ThanksGiving, et aliae
Well, it was an interesting Thanksgiving. My sister ended up in the emergency room on Thursday morning due to intense lower back pain. Although (thankfully) the turkey was already in the oven, I helped prepare the other dishes in preparation for the meal. I even learned how to make gravy. My mother and sister ended up missing Thanksgiving. It turns out Katy had a kidney stone. On Thanksgiving. She had to have some pain killers and wait it out until things resolved themselves later in the day. Congratulations, Katy on passing your kidney stone! Yes indeed, I am quite proud of my older sister. She has many other talents, including math, english, art, music, etc. and who knows why I decided to point out that particular accomplishment. Oh well.
The meal was yummy, I finally didn’t eat too much, and completely unrelated would be the math t-shirt design we completed. I listened to the ideas and created the shirt - I am really excited to see it in print/on a t-shirt. The phrases on the back were by some math club members; they are math-related pick-up lines. Pictures sometime in the next three weeks.
Why so long, you ask? Well, I am busy busy. We veneered the HPM-60’s this weekend and it went great - currently the final coat of sealer is drying on them. Then, they’ll come inside, warm up, get waxed, and be ready for another 25 years of service! (Except I still gotta pull the dustcaps on the midranges … argh). And I gotta make stands for them sometime. Either way, I am working on getting the final amp for the system right now. Could be an Sansui AU-717, a Kenwood 9940, or a Pioneer SX-838. Who knows? These guys at AudioKarma are really cool, knowledgeable, and ready to help. One of the more mature, down-to-earth online forums I have participated in. Those car-modding forums are full of many rich, immature people who drag down the enjoyability factor. Anyways, I will most likely be ordering (in the next week) the plate amp, driver, and miscellaneous parts for building the sub over Christmas break. It’s going to be a 20” by 20” by 20” box (and that’s final after changing the design 3 times) and after bracing it will have an internal volume of 95L. Hopefully, it will sound good. I’ll tell you in about a month.
On Thursday night, we movie’d at Katherine’s and that was an excellent time. She just got a ridiculously large, high definition, flat screen TV - the movie was good, too. That following morning I went to Lifetime and saw a guy and his son there - I see them there pretty frequently - they are both really cool. This time, however, they had a third person with them - I think it was another son of the father’s, and he was slightly retarded. It was really poignant to see how they cared so well for him and how much love they showed in such subtle ways. It left me with a really warm feeling. I saw another person after my work out, he couldn’t have been older than me, who seemed to have suffered from a stroke. One of the employees said “it looks like you’re moving faster each day” and as I watched him limp along, I understood my priorities. I mean, honestly - why pound our heads against invisible walls day-in, day-out when we haven’t even acknowledged how fortunate we are to be able to walk, to talk, and to live on our own? I don’t think life is about worrying about small things, I think it’s about enjoying ourselves despite them. I saw a little girl in church today, in her new high-heels, jumping up and down on the stairs from the altar, making noise despite her parents’ best efforts. I laughed quietly - that’s what it’s about. You won’t be able to convince me otherwise.
Oh, and I finally got that part in Austin Powers, where he goes “the power of Christ compels you” - it’s from the Exorcist! It was funny. I think I’ll go jam out to that soundtrack - what a great movie. (Not the Exorcist soundtrack, the Austin Powers one - but the Exorcist was a good movie).
We put up the tree tonight - I get so sentimental looking at the old ornaments - I love that old tree. Don’t you dare go bashing fake trees - someday I will have a real tree at least one year, but until then, this is my favorite. Merry first-week-of-Christmas to you all. I hope your shopping day on Friday went well. I am off to e-mail a couple more questions about the sub, check up on my registration, and do a little homework. And to all a good-night.