the P.Pole v.2.1

5 things I’ve treated myself to in the past little while:

• a bowl of Bibimbap at Yoko’s with Amy
• an Air Jacket for my iPod Touch
• a VX Revolution mouse for Bellamy
• a new winter coat (Columbia Titanium!)
• hamburgers from The Grill (across the street)

Okay, from the looks of that list, it would seem that I’m not exactly thrifty. That… may in fact be true, but factoring in the fact that I’ve not been particularly expensive in the seventeen years or so leading up until this one, it almost makes up for it.

I’ve never tried Bibimbap (a Korean dish with a hot stone bowl, rice, meat, veggies, and hot sauce) before but upon Amy’s recommendation, I tried it. It was also one of the cheaper things on the menu at Yoko’s. It was quite tasty (though Amy’s Donburi was also, maybe morely, tasty). I’d suggest not going to Yoko’s unless you’re willing to drop a lot of money on food, but try Bibimbaps elsewhere.

I’ve already written about the Air Jacket twice now, so I won’t go into too much detail. Hit this link to read my decision criteria before buying it. It’s slim. It’s sexy. It’s matte. Moving on!

The story of the trials I had to go through to snag the VX Revo is quite convoluted and not at all a pleasant one, but I got the damned thing for $67.70 after tax so it was worth it. I’m still breaking the curvy thing in, but I’ll probably talk a bit more about it later, once I’ve gotten a chance to try and game with it too. So far, though, it’s a wonderfully comfortable mouse.

The coat was a spot by my mother, in response to hearing that I was considering getting a new winter coat after +5 years’ worth of a love affair involving myself and a certain pale green Airwalk ski jacket. I checked out a few alternatives to this monster of a coat (it’s named “Titanium” for crying out loud!) but nothing seemed to be quite me. Some were too drab. Others were too big or too small. Still others were just too red, or blue, or brown, or white. My mom suggested that I’d probably like this one best (she’d saw it for sale while shopping one time), especially because the price tag wasn’t small. The last time I bought a coat, it was also expensive, but I’ve been wearing it for half a decade, so really, it’s not so bad. Warm clothing for a Waterloo student is a very good investment, IMO.

Oh yeah, and the hamburgers at The Grill: they’re good. “Big Juicies” we call them and they are usually big and juicy. A meal at the Grill is actually quite comparable (in price) to the same thing at Harvey’s, but it’s a lot tastier. Their servings of fries are larger. Their burgers are bigger. Their drinks… well, I get Schweppes ginger ale whenever I do eat there, and that beats watery Coke or 7 Up. It costs about the same (maybe a few dimes more), so I’m angry at how many meals I had at the Harvey’s in the same plaza before going to The Grill! Now I can never go back!

It’s been a week or so since getting my Air Jacket via Purolator. Having had this time to get to know this case and what it is like in day to day use, I can say I’m very pleased with the purchase. It does exactly what it’s supposed to do (i.e. protect the chrome backing of the iPod) without doing anything it’s not supposed to do (like adding bulk or ugliness to my iPod). I whip my iPod out and almost imagine everyone in the vicinity turning to gaze upon the slim, sexy black matte backside on my iPod.

I have yet to drop my iPod (without any case or with the Air Jacket on) so I can’t tell you if it’s shatter-proof (my guess is it might be decent unless it’s a big fall). I’ve only dropped my iPod two or three times ever, and it’s always been when it was wrapped in a silicone case and inside a hard-cloth pouch (thank you Bodysac). I don’t plan on dropping my iPod naked or jacketed anytime soon.

The icy/anti-glare screen protector is currently on there. It’s reusable (like the LCD crystal one) but removing and reapplying it without damaging the delicate static layer between the film and the screen is very hard. I do like the lack of fingerprints on my screen right now but the image isn’t nearly as clear or crisp with the anti-glare film on. It was a nice thing to have it packaged for my trial pleasure, but in the future I think I’d invest in clear crystal films instead. Compared with having slightly (ever so slightly) fuzzy image, I much prefer having to rub and scrub at my screen to remove fingerprints but having a cleaner, clearer image.

All in all, if you’re looking for a decent deal on an iPod case and want to give both kinds of screen protectors a whirl, the Power Support Air Jacket could just be right for you. It’s about $30 plus tax but when you think about how much the screen protectors cost alone, it’s not nearly as astronomical. I’d recommend this to anyone looking for slim and sexy without needing mega-shock protection (i.e. if you’re not a gadget-dropping butterfingers). If you’re looking for something to protect your iPod from more dangerous treatment, you could probably stand to choose something a little bulkier but more robust, like the Incase Slider (Google it or look them up on the Apple Store). As for me and my house, we will use the Air Jacket.

Update: Check out the video I made of its unboxing here.

First, an aside: I just wrote my Business 111 Midterm (which is actually worth as much as the final exam) last night and I… well, I’m feeling great! I finished with time to spare (like, lots) and I had thought I had done something wrong (like skipping a page). I went back, checked everything, and left with 15 minutes left and much rejoicing. I suppose this is what I get for preparing well. Lesson, children: get reviewing early and thoroughly.

Everyone who knows me well knows I’m a bit of an OCD when it comes to certain things. One of them is how I treat expensive gadgets. I hate scratches, dents, nicks, or scuff marks on any of my electric toys. I noticed a hairline fracture on my white PSP immediately after it had slipped out of my hands (inside a hard, acrylic case, mind you) and onto the tiled floor. I get angry at scratches left from accidentally leaving my keys and a cell phone or GBA SP in the same pocket. These things bother me, and as a result I will go to no short lengths to ensure that they should never happen.

Since getting my iPod Touch this summer, I have been using a case I bought for the equivalent of $3 CDN. It is a great fit. It is a pale lime green. And it is silicone. It protects my iPod in the off chance that I drop it from a small height (this has happened only twice so far, and the falls were short). I rather liked this silicone case at the start. I put my iPod inside this case and have removed it a grand total of two times so far, each time to clean the silicone under the tap, and air dry.

I have since grown to dislike silicone. I’ve never thought the idea of it being in some breasts attractive one bit, and now I’m of the school of thought that thinks it unattractive on gadgets as well. Yes, it stretches to fit gadgets snugly, and yes it protects some decent shock protection while being cheap and easily replaceable. But damn, does it ever get linty and sticky and downright dirty.

I dislike not being able to slide my iPod easily in and out (and then back in, for good measure) of my pockets. The rubbery silicone ensures I get a sticky situation in my pants, where friction is maxmialius. That is also before I even begin to think about what sort of lint and trampiness it might pick up from inside such pockets as these. Gadgets, in my world, should be sleek, slim, and smooth to the touch. Silicone may not add much bulk or weight, but for its stickiness it might as well be sandpaper wrapped around a brick in my pants.

Thus, I went in search of the perfect case for someone such as I, with the specific needs I have. Not everyone will have the same criteria when looking for such personal things, but here were mine.

5 things I look at before buying gadget cases:

• Weight and Bulk: I need something slim, and lightweight. I hate having anything in my pockets that would feel and maybe look particularly out of place. I need to help, bulging in my jeans, thank you very much. I want something light and unobtrusive.
• Form Factor: This ties in very closely with bulkiness. I am a man with simple tastes. I like slim and slender.*Amy looks up from her work somewhere, with the creeping sensation that somewhere (namely, here) something magical has just happened*Anyway, I like many gadgets today because companies like Apple and Nintendo are gearing their gears towards making gear that looks good. That’s why I don’t understand these people who go out and buy the biggest chunks of leather, acrylic, or silicone rubber to cover up their otherwise beautiful gadgets. I am much in preference of minimal (but essential) coverage, with form hugging over parachute-airbagging.
• Pricing: I am not particularly rich compared with some of those crazy childrens I know/have seen on YouTube, reviewing iPhone cases because they have nothing better to do. At the same time, I don’t mind paying a little more than usual if I see something I genuinely like and could see myself using for a long time to come.
• Protection: I suspected that if I was going to fulfill at least two of the three above criteria, I’d have to compromise a little on the protection. But then I remembered that I do take care of my things, so I’m not tossing/sliding/spinning/throwing/dropping/endangering them opn a regular (or ever) basis. Thus, I figured sacrificing some unnecessary robustness for looks and usability began to make a lot of sense for someone like me.
• Availability: Some cases are great looking, very slim, and fall exactly into what I might want for myself, but I just can’t get my hands on them. Thus, out of the question.

In any case, I bought an Air Jacket hard-case (black matte) for Touchy Feely (i.e. my first generation Touch) the other day for just short of $30. Before you get up in arms about this extravagant price (but is it really?), the case comes with a pair of screen protector films (in Canada, they are about $15 for a pair, but are much cheaper in other places like HK); one is crystal clear film, the other is an icy, matte, anti-glare and/or fingerprint film. The case itself is a grand total of 0.7 mm of black, matte plastic goodness. I am very interested in just how much thinner that is compared with my already relatively thin silicone jacket. If anyone is interested, they can probably ask me how it is and whether I’d recommend it in a week or two, after it arrives in the mail and I have some time to get used to it. In the mean time, my breath is bated and my Business is mastered.

Today was thoroughly busy day for me. On top of my three usual lectures and a tutorial just now, I also had planned to go pick up my Laurier Business and Economics books from the bookstore. I also had lost my WatCard on the FedBus last Friday, so I needed to replace mine ASAP (that is, today, the first real day back on campus).

First off, I hate the bookstores because they always have tonnes of people regardless of when you go (unless you show up at the break of dawn, but my schedule doesn’t really allow that kind of idiocy). While I was waiting in line (this was after an early Algebra lecture followed by a Business lecture), I was quite hungry and my stomach was twisting and turning, churning and burning. So I whipped it (my trailmix granola bar) out of my pants and began nibbling away like a rather happy squirrel working on his nuts. Little did I know that my olfactories (those trusty old gals) were about to be violated by some girl (probably standing in line) and her anal winds. It was literally disgusting and I had thought (originally) that a sewage pipe had exploded somewhere and now hard boiled, festering eggs were spewing outwards at an alarming rate. Nope, it was just her GI gases.

