It was brought to my attention a few weeks ago that I have all but abandoned this blog – or any other blog – since last July.
Sorry about that. There hasn’t been a great deal going on, I haven’t seen anything really shiny, and my stupid job has got me exhausted most of the time. So….let’s just try to pick up where we left off and hit whatever highlights there have been in my life since July (in no particular order. This will be strictly stream-of-consciousness writing).
For starters (or enders, actually), I’m typing this on my new Microsoft Surface tablet. Yeah. I finally joined the tablet generation. There was no way I was going to get another Apple device, so the iPad family was out; but a lot of my friends have gotten various types of tablets over the last few years and I was growing somewhat fond of the portability of the things. When Microsoft finally released a tablet that – quite seriously, thanks largely to the fact that it is Microsoft – has the potential to replace my laptop, I took the plunge. Perhaps I should have waited another month and gotten the Surface Pro, which runs a full-blown instance of Windows 8 (this one runs Windows 8 RT, which is a scaled down version of the Windows 8 OS), but I thought the time was right, so I just got what I got. If I want to upgrade to the Pro later on, I’ve been told I can do so for a $50 restocking fee. We shall see.
At any rate, this is quite a nice little computer. The touch-sensitive keyboard/screen cover had me a bit nervous at first, as I wondered if it would be a complete pain to use. However, it works very well if it’s on a tabletop (as it is now). Takes a little getting used to, and I’ll never be able to use it to type as quickly as I do on a mechanical keyboard, but I’m probably cranking out about 40 wpm right now.
The camera on the tablet is not great. Actually, that’s a lie. The camera is terrible – my phone’s camera is (literally) about 6 times better; but who really cares? It’s not like I’m going to be carrying this thing around in the hope of getting a great photograph. I have a phone – not to mention a couple of professional-grade cameras – for that.
The biggest complaint I’ve heard about the surface (one which does not bother me, by the way) is that there aren’t as many apps available for it as there are for the iPad. This is a fact in one sense and a complete red herring in another. It is true that the Apple app store has a billion apps and the Windows app store does not. A quick check just now revealed to me that there are around 4000 Windows 8 apps available in the US. However, let’s think about the apps themselves. How many different versions of a fart machine does the typical iPad user need to have? And how many iPads are running full-blown Microsoft Office applications? I rest my case. I don’t think of my tablet as a toy – I really don’t. It’s a tool and a potential replacement for my laptop. I use it to check email, look up things on the web, work with files, and occasionally edit photos. I don’t even have any games installed on it. If I want to play computer games, I’ll use my playstation or I’ll go to an arcade. Laptop games, by and large, suck.
Bottom line? I like my new tablet.
Going back now….after I left Ahmic last summer, I drove west across Ontario in order to cross the border at Sault St. Marie, Michigan. It was an absolutely stunning day and the drive was beautiful. My border crossing was also, without question, the smoothest ever. The customs dude, took my passport, asked me what I was doing (“Going home from vacation,” said I), gave my passport back, and waved me through. Total time at the booth: 10 seconds.
After that, I made my way across Michigan’s upper peninsula, down through Green Bay, WI, and stayed the night at a hotel in Marinette, WI. The following day, I completed my trip to Waukegan, IL, and set up camp at the Michigan Beach State Park. I spent the next few days hanging out with Amy, swimming in Lake Michigan (cold, but fantastic), visiting one of America’s foremost renaissance fairs near Kenosha, WI (Amy is one of the court trumpeters), and had the extreme pleasure of sitting in at a rehearsal of the Chicago Brass Band.
I suppose I should talk a bit about work. I hate my job, am not fond of my team, despise my company, and am getting incredibly sick of having me schedule radically changed every 5 weeks or so. When I got back from vacation, I worked M-F, 8-5. That was changed to M-T, 8-7. Next week, I’ll be going to M-F, 10-7. In December, I’ll be switched to S-W, 7-6. Planning anything outside of work is a nightmare, which is one reason that this blog hasn’t been updated since my vacation. I get home from work, watch a few minutes of television, and go to bed. On my days off (like today), I sleep a lot or run errands.
