motion activated towels

Alright, maybe someone needs to enlighten me on how these things work, because I cannot for the life of me figure it out. I’m talking about the motion activated towel dispensers in public bathrooms. Every time I wave my hand in front of it, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, and when it does work, only maybe 3 inches of towel come out. I need about a foot of paper towel to dry my hands, and so I keep waving my hands in front of the sensor, and it never seems to extend the towel. Why is that?

what’s in my tennis bag

Clockwise (kind of) from bag:

1. Wilson Tour Super Six Pack with Thermoguard - I think this is the ‘05 model. Don’t quote me on that. Anyway, the great thing about this bag (aside from its cavernous space) is that there are backpack straps on the back for easier carrying.

2. Volkl Tour 10 V-Engine Mid Racquet - This is a 93″, 18×20, 18mm thin beast, strung with a hybrid setup (Luxilon Mains, cheap synthetic crosses). It is still selling for an “on sale” price at Tennis Warehouse for $99, but I was able to find it at some random tennis shop in a chinese mall in Houston for $65. They only had one though :-/ Too bad. This racquet swings around quick, almost whip like.

3. Pro Kennex Ceramic Silver Ace Mid Racquet - This is a 90″ frame, and is currently just a backup and grommet-less frame. I used to have eight of these, but being as they were all made in the 80’s I think, and were all ceramic composites, the frames did not last long and all succumbed to various cracks. This is the sole survivor. Too bad, since I was able to get them off of eBay for an avg. price of $25 each.

4. Nike Spring Basic Feather Light Hat - Dri-Fit, very light, very thin, and very cool (meaning it keeps your head cool).

5. OFF! Clean Feel Insect Repellent II - This one has Picaridin as the active ingredient (as opposed to the more popular DEET), which allows it to be non-oily and grease-free.

6. Coppertone Sport Sunblock Spray - Sweatproof, waterproof, and SPF 15.

7. Wilson Pro Overgrips - 10+2 Roll

8. Luxilon Big Banger ALU Power Strings - Used for my mains, 16L gauge, Silver. These are great, last forever, and prevent your strings from moving all the time.

9. Wilson Stamina Strings - Used for my crosses, 16 gauge, White. Softens up the Luxilons a bit, and are cheap, as well as durable.

10. Nike Swoosh Bandana - Federer/Nadal style. :P

11. Nike Swoosh Headband - James Blake style. :P

12. Nike Swoosh Wristbands - Ahh, if only I could play like Federer, Nadal, or Blake. Or even a 4.5-5.0 for that matter.

13. Nike Towel - This one almost feels like microfiber. But it’s not.

14. Babolat ElastoCross String Saver Locks - Used for parts of my stringbed which are about to break.

15. Miniature Fisker Scissors - For cutting ends of overgrips and cutting out broken strings.

16. Kleenex - For my allergies to almost every vegetation known to man.

17. Pete Sampras Vibration Dampeners - Made by Unique. In Black and Red.

18. Nike Compression Ankle Sleeve - For the times when I slightly roll on my ankle and need added support.

19. Adidas Barricade IV Tennis Shoes - This is my second pair of this model. The pervious ones were black/white/red. These are the best shoes I’ve tried, although I haven’t tried the new Barricade V’s. The 2nd best shoes would be the Reebok Pumps that Roddick used to wear; not the new KFS ones, but the Match Day Pumps.

20. Express Sweatpants - For warming up when it’s cold out. Windbreaker style.

21. Hanes Socks - Backup socks.

22. USTA Code - The Rules of Tennis, 2007 edition. Great for disputing calls. :P

23. Wilson US Open Balls - Extra Duty felt. Second best balls I’ve tried. Best ones being the Dunlop GrandPrix Extra Duties.

24. Igloo Elite Cooler - 1/2 Gallon.

what’s in my bag

Clockwise (kind of) from bag:

1. The North Face Surge Backpack - Great look, straps located in such a way to make your load lighter, a great separate compartment for my notebook which is suspended in such a way so it doesn’t hit the ground, and a hidden pocket for my power adaptor.

2. Holga 120N Medium Format Lomography Camera - This toy camera outputs some great over-saturated square yumminess.

3. Eddie Bauer Water Bottle - This 25.4 oz. (751 ml) bottle is made with “virtually unbreakable” Lexan resin.

4. Canon Rebel Xti/400D DSLR w/ 50mm f/1.8 II Prime Lens - My main camera of choice, and one of my favorite possessions.

5. USB iPod Shuffle Dock - A bit clunky, and if it ever breaks, I will replace it with the Marware version that doesn’t have a cord.

