Thank You Michael..

Sports fans owe Michael Phelps a "Thank you." With the Astros in an unrecoverable tailspin, we needed something this August to keep us sane before football finally kicked into gear. Michael gave that to us.

Prior to the Olympics, I didn't have much interest in it. But that first race that Michael one, and especially the Relay win over France, got me hooked. I never missed a race (watched 1 later in the night), and I was hooked every time.

What he has done this week was absolutely supurb. 8 gold medals, 7 world records, 7 days. Other swimmers have told me what kind of grueling schedule that is, how impossible it really is. But Michael did the impossible.

He deserves all this media frenzy, he deserves the nickname "Mr. Gold." Thank you Michael, for making August a sports month we will never ever forget.

It's a scorcher out there...

#91 - Mow Parents yard for no reason - My parents went to New York and Canada on vacation this past week and asked me to take care of the animals, so I decided that it would be a god opportunity to knock out one of my goals early. Today, Saturday, they day that they get back, I mowed their yard for them. The worst thing to do when getting back from a vacation is to have chores and yard work to do, so I figured this would be a nice surprise for them. I'm not even going to tell them I did it until they ask me.

Mowing is no easy job. Especially when its high noon, 100+ degrees, the day after a hard rain, and long deep grass. I did it for my parents all throughout my childhood and while I lived there, but each time is quite a challenge.

This goals project is the coolest idea ever. It really has changed my life and the way I look at things. I highly recommend everyone do it. You will find yourself thinking about things differently.

Goin to the Stros game tonight. And Dave Matthews was FREAKING AWESOME last night. Not a great picture at all (Jen has the camera, I have my phone), but just a little taste.

.01

If you saw it, you should feel priviledged. If you didn't, go find a replay online. It's the best you will ever feel watching sports. Wow.

VI

This is just getting ridiculous. 6 golds, 6 world records, 6 days. I'm going to have to miss tonight's race because I will be at Dave Matthews, but I will see him break the record tomorrow in the relay.

Also, big congraulations to Nastia Liukin for winning gold and Shawn Johnson for winning silver in the all-around women's gymnastics.

I Got SCAMMED!!

Let me preface this by saying I am extremely organized when it comes to my finances. I check my bank account at least twice daily, and especially on pay days (TODAY!!). Well today I get on and notice a charge of $12.00 from a "Reservations Rewards." I think long and hard about what I must have spent an even 12 bucks on, to no avail.

So I decide to Google "Reservation Rewards" to try to figure out what it is I bought, and this is what I find:

"On November 2, 2004, I purchased airline tickets from the website onetravel.com.

On my most recent credit card bill, I noticed a charge for $9 for a transaction on 12/2 posted on 12/5 for WLIRESERVATIONREWARDS 800-7327031 CT. I had no idea what the charge was, and was certain I hadn’t signed up for any “reservation rewards” program, so I did a web search for the phone number for the item. Apparently, many other people have had the same exact charge for the same item without ever having ordered it.

I called the company to dispute the charge, and they insisted that I had signed up for some kind of rewards service when I purchased airline tickets. I insisted that I had never signed up for any such service, but they claimed they had sent me three emails confirming the service, which apparently is a monthly subscription for $9 per month which gives you discounts on some products or services online.

When I complained that I was sure I had never signed up for any such service, they said that they had “millions of satisfied customers” and that the complaints were just a few.

Since I maintain my own mail server, I was able to search back over the last 60 days of mail logs, and there was no record of any email originating from this company. Even if such an email had been caught by a spam filter, it would still show up in the mail log. I am thus certain that they never sent any confirmation emails.

Finally, I threatened to contact my state attorney general, and at that point they agreed to refund the $9 and cancel my subscription.

I checked the Connecticut Better Business Bureau website for this company, which goes under a dozen aliases, and saw that there have been many complaints along similar lines."

Immediately I picked up my phone and called them. I was fairly heated during the call, and asked what kind of business they are running. She stated that I had gone to orbitz.com and purchased airline tickets. I told her that was incorrect, I said that I had bought recent airline tickets from Southwest Airline's website. Then she corrected herself and said it was movie tickets from movietickets.com. I told her that yes, I had purchased 4 tickets to The Dark Knight a couple weeks ago. She said that I had also signed up for the Reservations Rewards program by putting my email in twice. I told her that there was no way in hell that I would have signed up for anything like that.

She cancelled my "subscription" and told me my money would be refunded (which I will follow on, it's only pending right now) pretty quickly, probably knowing how heated I was.

I then proceeded to ask her and her supervisor how they sleep at night knowing that their paychecks come from stolen money, to which they both responded that they sleep very well. I told them that their company was b.s. and all over Google searches as a fradulous company.

How in the HELL do companies like this run? How do they not get caught and shut down by our government?? If I didn't check my account daily, I never would have caught this, and they would have just swiped 12 bucks from me.

