions, added some mint-chips for fun, and popped them in the oven.

After the 45 minute baking time, they were still gooey. I asked Brian if they should be done yet, and his first comment "Did you adjust for altitude?" Oops. I told him the box didn't say to. But it did. Add 1/4 cup of flower per packet (meaning I'm 1/2 cup down) and 2 tbsp water (so I'm down 4 of those - which I think is 1/4 cup).

The short of it - we have brownies that are gooey on the inside (after another 15 minutes of baking) and dry on the outside. But they're still chocolate. And still good.

I noticed that Tr3nt over at Pink is the New Blog had done this on his myspace page, so I figured I'd give it a whirl. Interesting results with this picture.



I tried 4 or 5 pictures. Sean Hayes came up in almost all of them, so did Arnold Schwartzenegger (though not in this one). Also Shane Filan from Westlife (Irish boy band). Fun stuff. Try yours at http://www.myheritage.com/

It was announced a few weeks ago. I waited. I held out. I made sure we'd have enough for the downpayment on the house. Then I slapped down my Visa and bought the new TiVo HD. At $799 it's a really hefty pricetag, but for those who know me, you KNOW how much I love my gadgets.

The box itself is similar to most TiVo boxes, but they give you a great experience inside. Very fun. Very TiVo.

From TiVo HD Unboxing

From TiVo HD Unboxing

Once you open it, there is a little layer of velum with printing, touting all the new features and enhancements your TiVo HD will bring. Culminating with "The TiVolution will now be broadcast in HD."

From TiVo HD Unboxing

And lastly, the sexy little beast itself.

From TiVo HD Unboxing

Comcast comes on Sunday to install the two Cablecards (just $6.95 each, the price of box rental) so we can truly get HD TV on the thing. So sweet.

Lastly, there is a TiVo VIP promotion running through the end of the year which allows you to transfer the lifetime subscription of a Series 1 or Series 2 TiVo to the HD unit (and keep 1 year of free service on the unit you transfer from). Cost: $199. Details on that are here: TiVo VIP Purchase/Transfer. You have to buy the TiVo from TiVo, not Amazon or anywhere else to qualify. And a nice little letter comes in the box letting you know how to redeem. Pretty sweet. If you plan to keep the TiVo HD more than 18 months, well worth it.

Rufus - not the most flattering picture of him, but he's been a butt lately. So oh well. He gets a bad pic published. Maybe he'll behave.

From Cats

Little Cat (Beau) doing what he does best.

From Cats

I’m sitting in the Denver airport waiting to fly out to exciting Dayton Ohio. A few days ago I indulged and got the new blackberry pearl, so I’m posting from that. Can’t do hyperlinks or much else but general text seems to work well.

Just a quick post before I head out. I’ll write more later about the potential house, TiVo HD, Apple’s new products and everything else that happened this week.

In case you’re curious, this trip puts me over 90,000 airline miles for the year. Blech.

I had the distinct pleasure of registering my car in Colorado last weekend. I intended to write about it then, but hey… I procrastinate sometimes.

Having registered a car in 5 states now (IA, NE, IL, CA, CO if you’re counting) I knew enough to find the DMV web site and figure out what I needed to do/have to expedite the process. In CO you need proof of identification (driver’s license), old title, old registration, emissions testing, VIN verification. Obviously the last two are the unique ones. Fortunately, the web site tells you where to go for your emissions test, and the VIN verification can be done by the same people who do emissions. Convenient. And a rip off. Why?

I have a 2006 BMW 330xi. It has 8,000 miles on it. I’ve had it roughly 8 months. I bought it new from BMW (was still on the boat coming to Los Angeles when I paid for it) and received it at a California dealership. So. The car is new. The car is efficient. The car is rated with California emissions. Given those things, you would think I could forego the emissions test. But no one can. You must pay the $25 to get the test. I can deal with that, it’s clean air, all good.

Now. The VIN Verification. This kills me. A girl at the emissions place looks at your license plate, looks at the VIN on your window (or inside the door in my case), and writes it down on a piece of paper. That’s your VIN verification. Follow me on this. I have a NEW car. Financed by BMW. I have the original title (with power of attorney from BMW Finance). The registration from the state of California. Yet, no one looked at those things as a piece of verifying the VIN. A girl looked at the car. Wrote it down on a piece of paper - and that’s more accurate and valid than anything provided by BMW USA or the state of California. For this, I pay $9. Granted, it’s only $9 but still. I would think the process could be a bit better.

So the car is registered. I’m legal. (If you have a Colorado license and do not have Colorado plates on a vehicle registered in your name, it’s a $1000 fine if you get pulled over. Per incident.) The rest of the process went smoothly, but oh what a joy it is to deal with the paperwork of getting ‘legit’ in a new state.

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Caffeine intake: 4 cups coffee, 1 Dr. Pepper (can)
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Days since last trip: 03 (Austin, TX 7/31-8/2)
Airline miles traveled year-to-date: 74,510
# of airline flights year-to-date: 79

*I have chosen to consolidate miles and not show individual airlines. Just easier that way.

When I was at Ogilvy & Mather/Chicago from 2000-2003 I worked on the Sears business. Started on Orchard Supply Hardware (OSH) and then moved on to Craftsman tools later. The TV we did was iconic and dealt with the breadth of the tool line and the history and heritage Craftsman has. It always amazed me that it was always ranked #1, #2 or #3 on quality among all worldwide brands (not just tools, all). The other two that flirted with the top 3 were Rolls Royce and Waterford Crystal. Good company indeed.

So seeing these ads gives me mixed feelings. While I find them funny, I’m not sure they do a lot for the brand overall. Seems to cheapen it a bit to me. Take a look and feel free to post comments.

Gymnastics :30

Bowling :30



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Caffeine intake: 3 cups coffee, Annie’s Cafe
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Days since last trip: 02 (LA - 7/13-7/14)
Miles traveled on American year-to-date: 20,323
Miles traveled on United year-to-date: 34,370
Miles traveled on Frontier year-to-date: 10,140