March 2008

Cleveland Hopkins Int’l Airport.

And now Earl and I are on a 90 minute layover in the glorious city of Cleveland, Ohio. It’s 29 degrees but sunny. The snow still appears to be melting despite the temperatures lower than freezing.

Some random thoughts that have crossed my mind while flying and sitting here in the airport terminal.

1. The ovens wouldn’t work properly on the flight from Las Vegas to Cleveland delaying our cheeseburger by 60 minutes. I don’t know why it made me nervous but if the ovens aren’t working what’s going on with general maintenance of the aircraft? It’s a good thing I’m not a nervous flyer. On the other hand, a passenger in the row in front of us lodged a complaint due to the lack of nuts. The flight attendant offered a spare, cold cheeseburger. She declined.

2. Cleveland Airport charges for internet access. Both Syracuse and McCarran had free wifi internet access. I believe it should be free. “Free the bits”, that’s always my motto. It’s applicable to many situations.

3. If the flight attendant is not going to trust me with a whole can of pop then they should go all the way with the mothering and say “Don’t Spill It”, despite the fact that I’m 39 years old.

4. Do long flights like the 19 hours it takes to get to Australia employ the same 3-3 or 2-3-2 configuration that I’ve encountered? It seems like it would be wicked cramped to be squished between two people for 19 hours. I’m not sure I can hold my breath that long.

5. As soon as the flight staff announced that it was o.k. to use our cell phones, things started ringing from every direction imaginable. I joined in the fun and sent an e-mail from my iPhone.

6. The guy across from me in the terminal has his MacBook Pro decked out with various stickers, including one for “In and Out Burger”. MacBook Pro points aside, he totally rocks with that sticker.

7. Earl and I have had more computer conversations than Earl would like to admit during our flight home. I’ve promised to sell two computers (both Macs) currently in the stable, see local listings for further details. I might sell a third as well.

22 March 2008 by Fun and Games Dept Ponderings and Musings 1

McCarran Int’l Airport.

So the trip to Las Vegas is coming to an end and Earl and I are sitting at McCarran airport waiting for our flight. We take off at 9:35 a.m.; it is currently 8:03 which is 11:03 Eastern Time. My body is already back on EDT.

The trip has been enjoyable. I got some much needed sun and I have a slight sunburn to prove it. While we don’t have more money than when we arrived, we aren’t going home broke. That’s always a good thing.

Last night I walked the entire strip while Earl played in a poker tournament. I walked from the Luxor to Circus Circus and back, stopping at various casinos along the way. I mentioned on my tweets last night that I found Circus Circus sort of disconcerting. It was my first time there and for some reason I felt like I was watching trained monkeys as people did circus type things while folks gambled below them. It seemed like an odd disconnect to me. I’ve always thought of Las Vegas as an “adult playground” (in many senses of the phrase) and for me it seems odd and somewhat wrong to bring children into the mix. Walking by the Bellagio I heard a woman remark that she shouldn’t have to navigate around baby buggies on the Las Vegas Strip, especially at 10:00 at night. I agree with her completely.

All in all it’s been a good trip and I feel relaxed and ready to tackle school and whatnot in the weeks that lie ahead. As we started the trip I remarked to Earl that with this spring break I am exactly halfway to my degree. That thought makes me feel relaxed as well.

22 March 2008 by Fun and Games Dept Ponderings and Musings 0

Vanna.

So a popular (and I believe relatively new) game here for slot machines fans is the “Wheel of Fortune” game. Eight players are seated around a big wheel just like Pat Sajek spins on television. Everyone has a video slot machine at their station and they feed money into the thing, play 45 lines six ways from Sunday and win an assortment of cash and prizes. If you hit three “bonuses”, you get to spin the big wheel.

There’s a lot of fanfare when it’s your turn for the big wheel. Vanna comes on and gives a very dignified speech about being a good player and other cheerleader-like statements without the rah rah. She’s looking slightly away from you as she reads her cues, but her heart seems to be in it.

Last night at The Mirage I hit the big wheel three spins in a row. On the first spin I landed on the big money, “1000” which of course means 1000 coins. Since I have a hard time keeping track of how many coins equals how much (especially after three martinis), I ended up walking away with a little over $300. I had fed the machine $50. I guess that’s good.

When a bonus comes up, the video screen instructions you to stand up and yell like you were on the real “Wheel of Fortune” game show. I had three drunk women to my right at their terminal. They were sharing $10 and playing one line. On the other hand, I always hit Max Bet, because Earl taught me long ago, you either lose big but hopefully you win big, so always max the machine. It’s a fairly credible theory.

