I found my ring! It only took 3 weeks but it was under a bunch of junk on the counter of our bathroom. I was positive I already looked there but here we are.

The past few weeks I've noticed the temperature gauge on my computer has been flashing because the CPU temp is at 65 degrees C. When I would look in the BIOS it would only be 30C or so which is fine. I figured the sensor was broken and forgot about it.

Well I got sick of it yesterday and cracked the case open thinking that maybe the chipset fan had died. What I discovered was the fan for the video card had died and the GPU was actually running at about 120C which would melt my skin if I touched it. I yanked the card out and am now gimping along on my motherboard's onboard video. This means no gaming and only 1 monitor until I get this fan fixed. Luckily, the Frys here in town has a fan I can get during lunch tomorrow so I don't have to buy a new video card yet.

I just found out the coffee machine at work also makes hot chocolate! Now I just walk in to the break room and hit 2 buttons and I have a piping hot cup of cocoa for free.

It's been gone for a week. The only place we haven't looked is in Lucy's stomach.

• Sony PRS-700BC E-Book reader - Link - $399. The screen just like ink on paper, has a built in light, and stores hundreds of books. The older version doesn't have a light but is $270.
• Xbox 360 - Link - $299 - Comes with a 60GB harddrive and streams free Netflix movies in addition to HD games. Most of the popular games for the Xbox aren't available on my Nintendo Wii (and vice versa).
• New Goalie Skates - Link - $129-$299 - My current skates have been pinching my right foot for a few years now. Because I would have to get these custom fitted, I would need cash instead of actually getting the skates on Xmas.
• Tivo HD DVR - Link - $179 - Records TV shows in HD. The non-refurbished model is $299.
• Computer upgrade - Link - $250 - My computer doesn't really play any of the new games. I'd have to order the parts and put it together, though.
• Rock Band 2 Wii - Link - $50 - We would only need the game because we have all the instruments already.
• Star Wars toys - any really.
• ThinkGeek nerd items - Link
• A funny desk calendar. I've already had The Far Side, Dilbert, and the Left Handed calendar. Foxtrot or Calvin and Hobbes would be cool.
• SciFi books. No Star Wars, I've read them all. Here is a good list: List - I've read a few of them. If you are interested I could list them.
• DVDs - Transformers, Family Guy Season 3 onward, any Futurama season, Simpsons season 6 onward.
• T-Shirts - Link - I really like the Nintendo and Zelda shirts. I wear a XL.

If you are interested in either campaign (even Hillary's), you owe it to yourself to read Newsweek's awesome 7 part behind the scenes look the 2008 presidential election.

I watched the primaries with little interest. I was rooting for McCain because I really liked him back in 2000 but Bush managed to get the nomination and I wasn't old enough to vote then, anyway. On the Democrat side, I was aware of Obama and didn't really like Clinton for various reasons. I decided that I wasn't going to worry about the candidates until the national conventions because there was just too much time left to get wrapped up in it.

I initially decided that McCain tentatively had my vote because I liked him before and didn't know Obama. Then he chose Sarah Palin as his running mate. Her accent was annoying but it wasn't until a week or two later that I found out how much of an idiot she was. I'm going to try to compile a list of the things that show how much of an amateur she is politically as well as someone so radically religious that she shouldn't be placed into a position of real power. No particular order. The quotes are mostly from http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/sarahpalin/a/palin-top-10.htm.

• Palin and McCain are running ads here in Arizona talking about how Obama went to a church with a radical Christian pastor and said nothing about the content of the sermons. Here is Palin getting demons exorcised unsuccessfully.
• "As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border." --Sarah Palin, explaining why Alaska's proximity to Russia gives her foreign policy experience, interview with CBS's Katie Couric, Sept. 24, 2008
• "We believe that the best of America is not all in Washington, D.C. ... We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation." --Sarah Palin, speaking at a fundraiser in Greensoboro, N.C., Oct. 16, 2008. Apparently only red states actually love America. Those damn coastal states full of hippies are what's wrong with America! You say that they pay most of the federal taxes that get sent to our states? Well who cares about that!
• "Well, let's see. There's -- of course -- in the great history of America rulings there have been rulings." --Sarah Palin, unable to name a Supreme Court decision she disagreed with other than Roe vs. Wade, interview with Katie Couric, CBS News, Oct. 1, 2008
• "As for that VP talk all the time, I'll tell you, I still can't answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day?" --Sarah Palin, interview with CNBC's "Kudlow & Co," July 31, 2008
• "[T]hey're in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom." --Sarah Palin, getting the vice president's constitutional role wrong after being asked by a third grader what the vice president does, interview with NBC affiliate KUSA in Colorado, Oct. 21, 2008. So 3 months and she still doesn't understand what job she is in the running for. The Vice President has the tie-breaker vote in the Senate, no more. They don't "really get in there and make policy changes".
• "I told the Congress, 'Thanks, but no thanks,' on that Bridge to Nowhere." Sarah Palin, who was for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against it.
• "I don't know' if abortion clinic bombers are terrorists."
• She is a self-desribed "Washington Outsider" but is pretty good at hiring friends and using her office to get revenge on ex-family members.
• She wants to cut spending on stupid "pet projects" like studying fruit flies because they do the public no good. It must be a real kick in the teeth to find out that fruit fly research has advanced information in the fight against autism.
• Her husband Todd was a registered member of the Alaskan Independence Party until 2002. Sarah even gave a keynote speech at their 2006 convention! The AIP seeks to secede Alaska from the USA in order to keep the state's land and oil reserves. The fact that Palin has the gall to accuse Obama of paling around with terrorists is disgusting/hilarious.

