Not all that much to say lately. I got bored of online poker again pretty quickly, and when it’s boring, I lose money. I need to find a way to make it fun again. I need Badugi, dammit.
The Mets are having a horrible June. They were like 6-14 before finally winning 4 in a row, sweeping the A’s and taking one game against St. Louis. Two days ago, they tied the game up in the bottom of the 9th only to lose in 11 innings, and last night they won a rain-shortened 5.5 inning game (Glavine CG SHO! One hitter! Win 297). Somehow, they still have a 3.5 game lead in the NL East.
Last Saturday, I played disc golf for the first time. It’s a lot of fun, and a good way to get me outside. There’s a course pretty much right down the street from me, which is nice. I also played at Lake Casitas, which is about 45 minutes away, and a beautiful place. I’ll have to get back there sometime just to use my camera, not to play.
This weekend, I’m heading up to Reno for the USBC Nationals. It’s on a tough oil pattern, and I don’t expect to bowl particularly well, but it’ll be fun. The league I’m in on Saturday mornings has been using the same pattern, and I’m averaging around 175 in it, which is pretty much what I expected. I’m driving up there with a couple of friends, instead of taking the bus that broke down, like I did three years ago.
I guess that’s all I’ve got for now.
Balancing hobbies and habits can be tricky, especially when your interests span from the tactile satisfaction of smart home projects to the digital thrill of playing slot online games for real cash. If you’re anything like me, you know the struggle of getting sucked into a new lighting setup only to realize hours have flown by, and your gaming console is collecting dust. Let’s explore some strategies to make the most of your time and keep both passions thriving.
The Allure of Smart Home Projects
There’s something undeniably satisfying about smart home projects. Whether it’s installing the latest Philips Hue system or setting up a new security camera, these tasks offer a tangible sense of accomplishment. Take, for example, my recent endeavor to design a custom switch for my Hue lights. The process of brainstorming, sketching, and finally seeing the idea come to life was immensely rewarding. But as much as I love tinkering with gadgets, these projects can be time-consuming.
The Pull of Online Gaming
On the flip side, online gaming, particularly playing slots for real cash, offers a different kind of thrill. It’s quick, it’s exciting, and the potential for real rewards is a huge draw. If you’re constantly playing HumanitZ, these humanitz cheats may help you level up much easier. But it’s also easy to lose track of time. One minute you’re spinning the reels, and the next, you’ve spent an entire afternoon chasing that togel hari ini jackpot. Discover a wide range of gaming options, generous bonuses, and the convenience of flexible access only at slot gacor. Balancing this with smart home projects requires a bit of discipline and planning.
Setting a Schedule
The first step to balancing these activities is setting a schedule. Allocate specific times for your smart home projects and your gaming sessions. For instance, you might decide to dedicate weekday evenings to working on your latest home automation setup and reserve weekends for gaming. This way, you can indulge in both without feeling guilty about neglecting one or the other.
Using Technology to Your Advantage
Ironically, the very technology you’re installing can help manage your time better. Use timers and reminders on your smart devices to keep track of how long you spend on each activity. Set an alarm on your smart speaker to signal the end of your gaming session or a reminder on your phone to take a break from your DIY project. These small prompts can help you stay on track without getting too absorbed in one task.
Creating a Dedicated Space
Having a dedicated space for each activity can also make a big difference. Set up a corner of your home for your smart home projects, complete with all the tools and devices you need. Similarly, create a comfortable gaming nook where you can relax and enjoy your favorite online slots. Incorporate unique elements like Live Edge Slabs to add character and functionality to these spaces. By physically separating these spaces, you can mentally switch gears more easily and give each activity the attention it deserves.
Embracing Flexibility
While schedules and spaces are great, it’s also important to remain flexible. Some days, you might be in the zone with a smart home project and not want to stop. Other days, a new online slot game or a game of เซ็กซี่บาคาร่า might be too enticing to resist. Allow yourself the freedom to switch things up as needed, but try to maintain a balance over the long term.
Combining Interests
One innovative way to balance these interests is to combine them. Use your smart home tech to enhance your gaming experience. Set up your Philips Hue lights to change color based on your game’s progress, or use smart plugs to control your gaming setup with voice commands. This not only adds a new level of excitement to your gaming but also keeps you engaged with your smart home technology.
