Low-key Birthday

Didn't do a lot of my birthday this year, which was really nice actually. Last year I had a great time with several friends out at Dougal McGuire's pub and then off to see a movie, but this year I wanted something subdued.

I went out Friday night at 7pm to see 2012 and hang out by myself for a few hours. Disaster movies are my guilty pleasure, so I loved 2012 and would like to see it again, however unlikely the story is. After that I went to a Waffle House (first time in years) and had a Texas Cheesesteak Sandwich with Hash Browns Scattered, Smothered, Covered, and Capped. Afterward I drank coffee, smoked my pipe, and was pulled into random conversations. I didn't get home until 1:30am.

Saturday, my actual birthday, started out with me sleeping in late. Which was great. Meg and Josh went to run errands and I napped on the couch catching up on V and watching various movie halves. They got back and Megan got one of my favorite dishes for lunch - smoked gouda and bacon macaroni and cheese from Travinia Italian restaurant in Greenville. I then went out to rent Star Trek, and bought myself a new wok for my birthday. I came home and we watched Star Trek, I seasonsed my new wok with chives and pork fat, and then we watched GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra, which had fun explosions and interesting fake technology but atrocious dialogue.

All in all, a pretty good day.

31 Tomorrow

I'm fairly meh about it. I told everyone I didn't want a cake or any presents.

I'm getting out of the house tonight for a few hours after Megan gets home from work. I'm planning on going to a Poetry workshop at The Bird & Baby and then go see 2012. I'm not expecting much out of it, but I'm a sucker for post-apocalyptic movies.

Gaming Con Weekend

Well, this weekend Megan and I are going to the MACE Gaming Convention in High Point, NC. This is the third year I've gone to this convention, and although I usually have a pretty good time I think this might be my last time going to an event like this for a while.

I would just much rather play games with my actual friends than with random people at this point in my life. With MACE, ConCarolinas, and DragonCon I've gone to three gaming cons per year for the past few years. I'm sure the $1,000+ I spend at these can be put to better use elsewhere.

Maybe I'll feel differently on Monday. If so, I'll notate that here.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Back from the Dead!

Wow, my last post was in June when Megan and Josh moved in. It has been an interesting up and down road, but I think most of the bumps have settled down for now and it's just a process of getting through to the May wedding.

This past weekend several of us went camping in Hot Springs, NC. As usual, it was beautiful and we had a great time. Our friend Eric, a chef, came along and prepared steaks, omelets, roast chicken, and other foods way above par for a campout. Saturday night it was incredibly cold and I had to get out of our tent, rekindle the fire, and hang out there for an hour to warm up.

I've been playing a lot of Rock Band when I can these days...it's become my current obsession, and I'm thinking of starting a small business to host RB nights in bars and at other events. I hosted a RB party at my house two months ago, at a local philosophy club, and at our friends Cory and Lauren's wedding reception. This saturday I'm setting up RB for Warren and Laura's Halloween party. Should be a good time.

Life is mostly good. I'm constantly worried about not having enough money to pay our bills and my life has become more complicated than I generally like, but it's not bad.

Goodbye Bachelorhood!

No, we're not eloping. Not yet anyway. :)

Tomorrow afternoon, Megan and Josh are moving in full-time and I'm really excited about this. It'll be nice to not have to wake up to an empty house anymore, and I might even get an occasional breakfast. Mmm...breakfast.

I'm sure there will be a few growing pains as we adjust to this new stage in our relationship, but I can't wait to begin.

I'll do an update soon if we don't kill each other first. ;)

Picked up Rock Band 2

I *finally* got around to buying Rock Band 2. Since Adam and Joe are visiting from Louisiana for the week and I have our housewarming party the next Saturday I figured I'd rent the game from Blockbuster and have it on hand for both occasions. Immediately after I paid the rental fee for the game I noticed there were a few RB2 bundles behind the counter. I asked the Blockbuster guy about those and he said that they were being shipped back as they didn't sell even after being clearanced. I asked him how much the one remaining xBox 360 bundle was and he replied $140. I pulled out my iPhone and according to Google and Amazon.com, you can't find it from a reputible dealer for less than $190 so I went ahead and bought it.

