Medicare is rough, I guess

Good thing I'm not on it.

Had my visit with the pulmonary guy today.  I'm down a total of 17lbs since I began cutting back, etc, so thats good.  The c-pap machine has a memory card in it that I brought with to my appointment.  It stores data for the use of the machine and apparently some other things too.  According to this guy I saw today, I would be in non-compliance as far as usage of the machine goes if I were on medicare and would probably be screwed.  Why, you ask?

Well for starters, there were several times during the first month of use that I seem to have removed the mask in my sleep.  I would wake up and the mask would be next to me or on the floor.  This was never done consciously.  And lo and behold, the machine recognized this and recorded it.  There are also times where I will wake up and the mask will no longer be covering my mouth, just my nose.  So when this happens I readjust the mask and go back to sleep.  Nonetheless, the machine records the time the mask is not fully covering the areas it should be and logs those results.  And then there were a total of 9 (according to the data) nights where I crashed before I had a chance to put the mask on.  That put me at 86% usage with just over 2 hours a night of what is considered to be proper use of the mask.  Apparently this machine is pretty sophisticated.

Um....oops?

On the plus side, when I am using the mask my incidents are down to 2 an hour (from 94).  Or was that 2 per night?  I forget, but either way thats really good.  And my sleeping HAS improved.  The other day my son and I were on the reclining sofa, both of us reclined on our respective sides and not in view of each other.  I dozed off and he kept talking to me even though I was asleep.  He didn't know I was asleep because, for once, I wasn't snoring like a T-Rex.  So thats good too, and a sign that I am getting some benefit from this.

Now the frustrating this is that I AM using the mask.  The removal of it was subconscious and hasn't happened for awhile.  I've been told by the medical supply reps that this is pretty normal for everyone and it usually takes a good 3 months to get used to the mask.  The thing with it covering my face improperly, as it turns out, wasn't necessarily my fault either.  Turns out the mask is too small (which I kind of figured already) and I had a rep out today to try and get me a new one.  Turns out I decided to stay with the same model I use now, just in a bigger size.  And of course they were fresh out of those, so it will take as long as 2 weeks to get me a new one.

So I go back in 3 months (appointment on my birthday!) and the guy said that if I was still having trouble he could make some adjustments to the air flow.  Not change the pressure because thats prescribed and cannot be altered (I'm at 16 out of I think 21) but he said there were some things he could do to maybe help the situation.  He also said that he had no doubt that I was trying, that I wasn't just blowing this off.  So at least he's working with me on it.

And on the plus side also, no calls from work today.  Yay.  Get to back tomorrow, not looking forward to that.  I wish I could blog about the insanity thats happening there but I don't think thats a good idea right now.  Never know who's reading.

Tee hee

So apparently the PS3s are suffering from either a hack of the PSN (which I'm surprised hasn't already happened by now) or some kind of internal clock error centered around Februrary 29th which has apparently been happening the last 3 March 1sts.  Nice.  Way to build'em, Sony.  I was going to watch some blu-rays last night but happened to log into IGN first to see if the FF 13 review was up yet and saw the news.  Also saw the sparkling illuminaries of the PS3 community (and please do not tell me there are more timmies on Live...not possible) step up and instead of discussing the issue proceed to bash the 360.  Thats fine, chumpy boy, but at least I can actually...you know...go play my 360 right now and log into Live.

Bought Heavy Rain last week and became almost immediately annoyed with the controls.  Totally forgot about Sony ripping off Nintendo (and in their typical style, doing it poorly) with that POS 6-axis thing.  I don't want to shake my controller, thanks.  I'll do that when its not working, not as a point of use.

Had a great weekend with the kid.  Also put him to work and we finished rearranging the living room, which turned out better than I'd hoped.  I'll have to break down and pick up a digital camera and post some pics.  Not that its incredibly impressive, but it does look nice.  We also both took fun pics of Kitty with our phones.  She was draped across the back of the recliner with her arms and legs dangling off the side.  Its really something you need to see to get the proper perspective.  Since she's taken to laying about like this all the time I should be able to get another pick soon.

