Author: gallopingcow

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Sleepless in Sea Prattle

I had a bit of trouble falling asleep last night, so I got up when Jennifer wanted to come hang out for a while. She made me watch Salt while she mostly fell asleep on the couch. I finally got back to bed around sunrise and managed a few hours of sleep.

When I awoke again, I had a tremendous knot in my neck and back that I carried all day long. Clint texted me when he and his friend got to town, and the came by to visit for a bit. Afterward I played some Oxygen Not Included that I picked up yesterday on Steam. I had just started to get the hang of it when Bâc Ván called with a craving for Ci-Ci’s.

After I ate too much there, I came back home and continued my game for a while until the sleeplessness and back ache got to me.

I’d heard about nervous breakdowns due to flan depressurization, but the fact that Houston would lump me in the same categories as those intergalactic amateurs was both hurtful and suspicious.

Reviews

Technophile: Pixel 2 XL

I was surprised how much it warmed up today. I wasn’t expecting it after this past cold week.

My Pixel 2 XL finally came in today after like a month of waiting. I finally split my Google Voice number off from my Sprint number and used it to sign up for Google Fi to compare coverage and quality of service to what I’ve been getting on Sprint. I figure it’s time to look at options now that there’s no incentive to stay with any particular carrier. The Pixel 2 uses an eSIM instead of a physical SIM card for service on Fi, so I was able to sign up and jump right into service without any trouble at all. I’m a little nervous about losing my account history from Google Voice, but hopefully it will all just slide right over. I get to continue using Hangouts with SMS, which will hopefully also eliminate the weird issues I had with group SMS and certain emojis or text strings when combining Google Voice with Sprint integration.

The first thing I noticed on the new Pixel 2 XL was the color shift when viewing off-axis. I kind of wrote it off when listening to reviewers complain about it because I thought I had a similar color shifting issue with other phones and didn’t mind it, but WOW this is bad. I absolutely would not have expected this quality from any flagship device even a few years ago. I heard others make similar remarks, but it honestly didn’t look that bad in videos. In person, you get blue-shifting almost immediately off axis when looking at a white screen. It’s not nearly as noticeable when looking at a photo or something darker, but anything super white is painfully obvious. So far I haven’t noticed any issue with image retention or burn-in, but it may be too early to tell, and I haven’t been watching for it super hard either.

I’ve tried to just use it as I normally would, and my biggest complaint aside from the screen is the size of the phone in conjunction with the indistinct texture of the power button and its placement above the volume buttons. The size of the phone requires that I completely shift my grip to reach the power button that is way up in the top right to turn the screen off. While shifting my grip again to put it away, I find that I often accidentally unlock the phone again as I graze the fingerprint reader. On top of that, all of this grip-shifting leaves me more prone to dropping the phone, which is terrifying now that I’m not getting them for free with a one-time damage replacement from HTC Uh Oh. I’m not even sure if I’m still eligible for an ADH plan from either Fi or straight from the Google store, but it hasn’t been offered to me anywhere yet.

I still find myself trying to unlock the phone by touching where the home button was on my HTC 10. The fingerprint reader on the back isn’t the worst placement, but I definitely felt better about gripping the chin of the phone to unlock it than I do finding the right spot on the back. Hopefully a little bit of time will get me used to most of these things, but the texture of the power button being indistinguishable from the texture of the volume button is going to be a thorn in my side. Things like this really show the attention to detail that I’m used to from HTC. Without tactile differentiation on the buttons, I keep fumbling the simple locking of the device, which is something I have to do literally every time I use the device.

The volume and clarity of the speakers is actually pretty disappointing for it to have dual front-facing speakers. I really expected more in this area. It sounds okay, but it’s no HTC Boomsound. While playing with the ringtones, I found that sound was only coming out of the bottom speaker. Music plays out of both, but the bottom speaker is clearly louder and harsher than the top speaker, giving you an unbalanced feel when watching videos with stereo sound. I also wish the Now Playing feature that shows the title of ambient songs playing in the background would work with songs being played on the Pixel itself. Seriously, why the hell would it show me song information for something I’m not playing, but not show me information for something I’m actively playing on my device? That’s just stupid.