I write this to warn all of you, and to advise you to check your account daily and to also be careful when purchasing things online.

I will NEVER EVER EVER again use www.movietickets.com, and I advise all of you not to. If this stops one other person from credit card fraud, then I am successful. Don't let people make a living off of your hard work!

"I think I remember the film...And as I recall, I think, we both kinda liked it.."

32. New Classic movie each month (1/33) - I finally saw Breakfast at Tiffany's tonight. I actually got it for Jennifer for Christmas (along with a bracelet from Tiffany's) and she had watched it and loved it, but I kept putting it off. I figured it would be a good one to watch as my first classic that I hadn't seen yet. See, without this goals list, no telling when I would have watched it.

First off, Audrey Hepburn is pretty smokin hot for her day. Even though she is very skinny in this film, she definitely fits this role perfectly.

I thought the film was entertaining. Moved a tad bit slow at times, but had a great plot and a sappy good ending. I didn't expect much comedy, but surprisingly got some. I thought the scene at Tiffany's with the salesman was hilarious. I find it hard to believe that "Fred" is going to be able to contain Holly in the future after that 1 speech, but it was a good ending.

Pretty much what I expected, with a few laughs and a feel good ending. Good music too (won the Oscar for Best Music and Best Song).

IMDB Rating: 7.8 / My Rating: 7.0

Another Night, Another 2 Golds..

I'm typing this as the 4x200m Relay is still going on. We have the world record by almost 4 seconds, and we are smoking everyone else in the pool.

Phelps won his butterfly final earlier, breaking a world record, and our boys are taking the Relay tonight also, smashing the world record by........about 5 seconds. Phelps with 5 golds and 5 world records. The first ever 4x200 under 7 minutes. These numbers are just baffling.

5 down, 3 to go for Michael. Next event: the 200 Individual Medley, Thursday night at 9:48pm. We are witnessing world sports history, folks....enjoy it.

III

I will blog about each of Phelps' Golds, and I can also say that I am 3/3 in watching him win Gold. Tonight was the 200m Freestyle, another Gold, another world record for Michael Phelps. That's 3. One more breaks the all-time Gold's record, and he needs 5 more this Olympics to break Spitz's record of 7. When he turns it on, he freaking turns it on. 3 down, 5 to go. Props to Peter Vanderkaay for winning the bronze, also an American.

Next up, the 200m Butterfly and the 4x200 Free Relay. Tomorrow (Tuesday) night.

Also, congrats to Natalie Coughlin for winning the Gold in Women's 100m Backstroke (EDIT: AND Aaron Piersol's Gold later in the night, thanks Tab!). We need all the Golds we can get!

Best Race Ever..

I can't be more happy that I watched that race tonight, and I really hope that everyone I know watched it as well. The heart of those 4 guys tonight was what Americans are about. Great job you Frenchies of running your mouth before the race, all that does is fuel Americans' spirit, hasn't the rest of the world figured this out yet??

In case you missed it, Phelps went first and trailed. We were losing to the French (the favorites) until the last guy, after the turn coming home, and halfway back, by at least a full body. And just when you thought it was over, the anchorman gave everything he had and beat the Frenchie in the very last second by .08.

It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen in sports. I was so excited for those guys. 2 golds for Phelps now, but that was simply a portrait of American athletes having more heart than any others in the world. Yeah, I said it.

XXIX

So I'm trying to get into the Summer Olympics, how bout you? It's kind of funny to me how about half of Americans don't care one bit about the games. I wasn't excited or looking forward to them, but now that they have started, I am getting into it.

I missed the Opening Ceremony's because I had court on Friday night (yes, Friday NIGHT, at 8), but I heard they were spectacular. I wish they would reply it so I could see them. But I woke up on Saturday and started watching Handball. Has anyone seen this sport? Has anyone seen half these "sports?" It's crazy. It's like a combination of soccer, basketball, hockey and lacrosse. It was pretty interesting to watch, mainly because I had never seen anything like it.

Watched a little bit of the women's fencing, which we won all 3 medals in! And then last night I watched Michael Phelps win his first of 8 golds. This story is obviously the biggest story of the Olympics. 8 gold medals. That is absolutely crazy. I heard somewhere that if he does get the 8 golds, it's the physical equivalent of running a marathon every day for 9 days. Don't know how true that is, but it's still going to be a hell of a story.

Anything less than a gold from the basketball team would be a disappointment. I just don't see how this team could even lose a game, and I don't think it's going to happen. I may be being a little too much of a "homer" right now, but I'm gonna go on a limb and say the basketball team won't lose a game, and that Phelps will get 7 golds, tying Spitz's record.

Off to go watch water polo or rowing or whatever is on right now. Go US and A!!

Goal #1 Accomplished!!

