Its less than a week until Anime Nebraskon...

 http://www.animenebraskon.com 
November 14-16
Lincoln, Ne

It kinda sorta snuck up on me when I wasn't looking.  I'll be DJing both dances again this year.  I'll have my full premium setup for this one:  7,000 watts of power and over 10,000 watts of lights.  The overhead room lights will be turned off, and brace yourself for one of the best light shows you have ever seen at a dance/rave.

At the convention I'm usually more of a behind the scenes kind of guy.  I'm one of the people who's trying to fix something that isn't working... or is making sure things 'sound' great.  I can be a hard person to find if you are walking around looking for me, but I will have my cell phone and a walkee talkee on me... come to think of it... I'll probably have a utility belt on... Flashlight, Leatherman, Cell phone, Walkee Talkee and a couple of stun grenades... give or take the stun grenades  :)

Halloween this year was amazingly nice for the trick or treaters.  They got a late start around my place, didn't see the first one until 7:30 or so usually they start around 6...  Not as many as I used to have in years past, but still almost 65.

Since I'm a mobile DJ I have several  heavy duty super bright black lights so I put 2 of my UV(black light) bars in the living room bay window.  It illuminated anyone who walked by, the sidewalk, the street, any cars in the street, the other sidewalk ont he other side of the street, anyone walking on the sidwalk over there and the house across the street.  I had thought about puting up a large 6 or  8 foot spider in the back of the house and have one of my smaller strobes flashing on it to make it look like it was moving, but I couldn't find anything to use for the spider  :(

They had a costume contest at work, I wore my renfair outfit.  This year's prize is skimpy compared to years past.  It's only 50$(24 and 10... 1st 2nd 3rd) giftcard this year, in years past it has been 100$(50 and 25 1st, 2nd 3rd), oh well.  I'll either get 1st or 2nd place either way pays for my breaks for at least a week. 

Can't believe its only 2 more weeks until the anime convention I help with.  Anime Nebraskon November 14-16 Lincoln, Nebraska.

I am finding it quite amusing.  Geico and numerous other insurance companies promise average savings of $300.  per person who changes...  I am afraid to guess what they are actually paying for insurance...  I have checked with them randomly and they are usually from 100-$300 MORE than what I am paying, for slightly  less coverage...  WTF... I'm with Safeco and very happy with my coverage and claim response time, Alstate advertises that a lot of insurance companies skimp on coverage to offer better prices... well they are right, they do skimp on coverage... but they don't offer discounts...

A few weeks ago I spend some time in my basement cleaning up.  Its not so much that it was a mess as I suffer from pack rat syndrome... TMFS...  Needless to say I have thrown a lot of stuff out, given stuff to good will, and I have a whole pile of stuff for a garage sale now... only problem is its a little late for a garage sale... unless they predict good weather some weekend in which I might get my parents and one of my sisters to help as I'm sure we could fill the garage with stuff.

I've finally broken down and decided that I need to get rid of at least 1 of my arcade machines (I have 2).  They don't get played very often at all and I could use the money on something else... like help paying off the last of my dj equipment.

I haven't posted anything on here in a while, so a few things have happened I guess.

I kinda sorta got a promotion at work. I now have a lot more stable hours and most of my weekends off.  Its a 7-4 m-f job just have to go in Sundays for 30 minutes or so to order.  I'm an assistant Meat Department Manager now, technically I guess the position is Endcase Manager.  Better hours, better pay, weekends off...  I can't complain.

Not a whole lot has changed with my mobile DJ business.  I've picked up some misc adapters, a couple of new lights, a few hundred more feet of speaker cable.  I finally got a battery light for inside my trailer that lights the whole thing up on the inside when its dark out.  I got tired of my old LED spot light on the door only 1/2 way lighting up 1/2 of the trailer, this thing lights the whole thing up and is also a LED light so it should last many many hours.  I picked up a spare one for my house also since it's capable of running strait for several hundred hours on one set of batteries and makes for a wonderful power outtage light.

About a month ago I tried giving my Chinchilla some treats called Dandelion drops, she absolutely LOVES them.  I give her a vitamon on even days, and the Dandelion drop on odd days.  She's almost too spoiled at times and is a picky eater...  oh well, I still love her.  I also for the 1st time let her go outside in her ball.  The grass didn't let her move around at all, so I let her run around on the sidewalk.  She had a blast, she ran/rolled up and down the sidewalk a few times.  I just had to watch her when she came near the driveway since there she 'could' roll into the street, also had to watch her when she got to the corner on the other side of the house as she could get into the street the same way.  Quite a few people went past, and it drew the attention of a couple of my neighbors but it was all good.  I had to laugh as 2 kids went past on bikes, they looked at her and said "oh, just a rabbit"...  I didn't even bother correcting them as I was about ready to go back inside with her.

Sometimes I get a little agitated at drivers.  I have on several occasions watched as someone swirved to try to hit a squirrel.  I've watched as moron drivers have swirved going up on the curb, to try to hit a cat or a dog also.  They were just lucky I didn't have my cell phone as I would of found some way to report them to the police if anything just for drunken driving...

Mid August (15-18) I went to anime iowa.  There was about a 2500 person turnout.  I wore my Ninja Gaiden- Ryu outfit on Friday and my Blue Master Chief costume on Saturday (I have a picture of each in my pictures on here).  It was a lot of fun.  Friday a friend of mine was teasing me "can't you go 50 feet without people asking for your picture"... and Saturday it was more like "can't you go 5 feet without people asking for your picture?"  I kept track of the number of pictures for a while but managed to lose track... it was somewhere over 4 or 500... 

Just 2 more months and it'll be time for Anime NebrasKon. November 14-16.  I'll be DJing there again for sure on Saturday night, and not 100% certain about Friday night yet as I'm not sure when I can slip away from work.  I mentioned I picked up a couple of adapters, the adapters will allow me to connect into the house pa system for hooking up microphones.  This year I'm going to only allow the contestants to use cheaper wired microphones incase they get dropped or slammed down...

Its been quite a few years since I was in 'fighting condition'.  I've been thinking about getting back into my Karate training.  I'm still very limber compared to all of my friends, but I am far from being able to do the splits like I used to be able to.  I figured I would try to find an agility/streching machine.  I've found a couple of them, its just a matter of finding a used one I guess.  Now I have incentive to visit those Play it Again  used sports equipment shops.  New the 2 that I was looking at run 200-300$, so here's hoping I can find a used one within the 100$ range.

Back in my prime condition I could run a mile in under 4 1/2 minutes and 2 miles within 10 minutes... I don't see anything like that happening again as I'm not going to work on running conditioning, just agility for now and I will go from there.

One of my best friends, Andrew (his wife and daughter), moved to Japan.  They moved early this year.  She's Japanese, they met in college.  My good army friend Chris has finally decided that the army life isn't for him.  He had reinlisted at least a year ago, but has decided he will not be reinlisting again.

First of all, can't believe I haven't posted here in a few months...

I picked up a couple of cool black lights for my DJ business., and have had a few weddings and other parties since.

Started having some problems with my main computer's mother board, and had to get a new one, so my computer was 'blue screening' and resetting randomly.  I'm sorry if there was anyone who happened to message me during that time.  It took me a while to figure out what the real problem was, so the motherboard is actually on order, and isn't installed yet, so computer does still reset occasionally.

I finished making my master chief costume in time that I could of worn it for Halloween if I had wanted to.  They had a dress up day at work a couple of days before Halloween, so I decided to go as a ninja, complete with full battle armor (real armor) hand gauntlets, lower leg protectors, chest/back piece and a katana strapped to my back.  I had just clocked in at work, and was walking up to the front of the place to have my picture taken, when one of the 'special needs' people that works there was walking my way, he took one look at me and ran away...  Turns out he thought I was there to rob the place, he tried to go hide...  felt kinda bad after I found out what had happened, apologized to him the next day.  There was a 100$ first prize, but I found out your costume made NO DIFFERENCE on winning, its just a popularity contest, and aparently only wearing a costume for the picture was good enough, even though it was just a BK king mask...

3 weeks ago last friday I was sitting at my computer desk minding my own business...  I shifted my weight on my chair so I could be a little more comfortable, and the stupid chair went out from under me (its one of those very stable 5 leg rolling chairs) I landed on part of one of the legs with my full weight and ended up getting a hairline fracture on my tailbone out of the whole thing.  Yes it was quite painful for the first couple of weeks.

Starting to get fustrated at my boss at work, he jumps to conclusions far to easily, refuses to change his mind afterwards 95% of the time, has forgotten how to say the words "I'm Sorry" and is wrong AT LEAST 1/3 of the time he jumps to conclusions.  He gets irritated if people question him, and out right agitated if you confront him to his face about it, so most people just bite their tongue, and take whatever blame he is throwing at them.  I don't always hear things correctly when I am concentrating on doing something else and someone suddenly says something to me (I kind of got used to blocking things out, and by brain sometimes 'fills in the gaps...)  This for some reason gets my boss irritated at me... he doesn't like repeating himself...

