Diamonds (big ones)
 

I was recently the recipient of a rather huge diamond engagement ring. I had mixed feelings (about the diamond, not the man).

On the one hand, I was happy to receive it because it's pretty and sparkly and huge. On the other hand, I thought of all the cash and felt guilty, even though the proposal was a surprise and I had never lobbied for a ring.

At about the same time, he also gave me an executive Costco membership card (you get a rebate at the end of the year) and, putting the two facts together I realized that my (now) husband had bought the ring at Costco, yes COSTCO, and he got the card so he could get the rebate.

Of course I asked him about it and he reminded me that everything is super-sized at Costco and informed me that he had also booked our honeymoon trip there and did I mind if we brought along 24 of our friends? At that moment, I realized that I was about to marry exactly the right guy.

And now I get to go to Costco whenever I want and buy rolls and rolls of toilet paper.

Is it Friday yet?
 

If you like, I could reset it for you...

Synthetic Diamonds
 

That must be some ring. Somehow I managed to get on an e-mailing list for a company that sells high end stereo components (http://www.revolutionhometheater.com/). I could assemble a surround sound system out of their catalog that cost more than my house. Hell, you can drop $30k and only get a pre-amp. They sell power strips (okay, uninterupted power supplies with a power "conditioner" that removes interference from the line) that cost more than my entire stereo system.

All of which is to say that electronics can get pretty stupidly expensive too. I can't imagine creating / living in an environment where the ambient noise was low enough to tell the difference between a $3000 and $30000 pre-amp. Not to mention it would get blown out by some power outage hitting the entire east coast.

Is it Friday yet?
 

Welcome back.

I emailed it to your justice account. PM me for more info. e/o

Synthetic Diamonds
 

Translation:

Actually, average it out. Assume that pleasure is a useful function in itself. She'll wear the ring every day for the next few months (at least) and then will sell it after the divorce and spend the money on outfitting her boy toy, who will hang around for perhaps five years, and will at least occasionally pause to think "that's really pretty" or "I remember the day I got the boy toy; I'm so glad I married a guy who was enough of a sucker to drop a load of cash on a ring." This excludes the external value of the compliments she receives first from family and friends, then occasionally from new acquaintances. Compare this to the HDTV, which you or she will have smashed in fury during the final days of the marriage, and which will cause you a shooting sense of agony every time you have to go over to Stinky Joe's who lives Next Door to watch the game on a TV that looks like a Bobby Brady transistor radio.

This may be too labor-intensive.

Diamonds (big ones)
 

At least the hot-dogs are good.

Hey Hey Hey
 

I've got a burrito cooking down south and it's just about done! Oh yeah, and happy birthday.

Apparently, for only $19.95 you can get a washed-up "celebrity" to call you and wish you a happy birthday. You can get Todd Bridges, Lou Ferrigno, or Fred Berry (if you don't know who he is, shame on you!). And you can also get Lorenzo Lamas. I'm thinking of ordering a Lorenzo call for Paigow's next birthday, but only if he'll say her favorite line ever about his hot burrito.

Spree discl: it's from the Washington Post. If you're not my dad and you don't think it's a pinko commie rag, then it won't hurt to click it.

Power outage
 

CNN or MSNBC says in their article that people are trapped in the subway, in elevators and in their cars. Would this be because lanes are really narrow and if you are in the middle lane you can't open the car doors? Or same problem but in tunnels and a combo of space between lanes and space between lane and wall of tunnel.

Or they have some schmancy cars in NYC that, uh, plug in or something.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

Hmmm. Perhaps then folks oughta just save the cash, forego the gifts, live together til they hate each other, then blow all the saved money on prostitutes.

I try to be optimistic *just once*, and I get kicked in the ass by a cynic. Jeez!

Power outage
 

I hope you stocked up on your batteries, beeyotch.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

The bad thing is that you can tell the difference. The worse thing is that if you plop down an extra $3-5k you can get your ambient noise down enough to make it all worthwhile. :o

Power outage
 

Was that directed at me or leagl? If me, I need more to fully engage in a flame war. That's a sputtering bic lighter, not a flame.

Power outage
 

trapped, perhaps, by the unruly mobs taking to the streets?

http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2003/images/08/...utage.wgcl.jpg

Or perhaps it said trapped in "the cars" (of the subway referenced earlier in the sentence).

Or maybe I need to get myself one of these plug-in cars. They're probably pretty good 99% of the time.

Power outage
 

you... but it's been awhile, be gentle.

Power outage
 

Bloomburg said it was calm. I think the riots and looting won't start until it gets darker.

Edited to say, you were right, I was wrong, they were talking about the subway cars. I kind of liked my image of people trapped in regular cars like sardines.

You may want to print and frame this post in which I admit wrong-ness.

Power outage
 

Me? Why would she flame me? I just helped her. My god, she flamed me didn't she? That bitch, that fucking ingrate. See if I help her again.

And sheesh, after all these years, you would think she would know I don't live in NY or any of the areas affected. And if I did live in those areas, I wouldn't be on line, which not only makes her a fucking ingrate, but stupid.

That's right STUPID.

I hate her. God I hate her.

