April 2009

Shopping Spree.



070.365, originally uploaded by iMachias.

So today Earl and I headed to the lovely Capital District of New York State (Albany) and went on a little bit of a shopping spree. Earl likes to say that we stimulated the economy during our travels today, but I think he just likes to say that word “stimulated”.

I know that forking money over to a clerk several times made my heart race.

I have been feeling a little behind the times at work doing the Network Operations Center Technician thing when it comes to Windows Vista. Living in an all Mac house (aside from one Linux laptop that I revived this morning), I tend to think as a Mac Geek and I have to admit that Windows Vista is the one version of Windows that I’m least familiar with. More and more of the customers we support at work are using Vista (I know, it’s a little shocking) so I thought I should invest in a new PC that had Windows Vista on it so I could get myself back up to speed. After all, the new commercials from Microsoft made it look wicked easy to accomplish this fact.

I try to pay as little money as possible in the way of sales tax to the county we reside in, mostly because we have the highest sales tax in the state and also because I believe our county government is beyond being described as corrupt, so we drove to Albany to take a look at the offerings there. With the recent demise of Circuit City and the earlier demise of CompUSA, this leaves us with Best Buy in this area. Best Buy knows they’re the only game in town and quite frankly they’ve let themselves go to crap as far as selection and service go.

I browsed the selection of desktop computers that were on display. I have to say that the displays were less than appealing; there were monitors not connected to computers, computers missing keyboards, mice missing balls and areas of the display where it said “place sale placard here”. Nevertheless I navigated through the busy area and found a computer that fit my expectations: an HP desktop with a quad core processor, 8 GB RAM, 1 TB hard drive and a 24-inch widescreen monitor. The entire package clocked in around $1125. I thought the specs were sweet and I felt confident in the purchase.

I flagged down a person wearing a Best Buy shirt. He said he’d find someone to help me. Apparently that was not destined to happen because no one really paid attention to me after that, but I did have the opportunity to listen to another salesperson assist a customer with a laptop purchase.

Said customer wanted to buy a laptop to do some video and music work, edit his photos and surf the net. The customer showed the salesperson the computer he thought he was interested in. It was then that I discovered that something was just amiss; the salesperson proceeded to tell the customer that he had switched to using a Mac five months ago and would never recommend a Windows computer again.

This is a guy that sells Windows based computers at Best Buy.

Now, to the salesperson’s credit, this particular Best Buy did sell Apple computers. They had a very old 20″ Cinema Display and one lonely iMac that was marked as a clearance item but still $200 more than a more powerful iMac that could be found at the Apple store in the same mall.

I took this all as a sign that I shouldn’t buy a Windows based computer. So we left Best Buy.

Earl and I then walked around the mall a bit and found ourselves in the Apple store. We looked over the iMacs and found some pretty good deals, but I wasn’t feeling the urge to buy another computer (and besides, the online financing deals are much better than the ones found in the store) so instead we bought a couple of other goodies for the house: speakers for a couple of rooms with an additional Airport Express so we can stream music from our computers pretty much anywhere in the house, an iPod Touch 16GB for Earl, new ear phones for the both of us and a couple of other Mac-centric incidental items.

Thoroughly famished after all this flinging of money around we grabbed one of our gift cards and headed to Carrabba’s in nearby Latham where we followed our tradition of eating at the counter that flanks the kitchen area. I struck up a conversation with the surly pizza and dessert girl that was working. By the end of our stay I had her smiling. The picture at the top of the entry is Earl and I sitting at the counter.

I have been alcohol free (aside from 1/2 a beer a couple of weeks ago that I didn’t really enjoy) and I must say that I feel much better for it. I have been inspired to remain this way and I think it’s been a good decision.

After Carrabba’s we made the obligatory stop at Target, though I’m not sure if it was *the* Target where the iBears are usually found, as I didn’t find any bears nor did I find a dolphin. Nevertheless we picked up a couple of things and then headed home – taking back roads for the 90 or so miles back to the house.

All in all it has been an excellent day.

Snap. Crackle. Pop.

So I am back from my very first chiropractor appointment. As I continue my quest for a healthy existence without artificial means, chiropractic care seemed like the next natural step along this path. Coupled with my meditation practice, exercise and my upcoming acupuncture appointment, I think I’ll feel 18 again come my 41st birthday.

