I'm impressed

Uncle Sam actually gave me $600!

The last "Economic Stimulus Package" the government put out, I got about $200 bucks - the norm was about $500.  So I was not expecting any more than $300 to show up in my account.

But on Monday I was pleasantly surprised when $600 was present in my checking account.

So I did what Uncle Sam wanted me to do - spend it.

I bought 12 new work shirts ($140), 3 new pairs of pants ($60), A Bluetooth iPod Transmitter ($80), Bluetooth Headphones ($50), an iPod Charger ($25), 3 movies a couple comic books and a nice dinner for my co-workers. And I still have money left over, which is good, because I'm going to see Narnia this weekend and Indy 4 next weekend.

And Speed Racer was great - incredible special effects, and a decent story.  Acting was kind of wooden (but then again so was the anime it was based on), but John Goodman made up for it. 8.5/10 from me.

Tony Stark FTW...

Iron Man rocked!

It's probably one of the top 5 action movies I've seen in years, and an awesome comic-book adaptation to boot.

SFX were... unbelievable.  Incredible CGI, believable physics (not comic-book cartoony physics), and really funny.

I went into the movie with absolutely NO background info on Iron Man, Tony Stark, or the origin story (with the exception of the fact that the Iron Man suit was really really cool).  And I absolutely enjoyed every minute of it. 

Worth the $8 I paid for the tix, and I'm DEFINITELY picking the DVD up when it comes out.

Buzzed!

Well, it's done.

After letting my hair for at least 18 months (as far as I can tell I haven't had it cut since at least September of 2006), I finally had Heather do the honors of cutting it for donation to Locks of Love.

So now I hope to grow it out again - so I'll be posting photos of the growth this time.  I'll use my webcam so it'll be easier to get the shots to look the same.

Trip Post-Mortem...

Well.

I took a 2 week vacation to Florida earlier this month, and I had an absolute blast.  It only rained 2 days out of 14, and was at least 75 degrees every day.  Ahh, warmth....

I FINALLY after 3 visits made it to....

And what a day that was - finally rode some decent rollercoasters (the Hulk coaster was worth the wait).  And just had a fantastic time.

Also I went to a concert - which I wasn't planning at all - and had a blast.  Get Back is a Beatles tribute band, and they sounded great.. HUGE thanks to Shane and Amanda for getting the tickets for us.

And just hanging around Daytona was pleasant and relaxing. Got some great photos of the beach and an INCREDIBLE orange sunset.

Bought a bunch of books and comics, and a fun card game called Fluxx.

But for the most part, I relaxed, listened to books, played videogames, and watched movies.

And I ate.  A lot.  Great food in Daytona - they have a huge variety of restaurants that we just don't have up here in Maine.  Tijuana Flats (awesome chimichangas), Deck Down Under (awesome seafood), Checkers (best fast food burgers on the planet), Ruby Tuesday, Cici's Pizza, and Sonic.  All great places to eat in Daytona.

All in all - a great trip!

80gb of iPod goodness, Florida bound, and a battery backup...

Well my old Zen MP3 player broke a few weeks back. So I took some of my income tax refund, and purchased a 80gb iPod. I was hesitant at first (I didn't want to get locked into iTunes). but after downloading iTunes and organizing my ENTIRE library - I decided to go ahead and buy an iPod.

I can honestly say I love it. And I wish I had bought one a year ago. Sadly, a year ago, the 80gb iPod was much more expensive.

I'm Florida bound in March. I can't wait.

And my battery backup actually works. The weather here has been absolutely atrocious lately. And my UPS has pulled it's wait. My power fluctuated a few times and my back up either shut down my computer or gave me a chance to see what happened.

Awesome...

WoW AddOns - The Truth behind the insanity

I love playing World of Warcraft.

It's a fun game with loads to do.  And it has a thriving 3rd party scene that create AddOns for the game that either make the game easier to manage or give you information about the game.

For the most part, AddOns are easy to use.  Download the AddOn, install it into the Interface\AddOns directory, start WoW and off you go.

I have 2 AddOns that work extremely well - TitanBar (which is a useful tool that tells you all about how much gold you are making, how much XP you need to get, etc.) and Auctioneer (which helps price items going on the Auction House).  They work flawlessly and are easy to use.

Now Cartographer on the other hand is a different story.

What Cartographer does is allow you to add notes to the map and reflect Points of Interest.  Great for someone who is just starting out and has no Idea where anything is.  Just Shift-Right click on the map where you want the note to be, type a description, and POOF!  Instant Map note.

But the downside of Cartographer is that if you decide to download extra Modules for it, you may need an AceLibrary in order for them to run.  BUT, nowhere in any documentation of any of these extra Modules does it say that you need AceLibrary!

So you go through the frustration of trying to figure out why Cartographer_Mailboxes (a Module that shows where Mailboxes are on the Zone Maps and the Mini-Map) doesn't work at all when it was recently updated. 

So after 2 hours of searching websites, checking forums, and even going as far as logging onto a IRC channel to find ANY help, I finally figure out on my own what exactly needed to be done to get Cartographer working again.

A night wasted (I could have hit Level 59 by now), and a few lessons learned.  Oh well, Live and learn, Right?

ARRRGH!

Yet again, my glasses have broken!

Cleaning my glasses this morning at work, and POP!  The frame breaks.   In the same place that my LAST pair broke about 2 years ago.

So I called my optometrist to get my prescription in case I need to get new lenses.  The receptionist tells me that my prescription has expired, and I'd need to get my eyes re-examined in order to release the information!

Wait... WHAT?!?!?

It's MY prescription, and my eyesight is good with my current specs.  I have NO NEED to get my eyes re-examined.  Yet in order to get my lenses replaced, I'd have to go in and spend $$$ to get my eyes checked again.

But I found 2 loopholes.

Loophole #1 - I called ProVision center in the Auburn Mall (where I got my last pair), and THEY have my current prescription on file.  So if I needed to get new lenses, they have my script.

Loophole #2 - Mike (my friend since grade school), was able to track down a duplicate of my current frames.  So therefore, all he has to do is pop my old lenses into the new frames. VIOLA! New glasses without all the expense.

It just irks me that I can't get my own eye prescription from the doctor.