Fear the Crab

I finished work on my Java applet, and it seems to run pretty well. Of course, I have yet to receive feedback from other people using their own browsers. I do know that it won’t work on IE if it doesn’t have any Java plug-ins, and on some machines the layout seems a bit weird. Hopefully the more people test it out, the more I can try and figure out how to make it universal (though the absence of Java in other browsers is something I can’t fix).

Because Min told me that a car alarm’s starter kill was only two wires, I bought an Auto-Lock for the truck, the type that fits around the brake pedal. At first I was worried that it wouldn’t fit, because on the back there is a listing of vehicles that won’t accept the Auto-Lock due to a “unique brake pedal arm design. The Tacoma was in that list, but it was only for 2000-2002 models. Since mine is a 2003, I took a chance, and it paid off. I really don’t know if the brake arm design changed between 2002 and 2003, but the Auto-Lock works for me, so I guess it doesn’t matter. In any case, I have a 14-day return window if I discover something’s wrong.

Titan is feeling better today. Yesterday it seemed something was wrong with his neck, because he walked around with his head low to the ground. Whenever Maile lifted his head, the neck muscles twitched. It was scary. Today, though, Maile said Titan looked better, so perhaps all the guy had was a stiff neck. He is an old dog, after all.

Today’s saying was:
“It spices up your coordination”

Today I got my truck windows tinted. Just the two front doors, since the back already has what they call “privacy glass” which is just a dealer-fancy word for dark tint. There is a slight difference between the front and rear windows, only because the law states that the front must be 35%. I say there’s a slight difference because from afar it looks the same all around. I think only when you inspect real close and the light is just right can you tell the difference. Now I must remember to not lower the windows anytime soon, to let the tint have time to cure.

I finished my 3D tic tac toe game. It’s not required for class or anything; I just did it to see if I could. It works through the command line interface, basically meaning that it runs strictly on my computer and uses a DOS window. My next step will be a highly ambitious project of converting the code to run as an Applet, so that it can work on the internet. If I succeed, I’ll post it on my web page. So far I’ve managed to design the layout and implement a few workable buttons. Later I will work on getting the code to understand when someone actually wins the game.

I went to Costco and bought a spindle of 100 CD-Rs. It was uber cheap, considering the sheer amount of disks. I would have preferred CD-RW, the kind that you can rewrite to (I’m not entirely sure if you can erase, but it must be possible), but the only pack they had there was a 20-pack for about $25. It wouldn’t have mattered either way, because this time around I managed to burn two disks in three tries, and the wasted disk was only because I had forgotten that I only needed one disk burnt, not two. This time, on the advice of Kyrol, I set the recorder to a lower speed. It took longer, but the results far outweigh any time inconvenience. There were no problems this time, so I guess the speed of the recorder makes a big difference.

I washed my truck today. It hasn’t been a week yet, but today is pretty much the only day out of the week that I have a lot of free time. It was worth it, too, because at the same time I washed Maile’s car. We put Rain-X on both vehicles, too.

And because I washed my car, it rained. It’s still raining now. I must remember to buy a chamois cloth when next I get a chance. I searched for the one we had at home, but my dad informed me that it was pretty much deteriorated beyond help. While I’m at it, I may as well buy one of those sponge mitts that you put over your hand. I didn’t wax my car this time because it still has that factory wax, and people generally recommend I wax it once a month.

I managed to actually reverse into a stall at the UH parking garage. It took me a while, but not as long as I thought it would. And it turned out okay, too. School itself was an ordinary school day, though my stomach was churning the entire time and it hurt.

I talked to Maile for a little bit, but she seemed a bit preoccupied, probably with the amount of homework she has to do. Now I know how she felt a long time ago, when I did the same thing to her. That makes me feel sad.

Min took a look at my truck’s engine, and offered some advice regarding its maintenance. Basically he told me to always warm up supercharged engines. It’s something I must keep in mind, in addition to all the other tidbits of car care floating around in my head. Before I used to think it was pretty simple taking care of a car; now it seems the newer the car, the more you have to do.

I’m going to take my truck in on Friday to get the two front windows tinted. It’ll be interesting to see how I manage parking at work afterward, since they say you can’t roll down your windows for several weeks.

Tomorrow will be the first time I park my truck at UH’s garage, and I’m kinda nervous about that. I predict it’ll take me at least 5 minutes to even line up the vehicle in the stall.

I think I’m getting better at handling the truck, though it’s obviously too early to tell. I still haven’t done much cornering nor have I reversed anywhere, so the true test of my driving skill has yet to come. I think I would feel much better about it if someone else were in the truck to help me figure out its exact dimensions from inside. I plan to give George a ride home tomorrow; perhaps then.

I spoke to Maile for a bit today, but she was exhausted from having to go out and about with her mom. On top of that, she still has some homework to catch up on, so by the time I was able to call her, she was about ready to fall asleep. I’m not complaining, though; having the chance to talk, even if for only a short while, is still meaningful and highly appreciated.

