update 050206
- Laptop is better. I’m trying new things, like not having any icons on the desktop.
- Storms continue to rage through the area. I slept through Sunday’s set, but last night’s rumbles kept me up. Today was beautiful – sunny and 80. Tomorrow: more storms.
- Unbreakable – **** – great storytelling from M. Night Shyamalan; Bruce Willis shines.
- Sahara – **** – nice mix of humor and action (a la Indiana Jones); very entertaining.
- American Idol – the girls don’t stand a chance as we approach the final four. My personal favorite is rocker Chris Daughtry. The man won me over with his rendition of Bryan Adams’ “Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?” I never liked the original, but Chris put some heart and soul into his performance. I would purchase this song if it was released by him.
- I haven’t had a chance to edit the audio from D’s fine arts festival. I plan to be out in the yard this weekend (weather permitting), so it may not be until the following weekend.
“on demand”, my ass
Being in the midwest, I normally don’t get to see UConn play on TV. With the Huskies playing Kentucky, the local affiliates were going to show the game. But George Mason was putting on a great show, and CBS switched over to their game against North Carolina. They decided to show that game instead, so I went online to watch the UConn-Kentucky game via “March Madness On Demand“, only to be denied due to local blackout rules. What a crock! I already knew I couldn’t watch games televised locally because of the blackout rules. But CBS decided to air a game I could’ve watched “on demand” if I wanted to. The one game I wanted to see out of the four being played was nowhere to be found (at least until GMU defeated UNC).
"on demand", my ass
Being in the midwest, I normally don’t get to see UConn play on TV. With the Huskies playing Kentucky, the local affiliates were going to show the game. But George Mason was putting on a great show, and CBS switched over to their game against North Carolina. They decided to show that game instead, so I went online to watch the UConn-Kentucky game via “March Madness On Demand“, only to be denied due to local blackout rules. What a crock! I already knew I couldn’t watch games televised locally because of the blackout rules. But CBS decided to air a game I could’ve watched “on demand” if I wanted to. The one game I wanted to see out of the four being played was nowhere to be found (at least until GMU defeated UNC).
24 – 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Two fantastic hours of 24 last night! Halfway through this “day”, and things are getting interesting again for Jack Bauer. The good – Jack’s visit to the Henderson home; the bad – nerve gas in CTU (and another loss); and the ugly – C. Thomas Howell as Kim’s new boyfriend??
update 022106
Weird day at the helpdesk. Got all kinds of weird calls, and I felt befuddled. I’m glad it calmed down as the work day came to a close.
I’m enjoying the new laptop. I’m still trying to get used to it, as opposed to the main family PC. I like the keyboard very much, but the touchpad is not as easy as I thought it would be; a wireless mouse for my birthday might be good.
I’ve finished transferring the majority of my files to the laptop. The next big project I’ve got is upgrading to WordPress 2.0.1. After the upgrade, I’ll revise the blog’s theme.
I’m giving up the iPod for Lent. I’m in the process of converting certain AAC files to MP3′s. This way, I can still use my smaller MP3 player. Now some may think this is cheating. I didn’t say I was giving up music; just the pod itself. I take it everywhere I go, and it has well over 10 gigs of music. And I’m also losing the best feature – the smart playlist. My other MP3 player doesn’t even support playlists. That’s gonna suck. I’m gonna have to start listening to “albums” again.
Monday’s “hour” of 24 was another dull one for me. Too much indecision from the President, a lot of sneaking around behind the boss’s back at CTU (that happens a lot), and not enough Jack. When Jack did show up, he knocked out his fellow CTU agent Curtis and took out 2 bad guys and a helicopter with no more than his pistol.
Just finished watching the ladies on American Idol. A few good performances, but I couldn’t tell you who. Also saw Italy’s Enrico Fabris take the gold from Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick in 1500m speed skating. That might teach someone to keep their mouth shut.
update 021906
The M140 features:
Intel Pentium M 740
Windows XP Media Center
1 GB RAM
80 GB HDD
DVD burner
I’m currently trying to remove all the “crap” Dell preloaded it with, then add the apps I want to have on it.
Been enjoying the Olympics, but does it all have to be on at primetime? They stretch it so late that I’m so tired the next day. And in the age of the internet, it’s very easy to get realtime results of big events taped to be shown later that night. On several occasions I’ve already known the outcome, and the anticipation is gone.
