Well, thanks to a couple of things so far, it looks like 2010 is off to an entertaining start!

First, Christine shocks the hell out of me by actually LIKING and recommending a symphonic metal band to me. If I haven’t already told you guys, her and I butt heads so much on music tastes that we often end up listening to music via headphones around the house. Unfortunate, but it’s a workaround. Anyways, the band is called Delain and I bought their album immediately after she played a few samples. Very good stuff, with just enough of a commercial sound to appeal to more of the masses. And the singer has got such a phenomenal voice! The music is also progressive enough, with at least a couple of key changes in their songs. Here’s the video for their single “April Rain”

The second cool piece of entertainment was the finale of the Doctor Who: The End Of Time two-parter that finished off the seasonal specials after the 4th season. This finale was totally unexpected, and the ending was so touching, it made me cry. I’m a softie for stuff like that. David Tennant gives up his role as the 10th Doctor with pure style and heart, and Matt Smith picks up the torch as the 11th Doctor with some of the weirdness we saw from David Tennant’s beginnings, but more manic. I won’t say any more. You’ll have to see for yourself!

So, two very entertaining and cool things for me this year so far… I can’t wait to see what else 2010 has in store for us! Cheers!

P.S. – Just got news after planning this blog entry that my beloved pet, Beavis, whom my parents have has since I moved away, died today. I’ll write about this tomorrow.

Unfortunately, I caught a nasty head cold that’s been going around for a while. I seem to be the last to catch these things. My wife already got over hers, my co-workers were sick last month. What a way for me to ring in the new year, eh?=(

On the bright side, I have my trusty iPhone, so I can do all my new daily projects with it while still in bed. I’m starting a new Project 365 with an app recommended by Jenn, a Dailybooth and Twitter friend. It’s basically a picture-a-day diary. Unfortunately, the app only has options for sending to Facebook directly or sending to a service through email, so I used my Flickr account’s email upload address. Very nice, nonetheless! I will also challenge myself to do a video a day and a blog entry a day. With all the wonderful tools at my disposal, there’s no excuse not to do these things. I wanna start some good habits this year!

Hello all! Sorry I haven’t updated all week, but I’m showing you now what has taken up all of my free blogging time.

I got this puzzle in the mail on Monday. Just as the title of this post says, it’s a Gigaminx puzzle. If a Megaminx is equal to a 3×3x3 Rubik’s cube, then this bad boy is equivalent to a 5×5x5 Rubik’s Professor cube. So, it’s essentially a cube that’s been expanded out to a 12-sided dodecahedron. And, wow, it’s a pain to solve!

Not so much as far as difficulty, but the process involved is time-consuming and will test anyone’s patience. Plus, by it’s very nature, the layers are hard to turn without them catching on each other. After the first scramble and solve, I had to take it apart (risky business, that!) and spray each piece down with silicone lubricant. This helped some, but the tension screws also needed to be set exactly to preferred tolerances. Trying to set twelve screws and springs to be evenly matched in tension is a little maddening, but it was done today. It turns well, but still a bit stiff, so more breaking-in time is required.

I ordered it from a third-party on eBay because the manufacturer’s site only works with Internet Explorer. It came pre-assembled but, with my experience in disassembling/reassembling the puzzle, in hindsight I should have ordered the DIY kit. More control over the initial assembly probably would have turned out a better Gigaminx.

Is there any puzzle enthusiast that wants a new challenge? Order one of these monsters, and see if you have the courage to scramble it in the first place! Even through my initial troubles with trying to turn the layers, it’s still very recommended. Cheers!

It’s the close of another week! Let’s see how things went for me this week.

Well, not much in my life happened except work, work… and just when I thought I couldn’t get enough… more work! I had to work both last Saturday and Sunday because some VIP’s from the home office were coming to the facility. Like a good little worker, I put in my best efforts and the visit on Tuesday went very smooth. I’m glad management was pleased with me. I don’t sound convincing, do I? Well, I am pleased, but I was exhausted after work Wednesday. My days off were yesterday and today, and I spent it mainly recuperating and doing some cleaning around the house.

During this whole time, Dailybooth threatened to take over my life again, as evidenced by my slip in postings here, but I found my balance again. I swear, that site is like crack with how addicting it is! I love the whole community there, but I have to remind myself to take a step back and do other things that matter just as much to me, if not more, in real life and other sites.

I ordered another puzzle last weekend, and I hope it comes soon. I did mention this in an earlier post, but this is a recap, darn it! I still won’t tell what it exactly is. Here’s another hint, though: it’s one that I’ve been pining for and it’s one that the puzzle community once regarded as the holy grail of puzzles. Stay tuned!

Last night, we had a great dinner get-together with some friends at a BBQ type restaurant. This is sometimes hard to do during a work week, but we made the best of the time offered. Great food and great conversations are some of the highlights of life!

Well, that’s all from me. Cheers!

P.S.: Speaking of Dailybooth, I thought I upset a couple of friends on there. Turns out everything was ok anyways. I worry too much sometimes and I wish I could stop. Oy!

If there was ever a double-booth day for me on Dailybooth, today would be it. I posted a boring pic of me taking a nap, just so I could show Thommen watching over me.

Now, we go grocery shopping, and we get candy that was on sale! Now that’s something to scream about!! Sorry, but I have a huge sweettooth that is tempered by reactive hypoglycemia. These bite-sized morsels are the perfect size for me to munch and control sugar intake. Yum!

My favorite piece is the Milky Way Dark. Absolutely sinful!

Sweet cheers!