shorter and darker

couldn’t decide what i was going to dress up as for halloween this year.  a couple of thoughts pass through my mind.  i decided to give the military/swat theme a go since i had the clothes.

my sis is in school learning to cut and style hair.  naturally, i asked her to shorten it up and give it some black.  she did a good job.  here’s a before and after shot of her work:

waiting for a moment

if you know me, i avoid apple products.  i see no reason to spend extra money on devices which have the same (or fewer, in some cases) functionality than other products on the market just for cool design or because everyone else is doing it.

the videos below demonstrate the unboxing of the moment and an initial review of the phone.  the phone is reviewed having android 1.5 (cupcake).  there is integrated gmail and google calendaring support, youtube video application, exchange server connectivity (which i probably wouldn’t use), and an exceptional amoled display.  he does give the keyboard a bad rating, but this guy doesn’t seem to have used a phone with a slider keyboard before.  having the separate row of keys for numbers is way better than having to hit some shift key to type them.  having to do that currently is not convenient.

samsung moment for sprint (part 1 of 2)

samsung moment for sprint (part 2 of 2)

you can get some more details and some pics on engadget’s mention of the moment.  it comes out on november 1, next sunday.  outside dealing with sprint’s sales people and current contracts, i hope to make a smooth transition to this phone.

fall morning sky

when i worked downtown way back in the day (when i first started working for scripps), i would see some rather awesome sunrises on my commute.  coming in as early as i do affords me this experience.  although i didn’t capture this when i first arrived, it is what i saw when i stepped into the office a bit later.

baby needs a new pair of shoes

recently, the pilot’s shoes have been showing some serious wear.  i knew they were in critical mode, but a dose of cold reality hit me in the face a couple of weeks ago when i was stepping back to my vehicle in the starbucks parking lot.  i caught the glimpse of a screw embedded in my front tire.  these tires are practically bald to begin with, and as i stepped forward to examine the screw i noticed also some of the belts exposed on the edge of the tire.  great.  time for new ones sooner than i had thought i could get away with it.

the bald tires had me already driving a bit more cautiously than normal.  i know what happens when tires like that hit some puddles.  it still made me nervous.  i had a pal tell me about a tire place in maryville, murell brothers, but that’s quite the trek if i need to have service done after the fact.  so, i checked out my more local tire choice, matlock tire.  i found a tire i had in mind and asked for prices.  it was going to cost me some coin, but these items usually do.  when i vocalized my plans to have my tires replaced, a guy i work with asked me which tires i was getting.  when i showed him the set at tirerack.com, he pointed me to general tire’s grabber hts.  these tires were at the top of the performance/review list at tirerack.  (my initial choice was just below it in the number two spot.)  but these tires were remarkably cheaper.

i called matlock back and asked about the grabbers.  they could have them in the shop from their warehouse in the morning.  i saved almost $300.00 total on my tire purchase.  adding matlock’s service package per tire still had me in a wallet-happy range.  wallet-happy is mock-happy too.

i’m getting the top-notch tire for a lot less that i thought i’d be spending.  good deal.  thanks to will for hooking me up with the general tire option.

concert at hva

my eldest niece continues her practice and playing of the violin.  this past thursday evening, she played in her first concert at hardin valley academy.  the performance was outstanding.  she seemed to enjoy herself the entire time.  great job, k1!

punt-kin time

just two more days until fall is official.  last week, a friend posted on her blog about baking some pumpkin pies and having the spice smell fill her house.  i know that aroma.  since it was rainy sunday, i decided to whip up some pumpkin pies for that same fall sensation lingering in mock manor.

this was pie number one out of the oven.  pie number two was working as was a loaf of pumpkin bread.  and yes, that’s timmy the code monkey in the background eye-ing the spicy goodness cooling on the rack.

wilmington

a few friends and i traveled over to wilmington to visit a friend who works in that town.  and speaking of, that town was very nice.  our accommodations put us in a great place right on the beach.  we left the sliding door open each night so the sound of the ocean filled our room as we slept.  the sea breeze was refreshing.  we ate plenty of seafood and did so much relaxing.  it was a great end to the summer.

of course, pictures were taken.  you can view them by clicking the image.