I am typing this post from my recliner using my television as a monitor. I have a whole new entertainment system set up in my den, and I just placed the finishing touches of phase one: computing from comfort. I just picked up this little wireless keyboard and air mouse from Fry's electronics. That's right, air mouse. There are all kinds of Power Point presentation mice out on the market these days, but to my knowledge the one from Gyration is the first and most versatile. I'm thoroughly pleased.
The new entertainment system all started with the need to play Rock Band. That meant buying a new console system. I've been in the market for one and I finally settled on the XBox 360 based on ubiquity and superior online gaming system. If I was going to get a new game system I figured I might as well get a new television while I was at it. My current television is from the early Clinton years, and with the mandated digital television coming along I figured now was as good a time as any to take the plunge into the age of televisions with processing power. What was once a desire for a new game turned into a living room altering shopping spree. But I had set myself on my course. It didn't matter then when I saw that Rock Band was available for the PS2. I had already gotten my credit approval at Best Buy and was well on my way to glutting myself in a consuming frenzy.
I went from a 15-year-old 24" tube style TV with rabbit ears and a PS2 to a vast pile of fabulous technology. The large flat panel looks a little funny on the sagging, old TV stand. I'm thinking that should get updated as well.
And speaking of new things, as I was typing this blog my brand new mouse seemed to run out of juice. The jury's still out on that one.
I might start getting some posts in now that I feel like I'm watching TV while blogging.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
A soggy greeting from Hope
I recently started a new job that has better pay and less stress with more interesting work than the old slog. Not bad, huh? I'm pleased as punch about it. After 18 months hard time in a supermax facility, aka working in an overstretched I.T. department for a fortune 300 financial institution, it's gratifying to know there is reasonable work available. This is my third week and I'm on my second business trip. Last week I was in California. Yay, right? Not bad. I had a lot of work to do and not a lot of time for sight seeing. No beach combing. This week I'm in the birthplace of Bill Clinton and Mike Huckabee. Hope, Arkansas has a Walmart, a restaurant called Dos Locos Gringos, and a Western Sizzlin franchise. Hope is a small town with not much to offer, its main export being politicians that are able to hit national standing and high end speakers.
My flight into Little Rock was entertaining. While squeezing into his dwarfed seat on the tiny plane an enormous old German traveler confused me for his proctologist and shoved his ass in my face. It was the kind of experience I could only imagine would happen at a thirty year reunion of dancers from the Unicorn. Flabby ass cheeks draped with loud gold, blue, and brown checkered pants hit me square in the face. Awful. I was later informed that the airline lost his luggage. Karma's a bitch I guess. Also on the plane was a god squad in wool suits and bibles. They looked like a bunch of fresh faced MBAs looking for a job or a sales team getting ready for the next pitch. The Little Rock airport is small and brightly colored. Red support pillars shoot up to the vaulted ceiling. On the way to baggage claim a sign welcomed all and sundry to Arkansas. Another sign welcomed the World Series of S.W.A.T. which is being held in Little Rock April 9 - 12. I hear tickets are still available if you're interested.
It takes a little less than two hours to drive to Hope from Little Rock. After a quick meal at a lovely bar/sandwich shop/restaurant we hit the road in the rental car. That's when the heavens opened up. Sheets of rain so thick I could hardly see the road in places. And while the hail wasn't constant it was large and in charge. My boss half believed that the windshield was about to crack at any moment. It was rough. Strangely enough though the satellite radio never gave out. Equally strange were the three distinct moments no longer than two seconds a piece when the rain simply stopped. It was as if I had driven underneath a small, invisible canopy. Completely bizarre. The rain stopped and lulled us into a false sense of confidence only to start up again with renewed vigor. I got off the road two hours ago and the thunder continues. It's a lovely sound.
My flight into Little Rock was entertaining. While squeezing into his dwarfed seat on the tiny plane an enormous old German traveler confused me for his proctologist and shoved his ass in my face. It was the kind of experience I could only imagine would happen at a thirty year reunion of dancers from the Unicorn. Flabby ass cheeks draped with loud gold, blue, and brown checkered pants hit me square in the face. Awful. I was later informed that the airline lost his luggage. Karma's a bitch I guess. Also on the plane was a god squad in wool suits and bibles. They looked like a bunch of fresh faced MBAs looking for a job or a sales team getting ready for the next pitch. The Little Rock airport is small and brightly colored. Red support pillars shoot up to the vaulted ceiling. On the way to baggage claim a sign welcomed all and sundry to Arkansas. Another sign welcomed the World Series of S.W.A.T. which is being held in Little Rock April 9 - 12. I hear tickets are still available if you're interested.
It takes a little less than two hours to drive to Hope from Little Rock. After a quick meal at a lovely bar/sandwich shop/restaurant we hit the road in the rental car. That's when the heavens opened up. Sheets of rain so thick I could hardly see the road in places. And while the hail wasn't constant it was large and in charge. My boss half believed that the windshield was about to crack at any moment. It was rough. Strangely enough though the satellite radio never gave out. Equally strange were the three distinct moments no longer than two seconds a piece when the rain simply stopped. It was as if I had driven underneath a small, invisible canopy. Completely bizarre. The rain stopped and lulled us into a false sense of confidence only to start up again with renewed vigor. I got off the road two hours ago and the thunder continues. It's a lovely sound.
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