The Net Monkey

I had a pretty good weekend.

Saturday, I went down to Brown County with my family. My cousin and her husband own a bit of properly not too far from Morgrantown, and we went down there to see their new cabin and have a little birthday celebration for my mother who is turning 63 on Halloween.

After the trip to Brown County, I came back to the city and met up with my co-worker Danny, his wife Carly, and some of their friends at the Chatterbox. I had a good time hanging out with those guys, especially since I enjoy the Chatterbox. It has a nice atmosphere and good music.

Later that night I walked over to the 501 to meet Tony and Jason. The Bag Ladies showed up to collect money for AIDS charity, which was a bit of a surprise. In fact, I recall last year them saying they wouldn’t do it again, but, of course, they did. Many good photos were taken, but none of me.

Photo Set: Bag Ladies - 2006-10-28

On Sunday, I woke up tired, but went over to my parents’ house to fix their wireless network and help pick up the leaves in their yard. It was nothing special, but I did get two meals provided to me. Not much compares to eating your own mother’s cooking, if you ask me.

Anyway, my father is still doing well. I think he’s getting a bit bored now that he’s been off for over a week and has about three more until he can return to work.

Not sure what I’m doing this coming weekend. I may take a trip down to Kentucky with my father and great aunt, but that hasn’t been figured out yet.

I’ve been a bit lazy about blogging these days. I usually slack off, taking a while to document something which happened one or two weeks prior to me posting about it. Well, this entry won’t be any different than those in the past. (( grin ))

Anyway, last weekend was a scary time for me and my family. My father had a heart attack on Saturday while working at one of the stores on his route. The first incident happened early in the morning, during which he called 911. Determined not to be like my grandfather (stubborn), he called for an ambulance which met him at the front of the store and took him to the emergency room.

It wasn’t long after he arrived at the hospital that Mom called me on the phone. She wanted me to head up there to be with him, as she wasn’t in a position to do so herself. When I arrived, he was going just fine; his EKG appeared normal and none of the blood tests showed that he had a heart attack.

After a while, I started to feel hungry and decided to grab some breakfast from the cafeteria. When I came back, with coffee in hand, Dad was having another heart attack. It was similar to the one he had earlier in the day: heavy breathing, pain in the chest, etc. He was still conscious, too. This time the EKG clearly showed that something was happening with his heart.

They immediately prepared him for cardiac catheterization, which is where they stick a small tube up through a vessel near the groin, allowing them to search and remove obstructions. Fortunately, they were able to find a blockage and repair it by inserting a stent. This means that blood has been restored the region of his heart affected by the obstruction, so there shouldn’t be much damage, if at all, as a result.

Dad ended up having to stay in the hospital for two days, as a result of all this. He came home on Monday and is feeling very good, but he is required to spend about two more weeks off of work.

Anyway, I’m so thankful that Dad called 911 instead of trying to work through the pain. I’m certain that he would have been much worse, if he hadn’t; I have no doubt.

Lastly, everyone at the Indiana Heart Hospital was very nice to us.

I just pulled a nose hair that I swear is about a mile (one inch) long. Nasty!

Title: Hot Slingbox Action

Uploaded By: mattbarton77

I finally broke down and bought myself a Slingbox AV two weekends ago.

This device hooks in to extra audio and video outputs on the back of my DVR so that I can watch television anywhere in the world. It comes with an infrared emitter allowing me to control the DVR, too. All you do is run the SlingPlayer on your computer and you’re all set.

My motivation to buy this unit, outside of the sheer coolness of the concept, was to enable television viewing upstairs. I’ve no television or set-top box in my bedroom, but it would be awfully nice to watch my shows while working on my Mac (of course, support for the Mac is actually coming out this month or soon hereafter) or while laying down before sleeping.

Of course, using the Slingbox isn’t limited to just home. While the quality is best viewed over a LAN, the system is fully networked, allowing you to view the stream from anywhere on the Internet: at work, at a friend’s house, or at a friend’s house in England.

The player isn’t limited to computers, either. Support for Windows Mobile phones is currently available, but my preferred platform, Symbian S60, is forthcoming and will be available in the next few months.

