Saturday was a productive day for us at the Paff house.  We spent the majority of the day working on the baby’s room.  Details can be found over at kimandedjr.com.

It's a jungle in there!

I had another night of inconsistent bowling last night.  It all started off great with a score of 150 for the first game.  This was the highest score for the entire league last night.  However my second game ended with a pathetic score of 77.  The third game was improved, finishing the night with 109 pins.  My average for the entire season is 110, and I think that will remain the same after this weeks results.  My team played against the first place team, and we beat them two out of three games.  Our team remains in second place, one point behind the first place team.

My hockey game two nights ago was pretty mediocre as well.  Our team lost the game 4-2, but I managed to score our first goal and was on the ice for the second.  So even if my team is doing poorly, at least my play is improving.

Finally, my fantasy football teams went undefeated this past week.  I moved up to third place in one league, and remain in fourth in the other two, though one is technically a tie with Kim’s dad.  I have tough matchups this week in two of the leagues as I go head to head with the first place teams.  In the other league I am playing against the last place team.  I’m predicted to win all three.  In the pick’em games I remain in third for college and eighth for NFL.

After using Windows 7 for six months, I can definitely declare it the best version of Windows to date.  I’m using the 64-bit version on my work laptop and I have really grown to love it.  Not only is it really fast, some of the new features are so good I can’t imagine how I got work done without them.  The biggest is being able to drag a window to the side of the screen, where it will then automatically occupy that half of the screen.  Using this feature it is a piece of cake to make two windows open side by side.  It is no replacement for dual monitors, but it definitely gets the job done when needed.

I have also grown to like the grouped taskbar.  This was a little harder to get adjust to at first, but when you start opening tons of windows, it is nice to have similar ones grouped so you can easily find what you are looking for.  I haven’t loaded Windows 7 on to any of my computers at home, but it’s only a matter of time before I bite that bullet.  I’d really like to see if it performs much better than Windows XP on the old box that I’m using for my webserver.  I will likely try that out in the near future.  Otherwise it may be time for a new server, as this one seems to be dragging more and more.

I purchased a new TV about a month ago.  Over the weekend I was alerted by Price Protectr that Best Buy had dropped their price of the TV I bought $50 under the price I paid.  All I had to do to get money back was take my receipt into the store and they credited $50 plus tax back onto my credit card.  I’ve used Price Protectr before, but it has never saved me much until this latest purchase.  Still it is worth using if you aren’t already.  All you have to do is enter the URL for the product you bought and provide your email address.  Their system watches the product and will email you if the price falls below what you paid for it.  With 160 supported stores, it is well worth your time to utilize the simple process that could save you money in the future.  I’m glad I did.

El Diablo has been open on South Broadway in Denver for a few months.  We tried to go there at the end of August, either their first of second weekend of business, but gave up after being told it was an hour and a half wait.  Since then, the restaurant and bar has remained very popular, and I finally was able to check it out this past Saturday.  Some friends were hosting a pub crawl, and El Diablo happened to be the second bar of the night.

Kim and I arrived there around 8:30 and stopped by the hostess stand to ask about the wait for a table.  She told us that it would only be a few minutes, but we decided to join the group on the pub crawl for a drink before grabbing a table.  The bar area was crowded, but we lucked into a couple of seats right away.  Before long a bartender took our order.  I decided on a specialty margarita with Stranahans Whiskey instead of tequilla.  And then I asked for something nonalcoholic for my wife, hoping they had something special.  The clueless bartender said all she had was club soda, so Kim just had a water instead.  I was not very impressed with the drink that I ordered, which came with a near $10 price tag, and was served in a small glass.  I was expecting much more.

Eventually the pub crawl group was moving on to the next bar.  Kim and I stayed behind and got a table for dinner.  Since it was already late in the evening, we quickly found an appetizer.  The Cazuela de Queso Fundido was our choice, and it was served very quickly.  The description calls it a cheese fondue with rajas, chorizo, mushrooms and flour tortillas.  I call it delicious!  The strips of green chile were wonderful, and the chorizo added a bit of spiciness to the dish.

Cazuela de Queso Fundido

For dinner Kim ordered the Al Pastor tacos, and I decided on the Chile Relleno Burrito.  The tacos come served in threes.  Kim’s selection featured chile rubbed pork with pineapple, adobo and onion, each piled high on a pair of small tortillas.  She was very happy with her selection, and if we go back I think I’ll have to try some of the other taco options.  Before I ordered the Chile Relleno Burrito I asked the server about it, and was told that it is just what it sounds.  A queso stuffed green chile, pan-fried, and the rolled into a large tortilla.  The burrito was gigantic, but mostly was filled with rice and beans.  The Relleno was definitely the highlight of it, but there wasn’t enough inside.  Fortunately I had the burrito smothered with green chile, which helped enhance otherwise plain bites of rice filled burrito.