I also had to call my landlord again and get on him again about replacing my blinds.  Every year the village inspects apartments.  2 years ago...years...the dumbass from the village broke my blinds, and my landlord has been promising to fix them since.  He's been promising specific days he'll do it and hasn't done it yet.  Yesterday he promised me Tuesday of this week.  Currently my plan is to not put my rent check in the rent box in the hall for this month.  And if he doesn't make it Tuesday (and of course if he does, in goes the check) I will just wait for him to call me to ask where the check is, and my response will be "I figured I'd just give it to you in person when you came to replace my blinds".

Day off today to go see my pulmonary doctor, then some errands then...dunno, sleep or something.  I should have a fun blog about my neighbors later. 

Happy Monday, all.

Battlestar Sciatica

See what I did there?  Yes, I am easily impressed.

So I bought that new furniture a week or so ago to replace my ratty, broken down couch.  You would think that using that old couch would have caused me back pain since I already have a bad back, but by and large it didn't.  Know whats causing me pain though?  The new stuff.

In a cruel, ironic twist my sciatica has been flaring to new levels because of the new furniture.  It got so bad I could barely walk Saturday, and just sitting on it was causing me intense pain for awhile.  I don't know if its because I got so used to the lack of support and bad posture used from sitting on the old couch that my back muscles became conditioned to sitting poorly (is that even possible?) or what, but now the new furniture and its good support and solid framing seems to be tearing me up.  Its gotten a little better the last day or so because I've been making a conscious effort to pay attention to my positioning and posture while I sit on it, so maybe all its going to take is some time to recondition myself to the set.  At least thats what I am trying to convince myself of, because the thought of spending all that money on this stuff and being in pain when using it is not something I want to think about.

In other news, still hating my PS3.  I bought more blu-ray movies over the weekend, but I still cannot find much if any gaming use for it.  I broke out the God of Wat 1&2 set and played that a bit tonight.  The collection came with a code to download the GoW3 demo so I popped in that code and began the download.  Now its a hefty one, roughly 2.3 gigs in size.  I recently downloaded the 1.2 gig Divinity 2 demo for the 360 (which is an excellent RPG btw, give it a try) in under 25 minutes so I know I have a decent connection.  So imagine my surprise when 5 hours after I began the download on the PS3 it was only 27% complete.  Are you kidding me?  Its going to take longer to download this demo than it probably would to beat the game itself.

Oh, and I did some more browsing in the PS store and saw some more PS1 titles I would love to get, including the original Silent Hill.  So I actually called Sony's customer service to double check on the whole "only the profile that downloaded the game can play it" thing just to make sure I wasn't misunderstanding things.  Sadly I was not, and not only is that the case but any arcade game I pay for and download can only be played by the profile that purchased it.  Unlike on the 360 where, for example, I can download neat little games like Castle Crashers, Peggle, or A Kingdom for Keflings and have everyone with a profile on my system enjoy those titles.  What a joke.

I've always said that the attach rate tells the real story as far as which console is best for gaming, and with the 360 having a software attach rate of nearly 9 and the PS3 below 3 (I saw these numbers on IGN not too long ago, look them up yourself if you have doubts) I think that says it all.  Then I got to thinking about Sony fanboys and their delusional claims about the greatness of the PS3. 

Now before you go thinking "well, opinions are never wrong" let me tell you...yes they can be.  When an opinion is based on bad information, ignorance, or just plain delusion it is wrong.  It is invalid.  And then I got to thinking of all the abuse I've taken on this site from said Sony fanboys, of personal attacks made on me in threads here by such illuminaries like Speatley, Blowmonkey, and a few others I just have to laugh at their delusion.  At least I'm man enough to admit a bad purchase, and this system was a bad purchase.  Its probably the biggest gaming mistake I've ever made, and this is coming from someone who paid $450 for a new 3DO system.

So let me say this to anyone considering a PS3: think long and hard.  Do not buy into the hype you will hear from the Sony loyalists (considered to be the worst fanboys of them all) about how this console compares to the 360.  As a gaming machine it is inferior.  As a multimedia machine it is pretty nice, but again I must use the swiss army knife analogy.  It does lots of things, most of which you don't need or care about, and it doesn't do any one thing so well that you can forsake the dedicatedalternatives and use it exclusively over them.  There are better gaming consoles, there are better blu-ray players, etc. 

