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September 30, 2005
A Tale of Two Hard DrivesLife is strange. First, let me apologize to those of you who have become accustomed to my MWF (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) posting schedule. Due to circumstances beyond my control (which, ironically sums up my life pretty well), I was offline Wednesday, Thursday and part of today. The reason for my lack of connectivity actually segues nicely into the subject of this entry. My ex is full of surprises. He first surprised me about a decade ago, when he called my place of employment with a transparent story about needing my expert opinion on some office chairs (my dad, at the time, owned an office supply store). Since I’d only met him briefly at a friend’s party a week before, I wondered first how he found out where I worked (aforementioned friend) and then pondered the real reason such a charming, outgoing and gorgeous person as himself would be calling (he wanted to go out to dinner *gasp* with me!). The next surprise came in the form of an invitation to move in with him a mere two months later – but that’s a story for another time. This latest surprise began with a phone call Tuesday evening. I almost didn’t pick up, because I’d just gotten off the phone after an hour long conversation with my best friend, and I figured she was calling back to tell me what times “Serenity” was playing this weekend. I was trying to get the popcorn ready before “Bones” started, and figured I could just call her back during the first commercial break. But when I glanced at the caller ID, I almost dropped the phone – it was a number I haven’t seen in almost three months. I took a deep breath, picked up, and for some strange reason heard myself say, “Sorry, you have the wrong number – I already bought some Girl Scout cookies”. There was a slight pause, then he chuckled and said, “Hey to you too, Cat”. You know those romance novels that describe hearing the voice of your beloved and immediately your knees buckle, and you feel as if the oxygen were sucked from the room, and it seems that time has stopped while you let his familiar voice wash over you… well, sorry to say those hack writers got it right. And please don’t ever ask me to admit that I ever said that. We did that typical chit chat thing about how life was treating us, then he said, “I know it must be weird for me to call after all this time, but I went to a computer show last weekend, and I was thinking of you.” I laughed and said, “So, what does hardware guy need to ask software girl?”, and he stunned me by saying, “Nothing, other than if it would be okay for me to come over tomorrow afternoon and replace your old hard drive with the one I promised I’d pick up for you about six months ago.” It took me a sec, then I remembered that back in March, he’d gotten himself a rather expensive piece of computer equipment, and promised that to be fair, he’d upgrade my rig as soon as the next show rolled around. “You’re not serious – you really bought me a new hard drive?” “Yeah, well I got a bonus check at work, and it’s been bugging me, so could you do me a favor and accept it so I can stop feeling guilty already?” “Well, since you asked so nicely…” “How about tomorrow around 4pm” “Sounds like a plan” “Okay, Stan” We feel into our old patterns so easily that I almost slipped and said, “Love you” as I hung up. Thankfully I had enough clarity of thought to shut myself up before it slipped. So Wednesday afternoon was a surreal journey into the world of computer hardware. As always, my ex felt compelled to explain everything as he went, even though the mere mention of gigabytes and RAM makes my eyes lose focus and glaze over. He kindly set up my old 80 gig hard drive as a slave to the sparkling new 200 gig one, so I could use it as storage. “Don’t you want to take my old hard drive and use it in anther computer?” “I’d hate to see you lose all those stories and papers to a virus – makes more sense for you to keep it.” Towards the end of the evening, we discovered we’d both started watching “Invasion”, so I asked him if he wanted to stay and have some homemade microwave popcorn. For a gut wrenching moment, I thought he was going to say “No thanks”, and I would feel like an idiot for asking. Instead, he accepted with the stipulation that I include a cup of Irish tea in exchange for his labor on the computer, and I felt a rush of relief, followed by an immediate mental butt kicking, as I wondered what the hell I was doing. While I got our munchies together, I told him not to bother to hook up the router yet - I wanted to resist the temptation of going back online until after I transferred all my files between the hard drives and essentially tidied up my e-space. He laughed, and bet that I couldn’t hold out longer than a couple of hours before I logged back in. Which, needless to say, is why I’m just getting online again now. Watching the show helped a bit with the awkwardness of how to end this strange little visit. When it was over, he said he needed to run because he had work in the morning (as did I), so I walked him to the door and thought, “Frell – now what?”. Seeing a similar look on his face, we both laughed and he said, “Do you still hate me too much to give me a hug goodnight?”, and I said, “Nah, I gave up hating you for Lent”. We hesitantly reached our arms around each other, and I experienced another one of those sickly Harlequin moments – I couldn’t breath, and it felt like my heart would burst out of my chest. To cover, I began patting his back, and murmured, “hmmm, where would be the best place to stick the knife”, and he laughed and broke the spell. So now I own a super fast, mega huge hard drive, and the strange suspicion that I may end up getting my heart stomped on again. But now I can download the latest RvB episodes in record time – that should help with any mental anguish I might soon experience…
Posted by InternetGeek at 11:29 PM | Comments (5) September 26, 2005
Monday MusingI feel old. I made the mistake of stopping by Smiley’s Saturday night. I was headed to a dear friend’s apartment with my newly purchased Hitchhiker’s DVD, and needed to pick up a six pack of Guinness and a pack of Djarum Black. My friend only drinks wine coolery (yes, it’s a word… or at least it should be) things like Smirnoff Twisted, and I refused to watch my movie without proper alcohol. Smiley’s itself was not the issue. I love my friendly local supplier of all things yummy. It was my timing that was at fault - I drove smack into hormone central. As I navigated the parking lot, I began to wonder if I’d somehow gotten lost and ended up on the campus of UNH by mistake. A girl was walking out as I parked. She was wearing a blue mini skirt that was about an inch away from being a belt – in fact, back in the day (*mumble* *cough* 1980’s *cough* *mumble*) I used to wear scarves as belts that were bigger. To complete the ensemble, she had a belly shirt and makeup that would make Tammy Faye weep – oh, did I mention she was a good 30 pounds overweight? I am the last person in the world to pass judgement on someone because of their body type (especially since the closest I’ve ever been to having a model’s body is the time I flirted with a guy in college who used to pose for an art class) but I just don’t get how some women think that even though they are far from being in shape, they can wear skimpy clothes. That outfit, on a skinny girl, would have been just shy of being indecent and slutty – on that poor girl, it looked all the more sad. However, rather than run away, I bravely entered the store in my completely frumpy and non-slutty signature look of jeans and a black tee shirt. I fully expected some sort of pitying looks from the male clientele as I politely made my way past the brightly colored and skimpily dressed young women (wondering why I suddenly felt like I’d wandered into a bar). Instead, one of the worst possible things happened. Nothing. I was completely ignored. The only time I didn’t feel invisible is when the nice guy at the counter smiled when he took my money, and said, “Have a nice night”. Hmmm. Maybe next time I’ll wear a skirt… Copyright © 2005 by Traci York (writing as Catherine Trevor) Posted by InternetGeek at 04:17 PM | Comments (9) September 23, 2005
Money Can Buy HappinessI feel much better. After Wednesday’s emo entry, I decided I needed to do something to cheer myself up. Whoever said, “Money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy me a big boat so I can pull right up next to it” was spot on. I decided to spoil myself a bit, and it did wonders for my soul. It started when I was browsing the Virgin Mobil phone site, since I had to top off my account (yes, I have one of “those” phones – I don't use it that often, so it suits my needs). There is a ring tone I’ve been wanting for a very long time, and just for kicks I searched for it again… and this time the search turned up successful! I was so delirious from finding it that I went ahead and grabbed two additional ringtones. But the special one, the one that made me feel like a kid at xmas was...
One last purchase coming up this weekend, and I will feel like myself again. I still need to pick up the new Disturbed album – I’m so bummed out that they were right here in Portsmouth yesterday, and I didn’t get the chance to go stalk… errr, meet them. I heard the very end of their cover of “Land Of Confusion” on the radio last night, and now I’m even more excited to get it – I’m a huge Genesis fan (if you squint at my Geek Logo, you’ll see the CD of “Trick of the Tail”), so having two faves in one song is just too good to pass up. Indulgence. It does a body good. Copyright © 2005 by Traci York (writing as Catherine Trevor) Posted by InternetGeek at 02:56 PM | Comments (6) September 21, 2005
All By MyselfI miss him. Yes, him. The jerk who decided after ten years that he should leave the relationship because I was taking it too seriously (pardon the sounds of the primal scream echoing in my head). The idiot who thought it was best to move me away from my family and friends, and settle me in a new apartment before confessing he was having “second thoughts”. As much as I try to hate him, he still owns a piece of my soul. It’s the little things that are killing me. My neck was sore last week – a product of too many late nights with the keyboard and the Xbox – and I could tell there were vertebrae out of place. My ex used to have a wonderful way to fix this problem for me – a few ibuprofen, then a nice soothing neck massage, which would culminate in non-professional adjustment (no, he’s not a chiropractor, but he plays one on tv *wink*). Afterwards, I would lie there feeling such relief that the pressure was receding, and he would slowly trace light circles across my back… which would lead to slower, more insistent swirls on my lower back… then he would… Enough. This is a family newspaper, after all. My way to deal with the stiffness now (in my neck, I mean) is to take those three ibuprofen, then have a nice, hot shower. Afterwards, I do slow neck rolls and shoulder shrugs until I feel the pain backing off. And I don’t feel anywhere close to the relief that I used to feel… in more ways than one. I’m not sure which would’ve been better – his leaving because he met someone else (which he didn’t), or his leaving because “the timing just isn’t right”. For me, knowing that there’s still a modicum of hope that we might end up back together is worse than knowing he’s moved on, and I need to do the same. Should I be happy that he still asks common friends about how I’m doing? Should I insist that he cease all contact, and let me try to regain my dignity in peace? Or should I keep open the door, just in case he comes to his senses and realizes he made a terrible mistake? And would I take him back, after hearing his pronouncements on my personality and general lack of wife-worthiness? And where are all those guys who used to tell my ex what a lucky man he was to have such an ubercool girlfriend? Why, now I’m a free agent, do I no longer have the desire to play the game? So many questions, so few answers that I want to hear. Somebody quick – hand me the blue pill. I want to climb out of the rabbit hole… Copyright © 2005 by Traci York (writing as Catherine Trevor) Posted by InternetGeek at 01:45 PM | Comments (7) September 19, 2005
Hometown HeroesI know a pair of angels. More accurately, I know two people who have earned that title in many ways in their every day lives, but Saturday they proved it to the rest of the world. These two women – Sherrie Holmes and Marcia Parma - were returning home from volunteering on behalf of the Somersworth Girl Scouts at the Reach The Beach fundraiser. They had spent the night with about 8 of their sister Girl Scout leaders helping with the race, and were looking forward to a shower and a cup of coffee before belatedly beginning the day with their families. While driving through town, they spotted smoke coming from the roof of a house on Beacon Street. They didn’t stop to think, “I bet someone already called 911”, or “I’m too tired to stop”, they simply sprung into action. They both began punching the car horn while pulling to the side of the road, and screamed out the van windows, “FIRE! FIRE!”. Neighbors immediately yelled back at them to stop making so much noise before realizing what good cause they had. Unmindful of their own safety, the two women began pounding on the doors and windows, trying to get the disoriented residents out (Sherrie even managed to smash through one pane with her fist). Thankfully, only three tenants were home at the time, and they were able to escape while windows were exploding all around, covering everyone with glass. Many people were instrumental in helping to put out the fire, and care for the residents displaced by this blaze. Foster’s had a write-up that does a great job of getting the details right (while the Union Leader completely leaves out any mention of Sherrie and Marcia and the Portsmouth Herald has yet to even mention it). However, if it weren’t for “the kindness of strangers”, the headlines would have a much darker tale to tell. While talking to Sherrie by phone later that day, she kept saying that she didn’t understand why everyone was calling them “heroes” and “angels”, because they only did what anyone else in their position would have done. I told her if that were true, then situations like the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina would have different stories being told. They went above and beyond (I won’t even mention the fact that both Sherrie and Marcia emptied their wallets of what cash they had on hand and gave it to these strangers who had lost everything). I am still in awe of the role played by these two women, and feel honored to call them friends.
Posted by InternetGeek at 02:21 PM | Comments (6) September 16, 2005
Geek DistractionsI have a viewer question. In Monday's blog, "Dear Internet Geek", one of the last responses was from a fellow RvBer (Red vs Blue forum member). "Dear IG, Dear Matt, Thanks for the question (and let me know where to send that five dollars... *wink* ). Some of my favorite haunts might be places you are already familiar with, but maybe you'll find a new favorite somewhere in the bunch. Fair warning - some of these sites contain language and/or graphics that would be considered NSFW (Not Safe For Work). Places to get geek information: Places to get geek laughs Places to get geek stuff A special shout to the first geeky place I ever hung out - Usenet newsgroups (alt.callahans, alt.fan.tom-servo, alt.tv.farscape to name a few). HTH (Hope This Helps)! ~ I.G.
Posted by InternetGeek at 02:32 PM | Comments (6) September 14, 2005
Of Demons and Glow-onsSam Walton is the spawn of Cthulhu. At the very least, he is the son of Satan. Or possibly the bastard child of an unholy convergence of the two. The reason for my belief is how easily my paycheck is displaced from my wallet every time I pass through the doors of the Somersworth Wal-Mart, not to mention the eternity it takes to shuffle through the checkout line. It's as if time operates outside the parameters of natural law within those ciderblock walls, which I consider a sure sign of some type of demonic connection. After work yesterday, I decided to swing by The Mustard Seed in Portsmouth. The visit to the shop was wonderful, as always - sometimes just walking in the door makes me feel better. I could spend an entire day wandering through, soaking up the good vibes and chatting with the amazing people there. After a small purchase of Prasad incense, I hopped in the car, still experiencing what I lovingly refer to as a "glow on", and began to drive. I immediately got distracted by a Duran Duran song on the radio (yes, I'm counting the days until Disturbed's Ten Thousand Fists is released, but hearing "Save a Prayer" still makes me shriek and turn up the volume) so instead of heading up 95 to Maine and cutting over to 236 to get home, I hopped back on the Spaulding. Anyone familiar with the parking lot that is the Spaulding Turnpike at 5ish in the afternoon will sympathize with my plight. I was still experiencing glow-on though, so I didn't bother sneaking off at the mall exit and going down the back roads to come out by the Lighting Barn (effectively trading the headache of inching along for the headache of merging back in). Instead, I patiently waited and eventually made my way through. I even managed to almost sail through the Dover toll with only a few people cutting me off to get to the EZpass lane. The influence of the glow-on convinced me that even though it was the Death Hour, I could run into Wal-Mart and get a few things I needed, and be back out before October. My dilemma was that I needed food staples such as milk, bread, and cereal along with more personal items such as shampoo, tampons, and computer paper. The logical and least expensive place to go to was Super Wal-Mart. Somehow my shopping list that started as Express Aisle sized, turned into a shopping cart full of stuff (might as well grab Halloween candy while I'm here, right? Ooo, and look at the sale on school supplies... you can never have too many write-on/wipe off markers...). Only the power of the glow-on saved me from total commerce catatonia. It took many hours of incense burning and web surfing before I felt the dark powers of "Hustler Walton" receding... ~ I.G. Copyright © 2005 by Traci York (writing as Catherine Trevor) Posted by InternetGeek at 12:52 PM | Comments (4) September 12, 2005
Dear Internet GeekI have fans. I have people that I begged, blackmailed, or otherwise bothered into reading my blog and I'm happy to say that so far the report has been favorable. On that other forum I talked about in my last entry (Red Vs Blue), I've also gotten some positive feedback. However, I don't feel that I'm accomplishing my mission. While entertaining everyone is a noble deed in and of itself, I still hope to do more. So to get the cyber ball rolling, this fictional geek is going to come up with some fictional people asking my advice, and I will dispense such gems of factual wisdom that all of you, my faithful readers, will jump at the chance to ask your own questions. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Dear Internet Geek, Dear J (almost slipped and called you "John" *wink*), *~*~* Okay, if you're so good at finding things on the internet, there was this guy in Lord of the Rings named Martin something-or-other, and I'd swear he was also in the series, "Xena: Warrior Princess" but I can't for the life of me remember who he played. ~ G from Dover Dear G, I love trivia questions like this! For the answer, I turned to my beloved Internet Movie Database (IMDb for short). A quick search of Lord of the Rings reveals that your guy's name is Marton Csokas, and he did indeed play two characters on Xena - Khrafstar and Borias. He's also done numerous guest appearances on other shows such as BeastMaster, Cleopatra 2525, and the sorely missed Farscape. *~*~* Dear T, Thank you so much for thinking of me, but I'll pass. According to my favorite myth debunker snopes.com, variations of this email have been floating around the 'net since 1997. In all that time, no one has received: ~ any money from Bill Gates, Microsoft, or AOL However, go right ahead and forward that snopes link to everyone in your address book. I doubt it will change anything, but if there's the chance that even one person will think twice before clicking "Forward" on the latest gas boycott, it will be worth it. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Now it's your turn - please feel free to pass along your cyber conundrums either in the comment section, or by email and I will do my best to help you surf to your solutions. ~ I.G.
Posted by InternetGeek at 11:12 AM | Comments (12) September 09, 2005
My e-loveI have a boyfriend. Okay, so he's married. And has two adorable little girls. Oh, and he lives about a gazillion miles away, and we've never met in person. But that doesn't stop us from e-flirting. Now before you label me as a cyber-slut, I feel I should explain a bit. Back a few years ago, my boyfriend introduced me to this insidious PC game called, "Halo". Since we each had our own computer, we were able to play online games together, and met some very interesting people on the server during our many, many hours of play. During one rather amusing game, someone with the handle of "Cab00seLvR" mentioned this awesome web series called "Red vs Blue". We downloaded a few of the episodes, and were immediately hooked. For those of you not familiar with this FPS (first person shooter) game, I'll try to explain in twenty five words or less. The part of the game that the web series is based on involves two different teams - the Red and the Blue. They each have their own base, complete with a team flag, and the object is to get the other team's flag and return to your base without getting shot, sniped, blown up, or run over. The demi-gods at Rooster Teeth Productions got the brilliant idea of putting characters and voices to the generic grunt figures, and created a number of three to five minute long episodes based on what these people would do or say if they were real. The series spawned a website, which in turn spawned a community - similar in many ways to the LiveJournal crowd since each member has their own profile and "blog", but different in so many, wonderful, geeky ways. I have people on my FL (Friends List) between the ages of 16 and 60, and in just the past year we've shared milestones such as the impending birth of a child, death of a parent, marriage, divorce (luckily not the same friends), death of a child, catastrophic illness, and now the community has pulled together once again to help with hurricane relief in ways too numerous to mention. Being the RL (real life) flirt that I am, I began e-flirting with some of the people on my FL. Harmless stuff, and it's never crossed the line into, "U r so hawt, show me ur b00bs, wanna cyber s3x?", so it didn't negatively effect any of our RL relationships. In fact, my ex used to get a kick out of how many e-boyfriends I had on the site (he's a member too, but needless to say he's no longer on my FL). Oops, my e-boyfriend just logged back in and is PMing (Private Message) me. BRB (be right back)! *grin* ~I.G. Copyright © 2005 by Traci York (writing as Catherine Trevor) Posted by InternetGeek at 08:03 AM | Comments (4) September 07, 2005
Welcome to my corner of CyberSpaceI am a geek. More accurately, I am a g33k (yes, I know that " l33t Speak" is so five minutes ago, but it fits). I am a single woman in my mid-thirties who owns an Xbox, multiple Gmail accounts, and my own domain name. I am known to my friends and family as "The Google Queen", and I have more cyber friends than I do RL (real life) acquaintances. I spend a great deal of time online, and have been known to talk about conversations I've had with people from all over the world as if I'd just been having drinks with them at the Scoreboard. I see my job at the bookstore as a necessary evil, because Comcast won't accept "mod points" in exchange for my high speed access. I know what ctrl-alt-del is and I'm not afraid to use it (and I love the web comic of the same name to boot). Please, don't look so alarmed. Most people would not guess to look at me that I'm so far gone. I'm about five and a half feet tall, average build, with my eyes as my best feature. I'm a jeans and tee-shirt kind of girl, but I do like to dress up when the occasion calls for it. I was in a serious relationship for about a decade, which is part of the reason I'm living in the Seacoast area now - I moved here because my boyfriend wanted a new start, and couldn't stand living in Massachusetts for one second longer. Little did I know at the time that part of his new start included becoming a bachelor again. *sigh* I have a small apartment that is large enough for me, my collections (books, DVDs, CDs, books, games, action figures, books, and even... *gasp*... a few albums... oh, did I mention books?), my computer and my cat Jobi. My clock is ticking so loudly that I'm surprised no one has called in the bomb squad. I'm at that joyous age where I start timetabling relationships before they even start, trying to figure out how to get kidlets squeezed in before the expiration date on my eggs. An example of a recent internal conversation... Well, if Jason from work decides to ask me out, and things go well over the fall, then we could probably move in together by the spring, get engaged, and plan for a fall 2006 wedding. That would still leave me with three years to get pregnant before I hit forty - plenty of time. So I'm planning to have babies with some guy whose last name is a mystery to me (did I mention he just started work yesterday?) based on the fact that he is male, not ugly, and has a job. Of course, my original goal was kidlets by the age of thirty, but my darling ex pretty much blew that plan out of the water. I hope this blog will help change the image of what people typically think of when they hear the phrase "internet geek", and maybe along the way I can serve as a cyber-tour guide to others. ~I.G.
Posted by InternetGeek at 08:39 AM | Comments (7) September 06, 2005
About This Blog - Before and AfterAbout this Blog from September 06, 2005 to November 02, 2005 (when I wrote as the fictional Catherine Trevor) It all started with an online conversation, in which I said to someone, "I wish I could put all this stuff I've learned to use. Maybe I should become the cyber-version of Dear Abby". To which my friend replied, "You are such a geek". Thus the Internet Geek was born. I have been online since 1995, and I have managed to accumulate a fair bit of knowledge, thanks to some wonderful e-friends I've made along the way. I would like to repay the favor by sharing what I know with others, while welcoming fellow cyber-travelers to chime in with thoughts and suggestions of their own. I will also be sharing my own personal experiences with online communities, as well as my non-virtual life as a Seacoast resident (fictionalized for the sanity of my family and friends). About This Blog from November 3rd, 2005 to present (now writing as the real life Traci York) It all started with an online conversation, in which I said to someone, "I wish I could put all this stuff I've learned to use. Maybe I should become the cyber-version of Dear Abby". To which my friend replied, "You are such a geek". Thus the Internet Geek was born. I have been online since 1995, and I have managed to accumulate a fair bit of knowledge, thanks to some wonderful e-friends I've made along the way. I would like to repay the favor by sharing what I know with others, while welcoming fellow cyber-travelers to chime in with thoughts and suggestions of their own. I will also be sharing my own personal experiences with online communities, as well as my non-virtual life as a Seacoast resident. I'm a married, mother of three, who has been with my husband (who was also my first boyfriend) for 18 years now, and I'm a Girl Scout leader who is an active member of my community. Oh, and I'm also a Libertarian, bisexual witch who is homeschooling her kidlets and plays family Halo games on a regular basis. Just an ordinary girl with an ordinary life... ; ) Copyright © 2005 by Traci York Posted by InternetGeek at 08:35 PM | Comments (2) |
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