Monday, December 29, 2008

done, I guess

I decided I was done with clear coats. I didn't even buff the last one out. I was kind of tired of the process and more excited about being done with the project for now. There are still brush stroke lines in the finish, but I'm hoping they'll wear out. The quality of finish is still pretty good, fairly shiny, and the lines aren't noticeable except up close.

It plays surprisingly well. I screwed up the neck pickup and will need to buy more (different) magnet wire in order to correct it...I'll wait a bit before doing that. The only real issue with it is that it's much quieter than the bridge pickup. Given how well the guitar plays, I might buy a nice set of pickups for it. I did have to shim the neck so the strings wouldn't buzz. I may have to cut the neck pocket a bit deeper, but I'm going to hold off for a little while. The narrow neck isn't that big of a deal breaker for me, actually. I find it to be at least as easy to play, if not easier, than my pink strat. I may also need to cut a new nut for the neck (the one I rough cut may actually be too low) but I'm going to let it acclimate to actually being an instrument before I mess with it.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

bleh. more work

I started to stain the body and realized a couple things...first, I need to do more sanding so that stain will penetrate evenly and second, I hate finishing.

I sanded down to wood, then re-conditioned and re-stained. The result was a bit better this time. I'm still not 100% satisfied with it, but I think I'll move forward for now. Given the fact that the wood this guitar body is made from is IKEA pine shelves as well as the neck looks kind of bad, I think I'm worrying too much. I'll clear coat it and, if it looks bad but plays well, I'll look into re-finishing it. Pine is a funny wood for taking stain, so I'll need to figure something out. The main issues are the sides of the guitar; the front and back look fine, for the most part.

I also wired up electronics as much as I could. Basically, I got all the potentiometers and the switch mounted up and wired except for the pickups.

On the pickups front: I cut the magnets roughly to size. They're made from a VERY hard material, so I should have made my "rough" cuts a bit closer to full size =\

DUMMY. I forgot that it was nearly 2am and was pounding on the magnets to get them set in the pickup flatwork...Erin yelled at me...and we're going to be spending LOTS of time in the car tomorrow...Hope she's not too upset =\...I'm such a dummy. I wound up using my drill press to (much easier and more accurately and, more importantly, quietly) press the magnets into place...

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Progress

Some of my parts arrived on Thursday. The other parts should (hopefully) arrive tomorrow. The parts I'm still waiting for are basically pickup covers/baseplates, tuner conversion bushings and other minor details. I was able to make a template for my pickguard (except for the hole that the neck pickup will go through) as well as make the pickguard itself.



The pickguard is one of my own design (as far as I'm aware). I opted to have the pickguard go a bit further back, as well as keep the f-hole uncovered. I'm pretty happy with the fit and the look of it. I still need to put clearcoat over it; if I don't clearcoat the pickguard, it will get scratched really easily. I also need to drill and countersink the screw holes to mount the guard. Once the other parts come, I'll lay out the template for the pickup hole, route that out of my pickguard, and get started on the staining/finishing on the body as well as the clear coat on the pickguard. While those are going, I'll install tuners in the neck and get started on pickup winding. I really hope to have this finished before I go back to work, but I may still have some stuff left, depending on how long it takes for the polishing etc.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

That's not how it's meant to be

I guess I got a little ambitious? I thought I'd rough out my pickup cavity template last night and leave it at that. Once I roughed it out using a forstner bit on my drill press, I thought, "I'll just route it out with the router and stop there." Basically, I had a thin template made of hardboard that I was turning into a larger template made of MDF. Once the MDF template was done, I wound up lining everything up on the guitar body and routing the cavities. After a little bit of additional work (I had some small mistakes in my hand-cut template) the body cavities were done. Once my parts arrive, I'll determine if any further modification is necessary.

I also drilled the access holes between cavities. When I was drilling the hole between the control cavity and the bridge pickup, the chuck on my drill came into contact with and dented the body. That, along with a Phillips' screw shaped dent (guess what I dropped) needed to be fixed. I got the areas wet, put a wet cloth over them and used my soldering iron to heat the areas. Essentially, I steamed the wood to get the fibers to expand a bit.

I ordered the rest of my parts on Monday night, so they should be coming later this week or early next week. What do I have left to do?

Drill mounting holes for the strap buttons
Determine if I need to fill in the ferrule holes at all (they're slightly over-sized...)
Mount tuners on neck
Make pickups (cut magnets, wind pickups, pot pickups)
Cut a pickguard template (and the MDF copy)
Cut a pickguard (and angle the edges, drill mounting holes and counter-sink them)
Apply finish (all water-based -- apply wood conditioner, stain, clear polyU, buff and shine)
Assemble
Set up (fix any issues with the nut I made [cut a new one, if necessary], intonate, etc.)

Not to mention, I still need to finish my test piece...I want to make sure the finish will look nice.

Monday, December 15, 2008

drill presses are fun

I got my drill press today. As a result, I did some more work on my guitar. I wound up getting the bridge mounted, as well as drilled the ferrule holes in the back of the guitar. They weren't spaced perfectly, but I fixed them as best I could. I'm not that concerned with them, just because they're very awkward to place...and they're on the back of the guitar.

I still have the pickup cavities to route, as well as some drilling to bridge the cavities. That should conclude the woodworking. I also need to make a pickguard, as well as wind my pickups. Sanding, sealing, staining and clear-coating should be the last steps before assembly.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

There are pies on a carousel. Have a slice.

Bleh. I kind of messed up pretty bad. I needed to re-round a small part of the edge...being lazy, I grabbed the router instead of the sand paper... The router bit started to slide out of the collet and dug into the wood quite a bit deeper than I intended. I patched it up with stainable wood putty. Hopefully it will blend a bit. From my tests with the stain, it blends pretty well...almost imperceptibly well. Erin said it shouldn't be a huge issue. Hopefully that's the last stupid mistake I make on this build. I mounted the jack cup retainer too -- I'm a bit antsy, I guess.

