Author: Moby

Back to Normal

I’m back in SF! The cold weather broke and now its just rainy.

I survived 3 days of very boring IDT (Incident Dispatch Training) material. It didn’t help that the class was way out in Concord1. The instructors were knowledgable however, it became clear very quickly this course was meant more as an intro vs real learning. Considering how much they charged my comm. center for the course it could have been better.

That said, I did get a better understanding of just how much more prepared California is compared to other states. Our FEMA/OES rating is the highest in the nation. I sleep good at night knowing the state I call home is very proactive in protecting and sheltering its citizens in times of peril.

I’ve been so busy w/training this week not much time for anything else. For those who asked, yes, I’m loving the TV and the Xbox. No regrets there. I’ve only had one whole day so far to actually sit down and play.

The roomie and I had an interesting conversation last night. He told me he had a friend who is a financial advisor helping him get his finances in order. I bluntly asked how much debt he had and it was only a couple
thousdand dollars. This makes me wonder how much money he “isn’t” making. It is none of my business however, it doesn’t boost my confidence in his ability to pay bills. He knows my strong feelings on stability so I’m not overly worried2. We’ve had a few ‘minor’ mishaps so far. I believe it has more to do w/this management skills than lack of funds. He doesn’t plan very well and his frequent trips down to New Orleans to see the boyfriend and trips to LA to see friends aren’t helping. Anything that makes him more accountable can’t hurt.

1 Concord is total suburban sprawl meets country. No offense to you suburbanites but Blech!
2 Remembering my own struggles just two short years ago, I am not unsympathetic here.

HiDef? OH Yeah Baby!

So the cable guy showed up on Sunday. Two and half hours later, we figured out how to make it work. The cable card installation went off w/o a hitch. However, he was as clueless as I was as to why the cable box wasn’t functioning. Basically, if you get the HD box w/o their DVR1 the top row of output jacks are worthless. A heads up for anyone upgrading to HiDef anytime soon. We finally figured it out. One cable to the cable card in the back of the TV and one cable to the cable box, composite video from the cable box to the TV, and coaxial cable from the cable box to the back of the Tivo.

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My delay into the world of online gaming was shortlived. Scott from The Magic Geek found me online and we played Uno2 and then Gears of War for a few hours. Scott and his gang made me feel welcome. Some of his group wasn’t much better than me at GOW so it was fun. He also introduced me to gaymer.org. Its a online forum for gay gamers.

1You are much better off with Tivo or any other 3rd party DVR. Comcast puts too many restrictive flags on their broadcasts.

2 The fact that I was playing Uno on brand new HiDef TV was not lost on me. Oh yeah Moby, way to get your moneys worth.

Gamer

*geek post ahead*

It has been a long time since I’ve been considered a ‘noob’ or newbie (new comer or novice player) at anything. However, I feel like a total noob w/my foray into the Xbox 360. Microsoft does gets points for making the website very centric and tightly intergrated into the console itself. Logging on via the console or the internet yields the same results albeit different formats.


My cheesy gamertag.

So far my game list consists of Doom 3, Halo 2, and Gears of War. The latter being the only one released specifically for the new 360 console. Doom was a favorite PC game back in the day when it first hit the scene. V3 has definitely come a long way since then. Halo 2 was a benchmark in graphics when it was released for the original Xbox. Gears of War blows’em all way w/so much detail, it is like controlling an animated movie.

My only beef w/GOW is aiming. Aiming on a standard game controller is a bit dodgy and makes gameplay very slow until you finally get fragged so many times you improve from sheer repetition. You can see from my tag list, I haven’t gotten very far yet. I’m still jumping around the level trying to explore (and getting fragged in the process).

And even though I’m all signed up for online game play, I’ll probably hold off for awhile until I no longer feel like a noob. I like that Microsoft is playing hard ball w/gamers who resort to cheating to get an upper advantage. I’m sure it won’t go away but it makes it more enjoyable for the average gamer like myself. I game for enjoyment not competition. If some no-life lackey cheats and constantly beats everyone, it ruins the experience (and Microsofts bottom line).

For now, I’m very happy w/the the console and have enough games to keep me busy for at least a few months.

Snip Snip

Don’t tell Jimbo. I just finished trimming all my body hair. Top to bottom. It was getting scraggly. hehehe.

I never shave anywhere besides my face as I hate that stubbly feeling you get when you do. Even my head. I trim it down nice and short that way the hair stays soft.

Techno Hell

*Full geek post ahead. You have been warned.*

You’d think being the tech geek I am, I’d have absolutely no problem setting up all the new devices w/the new HDTV. You’d be wrong. My woes started when the Tivo wasn’t getting audio from the new HD cable box. I checked, rechecked, and checked my wires yet again BEFORE calling tech. support.1.

I was at work so I just ran thru the checklist of things w/the Tivo guy and asked if he’d encountered similar problems w/other subscribers. To his credit, he did know and recommended a fix. However, after getting home and trying it, no luck. I was fast becoming agitated.

Fast forward to today.

