August: In Review

Today was a big day: The end of August, the first of three days off, and some other things that I'll be talking about later.... Since this is my month in review post, I'll save some of the things that happened today for later. Guess you'll just have to keep reading! Anyway, we're looking at about two more weeks until I find out my fate at Chrysler. Every part of me feels like after September 15th I'll be a full time employee, but a lot can happen in two weeks.

The (second) best part of this month by far was being able to spend a little time with my sister Kathie and her son Noah. They were only here a couple weeks, and I didn't really see them for long, but with them being so far away, I really cherish the small amount of time we do spend together. Some other events this month:

• I got the dreaded Red Ring of Death
• The mower met an untimely demise
• My truck broke down and was then repaired
• I got some nice photos on a short walk

All in all, it was a pretty busy month. I think we'll look back at this month as a big one.... Here's my favorites for the month:

Minor Surgury

Today I received three packages from my UPS guy. One contained an DVI to HDMI cable that I will use to connect my Mac to my TV, one was my replaced DS Lite, and the last one held the 2 GB of memory I bought for Steph's new laptop. I must admit, I was a little leery of trying to upgrade a laptop. I've done it many time with my desktops, but laptop architecture is totally new to me, and I really didn't want to screw it up. My fears were completely pointless. It literally took me 5 minutes. Open the panel, remove the old memory, install the new, close the panel. Easy as that! I love how computers are designed now to be easily upgraded by even the lowliest Luddites out there.

Different Views

It's fun to play around. On those ordinary, average days that I complain about so much in relation to this blog, it's a lot of fun to try and take everyday objects and shoot them in odd ways. We bought this plant a few weeks back, and I was looking at it tonight, trying to see how I can make it interesting in a photograph. What I eventually decided was to set the camera inside the pot looking up. It really makes these relatively small trees look enormously tall. It's a nice technique that can be used in a lot of different ways to make boring shots (or boring days) interesting.

Pooped

I only think it's fair that since Bear is the only of our cats that has not been featured on the blog, he should at least get on there once. It's fitting, since how he looks is how I feel today. Some days when I wake, it feels as if I hadn't slept at all. Today (and yesterday for that matter) was one of those days.

When we bought this couch a few months back, it was as if it was made for these guys. The back cushions are really puffy, and they can sink in and make little nests for themselves. Bear, since he's a little on the big side, tends to hang off a bit.

Bioshock

If you're not a gamer, look away now. Move along, nothing to see here. There's your warning, don't say I didn't give you one.

I think I may have finished one of the greatest games ever. No exaggeration. I've played a lot of games in the last 20 years, so I think that's saying a lot. the game in question is called Bioshock, and it may just be one the most influential games of this generation. Set in the underwater city of Rapture, the game begins with one of the greatest intros since Half-Life, thrusts you right into the action, and never lets up. Everything about this game is nearly perfect. The voice acting, the story, graphics, pacing; all flawlessly executed and totally immersive. This is as close to art as a video game will ever get. I'm not much of a reviewer, so I'll keep it brief by saying if you own a 360 (or a decent PC) there's no reason that you shouldn't be buying this game. If you don't own a 360, this is a damn good reason to go get one. Here's a far better review than I could ever write if you're interested.

Flooded

Last night,on the way home, I drove through a small town called Kirkland. Kirkland is about 10 miles to the west of us, and has a population of roughly 1,500 people. The reason I mention it, is because these photos are from that town. Like most of the Midwest, they've been hit hard by storms and the resulting flooding has been pretty bad. Keep in mind these photos are from today and is hasn't rained in two days. The water has receded somewhat, and the level is still high. From what I can see, there hasn't been any significant property damage, but there are some streets that are impassable. I found this out passing through at around midnight last night. If I hadn't seen someone up ahead in my lane, I likely would not have seen the water until it was too late, plowing into it at 60 mph. The signs were not out far enough to warn you in time. Today they have that street entirely closed. Here's a couple more shots: The light was pretty low when I took these, so they're not the greatest quality, but I think they get the point across.

Beautiful Day

What a gorgeous day. The long, gray days have gone and today the sky was bright and blue. The past week I've driven past these wildflowers every day, and every day I've told myself that I needed to come and shoot them. Since the days have been so gray and colorless, I was happy to see this amazing blue sky today. The sun and the blue sky really make this shot.

