WhimsyLand

It all started when I ran out of disk space.  My 80GB drive was full and there was actually nothing that I could move to one of my servers.  Most of it is development software and build trees that I need frequently.  So, I went out and bought a 320GB drive and installed it.  My BIOS, as it turns out, wasn't happy with something that large, so I gave the drive to Dima for his development machine (thus expanding the ever-greater Russian Empire, which is what I call his megadesk, 40" monitor and multiple machines).  Then, I went out and bought a 160GB drive and installed that, which worked, but it occurred to me that I might as well upgrade my 2.2GHz processor.  I ordered a new 3.4GHz, 800 MHz FSB P4 and when it arrived, I found I had neglected to order the correct socket type.  So, then I had to go buy a new motherboard, but they don't have Socket-775 motherboards with more than one IDE channel anymore, so I had to buy another 160GB SATA drive to replace the 160GB PATA drive.  CompUSA also had no motherboards with anything but PCI-Express interface for the video adapter, so I had to buy a new video adapter.  I might have found a suitable motherboard on the Internet, but this is my development machine, and being down for any amount of time means lost revenue.  When I got home, I tried to transfer the 2GB of memory from my old machine, but the new motherboard required DDR2 memory, so I drove over to Best Buy and got some.  OK, I'm into this upgrade $800 now, but I need it to make a living, so I decided to grin and bear it.  The rebuild went fine until I tried to log on.  Windows complained that so much had changed with my system that they need to re-activate my Windows XP license.  So, I waited on hold with Microsoft support (which, from the accent of the help-desker, was somewhere in Bangalore) and got re-activated.  Then, I opened Outlook, and it wanted reactivation too.  More time on the phone with Microsoft.  Then, Visio.  Same deal.  Then, FrontPage.  Again.  I had a lot of stuff on the 160GB drive from yesterday, but only one IDE channel, so I had to copy 80GB across our internal network to get all my stuff back.  So, that was pretty much my day, except having lunch with my son Kyle at Red Robin.  I hope you all did something more productive, like writing a poem or taking pictures of flowers.

The Fall/Winter edition of Colorado Review arrived yesterday, and it's another example of CR's excellent literature and professional layout.  Kudos to Stephanie G'Schwind, the editor.  I have only read a couple of short stories, so I'll be back tomorrow to comment on the poetry.

My son just called me as he was walking over to the Chase Auditorium to see a taping of NPR's news-comedy show, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me.  It's pretty much just across the street from Columbia College in Chicago, where he goes to school. 

Harper's just showed up today, too.  More on that tomorrow, too. 

It was in the 50's today and will be in the 60's tomorrow, in case you've been avoiding moving to Colorado because it's cold.  On the other hand, it could be 20 next week, and it's hit 20 below 3 times since I moved here in 1989.  So, maybe you're wise to stay in Boca Raton or wherever you are. 

More tomorrow.