Vista is the devil

Truly.

My post for help at TheVistaForums.com

And that's just one problem.

My official stance on Vista at this point. Just. Don't. Do IT!!

Alrighty then..

Well, there was indeed a reinstall of my OS. Was it pretty? NO.

And damn it, what's up with Vista?? Upgrades/installs are either smooth as glass or bumpy as the freakin' Rocky Mountains. >:(

When I upgraded my 2nd pc (ripped from my possession by my evil younger children and now sitting across the room and no longer at my fingertips) it went from XP to Vista like a champ. Not one single hiccup. But both times I've tried to upgrade mine.. ISSUES ISSUES ISSUES. Even a clean install has been plagued by errors and "blah blah blah has stopped working"....

BAH!

I sense an OS reinstall coming on..............

Damn it.

Nothing.. freakin'.. works.

My iTunes is totally screwed. I've uninstalled it, uninstalled Quicktime, and all of the other assorted 'Apple' stuff on my PC, reinstalled.. blah blah blah. Followed every 'fix it' suggestion I can think of and STILL it's jacked up.

So even tho Terry's PC will whisper sweet nothings in it's ear, my PC is absolutely oblivious to it's presence. /cry

Then this morning, I can't get MSN to load.. It starts to sign on and then freezes!? WTF?? And as we speak, Trillan is frozen mid install.

I need something to kill............... Where's a night elf when you need one. >:(

Off the WoW... again

Back to the land of the living...... ahhh

This time I'm not alone. Terry canceled, too. And I mean we actually turned the billing off. (Didn't do that last time.) I have about 3 wks left before my account expires. Terry has about 2 wks, and Tyler will renew for one month, just so he can tell his friends good-bye over the next week or so. We cancelled our youngest son's infrequently played account as well...

So someone.. please point us in the direction of the nearest WoW-a-holics Anonymous meeting. ;)

What's up with us...

Yeah yeah... so I don't update that often. lol Mostly because nothing happens that anyone else would be interested in. Unless you play WoW, that is. :p

Most recently tho, Terry's dad suffered a major heart attack, and is in the hospital at this time. Apparently his regular doctor took him off of two medications when he shouldn't have.. and the last two heart specialists (one private and one VA) agree that his attack was brought on because of that. He developed a blockage around a stint.. which they had repaired within an hour of the heart attack.

It was first recommended that he get a bypass and pace maker. But now it's believed, after figuring out what caused the attack, and realizing he has good flow through his other arteries, that they can treat him with meds... so long as he follows their instructions on physical exertion and diet, etc.

So it's been a hairy week for sure.

Nothing much else going on.

Here's a couple of pics of Wiley. He doesn't sit still very long, so I have a hard time getting good pics. ;)

What Em sometimes does when daddy plays WoW. This was taken in May.


This was also from May.


This was taken today.

Testing Cursor Mania

Edited

Puppy Update

Well, he's here! Actually, he has been since last Sunday, but I'm just now getting around to posting pics and video. ;) What can I say, it's been a hell week. I'll spare ya the details, and get on to the pup stuff.

Wiley is a doll. My son decided to keep the breeder given name, and thus a coyote is born. And he has a voice to rival any coyote's, I'll promise you that. Just visit us around kennel time and you'll be sure to agree.

A some video I snapped a little bit ago. Don't let perspective fool you... That lobster toy is only about 4" long. Wiley is barely more than a handful as this point. LOL



The voice you hear is my daughter in the background playing around.

More later.......

Coming Soon....

See this face?

Awww.. Ain't he cute? Meet "Wiley". Right now he's 6 wks old. Next week he'll have a new name, and a new home here with us. He's a Miniature Australian Shepherd, and my son's new puppy.

We traveled 1.5 hrs one way last night to pick him out of a group of 5 available puppies. My son is on Cloud 9. =)

He's been waiting for his very own puppy for a long time now. And the time has finally arrived.

To be continued........

The death of a shaman..........

For now.. Palana, level 65 Troll Shaman, currently stationed at Spinebreaker Hold, Outland.. is dead. Her sisters of battle (Avette, 61 Undead Mage; Myrethea, 63 undead Priest; and Blymthe, 60 Undead Warrior) followed her, dying of broken hearts.

Why did they die? Because I woke up. And I've been asleep for two years. That's a long time to sleep when you have three kids. One of which is only three years old.

Last night, I watched my three year old daughter peacefully sleeping next to me in bed while I read a book, and realized just how much I missed of the last two years by playing in the wonderful fantasy land of Azeroth. AKA the World of Warcraft.

You just cannot play that game in moderation. I thought about just trimming down my time online, but I've tried that.. and it doesn't work. I always end up playing every night. Someone always needs help, or there's one more piece of gear to get. Being the guild master didn't help. You always feel like you HAVE to be there. It helps to justify your time online.

