I built my computer in December of 2007 and since then I have made a few upgrades: from 2GB RAM to 4GB, from a Dual-Core CPU to Quad-Core, a mechanical keyboard and gaming mouse to name a few examples. I never blogged about those upgrades but I'm going to blog about my most recent one: a new Solid State Drive and Windows 7!
OCZ Vertex 4 128GB Solid State Drive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227791 ($90, on sale from $150)
Solid State Drives are the way of the future as they can achieve almost 10-50x the speed of traditional spinning Hard Drives. I installed this puppy this past weekend without having to buy any extra peripherals. It is SATA III speed, but it's backwards compatible since my motherboard is not SATA III. I had to set my BIOS SATA detection from AHCI to IDE in order to detect the drive, but after that it was smooth sailing.
Windows 7 Home Edition 64-bit - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986 ($100)
Why not Professional Edition you ask? Just google the difference and you'll see that Home Edition has all the stuff a typical user needs. I am not running my computer as a server or anything, so Home Edition was adequate for me! I've been stuck on Windows XP for a while now, so I installed Windows 7 onto the SSD with no problems!
The end result is an Operating System that loads super-fast! I put all my applications on my 128GB SSD: Windows 7 and games like StarCraft 2. I then keep my 300GB SATA around for storage purposes. This method of storing data is actually exercised in the high-end disk enterprise world. It's now common to store your hot data (things you access a lot and frequently) on SSD and cold data on slower, spinning drives.
Now I am super happy with my computer and should not have to upgrade it for another couple years!
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Thursday, October 4, 2012
San Diego, D.C., and Lexi!
The past couple weeks have been pretty hectic for me! I went on trips to San Diego and Washington D.C., and while I was briefly in Tucson around those trips I had to deal with rental car situations since Lexi was in the shop getting her grill fixed up.
I'll start with the Wednesday before my San Diego trip, which was about 2 weeks ago. I dropped Lexi off at the Royal Collision Center for repairs and they estimated it would take about 4 days to fix, so I was hoping I'd get her back the next week when I got back from San Diego and before D.C. An annoying thing about renting from Enterprise in the city is that you can't drop the rental car off at the airport. I guess TSA taxes anything in the airport, so I would've had to pay $35 to drop off the car there, so I instead I dropped it off at an Enterprise about a mile outside and Wes kindly offered to drive me from there to the airport - yep a small 2-minute car ride probably, but he was okay with it since he was working at the nearby Raytheon anyway.
On to San Diego...
Kyle is getting married very soon, so we went to San Diego for his bachelor party! I get into San Diego on Friday afternoon and proceed to the courtesy shuttles for the hotel I'll be staying at, some Sheraton in downtown. The shuttle apparently gets to the airport and picks up someone else instead of me and I completely missed it. :( So I had to call them again and wait another 30 minutes for the next shuttle. About an hour since I landed, I finally get on their shuttle and coincidentally Shane (Kyle's brother and best man) is also picked up at the same time, albeit his flight got in about an hour later than mine. Heh, c'est la vie!
Everyone else got in later throughout the day, and we started the weekend off by ordering Thai food and having drinks at the condo where James' mom lives in downtown San Diego. We started there for pregaming since we could just walk or take cheap taxi rides into the Gaslamp District, which is one of San Diego's major quarters for tons of bars, restaurants, and nightlife. We found a place called Jolt'n Joes, which become our go-to bar that fit Kyle's interests perfectly: chill relaxed sports bar with beer pong and ping pong! I even bet James $10 on Kyle to beat his brother in ping pong and Kyle did not disappoint! :D The rest of the night was mostly spent drinking and wandering around Gas Lamp.
The next day we had originally planned to go to an Oktoberfest, thinking it was a beer festival of some sort. Much to our surprise, we learned that it was really just a folk festival, lol. So alternatively, we headed out to Pacific Beach and found a bar where we could just hang out and watch College Football. Later that night we had dinner reservations at a restaurant called "The Strip Club." It's a place where you order the cuts you want and you go to their grill and grill the meat yourself. What an ingenious idea (from an owner's perspective)! You don't have to hire cooks to grill steaks and if the customer messes up his own steak, it's his fault! Simply genius! To be honest, I wouldn't recommend this place to others. While the idea is novel and can be a fun activity, the steak I grilled was no different than what I can make at home. Also, you can't control the heat from the grill, which I found to be a bit powerful; I usually like to slow cook my steaks. It was also terribly hot inside, probably from all the grilling. They really should consider boosting the AC or installing ceiling fans.
