(no subject)
Some weekends, the Weekend3 is just not as obvious. After two insane weekends, between getting fully certified for Scuba (go me!) and then hosting two major gatherings over the holiday weekend, I craved nothing more than a very quiet weekend at home. On top of that, the weather around here has been unbearably hot & humid and we are pioneers who choose to live without AC. Or rather, we're realists who quickly noted that our house rarely overheats to uncomfortable levels, and when it does, due to the layout of our house and the ancient windows, an air conditioner would mostly cool the basement and outside rather than our living spaces. 99% of the time, the house is fine with just a couple of box fans, but this week fell into that awful 1% where the costs for a huge central air system suddenly seem more than reasonable.
The first task was easy to choose. I'm working on digging out a brand new patio in our back yard. It's a lot of hard work, as much of the area was overgrown with creeper vines, and there was a lot of debris from a previous owner, but it gives me plenty of exercise which I'm enjoying, and it's saving me money from hiring a landscaper, so I feel good about working on it. My goal is to have it finished by the time krisstudly comes for a visit in August, so that we can sit out by the fire pit and make s'mores. For this weekend, I set a goal of working on it for three hours. I tried to put in some solid time on it Friday, and the heat was so miserable that I was limited to one hour, which leave two hours left to go.
The second task was a little nebulous. Since our refi, the dates when our normal payments are due have all shifted, and that, combined with an insane period at work, has caused me to fall out of my typical bill paying habits. In addition, we have a lot of little things, like property taxes, cropping up. I ended up spending about 3 hours sorting through my bills, figuring out where I stood with my budget, and just getting back control.
The third task was the kicker. I usually set my W3 goals in the following manner: Home Improvement, Annoying small task that I like to put off, and Artistic/Personal goal. This balances out my efforts across everything that I'd want to get done, and makes sure that I keep making small progress. So this week, my third goal needed to be Artistic. Normally, that would mean working on the Grindstone video, but frankly it was too hot & humid to work with coffee grounds. I decided instead to work on a blog post. (How very meta of me!) Since it was miserably hot on Friday, and miserably rainy on Saturday, I figured I'd do finances & writing plus chores on Friday & Saturday, and do yard work on Sunday.
What I didn't anticipate were the distractions. Distraction #1 was a request from a friend to break apart a photoshop file into little pieces for a website. It wasn't *hard* work, but it was tiresome, as I had to make sure that everything was sized appropriately and that I remembered to save the "rollover" versions as well as the regular versions. Distraction #2 was a boy child who recently received a device known as an "Action Replay" for his DS. This device lets you input cheat codes for various games. Now, in my experience, cheat codes tend to make games kinda boring, bc suddenly you can do everything and there's no challenge. Goes to show you how much I know, bc apparently with most of the Pokemon games, you need cheat codes to actually be able to get certain characters. Well, the problem we've been facing is that the "Code Manager" software that comes with the unit is PC only. (Grrrrr!) And the codes that Per wants in particular were apparently included on the "old" version of the Action Replay, but not on the new. So I've been trying to patiently explain to Per that no, we don't need to buy the old unit, we just need to find the codes and enter them.
Manually.
Now, in and of itself, that doesn't sound so hard, does it? Just google up the code you want, enter it--manually in this case since we're unfortunate Mac users, and you're good to go. Only the problem is that the type of hackers who tend to figure out these codes are the same type of people who hate "stupid newbie" users. So they make the process painfully difficult. If you just blindly enter codes, you are likely to get malicious codes that will fry your game and force you to restart everything. Even finding codes that seem to have approvals is just as tricky. There will be battles in the discussions over whether or not the code actually works, and you can't tell who is telling the truth. And manually entering them is a pain in the neck too--I tried to enter this code in, and got a bad egg.
