Drako

...maybe the aborted format attempt was a good thing. After having a friend take a look at it, and fix the things I had problems with, he discovered that the harddrive had bad sections and was starting to crap out. At least now I have everything crucial backed up (on both my powerbook and a portable harddrive), and my desktop tower now just needs a new harddrive. This being said, I wouldn't mind a new desktop and laptop (desktop is 8 years old and the laptop I bought is 4 or 5), but they'll do for now. They still run very well for as old as they are. I'm just glad I was able to back up my files, instead of the harddrive crashing on me and causing me to lose everything.

My 8 year old desktop is now not in use anymore, due to my own doing.

I recently bought a laptop from a friend, and decided that my computer could use a formatting to make it run better. A while back I made an improper attempt to format my computer, but just installed Windows 2000 over what was already there without formatting. It removed my programs, but didn't really get rid of anything. I was able to reinstall all the drivers and everything just fine. A partition was created when I was messing around before, but didn't have any space in it at all and was undefined. Since I got the laptop, I had been given a tip on how to format more properly. The format went well, but the reinstalling is where all the problems started. Windows 2000 would keep freezing or be unable to install all the files it needed. I had the cds cleaned, and it still wouldn't install right. I had to reinstall Windows ME (during which I got a few BSODs) and then put the Windows 2000 cd in. Everything went alright, until I discovered that somehow a partition was made that was only 2 GB big. So I formatted again and installed on the rest of the harddrive. Now I have two defined partitions and 3 undefined ones, with no clue on how to get rid of any of them. And to top it all off, I can't find a proper video driver for my video card (and before any of you ask, no I don't know what it is specifically, it has no markings whatsoever besides the fact that it's an ATI). I don't have a cd for it, and because I'm stuck on 800 by 600 with 16 colors, it's very hard to get on websites, and I can't get onto the ATI website at all. So I disconnected everything and shoved the monitor to the side, and now I have the laptop on my computer desk.

Eventually I may ask a favor or pay someone to see what's wrong, but I just don't feel like dealing with it anymore. I've been messing with it since Sunday afternoon, and now it's 1:30 am on Friday.

Many people know that AnthroCon is this weekend. I've been looking forward to it for a long time. Every time I go, I get such a good feeling, it's not easy to describe. The best way for me to describe it is like going home after a long time being away. I feel like I belong. I enjoy just walking around and observing the goings-on, meeting people I don't often see and making new friends. I'm leaving today after work to go, and after missing last year's AC, I'm really excited to be going again.

See you there!

Tetris is 25 today. Neat!

Does anyone have spare room at AC?

Haven't done or posted one of these for a while.

Your result for Which Were Animal Would You Be? Test...

You are a Were-Tiger!

80% tiger, 70% wolf, 10% horse, 10% rat, 30% leopard, 50% fox and 20% bear!

Take Which Were Animal Would You Be? Test at HelloQuizzy

Need I say more?

I don't think I've had a cold this nasty for quite a while, I've had it for almost a week, meds have little effect. It's moved from my sinuses to my chest though, so at least I can breathe again.

Oh, I should probably start asking this: Does anyone have any room at AnthroCon where I can crash? Westin is preferable, of course, but I'll take whatever's available.

We're finally getting a nice stretch of weather above freezing. Now everything can melt. Feels good outside.

Off to Clarion now. Whee!

Where the hell is all this snow coming from? We've had more snow around here than we have for quite a while, and I'm getting tired of all this shoveling and plowing. Stop snowing!

After going back and forth, I've decided to post.

My grandma died today (technically yesterday, the 24th) in the afternoon. Death and funerals have long ceased to make me sad, as everyone has to die, and there's really not much you can do about it, so I don't see a point on dwelling on something that's inevitable. Yeah, it's sad, but just remember the good times, and move on. Life goes on. So while it doesn't really bother me overly much, now my family, and my dad's whole side of the family, is going to be all sad and mopey for quite a while. Not to mention that I HAVE to go to boring visitations and the burial. Instead of going to just one visitation and then going to a gathering of my mom's side of the family, I'm now obligated (and yes, my mom is forcing me) to go to all visitations and miss something I'd much rather be at.

There's nothing to take away the cheery holiday spirit quite like death. So now my Christmas is basically ruined.

If life were a video game, I feel like I'm stuck in tutorial mode.

Yeesh, it's that time of year again.

*looks out at internetland through a red haze*

Well, my LCD monitor is now starting to go. The only color it shows is red, and shades thereof. I've only had this monitor for a year and a half, seeing as I got it during the summer of 2007. The fact I got it off of ebay probably had something to do with this... At least my first monitor, a CRT (tube) monitor, lasted for 6 or 7 years. And yes, I did test the monitor on another computer, and all it showed was red.

