Doug's Sounding Board

On Saturday Nicole and I saw The DaVinci Code. I’m one of about 1000 people who haven’t read the book and I think this was made more for those who have read the book. Sometimes it felt very rushed and uninteresting a the same time. Actually, it was that way until Ian McKellen’s character arrived […]

We’ve had the Highlander Hybrid for 5 months now, and overall I like it. It’s comfortable and it gets better gas mileage than the Passat Wagon despite being bigger and heavier. Like 10% better. First, to get the most out of the car, you need trips that last longer than 5 minutes. The first 5 […]

Julie & Fish were going to be spending two weeks there and rented a house. We were invited to join them for a weekend so after a lot of figuring out, we made the journey. Thanks to for watching the dogs and cat for the weekend, and thanks to for letting the dogs out Friday […]

I’ve seen three recent movies! An American Haunting – This is the movie version of a theory explaining a well documented haunting in the early 1800s. The movie works well while you’re watching it and it builds good tension and all seems to fit together. But then awhile after you’re done your brain starts noticing […]

Each player of this game starts with the “6 weird habits/things about yourself” and people who get tagged need to write a blog of their 6 weird habits/things, as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. The problem is I […]

I’ve read three books in the last month, mostly while waiting for builds at work or while brushing my teeth. First up is Fledgling by Octavia Butler. I like stories that give a real world like base for something that stories generally treat as supernatural. It’s not that I dislike supernatural stories, but once something […]

We watched Junebug at a friend’s house recently and I think I’m the only one who enjoyed it. There isn’t a lot that happens so it’s mostly about the characters and trying to figure out why they are all acting the way they are. (Sorta Spoiler) Everything in the movie makes sense if Ashley is […]

I am not a creative person. A number of people insist to me that I am and will even cite turning my room into a cave as an example, but they fail to persuade me. A creative person is not someone who has the occasional neat idea. A creative person is someone who takes those […]

This weekend I pulled another two green-barrel loads of weeds, bringing the total for the month up to four. The remaining weeds are very tiny or grasses and clovers where it’s hard to get their roots, they are also in open areas where no plants will be going. I’ve sprayed the back yard for those […]

The refrigerator is installed now. That’s the major kitchen change. We’re still waiting for drawer pulls to arrive and for the downdraft to be installed. We also need to order glass for the cabinet door inserts. We’re slowly moving everything back into the kitchen. In the bathroom we have counter tops installed and the sink […]