Favorite Shots #14: Whoah!!

This is a shot I took while visiting California in July. I haven't shown this to anyone yet, because at the time, this was a pretty traumatic experience for my sister Kathie and little Noah. The next wave coming in behind him nearly went over his head, and the surf actually began to pull him deeper down the coast. At the time it was pretty scary, but I really love this shot. The look of surprise on his face is just priceless. I felt a little ashamed because by the time I realized he was in trouble, I had snapped a couple pictures already. I really should have been in the water helping my pregnant sister, but it happened so quickly, I was taken completely off guard. He was obviously alright, and now I feel enough time has passed for me to show this to Kathie without her freaking out again. Love ya sis!

De-Bogging

From the minute I turned on Steph's new computer, it reminded me fully why I chose to make the switch to Mac. Don't get me wrong, considering what we paid for it, it's a perfectly usable computer. It needs a memory upgrade to run Vista effectively, but we've already ordered 2 GB for it, and that should make a huge difference. It just really irritates me how PC manufacturers find it necessary to bloat your system with a bunch of terrible software that you will never even consider using. I spent nearly an hour uninstalling HP software, trial versions of things I've never even heard of, toolbars for Internet Explorer that are totally unnecessary, and desktop shortcuts to web pages I'm afraid to visit. I guess it's the money from these companies that make computers so cheap, but it still irritates me to no end. It's unfortunate that most tech people suggest the first thing you do when you buy a new computer is format the hard drive and do a clean install of Windows. Since I've removed all this bloat-ware, the system runs about twice as fast as it did out of the box. Thanks HP.

Overgrown

Sometimes I let things go too long. Between the breakdown of our mower last week and the almost daily rain we've received since then, the yard ha become an overgrown mess. Thankfully, we have a backup mower, but it doesn't help much if it rains every day. This is probably the wettest August I can remember in a long time. There's flooding everywhere. Most years, the late summer usually means no more mowing. The grass burns up, and I get a reprieve from a ton of yardwork. Not this year.

Switching Back? Not quite....

No, I didn't already lose faith in my Mac and chuck it out the window. I did, however, buy this PC laptop this afternoon. Not for me, but for Stephanie! I've been talking to her for a while about getting her own system, and thanks to a pretty good deal this week at CompUSA, we pulled the trigger. I initially wanted to get another Mac in the form of a MacBook, but the cheapest MacBook is nearly $1,000. Considering how infrequently she'll be using it and for what it will be used, a more affordable PC was the way to go. Since it's running Vista, we'll have to upgrade the RAM, but other than that it was a pretty good deal! After rebates, it was $399. $400 for a laptop is pretty affordable.

Railroad, Rust, and Strays

Days like today, when I'm at a loss for something to write about and shoot, it's sometimes good to go out and just walk. It's amazing the things you see looking through the camera lens that you would never normally even look at. Tonight I took a walk down the alley alongside our house, and was surprised by what I found. It's interesting little things like this that make living in a small, old town pretty interesting. It makes me wonder how long this box has been hanging on that telephone pole. When was it put there? When was the last time it was opened? Was is its purpose? Something like this I wouldn't normally give a second glance, but looking through the lens can make it interesting. Here's a couple more:

Diverging Tastes

When it comes to food, Steph and I are really different. I think this photo illustrates that so well, along with the uneasy look on Steph's face as I'm seperating the meat. Since I work 3 out of 4 Saturdays a month, we have been buying groceries for two weeks instead of one. Being a vegetarian, Steph will buy large amounts of veggies and cut them up for the week. Not being a vegetarian, I will ofter do the same with meat, buying in bulk and freezing for later use. Since we eat at completely different times, it works out nicely. I can cook my brats and steaks, Steph can cook her tofu and hummus. Mmmmm..... hummus.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Steph and I finaly got the chance to go to the movies tonight to see Harry Potter. We're both really big fans of the books, and we also enjoy what they've done with the film adaptations. Unlike the last movie, I really felt this time the pacing was far better. In the last movie, The Goblet of Fire, I really thought it was so rushed, that the entire movie went by in a flash. This time it seemed they hit all the important points, and there was a lot of subtlety there that those of us who read the book could really pick up on. Ever notice how Ginny looked at Cho Chang whenever they were in the same scene? Stuff like that, while they didn't spend time on in the films, is really helped by these subtle things. I also thought the magical battles were amazing. Up to this point, you really didn't see anything like that in the other films. This time, we had actual adult wizards battling, and the results were spectacular. Needless to say, we both enjoyed it very much. Great movie!

