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December 2008

PS3 is Back! Yah!

Submitted by ardith on Tue, 2008-12-02 19:18

Guess what I got this evening?

UPS delivered my PlayStation 3! Happily, it took about 2 weeks to get it back. Even more luckily, the repair was covered under my warranty and didn't cost me anything. I've heard that it cost $120 to replace the laser out of warranty. I have 90 days from now to see if the repairs hold.

I did have trouble backing up, so I have to check on that, too.

Of course, now that I have it back, I was able to pop in Wall-e. The nice thing about some of the new bluray releases is that they include a digital copy from iTunes.

I have to admit that I have Wall-e on my iPhone. Watching it today really helped to take my mind off my post-Thanksgiving workouts.

Anyway, I will have to put it through it's paces. And make sure I can make backups of my ps3 system, to boot.

Lessons Learned Downhill

Submitted by ardith on Sat, 2008-12-06 21:14

With a donation of a $10 toy, visitors can visit Knott's Berry Farm for free. Very nice uniformed men & women take your toys for Toys for Tots and you get a free ticket. It's a great cause, especially in this sucky economy.

I went recently and here are the lessons that I learned. 

  1. It's practically free, but that doesn't mean it is. $10 to park and any meal IN the park is as least $8. Funnel Cake? $8.75 with fruit topping. That was lunch.
  2. It's practically free. That means EVERYONE and their grandmother is there. Including Santa.
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  3. It's practically free. Everyone is there. And the lines are crazy long for everything. Even to get a churro. Even to get a stale churro.
  4. It's practically free. Everyone is there. And the lines are crazy long. And I may be too old for this.

The end.

OK, well, I survived, but still. So tired.

Iris Johansen writing romance again?

Submitted by ardith on Sat, 2008-12-13 17:27

I am an avid reader of romance and Iris Johansen was an author I always picked up. I even tracked down all her Loveswept novels and read them multiple times, despite (because of?) the dated romance novel tropes that are present.

But years ago, she turned to writing thrillers and I tearfully clung to her older books and her darkly brooding alpha males.

I lost all hope and stopped even looking at her books in the bookstores.

Thoughts on the Holidays 2008 and Looking Forward 2009

Submitted by ardith on Wed, 2008-12-24 10:40

In my eyes, 2008 went by in a flash. Of course, when you get older, each year seems to go by faster and faster.

This time of year always goes really fast for me. Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas, and New Years. And then my brithday. Boom! Another year older.

I feel like I've been blessed this year. My family is healthy and I have lots of friends and family that I love all around me.

I spent the last few nights wrapping gifts and making cookies. It's nice because it's what you expect to do. Very comforting.

It's been exciting. Barack Obama will be our President very soon. Sadly Prop 8 passed in California, banning gay marriage. My thoughts have been consistent about this issue. Homosexual people cannot help but be as they are. Don't they deserve to have love and marriage as anyone else does? My God is not about hate or denying others, but loving each other. Celebrating a little more love in this world can't be a bad thing.

As to my personaly 2008, I felt as if my life was on pause this year. Mostly because I lost the ability to hang out with my friends in LA and was hindered by gas prices (and laziness) to go down to San Diego and hang out with my family.

The pattern of my life has changed so much from the constant buzz of working and living in Los Angeles to moving out here. With the horses. And the sheep.

But sometimes you need a change. And since I think I really was in the right place in the right time, I'm satisfied with the outcome of this year.

Of course, with 32 looming just a few weeks away, I have to revisit this topic when I'm less buzzed on egg nog.

So, my wishes for 2009?

Well, I want to win the lotto, of course. But since I don't gamble and it's easier to get struck by lightning, I think that's going to be a bust.