The word of the week is gratitude.
Nov 24 – Thanks
It occurred to me this
week that I haven't said thank you lately.
I'm not the sort of person
takes things are granted, but sometimes overlook the obvious. When talking
about is you: someone who's dropped by to take a look at the blog this week.
Typically, I get about a
dozen to two dozen people checking out the blog every week. Most are having a
look at the newest entry, but I do get a fair number of folks who likely
randomly land on one of my posts from months or years past. They're not the
ones I'm talking about though.
It's those people who come
by again and again each week to read what I have to say that I want to thank.
While I would write this blog anyway, regardless of whether numbers of people
were reading it or not, it does my mind good to know that more than one or two
people are eyeballing it on a regular basis.
Thanks for stopping by; it
really does mean a lot to me that you're here.
Nov 25 - Skivvies!
If you don't know what
these wonderful things are, you're likely under the age of 30 or just couldn't
be bothered to remember when you saw them in the stores as a kid. They were
pretty hard to miss, however:
As a young lad, I never
actually owned a pair of these, as they were rather expensive, or least that's
what my perception was. I would've gladly owned a pair of Spiderman Underoos, but
that never really materialized; I can't complain though, as I made out like a
bandit in many other material ways as a kid.
Even so, Underoos remained on my
list of ‘Always Wanted, Never Had’ to this day. But just like the original Green Machine, I
thought I would be too big for them now…
Well, I was wrong, and
happily so:
While there’s not a lot of
selection right now, here's hoping that sales are brisk and that the temptation
of piles of money being poured over the manufacturer Hot Topics leads to new
lines of Adult Underoos soon.
I’ll be the first in line
for Spiderman!
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| This is not me, but a very close replica - note the books! |
Nov 26 – ReBoot!
One of my favorite shows
of all time is returning to television!
ReBoot, the first CGI-animated
television show, debuted back in the 1990s and remains one of my favorite
animated shows ever. Late in the second season of its run, the writing suddenly
became far richer and deeper as the show found its feet and I was sucked in
instantly.
After three full seasons
and two TV-movie specials( which only rarely aired )ReBoot essentially
disappeared from the airwaves and was even hard to find on DVD for many years.
For that same amount of time, fans despaired of ever seeing any sort of sequel
or, if you'll pardon the awful pun, a reboot of ReBoot. Until this week, when
this showed up:
While there is a much more
detail than the image above and reassurance from the studio, Rainmaker, that
the show is indeed going forward, it's absolutely fantastic news all the same.
Given the computer
technology that we have now compared to the 1990s, I am practically bouncing up
and down on the edge of my seat contemplating what may grace the screen in the
near future. Even if most of the main characters only make passing appearances,
it will be a huge step forward from the vacuum that has been the ReBoot universe
for the last 10 years.
I come from the net…
Nov 27 – Overclocking
A few weeks ago, I pushed a
dangerous button…
Metaphorically speaking,
that is: I actually just clicked a virtual button on my computer and made it
faster. It was surprisingly simple and something Anthony need do for a while
now.
Overclocking is something
that can be done to most computer systems, though it's not recommended as
there's the potential for damaging or destroying your equipment. Most
overclocking is done by gamers, who pushed the limits of the systems cooling
abilities in order to eke out the maximum speed available. If it's done wrong,
you end up with a puff of smoke and a very expensive paper weight that used to
be your computer.
For the longest time, I
resisted overclocking my current desktop system, as there is no way I could afford
to replace it if I screwed up the attempt. As it turns out, waiting turned out
to be the key: the software available from the manufacturers website for
overclocking advanced to the point where it could be used by someone with as limited
knowledge as myself. I am no expert when it comes to overclocking and being
able to just tweak a few settings and push the ‘Apply’ button was extremely
freeing in terms of getting over my extreme hesitation of taking that final
step.
Now that my system has
been running stably for a few weeks, I can breathe out a final sigh of relief. In
general, I've noticed a speed increase of about 25%, which is quite noticeable:
programs open faster and I do a lot less waiting overall, which helps me make
better use of my more limited time each day. There hasn't been any substantial
heat increase, thanks to the excellent heat sink I invested in several years
ago along with the half a dozen fans that provide airflow in the system.
If and when I decide to
upgrade the computer or replace it in the future, I'll be less hesitant to
overclock, as I can see that methods have matured quite a lot from where they
were back in 2008 or so. While it's still possible to fry a CPU by doing
something really stupid while overclocking, it's far less likely now thanks to
the safeties built into the software available nowadays - not to mention guides for newbies like this one.
