So my X-Box is dead in the water. For real, this time. I think.
Last week, I played it for a little while one morning and everything was fine. Walked the dogs, had some lunch, fired it up to work on some new Forge maps for Halo 3 and ...
RED RING OF DEATH!
I unplugged everything, let it rest for a while, and tried twenty minutes or so later. Still got the ring. An hour later, still got the ring.
Finally, I tried it once again for the night - just in case - and it worked.
The next morning, pretty much the same thing. It worked, then I turned it off, and then it didn't work anymore for a few hours. Then it did.
Anyway, it finally pretty much stopped working altogether, so I put in a work order via Microsoft.com, and now I have to pack it up and ship it off to an exotic locale (Mesquite, TX!) for them to work their magic.
Tomorrow I send the machine out, and then wait probably three weeks to get it back. I'm sending them a black 360 Elite unit, so I better get the same back in return ... Urgh. Wish me luck.
As a result, I'm already lonely and starting to miss two of my best friends here in New Jersey - Nico Bellic and Master Chief. It's gonna be a long three weeks.
On the plus side, this should, in theory, help focus my energies towards finding a new job and going to the gym (both of which I do actively, but admittedly not as enthusiastically as I ought to). One less distraction is a good thing.
(Though come to think of it, I haven't played God of War in a while on my PS2 ... hmmm.)
The other major reconstruction project about to begin is in my mouth. Nicole and I decided that we're ready to get braces to straighten our teeth. Nicole had them many, many years ago, but there's still a lingering issue she'd like to take care of.
I've never had braces, but anyone who's ever met me knows about my imperfections (of which there are many, but I refer specifically to my choppers this time around). One thing I've always been very self-conscious about is my smile. I think it's pretty horrible. My teeth are actually very healthy, and I take care of them well (though I could be more consistent with my flossing), but I have "overcrowding" on the bottom row around one of my center teeth. Up top, I have gaps between my front six teeth (the cuspids, and the central and lateral incisors). In addition, my upper central incisors are elongated compared to the rest of the teeth (resulting in a bit of an overbite), and they bend somewhat inward, to the inside of my mouth (which, according to my orthodontist, causes the crowding on the bottom).
Do a Google image search on "teeth crowding", and you'll see some VERY hardcore examples of what I'm talking about. Sort of. Happily, my personal situation is nowhere near as severe as the examples in the first page of those photos.
By the sounds of things, I'm going to get the regular, old-school type metal braces and not the clear, modern ones. For my situation, the orthodontist feels they're a better bet. I don't care one way or another, as long as they work. They can put in neon green wires as far as I'm concerned. Unlike an awkward teen in high school, I really don't care how they're going to look on me.
The two parts of the deal I'm not so fond of are the cost (of course) and the length of time this is going to take. I've been told to expect the braces to come off in 12 to 18 months. I get my dental molds and pre-installation work done on Wednesday, and assume I'll actually get the actual appliance in early September.
So, if all goes to plan, in September '09 or possibly as late as March '10, I'll be hit in the face with a baseball and end up having to wear dentures anyway. Go figure.
I still owe a post about a whole bunch of movies I've seen this summer, but here's a quick note about "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor". Nicole loved the first one (and saw the second one, and walked out of "The Scorpion King"), and I love the Mummy-themed rollercoaster at Universal Studios, so we figured we'd go check it out last weekend. There were other movies we'd have rather seen, but since it wasn't likely to remain in our local theater too much longer, it was now (then?) or never.
I should mention that I've seen the first one in bits and pieces (but not all in one sitting), and hadn't seen any of the other related films at all. But Nicole wanted to go, so we did ...
... and I hate to admit, despite remaining awake for very large portions of the film, I really couldn't tell you anything that happened. I just don't remember, one week later.
There were a bunch of chases, and some snow, but otherwise it was just a big blur of nothingness to me. Utterly forgettable in every way, shape and form. The acting was bland, I didn't care about any of the interpersonal relationships (such as they were), I didn't think it was funny despite repeated attempts to play scenes for comedy, and the plot was threadbare at best. Some of the effects looked nice, but that's not enough to get a movie by anymore.
The worst thing a movie can do, I think, is not to make you hate it. It's to make you not even care. The fact that I'm even writing this is a miracle, because it doesn't deserve to take even more time from my life than actually watching the film.
Don't bother with it, is what I'm trying to say.
Go play GTA IV instead - the story, the action, and the acting are all much better.
It's advice I wish I could take myself, but I can't ... not for another three weeks.