Voice quality on Google Fi seems to be lacking quite a bit compared to Sprint. I’m willing to make that sacrifice since I rarely make phone calls, but it’s worth noting. I’ve never found a carrier with voice quality as good as Sprint in this area. I haven’t really done any speed tests yet because I’m paying per megabyte, but I guess I should spend a few cents to compare service while I can.

Overall I just need to spend some more time with it to see how I really feel. Next week back at work should be interesting. I really hope I don’t drop it, because I’m going naked. #YOLO

After I got the phone set up, I took a shower and headed to the theater to meet with Jesica to watch Murder on the Orient Express. She finally texted right before the movie was set to start to let me know she was just finished getting her hair done, so I abandoned ship and went to my parents’ house for a while. I ended up eating some leftovers there, then came back home to play with the Pixel some more.

Fulfilled Plans: 2/5
At least there’s a Steam sale.

Traditions

What are Traditions: Thanksgiving 2017

I woke up super late today with a massive headache after a long night. I didn’t actually get out of bed until the afternoon. I wasn’t really clear on what day the family would be cooking for Thanksgiving, so when Mom texted that food was ready, I still had to get out of bed and shower.

I guess Julie’s still in Florida, so it was just us with Bác Vân and Doug, and Dad invited a college friend. I showed up just as everyone else was finishing up their food, then left after all the guests were gone.

I guess I’m doing some things tomorrow, so I can forgive today being worthless.

Even though I really should, I knew that I never would.

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You’re Fired

We only had to work a half day today, and I actually got to finish up a couple projects at the junior high, so I felt good about it. At one point, I got the lift stuck without any battery charge way outside on the sidewalk. We let it rest then moved it bit by bit until we could reach a length of several extension cords, then charged it enough to put it away. Once we got back to the shop, Ben and I went upstairs through the Gardner building to reset phones. I wished I had brought some chains to rattle around while I was there in the dark.

From there, I came home and relaxed for a while before putting out the hammocks for a fire. Jesica came over and we went to Morello’s for dinner. When I got back home, Bâc Ván called and had me pick up a container of egg rolls from next door. Eventually, Becky and Jennifer came by for the fire. I was pretty happy with what I had built. It put off some serious heat, which was great for how cold it was.

After a while, Becky went home, and I introduced Jennifer to Bo Burnham on Netflix. After that, we flipped through a few movies before settling on Maleficent. I dozed off a few times, not even sure what made me so tired. After the movie, I ran her home, then came back home for bed myself.

What?

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Pecanabler

Today was bad projector swaps for old, questionably good projectors. On the way back from lunch, I was cut off by a cop who immediately stopped in front of me to block traffic for a funeral. I couldn’t have been too upset if he had his lights on, but he cut me off in the middle of traffic with no lights on, then turned them on after he parked just as he got out of his vehicle. A braver version of me would have slammed into him instead of slamming on the breaks, because there is no way he had enough room to safely pull out in front of me.

After lunch, we encountered one room that had a perfectly good projector but the PC had a bad VGA port, so that was a little upsetting too. The afternoon wasn’t looking good. We got to leave an hour early again, so that helped a little. The dumpster from the roof job was removed from my driveway first thing this morning, so I could actually park at my house when I got home.

Jennifer wanted to hang out in the evening, but it was late and I was tired by the time she was ready to do anything, so Bradley and I went to her place for a while for Netflix and pecan pie.

Why, do you need to cool off some pies?

