too much free time

Not sure where my time goes, but I have a fair share of free time. I used to blog a bit in hopes of filling content that could lead to pageviews and thus revenue from AdSense clicks.  Nothing worthwhile came of the blah. I have moments when I review stuff I wrote and wonder about its origins. If I consumed alcohol or other mindbenders, I'd be better able to explain my lack of memory or the fact that I've had reoccurring thoughts that I never acted upon.

My wife is nine months pregnant with our third child, and I find myself thinking I don't remember being around doing the previous two pregnancies aside from conception and delivery. I have reasons for my aloofness, but they are silly. I was trying to not feel the pain I felt when we had a miscarriage.

I love my children and appreciate them more given that we suffered the loss. I am hardly the best I can be, and I have not settled for being a second rate husband and father, yet I have my blah days where I am on cruise control of selfish interests of isolation.

It's Christmas, and I can safely say my Christmases as an adult have been better than those I had prior to my meeting J. Life is too short not to appreciate each moment, yet I find myself reflecting here. I suppose that it could be worse, like playing video games, watching sports, or another mindless thing that is like empty caloric consumption.

Just a reminder to myself that blog entries should exist reflecting upon AAA tow truck drivers, ImproveIt repairmen, random mouse in the house, reconstituting the crib, Garmin GPS failure, Skinny Dip, Richard Zacks, FM/AM radio failure, Mazda5s, letter of apology from CENLAR, and seeing family after 5 years  as though nothing happened to cause an estrangement.

Last thought of tonight: When I was at work the other night, the kids there had skateboards. I remember when skating wasn't cool.  

awkward segue

The definition of "affordable" varies depending upon one's available resources. A Coke is a Coke, but a generic cola is cheaper. I'm conditioned to love my Coke and to stick my nose up at the "knock-off" brands.

I didn't drink Coke growing up. RC or Big K were the brands of cola stocked in the fridge when we had something other than 2% milk, Old Milwaukee's Best/Natural Lite, eggs, butter, orange juice FROM CONCENTRATE and Parmesan cheese.

I remember  the contents of the old fridge vividly. I learned to stop looking and find other things to do than eat while my folks "slept" during the weekend.

I have avoided being online a bit of late. Things have happened that merit blog entries more so than other events sprinkled throughout this domain, but time isn't a luxury I have to reflect upon AAA tow truck drivers, ImproveIt repairmen, random mouse in the house, reconstituting the crib, Garmin GPS failure, FM/AM radio failure, premature car shopping (Mazda5 looks like a nice car for a family of five, doesn't it?), and threatening to sue CENLAR for mortgage fraud. I could easily do an entry about each of those matters, but a certain machine is old and slow.

I started a blog post which was to be about health insurance, but I lost focus since I started talking about my childhood and getting to the difference between Big K and Coke. The analogy I was working towards was essentially that the Affordable Healthcare Act was probably affordable to those in the beltway who think nothing of buying imported bottled water, thus consider tap water to be only good for flushing toilets and ban it for the good of all.

GPS Saga, pt. III

We got the "new" cord on Friday, which was quick considering I sent the cord we had out the day after Labor Day. Well, the Nuvi 1350T still sucks when plugged into the car charger, so we need to replace it.

Not sure if we'll go the Garmin route again since this one lasted less than a few years.

Garmin 1350T, pt II

Same reply to my email regarding warranty drove me to calling their 800 number. Was on hold a while before speaking with Sun. He was nice. He verified  my part existed and put an order for a new one. We will get it in 7-10 days after they receive our defective cord. They sent us a a UPS label via email, so we shall see...

Garmin 1350T

We got a Garmin 1350T a few years ago. Have been tempted to get the "lifetime" maps for the device since our area has drastically changed within the past couple years, but  spending $90 seems a bit much when a new device with the LMT features isn't much more.

About a year ago, the tip for the charger disappeared, so we replaced it with a compatible GTM 25. Not really necessary, but the point of traffic updates is important when driving between Dayton and Cincinnati.

Within the last couple weeks, the GPS has been acting funny. It's indicating its in "mass storage mode," restarts, or the screen goes blank while it's plugged in the car. Contacted Garmin and got the inane response:

Thank you for contacting Garmin International.

If your nuvi is connected to an external vehicle power cable via the mini-USB port and is going into Mass Storage Mode (indicated on your nuvi by a picture of a nuvi connected to a computer), it may be due to the following reasons:

• The vehicle power cable is not connected to the correct port on the nuvi. Some devices have a USB port on the nuvi's mounting bracket and an additional USB port on the nuvi itself for connecting it to the computer.

• The vehicle power cable may be damaged.

• The nuvi's USB port may be damaged.

• A third-party cable, such as a cell phone charger, is being used and is not compatible with the Garmin nuvi.

A replacement cable can be obtained via a Garmin Dealer or at the Garmin Online Store.


Should you have further questions please contact Garmin Product Support by replying to this email or contact our Consumer Support Line at 800-800-1020 Monday-Thursday 8am-6:55 pm and Fridays 8am-5pm CST.

I am not an idiot as the support team indicates for the majority of the answers/solutions, so the problem seems to be that Garmin sold me a defective charger and now wants me to buy a second replacement. Ironic that I have lifetime traffic updates but the device doesn't last a whole year. When you register your devices, you have to plug them into your PC, but you can't do that with a travel charger. I replied to the above that my charger is less than a year old so I should be getting a replacement. We shall see.