Snow, Scratches, Taxes and Friends

When I got in last night from work it was lightly snowing. So when I got up this morning the snow continued the fall during the night and there was a nice dusting of is all over. It's the first snowfall of the year. I knew it wouldn't stick around but it was nice to wake up to a pretty sight.

Today I had to deal with my computer issues from last night. I started my computer and it didn't seem to have any start up issues. I opened my web browser and was surprised to see that all the fonts have changed. My blog, twitter and gmail.. all fonts changed and are now bold as well. At first I thought it was my computer settings but my computer is fine.. it looks to be something is wrong with the browser. Gonna have to look into that. There were a few other weird things going on so ran everything from Norton and in the end I think I got everything working right.. except the weird font thing.

I had friends coming over to day so I spent the morning cleaning the house. I also went out to clean my car. Living off a dirt road makes it impossible to keep the car clean, but I wanted to show it off to my buddy Brett so I wanted to give it a good washing. As I was inspecting it (as I do every morning) I noticed this really long scratch on the drivers side door right next to the handle.

I couldn't believe it. I haven't had the car a week and not only do I get a scratch (which I expect) but I get this six-inch scratch. My heart actually hurt. I was so sick to my stomach. As I mentioned I check this car every day so the only place it could have happened was at work. I have to valet my car and they cram these cars in like sardines. I assume someone squeezed between my car and another and something on their body scraped against my car. I hate the fact that I have to valet my car for work and there really isn't anyone I can go, to complain to.

I had to head out to do my taxes at noon. I've been going to the same guy for over 12 years and I love him. I only worked 3 months last year so I wasn't really expecting much.. all I really wanted to do was break even. Well I'm happy to say I'm getting a nice amount back, especially for how little I worked. Owning a house really helps. Kind of worried about what will happen when I sale the house.

While I was out I headed over to Pepboys to see if I could get something for this scratch. I purchased several things and when I got home I tried them all. None of them worked :( I was told I should try to wax and buff it out. So that will be my next attempt. But for now I have friends coming over to hang out so I have to get ready for them.

First to arrive was my buddy Brett; he came over not only to hang out but also to look at my Jeep to see if he could figure out what the problem was. As we were checking it out Jes arrived. BTW Brett thinks it's something internal, something in the actual engine. Not sure what I'm going to do about the Jeep.

We went inside and finished watching a ST: TNG episode I had been watching before they arrived. We then moved onto my screeners. We selected several but one that none of us had seen was Anne Karenina. Here's a synopsis; Set in late-19th-century Russia high-society, the aristocrat Anna Karenina enters into a life-changing affair with the affluent Count Vronsky.

First of all it's one of the most uniquely filmed movies. It's like watching a theater play mixed with an actual film. There are times that sets are being moved as the action is happening and actors are going about their thing and they are changing clothes at the same time. It was kind of jarring at first but after a while I started to really enjoy it.

The main story about Anne was difficult at times to watch... you are watching this poor woman slowly go insane. I actually enjoyed the B-story with Anne's sister Kitty and her relationship with Constantine. That was a very rewarding story.

In the end I loved the movie for how it was presented but there was a bit too much dragging and drama for my taste. Technically it was stunning.. the scenery, the costumes and the acting was fantastic.. just a bit too slow for me. I give the idea and look of the movie an A but the story a C. I'm glad I watched it but I don't think I'll ever watch it again.

Afterwards we went out to dinner at Outback Steakhouse.. that place was packed but after a half-hour or so we found a booth in the bar area. We all enjoyed some yummy steak.

Because dinner took a bit longer then expected we decided to postpone Life of Pi and instead watch something that we have all seen and loved.. .Wreak-it-Ralph. We got about 2/3d's of the way through it before we called it a night and we said our goodbyes.

It was a fun evening.

Friday Night Hangout & Computer Woes

After work I got home and jumped online as my buddy Chris was hosting a Google Hangout. He did one of these last week and it was a huge success. I've tried Google hangout once or twice at home and my internet is so slow that it never works.. well Google hangout added a low bandwidth selection for their hang out so I gave that a try and it worked out great. When I joined there was Jen, Chris and Hollywood (Scott). Rupert, Kim and Anne joined in afterwards. Everything was going great.. we were chatting and laughing and watching Kim on her loom. Then my internet went out and it was down hill from there.

