Mamma Mia! @ Las Vegas

Good news! As I finally get my monday off at work, we decided to head out to Las Vegas for the 4 days Christmas week-end with Pau Din and Yann.
Not a minute to loose, we went to pick the rental car ($171.76 for one week), a Pontiac Grand Prix, a little before midnight friday night: a 2 hours waiting line... no kidding ! Then, we put the luggages in the trunk and zoom, 8 hours and 532 miles later, Las Vegas here we are !

To fill our starving stomachs, we first stopped at the Main Street Station Hotel for its recommended buffet in the old Las Vegas.
Then, we took some rest at our hotel the "Golden Nugget" ($142.08 for 3 nights).

Las Vegas is famous for its casinos but also for its shows. So, we went to the Mandalay Bay Hotel to see the "Mammia Mia!" Show ($46.25/person). This Broadway hit was created by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus' with 22 of ABBA's greatest hits woven into an irresistible love story. We were all enchanted by the show. If you are a fan of ABBA, it is a must see !

For those who lived in an igloo the last 35 years (...), ABBA was a Swedish pop/dance group active from 1972 until 1982. The quartet was formed through the friendship of Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus and their respective girlfriends Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog. Together, they topped charts worldwide from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. The name "ABBA" is an acronym of the first initials of each members name: A for Anni-frid (Frida), B for Benny, B for Bjorn and A for Agnetha.
By goggling on the net, I also found out that the movie "Mamma Mia!" will be released this summer 2008.

To help you wait, I found this irresistible video of Abba's tiny muppets dancing and singing:

If you carefully pay attention, you will recognize their following songs: Mamma mia, Watch out, I have a dream, Rock me, Under my sun, Take a chance on me, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, Money money money, Dancing queen, Ring ring, Two for the price of one, Waterloo, Thank you for the music, The winner takes it all and Hasta manana.
Correct me if I am wrong but you may also recognize Björn at the minute 1:52, the man that's walks in, Benny is at 3:15 on the phone, Frida appears at 2:35.... she's now a blonde and poses with her hand on her hip, then Agnetha walks along behind her at 2:37 holding a clip-board.

Et pour vous faire plaisir, voici le vrai clip de "Mamma Mia":

An unpleasant surprise

Today, I had the unpleasant surprise to find out that my credit card had been used fraudulently…
Something like three weeks ago already, it was my debit card that was used fraudulently…
What is going on here?

Nowadays, thieves don’t need your credit card to charge merchandise to your account. They only need the card number. I guess they can get it with some program they run and catch your card number when you make purchases on the internet. I read that they can even make a new credit card with your name and number on it.
That is the reason why I always prefer to have my picture on a card.

Another thing I did not think about is all those credit card offers we received by email. Honestly, I receive on average three of them every single day! Come on, this is really a plague.
Well, be careful when you dispose of those mails. Dishonest people can still use those applications in your name. So, you better cut it up into several pieces before throwing it away.
Also, by talking with colleagues and friends, I learned that it happens quite often. Almost all of them already experienced credit card fraud.
A word to the wise is enough!

Courses à Costco...

Costco, c’est notre magasin préferé. C’est le seul endroit que l’on connaisse qui regroupe quasiment toute la société de consommation.

Jugez plutôt par notre caddie d’aujourd’hui : un ordinateur portable, une pastèque entière, du melon de Toscane, un pack de 20 bouteilles d’eau 1 Litre, 2 packs de DVD+R, du fromage, une douzaine de croissants, 4 places de cinéma et…des chaussures pour homme.
Si c’est le 4 juillet (équivalent de notre 14 juillet pour les américains), vous pouvez acheter un feu d’artifice complet rien que pour vous ! A Costco, vous trouvez tout pour :

• votre maison (matelas, frigo, machine à laver, vaisselle, couverts, verres),
• votre voiture (pneus, tapis de sol, produits de nettoyage),
• nourriture,
• habits (homme, femme, enfant),
• médicaments
  

… bref, la liste est longue. Et en plus, si vous ne trouvez pas votre bonheur, vous avez encore plus de choix sur internet : Jacuzzi, voiture, bateau, voyage…
Et bien souvent, nous avons comparé avec d’autres magasins à l’extérieur, Costco s’est toujours être révélé être le moins cher ou alors, pour le même prix, vous avez une plus grande quantité, ou un truc un plus. Et si vous n’êtes pas satisfait de votre achat, vous avez toujours la possibilité de le retourner.
Voila, voila….

After 2 years...

... and 30,000 miles riding the Californian roads, our Honda Accord EX needed to pass the 30K maintenance. We expected to pay around $400 and we ended paying the double :o(

On top of the regular verifications, the rear breaks, the cabin air filter and the transmission fluid needed to be replaced. Ok, nothing else?

$566 was only for the labor work... Ok, I am glad we did not buy a used-car and took the chance to get a lemon the first time we arrived in California. Anyway, this is for this kind of reasons we decided to buy a brand new car: no way we spend hundred of dollars in regular reparations or we get stuck in the middle of nowhere because of some mechanical issues that always happen at the worst time.