cables

I recently ordered two cables - one for my cell phone so I can plug it into my computer and another to set up dual monitors at work.

Neither of these are, strictly speaking, essential. But the cable for my cell phone would let me easily download my pictures and the splitter cable would let me run two monitors at work and that would be cool. Plus, everyone else is doing it and I felt left out.

The cables came in last night and I eagerly unwrapped the box.

1. The cell phone cable doesn't fit my phone. So much for trying to get a deal...

2. I took the splitter cable with me to work this morning. It doesn't work. I had one of the repair guys come over and take a look - he suspects the cable may be bad and is going to try and find a replacement for me.

So much for the cool technology - I can't even get the dang things plugged in.

later...

scare, walk, projects

On Friday evening, I'm playing a video game while my room-mate watches from the couch. He says to me "I think my neck is bleeding" and I look over to see blood running down his neck. I think I swore in surprise, paused the game, and ran for paper towels. I helped him get his neck cleaned up and advised him on direct pressure while I went back to my game.

After about 10 minutes or so, we checked the area again and the paper towel was soaked through. And the blood wasn't stopping. This time, I got out the first aid supplies and used several layers of gauze along with some neosporin and tape.

On saturday, we check things out again and when we removed the gauze it started bleeding again. I cleaned the area then put on more gauze. It still wasn't better by the evening, so I called my parents (both former volunteer paramedics) and got some advice.

On Sunday, we were able to remove the gauze without it bleeding again. I again helped with the clean up and replaced that elaborate first-aid gear with a simple band-aid.

Weird things... The affected area was the size of a needle stick. It was on the side and toward the back of his neck. He doesn't have any idea what caused it. He had been taking a lot more aspirin than usual for the past few days due to a cold/headache combo and it could be that it was causing a blood thinning effect.

If it hadn't stopped on Sunday, I think I would have been driving him to the hospital.


In other news... I went for a walk on Saturday over to Lowe's and GameStop. Picked up a new Wii game and some dremel supplies. I also worked on a project to turn an old keyboard into thumbtacks - turned out pretty cool and I'll have to get some pictures. I'm also working on making a primative flute out of pvc pipe.

that's it for now... later...

laps, watch, drive,quiet, muppet, not lost

I did 20 laps today - should have done more, but there was a swim meet going on and I had to share a lane.  That, along with a sore knee, a cramp in my side, and a mild headache, got me out of the pool before I really should have.   As a side note, the pool area smelled of tired people, bengay, and the stuff that's used in elementary school to clean up and mask the smell of vomit.  So, that was fun too.

I finished the "watch" series of books (nightwatch, daywatch, twilight watch, and Last watch) - really good stuff.   And I'm glad they made a movie of the first couple - even though they diverted from the story - just so that I could more easily picture the people.  Anton, Olga, Gesar, Sveta - all really interesting characters and I was sorry to see the books end.

Did a little Need for Speed last night - kicked some serious ass.   I evaded the cops - or smashed them up - and found a really cool 'dukes of hazard' style jump in one of the missions.   Sweet.

It's been pretty quiet here today - at least for me.   Yesterday, one of our major systems took a really big poop all over everything - today has been spent recovering from that.   Since I don't have access to help (or make it worse) - I've been working mostly with the users to reassure them that things will be okay and we'll be "back to normal soon".

I've been watching the Muppets on DVD - and working on my Animal impression.   And trying to find a good time to use it here at work.   "web page!   WEB! PAGE!"       Not sure if it will work or not - Animal doesn't seem very computer savvy.

I've also been keeping up with Lost on TV.   My room-mate is very much lost watching the show, but I'm enjoying the mystery.   Our arguments continue about the nature of the show - and I keep reminding him that  - as the master of space and time - this is really more my area of expertise.

Well, I guess I should get back to things.  It's been a really long week and I'll be glad to get out of here.  

later...

24, drive, spy, mood

I did 24 laps in the pool on Monday. I think I could have done more, but I was tired and a little dizzy. I'm glad I'm pushing myself in the pool, but it has consequences.