Drill press and poly will come Monday. I'll drill some holes and, as long as everything goes well, dive in and order the remaining parts. I don't see the point in buying them just yet if there's a chance I'll break everything =\ Plus, I'll only lose one shipping day, anyway.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

The scene gets nasty

I'm nearly done with House of Leaves. I'm taking it a bit slower than I normally read things...partly because I'm working on my guitar and partly because it sort of resonates with me. It almost seems like it was written to specifically prey on my fears...that said, I think it's been a great book. I look forward to reading other stuff by Danielewski...there's a companion piece to House of Leaves as well as another novel. I also look forward to reading some more "classic" horror.

The guitar is coming along. I've had to buy a drill press in order to accurately drill the holes for mounting the neck, the bridge, and the control plates. I was originally going to buy a mill, because I want to mill parts out for future projects (that bass replica, for instance) but there were 2 main issues with that. 1) the throat depth for the mill is slightly too short for the guitar I'm currently working on. 2) Harbor Frieght would have to order one and their ordering process takes quite a while at times. I ordered a nice Craftsman drill press through Sears that will do what I need, plus it has some neat bells and whistles, for about $130 cheaper than the mill. I'll wind up buying the mill later, but this will be absolutely fine for the time being.

Monday, my drill press and my water-based polyurethane should arrive. I won't be able to get much else done on the guitar until then. Ideally, I would get to work on it over the weekend (especially Saturday, because Erin has finals) but it won't be that bad, I guess. After this stuff comes in, I'll have some work on my hands...but I need to place an order with Mcmaster-Carr for some other stuff...and the final things will come from Stewart-MacDonald. I still have quite a bit of work left to do, but it's getting closer and closer. I may not finish before Christmas, but I should finish before the new year.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Now the world was empty on the day when they made it
    But heaven needed someplace to throw all the shit

Images are not fully opaque, sorry. Can't do anything about that. Click them for larger views.



I made this from IKEA shelves. Like these:


It's semi-hollow. The F-hole on the left and the oval shaped hole on the right (will be covered) open up into cavities.

Here it is semi-mocked up. I don't have the pickup routes done yet, nor do I have a pickguard.



I'll be cutting my own pickguard, because I did this in a funny way. Most of these that have the f-hole don't have that silver control panel on the right.

This has turned out to be a very fun project. Ideally, I'd like to learn to make guitar necks, but they're MUCH more complicated than making the bodies. If I can manage making the necks, I plan to make a copy of my bass out of oak, I'd like to also make an oak jazzmaster. If those turn out well, I might try to make an archtop guitar, but those get even more complicated. A Jazzmaster with f-holes might be fun too.

No I can't slap you no five

I started reading House of Leaves on Thanksgiving...I guess I've been reading for about a week now. It's very good. I've never read anything put together quite like it. Amber, I think you'd possibly like it. It's got a weird edge to it...just feels spooky. It's been a long time since I read a book that had me worrying about what might be in the dark corners of a room...

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I also started working on building my guitar body modeled after a Fender Thinline Telecaster. I bought some shelves from IKEA to use. Buying real nice wood is a bit too expensive for a first shot. Plus, the neck that I'm going to be putting on it is a bit thin; I'm worried it'll be too narrow for my giant fingers. I'd hate to drop a bunch of money into something if I won't even be able to play it.

The shelves were almost exactly 1/3 the final width of the body, so I had to cut 3 pieces. I rough cut those last Friday. This was advantageous, though, because the body is semi-hollow (it has some open cavities, instead of being solid wood. Over the weekend, I routed out the cavities, cut the F-hole and the control cavity hole. Last night, I glued the pieces together. As of now, it looks kind of odd, but I think I'll route out the final shape of the body tonight. I'll probably cut the neck pocket sometime this weekend after I do a test or two to determine that my template will fit. I'll try to take some pictures sometime.

After I do that, I'll only need to cut the pickup cavities, drill the mounting holes for the bridge, the string-through holes, the strap button holes, and the mounting holes for the neck. Also, I'll need to do the holes for the wiring. Physical construction of the body will be complete. Then I'll need to stain and seal the body with a clearcoat. I'll wind the pickups and do wiring. That should wrap the whole thing up.

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Christmas is a dumb holiday because so many people get all religiously excited. No one even knows when Jesus was born; they just took the date because it was a popular day and hoped to convert as many people as possible. Plus I hate Xmas music...

Friday, November 21, 2008

Remember through sounds, remember through smells

Jogging/running has gotten a bit easier. Sometime last week I bumped up my jog from one mile to two without decreasing my speed. I still sprint/walk the last mile. My most recent time for the first two miles was 16:11. It's still pretty boring and after you count in the time it takes to get changed, go run, shower, it wastes about an hour...that might be about all I'm willing to waste on it, though. I'm getting to the point I was looking forward to, though: I feel obligated to do it when I'm supposed to.

The biggest downsides I see, though, are that I get very wound up afterward, but I don't feel like doing anything. So I just sit on the couch all jumpy and watch tv until sleep time. =\ Hopefully that's just a phase and I'll get over it.

Erin and I bought ourselves a chumby for Christmas. Well, I bought it, but it's for us and she didn't complain. GOOD GOD I NEED TO BUY THE NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL ALBUMS. Sorry. Had to remind myself. Back to chumby. Basically, it's an internet-connected touchscreen device that will let us listen to Pandora radio without our computers, it will replace the alarm clock we have (our current clock currently loses time, and is a pain to set). We should be able to set up different alarms for ourselves so that, when Erin wakes up before me, she doesn't have to re-set the alarm. It may take some getting used to, but hopefully it won't make us late.

I ordered some books. The last in a series I'd been reading since middle school (I think). After the first couple of books, they started to get silly, but I have this...quirk. Erin has referred to it as being a "completion whore"...once I start something, I have a hard time stopping before it is done. I've started a video game, found out that it sucks, but forced myself to finish it, just so I knew how the story finished out... I also ordered The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and House Of Leaves. I ordered these because I tend to like suspense/thriller/horror, I guess, and wanted something new (House of Leaves) and something classic (Jekyll & Hyde).

I have a few more books that I want to read, but I'm open to suggestions.

