Mood: Psyched.
Music: Synchronicity I, The Police
Game: Battlefield 2142, Crackdown, God of War II.
Book: Out of Nowhere, A History of the Military Sniper, Martin Pegler.
Watching: Casino Royale (on regular DVD, because it's only been released in Blu-Ray...GRR.)
Weather: Damp, cool.
Did you know you could call FedEx and MAYBE have something delivered on Saturday that was supposed to deliver on Monday?
You can. They're happy to do it for an additional $12.50.
Now let's see how MAYBE works for me...
Come to me...my...PRECIOUSSSSS.....
Mood: Psyched.
Music: The Show Must Go On, Queen (feat. Elton John.)
Game: Battlefield 2142, Crackdown.
Book: The Last King of Scotland, Giles Foden.
Watching: Casino Royale (on regular DVD, because it's only been released in Blu-Ray...GRR.)
Weather: Drizzling, cool.
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[1] Area-51® 7500 - SLI
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E6700 2.66GHz 4MB Cache 1066MHz FSB
Operating System (Office software not included): Genuine Windows® XP Professional
Chassis: Alienware® P2 Chassis with AlienIce™ 3.0 Video Cooling - Cyborg Green
Chassis Customization : Alienware® AlienFX™ System Lighting - Terra Green
High-Performance Liquid Cooling: Alienware® High-Performance Liquid Cooling
Accoustic Dampening: Alienware® Accoustic Dampening
Motherboard: Alienware® Approved NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Motherboard
Memory: 2GB Low Latency DDR2 Performance SDRAM at 800MHz - 2 x 1024MB
System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7,200 RPM w/ 8MB Cache
Primary CD ROM/DVD ROM: 18X Dual Layer DVD±RW/CD-RW Burner w/ Nero Software
Graphics Processor: 768MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8800 GTX
Power Supply: Alienware® 1000 Watt Multi-GPU Approved Power Supply
Monitor: No Monitor
Sound Card: High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio
Keyboard: Alienware® USB Full-Size Keyboard
Mouse : Alienware® Optical 3-Button Mouse with Scroll Wheel
Warranty: 3-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service
AlienRespawn: Alienware® Respawn Recovery Kit
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mousepad
Alienware Extras: AlienInspection - Exclusive Integration and Inspection - $100 Value - FREE!
Alienware Extras: AlienWiring - Exclusive Internal Wire Management - $100 Value - FREE!
Free Alienware® T-Shirt: Free Alienware® T-Shirt - Black
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Woot! Free T-Shirt!
Mood: Tired.
Music: Millenium, Robbie Williams.
Game: Battlefield 2142, Crackdown.
Book: Need a suggestion.
Watching: Nothing.
Weather: Rainy, cool.
So, some news: I bought a new computer.
It's a pretty serious Alienware in bright green, which I've already named "MIKEWYZOWSKI!" I should get it during the first week of April, which neatly coincides with my birthday. Now, isn't that NICE.
That isn't the focus of my post. I'll go over my machine in detail when it arrives, because talking about it just makes me want it faster.
OK. Exercise for the reader: Read this.
Good. Now, if you were an enemy of the United States, would you:
a) Intentionally escalate tensions in another region, with the purpose of forcing the US to further stretch an already under-prepared, under-equipped force incapable of reacting in the manner to which the US Armed Forces has always intended on engaging in conflict?
b) Further escalate tensions in Iraq through unconventional warfare methods, further requiring an increase in standing force levels that the US is currently incapable of meeting?
c) Ally yourself with another enemy of the United States and encourage them to (invade another country/start massacreing their own minority group/bomb a US embassy) which, because of the lack of readiness, to force the US to respond by going to the UN to condemn the act, further highlighting the US's isolation in the world political arena, encouraging any half-baked wannabe terrorist to attack anywhere they feel like with impunity?
If you chose any of the above, or even came up with your own answer, essentially highlighting the fact that a protracted engagement in a foreign country has effectively resulted in the drastic decrease in the security of the United States, you're right!
You think anyone sees the parallels to Vietnam yet? I love this...they can't escalate presence of troops - they don't HAVE any more. And the general statement is: We can't bring them home...that'd be a huge mistake!
So what do you do? Leave them there forever?
Sheesh. Any kid who's played any Realtime Strategy game sees how this is going to play out.
Someone get the current administration a copy of Warcraft, please?
Mood: Here we go again.
Music: Flat Beat, Mr. Oizo.
