It all started when I went walking to check out the Xmas lights last Friday evening and I realized, "Damn! It's cold out here!" And by that I mean cold for Virginia, i. e., below 28° F., which I realize is nothing for those of you in Illinois and Iowa and Montana and other such frigid places, but is a tad on the nippy side for Richmond, especially since I'm don't really own any clothing suitable for even a brief sojourn into the wintery onslaught. Y'see, I'm used to being in the cold for no longer than it takes me to get to or from my car, say, ten minutes at worst. Forty-five minutes plus equals a shivery G. W.
Anyway, the upshot is I made a trip to Hull Street Outlet (which is not, by the way, located on Hull Street) and made a few purchases: black wool watch cap, black wool scarf, two M-65 field jackets w/lining in olive drab and black (natch!), cushioned wool socks, a black balaclava (because my face gets cold), and a nice pair of insulated gloves. All these for a reasonable price. On the plus side, when the weather outside is frightful I'm prepared to kick its ass; on the down side, I look like I'm about to knock over a 7-11... or a small Middle-Eastern nation:
(geez, I hope the Arabic says what I think it says* and not
"likes to have sloppy, kinky sex with underage goats")
"likes to have sloppy, kinky sex with underage goats")
Recall my rant a few months ago about my lost-then-found Rotring Newton 600 rollerball pen? Yeah, well, I figured a back-up was in order and even though these things have become hellaciously expensive-- and they weren't cheap to begin with-- I bit the bullet and bid on an eBay auction. Which I won. For less than I expected. Behold my glorious new Rotring 600 Newton Fountain pen (fine nib) with lava finish:
Why a fountain pen? Well, I dunno; I kinda like retro-tech and the thought of being able to use Noodler's Heart of Darkness Black Ink ("bulletproof" and "black as Stalin's soul") makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Now if I can just make my handwriting more legible....
These days I'm using my computer as my primary sound system, which works out fine for the most part. I have just enough hearing loss that a high-end system is wasted on me; however, I do like my music faithful to the source... and loud. Out of consideration for my neighbors, who may not entirely appreciate my late-night excursions into the land of Gary Puckett & The Union Gap's Greatest Hits, I wear headphones-- Sennheiser HD-280 Pros-- which are a great compromise between fidelity and cost; unfortunately, my computer has a little difficulty driving 'em. Enter HeadRoom's Total BitHead headphone amplifier: "plug the BitHead into the USB port and digital audio is automatically routed out of the noisy environs of your computer to be converted by the superior digital-to-analog converter (DAC) of the BitHead." Sounds like a lot o' hype, but lemme tell you something: not only does it give me more-than-adequate volume, even my middle-aged, high-frequency-impaired ears can detect a difference. Plus, it was on sale!
*"I am not a terrorist."
1 comment:
Might have to check out the headphone thing. A cold weather heads up...according the the army cold weather survival instructor, you want to leave your cheeks exposed as thats how your body judges the temperature and mets out blood to the extrimities and so forth. You might want to pull that ninja mask down a little.
Huck!
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