Monday, November 10, 2008

the bad things travel in droves; the good wander alone

I want the T-Mobile G1. My contract isn't quite one year old, though, and I have to wait for it to be 22 months old before I can get the decent price of 179. However, I might just buy in earlier, but I don't really know. The phone and OS look very promising; if I could make my own phone, it would wind up having specs very close to the G1, only I don't know if I could get it to work X(

The show on Friday went pretty well. The show was kind of weird in the way that it was set up. The main show was something called Cartune Xprez. I'm not certain that all Cartune Xprez shows go this way, but this one had a group called Hooliganship performing in front of some cartoons. Their music was instrumental and sort of went along with the videos; the two guys moved around like they were actually part of the cartoons, though, so it was pretty sweet. After their show, they showed some more videos by other people, some of which were incredibly sweet.

After that happened, the show moved to the Scoot Inn where Hooliganship played another 15 minutes or so on the outside stage. After they finished, a band called Gayle Gold played inside. We only saw part of their set, though, because we had to set up/prepare some last minute things (Kerstan needed to write some of the lyrics for "Total Eclipse of the Heart" so he wouldn't forget them...only he still did). The guitarist was really good, but that was really the only impression I could get in the short time they played.

Kerstan and I went outside to set up on the stage, get levels and everything set up. It was weird, though, because we didn't have monitors. I could still hear everything, but because the guitar amp wasn't micced, I had no idea about the way the entire mix sounded. I basically had Erin tell me if I was too loud or quiet, but she only gave feedback in between songs...next time, I'd like instant hand gesture feedback. So, we get levels set up and tune the instruments and all. I wound up playing Kerstan's 3/4 scale classical guitar for two of the songs (he wanted an acoustic sound on those) and my pink stratocaster for the remaining 3 that I played on. Once Gayle Gold finished, Kerstan started by playing the songs he'd play alone. Because he plays to a dvd, it's not like I have all the time in the world to get on the stage and set things up before I'm expected to start playing, so I was pretty worried I'd forget something and play with the volume all the way down...or the amp turned off...or something like that.

When the song before I played reached the halfway point, I went up on stage, checked my tuning, turned on the amp and waited. By this point, I wasn't really worried anymore. I'd practiced enough and the songs are fairly easy, so I figured everything would be fine. It was. The nice thing about not miccing the amp was that, because I was so close to it, I could really hear myself sitting on top of the mix, while I don't think I was actually that loud for everyone else. The set finished, and went off without any major problems. It was a bit cold, so I fumbled the stretch for the Eb chord the first time, but it wasn't too bad, I just wound up muting notes. I'd like to play again. Maybe I'll learn some keyboard parts or something, though, because not many of the other songs actually have audible guitar parts.

Oh yeah. We skated a bit Saturday night and I fell and kind of hurt myself. Kerstan said it looked scary, but I thought it looked funny. I wasn't expecting to fall, so it probably was funny -- I didn't really prepare too much. I banged up my left knee and hip a bit. That leg was already kind of sore from (I think) running. Oh well.

I started running again, but I'm still working up to it, I guess. I usually run a mile, then run/walk another...that's as much as I have patience for. I tend to finish those in between 20 and 25 minutes...can't waste much more time than that. I'd like to be in the shape where I can run 6 miles in an hour again, but that just got so boring that I quit doing it.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

I broke free on a saturday morning

First, a correction: Kerstan will not be playing drums. I'm not sure why I said that. He will be playing bass.

The Mountain Goats' show on Saturday night was pretty good. I wasn't too into the opening act...or the part of the Mountain Goats' set where she accompanied them, but I guess I can't dictate what happens at shows....unfortunately.

I've been practicing guitar quite a bit...in hopes that I don't make a fool of myself on Friday. Still not sure which guitar I'm going to play...Kerstan is pulling for his 3/4 scale classical guitar. I'm not terribly fond of it, due to the nylon strings...also, the reduced scale length is a bit hard for my monster fingers =\ I'm kind of torn between my pink Stratocaster and my steel string acoustic guitar. I think the Strat looks nicer and would be way easier (less bulky) to get to the show, but it would definitely require an amplifier (passing it into a mixer directly sounds kind of bad). The acoustic guitar would need some sort of improvised pickup, though. If I were to use it, I'd probably just use an electric guitar pickup as well as a piezo element based pickup...but I need to make a volume/tone circuit for each of those (plus a pre-amp for the piezo, maybe)...and don't know that I have that kind of time. I'll have to look around.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

I've lost count of the times the devil has danced across your tongue

So, I haven't updated in a little while. I haven't been doing TOO much, though.

Me and Erin: Our anniversary is on Sunday. 6 years is a long time, I guess... Einstein said, "When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity." I guess it's all relative. It really hasn't felt that long at all. Sure, we have disagreements, but I don't think it's possible to live with someone else and NOT disagree from time to time.

Work: I've been working. I worked on my first patent ever...it got filed, but we're waiting to see if it gets approved. I'm an inventor.

Hobbies: This has probably been the most active front.

A couple years back, Artie gave me an old bass (that was missing one tuning machine, the pots and jack), an old busted up strat-style guitar body and a birds-eye maple neck. I repaired the bass a long time back and it is easily one of the best-playing and best sounding basses I've played. I started work on that guitar body, sanded it down, did some minor repair-work on the wood, painted it a really nice blue color...I started to plan out all of the other components I needed and, just before placing my order, realized that the bridge mounting holes were WAAAY off. They were nowhere near where they needed to be. Also, the neck pocket is much too large for the neck. Because of these factors, I decided to shelf that project...but the neck is just so nice looking, I can't just NOT use it.

I did some research and decided I'll try my hand at building a Thinline Telecaster-style guitar. I was able to find some nice pine shelves at IKEA that I'll join together to make the proper thickness blank, then I'll work the body out. I'm mostly just hoping to get a decent amount of experience/knowledge from this, because I've always wanted to build a Jazzmaster-type guitar at some point in time, and this will let me know if it may or may not work out. I have also wound some pickups, as well...pretty decent sounding, I guess. Another thing I may do is try to reproduce that bass as closely as I can...It really is a great sounding instrument and I'd love to have a second. For these builds, though, I'm going to need a drill press, a router (my parents are giving me this) and maybe a milling machine (some parts on that bass will need to be fabricated).

I built Erin a Jar of Fireflies (a project I found on Instructables.com). Basically, it's a jar with some really tiny LEDs in it that blink like fireflies.

