Hurlshort

Here's a great action shot of us going down the road with the windows down and some impressive winds buffeting us:

Huh, having some issues with this internet connection, but I'll try again: Day 1: We rolled out of the house and I managed to only forget a few things, all pretty easy to pick up at a grocery store. THe drive was pretty difficult, we overheated on a mountain pass called the Grapevine in Southern California. My AC was causing a bit too much strain on the engine, but it cooled off quickly enough when we ran the heater for a spell. No other problems, but I'll be watching the gauges closely. Thankfully we won't be going through many more mountains. We arrived in the desert town of Hesperia and I grilled up some pork chops and veggies. We've got an early start tomorrow as we head into Arizona. All kids need is a bit of dirt to be happy.

Day 1 - We rolled out of the house around 10 AM, after a busy morning of packing up the RV. I only forgot%

I'm taking a big trip this year, covering more miles and staying more days than I ever have before. I think the kids and the wife are finally ready, and I've upgraded the RV enough that we should be very comfortable. Now I thought I had taken care of all the RV maintenance in May (oil change and replaced the engine battery), but while I was cleaning the toilet I noticed a minor leak from the hose that directs water in to the bowl. I took it into the shop, and thy discovered a few cracked parts. It was cheaper (and faster) to replace the whole unit, so I've got a spiffy new ceramic bowl to pee in. Since I was at the shop, I also asked them to check the tires. They are about 7 years old, so they recommended I replace the two front tires before the trip. That was a pretty big chunk of change to drop, but luckily I had budgeted some money for repairs and work. The toilet was $280 after labor and the tires were $360. Yikes! But now I shouldn't have any worries as I roll through the desert *knock on wood*. T-Minus 2 days Just a look back at previous years: 2009 2012 2013

I picked up Witcher 2 for cheap. A lot of these sales don't seem that great. Dead Rising 3 is still $30, and DayZ is only 15% off.

5 in 15 is insane. 2 in 4 is not nearly as impressive. Teams win a couple titles close together on a regular basis. Winning 5 in a 15 year period is bonkers. It's more impressive to me that the Heat went to 4 straight finals. That's remarkable. Why are you trying to belittle the Spurs again?

Sometimes when a bulb gets too hot it will pop and stop working, but might not be damaged enough to be burnt out completely. So once it has cooled off, it can still function. Which means you might have a wiring issue somewhere in there. edit: Just realized Amentep theorized that already.

Ice Hockey is really only popular in a few states. It has grown tremendously over the last 20 years, but it still lags behind the big 3. Field Hockey, for whatever the reason, has gotten more of a reputation as a women's sport. But honestly Ice Hockey is way better as a spectator, so that shouldn't be surprising that it is more popular. I'd be plenty happy with my kids played soccer, as long as they can skip the horrific youth soccer phase.

It's more a matter of what could the top US athletes do if they were raised on futbol. LeBron James would be a monster in any sport. Whereas Landon Donovan, probably the most recognizable US soccer player, wouldn't make it in the NBA or NFL.

You have to remember that the US Soccer program only gets the athletes that weren't good enough for Basketball, Football, Baseball, or Hockey.

Krookie is all grown up! The experts all said an internet forum was a bad place to raise a child, but the Obsidianites did it. Now go conquer the world. Literally.

I know it has happened in hockey. I don't know why they'd blow the Heat up, they still went to the finals 4 straight years.

Rugby is crazy in its own way, but at the NFL level the armor becomes as much of a weapon as a way to protect. I have no idea how the US will do in the World Cup, but I'll probable watch it if I get a chance.

Whelp, one of the kids just interrupted the wife and I while I was getting my father's day present, so that was awkward. Hopefully I won't be paying too much in therapy bills for that down the road.

Kind of a crazy dad day. We went and got haircuts for the kids, and the stylist found a tick behind my son's ear. I managed to pull it off, the skin was all tough around it and I had to pull pretty hard. It popped, but thankfully the whole thing came off and the tick was actually still alive. There wasn't really any blood. So I put the tick in a plastic bag and called our doctor. It wasn't a deer tick, so I wasn't too worried, but better safe than sorry. The doctor just said keep an eye on the area and make sure it doesn't get worse. It was a dog tick, I believe. He probably got it at the baseball game we went to last night. We are also working on potty training for my son, and it is not going smoothly. He's decent about peeing, but only when we ask. It's been about a week and he's cut down on the accidents considerably. But pooping is another matter. He's been constipated for a couple days, so I've been sticking him on the toilet when he gets the look and giving him a magazine. Just now, I walked in on him playing on the computer, and he had his butt sticking out. Unless he had grown a prehensile tail, it was pretty clear he had pooped. It was huge. Thankfully it was a pretty easy clean up since it was pretty hard, but still super gross. I'm trying to bribe him with a new skylander if he manages to poop on the toilet, but no success so far.

Congrats! I'm heading your way in about a week, I'll make an RV trip thread about it.

I took the family to a San Jose Giants game for my son's 4th Birthday. It was a blast, he got a baseball and everything.

I'm not an expert, but isn't Melo a ball possession guy? How would it work having him, Lebron, and Wayde on the court together? Wouldn't that cause some problems?

So for the first time this Stanley Cup series, I sat down hoping to watch a game. Turns out my fairly pricey DirecTV package isn't enough, I need to upgrade to watch it. What the heck? I know hockey isn't quite popular, but I'd think I'd be able to watch the Stanley Cup on a regular channel without needing to pay premium. Looks like it's baseball instead.

Let's face it, the Spurs are a team and the Heat are Lebron.

The World Cup needs more of this. http://youtu.be/VGEfNcvntno

why not Mortal Kombat? same studio made it Other than the obvious gore factor, my kids won't recognize any of the characters, and so it will be way less engaging.

I'm a big fan of story, but honestly I've never really noticed they are missing in the Civ games. There is just too much to do, and the personal story that develops around your actions is pretty dang rich.

I thought about it, and I also looked at the more kid friendly Playstation All Stars thing, but decided to go with the cartoony marvel game. It was about half the price, and it gave me a chance to see a different game. Injustice is also pretty dark, I try and stick to the cartoony violence with my young kids when given the option.

So I've been playing Injustice, which is a stunning looking fighting game. The storyline is ok, and I'n been working through it a few fights at a time. My kids noticed it, and being that they love all things superhero, they preceded to push me off my computer and take over. I decided to go out to Gamestop and pick up a decent fighting game for their PS3 so I could get my PC back. I went with Capcom versus Marvel, which is pretty fun for them. The menus are a bit hard to navigate for them, unfortunately, but they'll get the hang of it.