| Long Time No Update |
[Oct. 24th, 2009|05:22 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | arrivals, brakes, car, comics, daxcon, deathset, diy, gaslight anthem, heavy ink, hl2, kia, l4d, l4d2, lucero, minneapolis, music, off with their heads, orange box, portal, screeching weasel, sick, solidworks, sportage, tegan and sara, video games, wizard of oz, work, xbox | ] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | 60131 | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  sick | ] |
Well, I haven't updated in a month or so. Mostly, because the weather has gotten cold and I stopped going out.
To make up for the shit weather and lack of rent, I splurged on video games. I got me an Xbox 360:
I got a pretty decent deal on it. Just after MS dropped their prices on the system, they put up a $50 rebate. Also, the place I got it from was giving out $50 gift cards. It's an expensive hobby, though. With the Xbox, I got The Orange Box (HL2, ep1, ep2, TF2, and Portal) and a battery pack, which took up most of the $50 gift card. I then avoided buying a $100 wireless adapter by following super-technical instructions on how to turn my old router into an antenna. A few days later I picked up L4D to play with some friends (another $30) and bought the new map ($7). I still want to get another controller (at least $30), TMNT: Turtles in Time, and Streets of Rage 2. Plus, L4D2 is coming out shortly ($60 with a $10 gift card if I preorder). Youch. If you're on Xbox Live, hit me up at SrWapo.
A couple weeks after getting the Xbox, I went to a show with Dan and his friend Uma. It was the Alkaline Trio show at The Congress that was part of Riot Fest. We saw The Arrivals open (good as always), Pegboy (okay), and Screeching Weasel (a total blast that left my body sore for days). We conveniently left before the Trio came on. Instead, we went to a tiny bar that Pegboy was playing with Off With Their Heads. We got early enough to avoid cover, heard an awesome set by Off With Their Heads (and grabbed a CD), and left before seeing Pegboy a second time. We headed to the awesome Cobra Lounge for a free Teenage Bottlerocket show, but there were a lot of cops outside and we went home instead.
Between my free Xbox Live trial coming to an end and listening to tons of good music, I broke down and got an Amazon and an InterPunk order. Music wise, I picked up another Off With Their Heads CD and older Gaslight Anthem and Lucero albums. I was also recently given a Deathset album and heard Tegan and Sara's new album. All in all, good music. Deathset took me a couple listens to get into but it's deceptively complex and full of energy. The new Tegan and Sara album contains a lot more pop than I was expecting, but it's also fun. Everything else is just plain good ol' rock and roll.
I also got around to picking up Wonderful Wizard of Oz, with Skottie Young's awesome artwork:
It was pretty good, but I already more-or-less know the story from the famous movie (the comic is based on the original books, so it's a bit different). However, I'm really excited to read the next volumes. I've always wanted to read the Oz books, but never found the time. This is my chance.
Right around the time I got my Amazon order in (Monday), Dad and I tackled the rear brakes on his Kia Sportage:
It was a fairly easy job, but it took a couple trips to get the rotors turned and we had to leave the car up on jack stands overnight. We still need to do the fronts, but the pads still have some life left. I just hope they last the winter so we don't have to do it in the cold. I also changed the oil on the Galant a week before this. I wish I was fast and good enough to actually get money for working on cars, but I guess I have to settle with spending less money than hiring a mechanic.
We took on the brake job because the weather turned warm for a few days. The next morning I woke up with a sore throat. I've been under the weather since then, mostly with a sore throat, a slight runny nose, and the occasional cough. The worst has been sitting at home during the awesome weather.
On Wednesday, I took my first class in SolidWorks. That day was a total waste of time as we learned absolutely nothing involving how the program itself works. I feel it's going to be a really long class for me because a lot of the class will focus on proper 3D modeling techniques, which I am more-or-less an expert in. I just need to know the program interface.
Since I last updated, I got a call from Daxcon about a possible position in Minneapolis, which I slowly got excited about. This week, though, I found out that Daxcon didn't get the contract. So, back to having no job prospects on the horizon. Joy!
I've been rereading books and comics all summer and have just about run out. I think I'm going to renew my old (and very long expired) library card on Monday. I have a couple things I'm going to check out first, but recommendations are always welcome.
Besides that, I've been reading my "weekly" comics that I've been ordering through Heavy Ink. They're a pretty good company now that I have everything setup. I pay shipping, but the way I have it set up, I'm still paying less than at Acme. Unfortunately, I need at least four comics before they ship and the order doesn't come in until Tuesday or Wednesday the week after, so I'm two to three weeks behind. I can speed things up, but that'd cost me more money. They also make buying comics too easy and I've ended up with some things I wouldn't have otherwise. |
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