This kinda helps

From my previous post, I mentioned that I was having a pretty hard time picking judges in the upcoming primary election. Well, it just got a little easier thanks to the Clark County Republican Party. According to John Ralston's VegasPundit Blog, the local Republican Party green-lighted the attached flier. I've included a link to the flyer here. They even went so far as to call their group something VERY similar to a Political Action Committee (PAC) headed by Harry Reid. Not sure what the point of this piece is. I'll let you judge. However, those of you who know me will know how this will effect my votes.

It's that time of year again...

Well, Early Voting starts tomorrow in Nevada. I am finalizing who I'm supporting for the various races. The "big name" races I usually know pretty well. It's things like "Public Administrator" and the judgeships that I have issues with. I just don't know about these positions, and I don't like to make uninformed decisions. So, for key races such as sherriff, I'm left to sift through TV ads, direct mail pieces and the like. There are folks that I know I don't like. Especially when their direct mail pieces say stuff about "activist judges" and "conservative values." That's a big turn off.

I guess I have a lot of homework to do prior to voting in the primary...Ugh.

Cool new toy

Well, as many of you know, Amy and I made the trip to Southern California this past weekend to attend her cousin's wedding and to be there for her Dad's back surgery. What you may not have known, is that the weekend was made a hell of a lot easier with the assistance on my new toy - The Magellan Roadmate 700.

I got my unit for a fairly reasonable price (free). But I have to tell you, this thing is a must for roadtrips. First, it calculates the best route for the trip with estimated times and mileage. It guides you on freeways with multiple off ramps and merges with a lot of ease. It even has numerous "points of interest" pre-loaded such as hotels, hospitals and restaurants.

A good example of how useful it was came into play Saturday night. We were going to a reception at Amy's Aunt's house. We plugged in the address, and were happily on our way. We got on the 405 with no issues, and we were told to get off at the Olympic/Pico Exit (it displays your next manuever at the bottom of the screen. Unfortunately, there was a sign that said the Olympic/Pico exit was closed. So we got off on the exit before it, and the Magellan was able to recalculate our route and led us straight in. It got us to and from the hospital with no issues and even got us out of LA with minimal issues. The only thing it didn't solve for us was LA traffic and I'm afraid there is no solution for that.

While these things are still pretty pricey, it's definitely something to look into for your next major roadtrip.

Randon Drama

Now that the American League has won yet another All-Star Game, and secured home field advantage in the World Series, it's time for the real baseball to start being played. Everything up to now has been a mere warm up. Oakland has done a better job of staying in contention this year than in the past. They are tied for first, but the Angels are coming on fast. With the surprising strength of the AL Central this year, I think the A's are going to have to win their division they need to stay healthy and fight off the Angels.

I am so over the "Big Ben" motorcycle drama. I appreciate the guy's story and all, but the reality is that he was riding a motorcycle without a helmet. He was in a bad accident, but lots of people get into near-fatal accidents every day and you don't see them getting headline treatment on ESPN.com.

Speaking of football, training camps open soon. Football season is a mere two months away. Need to start getting my Fantasy Draft list ready...

Got my car serviced yesterday ahead of our trip to LA this weekend. I don't know why, but I always feel more secure in my vehicle after it's had it's oil changed. It wasn't a cheap day. I had skipped the 15K mile service on my car, so I got that caught up, had the AC serviced and had my Smog Check. About three times more than I wanted to spend, but at least the car is checked out and ready to go.

I got hooked on VH1's "I Love the 70s:Volume 2" last night. Truth be told, it was the one from 1973. I was laughing so hard, I nearly cried.

I nearly vomited when I read the story about Ken Lay's funeral yesterday. Comparing him to Martin Luther King, Jr. was insulting enough, but to compare him to Jesus? That makes me so angry that I can barely see straight.

This Week in Ken's Blog

Does anyone else remember the show "This Week in Baseball"? I remember watching it every Saturday before the network game of the week. Anyway...some general updates and other pieces.

First, I hope everyone had a happy and safe July 4th holiday. Amy and I did. Got to show of the new house, spent some time in the pool. Too bad it rained on Tuesday, though.

Our backyard is nearly done. All they need to do now is install an automatic fertilizer system. It's been trying, I'll say that much. First, they took longer than they originally committed and we needed to teach them the basics of customer service (i.e. returning phone calls within a business day). Then, they left a big pile of rock in front of our house over the weekend. And just when you figure they were home-free, their was a major miscommunication over the flagstone seating area. Anyway, it's mostly done now and looks good.

Amy's been home sick the last two days. Upper respiratory infection. Yick. To make matters worse, she couldn't get in to see her doctor until at least Monday, which I think is asinine. Well...she'll get better coverage after the wedding.

Wedding plans are moving along. Hit a couple of unexpected snafus this week that we'll need to work through. Neither of us are thrilled, but we will make it work.

Finally, work is going OK. All my clients are happy for the most part and that makes my life tremendously easier.

Next week will be a little hectic. Going to LA for Amy's cousin's wedding and her Dad is having surgery the day after. I need to get my car in to be looked at before that, but it promises to be a decent weekend.