Leinninger.com

Gina and I had our first date after she tried out for a band that I play guitar in: Rogerbox. The band has been a pretty significant part of our lives over the past few years. In December of 2003 we lost our drummer, Eric, to job prospects in Ohio. We auditioned a few drummers, and a few months after Eric left, we brought Andy on board. He too left the band to pursue his career and we were left without a percussion section once again. After Andy left, we posted some signs and updated our website to find a new drummer. We had a few bites from musicians with a lot of experience. However, they wanted to make money playing shows. We’re not really in it for the money, and as soon as we shared this morsel with our prospects, they faded away.

A few weeks ago, Eric called and expressed his desire to get together and practice. We did just that. After a couple of practices, it feels like old times again. We’re a little rusty, but things are coming together well.

We haven’t talked about where this might lead, but I think we could pull things together and play a show relatively soon. We’ve had a few calls during our hiatus, and it wouldn’t be difficult to book a show or two.

When we stopped playing, something was missing. I wasn’t sure if it was the social aspect or the extra “free time…” In any event, it feels good to be playing out with other musicians again.

I recently purchased an inexpensive “sonic maximizer” that has made a world of difference in my guitar tone. It clarifies my sound without much effort, it’s compact, and easy to use. I highly recommend this piece of equipment to anyone looking to clean up their sound without a large investment (new guitar). Even more, I’m hoping to use this new tool in an upcoming show… whenever that me be. I hope to see you there. Keep an eye on our website for upcoming performances.

- Duane

I’ve given up on airblogging.com. It’s not being maintained in a way that I can rely on. In the past, I’ve kept away from 3rd party solutions since they’re all too often well outside of my control. Many of them start charging for their service, others just disappear. I switched to flickr.com. They offer simple photo storage and blog updating in addition to a number of advanced features. I use the automated email update system to post to flickr, which then sends the update to blogger.com. This is especially handy when using my new Sony Ericsson K700 to send moblog photo updates. More on that phone later…

- Duane

Although I’ve just completed my XP-based media center, I would sell it in a heartbeat to switch to a Mac-based media center. Every day, Microsoft Anti-spyware Beta detects 3-6 new spyware threats on my media center box alone. Engadget gives a few pointers as well as links to this project site focusing on building a complete mac mini media center solution.

- Duane

Refer to this handy map during this news update:

Today started simple enough. Gina and I woke, made some breakfast, and headed out to pick up our dry cleaning. We’re attending “Rent” at the Masonic tonight with 3 other couples, and want to look out best. We were planning on some snow, and Mother Nature delivered. About 8 inches fell overnight and a few more were expected.

(1.) We jumped into Gina’s 2000 Impreza RS, and traveled about a mile to Irv’s Deluxe Cleaners. The roads were treacherous, but the trip was short and we had the beauty of All Wheel Drive on our side. A few minutes, and we were in and out of the cleaner. Time to go home… but the car won’t start. Could the cold have killed the battery? Did something get wet during our four-wheel drift heroics and blow a fuse? Regardless, we were stranded. So, we called our local hero, Brad.

Within a few minutes Brad arrived… in style. There’s something to be said about performing surgically precise doughnuts in a bright purple pickup… in the middle of a main street. We attempted a jump start… with no luck. We assumed that the battery was, indeed, toast. Then it occured to me that a fuse might be to blame. (Gina has no voltmeter in her dash, but the interior lights, headlights, etc. were still working.) I checked the 2 main breaker locations and found nothing wrong. Then, I checked the fuses for her security system and keyless entry. Behold, a very blown fuse. (2.) Brad piled the three of us into his 2 seat truck and we were off (once again, in style…).

(3.) Back home, we cleared off my car and headed off to (what we thought was) the nearest auto parts store to buy some 10 amp fuses. After our stop at Autozone, we headed back to Irv’s Deluxe Cleaning… where every fuse we tried immediately blew. While practically standing on my head installing fuses, it occured to me that I might be able to use the security bypass. I tired, it worked, and we caravan-ed back home (4.). As we left the cleaner, we noticed… with pains of irony, that an auto parts store was, in fact, right across the street (see Stealth Auto Parts Store on map,

We ran to the front door, and I reached into my jacket pocket for my house keys, and found nothing. Somewhere during our adventure I had lost my keys. I did the practical thing and began to panic while swearing. Back to the cars. No keys to be found in either one. (5.) Back to Irv’s. After a minute or two digging through the snow where I had perfomed my fuse installation headstands, Gina found my keys.

(6.) Once again, we drove home and got back to the mundane things that have to be done on the weekend. Such as laundry and the ceremonial soaking of fragile electronics. (I left my cellphone in my jeans pocket while they were in the washing machine.) I realized this, rescued the phone (although it might be too late), and it is now recuperating (hopefully) in front of a hair dryer.

I only hope that our outing to the theater tonight is far less eventful.

- Duane

Thanks to recent discussions about this years racing schedule as well as a few f-body conversations, I’ve got a full-on car craving! On that theme, I give you the Autoblog Tuner Tuesday. Enjoy.

As far as the last installment of my MCE write-up… I swear it will be here soon… stay tuned.

- Duane