bored bored bored

Um.. yuk

2007-05-22T16:17:00.001-04:00

So Im bored and decide to listen to some Bad Brains.. for S&Gs and to give it a fair shake, put on the RISE CD.

Yuk.

The title track seems like a BB wannabe band.. more like a old production demo before HR left.. cuz this song is the closest to claasic Brains.. and thats the best this album has to offer. the rest is just.. yuk.

Could have been worse.. I could find my copy of God of Love.

So now Im thinking if I should avoid the next one and leave my precious memories of the brains intact.

IM.. the new annoyance

2007-05-04T09:44:00.000-04:00

Does anyone find this tool just a bit annoying?

Im at work and I go to lunch or have the DND/idle flag up. Someone messages me. and it goes something like..

"HEY"
"WHere R U?"
"HELLOOOOOO"
"Why dont you talk to me?"

Its very interesting at work when I pass another persons' PC and I see a dozen or so boxes saying these things.

anyway... Duh? business hours? Work? DND/Idle flags?

If someone has been inactive for over an hour, take that as a clue.

IM is not a phone. Yet most people expect instant replies nor expect constant attention like it is. I expect them to be doing 2-3 other things as well.. downloading porn, watching the hippest movie off of bit torrent and playing mahjong.

Chill out, IM users.. just fucking call if you need to talk so bad.

erg..

2007-04-27T11:15:00.000-04:00

I came here to post something and forgot what it was..

duh?

Wargaming undefined

2007-04-26T10:10:00.000-04:00

I recently got back into Warmachine. Im starting to question why I did.

My initial interest was drawn by the steampunk flavor.. A warcaster (general, maybe a unit or two of human troops and big Steampowered Mechs (WarJacks) beating the ever loving crap out of each other. The minis were pretty damn nice, too.

My first experiences playing the game came from GenCon, where a starter box demo game took about 20 minutes.

My first few games on our own, stumbling through the rules took about an hour.

In my 2-3 year absence, the game has changed. Well.. You'd expect rule changes and errata but Im talking something more of the flavor of the game.

the makeup of the game changed.. the average 500 point games turned into 750. Players use mostly human troops and a few 'jacks.. maybe 1-4 tops. So you have 4 jacks and 15-30 infantry with a few solos.

The multiplication is quite striking. Every unit of 8-12 troops gets to do stuff all separate attacks. Everything gets resolved slowly. instead of getting in 2-3 games a night, I have games that lasts 2-4 hours... this is akin to a short Historical Wargame.

..and I usually lose.

I played because it was fun.

Lately Im thinking..

It takes so much time to assemble and paint these things. which I dont mind, as I usually watch a DVD while I work.

The long drawn out games however start to eat at me, though. I want more games for my time.

Im thinking the build/paint/play time ratios are way off and its time to invest my efforts and interests somewhere else.

I like aspects of the hobby but Im not going to start in with any Clix-games soon. Thats just silly.

I return!

2007-04-18T20:33:00.000-04:00

anyone here?

no?

OK.. well Ive decided to start blogging again. for fun. Ive been wanting to rant a bit lately, so I might as will get it out on the internet, where some form of legacy will be left of my escapades. Who knows maybe someone will find amusement in my mediocrity.

If anyone is actually reading this stuff, feel free to comment. Maybe Ill even give a damn enough to respond.

If you can tell by now, ive not been in the best of moods. Maybe Ill get into it here. We'll see.

Start again..

2005-09-27T22:02:00.000-04:00

Well.. here we go!

Ive been away for a bit, but this will probably be a better way to see whats in the world of Paulieland for the next few months.

Lets run off a few things people may have missed...

NJAL'S HOLIDAY has been printed and released to an unsuspecting Dragon*con. Pretty good response considering Im a lousy salesman. Demos I can do no problem. Selling? Bad Paulie!

We will be hitting MACE this year to promote the game as well. I think that fills our Con runs for the year.

