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Thursday, August 26th, 2004
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| Time: | 10:01 pm. |
| Mood: |  mellow. | | Music: | Matchbox 20 - Real World. |
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Well, the past few days have been very active. I have been trying to wake up earlier also, and failing miserably.
Monday: Woke up, went out, cashed $40 of my paycheck and put the rest into my account, went to Lowe’s picked up four bolts, went to Best Buy picked up thermal compound, went to Hobby Town USA picked up black primer spray paint. Went home, stripped the paint off Mo’s computer case, and painted it with what I got. Put his computer back together, and tried to install some things on it, but the install files became corrupted when I burned them onto CD to transfer them from mine to his. My processor came during that time, I installed it into my computer using the thermal compound I got. Took my old processor and tried to put it in Mo’s, didn’t realize that a socket for a Pentium processor wouldn’t take an AMD processor. Put his processor back using the thermal compound again, tried to put a better heat sink fan, but a capacitor was in the way, put his original fan back in. Baked cookies, ate some right off the sheet with whole milk. Went back outside and put 3 of the four bolts I got onto the tractor wheel that only had 2 of 5 bolts on it. Then I mowed the grass until done. Ate dinner at Matt’s house, and watched Cruel Intentions afterwards. Talked to Erica after I got home, it was nice.
Tuesday: “I have an extra processor lying around, no one I know is going to use it.” *puts Velcro on the back of it and sticks it to the front of his computer case* Yes, I did that. There is an AMD processor stuck to my case with Velcro under the Corsair RAM sticker. I checked out some PC cooling sites learned a few things and implemented the ones that were practical and at hand. I used a bunch of zip ties to tie power and other such wires inside my computer together and out of the way to not only make it look nicer, but increase air flow to lower the temperature. Took the case fan off the side of my computer and put it in the back, just below the north bridge and processor so it sucks the heat away from both of them because computer fans apparently suck better than they blow. Doesn’t make too much sense to me but it was tested and proven so I’ll go with it. Went to work, had fun came back, Dad was back and already in bed, I didn’t get to talk to him. I didn’t get to talk to Erica since Dad was asleep, sadness.
Wednesday: Somewhere in those past two days I installed my new web cam/microphone combination and found out it doesn’t like to see in the dark, it makes my computer not able to close that window. Played D2 for a short stretch of time and went to work. There were about five times I came across a break in dishes coming in, and used that time to either eat something or clean other things. I think something in the new soap we are using doesn’t like my skin. Due to the stainless steel scouring pads we use there are small cuts all over my hands that normally heal by the next day, but the new soap I think softens my skin more, making it easier to cut, and then gets under the cuts and separates the skin in a small area. I now have a layer of skin missing from my little finger that takes up almost half of the last section. I haven’t been able to talk to Erica, more sadness.
Thursday: I woke up, played D2 for a bit. After that I checked to see if Erica was online, sadness, checked to see if Adam was online, more sadness. I haven’t talked to or heard of Adam in the past few days, which worries me. Later on I found out that he was on a camping trip. As for Erica, I keep getting messages from her that she leaves on the answering machine, but I would like to talk to her rather than just hear a recording.
My graphics card came today. Hooray for the little ray of sunshine in the otherwise bad start of a day. This thing is so much bigger than what I had in there, it almost touches my hard drives, and it requires a second source of power besides the one through the AGP slot. But now I get to say “I have a Radeon 9800 and you don’t.”
I decided to put off sweeping the grass until about 4:00 today. Dad got home and talked to me about it and complained about how my lifestyle needs improvement, well, not really complained, more like a kind suggestion by asking questions and letting me figure it out. I could tell it was more of a complaint though. And then made a suggestion of how I could fix my little problem by saying “Next time you put something off like that, think about why you did.” Or something to that effect but slightly more condescending. I thought about it anyway, and decided it was mostly because I wasn’t looking forward to it since I seem to have a small allergy to grass around this time of season. Which brought to mind another thing he said earlier, “So you had two choices: sweep the lawn earlier when it’s more pleasant, or later when it’s more hot.” Then I thought about that one... I work in a freakn’ kitchen the heat doesn’t bother me anymore. So it’s the same thing to me either way, but I catch more flack if I do it later. So I’ll do stuff earlier on in the day (for the lack of a better way of saying this) just so I don’t have to hear it.
Despite all the stuff I put in here that makes today sound like it sucked shit, it actually turned out quite nice.
