Me he salvado!

I am saved!  Saved that is, by the wonderful tools in the Audacity audio editing software I use for recording oral projects for school. I'm taking intermediate level classes now, Spanish 211 and 212, and pronunciation and comprehension is a big part of it. So we have to record ourselves reading passages. In this case, it was a poem by Bessy Reyna called Mientras tú.

Poema Mientras Tú de Bessy Reyna

Mientras tú
llega a la casa,
abres una cerveza,
observas la televisión
mintras tú
te acomodas en tu sillón de siempre
comentas lo duro que se pasa en la oficina
ocultas la veces que le propusiste a la
secretaria una cita
las veces que con tus compañeros en el café
piropeaste a las mujeres
mientras tú
decides a cuál bar irás hoy
o te sumerges en el comercial y esperas la cena
ella
trata de olvidarse de los piropos de mal gusto
que soportó camino al trabajo
de las proposiciones del jefe y los clientes
ella
trata de preparar la cena
arreglar la casa
sonreír a los niños
y pretender que tus escapadas
son un juego pasajero
que tus caprichos son un juego pasajero
y que a pesar de todo ella es una
Señora feliz.

What saved me was the fact that in Audacity, I can easily edit the recording.  As I read it, if I stumbled I just repeated the messed up part correctly, and continued on. Then at the end, I went through it and just cut out the parts that were bad, leaving me with a good recording. That's not to say it's excellent by any stretch. my pronunciation leaves a lot to be desired still. but I'm getting there. I imagine were I taking a traditional class, actually having to speak daily, I'd have better pronunciation.

Rawgleflurgle!

So. I've been emailing back and forth with dell's tech support, and I thought I had the problem licked, but now it's giving me the same error it gave after Jason first touched the computer, something about windows failing to restart properly and options to run repair mode or start windows.. I swear, he is death for technology!

I've done about half a dozen things to it, including taking the hard drive out and wiping it off with a cloth. That seemed to work, but then it gave me some more issues. now it -seems- to be okay, except it's installing updates and has been sitting on the same one forever. Ooops! It just clicked to the next one. So. We'll see.

Now I've restarted it a few times, and it seems to be handling it okay. I just set it to hibernate, and am gonna test it again.

*time passes*

Seems like it's fixed. I think. I'll let it sit a while, then try again, but thus far, I'm hopeful. Go me!

*sigh*

So now the laptop I just freaking bought is no longer working. Won't boot, not even from the install disk. Gee. What a freaking surprise, considering the first laptop we bought from Dell had the hard drive crash days after we got it. I'm annoyed, to say the very least. I've got an email in to Dell's tech support, and I've done -everything- I know to do, including trying to boot from a CD and repairing the OS. It looks like something's wrong with the drivers for the hard drive. *growls*

So. Now, I wait. Which annoys the ever-living shit out of me.

Hooray!

Self-proclaimed prophet Yisrayl "Buffalo Bill" Hawkins, the founder of a religious sect in Abilene, Texas had said that on June 12, 2008 a nuclear war will begin. So .. yeah. He'd said it a couple of times, only to be ... believe it or not .. proven wrong. So .. June 12th has come and gone. And since I'm still here, and I assume you're still here, I can only assume that nuclear war did not indeed break out. So. Happily, we get to celebrate Jason's birthday!

That's right, today, Friday the Thirteenth, is my honey's birthday. And while sadly we did not get our advance copies of the new fantasy novel by Larissa Niec for his birthday, he did get some lovely little things .. and so did I! The little darling sent me some lovely little earrings. Jason and she are determined to turn me into a real girl, I swear it. I've gotten more jewelry in the last two years than I got in the previous twenty.

I'm supposed to be talking about home this month, for NaBloPoMo, and I've been a little slack. But I've actually been kinda busy with stuff I've been doing around the house. Not only did we get the big clunky desk finally out of my room, which made my room seem twice as big as it did before, I've gotten sheers on all the windows downstairs -including- my office, finally, and thile they're a little short, they do the job they're meant to do. We also cleared out a ton of crap out of the house, and just today I got rid of a bunch of boxes and trash and stuff from the whole 'new computer' process. Tomorrow, probably, we're going to put up the curtain rods in our bedroom so we can -finally- have curtains, and possibly even get some new ceiling fans. That is apparently going to be our birthday gifts from Jason's parents.

My mom and dad are giving us a Wii and probably a Wii Fit and stuff for Graduations and my birthday, and Jason's going to get, I think, a nice laptop bag since he's getting a laptop for himself. And I have a little pile of little somethings on his chair for him, waiting for him to come home. I don't know what we're going to do to celebrate other than that, though. We rarely really celebrate birthdays around here. I mean, we do, but we've reached an age where birthdays aren't really 'special' anymore. We'll see what he feels like. he's been working hard at the gym almost every day, so it's hard to do stuff after work, even though he does get our at 5:30 instead of 8-9pm.

New Computer!

Both of my computers have arrived. Finally. Despite annoyances in shipping with both DHL and FedEx, I have my new computers. I've been spending the last week setting them up. And i still have to copy all my pictures from my old PC to the new one. But I finally have my email and music and everything fixed. I probably should spend some time copying my music now from my laptop to my PC, but it's all at least on my laptop, which is what's important anyway.

