Thursday, March 03, 2011
post://3506176413114788508/I set out to write a very melodramatic account of getting glasses. I've always been able to see rather well, or so I thought. It's been over 10 years since my last visit to the optometrist and I'm sure my vision had degraded somewhere in there.
Everything was different. They used to have the lights and the poofs, but it just felt different this time. There were 3 machines when I went in for my pre-exam. There was an autofocus machine which determined what I was looking at as a scene appeared before me, constantly flicking in and out of focus, a puff machine - blowing air into each eye to see the reflex, and finally a crazy camera that took a picture of the back of my eyeball, does it go through the front? I assume so, but I don't know!
In any case all the technology was well and good until we came to the actual exam where they put (projected) letters in front of me. I couldn't make out nearly any of them of any good size, and apparently one eye was far worse then the other.
I had always claimed my good eyesight and hadn't really noticed a difference. The past few years I had run into difficult sign reading, at night, while driving... but it was more of a joke then a determination. I have astigmatism so that complicated things - neighter neear or far, just oblong development so one side doesn't match the other. The lenses should correct that.
I had wanted glasses as a kid for a short while, and even was diagnosed with a "lazy eye" based on my faking eye exam results to come to an end result of glasses. You think you're so clever when you're young. In any case this most recent exam came out of the blue. I was looking at my screens at work and realized I couldn't see as well as I'd like, add that on top of constant reminders everytime I couldn't read something but my wife could, or asking her for clarification... I knew it was inevitable that I had some deterioration.
All in all it wasn't horrible, just an irregularity - 88/80 I'm presuming are my numbers. They don't really tell you and they discourage you from ordering online. I don't blame them, you wan to try them on, but I can find the frames I liked and tried on and then order them directly.
In any case I got my glasses today and put them on. The perspective is completely different, and my biggest worry is the fact that when I put them on I lose my own vision. Taking them off and I'm all blurred up, 10x worse then I ever was before them... so what if I become that, what if I can't live without glasses ever??? It will be like that Twilight Zone episode where the lover of books has all the books in the world in a post apocalyptic shelter but then breaks his glasses... it's just not right.
I've been adapting, it's strange, things even seem skinnier, I'm changing my whoel perception of a lot of things, and the biggest thought to blow my mind was that everything that I thought I knew, what it looked like, has now been changed. This is the new view... and it's right?
The new:
posted @ 22:02
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Tuesday, March 01, 2011
post://6185620843742239928/So here's my first real entry since the whole blogger fiasco. I still want to convert everything to wordpress but for the effort I got the old template working with some strange google domain name service redirection magic to subdomains.
That's probably more then any good security expert would divulge, but I believe I've lost many of my readers anyhow at this point.
A lot has happened in the past couple years. It's going on 2 years since my son was born, and it was a good 9 months before that where we were preoccupied with newfangled life experiences.
It's strange but the biggest catalyst of late has been my need to reconnect with myself. I've let it go for a while, creeping further and further away, trying to ignore what's happening and continuing to live day to day. Not in a bad way, simply in a functional life process. I go to work, work, then come home. A lot of my interaction has been Facebook and I'm disappointed by the lack of permanentness.
It took a couple small tweaks but it's displaying some more info - mainly the musical section since I just posted a new item on my soundcloud account - I'll post more to the sidebar but you can view all my tracks here: http://soundcloud.com/serin-1
Labels: 2011, dj, music, status
posted @ 17:25
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Sunday, August 22, 2010
post://6742647745646302208/new post to sit at the top of the page - wasn't sure if I got this working again or not - in any case I'm going to try and parooze my facebook status to find some fill ins... way too much time has passed and this will be a large hole in my site.
Hurt my left hand playing softball on Friday - work tomorrow ought to be interesting.
this weekend got to go boating and then camping @ the orchard with Justin & Tracy
Labels: 2010, activities, baby, status
posted @ 23:16
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Tuesday, July 20, 2010
post://2833144171902749930/I know I'm going to regret trying to type something out on this laptop. I always hit the touchpad and sometimes even jump up and delete entire paragraphs if I'm not paying attention. In any case I'm writing this on my laptop because I didn't include my northbridge (MCP) temp on my monitor when I was overclocking. I had pretty good CPU temps but the northbridge got heated up way too high when the computer decided to come out of sleep for whatever reason and sit there baking in a 90 degree room with no A/C turned on.
