Simple Living

Almost like clockwork, I purchase a new watch every year around this time.  And with last year's procurement of the Armani AR585, I have developed a liking for watches in the 43 mm range and decided to get the Victorinox INOX Watch in OD olive green. I've actually been wanting the INOX for several years, but shied away from it as I thought 43 mm was too big and at the time sold my Armani AR 585, but how time makes one change your mind and now I see a place for larger watches to complement my existing watches in the 38 and 41 mm size brackets.  It also has 200 meter water resistance with screw down crown, so something I've always wanted for a watch besides a G-Shock to go swimming with. I also like the hexagonal bezel design.  It has some resemblance to a AP Royal Oak or PP Nautilus, but differs quite a bit where you wouldn't consider the INOX a cheap knock off, nor a homage design. It's certainly a bit bold and blunt in size and design, but less so than

Wow.  I've been spoiled by Linux and didn't really pay much attention to the update system for Windows and am totally floored at how problematic and time consuming its become.  I'm on my 4th day trying to get Windows 10 updated to Build 1909... The HP i7 restore software is on an older 1511 Build and I was able to get it updated to 1809 after several hours then total havoc trying for 3 days to get it to update to 1909.  Restarting, running various command prompt options, and running various utilities, nothing...just frustration. I finally decided to reset back to a previous build and it sent me all the way back to 1511 then I started over and got it to 1809 and now waiting for it to update to 1909; crossing fingers. Update 4/23/2020 -- It's done Yes!  The updates finally completed and I'm 100% up-to-date.  This ordeal was unnecessary and ridiculous.

I've owned numerous laptops over the years and have settled on a small fleet of three (3) machines: Window Box - Win10 - HP i7-6700HQ (2016) Linux Box - Lubuntu - HP i3-4010u (2014) Spare - Lubuntu - Compaq C700 C2Duo-T5250 (2007?) i3-4010u // an awesome processor Intel did good with the release of this 4th generation processor.  While the i3 is meant to be an entry-level and basic CPU, it works perfectly for Linux and most of my computing needs (excluding gaming). The best part it draws very little power and was one of the main reasons I dumped most of my older laptops that ran Core 2 Duo's and older.  I'm still impressed at how many people still hang onto their 4th gen i3 and they sell for a decent price on eBay (my HP i3 model goes for about $200!) i7-6700HQ // great, but needs a GPU and SSD The i7 is awesome, but if you are going to buy one you should get it paired with an SSD and GPU.  In hindsight, I had this as options, but opted for the lower price confi

I've been stuck at home for past few weeks and got back into online gaming and started playing Caravan Stories first on the PS4 and then switched to the Japanese version for the PC. I prefer the PC version as I can use the keyboard and mouse, but had to translate the menus and commands by comparing it with the PS4 version.  For all intents and purposes, the two versions are the same; with exception being the Japanese PC version gives you better bonuses and stuff (like Sophia with 5 star gear vs. PS4 only offering 4 star). Basic Walkthrough/Guide Whichever version you pick, the game play is roughly the same and you have five (5) basic goals: Finish the four (4) starter races.  Finish the stories and reincarnate for the four (4) starter races: Human, Elf, Dwarf and Orc.  After your first reincarnation, this opens up a lot more options and places to visit in the game. Human Story first.  Start with the Human story first as you get the powerful S-Class Sophia and she will be ab

I'm upgrading my HP i7-6700HQ model 15-AB292NR (purchased 2016) with a new SSD (solid state drive), a 1TB Crucial BX500 3D NAND SATA 2.5 drive purchased for $100 from Amazon. Specs of the HP 15t Model 15-Ab292NR Processor - Intel i7-6700HQ Ram - 8 GB HDD - 1 TB GPU - Intel Graphics 530 15.6" IPS Screen DVD Writer 802.11AC OS - Windows 10 Home Battery Model - ki04 (KI04)  HQ for H = High Quality and Q = Quad-Core.  It's a step below the unlocked K version, but otherwise is fairly decent. Why Upgrade the i7? The HP i7 has been my main Window OS machine as I still need it for certain functions and recently I've been using it daily as I'm stuck at home. Normally, I spend most of my time on my Linux laptop (HP i3-4010u) that has always been faster than even an i7 running Win10; crazy how that works!  But being that I need to spend more time on Win10, It'll boost the speed by switching to an SSD. Does SSD improve speed?  No, but it reduces load ti