leaving in nearly 24 hours… i should get into my bed nowish… i won’t be back there again til next year. tomorrow leaving the house at 3amish.. if i do get any sleep, it’ll be a lil half-nap downstairs or something.
computer will stay behind. it’ll live. i’ll live. travelling lightly—we’ll see if i’m capable of this—i’ve not yet begun to pack… i did, however, get most of my music together and other files i’ll wat on my 40-gig iAudio M3. it’s not an ipod, but it’s got radio and voice recording (ooh..just realized i may be using that feature for more than i’d thought…yesss!) and it’ll take good care of me. gotta bring my two lil photoalbums… need some clothes,underwear,shoes, notebooks,pens, ...hm… ooh..passport and related stuff… better remember to bring my IC (identification card)..
i’ll be in Tokyo a night, Kuala Lumpur about a week, and Penang most of the time. possibly will make it up to China (first trip ever, if it happens) or to Singapore (it’s been a long, long while)—but we won’t do both if we do either. ‘am going to visit my Grandfather and family, sans the cousins who are off at universities in various other parts of the world. am going with my parents and brother; been a long long long time since the four of us have left this country together… good gracious.. it really has… oh gosh… have we been back there together but once since we moved here? i think so…
chocolate chip cookies! i hope i remember/get to grab some at the store tomorrow (no time to make)... must visit MVA to take care of car stuff.. i’ll miss Bluey, but it’ll (he/she?) be in good hands.. gonna be a cold cold winter said the Almanac.. i’ll be pleased to be in 80+ degree weather.. just give me a chance to complain about the heat and humidity. i’m pretty sure i’ll mind it less than my fingers and toes all numb cuz it’s frickin cold.
i’m going to sleep a bit now… 25 hours left for sleeping, eating, showering, packing, MVAing, goodbyeing, arranging, billpaying, fish caring, everythingelseing.
‘Automagicable’ must be one of the funnest words ever.
PSI exam today. i’m not as calm a test-taker as i used to be. somehow, PASS; PASS.
car stuff today; more tomorrow. computers; cars; always something to take care of. and almost away to asia i go…
I’m up later than I’d intended. not too late though. ‘gonna get ready for bed. hopefully i’ll be in before 10.
p.s. happy birthday Henry
now playing: Death Cab for Cutie – ‘Passenger Seat’
You’ll stay alone forever if you wait for the right time—what are you hoping for?
I’m here and now; I’m ready,
holding on tight; don’t give away the end—the one thing that stays mine.
The song’s been cited before. But particular songs have a way of showing up on a random playlist when you’re ready to hear them; or at least you stop skipping through once you hear a right song.
I tried to send a brief ‘hello world’ while in the car in the parking lot in the rain in the dark, having just received my computer back in my hands and powered it up and all seeming so happy and fine… but the stray wireless connection i had picked up died the instant before i hit ‘send’. So that’s too bad. BUT. i’m home. with my computer. in my lap which Manfre brings to my attention is apparently not healthy (but that’s only for guys, right? but still, that’s bad. i hope someone quickly proves it isn’t so.) but it’s back and working and i’m poorer than before but i’ve got my functioning computer again so the world is a happier place today.
‘have been busily restocking my computer with the necessary apps… not wanting to wait on the installing Linux thing..
just trying to get my environment comfortable again before i dive into playing catch up on the past many days i’ve missed, computer/internet-wise… and increasingly few days left before extensive travel time (aka.no internet and computer-related-productivity time).
and tomorrow’s “date day” .. or “Alicson day”, depending on whose calendar you’re looking at… so tonight’s simply a happy Alicson night. Those are so good. :)
*edit: i forgotten to mention… it turned out (like i told them in the first place) that the problem was the harddrive itself… so i ultimately had to simply get a new one. everything else about the computer? happy-peasy. except for the cpad. which still flickers at me randomly and doesn’t do dragon backgrounds anymore. and the fact that the screen won’t stay up if it’s leaning at too much of an angle. aside from that… happy-peasy! reunited with my gig of ram, and my treasured UXGA display. *does the little happy-shake*
alright that’s enough of that. back to business.
p.s. happy birthday Cari
I go to fetch computer last night. Guy there informs me I’m going to law school. Computer comes home. Pop in the first of three Toshiba Original Installation disks, that will format the computer and restore the original, default settings of Windows XP and Toshiba software on the machine.