The three drunk women shrieked when they saw that I got to spin and started yelling like they had just been given a White-Westinghouse Washing Machine from behind door number three. None of them were dressed as a carrot. Oops, wrong game show.

It was good to have a cheering squad, including Vanna’s dignified soliloquy. And the winnings went into the geek bank for future gadget purchases.

21 March 2008 by Ponderings and Musings 0

Sunshine.



Las Vegas Strip., originally uploaded by iMachias.

So today it’s in the mid 70s with a mild desert breeze and there’s very few clouds in the sky here in Las Vegas. There’s a certain amount of energy in the air that one rarely finds in the corners of Upstate New York. I’m loving the sunshine, feeling re-energised and I have a little bit of a sunburn going on. Just because I’ve stopped shaving my head for a while doesn’t mean that I have long, flowing locks to keep my head from burning. I have to remember that.

Earl and I spent most of the morning and afternoon walking the Strip. We walked from the Luxor to Treasure Island and back, stopping in many shops and casinos along the way. My wallet is currently empty and I have not been given my next envelope of goodness. I’m currently ahead in the game though, so I can’t complain. I have a complicated system of gambling that involves envelopes, multiple pockets, strategic slot machine locations and lots of wishful thinking.

Tonight we are going to see the Cirque du Soleil show “Mystère”, which I’m very excited about because the only Cirque du Soleil show I’ve seen thus far is “La Nouba” at the House of the Mouse in Florida.

Earl and I did take a short nap this afternoon in preparation for some possible alcohol consumption after the show tonight. Perhaps I should eat something as well.

19 March 2008 by Fun and Games Dept 2

No Need To Evacuate.

Back in August 2003 Earl and I drove to Wisconsin on an extended vacation. We made the drive in mid-August and had a wonderful time visiting Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and other touristy type places. While the trip was wonderful, this trip is memorable because every hotel we stayed at had a twist – the fire alarm would go off in the middle of the night and we would have to evacuate our room. This happened several times on the trip, once during a violent thunderstorm, another time due to rowdy college kids pulling fire stations and the third time was a fire alarm system malfunction.

It’s been several years since we’ve had to evacuate our hotel room and we chuckle when we think about that adventure.

We’ve been in Las Vegas for six hours. The power is currently out on one end of the strip, including several casinos: Excalibur, Luxor and Mandalay Bay. Generators are keeping the slot machines and elevators running, but the restaurants, common areas, retail establishments and bathrooms are completely dark.

I guess this hasn’t happened in a long time in Las Vegas, but folks are just going about their business and making the most of it. Earl called me (I was walking on the strip at the time, he was in a poker tournament) to make sure I was o.k. and once he heard my voice he went back to his hand. He doesn’t get excited about these things. I made my way down the darkened strip and found him and we rode a generator powered elevator back to our room. The hall lights were out but the vending machines worked.

Time to toast a diet pop.

18 March 2008 by Ponderings and Musings 0

Luxor.

Earl and I are officially registered at the Luxor through Saturday. Originally scheduled to stay at the tower, we decided to upgrade the room to the West Tower where there was a king sized bed available. We are not into doing the Lucy and Ricky thing with twin beds.

The flight out here was acceptable. We bumped over Chicago otherwise it was a smooth flight. Being the smallest of the row I was assigned the center seat of three. Earl was to my right against the window and a man sat in the seat along the aisle. He spread his arms and feet as wide as possible in an effort to claim his space. He didn’t really need to do that as his Burger King meal, and resulting gas stench, were fine in marking his own real estate.

The movie on the flight was “August Rush”. I had never heard of this movie prior to the flight and I opted to pay the $1.00 for headphones that I get to keep forever and ever amen. The movie was great and I would like to own the DVD or rent it on iTunes.

I’ve already gambled my $10 for the day. I put $10 into the slot and three spins later I walked away with $70. It’s a good way to start the vacation.

Earl is on his way to the first of several poker tournaments. I plan to do some shopping as I’m on the hunt for a fierce pair of sunglasses. Boy watching is always an option as well. I will be armed with me camera in case of something woofy.

18 March 2008 by Fun and Games Dept 2

Syracuse Hancock Int’l Airport.

Earl and I are parked at Gate 21, waiting for our 10 a.m. boarding for our flight to Cleveland, Ohio. From there we are on our way to our final destination of Las Vegas. We’ll be in Vegas until Saturday.

All the statistics scream that less than 10% of the computer users out there use Macs. Within eyeshot I see one HP, a white MacBook, a MacBook Pro, an iPhone user using his MacBook and my PowerBook. I’d say in this rural Upstate New York airport the statistics are vastly different. I wonder why that it is.

