Surfergeeks

So…yesterday morning Firefox started doin’ wonky things on me. Namely – it refused to remember its window settings or toolbar settings. Most annoying. Useable, but annoying. My computer was starting to get kinda slow on bootup anyway so I figured it was about time to reformat and reinstall anyway.

And SINCE I was reformatting and reinstalling anyway, why not go up to the RC1 version of Windows Vista – the next operating system from the folks in Redmond. Well…I ran into a little problem. The DVDs I burned of Vista didn’t quite work. I *STILL* don’t know why, but it’s beginning to look like a LOT of DVDs I burned before the reformat didn’t work. Man that’s a lot of pr0n down the drain. Seriously though – it may be a HUGE bummer as I’ve burned off all the old 8mm video tapes I imported into the computer. If I end up having to redo all that….fuck. That’s all I’ve got to say about that.

So, okay, no Vista. Reinstall XP, install the HP stuff (drivers and shit), then go to install Office. The disc won’t read. Jeebus. Try it in Nikki’s computer. It appears to read from there. Cool – time to install over the network. Slow as hell, but it works. Usually. This time? Nay. It got stuck on a file. Okay. Let’s make a copy of the disc and go from there. Well, while Nikki’s computer was taking just short of forever copying one CD, I tried burning off ANOTHER copy (this is #3) of Vista RC1. This one actually works! OKAY! Well, since all I’ve managed to install is some drivers, let’s go for Vista. Fire it up and choose upgrade. When I go to bed it’s happily upgrading away. In the mean time, Nikki’s computer FINALLY finished copying one CD. Only took about 90 minutes. Largely due, I suspect, to corrupt files and NOT the speed of her computer.

I wake up this morning, bring Alex out to the living room and am met with a eerie silence. No computer fans. Hmmm….Fire up the computer and it starts to boot into Vista before kicking out an error that says the upgrade wasn’t successful and to click to roll back to previous version. Click. Minutes pass of it doing stuff. Error message saying it couldn’t roll back properly or something. Drop in the Vista DVD and reboot. Format the partition again and reinstall from scratch. Success! WooHoo! I’m running Vista.

Now for the office install…drop in the newly created CD and fire it up. The install starts…and hangs. No go.

Thank god for torrent sites. 3 hours and one newly downloaded version of MS Office AIO and I’m up and running.

So it’s now early Sunday evening and I have MOST of my old software installed. I have a few more programs to install. Unfortunately, there’s a TON of software I usually run that just simply won’t run on Vista yet. This happens to include both Alcohol 120 and Nero, the two best burning programs out there. Makes it tricky to burn discs. I think Vista burns DVDs natively but I’m not 100% on that. Also, almost none of my Stardock software runs yet. Object Dock Plus DID run until I loaded in my theme and broke it. I think it’s probably my MSN dock that’s killing it, but I don’t know. I’ll play with that more later.

How’s Vista you ask? Pretty freakin’ cool. Think of it as XP’s cooler big brother. There’s been plenty of “under the hood” changes – especially to security – which are supposed to make this a far better operating system. Me? I turned off most of the “security” features right off. Kinda annoying. The UI, in my opinion, is a gazillion times better than XP.

So that’s where I stand right now – I’m running Vista RC1 with most apps installed and running. Anxiously awaiting fixes for some others and awaiting the official 2007 release of Vista and the inevitable crack/workaround for those of us that absolutely, flat out REFUSE to pay more for the operating system than a lot of people pay for their computers. The retail cost of Vista Ultimate is reportedly around the $600-700CAD range. Fuck. That.

Last night was the return of the monthly poker nights at casa del us. We had two new players, Kris & Lisa, come out as well as the usual bunch of rag tag players. Two people had said they were coming but they never showed. So, counting Nikki & I, we had 12 people – an average turnout.

We got underway a little late as we were waiting for a couple latecomers. First hand I’m dealt 92s in the big blind. There’s a few limpers and I check. The flop comes 982 rainbow. VERY nice hand for me. I bet out 300 and Mike calls. The turn comes a 7. This is a bad card for me. Mike is capable of calling with pretty much any two cards at this point. If he happens to have JT, I’m screwed. I check and he pushes all-in. I SERIOUSLY went in the tank. I was trying to do everything I could to convince myself to throw the hand away. Alas, I couldn’t do it. I made the the call, turned over my two pair and Mike turns over…….JT. With only the river to come, I’m in serious trouble here. There are exactly 4 cards in the deck that would save my ass – the other 2 nines and the other 2 deuces. Brett tells me he folded a 9. Shit. I don’t remember what the river was, but it wasn’t a 9 or a 2. I was out. On. The. Very. First. Freakin’. Hand.