The appointment went very well. I have had a tension headache for the past 36 hours or so. After an explanation as to what to expect and then my sharing as to where I was feeling out of whack, the chiropractor did a quick neck and back adjustment on me.

Headache gone.

My neck snap, cracked and popped like it has never done before. The doctor said “wow” in a deep voice on several occasions. “You have some really tense muscles in your back”, he said as he worked his way up and down my spine. “You should consider a deep tissue massage.”

w00t! I love those!

After throwing my head around and making a lot of noise with my neck, he adjusted my back a bit, making it crack where it has never cracked before. We then talked about what he felt was going on with my back and neck and he recommended a couple of visits in a couple of weeks. Now, several people have warned me about having to sign a contract to commit to a dozen or so chiropractic visits and then I would be going for the rest of my life after that. Here’s the thing. I was not pressured to sign anything, he gave me valid reasons as to why I should come back to his office for two visits in two weeks and then he talked about keeping my body tuned up afterwards. Our discussion was logical and made sense. I’ve done my reading. I feel very comfortable with this approach. I’m looking forward to my next visit.

And right now I feel absolutely amazing!

Grounded.

So after the breakfast buffet in Erie, Pa. (I rhymed again!) this morning, I headed home with the intent of taking the long way again. Earl and Jamie continued to sell clothing at the vendor mall through noon and then Earl drove Jamie back to Buffalo. The big guy is always the responsible one and takes the direct route of the Thruway.

On the other hand, I took a more leisurely route.

I have said on several occasions that I feel very grounded, connected, in touch with myself, etc. when I am behind the wheel of a car. As a kid I always had a thing about going for a ride, once I was licensed to drive I was ready to explore the world from behind a steering wheel. Erie, Pa. is relatively close to my old stomping grounds of the late 1980s and early 1990s, so I took the opportunity to do some exploring and see how much I remembered about the area.

Being a driving enthusiast, I have a couple of roads, stretches of road more specifically, that I really enjoy driving on for a number of reasons. These stretches tend to be rural in nature, with a very “open” feeling to them. I think that’s why I love the midwest so much, I like the flat, open feeling with long stretches of somewhat hilly terrain. I was able to drive on two of my favorite stretches today: NY Route 430 between Findley Lake and Mayville and then NY Route 242 between East Randolph and Ellicottville.

The drive along Route 430 was just as I remembered. Farms dot the countryside as you gently climb and descend hill after hill. There are only a few places where you have to slow down between Findley Lake and Mayville, and that’s mainly the village of Sherman. My mind drifted back to when I was 19 years old, with my first boyfriend and driving a 1977 VW Dasher along the route. It was summertime and we were off to a concert at Chautauqua Institution. I had convinced the boyfriend to grow a goatee (before it was fashionable on men in their early 20s) and he had forgotten to shave it off before leaving for the concert and was a little shaken up by the fact. I assured him that he looked good. He said he looked demonic. In truth, he didn’t look the part but later I found out that he somewhat acted the part.

But I digress.

The weather was splendid as I made my way to Mayville and then along Chautauqua Lake to the city of Jamestown (the birthplace of Lucille Ball and home of Natalie Merchant and the 10,000 Maniacs.)

Jamestown is a small city that seems to be struggling a little bit (though not as much as the cities further upstate). The downtown still looks charming, though not as bustling as I remebered it.

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One of the cool things about this railroad overpass is that there are businesses built into the bridge. I remember being in the barbershop built into the bridge when a train came through and things rattling on the walls. It was a little disconcerting, especially when there were straight razors involved.

I explored around the downtown area for a bit before heading by my old apartment. The building looks like it should probably be condemned. It hasn’t changed much. A quick stop revealed that my longtime friend Pat was out so I didn’t get to startle her with a surprise visit. I did notice that many of the side streets in Jamestown are still made of brick.

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Heading east from Jamestown I drove along the two-lane roads to the small village of East Randolph, where I jumped onto Route 242, which headed in the general direction I needed to go to get home. Another rural road that climbs and descends through hilly farmland, Route 242 brought me through the ski-centric village of Ellicottville. The slopes were open today and there were folks enjoying spring skiing in the sunshine.

From there I headed to the other end of Route 242, in the Town of Machias.

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There is a very personal, self-dicovery related story to the small town of Machias that I’ll share on my blog someday when I’m so motivated, but for now I’ll say that the word “Machias” resonates with my very being in a way that no other sound does and that’s the reason I have adopted the online presence of “Machias” (and the Mac-centric counterpart I use, ‘iMachias’).

