Sorta-new laptop

My 4+ year old laptop was starting to show its age.... still ran great, but in spite of boosting the memory to max (2 GB), and replacing the original hard drive with a speedy 7200RPM Hitachi, the Athlon64-3200+ processor was game but falling behind the times. So, I spent a few hours browsing the forums, looking for info specifically related to my HP zv6000-family laptop. Like, info regarding processor upgrade possibilities. Found out that it could be upgraded to an Athlon64-3800+, no problem. So, I found a used processor online and ordered it. Then I found some more info. The 3200 and 3800 processors are both in the same "family", called Venice. That's why the ease of upgrade. However, this motherboard is supposed to support the 1st processor in the next family of AMD cpu's; San Diego 4000+. It has the same multiplier and core speed as the 3800, but bumps the L2 cache from 512k to 1MB. That's a major boost there! So, I ordered a 4000+ from some guy on eBay. I didn't notice he was in Hong Kong! So, anyhow, it's on its way, I should have it within the next week or so. But the 3800 arrived a few days ago, and was just sitting here. Last night, I had some time, and opened up the laptop, carefully. Got down to the cpu after an hour or so of painstakingly noting every screw and part removed. Installed the 3800, put everything back together, and would you believe, it fired up and ran just great, immediately! I'm typing this post on the laptop right now. I still intend to pop the 4000+ in when it arrives, and then enjoy this laptop for maybe a couple more years.......

Sign of the Times

Here I am, with a group, on the bus, at Mount Palomar. Yes, *that* Mount Palomar. At the observatory. Miles from nowhere. No cell phone reception. But, I fire up the laptop, and guess what? There's wifi. Is that too funny, or what??

AAARRRGGGHHH!!! It's 104 degrees in Riverside! Good thing for the A/C in the bus. Good thing for a nearby Starbucks.

4th of July, in Mammoth Lakes

Hello again, my annual Independence Day trip is to Mammoth Lakes, woo-hoo! Better yet, Jacque was able to join me, WOO-HOO! It's a beautiful weekend, lows in the 40's, high in the 70's. Sun's out, a bit of a breeze blowing, just doesn't get much better. We went out to breakfast this morning, then hit a crafts fair going on here in town. I bought a lawn ornament for Jacque, a nicely made metal rendering of a family of quail (we get quail in our yard all the time). The bus is fueled and swept, the potty is clean, supplies are set up for the return trip. In other words, the bus is parked, and we're ignoring it. Jacque wasn't able to actually be on the bus (she had to work on Friday, bummer). As a result, she drove her 2000 Ford Focus, with nearly 200,000 miles on it, the 400 miles to Mammoth, thru the high desert as well as Friday afternoon traffic streaming out of L.A.! This girl will do anything for an adventure.... Anyhow, her car ran flawless, and we now have wheels to travel around the area! Yesterday, we landed up at Silver Lake, near June Lake, and were quickly "found" by the 20 trillion mosquitoes in the area. Needless to say, we didn't stay there very long. I found out that the "Minnesota" in me apparently is still strong; I killed mosquitoes left and right, deadly efficient on the first attempt. We cruised the Mammoth Lakes area, drove by several places where Jacque used to live. Today, we're going to the 3-grave-site graveyard here in town. Yup, that's right, 3 graves! Dates back to the 1880's. We both drive home tomorrow, the 5th of July. Jacque will go early, to stay ahead of the worst of the heat (no A/C in her Focus), I'll be along later, with 41 tired backpackers.