Tag Archives: pc rebuild

geek stuff, just a post, pictures

Countertops + More

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It’s mid October so it’s a perfect time to post an entry here.   I’m mostly focused on pictures right now, but in short, 2018 continues to be a challenging year and some days are much harder than others.  Work insists on being stressful and it is sometimes difficult to deal with that on top of all the other stuff.  Larry’s chemotherapy is apparently doing its job, which is fantastic, but the side effects continue to build up and progressively get worse.  He’s able to find ways to deal and mitigate, but it sucks nonetheless.  Mom can’t feel her hands and it doesn’t look to be carpal tunnel, so here’s hoping that upcoming appointments with a nerve doctor provide insight on what is happening.   So all around, good times, right?  That’s the update then on what’s been going on, so now I’ll just post some pics.

Sunday, Oct 21: Our Countertops at the Glen LA

Electric meters are new
As is this breezeway between the Models and Phase 1
Phase 1 is basically done – except for gas line hookups
Here’s the rear of Phase 2 (which we’re in)
The Victory side exterior is done
WE have countertops! This is the ground floor bathroom
We also have closet doors
And a front door!
Our Kitchen island is in – probably where we’ll sit so much in the future
The speckled granite
Our kitchen counters – here’s the sink
The island – so much storage
Our exterior patio and roofdeck still have some finishing needed
Our stainless steel sink – no faucets or pipe connections yet
Thais and our pantry
Our master bathroom sinks – TWO sinks again
The walk-in closet
The guest room bathroom
Looking at the tall wall
Our exterior is the a tan color

Yesterday, we celebrated Mom’s 70th.  Planning for this evolved as Mom’s not been feeling that great so we kept this very simple.  Larry and I made a cake, and then we met up with Stacie at Mom’s to get lunch and celebrate.  Wish we could have done more but the plan is to eventually have a do-over when she’s feeling better.

Sat, Oct 20: Mom’s 70th

And in completely unimportant news, I rebuilt my PC.  I do this every now and then because one simply can’t have an old computer.   Well, I’ve actually held off on rebuilding the computer’s motherboard and processor for 5 years!   I’ve replaced the graphics card a few times, got a solid state drive or two, and upgraded the power source in that time, but hadn’t really felt the need to update the main processor.   But the latest round of computer games were starting to tell me that if I wanted the premiere experience, I’d need to do something about it.  So I did.  And just in time, as Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, which just came out, is a beast and I can run it without a problem and it looks glorious.  It’s a fantastic game too.  My components this time around included:

  • Intel i7-8700 3.7Ghz processor
  • ASUS Prime Z370-A Motherboard
  • 16 GB of DDR4 3000 RAM
  • be quiet! Dark Rock processor cooler fan
  • GeForce GTX 1070 Ti video card (which I had got a month or two ago)

Behold, my new PC as built on a Friday, Oct 5 night:

New PC pieces for a new 2018 PC
The previous mobo has been removed
My new ASUS Prime Z370-A mobo awaits
Here’s my crazy new CPU fan – the processor I got didn’t come with its own fan this time
The part on the left presses against the chip – the rest helps disperse the heat
Have to install a support mount on the bottom of the mobo
Sweet sweet i7-8700K goodness
Chip is in
LOL this looks insane – but it does its job and it’s quiet
Pretty cool, eh? And the official Youtube install video was invaluable in installation
This fan attaches to that structure to help blow the heat out
Hard part done – except for actually hoping it all worked!
geek stuff, just a post, pop culture

Miscellaneous Monday

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Various stuff from the past few days:

I got my new iPhone 6!  (so did Larry)

We waited patiently during the 2 years since we both got our iPhone 5 back in 2012, and finally, finally, our day to upgrade came.  Pre-ordered back on Sept 12 which guaranteed our delivery of the phone this past Friday.  I got the silver 64GB while Larry got the space-grey one. It’s a fantastic device, and I like the new size.  We didn’t get the “Plus” model as that just seemed to be too big.  Some quick thoughts on what I like about the new iPhone 6:

  • The security feature of using your fingerprint(s) to unlock the phone is very convenient, and even better than having to type in a code.  I’m actually used to typing in that code, but it makes unlocking your phone now fairly seamless.
  • The increased size is appreciated as is the better form factor.
  • I’m looking forward to using the Health features of the phone, but I haven’t yet.  Actually, trying to figure out if I can use my now-deactived iPhone 5 as my running system – we did a test today and it looks like it still gets a GPS signal even if the SIM card is off.
  • Better camera – my iPhone 5 camera somehow got dirt in the lens that I could never get rid of, so I hated using it.  But now I’ve got a great new camera that has a lot of great features, including the tone-based flash.  Looking forward to using this.
  • I know that iOS 8 has a lot more stuff to discover, but for now, it’s just nice to have a new phone.
19-Sep-2014 12:02, Canon Canon PowerShot SX600 HS, 3.8, 4.5mm, 0.04 sec, ISO 800
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19-Sep-2014 12:02, Canon Canon PowerShot SX600 HS, 3.8, 4.5mm, 0.01 sec, ISO 400
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19-Sep-2014 12:04, Canon Canon PowerShot SX600 HS, 4.0, 5.968mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 800
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19-Sep-2014 12:04, Canon Canon PowerShot SX600 HS, 4.0, 5.968mm, 0.013 sec, ISO 800
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19-Sep-2014 12:52, Canon Canon PowerShot SX600 HS, 3.8, 4.5mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 640
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19-Sep-2014 12:54, Canon Canon PowerShot SX600 HS, 3.8, 4.5mm, 0.05 sec, ISO 800
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19-Sep-2014 12:58, Canon Canon PowerShot SX600 HS, 3.8, 4.5mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 250
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New Power Supply for my PC

I experienced a troubling issue last week while playing Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls – all of a sudden my gameplay would lock up after some time playing the game, suddenly coming back, but from that point on, being unplayable as it was super-jerky.  Even more troubling, I could hear fans from within my PC losing their damn mind.  Not a happy sound.  I’d end up having a locked-up PC and need to reboot my computer.  WHAT WAS HAPPENING?

The symptoms only were coming up in Diablo 3, especially after I had updated to Reaper of Souls expansion.  It didn’t make much sense, but I started the internet investigation to figure out if anyone else was having problems.  I started seeing in Nvidia (my video card’s chip set), Blizzard (Diablo 3’s publisher) and EVGA (my video card maker) certain similar threads about the fact that the Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 requires a fairly strong power supply.  Now, I had actually JUST bought a new power supply back in April, an Antec True Power Classic 650W unit, when I bought a new case.  Figured that was good enough, but when investigating, I read that my video card has a high requirement of Amps on the 12V rail (42A, specifically).

There are power supplies that have a single 12V rail while others have it on multiple rails:  the Antec one was on multiple rails.  There doesn’t seem to be a clear consensus on if that’s an inferior methodology, BUT, many contributors indicated that these super-powered graphics cards have high requirements.  Recommended by many are power supplies with a single rail for 12V – and some people who had experienced similar issues to me reported that once they replaced their power supplies with single-rail versions, the problems went away.  Well, I can add my name to that list.  I bought an EVGA SuperNOVA 750W G2 model (with a single-rail 12V line with 62.5A on it) and after spending Friday morning taking the old one out and putting this guy in (VERY cool feature:  all the cables are modular, meaning you only install those power cables you need, avoiding having too much excess cables within), I nervously started up Diablo 3 again.  Guess what?  No crazy slowdown problems or terrifying fan noises.  It was weird how I hadn’t had that kind of a symptom until Diablo 3, but it is what it is.  I’m back in business.

19-Sep-2014 11:01, Canon Canon PowerShot SX600 HS, 3.8, 4.5mm, 0.077 sec, ISO 1600
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19-Sep-2014 11:01, Canon Canon PowerShot SX600 HS, 3.8, 4.5mm, 0.125 sec, ISO 1600
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19-Sep-2014 11:53, Canon Canon PowerShot SX600 HS, 4.5, 6.505mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 800
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19-Sep-2014 11:53, Canon Canon PowerShot SX600 HS, 4.5, 6.505mm, 0.125 sec, ISO 1600
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19-Sep-2014 11:53, Canon Canon PowerShot SX600 HS, 4.5, 6.505mm, 0.067 sec, ISO 1600
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Movie Review:  The Skeleton Twins

the-skeleton-twins-2014 Plenty of reviews of this movie starring Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig as long-estranged siblings have raved about it.  Larry & I had read about a scene that involved the two of them singing Starship’s “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now,” which is a bit of an in-joke for us, and it was supposed to be a high point of the movie.  So we went and saw it yesterday as we’d been having a pretty good track record of selecting and watching good movies!  Alas, that record came to a close today.  BOO!

