Well, yup, another hard drive died! That’s 3 out of the 4 drives that I have in say um, within 2 months? One was not in warranty (Western Digital purchased OEM from Dell), One was (Seagate from buy.com) and an IBM was under warranty.
Back when I first put my mega nerd tower together about 2.5 years ago, I researched a LOT to figure out each component I wanted, and I wanted to get good quality, fast stuff that of course got great reviews. Well, I chose the IBM 75GXP 7200 RPM 45GB hard drive. This was the best drive around, it was fast and not too expensive. So I got one. About a year later, I started reading really bad stuff about this thing. ISP’s that bought hundreds of them for their servers were all crashing and burning left and right. Even a class action suit brought against IBM for its failure. And right around then, I started hearing mine make the infamous “click” noise. Well, it has a nice long warranty, but you can’t really use a computer without a hard drive, as you have to send it in first before they replace it. So I tried to get a deal through a friend that was SUPPOSEDLY a dealer, well, that didn’t pan out… so I just got a 5200RPM Seagate drive from buy.com (That’s the last drive that died!) so, i got that all working, and got my replacement IBM. It was the same model as the one I sent in! Yup… I was just nervous using this drive as it WILL fail. Well that time game a couple weeks ago. The drive just wasn’t working. I took it out, let it sit a lil bit, and then tried it again, got the data off, and ran the IBM test to prove that it’s bad. Since the last time i sent it in, IBM sold their consumer hard drive division to Hitachi. So, I packed the drive up in the same packing that my Seagate drive got replaced with, and sent it to Hitachi… Well, the replacement came today, and it’s a brand new 60 GB drive! Yay. Not only is it NOT that crapy 75GXP, it’s also 15 gig bigger, AND…. NEW!!! Yay.
so now, it’s a 120, 80, and 2 60’s over 300 gigs!
The other problem lately… The outlets down here in “nerd corner” are both on a GFCI outlet. I get up in the morning, come down here, and it’s tripped… a lot. It only happens in the morning, usually when everything but like, the tower is off. No idea what’s up. It’s the main reason for me getting the UPS. I think the first time it tripped off, is when the first two hard drives bought the farm. So, yeah, the UPS is nice, it “hibernates” the puter, then shuts it down all nice. But I think it’s almost time to talk to an electrician!
It’s just blech to fix computer crap all day at work, then to have to come home and deal with it too! I think maybe it’s time to replace the 5.25″ floppy with a dvd burner though. hehee
it’s been nice having some nights off. too bad I waste them by doing nothing. but it sure is better than having to be in school and do homework n crap! haha 10 years out of school and i’m still glad i’m not in it!
Ordered a couple new computers at work today, that’s always fun. get rid of some older crappy ones, and let people do their jobs rather than waiting around for their computers to kick in!
and thanks for those signing my guestbook… it’s not always nice stuff, but it’s stuff! heh. dorks
Came across this link… Not for young ears:
Neil Armstrong… what was REALLY said when he landed on the moon!
Mmmm Friday night. A home alone. Pathetic? Maybe. But I did get laundry done and cleaned up my desk a bit. I picked up Tim on Saturday and met my Dad and Lisa the Prairie athletic club in Sun Prairie. Lisa is a member and got us in as guests (Thanks dad!(Grampa!)) So, we were there for the pools. That was fun, Tim had a great time, and, well, we all did. Outdoor pool, indoor pool., etc. Then it was home for a lil bit, then over to my mom’s for fun and football. Yup, packers on TV, and Tim got to play with my old trucks from when I was a kid. ANd the neighbor kids had some neat ATV type toy thing that they shared. Yet more fun! Then home, time for bed. LATE.
Wakey Wakey Sunday morning, time to play more! Did I have this much energy when I was little? Wow… where did it all go? So, we hung out for a bit, then headed over to middleton for their carnival/fest thing. Met up with my cousin kelly and her son Jules (2nd cousin) Jules and Tim have played together before and were happy to see each other. They went on rides, played some games… then it was time to come back home. play in the hose, play inside, play roadblasters, watch catdog… then eat some dinner and back home! busy busy busy weekend! And now it’s wind down time and back to work for the week.
Fall softball starts next week, and I suppose fantasy hockey will start up sometime soon. But not as many concerts! whew!
Hey, I got 3 fillings today. It was just so exciting I tell you. All the drilling and poking and prodding and scraping and shaping and polishing, and that awful tasting novacain stuff. But what was cool.. rather than shooting a big needle in the side if your jaw to numb half of your face, they now just do a series of little shots around the tooth. MUCH BETTER!!! Little sore now, but it’s getting better.
Yesterday we had a “fun night” at a local mini-golf/go-kart place after work. Just work people, but free fun and free food. Go-karts are fun, mini-golf is neato and free batting cages too. Not to mention a free lightning show of the big short lived storm that zoomed through.
Tuesday I went to my moms to install a new hard drive. Her old one (8 gigs), was my old, old, old, old drive. It was starting to show signs of imminent death as well as it was slow as all hell. I gave her a link to a place where she could get a nice new drive, she ordered it, and I went and installed. Wow, it is so much faster too! Boot time is cut in more than half! Yay for my mommy.
Tonight, it was a yawner. Nothing on TV and yah, here. I have Tim this weekend. btw, he came by work on Tuesday and got a tour, he had a good time. hehe. I think it’ll be good neighbor fest and maybe a trip to the zoo or something, and of course, just hanging out. 
