Not dead; buried in a crash move!

[John Kettler]

For those of you wondering why I haven't posted in weeks, I should tell you that a whole series of things not under my control went West World on me all at once, basically imploding my life and health while forcing a crash temporary move to my sister's home in Colorado Springs, Colorado to regroup. Such drills are brutal even when young and really healthy, but I am neither, yet still need to be out of here by the end of the month. Thank heavens for great friends! I'd be totally sunk otherwise. I won't have my formidable reference library on matters grog (leaving that here with a trusted friend who'll have the use of it), but I will have my computer and the CMx1 games with me. Who knows? Maybe NGCavScout and I will be able to finally resume our Forever War!

Anyone familiar with the toxic effects of mainlining antifreeze? Am afraid I may not be able to survive there without it! World of difference between early April in the nation's strawberry heartland, Ventura County, California, and C Springs. Brr!

Regards,

John Kettler

[dieseltaylor]

Hope things improve for you John.

[John Kettler]

dieseltaylor,

Thanks! Am getting some splendid coping and proper perspective advice from a friend now emerging from the far end of something similar. Delighted to report he's doing great, which gives me hope, though he's in phenomenal shape compared to me and is considerably younger. Shall do my best to view this period as a transition to something far better!

Regards,

John Kettler

[Michael Emrys]

Hi John,

Happy to see you back and hope your troubles are soon at an end. As someone of an age when health problems seem to arrive even before the last one has departed, I can sympathize. It does get depressing at times no matter how hard one fights it or how ingenious one's strategies are. I keep telling myself, "This too shall pass," and I keep trying to believe it. Hang in there.

Michael

[Other Means]

It's only a place John. We take with us always what is important.

[Affentitten]

So what happened Kettles? How did you come to lose your library? Or is that just a temporary thing?

[John Kettler]

Affentitten,

There wasn't room for me and all I owned here, so I came out in light marching order: me, clothes, computer and associated gear, small working library, personal papers, and that's about it. The rest remains with a friend in California, and he has the use of the rest of my library, cooking gear, art and more. He's also holding items I'm selling on CL, since I couldn't bring them with me. This is a win-win for both of us and much better than having to pay for storage, while he gets access to all sorts of goodies he'd otherwise need to equip his new home (huge cost avoidance) and the benefit of my library and more. It's not a perfect solution, but for short notice, during a crash move, it verges on miraculous.

Regards,

John Kettler

[Stalins Organ]

Antifreeze is just alcohol....yuo kow the rest!

[John Kettler]

Stalin's Organist,

Thought I was going to have to mainline antifreeze to survive, but the temperature has been pretty mild here. The winds, though, are another matter and were howling earlier. Yesterday it got up to ~80 degrees F, with sun protection a major issue ~1.5 miles high while watching a lacrosse match.

Regards,

John Kettler

[souldierz]

Good friends are hard to come by, so its a blessing when you have someone to help out in times of need, especially when its life altering events and you need a place to crash or store valuables for a while.

Hope things work out for you John Kettler whatever the problem is that made this change come about.In sickness or in good health, rich or poor,with lady luck on your side or not, fight it to the end, and keep on truckin:)

Wish you all the best, from a stranger in one part of the World, to another

[Kanonier Reichmann]

Seconded.

Regards

KR

[John Kettler]

Appreciate all the kind thoughts! Have finally reached the point where I can breathe, provided I don't exert myself much, and my body also seems to have recovered from the worst of the "all the new stuff in the air" shock. Big improvement! Also improved is my musculo-skeletal wa (had major issues with both standing and mobility), thanks to a visit to a great chiropractor yesterday. Walked out taller, with a working neck and functioning sacrum.

Am being exposed to a bunch of new foods (sister's family did a tour in Turkey) and have successfully cooked my first prime rib, conjured up lamb stew from leftover roasted lamb and made Hollandaise sauce. Have also created an addict to Kettler family clam dip! Only slightly less addictive than crack, but way more fattening! Introduced family here and guests to wonders of zataki, a marvelous Middle Eastern mix of thyme and roasted sesame seeds. We served it as a condiment with pita and humus (add olive oil and fresh lemon juice to zataki to make a grainy paste) and as an encrust on roasted chicken (great as served and in chicken salad).

