Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot, 2022 Edition (Early)

Sorry if this appears to be early, but I have to work tonight, and calling out on holidays is strongly discouraged at work (especially after I had to call out on December 23/24 last week due to the ice storm. BTW freezing rain sucks…). So, in no particular order (other than what pops into my head), here’s what happened this year:

• I watched a Test cricket match in it’s entirety. (BTW, Australia defeated Pakistan).
• I upgraded the processor on my computer (2700X to 3800x, both Ryzen 7).
• Wrecked the 3800X in a CPU cooler gone terribly wrong.
• Started using my old HP Tower again (my HP Pavilion 500-314).
• Realized I had a bad power cable, and was able to get my tower working again with the 2700X.
• Bought another 3800X.
• Got used to Windows 11. But I prefer Windows 10 more. When Windows 10 is no longer supported, I’m ready for 11.

(The last few items all happened in the last two months).

• Didn’t buy any shoes this year.
• Went from my Motorola RAZR 2019 back to my Samsung Galaxy Note 9.
• Went from my Samsung Galaxy Note 9 to a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.
• Started using my Blu-Ray player again.
• I’ve gone a whole year without setting foot in a mall. The only reason I would now would be for a Target run, but I have that delivered (now more because of Pierce Transit’s f*cked up scheduling than anything else. It is now next to impossible to make a connection at from Pacific Avenue to 122th St (or likewise) in less than an hour).
• My AC tried to die on me. After leaving it unplugged for two weeks, it reset. And I needed it, this summer was hot. I wouldn’t say really hot, but is was consistently hot. It wasn’t until October that I was able to take it down for good.
• The Mariners made it to the post-season. Then choked it.

The there are various and sundry passings like Benedict XVI, Barbara Walters, Angela Lansbury, Gilbert Gottfried to name a few.

2022 was a trip. Now on to 2023. See you next year.

A Boxing Day to remember….

Worked Christmas night. Not a big deal. Par for the course with employer. Get home Monday morning. Peeled off all my clothes (it really rained all night long, and I was caught out in it). Jumped in the shower, and then straight to bed. Even earlier than normal. And I slept. And slept. And I feel much better now. Nothing like 10+ of sleep to recover from the holidays. And the pulled muscle/hernia that I’ve been dealing with this past week has cleared up considerably. I think the cough I've been putting up with gave it to me. Btw, the cough has settled down, too. With the warmer temperatures of late, I've actually kept my windows open for the fresh air…

So, when we last our heroes on Christmas morning, we had ordered Jack(ing Off) In The Box for delivery. It never showed up. The driver called us and said that they were out of everything. I think it was the manager being a prick, but it wasn’t worth the complaint. So I went to 7-11, and grabbed a couple of Big Bites. Just a mental note here: don’t do it again. Especially when you’re going to your sister’s in a few hours.

With the chip in my tower back to being a 3800X, I’ve decided to go all-in on Windows 11. As in a clean install. If I want to go nostalgic for the look and feel of a previous version, I have WindowBlinds and Start11 now. And that’s a lot easier than completely wiping my tower every time I want the look and feel of Windows 7…

Memories of Christmas past….

Growing up in all the various and sundry places we used to live (military family, but that’s another post). Getting up after a sleepless night, and going to our stockings. And finding it topped off with a single serving sized box of cereal. I usually got Raisin Bran (to this day, it is still one of my favorites). Some years, there was a big jar of pickles next to it (I still like pickles).

Fast forward to today. Since my brother and I go out to our sister’s house to celebrate, we dispense with the Christmas tree. Got up this morning, and brought my gift to my brother out (nothing much, just a tin of popcorn and a gift card to Wally World).

And as for the single serving sized boxes of cereal, we just ubered Jack(ing Off) In The Box…

And I should add…

And I should add after my last post, that it is now in the 50s outside and raining. So the icy conditions should be pretty much cleared up. Nothing melts ice quicker than cold,running water….

I missed Festivus this year….

I didn’t Air my Grievances, and there were no Feats of Strength. And it was the weather that is to blame.

