New Lenovo Yoga for work

Nice and fast compared to my old machine, and I'm typing this post on it. Decent keyboard for an ultrabook, but I'm REALLY not impressed with the touchpad, although I haven't tweaked it yet. On screen keyboard is better than expected. Just got it yesterday, so I've been loading software and getting ready to actually do some work on it...all while working on 3 other laptops sitting around my desk.

I connected it to a 24" monitor I brought from home and it runs at full HD.

Review here. 

Gonna take it to Cali with me and try to use it in tablet mode as much as possible. That should give me a better idea on how well it works.

I've also connected a USB NIC adapter, which will allow me to connect to the Gb wired LAN at work. I'll need that kind of speed, and I can also take it with me to troubleshoot connection issues. Should make me much more mobile/agile around the district but I need to remember to start lugging it around!

No more Tumblr for now

Kinda gave up on Tumblr for now, having trouble getting all my old posts over. No biggie, I'm fine right here.

Cali in 5 days!

A little inspiration...

Classic...

Classicer still...

Some things on the itinerary...

Venice Beach

Hollywood

Pacific Coast Hwy

Hearst Castle

Big Sur

Golden Gate Bridge, Lombard Street, Telegraph Hill, Chinatown, Fisherman's Warf (No Alcatraz, I've seen too many abandoned prisons on ghost hunts, and they are all alike)

Redwoods

Computer history museum

Cabin in the mountains

Mt. Shasta, Lassen NP

Lake Tahoe

Still miss my dad

My dad passed away 3 years ago today. Still think about him all the time, almost like he's still here. My gramps made it about another 9 months before he passed on at age 98. That's about it for that side of my family, I don't talk to many of my other relatives.

I'm thinking about throwing a 100th birthday bash for gramps this December. Would have been cool to have him around for it.

:( RIP James Gandolfini

He was only 51...wow

Back in business baby

So, I was sick as hell over the last couple weeks. 4th cold in 3 or so months. Ended up going to see the doc and tested for strep. Worst sore throat EVER. Ears were plugged up. I even had sores in my mouth. Nasty. Finally feeling better after some strong antibiotics.

Saw Bill Burr at the Palace Friday. 3rd row seats! Thanks to Monsignor McIntyre for those. Got a tour of the WVIZ/Ideastream studios after the show, mostly because we had to PEE, lol. Great show.

Played a bit of poker at the Shoe afterward, didn't do so well. Was up about $100 for a couple hours and lost it to some old donk from Nautica. I had a few words for him, basically calling him an idiot, and he told me to go F myself, and then we both were escorted to the door! I'm somebody now! Ah well, I wasn't rebuying anyway. My first trip there since 4/25. Still running bad I guess.

Getting one of these for me and my assistant at work. Looks and feels very cool, and I'll be a bit more productive, being able to lug it around much more easily.

GREAT storm last week. Caught this video of the light show. Rivaled anything we saw in 5 years of chasing storms in tornado alley. 

Took 4 days for the Google Apps for Education Academy a few weeks ago as well. Great class. I'm pretty much sold on Chrome for my browser now. Also gonna push Google Docs for students when collaborating on projects. Good stuff. I can also take 5 tests @ $15 each to get certified as a Google Trainer. Gonna get moving on that after the trip to CA in July.

Pic of the CLE taken Friday night on the way to the Burr show.

I have been hooked on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia over the last month or so. Watched a ton of episodes while I was sick. So completely juvenile, and so awesome. One of my favorite scenes ever...Danny DeVito makes the show. His best role for sure.

Rock

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F8kT8avF3Y

Turn it up. Listen.

Chili Peppers

Never really listened to all of the lyrics before...putting together a playlist for the plane ride to CA, with mostly Cali bands or songs about Cali. Dani California made the list, then this one played next.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DyziWtkfBw

Can't stop, addicted to the shin dig
Cop top, he says I'm gonna win big
Choose not a life of imitation
Distant cousin to the reservation
Defunkt, the pistol that you pay for
This punk, the feeling that you stay for
In time, I want to be your best friend
Eastside love is living on the West End
Knock out, but boy you better come to
Don't die, you know the truth is some do
Go write your message on the pavement
Burnin' so bright, I wonder what the wave meant
White heat is screaming in the jungle
Complete the motion if you stumble
Go ask the dust for any answers
Come back strong with 50 belly dancers

[Chorus:]
The world I love
The tears I drop
To be part of
The wave can't stop
Ever wonder if it's all for you
The world I love
The trains I hop
To be part of
The wave can't stop
Come and tell me when it's time to

Sweetheart is bleeding in the snowcone
So smart, she's leading me to ozone
Music, the great communicator
Use two sticks to make it in the nature
I'll get you into penetration
The gender of a generation
The birth of every other nation
Worth your weight the gold of meditation
This chapter's going to be a close one
Smoke rings, I know you're going to blow one
All on a spaceship persevering
Use my hands for everything but steering
Can't stop, the spirits when they need you
Mop tops are happy when they feed you
J. Butterfly is in the treetop
Birds that blow the meaning into bebop

[Chorus]

Wait a minute I'm passing out
Win or lose, just like you
Far more shocking
Than anything I ever knew
How 'bout you
10 more reasons
Why I need somebody new, just like you
Far more shocking
Than anything I ever knew
Right on cue

Can't stop, addicted to the shin dig
Cop top, he says I'm gonna win big
Choose not a life of imitation
Distant cousin to the reservation
Defunkt, the pistol that you pay for
This punk, the feeling that you stay for
In time, I want to be your best friend
Eastside love is living on the West End
Knock out, but boy you better come to
Don't die you know the truth is some do
Go write your message on the pavement
Burnin' so bright, I wonder what the wave meant

Kick start the golden generator
Sweet talk, but don't intimidate her
Can't stop the gods from engineering
Feel no need for any interfering
Your image in the dictionary
This life is more than ordinary
Can I get 2 maybe even 3 of these
Come from space
To teach you of the pleiades
Can't stop the spirits when they need you
This life is more than just a read-through

Playing around on Tumblr

Just exported this blog over there. Gonna see what all the hype is about. Not sure I'm a fan yet, so don't go away! I see a lot of my pics didn't come over. A lot of them were linked from external sites. It only allowed me to upload 250 posts, so I'll get the rest up tomorrow.

