More toys!

No I am not superficial but there are material things that I have been hankering for quite a while. One is a digital camera the other is a car (more on that later). I need a way to keep in touch with family back home and this is a great way as they can see how I am doing. Here is a picture of me with my shiny sony cybershot:

This picture also fulfills the blog author pic quota for the month, whatever that means.At any rate this will also go a long way in sprucing up the place (meaning my virtual place...my blog folks!). There have been some really great events that have passed by. I only documented them with the written word but now I can supplement that verbal description with a visual one.

Plus the camera holds more significance I plan on using it to document my new life. A new life that started with my marriage to MW. It is my desire that with this camera we film many happy moments together. It could be anything from long drives across open highways, trips around town or even quite moments in our home. It doesn't matter where we are or what we are doing as long as their is a smile on our face and love in our hearts.

UPDATE: So I briefly mentioned getting a car and promised to have more details as soon as they came in. Well guess what the details are in...I got a CAR!!! I am a proud owner of the following automobile:

This beauty was given to me by my uncle. He recently bought a brand new car and decided to give me his old car. This just shows you how important family is. With out them we as individuals or even a species couldn't survive. Who else would put up with you, your morning breath or crispy eyes, with the mess you make, with your temper tantrums and what not. I told MW about the generosity of her uncle.And she praised him profusely.

It runs great and I love zooming down the highway (always observe the speed limit kiddies). Of course parking is a nightmare in the city. People literally stalk you for your space. Plus I got a ticket for a parking violation. So I decided to take matters into my own hands and signed up with a garage. They are willing to let me park at their place for a monthly fee. My building has a parking lot but it is full and I have placed myself on their waiting list. So let's see how long this arrangement will last.

But one thing man. Cars are expensive insurance, gas, registration fees, parking, repairs...the list goes on and on. I see my monthly savings shrinking in the near future. But hey it's worth it I don't have to carpool anymore. I can leave when I am ready, making me my own man. Plus I was thinking when MW gets here will I still be schleping around in the subways. How would that look? Poor thing riding subway cars with homeless bums stinking up the place. Now I feel more of a man as I can take her around town in a safe (I don't drink, I am a defensive driver plus I recite the dua for traveling plus another one my big sis gave me i have them taped to the dashboard for easy recitation) and comfy car.

Besides I am a motorist. So look out world because here I come!

UPDATE: So the car needed new tires they would shake and rattle anytime you went over a certain speed. Plus the steering wheel would jerk all of a sudden. I figured new tires and a wheel alignment would take care of that. So I went looking around for a good deal. My uncle, who gave me the car recommended Pep boys. I called them up but found out that they don't have tires for my nissan and would most likely have to change the rims. No thanks. Then I got to thinking maybe I should head on over the dealers to get it fixed. They even had coupons!

So I found a dealer and went over. Aside from the usual servicing I also wanted a spare key and new wiper blades. All of this was a one time cost for repairing the aging car. I didn't mind to much as it was gifted to me with the warning that it required repairs. Being a first time car owner I wanted to lavish the car with love besides MW would be riding shotgun (more on that later). After dropping the car off early morning they said to come pick it up in the afternoon. I left to do some errands around town old school, meaning on foot. (there's a very siendfieldish incident where I left my house keys attached to my car keys and had to leave my groceries with the neighbors to go get them but that takes from the post).

Around noon time I got a call stating that I needed more work done as the racket pinning was worn out and needed to be replaced. Realizing that they weren't BSing me I authorized the repairs. It would take a week as the parts had to be ordered. I was back to carpooling which was a real bummer. But the bruising didn't stop there. Once my co-workers found out about my car and that I went to the dealers they were rolling their eyes and saying you got screwed. I kept telling them that they had coupons!

