Monday, December 27, 2004

Riu Sucks

Alissa and I are finally back from our honeymoon from hell. It started out great as we flew down to Cabo San Lucas in first class. It didn't take long for it to go downhill though. The second we got through customs, we got talked into a time share presentation. I thought that was where we had to go to get our shuttle to the hotel. Then we drove a half hour to our resort. We pulled up and it was beautiful. After we checked in, we carried our bags to our ocean view junior suite. We walk in and it's a normal room and I can see the ocean, but I am really looking at Costco. The bed was as hard as a rock. We might as well have slept on the floor, but it was tile. We decided that we would just make the most of it though. The first night we went to the buffet and it was pretty good. Unfortunately, they serve the same thing every night. If you want to eat at one of the other restaurants, you need to get in line to make reservations by 6:30 in the morning. Freaking ridiculous. All of the drinks were sickeningly sweet and had little alcohol in them. Then they only had 3 kinds of beer.

The first full day we were there, we went to another resort to see a timeshare presentation. It was actually great and we got a free waverunner ride and free parasailing (which we didn't get to use). As we walked through the presentation we just felt worse about our resort. As we were leaving the presentation, we got invited to another one the next day. Since we didn't feel pressured and we got free stuff, we decided to go for it. We took our free taxi back to our hotel and then went down to the pool. Unfortunately, the pool area was infested with bees because the waiters dumped all the leftover drinks into the flowers. They also left all the dirty plates all over the place. We decided to go to the hottub instead, but the heaters were broken. At this point, we are starting to feel discouraged. Everyone we talk to is pissed and it just starts growing.

The next day, we got up early and made dinner reservations for the steak house at 8:45. We then walked next door for another timeshare presentation. Once again, the other resort was better. We did get some more free stuff though. Alissa scored a free massage and we got a free sunset cruise on a pirate ship. On top of that, we received a pass to use their facilities for the rest of the week. We decided to stay at this resort for the next several hours to enjoy a bee free pool and warm jacuzzi. Alissa enjoyed her massage and then we walked down the beach to redeem my free waverunner. It was a long walk to town, but it was ok. It was nice to be away from the Riu. The waverunner was fast and a lot of fun. I rode it to the famous arches and just rode around the Sea of Cortez. After my half hour was up, we walked into town to look around until our sunset cruise. They had a nice mall to look at. At 4:30, we boarded the buccaneer Queen and set sail. We had a nice 2 hour cruise and watched the sunset. When we got back, we finally got to enjoy our steak dinner. Despite being seated first, we did not have our order taken for about half an hour and then we finally got our food an hour later. As I ate it, I started to feel sick, but I figured it was just because I was so hungry. Nope, turns out I got food poisoning. About 1:00 in the morning I threw up so violently that I pulled my rib muscles and broke the capillaries in the eyelids and forehead. I threw up again at 5:00 in the morning, but all over the bed and carpet. It was not good. Alissa got sick shortly after that and we spent the next 36 hours in bed. We couldn't get a hold of the doctor and just wanted to go home. It took almost 12 hours to finally talk to the doctor. He had a pharmacy deliver us some medicine. We got to drink pedialite to help us recover our lost electrolytes. We also ate a lot of crackers.

The rest of the trip, we just couldn't stomach any food. We pretty much ate crackers and bottled water. I wouldn't recommend the Riu Palace to my worst enemy. It is just not a good place to visit.

Friday, December 17, 2004

We're Outta Here

Alissa and I are finally taking our honeymoon. Cabo San Lucas, here we come. Merry Christmas to everyone. See you when we get back.

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Who Will Be The Next Apprentice?


In case you haven't noticed yet, I like reality television. However, I am not so addicted to watch everything out there. My favorite 3 are Survivor, The Amazing Race, and The Apprentice. With Season 2 of The Apprentice coming to an end tomorrow night, I thought I would look back on this season.

I have to say that this season was nowhere near as good as the original. I place that solely on the candidates though. None of them compared to any of the final four from last year. The gameplay itself this season was better. I liked the immunity offers and the challenges were much grander. I hope that Season 3 has some better candidates than this season.