Oh, and I want to throw a shout-out to kewljoe's blog and recommend you check this out:

http://www.2old2play.com/Blog/Permalink/12089/37600

He posted it in the Off Topic board as well.  This is some truly funny stuff and worth the 12 minute listen.

Ok, Monday morning is here and I need to try and get some more sleep before I go into work.  Thanks for reading!

WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Ok, so now that I've been drinking all afternoon let's blog some more!

Last September I took the plunge and bought a 5 string bass. I am partial to Ibanez instruments. It began with my 4 string SR-500 which is an amazing instrument for the price and continued on through this 5 string purchase. Btw, as I told JCotter awhile back...if you are looking for an excellent bass for a moderate amount of coin, start with the Ibanez line beginning with the 500 series. Those and the next few up have the Bartolini pickups and it just gets better from there. Anything below the 500 line has meh pickups and what I consider (for what thats worth) to be inferior or at least not-so-great wood for the neck.

Anyway...,

So I bought an Ibanez at Guitar Center thinking for whatever reason that I bought a 705. Turns out I bought a 305. The only reason I realized this was because as I sat there playing it I realized that not only did the neck feel cheap as I played but the sound was...poor. So I looked into it and yup, 305. Not a bad "cheap" bass, but I didn't want a "cheap" bass. So I called GC up straight away and explained that the error was totally mine and I'd like to return my purchase and put it towards a better product. The guy was all good with that so I began to research.

Thing was, when I went to GC at this point in time their 5 string collection was a bit sparse. Now me, I am a Steve Harris fan. For those who do not know, Mister Harris is the bassist of Iron Maiden...hell, he IS Iron Maiden. So I have always aspired towards what he plays which is a Fender Precision (or just "P") bass, 4 string. The American made Fenders run in the neighborhood of $1200-$1400 though, so that was not in the picture at that time. So as I mentioned I have a thing for Ibanez so I looked further into their line. After a bit of research I came up with the SRX-695 model. GC had to special order it since they didn't carry it normally (at least the one I go to) but the guy waived the special order fee and cut me a deal, so I got a bass with a list MSRP (at that time anyway) of $1099 for $650. Nice. Plus he threw in a case...not a gigbag...which made me quite happy cause those generally run over $100.

It would have been easy to get an SR series bass except in the 5 string model, but what would be the point? I already had an SR 4 string so why get something with the same (or same-ish) sound? So I went with the SRX line, which has passive pickups and a heavier sound.

Now here's the tricky part...the 5th string. For those who do not know, the standard bass has 4 strings. Beginning on the low end (top) string, its E-A-D-G to the bottom. When you add a 5th string its above the E, and its a B. So you basically have to re-learn everything at that point since all your fretting is about to change. For what its worth, any would-be bassists out there I recommend to you to begin with a 5 string. Just get it out of the way, learn to play with that 5th string. It also opens your options for songs that are tuned down because you won't have to tune down because of the extra string. Just play everything half a step (1 fret) down and you're set.

Ok, so I get the 5 string and man was I fucked up for the first few days. Like I mentioned, your fretting is totally off now because what used to be your open top string is now your open 2nd string, or your 5th fret on your top string. WOOT! Good times. So what I did was take like 3 or 4 days off from playing altogether. When I picked up the bass again I was in much better shape and felt much more comfortable. Maybe it was mental or something, but whatever...it worked.

So I've been rocking the 5 string since and love it. It feels strange sometimes but the options are at least there. I've re-learned the fretting on a few songs to accomodate the 5th string. For example with "Enter Sandman" I play the E on the B (5th fret) instead of just playing the open E like before. Some of the original material we played while I was in BME (which I still play on my own cause I dig the songs) I play off the B as well to give it an extra punch.

Another nice feature is this particular model is a 1-piece through neck. In other words its a solid shot connected to the body so the neck won't bow. The downside of that is that this particular instrument was straight as an arrow, which meant I had to have the truss rod adjusted to give it at least a little bow. As it was, the strings were lying flat on the neck which resulted in a whole lot of Buzz (not the Buzz here, but an altogether unpleasant kind) which had to go. So I took the bass to this place down the street from me and had the guy adjust the truss rod, slap on a new set of strings, and set the intonation. The result? It was like a different instrument. When I got it back I couldn't believe the sounds I was getting. Hell, I even sounded good at times! Best $23 I ever spent on an instrument, I tell ya!

