Of bikes and computers
I went for a bike ride for the first time in years last night. My thighs were a little bit sore for a few minutes after, and right now my butt is sore from the seat, but all in all it went better than I'd hoped. I was afraid that it would be too difficult and I'd be reluctant to go out again, but I guess the nearby trails are generally flat enough and that having a bike that's actually the right size makes enough of a difference that riding a bike was actually a lot of fun. I didn't go terribly fast or generally exert myself as much as I could have, but when I got back my heart rate was up, I was sweating, and my cheeks were flushed, so I'm guessing it was good exercise. There are some gorgeous trails near my house for both walking and biking. Good stuff for me.
Next step is to get used to the bike seat; I'm bruised today. Then, I start looking for a good route to work. I feel guilty driving to work each day as the single occupant of my car, and I could use the regular exercise anyway.
Changing subjects, I'm looking to buy a new computer in the next month or so--when I get the pay cheque after next, actually--so I'm trying to figure out both what to buy and when. I get the impression that one of the next big things we're looking for on the processor scene are the AMD quad core chips, which aren't due until Q3, meaning Oct-Dec, I believe. Does anyone know of anything else more in the two to three month range that's going to affect prices? I'm not really keen to wait a ton of time, as I've been thinking about upgrading for awhile and am really looking forward to a new computer. Mine's coming up on five years old, and while it's actually still a pretty decent machine, I'm just starting to hit things I can't do with it. NWN2, for instance, and a bit of a performance boost on LOTRO wouldn't hurt.
It occurs to me just now that I'm not certain if those things are worth the $600-$900 some-odd dollars I'm planning to spend, though. I mean, I guess I have a few programs whose performance could be enhanced, but I don't really know if it's yet worth the cash to do a full upgrade all in one blow. The problem is that my hardware is old enough now that if I want to upgrade one major component, I really have to upgrade them all. I do want to upgrade, but I think it's more of a gadgetophile thing than a "my computer's slowing me down" thing. Hm. Decisions, decisions.
Next step is to get used to the bike seat; I'm bruised today. Then, I start looking for a good route to work. I feel guilty driving to work each day as the single occupant of my car, and I could use the regular exercise anyway.
Changing subjects, I'm looking to buy a new computer in the next month or so--when I get the pay cheque after next, actually--so I'm trying to figure out both what to buy and when. I get the impression that one of the next big things we're looking for on the processor scene are the AMD quad core chips, which aren't due until Q3, meaning Oct-Dec, I believe. Does anyone know of anything else more in the two to three month range that's going to affect prices? I'm not really keen to wait a ton of time, as I've been thinking about upgrading for awhile and am really looking forward to a new computer. Mine's coming up on five years old, and while it's actually still a pretty decent machine, I'm just starting to hit things I can't do with it. NWN2, for instance, and a bit of a performance boost on LOTRO wouldn't hurt.
It occurs to me just now that I'm not certain if those things are worth the $600-$900 some-odd dollars I'm planning to spend, though. I mean, I guess I have a few programs whose performance could be enhanced, but I don't really know if it's yet worth the cash to do a full upgrade all in one blow. The problem is that my hardware is old enough now that if I want to upgrade one major component, I really have to upgrade them all. I do want to upgrade, but I think it's more of a gadgetophile thing than a "my computer's slowing me down" thing. Hm. Decisions, decisions.