Weather's been wild: rain, near-hurricane winds, hail, sleet, a wholly unexpected 1.5 feet of snow (power out and Net down for a time), major temperature swings, etc. As the saying goes here, "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes." So true! And on the day it hailed hard on part of Colorado Springs (Tesla's former stomping grounds), Colorado had six (6) tornadoes!

Computer crashes and freezes, including spontaneous shutdowns at repair facility, were finally traced to an (ouch!$$$!) defective logic board, so should be back on my iMac tomorrow. Whew! Wish I had a magic wand to wave or a spell that would upgrade my rig to also run CMSF and following games, but instead had to simply maintain capability to run CMx1 series without chasing down another rig or replacing all but CMBO. Really wish BFC would put out OS X versions of everything so I didn't have to eventually deal with running PC stuff on a Mac.

My best to all of you as this new adventure unfolds.

Regards,

John Kettler

[Michael Emrys]

Really wish BFC would put out OS X versions of everything so I didn't have to eventually deal with running PC stuff on a Mac.

Amen. I am considering purchasing a new iMac but I'm not looking forward to dealing with Windows even though I hear that 7 is greatly improved.

Meanwhile, I am wondering which model of iMac to get. Anybody want to make suggestions for a machine that is likely to be able to run CM for the next 4 or 5 years? I realize that BFC has not released the specs for future games (obviously), but assuming that they will not change dramatically, what should I shoot for? I am looking at the iMac MC413LL/A (and what's with the obscure nomenclature? is that supposed to be stylish) but wondering if it's the right one to get. BTW, how hard is it to swap out the video card on an iMac? I suspect I'd be happier with a GEforce than the ATI this comes with, but I'm not well informed in this area.

Michael

[John Kettler]

Operational again following third most expensive lampshade iMac repair. Worst is display, followed by goose neck assembly. That said, the one that can sink you is the power supply. Word is they're very hard to come by. Hoping there'll be no more computer repair drama until I can buy a brand new rig! Have Skype, but no Skype-In number until new credit card arrives.

Michael Emrys,

Regret to inform you that you're probably screwed when it comes to iMac video cards, since they're almost certainly chips and surface mounted at that. My current rig has a 32 MB ATI Rage Pro installed, and there is no upgrade path at all. Hope I'm wrong, but I doubt it. If you want that kind of flexibility, recommend you get a tower configuration.

Regards,

John Kettler

[jeffsmith]

Michael

Bad News = Swapping an iMac Vid card wont happen

Good News = the iMac you were looking at will run CMXX just fine

Even the newer Mac Mini's with the Nvidia 9400 should work well for CMSF

John

take care of yourself, looks like you avoided a Cal Earthquake

[Michael Emrys]

Michael

Bad News = Swapping an iMac Vid card wont happen

Good News = the iMac you were looking at will run CMXX just fine

Thanks, Jeff. That is the information I've been looking for. In the meanwhile, I've dug up an even later model of the iMac for about the same price if I go for the 3.33 GHz CPU:

http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MB950LL/A?mco=MTM3NDc2NDc

One person I ran this by suggested that the card in that model was inferior to the the card in this model:

http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MC413LL/A?mco=MTM3NDc2NDE

But I'm wondering if it is really going to be worth the extra cost, some of which is going into an HD much bigger than I expect to ever need.

Any comments? Is the ATI card really that much better than the NVIDIA card?

Michael

[Wicky]

Look for bargains in the refurbished section of the store (bottom left store front page)

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac?mco=MTM3NDc3NzY

[jeffsmith]

I onestly cant comment on the relative differences of ATI vs Nvidia

but 256 should be good to go

I second Wicky's suggestion of refurb, great deals there

and also might suggest a 24 inch screen will make CMXX look even better

[Michael Emrys]

Thank you, Wicky. Once more you have come through. I found what I think I was looking for and have placed the order.

