Author: Ratpuke7

The past couple of days, I received two guitar amps. One amp, a Fender Cyber Twin, head is an 130watt American modeling tube amp head and the second is a portable VOX European digital modeling amp. One thing I noticed is that I don’t have any cabinet or speakers to plug the Fender into. I am chomping at the bit to see what both amps do as far as modeling my Fender Evil Twin amp. Do they do it justice? Do they sound better? Is there something radically wrong with the Twin? I don’t know, I’m not impressed with the Twin. Its loud alright, signal to noise ratio isn’t what I would expect. I hear white noise from it beginning when I turn it on. I thought I could borrow the speakers from it for the Cyber but there are no inputs that I can see. Now, I’m trying to figure out if whether or not I want a 4×12 or a 2×12 cabinet. Do I really need a 400W cab for the basement? For a studio? For the future? Yes, but not for the basement. It will get harder later on to justify a 4×12. Get it while the getting is good. Still wrestling with my Cloud issues – ugh.

-Rat

So, I finally put up the TV wall mount in the basement, mounted the TV, installed BOTH NAS drives, and I am now wondering what the hell what to do with everything. They make something called iTunes server which sounds like exactly what I want. However, there is nothing associated with it – what the hell? I have a boat load of old music I had on CD and converted it all to iTunes. I want to share music between all my apple and windows devices. You can create a virtual drive mapping that will save all the iTunes files to a common location. Unfortunately, this only works for Windows. I have Plex which does everything except iTunes. I have done some searching and it appears that the real question is “What is the point of an iTunes server?” So it appears that I need to purchase a cheap Mac and have iTunes running all the time to have a central repository for iTunes for BOTH Windows and Apple products. Don’t know which Cloud platform I’m going to put that on. Also, still need to grab a digital passport for some router amusement. I spoke with one of my work cohorts today and it looks like I found a home for an old USB wireless antenna. Ha! The junk drawer came in handy! Tonight, I need to pick up a new heater and work on the basement. Now, I just need to clean up stuff, put in the DVD player and I’ll be in business. I’m getting there…

-Rat

So, yesterday I set up my Clouds and added them to the network. I am still wrestling with the new router, and integrating it with the network in the basement. It’s being a PITA. Not used to not knowing. Also, all the cool apps with utilizing the router include USB connections for which only USB 3.0 are worth it. I think I am going to get a 4Gb WD passport that used USB 3.0. What else can I do? I am beginning to put all my pix on the internal cloud. Next, need to look at larger drives. Only have a RAID 5, 4 drives of 4Gb which only nets 12Gb – lame.

-Rat

Bought a wall mount for my TV in the basement tonight. Can’t wait to set it up on Friday. Still need to fix the heater down there – kind of chilly. Working on my nightly build/deployment for the project. Damn it is cold out tonight (16 degrees). Seemed like the coldest day of the year – with the wind and humidity. Nasty.

-Rat

I had my son over the other day to help me take down all the Christmas boxes to the basement, do a bit of cleanup, and help with the new router installation. Everything worked out well on the router front, which was nice for a change. I’ve been a bit under the weather as of late with a cold at the fringes. The range on the router is good, the software is really powerful, so I am interested to hook my NAS next, maybe via USB instead of network. Ha!, on second thought it will be gigabit Ethernet, not USB 2.0, given my new router. Maybe I can also put iTunes on it this time. The next thing is to put the laptop on the dock and attach the new antenna and try AC beamforming. I was thinking of connecting the apple routers as extenders and use that network in the basement because its still somewhat shielded.

My daughter and her boyfriend have been having issues with their new abode. Moisture problems. They may have the need to sue the previous owners for not disclosing the problems. I doubt they would have bought into it.

I’m kind of bummed that this weekend, I didn’t connect with my old friend but s*** happens. Maybe some time soon. I answered my first survey Sunday on 23andMe and had a 6.0 lb loss last week which felt pretty good. I will admit it sucks having to pass up on pound cake. On a related note, I have not missed Dunkin Donuts – sorry, DD!. On Monday, I had an option to pick up an unused Fender Cyber Twin Amp. Can’t wait to try it out. Hopefully I can connect it to the dual 12′ speakers on the Twin Amp, otherwise I will have to get an enclosure. I was looking at the stats, and I am excited. I should just “bite the bullet” and pick up a fresh set of tubes for the Twin to see if it sounds like its supposed to sound – I’m not convinced. Something about it doesn’t add up. I haven’t really been in the mood to practice guitar lately, since the heater broke downstairs – its been kind of chilly. On a different note, we put the fish tank up on the stand – it’s an unfortunate reminder of other shelved projects. Got to get my Tai Chi environment set up. Some day… Maybe Friday.

-Rat

Well I’m officially on a “diet” via 23andme. I figured since I’ve never actually dieted, I’d try it with 23andme’s help. It’s been kind of interesting since for the last 5 plus years, I’ve been paying almost a daily visit to Dunkin Donuts. I’ve not been willing to curb my sweet tooth and have been trying to amp or ramp up my workouts to little or minimal effects. So, now I’ve come to the realization that this cannot continue and it’s been a long time coming. Time for a bit of “self-honesty”, ugh. Not something I’m looking forward to continue though. I’ve just started with flexibility again since moving from Lombard. Life’s all about forgiveness, and redemption I guess. This is day 2.

-Rat

Happy New Year friends and family! A new year, with new ambitions and new beginnings. This year, there are chances to rectify unfinished stuff and stuff I never did in 2018. I need to reconnect with old friends, finish cleaning the basement, install the light in the kitchen, straighten up my work room, install my router before it becomes an old router, and with the new networking – it spawns my NAS storage, connection of apple routers, and hence streaming music throughout the house, send back my bad UE Megaboom for repair or replacement, set up my old XM radio, finish my pansies fused glass I started at the end of 2017, get an architect to look at the bathroom plans to determine if whether or not the bathroom should keep its current configuration. I want to learn stained glass, continue on with guitar, work on my tai chi, and do another life drawing class. I need to reconnect with Dave, Danny, Joe, Gary, Nelson, Bob, and Father Peter. I need to do some kayaking this year, do some more shooting, do some fishing, some martial arts, and do some biking. I need to work on my wall. I need to work on my website, I need to re-invent my Czech-glass site. Some things that are purely blue-sky and if I have a chance to work on them is over and above everything else – do some more glass fusing with Eileen, take another class with Gary, and fix the garage heater.

-Rat

Glad the Christmas holiday is over. We had everyone over while I was at my sister’s house. I had to have 95% of the stuff done before I left for her house. I’m thankful my wife is good at management, I don’t think either of us would have survived without her skillset. I’m glad the house is clean and the fridge stocked. I will need to try to keep it that way. We didn’t exchange gifts this year. I think we can both agree that will change next year. Something feels like its missing. That smidge of intimacy. Still, the basement is a tornado alley. That never got closer to a reality, but I need to fix that also. With the “Glass Lady” out-of-town until March, I will have a bit of time to work on the basement. I was getting disgusted on how much Tai Chi I have lost. Ugh, got to work on that. I really wish I had some time during the last week to practice guitar. Yes, I guess, I could have just plinked away while watching TV but it’s just way too many things to do at once. Sometimes I just have to laugh how I act like such a guy – clueless and single-minded.

Rat

Today is my mom’s birthday. Well would be, if she were alive. I guess, technically it still is her birthday, but no one will celebrate it. I miss both my parents every day. You never truly get over the death of a parent or child. So, hug your parent today if they are still on this earth, and enjoy their presence because at some point, the only place they will exist is in your heart. The only nice things you’ll have left are that you can always take them with you wherever you go, and secondly while they can’t say anything to spoil a moment with a snide remark, they can’t relish a moment with you either.

-Rat

Happy Monday. What a busy weekend. Thanksgiving, Pizza at my sisters, a surprise birthday/bowling party for my neighbor, staying at a local hotel to the bowling event – complete with Dr. Who convention, and a Jazz/Funk Tap performance at a local college. My index finger has finally healed so I can practice guitar, which I did last night for the first time in 3 weeks – nice. Tonight I have to go shopping, hit the gym.

Rat