MOVING!
Khris and I are moving to MD. I have steady work coming in from Gaithersburg (about 10 miles NW of DC.) With luck, we should be moved by the end of OCT.

PAULIE MOVING FAQ:
Wha? to DC?
Yep.. after 18 MONTHS of getting nowhere in Atlanta, I sent out a dozen resumes to Richmond & DC.. got 2 calls the next day.. I go where the opportunities present themselves.

What abotu the house in ATL?
I have someone who is looking to rent it out (possibly to own) and fix it up. If things go belly up in DC, I'll have a place to return to. Even if things DO go belly up, I'd probably hit NY before trying ATL again.

What about all yer junk?
Obviously not all of it is coming with us. Trash, yardsale or goodwill. Ebay, too. Dave (my potential renter) is keen on leaving a room for my junk I dont want to schlep just yet.

more later.. Im kinda tired.

And now..

2005-02-02T13:11:00.000-05:00

How is everyone today?

Good?

Good.

Well.. after finishing my PC, Ive been having intermittent internet on my machine. Not due to Atlanta's great ice storm of 2005, no. It was something more evil. I couldnt figure out what it was.. this morning, after a cool 3 hours of DOOM3, I decided to turn off Zone Alarm.. BOING!

I vaguely remember this scenario with my last PC, so I'll have to look into it a bit more.

Trav got his stand-up last week with a defective tuning gear, so there will be no jamming yet. -sigh-

I wish I had some beer.

BOOM

2005-01-27T08:29:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack o presence. The Video card arrived and the new PC is done. All hail the new behemoth! At least for 2-3 years when it starts becoming slow and sluggish.

As soon as I get my files and old links off the ole 800, we'll be good to go. :)

Doom went over real well. and its much easier to sort the minis when they are painted. :) Forgot to take pics. Will do so next trip to boardgame day.

DOOM in a WEEK part 6

2005-01-23T09:30:00.000-05:00

I didnt get to do much Saturday.

I gave my minis a light spray of dullcote but the morning fog turned to fine mist and then to light rain. I couldnt give them another spray and as the temperature dropped like a lead brick in a pool of warm pudding, external conditions are bad for additional spraying.

So off we went to run errands.

With a bit over 3 hours to go before heading out to the local shoppe for game day. I have a few touch ups to remedy. Most of it being to paint the critter bases grey.

The next set of photos (i'll post them tonight) will be of our game today. I'll also be making an edited PDF of the whold process available for download, so I can clear up the photos off my webspace (which I hit the limit on putting this project together :P )

Update:
I started to paint the bases and noticed that the weather did inded have an effect on the DUllcote.. the nasty "white Haze" effect which is caused by excessive humidity has taken hold on some of the figs. Another blast of dullcote will remedy this, but I need it to be a bit warmer and dryer before hand.

Bases are done and drying.. time to hit the store! Be back tonight!

DOOM in a WEEK parts 4 & 5

2005-01-21T21:41:00.000-05:00

Note that part 4 didnt happen yesterday. Not that I didnt get any work done, I just didnt type or post pics. Luckily I have pics so I can recreate my steps here.

Here we go:
THURSDAY
My Cyberdemons needed some work. I quickly drybrushed some extra fleshtones in the bald spots. I then dropped some pink/purple spots on the arms, red for the eyes, some extra gunmetal on the chestparts, and an extra drybrush of alumimum on the back bits. then decided to give them a burnt umber(ish) wash to pop out the teeth and some of the muscles. Why do a wash when Im going to dip? I dunno.. It seemed like the thing to do at the time.

I started to draw my attention to the marines. I painted the bases the appropriate 3 colors, three fleshtones, metal armor, then a thin layer of paint over the armor again, to match the base color. Note how some of the metallic color shines through, especially on the Blue marine.

FRIDAY
Last but not least, the Mancubii.. And Look! Boomhowler and his buds are coming to help me!

First, a quick dab of red for the eyes.

