How I learned to stop worrying and love social interaction

I’m a very social person, as long as there’s a keyboard and net connection involved. Ever since I had kids I just haven’t had the time to get together with people to hang out. Problem with not having time to spend with people is that they keep asking, you keep saying no, they eventually stop asking. Next thing you know, you don’t have any real friends left.

That’s the great thing about Twitter. It allows you to meet new people and interact with them with little to no expectations. This weekend that all changed with a simple invite to coffee and comic shopping. My first, default reaction was to say that I was busy but after checking with my wife I realized that my Saturday morning was totally clear. There was no reason to not go, so I went.

After parking, and bumping into 5 people I knew from work I got my coffee and looked conspicuous. Problem was that I didn’t actually know what any of the people I was going to meet looked like. After a short time I met up with Jim Dandy who recognized me from my profile pic and we grabbed a table and started talking, not like strangers, but like two like minded geek dads. Then Alpha Geek and Vulcan Ninja showed up followed soon after by Crazylegs. It was really refreshing to talk about geek topics without that feeling that the person you are talking to wants to run away. For example I usually I don’t even mention that I play video games to people because I find it makes them uncomfortable. Not so with this group… I felt like for the first time, in a long time, I could be myself. Mind you I did feel somewhat awkward when I mentioned that my PSP battery was the upgraded 2200mAh for longer life.

After solving the world’s problems and drinking some damn fine coffee we hit some comic shops and then went our separate ways. All in all I had a good time but it did leave me with one question… when can we do it again?

Kids are Not Good for my Health

While I love my boys very much the toll that they are taking on my health and well being is starting to add up. At first it was just a matter of sleep deprivation. That’s something I can handle as many years of video games experience have kept me up nights and forced me to operate on little sleep. Then there are the bruises and such that comes with roughhousing. I’m a big guy and can easily handle a three year old as long as I’m ready for it.

What no one can prepare you for however is the other stuff. The stuff you can’t see coming. In the last little while I have been to the chiropractor a few times, my GP once, the optometrist once, my dentist, the Ivey Eye institute twice and a TMJ specialist. All that is in conjunction with taking Celebrex daily along with Tylenol.

So what happened you ask? First while I was harmlessly playing with my 10 month old he reached for a toy and when he pulled his hand back ran his fingertip horizontally across my eye. I grabbed my eye, and fell over in pain. My vision was messed up but thanks to the internet it said that it could take a few weeks to heal. After three weeks I went to the optometrist, who immediately referred me to emerg where after two more visits I was told that he had scratched my eye down to what’s called the Bowman membrane. That’s bad by the way. It’s three layers deep in the eye and usually causes scarring. Which is where I am at right now. My vision which was 20/20 in that eye is now 20/40 and I have some double vision. The specialist said it would improve but it would take up to 6 months and even after that, with a stronger prescription by eyesight would only improve to 20/25. Great.

Second, while playing with my older son I got a head butt to the chin. This didn’t bother me at first but after a few days my jaw was sore. After a few more days I couldn’t bite down or eat solid food. After a few Chiropractic visits things got better till I was eating a sandwich and heard a loud crack. Lot’s of pain after that one. So off I went to a TMJ specialist who said that I should be wearing a nighttime mouth splint. Cost … $1500. Super.

Finally, my boys aged 3 and 11 months, weigh in at 50lbs and 30lbs respectively. Each “daddy can I have a stand up hug?” takes a year off the life of my lower back which aches like a bastard every morning now. Which is why I take the Celebrex and Tylenol.

Even though I am only 33 I feel like I’m 55. Hopefully as my boys get older things will improve but right now I’m a mess. Anyone else have any good stories of child related injuries?

Flickr Pro is no longer free with Rogers

Just got an email that Flickr Pro is no longer being offered by Rogers for free. I'm getting a little tired of Rogers taking things away but still charging the same amount for their services. In light of that I erased my Flickr account and will start using Picasa instead.

Dear Rogers Yahoo! customer,

We are writing to inform you that on July 1, 2009, your Flickr Pro account included with your Rogers Hi-Speed Internet service will change to a free Flickr account. The free Flickr service has many of the same features as Pro, but is subject to some limits.