I restarted my computer and I was getting start up errors. It took three restarts to finally get the computer back up and somewhat running. I ran Norton over and over and it didn't find anything major, but I was still having issues. I gave up on trying to rejoin the Google hangout, which is disappointing as it went to about 1am.

My hard drive died the Monday before and now my computer is having issues. I think it's time to do a complete wipe and reload of everything. Just need to get a large enough hard drive to back everything up onto it.

I'll deal with that this weekend.

When a Dream Dies

As the days, months and years go by my dreams of a having a loving partner and children dwindle. For as long as I can remember I have wanted to be a husband and father. I was ready to settle down and start my family at age 16. Of course my life didn't quite turn out as I thought it would when I was younger, not that I'm complaining. I love my life, I have a great family and some of the best friends a guy could ever ask for, but still... something is missing.

It's now going on two years since Harry and I broke up and there hasn't been any romance in my life, absolutely nothing, zilch, nada.. and I'm beginning to doubt there will ever be. It's hard to understand when you have friends and family around you saying how great you are and how lucky someone would be to have me as a partner but still nothing... something is wrong with this situation.

As for having kids... Over the years I have considered adopting a child or fostering as a single parent. But I've never really been financially stable to do so. And as I have now entered my 40's the chances of me having that life is quickly disappearing.

Of course I don't know what the future holds but as of right now I am letting this dream die. I was not meant to be a daddy, and being an uncle is as close to having a child of my own, I am going to get and you know what..  I'm good with that. I love my nephew and niece and I can't wait until they are old enough to come visit their uncle and do all sorts of fun activities.

It's funny how life changes from what you want to what you get.

Podcasting

So tonight after work I went home determined to not do anything but finish my Alien Nation podcast which is due to be released in four days. I have been putting it off and putting it off. I did work on it a bit over the weekend but then I was having Avid/Hard Drive issues and stopped. I did mange to get the bulk of it done by midnight. I still have some offline media which I will deal with tomorrow morning before work. I hope to get this episode done and uploaded by end of day tomorrow.

I have to get back into podcasting. It's not like I'm bored with it or anything but sometimes it feels more like a job and once that happens it's no longer fun. But I truly love podcasting and I hope to continue podcasting for many years to come.

I have been doing alot of thinking about where to go next. I currently have five running podcasts and a sixth that I have been trying to get off the ground for over three years now. I have put my My Gimpy Life on hiatus until there is news about a season two.

My Knights of the Guild podcast has been dying a slow death. The past year has been a real hit and miss with it. I haven't been able to keep on a regular schedule. I think when Jenni left a huge part of the podcast charm went with her and I haven't been able to really bring it back up to it's prime. I have some audio from the set of Season Six but I think once that is done I'll bring that podcast to an end... maybe this summer.

Confessions of a Fanboy, like KOTG is starting to flounder a bit. I have four or five great interviews in the can.. I just need to get motivated to do the editing and post them. I'm already a few months behind and I hate that because I really do enjoy this podcast. This one has the potential to go on for many many years. Just need a good kick in the butt.

MASH 4077 is my strongest and most listen to podcast. This is the only podcast that I make sure I release every 1st and 15th of the month like clockwork. It's been going two years and the audience has grown from a few hundred a month to over 10,000 a month. We still have material for another eight years.. there is no end in sight for this one.

My Alien Nation podcast is just fun. It's probably the least listen to out of all my podcasts but we have some very loyal listeners. This is the podcast I do with my brother and we have such an awesome time doing it, that we'd do it even if nobody was listening to us. We have enough material to last a few more years.

The Geek RoundTable is the podcast that has been in the works for 3 years. It's the podcast that I've been wanting to do since I started podcasting. All my podcasts are for specific shows or things. This one is a general geek/nerd thing. This one will have the most guest hosts and that is one of the reasons why it's taking to long to get started. I hope to have it up and running by the end of the year. My co-host Charles has been super patient with me and I can't wait to get it going.

I just want to thank all my loyal listeners, you guys are the best.

Stitcher Radio

So I've been hearing about Stitcher Radio for over a year.  What is Stitcher.. Stitcher is the leader in Internet Radio for the world beyond music. They deliver the latest news, politics, sports, business and entertainment on-demand to listeners on their mobile phones. The Stitcher app has been downloaded over 8 million times and offers the best programming from thousands of content providers including NPR, Fox and CNN. Stitcher is available for iPhone, Android and iPad and is being integrated directly into new Ford and GM vehicles.

