Heard from my coworker. I think he’s having a case of the Mondays. 
When I grow up, I’m going to have a genocide. Well, not really, unless stupid is a race.
Monthly Archive for August, 2008
At work I sit right beside an air conditioner. It’s been great during the summer so far, especially since I work on the upper floor where the warmth likes to hang out. The only problem I’ve had with it is when it’s on, it blasts me so directly that turning it on and off constantly is only way to compromise the extremes of hot and cold.
View of distance of air conditioner to desk
I heard that my predecessor constructed a cardboard “deflector” to redirect the icy blast, so that is what I sought to do.
Tools for construction, from my handy dandy handbag
Armed with packing tape, scissors, a box cutter I found on the ground, a Fed-Ex box previously deemed useless, as well as my limited edition Sigg Geisha Grace drinking receptacle (thanks Tita Grace), I was ready to go.
Reinforced support, adjustable air permitter
I knew that on some days I would want more air flow than others, so I made an adjustable side-thingy that would alter the angle of the deflector. I also didn’t want to tape the whole thing to the air conditioner itself, so I created a reinforced support block (and by reinforced I mean I cut little triangles and taped them in place, as seen to the left of the above picture) for the deflector to rest on. Below is a side view of the finished product.
Side view
It took me about 20 minutes and half a box to make, and it worked well. Too well. I had to cut the height of the deflector slightly because it wasn’t letting enough air through. I thought about creating adjustable slits for air to flow through, but I think I’m going to leave that for Deflector 2.0.
A couple of weeks ago I purchased Square Enix’s “Song Summoner” iPod game, thinking that the combination of listening to music (I do it all the time) and and an RPG (I used to play them all the time) in a portable format would keep me occupied during commutes and waiting periods. Since the initial purchase, I haven’t completed a single battle, proving that the convergence of two great things does not necessarily a result of proportionate greatness. I thought it would be perfect for me, since I stopped playing RPGs because of the required investment of time in “levelling up” one’s characters. In Song Summoner, you create characters from songs on your iPod and listening to them frequently gives more strength. Sounds effortless, no? But the thing is, playing this game involves a lot of learning and adjustment, especially learning how to use the clickwheel to control gameplay.
In contrast, I’ve acquired Final Fantasy IV for the Nintendo DS and am relishing the nostalgia. I don’t mind doing repetitive things because I want to see the treatment in the remake. It originally came out in 1991 (as Final Fantasy II), and as a nine-year old I had a lot of emotional involvement in this video game. Not only was it a game that caused tears (Palom and Porom’s sacrifice) but it brings back weekends with my brothers and cousins at my grandparents’ house and sacrificing watching Ducktales in the morning at the babysitter’s to play. I would draw the characters as I saw them in my mind during summer holidays. In the grade following, I would watch my brother continue to play even as there were newer games available. Now, as I play again I experience inward glee towards minutia like the how the placement of non-playable characters strikes familiarity. I look forward to seeing the old characters again as if it were a reuinion of friends. Yes, it’s very nerdy to say, but I’m shameless.
This is a very self-indulgent blog entry as there are really no lessons to learn from this and nothing to really teach other people. Maybe that the pleasure of reminiscing is very marketable nowadays? Maybe that if the iPod is great for listening to music and the Nintendo DS is great for playing games, a combination of the two (even in its genius) might not be appropriate?
In any case, I conclude this entry with a YouTube video. When my brother showed it to me I watched it four times straight.
“Rose, Tim, Andrew… supper time!”
“Not yet, I need to find a save point!”
P.S. If you’re playing Final Fantasy IV for Nintendo DS using an R4 card and get a white screen, you will have to update your kernel.
It's tough to think of a blurb for myself when I'm also on