This time I called Comcast. While I’ve had very little trouble w/them over the years, I know better than to remotely hope for a knowledgable rep. My lack of faith was justified right up until the very end of the conversation. She let it slip that the HD cable box doesn’t do more than one output source at a time. Exsqueeze me? Why the hell do you offer multiple out ports then? Needless to say, she was less than amused w/my 10 minute BF2.

Not willing to admit defeat just yet, I treked off to Radioshack for some help . . . a wasted trip.
Continue reading Techno Hell

Been Good or Bad This Year?

Ya know how I said this year had been good to me? Remember all the overtime I’ve been working? Well, Christmas came early for Moby this year. I decided to put some of my hard earned dough to good use.

Yes! Your eyes are NOT deceiving you. I bought a new Panasonic 42″ Plasma (read flat screen) TV

Ain’t it a beauty? I’m as surprised as you are. It’s amazing how far I’ve come financially in the past 2 years1. I’ve gone from barely affording a plane ticket to buying a new plasma TV! I’m so excited I could just pee myself.2

(In my best TV announcer voice)
But wait! There is more! Oh yeah baby.

I couldn’t settle w/just a plasma TV. Oh no, yours truly had to have some new fangled gadget to display ON it. Never fear….

…is here! I got the premium one so it comes w/a HD-DVD drive as well. This way I don’t have to worry about buying yet another DVD player. The really good news? I paid for it all in cash. Now that my friends is a nice feeling.

Yeah, I’m bragging but I think I deserve it. Looking back over these past few years, I have worked hard. I recovered from a very destructive relationship3, I moved three, count’em 3 times, my social life is pretty much non-existent, I’ve only taken 1 vacation in 2 years and I’ve done my share of charity work. So, I fell pretty good seeing some benefit from all my hard work. Anyway, I’m not quite done yet. I still have to buy stuff for the roomie and my nephew/niece back in Texas. Other than that, my shopping is about over for the season. Either way, I’m enjoying to fruits of my labor and I promise no more gloating. *g*

1 All the boocoo overtime didn’t hurt none either.

2 Actually, when the TV arrived at my doorstep. I did pee a little.

3Not to mention the $10,000 in debt that came with it.

Thankfull For… II

So, here we are again. It is thanksgiving here in the States. A time when families are supposed to come together to celebrate the bounty provided by our forefathers. Thankfully, Bush hasn’t completely destroyed our way of life in the past year. Even though, he is certainly coming close. So what am I thankful for?

Well, I’m thankful the American people finally wised up and sent a message to our leaders. And while I don’t think that alone will undo all the damge, it is certainly a start.

On the blog front:

I was especially touched by v-hold‘s thanksgiving post. It made me cry a little bit. What a wonderful way to celebrate Thanksgiving.

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One 3Y3 Open shared a very insightful post about his life and direction. A big reason I always come back to his blog. Here is a person, much like myself, who is searching for his place in the world. Kudos to him.

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Joe.my.god published a very hilarious vid about Bush “screwing” America. Not exactly work safe mind you but a must see!

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Jimbo left us w/a very carb friendly post to ring in the holidy as well. hehehe

Me? I’m especially thankful this year. For the first time in a very long time, I’m not worried about finances or where my future lies. I’m on track in both departments and that is a major accomplishment. I am grateful I have a job and a roof over my head. Yeah, simple but plenty of folks can’t even celebrate that this year. Many more are embroiled in a war not of their choosing and are far far from home.

I’m grateful for the new found friends I’ve made thru the blog world. Blogging has enriched my life in so many ways, I lost count.

So, I’m off to work and here is hoping your Holiday is warm and happy.

Dirty Rat

I forgot to mention someone broke into my building last week. I live in a 4 unit apartment building. Someone picked the bottom lock on the front door downstairs and basically rumaged thru the garage. Other than my motorcycle, which was with me at work, I don’t keep anything in the garage. My neighbor upstairs wasn’t so fortunate1. Whoever it was stole a variety of misc. items and his bicycle.

He stopped me in the hallway to ask if I’d seen or heard anything2. I hadn’t but I did notice when the bike went missing and shared the details with him. He then mentioned it has happened before3. Not surprising, it is a very opportunistic style crime. I’d bet money some homeless person, picked the lock, walked in and basically grabbed whatever he thought he could sell for booze/drug money. On a side note, it became abundantly clear why the landlord asks us to lock the deadbolt on the entry door.

Truth be told, crimes of this nature are very common here. Again, not surprising as we have a high rate of homeless folks. That said, I’d choose crimes like this over more violent and heinous crimes any day. For all it’s problems, there are few places in SF, I don’t feel safe to venture. I can’t say that of most cities I’ve lived in. I’d rather worry about shit like this than waking up w/someone sticking a gun in my face. And while SF does have some hardcore crime, it is not the norm.

The moral of the story? Lock the damn doors when you come and go Moby. *g*

1 He is a bit of a pack rat. He has quite a bit of stuff stored in various places in the garage. I’m not complaining, just an observation.

2 My apartment sits right over the garage. I sleep w/ear plugs in so as not to be awakened by an old but loud garage door opening in the mornings.

3 He has lived in the building 10 plus years.