Support law enforcement families this Sat!

Afternoon all! Just a quick note then back to my weekend… errr, I mean… work. ;)

MJ’s supporting a blogathon this weekend for Police Wives Online:

Note to Self: Note to Readers: HELP!

Her fiancé, and my GF's brother is a patrolman. From the blog site: "Donations will benefit the many programs at Police Wives Online including the H.U.G.S. (Helping Uplift Grieving Survivors) program and a newly created scholarship fund for law enforcement families." Stop on by and show 'em how much you appreciate your officers, and their wives (no, not in that manner, you sicko!). The goal for this year is $1k.

Meanwhile, my 360 came back Wed, so I'm a little preoccupied at the moment. Get back to you. ;)

l8rz!

Nerdiness

I don’t really care much for Ubuntu, but they have made huge strides in introducing Linux to the not-so-technical home users. Countdown to the new version:

 

l8rz.

So much for weekly…

But, I’m still getting back into this, at least. ;)

Newayz. The weather as of late in the ATL (and most of the South, for that matter) has been cool and damp. I know, you’re thinking, “Yeah. So?” This is fairly unnatural for the Southern region of the States this time of year. Or, so it seems unnatural from the weather patterns that we’re used to experiencing when it’s not an el Niño or la Niña season. (From the little bit of “Es-pan-yol” that I remember, I really don’t get using son and daughter to define a season, but that’s for another rant. Regressing….) This cool dampness is non-so helping towards my aged ailments of sinuses and joints. Also, with the teasing weekends of warm sunshiney (did I just type, “sunshiney”?) days, I’m ready to get out of the house and enjoy the comforts of nature’s warmth (i.e., I’m ready to lay out in the sun).

On another note, last Fri, I finally set my poor 360 on its trip to Seattle for repair. I’m hoping it won’t take any more than 2 weeks. I’m jonesing to play my GameFly rentals, X Blades and Golden Axe: Beast Rider. I’ve already had them 3 weeks and not been able to play.

Oh. I need to clarify this, as I’ve made some changes. For those of your Facebook’ers and Multiply’ers, the origination of Beware the Tourists is at Blogger. For the lazy (like me), there are RSS  (definition here if you have no idea what RSS is) links off to the top right. I finally upgraded to the newer templates not long ago; hence, the layout has changed ever so slightly.

 

l8rz.

Continuation from this AM

Caffeine assimilated. Insanity adverted.

So the main problem is the fact that once again, I am shipping my 360 back to Microsoft for repair. For those of you that don’t remember, the DVD drive died a while back. Luckily, I’m still under that 3 year window for the flashing red lights problem. I’m going to give props to Xbox Support today. As mentioned above, I came home to the “3 Light Red Ring of Death” last night on my 360. Once the grouch beast was tamed this morning, I attempted to submit my repair online. This became difficult as I’ve changed email addresses on my Live! account since I last registered the system. Long story short (and a 20 minute phone call to Xbox Support, mostly spent because of me trying to track down my old mailing address), the girl very easily transitioned my registered email address. That was pretty frikin’ cool. I figured I would be on the phone for hours trying to track down the right person who would know how to do that. As if you can’t tell, I prefer talking to computers instead of people for support. So, now I wait for the shipping box to show up and Microsoft to ship me out a new system, just like last time. Whoopee. The rest of my “numbered list” was just annoyances of little things you hate having to wake up to. My Comcast internet connection has always been flakey, at best. Sometimes I wonder, with all the environmental factors that set it off, would I have been better off with satellite? ;)

So, yup. I’m back in the fold. My goal at this point is to post something weekly. Now, I could sit her like other bloggers and rant about the economy, or the government, or what some other blogger has posted. But, I tend to avoid all that here. I’ll give my opinion, and occasionally a link, but don’t expect anything too personal. Also, being that I have the potential for a whole new class of readers, I’ll try to keep it much tamer this go round.

BTW, I now respond to "Bubbles”, and I’m pretty good at juggling chainsaws… naked. ThX, MJ! ;)

 

l8rz!

Wonderful morning…

This has turned out to be a pretty crappy morning so far… Because I’ve barely had enough coffee to even start going, I’m borrowing a friend’s “bulleted list” idea and will give more on these topics later:

1. I come home last night to find my 360 has the dreaded “red ring of death”.
2. It’s been raining consistently here for 2 days.
3. The toilet decides to stop up because of all the rain.
4. The cable internet fritzes out because of all the rain (that or the recent work siding being done on the house).

