The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

I wrote this in a Sandbox thread complaining about losing posts from all the threads eventually getting deleted, and people complaining that there needs to be a new forum section for intelligent threads that aren't relevant to the main section.... just thought I'd post it here for archival.











The Sandbox was originally designed for threads with topics not relevant to the main forum.



The pointless game threads, personality question threads, dozens of "cafe" chatter threads, and the like were not what the Sandbox was intended for.



Daermon even started the original Chatter's Cafe in an attempt to divert all the pointless Sandbox threads and posts into one thread, so that the rest of the Sandbox threads could have some substance. But even that didn't work, because everybody and their brother had to have their own thread for pointless chatter.



Those threads, however, are precisely the reason why the Sandbox was redesigned to delete all threads.



You want a section where off-topic subjects can be discussed? You've got it. All you have to do is actually use it as such.



Wait... but then where would all the pointless, idle chatter go?



Well, that's what the VampBox is for. Except that most can't use it responsibly, either.



Are we noticing a trend here?



I'd lay down money that virtually all of the admins, dominars, sentorans, procurators, and members of the site that have been around since it's early days would love to see the Forum full of threads with intelligent debate.



We've tried.



It doesn't work, because as much complaining that goes on about it, it's not really what people want. It's been proven time, and time again.

... that consisted mostly of watching Chimaira and a few local bands, including VOA, headlined by the former VR member and semi-OG #vamps lurker Roz, who kidnapped me to do a few shots of Seven in their van between bands.



And.. although it was really a "you had to be there" moment....



DESPITE ALL MY RAGE, I AM STILL JUST A DUC IN A VAN!



Mmm Seven.



Brings back so many memories. The first time I got drunk was with Roz, drinking Coke and Seven, going to go see KoRn and StainD. Long ass time ago.



Even better after the lyrics of one of VOA's songs.. "Seven is our number...... we are your sins."



Damn skippy.







Although, the night almost got a lot more interesting when a huge fight was on the verge of breaking up, escalating to the point of someone breaking a pool stick in half and brandishing it.



Someone forgot to give the dude the memo about not pissing off the bouncers in a metal bar. Dipshit.



All in all, it was a pretty good show. Chimaira was better then the last time I saw them, although I'm still not a huge fan. VOA rocked, as always, closing with a cover of Prince's When Doves Cry. Sounded damn good.



One or two of the other locals weren't bad either, although I don't remember the names of the bands at the moment.

Somehow, auto mechanics, auto paint and body work, and game programming just don't quite seem like they'd belong together.



Leave it to me.





On top of the fact that I try to do as much of the mechanical work to my vehicles as I can, I've got a few upcoming ventures slated for this spring and summer.



First up, is going to be teaching myself to do custom fiberglass work. After finding a few small projects to start on and get an idea of what I'm doing, I'm planning on making a custom fiberglass sub enclosure that'll fit behind the seats of my car.



Pretty much the only place in the car to put an enclosure and have decent bass. There's a metal firewall between the cabin of the car and the trunk, and the trunk lids on del Sols tend to have bad problems with rattling on top of it. So that crosses out the most common place to put subs.



The only other viable option I've seen is fitting a small enclosure into the front part of the foot space on the passenger side. That could make things a bit cramped for anyone riding with me, and would just look like shit on top of it. Scratch that.



But, with the removal of the locking storage bins behind the seats, a custom-fitted box can be built to easily hold two 8" subs, or even two 10" subs with the right design.



JL Audio sells just such a box. Even has downward firing subs and carpet matched to the interior. Looks like it was built that way. Problem is, they're outrageously expensive. $800 new. $450 is about the lowest I've seen used.



So, seems to me like a great project to learn to fiberglass with.







Next up on the agenda is going to be a good paint job. With the exception of retail chain rush jobs like Maaco's $200 "Half-ass sanding and prep, 1-2 coats of shitty single stage paint with no clearcoat" jobs, you're easily looking at $2k for a professional paint job.



Fortunately, my great-uncle has spent a large portion of his life restoring classic cars. Including a few models that only a few hundred still exist. I've seen a few of the cars he's restored.... and all I could do was stand there and drool.



He has a full garage, including a separate paint booth. I'm going to see if he'll let me come down and stay for a week or so this summer and help/teach me to do the minor body work the car needs, and put a show car quality paint job on her.



I'm still not sure what color I want to go with yet. I'm thinking black, but I am kind of fond of the red already on it. I've played around with the thought of doing it in Khamelon paint, the nifty stuff that changes color depending on what angle you look at it, but I'm not sure. It looks good, but I'm not sure that's what I envision for my car. Not to mention, it's some highly expensive shit.



If plans go well, this should be a pretty entertaining summer.

Valentine's Day was my nephew's 1st birthday.



Unfortunately, the best moments I wasn't able to catch on camera.



He didn't eat any of his cake. He kept feeding it to his mom, his grandfather, and anyone else that would let him. Instead, he kept going after the bananas. Ate two of them in a row.



He did, however, spend a great deal of time playing in his cake. He even had cake icing stains on his butt.

Pretentious philandering Mongolian Pop-Tart fuckers.

It's horrible! I'm abusing my power, yet again!





Boy, it truly is amazing that I'm still a Dominar on here, with as often as I so blatantly abuse my authority.





And I've been given the wonderful advice that I should put the effort I spend on abusing my authority into something along the lines of learning about programming, which I apparently know nothing about.



Funny, I thought I'd been doing that for a while already.

Closed down the bar, two nights in a row.



Not in the usual sense of hanging around drunk until last call and getting shuffled out the door, but literally walking out as the owner is cutting the lights and locking up for the night.



I've started working at the only local bar that's worth a damn when it comes to live shows, helping out a friend that just opened a kitchen up there. I'm not getting paid anywhere near enough to be adequate compensation for the work I'm doing, but that's because my friend is paying me out of her own profits, actually giving me half of what she earns each night I'm working. Quite frankly, most illegal immigrants probably make more then what I have the past two nights.



However, without the help, she wouldn't have much of a chance to build the business up. It's been rather fun anyway, and I don't mind doing it to help a friend out. Plus, being an employee at the bar means not having to pay to get into any of the shows whether I'm working or not. That's probably worth more then what I've gotten paid. So I really consider it a pretty good deal.



Yesterday was rough though. I drove an hour and a half to spend all afternoon helping a friend move, and right after that drove back and worked at the bar until almost 4am.



To say I've been busy is one hell of an understatement. This is all on top of continuing to get things ready for mom's greenhouse to open this spring, setting up a germination room for 5000 plants. And getting things organized to order five new hives of bees to get started in a few months. And this is all while working around classes and homework.



At least staying this busy helps keep my mind off wanting a cigarette. I did slip a little the past two nights, but I was kind of expecting that, being at the bar and all. Especially tonight when a friend bought me a Guinness. That really required a cig.



But aside from that, go me on the quitting smoking dealie.



And I should be getting a new weight machine soon, that'll take up a lot less space and make working out much less of a pain in the ass then the cheap ass weight set I've got now. I prefer working out on a machine then with free weights anyway. If I can find any time at least.



It's absolutely bedtime though. Get a few hours of sleep before gametime.



GO INDY!



Funny part is, I don't follow the NFL extremely closely. I enjoy watching it, and I put some effort into following the teams I like. But I've said for at least the past 2 months that it was going to be Indy and Chicago in the Suberbowl. Most people told me I was crazy. BOO-YAH.



I'm not even really any more fond of one team then the other, cheering for Indy was mostly a random decision.



"Life is too short, so love the one you've got, cuz you might get ran over, or you might get shot."