So, with me out, that left the table five-handed. So I wasn’t wandering around the room lost, I ended up dealing for the table until enough people were knocked out that we moved down to one table. We, being Brent, Lisa, and I, started playing a cash game with 5c/10c blinds. As more people got knocked out, the cash game grew. I think at one point we had 7 or 8 people in the cash game.

I bought into the cash game for $5 and we Kris, Lisa, and I called it quits just before 3am, I ended up with almost $15. So it covered my loss in the tourney.

The top 3 for the tourney were Nikki in 3rd (winning $24), Mike in 2nd ($36), and the big winner for the night was Tim, taking home the first prize of $60.

It’s looking like the next event will be either October 14th or the 21st. Not sure which yet. I’ll send out emails and see which night is best for everyone.

So Alex had his 12 month Doctor’s appointment today. He received 2 shots which of course he hated. Everything else checks out fine.

He is now 31.5 inches tall and weighs 23 pounds and 13 ounces. He is still a very big baby.

Here’s something you’re not going to read me talking about very often – sports.

21 years ago I, like millions of others, was captivated by a brash young man who dared defy convention with his splashy yellows and flamboyant pinks. The courts of Wimbledon and the US Open would never be the same. He was Nike’s Golden Child of tennis. My friends and I would hit the courts, inspired by his success. Today, Andre Agassi retired from professional tennis after losing in the 3rd round of the US Open to Benjamin Becker. Those of you that know me, know I’m not much of a sports person. Other than NASCAR I don’t really watch any sports. I do enjoy basketball, but purely as a spectator sport. The only sport I ever really enjoyed playing growing up was tennis – and I owe a lot of that enjoyment to Agassi.

Thanks to a combination of the NASCAR race being an evening race tonight and nothing else really on this afternoon, I had the US Open on. It happened to be the Agassi/Becker match. At the end of the match the crowd was on its feet for an incredible standing ovation. Agassi broke down during the ovation but was able to more-or-less compose himself during the Becker interview to thank all his fans. I suppose everyone has a sports idol growing up, and often into adulthood. While I didn’t follow much tennis after high school, Agassi was definitely that idol for me. So for that, I say, “Thank You Andre!”

Thank-you to everyone who came over and brought gifts for Alex’s birthday today. He loves them all.

So a quick breakdown of what he received for all of our friends and family that weren’t here.

First the clothes. He received three outfits. Two were Nascar themed. One for Earnhart and the other for Earnhart Jr. He also received a bowl, cup and fork and spoon all with his name on it. He will definitely love eating from those once he can read. He also got a Gap leather jacket that is VERY cool.
One of my favorite things he got was a chair. It looks just like a normal chair someone whould put in their living room, but it’s sized just right for him. He can’t quite sit himself in it yet, but he does play with it.

Now for the toys. From Rob’s mom he got two trucks that store mega blocks. This seems to be one of his favourite toys right now. He’s been playing non-stop with the blocks for about an hour now. Then from my parents, he received the Little People farm set. From my brother, he got a Little People truck. He also got a tool set, some bristel blocks and stackable barrels. From mommy and daddy, he got some stackable wooden blocks and a toy grand piano. I think the piano is his second favorite toy. He loves music and this toy supplies plenty for him.

I’m one!!!! Wow, it’s been a whole year since I was born. The time sure does fly.

Here’s what I should be up to.

By the end of this month I SHOULD be able to:

*walk holding onto furniture – you bet!

…will PROBABLY be able to:

*play patty-cake or wave bye-bye – clapping is easy, waving not so much. If you hold up my hand for me though, I will wave.
*drink from a cup independantly – nope.
*pick up a tiny object neatly with tips of thumb and forefinger - yup and then it goes right into my mouth!
*stand alone momentarily - yup.
*say dada and mama indesriminately – yup.
*say one word other than mama or dada – not yet, but I’m trying out lots of sounds.

…may POSSIBLY be able to:

*indicate wants in ways other than crying – not yet.
*play ball - this game is fun!
*stand alone well – yup.
*use immature jargoning – yup, really working on getting a word out.
*walk well – oh yeah!! I’m a walking machine!

…may even be able to:

*say three words or more other than mama or dada - not yet.
*respond to a one step command without gestures – I will come to you if you ask, but that may be more likely cuz you want to play and I can tell rather than you calling to me.