KREEE-AAH!

From the ashes of the old, the new arise!


Or something.

Steve and I recently endeavored to fix his iPod Touch. You see, many moons ago, Steve purchased a fantastic new iPod. Then, not three days after he peeled off the wrapper, he and I went to the arcade. Because the arcade is fun. While we were playing an intense game of air hockey, he stowed his iPod in the pocket of his hoody. As I was performing a triple-backflip slapshot, the iPod slipped onto the table and caught a puck to the face, breaking the glass screen. It was still functional, but it had a rather unappealing crack running across. Like the Phantom of the Opera, but an iPod. And not insane. A couple months later, while Steve was fighting no less than four bears, the iPod slipped from his pocket and he stepped on it. That made a second, even bigger crack. His iPod was now more like Quasimodo. Except that it didn't ring church bells. Then again, maybe there's an app for that. I don't know.

Anyway, I recently stumbled across a replacement glass face (called a digitizer) that you can buy online for a very reasonable $15. Steve purchased it and it arrived today. We eagerly began reconstruction surgery on Quasimodo the iPod, but quickly ran into trouble. In the video tutorial we watched, the suave British commentator smoothly removes the glass front and sets it aside so that he can sip some brandy and puff on an expensive cigar.


Cut to Steve and Mike. Mike has the iPod laying on the ground and is it hitting it with a rock. Steve is waving his arms and running in circles around Mike. Both are hooting and screaming. Glass shards and bits are flying in every direction.

Finally, we get the digitizer off. In pieces. Lots of pieces. Whatever, it's off.

We look at the digitizer and notice that it's missing a button. Using our powers of deduction, we deduce that we have to use the button from the old digitizer. Except that we can't get the button out of the old digitizer.

More pieces.

"Okay, it's out."

Now we notice that a metal piece on the new digitizer looks different from the metal piece on the old one. More howling. We go back to the video tutorial of the cultured British man taking apart his iPod. By now, he had completely disassembled and reassembled the iPod and is giving us a disdainful look as he reclines in his armchair and peruses The Times. He explains to us that we have to switch the two metal pieces.

"Okay, so we pry the metal piece out and switch it with the one from the old digitizer."

"The one from the old digitizer? You mean the piece I just bent to get at the button?"

"Yep, that's the one."

"Great. Let's do this."

Finally, we get everything we need and use our unbending powers to restore things to a workable state. After some delicate reassembling, we get the iPod back together. The moment of truth arrives and I press the button. Success! The iPod roars to fully-functional life. It now looks all new and shiny. Everyone is happy. Throngs of cheering men and swooning women crowd the sidewalks as we parade up and down the main street, waving the repaired iPod for everyone to see.


At least, I'm pretty sure that's the way it all went.

Two Long

No, that's not a typo.

Sometimes, things from your past just won't leave you alone. They fade with time, but they don't ever fully disappear. And every once in a while, you get reminded, and you remember all the pain and misery you went through. Or caused. Or both.

Doesn't matter if, given the opportunity, you wouldn't change anything that you've done. You're still miserable.

Luckily, it'll fade. Again. Because life goes on. Always does.

To pass the time until it does, you go play video games until your brains are mush.

Til then,

One Two Three, No Substitutions, Exchanges, or Refunds

Can you place that Disney quote?

Anywho, I was recently reminded of why I don't drink much. The reasons fall mostly into three different categories which I will represent using sounds, because I can.

One: ka-ching. Booze costs about a bazillion dollars a bottle. One bottle doesn't last long if drink a lot. Multiply one bazillion times however many bottles you go through, and you get a lot of bazillions. When I'm trying to go to college, which costs many, many bazillions of dollars, I do not have many spare dollars to throw around.

Two: blech. A buzz can be enjoyable, but any more than that, in my opinion, doesn't really feel that good. Having Poseidon (or perhaps Broseidon, God of Alcohol and underaged drinking) take up personal residence in your head and spin your head guts into a swirling whirlpool of dizziness doesn't exactly thrill me. And then you feel like crap afterwards, because Broseidon shifts his residence down to your stomach guts and repeats his whirlpool party trick. If he's in top form, he can even tsunami your booze right back up your esophagus. Good times.

Three: smack. That was a facepalm, in case you didn't catch it. You see, in order to write a book that contained accounts of all the stupid things that drunk people have done, we'd probably have to terraform the rest of the planets in the solar system into lush, verdant forest worlds ala Pandora from Avatar. Once we'd managed that, we'd have to chop them all down and grind them into paper so that we wouldn't run out. We'd also have to invent a new binding system that would probably involve force fields, wormholes, and yet-undiscovered elements. And that's only for one copy. Because drunk people do a lot of stupid things.

Hence, I do not drink a lot. That will be all.

The Dragoputer

I am a nerd.

Therefore, I find computer cases cool. I was poking around on Newegg, and I found this one that I thought I'd share. I feel that anyone who looks at this computer case should find it awesome, even if you aren't a nerd. Because, I mean, it's a dragon. Shooting fire! But also a computer! That's awesome!

Behold!


Or, for the dragophobic customers/Spiderman fans among you, the Spideyputer.


Sweet, huh?

Pain!

"Uh, betray us, and I will fong you, until your insides are out, your outsides are in, your entrails will become your extrails I will w-rip... all the p... ung. Pain, lots of pain."

In case you missed it, that was a quote by Wat from A Knight's Tale. It isn't exactly relevant, I just like it.

Pain is kinda unpleasant, hence why it works so well as a threat. Luckily, people have discovered lots of fun drugs to help get rid of pain. I have a bag of Tylenol with Codene sitting a foot away from me right now that I got to help deal with the double ear infection I got, because throbbing pain in both sides of your head isn't exactly conducive to living and sleeping.

Here's the thing, though. I don't plan on using that Tylenol much. Not because I'm not in pain, but because the way I see it, pain is a part of life and learning to deal with it instead of just washing it away with a cocktail of drugs is important. Why is it important? Because when emotional pain rolls around, knowing how to cope with physical pain and soldier on can also apply to emotional pain.

Sure you can go to a therapist and get some antidepressants and melt your brain until it can't process emotions anymore, but you sacrifice a lot more than you gain by taking that route, at least in my humble opinion. I am REALLY not a fan of anti-depressants, as they seem to be a medical solution to a non-medical problem (that's right, I don't believe depression is a disease).

Anywho, the main effect of this worldview of mine is that when my ears get infected and my throat burns like fire, I don't reach for the Tylenol bottle so quickly. I grit my teeth, push down the pain, and learn how to keep going about my daily business. Painkillers have their place, but so does pain.