Stephen King’s IT

Went to see the movie last night with a couple of co-workers.

I am obviously not going to write a detailed review. I am not very good at that. I will say that I think it was a little better than the first version. If I recall, that was a mini-series that lasted about six hours.

One of the guys made a comment before we went in the theatre “Geez, if the first IT was 6 hours how long is this going to be?”

Running time was a bit over 2 hours.

Nice job and I would recommend IT. Pun intended. 🙂

The Lititz Balloon Incident of 2017 was a nice touch.

New MacBook Pro

I am expecting a new laptop to arrive soon. The last time I bought a new Apple laptop was all the back in 2009.

I think the touch bar is what did it for me. The laptop I am using right now was given to me in exchange for a Mac mini. It is a good and solid laptop but I felt it was time for a new one.

I’ll post more about it when I actually have it.

Update: MacBook Pro arrived yesterday. I ran into a hiccup as a result of me using High Sierra to make my Time Machine backups. The new computer was using Sierra and thus, would not recognize the Time Machine backup for Migration Assistant. I upgraded the laptop to High Sierra and proceeded from there. The restore ran overnight and the only issue I have now is that I have two accounts under my name on this computer. Not bad overall. My old laptop is going to a good home. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. The Apple Developer website was down for a couple of hours so I had to wait for a while before I could install High Sierra.

Microsoft Outlook Kudos

I noticed a small issue with Outlook 2010. I use it at my day job. If I compose a message but decide not to send it, I’ll choose to delete the draft. Outlook marks the message as “unread” and then puts it in the trash.

Because I may suffer from a touch of OCD, seeing that there was an unread message in my trash bothered me.

I tweeted about it.

The Outlook team responded.

That is cool.

Minecraft Weirdness

The follow picture is a building I have constructed in Minecraft. I sealed up the building when I created it. The only way inside is by going through doors you have to open (they are not automatic). My question is how do horses end up on top of my structure? There is no logical way for them to be up there and yet, there they are.

Vacation 2017 – July 8, 2017

The Plan…

This is the last full day of vacation in the great state of Georgia. We are planning to see a couple of sites today along with some kitten rescue work/relocation. Tonight we plan on having dinner at Ate Track. They feature a bunch of eight track players all about the restaurant. I plan on taking a ton of pictures while there.

 

Vacation 2017 – July 6, 2017

The plan…

Today, a friend and I are planning to visit an eatery that features grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. After that, the plan is to go to Guitar Center (I’ve never been to one) and look at some audio equipment.

The reality…

We actually went to Tom + Chee and I had a most excellent sandwich. Crispy Garlic Chicken. Highly recommended. We stopped at a potential site for a hike as well. Those pictures follow…

Vacation 2017 – July 5, 2017

The Plan…

Today, my friend and I plan on visiting Kennesaw Mountain. They keep a national battlefield park there that I’d love to see. Someone made a joke last night that PA has more rich historic places to visit but this area is amazing! I had no idea that they filmed so many movies in this area. Cartersville gives tax breaks for the movie industry or some such thing. (Update: Did NOT visit Kennesaw but did visit a couple of other sites)

So far, this vacation has been so relaxing and wonderful.

Taking some time away from your job every now and then is something I should have been doing for a long time. I usually just take vacation and stay around the house.

I’ll add photos as the day progresses or at. the end of it.

The Reality…

My friend and I drove to some interesting sites instead because it got really hot outside, really fast.

Update: Some highlights from today…

Vacation 2017 – July 3, 2017

The Plan…

Today I am taking a road trip with my friend Kimberly.

I have no idea where we are going but that is ok. I plan to take a bunch of pictures.

I am also told that the local grocery store has a bar in it. No doubt, I will get pictures of that too.

Later this evening, we are going out to dinner somewhere and meeting up with some old friends.

From me podcast days, me thinks.

I’ll update this as the day goes on.

The Reality…

The first place we went to was a big chicken attached to a KFC. This won’t be around much longer (they are closing, I believe)

After that, it was breakfast at Marietta Diner. This place was huge and also as a point worth noting, they had a bar.

The next stop was taking a trip around the new Atlanta Braves stadium.

Then, we took a whole bunch of pictures of the old houses around Cartersville.

And then, we went to the biggest grocery store on the planet. Ok, at least Georgia, perhaps.

Ya’ll (Had to do it) cannot visit Cartersville without seeing the courthouse where they film all of the courthouse things in the movies.