Staying Social
Both smart home projects and online gaming have vibrant communities. Engage with others who share your interests. If you enjoy casino gaming, then sign up with fun88. Join forums, participate in online discussions, or even start a blog to share your experiences. If you’re a big baccarat player, you can find Reliable Baccarat Sites here.
Reflecting on Your Time
Finally, take some time to reflect on how you’re spending your time. Are you enjoying your hobbies, or do they feel like a chore? Adjust your approach as needed to ensure that both your smart home projects and your gaming remain enjoyable and fulfilling.
In conclusion, balancing smart home projects and online gaming is all about finding the right rhythm. By setting a schedule, using technology to your advantage, creating dedicated spaces, embracing flexibility, combining interests, staying social, and reflecting on your time, you can enjoy the best of both worlds. Happy tinkering and happy gaming!
Just got finished packing for the trip to Tucson for Passover. I should be asleep already, I have to be up in under 6 hours. Driving (or, riding in the car) with Brad, Staci, and Evan to LAX, and then a short flight to TUS.
The past few days, I’ve been playing a lot of online settlers at JSettlers, on the ladder at MyLeague. It’s been a long time since I’ve played the game seriously, and I really suck at it right now. My record at the moment is 16-48 (the 16 should be a multiple of 3, so some people didn’t report losses, and it should be 18-48). That means I’ve won 6 games, and lost 48. That’s … bad. A lot of the games I’ve been close, and needed a common number to get rolled to win, and we go for 12 rolls without it, and I lose. The RNG at JSettlers is more rigged than online poker. I won a game around a half hour ago, and stopped for the night. That win came after a 21 game losing streak. It was painful.
My company softball team started up again last night, and we won our first game of the season! I went 4-5, and the one out was made on a nice sliding catch at the foul line. My first hit, though, was a little silly. With two strikes on me, if I hit a foul ball, it’s an out. I hit a stupid little popup between the catcher and the pitcher that neither could get to in the air, and when it hit the ground it looked like it was rolling foul, so they didn’t touch it. It stayed fair, and I was safe at first. My other three hits were solid. The games go for 70 minutes or 7 innings, whichever is shorter. This game ended after three innings, with a final score of 24-16. We were the away team, and batted first. In the first two innings, we scored 5 and 6, and they scored 8 in both innings. In the top of the third, we batted around after we already had two outs, and ended up scoring 13 tuns. The other team got out 1-2-3 on 4 pitches. Two flyballs to left-center, and a popup to the pitcher. It’s good to win. 🙂
Evan likes pinball:
I think there was something else I wanted to write about here too, but I can’t remember and I need to go to sleep.
A friend of mine sent me a link to this video the other day, and I just had to post it here.
I write software for a living, so I don’t at all support piracy, but this thing is just hilarious. Rampant piracy still exists, and yet people still write new and more expensive (to produce) computer games. Anyway, it’s worth a watch.
Also, it made me go dig up this old button that I was sure I still had:
I’m fairly sure I got that at PC EXPO 1990-something. Crazy.
Well, I made it to New Jersey (and back) this weekend, but it wasn’t easy.
I got to the Santa Barbara airport around 5:30 for my 6:25 flight, checked in, went through security, and sat down. I checked the status of my flight from LA to Newark on my phone, and saw it was delayed an hour and a half from 10:10 to 11:40. No big deal. Not long afterwards, I get a call from Orbitz that my flight to LA is delayed until 7:23. Again, not a big deal, especially since the connection was delayed as well. Around 7, there’s an announcement at the airport that the flight to LA is canceled because the plane that was supposed to take us can’t land in Santa Barbara can’t land because of the fog. It flew here from LA, circled, and then flew back. The next one was delayed until 11, and there was a decent chance it might canceled as well.
I decided the best thing to do was to skip that flight and drive to LA. It was around 7:15 when I left, and while you’d normally think that’s plenty of time to drive 100 miles for an 11:40 flight, you never know what you’ll get driving into LA. I’ve learned to make up time early in the trip when there’s little traffic to plan for taking an hour to go 15 miles on the end. It was some of the best, and most fun, driving I’ve done in a long time. 🙂 I was in the LAX parking lot waiting for the shuttle to the airport at a quarter to 9. As it turned out, I would have made my flight to NJ even if it hadn’t been delayed.
