Laptop Tray

My laptop tray arrived.  I took a couple of photos and then cut and pasted them together.

And it is also a paperweight...

Imitation ipad Update.

I ended up turning on the device last night.  I was pleased that it worked.  I looked more closely at the directions and was not pleased.  The fonts are waaay too tiny. A large portion of the diagrams and the text are written in Chinese.  The text is LOADED with grammatical errors.  Either the text was sent through an automatic free online translation program, or the directions were translated by someone who hasn't quite mastered the English language yet.  First time, I've ever had a manual be virtually useless.  It doesn't so much gives steps as it tells you what the device can do.  The touch screen is nice and very responsive.  I was disappointed that the accessories didn't seem to work.  I thought if I couldn't get onto the internet with the device, I could just transfer programs through the USB cord.  Nope.  I thought I could use the adapter for the micro SD card so I could use my memory card reader.  Nope.  The adapter is too big.  It does fit in the reader, but it pushes the lock tab into the locked position, so nothing can be added.  I'll have to wait until I can take it somewhere there is wifi connection.  Right now, it is just a fancy paperweight. 

I've Got Steam!!!

Today I stayed in waiting for the apartment maintenance work to arrive.  I had a leak in my living room radiator that was leaking out about a pint of water per day over the Christmas holiday weekend.  I was a bit worried that after I made the report, the leaking stopped, but the guy arrived and recognized the leak and fixed it fairly quickly.  I also reported the leak under the kitchen sink, also appears fixed.  So far, the living room radiator seems to be giving off much better heat then it has in a long time.  Now, I just hear the steady sound of steam rather than the clank, clank sound of pipes rattling.

Oh, and my imitation ipad arrived this evening.  Not what I was expecting.  Apparently, there are several imitation brands.  I didn't get the one I signed for.  The one I got looks more like the ipad.  The one I ordered had the imitation logo on the front.  I was happy with that.  Unfortunately, my Apad arrived with an inspection label with the message, "Do not return to place of purchase after Seal is Broken".  Problem? The seal was broken!  That's a warning, but then I knew it was a roll of the dice when I ordered the imitation ipad.  The reviews were 50/50 positive/negative.  So how does it work?  I have no idea.  The directions state that the Apad should be charged for 10 hours before its initial use (and 10 hours for the second use, and 5 hours of charging time afterwards).  I'm guessing (or hoping?!?) that some of the negative comments might have come from those individuals not following the directions (or even bothering to read the directions).  Any other comments?  It is possible that this "toy" might be too advance for someone of my limited intelligence.  The directions were giving me a headache.  Oh, and this imitation might be a touch screen meaning no stylus needed.  However, I'll keep the stylus.  Once the newness wears off, I'll probably want to use the stylus to keep the finger prints off.  Well, I think that's about it.  I'll see how it works tomorrow.  This blog entry will be revised at some later date.

Santa was very good this year, but...

Santa was very good this year, but I'll be paying for it next year.  Today, I should have been cleaning up my apartment, but once again I went out for a walk after I finally dragged myself out of bed. 

I went to buy myself a recliner.  For the longest time, I've logged more hours in a very uncomfortable computer chair.  I also have a futon, which I've been  treating as a couch, but it really isn't.  Besides, my futon is usually covered with books and papers.  In other words, I don't own a comfortable chair.  Other than my bed (which is a bit cheap anyway), I don't really own a piece of solid furniture.  Nearly everything I own is cheap and disposable.  I was raised on shopping at discount stores.  I think I paid about $700 for my complete bedroom set (2 dressers, headboard, 2 night tables).  It's cheap(by NYC standards), but since I'm very easy on my things, they usually hold up surprisingly well.  Well, not my clothes, I tend to wear clothes until they disintegrate).

