Packed and Ready for Maine!

Just a quick post!

I'm heading for Maine in the morning to attend my writer's retreat at Stonecoast. It's hard to believe that my third semester begins here, and then after a year more it will be all over. It's going so fast!

As you can guess, I'm all packed and ready to go. Hopefully my bus ride will not encounter difficulties leaving NYC as I know there is another snow storm heading our way.

I'll take pictures and video of my trip and through out the residency so keep an eye out for it!

Just thought I'd put a picture of what my suitcase looks like. It's not too bad, but it's filled to the max!

Talk later!

PS3 Status and Japan Society

Hello, all!

Happy New Year 2011!! I hope everyone had a great Christmas and are enjoying or at least planning a fantastic agenda for the new year.

Anyway, a few things I wanted to bring you up-to-date on.

Yesterday I had a pretty fulfilling day. A friend and I went to the Japan Society in lower Manhattan and registered ourselves for their spring semester Japanese course. We even signed up to become members, so we could enjoy the discounts to all their events and classes.

I had been planning to enroll at the Japan Society for some time, but never really committed to it or I didn't have the money for it. So, it was a big deal for me once I finally went there and enrolled. I'm excited to say the least! One thing is for sure; my hands are gong to be quite full during the next five months. My schedule and live will be divided between my part-time job, teaching martial arts, grad school and now Japanese classes.

My plate is pretty full!

On the good side, I have a year left of grad school before I'm finished with my MFA! This semester I will handle the infamous third semester project. I have a couple ideas of what I want to do, but I'm still a little nervous about it. I sure that during the residency I'll get a chance to speak to several potential mentors and get a better idea of what I will work on.

Also, my martial arts teaching schedule is going to shift a bit, and that will allow for flexibility. Yeah, I'll find my middle ground to balance the work load that will hit me during the next few months.

On another note, I finally put my PS3 back into working order. A few posts before I had mentioned several hiccups that I ran into during my PS3 upgrade project. Luckily, all those bumps are past me and I completed the upgrade flawlessly.

Out with the old! I backed up the hard drive to my portable storage device before removing the old 60 gig HDD.

I never was able to remove the tray, so I bought an extra tray. Funny, out with the old, entirely!

Originally, I was going to replace the 60 gig with a 320 gig. In the end, I settled for a 500 gig.

Afterward, I uploaded the backed up data onto the new hard drive. I was surprised when I realized that everything was transferred over. The entire process took about two and a half hours. An hour to back up the data, and another hour to upload it again, with twenty minutes in-between to swap the HDD.

I spent several hours afterward downloading game updates, synchronizing my trophies and installing games on the new hard drive.

Like I said, a pretty eventful day!

Well, that's it for this post. Until next post!!

Happy New Year 2011!!

Well, another year has left us, and in its place a new year begins! I have a lot of hopes and desires that I want to accomplish, and I hope I can meet those challenges.

With hard work and commitment I know that I will accomplish those goals.

I wish the best for all of you out there who venture and read my blog entrees. Aim high in everything that you do, and don't settle for less.

Happy New Year from me to you!!

Feliz Año Nuevo!!!

明けましておめでとうございます!!! (I'm going to start learning Japanese too!)


Until Next Time!

NYC Snow Storm 2010 (Video Added)

Hey all,

As most of you out there probably already know the northeast was hit by a very moderate snow storm system. I sure many of you out there dealt with this little bad boy, and have stories to tell.

Since you are here reading my blog I thought I'd post up some pictures I took. These pictures are from Monday, the day after the storm hit us here in NYC.

I truly believe that this storm caught many people by surprise. I myself didn't expect the storm to be so severe, but the 50mph winds made the whole situation worse. Yesterday (Sunday), the sky was gray and dark, the snow came down in steady streams, and the wind blew that steady stream horizontally that it created a screen of white dust that obscured visibility.

Oddly enough, the sky was clear and blue today. However, the wind continued to persist. In addition, mass transit was crippled through the city with major subway and bus lines suspended or delayed by hours. It was horrible to say the least. The news reported even greater stories of unpleasantness. There were people who were unfortunate enough to be trapped in trains for hours, or were caught and stranded on the highways.

I can't imagine what that must feels like. I hope all those people were okay and managed to get to where they were going safely. All three airports had canceled service, but the last time I saw the news they were scheduled to resume at about 6pm.

Who knows how that is going at this point. It is a little after 6pm right now as I write this blog post.

In retrospect, today wasn't that bad. The sun was out and it was quite pleasant outside. Until, the wind blew and sent a deep chill through your body. Of course, digging a car out was not much fun either.

The only down side is that all this snow will stick around for a few weeks. It just becomes a nuisance, and it just further makes me appreciate rain during situations like this.

Anyway, hope everyone is staying warm and dealing with this weather safely.

Until next post!

****

Hey, I added a link to a video I took after the storm below. Check it out! There's another on my Youtube page.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhY1owwfsVc

PS3 Update! (Sort of)

Hey, all or some,

Well a few posts back I reported that my PS3 needed eye surgery. Now, I believe I reported on this already, but that went well and my system is back in fine working order. (For the time being)

Anyway, I had been planning a major hard drive upgrade for some time now.

