Incidental Expenses Are So Heavy..

Just this morning I was telling my best friend about how I do not know what I spend my money on, and we both agreed that it is almost certainly impossible to save money, however hard(ly?) we try. He asked me if I bought something new, and I said no, which is true. I have not bought a single interesting gizmo in the last so many months.

After talking to him and a few cups of chai later, something made me go to Amazon's website. Since I was already there I decided to look for some cool electronics stuff. Since I now have an iPod, I decided to look for docking stations for it, convincing myself that I really need one just because they can so conveniently connect the iPod to my stereo, play music and charge it at the same time. I did like one, and almost decided to buy it when my eyes managed to spot one of those ultra cool Streamiums that I had always wanted but could not really get it because they are so expensive. Anyway, I forgot about the dock and started exploring the Streamiums. Philips launched a really cool Streamium last december called the NP2900/37, which I fell totally in love with. The biggest advantage of that player is that I can log in to my Rhapsody account through it and play songs  - without the computer. It only needs an Internet connection - wired or wireless. It can also wirelessly connect to the computer and play songs from the hard drive. And oh yeah, it has Internet radio, which means that I can possibly listen to a gazillion Internet radio stations from around the world. I almost decided to buy it, but something kept stopping me. Then I did a feasibility study. 

I already have a Philips micro system that connects to my computer and plays music that exists on my hard drive. If my computer is turned on then I can access any music website that exists on the Internet and play music, including Rhapsody, last.fm, and Pandora to name a few. If I want Internet radio, I can always use Winamp or go to any other random website that has Internet radio stations. The only disadvantage, if at all it is one, is that there is a USB cable dangling between my computer and the stereo, whereas with the new Streamium it would all be done wirelessly. So, after around 10 hours of thinking and debating, I decided not to spend $230 on something that would really not add value to my experience. Oh, and I decided not to spend $140 on the dock also. I will continue to use the RCA cable that I have to connect my iPod to the stereo, for which I paid $3 around a year ago.

But you know what I really want? A vacuum cleaner. Seriously, I want one really bad. The one I have is really crappy and just doesn't do anything. For me, vacuuming with that vacuum cleaner means literally (hand) picking stuff from the floor and breaking my back. 

But again, something always stops me. I feel that I just should not spend too much on a vacuum cleaner.

I know I am wrong.

And of course like I always say, I know how good my bad luck is. While Amazoning today my computer's power adaptor died, and my computer's got like 50 minutes of power left in it. Now I will really really have to buy a power adaptor. This is something I cannot avoid. The adaptor had died two years ago also, and I had paid 90 bucks back then to get a new one. 

Oh fudge.

Wounds & Cables..

I did not go running today. Instead, I saved myself 50 bucks by doing something that I had been wanting to do for a long time.

I spent hours today and finally, after a couple of knife and screw driver stabs in my left hand, I successfully managed to connect my XBox to my home theater.

In case you are wondering why/how I got hurt trying to make some cable connections, you should read this article. I basically did it to save $50. So I guess a little bleeding and a couple of wounds are okay when it comes to saving a lot of money.

My sunday afternoon in pictures:

Plan A Update

Update:

I think Plan A was a success.

Details:

Side View:

Viewer View:

TV View:
To Be Viewed View: Empty Stomach View:

Blogging: The ultimate Internet based anti-boredom tool.

Oh God! Please give me the strength to do my laundry tomorrow!!!

...Ah! But I digress..

Biding My Time...

I have neglected my Mindstorms NXT robot for a long time now. I paid $222 for it when I was unemployed (yeah, I know I am stupid). Well, the reason for this horrendous mistiming was the fact that it was nowhere available around an year ago - It was absolutely out of stock everywhere. I had checked so many websites and stores, but nobody had it. Finally I found this guy on e-Bay who was selling it for less than its MSRP of 250 bucks (wonder why) and he was also giving away stickers and batteries (yay!) for no additional cost. Of course, there was free shipping too. So thanks to my ultra handy credit card, I bought it. I did build a simple robot out of it (when I was in Baltimore), but within a few days I had to come to Ames, so I disassembled it, and bought it with me. Since then, the robot parts are sulking in their little box, not knowing when they would see daylight again.