Once I got wise (after it happened for like the 5th time) I would shutdown instead but it had already done it's damage. It only got hotter after that and would freeze more and more frequently. First I could have the A/C on, then I could only play for 3 hours or so before it would overheat, then 2 hours. I wasn't looking at MCP so the relatively high CPU tempts I assumed were the culprit. I clocked down the voltage, speed, everything back down to stock but the freezing / overheating remained. By this time I was watching the MCP and it was climbing higher.
The CPU was roughly 45C at idle and up to 55C at load overclocked from 3.2 to 3.9ghz - it's a 4 core Phenom II 955. The board is an ASUS M3N-SLi with built in heatsink for the memory (memipe). I had it tweaked up pretty good, and the extra oomph game the ceiling I needed for GTA & Bad Company 2. I had no more CPU ceiling in those games, but it took it's toll and eventually baked the heatsinks on the board. I haven't actually taken them off yet. Instead I elected to sell my old RAM and CPU (a Phenom 9950 4x 2.6ghz) along with my old video cards (2 x EVGA 280 GTX 1G) to finance an updated board.
I replaced the CPU a month or two ago - AM2 to AM3 - which I was impressed was possible with the AM2 motherboard, but my thirst for power was too great. I still have my old CPU so selling that with the memory to someone else with the same board seemed to make the most sense. I have OEM SuperTalent memory - undocumented overclocking gaming memory 5-5-5-15 Dual Channel DDR2 @ 1066mhz so there's even some special voltage settings to get those to work right, that was a good month or so of testing to get that solid but damned if they ain't the most that can be gotten out of 8g of DDR2.
So I had to settle for a not so great motherboard because I wanted DDR3 & SLi. If I had two ATI graphics cards I would be fine, there are tons of offerings out there for AM3 DDR3 Tri Channel Crossfire but with what was available for SLi left me with a choice of SLi or Tri Channel DDR3 - I already have 2 x EVGA 285GTX 2G cards so had to say bye bye to my Tri Channel Dreams. I will do something in the future, and when the next video card choice comes along I will need to make my decision. I have been with NVidia for quite some time now and don't plan on moving... AMD might have to go bye bye to make way for Intel and intelligent choice of what I want in a motherboard. If they don't do something with the selection I'll have to abandon AMD.
So the new system will be Dual Channel DDR3 with the Phenom II chip and SLi - got a new case while I was at it, I was tired of trying to make it all fit and cursing the case evertime I had to touch it. The stuff should come tomorrow, but not sure I'll touch it yet.
Labels: 2010, graphics, hardware, status
posted @ 19:32
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Wednesday, March 24, 2010
post://6987543379964833330/There is still time, they've extended the deadline, unfortunately this led to my sister's business being without email for a half a day. I had sent her an email when renewal for her domain was coming up and she said "oh I'm just going to go with this free one" ok, sure... guess things aren't going that well, go ahead and use the free site.
Well, when it expired, sure enough I get a call "my email isn't working". Huh, yeah, didn't think of the email aspect "If I told you email was included would that have changed your mind? - Yes" well then... dualy noted. In any case she was kinda upset, it seemed like she thought I had slacked on sending her an email where in my mind I was thinking "ok, I did all this setup for her, and now she doesn't want it - ok, no problem - she's got it" I didn't take into account that she wasn't considering email. I hadn't considered email. Domain is domain, if you have domain covered, as is email covered... she didn't know that, oh well, live and learn.
So besides pissing off my sister I haven't done much with work. It's been crazy with the recent projects, and working with the UK which means getting up 4 to 5 hours earlier (given whatever the current daylight savings is set to). So I've been burning out sooner then later. I'ts 2pm and I'm off work. Not sure if that's common knowledge but I started at 4am and otherwise I'm going to explode and/or fall asleep.
I've been working quite a bit, but still some time for the child in the evenings. I can't remember if I've named him online yet - might as well not start now if I haven't. I know the name of my child and if you know me you know his name as well, darn, just gave away that he's male... or did I? :)
In any case it's been great seeing the baby mature - almost 8 months and counting. I remember our friends reaching 8 months and thinkng wow... we're not quite there yet, but yeah, we're here now, and in another couple it'll be 12. Time was measurable by the seasons in most cases, but now we've got a whole human who evolves by leaps and bounds by the day, let alone the month, or the year. Time just keeps on keeping on regardless.
