ria_oaks

Have I mentioned recently how much I fucking hate not having proper Internet? Probably. But I'm doing it again, because GAH it's so frustrating. I'm actually starting to miss CNN and the other 24-hr news networks cuz dammit I want to see Obama's speech at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. *pout* But I'm tearing through my bandwidth and it's so expensive... so now I'm at the library, and really, you'd think that watching Youtube videos at a wi-fi hotspot wouldn't be that big of a deal, it's not like I'm using Bit Torrent to download a fucking 300mb file, but of course it's just... way too slow to work. Oh wait, and now it says an 'error occurred' which makes me think they're blocking Youtube. Oh, honestly. *sigh* And the live blog posts on RBR the day during it are making me jealous and wishing I can watch it. :(

But for some random amusement: evidently "fucking" is not a word according to my mobile phone (I was texting my cousin and mentioned that word in conjunction with this internet connection, lol). I have saved it so it will be from now on. Heh.

Okay, so far this is faster than I expected... upgrade finished downloading, but iTunes couldn't restore my iPod. -_- Doesn't matter, I got QuickPwn up and going and it seems to be doing the job fine (this is just what I had to do when my co-worker accidentally upgraded her unlocked iPhone to 2.2.1 and it went kablooey... and that worked out fine, she didn't even lose her contacts or anything because iTunes had them backed up). Not sure if it's actually been upgraded, though - QuickPwn's saying that it only supports up to 2.2, but i thought I'd downloaded the newest one.

*pause* Oookay... it's finished, but all my stuff is still there so it didn't actually get restored. But still no music. Hm. *goes to iTunes* Grr, it's still not showing options for photos/apps/video/etc. Wtf. Okay, trying to restore. Again. -_-

Am at the St. Kilda Library now using their free wireless Internet, THANK GOD. *sigh* Used some of my precious Telstra bandwidth this morning to research differnet providers, and... they all suck. -_- Looked at Three because their deal seemed good, but evidently their coverage is shit (only in the major cities, and I'm hoping to explore the country/outback a bit...). And of course I'd have to pay $100 to unlock my USB stick from Telstra. Might do that anyway at some point once I've researched mobile broadband at home - I know Rogers has it... not sure if they have pre-paid, though, and I'd just want it for occasionally connecting to the Internet on the go (like on the ferry... oh god that would have been amazing). Gonna look into it and see if they use SIM cards and if I could just stick the card into an unlocked Telstra stick, in which case I'll unlock it anyway.

Aaaanywho. *sigh* I swear I've spent half my trip stressing over the Internet. ^^; At least I got out yesterday to the Harry Potter parody, which was fun. Though wish I'd had someone to share it with... it's not as fun when you can't turn to a friend after and talk about it. :( (ooh, and on an HP note - ya'll see the new HBP trailer?? So cool! (and of course, as I try to go find the trailer to link to it... I see how slow the Internet here is. SIGH. I'm doomed. ;_; I can' thelp it, I'm too used to fast Internet and lots of bandwidth. And okay, my Internet at home was shitty and unreliable, but at least I didn't have to worry about using up bandwidth by watching videos and surfing the web!)

Ahh there we go. http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/2009/4/16/now-online-the-full-trailer-for-harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiny. Only 3 more monthes!! I remember in November, 8 monthes seemd like an eternity... but we're almost there! And I've gotta say, it looks good. :) Hopefully an improvement over OotP, which has grown on me, but still... wasn't that crazy over David Yates' directing. Meh. Anyway, HBP looks awesome. :)

Anyway... really shouldn't spend all day here, and don't want to - just came to check it out and see if they had free wireless. And they do. And life is good again. :) Think I'll try to come here for day-to-day usage, and I'll attempt watching streamed video which is hopefully okay by them (I mean, it's not like I'm downloading a 200 mb file via P2P...), and then TENTATIVELY try using Telstra again for the occasional download. I've heard their main problem is with the $100/6 gig recharge, so maybe I'll try the $80/3.5 gig one... which hurts, man, because the other one seems like such a better deal! But considering I was being charged at ~8 cents/mb accidentally rather than 1.6 cents.. yeah. They even told me that they have this problem with that recharge, and I saw someone else online with the same problem.