Anyway, I got my books and rushed back to my residence where I stamped them all (inside covers, front pages, and along the bottom edges/vertically across page bottoms) with my handy little stamp with my name and a little skull (reminiscent of Jack from “The Nightmare Before Christmas”). I don’t plan on selling any of my university texts (unless I’m particularly strapped for cash in the following years) so as to have the beginnings of a personal library of sorts by the time I’m out of university.

I then went straight over to the WatCard office to get my lost card replaced with a new one. The woman looked for mine in a small collection of lost but found cards, and I told her flat out “Yeah no one’s going to find mine. Mine was lost on a bus to Toronto.” She promptly went to print me a new one, but not before taking twenty of my dollars from my pocket (not personally of course). So that set me back some more cash and all I’ve got left is five dollars. I’ll likely need to go get more money tomorrow when I head over to the local Chinese restaurant (likely to become a favourite spot for Sam and I) for lunch tomorrow. There is a BMO across the street from there that I plan on holding up for cash with my death ray soon.

5 things I’m taking to residence:

• Water filter (Brita) pitcher and replacement filters
• Notebook and accessories (case, mouse, keyboard, rack, external drives, and USB hub)
• Stationary (paper notebooks, Pencil Case of Ultimate Power, and book-propping stand)
• Small (60 x 80 cm) desk with wheels and height-adjustable for my computer and maybe writing
• Clothes, many many clothes

This is my last week at home before I move out for the better part (at the very least) of the coming year. I plan on returning to Toronto every two or three weeks but that is not for certain yet. Surely, I must return but I don’t know just yet how the bus schedules will work out.

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Note: I originally wrote this up on August 7 but I failed to realize it hadn’t posted properly.

Don’t be flustered if the name makes little sense to you. Apart from the obvious drawing upon similar initials (MBP), there is little else public about my brand spanking new Macbook Pro and her name.

Miss Bellamy (just “Belle” for short) arrived yesternoon, at the security desk and Khalid (one of the various security guards) signed for her delivery. I got bored of waiting for them to write up a pink slip and put it in my mailbox, so I checked the online tracking form manually at around 3:00 PM. When I found that Belle had been waiting for me since noon but had been held up by the guard, I immediately printed off a copy of the online proof of delivery and marched on down to the lobby.

After a few moments of waiting for Khalid to process the parcel and signing for her pick-up, I brought the large box home and carefully (but excitedly) started unpacking her. I have since installed a tonne of stuff, scrapped a tonne of crap (thanks to Herman for pointing out Xslimmer to me), and got a lot of stuff set up just right. In fact, I have only turned on my PC system once since meeting Belle, and that was only when I accidentally bumped into the oversized ON/OFF button. It didn’t mean anything Belle, I swear!

I’m writing you now, thoroughly pleased with my decision to buy a MBP (Macbooks are nice, but are they this sexy?). I’m almost certain no one is particularly interested in the photos I took while unboxing Belle so I won’t go to the trouble of downloading (from my camera) and then uploading (to my server) the pics. Anyway, totally badass. OS X Leopard (I’m on 10.5.4, most up-to-date version, I think) took a little time to get used to but after I did, I am loving it. I wouldn’t go as far as to totally disown Windows (say what you will, but Microsoft and its Windows was really one of the main reasons behind why we’ve got a PC in virtually every home, at least in the Global North, and that’s something to be applauded). I still use an XP iteration (stripped of the bloat and slipstreamed thanks to Adwin) as my Boot Camp to game on.

Anyway, I don’t regret for even a second paying out tonnes of money (which I’ve rationed out of my leftover scholarship funds) for my Pro + Touch + upgrades + accessories. There are a few things I don’t mind spending more than usual on (clothing and shoes are not part of them), and these will be new additions to that small, small list of elite purchases.

This morning I headed across the street with family in tow and we hit up the opening sale of the sports apparel store inside Woodside, across the street. Now, stalkers can trace me even more precisely! In any case, we got in and saw a variety of tasty deals (such as my two new pairs of Hurleys and my Adidas duffel).** After driving to Scarborough Town Center and being sorely disappointed at the lack of Old Navy jeans going for $12 (television ads, you lie to me). My parents and sister had to go downtown (father for a work-related exhibition, and my mom and sister for the CNE). I ended up hitting up the Best Buy for a keyboard skin (so stuff doesn’t get in the cracks). The iSkin key-condoms were almost $30, whereas a sexy little USB wired, Microsoft media keyboard was only $20, so I ended up opting for the keyboard (of my dreams) over an overpriced piece of rubber. I abandon the rubber as soon as Amy leaves town on a family roadtrip, it seems.

To get to the point of the post’s title, I got home after this slight spending sexcapade and saw an episodes of Superships (or something to that effect) on the Discovery Channel. This one happened to be talking about a small fleet of ships called Super Servants, originally designed to carry (within themselves/on board) destroyer sized ships after some war or something in Europe. That is more or less irrelevant since now they ferry yachts, mostly between Port Everglades, Florida, and European harbours.

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