I hooked up everything on Monday night and am blown away by the differences. Here is my take on the differences between RB1 and RB2:

1. The drums are so much nicer. The drum heads are softer so they're both quieter and you don't hit them as hard so less fatigue. Plus, they're wireless and you can plug in two bass pedals and cymbals for extra drum action.

2. Bands no longer have band leaders. This solves a lot of frustration on casual RB party nights.

3. Characters are no longer tied to one instrument. See #2.

4. No fail mode. See #2 and also great as I have a six year old who likes to play along.

5. The song selection is pretty groovy. I can't wait to get the xBox hooked up to the net (DSL guy comes by on Friday) and then upload the 54 or so songs from RB1 and download the 20 free additional tracks from Harmonix to have a total of 150 songs or so to choose from. There's a handful of DLC songs I'd like to get eventually, but this is a pretty great selection.

6. The guitar is improved from the RB1 guitar in that it is wireless and a nice wooden Fender strat head. I still like Guitar Hero guitars much better than RB guitars and prefer my GHWT guitar to all the others.

All in all, a good buy. Now I just need to get a new xBox 360 and I'll be set. (I'm currently borrowing Jacob's xBox. Hopefully a trumpet I'm selling on eBay will pay for the next one before the party)

A New Computer!

In my last entry I mentioned that I was pricing computer components to build a new system.

Years ago I worked at three locations as a computer builder/technician, so this is nothing new for me, although I haven't cracked a box in five years. For that time I've only had my laptop, which has been a faithful companion but is now starting to die of leprosy bit by bit.

I found a thread on FatWallet that priced out a decent system for less than $400 so I went with those recommendations other than a change of case.

Here's what I ended up with: (all from Newegg.com)

Item Number: Item Description: Quantity: Price:
N82E16811156098 CASE RAIDMAX|ATX-612WEBP BK 500W RT 1 94.99
N82E16820145184 MEM 2Gx2|CORS TWIN2X4096-6400C5 R 1 44.99
N82E16822136319 HD 640G|WD WD6401AALS % 1 74.99
N82E16819103244 CPU AMD|PH X4 9600 2.3GHz 65N R 1 94.99
N82E16813128379 MB GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-US2H AM2+ RTL 1 79.99
N82E16827151173 DVD BURN SAMSUNG|SH-S223Q LS % 1 25.99

So, a 2.3ghz AMD Phenom Quad Core processor, 4gb of RAM, a 640gb 7200 SATA HD with a 12mb cache, and a nicely upgradeable motherboard and case, all for a little less than $400 after combo discounts (the discounts aren't reflected in the above prices). Also, I'm getting $50 in miscellaneous rebates, so it'll be $350 once all is said and done. You'll notice I didn't put a video card on there as the motherboard has decent onboard video, but I'm sure I'll stick a video card in there in a few months, probably with another HD.

I'm currently using an old 17" crt monitor. You can routinely find a 22" LCD for $150 these days so I'll upgrade in a month or two. I also have a nice wireless desktop I picked up last year, so my keyboard/mouse needs are covered.

As far as an Operating system, I'm thinking of doing a Windows XP and Ubuntu dual-boot. We'll see how that goes.

The only thing I'm really lacking is a set of speakers. I'll probably buy something basic either in person or on Amazon.

New Stuff for the House

Well, our tax refund came back and it shot my checking account to the highest dollar amount I can ever recall seeing in the account. It's too bad all of the money is allocated.

Last Friday we bought a smoothtop convection range, an over-the-range microwave, and a dishwasher, all of which were black Frigidaire Gallery Series from Jeff Lynch Appliances. Megan's parents came over Saturday morning and helped install the range and microwave. I haven't gotten around to installing the dishwasher yet, but hopefully it'll be done by the end of the week.

After we installed the range and microwave, we went to furniture store #1 and picked up the dining room set we had put a downpayment on earlier in the week. We then went to furniture store #2 that had a great chaise sectional for a great price and proceeded to haggle them down another $115. ;)

And now I'm pricing computer components. My laptop is nearly dead after 4.5 years and we need a family computer.

Too busy

Thankfully the show is over and I no longer have four hour rehearsals/performances every day. But, due to my ability to sign up for more activities than I can comfortably sustain, I'm without time again. I have Concert Band rehearsal tonight, D&D Friday Night, Concert band concert at SWU on Saturday followed by Browncoat Karaoke.

