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#1. Girls just want to have fun - Cindi Lauper
#2. It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to - Helen Shapiro
#3. Tubthumping - Chumbawumba
#4. Macarena - Los Del Rio
#5. Cher - Believe
#6. Barbie Girl - Aqua
#7. The collective works of Nickleback

I am impressed with DHL. I made a purchase on e-bay this week and the sender sent it to the wrong address.

I called DHL about 4 times to try and get information, and I would rate their customer service as 8.5 out of 10. Their automated phone answering system was a little annoying (that’s the only reason it’s not 10/10), but the actual phone people were fantastic. They invested a good amount of time researching options for me in a somewhat unusual case and gave me all the information I needed each time I called.

They guided me through an online setup and even helped me save 10% on my shipping. Props DHL. Well done.

PhoneMyPhone.com is an awesome little application that can help you endlessly. You enter in your phone number and a time when you want a phone call. This little application will call you at that time.

Potential reasons you might want to use this application:

You’re about to go to a useless meeting.
You’ve lost your cell phone in your bedroom.
You want an excuse to leave, just in case the date goes poorly.
You want to bug the heck out of Sander.

Bravo PhoneMyPhone. Bravo.

Here at MikeDiDonato.com we give you only the most useful data.

Dinosaurs and their estimated weights.

Pterodactyl
18 kilograms (40 pounds)

Velociraptor
90 kilograms (200 pounds)

Stegosaurus
2,700 kilograms (6,000 pounds)

Iguanadon
4,500 kilograms (10,000 pounds)

Tyrannosaurus
6,300 kilgrams (14,000 pounds)

Triceratops
10,900 kilograms (24,000 pounds)

Brachiosaurus
29,000 kilograms (64,000 pounds)

Apatasaurus (brontosaurus)
30,000 kilograms (66,000 pounds)

Thesaurus
.9 kilograms (2 pounds)

Last night I forgot about a pot of water on the stove.

while i’m thankful that I didn’t burn down the house, I am bummed because I think I destroyed the teflon pot.

Last night I made some delicious delicious roasted veggies. I called up Mom D. to get her roasted veggies recipe. Really, it’s pretty simple. I had cut up some squash, red peppers, and onions. Tossed them in some olive oil then added salt and pepper. Threw them under the broiler mixing regularly until they browned nicely. Removed from oven, let cool, and ate. They came out amazing.

In other news, for years I have enjoyed the music of Soundgarden and Temple of the Dog. Only recently have I dug into pearl jam. And as I was perusing the youtube archives… I suddenly learned that Temple of the Dog is a band that was formed with Chris Cornell and Eddie Vedder. WHAT?!?

How did I not know this?!

Check more out here!

I love this lamp. And while I don’t think it’d ever work too well in my sort of designed house, I appreciate its cleverness.

Actually the whole website is full of some pretty wild stuff. Check it out if you have a few minutes. Though I am irritated at their flashness.

Also, check out these fractal drawers. So neat!

I’m sorry favorite shoes, thank you for your service, but it’s time we separated. Your soles carried me countless miles through every sort of adventure. Let it be known that you’ll never be replaced, its just that the ladies will never appreciate you the way that I do. It’s bittersweet parting company with you, but I think it’s safe to say we’ve had a good run.

Thank you favorite shoes.

Alright Team D. Stacey lives in the Baltimore/D.C. area and is desperately looking for a job that has to do with the law profession. If she can’t find a job soon, she’ll have to give up her apartment and leave the city. She’s passed the BAR exam but is looking for contacts to help her find something quick.

Let’s not let Stacey down!

If you know anyone who lives in that geographical region who does anything related to Law, please e-mail me at:

MikeDiDonato AT Gmail D0T com

Let’s help Stacey!

Thanks Team D!!

This morning’s traffic reports sounded more like a who’s who of Connecticut’s major highways.

Rt91 north? Flipped over box truck by Hartford
Delays extending 15 exits south to Meriden onto rt 691
Delays extending onto Rt 372
Delays extending onto Rt 3

Rt84 east? Accidents. plural.

Rt95 south? Sedan, flipped… onto jersey barrier.
Delays extending 15 exits north, curiosity factor extending delays south 6 exits.
Delays extending onto Rt 91 south 9 exits.

Rt84 west? Jammed into Hartford.

Interestingly, this corresponds pretty well to my decision to focus on traffic and road rage for an economics paper. I think it could prove to be pretty interesting.

Hmm.

Ever wonder how they make canned pineapple slices?

I mean, clearly they just slice pineapples up but, the slices are the perfect size for the can.

Do they just grow small long pineapples? Special for cans? It’s just too perfect.

Riding it out to 27, where perhaps things will rise new.

Dear Friends with Allergies,

In all the years before Connecticut, I only had a vague idea of what this whole ‘allergy’ thing was all about. Slightly stuffy nose? yeah. Occasional sneezes? sure.

