Update #9

The Bad News: Trouble with the neighbors. This building went from being empty in June to being filled with families in July. Three new tenants, all with kids. I'd say the kids are under the age of 10.

As a result, we've been getting it from several fronts. Music plays, though not at strange hours. The hallways are crowded with stuff from people moving in. Kids scream while running through the hallways.

The worst part is that our garden has taken a beating. Poor Alicia lost some flowers this weekend when someone (a kid?) decided to pull them out and replant an entire pot in it's place. They took some of our hanging pots and hung them from a tree that couldn't handle the weight. They left food out, bringing a large amount of ants. Our candles were stolen. Perhaps the worst offense, though, is that they picked our biggest tomato.

We've adopted a zero tolerence policy about the flowers now. We refuse to watch and see if they do it again. Everything of value to us has been moved upstairs. Our fire escape is crowded with flowers, the tomato plants, etc. We even took our nice chair upstairs.

Since the new neighbors don't speak english, we can't explain why we're upset. Hopefully, our actions will speak loud enough. The garden doesn't look awful, but it certainly isn't as pretty now.

The Good News: Our Xbox has returned. In June, it stopped working. The problem is pretty widespread, it's called the "Red Ring of Death." That's because the Xbox doesn't turn on, but simply displays 3 red lights on the front.

The problem is caused by inadaquate cooling. Not enough air flow goes through the Xbox, and it over heats. Heat is very bad for electronics, so when the processor gets too hot it just never work the same again.

The "Red Ring of Death" is so widespread that Microsoft has a 3 year extended warranty to cover this problem alone. When our Xbox stopped working, Microsoft paid for shipping both ways and fixed the problem. Sure, we lost two weeks, but we gained a working Xbox free of charge.


The Great News: Life is great. I'm getting married soon to a woman I am still happy with even after four years of being with her. The apartment is exactly how I want it. I've managed to have a very content summer so far, and it is only half over. Both Alicia and I are employed. The kitties are happy and healthy.

And my biggest problems involve neighbor kids. No serious complaints here.


What I've been thinking about: Security. After our next door neighbor was robbed (nothing serious... he left the window unlocked and the thief only stole small electronics) and my father's email account was hacked, I've been trying to be more conscious of it.

Alicia and I were just invited to join Google Voice. The service gives us a new phone number (for free!) and gives us total control over it. We can block people who we don't want calling us, we can access our voicemail on the internet, and we can direct where we'd like the phone number to ring (cell phone, office, etc.). In terms of security, it means no one could trace this number to any specific location in the world. Thus, I feel free to mention that my new number is 347-987-1337. If someone weird on the internet started calling me, I could just block their number!

Other security measures we're thinking about:

- A P.O. Box: Then we could receive mail without giving out our address. They'd accept packages for us, too!
- A Safety Deposit box: Just incase we did have someone break into our apartment, it'd be nice to know our valuables are safe.
- A camera for the garden: The garden is where we're most vulnerable. It'd be nice to catch someone sneaking around back there, or better yet, determine who ruins our flowers next time!

Don't get me wrong, Alicia and I aren't afraid of living here. I guess life is just so good, I'd hate for someone to ruin it.


What I've enjoyed: There's been a lot, so here's a quick list:

- Pulling out the Playstation 2 in Xbox 360's absence.
- Not running the air conditioning now that we have enough windows to allow fans to do their work.
- 1 vs. 100 on Xbox Live. It's a trivia game show that plays live every Friday and Saturday night. You can actually win prizes!
- Finishing the South Park Memorial Day Weekend Marathon. It almost took two months, but we watched all 12 seasons of South Park.
- Alicia has a job. It's indescribable how happy she is.
- Verizon DSL. It's been much more reliable than Time Warner Cable. I will never go back to Time Warner Cable.
- Sleeping in. Starting Wednesday, it'll be over. But I've enjoyed it all summer.