| On Debt and Disney Movies... |
[May. 14th, 2008|06:57 pm] |
Happy hump day to all! I had the distinct honor of guest-starring on his Superfied Radio Show on Bree-FM! We talked about love and life and money (or lack thereof). It started as a text message chain and before I knew it, I was on the air! Before and in between being on live, Alex and I were talking and catching up, since it has been a while since talking, and while on live, we discussed many things, a few of which were not related to any other thing we talked about. I was credited for single-handedly boosting the listener count by 10%! One thing we talked about specifically was debt in America, which was a subject in ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) roytheboys last entry. I had a response here to what he said in that entry, and it is behind the lj-cut!
( Rant present in the El-Jay cut )
The car is still broke, despite consistently spending 1-2 hours a day trying to fix it. If I can't get it fixed soon, I am considering selling it as-is on craigslist. Any takers for a 1990 Honda Accord with a broken wheel hub?
I know I didn't mention Disney movies here. Pinocchio. There. I mentioned Disney movies... |
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| Still Waiting for my Stim Chex |
[May. 7th, 2008|10:56 pm] |
The car is still broke, but I have made progress. Lo and behold, I have to remove the central driveaxle hub nut, which I didn't know before. I have to buy a 35 millimeter deep-enough-well socket, and hope to Zeus that it fits on the superfied long wrench bar I have.
roytheboy, I am done with two of the three card layouts you requested. Again I apologize for the delay, but as soon as I am finished with the third, I will email them to you for your review. I'd email you the two I have done now, but I am a jerk and want to keep you on the edge of your seat brimming with anticipation.
Yay for the semiannual Trip to Puerto Peñasco coming up in a week and a half! I am excited to travel to the wonderful land south o' the border, where the police have AK-47s and the children come up to you and ask you if you want 'dulces o helados' or maybe some cheaply made metal trinkets. I think I should get my dollars converted to pesos and bring them back, so I can exchange them in a few months and have more dollars.
So it seems Spore will have some kind of convoluted DRM scheme such that you will be required to have an internet connection so that it can "phone home" every 10 days. If it can't, you can't play the game. Sure, this game is pretty much being designed for online play, but it just shows that the days of "buy something once and play it whenever" are slipping away. "But Tim, you have to pay fifteen bux a month for WoW of Warcraft!" I know, so that's why I don't play World of Warcraft. I can still hope for a reversal in trends when enough gamers out there have basically had it with all this and so migrate toward the games that 'hearken back to the good ole days' and let people just play them without all the bullshit.
It's a shame, because I really wanted to check out Spore. But frankly, my ISP doesn't have the most stellar record with providing me an "always-on" connection and so I am not going to pay for that hassle. EA, you just lost a sale because of this. |
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| Blarg! |
[May. 5th, 2008|05:00 pm] |
Unless you already read it in Jessika's journal, I have grave news to tell. My car is broken. More specifically, the hub nuts that prevent the wheel from falling off are broken. There are only two lug nuts on the front passenger side wheel, and there are supposed to be four. Repairing it has been a pain in the posterior, due to the fact that the bolts are clinging to the plate tighter than..um...a fat kid to his Pop-Tarts® Brand Sugary Tart Delights. I am at my wit's end with getting the bolts off, so I think I am just going to drill them out. I am not sure how much of the wheel hub I will be damaging by doing that, but at this point, I am out of options. Here is what I have attempted thus far to remove this oh-so tenacious of bolts.
1. Regular socket wrench (Stripped the bolt.)
2. Adjustable wrench (fell faster than the Orc army in The Return of the King after the Dead Oathbreakers of Dunbarrow showed up.)
3. Channel locks (Really stripped the crap off the bolt.)
4. Dremel tool with grinding wheel attachment (used to recut the hex shape of the bolt. The only thing that did work, though it didn't ultimately remove the bolt.)
5. Liquid Wrench Penetrating Oil (Did shit to loosen the threads.)
6. Tapping one side of the bolt with a flat tip to at least get it started (All that did was to shear off more metal from the now badly deformed bolt)
7. Holding socket wrench on as hard as I can with one hand to prevent slippage while pounding the handle with a hammer with the other hand (Just broke the socket wrench adapter bit. Cheap Wal-Mart-bought Chinese-made piece of crap.)
I am not sure what else I can do, other than to drill it out. I'd really hate to damage the brake disc, to which this panel is attached, because I am sure buying a new one of those will cost a pretty penny. Maybe, if I am lucky, I can go into work and machine new threaded holes into it before I would resort to that.
