Big Brother

He IS watching....

I was running...

So, I started running again about two weeks ago; I've been logging 2 to 5 miles per day 5 or 6 days each week. At first, it was really hard to get up an hour early in the morning, but now it isn't any easier. I do feel a whole lot better on the days that I run; I have more energy and the stress doesn't get to me as much as usual. So far I've been taking it pretty slow and easy to ease myself back into it. I've also got a few other people to run with me a couple of times. Today, I ran in the morning with someone and I plan to run this evening with someone else; I suppose I'm becoming a fairly promiscuous runner, which isn't a bad thing as far as I can tell. Anyway, I recommend that everyone give running a chance and try it for AT LEAST a month. If you aren't in good enough shape to run for an extended amount of time, try alternating running and walking, but take it easy, you don't want to injure yourself. The benefits to your body and mind are great and many. But you don't have to take my word for it... check out Runner's World magazine for information about running and it's benefits. OK, try that site later, it seems to be down at the moment(3:20AM EST on Sunday, May 30, 2004).

Fixin' Stuff

Well, it seems as though I am not the only one that is having problems with my laptop. Had a buddy break his DVD drive; he got a CD stuck in it and forced it open, disconnecting the ribbon that attaches to the read laser and assembly and forcing the whole thing off track. I took it apart once and put it back on track and reconnected the cable, but when I put it all back together (with only 4 screws left over...) the drive couldn't open without someone pulling it open. I took it all apart again (nice, found where one of the extra screws is supposed to go) and realized that the mechanism that opens the drive was in the position for the drive to be open when the drive is closed. I set it to the closed position, closed the drive and it works fine. Now if I could only figure out where these 3 screws go...

Broke6n KeyboqzaRDC

Well, the keyboard is shot on my laptop; I think something was spilled on it, but it was lent out to someone when the problem began. The problem is that when I type, the ouptut looks like the title to this post. When certain keys are pressed, multiple keypresses are sent along with the one that you want. Anyway, I've spent quite some time looking for somewhere to order a replacement keyboard and haven't found one yet. A lot of the online parts stores I visited don't even have parts for my laptop which is a Toshiba Satellite M35-S359. Any suggestions, please let me know. OK, enough of that.

Sunday

Ah, Sunday. A nice relaxing day... for, ah, relaxing. Yep.
I just want to state here and now that I despise Hewlett Packard. I had to install a HP printer/scanner/fax/copier combo on a computer at work and it made my nice relaxing Sunday more stressful. First of all, the first three times I tried to install the drivers/software (because you can't just install the drivers, it wants you to install all the crap they ship with the printer) the install program crashed and I had to uninstall and reboot. Finally, I copied the entire CD to the hard drive and installed it from there, which worked, but still took a good 15 minutes. How in the world does a printer driver take fifteen minutes to install? Why can't you install just the driver for the device instead of all that crap they give you? Don't ask me, ask Hewlett Packard. You'll notice that I don't link to their site; this is not an accident. I will not make it any easier for people to partake in the evil that is HP. Other that that, everything else is all right. I'm thinking of changing the stupid template that blogger.com gave me. Maybe you'll see a new one in a few days or weeks or something.

HHGG

Ever have one of those days where everything seems to be going your way? The coffee pot at work is full when you arrive, your jerk of a boss is taking a sick day, your inbox is empty, it's Friday, and you know you'll be able to skip out early. Today was absolutely nothing like that. There was only the mud left from yesterday in the bottom of the coffe pot that no one got around to cleaning. The boss was in a full-blown tirade, mostly about the absence of coffee. I didn't even have to check my digital watch to know that "It must be Thursday. I never could quite get the hang of Thursday." (Thanks, DNA) Anyway, not a good day; enough of that.
Well, I read on slashdot today that there is now a website for the H2G2 movie. Brightens the day right up and all that other crap doesn't really matter. If you haven't read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy then you need to. Soon.

Intro

Since this is the first post in ThBlog, I will give a brief summary of my current position in life, a sort of introduction. My current position in the physical world is the country of Iraq. I am serving in the United States Army, and let me be the first to tell you, I have no false notions of what a great thing I am doing to make the world a better place. Also, let me add that this view is not swayed in the least by any number of care packages with candy and toothpaste inside addressed "To: Any Soldier" that tell me what a "great job" I am doing and how everyone is proud of me. My mental position in life is a bit disconnected from the physical, as will be seen in most future posts, at least for a while.
I can't really say much about my job and what I do, so most days will probably just be me bitching about life in general. Any random nonsense probably means that I wanted to post something, but didn't have any idea what that something was. If you don't want to read it, don't. I couldn't really care less; I only start this thing due to my brother's persistant suggestions, anyway.