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  • Girlfriend

    It was brought to my attention on Friday, that I hadn’t really posted much about about her.  In fact, after looking through the website, the only time I’ve even really mentioned her was in passing.

    Well, since that entry about a month ago, she is now my girlfriend.  Actually this weekend she actually came down to visit me (every weekend previous to this, I had gone up to see her).  As I mentioned before, Bree was the setup person behind this.  She is going to school at Midwestern to become a physical therapist, and became friends with Erin.

    Yes, I know what you’re thinking now.  “Her name is the same!”  Blah, blah, blah.  It happens, whatever, it’s just a name.  At first it was weird, but it didn’t take much to get over it.  She and I have a lot of the same interests, being outdoors, biking, camping, etc.  I just need to get her into climbing and I think we’re all set :).

    This weekend we didn’t really do much, but we did celebrate Valentine’s Day on Saturday since we wouldn’t be seeing each other on Monday.  I brought her out to Silvercreek for dinner, and then we went out with some of her friends to a bar downtown Champaign.  It was a good time, and the food was awesome.  I had the lamb chops, which were fabulous, and she had Beef Tenderloin, which was also great. 

    All in all, a good weekend.

  • Getting a Dell

    Today, until the 14th (I think), there is an awesome deal on Dell’s Dimension 4700.  For $499 (after $100 rebate), you get a 2.8GHz 800MHz FSB HT P4, 256MB DDR2 400MHz RAM, 40GB SATA Harddrive, 2 Year Warranty, FREE 17” LCD Monitor, and free shipping. 

    Just today, I was trying to transcode some Divx files to MPEG to burn to a DVD for my Mom (yes Mom, I’m still working on it), and I realized how dumb of an idea that was going to be on my tablet.  I started thinking that I needed to actually get a workstation for home, to do some of the things the tablet just isn’t very good at.  Of course, this deal just happened to start today, so, instead of getting a watch with my tax refund, I’ll be getting a new machine.  I did, however, upgrade the ram to 512MB and a 80GB harddrive.

    Hopefully I’ll have it soon so that I can give my Mom her bday gift.

  • IPass part 2

    This weekend was the first real test of the IPass holder.  It worked flawlessly as expected.  I stuck it on my car Thursday morning, and I’m happy to report that it’s still in the same spot.  The suction cup doesn’t even look like it’s straining. 

    However, if I were to do it again, there would be a slight design modification.  Instead of wrapping the wire around the nipple, I would heat the wire with a lighter, and just stick it right through the nipple.  This would solve all of the current minor design flaws.  But, like I said, it works just fine the way it is, so I can’t really see myself doing that, unless I get really bored.

    Oh yeah.  I also forgot to mention that the Skyway’s toll hasn’t gone up to $4 as was thought in a previous entry.  Instead, it is currently set at $2.50 (for the just the bridge that is).  Those rates went into effect on the 2nd of February.  I just took that way to head to MI this weekend, so I thought I’d share the info.

  • The Week Was Going Quite Well

    After lunch today, I went to put a bag into my trunk, when I was greeted with a nice “FL” engraved into it.  Talk about a quick way to put me in bad spirits.  I mean, talk about a low thing to do, go around keying cars.  What’s really frustrating about it, is that this person actually took the time to write something in.

    I swear, I never had any problems with the truck like this, and it definitely wouldn’t have bothered me nearly this much.  It was either some student walking back to their dorms (as I work right next to them), or someone where I live.  Honestly, I think it was someone where I live because that’s how my windshield was broken, and the kids that live there have a tendency to do a lot of crap like that.  The other day they were throwing rocks not 5ft away from the parked cars, etc.  Plus, there aren’t nearly as many people walking around.

    I’m tempted to talk to my landlords about this, but again, I have no proof.  I just need to figure out the best way to fix it now.  I could use touch up paint on it, but then there’s the huge bulge which is almost always just as bad as the original mark.  Apparently there is goo stuff that can get rid of the bulge, but I haven’t tried it yet.  It was something I read on TDI Club.

    Arg.

  • I am teh funnah

    Which Website are You?

  • Affixing the IPass

    The IPass comes with tape to affix it to the windshield to the car.  Actually, the tape is on the back of some heavy duty Velcro that’s then attached to the IPass.  Now, I don’t really want to get tape “goo” all over my window, so I figured I’d attempt to approach this problem differently; suction cups.

    Yes, I know (now) that you can get a holder for the IPass that uses suction cups at Jewel.  However, I’d hate to think how much they’d actually charge for that, and I don’t have a Jewel near me.  Also, it’s a good engineering exercise. 

