So I have started to play DAoC again secretly. I say secretly because I’m not going to put back up my characters picture or the server status boxes that used to be on the right and left sides of the page. I had lost interest in playing around the same time my Pay By Cash account expired.

In the time since I have opened a checking account and now have one of those snazzy debit credit cards. So I hated the idea of losing my level 22 mercenary and paid for another month.

Of course my decision to go back to Windows 98SE has put my DAoC playtime on hold. On that front I have managed to burn one disk worth of back up files. My success rate is about one out of three attempts succeed. I hope to be running 98SE by tonight.

So I’m smoking again. I have been for a few weeks. Most (or all) of my friends know. “The Dude” as he is referred to here, also knows. The Dude caught me last week smoking behind the front desk.

Now to me this is saying it’s ok to smoke. It’s just as good as if The Dude himself said “smoke em, if you got em.” Because I don’t want to imply that the hotel’s management are idiots. So instead I give them the benefit of the doubt that they knew any how.

Nothing was said to me along the lines of “hey no smoking back there.” Not that I would stop. I have the image that I do what I want anyway, so why quit?

Well I’ve tried to be patient with XP. I’m like this close to reformatting my hard drive and installing 98SE. I picked up Soldier Of Fortune 2 and have been having nothing but problems. It seems lots of people are running into trouble. Trouble more or less stemming from that goddamned XP.

I did find a useful Microsoft.com page called How to Manually Remove Windows XP and Restore Windows 9x which I plan to use when I get home. The more I sit thinking about my problems with XP, the more I want 98SE back. Enough is a enough.

The bad thing is that I’m going to lose all of my files. My burner is not working. Again I think it’s the hard drive, but maybe it’s XP. I’m willing to lose files to get back to a stable os. I’m due for a reformat anyway, so what the hell.

The Case for the Empire is an interesting read that try’s to explain why the Empire of the Star Wars flicks are not such bad guys as we all assume. This article is really one of those things you have to read. And it help’s to be more than a little bit obsessive about the Star Wars movies. Here is a little snip from it:

“It’s a difficult leap to make–embracing Darth Vader and the Emperor over the plucky and attractive Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia–but a careful examination of the facts, sorted apart from Lucas’s off-the-shelf moral cues, makes a quite convincing case.” [Read More]

Also this article does reveal some small spoilers about Episode Two. So consider yourself warned if that bothers you.

This made me laugh until snot came out of my nose. It’s a picture and a story explaining the picture.

Here is the picture:

You have to read the story at the link to really enjoy this picture. Now excuse while I go wipe my nose.

I failed to mention that my computer problem is fixed. For now. I still think that my hard drive is on the fritz. I still think it has a little to with the last time my pc took a shit on me. I’m may pick up a new hard drive this Monday just to be on the safe side.

So did you see Star Wars Episode II? I’ve seen this one three times now. Three times. I think three times is enough. Don’t get me wrong. I liked it. Of course I could watch Empire over and over. But that’s another story isn’t it? The love story is necessary. Lucas has to set up the whole turning to the dark side and becoming Vader thing.

If you didn’t like it, here’s some advice. Keep it to yourself. If you don’t like it without even seeing it, keep it to yourself. People getting bent out of shape about how much it sucked are wasting their time. Not to mention wasting my time.

Here an interesting article from yesterdays Beloit Daily News called “Ramada owners identified“:

Two Chicago area people have been identified as the new owners of the Ramada Inn of Greater Beloit. Noor and Farida Sadruddin of Bloomingdale, Ill., have registered through the Illinois Secretary of State’s office to create a limited liability company to run the hotel at 200 Dearborn Ave., South Beloit.

It appears they started a company just to run the hotel:

According to information provided from the Secretary of State’s office, the company will be known as Serena Hospitality LLC. The papers were filed May 9. While an Internet search indicated Noor and Farida Sadruddin living in Bloomingdale, Serena Hospitality LLC has a business address listed at 200 Dearborn Ave. _ the same address as the Ramada Inn of Greater Beloit.

The new GM even got in the paper again:

Noor Sadruddin was the highest bidder when the hotel was auctioned April 30 in Chicago, according to current Ramada Inn of Greater Beloit manager Reaz Chowdhury. “He’s going through due diligence right now,” Chowdhury said. “He was the highest bidder and needs to make sure of everything.”

The auction guy brought up again the notion that these people are supposedly from the stateline area:

…the auctioneer of the hotel, would not confirm Sadruddin was the buyer, but did say the person who bought the hotel has a local connection in the Stateline Area. “There’s a local connection there, and it’s going to be great for the community and it’s going to work out well,” Kravets said.

Sadruddin sure doesn’t sound like a stateline area name to me. I can see why these people didn’t want to give out their name.

I’m going to end with soothing words of wisdom from the Dude:

“I think they’re going to put a lot of money into the hotel. We think the buyers got a great deal.” Chowdhury said Serena Hospitality plans to continue operating the property as a hotel and at the least a Ramada Inn. “At the minimum, it will stay a Ramada, but they are looking at flying other flags,” Chowdhury said. “They are very excited and looking forward to working with the community here.”