Shannon and me celebrated our 4 year Anniversary Thursday. I would have posted it earlier but I’ve been a busy boy! Beware this is a major geek post with lots of “useless” pictures and it’s a little wordy too.

The money I got from doggie sitting got put to use. I made my first (and probably last) purchase off of Ebay. I say last, not because of a bad experience, but because you tend to spend more for the item than you would if you went to the store and bought it. I bought a Nintendo Wii off of Ebay and did pay more for it than at the store but I could not find a store that had any in stock. Apparently as soon as they get five or six Wii’s in the store someone buys them all up (and probably puts them up for auction on Ebay!).

So I had been searching Ebay trying to find a deal. I bid on a couple that were lower than store cost, but quickly got out bid. That was all. No more bidding because it quickly got ridiculous in price. The Wii goes for $250 in all the stores. On Ebay the “brand new - never opened - with store receipt” goes for upwards of $400! It’s just crazy!

I did come across a Wii that only had four minutes left and the bid price was only $200! So I bid on that. Unfortunately the price that the seller had chosen for finally sell price had not been matched yet. So that means bidding would continue past the “clock” time until the “unknown sell price” was matched. So the current bid was $250, so I put in $260 because that was only a little over store price (actually a little less if you included the sales tax you would pay in the store). Some one else bid $270 and so I though what the heck and I put in $275 - and won the bidding on the Wii! I was shocked! So I did pay more than I would have at the store but not insanely more. Unfortunately Ebay makes their money off of shipping charges. So there is where I loose in the deal.

I payed the seller with my PayPal account which is usually the only method accepted because it is safe and secure. This was on Sunday August 5, and the seller then shipped it on Monday morning. The USPS attempted to deliver the package on Wednesday but we were at work so I was going to get it Thursday after work.

So I told Shannon I would not be getting him an Anniversary gift because it would be tight for the next few weeks because I used my extra money for a Wii. Actually he will be using the Wii too so it is really a gift for the both of us. We tend to do that anyway. Like for my birthday I got a dinning room table which was great looking and we needed - and it was for the both of us. We do that a lot and it makes sense.

On Thursday I left Shannon a card in the morning and went to work. I took a half day of vacation because Shannon has Thursdays off and we were going to go out to eat (Shannon was paying). When I got home from work about 11:45 after picking up the Package at the post office, Shannon gave me a gift. I was just about to tear into the wrapping and he said “It’s a good movie - you’ll like it!” and I said “Shannon don’t tell me it’s a movie! Now I know what it is!” Because the shape was that of a DVD case. When I opened it - it was a Wii game I had on my list to buy in the next few months “Mario Party 8″! He tricked me good!

We went out to lunch at 54th Street Bar & Grill and it was very good! Then when we got back home I started the opening and unpacking of the Wii while Shannon went thrift store shopping and mowed the front lawn.

Let the photos begin! Click on any image to view a larger pop up image.

So here it is the picture off of Ebay of the item I bided on and won.

The shipping box (the bottom of the box had a tear in it - shown in picture):

Opening the shipping box:

The damaged corner:

Opening the Wii box:

Mario Party 8 Game:

The contents of Wii:

Where the Wii will go:

Here I am at work. I really should have sat up - I look really fat. Well, okay I am really fat. Sitting behind me reading a book is Connie and then behind her is Dave. It was our break and Karen and I just finished a fun game of New Super Mario Brothers on the Nintendo DS and she wanted to see my camera. She snapped this picture of me.

I haven’t figured out how to get a good image/transfer our Mii’s to the computer so here is a bad photo of the TV showing Shannon’s Mii and my Mii.

The Wii came with Wii Sports which is five games (Baseball, Bowling, Boxing, Golf, and Tennis) and they are really fun! I didn’t think they would be very entertaining but I really enjoy playing them. Last night Shannon played boxing and he won both matches (he played the computer). I will need to get another Wii-mote and Nunchuck to have two players play each other.

