Here’s a map of our journey.

Kind of ridiculous, if you ask me. And, considering you’re reading my blog, you kind of did.

As I said earlier, our (Katie and I make up the party) intention was to take her computer to the Apple store in Germantown to have it repaired. As neither of us are too familiar with the layout of Memphis, I was the navigator and, I must admit, my iPhone does a GREAT job of being a map. If you haven’t used it as a navigation tool, it’s quite handy. Don’t do it while driving. That’s just dangerous.

Our drive to the Apple store was uneventful. Katie got a taste of semi-heavy Memphis traffic. It wasn’t quite 1 o’clock in the afternoon, so people were heading back from lunch. When we arrived at the Apple store, I found it amusing that the iPad displays were almost completely uninhabited. Out of 20 or so units, maybe two were being checked out. Coincidence? I don’t know.

I did realize how much I want one of the new 27” iMacs, though. The displays are gorgeous AND huge! One of the display models had Dora the Explorer software running on it. My niece would love it. I’m going to use this as an excuse to buy one. Eventually.

Katie made an appointment with the Genius Bar. She was amazed that when they took her computer, she got an email that said it would be ready in X amount of time. They also opted her in for a newsletter-type thing. She doesn’t care.

The repair was smooth sailing and we decided that, after lunch, we would go to a Mexican restaurant chain called On the Border. I found the closest location courtesy of Google Maps for iPhone. We drove. And drove. And drove. And drove. We got there and (drumroll) it was closed.

It was at this point we decided to change our plans and just go straight to the Fresh Market. I asked her where the Fresh Market was. She said it was on Poplar. Again, I went to Google Maps, and it turns out that BOTH Fresh Market locations are on Poplar – about ten miles from each other. So, I picked the closest one. We drive. And drive some more. We finally arrive and – guess what? – it’s not the right one! Up Poplar we go. Again.

On the Border was pretty good. I had the Loaded Carne Asada Tacos. It was steak and cheese and onions and some sort of horseradish sauce. It was very tasty. I don’t usually go for horseradish.

Katie had a margarita-type thing at dinner. I drove. The wrong way. My sister’s nickname is now Magellan, just so you know. We made it back eventually. I wonder when I’ll next go gallivanting around Memphis.

I find I’m somewhat incapable of entering information into this blog on a regular basis. Whether it’s from apathy, a general lack of things to blog about, or simple forgetfulness, I cannot tell you. However, there have been a few things that have happened since I last updated.

- I began working the audio-visual equipment at the church
- I quit smoking
- I almost died
- I found some cool apps for iPhone
- I played around with an iPad
- I started a Tumblr

Starting the first Sunday in January (not a New Year’s resolution, simply a coincidence), I began working the sound console at the church. Since then, the church has added a visual component in the form of a projector, switch, projection screen, DVD player, and a laptop to run the thing. I had to teach myself how to use the software in a couple of days. Don’t worry. It was easy.

I also quit smoking. This one is related to the next one, though.

I had a terrible nosebleed a couple of weeks ago (it resulted in being taken to the emergency room twice in as many nights) which depleted my red blood count (RBC) to a point where if it had gone any lower, I would’ve needed a transfusion. I’ve since quit bleeding, though my RBC is still low, but stable.

One of the apps I found for the iPhone is Bing Music. It plays the top one hundred songs (by year) from 1947 to 2009. As I was browsing through them, it made me realize just how far downhill music has gone. I think my favorite decade is the ’70s. So many good songs came out that decade. If I had the ability to travel through time, the first thing I would do would be to attend a Led Zeppelin concert. Yeah, pretty sure that’s what I’d do.

On the last note, I played around with an iPad. Technically, it is nothing more than a big iPod Touch, but, as someone (I can’t remember who) so aptly put it, sure, you may have a 20" TV, and, technically, it does the same thing as the 55" you’ve got on your wall, but, really, is it the same thing? I vote no, but I still think it’s far from revolutionary. It’s as revolutionary as the iPod Touch, just larger.

But, truthfully, I’ll probably end up getting one.

I started a Tumblr account.

It has been some time since I last issued an update. The world remains largely the same, although there are quite a few advances in the field of Internet technology that will cast us farther into the future than I had planned for a cold, less-rainy-than-usual December. Sometime last week (at least, I think it was last week), Google announced a couple of new search features — real time updates when doing a web search and an application that is quite fun to say (and I imagine MUCH more entertaining whilst intoxicated), Google Goggles.

I believe the first of these features is quite self-explanatory. It is a feature that shows live updates for your current search, much like Twitter’s public timeline. The second feature, and quite possibly the first step toward machine domination, allows one to take a picture (or you can use one you’ve already taken), upload it to Google Goggles and the program will cross-reference your picture to a databank that currently has over one billion (that’s nine zeroes) images stocked and return to you (hopefully) information about the subject in the picture. It’s quite exciting. Well, it’s exciting to a geek such as I am. I have high hopes. However, I do agree that there are possible personal security leaks should Google decide to allow facial recognition in the software. Sadly, Google Goggles (it’s fun to say, I promise you. Try it.) is available only to Android users while the software is in its trial stage. It will be available to iPhone users once the trial has finished.

In other news, I’m scheduled to be a bodyguard/designated driver for my cousin’s bachelorette party this Friday. I realized tonight that I am one of the least likely candidates to attend a bachelorette party as I am not gay. Nor am I a stripper, as my cousin, Ian, pointed out. Should be entertaining at least.

This Sunday, the kids at my dad’s church are putting on a Christmas play entitled "Little Star" for the church congregation. I’m running the sound for it again this year, although it’s much less entertaining for me as a tech because I have only three songs to play instead of millions of sound effects and jingle tracks to play.

If you’re a fan of musical parodies or humorous covers, I highly recommend creating a custom station on Pandora Radio based on the artist "Richard Cheese".

I apologize for the low image quality. These are pictures I took real quick to give you an idea of what’s goin’ on. I haven’t decided yet if I’m going to just paint the AA battery packs that came with it or whether I’m going to paint the rechargable ones. For now, they’re white as you can see.

The change about which you’re going to read (should you continue) is actually quite closer to the former than the latter. Alright, I may’ve understated that. The change outlined here has absolutely nothing to do with the latter. Excluding, perhaps, my penchant for a dramatic flair and a, well, phony British accent (although lately I’m beginning to sound more like a Kiwi than a Brit). The change is this: I decided against black for PMX360.

Instead of the flat black it was (and I’ll be honest, the black looked pretty bad. I don’t think Picasso could’ve made a decent picture out of the blemishes), it is now a dark grey/silver.  I also painted the white faceplate (yes, I found it) burgundy and attempted to tape off the button, but I didn’t fare so well. I’ve got some scraping to do. There are pictures below. Keep in mind, this is just the bottom side of the case and the air vents and faceplate. The rest of it will come later today.  Enjoy!

I decided about a week ago that I was going to paint my 360. I did. The sides are black and the top and bottom air vents a burgundy. The faceplate I had on it (bright red) is still there, but I think it looks alright. My plan is to first find and then paint the original white plate that was on it. The sides need a good sandpapering with a fine grade paper because I don’t have much experience painting pretty much anything except houses (and I’m quite good at that) and I smudged a little.

In order to begin PMX360, the case had to come off. The warranty on the thing was up in January, so there was really no issue in voiding it. I ripped that little silver Microsoft sticker off without so much as batting an eye. The bottom of the case looks just fine, but I tried to stencil a design on the top side. It didn’t work too well and now the entire top is black. Here are a few photos of the first phase of step one. Phase two is sanding it and repainting it, by the way.