Looking up my reference material HERE, I decided that there should be a better way to approach the manc. After some consideration, I decided to give 'em some pink and berry-colored spots.. why? I dunno. These were the last of the batch and I figure I get a bit more creative... so this is getting closer to how I normally paint..

First I gave a liberal coating of a pink/purple skin in the darker areas of the figure, and most of the upper torso. Then a dark berry wash.

While the wash was still wet, I quickly did the following:
Dabbed little dots of the same berry color around the shoulders and some on the belly. The damp surface causes them to 'bleed' a bit.
Go back to my base pink/purple skintone and do some blending swipes on the nose bits and on top of the heads.
Still with my base pink/purple skintone, I added some extra dots on the shoulders over the berry dots... the end results are here:

A quick swipe of brown for the toes and off the to dip they go!

Next:
The Cygnar Attack!

Whoops! That's Bunny's Cygnar figs in progress. Not bad for a girls' first time, eh?

Tomorrow will actually be the final touch ups and another visit to the STUMP!

oop!

2005-01-20T09:35:00.000-05:00

Ive changed the settings.. now anyone can leave comments. :P

Cheap PC BUILDING, Part 5

2005-01-20T08:26:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone is enjoying DOOM IN A WEEK. It's been loads of fun for me. They might even be all done if I didnt stop to take pictures all the time and post notes about it.. :P

I did a quick check on the status of my online parts.. they should start coming in today. Happy as a pig in swill I is!

The power supply showed up today and the IDE card should be here shortly behind (ordered the same day, so one would think so). So acortech.com is getting bonus points for speed, but none for not telling me via email about them being shipped. They do have order status on their website, which links directly to USPS/ UPS pages. the problem is that my 2nd package isnt showing up properly.

pcontime.com is getting another look. They called me to ask if I wanted a retail boxed Video card for $5 more. The plain one didnt have a box. It came in a bag with no drivers, support or warranty. It sure sounded like they throw the card in a priority box and ship it off. This makes me rather suspiscious. Advertise one thing, upsell to something else. For $5 I didnt really think about it. In hindsight, I might have put the order on hold while I checked out more options. The card should be here Monday when I will finish assmbly and load that sucker up. :)

Anyway... I threw the PS in. Which required me to take out the CD drives and the CPU fan. Not a big task and not worth wasting bandwidth posting pics about it. :P

Back to painting minis..

DOOM in a WEEK part 3

2005-01-19T08:05:00.000-05:00

Hello Again!

Some quick notes before we start:
Yes, I am working on other figs besides these as I go (only I take my time with them).. so technically, Im doing more than whats in the doom box. I'll even point out where Im doubling up, so you can see where I'm maximizing my paint time. Take THAT Mr. Ray! ;)

This is NOT the way I normally paint minis. I wanted these done ASAP, that means quick paint and dip. I usually use dip for Rank & File minis, or to help enhance what I consider an OK paintjob.

all that aside,
----------
Well, last night I couldnt sleep. Instead I decided to watch bubbahotep and paint the metal bits on the figs.. (I also painted some of Boomhowler's weapons while I was at it)

I started at 9 AM and started by giving the zombies grey jackets. (i painted boomhowler's boys skin afterwards with the same base color)

I noticed some of the figs base coat didnt cover very well, so I touched up the archviles and trites by drybrushing some "putty" color on it. I gave any critter with teeth and toes a quick swipe of teeth and toe colors. :P

I let the lot dry for a bit, then I went downstairs to dip the first batch.

For those not in the know, the dip is actually tinted polyurethane. Specifically, Minwax Polyshades line, Tudor Color, Satin finish.

Other colors can also be used, but Tudor seems to be the favored. Being a polyurethane, Dip also provides a great 1st sealer coat to protect your minis. Gloss finish will actually protect the minis better and since I plan on giving the lot a quick spray of dullcote, the dip's finish doesnt really matter, so I usually buy what they have in stock.

You will also need some mineral spirits for cleanup and/or thinning the dip.