Most recently Anime Nebraskon http://www.animenebraskon.com was this last weekend.  November 16-18, I've helped with running various parts of it for 4 years now.  Last year and this year I brought my DJ equipment for the dance, several tv's and game consoles for the game room, and various snack supplies for the volunteers and staff.  Friday's dance went over very well, but Saturday I found out that my subwoofer was acting up...  I was helping do sound for our cosplay contest, and one of the groups had gone over time, one of them was using one of my wireless microphones, and slammed it hard down onto the stage(threw it down not dropped it, I watched as it bounced a couple of times), that night I was using that same microphone and found out that it was damaged and didn't work as well anymore... 

I'm getting a little fed up with UNL's Union though...

The Convention went over very well, a big increase in attendees from last year, and this is most likely the last time we will be in the Union.  Last year's attendance was around 625, this year it was 905.  The Union is on UNL (University of Nebraska at Lincoln) college campus, its a centralized location for several businesses, student organizations and gatherings, its a very large building.

Friday I had eaten 2 breakfast sandwiches around 10:30am just before I left Columbus to goto the convention, I grabbed a 5 hour energy drink around 9pm (just as the dance was starting), realized as I was about ready to goto sleep, that I hadn't eaten anything really all day, but I had drank plenty of water.  Saturday I got a chance to eat Chinese at around noon, and short of the energy drink I had just before the dance started, I hadn't had anything but water for the rest of the day.  Sunday I had a breakfast sandwich from McDonalds, a glass of OJ and a hash brown, but around 9pmish we met at at LazLo's (however its spelled).  I took off today as well as a rest and recoup day, as well as an unpacking day.  I started off the whole weekend with an extra day off for 'packing' so I wasn't rushed at all, and had plenty of time to get my stuff around.

My aunt is in the hospital right now, she went in there Thursday night of last week.  She has smoked for years, and within the last year or so had quit.  She has what is called 'smokers lung' significantly reduced efficiency lungs, and had to goto the hospital as a result of complications, but she is scheduled for release tomorrow.  Were having Thanksgiving at my parents place for the 1st time that I can even remember, its ALWAYS been at my aunts place, but Christmas (I will never use the terms Holiday gathering) at my parents, with the exception of once or twice it was at one of my sister's.

Well, short of a few boring details, that's what has happened since my last post, take care.

Started out so cold and then suddenly got warm, it just didn't seem like summer could be here already, and now its time for college and school to be starting up again.

Maybe its because I had enough stuff on my plate this summer, that I kept busy enough time flew.  Had several dj gigs, went to 2 anime conventions, met up with friends a few times, took a couple of small road trips, bought and majorly customized a 5x8 trailer oh yes... couldn't forget about work also... so many 6 and 7 day work weeks... at least payday was nice. 

Oh yes, then there was my turning 30 a month and a half ago, it wasn't so bad, not sure why people make such a big deal out of it.  I still get accused of posting highschool senior pictures because I look so much younger than I actually am, my main picture isn't quite 1 year old...  not my fault I don't 'look my age' but I most certainly act my age... if not act a few years older...

Not a whole lot going on at work right now...  I guess we are short handed at work, so it might take a few weeks for me to start getting a few weekends off here and there again, but we have brought in a couple of new people and main vacation season is drawing to a close.  Within about 4 weeks I should start getting my occasional weekends off again

I still get a kick out of watching friends and family attempt to catch my Chinchilla, Dusty, when she is running around.  They know they can't squeeze her, and she's had a LOT of practice at avoiding capture.  It often takes quite a while for them to catch her, even if I do give them some suggestions...  Then they watch me pick her up without much problem... gotta love it...

Can't say I've gone any really wild and crazy trips this summer, but its been interesting.

I know I've spent a lot more money this summer than I would of liked to of...  This last month has been expensive... 600$ getting my car back into cherry condition, another 700$ getting my trailer customized the way I wanted it to be.  500$ getting a backup amp for my DJ business and about another $2,000 worth of misc things...

At least I have found ways of saving money also...  walk or ride my bike to work almost all the time, saves 15-20$ a week on gas.

2 more weeks and I will be visiting Anime Iowa http://www.animeiowa.com August 10-12.  I finally finished getting my blue 'Master Chief' (Halo) costume put togather and plan on wearing it for the 1st time there.  It was a bit more work than I gave it credit for.

Built several games that I plan on using in my Mobile DJ business.

I still managed to find time to spoil my Chinchilla Dusty, I give her free reign of the house about once a day for 20 minutes or so (though I close all the doors)

They told me at work that I had to take my last week of vacation this week... use or lose it scenario...  I had hoped to save it until September... oh well.  Nothing going on this week, so its basically 1 full week of boredom, and getting small random things done.

Just a couple of small details to finish up and my trailer is completed.  Mainly just have to bring a scale outside with me to set under the tongue, and balance my heavy equipment into the trailer.  Everything basically has its place now, just need to find a home for the heavy stuff. 

