Alexa thinks she's Walter White

On a lark yesterday, I asked Alexa, "Who is the one who knocks?" thinking she wouldn't have an answer. I thought wrong, as she said "I am the one who knocks".

Alexa has turned into Walter White | Heisenberg.

If you don't know the reference, it's Bryan Cranston's character(s) from Breaking Bad, a TV show that aired on AMC for a five years. Most people know the show; I was late on the chemistry bus to watch it, so 2 years after it ended, was when I started binge watching it.

If you haven't seen the show, Amazon has the complete series on DVD for $59.93 right now. It's about $40 cheaper than buying all the seasons separately (between $14.99 & 24.99 each season, depending on season) and streaming it, so if you have a disc player, it might be worth it.

Anyway, the 'one who knocks' is a reference to season 4, episode 6. It's when the cards start falling for real and people realize there's something deeper going on, then a chemistry teacher bringing home a little extra cash during his cancer treatments.

I should see if I can start watching the series again; it was actually pretty cool.

And on a side note, I had used some of the monologue from the scene as a ringtone for someone I used to work with. It stemmed from a joke - we had a locking door in our office, and a client came knocking on the door one day. There was a doorbell at one point (one of those wireless contraptions where the bell can command strip to the door and the receiver is somewhere else) but the client didn't bother ringing. All she did was yell, very loudly, "knock knock!". It was a good thing I was in that part of the office, or no one would have heard her. Yes, she yelled it and didn't physically knock. She yelled a few times and I opened the door, to have her ask me if I had a phone number for someone in the building. When I told my co-worker this story, he laughed so hard because you can't make this stuff up. From that point on, it became a running joke, and I put the monologue on my phone. Yes, I'm crazy. You had to be there.



So, without further ado, I need to prove why Alexa has turned into a meth maker, or I seem nuttier than ever.

Cheers;





See also:
A similar doorbell to what we used: Honeywell RCWL105A1003/N Plug-in Wireless Doorbell

*Almost* a month later

And I'm slowly finally getting some use out of my new camera.

As previously mentioned, I bought the Canon EOS Rebel T7i DSLR Camera Bundle Canon EF-S 18-55mm STM Lens + 32GB Sandisk Memory + Canon Case + TTL Speedlight Flash (Good Upto 180 Feet) + Accessory Bundle. I got a little worried after buying it because I thought the wide angle lens that comes with the bundle (plus the zoom and macro lenses) would be crap, and they're okay. Not the best in the world (see pictures on wide angle), but I figure it like this: For what I paid, the whole bundle was free.

Think about it: I paid $799 for a camera and a fourteen piece accessory kit. The T7i with lens alone is selling for the same price. Okay, so I also bit the bullet and got the 4 year warranty on the camera too. With the T3 having internal dust spots and a itty bitty crack in the back lcd screen (no big deal; really), the warranty may be a good thing. So I can't complain that the "Commander 58mm 0.43x Wide Angle Macro Auxiliary Lens" creates a vignette effect around the edges. Or the tripod came broken (yup, you read that right. It's a cheapy deepy plastic-moonlighting-as-metal tripod).

I was going to try out the tripod when I opened the bag. Proof something was funky when the tripod was in a carry bag and not in a shipping box. Tell tale sign #1: small dinky tripod, in a flimsy canvas bag, no box, no brand name to search. You know it ain't going to be all together.

So I did write to Amazon and tell them the tripod arrived in pieces, but I wasn't about to return the whole box of stuff because I had just finished registering the camera on the Canon website. The challenge is, when you open up a claim with Amazon, they offer you several options, but most end up being that you have to ship the whole box back to them. They don't offer to replace just one item if it was part of a bigger package. I won't delve into all the details on what happened, but I will say that Amazon was nice about what went down and I am going to further enjoy buying from them. Everyone is different in their purchases and I don't recommend always fighting the store for something, but if it's legitimately warranted and under good cause (state the case and see both sides), things can happen. Amazon kept me as a customer for what happened.

Anyway...

Briefly testing some of the accessories, I found out that the wide angle lens does a vignette. It's okay; it adds character. Using some of the internal filters the camera comes programmed with, proved that I need to do some dusting around my room.

I am almost 100 pages into the manual, but also wanted to freelance and test out the camera too. So I turned on the creative effects mode and starting taking pictures of the England Nodding Dog and Manchester United FC Official Champ Football/Soccer Crest Garden Gnome on my dresser. Again, this proves I need to dust. Don't mind the mess.

Effects used: Grainy Black and White, Fisheye, Water Painting.

Trying the wide angle lens, I took a photo of my bathroom door.

Yes, I said my bathroom door. Why? Because of the decals I've got on it. I can't find the exact branded phrase I have hanging (because I bought it at an after Christmas sale at a local store), but I found the phrase online in other materials: "Christmas Calories Don't Count" with a Glow in the Dark Skeleton Skull Hanging Figure.

Interesting combination, I know, but I've had the skeleton since college and he's been hanging on the bathroom door for a while now. I added the calories thing this Christmas because I thought, "why not".

But you'll see a difference in when I use the lens and when I don't - black around the corners (wide angle makes it seem rounder) and no black on the edges (normal lens; seems flat).


Therefore, "why not" show the pictures, or this whole post is for naught:
Oh, and I did some minor editing in Photoshop....

 

 

 

 

 

 





That's it for now. Thought I'd add some fun into the mix.

Be safe and keep warm if you're in the New England area tonight and into the beginning of the week. I hear schools are closing because y'all are expecting snow! Yay?




Cheers;