I'm taking some time off. To catch up on life. To catch up on my kids. To enjoy some of my hobbies again....

Will I go back to Outland, and finish Palana's training to level 70? Maybe. But not until I can do it with moderation. Not until I can put the game in it's proper perspective. It should always come last. It is, after all, a game.

Sony Sucks

And they proved it at E3, 2006.

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/05/09/011825.php

God forbid they try to be original. Freakin' rip-off artists.

Oblivion................

Ahh... finally. It's here. After waiting what seems like an eternity... it's here.

Do I like it? HELL YEAH! I LOVE it. Small problem tho. One Xbox 360. Four people wanting to play it. What do you do? Buy it for PC... Then you have all the Oblivion you could ever want! And happy, happy people!

There are actually a couple of advantages to each version.

PC Version:
Graphics seem to be sharper (I have an ATI AIW x800 XL) especially with an LCD monitor. We have the 360 hooked up to the projector in the living room, so I can't speak for normal TVs, but it just seems a bit dark and not as sharp on the XB (and yes, I adjusted the brightness.)

Also, the mapping for your 'wheel' is much easier as you use the numbers 1-8 to do so instead of a directional pad.

Xbox 360:
Well, the comfort of your favorite recliner or couch is obviously a huge plus. (I have an office chair with arms and a place to prop my feet at my PC, but most don't so....)

Controlling is simple. It's natural and you don't have to think about it. On the PC, you move using your W, A, & D buttons.. Which as a WoW junkie is completely natural, except that the A & D strafe, and you turn with your mouse. It takes some getting used to for sure. I actually like it, but most probably would not having tried both versions.

Either way, it's a stellar game. It's a must have. Plain and simple.

Interesting....

I was visiting the blog of a friend, and found this every interesting Political Test. I found my results very interesting:

You are a Social Liberal (61% permissive) and an... Economic Moderate (50% permissive) You are best described as a: Centrist Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid Free Online Dating Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

Wow... it's really been a while.

Has it really been that long since I've written anything? Early November.. before my birthday even!

Has much happened? Well, that depends on your perspective. Nothing in the grand scheme of life. But I did get a pretty nice computer upgrade. At least to my standards. I won't bore you with the details, but I'm very happy with the improvements. I also built up a basic computer to run (among other things) TeamSpeak on for the World of Warcraft guild I belong to. Shameless plug for the Damned Local SixSixtySix - A Spinebreaker Guild. :) I feel like the ultimate bonefide geek now with two complete PCs at my fingertips. heehee

My husband got a new toy as well. A BenQ PE7700 DLP Projector. This piece of hardware is a mixed bag for me, at best. Let me explain.

Since spring 2004, we've had a Samsung 61" DLP. A very nice tv. Cost a small fortune. But with men, you can never seem to have anything too big.. so, he wanted a projector. Which wouldn't have been a bad thing had we lived somewhere else, with a REAL den.

But, we don't, and our living room is just NOT set up to have both the TV, and the projector in optimal viewing range. Tho you could have the couch in the same spot for both, the recliner has to be moved to view the projector.. and not just turned around, but moved to the end of the room. So, we had to sacrifice the TV to our bedroom. Which isn't really a bad thing, until you realize that you have to have complete darkness in the living room to view the image, thus making the area a dungeon if you wanna watch TV during the day. Not something I'm happy about.

So, what's the solution? Glad you asked. It's a freakin' 13" portable TV on a rolling cart. Pathetic, huh? Well, pathetic or not, that's what the morning news is watched on. And even tho my dear sweet daughter has a beautiful 36" Toshiba in her room, there's no cable to it, so where does she watch her morning round of Clifford, Dragon Tales and Calliou? Yep, you guessed it. On the 13" in the living room. *hangs head* We appear to be going backwards, huh? lol

Oh well, he loves the projector, and he deserved it. So I've stopped complaining. It's a bit dark for my tastes, but if I get really unhappy, I'll just go to the bedroom, pop in a DVD and cuddle up to the Samsung. =) She's good company.

Hmm. what else....

OH! I broke our 2 year old from her pacifier!! One day about 2 weeks ago, she was going down for a nap (that's when she would use it, for naps and bedtime) and we couldn't find one anywhere. Finally, I just said enough is enough, she's taking a nap without one.

Were there tears? Oh yes, there were tears. But, she DID finally fall asleep without it. Same that night, and the next day... for about 5 - 6 days. Each day easier than before... with less tears and fussing. And I can now happily say that she's completely over the 'pucky'. LOL Woot!! Next up? Potty training. :$

Well, that's about it.. more later...........

Ghost, spirit, or figment of my imagination?

Couple of goofy things have happened in this house since we moved in back in May of 2000. Maybe I'm just nuts, because as far as I know, none of the other family members have experienced anything.

