Ergo Propter Hoc

So the past few days have been a little crazy. Last Thursday my wife drove to Saint Louis for a wedding, and the following day I joined her via an early-morning United flight. In doing so I discovered that the only United terminal at the Minneapolis Airport is hidden behind a vending machine on the basement floor next to the hydrogenation reclamation plant. I actually walked past it several times before realizing that it was, in fact, allowing passengers to board a for-real airplane bound for an actual destination. I made it out, somehow, no thanks to the massive banks of Northwest computer screens and flight information kiosks that only served to obscure the United gate even more. Aside from my semi-harrowing MSP experience, though, the rest of the trip was a breeze. Our hotel was within spitting distance of the Arch, and during our brief time in the City of the Cardinals and Rams I was able to see some giant pretzels, eat at Hardee's, and kick it on the dance floor at the wedding on Saturday night. It was fun seeing good people, eating delicious food, and generally having a relaxing time overall.

Sunday we went over to my aunt Donna's place in a Saint Louis suburb and spent the day with her, my cousin, his wife, and their two kids. And dude, they are two of the most energetic and talkative kids I have ever seen. We went smimming, had dinner, and took it easy back at Donna's place. After they left the three of us (me, Donna, and my wife) played some card and board games and called it a night early enough so we could get a good night's sleep for the long drive on Monday.

Good times all around, man. And now I'm off to play some Mario Kart Wii online (friend code: 3909 8376 4843, in case you want to get rocked by me on Delphino Square...)

Oh, and after two days of my summer job, my hands are killing me and my joints are almost frozen. It's good work, though, and I work with great people, so what more can you ask for? Not much, says I.

Tuning Out

I haven't had cable TV in nearly two years, and to be fair, when I lived with my cousin before getting married, it wasn't cable TV that was pumped into the living room, it was satellite TV. But who's counting, right? Anyway, we don't have cable and barely even have rabbit ears. What we do have, though, is a subscription to Netflix, which is how we have watched all seven seasons of Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and The West Wing. We are halfway through 24 as well.

Not that we are some kind of TV junkies...far from it. But over the span of several years, watching an episode of something or other every now and then, well, it tends to just sort of add up.

Anyway, the other day I was talking with some guys at my work, and they were saying that in the recent storms their HDTV signals went out. "Yeah, my cousin's satellite did that a few times during storms," I said.

"But I don't have satellite," one of them responded, slightly puzzled.

"Yeah, but all I have is one of those shifty antennas that sits on top of our entertainment center," I responded, trying to figure out where the communication breakdown was occurring.

"Yeah, but you can get HD broadcasts over the airwaves," another guy said to me, as the rest were smiling. "That's all I have, and I get lots of HD channels."

I'm out of it for a little while, and everyone gets delusions of grandeur, not to mention HD signals from right out of thin air. Turns out the HDTV revolution is passing me by while I'm busy fiddling away with my Nintendo Wii and, you know, not having an HDTV. It's humbling moments like this when I realize that no matter how I try to stay current on tech stuff like this, there still is a whole lot that I just don't know. And I'm OK with that. It's nice to be brought back to reality every now and then.

Not that our Netflix subscription is in danger anytime soon...