I'm thankful for my child, and really think this will all be so fleeting. Nicole's already thinking of another one, but at least my retentive self can infuse a little control in holding off for the time being. There is much work, career, and additional planning to be done. If we're ever to be organized and have a handle on things, 1 is all we can handle from a financial standopint.
I can't describe the feeling I get when my child looks up at me in adoration and comfort and satisfaction. There is something that comes from within at seeing a human who depends on you, who recognizes you, who appreciates and loves to see you. It's a beautiful thing and < soapbox > I just hope that all have the opportunity to have a secure enough life to sponsor a new life. I see many a person who is in no position and where I am not one deny them that, at the expense of the child I am willing to deny them that.
There's just too much badness in the word to bring a fresh child into. If you need a child that badly, it's a great goal to pull yourself out of said badness first.
< / soapbox >
posted @ 14:15
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Tuesday, July 21, 2009
post://751856176805052483/So the baby is on the way, 4 days until the due date. The baby's room is finished, floor sanded, resealed, walls painted, and furnished. Nicole and I both wanted a braided rug as we both have fond memories of racing matchbox cards along the braids. It's a built in racing track. I remember setting up my blocks in a track shape and using the braids as built in lanes. We settled on a nice braided cloth one from Thorndike Mills in Palmer. I'd say they're the de facto manufacturer of braided rugs mainly because they are the only ones I've ever heard of.
Since the room's been done I've gotten into the habit of looking into the room at night time and the morning, opening the door which has been closed to keep the cats out, just getting used to the image. I can imagine the baby there in the crib, all snuggled and peaceful in a warm loving house. It's a nice thought, but never thought I'd get to this point.
There's the usual concerns about how to change them, settle the crying, alleviate the gas bubbles, and hold the baby securely while trying to do things with one hand. I've always handled babys well (I think), but I never got all that much face time with any given tiny baby. I'm really looking forward to holding my son or daughter in my arms, looking at them and knowing they are part me.
I'm sure they'll run into the same issues I did growing up and I hope I can help them through it. Not to say my parents didn't try but they just didn't seem to have much of a clue. They were so old by the time they had me, things had been much different when they were children. Generations had gone by since, and their childhood memories didn't really give me much to work off of. I hope I can provide some insight to help prepare my child for the life that lies ahead.
Nicole and I both agree on the same rearing theories so I'm hoping that we'll be a good team.
posted @ 14:25
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Wednesday, June 03, 2009
post://2302350923508456804/The baby is coming in two months (give or take) and I'm feeling a bit... stressed?
I'm excited for the actual situation, but how I'm going to turn everything around in that short of time is a bit daunting.
I have until the beginning of July to finish everything for school. Once class is done and I think I'm in good shape there but the other one I've fallen quite a bit farther behind. I'm just starting on a paper that should have been done a week or two ago and I don't even know where to start.
We've got the baby's room started. It's primed and painted but needs another coat of paint and then I've still got to do the floor. After we pulled up the carpet there was a nice wood floor underneath, but the previous owners went all fuckall with the ceiling popcorn so it's got to be sanded and refinished and since I was going to rent a sander for the occasion I figured I might as well do the office too while I'm at it, since that floor has certainly seen better days.
On top of all this the bathroom is still being redone downstairs. At least we've got the upstairs one so we're not without during all this, but it's taken some time. They're doing good work thus far so I'm not complaining but there are additional concerns and decisions to approve as far as things we need to replace now they've got everything apart or the allotments for improvements to the items we've budgeted for.
I'm worried I can't get everything baby-ready in time, and in order to do all these pending items I kind of need to be home but we keep making ourselves busy. VT was last week, and NY this week - Pregnancy: Get it While it Lasts! (The Mom Tour)
I'm currently ready to head to our last birthing class, so once Nicole's lab is done at school we'll at least have Wednesdays back to normal. I might not be able to squeeze all the house stuff into a weeknight, but it might help me catch up on my school assignments. It's a great class, really interesting, but I'm so not getting what they apparently think I should be getting out of this because I read the materials but have NO idea what they're talking about in the writing assignment that's based on them. "wait... what do you mean 'all the different views?' I can name one... I think"
It all builds on itself so I'm starting to get a little tense. Work has been well, at least. Everything finally settled down, but apparently today was "nothing based on Access will work properly and needs to be fixed" day. There's a potential good thing coming up in the prospect of a trainee at work. They shuttle college graduates on a "fast path" to management - sending them to various areas a few months at a time to get as broad of a perspective as possible. We're getting one in my area and I'm going to be the mentor, so it'll be a little practice and I'll see how I do. I don't really want to get into the management side, but I'm thinking that might be the only route that'll get me any more moolah in this area and I would like to think my background would mean I could recommend and deligate well.
