Category — Everyday Things

It was a month over four years ago that I got my free weather channel laptop. I polled some friends on their computer life expectancies, and I think 4 years was pretty much the end of the line. Which my experience agrees with… the lappy can’t keep up with day to day things anymore… lots of lag and lots of noworkyworky.

So I’m pretty excited about a new computer I ordered on Saturday. I was this close to getting an iMac, but went with the PC instead. Mostly because it was cheaper and had several hundreds of dollars worth of extras that I would have wanted to add to the Mac. What I’m upset most about in not getting the iMac is that they’re having their free iPod Touch promotion now, and I’m not getting one. I guess, though, that’s evidence I made the right choice about the computer.

Here are the specs…

HP Pavilion Elite m9500t customizable Desktop PC
* • Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
* • Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Quad processor Q8300 [2.5GHz]
* • 6GB DDR2-800MHz dual channel SDRAM [2x2048,2x1024]
* • 640GB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive
* • 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 9300 [DVI, HDMI, VGA adapter]
* • Blu-ray player & Lightscribe SuperMulti DVD burner
* • Integrated 10/100/1000 (Gigabit) Ethernet, No wireless LAN
* • 15-in-1 memory card reader, 2 USB, 1394, audio, video (for TV Tuner)
* • TV tuner, dual format ATSC-NTSC with PVR, remote
* • Integrated 7.1 channel sound with front audio ports
* • HP wireless keyboard and HP wireless optical mouse
* • Microsoft(R) Works 9.0
* • HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope
HP w2558hc 25.5-inch Vivid Color Full HD Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor

So, there we go. The monitor has already shipped, and is scheduled to arrive Wednesday. The Computer is supposed to ship by Wednesday, and will probably get here Friday or (if they deliver) Saturday.

We moved to Verizon DSL just about 4 years ago exactly. Looking back, it was May 3rd 2005 when it was turned on.

Since then there have been various plan changes and price changes. We ended up at the 3Mbps plan for, this past year, $31.99 a month for a one year contract. I never get more than 1.4Mbps, though.

So, fed up, I called today trying to get them to either increase my speed or lower my price or something.

First the lady checked to see if I could upgrade to the 7Mbps plan (which I’d be willing to do if I could actually get those speeds)… I couldn’t. So she offered me a better rate on my current plan. I was very interested in that, I said, because even at the 3Mbps plan, I don’t ever get that speed. She came back with $24.99 a month for a 1 year contract. Hm, that sounds good I say.

Then she asked what my current speeds are, and when I told her she said i might want to just downgrade to the 1Mbps plan for $14.99 a month (for a year contract). So I took her up on it. It’s less than half of what I was paying, and I don’t know that I’ll notice the 400k down so much. My up speed will probably change, because I did get decent up speeds. But i don’t upload a whole lot. I asked if the 1Mbps plan was actually going to be less… since my 3Mbps never lived up to it’s name. She said I should get it since I already get over 1Mbps.

I have 30 days to cancel the account completely if I’m not satisfied… and I can always upgrade again if I feel the need for that 400k of speed. Comcast offers cable around here, and while I’m not excited about a bandwidth cap… I would not be sad to leave Verizon. Although, I must say, the lady I spoke with was polite and gave me a decent deal (after they’ve been fleecing me for four years).

Another month, another 50 downloads…

Andrew Bird-emusic exclusive bonus track ‘Take Courage’, to append on Andrew Bird’s Noble Beast (which I got from amazonmp3 for 2.99)

Greg Laswell-Through Toledo

The Nadas-The Ghosts Inside These Halls

Faunts-Feel.Love.Thinking.Of.

Nick Flora & Film at Eleven-Great Escape

Bon Iver-For Emma, Forever Ago

Now if you’re a nitpicky/attention to details sort of person, you might notice that totals 51 downloads. that’s because one of them was free… because emusic offers a free song every day, and they’re often enough really good, which lead me to get the rest of the album. Just another reason to sign up for 50 free downloads.

Despite never having owned a gun or gone hunting ever in my life, last Fall I got it into my head that it was something I wanted to do. I actually know the specific moment when the idea came to me… it was when I read my friend’s facebook status update: David Cooper is hunting a turkey.

I thought it was very exciting, and decided soon after that I was going to hunt our 2009 Thanksgiving turkey. Turns out Mr. Cooper was just being figurative. Oh well, I’m still after the bird.

So, I’ve got a rather unscheduled and thrown together map of what I need to do to reach my goal.

Step 1: Buy a gun. Completed. A few weeks ago I bought a Remington 870 Express Super Magnum shotgun.
Step 2: Complete the VDIF required Hunter Education course. Check… I was certified this morning.

Now I need to a few more very important steps… shoot my gun and learn how to hunt. I’ve decided to forego the spring turkey season… it’s a bit too much to process at this point, and I don’t want to purchase a bear/deer/turkey license that will expire in a couple months. I’ll just wait until July, and then it will be good for a year (they run July 1-June 30). So that gives me some time to learn the ropes.

A friend has talked about building a shooting range on his property, and I really hope he does it, because it would be great to have a place to shoot a bunch to really learn my gun, and know how to shoot it and how it shoots.

I’ll be doing some reading of how to get a turkey, and maybe also some deer and waterfowl hunting in the fall, maybe some upland game birds whenever that season is. Some friends from church do some hunting, so I’m going to beg and plead they drag me along with them to teach me.

In another attempt to revitalize my blog, I’ve replaced the theme header images with 18 various biology related ones (that load randomly). I took half of the photos, the other half I collected from license free websites for the college’s online biology lab classes.

Can you guess which ones I took and which I scrounged?

Well, that theme was short lived. But my thanks to Michael for the now unused image are eternal.

In an attempt to get my blog rolling again, and switched themes, and with the switch I asked my friend Michael to make me a header image. He graciously answered my call, giving me several options to choose from. so it might change from time to time.

In the meantime, check out Phinehas playing air guitar…

Yes, I am ashamed.

A Horse and His Boy, C.S. Lewis
On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, Andrew Peterson
100 Cupboards, N.D. Wilson
The Magician’s Nephew, C.S. Lewis
The Last Battle, C.S. Lewis
Darkness Visible, William Styron

Fortnightly Purse

The things I will do for love of skirties…

An announcement before my departure…

‘How differently we feel!’ cried Fanny. ‘To me, the sound of Mr. Bertram is so cold and nothing-meaning – so entirely without warmth or character! – It just stands for a gentleman, and that’s all. But there is nobleness in the name of Edmund. It is a name of heroism and renown – of kings, princes, and knights; and seems to breathe the spirit of chivalry and warm affections.’

Edmund Alexander Okimoto was born July 8th 2008. He is a healthy, happy boy.

I’m going on an internet sabbatical. This will include my blog, the forums I frequent, and most blogs that I read.

I expect to start back after Thanksgiving.