Trilogy Weekend

I like movies. A lot.

Jenny went out for a little bit of Black Friday shopping early on Friday morning. She returned home shortly after I decided to roll my lazy (read long weekend) self out of bed. She told me right away about buying Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End for a meager 6 dollars. I quickly asked if we had to wait for Christmas to watch it. She said we didn't have to wait to which I quickly responded we couldn't watch the third movie without watching the first two. So we did. When the three films had finished, I jokingly asked which trilogy we would watch on Saturday. When she suggested Back to the Future, I was sold on the idea of finishing my lazy weekend watching that on Saturday and the Austin Powers trilogy on Sunday. It was almost like our own private film festival. Nine films in 3 days is so much fun for me.

As a side note, Back to the Future: Part III features steam locomotives in its old west setting and I actively noticed certain things about the movement and control of trains that I have learned at work. Wheels slipping when the train leaves the station, pulling the pin to uncouple the passenger cars, and other train subtleties stood out to me as being accurately portrayed. I might be coming down with a case of Trainitis.

For more information on each film, check out The Internet Movie Database by clicking below

Friday:
Saturday:
Sunday:

Wii Thanksgiving

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. Jenny and I hosted my family at our house. It was a good time seeing all my cousins again. We had a great meal, watched the Lions lose, and then we turned on the video games. First was a Soul Calibur II round robin, with my tournament winning cousin kicking butt and taking names. Then we switched to Super Smash Bros Brawl, which a different cousin excelled at with Ike. After that, the cousins started parting ways, and Wii Sports got put in the system. If only I had taken a photo of my Grandma and Grandpa playing Wii Bowling. They are fairly techno-savvy, but I had never imagined they would pick up a Wii Remote. But they did, and had a grand old time playing. What a great Thanksgiving it was.

About my title...

I guess it is time to explain the title of my blog. When I was in elementary school, some of the hottest toys (at least in my mind) were Tyco's SpyTech line.


These toys, along with the monthly new code in Boys' Life magazine, awoke the inner secret agent in me. I wanted to be a spy when I grew up, and practice make perfect. So I would sneak up and down the halls of where ever I was, especially around the Church building when the grownups were having meetings. At this age, my mother still bought all my clothes, and would make very convincing suggestions about what I should where to Church. One piece of clothing I particularly loathed was a pair of dirt brown corduroy pants. The reason I hated these pants so much was the fact that they made a sound while I walked. Every step brought a little friction noise that I was certain gave me away while I was sneaking around in dark hallways. This lead to one of my first statements of independence, when I declared to my mother, "I don't want to wear these pants anymore, because spies don't wear corduroy!"

Halloween Goodies

I love Halloween. It is one of my favorite holidays. Every year, I try to out do my costume from the previous year. This year, I dressed as Professor Farnsworth of Futurama fame. I don't feel I pulled the costume off as well as I have past costumes, but I was working with limited options. With a heavy load on at work, and most of my stuff still in boxes, I did the best I could.

I also held an open house style party last night. It was our first real chance to show off the house. We had quite a few people come through and visit, so I would mark it in the successful party column.

Overall, I had a great Halloween, and I look forward to next year.

Powerless

Yesterday, the power company shut off our electricity. From our understanding at closing, the bank that owned the house before we bought it was supposed to transfer the account to us. However, the after-hours operator informed Jenny that such a transfer is not allowed due to a policy change at the beginning of the year. Apparently, an account transfer can only be made in one direction, the buyer requesting the transfer. I can understand that as a way of securing accounts against transfer fraud and ruining credit. However, I am displeased with the way the power company handled this. They gave us no notice of the shutoff. They simply pulled the plug unceremoniously. We understand that they don't have our names or phone numbers, but they obviously have our address. They could have put a letter in the mail or a hanger on the door or something to tell us that we may have forgotten to transfer the account. And because we didn't find out about the problem until the office had closed, we had to suffer all night without power. Power that lets me watch the newest South Park after volleyball. Power that recharges my cell phone while I sleep. Power that tells the furnace and water heater to turn on when needed. We will be calling during business hours today to get the account in our names, and hope that the power is restored before our electrician friend shows up to check a few wiring issues this afternoon.

Moving In

Saturday, we moved in to our new house. We didn't have all the help we were hoping for, but we got everything into the house by the end of the day. We even changed the locks. Now we start the long unpacking process.

It is still surreal to own a house. Just this morning, while getting ready for the day, Jenny and I didn't leave the upstairs until we were walking out the door, as if we had forgotten we don't live in an apartment anymore.

I guess we have a lot to get used to.

Starting a blog

Hello World!

Welcome to my new blog. My name is Benjamin J Hobbs and I am the Lead Programmer on TrainMaster Train Simulator. I have a lovely wife, Jenny. I'm surrounded by a loving family. I attend a terrific Church. I have decided to join the Blogosphere to share funny and interesting stories from my life. I don't plan on writing anything inflammitory nor do I plan on being derogitory. I hope you make a habit of reading my thoughts. Here is the first:

I decided to begin this blog to commerate a milestone in my short 25 years on Earth. Today, I bought a house. After a brief two months of looking, Jenny and I placed an offer on a nice little two story in South Lansing. The offer was accepted and we went smoothly through the loan process. And today, we signed the papers that transfered that property into our possession. We are tremendously excited and hope to show off the house over and over. Tonight, we will be camping out on our air matress, and tomorrow, we will be back in our own bed. To understand how much that makes us happy, you can spend nearly three weeks on your sister-in-law's futon in the basement at your in-law's house. Not that I didn't enjoy my time with them, I am just relieved that I'll have my own space again.

Tune in again for moving annecdotes from tomorrow.