I recently decided to upgrade my storage and graphics card on my gaming PC. There was a bit of drama but the results are in. Storage I augmented my existing 2 TB spinning hard drive and 512 GB SSD with a 2 TB NVMe in an M.2 slot. The result has been phenomenal. A machine that …
2018 Holiday Gaming
The holidays are an opportunity to celebrate the season, spend time with family... and play video games! I'm off for 11 days in a row this year and while some of my time will be spent with the fam, some will also be spent gaming (and some working on the house). Here's what I'll be …
Bi-Annual PC Upgrade
I bought a custom-built gaming PC four years ago so I could upgrade it incrementally and avoid buying a new PC every couple of years to keep up with games. Over the long run this would provide me with a better system for less money. The original machine came with a high-end fourth-generation Core i7 …
My iPad Pro
I decided recently to purchase a 10.5" iPad Pro as an upgrade to my four-year-old iPad Air 2. I wanted Pro-level features but the brand-new 11" model is just too expensive. Scouring eBay was a much better option and I found one quickly - a 256 GB 10.5" iPad Pro with case and Apple Pencil …
iPad Next
This summer I posted an article about my iPad collection. In it I discussed what my next possible iPad might be. At the time my iPad Air 2 was holding up well and I was eyeing a previous-generation 10.5" iPad Pro once they went on sale after the next refresh. Since that time I've cracked …
Remastering an Old Image
I use my favorite photos as desktop backgrounds at home and at work. In the mix I have images going back as far as 2006, when I bought my first Pentax DSLR. Every now and then an image crosses my screen that I just... feel different about. Sometimes it's a piece of dust or a …
Beginning Work on the Dining Room
Our Dining Room has barely been touched in the nine years since we've painted it aside from the occasional touch up. Now that the kitchen renovation work is done, it is in need of some love. We aren't changing the color, but the walls need cleaned, the trim and ceiling need completely repainted. We were a …
Review: Kohler K-596-VS Simplice Faucet
A kitchen sink isn't any good without a faucet so we decided to get one! We were initially looking at touchless faucets because they can maintain temperature with the water off. I've been looking for this feature because I often wash large and fragile dishes in the sink and want to turn off water while …
My Transatlantic Obsession
I became interested in the Titanic while doing a book report in fourth grade. I went to the library and found several book including a large hard cover volume titled Titanic: An Illustrated History. It was the largest and most interesting book I found, full of images and beautiful paintings of the ship's construction, appointments, …
Farewell Holly, My “Big Girl”
Holly, my "big girl", left us today to bark with Hannah in the doggy afterlife. "Big" was a relative term to distinguish her from Hannah as neither were larger than our cat. The last three years have been equal parts wonderful and difficult, but we made the most out of them. After Hannah's passing and …
Relatively Ambitious 