In which wireless and XBox are discussed

Note: This entry began life as an e-mail to Walter, telling him about some recent goings-on in the Samtown neighborhood of Geekville. I decided to edit it a bit and turn it into a journal post so everyone could share in the geek love. Whee! Walter, if you're reading this, you've pretty much already seen it, assuming you actually read the e-mail I sent you. I mean, as I write this you have yet to respond, so I really don't know whether you've seen it or not. Slacker. You'll probably respond around the same time that you update your LiveJournal.

With Darlene and the posse moving down in a few weeks, the house has to be rearranged, including the computer setup. I realized I was going to have to set up wireless in the house to make it all work the way I want it to work without stretching cables all over the place. With that in mind, I bought some wireless gear at Best Buy on Sunday. I got the Linksys Wireless-G router and PCI adapter. I bought two adapters--one for my computer, and I went ahead and got a second one to put in Darlene's computer when it gets down here.

I also bought a computer desk for the new kitchen setup. I put it together last night and moved the computer from the bedroom into the kitchen. It looks pretty good. There was a shelf above the desk that I had to leave off, as the desk was clearly designed for a flat panel monitor; my monster monitor was too thick to fit with the shelf on. Darlene has been talking about wanting a flat panel anyway, so we'll probably be getting one sooner than later. When we do, I'll put the shelf on. After I got the computer reassembled, I put the wireless card in, moved the cable modem into the living room, put a splitter on the cable jack (so I can keep watching TV), and plugged in my new router. Power up the computer, Ubuntu picked up the new router right away--nice! A couple of configuration tweaks later, BANG! (tm Emeril Lagasse); I have a wireless network in my house. The router and modem are sitting on top of the subwoofer in the living room. Once Darlene's computer gets here and we get the kids' bedroom set up, I'll get that box configured for wireless as well. I'm pretty proud of myself, actually.

I also got a new game for the XBox. I got Forza Motorsport, which is the Gran Turismo competitor created by Microsoft Games for XBox. The game includes over 50 tracks and more than 200 cars to choose from, most of which are locked at the beginning of the game, if you're in career mode. I've begun a career and am currently racing a purple PT Cruiser in low-level races. Racing badly, by the way. It's a tough game to get the hang of. It's pretty schweet, though. I fully intend to beat Steven soundly on as many tracks as possible as soon as they get down here. I also recently got EA Sports' Arena Football for the XBox and have been playing the heck out of it. It's ridiculously fun, and highly addictive, just like real-life arena football (Go Force!).

45 days till the wedding! Whoo!