The Besttechie Cafe'

[macmarauder]

well i'm we're up to 3 large broken branches in the yard and 1 tree that jsut split in half and the mounting bracket for the phone lines broke off the house and the lines are on the ground. i am also having trouble keeping the satalite signal for the tv. wow we got alot of heavy snow fast. it's a good thing that i just finished fixing the furnus last week, so i'm nice and toasty warm or i'd be huddling up with my computer to keep warm, rubbing my feet over heat sink for the processor.

glad i'm home, there were some problems with my cedit card for ordering those parts for my sub $500 gaming computer experiment. so i've been on the phone to fix that. i put down the wrong phone number on the web sit. *slaps forehead*

[TheTerrorist_75]

We lucked out when Buffalo and surrounding areas got hit. For once it didn't come as far as us to the east end of Lake Ontario. I think some people are still without power after 2 weeks.

[blim]

Oh, wow, Macmarauder (you're singing about being snowed in? You nut! ) I'm happy you have power! Stay warm and don't drive until the plows get out

I was wondering how you fared, Terrorist! Ugh, looks like an early winter. I don't like that.

Liz

[robroy]

Please keep that white stuff north and west of here guys, not ready for it yet. I still have some things to get done

[macmarauder]

ok buddy

*uses Linux Interface on weather machine to click and drag a safe zone around robroy*

[macmarauder]

how's every body doing?

hows your wife doing Robroy, still doign better i hope.

(looks to see thesidekitcat asleep in the compfy rocking chair with honeybun on her lap)

been in any trouble lately Blim?

yeah you sure lucked out Terrorist.

well i've got parts coming to build a PC and i'm gona take a break from apple. the company has been doing things that get on my nerves more and more the last few years. some things of which i kina understand that they had to do to keep things going but i still feel that it is at a higher cost than they think. (the hardcore fans that stuck up for them and supported them all this time) but that's another story for another time. boy did that sound cliche. anyways i'm gona need my buddy Hitest and others here to help since i'll be making Linux my main operating system for a little while.

btw blim i like your new signature.

[TheTerrorist_75]

We're getting pounded by high winds. i hope my new roof holds up and the humongous oak tree out front doesn't topple on me. The area in the northern part of my county called the Tug Hill Plateau is getting piled up with snow. They usually get hit before the rest of us. They average over 300-400" of snow per year.

[blim]

Isn't that sig great, Macmarauder? Thanks to Handplane, as usual! *salutes*

Me? In trouble? Never!

Been busy with two October birthdays (kids) and sewing my head off. Daughter had a costume party to go to and wanted to be "Glinda, Good Witch of the North" I've always said MY next costume was going to be Glinda (her character on Oz was so annoying and I love to imitate her ) so I was thrilled to make a Glinda costume for someone. Bought a proper colored dress at Goodwill and another dress the same color for extra fabric and "reworked" the dress. Anyways, the party was last night and she looked good! (I am bummed, she didn't want me to make the dorky Glinda crown and if I could have figured out how to put her in a bubble, I would have!)

And raking leaves at my folks house on the days it isn't raining.

And the laundry marathon on weekends. With the kids at school all week, by Tuesday my house is spiffyclean and Friday evening the place is full of laundrybaskets and backpacks. Spend Saturday and Sunday doing laundry (yes, they know how to do it, but it's easier and cheaper for me to do it--I'll use the clotheline!) while they empty my cupboards (today it was, "oooooh, you have tunafish, can I bring this back with me please? Do you have any hamburger buns?" )

And Son got a flat tire heading back to school--luckily he was only a block from home, but tomorrow I have to go to CreepyTireGuy and get it fixed, and run it down to their apartment (because I'm a nice mommy). It never ends, I guess! At least I get to see if their apartment is as atrocious as their bedrooms were here. Heh-heh, I wonder if I'll get a call with a grocery list?

Soooo, you're boycotting Apple, Macmarauder? I'm with you on the prices. I'd love an Apple but they're just too darned expensive!

Terrorist, we had the winds Friday and Saturday, but they brought sunny weather! Finally! I was thinking about building an ark! Tomorrow's supposed to be nice, too!

Where's Pat? Pattttttttt!!!!!

