Slice Of Life

Slice Of Life, is a Weblog (BLOG) that I write, in which I try to tell some sort of story about something, or someone in my life. Sometimes it's happy, sometimes not, sometimes informative, sometimes...... HA, gotcha, did ya think that I was going to say not? Don't know me very well, do ya? :=) I will try to update the BLOG from time to time, whenever I can.

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Location: Chandler, Arizona, United States

My personality is outgoing, I use to be a wallflower, until I realized that it was all the outgoing people that were having the most fun. It was a tough conversion, but nobody I know today would even remotely consider me to be a wallflower. Basically, when I was young, my parents taught me that if you work hard, you can accomplish anything. I haven't quite found the "anything" part to be always true, but it has inspired me to always try to do, and be, my best.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Wouldn't You Like To Be A Razr Too?

I’ve been driving my friends and co-workers nuts this past week. What happened? I got a new cell phone. Oh No, but not just a phone, oh no baby, no ordinary, run of the mill, el cheapo communication device for me, Mr. “I’ve got to have a new geek toy” before everybody else. Nope. I got myself a Motorola Razr V3. Have you seen these things? It’s got to be only the hottest cell phone on the planet today. Sleek, slim, ultra clear reception, with oodles and oodles of power (Is oodles really a word?). Check this out…..

http://www.motorola.com/motoinfo/product/details/0,,69,00.html
http://www.motorola.com/motoinfo/product/images/0,,69,00.html

First I’ve got to tell you, my old phone was 2 years old, which in technology terms is prehistoric. I had to buy a high capacity battery for it, just to give it decent talk time, and that battery was a hump back thing that made my phone look like it belonged to the Hunchback of Notre Dame. The last time I loaned it to a girl on a date, she took 1 look at it, and laughed at me…… Yeah, you guessed it, we’re not dating anymore. This phone was fat, heavy, had a dopey antenna sticking out of it’s head, no digital camera, and when I stored it in my front pocket, it looked like I was permanently “excited to see you”….. If you catch my drift.

Want to hear the best part? The Razr was free. Well, not exactly, I had to pay $5.00 for sales tax, AND renew my Verizon Wireless contract. No big deal, because I was planning on staying with Verizon anyway. Of course I could have received the phone without renewing, then the phone would have cost me “only” $150.00. Yeah, like I was really going to spend that much for a cell phone…… NOT.

So, why am I driving everyone crazy? Maybe you haven’t seen that commercial where the coworker is hanging over his cubicle neighbors wall, pretending like his phone is talking to his cube neighbor, throwing his voice, and saying things like “Hi I’m Tom’s NEW PHONE, aren’t I cool? Do you have a cool phone too? No? Too bad you’re not as cool as Tom”. That’s me. Combine that with my constant….. “Hey, check out my NEW PHONE, yup, one of those Cool New Razr Phones, yup yup”. “Did you see my new phone?” “Do you want me to take your picture with my mega-pixel camera, on my NEW PHONE?” “When was the last time YOU got a ……… NEW PHONE”? “Yup, got mine last week, blue tooth wireless connectivity with my laptop, and everything…. Yup, can yours do that? No? Too bad”.

I think I’m going to have to stop though. The woman who is the Purchasing Buyer for my group and I were talking today, and after I mentioned “MY NEW PHONE” for probably the 1 billionth time, she said “Tom, you are such a Techno-Geek”. My response…….. “Yeah, what’s your point?” She just rolled her eyes like I was hopeless, and walked away. What? What did I say? I know…… I know…… what her problem was…..

She doesn’t have a NEW PHONE :-)

Friday, March 17, 2006

The Karaoke Kid Strikes Again

Guess What? I went with my Adventure Club to a “Pool, Darts, And Karaoke Night this week. I like doing this, because I seem to be quite comfortable in a “Sports Bar” Atmosphere. I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that when I was in the US Marines I practically lived in those places. Of course, that was in my much younger days.

Anyway, the place was called T.J.’s, and it was located in a strip mall in Mesa, Az. This place was….. Let’s see, how can a put it….. A Redneck Dive Bar. OK, maybe it wasn’t really that bad, I guess I’ve just become use to a higher standard as I’ve matured (Hey, no “Old Fart” jokes, I hear you!). Actually, the “Bar Food” was of a much higher level then I expected when I walked in and first saw the place, and about 10-15 people showed up from the Club, which is quite a few, considering it was a Wednesday Night.

Now, I know how to shoot pool, and throw darts, but the main reason I went was, of course, the Karaoke. If you’ve been a long time reader of SOL, you’ll know that I’ve always had a secret aspiration to be a Singing Star. How did I end up in Engineering instead? Well, I’ve heard of quite a few “Starving” Professional Singers. Have you ever heard of a “Starving” Engineer? Me neither. Still, at least around here in Az, with the growing trend of Sports Bars having Karaoke Nights, I’ve been able to have the best of both worlds, without sacrificing anything. OK, I admit, in the beginning, before I found “My Songs” I was terrible, but things have been improving, since I realized I’m a Baritone, and Baritones, should NOT try to sing “Alto”. It just makes them sound stupid. Them….. Not me, of course.

So, I already have 2 songs that I do, that seem to get a good response, and I’ve been working on a third, by practicing “In The Shower”, so to speak. I actually have an “audience” that I can try my songs out in private. Who? Ummmm….. My Dog Julie. Don’t laugh, although she can’t talk, she has this way of cocking her head to the side, and using an expression that looks like “What The Heck Is That Noise”, when I’m off key, and she wags her tail, and “pants” when I hit the right notes. I’ve also discovered another Artist that is in my vocal range. Hootie And The Blowfish.

If you think about it, Hootie is mostly a Baritone, but I still can’t do several of the group’s songs. There is one though….. Ready? Let Her Cry. Hey, it’s not such an easy one to do, since several of the verses drag out, and require quite a bit of effort. You know: Let her Crrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyy, If the tears fall down like Raaaaain, Let her Siiiiiiiiiiiing, If it eases all her pain, Let her Gooooooooooooooo, let her walk right out on meeee, and if the sun comes up tomorrow, let her Rain, Oooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. It’s those dragged out words that are the killers.

Anyway, since I hardly knew anybody in that particular sports bar, and I already had a few “Corona’s”, I felt relatively safe. The song went off better then I expected, and I even got “more than” polite applause, so I think I’m ready for it’s “debut” at the Regal Beagle, at the corner of Chandler Blvd/Kyrene Road, which has Karaoke Night on Saturday’s starting at 9pm. Drop on by some Saturday Night, I’ll probably be there, unless something else is going on. I might even buy you a drink.

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