New Tunes for the Landcruiser

Well, the radio in the Landcruiser really started acting up. I thought that after 14 years it had paid its dues and it was time for a new one. I had planned on getting one later this year, maybe for Christmas or something, but the old one began displaying new symptoms so we decided to move up the schedule. This guy is packed with features. Of course, you can listen to the radio, and CDs, but this also has a USB connector that lets you connect your ipod and control it through the deck rather than having to play with the ipod while driving. I can also burn data CDs of MP3s and WMAs and store several hours of music on a disc. As if that wasn't enough I can also plug a flash drive full of music directly into the USB drive and then the deck becomes an MP3 player as big as the flash drive I care to put in it. There's also an auxiliary input so I can plug any headphone jack into it and hear it. Here it is, neat, huh.

Since installation at Best Buy would have been $95 including parts I decided to do it my self. I ordered the deck from Crutchfield.com because they include those installation parts for free, so I saved myself a bunch by being a little savvy with the electronics. But just in case you thought this might not be a genuine Tom Kruger installation, or (heaven forbid) I start to get a little too confident in my abilities, I made a mistake. In my haste to get everything together and get the auxiliary plugs wired, I forgot to plug in the antenna cable. That only means I can't listen to my radio stations, but everything else works fine. It's not a big deal. I just couldn't fix it today because I ran out of daylight. Pretty soon I'll have to take the stuff apart again and get it all together.

Anyway, it sounds great. Thanks Pioneer!!

Insomniac Newsletter

I seem to be suffering from some sort of insomnia. Since misery loves company it seems fitting that I include all you members of the blogosphere in my nocturnal rantings.

For the last two nights I've tried in vain to get to sleep at a reasonable hour. It just seems that I lay in bed and continually turn over in my mind one subject--photography. While I do love photography, I think this is my mind trying to distract itself from life at hand. Chelsea and I sit poised at the greatest disruption in our lives since we decided to get married. That was a good change, and so is this, but even being positive, the magnitude of the change is immense.

Right now we are at the point where all you can do is wait and prepare. For the last few weeks the calendar has been doing most of the work while we just continued going about the business of going to work everyday and little by little getting the house ready for the move. It's a very impatient time. They say you should never contemplate the future at the expense of the present, but this is one case where there really isn't anything going on in the present. I only have a few work days left and unfortunately I'm not going to be able to get everything done that I wanted to. Chelsea also has only a few days left but there is so much going on at her work it wouldn't matter for their situation if she left today or in another month. They will struggle with her departure either way.

So we are living in the future while waiting for the present to catch up. We are looking forward to our new apartment, new city, new lifestyle, new (insert noun here). We will still have the Landcruiser, couch, and mattress, but the list of familiar things is very short. I think that's why I'm thinking about photography, it's familiar to me and it goes anywhere I can take my camera.

Of course, our perception of the future is so bright it's hard not to get lost in it. Chelsea will finally finish her stressful job. I'll begin my career that I've been working toward for the past seven years, and we will be living in a part of the country that both of us love. Hopefully very soon we will also have an addition to our family. Grandmothers, don't get too giddy, I'm talking about the puppy we both want very badly. We've settled on getting a Beagle puppy. Now we just have to wait until we can get up there and find a breeder with a litter, or at least one on the way. We've wanted a dog since we got married and we've put it off in the interest of school and work but now our lifestyle will be such that we can give the animal its necessary attention. Also, since dogs never seem to tire of having their picture taken, I'm sure this, and many other internet sites I use, will be choked with pictures of it.

But before we get to all these great new things that we are anticipating, we have to get through the move. Every move is going to be stressful. That's just the way it is. This one is no exception. Due to delays and being out of town, I was able to contact the travel office just last week. they told me that many times the move can be scheduled no less than four weeks in advance. That would put us moving on August 12. My landlord is expecting to take possession of the house August 1. I'm still crossing my fingers. Tomorrow morning I'm making another trip to Hill AFB for my household goods shipment counseling. This is where we schedule everything and find out if we are screwed or not. But no pressure. This may turn into a personally procured move, but either way we're out of the house the last week of the month. That means that in two weeks we'll be homeless for about 10 days. Should be fun.

Here's to the future. Now, hopefully I can get some sleep.

Degree!!

My degree finally came in the mail!! Now it's really, really official.