Week of October 1, 2001
Monday
Tuesday Wednesday
Thursday Friday
Saturday Sunday
Most Recent Update
No update.
No update.
I am still here. I have just not been able to find the time to do an update this week until now. Monday was a very long day at work and then things needed to be done at home to get ready for my mother to arrive on Tuesday. We found out Monday evening that she would be arriving about five hours later than planned on Tuesday. This was a good thing as it allowed everyone to relax a little Monday night and realize that we had more time than we thought to get ready.
Tuesday afternoon I drove to Portland to pick her up at the airport there. Since she was arriving late in the afternoon, Delanae could not go with me as someone needed to pick Stacey up after her volleyball team practice was over. I left early to go look at computer components and hit the jackpot at Fry's. There I found an Antec KS282 case with a 300W power supply, a Maxtor 60GB 7200rpm hard drive, a VisionTek Geforce2mx200, and an extra case cooling fan which I felt were exactly what I needed to build my computer so I bought them. I also have my motherboard/processor combination on order and it has been shipped so the rainy weather this weekend may allow me to build my new system. I also ordered a copy of Windows 2000 Professional along with the motherboard to use as my new operating system, at least until I have a chance to play with the Redmond Linux CD I just received. With the new hard drive I should have plenty of room to play with it. I had originally planned to purchase a 40GB drive but after seeing the prices I felt that the price on the 60GB drive was too good to pass up.
I just got out of Fry's in time to drive to the airport to pick up my mother. Her plane got in 15 minutes earlier than originally scheduled and I got there only about five minutes before it arrived. The airport was very empty and there was almost no traffic headed to the airport at 5 PM on a weekday. It was very eerie. She did arrive without problems and we got out of the airport in under thirty minutes, another record. She will be here with us until the 11th and I will be off from work for that entire time so don't expect to hear work related stories here until after the 11th.
Today we drove up to Mt. St. Helen's. This was her first time to see it on a warm and clear day. It was spectacular up on the mountain today and well worth seeing again. We went to a different visitor's center today, one we had never visited before. There was an observation platform outside of it and we saw a herd of elk from that platform. Delanae especially liked seeing the elk. It is mating season for the elk right now but we did not hear any bulls doing their mating calls or see any fighting with each other. All in all, a very nice day. We have no plans for tomorrow, we will just see what we all feel like doing tomorrow.
No update.
This week we are doing the every other day update dance. For some reason, I just forgot to do one yesterday. I probably had plenty of time but the thought never crossed my mind until I had already gone to bed last night. I did my computer work upstairs with the rest of the family yesterday. That consisted of installing a CD-ROM drive, a floppy drive, and my new hard disk in the Antec case. I also installed an extra cooling fan as well. I scavenged the CD-ROM drive from the Packard-Bell computer that the kids had been using since it is the newest CD drive we have other than the CD burner in Delanae's computer. A CD burner for the new computer can wait another month or so as we can use her CD burner for now.
Removing the CD drive from the Packard-Bell computer meant opening up the case and taking off both sides. Doing this caused me to cut my finger on a sharp edge somewhere on the case. I found that the Antec case has no sharp edges which is another argument for using quality cases. The drives are also easier to install in it and access is much easier. I was surprised to find that the Packard-Bell computer had a Maxtor drive in it although the first hard drive that came in the computer failed in the first year and was replaced under warranty. I do not know what brand of drive that was.
I have done all I can until I get the processor and motherboard for the new computer. Once I have those it is intall-a-rama for me. These items were scanned into the Portland distribution center for FedEx this morning but have yet to make it here. I don't think FedEx delivers on the weekend so I will probably have to wait until Monday for them to be delivered. Can you tell I am getting impatient?
Delanae left early this morning for the youth conference that Stacey is also attending today and tomorrow. Delanae is going as part of security for the conference. She had to leave here at 6 this morning while Stacey did not have to leave until approximately 10. I hope Delanae gets some sleep tonight in the hotel as she has had very little in the last few days. She did not know what adult she would be rooming with before she left this morning and could possibly be in a room by herself. They will be back late tomorrow night.
My mother and I went to a high school football game tonight. Stephen's team was playing in Vancouver, WA tonight so we drove down early and drove through Fort Vancouver then ate dinner at Sweet Tomatoes. Delanae and I really like Sweet Tomatoes but the kids do not so we take advantage of every opportunity to eat there when we don't have the kids with us. My mother liked it also.
The game was exciting but, unfortunately, Stephen's team lost 41-34. This was Stephen's first varsity game back after his suspension had been served and he did not get to play any. The coaches meant for him to play but in the heat of the game it did not happen. He will get to play in other games this season and understands why he did not play tonight. He has a JV game Monday night when my mother will get to see him play. I just hope it is not raining Monday night so she can be as comfortable as she was tonight when it was partly cloudy and in the high 50's. This beautiful fall weather here will be coming to an end before too long but we will enjoy it while it is here.
No update.
Continuing the every other day update pattern I am writing a short one this afternoon. My motherboard/processor combo was delivered yesterday afternoon late so I will be taking this computer down later today to assemble my new one. I already have the motherboard and expansion boards in the new computer so I need to take the SCSI adapter out of this one as well as the hard drive so I can copy it onto the new hard drive. Hopefully I will be back up and connected to the internet again within 24 hours but we will see.
Delanae and Stacey got back from the youth conference late last night. They are still very tired today as they did not get a lot of sleep while there. Security for the conference was especially tiring according to Delanae since there were about 5,000 kids there and only two doors to enter and exit the main auditorium. She was also called on to break up a mosh pit which I am sure was very exciting. More stories later as she recovers from her adventure.
