Maybe I’ve become a weepy little bitch in my old age of 35 (egads, just typing that makes me a weepy little bitch), but I swear, EVERY TIME I see this recent Folgers coffee commercial where hunky brother comes home and the parents stayed up all night to wait for his arrival but he shows up late and his sister opens the front door and when he gives her a gift she takes the bow and puts it on him and tells him, “you’re my present this year.” TEARS EVERYTIME. WHY????? It’s such a ridiculously cliched commercial and just like the one from the 80’s where “Peter” the (again) hunky son (at least if you consider it was the 1980s) comes home to the smell of Folgers. These commercials shamefully manipulate your basest emotions, whether that emotion is the arrival of nice hotness or just the whole long-separated family member comes home and everyone is happy. Also, that the coffee was the thing that made it happen. Specifically the Folgers. Obviously. Although I drink Maxwell House at home so maybe that is preventing random hot guys from coming over. That’s probably for the best then. 🙂
There is also that other commercial with the annoyingly cute “Jingle the Husky Pup” that makes me think I need to have that, just for the cute little stuffed husky pup you get and the fact that it barks when you say certain things. Maybe this just means that we need to get a dog. I keep leaning towards that conclusion and try to keep coming up with reasons why not. It would definitely be a humongous change of lifestyle for both Larry & I, but I think it would be basically awesome to have a dog. We will have to keep this in mind still.
Other News from this part of the world:
Larry has been making our loft office even more cool. I have to upload the photos and post them here (later today when I get home) but he got these cool wall labels made that were clocks, and we have 4 of them, one for each time zone. They’re labeled with meaningful cities, so Pacific is Santa Monica, Mountain is Colorado Springs, Central is San Antonio, and Eastern is New York. It’s pretty much AWESOME. Can’t wait to show here. Jan 2013 Update – Here are the pics:
Larry will be heading back to NYC this weekend and I follow him out there the following weekend, where I’ll be working at both 30 Rock and Englewood Cliffs while he will be visiting with his sister while she’s getting ready to have a baby. Exciting times! Can’t wait to go back to “The City” as well as see a lot of our friends and my coworkers there. Plus I get to finally wear my heavy coats again!!! I swear I miss wearing my awesome Michael Kors peacoat. That thing is timeless AND awesome.
I rebuilt my PC again – I think another post is in order to fully document it but I did that during the Thanksgiving Weekend. My PC is insane now. Pics and Post to come. Jan 2013 Update – Here are the pics from that little adventure; I’m ready to do it again, to be honest!:
All the new pieces! New MB, new graphics card, new memory (8 GB), and a new processor25-Nov-2011 13:19, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.8, 4.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 100
My iPad served as the manual to follow while doing this upgrade. I'm no rookie, but it helps to have this.25-Nov-2011 13:20, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.5, 4.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 160
Time to unplug and rip all this shit out. I mean, remove these components gently for Larry's use!25-Nov-2011 13:31, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.8, 4.3mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 250
With a new mobo, you typically get a new plate for your connections. NEAT.25-Nov-2011 13:41, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.8, 4.3mm, 0.02 sec, ISO 125
Getting out the new heatsink and fan - these processors would immolate themselves without this.25-Nov-2011 13:55, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.8, 4.3mm, 0.02 sec, ISO 160
Yep - Moore's Law is amazing. So much power in such a tiny little chip.25-Nov-2011 13:55, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.8, 4.3mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 400
Heatsink and Fan kit is attached and connected to the power plug on the mobo25-Nov-2011 14:00, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.2, 4.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 200
These red teeth are the two 4GB sticks of memory about to make me very happy.25-Nov-2011 14:04, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.8, 5.831mm, 0.013 sec, ISO 250
Make sure to push hard on these so they snap firmly into place. The anchor tabs MUST lock them in.25-Nov-2011 14:05, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 3.2, 6.271mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 320
Another thing that takes a bit of force to ensure proper seating and connection.25-Nov-2011 14:10, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.5, 4.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 200
And this could be the most annoying part - the Case wires for lights, reset, etc.25-Nov-2011 14:39, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 5.0, 12.732mm, 0.02 sec, ISO 800
Even when you think you've done it all perfectly, you can find you're quite wrong.25-Nov-2011 14:46, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.8, 4.3mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 400
Always good that you can get into BIOS and see your hard drives and disk drives25-Nov-2011 14:47, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 4.0, 8.036999mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 320
Even better when you can get into the Windows 7 OS installation screens!25-Nov-2011 15:01, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.8, 4.3mm, 0.006 sec, ISO 200
Video Game News (skip if you’re not a geek like me): I finished Grand Theft Auto 4 finally. Well worth it to finally get that done – now I just need to also finish the other Grand Theft Autos from the III series, like San Andreas, Vice City and the original. I’m also playing Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and man, that thing is really cool. Plus, with my super-powered rig, it can do full on awesome graphics. I also just finished Assassin’s Creed: Revelations. I was so stoked to play this as it took place mostly in Constantinople (or Istanbul, as it’s called now and funny enough, it was called that back in the 1500s too by the locals, at least according to the game) which Larry & I had just visited on our cruise this year. I’ve been to pretty much all the primary locations from the Assassin’s Creed 2 series in real life, including Florence (AC2), Venice (AC2), Rome (AC2 & AC:B), and Istanbul (AC:R). I’ll miss Ezio. Now I want to get back into Batman: Arkham City and Uncharted 3. I LOVE VIDEO GAMES.