Liz

[macmarauder]

(a little kid walks up to the door in a ghost costume)

TRICK OR TREAT!! BOOOOOOOOO!!!!

(a little kid walks back up to the door 5 minutes later in a pirate costume)

TRICK OR TREAT!! AARRRGGGGG!!!

(a little kid walks back up to the door 5 minutes later in a Mad Scientist costume)

TRICK OR TREAT!!

(a little kid walks back up to the door 5 minutes later in a Pumpkin costume)

TRICK OR TREAT!!

(a little kid walks back up to the door 5 minutes later in a Computer Tech costume)

TRICK OR TREAT!!

(a thread monster walks up to the door snarling in an attempt to scare the people in the cafe)

[TheTerrorist_75]

I hope the big coffee maker is gong early in the morning. My turn for the big snow storm tonight.

[macmarauder]

(hands TheTerrorist_75 his lucky snow shovel0

here you go, your gona need it

(makes whinny impatient puppy noises and fidgits in his chair)

well i got all the parts for my new computer the other day, *sigh* except the motherboard, for some reason i forgot to add it to the combo deal with the processor. i got most of it from www.newegg.com so i called them up and she sent out the motherboard i wanted and even express shipped it. according to tracking info it was scanned on the truck and sent out from the local ups hub this morning at 8:00am but it's now 2:00Pm and it still isn't herrrrrrrrre. why isn't it here yet?

"waaaahhhhhh i want my moogieboard" <----- startrek reference fo those who don't know

and to make things worse besttechie was down for a little bit today so i couldn't even try to pass the time faster by surfing besttechie.

ohhhh and btw blim, the thing with apple and me is that the company has changed alot and i don't like where it is going. both with hardware and the company it's self. mostly i don't like their priorities and how they treat their customer, especially the hard core die hard people that stood up for them. i know it sounds wierd and there's alot of explanation that's missing but i'm 1 of those few who feels abandoned by apple and sees them becoming just another corperation. i've always used both Pc and Mac but Mac was always my main. i jsut ued Pcs for games or if i absolutly had to use windows i did. but i never paid for anything where the money went to microsoft. so now i'm going to take a break from apple and use Pc Hardware and opensource Software/Linux as my main.

i don't know, maybe i'm crazy, maybe i'm the only 1, maybe i'm just taking things a little too hard or personal. MAYBE. but for all that i've done to help and stick up for apple i deserve a break to get my bearings.

[hitest]

i don't know, maybe i'm crazy, maybe i'm the only 1, maybe i'm just taking things a little too hard or personal. MAYBE. but for all that i've done to help and stick up for apple i deserve a break to get my bearings.

Nope. You're not crazy, my friend! I stopped using mainstream products on my PCs four years ago. I do have one PC running XP Pro, but, that's for my daughter.

Linux is my main OS. I've got three Slackware 11.0 boxes at home that I am very happy with. At work I've gradually deployed six Ubuntu 6.06 LTS boxes, and my boss likes the security and savings that results from FOSS.

I am thrilled that you're using Linux.

[blim]

Macmarauder, I boycot companies that tick me off, too. I don't blame you a bit! I'm still boycotting gasoline as much as I can by only using the car when I absolutely have to and skipping the 25 mile one way trips to Walmart.

Gaad, it's cold! It's only November and I'm already sick of the cold! Must admit I'm keeping the heat down to around 60 degrees. With Hubby working third shift, sleeping all day and being an Eskimo that enjoys the cool temps, the kids gone at school, and the dog having long hair, it's part of my gas boycot. We'll see how long I last until I crank the thermostat up. Already broke out my long underware!

Liz

[hitest]

Macmarauder, I boycot companies that tick me off, too. I don't blame you a bit! I'm still boycotting gasoline as much as I can by only using the car when I absolutely have to and skipping the 25 mile one way trips to Walmart.

Gaad, it's cold! It's only November and I'm already sick of the cold! Must admit I'm keeping the heat down to around 60 degrees. With Hubby working third shift, sleeping all day and being an Eskimo that enjoys the cool temps, the kids gone at school, and the dog having long hair, it's part of my gas boycot. We'll see how long I last until I crank the thermostat up. Already broke out my long underware!

