So I've had SIRIUS for a long time now, and generally, it's been quite awesome. When I'm forced to listen to FM radio in various places, it's usually painful. I hate terrible local car ads (although that also applies to TV), and local DJs are pretty terrible as well. I think my $13 a month is well worth it.
The big talk recently with satellite radio is the unfortunate financial situation the now combined Sirius XM company is in. They nearly declared bankruptcy a couple weeks ago, and they still continue to lose boatloads of money each quarter. It seems like black ink always seems to be three or four quarters out, and it never seems to happen.
Anyway I've noticed over the last few months that it's apparent their attention to certain details has gone rather south. I was excited when in early January that they were bringing back Backspin, the classic hip-hop channel, that was lost in the SIRIUS-XM merger. It did come back, but my radio's display still says "Pop2k", which is the channel that it replaced. More of a problem is the channel isn't in the "hip-hop" category, but it's in the "pop" category. Okay, so maybe that's a pretty tiny thing, but it's annoying. I've also received two different channel listings in the mail from SIRIUS, both with the wrong channel lineup on there. The mail can't take THAT long to process?
SIRIUS' website has also been pretty terrible for quite some time. I hear the stations pushing their pages all the time, but generally the pages either don't have anything useful on them or are way out-of-date. Both are quite annoying. The streaming service seems to cut out quite a bit, although I can't test it at the moment as apparently my browser isn't supported. Awesome.
So I'm not canceling my service anytime soon, I still love the radio. But I hope they can get their ducks rowed up and start acting like a legit company again. I did hear some rumors that there is going to be some big sale and some kind of equally big announcement next week, which is good, because I'm up for renewing. Although now that I try checking the site that I read that on, that site is down too. Points all the way around, guys. Good work.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Another reason I love my iPhone
I have an app on my iPhone called Snaptell Explorer, and wow, is it sweet. I have been considering buying a book on Amazon.com, and I was curious if it was available at my local Barnes and Noble store. Instead of going to their site and figuring it out, I took a picture of the front cover with my phone and Snaptell Explorer. The app figured out what book I was looking for, and after entering my zipcode it told me that Barnes and Noble did have it in stock. Awesome.
At Christmas time I had a similar magical experience (that I swear I posted on, but maybe not) while shopping for DVDs. If I was in a bigger city and/or one with more cooperative merchants, it would have told me local results from my GPS position and while retailers had the book closest to me and for the lowest prices.
Man that's awesome!
(Apparently you can do this with any phone, you just have to send a picture message to the appropriate email address, and they will somehow text you back what you're looking for. I'm not sure the logistics on how that works, but in theory, it would.)
At Christmas time I had a similar magical experience (that I swear I posted on, but maybe not) while shopping for DVDs. If I was in a bigger city and/or one with more cooperative merchants, it would have told me local results from my GPS position and while retailers had the book closest to me and for the lowest prices.
Man that's awesome!
(Apparently you can do this with any phone, you just have to send a picture message to the appropriate email address, and they will somehow text you back what you're looking for. I'm not sure the logistics on how that works, but in theory, it would.)
Monday, February 16, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
LASIK Update
Thanks for reminding me Eric, I need to provide an update on my LASIK business. As you may know, Tuesday I went in for my LASIK correction. My eyes weren't terrible, but both of them had regressed enough that they would go back in and zap them again, so I was pretty psyched to get it done. Seeing during the daytime wasn't that big of a deal, but driving at night wasn't always a wonderful experience.
I was set to arrive at 7am on Tuesday, which let me tell you, is far earlier than anything should ever happen unless Cedar Point is involved. It was apparent that the office people agreed with me, as they were all a little angry sounding. Anyway the procedure went pretty well, and was similar to last time all the way around. The big difference was they didn't re-cut the flap, it was just a straight-up lifting and then the lasering (and significantly less lasering than before). When they are actually firing the laser at your eye, the doctor tells you to stare at this blinking light. Similar to last time, I had a heck of a problem focusing on it for whatever reason. If I looked down a little bit, it would be clear as day...but then my eyes would always drift up, everytime, I just could not stay focused on the thing. No idea why, but it was a little frustrating for me and probably the doctor. And strange.
This time I was also not the first person in line. They gave me a Valium before the whole thing started, same as last time. But this time everything took a little bit longer, there was a little bit more waiting. So by the time I got out of the surgery room, I was mostly asleep. To make things better, at that point I had to sit with my eyes closed for 15 minutes to wait for the doctor to come in and check me out. When he did, the exam involved a ridiculously bright light about two inches from my face while he poked me with a sharp object. And I'm supposed to keep my eyes open...exactly how? Me, the doctor, and the nurse were all struggling getting me to keep my eyes open and looking in an appropriate direction. Also a little frustrating.
The good news is that everything seemed to go well, after all the doctors office business. I went home and slept for a few hours, got up, ate some lunch that Molly got me (and some awesome root-beer-floatage, thanks Molly!), and slept for another couple of hours in front of Nostradamus 2012. My eyes felt pretty good on Tuesday, they were a little scratchy, but not nearly as bad as the last time.