If you have rubber gloves, great! Otherwise tweezers or other holders might be in your better interest. I'll be using a holder since the can is small and my fingers are big.

So with a garbage bag on the basement bathroom counter (dip is dangerously damaging to most countertops and surfaces), we line up the readied figs and start..

Shake/stir the can, then open and let some of the bubbles dissipate.

Whatever you use, fingers or holder, submerge the fig up to his feet... Like so..

Now I take the fig out and let the excess dip run back into the can.

Normally, when the dripping slows down, I shake the fig inside a garbage can to get rid of any more excess. Im particually lazy today, and actually skip this step. I expect some extra pooling, but since these are quick paints, I dont care. Nyahh.

For a quick comparison, heres what a zombie looks like before & after the dip..

Anyway, I dip all my readied minis..

Here are running pics and commentary of some figs...

This archvile shows the good and bad of dipping.

The Bad: As I didnt follow the normal dip procedure (shaking off excess) you can see were the excess pooling starts to show, here in the neck. You also see the big enemy of dips, the mold line.
Good: plenty of coverage in between the ribs, the shading behind the eyesocket, fingers and palm of the right hand (although a bit too much dip) show great definition.

Here is a pic of dipping beauty.

First off, the dip gets in every nook & cranny on the metal, instantly seperating the bits and making them look like individually tended to parts.
Look how you get a thin line separating the gumline from the flesh, and again (slightly more pronounced) in the teeth. check out the shading up and down the arm. This is why dipping is the savior of miniature painting novices. This picture shows how dip makes a rushed paintjob a good one.

Heres that zombie again..

Look at how the dip shades his pants, gives his face definition and seperates his clothes from his skin..

Again, I didnt follow the standard dip procedure, so I expect some excessive pooling and a few "blobs" here and there, but I expect that in this process, so I dont really care.

Polyurethane requires 6-8 hours to dry, I usually let them dry overnight. but seeing how I was done at 11AM, I took a shower and went off to probate office, the tax office and the bank. Home by 3:30 to do some blending on Boomhowler's skin and some extra drybrushing on their weapons.. :)

Next: I dunno.. but it'll be fun! Watch out for Hellknights!

DOOM in a WEEK part 2

2005-01-18T14:56:00.000-05:00

TUESDAY
As I have no intention of using my expensive Vallejo paints on this project, I have my giant collection of Craft Paints to choose from.

With a quick search, you can find lots of DOOM 3 color references, but sadly, most of the monsters are.. Grey.. if not grey, then Gray. You get the idea. So rather than use a pallete of greyscale, I've decided to give the the beasties some color similar to DOOM and DOOM 2. Not all they way grey, but maybe washed out colors.. nah.. an assortment of fleshtones, please!!

About 4:00, I hit resume play on my ROTK DVD and off I went..

In order to maximize assembly-line painting, the first thing I did was get them all arranged by critter type..

Then off to painting zombies.. I started with a combo of green and putty for zombie skin.. and went to town. TOR where art thou?? :P

Then adding Tan and Goose Feather to my mixed zombie base.. I painted the Hell Knights flesh.
Knowing that these would be dipped and the paint I put on was more or less a straight base coat, I saw no reason to be neat..

For the Muncubus, I added some grey and green to the paint mix...

at this point, I readied some Green and grey again.. I had poured a bit of green out and thought I'd use in on the zombies pants, the the rest on the marine pants.

For the pinkies I used some of this flesh-looking color from Anita..

Then on to the Imps..
I had Tan & a medium brown. Not sure which I would go with, I pour a bit of both out.

These are closer to the actual colors

Proving how off a Camera can kill true colors..

Anyway, I opted for the darker brown..

Next up, the huggy monster

and the cyberdemons.

Next up, the trites(?) MOre (you guessed it grey and a touch of dark brown..

by now my zombies were ready for some pink wound touch ups. a drop o pink in the belly holes, plus on thier heads where the sprue knots are.
YOu can see some trites in the background.