Liz

Yes, we're also trying to save on gas at our house, Liz. We turn down the thermostat and we've also bought an electric oil heater that helps to warm the house. I also recently switched our natural gas hot water tank to an electric one. The natural gas bills in the winter get extreme.

[shanenin]

I also recently switched our natural gas hot water tank to an electric one. The natural gas bills in the winter get extreme.

I was always under the impression that electric used as heating is very expensive. Even if your gas bill goes down, I would think your electric bill would go up more. Maybe natural gas in your area is more expensive then what we pay in the U.S.

[hitest]

I also recently switched our natural gas hot water tank to an electric one. The natural gas bills in the winter get extreme.

I was always under the impression that electric used as heating is very expensive. Even if your gas bill goes down, I would think your electric bill would go up more. Maybe natural gas in your area is more expensive then what we pay in the U.S.

Yes, our natural gas rates are very high up here in Northern, B.C., so switching to electricity does actually make sense. Our local natural gas company is struggling to make a profit and has passed on their losses to the consumer with increased gas rates. My electricity bill has gone up, but, my gas bill has gone down considerably. I'm saving money.

[thesidekickcat]

Hello everybody!!!

Hugs to all, especially Mac!!! Sorry about your job loss Mac!!! Something better will come along for you.

I sure have missed seeing ya'all while we were busy with our little world here at home and last days of hubby's job.

Got a lot of medical appointments and procedures done in case there was a time gap in insurance coverage while switching to Cobra continuing coverage. Please pray for hubby that he doesn't have to have prostate surgery, that the pills will work. He had the first 'rotor-rooter' surgery in 1993, and they say he may have to have it done again but with the new 'green light laser' type surgery. If they had only listened when he told them he wanted referral ages ago to urology, he could have been on the much more effective meds for many months already instead of just last few weeks. Gatekeeper doctoring doesn't work well at times for either patient of medical provider to save money or discomfort. I'm sure surgery isn't cheaper then pills plus all the various scans, scopes, and presurgery testing he has had and will probably need to repeat if surgery is imminent. Plus was told the pills he had been on for years (internist Dr prescribed) that caused him constant headaches were no better than placebos, all for lack of a urology referral!!! Grrr!!!

Also got alot of garden/yard cleanup done before bad weather. Stormy now, so glad the outside work is done, well at least done for a few days until next round of leaves lands on ground.

Even drove down to the coast for one gorgeous day car trip. So beutiful and peaceful!!! Hope to go more often now hubby is home!!!

Hubby and I are doing fine, he is now officially no longer working for Intel (as of Oct 27th). Praise God for a great severance package!!! We got all the PA hours including overtime on it, all the vacation hours, and even the remaining floating holiday pay with overtime, and his last paycheck, plus Intel paid the four months of Cobra they promised in cash and covered the taxes on it too, and he also received 2 mnonths extra salary for general severance pkg plus 10 weeks salary for years he worked there. So Praise God we are so blessed with such a great severance package! Takes alot of stress off us while we figure out what's the next step in right direction for our future. Decided not to sign up for unemployment until after first of year, first because all the serverence raised our income so taxes will be higher than usual, second more months of his last raise will be counted if we wait till first quarter rather than now so higher unemployment benefit if we wait.

We sent the forms in the other day to sign up for 18 months of Cobra continuing insurance for Kaiser medical. Still haven't received forms from pension and 401K to transfer those to personal accounts, or the Intel stock transfer paperwork either. There are deadlines to meet so hope the paperwork comes soon, though it does give us a breather between paperwork stuff. Intel's layoff information was plentiful at work though often contradictory and even downright wrong! Hubby printed alot of it to digest at home (no access to any of it from anywhere except at work which is nonsense since sometimes the spouse is better at figuring things out then the employee!!!) This modern job world sure is complicated even with a layoff!!!

Heavy rains now, some wind too, but back up to mild temperatures again.

That's all for now, time to go read some more of what's been going on here on boards, plus nearly time to start thinking about supper.

Love ya'all.

Pat

God bless everyone

Edited November 6, 2006 by thesidekickcat

[blim]

She DOES exist! Welcome back, Pat and I'm glad to hear you and Hubby are doing just fine, just busy!