We didn’t get any pictures of Henry’s. That is where we ate dinner.

Vacation 2017 – July 2, 2017

The Plan…

July 2nd is a pretty significant day for me. It is my 50th birthday. I don’t feel any older or different and I think when we all get to this age, we’d like to think it will stay this way until the end of time.

We plan on going to the lake at some point.

The Reality…

I stayed around the house yesterday and hung out with one of the ladies I am staying with. It was fun trying to break MacOS 13 while listening to her speak in French (her day job requires it).

Everyone sees me noodling at a computer and associates that with being “bored” but I am never board. Even if I am not socially engaged, my mind is always thinking about something.

We ended the day with a quick run to a nearby Lake. I’ll attach a picture or two at some point.

A nice quiet day.

Perfect vacation so far!

Lock Screen Menu Option in MacOS High Sierra

I just found this tonight as I was messing around with other things. Ok, things that might rhyme with KindCraft.

MacOS High Sierra has a new option under the Apple Menu. It is new to me anyway. I don’t remember seeing this in Sierra.

The ability to lock your screen with the menu or key combinations is cool and something I would use.

Removing My iPhone Rumors Page

I’ve decided to remove my rumors page for a very good reason.

Phil Schiller.

He was talking to John Gruber of Daring Fireball out why product leaks are so disappointing to Apple and I couldn’t agree more.

I do not want to participate in making a bad experience for those folks who spend years on a project just to have some schmuck ruin it by posting “leaks” online. It may not seem like a big deal to you. To me, that is huge.

If Apple comes out with a new product and new technology, I want Apple to tell me about it and not some jackass production line worker who just wants to get paid for his information and could care less about the people it hurts.

My two cents anyway.

My Big Fat Upcoming Vacation

I’ve decided to call it “big and fat” because that is probably what I’ll become while I am on vacation.

I’m looking forward to actually leaving my house and spending a week somewhere else. It is a strange concept but I’m sure I’ll get over it.

It has been a good year as far as my professional life but really horrible on the relationship side of things. I’ve recently had a talk with a friend of mine who I work with from time to time and we seem to be in the same spot. I asked him if he was interested in dating after what he just went through and he said he wasn’t. I have no desire to enter into any other relationships. I believe this was the last try for me. I haven’t had many in my life but it doesn’t take someone who is really good at relationships to recognize someone who is very bad at them. I aim to spare that future “special someone” from that experience.

This trip is a gathering of people who have been important in my life for the last several years. We’ve been there for each other when we’ve needed it and I am looking forward to relaxing with them.

I think I really need to get away. I’ve planned on doing something like this for many years but now, it is overdue.

My friend will be picking me up in a couple of weeks and off we’ll go.

I plan on taking a shitload of pictures. There will probably be podcast material generated. Who knows?

Monday Morning Post E3 Event

Good morning! Ahhh…hopefully….

I sat through the xBox E3 presentation yesterday which was a parade of “exclusive” and “World Premiere” game announcements.

The xBox One S gives way to the all new xBox One X (Project Scorpio) and will be available in November-ish with a price tag of $499.00.

If you own titles such as Forza Horizon 3 or Minecraft, those games will be getting a free update to 4k versions sometime in the fall. I believe I had a Minecraft-gasm during the keynote. I spend way too much time in Minecraft. I’ll own that.

The graphics in the racing demo were absolutely stunning. Puddles will expand based on how long it is raining and the world engines just seem to keep getting better and better.

Between Apple announcements and Microsoft announcements we should have a pretty awesome fall.

Pretty exciting.

Apple’s Latest OS Releases

It is that time of year when Apple releases the beta versions of the next OS releases. I will admit that I do not really like the “High Sierra” name for MacOS. I was hoping for something cooler.

I have installed iOS and MacOS. I plan on installing WatchOS and TvOS at some point.

So far, I love the iPad changes. A full dock is absolutely wonderful. The file system access is nice too but I don’t see Dropbox in the sidebar so I’ll have to figure out why that is.

I am very excited about the next releases.

R.I.P. Fallout (the cat)

This cat was an absolute joy to have around. He had a great personality and unfortunately, he got abused by other cats in our building.

This morning he was lying on the 2nd floor landing and crying. He wouldn’t get up but when I would talk to him he would cry.

We took him to the vet and we found out he was suffering from a blocked urethra. The surgery would have cost more than we could afford so we had to have him put to sleep.

He will be missed. He was a great little friend.