USTA League Website

USTA 4.5 Tennis League website. Rosters, Schedules, Results all cross linked. Nicely done
2005 League

What kind of dog are you?

Fun 10 question quiz that wil tell you what kind of dog you would be. Click the "Game" link alone the left side to take the quiz

Click the picture below to read my results:

Camping

We’re making the leap into the camping world.  This week I bought this tent. Late last year, David’s cub scout pack 72 camped at Inks Lake State Park.

We only went up for the day. The family picture in the About section of this blog is from that day. We’re going back to Inks Lake State Park and this time we’ll stay overnight.

What are the must haves for camping?  Here are some suggestions:
Mallot/Stake puller
Clothesline
Roll-out Table (a friend swears by this)
Stove
Lantern (Electric, white gas)

Nerd Quiz

I’m only nerdier than 28% of the people that took this test.  I think that’s a good thing.

My first experience buying used console games

I just had a pleasant experience in a Video resale store

I’m late to game consoling (just bought my first this past December).  I chose XBOX because though I knew it wasn’t targeted primarily for kids, there were enough kids titles to choose from and I wanted one console the entire family could enjoy (8yr Girl, 6yr Girl, 4yr Girl, Mom, Dad).  OK I admit it, a console I really wanted that worked for my kids too.

It was great to have a knowledgeable person at Planet Replay to help me pick out some XBOX games.  I just canceled my GameFly subscription, which I subscribed to primarily to help me preview games I might be interested in buying.  I didn’t want to waste time buying games that turned out to disappoint me and my kids.  So I was ready to own some more games than the three that came with the XBOX (NCAA Football, TopSpin, Crimson Skies).

The store manager, Paul, was friendly and eager to be helpful.  He answered all my questions and on my suggestion, was willing to call me if I game I was interested in came in.

The best part was the fact that Paul was a gamer himself (owned all the game consoles) and was familiar with many of the games I was interested in.  He was able to talk about the violence in the games, and could even compare earlier version of games with the latest.  Though he didn’t necessarily know about all the kids games I was interested in, he could recommend some kid friendly games that I wasn’t aware of, and was able to pass along comments from customers about a game he was recommending.  I bought 5 games, only one that I had planned to!

Being the evangelist for blogs and RSS, I can’t help but think what a great way to promote their store and increase sales by having an RSS feed of their inventory.  A store like theirs with unpredictable  inventory that changes daily depends on the right title being available at the exact time the right customer comes in.  For repeat customers, an RSS feed could sell new games the same day they are placed into inventory.  There are several games I know I would buy.  Other than the fact I had already dropped over $100 today, if not today then in the future, I would buy these games if they had them.  But if they depend on my coming in (which I won’t do very often) the time the games happen to come in, then that sale will not happen.  The RSS feed would also not require any sales person’s time other than the time to enter the inventory item on their website.

Barbie Horse Adventure: Wild Horse Rescue for XBox

I don’t get it.  Here is a game as clean as can be.  One of the few console games directed at young girls. Actually pretty well done (I rented it from gamefly.com) with very nice graphics.  But it appears to be out of production, at least for the XBOX.  Most stores don’t have it in stock and if they do they are charging a premium.  I know the XBOX isn’t as popular for the young but I bought mine specifically because it seemed to be the best overall system for my entire family.

Geocaching

MSNBC-Geocaching hits the mainstream

I’ve participated in a hunt and gotta say it’s really fun.
If you’re enjoying the outdoors or hiking in particular, it gives purpose to your hike

Cool commercial form Europe

I can’t get enough of this cool commercial:

http://uk.download.yahoo.com/ne/fu/oa/eurcncs185030.mpg

Can you walk a straight line game

Help the dude walk a straight line

Fun Links

Fun Stuff