Simple America

Anybody that has read me for any length of time realizes that I am a major game geek. I play board games, role playing games, card games, and video games. It is rumored that I play Scrabulous too (and getting abused there too).

When I got my Xbox 360 I figured that I do not require any other platform for my video game needs. All of the games I want to play should be produced for Xbox. The months went by and there are a lot of good games developed for XBox. But I was missing a few games that would really entertain me. So I bought Half Life 2 and World of Warcraft to play on my laptop. And it was fun. I purchased a wireless keyboard and mouse so I could have better control while playing. But for both games I had to play at minimum graphics. And there were crashing issues. I could count on crashing every two hours while playing World of Warcraft. That is really bad when you are part of a group working through an instance. It can get you kicked from the group real quick, and it kills the fun as you stress through the five minutes it takes before I can return to the game’s server.

Another thing that has always irked me is that I cannot load Burning Crusade, the World of Warcraft upgrade. I have been wanting to play a Dranei shaman for the longest time, which is impossible without Burning Crusade. Then I looked at the money I have been depositing in my Paypal count from Blogging and I said I can afford the power.

But I did not want to just go to the store and buy a box and bring it home. I wanted to have a computer that I knew exactly what was on it and provided flexibility for me to adapt as technology progresses. I don’t really need the best state of the art boards right this minute. My goal is to run the games that I want to play that are going to be coming out over the next year. 

For a couple of months I have been visiting all of the techie sites reading about Core 2 processors, Radeon versus Nvideo, and how it all connects. During the process I focused on assembling a budget that would allow me to be a power player under $800.

Last Friday I picked up the paper as I always do. I pulled out the Fry’s Electronics sales section and I could not believe what I saw. The major components that I wanted were on sale. They offered the motherboard I had been stalking with a Core 2 chip for $98. My jaw dropped to the floor. The processor I had budgeted was 1.867 GHz and here they bundled a 2.0 GHz processor with my board of choice. My budget for these items was $98 and $67 and here I was getting them both for $98. Fry’s also listed the Antec 9000 case for $75 bucks, which is five bucks more than I was budgeting as I had been eyeing a Coolermaster case. But the Antec lists for $150 and it is just a dream. There is enough space for nine 5.25″ bays, and it comes with four fans and space to add two more if I need them. They also had a 500 watt Antec power supply unit for $60, and I had been budgeting this at a hundred bucks. When I picked up my son from school we went to Fry’s and shopped.

This is what we came home with. In addition to the previously mentioned items, I picked up two 1 GB 667 GHz RAM memory, which is the max this board can hold. Cost is $70. That foil package holds a Maxtor 300 GB SATA drive for $80. I picked up a Pioneer 18 X 18 RW DVD for $40. I grabbed an e-Geforce video card for $80, though I have a rebate for $30 that I can mail in. This uses a Nivdeo chip for those that are interested. I bought the Windows XP OEM for my operating system at $100 and the Burning Crusade for $30. I was so happy to see the final total came in under $700. That’s more than one hundred under my budget.

I put everything on the dining room table, so I would have plenty of room to assemble the parts. First, I took out the case, which is huge.

Front view.

Rear view.

The top of the case provides jacks for head phones, microphone, firewire, and two USB connections.

Left side panel off. The case provides a great deal of space for large mother boards and lots of peripherals. Plenty of space for air to blow through to. Cables conveniently provided for the ports and fan electricity. I anticipate using this case for many years. Long after the other components have been scrapped.

Right side panel removed. This lets you have access to secure devices within the bays such as DVD players, and hard drives.

Antec 500 watt power supply.

The power supply fit in quite snuggly in this case. I just pushed it under the metal tab and I am certain it cannot bounce.

Here is a view of the case’s rear, where the power supply fan , on/off switch, and electrical outlet can be seen. It secures to the case with four screws.

We have power. Nice and snugly fit. More to come soon on the assembly of my new power player maker.