94000130 FCFF0000 B2111880 00000000 10000096 00000000 0000009A 00000718 00000044 13C575C3 00000088 000F423F E00009B0 00000190 005F0148 005F0149 005F014A 005F014B 005F014C 005F014D 005F014E 005F014F 005F0150 005F0151 005F0152 005F0153 005F0154 005F0155 005F0156 005F0157 005F0158 005F0159 005F015A 005F015B 005F015C 005F015D 005F015E 005F015F 005F0160 005F0161 005F0162 005F0163 005F0164 005F0165 005F0166 005F0167 005F0168 005F0169 005F016A 005F016B 005F016C 005F016D 005F016E 005F016F 005F0170 005F0171 005F0172 005F0173 005F0174 005F0175 005F0176 005F0177 005F0178 005F0179 005F017A 005F017B 005F017C 005F017D 005F017E 005F017F 005F0180 005F0181 005F0182 005F0183 005F0184 005F0185 005F0186 005F0187 005F0188 005F0189 005F018A 005F018B 005F018C 005F018D 005F018E 005F018F 005F0190 005F0191 005F0192 005F0193 005F0194 005F0195 005F0196 005F0197 005F0198 005F0199 005F019A 005F019B 005F019C 005F019D 005F019E 005F019F 005F01A0 005F01A1 005F01A2 005F01A3 005F01A4 005F01A5 005F01A6 005F01A7 005F01A8 005F01A9 005F01AA 005F01AB E00008E8 000000C8 000101B2 000101B3 000101B5 000101BC 000101BD 000101BE 000101BF 000101C2 000101C8 000101D0 000101D1 000101D2 000101D4 000101D5 000101D6 000101D7 000101D8 000101D9 000101DA 000101DB 000101DC 000101DD 000101DE 000101DF 000101E0 000101E1 000101E2 000101E3 000101E4 000101F5 000101F6 000101F7 000101F8 00010214 00010215 00010216 00010217 00010218 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 E0000194 000000EC 72867283 20A00000 E28EE55D C540587F D760FCF5 F1945B98 ECB93A5E 50CAC328 FBE65D8E 04C0EDBE 0E53C182 CAC6FD29 506C80A1 1EEEC52C 76AF8DF6 11B78482 71401A7A DC86D7CC 4C9A7307 281D9CB5 CF820C86 9AC0C0DD FE8259D6 DE8E99D4 3F5586BF 5572D7AF 0424CADA FDF734C4 6454E66B 5BFC6943 8608A78D C5ED4D22 30E3DEA3 87E696C9 806C8E75 F87E718E 5A10EDE2 110789A5 6A802EAA 1413A2A5 8E14C106 A64CCD2D 9FFC77DC EF26B0FF B073A746 1C317929 6A35A74D C5AE5E65 5B2EBEF8 086573C1 1473BB85 68B59982 5575B7F5 D2ECBA45 B673D8CE 4CD8B668 8630001C 2C9EA1A7 CEE6BDB8 00000000 D2000000 00000000
Since I typed it in manually, I can't tell if *I* made a mistake, or if the code itself is messed up. And I may be blind, but I can't find a way to edit the codes I've entered manually on the system--I think I need the code manager software to do that. I'd love to just leave Per to figure all of this out, since he's the one who wants to use the cheat codes, but the last thing I need for him to be doing is going off onto all of these hacker sites and downloading all sorts of malicious codes. So, I found myself trying to navigate a thousand different "Ultimate Cheat Code!!!!" sites, and no, I will NOT give you my cell phone number to access codes, thankyouverymuch.
Anyway, between the photoshop work and the code searching, I found myself getting up from the computer at 10 pm with NOTHING accomplished as far as my chores or my W3. So, as soon as I finish this blog entry, it's going to be a ridiculously busy day...sigh!
The first task was easy to choose. I'm working on digging out a brand new patio in our back yard. It's a lot of hard work, as much of the area was overgrown with creeper vines, and there was a lot of debris from a previous owner, but it gives me plenty of exercise which I'm enjoying, and it's saving me money from hiring a landscaper, so I feel good about working on it. My goal is to have it finished by the time krisstudly comes for a visit in August, so that we can sit out by the fire pit and make s'mores. For this weekend, I set a goal of working on it for three hours. I tried to put in some solid time on it Friday, and the heat was so miserable that I was limited to one hour, which leave two hours left to go.
The second task was a little nebulous. Since our refi, the dates when our normal payments are due have all shifted, and that, combined with an insane period at work, has caused me to fall out of my typical bill paying habits. In addition, we have a lot of little things, like property taxes, cropping up. I ended up spending about 3 hours sorting through my bills, figuring out where I stood with my budget, and just getting back control.
The third task was the kicker. I usually set my W3 goals in the following manner: Home Improvement, Annoying small task that I like to put off, and Artistic/Personal goal. This balances out my efforts across everything that I'd want to get done, and makes sure that I keep making small progress. So this week, my third goal needed to be Artistic. Normally, that would mean working on the Grindstone video, but frankly it was too hot & humid to work with coffee grounds. I decided instead to work on a blog post. (How very meta of me!) Since it was miserably hot on Friday, and miserably rainy on Saturday, I figured I'd do finances & writing plus chores on Friday & Saturday, and do yard work on Sunday.
What I didn't anticipate were the distractions. Distraction #1 was a request from a friend to break apart a photoshop file into little pieces for a website. It wasn't *hard* work, but it was tiresome, as I had to make sure that everything was sized appropriately and that I remembered to save the "rollover" versions as well as the regular versions. Distraction #2 was a boy child who recently received a device known as an "Action Replay" for his DS. This device lets you input cheat codes for various games. Now, in my experience, cheat codes tend to make games kinda boring, bc suddenly you can do everything and there's no challenge. Goes to show you how much I know, bc apparently with most of the Pokemon games, you need cheat codes to actually be able to get certain characters. Well, the problem we've been facing is that the "Code Manager" software that comes with the unit is PC only. (Grrrrr!) And the codes that Per wants in particular were apparently included on the "old" version of the Action Replay, but not on the new. So I've been trying to patiently explain to Per that no, we don't need to buy the old unit, we just need to find the codes and enter them.
