Late ... Whatever.

So, I had a look in the settings for Dragon Age: Inquisition and found it could be run in window mode, so I ran it while I also had task manager up so I could monitor the memory usage. I found out that windows had shaped my 8GB of RAM to 2GB, which I promptly rectified. I also found during loading it would cause the CPU and Disk Usage to spike to 100%. My computer DOES actually meet ALL recommended requirements to run this game, so I ask myself WTF? I figure the CPU spike is more caused by the fact that it is an APU, which means it is also the Graphics card, and since this game is both graphic and CPU intensive ... well, it's clearly too much for it to handle. I find that when the Disk usage spikes to 100%, it's usually when some background system operation goes rogue ... so maybe a second hard drive would do the trick?

Anyway, I managed to get Inquisition to run satisfactorily for the moment, but I am thinking of purchasing, as well as a new graphics card, a second stick of RAM and a second hard drive - neither of these things are particularly expensive, especially compared to a new graphics card.

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I don't know if I will be able to finish the poetry unit I am doing for the writing course - I have tried, but I can't seem to write anything to the rule set for certain types of poems. Three weeks left, which is supposed to be used for peer review and redrafting, and I can't write a thing! Ugh, this blows! What of the ones I have written? Well, they have been critiqued by some poetry expert and I can't figure out how to rewrite them!

Maybe I should just can the whole thing. It's pointless anyway, I have no plans for using the certificate for anything. But I have already payed for the bloody thing ... twice over .... must finish ... blegh.

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So, school holidays start next week. The Chook will be at his father's for the first week. I had planned on relaxing some and catching up on things I had let slide for the last few months as I stared at the screen, attempting to write poetry. Now it's shaping up to be more sitting in front of a screen while attempting to write poetry.

My motivation for doing almost anything has gone, this isn't cool. I crave sleep, but my head won't let me - unless it's a half hour nap on the floor of the lounge - maybe I could write a poem about that? LOL (not really that funny, now that I think about it).

Pfft, whatever.

PsychoScissors out.

So...

On my whiteboard next to my calendar, for Wednesday I had written in that I would post to this blog. Completely forgot until I was getting into bed, thinking 'Oh, well, there is always tomorrow'. I didn't even think about it yesterday, but today I am here - better late than never?

I was having a read of some of my older posts and noticed that I had mentioned my Doctor Who scarf. Completing the scarf is one of my bucket list items! I am nearly halfway through making it. In the older post I mentioned not knowing if I would use single or half-double crochet and if I would make it 8" or 12" wide ... I decided to make it the wide version (it ended up 11.5", close enough) in half-double crochet. To figure out if I could do it without using up all of the hand dyed yellow I crocheted 10 rows and weighed it, divided the weight by 10 to get the weight per row, calculated how many rows I would need to complete the yellow stripes, then multiplied row count by row weight ... LOL. I had plenty!

Speaking of BBC ... I am now obsessed with Sherlock! After avoiding watching it for so long because I knew I would become addicted (just like a few other TV shows I am avoiding ... I have enough obsessions!) I finally borrowed the first season from a friend. As soon as I had finished watching the first episode I jumped online and ordered all three series! A few weeks later I had also purchased a Sherlock jacket and set of mugs from the UK ... I'm screwed!

I need to head off now, I'm helping out with tuck shop at The Chooks school.

PsychoScissors out.

P.S. I forgot about this lame poem I had to write for my poetry unit:

It was an exercise I had to do which required putting 100 words in a container, pulling them out and creating a poem.

Deplorable

You go further than a demiurge,

Amorphous plebeian.

Grand in your prideful ways,

Your intention notorious.

You're a meticulous juggernaut

Of compiled avarice.

Oh, tantalising travesty,

Graffiti with abandon!

You behave like a cloistered cat,

Bedevilled and deluded!

Betwixt the infidel and blade,

An apt finale.

New Computer and Catch-up

Well, I ended up buying parts for a new computer. I did some research and found a suitable build for the price I was willing to pay. It took a while to get to me though, the company I purchased from was having a supplier issue. I was very happy when it finally came and it is working well.