Back to New York / Crazy Penguin Thoughts

Here we go again. My DS Lite is once again making the trip to the big apple for repairs. The left hinge has cracked again, and I really don't know why. I haven't dropped it, and I treat my hardware well, but these things just seem to be defective. The customer service rep assured me that this is an isoltaed problem, abd they may send me a new system. I guess we'll see in a few weeks when I get it back.

I wanted to take a sec to write about Crazy Penguins. This place is awesome. 20 networked Xbox 360s, 2 networked PS3s, 3 Wiis, 20 networked PCs, giant projection screens for games like DDR and Guitar Hero, and a room specifically for retro systems like NES, SNES, and N64. This place really is a gamers paradise. The 360s dominate at this place, and the setup is awesome. A large room with 16 of the 360s, 20" LCDs on the walls for each system, and a comfy chair with surround sound built in and rumble in the chair as well. They have tons of games for all the systems, and at roughly $3 an hour, or $15 for an entire day pass, you can't complain about the price. I'm seriously considering trying to gather a large group to go there together and just spend an entire night there (they're open until 2am!). If anyone's interested, send me an email, and let me know if you could get any of your friends to go too. It really is an awesome place.

Crazy Penguin

Tonight before work, I'm meeting Cory and Steve (a guy I work with) at a place called Crazy Penguins. Crazy Penguins is a business in Cherry Valley that can only be described as a gamer's paradise. Not only do they have a number of computers networked for gaming, they also have Xbox 360s networked, Playstation 3s networked, and they even have pool tables! I've really been wanting to check this place out for a while, but I haven't had the chance until today. The majority of places like this really have a hard time staying open. It's really difficult to make money renting out something that everyone has in their home already (computer). However, I think that Crazy Penguins has one thing unique going for it- the networked consoles. No other place I've ever been has made an attempt to have multiple gaming systems networked together in one place. That's something you don't have at home. Granted, you can play games online from your home, but there's something uniquely enjoyable about sitting in a room with a bunch of friends, playing together. I would love to get a group of 8 or so people into this place to play Xbox for a night. Anyone interested?

Third Shift Annoyance #7: Never Enough Sleep

I've had some serious difficulty sleeping lately. Goung to sleep hasn't ben a problem, staying asleep has been. I find every day that at some point during sleep I have got out of bed and done... something. Today, when I woke up, I was dressed in the shorts and tee I usually put on when I get up. Most of the time, I usually go downstairs or just stand in the bedroom, trying to figure out if I'm supposed to be awake or not. It's pretty frustrating at times, but most days it just makes me feel like I didn't get a lot of sleep. I know this just comes with the territory working this shift, but it sure is annoying.

Trying New Things

When I first started 3rd shift, I had real difficulty getting to sleep with light streaming in through the windows. I solved that problem by buying a sleep mask to help me go to sleep. It worked quite well, but unfortunately it was so poorly made, it has already fallen apart. For some reason, when I originally went looking for these things, I didn't even check Amazon. This time, however, when looking to replace this bad one, Amazon's selection blew me away. I ordered two different masks, and I just received the second today. These thing may look goofy, but believe me, they work. Now if I could just stay asleep....

Amazing Video

I saw this video this morning and I had to share it with you all.


"I'll never in my life be as good at anything as I am at killing people"

I have three brothers in the military, and this brought tears to my eyes. Amazing video.

Oily Mess

Well, it looks like we've lost our mower. Today, while Steph was cutting the grass, the mower started spewing oil everywhere and smoking terribly. It looks as if there may be some major blowout of a seal or gasket, but I'm certainly no mechanic. I'll likely take it to a small engine repair place, but since we really didn't pay very much money for it, I don't know if it would be economical to have it repaired. It may be cheaper to buy a new one.

