Several close games, one blowout in NFL week 13

It was an eventful, action-packed week 13 for the National Football League. Three of Sunday's games were decided by just one point. The San Diego Chargers squeezed past the Baltimore Ravens 34-33 late in the fourth quarter, while the Cincinnati Bengals edged the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14-13, and the Jacksonville Jaguars upset the New York Giants 25-24. Meanwhile, the St. Louis Rams routed the Oakland Raiders 52-0 in a highly anticipated home game. Oddly enough, the Rams and Raiders are both rumored to be headed back to their former home of Los Angeles as soon as next year, adding another twist to that game. Before the games started on Sunday, some people were quoted as saying "the playoff might as well start right now," and with the way things turned out they just might be right.

My laptop's keyboard broke

About two months ago, I spilled some soda (root beer) on my laptop's keyboard. It's not exactly a "true" keyboard because the keys are all placed individually along the bottom half of the laptop and separated by a slab of plastic, on which the power button and speakers are also located (the touchpad and some stickers are on a separate slab). Plus the keys are really thin, so it's not as easy to pull apart and fix individual keys.

So a few hours after the soda incident my N key stopped working. I opened the on-screen keyboard so I could click on the N key in there. Then the next day my C key stopped working (soda probably reached it) so I had to use the on-screen keyboard for that key too. Strangely my V and B keys worked the whole time. But it was a little annoying having to click on two letters whose keys were broken.

Now the rest of my keyboard, except for a couple of keys are non-functional as well. I was trying to do repairs on the C and N keys but somehow I ended up breaking the rest of the keyboard. I'm looking for any possible solutions, like new drivers, but until then I pulled out an old Dell media center desktop keyboard and plugged it into one of the USB ports on my laptop. It's mostly solved the problem, but it's occasionally refused to work as well. That's why I've had to keep the on-screen keyboard open even though the C and N keys on this keyboard work fine. But maybe I should have just let the keys on my laptop stay broken? :(

Too much blogging?

I think I might have too much to blog about lately. I have two blogs here on Blogger with almost 300 combined posts, and sometimes while typing a post I get distracted. It therefore takes me a really long time to finish some posts because I get caught up in other things. With some posts, I post the title with a blank page and then take my time doing the actual post. Maybe this is a sign that I don't need to update my blog literally every day with filler stuff, and only focus on the really important things.

A good Thanksgiving

Today I celebrated Thanksgiving with family and friends. We partook in the usual turkey dinner, Macy's Day Parade, that National Dog Show thing after the parade and a little football. There was a twist to our Thanksgiving this year because there was snow on the ground. I don't ever remember seeing a white Thanksgiving firsthand before. Luckily the roads weren't bad at all. I guess one thing I have to be thankful for is that I got from my mom's to my dad's house yesterday safely despite the snow. There are a bunch of other things I can't think of off the top of my head.

Our dinner, besides the turkey, consisted of mashed potatoes, stuffing, broccoli, corn, mashed butternut squash, cranberry sauce and rolls, plus cheesecake and pumpkin pie for dessert. We also had a variety of appetizers out beforehand. Like always, I took some pictures to mark the occasion.

Thundersnow and first time driving in snow

The forecasts all week were right. Today much of the east coast, including my home state of Maryland, got a rare November snowfall. It was unfortunately timed to run alongside one of the busiest travel days of the year. Fortunately, the roads weren't too bad during most of the day. I was driving to my dad's house because I go there for Thanksgiving in even years. It was my very first time behind the wheel during snow and I did very well, since I was cautious and the roads weren't slippery at all. Also, at about 11:30 this morning there was a rumble of thunder. Yes, we had thundersnow in the Baltimore area. It was also heard in southern Pennsylvania, around the York/Lancaster area. This is why it will be another snowstorm to remember for years to come.

Here's a radar image from about the moment the thundersnow occurred, if anyone's interested. It looks like rain on this radar because it uses the same color scheme for both rain and snow., something that even confused me at first. Also, the source I got this from, an Iowa-based organization, has the time in Central time, which is one hour behind me.

Pictures from my camera:

A white Thanksgiving is coming

Something we don't usually see here is coming - snow on Thanksgiving. The forecast keeps changing and right now they're calling for less snow that originally predicted, but regardless it's still going to be a unique weather event. I just hope this goes smoothly and that I'll be able to go to my dad's house tomorrow for Thanksgiving day. I have a picture of one of the latest forecasts below, which is mainly focused on the greater Washington, DC area but applies here too.