'The same ol routine' of my day job is starting to get a bit old, and I'm starting to feel like I'm in need of a change.  I started up my DJ business partially because its somethingthat I have always been able to see myself doing, and because it was something I could take with me wherever I happened to go. 

The 4th of July is nearly upon us again.  Spending time with family and friends... or in my case, working and working because I always get stuck working and working...  On the bright side, I've managed to keep most of my bills down, my DJ business and my college are nearly all paid for.

Oh well, its late, and I'm probably not making a whole lot of sense anyway.

Well, I'm basically done modifying my trailer.  Its a good thing too, it keeps costing more and more money...  lol.  I just purchased a tire boot for my trailer so I don't have to worry about it moving anywhere its not sopposed to be...  There's several mischevious younger kids in this neighborhood, no telling if they would try to take the wheel blocks off and try to make the trailer roll down the driveway...  Better safe than sorry if you ask me.  Besides its also a VERY effective anti theft device.

My dad goes to the hospital in Lincoln on July 5th.  He's getting a replacement should put in.  He got one put in about 2 years ago on the other shoulder, but he's mostly worn his rotor cup out now on that one...  Doctor says he's too active.  When he was younger he helped my grandma and grandpa run a station (dad's 69 years old now...)   He used to lift full 55 gallon barrels of oil onto his shoulder and tote them around, lift them into pickups and all sorts of things like that.  Needless to say, it was quite hard on his shoulders... 

Anyhow, when this new shoulder is mostly healed, he's going back to have a little work done on the other shoulder... needless to say he's not going to be doing very much this summer.

What to do, what to do, I have 3 days off this week... and NO days off next week...  Starting on Friday I'll probably be on a good 14 day run... 

Well, one of my best friend's dad died last night.  He had Pancreatic cancer (pancreas cancer).  We all knew it was coming, it was just a matter of time.  At least it gave him enough time to get everything in order.

This is one of my army friend's.  He's on his way back to town, and should be back Wednesday evening.  I was suprised (I believe he was also), he said he asked his CO for 2 weeks leave, and his CO said "not a problem".  He wasn't deployed, he was/is in Texas.

Me and my dad spent some time today working on installing shelves in my DJ trailer.  I plan on having 2 shelves up front, 2 on the drivers side, and 3 on the other side.  I have to measure and cut each piece, so its a bit time consuming.  The front shelves are 16 1/2 inches wide (3 1x6's strapped togather), the sides are going to be simpler.  I got the front 2 done, and the back supports for the top shelves on each side done.

When I'm done, it would shock and amaze you how much stuff I can get in the trailer, and how easy it is to get what I want out, without having to unpack everything...

Just picked up a new trailer for my DJ stuff.  Now I can leave everything packed (except my computer, which will always go inside with me).

Had all sorts of fun getting it...

1st Menards here in Columbus, had sale signs posted for 1498 for a 5 x 8 trailer and the dimensions posted for it was about what I was looking for.  They said they located one in Norfolk (about 45 miles away) but said I had to pay for it yesterday to get the special price for it.  I did, then today went to pick it up...

The dimensions and specs for the trailer Menards here in Columbus had listed were totally wrong, they described a trailer menards quit carrying several years ago when they switched to this other company.  They at least had the company the trailer was made by right.  EVERY other dimension was wrong, hauling capacity was 1/2 what they listed, interrior height was 1 1/2 feet SHORTER, single rear door (they had listed dual rear door) and the tires were smaller, ball hitch was smaller than listed...

The hardware manager said he hates picking up the phone when he knows its the Columbus Menards calling, because 80% of the time, they don't know what they are talking about...  I managed to get my money back, and he said he is going to bill the Columbus Menards for the trailer at full price...  not to mention he said the 'sale' expired over a month ago...

I remembered reading in the Omaha World Herald about a trailer for sale which was about what I was looking for...  Decided heck with it, called, they still had it, nobody had called on it yet, so made a trip into Omaha, and ended up picking up the trailer there instead.

So, ended up traveling a bit further than I had expected (205 miles further to be exact)

Oh yeah, there was flash flood warnings out yesterday, turns out the highway between Columbus and Norfolk was partially underwater...  It was closed until this morning.  The side I was driving on wasn't too bad, the other side, I couldn't believe they were letting cars drive through, some of the lower cars were bottoming out in the water...

Now I get to customize the insides of the trailer, so I can store my DJ equipment in there the way I would like to...  add shelves to the front of the trailer (about 3 or 4 shelves) and a line of shelves along the top of both sides, then I get to lift the trailer up and redo the suspension of it... adding a more forgiving suspension so the load travels more smoothly