Month: April 2021

During my daily walks through the countryside, I come across natural wonders which catch my attention. Sometimes the object results in a fleeting thought or a mental distraction, and other times I become frozen in time philosophizing about the this and the that.

Take for example that small stone at the side of the road. Until now it has been enjoying a relatively peaceful existence minding its own business. As I approach the small inanimate object, I wonder if I should let it continue lying there motionless for years to come with no will of its own, or better yet release my free will in such a manner as to disrupt the future as it could have been.

From one instant to the next, I decide to express my will power and disrupt time. With a perfectly placed kick of my toe, I send the small stone sliding across the pavement where it hits a slight upramp of the road at the edge of the canal, whereupon the rock is launched into the air, flies several meters and splashes in the exact middle of the water. A miniature splash sends it its way to the depths of the canal, settling to the bottom to remain there for the next thousands of years.

All of this was triggered by some random thoughts in my mind and the laws of nature took over. Here we are, again.

I was Jeff's freshman roommate at Stanford, and although I was the goof off he was a serious and well-mannered student from the very beginning. While we never became super close as some roommates do, I remember being very impressed by his excellent performances and despite our differences he was always very kind to me. He had The Starry Night poster hanging above his bed, which got me interested in modern art in general and in van Gogh in particular. I feel sad to hear that Jeff passed away, but I am happy at the same time to hear that he led a well-deserved successful life after graduating from Stanford. We crossed paths briefly, went our own separate ways, and then many years later crossed paths again, but only fleetingly

Dignity Memorial

Finally got vaccinated for Covid. I received my first injection and at the beginning of July, I will receive my second and final injection. I barely felt the shot at all, not even near as bad as a bee sting. The day went along just fine until the evening. That is when I started getting the shakes, developed a high fever and felt like I had the flu. One day in bed and I was feeling better, but still weak. Now a couple days later, I am back to full strength again. Time to go out and shoot a stellar round on the golf course.

So why spend tons of extra money on a fancy new Linux computer when with a little extra research and energy you can build your own machine for half the price?

For awhile I was looking for a new laptop, but considering the computational intensive configuration I required, and the fact that I also wanted a machine that could handle most modern games, I was looking at minimally three thousand euros.

I found a great video link AMD Linux PC Build for computation intensive tasks, and I studied this article How to build a PC: A step-by-step guide which led me to purchase the following components:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900XT Processor (without cooler)
• GPU: PowerColor Radeon RX580 Red Dragon V2 8GB
• RAM: Corsair 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 3200MHz
• Motherboard: Asus ROG Strix B450-F Gaming II
• Cooler: Noctua NH-U12A BF19
• ARCTIC MX-2 (4 Grams) - Thermal Compound Paste
• SSD: Corsair MP510 NVMe M.2 960GB
• SSD: Samsung 860 Evo 1000GB 2.5"
• HDD: Seagate Barracuda 4TB 5400RPM SATA 3.5"
• Power: Corsair RM750X V2 750W or Corsair RM650X V2 650W
• Case: Fractal Design Define Mini C Solid Side Panel Black
• Inateck SSD Mounting Bracket, 2.5 to 3.5 Hard Drive Adapter
• Inateck SATA Data Cable and SATA Power Splitter Cable

Total cost: € 1625.84

Most of the items I bought through Amazon.nl, but a couple items that were either cheaper or had a faster delivery time, I purchased instead through a local distributor called Max-ICT. Within five days of ordering, I had received everything at home.

I am a little daunted with the number of components, all of the cables and how exactly to put things together without blowing everything up. That's why I invited Lennart over this evening to help me out and make sure I do not do anything stupid.

Yet another fun father son activity.

It's puzzle time again, please read the following short blurbs and see if you can figure out who it is.

• Sputnik is in my stars.
• My namesake was shot through the heart.
• Demi is my other half.
• Close shave at Tarawa Island.
• Broke fibula playing football.
• Grandpère took a taxi to fight the Bosche.
• Thanks to a Cola machine I am here.