I've really been geeking it up lately, reading about DualCore processors and the efforts of some VERY dedicated overclockers on their Venice core Athlon64's. I'm telling you, these guys can push a 1Ghz overclock on those chips - and that is SICK.

But I saw a little quote that made me laugh, and I thought I would share it.

OVERCLOCKING - The process of installing high hopes, dumb luck, and several paychecks into a rectangular box which transmits a signal to a screen that displays your fate. The outcome is usually depressing.

Here are a few pics I snapped while out west. I might post some more another time (of people perhaps?).

A very small portion of West Edmonton Mall. I took a few pictures of the mall (This, Roller Coaster) just to prove to the naysayers out here that yes, it does indeed exist! And behold, it IS larger than the Eaton Centre - far, far larger.  

Downtown Edmonton. 

A moose - not an uncommon sight by any means. I'm happy it was in the bush instead of in front of my rental car - cuz it would've kicked my cars ass. :\ 

Main Street Fairview on a Sunday evening. I call it the road to nowhere - a metaphor for my thoughts on the town itself. (Oh lets be honest it's not that bad if you're a small town kinda person - I'm just not one of those.) But look hard, that building way at the end of the road is the hospital I was born in. Special! 

Dunvegan Bridge, over the Peace River, south of Fairview. Have a lot of memories of this area, so figured I would take the time to stop and snap a picture.  

So here are the pictures of my new case, as you can see it is extremely nice :). I'm quite happy with it.  

Here's the new case for my baby - Isn't it beautiful? Oh yes it is. 

I kept my promise not to sign the posting. But my boss did for me. I'm a sucker. A sucker for money - so I'm going in anyway. I suppose another 5hrs of OT can't hurt too much. Arg.

It's about time for another quick update. I haven't been diligent lately because I've been tired and/or busy with other things. Work has been really busy so we've been doing long days all week. Including the 8 hours of overtime I did on Saturday, I'm up to 17 hours OT so far. They want me to come in again this coming Saturday, but I don't think I can bring myself to sign the posting. My knee has been throbbing all week and I really think a full weekend off can only be good for it.

I've also managed to force myself into the gym after work a few times, although sadly tonight the need for rest overruled the gym. The current plan is to catch up in my sets on Saturday or Sunday. Yes, my weekend of rest includes going to the gym ;).

Last night I had more computer issues. The same story we've all heard before. I got home from work and found 9 new virus'. As usual, the folks claimed complete innocence. Nevertheless, I was busy for the next little while fixing the results of whatever it is they "didn't" do.

I had a good laugh out of it though this morning. I had turned the computer off for the night, and then locked the front door on the case so no one could get in. I was woken this morning at about 8:20am (4hrs after I went to sleep) by mom yelling "HEY! BRYAN! I can't get in the computer! Why is this locked!?!?!?" I explained that I had been too tired to finish fixing the problems after they screwed up my computer again, so before anyone did anything else I wanted to boot into safe mode to run a couple more scans and double check the registry just to make sure everything was fine. Mom said "Oh, ok. But can I check my email?" No.

And that's about all I have to say for now...Time for sleep.

I'm tired. The compy is looking teh shizzle but for some damn reason it decided it doesn't want to recognize my camera anymore when I plug in the usb cable :@.

Did I mention I'm tired?

I'm a little overdue for an update by now. So I'll start with the trip out west.

It was interesting. I was able to see alot of relatives, many of whom I had little to no memory of. If I had a dollar for everytime someone walked up to me and said "oh but I haven't seen you since you were this big..." (with the appropriate hand motions indicating my previous miniature status), I would be very well off. So yes, I was a pallbearer. I carried the casket around when I was told to. It wasn't heavy, because by the looks of him, grandpa must have lost about half of his body mass since the last time I saw him - in stark contrast to everyone's impressions of myself.