Alright, I think that’s enough for now. There will be some upcoming posts with either pictures or the PC upgrade post. I like to keep track of what I’ve been doing in that realm as well as what pieces I use. Awesomely enough, Larry was able to use my components that I replaced to build a “Hackintosh”, which is basically making a PC into a Mac, which is not something Apple really wants you to do. But doing that means you can build a much more powerful system that what Apple may give you, plus you’re not paying the Apple “premium” too. He seems to be very very happy with the performance he gets out of it as the components I replaced really weren’t that obsolete, as I had bought them just under 2 years ago and they were almost top-of-the-line then.
Okay, back to work, Hobie. Someone’s bound to notice you’re not being productive for NBCU…. sshh…..
It’s a weird-looking date hence there’s all sorts of things that wanted to have this as a momentous date, incidentally for some and totally intentional for others.
Incidentally? It’s Veteran’s Day (yay soldiers and airmen and seamen and marines!) and it’s all-the-way-up-to-volume-11 Spinal Tap day too. Intentionally? Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, The HP7 Pt2 Blu-Ray, and Immortals came out. I’m excited for the first two…the last one, maybe if we could watch it on mute. I’ve read that there are plenty of Greek soldiers who don’t know how to wear a shirt in it. That’s always a good thing.
I’ve been playing GTA4 and Tropico 4 a lot lately, then dabbled just a bit in Skyrim this morning but I can not let myself get absorbed. Must try to get through these in due time.
Oh yeah, if you know or care about my sciatic nerve problems, my MRI revealed that indeed I do have a tear in one of my spinal vertebrae discs, about 5mm in length. The resulting glob of goo from the disc is now pushing up against the bunch of nerves coming out from the spine and, you guessed it, one batch is that set of nerves that runs down my right leg. OH THE FUN. My options per the doctor are surgery, steroid injections, or let it heal some more/physical therapy. He advised against the first two as the rationale was that in two years, all options will result in the same relief. And surgery and steroid injections all have additional risks and such associated….so I did opt to continue with trying to get better with time. I can admit that the pain has reduced, although my days go from pretty good to pretty bad. And lately, trying to get out of bed has been horrendous – I’m not sure what is causing it but it’s insane. I have a feeling that because I doubled up on the Gabapentin at night, I move around more than I should and when the Gaba wears off, the pain comes roaring in.
I bought a seat cushion that has a cutout right where your ass-crack is; apparently that is to allow your spine to not get that upwards pressure from the seat as just your asscheeks are sitting while the spine can sorta sit through it? I don’t know, I am using it now and I am feeling way better when sitting than I did previously, so perhaps I’ll need to swing by the medical supply store and pick two more up, one for the car and one for the office…. Anyway, once my pain is such that is nearly minimal, I can start some physical therapy to strengthen my core. Who knows, maybe I’ll get a six-pack….like this guy:
Hey, it’s Veteran’s Day, and this guy has dogtags on, so I bet he must be a Veteran too…. heh heh…
Alright, enough hotness from random strangers for you. Here are some well-deserved pics from Larry & my trip around the Eastern Mediterranean – this time from the lovely and fantastic spot of Mykonos, Greece. It really is amazing how wonderful the weather was the entire trip. Sure, it was effing hot, but there wasn’t any rain nor any gloomy days, except for the day at sea which was coming up the day after Mykonos. But who cares, right? That’s what the inside of a massive cruise ship is there for.
