Apple I love thee... let me count the ways :)

So last night I'm merrily listening to my iPod and looking at stuff on the iTunes music store... low and behold Richard Cheese has a new CD out. If you don't know who Richard Cheese is I'm sorry you just aren't cool enough to be reading this. Step away from the computer and come back later.

I buy the album and just like I've done a million times before I plug my iPod into it's dock. It lights up like it is supposed to... but iTunes is not coming up. Odd, it's not showingup in the device manager. Reboot PC.


Ah there it is in Device Manager... wait now iTunes won't load. I yank out my iPod iTunes loads right up. Repeat this scene several times over the course of the next several hours.

Finally I hook up the iPod to another computer... the computer freezes and then starts going, anything having to with the iPod is very slow though. I go back to my computer and look at the event manager. We all know to look at the event manager when weird shit happens don't we boys and girls

/nod and agree

There in the event manager is a ton of messages saying "sbp2 port device timed out" ? what the hell is a sbp2 port device? I google.... oh it's a device hooked up to my Firewire port. The only thing hooked up to my firewire is my iPod... crap. I take the iPod and hold it to my ear and I hear the drive spinning but I don't hear the heads seeking. Good thing I live in Phoenix now.

Next morning I head down to the Apple Store... I don't like malls, but I will put up with them for this. I get there sign in and wait for help. 1.5 hours later I tell my story to the person at the "Genius Desk" who I watched help several other people with other problems. She plugs the iPod into her iBook and says.. yep it's dying. You have two choices... 1. Pay $250 and wait six weeks to get it fixed or 2. We take this one to recycle and give you 10% off of any iPod in the store today.

I took number 2... so I now I have a spiffy 20gb iPod with a color screen. No muss no fuss. The only thing that sucks is these things come with a 1 year warranty and not a 3 year warranty but I guess when they get abused as much as they do you need to do what you need to do.

I still Love Apple... I'm even thinking that it's time to get a Powerbook for the next laptop. Provided I can afford it :)

Into the nuthouse.....

So I'm moved in down in phoenix... living w/ Lenny and Kristina...


we have 10 computers in the house...


5 of them are mine.


That's all I have to say about that.

All good things...

Taking a page from the book of Star Trek tonight... it's the last night in the "Batcave Kingman" well almost last night there is one more after this but tonight is the last one I will have ready access to a computer.

This is somewhat bittersweet I'm excited to be moving, starting a new job, new life yadda yadda yadda... at the same time I'm going to miss this house it's been a good place to live if a little warm in the summer and little cold in the winter. I guess it's like your first car you become attached to your first house in the same way... for me this was the first time living alone and on my own.

I do have to say the whole living alone thing does agree with me quite well. But that is just me... I find that I actually do crave and even seek out social interaction now... sigh the burden of getting old :)

So long batcave Kingman... hello batcave **insert name of city in phoenix valley that I end up in**

Things to know... #451

Good thing to know #451

When moving be sure that you don't pack your can opener if you planning on having something that comes from a can for your next meal.

Thicker then water...

In the midst of all the packing and getting ready to move to a new city and start a new job a cousin has come to visit. Normally this wouldn't be blog worthy, but this cousin is diffrent.

Matt is 14... yep he's a full on teenager, skater, gamer, and by the sounds of it budding ladies man. The thing that is cool is he's not like other teenagers I've had to deal with he's actually helpful and CONSIDERATE (who knew a teenager could be like that). Anyway the really cool thing is we have been having conversations about D&D, Star Wars Galaxies, Video Games, and Science Fiction. It's cool to see the next generation coming no so strong and not being harrased like I was when I was his age.

Who knows I actually have hope for the future now... not much but some.

Holy Pile of Garbage Batman (part 2)

Cleaning the house out over the last week I've been throwing alot away... basically anything that I numerous amounts of and is less then $5 in value... and even then that is only a guide line not a hard and fast rule.


So far I have tossed / recyled / donated

4 - 15 gallon shopping bags full of clothes that I have not worn in at least 2 years (who knew I had so many clothes)

8 - 15 gallon shopping bags of garbage from my office and bedroom

3 - 15 gallon shopping bags of items that I have shredded (and I'm still finding more)

3 computers


I think I finally have most of the crap cleaned out so now it's actually down to start packing... most of which is again in the office and living room. So it won't be that bad.

I'm just one guy... imagine if I had a family...

Is it just my way?

Looking at the post count tonight's post is number 100. Since I switched to blogger last September.

Seems somehow fitting that this is the post where I talk about new beginings and starting with a somewhat clean slate.

Starting from the begining (kinda the begining is really far away in a land from long ago..) I got a job in Phoenix full filling a promise to myself and achieving a goal of mine. Getting the hell out of Kingman. The details? Well that comes under the catagorie of "work" so I'm not really hip on talking about it. Just know that I'm doing the same kind of work in a new and much larger enviroment.

As for Kingman I leave a job that for the most part I have very few complaints about and a group of people that have taught me quite a bit. However it is time for me to move on.

Looking in the near future I have to clean this thing I call my house and get it ready for the renters... joy...

Next stop Phunky Town.

Holy Pile of Garbage Batman

I have a lot of crap... Figuratively not literally... well literally as well but not the fecal material kind of crap more like I still have all my notes from NAU. Yes that is right I still have all of my notes from NAU.

Lets think about that for a second when I lived in Flagstaff I moved once from the Dorms to the apartment (which way back when was the original reason for this blog like device since I needed someplace to vent out) I lived there for a year and then moved back to Kingman... I lived with my parents for almost a year and then moved into my own house. So some of these notes have been through 3 moves. I really need to learn how to let go ya know.