Several of my fellow friends/podcasters have uploaded their podcasts to this server. I have been hesitant because I have been working on my own kind of "geeky" Radio station and I didn't want to have my podcasts locked into one network.

In the past I have had offers to join other networks but when you read the fine print you find out that once your podcasts are part of their network, they either partly own your podcasts or restrict you from sharing your podcasts on any other network. I did not want his.

Recently when recording my MASH podcast with my buddies Meds and Al mentioned getting our MASH 4077 podcast up on Stitcher and I shared with them my concerns. They informed me that Stitcher is no like that. They don't require any kind of contract and they don't require to own anything of the podcasts. All they ask is that you promote Stitcher Radio.

After checking out the site myself and thoroughly reading the rules I came to the conclusion that this is just another great outlet like itunes for podcasters and I signed up with my five current podcasts.

Now I just have to wait and see if I get approved. Both Meds and Al said that their audience really grew once they were part of this Radio station... here's hoping.

Buffy and Bros

Tonight after work I headed over to Robert's place to continue our Buffy rewatch/1st time viewing. We ordered some pizza for dinner. It's been a few weeks since our last Buffy viewing party. As always it was great seeing Robert, though we talk everyday via texting or facebook messaging, it's not the same as seeing the person face to face.

We start season four today of Buffy. First up was "The Freshman", it was an good start to the season. This was Buffy's first day of collage and I think they conveyed what it was like the first day of collage. It also showed Buffy second guessing herself when it came to killing vampires but by the end the good ol' Buffy is back.

Our second episode was "Living Conditions". This is the one with Buffy's roommate who we come to find out is a demon from another dimension going to collage in ours. She is also sucking Buffy's soul out little by little causing Buffy to kind of go crazy. It was a fun episode, nothing to special but at least we get rid of Buffy's crazy roommate.

For our third and final episode of the evening we watched "The Harsh Light of Day" This was a fun episode and I know Robert really like it as it had one of his favorite character's return.. Spike. It was good to see Spike back and once again Buffy kicking his butt as she normally does.

I forgot that season four got off to a rather slow start. The main story arc of the season hasn't even begun yet. I have to admit that season four is probably my least favorite season but it does have one of the most incredible episodes in it.. "Hush". 

Having a great time rewatching Buffy with one of my besties.

Car Paranoia

So today is my first day driving my new car to work. I have to say driving something brand new to work makes the commute not so bad. I listen to podcasts while in bumper to bumper traffic but I don't mind. My biggest issue was leaving my car with the valet. Here at work we can't part our own cars. We have a valet who parks them for us. I was paranoid all day long hoping my car wasn't getting dinged, scratched or anything. I hate to say it but when I got off work I drove home, again not minding the traffic, but when I got home I took a flashlight and went over every inch of my car to make sure there weren't any dings or scratches. I know it's stupid and I know I'm going to get scratches and dings but I'm going to do my best to not let it happen within the first week.

Lazy Sunday

The day started with me wanting to get a ton of podcasting done, but I was having issues with Avid so I used that excuse to not do any podcasting. Instead I went for a joy ride with my new car. It was a beautiful day and kind of warm so I opened the sunroof and drove down Sierra Highway. It's kind of odd driving a different car after driving the same one for over 10 years, but knowing that I won't be having any issue with this vehicle for a long while (well I hope that's true) is a very comforting feeling. Made it to Santa Clarita, I stopped by Target to get some cool car accessories, like my ipod connector so I could listen to my ipod via my car speakers. It's funny as when I went to park I park so far away that there were no cars around me. I did the same when I went to lunch at Chili's. I made sure I was so far from any other car. I know that won't always be possible but for now it makes me happy.

Got back home and turned on the TV. Now it's Super Bowl Sunday but me noting being a huge sports person decided to not watch and flip through the channels where I found that BBC America was having a Star Trek The Next Generation marathon and playing was one of my favorites The Inner Light, and the next two episodes were Time's Arrow part 1 and 2, again some of my favorites so I settled in for a few evening of Trek.

I did hope to get some podcasting down but in the end I decided to just kick back and have a day of laziness and it was awesome.