So, let the accumulation of sloth points begin!

Last week I rolled off a fairly busy extended weekend. The highlight, of which, was my friend Mac (as int he computer, but instead a real human) visiting from out of town. He and I have been friends for a few years and he decided to spend his fall break here with me in Indianapolis. It’s been over two years since we last saw each other, so it was nice to hang out.

Unfortunately, I ended up having to do a lot of work during my time off. I ended up working half a day on Thursday most of the afternoon on Saturday; however, our plans weren’t foiled for Saturday night, which included Japanese dinner at Sakura and Carmina Burana at the Circle Theatre.

Title: Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra

Uploaded By: spartacus13210

Carmina Burana was amazing and sounded exactly like the recording I have of it. It has been a long time since I’ve attended the symphony and I’m so happy that I went. Mac was good company, and he enjoyed the performance, as well.

Anyway, we had a great visit and I hope to see him sooner than another two years.

The new Battlestar Galactica season started last night, and I finally got around to watching the new episode today.

Without going in to too much detail, I’m a bit uncomfortable with the new setting. For most of the story, they’re not in ships fleeing the Cylons, but instead they’re in an environment which mildy reflects the recent state of affairs in Iraq. It isn’t the undertones of current events which bother me; it’s the fact that they’re not in ships fleeing the Cylons.

You know what I mean? I’ll get over it soon enough.

Anyway, it looks to be another stellar season for BSG. Can’t wait to see more!

P.S. You can now get Season 2.5 at Amazon. I plan on buying it relatively soon.

I think you’ll like this.

Found at Joe. My. God.

On Sunday, October 3, 1999, I moved back home to Indianapolis, which, if you pay any attention to the calendar, was exactly seven years ago today.

Prior to moving back home, I ended a nearly four year relationship with my first boyfriend, Rob. We had just moved to Memphis a mere two months before we broke up, having barely settled in our new home in an odd city.

I arrived in Indianapolis on a Sunday in a rental truck, started my new job on Monday, and that night I bought my first car with a $500 down payment loaned from my parents. (I only replaced that vehicle this past December due to a rather unfortunate event.)

So, what’s happened in the last seven years?

• I’ve lived in a total of six places: my parents house, a few apartments, and my own condo.
• I’ve worked for a total of four employers, but two of them were repeats. I’ve been at my current job since January 2005.
• I once planned to live in New York City.
• I had a few serious and somewhat-serious relationships.
• I became a homeowner in February 2004.
• I came down with appendicitis and subsequently had my appendix removed earlier this year.
• I’ve discovered my favorite cocktails and other alcoholic beverages.
• I opened my mind to all kinds of food.
• I’ve managed to travel a lot, too.

It’s a bit fun to earmark this kind of occassion because it gives me the opportunity to reflect on what has happened in my life for the past seven years. I think it’s important.

Honestly, I can’t believe how much time has truly passed; seems like yesterday. Seriously. I was 22 years old when I came back to Indy, and soon I’ll be turning 30.

Can I say that back in 1999 I am where I expected to be in 2006? Hardly! I don’t think I planned that far ahead, to tell you the truth.

So … what about you?

Title: Emily with Chia Garfield

Uploaded By: mattbarton77

Emily and I were having some fun down at the CVS the other day.

My friends Tony and Jason won free tickets to see Paul Oakenfold at Talbott Street last night. Being that I was a fan of some of Paul’s work (i.e. the first Tranceport album), I went ahead and purchased a ticket.

Fortunately, we arrived early enough that we were able to grab a table. On the other hand, this meant that we had to wait for over three hours for Paul to come out. He finally showed up on stage at midnight.

We left at 12:05 AM.

I think I’ve suffered hearing loss.

The best parts of the whole experience were Jason’s reactions, sighs, and eye-rolling through the whole event, making for some truly hilarious moments. If he happens to post an entry to his blog about it, I’ll link to it here.

I wouldn’t pass on seeing Paul again sometime, but it would definitely need to be on a weekend and a drinking night.