Tools Everyone Needs

There are certain tools that everyone needs, but not everyone knows are out there. Today, I will talk about a few of those tools I found while drinking some Rare Breed and surfing the internet. These tools may not be critical to your life, but they can make your life a little easier, especially for those you that are attached to your blackberry. I guess you might be able to get these kind of things for a iphone, but I don't know anything about iphones because I am sort of stuck on verizon. Maybe someday you will be able to get an iphone on verizon, but not anytime soon. I am sure some mac fanatic will now attempt to deface my site, so let me say I am sorry in advance and please apple fanatic, don't hurt me.

I came across the ultimate Blackberry accessory site, crackberry.com. They have the largest selection that I have been able to find. I decided to pour a bourbon and explore the site. I came across several critical, at least for me, accessories that I have needed for a long time. I could not even get these kind of things at verizon, so I am super happy, in a geek sort of way.

The first thing was an adapter to convert the headset jack into a standard headphone jack. That may not seem like much, but 1) I could not find one locally and 2) it now allows me to use the mp3 player in my blackberry in the car. I can also stream internet radio using my blackberry in the car now, which is pretty cool.

The second thing is a rubber jacket for my blackberry. It keeps the edges nice and clean when you drop your blackberry and extends the life of your blackberry, if you drop yours often like I do. I bought a generic one at Best Buy, but it did not fit well. After five minutes with the new jacket, I tossed the old one in the trash.

The final purchase was a new holster. I used to have the standard blackberry holster, but I broke the clip. This new one from niteize is extremly tough, with a great big clip and a semi-hard case to protect the blackberry from damage.

I guess damage is getting to be a common thread. I have destroyed several accessories for my blackberry. Thanks to the quality products from crackberry.com, I can keep bringing you the best in geek news from anywhere there is cell service.

Homestead, a great place for a bourbon

Homestead 2009
Originally uploaded by AlphaHokie

Things have been rather slow here on Alphageek's Thoughts lately. With all the activity of life, writing has taken a back seat to other activities. I intend to try to catch up this weekend with a mega post weekend! That's right, I have saved up a multitude of original thoughts that I am going to share with you, even if you don't care.

Mrs. Alphageek called months ago and said the words I love to hear: we are going to Homestead for her business! This is an exciting time because Mrs. Alphageek has to work and I get to goof off. In this instance, it is probably best to just rattle off the different things we did, rather than try to tell some intricate story. Don't like my approach? I am still waiting to see your writing.

The Homestead has been around a really long time. They have a restaurant called 1766, which is supposedly the year they were founded. That is a really long time ago. If age is any indication, it is a great place. It is a classic mountain resort that everyone should go to, at least once. Unfortunately, cell phones work there, so you will have to tell the office something when they try to call and you decide to let the call roll to voice mail.

Mrs. Alphageek got the vacation off to a great start by telling me I could go falconing! I have always wanted to watch these large birds in action. We spent about an hour discussing the history of the sport, as well as a photo opportunity that you can see here. This bird was extremely photogenic and loved to pose. She makes an excellent contrast to me. Next time, I will photoshop in someone else! We then switched gears and each person got to hold some food while the bird swooped in from a tree to grab the food. These birds are fascinating because they are not nearly as domesticated as a cat or dog. The trainer said if you don't take care of the birds, they just fly away. We spent the rest of the time watching the other members of our party take their turns feeding the birds. It was a very quick two hours that just flew by. Hey, I made a funny!

We had a dinner at the 1766 Restaurant. This is the kind of place that someone cooks the food right at the table for you. Believe me, for what they are charging, they had better go the extra mile. We enjoyed a fine, relaxing meal and were amazed at the excellence of restaurant.

We also went canoing. I don't think Mrs. Alphageek had a very good time. We were taken to a secret location, where I was put in back of the canoe. Mrs. Alphageek did not like the way I steered the canoe. Just because I banged into the bank once, she got really mad. The kind of mad that you laugh at when you see another couple because you are glad its not you arguing. However, things worked out well in the end and we had an exciting canoe trip. I still don't think she will let me drive the canoe ever again.

We had another fine meal at Sam Snead's Tavern. I highly recommend everything on the menu. I also have a small travel tip: this place serves Homestead Lager. You should check out this beer because it certainly trumps the usual Bud selection the rest of the restaurants have.

We also spent some time just wandering around. This place is huge, with lots of little hidden goodies. We found a hot spring outside that you can dip your feet into. However, this outside spring pales in comparison to the indoor pool that is heated entirely by a hot spring. The pool certainly beats going to the Jefferson Baths up the road and taking off all of your clothes in front of strangers. I guess a word about Jefferson is in order too. Everything is named after him here. It is part of revisionist Wahoo history to attribute everything that ever happened to Mr. Jefferson. Don't fall for it. At any rate, we found the pool to be refreshing, but I did not feel that it was very therapeutic.

So, you are now saying “this is great, but what about bourbon?” That is where the Homestead really excels. You can sit on around on the “Grand Porch”, which is the main entrance to The Homestead, and order drinks during the evening. The weather was outstanding while we were there, making for a very pleasant bourbon experience. When I ordered my bourbon with only two ice cubes, that is what I got and my hassle factor was non-existent. The almost perfect bourbon sipping place.

For a collection of pictures, simply click here and enjoy.

The World's Oldest?

One evening, I was drinking some bourbon and surfing the internet for items of interest when traveling. I received an email from Mrs. Alphageek, informing me that I should check out Roadside America. I surfed over to the site, and had to have a second bourbon to calm my nerves. She had located the holy grail of travel sites. Roadside America has every cheesy place one can stop while on the road. Well, maybe not everyone, but there are a lot. Earlier, Mrs. Alphageek and I tried to see the World's Oldest Ham and were thwarted by a flood damaging the museum and closing the museum.

I now wish to announce that we have successfully viewed the World's Oldest Edible Ham! It was quite clear upon visiting that the museum host knows who the star of this museum is and the star is definitely the Ham.

We were escorted right over to the ham, and given our own personal narration of the history of this fine piece of Americana. I gazed longingly, knowing that I had finally found a superlative worthy of the Alphageek's personal endorsement. That's right: you have to see this to believe it, or at least click on one of my links so that you can see the pictures. I did not even know that you could also see the World's Largest Ham as well!

You might think that the Ham alone is great, but this museum continues to deliver. While there, we were also able to view the history of the making of the World's Largest Ham biscuit. You can even see some of the equipment used to make this large delight of food. My only disappointment was there was not a piece of the biscuit at the museum for viewing.

Just when you are thinking that a small town like this could not deliver any more bang for the buck (and admission is free!), you can see something I did not know they had until I arrived. That's right, you can see the World's Oldest Peanut on display as well. A little peanut with a date written on it with a pen. Never mind that I might be able to find an older peanut under my sofa and if you turn your back for a second, and oh hand me that sharpie pen too, I might also have an old peanut. Never mind all that, you simply cannot get entertainment like this just anywhere.

Finally, the museum has a certificate from Ripley's Believe it or Not! I know I have never seen a certificate like that before. Some of you may have been able to go to Myrtle Beach's Believe it or Not museum, but I was never able to go. The Isle of Wight Museum is better because it does not have the World's Largest Man in front of it, hawking to you for $20 to see some fake stuff. No, this is the real thing and you can only see it in Virginia. Click this link to see the entire photo set.