That is the kind of crap my house if filled with. The 3 gallons of paint from when I turned Matt, Scott, and Kristina loose on my garage with Sharpies... yeah that was 3 coats of a KILLZ base and then another 3 coats of paint. I swear that if you look at it just right you can still see a elephant.

It maybe that I have a lot of crap but believe it or not a lot of the crap also holds some pretty special memories for me. Don't worry the memories I want to forget have been burned in the BBQ... BTW hair spray does not make a good flame accelerant.

Man moving out of this place is going to be a bitch.... 3 years I have lived here and I have accumulated a lot of crap.

As a public service

Given the recent attacks in Madrid and London I thought it prudent to bring back the Seasame Street Terror Alert Thingy please be on guard as we are in code "Ernie"

I repeat we are in a code "Ernie"

That is all

Boldy going forward...

Because we can't find reverse!


Apologies to Dr. Demento for that one... driving back from San Diego will cause severe mental problems for even the most astute of people. Luckily I had Curtis with me so he took the fall for the mental problems and I'm still just loopy.

In other words not much has changed.

Anyway now that I've gotten the formalities out of the way, lets see what kind of crap comes out of my fingers dancing across the keyboard. Or how long before I throughly drive myself up the wall while typing. Either way I say 20 minutes and I lose interst.

So I'm on vacation which is a nice change of pace. Basically vacation for me means doing things all day that I would rather be doing then working (read as video games, beer, and movies) The video games portion of this episode has been getting a good bit of attention for the last few days. Which is what happens when you goto a LAN part in San Diego. I have to say that the SD LAN party is one of the best I've been to in a very long time if not the best. Lots of co-op games which work very nicely when everyone is in the same room . "Act of war" is a very intersting RTS for nothing more then the fact that it could actually happen. I do suggest that if you are a RTS fan that you check it out. SWAT 4 is also pretty good but, you need alot of patience and time to do it correctly.

I don't road trip much, so this weekend was also a nice change of pace. Also the point of a Road Trip is to commune with your other roadtipee's in this case Curtis. Lets just say that Curtis is a excellent Pit Crew Chief at the gas station, Navigator, and Co-pilot... so long as he can sleep through his Pit Crew Chief, Navigator, Co-pilot duties. I shouldn't bitch the last time I did the second seat thing I was a sleeping maniac.

Next on the vacation agenda is the Las Vegas Wedding... I wonder how many flying Elvis (Elvi?) their will be.

Only time and a trip to Vegas will tell.

So there we were....

So there we were... Curtis and I sitting in the Burger King in Yuma, Arizona.


Suddenly the two of us snap and kill everyone in the place with nothing but a straw between the two of us.

$.50 cheaper then the real thing...

I had a intersting conversation at work today... a coworker in another department was experssing her frustration about her husband who has recently been discharged from the military after being in Iraq. In her words he just lays around the house and takes classes at MCC. She is extremly frustrated by this. I understand where she is coming from, she's working 40 hours a week. He's not. I think it's intersting to note that after WW2 upon discharge you were given a $20 a week stipened for one year. Think about it, in 1945/46 that would go a long way. Back then you could live off of that money. Just a little perspecitve for everyone.

Insane in the membrane

I've been thinking alot lately... About alot of stuff. Personal, proffesional, spirtiual you know the basics. I've not really had any great reflections or insights. Nothing is jumping out at me saying "HEY THIS IS WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR" I don't think one should expect to find those things when they are looking in on themselves. The reason I bring it up is because there is no one thing that triggered this latest inward looking. I just started doing it. The last time I was like this was right as I was finishing school.

I don't I think it's just the funky weather we are having here today... it's feels very much like flag did that last couple of days I was up there.

I don't know about you folks.... you all keep reading this drivel... and I keep writing it. I don't think that this is the healthiest realtionship.

On the stone it's time to go...

Things brewing...could this be the start of something?

I need a fix!

I've been having this weird problem with my iPod for a couple of weeks now. What's been happening is songs have been cutting out in the middle of playing... it was really quite annoying. I traced it back to my 200gb hard drive from hell. The one that works but it is really having data integrity problems. I'm thinking about RMAing the sucker. I don't know if it's the drive or the SATA card it's plugged into. It's rather annoying at any rate.

When Rednecks move....

Flipped down to Phoenix this weekend to help Curtis and Kristina move into their shiny new house that is as old as me. So compared to my house it's way new (theirs was built in 79 mine was built in 66) Wow my house is going to be 40 years old next year... that does not make me feel good. Anyway... I go to Phoenix thinking that their is going to be 4 of us and three trucks... well Matt bailed on us... (thanks alot Matt... bastard ) Don had to work(slacker)... I will cut him some slack on that one but not much. So it's Curtis and me... all day... in Phoenix... in June... We did 15 round trips between the two of us. We started at 9A.M. We officaly finished and had dinner at 10P.M. (thanks Bev)

Lets just say the only thing missing from the whole affair was bailing wire and duck tape. We probally could have used it in a few spots.

So congrats go out to the Krissy and Curtis on their new house

When I'm in Phoenix I do like to listen to the radio since they more of a selection then we have here in Hell. Curtis turned me onto one station 103.9 it's a locally owned station (read as not Clear Channel) they actually play music. Which is always a good call for a radio station. They also have a Ska-Punk show... actually it's more of a underground punk show. Anyway it's a god station.

They had this one band on called "The Network" that I decided to play $10 on iTunes. I'm actually rather digging it. It's almost a new wave type of punk... it's diffrent and yet still good I think this one is going on the to burn list for a few friends.