So both of the items from my American Express Point Spending Frenzy have come in! The lens came in yesterday. I can get quite a bit further out than I did before. I will be great for events where the main attraction is not very close. The only downfall is that I can’t go wide like I do with the other lens. There are others out there that go from really wide to really far, but were out of my price/point range.

And today, the watch came in. I love it! It’s incredibly lightweight, simple, and comfortable (other than the fact that I haven’t worn a watch in years, so it feels weird). The strap has an interesting feel to it. I don’t believe any of the connecting points will get stuck in my massive amount of arm hair. And the face on it is gorgeous. So I have two new habits to form: take off the watch when working in ceilings and on cars, and don’t wear it to bed. It is supposedly water/splash proof, so I shouldn’t have to worry about that. And the ticking sound is very comforting to me. Makes me think of grandfather clocks and rocking chairs (I know, it’s weird).

So back in high school, I used to help out a lot in the library. Mostly on the computers of course. I knew nothing about the books. I’d peruse through them though. Well, the librarians decided to honor me that year with a $15.00 gift certificate to Books-A-Million and a plaque. This was 1999. I still have the gift certificate. It’s turning yellow (as the Asian clerk at Books-A-Million put it). I went there tonight to buy a Harper Collins Study Bible (with the recommendation from the pastor of the church I visit regularly, The Lakeland Fellowship). I asked if the gift certificate was still good. After about 10 minutes of waiting for the manager to get back after talking on the phone with whoever, he said to come back between 9 and 6, and corporate can find a way to transfer it to a gift card. Which will be kind of a waste, cause it will be thrown out moments later.

On another note, I officially have a second vehicle. I have gotten the Cavalier that I bought a little while back to a point where it’s safe on the road, and is legal to be there. I still have a lot to do such as:

• Fix a new leak around the radiator hose
• Fix the dash board
• Wash and wax the outside
• Change the oil
• Fix the passenger window crank
• Reinstall the rearview mirror

It is otherwise running well. I put the 93 octane gas in to clean the engine up a bit. It still needs a bit more tuning, but I think it’ll go another 50,000 miles easy. I will have to get used to not having a new car again. Such as, a non-responsive start up (my truck, I just turn the key and let go, and it starts on it’s own), turning off headlights manually, cranking a window down, you know, the little luxuries of a new vehicle (ohhh, that sooo bothers Amber for me to use that word instead of “car”).

So in the past few days, several people have asked me if I was losing weight because I look thinner. I can’t really tell. I haven’t weighed myself in months. Last I checked, it was around 175 to 185. I’ll have to do that tonight. Granted, my meals have been getting smaller, but I eat more of them… I think. I should probably go food shopping. I haven’t done that in a few months either. But if I buy food, it goes bad because I’m never around to eat it. And I don’t want to buy food that lasts for a year or two, because it makes me wonder what the heck they are putting in it to make it last that long, and do I really want that in me. So it’s kinda funny… my diet consists of stuff like chicken nuggets, McDonalds cheese burgers, salads, cake, ice cream, jalapeño chips, and popcorn. And they say your metabolism slows down as you get older… go figure…

So today at church, I was helping put away things, and must have bent the wrong way. My lower back is killing me. The pain is shooting down into my legs, and is even up to my shoulders. I’m guessing it is my sciatic nerve. To make matters worse, I had to help Brittani move a bunch of big stuff. But now that I am back home and have eating, I am going to take a break and see if I can fall asleep in front of the TV or something. I kind of feel like going out and doing something, but not if I can’t walk.

For some reason, the movie Cold Mountain was on my Netflix list. I do not remember picking it. Someone must have recommended it, or it was some movie that Jessica wanted to see and it just now got around to getting picked. Anyway, it was a good movie.

On another note, I am using up some of American Express points, and got the following:

Nikon 55-200mm AF-S DX Nikkor Zoom Lens – I will now have a lens that will actually reach out a little bit. Now, I just have to find things to take pictures of.

Skagen Men’s Titanium Watch – I’ve been wanting a watch for a little while now. But more of a dressy one. So I found this one, and it’s perfect. Now, I just have to hope I don’t break it. See below.

6320

Ok, this might contain spoilers, so be warned. I saw Cloverfield tonight. All in all, I very much enjoyed the movie. It had me on the edge of my seat the entire time, and it was original with a good story. The constant movement of the camera was a little much. I read something on Slashdot where one person mentioned that not even an armature would be that bad… I have to disagree. Most people these days don’t hold the camera to their face. They hold it out a couple feet and look at the screen which doesn’t make for steady video. I’d really like to know more about the monster and where it came from and stuff, but maybe it’s best left alone. It doesn’t really matter. Oh, and one thing about the camera… it says in the beginning “SD Card” as if it was a digital camera using flash memory… it would have had to be a film (as in tape) camera because of the film cutting in and out as it did. Film is susceptible to vibration, flash is not. Ok, so not really any spoilers to speak of. But whatever. I liked it. If you didn’t, well boo to you.