Windows 8 is annoying, but I'll get use to it. I have uninstalled several of the apps that came with it, I don't need it sucking up my internet allowance. The app store has been disabled and unpinned too. I also find the menu annoying - I just type in the name of what I'm looking for instead.

Playing games on this thing is a dream, it doesn't have all the best stuff in it, but it is far superior to what I had. Serious gamers would probably laugh at me having an APU instead of separate CPU and GPU, but it was cheaper this way and I have the option to upgrade in the future if I wish. I just need to make sure I don't go crazy with gaming again, I'm usually pretty good - I go months without games usually and when I do play, I usually only play for a couple of hours - but sometimes the old gamer comes out and I spend days, weeks even, just playing computer games. Not cool.

A couple of weeks ago I had a nasty fever and the Chook was home sick too. We both spent several days at home doing sweet stuff all and feeling sorry for ourselves. I then had to work hard to catch up on missed study time ... and I didn't make it on time.

I got most of my work done, then I had printer issues - it didn't like my netbook, at the time I didn't have my new computer. So I ended up handing in almost all of my work two days before it was due. I finished two more assignments on the due date. When I went to hand them in I tried asking for an extension, but the secretary didn't know how to do it and the coordinator (who I knew DID know how) was busy on the phone. The only assignment I had not handed in was writing 3 short fiction pieces. I only needed two extra days so I hoped that a late assignment wouldn't matter too much, considering it IS done via flexible learning.

Well, that's me all caught up.

PsychoScissors out.

Edit: P.S. Forgot to say that someone replied to the letter to the editor in my previous post. He pointed out that secular religion is an oxymoron and said that we need our constitution to be reformed to allow freedom of or from religion.

Letters to the Editor

So, I had to submit a piece of writing to a newspaper/magazine/publisher for my writing course and one of the options was to send a letter to the editor.

It was published and someone had written a letter to the editor in reply. Here they are (Sorry mine is a little wonky):

So ... apparently my line of reasoning is hard to follow and secularism is a religion ...

My first thought after reading it - "You, sir, are an idiot."

I won't be dignifying this with a response, you can't fix stupid or the blindly religious.

PsychoScissors out.

Do they test this shit at all?!

I am trying to do one of the assessment tasks in my study material and it is asking me to make a mind map. Unfortunately, the information it asks for is really beyond the scope a mind map can reasonably cover. I have started over multiple times to try and incorporate all information requested, but it's imposable.

This is not the first time I have been faced with the maddening improbability of completing a task before me. I seriously doubt that content of this course has ever been tested. Also, the editing in many of the books has been nasty! So many spelling, grammar and syntax mistakes. Words missing! Pieces of text that don't belong! Were they not paying attention? Did they not think that someone doing a writing and editing course would not notice these, often simple, mistakes?

I am seriously PISSED OFF at the moment! But it's not just the improbability of completing tasks and poor editing of the study material that has me fired up - this entire course has been one massive mess! I won't go into detail about the other shit ... I've told enough people the rest of this madness.

The only thing that has gone right for me - ever - would be my son. Everything else has been hell. Is it any wonder to anyone that I have an insistent itch to destroy everything? Bah, who am I kidding? Who really cares? And who doesn't get the need to punch everyone in the face every now and then? Don't worry, I have never acted on that particular need - although I do occasionally indulge in destruction ... of my own property. Usually a journal or blog, and today I had a go at my current text book. Don't worry, it's still usable, just a little worse for wear.

Ok ... I'm starting to feel a little better, still pissed off, but calmer now. But hey, being angry is better than being comatose.

Well, I'm going to attempt to smooth out some of the wrinkles of the study text.

PsychoScissors

Here it goes again...

So here I am again, starting yet another blog. Why? Because now I have to. The course that I am studying requires me to have a blog ... Hi Barry!

So please good people, bear with me (grrr...me bear), maybe this one will last.

To be completely honest, the reason I don't maintain a blog is because there are so many other things that need doing that keeping a blog constantly updated is low on my priority list. There are many other great blogs out there that have far more interesting things to say than I ever would want to make public knowledge.

Okay, so there you have it - my first post on THIS blog.

Enjoy (or not),
PsychoScissors