Finally, Spring is Here!

I am so happy that Spring is officially here. With Daylight Savings, the days are longer. This weekend was absolutely gorgeous. Friday, I took a day off from work and spent the AM working on my taxes, then after lunch, washed, waxed, vacuumed my car. I even cleaned the windows with Windex. The pic to the left is a pot of mini daffodils that I bought from the American Cancer Society for their annual Daffodil Days. Enjoy!

IKEA Malm 3 Drawer Chest

I spent Saturday afternoon assembling a Malm 3 drawer chest from IKEA. I bought it around New Year's when IKEA cut the price in half for a one day special. It took me longer than expected to put it together, but I am pleased with the results. For a 3 drawer chest, it is quite roomy and I like the metal drawer slides. Now, I have to rearrange some stuff in my bedroom to make space for it.

Random Reps

1. Raises - My supervisor informed me today that I qualify for a percentage increase in my salary versus a one time lump sum payment. I also found out I will receive a one time incentive bonus for my company's performance last year. Direct Deposit tomorrow. Hooray!!!

2. Toyota Recall - My 2010 Pontiac Vibe, which is really a Toyota Matrix, is part of the Toyota recall. There are actually two recalls: the accelerator pedal and the floor mat. The accelerator pedal fix is available now, the floormat fix is not available yet. I have not taken my Vibe to the dealer yet. I have been following this story since it broke. I do not have any faith that the suggested fixes are the real solution. Over 60 consumers reported last week that after the so called fixes were applied, the sudden unintended acceleration problems actually became worse. Apparently, the floor mat fix includes a change to the car's computer software, and this seems to have made things worse. I am mad at Toyota - their actions say cover up. I am mad at NHTSA (sometimes pronounced NITSA) for being Nitwits. I am not sure what to do with my car: drive it, sell it, trade it in, wait for a "real" solution, wait to join a class action lawsuit.

3. BB#7 - You are a great quarterback on the football field. Off the field, you are an IDIOT.

4. Workouts - I can not use snow shoveling as an excuse for not working out. So, this week, I managed two weight lifting sessions.

Olympic Thoughts

The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics are over and I have to admit I did enjoy watching them. It was a pleasant diversion and there were some very good story lines that came from these games. It was nice to see the different sports. I can not remember the last time sat down and actually watched the Olympics, winter or summer. I am not sure why, but I watched as much as I could this year. So, will I watch the 2012 Summer Games in London? Time will tell.

7 Year vs 7 Month Bulb

Back in July, one of the headlight bulbs in my 2003 Vibe burned out. It was the original bulb, and lasted almost 7 years. I decided to replace both bulbs at the same time, and I upgraded to a Sylvania XtraVision bulb. The bulb is supposed to be brighter than their standard bulb, but there is a trade off. The extra brightness means a shorter life span for the bulb. Well, one of the new bulbs burned out today, so it only lasted 7 months. I was extremely disappointed. I still had the working bulb that I removed in July, so I just used it to replace the bad bulb.