The search for stuff (more money)

Well, thanks to a number of games I play, along with a bunch more I discovered because of Steam Greenlight, I am in the market for a much better joystick.  The logitech one I have now has served me quite well for more casual or arcade-ish type games like BF1942 and BF2 (heck, did pretty well in IL-2 as well), but it just doesn't cut it any more for the more detailed stuff like Strike fighters 2, LO:MAC, and the myriad of others I'm wanting to try in the near future.

My current setup.  Reliable, but pretty basic.

The problem is that there is a serious dirth of good, mid-range control sticks out there.  There's simply cheap ones for under $50 (like my current one), an then there are the mega-expensive pro models that are $300-500 a pop.  As far as mid range models (the $100-150 range, that includes a throttle control) goes, there are only two choices, and they are both made by the same company (saitek/mad catz) and are simply different variants of each other.  Though they seem to be of a high quality, I am rather frustrated by their styling and button layout.

I really like the throttle control on it, but I hate the ergo and button layout of the  actual control stick.

Why in the world is there no mid-range priced options that have a simple, realistic looking type control stick?  I mean, I'm not looking for one made of aircraft grade aluminum or carbon fiber, or officially licensed by the air force or anything like that.  I just want something affordable ($100-200), that has a rudder axis, a dual throttle piece to go with it, and the styling and button layout like so:

Actual control stick for the AV-8B+

Ha! Last laugh!

For me, it's the pointless things in life.

Now that enough time has passed to have most of the bugs patched out of it, I recently bought Strike Fighters 2 North Atlantic.  Mostly just because I've really been dying to try a carrier landing in the game.  Since I had plenty of practice landing at airfields, the basics were plenty easy, but the game certainly captures the nerve wracking aspects of the approach: nothing but water as far as the eye can see, hand constantly on the throttle to make adjustments, or pour on the power in case of a bolter, the carrier barely visible until you're right on top of it, all while approaching at ridiculous speeds.  Quite the situation, but I still managed to land a nice number two wire right on my first try!  Cool.

while I was gone

So, over the weekend I forgot to mention that I made a quick trip to the local zoo with the roomie, J and his kid.  It's been a while since I had been there, and we picked perhaps the worst time to go, as most of the place was undergoing renovations.  Still had a great time, but like the unprepared fool I am, I forgot to take a camera with me, so no snapshots of that.

One thing that shocks me when I go there, is just how close tigers and wolves are to their domesticated counterparts.  On reflection of this fact, we practically kicked ourselves for not bringing a laser pointer there.  Just imagine a giant 200 lb feline death machine tearing around it's cage like a house cat while trying chase after one of those!

I imagine it to be a lot like this

In other news, I'm finally stopping my nearly two and a half month hiatus from writing that cursed short story that I was having trouble with.  I really needed a fresh pair of eyes going into it, and that wasn't going to happen with my mind consumed with all the stuff I had already written.

The only bad part of this, was that when I tried to go back to proofread what I'd written, I found that over half of my story was somehow deleted, which sent me into a near blood-rage mode for a minute, until I remembered where I had saved another copy.  I'm still a bit jaded by it, considering that I know I've made improvements and added more to that portion of the story after I had saved that particular backup, so I'm sure those bits will forever be lost to the non-functioning parts of my memory.

In the meantime, I'm rediscovering the joy of simultaneously writing the last bits of the story while fine tuning the grammar and sentence structure of the existing parts to enhance readability (wow, maybe I should try that with the blog sometime?).  It proved so hard to write the portion right before the climax of the story, as I really didn't want a whole lot to happen in the world around my character.  I was hoping for more to be going on in his mind as opposed to around him, but due to a lack of imagination on my part, it's not going to end up that way, which I found a bit disappointing  but kind of inevitable.  We'll see how it turns out.

What am I doing here?

So, a few months back, my Mom got in touch with me saying that an acquaintance of hers was thinking of buying a gun for concealed carry.  From what I recall the woman wasn't completely new to shooting, but was still a new-er shooter, as she was asking for help on what kind of gun to buy.  She contacted my Mom for help, who in turn asked for my input (kind of redundant since my Mom's advice was nearly the same).  I remember throwing all the usual advice out there, such as:

- Feel free to take other's advice, but ultimately it's your choice, get what feels right to you.
- Don't take anyone's word for it, always try it before you buy it.
- If you're looking for a gun to keep around the house, just get a rifle.  If you're truly going to be concealing, get something compact and above all, lightweight.
- Also, if you're concealing, make sure you get a proper holster for the job, that completely covers the trigger and guard.
- Remember: snub nose revolvers kick much more, making them less pleasant to practice with, they don't carry as many rounds as most automatics, and for most people, they're harder to be proficient with.

So, a while later my Mom got in touch with me, and mentioned what her friend had chosen, and said to buckle up for some disappointing news.  Against all input, she chose a snub nose, featherweight .38 revolver.  Never even test fired it as far as I know.  Total facepalm moment.

