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Did the ride yesterday....it was chilly out at 730am but turned out to be a nice day as the sun came out. It was a lovely day to go out riding and this one of the biggest bike events I've been too - there were 1,500 riders. I wish I had my HC Bike Team (esp. the South FL crew) with me but it's still very early in the season, we'll have plenty of opportunities to ride. Thank you all VERY MUCH again for the generous support!

Threw a bunch of shit into storage. There are now pathways everywhere. Now to clean up the detritus.

Woke up with the cold and cough getting nastier. Tutored someone at my university for a few hours. Very bright girl. Started school at 16 and is taking 7 classes right now. I keep telling her to slow down and that losing those years really isn't worth it but she wants to finish med school before she gets wrinkles. Perhaps not so bright after all. Went to Whole Foods for lunch and enjoyed a blackened spicy chicken sandwich and an ice cold Reeds Ginger Brew. Drove up to see Julie and helped her with some Bio and Math for a couple of hours. Made a publix run for her while she studied and then made Salmon and Spanish rice for dinner with a butter/lemon/chicken broth/parsley sauce which was too runny but Julie said she enjoyed it anyways. We talked over dinner about lovely last weekend was and how neither of us like to go out to clubs/bars but as boring as we might be, we love each others company. She studied some more afterwards while I graded some tests. At 10 I had to say goodnight to drive home and tonight more than ever before I didn't want to leave her. I can't remember the last time I was this genuinely happy and content with the way my life is going. Sure there is always room for improvement but I wouldn't change places with anyone. Today was a fairly uneventful day but it felt perfect. Tonight, I also find myself missing Matt. He didn't miss a single chance to tell me to STFU and while neither of us were as close to each other as perhaps some of you were with him, he, in his own way, told me to grow a pair, stop bitching about life and change the way I did things. I make no claim to having done either but I think he would have one less reason tonight to tell me to STFU. Hope you are well, Matt. Wherever you are. I would also like to thank you all for being incredibly kind and patient with me. I have made many mistakes in the past and am sure I will make them in the future however, I am thankful for the guidance and understanding from everyone at some point of time or another. My life has been considerably better for having met you all even if only through the internet. I hope to do so in person sometime. I never got to thank Matt for his advice and wish that such a need does not arise with anyone else anytime soon but thank you. Everyone. Really, thank you for everything.

The F2.8 version will also be nice if (when) little monkey starts doing school plays and shit. Now someone needs to answer my flash query. Edited: Sunpak 411 may be the ticket. Need to check whether it will blow up my GRD IV though.

Dinny, never get the low end of anything. That is the way you lose points.

