LadyCrimson

"dead" & "pledge" - I can see that. "By signing this paper, you pledge to be in debt until you're dead!" hah. Side note: I really hate it when people are looking over your shoulder as you type. I try very hard to look away/not read when other people are doing it, but some folk (my hubby, ahem) just stare and stare until you're done and you can look at them and say "yes, need something?" One of those things that shouldn't bug me but does anyway.

Jolene, Dolly Parton. Not a country fan, but there's some songs that are still classic.

Our house payment is almost 3 times what the rent was on the somewhat bigger single-family we were in. But that isn't average - we had a superb deal on the rental due to a "leave me seriously alone and it stays cheap" retired rich dude kind of owner. 3000+ sf house ... hahaha, in RWC/penninsula that'd likely be well over a million, even now. Not for us, sadly. Not that we'd need that much. A couple thousand would be nice tho. Because it is? It is a funny spelling tho, isn't it ... most of us here pronounce it close to "more-gauge." Dictionary com says it has some French roots. Maybe that's why?

Same here. I know there have been games where while playing I'd think "what a terrible/annoying gameplay flaw/bug/design" or whatever, but I can't think of them off-hand. There's a lot of little gameplay annoyances that aren't actual bugs. One of my biggest beefs is when games have terrible menu interfaces - not the layout of the actual menus, but, for example, the way you enter/exit them and how it affects the game. Or when they don't include an "are you sure" type of check for things you might too-easily accidentally click on (like "quit"). Ultima9 is still the one that sticks in my mind for actual bugs. You don't even need a list, just toss a stone and you'll hit one.

The taxes were always a pain but now it + the state business/program slowdown is beginning to crimp us. Our old rent was very cheap so it was easy to save lots beyond what's needed for taxes - our mortgage on this tiny house is not cheap, meaning a lot less to work with. Fark over-priced real estate and the unrealistically-low-for-this-area "this is a jumbo loan" number. We have a fixed rate of around 6% and at the time were lucky to get it. We think we'll qualify for a refinance under some of the new stuff going on, which could give us something closer to 4.5% and would save quite a bit and give more breathing room. Looking into that. We're still pleased to have bought, tho.

Over-rated I'd have to agree. It's not that it's bad, tho...it's just not as advant garde as the reviews made it sound, or something.

Still Mount & Blade, when I have a moment. My character is developing a "crush" on King Harlaus. Must be all the "You're awesome" compliments he gives out. This game needs an option to become the Queen. Hahaha

Did you try to drop the refresh rate any lower, like 60?

I'll change up one day soon. I figure this thing will break or do the tube-fade thing too badly and so I keep looking for an LCD that'll do. Not many CRT's for sale anymore.

I'm still sitting around the house in my bathrobe, filled with a lack of desire to run a bunch of errands I have to run. Grumbling about how owning a house didn't help with our taxes at all. That's what happens when you don't have any kids or other major deductions and have to file self-employment. Looking at the back of my morning drink of diet soda - mmm, brominated vegetable oil, yellow dye #5, caffeine (the important part), and lots of other I'm-sure-are-bad-for-me chemicals. Yummy!

Tried to watch Memento. Had great reviews and stuff, and I like Guy Pearce. It's interesting, that's for sure. But the strange backward-working flashback scene connectors were too distracting and it was a bit slow. I turned it off after an hour...maybe I'll try finishing it later.

Ghost Riders in the Sky - Johnny Cash, aka the master

Most of the ones on their current list that I'd be interested in I already own. Anyone play the Prince of Persia-Sands of Time? Any good? Never tried the first Gothic either.

I just have a short attention span for weekly TV. And commercials. I wouldn't have even gotten into CSI:Vegas if they hadn't released the first 4 seasons on DVD for me to see all at once. :D

Is there a way to make the eaves of your house unattractive to yellow jackets and paper wasps? I've tried the little plastic container thingies with yellow jacket attractants, and it kinda worked, but paper wasps don't care about those. They show up in the Spring and hover over the lawn and around the eaves in front of the sliding glass door and build little nests. You can spray the nests later and then they're gone, but until then it's a worry that one will fly into the house whenever you open the door. Never had to deal with them before like this. Urgh.

lol, same here. We had 4 of these things he got from his old office...one did finally break, but I'm using a 2nd and hubby uses the other two, both on one desk. They're 19" Viewsonic Optiquest V95's. At the time, they weren't the best (we never have "the best", hah), but very good for their price. Ancient now, but not worth replacing till they break. I have a huge office desk, and hubby has an old-style all-steel desk that weighs a ton, so desk-weight's not an issue. They were a pain to move from house to house tho.

