Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Category: General Cogitation Page 22 of 40

Tired of Waiting

By

On April 9, 2014

In General Cogitation

clock_waitIf you have been following along at home then you know that we are expecting. She (it’s a girl) was due April 3rd and here it is April 9th and she still doesn’t seem like she’s ready to come out. We are starting to look at the possibility to induce labor.

Of course when you are expecting a baby the cliches and colloquialisms come pouring out (better get use to not sleeping. check. better get use to not having any free time. already have too much, check. etc). The part that nobody tells you about is how frustrating it is to have to wait. I’m not someone that likes to sit around with nothing to do when I know something big is about to happen. I feel like we have done all we can to be ready for this baby, now we just need the baby.

I hate waiting, I really do. I think what makes its worse is this just perpetuates my wife’s discomfort. She can rarely find a comfortable place to sit, she pretty much has to lay down in very specific positions so her back will stop hurting. Sitting at her computer is right out. Sleeping comfortably is also a challenge. I’d have to concur with something she said the other day; what, about being pregnant, do most women seem to enjoy about it?

Anyhow, it’s just a meandering thought. It’s not going to be a common occurrence for me to post a lot about the impending munchkin; that will be predominately on the family website.

/cheers

Psych: Truly “Astoundashing”

By

On March 31, 2014

In General Cogitation

So ends another one of my favorite TV series. I had watched Psych from the first episode to the last. I feel so sad when a show ends because the characters become such a part of your life that it’s finale feels like a chapter in your own life has closed; but a show can’t go on forever (unless you’re the Simpsons). I’m going to miss the Wednesday Psych-Out’s (which were some of my favorite parts of the show), the variety of ridiculous partner names given to Gus and Shawn’s ADD riddled commentary which, allegedly, have been described multiple ways.

Be warned, if you haven’t watched the end of the series yet, there are spoilers ahead!

So how was the series finale compared to the others (because how a series ends seems to receive the most scrutiny)? I really enjoyed how they ended the series. I’m almost kind of glad they didn’t do the whole “2-hour-final-episode” deal, but kept it to an hour and gave everyone a fond, Psych-styled send off. I wish Shawn had said a more proper goodbye to Henry, granted it wouldn’t have properly fit with the rest of his farewell’s. I don’t know what the fan reaction was to the farewell DVDs but it worked well, especially for Woody and Lassiter. The fact that Lassiter wouldn’t watch Shawn actually admit that he wasn’t psychic was the best part of the whole episode … well that and Shawn finally proposing to Jules in the end!

Mira Sorvino’s super detective was the written in perfectly over the last couple of episodes to give proper closure between Psych and the SBPD. She also player her character brilliantly.

I think the fact that James Roday and Maggie Lawson have been engaged (for real) since about season 5 or 6 made me enjoy their character’s chemistry more. I hope they finally tie the proverbial knot soon and they don’t become another typical Hollywood marriage.

So I think they tied things up pretty good in the end. The small homage to Monk at the end was brilliant, and could have only been pulled off by USA!!

Farewell Shawn and Gus, Henry, Jules, Lassie, and Karen. And we can’t forget Despereaux, Mr. Yang, McNab and, of course, Dobson!!

Hey, maybe we can have a Psych reunion episode in a few years???

Soapbox: Cable Companies

By

On March 25, 2014

In Fulmination, Soapbox

overworked-290x290I had to do the Cable Company dance again. I had to cancel one and switch to the other again in order to receive the better deal. I will, most likely, have to do this again in two years because our “deal” will have expired and the bill will spike up another $30-40. It’s ridiculous that I have to do this dance every other year. I don’t understand why cable companies can’t be more like cell phone companies, every two years renew your contract at a discounted rate.

Yea, I get that they probably make most of their money from people that suddenly decide they don’t give a damn when their current deal ends and they just pay the extra charges. Perhaps the number of people that actually do drop service to switch to a cheaper service is a smaller percentage. Be that as it may, I still don’t understand why they are so difficult to negotiate with when I call a month before my contract expires to try to extend my coverage and keep my lower rate. I would think they would want to keep me as a customer. Loyalty builds a steadier stream of income. I shouldn’t have to go to twitter and start berating them before I get cooperation.

I’m getting close to just “cutting-the-cord” on cable in general, I know several of my friends already have. The technology available in Blu-ray players and Smart TVs today almost make it more affordable to ditch cable and access all the shows and movies from the Internet. We just switched so, for the time being, I’m going to endure with this cable provider but when it gets close to the end of my contract then I think it will be time to be the biggest pain in the ass as possible. I’m just tired of the hassle of switching providers all the time.

