Progress

Yes ladies and gentlemen, the Erwin family has a new pimpride. And how pimpin it be!

Check it:



A 1998 Oldsmobile Bravada. With +1 Sweet.

Awww yeah. You know who I love? My friends at Carmax. I know its cheesy, but honestly I've never gone through such a pleasant, yes downright enjoyable car buying experience.

While it was costly (they always are), and God bless my mother for helping in various ways including moral support, I can definitely say that I don't think we would've made it out of there in less than 4 hours (including test drives and all the paperwork...and all the delays were created by ourselves) at any other 'dealership.'

Those peeps get paid a flat rate, we give Carmax a $99 for their trouble (which can go up to $399 at other places), and I'm a happy mofo.

Must I list the goodies on the vehicle? I must (as taken from the Carmax info page):

Air Conditioning
ABS Brakes
Power Steering
Leather Seats
Air Bag(s)
AM/FM/Cassette/CD
Power Windows
Power Locks
Power Seat(s)
Power Mirrors
Alloy Wheels
Cruise Control
Rear Defroster
Rear Wiper
Sunroof
Roof Rack
4 Wheel Drive
Seat Heater

A fuckin seat heater folks. Good Lord. I'm happy with my purchase :)

Sips and Gulps

Some cool things are happening around here. As I've delved back into the world of blogs, I've begun to search out the good ones and through the magical world of networking I've found many.

I'll link plenty here, along with some cool programs to manage them.

As for the title, I think I'll begin posting smaller blurbs here. While I won't restrain myself from longer posts, I think its good to take in the short musings of people both in sips and gulps. So as of right now, expect quick, to-the-point posts.

How long those will last, beats me.

Sunset Spectacular

This is awesome stuff, something that only happens twice a year.

If you live in New York, I pity you for all but two days of the year.

Anatomy of Cool

This is more interesting than it has any right to be.

However, I'm a geek who also reads several marketing blogs. Yup, I'm fascinated with it.

Do or Die

The time is nearing and the ways are clearing. It is time to find a new car.
The time is right and the end is in sight. It's time time to find a new car.
I can't wait to be ripped off, I prepare to be ticked off. It's time to find a new car.
I hold my hopes high, watch them as they die. It's time to find a new car.

So now it's come to this. My mother is coming up tonight and we will be taking the kids to Carmax for a new car. I've looked at other lots, and frankly they are scary in comparison. They always seem to take too long, to cover up too many hidden charges, and to make the process seem so painful that you'll never want to do it again.

I hate credit. I hate the fact that your credit determines your life direction and everything connected to it. There are many who say you don't need credit, period. But the general consensus is, to 'have' anything, you must be in debt to others.

Personally, I'm officially tired of the car finding, financing, and rigamarole that is necessary in getting another vehicle. I've said my peace on cars. I just want something to serve me and my family as best as possible. Surely that's not too much to ask.

But until this day comes and goes and I can be free of this weight that has been put on me, I'll trudge on. There has been more added to my plate you see. Not only did my mom bail me out (thank you, thank you, thank you), but I have to sell the Camry myself. I'll be heading to my father's house on Sunday to fix a few little problems before I'm confident enough to purchase advertising. I hope that I can get rid of it as quickly as possible, because frankly I just want to be done with the whole mess.

Meanwhile, my wife is sick and that sucks. It's raining and that sucks. Today is just not happy fun times.

And yes, that sucks too.

Car Trouble, Part Deux

Okay, now this is getting annoying.

The solution for our car problems came when my amazing mom helped me with my Camry by temporarily taking control of it while I work out this other crap with the Mitsubishi and another vehicle.

The problem lies now in just finding another car, and then sticking all this negative equity on it, then coming up with a down payment, then figuring out the insurance, then wondering how much the financing institution is going to try and charge for the privilege of owing them money.

But no, that's not all. The real problem is that you'll have a hard time putting negative equity on a car that is older than 3 or 4 years (ie, 2000). So we've found some fantastic 1997/1998 vehicles, mainly Chevy Blazers cause we dig em, but doubt that the finance company will give us the loan for it, even with a co-signer, something we're still working out.

And just when you thought it was over, you have to remember insurance and the fact that if we don't get the car by the 30th then we owe another chunk of cash to them.

But no! I'm not done! There's the fact that if we don't like, or more likely can't afford, what they have on the lot, then we have to get it shipped in. That costs about $150 and could be anywhere from a two day to 2 week wait. That sucks and only compounds the problem.

The solution? Trudge ahead one step at a time. Right now I'm going to see what ORNL can do for me. Let's go from there. When something seems like its looming over you, I find it best to break it into little things and knock them out one at a time.

Until then, Shrek 2 was hilarious and I'm glad it didn't suck. Thanks Dreamworks for not fucking that up.

Also, Jeremy's baby is having a bout of Jaundice akin to what Abby went through, but even more so as he was hospitalized a few days ago. However, he is getting much better I heard, and that's fantastic for them.