I decided to unpack my Mindstorm today and build a nice little robot, but then I remembered that my rechargeable batteries are stuck inside something that is perhaps used more often - my xBox controllers. The only option is/was to go to a store and get some batteries, but then you cannot get what you always want, right? And of course, the almighty God needs to have a chuckle once in a while by totally stopping me from what I plan to do.

It snowed today.

There's snow everywhere, and now I don't feel like going anywhere. Not to mention that I have zero experience driving in the snow, so I really don't want to take chances. I can actually walk to a store that is not far from where I live, but dressing up and getting slapped in the face by the wind while walking to the store and back does not really excite me.

So here I am, sitting at home, drinking my chai, biding my time. [This line kind of rhymes with the line "I sat on a rug, biding my time, drinking her wine" from Norwegian Wood by the Beatles. Sing it!]

Flash To The Power of n

This morning I woke up to my ridiculously hideous fire alarm like sounding phone alarm. At first I could not understand the situation simply because I am used to getting up to a nicer sounding radio clock alarm that goes off four minutes earlier. I did get up to switch it off but instantly got lost trying to determine what might have gone wrong with my radio clock alarms (ya, two of 'em). I looked at one of the alarm clock and saw the digits flashing. That is when I realized that there was a power outage last night, and that all the clocks have been reset. I looked at the other clock - same thing. I said "what the hell" to myself and continued with the daily painful, forgetful act of getting ready to go to work.

I came back in the evening, watched some TV and came in to my bedroom to switch on my computer. That is when I saw those flashing digits on my radio clock again that reminded me of the entire "getting up to the weirdest alarm sound" encounter. I was lazy enough not to set the time on both the clocks and that is the reason why I am so annoyed right now. One clock is almost in front of me, just a little to the left. Now them flashing numbers are hurting my eyes. They are not directly in my line of vision, but I can still see them do the new age phoenix repeatedly from the corner of my left eye. The non stop flashing is making me think of an SOS call of a sinking ship going horribly wrong.

The situation I am in right now is worse than the one in which you are with a girl who seeks constant attention. I want to get rid of it but I can't , because it's happening right in front of me. I can make it stop but I won't because I am too lazy. It's like I know I am getting fatter by the day but I still won't go exercise (figuratively speaking, okay?). It's like I know I am damn hungry but still won't eat at my relative's house because I am shy (figuratively speaking, okay?).

laziness has become a way of life. Sometimes I wonder if my children would be so lazy too.

Help me God.

Another One

Nailed another one..this one pretty much broke my back though.

500 pieces.

I am All Ears

Had to get one of these. Not because they are noise cancelling headphones and all that - just because they are headphones. I have tried and tried, but for some reason the left earplug in any earplugs that I have had just would not sit in my left ear for long - It always keeps falling out.

Yay!!

I don't know if you know this already, but my Philips MCM530 music system has the ability to connect to my computer. I was able to connect it to my laptop just fine when I first bought it, but after a few months I started having problems with it. My music system would not connect to my laptop anymore.

However, things changed just a few minutes ago. I downloaded the software/drivers and decided to give it a shot once again, and voila! it worked - without any glitch whatsoever!

When the "USB" LED on the system stayed steady, I was thrilled (when there is a problem, it would either not light up at all or would blink).

The USB port on my computer seems to be working just fine.

After successfully establishing a connection, this is what I saw/see now on the little screen on my music system:

And I call this the "power house". It lets me control all the songs playing on my computer. I can play/pause/stop/rewind/forward and change tracks on my computer without having to touch the keyboard! With this in my hand, I can control my playlist even when I am in bed :):

By the way, I can also connect my MP3 player to the music system through the AUX ports at the back (just FYI!!).

And finally, this is what the entire setup looks like:

Crazy, innit?? :)

Here's a demo:

My life as I know It

Well, in a few pictures, I have tried to depict what my daily routine is (these days, that is). What you see in this slide show is not at all exaggerated. Believe me, This is what I do everyday, and probably this is what I will be doing for the next 10 days or so.
Life is so much fun without having to work!

Feast

My carpet had the time of its life yesterday. It got every good thing in life it could possibly ask for.