The annoyances right now are that I have lost -all- my favorites in my web browser, and lost a bunch of macros and stuff in WoW. But I can get acces to them if I really want to work at it. It's just .. time consuming. And I have to switch my monitor back to the old PC so I can set the whole computer shared. And I'm just being lazy about that.

*grumblerawr*

Well. I waited patiently. I did. Well, anxiously, but I finished cleaning, and did laundry, had lunch, sat down and knitted and was good. Until 5pm.

Then I got growly. Which, by the way, I can in part blame on Mercury being Retrograde. I texted Jason, and he said to use DHL's Live Chat feature again. Sure, why not.

Heh.

The pain in the ass I got the second time was less than helpful. Informed me that they were 'too busy' and I shouldn't have waited. Well, that's nice but why did the first guy tell me I should expect it? *grumbles* So. I can go pick the package up in Charlotte if I want and should they hold it for customer pickup? By now, I'm pissy. I realize after closing the chat I didn't confirm that I was going to go pick it up. *sigh* But wait .. I can't find a direct number for the DHL location? WTF? *deeper sigh*

So I get -back on- the Live Chat .. and get someone -even less- helpful. Who informs me that I have to wait -an hour- .. it's almost 6pm now, they close at 8pm .. for them to call me to confirm the package is waiting there. So that'd give me barely an hour to drive into Charlotte, in an anrea I don't know, that's right under the freaking airport.

Have I mentioned my completely irrational fear of planes?

While I'm dealing with completely unhelpful jerk, I call customer service. I go through the whole story after warning the girl that I'm -not- happy, almost break down into tears I'm -so- frustrated because I had a ton of things to get done today but put them all off waiting for this delivery that was never gonna happen in the first place. She tells me she can connect me to the local distribution center. Well why the hell could the guy in Live Chat not tell me that? *annoyed sigh-growl*

Why yes, miss, I'd love to talk to them. I hold. They connect me. Two minutes later I'm in the car on my way to Charlotte with hand-written directions because I don't have a printer any more - the old one won't work with Vista, so I'm gonna sell it in the Big Yard Sale. I made it safe and sound .. well, safe. Sound I can't claim, cos I was still growly, and had like 7 planes fly right over my head, and dog does that freak me out. But I got my precious package, and headed home. On the way I talked to honey, and decided we'd get McDonald's fries and chicken wraps for dinner, cos he was feeling sick and salty usually helps.

Did I mention Mercury was Retrograde? I think I did.

So I get to McDonalds. I order. 1 bbq grilled wrap, 1 honey mustard grilled wrap, two orders of fries. I get my receipt: 1 ranch wrap, 1 honey mustard wrap, 2 fries. I get to the second window, and ask the girl if the wraps are correct, they should be bbq and honey mustard. She has to ask someone. They assure me it's a bbq and a honey mustard.

I get home. Two wraps. 1 honey mustard ..... 1 ranch. *siiiiigh* Jason eats the honey mustard, because he just can't stomach the ranch. Which is why I got him the bbq.

Anyway, I have my laptop. It's gonna take me the better part of this week just to get used to it. Lastnight I sat in the living room trying to get the basics set up .. the nifty gadgets, the desktop cleaned up, enabled my LoJack for the laptop, that kinda stuff. I've just found I can copy files through the network, so that's how I'm gonna transfer all my music and pictures I think. I also managed to figure out the Bluetooth mouse Jason got me, which is nifty-keen. I don't enjoy the touchpad usually, though this one is better than his old one.

Now the concern is FedEx. My PC arrived in Charlotte last night. So it could be out for delivery now. I've never had issues with FedEx delivering things a day earlier than they say they're gonna .. but I don't want to miss it, too.

Waiting

I am sitting here, -waiting- .. patiently anxiously for DHL to return with my laptop. Apparently they attempted delivery at freaking 9:30 this morning. I wasn't even out of bed .. because honestly, I wasn't expecting delivery until tomorrow. So I contacted them, and they are having the driver re-deliver this afternoon. I was told I should have my pretty Blossom laptop in my eager little hands by 5PM. It's 1:30PM now. So. I have 3.5 hours to wait. Patiently. Anxiously.

In other news, my gardens are looking beautiful. And if I do say so myself, I have discovered a bit of a green thumb. The only plant I'm worried about is the hibiscus. The leaves are yellowing and dropping off, and the blooms aren't fully opening. Jason suspects it's getting too much water, so I've been trying to water that part of the garden only every two days and seeing if that helps.

Side note: Every time I try to remember that plant name, I have to remember hydrangea and hyacinth before I get the right name. Both of those I also have in my gardens. What's with the h's?

We did a huge house clean yesterday. We got rid of my old desk, and brought in a small drafting table for me to use in the meantime until the one I picked out can be ordered and delievered from Jason's mom's work. It's -so- nice. We got rid of a truck full of junk, and another truck full of stuff we're going to attempt to sell at a yard sale. I can actually use my closet! We also moved the furniture in the living room. Again. I'm proud of us. We got a lot done yesterday.

