The Raging Tech

Amazon Prime Has Its Advantages

So, I have more recently been learning to live within my means, and using my blog money to purchase the silly things that I want. I finally cashed out my Social Spark account for the last $50, and once it was in my PayPal account I transferred it out to my bank account.

So what did blogging buy me this month? I have pre-ordered the new Iron Man movie and the newest Incredible Hulk movie that had Edward Norton in it, both on Blu-Ray. I’ve been meaning to build up my Blu-Ray collection recently, but they’re still so darn expensive.

Amazon Prime is a pretty good investment if you’re interested in buying a lot from Amazon over six months to a year’s time. Basically it gives you free two-day shipping on unlimited items (not counting things from Amazon Marketplace sellers, only direct from Amazon.com) for about $79. A few bucks per item, and after about 10-15 items it’s paid for itself. I buy books and dvds and now Blu-Ray movies from Amazon every couple of months, so it’s nice not to have to pay for shipping.

The Hulk movie comes out on Blu-Ray middle of September, and Iron Man comes out on Blu-Ray on September 30th. Learn how your blog or business can support my movie habit and make the mortgage each month.

An Entirely Cool Labor Day Blog

*Disclaimer: “Entirely Cool” is based on my opinion only. Author assumes no responsibility for whether or not you give a crap.

Friday evening started off my 4-day Labor Day weekend (I took an extra day off, today, to get my furniture and some other stuff done). We went to Huddle House and then over to Marq & Melissa’s for game night, which was lots of fun as usual.

I had presumed incorrectly that my mom and sister were going to arrive late Saturday evening, and that I’d have all day to clean. Instead what happened was that my mom and sister showed up around 2pm, about an hour after I woke up and was just getting out of the shower.

So, the great family that they are, they started cleaning my house for me. Mom went into busy mode and started cleaning my kitchen, and my sister cleaned the room she is staying in. Later, we went and ate food at Backyard Burgers, then got some supplies at the dollar store and Food Lion.

Sunday morning, we all went to church, which was nice. I let some people know I’d moved away to a nearby city, since apparently I’d forgotten to tell them. After church, we went to a pub for lunch. Then we went to Lowe’s and picked up some paint and supplies, and came home to relax. Mom started taping off the “accent wall” she was going to paint a different color than the other walls.

Monday morning, we went to Lowes again, picked up a step ladder, more supplies, I got a Troy-Bilt 190cc Self-Propelled Lawnmower. We came home, and got to work painting. My sister had my new Char-Broil propane grill almost completely put together. I threw our steaks into some secret-recipe marinade (hint: it includes Black Cherry Cruzan rum!) and let them start marinating. Mom had bought some neat cat toys for Chairman Meow, including a cat nip mouse she’s crazy about, a kitty play center thing, a scratchy strip thing, and a kitty scratching post.

Most of Monday was spent painting, it took a lot longer than we thought. Thankfully, there were no significant paint fumes. After painting, we were able to have some company. My friend Aron and his new wife Amy came over and I grilled the steaks out on my new grill. They turned out delicious! After dinner we played Chicken Foot for about 13 rounds and then said goodnight.

This morning, I woke up and ate a quick breakfast, then my sister and I moved both the heavy sleeper love seat and heavy sleeper couch out to the road side. Then, I moved on to mowing the lawn with my new mower while Mom and Sis went to town. While they were gone, and I was about halfway done, the furniture delivery guys showed up with my new love seat and couch, both of which are completely comfy and completely reclinable! I didn’t buy the wedge that makes it a sectional, because I sat in it, and it’s not all that comfortable.

I finished mowing the lawn, took a shower, and relaxed in my new furniture. We watched some TV and then Mom took us to Anthony’s for some pizza, then we stopped at the hardware store on the corner for some Mayfield hand-dipped ice cream.

Now we’re back at the house again, and I keep looking around at my living room and thinking about how cool my house was, and how much cooler it’s getting, and how much potential it still has for awesomeness. I’m pretty thankful. Pictures to come later.

Paying off The Man for FREEDOM

My inheritance funds finally cleared, and my final decision was to pay off debt instead of getting fancy new tech gadgets. It seemed like the smarter thing to do. I dumped a load of money into my Money Market account because it has a 3.20% interest rate, and I paid off Bank of America FOREVER. It feels SO good to be out of their clutches finally. I closed the account today and as soon as my bill pay arrives in their hands they said they should be sending me a check (I over-payed a little just to be sure).

I went to Wal-mart last night and bought some things for the kitchen, the rest of the house, and for the cat. I think this weekend I’m going to buy a propane grill (a modest one, not a huge hulking expensive one) and a self-propelled lawn-mower, maybe a weed-whacker. My lawn looks kinda shaggy right now, and my black push mower I brought from home is missing a part to the handle (it pulled a Houdini, I have no idea where it went) that makes it really difficult to push.