I definitely feel muscles that I haven’t used in a while after playing a few games. So far I’ve lost one pound from just playing it instead of being a couch potato.

Thanks for bearing with me through this very geeky post.

Yesterday was a bad day. I got jipped out of 15 minutes of my lunch (30 minute lunches at work) because of a meeting I was in ran into my lunch period and I’m on the clock, I got beat (yet again) at Mario VS Luigi by Karen (I think I’ve one once or maybe twice in the week we’ve been playing), when I got home - our microwave was dead (bought about 20 years ago - so it was a matter of time), and I had to sell back one week of vacation because there are too many bills that I can’t pay this month (Jaki’s $200 vet bill - anuall shots, and my Auto insurance).

I just don’t have the money to cover it all. So I sold a week of vacation to pay bills, yea that’s a relaxing vacation! I haven’t had a vacation in over 10 years. I was hopping this year would be different, I guess not. I always end up selling two of the three weeks of vacation I earn. Now I’m left with one week and half a day of vacation to last me till May 26 2008, plus one attendance day - which is like a vacation day. May 26 is my start date and so that is when my vacation time starts too. It’s stupid. It should start January 1st and end December 31st - but no, that would make too much sence.

I’m bitter, tired, frustrated, and just sick of it all.

On Friday, April 6, 2007, a fresh new iMac 24″ was delivered to me at my work address. I immediately took 4 hours of Personal Time Off (PTO) so I could go home and play. Warning this is a major Geek post and will definitely reflect my passion for Apple computers, so bare with me.

I had to re-arrange the computer room a little so two could coexist. Then I unpacked the baby. Here are the pictures I took of the glorious event! Click on any image and it will get bigger.

Here is the shipping box of the iMac. I also got another 1 lb. package that had my Parallels software and Apple Care Protection boxes.

Here the shipping box is opened and you can see the Apple designed packaging.

Here is the iMac in it’s Apple packaging and in the foreground are the two packages of software that were in the separate shipping box. Parallels is on the left and 3 year Apple Care Protection is on the right.

Here the Apple packaging is opened up and you can see the space is well designed for all the components. In the center top is a small box containing software (already installed), mouse, and Apple Remote control. The small box has the words: “Designed by Apple in California.” In the lower section of the packing material is the keyboard wrapped in plastic.

Here is the small box opened to show the contents neatly packed. On the left is a small booklet that tells you how to “assemble” the iMac (with only 4 steps it seems a little silly - since all it says is plug internet in, plug into wall, connect keyboard, press on - duh!). Below the “tray” of booklet, remote, and mouse are the Mac OS software DVDs in case I need to reinstall anything.

Here is the keyboard in it’s plastic wrap.

Here is a look into the box after removing the packaging that held the keyboard and small box contents. The top of the iMac is sticking up and covered in protective wrap and on the lower left side of it is the power cord. This is were I found the Vista Ultimate software box. I was afraid it was left out of my shipping boxes since it wasn’t in the separate software shipping box. I was glad to see it in the iMac box. It was pre-installed but I needed it to re-install under different users.

Here is a picture of the Vista Ultimate software box.

Here are the contents of the iMac shipping box. Pretty simple to “assemble” and everything is sitting on the temporary desk till I get the computer room re-arranged for the new baby.

Here it is assembled (took about a minute).

Here’s a shot of the back of the iMac so you can see the cords (two, one for the power and one for the keyboard - the mouse plugs into the keyboard. The USB and FireWire ports are on the left there and along with internet connection. The power on button in on the right of the stand in the photo, just below the ugly Vista Ultimate key code sticker (that I have to leave there because the software is pre-installed at the factory and shipped on the computer and this sticker signifies that).

Here is the start up screen for the very first time. Ahhhhh

Here it is all up and running. I had a small problem with my cable modem so I was not connected to the internet at the start. A call to Comcast and them resetting my modem fixed all that.

