Best Christmas Ever!

From Triumph Speedmaster

Just when I thought that this was going to be a frugal Christmas with nothing much more than joy and love to take us through the season, my wonderful husband, Bud, pulled an amazing stunt that I will never forget.

A few days prior to Christmas, he had told me how he was going to take his trailer to help his dad, Jerry, move a patio set that was a Christmas present for his wife, Kim. It all sounded very nice and I was impressed at Jerry's desire to set up this secret surprise present. So, Bud disappeared with his trailer for a few hours and answered my questions about the new patio set upon his return. Nothing to see here.

Christmas Eve rolls around and Bud, Kurtis and I drive to Jerry and Kim's for the traditional nibbles and gift exchange soirée. Later in the evening as gifts were being passed around, I ended up with this tiny package in my hand with no label. I study it and wonder what it could be. Others look at it and debate if it is candy, and if so, what kind of candy? I ask if Bud if he is sure it's for me and who is it from anyway? Getting exasperated, Bud told me to just open it. So I did.

It was a couple of keys, one larger than the other. I held them up and announced that it is a set of keys and asked what they are for. Is it for a safe? I had been thinking about where to store those data back ups that I had been dutifully taking and then leaving on my desk! "What does it say on the keys?" says Bud. I study the key in the low lighting as the realisation dawns on me when I slowly read out the word 'Triumph'. It says Triumph!

I look at Bud who is grinning and beckoning me to follow him. We walk out to the garage and there she is in all her glory. A brand new 2007 Triumph Speedmaster, with a big red bow!

The next half an hour or so was like a dream where everything was blurry and surreal. Everybody came out to the garage and witnessed my elation, tears, huge grin and repeatedly saying, "I can't believe it!" while hugging Bud. I had wondered where Kim's patio set was, but didn't want to say anything. Well duh! As well as the surprise of the bike, I also marvelled at Bud's ability to pull one over on me like that. Very clever!

On Christmas day morning, Bud rode my new Speedy home while I followed in the car. It's a very nice looking bike and exactly what I had wanted. As I said... best Christmas ever!

Microsoft saves humanity, or, woes of Vista and wireless networking

Microsoft didn't really save humanity, but they certainly have restored my faith in humanity, or customer service at least.

My new Dell Vostro 1700 notebook arrived this week, courtesy of Act of Life for my work. It is a superb piece of kit and has Vista installed, which, on the whole, I am impressed with.

The only downside I found is the incompatibility with the firmware that is installed on my old Linksys WRT54G wireless router. I was able to connect, but with limited access. After some research, it appeared that it was a known problem to which hot fix 930517 should be applied; Message when a device on a Windows Vista-based computer uses a network bridge to access the network: "Connected with limited access". This was a red herring for me. I had the "Connected with limited access' problem, but it was not over a network bridge, however, I thought I would apply the fix anyway.

The hot fix is not available for direct download. You have to request it from Microsoft. I sent a web request and called the 800# as I was not expecting impressive or speedy results. I was most impressed when I called as I only had to wade through a couple of levels of automation and spoke with a pleasant sounding American girl called Jennifer. Jennifer took my call with high efficiency, located the hot fix that I had requested and emailed it to me instantly. I mean... instantly. The whole telephone episode lasted about seven minutes.

While that was all very efficient, the hot fix did not work. I ended up disabling the WEP security so I could at least get connected on my new laptop. I have not mentioned that there are three other computers already connected, all three running XP, which helped me to establish that it was a Vista specific problem. I figured that I would sort it out some day... while feeling uncomfortable with the lack of security on the network.

Later that day, I received another call from Microsoft asking if the problem had been resolved. Wow! A follow up call. They really cared! I explained that the hot fix had not worked and what I had done to allow connectivity. The rep expressed that they were keen to have the issue resolved for me and would do whatever was necessary. She arranged for a technical guy to call me the following day in a four hour window. For free support, I was not going to grumble about that.

Sure enough, I took the telephone call the next day and after a short discussion, he explained that it was not a Vista problem and I needed to upgrade the firmware on my Linksys router. I proceeded to make it clear to the tech that I was not your average girly computer user and knew what I ws talking about. It is a known Vista problem. Poor guy... he had caught me at a bad time and I was feeling a little grouchy. I decided that he probably did know what he was talking about and assured him that I would try upgrading the firmware. He insisted on a follow up call just to make sure that the problem was resolved, so we set a date and time.

I immediately got onto the Linksys website and discovered that my 2003 firmware could be upgraded to a 2006 version. It had to be worth a stab. So several minutes later, I had newer firmware on the router and I was connected on my new laptop with WPA2 security enabled. Woot!

In the meantime, "Richard G" from Microsoft (I wonder if it was Richard Gere?! Nahh, amusing thought though!) had emailed me with confirmation of our 'date' for the follow up call. I replied to let him know that his advice was sound, and congratulated him and Microsoft on a sterling customer service. Perhaps those hilarious PC v. Mac commercials have something to do with their wanting to bend over backwards to help?

So, that's the end of a heart warming story. Well, not quite actually. As many will know, technology is never that straight forward and my elation was quickly diminished when my hubby, Bud, shouts from the office that his network connection had dropped. I was connected, the other laptop with XP business was connected, so I just hollered for him to disconnect and reconnect to get the secured connection... I was so sure of myself... "It ain't working!" he exclaims. 'Move!' I think to myself as I walk into the office to check the connection on my tower, running XP home as is Bud's tower. It wouldn't connect. Okay, I figured it had to do with the extra security level that I had set and after a couple of downgrades, realized my fear that XP home would only work with WEP encryption. Bah! I'll probably do some more research to see how I can get the extra security.

Anyway, the point of this ramble is to share with the world my new found faith in Microsoft. You go, Bill, heyyyy!

I'll take the Magnum please

So, the PT Cruiser was dirty and I decided that I would just get a new car. I had known for months what I wanted. Remember December '05 when the tranny went out on the PT, and how I wanted a Chevy HHR? Well, that novelty soon wore off when I realised that's exactly what the HHR is... a novelty car, just like the PT.

Several months ago I fell hook, line and sinker for the Dodge Magnum. The first time I really fell for it was when the show Overhaulin' had overhauled a brand new, shiny black Magnum. It belonged to a spunky little English woman and she reacted the same way that I did when I saw it. It was pure beauty on wheels and she had a hefty V8 Hemi under the hood (bonnet).

If you don't know your American cars, let me tell you, this is a muscle car and a half. It's actually a station wagon with the same chassis as the new Dodge Charger. I seriously considered the Charger as an option, but decided that from certain angles it looks just like any other car on the road these days.

So, I knew it had to be a Magnum, I knew the model I wanted... the SXT, which is one up from the bottom with all the extra doo-dads, like fog-lights, powered seat, sexy alloys and stuff, to make it a nice ride without getting too silly on the price. It also has more horses, with 250 powering that 3.5 litre V6 block.

After much deliberation on color, and having driven a brand spankin' new red model on a test ride and realising that I would get bored with red, not to mention how it would clash with all my purple clothes... I decided upon the bright silver. It's stunner let me tell you. To get to the monthly note that I wanted, I drove away an '06 in superb condition with 14k on the clock. I've got me a whole lotta car for the money!

Pictures are yet to come as the weather has been awful, but rest assured, as I did with the PT was she was spanky, there will be a Magnum gallery, which will be for my benefit just as much as everyone elses!