Bandwidth Hogging

On Saturday, it will have been three weeks since I got my new phone. One of the reasons I got it at this point was Verizon’s (then) impending switch to bandwidth caps for new customers. I signed up under the old plan and have an unlimited data plan.

I checked my usage today and I’m up to 1.8 GB of data used. The Incredible 2 is not one of those fancy 4G phones (and so far, I haven’t felt like I’m missing anything) so I’m not exactly streaming Netflix on it, but I am watching the occasional YouTube video, downloading a Weezer song here and there and listening to some online radio. Actually, listening to the radio is what’s been using most of that bandwidth.

Even if I have a lot of my own music on the phone, it still is entertaining to listen to something different. Back in college, I had one of the original versions of Real player and would listen to stations from around the world. Now, it’s pretty much the same thing, except through my phone.

Overall it’s nice to have something to get my money’s worth out of my data plan.

If you read this and you’re thinking, “it sounds like he’s writing this just to blog about something,” well, you’re mostly right.

King Tom

Blogging From the Incredible

This entry is more of a test than anything else.

Last week, I got a new phone, a Droid Incredible 2. The phone replaces the old LG VU (pronounced voo) I sported over the last two years (okay, technically 22 months).

The VU was one of the first iPhone knockoffs. But it was slow, had horrible battery life and the technology was pretty obsolete for 2004.

I am not an Apple person, and have a natural affinity for Google. So it was a foregone conclusion that my next phone would be some type of Android. But I have to admit that the Incredible is (pardon the expression) incredible.

I still have a lot of learning to do (the phone came with three different maps programs and I’m still trying to figure out what each does). But it’s nice to have a phone that doesn’t take ten minutes to open up a program. I’m amazed at all the things I can do with the phone. And it’s nice to be able to blog from the phone.

Who knows…if I can figure out things to write about, I just may start blogging more frequently.

King Tom3 Comments

Moving in Circles

It always seems like Hope is doing (or saying) something new.  This morning, she discovered the addictive power of getting dizzy.  And I think I caught her saying the word “ball.”

 

For the record, Hope knows more than 20 words.  According to her speech therapist, any word she can sign or attempt to say in association with an action or thing consistently is a word she knows.  Other favorite words of hers include mama, dada and Yankees.

King Tom2 Comments

The Hope Containment System is Complete

The Civee and I finally have a fence, and we’re glad. We need all the help we can get to keep Hope in one place.

A few days ago, the guys finished the backyard fence and overall, The Civee and I (and Hope) are happy with it.  It really does feel like we have more room in the backyard.  I was surprised by the amount of grass that was wiped out by the fence and its construction.  Although, I am glad that I waited until after the fence was finished to mow.  Last week, the lawn was looking a little overgrown.  But now that we have the fence, it’s not so bad.

The fence is somewhat L-shaped so we have a parking spot in the back.  There’s more than enough room for the grill, the artichoke and beet garden, the herb garden and for Hope to run around.  She was a bit confused by the fence at first, but has been enjoying walking around and collecting rocks.

As for The Civee and I, we like the feeling of having our backyard to ourselves.  And the strong smell of cedar makes it feel like we’re away at a cabin or something, rather than in the middle of Awesometown.

King Tom

Mister King Tom, Put Up This Wall

This was the backyard this afternoon:

No, I’m not trying to build the Dharmaville Security System in my backyard.  We’re getting a fence (thanks to King Classic) and the first step (well, for the installers) was putting in the posts.  They showed up early this morning (at 7:15) and worked through a pretty rough thunderstorm (and this was after they told us they wouldn’t be able to make it yesterday because of some rain we never got).  They’ll be back sometime Thursday to install the walls.

I don’t know if you can tell, but the fence is  going to be L-shaped to give us a parking spot.  I was standing in the middle of the yard, and surprisingly, it feels like we have more room in the backyard than before the posts were installed. I hope it still feels that way once the walls are up.

The professionals started today, but work on the fence has been going on for a while.  Along the west side and the back, the fence hugs the property line.  We had to remove a lot of weeds and some small trees from the back.  And sadly, my outdoor workshop is no more.  The two stumps between us and the house to the west were just within the property line.    Despite my best efforts with an axe and a small chainsaw, I could not remove the stumps (un-stump? de-stump?) by myself.  But thankfully, The Civee’s father and brother, who actually has a chainsaw (and knows how to use it) were able to help us de-stump.

The Civee and I are looking forward to Thursday.  It will be nice to have a more private backyard and a place where we can just let Hope run wild.  As long as she doesn’t run over the beets or artichokes.

King Tom1 Comment

Hope has Excellent Taste in Music

Even though most of our music is on our computer, The Civee and I still have a shelf of CDs in our dining room. The other day, Hope and I were playing when she went over to the CD case. I told her to pick one out, so she took CD and started waving it around to no one in particular.

For those who can’t tell what it is:

This proves a hunch I’ve had for a long time: Hope’s a Troublemaker.

And to those (namely, Hope’s mom) who would say this picture is staged, don’t you think I would have gotten a better shot of her face?

Either way, I’m very proud of her choice. I have a feeling The Civee is not.

King Tom1 Comment

Longtime Sunshine: Weezer Fans are Satisfied in the Simple Things

I’ve written before about how Weezer has been busting out some old b-sides as part of their Memories tour (here and here).

