November 21st, 2004
getting reaquainted
In this issue:
- An update
- Happy Birthday Gaby! ? 3 years old!
- Congrats to the Goselands! Baby Bryant is here.
- Half-Life 2 review
- The Home
- Work things
An update
This last week I reinstalled Windows XP to fix a random rebooting problem I was experiencing. It may not have fixed the problem, we?ll see. It may be related to hardware. With homework and everything else going on in life, I just haven?t had much time to dedicate to dustinfluke.com. Hopefully I?ll get back on track soon. I?ve already missed too much. Here?s a brief recap of things going on.
Gaby is three
This last Saturday, Nov. 20 Gaby turned 3. I don?t have pictures yet, but will update as soon as I can. I?ll have to scan these in. She had a spiderman birthday at the local gymnastics spot we go every Thursday to have tumbling classes, a.k.a. ?exercise.? Gaby loves it. She had seven friends show up to participate, as well as all the family.
Congrats to the Goselands
Jeff Goseland(nice starwars font) and family had their baby boy, Bryant on Nov. 18. I got an e-mail tonight from Jeff with the report. My opinion, looks like Jeff! Congratulations Jeff and DeAnn. (I?m sure I misspelled her name).
Half-Life 2
So, I took November 16 off for one main reason ? to play Half-Life 2. I?ve been looking forward to this game for a long, long time. I ended up taking some poker winnings and purchased the silver package off of steam. I got all the old games, a few more I?ve never played, as well as Counter Strike: Source. As I played Counter-Strike, I couldn?t help but grovel at the features I was expecting for Half-Life 2. The graphics, and realistic gravity were all the features that make the game so lifelike. This is even expanded in Half-Life 2 with the assortment of weapons one can use.
My review of the game isn?t going to be in depth, nor scientific. I?m running it on an AMD 1.7Ghz, Radeon 9500 pro, w/ 512MB ram. It?s not rocket blazing fast, but it does the game justice. As soon as I win my next poker tournament at Harrahs, I?m getting an upgrade. :)
So, the game rocks. It kicks more ass than I could have imagined. I was stoked playing CS, but now I?m in heaven. I don?t even care about World of Warcraft. It?s not really my type of game anyway. I don?t have the time for it. Everyone said they thought DOOM 3 was the almighty game. Don?t count me wrong ? I love DOOM 3. I still haven?t finished it. I?ll have to say that I like Half-Life 2 more than DOOM 3 There, I said it. I like DOOM 3 for different reasons. Its super scary and gets my heart pumping. It?s a great game. What sets HL2 apart from DOOM 3 is that HL2 is more fun to play. The gravity gun is amazing. When you get to Ravenhold, you?ll know it too. Do yourself a favor. Get this game so I can frag you over and over!
The Home
My time at home gets eaten up by homework and family. Recently, I finished up Gaby and soon to be sister Kadyn?s rooms. I?ll have photos soon. I?ll likely mix them with Gaby?s birthday photos. Laura is doing fine. She?s due Jan 28. Gaby opted for the pretty princess Disney room. I got a new Bullseye lazer level from Black & Decker, and absolutely love it. It makes hanging that border super easy. Not to mention, it?s really fun to play with in the dark. On a personal note, I?m currently taking Visual Basic .Net and Sociology. I hate sociology. My teacher is a weird deviation of Mr. Rogers. He calls everyone ?neighbors?, ?onliners?,? and puts everything in quotes?. I only have 2 more classes and one petition for credit before I?m done with my Associates in Web Design! Horray!
Work things
This last Friday, we had an open house over at Washburn?s ITS Bennett building. It was great. Patrick and J.D. served up some live music, and we had a good time conversing. Kevin and I created a collage out of old magazines. It was fun. Our new WebTech starts on the 29th. I?ll be doing some intensive training over the next couple of weeks.