In The Twilight

The evening was warm as the sun set to the west. Birds said their goodnights beside the flowing river in the eastern part of the city. The area was quiet and there were no immediate signs that this was a city, nay, a country at war. Mothers called their children home for the night to waiting supper set tables. The moon peeked above the horizon in the east.

As the last light of day passed, an unusual calm filled the air. From the north, a sudden flash of light gave an indication that a storm was brewing. But the lightning did not fade. Another, and yet another flash, four then five; each one closer than the last until all the sky was bright as day. Children and mothers screamed as one beneath the roar of wind as it ripped through their neighborhood, only to be silenced in a flash of light from overhead.

The river was dry, the moon hid from sight, and no life could be found.

"It is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself."

- The Matrix

Building a Computer

All of the parts for my new computer system have finally been ordered. I figured that if I spend a little bit more for a high(er) end system, it'd last me for many years to come and ultimately be more cost effective. Having said that, the total cost was still under $1,500 (after all the rebates are obtained). Note that a comparable system from Alienware or Dell would run in the $2,000's and up.

So, I placed the final order from Newegg last night and it should arrive next week. When that happens, I get to fun task of seeing if all of my research paid off and the parts all play nice together. I am looking forward to the experience though since I have never built an entire system from scratch. Unfortunately I will probably drive a couple of my friends crazy inundating them with computer building questions if the build does not go smoothly.

Now on to the important stuff; the final system specs are:

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
ABS Tagan BZ Series 700W Patent Piperock Modular Power Supply
ASUS P5N32-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor
OCZ Vista Upgrade 4GB(2 x 2GB) SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model
eVGA GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card
ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe
(2x) Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Microsoft Vista Home Premium

Everything was ordered from Newegg.com except Vista and the hard drives. Shipping was free for most of it (only paid $11.32) and there was no tax. On top of that, I’ll be getting $145 back in rebates so overall, while it’s more than I’m used to spending in one shot, I think it’ll work out well. To put it into perspective, I do love to nickel and dime my money away; hell, Starbuck’s coffee will hit my budget harder than this computer system will over the same timeframe.

Finally, the cool thing is that I will still be working out so sitting in front of this new system will not have that big of a negative effect on my fat content.

"Boonowa tweepi, ha, ha."

Will the Fake Steve Jobs Please Stand Up?

I came across this site while researching a power supply for my computer of all things. The things people invent on the internet these days. Obviously it's all satirical but some have taken it seriously and actually think that Apple is threatening legal action.

While much on the site is obviously fake, there is a bit of truth there as well. I’ve news for y’all, Apple is just as sleazy as any other big company (DUH!). Case in point, the new iPhone and its price reduction within months of the original release.

However, I’ve found that Mac fanboys are much like Bush lovers, they refuse to see a monster for what it is, blindly following their chosen leader off the nearest cliff. At least most of us Microsoft users slam Microsoft as much as we can and rarely wear rose colored glasses. More than once have I made the statement, “It’s Microsoft Word, what did you expect.” or “Why do they feel the need to bloat their software with all this unnecessary crap, you’d think they were overcompensating for something.”

Anyway, take a look for yourself; here is the site: http://fakesteve.blogspot.com/

Canadian Holiday

Happy Boxing Day!!

Habitual Personality

This is very strange. I am actually in the “habit” of working out now. Every morning during the week I get up, head to the gym, work out, and then head to the office. Now keep in mind that my workout intensity varies depending upon what state of sleep I am in while at the gym. Nonetheless, every day I get up now.

The strange part is that this morning all I wanted to do was sleep in and catch a later bus. However, I soon found myself on my usual bus headed to the gym. Somewhere along the way my "other" personality had taken over and got my lazy ass prepared and out the door in time.

Cool yet scary at the same time.

Disposable Income?

Ah, I’ve come full circle. Once again, it’s that time of year when I get the urge to collect electronic gadgets that I cannot afford. Of course, the best way to do that is to buy a brand new computer.

I’m still sold on building my own PC from the ground up. A preliminary look at Newegg.com shows that I could build a mightily powerful system for around US $1,800.

The best case I could find so far is still the Antec Nine Hundred (pictured here). Other than the fact that it has the power of a wind tunnel (to keep the internals cool), it’s got nifty blue lights. Now mind you, I kinda like Dell’s new XPS case better but beggars can’t be choosers. Building one will result in a much more powerful system than buying a comparably priced Dell one; best bang for the buck as they say.

