Chuck’s Home World

We’re in the middle of another snow storm, but this one is worse because of the winds. The expected snowfall is less than what we had over the weekend, however due to the winds the state has closed down.

Well, it snowed yesterday. It looks to be about 3 or 4 inches so it’s not too bad. Thankfully it’s happened on the weekend as well, and I’ve been sick so I had no reason to go out.

Anyway, today I’m actually feeling pretty good. I hope to get a few miles in, but we’ll have to wait and see how things go. I sure do need to start burning more calories, so I can continue to drop the weight. I have a follow-up on Feb. 23 and want to be lower than last one by at least 5 pounds.

I decided to see if I could speed up the Netbook. I’ve ordered, for Monday delivery, a new hard drive. I’m going to try out a solid state drive (SSD). I went with a drive that was not quite as large as the one I have, but I could have gone with one that was half the price (and half the size), but decided to go with the extra storage.  The SSD should give me a bit more battery life (but its lasting all day when I put it to sleep when not needed), but it couldn’t hurt to get more out of it.

Windows 7 Pro does boot pretty fast on the machine, but there are a few applications that I’d like to make run a bit faster and these are disk related applications (a couple of database and Lotus Notes based).

I should run some benchmarks before and after.  I’ll have to find some good free software to help me with that. I’m sure one or more of the computer mags I get will have one or two that I can use.

I guess I’ll end this post and talk about the Apple iPad that was just announced this past week. My overall feeling is “ho hum”, but if I got one for free then perhaps I’d be more excited. I mean, the iPod Touch was one of those things that I felt I didn’t need, but now that I have one (free from 2008 Christmas party) I really like it.  I think the only thing I really like about it is the ability to have something quick and fast to browse the web while watch TV. The netbook is OK for that, but the screen resolution on the netbook leaves a lot to be desired.

A bit of snow fell overnight, the cars were dusted. They’re saying the highs should be floating right around 32 degrees (F), so the 1 – 3 inches that may fall today shouldn’t cause any road problems. The next few days will be in the low 40s and sunny so what comes today should be gone tomorrow.

I don’t mind this little bit of snow because it won’t cause interruptions in the area, or at least it shouldn’t. Airports shouldn’t be delayed, people should be able to drive normally and unlike many other ares of the country, schools won’t be closed.

Update @ 9:30 AM: On the way to work, the radio was saying the public schools in the local counties were closed after all.

Last night I took advantage of the cold and set some water out to be frozen over night. Even sitting in 27 degree temperatures, the water only partially froze. Its enough to help the fridge keep things a bit cooler. I should have bought another bag last night. Someone should be here tomorrow to take a look and hopefully fix it.

Last week was pretty good overall. I was tired most days when I got home, but was not exhausted. This week will be better I’m sure. I was able to rest up over the weekend, keeping most activities light.

I picked up a new universal remote last week. I always had to keep a few remotes handy for those one or two buttons that weren’t available and couldn’t be programmed onto the cheap universal remote that I was using. Logitech has a large range of remotes, from $30 to over $250 and I didn’t want to spend the money to get a top of the line. I found one at BJ’s Warehouse Club that seemed like it would fit my need. The great thing about the remotes is that you program it by plugging it into your computer and using the software provided you setup your equipment. Then you set up “activities” such as “Watching TV” or “Listening to Music.” Its pretty cool, but a bit slow because it turns things off that I normally just leave on all the time. For example the TiVos, I leave on because you really don’t turn them off. Overall I’m happy with it, but I do need to continue tweaking it to make it work better. I was watching a DVD last night and the pause button didn’t pause.

I took my old receiver (home theater style) and hooked it up in the bedroom. The sound level from my computer wasn’t working and many things couldn’t get loud enough for me. Something happened last year that caused the sound levels to just be too low and even thought the speakers are powered, turned all the way up only cause more distortion, not louder. There is nothing wrong with the speakers because they worked fine when hooked up to my laptop. Anyway, I was able to hook the receiver up using the digital out and things are great again. In fact I have to adjust it some because I may disturb my neighbors if I’m not careful.

It snowed yesterday. It was a wet snow that would have made good snowballs. There was about 6 inches or more on my car, but I was able to brush it right off. The cars are covered with ice today, but its around 32 anyway so it should clear off pretty easily.