6. 85W MagSafe Power Adapter - For the MBP. Make sure you don’t trip over the adaptor while it is plugged in the wall, as you may slightly bend the prong. Maybe they shoulda MagSafed the other end for clumsy people like me. :P

7. Radio Shack retractable USB to mini-USB cord - Used to use it for connecting my PSP (which I sold) to my PC Desktop (which I sold). Now used to connect my DSLR, as well as my:

8. Sony MRW62SE-S1/171 17-in-1 Card Reader - High speed USB 2.0, very sleek and compact, and matches the laptop.

9. Moleskine Ruled Notebook - I love these things, and wished I used the larger cahier versions in school.

10. Cross Metal ION Gel Ink Pen - This pen kinda sucks. It looks cool, and is compact, but it’s uncomfortable to use. The Dr. Grip I used in college was much better. I’ll probably replace this when the ink runs out.

11. Money Smart Clip - Holds bills on one side, and cards on the other. Engraved with WT. I’ve had this for 7 years and still nothing I’ve seen is as slim, convenient, and sleek as this solution.

12. CRKT M16-12 Aluminum Handle Folding Knife - Just in case.

13. Porsche Boxster Keys - Why do people use the plural form and say “Can I have the keys to the [Enter Car Name Here]” when they’re really just asking for one key?

14. Palm Treo 700w - This is the Windows version of the Treo 700. I used to use the EVDO data plan, but Verizon charges insane amounts for their data, so I cancelled that portion. Contract is up, just waiting for a phone that I actually like to replace it.

15. Tucano MicroFibra X Second Skin Sleeve - This microfiber & neoprene sleeve for my MBP is oh so soft and highly recommended. It also comes with a microfiber keyboard protector that doubles as a screen cleaner. Thanks Honeca!

16. iPod Shuffle 1GB - 2nd Gen, in green, and engraved with “musique du jour” on the back.

17. MacBook Pro - 15.4″, 2.5 GHz Penryn, 4GB RAM, 512MB VRAM, 200GB 7200rpm hard drive, and a multitouch trackpad.

4:20

Events and Births on this day:
570 - Prophet Muhammed, founder of Islam
1808 - Napoleon III
1889 - Adolf Hitler
1951 - Luther Vandross
1983 - Will Tung
1999 - Columbine High School massacre
2007 - Johnson Space Center Shooting

my south park character

Check out this South Park Studio and make your own South Park caricature. Here is mine:

porsche ride’n'drive

I attended a Porsche Ride & Drive event at the Driveway racetrack. Basically, it was an event to allow people to test out the newly released Porsche Cayenne GTS. I first drove the SUV for 3 laps, with a race instructor by my side, giving me tips on when to accelerate, when to brake, what line to follow, etc. It might as well be a car, because this SUV handles like a dream. Then I switched seats and he drove full out for 3 laps. That’s when I realized how lame of a driver I was. Although it felt like I was pushing the GTS to it’s limits, I think I ended up going at 1/3 of the limit. After that I was able to sit in for 3 hot laps each on the Cayman S and the Carrera S, and realized just what that extra $$$ (compared to the Boxster) translates to: balls to the wall adrenaline rushing euphoria, which can be experienced in the Boxster as well, except in these cars, you feel like you might die any second.

mario kart wii online footage

Watching this online footage just makes me want to pee in my pants. Please, please will anyone I know just get a Wii so we can compete online?!?! My Wii code is 2667-3074-4575-9908. Not sure if Mario Kart Wii will issue a specific one or not, but we’ll see April 27th. Let’s tear it up! (Sorry the embedding didn’t seem to work)

the homeless aversion creep-up

I’m not a bad person, really. I mean, heck, I even worked on a local community project once to help homeless people get back on their feet, as I believe a lot of them (maybe 25%) actually want to. They just can’t get jobs as easily because they suffer from discrimination by being homeless. But my behavior seems to contradict my beliefs, because of something I call the “Homeless Aversion Creep-up.” When driving on the road, and coming to those intersections congested with homeless people holding up signs with lame jokes like “Need $ for Beer,” I actually creep up as far as I can go to actually have my car bypass them and avoid eye contact. Like I said, I’m not really a bad person, it’s just that I don’t keep change, and I am uncomfortable with eye contact with strangers at intersections. If it was a brazilian supermodel in a bikini standing there, I’d probably do the same thing. Which makes me seem kind of anti-social, but I don’t believe I’m that either. Just anti-social in certain situations.

back in the blogosphere

Well I finally decided to start up a blog again. The last time I had an active blog, it was kind of before the time of modern blogs as we know it today. Online blog services weren’t popular then, and I created a site myself and had it hosted straight from my computer with a URL linked to my IP address. It sounds nerdy, but it really wasn’t. There was a section for journal entries, as well as sections for photography, graphic designs, and various other musings of an overly excited and possibly lonely college freshman. I actually remember sitting in class and drawing up different website designs and organizational methods instead of listening to the professor. I’ll try and dig up some screenshots of the site(s) when I get a chance. It should be interesting to see how long this one will last, as the previous one lasted from 2001-2003.