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Crazy Tech Buying & Selling Spree

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I don’t know what it is about the past few weeks but I have been on a crazy buying and selling spree. I have finally gotten rid of my old 60gig iPod. I have had my new 160gig silver one for a while but after a few problems with eBay I never actually sold the old one. I finally put it up on Craigslist and sold it. Even with my new Nokia 6120 Classic, I have been going back and forth with that phone and my Treo 680. The 6120 is great but I realized I need a phone with a keyboard. I think a phone is not a smartphone without one!

Going back to the Treo wasn’t going to work for the long term so after a false start I ended up picking up a new Nokia E61i off of Craigslist. It is big, but so far is doing everything i need it to. And it has Wifi to boot. I am still getting used to the Symbian OS, and the different applications I need to get to work. I already don’t like the PIM (Address book, Calendar, & Tasks) functions, but that is a trade off for not crashing and a phone that generally does what it is supposed to do. Stability has become important to me more so in recent days. More discussions on the E61i as I continue to play with it.

I am going to keep the N810 tablet because it is just interesting if anything. I don’t need it for any real reason but I am enjoying tinkering with it.

I am also in the process of cleaning out my closet and finally selling the extra DVD player I have (it is new in the box) and my old Tivo. I probably have a bunch of other stuff lying around so I have will be busy for a while.

I guess this is a good time to be doing all of this anyway with the holidays coming up and all.

Dinner With The Family

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I took a trip to the Queens Center mall today to try and do some clothing shopping before the crazy holiday season takes off. Well, I was too late. Apparently the holidays do in fact start before thanksgiving if the level of crowds and decorations at the mall are any indication. I ended up not buying anything. I didn’t find any clothes that I wanted. I was actually disappointed by the selection of stores at that mall. Most of the ones I would shop in that I tend to expect to be standard fare at a mall weren’t there. The ones that were didn’t have anything that caught my eye. So the trip was a bust.

On the plus side the mall trip was part of my master plan to get to see my family for dinner. My sister, niece, and nephew were at my parents so my mom picked me up from the mall and we all went out to eat. I then got a ride home. It was fun seeing everyone. Those kids keep me laughing. Thankfully I will see them again in a few days for Thanksgiving.

This visit with my sister also got me up to date on what I will be getting the kids for the holidays. It is nice to have a web site and a product number so I don’t have to go back to the mall!!! I will be online later this week to place my orders, even though I still maintain that Zack would be happy with an empty box.

Furniture

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I have been on a small spending spree since I moved to furnish my apartment. After my most recent round of acquisitions I am almost done. I have a new love seat couch that I find more comfortable to lie on than to sit on but it is nice either way. I have a new computer table that doesn’t wobble when i touch it. That and the most of the cables can be hidden in it. My last purchase was a nice computer chair. I have wanted a nice chair for some time, but I had been going back and forth between wanting one and willing to spend the money on one. The final deciding point was the $50 chair I got from Bed Bath and Beyond was killing my butt and my back, so I took the plunge. I got a new Herman Miller Celle Chair. It isn’t as nice (nor as expensive) as the Aeron Chair I had for almost 6 years at my last job, but it is dam close. For a desk chair it wasn’t cheap but compared to what i had been sitting on for several years it is really nice.

Next up for me is the coffee table I have been talking about for ages. That is another expensive purchase so I have been hesitant to get it, but I am about to pull the trigger on it. Now all I need to do is buy some nice paintings and stuff for my walls and the new apartment will look awesome!

Johnnie Walker Blue

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Today I finally cracked open a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue that I brought back with me when I was in France over the summer. It was worth the wait. I wasn’t daring enough to drink it straight but it was really nice over some ice. I am almost upset that I liked it. By liking it, I now have another potentially expensive habit. Now all I need is a library, a few plush leather chairs, fireplace and cigars or pipes and I will be in the stereotypical old man lounge.

Blue is best

12 Minutes

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In NYC yesterday it was dreary and wet. Not the nicest way to end the week. Why then did I decide to go wait on line at the Apple Store for the OS 10.5? Stupidity perhaps. The need for the latest gear, maybe. I was semi surprised to report that I ended up on a line that went halfway around the block. When 10.4 came out I had a similar experience at the SoHo store. History did repeat itself though, and even though there was a huge line and it was raining from the time I got on line to the time I walked out of the store was only 12 minutes. Now that is efficiency.

