Taking Charge

Wow, what the heck happened to the last 29 days? I don’t remember June ever going by this fast in my life. Seriously. It’s not been a horrible month, it’s been fairly cool, temperature wise and fairly busy otherwise. I’m not complaining, mind you, since July is starting off with me going cherry picking. I seriously can’t wait, even if we’re going to an orchard I’ve never been to before. We decided that, with the IRL races and holiday weekend coming up, we’d go to the closer orchard. Especially with the gas prices being high, it’s wiser to stay close to home. Our car gets great gas millage, but it’s still hard on the wallet.

Today is Laundry Day! Ugh. It’s the day to try to catch up on ALL the laundry that’s been neglected because of rain (no dryer) and lack of ability to dry them. So far, 2 loads are washed and drying in the breeze. There are 2 more loads left to wash. Will we beat the rain that’s supposed to hit? We’ll see. I’m hoping that we can get everything caught up.

Today is also “Computer Clean Up” day for me. That means, backing things up, getting rid of installers and excess crap and possibly wiping the machine to fix this display issue. The popular consensus is that something is corrupting the system files that send to the display. That makes sense, really. I guess if I wipe the drive, don’t install my game and it behaves perfectly, then I’ll know the game did it. If it happens again, then I’ll know it’s something else that is the problem. All I do know is that I need to fix this, like now, before it drives me even more insane.

I haven’t even gotten to see my car show pictures without distortion, since all I did was transfer them via the laptop and upload them. *sigh* Which reminds me, I rearranged my Picasa albums last night. I need to do the same with Flickr, but I can’t do that until I can afford to pay for the pro account. Stupid 3 set limit. I think that’s their biggest downfall. I could see 5, but 3? That’s crazy. I don’t even mind the whole “Only 200 of your most recent will show” deal. Maybe I should just put up my own coppermine gallery again, but then I’d eat my hosting space up fast.

I guess that’s all for now. I’ll post more later, maybe.

Oh god, today was SO much fun. We started off Rob’s vacation by heading out to a Car Show. One thing most people don’t know about me is that I *LOVE* classic cars. I don’t care about the history, the internal workings, etc, I just like to LOOK at them. I know it’s not Rob’s thing, so I don’t drag him to the car shows often. I went today because it was a day that we needed to go out and do *something* and that was the best idea I had.

I did learn that I need to spell check my text messages before sending them, especially when sending them to twitter. It’s alright tho, I like being able to use twitter from my cell phone. If you want to follow me on twitter: I am here.

I think that’s all for today. Have fun!

There will be much squeeing! At least for me there will be. Instead of driving 40+ miles out to go pick cherries on the 3rd of July, I can go somewhere closer on the 1st to pick. Yay! When the Indy cars and the holiday is over, then I’ll take Rob to the lake. I had forgotten all about the IRL being in the area next week and with the IRL comes all kinds of people. Oy.

I figure that we can make a day of it and go to one of the parks and have a picnic after we’re done picking. There are several places that we can go, so it’s not like we’re missing out on that and we can go to the lake another time.

I had more I was going to post, but I forgot what it was. More later, or something.

I’ve got a ton of things I want to post about. I really don’t know where to start. I suppose I’ll start with one of my biggest frustrations first. I got this computer a bit ago and it’s a great system. Very upgraded, very able to handle anything I need it to do, and then some. However, there is some sort of a flaw in either the graphics driver, monitor driver or Windows Vista itself. Everything runs smoothly, flawlessly, however, I installed a game from Reflexive Arcade called Build In Time. The game runs in full screen, low resolution, like most games. After playing the game and closing it, I noticed that there’s some distortion of the graphics on the system. By distortion, I mean that a lot of things are pixelated, especially the desktop background and images in firefox. It does it in all programs. The surefire fix is for me to reformat, again, but I don’t really want to do that. I’d rather have a solution that doesn’t require reformatting and that will allow me to still play games. So yeah, I can’t make graphics cuz they come out distorted on the other side if they look good on mine.