The last things to buy will be my new living room furniture over Labor Day weekend. I’m thinking about just going to the Big Lots in the next town and getting a reclining sectional and a coffee table, and maybe a twin bed frame for the guest room. The other thing will be paint, so I can paint my living room. I’m re-thinking the dark navy blue color, and thinking more of a light brown or a khaki color with a dark brown trim.

Speaking of the cat, I got her a lot of neat stuff. I got a “pet taxi” cat carrier, so I can take her to the vet for shots and getting spayed. I got her a new litter box with a cover and a little cat door in it, that has a built-in air filter and the floor doubles as a sifter, with a pan below and another pan below that for switching out as you empty it. I got her a little “Cat Mat” floor mat that goes right outside the litter box, so that she has something to wipe her paws on as she gets out of the litter box. She actually uses it, it’s so cute.

I upgraded her to some larger food and water bowls since she’s getting bigger. I got her a little white stuffed bear that is barely smaller than she is, and she loves it. She spent most of last night wrestling it and gnawing on it. I got her a little plush cat bed that she slept in some yesterday. I also got her some of those little balls that have tiny bells inside them and she played with those for a while.

I’m not exactly financially free now, but paying off some bills and getting some things I need means not spending my paycheck on those things, and that means more money in my pocket each month with no new debt acquired since the house.

Check Out Fail Blog

I could have almost swore I already pointed this one out, but I checked my archives and I haven’t talked about it yet. For those of you who enjoy my random LOLCat pictures to get you through the week, there’s another fun diversion from the people who brought you ICanHasCheezburger.com: The Fail Blog.

A FAIL is pretty much what it sounds like. In my head, whenever I see a FAIL or an EPIC FAIL, I hear the kid from the Simpsons going “HA-HA,” and imagine him pointing at someone’s misfortune. A FAIL pic or video is just that, a funny picture of someone’s misfortune or epic stupidity.

Some examples:

see more pwn and owned pictures

see more pwn and owned pictures

see more pwn and owned pictures

see more pwn and owned pictures

see more pwn and owned pictures

TrailerAddict Leaks Wolverine Movie Trailer

Website TrailerAddict leaked the trailer footage shown at ComicCon of the new Marvel film X-Men Origins: Wolverine, that’s centered around popular Marvel comics X-Men character Wolverine, with some Sabretooth and Strider and Gambit action, it would seem.

I can’t wait for a more official version to be released, but for now it looks like this shaky cam footage will have to do. Enjoy!

Emmersive Sci-Fi Podcast “The Leviathan Chronicles”

The audio book has long been a literary tradition pretty much since the first years of audio recording. When radio became widespread, serial-format shows were often broadcast in the evenings after most American families had finished dinner and were settling down.

Now, we listen to broadcasts in all sorts of ways: iPods, streaming audio, the radio, satellite radio, or via a subscription online such as a podcast (which can in turn be played on an iPod or in iTunes or another audio player).

The serial-format radio drama still exists today! A neat one I recently discovered called “The Leviathan Chronicles” is divided up into chapters, available as episodes of a podcast online.

From what I can tell from the first chapter, it appears to be about a Chinese and an American sub that wind up in the same trench at the same time. An accidental firing sets off some sort of an energy pulse below the surface of the ocean. A year later, a government agent is called in to investigate what happened, because the signal from under the ocean was answered… from space.

So far, the presentation is pretty engaging. The background audio sounds like the ocean up against the outside of a sub wall, so you feel like you’re actually listening in inside a submarine. Also, instead of just a straight read-through, there are actors reading the lines of the characters, and a sexy female British voice reading the narration.

The Dark Knight in Theaters Friday

The latest installment of the newest Batman re-telling hits theaters this Friday, July 18th! Heath Ledger is being nominated for a posthumous Oscar for his performance as the Joker, Christian Bale is back as the new Batman, Michael Caine returns as Alfred, and Morgan Freeman makes his short appearance as Gadget Guy (I can’t be bothered with silly things like research).

Several viral marketing sites attempt to bring depth to the new movies, with sites like WhySoSerious.com and IBelieveInHarveyDent.com letting visitors “in” to the Gotham City world.

I don’t know about any of you, but as excited as I was about the new Joker, I’m doubly excited about seeing Aaron Eckhardt as Harvey Dent, aka Two Face! Some photos are “leaked” around the internet of what he looks like post-accident, but I think they’re all photoshopped forgeries. If you pause the Hi-Def version of Trailer 4 on the scene with Harvey Dent holding a gun beside his face, you can see where he’s been burned around the edges, especially near his chin, and his suit is strikingly different on the side that’s barely visible.

My original impression was that we’d meet Harvey Dent in this film, and then see him turn into Two-Face later, but now it looks as though we may see a Two-Face by Friday’s new release!