Apple AirPort Express

Seems like everyone and their mother has an IPod except for me. I don't know what happened, I must have simply missed the IPod revolution or something, and now I'm the only loser who is not on the IPod train.

It's weird because back in the day, when people still used "Walkmans" and "Discmans", I was one of the first people to own a MP3 player - the RIO 500. It was pretty cool for its time: had a backlit display, ran on 1 AA battery, had 64 MB of built in memory that could be expanded to more via a SmartMedia card. Eventually I outgrew it and gave it to my sister.

Now, ironically it is my sister who has an IPod while I do not. Although I did buy it for her so it's not as insulting. The real sign that I'm an outcast was when one of my bosses was talking about him and his wife getting IPods. I mean these are people in their 60's, and their other hobbies include going model train conventions, gardening, and breeding fish in their backyard.

I'm not saying I'm technologically inept or whatever. In my car I have my PDA set up with a special mounting bracket attached to the dash so I can play both music and videos, or use GPS guidance if I really need it. I claim this setup as my original idea unless someone else can prove they thought of it first.

I guess this IPod thing is not really about technology. There's devices out there with more features, smaller, with more memory, and cheaper to boot, but obviously none of them are nearly as popular. I'm not sure I fully understand all the rage about IPods, nor will I ever. To be honest, something about this whole IPod trend scares me a little, I don't know why but I'm a little afraid of getting sucked in.

Anyways, I originally started writing this blog to talk about my newest electronic purchase, the Apple AirPort Express.



When I first saw an article introducing this thing a while back, I had no idea what it was or what it did. Basically just looked like a little white block about the size of a bar of soap, that you plug into the wall and hook up cables to. Definitely didn't think I would end up paying 120 bucks to buy one.

But I eventually figured out what it did, bought one to use at my house, and I must say I love that thing. I might even get a second one eventually, but that might be going a little overboard at this point.

Basically, for those of you who do not know what the AirPort Express does, it is kind of like a wireless router that you can hook up speakers and a printer to, and lets you output to them from any computer on the network. It's almost perfect for my setup because I want to be able to use my laptop in different rooms, upstairs and downstairs, without having to always be connecting and disconnecting wires to it.

The one thing I don't really like so far is that I have to use ITunes to play music on the speakers. I know there are lots of ITunes lovers out there who will think I'm crazy, but I have always loved my old Winamp player for its simplicity and used it ever since I downloaded my first MP3. I haven't even upgraded to newer versions of Winamp since about my 2nd year of college either, because I want to keep it as simple as possible.

Maybe ITunes will grow on me though. So far I don't like how it takes longer to load up on my computer (which is a pretty new computer too). Also haven't gotten used to the interfaces, i.e. keyboard shortcuts, volume control, etc. Maybe there are upgrades to ITunes available, like alternate skins that might make it a little better. If any of you out there know where I can get that stuff let me know. I don't know if I will ever like it better than my good old Winamp 2.7 with Sony player skin, but if ITunes lets me play my music from across the room, then I'll deal with it.

So yeah, to summarize this entry, I didn't buy an IPod, but I did buy a related Apple product and I started using ITunes. Maybe soon I will cave in and buy an IPod as well, who knows.

The last couple weeks have been extremely busy. I have been swamped with work, both at the job as well as at the new place. Also went to another wedding over the weekend and have a few more on the schedule to attend before the end of this summer. Anyways, here are a few items I decided to write about in my blog, in no particular order:

Floors and Carpet

As planned, I got new carpeting done upstairs, and the hardwood floors downstairs re-surfaced. Although I wasn't completely satisfied with the flooring work, I think it looks a lot better than before overall. Maybe I will post more pictures if I have time.

I Need A Grill, Part 2 Remix

Actually, before I get a grill I should probably first buy a dining table and coffee table. But maybe because I'm not a woman (interpret that however you wish), grill-shopping is much more interesting to me. I have seen some good deals here and there but overall they are all still pretty expensive and stretching my budget.

The good news is that I saved a lot of money by taking furniture from my Mom and Dad and from some generous newlyweds (thanks again Jon and Angel!). So maybe that will give me an excuse to drop more cash on a grill, I dunno.

Someone was also telling me about the "Love Sac". Basically a pimped out version of a regular beanbag and priced accordingly. I have never seen one or heard anyone else mention it but for some reason the Love Sac intrigues me. Perhaps it is all in the name, but either way I must find out more about this Love Sac.

Laguna Beach Season 2

On a non-house related item, I am thrilled that the new season of LB starts tonight. For those of you who think I'm a freak for being excited about this show, you are all invited to bite me. If you think I'm a freak for using the abbreviation "LB", ok fine, you got me there. But seriously, that show rules all. I've always wondered what it's like to be a rich white teenager living it up in Cali. Now, thanks to reality TV, I know that it means hot chicks, nice weather, and surfing.

Andy Milonakis

On the other hand, I have been disappointed with this new "Andy Milonakis Show". I thought it had so much potential, and at some points it is actually pretty funny, but I'd say about 95% of it sucks. Pretty much the only parts that make me laugh are when he raps. "I got bees on my head, but don't call me a bee-head...."

Also I heard he is actually not a kid, but a guy in his late 20's who just happens to have some condition that makes him look and sound younger. I looked up his profile on IMDB and sure enough, his birthday is listed as being in 1976. Watching the show is definitely not as entertaining now that I know this. Sorry if I just ruined the show for anyone out there, but like I said before, I thought it mostly blew to begin with.

Move-In Day

I moved in most of my stuff today. Still don't have some furniture, and nothing will be set up downstairs until the floors are done, but at least my bedroom actually has a bed in it now.

To move the big stuff, I had to rent a 12' U Haul truck, which was an interesting experience. Driving that thing around all day really made me appreciate my car a lot more. Not just amenities like power windows/locks/seats, air conditioning, and radio controls on my steering wheel. But things like "brakes that work", "steering that's responsive", and "being able to see what's around your vehicle" were not really applicable to driving this thing.

Anyways, I should get back to organizing and cleaning. Hopefully things will get set up and settled soon and then I can host some of you fine folks.

New Townhouse

I closed on my new townhouse this morning. Was fairly uneventful, basically just signed and initialed a bunch of documents. Most of the work was done in the weeks leading up to closing I guess.

Anyways, I won't move in until this weekend at the earliest, and now it looks more like it won't be until next week. When I get everything settled in, carpet/flooring fixed up, buy furniture, etc., then I will start inviting people over. Not sure how long that will take though.

I'll probably have more thoughts to share later about how it feels to own a house, but for now here are a few pictures I took tonight when I was there: