jerry7171's Xanga

iPhone fun

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:31:27 GMT

Let the unlocking begin!

With the release of ultrasn0w I was finally able to upgrade my iPhone to 3.0 and enjoy the new goodies that came with it.

But, and there is always a but, one thing has flummoxed me so far... MMS. This feature was crippled upon release for US domestic release since the official carrier of choice is AT&T and for its own unfathomably stupid reasons won't support MMS until "later this summer."

So the MMS is crippled until an update comes down the pipe or a work-around is figured out. Oh there are work-arounds galore, but they are all for T-Mobile or AT&T unfortunately. I have a regional carrier who is gracious enough to allow me to use the iPhone on their network, but knows very little about how to support it. They aren't able to help me overcome the MMS limitation at this time.

Oh well. The phone works and does everything else I wanted it to do. I'll just have to wait for the update and apply it and cross my fingers that it works (after all I am in essence performing a bit of electronic voodoo here).

Seattle, here I am...

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 04:04:13 GMT

After many initial mishaps, I finally arrived... in Seattle that is. Buses with malfunctioning brakes, broken bathrooms, late starts and endless attempts at catching up to the schedule left a lot of people in varying stages of short tempers. In spite of the awful food, the difficulty of sleeping while sitting mostly upright and the endless creaks and groans of the bus throughout the night (and the rude, bright lights of the people who thought nothing of reading all night long in spite of everyone else trying to sleep) I'd do it again. What other way could I have seen so much of the country at such a pace that gave me an opportunity to enjoy and photograph it?

Now I'm staying at a hostel (for the first time in my life). I'm surrounded by numerous foreign languages, the sounds of the big city coming in through the open windows of the lobby with the cooling breezes (no air-conditioning here at the Green Tortoise). I love it.

I think this is going to be a trip that will be treasured by me for years to come.

Gardening before I go...

Sun, 31 May 2009 15:02:36 GMT

Over the last couple of weekends I've been helping put together a garden with my friend Tom in Vermillion. He doesn't have one of those small hobby-sized gardens but a rather large garden that measures about 50-60 feet on a side. We've planted sunflowers, herbs of various sorts, more vegetables than you could shake a salad fork at and various tomatoes. Then there are the flower beds. There are at least eight flower beds now around the house and yard.

Tomorrow I depart with Dakota47 for Seattle. I'm excited but nervous. I packed my suitcase on Friday out of anxiety that I might forget something. I showed my friend around who'll look after my cats and fish. If it weren't for working in the garden, I would have worn a pattern in my carpet from pacing this weekend.

Getting silly with age

Sun, 17 May 2009 17:11:47 GMT

Recently I went to see the new Star Trek with a friend and thoroughly enjoyed it. The same can be said of Wolverine and Angels and Demons but I noticed a disturbing trend with these and other movies as of late. I cry.

I mostly can keep it to a respectful tear-stained cheek, moist eyes but there are the more worrisome occasions where I must confess I have a sniffle or two. I'm more than a little bothered by this development as I used to be able to watch all but the most heart-wrenching scenes of movies and maintain my cool and composure.

I'm told that this is a result of maturity, that crying more easily comes with age. Why didn't anyone warn me about this one? My friends are still my friends, but they still delight in ribbing me mercilessly about tearing up at nearly the drop of a hat now. Damn my soft heart-strings.

Farewell wisdom teeth

Wed, 06 May 2009 21:35:12 GMT

Today at noon my wisdom teeth, all two of them on the right side of my mouth (nature fortunately forgot to give me a matching pair on the left) were removed. It was a quick and largely painless procedure although now four hours later my mouth is letting me know it doesn't appreciate the intrusion and extraction. I'm still woozy and exhausted from the anesthetics. I think today will be a very short day.

Look out Seattle, WA... Here we come

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 02:50:09 GMT

Dakota47 and I have been talking about taking a trip across the country for the past couple of years but we always settled on just driving next door to Minneapolis, MN for Gay Pride each year and calling it good. We decided this would be the year that we broke that cycle.

He suggested Seattle, WA which I quickly warmed up to since I've never been out to the Pacific Northwest and would be able to take in the Cascade Range, Puget Sound and all the rest of the wonderful natural scenery around.

This trip will also be different in that it'll be the first time I've stayed at a hostel. We'll be staying at the Green Tortoise Hostel right in downtown Seattle. Thank God I'll have my Ambien to help me sleep in case people are night owls.

We'll probably do a lot of the touristy things of course, like the Space Needle, the Fish Market, etc. but I'm brimming over with excitement at the prospect. I've never been this far out west before and certainly never seen this part of the nation. My camera will get used quite a bit to be sure.

We'll be going out by bus on 1 June since it is the least expensive transport and we are in no hurry with no time limits. I can hardly wait for June to get here.

Hack, cough

Sun, 19 Apr 2009 21:00:04 GMT

After a night of shivering harder than jello on springs, laying in a pool of sweat, I reluctantly agreed to go to the emergency room on Saturday after Dakota47 expressed concern that lack of medical attention could lead to further issues. My mother came over (thanks Mom) and drove me as my head was swimming a bit too much for me to do any driving safely.

After a fair bit of waiting (and being masked immediately upon entry since I was hacking and coughing) I got my turn with the doctor who eventually diagnosed viral bronchitis. Oh joy. The best part is I am still highly contagious since I have only been sick for about two to three days and have to stay home.

So now I'm becoming an over-the-counter-medication addict hoping to dull the worst of the symptoms while I enviously watch the world pass by outside. The MacBook and iPhone have become my lifelines to my friends. Otherwise, my day passes by in a blur of napping, coughing, more napping, a little television, more sleeping, the Internet and before I know it, bedtime.

