Tales From The Ipe!

I read something somewhere that August was considered the doldrums.  Whover “they” are, they are correct.  The summer is about over, there isn’t much going on, it’s hot outside. I can feel it.  I think I’m slightly burned out, eight months into the year.  I believe it’s the fact that I’ve taken little of my alloted vacation time this year.  I was supposed to take two weeks off in March/April after Lily’s birth, but I ended up taking only two days.  I’ve taken maybe 3-4 max this year, but nothing contiguous.  I think that’s the problem.  I’ve got a little under 15 days left to take this year.  I’m already taking two days in August, but maybe I should take a few more.  Maybe some more in September as well.  I gotta think about it.

This weekend was fairly quiet and uneventful (see previous paragraph.)  We had dinner with Num’s parents at Chutney Manor over in South Brunswick.  A little upscale, and the food was excellent.  I got the chicken vindaloo and saag paneer.  Oh man, it was good, and I tried not to stuff myself.  Tried.

Oh, I did forget the “big news.”  My Norelco beard/mustache trimmer (purchased September 2003 — ha, I still remember the wild goose chase through Essex county that mid-Sept night) stopped working after five years.  Go figure.  My beard has been getting bushier, and no one locally sells the replacement I want — the Norelco T980.  I ordered it from Amazon.com, but it won’t be here for a few more days.  Meanwhile, did I mention the beard was getting bushier?  I made an executive decision, and shaved it all off Friday morning.

I'm 21 again

I was instanteously transformed into Joel, circa 1997.  I figure I only have a few days until my chin returns to its original erogenous self.  My wife hates it, but the beard will return.

Speaking of Amazon.com, it’s definitely been my favorite store for years.  I lost my phone holster and all my cell phone wall chargers, so I ordered new ones through their merchant program.  I ordered a replacement holster for $8, and a new wall charger for $4.  The original holster cost me $30 at the AT&T store back in January.  Sucks that I lost it, but awesome that I don’t have to spend gobs of money to replace it.

The past few months, I’ve gone over my allotted 450 cell phone minutes. Way over.  Ridiculously over.  Consecutive months.  I’ve actually even used up my rollover minutes too, and it’s frustrating. I’m currently on the 450 minutes plan from AT&T, with rollover, and the Blackberry data plan.  When I was with Verizon Wireless, 400 mins was more than adequate, as most of my family and friends were on Verizon Wireless too (I benefited from all the free in-network calling.)

Now, everyone is costing me every time they call me.  Did you ever get that feeling I was rushing you off the phone?  It’s because I was watching my call timer, fuming, and wondering when you would shut up about whether to get a margarita or a daiquiri while you were at the swim-up bar.  I checked my recent bill, and I’m maybe $30 over what should be my regular monthly bill amount.  Enough, I say.  I upgraded to the 900 minutes plan for another $15.

You know what?  It’s worth it.  By the time I finish talking to my parents, my wife, my friends, my coworkers, my boss, I’ve eaten up my minutes with 2 weeks left in the bill cycle.  Let’s see how it goes.  If I change my mind, I’ll drop the rate plan down.

On another note, I do like how quickly I qualify for phone upgrades.  According to AT&T, I’m eligible for a new phone on Feb 13 2009.  According to the Boy Genius Report, the AT&T roadmap has been leaked, and there are a number of cool new phones coming out for their network. Personally, I’ve got my eye on the Blackberry Bold.

When I’m watching movies, I’m a fanatic regarding watching it in the best picture possible, with the best sound possible.  I absolutely enjoy having a 6.1 surround sound system at home, which I use to immerse myself in a movie.  It’s that whole “in the movie” experience I’m looking for.  Kinda explains why I want the widescreen tv so bad, doesn’t it?

Anyway, I’ve been to homes where the surround sound speakers have been misplaced. Wait, not just “misplaced.”  Placed in such an incorrect configuration, I should have called the police.  Yes, that much of a crime.  For those of you who are clueless, here’s a 27 minute video from CNet on proper speaker placement.  It’s a video interview with Dolby’s “wizards” explaining three key tips to getting the best multichannel audio out of your home theater. Exciting, so break out the popcorn.

Who knew maintaining an aquarium would be so much hard work?  From what I knew of keeping fish, the hard work was primarily cleaning the fish tank.  Did you know about constantly checking the pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels? That some fish aren’t compatible with other fish, or varying temperatures?  That you can lose lots of fish, but grow a lot of algae?  That you need snails and other bottom-feeders to clean the algae?

Thank goodness I wised up and opted to learn my skills with cheap freshwater fish.  I’m also lucky that my friend Doug has helped me with initial set up, populating with fish from his menagerie, and with a multitude of advice.  Unfortunately, I lost 7 of the 8 fish he gave me originally, leaving only “Lucky” the sole occupant of the Aquarium of Death.