Favorite Shots #13: Illustrator Work

A couple years ago, I took some graphic arts courses at a local community college, Rock Valley College. Mostly I did this to improve my photography, but I had hoped eventually I'd be able to earn an associates degree in their graphic art program. Since I've changed jobs, I've been unable to continue classes there, but I hope eventually I'll be able to go back.

One of the classes I took was an Into to Abobe Illustrator. I really enjoyed the class, and the final project was to re-create a photograph in Illustrator. The photo I chose I took while Steph and I were in Vegas, and it's from the New York New York Hotel. If you've never seen it before, it's a hodge-podge structure, seemingly assembled from fragments of the New York cityscape. It's pretty tacky.... Anyway, I chose the above shot as my subject, and here's what I ended up with:The drawing is on the right side. I know this is far from professional quality, but it literally took me days of work, and I was pretty happy with the results.

R.I.P.

This P.O.S is R.I.P. I can't even get it to turn on anymore. For some reason, the dock will no longer even charge the so called "rechargeable" battery. I've been wanting to get something more updated and portable for some time, so this may be a blessing in disguise. I really don't want to lug my SLR around wherever I go, so something that can slip into my pocket would be ideal. Any suggestions?

Repaired

I got my truck back today! 36 hours and $81 later, I have comfort in knowing my truck won't suddenly die while traveling 70 mph down the highway. The mechanic connected it to their diagnostic computer, and it seems the only problem was some very corroded battery cables. It's a relief to know that's it's something so simple. With electrical problems, it can be anything from a random sensor to a complete computer failure. We're talking big bucks most of the time. I was really fortunate is wasn't a more serious problem.

Breakdown

My truck died today. Well, maybe "died" isn't the right word. I'm getting it fixed, and there's pretty much no fixing death. Okay, my truck crapped out today.

I decided after work that I'd go into Rockford to get an oil change and have a leaky tire patched. I also really needed new shoes for work, so after the maintence was completed, I headed over to Kohl's. After leaving the store, my truck wouldn't start. Not only would it not start, there was no power. At all. Everything was dark. No headlights, no interior lights, no starter, nada. At this point, it was about 10:00, and I was incredibly tired. Somehow I managed to get it started again, so I drove it to a nearby mechanic. As soon as I got it there it died again. Long story short, it's now sitting in Rockford, waiting on repair. I'm hoping that it's nothing major and it won't cost much to fix. After dumping around $2,000 into it in the last year, I'm really ready to move on to something new.

Devil Cat

Punkin, who we appropriately call "Punk" for short, has a very unique... personality. He likes to play, and he plays rough. It's not uncommon to see him chasing another cat through the house, tackling him when he catches up, or knocking random things off of tables. When we saw this collar while visiting a pet store in San Luis Obispo, CA, we knew immediately we had to buy it. It's soooo fitting.

Lost and Found, Soaking Wet

I had a hell of a morning. First off, in case you're not from around here, the northern Illinois area was hit really hards early this morning by some massive thunderstorms, which resulted in terrible flooding all over Rockford and the surrounding cities. My home town, which is to the South, wasn't hit nearly as hard. The town I work in, however, was nailed.

At about 3:00am, the Chrysler plant, which the company just spent about $400 million to refurbish, was leaking water all inside through the roof. The assembly area was completely shut down at about 3:30, and I have no idea what time they started up again. As a result, we were sent home around 5:15. I left the gate, ran to my truck, and drove home. As I got out of my truck at home, I realized that my wallet was not in my pocket. My ID badge is in my wallet, so in order to even get out of the gates, I had to have it with me. I frantically began searching my truck, the ground outside the truck, and in every pocket, but to no avail. I decided I must have dropped it in my haste to reach the shelter of my truck through the driving rain. Panicked, I called the security booth at work, asking them to drive to the lot and look for it. Unfortunately for me, their security vehicle was stuck in waist deep water. I decided I'd have drive the 20 minutes back to work, and look for myself. I got back to the plant, searched the lot, but found nothing.

At this point I really started to panic. I was going through my mental inventory of all my credit cards, debit cards, and personal info that I'd have to try to protect, preparing to make the appropriate calls. I was going to take the back roads home instead of the highway, but was blocked almost immediately by some fast moving water across the road. I turned around, and decided I'd call security and leave them my phone number hoping that someone actually would return my wallet. Lo and behold, someone had just turned in a brown wallet. It was mine! I raced to the security shack and retrieved my soaked, sodden wallet. It was completely destroyed, but everything was there, including all my cards and the $9 in cash.

