DrahuszThis weekend coming up is Father’s Day, and I think the kids might take me to see Star Trek or Up. I would prefer Star Trek (since I’ve seen everyone at a theater) but it may be too violent for kids under 6. But maybe I can do a double feature and and see both (doing my part to help the economy.) Of course I’ll be calling my Dad to wish him a Happy Father’s Day.
They other day I stopped at Home Depot to pick up a box of ten 15 A – 125V white power sockets to replace the old 2 prong brown outlets that came with the house 40 years ago. The new outlets have the standard three prong receptacles. Which makes life easier. So many electrical unit come with a three prong plug, that I had to use a plug converter to get by.
To verify the ground was connected, I used my Tripp-Lite isotel 4 surge suppressor which has an indicators for Protection Present, Fault, Line OK. All the receptacles reported no faults. I know there are better tools for testing, but this worked for now.
I still have to replace three more in the second bedroom and purchase another box of ten with covers for the master bedroom, several in the kitchen, the bar, and the laundry room.
I also replaced four old brown light switches with white 15A – 125V switches, replaced three 60 watt cadesent light bulbs with the last three 13 watt compact fluorescent bulbs. When I pick-up the additional power sockets, got to remember to buy another pack of the 13 watt CF bulbs.
Well, I’ve been thinking about getting a new notebook PC and I narrowed my decision down to three models; the Dell Latitude E4300, Dell Latitude E6500, and the System76 Serval Professional. Since I am still gathering funds, I will not be purchasing anything until late October. I know the models will change, but these three seem to fit what I want.
The Dell Latitude E4300 and the specs I chose:
The Dell Latitude E6500 and the specs I chose:
The System 76 Serval Professional and the specs I chose:
I think I want the System 76 Serval Professional because it seems to have a little bit more muscle than the Dell models. Some things that caught my eye include; the RAM is DDR3 at 1066MHz rather than the E6500 which is DDR2 at 800Mhz, the choice in which Intel process I want (which is also an option for the E6500), DVI and HDMI video output instead of VGA, the 2.0 MP Webcam compared to an unknown spec from Dell (it could be 2. MP, but maybe it is 1.3 MP), and nVidia GeForce GTX 260M with 1 GB of DDR3 video memory compare to the E6500 which has an optional NVIDIA Quadro NVS 160M 256MB DDR3 or the E4300 Intel Graphics Media which might be shared video memory (once again, I need to verify this)
What I like about the Dell models; the Magnesium Alloy LCD back and base, the backlit keyboard, the superior warranty of 3 years vs. 1 year from System 76, and brand name (I’ve been using and supporting Dell PCs for multiple clients since 1996).
The family and I had a great Memorial Day weekend. The weather was nice and warm with no rain (which they called for), the kids had a great time hanging out with their friends playing on the inflatable water slide, plus great food too.
I finished the rock wall for the swing set and now need to send back the tools my Dad let me borrow. Although I did not get a chance to ride my bike, I did complete the cleaning and maintenance of the Craftsman lawn tractor. I removed the mower deck and removed the old grass clumps. Now I am going to sell it. After all, my yard is only about .25 acres and the gas power push mower is perfect.
I grilled Filet Migon wrapped in bacon again with hotdogs, baked potatoes, peas, and enjoyed a nice cold beer too. The kids had Popsicles for dessert and I just enjoyed being at home.
A few weeks ago I received a call from a recruiter stating how I would be a great fit for a new opportunity. I was about ready to tell him I was not interested at this time because I was on assignment with my employer, but he said a few things that caught my attention. So I said, “Wow, we need to talk.” We scheduled an interview for the next day after 6:00 PM. The interview went well, almost too well. After the phone interview, I continued on with my evening.
The next day, the recruiter called back and offered me the position as Windows/IT Support Specialist II. I accepted the offer and started my paperwork. I also spent the weekend thinking about this decision, and was it the correct decision to make for my family. Needless to say I submitted my resignation to my employer, and I am ready to move into a new direction with my career.
I’m not a big hockey fan, but I do like to watch my old home town play. So last night I watch the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Washington Capitals in game seven of the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Penguins scored 2 goals in 8 seconds during the game…impressive.
The weekend went very well for us. I was up early on Saturday for a bike ride. The ride was only 7 miles because I had to finish cutting the lawn. I have a total of 9 bags of grass clipping and weeds that I pulled. Of course they will be sent to the recycling center this week.
I then grilled Filet Mignon wrapped in bacon, extra large shrimp and green squash. For dessert we had Rita’s Strawberry MargaRita Italian Ice. Everyone had a nice time running around the yard, and enjoying the weather.
On Sunday I cleaned out the sun-room, tossed junk from old work assignments, and shredded a ton of other miscellaneous stuff. We finished off the weekend by grilling burgers, hotdogs, the rest of the shrimp, and the Rita’s Italian Ice
The title is from the movie Caddyshack. The actual quote is:
Judge Smails: Danny, I’m having a party this weekend. [pauses a beat Judge Smails: How would you like to come over and mow my lawn
Although my lawn is not as big as Judge Smails, the grass is high. I have not cut it for two weeks. I put the Scotts Turf Builder With PLUS 2 Weed Control on my lawn a few weeks ago, it has rained almost every day for the last 8 days, and when it stops raining I am at work.
They say the rain will stop this weekend. If it does, I will have about 6 bags of grass clipping to send off to the recycle center on Wednesday morning.
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