Now I'm pissed off again

Okay, so I ordered my computer yesterday and then had to wait until today to pick it up. Then I had to wait until the end of the night and wait until I drove back home to open it up and look at it.

My plan was to transfer the cd-rom and floppy drives from my old machine, and also the video card. The first thing I noticed, however, was that my new machine already had a cd-rom and floppy drive.

Hmmm. I didn't order those but whatever. So far so good.

Then I noticed something else. Where I was expecting to see a row of six PCI slots and an AGP slot, instead I see only two PCI slots and... that's it.

Where's the AGP slot?

Further inspection reveals some sort of onboard video. This is not what I thought I was getting.

The motherboard doesn't appear to say MSI on it anywhere... so I'm not even sure that I got the computer I asked for. They gave me an MSI KT4AV box... I can see from looking at the box that what I have looks nothing like what I was supposed to get. I can see that there is a difference between a KT4AV and a KT4AV-L, although the difference seems to mostly be onboard Lan for the L version. That doesn't really matter to me either way. And I see that the box says "All specifications below are optional, the specification of the actual mainboard are labeled on the side of the box". But the side of the box says "333 Edition" and "Support AGP 8X", and the little label attached to the box indicates this is an MSI KT4AV-L with LAN... nothing to indicate that it's so radically different from what's displayed on the outside of the box.

It seems to me that I don't have the motherboard installed that I asked for. It looks NOTHING like the box picture. I can't see anything on it that says what it really is though.

All I know is once again I thought I had done my research and knew what I was doing, but I did not get what I thought I was getting. But I don't think it's my fault this time... the motherboard should look at least vaguely like the one pictured on the box, and it doesn't. At all. So I think they gave me the wrong one.

Actually I know that for certain because although I can't figure out what kind of motherboard it is, it has an SIS 962L chipset and the MSI KT4AV is supposed to have a VIA KT400A chipset.

But that's annoying... I have to wait until tomorrow to talk to them and then take it back, and I probably won't see the right system until Friday....

I had a dream

It was one of those very freaky dreams where you think you're awake or half-awake and everything seems real.

I was still lying in bed but I was half-awake. A ghost appeared beside me. It was the ghost of someone I knew that had recently died, and after talking to it it walked around the bed and lay down on the bed... I could hear the footsteps, could feel the weight of someone else lying down on the bed beside me. And I thought, "Wow, now I really know that ghosts exist!"

And then I woke up a little more... and realized that my bed is too high for anyone to stand beside it and talk to me like that. But I could still feel the person beside me and I was still convinced that the ghost was there.

And then I woke up even more and I realized that I didn't have any friends that had recently died. And there was no ghost lying next to me.

But it seemed so real at the time... I can see how under the right circumstances I might have woke up believing it really happened, even though it was just a weird dream.

(no subject)

Boom.

My bathroom has two lights over the mirror that come on with one switch, and one of those ceiling heat lamps that comes on with the other switch. I think maybe in the whole time I've lived here we've had to replace the bulb in the heat lamp once.

Today I stepped into the bathroom and turned the lights on. The heat lamp started making a rattling noise. I thought that maybe it was about to burn out and ignored it.

Ten seconds later there was a loud boom, followed by shattered glass falling onto the floor and a strong smell of smoke. So... I guess that means it's time to change the bulb? Sheesh, whatever happened to burning out quietly?

I heard a review of Matt's play on NPR's The Beat as I drove down the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

I returned my computer to IQS Computers. The owner scowled while his young assistants tried to explain why I had the wrong computer. One of them opened up another box and there was the computer I was meant to have. So this meant that I didn't have to wait another day to get my computer... but it also meant that I didn't really get to keep that free floppy drive and cd-rom. Well, no big loss there hehe.

They opened up the computer to verify it had everything I'd ordered. It did... and it had a video card in it that I hadn't ordered. That means if they'd given me the right box yesterday, I would have gotten a free video card of some sort. But they took it out, so no freebies of any kind. And I really feel like they owed me something after this too. ^_^

It was pouring rain for the ten minutes it took me to drive from Kent to work. Really pouring. I could barely see to drive. After that it cleared up though.

Now I'm working on my computer. If I can't figure something out maybe I'll call Mike tomorrow, or either Mike or Jeff on Saturday. ^_^

( follow the amazing adventures of Miko as he tries to make his new computer work! )