1. The first fall I fell asleep on the couch watching TV. When I woke up, I heard a distinct creak in the attic like someone had stepped on a beam. At first I tried to shake it off as imagination, then as a squirrel or rat. But there's no way a small rodent like that could make that sort of a noise.

There's only one way into our attic. Through a screwed on panel high up in my daughter's closet. You have to take all of the clothes out of her closet, and I think the shelf, to access it. So there couldn't have been anyone up there.

So true, we could check this one off as overly tired. But it still freaks me out.

2. One morning in the spring of 2003, I got up before everyone else. At the time, my computer sat in a corner in the dining room that allowed you to see the whole living room, where the doors to all the bedrooms are.

So, I'm sitting there surfing on the net... and out of the corner of my eye, I see the back of my youngest son as he passes the stereo speaker heading into his room. At the time, he was sleeping on the bottom bunk in his brother's room. So I figure he's woke up and gone into the room to get a toy or something.

So I'm sitting there waiting on him to come out, but he never does. Several minutes go by and nothing. So I'm wondering what he's up to... I head into the room, only to find NO one there. Both of my sons are still sound asleep in the other bedroom.. and Terry was still asleep, too. Needless to say, it was a little unnerving.

3. Ok.. which brings us to the latest thing. Three nights ago, I'm laying in bed around 1:30am playing a game on my Palm. The lights are off and the bedroom door is closed.

So, I get this sense that something has fallen off of my dresser, which is only inches from the bed (I have just enough room to walk between the bed and the dresser.) At the same time I notice some sort of movement (like something falling) and a almost inaudible sound, but didn't think anything about it. There's always junk on my dresser, toys and whatever, laying precariously that might fall.. maybe a sock or something... so I didn't think anything about it.

So, I continue playing. A little while later I decide I've played enough and I'm gonna hit the sack. So I reach over to turn on the light so I can see where to lay my Palm, and I scratch my arm on an open drawer. I'm like WTH? As I lay there and look at the drawer, I'm completely bumfuzzled. About 30-40 mins earlier, I had gotten up to tell my oldest son to go to bed. And if the drawer had been open then, I'd have noticed it, and shut it. As it would be in my way otherwise. Also, I didn't open the drawer, and in order for Terry to have done it, he would have had to reach over me to do so. But he was sound asleep, snoring even. lol

So I sat there trying to rationalize it.. and never could. I had no reason to have been in that drawer at the time, it wasn't open before. I tried and tried to come up with some reason for it being open.. but never could. :$

So, how the hell did the drawer get open? The door was shut, my husband was asleep and I didn't do it.

So needless to say, I'm a little spooked.

So, the Eddie Murphy skit from his Comedy Concert "Delirious," about white folks not knowing when to get out of a haunted house, is running thru my head:

Black Male Householder : Aw baby this is beautiful, we got a chandelier hanging up here,
kids playing outside, it's a beautiful neighborhood. Ain't got nothing to worry about... I really like this place...

Demonic Voice: Get out!

Black Male Householder : Too bad we can't stay...

LMAO

My Daughter

How many of you have children? Now... How many of you have a fight on your hands at bedtime? I thought so. And so do I with my two oldest kids.

But....

My 2-year-old is special. For one, I've rarely ever had to fight her when putting her down for a nap. Two, she tells us when she wants a nap, or when she's ready for bed. Ever hear of that before??

I decided I had to write about this when she came to me 5 minutes ago and said "Bed." I just looked at her in amazement. That was the first time she'd used a word to tell me she was tired and wanted to hit the sack. Usually she just hangs around wherever I am, maybe even laying down on the floor by me. When I ask her if she wants a nap or to go to bed, she usually says 'yes.' But this time she actually came to me and said 'bed.' And it was only 8pm! She's been known to ask (or give us the signs) at 7:30 or earlier, tho we usually won't let her go down that early, as whe wakes up in the night if we do.

She truly is a wonder. She's been the most interesting of my 3 kids, so far. LOL

Been a while.....

Man.. been a long time since I updated the blog.

I finished reading Eragon. And I loved it! My oldest son read it after me and felt the same. Now we're both reading Eldest. :)

And more on the downer side.... no Xbox 360 until next year for us. Money is tight, and first and foremost on my agenda is our children's Christmas gifts. And that's gonna be hard enough. Much less coming up with $400 for a console, another $50 to buy a game, and then another controller, minimum. It really sucks, because I'm dying to play Oblivion. I think I'm turning into a RPG whore.

Oh well, until then I have World of Warcraft to keep me busy. ;)

Lunch time

Ok.. so I'm bored. I'm sitting here enjoying the BEST sandwhich and thought I'd share. ;)

Wheat bun, tomato, pickle slices, colby-jack cheese, american cheese, and hickory smoked turkey breast from the deli. No mustard or Mayo. Yuck!