On top of all that, I'm still trying to get things done at the house and make time for the two new hobbies I want to pursue (leatherworking and gardening).

After starting to look like the Unabomber for the past few months, I finally got a haircut yesterday from my friend Laura. It was the most expensive haircut I've ever received, and even though I like it a lot, I don't think I will be able to afford to go to her regularly. I hope her salon does well and attracts more customers, but I'm more of a barbershop/Great Clips kinda guy. I posted a couple of bad photos (after driving with the windows down and being rained on) of the haircut on Facebook if you're interested.

Well I think I will walk across the street and buy a Coke Zero before my lunch hour is over and then it's back to the salt mines!

So Exhausted....

So in addition to moving into the new house all last weekend and working my regular forty hours, I'm playing in the pit orchestra for a musical at the Fountain Inn Civic Center. The musical is Funny Girl, which premiered in the 70's and is what made Barbara Streisand a star. It's a pretty good show with decent comedy and good music. Notable songs include People (who need People are the luckiest people...), You are Woman, and Don't Rain on my Parade.

I'm having a lot of fun with two exceptions:

1. Since I've only recently begun playing trombone again (about two months ago) I have very little endurance and at first I could only play around 45 minutes before my lips were sore as well as my left hand (from holding up the horn). Last night our rehearsal was 4.5 hours. My arm and lips seem to have grown used to it, but I'm completely exhausted when we get out of rehearsal that I just go home, check email/Facebook, and go to bed.

2. Last night started out great but fell apart in the second act. Just about everybody missed a cue or came in on a wrong note. I think it was because we're all so tired. I think tonight (the dress rehearsal) will go much smoother.

The show over on Sunday though, so I can take a break after that. I'm looking forward to the cast party the city is throwing for us tomorrow night. It's great to be on (under) stage again!

Moving on up...

Well, I'm moving into the house tomorrow. I'm very much looking forward to that and halving my current commute.

We're having some random issue with the hot water heater. It's designed with a pipe that goes outside in case it overflows so the garage doesn't flood, but whenever we turn the water on, the heater itself isn't filling with water but just passing the water out through the overflow pipe. Hopefully we'll get that that figured out tomorrow with the help of Megan's dad. Currently I have the water shut off.

Last night 10 of us gathered at Miyabi's for Chaos Mandy's birthday. It was a lot of fun, but a big hit to the budget. We won't be having another $60 dinner out for a while until we get lots of stuff for the house. It was soooo good, though.

House Update

I guess I should give all four of you an update.

We’ve taken possession of the house. It’s not painted yet. We’ll probably do that on Saturday. Tentatively I plan on moving in the Saturday after that.

One of the drawbacks of the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit is that you cannot efile with that form until March 30th, so I won’t be getting the refund back until around April 15th. So that will delay the housewarming party as I won’t have most major appliances or a dining room set until after we receive the refund.

Back into Band

I'd wanted to resume playing trombone for years now, but never found the right time or opportunity. My friend Jenny works in the music department at Furman, and heard that the Greenville Concert Band was looking for trombone players, so she put me in contact with someone from the organization who told me to come by and sit-in with the band on Thursday evening.

When I burned out on music during my freshman year of college I sold my professional grade trombone thinking I would never need it again. Fool. I do have a small "pea-shooter" horn that looks great but has a scratchy slide. I'd always meant to get it fixed, but hadn't gotten around to it yet. So, I called my friend Richard who was wise enough to keep his pro trombone from high school, and I'm borrowing that for the moment.

Having a day or two before band rehearsal I took out the horn and put myself through the paces. It's remarkable how much came back right away. I can still remember every major scale, alternate positions, even some etudes and solos from over a decade ago. The only problems at this point are endurance, articulation, and range, which should all work themselves out in time.

I showed up at the band rehearsal and out of five total trombone players, I was the only one younger than 55. There were a couple of decent players there, but by and large it was like high school band: 2-5 great players, 5-10 good players, and the rest were mediocre or worse. I can't wait to get my chops back in gear and audition for a higher caliber group like the Foothills Philharmonic.