I bought a new internal hard drive, a Western Digital 500gb notebook drive, and I'm ready to begin with that process. I read and viewed many videos on the back up and swap procedures and I'm confident that it will go well.

Wouldn't you know it! I ran into another problem. I've said it before, it seems that the game gods are against me when it comes to my gadgets. I removed the old 60gb HDD out of the PS3, and of all the things to give me the worst trouble, the screws which hold the hard drive to the tray won't come out. After a few hours, a few different screw drivers I only managed to wear down or round off the screws. AARRGGHH!!

I am so pissed right now. Then again maybe not. I'm just disappointed that it's taking this long to do something so simple. On top of that, why does something so simple end up becoming such a headache.

I did the next logical thing. I emailed Sony and asked them if they could send me a replacement tray and screws. I read that they supplied them for free at one point, so it didn't hurt to ask. Hopefully they still do, and even if they charge it shouldn't be that expensive. My only other option is to shop around for a replacement on ebay or at the game shop that handles repairs.

My goodness, its been one set back after another for my old PS3. It's a trooper though!The upgrade will also give me some much needed room to move, and I need that!

And, let me tell you that this HDD upgrade is also coming with its share is issues concerning game saves. Some will transfer over while others not. But, I'll talk about those in my full upgrade post and my after thoughts on the whole process.

That's all on this for now.

Later gators!

Being A Translator + More Updates

No I'm not a translator, or I should say that I don't do that for a living. I had an interesting situation yesterday. A martial arts instructor from Columbia came to visit and speak with my sifu.

He spoke very little English and my sifu did not speak that much Spanish, so I was to act as a translator between the two.

I have to say that it was a unique experience. As far as I can remember, this is the first time I have ever translated between two languages. It was fun, but also nerve wrecking. As you are listening from one language to the next you are trying to make sure that you are understanding every point being made. Then you are figuring out how to best relay that information.

Although I am bilingual, I still have some difficulties speaking. I grew up speaking both, but used English more. When I go to Peru to visit family I find it a bit nerve wrecking to speak with them. Ha! Yeah, this must sound completely ridiculous.

So, yesterday was very enlightening. I felt good knowing what my capabilities were!

On a more irritating note. Back in October (I believe), I reported an issue with my medical insurance. I went to a hearing, and a few days ago I received a decision. Well, my insurance is going to be discontinued because I make a hundred dollars over my current carrier's eligible requirements. It sucks, but the positive side is that they are required to assist me with the switch to the next tier in insurance. This is good because that way I won't suffer from any lapse in coverage.

Ahh, these are some of the positive and negative perks of working part-time.

Lastly, and I should have put this up days ago. My PS3 is back in working order and I'm happy to have it back home! I tested the system out only once so far because I'm a little hesitant to use it for fear of the lens going out on me again. Ha, I'm just being silly about it, but I don't want to go through that set back again.

I plan on giving my PS3 a large hard drive upgrade very soon, so that will help alleviate my stress and concerns. Rest assured I will document it here when it happens. So, in the end there's a positive note.

Well, that's it for now.

Talk soon.

More Stuff + News = You Do The Math

Well, Folks, besides my PS3 woes from yesterday I didn't realize that my last post was my 40th post on It's All In My Head!

I can't believe how much I have put into this blog. At first I thought I wasn't going to keep up with it, or that I would eventually lose interest in updating it with stuff. Quite on the contrary. This blog has sort of kept me actively writing since way back in early October, so I'm very pleased with myself for the commitment.

Well, it's not like I haven't been doing any writing at all during the last five months. I'm in a creative writing MFA program so there's plenty of it. Some of you out there know what I mean! ^_^

Anyway, It's All In My Head is a creative outlet for myself to express my thoughts and opinions on whatever popped into my head. I've talked so far about many personal interests and endeavors, and believe me when I say that there's more to come! It's hard updating a blog with stuff, and I try.

On another note, after taking my PS3 for eye surgery, I received a jury summons letter in the mail. Great, just what I really needed as an early Christmas gift to compound my woes. Ha! Some people find it interesting, but I just find it a nuisance. No matter how I prepare to occupy myself during the long hours that I'm there the hours never seem to go by quickly.

 
As you can tell from my face, I'm not thrilled at all by this headache.

One interesting fact, on my last visit through jury duty I saw Saturday Night Live actor Chris Parnell. This was over four years ago, but it was cool!

Damn it! I'm not looking forward to sitting in that jury waiting room. If I'm going to sit on a jury then I want Alex Cabot from Law and Order: SVU to be one of the attorneys present. I love Stephanie March's character of Alex Cabot on Law and Order: SVU. It's one of the reasons I watch it.

**Wait, I just read she's not coming back after the eleventh season! NOOO!!!**

The blows just keep on coming. I'll deal with it, and hopefully get my PS3 back today.

Until then!

P.s. Forgot to mention that my jury summons is for early January, and I'll have to postpone because I'll be out of town much of January. So there is some light.