My patience has been rewarded
in this case, it seems!
Nov 28 – The Force Awakens!
There was some incredible
Star Wars news yesterday!
A trailer for The Force Awakens was released, quickly
making the rounds of every imaginable social media outlet. While it was brief,
it was memorable and most importantly: it absolutely embodied the ‘magic’ of Star Wars. If
you haven’t already seen it, check it out:
Immediately, rampant
speculation as to what each of the brief tantalizing glimpses of various scenes
meant for the Star Wars universe. There were some pretty interesting things
presented: new stormtroopers, the Millennium Falcon under attack and a Sith
with a triblade lightsaber… lots of fodder for fans.
Typically, it didn't take
long for people to add their own spend to the images and the trailer, to come
up with humorous takes, like the one below:
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| Sith Army Knife, Lightsaber Edition |
Then... here's what the trailer would look
like if George Lucas had got his hands on it for a Special Edition Release:
I am practically beside
myself with anticipation and I'm doing everything I can not to read any spoilers on what the movie is going to be about. I
want to be as surprised and thrilled as I was when I saw the original Star Wars
movies for the first time and in this, the age of the Internet Spoiler, that's
a tall order.
Maybe I should go into
seclusion until they release the movie?
Nov 29 – Wobbly Weekend
I barely made it through
today, as I had quite a difficult start to it.
While meeting a friend for
breakfast at 9 AM, I found my 14 hour day yesterday had left me utterly
exhausted and I could barely walk around due to my fatigue. Taking things
slowly, I nibbled on nutritious and energetic snacks until it was time to meet my
parents for lunch to celebrate my father's birthday today. I felt better after
having a chicken Caesar salad, which gave me enough energy to get through the
afternoon with the addition of a brief nap which I sorely needed and which
didn't do much more than keep me going.
My evening was spent first
at gaming, which I was determined to attend as I'd missed the last two
sessions. It turned out to be a very social evening, with the group simply
acting out encounters with a caravan that we’d run across and later on heading
into town. It was a lively session with much laughter and while I was still
quite tired by the time it ended, I had really enjoyed myself.
Then there was a quick
stop at a birthday party that I've been invited to out to Langford, courtesy of
a ride from a friend and 15 min. later I was on my way home. I hit the hay
around midnight, extremely pleased to have made it through the day and feeling
quite overdue for a long rest.
Weirdly, I dreamed about a
very busy day shopping; the subconscious is strange, sometimes.
Nov 30 – Less Wobbly
I worked my first overtime
shift for the government today, which went all right.
The morning wasn't so
great, as I was still feeling quite woozy and exhausted. Again I nibbled
energetic snacks all morning to add to the oatmeal I'd had for breakfast and by
the afternoon I was feeling somewhat normal. I didn't have the energy to focus
on invoices today so instead I simply stuffed envelopes, which was actually
perfect for how I was feeling: I did need to concentrate overmuch and the
repetition did a lot of good in keeping me from noticing how tired I was. The
office was almost empty today, as only dozen people had volunteered for
overtime today to help us catch up with month-end; it was still a rare thing to
be able to work on a Sunday and that's why I stuck with it instead of simply
dozing all day long at home - for no additional pay.
My earnest desire is for
this coming week to be free of fatigue, where I can go to work in the morning
without feeling like I've pulled a five-pub bender the night before. I'm really
trying to get a handle on why I’m feeling so out of sorts: it could be any of a
half-dozen things that my doctor is checking out, so for the moment I just have
to do what I can to moderate my energy levels and not worry too much about why
am feeling so crappy.
It's puzzling and worrying to me that I show no sign of
having a cold, yet I'm dizzy in the mornings and late evenings despite having
eaten regularly and well all day long without over doing it. I can't put it
down to stress or any other factor that comes to mind, so I'm just going to
have to wait until I can get a firm answer from my doctor - for all I know I'm
just experiencing symptoms of low blood pressure and need to just rest more.
Wish me luck for the
coming week!
That's all I've got for you right now; I barely made it
through some days last week and you are you know what happened the week before
that when I ended up stuck on a couch with no energy for an entire weekend. I
have five full days of work this week, along with other commitments and I'm
determined to see all of them through as best I can - we'll see if my body
agrees with me on that. Right now, it's 10:30pm and I'm utterly beat, so: seeya!
