Things are a success. With just a bit of prodding, I got my (well, the school’s) laptop hooked to my network. And now I can watch TV while I work on the computer! (Oh wait, I could do that before… But now, I can watch my big screen TV rather than an itty bitty picture on my monitor.)
Now to install Rhapsody on this puppy and hook it up to the FM thingy I got and see if I can project to a nearby radio. Fun with technology! 🙂
Thanks to yesterday’s shopping excursion with Evil Tech Women, I could now set up my own Wireless LAN. I worked some today but after lunch, I decided to set things up rather than go back. (Hooray for Spring Break!)
Isn’t it funny how a semi-trained network administrator can have troubles setting up her own network and yet her father and her friends have no trouble at all?
So, what happened? Well, the problem happened with instruction 1.B.iii. No WAN light lit up. Hmmm… Well, I went through steps 1.B.i and 1.B.ii again (as step 1.B.iii said to should things not work) but still no go. I went on ahead with steps 1.C, 1.D, and 2-5, but still no deal. My computer saw the new router, but the router and the modem didn’t like each other. Grrrrrr.
I called Road Runner and got a Time Warner desk jockey who was more interested in trying to sell me Digital Cable than in finding out the problem. He then connected me to a Road Runner national help desk dude who was a bit more helpful (or at least a bit more knowledgeable), and we decided to try a new Cat-5 cable.
So it’s off to my next door neighbor’s to steal borrow a spare Cat-5 cable. But, alas, it wasn’t the cable.
I took a bit of a break to clean out my car (it’s a gorgeous day and Leo’s got open windows to lay by) but when I was done, the modem and router still weren’t talking to each other. I decide to call D-Link. Before I even finished a round of Rummikub on the computer, I had a tech. I think he knew what my problem was before I even finished the description. Turns out my lovely modem doesn’t work on a 100Mbps network, just a 10Mbps one. *sigh* Within a minute of the phone call I could see Google and download my e-mail. YAY!
I haven’t tried the wireless bit yet – though that part of the router was on almost immediately. If all goes well, you’ll see another update today from the laptop. 🙂
Well, thanks to elsaf and judiang I spent over $250 at Best Buy today. First, I finally decided to buy a wireless network for myself. Elsa got us into wireless, having a 802.11b network first, then upgrading to 802.11g more recently. She helped Judi start her home wireless network, and the two of them are almost insufferably smug about them having wireless and me still being in the twentieth century (“Stone Age,” as Judi just called it as she watches me type this up). This lot costs about $140, but I’ll be getting $30 back in rebates, thankfully.
Of course, next, Judi worked me over until I spent $40 on Diablo II and the expansion pack (plus a strategy guide!) Gah! Evil Geek Women!
The other two items that I bought were trinalin and trinalin alone. I needed another surge protector since my UPS is currently unreliable. And I decided to finally try an FM adaptor thingy that converts music from MP3 and CD players into an FM signal which can be picked up on radios. I’m going to try it at home to see if I can pick up Rhapsody music in another room. It was $50.
So of the $250 that I spent, only $70 was my own inspiration, the rest was because of Evil Geek Women!
(Personally, I’m rather excited to try this all out – since it’s Spring Break this week, I figured I’d have a bit more time to devote to setting up a wireless network and playing around with Diablo II etc.)
In the Elsa Visit news, we had pancakes today for a late breakfast and we’ll have a late lunch at a nearby Thai restaurant. Mmmmmm! I’ll be getting Pad Thai, I just know it. Then, sad sad, we’ll have to go our separate ways. Elsa will drive Judi to the airport and I’ll drive home. It’s been a wonderful weekend and I’m so grateful to have two WONDERFUL (Evil Geek Women) friends!
We had fun at The Blue Nile. We loved the food – it was great. My favorite was the spicy lentils. The hottest was the spicy beans.
We got back home and watched the rest of The Tick. Then we watched Black Books. I converted judiang, but, alas, elsaf didn’t care much for the characters. Still, 50% success is better than none! 🙂
Now we’re watching season 1 of Coupling. And Elsa’s in the kitchen cleaning. And soon it’ll be bedtime – good, cuz I’m tired and my laptop needs recharging. 🙂
If you get a chance to see the stage version of The Lion King, I urge you to do it. The costuming was fabulous and the sets were amazing. They had a mix of puppetry and live action (often in the same costume) and, of course, the music is fabulous. And the best bit of all is that they replaced the “Hula” bit with something a little more “Charleston”-y. 😉 (I think judiang was a little disappointed there.)
I woke up late this morning – nearly 9am, though as we went to bed around 2am (time already adjusted), it wasn’t *late* late. We then left for the Chinese place in Windsor by 9:45. We had reservations for 10:45am. Going through the tunnel to Canada and then through customs was a breeze. And when we located the restaurant (Wah Court Inn, IIRC), it turns out that wasn’t the one we usually went to – but this one had parking, which was a plus. So we got there earlier than expected and were only the second customers there.
They had us pick a few Dim Sum items to order since they were going to wait a little for more customers to start bringing food around. It didn’t take long before the place began to fill and the Dim Sum items came around. And we ate and ate and ate – everything was wonderful and we all got our favorites. Heck, we love the sesame balls so much, we got a second order at the end of the brunch.
Since elsaf worked very hard yesterday to work her cullinary magic and Judi was still celebrating her birthday, I volunteered to pay for lunch. It was, as always, very reasonable ($47Can for all three of us). And after brunch, Elsa drove us back to the US of A. Of course, the line getting back into the US was much longer than the line going to Canada. It was, as always, Customs holding everything up. They even asked for all of our driver’s licenses. (Thankfully, the fellow didn’t ask us why we all had different state IDs.)
We were looking to have quite a bit of time between the restaurant and the musical, until we went through Customs, so by the time we got to the Masonic Temple Theatre, we were only 15 minutes earlier than our original intention. I paid Elsa the $45 that I owed her for tickets and bought a $10 program. And the thing that I fell in love with was a bean bag Simba – done in the costume style of the musical. So that was another $20. So, for $75, I got to see The Lion King. And it was worth it!
So what sort of themes did we learn in the musical? Well, that lions rule all the other critters, which they also eat, and that’s OK with the other critters since it’s all part of the Circle of Life. If the Circle of Life gets disrupted, however, by Hyenas and greedy Lions, the pride-land becomes a desert. But that’s OK if the right lion gets back in – things grow back again and everyone’s happy. 🙂
The show was done by 4pm, but we weren’t hungry yet. So we decided to come back to Elsa’s place. And the first thing that Judi and I did was check Kings of Chaos. And then it was time to check LJ. But now, it’s time to drag Judi’s lazy butt off to The Blue Nile for supper and more FUN! 🙂
I tell ya, elsaf is a marvel! She baked and cooked and cleaned and cooked and cleaned again until she dropped. And it was all worth it.
judiang arrived today, as I said, and then it was time for EATING! Elsa made us pizzas (I had pineapple and onion on mine) and for dessert we had the No Pudge Brownies I baked along side the homemade Bailey’s Irish Cream ice cream that Elsa made. Judi and I then kicked *butt* on Kings of Chaos. It was fun!
For supper, Elsa outdid herself. We started with shrimp cocktail and caesar salad (homemade dressing). The second course was beet soup (with a bit of apple) – my first sampling of beets and beet soup. ‘Twas good! For the main course, we had stuffed mushrooms, roasted leg of lamb, spaetzl (little dumplings), cooked spinach (again, a first for me), and rolls (not from scratch, actually). Finally, for dessert was pineapple cake with pineapple & cream cheese icing, and, of course, the Bailey’s ice cream.
After watching Thursday’s Wonderfalls we washed the dishes (birthday girl washed – she insisted! I dried, and Elsa put away). Now it’s relaxation time for us while we watch the complete series of The Tick on DVD. Which is good cuz I’m tired! (I suspect Judi will insist upon drinks later… the fiend!)
We had perfect timing at the airport, but still missed each other the first time around… elsaf and I pulled up to the Northwest terminal and I got out. Elsa’s phone rang before I’d completely left the car (but I didn’t hear it). I went in door One and then judiang came out door Two. So then I found the baggage carousel, but they were done with her flight. I turned around, looking for Judi when she called to me. She’d already put her bag in Elsa’s car and was looking for me.
So, that all done, we arrived back at Elsa’s and she’s now making us PIZZA!
Just about to head off to Detroit for a fun-filled weekend with the Girls (elsaf and judiang). We’ll be celebrating Judi’s birthday and watching the stage production of The Lion King and eating good food. Alas, The Second Coming DVD set didn’t arrive in time, so we won’t be previewing the New Doctor Who. But I can show those to them Memorial Day weekend instead. (I am bringing season 1 of Black Books with hopes to get 2 more converts!)
Since Elsa’s place is wired to the gills, I’ll probably be able to keep in touch from there. Of course, that’s if we (three very geeky women) have any time for geeking… 😉
See ya soon, Girls! (Today’s icon in honor of Judi’s Birthday Week.)
You know you’re addicted to LiveJournal when you suddenly think of an LJ icon you can design… while your students are coming into chemistry class. *sigh* Anyhoo, I managed to remember the design idea and just made the icon. I figure I can use this all year ’round, not just on April Fool’s Day.
I hope y’all didn’t get tricked too many times today. I was lucky to miss out on most of the pranks going on at school. There was practically an April Fool’s war going on in the HS office. I was most amused. Oh, and the teacher’s union gave everyone mini-Easter baskets full of good candy (damn them!) in honor of the upcoming holiday (which takes place during our spring break.)
Speaking of Spring Break – only one more day until Spring Break! And tomorrow should be easy enough. Chemistry has a test, physics has a worksheet. Then dad and I go to El Sombrero for the monthly county tech meeting. And then I get to drive to Detroit to meet up with elsaf and eventually with judiang. Should be a fabby weekend. (And something tells me that I’ll be able to stay in touch online while there…)
And I’ll once again say “Happy Birthday” to shebit and judiang – hope you’ve had a blast today!