I started this post about six million times since Christmas, but because Guido was having pluming problems thanks to an external hard drive that messed him up, I was more preoccupied with fixing that then I was with posting.

I did a system restore, and he seems to be working fine, but for a while there he wouldn't start in normal or safe mode without completely locking up in about a minute or two. I finally got him into safe mode to do the restore, and so far so good. I hope that whatever icky bits he gobbled up on Christmas got out of his system and he'll stay working fine from now on.

My Christmas was really great this year, which was what I needed after the year I've had. My brother and sis-in-law came up on Sunday and stayed through Thursday. Sav came on Christmas Eve and stayed until late Christmas afternoon, because her family doesn't celebrate and we decided she needed a Christmas.

I snagged some good stuff, including a huge box of dark chocolates and a bar of French dark chocolate (Thanks Mar!), a crocus growing set, a new pair of PJ's, some people and houses for my Winter village, a Christmas carousel, a couple of nice jar candles, a watch and bracelet set from John, Lost the board game, and one of those cool human bodies that's all lit up that comes all apart with removable organs. I'm the most excited about that one. I am pretty sure that armed with the knowledge it has given me, I don't even need to go to Med school. It even comes with a little metal scalpel, I'm totally set. Who's first?

I cooked dinner, a pretty traditional Christmas dinner, and it all came out really well. Well enough that there was really nothing in terms of left overs the next day, and I didn't poison anyone. That for me means that I must have done something right, or people were really really hungry.

The most exciting part of Christmas this year? It snowed. Woo! It didn't stick, but for most of the day there were large flurries of fluffy stuff spewing down from the sky. I'm a dork, it made me happy.

Stanley The Tree (yes, he got named. No, it wasn't by me for once) got pulled out yesterday and he was laid to rest in the recycling bin. I packed up all my Christmas decorations and put them back in storage. I usually leave everything up until after New Years, but because I go back to work on the 3rd, and then back to school on the 7th, I didn't want to run the risk of becoming lazy and not doing it until February, or until it caught on fire and burned my house down. Both of those options suck, so it was just easier to get it over with.

I hope all you Figments had a great anything you celebrate, and have a wonderful New Year, since that's just around the corner.

HotD:

December flew by,
Fluttering snowflakes and lights,
That was a quick one.

I know, I know, I haven't been posting every day like I said I would. But I have good reasons for it this time, honest.

I've been having issues with Guido. Issues with him not wanting to boot properly and having to run WinXP repair and fixbooting to get him to start. Last time I did this, it said it fixed it, rather then just detected the problem with chkdsk, and the last time I restarted, it did so normally. So keep your fingers crossed that there will be no more icky computer problems.

Also, tis the season for Mid-Terms, so I've been spending lots of time studying for tests. Well, the Chemistry test in particular. It was easier then I thought it would be, if any of you are wondering.

Tonight is the CompSci mid-term. Also due tonight is all homework assigned since the start of term, and a rough draft of a paper. I don't have the books for this class, so I've only been able to do four homework assignments. Why? Because I haven't had the extra 150 to plunk down on this inane class. However, I need an A in it, even if it is stupid, so I have to figure out where to scrape up the 60 some odd bucks that the book with the homework in it is going to cost me and just get it. I have no time to do anything else, as all the assignments are due by 6 tonight.

Also, I'll be prepping for and then in interviews for new Student Council members all day, so I'm not even sure where I'll find the time to do the homework.

Good times, Figs. Good times. I have senioritis something awful, and I seriously don't care anymore.

I have one and a half terms left. It is so time to move on from Chemeketa for sure.

So Melissa, in her never ending braveness to put herself out there in video blogs, has conned me (which was pretty darn easy, because I'm a total sheep) into picking up a camera of my own and trying my hand at video blogging.

I hope to pick one up early this next week, and give it a try. I'm not sure why. Nobody is going to want to watch them (I figure it's like my blog, I'll have to make up watchers like I've made up readers) and they'll be exceedingly boring, but they sound like a fun way to be creative, so I'm going to give them a shot.

Let me know if I should post links or whatever...and I will. Maybe. If I'm not too much of a chicken.

HotD:

Bock bock buh-bock bock.
Bock cluck cluck bock buh-bock cluck,
Bock bock bu-gawk bock!

Thanks to all the suggestions about my monitor Figs. I really appreciate you guys and everything that you do for me. You rock my wet, smelly socks. Thank the rain and melting snow for that one.

Guido is no longer making that horrid high pitched rat-dying like sound anymore when in 1024x768 (Thanks Michael for your tip!) but now that I've got the little seed of panel screen in my head, I am more and more certain I'll probably end up buying one, just so I can have more room to pile stuff on my desk. Because, we all know I need more places to pile crap.

