the world is your acorn

I know that I have not been very faithful to you. In fact, in the past year I have more often than not chosen someone else instead of you. I have been seduced by your brothers and sisters with their brilliant colors and big bite. But now, in my time of most need, I have come back to you, and you are still there for me. You have not changed and you do not treat me differently. It warms my heart and gives me hope to know that I can count on you and your classic formula. Thank you, and I’m truly, deeply sorry for my neglect.

I have a shitload of things due tomorrow. I’ve been really on top of things, and finished my take home exam on Friday morning. Well, today I went to email it to my professor, and I can’t find the final version. Yeah. It’s true. I’ve been working on three different computers all weekend since I have a lot of video compression to do, and apparently I threw the only final version out trying to clear space for the video import. I’m an idiot. I could have mailed the damn thing to him when I finished it, or backed it up, or any number of things that I didn’t do. Now I’m rewriting while I could be working on the other things I have for tomorrow. WTF. I haven’t been this dumb with computer stuff since freshman year in college. I’m frustrated as all get out. urgh.

I think I’ve had more things go wrong before 9am this morning than most people do all day.

Actually, the morning started out great. I woke up earlier than usual, started getting some work done, had time to put the new permanent license plate on the car before heading out to bring The Little Red Haired Girl to work and walk the dog. So we get to Centennial Park, pull in the little road we usually use, and realize that there is a 5K going on there that morning. Usually when there is an even it just means they have reserved one of the lanes for parking, so traffic can only travel in one way around the park. Fine. We were a few minutes early so I wasn’t really worried. Until I realized that no, there was actually no apparent rhyme or reason to where the blockades were, there were no people or signs directing traffic flow, and the tiny-brained power-hungry park police was just driving around issuing orders arbitrarily and without forethought, reason, or warning. So we ended up having to back out of the park twice before I finally let The Little Red Haired Girl out of the car to walk the rest of the way to work. I was too pissed to walk the dog there, so I went to school where I have a couple books waiting for me at two different libraries anyway.

On the way to school the dog pukes in the car.

We get out, walk around, and discover that the libraries I need do not open until later this morning. I had checked on the internet this morning and found that both libraries have extended hours for exam period. What they did not specify is that the circulation desks do not have similarly extended hours.

I drove home, totally dejected, only to almost run over some woman standing in the middle of an intersection dialing her cell phone. I thought about just swerving around her, but good thing I didn’t because when she was ready she just started walking without even looking up.

I am going to make some bacon or something to help turn this day around. I gots too much to do to be cranky all day.

PS – did I make clear how incompetent I think that Metro Park Police are? If not, I’ll say it here. I think they are very incompetent. Nothing they do over there ever takes into consideration the perspective of visitors of the park. I get how their little schemes make their lives easier, and sometimes alleviates parking problems, but I don’t believe they ever stop to ask themselves how difficult it is for a park-goer to navigate and enjoy the park.

OhGizmo! is giving away a bunch of great stuff to a single lucky winner for the holidays. All you have to do to enter is blog about the contest! Here are the prizes so far:

Gift Certificate, From Vaja Cases
Vaja make some of the most beautiful cases on the market. They’re all handcrafted Italian leather, and are available for almost any gadget out there. Our own Andrew reviewed one right here. Well, the company will be giving away a $100 gift certificate.
[ Vaja Cases ]

Nexus Laser, From Wicked Lasers
If you’ve been reading this site for some time, you’re aware of Wicked Lasers. We’ve reviewed their products here and here. They make the most powerful green laser pointers on the market; anywhere from 10 to 50 times more powerful than a traditional red laser pointer. The model being given away is a Nexus, rated at 95mW, and about 20 times stronger than a regular pointer. It’ll burn through paper, cut through electrical tape and has a range of 38 miles. A value of $370.
[ Wicked Lasers ]