I still have a lot to get done today though. And I'm anxious, because I don't want to leave, and have the DHL guy just leave the package here. A package on my doorstep, or even my back patio, that says Dell all over it is just asking to be stolen. So I'm hoping he gets here soon, because I need to go shopping, and take Jason's car to the dealership for an oil change, and I have a conference call at 3:30, and have to get to the bank hopefully before they close. And the dealershiop closes at 6. As soon as DHL gets here I'm gonna go out, even though it kills me to not be able to play with my pretty new laptop. But since James has to go with him mom to rescue his uncle from an abusive wife who thinks it's okay to beat him up because he can't work after having surgery, I won't have a lot to do tonight.

*very high pitched squeal the likes of which only dogs can hear*

Inspiron 1525, Intel Core 2 Duo T5550, 1.83GHz, 667Mhz, 2ML2 Cache
Custom High-Gloss Blossom Shell
4GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm
15.4 inch Wide Screen WXGA+ LCD TrueLife
250G 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition
8X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive
56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
LoJack Theft Recovery - 4 Year DHS
Warranty Support,3 Year Extended
Insp Datasafe 3GB,1YR

Shipping Method: 3-5 Business Days
Shipped Date: 5/30/2008
Est. Delivery Date: 6/3/2008
Carrier: DHL EXPRESS


XPS 630, Intel Core2 processorE8500 (3.16 GHz,1333FSB) w/Dual Core Technology and 6MB cache
Red Bezel Chassis
4GB DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz
512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT
750GB SATA 2 Hard Drive 7200RPM
Dell 19 in 1 Media Reader withBluetooth 2.0
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
48X Combo and 16X DVD+/-RW
Warranty Support,3 Year Extended
Dell Hardware Warranty PlusOnsite Service, Extended Year(s)
CompleteCare Accidental DamageProtection, Dimension, 4 Year
DataSafe Online 20GB for Dim/Ins/XPS
Dell A525 30 Watt 2.1 stereo speakers w/subwoofer 45Hz-20Khz

Shipping Method: 3-5 Business Days
Shipped Date: 5/30/2008
Est. Delivery Date: 6/4/2008
Carrier: FEDEX GROUND

Busy Busy Busy!

Well, about a week and a half ago we -finally- got the approval to do the landscaping work outside our house - I told Jason I was gonna frame it. So the last two weekends have been busy busy working on planting and installing border stones and spreading mulch and running to Home Depot and Lowes to pick up plants and mulch and potting soil.

But I finally have flowerbeds! I have a ton of stuff planted in them too. Iceflower is planted in my little cauldron, and I have a blue false indigo, and a hibiscus, and petunias in a beautiful yellow hue, and impatiens (that I think I burned watering them too early) and some volunteered pansies .. the last time I planted pansies was like 8 months ago .. and several plants of gerbera daisies, and another kind of daisy, and verbena, and a balloon flower, and something called Angelina in white and purple, and something that looks like a miniature petunia in a vibrant red. I also have my clematis, and the mums I planted two halloweens ago, and a calla lily that didn't bloom last year but I'm hopeful, and a purple petunia in a hanging basket. It's an explosion of color in my front yard now!!

Well, it will be soon as everything starts to bloom. It's getting there.

In other exciting news, I'm getting a new computer -and- a laptop! I'm sooo excited! I've wanted to get myself a laptop for .. well, years now. And in part because I want to be able to talk to James but be social with my husband and watch tv in there with him, and with a laptop I can sit in the livingroom, and still have access to the internet. Wheee! *flailing kermit arms* And the desktop is much needed. Mine is dying, slowly. I will likely be spending next weekend transferring everything from the old computer to the new one .. which will be a trick, since my CD burner doesn't seem to work. I think maybe I should at least make all my music MP3's, to facilitate that endeavor. I can also use Brandon's computer since I have that flash drive with 2GB space on it. That's just .. time consuming.

It's exciting, getting a new computer. It means I get to start fresh. Sure, I'm going to have to spend some time cleaning off the garbage that gets put on systems nowadays, and I'm going to have to get used to Windows Vista. Oh, and installing WoW on a new machine, that'll be exciting. Gotta make sure I knew where everything is.

Woo! The excitement! I have to spend the next week or so cleaning, so I can get ready for my new computer!

Computers. Grr.

So I've got to decide if I'm going to try to repair stupid Outlook on my computer, or not worry about it and go back to Thunderbird. I've already had to switch back to IE, since my work and school websites won't work properly in Firefox .. but it's okay, cos IE has finally put in tabbed browsing.

Speaking of school ... I apparently can't get financial aid anymore because the school accepted every freaking credit they could, even ones that have nothing to do with my program, so i've got too many credits. *mutters8

Me: 1 - Computer: 0

So.

I have been working on my computer since I woke up today. I think I've finally wrangled the beast into submission, except for one thing. Outlook keeps trying to install something, and I don't have the CD .. at least, I don't know where it is .. so it can't. And it -keeps- trying to install it. Like .. repeatedly. It's annoying.