summer project

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After a few months of trying to get a board repaired for my Star Trek: The Next Generation pin, I finally had a little luck and bought one from a dealer in the UK. It arrived a couple days ago, and as I was installing it in the backbox, I realised that my pin needed a little loving. So, I’m going to go beyond shopping it, and see how much I can restore it to get as close to NIB as possible.

I’ve talked with a couple specialty places in the US, and I’m going to get one of them to restore the playfield for me and clearcoat it. I’m going to take care of the rest, which basically means stripping the parts from the top and bottom of the playfield, cleaning everything thoroughly, replacing and/or rebuilding some parts, repainting and re-decaling all the models, testing all connectors and wires, and repairing/repainting the cabinet (if I can find a way to reproduce the cabinet decals, that is). A lot of rebuilds and parts replacements will be required, but everything’s in decent shape, and the end result will be worth it.

Best part is, these kind of things are supposed to take time (getting the playfield restored takes 6-10 weeks alone), so I’ll have an excuse for taking six months. That said, something close to NIB will be worth a fair bit of coin, so with luck it’ll be an investment. I have The Getaway re-wired (thanks Marvin!) and working now, and will be getting a bag of parts for both machines while I’m in Philly next week.

I’ll probably start a couple weeks from now, and will post progress reports as I move along. yay toys, and it’ll keep me occupied during the summer, provided I’m not travelling too much.

good for the sole

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Hate the pun, not the punny guy.

Some days I realise just how lucky I am, and today was one of those days. There’s a group of really great people who run on Wednesday nights. These people are my friends, and they are truly awesome.

For a variety of reasons, mostly injury related, I haven’t run with the crew for about six months. Tonight, I decided it was time to take the plunge and go with them, instead of soloing and meeting up afterwards. I was really aprehensive about running, because I’m still not anywhere close to the level I was at 18 months ago, and I didn’t want to hold anyone back. We ran just over 4km, and managed to bring it in at about a 6.5min/km pace (normally we do a 6min pace), including a walking break here and there for yours truly. No one cared that it was a couple km less and a little slower than they normally ran, nor that we walked twice for a minute or so each time. They were just happy I was out with them and that I finished healthy. I can’t tell you how good that made me feel.

Running makes me happy. Running with my friends makes me glow (I can’t think of a better way to put it, so there it is). Tonight was fantastic, and is a huge step back on track for me.

After our run we went to Iz’s for mushroom risotto, mesclun salad with balsalmic dressing, and a hot smoked salmon (the salmon was chilled when served, it’s the smoking process that was hot, which resulted in nicely blackend flesh) that was incredible. Oh, and there were Crown Floats, too. The package was wrapped up with some great conversation, more than a little ribbing, and a terrific sense of how this is the way I should feel all the time. I’ve missed feeling as good as I do now.

Truly good for the soul, and I can’t get over how much I’ve missed hitting the pavement with the Wednesday night crowd. I’ll sleep well tonight.

banco de gaia

I’ve been listening to a lot of ambiant/trance over the last couple weeks, as it’s proved to be much less distracting than the music I used to listen to at work (Rage Against the Machine, Offspring, that kind of thing). I stumbled across a track in my library from Banco de Gaia, an interesting remix artist/composer/whatever you want to call him (them?) that incorporates Sino/Indian sound with trance/house – kinda like Chemical Brothers meets Bollywood at a Tibetan monastery. I’ve since picked up a couple CDs, and am really happy I did. Have a gander, as there are a few mp3’s available on the website. Good stuff.

class of ’86

Twenty years since high school… that’s a long time. I went to Earl of March for their immersion program, and have some pretty mixed feelings about my years there. Some of them good, but the majority of them not-so-good. It looks like some people have decided to hold a reunion for my graduating class this August out in Kanata. It’s interesting seeing a few pictures of people I went to school with, and some of the older pics probably should have been buried – but hey, it’s all in good fun.

The event itself will be held at the Kanata Lakes Golf Course clubhouse, which is kind of funny because that’s the area we used to always have our bush bashes. Those days the course was small, there were no houses anywhere in the area, and Mrs. Matthews (as in Terry Matthews) would always call the cops on us when she saw large groups of kids taking the trail by their house (which was really funny since Dillon was always there drinking). Some good times, for true, but I understand there’s zero tolerance for that kind of thing these days.

EoM was a looooooong time ago. I was a year ahead in high school and ended up hanging out more with the folks from the class of ’87, so I can’t really relate to the majority of folks who’d be there. Regardless, I dunno if I’d make it with work, and I’ve sent my regrets.

If you’re here because you followed my link… well, hello! Feel free to drop me an email or leave a howdy below.

sobering thought of the day

Instead of fiscal responsibility- which it’s a little late for, now – the current administration in the U.S. continues to spend like anyone with 18-gazillion credit cards would. I guess it’s understandable, because their personal fortunes aren’t affected, and most likely they’re all off the hook in two and a half years, anyways. Ever wonder what would happen when a place like China or Japan figures the net return from trade isn’t enough to cover things off, and calls in the debt? I do, and the results ain’t pretty.

The debt limit increase was the fourth of Bush’s presidency, totaling $3 trillion. With the budget deficit near record levels, an additional increase in the debt limit almost certainly will be required next year.

Eep.

bodum makes me happy, then sad

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I purchased some of Bodum’s nifty double-walled glasses from the fine folks at Green Beanery last week. They are pretty darn cool, and each one has enough subtle imperfections from being hand-blown that they’re all unique. They work as advertised, and keep your drink nice and cool, with no condensation on the outside at all.

Unfortunately, they have one little flaw that I really hadn’t thought about until it bit me in the ass. The reason they look so cool is the air gap all the way around. Unfortunately, that air gap is just that, so there’s not a whole lot of strength at the bottom of the glass. I dropped a couple ice cubes in one yesterday, and it went right through the bottom. Ouch. I won’t do it again, but it was a bit of an expensive lesson to learn. In hindsight, it makes total sense, but getting one use out of a $12.00 glass is kinda painful.

how dissapointing

Well, apparently you’ve gotta be a bald Natalie Portman or so hurtin’ you have to be the lead in a remake of the Shaggy Dog (fer fuck sakes) to make the theatres here in Bytown-land. I was really hoping to catch Don’t Come Knocking this weekend, but it’s not playing. I’m not sure if it’s actually been released this weekend, or if it is only going to do the Bytowne/Mayfair circuit because of its limited appeal. It looks fun (to me) though, and I’m kind of sorry it isn’t in theatres now.

And, on a higher/sobering note, Why We Fight will be playing at the Bytowne in April. I’m going to be there for at least one of the showings. I’ll let y’all know how it is.

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