June 22, 2012 Update: Â I think that the captions of the photos for this particular excursion are sufficient to describe the adventure on this day. It was a great day and full of beautiful Greek island scenery. One of the fun highlights was while eating lunch on the Mykonos coast before heading back to the ship. Lots of people-watching (aka checking out hot guys). The ship left in the afternoon so when we got back, there was time to go hang out by the pool which was a fantastic way to drink and soak up the rays. Some times, you just need to put your feet up, listen to the music, and enjoy the sun.
Islands of Delos and Mykonos (Greece), Sept 6, 2011
Off to the Isle of Delos
The view from our room of the Mykonos area
Mykonos Greece!
It’s hard to get over how huge our ship is
Our excursion for the day was to the island of Delos, reachable by ferry
Love how there’s some random church on some random island
One of those cruise ships with masts and sails – maybe one day
On Delos looking back towards Mykonos, I think
The clear water of the sea
In the ancient and quite intact ruins of Delos
It’s the commercial district
Delos was deserted for over a thousand years, allowing much to remain intact
It was only in the last hundred or so years it was excavated
Larry in the ruins of Delos
In one of the ancient shops – this mosaic is a replica
No more roof but still striking
This was the window of the currency exchange office
Delos was located central to many cultures so exchange was needed
A bad view into a cistern
The only arches in Delos for a cistern
Closer view of the cistern arches
The remains of the 5000-person theater
Heading back down to the main plaza, the Agora
Hobie and the Greeks
Larry amidst the beauty of Greece
One with both of us!
In the remains of the Sacred Way, leading to Apollo’s shrines
In the background is Mt Cynthus – we’d climb it soon
The Sacred Way
Mt Cynthus – not too huge a place
Places to house the French archaeologists who maintain Delos
Larry at the Terrace of the Lions, dedicated to Apollo
Apollo is said to have been born in Delos
As you can see, there are tons of ruins
On our walk to the Museum, where most valuables are stored safely
The rocky lane to the museum
What’s visible from the museum
Original millennia-old mosaics from Delos, safely stored inside
This is the authentic mosaic – the replica was seen in the photo earlier
Climbing Mt Cynthus on Delos
AT first we weren’t going to, but we had time to take the path
..the path to Mt Cynthus’ summit
We have our climbing shoes on, so let’s go
We weren’t alone on our quest
You can see midway up is the temple of Isis
This is the House of Hermes
You can also see the dock we arrived on
Such a beautiful place
You can also see that the seas were a bit rough
The House of the Masks
My shirt matches the seas!
Approaching the temple of Isis – yep, an Egyptian god temple
This temple of Isis – since Delos was such a middleground, even Egyptians had fun
You can see the stone staircase up Mt Cynthus
Larry loves Isis
I do too
After leaving the Isis area, the steps ascend again
Looking back at the Isis temple
The path gets a bit more strenuous and treacherous
Larry is making his way up
The staircase up!
About halfway up the staircase, looking back down
You can see the harbor and beyond from up here
The gorgeous Greek isles
Almost at the top
Top of the world!
That’s the very top
It’s kind of jawdropping – that’s the Mykonos harbor in the background
Larry up top
I made it to the top
Awesome
Not sure who the red-haired lady was…maybe Artemis?
The shrine to Dionysus
Don’t jump!
Up top
Back to Mykonos
Back at the dock looking back at Mt Cynthus
At our seat on the ferry
About an hour long ride back to Mykonos
Our ship docked away from the main Mykonos port
The white buildings of Mykonos
Apparently it’s quite the hotbed of nightlife activity
Look at this place – Mykonos is gorgeous
The water, the white buildings – so beautiful
In Mykonos town
Me and the Mykonos Greeks – most likely they’re all tourists like us
We grabbed delicious lunch at this great people-watching cafe
mmmm…Greek beer
Larry likes beer and food
I wouldn’t mind boating around the Greek Isles
One of the open plaza areas
Yeah, this a bit like paradise
The water is kind of unreal
I’ll just take one please
Another view from our window – do we have to leave?
“Peter” the (again) hunky son (at least if you consider it was the 1980s) comes home to the smell of Folgers. These commercials shamefully manipulate your basest emotions, whether that emotion is the arrival of nice hotness or just the whole long-separated family member comes home and everyone is happy. Also, that the coffee was the thing that made it happen. Specifically the Folgers. Obviously. Although I drink Maxwell House at home so maybe that is preventing random hot guys from coming over. That’s probably for the best then. 🙂
