Happy Birthday to Me!

Pre-posting this one seven months before my birthday. I hope I'm not alone when this is posted.

Hard to be romantic when there's no one to be romantic with.

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Good grief, I must have been feeling particularly sorry for myself when I scheduled this.

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You Are a Romantic

You have the mind of an artist, even if you haven't developed the talent yet. Expressive and aware, you enjoy finding new ways to share your feelings. You often feel like you don't fit in - especially in traditional environments. You have big dreams. The problem is putting those dreams into action. Your strength: Your vivid imagination Your weakness: Fear of failure Your power color: Coral Your power symbol: Oval Your power month: November

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Blogthings: Our Quizzes Weren't Written By Bored 12 Year Olds

Twilight Zone - Golden Earring

Formed in 1961, Golden Earring has been active for more than 50 years non-stop, which makes Golden Earring the world's longest surviving rock band, formed a year before The Rolling Stones.

Reading Speed Test

What speed do you read?

Go to the site, click the button "Start Reading" and start reading. (duh) Comprehension figures in too, so try to absorb what the text says, not just zip through the few paragraphs. (like I am prone to do at times on quizzes and tests)

Here's a screen shot of my results:

As you can see, I read 727 wpm, faster than the average college student, high-level executives and college professors, but a little slower than high-scoring college students. (Since I was barely a college student and most definitely not a high-scoring one, that doesn't bother me.)

Still, my score was much, MUCH slower than 4700 wpm, which is how fast the world speed reading champion reads.

Reading Speed Test

Emergency Yodel

Mamma Mia - ABBA

They're Expensive Hear

I've been using a cheap set of headphones I bought from WalMart to replace another cheap set I bought from Amazon a few years ago, so I thought I might price them again and see if there was one of decent quality that wouldn't cost too much.

These sound OK, but they just don't have the range I'd like.  For one, the bass  level isn't very good.  I've gone into the equalizer and tried to adjust it, but these phones just won't handle it.  They also don't have the volume I want; they're perfectly fine listening to talk radio or most music, but when I play my AC/DC I want it LOUD, y'know? (what's the use of listening to it if it's not played at the intended sound level, nearly enough to bust your eardrums!)

I have some good quality "bud" type phones that give me the volume and sound that I want, but they're uncomfortable and I read something just the other day that said they can give you an infection that can cost you your hearing.  No thanks, if I lose my hearing I want it to be because I played "It's a Long Way to the Top" at too many decibels, not from some eardrum rot.

So, I went to Amazon and typed in "headphones" into the search box, then selected the highest rating,  4 stars and up. I probably shouldn't, but trust most of the reviews there and haven't been steered wrong...yet.

A list of headphones came up, so I clicked on the first one. At the top of the screen were the words "You purchased this item..." and gave a date from a few years ago. They weren't BAD headphones, but they just didn't tolerate me sitting on them or getting up and trying to walk away with them still on my head. The set still works, but only if I hold one of the wires "just so". I don't know why I keep them, but figure they'll be good for something someday - maybe I can fix them or use the jack for something else.

Yeah, right.

I don't remember what I paid for the original headphones, but they were new.  They're not something I would buy used - the thought of putting something on my ears that have been on someone else's grosses me out.  The new price is really reasonable for an inexpensive set of headphones, but I really don't think I want to pay that much for used ones. (click image for larger view)