The end result of all this was obviously happy, but since I had to go all the way back to work, I then got stuck in a major traffic jam leaving the plant. It took me well over an hour to get home. I don't know who it was that returned my wallet, but I'll be eternally grateful. This could've been a disaster.

Installation

Well, I've finished using Boot Camp to install Windows XP on my Mac, and everything is working wonderfully. Boot Camp creates a separate partition on the hard drive, since Mac OSX and Windows don't get along well together. I created a 5GB partition, and installed Windows without a hitch. I've been installing the games I want running on the external 120GB hard drive I bought, and they're running like they're right on the internal drive: Absolutely beautifully. I must admit, after running the Mac OS for the last few months, it feels a little odd going back to Windows. I guess I'll get used to it. Now I have these stacks of PC games I'm able to play again!

You Got XP in my Mac!

Well, I decided to start the process of installing Windows XP on my Mac. Thanks to the new Intel processors standard in all Macintosh computers, it can now run Windows software like any other PC. Apple provides this great software called Boot Camp that makes it really simple to set up a seperate Windows partition and burns a cd for the drivers for all the hardware. I get it up and running now, so with my newly purchased 120 GB external, I should have plenty of room for multiple games for the upcoming LAN parties!

Cat Bills

We love our animals dearly, but those vet bills can be killer. We had to take Chloe and Bear to the vet today for some nagging heath issues they've been having. They're both 10 years old, and their health is likely deteriorating, so these things should be expected, right? After it was all said and done, a 20 minute doctor visit for the two cats with meds came to about $170. Think that's a lot, right? Well, the last time we took multiple cats up there, and Chloe had to have her teeth cleaned, it was over $400. Like I said, we love them to death, but that's a kicker.

Family Guy A-Ha!

My brother-in-law sent this to me in response to my A-Ha comment, and I thought I'd share. :)

Red Ring of Death

Well, this is what it looks like when your Xbox 360 has a massive hardware failure. I began having problems about 4 days ago, when the system just randomly locked up during a play session. I thought nothing of it, as this had happened before a couple times. I reset the system and continued playing. this happened repeatedly for about three days, then on the fourth, the system locked up every time I started playing, then finally bricked out completely. The warranty Microsoft provides with the system protects it against this particular problem for three years, but fortunately, I had the foresight to buy the replacement plan from Best Buy when I bought the system. I'll be able to take this brick into any store and have it replaced free of charge for up to two years. I'll be taking it in tonight, thank you.

*Edit*
I just wanted to recount my experience returning my defective system to Best Buy. Here's what I wrote on the Short Attention Gamer message board:

I've heard and read so many horror stories about Best Buy's customer service, problems returning items under the replacement plan, and general problems returning Xbox 360s, that I really expected a battle walking into the store tonight to return my defective system. What I received instead was one of the easiest, most painless return trips I've ever made for any consumer electronics. The only bad part was waiting in line, holding that heavy box.

The Geek Squad tech briefly took a look inside the box, asked me what was wrong with it, then completely threw me a curve when he asked me if I wanted to keep my original hard drive! I thought for sure that I was going to be in for a major fight to keep that hard drive. I've read all over the internet and even on these boards that more often than not, they will not allow you to swap drives. I went out onto the store floor, grabbed a new system, took it to the customer service counter, then replaced the new hard drive with my old one. Since I was still within Microsoft's warranty, my replacement plan now carries over to my new system with one more year of coverage, and since it's a new system, I'm also covered by Microsoft's 1yr/3yr warranty. I walked out of the store about 1/2 hour after I got there with a brand new Xbox, and a big smile on my face.

Overall, I really have to say how impressed I was with the experience. I really expected a fight of some sort walking into that store, but in the end I received a really great customer service experience, and the satisfaction in knowing that I made the right decision when I bought their replacement plan. The internet is inundated with horror stories from disgruntled Best Buy customers. It's refreshing to know that it isn't always going to be a gut wrenching experience capitalizing on something I paid for.