As I said, not enough coffee, and I’m still grouchy at the world; more later.

Oh, yeah. Welcome back to “Beware the Tourists”. :)

 

l8rz.

Test Post

Lookie! I’m updating. ;) This is just a test to see how the API integrates with other apps/sites. I’m getting back around to this, so stay tuned (same bat channel, same… oh you get the idea).

l8rz.

Gathering of thoughts...

This blog has been long neglected and in much need of return. However, due to a rather random chain of events this afternoon, my mind is still a muddled mess of thought and contemplation. This means that I am delaying the inevitable yet one more evening. Luckily, tomorrow is a Friday; and, for once in quite a while, I'm actually free of any social obligations leaving me open to utilize the blog client on my newly re-installed laptop (I'll have more on that, tomorrow, too). For now, I should get some sleep.

 

l8rz.

wah hoo...

Wah hoo biotches... I'm going to keep this short as even tho I'm in the mood to rant, but I've nigh the coordination skills at the moment. All I'm going to say is, "I loves me some sake." Besides, I'm in jabber mode and last thing I need to do is start drunk txt'ing my friends. :D

OK, so I'm not dead, nor have I given up on ranting. There has been much in the personal (mostly work) life that has kept me from here. Promotions abound and friendships rekindled have pre-occupied me since pre-Thanksgiving. I know everyone has done their whole New Year's resolutions, and I was going to do mine; but, screw it. I have the tasks I intend to complete before the end of the year written down on a piece of paper and magneted to the fridge.

Game-wise, not many changes. Honestly, up until last night, I haven't been on the gaming front much. Too many nights of getting plastered, or staying out late. One thing I must note is that I'm getting too damn old to "go out" on a "school night". With the work promotions, I'm hell bound and determined to start showing up during "normal hours", so I've been crashing well before my usual all-nighters and even midnight. Scary, I know. Maybe I'm finally growing up... Ha! Yeah, right. That be the case, I wouldn't have downed all that sake tonight. ;) Also, since I've canceled cable (haven't hardly watched TV since I moved back in August), I'm out of the Anime loop. Blockbuster Online is starting to irritate me, so I'll probably be changing or getting rid of that soon, too. I will admit, barring the cold, I've been very impressed with myself as far as getting out of the house. Normally, this time of year, it takes near an act of divinity to get me out into this 30 or less degree weather. The Atl saw it's first snow flurries in several years this past week, so maybe that has some motivation to it.

...Damn, the thought train just ran off the tracks. Ok, guess that means it's time to call it a night (all 9p and all). Oh, one last gripe. Dammit, Farve! ...Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that little Manning can rub it in big bro's face, but I wanted Green Bay in the Super Bowl!



l8rz, g8rz!!



Post addition:

I just found out that Heath Ledger passed yesterday. Dude, he was an awesome actor! I've been nothing but impressed with any role he's fulfilled. I can only say, with great sadness, that Hollywood has lost a magnificent talent. "Batman: The Dark Night" will definately be viewed opening night in his honor once it's released.

Yes. I am still alive...

... just been lazy. It's not that I haven't had a desire to post. Ok, well, maybe I haven't really been in the mood to post anything, but there has been plenty of little quips that have come to mind worth sharing. Firing up the laptop when I get home just hasn't been worth it. That, and I've been playing video games a bit much. :D Between the release of Halo 3, Guitar Hero III, and Bioshock, I've been preoccupied, so to speak. Sad thing is, I can say I'm getting pretty good at Guitar Hero. I've 5 starred the Easy and Medium settings in both II and III (well, all except one song in II), and I'm on to Hard. I was joking with my dad on the phone the other day. I can start telling people, "Yeah. I rock at Guitar Hero. What? No I'm not a musician. I just have no life." ;) I've started holing myself up in the house, again (the cold weather isn't helping), playing games all the time. I'm determined not to return to that form of hermit-ism. Oh, I'm not giving up gaming. I just need to put the guitar down for a while. Rock Band is on my list of to get games, but I'm going to hold off for a while on that one. These things are just a bit too addictive. ;)

I keep looking at my GamerCard and laughing:
 
It's hard to believe, that in a little over a year, I've managed to acquire almost 5000 points. That's just insane (well, for me, anyway). So, time to put the controller down (for a couple of days, at least). Besides, I now have a PS3 on my desk at work (for research, of course) that needs some "hacking" done to it. That, and I'm determined not to stay indoors all winter. Did I mention I hate cold weather?