The funeral was long, and not a single person was crying. I was working hard to filter out the catholic rhetoric issuing forth from the priests mouth via his "Guide to Christian Funerals" book (something I found terribly ironic). I think I managed to get away without offending anyone. Mom was impressed that I and my atheist/absurdist belief structure survived the cauldron - without a single lightning bolt striking me down from above. Maybe it's a sign that I'm doing something right by believing respect for humanity is more important than worship of a deity. Then again, I may simply be too insignificant to register on any otherworldly radars :).

I would be sad that I didn't really get to know grandpa, but in a way I think it's a good thing. It seems everyone that really knew the man didn't like him. So it's just as well that I didn't know him well enough to feel that way - as a result I can gleefully bask in my neutrality.

I made a visit to my grandma as well, and it was good. Aside from her indoor chain-smoking, I enjoyed the chance to spend some time with her again. My biological father also stopped by as well, and that was interesting. He's aged quite a bit since I saw him last. It's unfortunate and I feel bad for the man. He's only 45 but looks much older than the 55 year old man who's been my father for the last...15? years - Wayne. Some people just wear their age differently.

I also saw Dianne, Stan and their children. Was another nice visit :).

The time was also spent at Aunty Kathy + Uncle Johnny's house, where I saw cousins DJ, Bobbi and Janelle. I kept on beating Janelle at darts. Honestly, I did. And on Wednesday I drove Bobbi back to Edmonton (I had to go back as well for my flight back to Toronto - did I mention I rented a Chrysler Sebring? Put 1400km's on it). We had a good time I think, and she showed me her pictures from China - a lot of really interesting stuff. I'd love to travel out that way sometime, though perhaps not for a full 3 months ;).

In other news, I had an interesting friday/saturday combo. Friday was another busy day at work, and I was pretty tired by the end. But Shawn and I decided we should have a few drinks, so he headed over and we engaged in some good drinking. Before we knew it, it was 6am and we were really feeling the effects of that tasty Cuban rum. Not a problem, usually, but we also had to work at 7am for an 8 hour overtime shift. Let me tell you; by 3pm we were absolutely dead. The funny thing is that we did far more production than anyone else - in spite of our state. Elena had about 3hrs of sleep, Shawn and I had none. Pam, Mike and Gary were good and rested - and we still kicked their asses. Tell me WHO is the top crew? Damn right.

Last bit of news for tonight, my computer has undergone a few more changes. Namely, a new case, psu, and fan/light controller. My case is the silver Thermaltake Tsunami. The PSU is an OCZ 450W ModStream. The fan/light controller is a Vantec Nexus NXP-305. I am extremely happy with the new setup! The Vantec controller has an especially neat little sound activation function. When turned on, I can snap my fingers by it and the blue cold cathode lights in my case will flash in accordance with my snapping. As well, while listening to music for example the lights will flash in tune with the bass. Very cool. The old case has been outfitted with a respectable set of components costing around $400, and I'll be gifting it to the parents. A bribe of sorts, to keep them from using my computer all the time. I'll post pictures as soon as I can.

That's about it for now - back to work tomorrow. My knee is absolutely killing me because I blew it out again on friday :\. Will have to be a little more careful in the future. Anyway, peace out folks.

I went, and now I'm home. Will post more later.

I wrote a large post last night but then blogger went to the shits and I couldn't post. It was still in the crapper all morning and afternoon too.

Anyhow, my grandpa died the other day. I was scheduled to go to the funeral with mom originally, but then Wayne was able to find a way out of all the business meetings he had scheduled so he took the ticket instead. So, after reorganizing my shifts at work, I had to re-reorganize them, and then things were fine. Then I got home tonight and found out that my grandpa decided before he died that I should be a pallbearer at the funeral. Now I'm under intense parental pressure to fork out the $650 for a flight and get my ass out to the funeral to do my duty. And tt's not just the flight cost, that only gets me to Edmonton. I have to find a way from Edmonton to Grande Prairie from there - Around 550km's. I could rent a car or try to hitch a ride with my aunt (I'm NOT crazy about that idea, and besides my flight schedule is a little different and I'd be coming back at a different time so that part wouldn't work anyway).

