Yay! Electronical Tidings!

When asked what I wanted for X-Mas this year, I requested Best Buy Gift Cards. With all the cards we collected, we bought a 20" monitor, the biggest screen we've ever had. It's so pretty!


Cause, you know - you need a 20" screen to surf the web. Yep.

Mushrooms with Petals?

These mushrooms - which I discovered growing outside my local Best Buy - are more interesting looking than your typical undead grey variety of fungus flower.


Perhaps they're a rare breed that grow only when nourished with the unrequited tears of true geeks pining for tech they can never afford?

I wonder if it would be healthy to have decorative mushrooms growing in pots in a home? Could you encourage deeper colors by introducing dyes to their water?

I Shit You Not (LOL)

This pic was taken in a central Florida Best Buy bathroom. Yes, really.

Home Movies of my cat. Yep.

We have a DVR. It has lots of room. You wouldn't believe how fast it fills up (unless you have one too).

There are many things that Cindy records on the DVR that never come out on DVD (like Prancing Wit Da Stars, or So You Tink Ya Kin Prance, or Prance Wars... you might be seeing a trend here) so these things must be saved for posterity. Just a single backup copy for home use in case California falls into the ocean, you understand.

We had a basic, no-frills DVD burner (a Panasonic DMR-ES15) that would allow us to create this one single backup copy for home use with no worries. Well, it died recently, and I went to Best Buy and picked up a snazzy new Sony DVD burner, oh so nice. The stylish, polished aluminum case! The gorgeous on-screen interface!

The copy protection!

That's right, my new DVD Burner would not allow me to record from TV. Or would it? I tested it, recording a number of different channels and programs. I couldn't record So Ya Tink Ya Kin Prance, but it would allow me to record Two and a Half Men. I couldn't record The Parkers, but I could record Futurama. What the hoo haa? I'd much rather record Futurama than any of the other crap.

So I returned the Sony DVD Burner, (Gosh, it won't let me record my home movies!) ordered another Panasonic DMR-ES15 from Amazon. Yay, now we're safe in case California falls into the ocean. I wonder if there is a web site somewhere that lists DVD burners without copy protection?
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Monday Off! So Nice!

I called off from work today, saying I was feeling tired and crummy. The tired part was certainly true, I worked 7 days in a row. A day off now and then is an important thing!

I took Cindy to the airport this morning - she had to fly to Florida for her Barnes and Noble Manager's Conference. She's staying in a very posh hotel - The Westin Diplomat in Hollywood Florida -

Check out the hotel's web site. It's a very snazzy place, and when she phoned earlier she was praising her ocean view! How cool is that? Because her room-mate's flight was delayed, I think she may have the place to herself tonight.

I relaxed today, did laundry, took some naps, watched some tv, took a walk, and worked on my web site -(FictionInteractive.com) which is not online yet, so don't bother trying the link. I've been working on the cover page for a week or so now, and I think I've found a layout that will do for now. Or at least until Cindy comes home and can give me input.

Oh! Last night we picked up a new dance pad from Best Buy. The pad came bunded with another DDR game, this one is Dance Dance Revolution Extreme. I wanted the package for the pad - it's hard to find the pads in stores, you have order them online. This pad is thicker and more heavy duty. It also feels like it's hardier inside, as if made of sterner stuff. It's working well and I'm getting good scores once again.

I just turned on the DDR game and it's telling me that the save game data is corrupted. Grrrr now all my stored scores are probably all gone. Oh well, no biggie. I can just assume that Beginners Mode has been pretty much mastered (which is largely true I'd say) and it's time to move on to Light Mode.