I wasn’t able to resist the urge of putting together another desktop computer after not having done so in a few years. Having a laptop is great, but I decided since I wasn’t using it much for its portability I’d be happier with something a little more powerful and upgradeable. This is what I have:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (3GHz)
RAM: 2GB OCZ DDR2-800
Motherboard: ASUS P5Q Deluxe
Video card: ASUS 512MB Radeon 4850
Hard drive: Western Digital 500GB 7200RPM SATA 16MB cache
DVD Drive: Samsung 22X DVDR
Case: Antec 300
Power supply: Antec Earthwatts 500W
Monitor: Acer 22″ Widescreen

All in all, it’s great, and I have no complaints. The case is among the nicest I’ve worked with, and the monitor is bigger than I had imagined (though a 24″ would be cool too!). And of course, the hardware is really, really fast. I’m not planning on doing any overclocking, because this seems plenty fast to me already, but there’s that possibility if I get bored.

Oh, I think this was the first time I put together a computer that I didn’t have any defective/damaged hardware (usually it was RAM). Either QC is up in general or I lucked out this time around.

Hold tight, Geraldine, I need to say what I mean
Time’s gone by for so long and I’ve seen all the wrongs that I’ve done
Since we have yelled and stomped our feet after you took me in your arms
Cut from you near death you drew the breath that made me one

And I must call on your sweet soul
In the times when we walk in shadows of sorts
I cherish the mother you are

Hold tight, Geraldine, I mean to say what I mean
Oh, I owe you for the stars in the sky
and the breath that was life of my own

And I must call on your sweet soul
In the times when we walk in shadows of sorts
I cherish the mother you are

And I must call on your sweet soul
In the times when we walk in shadows of sorts
I cherish the mother you are
Yes, in the times when we walk in shadows of sorts
I cherish the mother you are

Hold tight, Geraldine, I mean to say what I mean.

– Chuck Ragan, “Geraldine”

http://youtube.com/watch?v=f8lPzMlY5fo

http://joshebben.com/2007/12/07/47/ 

Imagine dedicating more than sixty years of your life to family. Raising eight children over forty years, and tending to the house long after they are gone. Cooking and cleaning every day, and never complaining. Sending christmas presents and birthday presents to all of your grandkids every year, and never forgetting. Being genuinely interested in how everyone is doing; knowing that everyone is okay. How much is all of that worth? But this list doesn’t do you any real justice because there’s so much more.

I really hope you are going to be okay. But if you’re not, we know that you have had a good, long life. And you are a good person with an unassailably good heart, and nothing can change that, ever. You have proven that much.

Your life has certainly not been for nothing. I would never be able to describe how much more you are worth.

College is hard right now for me. Not hard because my classes are especially difficult academically, but rather because my classes are frustrating and I dislike big projects that have to fall exactly within someone else’s guidelines. My personality dictates that I’m better at (and much more interested in) finding an alternate, and sometimes better, way. In everyday situations, I often feel that my way is the best way, and that tends to create a lot of conflict when working with other people who feel similarly about their own ingenuity.

At this point in my life I have worked at enough places (temporary as they may be) to know, fully, that I’d rather do my own thing than follow someone else’s lead. I don’t tend to let this cause a lot of problems, provided other people aren’t especially pushy. In such cases where they are pushy, I find myself at odds with authority and I have a difficult time accepting things the way they are, and I especially have a hard time understanding why the person in charge is in charge. After all, it could be anyone else - it could be me in charge. It could be someone with a less obtrusive ego and a better way of explaining things.

But that’s usually not the case. And it’s hard to come to terms with. It’s hard to not be the one making the rules, especially when the rules don’t make sense and practically beg to be broken. All I can hope is that someday I’ll be able to do my own thing and do it well enough to be successful. I have ideas and I have the drive, but there are seemingly impassable barriers that need to be broken.