The bliss of multiple Thanksgiving meals

One of the good parts of having divorced parents is two of everything, including Thanksgivings. This year, I am to go to my dad's house for Thanksgiving, since it's an even year. That means last night we had an impromptu Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's house, since it was the closest possible day to actual Thanksgiving that we were able to do it with her. Today at the store where my mom and I work, they had a potluck lunch and she brought the sweet potatoes with the mini marshmallows on top. But I was off today, meaning I missed it, and the only reason I knew about it is because yesterday someone told me to remind her to bring the sweet potatoes. Then when I got home she was making them as well as the turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and cranberry sauce we had for dinner.

Trademark infringement?

At the grocery store where I work, I recently discovered a very interesting coincidence between the names of two completely different products. Kellogg's has a chocolate cereal called Krave that has been out for a few years now. But last week, I found out that there is now a brand of gourmet beef jerky that is also called Krave, spelled the same but in a different typeface. I've heard all about lawsuits for trademark and copyright infringements, and it makes me wonder if something like that could ever happen with the two Kraves. The cereal as far as I know came first, so it would be easy to get mad at the makers of the beef jerky for "copying" the name of the cereal. But more than likely it's a complete coincidence. Still, I can't help but be a little confused at these two different foods bearing the same brand name - it's mind-boggling.

Snow-stricken Buffalo area now facing flood threat

Just a couple of days after several feet of lake-effect snow crippled the Buffalo, New York area and left people stranded, the area could now get heavy rain that would wash out large amounts of snow and cause flooding. The snow earlier this week was part of a stationary front that moved off Lake Erie and then stalled over the southern suburbs of Buffalo. This allowed foot after foot of snow to pile up in the region and create a snow emergency. The Buffalo Bills' stadium in Orchard Park is filled with snow, and since the stadium isn't as well-equipped as ones in other NFL cities like Green Bay, Wisconsin, the Bills' game against their division rivals the New York Jets has been moved to the Detroit Lions' stadium in Pontiac, Michigan.


Now, people in western New York are bracing for potential flooding, which is bad enough when there's nothing on the ground. But heavy rain with multiple feet of snow on the ground could create a second weather disaster for the area already hard-hit by winter weather. Preparations for the rain are being made in advance, but residents are still dealing with the aftermath of the snow, and it could be a while before they're back to "normal weather" mode.

I get paid double this week

On Friday when I called for my work schedule, they told me I was working on Sunday (this past Sunday) and also this coming Saturday. Lately I've almost always worked only Sundays. Now that I work Saturday also, it means I get paid more, which means I'll have more money to blow off on junk that I don't need. But most of it always goes in my savings and I stopped using my debit card a while back (hope to use it again for online stuff) and I pay my mom ten dollars for gas every week so that leaves me with about 15 dollars to throw away, or 30 if I can cash double this week. But any way I look at it, a double paycheck in my circumstances is better even if I have to do twice the work for it.

A sudden burst of creativity

In the past few months I got into a pattern where I would only upload a handful of videos to YouTube or just a few photos to Flickr or a couple of posts on this blog every week. This was probably because I was busy with other things like school or work. But suddenly I've found a lot of things to take pictures and videos of and blog about, and I've found myself uploading multiple videos per day on YouTube like I did in 2012 and 2013, a trend that started during Christmas break in 2011. With Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, my photography will only increase more. I also took several pictures of CD cases and uploaded them, which is something music lovers like to do. In addition to that, I uploaded two pictures onto DeviantArt on the same day for the first time. Now I'm incredibly busy as I rush to post stuff on the internet, and on top of all of that I'm still in college. I guess this is what it's like to have a busy life, albeit not a real busy life.

19 and a half

Today, I am officially 19 and a half years old. Which means that in six months, I'll be 20 and will have experienced two full decades on this planet. That's hard for me to grasp, but at the same time I'm excited that I'm getting closer to my twenties and getting more and more life experience. By then I'll also be finishing up my second year of college, and maybe transferring to a bigger campus. I still feel like I'm barely out of high school, which I am compared to people much older than me. But I'll save all of that for my next birthday post in May. Right now I have a half birthday to "celebrate," by doing what I usually do on my off days - posting to social media and finishing up schoolwork.

The NASCAR season is over

Today marked the end of another season in NASCAR, one of my favorite sports. Every year, the "top three" series - trucks, minor league Xfinity Series and top-level Sprint Cup Series - gather in Homestead, Florida for a race weekend to decide the champions of each series. Today was the Sprint Cup finale, and that means I get a much-needed break from NASCAR for a couple of months. It means I can get other, more productive things done instead of watching cars drive in circles for three hours. But of course, the NASCAR fan in me can't wait for the Daytona 500 in February.


I have a separate blog here on Blogger for NASCAR stuff that I launched in June so I could concentrate on other things on this, my main blog. It's an unofficial fan-written news, rumors and general discussion blog, that fan being me. The link to "The Epzik8 NASCAR Blog" is here: epzik8nascar.blogspot.com.

Real Racing 3 rolls out more car and series updates

Mobile game Real Racing 3 has unveiled its latest updates to the game. These updates include a new bonus series called Marquis World Championship, in which the player goes through a series of stages to win a free Maserati without paying any money or gold. Some other Maserati models are among the new vehicles available for purchase in regular series, some of which have also been expanded with new stages, including a luxury vehicle stage with Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Maserati models. The update also brings a return of the option to watch short ads for free gold. Finally, the main menu screens have one again undergone some small tweaks. The update has already been out for about a week.

Another brutal winter?

A few days ago a polar vortex invaded the Great Plains and Great Lakes regions, dumping multiple feet of snow onto Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. There were also below average temperatures along much of the Rocky Mountains and down into the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles. Now, another cold snap has struck the east coast and parts of the Gulf Coast. Of course, most of Florida and south Texas continue to enjoy fairly warm temperatures.


Here in Maryland, the temperature got down to about 35 degrees, which isn't really that cold except that last weekend it hit 66 degrees, an unseasonably warm temperature here for November. And along with the cold we even got a little snow here this evening, although I don't think it was measurable. It didn't stick to the roads and what little reached the ground probably melted already. There is a threat of some spots icing over tonight, but that should melt too since it will be mostly sunny tomorrow.


Whether or not this was legitimately our first snow of the year, it came almost a month before our first snowstorm of last year, on December 8. But that was a classic snow event with several inches on the ground and the roads completely covered. Still, this could be a lead-in to another very cold, very snowy winter. Our last snow of 2013-14 came on March 25, tying with 2012-13, and it was the last in a long line of snowstorms and ice storms that rivaled our three blizzards of the winter of 2009-10. So will the winter of 2014-15 be another historic one? Many weather sources are suggesting it, but chances are this was just a fluke autumn snow.

I am so lazy

Since I'm in that college art class, I should be concentrating on my assignments and notes for class instead of goofing off. But I just have to procrastinate and wait until the day before it's due to work on them. I have four hours of class once a week, which gives me plenty of time to spread out my work throughout the week and do it a little at a time. That way, it really looks like my best work. Instead, I mess around on my laptop and iPod Touch until I realize my assignment is due in a couple of days. This week I had two journal entries to post online, but I waited until today to do all of the reading (36 pages total, but some pictures) and then write about the important parts of the reading and any questions I had. Luckily, I did a lot of my Photoshop project that's due tomorrow in class last week, so I could take my time finishing that up on my laptop. I suppose I could have done better on it, but it was my very first time using Photoshop. I finished it on Paint.NET because I don't have Photoshop on my laptop. But if I could start my online notes in class too, that would be great with my laziness.

Pizza escapade

I decided to try my hand again today at homemade pizza. On my first attempt a few days ago, I didn't make the dough properly and just cooked it in my toaster oven, plus it was really small because I didn't make much dough. This time I made it much bigger, used more ingredients and did it in the conventional oven. It came out much better than the first one.

First I set the oven to 450 degrees. Then I mixed some flour and warm water in a bowl, added a bit of sugar, baking powder and salt, and substituted olive oil with a mixture of canola oil and melted butter. I added additional flour a number of times before I was satisfied with the dough mixture. When the dough was made I buttered a baking sheet and put the dough on it and rolled it into a circle. I was trying to produce a thin crust like the pizzas at Pizza Hut, which is my favorite pizza of any kind, restaurant or homemade.

It was time to put the toppings on so I got some tomato sauce and put several spoonfuls onto the dough and spread the sauce around the dough. Next I added a bunch of seasonings onto the sauce: Italian seasoning, sage, parsley and paprika. For the cheese I took out a block of mozzarella and grated some of it right on top of the sauce, and added more Italian seasoning and sage on top of the cheese. Finally I sliced two mushrooms (my favorite pizza topping) and put them onto the pizza. The first time, I only had a green bell pepper. With the pizza all assembled, I put it into the oven and went to do other things.

I came back less than 20 minutes later and it was already just about done. The edge of the pizza was brown but not burnt. The cheese was fully melted and bubbling, and the mushrooms and seasonings were sticking to the cheese. So I took the pizza out of the oven and put it onto a cutting board. I then cut myself a slice and took a bite. I liked it but the only thing that bothered me was the dough was a bit soft and the sauce a little thin. So maybe it wasn't cooked all the way in the center but the rest of it was perfect. Therefore, I called my first big pizza a success, although I could use more work in the future.

Blogger's block (is that a thing?)

I've imposed some rules on my blogging that involves me posting almost every day. I don't want to make it seem like I've given up on this blog by not posting for weeks, like I did earlier this year on my Tumblr page. But I often run out of ideas, and tonight is one of those moments. There was nothing in my life that I felt worthy of blogging about today, and now that it's almost midnight I have to settle with this as my almost-daily post. I could have just not posted but I feel like I'm on a roll right now and figured I should just do this post. Hopefully this is a good interlude and I'll have some new ideas tomorrow.

Weather system to bring snow to upper midwest

A polar vortex is forecast to bring below-average cold temperatures to much of the country's middle third, as far south as the Texas panhandle. Wind chills could be as low as -10 or lower in the Dakotas. The system is also expected to bring several inches of snow from Idaho to Michigan, with most precipitation centered around the Twin Cities of Minnesota. The Weather Channel, keeping up with a system they started a couple of years ago, has accordingly named this storm "Astro." It will not be referred to as such in official reports. Snow events in November, in the middle of autumn, are somewhat rare, but in this case the conditions and geography are perfect for winter precipitation.

I hate math class

I do not like math. Unfortunately, it's one of the "basic classes" that's required for just about every college major, even ones that involve barely any math. My current major, graphic design, is one of those, because it's an art major. But my mom asked me if I was going to re-take math in the spring semester, so I looked at the recommended course sheet for the graphic design major and it did say "mathematics elective". Since I thought I wouldn't have to deal with math again, I'm now re-thinking my class choices for spring.


I've struggled with math during much of my life, although I have had some bright moments, especially in middle school and parts of high school. When I first enrolled in college last year, just before I graduated from high school, I went to a meeting to sign up for classes, and since my major at the time was undecided I initially signed up for just English and a pre-algebra class, since English and math are the two most important classes for college students. My choice for math was actually based on a pre-enrollment test I took at my high school with classmates. After a couple of months I decided on a business major and added macroeconomics and introduction to business to my schedule. Then I replaced business with human geography so I could have Tuesdays and Thursdays off from school.


My math for the first semester was actually two separate classes that were half a semester long, meaning our final for the first class was at the same time as midterms in other classes. I started the first class okay, but then started to struggle and also forgot to take the midterm (we had to go take it on our own time). As a result, I automatically failed the first class, which meant I would have to take it again during the second half of the semester. I was able to enroll in an evening session of the first class so I could still take the second class at the same time, but the evening class ended up being canceled due to low enrollment and I had to drop the second class as well. I was then unwilling to re-take math in the spring and fall semesters this year, and it looks like I'll have to give in and take it along with my next art class in next year's spring semester. After all, I probably will have to use math for something if I have a career in some art field.

The strange power of social media

It's amazing how social media and the internet in general can make someone or something famous for practically nothing, such as the "Alex from Target" craze that started last weekend. All someone has to do is make a post, usually in the form of a picture, to Facebook or Twitter or Instagram or any other popular social media site, and if enough people share it to their friends, the subject of that post is suddenly famous all over the world as a viral sensation. Sometimes, as with Alex from Target, it even evolves into a meme with people making their own versions of it, or just making fun of it, and it's not long before the whole thing gets "old" or "boring" and the search for the next viral hit begins. But this "famous for nothing" phenomenon is one of the biggest influences brought on by online social media in recent years.

A Windows user tries out a Mac

This morning in my college art class, we got to start our latest projects that involves use of Photoshop. This is our first computer project; all our other ones have been hand-drawn or cut out. We went to what they call the Mac Lab because it has Macintosh computers. This was a new experience for me because I have used Windows computers my whole life and I don't know much about Macs.


We went into the Mac Lab and sat down at the computers, which had huge flatscreen monitors and a small CPU with no buttons known as the Mac Mini. I took notice of the famous white and grey Apple keyboards with that little green light on the caps lock button. Some of the words on the keys were different ("return" on the middle-row enter key and "delete" in place of backspace, and the "command" key is in about the same spot as the Windows logo key on Windows computers). The mouse, which plugged into the keyboard via a USB port, had a very small wheel that appears to have a reverse configuration of Windows-made mice. I had no trouble logging on because the college's computer network goes through every single computer, even the majority that have Windows.


Once I logged on I clicked the Google Chrome icon in the bottom area that has the icons of various programs. Files and folders on Macs are still placed on the desktop. I did my research and chose a photo to transfer into Photoshop to edit. But I didn't know how to get it onto the computer from Google Images. There are no Windows-style right-click menus on Macs. I tried moving the cursor over the picture and pressing Command+C to copy it, then Command+V in Photoshop to paste it, but that didn't work. I tried to put the image in full screen in Chrome and drag it into Photoshop, but it would only let me drag it onto the bookmarks bar and tabs bar. Then I wondered if I could drag the image from Chrome to the desktop and that worked. I then dragged the image from the desktop to Photoshop and began editing.


I left Chrome running while I used Photoshop, and I was having some trouble with some of the editing functions in Photoshop. I looked up what I was trying to do on Google and I tried to do it in Photoshop, but I didn't see the file/edit/etc. toolbar like it said on the website I went on. Since I know all about that in Windows I thought maybe that was only a Windows thing and Macs didn't have it. Then I realized that the file/edit/whatever bar I was looking for was the same bar on top of the desktop that contains the clock and everything, and the options changed for each program, rather than each program containing it individually like in Windows. So I closed Chrome and the text next to the Apple logo (log off/sleep and other general options) changed from "Chrome" to "Photoshop". Then I clicked "Edit" and was able to make my desired edits (although not without getting the "spinning wait cursor", an indication of a program or system hang, a couple of times). I then learned that the red, yellow and green dots on the top left of each window were the Mac equivalent of Windows' close, maximize and minimize buttons. Finally, I saved my picture in Photoshop and put it in a draft in my email.


Using a Mac computer for the first time as a Windows user was definitely a learning experience. It helped me soften my views on Macs, as I previously thought they were bad compared to Windows. But I have come to realize that many of their features are the same as Windows, and I really enjoyed using an operating system that was new to me. But I plan to stick with mainly using Windows, although I'm open to continuing using Macs for certain things every once in a while.

Letting my voice be heard

Yesterday I voted for the first time in a real election. I registered to vote last year and I was finally able to use my right to vote and let it be known which candidates I supported for each office. Like most states, I got to vote for a governor (my state, Maryland, was getting a new governor no matter what) as well as a county executive, state senators and representatives, county councilman and other offices. There were also some questions about amendments to the state constitution. I was most concerned about the gubernatorial race, and even though my candidate didn't win, I still feel proud that I was finally able to have a say in a state election and that all of my votes count for something. And even though I may not agree with some political views, I should still respect them and those who support them.

YouTube likes giving me a hard time

It doesn't look like I'll be running out of complaints about YouTube soon. I still like it even after all of that new channel and new comments system and Google+ controversy, and in fact I like it much better than when I first started watching videos on it way back in the 2006-07 era. But for about the past two years they've made so many changes to their layout. I've also encountered a lot of errors on YouTube during that time, no matter which browser I access it on.


Just yesterday I was trying to upload a video to my second channel, but I kept getting an error message saying "this upload has failed." I tried again today and it worked. I had an error like that on my second channel a few months ago when I was trying to upload a video late at night. Then there are the interruptions I sometimes get while watching videos (probably a slow connection), and last month the page would hang when I tried to post a comment on a video, as well as when I tried to open my Google+ inbox. I think that was a problem on the part of Google+. But even though some of this is due to Google connecting YouTube to Google+, I still have nothing against YouTube, it's just that sometimes it really frustrates me with their bugs and layout changes.

"Falling back" means more darkness

We turned out clock an hour back last night for daylight saving time. Now sunset will be an hour earlier as we continue through autumn and head toward winter. Where I live, sunset now is at about 5:00 due to the time change. That's one of my favorite things about this time of the year - it feels like 10 pm when it's only 6:30. Some people think we don't need daylight saving time anymore, but I personally think it's a nice tradition. Only at the beginning of November do we have a day that's 25 hours long. Of course, Arizona and Hawaii never reset their clocks twice a year like the other 48 states, so opponents of daylight saving time could be happy to live there. But like I said, I'm all for keeping it.

Looking back on a memorable World Series

The 2014 World Series will surely be remembered for years to come. It featured the Kansas City Royals appearing in their first Series in 29 years after defeating the Oakland Athletics and the Baltimore Orioles, and the San Francisco Giants in their third Series in five seasons following wins over the Washington Nationals and St. Louis Cardinals. The Royals and Giants traded the series lead, and the Royals' 10-0 Game 6 win forced a Game 7, which the Giants ultimately won to end the Royals' otherwise magnificent season. It was one of the most competitive series in recent years, and even the parade in San Francisco on Friday was memorable in itself. So there was little to be disappointed about in this World Series.