I thought it was funny.

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Here are the pictures from our vacation this year.  We didn’t take a ton, mostly we just enjoyed our vacation.  So, enjoy the few we did take. 

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Boys having some fun in the sand… No oil here in East Tennessee. Such a great night. Cool and clear.

So… Carson decided I needed to take the dashboard out of the Honda today. He stuck two coins into the CD player. No biggy. I just took the dashboard apart and took out the cd player, then took it apart. I have one left over spring from the cd player, but it still works. Oh well. Guess it was a spare!

Well I’ve had a busy day. Between getting my new iPhone (which could’ve eaten up my whole day on its own), music camp, AC repairman at home, network issues at work, remodeling at work, and a billion other little things all on top of my regular duties, I’m wore out! I’ve been working with some of the ministers on remodeling going on in their ministry areas to make sure the electricians get the power to places they will need it, whether they know they will yet or not. It’s a part of my job I enjoy. I’ve learned a lot in my 7 years about construction and building. It’s fun. I can read some blueprints! I’ve got to install some 46 inch TVs when the remodel is done and get satellite hooked to them. All fun things!
What’s nor fun is the 78 degree temps our house had been reaching. It’s so hot!! The AC guy came today and got it working much better. Yeah for Dawson & Dawson!
Parkers head wound is healing well. I won’t post a picture. Believe me. Be glad.
There’s a network switch dying at work. Fun times. We are loosing a port every few days.
And the best part of my week… My iPhone 4 arrived today. I didn’t think it would since the fedex tracking was showing it in Memphis. But as Kayce was leaving the truck pulled up. Woo hoo. I’ve spent a good hunk of my day playing with this thing, I won’t lie. It’s so nice! Crystal clear screen. I had a hard time seeing the pixels under magnification!! Not like the 3GS. I could count then with my naked eye! I’m still playing around with it. But more than anything… I’m so happy to have a working power/hold button again. Mine hasn’t worked since my leap into the lake about a year ago. I shorted the motherboard when I turned it off while it was wet. Oh well.
But the best part if my week… As always coming home to stuff like this…

My search for a Home Theatre PC (HTPC) began almost as soon we purchased our 32 inch LCD TV for the family room.  I loved having the ability to plug my laptop into our TV and have, what was basically, a huge computer monitor.  That was a few years ago.  Since then, we have done away with our monthly TV service bills and gone the route of free “over-the-air” HD service.  This is complimented by hulu.com, netflix.com, and the like.  We do subscribe to Netflix and thus have the instant play feature, but you can read more about all that in my Life Without A TV Bill posts. 

After a couple of years of hooking up and unhooking our laptops, I finally found a deal for a PC that I liked.  I’ve looked at a Mac Mini ($599), an ASUS Eee Top ($375.00), and a Dell Studio Hybrid ($499).  

The Mac is the choice of a lot of people I know, but having all PCs at home, it just didn’t make sense.  The ASUS was the front runner, but didn’t have an optical drive, which I needed since my DVD player had recently died.  Plus, the ASUS is slightly under-powered since it is basically a netbook without a screen.  The Dell was the best choice, but I just didn’t want to lay down $500.  Then…  EARTH DAY!!!  

Dell covertly offered $200 instant savings during the week following Earth Day on its “Earth Friendly-Power Sipping” Studio Hybrid.  It was hard to find, but I stumbled across the link while reading a tech forum.  That’s was the deal I was looking for.  A dual-core CPU, 2GB of Ram, and optical drive, and best of all ROOM TO UPGRADE!  Since the Studio Hybrid is basically a laptop crammed into a tiny space, parts would be easy to get.  So that’s what I ordered.  

IOGEAR Keyboard

I was none to happy when I received my first, second, or third delay notice from Dell.  I still don’t know what the issue was, but it took over a month to get my HTPC.  I’ve never this sort of problem ordering from Dell’s Small Business Division, with whom I do business weekly at FBC.  I suppose it is just the curse of dealing with Dell’s Home Division. It was well worth the wait, however.  I’m loving this little computer.  It sits perfectly on our entertainment center, and paired with a wireless keyboard with builtin trackball from IOGEAR, and a Logitech Webcam with builtin Microphone, I’m loving this setup. 

Logitech C250

 

We’ve used it mostly for Hulu and Netflix, but with the addition of the webcam, and the family being home for the summer, I’ve been skype calling home just about every day from work.  We also skype my parents every now and then.  It’s a lot more fun to do it on the big TV than on our desktop computer.  This little camera works really well for us, even in low light, and its microphone pics up very well, even sitting on the sofa 5-7 feet away.  

If you’re looking for a HTPC to help you cut the chains of Cable or Satellite TV, I would highly recommend the Dell Studio Hybrid.  Just wait for Earth Day to roll around again…  

 Unboxing Picture Below: 

This is how I spent most of my day. Seriously, I love this stuff!

These are a couple of pieces Kayce got for her birthday. Really finishes out our upstairs living room nicely. The frame on the picture us carved and reads, “From everlasting to everlasting Thou art God.” from psalms.

How’d you like to grow some mutant flower children? Creepy!!