As some of you already know, I've been using for the last few days one of those Mytek DSD 192 Preamp. No worries, I'm not going to write a review , but since there seemed to be some interest about it, I'll leave here a few comments, which as a personal opinion, shouldn't be taken seriously at all. - The test system is based on this 2010 13" MacBook Pro enhanced with a 256 SSD and 8GB of RAM. This could be important playing DSD files. Using OSX 10.8.2 (Mountain Lion) and Audirvana so pure DSD stream to the DAC can be used with no software conversion in between. I've tested both Firewire and USB 2.0 (asynchronous) links. Both need custom drivers which the manufacturer provides at their website and are pretty straightforward to install. USB1.0 has a separate input, it needs no drivers, but it just accepts 24/96 and no DSD. The DAC goes into a YBA Integré DT integrated amplifier, this feeds the venerable pair of Celestion SL600 speakers, which in this small room have been my source of music for a bunch of years now. This is not a specially resolving system, so it's quite likely that some performance flaws are lost in translation. The previous DAC here is a DA-11, so most comments compare both. - The 192 comes with a 1.6.x firmware version which can be upgraded to the current 1.7.1 version by using their tool and the binary provided at the website. This upgrade can only be performed by Firewire link, so be warned. BTW, the unit uses FW400 (6 pins) but the current computers usually sport FW800 (9pins) so a specific cable is necessary and not included. The USB cable is included. - The unit supports all PCM sampling frequencies from 44.1 up to 192 KHz (no 384) and just DSD64, not the newer fancier DSD128. On PCM it works at 24bits which is the default (and it seems that not customizable) setting on OSX. As said above, to use the whole connection speed range, there's need to install drivers and using either FW or USB2.0. - Once installed OSX sees it as either "Mytek Firewire" or "Mytek DSD192", even both, but not being careful in swapping the devices as output, can crash OSX. This has happened to me about 4 times. Leaving it alone on either FW or USB works flawlessly. - The thing has a lot of features, like separate volume control for headphones and line out, separate XLR and RCA line outs, volume control in analogue or digital domain which can be bypassed on the line outs, but still works for the headphones (which is something the Lavry doesn't have so the volume setting is the same on both line and phones output), two different PCM filters, remote control which has one option for Apple remote... No cross-feed, no fancy 3D settings. Its use is pretty intuitive and easy. - Overall I'm liking and keeping it, so the Lavry can go back to where it belongs in the main sitting room system. It sounds good, no particular harshness or mellifluousness. Voices sound fluid and natural enough for me (one of the areas where I'm more picky), detail retrieval is very good, and as far as this system allows, soundstage is wide and deep. I'd say it's more transparent to the recorded virtues and flaws compared to the Lavry, so good recordings sound very good, but the weaker ones are more revealed for what they are. Perhaps the Lavry has this "rounder" and sort of warmer bass which the Mytek delivers more tautly. Both have good punch and are fun to listen, quite easy to live with them. The headphones out is something I've not tested thoroughly. I'd say it's good enough to work with sensitive cans, but seemed to me in the dry-sterile side of things. I wouldn't use it as the main headphones device considering it has a separate analogue input. BTW, this input can be used as signal input into the computer if using FW or USB 2.0 links for recording purposes. If I didn't understand wrongly, it's not that the DAC acts as an ADC, but it can get the audio signal through those connection into the computer so it can record it if proper software is used. I haven't tested it, so I'm not sure how it works, but I've checked that OSX recognizes the device as an input one, which is not the DA-11's case. I've compared performance playing DSD files natively and PCM of several bitrates. I'd say this things sounds OK with any format you feed it, the differences would come more from the master-mixing than from the format itself. Some DSD files sound horrible (some of those Japanese SHM SACDs) and some plain redbook PCM files sound absolutely awesome. IMHO this thing behaves more like an audio tool directed to pros than a sweet audiophile toy, but being a pro device, I'm liking its sound for relaxed listening quite a lot. If I hadn't liked it enough I'd have tried the newish Benchmark DAC-2, the next to be released in Europe Matrix X-Sabre or the Lynx Hilo, which are all in the sub 2000 euros price tag. I guess I'd need to live with this DAC for some more time to really know its virtues and flaws in depth, but the trial period is over and I've decided to keep it. Time will tell.

Does that tablet have an IR transmitter? The subject is suddenly interesting because I just read the the new Galaxy S4 phone does and indeed has a remote control app. Which means that an app to turn off annoying televisions in public places can't be far behind. Imagine being able to zap TVs in restaurants as easily as blasting aliens in the original Space Invaders. The mind boggles. There are apps to control most music servers from phones and tablets via WiFi but that's probably not what you're looking for.

Thanks, Dusty.

Maybe they unliked it before you had a chance to check. "Accidentally."

Is it just me or are "Likes" not showing up on posts any more...my Tapatalk notified me of a like, but I went to the post and couldn't see it...

I understand. Only you know how much it aches, and how much is this conditioning your life. If pain is deep enough to not allow you to exercise, even walk, I'd first consider a second opinion, just in case, then trying to know what'd be the worst case scenario if surgery goes wrong. If the worst case is going back as if the bone was just broken, I'd probably undergo surgery. But that's me, these things are always about personal choices and priorities.

guilt tripped into a dinner w/ relatives. 2 hours of bad food and talking about jesus. FML

I have not looked at the Sigma, but the only reason I would do it is if you prefer the *character* of the out of focus parts of the image (what bokeh actually means.) If you just want a lens that is a little faster don't worry. I took some photos at a NYC Criterium bike race over the weekend.