Insights and Brain Farts

A light hearted meme, as promised

2009-06-04T03:52:42Z

I like this meme, and I've never done this one before!
-- Stolen from evilpettingz00

Comment annoymously and ask me anything you want. I will answer all of the questions in my next post. After you've asked me all of your questions, put this in your journal so I can ask you questions.

Barack Obama for President

2008-11-05T08:14:17Z

I'm sure that there must be better news to wake up to, but I'll be damned if I can think of what it might be :)

Meme wha?

2008-09-16T19:24:53Z

filetofchildren is emotionally distant.

I bet no one's surprised that you never post your current mood. In fact, I bet most of your friends are so sick of you locking them out of your life that they hate you behind your back. Shame.

wanna know your lj's moodring color? enter your user name and hit the button. (discussion thread)

Hm. Well, yeah, seems about right, haha.

Really....

2008-07-04T19:23:50Z

I have to keep reminding myself that not everyone thinks about what they say before they say it... :/

Short and Sweet

2008-07-01T18:31:22Z

To my Canadian brethren,

To my friends who aspire to be Canadian,

And to my heathen homeboys and homegirls,

Happy Canada Day :)

Overdue Update

2007-11-01T17:39:11Z

Life has been very much par for the course lately, hence the extreme lack of updates. Well, I guess that my laziness and apathy might have something to do with it, but we'll just keep that between you and me....

Work has been going well. I'm done training the gal I was talking about in the last update, for good or ill. She is off on her own now, doing a magnificently craptastic job. Hopefully that doesn't reflect too badly on me... I don't imagine it will, I've trained other people who are doing just fine ;)

The watch assignment list for 2008 has been released, and I'm being traded! I'm on 4-Watch now, and after the new year I'll be heading to 2-Watch. I realize that means just a little bit less than nothing to anyone reading this, so I'll break it down: I'm going to be working with a lot of MUCH cooler co-workers, but I'll have to work Christmas again :/ It's kind of a trade off though, and I can handle that. Lynz and I will just have to juggle again next year like we're going to this year.

SPEAKING of Lynz, she's doing just fine too, tyvm. She's working, she's finally starting to get her thyroid issues in order, and things are going just swimmingly :)

We (Lynz and I) have set up (finally!) a dinner for us, her folks, and my mum and stepdad-ish-guy. We're going to The Vines restaurant in Cole Harbour next week, which is just about the best Italian place in the HRM. I figure if Lynz's folks can handle my old man and CC, then there should be no issues at all with them meeting my mum and Luc. Time will tell ;)

I've got 2 parties to attend tomorrow night. Yeah, tough life, I know, haha. First, Lynz and I are going to a post-Hallowe'en party (I will be going as Hunter S Thompson, Lynz will be going as.... um.... Hunter S Thompson's long-suffering girlfriend, I guess), after which I've got a going-away pub-crawl to hook up with for a good friend of mine who is moving to Korea.

With any luck, my next update will be a photo-post ;)

Stolen from spiral_moon :)

2007-09-01T12:33:16Z

RULES:

1. You can only say Yes or No!

2. You are NOT ALLOWED to explain ANYTHING unless someone messages you and asks!

3. Tag 5 people to complete the survey!

------------------------------------------------------
Kissed someone on your top 8/16/24? In fact, I live with one of them.

Danced in front of your mirror naked? Nooooooo....

Ever told a lie? Yes

Had feelings for someone who didn't have them back? Oh my, yes.

Kissed someone of the same sex? ....not on the lips!

Kissed a picture? I don't think so

Slept in until 5 PM? Until 9pm one time

Had sex at work? Technically no.

Fallen asleep at work/school? Never a full-blown sleep, but I've had the nods a time or two.... thousand...

Held a snake? A boa, it was pretty badass.

Ran a red light? Yes indeed

Been suspended from school? Nope

Totaled your car/motorbike in an accident? No

Been fired from a job? I got shitcanned from Burger King, if you can believe that.

Sang karaoke? Every freaking chance I get.

Done something you told yourself you wouldn't? Yep.

Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? The only time I've had anything come out of my nose, there's been incredible amounts of alcohol involved.

Caught a snowflake on your tongue? Yes, but not in yeeeeears

Kissed in the rain? Yes

Sang in the shower? Yes.

Gave your private parts a nickname? Yes. You don't want to know.

Sat on a roof top? No, but I've stood around smoking cigars on one.

Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on? No, and good thing.

Broken a bone? Yes - once by accident, once on purpose (tho technically that time I guess that *I* didn't break it. It WAS my bone tho, that should count for something.)

Shaved your head? Yes, before work one morning. I was up early and a little bit bored.

Slept naked? Yes

Blacked out from drinking? Yes, a couple of times. Not in the past couple of years tho, I've learned my lesson...

Played a prank on someone? Yes

Had a gym membership? Yes, still do.

Felt like killing someone? Profided that there are absolutely no followup questions, yes.

Made your girlfriend/boyfriend/spouse cry? Yes

Cried over someone you were in love with? Yup

Had sex more than 4 times in one day? Yessir

Had Mexican jumping beans for pets? Holy crap, those are real???

Been in a band? Two, briefly

Subscribed to Maxim? No, but I did buy them pretty religiously for a while.

Tripped on mushrooms? Never have.

Donated Blood? Yes

Video taped yourself having sex? Mayyyyyybe

Eaten alligator meat? No, but I'm always open to new things

Eaten cheesecake? Every chance I get!

Still love someone you shouldn't? I should love everyone I do love

Have a tattoo? Yes

Di.... di..... d..... SUPPER

2007-02-28T20:12:16Z

So tonight is to be the epic meeting of the two clans, the Ben-family and the Girlface-family. We're all going out for supper (I just can't call it dinner!) at a podunk country bar called 'Curly Portables'. No, I don't know where they got the name, hehe. I think it's gonna go pretty well, and even if it doesn't, I mean, how bad can it be? We get to eat at Curly's :D

awesome hat and padded room

2007-01-24T23:15:47Z

bask in the glory that is ME.

go on.

bask!

An Inconvenient Truth

2007-01-17T16:56:03Z

I just want to go on the record as saying one thing. Just one thing, and I'll go back to my uncomfortably non-sub-terranian recent digs...

A single room should not take a full goddamned week to insulate, especially when one is not putting up gyprock.

Thank you.

A Quick Aside

2007-01-14T08:18:32Z

Happy 4th monthiversary, girlface ;)

Survey, stolen from Emily

2007-01-07T17:40:47Z

1. would you kiss the last person you kissed again?
yuppur, i certainly would

2. How much does your cat weigh?
if by cat you mean dog, then about 95lbs... if by dog you mean cow, then about a metric eff-tonne.

3. How much does your dog weigh?
if by 'question 3' you mean 'question 2', go back and read that one.

4. Are you a heart breaker, or the heart breakee?
been both, tho only the breakee in recent history (er, that i'm aware of, hehe)

5. Ever waxed your legs?
i'll consider it next time i'm in a swimsuit competition

6. Earrings or necklaces?
eyebrow ring

7. Who have you talked to most today?
probably cherie at work - she's stuck in the pod with me, so she HAS to listen!

9. Friend of the opposite sex that lives closest to you?
probably be lynz, or barb if she's still in town

10. color of your shirt
brown and red

11. How many years have you taken a language?
14 years of french

12. Who's on speed dial 2?
does anyone actually use speed-dial anymore?

13. What color is your background on your computer mainly?
it's a picture of a raccoon with a lightsaber. i dunno what to tell you.