Fortunately, I haven’t had to work on Saturdays yet, so I’ve been able to make all of my planned football games. I’ve become convinced that my best lenses are badly in need of cleaning and recalibration, however, so have rented lenses for 4 of said games. Not a particularly cheap arrangement, but hopefully the improved photos will result in increased sales. So far this season, I’ve sold about $500 worth of pictures, which pretty much offsets the rentals and gas expenses. This weekend (tomorrow), I’ve also rented a Canon D1-X body, and I’ll need to sell a pantload of prints to pay for that. I doubt that will happen, but I really want to try out that camera body. I’ve also been hired by the Greenville News for this game, which is nice. It’s the first time that a major media outlet has given me a shot, so I’m really hoping to have a good outing and get my name permanently on their stringers list.
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| My Microsoft Surface Tablet PC |
I paid off my car this week! It was something that I expected to do by the end of the year, but a very nice windfall from Dad allowed me to do it all at once instead of waiting for next month. As I told Amy, “That puts me one step closer to telling AT&T to get bent.” I would dearly love to be able to do that on May 10th, 2013; but I don’t see that happening. Maybe by 5/10/14 – that way they’ll have to give me my 15-year prize, too. I think I’m up for luggage or something.
I’ve mentioned Amy a few times here, so let’s catch up on her a bit. Since my first trip to meet her last Spring, I’ve gone back to the Chicago area a total of three times and she’s visited Atlanta three times. The next time we get together is currently set for the week of Thanksgiving. I’m looking forward to it. We send lots of text messages to each other and talk on the phone 4-5 times a week, but being together is just so much nicer.
In September, I attended the NABBA fall board meeting in Cincinnati. Not much to report on there, except that it was a nice drive, my hotel room was fantastic, and I actually kind of like downtown Cincy.
Now that the car is paid off, I’m going to enjoy not having a car payment for a few months, but I think there’s going to be a new car in the not-too-distant future. The Audi is closing in on 170,000 miles. Not a lot, I know, but it does mean that little things are going wrong more frequently than I’d like. “Little” problems in an Audi usually equate to $1,000 repair bills. I’ve got my heart set on a Subaru Outback because I want something that comfortable to tool around in in the city and is also something that I can take out into the woods when the opportunities arise, While the Outback is by far my first choice, however, I’ve also been looking at other 4×4 vehicles that have some promise. No drop-dead date on that purchase, but it is something that I’m looking into,
It has gotten cooler in Duluth, GA, and I’ve had a raging cold for the last couple of weeks to prove it. My outdoor cats are quite comfortable, however. Two of them, Daphne and Buddy, apparently spend most of their time under my deck. Brooks, who I am 99% sure is the son of Fleck (Fleck died a few months ago, by the way) has taken up residence in the little house that I built for Fleck last summer, and he seems quite content there. I can count on being stared at by one or all of them every morning now – they’ve become quite tame and they expect their breakfast to be delivered on time.
Walking has gotten more difficult as the year has gone on, largely because of my work schedule. When I get out of bed, it’s pitch black. By the time I leave for work, it’s just starting to get light. By the time I get home, it’s pitch black again. The schedule change next week should help, as I’ll be able to start walking at 8 in the morning or so and will be able to make it to work by 10. When the schedule changes back to an 11-hour one, however, the walks will again suffer. It’s too bad, because I was actually starting to get into shape when I was able to walk every day. I’ve noticed now that the pain in my calves that I had largely overcome is now back when I try to go for more than a couple of miles. Back to square one, I guess.
The Georgia Brass Band make actually return to the NABBA championships in 2013. That was a done deal a month ago, but it’s now up in the air again because we’ve been invited to play at the Great American Brass Band Festival (and we’ll be doing it). For some members of the band, the idea of playing both events is too daunting. I don’t really know why, but I’m not going to push it. I’ll be at NABBA regardless – and if the band doesn’t go, then I’ll have a much easier time doing my duties as NABBA’s secretary.
I guess that’s enough for now. I was thinking about this blog the other day and I’d really like to write more going forward. It all comes down to time and topics, however. If I don’t have much of either, I may disappear for another four months.