Cotangent Over Sine

CHAPTER ONE: The Recording Studio Blues
Crap. I have plunged headlong into yet another project only to come up short, stopped by the simplest of problems. After lugging the turntable and stereo back downstairs, and dragging the old computer out of its somewhat dusty storage space, I run into the incredibly simple problem of no memory space. If at all reasonably possible, it seems that the old computer system (running Windows 98Plus) only has a 20 MB hard drive. I was stunned. It may be a very good reason why its been in storage instead of in use, but still. I'm pretty sure that most battery powered toothbrushes out there have more memory than that. The option of unhooking everything and taking it all back upstairs isn't really available, as Pinklady has already redesignated the space where the stereo once sat. So, I sat back and considered my options. I think I've settled on getting an external hard drive to augment the secondary computer. Seems I can get a 250 GB drive with a USB hookup for around $100. What really caught me off guard was the rather large size of the uncut WAV files I had been working with while doing the Giant's project. Get a few LPs worth of those in one place and it eats up a lot of memory. The notion of the external drive does also give me the option of portability. Since the backup computer doesn't have a CD burner in it, if I was intent on making a CD, I could just unhook that drive, take it to the upstairs computer, and do whatever burning work I needed to do there. My main challenge would be to avoid cluttering up that portable drive with crap like games and other misc stuff. I do like the idea of having all my music in one place, in theory. The potential of what could happen if I got that drive fully loaded and then it died on me is also not beyond my imagination. But I think I just may take a stroll over to Best Buy tomorrow and use the past two year's worth of gift cards from work that are sitting in my drawer collecting dust and get me a drive. Maybe then I can get this whole notion of having all my music in the same place as all my other junk going. Of course, I also now find myself wandering in circles and scratching my head while trying to figure out where the hell all the cables I had have wandered off to. I'm starting to remember that I did use the speakers that are now hooked up to the upstairs computer were integral to getting sound from the computer to the stereo. Otherwise, I may need to get a cable that goes from a 1/8 mini jack to a split RCA lead. Something else I could pick up at Best Buy, or if that fails, Radio Shack. End up spending a little more money on something that was supposed to be a no-cost project.

CHAPTER TWO: Worth the drive?
After months of rumor and speculation, I finally received an envelope containing the itinerary for the MTHS Class of '88 20 year reunion. The plan is to go to a sports bar. In Washington. End of story. To say that I was unimpressed would be a hideous understatement. I almost feel like the victim of some great practical joke, but for the fact that this skimpy event has been confirmed by others. I realize times are tight for everyone, but c'mon. I'm half a tank of gas away, and I'm thinking about skipping out on this one. I had been looking forward to this, in my own rather angst ridden way, but now I just feel disappointed. Are any of the people who have kids going to want to come from more than a town or two over to go hang out at a local bar for the evening? I also have to acknowledge that it is easy to criticize from a distance, and setting up something like this can be a huge undertaking that involves more that just a little money. Still, hitting a local bar is something groups of people would do after the actual reunion type event. Not even a tour of the high school or anything like that. Had hoped to kinda make a weekend of it, get away from the house for a while, maybe see a few folks from the old days, hang out with Cromag, try and get Dimples and Haikublonde to come out-just a lost weekend type thing. Now I'm not even sure if I want to spend what it would cost in gas to go down there. Got a whole two months to figure that out though.

It's not everyday that someone asks you more than once what kind of wood you want.

I think I need to mow the yard again.

I know I need to vacuum the house.