Winging It

Ok, I knew my monitor (my 17" monitor that I need to replace) was bad, but I really didn’t know how bad. I just hooked up a 15" monitor that I have here as a temporary replacement…. HOLY CRAP. Other than being small (wow is it a lot smaller), it’s really freak’n clear!

Yeow. I did not realize how bad the other had gotten. It’s definitely time for a new monitor. I just wish 17" LCDs didn’t cost $300. *sigh* I guess it’s buh-bye time for the Christmas money. A new 17" CRT is about $100 less, but it’s harder on the eyes so I figure the LCD is probably worth it. Plus, the Samsung 710N I linked to above has gotten good reviews, so I figure that’d be a good choice. Grrr…

(That’s "Hello my people" for those that don’t read German)

Back from "Festivus for the Rest of Us" (as I believe George’s father on Sienfeld said). Had a good time, hung out with friends and family, ate some good food, and drove a bit That’s the short-short version, and likely the only version that will make it up here.

Oh, well I will relate the fun of returning. I got home and what did I discover? Why, that I had no heat and my G5 wouldn’t start. Then I managed to break the soldering job I’d done to repair my computer speakers in the past (while attempting to fix my machine) and come to the conclusion that I must buy a new monitor ASAP.

The good news is that the maintenance people fixed my heat (fairly quickly), I finally did get my G5 to start (though it wasn’t until 18 hours after I got home) and I was able to get my speakers working without resoldering, which is good ’cause I don’t know when I’ll go buy new speakers. Part of me would like to get a 5.1 system (the PC has connections for 5.1 and the Mac has a optical link, but what to get…..?), but the other part of me doesn’t want to spend at a minimum $200 (I checked).

Still at work on the next part of the story. I didn’t have any chance to work on it over the holiday, but hopefully I will today a bit.

Well, tomorrow marks the night before the Night Before Christmas, meaning that I’ll be heading off for a few days (I can hear all the people out there saying, "And this would be different from your normal posting schedule, how?").

For those who’ve read the beginning of the story; never fear! More is already in the works, you’ll just have to be patient a bit longer.

Ok, well it is now exactly one week before Christmas, so it’s time to go shopping. Got to get stuff for mom, dad and K but I got my brother and sister already.

Of course, the jealous side of me is tempted to return my sister’s because she’s lounging about in Hawaii right now, and I’m paying to go see her in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2 months.

Well shopping hell, here I come!

Eep

If I had more readers, they’d be telling me that I’d neglected them for a week! Well, erm, lessee… Oh, I built a gingerbread house and baked Christmas cookies with my friend K; on the 13th I passed my 90 day probationary period at PBS so you can all cheer for me now.

I met with my friend and former co-worker (also a K, but we’ll have to come up with a different letter since that’s already in use, maybe J) for drinks on Tuesday and did my “Christmas shopping” yesterday. Actually, there’s a bit more for me to do in that regard, but I’ve got it under control.

Sent out my passport for renewal and ordered my tickets, so I’m off to Nova Scotia in probably the coldest damn month I could have picked (February). It’ll be fun to visit with my sister and see Halifax, even if it’s buried under feet of snow.

And… actually I think that’s pretty much it.

Ok, well, I wasn’t really off the air, but I’d kind of gotten side-tracked with this thing called Halo 2.

I’m sure you’ve all noticed the entry below entitled "Opening Moves" and maybe some of you are curious. Long ago (ok, mid-teens) I was going to grow up to be a writer. Then I realized a few things and I decided to write as a hobby, not as a profession. Unfortunately the quantity of what I’ve written over the last 6 years has been relatively small. In an effort to rectify that, I’m going to try and write something "in serial." Opening moves is the first of that, and aptly titled (though I didnt’ intend it).

I can’t speak to the frequency of updates, but you’ll see in the menu a permanent heading called Story. That category will always have the latest published entries. Sneaky people might be able to find the drafts as I work on them, but I’m not telling you how.