Catch-up post! (Ketchup post? Whatever.)
Gods, long week, and now it's Sunday and I have work again tomorrow. Plan on going on ONE little vacation, and four (no exaggeration) Extra!Speshul!Rush!Projects! fall into your lap. AAARGH! But I do need to post a catch-up entry, so here it is.
Okay, yes, The Shiny arrived on Tuesday. And I've had NO END OF FUN playing with it-- I'd forgotton that I can actually unplug my laptop and walk around with it. If I bump it, it doesn't go blackscreen; if I jar the plug, it doesn't make a weird "thoip!" sound and crash. It is a thing of beauty.
What I got is a SONY VAIO NW Series VGN-NW310F/S NoteBook. It's got 350gb, 4gb ram, and may possibly be too much car for me (I'm not a gamer or anything, I just like to surf and write and watch stuff.) But it's smooth and works sweetly and has a comfortable keyboard; the speakers sound decent for a laptop, it's got a burner, and the screen-definition beats my 7-year-old Toshiba Satellite's like crazy.
I did have a fair chunk of dismay on realizing I'd purchased a machine without Microsoft Office, mostly because I swear by (and at) Word; it's been my primary WP system for absolute frog's years, and I poked around quite a while before looking into Open Office per a friend's suggestion. It gave me a little trouble downloading, but once it WAS on there and installed, I found that it simmered along very nicely and will do just fine. So there's that problem solved. I also disabled and then disinstalled the Norton Antivirus system and replaced it with nice, dependable Avast. ^__^ It's a lovely bug-stomper and has saved my ass in the past.
The Shiny (whom I've named Seshet) is silver with an interesting wood-grain sort of texture all over, even inside and on the touchpad; took a bit of getting used to, but I like it. However, barring a large SCA sticker I put on her yesterday she's nekkid; she needs stickers and so forth, just like her father-laptop Thoth (I should really post a pic of him sometime; there's not much on his cover that isn't covered, from a large sticker supporting gay marriage to a more subtle one that reads 'Loki Loves Me. Oh Crap.') So I need to start hunting them up. Gotta deck her out properly in laptop bling! Maybe I should hang Evil Eye charms from her clamshell hinges.
Am getting ready for Estrella War right now; I leave Tuesday morning, and have I sewn all the projects I wanted to sew? Hell no, of COURSE not. I have one new brown tunic, that's it. I have fabric for another tunic and a dress, but... ahem. Oh well. I have quite a lot of other garb; I won't be arrested for indecent exposure (which is the most likely charge to end up on my history someday, given my fondness for skinnydipping) and I'll be warm enough. No biggie. And I *do* have good shoes this war. I have a new tent, plenty of dry bedding, emergency bedding to go in the car in case it rains and mine gets damp, lots of warm socks, munchies, a tent-heater, decent beer (weizen, mmm) and a spankin' new travel-alarm to get me up at Oh-Dark-Hundred every morning (6 a.m., to light the fires and start breakfast; how Victorian-Scullerymaid of me). I am set. I am psyched. I am primed! I wish I could sleep later than that! **sigh**
I'm gonna miss Yehudah. Horde Camp isn't going to be the same without him; there's a midnight get-together Saturday night in his memory, and I'll be there. Yehudah, if you get Internet in your afterlife, have a glass in your friends' names, okay? We'll have a few glasses in yours.
Writing lately has smoked. I dunno what we're doing, but me and nightengale have been just... it's been great. Really, really great; not easy, but absolutely great. Three Thieves is about to go on a week-long break due to neither of us being here (she's off to KatsuCon and I'm off to Estrella at the same time) and we left the last chapter we posted at an AWFUL cliffhanger; I hope we don't get lynched. ^__^
Okay; need lunch, need to pack my cooler with nonperishables, need to do some cleaning and then some more writing. Have a great week, y'all.
Okay, yes, The Shiny arrived on Tuesday. And I've had NO END OF FUN playing with it-- I'd forgotton that I can actually unplug my laptop and walk around with it. If I bump it, it doesn't go blackscreen; if I jar the plug, it doesn't make a weird "thoip!" sound and crash. It is a thing of beauty.
What I got is a SONY VAIO NW Series VGN-NW310F/S NoteBook. It's got 350gb, 4gb ram, and may possibly be too much car for me (I'm not a gamer or anything, I just like to surf and write and watch stuff.) But it's smooth and works sweetly and has a comfortable keyboard; the speakers sound decent for a laptop, it's got a burner, and the screen-definition beats my 7-year-old Toshiba Satellite's like crazy.
I did have a fair chunk of dismay on realizing I'd purchased a machine without Microsoft Office, mostly because I swear by (and at) Word; it's been my primary WP system for absolute frog's years, and I poked around quite a while before looking into Open Office per a friend's suggestion. It gave me a little trouble downloading, but once it WAS on there and installed, I found that it simmered along very nicely and will do just fine. So there's that problem solved. I also disabled and then disinstalled the Norton Antivirus system and replaced it with nice, dependable Avast. ^__^ It's a lovely bug-stomper and has saved my ass in the past.
The Shiny (whom I've named Seshet) is silver with an interesting wood-grain sort of texture all over, even inside and on the touchpad; took a bit of getting used to, but I like it. However, barring a large SCA sticker I put on her yesterday she's nekkid; she needs stickers and so forth, just like her father-laptop Thoth (I should really post a pic of him sometime; there's not much on his cover that isn't covered, from a large sticker supporting gay marriage to a more subtle one that reads 'Loki Loves Me. Oh Crap.') So I need to start hunting them up. Gotta deck her out properly in laptop bling! Maybe I should hang Evil Eye charms from her clamshell hinges.
Am getting ready for Estrella War right now; I leave Tuesday morning, and have I sewn all the projects I wanted to sew? Hell no, of COURSE not. I have one new brown tunic, that's it. I have fabric for another tunic and a dress, but... ahem. Oh well. I have quite a lot of other garb; I won't be arrested for indecent exposure (which is the most likely charge to end up on my history someday, given my fondness for skinnydipping) and I'll be warm enough. No biggie. And I *do* have good shoes this war. I have a new tent, plenty of dry bedding, emergency bedding to go in the car in case it rains and mine gets damp, lots of warm socks, munchies, a tent-heater, decent beer (weizen, mmm) and a spankin' new travel-alarm to get me up at Oh-Dark-Hundred every morning (6 a.m., to light the fires and start breakfast; how Victorian-Scullerymaid of me). I am set. I am psyched. I am primed! I wish I could sleep later than that! **sigh**
I'm gonna miss Yehudah. Horde Camp isn't going to be the same without him; there's a midnight get-together Saturday night in his memory, and I'll be there. Yehudah, if you get Internet in your afterlife, have a glass in your friends' names, okay? We'll have a few glasses in yours.
Writing lately has smoked. I dunno what we're doing, but me and nightengale have been just... it's been great. Really, really great; not easy, but absolutely great. Three Thieves is about to go on a week-long break due to neither of us being here (she's off to KatsuCon and I'm off to Estrella at the same time) and we left the last chapter we posted at an AWFUL cliffhanger; I hope we don't get lynched. ^__^
Okay; need lunch, need to pack my cooler with nonperishables, need to do some cleaning and then some more writing. Have a great week, y'all.