Writing back

Here it is another week. I've been using my laptop pretty much constantly. I figured out the CPU in the laptop has a feature SSE3 and there's a certain thing I can do with a processor of this type. So I have spent about two weeks trying to do this. I'm to paranoid to say what exactly I am refering to. But it has been a fairly fun two weeks trying to get it to work. That SSE3 thing is pretty big clue. If you get it though you're a weirdo geek. Booo. Geeeeek. Boo.

Almost got it to work once, but not quite. And now the HDD I've been using has died. So I will probably stop trying and move on to some other project. Like put a tiny TV card into my latest PC "mod" called LockboxPC.

That I finished several months ago. October I think. Then I decided I was building my aunt and uncle a new PC as theirs still had Windows 98 on it and was extremely slow. Of course they hadn't actually re-installed the OS in all the years since 1998. So that pretty well explained why the slowness.

It was (and is) an 80 gig HDD. I put Win2k Pro on it for them. And bought them a new DVD burner with "DL support" though the usefullness of it seems less than obvious: the media is still extremely expensive. I'm talking $20+ for like 5 discs. I get about 50 regulard DVDRs for that price. Actually 50 regular DVDRs usually goes for around $14.50 at Fry's. So ya, DLs are expensive.

I thought I had everything worked out, contigencies prepared upon, etc. I put on all the standard software for them. You know: anti-virus (AVG free, of course), firewall despite merely dial-up (kerio 2 of course), and DVD movie player and burner software. What I didn't have was a sound card. I really though I had a couple hundred extra sound cards laying around. But no. Just one and it was ISA. The PC I trickle-downed to them was an inbetween generation that did not include ISA slots but also did not come with a mobo built-in sound card. And of course thier existing printer didn't have any drivers for anything other than Windows 95.

The PC was supposed to be a Christmas present to them. As in free. A gift. From me. But they didn't feel like looking at that way. So they paid me for it. In addition to that they went out and purchased a cheap $15 sound card and a new printer. I think they needed a new printer anyway.

So I thought I had everything all working for them. I even gave them a USB hub since this PC only had two USB ports. But then I get a call the PC freezes when the DVD player software tries to play a movie. So I go down there, only about 25 minute drive, and take a look: yep movies not playing. Locks up the whole PC. I must have worked on it for about 5 hours straight. Got as far as audio-only once but that's about it.

So I'm not sure this was a very good present for them frankly. I mean new Dells are what? $400? And they come with XP home and might actually play DVD movies. I mean sure the support isn't always great.

My job on the other hand I think I'm getting better at. I'm scheduled to "expire" as I like to say on January 31st. That leaves me with about a week. So how motivated should I be really? But oddly enough I am kind of motivated. I've been closing tickets and imaging PCs like nobody's business. It's so nice to work with PCs hands-on and go to different places, see different people. Much nicer than say...sitting in a cubicle talking on the phone for eight hours a day infinitum. Meh.

Yes, I don't actually "mind" my job. I don't mind being there I mean. I mean sure sometimes I wish I could be at home working on one of my projects or writing or whatever. Especially when there's no way to do any more work the rest of the day but technically I should be there another 90 minutes. That's just boring.

Of course I have little reason to be motivated. With a week left there's few concequences for a lack of effort. No matter how many cases I close or people I troubleshoot I apparently won't be exteneded or hired or whatever. Such is life I guess. Since, as far as I can tell, no matter how I do I won't be there past a week why should I put a lot of effort into it? I don't know. Because I'm finally doing a lot, I guess. And that's so nice, sometimes. To do a lot in a day. Feeling I accomplished something. Is that crazy?

So I thought I had my next job all lined up. But it fell through. So then I sent my resume in response to another offer. And I never got a response. Not even so much as a rejection. The nerve.

In game news I bought this game called Painkiller. The plot, if you can call it that, is pretty dumb. You run around with a crossbow that shoots steaks. The kind used to kill vampires and zombies. Than you kill zombies. Lots of zombies. And some other creatures as well. This game could just as easily be a demo for "rag doll" physics frankly. Something to demonstrate different ways the technology could be used. It's kind of fun but can get tedious after a while. And I'm saying that I think less than half way through the game. Not sure I'll finish it.

Now I stopped WoW last November 1st or so for that attempt at a book. And haven't gone back. Haven't canceled the subscription...but haven't played it again. Doesn't seem logical to me either. But what are ya gonna do? I haven't played Guild Wars in months either. That's only two $50 games I'm not playing now. Painkiller luckily I only paid $10 for it in a jewel case at CompUSA. At least Guild Wars doesn't have a monthly fee.  ¶ 11:31 AM