January 17, 2010

Okay, so I switched from the actual jukka theme, and I'm using jukka emulation. I like it, I can barely tell the difference, so now I feel like I'm doing something new in an old set of clothes. Perfect!

That said, the subject of this day log is my bequeathing of the highly computer-savvy among E2's population to offer me some advice. You see, I've got computer problems... serious ones. (Skip to starred list if you are not interested in back story)

Before I talk about the problems, let me first say that I replaced my very first computer mainly so I could play Diablo II. I feel sort of guilty about that, as that computer gave me many happy memories. But, the upgrade turned out to be beneficial for more than just my gaming; I was about to start college, and the pure workload I needed my computer to help me finish was already increasing.

My mistake was in giving the old one to my selfish sister. I've no chance of ever reclaiming it now, as she sold it at a yard sale, but I thought I learned my lesson. I was wrong.

Cut to mid 2008, when I realized I would need to upgrade my video card so I could play another damn computer game! Gosh, I'm such a sellout! Another mistake I made was in taking my precious computer to a shady repairman, but hey - he was the only "computer guy" in town.

Long story short, the game worked. But gradually from then to now, my computer's performance and abilities have deteriorated more and more. Now, in the beginning of 2010, I go through a daily hassle just to get it to cooperate with me. Here is a list of just some of the things that are seriously wrong with my computer:

* Any time I try to do too much at once, it cuts off and reboots.

* Sometimes it will cut off and reboot when I open Word, Excel, Yahoo Messenger, Internet Explorer, or Firefox.

* I often get the "Not Responding" alert in the title bar of my applications.

* Sometimes, upon booting, it will freeze or lock, and I must reboot. Sometimes I must do this several times.

* It often takes upwards of five minutes for an application to open once I've double-clicked it.

* Sometimes upon copying and pasting to Word, it will crash and reboot.

* The CD-Rom drive will make a very loud and annoying buzzing sound while it is spinning a disk.

* The CD-Rom drive will often not recognize a disk at all, and manual attempts to run the disk are fruitless.

* Windows Media Player can no longer display video feedback, and when I try to play video footage, the whole computer will lag to a ridiculously unworkable slowness that doesn't go away when I close the player.

* I can no longer successfully download and run applications or executables from the internet.

As stated before, those are just some of the problems. I had made plans to purchase a new computer when I receive my tax refund, but even if I were to buy a new computer, I still have things on my current one that I need and want. I'm wondering if some of you could advise me through making a complete (or as close as possible) backup of the things I want to keep. Obviously, games can be re-installed and certain applications can be re-downloaded. But I have an expansive collection of Firefox Bookmarks, as well as word processing documents, old school work, pictures, music, etc, that would be at the very least awfully difficult to replace.

Considering some of the cheapest computers I've seen out there (three or four hundred US dollars) are stronger than the specs I'm running now, buying a new computer isn't a bad idea... but I'm just wondering how much it would take to fix my current one.

Again, any advice is most welcome, including links to places where the people deal with this sort of thing daily. Thank you all.

Workout log for January 11, 2010 – January 17, 2010

Monday, January 11, 2010: Donated blood. Maybe not a workout, but I did lose about a pound doing it.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010: It's too dark to jog after work on weekdays. Dance Dance Revolution takes its place. 18 songs, 40 minutes on the clock, 30 minutes game time. 286 Calories (calculated).

Wednesday, January 13, 2010: Watched Pi today, which gave me 1:25 to work with.
Pushups: 20 reps, 5 sets
20 pushups is too many. Will cut down next time.
Crunches: 20 reps , 5 sets
20lb Curls: 10 reps, 5 sets
Planks: 1 minute each, 2 sets
Tree Pose: 1 minute each leg

Thursday, January 14, 2010: Bowling night.

Friday, January 15, 2010: Dance Dance Revolution. 12 songs, 25 minutes clock time, 20 minutes game time. 153 Calories (calculated).

Saturday, January 16, 2010: Watched the 1974 Ghost Busters TV show, review coming soon. During the show...
Pushups: 10 reps, 5 sets
10 reps seems too few, 20 is too many. Will try 15 next time.
Crunches: 20 reps, 5 sets
20lb Curls: 10 reps, 5 sets
Should pick this up to 15 next time.
Planks: 1 minute each, 5 sets
Tree Pose: 1 minute each leg
Also went digging with Habitat for Humanity, but we were rained out after 2 hours.

