Geek Nostalgia

Oh my goodness. Ash has a working classic model, but I still feel the pull of buying this (some of the games still take a little time to get working with the spring-load design). $2 games at a flea market or pawn shop or just using the cartridges that you kept around for "old-times" sake. This is from the golden era of gaming, when anyone could pick up a controller and play a fun game without having to know how to use 17 buttons. I'm such a Nintendo fanboy...

Click here to read about the NES reincarnated. And click here to consider buying it.

Confession

This past Friday morning there were several accidents around the area due to icy roads. One such accident was actually just down the road from where Ash and I live and resulted in two people's deaths. While listening to the radio at 8am to learn more about the weather and driving situation, it became apparent that one of the accidents involved a FedEx truck and that the driver had died. Also, the "packages [were] everywhere."

Now for my confession: upon hearing about the FedEx accident, I thought it was the accident near us. My first thought was not "it's too bad the driver died" or "I hope he knew God" or "I'm glad no one else was hurt." No...my first thought was "I hope I didn't have a package coming." Of course, I immediately felt bad after thinking that and told Ash as much, at which point she confessed to having the same thought. How lame is that? Two normally caring adults, upon hearing of a tragic accident first think of themselves. And, to add to the inappropriateness, the FedEx accident wasn't even the one near us. It happened on the beltway around D.C. (it was at this point we learned it was an 18-wheeler that had tumbled off an overpass while trying to avoid a pickup truck that had cut it off).

I don't think this is an uncommon occurrence. When something bad happens to someone else, often our first response is to wonder how it affects us. Think about it...how many times have you been annoyed about an accident ahead of you because traffic slows to a crawl? How often does a tragedy happen to someone else that inconveniences you and makes you mad? Weird Al actually wrote a song about it on his album Poodle Hat titled "Why Does This Always Happen To Me?" It's an amusing song until you realize how often little, tiny things annoy us and that we often don't see the big tragedies as anything other than getting in the way of our own lives.

And I am as susceptible to this form of thinking as anyone. Is it enough to realize what we're thinking and feel bad about it? Is there a way to change our first, selfish response?

Does anyone else have a confession?

Late, but hopefully interesting

So this post is a little later than I'd hoped. Friday was a snow day for me, which should have given me plenty of extra time to post, but I didn't really get on the computer much. And basically I've just let it slide until today. Today's post will be me commenting on some interesting things I've found in the last few days, and the embedded links will allow you to read the the articles or visit the website. So in no particular order, here goes...

Have you been stuck on a gift idea for a certain someone? Pretty much anyone, actually, even yourself. Then maybe you should consider not buying material possessions and instead buy them an experience! At the website Excitations.com you can purchase, for yourself or as a gift, experiences in the DC metro area (and currently ONLY in the DC metro area) ranging from riding in a stockcar, skydiving, captaining a sailboat for a day (or year), hotair ballooning, flying in a vintage biplane, survival training, hang gliding...and so on for individuals and couples. There are also other, more relaxing options available. And the cool thing is you can purchase various gift packages that allow the receiver to choose what they want to do. Most of the packages offer about 6 to 8 choices. Check it out, it's very cool.

From a technology geek stand point, the new NEC flat battery is very neat. 30 second charge time? Check. Flexible? Check. Environmentally friendly? Check. 3mm thick? Check. For more info just Google News it. Just think, we now have a power source for that digital paper that people keep talking about...

The iPod Mini was, as some of you know, discontinued and its place taken by the iPod Nano. However, apparently some people are buying iPod Minis on EBay for above the old retail price. In fact some of them are buying Minis for more than a new Nano would cost them. Craziness.

And finally, for those with little children, here is an interesting toy...the LikeABike. It's for children 2 to 5 years old, is essentially a petal-less bike, and is suppose to help confidence and balance. It also apparently gets rid of the necessity for training wheels once the child moves up to a pedaled bike. Read about the LikeABike here and view the official website here.

I haven't posted in a while, but I promise more tomorrow. However, the link for today is not a Christmas Wish. Read the responses too...fairly amusing. I can't believe some company Exec thought this would sell well.

Until tomorrow...

Despair.com

I love Despair.com. If you've never checked it out, do so HERE. Despair.com basically mocks all those motivational posters that companies put up for their employees.

Either way, you need to check out the new Despair videos. The first is highly amusing...

My Buddy or "Why I hate the 80's"

"My buddy (my buddy), My buddy (my buddy)...Wherever I go, heeee's gonna go, My buddy (my buddy), My buddy (my buddy)...My buddy and me"

Don't tell me you don't know what I'm talking about. Anyone mid-twenties or older should remember this little ditty. Don't lie...you're singing it right now in your head and smiling. Stupid 80's jingle. Not only is it annoying to get stuck in the head, but my wife and I had a silly argument over the exact wording last night. I said the above was correct, she said the middle line went "Wherever I go, heeee goes..." See what I mean by silly argument. We were laughing, but I KNEW I was right, so we Googled to find the words. Apparently no one else remembers the words exactly either as we found supporting evidence for both our versions. And don't think I forgot about the identically themed "Kid Sister."

Another thing, do you ever find yourself making references to older shows/commercials during the day? I'm not talking about last week's Lost episode, I'm talking about when, in the right circumstances, someone says "Hello" and you follow up with "I'm mister Ed." I actually do this somewhat regularly, just ask Ashley. Of course, I do it in a lower voice like they did at the beginning of the show. Odd thing is, I never even watched the show, I just remember the commercials and the opening credits.

Or when someone say's "I don't want to get up" and I feel the need to say "Cuz you're a Toys R Us kid?" (Ashley can support this too) I know that the line is "I don't want to grow up," but my brain still makes the connection. I actually have to catch myself so I don't say similar things sometimes. Stupid 80's.

Does anyone else have this type of problem? Am I alone in my madness?