Be gentle? Oh...right...never mind.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

Yeah, she'll never, not once, look at that ring, and her girlfriend's somewhat larger ring, and think, no, I don't need a bigger one. Not in 50 years. Nope. Won't happen.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

That's not necessarily true. There is a HUGE difference between a $3000 stereo and a $10,000 stereo. That said, there is also a huge difference in people's hearing capabilities. (The more you wear headphones, the worse you will hear and you're high frequency hearing loss (we all get it) deteriorates sooner.
That also being said, everyone can hear some differences - you don't need to be a "trained ear." Hell, the speakers that Chandler Bing and Joey had in their apartment were about $5000/pair. And that's chicken feed in the grand scheme of things. Of course they had no electronics but that's neither here nor there.

Also, if you're going to invest in the electronics, you're absolutely stupid not to invest in the best surge suppressor/line conditioner you can afford. Those people in New York will be sad to find out that when the power comes back on, a lot of their electronics will have blown out. The service departments will be packed with people with dead computers, TV's and stereos from the surge - all which could have been avoided with a $100 (NOT $10) surge protector. NO, I don't work for a surge protector company, but have many many friends in "the business."

Power outage
 

She confessed she flamed me, and worse, she has outed that I have moved to Cleveland. I mean NYC. That outing bitch. Maybe I can make her vomit.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

Why do you know this? Why would you advertise that you know this?

Power outage
 

You could always "change" that password again.

Power outage
 

I think it is worse that she flamed you, and even worse she outed that you moved to Cleveland, though I would wonder, why would anyone want to move to Cleveland?

Maybe you are stupid too?

I'm just sayin.

Is it Friday yet?
 

No. It's Thursday, andThursday is love day. Fuck me. Now.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

I prefer the PS Audio products. For a mere several k, you can have a power unit that takes the crap wall AC power, turns it into DC power, then reconverts into pure sine wave AC power that is regulated to the volt. It's like champagne for your electronics.

That's what the review says anyway. It's like lifting a blanket off the car horn at the beginning of Runnin With The Devil. So it should be worth it right there, no?

Power outage
 

Honey, I'm so stupid I moved to NYC. But I'm in DC on business and working out of the local office so I have power. Yay me, except that if I were in NYC I would not be expected to be at work, so boo me, but then I'd have to walk home in crowds and that'd suck so yay me.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

Not advertising, just know stuff about stereos and cars.

They were Martin Logans. I was jonesing for a few years for Martin Logans. With the right system and the right wires, they sound very open and clear. And then Joey and Chandler got a pair (after Joey got locked in the cabinet and the whole apartment was robbed). Unfortunately I don't have the right room configuration for them (I'm telling you I have tons and tons of friends in the business) so I decided to jones for a different pair. I also know how much a Porsche Turbo costs with/without metallic paint. Means nothing to most people.

Power outage
 

But just think, you would be part of a moment in history, and when people would say, do you remember the big blackout of 03 you can say, "remember it, please bitch, I was right there, walking in the streets."

Power outage
 

You're in DC and you don't PM? Sniff.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

They require placement too far out in the room. They are really nice, but I thought the bass response was a bit thin for my tastes on all but the high end MLs. Maybe some classic Apogee Duettas? I stick to the creaminess of the Vandersteen 2ce sig or 3A, unless you are in Fabio territory with those jacked out $100k speakers (yea right).

It's like our own mini conversation about purses. Maybe our murse thread?

Is it Friday yet?
 

Fuck off. We will not change the calendar, the heavens, and my drinking plans just to suit the whims of some fickle drunk ho bitch in bum-fuck nowhere who has ignored us for so long and is probably now wiping her fat greasy fingers on the screen.

Synthetic Diamonds
 

Remarkably, there's even a gadgets board for this!

Is it Friday yet?
 

You DO remember me!

And please, i wouldn't waste the grease on my screen!

Power outage
 

Now that I am from NYC, I am not so gauche as to say "please bitch" -- I say "bitch please." You are such a patch-dweller.

Power outage
 

Bitch, please.

I'm amazed that the FB hasn't broken out into a full-on bitchfest about TM and Slave now that they aren't here to defend themselves. Must not be Friday yet.

Power outage
 

I am now predicting a HUGE baby boom to start appearing around May 10.

Murse convo
 

Hate the Apogees - too harsh. Love the Vandersteens. Love them. they're my next speaker if I get any say-so.

I liked Fabio's system, but he had too many subwoofers. I would have put a nice REL with those.

And yeah, you need a square room with a flat wall for the ML's to work, and I ain't got that. They make good bug zappers too.

Power outage
 

How long did it take you to calculate a$$jack?

Synthetic Diamonds
 

Wait. You changed my statement to make your point. I said $3k vs $30k for a preamp. A $3k preamp would be an expected part of a $10-15k stereo system.
I don't disagree that in the first several orders of magnitude in stereo prices, people can tell the difference (i.e. $100 vs. $1000 vs. $10,000). I'm just not so sure about the next step ($10,000 vs. $100,000).

I'll have you know that my stereo system cost considerably more than $100. I am not a Philistine. But as of yet it has not passed the $2000 mark, which was my original point.

Power outage
 

They may have some fancy shmancy cars that plug in to something, but without electricity there are no stoplights to regulate traffic, no tolls (ok that's probably a good thing), and no fans clearing the exhaust from the tunnels.

Power outage
 

I did note earlier that they are like ying and yang, what with Thurgreed wanting the 70s undercover cop persona and the jet pack, but not the monkey, and Slave wanting the monkey but not the 70s undercover cop persona or the jet pack. Two halves of a whole. The two Ms in an MFM. It's a beautiful thing and a testament to their long friendship.