Quick specs of the (maybe) soon to be built system (items may change without notice):

• Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4 GHz
• ASUS 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
• (4x) Corsair XMS2 1GB SDRAM DDR2 800
• EVGA GeForce 8800GTX 768MB Video Card

If you would like to contribute to the Zero Point: Four “Buy Rob a New Computer” greed... uh, I mean "charity" fund, I’ve set up a PayPal account for you to donate to. Ha ha, just kidding! Well, only about the PayPal account.

The Day

I awake to a time when the sun don’t shine.
Resting my eyes while sitting on a bus,
But the commute is too short for any sleep,
So I endure cardio in a daze,
And struggle to finish until I awake.
These are the things of my mornings.

Yesterday saw the same old time
Until the close of business came and went.
Six, seven, then eight o’clock at work.
On to nine and finally ten when I take my leave.

Bus goes the long way and is no express,
Only to dump me off blocks from home.
I stroll through the door at eleven o’clock,
And struggle to finish before I sleep.

Only to awake to a time when the sun don’t shine.
Resting my eyes while sitting on a bus,
Commute too short for any sleep,
Enduring cardio in a daze,
These were the things of this morning.

Caffeine has no effect today,
I only want to sleep the day away.
Sitting at this desk from not long ago,
I need a vacation and a beach or some snow.
These are the things of this morning.

Henna Tattoo Trials

Sunday we got together for the much anticipated henna tattoo trials. My friend did a great job with his design. He loves Basenjis so he incorporated them into his design; 100% his own creation.

Me, I cheated a little. I found a great dragon I liked and incorporated the head and part of the body into my design. So, mine is only about 50% my own creation. On top of that, I think I need to tweak it a little more.

Without further ado, here are the outcomes.

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His design and my attempt at applying henna for the first time:

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My design and his first time applying henna:

Angry Zen

I am very disappointed with myself today.

You see, I have quite the temper. Over the years, I have allowed my temper to consume me. The slightest thing would set me off be it while driving, at work, or just hanging with friends. One day earlier this year, I was driving along and someone slighted me. This, of course, threw me into a rage; that dreaded “road rage.” I did some things and said some things that I am not proud of (no, I was not taking steroids so I had no excuse). Anyway, immediately after that I felt extremely embarrassed and from that day forward, I endeavored to find my Zen in everything I do.

For the better part of the year, I have been extremely successful in keeping my temper in check. Unfortunately, that success ended today.

Last week, I had scheduled an important time-sensitive meeting with one of the engineers in my office for today. Five minutes before the meeting time, I ran into him in the hall and asked if he was ready for the meeting. He played dumb. I reminded him of the meeting and subject and he flippantly said he could not make it because he had a dentist appointment.

Immediately I started to get the tell-tale signs that my Zen was not working; I got tunnel vision. The best I could do was just walk away. Now, that by itself would have been ok but it so happened that my boss was walking past and witnessed the entire exchange. He and I continued in the same direction as I started to pull no punches using extremely colorful language (with him agreeing with me about this guy mind you). Nonetheless, what disappoints me is that I started to cuss and let my temper flare (my boss has seen worse).

Before y’all get concerned, my job is not in jeopardy; we have a very relaxed office so my little slippage from Zen has no effect on my continued employment.

It's All About the Pecs

It's interesting how the brain works.

There is this guy at the gym (isn't there always?). Anyway, I've noticed him on and off over the past several months. What impresses me about him is that he has perfect proportions on his upper body. His pectorals are huge and his lats taper down to a small waist. Obviously what drew my eye to him in the first place were his pecs.

So Friday I finished my workout and proceeded to the showers. It turns out that this guy was leaving the showers at the same time I was. Oi!

He always wears sweatpants so I never knew what his lower body was like; until now. He was standing outside his shower drying off (we get separate shower stalls at my gym). As I passed, I got a great close-up view of him in all his splendor; an amazingly developed upper body with a broad muscular back and lats that taper down to a small waist... continuing into a perfectly formed bubble butt all overlaid with silky black skin. Did I say "Oi!" already!

So, that was yesterday morning. This morning I had a pretty realistic dream with Mr. Bubble Butt playing the star role. In the dream he was giving me a hard time about my checking him out at the gym. Unfortunately for me (but fortunately for you all) I did not "get any" in the dream.

Have I mentioned that my libido is on fire these days? Must, find, boyfriend.

It's funny that my brain chose to chastise me for checking him out when he was in the buff (nude); you'd think I was some prudish Puritan or something.