Cigarettes (the ashtray fell - thanks to me ),
Tea (the mug fell - Thanks Ban),
Chicken (Thanks Ban for dropping that tiny little piece of chicken wings),
and Beer (the bottle just slipped out of my hand (One too many you think? ;))).

Then we all laughed.

Gotta get a carpet cleaner real quick!..lol!!

Broom Broom!!

My room is getting dirtier each day, and things are really going out of control. Gone are the days when my room used to be super clean - when I used to put efforts to make sure that everything was at the right place. But now, things are where they just land. I just sit on my chair and keep tossing things here and there, thinking that they would land at their usual place. If I don't toss 'em, I make new places for them ;).

One of the reasons why it's getting dirtier is because I have so many things in my small room. Also, I have kept my toys (yes, toys!!) and shot glasses where I can easily keep my books or other such things. The carpet has not been vacuumed in 4 months, and the trash bin is overflowing with, well, trash.

But something has to be done. I have to turn a new leaf (lol!)..maybe not. I will try to clean up my room again, and if I fail, then I actually don't care ;).

My New Phone

Just decided to show off my new Palm Treo 755p:

Thanks Tweety!

Fisher's Keeping Me Busy

And so it finally arrived!

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from my PSP, but when I got it and switched it on for the first time, I was spellbound! The graphics, the sound quality, the features - simply superb! Since the last few days, I check my email the moment I get up, but there's a slight difference. Instead of doing it on my laptop, I now do it on my PSP, and that too still lying in my bed! It is a MP3 player, picture viewer, video player, "Internet machine", and of course a portable viedo game console built into one. But you have to see it to believe what all it can do. I am amazed. Simply amazed!

:)

PS: Every word of Jimi's comment on my previous post is true. I made her go to the mall with me to get some games for my PSP. I did leave a few minutes (read 20) before I was scheduled to, and I was (and still am) definitely excited! Thanks for the company, Jpp :).

Fender...Guitar??

I have been spending some money on music. Went to a music store in downtown Normal yesterday and bought two CDs - "Stunt" by Barenaked Ladies and "The Silver Lining" by Soul Asylum. Even in this digital age where people download songs and entire albums to save physical space in their rooms, I prefer to buy CDs and collect them. More so because I "bought" a song from Yahoo! Music once, and for some reason unknown to me, it plays only on my computer, not even on my damn cool Philips "Windows Media Ready" MP3 player.

Well that is what this post is NOT about. Today I decided to listen to the Soul Asylum album on my discman, and I also decided to replace the headset that I got with it with the one that I got with my electric guitar. I was a little apprehensive because the reviews that I had read online about the "Fender" headset were not really good. Of course, it is meant to be used with the guitar, but still it has the same pin that any standard headset would have. Anyway, I plugged it into the jack of my CD player and started listening - and boy, was I impressed! Man, the audio quality is so damn good, so amazingly crisp. The bass that it offers is very very impressive. Also, you can seriously listen to all the instruments used on the song. And considering the fact that it was a part of an electric guitar package which was $200 ( the guitar, a 15 watt amp, extra strings, 3 picks, an electric tuner, tremelo bar, and this fantastic headset), it is a steal! I wonder how much it would cost if you go to get just the headset.

If you have any plans of getting headgear for your audio player, try Fender. Some AAA shit this is.

Radioman

Got a little spare time after many days, so decided to really experiment with my new electric guitar - a Fender Squire Strat. Surprisingly, I tried many things that I never wanted to try on an accoustic and realized that it's not really difficult - I just need time, a lot of patience, and a whole lot of practice to do crazy stuff.

Thanks Geoff for lending me your pedal.

Monster Monster Monster Monster Pawn..Pawn..Pawn..

Paid a visit to Monster Pawn a couple of days back (the one in Normal, not Bloomington), and found out that it is a small store full of priceless items. Found a couple of CDs that I could never find when I was in India.

If your eyes are dying on you, and you cannot read the titles of the CDs that I bought, then read on (do you have a screen magnifier installed on your computer?):

Stone Temple Pilots - Core

Stone Temple Pilots - Tiny Music..Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop

R.E.M. - What's The Frequency, Kenneth? Single

Presidents of the United States of America - Self titled album

The Desk