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Sep. 17th, 2004 02:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cleolindaUrg. So. Once I confirmed that Birmingham was basically out of the woods, hurricanitively speaking, I decided that it was time to hook up Betsy 2.0. This was a bad idea.
The problem was that Betsy Classic took all of five minutes to set up. Original Recipe Betsy was also my first computer, so I didn't have any files to transfer. Not that file-transferring enters into last night's antics, because I didn't even get that far. Quite honestly, I spent about two hours heaving a megaton monitor around the room, struggling to attach the sound bar to the flat screen, wrestling with two hard drives on a smallish desk, crawling under that desk to plug and unplug various Cords of Death, and finally pulling my shoulder after I couldn't sufficiently pretzel myself under a table to plug in the new surge protector. The neighborhood was treated to a fine selection of expletive phrases, including but not limited to "GODDAMMIT THAT WAS MY NECK," "OW MY FUCKING KNEE," "WHY IS THE FUCKING DESK SO SHARP GODDAMMIT," "FUCKING SHIT I HATE YOU," and "FUCK MOTHERFUCKER," which I think I must have seen once upon a time in one of those Dick and Jane books ("See Dick hit his head! Fuck, motherfucker! Run, Spot, run!").
And then the monitor wouldn't work. Well, it would turn on, and then immediately go black and/or into "sleep" mode. I couldn't tell if it was the monitor or the hard drive that was causing the problem, so, bruised and bleeding some time after midnight, I decided it was time for a break. It was time to play with Fugagorn, the Fug of Men.
Really, he's sort of grown on me, although one of my major complaints about the Toy Biz figures is that you cannot take their clothes off at all, and if you do manage, you will never get them back on again. Before you go to a bad place, pervs, you have to understand that these dolls come with layers of clothing--like that dark greenish coat Aragorn only wears in the first movie. What if you want to take that off? Well, you're never getting it back on again, that's what. In fact, I remember Liv Tyler saying on Letterman a couple of years back that she was given a prototype of the Arwen doll I have, the one in the purple dress and lavender robe, and she immediately started taking the doll's clothes off (see?), and couldn't get the dress back on because the sleeves were so tight (exactly!), and had to ship the prototype back for approval... naked. ("Uh... sorry about that.") Besides, I like to see how the doll clothes are made. Sadly, Fugagorn's shirt is grey, not (NERD ALERT! NERD ALERT!) red or blue like in the movies, and it is attached to the leggings as some sort of ungodly unitard thing. His accessories include a roll of leathery material strapped to his back, for those occasions when only a roll of leathery material will do, and a small wad of felt tied to his belt, because clearly felt is a precious commodity out in the wild, and who knows when he'll get more? Also, he has a SWORD. This is possibly the most awesome accessory ever (Eowyn keeps asking to borrow it). It even fits in the plastic sheath on his belt, which is SO AWESOME. The problem is that his right hand is clearly shaped to hold the sword, but is clenched too tightly to actually get the sword in it, but I made do with one of the 5000 twisty-wires from the box. Also, the sword arrived somewhat bent, which is bullshit, but the whole thing was only $13 anyway, so what're you gonna do about it.
(I should add here that the Toy Biz boxes always have a picture of the corresponding actor, and it's always a really weird picture. Like, on the Eowyn box, Miranda Otto is looking at you like you just killed and ate her dog. On the Fugagorn box, Viggo Mortensen has this half-exasperated expression like, "Please refrain from molesting this plastic likeness if at all possible. God, I can't believe I approved this.")
The dolls already in possession of the desk shelf had varying reactions. Arwen is pissed because she realized that not only is Fugagorn nearly a head taller than she is, so is Eowyn, which is, and I quote, "so not on." (She had never noticed this before because I keep her a good foot away from the Eowyn doll, with Galadriel as a buffer, because they've already broken one jar of pens.) Galadriel asked if Fugagorn had come across a Celeborn doll, and upon hearing that he had not, muttered, "Aw, nuts." Eowyn started asking if he had any knives or daggers, and Arwen demanded that "that whore" be moved to the shelf with the Gene dolls, to which Eowyn shouted that she could shove them up her Elf Ass sideways, and Arwen tried to backhand her and caught Galadriel in the face instead, and I called a time-out on everyone involved. And then Fugagorn started asking if I had a Legolas doll (which I don't, but I'm thinking they definitely need to come out with a Faramir doll before another catfight breaks out), and that's when I decided it was time to go to bed.
5:00 am: Breakfast (tiny powdered donuts).
5:05: Sleeeeeep.
8:00: Back to the computer. I hooked the old monitor back up to the computer and discovered that the computer was fine. In the course of loading software, including the monitor software, I discovered the problem was that the flat screen has, in addition to two of those screwy-in cords, two USB cords that I hadn't hooked up. However, I was too tired from hauling the Giant Death Monitor around to do anything about it, and hooked it back up to Original Bubblegum Flavor Betsy so I could check my email and work on my paper and move on with life. Apparently running the IntelliMover software is going to require two monitors, two keyboards, two mouses (mice?), possibly two internet connections, and a big ol' chunk of time that I just don't have right now. So whatever.
8:30: No, thanks, we've got someone coming to chop up the Nobly Fallen Tree.
8:55: No, like I told that last guy, we've got the tree covered.
9:27: Sir, I assure you, the tree is under control.
9:42: YES, I HAVE A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST. PLEASE LEAVE OR I WILL SIC THE TREE ON YOU.
11:00: Second breakfast (Eggo waffles. No Luis Guzmán sightings).
11:30: My mother decided that all the toilets needed rootering (look, I don't know) and called the family plumber, who ended up walking in on Sister Girl in the bathroom because he thought I was the only one home and clearly I was standing at the bottom of the stairs, so surely no one would be in the bathroom when he opened the door. I don't know what she was doing at the time, but apparently it was something naked, and she blames me personally for not telling her anyone was in the house, whereas I didn't even know she was awake. I have a feeling that I will be hearing about this for some time.
1:00 pm: Hell ramen prices on Kingdom of Loathing are ridiculous now.
1:40: Still noodling around on the Six Orphans Who Used to Be Seven story; I think I'm setting it in about 1920, after WWI and the influenza epidemic, so if anyone has any suggestions for further reading, fictional or non, have at it in the comments. Which reminds me--my library books are due in a couple of weeks, and I haven't even read Alias Grace yet.
1:59. Rrrrrr... I really kinda wanna start moving things over to the new computer, but... I don't know where the DSL modem software is, and... and... I'm tired of hooking things up and... fnarrrr.
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Date: 2004-09-17 12:09 pm (UTC)PS - lucky to have power, I still don't.
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Date: 2004-09-17 12:11 pm (UTC)8:55: No, like I told that last guy, we've got the tree covered.
9:27: Sir, I assure you, the tree is under control.
9:42: YES, I HAVE A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST. PLEASE LEAVE OR I WILL SIC THE TREE ON YOU.
*falls over laughing* TREE!! *snort*
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Date: 2004-09-17 12:12 pm (UTC)i think i pulled a muscle, i was laughing so hard over that one. you are a bloody genius.
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Date: 2004-09-17 12:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-17 12:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-18 08:57 pm (UTC)Personally, I've stopped eating Hell Ramen's and switched to Knob Sausage Chow Mein, because three of those fills me up for the day evenly (by the gods, I always hated eating two Hell Ramens, and then trying to figure out what else to eat...). But then, the Knob Sausage Chow Mein only adds to your magic stat, so it might not be so good for classes other than pastamancers (me - Quilpuuxla in game) and saucerors (or however that's spelled). What's really nice about that chow mein is that all the ingredients can be got in the Cob's Knob Kitchen. :)
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2004-09-17 12:13 pm (UTC)As to reading suggestions, I'd recommend two fairly rare works of humor: Bored of the Rings by Harvard Lampoon (only known written parody of LOTR) and Rude Tales and Glorious (bawdy retelling of the Arthurian legends) by Nicholas Seare.
I have a chapter of Rude Tales on my bboard ('cause it's rare as hen's teeth) as a sample, but it's sometimes available used from Amazon (I think..must check).
Yarha, Any Body's Bawdy?
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Date: 2004-09-17 12:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2004-09-17 12:21 pm (UTC)Crap! I haven't played all week, and last week they were at rock-bottom because of the bugmeat economy crash. Naturally, I put all of mine in my mall store last week at bargain-basement prices to fund my trips to the Donkey Ranch. Boo.
Uh...
Anyhow, good luck with the further adventures of Betsy 2.0.
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Date: 2004-09-17 12:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-17 12:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-17 12:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-17 12:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-17 12:45 pm (UTC)"I shall not let the White City fall, nor our people fail! Oh wait, wedgie!"
Reading material... this is not really anything like what you asked for, but A Tale of Time City by Diana Wynne Jones (the author of Howl's Moving Castle) is really fun and one of the main characters is a young girl evacuating London during the Blitz.
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Date: 2004-09-17 12:46 pm (UTC)The doll conversation just put a smile on my face, something not seen all day. Thanks :)
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Date: 2004-09-17 12:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-18 08:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-17 12:56 pm (UTC)Wait. That sounds bad. Never mind.
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Date: 2004-09-17 01:15 pm (UTC)You make me laugh too hard, it hurts. *sniffle*
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Date: 2004-09-17 01:36 pm (UTC)It seems we have the exact same problem.
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2004-09-17 01:44 pm (UTC)Action figures no longer mint in box? Good for you! I am a firm believer in playing with the toys. We have a complete set of the Monty Python and the Holy Grail 12" figures that we create various diaromas with.
!!!!!!!
Date: 2004-09-17 01:51 pm (UTC)I didn't know such a thing existed.
Re: !!!!!!!
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From:Book suggestion
Date: 2004-09-17 01:48 pm (UTC)I'm glad the brunt of the hurricane missed you.
I have to go die from laughter now thanks to you.
*dies*
Re: Book suggestion
Date: 2004-09-17 01:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-17 02:36 pm (UTC)I never do it - for once, there's the part which you have just experienced, about cables being bloody hard to reach. Also, computers that sit on the floor tend to gather a lot more dust, and I'm assinine about keeping insides clean - a lot of apparent "hardware failure" problems are caused by buildup of dust and resulting short cirquits.
All my systems (3 of them) sit proudly on the desk :) But then again, I'm a complete and total computer nerd - to the point where I get paid for it.
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Date: 2004-09-17 02:40 pm (UTC)(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2004-09-17 02:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-17 02:44 pm (UTC)Story: My sister insists that she will never go shopping with me again. Why? Because the last time we went, I stopped in one of those Medieval-type shops in the mall, and the man came over and said, "Can I help you?" and I said, "Yes, do you have any knives or daggers?" Really.
(Hey, I'm a fencer - I can't help it if I like daggers and stuff.)
"Hell ramen prices on Kingdom of Loathing are ridiculous now."
- You think that's bad? Try buying a ten-leaf clover or a big rock...
For some reason, the clover doesn't show up at the hermitage when I go, and I REALLY need one so I can get a big rock - so I'm reduced to trying to get about 3 billion meat (meats?) and buying from someone else!
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Date: 2004-09-17 02:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2004-09-17 03:11 pm (UTC)You are not the only one with the problem with the toys. However in my case I took my sisters advice and did NOT remove the clothing.
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Date: 2004-09-17 03:50 pm (UTC)I was inspired by your Heroine Addict collection and made some of my own:
Iconage (http://www.emrocks.com/icon2.html)
:)
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Date: 2004-09-17 04:45 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2004-09-17 04:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-17 05:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-17 05:41 pm (UTC)