7 years ago today, I went to Mother’s apartment…. A subsequent call to 911, and the responding fire personnel immediately called out the chaplain…
But enough about the circumstances about Mom’s passing. Let’s shake up a 2 litre of Safeway Strawberry Soda, chug a plate of deviled eggs, and walk up and down every aisle in the local Walgreens. And pour one out for Mom.
May Barbara Bryant continue frolicking in the Beer Volcano and Stripper Factory…
So I didn’t need to panic last night. I did have coffee. In my pantry was a box of my last Smart Sips K-Pods, with three pods left. And when my brother woke up, he told me that put my K-Pods into the pantry, where I found them. With the tea, on a different shelf. Meanwhile, I had also placed an order for delivery, which just arrived, which included more coffee, along with some other groceries (I now prefer delivery when I need to get perishables, since I have to take the bus everywhere)…
I rebuilt my system three weeks ago, and I’m still happy with it. Normally by now, I’d get the wanderlust to go back to the previous version of Windows (especially when I was running Windows 7) only to go back to the current version 4 hours later… With my current motherboard setup (AMD X570 chipset for those of you keeping score at home), it was every two week, switching between Windows 10 and Windows 11. Or it could be when I run into something that I couldn’t fix right away, and I decided to nuke it from orbit, when all I needed to do was change a simple setting…
Sometimes I just need to remind myself that if it ain’t broke, then I shouldn’t try to keep fixing it…
Normally, I don’t post online when I call out from work. But I have been dealing with a blister on my foot, probably caused by my Columbia’s wearing out. I can’t afford to replace them right away. But I don’t want to spend 8+ hours limping tonight. So, I’ve called out tonight to give my foot an extra day to heal.
In a related story, if you need to drain a foot blister, the lancets you use in your blood glucose meter work really well. They’re short, sharp, and sterile….
Now back to radio silence for the night….
Laundry Day today. 2 loads washed, dried, and put away. And I decided to start a Purge. And by Purge, I meant cleaning my room. Usually, it’s a multi-day project, but I have to start somewhere. And today, it was my never used Easy Chair. Never used because of all the junk that was on it. Like my previous video card (still works, so into the Drawer). And a never-used USB 3 hub (right after I ordered it, I found another one that I liked, so I ordered that one. Still in the box, so into the Drawer again. I also found all three umbrellas that I thought I lost (could’ve come in handy during the past wet season). So that was the first bag of garbage.
Then my next Target was right in from of my TV. A lot of junk. Trashed. Then my TV stand. A lot of stuff on the bottom shelf that I never used. Like my electric tire pump (foot pump works just as well). Trashed. Old video cables. Trashed (I have the sad habit of just ordering new cables if I can’t find one right away). Old DVD burner from my HP 500-314 tower. Trashed, replaced by a Blu-Ray drive from when I was using the tower as my Blu-Ray/streaming box. Now I just use a Blu-Ray drive, and I can access all my streaming services via my cable box (with a voice activated remote).
These were only two areas in my room, and I filled up two 30 gallon bags. This is a work in progress. But I can sit in my easy chair again (though I should look into getting rid of it completely). And I can now walk from my bed to my door….
<A History>
I use online game stores. A lot. It started with the Microsoft Store when I first started using Windows 8.1/Windows 10. Then came Steam (I actually initially set up Steam back when I was using Windows XP, though I never purchased anything through it). Then through the grapevines I heard that EA games had Origin (now the EA App), which had a recurring on the house game special. So I started with the free games. Then I was looking for SimCity 3000 (after realizing the CD-Rom version would no longer work), and I came across GOG. This is where I get a lot of my older games. Good thing about GOG is that when you buy the game, an offline installer is usually available, so you really don’t need to install GOG Galaxy to install the game, though I use it. Somewhere along the line, I had to install Ubisoft Connect because of my Steam Games required it, and they have a store, too. Somewhere along the line, I learned that Spamazon offered free games through Twitch if you have Amazon Prime. And they do. Though the Twitch app has long gone away, there’s still the Amazon Games App. They offer about 5-9 games a month, at least, and they’re still yours even if you leave Amazon Prime.
</A History>
When I built my computer in 2019, the video card I installed had a promo for free copy of World War Z. Available on Epic Games Store. They normally offer a free game every week. And now, I have filled up half of an 8 TB drive with them. But tonight is when I finally bought something from them (some DLC for Sim Meier’s Civilization VI).
And after all this there are still games that I have that I can’t install for various reasons. That is also why I still have my Windows ME and Windows XP virtual machines….
We had our first heat wave this past weekend. Although since I sleep during the day and I have a westward facing window, I had previously set up my AC a few weeks ago, when the temperature first start hitting the ‘70s. I guess summer is here.