Game: Battlefield 2142, Crackdown.
Book: Hanging Out With The Dream King, Joseph McCabe.
Watching: Nothing.
Weather: Clear, slightly cool...I think. It's dark out there.
I've noticed that, quite often, I'll be doing something, or I'll see something, and a flood of memories comes back regarding that thing. Either a way I've done something before, or memories of something else I've seen that reminds me of it. It's happening more frequently as I get older. I guess that's what they call experience.
I saw 300 on Friday afternoon. See it. It's gorgeous, and violent. It's probably the exact opposite of a chick flick, if there is such a thing. Seeing this movie with a bunch of male friends is probably the closest thing to a bonding exercise without actually spilling blood yourself.
I need a few days off. I feel myself getting crispy around the edges. I'm tired a lot now. It's not a depressed tired. More a mental tired. I need some mindless entertainment, some relaxation, some good food....
I suppose it's telling that most of the music I buy on iTunes is from the 80s and early 90s.
Speaking of, I'm 39 in a few weeks. Jeez. When the fuck did THAT happen? You ever get the feeling you're just cruising through your life? Funny how the years seemed much longer when I was younger.
It's exactly like the United States to decide to adjust Daylight Savings Time instead of just getting rid of it. "I have an idea! Let's maintain the age-old tradition of adjusting clocks, which was mainly for farmers, because they didn't have electric light to allow them to work...but let's tweak it so that there are thousands of patches, adjustments, and other things that need to be done since all those computers and such automatically adjust for dayloght savings....but do it WRONG!" Hooray.
I have a bet that there are thousands of computers and such with incorrect time at the moment, and it will cause no end of problems this week until they're adjusted.
Now I'll get ready for work...and start planning some days off. Maybe next week?
Mood: Tired.
Music: Vasoline, Stone Temple Pilots.
Game: Battlefield 2142, World of Warcraft, Crackdown.
Book: Nothing.
Watching: Nothing.
Weather: Clear, slightly cool. Great weather.
Yesterday would have been my father's 64th birthday. So happy birthday, dad.
Several months (years?) ago, I wrote that being in a cab or car riding up the FDR alongside the East River at night is one of the things that makes me happiest. Last night, I needed to take a cab home from work, and rode down the viaduct at night. It's not the same...but it still made me smile. I wonder if dogs hang their head out the window for the same reason...or more to the point, I'm happy for the same reason dogs hang their heads out the window. Maybe I need a motorcycle.
Walking on the way to work from the bus, it occurred to me that I'd watched at LEAST 3 movie/tv/mini-series versions of Dune. And they all suck. Is it a tribute to Tolkien's skill as a storyteller that the Rings trilogy more easily translates to visuals than Herbert's Dune? Or is it a tribute to Herbert's skill as a storyteller that Dune doesn't? I spent a good 20 minutes debating it in my head, and got no further along in the argument. Definite film mongo geek bar argument...the kind of thing that would have kept us entertained for a night. This might make a good blog entry.
I've been given a minion for a few days. A new global coordinator has started, and my co-worker, his supervisor, basically said that it would be good experience for him to work alongside me. I think I'm flattered.
I have a doctor's appointment on Thursday morning. Haven't been feeling great lately, and I'm almost 39. Time for serious checkups. You know, like colonoscopies and prostate exams and such. Oh boy. On the other hand, I can think of things I'd rather do than say, get cancer. So it seems to be a good, practical long term decision, y'know?
When did I get old? Oh, yeah...like 15 years ago.
Every now and again, a friend calls, writes, or IMs me for advice on something or another. It always makes me smile. It reminds me of my very first job out of college: IT Assistant in the NYU computer lab. (Yeah, I only had it for about 3 months while I pestered Broadcast Arts to hire me as a camera operator.) Anyway, I would sit behind a desk with a sign on it that said "The Oracle." People would come up to me and ask questions, and I would answer them (usually without even moving from my tilted-back chair...IT support in a closed environment ain't exactly challenging) and say "You owe the Oracle..." and name some ridiculous thing. "You owe the Oracle a pristine copy of Action Comics #1!" "You owe the Oracle one lemon meringue cream pie!" While I never actually got any of the things I asked for, I did get a lot of laughs, giggles, free food and drink, 2 tickets to a Mets game, and more than one invitation to a party or date.
OK. Time to jump into the shower and do my morning ablutions so I can head to work. Week two of the trial today...let's hit this one out of the park, UK.....