When I got the repair bill I started understanding their concern. Over the weekends I ran the numbers and found out that I couldn't possibly afford their services as I would slowly but surely go broke. My co-workers recommended independent shops, really any one would do with an old car like mine as they couldn't do much more damage to it. Speaking of which I get a coupon for a free car wash from the dealers. When I went to collect the guys sprayed high powered jets of soapy water into my brakes while washing the wheels. When the car got out of the car wash tunnel it would shake anytime you braked. I gave the guy in charge a piece of my mind. But he assured me if I gave it time the water would dry out. Well the brakes did dry out and the shaking stopped but the road weary parts became squeakyish. Why is the world conspiring to ruin my car?

Anyways I had to find a new repair guy, one that I could afford. I found him in the yellow pages. We had a nice chat over the phone he gave me a good quote much lower then the dealer. Plus he turned out to be a brother. Which is nice but I want to see some paperwork before I hand over my car. Luckily they guarantee all their work. So in the meantime I am recovering from my folly. I have huge expenses coming up what with the wedding (more on that later on as well) and all. So I need to save up as much and as fast as I can. Can anyone say hutzpah!

Drink this read that

And now for another installment of my world famous column in which I suggest some reading material and a nice beverage to go along with it. Seriously folks I tried this before (here and here). Since no one burned me at the stake I'll try it again.

Being a sci-fi geek and even bigger Star Trek aficionado I decided to use my end of year bonus (generously given to me by some really great people I work with) on pure unadulterated splurging. After getting MW a gift, the details of which will remain unpublished as that would ruin the surprise, I decided to buy something nice for myself. Not wanting to spend too much yet wanting a good entertaining ST related experience I decided to get this:

Yes it is what it is. The way I see it, it's the best of both worlds. I am too tired from work to read through a novel (I know this is blasphemy for a writer such as myself, but hey that's just how my brain is) yet don't have the time to blast my way through a video game.  So I can read short quips along with nice big pictures to go along with them. Which is what comics are after all.

Now this collection of comics go back to 1967. Being the nerd that I am I plan on reading all the ST:TOS comics followed by ST:TNG, ST:DS9, and then ST:VOY (sorry enterprise no soup for you). So right now I am knee deep in comics from the age of flower power and free love. The ads have been faithfully reproduced which give you an insight of how American culture was (pig skin suede shoes anyone?). It's frightening how we gleefully celebrated a brutal past (decedents of frontiersmen peddling BB guns to little boys or commemorative coins for the Hiroshima, Nagasaki atomic attacks).

Aside from those novelties I also don't like the writing of the earlier comics too much.  The dialogue is out of character and the references to ST technology is incorrect (they're not radios!). Plus the drawings of the characters do not resemble the actors who portray them. It's hard to determine who is saying what. I only see a blue eyed blond haired macho man talking, I didn't realize that was suppose to be Scotty until much later. I know that this is just a temporary things and as I make my way down through the years the quality will definitely improve. I am looking forward to the movie adaptions that the comic book people came up with.

Of course my TV viewing suffers because of this. But hey it's worth it. I'll only drop out of FTL to watch my shows like SGU, Mythbusters and Star Wars: The Clone Wars. No more flipping channels for me I gotta get through literally hundreds of comics. I'll keep you posted on my findings!

So what should one drink to accompany this medley of geeky fun. Why water of course. I see too many of my fellow geeks wasting away their health drinking colas and other sugary sodas. Later on they complain about not feeling well. Gee, I wonder why that is? Water, especially mineral water is really good for your health. You quench your thirst without having to worry about getting diabetes. Drink it cool or at room temperature you will enjoy its refreshing goodness. My favorite brands are cheap and inexpensive and they always beat tap water hands down.

UPDATE: The comics from the 70's are lame. The writing is shotty. Don't get me wrong there are a few good ones. Which keep me coming back but overall I am dropping out of FTL more and more often as I lose interest. The comics from the mid 70's are picking up the slack as the drawing are more engaging and the storyline are much more complex. Why don't you skip ahead to the good ones you ask? Well I am to much of a stickler and prefer to take it on one comic at a time. I'll let you know if they get better.