Laser Play

My Sisters Kathie and Amanda, nephew Noah, and my Dad stopped over for a bit tonight. We had dinner at the Sunrise Restuarant, then came back to the house for a little while, since my sister Kathie has never seen it, and they're leaving in a few days. I was a bit worried about keeping my 4 year old nehpew entertained, but thanks to the magic of a laser pointer and crazy cats, that was not a problem at all. He was really fascinated by the laser pointer, and really loved how the cats would chase it. It's so amazing to see something like that through the eyes of a four year od.

Playing Around

One of the coolest free apps that come bundled on the Mac is called Photobooth. I know I've talked about this and posted a pic before, but I was playing around with it again today and got this really cool looking picture out of it. It's so easy to play around with something like this and completely lose a half hour or more. I really like how dark it is. It seems very moody. the filter I applied is supposed to make it look hand drawn, and I think for the most part it does, but it also looks a little bit like an A-Ha video.

July: In Review

The summer is in full swing. The days are starting to get really hot, and it's days like today that I'm really grateful to be working 3rd shift. I feel sorry for those poor saps on first and second that suffer through the heat of the day in that place. It gets so incredibly hot in there, it's a wonder people don't drop from heat stroke. We're 7 months into the year, and at times it's shocking to me to realize how much time has passed and how long I've been doing this. It really hits home when I look at my Photo a Day album on my Flickr page, and see over 200 entries.

This was a great month for many reasons, but the best of this month was the time we were able to spend with my family from California. It really makes me sad to know that those time are few and far between, but at the same time, I really appreciate the time we are allowed together. It's so very difficult at times to have a family that's so fractured and separated by distance. It's great to have such a beautiful place to vacation, but I'd much rather have Kathie and her family closer to us.

Here's my favorites for the month:

TV Trouble

About two years ago, on Black Friday, I bought a Phillips 51" rear projection hdtv. At the time, the $799 price was unbelievably cheap, our current television was starting to die, and I was ready to move to HD. The only problem is the television if far too large for our living space. Rear projection sets are really deep, and this particular set has a massive speaker on the bottom as well. To top it off, I have cobwebs forming on the inside of the screen, and I have no idea how to clean them off. Throw in some slight burn-in from viewing a 4:3 on the 16:9 screen, and it's probably about time to get something new. Right now I'm leaning toward the Sony Bravia line. They have a really nice 1080p 40" LCD that's roughly $1500, and it's a nice small set that wont hog up a bunch of real estate in our living room. It's unfortunate that the Phillips set didn't last too long, but at least we didn't pay too much for it. I think we're going to put into storage so when we are finally able to move, I can use it for my "gaming" television, hopefully to be located in a nice finished basement!

Compact Fluorescents

Steph and I have begun to make the slow transition to compact fluorescent light bulbs. There are so many reasons to make this switch, it just seemed the logical thing to do. These bulbs may be more expensive that standard tungsten bulbs, but they last far longer, they use less energy (saving money on the electric bill!), they're brighter, and they're better for the environment. In the long run, you will save money buying these for all your fixtures. The only downside I can see to these bulbs is that the light they cast is very "cold". Tungsten light bulbs have a nice warm light, while the light created by a compact fluorescent is much less inviting. Considering the benefits, this is a pretty small gripe. I guess I'll get used to it

Party!

Grandpa's 80th birthday party was today. Fortunately, I was able to get off work early last night, so I got plenty of sleep. Unfortunately, I still wasn't able to get to bed until nearly 7:30 am, so I felt like crap until about 10:30 pm, which is when Steph is ready for bed. Third shift is a pain in my ass.

We got to the campgrounds around 4:00, and spent some time visiting with family. It's a rare occasion to have my sister Kathie, myself, and my brother David all in the same place, so it really was a special day. My family is so fractured and separated by such a great distance, that it seems like ages since I've seen them last. We had a great catered dinner, followed by music from Bob, Singer of Songs, and then we sat around the campfire for about an hour. It was a really great time, and I'm really going to miss going out there.

Sweetcorn

We don't get a lot of really great fresh produce in Illinois, but one thing we do have is sweetcorn. This is really my favorite time of year, as all the local farmers are getting ready to harvest and sell their annual crop. We have a guy here in Monroe Center that sells it every year, and it's probably some of the best corn I've ever had. He sells if four a couple bucks a dozen, but he usually gives you about 15 ears of corn. Steph and I usually go there a couple times a year.