Mother’s Day was Sunday. May Barbara Bryant spend all eternity frolicking in the Beer Volcano and Stripper Factory….
So Cheetos-Face was found liable in the recent lawsuit, and the jury also stuck him for $5 million in damages from it. And he can get sued again for his comments he made after the verdict was rendered. Character is required to hold the office of President, and openly advocating sexual assault is an automatic disqualifier.
Wiped my computer again last week. Windows 10 works perfectly fine, but the urge to go with the latest and greatest was irresistible. So I went and installed Windows 11 again. Learning the lessons from computers past, I did not do an upgrade install. I just went with a ‘clean’ install. And this time, I even got the start menu set up to my tastes (the start menu is usually the reason why I end up going to the previous version of windows).
According to Foreca, it is forecast to hit 69 today. 78 on Friday. And 80 on Saturday. Since I have to sleep through the heat of the day, I thought today would be a good time to set up my AC. Yes, I’ll have to deal with the noise from the compressor, but it’s easier to sleep through that than try and sleep through the heat of the day…
There have been a couple of incidents in the past couple of weeks where I’ve gotten on my usual bus, but it was so late that I’ve missed my connection in Tacoma, and I ended up an hour late. Yes, I’m treading on thin ice with regards to attendance at work. So, on weekdays, I’m now catching the next earlier bus. Which means leaving for work an hour earlier. Which unfortunately means an hour less sleep….
Just finished the season finale of The Mandalorian. Here are the spoilers:
And you know what? I’ll spoil the ending:
The credits scroll…
First I install Windows 10. Takes a little over a week to install everything. Then I decide I want to try Windows 11. Again, it takes a week and a day to get my system put back together. Then, I decided that Windows 10 is the way to go, so again I nuke my system from orbit and start over.
I guess it’s a good thing. It keeps me at home and out of trouble. And there are far worse things that I could be doing. I think it could also be I enjoy setting my computer up more than actually using it…..
With my previous HP tower, it was either Windows 7, 8.1 or 10. Currently, I’m running 10 with best of all worlds. With Start11 and WindowBlinds, I’m using a Windows 8 skin and a Windows 7 start menu. Now if I can only stop playing around with the settings….
Cheetos-Face finally got indicted. For the cover-up payments to the porn star that he cheated on his wife with. And there were a couple of other hush money cover-ups, too. And he’s still being investigated for January 6. And for a bunch of classified documents that he had no business holding onto. I feel this may be the beginning of the end for him.
But all the metaphorical blood-lust aside, let us at least go through the motions. He is only indicted. In the eyes of the law, he is innocent until proven guilty (as it should be).
My personal prediction: he will end up behind bars. Probably even before the trial. It only takes one disparaging/threatening post on his supposed social network towards the judge in the case, and he’ll get a complimentary pair of stainless steel bracelets, 3 hots & a cot… I’m sure this will energize his base towards the next election, but felony convictions will energize his opponents’ bases and will put him on the losing end of a landslide….
Daylight Savings Time was the past weekend. As usual, I was at work. Because the clocks skipped ahead when we were at lunch, we just left an hour later than normal. So daylight savings meant that I just lost an hour of my ‘afternoon’ when I got home from work. What this means is that the real afternoon has a lot more sunshine. And given that spring is around the corner, the sun is now directly shining into my room. Who needs sleep? I must certainly not. It’s a good thing I’m off tonight, or I’d be a zombie….
It’s only weather and it will pass in due time. I guess I should get up and enjoy that yellow UFO in the sky while I can. All Hail Our Extraterrestrial Overlords….
I’ll admit it. I still have a preference for Flight Stimulator X. I still occasionally play Flight Stimulator 2004, but FSX is still my preferred game when I fly the virtual skies. I like that my Cyborg V.1 josytick immidiately works with them, so I can just take off and go.
Then I downloaded Flight Stimulator 2020 from Steam. And my joystick wouldn’t work with it. Oh well. I kept flying FSX. And then tonight, I tried it again. This time I used my XBOX controller (which I also bought a wireless adapter for. Yes I know the link I’ve given has them available together, but I had to buy them separately). And this time, I finally achieved stable ‘flight’ with it. And I also notice that it renders my workplace accurately. However there is a reason why I’m playing a PC flight simulator and not flying in real life. I don’t think my boss would appreciate me bouncing off the roof of the building in real life and then crashing behind it…..
Now, about the Joystick. After finishing up my rebuild last week, and calling out due to weather (I’m not that stupid when the roads are shit), I was trying to get my joystick to work with MechWarrior 4. After multiple attempts at troubleshooting failed, I found another one on eBay, and assuming a major hardware failure, I ordered it. And right after I finalized the sale, guess what started working again. Oh well. It’ll be a backup then until the other one dies….
