WUMF: April 2013 Edition

You’re all expecting these to be at least a week now, right?  I know.  Bad blogger.  But, here it is, another WUMF.

Obligatory YouTube Update

So, we’re four months into this experiment and it’s been slow.   I’ve actually found it somewhat hard to record.  Sometimes I need to be in a talkative mood, or at least in a good mood.  I only get to record after 9pm and that’s usually when I start getting tired. 

That being said, I caved and started adding ads to my videos.  Now, to be fair, I’ve only added the ones that overlay the videos and don’t make you wait 30 seconds or more to start watching the actual content.    The reason why I did was that I ended up filling an entire terabyte hard drive in a short time and had to buy another three terabyte one to stave off space issues.  That now brings the total amount of money spent on equipment alone to nearly $300 if you count FRAPS.   Not to mention I bought three brand new games to do videos for.

I also started to see an uptick in a couple of my vids.   The funny thing was, they were crap.  I was trying to play Dead Island Riptide and the fps went to shit when I started recording.   The videos became more about how bad it was and was there a way to fix it.   Still nothing, but both have seen over 100 views.    Yeah, I know that’s still a crap number, but comparative to the rest of my work, that’s the highest view count, by at least three times, I’ve had on any video.   Because of that, I needed to monetize some, so I can start recouping my costs.  That is, after all why I am doing this.  I want to show people how you can do it and make money.

I’m still looking to post an update to all of this, explaining what I am doing, but I’ve found other things to do with my channel.  I have a couple of oddball vids that are either of a tutorial nature or just me having fun with the editing process.  Links below.

Random Bits: Atari Adventure

How To Record DOSBox With FRAPS

The Easter Bunny Is From Best Buy?

My daughter got a tablet for Easter.  She’s five and better at Candy Crush Saga than her mother.   How sad is that?   I was initially against her getting one because I did not want to foster that technology suck hole that has swallowed up so many over-privileged children, turning them into the asshats we’ve come to know and loathe in the world.   Still, she spent a lot of time playing Nick Jr. and Qubo games on her mother’s laptop that it became a bit annoying to have to share.

However, we do have limitations on it.  She isn’t allowed to just install apps without us helping, especially since there are free ones that are intended for 16-18+ age groups.   Also, if she gets a yellow light at Kindergarten, which is a warning, she does not get to use it that day.  And, if she gets one on Friday, that’s the whole weekend.   So, I can always tell how the day went if I walk in the door from work and she’s not on her tablet.

She’s also been running around making videos of the cats and commenting while she plays games.   Trying to be like Dad, I guess.

Mowmentum

Since December, I’ve lost 30 lbs.  That’s still a struggle as I bounce up and down the scale a few pounds.   It has gotten better.  In fact, I spent a lot of time outside in the yard and didn’t mind it as much as I normally do.   This past weekend, I mowed the entire yard, a feat that nearly induces a heart attack since I live on a hillside.   Last year, I would usually split grass cutting duties with my wife.  She would cut the top, flat area and I cut the hill.  However, she was at work and the yard was ragged.   The entire thing was growing faster than normal, so I bit the bullet and did it.   

I had to stop in between, primarily because we had a lot of downed limbs that I needed to cut up and toss.   So, in between the front and the back, I removed limbs.   In between the back and the hill, I sat and drank water.   Then, after every few rows, I had to keep dumping the bag.  

Now, I am usually not a big fan of bagging clippings but the first cut is always a high one and with the added moisture still in the air from April, it is better to clear the clippings instead of letting them stay in the yard to rot.  That mower is a beast, though.   It’s much easier with the standard, no bagger mower.   I just decided to keep on trucking and not stop and it was rewarding to look at a nicer, cleaner, yard.

Sick Of It

You know your kid is sick when on Easter morning the little tyke doesn’t dive head first into her basket of candy like Ewan McGregor into a toilet in Trainspotting. I will let that image sit with you for one second… no more, or might not come back from that place.

Turns out, my kid was working on a fever. She had already been put on antibiotics for an ear infection earlier in the week, so the doctors thought to do nothing else as this was more viral in nature. We just had to keep her fever down and keep her hydrated. It wasn’t easy. She was hovering around 102-104 and my wife kept wanting to pull the trigger and take her to the hospital.

I was not as ready to jump on that path, yet. We’ve been down that path before. The kid gets traumatized, an IV drip with saline, Motrin, and a $100 bill for the ER visit plus the emotional trauma. Been there, done that.

I suggested we keep trying to bring it down with alternating children’s strength Motrin and Tylenol, wet facial cloths for her forehead and coaxing her to drink more fluids. And guess what? It worked. We brought her fever down and by bed time the little hustler was besting me two out of three games in Candyland.

By the beginning of the next week, my wife began experiencing a fever. By Tuesday, I had it. Finally, on Thursday, her father had it. Each of us with varying symptoms.

By Friday, I was spent. So, I worked from home and then had to take care of my wife. I took her go for a chest x-ray which revealed she had pneumonia in her right lung. She also had pink eye. They put her on a Z-pack, drops for eye, and neb treatments.

I went on Saturday with my father-in-law to MedExpress which revealed I had bronchitis, pharyngitis, and an ear infection. A strep test came back negative, but I was already cheating by taking two leftover Augmentin the day before. I was not originally going to go but considering I was coughing up bloody phlegm, it was probably a good thing. My father-in-law was not so lucky. He also had pneumonia in his right lung but his physician decided on a swifter course of treatment and gave him an antibiotic shoot in the ass. I got lucky. I managed to get through most of the week with a fever of around 101.

Now, the kiddo is coughing again and complaining her ear hurts.

Honestly, wtf? Was this mild Winter to blame for this rash of bad medical juju? Should we hope for three feet of snow, sub arctic temperatures, and hope for the best?

Ridiculous.

The Ruination Of Easter or How I Can't Win With My Kid

Here’s a little tip for all you parents out there just getting into the threes and fours with your children.  Expect the ruination of any holiday by your own hand.

On Good Friday, while my wife was at work, I took on the task of coloring eggs with my daughter. I set it all up and let her have at it and she did a really great job. She colored 2/3 of the eggs all by herself. She put the eggs in the cup and put them on the rack to dry. No parental mucking up of the process.  It was because of that self sufficiency that made it horribly apparent that this would all end in tears.

See, after Easter is over. Those eggs need to be dealt with in some manner. You either use them or throw them away.

Personally, I’d rather use them. Chef salad and egg salad sandwiches are a wonderful use of hard boiled colored eggs. Unfortunately, they are also the last fates a four year old wants to see beset upon her prized colored eggs.

Last Wednesday was the day of eggs-ecution. I had hoped to do it in secret but unfortunately, my child is nosy and has to be involved with everything regardless of what kind of exploration Dora is doing at the time.

I pulled the carton out and began to peel the eggs. There was some initial begging and pleading for the eggs on her part. There was even some bargaining for a commuted sentence. I even think she promised to be a good girl at one point. Alas, dinner would wait for no one, not even the sobs of a four year old.

She fled to the safety of her bedroom and wet her pillow with the sobs and wails of someone who just watched their child put to death for the amusement of others. All her hard work, the accomplishment of coloring the eggs by herself, destroyed by the hand of the father. It was almost a tragedy of Greek or Biblical proportions.

Eventually, the cries of anguish subsided, replaced with the sounds of snores. She had cried herself to sleep, the poor thing. And in an hour, she was awakened for dinner and the sobs and ire for her father resumed.

But, I was to not be outdone by my wife who placed her bunny crazy straw in the dishwasher this past weekend. She straightened that bitch out… and I’m talking about the straw.

As I sat there, waiting for karma to free me from the guilt of being made the hand of fate against those eggs last week, I was given the cold shoulder and my daughter said, “It’s OK mommy. It was an accident.”

I hate holidays.

Spring 2012 Giveaway



Wanted to let you know I'm holding a giveaway for the T-Shirt side of Mongo...  Come on over and get entered to win some prizes..

 

DVD of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971 version with Gene Wilder… not Johnny Depp)

Peep Show shirt in your size

Box of peeps

0.0   Non Runner Sticker (for all you who don’t feel like working off the candy you’ve consumed)

Lent Is For Quitters Magnet

And a couple of other surprises

Three ways to enter.   Facebook, Twitter and on posting comments here.

Here’s  how:

1.  Go here and comment...
2.  Tweet "I just entered the @AngryMongo Spring Giveaway for a chance to win some great prizes http://ow.ly/9IoD9 #MongoSpring2012"

3.  Go to my facebook page and tell me what's the best thing to find in your basket. 

Chekov's Garage

My wife hates my inability to throw away seemingly useless items. My garage is filled with these things. There’s a 4x8 piece of cardboard that covered our patio table while it was in the box. There are various curtain rods that serve no purpose. From the standpoint of an outside observer, these items are clutter, junk, refuse, or signs that I may be a hoarder. All of these are true but, though this be madness, yet there is method in’t.

Now, I am a product of my upbringing. My father is famous for repurposing useless items into ‘wonderful things’. He built an entire charcoal grill out of an old lawnmower, 55 gallon drum, swing set, and countertops. To that point, he also built a forge out of an old charcoal grill and a ShopVac.  I may have mentioned it before.

Additionally, I spent a great deal of my childhood playing old school text adventure games where you would acquire items, that held no obvious value, only to use them later on in a crucial part of a quest. A more up to date example would be the envelope of items that Ben Affleck receives in the movie Paycheck.

Still, regardless of the value of an item, I can eventually find a use for it. It may not be pretty or ideal, but it does the trick. I often find myself wishing I had something that I had already thrown away whenever I’m trying to patch something in the house. “If we only had a wheelbarrow, that would be something.”

And so the torch gets passed to another generation, as I found my three year old doing some decorating for Easter. She felt the need to hang her own decorations, such as hanging a triangle (musical instrument) on the handles of our hutch and a square of toilet paper (unused, thankfully) on a nail in our living room wall.

But what impressed me most was an empty Rogurt box hanging from another nail. It was slated to be put into the trash, once I actually replaced the full trash bag with an empty one, that is. But, sitting on the counter, she eyed it and saw a purpose for it. Unfortunately, it had no way of being hung on the nail, so she found a way to make it work. She took a Silly Bandz, wrapped it around the cardboard lid flap and then hung the entire box on the nail, using the Silly Bandz to hang it on the nail.

My wife was prepared to throw it away until she noticed how my daughter had managed to hang it. She neither intervened nor helped out daughter figure out how to solve the hanging problem.

Simply left to her own devices, a three year old solved a design problem. She’s either destined to pursue a career in engineering or be a useful hoarder like her father and grandfather.