Oh, I also bought a flashcart for a Nintendo DS (and the DS itself). I had to replace the battery in the GBA expansion card, though...it's a solder-in battery, but I was able to just tape the contacts to a new battery (because the little socket I made didn't fit...there's just NO space inside that thing).

Music: Kerstan has had a few shows and they've gone really well, for the most part. He asked me to play a show with him next Friday, so I'll be doing that. I'm going to play guitar while he plays drums, though, so I've got some learning to do. I think I'm only going to be playing the last 1/3 or so of the set, so it's not TOO much stuff. Plus, being forced to practice so much (I played for nearly 3 or 4 hours last night...and about 2 or so on Monday) I can already see some improvement.

Other: I've been entertaining the thought of reading more books again. I'm almost done with The Man Who Laughs and will probably need something else soon. Kerstan's girlfriend left The Invisible Man at his apartment...maybe I'll pick up a copy of that and give it a read.

There are other books I've seen and wanted to read (House Of Leaves is one of them). Some are just absurd (like "Satan Burger" which Amazon suggested when I added House of Leaves to a wishlist so I won't forget it). I don't know when I'll get around to it, but I used to love reading and would like to get into that again.

Posting is very tedious sometimes. I hope you're happy, Amber.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

pizzacato?

I kind of want to name a bulldog pizzacato...

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

And they'll be placing fingers through the notches in your spine

I got my sound to work on my computer...at least for listening to music. I haven't messed with trying to deal with recording yet.

EDIT:
Recording is hosed...for now at least. That will be the next thing I look into. Ideally, Kerstan and I can record drums (maybe guitar + vocals, if it sounds good enough "live") on my machine...but I need to get that stuff working first.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

You're scrunching up your face in this picture I found

I've been working on setting up my new computer. I got Windows installed on it, but have been fighting with sound issues in my Fedora install. I may try a couple other distros before I just install a damn soundcard. I have an Audigy2 ZS (old) card that I could install, but because my machine has one PCI slot, I'd have to lose my wireless card...although, I could just use a USB wireless dongle. I hate the word dongle, though. The other option is buying a new soundcard that plugs into the PCI-E slot...that might be the best choice of all.

On a whim, I made a really cute hippo flash drive for Erin on Monday night. I broke the plastic case away from the drive, cut up a piece of cedar into a hippo shape (based on this) but with a cap, instead of a cable that plugs into the hippo's but. I should post a picture of it sometime.

Erin starts school today. I'm REALLY hoping that she likes it.

I made a list of a bunch of CDs that I need to buy. I really want to go back and buy everything I've downloaded...or at least everything I downloaded and actually listened to/kept. So far, the tally is just below $300, though...and there's a lot I haven't added (Mountain Goats, Weakerthans, etc). I predict it will jump to nearly $600 when it's all said and done... I'll likely just do this little bits at a time.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Every day is silent and gray

Working late tonight =\ This is my first crazy release...and I've been here since 8:30am

It's better because I was up til 3:30am today trying to get my stupid new computer up and running. I had a HELL of a time trying to get Windows to install. The thing kept rebooting in the middle...I realized I'd spent about 3 hours (with one spent going to buy a cheap keyboard/mouse) trying to install windows, to no avail, so I moved onto Fedora...there are some driver issues (sound and wireless) but at least I have some functionality...

This weekend is going to be bullshit. I'm driving to San Antonio to pick up my trumpets and guitar body from my brother (San Antonio is closer than Katy) but my mom's going to be there...so that's kinda dumb. I need to install my amp in my car (I won't have music until I do...and you know I don't like that), do an oil change, work more on my computer, and a few other small things. I'm not certain if I'm still playing that show with Kerstan next week, but if I am, it's going to be crazy...we'll need to practice during next week, just to ensure that it won't be a disaster.

My wood-working is just about done, now; I'm happy with the results. I hadn't used a chisel much, so making dovetail joints was kind of scary, but I jumped in and they went alright. I still have some issues (partly due to the fact that I don't have a skew chisel, I'm bad at measuring the depth of the cuts, so they aren't perfectly square (one side sticks out too far while the other is too short) but that will come with practice, I think.

I'm reading The Man Who Laughs by Victor Hugo right now. It's apparently not copyrighted in the US, so I downloaded it from the Gutenberg Project and have been reading it via my PSP. I was never really much of an eBook reader (the monitor hurts my eyes, plus it sucks to have to sit up while you read...I prefer to lay down) but this makes it almost as good as the real thing. I don't like that I have to page-down so frequently, but it beats having to hold the book open (without creasing the binding...which I HATE). I've been throwing the idea of the Kindle around for a while, but I don't know. It's still really expensive, and I think it's still too big for my needs...the PSP works fine for now.

I'm so sleepy.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

homo homini lupus

I've been a bit melancholy lately. I'm really not sure what it is...most things are going well. I'm still coming to terms with exactly how much money I'm making; my job isn't bad; Erin and I are getting along well; and I've had time to spend time working with my hands... Even with all that, I'm just a bit down. It may be due to the fact that I'm driving more than I used to...work isn't just across the street anymore. But, really, that only knocks an hour off my day, at most.

I really just think I'm becoming more and more displeased with the way society, as a whole, seems to act. We're a people of glitter; only worried about ourselves and what looks good. The title of this post is a quote I found incredibly relevant to my current thinking -- man is a wolf to man; essentially, the worst things that happen to people are done by other people. Another Latin phrase I've found that I really like is, "auribus teneo lupum" -- I hold a wolf by the ears; sort of a "tiger by the tail" thing...damned if you let go, but damned if you hold on.

It sort of upsets me because I actually sometimes see myself acting selfishly... I'm trying to stop (or at least do it as infrequently as possible). The biggest place I see so much selfishness is when people are driving. Everyone is just concerned with getting to their destination as fast as possible. All the excessive lane-changing and staying in a lane that you KNOW is going to end just causes further delays -- the same delays that you are trying to avoid...you're making them WORSE for someone else. To some degree, the roads are over-crowded...but I think a very large portion of the issue is that the roads are used inefficiently and improperly.

Enough on all that.

A question: would getting a tattoo that reads "homo homini lupus" be as bad of an idea as I think it would? I mean, having the word "homo" tattooed on your skin in Texas...does that sound smart?

