August 20, 2012

• News And Notes: August 2012

  

  NO HOME COMPUTER: A few months ago I began to have problems with my 2008 HP desktop. After numerous "blue screen crashes" on the old machine, I backed up all my files and folders, then completely restored and reinstalled Windows XP. It took a while to "upgrade" the 2008 version of XP to the current version, and when finished, things seemed to be fine. I didn't even take the time to reinstall some of my older programs, and I was upset that I forgot to save my fonts folder in Windows, but the cleaner version of XP was running faster, and I'm due to upgrade lots of old programs anyway.

  Money's tight, and just rushing right out to buy a new puter isn't necessarily the best option for me right now. I started to get back in the swing of things. I've been socializing on Xanga. I've been creating a few composites. I even began a couple of internet movies. Then bit by bit, I began having problems with crashes again. I began to doubt that the operating system was what was wrong anyway (although eradicating a lot of detritus left over from numerous malware ad trojan attacks over the years was a good thing.) Crashes seemed to be happening when I was using video editing programs, or watching HD streaming movies on my 32" LCD monitor hooked up to the puter, so after discussing my problems with our IT guy at work, and dropping in on a few online message boards, I spent $50.00 on a new graphics card at Best Buy last Friday night.

  I installed the new card, a PNY Nvidia GeForce, which was on sale. I'd purchased my power supply at Best Buy a couple of months ago too, and I have enough power for the new card. The new graphics card even has HDMI output. I read the instructions, took out the old card, which I 'd got with one of the Pinnacle video editing software packages years ago, entered setup, insured that my bios was set to PCI output, and rebooted my machine.

  The HP splash screen looked brighter through the HDMI output than ever, and I was ready for a great new experience. However, instead of the spalsh screen for Windows XP, I just got what looked like a DOS screen with a blinking cursor. I attemtped to hit enter, or type in win...but to no avail. After a couple of reboots with no progress, I changed the setting in BIOS back to onboard video card, and now the puter won't boot and is asking for a system disc.

  I've got my receipt and the installation guide and am going to call PNY, the Geek Squad at Best Buy, where I bought the card, and cross my fingers. As I'm typing this entry on my work puter, the system is so slow even before anyone gets here, that I'm typing about two sentences faster than what's appearing on the Xanga editor. Puter too slow at work. Puter nonexistant at home.

  Am I upset? Not really. I might even have some files which weren't backed up this time. But I'm past the stage where this is bothering me. I need either a new camcorder/video recorder to get me HD internet movies anyway. I'm two versions behind on my Vegas video editing software, and never could get the download to install for Sonic Forge after the last crash. I couldn't even download my Webshots desktop software!

  We'll see what happens. I'll be off the puter for a while until I "fix" this latest turn of events to a more positive scenario. I may end up returning the video card and just invest the $300.00 or $400.00 it takes nowadays to get a new puter. Might just get a laptop this time out. But I don't want to think about that now.

  I'll think about that tomorrow.

  HEALTH: Can't seem to get my weight back down to 150 pounds. Hovering around 155-160 when I wanted to be hovering around 150-155 and was for a while. I feel good. I"m not overdoing the exercise in the heat. I'm not overeating. But my spare tire doesn't seem to go away. I certainly don't want to stop eating altogether or do anything unhealthy. I really wanted to perform a "dance" video I"d promised over two years ago, but most of the Xangans to whom I promised said video arent' even around anymore so it's possibly a moot point. Can't make the video without the computer, and maybe I'll wait till I get a better camera anyway.

  It'll wait. It'll have to.

  WEALTH: Each month I call creditors and service providers and make attempts to lower bills. Rent goes up next month. I've been at the park for over three years now, and my space rent (nearly $800.00 a month)  is almost as much as I've paid for a two bedroom apartment rental in the past. (This isn't my mortgage either. That's another $280.00 a month for the mobile home.) I'm still dipping into my overdraft credit card account somewhat regularly, but as long as I'm doing the transfers and not the bank, I pay a lot less in fees. I cancelled Hulu Plus this month, and I switched DirecTV plans to save me $15.00 a month. Gotta budget in a new computer possibly. If I can get the old one booted and the new video card working it'll be like having a new puter. We'll see.

  THIS JUST IN: Director Tony Scott, who made Top Gun and was last responsible for Unstoppable (a pretty good film), jumped off the Vincent Thomas bridge in the San Pedro harbor yesterday afternoon. I drive over that bridge all the time, and was taking photos around there just a week ago. Tony's brother is Ridley Scott, one of my favorite directors, and I was watching Ridley's Alien on my bigscreen around the time his brother Tony was taking his last dive into the drink. Its not that easy to jump off the bridge by the way. There's a 10 foot tall fence you have to climb. Tony was 68. It was a suicide, and a note was found in his office. He and Ridley's TV series The Good Wife is a hit. We'll probably find out there was some health issues involved. A bit of a shock to read about this, however. It isn't every day that someone jumps off that bridge. And famous film directors aren't usually among the subset.

  XANGA: I've been "meeting" quite a few new people here in the past couple of weeks. (Now Hope I don't disappear completely cause of puter problems. ) There are still lots of folks I remember well who stilll post actively, and Xanga is still good for socializing in my book. Once I get my digital world back in order, I think I'm going to make a real attempt at sticking around for a while this time out. It was pretty neat to see "double digit" entries last month. I posted 12 entries in July. Last time I posted more than single digit entries (under 10 a month) was in May of 2011! And I've posted 8 entries this month already, so I should be at double digits this month too (if I get my puter back up and working that is.)

  WORK: Well, I'd better get back to it. LOL.

  Posted: August 20, 2012 7:23 AM

  • 6:15 pm
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