Things have been pretty crazy around here. The web hosting is the least of it, really. Here’s the list.
New hardwood floors. My housemate Mike has been lobbying for a replacement of the ratty old beige carpeting up here for a while. Nevertheless I was surprised when he gave me a mere week’s notice that his friend Larry the Logger had agreed to do the work. This meant I had to move all of my belongings out of my room and into the room across the hall. Traumatic enough in itself. But I also had to do it at a very precise time: the night after Larry finished the floor across the hall. Yikes! Happily, with the help of my friend Jake, as well as Emily and Mike, it all worked out. For about a week, I lived OVER THERE, across the Channel, in France. (Actually, I rather liked it. It’s sunnier.) For a couple of nights, I worked like a demon repainting my room. Then last Friday I moved back in. Things are looking pretty good, although I still have a lot of stuff in boxes in the middle of the room. And without the resistance of the rug, my wheeled office chair has a tendency to roll downhill, toward the west. This whole flooring project has made the sloping floor all too obvious. Thus the importance of my latest batch of cuñas (a.k.a. shims) to keep furniture at a somewhat even keel.
A new computer. A while ago Jake gave me a copy of the latest Elder Scrolls game, Oblivion. It seemed pretty cool, but even though I had updated my video card to play The Sims less than 9 months earlier, the game played at the lowest quality settings. Unacceptable! My Dell computer has been extremely solid and satisfactory for the past three and a half years, but it was time to say goodbye. Also, my mom’s computer has started to die, so I need to give her another hand-me-down. I decided to build my own again, so I speced out the various components at Newegg and ordered them this past Monday. Already I’ve received everything and built my super new gaming machine. I am happy to report that it took only 8 minutes to install Windows XP Pro on it, and Oblivion looks great!
A cell phone. I have long resisted the mobile revolution. Part of the charm of leaving home and work is that people CAN’T FIND YOU. However, my level of work responsibility has increased in the last year+, and just recently there was a work crisis that would have been resolved a lot more neatly if I had been reachable via cell phone. And there are non-work situations in which a cell phone would be darn handy. These were all factors influencing me. What finally decided me was discovering that Costco has a wireless signup center with many benefits for their customers (super warranty, extra rebates, free accessories, etc.). Today I did it. I have a cell phone. Now I can start using those “cell phone pockets” on my Carhartt pants. Woohoo.
There are other new things as well, but I have to play some Oblivion now, so writing about them will have to wait!
So while the floor was being installed in your room, you were a transient resident in the Transient’s Room?
(How is Norman?)
Yes, I was. In the process I finally discovered that that room is actually a lot wider (between the wall with the window and the stairwell) than mine, which I liked. However, there is no chance of switching rooms at this point. I was a mere tourist.
As for Norman… we haven’t talked for too long, obviously. Norman got really sick with his kidney disease last summer and I had to take him to the vet for euthanasia in early July. It was a very sad day. But at least I took a little movie of him playing with my housemate’s shoelace before the end. I looked at it just the other day.
Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that. I kind of wondered if his time had come because I know he was very elderly. He was a good kitty and I know you gave him a good life. I would like to see the movie some time.
So if the main reason you’re getting a cell is for work… shouldn’t work be paying for it?
Glad you’re blogging again.