This was our last night in San Diego, so we continued to just go out in Gaslamp and party it up. There was more Jolt'n Joes and stops at other bars like McFadden's. I think Kyle was fairly drunk that night, but it's kind of hard to tell since he seems to hold his liquor pretty well. :)
On Sunday we went to the Chargers-Falcons game! I really like trying to go to a professional sporting event when I visit a new city, so I was happy others wanted to join. Parking for the stadium was a pain, but we made it to our seats shortly after tip-off. Our seats were pretty low level and near the field, so the view was great. Unfortunately it was hot enough outside where you were just burning up and there was chance of shade. FYI, I think the best place to sit at Qualcomm Stadium would probably be on the lower level in the sections where the levels above hang over, since the above floors would provide shade. Anyhoo, the game was a blowout in favor of the Falcons, who's defense I started in fantasy that day, so I was content with the outcome. :)
Mostly everyone went home on Sunday, but James was staying until Tuesday and me until Monday night. On Sunday I met up with Sarah in North Park and we had dinner at Ranchos Cocina. When I visit my friends in different cities, I like to go the restaurants they really enjoy going to...in other words, I want to see how they live! :) It was really nice to see Sarah and after dinner she drove me back to James' condo and that was pretty much the rest of that night.
On Monday, James and I did a little sight-seeing around San Diego. We checked out Broadway Pier and rode the trolley to Little Italy. I find it amusing that there's a Little Italy, and it's on a road called India St, in the city of San Diego. :P In the evening we met up with his friend Sarah (not the same one as mine lol) at The Regal Beagle. I loved this place! So much character. They had 25 cent mini corn dogs on Mondays and when they take your order, they send the order on a piece of paper down a zipline into the kitchen. Never seen that before! I watched Cedric Benson during the Packers-Seahawks game try and win me my fantasy matchup against James nonetheless, but had to leave for the airport at half-time. I'd eventually win, Linsanity style of course. And so concluded a fun trip to San Diego!
Back to Tucson...
When I got home to Tucson around 9pm on Monday night, I had arranged to pick up a rental car from the Enterprise at the airport. Unfortunately my car wouldn't be ready until Friday, so I figured I'd just get a rental car from the airport and drop it back there when I came back on Thursday for my flight to DC. The Enterprise at the airport was a hassle. The guy showed me to the rental cars and "let me pick one", so I figured I was picking from the economy vehicles that I ordered. I told him, "whatever gives me the best gas mileage," and so he offered me either a Ford Fusion or some Chevy. I took the Ford and he went inside to run up the paperwork. When he came back, he tried to charge me $6 extra a day for the Ford. I was upset and told him, "I just want the car I ordered, I don't need anything extra." He could tell I was upset and eventually he gave me the Fusion anyway as a free upgrade, but still just annoying to have to go through that crap. And when I returned the car on Thursday morning before my D.C. flight, it happened to be the same guy lol. At least he remembered me...
On to D.C. ...
You might recall I had a "secret trip" planned for late September. Well, it was a surprise visit for my friend Mike's 30th birthday in D.C.! It was his girlfriend Keri's idea, since she was planning a big party for him that weekend. I left Tucson very early at 9am, but my flight connected in Dallas-Fort Worth and had been rescheduled to depart 2 hours later. :'( When I finally get on that plane, it takes another hour to leave because of baggage and storm delays (well, they told us baggage but I think it was storms). Anyway, I finally get into D.C. at 10pm when I had originally planned to get there at 6:45pm. Herman is waiting to pick me up and has to make up excuses why he's not at the bar celebrating with Mike for his birthday. He tells him that he has "furniture to pick up and is running late." Lol, I guess he was picking up an Oriental rug. :P
I eventually get to Joe Theismann's to surprise Mike! He is definitely happy to see me, although I think some of my surprise was blown when Kevin (also from AZ) arrived a day earlier. So he must've known that people were coming into visit him, he just wasn't sure when. I had texted Mike earlier that day, wishing him a Happy Birthday but also saying that I couldn't make it out there, since I knew Kevin had flown in. He didn't buy it. He also didn't buy it when Keri and Kevin made up the reason that I couldn't be there due to having to stay for work. Okay people, never use that excuse for me. Anyone who knows me well enough - and Mike does - knows that work is one of the last things that will ever keep me from doing the things I want to do. It's really rare that I can't go somewhere because of work. :) Mike and I proceeded to get hammered and we stayed up late playing Nintendo 64 with Kevin and Aaron, passing out around 4am, hehe (which is only 1am AZ time!).