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Saturday, August 21st, 2004
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| Time: | 12:39 am. |
| Mood: | productive. | | Music: | In Flames - Dialouge with the Stars. |
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Well, another happy day at work. But this time there was more running around to pick up people and such. Most of the time I normally stay there, at the restaurant doing my work, this time I ended up following Rich (the Chef) to his mechanic so he can get the bracket holding his muffler fixed. The bracket broke and the muffler was laying on the ground, he tied it up with something which fell off again not ten feet out of the parking lot, so he was dragging the muffler all 4-5 miles to this place. Then, when I got back I got to go pick up Sebastian, the immigrant worker who is getting better with English.
I got to make a checking account a while back in my own name since I’m 18 now. The reason I did that was so that I would be able to buy my computer upgrades online without having to bother Dad every time. So the latest things I have ordered were a new processor, and a webcam/microphone combination. The processor is at the limit of my motherboard’s operating capacity.
I’m also working on Erica’s old computer, now Mo’s new computer. With me getting my new processor I am going to try replacing that processor with my old processor, which will do a little over double its speed. So I also found out that the network card that Erica bought a while back for the computer stopped working sometime between the LANs that we were at, and now. Oh well, this just means I have to copy files from my computer over to his via CD-RW. That’s going nicely so far, no problems yet. So that’s almost done. He also wanted to paint the computer black with some sort of design on it. I figured I would be nice and put a base coat of black primer on it for him. So I looked at the case and thought that it doesn’t look like paint any sort of paint. It didn’t come off with acetone or paint remover so I assumed it was anodized. Anodized is when the metal object you want to apply the color to is submerged in a chemical bath and an electrical current is run through it, causing the metal’s surface to change color. So unlike paint, which applies color on top of a surface, this changes the color of the surface, it’s still metal, more or less, just a different color. Anyway, I sprayed a layer of primer on it, which seemed to stick just fine. Then I noticed that it started to scratch on the main panels, so I tried scratching some off of the parts I knew was bare metal and it didn’t scratch. So it turns out it may be paint after all. The only paint I can think of it being though would be enamel paint which shouldn’t have had any problems with that anyway. So, I get to take all the paint off somehow without making too much of a mess and find out what type of paint it really is so I can get it right.
Well, I was just down in the basement, and found out that it scrapes off fairly easily. So I may not have to find out exactly what type of paint it is anymore if I can just get the bare metal underneath exposed. So the easiest way I can think of doing that would be sanding, after scraping a good deal of the spray-on black primer and some of the mystery paint so it doesn't clog the sandpaper.
That’s all for now, more to come soon.
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Saturday, August 7th, 2004
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YAY! I finally get to update my journal now. I decided it wouldn’t be a good idea to use the internet until I had Amber’s computer up and running. Her family got her a packaged computer from E-machines with Windows XP Home edition installed on it, however the school recommended that she have Professional edition installed on instead for ease of networking on their part. So while they were out on vacation, I get to mess with her new computer, and work one of my days off since Matt went on vacation with them, and watch the dogs, which are used to someone being home with them all the time.
As of right now, I have BJ, a small white dog lying on my lap and resting his head on my arm while I am typing this… This can’t be good if he means to sleep there. And Windy, the Black Lab who I heard Richard refer to oh-so-lovingly as “the black bitch” was just licking my arm, the one BJ is lying on, trying to get my attention so I can pet her. There have been numerous times I remember that she has come into the room while I was just watching TV, or trying to fix Amber’s computer, or messing with my own while hers is installing things, and Windy hops up on the furthest end of the couch, lies down and whines at me because she wants me to get up and pet her. Because of this, I have added to her title: “the lazy black bitch.”
In way of computer problems, I have fixed everything on Amber’s computer and have created backup disks for her. Well, scratch that, everything hasn’t been fixed. As I just found out her sound isn’t working for some odd reason. So now I’m re-downloading sound drivers for her computer, then if it works I will go to bed, if it doesn’t… I’ll go to bed anyway. I’m pretty sure I have downloaded these before, and installed them but I’m too tired to be sure of that.
I now have three paychecks waiting to be cashed simply because I am putting it off until my 18th birthday so I will be able to legally open my own bank account with a debit card tied to it so I will be able to buy my new GFX card. I also noticed, that Amber’s computer runs considerably faster than mine does, then I noticed she has a little under double the processor speed that I have. This makes me think about getting a new processor too; however I know I also have a number of other things I should buy, and then I have to leave money left over for other such things that I know I will have to purchase later, although I don’t know what these things are. It seems like I’m making plenty of money right now, but then after thinking about it, it doesn’t seem like it will be nearly enough. This makes me sad, which is why my mood for this entry is sad. Although, being me I will cheer up in a few minutes anyway. Whether it be by means of thinking about other things, listening to happy music, distracting myself, or killing a few things on my computer.