Now, I will say that a revolver isn't a bad option, but why would you go for one of those when you could get something that has a larger magazine, is faster to reload (for the average shooter), has much more pleasant and tolerable recoil, and costs about the same?  I just don't get it.

To me it's like shelling out $400 for an Apple iphone 64GB, when you could have gotten a Samsung Galaxy SII (that already has better hardware) for $100, then simply get a 64GB memory card for $50.  Just wasting money because of ignorance.

Perhaps there is much more to the story than what met my ear, so maybe I'm just being overly sensitive and perhaps she does love practicing with those annoying little revolvers.  Perhaps I was totally in the wrong (which I would be happy to hear that), but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit disappointed when I initially heard it.

good zoo music

More music to calm the nerves.



Oh yeah, and happy Easter everybody!

more bathroom humor

Brace yourselves, people.  This is how terrible my thought process is.  One day, not too long ago, I was in a stall in the men's room making use of the facilities, when I hear another gentleman enter the restroom, and proceed to use the urinal next to my stall.  As I'm conducting my business, I was inclined to believe that the other gentleman doesn't know that there was another patron within, as he was making some very unflattering noses while having some difficulty in relieving himself.  I bear through the awkward tension, as it continues for a few minutes.  Suddenly, I had possibly the funniest bad idea I ever had.

I was fighting with every bit of mental strength I had to resist the insatiable urge to muster up my most official, PSA-sounding voice, and just start blurting, "You know, a weak or inconsistent stream may be a sign of larger issues relating to your prostate.  Regular checkups with a qualified physician may help reduce difficulties and prevent more serious issues, such as prostate cancer."

I was so amused by this thought I had to double check I wasn't laughing out loud.

you know...

I just can't seem to come up with anything relevant to say today.  Perhaps because not much is really going on.  I mean I could tell everyone about the intricacies of my job, but I doubt that would be entertaining to a whole lot of people, so how about I direct you to a great post from good 'ol Larry's blog that I read a couple days ago.

This chronic lack of ideas seems to be happening to me more an more often.  I really do enjoy doing as little outside of home as possible, because it gives me more time to relax and read, but it certainly kills a lot of opportunities for good blog fodder.  Maybe it's time I saved up some money and took a road trip somewhere.   Hmmmm.... I do remember passing this place while driving along I-80 a while back, perhaps it's time I made a return trip.

Oh, how I have fallen...

into the most stereotypical realms of nerd-dom.  I may have mentioned the little desk space arms race my co workers and I have going on.  I rarely care what my status is in relation to other people, but that's only because my geekyness wasn't in question.  Between my roomie's Little Damn Heroes Replica, and J's stupid sprawling fleet of mini Trek ships (he has them all, and then some), I had to make a move.  I needed something of Nerf Nuke proportions.  That's when I noticed this little guy on Amazon the other day; and needless to say, it's already on the way to my doorstep (to the detriment of my wallet).

I will cry about how much I spent on it until it gets here.  When it finally does, I'll probably be nerdgasming because I have the starship and the Jericho go with it.

Bringing you quality random

I love introducing new addictive substances to people.  Just last night, I got to introduce another nice group of people to the joy that is The Pie.  It was a bit of new experience for me as well, since I have never tried their "half-baked cookies and cream", which I now know to be the next best thing to being pampered by a beautiful woman.  If you haven't sampled it, you'll have to change that asap.

Also, I had a fun conversation with my good friend J yesterday, that highlights even more reasons why I'm single.
J:  "So my sister thinks you're a massive jerk, now."
Me: "Okay, what did I do?"
J:  "Well, I just found out she's been trying to text you for like the past few days, and she thinks you're ignoring her."
Me: (a midst laughter) "Oh man, that's pretty funny."
J:  "Yeah, I couldn't bring myself to tell her that you don't have texting."

A related question; is it just me, or does every woman I know text a ridiculous amount every day?  You know it's especially bad when they've told you that they "don't really text that much", because you can expect to see them to be glued to their phone constantly.

In other news, I've been trying to get into playing a bit more Heart of the Swarm, but just when I think I'm safe to move on to another game, a new AV-8B mod comes out for Strike Fighters 2.  Looks like that's what I'll be doing all day today.

Ooooh! Shiny!

I wouldn't consider myself a huge fan of Zooey Deschanel, but I am a big fan of her music, and I just found out that She&Him are coming to Salt Lake again in June!  I'm thinking I should totally go, but it's certainly the type of venue that I'd prefer to take a date to than go alone, and I'm thinking getting one is gonna be the hard part.

I also forgot to mention that on Saturday I was able to go to the natural history museum with a few friends to check out an exhibition on recent developments in nano technology.  Really cool stuff, with applications ranging from greatly increasing battery life, to doubling processing power, implanted brain chips, smart polymers that could cure cancer, even invisibility.  After taking in the whole experience, I was quite impressed; and then wondered if this is how the Borg collective will start.

And yes, they were totally developing stuff just like this.