July 12, 2004
· The mini-upgrade is ready to rock; I'll try to time it so it arrives in Pittsburgh next Monday. It'll be a 1.7GHz P4-based Celeron with board, 256MB of RAM and an 8x DVD+RW/-RW drive. Not bad for $200.
· I still plan on getting a second machine to play on, and run the older machine as a Web/FTP server. The current wishlist is: Case with two fans; 350W power supply; 2.8GHz P4 with board; 1024MB of RAM; GeForce FX 5200 with co-ax in, and VGA and S-video out; two DVD-ROM drives. One will go into the Celeron machine and the über-machine will get a DVD-ROM and the burner for easy backups. That one will be a little more expensive, and will wait until I have zero balance on my credit cards.
· Since Shields told me how long a lap at a swimming pool is (25 yds.) I now know that I swam either 850 or 900 yards (34 or 36 laps). I kinda lost track in the middle of the swim so I'm not sure, but either way it's about half a mile. There's a little bit of hanging on the side and resting between laps sometimes, but all in all I'm happier with that than I am with running.
· Apparently the A&W back in Akron (well, it's actually in Tallmadge, but Akron's close enough) is the only one around that isn't some ungodly fusion of A&W with a Long John Silver's. I drove to three different A&Ws here, and each one was that way. The fries sucked (they were LJS fries, which taste too much like Burger King fries to be any good), there were no foot-long hot dogs, and the coney sauce didn't even taste right. The only thing that actually belonged in an A&W was the root beer.
· Ranting about A&W is kind of annoying. Every time I want an "&" I have to type "&" because of how HTML works. It gets old pretty fast.
· Aside from however-many miles I'll be walking Thursday at Cedar Point, the only exercise I'll be doing between Tuesday morning and next Monday is twelve-ounce curls. Given that I'm also going to be eating a lot of Atkins-unfriendly things this does not bode well. I think 185's a good resting point though, and if I can keep myself at this weight for a while instead of yoyoing back up toward 200 I'll be happy. I think maybe I'll re-do the first phase of Atkins next spring and get rid of that last 15-20 pounds.
· My sister (25) has been married for a few years now, my step-brother (26) has been married for about two years, and now my step-sister (25) is getting hitched. I'll be 28 in a few months; I guess I should at least try to find someone to go out with me.
· East High's class of 1994 reunion is in two and a half weeks. I've been realizing lately how little of high school I actually remember (I've had one person IM me who I don't even remember talking to, ever). Hopefully seeing everybody will jog my memory; otherwise I may have to put some credence into that whole thing about beer killing brain cells.
· Shannon and Gordon (my sister and brother-in-law) are coming in for a day visit tomorrow and Wednesday before we all head to Akron. I'm trying to show them some Pittsburghy stuff -- the Penn Brewery and Primanti Brothers, the inclines, maybe the science center if I can't think of anything else. Gordon's 6-6 and 300-some pounds. That Primanti's sandwich is going to look like an hors d'oeuvre to him.