Sniffle, sneeze

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 23:33:46 GMT

The last 48-hours have seen me get laid low by a garden variety cold. I thought it was just the onset of allergies but the raw throat in the middle of the night that left me breathless along with the throbbing sinus ache left little room for doubt about what was coming.

Today I've been moping around the apartment but my faithful kitties Bailey and Dopey could sense that I didn't feel my best. After I sat down and started to doze a little on the couch, they crawled up onto my lap to keep me company. It was so comforting having them with me like that. Gawd I love my cats.

Monday, monday

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:45:13 GMT

Last Thursday I drove north up to Flandreau to stay the night with Dakota47 and his roommate Keenan in preparation for a Friday morning departure for the Twin Cities.

On Friday morning Dakota47 and I dropped off his two dogs, Beethoven and Simone, at the local vet for boarding over the weekend, got everything packed and with Keenan we all took off.

We spent Friday evening playing the machines at the Mystic Lake Casino; Keenan and Dakota47 came out far ahead while yours truly lost a chunk of change. Have I mentioned how much I dislike casinos and gambling yet?

Saturday saw lots of window shopping in Uptown, exploring both familiar and new places and having a lot of fun in general people watching. I picked up a few odds and ends for home and friends.

That evening, just before Dakota47 and Keenan were due to leave for a concert and I was going to meet up with a friend from the area, Dakota47 got the unfortunate call that his 15-year old dog Beethoven had suffered a major stroke. The poor thing was making every effort to get up and move around, but kept collapsing. Simone, who normally is a bit of a thorn in his side at being just under a year old pug suddenly became quite protective of him and stood guard over him.

The remainder of the weekend we all mulled over poor Beethoven. Beethoven has been Dakota47's constant companion for the past 15 years.

I stayed the night with my friend, then returned to the hotel after which we left and stopped at IKEA for breakfast and a quick bit of shopping. From that point we hurried on home.

Dakota47 eventually brought Beethoven and Simone home and told me that Beethoven was unable to move--he was able to drink a little water. Simone remained by his side, knowing something had happened.

This morning came the short text from Dakota47 that Beethoven finished his long journey here on earth this morning. Rest in peace Beethoven.

Playing with a new toy

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 16:38:55 GMT

As usual, I haven't blogged in ages and I really have no excuse other than forgetfulness, laziness and the lack of anything I felt was really newsworthy to share with all you fellow Xangans out there.

I've been spending an inordinate amount of time out of town at a friends home in Vermillion, South Dakota. No, no, no, it isn't anything like that, we are just friends that hang out. Looking back at the calendar, I am pretty sure that I've spent every weekend in Vermillion for the last month. Vermillion is about 45 minutes south of Sioux Falls via Interstate 29, so luckily it isn't a long haul.

What do I do once I'm here? A whole lot of nothing. I sign into Manhunt.com and watch whatever might be going on, checking out profiles and being checked out (rarely as it turns out), download and watch the odd documentary since my friend has high speed Internet access, cook, help out around the house and in general just fart around. I think I come down as much as I do because I've gotten to feeling a little lonely at home. Oh sure I have Dopey and Baily and they listen quite attentively when I chat with them, but it isn't really the same as having human company.

Many of my friends around town are feeling neglected, and rightly so. I barely spend any time with them and my communication has been sporadic at best. I'm going to start spending more time with more friends since friends are what help keep me grounded and not feeling so blue. I'll just have to limit my traveling at the drop of a hat to Vermillion a bit and make that more of a special occasion instead of a weekly occurance.

On other fronts, I finally purchased a Nikon after thinking about it for months. I ended up with the low-end Nikon D40 but it is just right for me since I'm still learning to do the manual mode but it is built to be a simple point-and-shoot as well. It is sort of a DSLR for amateurs with a lot of potential once I've mastered all the settings and options on it. I call it my camera with training wheels since I discovered just how much of the work the camera really does for me in getting the focus, the f-stop and appeture right for a photograph. Once in a while I think I end up with a good shot even in manual mode. Take for instance this shot of the local bronze reproduction of Michelangelo's David. It didn't look so great in color since the sun was setting and the statue was in a building's shadow, so I worked it over in Photoshop to come out with this result.

I'm holding off doing any self portraits per se until my expeditions to the YMCA (no, I don't go there cruising) pay off. I am looking a bit pudgy these days and most frustrating is that my weight actually increased since I started going two months ago. I know, I know, muscle weighs more than fat, but I really need to up the cardio a bit, atleast to the point of matching what I'm doing in weightlifting so the flab covering everything starts to thin out and go away. Plus, in spite of not cruising, it helps to have visual inspiration sweating around me, heh heh!

So far as the rest of my health goes, I just got my latest CD4 counts and viral load labs and everything is looking good. After a nearly 12-month slow decline, my CD4 is starting to climb. The latest was 534, up from a low of 430 something. I like that! My viral load is, as always, undetectable. The good news goads me on to overcome my loathing for the side effects of the drugs and the way they sicken me nightly with the knowledge that for all the ill they inflict on me, they are merely doing their job and keeping me healthy and ultimately alive for the long run. Like my doctor said, at this rate, it'll be a car accident or some other unrelated illness that will get me instead of AIDS.

Oh, I almost forgot... sometime this approaching June, Dakota47, his roommate and I will be making a trip out to Seattle, Washington. It'll be the first time I've ever been all the way out west to the Pacific side of the country and I'm eager to go. I can't wait to see the Cascade Range, do a little hiking, soak up the scene in Seattle and most of all to do plenty of photographing with my new camera. Hence, just another reason to work out harder and more frequently since I want to look my best out west in case some cute guy takes a shining to me (ha!).