On Friday, Mike took Kevin sight-seeing around the Washington Mall and we looked at several memorials. At night we met up with Herman, Juliet, Aaron, and Keri at Bistrot Du Coin. It was a fine French restaurant and we got a few mussel pots and I got some extra escargot on the side. Afterwards, Mike thought it would be a low key night at this place called One Lounge. WRONG! He walks into the bar and there are 40 of his friends shouting "Surprise!" Keri had bought a room with a keg and bottle service for all of Mike's friends! Pretty awesome girlfriend right there. So Mike spent a lot of the night hanging out with his friends while I tried to mingle and be single - two things I excel at. It was a great party for a great friend.
On Saturday, we went to one of Mike's favorite sports bars called the Tortoise and the Hare. He plays for their softball team and they are also a Penn State bar, so it's like the perfect place for him. There was a whiteout tailgating event for the Penn State game on TV vs Illinois, so several Penn State alumns were there. Keri and I DOMINATED in bag toss / corn hole, and when I say dominate I mean DOMINATE (scores like 21-4, 21-8, although one team did push us to 21-19). But I argue that I am a very good bean bag tosser! We spent most of the day there just hanging out and drinking and I was extremely hammered by the end of the night, so was Mike. I think I took like 30 pictures of us while I was drunk that you can find on Facebook.
Sunday was a pretty relaxing day. I watched Mike play softball in the morning and then we watched the NFL games all day. I was actually scheduled to fly back to Tucson on Sunday night, but after learning that my flight into DFW airport was delayed an hour and a half and that I would miss my connecting flight, thus leaving me stranded in Dallas for a night, I decided to just take a flight out of D.C. the next morning. One more night of hanging out with Mike! We didn't do anything though because by the time the Giants-Eagles game was over, it was pretty much time to go to bed anyway.
Going Home to Tucson...
I got home to Tucson at noon on Monday and Lucky picked me and took me to the Royal Collision Center to pick up my car. Lexi looks as good as new now! Actually, she looks better because my bottom ground effects had been damaged over time and they fixed that along with everything else. :) All-in-all, I ended up paying $500 for a deductible and about $220 for rental cars. The repair work on Lexi was $4,074. I am really happy to have my car back! I'm also really happy to be able to just chill in Tucson and not have to travel for a while!
I'll start with the Wednesday before my San Diego trip, which was about 2 weeks ago. I dropped Lexi off at the Royal Collision Center for repairs and they estimated it would take about 4 days to fix, so I was hoping I'd get her back the next week when I got back from San Diego and before D.C. An annoying thing about renting from Enterprise in the city is that you can't drop the rental car off at the airport. I guess TSA taxes anything in the airport, so I would've had to pay $35 to drop off the car there, so I instead I dropped it off at an Enterprise about a mile outside and Wes kindly offered to drive me from there to the airport - yep a small 2-minute car ride probably, but he was okay with it since he was working at the nearby Raytheon anyway.
On to San Diego...
Kyle is getting married very soon, so we went to San Diego for his bachelor party! I get into San Diego on Friday afternoon and proceed to the courtesy shuttles for the hotel I'll be staying at, some Sheraton in downtown. The shuttle apparently gets to the airport and picks up someone else instead of me and I completely missed it. :( So I had to call them again and wait another 30 minutes for the next shuttle. About an hour since I landed, I finally get on their shuttle and coincidentally Shane (Kyle's brother and best man) is also picked up at the same time, albeit his flight got in about an hour later than mine. Heh, c'est la vie!
Everyone else got in later throughout the day, and we started the weekend off by ordering Thai food and having drinks at the condo where James' mom lives in downtown San Diego. We started there for pregaming since we could just walk or take cheap taxi rides into the Gaslamp District, which is one of San Diego's major quarters for tons of bars, restaurants, and nightlife. We found a place called Jolt'n Joes, which become our go-to bar that fit Kyle's interests perfectly: chill relaxed sports bar with beer pong and ping pong! I even bet James $10 on Kyle to beat his brother in ping pong and Kyle did not disappoint! :D The rest of the night was mostly spent drinking and wandering around Gas Lamp.
