This weekend because yesterday, as soon as school was out, I drove straight to Microcenter and bought a brand new gaming machine!
Check it out:
Powerspec G443 Gaming PC
Intel Core 7 13th generation 13700KF 3.4 GHz processor
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 12GB GDDR6X
G Skill 32 GB DDR5 5600 RAM,
2TB Solid State Drive
I was just too exhausted to play anything by the time I was done setting everything up, so this weekend is going to be something!
Yessssssss. You got any games in mind?
Good thinking on the 2TB SSD. I opted for 500GB and now that games are ginormous, I’m feeling the squeeze.
(I also used to have a PowerSpec from Microcenter. It was good. I have a Lenovo Legion right now.)
I am sure hoping that cooler weather is headed my way in the next few weeks. It’s been obnoxiously, dangerously hot around here since June (we’ve had 37 100+ degree days so far this year, with most of those being well over, with yesterday being the hottest of the year so far at 107.
Usually by the end of August, the highs are in the low-mid 90s, but this year I’ll be happy for under 100, and low 90s by mid-September when we start getting cold fronts and rain again.\
Oooh… big iron!
I’d like something new that will really challenge my machine! Any suggestions?
I guess you are unfamiliar with The Curse of Bob Short.
I mean, Baldur’s Gate3 is kind of the Thing to Play right now. I’m really enjoying it so far. But not sure how much you like turn-based RPGs. It has a score of 96 on Metacritic, which almost never happens. We’ve got a whole thread about it. It’s recommended to use an SSD.
Starfield is coming out September 6th and I’m looking forward to that one as well.
Thanks! I’m tempted to ask questions, but I’ll read the thread first. It’ll probably tell me what I want to know.
I was looking forward to having my son and granddaughter visit tomorrow for 8 days, but GD came down with covid on Wed. So my son will come anyway (he has to come east in a week anyway), then to Boston for a week, then back again for a week here with his daughter.
Another thing I am looking forward to is the fifth volume of Sharon Shinn’s Elemental Blessings series. There are five elements, water, fire, air, earth, and wood and she had written books themed on the first four by, I think, 2006, but had said she would not write a wood-themed book. She has relented and the book will be out Nov. 14.
I’m looking forward to it! 
Are you doing the Boundary Creek to Cache Bar float?
I did the Middle Fork trip when I was a teenager – the summer I turned 17, I think. I remember the nunerous hot springs with much nostalgia, as well as exploring an old Mormon (I think?) pioneer’s cabin that’s situated near the river. It was also the first time I drank a beer: one guy in the party brought 3 or 4 6-packs that he tied together with some 550 cord and then hung off the fantail of his raft so they would drift in the water behind him. He also brought along a box of cigars that he kept squirreled away in an ammo can. On day 4 or 5 we spent the evening sitting in the water (literally in the water – it was hot that evening) smoking stogies and drinking river-temp cheap brewskis while discussing the deep topics of the day.
I’ve never been back, but it is the most memorable river trip I’ve ever been done.
Not one damn thing
I didn’t even realize it was coming out this week, but I’ve been looking forward to Ahsoka on Disney+.
We fly into Indian Creek and float to the confluence with the main. Water’s too low for the upper bits with loaded rafts. Looks like not too hot and hopefully not that smoky!
Indeed. I’m “going through some stuff”, which means I’m staving off depression. Thinking of something to look forward to is great therapy.
• My last two trips fell through, but the family… with all the kids and spouses… are convening next month in Seattle. It’s been too long…
• It’s Old Fashioned Week and the local bars are going all out crafting their own version. So far I’ve had one a day, and last night’s was one with oak chips burned on top of it that was called Ol’ Smokey.
• A new Cormoran Strike book? Add that to the list. Hope the audiobooks have the same reader.
• Ashoka, too!
• I finally found a graphic novel I was searching for for years. Who Killed Jimmy Olsen, by Matt Fraction. One of my favorite characters, written by one of my favorite writers. I could’ve ordered it online, but instead I spent years discovering musty little shops with musty little owners saying “I don’t think that exists… well, if I did have it… oh, wait, I do remember seeing it… right over… nope, sorry.”
So I’m looking forward to spending this week’s heat wave sitting in a local coffee joint and reading comics!
I looking forward to continuing activities in space which, because of the recent commercialization of space, seem to be picking up speed. I was a 10 year old kid when Apollo 11 took place and I’m really looking forward to lunar gateway as well as the various LEO space stations.
And later today I’m getting a debrief from a psych eval to determine if I am on the autism spectrum to some extent. I’m looking forward to finding out.
Good luck! I hope you find the answers you need.
I’m looking forward to 2 upcoming camping trips, the Oregon coast next month and the Olympic Peninsula in October. A trip to Hollywood in January for 2 tapings of The Price Is Right in their new studio. And next June a trip to Kenya for a photo safari with one of the leading wildlife photographers in the world.
Thank you very much for that. And the debrief has just happened and I am high-functioning autistic, which does explain much.
My son was recently diagnosed autistic at just 3 years old - it was necessary because he needs help developmentally - but we still get this “Why the need for a label?” pushback.
I then refer them to this quote:
https://americasbestpics.com/picture/omg-i-m-autistic-af-omgimautisticaf-why-do-you-need-mj8C8LAx9
“Because there is comfort in knowing you are a normal zebra, not a strange horse. Because you can’t find community with other zebras if you don’t know you belong. And because it’s impossible for any zebra to be happy or healthy spending its life feeling like a failed horse.”
I myself wasn’t diagnosed with ADHD Innatentive type until I was 34 years old and it was like finally getting the missing piece to understanding my life. So I understand how powerful it can be, just to know.
Next year, in April, I’m going up to Indiana to view the total solar eclipse. I saw the 2017 one when I went north to Nebraska. I can’t describe the sensation of seeing the sun go out like that.