While I had the pink out, I decided to do the insides of critters' mouths, some bits on the cyberdemon and do some spots on the pinkies.

I experimented with some color in the Zombies' jackets, but need to go a different route.. I stopped at about 8:30.. so far.. so good!

More tomorrow!

DOOM the Boardgame MINI PAINTING

2005-01-18T12:43:00.000-05:00

Soon to be retitled DOOM IN A WEEK. Look for future postings under that title.

The goal: to have all my DOOM boardgame minis ready for Sunday, which was our next campaign attempt. Quick painting and dipping are the key here..

Day 1 was Monday, actually.
10:00
I grabbed all the minis, dumped them in a plastic bin, and gave them a quick rinse in some soap and water. To save time I actually did this in the shower.

I then laid them outside on the stump to dry (it wasnt cold yet.. a mere 50º).. off I go to run some errands.

Heres a pic right before I left:

I also had to glue the 3 Cyberdemons together. For size comparison, here is a pic next to a Warjack..

Coming home, I gave them a quick coat of Primer. For some reason, the primer ACTED AS A WASH. I thought it was a fairly older can, so I grabbed a new can (bought during my errands) and had the same results.. I think its due to the dropping temperature.. the can says use between 50-80 degrees.. after 3 attempts, I get enough primer on the figs to satisfy me.

As a side note, I used the primer INSIDE in my storage/laundry room on some warmachine figs, and got the same result).. WTF???

I let the figs sit overnight in the bin to ensure all the primer dries properly.

NEXT: Line 'em up & Knock 'em down!

Cheap PC BUILDING, Part 4

2005-01-18T12:21:00.000-05:00

Pics from the initial parts install:

This pic is of the case itself. Yes, its on my chair.. I have minis drying on my workbench. :P

Here, the MB with CPU and MEM installed, all other wires connected, save for the power, which will be added when the new PS arrives.

You pop in guides on one side of the drive...

...and slide the drive in.

Then you lock the them in by sliding the cage locks to the right. Neat.

Looks like this.. yay!

More as new parts arrive..

Cheap PC BUILDING, Part 3

2005-01-18T11:20:00.000-05:00

I broke down and decided to continue on the PC after all.

Bunny and I were in Micro Center and had found a deal on a MB and CPU (Soyo SY-P4VTE and Celeron D 325) for $100. Onboard LAN and 6.1 sound (which seems to be the norm) was a great help. Up to 800 FSB.. good.. ATA serial compatible? Dont have anything SATA.. yet.. It seemed like a solid board (some quick research after the fact found that it was an OK board, but no real OCing, which is fine by me.. 2.53ghz compared to the 800 I have now will be a big deal to me).

After a call to JT to confirm this deal ("For $100, Its worth a try!"), we started loading the basket with other essentials.

They had a nice $60 case for $24.99, an Antec in Metallic Bronze, but it only came with a 300w PS. Getting home and looking through the MB manual, It asks for a 350w PS.. oop..
As I had also planned to run any CD/DVD HDs I had around the house in this beast, I would need a larger one... Id take care of that later..

Some cheap memory was in order and a 512 DDR was found for about $30.

(Note all prices are after rebates)

Walking up to pay for these, I found A copy of DOOM 3 for $29 and Half Life 2 Collectors Edition for $45 ($5 less than the regular version? HL and CS remastered and a T shirt? Normally $80? Im all over that.)

With a $4 keyboard for S&Gs, we dumped the lot in the trunk, and went off to the Minor league Hockey.

Gladiators lost a shameful 6-0

Later that night, I poked through the bits and assembled most of the hardware.

I ordered a new 500w PS and an extra IDE card from Acortech.com.
Knowing I had a CD, CD-R, DVD and DVD-R ready to pop in, I needed more IDE spaces (How I long for affordable SCSI) :P
Acortech had one for.. $13.. Most stores carry them for $40-90. Same as the PS, the local shops had them for $40-99.. Not acceptable.. Acrotech? $27

I have a sweet spot for video cards.. although my Geforce 400MX meets the bare requirements for running my beloved DOOM and HL2, the bare minimum will probably bog the whole thing down. I found a GeForce card (FX5700LE 256MB DDR TV/DVI/2H AGP) from PCOnTime.net for $90.