Your existing photos or videos will not be deleted as a result of this change. If you have more than 200 photos in the free Flickr account, only the most recent 200 are displayed. Other changes include:

• 100MB monthly upload limit (10MB per photo)
• 2 video uploads each month (max. 90 seconds and 150MB per video)
• Only smaller (resized) images accessible (though the originals are saved in case you upgrade later)

If you enjoy the full flexibility and storage capacity of your current Flickr Pro account, you can maintain your Pro account by subscribing directly to the service for $24.95 (USD) a year. Subscribe before September 1, 2009 and get two months free. Click the link below to subscribe:

http://flickr.com/upgrade

For additional information or questions, please visit:

http://help.yahoo.com/l/ca/rogers/flickr/index.html

We want to thank you for being a Rogers Yahoo! customer. It is our pleasure to provide you with an enjoyable online photo experience.

Sincerely,

Rogers Yahoo! Hi-Speed Internet Customer Service

I guess Microsoft doesn't want to hear what I have to say

Today I tried to send an email to XBOX support to express my concerns over the quality of the XBOX 360's hardware. I filled in the form but when I tried to submit it the form was rejected because the description field had "Invalid characters found in description."



Here is the body of the text:

"I am writing to express my dismay over the lack of quality of the XBOX 360 console. I originally purchased my first XBOX 360 in Feb of 2006. When reports started surfacing about the RROD I purchased an extended warranty to ensure that I would be covered in the event the console failed. Sure enough, that first console did suffer the RROD and I sent it back and promptly received a replacement. The unit I got back was louder than the first, covered in black finger prints, and had a faulty DVD-Rom drive tray. I lived with it for a while and then the drive tray totally failed and wouldn’t open. So I contacted support again and went through the process of getting my third XBOX 360. This past weekend, that XBOX also suffered a RROD and when I contacted support again I was told that my XBOX was no longer covered under warranty and that it would cost 150 CDN to get it replaced. At this point I have totally lost faith in this product and can’t ever see myself owning another MS product."

For the life of me I can't figure out which character is invalid. I guess Microsoft just doesn't want to hear about it.

My brand new Microsoft branded paper weight

This morning after my son finished up with some Mario Kart I thought I'd play a little Forza 2 with my often neglected 360 racing wheel. After loading up the 360 and getting Forza running, and then selecting my car and track I was on my way. Or so I thought because right after my car was racing down the track at high speed the frame froze and my controller stopped working and the TV fell silent. No big deal, the 360 has locked up on me before. After a reboot, same thing, frozen. After another reboot, nothing at all, just a black screen. On the next reboot I got the RROD.

Sadly I am not new to this. I picked up my first 360 a few months after launch and was pretty lucky for a while. I had heard of the trouble with the red rings so I even bought an extended service contract to cover my ass. Sure enough, my first 360 earned its wings after about a year and a half and I sent it in and got another one with very little hassle. The 360 they sent me back though was covered in black smudges and had a broken DVD-Rom drive. I lived with it for a while but then the drive tray just refused to open. So I sent that one back and got this one that just died. So today I called XBOX support and was told that my warranty was over, and I was no longer covered by the three year RROD defect warranty because they go by the original purchase date. So to get this XBOX fixed it would cost me $150 CDN.

Because of all this I am done with Microsoft and the 360. I mean seriously… 3 XBOXes since launch? I am so pissed at Microsoft for having such a lousy machine. Today I took all my 360 games to EB and traded them. Later I plan to post all my other misc. hardware on kijiji. To anyone considering buying a 360… take a look at the PS3 instead, it's better machine/deal right out of the box.

FOX "news": when you're at the bottom you can say whatever you want

This video is insulting to the Canadian military and to Canadians in general. Overall I'd say we are pretty good at taking a joke at our expense, when it's funny. The song Blame Canada comes to mind from the South Park Movie. But the attempt at humor in this video did nothing more than piss me off.

I'm a firm believer that pretty much anything is fair game when it comes to comedy but this crosses the line. FOX news is already the laughing stock of the news world and this video just further solidifies it's position at the bottom of the pile.


You can watch the video here.

This cuts a little too close to the bone...