First, the good stuff:  Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig and Luke Wilson are all great in their roles.  They all have chemistry together and a lot of the writing can be very funny, when the situation dictates.  But damn, the situations these characters find themselves in just are all over the damn place.  Suicidal tendencies, habitual fucking around, after-effects of a Lolita-like situation, terrible parents….there’s just so much to process.  Those plot elements aren’t really too hard to deal with, honestly, but the way the end of the movie comes about defies pretty much all logic.  So, yeah, I wanted to like the movie, I really did, but I feel that it tried to do too much.  The Starship scene was amusing, but it certainly wasn’t as amazing as had been kinda promised by other reviews.  It’s also one of those, “nobody does this in real life” scenes too, but hey, it’s the movies.  You just think that movies like this, independent-y dramas, go for less of the movie cliches.  And man, you get a ton of them here.

My advice?  Pass on this.  Watch You Can Count on Me with Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo if you want a truly great movie about estranged siblings.  Trust me.

geek stuff, just a post, on life

Effin’ Folgers Commercial Gets Me Every Time

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Maybe I’ve become a weepy little bitch in my old age of 35 (egads, just typing that makes me a weepy little bitch), but I swear, EVERY TIME I see this recent Folgers coffee commercial where hunky brother comes home and the parents stayed up all night to wait for his arrival but he shows up late and his sister opens the front door and when he gives her a gift she takes the bow and puts it on him and tells him, “you’re my present this year.”  TEARS EVERYTIME.  WHY?????  It’s such a ridiculously cliched commercial and just like the one from the 80’s where “Peter” the (again) hunky son (at least if you consider it was the 1980s) comes home to the smell of Folgers.   These commercials shamefully manipulate your basest emotions, whether that emotion is the arrival of nice hotness or just the whole long-separated family member comes home and everyone is happy.  Also, that the coffee was the thing that made it happen.  Specifically the Folgers.  Obviously.  Although I drink Maxwell House at home so maybe that is preventing random hot guys from coming over.  That’s probably for the best then.  🙂

There is also that other commercial with the annoyingly cute “Jingle the Husky Pup” that makes me think I need to have that, just for the cute little stuffed husky pup you get and the fact that it barks when you say certain things.  Maybe this just means that we need to get a dog.  I keep leaning towards that conclusion and try to keep coming up with reasons why not.  It would definitely be a humongous change of lifestyle for both Larry & I, but I think it would be basically awesome to have a dog.  We will have to keep this in mind still.

Other News from this part of the world:

  • Larry has been making our loft office even more cool.  I have to upload the photos and post them here (later today when I get home) but he got these cool wall labels made that were clocks, and we have 4 of them, one for each time zone. They’re labeled with meaningful cities, so Pacific is Santa Monica, Mountain is Colorado Springs, Central is San Antonio, and Eastern is New York.  It’s pretty much AWESOME.  Can’t wait to show here.  Jan 2013 Update – Here are the pics:
06-Dec-2011 16:04, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.8, 4.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 100
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06-Dec-2011 16:26, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.0, 4.3mm, 0.004 sec, ISO 250
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06-Dec-2011 16:27, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.0, 4.3mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 400
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06-Dec-2011 16:27, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.8, 4.3mm, 0.025 sec, ISO 100
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06-Dec-2011 16:28, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.5, 4.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 100
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06-Dec-2011 16:28, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.5, 4.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 100
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06-Dec-2011 17:02, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.2, 4.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 100
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06-Dec-2011 18:01, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.0, 4.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 250
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06-Dec-2011 20:21, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 3.5, 7.152mm, 0.05 sec, ISO 800
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06-Dec-2011 20:22, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 4.5, 10.262mm, 0.05 sec, ISO 1250
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06-Dec-2011 20:22, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.0, 4.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 320
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06-Dec-2011 20:22, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.0, 4.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 320
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06-Dec-2011 20:23, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.0, 4.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 400
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  • Larry will be heading back to NYC this weekend and I follow him out there the following weekend, where I’ll be working at both 30 Rock and Englewood Cliffs while he will be visiting with his sister while she’s getting ready to have a baby.  Exciting times!  Can’t wait to go back to “The City” as well as see a lot of our friends and my coworkers there.  Plus I get to finally wear my heavy coats again!!!  I swear I miss wearing my awesome Michael Kors peacoat.  That thing is timeless AND awesome.
  • I rebuilt my PC again  – I think another post is in order to fully document it but I did that during the Thanksgiving Weekend.  My PC is insane now.  Pics and Post to come.  Jan 2013 Update – Here are the pics from that little adventure; I’m ready to do it again, to be honest!:
Next »
The obsolete-yet-unaware-of-that-status PC
The obsolete-yet-unaware-of-that-status PC25-Nov-2011 13:18, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.8, 4.3mm, 0.008 sec, ISO 400
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Getting a gander at the existing PC case
Getting a gander at the existing PC case25-Nov-2011 13:18, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.8, 4.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 400
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All the new pieces! New MB, new graphics card, new memory (8 GB), and a new processor
All the new pieces! New MB, new graphics card, new memory (8 GB), and a new processor25-Nov-2011 13:19, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.8, 4.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 100
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Intel inside, baby. i7-2600. Recommended at that point in time!
Intel inside, baby. i7-2600. Recommended at that point in time!25-Nov-2011 13:19, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.2, 4.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 125
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My iPad served as the manual to follow while doing this upgrade. I'm no rookie, but it helps to have this.
My iPad served as the manual to follow while doing this upgrade. I'm no rookie, but it helps to have this.25-Nov-2011 13:20, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.5, 4.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 160
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25-Nov-2011 13:22, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.8, 4.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 200
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Ah, the guts. Some would be afraid to venture here. I am not.
Ah, the guts. Some would be afraid to venture here. I am not.25-Nov-2011 13:23, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.8, 4.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 200
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Time to unplug and rip all this shit out. I mean, remove these components gently for Larry's use!
Time to unplug and rip all this shit out. I mean, remove these components gently for Larry's use!25-Nov-2011 13:31, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.8, 4.3mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 250
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I do love to rebuild a PC
I do love to rebuild a PC25-Nov-2011 13:31, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.8, 4.3mm, 0.013 sec, ISO 200
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Clearing the way to get the old mobo and processor out
Clearing the way to get the old mobo and processor out25-Nov-2011 13:36, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.0, 4.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 125
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It's all Larry's now - time for you guys to become a Hackintosh!
It's all Larry's now - time for you guys to become a Hackintosh!25-Nov-2011 13:39, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.0, 4.3mm, 0.003 sec, ISO 400
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I'm sure he'll figure it out
I'm sure he'll figure it out25-Nov-2011 13:39, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.0, 4.3mm, 0.001 sec, ISO 400
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The canvas is clean
The canvas is clean25-Nov-2011 13:40, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.8, 4.3mm, 0.017 sec, ISO 200
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With a new mobo, you typically get a new plate for your connections. NEAT.
With a new mobo, you typically get a new plate for your connections. NEAT.25-Nov-2011 13:41, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.8, 4.3mm, 0.02 sec, ISO 125
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The motherboard fits!
The motherboard fits!25-Nov-2011 13:53, Canon Canon PowerShot ELPH 500 HS, 2.8, 4.3mm, 0.02 sec, ISO 200
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Next »
  • Video Game News (skip if you’re not a geek like me):  I finished Grand Theft Auto 4 finally.  Well worth it to finally get that done – now I just need to also finish the other Grand Theft Autos from the III series, like San Andreas, Vice City and the original.  I’m also playing Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and man, that thing is really cool.  Plus, with my super-powered rig, it can do full on awesome graphics.   I also just finished Assassin’s Creed: Revelations.  I was so stoked to play this as it took place mostly in Constantinople (or Istanbul, as it’s called now and funny enough, it was called that back in the 1500s too by the locals, at least according to the game) which Larry & I had just visited on our cruise this year.  I’ve been to pretty much all the primary locations from the Assassin’s Creed 2 series in real life, including Florence (AC2), Venice (AC2), Rome (AC2 & AC:B), and Istanbul (AC:R).  I’ll miss Ezio.  Now I want to get back into Batman: Arkham City and Uncharted 3.  I LOVE VIDEO GAMES.
Alright, I think that’s enough for now.  There will be some upcoming posts with either pictures or the PC upgrade post.  I like to keep track of what I’ve been doing in that realm as well as what pieces I use.  Awesomely enough, Larry was able to use my components that I replaced to build a “Hackintosh”, which is basically making a PC into a Mac, which is not something Apple really wants you to do.  But doing that means you can build a much more powerful system that what Apple may give you, plus you’re not paying the Apple “premium” too.  He seems to be very very happy with the performance he gets out of it as the components I replaced really weren’t that obsolete, as I had bought them just under 2 years ago and they were almost top-of-the-line then.
Okay, back to work, Hobie.  Someone’s bound to notice you’re not being productive for NBCU….  sshh…..
just a post, pictures