• Says he knows how to win this war in Iraq because of his military experience. All I can find is that he crashed 5 of his own planes and spent 5 and half years as a POW. Two of the crashes probably weren't his fault but he graduated from Annapolis ranked 894 of 899 and his flight instructor at Pensacola said, "He had no real ability and was clearly out of his element in an airplane, and way over his head even as a junior naval officer." I also respect him for surviving the POW time but don't think that should be a qualifying factor.
• Promised to not run a negative campaign and then changes his mind after falling behind in the polls. Video
• Says you can judge a man by who he associates with and says that Obama is working with ACORN to conduct voter fraud. He forgets that he spoke at an ACORN rally in 2006. Video
• Claims to be in touch with the people but he doesn't know how many houses he owns. He can't even guess at it! Video (really just sound, I think it was a radio interview)
• When supporters at his rallies yelled out death threats or racist comments about Obama, McCain smiled and let it go until the media started commenting on it. For a shocking look at McCain's supports, search for "mccain racist rally" on YouTube. Here, I'll help you: Denver - 10/24/2008, Idiots, More, Olbermann sums it up. I'm tired of searching for these but its not for a lack of results. McCain might secretly be against whipping up the racists in his base that say these things but he probably sees it as his only hope of getting elected at this point. As far as the email forwards go, Obama is not a muslim, he is not going to get sworn in on the Quran, he is not going to put on a turban after the election, he is not going to build terrorist training camps in the US. Email forwards need to be confirmed at Snopes.com before they get any consideration.
• McCain was smeared badly in the 2000 primaries by the Bush campaign for having a black baby out of wedlock. Some people say that's what caused McCain to lose the Republican nomination. The baby is from Africa and was adopted by the McCains. You would think that experience would really sour you negative politics but it just showed John McCain what he needed to do to win. For the 2008 election, McCain hired the same people who had smeared him 8 years previously to run his own campaign. We can see the direction that has taken now. ABC News

• I like his tax plan. As a family that earns below $200,000 a year, we will most likely get a tax cut compared to the current policy. I also feel that people making more than that have been getting an unfair tax break from Bush the past 8 years compared to the people that really need it.
• He wants to set a time table for withdrawing from Iraq. I was initially for the war because I believed in it. I believed that we were getting Saddam because he had WMDs and he was a threat to our country. After the 9/11 report came out and there was no link between Iraq and Al-Qaeda, no WMDs in the country and no evidence that there ever had been, I began to realize along with everyone else that we had been duped and we are just dumping money into a country that we don't need to.
• Health care costs are out of control. I agree that if more people have coverage, they won't wait until their condition is really bad before getting treatment. When people can't pay their hospital bills, everyone else's costs go up to make up the difference.
• He listens to people he doesn't agree with. When asked who he would choose for his cabinet, he said he liked Lincoln's policy of appointing people that didn't agree with him. That way he would hear all sides of the issue instead of yes-men.
• He has kept his cool and hasn't sunk to the depths that the McCain campaign has.
• You can read more about his stance on the issues at his website.

• I personally don't really feel either way about Biden.

When watching the debates and other speaking events, Obama seems presidential and McCain seems desperate.

PS: If anyone in my family reads this, I will not judge you on who you vote for.

I discovered a neat thing about the Fit while browsing a fan forum, fitfreak.net. There is a USB connection in the upper glove box that the owner's manual says is for Ipods (that are newer than Rachel's). I found out on that forum that it will also work with standard USB flash drives! I bought a 8 GB drive for $20 and threw it in there. It loads up very quickly and shows the song information right there on the radio's screen!

I'm subbing for a team in Scottsdale for the next few weeks starting tonight. Hopefully my 2 or 3 week break hasn't made me rusty.

Lucy graduated from her 8 week puppy training course at PetSmart! We got a certificate, bumper sticker, this photo, and a coupon to some treats that we won't buy for her. Her final test consisted of:

1. Look At Me
2. Sit/Stay for 20 seconds
3. Down/Stay for 20 seconds
4. Come Here
5. Leave It
6. Shake

Rachel and I went to a movie Saturday night and left her in the cage on top of the big washing machine tray we bought so that she doesn't ruin the carpet. We got back and she had picked up the cage with her teeth and walked it off the tray. Then she tried to dig her way out of the house. She made it through the carpet and pad but was stopped by the concrete. I'm halfway through the repair but have about 52 sq. ft. of the 54 I had to buy so if you need some carpet pad, let me know.

• About 6 months ago, my left turn signal developed a loose connection and now only works 50% of the time.
• 3 weeks ago, my AC quit. I got the error code and found out it will be ~$1,000 to fix because the entire dash needs to come out to replace the part.
• Cylinder 5 is misfiring. I probably just need to replace all of the spark plugs.
• I took a rock to the windshield right in the spot that I look out of when driving. The last one started spreading and I had to have my insurance replace it. I'll have to see if this one does.
• The left rear door lock broke today. I know the door is staying locked but not sure if it is unlocking. I know it makes a sound like someone stepping on a duck when I lock the doors.

I'd love to just trade it in and get a Mazda3 5-door but I still owe about $5,000 above the trade-in value. I think I'm going to just tough out the missing AC/heat until next spring and then see what my options are.

My GAA is now at 4.00 and I'm tied for 3rd best in the league. We have 2 games left and I don't think it's going to get any better. I'm subbing for a team in Scottsdale tonight. It's a nice facility but the 45 minute drive is a bit much.

Guitar Hero: World Tour in just 25 days!

Last night was probably one of my best games since a 2-1 win over the Bees almost 1 year ago. I must have made the hockey gods happy somehow because I was getting a lot of lucky bounces and pucks getting stuck in my gear. I also had a slapshot from the point that deflected off one of my players, tipped my glove, and clinked off the post and into the corner. Another was a centered pass that went from behind the net into the slot and I got a piece of the shot with my toe. I twisted backwards to see it slide ever so slowly in the post and just sit there.

We were losing 1-0 (a turnover low in the slot that went top shelf blocker side) when we tied it up with minutes left in the game. No one scored in the first 3 rounds of the shootout so we went to sudden death. Our player skated in and roofed it over the goalie's glove to give us the lead. All I had to do was stop this shot and we would win. I came out to challenge like always and could tell right away he had no interest in deking. He got to the middle of the slot and just tried to rip it on my right side. I sucked everything in and felt the puck hit the sideboard of my pants and watched as it bounced wide into the corner. I have a shutout already this season but this win felt a lot better than that one.

I now have the 2nd lowest GAA in the league at 3.33. If I can average 2.2 throughout the rest of the season I should finish at 3.00.

Today was Rachel's first day with kids and it sounds like it's going to be a stressful year. It's also the beginning of the 2nd week of Lucy staying in the cage while we are both at work. She is handling it pretty well and has been able to hold herself until we get back but then she is ready to burst. We've learned what can and can't be in the cage with her, though. She can have: her kong with peanut butter and her water bowl that clips to the cage. She can't have: anything else. She has destroyed three different chew toys that we left in there and sat her fat butt on the water bowl but luckily it only fell and didn't break.

Last night I made good on my promise to build a storage system for my gear in the garage. I went to Lowe's and got a shelf for $10 and a set of rubber covered hooks for another $10 or so. Everything but the leg pads are off the ground and out of the way. We should be parking in the garage in no time. I've promised myself that I'm wearing the new leg pads in my game this Friday so I have to go to drop in tomorrow and I'm not leaving until I'm 100% with them. I almost wouldn't mind it if there were any skaters so I could just focus on movement and shooting. I got the sliding toe bridges from Pete Smith so hopefully my ankles won't hurt as much as last time.

Pictures of Lucy and the hockey locker.

Last Thursday was a pretty huge game for our hockey team. It was our first win and my 3rd shutout since we moved to Phoenix and I started recording my stats. I felt like I played pretty well but except for a few breakaways, most of my shots were from the outside and not necessarily quality chances. The team played really well and we won 4-0, scoring more goals than we have so far this season.

Next weekend is our first wedding anniversary. It's technically on Monday but we are going to stay at a hotel in town on Saturday night. They have a waterpark and everything is supposed to be pretty nice. I still need to post pictures from Disneyland.

My gear showed up a few days ago and it's pretty sweet. I took everything to a pick up session that I was pretty sure no one else would show up to. I wanted to get a chance to just go out and skate with everything one without worrying about playing. Right away I had a hard time walking to the ice with the pads on because of the intense curve. I also didn't know just how much they would rotate when I went into the butterfly. The first time I did it they spun around so quick that I didn't even know it happened. Then the groin pain started. I realized that this was a totally different butterfly than I've been doing for the past 9 years. I was using muscles I've never used before and discovering how inflexible I am in certain areas. A goalie walking out of the rink saw me and told me that my straps were still too tight. I loosened them up but it was still awkward.

The next night I had a game and just couldn't decide if I was ready to play in the new pads. I eventually went with the old pads and new gloves. I think I need to go to one more pickup session with live hockey before I can use the leg pads in a game. I feel bad because no matter what there is going to be an adjustment period where I'm worse than my old pads. I will probably just wear them in pickup until I feel comfortable.

The gloves are pretty awesome, though. They are smaller in order to be NHL legal but they are also tighter so I felt like I could move them faster. I bought all the gear here: GoalieMonkey.com