Lullabys and Unblinking Eyes
Well, it’s been a week full of happenings and revelations, that’s for sure. Among the ones you might find interesting:
- I’m taking a short vacation this weekend, and being consciously monophasic since I knew I’d miss all my naps yesterday and didn’t want to spend it sleep-deprived. Also, the week itself has been so hectic that I’ve missed many naps (plus had an alarm clock die on me – >.< ), and needed to catch up some sleep anyway. (I thought about using the vacation instead to be super-strict and get things back in order, but a) I’m in a hotel, man, and b) it’s been pointed out to me that vacations are a better time to relax than they are times to get super-strict.) If my former short bouts of monophasic are any indication, I’ll be able to get right back on track next week, just by being careful for a few days. (ADAPTER WARNING: That’s not necessarily true if you haven’t been on the schedule for years!)
- So far that’s actually going really well. I slept eight hours almost to the minute Friday night, with no alarm clock, 12-8, and felt great when I got up. (Well, a little sore, but other than that, great. And the sore may have been from driving a ton.) If I want a nap today and get a chance to take one, I’m not going to fight it. …Heh, the idea of a nap purely for the pleasure of napping kinda makes me tingly. ;)
- Also, I finally found the camcorder I’ve been looking for! After all that searching online, (and I mean I did a lot of searching), it was in a Meijer’s. (Meijer’s, if you haven’t been, is one of the more tolerable big-box stores.) It’s an RCA Small Wonder “Traveler”, model EZ210. It’s about the size & shape of two Blackberries sandwiched together. The controls are super-easy, and it takes either near-DVD-quality or Web (YouTube)-quality video. Also has a simple button on it to take a picture, which you wouldn’t believe how hard it was to find a model like this that does that. (I think it’ s a lower-quality picture, but I can probably deal with that. My dad has a nice photographer’s model camera if I need one.) It has the flip-out USB connection like the Flip models do, and the camera as a whole feels pretty sturdy. Has a nice anti-glare 2.5″ color display, too. Uploads straight to YouTube, though I can’t comment yet on how that works as I haven’t used it. …But you know, what really impressed me, after reading the contents of the box on so many other models, was the completeness of the RCA’s package. It came with the AA batteries it needs, a 2GB SD card (that’s an hour of high-quality footage, and it can take up to an 8GB card), a USB extension cable, cables to connect to the TV, lens cap and strap, wrist strap, bag, and really good instructions (which is ironic since you barely need them; it’s really obvious with nice, clear displays for everything). I mean, the thing was $160, and I don’t need to buy anything else for it but a tripod! So yes, that was successful and unexpected and color me impressed with RCA. w00t!
Now, if you don’t mind, back to the vacationing. Going to tour a school we might fancy. (Who, us? Fancy school? ;)