What great news about the severence package! And enjoy having Hubby home. Hoping he isn't underfoot or you'll have to make up a chore list

And yes, Hubby will be in my prayers! Even IF he ends up having the surgery, my Dad had Prostate Cancer Surgery and Marty recently had Prostrate Surgery (I'm sure Marty won't mind me posting this as he posted about his surgery here and at Drew's) and both came through with flying colors and are doing fine!

I've been busy doing the "weekend megaload of Laundry" thanks to the kids bringing it home. Tomorrow they'll empty my cupboards

Liz

[thesidekickcat]

Thanks Liz,

Yep am ejoying having hubby home...so far anyhow!!! Ha!!!

Actually seems like less stress with him here so am not worrying about him in traffic snarls etc during bad weather.

Speaking of bad weather...oh my!!! Definitely the infamous NW monsoon seaason has started with a vengence! We are enduring a 'Pineapple Express' tropical storm via Hawaii right now, the tail end of a typhoon that hit the Philipines last week. Lots and lots of rain, wind, mild temperatures, and did I mention lots and lots of heavy rain? flooding, and lots more of the storm yet to come today and tomorrow!!! Will be breaking high temperature records all over the NW according to noon news. 67 here at 8 am to noon, but a cold front is going to drop that down to mid 50's tomorrow. It is never a good to have your area the first area talked about on The Weather Channel either!!!

Ch 12 TV Weather slow to load page

Ch 8 KGW weather

Liz, I hope your Dad is forever totally cancer free after his surgery!!! And I must have missed or forgotten about Marty having surgery... glad all went well for him too. So far the drugs are helping hubby...though Dr said one of them could take up to 6 months or so to really show some affect. The other 2 help in short term.

Time to get busy I guess after so much time wasted checking out weather sites.

Oh, I forgot to mention that the noon news also mentioned we had a tiny earthquake last night about 9:30...2.6, no big deal and it was raining and wind blowing so hard then that I doubt anyone would have noticed it.

Stay dry folks. This storm is probably coming your way after it floods out the NW.

Pat

God bless everyone

[thesidekickcat]

Well the storms just keep on dumping record amounts of rain on the NW, and now tonight we are to have high winds too. If main part of storm hits North of us, we (inland here in the Northern Willamette Valley) could see wind gusts to 60 mph or so tonight and tomorrow, the coast winds would be even higher!!! Not good for so many Western Washington and Western Oregon areas that have had alot of flooding, slides, etc and the trees already in trouble now in extremely soggy ground are liable to be toppling over all over the area. So power outages etc are likely. Will be getting off line in awhile and unplugging before things get to bad. Had one good gust of wind about a half hour ago.

My favorite weather lady, chief in weather dept at Katu Ch2 weather, had a huge tree land on her house in first part of the heavy rain storm last week while she was on the air! Her hubby and baby were ok Thank God!!! Also other similar close calls of falling trees all over the area! One landed on a family's house in the master bedroom just missed the people in the bed, they had tmoved bed week before and then decided against putting it by window and moved it back to original spot. The tree and ceiling beams totally wiped out the area by window!!! Even where the bed was put back to, there was plenty of damage from tree and ceiling beams which missed each of them by only inches!!! Wow!!!

Quite a few houses lost to ocean, and the rivers too, all over the Western part of NW. I am so sad for all the people who have lost so much, (no matter if they should have or shouldn't have built where they did, it is sad... contrary to heartless remarks of our newly re-elected governor who couldn't care less if people were devasted by what had happened to them...he blasted the various governments in the Katrina disaster for not caring about individuals, so it was sure strange how he missed out on having a caring human heart for our citizens but finally proved just what he is really like...unfortunately to late to vote him out)!!! I am sad too for the flooded out farms with drowned cattle too in the Tillamook area on the coast. Sure we have such storms before, and yes people have lost homes etc before, but it is always heartbreaking to see their dreams go down the rivers/ocean. Plus 2 women swept to sea on coast, way to dangerous to beachwalk during or after these storms.

Radar has been out for days now for the Portland branch of National weather service, I checked out Seattle tv stations which helped to get an idea of what's happening up there...if storm lands up north just right, we get the high winds.

So that's the ongoing situation with our weather....rains, floods, slides, and winds!!! It's a normal November alright! Glad the temperatures are still mild!!!

