Now that I’m finally debt free (well, excluding college loans which’ll take me the next 20 years to pay off) and the only expenditures I have coming up that I’m aware of is the possible apartment with Laura, I’m tempted to drop a little cash on myself.
The last time I really bought something for myself was my birthday where I got myself a new 19in wide screen monitor. Its a beauty, especially for the price I paid ($129 for an Envision widescreen with DVI? Not bad). However, I’m also tempted to buy something else now. See, theres two options from the way I see it.
- Xbox 360 or Wii
- New computer intended for linux day to day
Now if my parents were involved in the decision they’d most likely smack me upside the head and ask what I was thinking. See, I have a pretty decent computer at the moment (Dual core, 2Gb of memory and an X1900GT) which is more than suitable for gaming and day to day work. I also have an Xbox (unmodded sadly) which works alright for older games. Sadly, there aren’t too many new games coming out for the Xbox and its graphics are starting to look a bit dated. And yes, my computer can run 99% of games out there and its more than fast enough for wordprocessing, movie watching and everything else I do but man it puts out a lot of heat. Leaving it on 24×7 makes my room into an oven.
What makes it even more complicated is that a new computer build (Athlon x2, 2Gb of memory, 690G board, hd, case and burner) would cost roughly around $400ish shipped. An Xbox 360 with an extra controller and a game is going to run roughly the same. So, either one puts me back the same. Ones dedicated to gaming solely and the nice thing is you don’t really have to worry about “oh man, can my system play the latest game?” If its designed for the 360, it’ll play it. Still doesnt take care of the heat related issue with the computer though.
Some people might ask why the hell two computers would simplify the heat issues but I could actually shut down the 2nd, gaming, current computer when I dont need it. The new one would be alot more frugal on both power, and heat since it’d be based on much new processes and designs.
For example, my current processor uses about 90-100 watts of power at load where the new one is a 65 watt max processor. My current video card at load uses probably 18-20A and runs close to 75c at load. The integrated on the 690G uses far, far less but even has HDMI/DVI integrated on board
Its an interesting dilemma and honestly, I probably won’t punch the button for a few more months but when Im bored (like now), its damn tempting.
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Life has an odd sense of humor. Last night I needed something to read and I was looking for Heinlein’s Numbers of the Beast but couldn’t find it. Instead, what stood out was William Gibson’s Pattern Recognition. I’ve read it before, thought it was ok and set it aside. As is his style, its very graphical and descriptive, deep in its imagery. So deep you can almost taste it.
Until, ten minutes ago, I got to the part where Cayce (the main character) remembers September 11. The chapter where, faced with jet lag, she lets go and brings it all back. The disappearance and possible death of a father, a changing of paths, a changing of a nation, and most of all a changing of fate.
I will always remember that day, as I think most people in this country will; but maybe not for the same reasons. I remember being in chem class and the announcement coming over the loud speaker that “america had been bombed.” I remember skipping my next class and going to the computer labs franticly loading websites but none of the mainstream media pages loading. I remember going to arstechnica and hardocp and checking their forums, then anandtech. The rumors flew and swirled. It felt like I was in a maelstrom.
I remember every class being focused solely on the televisions in each classroom. Everyone discussing, amongst themselves what had happened. Possible causes; possible enemies; possible responses.
I remember how we were supposed to have a soccer game that night, against who I can’t remember. It was canceled. I remember walking out to my friends car for a ride home and thinking: “My god, what a beautiful day.” My head couldn’t get around the displacement. It was like two different worlds; mirror worlds.
In one, there were no planes, no distractions; even the sound of traffic was muted. Birds chirped and flew like normal, the clouds passed effortlessly across the sky but in the other world? Death. Screams of pain, of agony. Tongues of flame and fire and suffering.
Its funny how a book grabbed at random can make memories come back; make you rethink things. I had other things planned for tonight, other things to think of but for some reason these thoughts feel right.
Its late, but I remember.
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Starting my second day on the phones I feel alot less nervous, a bit more sure of myself. While I cant say I have the hang of it yet, alot of the training is coming back and things are falling into place. Just as I thought though, its not the phone calls that are the problem. Its the processes after the call is finished and trying to peice together the sixty bajillion technical things that are floating around in my head.
I think it might be easier if we didnt have so many products to support but beggars cant be choosers. Alot of it though at this point is take the info and punt because we’re still not comfortable enough to actually issue fixes. Hopefully in the next month or so I’ll have the processes down enough tat I can actually get to the point of troubleshooting and then, most of all, learning all the cool, juicy bits that we own.
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Tomorrow is officially my first true day of work on the phones at Sun. While I can’t exactly say I feel "ready," I can say I’m in better shape than a lot of people. In fact, I’m more worried about processes than any technical or personal aspect of the job.
I guess time will tell.
By the way, this is the first post of the new blog. Here’s to many more 
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