Burrito And Tacos

Overall the food was good, I just think I made a bad decision with my meal.  I was not a fan of the drinks.  I tried a mojito with my food, which was better than my earlier choice, but still nothing better than average.  Our service was great once we finally sat at a table.  However the bartender that we ordered from needs more experience in my opinion.  The food seems fairly priced, but the drinks were much overpriced.  We may return again in the future, but it may be hard with so many other fantastic Mexican restaurants relatively nearby.

This past weekend was Kim’s birthday weekend.  To celebrate the occasion, we ate a number of meals outside of our house.  For starters was Little India on Friday night.  This was our first time at Little India, though we have heard many good things about it, including 5280 Reader’s Choice for top Indian restaurant for many years.  We arrived around 8pm and found that there was still a wait for tables, twenty minutes for two of us.  The wait was fast, and we were eventually seated in a side room that looks like it may have served as a patio at one time.

We quickly decided that we wanted to try the Pakora Masala for an appetizer. This features mildly spiced spinach, onions, and potatoes, batter-fried and topped with masala sauce. Our server was a bit slow getting to us, but after she made her initial introduction, she was very quick to check on us. The appetizer arrived quickly and was very delicious. We had also ordered meals just before the appetizer was served. I went with the chicken curry, while Kim decided on the chicken Tikka Saag.

I’m glad we didn’t order everything at once, because once again our meals were served very quickly, for us it was just after finishing the appetizer.  Each entree is served steaming hot in an individual pot, with a large plate of rice on the side.  Both of these choices were delicous as well, though I was expecting it to be a little more spicy than it was.  When we go back, I may opt to try the vindaloo, which is marked as the spicy dish.  Even though it looked like a ton of food, we were able to put a pretty sizeable dent in it, taking home only enough for one additional meal.

Again I went 2-1 in fantasy football.  I am now in fourth place in all three leagues.  I was in third in one, and dropped to fourth after the loss.  The second league I remained in forth after a win.  And finally I moved up to forth from sixth in the final league.  As far as the pick’em games go, I dropped back to third from first in college and moved up one spot to eight in the NFL version.

Last night was bowling and hockey night.  My regularly scheduled Wednesday night hockey game was on Thursday this week for some unknown reason.  Bowling was pretty rough last night.  I’m blaming the week I took off last week.  My first game was a 93, but could have been much worse if I didn’t have a couple of good frames at the end.  The second game was a miserable 81.  Finally on the third game I got back above my average, scoring 118 points.

On the other hand, hockey was great last night.  We only had two lines of skaters, which I like.  The other team barely had one full line.  We didn’t let that stop us from scoring goal after goal.  The final score was 14-7!  A coworker today asked if I really was playing hockey, or if it was a football game with a score like that.  Not only was the game good for me team, but good for me as well.  I managed to get my first points of this season, as I went on to score a hat trick.  I could have had a fourth goal, but missed an open net.

Last night I met up with one of my college roommates, Nick, at BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse.  Though we haven’t really stayed in touch, I still see him from time to time, though it had probably been a couple of years.  He has been doing some work related training in Boulder all week, so we decided to meet up for some drinks in Broomfield, which is between Denver and Boulder.  I remembered eating at the BJ’s in Boulder a few years back, and suggested we meet there.

Kim and I arrived to find Nick in the waiting area with a beer already in hand.  We grabbed a table for the three of us and started catching up.  Nick and Jessica have a son that is almost six months old, so we had lots to talk about, especially with our upcoming adventure into parenting.  I started with a Pumpkin Ale, my first of the season.  It was a little sweet for my liking at first, but the spicy pumpkin pie like finish brought me back for more.  It obviously wasn’t my favorite beer ever, but it was an alright start to the night.

For dinner, we decided to split two medium pizzas.  We ordered the vegetarian and the southwestern, with chipotle tomato sauce, spicy blackened chicken, green chilies, cheddar cheese and diced tomatoes topped with fresh cilantro.  The vegetarian tasted very much as I expected, but the southwestern was delicious!  The thick deep dish pizzas reminded me a little of Pizza Hut pizza, but much better quality.  I think it was the bubbly crust with a hint of grease that reminded me of the Hut.  However, the tomatoes were giant slices, and all of the fresh toppings were piled high.

