well here’s the other thing i was going to talk about last night, before i ran out of time.

during my plethora of errands yesterday, i stopped at Fry’s and bought a fancy new UPS.  it has quite a bit more power than what i need right now (i have my widescreen monitor and computer plugged into it, and when i am playing Fallout 3 the power draw on the UPS is about 299 watts, out of a maximum output of 540.  when idle, they draw about 190 watts) which means i have a lot of room to grow and the potential to back up quite a bit more than what i already am.  what prompted this was a recent series of power outages, including an outage that was preceded by a brownout that damaged my linux and windows installs beyond any repair.  windows was unrecoverable, linux booted but after a day or two it went towards what is technically known as Shit Just Fucking Breaks.  i’d go into it in greater detail but i need to get ready for work soon.

anyway, even with the load put on the UPS by a very graphically-intense game like Fallout 3, this UPS gives me more than ten minutes of runtime, and the idle draw gives me more than twenty minutes.  considering it would take maybe two or three minutes tops to shut down windows even in the midst of a game, that is plenty.  but perhaps my favorite feature is the auto-shutdown: if the power cuts out, and the UPS has less than five minutes of battery power left, it will force my computer to shut down.  so even if i’m not around, i can rest easy knowing the UPS will handle it.  i see this as an investment.  i spend about a hundred bucks now, and save myself from spending a couple hundred or even more than a thousand to rebuild my computer after it gets fried by transient currents or high surges, along with not having to worry about losing all of my precious data to a power loss.

anyway, time to get dressed.  also, sorry for the not-so-great picture, the underside of my desk isn’t exactly the most well-lit place in the house.

now that i am rested and have some free time, i should talk about those things i listed, along with some brand new ones.  i’ll start with what i don’t need to talk about anymore.  also there will be several pictures.

The conversation I had this morning and The way I’m feeling right now: neither of those turned out to be anything major.  no point in continuing to bring it up.

Fallout 3:  is awesome.  i’ve never touched a fallout game before now, but i’m highly impressed.  i haven’t played it too much, for reasons that will become clear in a bit, but what little of it i have played i like.  as soon as my gaming platter empties out a bit i will probably pick this up bigtime.

Heavens Feel: is pretty much why i haven’t played anything else except gears 2 for the past week or so.  mirror moon released the HF translation last weekend and it has occupied all of my free time since.  i play in the mornings before i go to work, i play as soon as i get home.  the writing in this route has kicked up a notch (except for nasu’s flimsy excuses for ero scenes, although the mirror moon proofing crew did a pretty good job in that regard.  it doesn’t read like fanfiction anymore) and like kohaku’s and hisui’s routes, the end of the game serves as a swift kick to the ribs.  fate is the arc/ciel routes in that it’s relatively happy with some minor sadness thrown in at the end.  UBW starts to clamp down on you the way akiha’s route did, and HF knocks you flat the same way kohaku and hisui did.  and i haven’t even gotten to the real meat of this route – i just started day 12.  i’m sensing that i’m about to enter the bulk of what HF has to offer, as the big ol’ huge plot twist must be right around the corner.

also Tiger Dojo 32 wins the award for Tiger Dojo that is Freakier than the Dead End it Precedes:

and i have to say…the shadow is far, far scarier with the realta nua voice patch.

Blackberries: and then there were two.

Radar Minorin:

i seriously cannot stop staring at this.

My job: not sure why i brought this up, things are going great.

WoW: will probably be on hold for a while.  i haven’t touched it in a week, and with HF, Fallout 3 and Gears 2 on my plate, along with all the other games i have in progress, i don’t really have room for it.  too bad, too…i just joined an awesome guild.

Gears of War 2: is basically gears of war 1 with less BROWN and more lights on the armor.  but that is by no means a bad thing…GoW is an awesome game.  what few changes they did make are all positive, and i couldn’t be happier at this point.  i haven’t played much, but we’ll see.