Just for the record the TSA folks do not enjoy my “should I get naked for you?” comments. One response was “please, no”. I think I should be offended.

Our internet connection at home came back up on schedule at 9 a.m. Our internet now goes down at 11 p.m. and comes back the following morning at 9 a.m. I am having a hard time trying to get Time Warner to understand that concept. They want to send out a technician on every trouble. I tell them that it’s a waste of time.

Earl is taking care of business on his cell phone. He’s in “General Manager” mode. He isn’t barking at anyone though. The girlfriend of one his business associates freely shares the fact that she is turned on by Earl because he is a man of power. I giggle, he’s just my lover.

We’ve just added a black MacBook and a midget HP to the computer mix in the terminal. Statistically the statistics have not changed. I keep showing Earl the black MacBook and how nice it looks on the man’s lap. He says he’s picking up what I’m laying down.1

I am looking forward to some desert air. It’s going to be a good trip.

1 “I’m picking up what you’re laying down” is a phrase I picked up from my friend Christine. I don’t know where she found the phrase but I like it.
2 I still love the superscript thing that Moby does.

18 March 2008 by Fun and Games Dept Geek 2

Uhura Quality Communication.

A while ago I vowed I would never do anything with ebay again. Naturally I lied. Today I sold a piece of audio software (ProTools) that has been sitting in my studio for the past several months unused. I’m slowly building up funds to buy my next computer and selling items on ebay is one of the better ways of generating said funds. Granted, ebay is not as pleasurable as selling myself on the street corner, but then again, I’ve never paid for it so why should I start charging.

Anywho, I am ebayer from way back and I firmly believe in leaving feedback as appropriate for both buyers and sellers. I generally leave feedback as soon as I receive payment on an auction, and it usually reads like this:

Warp speed payment, a fine citizen of the ebay universe, live long and prosper!

I’ve been doing the Star Trek approach to ebay comments for as long as I can remember. Reviewing the feedback left on my behalf in the past, I’ve discovered that I’ve set a little bit of a trend. For example, this was left on a clock auction I won a while back:

Warp Speed PAYMENT, Uhura Quality COMMUNICATION, Peace and Long Life!

And this was left on a hard drive I sold last year:

The only way shipping could have been faster would have been by transporters!

I guess it’s good to spread some James T. Kirk geek love throughout the galaxy.

17 March 2008 by Geek 0

Rensselaer, New York.

Earl and I are stationed in lovely Rensselaer for the evening. It’s the bi-monthly bear night in Albany and we are looking forward to meeting up with friends. We were lucky to snag the last room here at the “official” motel which is an Econo Lodge. Getting the last room means we are in the honeymoon suite, which happens to have a red, heart-shaped jacuzzi with red spot lights shining on it from several directions.

Yes, it’s tacky.

There are several buildings on the grounds of this Econo Lodge and the bears originally had one building for themselves. The quite chatty woman at the front desk referred to said building as the “whore house”. I guess it’s appropriate, being in the “Capital District” and all.

We made our obligatory stop at the Apple store for a sip of kool-aid. I’ve officially picked out my next computer and I showed Earl what I want when the funds are available. I’m opting to add a black Macbook to the collection. My PowerBook is going on four years old and while it won’t be retired (I love it too much), it will be relegated to DJ gigs exclusively. I also picked up Logic Express to replace ProTools in the mixing studio. I’ve never been a huge fan of ProTools and I want to give Logic Express a go for the original music mixes I’ve been making.

So tonight it is “Kegs ‘n Kilts” night at bear night. I’m wearing my obligatory Guinness gear for the party. I don’t feel that formal kilt attire would be appropriate, so I’ll go with jeans and the red hair/beard to maintain me Irish heritage.

15 March 2008 by Fun and Games Dept Ponderings and Musings 1

Wow.

I was reading Jimbo‘s blog this morning where I stumbled on a remix of Kylie Minogue’s latest(?) single “Wow”. I really liked the track and did some further poking around the internet, where I found the video to the single version of the song.

I REALLY like this song. A lot. Back in my radio days I force fed an unreleased Kylie track1 to the listening public and it actually spurred sales of the import CD in the area.

Tonight and for the next several gigs, I’ll be spinning “Wow” by Kylie Minogue.

1The track I played on the radio outside of release was “Spinning Around”, released in 1999 or 2000. It was intended to revive Paula Abdul’s career (she has writing credits on it), but she decided not to run with it and Kylie did instead.

14 March 2008 by DJ 1

About J.P.

Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.

Weird? Eccentric!

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