After taking the photos I realised that if I continued this pace I would never get home for work on Monday so I jumped onto Route 39, another one of my preferred stretches of road, where I ended up in Geneseo and jumped onto I-390 before jumping on the Thruway, almost an hour ahead of Earl on the same roadway. From there it was easy to get home and I let my mind wander.

As an almost civil engineer I prefer the design and such involved with the freeways, as a driving enthusiast I much prefer the two-lane roads. I’m happy I was able to mingle it up a little bit this weekend.

Life is good.

Wet.

So last night I joined Earl and the Cubster in Erie, Pa. for “Drenched Fur 5”, a gathering of bears from all over for a weekend of bear fun, including a private party at an indoor waterpark.

Earl and Jamie got there Friday afternoon and set up shop in the vendor mall area, where they sold Jamie’s bear clothing. Business was pretty good, from what I hear, and the two of them are coming up with even more ways to promote the business and such. I think my web development skills have been enlisted for a new website.

I took the long way there yesterday, leaving the house around 10:30 and getting there at 6. (It’s usually a five or so hour drive). I drove through many small villages in the Southern Tier and could have done so all night, but when I realised that it was getting a little late, I hopped onto the the Southern Tier Expressway at Olean and used the fast route for the final 100 miles or so.

There is always LOTS of food at a bear run and this weekend was no exception. Attendance warranted overtaking the entire Quality Inn in Erie, Pa. and the hospitality was quite impressive. The dinner buffet was quite nice and Earl, Jamie and I made new friends and visited with those that we know from the community.

After dinner was relaxed a bit and hopped on the shuttle bus to the indoor water park, which was opened exclusively for the bears from 10 p.m. until 2 a.m. Jamie and I rode every water slide in the park (some several times), including the “Hurricane” where you shoot down at 40 MPH and get thrown into this donut shaped thing, spun around and then you fall through the whole in the middle into a pool underneath. Like the staff at the hotel, the staff at the water park seemed to be enjoying all the ensuing merriment of the bear run. By 1 a.m. we were wiped out and headed back to the hotel, after someone was kind enough to take our photo.

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There was a late night buffet in place of the traditional after hours party. I had a quick snack and hit the hay relatively early for this sort of thing; Earl and Jamie lingered longer and came to the room a bit later, claiming that I was talking in my sleep when they got to the room. Unfortunately they won’t tell me what I was saying.

All in all it was a very good night and I’m glad I made the trek out there for the fun. I’m looking forward to next year’s Drenched Fur.

Big Flats, N.Y.

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So I’m on my way to Erie, Pa. to join Earl and the Cubster for the evening. I spoke with Earl a little while ago and he said that the clothing sales were “okay” and that they were having a good time. I hope to be there by 6:00 p.m. or so.

I’m currently in the Panera in Big Flats, N.Y. in the Southern Tier. My plan of all back roads is holding. I’m not using any maps or GPS. I’m going on previous experience and intuition. So far so good.

I like the Southern Tier and I always have. It feels a little more prosperous in this area than it does further upstate along the Thruway corridor. I wonder if there is a correlation between the existence of a toll road vs the tax-supported Southern Tier Expressway and the disparity in prosperity. (Ha! I rhymed!) I’m sure that’s not the only reason but I’m sure it has some bearing on the situation.

The internet here seems to be uneven at best. I’m almost done with my tomato and mozzarella panini sandwich. It’s time to hit the road again.

1-2-3

Back when I first started DJing this song was very HOT. In fact, there was a little hustle type line dance that many did to it. I called the dance the “Homo Hop”. I can still do it.

Presenting “1-2-3” by The Chimes. 1990.

Bad Rap.

I’m curious. As a sci-fi and superhero geek, why did twins always get a bad rap in the ’70s live action shows?

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Points to the person that can identify the aliens that possessed these twins.

Fub.



062.365, originally uploaded by iMachias.

Today I share with you a fub.

The Trail.

I hit the canal trail for the first time in 2009 tonight. It was good to get back in the saddle on my bike and I feel pretty good after doing about 15 miles when all was said and done. Aside from the fact that I can find my official cycling shoes and that I was accosted by a four-year old on a Big WheelTM, the ride went pretty smoothly.

The weather doesn’t look like it’s going to cooperate for cycling until next week, so I guess I’ll have to ride the exercise cycle in the basement in the meantime.