14. Do you wish on 11:11?
nah, but the girlface does

15. Good advice if you ever go camping?
take a compass. holy crap, take a compass.

16. Have you had a good or bad influence on someone?
i've done both, i think

17. What color are your eyes?
dark brown

18. Would you rather have your name or your siblings name?
people would look at me funny if my name were Elizabeth

19.would you do anything for anyone?
not for just anyone

20. Have you ever been called a whore?
my mum called me a slut, does that count? and jonesy has referred to me as 'the abominable ho-man'

21. favorite color?
red

22. Do you use smiley faces on the computer a lot?
far more than i should

23. What song is on?
Simon and Garfunkel - The Boxer

24. Are your grades good?
when i was actually IN school, yup, they were good

25. Do you have any friends with benefits?
i have a GIRLfriend with benefits. if i had any others i think she'd hit me.

26. Would you date any of your top friends?
stupid myspace...

27. Does your best friend have a myspace?
not that i'm aware of, but a hi-5 for sure

28. Who's page did you last visit?
stupid myspace...

29. Last time you went out to lunch?
last week with my aunt, haha

30. Do you watch the Gilmore Girls?
the girlface does, therefore.....

31. Have you ever enjoyed listening to Jack Johnson?
yup, i enjoyed listening to him on the way home from work this morning, in fact

32. Have you ever seen or enjoyed watching the O.C.?
i was made to watch it in the past, but i'm vindictively happy that it's been cancelled

33. Do you have one or more Britney Spears C.D.s?
i sure don't

34. Which radio stations are your favorites?
radio = homogenization of music = i don't listen

35. Are you a Lost fanatic?
all kinds of no

36. still have pictures of your ex?
yup, of almost all of them i think, probably somewhere

37. Do you have a song by Ozzy Osbourne in your library?
yuppur

38. Alannis Morsette?
a bunch, in fact

39. Do you watch Family Guy Regularly?
i would if i could

40. King of the Hill?
nah, i'm not too keen on it

41. Do you read trashy romance novels often?
hahahahaha no

42. Do you ever forget to give a Christmas/birthday present?
i try not to

43. Do you sing obnoxiously in the car?
no, i sing AWESOMELY in the car

44. Do you sing obnoxiously in the shower when no one's home?
never done it

45. Have you ever watched a little kid's show when you were over 12?
i watch little kid's shows now that i'm over 25, haha

[[The Necessary Love Questions That Aren't So Necessary]]

46. Have you ever pretended your crush was with you when they werent?
nope

47. Did you draw pictures for your first crush back in elementary school?
seems like something i would have done, hehe

48. Have you ever liked a girl/boy but didnt ask her/him out because you were afraid?
yuppur

49. Have you ever written a poem or story about your life?
nah, my life's not interesting enough

50. Have you ever spent over an hour thinking about nothing but your crush?
only an hour? pssssssssh, amateurs

51. Have you ever liked someone for their looks?
i have, but i assure you, dating them cured me of that, but quick

[[The Questions You Love:Completely and Utterly Pointless Ones]]

52. Do you eat all the servings in the food groups on a daily basis?
i'm lucky to EAT on a daily basis, haha

53. Are you ever a freak about cleanliness or organization?
if you could see where i'm writing this, you would know that this is a silly question

54. Have you ever been to South America or Africa?
nope, just lived vicariously thru raelene's malawi adventure

55. Do you know how to knit?
haven't the slightest

56. Do you have a cell phone or iPod with a patterned cover?
nope, sorry

57. Have you ever written love song lyrics yourself and put them in your profile?
i have not - i'm no lyricist

58. Do you keep a diary or journal online?
if i say no, you'll know i'm lying

59. When you open your closet, what is the dominant color?
i don't so much have a closet....

[[Truly Unusual This or That Questions]]

60. Baskin Robbins or Coldstone?
tim hortons!!!

62. Earphones or headphones?
headphones.

63. pink or teal?
pink, probably

64. Earrings or a ring?
a ring

65. Commitment or casual dating?
commitment. casual dating just messes with my head.

66. Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings or Star Wars?
Lord of the Rings

67. Fly or road trip?
road trip - flying gives me the heebie jeebies

68. Starbucks?
sure, if i'm feeling particularly rich

[[Another Wave of Random Questions]]

69. What is your favorite Disney movie?
the emperor's new groove, or possibly the lion king

70. Have you ever bought clothing at Sears?
sure, if the price is right

filetofchildren @ 2006-12-31T15:34:00

2006-12-31T19:40:10Z

It's New Year's Eve.