Well, no posts, boring week. What can I say? Saw American Wedding, was very funny.
more crap later
Took it easy on Sunday… I had to do all my “metal stuff” on Sunday, as Anthrax with Lamb of God and E-Town Concrete at the Annex. It was an awesome show. I was hoping to get some/all/any of any members of the bands into my radio show, since the concert was supposed to be done by 11, my show starts at 11, and is only a mile or less away.
My quest of going through proper channels, (ie., their record labels, promo companies, etc) fell through. So I turned on my assertiveness and got to talk to the tour managers from Anthrax and Lamb of God. Anthrax was already doing the WJJO thing, actually as I was talking to the Tour manager… so I figured they’d be radioed out. Lamb of God is really who I wanted anyways, as they are very Metal, I play them regularly on the radio, and they are very up and coming. So, it was arranged, someone from Lamb of God was coming in. And, thanks to Mike’s (Encyclopedia) taxi service, Randy, the singer from Lamb of God came in. (See pic, duh) . Anyways, the show was great! Pure metal…and Anthrax really deserves more than the crap they get. They have always stuck true to metal and have always put on an awesome show. This had to have been about my 10thish time seeing them. Lamb of God was also just really really thrashin. Their new album is very good, and they were even better live. E-Town Concrete, my second time seeing them, and they put on a great show too. Unfortuately they went on 5 mintues after the doors opened, so there were like 10 people there, but it did not faze them. They were solid!
So, yeah, Randy from Lamb of God came to the ol radio show, hung out, picked some music, it was cool…. It is neat to have stuff like that happen. 
So, I took a bunch of pictures at that concert. Check them out here
Also, Dog Fashion Disco was at the same place back in July. Pix are here
I’m getting a bit better with the camera… practice practice practice!
That’s it for now… vacation pix still being worked on!!
Well, comptuer crashed, I had a bit typed up already…
So, here’s another attempt.
Vacation is done… was pretty cool. I started off golfing well at the start of the week, and just got worse. Ended up with a baseball swing, and I couldn’t get out of it. I guess i’m ready for fall softball league!
The cottage we stayed in was very nice… off in the back woods, away from anything… was pretty cool! It would be a great party place for some friends too. hehehe… I even read a book! yup, one of those things with pages and words. Yeah, it was the 3rd Harry Potter book, but still, a book! So i’m still ahead of the movie curve in that regard.
The drive home was swift. 
caught up on stuff at home, then left again for milwaukee for the type o negative / lacuna coil concert. That was pretty decent. Although I was very irritated with the rave. and of course stupid people. First you get directed to one line, they frisk you, this time they looked trough keys on a keychain, went through purses, etc. Okay, first clue to people that walk in… See this happening, empty your pockets ahead of time! Next step, metal detector wands…. 2nd clue, keep the stuff from your pockets IN YOUR HANDS! So, when they wand you and it beeps, you don’t have to dig all the crap back out again. Next stop, ticket taker, but first, you get handed a lil piece of paper telling you not to mosh or body pass, then mr. slow ticket taker has to rip the end off. (every other place seems to have the cool bar code reader deals). Then you get handed a big pack of “2 drink minimum free” tickets for like 10 shows. THEN you can go in. I bought a cup of water for a buck. Later on, went for more water at the other bar… waited, waited, waited…. nothing. went back to the bar where i got the 1st cup of water… THREE BUCKS… WTF? for water from the soda gun… a joke. Not so much that it was so much, but that it was a buck one time, and three the next. And of course, the sound always sucks, and it’s always super hot. Not to mention, there’s always a different method for getting into the show, some other door, or maze to go through.
There. I feel better.
Whew. Anyways, the BANDS put on a good show…
Anthrax is in Madison tomorrow… then it’s my show… but first, back to work. yay.
I’ll have some pix up from golf week soon…
Yes, I am a geek, and you all knew that already anyways. Yes, I do have a laptop (yes, my ‘ol crappy freebie), but it works just fine for basics. I’m up here in the cottage near Hayward, WI. It’s golf week ladies and gents. 6 days here, 5 or 6 days of golf. I don’t seem to get consistently better, but the good shots and scores keep me coming back for more.
So, yeah, it’s fun, and nice n relaxing.
Hey…
I’ve been busy trying to tie up some loose ends before vacation. I exchanged a shirt at Shopko, then went to my mom’s tonight afterwards to show her how to burn backup cds of her hard drive… and I found that the drive is showing signs of a pending death. It’s my old old old old old hard drive… a 5 gig drive. It’s been good, but it is the slowest thing in that system and is starting to poop out. So I had to do all the scandisk and error fixing on it, as mom fed me.
Yesterday I got the last of my junk out of mom’s condo, as it was sold. I left most of it in the car today. hah But Mom said I had to get it out of the condo, but I could bring it to her new house. go figure… so I did that, and then got the rest out for home. Old college books, notebooks, and misc junk.
So now it’s laundry and packing and pretty much getting everything ready for the golf trip. We’ll be staying here It’s in the Hayward, WI area. I’ll be going with my Dad, and his Friends Denny and Tom. The usual “golf week” crew! I managed to get some internet access while up there, so I will probably post from time to time. But not tooo much!
Oh yeah, back to getting ready… I pretty much want to be ready to go Friday night, as Ozzfest is Saturday, and the rest of the golf week crew are going up on saturday… I opted to attend ozzfest for the whateverth year in a row. I will drive up on Sunday bright and early!
And yesterday… yay me… Employee of the Quarter at work (for 2nd quarter!)