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Entendre

School is out for Thanksgiving all week, so today was a relatively loose start on some projects. We tried the newly remodeled Big Red for lunch, and though the burger was pretty good, the portion of fries was small, and it took just over an hour to get our food. The place was busy, but that didn’t seem to have an effect on the kitchen. Watching the rate at which food was produced from behind the window, I can only assume they were cooking everything on a single George Foreman Grill. The menu is pretty tiny, so the mind reels at what could have taken so long. We witnessed at least one 2-top walk out, presumably because they were already seated when we got there, and our 4-top got our food first. I felt like our server did a fair job though. It truly felt like it was 100% on the kitchen being slow, and I don’t understand how it could have taken so long to smash a couple burger patties onto a grill.

After lunch, Ryan and I hung some new WAPs at the junior high, and then they let us out an hour early. I came home to the roofers on my house and a giant dumpster in my driveway, so I had to park next door. I’m not stoked to get into a cold car in the morning, but c’est la vie. Once I got inside, I spent the rest of the evening fighting Cinavia on my HTPC so I could enjoy The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Tryhard

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Recovery Sunday

I forced myself out of bed before noon this morning so I wouldn’t be completely unable to sleep tonight. I then wasted the entire day in front of the TV, watching nothing of any substance, or anything even longer than about five minutes. I mostly measured time with food. I did wash my socks, so at least I’ll be prepared for work tomorrow.

It helps if you remember to press “Publish” before you go to sleep…

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If only we were amongst friends… or sane persons!

I rolled out of bed at a mostly reasonable time today and wasted most of the morning until Jennifer texted me about having a fire. I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning up and getting ready for company. It was too windy to have a fire outside, so they came over with some pizza and we watched The Rocky Horror Picture Show. It really wasn’t anything like I expected, but I enjoyed it. At least now I can cross it off my list of missed pop culture icons.

After that, we watched some random YouTube videos for a while until Becky decided to head back home. Jennifer and I started watching Con Man between conversations until we were both hungry enough to warrant a trip to Waffle House. The burger I had didn’t taste like their usual, and I’m not sure if it was a different burger, or if they changed the only burger patty they had. I didn’t care for it quite as much as the regular burger, but I didn’t notice a non-angus burger on the menu.

After we ate, I took Jennifer home, then came home for bed just after sunrise. It’s been quite a while since I’ve stayed up that late, but it was entertaining.

Why, do you think I should?

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RSD Potluck: Thanksgiving 2017

Today was a pretty chill day at work. We cleaned out the graveyard first thing in the morning, then mostly mingled around the shop until near time for our potluck lunch. Ben smoked some awesome turkey, and everyone’s sides came out really awesome. I met Allen at Kroger and picked up some deli mashed potatoes and gravy, a pan of rolls, and a couple jars of turkey gravy.

After lunch, I visited my buildings to take care of a couple things, but mostly to visit with a few people before they left for break. It’ll be work as usual for me until Thanksgiving day.

On the way home, Dad texted and said they had Lexi put down yesterday after her flesh wounds refused to heal. I was glad to hear they had the mercy to keep her from getting worse. I still have a difficult time with pets myself. I feel like I really am over it.

I settled into the evening with In Time, a movie I’d been wanting to see for quite a long time but just never made the time to watch. I liked it alright, but it sort of felt like a communistic propaganda film.

You can do a lot in a day. I just never do.

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What do you use to raise Superman from the dead?

We had a Thanksgiving lunch for students and their parents today. The junior high invited all of us to theirs, and I’ve noticed they’re the only school that really ever does.

After work, Zach came over and we went to Conway for Justice League. We stopped at Logan’s Roadhouse for some New York strips first, then went to the opening show in 3D XD. I was satisfied, but only just. It was entertaining. Aquaman and The Flash really stole the show. I feel like killing Superman in the last movie really just kind of ruined the chance of correcting a mistake that was made in the comics so long ago. Overall I liked it, though.

I’m upset because they didn’t have any of the posters they promised me for opening night.

Answer: A Plot Device!