./janella.com

farrah and i went to the pound this afternoon. still no sign of tigger. it’s been almost a week (on monday). i’m starting to get really worried. usually he finds a way to wander back. maybe my mom is right that some kids grabbed him.

went to the local SPCA to see if someone may have found tigger. it was my first time there. i never knew the SPCA had so many animals there. it was both enjoyable and sad to see all those friendly faces, both dog and cat.

i had to fill out a ‘lost/missing’ card for tigger. i then took a tour of three rooms of caged cats to see if tigger was one of them. so many friendly faces. after not finding him there, i had to look in three books:

• a book of found cats that people didn't want to turn in until the owner was found
• a book of newspaper listings in the sj merc
• a bokd of dead cats found on the street

it’s a long process, but i’m sure worth it when we find tigger.

the lion king was a great show to see (only dampered by tigger going missing yesterday). the costumes, the singing, and the settings were incredible. try to see it in san francisco if you get a chance.

my mom was doing yard work and left the gate open. tigger must have wandered off. funny thing is he usually comes back, but he hasn’t yet tonight. hopefully he will be back soon.

rating: ** out of five

quick shot: decent run at the vampire mythos. werewolves versus vampire war is somewhat effective, though the story gets bogged down on who did what to whom too much. dave commented that the sequel would probably be better than the original (which i kind of agree with). kate beckinsale makes a kick-ass vampire though.

what i liked about the movie: the movie looked very slick, matrix-like. the fight scenes were interesting enough.

what i didn’t like: that this is clearly setup for a second movie - which may never come. (but i could be wrong)

rating: ***1/2 out of five

quick shot: good small movie. somewhat predictable half way through, but overall an enjoyable film.

what i liked about the movie: fresh faces and good acting. the characters were some people i recognized and could relate to on some level.

what i didn’t like: some of the direction in the latter half of the film was hokey. for most of the film i didn’t know where it was going, but in the last third it seemed to be predictable.

well, the box has been built and ran through the burn-in test without error. so now i’m running a sweet p4 3.0gHz machine. i can only see the difference in running some applications, such as image editing, word, and other applications i run at the same time.

the reason i wanted to build a new box was not just to have a new computer but to get ready to scan a ton of images this year. hopefully i’ll be able to scan some old negatives and some older pictures. the extra power will come in handy when processing this information.

another saturday at work. not too many things to do in the queue, but getting stuff done. there are some good football games on this weekend. tomorrow the bay area teams go at it, each in their own division. should be a time to sit by the boob tube as the weather isn’t supposed to be too great.

well, i’ve just slapped all the pieces together. i was a little worried about putting in the cpu as it can be delicate. you have to put this huge fan on top called a heatsink. you need to ‘snap-it’ on top of the processor. let’s hope that went in right.

’m not going to turn it on until tomorrow. there is supposed to be this 72-hour burn-in period where you run the processor for all it’s worth during that timeframe. i guess any problems, such as faulty processor or heat and cooling problems, will show up during that timeframe.

wish me luck.

i decided late last year that i was going to get a new computer system this year. my current system is a p3 733 mHz running winxp and win2k (swap drives). i bought it about 2 1/2 to 3 years ago from micronpc. when i bought it i decided not to get ‘top of the line’, which i think was the 900mHz, because i heard the difference wasn’t too much.

since then the 1gHz came out. then the 2gHz. now the 3gHz! in between that time i built my first computer, which was a present for lotte. that system is an amd system, which i think runs at 1gHz. it’s a sweet machine and my first effort at building a system.

well, early this year i got a new work system. i had been running a clunky 400mHz system, while everyone around me was in the 1gHz to 2gHz range. i then got a replacement system: a 2.4gHz system. well, i then saw how much has improved. so it was time to upgrade the home system. now to buy or build?

buying would be easier, but building would be more satisfying - and frustrating. so of course i chose the latter. i set out to do the research, asking knowledgeable friends what they would consider, and then bought the parts that fit my needs. i wanted to be able to surf the web, get email, and the edit photos and video. so i went with the following:

• p4 3.0gHz 800mHz fsb
• asus p4c800 deluxe motherboard
• 512mb ram - setlled for pc2700 for now
• 150gb maxtor sata hard drive
• ati 9600 xt video card
• nd a antec sonata case

you figure i would save some money building a system, but in actuality it?s the slightly more when factoring the cost of software. the difference is you get to choose from a wide variety of parts and build the puppy.

well, i have all those parts. now just need to put it all together.

here are my quick new year’s resolutions:

• watch more movies
• read more books
• donate blood - or some deed like that

no health resolutions for now. too many people in the gym! i’ll wait until end of february or march in order to start that resolution ;)

happy new year to everyone!!!

hope you have a great 2004!!!