To round out the night I sampled both the Piranha Pale Ale and the Tatonka Stout.  I had the Piranha before and remembered it being a very solid pale ale with a great hop character.  The stout was the real surprise of the night, actually an imperial stout, with a nice spiciness at first, followed by a mellow balance of malt and hop that you’d expect from a stout.  It had much more flavor than I was expecting, and I would definitely order it again.  I enjoyed these beers over continuing conversation with my old friend.  We both agreed that we needed to get together more often.  To make it easier to stay in touch, I tried to convince him to join Facebook, but he has no interest.  Oh well, I’d rather meet for beers anyway.

In addition to the football game and the Run Like Hell, over the weekend I also visited Kings Island for the first time in many years.  It was the last weekend for their annual Halloween Haunt, before they close the doors until next spring.  Jason, another of Kim’s brothers, was working one of the haunted houses, so we decided to check it out along with other members of her family.  Our first stop upon entering the park was Drop Tower, the tallest Gyro drop in the world.  Riders plunge a staggering 26 stories from a height of 315 feet straight down at a speed of 67 miles per hour!  I had been on this one a couple of times before, and was able to convince Kim’s dad and a couple of uncles to hop on as well.

After that thrill, most of us decided to head through the Slaughter House, where Jason was working.  It wasn’t too scary, especially since I was at the back of the pack.  A couple of young girls were at the front of the pack and they were taking the majority of the scares.  Toward the end, we finally found Jason, and he chased us all the way out of the haunted house.  There we were able to get some pictures with him before he was off to frighten more victims.

From there we walked over to The Racer, a traditional wooden racing roller coaster built in 1972.  Since it isn’t terribly tall, I tried to convince Kim’s youngest brother, Nick, to come along for the ride.  Even her dad thought I was going to get him to come along, but he would have nothing to do with it.  I was still able to bring her dad and uncles on to the ride, where we sat in the farthest back seat.  I forgot how fast this old rollercoaster actually goes (53 mph).  We then walked over to The Beast (longest wooden roller coaster in the world), but the sign there said it was over an hour wait.  We also checked on Diamondback, which I have never been on, but it too had a long wait.

Instead of waiting for the other rides, we decided to enjoy one last ride on Invertigo.  I remember riding this ride when it used to be called “Face/Off” and the park was owned by Paramount, who named lots of rides after movies.   Riders sit face-to-face, staring at fellow passengers as they’re put through the ride cycle and returned through it backwards (or forwards depending upon their initial direction), though we opted to sit in the front seat which offers views out rather than looking at other passengers.  With six inversions, the ride was incredibly thrilling, though maybe a little too much for some of the others in the group.  I recall hearing someone mention that it was the worst ride they have ever been on.  I loved it!

After Invertigo, we decided to leave the park.  I had forgotten how much fun Kings Island could be, and I hope to return soon.  There are a number of rides that I have never been on that I would definitely like to try.

While in Cincinnati this past weekend, we headed down to the University of Cincinnati campus for the homecoming celebration on Saturday.  First, we watched the parade as it flowed past campus.  My mom came along with us, while dad found our tailgating spots, and we met up with Kim’s parents and Nick.  Chris, another of Kim’s brothers, was in charge of putting together a float for his fraternity, and we wanted to be there to see it.  The parade itself wasn’t very long, but was a great way to start the day.

Watching the homecoming parade with Kim's family.

After the parade, we walked through the ever-changing campus on our way to the tailgating lot.  While Kim and I were in school, the joke around campus was that UC stood for Under Construction.  The construction has continued with the addition of football practice fields, along with other athletic complexes, but the campus is so much nicer than it was ten years ago.  In fact the campus now appears on Forbes Magazine list of the most beautiful college campuses in the world!

Kim and I with the brand new Bearcat statue.

Our tailgate party was complete with fantastic food and a pretty good selection of drinks. Before too long it was game time, and we headed for the stadium. As well as the day started for us, the same would not be true for the UC football team. The game started with a series of punts, and a scoreless first quarter, before Syracuse scored their first touchdown in the second. On Cincinnati’s next possession, a fumble on the first play deep in their end, led right to another Syracuse touchdown.  As bad as that was, the same thing happened again on their next drive, however this time it was only a field goal for Syracuse.  Regardless, the Orange never looked back and came away with a solid 31-7 win.  Disappointing, but I hope Bearcat fans are staying optimistic for the future.

More pictures from my mom can be found here.