Well yesterday was one of the most frightening days of my life. Scarier than Aliens, Halloween, and Friday the 13th combined. This was one of those days that a father dreads. No my little girl did no go on her first date. Though that is a scarey thought indeed.

So what happened on Monday.

It all started in the morning when the girl asked me for the car keys. That’s right. Yesterday my baby girl drove to school for the first time. The good news is she made it back home. With her brother no less.

See how scarey that is? But it is nice too. Now I can get to work at 8 instead of 9. This means I can leave work at 6:30 instead of 7:30. Yay!

But get this. When I was driving them just the week before I had to drag them out of bed. I set their alarm clocks for six o’clock. Yesterday, I could hear them moving around at 5:30 and they left the house at 6:15. An hour earlier than the week before. Silly kids. She cannot drop him off until 7:30 and they arrived at 7:00. Oh well. Today I had to wake em up as before. But they did leave at 6:45 which is good.

They are getting older. Me too. Soon they will be off to college and this old house is going to be more quiet. That is kind of scarey too.

I’m probably too late with this advice. But over here in the states we are pushing the clock back an hour. That is an hour best spent sleeping in my opinion. Anybody know why we are doing this a week later than usual?

I cannot believe it. Both kids will be out of the house Saturday night. My daughter is helping with a Girl Scout backpacker’s orientation. My son is going to a LAN party to play X-Box. 

Quick somebody. What’s playing at the movies? Woo hoo!!!

Rinnah bo dinnah tagged me and I am finally getting around to posting. Sorry I am so slow my dear. Here I go:
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1. Name one person who made you laugh last night? I don’t think I laughed last night. How can tha be?

2. What were you doing at 0800? Dropping my daughter off at school.

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago? Looking at add-ons for World of Warcraft. Need an edge for PVP.

4. What happened to you in 2006? Went on an Alaskan cruise. And then the Canadian in-laws invaded for Christmas. Woo hoo!!! Good times.

5. What was the last thing you said out loud? “Thank you.” The Dean’s secretary gave me my mail.

6. How many beverages did you have today? Two. Coffee in the morning. Coke Zero for lunch.

7. What color is your hairbrush? Red. Rather bright I might add.

8. What was the last thing you paid for? Remember that Coke Zero I had for lunch?
 

9. Where were you last night? Work. Drove home. Ate. Picked up my daughter from a Halloween party. More home.

10. What color is your front door? My door is solid wood with a mahogany lacquer. There is stained glass too, which you can see through. Makes it difficult to run around the house naked, let me tell ya.

11. Where do you keep your change? In my pocket-ses. Jingly jingles!

12. What’s the weather like today? We had pea soup fog in the morning. Have not looked outside since I arrived at nine this morning, nine hours ago.

13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor? I like butter pecan!

14. What excites you? You reading this and leaving a comment.

15. Do you want to cut your hair? No. I cut it last Friday.

16. Are you over the age of 25? Almost twice.

17. Do you talk a lot? Depends on how hyper I am. Usually no.

18. Do you watch the O.C.? Nope. I watch Survivor: China, Heroes, and Supernatural. Also finally catching up on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I am ready for Lost to get going again too.

19. Do you know anyone named Steven? Not that I can recall. Not since I left college.

20. Do you make up your own words? I’m a writer. I make up all kinds of stuff.

21. Are you a jealous person? Only if you talk to someone else.

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’. Angel. I kept Rinnah’s answer.  J

23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’. Kenny Ng. I need to visit his blog. Have not read him in ages.

24. Who’s the first person on your received call list? My daughter. Girl won’t leave me alone. LOL!

25. What does the last text message you received say? Good morning from Malaysia.

26. Do you chew on your straw? No. I get enough fiber already.

27. Do you have curly hair? It waves a bit when it gets long. We’re only talking about my head right?

28. Where’s the next place you’re going to? Florida to see Mickey and Minnie.

29. Who’s the rudest person in your life? Me. Ain’t that sad?

30. What was the last thing you ate? Some candy corn I took from the secretary’s candy dish.

31. Will you get married in the future? Hey! I have not been kicked to the curb yet.

32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks? Have not watched any movies lately. I did hold Juhon in my hands for about ten minutes before I put it back on the shelf. Does that count?