Ultimately I'd like to do full time programming, hopefully it'll be varied enough to keep me interested. I'd need more official training and if I can ever get to it I've got some additional programming classes coming. My development plan - read: list of classes for a degree - is fairly intense and involved so I might not really get to the actual programming classes until later. I know .NET but I've only been through official VB6 classes so I'm really looking forward to it for the best practices end of things.
Labels: 2009, baby, school, status
posted @ 18:13
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Thursday, January 01, 2009
post://6164516219882452047/I wanted to note that I'm feeling pretty good now. A weekend of relaxing and eating did me wonders and I've been careful to posture properly at work to reduce undue need for a backeeotomy.
We spent almost new years at Jen and Matt's, ate some ribs, played some wii and then got home in time to see the big sparkly thing... forget what it was but it was sponsored by Nivea.
Labels: consumerism, holidays, new years, status
posted @ 10:20
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Sunday, December 21, 2008
post://8937212902501074694/This blizzard will be the death of me, I'm currently attempting to ward off back spasms with muscle relaxers and aleve. I was just getting over it too, and now I've done WAY too much shoveling. I am writing to try and keep my mind off the spasms, pain, and absence of breath I'm feeling, so I won't be hurt if you stop reading here :)
It started a week ago Thursday. I hurt my back doing nothing special - I was sitting in my office chair and turned right to grab my laptop out of the case on the ground. I didn't feel anything right away, but by the end of the day I was feeling it.
I worked Friday from home and then had Monday and Tuesday off to recuperate so I didn't think much of going to Nicole's family's Christmas Party on Sunday. I still hurt, but it wasn't bad enough to keep me home. By Monday I was feeling good. So good, in fact, that I decided I'd surprise Nicole by putting up the Christmas lights outside. Otherwise the whole day was me resting by watching TV and video games.
Alas, Tuesday was going to be another wash - holed up in bed all day so I finally got an appointment with the Chiropractor. He adjusted, it didn't feel quite as wonderful as it normally does but I figured it was due to it being out for so many days thus far.
I went to work Wednesday and Thursday with little to no issue and then this damn storm came up on Friday. I shoveled Friday night and though I hurt in the morning I needed to shovel Saturday because our damn snow blower is delayed until Tuesday. We couldn't find the one we wanted in the stores around here so we went online. Amazon got our hopes up by saying it would be delivered the next day... FedEx tracking brought us back into the reality that we'd be waiting another few days.
No sunflower means shoveling and when it's coming down about 2 to 4 inches an hour, that means shoveling several times. I did a lot the first time, though still not the whole driveway. I tried to at least keep the area around the cars and the plow deposits at the end of the driveway clear but it... just... kept... coming.
This morning I finished up the picture for our Christmas cards so we'll be sending those out tomorrow. I beat several stages of both Fallout3 and GTAIV then I watched the whole football game today, an absolute slaughter by NE in the snow. It almost feels like it's getting worse with me applying heat and not moving much. I'm wondering if I should stretch, I need to move, I'm getting a bit stir crazy.
Our driveway really needs a complete shovel, as does our front steps and sidewalk. I know the neighbors must not think much of me, but I just can't do any more shoveling. I can't move, or walk well, and shoveling will just make it worse. I wish the neighbor kids would come over and ask. I kinda thought they would after seeing me shovel. I'm weird with kids & neighbors though, never know what to say, or even what to say when they start the conversation, put the two together and I have no idea how to interact.
I had moved around enough snow previously to be able to get out with the car both earlier today and a little while ago. Nicole and I just went to go pick up the invitations after submitting them online and for food earlier today. It was really bad out there, the Subaru cut right through it, but I did emulate a plow somewhat on my exit and re-entrance.
*Whew* The spasms have finally subsided after a double dose, but along with them goes my thoughting ability. I'm too young for back problems, if this is just the start of it, I hate to see what's in store for my future. I'm working from home again tomorrow, and not sure about the rest of the week but this is crazy.
Labels: blizzard, holidays, lament, snow, status
posted @ 18:12
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Monday, April 02, 2007
post://3554453810111851033/I haven't been up to too much, just hangin out, workin, bought a house, and makin eggs.
(check out the other sets, my pumpkin from Holloween is in there)
posted @ 21:00
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