Here's a map of what

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Here's a map of what states I've visited in the U.S. I'm sure my mom will amend this with places I visited as a small child, that I simply don't recall now. I'm pretty sure we made a trip to D.C. by car when I was five, in which case Ohio and Indiana can probably be added. I racked my brain for a while trying to recall if I've ever been to North Dakota or not, otherwise I'd have the continental U.S. west of the Missouri all taken care of, but I don't recall ever going to Fargo, or anyplace else in that state.
create your own visited states map or write about it on the open travel guide

I'd like to extend my

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I'd like to extend my middle finger in gratitude to our local CBS affiliate, KGAN, for not managing to get their HDTV signal on the air in time for the SuperBowl. They were working on it nonstop for the last week, trying to get it up, but no luck, so I got to watch the SuperBowl in crappy low-definition TV. Considering they initially said they'd have their signal up in December, then January, then "By the SuperBowl", I feel justified in blaming them for failing to come through for the third time, though I know they're very close to having it done, they might even still get it online tonight, not that it matters now. They'd damn well better have it in place for the NCAA tournament in March. I'm not blaming the engineering staff, as I'm sure they did everything they could, but technical issues can always be solved with one thing, money, so I blame the person who decided to skimp on their HD signal, and screw all of eastern Iowa out of watching the SuperBowl in High Definition. Adding insult to injury is the fact that Fox (local affiliate KFXA) has the SuperBowl for the next two years, and our backwards station hasn't even mangaged to broadcast their signal in stereo sound yet, so the odds of seeing either of the next two SuperBowls in high definition seem minute at best.

Just was browsing Amazon,

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Just was browsing Amazon, and I came across the neat 20th Anniversary Optimus Prime figure. It's a bit pricey, but this is the ultimate gift for any geek who loved the 80's cartoon. He even comes with the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, how cool is that? Too bad he doesn't come with his trailer, but as detailed as that "toy" is, I can see why they didn't include it, it'd cost even more. I wonder how many of these will never even get taken out of the box. If I had one, I'd have to take it out and display it on my desk at work, future value be damned. Hasbro's page has more detail.

It definitely looks a lot more like the cartoon version of Optimus Prime than the original toy does, though I despreately wanted that toy as a child. Hell, I still want that toy. Didn't you hate the Transformers that looked nothing like their cartoon counterparts? Ratchet and Ironhide were the worst. In the cartoon, they were normal looking van/robots. The toy versions didn't even have heads, just a big van windshield! Like we wouldn't notice...