So it’s March again. Which means I’m getting older again. And that is a sore spot for me. I don’t age gracefully, in fact I get worse at it each year. I don’t like getting older. It’s something I have to deal with. I’m just not very good at it.

I go through this kind of post every year. Maybe it’s my way of dealing with it. I can’t but feel that getting a year older just means I’m a year closer to death’s door. Maybe that’s what the problem really is. The big sleep isn’t something I’ve spent to much time worrying about in the past.

But now for some reason it’s been bugging me. I’ll wake up at night and just not be able to get the thought that I’m going to die out of my head. I don’t know why all of the sudden this is something that worries me. I’ll get over it I’m sure. I’m going to have to. It’s just the way it is. You live and you die.

So today I picked up my router. I went with the NETGEAR RP614. I picked this specific brand mostly for it ease of use with Dark Age of Camelot, which is important. I also picked up a replacement for the cd/dvd combo drive I destroyed. It wasn’t the same as the one I destroyed, but the price equals out after mail in rebates. I only tried out the dvd playback so far, with any luck it will work as advertised.

I also ordered the new graphics card that will go in my new system. I picked the Sapphire ATI Radeon 9600XT for two reasons. Reason one is that I’ve heard lots of good thing about these new Radeon cards. The second reason is that it supposedly comes with a coupon to get Half Life 2 for free. Which are pretty good reasons. Either way I can’t go wrong. The damn thing is twice as fast as my poor GeForce FX 5200. So I’m sure I’ll be happy.

I had some initial problems with the whole file sharing thing with the router. I had some help from Ppapa (the leader of the Camelot guild I’m in), who is like a computer expert. Now I just need to let my firewall let one computer talk to another and I’ll be all set. The router itself was very easy to hook up. I literally plugged it in and rebooted my pc’s and it was working.

It was pretty cool running Camelot on two different computers. I was able to use my buffbot with out worry of it lagging out. This is the kind of inspiration I need to get me to 50. I played for a few hours last night before work and ended up getting in late. When I get home I’ll be firing up the pc’s and logging in to Camelot.

So my new pc is up and running. But as it is with me and anything I do it wasn’t a pain free experience. I had lots of minor difficulties in the beginning. Getting the heat sink/fan onto the processor was a chore. I was afraid I had destroyed the chip as hard as it was getting the fan on it.

The other problem (and this is a major thing) was that the case I got is a kind of pre modded deal. It has the window on the side and these really neat drop down cdrom covers, that are supposed to hide the cd drives when not in use. You can kind of see it in this picture. The problem was that I destroyed my neat cd/dvd combo drive trying to force the thing into the case.

After I had just about got to the point of saying fuck it, I checked out the case manufactures website. In there FAQ they have this bit of information:

Drop-Down Doors: This case comes with 2 front drop-down doors. To install your CD-Rom/CD-R/DVD drives to these doors, you can either take the doors off and install your drives direct from the front panel(most of you won’t be so lucky). If this doesn’t work for your drives, then you need to take the front panel off (you need to unscrew the screws from the back of the front panel), install the drives to the case, then put the front panel back(80% of you may have to do it this way). These drop-down doors won’t work for 100% of the drives out in the market. Since some drives may not follow the universal drive size, sometimes you need to take out the small door of your drive to make it work. If all your attempts do not work, then you will not be able to take advantage of these drop down door.

Now the statement “These drop-down doors won’t work for 100% of the drives out in the market” is just the kind of thing that makes me wonder what the fuck they were thinking in selling am item like this. Because where I went to school when you say 100% that means all of the items in question. So not a single drive will fit in this case that takes advantage of these drop down doors. Or I just maybe a ignorant fool.

But overall I am happy with my new system. I had a little trouble getting the processor to be recognized by the os. But after reading the mobo manual for a bit I saw what I had to do. I’m happy to report that the second Dark Age of Camelot expansion runs like a dream. I’m going through all of my games to find the ones my old pc had problems running. Just to see how good my new system is.

Now all I need is a router, a monitor, and a new desk and I’ll be all set. Oh yeah and a new cd/dvd combo drive to replace the one I broke.

So after a visit from “Phil” who runs mynameisphil.com, I have decided to discontinue the use of the traditional guestbook type of script. From now on if a person has to sign a guestbook entry they can come to a thread in this forum a sign away.

This is for a number of reasons. Top one being that this “Phil” had posted an entry in my old guestbook that somehow after my guestbook page loading redirected you to his website. Personally I hate having my browser hijacked. I hate it even more when it’s my website being used to do the hijacking.

With the forums I have more control. Banning, easy editing, a sadistic group of moderators, and everything else a guy would need. So now when you click the “Sign This GuestBook” link you will be automatically directed to the new guestbook thread in the guestbook forum. Enjoy.

Fuck! So I go and take a little nap after putzing around from getting done with work. I have been checking the package tracking shit for my computer stuff I ordered like every goddamn hour. And as it turn out all but one item was here at my door and I missed it. Fuck! I could have had my new system built. The only item not on that truck was a new power supply and the case came with a power supply.

Doesn’t FedEx knock on the fucking door? Or break the shit down to wake my sleeping ass up. Fuck! I mean it’s not like I really really want this shit. No I can wait fucking two more days. Fuck! So I call those assholes at FedEx and say “hey I’m fucking home, bring my shit please” but I’m told some bullshit about how they can’t call the driver.

Which is bullshit. In this say and age you can’t tell me the FedEx guy doesn’t have a cell phone or something. Fuck use the goddamn FedEx bat signal or something to get this guys attention. And of course the thought did enter my head to jump in my car and look for this prick. He was at my house at 2:01pm and I happen to look outside at 2:30pm to see if any shit was left sitting out in the snow.

Which is cool, at least the fucking FedEx guy isn’t a fucking complete moron. Fuck! I want my shit. Where is the devil when you need him? He’s got a guy who would sell his soul for a few FedEx packages. But I guess I can go pick the stuff up, if I drive to Rockford and find whereever it is this FedEx place is at.

So I filed my tax return online and I’m getting a modest sum back. Do I save it? No. I just blew it under two minutes. I had prepared a list of hardware that I wanted over at New Egg and have been waiting for the money to show up in my checking account. The stuff I’m getting is here. The only thing is I have to wait to buy two of the components on my list. I bought everything but the monitor and video card. I will be getting those items next wednesday. I’m like a kid who can’t wait for christmas to come.

I also have some other issues ahead to face. Like where in the hell am I going to put this new computer? Or more specifically where am I going to put my old pc when the new one is built. I’ve been looking all over the house for things to use (temporally until I can afford a desk or something) as a makeshift desk. I’ll go the milk carton route if I have to.

And then I have to learn all about networking to computers together. Because what good would be one pc without the net? I have a buffbot waiting to be used in the correct manor. Not like I do now, running in two windows. I don’t know dick about that kind of thing though. With any luck I’m sure there is guildie or two that will be able to offer me advice on this area.

Now back to waiting. I’ll check to see if my order has shipped a few more times before I go to bed. Man I can’t wait.

Today my website turns six years old. It my be a dubious achievement. I’m not certain I should celebrate the occasion or wonder if this site has been a waste of my time. Because what has it done for me? It has caused me nothing but trouble, one way or another.

Yet I choose to celebrate when it all comes down to it. Why not? I have met some nice people because of this site. It also allows me to stay in touch with people I do meet on the internet. And with any luck my site will make it another year.