It looks like now the winds wont be to bad according to the local evening news/weather, though we have had a 50plus mph wind gust on top of the Fremont bridge downtown just before the newscasts. I heard it here about the time I originally posted this. All is pretty quiet now except for the rain, winds to kick up after 10pm.

Pat

God bless everyone

Edited November 13, 2006 by thesidekickcat

[macmarauder]

ohhhh dear, so much bad weather. stay same ok.

(hands thesidekitcat an indestructible titanium umbrella)

[thesidekickcat]

Maybe you hit on your next invention Mac!!! A tough umbrella that wont collapse or blow inside out in windy rain storms!!!

Closest one to perfect that I ever had was a clear bubble type one I got for free for opening a bank account in the 70's. Instead of being spread outward, it curves down in a semi circle around your head and shoulders protecting you from the sideways-driven rain that we get often get here, plus it's clear plastic so you can see through it wherever you are going, and the sharp tips aren't out towards others to jab them. But it doesn't have a very sturdy metal framework, so am always afraid it will break if someone runs into me (because they can't see me past their forward slanted bent/broken umbrella). Seriously though most NWesterners don't use umbrellas, sort of a Webfooter code thing. And I am sure with the two storms this week no umbrella would have survived very long unless padlocked to an arm!!! The wind storm yesterday although shorter was more intense here in Metro area than one earlier in week. Lots of trees down and power lines too here in town and elsewhere. Today was mostly dry, even a few sun breaks, and same to come next couple of days. But a new storm ccoming in Sunday/Monday. The huge neighborhood trees nearby still are ok Thank God!!! What a way to start out the winter but sure glad it's mild and not cold enough to have been snow instead of rain for any of these storms.

I hope everyone here around the country is ok, I saw news reports of really awful storms hitting in many areas!!! Take care folks.

Pat

God bless everyone

[blim]

I know about those umbrellas you're talking about, Pat! Glad to hear you survived the drench. It was on the news and it sounds like you got a wallop.

I've been cleaning, cleaning, cleaning....The "Outlaws" are coming for Thanksgiving. Ugh. They were raised in a filthy house, yet always seem to find the one speck of dust or fingerprint I leave behind, so now it's sort of a competition, I dare them to find anything to point out to me! 3 years in a row and no complaints, going for 4. Steam cleaned all the carpets the past two days and washed the windows inside and out a couple weeks ago so the biggest job is over!

At least the house is completely spotless after Thanksgiving so I can mess it up decorating for Christmas!

Liz

[thesidekickcat]

Oh my, all that hard work cleaning for folks that don't deserve it due to their petty insecurity or whatever it is that makes them pick on you.

But you will be pleased with your work, and that's a good thing. Just don't let them get to you if they do make up something to pick on you about.

I always have thought that "outlaws" like you describe, and believe me I have had had my share of them too, belong in the outhouse, not the grownups house!!! Yes I mean a real up the trail old fashioned outdoor drafty cold outhouse!!! And that's said even after I have mellowed a few years with no contact with mine!!! Ha!!!

Good luck with yours. Have fun decorating after they are gone!!! It's always nice to not have to deep clean and decorate the same weekend/days. More fun decorating that way!!!

P.S. You couldddd mayyybeee make or buy a fruit cornucopia for the table and stash a ladybug or two in it and hope they come out in front of the "Outlaws".... sigh...or not!!! I just thought that might be fun...had one on a houseplant the other day when I watered the hanging plants...such pretty little things!!!

Pat

God bless everyone

[blim]

LOL, Pat, the funniest thing is when I whined to my Sister and she said ,

"when they complain, hand them a rag"

And wouldn't you know, I decided to DO that and they haven't complained since!!

Oh, we have been getting Ladybugs but not so bad this year as previous years. The back porch usually ends up covered with them in Spring and Fall. "Someone" bought Asian Ladybugs and introduced them to our environment. Asian ladybugs can't handle our winters so they come in the house in droves in the Fall looking for a warm place to hibernate. They're orange-red instead of red and they bite! But I don't mind, when they come in the house I just deposit them on the houseplants. Figure they might as well look for any spidermites and earn their keep.

Liz