I didn't watch it because I was assuming that'd be the case. I guess my attention span for the show has evaporated. Maybe I'll buy the DVD set to catch up later.

Let's assume one has a garage or spare room to use/fill up with some basic weights equipment ... you can always jog in a park ... would you guys still go to a gym? And I don't see what the big deal is about bringing your own towel...it's either that or they can charge you even more for providing/washing constant racks of clean towels. I played a lot of Mount and Blade over the weekend ... now back to reality.

I'm certainly no professional. I don't know what it is about my eyes. Things like games I don't care much about, as long as it looks reasonably good. But when I start fiddling with photos - which I consider to be different color issues-wise from 'graphics', actually - I can become extremely aggravated/picky and it's like I can see every color/tone pixel imperfection. Nothing is ever going to be 'perfect' of course, but some monitors/TV's are definitely a lot better than others with color reproduction (for my own eyes) and I can see the differences in a big way. I've encountered others who are like me, here and there, and we're endlessly frustrated, lol. LCD's have become good with contrast and such, making colors look vibrant and appealing. I'm sure that it is a very good monitor for the price etc. Like I said, I just have to get past my own super-pickiness.

Milk - Sean Penn had a great performance. Overall it was ok, but marred by a slow/oddly structured beginning. Still, I think it did a reasonable job paying homage to a man who is considered a huge political icon around here. Not that I was old enough to emotionally understand it when he and Moscone were killed in SF (I was 10ish), but I remember the impact to the news and family. Not to mention the Twinkie defense.

I pledged loyalty to the Kingdom of Swadia, because through some accidental meetings, I had become fast friends with their King. Some of his other vassals are a bit jealous of my friendship, but some others have also come to realize my greatness and love me, as well. We've been at war with the Kingdom of Vaegirs for a long time, and they're pretty unhappy with me. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact I've been holding their King prisoner in one of my castles for months, despite their repeated efforts to get him back via ransom offers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ One day while patrolling around I came across my good buddy Lord Meltor, who was being unfairly picked upon by some Vaegirs armies that wanted their castle back. A castle granted to Meltor after Swadia wrestled it away from Vaegir. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ So I rushed in to aid him. 150 vs. 500. Odds? Who cares about odds when it comes to friendship? I have to save Lord Meltor! I lost some hardened soldiers who'd been with me a long time, which made me sad, and had many wounded, but I was successful. Meltor was fortunate that unlike most of the Lords of Swadia, who place a lot of faith in unmounted crossbowmen, I put MY faith in nothing but Swadian Knights. They serve me well...as long as I pay them, of course. But they sure do eat a lot of food, which is hard on the coinpurse. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vaegirs have been a constant irritant to my plans, making me rush around to help/defend my well-meaning but absent-minded buddies, when I'd rather be tending to the prosperity of my own towns. So I'm currently sitting my castle, making plans to completely crush Vaegirs. I think the city of Reyvadin would make a fine addition to my estates... Perhaps I'll leave them Rivacheg, where all the Lords who manage to escape the confines of my prisons can huddle in fear of me while hoping for vengeance that will never come. I'm evil like that. (Vaegirs property is in green. The first shows what properties they had when I first began my travels. The second pic shows what they have remaining.)

My cat pooped on the hall rug this morning, apparently mistaking it for his litter box 4 feet away, making me think about how all my other cats passed away before having any such issues. You want to take care of your ancient pet as long as you can, but this sort of thing is becoming a bit too regular as his hind legs get weaker and (I guess) standing in shifting litter makes him lose his balance. Yes, more cat-poop stories. My life is apparently full of them lately.

Mmm...cheese and crackers, now I'm hungry.

For some reason, I like the white-haired gal w/the glasses. And the doggy, of course. Some of those designs vaguely remind me of Riven.

I started to get excited about this monitor, but the review said not great for "graphic professionals" etc. That made me sad. It sounds pretty cool for most things - my hubby would probably love all those connections and stuff - so it's one I'll keep on my list. I saw one of those 24"/2ms Sceptres in a store a month ago or so, which had a FPS game playing on it. It looked seriously awesome. I almost bought it, but then went home and the tech reviews were mixed enough to make me frown. I'm really tired of the 60-80lb behemoth on my desk, tho. I have to learn to overlook my minute pickiness I guess. I haven't yet, but I'm going to, damnit. *bangs head*