The girlface and I have been planning on going to a formal party in the south end for literally MONTHS now. She bought a complete outfit (in which she looks damn good, I might add), I bought a new pair of dress-pants (at a ridiculous price), we pre-ordered a cheese-ball tray from Sobeys.

And I'm sick.

Dammit.

:(

A Post for the Girlface

2006-12-14T06:03:33Z

Happy 3rd monthiversary, Lynz :)

filetofchildren @ 2006-12-08T20:46:00

2006-12-09T00:46:20Z

kmiotutsie gave me the letter N. So now I have to try to list 10 things I like starting with the letter N...

1) North: You know, like the 'true, strong, and free' north?
2) Nibs: They're tiny, they're red, they're delicious. Probably carcinogenic, but what isn't?
3) Nookie: Lynz, I assume you'll back me up on this?
4) Nerdiness: Cuz really, where would I be right now without it?
5) Neil Gaiman: Have you read this guy's books? Seen his artwork? You really should.
6) November: There's still a chance for nice weather, one final hurrah before winter shits all over everything.
7) Nudity: Apropos to both time and place, of course ;)
8) N-Word Jim: Probably the Family Guy bit-part-character who made me shoot the MOST milk out of my nose.
9) Nietzsche: Everyone owes it to him/herself to study a little bit of philosophy. I like this guy and Sartre. And Camus... I suppose...
10) Neopolitan Ice Cream: You've got your chocolate, your strawberry, and your vanilla. What more could you want???

Poetry often enters thru the window of irrelevance

2006-12-07T08:25:29Z

Two posts in two days? Is it even possible?

Yes. Yes it is.

As it is 4:00am, I think I'm going to write this entry in multiple-haiku form. You know, just 'cuz.

*ahem*

Today has been slow;
Not much at all going on...
What a boring start.

Lynz and I went out
For some fast food before work
Arbys is ghetto.

I finished my book
Reading, that is, not writing
Brother Odd is keen

I start vacation
in just under two hours
I am pretty psyched

Is it only me,
Or is eating asian food
more fun with chopsticks?

I'm finding haiku
limiting in so much as
it truncates my thoughts...

It seems to me that
a bottle of scotch, this week,
would be delightful

This is my last night
in a while on the phones
at work, and I'm sad

Hearing the crazy
stories from the public is
the best of this job

Bored with haiku now...
all I have left to say is
GIMME A LETTER!

A heap of broken images

2006-12-06T07:43:26Z

I should probably LJ-cut this whole freaking thing - it's really quite disjointed, not to mention poorly written. I'm feeling kinda contrary tho, so no cut for you!

Yet again, I find myself writing a long overdue LJ entry at 3am, and while sitting at work no less. I'm actually pretty psyched to be working this cycle - I'm on 'calltaking', meaning that I'm the schmuck who you (or whomever is having a bad day) hears saying "911, what is your emergency?" followed by a bevy of either platitutes or commands as the situation requires. Basically, I get to talk to drunks and crazy folks, and occasionally I get to help someone :)

I've been up since freaking 930 this morning... I know, that's not terribly early, but when I'm working 6pm-6am I generally prefer to wake up around 2pm or so. I had to go to the cemetery in Sackville this morning tho, as we finally buried Uncle George and my cousin Pat. I say 'finally', as their ashes have been sitting atop the old man's china cabinet for well over a year now :/ Good service tho, and Fr O'Neil wasn't terribly long-winded - probably had something to do with the fact that it was colder than a whore's heart today... The point of this paragraph is basically that I'm really really tired.

I had no idea that Dean Koontz had released another book about Odd Thomas! I was shopping with the girlface earlier this afternoon (she bought a gorgeous black dress), and there it was. Naturally, it was one of the few new-release hardcovers which were not marked down, so now I'm $40 poorer.... but richer in spirit!! Or at least in reading material.

Speaking of the girlface, we finally got to spend some quality time together last night. Quality time. You can tell I meant that to be read in a lecherous voice, because I used both the 'bold' AND the 'italic' tags. We had to brave an utterly ridonkulous snowfall in my Korean Chariot (um.... my Kia Rio) to actually get together for the night, but dammit, it was worth it.