How much longer till Spring? ;)



l8rz!

Visual DNA.

Courtesy of Imagini™:

Read my VisualDNA™     Get your own VisualDNA™

l8rs.

Rush gone Emo.

I was listening to Rush's latest album, "Snakes and Arrows" again for the first time in a while. I was noticing that minus the first few songs, the album doesn't really rock like their older stuff. The songs are mopey or bluesy. WTF?! I've always loved Rush's stuff. All the way up to their "Counterparts" album was good. "Vapor Trails" was OK, but this last one is just... blah. It's like they've all become tired old farts that aren't putting any more enthusiasm into their music. It's still beautifully composed, but, just so... blah. Guess this one will go back on the shelf and I'll listen to their old stuff instead. "Power Windows" r0x0rZ!!!1!1!



l8rZ.

Bored.

I'm so frikin bored right now. I've been pretty lazy all day. I didn't go out any other than just to run a few errands. The good news is, I can now watch TV and get on the internet at the same time, now. ;) That's about the only productive thing I've done all day. Tomorrow is laundry, cut the grass, weed, and drop off the recyclables. It's actually been kinda nice not having to rush to go anywhere or do anything. I've been wrapped in a mixture of relaxation and exhaustion, today. The sad part is, I haven't done anything, so I shouldn't be tired. I fell asleep in the papasan for an hour and a half earlier this evening.  

An assumed change of events with a friend is leaving me to believe that my life is about to take an interesting turn in the near future. Since it's only my assumption, I'm not jumping the gun nor do I plan on rushing any decisions. Needless to say, my social calendar my be getting a few more additions to it here soon. What can I say? I'm a ladies man (*cough*... yeah, right). ;)



l8rs.

Decisions. Decisions.

W00+! Man, there is so much going on! I just can't decide where to go or what to do next. LOL! My social calendar has not only exploded, it's imploding and becoming a siphoning black hole. There has to be some sort of cosmic disturbance somewhere else, al la chaos theory. I can't seem to get a break. And, there are some friends I've been needing to hang out with for the better part of the last month. I mean, don't get me wrong, this totally beats sitting in front of the Xbox playing Halo all weekend. Of course, I've still been getting my game time in. I can't totally give that up.

Now what's the irony behind this? I've finally gotten all the issues worked out with Comcast, but I'm sitting here watching a DiVX anime on my desktop. Geeze. I should probably think about canceling or cutting back the cable. I haven't watched TV in over a month. Sad thing is, I don't feel like I'm even missing anything.

OK, I'm going to finish this up and start getting settled for bed. I've got an early meeting in the morning since I skipped out on one this afternoon.



l8rs.

Frikin' hell. It's Fall, again.

I am NOT a fan of cold weather. Atlanta's well known for its drastic differences in temperature between day and night during the Fall. I always hat the first cold night of the season where the temperature drops about 30 degrees from what I'm used to. I end up cuddled up in front of a space heater for about 45 minutes trying to get rid of a bone rattling chill that won't go away. I HATE being cold. Give me the blistering hot sun of a sultry Summer afternoon any day. If I'm going to be suffering from constant episodes of chills, I better be standing in at least ankle deep powder with skis or a snowboard strapped to my feet. Of course, I refuse to admit it's fall. My Jeep top is still down (but I do have the doors on). I also won't turn the heater on until November. I'm just stubborn like that. I'll just stick to my sweatshirt and space heater, for now. And to think I was running the fans at full speed the other night trying to keep cool. Cold weather sux0rz...

So where have I been for the last 2 1/2 weeks? Heh. Well, if I'd quit going out so much, I wouldn't be so broke, right now. My social calendar has exploded. Seems like I'm out doing something or other at least 4 nights a week. Also, temporarily, due to some personal issues I've had to deal with, I've found another outlet through that old fashioned method of putting pen to paper. Yes, ink and a legal pad. I know. Who physically "writes" anymore? ;) Now, I've dealt with those issues, I've vented, and I'm back to spouting BS here, again. **Aren't you so happy?** (note sense of sarcasm in that last statement...)

So what have I missed? Or, the bigger question, I guess, is, "What have *you* missed?"