Yeesh. This hasn't been that good a year for screens for me. First my TV, now my monitor... At least with my birthday coming up, I shouldn't have to blow so much of my paycheck on a monitor, as my mom also mentioned birthday coming up.

*Edit* Perhaps now would be a good time to mention that I have a paypal account...

For any who wonder where I am, I'm about to format my computer as soon as one more thing finishes getting backed up. I've been using it constantly for a while, and my computer is starting to bog down a bit. I think this will help speed it up again.

I guess a few things are new. First and foremost, my chevy Lumina is now officially dead. It's been having problems for a while, but it had recently gotten to the point where it'd cost more than it's worth to fix it. The coolant system had been giving me trouble, and with a cracked head gasket, it just wasn't worth it to get it repaired. I had the car for a total of eight years, half of the car's lifetime. It has been pretty reliable, and I'll miss that car. I may post pictures eventually.

I'm slowly but steadily paying off my bills. I do make enough to pay what I need to, and have a little extra. I finally got a new TV, just a regular 20 inch tube TV. Not too much, but the picture quality is good and it serves my needs. It takes me a while to save up to buy anything substantial, but at least I have money to spend.

Speaking of income, I need to start looking for jobs again. Either another local job or a good library job somewhere else. After so many rejections, it was just too much for me to keep applying. But now that I have something of an income, and a little bit of experience, I can take a bit more time and be a little more selective on what I apply to. I just hope something works out soon.

Other than that, not much is new.

In the area where I live is an annual book sale, and this is the 40th year of it. They had over 100,000 books for it this year for many categories. It's very popular. In it, I bought:

Star Trek TNG Double Helix books 1, 2, 3, 5, 6:
Infection, by John Gregory Betancourt
Vectors, by Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Red Sector, by Diane Carey
Double or Nothing, by Peter David
The First Virtue, by Michael Jean Friedman and Christie Golden

"The Trouble With Tribbles" by David Gerrold

Terminator 2: Judgment Day by Randall Frakes

Federation by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens

Back to the Future by George Gipe

Battlestar Galactica by Glen A. Larson and Robert Thurston

Ringworld by Larry Niven

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams

Rise of a Merchant Prince by Raymond E. Feist (Serpentwar Saga book 2)
Rage of a Demon King by Raymond E. Feist (Serpentwar Saga book 3)

The Lost King by Margaret Weis (Star of the Guardians book 1)

Fortune's Wheel by Lisanne Norman (Sholan Alliance book 2)

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds

Absolution Gap by Alastair Reynolds

The Cornelius Chronicles by Michael Moorcock

Stormbringer by Michael Moorcock (Elric Saga book 6)

Xenocide by Orson Scott Card

Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card (The Tales of Alvin Maker book 1)
Red Prophet by Orson Scott Card (The Tales of Alvin Maker book 2)


And I got the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary because my family plays Scrabble fairly often.

And I got all those books for a total of $9. Not as cheap as earlier years, but still not bad.

*blows off a thick layer of dust, then coughs*

I now have my first paycheck from being a paid shelver. I started volunteering at the local library in early March, and have finally become part of the staff. Yay, putting my MLS to work. But it's a relief to be getting a little money regularly now. When all you have is a big lot of nothing, you really feel it, especially with bills to pay. This is my first real paycheck since August 2007. I've gotten money since then, but just one-time checks like my tax return. My student loan held me for a good while, but I only budgeted for the one semester, and I managed to carry a bit over past when the semester ended. For the past two months or so, I was severely feeling the pinch of lack of funds, and anyone who's been talking to me will know that I've been pretty depressed because of it. It isn't much, but $93.82 is better than not having any money at all. It'll be a while before I really start making some, but now I can afford the gas to drive to and from the library.

Yeah, so I didn't get the job that I interviewed for. That doesn't bother me too much. Disappointing, yes, but not depressing. What kinda angered me is a link to an article that one of the librarians I interviewed for sent me. ( http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA527965.html& ) Really, you just have to read it to get the full effect.

( Article C&P for convenience. )

So much for my library degree. Obviously I'm going to keep looking, but I'm going to focus more on getting a local job just to have an income. I'm also going to look more into getting back into chemistry. I may also, in the nearish future, consider going back to school to go into the computer science field instead.

No go. Oh well. Just have to keep on looking.

Interview day tomorrow. So nervous.... I want this job so much