Speaking of the Korean Chariot, it's in the shop now. Wayyyy the hell back in July, I had it parked at Halifax Shopping Centre whilst Jonesy and I were downtown boozing, and some yutz backed into it and then took off. Luckily, there was a witness who was thoughtful enough to jot down the plate number, so I went thru the arduous police process... and to make a long story short, fella's insurance has now provided me with a Mitsubishi Lancer until friday, when the Chariot should be five-by-five again. I really enjoy driving the Lancer (it goes really fast..... I hear.....), but I miss my new stereo in the Chariot.

Yup, that's about all I have now. If anyone has actually read to the end of this post, mad kudos to you. You should leave a similarly random reply to this post - that'd be kinda fun, eh? Well, fun for me, at least ;)

filetofchildren @ 2006-11-26T06:50:00

2006-11-26T10:50:15Z

Oh joy of all joys, I SLEPT last night!!!

Er, I guess that might need to be explained.....

I have been sick for the past 5 days or so, some kind of a flu-ish thing. My internal thermostat was behaving in an extremely disagreeable manor (cold, then hot, then cold, then cold and sweating, then hot and shivering, then sweating, then cold, etc), and my stomach, while not threatening to make me revisit my food, was feeling skeezy enough to keep me from eating pretty well anything for the past 5 days as well. And sleep, god. Every night, nightmares nightmares and more nightmares, I was waking up every 20 min.

side note: i have the best girlfriend evar. she stayed with me on wednesday night, and when the heat radiating off of me threatened to immolate us both, she kept me cool all night with a facecloth and cold water :)

Right, anyway. Yesterday I decided that I have to eat again. I was still feeling pretty crummy, sore, freezing, just generally oogie, but I packed myself a lunch of fresh fruit and yogurt, and I had a yogurt/berry cup from Tim Hortons for breakfast. Last night the old man made us some homemade pizza for supper. I then headed down to the cold dank unfinished basement that I call my bedroom, played a little Guild Wars, and went to bed.

And I slept :)

Today I'm feeling soooooo much better than I have been for the past week. Even after having woken up at 4am for work, I feel relatively great. The only aches and pains I have right now can be chalked up to arthritis (haha... sigh ;)), and the only chills I've had have been outdoors, because it's colder than a whore's heart out there today :)

Michael Richards has gone fucking looney tunes

2006-11-20T23:45:34Z

Yeah, you all already know what my subject line is referring to... and if you don't, you can find much better descriptions than any I can post here...

Just wow, man.

In other news, I have pictures! Remember last week when the girlface and I went to Inn on the Lake? It was a fun time *cough6funtimescough*, and I've brought you, you, my people, some pictures. Some G-rated pictures, hehe.

Because I care

Me, preparing some delicious almost-chinese food. But where shall I eat it??

--------------------------

YES! Even if I make a mess, it doesn't matter!

--------------------------

Free housecoats = comfortable housecoats

--------------------------

Right, cuz Lynz needs to be taller still than I am.... *grumble* ;)

--------------------------

Awwwww, somebody's shy :)

--------------------------

Yeah, we kinda destroyed the room.... we don't really sleep soundly, hahaha

--------------------------

In still other news, I have no freaking idea what's wrong with me... Yes, I could be saying that about any number of personal foibles belonging to yours truly, but this time I'm talking about the fact that I've felt sick for the past 3 days straight... More to the point, my stomach actively hurts, like I've been suckerpunched in the guts or something... I really have nowhere to go with this, I just like to complain cuz I never ever get sick, generally speaking.

I'm *this* close to beating Gears of War. Fucking General RAAM, throwing bats at me... Again, no point to this, I just wanted to say :)

Any suggestions from anyone as to music-recording software? I used to use "IDD Internet TapeDeck", but all the links to their site (where I'd re-buy it if I could) seem to be crapped out... I've really been in the mood to record some music lately, but I don't have a good multi-track recorder program... I tried using Acoustica a little, but I find that the tracks slip out of sync. If y'alls can point me somewhere decent, I'd be a happy fella.

Anyhoo, that's all I've got right now!

there is beauty in the breakdown

2006-11-18T00:30:23Z

Submitted for your approval..... Ben's cranky post....

