wifi

I was a little late to the WiFi party. didn't get myself a wireless router 'til about a year and a half ago, and traded that one up for an apple airport express on the day they were announced.

wifi is so damn addictive, I found myself switching oil change shop allegiances just because the new-found shop had free wireless access in the waiting room.

wifi is so damn handy for things like chillin' on the couch with a laptop, that I have barely even turned on my desktop machine since february.

mmm... wifi.

nothing

I had the opportunity on saturday to have a day of nothing. no plans, no commitments, no errands to run, nothin' to do and all day to do it. mayn... I tell yew whut - it was NICE. I hadn't had a day of nothing in so long, I couldn't remember what it felt like. didn't take long to remember just how blissful nothing can be.

mmm... nothing.

the wave.

I'm one of oh, maybe ONE people in LA who does not own a car. I sold my car back in January in favor of a motorcycle, and I've been pretty damn happy with the decision so far. Right after I started riding, I discovered an unexpected little perk - riders wave to each other. Not a big thing, but still kinda cool. Like we're stickin' together against the unwashed masses on four wheels.

Not every rider waves, but I'd estimate 75% do. It's not a big shiny happy wave - the common style is to do a left hand just below the handlebar gesture. Subtle, yet cool.

caffeine

most people I know who work with computers or technology also have more than a passing acquaintance with caffeinated beverages. coffee, soda, and energy drinks are always around the office in substantial quantities.

for me, it doesn't help that my company shares a building with red bull's american HQ. at my worst, I was drinking 3 to 4 red bulls scattered throughout the day, a veinte (I hate that word - it's LARGE, dammit) coffee from Tully's in the morning, and a 16 oz. soda with lunch. the free red bulls were the worst - I had wicked cravings for those damn things.

about two weeks ago, I realized that all this caffeine was probably not a very good idea, so I quit. no soda, no coffee, and no more goddamn toro rojo. I was expecting to be miserable for a few days after I quit, but besides a very mild headache on day 2, my wagon ride has been smooth. I expected to be really tired in the morning, but that never happened - i've had pretty much the same evergy levels as before.

TiVo... dead as Dillinger

Tonight, mere days after I post a gushing, glowing, love-fest missive about my TiVo, I came home to a dead TiVo. This is no mild injury. Not only will it not boot up, but powering it on results in nothing more than a creepy little your-hard-drive-is-dead-and-you're-shit-outta-luck clickety click noise.

Yay.

I upgraded this TiVo with a second drive about a year ago (200 hours, baybee!), and I suspected at the time that two drives in this 'box might run a wee skosh toasty. Looks like I was right.

Bummer about having a DirecTiVo is that with the TiVo dead, it takes my dish with it. No TV at all 'til I fix it. And I lost about 15 episodes of The Daily Show that I hadn't yet seen.

Oh, the humanity.