Anyway, I finally decided to treat myself to a recliner.  I brought a rocker recliner at a local discount furniture store.  The total cost (including taxes, and delivery fee) for the recliner was $346.63.  See the attached photo.  I couldn't find the exact style online, but the photo is pretty close.  I ordered charcoal/black.  It should arrive in 7 ~ 10 days.  I'd wanted to go to the discount furniture place -- I wouldn't even call it a store.  It was more of a store front.  They have a few pieces of furniture, but mostly, you order from catalogs they have from a couple of companies.  They call the warehouse and ship it to you.  Since I was please with my bedroom set, I wanted to buy a recliner from them as well.  Unfortunately, they didn't have any recliners.  The salesperson told me that she didn't know when they would have anymore in stock.  So, I went down the block to another discount furniture store that recently relocated there, and would you believe, there was a recliner sitting right at the front door. 

Oh, and I also bought an imitation ipad.  At first I wanted a Kindle, but then the ipad came out.  I thought (to myself) why limit myself to just an e-reader.  Then, I had my heart set on getting an ipad, but my finances made that a long-shot.  I had to settle on an imitation ipad.  It has a capacitive response system.  I had no idea what that meant until I did a Google search and I found my answer on Wikipedia  -- Yes, I know, Wikipedia isn't a reliable source for research, but I can't help it.  Anyway, Capacitive means that you have to use a stylus pen, object, or your finger nail.  The ipad uses a touch screen technology (meaning you can manipulate with the touch of your finger).  I'm getting sidetracked. 

Back to my Apad.  The online reviews were pretty 50/50 with the positive and negative comments.  I brought the imitation with the idea that a nice guy won't get screwed with  a piece of junk.  Well, if you've read this blog for any period of time, you know that's not necessarily true.  We'll see.

Oh, while I'm at it, I might as well complete my Christmas list.  I also bought a laptop tray, a pair of Dockers, DVDs (300, Meet the Spartans, and Superman/Batman: Apocalyse) and accessories for my Apad.

Happy Holiday!

Happy holiday to all.  Hopefully, Santa was generous to you all.  I know he was here in NYC.  I spent about $300 on gifts of others.  What did I get?  Two ties from one of my students.  Yep, that's it.  Luckily, Christmas is suppose to be more than the gifts.  They say it is better to give than to receive.  I certainly hope that's true.  If Christmas was just about the gifts, I would be royally pissed.  Oh by the way, I actually like the ties.

Since I knew I wasn't getting much, I decided to treat myself to a couple of gifts.  I had planned to spend $600 from a Christmas Club account I had.  Unfortunately, I accidentally spent that money on bills.  Feeling the need to treat myself, I did a bit of online shopping.  My things didn't arrive on Christmas, but that didn't bother me.  So, what did Santa bring me? 

Stay tuned....

What Were They Thinking?

Just a quick blog entry.  Just a couple of quick observations under the title of "What Were They Thinking?"

* In the middle of a blizzard this woman stops me to ask if the bus stops at the bus stop I was walking past.  I told her that I know for sure that the bus she wanted stops a block back or a block ahead, but I wasn't sure about the stop we were standing at.  I also told her that a good indication is that if the number of the bus isn't on the bus sign then it probably doesn't stop there.  She told me that she didn't want to walk back a city block and didn't walk to walk a city block ahead.  I keep walking.

* Out of the store, a couple of teenagers walked out.  One of them decided to walk into the middle of a main boulevard to dance and lay down making snow angels.

* A procrastinator who knew that a snowstorm was coming kept putting off going to the grocery storm until the storm actual starts.  Since he had no food, he had no choice but to finally go.

Happy Holiday!

Tron: Legacy 3D

The movie wasn't great, it wasn't good, it wasn't bad, it was just nice.  Many people might call it a bad movie.  After a start time of about 35 minutes late, the movie started with a written notice: "This movie was orginally created in 2D.  There are parts that are in 3D.  Keep the 3D glasses on throughout the movie.  I didn't.  I just wanted to see how much of it was in 3D....not much.  I'm not including the parts that really didn't need to be in 3D.  As for the content, that is where the movie will lose a lot of points from the viewing audience.  In my opinion, there were too many plot holes, too many plot points that seem to have just been added-on at the last minute.  And a couple of plot strands seemed to have been left hanging (or not developed).  The saving points were Jeff Bridges, and the special effects.  After the movie, I took a couple of photos of the theater exterior and the city block.  I'll post those photos later.

Funny!!!

Joemomma, the Evil Little Kid - The most amazing home videos are here