I wait for the prompt as to how I would like to partition my harddrive.
I wait.
The short answer (after also consulting with one of the best Toshiba-certified technical service offices around) is that normally (aka. with every other Windows installation disk) you are certainly given the option to partition your disks however you’d like. Toshiba disks (and probably HP/Compaq/Sony..who knows… I’ve been Toshiba for a signficant many years now) offer no such option. It’s complete erase contents, format drive, and install default settings. Or nothing at all. My only option, he nicely (as possible) informs me, is to go out and get a new/separate Windows installation CD.
…
Happy Alicson? not so much.
*shrug* fine. bloody FINE.
how much do i LOVE being told how my software will behave and what will install itself and run contrary to my preferences, on my own computer. acceptable, it is not.
obnoxiousness and misleadingness and unnecessary pigheadedness when we could simply have a very happy Alicson if i would be:
- given the independent XP CD i paid for when i purchased the computer
- allowed to uninstall Windows/MSN Messenger and Media Player when i say so
- able to opt whether or not three separate processes of iTunes should be running in my computer’s background at all times
etc. etc. etc.
now, if you’ll excuse me, since this rant is temporarily complete i will return back to attending to the computer that is reformatting all over again, unnecessarily, because i have now realized i’m just going to be acquiring a new Windows CD (which i can’t get my hands on until late this evening) and doing through most of all of this all bloody over again.
p.s. happy day-after-Mommy’s-birthday, Mom
Since i’ll be doing a wipe and fresh restocking of all my necessary applications on my computer once i get it back, i figured i’d put together this list offhandedly for myself, and may as well have it up here for whatever use or interest it may be to others. It’s in some sort of an order — vaguely the order in which i’ll restock my computer. What am I missing?
- Mozilla Firefox – web browser (open source)
- bblean – Blackbox for Windows; replacement shell for Windows Explorer (open source). very transportable. i don’t sit long with any computer before dropping this one on it.
- Gaim – multi-protocol instant messaging client; AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ, and MSN Messenger replacement (open source)
- Nullsoft Winamp – MP3 and other media player (free)
- Maxthon (previously MyIE2) – web browser, Internet Explorer replacement (free)
- Crimson Editor – notepad replacement and code editor (open source)
- Core FTP Lite – (s)ftp client (free)
- Mozilla Thunderbird – email client (open source)
- VLC – Media player (open source)
- Azureus – BitTorrent client (open source)
- Opera – web browser
- eMule Plus – p2p file sharing client (open source)
- EditPlus – notepad replacement and text, html, programmer’s editor
- Dachshund Bundle (AntiCrash, Hare, Battery Doubler, Zoom)
- TuneUp Utilities – Windows optimizer
- Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, Acrobat)
- Macromedia Studio MX (Fireworks)
- Microsoft Office (Word, Excel)
- TopStyle Pro – CSS (and XHTML) editor
- ACDSee – digital photo manager
- TotalIdea Tweak-XP Pro – Windows XP tweaker and optimizer, particularly to remove MSN/Windows Messenger
My computer should be back to me tomorrow afternoon. ‘Will then begin the grueling process of reformatting the disk (NTFS, not FAT32, right?) and then deleting the unwanted Microsoft and Toshiba software that comes standard. Then, in with the apps and on with the computing.
