Return of the Optical Engine

04.14.2006

I've finally gotten my tv back after being in the shop for... 6 weeks? They replaced the optical engine, whatever that still really is. Interestingly enough, along with the tv I got an invoice for the repairs with a note that it was being billed to "Hitachi Electronics".

• Labor: $160
• Optical Engine: $1100

The tv cost around $3000, so for whatever the optical engine gets around to doing, it accounts for a third of the tv. That's how match works, right?

Now I've got to go program my new remote so I can once again enjoy my 60" lcd viewing pleasure!

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Goody Had It

04.12.2006

The Athens branch of the Sam Goody Store is going out of business. Liquidating merchandise. 60-80% off. Everything must go.

Last week (or maybe it was the week before) I sauntered into said Mr Goody and found myself with deals I couldn't pass up, mainly on XBox & PS2 games. One of the joys of being both an infrequent gamer and a niche (read "wrestling") gamer is that I tend to miss a lot of titles that come out over the past year. Whether they be good or bad, I've missed both of them the majority of the time. That's not to say I'm not interested in different types of games, it's just that at $40-$50 a pop, I tend to be a little stingy on what I take a chance on.

Enter 60-80% off. I'm a lot more willing to take a chance on games that I've heard a little about (or even heard nothing about). Over the course of 3 trips to the Goody, here's what I've ended up with:

	Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance	Roman Empire fighting RPG. I think.
	The Warriors	Based on the movie, which I've never seen. From the makers of the Grand Theft Autos.
	Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain	I haven't played a Syphon Filter game in a while. I hope they still have the taser!
	Terminator 3: Redemption	I think I remember a review that said this was a mediocre game. It ended up costing me $8.09. I hope I get my money's worth.
	The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction	Russ SMASH!
	Ultimate Spiderman	Russ THWIP!
	Batman Begins	Russ BATARANGS! The back of the box says "Fear Is Your Weapon". I can't think of any other games where "fear" has been in my arsenal. I hope I get other weapons, too.
	Battlefield 2: Modern Combat	I generally suck at FPS games on consoles. The reviews say this one plays more like an arcade shooter than a classic FPS, so maybe I can kill more than I'm killed.
	Gun	I western. For the XBox. How can you pass up something like this when it's less than $12?
	Fantastic Four	It's supposed to be based on the movie. I know it can't be good (movie tie-in video games usually aren't). I got caught up in the moment full of savings. Damn You, Goody!
	X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse	I wasn't very good at the first Legends Game - I kept getting Wolverine killed in his first mission. Luckily, this one has some cheat codes!
	GoldenEye: Rogue Agent	A 007 game where you get to play the bad guy. Like the above, there are some handy cheats so that maybe I can get further than I did in Everything or Nothing (which would be the end of the first freakin' mission. No wonder I only play wrestling and driving games, I seem to suck at the rest of them.
	From Russia With Love	Another 007 game. The commercials sucked me into getting this one. For $9.

With all of those games, you would think I would jump on them and get to playing. But not me. I've decided that after a year and a half of off and on playing of GTA San Andreas, I've got to finish the game. And in looking at one of the walkthroughs, I seem to be about ½ way through the game. I finished Vice City, so now it's just a matter of pride. I know I can finish this game (especially with some infinite ammo, regenerating health code, and all the other cheats that are out there), it's just a matter of wading through the billion missions.

But after those billion missions are complete, I've got 13 more games a-waiting: 5 Super Hero games; 2 007 games; And whatever the others are. I think my free time is well occupied for the next year or two.

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South Beach Diet: Day 14

04.10.2006

This is the 2 week mark for my diet.. As is trying to become my ritual (can you have a ritual when you've done something twice?) , this morning I weighed and measured various body parts and these are the results:

Body Part	Last Week	This Week	Change
Neck	22"	21½"	-½"
Chest	59"	58"	-1"
Huge Gut	58½"	57"	-1½"
Waist	55"	54½"	-½"
Left Arm (Bicep)	18"	18½"	+½"
Right Arm (Bicep)	19"	18½"	-½"
Left Leg (Mid Thigh)	32"	32"	0"
Right Leg (Mid Thigh)	33"	32½"	-½"
Change: -4 "
Last Week		This Week	Change
385 lbs		379 lbs	-6 lbs
Beginning Weight		This Week	Change
396 lbs		379 lbs	-17 lbs

After 2 weeks, I've lost 9" and 17 pounds. To be honest, I really thought I would have lost about half that by now, so I guess you could say I'm happily motivated, even if I did only lose half the weight the second week that I did the first. My biggest surprise has been my stomach shrinking from 60" to 57". 3" of gut I'm not lugging around has got to be better for my back!

According to the official South Beach Diet plan, I'm supposed to move on to Phase 2 where I'm allowed to eat some bread, pasta, and all of those things normal people eat, keeping moderation in mind, and expect to still lose 1-2 pounds per week. Since I'm riding the happily motivated high, I'm going to try to stick with the core restrictions for another week (or two) and see how I do. I'm not missing breads and pasta too much, although I've had a hankering for Pizza Hut.

Maybe when I hit 350 I'll celebrate with a quick trip to The Hut.

Than I can spend a week losing what I gain at The Hut. I do enjoy that Hut.

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South Beach Diet: Day 7

04.03.2006

So, I've been on my diet new lifestyle for a week now, using the parameters set forth by my new collection (well, 2) of South Beach Diet books. If all went well, I would be 6 pounds lighter today than when I started last Monday. This morning I weighed and measured various body parts and these are the results:

Body Part	Last Week	This Week	Change
Neck	22½"	22"	-½"
Chest	60½"	59"	-1½"
Huge Gut	60"	58½"	-1½"
Waist	56"	55"	-1"
Left Arm (Bicep)	18½"	18"	-½"
Right Arm (Bicep)	19½"	19"	-½"
Left Leg (Mid Thigh)	32"	32"	0"
Right Leg (Mid Thigh)	33"	33"	0"
Change: -5½ "
	Last Week	This Week	Change
Weight	396 lbs	385 lbs	-11 lbs

7 days, 11 pounds, 5½ inches. Except for an inexplicable craving for a candy bar and a Coke last Tuesday, it hasn't been that bad. I also learned that cauliflower steamed, food processorized, and seasoned properly can make a good substitute for mashed potatoes as far as texture. Jello is a pretty good snack, too. I'm not missing bread and potato chips as much as I thought, but then again it's only been a week. For fun, I was making up a fantasy menu for a day with Gina Sunday. It ended up having lots of chili-cheese fries as side dishes and appetizers as opposed to salads (not unusual since I've been having at least 1 salad per day, if not 2 - the key there is to change up the types of lettuce often).

I wonder if I can lose another 11 pounds this coming week? If nothing else I've got the right motivation to stick with this diet through week 2!

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Employment - Day 1096

03.31.2006

Today marks my 3rd Anniversary of working at Spiritus. I've never worked anywhere for 3 years in a row. I worked a little over 2 years at the Humana Hospital Pharmacy when I was in high school, but that was my first job and I was only 16 when I started, so I don't think that one counts as part of my "professional" career.

3 years and not only am I still working for Spiritus, I'm not thinking of leaving any time soon (well, at least not by my choice). A big part of it is JJ's management style. He does all the paperwork, bigwig interaction, and decision making, leaving me free to code. I like coding. I'm usually good at it so that makes me feel good about myself. I also like most of my co-workers (can you "like" your mortal enemy?). Except for the suck-the-will-to-live-out-of-you governement building we're currently forced to work from, everything's good. And the building's not that bad, it just comes with a lot of restrictions.

So now I start Year 4. I wonder what's in store for this one?

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