I Wish I was (sic) a Headlight...

Blogging tunes: 1.FM Chillout Lounge

I'm listening to Internet Radio this morning, because I'm in the process of updating the Squeeze Center server on my ReadyNAS. I love the ReadyNAS+Squeezebox solution, but the server upgrade process is right out of the VAX/VMS days of the late 80s and early 90s.

Look at all the steps on this web page, and note how many times as NAS reboot is required -- each reboot is a good five minutes.  I'm currently on Step 5 -- re-run CleanSqueezeCenter. Oy vay.  Last time I updated (from 7.5.0 to 7.5.2) there was a bug with "large libraries" so I had to downgrade (back to 7.5.0.) Well, 7.5.4 has been out for a while, and it seems stable, plus it fixes some sync'ing related bugs that drive me nuts, so I'm trying again.

Regarding the title of this entry, I finally convinced Floyd to listen to something other than Crimson, White, and Indigo (GD JFK 7/7/89) Disc 2 on his iPod while going to bed.  For the last couple weeks, all he says is, "I want Scawlet (Scarlet), Fire, Estimated, Standing on the Moon, Drums".  Then this past week he's only wanted Scarlet over and over.  He gets out of bed and puts the iPod on "Repeat One" so it just plays Scarlet.  This was just a little too OCD for my tastes, so I told him if he puts it on "repeat one" again, I was going to take the iPod away -- that, at least got him to let the full Disc 2 play.  BTW, this was my second show, and it was fantastic.  I highly recommend the full CD/DVD set.  Only $32 on Amazon right now.

So what's he listening to instead?  He's listening to the 3/15/90 release Disc 2.  I guess even a three-year old can figure out that the best part of a Dead show is typically the Second Set up to (and often including) Drums.  Since he really loves Terrapin, and already knows Samson, it was just a matter of getting him into Chinacat -> Rider.  Chinacat is just awesome, so he dug that immediately, and the "headlight" verse in I Know You Rider  got him all excited, so now we have another winner.  Of course, grammatically, it should be "I wish I were a headlight..." but hey, it's a traditional -- they didn't write it.

OK, Squeeze update finally done.  Now it's gotta spend the next 12-18 hours rescanning my music library:

(click to enlarge)

By the way, big thanks to "Big Nose" Bob (Rob) Spike for bringing Floyd an old (but fully functional) pink iPod mini to replace the old blue one which finally died earlier in the week.  Bob spent Friday through Sunday with us -- it was great to see you, old buddy.  Next time try to write the lot, section, *and* space correctly on your long-term parking lot tigget. :)  Here's the new iPod showing Floyd's favorite new set:

OK, OK... I know what you're thinking... "get to the update already, jg!"  Well, there's not a ton to report -- I guess that's good news. I saw my team on Thursday of last week and won't see them again until this Thursday.  They were closed for Memorial day, and, since, I'm doing so well, they said that rather than come Tuesday and Thursday this week, I could just come Thursday -- as long as I promise to take three magnesium tablets per day (in addition to my daily IV mag.)

I guess one thing that stands out is that Dr. Olin and a fellow on Dr. Damon's team both said that, for being two-months post-transplant, they've never seen anyone in as good-a-shape as I am.  That's pretty cool, considering I'm still pretty tired all the time.  Olin did all her Medical School at Penn, so that makes me feel pretty good about her opinion. :)

In case you didn't know, the recovery time, post-BMT, is supposed to be around 12 months.  That's several months of not being able to do much of anything, and supposedly up to 12 months of not being able to work.  Well, my plan is to blow that out of the water.  Goal is to return to work in Sep/Oct.  That's always been my goal, even before I heard about this 12 month mishigas.  We'll see.  Hang in there, Benji!  I'm kickin' as hard as I can.

One complication that's arisen is that I'm tending to get dizzy if I try to get up too fast from sitting or lying down.  I don't mean a little light-headed, I mean like major spins such that I have to close my eyes, lie back down, or really brace myself.  Not sure what's up with that. :|

In other news, yesterday, Floyd and I went on a killer bike ride / walk.  (He rode, I walked).  According to google maps, we did about a 1.2 mile loop.  Felt longer to me.

(Floyd riding)

(The route - click to enlarage)

There was a pretty big hill on Grand, and he pedaled up the whole thing. After that walk, and a few games of Hi-Ho Cherry-Oh, I was completely exhausted -- it was definitely nap time for daddy.  Later that night, before he went to bed, I asked him what was the favorite part of the day, and he said "the bike ride."  I said, "What part?"  He said, "pedaling hard up the hill."  Nice.

On Sunday, after Bob left, Monique and the kids came over and put the new play set to the test.  As we suspected, it was a big hit.  Here are some pics of the kids and the play set over the last few days:

(Assembly: view  from our bedroom window - it rained all day on the guys - oy)

(Floyd: "Higher, daddy!")

(Floyd: "I said HIGHER daddy!!!")

(Orion loves his baby swing) 

(It's a play structure party!)

The other addition to the backyard is a pair of Bose 251 speakers.  Now we can jam out while we play whiffle ball, or swing and slide.  Apparently, these things can handle the elements and they sound terrific.  Big woo.

(Left speaker)

Speaking of whiffle-ball, Orion has figured out how to put the ball on the tee all by himself.

(Now whadd'areya gonna do, O?)

Taking it inside, Evans and Emily got a little four-hands going on the piano.

Then Rob M stopped by and did some epic towers with Floyd:

(Before)

(After)

Finally, Sarah brought Jaedon and Rider over!  6 kids -- wow.  Thank goodness for the 3 moms, 'cause daddy was s-p-e-n-t SPENT.

Suffice to say, the afternoon was filled with falls, screams, sharing issues, and everything else you can imagine.  Of course, the kids were cute too.  Here Evans and Floyd hid George the chimp under the blanket and are keeping him hidden.

(Awwwwweeee...)

Oh great, the Music Scan just aborted with this error: "Music scan terminated unexpectedly (Directory Scan)."  I'm pretty sure this is the same problem I had with 7.5.2.  If it doesn't work the second time, the Logitech guys are really going to hear it from me.  What am I supposed to do?  Stay on version 7.5.0 for the rest of my life?  Uggggggh.

OK, last but not least, I finally took to using the clippers on my face.  Yes, I'm starting to get a tiny bit of hair -- only on my face.  It looked absolutely ridiculous, so I had to buzz it.

Oh, how could I forget!  Heather's brother Jeremy (well, Jeremy's wife, Kara) just had their first baby: Sebastian Tycho Spiller.  Mazel Tov, Jeremy and Kara!

OK, I think that's enough for now.

I will kick its ass,

-jg