So whoever said that ibex clothing is the best ever….wasn’t kidding. I love my Shak Jersey. The cloth has a super-durable feel to it, it’s comfy through an incredible range of temperatures, and it just doesn’t stink.

That’s right. I decided to give it a rugged field test: my Shak showed up Tuesday afternoon, and I put it on. I’ve worn it every day since, including through 1/2 hour of moderate basketball.

And, despite the sweating while playing basketball, and despite the fact that I haven’t been wearing an undershirt with this thing, it still doesn’t stink. Amazing!

The wool is a little bit more “coarse” than say a cotton or fleece shirt, but I kind of like it. At any rate, it’s not itchy, and despite being recommended as a mid-layer it functions fine with nothing underneath. It breathes well, is well-made, looks great, and due to its merino wool construction, is naturally anti-bacterial (hence the no smell).

So I’m going to keep wearing it until it starts stinking. How long will that be?

Bottom Line: If you’re looking to buy an ibex Shak Jersey, it really is as sweet as they say. Get one already!

UPDATE: after 11 days, it was still smelling great! But the sun came out and I wanted to wear a T-shirt, so I took it off. Then I washed it, so next time I need a shirt for two weeks in a row it’s all ready to go. Honestly now though…it’s my favorite shirt by far, and I wear it a LOT. Ibex is some sweet stuff!

So if you haven’t gotten a letter yet, you will. You’re getting some free money from the Government if you pay your taxes this year. That’s right, the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. I read some guy’s blog who claimed that this was similiar to 2001, when people got their next years’ tax refunds a year in advance (and were thus pretty mad), so I did some looking, and found the IRS Webpage ESP FAQs.

Q. Will the payment I receive in 2008 reduce my 2008 refund or increase the amount I owe for 2008?

A. No, the stimulus payment will not reduce your refund or increase the amount you owe when you file your 2008 return.

Rock on! So Lisa and I should be getting a check for $1,200 back of that $2,400 we paid extra to Uncle Sam this spring. As a good boy, I intend to blow it all per the Government’s instructions! (well, OK, maybe I’ll only blow some of my half, because I’m too much of a tightwad to blow $600.) Let’s see, I can get…

• BDAG Greek Lexicon ($120)
• 171 Gallons of Gas (at $3.50/gal)
• 0.97 credit hours of tuition at Trinity ($615/hr)
• 20 days’ rent
• Nintendo Wii ($250) (impossible to find…)
• Some more Ibex clothes ($ ? - this is actually possible…)
• A new Graphics card for my computer ($100?)
• An HDTV tuner for my mac, so I can record Lost in HD ($150)

How about you? Are you going to be a good citizen and try to revive our economy with your extra cash? Just make sure it has a Made in USA sticker on it! (Sorry, shameless plug.)

Oh, yeah, and you better enjoy having cash, because rumor has it that the Government may just raise taxes by 4 times as much as they dole out in rebates. I hope those rich suckers are the ones that have to pick up the extra tab, ‘cuz I can’t afford more taxes!

So I spent too much money on a shirt. This is certainly not me: it should have been some new technology, or at the very least some media, or a stinking expensive Greek Lexicon. But it’s a shirt.

Through Step2, I made a contact with Ibex Outdoor Clothing last year, and he highly lauded the merits of the merino wool Ibex makes their clothing from. Supposedly, it’s like the holy grail of materials for making active wear. I went a year without really getting interested in the stuff (I’m not too active…), but they happened to send me an email this week at the exact right time. (Long story, I actually was going to buy a new graphics card…)

I checked out the site, and the Shak Jersey really caught my eye. Not only were the reviews overwhelmingly positive, but they also reinforced what this guy had been telling me. I looked around the internet, and lo and behold, I couldn’t find anything negative about this jersey. So I crumbled, and busted out the old credit card number. (Granted, I did get a discount on it, but still pretty pricey for something you can get in synthetic for much cheaper)

But now I’m super excited about this shirt (tracking info says I’d get it on Saturday, if TIU’s mail room wasn’t closed! ) If it’s half as sweet as everyone says, it will be more than worth the cost. I’ll post a further review when it comes in.

In the meantime, have any of you had any great (or not-so-great) experiences with Ibex clothes? Typically I’m pretty frugal, but this merino wool’s supposed to be worth it!

The guy over at Upstart Blogger is giving away a Macbook Air for reviewing his site, (well, a chance at a Macbook Air) so I thought I’d jump in the fray. One thing’s for sure–if he’s trying to teach people how to drum up a growing blog audience, he certainly has a clue about it.

Content-wise, this guy seems to do pretty well, though I must admit that I passionately hate all the leading underscores on his site, as they make me feel like I’m losing my mind. Read some of the articles over there though, especially if you’re interested in getting started blogging as a source of income. He’s got some great tips, and he seems to be following them well. (as in, this doctor isn’t afraid to take his own medicine)

It’s all about the linkbait, and the ol’ Upstart Blogger seems to have his ducks in a row. The only question is, will he actually give away a Macbook Air? I hope so, to me that is!

If you’re looking to run Windows on your Mac (without booting into BootCamp), you can surely shell out $80 for Parallels, or VMWare Fusion. They run well, and have some schnazzy features. But what if you could pocket that $80, (or put it towards your legal copy of Windows that you’re installing) and get a similar software program for free?

Yeah, duh. If it worked…

Now it does. InnoTek just put out VirtualBox for OSX Beta 3 yesterday, and it’s sweet.

No, it does not have a few of the super fancy effects that Parallels and VMWare Fusion have (coherence, etc) Beta 3 even includes “Seamless” mode, allowing to run your Windows windows “inside” OSX. It runs fast, and it runs well, and it’s free. You owe it to yourself to give it a shot–what are you waiting for?!? The worst that could happen would be that you didn’t like it, and you’d be out, oh, about $0.

Download this Free Parallels Alternative now!

Tonight, Season 4 begins, in High Definition :-D. I’ve been waiting for this moment for SOOO long! Will you be watching?

2 Hours of action! If you haven’t been keeping up with the “intermediate” story, head on over to find815.com and work your way through it quickly. Also, over on the LOST webpage there’s a quick recap (8:15 long!) of seasons 1-3 if you’re a little bit fuzzy. (Click on “Lost recap in 8 min 15 seconds”)