I wonder if that’s a bad thing, killing things makes me happy… No wonder some people get the impression I’m going to go on murderous rampages, like that one girl who asked if Erica and I had had sex yet rather blatantly on the bus to school. I looked at her with some sort of expression on my face and had exchanged a few words concerning simple mannerisms between two people who don’t really know each other in a public area in a deadpan voice that apparently scared the shit out of her. She promptly turned back to her friend and quietly said “I think he’s going to kill me now.” I noticed she didn’t ride the bus too often after that, which I was fine with me since I didn’t like her too much anyway.
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Thursday, July 22nd, 2004
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| Time: | 6:15 pm. |
| Mood: |  bored. | | Music: | Lacuna Coil - Heavens a Lie. |
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I got my RAM. I am happy now. All but two problems are fixed now: I still can’t play video files or open a folder that contains them, and Erica isn’t here.
I have been thinking of her a bunch lately, I’m not sure if that’s because I’m simply in love with the girl, I’m being sweet, or I’m being pathetic… Either way, I like to think it’s a good thing.
Ryan invited me to go to lunch with him, I later found out that two friends of his were also going. I can’t remember either of their names now, I wish I wasn’t so bad at that. Ryan mentioned that the one girl reminded him of Erica, and thought they should meet, so naturally my thoughts were all about Erica and how she mint get along. It’s possible.
So I was also invited (by Ryan) to a concert of a few local bands on Friday at 7:30, Erica gets back on Friday, not sure what time though, it would be nice if she were able to join, or even if I could see her afterwards.
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| Time: | 9:28 pm. |
| Mood: | happy. | | Music: | Ministry - You know what you are. |
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My girlfriend has the worst timing when it comes to phone calls. I don’t mean this as a bad thing, it’s just… humorous. Just yesterday I got a call from her while we were trying to figure out how to work the new phone. Today I got a call just a little while ago while I was placing my order for RAM online, which if you have ever bought anything online you know how meticulous it gets. I also remember her calling me multiple times in the past while preparing dinner, or while eating dinner. She cracks me up. But she was pissed that I didn’t say anything other than “Um, I’m busy now. Bye.”
Anyway, now that I have finally ordered that RAM my desktop will stop loading with all these little holes in it due to the lack of memory, Winamp will no longer pause for so long while switching songs, or pause for a short time whenever I receive a message, or completely ignore what skin it is using and look like a normal window. Then, my computer won’t have to take so long before opening a simple menu after a right click, or take so long to start up.
Hopefully I will be able to get enough money soon and order the new video card so I don’t have to watch the individual windows closing instead of disappearing like they normally should. That’s right, I was able to watch individual windows close, as in from top to bottom in a wipe effect that shouldn’t be seen unless it is selected, and it wasn’t.
And then I have been thinking about getting 5.1 speakers afterwards. This would be my last purchase. I though Adam’s 5.1 system was kickass… I’m looking at the box they came in, it says the satellite speakers have 6watts going to each, and the woofer has 17. Now I’m looking at the specifications of the ones I would like to buy, there is an extra zero on the end of both those numbers, without a decimal point. So that 60watts per satellite speaker and 170 for the subwoofer with a max output of 115dB “at listening position” 90dB is when the human ear begins to become permanently damaged. Doesn’t that just sound kickass?
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Well, now that I re-read what I said to Erica, I see for myself why exactly she was pissed. Not to mention after she also told me, but it always helps to find things out for your self. This, I have noticed is generally true in just about everything I know. You can take someone’s advice and use it, but it always helps to know from personal experience.
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| Time: | 12:05 am. |
| Mood: | sad. | | Music: | Barber - Adagio, choral rendition. |
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First day of no Erica, except for when she called, I was bored silly. Then Adam came home, borrowed the truck and left. Dad and I finally had a home-cooked meal today, and we actually saw each other this week too! Working 3 to 10:30, 4 days out of the week, and spending the days I have off with friends, kinda leaves Dad and Kevin time only possible on Sundays. What’s worse is that we still live under the same roof, still sleep there every night, but hardly ever see each other and only once a week. Until then we seem to communicate through notes left on the kitchen table. I felt so alone today…
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| Time: | 12:37 am. |
| Mood: | busy. | | Music: | Lacuna Coil - Self Deception. |
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I just had the most marvelous day. I woke up around 9:00 and lied there until 11:00. Then got up, had breakfast, sat my happy ass down in front of the TV for an hour or so I still can’t remember what I was watching, took a shower and left to hang out with my buddy. I ended up watching the beginning of Bad Santa, which I must admit the reviews that were given on it were fairly accurate. If you are tired of the holiday theme it’s a great movie to watch. From there we went to the FSK mall and waited for Mere to show up. We browsed the stores for a good long while and then Erica, my wonderful and most endearing girlfriend showed up. My day got progressively better from there on out.