Campgrounds, Perfection

Steph and I took a drive to visit my Grandma and Grandpa Alexander at the Blackhawk Valley Campgrounds tonight. My sister Kathie and nephew Noah are also there, but Noah was already in bed by the time we got there. My Grandpa's birthday is tomorrow, and he'll be 80 years old! They're having a big bash out there on Saturday night, and that should be a lot of fun. My grandparents have been going there for 43 years, and this is their last year, so going out there is a little bittersweet. I really love it out there, and I'm going to miss it.

We were talking amongst ourselves, when we began talking about my photography. My sister and Stephanie contend that I've become a bit of an elitist when it comes to my photographs, and I think in a lot of ways they're right. I'm very critical when it comes to my photography, and in some ways, that's really good. I've improved greatly over the last couple of years, and I've been very pleased with the majority of my stuff. However, I don't really take "snapshots" anymore. I'm so anal about taking "The Perfect Photograph", that I'm beginning to realize I may be missing out on some things. When I'm reluctant to shoot because of conditions, poor lighting, etc, it's very possible that I'm losing some really good stuff. It's also very difficult for me to be casual about shooting. I guess it's something I need to work on.

Favorite Shots #12: The God-Mobile

I don't really know what I can say about this car. Steph and I saw this thing one night in Rockford running errands, and I just had to snap a picture. I respect everyone's right to believe in whatever they want, but I think any Christian will agree that this is waaaaay over the top, and frankly, a little frightening.

I'm about 1/2 way through the newest Harry Potter book, and I'm really enjoying it. It's a very good book, and the series overall had been fantastic. I really appreciate how JK Rowling has evolved and matured as a writer, and how the story has reflected that with its tone and subject matter. The story has gradually gotten darker and more adult as it ha progressed, and I really like that. I hope the ending is fitting to such a great series.

Cell Phone Tech, Where We're Headed

With all the problems we've been having with our internet lately, and the subsequent loss of Vonage service caused by these outages, I've been thinking a lot about canceling Vonage and going strictly with cell phones. This would be saving us about $30 a month, and we'd be reachable anywhere, but it's really nice to have a land line at home we can rely on. With all the hype surrounding the iPhone, it's really made me think more about cell phone tech and the direction this market is heading. I think that this industry, more than any other, is fueled so much by competition and consumer choices. With the iPhone's breakthroughs in features and ease of use, it should be very interesting to see what the competition comes out with in the next few years. I've been reading about a new line of phones with integrated wifi, that when you enter an area with an open wireless internet connection, the phone will automatically switch from using the cell technology to a VOIP system, similar to Vonage. This is great, because if you're at home using the phone, you don't use any of your minutes from your plan, essentially giving you unlimited minutes. I saw a commercial today for T-Mobile advertising one of these phones, and when my contract is up with US Cellular, I'll surely be researching this technology.

Alternatives

Well, I’m once again writing this is word, frustrated beyond belief with my ISP. Before we left for California, it seemed like Mediacom finally solved their problems with the continuous outages we were suffering from. We had about 5 or 6 days with no problems. Sice we got back on Friday, there hasn’t been a day where we haven’t had some sort out outage. It’s getting to the point now where I am seriously considering other options. I was always really happy with Directv, and would have no issues switching back to them for television service, but our options out here are far more limited for internet service. I don’t even consider dial-up an option, DSL isn’t available here yet, and I really don’t know how good T6 Broadband is. All I know for sure about T6 is that the connections speeds are variable, and you actually have to pay more for the higher speeds. I’m really reluctant to part with my super-fast cable speeds, but I really don’t want to pay for something and get nothing in return. I think that I’ll probably give them a month to get their act together before I start taking steps toward another carrier.

Back to Reality

Well, the dream is over. It's time to wake up and head back to work. It was so nice and refreshing to have so much time off and to be able to spend it in such an amazing place. I felt so good yesterday and today, but the reality of going back to work and back to the grind is starting to take root. It doesn't help that I have to go in early tonight and work 10 hours either. Well, I guess I have to look at the bright side. It's only about 5 more months until I have another week off! Woo-hoo!