I have been spending less time on the computer lately. I found that I’m happier that way and much less annoyed. I’ve actually spent more time visiting my sister in the last month than I ever have. I’ve also been trying to do things out of the house when Rob’s not working and we’re not running to the doctor’s constantly. I want to continue to be away from the computer and home, but the price of gas is insane. Oh well, we can usually get away with a half tank fill up once a week when we plan on going on trips and such. Next week, Rob is off, so we’ll be working around the house.

One thing that I do have planned for next week, Thursday is the start of cherry picking in this area and we’re planning to go pick. I really can’t wait, since Rob’s never been to Hector and I haven’t been in 14 years myself. It’ll be the first time taking him to the Seneca Lake area, since I took him to Cayuga Lake last month. I think it’ll make a nice day, we can go early, pick, go somewhere nice for lunch, then head back home. I’ve told Mom that she needs to go too, whether she likes it or not.

I’m part way through the Anita book. It’s been a slow read. I haven’t gotten into it like I have the other books, mostly because of it being focused on one of the characters that I’m not a big fan of. I’ll probably be happier when I get further into the action, but getting into that action means getting past the dull part. I’m still looking forward to the new Twilight book, even if it is the last book of the series. July 1st is the release of the new MaryJanice Davidson Undead book, which I didn’t know about until just now. Feh. I’ll not be purchasing it, even though I like the series. I’ll have to find the ebook for it or wait until the library gets it in and available for requesting.

November 21, 2008 is the release date for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I’m shocked that they haven’t pushed the movie down our throats yet. I will be seeing it soon after the 21st, then soon after the December 12, 2008 release of Twilight, I will be seeing that as well. I don’t care what I have to do without to see these movies, I will do it. That’s just how that is. *smiles sweetly*

I redid my LJ layout today. It looks absolutely fantastic. I also redid my Myspace layout tonight as well and think that looks pretty damn good. I even updated my Xanga layout too. I had more to write about, but this post has honestly taken me all day to write as it is. Why yes I do have ADD! It’s kind of sad, in a way, that it takes me all day to write a post.

I’ve got a ton of things I want to post about. I really don’t know where to start. I suppose I’ll start with one of my biggest frustrations first. I got this computer a bit ago and it’s a great system. Very upgraded, very able to handle anything I need it to do, and then some. However, there is some sort of a flaw in either the graphics driver, monitor driver or Windows Vista itself. Everything runs smoothly, flawlessly, however, I installed a game from Reflexive Arcade called Build In Time. The game runs in full screen, low resolution, like most games. After playing the game and closing it, I noticed that there’s some distortion of the graphics on the system. By distortion, I mean that a lot of things are pixelated, especially the desktop background and images in firefox. It does it in all programs. The surefire fix is for me to reformat, again, but I don’t really want to do that. I’d rather have a solution that doesn’t require reformatting and that will allow me to still play games. So yeah, I can’t make graphics cuz they come out distorted on the other side if they look good on mine.

I have been spending less time on the computer lately. I found that I’m happier that way and much less annoyed. I’ve actually spent more time visiting my sister in the last month than I ever have. I’ve also been trying to do things out of the house when Rob’s not working and we’re not running to the doctor’s constantly. I want to continue to be away from the computer and home, but the price of gas is insane. Oh well, we can usually get away with a half tank fill up once a week when we plan on going on trips and such. Next week, Rob is off, so we’ll be working around the house.

One thing that I do have planned for next week, Thursday is the start of cherry picking in this area and we’re planning to go pick. I really can’t wait, since Rob’s never been to Hector and I haven’t been in 14 years myself. It’ll be the first time taking him to the Seneca Lake area, since I took him to Cayuga Lake last month. I think it’ll make a nice day, we can go early, pick, go somewhere nice for lunch, then head back home. I’ve told Mom that she needs to go too, whether she likes it or not.

I’m part way through the Anita book. It’s been a slow read. I haven’t gotten into it like I have the other books, mostly because of it being focused on one of the characters that I’m not a big fan of. I’ll probably be happier when I get further into the action, but getting into that action means getting past the dull part. I’m still looking forward to the new Twilight book, even if it is the last book of the series. July 1st is the release of the new MaryJanice Davidson Undead book, which I didn’t know about until just now. Feh. I’ll not be purchasing it, even though I like the series. I’ll have to find the ebook for it or wait until the library gets it in and available for requesting.