33. Is there anyone you like right now? I like a lot of people. Bloggers in particular.

34. When was the last time you did the dishes? Tuesday. I did not want my missus to come home and have a reason to gripe. She griped anyway. Though not about the dishes.

35. Are you currently depressed? No. Been staying away so far. But it has happened in the past.

36. Did you cry today? Nope.

37. Why did you answer and post this? I am the King of Memes. Anything less would be plain disappointing.

38. Tag 5 people who would do this survey.
I tag eenie, meenie, minie, moe, and meo. When you figure out who you are do it. Don’t ask me cause I don’t know.

It is that time of the year again. Halloween. Tonight little goblins are going to invade the neighborhood and steal my candy stash. Vampires will want to suck down all my punch. Must remember to find my stakes before it gets dark.

Movies really make this a fun time of year. I’m talking about the scarey films. So as part of the Halloween craziness I would like to create a tag. This is just a list of flicks that scared the bejeebers out of you. What are your ten scariest days at the movies? And you can count television too. No limits!!!

1. Zombie movies. I think the zombie movie that scared me the most was one of the first. Night of the Living Dead frightened the heck out of me as a teen. Watching it late at night with lights out. Remember the little girl chowing down on her parents. What a shocker!
2. Vampire movies. There are so many vampire flicks. As a boy I loved the old Hammer flicks with Christopher Lee. But Stephen King wrote one of the best vampire tales ever, Salem’s Lot. The televsion adaption of this was well done. Really kept me on the edge of my seat and for more than one night, since this was a miniseries.
3. Halloween, the original movie, with Jamie Lee Curtis scared the heck out of me. I watched it when I was working at the DMZ in South Korea. We were on top of a mountain in the middle of no where, so it became even spookier. This movie scared me so bad I could not watch it again or any of the seqeuls.
4. Devil’s Rain is an old movie that I caught on television when I was in high school. This was damn eerie with Ernest Borgnine playing the devil. Would like to find this and see it again. Probably will look cheesy considering all of the passage of years and better technology. I remember the people melting under this devilish rain. Gives me the shivers still.
5. The Omen, original of course, scared me a lot too. I saw this in Germany during my first tour there. This film made you scared to look at photographs. It emitted an evil feeling that lured me on to the sequels that were also good creepy flicks.
6. Carrie is another Stephen King adaption and very well done. Really had some excellent actresses working this film with Amy Irving and Sissy Spacek. You can even catch a young John Travolta playing the dumb boyfriend. This is another film I saw in Germany. The ending is quite an eye opener too. It literally brought all of us to our feet with the shock of it. If you have not seen this one, FIND IT, WATCH IT!!! Do not leave the room until the credits roll.
7. Let me throw in another Stephen King tale. The Shining is a great haunted hotel story. Stephen Kubrick directed the original with Jack Nicholson, who plays a crazy man so well. His acting makes up for a lot of the old technology. They remade this movie as a television miniseries a few years back and it followed the book more closely. Both are good, but you have to see Jack Nicholson in this role.
8. The scariest movie in my high school days is The Exorcist. After we watched this film I could never eat pea soup again and I stayed away from Ouija boards too. So damn scarey and eeeeevil!!! This was a real head spinner of a movie.
9. In recent years I have not watched a lot of scarey movies. As a writer I don’t want to taint my idea pool. But I did watch The Ring and that really freaked me out. Makes you want to be very careful with what you watch on video.
10. There is one movie that scared me more than any other film. That movie is Alien. I remember the advertising slogan, “In space no one can hear you scream.” And the music they used really pushed you to the edge of your seat. The composer based it on a heart beat and I think my heart matched pace with it. When it was not stopping from fear that is. I so thought I was gonna die. The stupid thing about this flick, is I read the comic for this movie and I did not even realize it until I went back and read it again. I wish they had done a better job with the recent Aliens versus Predator. I read the books and they were so much better than that film. The alien creature is so scarey. Whenever I have a stomach ache I wonder if one of those critters is eating its way out of me. Eeeks!