ICWA thing tomorrow. Gilmore Girls is actually a damn cute show. it’s reaffirmed whenever i watch it. funny and sweet. however predictable. i’d thought i could eat all the sashimi. maybe i could have if i hadn’t also ordered the sesame chicken meal with rice and soup and sushi on top of it all. come to think of it, that meal (sans the sashimi boat—cuz that’s some $25) is a really good lunch special. it is. my computer’s not in my hands tonight. how sad. not terribly horribly sad. but noticeable. and notable. and unpreferable. i didn’t get chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream tonight. or any ice cream at all. i need a dress for the office party thing in a couple weeks… what to ramble on about first… needing a dress? or party thing upcoming.. or couple weeks coming up so quickly and then time to up and go far away…. much supposed to be done before going. much would be nice to be done before going. haven’t planned what i’ll do there. make it up along the way; the usual plan.. that whole retreat idea that was suggested a long time ago probably would have been very healthy for me. i knew that. why subject oneself to discomfort, however knowledgeable of the beneficial properties? unfortunately i’m much better at the offering advice than the living it. what a common trait. anything particularly to be needing and taking advice about lately? nothing drastic. or dramatic. just the usual, underlying, constant and persisting basics of character and habit. well aware. it’s good when the sun’s out. when i can feel warmth. at the moment, feeling cold. not cold cold. but i know my feet and toes are cold, even though i’m wearing socks, and this leather jacket i’m wearing isn’t convincing me that my back isn’t cold… and all day i’ve avoided the cozy feeling of my bed and blankets because i’ve been fully dreading that sensation (however brief) of the cold blankets and bed touching me all over…. i know they heat up with my body warmth… eventually… but eventually is entirely too long to be extra colder than i already i am. oy. have i been complaining a lot lately? seems like it a bit… which is a bit disconcerting becuase i’m not feeling unhappy… maybe slightly uncomfortable with the cold and stuff… but not freezing nor unhealthy, nor particularly irked or stressed. if i am disturbed at all then, what is it by? is it distress or is it restlessness? if it’s restlessness, is it from wanting to move or from expectation of something to move and anticipation of my own necessary reaction? all things are revealed in time. i’m intrigued by that sentiment. i’d like to lay out a whole bunch of sentiments and assertions and predictions and observations and discuss them with worthwhile persons. ‘wonder if i’ll get to that this winter. good things in good time. good gracious my mother’s birthday is coming up. and then bahbe’s. and christmas and i’ll already be gone.. and for Kong-Kong.. ooh i’m going to get to spend time with my cousins (some of them) and uncles and aunts… ‘wonder if i’ve grown out of (rather, if they’ve grown out of) the Alicson-the-wild-American-one conception. i’ve always found it terribly ironic. i’m increasingly less offended by it though. Alicson the wild one. heh. how high on the list of “last things in the world Alicson would be called, ever”... but the words “zany” and “silly Asian girl” would’ve been way way up there too. i guess i have my moments. i think my phone’s beeping. that’s up on my bed. my cold bed. my cold bed with the blankets and pillows that do eventually warm up if i give them half a chance. sleeping with freshly clothes-dryer-tossed sheets… that’s the way to go. happy thoughts. tomorrow should be sunny. ..high of 49°F!? goodnight.
After that brief rant, it is quite clear to me that i have been missing chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream for much too long now. and then i remember. it’s frickin cold inside this house and colder even outside. this is not good for me eating ice cream. and the clementines are basically all gone. and my computer’s not anywhere in this house. and my favorite company is gone for the night (three of them).
*grumble grumble* <shrug> actually, i’m in fairly good spirits. if not feeling a bit tired (for not much reason… though i did eat a really large amount of sashimi today. is that why?)
much to do this weekend… enough of this for now
(formerly affectionately known as “BBB” / “Baby Blue Bytes”)
affectionately nothing right now.
unfortunately about my computer, it’s looking like i have two options:
a) drive about an hour tomorrow to take my computer to an authorized toshiba service center where their minimum charge is $75 for a diagnostic check… and their paper thing says they’ll charge me for backing up/retrieving any data: to the approximate cost of $200 for 4.71 gb of data, saved to DVD. which is a total bunch of crap. if i’m going there, i’m bringing Casey, my 200 GB external USB harddrive, and once they’ve ‘gained access’ to the files, i’ll move those things myself. good gracious.
b) just let the original setup CD (three of them) do their thing = completely wipe, delete, destroy, eliminate, erase, obliterate, force into oblivion, annihilate all my currnet programs, files, settings, thoughts, life.. and install a ‘fresh’ copy of windows. with all the typical startup toshiba garbage included.
personally, neither of those options are making me think very well of the world at the moment.
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