happy day - my return to the internet

i was without the internet for about a week and a half. i have found: that i love the internet, that i interact with my real life friends mostly through the internet (except the one i work with who lives very near me and is extremely cool about my transportation needs, and tends to be awake and bored at night, too), that my brother sleeps a lot more when there is no internet, and rather annoyingly that the library does not always call when your holds are in, and therefore it is handy to have a friend there (who happens to run into the one friend i ever seem to see without an official event being involved).

the whole computer problem sucks majorly. the issue was that our hard drive totally failed and had to be replaced. apparently the problem was that it had gotten dirty inside, and dad has decided that it is all my brother's fault for chainsmoking in the office with the door shut, and while i'll admit this doesn't help, i've decided to blame hp and this is why. all the computers we have ever owned have been compaqs, but this is the first one since they were bought by hp. i'll give you that a laptop is considerably more sealed than a desktop, but my big grey paperweight was somewhere between 11 and 13 years old when my hard drive crashed and died. the other laptop is 7 years old and while massively slow and crappy (with frequent sightings of the blue screen of death), it does technically still work. this computer is less than 2 years old. that's just not right.

for a real mindblowing concept, the promised explanation of the jeep's issues. it has: 2 thrown rods, 4 twisted rods, one broken cylinder (most likely from being hit by thrown rod), 4 severely overheated cylinders (despite the fact that the temperature gauge never indicated that the engine was too hot), holes in the block (again from those thrown rods), cracks in the block, and coolant in the oil (although the coolant level is only very slightly low).

there are several issues with this. first, almost all of these problems (not the coolant) mean IMMEDIATE death to an engine, meaning that you can't have one and then the other, so they must have all happened simultaneously. secondly, throwing a rod is something that basically only happens if you have literally no oil, and it was full, although some of it was notably gummed up because that's what happens if you mix oil and coolant. also, there was no indication of problem from the temperature gauge or oil light (or anything else for that matter). just bam, loud noise (although not loud enough for all that) and dead car. but the most amazing of all, the adjuster from the warranty company, in his report, says it's my parents fault, citing poor maintenance. i guess they were supposed to know that the coolant was going to leak into the oil and turn it into goo.

so, she's waiting for official word from the company to see of they agree with the adjuster or the mechanics. if it's the former, then all hell will then ensue, for them, expressway dodge, and anybody else who gets in her way. basically, she'll be damned if she paid extra for an extended warranty, and still has to pop 6 grand for exactly the kind of things warranties are for. regardless, the next car will probably be a pontiac and she will never buy anything from expressway again.

recent silence

our computer crashed last friday, so i am without until further notice. no blogger, no email, no online checking of those all-important library holds. it's fixed now, but needs a ride home and all the stuff reinstalled. once this has happened you can all get the full story on that, plus the bizarre solution to the question of what exactly the problem was with mom's jeep.

musings and fun links

what is with this commercial i keep seeing? apparently tbs is going to be showing the lord of the rings, but one of the ads they're running is just freaky strange. it's a lot of clips of frodo and sam, and in the background they play the song "secret lover". it is totally bizarre.

for your viewing pleasure here are some links amassed by my brother and his wonderfully geeky internet RP friends in the Honor Guard. (visiting them there won't help you get more links since they keep them in a members only section, but he knew how bad i wanted them so he told me his password) lets start this link-stravaganza with the coolest thing ever (sound needed to get full effect)! while you've got the sound on, here's another fun (and massively geeky) musical site. this was billed as "the greatest music video of all time!!!", and i don't know about that, but it is quite amusing. i also highly recommend this video about minjas. also, this ukelele player is extremely talented. this is not massively cool, but definitely interesting.

now, for you star wars fans, you get a whole paragraph all your own. starting with these two awesome lightsaber duels, one with additude and the other more pretty (with great music). this one isn't really star wars, but it is hilarious in a purposely dumb kind of way, and includes references to star wars (look for "copyright infringement" and a funny bit as the end credits are wrapping up). last but not least: squirrel wars!

also, here's the geek test they've all been taking. sharon and i both took it the other day. we're both level 3 - true geeks (i beat her though, Mwahaha.) i don't think we have much hope of catching the HG boys, though. so far they have a non geek, 2 level 4 - uber geeks, 2 level 5 - jedi masters, and a level 7 - Maud’dib, The Chosen Master of the Illuminati, Lord of Silicon Valley and the Justicar of all he surveys (that's the highest level).

somewhat random

what to post about?

i went bowling the other day, and it was massively great seeing all my lovely friends, many of whom i haven't actually seen since february. i finished 5 out of 7 people, which is pretty good for me, a 70-something. yes, i bowl for crap. there was cheesecake afterwards, and i'm much better at eating than bowling.

here's something totally random. does anyone think it's wrong that i'm considering starting to carry a purse, mostly just so i have someplace to put all my cool buttons and such now that i'm a college graduate and don't need a backpack? sure it might be nice to be able to keep my cell and smokes somewhere other than my pants, and i could even find room for things like headache drugs and a nail file (for when they break and are all jagged), but mostly it's about the buttons. is that too weird? of course, this does not mean i have any intention of giving up my awesome wallet.

quizzes are fun, right?

You scored as Ginny Weasley. You definitely share your mother's (Molly Weasley) fiery resolve and slowly but surely people are learning to respect you because of it. Ginny Weasley 75% Ron Weasley 75% Sirius Black 75% Albus Dumbledore 75% Hermione Granger 65% Harry Potter 65% Remus Lupin 65% Draco Malfoy 65% Severus Snape 50% Lord Voldemort 45% Your Harry Potter Alter Ego Is...? created with QuizFarm.com

hey look, month two

okay, so the blog isn't a month old yet, but it is the second month and it not only hasn't been abandoned, it's hardly even been neglected.

so i was trying to decide what i could blog about, and i thought i could try playing some kind of april fool's joke, but i'm a few hours late for that.

instead i think i shall contemplate something that's happening right now (or actually several minutes ago) -- the time change. i hate daylight savings time. actually i only hate it in the spring; i love the random extra hour of sleep in the fall. regardless of that, though, i always think it's dumb and pointless; not bad just pointless. now, that doesn't mean i think it's a great idea that most of my home state (not including my little corner, the bit up by chicago and a few other areas) has been ignoring it. everybody else does it, so even if it's kinda dumb, not doing it just makes us seem like a bunch of backward-ass hicks, already a problem for indiana. besides, it makes it weird and tricky trying to remember what the time difference is between places when it changes depending on the time of year.

well that my rant for today. oh, and happy, happy me, i just bought this. i know it's out of season right now, but i've been coveting it for over a year.