Okay there is my list. I wish I would have done this sooner. But I did not. So I want to know about what movies scared:

1. Huei
2. Sila
3. Hisham  It will be interesting to compare brother and sister. 
4. Nicole
5. Hijack Queen

Happy Halloween everyone. Look out for the little goblins when you are driving tonight.

Cannot believe that my daughter is sixteen years old now. Where has the time gone?

The big day was Monday, though we gave her a present on Sunday. Guitar Hero 3 went on sale that day and she loved Guitar Hero 2 so how could I not give the new game to her? The latest game comes with a wireless guitar too. So she can play upstairs while I am hooked by cord to the Xbox downstairs with my guitar. Because the new game has a coop campaign I could not take any pictures. I was much too busy rocking with her. I play the bass or rhythm guitar on most songs for those curious types. 

She wanted Indian food for her birthday dinner. We visited Cafe India in Sugar Land to meet her demand. No pictures because I was so hungry when we arrived. Photos were the last thing on my mind. Good food though. My favorites were the lamb and naan bread which was so good.

The missus took the girl to get her driver’s license on Monday. So now she can drive by herself once we get her added to the car insurance. Scarey thought ain’t it. But it will be nice that I can knock 20 miles off my morning commute. Plus we save money as her brother does not have to attend extended day program at his school. She will pick him up when she drives to school.

Monday evening was college day for Catholic High Schools. We went to the gym at the boys school next door to her high school. Representatives from over a hundred universities were in attendance. She enjoyed talking to the folks from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. That is her reach school, or the one you have to stretch to attend. Maybe dream choice would be a clearer explanation?

I enjoyed talking to the service academies. All of the military services were present. We talked a lot to the Air Force and Army reps. The Army reps were interesting folks as they were parents of current students or graduates. One fellow’s daughter graduated and his girl was selected by both the Army and the Air Force Academies. When she made her choice her selection was based on her campus visits. This young lady noticed that the Army had statues of people everywhere, while the Air Force displayed air planes and other technology. She felt the Army related to people based on those statues and picked West Point. Interesting don’t you think?

Oh well, I have no idea what school my daughter will apply for. My goal is to facilitate her and make sure she is prepared for whatever choice she might take. Right now her focus is preparing for the SAT early next year. Once those scores come back she will have a better idea which school to apply for.

The worst is to come. A week from Saturday she will have a sleep over. I can hear the screams and giggles already. I predict a closed door and World of Warcraft on my docket.

I figured I better get this post up. I have been tagged on two occasions. First the Giddy Tiger saw fit to tag me. And then the mistipurple also thought I should be tagged. How can I refuse them?

Exactly!

I cannot. 

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Instructions:
Title: The Age That I Wish To Go Back To
Requirement: Write about the one age that you wish to go back to and why?
Tag Mode: 5 bloggers
1st - You leave their blog and post link and add to the list below.
2nd - Let the blogger you want to tag know they been tagged by comment in their blog or etc.

The Age that they Wish to Go Back to:
Amidrin wish to go back to age 22 to correct back some mistakes in life.
Lemonjude wish to go back to age 6 to enjoy kid’s life.
Hui Sia wish to go back to age 16 to meet her first lover again.
Giddy Tiger wishes to go back to a childhood life with no worries in the world.
Rinnah wishes she could turn back time to the happiest days of her life.
Ehon doesn’t wanna go anywhere.
Chen wanna go back to age 19 to take a different pathway in life.
Mistipurple wanna go back to primary school but trusts God knows better.
Simple American wants to go back to High School and be a braniac instead of a goof ball.

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And since I am so super late I am not gonna tag anyone.