I have several other blogs here, so I'll likely stay.

Forgot...

Met and played with 2003 WSOP champion Chris Moneymaker at the C-Bus casino. Nice guy. NOT a professional poker player. I honestly think I'm a better player than he is. He did have a good tourney in 2003 though. If it weren't for him, I probably wouldn't be in the game. Good lord, I look awful in this pic, lol. I hadn't even ordered a drink yet! BTW, there was also a huge pool tourney going on at the casino, and they LOVED my Breaking Bad shirt. I hadn't realized the connection to pool...get it...Breaking Bad?

Book it!

Couple things... Tix to CA are purchased! Flying into LA, driving up the coast to SF and SAC, and flying out of SF. Gonna eat good; I'm already looking at recent James Beard Award nominees. I'm also already having stomach pains just thinking about the flight. Gonna hit up my doc for something to keep me from freaking out. What a ridiculous phobia.

Also booked...Black Sabbath in DET in August! Ozzy sounds like shit from what I can tell from the bad YouTube clips from Australia, but hopefully he'll get it together over the summer. My friend Sean Saley, who is the drummer for the band Pentagram, says they are being considered to open for Sabbath in PARIS! That would be amazing. I'm trying to get my old buddy Stout to be my date for this show.

Poker...sucks!

Running bad. Playing bad. Started off the year way up, now I am back to even. None of my hands are holding up, very few draws are hitting, and I'm making bad decisions. It's to the point where I have zero desire to even play.

The good news...it's 77 degrees outside! Got out on the bike a couple times in the past week. Need the exercise!

Map of yesterday's ride

Tool

Never seen these guys live...would be an amazing show

New laptops/tablets, TV shows, movies, and other media

Agh...sick AGAIN much of last week! Not as bad as the supercold I had a few weeks before, but had the sore throat/sinus/cough thing going on. I've never been sick back to back like that before. WTF!!! The weather has finally taken a turn for the better. I am really dying to get out on the bike.

Anyway,I forgot to mention the Craigslist find from a couple weeks ago. Got a Samsung model 300v5a-a05us laptop with Core i7 CPU and 8GB RAM for $300. Gonna sell my Toshiba ultrabook to cover the cost. Will likely even make a few $$ on the deal. I purchased a 120GB SSD drive off eBay and tossed it in. I got some benchmark software and it screams. Only thing is, it's creaky/noisy and I think I still like my Asus better even though it's an i5 CPU, it still seems just as fast. It's also totally solid as far as its construction. I still wish either had a backlit keyboard.

So, being on a perpetual electronics upgrade kick, I offered a kid (like 16-18) $150 for the Google Nexus 7 he was selling on CL, and he accepted. Nice little tablet! I've been playing around with it for a couple weeks now too. Sold the Kindle Fire for $100 on eBay. Not quite a free upgrade, but worth the few extra $$.

As for phones, I am cool with my S3, but the new HTC One looks sweet. My mom wants a new phone pretty bad so I am recommending this or the iPhone, although the bigger screen really wins out, especially for older folks. Did I mention my mom has lost a bunch of weight? She's been dieting and actually even exercising. Good for her.

I recently joined Amazon Prime which seems pretty cool so far, but I am still unable to watch some of my favorite cable shows without paying. I like Walking Dead, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Louis CK, Californication, Homeland, Bates Motel, Workaholics, and Sunny in Philly. Walking Dead season just ended and Mad Men started last night. I was just saying how I never used to watch so much TV. Well, if the weather was better...One cool thing with AP is that you get free 2-day shipping on everything, which will pay for itself even before Christmas with all the business I do there. I rarely even buy electronics from Tigerdirect any more.

One item I'll be buying from Amazon will be the new Black Sabbath release coming out in June called 13. I've heard a couple snippets and it sounds good so far. First Sabbath release in 35 years with Ozzy. Looking forward to a tour! Sample here

Books! can't forget to mention the new book I'm reading. Recommended by TK and a few podcasters I listen to (Mysterious Universe, Paranormal Podcast). It's called John Dies At The End, and so far it's freaking fun. Movie is in my Netflix queue. There's a sequel that I'll pick up immediately after this one.

Speaking of podcasts, Bill Burr's Monday Morning Podcast is quickly becoming a favorite. It's just him ranting into a recorder, but his comedy is pure brilliance. Check it out!

Work is going great. Got a lab together a couple weeks ago, and got a ton done over spring break. I hope summer goes as smoothly. 

Sorry, no poker lately. Probably gonna hit the Shoe soon. Team tourney this coming weekend.

Weather

First week of April and it's been below freezing overnight since who knows when. No end in sight. We may hit 50 degrees this weekend. Meanwhile, every FB friend of mine seems to be vacationing in FL, posting pics by the pool, riding bikes, fishing, etc. I would love to be able to get outside year-round.

My friend Sean was in from DC last weekend. He was moving his mom back to town and crashed at my place Sat night. We just sat around talking all night and flipping channels on the tv. He had to head back to DC the next morning. He'll be back here on Friday with 1 band he's in, and back to Europe in a few weeks touring with Pentagram. Here he is from last year's tour. Rock and roll.