Spending way too long checking my tongue in the mirror

Well, this is the end of Winter Vacation I guess. I had Thursday and Friday plus the weekend off, and work resumes as usual tomorrow. I got some stuff done though - cleaned the room, started on a commissioned project, did all my laundry, played the ocarina, went skating...

...tried to change my driver's license over, but to no avail. I waded through -19c weather (that's -2.2F), took a bus, rode up to a shopping center/mini mall thingie, and walked around for another 10mins outside to find the place. No joke - I looked this registry business online and found it on at least four different listings sites. And no two street addresses were the same. They were all in the same approximate area, so I just packed up and left and hoped for the best. I found the place, but lo and behold because the NORTHWEST TERRITORIES of all places had their system down. In order to issue the new license there has to be a check against all the provincial databases to make sure I'm not a terrorist or imposer or anything. And because the one was down I couldn't go ahead and get it done. Bah. I actually don't mind them being careful and checking that kind of info, but it's rather annoying how that kind of a system could go down. Oh, and walking around outside when it's that cold? It freezes the wires on your earbuds. They were super stiff... More like 'earcicles' or something.

...played *way* too much GTAIV. Very good game. There are numerous problems with the release, but the content itself is great. I never thought I'd see this kind of story and character development in a Grand Theft Auto installation of all places. The city is massive and beautiful and... 'Alive'. It really feels like it has a pulse, and people are going about their lives. The cover system, although it can be very finicky, produces some really thrilled firefights. I haven't even unlocked all the islands yet, but there's so much content here. I will say one thing though - the socializing aspect of the game is truly annoying.

...bought new speakers. It was a bit of an impulse buy, I didn't really look into it that much. They are a set of Logitech G51's, and were marked down from $230 in the store to $115. It was a pretty good deal, methinks. I'd forgotten how nice it was to listen to music with a subwoofer. Oh man, it's so much better than those crappy box speakers I was using. On another note, though, you may notice that the controller station for the speakers has both headphone AND microphones jacks on it. This was a plus - I've been pretty unsatisfied with the performance of my onboard audio in regards to using the mic. The problem was that my headset cords are short, and the front audio ports on my case don't connect to the PCI sound card I have. Thus, I was able to reinstall the old soundcard, hook my speakers up to it and hook the headset up to the speakers. I'm surprised I didn't have any issues with drivers or anything. Nope, every thing sounds great and the mic is crystal clear. No complaints.

Well... You'll notice that the speaker set is technically "5.1 Surround Sound", and right now I'm only using two satellites and the subwoofer. While my system is technically capable, I have nowhere to put the rear channels. My bed is behind the desk, and there aren't any shelves, so... I guess I'll have to make do for now. Perhaps mount them on a wall later.

I'm kind of wondering if it was really worth it to spring on a new set of speakers. I mean, I really like this set and all, but was it necessary? Should I have just gone for a simpler, two-speaker setup instead? Sure, I can now use the soundcard and headset, but couldn't I have done the same thing with a set of $5 extension cables? This purchase may be a bit overkill and rash, but... I guess I got 'em now, so I might as well enjoy 'em.

...and the last thing I did with my long weekend was do the first four sketches of 2009. As promised, this new set can be found right here. I'll throw a link in the side navigation to the right just for kicks. Anyhoo, here's something that started off as an idle scribble, massaged into a pattern, then morphed into something with substance:



And with that, I'm off to bed. Work starts up again tomorrow. Sigh...
-Cril

Before the cool done run out I'll be giving it my bestest
And nothing's going to stop me but divine intervention
I reckon it's again my turn to win some or learn some

Jason Mraz - I'm Yours