ANYWAY. I say for the third or more time. I... need to do something today. Hm. Actually may take a minute right now while I have free and relatively reliable Internet to do some *gasp* job searching! At least to research temp agencies and such. And to research volunteer opportunities in the country; soliloloquyv was talking about that possibility the other day, and it might be fun... she's trying to convince me that the big evil deadly spiders out there are cute, though. ;)

Should really make a post to my travelblog, too. Huh. Am lazy...

(my Rachel-geek icon seems fitting for this... lol. I am so addicted to the Internet...)

*eyeroll* Spoke too soon... I'm still being charged at the wrong rate for my bandwidth. Used 54 mb of bandwidth this afternoon i none session, which at the rate I'm supposed to have of $0.01667 per mb should be around $0.90. I was charged over $4. That is NOT ON, TELSTRA. -_- In retrospect, I should probably have waited until tomorrow to try downloading a large file - the woman at Telstra may have adjusted my balance, but my account may still be set up incorrectly and it may not be fixed until tomorrow. Though she never said, so who knows? I'll test it out tomorrow then call again if needed. Bleh. No Daily Show for me yet... :( More West Wing instead, I guess. ^^ And gotta finish my entry for the RBR header contest - it's due on the 20th. Yeah, I oughta be shot... should never get these thoughts into my head. Finished the drawings last week (in the end went for just Rahm and Obama - though about doing the pundits, too, but it would've gotten crowded...), but need to finish the wording (doing bubble letters... not very well, either, but hopefully it'll look decent) and then put it all together. I suck at design. ;_; I like the drawings I did, but putting them together into a good header? Ehehe. -_-

Okay, wtf? The folders on my external harddrive, which I just had transferred to a new drive because my last one died, all seem to be read only. I can't change names, change anything in the files, or even fucking delete files. I tried going to the properties of the folders and unchecking read only, but it says access is denied.

I am NOT AMUSED.

*eyeroll* This computer is going to be the end of me... newest thing? Sometimes it won't start up. At all. -_- I had it hibernated, which it usually is when it's off, and I pressed the power button to turn it back on and the power light and capslock light (I guess - it's the capital A in a little lock, and it lights up when I turn on capslock) blinked at me for a few seconds then it turned off. I turned it on and off several times, semi-randomly smashing buttons in the interval, and eventually it booted up. This has happened twice now. Not amused. -_- I'm not sure if it's just getting locked somehow (the first time I hit every button I could think of plus A, thinking maybe that was it cuz of the light with the A in it blinking at me, then it turned on. Second time I tried that again and it didn't work, so I dunno. -_- And I have no idea what the actual shortcut for locking/unlocking my computer is (and try looking it up on Dell's website.. HAH.).

Anyway, it's on now and is working, but dunno what'll happen next time I turn it off. Gah. *le sigh* Really really want a new one...

WOO HOO WE HAVE VICTORY.

:)

In other words, my wireless is now working. I downloaded and installed practically every driver for wireless listed under my computer on Dell, except of course the one I needed. Heh. Turns out I'd even downloaded the right one last night, but I guess I was so tired and frustrated by then that I didn't bother to install it. Gah. ^^; Anyway, it's all good now. And least now I know whicih driver I need, in case this happens again! But here's hoping this'll be the last of my computer issues for awhile... Now, to re-download all my programs and re-load all my files.

But first, dinner. ^^

DUDE. Jewel Staite is going to be at this year's Serenity Equality Now screening in Vancouver!! I missed her lats year because of work, but this year it's on a Sunday so I can go. SWEET. I'm buying a ticket right now, because they'll probably go fairly quickly with that news out. If anyone wants to come, I'd recommend booking fairly early - it's $15 ($16 on Paypal; I think it's PP's service charge). Sunday June 22nd at the Norm Theatre at UBC; doors open at 11 for various events, movie starts sometime round 2-3 I think, and Jewel's going to be there for a 1/2 hour q&a before the movie. I'd love to have someone to go with, if anyone's interested. It'll be fun - Browncoats are always a blast - I can say that with definite certainty after spending 5 days on board a cruise ship with a bunch of 'em.

