Zune Marketplace
Posted on December 30, 2007 - Filed Under General Discussion
I get a lot of flack these days for choosing to go with Microsoft’s Zune instead of the Apple iPod, but you know what, I go with what is good. You just can’t go wrong with spending 15 bucks a month for all the music, videos, and podcasts you could ever want. Sure there’s some albums that are purchase only, and others that are not available, but how many times have you gone to iTunes to find that elusive EP or live album only to be laughed at like the guy that goes into a local record store and asks for the latest copy of Britney Spears or Shakira. This musical liberation has rekindled my passion for music which has remained dormant for the last 2 years or so. Well, I can’t give all the credit to Zune, the ultra lame television reruns and reality shows because of the writer’s strike have also helped ween me off my addiction to TV, leaving more time for tunes.
The Trip Home for Christmas
Posted on December 25, 2007 - Filed Under General Discussion
Most Memorable Moment:
Marc and I are at a Popeye’s somewhere outside of Austin. We’re both hungry, and in somewhat unfamiliar territory since we decided to try the new toll road that goes around the cities of Round Rock and Austin. So we’re off the toll and driving down a half street / half highway type road and I see a gas station with a Popeye’s and a Subway. We agree that fried chicken sounds good so I pull over and go in. We order, get our food, and have a seat. We’re eating, and talking, you know, the usual, when out of nowhere, this older mexican lady who had been standing next to our table, turns around and mumbles (in spanish) that she wanted to try a french fry from Marc’s box. The amusing thing is, she doesn’t wait for a reply, but simply grabs a fry, eats it, mumbles something inaudible, and strolls off to the line for Popeye’s. Marc and I just look at each other.
Well Well Well
Posted on December 25, 2007 - Filed Under General Discussion
Merry Christmass fellow consumers. This month passed faster than I had imagined, but oddly the last week was one of the longest. I realize I had a substantial list of things to do this December, and while I addressed many, I only succeeded in completing a few. However, I do still have 6 days. So check back in ‘08.
Well It’s Been Fun
Posted on December 2, 2007 - Filed Under General Discussion
So another month is over. I’m going to skip past all the other overlooked months and focus on November. Things went well. As well as they could I suppose. Got a brief vacation, the first in over 2 years, although I really only had one day off. The rest were either spent doing holiday stuff or driving. I’m referring of course to Thanksgiving. A number of changes have been made as well. We seem to have the mold problem in our apartment under control. I’m not chronically ill anymore though I did fall victim to seasonal ailments like the cold and cough that went around towards the end of the month. I am currently still recovering. On the technology front, I decided that my Sony Ericsson phone was a traitor and upgraded to a Blackberry Curve, switched from iPod to Zune with the awesome monthly subscription, learned how to set up several different distributions of Asterisk and trixbox, learned how to connect Gizmo and Skype to a SIP phone system, installed at least 10 different linux distros in an attempt to locate the perfect ones for any of 7 different applications pertaining to both work and home, beat a couple of Xbox360 games and broke the 5000 gamerscore mark, assembled no less than 3 computers, and cut and crimped enough network cables to make my fingers sore. All in all, it’s like going back about 5 years to when Rick, Ross and I were running around trying to find enough computers to fix to make enough to pay the rent on our swanky 3 bedroom apartment on 6th street.
I broke another bike chain. I had hoped to ride to the 711 down the street and get a soda. I only got about a block away when it snapped like a spaghetti string in front of 2 families walking on the sidewalk. Guess who looks like a jackass when he almost falls because his stupid chain broke. This guy. So I walked home, then walked to the other convenience store that’s a little closer to get my soda.
Goals for this month:
- Get Paid
- Finish that painting I started
- Rid the bathroom of mold
- Introduce myself to at least 5 new bands
- Do some charity work
- Read a book?
- Beat Phantom Hourglass
- Beat Halflife 2
- Finish Crackdown
- At least START one of the web development projects I’ve wanted to do
- Write here often
- Take more photos
- Maybe Revive technologo.us
Sick of Being Sick
Posted on October 3, 2007 - Filed Under General Discussion
Since losing my last job I’ve been in this never-ending cycle of being sick, and being stressed out. I’m getting so sick of being sick that it’s making me sick. Sometimes I begin to feel normal, only to get fatigued, or get a headache, or sinus inflammation. It just seems like everything in life and health is stacking up on me at the worst time. It’s so strange, it’s like I’ve completely lost my ability to be me. Everywhere I go I have things, and people telling me what to do, it’s been so long since I’ve been able to do anything that was really just for me. I mean, normally I would have written this in some vague and convoluted way that only I would be able to fully understand, but right now, that just seems like an incredible amount of effort. Am I so out of shape that even moving my fingers to type is physically exhausting? Is it that I have trouble sleeping because I devote my thoughts to not impeding her sleep?
The FedEx Story
The other morning I got a strange phone call from a Chase branch in Dallas. They had a FedEx package addressed to me, at their address. I thought this was incredibly strange since I’ve never even been to that particular branch, nor was I expecting anything from FedEx. She described what was in the package, but naturally was cautious to maintain some premise of privacy since, after all, it wasn’t addressed to Chase, but to me. She mentioned the words “Collection” and “Arbitration” so I figured it was someone that I owed money who’s last resort was to mail something to my bank somewhere in my city and hope that I get it. I put on my shoes and left the house to pick it up. The branch that called me was a brand new one, that was built half a block away from another branch, so of course I went to the old one and waited around for a while nervously before a woman asked how she could help me. I told her that I had received a call about a FedEx being there for me, and she looked confused, and asked some of the other ladies around if they knew anything about it. None of them did, of course, so one of the ladies called the branch down the street and it turns out I was at the wrong one. So I leave, and drive down to the other branch, repeat the same process of waiting and then being approached by another lady. This time she knew and we had a brief conversation about how weird that a FedEx package for me would make it’s way to that branch before she hands me the package. I open it and find a packet of stapled pages that have my name on them. A bunch of nonsense about owing National Bank of America like $9,000, and I’m thinking to myself, “Great, just what I need, more effing stress about money.” As I’m going through the rest of the packet which has the arbitration process, what I need to do to avoid legal action and so on, I notice a section with a social security number and address. Well it isn’t my social security number, and inform the lady there at the bank that it isn’t. So she does a search on her bank computer for the social, and it turns out there’s another guy with the same name as me in Dallas, that the package was addressed to. She had called me because I was the first one on the list when she did a search for my name. Relieved, I gave her back the package and left the bank.
Back to Being Sick
My throat has been scratchy the last few days, but it wasn’t so bad this morning. After having a cup of tea earlier it felt much better, and as I have this cup now, it feels better as well. So I guess I’ll be having quite a bit of tea for the next couple of days. The only problem is, it gives me what I call “Tea Toungue” where my tongue gets dry and irritated, for whatever reason I’m not sure, and makes me have to pee constantly.