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Lately, I've been fightin' Jesus

Today has been an awkward day.

So, I wake up in a pretty good mood...shower, eat breakfast...as per my routine. I make my lunch for the day and brush my teeth. I put my shoes on and walk out the door with just my lunch. I get to the car and realize I don't have my bag...so I go back, get it, then return to the car. When I get there, I realize that my door is unlocked....huh, that's not like me...but I've done it before....then I see the pile of glass in the passenger seat. INSTANT RAGE.

So, I was parked in the street and someone broke into my car last night and the best part is, they didn't even take anything I really care about (they got about $2 in change, my stereo faceplate (the stereo was bolted in pretty seriously...and I was trying to find an excuse to replace it anyway), a battery jumpstarter box (which doesn't really work) and my rollerblades). The rollerblades are probably the biggest loss...and I haven't used them in years. Somehow, that makes the whole thing more frustrating. Maybe it's the fact that they broke my dash...maybe the fact that they busted my window...I don't know. So I send an email to work...tell them I'll be in late, if at all...and call the police to report it. They're pretty lax about it and just take my name, guess that it happened at 2:30am and call it a day. I call around, find the best price on a window (that can install it today) and find that I'm gonna be out $175. The good news is that they'll bring it out to me, and I don't have to drive with all that broken glass in the car. This is kind of nice because I've been very slowly working on some trays...it's hard to explain, but basically a drawer that doesn't go into a dresser. They'll be for when my desk is full of a project that I'm putting on hold, but can't put into a box, for whatever reason. Basically, I'm making dovetail joints for the sides, then gluing in a bottom. I also work a bit from home. I got a lot done...I made two of the trays and the third one won't take too long. Maybe tomorrow afternoon. Dovetail joints are apparently REALLY difficult, and a sign of a person's craftsmanship...mine really don't look all that bad, and they're perfectly functional. I think better wood (read: no knots in it) would make them a bit better, too.

So, I just build and work and wait for the glass man to come fix my car. It' a fairly relaxed morning. After that gets taken care of, I go to a car-wash to vacuum out my truck. All through the day, I'm just slowly getting a bit more sad; not really for myself, or my situation...but more for just the state of humanity. We've got people cutting other people's heads off on buses, child sex rings, and all kinds of other completely ridiculous things. We, as a species, are just getting more and more fucked up. I blame over-population. Crime is often a result of greed. Greed is made worse by the fact that some people have too much and so many people don't have enough. This could be due to the fact that not everyone can be the richest man in the world...the best paying jobs tend to be the most selective...however, anyone can clean shit off of an elementary school floor...

I honestly think I feel sorry for the guy who busted my window. I mean, he might get $20 pawning my stuff...he obviously got cut up pretty decently (a dime-sized spot of blood on the outside of my truck and a smear on the vinyl side of my seat) and was clearly pissed (as evidenced by the scratches on the front of the stereo he couldn't extract from the dash). Odds are, it's just a down-and-out drug addict with nothing to lose. The fact that we have so many people just like him is just upsetting.




Or maybe feeling sorry for other people is my way of coping with anger.

Monday, August 4, 2008

If I see sunlight hit you I am sure that we'll both decompose

The move is progressing nicely. I think we have all of our major furniture now. We still need a dining room table, but Erin agrees it's not incredibly important at this point in time. We may buy a second book shelf at some point in time, but right now, we're okay.

I still need to tidy up the loft area. I have my drums mostly set up, my desk is up, but not everything is on it and I still have several boxes filled with stuff I've yet to find a place for. I may buy a buttload of cheap mousepads to make a soft work surface on my desk, but I haven't made a clear decision on that one yet. I wouldn't go buying a couple of those mousepads, though...as I hear that they make terrible mousepads. I just want the foam underside... As far as the drums are concerned, I played a little bit the other day while Erin was outside...she said you probably can't hear them in another house or anything; they sound like someone's just driving by with the windows down.

---WTF! someone just walked by my office at work with a dog on a leash...dogs are everywhere and it just makes me really want a puppy =\

I've met the backyard neighbor (I don't know if I've mentioned that yet...the original garage to this house was in the back yard...it's since been converted to an apartment and there's a girl living in it...) and she seems pretty reasonable/nice. She also has a 2 month old shih tzu named Echo...so cute. He's basically a ball of black and white fur with a mouth.

Yesterday, Erin's family came over to help with some lawn work. We trimmed some trees (that were encroaching on the power lines), trimmed some vines (that were winding up the house), raked the leaves and did other assorted things. The back yard has two trees that are practically begging for a hammock...

Pretty soon, I'm going to get a bunch of Kerstan's music equipment (PA mixer + speakers) so that we can practice at the house. We haven't practiced much at all over this past summer, so there's no telling how that will sound at first. He played a solo show a few weekends ago with a pretty decent reception.

I lost track of where I intended to go on this entry...

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

I'm a slave to your flesh

We're almost done with the moving...just need to finish setting stuff up/acquiring things. Last night we went to Ikea and picked up a couple of wardrobes (we only have one closet...and need a bit more hanging space) as well as a desk for Erin. We don't need too many other things, but the closer we get, the more frustrating the remaining things are.

We still need:
Lawnmower - I think I'm going to get an old-timey push-reel one...exercise, plus no gas/electricity consumed
A desk for me - I think I'm just going to get one from Sam's Club...$43 for a sturdy plastic-topped folding table (6' x 2.5-ish')
A bookcase - for our living room. Books + DVDs + CDs(?) + anything else need to live on this
Some kind of cable management - Our TV is on the fireplace mantle, while all the other stuff is on a piece of furniture next to it...we need to wrap those cables so they won't look so messy
Dining Room Table - This is one of Erin's pet projects. I never eat at a table (I prefer to eat on the floor, or while watching tv or something...) She just wants something small.
Bathroom storage - Another of Erin's projects. Basically, something with drawers/doors that aren't clear...so she can store 'ugly' things in. Mostly her stuff, I suppose...because I don't have much in the bathroom anyway.