November 21, 2008 is the release date for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I’m shocked that they haven’t pushed the movie down our throats yet. I will be seeing it soon after the 21st, then soon after the December 12, 2008 release of Twilight, I will be seeing that as well. I don’t care what I have to do without to see these movies, I will do it. That’s just how that is. *smiles sweetly*

I redid my LJ layout today. It looks absolutely fantastic. I also redid my Myspace layout tonight as well and think that looks pretty damn good. I even updated my Xanga layout too. I had more to write about, but this post has honestly taken me all day to write as it is. Why yes I do have ADD! It’s kind of sad, in a way, that it takes me all day to write a post.

Comedian George Carlin dies in Los Angeles at 71

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Comedian George Carlin, a counter-culture hero famed for his routines about drugs and dirty words, died of heart failure at a Los Angeles-area hospital on Sunday, a spokesman said. He was 71.

I thought it was a joke without a punchline when I saw the post elsewhere! I’m.. stunned to say the least.

NBC’s Tim Russert dead at 58
Washington bureau chief, ‘Meet the Press’ moderator collapsed on job

First thing first, I’m feeling a lot better than I have been. I’m still taking it easy though, so I don’t end up relapsing again. Stupid stomach bug. I think the vertigo is mostly gone too. Just in time for it to be 90+ degrees outside *die*

Secondly, I’ve been reading and commenting vaguely, so if you want my comment on something, let me know.

And now to the subject line.. I picked up the local paper today and read a tribute to one of the sweetest guys around. He owned the only genuine diner in the area for over 50 years. He passed away last month and it wasn’t in the paper that we get daily. I went and found the info on the city paper and it made me sad. An era is over, really, now that Beach’s is gone forever. Walt was 93 and had been in poor health for a while, so it wasn’t a big shock, but it was a big sadness. Guess he’s up above serving his watery spaghetti to all his patrons that passed before him.. including my father.


Walter Beach
BEACH, Walter
Age 93, of Cayuta, NY, died Saturday, May 24, 2008, at Homestead Nursing Facility in Penn Yan, NY. He was born in Town of Cayuta, NY on November 18, 1914, the son of Heman and Meekia (Whitbeck) Beach. Walt served in the US Army during WWII in Europe. Upon discharge he built a garage that later evolved into Beach’s Diner, his trademark for 50 years. He drove school bus for Van Etten and Spencer-Van Etten Schools. He was the Superintendent of Highways for Cayuta for about 12 years. He was a member of the Van Etten-Spencer VFW Post #8139. Walt is survived by two sisters, Violet Stackhouse and Marjorie Harriger, both of Cayuta; many loving nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by five brothers, Herbert, Leland, Stanley, Wilson, Elmer; and a sister, Edith Allen. Funeral services will be Wednesday, May 28, 2008, at 8 p.m. at Allen-Manzer Funeral Home in Spencer. Calling hours will be from 6 to 8 p.m. before the service. A graveside service will be Thursday, May 29, 2008, at 11 a.m. at Ennis Cemetery, Route 224, Cayuta, NY. Memorials may be directed to Ontario-Yates Hospice, 756 Preention Road, Geneva, NY 14456.

One good thing about having my panini grill (with the flat and waffle plates now too!) is using it to grill hot dogs. Seriously. I also tossed the rolls on it and toasted them up lightly. Such a yummy lunch. I pulled it out so I can make dinner tonight. I’m gonna cook up some bacon for BLT’s tonight, so I figured I’d pull it out early and make lunch. I also have lovely strawberries too. Yum.

Tomorrow I get blood drawn, then I need to contemplate whether to seek out a different doctor within their umbrella or just wait and see what happens with the one I’m with. I just really don’t know what to do right now. I think I’m gonna wait it out. So yeah.

I got my LKH book so I can start reading that when I get done with this post if I want. I wish my B&N order would get here. It’s been almost 2 weeks since the order was placed and I’m getting annoyed.

Anyway, enough for now.

I saw this post and had heard about it on the news as well. But I have to say that I’m proud to be a New Yorker.

New York to recognize gay marriages