A Link To The Past

Last week I came across a link on IGN where they ranked their top 125 Nintendo games of all time.  The list brought back all kinds of memories from old Nintendo games, from Mario to Zelda to Excitebike and Punch-Out!.  I became so nostalgic, in fact, I downloaded an SNES emulator for my computer so that I can play some SNES games (I have most of these games on the Wii too, but it is in storage.).  My first order of business was to download A Link to the Past, one of my all time favorite games from 1992.  The music alone (see below) is enough to get me excited. 

Interestingly enough, this weekend was my birthday and Sarah got me the Zelda version of Monopoly as well as this really cool map of the Chicago transit system with Zelda logos and theme to hang in my man cave (see below).  The title of the game is really appropriate as it does provide a link to my past, growing up and playing video games.  I don't play them too often anymore but it is always fun to go back periodically and remind myself of how much I enjoyed certain games when I was younger.  Thanks to all for the birthday wishes, especially Auntie.

Trouble With The Spreader

I will place this experience into the "live and learn" category.  In early summer I placed fertilizer on my yard and I somehow had a lot leftover in my spreader when I was finished.  I didn't think much of it and left it sitting in my spreader all summer.  Thursday I tried to clean it out in order to use the spreader for fall fertilizing and weed killer.  To my surprise, the fertilizer from the summer was rock solid, jamming up my spreader.  This is odd to me because I have the exact same fertilizer sitting in my garage in a non-sealed bag and it didn't get hard at all.  I tried to get it out with a mini-shovel and when that didn't work I decided to spray it with water to soften it up.  This worked, except that it made the fertilizer quite sticky, jamming up the spreader again.  I didn't realize this until I had already poured the fall fertilizer into the bin.  So I had to remove it and place it in a trash bag so that I could manually move the fertilizer from the spreader that was getting stuck.  I finally got the fall fertilizer on the yard.  It just took me about 30 minutes longer than expected.

iPhone 6 == Bleh

I remember when the specs (processor speed, amount of memory, hard drive space, etc.) on computers were really important.  Not long ago, you actually had to pay attention to the specs because the computer you selected may not be able to adequately run the programs you want and need.  For the overwhelming majority of people, those days are gone.  Sure, if you're running a business or doing something very specific with your computer, the specs probably matter.  But for the average computer user who is checking email, surfing the net, and running basic programs, any computer on the market will be able to handle their tasks easily.

My current iPhone, the 4S, is about 4 years old.  It runs well but is getting to the point where battery life is becoming an issue.  It is time to upgrade.  I've been waiting all summer to hear about the iPhone 6 to see if I wanted to get one.  Now that the details have been released, I'm not sure I want one.  I'm not jumping to Android.  I'm happy with the iPhone, and now that I have a Mac I really enjoy the integration between the phone and the computer.  I'm just not sure that I need a 6.

The iPhone 6 release was filled with specs: which processor the phone uses, the screen resolution, the camera pixel number, and on and on.  Thing is, the 4S, which is years old, does everything I want and need in a phone.  I run a few basic apps, check my email, and text.  That's about it.  Also, I'm generally against larger phones.  I use my phone for work while I'm at work on a daily basis.  I want something small enough to comfortably fit in my pocket and be transported without feeling like I've shoved a laptop down my pants.  But the market is going towards larger phones and there isn't anything I can do about it.  Sarah has an iPhone 5 with a larger screen (but smaller than the 6 screens) and I think the 5's screen size is fine. 

I think I'm going to wait for the 6 to come out and then get a 5S once the price drops to $99.  It will be faster and lighter than my current phone, it will do everything I want and need it to do, and it will cost $100 less.  I'm placing the label "I'm getting old" on this post because there was a time, probably 5-10 years ago, where there is no way I would settle for anything other than the latest and greatest.  I wouldn't use logic like I am currently displayed in this post. 

The Double Bird

Another Indycar season is in the books, and although the season ending race in Fontana was pretty anti-climatic, the season overall was quite competitive.  They set a record this year for having the highest number of different winners.  The series is more balanced and competitive across the whole field that I can remember it being in years past.  The quality of the racing has improved steadily over the past few years too.   I just wasn't very happy with the final outcome.  I'm not a huge Will Power fan, especially after all the shenanigans surrounding him and Scott Dixon during last year's championship.

The US Open is becoming less interesting to me by the day.  On the men's side, Federer is still in it so I'll be watching his matches.  On the women's side, Kirilenko is out.  Sharapova is out.  Ivanovic is out.  Halep is out.  Most of the big names are out except for Serena, but honestly I'm not a huge fan.  I'm thinking of adopting Bouchard as my new favorite player but I'm still on the fence on her as I've only seen her play a few times.  Also, what is the deal with the ball "boys" at the US Open?  They are grown men.  What is the deal with that?

Labor day marks the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, probably my favorite season.  Here's to cooler weather (although we had a fantastic summer this year) and football!