My room-mate and I played Need for Speed last night a bit on the Wii. He says the controller gives him a cramp in his hand so we switched to use the controller like a steering wheel. It works okay, but is not as responsive as I would have liked. I played a little bit on my own and unlocked some new areas - I think it's far better than previous NFS games I've played.

I think I finally got the spyware cleared off my computer at home. It was annoying and worrying. I also got Norton updated on my machine - I'm hoping that, plus a little caution, will keep this from happening again.

I've been working hard and getting a lot accomplished, but I'm not really feeling positive about that. Just sort of down - I think the winter blahs are hitting me again. The exercise is helping - but I also think I need to get going on a project at home. Feels like all I do is work and sleep anymore.

Well, time to get my pre-swim oatmeal and get back to work.

later...

20, visit, spy, manual

I finally got up to 20 laps with a combination of crawl and backstroke. My arms are getting stronger, but it still wears me out. I had to drop back down to 12 last Friday since I was pressed for time. I'm headed to the pool again today, we'll see how it goes.

I visited my folks and my sister and brother in law for the weekend for my sister's birthday. We went out to Olive Garden for lunch and played some games - including a grueling game of Shanghai Rummy. Had a pretty good time just hanging out with the crew - but in the middle of a shopping trip to Menard's, my room-mate called on my Dad's cell phone for me. (my own cell phone was roaming and had 0 bars in the store and I'd turned it off).

He'd been using my computer and clicked on a pop-up that "looked" like the norton anti-virus requested to download an update. So, he did - and got the computer infected with some spyware. It's a pretty nasty program that claims to run a virus scan, displays a bunch of phony warnings, then prompts the user for a credit card for to download the full version.

I got my room-mate stopped before he put in his credit card in - and when I got back, I spent the rest of Sunday evening trying to remove the spyware - with no luck. I managed to kill it in the short term, but it keeps coming back.

So, I fired off an email to one of my colleagues to see if he can help. I hate asking for computer help, but I don't want to make things worse with an untested removal program - or damaging the registry files.

Also, confession time. Last week I looked for, download, and read the manual for some of the software we have on campus. It fixed the problem I was having, but I still felt bad about it. I joked with some people that I was going to start asking for directions when I'm out driving. Yeah, it was that bad.

that's it for now...

12, blob, 1/2

I hit the pool again yesterday and this time got in 12 good laps. I think I got the breathing down for the crawl - though it's not natural yet and I have to pay attention. I alternated doing the crawl and the backstroke and while I wasn't fast, I did okay with some short breaks.

I was pretty disappointed on Friday when I could only do ten laps -but yesterday shows I'm on the right track and with time I should be able to get back up to my 30+ laps.

Not much else going on. Work has been stressful recently but I'm getting through it.

I've been playing "de Blob" on the wii. It's fun, but the constant shifting angles gives me a headache after a while. Not as bad as Spyro the Dragon or Katamari Damacy, but still significant.

Oh, I also finally got up to 1/2 priced books. Got about $40 back from my books - and then spent about $53. So, saved a little money and got some new reading material.

Better get back to work - later...

injur-wii

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later.   We finally had our first injur-wii - that is, an injury involving the Wii.     It started off with a round of bowling on the Wii - I totally skunked my room-mate.   Like, I started the game with three strikes in a row.  I'd also kicked ass in the golf game, of all things.   

So, when we got around to tennis, he was pretty hyped up and looking for a dramatic win.  He didn't really need to bother, I suck at the Wii tennis.   Early in the first match, he swung wild and knocked the phone off of its charger.    Later on, the dynamics of the room worked against me.

I'm right handed and I was standing on the left and forward of the designated Wii playing zone in the living room since I had the player one controller.   My room-mate - who is left handed - was standing on the right and futher back.    We're usually far enough apart that his flailing about behind me isn't dangerous, but this time - impact.

He swung the wii-mote wildly and hit my right hand and leg - hard enough to make me immediately drop my own wii-mote and grab my hand and wrist in pain. 

I got some ice on it right away and needless to say, the Wii session was over.   I could still move my fingers and my wrist with only a little pain - so I knew nothing was broken.   By this morning, my hand didn't hurt at all and I was back to wii, computer mouse, and paper folding.  