Also. Star Trek. O. M. G. Can’t. Wait.

Ok, so I have a sewing machine at my house that my mother has given me/let me borrow (I’m not exactly sure, she may come to me one day and steal it away). I am finally starting to get the urge to learn how to use it. It must be all of this button sewing. So I am starting by actually reading (*GASP*) the manual. The last time I tried to use it unsupervised, the thread just bunched up in the bottom (the bobbin! WOOT!). But I was going on memory, and it wasn’t doing well at the time I guess. Of course, I still don’t get all of the terminology. And I don’t actually have any fabric to sew. But, I do have old shirts and stuff that I can play with. Maybe I’ll sew designs on it.

This just requires profanity. Zune, sucks. Royally. A customer asked me to put some of their personal data on their Zune. So I am installing the software on my laptop. It’s now been an hour, and the install is still NOT done. And it’s not a slow computer. It took 15 minutes to check for updates. Then it “prepared” my computer three times. It has now been stuck on 99% of “installing” for about 15 minutes. Microsoft really screwed this one up. I don’t know who they bought out to get the Zune, but you’d think they would have actually put a little effort into polishing up their software before just slapping their name on it. It is SO not an iPod killer. At least Macs come preinstalled with iTunes. And the standard iTunes install is done in 5 minutes. Goodbye from Lakeland.

Update: Now, just as I get ticked off enough to just cancel the setup and see if I can run the program manually, the screen starts to flicker, and the battery goes dead in the laptop I was using. Thank you Microsoft for such a fine product. Keep them coming. Not.

So I had the most interesting dream last night. I was with a group of people in a house at night, but we could not leave because there were these not-so-dead zombies waiting outside for us with their backs turned to us. So I got outside and climbed a tree to see if I could find a way out. That’s when they noticed me and started to climb the tree. I pushed some of them out of the tree where they plummeted to their death (remember, they weren’t “dead” zombies). During all of this time, I was viewing from first person. Then it switched to third person (is that the right way of expressing it, or is that only in writing?) and I climbed higher into the tree where I miraculously swung out of it while most of the zombies where in the tree. It was like something you’d see in a movie. That’s when I started to fight with the zombies. One by one I was taking them on and defeating them. I suppose it was a bit gory (amnesia is already starting to set in). Once I killed the last one, I walked to the house and slammed on the window in the door with blood all over me with a look on my face that was like “Yeah, you guys couldn’t do that.” So I have no idea what the dream was about, except that when I woke up (10 minutes before my alarm was to go off), I felt good. It was the most vivid dream I’ve had in a long time. One of the few that I will remember for years. Of course, I’ll ignore the Freudian part where I started off as a woman, but when I got out of the tree, it was manly me. I don’t need any interpretations of that one, thank you.

I am thinking I should write a book about it. Develop it into a whole zombie story. Michelle Ryan can play me in the movie version so I’ll have to work close to her on a more personal level to fully convey my dream. I’ll have to read the Zombie Survival Guide first though.

Well, first off, I did not get the kitty. I went there Friday to drop off a key (which I forgot to do!) and they said someone else was interested and they had three little girls, so I said that a family should have it instead. Maybe some day Meiko will have a friend besides me.

So I am finally going to go to Ikea. I love the idea of cheap furniture. It’s supposedly been around for a few months now in Orlando. I was supposed to go with my mother, but instead I will be going with my friend Kristen who has already been there and is interested in their furniture also. I of course will not be purchasing furniture tomorrow. I have much more important things to spend my money on, such as a house to store the furniture and a vehicle to move it around. But I can plan for the future.

So I went to a “House concert” last night. It was a woman named Karma. It’s indie music. It was interesting. However, it only reinforced my problem with listening to music where I can’t here the words. I have no idea what the songs were about except for one where she explained her “air miles”. Beyond that though, I have no idea. I was also given a large bottle of Grey Goose vodka from a copier salesperson for helping her out at one of my customers during a copier setup. I am uncertain if she was flirting with me, or if she was just trying to a salesperson… :-p Christina, who was on the verge of being drunk, was trying to set us up, but used the line “You know, his ex-girlfriend was named Jessica” (which was the name of the salesperson). I don’t think that would be a good pickup line for me in the future.

I am also considering starting a separate blog just for computer stuff that I run across when at customers sites. They’d be things that I would like to share and help other people out with similar problems. I’ll keep you posted as to when I actually get around to doing that… if ever.