Gamer News:

• Halo 3 - I've finished it twice already and haven't played it much since then. No, I haven't lost interest. I just have a new game to play that came out at the same time. :)
• .hack//G.U. Vol. 3 - 'Nuff said. Hasao and the other Avatar users (G.U.) are back in the third and final installment of the latest .hack game. This one seems to be longer than the other two. I've already put in about 24 hrs of game time and don't feel like I'm even half-way thru, yet. It's time to crack open that can of "Ren Geki", again! LOL.

TV Shows for the new Fall Season:

• Don't ask me. I've been fighting Comcast since I moved (yes, a whole month!) to get my service reconnected. I finally got a tech today that showed up and called everyone at the call center a bunch of idiots. LOL. He made a couple of phone calls; 30 minutes later, voila! I have TV! Go figure.... Guess that means I can start catching up on Heroes, now.

Anime:

• Like I said, no TV; and, I've been holding on to my Blockbuster DVDs since I moved. Just finally mailed them back. So haven't gotten anything new in a while. My Newtype USA subscription lapsed just before I moved, also. I haven't renewed it yet. Don't know that I will, either.
• Oh, Dawn, go read this post. It should answer that question you asked me about a month back.

Anything else? No, that should be it.


In preparation for some changes at work, I've re-installed my laptop, again. I've gone back to XP (screw Vista). I may be going back to doing more Active Directory support in the future. I can't exactly do that very efficiently from Red Hat; hence, the re-install. In that process, I'm back to using the Windows Live Writer to compose my blog. I've normally just written out the code, then just previewed it in previous versions. With this latest revision, I'm beginning to like the WYSIWYG interface. It kinda reminds me of WordPress. I just might keep using it.

I've got some other things I can comment on, but they can wait till a later post. I've got cleaning to do. The 'rents, my sister, and her new boyfriend are crashing for the weekend. This place looks like I haven't cleaned since I moved in. Well... actually... I haven't.... Like I said, I've been busy. :D



l8rs.

Halo 3. 'Nuff said.

So I never reserved my copy. I went with a friend and her husband last night at midnight to pick up his copy. I figured if the store had any extras, maybe I could get one. Well, an hour after the doors were opened, I walked out with my own copy. Schweet. I am now doped up on a full pot of coffee and dozing off at my desk because I just had to pull an all nighter to see how far I could get. ;) After about 5 hours of gameplay on my own (plus 2 or so in co-op), I think I'm down to the last level in the storyline. I had to play it on the Easy setting. I want to know how the fight ends. If I can managed to stay awake long enough to get through Trivia Nite, I'm going back home to finish tonight.

Bungie has really stepped up on the engine. I am impressed! The in-game movies are astounding; the fully-functional environments are beautiful (you can smack the plants now, and they move!); and, the soundtrack is impressively complementary, as always. The gameplay on the new controller took some getting used to (I keep throwing out the "items" because I'm still used to reloading with that button), but the controller is well mapped and basically the same. It's customizable, of course, in case you don't like the new layout. I will definately be playing this one over, and over, and over.... and over, and over, and over... LOL. Now I just need to set up a way to do the whole trilogy one right after the other (it still takes me almost a whole weekend to get through just one game on the Easy setting).

K. Need the rest of my lunch break to eat somthing... I'm jittery. :)



l8rs.

AWA-Con 2007 pics are up.

Paruse at your lesiure:

flickr

l8rs.

Runner's Bliss.

I've rediscovered that bit of euphoria most runners experience:

Above the small stitch in your side that is a reminder of you're not a young as you used to be.... Above the cramp developing behind your left knee screaming, "You didn't stretch enough"... Above the burning in your lungs caused by years of carbon monoxide damage, there is that amazing sensation caused by the over-firing of synapsees. There is that sensation of pins and needles against your skin as the cool wind whips against your sweat drenched arms, legs, and cheeks. You pick up your pace to enhance the sting. You ignore everything else around you. You block out all thoughts. In that single moment of bliss and adrenaline, you are reminded that you are alive. Then you grin... because you have just found your true peak.

*THAT*, my friends, is "Runner's Bliss," the euphoria that drags us out in the middle of the day in these sultry late summer afternoons.



l8rs.

Going for the gold... and getting the silver.

