Give Us Your Cargo

Nope, I am not out to sea hauling cargo not have there been any reports (that I know of recently) of pirates taking over ships in specific areas although I am sure that it happens more than we realize.

I am actually referring to the move Captain Phillips. I have been wanting to see it since seeing the previews for it over a year ago now I think. It has finally shown up on cable so we recorded it last week and started watching it last night after dinner.

So far it's a good movie but annoying that they do not, or maybe are not allowed to, carry weapons in those ships. You would think that carrying that much worth of cargo they would have some kind of protection besides water cannon hoses to squirt at the boats getting close to allow the guys to get on board and take over the ship.

We only watched maybe the first quarter of it last night before it was late enough to call it a night. My fear is that where we ended was with the captain leaving the ship in a life boat with the pirates and the coastguard in their way to help the cargo ship they were all on, "The Alabama". Anyway now that they have the captain I hope that the entire movie does not now focus on him getting away from them or something - that will get old fast.

I guess I may know tonight if we are able to watch the rest of it and can then decide if it was worth the wait or not to see the movie - sure hope that it was! If not, at least I did not spend money at the movies for it or pay to rent it, although I would have if it had been offered. For some reason it was only ever listed on Amazon and iTunes to buy, not rent. Hmm, maybe that is a sign they were trying to make money because it flopped in the theater? Again, I suppose I will just have to wait, watch the rest of it and I will be able to make that call tonight.

Back

So today my back is at about 60% normal. It still hurts enough to make me think twice before bending certain ways and lifting certain things but is improving none-the-less. At this stage I just have to be careful that I don't re-tweak it or end up tweaking my back or something else while favoring it.

I did go on a short 16 mile bike ride last night and that actually helped me to feel better. Probably loosened things up a little bit. I was worried it would piss it off or worse, but Cicely said to just go for it and play it safe and see how it goes and I am glad that I did.

I missed the gym because of too many other obligations during the day but the ride made up for it. I want to desperately get in there today though, I am missing my elliptical training that I do daily!

Like A Flippin' Used Car Lot

So the area out by our house starting to look like a used car lot because of everyone parking their cars out there in the diet and drainage area with for sale signs on them and it's so freaking annoying.

Sure there are worse things, but it does start to look very trashy and brings riff raff out to the area that would not otherwise have been out there wandering about looking at cars, motorcycles, RV's, boats and everything else people are trying to sell out in that area.

Thankfully the nice lady that we talked to from the Washoe County office lives out there near us as well and knows exactly what we are talking about - heck she even knew what vehicles were out there today. She too does not care for the eyesore on the way home and to work either. I guess we are supposed to go through the City of Sparks for problems and concerns with land use and legality. Funny thing is that is exactly who we initially called but were told to call Washoe County.

No big deal really, it's a unique thing with that street. One side is city and one side is county so it gets interesting with stuff like this. Thankfully they managed to get it all worked out before calling us back this morning to give us the scoop.

Technology

So yesterday I finally received this one item that I helped to crowd-fund on Kickstarter - I think it was Kickstarter anyway and not Indiegogo? It was well over a year ago and to be perfectly honest I sort of lost interest in getting the item. I know they put some major blood, sweat and tears into it but it just happens. Heck I did not even bother opening up the box last night, I just had Cicely read me who the package was from and had her set it down. I will open it either tonight or later this week.

Basically it's honestly very cool and killer tech. It's essentially a small, very small actually, guitar that you can play through your iPad. You can do pretty much anything and everything that you would expect from a guitar that is plugged into an iPad with application support which this has. So I assume (I have not downloaded the app yet) that you will be able to add filters, record session (that one is a given that it will most certainly allow otherwise what is the point?).

This came out back when I was messing around with my bass guitar a lot more as well as showing interest "yet again" for the 6-string guitar as I commonly do every year or two. Then I get back into learning it, get frustrated or bored or even loose the extra time to practice - heck at times a combination of all of these and it goes to the way-side once again unfortunately. Heck even my bass playing has been lacking big time this year. I need to play it more, it makes me feel so good to do so and I think it would be great for Zoey to be around it and have interest in instruments, not just video games as most kids have these days. Sure, she is only 5 months right now, but the next thing I know she will be 5 years and I will be kicking myself.

Anyway, the device is called a JamStik. I am stoked to be one of the first to receive the device and am grateful for all of the hard work they put into it. I think that I only supported them with maybe $250 or $350 dollars - don't recall exactly, but its worth it if it simply does what they promised at that time. I think there will be many that will get much more use out of it than I will. Honestly I don't recall if you can play it like a bass or not which is my main interest - bass that-is. If not, it will end up in my closet with all the other "stuff" that I planned to "get to" and had supported on various crowd funding websites or purchased online but never go around to.

Fraud

Well today or tomorrow I should have my new credit card and can begin the pain in the butt process of changing the card number on everything that is automatically paid or that I have setup to be paid via that card online. Small price to pay in reality to not have to worry about all of the charges. I am lucky to have such a great credit card company behind me who takes the matters into their hands vs. throwing them on the consumer to deal with

Adios

Otherwise that is about it for today. I am going to enjoy the rest of the steak and potato soup that Cicely picked up for me at the company cafe and then make my way down to the gym. My elliptical has been missing me for days I am sure as I have been missing the workout it provides!

Photo: I am all for treating the environment in a positive manner and all of that but every single time I see a Smart car my skin crawls. I cannot stand the dam things. Heck dare I say that I despise them even more than mini vans? Yea I think so!

The majority of their drivers all smug like they are better or doing what's right or "smart", lol I think not! To each their own, but it should not include their own Smart car, that is just dumb! Although I will say that I like the fact that the logo has a nice letter "C" in it. I am partial to that letter after-all.