Thanksgiving Beckons

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It’s a short week at work, and frankly, I’ve checked out at this point already.  🙂  This 4-day weekend should be fun.  On deck today?  The Muppets!!!! Can not wait to see it, and what was especially cool was when we bought tickets through Flixster, in the electronic receipt, there was a code to download two songs from the movie via iTunes:  “The Muppet Show Theme” and “Life’s a Happy Song Finale”, both of which are awesome.  Larry & I are soooo excited to see this movie.  Afterwards, it’s homemade pizza time.

Tomorrow we’re off to Mom and Harv’s for an, I’m sure, wonderful feast.  Nothing exciting planned beyond that for tomorrow, I think.

Friday though, it’s that time that comes along once every two years or so when Hobie decides to rebuild his PC.  Stand by for that post, as I do love to share any insights on this time-honored tradition amongst PC enthusiasts.  I’m donating my existing pieces to Larry as he wants to build a Hackintosh (a Macintosh built on PC guts).  I just can’t wait to have a super-charged PC again that runs things like Skyrim and Saints Row the Third without even blinking.

Saturday and Sunday?  Who knows.  The weather is supposed to be great, so probably we’ll take advantage of the fact that we live in the awesome Santa Monica area.  I’ve been wanting to go hiking around the Santa Monica mountains actually…and I’ve also been jonesing to make the hike to the Hollywood Sign….

Here are some pics from this past weekend when Larry strolled around the Main St area in Santa Monica as well as the adjacent beach.  Ah, I love saying adjacent beach.

19-Nov-2011 14:48, Apple iPhone 4, 2.8, 3.85mm, ISO 100
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19-Nov-2011 14:48, Apple iPhone 4, 2.8, 3.85mm, ISO 80
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19-Nov-2011 14:48, Apple iPhone 4, 2.8, 3.85mm, ISO 80
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19-Nov-2011 14:48, Apple iPhone 4, 2.8, 3.85mm, 0.001 sec, ISO 80
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19-Nov-2011 14:48, Apple iPhone 4, 2.8, 3.85mm, 0.001 sec, ISO 80
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19-Nov-2011 14:49, Apple iPhone 4, 2.8, 3.85mm, 0.001 sec, ISO 80
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19-Nov-2011 14:49, Apple iPhone 4, 2.4, 3.85mm, ISO 125
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19-Nov-2011 14:51, Apple iPhone 4, 2.8, 3.85mm, ISO 80
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19-Nov-2011 14:58, Apple iPhone 4, 2.8, 3.85mm, 0.001 sec, ISO 80
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19-Nov-2011 14:59, Apple iPhone 4, 2.8, 3.85mm, ISO 80
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just a post, pictures

I got a Birthday card from Best Buy (T-303)

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Surprising? Not really. I’m sure I keep their bottom line firmly in the black.

