I’ve mentioned before that I’m a Blue Man Group fan. They are currently on tour and the family and I are going to see them in San Diego. I ran across a shirt that is just too cool and will be perfect to wear to the concert. It’s called the T-Qualizer and it is a live equalizer. It should be here Tuesday and I’ll be sure to let you know how it works and how the concert is.
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I realized I haven’t given any updates on our pond. It’s been about two months since we put it in and have subsequently added a total of 31 fish (3 koi, 26 feeders, and 2 pacostamus) and the artificial grass on the side and back of it.
The only bad thing is the fact we have lost all three koi and one of the goldfish. Our fish supplier says that koi should be sufficiently ‘hearty’ and the feeders (other than the one) have been thriving. Now that it’s getting colder, we’ll probably let things alone for the winter and add a few new fish when it gets warmer.
I put a few additional pictures in the gallery so feel free to take a look.
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Pretty stagnant lately, huh. I don’t really have a reason why I haven’t made the effort. Sure, I’ve been busy at work and there are some things going on with our extended family, but does it really take a lot of time and effort to put a note up?
Not really.
I’ll try to be better.
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One of the perks for working in my department at SCEA is that our director buys a copy of each SCEA published game. This week, I got a copy of the new PSP title Loco Roco. It is fun. It works in almost every aspect. The graphics are bright and fun but simple so load times are practically instantaneous, the music is infectious, the controls are simple (only three buttons), it’s a simple concept to start with but it gets more challenging.
As an employee, I am hopeful that it is a big success, but alliances aside, it is a legitimately well-produced title.
I’ve kept the kids away from my PSP up until now. I may have to hide it lest I risk losing it to them.
My wife, Becky, headed up North to visit her aunt Thursday morning, and to cover, I stayed home on Friday to play “mom.” It wasn’t too bad and I have done the general routine before (e.g., get the kids fed, dressed, packed, and set for school) but yesterday was a bit atypical. Becky has volunteered to help out in our kids’ classes and since the day she worked out was Friday, that meant I was the substitute.
Truly, it was a treat. I got to take the kids to school, hang out a bit before class, and then help in each of their classes to various degrees. In our son’s 1st grade class, I colated, traced, and cut-out several items. In our daughter’s 4th-grade class my responsibilities were increased to do actual testing on reading.
It really was a treat and I am envious of Becky and the fact she gets to do this every week.
Now that I have a new ride, there are some mods that I’m going to have to investigate to make everything just the way I want it. Since I listen to so much content on my iPod, I’m trying to find out the best way to connect it to the stock stereo. Sure, I can get an FM adaptor but they’re generally not very good. Historically, I used a cassette adaptor which I was quite satisfied with, but the new stereo does not provide a cassette.
Honda makes an iPod integration kit but it’s expensive (about $500 installed) and reviews I have found indicate it’s clunky. I found the Axxess wire-tunes at my local Circuit City but it doesn’t available for the 2006 Civic. I’m also considering getting a TomTom GO 510 as it provides an iPod connection and control but I’ll need to see one in use first.
Not sure what all options are. I’ll probably hit a few pro audio stores (e.g., not big-box stores) to get some ideas and advise.
UPDATE: After some research, I’ve ordered a USA SPEC iPod Interface from Crutchfield (using a $20 coupon from DealCoupon. It lets you use your iPod through the CD changer interface so the controls work on the stereo. Unfortunately, it doesn’t support the text display. Stay tuned for installation experiences.
Becky and I are fans of History Channel’s Digging for the Truth. The host, Josh Bernstein spends each episode researching and trying to answer historacal questions. The one we’re watching now is investigating the existance and location of Troy mentioned in Homer’s Iliad.
So far in this episode we found out that he can dive and is a competitive archer. In previous episodes, he’s gone rock climbing, researched the Ark of the Covenant, Easter Island, Stonehenge, and the Holy Grail.
I want his job.
I’ve been contemplating a new car for a few months as my current 1998 Toyota Corolla is quickly approaching 200,000 miles and while it is running just fine, part of me is concerned that my 500-mile-a-week commute may be asking for trouble. Normally, I drive a car until it stops working and then replace it but depending on the nature of a major failure, it might be more of a safety issue than that of convenience.
While I continued to debate that internally, I decided that we should at least be familiar with the available options in the case a purchase needs to be made without the gift of deliberation and research.
With that in mind, we decided to take advantage of the kids staying the night at Becky’s mother’s house and go looking at cars. I figured the short list due to experience and reputation was the Toyota Yaris or another Corolla, the Honda Civic, and for comparison, the Ford Focus.
We visited Toyota and Ford on Saturday and to varying degrees got the sterotypical car salesman treatment. The Yaris is quite a nice car, but as is expected, is an example of minimalist design and engineering. I have modest needs and requirements so was satisfied but not overly enchanted. The Focus made no real impression over the Yaris and the sales staff was quite annoying.
Sunday, we hit the local Honda dealer and looked at the 2006 Civic and took a quick test drive. Unlike our experience at the other dealers, the salesman was quite low key and caused us to feel no pressure. The way it came accross, he figured that if we were going to buy then good, but if not, nothing he could do would change that.
We looked and did see one that we would have gotten, but I still couldn’t get around the fact my Corolla was still working fine. If we get it now, then it will sure to be paid off when we need to replace the CR-V and if it is kept in good shape, should work out just nicely to be used as my daughter’s first car when she turns 16 in 7 years. Pro and con, pro and con.
After a few minutes, I finally decided that I could easly spend weeks and months deliberating and debating. Why bother?
My new black 2006 Civic is in the garage.
I added a plugin that displays an “updated today” banner if the content is new today. This post is really just to see if it works.
Of course, you can use my site as your home page and will easily know if something’s new, but why would you do something as silly as that.
If you want the plugin you can get it here.
Our two dogs have done a number on our back yard. I’ve fought off-and-on for years trying to keep the lawn in reasonable shape, but just couldn’t make it work. Combine that with the fact Becky has always wanted a waterfall we decided that it was worth investigating.
We decided to dive in, so-to-speak, and last week replaced a significant portion of our small yard with a waterfall and pond. It was installed/built by Exotic Aquatics who did a wonderful job (thanks, Brian). It turned out to be both larger and more impressive than I, at least, had imagined.
You can see a few pictures of the progress and the result on the gallery album. We’ll be going fish shopping this weekend as fish represent an important component of the whole ecosystem. Of course, my friend at work thinks I should just liberate a few from the gigantic koi pond at the Karl Strauss Brewery next to work but we’ll go the more honest route.
I’m sure there will be additional stories and pictures as this whole thing develops. I’ll keep you posted.