If you remember last December we had an ice storm. Freezing rain. Sheet ice everywhere. Bus weren’t running at all. I worked that night. And I didn’t get home till noon (but I did, thanks to Uber).
So tonight, I woke up to cocaine on the ground (some of you may call it snow). And a winter weather advisory from AccuWeather. Slick roads and sidewalks tonight. I’m no fool. I learned my lesson last time. I’m calling out tonight.
Yes, I take the bus, and that can be the best thing to do in winter weather, but always treat Mother Nature with respect….
So, I woke up early tonight. Early enough that the Mexican place right around the corner was still open. After going back and forth too many times, I decided that it’s time for some arroz con pollo (after all, even if it wasn’t Tuesday today, it’s still Taco Tuesday somewhere in the Universe). It’s right the corner from my apartment. I don’t even have to cross Pacific Avenue to get there. But, it is my day off, and I’m not really particular about leaving the house. So, I ubered it. Driver picked it up, and I tracked it with the semi-realtime gps that the UberEats app provides. My partment complex has four driveways. And the driver went into each one before he figured where I’m at.
So I propose a new game for Las Vegas. It’s call Uber roullette. You place your UberEats order, then take bets on which driveway the driver will attempt first…
Bear in mind I did thank and tip the driver tonight. In the end he did get it to the apartment. I don’t order delivery that often anymore because it’s not cheap. But I do tip when I do….
No matter how tempting it is, don’t upgrade your cpu cooler if your current one works. Actually I learned that one last November. Next one is that if you do decide to do something that stupid, look at the instructions first to see if you can install it.
So for Christmas, Dad gave us all gift cards to Spamazon. And this caught my eye. So I pulled the trigger. Actually installing the heat sink wasn’t the issue. And even the fan fit my ram. The problem came with plugging in the fan header. I ended up having to take the fan off, plugging in the header, and then reattaching it.
The real trouble came when I put the tower back to together. I thought I had properly seated my video card. So I plug everything back in and turn the computer on. I see lights. Good. It’s not in a boot loop. Good. I hear the Windows XP startup sound, but nothing on the monitor. Uh oh. So, it’s pull the tower back out, pop it open, and the video card wasn’t even seated in its slot at all. Fixed that, screwed everything down, and plugged everything in. And now it works.
Remember kids, if it works perfectly fine then think twice about upgrading….
BTW, I’ll have to repeat this next week. Also ordered a new hard drive. But the way my tower was designed, I won’t even need any tools to do it….
Just filed my taxes. And the IRS has accepted my return. I think the toughest part this year about my tax return was scanning my tax forms….
But I’m still getting a refund, apparently…
I’m not going to post the links to the news articles here. Use your Google-Fu if you have to. So the officers have been fired and indicted. For Murder. As they should be. And the ‘elite’ SCORPION unit of the Memphis police department has been disbanded. I haven’t seen the video footage, and I probably never will. It is too disturbing. It is too much of a trigger. But I don’t have to see violence in order to condemn it. Clearly the police went over the line. And it appears heads are going to roll in other departments for failing to intervene and/or failing to help. Just this morning, I heard that the responding EMS personal were also fired for their response.
And it seems that every time I try to write something, my thoughts seem to scatter. Every idea I come up with is pretty much outright illegal, though I think we would have a lot less bad cops if there were floggings administered at roll call, or if the entire force were decimated when a major scandal broke….
But for now, let the judicial system run its course….
I just got a reply from Comcast to my Executive Email Carpet Bomb that I sent. And I have zero tolerance for fools. Especially in ‘executive customer service’ when they didn’t even read the original email that I sent. So I’ve dropped the matter. But the moment when you explicitly tell the CEO that this conversation is now over….
Yes, it’s been a while since I’ve posted. There’s really been nothing to report. Worked. Came home. Slept. Repeated. But life goes on. Just because I’m not writing here doesn’t mean I’m dying of boredom.
Another season of Battlebots is on. Because I’m at work when it comes on, I stream it on my weekend.
Pulled the trigger and went to Windows 11. With Start11 and WindowBlinds, I can at least address the main concerns I had with Windows 11, namely the Start Menu. I am going to miss the Windows 10 live tiles, but that’s an issue with the OS itself. I figure if I’m not going to have the live tiles, then I can at least have a Windows 7 style start menu…
So, a couple of weeks ago I got an email from Comcast that I need to replace the modem owing to a speed upgrade. However the shipping address they have has not been used for over 10 years (my building/apartment number had to change due to another utility company requirement), and Comcast at the time said it couldn’t be updated. The Executive Email Carpet Bomb I sent last week (along with a detailed explanation as to why all the other avenues to address this are now pointless)….
So now the weekend is ending. Soon, it’ll be time to go to bed and then start the work week again….
