Sci-Fi Reality

So when I bought myself the Sidekick II from t-Mobile, I found out pretty fast that the battery life pretty much sucks. I wanted to trade in the Sidekick or sell it to someone, but when my mom went to T-Mobile and bought her RAZR and I helped set it up, I found the phonebook on it sucked in comparison to the Sidekick. My only solution was to buy myself a second phone and keep the Sidekick as my mobile phone book while using the RAZR I bought my primary phone. This setup works pretty well, with the exception of having to carry two phones.

So, I bought the RAZR. Sleek, super lightweight and compact with a large screen and camera, video camera and media player, the only thing this thing cannot do is access live TV. It works fine as a phone, that's all I care about at this point. The one fun thing I had really wanted to do with the phone was buy and use the Bluetooth capable accessories for the phone. I bought this really awesome Bluetooth headset for the phone after jamming the corded model out of my ear while driving one time too many. Lightweight and comfortable, its really simple to use and honestly, I don't know how I ever used a cell phone without this!

Well, it was while talking to some friends that I started to think about the impact of sci-fi movies and shows on the technology spectrum found in everyday use. To say Star Trek was revolutionary back in the day as far as where technology would go, back in the day, might have made you the victim of ridicule. Cause lets face it, if you walk around in the 1960's with the deep seated thought that one day we would be walking around with a device that would let us communicate effortlessly with another person that fits in the palm of our hand, people would think you're insane. Then I started to think to myself how eerie the new technology relies heavily on Star Trek.

Check this out.



If you are at all familiar with the workings of the Star Trek series Communication badge, they are two way communication devices that when activated, allow hands free communication with the ship and crew. Just a simple tap of the badge and you are in instant communication with another crew member. My Bluetooth earpiece looks eerily similar to the comm badge used in Star Trek.

What's even more strange, there's a company out there who is actually making similar devices for everyday use.

Now if they can only perfect the transporter, I would love to go to work and not spend so much on gas.

Hobbies, Past Times & Free Time

It sucks getting back into the swing of things. Those two weeks off from the radio station had me spoiled as far as waking up at the crack of noon and enjoying the rest of the day and well into the night. It was also within this time frame that I started to realize I had let some of my past times and hobbies fall to the wayside. After all, how much free time do you think I have on any given weekday?

I have Photoshop. I wish I knew how to use it to its fullest potential. I have tons of pictures I can use with Photoshop, but because very few people I know use the program, its hard to learn. A lot of the fundamentals are easy when explained, but when its attempted, its far from easy. Hey, some of the best things in life aren't easy.

I have also updated my sidebar of links. I have included the two sites I am putting a lot of my free time into. Yes, sometimes that effort is at the expense of Blank Media, but the public seems to love it. You can find them under "Personal Projects".

Thinking about it, I also haven't done anything with my small coin collection. I don't want to get rid of that, but trying to save for a cash purchase of a new laptop, its hard to maintain. On a positive note, the coins I do have appreciated in value.

More later.

Days of Future Past

So here I sit at the radio station, waiting for my time to go to the alarm company. I sometimes wonder what my life would have been like if I kept with what I originally wanted to do with my life. You see, its true that radio had always been my dream job. The other career I thought about getting into but was persuaded against it by everyone I spoke to about it was as a paramedic.

I actually went so far as to research everything I needed to do to become a paramedic. This was my sophomore year of high school, mind you. At this same time I had started to get into video and audio editing software. I also made public my want to become a paramedic to friends and some family. I was met with a not-so-welcome response. I was warned about long arduous hours, harsh working conditions, contract negotiations, difficult patients, working holidays.

I was then told that I wouldn't make much money in the field, so I stopped trying. Eventually, I got a job (unpaid, and that should have been a warning) at a radio station and I have been employed in this field and related areas since. So here I sit and reflect on what my life would have been like had I kept up what I really wanted to do and had been the paramedic I wanted to be.

Triskaidekaphobists Beware

Are you afraid of the number 13? Do you take special precautions because you feel the combined mojo of the day is against you inner chi? I don't fear it. I actually love watching people whisper and go out of their way to prevent bad luck from happening to them. All I know is for once, today has been a great day so far considering last week's strange nature.