I think that's really all. I will probably need assorted little things for my area in the loft (maybe a shelf or something to further organize my desk...I dunno)

So far, we've spent about $800 ($440 of that was wardrobes, though) so we're really not doing too terribly. We had originally set a goal of about $1000 for all our new furniture/stuff, but have splurged on a few things to get something that feels more sturdy/looks better. Plus, I can afford it, so it's not that big of a deal...it just hurts my bullshit money for now, so I can't buy anything that's more intended for "fun".

EDIT: Bought the lawnmower last night. Had to go to home depot to buy some drywall anchors, so figured I'd pick it up. Put it together in about 10 minutes. Might test tonight/this weekend. Still need to put together the wardrobes we bought two nights ago (it was too late last night). Hopefully we can get them adequately anchored to the wall (so they don't crush us!).

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

You're gonna die; we're all gonna die

The move hasn't gone quite as smoothly as Erin and I predicted. We had hoped to move everything this past weekend...however, the A/C wasn't working and didn't get fixed until Tuesday, so we had to stay in the apartment until Wednesday. We still have quite a bit to move into the house: my drums/guitars/tools/a few boxes...Erin's computer, some shelves (that I have NO idea where to put) and probably a few things I don't remember right now.

The house is so much bigger than I thought...I'm the opposite of most people, though: when I see a room empty, it tends to look smaller than when it's full of stuff. Maybe that's why I like to have my stuff cluttered?

We still need to get some new furniture, curtains, decide where some things are going to go. The house was built in 1937...considering that Texas didn't have television stations until 1948, it's safe to say the house wasn't built around that kind of idea...the cable comes into the house through the floor in a corner of the room that's nowhere near any grounded outlets...the TV's on the (fake) fireplace mantle and all the stuff will be to the side of the (fake) fireplace...with loads of wires going up the wall to get to the TV...

Bleh. I just ran out of steam on this post. I don't like moving or unpacking, and it's really got me incredibly drained. Add that to the bad stomach aches I've been having...and the fact that I feel kind of emotionally unstable...I'm just very tired lately.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

I might bite my nails so I can't scratch my face

Sometimes I feel like a bunch of people all crammed into one body...like I have completely different consciousnesses crammed into one mind. I thought I was all over this bullshit, but I don't think I am yet; I really don't think I'll ever be 100%. All I can really do is just live with it, I suppose.

Enough on that.

Erin and I will be moving this weekend; my brother is going to come up on Friday, help us move on Saturday and we're going to hang out on Sunday. We may go to San Marcos (swimming in the river) or watch movies or something. I really like spending time with my brother these days (whereas it used to piss me off to no end). I think a lot of it is the fact that we've both grown up and really grown into our own skin. When we lived with my parents, they sort of expected us to both be the same...have the same interests, get the same grades, etc....only, they wanted the better of the two. My interests were always a bit more ridiculous, so they tended to want me to do the stuff my brother did; his grades weren't as good as mine, so they expected him to improve that.

As far as moving is going, Erin has packed lots of stuff. I really haven't helped all that much D: She likes packing, though...I really think she likes to take inventory of our belongings and packing is a really good way to do that. I'll probably pack most of my stuff tonight or tomorrow night. Honestly, I don't have lots of things that aren't already in boxes; it's just going to be a matter of taking those boxes and putting them into bigger boxes. We're going to need some furniture, though. Mostly desks and shit. I need a big folding desk so I can get it up the goddamned spiral staircase. Getting the drums up that staircase is going to be the worst part of it all, I'm afraid.

Kerstan also has a show on Saturday. I hope it goes well. He really puts a lot of effort and time into his music; but he's also sometimes prone to messing up his first shows and performances. If it goes well, that'll serve as a bit of a springboard for our band in getting shows (and also boost confidence).

I'm picking up hobbies left and right...maybe trying to find a way to not think about some stuff...partly because I have the time. I've bound a couple books (that I'm using as planner-type things...for notes and stuff), I've wound a pickup for my acoustic guitar, I'm designing what may be a really sweet keyboard (musical type thing)...in addition to all the other stuff I have been getting into. I really like pickup winding...it's not that expensive (about $10 per pickup), and they don't sound half bad. If I get a decent set-up, I'm confident I could make some really nice sounding stuff.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Every couple minutes someone says he can't stand it anymore

I had a bit of a mini-breakdown a couple nights ago. Erin was really helpful in the way she just listened to me and let me vent. I know hearing about stuff like that is hard, but sometimes I think I'm just going to explode...

If you've spent any reasonable amount of time around me, you've probably seen me when I'm recovering...or whatever. Aside from Erin, Amber is probably the person who has seen me in that state the most...but she didn't know what was wrong...hell, maybe she thought that was just the way I am?

Amber: Do you remember the time, senior year spring trip, in Dallas I was sitting outside of the hotel next to the water just staring out? I don't remember...did I give you an excuse for why I was doing that? If I did, do you remember what I said? I feel a bit guilty (and have) for not telling you about what was really wrong all of the times you asked why I seemed down or whatever....I feel more guilty about the fact that I would make things up (or make a bigger deal out of other things that were, conveniently, bothering me at the time). ---- Another example: do you remember the time, freshman year, Elliott wanted to go to Taco Cabana and I said I didn't want to go to a sit down restaurant...and he got kind of upset? --- Maybe you won't remember these cases...they really stand out to me because the first was when I was actually the most upset around you (that I can remember, at least) and the second is the one I feel most guilty about making shit up about...

Sometimes I feel like I don't get angry enough; other times, I feel like I overreact and get too angry. So many things have come as a result of this stuff that I really have no way of saying I would be better off without the feelings I have. Sometimes I wish I could just talk about it; sometimes I wish I could be strong and try to help other people...most of the time, though, I just feel like I should ignore it all and just cope. A lot of the time, I feel like I'm two people in one body...more accurately, I guess, would be to say I feel like one person halfway in and halfway out of one body.