I had no idea.

First the eyes. For those of you in industry, it can be as bad as welders flash. Unbearably dry itching death. Like someone cleaned your contact lenses with a fine sand before you had a chance to use them. Who knew pollen could be so irritating? not this guy. that is certain.

The description ‘runny nose’ doesn’t do this ailment justice. When the armies of pollen come out to fight you can’t use tissues fast enough to stop the floodwaters.

The Sneezes are persistent. Not constant for me, but still notably annoying.

Ears. I don’t think this is common: I get a perpetual sound of wind in my right ear. It’s very subtle… unless I’m trying to sleep. Then there’s a freight train on my pillow.

Hopefully this rain will crush the allergen front and soon we’ll be living in healthy allergy free bliss once again.

Yours,
Mike D.

1. Birds.
Last night around 11pm the birds were going crazy.
What?!
Go to bed birds. Go to bed.

2. Coffee.
If someone could make a french vanilla coffee that tasted the way it smelled?
Instant millionaire.

3. Advertising.
This weekend some advertising will likely appear on MikeDiDonato.com.
It will be subtle and textual. It will help pay for the operation costs without sacrificing awesomeness.

4. Spring Cleaning.
It’s that time of the year. Hopefully by Sunday night the House of Rock will reach new levels of clean comfort.

The problem with regularly doing fun things like rock climbing or Kung Fu is that they tend to become the norm. They don’t lose their fun factor, but they do lose some novelty. Granted both climbing and Kung Fu are continuously changing and re-challenge… but the basics are the same.

I think the intention of Fun Club should be to introduce novel fun to the group.

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Comments are off. E-mail me with the answer if you figure it out.
MikeDiDonato AT gmail D0T com

Last night I woke up at 3am… totally freaking out about work and a few personal things. It was enough to keep me paranoid and wide awake. At one point, I gave up… did some tax error checking and some laundry. After two hours of mild freaking out, I managed to fall back to sleep.

This morning, after breakfast and a trip to starbucks… all those concerns seem pretty mild. Certainly nothing to get crazy about.

How is it that night amplifies worries?

It’s like my emotions are the PRS and night is a hot 350W Marshall Mode Four stack plugged in and ready to melt your face off with volume.

In celebration of getting my new guitar, I have recorded some guitar solos that really accentuate the unique capabilities of my new axe. Your task is to identify the tunes.

This one is hard, but not as hard as the first one. I give it approximately a 38 D

Guitar Mystery!

For the past few weeks, I’ve been reading the book “Slash” in my spare time. What an amazing book, what an amazing guitar player, and what an amazing impact it’s having on my outlook on life!

I’ve already started practicing guitar for 4 hours straight every day (I get up at 2, so I can practice before work), but I’ve been prompted to change my life even more radically.

I usually like to consider myself “thrifty,” although some have gone so far as to call me “cheap.” Well, friends, cheap no more! Slash has inspired me to live the hedonistic, extravagant lifestyle I’ve secretly always wanted. Some of you might remember when I was too cheap to do laundry; after running out of clean socks, I began wrapping my feet in paper towels from the WPI bathrooms.

From this day forth, I am going to purchase a new pair of socks every day, wear them once, then throw them out (or sell them on Ebay when I become as famous as Slash). The House of Rock is getting a jacuzzi. In the living room. I am retiring the Bench Warmer and buying a Bentley. Remember earlier today when I traded in my PRS? Well, I just bought two more. Two, in case I forget where I put the other one! Oh, and I just bought a Roller Derby team — the DiDonators. Awesome!! Thanks Slash!!

In celebration of getting my new guitar, I have recorded some guitar solos that really accentuate the unique capabilities of my new axe. Your task is to identify the tunes.

I give this one about a 36 C

Guitar Mystery!

In celebration of getting my new guitar, I have recorded some guitar solos that really accentuate the unique capabilities of my new axe. Your task is to identify the tunes.

This one is hard. I’d give it about a 34 B

Guitar Mystery #1

As most of you know, I spent this fall researching guitars, looking to replace my old guitar with something of much higher quality. After talking with dozens of people and doing hours of research, I finally settled on getting a PRS 513. It took five months to get here.

However, for the same reasons that I switched from my old CC Clark to the PRS, today I have done the unthinkable — I traded in my PRS. Don’t get me wrong, PRS makes a fine guitar, with smooth action, and solid neck. The problem is, it’s holding me back; the poor 513 simply can’t rock as hard as I can. So, I traded in.

Behold, my new guitar!!

The main difference between this guitar and my PRS is that this guitar is being ripped in half by a scythe. It also has a skull instead of neck pickups, which gives the guitar a slightly “quackier” sound.

Overall, I am very pleased with this guitar, it is way better than my PRS, and I think, a wise purchase.