I just finished some vacation time and already I am wanting more. Been talking with Ted & Yolie out in Chicago about heading out there for some more vacation fun. Teddy has some dates scheduled he wants to go see some Cubs games and possibly even go to Niagara Falls. I think its an awesome idea. I would also like to buy my plane tickets in advance and maybe even fly out to Chicago on a non-stop flight in First Class accommodations. I hate flying in Luggage Class.

If you have a chance, you might want to click on the link on my sidebar for the Magic Landing website. It's been getting a lot of good comments posted to it.

Voyeurs...

It's Happening Again

I load and unload software from my computer on a normal basis. Since buying the iPod I had uninstalled all unnecessary software suites I didn't need (goodbye Office XP, Mozilla Firefox (still using plain Mozilla), Doom, Rollercoaster Tycoon) and reserved the hard drive space for music. Well, After downloading every damn CD I own (and several I borrowed from Joe) I have filled just over 4 gigs of hard drive space.

What a waste.

So, while I am browsing thro Best Buy, I see the full original set of The Sims. All seven expansion packs offered in one package for $35. I already have them all (except for the online version) but yearned for the tedium and mindless menial tasks that computer generated characters are set to do in this alternative to reality. So I reloaded the damn set. All of the damn discs I had. I spent 2 hours loading and preseting my characters for game play.

Hey, its not like I have anything better to do with my free time...

Berry Blast From The Past

Here I sit at work on a Sunday evening, trying to shake some of the bad mojo that's been really miring down what should be some good days. Along my search for things of interest, I completely slammed my internetmobile to a halt when I found this:



Now, growing up in the 1980's this was something I looked forward to seeing every morning when I woke up. Damn, I remember living at our other house, sitting in my high chair eating this in the kitchen on Saturday mornings and listening to the cartoon play in the living room as my brother and sister sat glued to the damn radiation king (a.k.a. the console TV) and watched for hours all of the other Saturday morning cartoons.

When I get the chance, I need to start photoshopping some pictures I have of my old house and remove the Christmas decorations to show what the house used to look like. I remember riding my Big Wheel outside a lot. I also remember wearing a dimple into the huge plastic wheel from skidding to a stop so many times. I remember my sisters room was a hideous yellow wallpaper monstrosity that only could have been a bastard child of the 1970's (the room, not my sister). I don't remember what my room looked like at all, but always remember my parent's room.

*sigh*

I also remember the pack of neighborhood dogs that started to surround me while I was outside one morning. I can never figure out why I was outside at such an ungodly hour...

Ah, cherished repressed memories.

New Year, New Posts

Such goes another new year's holiday, such goes another set of resolutions to be broken. I honestly haven't made any for this new year so I won't even get that far.

It's good to be back, I had been on vacation from the radio station for 2 weeks, but somehow seems longer. It was absolute bliss to wake up at less of an ungodly hour every morning (save for the idiots who called me at 6 & 7am respectfully) and leisurely get things done. However, not all has been fine and dandy.

Yesterday, the stars were out to get me. I don't know who's cosmic alignment got bent out of shape, but things went down hill for me fast. Heading home on the freeway, a thick heavy plastic bag found itself wrapped around the hot exhaust pipe of my car. The car is rife with the stench of melting plastic, and is especially unbearable when sitting at a stop light. I have an appointment today with the dealership to get the oil changed, hopefully they can scrape off the plastic.

As if yesterday wasn't uncomfortable enough, issues with my second security job romped up and things are now in question as far as a dispatch, and as far as my original intent on employment. So now there's that air of uncertainty that's going to linger.

Speaking of lingering. I had just bought food for dinner for me and my dad when I got home and tried to get out of the car. Then, without warning (actually, the warning was earlier in the day when I felt a slight ache in my back) my back gave out. There I stood outside the car for 5 minutes before summoning help from my dad. I've been laid out on my back all night, and today I am walking with a severe impairment. Shifting gears was pretty rough, just as I get into a good rhythm -ZING!- there's a shooting pain that catches me off guard and brings me back to reality.

Sitting and standing up a few times, I have felt a few vertebrae pop and go back into place, but not all of them have done so yet. Oh, the next few hours are going to be fun.

That's it as far as I go. Not much has been happening, nothing of note to write about, that's for damn sure. Teddy & Yolie are already asking me when I am taking my vacation so I need to coordinate with them so we can hit a Cubs game. Other than that, I might be heading up to New Hampshire for a weekend to take care of some paperwork for the non-profit, but that schedule is up in the air.

This new year is starting up really strange.