Archived News starting from 12-19-2012 and earlier
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Today marks the
10th anniversary of the giant
inflatable eyesore that is my 8ft snowman. This year Lila
helped reanimate him
with me, but sadly the Morlock is 2,300 miles away this year and won't be raping it. When I told Lila this the
disappointment was evident, but she quickly recovered after discovering she could kick it as much as she wanted.
The
Wayne County Lightfest consists of bright lights
viewable from the car, which makes for a perfect toddler event. While we weren't initially sure if Lila could
actually see the lights, she started making noises similar to the smurfs when they see fireworks and we were convinced.
Several sheriff cop cars also drove by with their lights on at one point, clearly jealous of the attention the
other lights were getting. Lila withheld noises while the cops passed, showing the same distrust of authority
that her dad has.
In honor of the last sequential date to occur, at least in my lifetime, I decided to dine at the famous
super hero eatery of Lunchtime Global and setup a train around the Christmas tree.
Lila
did not approve of the latter,
most likely due to the completely unrelated nature of the activity.
Overdue for a visit with the Schmeiders, it was decided we would meet in downtown Rochester for some pre-holiday merrymaking
I was unaware how
completely overboard the city goes with
regard to holiday lighting, so we took a stroll in the cold weather after dinner to enjoy it.
We discovered the lighting also managed to make room for ice cream, so we promptly filled it from a local diner.
For my 35th birthday, I wanted two things:
to see the recently re-opened Belle Isle aquarium, and the new Wreck-it Ralph movie. Both dreams came true
today, with Lila patiently making it through each one in order. The aquarium was much smaller than I expected,
with only half the tanks containing fish of some sort but the empty ones helped keep Lilas excitement in check.
Wreck-it Ralph was able to hold her attention for 90% of the movie, after which she played "wander the theatre"
until it was over.
My status as an
internet millionaire has its perks, as
today I received my
annual Google check
and was surprised to find it was double it's normal value. While the content of this site is more than enough
draw to account for the entire check, I think this time I'll have to credit the
random cross-link of destiny for the extra amount.
Today I learned I will not be moving to L.A. to work for SpaceX. I had a feeling the interview went south, but now it's officially confirmed. While I'm obviously disappointed,
it's also a relief to know for sure. Hopefully I can re-apply sometime in the future once I ramp up learning and become an expert in the areas they're looking for.
The facility itself was amazing, with the Dragon capsule hanging from the soon to be completed cafeteria ceiling, which was located on the factory floor. Watching space hardware being tested and assembled
would have made for an amazing lunch break, and the people I spoke with would have been great co-workers, but the sureal atmosphere felt too good to be true.
The trip was far from a waste, as I got to visit my cousin and
tour the area with Lisa who had never been before. We hit all the major
attractions including the observatory, chinese theatre, Beverly Hills and Fry's electronics. Of course the trip coincided with the only 3 day rainy period of the month, but I like to think that helped
lessen the disappointment of not getting the job.
6 months ago, the SpaceX Dragon
docked with the IIS and made history
as the first private space vehicle to do so. Ecstatic, I immediately went to their website and was amazed they were hiring for a C# web developer. I immediately sent in my resume expecting to hear nothing.
2 weeks ago I received an email asking if I was still interested in the position; fast forward to today and I'm being flown out to Hawthorne for an interview.
Needless to say I'm terrified of getting the job, as it would mean moving to L.A, but I'm also terrified of not getting the job and missing out on this opportunity. Regardless of the outcome,
I get to enjoy a whole weekend in L.A, and possibly a job at SpaceX.
Today my
HTC Windows Phone 8X finally arrived; bringing dual 1.5Ghz processors, 720p screen, NFC, 8MP camera and LTE speeds.
AT&T managed to lock down my first choice of the Nokia Lumia 920 (for now), but Verizon did manage to get wireless charging added to the 8X as an apology.
The
8X benchmark claims the new phone has a CPU over 5x faster and storage memory over 3x faster than the ancient
HTC Trophy it's replacing.
It's also nice to finally have
LTE speed, but after months of waiting for this upgrade I'm not as excited as I thought I'd be. The WP8 OS has a few new features, but
surprisingly lost group SMS and bluetooth SMS support. Verizon also managed to cripple the new wallet by not providing a secure SIM, which means NFC payments are on hold until they decide to stop being jerks.
Hopefully the next update fixes some of my disappointment, as WP is still my phone OS of choice, but I fear I'll never be that excited teenage girl again when it comes to new phones.
Over 3 years ago, the Red Dawn remake was being
filmed in Detroit. It was scheduled to release a year later, but MGM went bankrupt and
China threatened not to show the movie if they were the enemy. Two years later, post production turned all the Chinese references into North Korea/Soviet references and today it finally sees the light of day.
Despite continuing the lazy trend of remaking classic 80s movies, I was excited to see it and can truthfully say it didn't disappoint. Lisa was also on board with approval until the last few scenes, which
I can't elaborate on without spoiling the movie, but I'm sure you'll piece it together.
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