Overheard at Best Buy today:

Woman: <to husband> "You aren't going to *make* me listen to that Johnny Cash CD are you?"
Man: <annoyed> "Of course not…"

Somehow that just seemed extremely funny to me at the time.

* * * * *

In other news, my main hard drive for my PC crashed late last week. Hence the lack of recent entries. Fortunately with the help of Norton DiskDoctor and Norton WinDoctor, nothing critical or important was lost. In fact, it appears that I still have all my data intact on the hard drive, it just doesn't boot to Windows XP Pro. I consider myself extremely lucky to escape with no major harm done. The last backup I have was from February of this year. Eeks. Be that a lesson to you to back up your critical/important data somewhat frequently! No one is immune. It will happen and can happen to everyone of us.

The benefit of the whole stressful situation is…(damn, I feel like I'm ending a Dale Carnegie speech here) that with me reinstalling Windows XP & starting fresh on a new hard drive, I am finally getting DSL speeds which I should have been getting all along. Co-worker Buddy reported that he was getting speeds of over 1Mbps when he got DSL, and I was hoping for the same. But for some strange reason (probably O/S related), I had only been getting around 500 kbps. With the fresh install of XP, I'm now getting around 1.2 Mbps (or 1200 kbps). Yes!! Download rates are around an average of 150 k/s.

So as of last night, I finally finished backing up the files I really should have backed up all along, I finally finished reinstalling all the frequently used apps, and I brought XP back up-to-speed with SP1 and all the critical updates.

Jen commented that these days, it's almost more worthwhile to be trained/skilled at troubleshooting computer problems than being a car mechanic. I mean, think about all the money and time that would have been spent fixing the computer this time around had I not known what to do. Maybe she was just trying to make me feel better about myself.

It's raining here which is good news for me. It means that I may be getting gutters sooner than later. The contractor that we hired told me that if it rains, they are unable to install gutters for new homes (due to lack of solid footing/grass/ground) so that would bump us up on the list. I don't know why exactly, but the thought of getting gutters for our house makes me feel all giddy.

I'm also enjoying tremendously being a two-car household. This is where you environmentalists can flame me. The sense of freedom and not having to coordinate car usage is a great feeling. I think Jen would agree. However, I noticed a large clunking sound coming from the front end of my truck whenever I turn the steering wheel sharply. I'm thinking it may have something to do with the suspension so I may have to get that checked out. Other than that, it drives great and has a great sound system.

Poll: I'm thinking about getting a personalized license plate - any suggestions on what I should use? Co-worker Buddy suggested either "WOOT" or "L33T" (elite). I was thinking "WRTR4HR" (writer-for-hire), "HAXOR", or some other common internet acronym. Ideas definitely wanted!! Maybe "NSG"? Or "TEH WIN"? Ok, I got it…it's going to be "NO YUO" Don't ask.

If you hadn't noticed, I created a wishlist, mostly for reference. Jen mentions that she doesn't always know what I "want" so I thought I'd create and maintain a list. Especially since most of my interests cannot be found on Amazon.

Busy week ahead of us - we have something scheduled every day this week, culminating with the annual work party on Friday night. Not to mention trying to get the house ready for relatives who are coming for Christmas and New Years.

My entertainment center is still progressing, albeit slowly. I almost have the sanding complete - which means hopefully I'll be able to stain it this weekend. Another project I hope to have completed before the Christmas holiday.

Almost a year ago today: She