Manually.
Now, in and of itself, that doesn't sound so hard, does it? Just google up the code you want, enter it--manually in this case since we're unfortunate Mac users, and you're good to go. Only the problem is that the type of hackers who tend to figure out these codes are the same type of people who hate "stupid newbie" users. So they make the process painfully difficult. If you just blindly enter codes, you are likely to get malicious codes that will fry your game and force you to restart everything. Even finding codes that seem to have approvals is just as tricky. There will be battles in the discussions over whether or not the code actually works, and you can't tell who is telling the truth. And manually entering them is a pain in the neck too--I tried to enter this code in, and got a bad egg.
94000130 FCFF0000 B2111880 00000000 10000096 00000000 0000009A 00000718 00000044 13C575C3 00000088 000F423F E00009B0 00000190 005F0148 005F0149 005F014A 005F014B 005F014C 005F014D 005F014E 005F014F 005F0150 005F0151 005F0152 005F0153 005F0154 005F0155 005F0156 005F0157 005F0158 005F0159 005F015A 005F015B 005F015C 005F015D 005F015E 005F015F 005F0160 005F0161 005F0162 005F0163 005F0164 005F0165 005F0166 005F0167 005F0168 005F0169 005F016A 005F016B 005F016C 005F016D 005F016E 005F016F 005F0170 005F0171 005F0172 005F0173 005F0174 005F0175 005F0176 005F0177 005F0178 005F0179 005F017A 005F017B 005F017C 005F017D 005F017E 005F017F 005F0180 005F0181 005F0182 005F0183 005F0184 005F0185 005F0186 005F0187 005F0188 005F0189 005F018A 005F018B 005F018C 005F018D 005F018E 005F018F 005F0190 005F0191 005F0192 005F0193 005F0194 005F0195 005F0196 005F0197 005F0198 005F0199 005F019A 005F019B 005F019C 005F019D 005F019E 005F019F 005F01A0 005F01A1 005F01A2 005F01A3 005F01A4 005F01A5 005F01A6 005F01A7 005F01A8 005F01A9 005F01AA 005F01AB E00008E8 000000C8 000101B2 000101B3 000101B5 000101BC 000101BD 000101BE 000101BF 000101C2 000101C8 000101D0 000101D1 000101D2 000101D4 000101D5 000101D6 000101D7 000101D8 000101D9 000101DA 000101DB 000101DC 000101DD 000101DE 000101DF 000101E0 000101E1 000101E2 000101E3 000101E4 000101F5 000101F6 000101F7 000101F8 00010214 00010215 00010216 00010217 00010218 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 E0000194 000000EC 72867283 20A00000 E28EE55D C540587F D760FCF5 F1945B98 ECB93A5E 50CAC328 FBE65D8E 04C0EDBE 0E53C182 CAC6FD29 506C80A1 1EEEC52C 76AF8DF6 11B78482 71401A7A DC86D7CC 4C9A7307 281D9CB5 CF820C86 9AC0C0DD FE8259D6 DE8E99D4 3F5586BF 5572D7AF 0424CADA FDF734C4 6454E66B 5BFC6943 8608A78D C5ED4D22 30E3DEA3 87E696C9 806C8E75 F87E718E 5A10EDE2 110789A5 6A802EAA 1413A2A5 8E14C106 A64CCD2D 9FFC77DC EF26B0FF B073A746 1C317929 6A35A74D C5AE5E65 5B2EBEF8 086573C1 1473BB85 68B59982 5575B7F5 D2ECBA45 B673D8CE 4CD8B668 8630001C 2C9EA1A7 CEE6BDB8 00000000 D2000000 00000000
Since I typed it in manually, I can't tell if *I* made a mistake, or if the code itself is messed up. And I may be blind, but I can't find a way to edit the codes I've entered manually on the system--I think I need the code manager software to do that. I'd love to just leave Per to figure all of this out, since he's the one who wants to use the cheat codes, but the last thing I need for him to be doing is going off onto all of these hacker sites and downloading all sorts of malicious codes. So, I found myself trying to navigate a thousand different "Ultimate Cheat Code!!!!" sites, and no, I will NOT give you my cell phone number to access codes, thankyouverymuch.
Anyway, between the photoshop work and the code searching, I found myself getting up from the computer at 10 pm with NOTHING accomplished as far as my chores or my W3. So, as soon as I finish this blog entry, it's going to be a ridiculously busy day...sigh!