Archive for category Uncategorized

American Airlines killed our Kindle

Dead Kindle sideways Alternative title: What to do if your Kindle breaks after warranty coverage has expired.
What happened: last night we found out our Amazon Kindle was dead. It had been killed by American Airlines.

What we’re doing: We are getting a replacement Kindle from Amazon (see below).

What we will do differently: We will be even more careful with carry-on items that may get “valet checked” when we’re boarding the plane. We will try to check all of our valuables before leaving the terminal (or at least within 24 hours).

The longer story, and how to get a replacement Kindle if yours breaks…

Read the rest of this entry »

, , , , ,

2 Comments

Drury, Fines, and Bricks

Photo of a brick (not from Drury)

Photo of a free brick (not from Drury)

This morning I received an email from my alma mater, Drury University.  Leave it to them to try to sell you a brick (from a demolished building) for $20. Note, you will need to go pick up the brick and pay $20, it is not shipped to you :-) .

While I have fond memories of my classmates at Drury as well as the majority of the faculty, I was never a fan of Drury’s financial policies nor their “security” policies. Especially the University’s penchant for giving students as many tickets as possible.

Do they not understand that: aggressively fining/ticketing people when they are poor college students may cause hard feelings that will prevent those same people from donating money (when they have it) later in life? Of course rules generally have reasons and I understand that fines are sometimes necessary, but IMHO  not to the extreme that I encountered in my four years at Drury….

Regardless, here’s the letter. I think I’ll pass on paying for a brick.

PS If Drury were offering to let alumni people come pick up a demolition brick for free, I wouldn’t be writing this.

A PIECE OF TURNER HALL

Turner and Belle Halls have been razed to make way for new and exciting building projects at Drury. Many alumni have cherished memories from their time in those two buildings. You can keep a piece of Drury history by purchasing a commemorative brick!

To reserve your Turner or Belle Hall brick, call [...], graduate assistant, at 417-873-[....].

Bricks cost $20 each and can be paid by check or credit card.

Bricks cannot be delivered or mailed.
The pickup site is at the Facilities Department main office on Clay Street.
Bricks can be picked up from 8am-5pm.

,

1 Comment

Question: starting P90X workout

P90X Question by D.D.

Well, I decided that I’ve sat on my butt too long and need to get healthier. I think it’s that I’m turning 30 in a couple of weeks :P Anyways, I ordered P90X from beachbody.com yesterday. A friend is wanting someone to do it with him – I don’t think he finished the first week by himself. I know you’ve mentioned it a couple of times on here and was wondering what you thought of the program. I’m expecting it to be hard (I borrowed the first workout just to see what it would be like), but I’ll do as he says and do what I can at my own pace. There’s always the pause button. Hope you’re doing well.

-D.D.

Read the rest of this entry »

, ,

2 Comments

Simplicity and Photography. It’s not about the gadgets.

Two links to Ken Rockwell’s site, both of these articles resonant with me.

Regarding the first article, as a somewhat gadget obsessed dude that also like photography I can empathize. I know that some of my best photographs were with relatively ancient cameras; and some of my worst photos have been with the “latest and greatest”.

The second article is similar to the first one,  except going into a bit more of what really makes for good photography.

Article #1 Simplicity

Quote:
If I put this effort into learning to see better instead of buying more cameras, my photos would be a lot better than they are today.

Article #2 What is Photography?

Quote:
As most beginners discover instantly, simply having the best tools and technically sharp images doesn’t get the glorious, passion-inspiring results they intended.
[...]
Painters and other artists often pick up any crappy camera and make excellent images fast because they know seeing, visualization, composition and lighting, and immediately apply basic adjustments to change brightness and to optimize colors.

Enjoy, and a big thanks to Ken for writing nice articles!

, ,

No Comments

Popular Mechanics: V8 + Electric = muscle hybrid

I’ve always had a soft spot for Popular Mechanics, they are usually a good choice to read at the doctor’s office or at a newstand. They almost always have something interesting in each issue.

Recently, Popular Mechanics did a really cool makeover of a 2009 Dodge Challenger. They took the Challenger, which is a modern V8 “muscle car” and added an electric drive system. The article starts here.  The electric additions start on page 5.

My house uses solar energy, batteries,  and an inverter. The car uses all of those things too (even the same brand of inverter)! NOTE: the solar cells on the car are mainly for maintaining or “trickle charging” the batteries but it’s still cool.

:-)

No Comments

Hawaii: Day 0 (Departure)

Outside the Springfield Airport

We’re in the Spfd airport, warm and out of the snow.  Our flight is now scheduled for 8AM (instead of 7:40AM). Apparently the crew was delayed getting in the night before. They are required to get a minimum amount of rest, so our flight is slightly delayed. We’re all for the crew having plenty of rest, so no biggie :-) . The new Springfield terminal is pretty nice, power (AC and USB) outlets under a number of seats and the wifi can pull down about 700kbs (actual throughput) on downloads.

I liked getting t experience some snow this morning before heading out to warmer climates.

To be updated…

8:24PM (12:24AM central time) UPDATE We’re all settled into the condo in Hawaii! :-) The flights were uneventful, everything went smoothly in the air. Once we arrived on the big island we took a taxi to the condo, but it took us a long time to find our unit (it was dark and the  building we needed was behind the tennis courts). We made it though! The place is nice and the shower felt AWESOME after being in planes and airports all day.

Relaxing on the couch

Relaxing on the couch

A big THANK YOU to my mom for taking us up to Springfield and for Kevin and Shannon for letting us stay at their place and for Kevin driving us to the airport so early in the morning. Also, thanks to family and friends housesitting while we’re away!

, , , , , ,

No Comments

Wonderful trip to Florida

Samantha and I just got back from a wonderful trip to Florida. One of my best friends got married in Key West. I was the best man and Samantha was the photographer.

On the trip down we had a great time and it was an absolute blast once we made it to Key West! Even the trip back was great because we visited my cousins in Mississippi.

I hope to write more later, and post photos too :-) .

No Comments

Jodom’s loft featured on blik blog

John Odom, or jodom as I affectionately refer to him, had his loft featured on the blik blog:


Caption: Jodom’s pimpin’ pad

Speaking of Jodom’s place, Samantha will be visiting John in STL after Shannon’s bachelorette party this weekend. She’s picking up a hard drive for me and hopefully she, John and Angela will get to chat a bit and maybe grab a tasty bite to eat :-) .

, ,

No Comments