As I mentioned in a previous post, I was gifted an Xbox 360 for Christmas which I am extremely grateful for. The price of the 360 was reduced last year for the lowest end model. Microsoft made three versions of the 360 available; Xbox 360 Arcade, Xbox 360, and Xbox 360 Elite. The Arcade version was the cheapest, it’s the one I asked for, and the one I received. The missing features of the Arcade version that I have since added are: a hard drive, an HDMI cable, and wireless internet. Dustin and Shannon gave us a hard drive and I bought an HDMI cable. The wireless internet that Microsoft sells for the 360 is overpriced at $99, so I did some research and found a nifty solution. It’s possible to buy or reuse a wireless router and turn it into a wireless bridge with four ports. The instructions( HOW TO: Cheap Wireless For Your Xbox 360, DD-WRT ) I found online to do this were very helpful, but required replacing the firmware on the router, which could render the router useless if done incorrectly. The procedure was a success and now the 360 is connected to the wireless router, which communicates to my other wireless router to give the 360 access to the internet, kind of like an external wireless ethernet card. After hooking it up, I updated the software and logged into Xbox live, the menu system to access all the services available. Alexis and I created avatars and I downloaded some add-ons for Crackdown. I also started the one month free gold membership and then activated Netflix. We started watching “The Office” through Netflix’s “watch now” feature. We finished the first season and are halfway through the second. The picture quality is great, but I’m not all that happy with the idea of paying for the gold membership to have access. The pricing is $7.99 for one month, $19.99 for three months, and $49.99 for a year. I already spend money for a Netflix membership and internet. Adding this additional monthly fee is a rip off. I’m not using Microsoft’s bandwidth or storage, the fee is 100% profit for them. There are other services available with the gold membership, but I don’t use them. We may use the gold membership a month at a time, cancel it, let more movies and tv shows build up in our “watch now” queue, then subscribe again.
Anticipation
I have neglected my website far too long. This month has been very eventful.
I had a birthday this month and the gifts I received have kept me occupied and will continue to. The cake Alexis made me was inspired by the cake in the game Portal.
Also this month we had friends staying with us while they were in town. Alexis and I suggested they eat at a Mexican sandwich shop downtown called, Tio’s Tortas. I told them the story about how the guys at work and I found the place.
We noticed the sign when it first went up and stopped by on the first day the doors were open. They were testing their recipes and training the employees so the food was free. It was so good we decided to go back the next day, but this time the credit card machines were not working. The owner decided not to charge for food instead of turning away customers that did not have cash. So we had another free meal and from then on we were hooked.
Our friends really enjoyed the sandwiches and talked about them even after their visit had ended.
I’m eagerly awaiting the birth of my nephew, who is a couple of days late so far. Every time my phone rings I think it could be the news of his birth. Alexis and I are taking a trip soon on a gamble that he will be born by the time we arrive.
Uncle Paul?
I’m going to be an uncle. It hasn’t quite sunken in yet, which is why I forgot to mention it last week. My brother’s wife, Shannon, is going to have a baby boy sometime in late August.
In other news, Alexis and I had a pretty busy weekend. We started out by doing lawn work Saturday morning by mowing the lawn and trimming the tree in the front yard. Now I can actually mow around the tree without getting hit in the face by branches multiple times. Later that day I cooked steaks and watched the Dallas Stars smear the Anaheim Ducks five to two, making the series two to zero. On Sunday we went to a Texas Rangers game, courtesy of my Mom’s work place. We ate at a restaurant there at stadium then proceeded to our seats just eleven rows behind first base. After the game we went home and watched “V for Vendetta” and then played “BioShock” for the PC. Well, I played “BioShock” while Alexis watched, bit her nails, and gave me encouragement. I need all the help I can get. The game takes place in an underwater city, where science has been allowed to do as it will, without any moral constraints. The city is serious decay as are it’s inhabitants. See for yourself in the video below:
“V for Vendetta” was an excellent movie and seriously intense. I’ve linked to the trailer below:
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