So cost breakdown to date
(shipping is included when applicable. after rebates and all prices are rounded UP to the nearest dollar, tax not included):
HD $100
MB/CPU $100
Memory $30
Case $25
Keyboard $4
Video Card $90
Extra IDE card $13
PS replacement $25.29

Total: $387.29
Not bad...

Next time: Pics and stuff!

DOOM the Boardgame

2005-01-18T11:18:00.000-05:00

A fun little time waster, if you dont have a PC to run it, DOOM is available in a boardgame version. Grab a peek here.

Apparently, there is alot of talk about painting the 60+ minis that come in the box, and like a fool, I decided to give it a go myself..

Look for the DOOM PAINTJOB series soon as I try to get these ready for next weeks' campaign session.

Suckage

2005-01-18T11:16:00.000-05:00

For many reasons, I have quit the job I had. It had broke my physical, mental and started eating my emotional state in under 3 weeks, and we cant have that.

New job!

2004-12-21T16:17:00.000-05:00

Go ME!

Actually, Its my old job.. doing the same work for different people making more money. YAY!

I start when I get back form Virginia.

To say my stress level has decreased dramatically is an understatement.

Now maybe I can pay some of these annoying bills.. hey.. maybe even build that new damn PC!

THE MIGHTY GEEK WINS!

2004-12-21T16:06:00.000-05:00

A autistic genius? a right rotten bastard? Well its tHE MIghtY GeeK. I would like to say that he is without a doubt.. a person!

Today he is a WINNER!

Rumor is he is the love child of Bruce Campbell and Dr. Ruth but no, he is actually a test tube baby from ARK-1021. His loving parents, old scab and rancid burger meat are so pleased.

"We're so pleased." They quipped.

In, 1866, after impregnating millions of rabid chickens with his docile seed, he took up underwater origami, where he became the leading expert in astro-navigation.

After discovering that nuclear fission could be maintained with naval lint and chewing gum, he went on to be the first human to be granted a pardon from the angry mollusks coilition.

The Mighty Geek resides in a shoebox, where he humps extra copies of Harry Potter books.

Black Friday Xbox goodness

2004-11-28T00:17:00.000-05:00

Black Friday always brings good deals at Best Buy. Little yellow bins of overstocked goodness. Yum.

I should have grabbed Blade Runner's Director's cut for $5, but rumor is another deluxe version is in the works.

The only thing I did pick up was the Grand Theft Auto 2 pack for $20. I'll give it a go when Im done with Sudeki.

Other choices I passed on: Star Wars Starfighter, Full Spectrum Warrior, some goofy racing game. All $10 a pop

More suprising, I found Tenhu and Breakdown in the clearance pile at Target as well.. $10 a pop.

Remember kids, what ever you dont like can be traded up towards something you wanna try later. :P

More Cheap Xbox Goodness

2004-11-23T21:20:00.000-05:00

Well.. my rebate coupon (of sorts) came in for my Fable & Hintbook combo.. Well.. yeah I paid full price for it.. but I had a job for it back then.

So, after a quick lunch, off to EB again.. Hmm? Sudeki in the used bin for $18? Coupon is good for $15? SOLD!

Noone comes here...

2004-11-19T00:28:00.000-05:00

..so I decided to drop some nice words for search engines to pick up on.. NAKED BRITANY PICS, HALO, HALO 2, Half Life, Half-Life 2, Half Life 2, Half-Life, LARGE BREASTS REVIEWED, FREE DVDS, GIRLS WHO SWALLOW, LIVE ANIMAL SHOWS, NUDE NUDE NUDE, FREE SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS TOYS, ENLARGE YOUR PENIS, RUSSIAN MAIL ORDER BRIDES, FREE BEER, FREE CONDOMS.

