My sleeve is less than perfect, as you can see. It fits the Vaio perfectly, and is thick enough to add some shock protection. All I need to do is figure out what kind of closure I’d like for it. Maybe a fancy button or a buckle.

Props to the SK Knit club for getting me into this.

I’m actually here to get more yarn for my laptop sleeve project.  It seems that the only place in this city to get this brand of yarn is at Michaels. At least, it’s the most convenient place to get this yarn. Unfortunately, I hate the bike ride here. They’re repairing the road along the way and rough asphalt and skinny road tires don’t like to get along.  And the most annoying part about this all is the distinct lack of bike racks. Oh, I know, these box malls cater to people who are stuck in their cars, even if they do live half a block away or whereever. It’s evident by the lack of bike lanes, racks and even consideration from drivers. This place is awful because there’s always too many cars. That’s why I’m waiting for the lunch time rush to be over to gather my belongings and remove myself from this location.

Anyway, I’m beginning to feel like I’ve lingered too long here, and I’m not even doing anything particularly important.  The Starbucks asian noodle salad was actually pretty yummy. The venti soy vanilla latte was typical.  I’m on vacation, but I don’t know if that means that I’m excused from domestic chores and grocery retrievals. I feel like I have a lot to do… but I don’t want to do it. The consequence of it is that I don’t get home prepared meals. Oh well, we’ll see how we do.

I’m out of here.

And this is also my first time using Vista. I was  okay with XP, and I’m still getting used to this. I’m not sure if I’ve found any of the new features useful or anything, and the interface is just pretty, but pointless. I guess I prefer what’s familiar and what’s simple (The Mac O/S interface didn’t impress me much either. Don’t tell the boyfriend i said that).

I have been having fun customizing my desktop.

Mmmm. Clean.

The desktop wallpaper “Africa” is by Evilhomer145 from DeviantArt. The icons are from the Bright Icon Suite by Klen70.

This is a neat project of mine. A bunch of us at work (ok, mostly of the female variety), have started a knitting club. I’m making a scarf (yay for simple!) and got it into my head to make a laptop sleeve. It’s coming along… I’m out of yarn though.

And why yes, I did post a picture of my Vaio with a bowl of kimchi ramen.

And the winner?

That’s right. I got a Sony Vaio NS model. It’s pretty much what I need, for the moment. And it’s not completely generic, and awful to look at, though I’m not sure about that texture. And Vista… well, we’ll see what the big deal is. I’ve spent all night customizing it and so far, I’m liking it.  I may regret not having a decent graphics card, but like i said, I don’t need it to game. I just need to be able to carry it around without it being a pain in the ass. Having said that, I already don’t like how graphics look here. It’s not awful, but the tech snob in me wishes for more.

It’s not a bad configuration.  It’s got a 15.4 LCD monitor and a pretty simple keyboard set up. It’s a lot lighter than my old 17″ HP Pavilion so I’m pleased with that.  It’s set up with an Intel Core 2 Duo T5800 @2.00GHZ processor, has 4.00gb of RAM and 250gb or harddrive space.  For about $850 + tax at Future Shop, I don’t think I did too badly.  There were definitely more sexier laptops, but in the end, I had to look at the bottom line.

So we’ll see how pleased I am in a few weeks time. I’ve spent all night setting my new toy up, I didn’t even get a chance to make dinner. I have a feeling it’ll be a late night anyway.

Now don’t fuck up.

Last time there was an American presidential election, it was between John Kerry and George W. Bush and I was in a coma. Well, okay, maybe I had just gotten out of a coma, but I was pretty much immobile, stuck in a hospital bed connected to a series of tubes that were not the internet and it was just not fun.

So this time, I get to have a homemade dinner, drink a little wine, knit a scarf and watch the Daily Show/Colbert Report at 10pm and NOT be in a coma, yet still have little say in who I want the American president to be. Yay for freedom!

However, at this point in my budget, I’m unwilling to pay the money for a gaming machine (most likely just to play Sims 3 and/or possibly maybe WoW: WotLK).