I ended up buying some under armour from a sports shop in the mall, simply because wearing a normal shirt and a paintball jersey gets hot, and only the jersey doesn’t feel nice at all. So I figure, if nothing else, it should also be nice to wear in the kitchen. I think I shall try that tomorrow. I also bought the Lacuna Coil CD. Good stuff, good band. I wanted to buy a shirt from the same store that was from the movie Office Space. It had Melvin, I think that’s the guy’s name, the one who mutters, on it with his rambling dialogue going on in the background as he holds a protective hand over his precious stapler. I apparently sound a lot like him when I go about rambling myself, I have to agree.
After we finished up there we took Matt’s girl back home, and had an actual dinner at his house. Our dinner before that was DQ, which, as far as I’m concerned is perfectly fine. I got to offer computer hardware advice to his dad for buying a computer for Amber, his daughter who is going of to SU very soon. She’s like an older sister for me.
After that one I took Erica back home and we just spent the rest of the day curled up on the couch watching a few episodes of Friends. This was simply the best part of the day.
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Well, I learned how to make yet another thing in the kitchen. So far I know how to: Make the best damn mashed potatoes I ever tasted, make their mashed sweet potatoes, make corn relish, make pesto, prepare mussels, prepare a whole salmon and de-bone it, make a sirloin salad and a salmon salad, make 18Lbs of white meatloaf, make ravioli rustic style, pick and chop large amounts of parsley, and plate up every dessert that had been served since I got there… about 14 of them.
Closing went really slow today for some reason. Stuff just didn’t come back all at once like it normally does, oh well, less clutter this way. I was slipping up a little on preparing desserts today, I forgot two of the ones that were called to me. This is why I like getting tickets rather than waitrons (non-gender specific term for waiters or waitresses) calling in orders. Speaking of slipping, the floor in there is awful in terms of traction, and cleanability. If the floor gets a small amount of water on it, it is slippery, and you slide very easily. So I have gotten used to sliding around the kitchen to do things. It’s nice to work in a place that breaks everything down at the end of the day to clean it though. This keeps stuff from building up and getting all messy.
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Well, my computer won’t let me watch my anime. Every time I try to open the folder containing jpeg files it closes within 3-5 seconds. If I try to open the file directly through the player, it closes the player. I popped a CD of Princess Mononoke to see if I could get anything off that, same thing… Dead end there. So, I update my virus stuff, scan, find a single adware file and delete it… Dead end there too. So I figure I can re-install Windows Media Player, I uninstall it, go to windows update, can’t find it… Dead end on that too. Windows update then informs me of a hardware conflict between my video card and my network card. So I download the driver it recommends, fix that problem, still can’t play my anime… Dead end at that one also. So now I’m gonna try to find Windows Media Player 9 somewhere other than Windows Update since they fail to realize I don’t have it. If that ends in another dead end, I’ll have to wait and see if getting my new vid card changes anything. Otherwise, surprise surprise! I get to reformat again.
For those of you who don’t know, I had to reformat not 3 weeks ago due to a power outage that fried a windows boot file that I couldn’t fix along with 256/512 megs of RAM. Luckily I have a job again and am going to buy a whole GIG of <a href=“ http://www.corsairmicro.com/corsair/products/specs/cmx512-3200c2.pdf”>Corsair Ram</a> I still haven’t decided on a single video card yet. And dad will probably flip if I tell hem I also want to get a new 5.1 sound system since my 2.0 is starting to distort, crackle when I adjust the volume, and fade in and out between the left and right speaker after I adjust the volume. Oh, and the headphone jack is starting to get touchy too.
Darn computers have to break…
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Well, it's 1:39 on Monday. In the morning. The only reason I'm doing this now is because Erica asked me to. That's right, I love her so much that I sat here since she asked me to at 11:00 PM on Sunday setting up this account and writing the first entry while she is currently sleeping. Why did I do this other than the simple fact that she asked me to? So that the rest of you can try to understand the thoughts that go through my head, and why they are there. That is also one of the reasons she used to convince me.
Anyway, I'm tired now.
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atheal's journal
tired.
annoyed.