Lena Mary Calhoun Horne, 30 June 1917 – 9 May 2010. Rest in peace.

This clip is very interesting. Hmmm…

This is about a week late, as I got really busy, but better late than never…

So, my first experience with building a computer went well, although I did hit a snag with the first CPU cooler I bought. It attached to the motherboard with plastic pegs that were to be pushed through their corresponding holes in the motherboard and then twisted to “lock”. But, the problem was that the holes in the first motherboard I bought were too small.

I took the motherboard and cooler back to swap them out, and instead of a microATX motherboard, I got a full sized ATX motherboard, and instead of a cooler with push-pin connections, I got one that attached to the motherboard via screwing into a back plate. After I figured out how to properly attach the back plate to the motherboard (the directions were lousy), it was much easier to get the cooler installed.

The Parts

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3L

Hard Drive: 500GB Seagate Barracuda

Memory: 4GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800MHz

CPU Cooler: CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Plus

Power Supply Unit: Antec EarthWatts EA 500

Graphics Card: Gigabyte NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS

Case: Thermaltake V3 Black Edition

The Build

It took longer than I anticipated to get finished, but I’m very happy with my final product. The computer booted up properly the first time I turned it on. I installed Windows XP Pro without a hitch, and then installed all the drivers without a hitch. The pain in the butt was the 12 quadrillion Microsoft updates that were required. But, in the end, it was worth it. I added to my repertoire of skills, and got a kick from seeing something I put together work the way it’s supposed to the FIRST time.

Here are a couple of pics of the build process…

Empty Case (aka chassis)

Motherboard, power supply, and DVD burner installed

The End Result

And, here’s the end result…

Front View

Side View

Tomorrow, for the first time, I will begin building a computer from scratch. This past Sunday, my computer started going to black screen with the error message that the drive coildnt be read. I’ve never had any problems with the hard drive before. But, the PC monitoring software that came with my circa 2006 AXIS P5B motherboard was showing that the mobo temp was too hot. Being that both parts are ancient in technology years, I’m not surprised something failed.

I had just backed up all my files to DVD, so I was lucky not to have lost any data. And since I’d started upgrading parts a couple of months ago, I decided to just get the remaining parts and do a rebuild. I’m going to pull the power supply, DVD/CD drive (which is also a burner), floppy drive, processor, memory, and USB/Firewire card from the old system and put it into the new one. Ironically, I had just ordered an up-to-date video card (OpenGL compatible) . It should be here tomorrow, and then I will get to work.

I’m very nervous. I’ve only replaced parts, but never built from scratch. I figured it was time to learn. So, hopefully the next time you hear from me, I’ll have a success story. Wish me luck!

I got my “Grady card”, but will have to pay more than I expected. Apparently, they changed the income guidelines in August 2009. They’ve started charging patients a copay for office/clinic visits as well. So, I have a $50 copay ($75 for ER) just to be seen, and have to pay half of the remaining charges for not only office visits, but also for lab work, scans, x-rays, and prescriptions. So, I will only be going to the doctor every 4-5 months. Too bad, so sad if they want to monitor anything at closer intervals than that.

Anyway, I ended up getting a little testy with the financial counselor I saw yesterday. I was required to bring 3 pieces of mail as proof of residency, as well as proof of income. I took my proof of income letter from UNUM, two utility bills, and another piece of mail that happened to also be from UNUM. The counselor told me that she couldn’t use the third piece of mail, because it was from the same company that my income letter was from.

I told her that I wasn’t told that when I called earlier. That’s when she took leave of her senses, and thought she was talking to a hoodrat, and tried to clown me by telling me that I “should have known”. I asked her how was I supposed to know, and she told me that it was “logical” to assume that one of the pieces of mail couldn’t be from the same company my proof of income letter was from. Can you believe this trifling shit? I know I’m smart, but damn… I’m not omniscient!

I told her it was NOT logical to assume, and that it may seem logical to her because she did this every day and knew what all the little rules were. I told her that it was not MY job to know this stuff, but their job to make sure people had the right information. When I said that, she got this little look on her face and said “Oh, I see”. The NERVE! Right after that, she “remembered” that she could use my driver’s license as the third proof of residence, since it had my current address on it.

I know I could have handled her better, but by the time she got to me I was cold, tired, and in pain. These people just really have no clue, or just don’t care about, what some people have to go through just to get to their office. The last thing we need is to be played to the left!

Lord Jesus, please don’t let these Negroes test me…

Well, I’m finally getting down to Grady Memorial Hospital. I’m without private insurance now, and they operate on a sliding fee scale based on income. I’m still on LTD so I HAVE to be under a doctor’s care. President Obama’s health bill is a godsend for people like me. I can afford to contribute meaningfully to my health costs, but I can’t do it all. I shouldn’t have to move to the ‘hood and dodge bullets just to be able to afford the care I need for Lupus and all the other stuff that’s wrong with me.

