![[SimGuy.net]](/shared/logo.png){kind=logo}
June 2007 Archive
Saturday, June 30, 2007
[Comments: 3] 9:27 PM - from the seeing-is-believing dept:
I finally got those pictures together that I promised. Here's a little bit of silliness first:
The purpose of this wall of cushions is to keep the sunlight out in the hours between 4:30 and and 11:30 where I may be sleeping and desirous of being neither woken nor sunburned. I would buy curtains if I were planning to stay here a long time, but since it's only a matter of months, this suffices. :)
Next, my desk. This was Curt's desk, which he didn't take with him when he moved out. I am considering using this desk in my condo, but I will decide once I have a good idea how well everything I already have will fit in the place. I have another desk in the bedroom, which I will use alternatively, if I do not elect to take this one:
Here's some of the view from the current apartment, north to the skyline, for which my hand is not steady enough to get a clear picture, northeast to Navy Pier (see the ferris wheel?) and Soldier Field in the foreground, and then southeast, over the lake, toward Indiana and south Chicago:
So there you go, I took photos of things! Don't expect it to happen again anytime soon. :P
At least now I can take pictures if I want to again.
I'm thinking of heading over to Grant Park for Tastes of Chicago tomorrow, so maybe I can "report" on that next!
Friday, June 29, 2007
[Comments: 0] 4:12 AM - from the digital-photos dept:
I picked up a pack of Ni-MH AA batteries and finally got my camera working, and I came across some pictures that I had left on the camera from a while back, such as this:
That's from my previous place, and you can see the top of Karl's head in the corner and an IM window on the screen.
It took me a little while to determine the best way to use the camera in Linux, but it's all working now. I tried a few test photos and determined my hand is as steady as something that is wobbling continuously! :)
I will try to post some of the promised pictures after I take them, which will be soon. Speaking of which, Clark took some photos of a thunderstorm that came by the other day. I have been so looking forward to seeing one on the lake, but so far I haven't been home to catch one. He sent in his pictures to a few TV stations and they were on air on Fox Chicago during the midday news. I would try to get a link up but their web site is horrible and I can barely navigate it for some reason, so I've given up.
Karl and Curt are both gone today on trips of personal nature, so I will be holding down the fort with Justin for the day shift tomorrow. The new staff changes are great, because since Justin is already scheduled for a 12 hour shift, I don't have to get up at 9 AM to cover for Curt. Taking a vacation is going to be so much less bothersome from now on. :)
Time for bed! Good night!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
[Comments: 0] 2:41 AM - from the low-power-mode dept:
I found my camera, and I found its USB cable, and I even found the battery charger, but I have not found any batteries. I am committed to taking some kind of pictures, so give me a couple days to get batteries. :P
[Comments: 0] 2:14 AM - from the radio-in-a-net dept:
Just wanted to point out a political thing worthy of note. Lawmakers are paving the way to significantly increase royalty fees for online radio stations, and today has been declared a "national day of silence" (in which many stations will voluntarily go off air) to call attention to this issue. Small and large online radio organizations are about to get hit with huge new fees, which are even retroactive to 18 months ago. I decided to send messages to my senators and house rep here in Illinois, because I believe they basically serve as free advertising of RIAA supported music, and yet the RIAA wants to squash them anyway.
This should not be, and I think it's worthwhile to support legislation to prevent the music industry from killing its own supporters for the sake of those that enjoy the chance to find new music through creatively mixed online radio stations. I am thinking specifically of projects like Pandora, as well as diverse alternative stations, which have led me to several talented artists I would never have found otherwise. The site SaveNetRadio.org offers some suggestions on supporting an "Internet Radio Equality Act" which will prevent online radio from being singled out and killed.
[Comments: 1] 2:00 AM - from the what?-a-post? dept:
I know it's been a while, and I left off with a crazy cliffhanger there. ;)
After much mulling over the idea and my finances, I talked with my parents and a mortgage consultant and figured out that I would be able to afford a condo after all. I selected a condo in the building diagonally across from work, one which is about 630 square feet, but which should be quite adequate for me for the time being.
I am hoping that with any luck, I will not need to move from here for a while and this will be a home for some time. The catch has been that the condo is not yet complete, and so, as my lease ended at my previous apartment on May 31st, I have moved in with another friend of mine, Clark, until the closing of my new condo arrives.
I have just in the past two weeks started on some of the important mortgage paperwork to lock in my rate, which is unfortunately not as low as I'd like. It seems likely I will be paying a good amount for a good while. I asked for and received a raise in May which should help out quite a bit on that front, in terms of my month to month expenses.
In related news, Ray informed us a couple months ago that he wanted to go back to school and would be leaving Steadfast. He has since moved back to Wisconsin to pursue a pre-med program. I miss hanging out with him, and wish him well on that journey. Karl and I are hoping to head up to visit him toward the end of July.
Speaking of Karl, he's moved in with Curt, and two other people who are working with our company now. They are renting a very nice townhouse, which I wish I could afford to buy. These two new people are among a large group of staff changes, and while I am now working five days per week, 1 PM to 9 PM, I am also in charge of making sure things don't blow up from the support end of things, which is very time consuming for now.
Senad announced he would be leaving around the same time as Ray did, and Brooks also decided to depart. We then opted to hire 5 new staff members: Adnan, Justin, Mike, Luke, and Rick. The new staff provide much better coverage of busy periods, and give me a real 40-hour work week in terms of office time, but I don't feel so comfortable going off on vacation without Internet Access just yet. We're getting there though, and I expect things will stabilize before too long.
There isn't terribly much going on other than that, though I am excited to have finally gotten my main character in World of Warcraft past level 50! I'm just 16 levels shy of the maximum level, 70, now. This is very sad, because I've had an account with this game since it first launched and I still have never even reached 60, which was the maximum level prior to the expansion pack.
As everyone surely knows, I am not one to take pictures, but I want to show off a few things about where I am living temporarily for posterity. Most amusing to me is my sunlight-blocking wall of cushions (this apartment faces east, and is unpleasant to sleep in if you like sleeping past 5:30). The view is also very pretty, though it's mostly the lake, and honestly, I'd rather be staring at the skyline. Either way, I would like to show off some pictures of these things, if I am able to find my camera. :)
There is most likely a trip back to Long Island on the horizon once my condo closes, so that I can gather some of my possessions that I couldn't justify taking along on my first move out this way. If there's enough warning, perhaps I can actually try to catch up with some people that know me there...
I'm going to go tear apart my boxes to find my camera now, and then head off to bed. Please nag me to blog more, so I know you care. ;)
