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Archived News starting from 05-26-2013 and earlier

A bike adventure to Wal-Mart ended up becoming a Carnival odyssey for Lila and I. Having forgotten the carnival had come to down, I was glad to see the ferris wheel peeking out from above Sears and calling us to it's mystery and wonder. Speechless in awe of the variety of people and rides, Lila took it all in slowly before deciding to step up to a dart throwing booth. I learned this was an "everyone's a winner" Carnival and adjusted my pockets accordingly for the incoming flood of stuffed animals. Fully immersed in the carnie excitement, I purchased $10 worth of ride tickets before discovering Lila was 32" tall and every ride was a minimum of 38" to ride. A lucky family received the tickets after the ticket booth made it clear there were no refunds. Explaining to Lila why she couldn't go on the slide or merr-go-round was a bit more difficult to pull off, but a petting farm and face painting were sufficient weapons in keeping her tantrums from converting into full meltdowns. Bedrest Lisa was disappointed she couldn't join in all the reindeer games, but quickly recovered with some tea time.

With our trip to Pennsylvania cancelled due to "contractions requiring bedrest" I was left with a spare vacation day. I started the day off right, bringing my neglected Cougar to a day at the spa for various minor issues I hope to have fixed before all parts for it disappear. Next up was a trip to the movies so Lisa and I could finally see the new "Star Trek: Into Darkness" which is equal to the aformentioned "Oblivion" movie. Don't argue with me, watch them both! We completed the day with a dinner from the new Blue Apron meal plan which is slowly making me feel like I know how to cook.

After years of rumors and months of anticipation, the Xbox One was announced today. The confirmation that achievement points will be carried over to the new system is all I needed to go whole hog and throw money at the screen in hopes of having one materialize. Sadly, it looks like I'll have to wait till "late 2013" before I can give all my money to Microsoft. Everyone immediately went bonkers over used games licencing, lack of focus on games in the announcement, and how the Kinect will play the part of Ingsoc from 1984. Blind to all such arguments, I was of course in love and would have been even if they showed a baked potato that doled out achievement points for the entire hour. Now that I know the future (and that all Xbox 360 equipment will be obsolete) my eBay fire sale of Xbox 360 paraphenilia can begin in earnest, as I prepare my body to accept the future.

Armed with my new GoPro camera, it was time for another SCCA Autocross. Last year, I decided to be macho and turn off all stability control, thinking I was a good enough driver to beat the computer. This time I decided to leave it in SPORT mode and noticed quite a difference, proving the computer knows a lot more about vehicle handling than I ever will. I also lost my exclusive status as unclassified Focus ST, as this year I not only had an official classification but there was a second Focus ST at the event. After a few laps the other ST owner also agreed SPORT mode is where it's at. Three equally exciting inside, outside, and above videos were created, conveying the same entertainment level that's come to be expected from Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! At the Sliverdome!

After convincing Lisa that Salvation Army and Craigs List are both acceptable sources for toddler supplies, she focused her power of OCD into finding the perfect $350 swingset and $80 princess playhouse. I estimate the MSRP of each item at $2,000 and $500 respectively. Not because it's a likely estimate, but because it makes me feel even better about how much money we saved. Her all-plastic swingset was an excellent find, and it will most likely outlast every kid I can throw at it. Lila already demanded I join her for tea time in the princess castle, and our record for swinging is approaching a solid hour.

Having received my free GoPro camera thanks to my Focus ST purchase, it was time to put it to good use. I quickly discovered my version (GoPro 2) had no preview capability, so it was off to eBay for a $30 WiFi Backpack and the GoPro app which works amazingly well. After connecting to the GoPro wifi and adjusting the camera for maximum awesome, it was time to record the deluge of Detroit for all to enjoy. I can now point to a 20 minute nail-biting video of what it's like on my daily escape from Detroit when people ask how hardcore 8-mile is.

More than a year ago, I benchmarked my collection of WP7 phones. Since then, I've been growing my crack habit and now have a total of 11 dummy display phones, and 5 actual phones. Fortunately, I've come to my senses and sold Lisa's old Samsung Focus Flash along with the Lumia 520 I picked up for $150 (now that I have it I know why it's only $150). Before they departed, I created an updated benchmark to help me feel better about my loss. I was shocked to find the Lumia 520 had the fastest GPU before remembering it only renders at 800x480 instead of the 1280x720 the 8X chugs through. The Trophy is still the saddest Gen1 hardware, with the Flash/900/800 all running almost identical thanks to fairly identical chipsets. With my Lumia 928 just around the corner, another fanboy orgy post is sure to follow soon.

With only minor prompting, Lila was able to successfully give Lisa all three mothers day gifts between tantrums. After heading to church there was more tantrums of course, but she was strong when it counted. The terrible twos are in full effect, and Lila is taking every opportunity to remind us, but distraction and tickling are still an effective defense. Also that fancy dress Lila has on was from Salvation Army which I plan to tell all her friends the day she decides to start wearing designer clothes.

News of the Zoo adventure soon spread to Lisa, who was clearly jealous of our zooventure and sad she missed out on all of Lilas powerful tantrums. As such, she demanded a visit to the Kelleys whereupon a whimsical bike ride resulted in Lila playing chicken with a train, finding Jimmy Hoffa, and learning what it's like to be a troll. Bored of such trivial things, we concluded with a dog walk and some ice cream from a fancy make-your-own toppings store. Also I apparently went to an arcade sometime after so those photos are there as well.

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