Tickets available here: http://serenityscreeningvan.blogspot.com/

So hyped. :)

On another note - computer update... Harddrive's toast. *sigh* He can get my files off, though, so I've given him a list of a few folders I need. He's willing to sell me a used 100 gig harddrive for $80, which for an internal laptop harddrive isn't bad. Though I'm a bit iffy about the used part. Anyway, I'm at my parents' house right now, using Dad's computer to post this, check what's on my external harddrive (ie what do I have backed up...), and to look up laptop harddrives online. Will prob just go for the one he has, though, cuz it's pretty cheap and it'll be done within a day or so.

Anyway, Lost, SPN, and GA tonight! Woo hoo! I'll have Mom's laptop with me, bk635, so we should be able to do the LT... though her laptop doesn't always get the Internet very well (no idea why - mine was fine, and her's connects fine at other places).

Fucking piece of SHIT. Yup, def have a virus, methinks. bk635, think I'll take your suggestion and go to that forum after all. Mom and I were reading over my essay, when my computer went totally apeshit. I don't know if a button just got pressed down on my keyboard or something, but I hit every button that I thought could be doing it and it didn't help. My cursor kept selecting things and opening things and doing crazy shit. Needless to say, I flipped the fuck out and ran to Gmail to try to back up my essay (I've backed it up periodically, but not since I finished editing it this morning and possibly not since I wrote the conclusion last night). With some difficulty I managed to compose the mesage to myself and attach the file, but it wouldn't send. Ended up having to navigate to Mom's Shaw Webmail, with no small difficulty, and send it from there. Thank god, it worked. Restarted my computer, and it's working fine now. Didn't want to risk restarting it before I backed my paper up in case I couldn't get it back on. Anyway, it's safely on Dad's computer now, Mom's finishing looking over it (meep), and I'm going to print it soon. Thank fucking god; I'll be happy to see the end of this.

Using Mom's laptop right now, and god but it just feels good to be near a computer right now even if it's not mine. How sad is it that sitting here using this is genuinely making me feel better and more calm than I have since my computer died? XD I miss it. *cries* Hopefully it'll be ready tomorrow and I can pick it up when I get to the island tomorrow night, or else on Wednesday.

Saw The Spiderwick Chronicles tonight and enjoyed it. Should read the books... the movie was quite well done. I like Freddy Highmore - liked him both in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and in Finding Neverland. He's a good actor and a cute kid (can't believe he's 16 according to IMDB - I thought he was like 13 at the most.) PLUS, Indy 4 trailer in front of it! I'd seen it online already, but it looked awesome on the big screen... brought back memories of being 10 and a huge Raiders of the Lost Ark fan (oddly enough I've only seen the other two once or twice, and can't even remember the name of one of them... Temple of Doom and something else. I should go look it up. -_- *checks IMDB* Last Crusade, right.. can't remember a thing about it. But I remember Lost Ark very well. :) Loved the snake pit scene, probably in part because Mom hated it. A year or so ago I saw it on TV again and noticed that you can see the reflection of the cobra in the glass separating it from Harrison Ford. I don't care, it's still awesome. XD

Guess I should go to bed.. class tomorrow. woo hoo. -_- Then back up to Bowen, sit on my ass all evening (on the plus side, since my parents won't be there I can use their computers all evening), then work on Wednesday. Waaah. Nothing on TV Tuesday nights anymore, either, not til House comes back. And was v. sad to see the preview after T:tSSC tonight saying that next week is the season finale. Woe. Here's hoping it gets renewed... after next week, I'll only have Lost left until April, not counting Torchwood which isn't airing here (speaking of, anyone know when s2 starts in Canada? I'd like to rewatch 2.01... mmm James Marsters...)