Two DirecTV DVRs

Today I gave my Philips DSR7000 to the Sweetest Girl in All the World and her husband-to-be. After my condo complex sold their cable contract to the Evil Comcast Empire, and my requests to the condo association board to install a satellite dish on the common area of the condo failed, I put the two of these DirecTivo boxes away (in the clutter-monger's sense of away, meaning "left them where they were, unplugged--I later boxed them up). They've been sitting unused for over a year, and at every turn, I try to find someone who's subscribed to DirecTV to ask them if they'd like to get a new DVR.

Fun fact: Back when these units were operating at full capacity, I probably ruined my chances of dating a very lovely Chinese girl when I told her that I had these at home.

Both the Sweetest Girl in All the World and another friend have expressed interest in these units, but I was only able to get the DSR7000 to the former today. The latter may have some issues with wiring which would prevent their use of the Hughes HDVR2. Sad, because that unit comes with a special bonus that would be especially useful for his geek-related show watching.

Here's hoping that he'll be taking it off my hands soon.

Nike ACG Hiking Shoes

I'll be taking a vacation next month, and because part of it involves a single day of hiking the Grand Canyon, I decided to pick up some hiking shoes a month early so I could break them in.

Unfortunately, they broke me. After trying them on in the store, where they fit me pretty well, I put them on in the morning for my usual walk to the bus and walk home. Within one block of walking my heels were already on fire, and once I got to work from the bus, I made the mistake of peeling my sock off and accidentally ripping the blistered skin from my foot.

Part of getting rid of your clutter is also not buying any more clutter, and while I'm not doing such a good job with the comic books, I'll be returning these to the sporting goods store. I figure I can probably hike the Grand Canyon in a old, comfortable pair of sneakers. Hopefully my blisters will be healed by the time I get there.

The Low-Car Diet

Sometime in 2004, I totaled the Nissan Pathfinder that I was driving, and as a replacement picked up a Scion xB. It's a great car, slightly underpowered, but a very good commuter. I get an average 29 MPG combined city/highway driving, and that's slowly creeping up as I tend to employ some hypermiling techniques when scooting through town. The interior is quite spacious--I've called it the TARDIS on more than one occasion. I can probably hold four six-foot-plus-tall individuals without having to squeeze any single one of them because of the configuration of the seats (more upright like dining chairs than easy chairs).

Since I found out about Georgia Tech's Transportation system, however, I've been driving less frequently. My workplace is about two blocks SSE from Tech, my home two blocks due East of the Midtown MARTA station where the Tech Trolley regularly picks up and drops off students on their regular commute to campus. Prior to my knowledge of the trolley (and around the time of $2.50/gallon gas), I considered buying a bicycle for the two-mile trip, but the trolley saves me that expenditure. I've even taken to walking the full two miles home in the summer heat, which has benefited me with weight loss of about 30 pounds over the last two months.

So when someone pointed the way to ZipCar's Low Car Diet, I thought it was a great opportunity to put aside my car. Hopefully I can make it through all potential needs for me to use a car. The free ZipCar membership is distinctly a plus.

TokyoPop's Cardcaptor Sakura Collector's Edition Slipcases

A few years ago, I was working at a consulting company next to Northlake Mall in Tucker, GA, and during my lunch breaks, I would troll the mall, most of the time hanging out in either Waldenbooks or EB Games. I bought the two of these slipcased collections of Clamp's Cardcaptor Sakura during one of Waldenbooks' buy four books, get the fifth free promotions.


The story behind Cardcaptor Sakura is your typical anime/manga magical girl story--grade school girl becomes endowed with magical powers to help save the world along with her comrades consisting of cute teddy-bear-like familiars and other magical children. I don't quite recall all of the details of the series, but it was a generally enjoyable read, and it's probably a pretty good series for younger readers.

Along the spine of each set it specifically says "Collector's Edition" and each volume includes a special tarot-like card of one of the characters. Woohoo.

34.5 years of accumulating crap...

I've been accumulating crap for over 34 years now. A serious love for fiction, movies, games, and great storytelling in general has put me in a one-bedroom condo with rapidly dwindling space. In this blog, I'm prepared to chronicle the process by which I divest myself of the stuff that's rather devoid of meaning now.