Lesson learned - next tennis match, I'll stand back and to the right.  Just in case.

later...

lights, balance, swim

The sky was glowing last night - all the reflected light from the snow was making it look like dawn even though it was almost 10:00 when I looked outside. I was out for only a few minutes to put a bill in the mailbox, but stopped for a moment to appreciate the light and the quiet. But I was wearing my flip- flops and it quickly got too cold for that.

My room-mate has been going through some issues with his siblings and has been more stressed out than usual. When I'm around someone stressed, I find myself getting more calm and quiet. I guess it's a way to find a bit of balance and maybe bring a little perspective to things. I also tend to get more excited about things when people are down - and inherently distrustful of hype. Might be a little zen and if so, that's not a bad thing.

Today I hit the pool and switched over to the crawl and backstroke. I was only able to do 10 laps and I was exhausted. No power, no speed. Just... a crawl. Disappointing, but I've been told that this is normal when a new set of muscles are being used. I suppose that's a good thing, but I felt... slow.

I'm hoping for a quiet weekend - with a bit of Wii to keep me occupied.

that's it for now... later...

200, text, points

I got in my 32 laps yesterday and finished up my first 200 miles swimming.  Took me a couple years to do and I'm sure my next 200 will go much faster.   I joked with someone about how the English channel is next, but that it 21 miles (at a minimum) and has to be done all at once. 

In other news, I got my first text message spam on my phone.  Sort of an annoying rite of passage, I guess.  So far, the phone has been about what I expected.  Slightly annoying and moderately helpful.   I think the next time around I'm going to go with a much cheaper plan or a pay as you go.

Finally, I bought some Wii points last night - points that can be used to download games to the wii.  I was a little cautious about using my credit card with the wii directly, so I decided to buy a points card at wal-mart.   Here's how it went:

1. I looked at the front of the store in the gift card section - no luck.

2. Back to electronics - one card for sale packaged with a cover for a controller I didn't have.

3. Another area of the electronics section and I found more cards, but they were locked to the shelves.

4. Over to the checkout area of electronics to find a clerk, then back over so they could unlock the card.

5. Back to the electronics checkout again - standing in line behind a woman buying cereal.  In electronics.  There was a major production going on there and a price dispute on one of her items.

6. Finally, another clerk took pity on me and opened another register.    I paid for the card and escape the store.

I haven't used the points yet - I felt the need to savor my victory over wal-mart.

later...

basketball, wireless, swim

I went and saw my FRM's son play basketball on Saturday. I sat with his other two son's and with his mom - there's a long-standing feud going on and though FRM did stop by and shake my hand and say hello, he didn't stick around. The game was fun to watch and I had a good time. It had been a long time since I'd see his other son's - they are now both taller than me and one has a kid of his own.

On Sunday, I decided to set up a wireless network at home. A quick trip to best buy and I had the components I needed. Had a little trouble with the card for the computer and had to do that a couple of times to get it right. And then was a little cranky when I realized the router had extra slots for a wired connection to the computer. Which is not a big deal, just makes it more flexible later on. Once those were in place, I connected the Wii and set that up to get the news and weather and watched a video of a wii game I might like to buy.

Riding high on that success, I decided to hook up my PSP. That went much smoother than the wii and I was able to visit the university's home page, then do a search on google for new PSP themes - and downloaded one. It was pretty cool in a really deeply geeky way.

In about 20 minutes or so, I'll head up to the pool and swim 32 laps - putting me exactly at 200 miles total. Kind of a big deal for me - but I'm not sure what I'll do to celebrate. Cheesecake, perhaps? :)

That's about it for now. Later...

stench

I've been trying to drink a lot more water, just in general. As a consequence, I'm headed to the bathroom more frequently than I used to be. Not normally a big deal, it's not like I get my pay docked or anything. Today, however, both bathrooms here in the building have contained a most unholy stench. Eye watering, choking, pore clentching stench. I have never peed so fast in my life.

lightning, visit, wii, laundry

I had a dream the other night that I was living in Upper Arlington, Ohio and was looking out the window at a huge storm coming in.  I could see a hot air balloon show being swept along towards the house - some of the balloons had cars where the baskets should be.   I stepped outside to get a better look and after a moment I noticed a static electricity  feeling in my hands.  I raised my hand, brought two fingers together and when I drew them apart I saw blue electricity arc between.   The feeling got worse and I ran back towards the house.  I took about three steps and a bolt of lightning struck right behind me.  I realized I had actually run into and through the spot where it was going to strike.  I woke up then, a little shaken.