Going through security, they found my $3 Swiss Army Knife from Amazon, which I had no idea was in my bag. I had the choice to either leave it with them, or check a bag. I decided to just leave it. Every airport the size of LAX should be required to have a USPS outside security in every terminal. Or at least a mailbox, and a machine to buy stamps, or something. Santa Barbara security hadn’t noticed it. If they had, I would have just brought it back to my car there, and would still have it. In LA, though, it’s a bus ride back to the car, and while I probably had the time for it, it wasn’t worth it for something I can replace for $23.11 if I decide I really need another.
Anyway, I got on the plane, it took off at 11:40, got in around 8 AM, and both of my brothers met me at the airport. So far, so good. Saturday, I was looking at my itinerary for my return flight Sunday night. My return flight was through San Francisco. My car was in LA.
Oops.
I called United, and they said the earliest they could get me from Newark to LAX was a Monday morning flight at 7am that stopped in Denver and got in at 12:55 Monday. I also had the option of leaving Sunday night out of La Guardia (and my parents could have driven me there from my brother’s place, as they were going to be driving past it on the way home anyway), but then I’d have had to leave sooner than I wanted. I had them book me on the Monday morning flight, and figured that would be it. Then, I tried to book a flight on united.com from EWR to LAX Monday morning, and it came back with an 8:15 AM direct flight that got in at 11:15. I called back, and they said there were no economy seats available, only first class. I asked if I could have that instead, and was told yes. I asked, three times, if there was any extra charge, and was told no.
I was sure something would go wrong, so I called back Sunday to confirm the flight. First problem, I was still booked on both the 7 AM and 8:15 AM flight. Second problem, I owed over $500 for the first class seat. I spoke to a supervisor, who said I couldn’t have the first class seat, but somehow gave me an economy plus seat that wasn’t available the night before. Annoying, but I really just wanted to get home. I also told him to cancel the earlier (but arriving later) flight, because I obviously wouldn’t be flying out of Newark twice on Monday morning.
Monday morning I get to the airport, check in, and find out that I’m actually booked through all the way to Santa Barbara. Not a big deal, as I just don’t use the second boarding pass, but thought it was a little funny. Also, Orbitz had been calling me all morning about all the flights. The flight to Denver was delayed, the flight to LA was on time. The flights from Denver to Santa Barbara, and LA to Santa Barbara, were both on time. I got into LAX at 11:15, got to my car at 10 to noon, and was at work by 2. For 3.5 hours, and then I went bowling, having been awake since around 2:30 AM local time, and having gotten about 4 hours of sleep.
Then I went home, and slept for 12 hours.
I’m going to try to get in the habit of actually posting here once in a while. Nothing as ambitious as Shane’s 30 in 30, just… you know, actually writing something from time to time.
Tonight, I’m hopefully heading out to New Jersey, but the weather isn’t looking too good. JetBlue canceled most of their flights into the area because of a storm. As of the moment, United hasn’t canceled my flight yet. With any luck, they won’t.
Last night, I finally got sound working on my Windows desktop, and hooked up the line-out from that machine to the line-in on my Linux machine, so now I get sound from both machines out of the same speakers. It also let me record some music from a flash streaming audio app. Last month, I saw Bowling for Soup, and one of the opening bands for them was Melee. I bought their older CD, but the new one doesn’t come out for another couple of weeks (same day as GH2 for the Xbox 360, actually). They have three songs up in a flash player here, but I wanted them in a format I could take with me. I’m sure there’s probably some way to record streaming audio with a single PC, but this was a nice easy solution for me to do it. They’re now on my iPod. And yes, I’m actually buying the CD when it comes out (in fact, it’s pre-ordered at Amazon).
17 days until opening day.
Amazon one-click + prime is dangerous. This is so tempting. I haven’t ordered it… yet.
I really don’t have much of anything to say, as usual. Dammit. I need to come up with things to write about, and post more.
Now, back to BSG.
| Your current terror alert level is: |  |
There is no threat. Stop being so paranoid.
Edit: This image rules.
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