Grr.
Last week, I played it for a little while one morning and everything was fine. Walked the dogs, had some lunch, fired it up to work on some new Forge maps for Halo 3 and ...
RED RING OF DEATH!
I unplugged everything, let it rest for a while, and tried twenty minutes or so later. Still got the ring. An hour later, still got the ring.
Finally, I tried it once again for the night - just in case - and it worked.
The next morning, pretty much the same thing. It worked, then I turned it off, and then it didn't work anymore for a few hours. Then it did.
Anyway, it finally pretty much stopped working altogether, so I put in a work order via Microsoft.com, and now I have to pack it up and ship it off to an exotic locale (Mesquite, TX!) for them to work their magic.
Tomorrow I send the machine out, and then wait probably three weeks to get it back. I'm sending them a black 360 Elite unit, so I better get the same back in return ... Urgh. Wish me luck.
As a result, I'm already lonely and starting to miss two of my best friends here in New Jersey - Nico Bellic and Master Chief. It's gonna be a long three weeks.
On the plus side, this should, in theory, help focus my energies towards finding a new job and going to the gym (both of which I do actively, but admittedly not as enthusiastically as I ought to). One less distraction is a good thing.
(Though come to think of it, I haven't played God of War in a while on my PS2 ... hmmm.)
The other major reconstruction project about to begin is in my mouth. Nicole and I decided that we're ready to get braces to straighten our teeth. Nicole had them many, many years ago, but there's still a lingering issue she'd like to take care of.
I've never had braces, but anyone who's ever met me knows about my imperfections (of which there are many, but I refer specifically to my choppers this time around). One thing I've always been very self-conscious about is my smile. I think it's pretty horrible. My teeth are actually very healthy, and I take care of them well (though I could be more consistent with my flossing), but I have "overcrowding" on the bottom row around one of my center teeth. Up top, I have gaps between my front six teeth (the cuspids, and the central and lateral incisors). In addition, my upper central incisors are elongated compared to the rest of the teeth (resulting in a bit of an overbite), and they bend somewhat inward, to the inside of my mouth (which, according to my orthodontist, causes the crowding on the bottom).
Do a Google image search on "teeth crowding", and you'll see some VERY hardcore examples of what I'm talking about. Sort of. Happily, my personal situation is nowhere near as severe as the examples in the first page of those photos.
By the sounds of things, I'm going to get the regular, old-school type metal braces and not the clear, modern ones. For my situation, the orthodontist feels they're a better bet. I don't care one way or another, as long as they work. They can put in neon green wires as far as I'm concerned. Unlike an awkward teen in high school, I really don't care how they're going to look on me.
The two parts of the deal I'm not so fond of are the cost (of course) and the length of time this is going to take. I've been told to expect the braces to come off in 12 to 18 months. I get my dental molds and pre-installation work done on Wednesday, and assume I'll actually get the actual appliance in early September.
So, if all goes to plan, in September '09 or possibly as late as March '10, I'll be hit in the face with a baseball and end up having to wear dentures anyway. Go figure.
I still owe a post about a whole bunch of movies I've seen this summer, but here's a quick note about "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor". Nicole loved the first one (and saw the second one, and walked out of "The Scorpion King"), and I love the Mummy-themed rollercoaster at Universal Studios, so we figured we'd go check it out last weekend. There were other movies we'd have rather seen, but since it wasn't likely to remain in our local theater too much longer, it was now (then?) or never.
I should mention that I've seen the first one in bits and pieces (but not all in one sitting), and hadn't seen any of the other related films at all. But Nicole wanted to go, so we did ...
... and I hate to admit, despite remaining awake for very large portions of the film, I really couldn't tell you anything that happened. I just don't remember, one week later.
There were a bunch of chases, and some snow, but otherwise it was just a big blur of nothingness to me. Utterly forgettable in every way, shape and form. The acting was bland, I didn't care about any of the interpersonal relationships (such as they were), I didn't think it was funny despite repeated attempts to play scenes for comedy, and the plot was threadbare at best. Some of the effects looked nice, but that's not enough to get a movie by anymore.
The worst thing a movie can do, I think, is not to make you hate it. It's to make you not even care. The fact that I'm even writing this is a miracle, because it doesn't deserve to take even more time from my life than actually watching the film.
Don't bother with it, is what I'm trying to say.
Go play GTA IV instead - the story, the action, and the acting are all much better.
It's advice I wish I could take myself, but I can't ... not for another three weeks.
Grr.
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