Guess what, I was just looking at the fares again. Unless the funeral is done and over with by 9am there's no way I'll be able to make it back to Edmonton for the sale priced return fare. Looks like my flight will cost upwards of $850 - $900. Is this ridiculous? Yes. Ridiculous enough to make me seriously, seriously not want to go. I can't afford this kind of thing. I tell myself that I can't afford these things at the same time as I know I have the money in my account. The thing is, the only reason I have the damn money in my account is because I tell myself everyday that I can't afford these kinds of things. And I just committed a fair portion of resources to buying a new computer for the parents. Yes, I'm gifting a computer to my parents - a good one this time not the piece of shit I used to own. Why is it that once I agree to pricing and an arrangement to get this done suddenly I'm slapped with a ridiculous cost out of the blue. I can deal with expenses that I planned for. I can't deal with massive unplanned expenses. It makes me see spots in my eyes along with splitting headaches.

I'm looking for a bright side...maybe I'd be able to see Jason and have a few drinks - that would certainly be the highlight of the trip. I could maybe see my grandma too, it would be nice to see her because she's getting up there in the years as well. And maybe, just maybe I could track down that father of mine, and see what the hell he's been doing for the last 10 years since I saw him last. Or maybe see what's new since I talked to him those years and years ago, when he accidentally called me when he was looking for Danny because I was looking after Dan's house. That's the only time I've ever talked to that man since we moved in a phone call that he initiated. And it wasn't because he was looking for me. I thought it would be fun to just go and say 'hey, I'm your kid, this is what I am now, by the way, good riddance you ass'. But in spite of my bitterness, I wouldn't find myself engaging in such actions because I'm not a malicious person, honestly. I'd probably be nice and polite to his replacement family, and make empty promises to 'keep in touch'. For whatever reason.

Anyhow, I don't know if I'll even be going. I just can't seem to wrap my head around the idea of something that costs $900 for 3 days.

Two links for the masses today.

The first launches the reader into the realm of mind-blowing scientific advancements. Check it out!

Next up is an update on news I've shared in the past - the faithful will remember it well. The Trump International Hotel and Tower, Toronto is moving along at a brisk pace - the addition of 2 more stories to the design has been approved (making the total stories 70), and construction is slated to begin around the end of 2005 or the beginning of 2006. There is a website available with an array of information gushing about the greatness of the building to be - along with some very tempting concept images. Head over this way to see for yourself. This place makes me wish I was a mega-millionaire just so I could live there.

LAN Party Goodness!!

This past weekend in Bancroft was great! We had a kick ass LAN party that maxed out at 15 people. There was tonnes of games and goodness that included me kicking ass at Unreal Tournament 2004, C&C Generals and WCIII, as well as an extension cord that almost melted as a consequence of all the current we were drawing. I'll toss up some pictures soon! We stayed at Brents place and it was really good, the first night was composed of computer building, rum drinking, and Xbox playing; the second night had post LAN party rum drinking and dvd viewing. Basically, it was nonstop good times for the whole 3 days :). Can't wait till we do it again!

rrroll up the rim to win!!!

...or not. According to the cups, the odds are 1 in 9 of winning. I usually goto Tim Horton's once every day, around dinner time to pick up my daily dose of tea. So it would seem that, statistically, I'd have won at least once by now. Not so. I've gone 16 cups now without a single prize. If we were to include the drinks I've picked up for other people while there, that number would swell to just beyond 20. Is it possible that my luck is THAT bad? :\

Well I've had a pretty standard week thus far, composed almost entirely of work and gym. But that's all about to change. Myself and three other dedicated geeks are bringing our computers on the road with us to Bancroft! It's not enough that we kick each others asses at the LAN parties around here, we decided to go kick other peoples asses at their LAN parties as well!

It's about a 5 hour drive, but it should be worth it for 3 days of good times. Tonight is the pre-party where we do our drinking, and then tomorrow will be the main event. I've been practicing whenever possible, so hopefully I'll be able to bring my best game tomorrow and come out with some good results :). The estimates are for 10-15 participants. Could be a very good time!

So I'll be back Sunday night with an update on how things went - have a great weekend everyone!