Bah!
Happy anniversary of birth to toewigglingelf. I'd send her a cake-shaped birthday card, but I don't know her address. So here is the third next best thing!
NOTE: The green and yellow bottle like things are supposed to be bottles of Corona, one with a lime! |
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| Yay! Rollin on Twenties...well...fifteens.. |
[Dec. 1st, 2006|02:22 pm] |
I used to think that a car was just a way to get from Point A to Point B (and on weekends, Point C.) But that was the old me. That man died the instant I laid eyes on a 1990 Honda Accord.
And now I submit for you, this.
The H! That's how people know it's a Honda! What's the point of having a Honda if you can't show it off?
( And now for something not completely different... )
Yay! Let's hope the fifth car does me better than the first..and the second. *sigh* And the third, and the fourth... |
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| Thanks |
[Nov. 23rd, 2006|09:46 pm] |
Well, in the spirit of the holiday which is not quite over yet, let me just say these few words...
I am thankful for everyone in my life. I am thankful for my family, who has proven to be there for me time and time again. They aren't perfect, but they take care of each other. I am glad to be related to these people, and I am also proud to be able to say I am related to them.
I am thankful for my girlfriend who (I can't do justice to what she said for me) has proven herself to be there for me as much as my family. I am grateful for how much emotional support she has given, and for so many other things she has done for me. The past year with her has been great, and I hope that as time goes on, the few wrinkles in our ethos can be ironed out, and things continue to grow for us.
I am thankful for the change that 2006 has brought for me. I know it is too early to be reflecting on the past year (that kind of crap is usually saved for a month from now) but it really has been a year of so much growth for me. My career path has changed in an unexpected yet positive way, and I have done a lot of personal reflection which has helped me to see where it is I am going and how I will get there. I now have a more fundamental understanding of what I need to do to accomplish my goals, I have ridded myself of some not-so-great habits, and I believe I am prepared to prosper.
I am truly thankful to all of the people in my life, no matter where they are or how long ago I knew them that have helped make me who I am. I am grateful that I have known them, that they knew me, and that they had some impact on me, no matter how seemingly insignificant.
I am grateful for this life. It has been far from perfect and, at times, it has been downright shitty. But even in those times, I am still very grateful to God/Zeus/Allah/The Fundamental Mystical Force of the universe/Xenu* for have given me this life, if nothing more for than me to experience it in all its facets.
* Well, maybe not Xenu
I am getting a car. This will be my fifth automobile, and I hope it will be my last one for at least a few years. I have my reservations about it, mostly because of the rotten luck I have had with cars before. But I will keep my head up and keep my eyes out for the other drivers and any animals that run into me, and I think everything will be okay. I shall be getting this car in the next week or so, and I will post pictures/bad MSPsint diagrams of it eventually. Cross your fingers for me.
I have decided the dates for my next Dallas trip. I may have mentioned this in a previous post, but I will mention it again. I shall be coming on Saturday, March 17th, 2006, and leaving the next Saturday, the 24th. I have planned this to coincide with Spring Break for you UNT peeps (I looked up the UNT calendar; it's the only one I could find fairly easily) and I can only hope that this week is also Spring Break for the rest of you Dallas people. Any questions, concerns or whatevers, let me know! |
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| Whoa dude! |
[Oct. 27th, 2005|06:24 pm] |
Wow...Day 3 of my Quest to Repair My Car is all done and over with, and in the end, it cost me about half of what I would've paid to take it in and get it fixed for me.
For those who did not know, I have recently bought a new old car. It is a Ninety Sicks Chevrolay Lumina.
Here is a fairly accurate representation of this car.
Now imagine that car, only with tan sandy-colored paint that is cracking in the front, and currently on a doughnut, and also missing a hood. That is my car. So far, here are the costs incurred.
$300 to purchase car
$25 for new water pump
$25 for new belt
$60 for new belt-holding pulley*
So long as it runs, I say it is still a pretty good deal. Of course, the previous owner was abusive to it, so who knows what fun surprises await me!
Once everything is all good and stable, it should work out beautifully, though!
*the pulley, which is a round thick piece of metal attached to a plastic thing that spins, broke. Yes, somehow the solid metal pulley mount managed to break. Screw you, GM and your brittle shitty alloys!
Now, all I have left to do is to cap up the radiator, replace the coolant, and turn her on and hope the car works! |
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hopeful