You know what sucks?
Having an absolutely brain-bustingly heinous day at work, the kind of day that would make an onion cry, and not being able to talk about it with anyone.

Confidentiality can be a whore sometimes....

.....bedtime.... cuz I get to get up at 4am and relive the excitement again tomorrow! :D

*sigh*

Update Re Inn on the Lake

2006-11-13T06:48:05Z

So get this!

Lynz booked the room at Inn on The Lake for us earlier tonight, since I'm currently at work and it was too busy around here earlier (before 11 or so) for me to make the call myself.

Now, however, it's getting late (or is it early now?), and I'm getting bored - these are the circumstances under which I usually find myself getting into trouble... So I figured I'd call up the Inn on The Lake and see if I could get them to switch the reservation over to my credit card. That is, the reservation that isn't under my name, and for which I can't give any confirmation numbers. Yeah, so doing that kind of thing would be fairly unethical on their part, possibly even to the point of leaving them open to a civil suit - you know, if I were a stalker or something. I knew full well that it wouldn't go anywhere, but as I believe I mentionned, it's late and I'm bored. I figured it'd be as good a way as any to kill some time until my partner comes back off her lunch, and then she and I could play Scrabble until 6am.

THEY DID IT

And further, they knocked fifty bucks off the price!

:D

filetofchildren @ 2006-11-12T23:36:00

2006-11-13T03:36:22Z

I’m terribly neglectful in my LJ-ish duties. I’m a bad person, and my karma is probably preparing to kung-fu-cross-kick me right in the trachea.

Now that that’s out of the way, we’ll just dig on into my inane blog entry like nothing happened, eh? Awesome.

I’m eating chocolate right now, which is odd, as chocolate hurts my teeth like you wouldn’t believe... But I saw it in the vending machine here at work, and man, when chocolate calls your name, it’s not like you’re going to say no. I’m dispatching one of the more rural areas in the HRM tonight, so I’m getting plenty of time to eat chocolate, read, and just generally goof off. I’ve been trying my best to make my partner (who is dispatching Dartmouth) to laugh on the air, but it’s proving to be an uphill battle tonight... Come 4am tho, we’ll just see who is or isn’t able to withstand my blinding hilarity (read: utterly random disjointed stupidity).

The girlface and I are going to the Inn On The Lake for our second monthiversary, and I’m pretty darned excited about it. It’s been weeks since we’ve been able to get any time away from... well... humanity in general. It’s going to be a really nice getaway, and I think we both deserve it. The two biggest selling features were
1) No circular saws, and
2) Whirlpool Hot Tub.
Tyeah.

I ordered pizza tonight from Revana Pizza on Portland St, and it is the most disgusting excuse for pseudo-Italian food upon which I have ever set taste buds. I ordered a veggie pizza without olives (olives are great in martinis, bad on pizza), which is generally pretty foolproof. It was swimming in onions when I got it (not that I don’t like onions, but everything in moderation!), and the entire bottom crust of the pizza was basically a glorified sponge, completely saturated with grease. How in the name of the Flying Spaghetti Monster does a veggie pizza end up horrendously greasy? It’ll be a mystery for the ages, one that merits no further investigation.

Did I mention the Whirlpool Hot Tub?

I just got the best text message ever from the girlface :)

And now I’m going to stop blogging and get back to work! Leave me comments, people, no need to stay on topic (obviously, haha).

The Greatest Thing Ever

2006-10-27T00:54:39Z

This is going to be a short post. I just had to share the fact that today, this very afternoon in fact, I had what will (in subsequent generations, thru the use of detailed historical records and livejournal entries) forever be known as:

THE BEST NAP EVER

I've never ever been one for napping. Whenever someone suggests I take a nap before work, I chuckle inwardly, knowing that I am far more manly than any of those napping folks. But then today, I crashed out on Lynz's bed for 4 hours or so. It was glorious; it took me a good hour to get my wits about me even after I woke up and went downstairs. I'm more awake and alert tonight than I have been at work for ages now.

I'm not going to make a habit of it tho...