I don’t have a sense of entitlement, but I do have a sense of fairness and I shouldn’t be a sitting duck in a bad area just to stay well. The irony is that the stress of living in a bad area would make me sicker and end up costing US taxpayers more money. And yes, I do pay taxes, as in having to send a check to the IRS or the state. So I get to complain, too!

I came across this poem while surfing the ‘Net. It’s hilarious and I wish I’d known of it way back when, when I was a student.

23rd Psalm for Students

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not flunk
He keepeth me from lying down when I should be studying
He leadeth me beside the water cooler for a study break
He restores my faith in study guides
He leads me to better study habits
For my grades’ sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of borderline grades
I will not have a nervous breakdown
For thou art with me
My prayers and my friends, they comfort me
Thou givest me the answer in moments of blankness
Thou anointest my head with understanding
My test paper runneth over with questions I recognise.
Surely passing grades and flying colours shall follow me
All the days of my examinations
And I shall not have to dwell in this exam hall forever.

I have created a new page on the blog called ‘Gallery’ (see the top menu), where I will – again – share the results of my photography hobby. I finally got around to searching out the new(er) plugins that allow bloggers to have integrated gallery pages, and/or mini galleries in a post or on the sidebar. I decided to try NextGEN Gallery, and so far I like it although I haven’t viewed my blog from a browser other than Firefox 3.6 yet.

As my long time readers know, at different times I’ve had a photoblog, photography portfolio, and my Facebook photos linked to this blog. In the case of Facebook, they were pulled from there and displayed in photo albums on here. Those options worked when those were all the really reliable options available, but in the last couple of years there have been some WordPress plugins coming out that allow galleries to be integrated directly into blogs. Take it from me that this is a LOT less work, LOL.

Enjoy the pics!

I’m using the WordPress for Android app to write this post on my new Motorola Cliq XT. This is very cool! This app can be downloaded from the Android Market app that comes preinstalled on Android phones.

It’s been a long, long time coming, but I know… oh, I know a change is gonna come. Yes, it is.

Well folks, that change HAS come, and it’s a done deal. Now, to be sure, the Republicans are going to fight tooth and nail to make sure people like me (permanently disabled with serious chronic diseases) don’t get the affordable health care we need so we can die off. You know, they very much seem to embrace the concept of natural selection (aka survival of the fittest). Well, if they believed in evolution, that is. *side eye*

Anyhoo, this short paragraph from the CNN.com article about the new law caught my attention:

Senior Republicans in Congress warned that voters will judge Democrats harshly in November’s midterm elections, with Sen. John McCain of Arizona saying the Democratic-passed bill killed any chance of bipartisan support on legislation for the rest of the year.

I’m trying to figure out how in tarnation the Republicans figure that American voters will judge the Democrats harshly in the November mid-term elections. You know why? Because this health care reform was a TOP PRIORITY, and cornerstone, of Mr. Obama’s presidential campaign. He was very clear about his position and plan for “universal healthcare”… and American voters OVERWHELMINGLY voted for him.

We didn’t vote for him despite his promise to give us universal healthcare. We voted for him, in part, because of his promise to give us universal healthcare! So, how exactly are the American people going to “harshly judge” the president for doing exactly what he told us he was going to do BEFORE we elected him? Am I the only person this makes no sense to? The Republicans have a serious case of selective amnesia.

Now, to the second issue in the above quoted paragraph. Senator John McCain (who I actually liked, and who was my front runner until he lost his balls and let his campaign get away from him and end in a disgraceful train wreck) said the Dem-only passed bill killed any chance of bipartisan support on legislation for the rest of the year. McCain must have been hiding under a rock for the last year! There has been NO bipartisan support of anything Mr. Obama has tried to do since he took the Oath of Office!

My first thought on McCain’s comment was “No shit, Sherlock!”. I mean, really… who is surprised that the Republicans are now going to switch into sabotage mode and do every evil, dastardly thing they can think of to put – at least – a damper on this reform? Is anyone surprised that the Republicans are not going to cooperate with the Obama Administration on anything? I would say this is not a surprise, because they haven’t been cooperating all this time, so why in the hell would they start now?

Republican non-cooperation is a non issue. Why? Because, again, they’ve never tried to work with the Obama Administration. What the Republicans call bipartisan participation, the rest of America calls strong arming. They always want to take the lead and have the most influence on anything they have worked on in conjunction with the Democrats. They have never been content to let the Dems take the lead on anything. With Republicans, it’s their way or the highway. Right now, they’re pissed as hell because they have, YET AGAIN, been reminded that things can get done without them.

The Republicans better watch it. They cannot resort to their usual bag of nasty tricks and rhetoric to derail this new law, because the majority of Americans WANT this health care reform. They are in the minority, and they can’t afford to piss off the rest of us. They got some shine when Brown was elected in Massachusetts, but that was purely a local thing, in my non-expert and could care less estimation. On the national stage, if they go too far with their retaliation tactics – and believe me there will be retaliation – they will only end up hurting themselves.

But, they probably can’t help themselves. After all, they’ve bred themselves for certain traits for so long that it’s now probably just in their nature.