Yesterday I whipped up a quick metal tune, tried to put drums to it and felt so-so about how it sounded. Sometimes you’ve just gotta have the real thing when it comes to drums and there isn’t any way around it, and this song needed the real thing.
I remembered that Pud does good drums. I don’t know the guy personally, but I figured I’d take a stab and send the song to him anyway. So I e-mailed it to him.
He replied back and surprisingly said yes. He said it’ll take some time before he gets to it (which is fine) but my reaction was “Cool! Real drums!” If there’s anything he can do with it I’m sure it’ll come out fine.
I honestly think if all USA-based vending machines accepted 50¢ and $1 coins, the world would be a better place. Alas, the highest value accepted is 25¢.
The most convenient way to get quarters is in a 10-dollar roll. It’s getting that roll that’s a pain in the ass.
Here’s my short tale on that:
The best place to usually get a roll a quarters is at the supermarket. You go with cash in hand, march straight to the customer service desk and get your roll. Simple, right?
Not today.
I went to not one but two Publix supermarkets in search of a roll of quarters. Both times I was lied to. At the first one I was told “Sorry, we don’t have any quarters to spare.” The second one told me “We don’t have any quarters.” I’m not kidding. She actually said that.
I can understand it if a convenience store doesn’t have quarters because of the store’s small size. But at a Publix, there are at least 8 cash registers - including two more at the customer service desk. And they don’t have quarters. Yeah, sure. Right.
If you’re asking “Why didn’t you go to a bank?”, the banks are closed today because it’s Sunday.
Out of desperation I headed into a Walgreen’s. And they had my roll. I was happy. Walgreen’s once again kicks ass in all the right places.
I use quarters for two things; laundry and road tolls. It’s mostly laundry because my GPS routes me around toll roads. I’ve always loved that feature, but I digress.
I said all vending machines should be made to accept 50¢ and $1 coins and I stand by that.
As far as the $1 coins go, the ones we should be using are the Presidential Dollar Coin, introduced in 2007 (yes, this year.) They’re just the right size, will have good circulation and vending machines could be easily made to accept them.
Per the 50¢ a.k.a. half-dollar coins, unfortunately we don’t have anything ready for vending machines because those coins are just way too frickin’ big. No one carries them around because of their size. Something needs to be done to create a smaller half-dollar coin.
And I’ve got the perfect solution for that. We’ve got presidential dollar coins, why not vice president coins in a 50¢ flavor that are smaller and usable in vending machines? Makes perfect sense to me.
. . .
As an aside, I am one of the people who think pennies shouldn’t be used anymore.
I don’t know when this exactly happened, but according to MSN Direct an update occurred which fixed some of the MSN connectivity issues with Garmin GPS devices (mine happens to be a c580 which is one of them.) Part of the improvement is keeping the connection “alive” longer, so if the signal gets intermittent it “holds” it longer. That’s a good thing, trust me on that one.
So for the first time I tried Garmin’s Web Updater because evidently that’s the only web to get the update.
Side note: The updater now has a Mac OS X 10.4 (or greater) version. Some Mactards were bitching about Garmin’s lack of Mac support, so Garmin stepped up to the plate and appeased them with a Mac version. Hopefully now they’ll shaddup.
So anyway back to the updater thing.
Several updates were available for my c580 so I downloaded and installed them all. There were some language updates, a Bluetooth firmware update (I don’t use that but installed it anyway,) and of course the MSN Direct update.
Now here’s where the fun part comes in. If I didn’t know so much about StreetPilot updating I’d probably be scratching my head in confusion.
First:
The Bluetooth firmware update did not complete after being sent to the unit because the USB cable was plugged into it. The c580 goes into “USB mode” and stops whatever is being applied to it. So I powered it off, unplugged the USB and booted it again. Then the firmware update applied properly (it just started over again, no big deal.)
Second:
The MSN Direct update - even though sent to the unit already - didn’t complete upating until I plugged in the power cord (which also serves as the MSN antenna.) Then the update applied to it.
And that was it. All the updates applied like they were supposed to. The unit operates just fine.
I’m hoping that MSN Direct update works, because if the connectivity doesn’t improve I’m not going to bother renewing the service when the 12 months is up.
For the past several years I’ve been researching the age-old question: What’s better, Mac or PC?
I am happy to announce that a winner has been declared that once and for all says without a shadow of a doubt what the batter platform is. And operating system.
Before I announce the winner, here is how I came to my decision:
I evaluated all aspects of computer usage, from the casual off/on user to the hardcore use-it-everyday user. I examined all facets of what anyone would use a computer for. I also examined hardware specs, software specs, operating system capabilities and many other things.
I made a post recently on quitting smoking where I said I would be trying my method soon. If you want to read up on the steps, go here. And yes I invented the method myself.
I started step 1 yesterday. Step 1 isn’t the quitting part, it’s the part to prepare for the quitting.
Here are some things I found out already.
Marking every time you light up in a memo pad truly drives home the fact that you’re addicted. As I write this I’m on my 24th cigarette of the day (falling in from yesterday as it’s after midnight right now.) Sound bad? Not really. I thought I was smoking a lot more than that, but thankfully I’m not. For those interested in how many packs that is, 24 cigs is 1.2 packs (there are 20 cigs to a pack.)
What I do is mark the pad before I light up. This further reminds me that it’s bad. I see all those little marks and it makes me feel terrible knowing I smoked that much. But it’s a good thing to be reminded of how bad it really is as it will help me quit that much faster.
