I heard ‘Silent Night’ over the PA while shopping last night. Omigosh, it’s not even Thanksgiving yet. That got me in the mood and started my holiday shoppin early – waaaay too early. Anyway, Thanksgiving weekend comes, these are going back for an exchange when I see better deals. I shall wear ear plugs next time. Damn them, damn them all for conditioning me like that.

GAh, if that’s not bad, 6 corner lots in a 3 mile radius have xmas trees for sale. Of course, I had to get one. It won’t live long enough for xmas since it’s like 80F, so I know I’ll buy another one. I shall wear blinders next time. I know, it’s bad for driving. But damn them, damn them all. 

First time I got kicked out of class. Actually I was politely asked to leave, same thing.

Here’s the dealio: It’s actually like a Shakesperean tragedy/comedy only no one dies.
It wasn’t funny then, but I can laugh about it now.

I’ve been following up on my 3rd RMA (video card). It’s been delayed a week and their site
says they have not rec’d it yet. I rec’d a reply saying there is a problem with my RMA but not
me any details.

Fine, I wrote back telling them several options and am willing to wait. Maybe they don’t have
a replacement to send me yet. No prob, I’ll get a replacement myself and return it as soon
as I get theirs. Or if their offer of a free upgrade was rescinded, that’s fine too… actually no,
I’m disappointed but hey I want my rig up and running.

Monday came, checked my emails in the AM, no reply.
Monday afternoon I rec’d a text msg. saying it arrived…
package unsealed and a note saying my RMA was denied
bcos it was damaged.

Well, HELLO! That’s why it was returned in the 1st place.

Seriously?? SERIOUSLY!
Are you kidding me? SERIOUSLY!!
I kept muttering those words over and over again and got thrown out of class.
Not that it matters, I find it boring.

I was so pissed off. I had to put another nico patch.
I got one on each arm now. Still ticked off, I fired several letters of complaint
to a couple of PC publications for intervention, filled forms for Consumer Affairs
for mediation and one for small calims court. They were all signed, sealed and ready to go.

I then ordered a new mboard but not EVGA, hell, they don’t want me as a customer
anyway so why should I after all the recommendations and business I sent their way.
While I was at it, I ordered a new video card. Man, I was close to tears.

Cos now, I have to leave the company I love and say g’bye to
OC’ing, using aftermarket cooling without voiding the warranty.
No more lifetime warranty for my mboard and no Step-up for my VC.

So I appealed one last time to EVGA and told them what I was prepared to do.
I even made demands ( as politely as I can) that I will require an open apology letter
sent to me and posted in their forums… blah…blah… blah.

As soon as I sent it and checked my other email account, EVGA CS has a note
explaining of the mix up and wasn’t brought to their attention, and were sending me
a pre-paid shipping label so I can return it to them and get my replacment.
It was sent the same time as I recd my text msg.

HELLO?! Why wasn’t this mentioned earlier, like since Friday. All these could’ve been avoided.
I understand they wanted to call me… talk to me personally and explain things rather than the email since
it’s so impersonal. But I don’t work that way when I’m getting frustrated. I prefer emails so I don’t have to
viciously lash out at them. I want to maintain a great relationship with them. With an email, I can sit down and compose
myself.

Anyway it’s all taken care of. So for my friends and clan m8’s who where sympathetic to my cause and
were/will be boycotting EVGA, DON’T. To those who bought ASUS boards, RETURN them and get EVGA.
WHY? Cos I said so. Mkay?

It’s all good. Now I have to return all these stuff I just got as soon as I get my VC back from them.

Seems I picked the wrong time to quit smoking. Wait till the pressure of holiday preparations and shopping,
it will be worse.

Trojans have an actual shot in the BCS National Championships after ‘Upset Saturday’where teams with one loss started falling like leaves in a fall season.I’ve been hoping for this since Troy fell to Oregon State 2 weeks ago, or maybe it was my prayers.If I knew my prayers had that much affect, I should’ve prayed for the winning Lottery numbers instead.

Ever have that feeling that someone is snooping around, someone watching over your shoulder? Of course not. Those are the things we associate to paranoid people.

But check this out. i’ve had my UPS package intercepted at the point of delivery yesterday by unknown gov’t agency that refused to be named! Yup. I talked to 3 different supervisors and none of them could tell me which agency got nosey. I know it sounds so unbelievable but it’s true. I even got called short of a liar by one of the mods at eVGA forum

Now what would they want with a harmless graphics card? Sure I play games with it. FPS games like BF2 or COD and yes, occassionaly
I side with the non-American fighting forces. Surely they know the difference between games and the real deal. Then again we are dealing with
some beucratic and inept agency who couldn’t tell the difference. I still can’t fathom what would they do with it – interrogate it for hours hoping to get
the whereabouts of rogue graphic cards. They could’ve asked me and I would be happy to open it for them

Is it the number of PC’s I was upgrading for friends lately? Well, almost every other day a package arrives, sometimes 2 or three at a time.
Since when is a motherboard a threat to the national security?

Look, I’m 19… almost 20. I’m a college student. I stand 5′3 and weigh about 110lbs. What sort of threat do I pose to them?
Maybe it was the 20+ PC’s I’ve have helped build or upgrade for my friends in hte past 2.5 months. I’m not done yet either. I have more upgrades to do and won’t be finished till Feb./March of next year. They’re welcome to watch me build them if they want to. Maybe they can watch me play BF2. Who knows, they might learn a thing or two.

93 Days

… and counting. Not a worthy Core 2 Duo motherboard in sight. Sure, I’ve seen mirages of what look liked a great board but *sigh* alas, tis only an illusion.
It’s kinda like lightning strikes – one quick flash of brilliance and it’s gone. I have but one hope left and it’s the eVGA 680i, but they’re nowhere to be seen except for momentary
glimpses of what the board looks like. It’s hilarious how they leak the picture and a short description of the board but nothing else. When you ask for more they yell NDA (non-disclosure agreement), wait for the press release. Like OMG. That’s just wicked of them. Like I once said before, NDAs are EVIL.

It’s like a very long striptease without showing all the goods. Here I am waving dollar bills and ready to shove it down eVGA’s banana sling and this guy is not putting out!
What a gawd damn tease! I bet availability will be so scarce when they come out and won’t be out en mass till Xmas time. Well, I can’t wait that long. Well, if it comes to that, I’m going over at ASUS and get the WS PRO. I hear that guy is so easy and puts out.

10 Days
… and still without my GPU. It’s my 2nd RMA and I am having withdrawal – BIG TIME. Glad of their great CS. I’m holding my tongue for judgement. I’ll just leave it like that.

32 Days

… of waiting for Auzentech X-Meridian. It was officially released yesterday, or was it the day before. Who really cares?! I can’t find them in retail yet. I smell a conspiracy here.

2 Days

… before my AV receiver and speakers gets delivered.

45 Days
.. before I can afford to buy a new monitor.

23 Days
… till Thanksgiving weekend – my favorite time of the year for shopping. It’s like the Olympics of shopping event and I always medal GOLD when it comes to bargain hunting.

55 Days
… till Xmas! W00t!

12 Days
… till my bday.Woohoo ! One more year and I can gamble in Vegas! Well, I suppose I could now just as long as I don’t win. Can’t wait to go to bars too so they can card me!  Ha !  Take that!  Umm, I’m getting ahead of myself,  one more year… just one more!
5 Days
… since I quit smoking. I am a bitch. I feel bad for my roomies. I feel bad for my dawgie; I almost strangled Shaggy when USC lost to Oregon State. Yeah, Oregan State of all teams. Damn it I need a cig.

One More Day

… before I light up! I have 2.5 hrs left before midnite – that’s tomorrow ain’t it?

Finally a girlie-T with recognition!!

It’s all about timing! I was shopping for something orange for halloween and guess what I got in the mail – freebies. Of course I had no idea at the time, actualy I was a bit miffed thinking my account got charged for stuff I did not order.

CS rep was very nice and sounded just as perplexed as I was. But yeah, they’re all free. It’s not like I placed any major order for a complete system build and my last order placed was a month ago for a couple of fans. I really shouldn’t think about it much and just enjoy it but I couldn’t help it. The shirt size happens to be petite. What boggles me even more is, how do they know my size??

BTW, Newegg really has great CS and I’m not just saying that cos of the freebies. I did my 1st RMA and was very surprised with their efficiency. They send emails once they rec’d it, processed it, and when it is shipping out. That’s 3 emails in less than 24hrs. I even rec’d it before gettting the tracking number. YUP! Uh huh!! Yes sireeee, it’s that fast.

In other news my gfx card suffered a sudden death(2nd time around) and no amount of troubleshooting could save it this time. So off it goes to eVGA. Another great Co. with outstanding CS.

I only hope that the 79xx series’ problems are done and over with. Well, that’s what they said and yet mine is dead in less than a month. Anyway, we’ll see what RMA has in store for me.

Happy Halloween to all… especially to Wanderlust wherever he may be now <3.

I am a sincere man

From where the palm trees grow
And before death takes me,
I want to let the poems soar from my soul,

I come from everywhere
And everywhere I go;
Art I am among the arts,
Among the mountains,
Mountains I am.

All is beautiful and loyal.
All is musical and right.
And all, like the diamond,
Is charcoal before being light.

With the poor of the world
my fate, cast long ago;
A little brook in the mountain
Pleases me more than the sea.

I want, whenever I die,
Stateless, but with no master.
To have trees for my marker
wherever I once roamed.

I cultivate a white rose
IN July as in January,
For the sincere friends
who offer me their honest hand
And for the cruel ones who rip from me
My heart by which I live,
I cultivate neither thorns nor thistles;
I cultivate the white rose.

If I were to believe this temp readings, my PC would’ve melted by now. Could you believe 705C for my GPU?  Luckily for me there’s CoreTemp and TAT that gives the most accurate reading. I’ve tried others and they are whacked! Unfortunately, TAT no longer works for me… keep getting error everytime I run it. I should’ve never Re-installed my OS just to do a stupid experiment, on which loads the OS faster, my old P4 or Conroe… like, D’uh! Well, iTAT has been removed already in their website and the dl links out there are not working. *shakes fist*

Running CoreTemp always has a 8-10C difference between Core and CPU temp. That is to be expected I suppose. Anyway, I stress tested my CPU once again for Jenn, Cecille and Nat just to prove to them all is OK. I ran RTHDRIBL and Prime95 for 25 minutes, and then ran SuperPi 1M on the 25 min. mark. Here’s the temp reading (pls. disregard hte Super Pi results it’s 18s more than usual [stock]this was strictly a temp experiment). Anyway, tmeps went back to normal @ 39C and 37C after a few mintues. I shall try Everest this weekend, if I have time finishing Julie’s rig.

I want her’s and nat’s board … Damn it! If N590 or RD 600 are a big disappointment, or if they don’t get here before Thanksgiving, I suppose that’s what I’ll have to get.

Time for a nap before my next class starts. I have to stop obsessing with PC’s in the next few weeks otherwise I’ll have a tough time this semester.

That describes eVGA’s customer service. I emailed Mr. Jacob Freeman and asked  a simple follow-up on my RMA based on their Step-Up program. Honestly, I was in no hurry getting it since I’m still waiting for The DFI board and was prepared to get a cheapie GPU to go with the ECS board for the time being. Lo and behold, I got a quick reply saying he’ll look into it. Guess what, I rec’d mine the very next day! How cool is that. Technically, I got it the day after since I had to drive back and get it. That’s the only caveat with the step-up program. Since this was a present from my Aunt, the whole step-up process had to be done by her. It’s really not a big deal.

Oh where was I? Yes, I got all excited cos I can finally build my first rig, and I did. I finished it in record time too! I got tired of building others’ its about time I get mine done. Damn it, I’m going off on a different tangent again. Anyway, so I wrote Mr. Freeman a note saying how grateful I was for receiving it so quickly. Long story short, he sent me a T-shirt, lanyard and keychain for saying THANK YOU. Unbelievable, ain’t it? I wanted to say thanks right back for sending these great freebies but I’m embarrassed, kinda afraid really. He might send me other things for saying thank you again.

As much as I like getting freebies, all I ever want from their CS to remain the same, don’t ever change! Oh and keep rolling those cutting edge GPUs out.

Ah, my friends  have seen how great eVGA’s CS really is and they’ve vowed dumping their current brand when DX10 cards come out. These 2 guys are die-hard ATI fans, the last hold out among my friends. But it’s ok, I still love them. They were the ones who got me hooked on gaming and even encouraged me  modding rigs and eventually building them. Heyg is now proudly wearing my t-shirt. He claims it doesn’t fit me anyway. Otto now has a new keychain. The lanyard is very happy guarding the Maestro.

eVGA rocks my socks off!!!

 Ack! I have this post on draft for the longest time, might as well finish it once and for all.

Got bored some time ago and decided to lap Cecille’s Big Typhoon. I didn’t have to, but since I failed to take pics when I lapped mine, I decided to do hers. She thinks I did it out of sheer kindess… tehehe.  Heh, I just wanted the pics for posterity and actual proof that I’ve done it cos the frat boys don’t believe me. Well, they do now cos I lapped their Infinity for them.  Oh, for those who don’t know what lapping is ( I sure as heck didn’t when I first heard of it. I swore I thought it was some kind of insult or something), here’s a li’l info on it.

Anyway, here are the pics:

400 grit, 600 grit, 800 grit, 1000 grit, 1500 grit, 2000 grit, 2500 grit.

Pics aren’t that great and they do look better up close since I’m using an old cheapie cam. My hopes of getting a bitching Digital SLR cam is on the back burner since I found myself a new hobby.

Oh what fun… fun… fun!