For your viewing pleasure, a fun 15 car collision in Portland thanks to the ice.

HotD:

It is Friday, yay!
It feels like Monday to me.
I'm discomposed, man.

So, I've had an interesting few days.

As most of you Figments know, Guido was out of commission for a while, so I didn't have any internet access, save for when Tiffany loaned me her laptop over the break.

This last weekend was a three-day weekend, thanks to MLK Jr. Day, and then on Tuesday it snowed like crazy, so classes were canceled, and they were canceled for the morning on Wednesday, so I've been home.

Last night I spent about 12 hours with the help of the lovely Fred and...bum bum bum...fixed Guido! Yay! He's finally working again! Thanks Fred, you rock.

We had to do a fix of Windows XP, and then reinstall all my drivers for everything, but we managed to clean up all the viruses and malware (134 of them to be exact) off my computer so it's working fine now.

The only problem I'm having with him, is when I set his resolution at anything above 800x600 his monitor makes a horrible high pitched sound. It's not loud, and other people can't seem to hear it, but it drives me nuts. He's never done this before, anyone have any suggestions on what might be causing it?

Maybe it's time for a pretty new bigger panel monitor, even though I really don't have the money to go get one. I guess I'll just leave it at 800x600 for now, but I'm so used to 1024x768 that it's going to drive me nuts. But man, a panel would totally clear up so much room on my desk...it's so tempting...

HotD:

Baby is here, now!

He is so darn cute and sweet,
He'd be good in pie.

There is a 'Tales from the Dark Side' marathon on today, so of course I'm watching it instead of being productive with my last few days of freedom.

I worked a bit on UN this morning. I've rewritten a few paragraphs so they move a bit more fluidly. I have a difficult time with long blocks of dialogue. It's not that I can't write it, it's just that it's very difficult for me to leave it alone. Simple transitions drive me nuts too, I always want to over-detail them, and then everything becomes bogged down, but I'm working on it.

On a terribly geeky note, my troll made it to level 20 in WoW. I don't know if I've ever mentioned here that I play. I do, but very rarely. Maybe two or three hours a month at the most. I know, I'm a dork. Sorry.

HotD:

A resolution.
Posting everyday with blogs,
With something to say.

Those of you looking for something retro that will bring back fond memories of spending too many quarters in dark arcades that smelled of sweat and pre-teen angst, I give you 8bit Betty.

Really fun chiptune music that will either make you fall in love with it, or turn you into your mother screaming 'turn that Nintendo off, it's just a bunch of noise!'.

I rather like it, Figs, and I think you will too.

Thanks James

Fixing Guido is my goal this week. I'm hoping that with all the hard work Cory put into trying to get him running for me a couple weeks ago (thanks Cory) that the rest of getting him to work correctly should be pretty easy. Cory did all the hard work, I just slapped his knees with a ruler when he lagged behind.

Guido's Winsock is currently broken, so he can't connect to the Internet. And he still has a few viruses on him, but I think if the winsock gets fixed, I can fix the viruses pretty easily, I hope. I have to have him up and working again, it's driving me nuts.

Unfortunately I can't find my WinXP install disk, so I can't do a repair. If anyone might have one that they'd let me borrow (don't worry, I paid for WinXP and all that) I would greatly appreciate it.

HotD:

Baby, it's cold outside.
Chilly wind and rainy days,
Winter is so here.

I think it's time for a new keyboard, possibly a mouse as well. Maybe wireless, because nothing says furthering my slide into the lazy abyss like typing from my couch.

So I pose a question to you, my Figments: ergonomic or non-ergonomic? The one I have now is ergonomic and I actually type faster on it then normal flat ones, and I'm used to it after using it for ages.

Tell me what you think. Except those of you who profess your undying hatred of my keyboard every time you use it. You know who you are. I already know what you think, so hush it.

Thanks Figs, I love ya.

HotD:

The weekend is fading.
One more day has vanished now,
Soon horror begins.

I'm thinking of getting a new digital camera, because the one I currently use (as I so eloquently told Tiffany) sucks the poo.

I'd like something functional that wouldn't entirely blow the disgustingly tiny budget I live upon to bits. Food, at times, is necessary for one to survive. Something with a pretty good capacity, megapixles, and zoom would be great. Flashes, the kind used on cameras not the kind with trench coats, would also be nice.

I'm looking for suggestions from you, my brilliant and electronically inclined Figments. What kind do you have? Do you like it? What kind would you buy if you could buy any kind that you wanted to buy? How many 'buys' is too many in one sentence?

Discuss.

HotD:

Fred is in Tampa.
Do not tell him this okay,
But I stole his stuff.