It’s been a challenging week for The Stevo. I mentioned my new desk, complete with credenza and movable cabinet. Thursday morning saw me trying to shift furniture around an impossibly small space. Somehow, the cabinet portion became locked after I shut a drawer. After 20 fruitless minutes I was forced to grab ye ole meat cleaver to defeat the high security device.

My desktop computer has looked disemboweled for several weeks. I added a massive SATI drive and never put the guts back in the tower. Given the new desk, I decided to reassembled my old friend. The heat sync over the CPU was dirty. I mean really dirty. There was black gunk all over the cooling fan. I’m sure it wasn’t healthy. I want my computer to be both efficient and semi-clean.

I will say to all and sundry: I DID NOT KNOW THE HEAT SYNC WAS GLUED TO THE CPU. My bad. Now, the pins on the CPU are bent and the machine is temporarily unusable. It’s kind of like the Bush administration: The computer is a physical presence, but contains no brain. My computer guy, accommodating Samaritan that he is, is coming this evening to pick up the soulless box. Hopefully, he can fix it without me buying a new (and costly) CPU.

Update: The computer guy, Mao Ming, fixed my computer in my apartment, for a whopping 50 Yuan ($8 US). I started this post on my laptop and finished it on my delightful 17″ monitor.

What else happened this week?

• I have received 2 fake 50 Yuan notes. Stupid is as stupid does.
• I waited over 3 hours to catch 2 taxis.
• The friend that was supposed to help me move furniture either fled or was too hung over, or still too drunk, to answer his door.
• I discovered an incredible amount of crap stashed away by Mrs. Stevo as I moved furniture.
• My beloved tourist map of Hong Kong, that I have had since I first arrived, has gone missing. Yes, Chateau Stevo has a Robotic Dog that sings a Shania Twain song, but no maps.

What’s ahead?
My trip to Hong Kong tomorrow coincides with the Olympic Torch Relay. Instead of being able to take my beloved ferry, I will have to cross the border by land, early, because immigration and customs will be a total biatch. I thought about delaying the trip, but I’ve already canceled my appointment with the doctor three times. I fear if I don’t make the journey I will be karmically unable to in the future.

When it rains it pours. I go through misfortunes and misadventures on an epic scale every few months. I often wish I could hibernate.

Update: I did not go to Hong Kong. I am here trying to organize my new workspace, watch DVDs, and sleep. Yesterday I watched Cloverfield and Bikini Bloodbath, the former being better than the latter.

CG: Yao bu yao?

Stevo: Yao.

CG: Liang ge er G DDR2 RAM ma?

Stevo: Dui.

CG: Acer, very good. Fei chang hao.

Stevo: Dui. Zhe ge, duo shao qian? (pointing in display case).

CG: Zhe ge?

Stevo: Dui.

CG: Ni yao Bluetooo …

Stevo: Bluetooth.

CG: Hao. Xie xie. Bluetoooooth.

Stevo: Wo yao Bluetooth. Ni you mei you Bluetooth USB?

CG: Dui. Zhe ge, xiao, small. Zhe ge, big, hen da. (spreading arms wide)

Stevo: Da de, hao de. Wo yao.

CG: Zhe ge?

Stevo: Yeah, I want that bad-boy. Bag it, Dano.

CG: Shenme?

Stevo: Zhe ge, wo yao mai yi ge.

CG: Hao hao hao.

I wonder: How would I say vector wallpaper in Chinese?

Yes, I’ve changed things around. Why? Because I can.

Actually, I had some unbiased feedback from web gurus. They said the content of asian ramblings was great, but the look needed some improvement. Enter the Cutline WordPress theme by Chris Pearson. I had considered a wordpress magazine theme, but there are too many to choose from. Cut a dandy piece of work, tweaked by your truly. Notice the header at the top of the page? It’s random! Changes all the time. Cool, no? I’m still tweaking the new theme. The static pages need to be fixed, and a few other odds and ends. A work in progress, much like life.

If I ever managed to learn PHP I’d love to write my own theme, from scratch. That might drive me around the bend, but it would be an excellent learning exercise. As they say: Code is Poetry.

Your feedback is appreciated. What do you think?

David Bowie once sang about changes. With his little ditty in your head take a look around the new and improved inane ramblings.

Change is the only constant in life (okay, there’s death, taxes, and bad government). I decided to shake things up. I managed to toil through this project, and while frustrating, managed to picke up some useful new knowledge about CSS and WordPress theme construction. I didn’t create this myself, much of PHP is still Greek to me. The new theme is a combination of Zen in Gray and Green Shades. Thanks to Sajith M. and Parag Marku, respectively, for their great themes.

Let me know what you think. Good? Bad? Attractive? Fugly? I’m still working on a few things. Your input is valued.

I’ve been lax about commenting on your wonderful comments, and reading your scribbles. That will change now that this time-sucking project is out of the way.

Come on, Baby, don’t cry. I don’t love you any less.

I know it’s hard for you to accept me moving someone else into our bedroom. We’ve shared so much there, good times and bad. But for our relationship to grow, this needs to happen. Sometimes you need to spice things up. And boy, does she do that.

You’re still my favorite, you know that. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. Sleek and sexy, what man could ask for more? The guys at the office look at you with covetous eyes when you sit on the corner of my desk. I still want you, still need you, but you have to admit, there are problems.

There are some things you just won’t do. She will. It’s okay, I know you try, but I have certain special needs. You don’t want me frustrated do you? Don’t you want me to be happy? Don’t you love me like I love you?

Don’t shutdown on me, I want you to understand. I want this to be okay with you. She won’t come between us, she’ll make our bond stronger. She’s not as pretty as you, Baby. She doesn’t have the same color, or the same charms, but she is fast. The first time we met I was amazed how quickly she responded to my touch. She seemed to purr.

Dry those tears, you should be happy. You can get a little rest now that she’ll be taking up the slack. I won’t be pawing at you day and night, filling you with countless requests until you crash.

You’re the apple of my eye, but a man needs an Intel Duo-Core processor. And 2 gigabytes of RAM linked to a SATI hard disk. An NVIDIA graphics card and a 21 inch monitor run by a five button laser mouse.

Rest now, my love, everything will be better after a reboot.

I am easily amused. A slick magazine, an interesting song, or a shiny bobble will capture my attention and hold it hostage (see graph below). I reached a milestone earlier in August. This week I have summited another self-set (albeit: dubious) goal.

I really wanted more than 300 unique visitors in a day to my little weblog (Why? I have no idea). Low and behold, yesterday it happened: 347 unique vistors in a single 24 hour period. I offer myself hearty congratulations. If you don’t pat yourself on the back no one else will.

Next goal: Getting David Rochester to post even a single comment on this blog (fingers crossed).