by Matt | Aug 17, 2003 | Games
Well, it’s been an interesting week around here and next week will be pretty much the same. Work is, as always, all over the place. I really don’t know whats going on from day to day but I’m getting used to it. Daily we change our schedules and adapt to what needs to be done. It’s a little hectic but it’s fun at the same time. Next week is just jam packed with interesting things. Like a birthday party, an expensive dinner out, a meeting with Lauren’s minister about wedding stuff, etc.
I have been fortunate to squeeze in a little fun here and there. First off, we saw Open Range last night. It was good. You’ll have to like westerns to a)get some of the “in-jokes” and b)actually appreciate the “true grit”. Actually, the movie is quite long and Kevin Costner-ish throughout the first half. The second half is where the true western starts and it all leads up to the coolest gun fight I’ve seen on film since, well, a very long time. Probably the only comparable one I can think of was Tombstone, which, in case you haven’t been paying attention to my screen name for the past 10 years, is one of my all time favorite movies. Whether or not sitting through 2 hours of a Kevin Costner movie just to see a fan-friggin-tastic gun fight is up to you. I was glad I went.
Also, I’ve had a little time to check out some gaming goodness. Luckily my boss is also a video game fan, mostly console games but we won’t hold that against him. We’ve been trading links back and forth on a daily basis on games that we’re excited about. I will now share some of those with you.
First off is XIII, a game I probably mentioned before. It’s a completely cell-shaded 1st person shooter. I got my hands on the demo from FileShack and throughly enjoyed it. Playing a comic book was very fun. It’ll hit shelves in “Fall”. I really hate when they do that. “Fall”, great, I’ll head to the store once the weather gets cold and I’m drinking warm cider. Morons. Seriously though, check out the demo, it’s fun.
I don’t think I even have to mention how excited I am about HalfLife 2 and Halo for the PC. Whoops, just did.
There’s also BF1942: Secret Weapons of WWII which is going to kick some serious butt. I wish more people played it online so I could get in on a large 64 player game.
There’s also the two new Jedi games that I’m pretty excited about. Jedi Academy and Knights of the Old Republic look to be great fun. I know Chris was enjoying KoOR and I’m looking forward to the PC version in a few months. Jedi Academy will just be more light-saber ass-kickin’ just like Jedi Knight. That should make for some good multiplayer.
Once I get everything up and running (apartment and computer wise) we’ll have to setup a multiplayer night and see if we can’t get some long distance, Texas to New England, games going. Should be fun. I’m actually planning on upgrading or if I make enough of a commission off something I just shot, doing a whole new system just for this upcoming gaming season. Lots of interesting games coming out, and a lower-end Athlon and a GeForce 4 just aren’t going to hold up at some point. We’ll see what happens money wise. I certainly wouldn’t expect anything to work out, but on the off chance it does I’ll be building another rig.
Ok, I’m off to do some laundry and have ice cream. Later.
by Matt | Aug 13, 2003 | Imported Entry
Damn. I’ve been so busy the past few days that I haven’t had time to post anything more about the car, or anything for that matter. Let’s see, where to start…
It’s a Mazda Protege 5, which for those of you who couldn’t figure it out on you’re own, is the 5 door version of the Protege. Believe it or not my mom actually asked me that, so I figured I’d state the obvious. It’s officially “laser blue” and has the optional “sport package” that includes the allow rims, fog lights, body trim, etc. It’s got a 6 disc in-dash cd changer, 100w sub-woofer in the back, sun/moon roof and “premium” cloth interior, whatever that is. I already love it. It’s my baby.
It’s costing me $200 a month, $50 cheaper than the matrix would have. The only thing I miss is the 120v jack in the dash. Other than that I’d say it’s a better car all around. It’s actually much sportier and more fun to drive. Plus it’s a 5 speed, so it really zooms when need be.
Other than that it’s been 99% work. Every day it’s something new and different. Today we had 2 engagment portraits, tomorrow we’re doing charity work for a catholic school downtown. Things are going pretty well and I’m learning “the buisness” as break-neck speed. I’m not sure all of it is absorbing but there’s not much I can do to slow the pace down at the moment. In a week and a half my boss is going on a mini-vacation so I’ll have time to catch up on office work and re-organize the studio so that I know where everything is. The last assistant they had organized by “crap pile” method so it’s taking me a little while to sort through things. I might not have a clean bedroom in my personal life, but professionally I like to keep everything nice and neat. It makes life so much easier when you’re looking for a sync-cord and can find it on the cord shelf rather than looking through random drawers until you find one.
Personal wise, wedding plans are pushing forward and everything is fine on all fronts. Lauren’s brother leaves for college tomorrow so I won’t have to sleep on the futon any more. Yippee! That’s about it. Besides not having anything in the way of clothes, music, electronics or personal items from NH, life is pretty good. I’m still living out of a suitcase but it’s given me a new perspective on how much I actually need to survive. My conclusion is: practically nothing. Just a pair of sneakers, a clean t-shirt or two and a camera and I’m good to go. Of course life just wouldn’t be completely without Lauren, so we can’t forget her.
Speaking of which, she’s making salsa downstairs, I think I’m going to go have some. Later.
by Matt | Aug 12, 2003 | Imported Entry
Ladies and gentlemen, let me be the first to introduce the newest edition to the family.
Nuff said. I’ll update more later. Gotta run.
by Matt | Aug 9, 2003 | Imported Entry
Good morning true believers. When we last left Matt he was about to test drive a new Mazda Protégé. That test drive went very well and the dealership I was at bent over backwards to try and make me a deal. I’m ironing out the final details on Monday but as it stands now I’ll be walking away with a ’03 Protégé 5 for $2500 below dealer invoice. Sticker is $18,5 and invoice is $16,9. I’m getting it for $14,400 ($13 something before TT&L). Things are looking up.
We’ve put a deposit on an apartment (but I think I’ve already said that), my folks are floating me the down payment for the car, I’m both consolidating my loans and shopping for car insurance at the moment and lastly I’m shooting a wedding tonight. Joy!
The job is going well. There’s a high stress/work level but it’s what I really like to do. It’s exciting. I get to run around and take pictures all day. I’m going to get a new Dell to retouch on and we’re getting a new epson 4400 (roll feed super printer) and some seriously kick ass Ilford paper to do some printing in house on.
Just wanted to give everyone a quick update. I really want my damn computer. I can only get on this one once a week or so. I really want our own apartment so I can just set everything up and not have to a) sleep on a futon and b) not rely on others for food, shelter and transportation. Other than that I don’t really have any complaints. Everything else is working out really well.
I’ll let everyone know what’s going on with the car. I’ll probably even post a few pictures. Later.
by Matt | Aug 4, 2003 | Imported Entry
Well, there’s been a whole lot of progress on just about every front. Lauren and I found an apartment that we like. It’s a swanky 1 bedroom/1 study with a huge living room and equally large master bath. The two bedroom was more expensive but the study in the one bedroom is nearly as large, so it’s a sneaky way of getting two bedrooms if we need’em. The washing machine, dryer, microwave and etc are all included. There’s door front trash pick-up and covered parking. It’s nice. We put down a $250 deposit so that they’ll hold it for us until Sept 30th so we have until then to decide if it’s really the place for us.
I also took some time today and started my school loan consolidation process with LendingTree/CFS. I applied and now I’m at the point where I need to gather up the information and details about my current loans and they’ll contact me by phone later this week. That was the option I chose since I don’t have my loan paperwork with me and that’ll give me a day or two to collect it and/or get it mailed to me.
Tonight we’re also going car shopping. I think we’ll try Toyota and Mazda tonight and Ford and Subaru later this week. Top contenders for cars this time around are pretty much the same as last time. Obviously a new Matrix would but my top choice but a Corolla S is also a consideration. I’d also like to test drive a Mazda Protégé 5 and the “Speed” edition of the regular Protégé. At Ford I plan on checking out the f150s and of course I’ve got to test drive a Subaru WRX at some point. I did a little fact checking and now I know all the dealer invoice prices as well as the average percentage “hold back” that the dealers use for leverage. For example, a Matrix XRS has a MSRP of $18,750 but an invoice price of only $16,960. There’s also a 2% hold back that they use to negotiate and there’s a $1000 rebate in effect. All that junk means that the car cost the dealer approximately $16,500 minus $1000 instant rebate. So, if I can get a Matrix for anything around $16,900 the dealer will have made at least $1200 profit and I’ve gotten a car for below dealer invoice (and obviously well below sticker price). I’ll never pay the sticker price. I know that they add $2000 to the invoice almost instantly and that they CAN go as low as invoice and still turn a profit. Any dealer not willing to work with me on a deal AND still turn a profit isn’t one I’m going to buy a car from. Perhaps I’m being unrealistic about it but I don’t feel like playing good cop/bad cop and I don’t feel like beating around the bush. I know how much the car is worth to the dealer and I want it for an acceptable margin above that. I don’t expect anyone to give me a car without making a profit, that’s unreasonable, but I’m not going to get taken for an extra $4000 when I don’t need to.
Anyway, things are starting to come together. Hopefully the next time I post I’ll have some exciting car news for you. Wish me luck. And a big thanks to everyone for their continued support. It’s very appreciated.
Matt out.
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