Cri-zayzay day, my darlings! So this will be short, sweet, and to the point.
1. Calvin and I went to Sedona and Flagstaff on Saturday. I’ll write more when I can spare an hour, but for now I posted a bit about it on UpTake, and all of the pictures are among my May 2009 set, here. Just scroll past the Botanical Gardens pics. Or, you know, look at ’em again!
2. My laptop is blastedly overheated, and the fan runs CONSTANTLY. Is there any way to cool the thing down and get the fan to STFU without, like, submerging it in water? Before you ask, the fan itself is not dirty or blocked, and the output area is clear too.
3. Help me make a decision. For our epic road trip this summer, is it more logical to drive our own truck, which doesn’t get very good gas mileage, and requires premium gas; or should we spend the money to rent a car for ten days, that would probably get better mileage and we can use the cheap gas? Is it a wash? What do you think?
Snerkology 
Is the laptop a Dell? I’m only asking because I had one of the ones that there was a known (not to me at the time of purchase) defect with the fan. The fan would run continuously and when it finally gave out it would take my motherboard with it (thank goodness for external hard drives). Happened to me three times, the computer spend lots of time back at Dell, they extended the warranty and now there is a class action lawsuit against them.
I will never own another Dell.
Nah, it’s the HP provided by AcronymCo. The IT guys say that unless it fries my computer, there’s nothing they can do about it because it’s not effecting functionality… yet.
What model HP is it?
HP Compaq 6910p.
OK, next question is how much RAM does it have?
1.21 Gigawatts! Heh, sorry, couldn’t resist. It’s 1.96 GB.
Hee hee. LOVE Back to the Future. Especially the playpen/jail scene.
Anyhoo 2G of RAM and Vista (?) plus the normal collection of programs that startup automatically and run in the background = a busy system that gets warm and needs lotsa cooling. Some activities, say watching Hulu or other web video can also be processor intensive. If the performance is acceptable save for that annoying fan then I’d say just make sure you don’t block the fan. There are strategies for optimizing the startup situation so Windows can be more comfortable, but I may have already over-explained as I normally do … I wrote (and need to update) a web page for work that goes into more detail. It’s called Slow Computer Syndrome but the principals may apply to your computer’s issues. Most computers are just running too many unnecessary processes.
Thanks, I really appreciate it. I’ll check out your page and give it a shot. Not on Vista yet, running XP still.
BTW, I love the Dr. Horrible animated gif!
Thanks! Feel free to swipe it for yourself!
Why that’s right neighborly, thank ya!
I hope when you get the answer about the laptop you’ll share, because I have the same problem with my desktop! It sounds like a damn airplane engine in here!
I think the vacation situation depends on how good of a deal you can get on the car rental. I would think there’d be some great deals right now. Gas is already in the process of going up again and who knows what horrendous prices will hit by the time you all leave. I shudder to think of it.
You know I’ll share. I overshare in everything else, after all! 😀
Yeah, I’ll have to do the math. I’ve budgeted for an assinine amount of gas, figuring on putting on about 2500 miles on the truck. Still, if I can make it cheaper overall, I’d be dumb not to just because the truck is (probably) more fun to drive than a rental. Unless I get a convertible Audi. Which would probably defeat several purposes.
Got nuthin’ on number 2 (heh) but I wholeheartedly encourage vehicle rental for the vacation. I guess it just feels more like a getaway when even the car is unfamiliar.
That’s a good point. Calvin’s been scouting prices for the past couple of days.
I would say that the rental/your truck is a wash. Rai has a good point about driving a strange vehicle (especially if, say, you could snag a convertible!) but there’s also the comfort of a road trip in your own vehicle.
Gas here went up in a day from $1.89 to $2.35 last week – then down to $2.30 – then yesterday to $2.49. Grrrrr.
Ours has been between $2.07 and $2.17 up until today, when it leaped up to $2.27 overnight.
We took a trip to Jackson Hole a couple of years ago (AWESOME! YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE IT!) and decided to rent a car. It was the best thing we could have done. It was great to have zero concerns about the vehicle. The wear and tear it saved on our car was worth so much!
We’re really looking forward to it – we’re staying right in Teton Village. Calvin’s biggest worry is the wear and tear on our truck, so the decision is practically made to rent.
Sounds like renting a car would be more economical.. but you probably can crunch some numbers and figure it out pretty close. On the pro side you will save wear and tear and mileage on your own truck, on the con side you sacrifice comfort.
We’d be sure to get something big enough for comfort. Gas mileage is almost guaranteed to be better than our truck (~15 highway, darn that SS engine!).
Come see me!!!!! or drive through and come see me!!!! Then we can all go see Heather too! Miss u guys!
😀 It’s a couple of states out of our way, m’dear. We’ll have to plan a trip just for you sometime!
Oh yes, I vote for renting a car. Also, a lot of companies have great rental deals through their HR department. I think you’d save money overall. (Wear and tear, milage…)
Hmm… good suggestion. I’ll have to make some phone calls. Maybe toss in that I’m a “travel writer” and would give them a good plug. Heh. Mama needs some business cards.
I think you can just put it in the dishwasher…but only on a cool setting.
Guffaw! Nah, IT is finally giving me a new one tomorrow. Which pretty much guarantees that my hard drive will melt and crash TONIGHT.
When we travel we always rent a vehicle. It adds to the fun really and we’ve never had an issues either. Oh apart from the time I wrote off someones car. 2 very cute cops came and sorted out the problem though. It was almost worth the agro. 😉
😀 We never get the cute cops.
I vote for rent a car. You can get a great deal, and also save the wear & tear on your vehicle.
Okay, we’re sold! Now to keep THAT expense to a minimum. Calvin (bless him) wants a Corvette.