I finally nuked Windows on my desktop and reinstalled. I was having so many issues trying to install hardware and getting software to run, that I just had enough. I was hoping to hold out to the end of the summer. Look how well that turned out. I was having read error with my OS RAID, but those have seemed to disappear with the reinstall. My webcam and new TV Tuner work properly now too.

You heard me right, new TV Tuner. I got the ASUS PHC3-150 which is working quite nicely, when I can get my wire for an antenna to get reception. Seems like the only channel that is somewhat tolerant of me not having a digital over the air antenna is NBC. But I’m picking up nice HDTV, which will work great when I get back to school and can actually record shows on TV.

I also got a new graphics card: the NVIDIA GeForce 460 GTX. I have to say that with benchmarks that I’ve done, it’s performing at least two times better than my old 9600 GSO, but I have some more stress tests to do later. Also bought bigger and quieter fans for my case. I’m still surprised on how much dust those things can accumulate.

I’ve managed, twice now as of today, to get membership discounts at Giant (the local grocery chain) without being a member. The cashiers have simply asked for my phone number and I’ve gotten the membership discount. Just a little odd, but worth noting.

Last thing before I’m out cold, I saw Despicable Me two weekends ago, and I enjoyed it very much. I wasn’t really sure what to expect before seeing it, but for all you families out there, this one is a must see. I have about 4 more movies to see this summer as well.

That’s all for now. Time for sleep.

First of all, I’ve been a Grade 8 referee for 8 years. I’d say I know a thing or two about the laws of football (that’s soccer for my American friends). Now, is it just me, or are some of the referees in the World Cup really crappy? There have been goals missed, intentional fouls let go, and yellow cards pulled for the most ridiculous things. Some of the calls missed or made I’m sure I could have made better calls for as a Grade 8.

I also had the chance to see The Last Airbender with my roommate for the summer. I haven’t seen the animated series, therefore I don’t have anything to compare it to, but I thought it was pretty good. Definitely looks like there will be sequels, just like everything else these days. At this point, I’m probably going to do a movie a week for the rest of the summer.

My computer is starting to crap on itself and it’s saying that my OS raid is failing, so I’ll be backing that up this week and after getting back to school, I’ll be nuking Windows and reinstalling. Also, my webcam got messed up from a Windows Update but now it somehow works? I don’t know what Windows is doing there. Video blog to come soon though.

That’s it for this week.

At work this week, I actually got to do work instead of waiting around. For those that don’t know, I’m in the DC area in Virginia doing some computer programming for a summer internship. I’m supposed to be done in several weeks too, so I have just a short time to get some stuff done, but now I have something to do.

On a non-job related note, for the first month I was here, the weather was beautiful and cool in the 70s. This week, however, the heat kicked in with temperatures getting into the high 90s and 100s. Summer is definitely here now, and I’ve had to take my workouts inside.

When shopping at Giant (local grocery chain), I was buying meat for dinners of the week and I went to the self checkout. It took 10 minutes for the person in front of me to buy a small tub of butter, and no, I’m not exaggerating on the time. Just a FYI, you don’t put the barcode between the two pieces of glass where the scanner can’t read it.

In the news, the BP oil spill still ranks on the top in all the news networks, US lost to Ghana, and England got creamed by Germany.

That’s for my first wound-up. Comment on if you like it or not, or suggest things for me to talk about in the wound-ups.