The New Hobbit Hole

[Sam Cree]

Hmmm. I have Earthlink DSL here, east of Perrine, my friend in Key West has Bell South DSL. This doesn't make sense. You live in Kendall, I think? Kendall would be a great market.

Alternatively, I think cable or satellite can give high speed access.

[HairOfTheDog]

DSL is available only within about a mile of a main relay switch, whether you are near or far from the switch depends on luck in suburbia. Cable is much more widely available, and actually faster than DSL for downloading, which is usually more important for home use than uploading.

[JenB]

Hello! I had a long tiring day, but got a lot done. Hopefully I'll get it all done by Thanksgiving. Now it's time to relax. Ha! I have to finish my story....

[Penny1]

I've heard wonderful things about Dell too. They used to be too pricey for me, but now they are very competitively priced.

In case anyone would find this useful, I found a site a while back that can tip you off to great deals on computers and electronics. They seem to really get the word out on Dell computers in particular. The website is Techbargains.com and is definitely worth a look for computers, peripherals and all kinds of electronic gadgetry. They don't sell items themselves, they just track all the offers, specials and deals that are out there for people to take advantage of.

[HairOfTheDog]

Reminder - Hopefully not too late....

Extra is talking Two Towers today... It plays on the NBC affiliate here. at 3:30 (25 minutes!), and their sister station again tonight at 7:30

Seattle local ping... (King 5 @ 3:30, Kong @ 7:30)

[RosieCotton]

Provided those turn out fine, he'll "for all intents and purposes", make me an offer tomorrow morning! Oh happy day!

Excellent news! I really hope this turns out well for you. Especially so your wife can stay home with the little one - that is very important, in my opinion! This job would be a great early Christmas present for you, wouldn't it? ;-)

So if they already asked my permission to check references, even before my interview, is that a good sign, you think? I'm not sure! I really hope mine works out, too!

[RosieCotton]

Now it's time to relax. Ha! I have to finish my story....

All my "relaxation" time lately seems to be going toward writing. Grrr! I'm up to 35,000, though. It's going to take some doing for me to finish in time, but I think I can do it, though I may just barely limp across the finish line rather than blasting my way through to the end.

Listening to Slainte Mhath, a rather strange young band from Nova Scotia that my brother got my hooked on. Supposed to be motivating me to write, but I'm doing more listening than writing. I'm bad about that...

[ItsOurTimeNow]

Thank you all for your support!

Hair - I believe that by 2pm EST tomorrow, I'll be able to post the "definate yes". I'm on vacation this week, btw...how sweet is it going to be to go back to the office next Monday, only to give them my notice? HAHAHA...a small amount of revenge as recompence for the 8% pay cut they gave us back in July (and then, two months later, the company President bought himself a new Audi A6..strange how that happens, isn't it?)

G'nad...yeah, I'll be one o' them durned executive types. lol. It's a Branch Manager position for a local headhunting/personnel consulting firm. I know, I'm a sell-out, lol, BUT...I get my own office (finally!)

RMDupree...I know what you're saying about DSL. It's still not available in my area just yet, and cable high-speed just came to us about a month ago...and they're still working out the kinks. If you have a choice, I'd suggest cable high speed over DSL any day. It's slightly faster, and much more reliable...just my $.02, for what it's worth.

Rosie...I think it's a great sign if your potential employer asked for references. It's been my experience that hiring managers, as a whole, loathe checking references as a rule. So, if they're thinking of checking yours, I'd take that as a good sign!

[JenB]

Hi Rosie. We both dislike Gollum's Song, right? Does anyone know if the words - hope not - will be in the movie?

I may not have the story finished - of course on words it's great - by Saturday. Oh well. And I left my disk with half of today's story behind and will have to get it tomorrow.

[John Farson]

Does anyone know if the words - hope not - will be in the movie?

I read that they will be played over the end credits.

[JenB]

Oh, that won't be too bad. Thanks John - somehow it would just be wrong for LotR to have word-filled songs during the movie.

[RosieCotton]

Hi Rosie. We both dislike Gollum's Song, right?

I don't really like it. Part of it is just that it's soooo different, and I'm not really sure what exactly it's supposed to be saying. And the fact that it doesn't fit into the movie...though I suppose it would work over the end credits. But it's weird! I don't get it!

Working my way up to 36,000 by the end of the evening, hopefully! Only about 900 words to go!

[JenB]

I just went ahead and got my novel verified. It's official now; I reached the goal!

[RosieCotton]

I just went ahead and got my novel verified. It's official now; I reached the goal!

Woo-hoo! Congratulations! Of course, you really reached the goal on what, the 20th? But it's nice to have it all verified, I would expect. ;-)

I'm aiming for finishing mine (or at least reaching 50,000) on Friday, but if I have to go to the last day, I have to go to the last day, and I might.

750 words to go now! And I may go for another good chunk tonight, beyond my quota. Might as well. We'll see how I feel by nine-thirty or so. I've been staying up too late lately...

[SuziQ]

So will the new job be in the same area, or will you have to move?

[JenB]

Not to be rude or anything, but why do you care how late you stay up? Can't you just sleep in during this short time while you don't have a job?

[RosieCotton]

Not to be rude or anything, but why do you care how late you stay up? Can't you just sleep in during this short time while you don't have a job?

Yeah, I can just sleep in. Trouble is that I'm essentially a morning person, and sleeping in isn't easy for me to do. And I end up spending the day being kinda confused and headachey. Never been someone who handled time changes easily. ;-) But I guess a week won't hurt.

I'm such a sissy, ain't I?

[JenB]

Oh, I see. I am a not-morning person; my preferred sleep schedule is 1 to 9, but can I do that? No....

[SuziQ]

Sir SuziQ says avoid eMachines Computers (past reliability problems)! He builds all of our computers and has recently gotten 3 CD burners for about $30 each (Office Max and Staples after rebates-Check the ads each week). You can sign up on their websites to receive e-mail flyers on Thurs. or Fri. of that coming Sunday's sales.

If you don't build it yourself, the next step is to buy a new system off the internet which has been put together and burned-in (has been operated for about 48 hrs.) by the vendor, to make sure all the parts are working. If you're interested, Sir SuziQ could freepmail you some info on the locations. With this route you'd need someone locally to set it up and show you how things work. Sounds like you know a lot already, and what you don't, your sister could show you. His personal opinion on computer parts is that most parts are reliable. Going with brand names doesn't necessarily mean NO trouble; it's random. Software problems are a greater risk than hardware ones.

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

Can you all give me a starting point?

Well, I'm embarrassed to admit that I can't. Our two most recent PCs were purchased as parts and assembled by me. The last PC we purchased as a complete system was back in 1999, from a small local company here in Austin. The last PC we purchased from one of the "big players" was a 25 MHz 80386 system from Gateway, back in 1992 or 1993 (I forget!) Back then, Gateway was the hot company, but I've heard they're not now.

My Rose is a lot more current than I am on PC pricing and which companies are better than others... she's the one who picked and priced out all of the components in our newest systems. I've pinged her to your question, and I'll ask her to look into it a little later!