The final two are Kelly and Jen. I think that Kelly will win hands down. He has a military background and knows how to lead. As a military man, he also knows what it means to be part of a team. Jen on the other hand has slid into the final two under the radar. All the other candidates hated her, but she put on a good show come board room time. It must be her fembot powers. If she wins this all, it will be a joke. Donald should just pay her the $250,000 dollars for her annual salary and let her go.

Friday, December 10, 2004

Survivor Seasons Ranked



Now that Survivor 9 is coming to a close, I thought I would look back at all the seasons and rank them from Best to Worst.

1. Season 2: The Australian Outback
2. Season 1: Borneo
3. Season 7: Pearl Islands
4. Season 8: All Stars
5. Season 6: The Amazon
6. Season 9: Vanuatu
7. Season 3: Africa
8. Season 4: Marquesas
9. Season 5: Thailand

Thursday, December 09, 2004

Who Will Win Survivor Vanuatu?




With only two episodes left of Survivor 9, I wonder who will be the last one standing. 3 weeks ago, I wrote off all of the men, since Ami was systematically picking them off. When Chris miraculously changed the game by aligning himself with Eliza, Twila, and Scout, I was shocked. In my Survivor pool, I had Ami and Leann left, and I was sure that I had won. Two weeks later, I went from favorite to being knocked out. I think it is pretty obvious that tonight Julie will be gone. The only way she stays is if she gets ammunity. Come Sunday, who knows what will happen. If the final 2 ammunity challenges are physical, Chris looks like a lock for the final 2. If he doesn't get ammunity, the women need to vote him off right away. If he makes the final 2, I see him winning. Even with more women than men voting, you have to give props to the guy for defying all the odds. The women that are left have an equal chance of winning in my opinion. I don't think any of them are liked by anyone else because they all screwed the others. So, here is how I see the final 4. 1st - Chris. 2nd - Eliza. 3rd - Twila. 4th - Scout.

Tuesday, December 07, 2004

The Honeymoon Is About To Begin



On December 18, Alissa and I are finally going to be taking our honeymoon. We are going to the Riu Palace in Cabo San Lucas. Alissa's mom is a travel agent and she hooked us up with this great place. It is a brand new, 4 star, all-inclusive resort. We are flying first class on Aeromexico out of LAX. Everything is included, so we won't have to spend a dime. We cannot wait.

Can't Catch A Break

All year long I have been screwed in the BBL. I am ranked 5th in the Power Rankings, but my schedule is killing me. This week, I had a great matchup with Bulger facing my pitiful Niners. On top of that, he would be throwing to Shawn's Tory Holt, so I could minimize damage whenever he passed to him. Then he goes and gets a shoulder injury in the first quarter and Chris Chandler throws often to Tory Holt. The result, I lose again! Now, I need to beat a rookie by 20 or more points in order to avoid a second straight LPC. This blows! I have a solid team, but cannot catch a break. What burns even more is the fact that I have Hutch his only win of the season. I feel like Auburn and Cal right now.

Friday, December 03, 2004

The List



Now that we all have had a couple weeks to listen to U2's new album, a few of my friends and I have decided to rank U2's studio albums. This list might be different a month from now or a year from now, but on December 3, 2004, this is my list.

1a. The Joshua Tree - 1987
1b. Achtung Baby - 1991
3. All That You Can't Leave Behind - 2001
4. How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb - 2004
5. War - 1983
6. The Unforgettable Fire - 1984
7. Pop - 1997
8. Rattle An Hum - 1988
9. Zooropa - 1993
10. Boy - 1980
11. October - 1981

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

Seinfeld Knocks Ken Jennings' H & R Block Off



Ken Jennings had his record 74 day winning streak snapped last night on Jeopardy. During his run, KJ won a game show record $2.5 million. He also helped Jeopardy increase their ratings by 22%. Sony is going to be bummed that he lost. I know that I am not the only one who canceled my TiVo season pass because of it.

It was quite ironic that the guy who knew something about everything lost on the night Seinfeld (the show about nothing) was the theme. He just couldn't get any breaks last night. He missed both Daily Double questions during the Double Jeopardy round and blew the Final Jeopardy question. In the end, Nancy Zerg, a realtor from Ventura, beat him with a measly $14,401 because she knew that H & R Block most of H & R Block's 70,000 seasonal white-collar employees work only four months a year.

Ken Jennings, we will miss you!