KJToo

I’ve moved all of the movie reviews from the old format to the new, so they’re now WordPress entries. I’ve also copied over a rant or two from LiveJournal. Some entries go back as far as 2003, so there’s actually a real archive. Woot!

That’s right, it’s 2005 and I’ve done away with the old and brought in the new. First off, I’ve installed WordPress and replaced the old front page. I’m in the process of figuring out how all of the existing stuff (movie reviews, collections, WebChess) can be integrated into the new design. I’m hoping that the whole thing will be a little nicer to look at and a whole lot easier to maintain on the backend. Time will tell.

While listening to music at work, I keep my iPod in the left breast pocket of my shirt to avoid pulling it off my desk and onto the floor when I move around. If you can’t imagine what it looks like when I adjust the volume, you clearly don’t know enough about the iPod. If you can imagine what it looks like, and you’re imagining me doing that, I apologize and suggest sipping some water or coffee to remove the taste of vomit from the back of your throat.

Okay, so comparing the MVoD to a tiger is probably a bit of a stretch. Nonetheless, after having driven for more than 43,000 miles without rotating the tires once, I discovered that the front tires were nearing bald, while the back tires were still in pretty reasonable shape. It’s all about the tread, you understand. It’s measured in thirty-seconds of an inch, and when you can count those fractions on one hand, it’s time for some new tires.

We had something of a reprieve from the Hideous Hand of Old Man Winter last week, when temperatures soared into the 60’s. Most snow in the area that was not piled up into hideous, filth-and-trash-encrusted mounds in the parking lot of Target had melted. Previous experience with slippery roads and driveways had kept the need for new tires fresh in my mind, though, so I visited an establishment whose very business is the vending and installation of round rubber.

Alas, the fellow I talked to on Monday assured that the only tire in stock compatible with the MVoD was some sort of bleeding edge über tire, and that other tires could be ordered, but would take three to five days to arrive. When he attempted to order tires that weren’t sent back from the future to destroy my bank account, his efforts were thwarted by the fact that the Office of Tire Ordering was closed for the holidays. On the third of January.

The Old Man turned his attention back to us once more yesterday, and it snowed pretty much all day, making driving conditions rather hazardous. Last night, as I inched my way along a very slippery and unpleasant 271 North, I watched a vehicle behind me suddenly veer to the left, spin out of control, slide across three lanes of traffic and come to a stop in the snow-covered grassy knoll separating the express lanes from something resembling sanity. Über tires it shall be, I thought, and (slowly) returned to the vendor and installer of the same.

I was met by a different fellow, who assured me that not only were the über tires not in stock, but every other tire of size P215/70R15 was. Amazing. In two days, the stock had completely inverted. I picked out a very nice pair of Michelin Symmetry radials. They have a slightly lower DEX than the über tires, but are comparable in both STR and CON. They are also about a double sawbuck cheaper per tire. With new claws installed (in about thirty minutes), my tiger definitely has a better grip on the road, and I’m less likely to be the next guy making an unscheduled stop in a snowbank.

Five paragraphs about getting new tires installed. Why would anyone still be reading at this point? Why am I still writing at this point?

Two or three other things, actually. My trip to the Great Lakes Mall Monday night was pretty fruitful. The “It’s a Puzzle!” store was selling all their stuff at deep discounts, so their inventory was pretty sparse. They were all out of puzzle glue and their selection of puzzles was fairly sad. They did have a few in the 9,000-to-18,000 piece range that looked very interesting, in a “there’s no way in Hell I could possibly finish that” kind of way.

There was, however, a game kiosk that had puzzle glue as well as a Disney Photomosaics Winnie the Pooh puzzle. Our guest bedroom has a combination Winnie the Pooh/Aquarium theme going on, so I thought that it’d make a good addition. Plus, it look suitably difficult without being frustratingly so.

When she found out that I was going to the mall, Laura asked me to pick up a copy of Yourself! Fitness for the Xbox. Oh, not for her. No, no, no. For me. So, I can now use my Xbox as a personal trainer and dietitian. I have yet to pop the disc in the drive, as I’m afraid of what Maya will instruct me to do. Perhaps Saturday I’ll bite that particular bullet.

I also snagged a used copy of Syberia for the Xbox, a game that I’ve wanted for some time now. I believe the genre is technically adventure game, but it could probably be called a story-driven puzzle game, too. It’s very pretty.

That is all!