Back in the real world, I had a visit from my parents and my sister and brother in law.  They came up on Saturday morning and we hung out for a bit before heading to Cici's for pizza and then a brief stop at target.   Back at home, we played Wii for much of the afternoon - and everyone got a kick out of the Mii's (virtual version's of people) I had made for them.  We headed out later for an early dinner, but Ruby Tuesday's had an hour long wait - so, we went to Steak and Shake instead and that had a bit of a wait too - but not as long.   They headed out not long after we got back from dinner - so, a bit of a short visit, but a good one.

Except that they didn't entirely leave.  I was playing Wii bowling last evening and noticed my parent's Mii-s standing in the background at the bowling lane.   Not really surprising since I made the Mii-s on my system and the Mii-s are used as the characters in the Wii Sports - but it was still pretty cool.  

I've worn out the batteries on my Wii-mote controller already.  It was bound to happen, but it was sooner than I expected.  Looks like I need to switch to the rechargeable.   I'm really enjoying the boxing.

I spent much of the day yesterday doing laundry and doing a little work from home.  Not the most exciting day off, but it was strangely peaceful.

back to work today... time to check the email and get busy.

dinner, wii, neck, hair

On Saturday, I went out to dinner with some friends for an early birthday celebration. I made them promise not to mention it was my birthday coming up to the server since I despise the false hoopla that these places try for. We had a nice time and talked a little about an upcoming trip a couple of them were taking to Europe. I had the simple salmon - which was pretty good, but over-grilled a bit.

On Sunday, after checking a variety of stores in the area, I finally found a Wii at Target. It was the only one in stock and I stopped my shopping at that point and quickly bought it before someone else scooped it up.

I got it set up at home without too much trouble - though it's not well integrated into the rest of the electronics set up at this point - and played a game I also bought along with the Wii sports. I did pretty well with the boxing, but my room-mate won all the bowling matches.

My tempur-pedic pillow - that I got a few years ago as with some money I won as part of an award at work - is starting to let me down. Or my head was too warm last night. In any case, the pillow didn't support my neck and head well and I woke up with a horrible neck pain and headache. I took some motrin and went into work anyway since today is the first day of class and I was needed here. I'm much better this afternoon, but still happy that the day is almost done.

I'm also glad I'll soon be able to put my hat back on since my hair has grown out enough to be affected by the combination of a wet head and a stocking cap - which occured right after my swim today. I've been avoiding a mirror so i don't know how bad it looks, but I can feel that it's not behaving - especially in the back.

Finally, my birthday is tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to it, exactly, but I don't feel how I expected 36 would feel. The gray hair and bald-spot make me look older than I am, but the swimming and other exercise keeps me from feeling it. Except for last week - I felt really old last week. Dunno why, must have just been tired.

Well I guess this is one of those posts where not much happened. Hey, they can't all be amazingly well written. Anyway, time to go home.

later...

usurper , email

So, I'm swimming along today with a goal of 32 laps and I've got about 4 to go when I see a girl at the other end of the pool get into the lane next to mine. Which is no biggie, though I think spreading out is a little better since it cuts down on the wake. Moments later, another girl gets into the pool - into my lane.

Now, see, this is awkward. While there's no assigned lanes, I always check carefully to make sure I'm not getting in someone else's lane. And I'm not casual about it - even with my not great vision without my glasses, I never usurp anyone else.

But here she is, with her little kickboard, all ready to go. I'm charging down the lane towards her at full power, then come to a stop not far way and wait to see if she notices me and her error. Either she was really, painfully, clueless or she just didn't care. So, I dove under the rope and switched lanes.