Sunday, January 17, 2010: Jogging is possible on weekends. 30 minutes, 3 miles as per standard. Listened to a How Stuff Works podcast on Muppets.

Workout log for January 11, 2010 through January 17, 2010

Saturday, January 16, 2010: I went to my boyfriend's mom's house and ran on her elliptical machine, watching an Amanda Bynes movie for half an hour. I want to say this workout was good since it was the first one I had had in 6 days, but unfortunately I forgot to eat breakfast and nearly fainted. This put a halt on further workouts for the day.

Sunday, January 17, 2010: Having remembered to eat my waffles and banana this morning instead of just thinking about it, I was prepared to try running again. Discovered the tow path at the Augusta Canal and ran down that through the nice lush mud. It was actually very pleasant and there were a lot of runners, walkers, and bikers out there. I am sad I did not know about this when I was driving 20 minutes away to run on the big dirt track. I ran 40 minutes without stopping - roughly 3.5 miles, then walked 40 minutes back, and finished with 16 minutes of running. My mile pace was roughly 11 minutes.

Side Notes: I basically gave up on life after the lat run on Sunday. I decided to stretch well in an effort to prevent leg cramps Sunday night: Monday and Tuesday I had killer leg cramps from, ostensibly, overstretching an already angry muscle. The rest of the week was eaten up by tests, which induced a lack of sleep and heart palpitations. This is exactly what I was afraid of, and why I went to work out on Saturday and made myself run on Sunday. I have in fact been drinking more electrolytes, eating bananas, and started a multivitamin. I do not feel great yet, but if today's run was any example I will at least not die during this upcoming week and during the race.

Okay, so the cat was being a pain in the ass on Saturday, so she ended up staying outside of her own free will for a day or two. Fine. I think she has her own personal harem anyway. Sunday morning, drag self out of bed. Make coffee, skip breakfast, ain't enough time. Put on clean clothes, stretch and guzzle coffee. Head to church.

In church:

The preacher is yammering away when the room suddenly tilts and shifts then seems to twist out of focus. I grab the back of the pew in front of me. If I go down all hell will break loose. I can't have a seizure, not here, not in front of about fifty people. I'd die of shame!

No, it's not a seizure. It's not even a panic attack, but where the hell am I? I'm in an oddly sterile room, strapped down to some odd contraption that's vaguely reminiscent of medieval torture, and I look and realize my arms are stretched out, kind of like almost crucifixion pose, if I were standing. but I'm flat on my back.

Down at my feet there's someone standing, dressed in a dark coat. My vision isn't perfectly clear, it's almost like everything's slightly hazy. A nasty adrenaline rush? Not sure, let's see what... Ouch! needle, oh dear, needle in the arm, wait, this can't be me, they can never find a vein on me to put a cannula in, and both my eyes work just fine.
Voice: (from behind my left ear, sort of out of sight unless I really strain to look back)

"Do you have any final statements?"
I shake my head. A squeeze of my leg. The man in I now realize must be a gray suit is squeezing my leg to say "I'm here."

Sudden cold, a metallic taste and I start to reel and try not to scream physically, because I'm still aware of my body, knowing that physically I'm sitting up comfortably straight in a baptist church even though I'm not baptist and there's an elbow in my ribs and there are tears pouring down my face.

The woman beside me asks if I'm okay, asks why I look terrified like I'd seen the devil himself. She has no idea, and I'm not about to tell her.

Ladies and gents, call me insane. Call me gone off the deep end. Call me what you will. I have no idea what happened in that church. All I know is the fear, that same degree of terror hit me twice more. Once about six hours after the initial experience and again about an hour after that. The third time I was nearly laid out.

I did not know the intimate details of what occurs during a lethal injection execution until I looked it up mere seconds after my ass landed in my chair when I got home. I wanted to match the details of what I witnessed or experienced, or whatever the living hell it was with what I could find. My significant other said I fainted when I confirmed what I'd experienced.

I think I knew but my physical self didn't. Whomever that person was that was imagining it, they may have been in that church with me and may have simply been witness to it. But why would they have seen it from the point of view of the condemned? Could it have been they were on the jury that sentenced this person? I'll never know because I can't ask too many questions without incurring curiosity I can't satisfy.