It has taken a few weeks, but the aquarium appears to have completed “cycling”, and the new 10 fish that Doug donated to me have survived since last weekend.  That’s right — they are still alive.  This weekend, I picked up two algae-eating Plecostomus fish (Josh named them Nemo and Dory, naturally), some live plants, a tank cleaner, and actual aquarium decoration (oooh, ancient Greek ruins!)

Aquarium decoration

The good news is that after cleaning out the food detritus and fish poop, and replacing half the water on Sunday, the tank is testing healthy.  Both nitrite and ammonia levels are low, which wasn’t the case a few weeks ago.  Right now, we are the proud owners of 10 guppies, a mollie, those Plecostomus, and a catfish I named Rufus.  I love watching the fish eat, play ball, and practice their ju-jit-su, and I’m looking forward to adding more fish to the family.

I should be loading the dishwasher, but I thought I’d waste time for a few minutes…..

I was watching a PBS special recently called Pioneers of Television. Each episode features the beginnings of various genres (sitcom, variety, etc), with the interviews and archival clips of TV’s founding celebrities. I recently watched the one about sitcoms, featuring the history of folks such as Jackie Gleason, Lucille Ball, and Danny Thomas.  I grew up watching I Love Lucy as a child.  I remember watching every summer afternoon at 1pm, and how much I loved the show.  I thought I’d take a moment to share a list of my all-time favorite comedians, in no particular order:

• Lucille Ball
• Jack Benny
• Bud Abbott & Lou Costello (they’ll always go together)
• Jackie Gleason
• Carol Burnett
• Robin Williams (sadly, the coked-up version)
• Eddie Murphy (original, during his Eddie Murphy Raw days.)
• John Belushi
• Bob Hope
• Chris Rock
• Dave Chappelle
• George Carlin

The creativity of some people is amazing.  What motivates someone to create a life-size Tumbler from the new Batman movies?  Or a seven-foot tall PC case in the form of Optimus Prime?  Are these people amazing, nuts, or just amazingly nuts?  Here are more cool PC case mods that people have spent way too much time in their rooms working on, courtesy of Engadget.

A real Tumbler

Optimus Prime PC Case mod

Tim McGraw
“My Next Thirty Years”

I think I’ll take a moment, celebrate my age
The ending of an era and the turning of a page
Now its time to focus in on where I go from here
Lord have mercy on my next thirty years

Hey my next thirty years I’m gonna have some fun
Try to forget about all the crazy things I’ve done
Maybe now I’ve conquered all my adolescent fears
And I’ll do it better in my next thirty years

My next thirty years I’m gonna settle all the scores
Cry a little less, laugh a little more
Find a world of happiness without the hate and fear
Figure out just what I’m doing here
In my next thirty years

Oh my next thirty years, I’m gonna watch my weight
Eat a few more salads and not stay up so late
Drink a little lemonade and not so many beers
Maybe I’ll remember my next thirty years

My next thirty years will be the best years of my life
Raise a little family and hang out with my wife
Spend precious moments with the ones that I hold dear
Make up for lost time here, in my next thirty years
In my next thirty years

Ain’t it the truth? 

Study Finds Young People Remain Apathetic About Office Politics

We finally got around to watching Deja Vu starring Denzel Washington this week.  It’s a crime drama that turns out later to be a sci-fi movie.  Reminds me of Frequency in a way — how they trick the audience into watching a sci-fi movie.  Funny that this movie, like Frequency, also stars James Caviezel. The movie was alright, but it borrowed heavily from previous time-travel themes — namely Terminator franchise, Back to the Future Part 2, Time Cop, The Time Machine (the version from 2002), just to name a few.

Deja Vu (2006)

Nums and I finally got to watch The Dark Knight. I thought it was a very good movie, an excellent superhero movie, and good acting from a cast of actors and actresses. It also helped that it was very well made, and contained plenty of great action sequences. I don’t think it was the greatest movie of all time, as some people are opining. Ledger was very good with his portrayal of the maniacal Joker, but not astounding. A great summer blockbuster to watch on the big screen.

The Dark Knight (2008)

No, the voice Bale used as Batman didn’t bother me too much, as it has some people.  You smirk a little, but it’s okay.  I would still say that, hands down, Kevin Conroy from Batman: The Animated Series (premiered in 1992) my favorite portrayal of Batman.  Heck, the entire series was great.  One day, I will own the complete collection. The art direction, music, and mood were fantastic.  Bruce Wayne suave, and Batman moved and fought with smoothness and style.  I remember reading once how the animators put effort even into how his cape would move.  A quality show.