Mmm... Yeah Yeah.. I'm ruining the diet, but damn, it's good. And don't laugh at my Dixie plate. Least I don't have to wash it!!

So, what's on YOUR sandwhich?

Children's and Young Adult Fiction

On an old blog I once wrote a note about reading books I originally bought for my son, but he never touched. We're gonna revisit that topic. ;o)

About 3 years ago, while trying to boost my son (then 11) into reading more, I bought him the first book of the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer. We'd already given him the first 4 books of the Harry Potter series, and I'd read two of them to him, but he still just couldn't bring himself to tackle a book of their size. Alas, he wouldn't read Artemis either. So.. it sat on the shelf, staring out at me every time I passed the bookshelf. Until one day....

Bored and totally out of anything fun to read here at the house, I snagged Artemis Fowl off the shelf and settled into a chair and began to read. I didn't think I'd enjoy it, as it is targeted at the 9-12 age range, but I did enjoy it very much! Not sure if it was the fairy/fantasy aspect, or if it was just fun, without being deep and overlong. (Artemis is a 12 year old, HIGHLY intelligent and crafty little booger.. er, criminal. And he has a plan to steal the fairyfolk's gold.) The story clipped along without getting stale, and there was always excitement right around the corner. The characters seemed real, and it was a joy to read.

Then on to Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident I went. More fun, and just as enjoyable to read, maybe even more so! So of course Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code was up next. More of the same mindless easy reading a more adventures and fun! Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception promises another wonderful adventure, but I have to wait for the Scholastic Book order to be delivered to my son's school. LOL Why pay $7.99 at a local bookstore, when I can pay $3.95 and help the school at the same time?!

So, in the meantime, I curled up with yet another of the unread books my son had in his possession. Whispering to Witches by Anna Dale. Another wonderful book. Total witchy fantasy set in England, involving a young boy, a young witch, and a missing page out of a historical magic book. OH MY! lol I loved it.

Now, I'm beginning Eragon by Christopher Paolini. A book written by boy after graduating high school at the age of 15!! This one is about a boy, a dragon, and saving an empire. Recently the sequel ( in what will be a trilogy) was released entitled Eldest. I figure now's the time to read this one. ;)

For the record, I've been reading novels since I was about 13, encouraged by my mom, who was an avid romance reader at the time (she now includes mystery, suspense, fantasy and action into her reading lists.)

My first novel, given to me by mom, was On the Night of the Seventh Moon by Victoria Holt. A wonderful romance. After that, I read the V.C. Andrews Flowers in the Attic series and was hooked on reading for life! I read mostly romances exclusively after that until the mid 90's, and was introduced to the works of Michael Crichton. :) :) Since then I've read tons of books, including those from Dean Koontz, Dan Brown and Nora Roberts. Reading is fun.

At any rate, if you're looking for something light to read, but still WAAYY fun and totally enjoyable, pick up a kid's book. You'll be surprised how much fun you have!

As a footnote, I'm proud to say that my son finally did pick up reading (when he was good and ready) and has read the Harry Potter books, and the first Artemis Fowl installment, and is currently reading The Arctic Incident. ;) And is anxious to read Whispering to Witches after mom enjoyed it. lol)

MyFamilyCanHelp.com

Please take a moment and visit MyFamilyCanHelp.com. If you are looking for temporary living arrangements as a victim of Hurricane Katrina, or if you can offer your home as shelter, this site is for you.

Those of you who cannot offer up your home, could you PLEASE visit the site here, and snag a banner for use on your website/blog or email signature?

Thanks so much!!

Jay & Co. You guys are AWESOME!

Gas & Katrina

So this morning I've turned on my computer and headed to the kitchen to refill my coffee cup, when the phone rings.

"Hello?"
"Hey hun, Pam just told me that gas in Allen is already $2.99 a gallon."
"Oh my god. What is it here right now?" (I haven't bought gas in about a week)
"$2.60." (Actually $2.59)
"Shit. Guess I need to load the kiddo in the van and go get some before it starts rising up here."

Hangs up phone, snags kid, and is at Albertson's Express in less than 6 mins getting a whopping 8 gals of gas for just under $21. So I saved $3.20 if the price goes all the way up to $2.99. Terry will also be gettting some, hopefully making it to the station before the price change. He has a dental appointment at 10 am. *crosses fingers*

This is absolutely nuts. Man. I know Katrina has thrown a monkey wrench into the whole oil price thing, but damn.. it was out of control BEFORE she came along. Sheesh.

Speaking of Katrina.. My heart just sinks watching and reading the news coverage of the damage. Gilven continually comes to mind. Especially his statement that he, his wife, and child were the only ones of his family that left the MS Gulf Coast region. My contiued thoughts go out to him and his family, hoping that everyone is alive and well. Complaining about gas prices seems petty in light of the devestation the people of the coast have experienced.