The next day I had to go back for a checkup, but at my normal eyedoctor who has a way nicer staff than the LASIK joint. At that point I had just woken up, and it was the first time I left my house. I could see the letters pretty well at the office, but I didn't notice much of a difference from before. On the way home, I stopped to pick up some stuff at Meijer.
Then I noticed the difference. It really was apparent when looking a long way down the Meijer aisle, that as far as I could see was clear. It reminded me of getting my glasses cleaned by the optometrist as opposed to just with my shirt - it was totally awesome! I really don't know if my eyesight was ever this good after I had the first procedure a year ago; it changes so slowly, you just get used to it. But wow, it's impressive. Up close I don't seem to notice a difference...sometimes I actually wonder if it's a little worse, but that's probably because my far away vision is so dramatically better. I don't have a problem seeing up close, and I guess that's what matters.
Anyway today my eyes really feel like normal, not scratchy at all. I went back to work yesterday afternoon (about 24 hours after the procedure), and my eyes weren't even red. I'm still continuing with the eyedrops that seem to be messing with my throat, but that's about all the downside that I have at the moment. The eyedoctor tells me I'm at a greater risk for "surface cells" now, but that's treatable and not a big deal if it happens.
My big complaint before was night driving. I haven't really been out in the dark for very long, but the little bit I was didn't seem a ton different than before. I'm still withholding judgement on that until I get a little more exposure, and my eyes heal too.
Moral of the story - so far, so good! Seeing is pretty sweet.
I was set to arrive at 7am on Tuesday, which let me tell you, is far earlier than anything should ever happen unless Cedar Point is involved. It was apparent that the office people agreed with me, as they were all a little angry sounding. Anyway the procedure went pretty well, and was similar to last time all the way around. The big difference was they didn't re-cut the flap, it was just a straight-up lifting and then the lasering (and significantly less lasering than before). When they are actually firing the laser at your eye, the doctor tells you to stare at this blinking light. Similar to last time, I had a heck of a problem focusing on it for whatever reason. If I looked down a little bit, it would be clear as day...but then my eyes would always drift up, everytime, I just could not stay focused on the thing. No idea why, but it was a little frustrating for me and probably the doctor. And strange.
This time I was also not the first person in line. They gave me a Valium before the whole thing started, same as last time. But this time everything took a little bit longer, there was a little bit more waiting. So by the time I got out of the surgery room, I was mostly asleep. To make things better, at that point I had to sit with my eyes closed for 15 minutes to wait for the doctor to come in and check me out. When he did, the exam involved a ridiculously bright light about two inches from my face while he poked me with a sharp object. And I'm supposed to keep my eyes open...exactly how? Me, the doctor, and the nurse were all struggling getting me to keep my eyes open and looking in an appropriate direction. Also a little frustrating.
The good news is that everything seemed to go well, after all the doctors office business. I went home and slept for a few hours, got up, ate some lunch that Molly got me (and some awesome root-beer-floatage, thanks Molly!), and slept for another couple of hours in front of Nostradamus 2012. My eyes felt pretty good on Tuesday, they were a little scratchy, but not nearly as bad as the last time.
The next day I had to go back for a checkup, but at my normal eyedoctor who has a way nicer staff than the LASIK joint. At that point I had just woken up, and it was the first time I left my house. I could see the letters pretty well at the office, but I didn't notice much of a difference from before. On the way home, I stopped to pick up some stuff at Meijer.
Then I noticed the difference. It really was apparent when looking a long way down the Meijer aisle, that as far as I could see was clear. It reminded me of getting my glasses cleaned by the optometrist as opposed to just with my shirt - it was totally awesome! I really don't know if my eyesight was ever this good after I had the first procedure a year ago; it changes so slowly, you just get used to it. But wow, it's impressive. Up close I don't seem to notice a difference...sometimes I actually wonder if it's a little worse, but that's probably because my far away vision is so dramatically better. I don't have a problem seeing up close, and I guess that's what matters.
Anyway today my eyes really feel like normal, not scratchy at all. I went back to work yesterday afternoon (about 24 hours after the procedure), and my eyes weren't even red. I'm still continuing with the eyedrops that seem to be messing with my throat, but that's about all the downside that I have at the moment. The eyedoctor tells me I'm at a greater risk for "surface cells" now, but that's treatable and not a big deal if it happens.
My big complaint before was night driving. I haven't really been out in the dark for very long, but the little bit I was didn't seem a ton different than before. I'm still withholding judgement on that until I get a little more exposure, and my eyes heal too.
Moral of the story - so far, so good! Seeing is pretty sweet.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Newness scent
about its 'newness scent'. Which smelled a lot like paint thinner.
Normally I like 'newness scent's, but not really this one.
I like the pillow now though. It was on sale at Meijer (ie cheap), so
I'm curious what a legit Serta-like memory foam pillow would be like!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
One pound salad
succeeded! 1.08lb!
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