Random observance

I really like generic root beer, like the store brand of whatever store I'm in. It's usually as good, I'm not better than the big name brands. Sam's Choice from Wal-Mart is what I'm drinking right now and I'm really liking it.

poop

I just talked to the Alienware guys and it turns out my super spiffy laptop is back ordered. Yep, it's the video card that is putting me on hold - I just had to have that NVidia 8800m GTX. It is after all the fastest video card you can get in a laptop, but now I have to wait for it. Oh well, sometimes you have to wait for what you want.

I hate waiting

I'm trying to be patient - but that is not a strong point for me. The new laptop is supposed to ship on Monday and it's Thursday right now. I want it now.

trying to lose some weight

Lately I've been pretty unhappy with my weight and have decided to do something about it.

I'm not a tiny person in any way, that is not to say I'm fat - I'm just a big dude. I'm 6'5" and not exactly skinny. When I started this endeavor I was weighing about 275-280, I'm gonna shoot for 265 in the first stage and see who that works out for me. If I can be successful with that, then maybe 255 is in the cards. Under 255 is not really a reasonable goal for me right now, but if I can hit that number and maintain it for a while, I might reconsider.

So, all I have been doing so far is watching what I eat - and eating the serving size instead of 2 or 3 servings. I've tried to cut down on sugar and carbs, drinking green teas and spending 30-45 minutes a day exercising. That doesn't sound like much but I do a bunch of sit ups, use the home gym and hit the treadmill for 30 minutes.

I have seen some improvement so far and my scales showed 268 today. So, I'm on my way to the first goal.

New spectacles

I had managed to put off going to the optometrist for quite a while, maybe 8-9 years. We recently got vision added to our insurance and I went to see how bad it had gotten over those years.

The good news is - I don't need bifocals, that was my big worry. My prescription has changed a little bit with a little more astigmatism and some loss in my right eye. I got some new glasses ordered and maybe I will see a little better when they come in.

I broke down and ordered a new laptop...

after looking at it for almost 2 weeks, and reading every review known to the Internet and having an internal debate with the two sides of my personality.

I am justifying this new one because my wife's laptop has died. The one she was using was made up of the surviving components of various failed laptops from a previous employer. They said I could have whatever was salvageable and I put together a Toshiba Satellite Pro 6100 for her use. We have an old Compaq that she has been using after hers failed, but it's kinda slow and she is trying to homework for a .NET programming class.

So, I'm gonna pass mine, which was part of a severance deal, down to her. This one is a Toshiba Tecra A5 and I've done plenty of development work on it. As for me...well look at this one that is gonna be my replacement - the Alienware m15x. This should cover the gaming that I do and give me more than enough power to do the work I need to do with it.

Design & Display: Silver Ripley Design
Display: 15.4" WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD (720p) with Clearview Technology
System Lighting: Alienware® AlienFX® System Lighting - Blue
Video/Graphics Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® Series - 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800M GTX
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9300 2.5GHz (6MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
Operating System (Office software not included): Windows Vista® Home Premium with Service Pack 1
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: Without Media Center Remote Control or TV Tuner
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 1024MB
System Drive: 120GB 7,200RPM (8MB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
Optical Drives : 8x Dual Layer Burner (DVD±RW, CD-RW) w/ LightScribe Technology - View Demo
Wireless: Internal Intel® Wireless 4965 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card
Sound Card : Internal High-Definition Audio with surround sound
Keyboard Options: AlienFX® Illuminated Keyboard – Exclusive Design

What do ya think?