Snowman Studios
He's like the energizer bunny. I don't know whether to be in awe or to have pitty. It's happened so much he doesn't seem to really respond to it in the bad way a normal person does.
So over the weekend, I spent a lot of time setting up my new computer to run Windows XP 64-bit Edition. It's a new version of XP that is only available in a trial version, but that means it's free too. A full version is due out in June or so.
Much time was spent finding reference drivers and such. For example, my motherboard is made by Asus, but the designer of the motherboard is VIA. So I go to VIA for certain drivers. But VIA uses Promise for Raid and SATA functionality, so I need to go there for drivers so windows can find my HD to install on. That was the biggest one as the others were generally easier to find.
The other issue I ran into was some programs don't install into the given directory structure well. There is now a "Program Files (x86)" directory, but many install programs can't handle parens and don't handle installing in a different location well. Also, when the program tries to detect that you are installing it on Windows, it says that you are not using windows (would it really be able to install / run on anything else?). The most notable example was Rome: Total War. There were posts on their board, but it seems that posts that are less than a month old are too old to keep archived, so I asked the same question again. The reponse was a link to a site explaining how to hack the install file and giving links to no-cd hacks. The no-cd hacks take away movie footage and such, and are definately inferrior.
But now my graphics are far more powerful. The video card and Direct3D take advantage of the 64-bit processing, and I am getting much higher performance than I was with Windows 2000.
Full time work starts tomorrow.
What's wrong with people in
Tennessee to make this guy electable?
First, a little comment on the link in the previous post. At work we have this obnoxious Spundgebob toy that someone bought. It makes noise and sings and is very similar to that big mouth bass thing. So while I have no positive feelings towards the franchise, I don't see how it could be anything more than harmless and mind-numbing.
Today I took the day off from all of that programming and went snowboarding. The drive took a little longer as there was traffic, and the place I tried out ended up being a disappointment. They seemed to have only a handful of runs, and split between two peaks. I could see the other place, but I didn't want to actually take the time to travel there. One set was for the more skilled (apparently I fall into this catagory) and the other was for the beginner. I do not consider myself an expert, but if I can go down my first 3 runs on blues and blacks and not fall, that says something.
Although I did fall later. The conditions changed as snow melted into water and other snow was broken up from the hard pack. My early success lead to me pushing it as conditions became more challenging. My 5th run was a disaster. I fell 3 times. The first and third were simple ones where I was back on my feet before I stopped. The second was a bit worse. I had fallen back and was in the process of pushing up while still moving. Right when I pushed up, I caught an edge and I went right over the board and slammed chest first into hard pack (my arms were behind me from pushing up, so it was all on the chest). Now I'm going head first down the hill and just waiting to let myself stop. I don't feel anything from it now, but at the time my ribs were feeling a little sore.
Rediculous. I mean, I don't like it either (and the toy annoys the hell out of me at work), but common, focus on the important part of the life.
We're number 2!
Tomorrow I go to Julian where the fires were 15 months ago to help with the fire relieve efforts. It's always fun waking up so early.
I am not entirely certain what happened to the font size there. Oh well.
FedEx Deliveryman Recovers Honor the Samurai Way
Well, not quite. After I found out the delivery was done to the wrong address, I heard a large vehicle drive down the street. I go out and find there is a FedEx truck at the end of the street. I run down and talk to the driver, and he tells me the phone number to call.
After all that I delt with on the phone, I switched gears to trying to install my graphics card in my old machine. This is met with less than stellar results, although I am able to recover functionality. Just as I do, I hear the door bell and there's the same FedEx guy. He apparently had made the missed delivery because, when making the delivery, he was partially blocking the road and had an impatient driver honking at him. Instead of 7 boxes he accidentally left 8.
Hooray for tracking numbers!
Oh, and I think the props guys for The Last Samurai could have done a far better job.
FedEx Misplaces Computer
Yes, my computer has been lost by FedEx. They know where it is (it's in the same suburb as me), but it is in the hands of some unsuspecting civilian. I do not know if I will be able to retrieve the package until next week, if at all (if the people there refuse to give it up, there is little I can do except complain to the vendor some more). But by the time this resolves, it might be a week. "Cost effective, reliable delivery." So, so wrong.
So I'm trying to re-direct my frustration in good ways. I'll probably install the video card, which was ordered from a different vendor, and play Counter Strike: Source with it.
I was planning on going snowboarding tomorrow, but the incoming storm is stopping me before I even start. Well, before I leave, but after I spend 5 hours preparing to go. The thought is to think about Monday as there is only supposed to be light precipitation but nothing on the scale of tomorrow (40-60 mph winds and heavy rain, sound familiar Carl?).
To not go too excessive in the events in Nashville and Kentucky, I will speak of one event during the journey to Nashville.
It was on the small commuter jet from Denver to Nashville. The flight attendent giving the safty briefing had made some amusing jokes including "in the case of a water landing, you shall be the first to experience United Express Cruise Lines." The guy next to me reminded me a bit of my first roommate, only add 50 pounds. He even had a Maxim. As he was looking at a particular picture, an older gentleman was sitting down in the row behind us and noticed the magazine. He paid more attention to the magazine than to what he was doing, and therefore paid the price as he slammed his head into the overhead bin.
Two women in the young adults circle suggested I grow a goatee after seeing my face with a week of growth. I'm going to try it and see how it looks.
I've returned from my trip and I am quite tired. We went to bed around 3 am last night and I woke up at 6 to go to the airport (and didn't sleep well either).
After not feeling so great around my first flight, I was concerned that I might be coming down with something (or suddenly had come down with something), but after sleeping for most of the second flight I seemed to be back to my usual, food-consuming self again.
