Monday 11 June 2007

Pic of the day: It is just not the same...

Handed in monster PC

After a month of putting it off for various (and vicarious) reasons, I finally took a taxi to the city this morning and brought with me the big black desktop PC.

Despite being from the last generation before dual-core processors, this PC from North Corporation is still pretty fast (but at the cost of drawing more electricity and creating more heat than the next generation). It is certainly the fastest in my house. The Dell laptop is newer and does have a dual-core, but I don't think the processors for portables are quite up to the same standards as desktops yet. More to the point, the black monster PC has a really fast hard disk, 10 000 rpm where most modern computers have 7200, and only a few years ago 3600. I believe 5400 is common in laptops. A fast hard disk is especially noticeable when booting up the machine or starting a program: The monster usually gets Sims 2 up and running in about a minute, with four expansion packs and a little custom content. Many players are used to waiting ten minutes. Then again most of them have more downloads than I, but still, it is much faster than the other Sims computer I normally use.

But now, of course, it does not boot anything. I tried again now and then during the past month, but never got it up and running. If I pulled out the USB hub, I got it so far that it booted Windows, but I never got further than to the user account selection screen. Mostly it rebooted before that. (I have three user accounts on it, depending on what I'm doing. They are all mine.)

Today I also realized the real reason why I resent so much having to take it in for repair. It is the taxi. The expense is one thing, it can get pretty close to $50 one way. (Taxi is expensive in Norway.) But what I really hate is tipping.

I hate tipping and haggling with a vengeance. I want things to cost what they cost. I want a predictable, objective price. Money is not a personal matter, it is an objective standard. I don't mind if the price ends up higher as long as I know what it is and I know that it is not an expression of my appreciation of the service provider as a person. I can understand tipping with whores (though I have no idea whether this is done, as I don't use whores, which is probably no big loss for either of us) but it is totally out of line to tip waiters, taxi drivers and hotel personnel. It is an icy, stinking wind from the dark ages where your income depended on the capricious mood of those you served. It is unbecoming for an enlightened society.

(Also, I always end up paying people more than I think they deserve, just to be sure not to offend them. But it would have been evil anyway.)

In any case, I finally forced myself to do it. Unless I hand it in, I'll never get it back, and that would really be a loss. It may be more than a year old (from early April last years) but it should still be good for a couple more years, Light willing. (I was planning to get a new and faster dual or quad-core machine this fall when the next expansion pack for The Sims 2 comes out, but a: I may either lose my job or have to move by New Years, and b: the Bon Voyage looks like a dud. It seems to be a rehash of "vacation" for the original Sims, which was unimpressive, and with Seasons and Open for Business you can easily make your own vacation resorts. So I don't really think it mandates a $2000 PC.)