On Sunday we went to the Chargers-Falcons game! I really like trying to go to a professional sporting event when I visit a new city, so I was happy others wanted to join. Parking for the stadium was a pain, but we made it to our seats shortly after tip-off. Our seats were pretty low level and near the field, so the view was great. Unfortunately it was hot enough outside where you were just burning up and there was chance of shade. FYI, I think the best place to sit at Qualcomm Stadium would probably be on the lower level in the sections where the levels above hang over, since the above floors would provide shade. Anyhoo, the game was a blowout in favor of the Falcons, who's defense I started in fantasy that day, so I was content with the outcome. :)
On Monday, James and I did a little sight-seeing around San Diego. We checked out Broadway Pier and rode the trolley to Little Italy. I find it amusing that there's a Little Italy, and it's on a road called India St, in the city of San Diego. :P In the evening we met up with his friend Sarah (not the same one as mine lol) at The Regal Beagle. I loved this place! So much character. They had 25 cent mini corn dogs on Mondays and when they take your order, they send the order on a piece of paper down a zipline into the kitchen. Never seen that before! I watched Cedric Benson during the Packers-Seahawks game try and win me my fantasy matchup against James nonetheless, but had to leave for the airport at half-time. I'd eventually win, Linsanity style of course. And so concluded a fun trip to San Diego!
Back to Tucson...
When I got home to Tucson around 9pm on Monday night, I had arranged to pick up a rental car from the Enterprise at the airport. Unfortunately my car wouldn't be ready until Friday, so I figured I'd just get a rental car from the airport and drop it back there when I came back on Thursday for my flight to DC. The Enterprise at the airport was a hassle. The guy showed me to the rental cars and "let me pick one", so I figured I was picking from the economy vehicles that I ordered. I told him, "whatever gives me the best gas mileage," and so he offered me either a Ford Fusion or some Chevy. I took the Ford and he went inside to run up the paperwork. When he came back, he tried to charge me $6 extra a day for the Ford. I was upset and told him, "I just want the car I ordered, I don't need anything extra." He could tell I was upset and eventually he gave me the Fusion anyway as a free upgrade, but still just annoying to have to go through that crap. And when I returned the car on Thursday morning before my D.C. flight, it happened to be the same guy lol. At least he remembered me...
On to D.C. ...
You might recall I had a "secret trip" planned for late September. Well, it was a surprise visit for my friend Mike's 30th birthday in D.C.! It was his girlfriend Keri's idea, since she was planning a big party for him that weekend. I left Tucson very early at 9am, but my flight connected in Dallas-Fort Worth and had been rescheduled to depart 2 hours later. :'( When I finally get on that plane, it takes another hour to leave because of baggage and storm delays (well, they told us baggage but I think it was storms). Anyway, I finally get into D.C. at 10pm when I had originally planned to get there at 6:45pm. Herman is waiting to pick me up and has to make up excuses why he's not at the bar celebrating with Mike for his birthday. He tells him that he has "furniture to pick up and is running late." Lol, I guess he was picking up an Oriental rug. :P
I eventually get to Joe Theismann's to surprise Mike! He is definitely happy to see me, although I think some of my surprise was blown when Kevin (also from AZ) arrived a day earlier. So he must've known that people were coming into visit him, he just wasn't sure when. I had texted Mike earlier that day, wishing him a Happy Birthday but also saying that I couldn't make it out there, since I knew Kevin had flown in. He didn't buy it. He also didn't buy it when Keri and Kevin made up the reason that I couldn't be there due to having to stay for work. Okay people, never use that excuse for me. Anyone who knows me well enough - and Mike does - knows that work is one of the last things that will ever keep me from doing the things I want to do. It's really rare that I can't go somewhere because of work. :) Mike and I proceeded to get hammered and we stayed up late playing Nintendo 64 with Kevin and Aaron, passing out around 4am, hehe (which is only 1am AZ time!).
On Friday, Mike took Kevin sight-seeing around the Washington Mall and we looked at several memorials. At night we met up with Herman, Juliet, Aaron, and Keri at Bistrot Du Coin. It was a fine French restaurant and we got a few mussel pots and I got some extra escargot on the side. Afterwards, Mike thought it would be a low key night at this place called One Lounge. WRONG! He walks into the bar and there are 40 of his friends shouting "Surprise!" Keri had bought a room with a keg and bottle service for all of Mike's friends! Pretty awesome girlfriend right there. So Mike spent a lot of the night hanging out with his friends while I tried to mingle and be single - two things I excel at. It was a great party for a great friend.
Going Home to Tucson...
I got home to Tucson at noon on Monday and Lucky picked me and took me to the Royal Collision Center to pick up my car. Lexi looks as good as new now! Actually, she looks better because my bottom ground effects had been damaged over time and they fixed that along with everything else. :) All-in-all, I ended up paying $500 for a deductible and about $220 for rental cars. The repair work on Lexi was $4,074. I am really happy to have my car back! I'm also really happy to be able to just chill in Tucson and not have to travel for a while!
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