Braid: is an excellent indie game that makes me want to smash my controller.  but it’s a puzzle game, so that’s pretty much par for the course.  i’m loving every second of the scenery and music.  i’m sure my weathered brain will eventually perk up and i’ll start solving puzzles like a maniac.

anywho, time for bed.  i have something else but it will have to wait.

I am so effing tired.

There’s a good number of things I want to talk about. Fallout 3. Heaven’s Feel. Blackberries. Radar Minorin. My job. The conversation I had this morning. WoW. Gears of War 2. The way I’m feeling right now. Braid. And other things I am probably forgetting. But this keyboard is tiny and I only have half an hour until lunch is over. It will have to wait until I get home, and even then I will probably eat dinner and go straight to bed. We shall see. Obviously, the more tired I am the less productive I am at work so I need to shake this off first. I just hope it’s not a bug, getting sick is the last thing I need right now.

I made it through half the day, it’s downhill from here. See you on the other side.

Making full use of my brand new data plan for my blackberry, I am of course posting here. I have about ten minutes before I have to head back so I am just killing time.

Xanga looks odd in the blackberry browser. I’d use opera mini, but the renderer tends to stack the topbar elements on top of one another, making it pretty much impossible to click on the new entry button. If the cursor moved more fluidly it might work better.

There are a lot of fun apps out there for blackberries. I’m having fun with google mobile and google maps. Google maps actually triangulates your position using cell towers, and is accurate within 900 meters. Not too shabby for something that isn’t GPS. I have also amused myself by getting directions for walking to various places, like to work or las vegas.

Time’s almost up.

whoo almost ten days.

today was kind of an off day, mostly because i got almost no sleep last night and subsequently let my imagination run wild after i fell short of an assigned task today.  no big deal, i got it done after some help, but in my exhausted state it was enough of a “blow” to rock me a bit.  after talking it over with my aunt and letting my imagination run wild like i said, i don’t feel any worse.  i’m going to hit the sack in a few minutes, which will go a long way towards bringing me back to normality.

in a bit of sad news, my blackberry broke last week.  on the plus side, t-mobile is sending a replacement since it’s still under warranty.  i lose my contacts, but i still have most of them on my sim card so no big loss.

started watching Toaru Majutsu no Index.  it is the master of cliffhangers.  it is also mighty awesome.  more this weekend.

Once again, lunch break. Once again, lots of time left over.

The first half of the day has just flown by. I can’t believe it’s almost 2:00 already. In a couple hours I’ll be getting ready to head home. Crazy.

Except now I have some sinus irritation, which really sucks. Back of my throat and my left nostril are burning. Probably dried out.

Still have like 20 minutes before I have to start heading back. Guess I’ll browse the web.

in the few minutes i have before i have to go to work, i think i’ll write a quickie anime post.  i’ve picked up a handful of new series in the past week or so.

Toradora! – i wasn’t too sure about this one.  the manga is pretty awesome, i’ve heard really good things about the light novels, but i had two qualms about the anime adaptation.  the first is kugimiya rie as taiga.  don’t get me wrong, she has a great voice, but i was sure she would be forced into using her louise voice for taiga and to be honest i’m getting sick of that typecasting.  japan is in love with tsunderes and always will be, so that typecasting will probably never go away.  but for taiga, she is using a much deeper version of louise and only gets up into louise range when she’s yelling.  i have to say i was pleasantly surprised to hear that voice.  my other qualm was with taiga’s character design.  i was on the fence until i started watching it, and now it doesn’t bug me quite so much.  i’m enjoying it fairly well, though i do wish they’d slow down a bit.  the second episode blew nearly to the end of the published manga chapters.  i know they have a lot of material from the light novels to draw from, but if the pacing is off it won’t matter.

Kemeko DX! – i had no idea what this one was about.  i heard /a/ praising it, and just dived in.  it’s another one of those frantic action comedies that i love so much, so i’m really looking forward to new episodes.  also it’s good to hear kawasumi ayako’s voice again.  the doll-robot thing is kind of creepy though.

Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka – from the length and translation of the title, i figured this came from an eroge.  i wasn’t sure i needed another eroge adaptation at this point, but when i learned about the all-star cast that had been lined up for it, i figured i’d give it a shot.  it’s playing on some big stereotypes, like the isolated rich girl and the loving, doting younger sister who might not be related to the main male lead.  and i know she’s trying as hard as she can not to, but every once in a while hirano aya lets a little konata slip out.  i’ll see where it goes for now, the plot is advancing along at a rather even clip so there will definitely have to be some drama later.

Clannad After Story – same ol’ clannad.  not much to say here.

Black Lagoon – with every episode of this i watch, i have to hold back the urge to slap myself silly for not watching this sooner.  it is intensely badass.  i wasn’t sure what the plot was about, and the images i’d seen posted on /a/ shed little light on it.  but about ten minutes into the first episode i was hooked, and i stayed up an hour too late watching episodes.  i’m up to episode 5 at this point, and i really want the day to end so i can watch more.

Sunabozu and Toaru Majutsu no Index – haven’t started either of these yet.  i’ve heard some excellent things about Sunabozu, so i figure it’ll be another slap-self-silly restraint session.  Toaru Majutsu i’m pretty much in the dark about.  i’ve read some plot summaries, and it seems interesting enough.  i’ve gone down that road before, though, and a series can go either way for a person when you know next to nothing about it.  i’ve found some real gems for myself that way, and i’ve found some amazingly awful series.  we’ll see.

alright off to work i go.

A cafe near work has public wi-fi, and I have about ten minutes before imy lunch break is over. So, here I am.

What to talk about…well, I had to “freeze” my kumatan last night. I hadn’t played in almost two days, and I won’t have a lot of free time until the weekends. That is too long to keep her waiting. So I pulled the save data and zipped it up. I’ll hold onto it for a while. It’s silly, but it’s kind of sad. Although, I’m sure in a few weeks I’ll be on to something else.

It started to feel like work. Before I was employed, I could devote a ton of time to it. Now I only have fits and starts anymore, and being “obligated” to turn it on every day to feed her and pet her doesn’t fit in with my schedule. It was fun while it lasted.

Well, this entry was a lot longer than I thought it would be and my thumbs are getting tired. Later.

hooray for almost a week without a post.

my first three days went very well.  day 1 was a little harsh, mostly because i got next to no sleep the night before and spent the entire day listening to lectures and reading training manuals.  thursday was a lot better, as i not only read manuals but i also observed several people doing actual work.  friday went great, i’ve started my actual training with practice data that i can completely decimate and make all kinds of wacky mistakes with.  so far i’ve made a few beginner mistakes, which is how we all learn.  so things are going well.  i’m looking forward to how things will go today.

in gaming news, i’m making progress in kumatanchi, but it’s starting to feel more and more like work rather than gaming, so i’m not sure how much longer i’ll be able to keep playing it.  the thing is, though, if i stop then i’ll have to delete my save data so i don’t feel awful about not feeding kumatan for months.  but that will also mean, if i stop i stop forever.  i have an idea for how to get around that, but it’ll still tug at the heartstrings.

i’ve also gotten back into WoW.  i cancelled my account a while back, having lost interest after being faced with a 3 level flat grind to finish some quests.  i was also concerned about money, since it was nearing the end of the semester and i wasn’t going to get financial aid anymore.  but now that i’m working, i can afford the cost of WoW.  as well, i read on wowwiki that a new patch had introduced mounts at level 30.  i stopped my game at level 27, so i had to get back in.  i managed to grind up to 30 in about two days, got my mount, and now i’m back on track.  i’ve got a couple of quests in my queue, so i’m looking forward to having some spare time to work on them.

gotta leave soon.