The Biohazard Watch, From Tokyoflash
Again, if you’ve been reading this site for any amount of time, you’ve probably become aware of our love affair with Tokyoflash watches. They’re the coolest, most impossible to read watches, and will instantly turn you into a conversation piece. Well, the company sent us advance info on their upcoming model called “Biohazard”, which features an advanced LCD to create an extremely detailed multi-colour LCD watch. It’s a little like the type of display you expect to see on a car stereo. We’re the very first ones to display its picture, and its also up for grabs. Value of $140.
[ Tokyoflash ]

ID Messenger Bag And Accessories Package, From Tom Bihn
If you’re going to be carrying your gear around, you’re going to need somewhere to put it in. Tom Bihn makes some very nice bags, and they’re giving away their redesigned ID Messenger Bag, along with a Brain Cell or Soft Cell of the winner’s choice, and the Absolute Shoulder Strap and Quick-Adjust Messenger Strap. That’s a $235.00 prize package.
[ Tom Bihn Bags ]

Neuros Recorder 2 Plus
If you were around two weeks ago, you know what this is. For those of you first reading this article, the Recorder 2 Plus allows you to digitize any analogue video content, and instantly convert into several formats for playback on mobile devices, be it iPod, PSP, Smartphones, etc. It’s a value of $130.
[ Neuros Recorder 2 Plus ]

Abacus Smart Watch
The Abacus Smart Watch is cool for a different reason that the Tokyoflash offering. It syncs with MSN Direct service, and through it you have access to a variety of content, such as the weather, the news, sports scores, traffic, Microsoft® Office Outlook® calendar synchronization*, and even MSN Messenger personal messages*. It comes with a 12 month subscription to the service. Value of $180.
[ Abacus Smart Watch ]

The Ice Jacket
Some time ago, we looked at a device that allowed you to encase your liquor bottles in ice. It was called the Ice Jacket, and was not yet commercialized. Well, the company recently contacted us, and let us know that the product is finally coming together, and should hit the shelves soon. So, one of these is up for grabs as well. That’s a $40 value.
[ Ice Jacket ]

HP Printing Mailbox With Presto
It’s not everyone that wastes their entire days reading blogs. Your grandparents for example might waste them watching TV instead. That might be because they’re technologically challenged, but it doesn’t mean that they can’t receive emails. With this HP Printing Mailbox, pre-selected email addresses can send directly to the printer. Your loved ones just have to pick up the paper, and read your email. Presto is giving a printer away, along with three months of service. Value: about $180.
[ Presto ]

IncipioBud With Apple iPod Shuffle
The IncipioBud is a cool, $6 gadget that allows you to connect your Shuffle directly to your computer, bypassing the dock altogether. It’s useful, cheap, but doesn’t work without a Shuffle. So, the company is including one! Value: about $100.
[IncipioBud]

As mentioned earlier, we’re talking to a few other vendors, and waiting on confirmation. We’ll let you know as the list gets longer.

It’s been weeks since my last post. I’m not sure why I haven’t been posting. I keep composing little posts in my head, then not getting online to post. I’m probably only posting right now because I have a 1pm deadline to gather and transcribe some data, and I can’t get myself started.

Things have felt crazy since Thanksgiving. We got back from The Little Red Haired Girl’s parents’ place in the evening after an 8 hour drive on Sunday evening, and regular life just started up right away. No chance to recuperate from vacation. We managed to get unpacked and laundered right away, but the house is still a shithole from our bringing home all kinds of things (mostly holiday presents) from Virginia.

Suddenly now it’s the last week of classes, and I’m facing 2 exams and a poster presentation all due or happening on Monday. I should be freaking out. Somehow I’m not. I have been compulsively creating schedules and lists for myself for a few days now, and I’m chipping away at some of the things that I have to do. For some reason none of my major end of semester tasks seem like unsurmountable hurdles this time around. Either I’m getting a little better at this, or I am seriously deluding myself and am in for some sort of hysterical breakdown soon.