Happy birthday to me!

[sylvar]

I'm 32 years old.

My laptop is broken and we can't afford to replace any parts. (So you'll be seeing less of me online, unless I can figure out what's wrong and find a free replacement part somewhere.) Oh well, we got it for free anyway. I just hate being the only person in the house who has to ask someone else for permission to use their computer instead of just using my own.

I'm selling my new digital camera and the lenses, tripod, etc. that go with it. It's the best way to reduce debt and provide for GRE classes, college-visiting road trip, application fees, etc. Jodi says she'll use her savings for moving expenses. I got an unexpected check in the mail, which helps. I'm still selling the camera, and I still need to sell the iPod nano, too. eBay fees are annoying, but I'm not sure I know of a better way to get the best value for this stuff.

Oh well, at least I look hot in my black dress shirt and the jeans I bought a month ago. Never hurts to know people are staring at my butt. ;)

I'm kinda sad about the financial situation we got ourselves into, but we're dealing with it. It was just a bad idea to be living like a dual-income, upper-middle-class family. We aren't.

And despite all that, I'm actually fairly happy today. Go figure.

Oh, if you're a Babylon 5 fan, you might enjoy The End of the World, Babylon 5 Style, which I wrote yesterday.

Comments

[sylvar.livejournal.com]

It's a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT with the standard lens plus a 300mm zoom lens that's fast enough to catch this without a flash (that's fully zoomed in, from about 25 rows back). Both lenses have hoods, one of them has a haze filter. There's a very fast 2GB CompactFlash card (see the whole series for an idea of how fast it can shoot and save) and two spare batteries. It also comes with a Speedlite 380EX external flash, which is crucial for avoiding red-eye. (Forget every "red eye reduction" feature you've ever seen. Point the flash at 60 degrees up, bounce the flash off the ceiling, and you'll have no red-eye at all.) And I've got a kickass sturdy Bogen tripod with a quick-release mount for the camera.

As for price, I'm not sure; I have to figure out what comparable gear costs new, and what this stuff has gotten on eBay. If I had to guess, I'd say around $1k for the lot, but I need to do some research.

[ximinez]

Sounds nice. Don't know if I'm willing to drop that much anytime soon, but keep me in the loop anyway.