And oh yeah, speaking of strings...fuck bass strings are pricey. I can buy a set for my guitar dirt cheap, but a good set of Ernie Balls cost me @ $30 or so for a 5 string set. And oh yeah, I bought a guitar and amp last month too. Do I have illusions of becoming a great guitarist? Fuck no, but for songwriting its something I knew I had to do. Unfortunately with work being hectic and workey I haven't had much (read: any) time to screw with it but I can put together barre chords at least for writing. Of course I'm going to have to break down and learn real chords too some day but I'll deal with that when it happens.

So here is a pic of my newest bass:

It really is a thing of beauty, and it sounds great. Like I mentioned earlier, I am a big fan of Ibanez. Its not an American Fender, a Musicman, or even a Steinberger...but for what you pay you cannot beat what you get in instrument. Bang for your buck? You betcha.

Edit: I should mention as well...one really nice feature of Ibanez basses is the width of the neck.  Generally speaking Ibanez necks run on the thin side.  To be honest, I've played 4 string basses with a wider neck than I have on this 5 string.  So thats another plus to the brand.  I totally endorse Ibanez.  And that and 75 cents will buy you a copy of the daily Chicago SunTimes, but whatever.

Random ramblings

How about several blogs for the price of one?  Yes?  No?  Meh?  Alrighty then!

* Finally got a vacation day in yesterday.  It was the third attempt at a day off this month (something I stressed with my boss) and this time it actually happened.  I made a cursory phone call to one of my guys in the afternoon to check in and see if everything was peachy-keen-neato (it was) and then back to the rum and cokes!

* Have a few errands to run today, including picking up some new clothes.  Not going to spend a fortune because I'm still in the middle of losing weight (lots more to come) but the pants situation has to update because they pretty much won't stay up anymore.  And no, thats not based on a conscious decision by me heh.  Thats a good thing I guess, I just hate wasting money on "in between" clothes but oh well.

* Still hating my PS3.  As a gaming machine I find its pretty much a substandard piece of equipment compared to the 360, however as a multimedia device it has its uses.  I've bought a handful of new blurays (most of which I have on dvd already...sigh) and am enjoying that aspect of it at least.

* Speaking of the PS3, I enjoyed the Heavy Rain demo.  I returned all but one game I had bought for the PS3 and paid off a bunch of 360 pre-orders.  The only game I kept for the system was the GoW collection but I may rent HR next week when it comes out.  I would buy it outright, but while the demo seems cool I can see some aggravation with the gameplay mechanics hitting home after extended play, plus I'm not sure how much replay value there would be for this.

* I have finally figured out how I want to rearrange the living room after getting the new furniture last weekend.  Only problem is I'm going to need some help lugging the heavier items around, so either I'll wait til next week when my son is up or I'll see if I can grab a buddy or 2 to give me a hand.  I hate to do that though because this stuff IS heavy and I don't want anyone screwing up their back.  We are getting older, afterall.

* Speaking of my living room, still waiting for my landlord to replace the blinds over the patio door.  The village I live in does annual apartment inspections, and 2 years ago (yes, years) the dumbass from the village broke my blinds while inspecting my unit.  Apartment unit, that is heh.  Anyway I was not happy to come home and find part of them tossed aside on the floor and the blinds themselves not able to move.  I've been even less happy that my landlord has taken several years to fix this, something I last mentioned to him a week or so ago.  I'm going to drop the subject for now though because my new lease is due and I'm hoping to go another year without a rent increase.  But either way these things have to get replaced, they're jerry-rigged like you wouldn't believe right now.

* Anybody watching Lost?  Hot damn this is good stuff.  I have a theory about how this is all going to end, and I will post that later in the Lost thread on the TV board.  But man, I can't get over just how good this show is.  The casting was fantastic from the start, as the actors have stepped it up bigtime (especially Terry O'Quinn, Josh Holloway and Matthew Fox) to match both the writing and viewer expectations.

And...I think thats it for now.  I have a few other things but I'll probably save those for later and give them their own blog.  I'm still going to post a pic of my newest bass at some point and maybe once I get the living room done post a pic of that.  I think its going to look pretty nice so I'm excited about that.

Alrighty, if you waded through all this then as always...thanks for reading!