So for simplicity’s sake, I’ve been looking at the Dells. I’m torn between configuring a Dell Studio or a lighter and better constructed XPS. I’ve also taken a look at the Inspirons, but I am willing to pay a tiny bit more for a computer that’s better constructed and has better components.  My budget is less than a $1000, so here are the Dells I’ve been looking at:

Dell Studio 15

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5800 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1
SYSTEM COLOUR Ruby Red
LCD Hi Resolution/Bright, glossy widescreen 15.4 WLED display (1440×900) (I could downgrade this to the standard display and only get a 1280×800 resolution and take $150 off the bottom line)
MEMORY 3GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
HARD DRIVE 250GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
GRAPHICS CARD 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450
OPTICAL DRIVE 8X Slot Load CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
BATTERY OPTIONS 6 Cell Battery
SOUND OPTIONS High Definition Audio 2.0

This configuration, according to the Dell site, is $1029.

The Studios are a bit bulkier and heavier, by about a pound.

Now the XPS:

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5800 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1
SYSTEM COLOUR Alpine White
LCD AND CAMERA Slim and Light LED Display with VGA Webcam
MEMORY 3GB DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (1GB x 2GB)
HARD DRIVE 250G 5400RPM SATA HDD
OPTICAL DRIVE 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
WIRELESS CARD Dell Wireless 1395 802.11g Mini Card
BATTERY OPTIONS 6 Cell Battery
SOUND OPTIONS High Definition Audio 2.0

So, I have a smaller screen, which could either be a positive or a negative depending on how you look at it, and a higher end laptop with similar features to the studio and it costs a teeny bit more.

What sucks about both these configurations is that they are about a hundred dollars or more over $1000. I can drop the price if I went for the standard displays instead though. I opted for the LED display, for reduced energy consumption and weight. The XPS reviews pretty decently and so do the Studios. I wish I could stave off my tech vanity and just choose something cheap and functional, but I just have hang ups about it. At the same time, I wish I could increase my budget and get something I know I’ll be 99% happy with, but that’s the balance we have to make.

I know, I could just hold off on getting a laptop all together. But that’s just silly and wrong.

On my way to the grocery store, I usually head down a somewhat busier, major road. This route takes me over the QEW, and for the past few months there has been construction on that overpass that with the crazy traffic stresses me out when I have to bike through there. I’ve been hoping that with the changes to those roads that they could have added a bike lane or something. Too many times drivers have come too close at faster speeds than I’m comfortable with. And on that particular bridge it freaks me out. Though I don’t believe that bike lanes are necessary in keeping cyclists safe, I do think they help a tremendous deal in keeping cars nicely sectioned off in their own lanes, separated from us.

Today wasn’t any worse. I didn’t get buzzed. However, some lady in the passenger seat of a white sedan had to yell out “STAY ON THE SIDEWALK” as they drove past me. Thanks for the tip, whoever you are. Even if the sidewalk wasn’t under construction, uneven and covered with bits of asphalt and tar, which it totally was, I wouldn’t have taken her advice. So as they drove off, all I could do was visibly and enthusiastically shake my head and wave. No way, bitch! With a smile, of course. I could have given her the finger. I get pissed off at people who choose to deal with cyclists on the road like this, but today I didn’t feel like getting into a fight with a fuckwit motorist on a busy overpass. And besides, I’m awful at comebacks. I’d most likely just have told her “No YOU stay on the sidewalk.”

Anyway, I’m going to get into the Swedish berries now. I wanted to buy a big bag of Jelly body parts (yum, i know), just to add to the whole spirit of Hallowe’en fun, but I checked the ingredients and found gelatin in it. And I’m not kidding myself into believing that the stuff I bought loaded with HFCS, modified milk ingredients and chemicals I’ve never heard of is actually healthy for kids and the planet, but I tend to draw the line when it comes to “protein produced by partial hydrolysis of collagen extracted from the bones, connective tissues, organs, and some intestines of animals such as the domesticated cattle, and horses“. Yeah, yum.

Hallowe’en 2007.. I took pictures of these guys after squirrels and possibly other random critters had their way with them. It managed to make them look a little creepier.

This head is also from last year… inspired by Rayman Ravin Rabbids.

This year, I have no great ideas. If I come up with an interesting face to carve this year, then maybe I’ll bother. Carving pumpkins is a bit of a pain in the ass, but it’s worth it if I find a design I get a kick out of.