Let’s rewind to December 22 (Thursday). Get  up, and I’m greeted by a Winter Storm Warning from the National Weather Service (I have Accu-Weather installed on both my phone and tower). They were saying freezing rain. Hindsight being 20/20, I should’ve called off work. But I didn’t. Roads were fine, so off to work I went. I got my assignments from my supervisor, the first one being pulling the trash from the parking lot. Towards then end of that task, I noticed that it was raining, and parking lot was icing over (the freezing rain, as predicted). The rest of my tasks that night were inside, so I concentrated on them.

At about a quarter to 7, I got text notifications from Sound Transit that express bus service was suspended indefinitely. King County Metro was on snow routes. And Pierce Transit was suspending all service until 7 am (and then on snow routes). Normally, I’d take the 8 o’clock bus, but I decided to finish my Christmas shopping and wait for the 9 o’clock bus. At 8 am, Pierce Transit suspended service until 10 am. At about 9 am, I started to head to the bus stop (normally a 15 minute walk, but I wanted to give myself extra time because everything was covered with sheet ice. I barely got out of the parking lot when I got the text that Peirce Transit was suspending service until it was safe to drive. So I went back to work, and booked an Uber. Not cheap. I had a coworker who lives along Pacific Avenue, and so I adjusted my ride to add her stop.

Got off work at about 7 am. Got home at about 11:30 am. My apartment’s parking lot was thoroughly iced over, even the walks. But I made it home. And then at about noon, I realized that buses still weren’t running, and I was scheduled to work last night. I called out. Wasn’t sure if bus service would be restored, and I wasn’t really in the mood to deal with the icy walk to the bus stop. Sent an email to the location manager explaining my reasoning, and I went to bed.

While I was asleep, Pierce Transit finally started service at 4. I looked out the window, and saw the ice still in my parking lot, and decided it wasn’t worth it (and I had already reported my absence). So I stayed home last night.

And during all this, I forgot about Festivus. Oh well, there’s always next year.

Happy Holiday to all!

The damage is finally undone….

Finally was able to replace the processor I f*cked up 2 months ago. Now comes the worst part: the cleanup….

A little creative bookkeeping….

Payday was last week. First I paid out all the bills due before the next payday. Then I realized that I could afford to replace the Ryzen 7 3800x that I fucked up last month. That will arrive later this week.

Did something today that I normally don’t do of late. I crossed Pacific Avenue. Normally when I do grocery shopping, I’ll have Target deliver, or I’ll catch the bus down to Wally World. But today, I crossed Pacific Avenue and went to Saar’s Marketplace. A bit on the expensive side, but I’m not paying a delivery fee, and dealing with the bus schedule….

Happy Shove Bread Up A Turkey’s Ass Day….

Today is Thanksgiving. Normally I’d be at work right now, but they give the overnight crew Wednesday night off (which is usually my Monday). Last year, they just gave me a three day weekend. This year, they just shifted my weekend. So I’m off tonight…

Normally my brother cooks Thanksgiving dinner, but he got invited out. And I have to work Thanksgiving night (related to Black Friday and working overnights). And my sister is having her Thanksgiving dinner right when I’m sleeping and getting ready to go to work. So I bought some sliced turkey breast at least for a sandwich. And I’m out of bread. C’est la vie….

So it doesn’t matter if you’re celebrating with turkey, ham, Soylent Green, or pizza rolls, have a happy Thanksgiving.

All this trouble for naught….

So after putting the 8 tb hard drive in my backup tower, I went to install windows (my last post was written on my phone. And the computer wouldn’t turn on at all.That gave me a hunch. I plugged another power cord into my ‘broken’ tower. And it turned on. It was all a bad power cord….

So long story short, my main tower is up and running again. The ‘new processor I had in it is shot, but a Ryzen 7 2700X isn’t that bad of a processor. So I can put off upgrading it for now….

Here we go again....

When we last last our hero, I was using my back up tower pending replacement of several parts on my main tower. Taking a look at my finances, I realized it was going to be several months before I could afford them. I'm not putting them on my Christmas list, as they're too expensive, and it was my mistake in the first place. So moving forward, I pulled the TV tuner card out and installed it. I also pulled out one of my 8tb hard drives (old tower only had space for one drive).

But this means I'm rebuilding the system again. Had a bit of a scare this time. When I put everything together again, and went to torn out on, nothing happened. Pulled everything out, cracked open the case and started checking connections. Ave then I heard the satisfying click. The cable to power the processor had come loose. It happens when you're moving stiff around inside. Put everything back together, and it starts up.

Not the best of situations, but I still have something, and I just have to make the best of what's around.... 

Been looking around online…

Replacement motherboard was located on Newegg. That and a replacement processor mean it will be about 3-4 months, possibly longer before I can afford it. Gambling is the quickest way to lose money, but IT is the surest…

Well this just sucks...

 So, after upgrading my tower to Windows 11 last week, I decided to upgrade the CPU cooler. Order an Arctic Freeze A35 A-RGB from Spamazon. Arrived on Wednesday (or my Monday according to my work schedule). Got home from work, and immediately broke my tower to install it. And I hurried. And I swore. But I  got it installed. I thought. I put the tower back together, and nothing happened when I turned it on. Took everything apart again, and this time, I saw lights, but it wouldn't boot up. Multiple tries, even reverting to my stock Wraith Prism cooler, didn't work. Eventually, I just gave up and went to bed. At work the next day, it occured to me that it might have been excessive thermal grease.So I ordered some thermal grease remover, which arrived Saturday. 

Fast forward to today. I get home form work, start my weekend, and take everything apart again. This time I used the grease remover to clear out the thermal grease from where it shouldn't be. And while cleaning it out, I took a look at the CPU (the Ryzen 7 3800X that I bought recently). And it wasn't good. Bent pin city. the CPU was dead. Fortunately I had my old Ryzen 7 2700X, which I put in. And then I tried powering on the tower. Nothing. I guess it looks like I'm replacing my motherboard and CPU. Again. Until then, I'm using my HP Pavilion 500-314 again. Once upon a time, I thought about giving it away. It's a good thing I didn't.

I've already priced the replacement components, and it's going to be a while before I can afford to them, so I gues I'm using this for the long haul. For now....

20 Years Ago Tonight....

It was 20 years ago tonight when my brother announced that I was going to the hospital. Add I was too sick to fight it. That's when I found out that I was a diabetic, and Type 1 at that.

So let us take a few minutes and commemorate little brothers and insulin.... 

Giving It Another Try…

Trying Windows 11 again. This time, I’ve ditched WindowBlinds and I’m going with just Start11. And this is what I’m going to stick with. I hope.

Ok, I Voted Already!

So, when I did my ‘weekend’ errands this morning, I also dropped off my ballot (the Parkland/Spanaway library branch has a ballot dropbox). So I’ve voted now. All the attack ads can stop, please. Seriously, if you can’t say anything nice about your opponent then don’t say anything at all.

Experiment Over

Ok, so I went back to Windows 10. I’m just not ready for Windows 11 yet. I know it’ll work fine on my system. But so does Windows 10, and it’s still supported for now….

So I did take a nap last night.

A couple of posts ago, I posited who really needs sleep. And I was toying with the idea of ordering pizza last night. And then my brother texted me that it was spaghetti night. So after that, I got through about half the Minday Night Football game before sleep finally caught up to me. So I took a 4 hour nap. Then finished reinstalling all my crap on my computer, and well you should’ve seen the previous post.

For those of you unnecessarily keeping score at home, I’ve also done laundry and filled out my ballot. It will be dropped off at the dropbox when I head out to do my errands….

Underway On Windows 11. Again….

Ok, I upgraded to Windows 11. The last time I tried this, it lasted for about 3 days. My main issues the first times around were the Start menu and the taskbar, but after paying for both Start11 and WindowBlinds, those have been squared away. I will miss the ribbon in File Explorer, but we’ll see how that goes…..

Who Needs Sleep?

Ok, I’m probably going to regret this in the long run…..

So, I get home from work this morning, and it’s the start of my weekend. Uber’ed some Burger King, took a shower. Eventually, it was time to go to bed. And I couldn’t sleep. So finally I’ve just decided that I don’t need sleep today apparently. Besides, there’s a Monday Night Football game on tonight. And then there are 3 T20 World Cup matches. I’ll probably end up having to take a nap, but for now, my eyes can’t stay closed….

So, I just did a test…

Made an early morning trip to Wally World, and grabbed a Covid home test. And the results are negative. It’s just a cold. This time….