Take that, google. :)

HALO 2 goodness (Cheap Xboxing)

2004-11-17T10:02:00.000-05:00

As I was writing the Hockey post, I reminded myself of picking up Halo 2 last week.

$10 deposit down for Game and hint book.. Hint book had a heavy discount when you get it on the same reciept as the game, So I thought.. why not?

Double value on trade-ins towards Halo 2. I had about 10 games/DVDs.

Balance: $13

So I paid about $23 total.

So keep an eye out for trade-in deals and unload your old DVDs and games. They add up! Plus you'll have less crap in your house!

HOCKEY RULES (cheap Xboxing again)

2004-11-17T09:27:00.000-05:00

As there is no hockey this year, I have to find alternate hockey entertainment.

First off, there IS minor league hockey in Atlanta. Its a schlep for where I am, but its hockey and the team is quite good. We went on Halloween.. they even broke the glass for us. :)

More importantly and just as fun, is hockey on the Xbox. I have EA 2003 and it gets old pretty fast.

A few months ago, Coke ran a promo for ESPN's whatever anniversary, drink 10 cokes, svae up some bottlecap codes and get $10 off a ESPN branded game. Good deal as the games are $20 to begin with.

That, plus reviews are pointing out that ESPN games are comparable (and in our case, ESPN Hockey got a better review) to the EA line made this purchase a no-brainer. Next year, there wil be some serious EA/ESPN battles.. MADDEN watch out!

So a few cokes, some code entering on the PC and some mail waiting time later, I get my coupon. The coupon has activation dates for each game so as to make a buffer between the releases. Kind makes sense. You dont what the whole world coming in to use they're coupons when NFL comes out.

So yesterday , the coupon was good for, you guessed it, ESPN hockey 2005. Heres the best part: I brought in 3 anime DVDs with me to trade in as well. Total cost: $0

GO ME! Let my Hockey fix begin!

So much for the new PC

2004-11-17T09:19:00.000-05:00

$1500 in car upkeep.

Ow. If I havent picked up your Xmas present by now, dont expect one.

Well.. new belts & brakes... the 120K checkup. Ill tell you.. it makes the car drive so much better. Done at the Honda dealership (it was the first major work on the car.. I want it done right.. and guaranteed).

"$1500? Thats a down payment on a new car!" You cry.

"Ahh.. young parasite," I reply, "and with what job would I have to make car payments?"

Like my cousin Barb says, "Youre done. Your car is good for another 120K and you dont have lousy car payments."

So with that, PC shopping is on indefinite hold. Again.

Happy Halo Day!

2004-11-08T09:39:00.000-05:00

In anticipation for picking up Halo 2 tonight, I decided to have a quick run through SP Halo to prepare myself.

And let me tell you.. It was bad.. The controls arent much different from other console FPS's why did it feel so.. clunky? Looking around with the right stick seemed like a chore.

How did I finish the game the first time? That was 18 months ago.

???

PC Building, part two

2004-10-26T01:50:00.000-04:00

The first part of my new PC came to me by pure luck. Bunny pointed out that Office Depot had 200Gig HDs for $99.. so off we went.. and there they were..

Maxtor 200GB, 7200 rpm. 8MB cache.. it was Ultra ATA 133, but for $99 I didnt really care.. 200 GB seems like a ungoldly amount.

I considered getting 2, then 3 (in case I wanted to hack the Xbox a bit, but then thought against it. One would be enough. Hard drive search is done... and I wasnt even trying..

PC BUILDING, part One

2004-10-26T01:27:00.000-04:00

The wonderful archive of a computer upgrading experience.

Hey there. Ever wonder about upgrading your own PC? I do all the time. Ive hacked and cannibalized my HP (running a 800 Celeron) to the highest possible point and still cry out for more power.

I bought my HP with a 600 Celeron back in 2000 to replace my aging AMD 233.