4 degrees. 10 below wind chill. Yeah, it’s cold here.
the joy of 24
24 is a fantastic show. Full of action and suspense, it’s like watching a 24-hour movie (with commercials). The heart of the show is Kiefer Sutherland and his portrayal of CTU agent Jack Bauer. Jack Bauer kicks ass. Not everyone loves Jack. But I do. I strongly recommend watching Seasons 1 through 4, and if you can, watch 5 as it happens; if you’re behind, go to Fox’s website for an episode guide to get up to speed.
Check out Michael Sean’s Jack Bauer Body Count (warning: spoilers ahead). Very funny episode recap from a true Jack Bauer fan.
the world according to …
Some interesting facts about the ruthless hero of 24:
If you wake up in the morning, it’s because Jack Bauer spared your life.
Jack Bauer doesn’t miss. If he didn’t hit you it’s because he was shooting at another terrorist twelve miles away.
Jack Bauer once forgot where he put his keys. He then spent the next half-hour torturing himself until he gave up the location of the keys.
Jack Bauer does not sleep. The only rest he needs is what he gets when he’s knocked out or temporarily killed.
Everytime Jack Bauer yells “NOW!” at the end of a sentence, a terrorist dies.
If Jack Bauer had been on Oceanic 815 there would be no Lost.
For the complete list, go here.
the world according to …
Some interesting facts about the ruthless hero of 24:
If you wake up in the morning, it’s because Jack Bauer spared your life.
Jack Bauer doesn’t miss. If he didn’t hit you it’s because he was shooting at another terrorist twelve miles away.
Jack Bauer once forgot where he put his keys. He then spent the next half-hour torturing himself until he gave up the location of the keys.
Jack Bauer does not sleep. The only rest he needs is what he gets when he’s knocked out or temporarily killed.
Everytime Jack Bauer yells “NOW!” at the end of a sentence, a terrorist dies.
If Jack Bauer had been on Oceanic 815 there would be no Lost.
For the complete list, go here.
update 012206
A lot has been happening, particularly at work. I’m still trying to keep up …
Major projects are going live in the next few weeks, starting with the biggest one on Monday. I think this one scares us all the most; it affects the entire organization, and management waited til the last minute to realize how important this system is. Now the entire place is freaking out.
We’re experiencing more change. We lost our secretary at the beginning of the month; we’ll have a new “assistant” start on Monday. Terrible timing, but we need the help. We’ve been interviewing for 2 more system administrators to assist our current one. I just found out Friday that one of our techs might be filling a slot, which would open up his position. I like what I’m doing at the helpdesk, but I prefer to be running around putting out fires. Another door might be opening for me.
MIA on tenyjr.com
audioblogs (no time)
new photos (no time)
WordPress 2.0 (no time and too new)
What I’m watching:
NFL Playoffs – I like Pittsburgh to go all the way, beating Carolina in the Super Bowl (sorry to my in-laws). Highly unlikely, but that’s what I’d like to see.
Lost – you either love it or hate it. I love it.
24 – ditto. If you haven’t watched this show, where the hell have you been the last 4 years?
American Idol – I hate this show. I’m only watching because we talk about it at work.
The Godfather Part II – I remember seeing this over 15 years ago and thinking to myself, how can this be better than the first? It was so depressing. But I watched it again yesterday, and now I know. It is still depressing, but the contrasts between Vito Corleone and his son Michael make the story so powerful. If it weren’t 4 hours long, I’d watch it again today.
I visited the Dell kiosk at our local mall Friday night. I got to see with my own eyes and touch what could potentially be mine soon. The salesman was very helpful and very honest on what is new, neat, and necessary. As soon as I got home, I customized several more laptops. I’m now down to 3 candidates:
It will most likely be the 6000, but if they can knock off some unnecessary options and up the warranty, I’ll go for the M140.
The dog is going through some phase. He gets up every other hour in the middle of the night to go out and chase something. He’s been doing this for a week now. Last night, CL tried locking him up in the guest room. He barked for a good hour or so. She let him out of the room, and he went straight to the door to be let out. After he got it out of his system, she locked him back in. This time, he started scratching at the door. We finally let him loose; he slept in our bed.
He didn’t wake us up to go out again.