/endsoapbox

While Still Drinking Pop

By

On March 10, 2014

In General Cogitation

scale-edMy total weight loss goal was 60 pounds. The closest I came was 55 pounds before I plateaued again. Granted I haven’t been working out as much as I was a couple of months ago. I attribute most of that to the busy Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday and the obnoxious, freezing weather we have had this winter. I’ve been pondering if perhaps I may not actually lose those last five pounds.

As many of my friends have pointed out, when I talked about my weight loss, as you lose weight you also gain muscle. As the old adage goes, muscle weighs more than fat. I am still fitting very comfortably in my smaller shirts and pants; therefore I can only surmise that while the scale doesn’t reflect having achieved my weight loss goal, I think I actually have reached that point and now its only a matter of maintenance and toning.

I have been asked, quite often, what I did to lose the weight. After all, there are a plethora of weight loss fads and diets out there. I have posted a blog (or two) about this before. I talked about how I bought a FitBit and, using a couple of other phone apps, I managed my calories and increased how much I exercised each week. It’s all about portion control and exercising regularly.

In fact, I didn’t even have to change how much pop I drink (3-5 cans a day), which is a big win in my book! There were so many “studies” and white papers posted about how cutting out the pop would help you lose weight. Well, perhaps I was the exception; or perhaps I would have lost weight quicker had I stopped drinking it. I wasn’t in any kind of hurry so I didn’t care if it took twice as long, but everybody’s body chemistry is different. Besides, pop is my vice. It is my spice. My crack. My … precious!

Be that as it may, the good thing is that I lost the weight and, so far, I’m keeping it off. My clothes fit better and I have a lot more energy, which is important since I have the kid on the way.

/cheers!

New Domain, New Home

By

On February 17, 2014

In General Cogitation, Technology

Greetings World!

It has been a while since I have posted anything but a couple of book reviews. The reason for that is I had to move my site to a new domain. Before I continue I need to pay some homage to my former site host. My good friend owns the www.fuzzydice.net domain and has been hosting my site for over a decade. It’s difficult to repay so many years of great service and I can’t thank him enough for doing it despite my occasional badgering when the server were to crash (or the time my site was compromised – damn spambots!). As things in life change and the cost to manage server space goes up, sometimes its easier, and cheaper, for everyone to move on to new homes and new domains.

Thanks Fuzzy!!

So here we are at our new home. I don’t know what to expect yet as far as stability and performance nor am I certain yet that this will be the permanent home but it will be sufficient for now. I’m also surprised how easy it was to actually move a WordPress site. I was honestly expecting it to be rather difficult but it actually took longer to backup and restore the site then it did to reconfigure WordPress (I found this post to be extremely helpful). If you happen to have my blog site bookmarked, you will want to update the link (or hit Ctrl+D and delete the old one).

At any rate, I will be getting back to my normal blog banter with the return of MMO Times and my other nerdy posts and rants.

/cheers

My Tropical Turkey Trip

By

On November 30, 2013

In General Cogitation

20131129-155944.jpg

I took this picture of the sunrise the day after Thanksgiving this year. We had a difficult year and we decided we would do something completely different for Thanksgiving this year so we spent it at a house that is on the Atlantic side of Florida. A little place called Daytona Beach. The roller coaster temperatures and weather patterns back home have definitely made the trip worth it. It’s quite a unique experience to stroll along the beach on Thanksgiving. I have my amazing in-laws to thank for creating a truly unique holiday experience.

My first stroll along the ocean, the beach was absolutely littered with jelly fish that have been washed ashore by the ebbing tide. I have never seen so many jelly fish. We spotted live crabs, sand dollars and pelicans skimming, literally inches, above the water. Shattered shells also littered the coast, most likely from the hawks that patrolled the skies, swooping down for a “mollusca munchie”. So, despite the dangers of the daystar, I did leave technology on the counter a couple times this week to indulge in the brilliance of the beach (though I admit I’m still not much of a beach person).

Our first night here, we sat out on the patio and listened to the waves crash on the shore while staring up at a cloudless night sky. It’s not very often where you have such a clear night to star gaze. There was also a rocket launch schedule for this week down at Cape Canaveral, however it was postponed twice during our trip. Had they launched the rocket, the chances were good that it’s trajectory would have taken it nearly right over our heads.

While I am feeling a bit homesick and anxious to see my dogs again, I don’t think my body is quite prepared to board a plane where its 68 degrees and deplane where it’s 30 degrees. However, now that its after Thanksgiving I can start putting up my Christmas lights, which I plan to do first thing. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving this year and survived the Black Friday madness.

/cheers

Page 22 of 40

Previous

Next

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén