Two weeks ago, just in time for me to record an episode of Before the Dawn, my handy laptop crapped out on me. It turned on, worked fine but no internet. Hubby looked at it and concluded that it could be any number of things and that since the sucker wasn't under warranty, it would cost a bit of money to fix - much more money than the computer was worth. And so, with a heavy heart and not a whole lot more, we headed out shopping for a new laptop. To be honest, I didn't want to spend the money but it's essential I have a computer that works and considering that in the 5 years I've been working on a home computer, it's been a second hand laptop, the time had come to buy something which was new and state of the art (for at least 30 minutes). After hours of scouring and many questions, I came home with a shiny new Compaq.
She's sweet no?
The very next day, hubby and I were cruising around Metrotown when we spotted a new kiosk selling skins for our iPhone/iTouch. I flipped through a few of the offerings but nothing caught my attention and I offhandedly made a comment to Hubby that since it's not Twilight, I don't feel the need to impulse buy. I came home empty handed but content, having completely forgotten the conversation until Hubby calls me over to his computer to take a peek at what he's looking at.
The conversation went a little like this:
Me: You've got to be kidding me. Hubby: I wouldn't kid about Twilight. Me: You don't have to make fun of me you know. Hubby: I'm not making fun. Me: And you talk about me having a problem. You're the one feeding my addiction!
At this point, I'm guessing you know what he discovered. Fancy "Twilight" inspired skins for my iTouch. After much hmming and haaing, I decided on this pattern:
And while paying for those, Hubby found laptop skins. Rather than adding stickers to personalize my beautiful new laptop, I chose to purchase a fab skin. I had a hard time deciding between them and finally had Hubby make a decision. We picked this one and I rationalized that by the time "Eclipse" is nearing release, I may be ready for another skin:
Now it really feels like it's mine...
Thank y ou eBay and Hubby for the small spending spree. I recently also discovered Etsy. It's been very hard but so far, I've mostly stayed in control. Except for that one slip this morning...
Well, I certainly missed the boat (jumped the shark, nuked the fridge) on this one. I had no idea it was coming until it dropped.
Asus has release the Eee Box. The concept, a small desktop computer, the size of a book (and very reminiscent of my Wii), that is designed to un-clutter your desktop. These little suckers look fantastic. They come pre-installed with Windows XP, something which will me a load of people happy that they won't have to uninstall Vista.
Specs:
Intel Atom Processor
80GB Hard Drive, 1GB Memory
Wireless Draft N
Woooo. Wireless N. NICE. We just upgraded our Router to N. Very nice. This is not an ubber powerful little box but considering all hubby does on the computer is surf the web, this could totally work.
The little sucker goes on sale today (at a whopping cost of $369.99 - good god that's cheap) and if you're in town and are looking for somethign to do this morning, NCIX (my favourite of the computer stores) is throwing a launch party at their Broadway Location starting at 9:30AM. If you happen to go, be sure to share the pics/video of the event.
I may have to invest in one of these suckers over the next few months. Maybe by then I'll have another option for routing cable through a PC for the back room.
I used to think I wasn't very superficial and into "stuff" but over the years, I've come to take great joy from my "things". They're not often expensive, but I love my DVD collection and being able to meander the shelves for something that suits my fancy. I love looking through my books for stuff to read and I love the other trinkets that make their way into my house: my very controlled barbie collection, hubby's SW stuff and the odd stuffed teddy (I picked up a Care Bears Cheer bear - glow in the dark to boot) at Walmart on the weekend for $5.
So yeah, I do like to have "things" and though some might think that shallow, they make my life that much more enjoyable - on top of a wonderful family, a great partner and fantastic friends...the best a girl could ask for to be honest.
All this rambling just sort of spurted out from an initial thought that when D and I started dating, I used to spend hours upon hours of alone time in front of his PC playing Unreal Tournament. He worked nights, I went to school days and we'd see each other for a few crossover hours but I'd always get there early and stay a bit afterwards and immerse myself in FPS greatness. I even started to get really good at it and then, for whatever reason, I just stopped playing. I haven't really been interested in any of the other platforms but a few weeks ago I noticed that Unreal Tournament III was coming and now that I've seen the video...I'm drooling a bit. I may need to check this out. I've already put out a feeler to the hubby to see if our computer's video card can support the graphics. I hope so!
I managed to get a couple of extra days to recover (read-REDO) my English paper. Thank you to a very kind professor. D and I have been trying to recover the PC since Sunday. I had decided that I wanted to install Linux on my traveling companion but the initial install of Mandriva proved to be a bit of a nightmare. Then on Tuesday, I thought I'd give Fedora a shot but, for whatever reason the bloody installation stalls on disk 1. I'm thinking perhaps the ISO I downloaded was corrupt but I couldn't wait anymore so last night I broke down and performed a Windows clean install. Everything seems to be back to normal but I'm still a bit ticked off that Linux systems are so difficult to either 1) install or 2) find. Sure, I can find them online no problem but it took 3 days to download 2 different OS's and neither of them worked for me. I haven't given up all hope yet, I would like to leave Windows behind but it hasn't been easy for me.
In other news, I'm tired, my eyes hurt, I need sleep and I have class tonight. I hope the second wind is coming. Soon.
And I'm VERY thrilled to bring you today's installment of stupid things said in video! Enjoy!
My laptop had a meltdown Sunday morning. I've lost all of the homework I had done that is due this week. To boot, the recovery didn't go so well. This means I have to re-do the homework not usually a big deal except for the fact that one was an essay and the other was a set of questions for philosophy class, not exactly the kind of thing you can do in your sleep.
I'm freaking.
Just a little.
On Virgins Take It Really Seriously
Virgin Holds Off 10,000 In Peachtree
headline in the Lewiston (Idaho) Morning Tribune, about long-distance runner Craig Virgin's victory in the Atlanta Peachtree Classic Race
Another day gone by. Another day closer to the weekend.
I'm going crazy trying to understand the intricacies of god being timeless or in time. The basic principles make sense but the who said what part of what argument is starting to hurt my little brain. More studying definately required.
I've been fighting with my home pc the last few days, trying to find some free and legal way to convert avi files (from a camcorder) to one of the dvd compatible formats so that the bloody thing will play on a DVD player. Someone passed on some footage of our home town to me on a disk but my parents want to see it on the big screen. If anyone has any program tips or suggestions, I'd really appreciate it. And yes, I've tried the software that comes bundled win WinXP and it sucks. Big time. Compresses everything all weird and I'm just not sure how to fix it. Maybe the simples suggestion is if someone has tips on how to fix that; whatever. Any help is appreciated.
I didn't manage to catch any of the State of the Union Address, I was too busy discussing the attributes of god and all, however, I did find some more excellent Bushisms. Before I go to the next one, I also found this State of the Union Address drinking game. I know it's a bit late, and no, it's not the only one but it's damned funny.
Oh crumb! One more thing before the Bushism. As a midweek treat, here's a short clip starring the one and only, Bruce Campbell. Check it out:
And now, here's the Bushism:
"Make no mistake about it, I understand how tough it is, sir. I talk to families who die."
-- George W. Bush with reporters on facing the challenges of war, Washington, D.C., Dec. 7, 2006
Turns out the problems I had on Friday were not internet related but rather computer related. I finally convinced the Dragon Lady that I needed a new PC and she has agreed that it's time. I ordered it today and it will arrive some time late this week or early next. I can't WAIT! It's a nice little machine that will not only handle the workload but comes bundled with a few extras! I seriously can't begin to tell you how exciting this is! It's like Christmas in November!!!
I did very little this weekend. I finally managed to hit the mall and I bought a couple of things for myself and for the house. I fell asleep on the couch and D left me there for the night (he says he tried to wake me up but I don't really buy it). I woke up on Sunday morning and my entire day was spent between the couch watching movies, the kitchen and the laundry room. I got very little done but it was nice to be inside when the trees looking like they were about to tip over outside.
On Friday night Dale over at Group42 helped me get set up with Drupal - a content management program. I'm going to test it out by using it to build my Bookcrossing site. I'm really looking forward to it. The program looks awesome!
That's it for now I guess. I'm at the library killing some time before the movie tonight and since I didn't get anything done at work today (other than work - GO FIGURE!), I'll do some of my blog related stuff now!
The weather has been particularly nice the last couple of weeks but on Saturday night, it took a turn for the worse. It's been cold and rainy for the last few days and it's not suposed to go away for a while. It's supposed to be a little better tomorrow but then back to rain for Wednesday. Winter has officially started here.
It was a nice weekend full of fun and surprises. Sister's B-Day was fun and filling on Sunday but the real highlight for me was D's surprise on Saturday morning. He gave me a new laptop. I've been planning for months to get one and Saturday, he pulled this one out on me. Turns out working at Staples does have some advantages. When he bought it for $200 it was a lemon (woulnd't even turn on) but with his expertise, and 3 weeks of extra work, he managed to get it up and running. It's a slim and sleek 14" widescreen Toshiba. LOVE IT! You should have seen me. I got all weepy and everything. Kinda pathetic.
After that excitmenet Saturday morning, the rest of the weekend paled in comparison but it was fun. I actually have a question for you guys. D and I went to the movies with K and the kids on Sunday. We saw the 3PM showing of "Over the Hedge". The theatre was full of little bobbing heads. It was ADORABLE. However, I noticed a guy get up at one point and come back a few minutes later. He was sitting in front of us and not looking too happy. I heard him whisper to his lady friend that the theatre wouldn't give them their money back now. Eventually they got up and left. I assume that he wanted his money back because the theatre was loud. Hence my question: Is it fair to assume that if you're watching a kids movie in the middle of the day, the theatre will be much louder than if you, lets say, see the same movie at a 7PM showing? I think this is a fair assumption but the morons in front of me obvisously didn't take this into consideration. What do you think?