Drove my truck around for the first time today. It was both exciting and nerve-racking at the same time. I was excited because it was a new truck and it was all mine. It was nervous because I had never driven a truck before and the perspective is so different from my previous Corolla. I’m higher up off the ground, and the dimensions of the vehicle take some getting used to. I haven’t tried reversing into parking stalls, nor the dreaded parallel parking yet. Strangely enough, I haven’t done much parallel parking in quite a while, even when I still had my old car. I guess the places I went and the times I got there didn’t call for much of that.

I let Maile drive it around, and she seemed to fall in love with it as much as I did. We even went to Wal-Mart so I could buy a sun shield, and she drove it back to her house. I think as the day ends I can say I’m comfortable with the car on highway and city streets, but I still need to get used to handling the truck as a truck, rather than as a car. The turning radius, for one thing, is much bigger than a sedan. And since the truck is taller, I have a difficult time (right now) of judging just how close or how far I am away from things. So far, so good, and so long as I keep up the safe driving, I should be okay.

I must seriously look into a car cover. I have two places I can go to; Dashcovers and Ron’s Auto Parts and Performance. Both places are close by, but after talking with a neighbor who tried both places, it seems like Ron’s would be the better place to go. It seems the fit of the covers is better with those offered by Ron’s. I’m still going to Dashcovers for, obviously, a dashboard cover.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words…

Toyota Tacoma Prerunner Double Cab
(Just imagine it in black)
This picture © Toyota

EDIT: Picture from Toyota no longer available, but it’s the 2003 model.

I didn’t post yesterday because I fell asleep early. I guess I was just that tired. I woke up 11 hours later and had a nasty cotton-mouth, which is odd because I never drank anything. I think it’s all the vog in the air with the Kona winds blowing in.

Yesterday was a bit eventful, too. On my way in to work I nearly got into a traffic accident as a truck got a flat tire. Unfortunately, the driver decided to slow to a stop as he tried to move to the shoulder, and nearly caused a chain reaction as we all tried desperately to avoid him. Given the heavy rain earlier in the evening, the roads were still slick. It’s a miracle nobody hit anything.

I bought the Kikaida DVD as promised. Not much else to say about that.

Last night Maile and her mom gave Keoni an choice. He could either stay at the house under strict rules (no stealing, lying, or drugs), or he could go out on the street and face whatever consequences there. He chose the street. He explained this choice by saying that since he was eventually going to jail, he might as well do what he likes before then. Unfortunately, his likes involve stealing Maile’s jewelry and trying to swindle the other family members out of money. And he likes crack.

Discovered today that he came back to the house. His excuse was that he wanted to do laundry, and he wanted money. He also gave some sob story about how it’s so hard on the street, but Maile just reminded him that it was his choice. Tonight he’s going to return and the mom is going to have a “chat” with him.

I’ve decided that I will drop my math class, or at the very least, talk to my professor about it. I’m so borderline it’s scary. I’m really worried that the exams will sink me below the level of passing, so I figure I will drop the class now and get a W (for withdrawal), but still attend the rest of the classes so I can get the material. I’m going to ask if I can also continue to turn in the assignments and take the exams, just to get an idea of whether or not I understand this shit. It’s too bad I can’t get my money back, but it’s better than getting a D or F in the class.

Ate dinner at Assagio’s in Mililani. I had a chicken and shrimp special with a spinach garlic wine sauce over a bed of linguine. Maile had the chicken linguine anchovy olio, or something along those lines. Not bad.

Did the laundry, but when I left for work a lot of it was still damp on the line. Did some of my math homework, so the day saw some progress.

I’m finding the quitting of cigarettes cold turkey has started to reach its difficult point. I see people smoking at school and at work, and just seeing it brings back the urges. The toothpicks help. Part of me is thinking that perhaps I could buy a pack and keep it at home, only smoking when I am at home. The reasoning behind this is that I only smoke one or two while at home; a majority of my smoking was whenever I was out. The drawback to this is that the mere act of smoking will likely heighten the urges and make it worse down the line.

The lockout of the shipping ports on the west coast has worried me as to the expected delivery date of my truck. There are a lot of questions unanswered regarding the whole deal. The biggest is whether or not they built the darn thing. Toyota City showed me a list of the different models and how much of each were going to be received, but I don’t know if that meant they were already built or they expect that much to be built and shipped. If it’s already been built, it’s highly likely that their delivery will just be delayed. But if it hasn’t been built, the delay could be way longer than ever thought possible. I say this because I just saw in the news that the factory that builds pickups has stopped production because the parts from Japan haven’t or can’t arrive. There is some consolation, though. I already have the paperwork that basically reserves my truck in my name, so whenever it does arrive, it’s mine. I just gotta remember not to spend the money I have reserved.

Tomorrow I plan to see Maile. I think she’s going to visit me at my house, since I’m pretty much all by myself now that the folks are in CA visiting my brother. We’re not going to do much because we both have a lot of studying to do, but it will still be nice to see her.