If anybody comes to see me
Tell 'em they just missed me by a minute
If anybody comes in to our room while we're asleep
I hope they incinerate everybody in it

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

We found a house

So, she and I have been looking around for a house to rent, but we had some kind of unorthodox requirements:

1) area (okay, this one isn't that unorthodox): we wanted something relatively close to where I work, as well as campus (read: no Leander/Round Rock/far north stuff, etc)
2) space: I wanted a large enough area to set up drums/other music stuff in addition to setting up a spot for my computer/soldering/hobby work space.
3) space (again): Erin wanted a spot to do sewing/other kinds of things

We were primarily looking at 3-4 bedroom houses in South Austin, but she found this really neat little house. One bedroom, with a loft, in West Campus. Because I work in West Austin, it's really not all that far away from me; it's super close to campus, too. It's a blue-ish color with pink trim on the outside, so it's got some character. This was one of the top pics from out list of about 10 workable houses (which was pulled from out longer list of about 30).

Most of our short-list were being taken (leaving only the lower portion of the "chosen" ones), so we started considering this one even more. After debating it together, we set up a viewing of the house. The house really has a LOT of character. The street has tons of trees and stuff, the house isn't in bad shape (considering it was build in 1937) and it's all really nice. Really, everything seemed full steam ahead...until the realtor told us that the "storage shed" in the back yard wasn't actually for the laundry (those go in the dining room)...it's an apartment. It's a little weird that we'll be sharing a driveway with someone, but apparently it's a woman in her early to mid twenties...hopefully we will get along well with her.

The house is really pretty neat, so I'm hoping we're able to make it work. My only real concerns are the living room (it's really an odd shape...the bedroom is very large, so the living room is kinda narrow and wide) and the loft. I'm concerned about getting all of my stuff up the tiny little staircase, but it should be okay, I think.

Monday, June 23, 2008

I can't believe I forgot to post this

I found this as a draft on my old blog...new comments will be in [square brackets]

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The [at the time] new baseball game has a Nirvana song (I think it was "Breed") in the commercial...

When I was a little upset, Erin asked if Nirvana liked baseball...when I said no, she said, "Maybe Courtney Hole (or whatever her name is) really likes baseball."

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Erin called her Courtney Hole...hilarious.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Stuff

So, it's been a little while since I posted (again!). I'm trying to be better, Amber...I just can't get in the habit of writing anything on the internet (I really don't spend a lot of time at the computer at home...maybe a side-effect of sitting in front of the computer all day at work?)

I've spent just over two weeks at my new job. It's certainly different from AMD. So far, it seems a little more organized, but as a result, less hectic. That sounds like a good thing, but I kind of miss the rush of getting things done when it looked like they were going to have to just fuck off or something. That said, I do enjoy the position and the team. The company, as a whole, feels like it works together a bit better than anything I've experienced before, so that is very pleasant...plus, the pay is really nice.

Erin and I have looked a little bit for houses to rent. I don't think we're going to be terribly picky...aside from location and price, we'll just pick what we like best of what's available. I will be so excited to have my own little work space (a desk for my circuits and things, as well as drums and other music instruments). Kerstan and I can start practicing again (we haven't played in a long time...going to that house we were playing at is a hassle and Kerstan also hurt his wrist). I hope the neighbors don't get too mad.

I worked on two of my drum synths and tried to build the guitar pickup I mentioned in the last post...one synth works pretty well, another not so well...the pickup doesn't work that great, though. The wire I used isn't small enough. I'm going to get a much smaller wire and try again.

I'm trying to get back into running again. Erin and I went and ran around a park today. Hopefully having to drive somewhere to just go running won't dissuade us from doing it at least a couple of times a week. That is another benefit of having a house.

I'm too sleepy to continue posting.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Everybody's wearing a frown--waiting for Santa to come to town

I start my job at ARM tomorrow (technically today, I guess). I'm pretty excited but a little worried. They're paying me a lot, so I'm afraid they're going to expect me to be the Jesus Christ of circuit design or something...I think my experience at AMD (as well as my education at UT) has prepared me well, but their whole business is completely different. Tomorrow should just mostly be orientation, though, so I'm not that worried yet.

The past two weeks, I basically relaxed with Erin, played LOTS of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, worked on a couple little projects, and we hung out with Kerstan and his girlfriend Emily a bit as well. It's been a good two weeks, but I've been a little restless. I think I'll be happy with the regularity provided by working.

I've considered getting a facebook (partly due to pressure from Amber...and a little from Erin) but I don't know. I'm just not that concerned with it, I guess.

I'd like to start a couple more projects soon (jars of fireflies, some other microcontroller projects, maybe another small synth or two, winding my own pickup for my acoustic guitar)...but I'll wait for work to settle down.

Also, Erin and I need to start looking for houses for rent...we want to rent a house ideally in August...do that for a year or two, then start looking to buy a house.

Sometimes updates feel okay...sometimes they feel like this one =\

Saturday, May 10, 2008

So much time passes so fast

Wow...so this semester is finally over. I can't believe that my last post was actually BEFORE the semester started.

This semester, looking back, has been a series of let-downs, I guess...but at the same time, I've grown and learned a lot, so I guess it hasn't been all bad.

School:
FUCK IT.
I had three classes: VHDL, Digital Circuits and Senior Design. The only class I actually sort of enjoyed was Digital Circuits, because it was very similar to the kind of things I had been doing at AMD. VHDL and Senior Design can suck a clown's dick, for all I care.

VHDL: So, this class had a lab component. The lab is a small room with about 10-15 computer stations (for a class of at least 40-60). Not only this, but the TAs are only actually in the lab for questions/lab checkout etc. during the noon-ish to 5pm hours except for Tuesday (the final day labs could be checked out). This sucked hard for me because I had class from 9:30 to 5:30 straight (with no breaks) on Tuesday and Thursday and work from 9-5 on Monday Wednesday and Friday...so my only time to use the hardware was realistically either Saturday or Tuesday (the day everyone and their mother and their mother's dog's best friend Stephen are in there trying to check these stupid things out on). The labs required a partner so I joined up with another guy who was working and taking classes. Long story short: he sucked...bad. I did all of the labs up until Spring Break, where he dropped the class. I got a new partner after this who actually had some idea as to what was going on, so I was marginally happier after this.

Also, one of the TAs was a jerk. The other TA was much nicer and understanding about things.

I got an A in this class...just barely; and I didn't have to take the final.