Well, last night, they did something even more awesome than play an old b-side.  At a show in Austin, they played an unreleased (well, on the original album version) Pinkerton song, Longtime Sunshine.

The song was originally intended as the closer of Weezer’s abandoned rock opera, Songs from the Black Hole.  For a short time, Longtime Sunshine was going to be the final track on Pinkerton, but it got shelved in favor of Butterfly. In 2002,  Rivers Cuomo distributed an MP3 of his original demo to fans, and the track was later included on Cuomo’s first Alone album.  A different, experimental full band arrangement was featured on the Deluxe reissue of Pinkerton, and while the track has been a fan favorite since the days of the MP3, no one expected to ever hear a live version of the song.

Now, I have a feeling if the band doesn’t play this at a show, fans will riot.  And I wouldn’t blame them.  The performance is much different from the stripped-down acoustic versions we’ve heard.  Watch for yourself.

That dueling guitar solo just kills. And the fans singing along toward the end is great to hear.

I’ve been to a few Weezer shows (well, actually 11), and the setlist for last night’s show could be one of the best I’ve ever seen (the exclusion of Undone or Buddy Holly makes it a tough call):

Memories
The Greatest Man that Ever Lived
Perfect Situation
Dope Nose
Hash Pipe
You Gave Your Love to Me Softly
Susanne
Longtime Sunshine
Jamie
Only in Dreams

All of Pinkerton

No Beverly Hills or Island in the Sun, but Longtime Sunshine, Jamie, Susanne and Only in Dreams?  I need to invent a time machine and travel back in time to see this show.

King Tom3 Comments

Paying With a Plethora of Pennies

A few years ago, my ex-dentist charged me $15 for forwarding my records to my new dentist.  So I responded rationally: I paid the bill, in 1,300 pennies, three quarters, seven dimes and 11 nickles.  I sent the money (well, the change actually), via UPS, and received a shipping receipt a days later.

It’s been in the news that last month, a Utah man tried paying a doctor’s bill a similar way: with 25,000 pennies.  Except he didn’t send them in the mail. He dumped his change on the clinic counter.  From the Desert News:

…[Jason] West produced a large bowl containing about 14 pounds of loose pennies from a black plastic sack and poured it onto the top counter. Some of the coins, he acknowledges, spilled onto the desk below where the receptionist was seated and onto the floor.

“That’s just the nature of pennies,” he said. “They’re round.”

There were people in the waiting room who witnessed the incident, but West maintains that no one appeared to be upset by his actions.

“There was giggles and snickers and outright laughter,” he said.

 

I thought I was being gutsy by sending a UPS package full of random change to a dentist I didn’t want to deal with anymore.  West is actually in trouble with the law, as the thin-skinned clinic employees called the police on him.

Still? Would my little stunt have been worth the legal hassle?  Probably.  I do envy West, as he got to see the look on their faces as he paid in pennies.  Me? All I got was a lousy UPS receipt.

King Tom

Hope Likes Loud Noises

Up until a few weeks ago, whenever The Civee or I would have to vacuum, we’d wait until Hope was asleep, because we didn’t want her freaking out over the noise.

Well, one day, there was a cereal emergency (or some other type of food) and we needed to run the vacuum with Hope around.  I held her while The Civee vacuumed.  Predictably, Hope started crying.  But not because the vacuum scared her.  She was going crazy because this machine was making this loud noise and she couldn’t be near it.  So I put her down, and she slowly walked up to the vacuum and knelt by it, trying to figure it out.

Now, house cleaning is somewhat easier- we can vacuum with her around, even if she tries to re-direct where its going.

But we shouldn’t have been surprised- Hope likes loud noises.  Not a plane, car or firetruck can go by outside without Hope getting excited (and because we live a block away from a fire station, we hear a lot of fire trucks).

A while back, Hope’s grandma got her one of those Fisher Price popcorn poppers that every kid seems to have.  Hope is still learning how to use it, but I think she likes having something of her own that makes noise.

Here’s Hope with both the real vacuum and her popcorn popper (warning: you may want to turn your speakers down for the first half, the vacuum is a little noisy):

As I’ve hinted at, Hope also likes to make loud noises. My favorite is the one that goes DA-DA.

An additional note for the grandparents: just because she likes loud noises doesn’t mean that Hope needs more toys or other items that make loud noises.  She’s quite capable of seeking them out on her own.

King Tom3 Comments

We Have to Go Back

A few months ago, I wrote that it was about time for another season of Lost to start up.

Of course, the show ended a year ago, so that new season wasn’t happening.  And today marks the year anniversary of the finale, which I recently re-watched.  My reaction to the finale was pretty much the same as it was when I was re-watching the whole series in December- I didn’t expect any more answers, so it was fun to concentrate on the characters and their journeys.

Lost managed to combine great characters with intriguing mysteries and a mythology that one could get (excuse the term) lost in.  I don’t think I could get as wrapped up in another show as much as I was with Lost, and I’m not exactly looking to.

Since Lost ended, we got a nice little epilogue, a Weezer CD named after one of the main characters and a tease of a new show starring Terry O’Quinn and Michael Emerson.  But the show’s creators and producers have moved on to other things, and there won’t be a season seven.  Even though every single question may not have been answered, I’m fine with that.  Most of the characters (pretty much everyone except for Michael) got a happy ending and enough of the questions were answered to make the whole thing not seem like a waste.

Even though there’s no future for Lost, I’m glad I have my DVDs and can go back and watch anytime.

King Tom