My heart goes out to the guy, and we'll be visiting soon to reassure and be a goodwill messenger as well. Newborns can be brutal in their emotional trials, and I'm just trying to help the guy any way I can.

Reinstaller

Oh, the joys of reinstalling Windows XP on not one but two machines.

The cause for all this madness? Why spyware of course. Those lovable little creatures that exist on the net in various forms of 'helper' programs, which only help those in tech support quickly decipher the meaning of "My computer is so slow" in less than 3 seconds.

But it's not the reinstall that really hurts. It's the programs and updates and fixes that must be implemented before you can go on your merry way. That and the hour and a half of total drive time as you cart around carrying your install CDs and reintroducing yourself to employees you've spoke with on the phone at least a dozen times before.

For some reason meeting someone on the phone and in person just ain't the same. Teh suck. (yes, teh, that's intentional, and were I to go into an explanation, it wouldn't be worth it. Think of it as a 'cool' thing, and we'll move on)

So, Ericka went shopping the other day and did herself a favor by picking out some bombastic jeans. Man they rock like nobody's business. Meanwhile she's also making purses from cloth on hand in the house, and I gotta tell ya, after the first prototype, they are really something else. I'm trying to convince her to sell them on ebay, just to see the market for such an item.

Abigail is really starting to perk up now, and the little joys are just grand. She can't laugh but boy can she smile her little lips off. The big grin, the large doses of drool, it's enough to make ya heart melt. Well, that and the poop. But it's poop, after all.

Annie on the other hand gets plenty of gushing from me, so I'll try to refrain myself. Needless to say she's more astounding every day, and I'm a proud dad. Her birthday is coming up on June the 8th, and we should have a highly sweet birthday bash on June the 13th at the clubhouse of the apartment complex. They have a nice pool and a grill as well. Should be Fun Times (tm)

I'm almost done with my Car Trouble fiasco, and I'll rant more about that When It's Time. But until then, the hardest part is over. Now it's just time to suck it up and go take the plunge into a new vehicle.

Lastly, here is some new stuff I got posted up on StarChamber.net:

First, the Card Creation Contest artwork, featuring my Spaceport and RayWanderer's Native Uprising, the runner-up.

We won't get into the odd finger-pointing of various players that I cheated in the contest to get my card in the set. It was uncomfortable then (as uncomfortable as its inaccuracy -- which is to say, quite) as it is now.

Lastly I have a new article up entitled So You're A Registered User. It's for new players who just bought cards, sort of a "What do I do now?" type article for them.

The beta for Incursions, the Star Chamber expansion, is going really well and is tons of fun. More on this as it develops...

A Hero No More

I officially went to my account at the official site and cancelled my City of Heroes subscription a few minutes ago.

Do I think I got my $50 worth? Sure. I think it was a great time, and when I hit the section of the game that I found uncomfortable, I knew it was time to get out. Experience grinds are just not my style.

And what do I do when I leave one thing? I pick up another. Now it's Magic, and their online version of the game. What do I think so far? I think it's fun as hell, and the client is as complicated as all get out because Magic is inherently simple, but amazingly complex.

Secondly, it's fuckin expensive. I don't want to tell how much I've spent in tickets so far, the in-game currency for buying things from resellers via tickets-for-cards trading, but it's too damn much. I gotta stop that shit.

However, I've been playing it mainly because I like CCGs, and my original CCG was Magic. The glory days I look back on fondly, when I first found the game and began my own little collection. Soon I was balls-out into it, going to tournaments in Knoxville every week, along with another on Wednesday night in Tazwell.

Yes, I gave about 10 minutes of serious thought into going to the Fifth Dawn Prelease, because sealed is by far the easiest way to play the game for fun without losing your ass, er, I mean wallet in the process. Magic: The Gathering? More like Give Me: All Your Cash.

But nevertheless, the game is neat and the client works as it should, even if it has about 12,000 different confirmation boxes and effect-stacking and all that crap. Their collection and deckbuilder screens make me yearn heartily for SC, as its simplistic design is utter brilliance in comparison. Too much is too much peeps, and colorful icons don't help. Give me words damn you, words to help me sort out what options do what.

Lastly, this evening I took the splurge and did what I've been thinking of doing for about a week now: I shaved my head. My baldness is strikingly advanced, and when you shave your head you find out exactly how far it has progressed. Let's just say the top of my head wasn't going to have that hair for long, and I'm in favor of doing such an act before it's time, not when it gets uncomfortable and the little whisps of hair are shuffled around in the magical manuevers to cover up as much scalp as possible so as to avoid embarrassment. The more upfront you are about it the better, and I never tried to hide it anyway...much.

That's the news. Perhaps I'll try to get a picture of my big bald head and post it sometime. Until then, with Annie being at Ericka's mother's, I hope she isn't freaked out by it. That's my only real concern.

Some new articles should be up at the Official SC site soon, and I'll be sure to point them out.