Michael

[Michael Emrys]

I onestly cant comment on the relative differences of ATI vs Nvidia

From something I came across, apparently the ATI has dedicated VRAM that the Nvidia lacks. So I have decided to go with the model with the ATI card and have my fingers crossed that I made the right choice.

I second Wicky's suggestion of refurb, great deals there

and also might suggest a 24 inch screen will make CMXX look even better

Yeah, I did find a pretty good deal on a refurb.

I don't think the iMac comes with a 24" screen at the moment. The only things I see on offer are 21.5" (which is what I ordered) and 27". The 27" would be overkill for me. I am presently using a 17" monitor and to tell the truth, 21.5" sounds huge. I have limited space on my desk, so that will take up just about all that's available.

Thanks to all for your help. This has been a somewhat puzzling decision to make.

Michael

[Wicky]

Well done Mike - Hope you'll be happy with your patent EQ detector cum CMX2 gaming machine. Shove at least 4GB of memory in it and it'll fly.

Ditch the apple mouse and just use a normal PC mouse with l/r click and scroll wheel.

Are you going to install XP or Windows 7 for bootcamp?

[Michael Emrys]

Well done Mike - Hope you'll be happy with your patent EQ detector cum CMX2 gaming machine. Shove at least 4GB of memory in it and it'll fly.

I believe it comes with 4, which is more than twice as much as I am currently using.

Ditch the apple mouse and just use a normal PC mouse with l/r click and scroll wheel.

That's kind of what I have been thinking. I may also continue to use my Macally keyboard too, even though it is not wireless. I just prefer the feel of the keys when I press them. The Apple keyboards have always felt too spongy for me and I can't tell when I've pressed a key far enough for it to register. Little things like that can make a big difference.

Are you going to install XP or Windows 7 for bootcamp?

I'm thinking of installing 7 so that I can have access to more games. I don't anticipate doing anything else in 7 though, and just having it on my HD makes me feel a little unclean.

Michael

[John Kettler]

Time for a quick update.

Moved to Plano, Texas (a humid inferno relative to C Springs--we do have AC, though-- where my next oldest brother lives with his family) in mid-June from Colorado Springs and have been gradually getting sorted out here, to include a comprehensive physical, which came back clean. Spent part of today in clangorous beast AKA MRI (quite a trip listening to classical music with throbbing MRI techno accompaniment; helps to be dog tired and slightly sedated!) as next investigative step in an effort to see what's going on with me. Am pretty messed up, but have at times done some good work with my brother on scenario dev (some will have my name) and database work for Steel Typhoon, the follow-on game to Clash of Arms game for miniatures The Rising Sun. Kidded brother about making off with some of his amazing library when I eventually leave, to which he instantly deadpanned a Texas style reply involving flying lead. Color him unworried!

Apologies to NGCavScout in particular, but I'm simply in no shape to play CM presently, but at least I'm back with you in the Forums, which I've missed amid multiple moves, computer failures, Internet loss, staggering sleep disruptions, etc. Have been reading some great military history lately, though. Just finished Tillman's Clash of Carriers (even remember parts of it) and am working on the phenomenal Shattered Sword by Parshall and Tully, which has already revolutionized my understanding of the IJN's carriers and their operations. Both are must reads for Pacific War buffs.

Hope you're all well.

Regards,

John Kettler

[jeffsmith]

A Good Omen John, your last post was # 7777

Wishing you well, take care of yourself

[Michael Emrys]

...am working on the phenomenal Shattered Sword by Parshall and Tully, which has already revolutionized my understanding of the IJN's carriers and their operations.

Read that one a few years back. It's a real goody. Anyone seriously interested in the naval war in the Pacific, and specifically the Battle of Midway, needs to read it. Haven't read the Tillman yet, but on your recommendation will pick up a copy. Very strongly recommend The First Team by Lundstrom as accompaniment to Parshall and Tully.

Michael