Here you see the Parallels window with Vista Ultimate being installed and on stage 2. In all it took about 30 minutes to install Vista Ultimate.

Here is a glamour shot of the iMac this morning with window light making purty shutter lines on the keyboard and monitor. I was in the middle of Migrating all the content of the old computer to the new iMac. Some I had to do manually because I had it stored on an external hard drive and I needed to put it into the places it should be (about 15 minutes). Migration Assistant was a snap and did it in no time (about 30 minutes). It took about an 45 minutes to do it all.

Here is my old computer getting it’s brain sucked out. The FireWire symbol on the monitor means it’s connected and ready to go. I had to try two different FireWire cables before I found one that worked. Apparently my DVD Drive doesn’t have a nice cable because no matter how I tried it, it didn’t work. So I used the cable from my external hard drive and it did the job.

Here is my old computer tower with the FireWire cable connected to it during the Migration and to the left of it is the cable modem on the floor (not long enough cords!) so it could reach the new iMac in the middle of the room. Look at the mass of wires under the desk for the old computer!

And thus concludes my Geek post. I love my new iMac and really glad I went with the 24″ instead of the 20″!!! I still have to figure out how to have two users access the same virtual computer for Parallels so I can get by with one Vista install instead of one for each user. But that will get figured out this afternoon I hope.

I did 6 hours of overtime this week. I could have done 8 but Monday night I just could not stay after work (I had to get to the grocery store and I was starving). Overtime make me grumpy but it is unavoidable and does help pay the bills. Next week we will probably be forced into mandatory overtime which means going into work before work for two hours (instead of the stay after work overtime that is purely voluntary). So I’m sure I’ll see a few days of 5:00 AM work start time. Ugh!

One nice way to end the week was we got our Bonus check Friday! Sad that the money is already spoken for. But that is a good thing. I made my eye appointment and the earliest they could get me in is March 31st (because of a cancelation). So there goes $450.00 of the Bonus money and the rest goes to help with the purchase of the new iMac. Today I have to decide how the budget is going and which iMac I will buy. Do I get the 20″ iMac or the one I really want, the 24″ iMac? The budget will decide. I really think I will be able to swing the 24″ iMac and Shannon agrees that I should try to get it if at all possible because it is the better of the two.

Shannon’s folks made a surprise visit Friday. Luckily I had all the floors done and everything from the last scheduled visit (which they didn’t show). So Shannon only had to do a few last minute pick ups and a major hide all the piles of clothes in his room before they showed.

I went to bed last night at 9:00 PM and didn’t get up this morning till almost 9:00 AM. I was tired. All the overtime does that. I may just be sitting on my butt all day but I am using my noggin a lot! Brain power does take some energy too.

Today will be a good day to get caught up on all the computer stuff for home and to get chores done! It’s suppose to rain and oh by the way:

I took today off work because Shannon’s folks where coming up from Bolivar, Missouri. Well, I find out late Thursday night that they canceled because of the “rain” we were to get today. By the way the sun is shinning right now and it only lightly misted this morning when I got the paper off the lawn. Missouri weather is so hard to predict.

At least the house got a good Spring cleaning for their arrival. Now it will be easier to maintain. I mean, I scrubbed the floors and walls, ceiling fans, you name it! By the way I love Pine-Sol!

So they didn’t show up and I’m off work. I enjoyed sleeping in and I think Shannon and I will be going out for lunch or dinner and maybe some looking at some shops. I’m broke so unless I use a gift card I ain’t buying nothin’. We need a new shower caddy and I have a $40 gift card for Bed Bath & Beyond so hopefully we make it into there and look around.

Next week we are suppose to get our Bonus and our paychecks should reflect our salary increase. I sure hope so. I want to use the Bonus money for the new glasses/frames.

I still haven’t heard from my income tax guy and today is the last of the window they told me to expect a call. I hope they call today and I can go down and sign and pay for doing my taxes. I am definitely doing my own next year with TurboTax! I would already have my money if I had done so this year.