See, now this is why I don't like posting about the deep speculations of my personal life. I end up getting way too many questions about the situation which I should have just kept to myself. Either way, I'm done being "mopey and lame" about the whole thing. I'm done "walkin' off the w33pies" (as Largo calls it). And, I'm accepting the course of lives that are, in half, my choice and agreeance. Unfortunately for me, I can be a deeply emotional person. There are times when the initial situation will go fine and everything is cool. Later, I'll begin to over-anaylze. My thought process will drive me absolutely batty until I can work everything out in my head. I then end up apologizing to friends (and family) for being such a dumbass and worrying too much. So, I'm done over-analying. I'm back to having a smile on my face. And, I'm happy-go-lucky, again, because life is too short to sweat the little stuff.

And, this is the last Emo post you will ever get out of me. ;)

---

Now, in all honesty, there must be something really wrong with me. I still haven't ordered my copy of Halo 3. No, it's not because I'm still trying to choose which of the 3 different versions I want. It's actually not because of finances; I put that money away a long time ago. ;) I guess I'm just assuming that if I order it online, I'll still get it shipped the day of release. You know, I should probably make sure there's a Best Buy or GameStop near me, now, so I can go pick it up that morning before work. ;) I finally just found a Blockbuster the other day. How long have I been living here? 3 weeks? Slack-ass....

Oh, another personal w00+! In less than a week, I've already managed to shave 5 minutes off my run. The hardest part about getting back into running is that I really shouldn't be doing this for time but for the sheer exhilaration of it. Running, when I was younger, had a side effect of being mentally relaxing. Reprogramming myself is going to be the most difficult part. Well, I guess I can just use the time to help with the traning for my two goals:

1. I want to make it up all 4 flights of stairs at work without getting winded. I came pretty close today, but normally, somewhere between the 3 and 3 1/2 mark, I have to take a deep breath. I'll recover by the time I get into my office, but it's still been an annoyance to me.
2. By the end of the year, I want to be able to run 6 miles without having to stop.

I've had no problems going non-stop with my current 2 miles since my second day out. I just had to find a new pace. My mind was still running at my old pace from high school my first time out, but my aging decrepid body's not quite ready to keep up with it. :p

Well, it's getting pretty late, and I have to get up early these days if I want to get a parking spot at the train station. I'm outtie.



l8rs.

You know you've been going to a club too often when...

... not only do you know the dances, you are the one starting them. I never thought it would come to the day that I would be leading the lines at Cowboys. The place was actually quite dead last night for a Thurs. Must have been the rain. ;) Most of the usual "regulars" (i.e., my sister's friends) never even showed up.

While I'm on my bar-scene rant, I came to an interesting realization last night. Why is it I always flirt with the bride-to-be and her little troup of friends every time I go? Is it that I'm that self-concious about the whole no ties deal? I mean, yeah. I just go there to dance. But am I that worried (or too chicken shit) about asking a girl to dance? Either way, I had fun and that's all that matters. :p~ The only thing that sucks is that drive back home. It's even worse now that I've moved to the south side of town. It's too bad there's not any other decent country clubs closer (that I've found, so far). I guess I could try further south, but that would be just as far of a drive.

BTW, I've started running, again. Not too happy with the fact that on my second day out, it took me a little less than 25 minutes to run 2 miles. I don't think I ever ran that slow even when I was in the yearly mile road race as a kid. This is embarassing. (For those of you who don't know, I ran for the cross-country team in high school.) The good side is I'm not quite as out of shape as I thought. The last 7 (well, actually, I guess I should say 14) years of smoking hasn't hurt me too bad.

...

I should have slept in instead of rushing out the door so quick to make it here on time. It's pretty dead at work for a Fri. Of course, now that I say that, people are going to swarm into my office at 4:45 this afternoon wanting me to fix complicated stuff or something really important is going to blow up.

Awite, The other stuff I need to work on isn't supposed to happen until this afternoon. Guess I'll go txt msg my friend and annoy her while she's on her lunch break. ;p~



l8rs.

Football mania.

Now what's the irony in all this. Usually about this time every year, I'm balls to the wall, gotta watch my Jackets, strapped to the couch on Saturdays. This year, the only thing I seem to really want to do that has any relation to football is attend a local Packer tailgate party. Huh. Weird. Well, I do have my moods.

This is probably influcened by my recent return from the beach, but I'd rather just play sand volleyball. ;)



l8rs.