It was a mid-ranged PC at the time and I was as pleased as punch. I gave the 233 to my Mom so she could do some emailing, web browsing and whatnot and we went on our merry way.

I swapped out the 600 for an 800, added a 30Gig HD (a 15 gig came with it), and bumped the Memory to 128. I also added a cheap PCI (This board has no AGP slot) Gforce 420MX to play QUAKE 3 on something better than the onboard video (The Voodoo3 is still in the 233, and not officially supported for XP).

I also added a standard 10/100 network card when I got DSL. I have a Zip 250 USB to transfer files to my Laptop (a totally different nightmare).

I added more memory to boost it to 384 MB. I’ve added a CDR and then replaced the CD with a DVD and finally the CD-R with a DVD-R.

At this point I said enough.. I have a bunch of nice hardware and capabilities, but its just a bad nightmare gone wrong.. A picture of this monster is HERE.

The case obviously isnt big enough and pullties arent the standard HD mounting choice. The case remains open to ensure nothing overheats in the tiny space provided.

Its been a workhorse for a long time but I can no longer do everything I want with any efficiency.

So I started off with a list of what I wanted to do..

Play more games. Let’s face it, I don’t really want to play Doom3 of Half life 2 on the Xbox. I like user-made mods and add-ons. You cant get that in a console. I love my Xbox but Lord forbid I want to play more PC-only games coming in the future. The last game I got for PC was Warlords Battlecry 3. I was lucky that ran on the 800.
Art/job stuff. All graphics and web-related goodness. Yes, I got Adobe CS stuff to run, but it takes forever to load. As a struggling artist, I love to play in Photoshop and Dreamweaver. I also want to learn Flash and maybe some CSS. Top of the line programs demand top-of the line hardware. Efficiency is key here.
DVD ripping. It currently takes 3-24 hours to rip a DVD on the 800 (burning is under an hour), plus the constant wear on the system. I have lots of Video tapes slowly decaying. I’d like to rip and burn them one day.
MUSIC. My friend wants to get back into the band thing and is trying to pull me into the semi-professional musician status again. I also have old tapes that fall in the same threat as my VHS collection, and they will need to be put on to a more stable format. I have some neat multitracking software lying around, it works great on the 800, but I might need some oomph later on.

I know that any upgrade at this point will be a great boost to my overall PC experiences. But as Im still looking for work, I need to be as cost effective as I can.

So begins my search for cheap bits to build my Next Computer…

New toy

2004-08-06T14:39:00.000-04:00

I've put it off for ages, but I finally picked up a digital camera.

Im glad I got it.. up to 10x zoom.. 3.2 million pixels...

coincidence that I popped a shiteload of pix with it for ebay auctions? no.

Ebay will help pay for this bad boy... huzzah!

DOOM!

2004-08-03T10:56:00.000-04:00

Doom3 is out! YAY!

I need $60 to play it! BOOO!

I need a 1.5 Ghz minimum to play it.. BOOO!

Wait a month or two for the Xbox version.. feh!!

Siigh.

MORE ZOMBIES!!! YAY!

2004-08-03T10:51:00.000-04:00

The Fourth Dead movie is set to start filming this fall:
LAND OF THE DEAD
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418819/

On top of that, American McGee, (Doom, Quake, Alice, Oz and Grimm) has rights to do the video game..
http://www.americanmcgee.com/blosxom.cgi/home/073104.html

Being the mutant zombie overlord that I am I had to share this news..

*SPOOOGE*

Now you must pardon me while I get a sanitary moist towelette.

Unemployment sucks

2004-08-02T09:19:00.000-04:00

I hate not working.

Mind you, I've had few jobs that I like, but I hate not working. A paycheck is a wonderful thing. It helps fend off those pesky bills, you have a place to live and ensures food goes in your stomach.

Im not sure why I dont get called for interviews but Im tired of being around the house with minimal air conditioning.

Maybe I'll go take some classes at the local state college.

In the meantime, nothing to do but sit and wait.

Feh