So I’ll try to knock out a lot of the pictures I have taken from the past month and a half. I decided to leave off my pics from the following things:

– SNCO Academy graduation, 28 Sep 2006 –

not too exciting and lots of pictures of that damn SOS running hill at Maxwell AFB. Mostly pictures for my memories than anything you’d be interested in. (30 Oct 2016 Update:  Let’s look at pictures!  2006-Me was so lazy about pictures!)

Looking at the evil SOS hill
The uphill battle
Pretty Alabama river view
More of the river
Long view of the evil hill
I really hate this hill
Where I stayed
The Maxwell shoppette
Me and SMSgt Peele
Ida and her German instructor
Class shot

– My PC Rebuild – I may build a supplemental page to my current ‘Build a PC with Hobie’ section, but for the time being, those pictures will have to wait for public viewing. (30 Oct 2016 Update:  Yeah, those pics are hilarious to me now as there’s so much OLD technology on display, including my monitor, the fact there’s a FLOPPY disk drive….)

LOOK at all this so mid-2000s technology
Man – I kept that Dell case for a long time.

The pics below are excerpts from our get-together at Dave & Buster’s in Denver:

Pics from Dave & Buster’s – 23 Sep 06

KD at D&B’s
Dallas
Erin and Senor Pietro
KD & Eric
Jeff, Dallas and Dave
Me and Erin (I’m tanked in this pic, btw)

In the pictures below, I took pics from the plane back home from Alabama. And amazingly, it flew right over my neighborhood and I was on the perfect side of the plane to see my house exactly. Sweet!

Colorado Springs from above – 29 Sep 06

The Springs from afar
Crepeau’s hood
There’s mine as we get closer
Looking due south to my hood
And there’s my house

Below are pictures from my very first Colorado Blizzard! The first winter I had here did have snow, but it was never to the extent that we got in October 2006. It was pretty cool to experience one, especially since I was on leave during it so I didn’t have to deal with driving in it. Even better was that the temperatures went back up into the 50s and 60s so most of the snow is now gone. Although there’s still quite a bit left in the city, mostly where the snow built up in drifts or where the plows put it on the sides of the road. I am not sure when the next major storm will hit, but from what I’ve heard, this first blizzard was a great start to the ski season. I’m hoping by December, we’ll have plenty more snow and that Breckenridge, Keystone, Vail and Beaver Creek are ready for me!

Oh yeah, I forgot to update and say that I now have a complete ski set and ensemble – I’ve got my own skis now, my own ski poles, ski boots and I even got a really cool new ski jacket. And with my Colorado Ski pass, I’m a total native. Sweet.

Colorado Springs Blizzard – 26 Oct 06

Looking out the window first thing
Table of snow!
Looking out the front window – wow
My very full patio My very full patio
The lower level covered in snow
My snow staircase waterfall
Looking south on Lisa Dr
and North
There’s my house with an enormous snow drift in front
My shoveled driveway – oy that was a lot of snow
You can see the pile of snow and the snow drift in front

And then finally, I took some pictures today of my office – redesigned with the removal of my original desk (to the garage) and putting in a more basic and ‘open’ desk that would relax the room a lot. I haven’t put my “I Love Me” diplomas up yet on the walls, nor have I painted the room to what it may eventually be (the colors for this room have definitely not been considered yet – I’m still trying to finish my bedroom as I can’t get to the last wall yet because I have to disassemble my big bed first). But I love my new setup in the office, with my TV right there and there being plenty of room for not only my amazingly powerful newly built PC (specs: AMD 64 Athlon X2 4800+ processor, new ASUS A8N32-SLI mobo, 2 GB of DDRAM, a new SATA HDD, a Creative X-Fi sound card, and a BFG NVidia Geforce 7950GT 512 MB video card/powerhouse – I want to get one more identical video card so I can run it in SLI-configuration) but also to put my laptop up there. Sweet. OH yeah, I also got a new flat panel monitor – the big honkin’ 19″ CRT is resting peacefully in the closet, destined eventually for somewhere else…not here.

My redesigned office – 1 Nov 06

Overall view of desk area
More focus on the new desk