Senior Design: Our project was to make a touch-sensitive LED matrix that functioned as both input and output...we had teams of 4 but, up until literally 2 weeks or so before the thing was due, I did ALL of the fucking work. We had 2 guys working on programming who wouldn't know a data direction register from their asshole if you asked them. They took an entire MONTH to get a fairly straightforward analog-to-digital conversion on an input pin working. Fuck them. I wound up having to build all of our hardware in one day/night/next day...I literally sat in front of a soldering iron for 27 hours straight...

The thing wound up working, then we had to write a paper...I was the only one who finished my part of the paper to meet the deadline we set for ourselves...one guy didn't finish his shit until 6:30 the morning it was due...I didn't sleep that night, turned in our paper, gave a final presentation (which we didn't prepare for....and the girl in the group was an HOUR late for because she fell asleep and didn't wake up to her alarm) and somehow, I made an A in the class....what the hell?

Digital Circuits: This was my favorite class out of the 3 I took. In the beginning it was really good, because it was filling in all of the little gaps in knowledge I had gathered from my time working at AMD...but toward the end, we started going over things that I had a much higher understanding of than we even covered in the class, so I got a little bored. However, it was nice to finish a lab in 2 hours when I knew everyone in the class spent 20+ hours on...and still getting one of the highest grades (the only person I know who beat me literally drained 40 hours on the lab...and his timing was only slightly better)..

I took this final (my only final this semester) on Wednesday. Hopefully that comes back well enough to get an A...but at this point, I seriously don't care. If I get a B, I'm fine with that...

Work:
So, about a month ago now, I was told by my manager at AMD that, due to the fact that they were in a serious hiring freeze (and later announced that they would be laying off 10% of their workforce) that he had been unable to secure a position for me after my co-op ended. I was pretty crushed at first because I have grown fairly close (in a work-related sense) to my co-workers and my project. I really like the work environment at AMD and everything. Mike (my manager) assured me that it was not a performance based decision, but purely financial. Apparently his manager (and even the site director) took the case all the way to the VP of silicon design who still denied the request. Honestly, the fact that so many people made such an attempt is telling of the impression I've made with my manager. He tells me that, as soon as AMD is in decent financial shape, he's going to try to persuade me to come back.

So the job search was on. I applied to Centaur (they make microprocessors sold under the VIA brand) but they rejected me via a form letter without even giving me an interview or anything. I was a little bummed. I then started looking around. Major prospects were IBM, Intel, Sun, and ARM. I applied to ARM kind of on a whim...I applied for a position very similar to what I do at AMD while I was waiting for Erin to get out of her classes one day. They called me less than 48 hours later to set up a phone screening. After my phone screening, the next day they called to set up on-site interviews. The day I left my interview (about an hour and a half later, I'd say) they called to set up a second interview. So I'm thinking to myself, "Wow! This is going very fast." They had told me they had several other candidates to interview over the course of the next several weeks, but they seemed to really want me. During my second interview, I was told that they were considering me not only for the position for which I applied, but also for another position. Three days after my second on-site interview, they called me to tell me that they would be working out numbers and such and sending me an offer. This whole process took about 3 weeks (but I caused a week delay by scheduling my first on-site interview a week after my phone screen). My offer wound up being quite a bit more than I was really looking for and I'm pretty pleased with the numbers.


In other news: Kerstan and I have started skating again. I'm not to the same level I used to be, but it's slowly coming back. We sort of decided to do this because the creek we swam in last summer is dry right now...we're still hoping it'll come back, but I'm not so sure anymore. Also, our band is doing alright. We're not practicing as much as we used to; Erin and I hope to rent a house starting in August and the house we practice at now is kind of small and a hassle (4 guys live there and we don't want to be a bother...plus we have to carry a lot of gear back and forth and the drums are NEVER tuned the way I leave them...)

Erin and I are doing well. She has an internship this summer with a pretty decent company and seems excited about it. I really hope she enjoys working in industry as much as I have (or at least close enough to be happy). She really wasn't nearly as stressed this semester as she has been in previous ones. Her last final is right now (7pm to 10pm) so hopefully she's doing well.

I'm done with school (as long as that circuits final was well enough to pass the class...which, if it's not, I have NO idea how that could be). My parents/other family are forcing me to actually walk at graduation...which I'm not terribly happy about, but I can't really help that, I suppose. I'm still not sure who all is going to come, but it should be kind of a lot...my brother and his girlfriend are spending the night at our apartment that night, then we're going to go to San Marcos to swim in the river there. That night, we'll come back to Austin and probably go to Fogo De Chao for dinner (I told my brother that if ARM paid me a really sweet number, I'd take him there, because he'd been ranting about it for a while now).

Long entry....not even a very good one =\

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

I saw you move a certain way

It's been a while since I updated...I doubt I'll remember everything...

I spent Christmas Eve with Erin and her family at her grandparents' house. We had to sleep in separate rooms =\ Christmas day with my family, then back to Austin that evening. Erin and I are doing well. We went out and bought her a nice ring...an engagement ring of sorts. It's getting re-sized and will be ready when we get back from Seattle. (Next week...Jan 7 through 12) We've discussed the idea of getting married....we want to, but need to find the time, I suppose. I mean, we've been together for over 5 years now..it's almost like we're already married, in lots of ways. We're very compatible on most subjects (the only places we tend to differ are when it comes to how we keep our work-spaces...I prefer a concentrated sort of chaos....she likes things to be wide-spread and organized, but tidy) Considering that most houses are 3-bedroom or larger, we'll probably just each have our own work room when we have a house.

I had a lot of time off from work (from Monday, Xmas Eve up til Tuesday, New Years Day). I worked on some instruments I'm building (electric drums) as well as getting my desktop computer up and running again, so I can download some tv shows to send to Elliott. Like I mentioned earlier, Erin and I are going to Seattle to visit Omar and for some sight-seeing. We're going to be there for a week, then coming back in time for the next semester at school to start. It'll be my last and Erin's second to last.

My running has been on a pretty long break. I just don't feel so motivated to do it when it's so goddamn cold...walking back to the apartment drenched in sweat is just not very sweet.

Kerstan and I have started a band, I guess...vocals, guitar and drums (and only snare/bass drum/percussion odds and ends). It's come along pretty well. He's out of town for a month, though, so no time to practice. Hopefully I can keep a few hours on the weekend free for practice when school is back in session...I'm taking 10 hours and working 24 D: