The Laptop Of Emotional Pain

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I just got a new laptop. ASUS G53 and then a bunch of other random numbers and letters. It's a "gaming" laptop.

I will make up all sorts of stories of why it was important I had this, but if you were to dig into my brain, the answer you would likely come up with was, "I wanted to be able to play StarCraft 2 from wherever I was."

Mission accomplished. But I still can't win a goddamn game.

Have you ever loved something you were terrible at? HAVE YOU??

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Just so you understand, if you were to be totally honest with yourself, I have spent $1460 on a video game here.

1. SC2 original purchase: $60
2. Nvidia GTX 460 video card to make it run awesome on my desktop: $200
3. ASUS gaming laptop: $1200

And I SUCK at it. Do you understand the nature of this madness?

DO YOU??

[Tdarcos]

Just so you understand, if you were to be totally honest with yourself, I have spent $1460 on a video game here. [DELETED]

And I SUCK at it. Do you understand the nature of this madness?

DO YOU??

Yeah, Ben, I understand. Take a look at More Expensive than Crack on TVTropes.

Back around the middle of November I spent about $200 to buy a desktop PC, a Dell Optiplex 740 which has a 64-bit processor, that came off of a terminated lease. I spent about $40 more to up the memory by 2 GB (it had 2x512MB so I didn't have to discard anything), I have spent $90 to buy a 2 TB hard drive after I realized I had no way to back up the 160 GB drive on my old computer - from dropping not one, but both of my external backup drives - and I "only" had 80 GB of disk space that came in this one. I bought two 15-disk spindles of Blu-Ray disks for $30 even though I didn't have a blu-ray drive. Then I spent $109 to buy a blu-ray burner even though I have a perfectly good DVD burner already in the machine.

I've only had it since about November and this machine already has 160GB of files on it; the "Documents and Settings" directory alone as 90GB on it. I was correct that if I'm seriously going to backup this machine I need to install the Blu-Ray drive and start using it.

Now I'm considering buying another machine even though I have this one under my desk and my old machine is running as a file server. I'm real surprised that the Tenda $9 USB network adapters really work so nicely; (when I tried 64-bit Ubuntu 10 using a live CD, it recognized the Tenda chewing-gum package sized wireless device and I could use the Internet without having to install anything). I was so impressed that when the wireless router started failing that I bought one of Tenda's wireless routers, ($20) and it worked flawlessly.

For around another $200 I can buy a Dual Core x64 machine at Micro Center again (actually the same thing, another Dell Optiplex GX740 but it's specifically dual core; the one I have is explicitly single core) that also came off a terminated lease. But I'll have to throw some of the memory in it away (or sell it on eBay) because, while the other one supports up to 8 GB, this one can only support 4GB, has only 4 memory slots and would have 4x256MB, and I doubt I can do all that much with only 1 GB.

I know I am able to do a lot more with 3GB in this machine and the swap space ("virtual memory") tweaked up to a fixed 6GB. I've heard the 'sweet spot' for best performance on Windows (it comes with XP Professional) is twice the amount of real memory and a fixed VM file instead of allowing it to grow and shrink, and that tiny amount of disk space is so little as to be almost irrelevant.

This is not counting the fact I would also need to put out, oh, say, $20 or $30 to buy a KVM since I couldn't fit a second monitor and keyboard and the KVM I have is for a computer that uses a PS/2 mouse and keyboard, not for one that uses USB mouse and keyboard.

And to think the only reason I bought another computer was because I couldn't play Half-Life 2 or Garry's Mod on my old computer. I don't play them as much as I used to, I haven't had a chance to do so. Besides, what I am looking forward to is Portal 2, and for that it might not be a bad idea to have a dual-core machine. Which is yet another $49 or $45 if I buy it through the Steam store on pre-release.

But I can afford it. If the guy I'm doing a job for signs off on it as completed, I'll have a little over $300 even after the bidding company takes their cut, and I still have about $400 in my savings account.

So I do understand, Ben.

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Portal 2 is gonna be SWEET.

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

You also bought me a copy, which hasn't helped you. Can you figure that into the price?

[pinback]

Kathy bought the game for me originally, so I have only technically "paid" for one "copy".

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Oh, that makes sense you prick.

[Flack]

Have you ever loved something you were terrible at? HAVE YOU??

I collect arcade games, and I'm terrible at playing them. For a while I was keeping track of high scores in my arcade and after a month or two I didn't hold any of them.

[Tdarcos]

Have you ever loved something you were terrible at? HAVE YOU??

I really wanted to bowl, and I sucked, I mean SUCKED. My usual score was around 45. I'm not kidding.

I went out on a double date once, only the other guy never showed so I went out with both ladies. We went to a Mexican Restaurant. I don't drink and Zoe was driving, but C4 (All of the kids in her family had first names starting with C, so her father referred to each of them as "C1, C2, C3 and C4") drank enough for both of us.

We went to a bowling alley, the three of us shared a lane, I'd bowl a frame, then Zoe, then C4. And every time C4 finished her frame she'd go back to the bar for another beer. So this broad, who is stone drunk, is doing better than I am, cold sober! She bowls 100, I bowl about a 55 and I can't remember what Zoe did but I think it was reasonable, probably around 185. Actually, 55 was my best score in 3 games!

We get back out to the parking lot, and C4 isn't going to make it back to the bowling alley, and pees into a storm drain! (But she's still a lady, she does it on the other side of the car so I can't see.)

I figured it out really late, shortly before I lost my ability to walk. I'm blind in my right eye, which means I have no depth perception. To compensate, I should be bowling left handed. I joined a league at work - the company paid for it - and after having practice every week for a month or so, and bowling left handed, my score went to 95!

All of my life I've been terrible in sports, baseball, softball, bowling, all of these things, because nobody knew that I should be playing southpaw due to the crossover issue.

[AArdvark]

I really wanted to bowl, and I sucked, I mean SUCKED

There could be no doubt.



I just cannot erase the visuals from that post. They have been forever burned into my longterm memory