I feel a sense of accomplishment already by marking the pad like I’m supposed to. If I stay diligent and keep marking the pad I’m confident I’ll be able to kick the habit.
For many, Labor Day (which just past us) marks the end of summer.
Truth be told, I never really cared for summer. However since moving to Florida I have grown to like them a little more these days.
Ask a New Englander what his or her favorite season is and you will rarely if ever get the answer of “Summer.” Rather, the answer will be the season that’s just about to start, Fall.
Side note: No one I know says “Autumn.” It’s always Fall.
In New England, Fall is that all-too-short season where the weather is 100% perfect. You get about seven to eight weeks of weather that is not only makes it pretty outside but puts smiles on everyone’s faces.
Am I saying that there’s only seven out of fifty-two weeks where it’s nice outside up that way? No. There’s also the scant few weeks before the beginning of Spring where it has that “just right” feeling outside before the pollen swoops in and makes everyone’s car a nice shade of puke yellow. ;)
Even though I’ve lived in Florida for almost 1.4 years, my mind isn’t completely programmed to the weather climate just yet.
Example: It’s close to one o’clock in the morn’ as I write this. If I walk outside, my brain expects me to feel a cold breeze and see my breath in the night air.
That won’t happen. It’s 77° here right now. Where I used to live it’s 56°.
I’m still not used to that. Two feelings happen when I encounter this. The first is a mild sense of confusion, the second a feeling of joy, as in “Hooray! I don’t need a coat!” And if there were a third feeling, it feels almost like I’m cheating - sorta/kinda like when you skip school as a teenager. Tough to describe, really.
. . .
For this September I have more living-in-FL experience compared to the last one. During this time of year is when I think most about New England. Recently I decided against doing the snowbird thing as a future consideration. It is easier and cheaper just to go up for a few days a year and not for a few months. That I can do. Moreover it’s what I can tolerate. I left that area for a reason. Several very good reasons, actually. You know that old saying “Nice place to visit, but wouldn’t want to live there”? That’s how I feel about the North. Great place to visit, but a whole load of suck-ass to live there.
Starting the 2nd week of September, I know my New Englander friends will be enjoying the next seven to eight weeks very much. Everything works right in the North during this time. Not a single one I know is sad that Summer is gone. This is happy-time for them. :D
As for me, I look forward to the sub-90 temps that will start happening soon.
Remember:
Perfect New England weather is when it’s 74° outside.
I’m writing this here for my personal reference just in case I ever had to do this shit again.
Situation: I wanted what’s called a “forced www” on all parts of this web site. Some say www is deprecated. I think those people are full of shit (else why would Google do it?)
So I added an .htaccess redirect in the public root of this domain. If I type “frostedside.com” in a browser, it auto-changes it to “www.frostedside.com” just like it’s supposed to.
My WordPress installation happens to reside in a subdirectory, blog.
Even with the .htaccess redirect, WordPress insists on not adding the www to the web address.
I scoured the internet looking for a solution to this, because no matter what I did, if I typed in “frostedside.com/blog”, no www would show up. Bleah.
I finally found a solution.
Don’t use an .htaccess file in the WordPress subdirectory at all. Put everything in your public root .htaccess instead.
This is what I have now:
# FORCE WWW RewriteEngine on RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^frostedside.com [NC] RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.frostedside.com/$1 [L,R=301]
Today Pop had someone come over to crawl under the car to note all the spots that need work.
The news was good.
First, the frame had no rot. The guy I bought the car from originally said there was no rot, but now I have confirmation that none exists. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I heard that news.
Second, the engine is actually in fairly decent shape. Lots o’ miles, but work-able.
Third, a hole was discovered in the floorboards of the rear passenger section. Fortunately it was small. New metal placed in that spot should fix that up easily.
Fourth (which has nothing to do with my car,) there might actually be another ‘75 pace car less than 10 miles from Pop’s house. It’s not for sale, but the guy has it and never takes it out.
It’s the fourth part I’m going to speak of. :-)
I swear to God, pace cars love to hide. I have heard more than once from different people that they know of a guy.. who has the car.. and it’s sitting in a garage doing nothing.. with the owner stating he’ll “fix it up someday.”
Of course, that someday never happens.
Believe me when I say I totally understand the frustration of knowing that kind of information. A guy has the car, and it sits. And sits. And sits. And does nothing. The owner has it and refuses to part with it even though it’s never driven. It sits, rusts and serves to do nothing but be a 4000-lb. paperweight.
Aside from myself, I only know of a few people (that I can count on one hand by the way) that are actually fixing and/or restoring the car so it can be driven.
If you are fortunate enough to have a ‘75 Free Spirit car, FIX IT. In all honesty it is NOT that hard to do. It’s a standard “G” body GM vehicle from 1975, so it’s not impossible to find parts for her. I mean, c’mon.. if you can’t fix it, sell it to someone who will. Is that too much to ask?
I got a name for guys who sit on cars like this and never do anything with them: Asshole.
Cars are built for one purpose: To be driven. A car is not like a mint condition Mickey Mantle baseball trading card whereas an item like that doesn’t do anything. A car is a machine. If you have one of these rare Buicks where all it does is sit in your garage doing nothing - you’re an asshole. Even the guys who have pristine condition Rivieras will take their cars out at least two or three times a year. That may not be much, but at least it’s driven. The asshole never takes his car out. It sits in the garage and does nothing. If it’s broke, it never gets fixed. That’s the asshole’s modus operandi. To assholes who do this - fuck you. Seriously. Fuck you.
Don’t be an asshole. Like I said, fix your car or sell it to someone who will.
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