Posted by Gremlin [12.253.224.146 - 12-253-224-146.client.attbi.com] on 27 September 2002 at 07.59.10 ZuluTime:

In Reply to: Re: Third step forward posted by wolfeman_psycho on 27 September 2002 at 00.20.50 ZuluTime:

I was just about to write a new What's New about this. But first I have to download the server to Hunter's computer here to be able to do much about that.
     Fortunately, we're talking about three gigabytes of stuff. Even on a cablemodem, that won't be done right away.
     And, of course, I'm using Hunter's diseared little Packard Hell keyboard, which probably sucked back when Packard Hell still existed, and is worse now. Great time for the damned latop to break.
     On that subject, here's how broken it is: running in bios, with no measurable processor activity, the thing overheated and shut down in self-preservation in under ten hours. I'd call that pretty bloody broken.
     Remind me to talk to you about SuperTowers sometime. Cloning Hunter's and adding a few neat little things [like, obviously, a real keyboard] might be fun to look into....
     That aside, we're now officially hoping that CircuitCity will have some magical ability to fix the FX210. Since Sony stopped making AMD laptops, and Hunter hates Intel more than I do, we're talking about grabbing one of the new Sony Intel 1.8GHz 8886s, and just trading. She doesn't really need any more power than the FX210 provides, and I, um...really do. The thinking is that, with a pair of laptops, Hunter can sit there playing the Sims all night on the AMD while I do more important stuff on the faster machine with the bigger drive and the built-in CDRW to offset my uncanny ability to fill thirty gigabytes with useless junk in an hour.
     Which probably sounds like we're getting ahead of the situation reported in the latest What's New. Which isn't quite accurate anymore.
     We got back down to the Department of Trolls with five kilogrammes of paperwork and dental XRays. Out of sheer fear, they went ahead and gave Hunter a local licence. That was Step One.
     Step Two was the bank, where roughlyt he same thing happened. Except that I showed them a receipt for paying rent and fronted Hunter a hundred bucks to open the account. So that's good too.
     Not that it could be that simple. The VA, in an uncharacteristic burst of efficiency, arbitrarily presumed that she wouldn't have an account in time to receive a direct deposit; so the cheque for $27,XYZ is reportedly 'in the mail' now. It should be here by the end of the month, and in her account within a couple of hours after if gets here; then, since Duhmerica went bankrupt diruing VeitNam, it could be up to five days before the funds are actually available. Still: we're expecting to have enough out of the VA to buy a low-end Corvette by 5th October. Then we promptly don't buy a Corvette, and instead pick up a few things of more importance than a car which my Formula can still beat off the line.
     Of course, to get Hunter to cheer up a bit, I fronted a little more to go shopping. It turns out that five hundred bucks will cover a trip into Victoria's Secret, Suncoast, Sears [believe it or not, it was Hunter's idea (read: mandate) to pick up a $150 self-cleaning razor], Electronics Boutique [including everything from a couple of PS2 games to the White Rabbit action figure from American McGee], WaldenBooks, RadioShack [more gear for RFD], and, of course, BestBuy, to A) look over the 1.8GHz P4 and B) grab more CDRs, the Sims Unleashed, a 16MB memory card for the PS2, and so on.
     I've never before put so much energy into speanding so little. I'm beginning to fear the money she's about to get.
     Future plans include the laptop we're talking about, a WasherDryer setup so she doesn't have to walk a block or two to the laundrette, A landline [between the cablemodem and the mobile phones, there's never been a real need] which may include one of those archaic fax machuines for dealiing with archaic people, cable television...mostly for M*A*S*H reruns, a television to watch M*A*S*H reruns on, and--since she has a licence here now, possibly something like a 1988 FieroGT, which should be both small enough and tough enough for her to drive.
     Oh yeah, and this is great: the idiotic neighbours who keep stealing all the parking spots have one car with crippled plates. Hunter, at seventy percent, is eligible for Handicapped Veteran's numberplates. It's worth buyin g a car just to put these plates on it and abandon it in the one crippled spot in the carpark, I think....
     We're also talking a bit about getting what would end up being my fourth Old English Sheepdog. Hunter's not quite giddy about that one yet, but, granting how she acts around the one rat, I'm thinking that a hundred pounds of reasonably-intelligent canine might give her something almost productive to do once M*A*S*H is over. We'll see about that.
     Otherwise, we'll grab a few thousand more CDRs, MiniDiscs, DVCassettes, and, of course, batteries. And whatever.
     There's the one other neat thing here. The case is officially closed. There will be no surprise reevaluations on this. Left alone, the VA will keep Hunter at seventy percent for ever. The only reason for any change would be to reopen the case on our end, or launch a new case; either way, that would only happen with enough new evidence to guarantee the other thirty percent. So the slight concern that they'll change their minds in a few months has evaporated.
     Anyway: that's the situation as of this minute. As we find out more, and think more things up, there will be updates. Probably in the next RFD episode, which we may actually have time to record and upload for Sunday amidst all the moving and other stuff going on this week.
     Naturally, we brought all the new stuff we got today into the place we're moving out of, creating yet more stuff to move. Oh well....