Now, I'm pretty sure she wanted that lane so she could swim with her friend since they spent part of the time at the wall chatting. If she had waited a moment until I got down to the end of the lane and asked if I would move - I would have without any problem. Instead, she just took over the lane.

Next time, unless I'm sure the person is visually impaired, I'm not giving up the lane and they'll just have to share - and stay out of my way.

In other news... my boss is considering having me take over the webmaster@uakron.edu email account. Hugh increase in responsibilty, no increase in authority or pay. :)

Even though it's more work, it's still pretty cool. I think I'll forgo the title - Master of Space and Time is far better anyway.

I'm headed out early today to go give blood, so this is it for me.

later...

new year, work, phone, HDMI

I watched the New Year's Eve show on CNN - and my only resolution this year is to not do it again next year. Even setting the massive technical difficulties aside, I still didn't enjoy the show - far too many cringe moments or massive sappiness. And then the ball dropped and I was like - "so?"

I just don't get the hype about New Year's - it just feels like some kind of arbitrary stopping point for a continually moving timestream. So, if I'm going to recognize that event at all - I think I need to have way more fun and move past my natural inclination to avoid the roads and drunken traffic - and get my ass to a party of some kind.

I'm back to work today and it wasn't as difficult to get back into the swing of things as I expected. There also wasn't a pile of work waiting for me as my infrequent vacations would usually have since everyone around here was gone too. So, that was nice. It should be pretty quiet around here since a lot of people are taking this as a vacation day.

I made a couple calls on my cell phone - and was annoyed by the sound quality and the dropped calls. Still, it was handy since the people I was calling weren't at home and I would have missed them if they didn't have cell phones. However, I was at home and could just as easily have called from my land line. So, a little silly on my part to use the cell phone, but if I'm paying for it, I might as well make use of it.

Got a new entertainment center for the living room TV - and of course ran into problems with the resetting up of the system. Seems the HDMI Cable alone won't carry an audio signal from either the cable box or the DVD player to the receiver. So, I had to use audio cables as well. Which annoyed me since it was so counter-intuitive. And because my room-mate had suggested it and then gloated a bit when it worked. The new entertainment center should keep all the components cooler and the setup is a bit more streamlined.

That's it for now - looking forward to getting back in the pool today at lunch.

later...

orange, red, blue

I spent last weekend with my parents and my sister and brother-in-law for an early Christmas since they would be traveling for the holidays. On Friday night, I was the last to go to bed and when I got up to the spare bedroom at my parents house I discovered that my pillow was... lumpy.
The pillowcase contained: A box of kleenex, a stuffed bear, one glove and 2 video game cases. I unloaded it, put the bear outside my sister and brother-in-law's room - since I was sure it was them and went to sleep. At 6:30 in the morning, I found the small flashlight that was also in the pillow case when I got up to pee.

We got a good laugh about it and later on during the weekend I returned the favor by leaving a small slice of an orange on their pillow - like a mint. It was found and commented upon and we laughed about it.

As I got in the car to drive back home on Sunday evening, I noticed a leaf stuck to my windshield wipers - but didn't think much of it since it was windy. I didn't need to use my wipers on the drive back and the leaf was still there the next morning as I got in my car to go to work.

Except it wasn't a leaf - it was the same small slice of orange that they had put there and it had frozen in place and lasted the whole trip.

For a moment, I considering saving it and mailing it to them as a "late christmas present" - but realized quickly that I would get it back for my birthday in January. Not sure I wanted to start a cycle like that with a food item, I tossed the orange and went on my way.

But I did consider it...

In other news... I bought a cell phone. Yes, Mr. I Hate Cell phones has gone over to the dark side. I've added numbers to my address book, sent and received text messages, and made a call. The phone is red, because they were out of the black ones. It's a LG Scoop with a keyboard. No internet or text packages yet - still need to determine if I'm a cell phone person. I suspect not, but we'll see.

Finally, I hit the pool for the last time this year since the University will be closed. With the 36 laps I did in the blue pool, my total since I started keeping track is 6,868 laps - which is about 190 miles. It was a little staggering for me to realize that.