    Last night, I swung by Hobby Lobby and picked up 2 50mm suction cups for $1.  I brought them home and started brainstorming with them and the IPass.  It turns out the industrial Velcro will actually grip on to a piece of wire that is run through it.  Well, this little exercise turned out to only take two minutes.  Now, all I need to do is swing by the hardware store and get some wire, wrap it around the suction cups nipple, and Velcro it into place. 

    All in all, the project will probably cost me $2, which is probably the same, or less than the IPass accessory at Jewel would’ve set me back.  Plus, I can say that “I did it” and I have enough materials left over for another one (two cups in a package).

  • Friday in Chicago

    For those of you in Chicago, and don’t have anything else to do Friday (tomorrow) night, you should come see Adam and the Go Comets with me and friends.  They’ll be at the Elbow Room and start around 11ish. 

    So yeah, come out, and have a good time.

  • Awkward Moment

    I park on campus for work and while leaving for lunch today, I had one of those weird moments.  So, I’m in my car pulling out of my spot, and this girl on the sidewalk looks at me, gets excited and starts waving at me.  Now, I have absolutely no clue who this girl is.  What is the right way to handle such a situation?  Is it to:

    A: Wave back

    B: Look at her like she’s a moron

    C: Ignore her

    D: Roll down the window and ask, “Who the hell are you?”

    E: Ask her out for “pizza”

    F: Attempt to run her over

    I think I ended up doing something between B and C with a possible dash of F.

  • Wounded

    So, today I went in to see the dermatologist about the mole on my back.  He looked me over and said that it didn’t look serious, but that he would recommend getting it removed just because, and to have tests done on it.  That way, if tests do come back positive they can start looking at other spots too.  I give him the nod of approval and he asks if I wanted to have it done right then.

    Well, I was only missing work, and since I was just fired, I don’t see why I really need to rush back.  I mean, I had someone covering for me anyways.  So, they prep me, and ask me all the good questions like if I have any allergies or anything like that.  Then, the lady stabs me a few times with a needle around the spot for local anesthesia, and then they start digging in.  All in all, the “surgery” took under 30 mins (at least that’s what their clock said), and that included stitching me back up.  Unfortunately, I was just anticipating the meeting, and so I had a parking ticket on my car when I got back to it. 

    At the time, since I was anesthetized, I couldn’t feel anything.  Unfortunately, that’s not the case now.  It’s kinda swollen now, and is throbbing a bit.  However, they gave me a prescription of Vicadin in case the pain was too intense, plus I can take regular Advil or Tylenol.  Since it’s so swollen, it really makes it hard to move my arms around, because it keeps tugging on the stitches.  Slightly a pain.

    However, the biggest pain is what they expect me to do to keep the dressings fresh.  Apparently, 3-4 times a day I’m supposed to clean it out with Hydrogen Peroxide, apply this anti-bacterial goo (only for the first 3 days), and then bandage it back up.  Now, this normally wouldn’t be a pain, but first of all, I can’t even see the area, and secondly, even if I could see it, I can’t really reach it. 

    Thankfully Colleen has been nice enough to aid me in this task, at least once a day.  I figure that’s good enough anyways.  I mean, I’m not that dirty of a guy.  Am I?

  • In the Shop

    Well, this is the first time my car has gone into the VW Service Dept.  Hopefully it will be go smoothly, and I won’t end up with more things broken than what I sent it in for. 

    Last week we had some weird weather, and one of the side effects was a lot of ice buildup.  Well, I went up to Chicago last weekend and tried to roll down my window for the tolls.  It didn’t budge, frozen solid.  However, now when I go to roll it down (even though it’s not frozen), it makes this horrible sound like metal scraping the glass, and it just never goes down.  Quality.  I’ve read that this is a common occurrence, and actually pretty easy to fix yourself.  However, the car only has 10k miles on it, and so I really don’t want to deal with it.

    So far, this has been the only problem I have had with the car.  Otherwise, it’s been great.  There are a few weird things about it though.  The number one complaint I have is the seat adjustments.  In most cars, the lever on the side of the seat is for tilt, not mine though.  Instead, that’s to raise and lower the seat.  To tilt it, you have to turn the nob at the joint.  Talk about a pain.  However, it never really effects me, since nobody else drives my car.  I just have to constantly remind new passengers, that want to fiddle with the controls, that they’re actually making the seat go up and down, not tilt.

    However, this car definitely beats the pants out of my old truck.  Just the addition of cruise is, in my mind, heaven.  Then there’s the gas mileage.  Definitely a good purchase on my behalf.

    **Update**
    And I just got a call letting me know that everything is finished.  Took less than 4 hours, I can’t complain.  Granted, I’m not in possession of the car yet, so I’ll still have to see about that.