Also, at the rehearsal for the band last week the principal clarinetist mentioned that trombonists were needed for an upcoming production of Funny Girl. I called the musical director and now it looks like I'm in the pit orchestra for that show and will get a small stipend for my effort. I plan on putting the money toward a decent quality instrument.

I can't believe I've gone eleven years without playing. I never knew how much of a gap not playing left in my life until I was the rehearsal last week. I almost broke down weeping at the sublime joy of playing in a large ensemble again. I don't care how good a stereo system you have, it will never replace being in the midst of 50+ musicians.

So, I'm off to my second rehearsal with the band tonight, after which I should have my own folder of music, so I can stop sight-reading and start practicing.

Bridal Weekend

Over the weekend two of Megan's best friends flew in and they spent the weekend together doing wedding stuff. They saw our house, went to the place we're having the wedding, ate lunch at the restaurant catering the reception, tried on dresses, and then they met us for karaoke at Guadalajara. I was there to view the house and go to lunch. Stacy and Maria are both funny and full of energy and it was great to see Megan perk up when they were around. It's too bad they live so far away.

We had a funny encounter at Perkins late at night, and luckily Pher was there with his camera. I got home and in bed at 3am or so.

On Sunday I woke up at 5am to meet them for breakfast and drive the girls to the airport. I went to church after that, but had to leave just after the sermon as I was getting a lot of sleep deprivation. I made it home and slept off and on most of the day.

The house inspection is in a couple of hours. Hopefully I won't find out the house is build over a burial ground. ;)

Looks Like We Have a House....

We found a house we liked very much in Fountain Inn on Monday evening. We went back at 7am on Tuesday to see it in daylight, and decided to put in an offer. Since the house was a foreclosure where the asking price is radically lower than the average sales price in the neighborhood, we offered X for the house where X is the list price plus 3% closing costs.

I got the call yesterday that the offer was accepted. I'm depositing the earnest money check into an escrow account today, and should have a signed contract by the end of the day. I'm very excited.

The house itself is a 3bd/2ba with a two-car garage. It's a 2.5 year old house in a development. I really wish it were not in a development, but since this is a 5-7 year "investment" house and not our permanent home it'll be fine for that timeframe. Once we have the signed contract, I'll put up some photos.

Bidding War

Well, my Realtor notified me that someone else submitted a bid on the house as well.

We have until noon tomorrow to change our bid and submit it to the bank that owns the house. I have no idea what their bid is and they have no idea what our bid is. Whichever bid is the highest will get the house.

We'll see what happens....

Made an Offer on a House

Well, we put an offer in for a house last night. We were looking at two houses in the same cul-de-sac in Greer. House A is a 3bd/2.5ba with a 1-car garage and a more usable backyard while House B has 4bd/2.5ba, a 2-car garage, and a formal dining room.

By the time I met up with our Realtor yesterday House B was already under contract after receiving 3 offers that day. So we decided to put in an offer on House A.

Everyone keep your fingers crossed. :)

Housing Woes...

Nearly a month since my last post!

Megan and I are looking for a house, which due to our desires and budget shouldn't be *that* difficult, but we're both good at finding reasons to pass on houses that would please most. Our budget is $75-110,000 and we're looking for a 3bd/2ba house on .5 acres within a half hour commute of downtown Greenville. Currently there lots of houses that meet that requirement (and *many* more if you remove the .5 acre) but we've found reasons to not like many of them.

This is the house we were initially in love with, a 2bd/1ba brick ranch on 1.5 acres in Piedmont, but we had a long discussion and decided that we needed a 3bd/2ba in case our family grows, so we had to bid this house adieu.

This is a really nice brand new house in a redevelopment area, but the schools aren't good and the lots are best measured with a yardstick.

Another was in a horrible neighborhood, while yet another needed too much work.

We thought we had found the one when we saw this house near Laurens Rd. & I-85. We liked it a lot when we were there, but after we left I began to have second thoughts. Sure it has .5 acres of land, but almost all of that land is on a high grade slope that would make it difficult for Josh to play in, not to mention mowing the lawn. Also, it had a fenced back yard, but it wasn't a privacy fence and our dog Kobi can get over the fence that is currently there.

So back to the drawing board. My lease in my current apartment is up at the end of this next week. I've been moving my belongings into a storage unit, and I'll be staying with my folks for a month or two until we find a house and close. Hopefully it won't be too long.