I like feeling superior to the napping masses.

:)

Delightful Neurological Shenanigans

2006-10-19T07:18:31Z

So this is interesting.

For the past few years, I've been getting occasional migraine headaches. I guess my first one was during my university days, I'd say probably 6 years ago now. It was 2 years between that one and my next one, and about 2 years between THAT one and the next one. Now, in the past 2 years (adding up to six! I can count!), I've had 3 migraines. Two of which have been in the past month.

It's probably worth my time to think about the fact that they seem to be becoming more frequent.

They're actually rather predictable once they start. First stage I notice that I'm having trouble with my eyes - it feels like they're getting tired, like I've been reading for too long or something.
Next, my vision gets worse, but I can actually recognize what's going on at this point - the flashy glowing auras are kind of a tip-off. During this second stage, reading takes ridiculous concentration, but can still be done.
Third stage is an horrendous tease; the flashy sparkly auras disappear, I can see again, and everything seems right with the world.
Stage four is when my brain explodes.

Now, generally speaking, stage four is avoidable. If I am able to pump myself full of headache meds during stage two, then the worst I get is a moderately bad headache. Two weeks ago Lynz's mom gave me a couple of precription meds (I won't say what they were, but they rhymed with schmylenol free)and I hardly ended up with a headache at all. My hat felt a little tight, that's all.

I'm sitting here now, at work, and I'm edging from stage two into stage 3. I'm glad to be leaving stage two, cuz I kinda need to see to do my job. It ranks up there with breathing. What concerns me, tho, is that I'm not sure where this is going to go. I got a couple of little green gel-ish lookin' pills from my partner in here, but I'm not sure how well they're going to work. I've got another hour and a half to work, and then I have a 45 minute drive home. So I'm a little concerned. You know, just a little.

My hat is tight :(

-b

Scourge of Computing Equipment the World Over

2006-10-17T10:56:19Z

So I destroyed my old man’s computer. Curious? No? Tough, this is my blog so you’re going to hear about it and you’re going to damn well like it.

Here’s the thing. My old man has got no problem at all with laying out six hundred dollars for a new graphics card and new power supply to put in his computer, all for the sake of playing Microsoft Flight Simulator X. When it comes to paying someone 50 bucks or so to install it, however... Woah woah woah woah now, that’d just be silly.

He asks me, “Ben, are you able to install those parts for me?”

“Sure,” I say. After all, I installed the exact same setup in my own computer not too long ago without a hitch (and in an horrendously unclean and static-filled environment, at that). “I don’t mind at all.”

So Lynz and I picked up the parts for him, brought them home, and I set to work. I pulled the pc tower out to the dining room (clean and un-carpeted, static is no friend to computer guts), popped out the old power supply (a measly 300w jobby), popped out the old vid card (a measly Radeon 9600), hook up the new power supply (a masterful 500w brick with a fan that sounds like a jet turbine), and stick in the new vid card (a GeForce 7800 overclocked something-or-other). I wired everything up (including a convertor cable for the power supply, as the old man’s computer has an old-ass 20 min connection on the motherboard), popped the side back on the case, hooked it back up in the computer room, turned it on, and......

Well, not much, really. The power came on to it, the tower lit up, but the screen stayed dark. Dark as in, stayed in standby mode, it was receiving no signal from the computer.

I shrugged, figured that there must be something wrong with the new vid card, and pulled the whole mess apart again. I took it back out to the dining room, took out the new GeForce card, put the old ATI one back in, and tried again.

Same problem. Uh oh...

So I tried swapping the old power supply back into it, giving it the same configuration as before I started poking around in it. Results = bubkus...

Folks, I know when I’m beaten. I stopped frigging with the computer, as it had by this time become abundantly clear that I’d already done some kind of damage to it. The old man took the tower in to PC Medic yesterday morning, and we haven’t heard back from them yet, aside from them saying “something is burned out” when he dropped it off. Of course, that’s what the old man says they told him... and he’s been kinda known to reinvent the fabric of time, space, and reality as he sees fit.

Man, I’m feelin’ like I should turn in my Geek badge....