Gonzai Gallery

I managed to fulfill a New Year's resolution already (!) I got off my duff -well, OK, technically I got ON my duff and sat down at the computer - but I contacted my web host about the issues caused by the interface change in September and begged for help. They fixed it. Most of it, rather, one page is still goofy, but I asked for help with that page and if yesterday is any indication, they'll have that proper by tomorrow.

Problem is, I still don't get their new system for adding files, etc. and I can't seem to edit anything. The online system won't let me edit, and the offline work won't upload. I know naught of these computer tricks. Anyone know better than I how to get things updated? I'd settle for an updated front page stating that I'm having trouble!

Leastways, we tried. Mom and I trooped off to the store yesterday with the intention of buying two expensive durable goods - a dishwasher and a netbook or laptop. (Our 25yo dishwasher has been cranky the last 6 months and no amount of tweaking has convinced it to actually clean something.) We left with batteries and season 2 of Terminator. Um, yeah. We did in fact succeed in buying a dishwasher, but it'll be at least two weeks before they deliver it because they're backed up with deliveries. On the portable computer front, I have admittedly very precise qualifications, which eliminated all the laptops and all but a few netbooks. The netbook I wanted was advertised on sale for a very reasonable price. But the netbook was never actually distributed to stores in the mid-Atlantic area and the few in stock sold out immediately. No stores were willing to ship one to the Baltimore area. So now I'm sitting on a raincheck for a model they may or may not restock. Yippee. (Yes, I'm watching Ebay, Craigslist and Amazon like a hawk, but the sledding has been slow.)

We tried, we did.

Over the last couple years, I've given some thought to getting a laptop computer. (I sort of have one, but it runs 98, doesn't work on battery, doesn't work with USB and has a 16 GB hard drive. In other words, crap.) Finances have been my greatest deterrent. However, I am now, suddenly and miraculously, caught up on money. And I have at least 1, possibly 2 craft shows and a bonus check coming, all of which is surplus income. So I'm giving much thought to portable computing of late. And I need advice/suggestions.

( Laptop vs. Netbook )

Assuming the answer is netbook, then:

( Questions, questions )

Am I crazy?

Thanks in advance for your input!

Survived another Thanksgiving and another Black Friday. Not sure who's bright idea it was to seat me next to the fireplace last night, but I'm pretty sure I'm well done, thanks. It was Stella (the dog)'s best day of the year, as she gets more attention, petting and scraps from me on Thanksgiving than from her entire family in a week+. And I played with the kids for a change, teaching the older ones to play Dominion. More converts :)

Got a head start on shopping yesterday, thanks to KMart having sales on Thursday as well, and finished the job this morning. Except for Office Depot, things were simple and uncrowded and people were nice to each other. Office Depot, well, if the items on the front page are for people with tickets only, it might be nice to say so in the ads. It would definitely be nice to 1) tell your employees that and 2) tell the people standing outside that. And maybe mention that tickets will be given away several hours before the store opens. Most of us just showed up 5:30-6am-ish thinking it was first come first grab, only to find out people who somehow knew about this snagged all the tickets back at 4am. I only missed out on one item (1.5 TB hard drive for $99) but there was a 2TB drive on sale and while it cost substantially more than the 1.5, maybe I don't have to buy another one next year. I hope. But as noted, everywhere else was just fine and other than some CDs for my sister-in-law, shopping is complete. Yay.

Now for sleep...

For what I fear may be only a brief, fleeting moment (I had internet access yesterday for a whopping 15 minutes), the GMOC memorial for Hal Haag was a nice one. Tons of food, around 100 people at its peak, an amusing slide show and some heartfelt testimonials to the greatness of Hal. And a lot of games. All wakes should be this pleasant. I think Hal would have approved :)

Constant applications of ice seem to be helping my heel, well, heal. Fingers crossed. My hand seems past helping and I can't get a doctors apptmt until mid-September.

I wuv my Ravens. After last night, I think Mark Sanchez may be reconsidering his career choice, after the Ravens' D made him look rather silly. This will be a good season, methinks.

Back to work.

This time, the internet was out for FOUR hours, for no reason. So I turned on the radio - and WTMD somehow went off air for over half an hour. No net. No music. Gonzai get very woobly.

The last 24 hours have not been kind.

( The misery of my past day )
I want this day over, dammit.

Where the computer used to be. (At home, that is.) The computer has gone to Staples to hopefully be fitted with its new internal drive that I was unable to install myself. The back room is so very quiet. And dark, for a change. No blinking lights. No whirs. It's kinda creepy.

I miss my computer.

Now that I've spent gobs of money I really can't afford on an assortment of internal and external hard drives, things STILL aren't sorted. I still can't get the 750GB internal recognized by my computer, the 500GB internal that the computer will recognize is nowhere near big enough, and the 640GB external I bought last Saturday? I thought that would be big enough, but...a new version of ITunes came out a few weeks back, and when I upgraded, it reset my defaults. And I didn't notice. And everything I have added or imported to ITunes in the last month (and there was a LOT) was stowed by ITunes on the main drive, instead of the 500GB drive. So I had almost 100GB of music unaccounted for when I bought the 640, so now that's not nearly big enough, and they won't let me return it (in spite of it still in shrink wrap) because it was on clearance. I'm just about to pound my head against the wall time now.

Home now. Had to go back today to pick up a hard drive, and I kinda have to wonder about why the con goes to Monday. There wasn't anyone there - no tables, next to no dealers, empty hallways, etc. Might as well end the thing Sunday, it seems to me.

Anyway, after a crisis Saturday night during which the con hadn't filled their hotel room block, the con went allright. About the same attendance as last year, fewer people volunteering unfortunately, which left the art show shorthanded and mostly unguarded though. There was also a lacrosse event going on and the players wandered around the con as we didn't have the security available to badge check. Conversely, the hotel decided it needed a uniformed cop patrolling the convention area. Uh, hotel? We're geeks. Geeks are weird, not criminal.

There were twice as many pieces of art in the auction as last year, which was a little odd considering how much was sold quick sale (and I handled most of those sales, so I can say with confidence, there were a lot of them.) Usually I'm working with the artists rather than the buyers, and it was a different experience; strangely enough, the buyers were easier to deal with than the artists. Except for the buyer who asked me conversationally what I had bid on, then proceeded to each of those pieces and doubled my bid to a price out of my range. But only the pieces I had bid on. )$*(@&% Moved an original drawing and a couple wood plaques of my own, in addition to some prints.

Most popular costume: the Tenth Doctor. I saw four of them Saturday. Some teenagers who came as a group dressed as the cast of Dr Horrible. Lots of 'steampunk' themes going on as well, I'd never heard of it before. But honestly, I almost never left the art show, so I don't know much about what else went on. So, there's a short report.