That's it for now - Merry Christmas.

quote

I saw a quote on a refrigerator yesterday that caught my eye:

"No date on the calendar is as important as tomorrow" - Roy W. Howard

On a surface level, it makes some sense - I frequently check my calendar for what's scheduled for tomorrow; meetings and such. On a deeper level, I completely disagree. The most important date on a calendar is today. Even the most detailed schedule can't completely predict tomorrow - and the past is subject to interpretation (re: 1984). The only thing we have for certain is this moment, this hour, this day. All the rest is mutable.

project-fu failure

Okay, not exactly a failure, but not expected results from a couple of projects.

1. I saw a project on the web where a scanner was turned into a really crazy camera. The project called for the use of black foam-board to build a couple of sliding boxes that rested on and covered the scanner. A magnifing glass was used for the lens and the "focus" could be adjusted by sliding the boxes. There were examples of the photos, but it didn't seem worth the effort since the scanner cable is short and the "shutter speed" is so slow. I decided to take the idea and modify it to a single box - the idea being that I could scan 3-d objects inside the box when they would normally be crushed by the lid.

It took me a while to get the box built and make it light-proof - and when I tested it, I discovered a few things:

a) It's difficult to get the object lined up under the box.
b) I made the box too small (it's only 5 x5x5)
c) the underside of things? Not really that interesting.

Plus, I had to reinstall my scanner software (I blame Vista for that, but happened during this project, so it still counts) and then the scanner would make these really sad little beeps when I had the box in place. Dunno why.

The few objects I scanned (a 3-d puzzle, a squishy ball, and an action figure) - didn't really turn out that well. I'll try a few more, but I think the idea is flawed.

2). I saw a few videos on the web for making a wallet out of a Tyvek envelope. Tyvek is a some pretty cool and very strong material and since my fairly new leather wallet is already breaking down, I thought this might be interesting to try. I bought a small package of regular material envelopes to try out from Staples - and noted that they only sell the Tyvek envelopes in pacakges of 50. Since I'm not making a career out of these, I began a hunt for smaller units.

The sample wallet went together pretty well and I headed to the post office to see if they had these for sale. No dice - though I can order these online in packs of 10. I tried the FedEx/Kinko's store and the the clerk had no idea what I was talking about.

There's a UPS store not far from my house - I'll try there and then give in and order them. Seems a little silly to order envelopes through the mail. Plus, the wallet may not even be that useful since it doesn't have many pockets for cards.

On the plus side, I've got a couple stained glass projects in the queue and some origami that's going well. Still feels like my Project-fu is weak though.

Back to work...

blog reality

From a recent "Pearls Before Swine":

Pig (speaking to Rat): Hey Rat..Mind if I borrow this cardboard box I found in your closet? I'm starting a blog.

Rat's reply: A blog? What do you need a box for if you're doing a blog?

Pig: For all the money I'm going to make.

(later)

Rat (speaking to Goat): Are there interventions for stupidity?

iron man wetsuit, awesome mom

I was in the pool the other day and saw a couple of people testing water rescue dummies a couple lanes over. Two funny bits. 1. The dummies had red heads with yellow faces and when I first saw them I thought "Why is Iron Man wearing a wetsuit?" 2. The people doing the testing couldn't get the dummies to sink - which makes it hard to test a water rescue. So, the guy in the water with them would have to push them to down first, then pull them back up for the rescue. I'm pretty sure that's not how "step one" is supposed to go. After a while, they finally found the valve to fill them with water and they sank like stones. Pretty funny looking - to the point that I had trouble paying attention to my own swim.

My mom is awesome. This fact has been further verified by her following through with a weird request like a champ. You see, I have 5 meetings scheduled today. I was feeling a little sorry for myself last night and I wanted to get out of some of these and it occurred to me that a note from Mom might help.

So, I called her up last and asked if she would write me a note to get me out of the meetings. And, since I'm planning on getting a hair cut after work today and had a little trouble last time, I also asked if she would write me a note for that. She did, faxed them over this morning, and they are awesome.

Notes from Mom (pdf)

Thanks Mom! Now I'm off to meeting 2 of 5

later....