Well, goal #1 is finally crossed off as I finished my 101 goals list. That was absolutely much tougher than I thought it would be. Any list of 100 things is hard to do, let alone a list of goals and things you want to accomplish in the next 2.75 years. Some goals are easier than others, some will be accomplished soon, some later.

A little breakdown:

2. Catch a fish - That is correct, I have never caught a fish before. It is my ultimate goal in life. Granted, I have only been fishing about 4 times. I find fishing to be boring, but I will catch one sometime in the near future.

3. Own my own house - I have 'own my own house' and 'move into my own apartment' on this list. Reason being is the house I live in now is a rent house, and I plan to move out in Dec. into my own 1-bedroom apartment, something I have always wanted to do, then after that be financially stable to buy my own house.

10. Go to Disney World - Definitely something I want to do before I have children. I want to go with children, but definitely want to go again before I have kids. Plus, Jennifer has never been, so I want her to experience it without kids.

12. Get a raise/promotion - Just got one recently, so this is for a future raise..

27. Get concealed handgun license - Always wanted to do this, this will push me to get it done.

32. Watch a new classic movie each month - By classic I mean those movies that everyone has seen that you haven't, movies like Gone With The Wind, Casablanca, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Natural, etc. Movies that have a rating on IMDB of at least an 7.5 that I haven't seen.

34. Non-Texas college football game - Can't decide if it can include a Texas team, but I'm leaning 'no.' I'm talking going to a LSU-Ole Miss game for no reason.

38/46. Go to the dentist... - Going to the dentist is like sky-diving to me...I can't stand it.

40. Play in snow - Basically motivating me to go to a snowy destination, maybe Colorado will work in a month.

41. Get a massage - Yeah yeah...I've always wanted to.

47. Buy 5 original Disney DVD's - Not crap like Ratatouilee or Wall-E, I'm talkin the classic, like Aladdin and Bambi, etc.

50. Go to a movie solo - I've always wondered how this feels..

55. Watch an entire recommended t.v. series - I'll take recommendations, but I'm leaning towards Six Feet Under and The Wire. I heard Weeds is awesome too.

56. Visit a National Park - This one is kind of cheating, seeing as how I am going to Rocky Mountain National Park in Sept.

62. Go to an NFL game outside of Houston - This one is going to be a lot tougher than you think..

70. Go a full month without eating fast food - I typically do not eat that much fast food as it is, I just want to go from 1-31 one month not being allowed to go.

72. Go to 3 concerts of bands I have never seen - Saw Journey a couple weeks ago, and that influenced me to look up bands coming into town..

74. Read a book recommended by Andrew - Andrew Tarpinian reads more than anyone I know, and he has already recommended '1984' to me. This does not count as the 2 previous book goals.

81. 10 new Houston restaurants - Not new new, but new as in I've never been...

82. Movie showing at Alamo Drafthouse - Every now and then they show older movies from like the 80's and 90's for free. I want to go to one of these.

88. Learn the Presidents' in order - This could be a little tricky, but it's something I've always wanted to be able to do..

90. Go to a movie not knowing what I'm seeing - I just thought of this, and it may sound corny, but I think it would be a lot of fun. Don't look at the ticket, don't look at the doorway. Watch the previews in suspense, and then find out what you're seeing...

93. Murder Mystery Dinner - Something Jen and I have talked about many times, just haven't done yet.

99. You guys will find out what this goal is soon, but its a short-term goal just to keep me motivated..

I will continue to blog about each goal that I cross off the list. Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!!

Back to Blogging!!

Phew, I hope I don't miss any SportsCenter coverage on Brett Favre's every step...I better make this quick.

Those of you who know me well enough know that I have blogged quite a bit on Myspace. To read past posts go to myspace.com/chrislineb and then to my blog section. I haven't written one since the start of the MLB season, and to be honest, I kinda miss it. I enjoy writing, I enjoy people who read my writing, and I just wanted to get back into it.

Why did I stop? Probably because Myspace is in an absolute tailspin. I have resorted to checking my Myspace about once daily, and Facebook quite a bit more than that. It took me awhile to adjust to facebook and to realize what everyone was saying, but it finally got to me. I am starting this one mainly after reading Tabatha's Blog, which is entertaining as hell (http://mrsmillertime.blogspot.com/).

One of the things that she blogs about most is something she began awhile ago called "101 Goals in 1001 Days." I am absolutely intrigued by her goals and her chronicling of her accomplishing of them, so I am going to follow in her footsteps and do the same thing. Some goals will be funny, some will be fun, some will be very challenging, but all of them will be achievable within 2 and a half years. The first goal, as Tabatha put, is to put the list of 101 together, which could be tough enough in itself.

I will continue to blog about sports, life, things that interest me, things that irritate me, but I will also blog about each goal that I accomplish.

Thanks for stopping by and checking my blog out. I should have my list of goals up soon!

Now, off to ESPN to see what Brett Favre is having for dinner...