I can report that Leopard installed on my Macbook without any issues. Saying that I need to go back a week for a second. My Macbook is nearing the 1 year old mark. Typically I simply sell my Mac laptops at this point and get whatever the latest is out there. The funny thing was that what is out there new right now is only .16GHZ faster than what I currently have. Every other specification is the same on the current Macbook’s. So I instead of selling the Macbook I purchased the extended warrantee, upgraded the RAM to 3gig, and put a new 250gb hard drive in it. With a new hard drive installed I simply ran a fresh install of Leopard. So far so good.

More news in the next few days. And yes I hope to begin posting again!

Weekend Recap

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Sleeping on the air mattress in my parents apartment did a number on my back. Once I got my parents AC working in their bedroom i slept in their room, but my dad is back tonight so I will be back on the air mattress for 2 nights until i move.

I was supposed to go on Doug’s boat today but I had a head ache and he ended up canceling so it wasn’t in the cards. I did get to go out to Manhasset (can’t spell it) to do some shopping at Bed Bath & Beyond and Linen’s and things. Unfortunately neither place had allot of what i was looking for to put in my new place. I did get a few little things but need to go online to order the majority of stuff.

Friday I went out with people from work to a bar for a while. I drank more than i would have liked, but all in all i had a good time. Everyone is pretty cool to hang out with. Saturday I slept most of the day away and then i went to see the Bourne Ultimatum by myself since i was out by my parents. It was a good movie.

Now I just have one more full day before i move!

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Life at the Parents

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So far my life at my parents has been relatively dull. Their apartment is empty, no one home. No food that i will eat, and not even cold water in the fridge. Last night i walked to the Outback near their apartment. Tonight i took the bus from the LIRR station and went to Applebies.

Going to work i tried out the express bus that stops across the street from the apartment. It took about an hour but it was all in all a peaceful way to get to work. It dropped me off about 2 blocks from my office, so i will be doing the express bus in the morning, but the LIRR still seems better in the afternoon. Just a few more days until I can move into my new apartment!

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The Move

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The move went as well as you could expect. No major issues, but I was very worried about the movers showing up with enough time to move me out while i still had the elevator. Apparently my building only gives you 2 hours to move out, and my movers weren’t the most prompt group even though they suggested scheduling them first thing in the morning to prevent just what i was worried about them (not being there when the elevators were mine). They showed up and got everything out around the time i had been given.

My mom showed up with Zach to wait with the couch that my sister decided she finally wanted. I ended up leaving around 12:30 with all my stuff gone, my mom and Zach hanging in an empty apt while Carrie was getting the moving truck. I took my luggage with my clothes for my parents place with me in a cab and went to work. The rail road home wasn’t too bad, but dragging the big luggage was a bit of a pain. SInce both my parents are at my sisters this week i have their apartment to myself. The down side is that it is hot in most parts of the place except for the living room and their bedroom, and i can’t find any wifi spots to connect to so to be on the internet on my laptop requires me to plug into my dad’s cable modem in his really hot office.

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Packing

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Not much to report since i haven’t had much of a life since i got back from France. I have been spending most of my free time trying to pack my apartment for my move on Tuesday. My place is a huge mess. Packing sucks, and it is not the cheapest thing to be doing either. Who knew box’s were so expensive. Thankfully my Mom brought me a ton of them from my sister that she had left over from her move. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough so i had to go out and buy a few more. I just want this to be over and to be in my new apartment.

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A Very Long Day

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It feels like monday night but it is fact Tuesday night in France. I am in Lille, France. The red eye last night was ok. I took some stuff to help me sleep and it worked a little but not completely. The bose noise canceling headphones also helped but it was still a long flight.

Once we got to Paris, we were able to goto a hotel and get a Day room. It is basically a room you pay for during daylight hours so you can shower, sleep, etc. We landed like 7AM local time but didn’t have meetings until noon so we needed a place to go and relax. That room made all the difference. I was able to take a shower and just lie down for an hour. I didn’t sleep but just able to relax on the bed was all i needed to get through the day and even end up at dinner at 10PM local time.

We had our meeting in Paris after we got a bit lost walking around to find our office. We then toured a data center for a bit and then our host took us to the train station so we can catch the TGV to Lille. The TGV was awesome. We got biz class on that also, but it probably wasn’t needed for the hour long trip. That train is fast, and quiet. I always like trains but this one was really cool.

Once in Lille we hit the hotel and then went out for some dinner. We ended up meeting up with some other people from our office and had dinner together. I didn’t get back to the hotel until late. It is weird when it is like 10PM and there is still some daylight out.

I am off to a much needed sleep in a bed.

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